Losing Our Lives

"Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily."

                                                                                ~ Napoleon Bonaparte


If one is deaf, does it change the symphony played by God's Creation?

Niagara Falls

Absolutely Not!

Nor does being blind mean the non-existence of the visible. 
And the visible sights with the chorus of praise to God for His universe continues, even though many of His creatures point to all that is wrong with the world.
Some even claim the short-comings of the world stand proof that there is no Creator.

Interesting.

Yet, let's follow this through to a logical conclusion.
For example, one of the most tragic, unexplainable, painful issues we may deal with is a child with birth defects, seemingly for no reason or cause.
Instead of looking at the reality that this has its roots in the fall of man and rebellion against God when Creation fell from its perfect state, most people will look at such a situation as 'horrible' and feel sorry for the parents, while arguing if a good God existed He would not allow such things to happen.

I disagree. 

The birth of every child is a wonder of God all its own.
Every child born renews hope and joy in ourselves.
In this, I would include children who are born with mental illness and disease and abnormalities that we cannot yet explain.

As evidence, I would point to the biological parents of these children and even more to those children who have been adopted by loving parents.
Ask those parents if their child was a 'mistake,' an 'accident' or a 'tragedy.' 
I would lay a shiny new dime on it that they will tell you that their child or children have made them better people.



Often we overlook the fact of how powerful the miracle of God is whether it is after a child has grown or at their birth.
The truth of it all is that the biochemistry involved to produce even one healthy child is infinitely complex.
To a guy like me, I wonder in amazement that there aren't millions more children born with some genetic abnormality that we can't describe or explain. 

One of the miracles in this is the pain that may be involved; physically, mentally and emotionally.
Few can imagine the world as God created it; error-free, disease free, tragedy free.
It was indeed perfect.

While we may not be able to imagine such a world, for this world and this life is all we have known, it is the Blessed Hope we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What once was, will be once again.

But I digress.

In our world, as Christians, we must learn and continually remember that pain is not necessarily a bad thing.
Pain, in its most basic form, tells us that something isn't right; whether it be a hunger pain, a pain in our chest or a pain in our ankle after falling - the message is that something needs to be corrected.

The same is true spiritually. 
If seeing a downs syndrome child, a man living in a box, twenty women lined up for food at an abuse center or someone digging through the trash for clothing; if these things bother you in your spirit and not in a good way; I can promise you something is terribly wrong.

You see, these things do cause a type of pain within us.
If it is a pain that hurts for them and aches in the sense of wanting to do something to help, you're probably on the right track.
If this pain given to you plagues you over these ministry needs to the needy; then maybe, just maybe, God is giving you a mission, a calling on your life.
This ministry may not be behind a pulpit but it will reach people in ways you never imagined.

Pain comes in many, many forms; not all forms are alike but they are all similar and it does teach us something about ourselves, our spirituality and our Lord.
Sometimes when we hurt we learn the most we could ever learn about faith; many times we never see as clearly as we do when we look at the world through tear-stained eyes.

When it comes to pain in all forms, most Christians will turn to the Book of Job in Scripture to try to ease their own adversity by studying his from so long ago.
Let me say this before I continue with that thought, I learned long ago that Job asks two questions. 
The first is, 'Why do the Righteous Suffer?' and the second one is, 'How can a Sinful man be right with a Holy God?'

With all due respect to those deciphering the problem of pain, Job's second question is far more important than his first.

The truth is that God never directly answers the problem of pain.
When Job had enough of his lack of understanding, he began to question and rail against God; in the last few chapters of his book, Job receives an answer from God, but it isn't what he expected. 
God fires back at Job, strongly but gracefully, and basically answers him by calling attention to the Created order.
In essence, God says this: 'Job, I produced the great things of nature you are familiar with; can't you trust me for those things that you don't understand?'

And Job's 'thing he couldn't understand was his suffering.' 
His answer was 'yes.'

As he was, so can we be; trusting God in the pain and trails of life.
Friend, I know it is hard to trust; please remember I should be in a grave this very moment, my life claimed by the plague of the 21st Century - Cancer.

But God healed me and has left me for a testimony to His trustworthiness, grace and love.

You see, we often anguish over the tragedies, diseases and pain we experience in life while at the same time, ignoring many good things surrounding us from the very hand of God.

It is up to the Body of Christ in our modern world to care for the sick, the unloved and the unwanted; nobody else, including the government, is going to do it and Scripture challenges us to fulfill our calling with the less fortunate.
We cannot do so if you and I get hung up on 'why' someone is suffering or hurting or sick; it may very well hinder an incarnational response from us and this can never be the norm.

Think about it, just in what concerns the sick, today we have HMOs, insurance companies, medicare, Obamacare - all of which make decisions for their clients without consulting their doctors or clients.



This, undoubtedly, squelches the personal touch which was once found in Health Care.
Even doctors, many of whom went into medicine for noble reasons, now have lost sight of the person they are treating.

The Body of Christ fails if we ever do the same.

The truth is that we, as individual members of the Body of Christ, we can only seek out one person at a time; then another, and another after that.
These are the objects of God's love who have missed it so often, but trust us to bring them His compassion, love and grace.

It's a daunting task when you look at the vastness of humanity; but if you look at it as one person at a time to touch with Christ's love - whether it is a homeless man or a disabled child - you and I become much more effective.

For example, I recently read of a man who praised God for having leprosy.
Sounds odd doesn't it.
Yet, it's true.

The man praised God for having leprosy because without having leprosy, he would have never met Dr. Paul Brand, the foremost medical expert on the disease during his time and a Christian. 

The man rightly proclaims that without leprosy, he'd never known Brand and if he had not known Brand, he would have never know 'the God who lives within him.'

You will find in life that God often has an agenda which we do not yet know.
Sometimes God will reveal what He is doing before we know we should act, sometimes it is in the middle of the act; at other times, it won't be until after it is over, long over.
While serving Him, we simply must trust Him and follow His lead in touching one person at a time.

I have a friend who grew weary of the usual Christmas ministries, especially in the fact of not knowing where the money/gifts were going and that some of the people who were receiving help were better off than what was expected.
So, she and her husband, who are very connected to the community in which they serve, they decided to have their own private 'Christmas Fund' and bless one or maybe even two families whom they knew truly needed help.

It has worked out unbelievably well.
The gratitude of those that they have helped over the years is astounding; and when you encounter compassion and love on this individual basis, it just makes you want to serve the Lord better and be worthy of His blessing and love.
These two have truly 'lost their lives' in the Lord and in the compassion of blessing others the way they have been blessed.

Jesus said: 'Whoever find his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake, will find it.'


Could it be that when we 'lose' our lives in other people the way Jesus would, that this is the surest way to find it?
I believe so; for this brings honor and glory to the Lord.
Go and do likewise.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Faith in this Generation

"For God and Country...Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo!"

                                                     ~ Unknown U.S. Navy Seal,                                                                              Announcing in code Osama Bin Laden was dead




Today in America, we honor Memorial Day.

At times, there are a few who seem not to realize who Memorial Day is for; it is a time of remembrance of those who have fallen by those who are alive. 
To some Veterans, it is odd when someone 'thanks' us for our service on this day; most will say 'thank you' and point to the real reason we honor this day.

What we have is a no harm/no foul situation; the public wants to thank somebody and honor the sacrifice. They know something of Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veteran's Day; but they're not really sure how it all fits together.
The reason - well, upwards of 94% of living Americans have not served in the military.

Veteran's should be proud and the public should honor them appropriately. If I may take a moment to digress and explain the love of country and pride a Veteran feels...
It is not that Veterans could and others could not; it is that we did and others did not.
For God and Country.

Mixing up holidays is mild and forgivable; but for the Christian, we are facing the same problem in not knowing the basics of faith.
In very mild terms, many Christians, even Christian leaders within the local church, have no idea what faith truly is or what the other 'important Biblical stuff' that they should know.
The reason is because many have never been taught and others have never truly experienced faith or grace in a real, vibrant, living way in their lives.

I hate to be the one to inform some modern American Christians of this...but, hey - Jesus Christ did not spend the first century in Palestine and go to a brutal death on a Cross so that you could be prosperous and without needs in the Twenty-First Century.

You see, the New Testament begins with a list of names; it begins with a boring genealogy telling us from whence Jesus came.
The New Testament does NOT begin with the phrase, "This book is how you will change your life and live it to the fullest of your potential."

We would do well as modern Christians to learn the names within Jesus' genealogy and their purpose while forgetting about what we expect God to do for us.
For some reason, modern Christians have forgotten that Christianity is all about service and self-giving at its core; us to one another, the Body for the masses and God giving of Himself so that we might be raised with Him.

A sure-fire, simple approach to becoming what we should be as the Body of Christ is to actually learn about the man whom we say we worship - Jesus Himself.

In Scripture, you will find that Jesus was constantly arguing with the Pharisees, the religious elite. 
His morality matched theirs more than anyone else's, yet they always clashed.
The fact that the Pharisees expected Him to share their values and act more like them is underscored in the religious discussions.
The truth is that the Pharisees had settled on Godliness as an act of the hand rather than an act of the hand being spurred by the faith in the heart.

In today's world, the modern Church in America has Christians reeling because the Church itself is moving and striving to become more and more like the world instead of less.
This has believer's internally rocked and confused; they don't know how to act or behave, what to read or what to declare smut, what to watch in the movies or the movies we should be preaching against.

And why wouldn't they be confused?
Modern Christian thought is all over the place; simply turn on a religious television station and watch for three hours - there will be no continuity or cohesion. 

Quite simply, the modern church must learn what faith is, in whom to believe and the value of grace, mercy and forgiveness.
We once knew what these things were in the not-so-distant past.
These truths are the foundation of practice in our faith to glorify our Resurrected Lord; they must be relearned and retaught to this generation.

We as the Church, we must be able to strongly stand for Biblical Truth without withdrawing from culture and without causing the culture to become a theocracy, the authorities ruling with an iron fist and holding a Bible.
We've seen that before in history; with Moses, with Hezekiah, with John Calvin's Geneva and even with the Puritans in our own country.
This is not how God's grace is distributed among the lost; it certainly isn't how grace is given to the hurting.

Martin Luther, the great German theologue, held to a position of 'Two Kingdoms'; we are citizens of heaven and act as such, while remaining citizens of the secular world and in obedience to governing authorities.

The greatest test for this came under the Nazi regime in Germany; with no tradition of opposing state authorities like the Anabaptists, the 'Two Kingdoms' in one heart failed miserably.

While millions of German Christians did not resist the Nazi takeover of Germany, few thought that the would one day awake to having Adolph Hitler appoint new church leaders; leaders who supported the regime.
At that time, as unthinkable as it is today, the Christian motto was, 'The Swastika on our breasts; the Cross in our hearts.'

Yet, there were a handful who resisted in the name of Christ; Dietrich Bonhoeffer spent two years in a concentration camp before being executed.
Another, Martin Niemoller, defiantly preached, 'Christus ist mein Fuhrer!'
Even the New York Times published nearly 1,000 articles (1933-37) speaking of the German Church struggle.

The truth is that only Christians opposed the Nazis.
When the time came, the Trade Unions, the Scientists, the Medical Doctors, every member of the Reichstag (Parliament), teachers and lawyers; all of them capitulated.

Only the Christian stood in defiance and in resistance.

I mention this to say that any time the Church enters the political arena, the Church will always lose. 
While I pray revival might one day reach the Capital; I can promise that revival will not begin in the Halls of Congress.

In the 1950's & 1960's, Mainline Protestant denominations began to give political messages from the pulpit.
They even went to the point of stressing of the dangers of having a Catholic president in the White House.
Today, those pews now set empty; millions went to more Evangelical churches where they preached faith, grace, forgiveness and mercy. This is an eternal message that never goes out of style and always needs repeating.
Yet, many Evangelical churches are on the brink of making the same mistake as our Mainline brothers and sisters did a generation ago.

The message of 'behaving' without the grace and mercy of God is nothing short of Pharisaical Rules.
Too often the agenda of conservative religious groups match the agenda of conservative politicians instead of Biblical priorities. 
This should never be.

For the message of Christ to permeate our lives, we do not always have to be an 'All or Nothing' people. 

For example, do you realize if the pro-life supporters and the pro-choice advocates would have set down together and hashed out parameters on what they agreed on concerning abortion:

Life of the mother, in cases of rape/incest and severe birth defects - and nothing more - if this had been done, 97% of all children aborted would be alive today.
By rough estimated accounting, that's over 500 million Americans that would be living, working, paying taxes, attending church, playing baseball and a thousand other things.

And if Christians could have just sat down and worked with those we disagreed with in grace, all those people would be alive today.
Instead, our fore-bearers went 'all-or-nothing' when it came to the abortion issue and they lost; not just a political issue, but a moral issue as well as a generation of citizens.

Over the centuries, when Christians had power, they used it against people who did not agree with the principals set forth by the Church.
This was wrong then and it would still be wrong if practiced today.
Sadly, in many places and in many people's lives, the name-calling, the hysteria over things or people Christians did not understand or seek to know, they chaos created rather than calm initiated; the sad truth is that if we as teh Body of Christ don't straighten up, the day will come and is fastly approaching, where people will no longer look to the Church or Christians for guidance.

Again, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love; these come from within and are what should define the Christian.
Think about it: How in the world do you enforce the Great Commandment? You can't physically or practically; we teach it in love, act it out in grace and mercy and hold open the door for any person who wants to know more.
A Christian is nothing more than a recovering sinner trying to help other sinners enter the program.

The Honorable Roy Moore of the Great State of Alabama, was made famous by his conviction and the judicial rulings concerning the erection of a memorial honoring the Decalogue (Ten Commandments.)
With all due respect to Judge Moore, I wish the Ten Commandments were posted in every courthouse in America, but what I would want more than the posting of the Ten

Commandments is to have every Christian actually live the Beatitudes of our Lord.

There's no doubt in my mind that if we lived what we believed, not only would we teach others the Ten Commandments but also the fulfilling of the commandments through a life of faith, grace, love and hope.

Many years ago, Billy Graham was allowed by the Communist authorities in the Soviet Union to come to Russia and hold open revival meetings. 
It was at the height of the Cold War and Graham was an anti-communist; but he went, staying faithful to his calling and honored the Lord.
When he returned, Graham received a letter from a pastor who stated that Graham had, 'set the church back 50 years,' through how he had ministered.

True to form, with a shaft of light given to his mind, Billy Graham wrote that pastor back and stated that he was, 'deeply ashamed' to have set the church back 50 years.
Graham said he was ashamed because he had been trying to set the church back 2,000 years.

Maybe that's what we need to do in our age; attempt to go forward by going back and learning from the first church of the apostles, disciples and witnesses of our Lord.
We've tried everything else, why not try what Scripture tells us already works?

Faith, hope, mercy, love, forgiveness and grace.
These are eternal, bring an eternal hope and never go out of style.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Losing the Church

"This again is a great contradiction: though He was a Jew, His followers were not Jews."

                                                                    ~ Voltaire

There is much ado within the ranks of the American Church nowadays. 

It seems a recent report states what local pastors have known for years, Americans are simply abandoning the Church.
We are not abandoning faith mind you; but millions upon millions are leaving the Church.

Well, why is that?

The answer or answers, are relatively simple.
But in short, we've allowed the psychology of the world to infiltrate the Body of Christ unchecked and unhindered becoming adopted as our theology and practice.

Don't believe it?
Think for a moment of how a generation of liberal churchmen have attempted to change the Biblical Standard of morality and what we as deem important today within the Body of Christ.

The American Society's idols are some of the 'beautiful' people of the world, with philanthropy and good causes associated with their names; everything from the polar bears to global warming can be supported through their foundations.

The current generation doesn't need more good causes to support, such as the church; what they need is the truth of God to fill the hole that is in their hearts.

Yet, our 'idols' are a miserable group of people; as evidenced by the fact that many of them can only function through drugs, alcohol, addictions to sex, fame, or money and the many of their culture who commit suicide or purposefully overdose on an annual basis. 

What it means practically is that they are not fulfilled, they are not happy and their wealth has made them targets for a plethora of other problems we normally do not think about.

Why in the world would Christians want their ministers to imitate and emulate such people? 
Yet, the ministries which are deemed 'successful' manipulate media, have publication machines and are led by ministers who are generally weak in their theology but strong in self-help pep talks as well as toothpaste and glamour shots.

It makes absolutely no sense for Churches to adopt the values of the Kingdom of the World while the Kingdom of God begs to be accepted in our hearts.
The truth of the matter is the fact that God's Kingdom on Earth through and within us brings a great reversal; prosperous saints and mega churches for God's glory are very, very rare.

And while I do not begrudge them, I still must question the sanity in attempting to pastor thousands upon thousands of people, such as we find in 'mega churches'.
Can they even be pastored?

But I digress.

I pray the day soon comes when the men and women in the pew learn that it is more faithful to fulfill your individual calling as a child of God or a church, than it is to try and be something that you were never intended to become.

Jesus said that He came to give us life and life abundantly.

It seems the Body of Christ has forgotten that it is in losing our lives in Christ, and giving our lives to others in the name of Christ, is how we live more abundantly.

Sadly, not only are so many Christians not willing to lose their lives in the lost and hurting; many aren't even willing to lose their lives with their own church members.

The simple truth is that people are leaving the Church, if they came at all, because so many Christians do not treat one another very well at all.
If this is not true, why does nearly every person, minister or parishioner, have a horror story as to how badly they have been treated by other Christians?

Now, that's not always the case, but it is part of it; therefore, if we cannot treat one another in a manner that glorifies Christ at all times, we should not expect people to stay because their conscience will not allow them to worship alongside another.

It seems that modern Christians also have no concept of what it means to be a part of the Kingdom of God while still on earth.
Jesus indirectly described what the Kingdom was/is through His stories; but by the time He was on the Cross, He'd failed the expectations of nearly everyone He had known.

In the same manner, when a congregation does not understand what the purpose of the Church

is, pastors often get crucified because the church isn't growing, or isn't taking in enough money or not enough people are coming to Bible Study or whatever.
But the Church does not exist to perform duties as a religious business; as such, it should not be compared to similar models.

Friend, the purpose of the church is not to grow; the purpose is to help the child of God grow within the Body of Christ; within the Kingdom of God.
If a church member cannot understand the difference, they can be taught; if a church leader does not understand the difference, they should be removed because it is a case of the blind leading the blind.

Most people don't understand the Kingdom of God because they don't know what it means.
The 20th Century saw the fall of most of the remaining secular Kingdoms on earth; save Saudi Arabia and Great Britain.
Today, we have churches full of people who read of the Kingdom of God in Scripture and only have faint images of a by-gone era.
The only conception that remains is that of power.

With God's Kingdom, while He is all-powerful, His Kingdom is fueled by another type of power.
God's power through us is His love.

Love, true Godly love, is a different kind of power; as such, anybody, absolutely anybody is welcome to join His Kingdom.
The reason is a person is far more important than any label; labels divide and we have become so good at dividing that we've divided and split so much that soon we'll reduce ourselves down to congregations of one. 

When we love as Christ loved, it can be misconstrued as 'interest' or 'flirting' when it is actually concern and care for another as Jesus would; for this reason, I know of many who have abandoned the Church because they were accused and thought of in terms of immorality when they were just trying to serve.

Being a Child of God and trying to live for Him as if His Kingdom was already established on earth, that means that I am called to a different, more powerful type of love towards others.
I am called to love the abortionist as well as the woman who has ended her child's life; I am called to love the promiscuous man dying of AIDS as well as the infant who was wrongly infected; I am called to love the lumber barons who wish to rape the West Virginia hills and forests, the outsiders destroying the New River Gorge and to honor the government who no longer allows me to drive on the beaches of the Oregon Inlet.

You see, if a person cannot love and honor those whom we disagree with in order to show them a small piece of what the grace of God is and can do; then, that person has not yet understood the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus' love transcends all things and cuts across all lines and distinctions we make here on earth.
His love has absolutely nothing to do with our merit; but it has everything to do with God's rich grace.

Jesus is the King of His Kingdom and every Christian within it.
As such, we would do well to remember that on Earth, Jesus consistently refused coercive

power, even though there were some who wished Him to do so.
Despite this, as the centuries have passed, many of His followers have chosen 'Caesar's Way' over that of Jesus', and we still feel the ripples today as the new, modern movement with the Church is to adopt the styles of the world.

Why would we do that? The world has failed.
If people wanted to be in the world, they would not have darkened the Church door; but people have and they do not need another place like the world.
They need a place like the Kingdom with men and women who emulate the King.

Whenever the Church uses the world's tools, it will grow ineffectual.
Today, we are ineffectual; but it doesn't have to be that way forever. 
Decide now that it changes and the change begins with you.

Remember, how do they know we are His disciples?
If we love one another.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

From a Pastor's Heart

"A Pint of Sweat will save a Gallon of Blood."

                                                                                ~ General George S. Patton

One of the things that bothered me as a pastor and continues to bother me as I continue in the chaplaincy is the sheer lack of courage many Christians display today.

I once believed the lack of courage was simply a by-product of the age; but I now realize it is nothing more than wicked complacency to the core.

Whether it is a lack of courage concerning our Christian brothers, concerning the truth of the Gospel, concerning Biblical standards within the Body of Christ; in each, there is a sheer lack of courage among Christians.

This hour, there is a current genocide of Christians in the world.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria made worldwide news for the public beheading of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya. 

Crucified Christian in Syria

The Coptics are an ancient group of Christians in Egypt who trace their heritage to the earliest days of the apostles. With nearly as long of a heritage are the Ethiopian Christians, who recently count 30 martyrs at the hands of ISISas well.


In Africa, Boko Haram reeks havoc on believers, with nearly 2,000 Christian women having been abducted and 'used' by Muslim captors. 
In Pakistan, Christians are sometimes set on fire; while in Iran, a United States pastor continues to sit in jail because of his faith.
And in each of the war-torn regions where Islamic fighters conquer, men are killed, children are killed or enslaved and women are repeatedly raped and used for sexual pleasure.
So much for being a religion of peace.

As for the West, Christians here seem not to care until we are directly affected.
For example, Hitler was devouring Europe and dismantling the Jewish people as he rode a wave of power to the Riechstag. 
The United States did very little about the German problem until an Asian nation attacked the

ISIS Rape of Christian Woman

Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. 

This is the disease of pride and self-importance.
For the life of me, I cannot answer the question as to why so few Christians care about their brothers/sisters on the other side of the globe.

I do understand the side of the Christian faith which holds to 'no war at no time.'
I understand the view point but I disagree with it strongly.
But even I must admit, there is a tradition within the Body of Christ and it is based in the teaching of our Lord that we are NOT to live by the sword except it be the sword of the Lord.
And this has been taught be various Christians throughout Church history.

Even after nearly two-thirds of the "Christian World" was conquered by Muslim armies, Francis of Assisi tried to stop the Crusades.
When he failed, missionaries were sent to the Holy Lands to serve the suffering and hurting due to the warfare.

Yet, the world has indeed changed.
No longer is Europe the center of Christianity; in fact, along with North America, together both regions only boast about one-third of all Christians.
The center, it can be found in Africa and Asia - the very places where Islamic Terrorists are threatening the faith the hardest.

Do you see a pattern?
Wherever the faith is the strongest is the same place where the enemy attacks.

Since American Christians haven't been attacked lately, maybe that's more of an indictment about our faith than it is an encouragement bolstering our confidence in our righteousness. 

Why aren't we as courageous as those martyrs in third-world countries?
I'm not sure.
But I do know that one of the answers to a more courageous faith is to stop thinking of how others respond to situations and the world around us and YOU and ME, as individual followers of Christ, we begin to look at our behavior and our motives in the present - and then act according to how Jesus would have us act.

To do so, it will take Godly courage; strength spurred by the Holy Spirit within us.

The truth is that we allow the non-repentant to continue in church as if there were no sin; some of which may even be chosen in a church office.
We allow Godly pastors to be wrongly fired or at least unfairly criticized because of power struggles and jealousy.
And why?

Because we don't want to offend anybody.
Because we don't want to lose attendance numbers.
Friend, we risk gaining the world and losing our soul.

In America, we are blessed to have so much freedom; even today, although there are some who act as if we are not free at all.
But I ask you, who in the world has more freedom than an American Christian?
Nobody.

Yet, that same freedom we love; it has also become our worst enemy.

Our Capitalistic society demands constant growth to support itself.
That means the citizens of the society must have ever-expanding needs and wants.
When the market place slows, the citizens' must be retaught as to what their needs and wants are so that prosperity may abound.
Why else would their be advertisements for new toys the day after Christmas on television?

And this attitude of ever-expanding 'needs' has bled over into the Church.
For example, most church members are more concerned right now with church growth than they

are church health or what use to be called 'sanctification.'

But I ask you, which is more important, every pew being filled OR seeing true believers grow in holiness and in an attitude which honors and glorifies the Lord?

The answer is clear Biblically; yet, we often lack the courage to state the obvious.

It has amazed me for years that many churches desire bigger and better 'youth groups,' hiring ministers specializing in such things.
Yet, those same 'youths' do not have parents who teach and model the Sermon on the Mount or even live The Golden Rule.

Friend, if your faith is not important enough for you to live; it is not important enough for the younger generation to learn.
And if it is not important enough to learn, it certainly isn't important enough for your faith to be defended. If it is not defended, taught, learned and truly believed - then it isn't worthy enough for a person to lay down their life for the faith or for another believer.

Yet, this is only seen in Western Christianity; those in Africa and Asia realize its importance and are willing and courageous enough to lay down their life for the One who laid down His life for them.

Mahatma Gandhi was effective in his moral teachings and protests; he gained worldwide attention without ever having a hand-crank telephone.
Modern Christians have the technology past generations would have called witchcraft; instead of being able to use it to glorify Christ, it is rotting our lives.
We have an improved means but an unimproved end - self-glorification.

We reward religious leaders today with applause, speaking engagements, contracts for books and money.
It has gotten to the point where pastors can no longer Pastor; they are expected to be psychologists on level with any professional, orators on the gauge of Cicero, priests ascending their prayers to God and CEO's of the 'Church Corporation.'
It is no wonder so many ministers get out of the ministry; the expectations are unfair, nearly unattainable, and the very people they love are the same people who criticize and hurt them the most.

The threats against pastors are greater today as well; especially if one shows the true courage of his heart and the direction the Holy Spirit has given him.
Many are threatened with being fired if they don't conform to the status quo; as such, time for personal reflection and growth is gone, being replaced with survival mode to protect himself and his family.
And anything that happens, the pastor will rarely receive an apology.

The truth is that the world has grow tired of Christ's people who set in the pews and horribly misrepresent His name.

While Jesus was on Earth, He battled the elite; the same spirit of elitism is within the Church today. Maybe it is time for the courage of Christ to gain momentum within us and stand with our pastors and Godly leaders.
Maybe it's time to stifle those who gossip, criticize and hurt other Christians.
Maybe it's time for all of us to start acting like Jesus again.
And maybe that's why our brethren are being killed by ISIS. They seek to emulate a Lord we in the West have long ago set aside, but still claim.

Jesus released a river of moral authority that still frees the captives, liberates the oppressed and undermines the power-hungry and violent.
That river flows whether the church jumps in the water or stands on the bank; for, that river does not come from us but originates from God Himself in the form of the Gospel.

The Gospel has its own life; it liberates every marginalized group in the world.
The Gospel works; it simply works.
At times, it may be slow; it may be deliberate; but the Gospel always prevails.

I don't know why our brethren in Asia and Africa are suffering martyrdom and we in the West seem to lack courage.
Maybe God has called them to martyrdom because we've been derelict. 
Maybe we've been too busy presenting Christianity instead of presenting Christ.

No longer should we cower; but may we rise up in the courage of the Gospel and teach the eternal truths of God from His eternal Word.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Dispensers of God's Grace

"Let justice roll down like a river; and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

                                                                                  ~The Prophet Amos

When a person is hurt over a series of events or years, I have found that the pain never really and truly goes away; layer simply accumulate.

We learn to live with injuries committed against us.
We move on.
We move away.
We remove individuals from our lives.

Sometimes, we even remove ourselves from entire congregations and churches.

But the pain which was caused, the injury which was done - it remains.
Deep down, it remains and never goes away; like a river cutting though a gorge, it deepens.

Maybe that's why the hero of Jesus' parables was always the most unlikely person in the story.
Or maybe it is because they are the people who need grace.

You see, the people who most need grace are not the 'good church member' who thinks they are too proper and righteous to be damned for their sin.
No...these are those who believe the right things, do the right things, go through all the motions; but in their entire 'Christian' vocabulary cannot string the letters together to spell 'love.'

We must remember, it was the good church crowd that crucified Christ.

In the paintings, there are always people at the foot of the cross; ever wonder what they were saying to each other as Jesus gasped for air?


I've often thought that they said to one another, 'Well, if He wasn't guilty, they wouldn't have crucified Him.'


How bad do you think those words and thoughts wounded the Lord?

I've heard the same said about pastors who wouldn't defend themselves; words spoken by people who claimed to love him and his family.

You know, when a person is betrayed, the injury which remains isn't the actual act - its the prelude deception and it is what people assume afterwards.
The broken relationships and deception eat away at your soul at times if you let it.

Grace comes to the those most willing to receive it and it is usually those who are holding out open hands because they've nowhere else to turn.
God responds to those open hearts and open hands by filling them.

How I wish more Christians, including myself, would seek to be the vessel which God would choose to use in filling the empty hands of others who are seeking His blessing in hope.

This week I was contacted by several members of a church I once served.
The conversation soon turned to an anonymous letter which these two particular families had received. The letter concerned the direction of the church and its leadership since I left.

I did not receive this letter, although it was complimentary towards the ministry which God did through me while serving there.
The letter quoted numbers, gave examples, and chastised the people who made it difficult on me and whom I feel betrayed me and the church itself.
But I was a bit bewildered when it was read to me.

I don't know who wrote the letter but two things stood out for me personally.

First, like the church officers who no longer wanted me to serve, the author of the letter fails to understand the nature of what a pastor is and does.
A pastor's responsibility is NOT to make a church grow numerically; if a person wants to see that kind of growth, turn on the television and see what some of the electronic ministers are preaching. It's near heresy.

Rather, Scripture has one mandate for a pastor - 'feed my sheep.'
That means a pastor should be far more concerned about spiritual growth than numerical growth; if a church does not understand this from the outset, the minister is on borrowed time.

The second thing that stood out in the anonymous letter was the pure honesty and frankness about it.
Truthfully, I have no clue as to some of the claims; I haven't kept track of my former church. I'm

pastoring a base of 1,100+ Airmen and have little time for trivial matters.
But whoever wrote that letter was hurt by what happened when I left; they seem to want justice to be done in such an unjust situation. 

If they are reading these words, remember that the only way to bring justice to the world is to convert those who oppress.
The problem of what happened to me or even current leadership - it is a heart problem and Christ must first heal the heart before anything else can take place.

Trust me, the only way a person can help others solve their heart problem is by being a dispenser of God' grace.

To be sure, I am a lightening rod at times; when a person is treated wrongly, especially when someone I love is hurt or injured, I want justice.
I want someone or something to step in and make things right.

Well, God did that very thing; Jesus died for such injustices and pain.
He didn't die to solve the broken heart, the shattered pieces; Jesus died for the person who betrayed his pastor; He died for the person who broke the heart. He died for the one who shattered good people's lives out of a personal vendetta. 

On the other hand, Jesus will help and heal those who have been injured, hurt and betrayed when they come to Him, not in anger demanding judgment; but in their pain asking for peace.
And when we ask for that peace, while we may never forget what happened, God brings people into our lives to minister to us in grace, He calms our racing minds, and He does bring a close to one ministry and opens another.

All of which was know to God ever before the unrighteous even thought about coming against us.
Remember that!

A few years ago, I read a story about the end of apartheid (South Africa's segregation laws) and I want to share it here because I truly believe it says something about the power of grace.

When Nelson Mandela came to power in South Africa, he had to deal with years and years of atrocities against blacks by the minority whites.
Historically, what normally happens is when one group takes power, they go on the same rampage of killing, torture and rape as their former oppressors engaged in.
Mandela absolutely refused to allow this to happen.

Instead, Mandela began what was called the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
This Commission would hear cases and hand out justice and judgment on all atrocities brought before it in court.
The world watched, and waited.

Mostly, the world wanted to see what would happen because the Commission wasn't offering retribution, torture or pain in return for pain.
It's goal was reconciliation of the two races.
Would that be in name only or would it be in reality?

One particular case involved this one man who was a police officer; but now he didn't hold the power, he was the one on trial before the Commission.
This man had shot an 18-year old boy and then burned the boy's body on a spit, similar to how a fraternity might roast a pig.
Eight years later, the same man returned to the same house and seized the boy's father; poured gasoline on him, placed him in a woodpile and burned him to death.

The man now faced the boy's widowed mother before the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.

First, the man was required to gather the dust of the two men so that there could be some type of a proper burial.
But what happened next is beyond what anyone could have possibly imagined.

The man was ordered to go to the woman's house, at her request, twice a month and visit her in the slums where she lived.
Her explanation was simply that this man had taken her family from her, she still had a lot of love to give; therefore, he must now act as her surrogate family and son until one of them died.

At this, the courtroom broke out singing, 'Amazing Grace.'
But this man never heard it; when he heard the verdict, he was so overcome and overwhelmed by grace that he fainted.

I write these words to say this:

Though I have my days where the pain of the past rises to a boiling point within my heart and mind, as I am sure everyone does who has been betrayed and hurt by people they love, to allow the pain and anger to control us instead of God's work within us doesn't make sense.

You see, we desire justice.
But Grace is needed more than Justice.

Therefore, if you really want to be 'Christ-like' as the name 'Christian' implies, then you and I are to be dispensers of God's grace and leave Him as the dispenser of justice.

You see, Jesus didn't offer theological proofs.
Jesus didn't argue with those who were dead set against Him.

Instead, He transformed lives by mercy, forgiveness and grace.
And if we are faithful to Him, we can do the same.


Until next time, go win one for the good guys.