Hopeless? Nope!

At no point in human history have we been closer to the End Times.  Let that sink in for just a moment.  Literally and linearly, of course that is true.  With each day that goes by, we are one day closer to the end.  But I’m going a little deeper than a linear time line.  From a prophetic perspective, we are so close to living out the events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ as laid out in John’s Revelation.

The Book of Revelation speaks of political unrest, wars, lawlessness, moral depravity, natural disasters, and more.  Have you watched the news lately?

If the events of the past several months don’t point to each and every one of those things, I don’t know what does.

Hurricane Sandy has just been the latest of a run on natural disasters that we have experienced in the world.  I don’t deny the existence of the “Climate Change” or even the passe term “Global Warming” and don’t deny that our misuse of the earthly resources for many years have contributed to this circumstance.  That only serves to prove the claims in Revelation that we have used this world up, and need a New Earth, following the Second Coming.

Our society has become the perfect microcosm of the rest of the sinfully man-made characteristics of the end of the world.  Would you say that this past week’s election has shown more than its share of political unrest and divisiveness.  This nation has not been more divided at any point in its history, I dare say, since the Civil War.  Our political system is broken.  No longer are our political leaders servants of the people – they are serving their own interests, and do whatever they need to do to ensure they remain in power.

The world has been ravaged with war, both conventional and unconventional.  Nations don’t trust each other, and appear ready to fight whenever pressed.  The impact of terrorism on the world is felt throughout the world.  The world is also in economic upheaval and this contributes to the fragility of the world’s societies.

This fragility in our world, climatically, economically, and socially has allowed the enemy to prey on the world.  Moral depravity appears to be running rampant with things that have previously been socially and morally unacceptable, not only becoming acceptable, but encouraged through their legalization.  Sexual immorality, Violence, Drugs, etc., are now so prevalent in society that you can’t turn on television or engage in social media without being inundated with its imagery, and face being called intolerant if you speak out against it.

I know that I just spent 435 words talking about how bad things are, and you may think that I find things hopeless.  NOTHING could be further from the truth.  I have hope in the One who is to come and because I have faith in Jesus Christ, I know that whatever happens on this earth is temporary.  I am living for eternity.  I have many friends who have fallen into a hopelessness and feel like throwing in the towel on our society and its future.  I am here to say, don’t give up!  The world needs you.  We are to be a light in the darkness; to be the salt to the world, providing flavor and to act as a preservative to the things that need preserving.

I will end this where I began – At no point in human history are we closer to the end of the world than we are now.  I don’t know when that end will come.  God only knows!  He makes that clear in His Word.  What I do know is that I am going to take the time that I have in this world and work to make this world ready for Him to return.  I am going to do all that I can to make sure that my family and friends have the opportunity to know who Jesus is and what He has done for them.  And by God’s will, my children will have the opportunity to not only know Him, but do their part to extend His kingdom to their family and friends, until that day when He does return and welcomes us all to a New World where there is no more suffering, no more despair, no more hurting; only Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace.

Until then!

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An Open Letter to My Friends

Dear Friend,

I’ve been meaning to talk with you for some time, its really been weighing on my mind. I wish that we have been able to talk more recently and that the busyness of life wouldn’t have gotten in the way. So here goes…

We’re friends, right? And friends care about one another; what happens in their lives, how their family is doing, what makes them happy, what they have been struggling with, and so much more.

If I were to ask you to describe me and what I’m all about, what would you say? Would you say that I’m a family man, that I am a devoted friend, a Colts fan? Would you say that I’m a Christian; that I am a follower of Jesus Christ and that I believe that He has not only forgiven my sins, but by dying on the cross, paid the price for those sins, and because of that, I will share eternal life with Him? (Wait, don’t stop reading, please…)

This past Sunday at church our pastor (Chet Martin), identified several people in the congregation based on where they have placed their allegiances and how they have shown those allegiances. He identified me and several others as Colts fans, others as Bear fans, others as Vikings fans, etc., etc., etc. He knew that I was a Colts fan because I sometimes wear my jersey to church on Sunday, and that I often post on facebook about the games, etc. His point was just this, what do show and tell others about who you are?

I hope by the way I choose to live my life, and the things that I’ve said and done, that you might see me as someone who believes in God and that I follow Him. That doesn’t mean that I’m perfect, or a do-gooder, or anything like that. What it means is that I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes, and that even with all of my faults, I have a God who loved me (and continues to love me) enough to send His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to come to Earth and pay the ultimate price for my faults.

Without a relationship with Jesus Christ, it is not an exaggeration to say that I would not be where I am today. My life would be markedly different in just about every way. You may recall that the past two years have been especially difficult for me, and I have learned to rely on God more and more through this time. I can share anything with Him, and no matter what I’ve done, or how I feel, He is there and has helped me.

And here’s where it comes back to you. God wants you to know Him too. He loves you so much, and no matter how far away you think you are from being able to have a relationship with Him, its not too far. I have been praying for you recently, just hoping that one day you might open yourself up to the opportunity to get to know Him. Sure you have doubts, and you have questions, but God is bigger than any doubt or question you have. I know that you have struggles, and that you may have even had things happen in your life that you might blame God for, or at least question whether or not God exists, because if He did, that circumstance would not have occurred. The question of “Why God lets bad things happen to good people,” is a difficult one, but one that can be answered if you are open to listen.

It is never too late to reach out to Him, He is reaching out to you. He’s already done most of the work, you just need to let Him finish it. As your friend, I want nothing more for you than for you to know His love, peace, mercy and grace in your life. I am here for you if you have questions (I may not have all of the answers, but we can work through them together). I am here to pray for you. I can’t make the decision for you, but I am here for you if you need me.

(If you are wondering if this letter was meant for you, if you have any question about that, I only have one more thing to say – Yes it was)

Remember the old adage “Sticks and Stones?”

I came home from work last night to a son who was very happy to see me.  He told me that he had something to tell me and that we needed to go sit down on the couch and talk. He then said, “Don’t worry dad, I didn’t get in trouble at school.”  He told me that at lunch today, one of his friends told him that I was too big and that if I needed to have two of the seats at the lunch room table, and that if I sat down there I would probably break the table.  As Elliot shared this story, tears started to well up in his eyes, and then he said several times that he was sorry.  I asked him how he responded to this, and he just told his friend that it wasn’t true because I’ve had lunch there lots of times and have always sat on just one seat and it never broke.  But the emotion of it was too much for him and he just cried the rest of lunch and didn’t finish eating.  He had several friends that tried to console him, and tell the other boy that it wasn’t nice, and eventually the boy apologized.

I knew that this moment was a moment that I could use to bring to deliver a message that would help to grow my son as a young man, and something to learn from.  (Note that I too had my feelings hurt, and the human side of me wanted to teach my son the following phrase, “My dad may be fat, but your stupid and my dad can go on a diet.” – but somehow I knew that wasn’t the direction I needed to go).

I talked with my son about the fact that sometimes people judge other people by outward appearances, and often say things that are hurtful about physical differences between themselves or others.  I told him that daddy knows that he is overweight and that it is something that I have struggled with for a very long time, and that I was sorry that sometimes that is the first things someone notices about me when the meet me, but that when given a chance to actually get to know me, they would find that I’m a pretty cool guy.  I switched the script a little bit and I talked with him about his words and that he needs to be sure that the words he chooses are used to build people up, not to tear them down.  Words have meaning and can hurt.

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

We also talked about forgiveness, and the need for my son to forgive this young friend.  It is that forgiveness, when freely given that will give my son the peace to not only move on from this circumstance and leave the hurt feelings behind, but it will also open himself up to receive forgiveness himself for things that he may have done.

I am grateful that my son felt that he was able to share this with me, and that we were able to see the messages of God’s mercy and love through this experience together.  It probably hurts my feelings more that my son was so upset by it, than by what the boy said about me.

I have been struggling with the biblical concepts of the “sins of the father, being visited on the son” lately in working with my son on some issues where I see him having some of the same emotional need challenges I have had (but that’s another blog for another time).  This is just another way that my son is bearing the burden for my sin of not taking as good a care of my body as I should and for being overweight and out of shape.  Yes, to me, it is a sin that I’ve committed time and time again over the course of my life to not treat my body as one of God’s special gifts, and have eaten to excess, not maintained a healthy lifestyle, etc. and now my son is dealing with a consequence of that sin, and that is something that I have asked for his forgiveness for, and am working on forgiving myself for.

I do praise God that I can see His work in the smallest of circumstances in my life and is giving me opportunities to be a man after his own heart, and try to share that message with my son.

It’s Still Raining…

Several weeks back, I posted a blog on facebook about how much joy I get when I see the connection between the lyrics of one of my favorite songs and the Bible verses from which it is based.  (FYI, I have now written this sentence seven times, and this is the first time I wrote it without ending the sentence with a preposition.)

Sitting here in the rain storm left from the remnants of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaac, I am reminded of that song, “Praise You In This Storm,” by Casting Crowns.  The lyrics of the song are below:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/castingcrowns/praiseyouinthisstorm.html

I remember thinking about the lyrics to verse 1, where the songwriter is crying out to God almost wondering why God has not answered his prayer yet – with one line saying “But once again, I say ‘Amen’, and its still raining” – This verse always reminds me of the Psalms where David was crying out to God, and wondering why there wasn’t an answer yet.  To me, this is a lesson on perspective.  It is easy for someone to lose hope and faith in the midst of their personal storm and feel despair for their unanswered prayer.  But I think the songwriter (and David) are giving encouragement to remain faithful and continue to say “Amen” because God is faithful and will answer every prayer, in His way and His time.  This is bore out in the rest of verse 1 where we are reminded that even in our storms, if we are still and listen for Him, we can hear His voice even through the thunder.  To me, this is a reminder to focus and concentrate on God and not allow myself to be distracted by the thunder created by the storms in my life.

The chorus to this song is nothing more than (and so much more than) a reminder of just who God is and how He hold everything in His hand, including our tears.  He will never leave our side and will walk with us through whatever tough time we are going through.  What a promise, and how amazing.  If you have ever been fortunate enough to have that special friend, or spouse, or other family member who has stuck with you, no matter what – you know what a blessing that truly is.  And even that doesn’t compare to how God stands beside us and how in response to that, we have no choice but to Praise Him!

And in verse 2, that chorus is driven home even further, as we are reminded that even when (and especially when), we can no longer carry on by ourselves, God is there to lift us up and give us the strength to carry on.  This makes me think of the poem “Footprints in the Sand,” where the writer is speaking to God and reminiscing about the times when God was walking beside the writer and he could clearly see two sets of footprints in the sand, but then those times when things were tough and life was hard, the writer asked God why it seemed as though God left him, because in those times there was only one set of footprints.  God smiled to the writer and shared that it was those times when God had lifted him up and carried him and the one set of footprints actually belonged to God.  I can think of so many times in my life that I have lived out verse 2 and have been blessed by that single set of footprints.

And then the bridge, the part of the song that I found in Scripture that inspired this blog – “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”  This is Psalm 121 and it is so cool!  How many times in my life have I looked around wondering where to go next, what to do next, who to look to for help?  I imagine a set of hills or mountains, with cloud cover around it, and looking up trying to see who or what is up there that might help get me out of the valley in which I find myself.  This Psalm, and the bridge of this song are constant reminders to me that I don’t need to look into the cloud covered hills, I only need to look to God.

And whether I am still in the storm, or have come out of the storm, I know that I can praise Him for He has me right where He wants me and He will never leave my side.

He always does this to me!

So the last couple days, I have been trying to work with my 8 year old son, Elliot regarding his behavior and the choices that he makes. Don’t get me wrong, he is a good kid, very smart, but sometimes he is incredibly impulsive and makes some poor choices. He struggles a lot with the punishments he is given and always asks for a second chance. (When that in all likelihood would be the 4th or 5th choice) 🙂

I have asked God to help me to talk with him and help him work on his choices and his accountability. On Tuesday night, we had a long talk at bedtime about how as men, we have to own our choices and accept the responsibility for our actions and sometimes that means facing the consequences of those actions. We talked about the fact that when mommy and daddy or his teachers just give him chance after chance after chance, he never truly owns his choices – his is giving up the responsibility of his choices to us. It will only be after he has owned his choices and accepted the consequences of his actions willingly that he can begin to change those behaviors. Every morning now we will remind each other to “Own our choices and Accept Responsibility for our actions” and each night will share one way that we did that.

And you know what, that wasn’t the amazing part – God didn’t give me those words to share with only Elliot – he knew that the lesson was for me too. I really hate it when He does that to me. (Not really though, but it really is “Just Like God” to use my parenting attempts to grow myself)

Mirror, Mirror

What does that person you see in the mirror look like?  Are you looking at yourself through one of those fun house mirrors, or even worse one of those make up mirrors that show every flaw up close and personal?

Did you ever have a pimple on your face that you really didn’t notice until someone else pointed it out and then every time you looked in the mirror, it seemed to grow exponentially?

Often times when I look at myself in the mirror, I don’t see who I am, but rather who I think others perceive me to be.  I allow their perceptions to become my reality – or probably even more, I allow what my perceptions of their perceptions are to become my reality of “who I am.”

When someone has pointed out a flaw in me, often like that pesky pimple, it becomes all I can see of myself.  And with each passing moment, that flaw becomes bigger and bigger and it begins to define my view of myself.  It takes a great deal of effort, once I have allowed myself to go down that path to begin to see myself as something more.

I love the song “You Are More” by 10th Avenue North because it reminds me that I am much more than the things I do, or the character defects I possess, or the choices that I make.  I am a child of God, first and foremost.

Psalm 139:14 reminds us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”  God does not make mistakes.  When He sees me, He does not see my flaws, my sin, my shame.  He only sees a child that He loves unconditionally and someone worth His love and His ultimate sacrifice.

Oh! To be able to look in the mirror and see myself the way God sees me.  That is my prayer for today.

The Landscape Of My Life

I want to take a few minutes to expound upon a thought that was shared during last night’s lesson at CR.  As those of you who have read my blog know, I often share things that I have learned from others and try to dig deeper and maybe share a different perspective.

As I look out my window at my lawn, I see lots of dead grass and lots more weeds.  I am reminded t…hat the weeds are a lot like sin.  It is usually easy to recognize the weed and chop it off or pull the surface.  My sin is equally as recognizable and easy to say, “I’ll never do that again.”  But if I don’t address the root of the weed, it will just come back, and usually stronger.  Last night’s lesson at CR dealt with the step and principle where I ask God to remove my chararacter defects.  Without addressing the character defect (or root of my sin), I will not be able to eliminate that sin from my life.

But simply treating the weed or pulling it from the root is not simply enough.  You have to fill the void left by the weed, or it can return, with friends.

Luke 11:24-26 says  ²⁴ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

Once we have asked and allowed God to remove our character defect, if we don’t fill that void with something of God, we run the risk of that space being filled by other defects that will bear an even more damaging sin nature.

A landscape of well fertilized grass, beautiful flowers, fruits and vegetables, and well rooted bushes and trees, is an amazing sight to behold.  In the same way, with God as my landscaper, I can be a witness to others of His great work in my life.  I can share the fruit from my landscape with others giving them the love and care of Christ.

In the same way, when I allow my lawn to be overrun with weeds, the seeds of those weeds can be spread to the other lawns in my neighborhood.  I bear a responsibility to not allow my influence to negatively affect the spiritual well being of those with whom I have influence.

Sometimes in life we are faced with conditions that require us to work harder to avoid the weeds (sin) in our lives as those conditions make it easier for weeds to thrive.  In looking at my lawn this year, the only thing that is growing is the weeds.  I did not fertilize my grass this year, and in this drought, I have not watered my lawn regularly.  The grass has all but died, and the weeds continue to spread and grow.  If I were to take that same approach to my spiritual growth, my sin nature would be in very much the same condition.  I must fertilize and water my spiritual landcape through active participation in worship, fellowship with believers, spending daily time in prayer and Bible reading, and a continual check on my spiritual condition.  By doing so, my spiritual landscape will remain healthy and bear much fruit.

Weeds will always be a part of my spiritual landscape, as only God has a perfect lawn.  But if I am diligent in the daily care of my landscaping, when a weed does rear its ugly head, the root or character defect will not be as strong and will be easier to remove.