21st Century Gods

Walking the corridors of the Cleveland Clinic, you see many interesting sights. 

Though many of the patients you see are on a journey that will end in their death, there is an atmosphere of hope. 


This is amazing because generally speaking, hospitals, nursing homes, doctor's offices and health care facilities don't usually breed an overall sense of hope. 
Generally, they are fairly depressing and the longer you are in one, the more depressing they become for everyone.

One of the things that still amazes me about the Clinic is that there is a McDonald's built right in the cafeteria. 
The one restaurant franchise, in my opinion, which has caused more health problems than any other is located in one of the greatest healing centers in the world.

I also find it interesting that there are chapels for various religions located right next to each other on the same floor. 
In the minds of many, everybody is headed to the same place in the end, so this is normal.
To me, its very abnormal because somebody has to be right; which means the others are wrong.

What is more amazing to me is the fact that the vast majority of people simply don't care.
Millions upon millions of people worldwide don't really have much concern about spirituality; their concern is about themselves and what affects them from day to day.
The vast majority of people do  not worship in a church, temple, synagogue or mosque anyway; they worship in the mirror, or in a bar, or in a sports facility.

Though a person would look at you as if you are from another planet if you asked them what idol to which they paid homage, the truth is most people are idolaters. 
The difference between Biblical times and now is the fact we are far too sophisticated to worship a piece of wood or a stone.

C.S. Lewis called idolatry the 'Sweet poison of the false infinite.'
And he was absolutely right.

Humans allow substitutes for the sacred; yet the vacuum in our hearts remain and we try to fill it with something, anything - it is a false infinite. 
It can be anything, anything in the place of God, that is.

For example, in 1961 Nikita Khrushchev proclaimed communism as sacred.
He had in fact dethroned God and put man in His place.
When this thought spread throughout the old Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe, it didn't elevate man nor society; it led to levels of death and cruelty among those nations that are nearly unspeakable and certainly unexplainable.
I wonder how many suicides and manic depressants came to light after the fall of the Soviet Union; for their god was dead.

But in the United States, the government is not the god of most; nor is the military like the old Prussian and Germanic States. It certainly isn't a party like the Communists and it isn't an earthly king.
The great god of most Americans is Sex.

Sex is extremely blatant today; raised to a Divine Status with the glorification of self the chief method of daily devotion.
It touches everything in society; it sells everything, even children's animated television shows.
Sports Illustrated calls its models of the swimsuit issue, "goddesses," while Victoria Secret calls its models 'Angels.'
And men and women alike spend billions of dollars each year on themselves, trying to make themselves more attractive. 
In the old days, we would have called it decorating an idol.

Previous generations honored virginity and monogamy in marriage; today, this seems to be a practice of a by-gone era.
Sex is now presented as the highest good; as a result, it doesn't bind marriages together any more but with the glorification of self and seeking the highest pleasure in our selfishness, sex quickly becomes the method by which many marriages end.
Shouldn't something that we have given such a high power to in our lives have a longer lasting effect when it is prevalent among those whom we love?

Not so long ago, in our circle of friends and acquaintances, my wife and I watched marriages begin to fall one at a time.
Amazingly, the scenario that was playing out in each of those couples lives were remarkably the same; it did not matter if the couple was military, church, or just people we knew from our children's school - all of them had two things in common: they were all within the same age group, and it was the women, not the men, who had 'stepped out' with another person and committed adultery against their husbands.

The great god of Sex had claimed sacrifice after sacrifice as marriage after marriage fell.

Well, what was the reason?
It was actually quite simple and none of them had anything to do with any type of abuse or 'payback' or anything of that nature.
What had happen and continues to happen is a physiological fact.
Each of the women had hit their mid-30's and physiologically came alive; their husbands had already been through this a few years before, but when their wives went through this process, they actually did not know what to do with themselves.

Some of them began to lose massive amounts of weight, some began to hit the gym more and become involved in yoga; others began widening their circle of friends. 
Various things happened in their lives, but when it came right down to it - they all wanted to fill the vacuum in their heart with somebody who made them feel young and beautiful.
And without the foundation of Christian morality and practice being taught when they were younger in their homes, when the time came and their faith was greatly tested, they failed.

So, the god of Sex claimed them and the marriages were destroyed.

But let me say this before I continue, some of the men immediately ended the relationship; but most of them tried to restore their marriage and were willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.
Sometimes they succeeded; sometimes they didn't.
And there were a precious few, who persevered in their commitment and made it. 

A man who was in the middle of this type of situation once asked me, 'What is it with all these women having affairs? Do they hit 40 and just go nuts?'
The short answer is 'no.'
How this happens is that we choose something that is good and then grant it a status and a power it was were never meant to have.
Whether it is Sex or drugs or whatever - we use to call it idolatry;  today we call it an 'addiction.'

If we'd quit calling sin something that sounds acceptable - that would be a good start to solving the problem.

Westerners are not alone in this.
I recently read that in Melanesia (Pacific islands northeast of Australia) that there is a "Cargo Cult" who pray for airplanes to soar through the skies, descending on them and dropping containers of Spam as they did in World War II.

As a side note, I have to wonder how bad your life has to be that you would seek to worship that which brings Spam to your life.
But I digress.

All idols, whether they are stone images of the first century, Spam in the 1940's or Sex in the 21st Century, all of them reveal so much about the person and society who worships at its altar. 
Along with Sex, there are millions who also worship at the altar of Sports.
Why else would ESPN be so dominant in cable ratings while at the same time being chased by every major network for viewers in the same venue?

In fact, the second time Michael Jordan retired, he earned more from endorsements than twice of what all the U.S. Presidents combined had earned.
That simply tells me that our society is totally out of balance.

But do you know what is interesting about ourselves?
You and I can determine anything, but we cannot abstain from worshiping something. 
Humans have never stopped seeking a god of some type; every society of every era and culture has worshiped at an altar of some type.
We cannot stop ourselves - even if that altar is a mirror in which we sing, 'How Great Thou Art' every morning when we awake.

We can't stop worshiping; instead, what we tend to do is swallow the poison of a false infinite.
We will substitute a lesser god.
The apostle Paul described it as forsaking the Creator while at the same time worshiping the creation.

While God is always near us, many - even Christians - will look for God in all the wrong places and in all the wrong things.
In doing so, we run the risk in temptation of giving them a higher status and power than what they are to have in our lives.
We must seek God and abstain from the false alternatives.

Yet, God is best seen like we would see the sun during a solar eclipse.
The best way to see it is not by staring straight at the sun; instead is is seen through something on which the sun is projected.
Christians ought to be that one thing on which the Son is projected; therefore, others will be able to better see God of the Ages among this age of the gods.

Earth and our longings are little but advanced echoes of another world.
What we experience here is good; don't make it a god in your life because in the next world there is something infinitely better.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Pay Attention

Trinity Garden, Church of the Holy Trinity; Parnell, New Zealand

The Westminster Catechism teaches the chief end of man is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' Interesting.
I agree with it the statement in its totality, but for most people, theological statements do not translate into practical living.
This is especially true when God's holiness or His glory is so far removed from us.

We don't exactly live in a world that 'glorifies God' nor does culture seek to 'enjoy Him forever.' Instead, it is as if the Christian is trapped in a world where we know something is askew.

The world we know is wrought with colleagues who suffer with their spouses when a bout of cancer is endured; it is full of the prayers of the faithful when, for one of our own, breathing becomes as laborious as childbirth; it is a world full of pink slips, broken promises, tumors, aching backs, a spoiled environment and wanting lives devoid of God's glory and enjoyment of His blessings.

Yet, I have no desire to escape the natural world like some of the past and a few in the present.
In yesteryear, the Gnostics said the answer was to be found in deeper, more spiritual knowledge only a few could ascertain.
Then the time came when monks retreated to the desert and seclusion; personally, becoming a monk has never crossed my mind - mostly because I've never liked the haircut.
In a more recent time, including our own, there are the radical 'Fundamentalists' who attempt to flee the 'worldliness' which surrounds them.

When considering those who have fled from the world for a Promised Land, I can't help but think of the tragic end to those who fled to Jonestown only a few decades ago. 
They were a religious people escaping a polluted world, only to be deceived by the Father of Lies himself. Sad.
Scripture indicates we are to be separated from the world, not isolated from it.

Truthfully, I don't want to escape the world because it is the best and only world I have been given in which I might glorify God and enjoy Him through this life.
Personally, I want my life to be the fullness and the wholeness that God intended.

Bodie Island Lighthouse, OBX

You see, either the world belongs to God or it does not. 
Either I can hear God's voice whispering through the sounds and acts of nature when attentive, or I can't; both cannot be simultaneously true. 

If you and I could have known God aside from the world, God would not have created the world but would have created another medium through which His children would be called and guided to their Heavenly Father.

"In the beginning, God CREATED....."
So begins the first words to the greatest book ever to grace the human language; yet, it is not just a book but a revelation into the mind of God - a window into His heart.
This being true, the world had a sacred origin and life too, is sacred for He is the author of both.
But clearly, while I am expressing theology, the world in which you and I live, we know that modern men do not treat the world nor their bodies in the sacredness either deserves.

One has said that creation sings in a minor key; it could be this is the "groaning" the Apostle Paul referenced in Romans. 
After doing a little research into what takes place in the world, I can see why creation groans, for man has taken God's natural creation for granted:
- At an alarming rate throughout the 20th century, Americans took the most fertile lands on earth and instead of growing crops to feed the starving masses, we paved over them to form parking lots on which to sit our over-priced, over-used cars.

- Aside from the Wild Turkey spill in the Kentucky River (Kentucky) which killed thousands of fish during the '90's, and aside from the more recent chemical spill in the Elk River (Charleston, WV) which sickened hundreds and left over 300,000 without clean water for weeks - humans have been pouring toxins into our water supplies for years, without batting an eye.
And it has affected everything from the fish we wish we could eat to the water we suspiciously drink.

- And as far as human life goes, that which is the most sacred is actually the most endangered.
Roughly - about 24,000 children die every day in third world countries from diseases that have been deemed 'preventable.'
As for the West, we will abort over 120,000 more children each day, dying before they ever leave the womb.
Our adults do not just lead an assault on children, we are also abusing ourselves physically and sexually; showing the largest disrespect for the greatest of God's masterpieces. 

Unfortunately, our treatment of ourselves and our ever spiraling downward morality has caused us to force those things which are truly sacred to a very small place in our lives, if the sacred is there at all.
Most people who do make room for the sacred, relegate God to only a couple of hours each Sunday; some even will tell jokes in the parking lot of the church which would NEVER be told in the sanctuary.

Yet, with all these issues, the beauty of nature remains as one of the strongest pointers to an all-powerful, all-loving God. 
In my mind, I have stored many images from nature; it is a memory bank filled of God's grace and wonder.
Why any person would want to forsake God's creation for something that is less of an indicator of God's wonder is absolutely beyond me.

When man began to expand across the earth, cities began to be built for convenience; but among nature, trout streams and mountains - the perspective changes everything.
Nature reminds us how truly dependent we are upon God and how mortal we truly are in this world.

Some years ago, I briefly lived on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX); having enjoyed the sun and beach for many years on and off, actually living there for a short time provided me with a different perspective than a casual tourist would have.
But I digress.

One of the main concerns of environmentalists and the National Park Service for years on the OBX has been the well-being of Loggerhead Sea Turtles.
The Loggerhead is an amazing animal. The can age to be over 70 years old and become over 6 feet long.

Not so long ago and for many years prior, anyone who chose could drive as many miles on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore as they desired.
Most people who in fact did take their vehicles on the beach, did so to enjoy nature, to fish in the surf - sometimes in seclusion, sometimes with numerous people from other places around the world.
Such was the case at two of the greatest fishing places on the East Coast, the Oregon Inlet and Cape Point, located on Hatteras Island.

In all the years, from 1979 to now, I have NEVER seen or even heard a rumor of any turtle nor any other wildlife being harmed on the beaches of the Outer Banks.
But that didn't stop the federal government from exercising its authority and closing off the vast majority of the seashore to the public in the name of 'protecting' the Loggerhead Turtle.

The point of this is that the very beach and habitat that was sought out for protection in the long term, can no longer be enjoyed.
Why would we protect nature only to shove humanity off the very land which would shout choruses of God's Glory.

"The place in the monastery which is closest to God is not the church, but the garden.'
                                                                                                      -- Egyptian Monk Pachomius

The monk is accurate, for I too am close to God in the garden; in nature.
But nature delivers mixed messages; the beauty of creation is often mingled with brutality and pain.
Chimps aide their wounded; ground squirrels routinely eat their own babies.
Dolphins will risk their own lives to help their companions; Mallard ducks will gang rape and then drown other ducks.
Morality in nature certainly isn't absolute; nature is fallen as we are fallen.

Comforting is the fact God knows every sparrow which falls; and they do fall, just as hair falls from our heads during chemotherapy.
And nature, like God's children, though fallen - it will be redeemed.

The very fact we know that something is obviously wrong with the world is proof that God does exist.
But beyond that, humans have an in-built longing for a place where His will is fulfilled and is the norm; for, that is the place where we are headed in His redemption.

And if you pay attention, you'll be able to see glimpses of His hand in the world pointing us to Himself.
Until next time, go win one for the good guys.

We're More Than Goats

"What if Earth be but the shadow of heaven?"

                                        - John Milton

I have friends who own a farm; on their farm they raise goats. 
The one conclusion I have drawn after several years on this farm: Goats are Stupid!

One must only think about this rationally for a moment.
A goat will spend his life eating whatever is available at the time, it will be nudged and herded by dogs around the farm, the bucks will mate with the does and then one day, the goat will look around and see their 'goat friends' are no longer there, but the others keep on living just as they had the day before.

Seriously, though, I doubt if the average goat has this much self realization.

Now, from a goat's perspective, to the degree which a goat may think at all, a goat would presume and believe that he is ordering his own destiny.
The goats in this herd do not realize that their entire lives, at every stage, is totally orchestrated according to the sovereign, rational plan devised by my friends.

As I undergo another bout with internal tumors, I think back to those first days when I was first diagnosed. Back then I wondered at times if humans stood in relation to God as do those goats to us.
Maybe in some ways we do; Scripture does refer to believers as sheep and God does use the possessive pronoun when referring to us.
In truth, I know humanity is treated better by God than the goats. 
Also, I seriously doubt our free will, though void of pure moral liberty, is relegated to a position like that of a soulless, domesticated animal.

From a very early age, Christians have been taught that our planet represents God's work; if this is true, we will never grasp true reality until God is taken into account.
Furthermore, we will never understand what we are meant to understand on earth until we establish a relationship with Him.

In the scientific world, there are those (Atheists) who speak of an 'anthropic principle' being present and evident in creation.
To put it another way, in one man's estimation, "The universe knew we were coming..."
And if you want to put it in a Biblical way - The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows the work of His hands.

Though there are those who ignore the signs around us on an increasing level, occasionally, there is a shock so great to our system and spirit that we instead ignore the naysayers and turn to God.
For the American citizen of our generation that day was 11 September 2001.

I remember what seemed to be an otherwise perfect fall Tuesday very well.
On that day, though theologians had been exposing it for years, evil exposed the inner shallowness of our entire society.
As a result, all television and radio commercials - stopped.
Professional sports ceased.
Married couples canceled divorce plans all over the nation; parents began to choose spending more time with their children over working longer hours.

For the first time in many people's lives - they saw the comparative meaningless of their lives when confronted with such tragedy.

Scientists have long said that all humans have a 'selfish gene' that seeks its own and motivates us to do what we do for our own benefit.
I'm not a scientist, but I know on that day, new heroes gave their lives for people they had never met; skin color, gender, sexual preference nor religion made a difference.
And amazingly, the New York Times ran a separate article for every victim; showing the world that we believe that every life matters and every life has value.

Many people in modern society haven't renounced spirituality and that's good; but sadly, they have replaced it with weaker substitutes.
Unlike the past generations, who turned to God weekly instead of just when He's needed the most, this generation seems to be unsure about God Himself.
Yet, the one thing that remains and we cannot change is the fact that there is something within us that causes us to long for something much greater than ourselves.

In short, we are much more that goats on a farm.

And whether a person is suffering from Cancer or enjoying a honeymoon; this longing is there within our hearts until it is satisfied.
Yet, it can only be satisfied when it is satisfied in the person of Christ.

Seek Him, Find Him, Know Him, Serve Him - you're not a goat, you're meant to be a child of the King of the Ages.

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

Patterns of Irony

As I was poked and prodded upon the last several days, awaiting biopsy procedures and MRI scans, a truth kept returning to my mind: 
The World is good, the World is fallen, the World can be redeemed.

Even with hurting organs and the rattling of a machine around my head, regardless of how things work now, one day the world, myself and all I know will fit into a pattern that makes sense because of the Providence of God.

Tragically, things don't make much sense right now in life.
I'm 40 years old and it seems that my body keeps growing wider and its parts are failing more often than not.
Maybe that's how it is supposed to be, but I don't think so and I refuse to accept this state as the final state to which I am predestined.

Personally, it doesn't make sense physically, nor does it make sense to me spiritually that Christians have so much trouble communicating with God and learning His will for their lives.

For many Christians, a conversation with God is like the old phone systems we knew when I was a child; there tends to be a lot of bleed-in from static, hiding His voice especially when there is a storm raging.
We may faintly hear His voice, but it wavers in and out; not because He's not speaking clearly but because the fallen nature of the world has disrupted our conversation.

The ultimate triumph of history is the reconciliation of the universe from how it is to how it is to be.
Another way of stating it is to redeem the world and all that it is in it back to its original state.
The world we know now was spoiled after the perfect creative acts of God; yet, God is not defeated.
Somehow, some way, many times unknown to us how - God uses that which is fallen in the world to combat the evil toward which the world tilts at this time.
One day, that tilt will be adjusted and all will be reconciled through the redemption of His Son.

I know that those whom I knew years ago in high school, college, those with whom I rode in the police departments or with whom I was deployed - many of them do not accept all that I write.
Some knew me in what I call 'my other life,' some because they have their own beliefs and some because they never knew what I believed at all.
But mostly, it is because they haven't had the experiences that I have had.
And one of the greatest experiences, or lessons, that I have learned is how God uses bad things, even bad people, as the raw material for His good.

For Example: Today we stamp an ancient mode of execution into gold necklaces; it is the crucifix. Nobody would think of making a tiny electric chair into a piece of jewelry, but that is essentially what we have done with the Cross.
The Cross was the most torturing, humiliating, and excruciating mode of execution ever devised by humans.
At the time, the world believed Christ was a horrible failure - including the disciples. 
Yet, His so-called 'failure' on the Cross didn't make sense until the end; it didn't make sense until the resurrection.

When we trust God to weave our bad decisions into good, to tend to our broken hearts and relationships, when we trust Him to find success in our missed opportunities, victory in our pain, our illnesses and our regret - when we trust Him with these things, we are trusting Him with the very core of our lives to be brought into the fullness of His overall redemptive victory.
And all of this is a trust which happens in a future which we cannot yet see, but we receive glimpses of in this world even now.

Unlike some television ministries, we must admit that not everything is immediately good to those who seek God. Many times it has proven disastrous for the seeker.
For example, I was once sent to a distant country where converting to Christianity is illegal; in fact, it is punishable by death. 
After arriving, I soon learned that about a week beforehand a young woman converted to Christianity and was executed for her "crime."

Seeking God and His righteousness is our first calling, but our seeking God does not always end in immediate good for the seeker.
Yet, our seeking has potential.

You see, a Christian starts with the conclusion that a good and Holy God will restore creation and sees all of history as proceeding toward that end - regardless of what happens in the meantime here on earth.
When a Grand Master sits across from an amateur on the chess board, victory is assured; regardless of how bad the Grand Master makes it look to build the confidence in the amateur.
Sometimes God will put us in rough situations to allow us to come through them so that our faith will be built and our confidence strengthened in Him.

In reality, about 3/4 of the Bible is a story of the failure of God's people.
And this should be an encouragement for every Christian because in spite of those failures, God still accomplished His will.
For example, in the rejection of the Law, the Prophets and the Messiah; God gave the Gospel of grace to the nations.

In the miracle of grace, our personal failures and spiritual defeats can become very powerful tools in the hands of a Mighty God.
But this only happens if we allow Him to use our sins, failures and defeats in the way He chooses and desires; for only God knows what 'might' be brought out of them.

The great thing is that it is not our good which God tends to use; God brings good out of the evil we do.
How did the Israelites become a nation? Through the leadership of Moses.
How did Moses learn to lead them to the Promised Land? The Exodus from Egypt.
Why did the Exodus happen? God was delivering His people from slavery.
How did God's people become enslaved? The Egyptians were scared of their numerical advantage.
How did they get to Egypt in the first place? Their relative Joseph was there in government leadership and sent for them.
How did Joseph get to Egypt? His brothers sold him into slavery.

And in Joseph's words - what they meant for evil, God meant for good.
Simply put, if God only used our good to promote good - He'd quickly run out of raw material.

One grand question for the ages is this: 'How do we receive personal suffering as a blessing?'
Seriously - are we supposed to take the 'grin & bear it' approach?
I don't think so - the saints of the Bible tangled with God when their world was falling to pieces; sometimes for our own peace of mind, we will do the same.
Yet, deep down the Christian knows the character of God is true and that trusting in God's will means that God will use any circumstance to bring about His desires.
And these desires will always be good, pure and Holy.

If we take a limited view of our pain and suffering, we are guaranteed to walk away from a struggle of faith with more questions than any answers we might discover.
Yet, if we not only believe, but know in our spirit that the ultimate triumph in suffering is the final redemption of the Son of God - questions we may have in this life about pain and suffering will not see so important any more.

Remember Job?
He was the man who wasn't just upset with what seemed to be unjust suffering at God's hand; he was furious and went into a raging indictment against God Himself.
But when God came on the scene, He did not answer Job's questions but reminded Job of His Providence and Sovereignty over all things in the universe.
And while the questions weren't answered, Job seems quite satisfied by what God had said to him.

I cannot explain in totality Job's feelings, emotions or his mindset 4,000 years ago in his conversation with God. 
But I do believe we have a few hints in Scripture.
It was enough for Job or for anyone for that matter, when God responded and reminded them of His Sovereign control.
There is a definite 'peace which surpasses all understanding' in knowing that God is on His throne and in control of all things - not only the universe generally but specifically in our lives as well.

If we could remember this in our times of trial, pain and suffering; our times of biopsies and cancer, there will be a great security and peace brought to our fearful hearts.

You see, God's ultimate will cannot be thwarted.
In human history, a person can go back through the annals of the ages and discover that humanity has constantly tried to throw road blocks in the way of God.
Each one, whether it was the destruction of His people or the thwarting of His Gospel - all of them have been overcome.

In the here and now, God allows us to find ourselves in harm's way.
Yet, the character of God tells us these times do not reflect His intentional will, but his permissive will as the fallen world evolves around us.
And in a fallen world, bad things are going to happen; the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

But the one hope we have is the truth that as God restores Creation, so too will you and I be restored into the perfection we should have known from the Beginning.
It is a glorious end to a very ironic world.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Heart of Faith

This week's turn of events brought sadness to the hearts of many as we lost one of our Airmen in my unit due to a car accident. 
I was privileged to have been asked to join with several other ministers in honoring him and his life as he was laid to rest.
His youth and vigor in life, a good and decent man by all accounts - it is tragic; words nearly escape me as I think back to the mourning Airmen, Firefighters, Emergency workers, Friends and Family.

Yet, in all amid tragedy - I saw a glimmer of hope and peace.
Those military members and firefighters who were among the honor guard were staged from the church's nursery area. 
Walking into the nursery, I saw a child sitting on a chair; kneeling in front of him was a soldier belonging to the U.S. Cavalry and a Police Officer from one of towns in the county. 
As the tears flowed from many eyes, I saw these two men begin to shine that young child's shoes.

Now, those shoes didn't really need to be shined; he was a child.
But those two men, whose dear friend had passed, were therapeutically focusing their attention on that young man; who was overjoyed that these two 'heroes' would take the time and show him that he mattered.

And that is exactly what God does in our lives when tragedy strikes; He will show up in ways that we do not expect and teach us once again that we are important to Him, that He loves us and that He has all things in the palm of His hand.

Given the fact that tomorrow is St. Valentine's Day, it is appropriate to speak of our relationship to God in the context of love and marriage.

It may surprise you to know that most marriages in world have absolutely no hint of romantic love whatsoever. Among most people outside of the 'West;' marriages are generally arranged affairs that benefit both families.
And yet, in those societies that have arranged marriages where the couple has little say as to whom they will marry - those societies have a very low divorce rate.

You see, when a couple enter into an arranged marriage, they no longer search the world for the one whom they believe they should marry.
The question of life is not 'who should I marry?'
Instead, the question becomes: 'Given this partner, what kind of marriage can we construct?'

I would recommend a similar approach to a person's relationship with God; especially if that person is struggling in their faith.
When we have difficult times - a heart condition, a tragic death, a disease; when we have these things, we can pour our hearts out to God and demand that He change our circumstance - we can do that, many have.
OR - You and I can accept God exactly as He has revealed Himself and the fact that you, with all your flaws and failures, as a person has been chosen by the hand of God as His child.

Faith is very similar to a pre-arranged marriage; a Christian should pre-commit to God regardless of what is to come.
We should not come to God with a list of demands or expectations; we come to Him and serve Him regardless of what the future brings.
To the Christian, faith should mean that you 'vow' to love Him no matter what; the truth is that God has already made that commitment to His children - His children ought to be willing to make the same commitment to Him.

There are people who believe they 'choose' God; this choice being made among the available options in the world.
Some even have the idea that the relationship is similar to a romantic relationship; God brings them good things in their life, they tithe expecting a return ten-fold in the hopes of God prospering them.
To be sure, given the ministries of televangelists over the last 30 years, why wouldn't millions of people think that this is how it works in God's economy?

Well, whether it is an Airman who passes too soon, a spouse who contracts a horrifying illness, a marriage or a devoted person in the Body of Christ - all of us know from our own experiences that life just doesn't always work out that neatly.

If you were to ask a couple who have been married for years and years - most will admit that they had times when they wanted to give up.
But - that couple made it because they hung on through the years.
And those years turned to decades and today they are clearly the most stable and strong relationships among us.
It is in those rough times that they Biblical statement is made true in our lives - "When we are weak, He is made strong..."

Yet, if you go to a local Christian bookstore you will find few books teaching us to persevere through difficult times for the glory of the Lord in the end.
Instead, you will find books with titles such as, 'How to save your marriage,' 'Raising Good Kids, Jesus' Way,' or 'Experiencing God's Infinite Blessings in Your Life.'

We have bookstores and discipleship courses on 'how to' everything in the spiritual life of a Christian; but the truth is that real faith requires a lot more than a simple problem-solution approach - as does every marriage in turmoil.

I hate to break the news to people but the truth is that no Christian is promised by God that He will solve all of our problems.
Christ was not ushered to the Cross and executed for the minor problems of life we think are so important; no, Christ was placed on the Cross to die for our sin and it is sin that disrupts everything else in our lives.
If you and I take care of the sin problem, the other problems won't go away, but we will be on the right road to solving them in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord never commissioned His followers to remove all the bad and hard things out of the world.
Instead, we are to redeem the bad, renew the hurting and help the transformation God begins in making it something good.
But for something good to come from something bad or tragic, the bad or tragic has to happen.

And that is why I witnessed two grown men focusing their attention on one 7 year-old boy the other night.
The point was not to shine his shoes, the point was to help redeem the hour of pain into a time of hope in the future.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Once More...from Cleveland

"The burning of a little straw may hide the stars, but the stars outlast the smoke."

                                                                                                                            ~Voltaire

At times, every Christian may have a little smoke in their life which masks the One who made the stars - some more than others.
One of those 'smoky' times descended on my life once again, in the form of what seemed to be a growing tumor in my spleen.
And while we still pray for justness in God's mercy, regardless of the outcome, we will trust Him.

You see, one malfunction in a person's body, or in a relationship, or responsibilities - does this mean everything is out of order?
Do we really function that much like a computer? 
I don't think so because exercising faith in the present means trusting God to work through the events of our life, despite all the clutter, all the failures, and all the fallenness we've accumulated.

I've recently discovered that some psychologists use a technique called, 'Act As If' therapy. 
If you can't generate emotions and feelings of love for your spouse, then 'act as if' you do have those feelings and emotions. 
In short, it is easier to act your way into feelings than to feel your way into actions.

Unbelievably, this actually works at times.
Often, the change in one person will bring about a change in the other and each then begins to feed off of the other.

Faith is often this way as well.
What other explanation can there be for the old hymn, 'Trust and Obey?'
We often wish our faith was spurned out of a constant burning desire to please God; sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't.
For example, Jesus commanded us to love one another; yet, I have found there are some Christians you just have to love from afar....sometimes really, really afar.

As Adrian Rogers use to say:

To dwell above 

With those we love,

That will be glory.

But to dwell below

With those we know,

Well, that's another story.

Whether it is health issues or relationship issues or issues concerning our faithfulness to God or faithfulness in other areas, I get to know God simply by doing His will on Earth.
It isn't any simpler that this...no Burning Bushes or Thunderbolts from the sky.

Simply put - if a person wants to know God they must ACT then they will SEE.

You see, faith requires obedience without full knowledge.
If I only trusted in CT Scans and Radiologists, trust would certainly be misplaced; human knowledge can only go so far, then faith must take over.
In faith, much lies beyond my finite grasp; we choose to trust God and accept the fact that my life depends on one thing more than anything else - God's Mercy.
So does yours.

You may wonder, in your relationship, in your medical condition, in your situation in life - 'What difference can one person's small effort make?'

A few years ago, PBS ran a series about the veterans of the Battle of the Bulge.
While the battle went on for over a month in the harsh winter of Belgium and Germany, the vets told of playing cards and various other activities.
None of them knew at the time that they were participating in one of the longest, most decisive engagements of the entire war.
To them, it didn't feel decisive - they couldn't see the big picture.

Our victories of faith are won the same way - for only God can see the entire picture of the universe from Creation until the Judgment and beyond.
Our task in life is to respond to what lies before us, in that moment, by our faith - even if at times we have to 'act as if' and then see the results much, much later.

Ignatius Loyola commented that he saw nearly all of his disciples go through a period of

futility. In like manner, every Christian will face a crisis which puts their faith and their loyalty to Christ to the test.
For some it will be an adulterous spouse, for others it will be cancer, for still others it may be an abusive parent - but whatever it may be in your life, remember the smoke can only obscure the stars for a little while.
Each star will shine again; the test of faith lies within the knowing they will shine again.


Faith can survive even the deepest of darkness; but only if we cling to it in the darkness itself.
The greatest musicians will tell us that their competency depends on practice; so does our faith. To practice our faith, it takes trials - smoke and darkness.

The Virgin Mary 'pondered' what the angel had told her; she 'pondered' what Anna spoke in the temple about her infant son's piercing in the future.
She 'pondered,' that's an interesting word because it means that she had things in her mind, though favored of God, she could not resolve within herself.
Mary, therefore, carried a tension within her faith, but rather than attempt to eliminate that tension - she trusted what she could not see.
We must do the same.

A great man of faith named John Bunyan, wrote the blessed work, 'Pilgrim's Progress.' 
For many years, 'Pilgrim's Progress' was second only to the Bible in readership.
In his work, a man named 'Christian' begins a journey to the Celestial City and he does what every Christian does in our time.
His journey is marked by meeting several different people along the way; some encourage, most don't.
Christian makes stupid, immature mistakes at times, some nearly kills him.
At one point, he contemplates suicide - Christian has a rough journey, but he makes it to the Celestial City in the end.

In today's faddish Christian section of bookstores or through electronic books, they are marked with self-help gurus, dawning sacred clothes presenting 'an easier way,' a 'better way' to living the faith.
There are holy diets, Christian problem-solving - simple pop-psychology wrapped in holy packaging.
And in my humble but accurate opinion, it tells me that we have lost something along our journey toward the Lord.

Here's the God honest truth...

- Life is difficult. God is merciful. Heaven is sure.
- Faith, therefore, must allow the possibility of joy in the midst of suffering as well as realism in the midst of praise.
- Christian love involves caring about people, and sometimes that means we must care about people that we'd really rather NOT care about.
By our nature we keep track of scores - love doesn't.
- Christian duty means we trust God, we obey God; understand later.
By definition, faith means trusting in that which we cannot yet prove.

And it means living by faith is trusting in advance what can only be seen in reverse.
For my faith, my action into feelings, have proven God faithful...Once More, in Cleveland.
May your faith do the same for you in your life.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Looking to the Father

Years ago, when I was much younger and full of life and vinegar, I was an actor for the WV Tech Players. I performed in several main stage shows, many of them were classics - 'The Crucible,' 'South Pacific,' 'No Time for Sergeants,' and several more. 

Maybe it is because of that background, maybe it is because I use to paint in oils and acrylics, maybe it's because of my nature, but in a way, I tend to think of God as a Creative Artist in many ways.

Over the course of my life, I have heard some refer to God as the Divine Clock Maker, or even as a Divine Engineer and since the advent of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars Empire - God as an Immovable Force in the universe which embodies everything has been a popular thought.
Yet, I believe if you think of God in any of these methods, you will go astray.

God did not create the universe, 'wind it up' and then let it go - standing back to see what happens. 
I collect interesting clocks - seeing them, I know this is not the nature of God's involvedment in the universe because God is far more involved in my life than I am in my clock's life.

God is not simply the Engineer of Creation; He is much more - He is the Sustainer.
And while the Spirit of God is omnipresent, He is not an impersonal nor an immovable force to be found in all things. Believing God inhabits an earthworm would deify the worm and lessen the nature of humans, being created in the image of God Himself.

When thinking of my life over the last several years, it has been a tough road to walk - but I have not walked it alone. I remember back to over a year ago when I was first diagnosed with Cancer - duty at the Air Guard came and I went, I believe it was in November.
I can remember driving early in the morning and for the first time I was alone with my thoughts and was able to fully process what was being said about my future.
I had been told that I was stage four and I was dying of lung cancer; truthfully I did not think I could handle dying that way because I have seen and been with people as they died with this disease.
It is a hard way to go and I didn't think I could do it.

As it turned out - though physically alone - I wasn't alone and I've never truly been alone; for none are alone when God's Spirit indwells within their soul.
As it turned out - they were mistaken, God had other plans and I did not have lung cancer; and while adrenal cancer is far worse, the end results have been much better because I have never been without the care and compassion of God.

Having said that, tomorrow I will return to Cleveland, be examined and determine a route to go as far as treatment. Only this time, it is my spleen with a large tumor and it is alone; nothing else seems to be involved.
Yet, like last time and God being the Creative Master that He is - I do tend to wonder what I'm going to go through and what He's going to do with this one because the last time, He was absolutely amazing.

You see, every artist in human life is amazing in their own way; God has empowered and enlightened a particular individual to shine His light in a unique way.
For example, John Wesley wrote sermons; his brother Charles wrote hymns. 
Every creative artist has their own medium whether it is a canvass, a pulpit or a piano.

If the universe which has been created was a theatrical play, I know that God would not let the characters ruin the plot.
No - each time we have threatened the story, He has mercifully intervened.
Whether it was Adam being expelled from the Garden, lest he inherit eternal life and live forever in a fallen state, or in the Council of Nicene (325 AD) when God's ministers were led

to define the nature and essence of Christ, or even when God intervened through the Allies in Second World War, preventing a madman from destroying the Jews - God will not let His fallen characters ruin what He has decreed from eternity.

And if I want to know God the Father and what He seeks from my life, all I have to do is open the Scriptures and examine Jesus; which I have - extensively.

In the three years in which Jesus ministered on a small tract of land in the Near East, He did more to convey the nature and love of God than all the prophets before Him, all the apostles with Him and all the Christian ministers after Him - combined.
Jesus Himself confirmed, when we have seen Him, we have seen the Father.
The author of Hebrews calls Him the 'image of the invisible God.'

This makes me wonder - 'As a Child of God, what is my Reflection of God who lives within me?'
While no person can fully know God, our relationship with Him has been defined and depends on what God chooses to reveal to us. All other relationships we have depend on what we let people know of us - not so with God for He knows everything.

We get to know people from their 'stories' - those who know me know parts of my story throughout life. With God, we get to know Him through His Word - and that is His story.
In the Old Testament, God appeared to Cain, to Moses and to Jacob; in each of these stories God revealed something of His nature which built on previous knowledge.
Though God was known in the Old Testament, He moved much closer and revealed much more about Himself in the person of Jesus and later in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within His people.

Without question, I have grown spiritually in the last 18 months; this growth spirit has been the result of the various diseases and conditions discovered in my failing then reviving health.
I have grown to be able to see God in people and situations that I would have never noticed before.

As a result, sometimes I think American Evangelicals unwittingly 'box God in,' thereby limiting what they believe He can do in their lives and through their lives.
It is as if some have become too familiar with some of the attributes of God and clueless about other attributes.
This is sad because it is in seeing God in and through others that we learn who we are to be in this world. 
In a way, I think Americans have regressed in our understanding of God. Just last night I watched a football player thank God for the win.
In that moment, I thought of two things:
- Does God really watch football and does He even care since He knows who will win?
- More importantly, I wondered what the parents of a 5 year-old child dying of bone cancer thinks of a God who will help the Seattle Seahawks win a football game but He will not heal their child?

Looking back to the Hebrews, the first thing that truly impressed them about God and got their attention was His compassion, not His power.
Interestingly enough, many times it is our compassion - not our knowledge, money, material belongings, personal power or anything else - it is our compassion that touches the hearts of others.
In Egypt, the Hebrews had been enduring the plight of slavery for 400 years; but through Moses they realized that God truly cared about what was happening to them.
And it is the same in our lives - God cares about what is happening to us as well.

Whether it is my tumor or another Christian's shot nerves, a person dealing with the effects of age or a spouse with a broken heart because of a broken vow - God's compassion and care can bring forth His power in our lives - if we will but look to Him.
There are roughly six billion people in the world; and God knows every one of us by our names. He is a Father with a limitless appetite for love and a well-spring of care and compassion, especially when we need it the most.
As the Church Father Augustine rightly said: 

'God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love.'

With God and with humans, you will find that love tends to decrease as power increases. 
Many have experienced this truth, sadly, within the church itself; sometimes those who gather power within the Body begin to stifle love and grieve the Spirit.
As Christians, the Lord said others would know that we were His by our love for Him and for one another.

Looking to the Father in this life presumes you look to Him rightly.
As Elijah discovered so many years ago - God is not always in the grand power displays or the fantastic signs; He is often not as a fire or a bombastic earthquake. 
Instead, God is in the whisper.

And it is in this whisper, hearing the voice of God, we are led amid His boundless love for us as His children.
As I look to the Father, experiencing His grace and love, my heart and mind is expectant to find out what the doctors say - simply because I can't wait to see what He plans to do with this one.

Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.