More Than What I Need

Resist the tendency to define God by what you need. We often hear, "God is all I need." While that sounds pious, the truth is that God is far more than what I need and what you need and what the whole world ever has needed or ever will need. When I self-prescribe blinders so that all I see is my need or hurt or wish, and then err by understanding God only according to the light of my own experience, I reduce Him to a shadow of myself. Does God care? Absolutely! Is God the solution? Without a doubt! But the Creator and Redeemer and Sustainer cannot be contained by my imagination or confined by my despair. Instead of asking God to act the way you want at any given moment in order to meet any given need, bow before Him and surrender yourself unconditionally to Him, then allow Him to reveal His glory and plan in your situation.

Consumerism to Generosity

When will the American Church awaken from her narcissistic coma and return from consumerism to generosity?

Leadership Is Like...

Leadership is much less like Captain Horatio Hornblower shouting commands to those below while scanning an open horizon, and much more like explorer Allan Quatermain slashing his way through dense rainforest with a mere two feet of visibility.

Expectations

Always exceed expectations, especially those you have of yourself.

The Arc of Our Lives

I love the quote I heard yesterday from Dr. Dub Oliver, president of East Texas Baptist University: "God wants the arc of our lives bent toward love and justice and mercy."

Invest Your Love

The most profound quote, in my opinion, from today's Willow Creek Summit is a line from a song: "Where you invest your love, you invest your life."

Be The Miracle

"Never pray for an easier life--pray to be a stronger person! Never pray for tasks equal to your power--pray for power to be equal to your tasks. Then doing your work will be no miracle--you will be the miracle" (Phillips Brooks, Harvard graduate and prominent preacher, 1835-1893). The role of suffering in the Christian life remains a mystery, yet it holds enormous potential for molding our response to human agony in the world as well as to our own upward climb. Robert Kruschwitz, Director of Baylor University's Center for Christian Ethics warns, "We must be very careful how we assent to suffering, for it's as difficult and dangerous as walking on a knife-edge. We must avoid, on the one side, the wrong sort of passivity that glorifies suffering as something good in itself and, on the other, the wrong sorts of activity that would eliminate suffering at all costs."

Perhaps our greatest help in getting a grip on this slippery subject is in revisiting an extremely familiar and oft quoted Scripture passage in the New Testament Book of Romans, the eighth chapter and twenty eighth verse: "All things work together form the good of them who love God and are called according to His purpose." Frequently this is invoked as a sort of Christian talisman. If I belong to God, here's my insurance against extended suffering and ultimate disaster. But is that its real meaning and proper application? According to Henry Blackaby, "God's primary concern for us is not our position on the corporate ladder, our retirement benefits, or our comfort. His ultimate goal for us is Christlikeness. He will allow whatever is necessary into our lives so we become like Jesus" (God in the Marketplace).

So, what does Romans 8:28 promise to us? Stated simply, regardless of how difficult and demanding our circumstances, by relying on God and responding toward Him rather than away from Him, God will see to it that we emerge on the other side of our situation more like Christ. When we decide that Christlikeness is more important than momentary ease and comfort, we are the miracle.

Wresting With a Dilemma

How may we explain the undeniable imbalance between evangelistic efforts by the average American church and the equally unavoidable lack of involvement in efforts to alleviate poverty, abolish crime, restore ex-offenders, minister to children of offenders, etc.? I’ve given a lot of thought to this and wonder if we might resolve the dilemma by acknowledging the existence of an artificial distinction in practice between ”redemptive grace” and “transformative grace.” What in the world am I talking about? Allow me to briefly explain. I have seldom met anyone who denies the fact that no one is outside the reach of grace and that Christ will save anyone, regardless of their sinful past. Certainly, we include ourselves in that redemptive reality. We expound Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and in the next breath we hasten to Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ He Jesus our Lord.” We read those statements with an “of course” on the tips of our tongues. This is what I’m terming redemptive grace: Romans 5:8, 9, “But God demonstrates his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” As before mentioned, rarely have I encountered anyone in the Christian community who would deny this saving reality. However, it seems that while we joyously proclaim the possibility of salvation regardless of past sin, we hesitate and falter at the point of helping those who receive new life to implement it, especially those who need a lot of help at the point of practicing it. We mean well and often are convinced that we’ve completed our task by proclaiming the good news of Christ. But when measured against the standards declared in Scripture in places like Isaiah 58; Amos 5:14-15; Micah 6:8; Matthew 25:31-46; and James 1:22-27; the actual application of our belief system is called into question. Stated simply: we readily believe in redemptive grace (God will save anyone), but do we correspondingly believe in and practice transformative grace (God is willing and able to transform everyone)? Clearly, if we truly believe that God is not only willing to save anyone but also able to transform everyone, we will passionately engage hunger, poverty, homelessness, crime, substance abuse, unemployment, the restoration and reintegration of ex-offenders, and anything else required to ensure that every believer experiences what Jesus declares in John 10:10, a life that is full and meaningful in every possible way.

Awakening to the Power of Mentoring

Have you ever been exposed to something your entire life without really knowing anything about the subject or item or person? As far back as I can remember, I've been aware that something called Big Brothers exists. Perhaps it was due to a program at school or strategically placed billboards, but the vague recognition has been "there" (wherever "there" is). But all that changed yesterday during a visit with Olivia Eudaly in the offices of Big Brothers Big Sisters North Texas. First of all, Olivia Eudaly is an extraordinary person. As Executive Vice President-Government Relations for Big Brothers big Sisters Lone Star and State Executive Director of Amachi Texas, Olivia Eudaly is at the helm of groundbreaking initiatives in mentoring at-risk children. Working closely with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Education Agency, One Star Foundation, the Office of the Governor, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and ten Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies across the state of Texas, Olivia coordinates Amachi's efforts to place one-to-one mentors in the lives of children of prisoners. A former candidate for U.S. Congress, Olivia is also active in local, regional and national politics. In 2000 she was elected delegate to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia where she served as the National Credentials Committeewoman from Texas. She also teaches a popular Ladies' Bible Study class at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth and currently mentors a young girl in the Fort Worth area whose father is serving 8 years behind bars.

But it was standing in a room just outside her offices that something "clicked" for me. Out of curiosity in the name, I entered the T. Boone Pickens Mentoring Hall of Fame. What soon captured my attention was a pictorial timeline that depicted the history of Big Brothers and, essentially, a history of efforts in mentoring at-risk children. For years I have told my students that everyone should have a mentor and be a mentor, but yesterday was a sort of epiphany for me in recognizing the intrinsic and eternal value of intentionally mentoring at-risk individuals, whether they be children, youth, or adults. What could be more Christ-like than one-on-one mentoring of someone who may be lost in many ways without such a valuable relationship? I plan to make this a priority and encourage others to look for individuals in whom you may invest yourselves. Only eternity will reveal the significance of taking a little time to be a mentor to someone who desperately needs to know they matter.

Billy and Florence Nightingale

My encounter yesterday with Billy was one I'll not soon forget, especially because of the nurse I'll never know.  Let me explain...  I received a call in the afternoon from our Baptist Association office concerning a most unusual caller. A man traveling by bus back home to Tulsa from a funeral in Junction had suffered a seizure and was in Providence Hospital for treatment.  His name is Billy.  He said that he had accepted Christ in the hospital and wanted to speak with someone about how to get started right in his new Christian life.  The hospital gave him the Baptist Association office number.  I agreed to see him in the hospital, and in so doing learned about an inspiring sequence of events.  It seems that a hospital chaplain had left with him a small book written by Billy Graham concerning salvation.  Later that day a nurse came to his room, saw the book on his bedside table, and asked if Billy had read it.  Billy replied that he had but needed someone to explain it to him.  Astonishingly, the nurse arranged to take her break at that moment and proceeded to lead Billy in giving his life to Christ in prayer.  What an unmistakable exhibition of vocation by the unidentified nurse-living out one's calling to honor Christ through nursing.  I learned all this from Billy last night, and as I dropped him off at the bus station this morning, he told me that his life had changed forever as the result of one anonymous nurse.  God bless you Florence Nightingale, whoever you are.

Undercover Boss

I just watched a recorded episode of my favorite TV show, "Undercover Boss." I love witnessing weekly the inevitable personal and executive transformation that results from a chief executive officer going undercover to reconnect with his or her employees. This particular episode chronicled the impact upon Sheldon Yellen, CEO of Belfor, worldwide leader in disaster recovery and property restoration. There is something extremely moving about a high level executive awakening to the needs and struggles of his or her employees, and the climax always comes as the transformed leader gives back to those that fostered the undercover awakening. I can't help drawing a parallel with the incarnation, inadequate comparison as it is. The writer of Hebrews expresses it well: "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." I love that truth! Jesus Christ perfectly identifies with my agony in the trenches and reaches down to pull me up. The incarnation is so much more than orthodox dogma; it sustains each step and fills each breath with hope and meaning. If a corporate executive can become a caring employer who delights in giving back, I better understand how Christ joyfully extends to me full and abundant living in light of his own human journey.

What Does It Mean To Deny Yourself?

During the years I taught undergraduate ministry students, I encountered what I consider to be a common misunderstanding of an essential component of discipleship.  Nothing is more basic to following Christ than obeying his demand for self-denial and cross carrying.  But What exactly did Jesus mean when he instructed his followers to deny themselves? What, in truth, did Jesus have in mind when he established this seemingly counter-intuitve prerequisite for discpleship? Perhaps by default, the frequent interpretation communicated to young people in our churches is that self-denial equates to self-rejection.  Somehow we confuse denying self with ignoring or at least avoiding self-understanding.  The difference is colossal, as knowing one's self is paramount to obeying Christ's command in Mark 8:34.  Daily denying of self invokes an ongoing process of self-discovery, for only when I embrace the way God has fashioned me am I ready to relinquish all that I am to Christ.  How can I offer to Christ what I'm unaware is mine to give? Such a scenario would be more akin to hypnosis than surrender. In other words, 'DNA' does not stand for "Do not ask." The more I acknowledge my God-granted uniqueness, the better able am I to use that uniqueness in serving him.

Facebook, the Trinity, and My Birthday

Negative inevitably attaches itself to positive, and that is certainly the case with social networking.  But I choose today to laud the positive side of Facebook.  Many friends took time to pause today and grant me a virtual birthday greeting.  Words of blessing reached me from literally around the world--East Africa, Thailand, Bangladesh, South Africa, Italy, as well as many of these United States.  Amazing!  Social networking at it's best is a powerful expression of what I've told my students so many times--relationship is everything.  That's the unmistakable import of the Jesus metaphor of vine and branch in John 15.  Just as God exists in perpetual perfect relationship with Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), we exist in perpetual relationship with our Lord.  What that means is that friendship holds a supreme place for each of us because we were created for relationship in that we are fashioned in the image of God.  I, for one, appreciate any means by which individuals foster relationship with one another, and I definitely appreciate the many expressions of friendship I've received today.

Reflecting Grace

What is the purpose of life?  I'm familiar with the way the Westminster Shorter Catechism begins: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." While I would never dispute that declaration, I feel it halts short of depicting the fullest design of human existence.  This thought struck me while praying to conclude worship this morning at Shekinah Glory Baptist Church.  I prayed for each of us to serve moment by moment as reflections of grace.  This, to me, adds the horizontal dimension to the vertical expressed in "glorifying God and enjoying Him." Perhaps the weightiest way I glorify God is reflecting His grace to others--grace received and extended.  Is not this the clearest imitation of Christ?  Could anything more significantly honor God than by acting like Him in relation to all others?  The more clearly we reflect grace, the more we resemble our God of grace and mercy.  As Saint Francis prayed:
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life."

I would add, "Father, enable me to genuinely reflect Your grace."

Aging Versus Muscle Tone

My birthday comes at the wrong time of year.  The end of February often sees the first pleasant days following winter's  worst. And being a fair weather gardner, I made my way outside this fair morning and began raking and burning leaves with a vengeance.  The problem came when my flurry of activity intersected with lack of conditioning born of winter dormancy. In a word--I hurt!  Now, back to the birthday factor.  With every inch of my body aching, I cannot help but view this pain within the context of my 51st birthday just two days away.  I'm getting old-that has to be the reason for the pain racking my muscles--inevitable and unavoidable decay.  No concession to sedentary months of physical inactivity, comfortably tucked away in warm seclusion.  Is it old age or absence of muscle tone?  For some strange reason, it's easier for me to lay blame at the wrinkled feet of aging than to my own failure to exercise.

Red-Letter Lifestyle

Controversy casts a shadow over the red-letter portions of the New Testament. Theologians strike, dodge and parry--are the words of Jesus more inspired than other words in both Old and New Testaments?  This is not my controversy but it is my dilemma. I choose not to bear arms in this hermeneutical battle, as my personal struggle is not with differing degrees of inspiration but with the simple doing of what Jesus instructs.  What I want most is a "red-letter lifestyle," one in which I actually do what Jesus actually said I should. Am I a living translation of the Sermon on the Mount and every other plain spoken directive of the living Christ?

Worship is Awareness

Worship is awareness, not activity. When understood in reverse, the focus of worship shifts to the activity itself rather the Lord God Almighty Himself. Herein lies the terrible crux of "worship wars." When battling over modes of worship or styles of music in worship we march proudly away from God's presence and slink into an unrecognized but, nonetheless, incipient self-worship. Attention moves from the Creator to our own fervor, our loudness, our physical expression, our music theory, or any number of details that distract. Scripture offers a multitude of worship postures and expressions, but never loses sight of Holy God. Remember, worship is always a reaction rather than initiation--I see God, I hear God, I know God is near, and therefore I respond to Him. Worship as initiation is idolatry and always produces preoccupation with form rather than substance. "Be still and know that I am God."