Kind of like the National Debt

Did you know the NIV version of the Bible uses the word, "Inheritance" 220 times? The land, as an inheritance for Israel. A father's passing down to his sons. The inheritance, down generations, of God's promises.

I was reading a column yesterday, in which the author discussed her children's genetic inheritance from her and her husband. Her eyes. His math skills. Her tendency to faint upon even reading about blood.

It made me think about what my wife and I have passed to our children. My son has my eyes and dimples; his Mom's hair. In fact, all my kids got their mother's hair, except the unruliness of my daughter's, which comes from my side of the family. My daughters also got my wife's creativity and compassion; my son wound up with my analytical and sarcastic streaks. And, there are less pleasant aspects of our own personalities -- aspects trained away by maturity and prayer, and some with which we are still dealing, even now -- which are also cropping up in our kids. A sense of humor that can, occasionally, not know when enough is enough. A sudden flare of temper.

Scripture reminds us that sin is also in our DNA. An inheritance from the beginning of Man's journey on Earth.

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:13-14)

As children of the World, Death is our inheritance. However, as adopted Children of God, we have a new inheritance to which we can look forward. The promises of God, passed down from generations, are now ours as His Children.

In fact, in Romans 5, Paul continues his discussion of our original inheritance of sin and death, when he says that the sacrifice of Christ covers over that original condition:

... just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (vs 18-19)

Death is in our blood. Passed from father to son like eye color. But the inheritance of Life is found in His blood, for those who will accept it.

That Whole Fruit Metaphor

Life is busy! Going to work, spending your eight hours, coming home, spending family time, getting back into the car for football practice or whatever, and don't forget Sunday morning Church, Sunday Night Church, Wednesday night church, Small Group, choir practice, leadership meetings... the list goes on. In fact, we can be so busy doing... stuff... that it's easy to suddenly realize we've forgotten time for God.

This can be especially true for people in ministry. Good works take time. But often, while we're busy trying to bear our own fruit, we forget to stay connected to the Vine.

Jesus said

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:5-7)

We don't bear fruit in ourselves. Indeed, without our connection to Jesus Christ, we are useless. And the only way to stay connected to Jesus is to be connected. For a branch to bear fruit, it must be connected to the Vine. A branch has no roots. Only the Vine -- the Source -- has roots to feed water and nutrients to its branches. When we're disconnected from that vine, we get neither. 

I'm learning this lesson in my own life: that I need time with God. I need to spend time talking to Him -- and more importantly, opening myself up to be talked to by Him. We must allow ourselves to be fed by God, to grow in Him, and to produce His fruit. And that requires connection. 

And Connection requires time. 

"Sweet Merciful Heaven, It's Only Wednesday!" -- And Other First-World Problems

I didn't sleep well at all last night. Nothing in particular,  just for some reason, my body wanted its requisite seven hours, and my brain wouldn't get on board with the idea. I left my cell phone -- which doubles as my alarm clock -- at work last night, which meant I had to crawl my way out of bed to hit the snooze button on the actual alarm clock. Of course, the new cups for our single cup coffee maker haven't arrived in the mail just yet, so I had to wait until I got to work to brew and enjoy my first cup of coffee. Brushed my teeth before leaving and found a little "pink in the sink" as they say,  and thought, "Man, when I actually find a dentist, I'm gonna get yelled at about my flossing habits."

But, somewhere between tiptoeing through the room to avoid waking my wife and stumbling around to find where ever it was my kids put my shoes, I realized... I have it pretty darn good.

There are people on this planet who have never even experienced bad coffee -- let alone the sweet, smokey aroma of a well-crafted morning blend. There are people in this very country -- in my own neighborhood -- who would happily do anything for a job. I make a living doing what I love. I worry about gingivitis while there are people across the globe who have lost teeth and even lives because they simply don't have enough water for dental hygiene. I have a beautiful family that loves me, while some children will never know their fathers.

Yet how often, in my complaining, do I actually take stock of all the ways I've been blessed and tell God, "thank You?"

Remember Paul's final instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18: " Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

And remember, too, that those circumstances the early church faced were not nearly so cushy as those faced by you and I on a day to day basis.  

And maybe, in learning how to be grateful for the things we've been given, we can remember also that the point of blessings is often to bless others with them. There is a hurting world out there, and we, after all, have a pretty good life.

American Idol

Some time ago, I came face to face with my own idolatry, and was completely shocked. I've always known idols weren't necessarily made of gold. Sometimes, I knew, it could be a car, or a job, or even another person.

In fact, an idol is anything you put before God. For me, that idol was politics. I was what you might call a political junky. I blogged politics. I went to rallies and became an activist. And, if I may say so, I was pretty doggone good at it, too. And on its face, there wasn't anything wrong with that. It wasn't that I worshiped at the Altar of Washington DC. Nothing nearly so obvious. It was far more insidious. I realized I was putting politics ahead of people. I got to a point where I cared more about whether somebody was Liberal or a Conservative than I cared about whether they knew Jesus Christ.

And just like that,  my idol of politics had taken place in my heart where my grace, mercy, and love should have been.

I read a book yesterday which asked a particularly tough question: to take a look at the God I am serving, and to ask myself: am I following the God of the Bible, or have I crafted a god in my own image?

Like politics, or cars, or jobs, or any number of idols, we can create a false image of Christ, and worship that instead of the true Jesus of the Bible. Take a look at who Jesus is, in the words of those who walked with him on Earth. Read through the Gospels, and ask God to reveal His son to you... and then ask: is that the Jesus I am worshiping now?

This post is an extrapolation and oversimplification of a theme developed in Matt Mikalatos's My Imaginary Jesus. I cannot recommend this book enough. The above post is, like most of the posts here, stripped into bite-sized chunks for radio consumption.

Flowering Cadaver*

Bunga Bangkai. It is an Indonesian name for a particular plant. The first word is translated as "flower," and the second, as "corpse." The plant in question is large -- larger in many cases than a person -- and appears to be a kind of giant flower. In its own way, it is even beautiful, a red interior splashing color against the outer petal.

Unfortunately for anyone near enough to inspect it, however, it also smells a great deal similar to an animal carcass sitting out in the sun.

Similarly, somebody who is religious, but lacks the love of Christ, appears Holy,  but is in reality dead inside -- a truth all too evident for anyone who gets close enough to examine him.

"Woe to you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees," said Jesus. "You Hypocrites!"

You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27-28)

How do you smell? Do you appear religious on the outside, but have an inside full of death and uncleanliness? Have you forsaken the Love of Christ and replaced it with rigid religiosity? Or do you have the fragrance of Grace, a Spirit made clean by the blood of Jesus, and made generous by His love?

*The title and inspiration for this post came from the song of the same name, by Tourniquet, off their excellent recent album, "Antiseptic Bloodbath."

Frustrated?

Being a kid can be frustrating. No longer being seven, I sometimes forget that Second-graders have real problems, too. I was reminded of this yesterday when, in the course of correcting my son's behavior, I asked him if anything had been going on at school.

My son is a passionate boy. He's quick to love, but can also be quick to anger. So as he was telling me about some playground issues, my heart hurt, but I was also worried that he might let those passions get the better of him. Now that he's old enough to understand these things, I've been working on remembering my role as Dad is as much teacher as it is administrator. More so! So instead of admonishing him to watch his step, I asked him to pray when he was frustrated.

Remember, I told him, Jesus had -- and has -- more reason to be angry with us than we've ever had to be mad at somebody else. He was beaten up, and mocked, and finally killed. And He is God. He could have freed himself of those chains. He could have asked all the angels in Heaven to teach his antagonists a lesson. But He didn't. In fact, even as He hung on that cross and watched as soldiers divided His clothes among themselves, he lifted His eyes to God and said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

God knows we can get angry and frustrated. He understands. So who better to ask for help, when it all becomes too much to try and control our anger?

So, I told my son, pray. God gets it. He can help you. Just ask. "Oh," said my son, and almost moved me to tears. "I sort of do that sometimes now."

I am grateful he knows that God is there, and listening. And I pray he remembers as he goes through life that God understands his anger. And I pray that, as often as I need it, I remember, too.

Road Weary

The one constant in my married life has been travel. With families at least six hundred miles apart, visiting always meant travel. Whether we lived in Michigan and had to drive to New York, or whether it was the other way around, and now that we live in Wisconsin, the word "vacation" is pretty much synonymous with "Road Trip." And, though they are never short trips -- in general it would be 10 to 12 hours in the car, depending on how tired we were, how often the kids had to use the restroom, how many cups of coffee we needed -- we almost always drive straight through, with no overnight stops.

Needless to say, by the time we get to our destination, there is nothing more wonderful than the welcoming arms of my parents or in-laws and the words, "the bed is made. We'll watch the kids."

We grow weary in our travels on this Earth, too. Bone tired. Exhausted to our very souls. But how wonderful to know that, even as we travel straight through and full out, we can keep our eyes ahead and know that, at the end of the road are the welcoming arms of The Father, and a nice, clean room.

As Jesus said to His disciples,

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14: 1-4)

Even now, Jesus is putting out the good linen and setting a glorious table, preparing to welcome us home. 

Doing Church

Thanks to certain life changes,  I've recently had the opportunity to examine my own temperament and motives. This examination is something I highly recommend,  by the way, because it turns out you might actually surprise yourself.

For example, in moving my family a thousand miles away from our home of seven years, and in spending my first two weeks here -- and, in fact, even in the weeks leading UP TO the decision to come out to Wisconsin, I began to discover that (holy cow!) I am a very relational person. Many of you are nodding along because, of course we're relational people! Who isn't? No man is an island and all that. Well, some of us are a bit slower. But yes -- it turns out that community is actually very important to human beings in general.

In fact, Genesis 2:18 tells us that, after He made man, God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone," and proceeded to make him a helpmate of his own flesh. 

The need for human companionship is a part of who we are as people. It is in our very DNA. It is not only important but vital to us to have the company of somebody with shared experience. 

And that being the case,  how much more important is it to have communion with fellow believers? Very. In fact, Scripture mentions this specifically in Hebrews:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews. 10:24-25)

It is God's desire that we come together in His name. Whether it's a home church of two or three families or a megachurch of two or ten thousand, God's will is that we develop personal and meaningful relationships with one another, iron sharpening iron, and encouraging one another in obedience to Him.

Oh, Lord, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

We live in a technological age which makes it both easy and convenient to communicate without speaking. This has not, of course, come without a price. I dare say while our ability to communicate has increased exponentially,  our skill at doing so has suffered greatly. We talk about everything -- our pets, our fears, our baggage -- without actually saying anything. And when we do have something to say, meanings can be lost in a digital world of typewritten words without voice or inflection. We have gained efficiency at the price of nuance.

What I mean to say is, thanks to technology, we can now be misunderstood, misrepresented, and accidentally offensive at greater speeds and rates than ever before. Turn that into a marketing slogan.

Some of being misunderstood, of course, is the fault of the listener. Communication is, after all, a two-way street. Sometimes this is willful misunderstanding -- a person may simply choose to ignore what you mean in order to attack what you said (we'll explore those motives another time). And sometimes, it is simply a genuine misapprehension.  This is something with which Jesus dealt throughout his entire ministry. His own disciples, in fact, were notorious for just not getting it.

The key, however, to being understood more often lies, not with the listener, but with you: the speaker. How easy it is to say the wrong thing! And when the internet, or a text message is involved, even easier. Because then, you don't have to see the face of the person. You're not held responsible, by that look of hurt or passing anger,  for the things you have said, no matter how well-intentioned.

But the Bible warns us about the danger inherent in our tongues. That, in fact, communication is itself potentially a deadly weapon. Proverbs 12:18 says, "The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." 

If Solomon had known about Facebook,  maybe he would have mentioned fingers, too.

A Case of the Mondays

It never failed. The reasons why remain a mystery,  but nearly every Monday at a former workplace brought with it some brand new issue either with our computers or some piece of equipment or another. A switch would suddenly and randomly stop switching what it was supposed to be switching, and would have to be rerouted. A button that, on Friday, simply did what it was designed to do, on Monday would do what it was supposed to do, but also cause a second computer, linked to the first by the most tenuous of connections, to react as though that same button had been pushed over there.

"What's going on?" my co-worker would ask.
"It's Monday," I would answer.

And nothing more needed to be said.

It's been said that Monday gets a bad rap, but I'll admit, it's not exactly undeserved. No matter how you enjoyed -- or failed to enjoy -- your weekend, it's tough to go back to work. And, apparently, the gremlins are working overtime to make sure Monday is as confusingly off-kilter as possible.

So,  I'm not going to pretend it's all in your head, or that Monday isn't as rough as you seem to think it is. I know better.

No, the real question, when it comes to Monday -- and all that comes with it -- is how are we going to react to it?

The Book of Acts (Chapter 16: 15-40) tells us of Paul and Silas, and their time in jail. If you think being beset by Monday Gremlins is bad, you've never been arrested in the ancient Roman Empire. The men were stripped and beaten, and tossed into a dirty prison where they... praised God.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (v.25)

You know the rest of the story, how they were freed by God, and how they made a disciple of their jailer. But notice how Scripture tells us about this act of faith. The nonchalance. There they were, praying and singing. The prison was nothing to them but a venue. Another place to pray and worship their Father and Savior. And the other prisoners listened.

I'm no fan of Mondays, but when it comes down to it, what is it to us, children of the King, but another day to praise Him?

Save Tomorrow For Tomorrow

The hits just keep coming,  as more and more bad news filters out of the Middle East. We watch the growing unrest, and have to wonder: what's coming next? Is this it? Is this the beginning of the End? I'll be honest: I don't know, and I'm not going to speculate. I was not gifted with prophetic insight and, though I could probably make a few guesses here and there, they would be only that: guesses.

But you know what? The good news is, we don't have to guess. As a matter of fact, Jesus says that, if we are focused on those things over which we have no control, we're missing the point.

Matthew 6:33-34 says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

As Christ-followers, we have things we need to focus on. A job to do. To "Go into the world and make disciples..." We are not to focus on tomorrow, because we have work to do today. Instead, we know that Our God knows what's coming tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, until the End of the Age. He doesn't want us focusing on that, which is why He said we'll never know (Matthew 24:36).

We must, for sure, be concerned about those living and working under these terrifying circumstances. We must lift them up to God in prayer. But let us do that today,  and focus on God's work for us this moment, and give tomorrow to the One who already knows how it all turns out.

Why Does the Cross Make People So Mad?

Two days ago, as millions of us remembered the horrific tragedy in 2001, news began cropping up about an atheist group seeking to eliminate a symbol of that day: the 17-foot cross pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center. The monument, they say, gives unequal representation to Christians.

But what I found most telling were the words of David Silverman, the President of American Atheists, who

contends that atheists are experiencing horrible physical reactions after seeing the rubble cross, such as “inter alia, dyspepsia, symptoms of depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish.” 

This does sound a lot like a sickness, actually. But I think Mr. Silverman is perhaps misdiagnosing the cause.

Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

When I first read what this man said, I thought, how ridiculous! Give me a break! But isn't it possible that, in fact, they are having these feelings of sickness? Heart sickness, maybe? Sickness of the soul? That, even though they refuse to recognize the Truth in their minds, something in their Spirits know they have denied the Hope of Jesus Christ?

As believers,  our first reactions to this sort of thing are often annoyance or anger. But instead, should we not have compassion for the Spiritually diseased, who refuse to even acknowledge their symptoms?  Remember, Jesus said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17)." 

Pray for these men and women, that the Love, Mercy, and Grace of Jesus Christ be made manifest, and that His blessings bring them to Him. 

God In The Midst of Tragedy

Yesterday was the anniversary of the biggest, most wide-scale tragedy, certainly in my own lifetime. The words Nine Eleven, now forever etched in the American collective consciousness, as the day we lost 3,000 fellow countrymen, and were catapulted into war and political turmoil. A day where sadness mixed, for many, with rage, and with confusion, but also with hope and love. 

Many of us took to our knees that day, while still others decried the very existence of God. “Why,” they said, “would a loving God allow such a thing to happen?”

This, of course, wasn’t the first time in history such a question was asked, nor the last. The question is asked, often on a smaller scale, every hour of every single day. Why do bad things happen to good people? Does God even care? If He does, can He do anything about it? Or does He exist at all?

Romans 8:28 tells us, “… that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Not, you will note, that God MAKES these things happen. Rather, God allows them to happen. He allows mankind to act, and allows him the consequences of those actions. BUT, we can have faith that, even in the midst of tragedy, the Creator of the Universe WILL turn those curses into blessings. 

Remember what Joseph told his brothers. They cast him into a well, sold him into slavery. He spent time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But, when the time came, and his family needed him, God had put him into a position of authority, and enabled him to help his family, and indeed the entire region. Joseph said to his brothers, “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. (Gen 45:5)”

Joseph’s brothers meant to do evil to him. And it was many years before Joseph could learn the plan God had for him. The good God had in store didn’t come right away, but Joseph kept his faith, and when the time came, God rewarded that faith, and used Joseph to accomplish His holy purpose.

The question, then, is not WHY do bad things happen, but instead, WHEN bad things happen, who do YOU trust to work those tragedies into blessings?

Hoax!

Another day, another celebrity death hoax. 

Yesterday, it was Morgan Freeman (don’t worry… he’s still alive and well). It’s always a little surprising to me how quickly these sorts of rumors spread, and how even otherwise intelligent people are the ones passing them on. It is as though, when it comes to Celebrity Mortality, Facebook and Twitter are the prime authorities, and we forget just how easy it really is to find the truth before passing along the information. You don’t even have to leave the Internet to find the real story, but suddenly, typing an actor’s name into a search engine becomes a task we don’t even consider in the face of his untimely demise. 

Or maybe, some things are just too juicy, too good, to be bothered with fact-checking. In that thirty seconds it takes to Google “Morgan Freeman,” somebody else within our circle of influence might beat us to the punch! 

Unfortunately, we can often act the same way when it comes to the Word of God. I’ve lost count of how many times the world was supposed to end last year, at least according to some supposedly Christian “prophet” or another. And don’t even get me started on the whole Mayan Calendar thing. 

But of course, false doctrine usually comes on a far less grand scale. Tiny heresies we find ourselves embracing, because they’re just too good to let go. And yet, so often, the answer – the Truth – is right in front of us, if we just open the Word of God. 

2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

Test what you hear. Does it line up with Scripture?

When you hear something on the Internet, you check it against a reliable news source.

When you hear something about GOD, however, we can check it against the Good News, and see what God HIMSELF has to say.