"Our life-long nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation."- C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"
I've been reading Tim Keller's The Prodigal God over the last week. Great book. Keller briefly explores the famous parable of the prodigal son and argues that the older son---the one who was disappointed in his father for taking his younger brother back---was every bit as lost as the younger son. Both, he says, were ultimately outside the home---one chose to leave and live wildly and the other was so religious that he found himself resisting the father's love. As Keller spells out this argument, an interesting discussion of exile unfolds. The Bible is a story of exiles looking for a place to call home. In Genesis, Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden. Cain is forced to wander after killing Abel. Jacob has to flee his home. Joseph is sent away from his home and family. The story continues throughout the Old Testament with numerous periods of Israelite exile and oppression. This story of exile climaxes in the Gospels when the death and resurrection of Christ ultimately opens the door to God's house, a home that all men over all times have been desperately trying to enter---whether they knew it or not. God's home is the only true and lasting home.
I'm finding this to be true in my own life. The Lewis quote above hits the nail on the head. As I get older and enter new phases of my life, I realize that you really can't ever go home again. Sure, we can continue to remain in the love of our families and friends, visit our childhood home, return to key places and people from our past. But it really is never the same. My parents' house will never be the same for me as it was when I was a child. Roles have changed, life is different. My closest friends from a couple of years ago, people I talked to every day in Tennessee, are people I chat with once in a great while. Guys I lived with in college, I have no idea what they are doing or where they are. Even if I did, that home that was created for two years can never be the same again. Try visiting your old church a few years after moving on. Some things will be familiar, but ultimately, you can't recreate what was once there. I know I'm rambling here, but I hope you are seeing where I'm coming from. Everything changes so fast, it feels like we are always unsuccessfully trying to grasp "home" before it slips away and things change. As Alyssa and I work on shaping our life together and our home, it won't be long before things change again. The kids will grow up and move on. We may move. God could call us to new jobs or churches. Friendships will evolve. Home is transient and is constantly changing.
Ultimately, this deep desire for a secure and unchanging home is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ. That emptiness we feel when things change can only be remedied when we truly rest in Him. He is our Rock, the same yesterday, today and forever. I must remember this as I reflect on change. As we get ready to adopt sweet Kaylee and give her a "home," I cannot forget that the most important home we can give her is a relationship with God. It is the most secure place that she, or any of us, can ever find ourselves.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Just Like Jesus?
One of my students commented today that people say they want to be like Jesus, but the reality is that they don't. In other words, if people REALLY had to go through the things Jesus went through, they might not be so quick to want to be like him.
This is a topic I've been thinking a lot about lately---what does it mean to be authentically Christian? While I'm still convinced I want to be like Christ, I think I'd better---we'd all better, really---heed his words to count the cost. Jesus repeatedly told whoever would listen that following him would be really hard. They would lose everything. They would be hated by the world. They would have to abandon themselves to find themselves. They might even be killed for his sake---and most of his closest followers were killed, and most in pretty awful ways. Just because we are distanced by time and space from the culture Jesus lived in, we are not suddenly exempt from the struggles Jesus cautioned would come. Maybe we aren't facing those struggles because "being a Christian" has become far too easy and comfortable.
I realize I am walking a fine line here. I don't intend to cross over to a works-based salvation. We are woefully lost beings outside of Christ's grace and I certainly can't do enough to somehow save myself. My bad thoughts alone far outweigh my good works. That alone is enough to send me to hell if I find myself outside of the loving mercy of Jesus. Yet, Jesus said that those who abide in Him will bear fruit...and those who aren't bearing fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire. Time and time again he tells us that few will really follow Him and few will find salvation. In this day and age, we have made salvation as simple as believe and say a prayer and you're in. I hesitate to argue against that because it is so prevalent in our church culture, but I just don't see that portrait of a Christian painted in the Gospels. Jesus says being a Christian will cost something. James tells us that believing is not enough. Our faith will be shown in our lives, and Jesus makes it clear that those who don't bear fruit aren't in Him. Maybe that kind of talk makes you uncomfortable. It's not surprising, considering that it makes me uncomfortable too and I am the one typing the words. But, I challenge us all to read the Gospels anew and ask the question, "What does following Christ look like according to Christ?" I would love to hear what picture emerges for you and how that impacts the way you think and live.
This is a topic I've been thinking a lot about lately---what does it mean to be authentically Christian? While I'm still convinced I want to be like Christ, I think I'd better---we'd all better, really---heed his words to count the cost. Jesus repeatedly told whoever would listen that following him would be really hard. They would lose everything. They would be hated by the world. They would have to abandon themselves to find themselves. They might even be killed for his sake---and most of his closest followers were killed, and most in pretty awful ways. Just because we are distanced by time and space from the culture Jesus lived in, we are not suddenly exempt from the struggles Jesus cautioned would come. Maybe we aren't facing those struggles because "being a Christian" has become far too easy and comfortable.
I realize I am walking a fine line here. I don't intend to cross over to a works-based salvation. We are woefully lost beings outside of Christ's grace and I certainly can't do enough to somehow save myself. My bad thoughts alone far outweigh my good works. That alone is enough to send me to hell if I find myself outside of the loving mercy of Jesus. Yet, Jesus said that those who abide in Him will bear fruit...and those who aren't bearing fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire. Time and time again he tells us that few will really follow Him and few will find salvation. In this day and age, we have made salvation as simple as believe and say a prayer and you're in. I hesitate to argue against that because it is so prevalent in our church culture, but I just don't see that portrait of a Christian painted in the Gospels. Jesus says being a Christian will cost something. James tells us that believing is not enough. Our faith will be shown in our lives, and Jesus makes it clear that those who don't bear fruit aren't in Him. Maybe that kind of talk makes you uncomfortable. It's not surprising, considering that it makes me uncomfortable too and I am the one typing the words. But, I challenge us all to read the Gospels anew and ask the question, "What does following Christ look like according to Christ?" I would love to hear what picture emerges for you and how that impacts the way you think and live.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Love is the Only Answer...Everything Else is Just a Trainwreck
I didn't come up with that title on my own. Those are some lyrics from the song "Portland is Leaving" by a killer artist named Rocky Votolato. (If you like singer-songwriter acoustic stuff with some harmonica thrown in, this is your guy). Anyways, this entry isn't really about me plugging music. I've heard that song hundreds of times and always thought it was good, but those specific lyrics have been stuck in my head lately. I think Rocky is a Christian, I'm not really sure, but boy do those lyrics sum up what we are supposed to be about.
When we try to go about this whole Christian thing with any other motive than love, it really is a massive trainwreck waiting to happen. Paul made that pretty clear in I Corinthians 13 when he wrote, "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." How many times are our actions based on something other than love? How often do we treat others with a measure of love that we feel is equivalent to what we receive in return?
Are you a love-centered person? Is your church love-centered? We cannot be program-centered, ministry-centered, social justice-centered, small group-centered, or any other kind of centered. We need to weigh every action and every word, considering the question, "Is love motivating me?"
The only thing that will change people, culture, and our church is love---it is the only answer.
When we try to go about this whole Christian thing with any other motive than love, it really is a massive trainwreck waiting to happen. Paul made that pretty clear in I Corinthians 13 when he wrote, "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." How many times are our actions based on something other than love? How often do we treat others with a measure of love that we feel is equivalent to what we receive in return?
Are you a love-centered person? Is your church love-centered? We cannot be program-centered, ministry-centered, social justice-centered, small group-centered, or any other kind of centered. We need to weigh every action and every word, considering the question, "Is love motivating me?"
The only thing that will change people, culture, and our church is love---it is the only answer.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Re-blog: Kevin DeYoung's review of Rob Bell's "Love Wins"
A well-written review of the new Rob Bell book...I know there are a lot of Rob Bell fans out there, and certainly a fair share of critics. In reading the selections from "Love Wins," it is clear Bell is making some dramatic leaps beyond the fringes of orthodoxy. It's a long, but valuable, read.
God Is Still Holy and What You Learned in Sunday School Is Still True: A Review of “Love Wins”
God Is Still Holy and What You Learned in Sunday School Is Still True: A Review of “Love Wins”
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Called to Adopt?
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress" James 1:27
Most people in the United States would consider themselves "religious." (I know, I know, that word is not popular among Christians these days, but I don't mean it in the legalistic sense...I just mean that most people believe in something supernatural, something bigger than themselves.) In fact, the vast majority (the last number I read was something upwards of 80%) of Americans label themselves as a Christian. Given that most people self-identify as Christ-followers, why is James 1:27 ignored by the majority of us? If we consider ourselves "religious," then why don't we want the right kind of religion, a type that God considers "pure" and "faultless"?
Maybe our Biblical illiteracy keeps us from grasping the heart of God when it comes to adoption. Sadly, a growing number of Christians spend very little time in the Bible, much less have an in-depth understanding of what Scripture teaches. Adoption is close to God's heart. James 1:27 is not the only place where God mandates orphan care...the Bible is full of references to taking care of children, the poor, the weak, and the voiceless. But, even more importantly, the Bible makes it clear that we are spiritually adopted by God. Through the sacrifice of Christ, we are grafted into God's family tree as his sons and daughters. When we see God participate in a process on a major scale, it usually means that we need to imitate his work on a human scale. Adoption is a God-act, and therefore needs to be a part of the work of the Church as well.
Maybe we don't understand the gravity of the problem. UNICEF estimates that there are 140-210 million orphans in the world. Every day, nearly 6,000 children become orphans. Over 2 million children become orphans each year in Africa alone. This is an epidemic of epic proportions. The Bible mandates that we take care of the orphans. Maybe we have such a problem on our hands because the Church has dropped the ball for 2,000 years and failed to be what God has called us to be. If the Church isn't taking care of orphans, who is going to? (And on that note, if the Church isn't feeding the hungry who will? clothing the naked? housing the homeless? And the list goes on)
Maybe a lot of us are waiting around to have the feeling we are "called" to adopt. We are no more "called" to adopt than we are "called" to be kind, to help the poor, to share the Gospel, etc. James doesn't say that adoption is part of pure religion for the super-spiritual or "called to adoption" crew. It's for Christians. That includes me, and if you're reading this, probably you. It's not just for middle-aged couples who already have kids. It's for young couples with babies. It's for widows. It's for couples with children and without children. Pure religion is for every Christian which means adoption is for every Christian. Maybe some circumstance keeps us from bringing a new child into the house (although I would venture to say that most of us have some pretty lame excuses for why our circumstances keep us from adoption), but even in that case we can contribute to the cause of adoption by giving to someone else, supporting others, etc.
Alyssa and I are in the same boat as all of you. So, we are going to stop worrying about the finances, family dynamics, waiting for our own babies, etc. God wants Christians to adopt. We're Christians. So, we're exploring adoption options and considering what our next step is. We would appreciate your prayer and wisdom, but more so I hope you consider this epidemic and get involved personally. Tonight, all over the world, children are alone, without parents or a family They are hungry, cold, alone, and sad. Their one dream is to have a family. How can you help?
Most people in the United States would consider themselves "religious." (I know, I know, that word is not popular among Christians these days, but I don't mean it in the legalistic sense...I just mean that most people believe in something supernatural, something bigger than themselves.) In fact, the vast majority (the last number I read was something upwards of 80%) of Americans label themselves as a Christian. Given that most people self-identify as Christ-followers, why is James 1:27 ignored by the majority of us? If we consider ourselves "religious," then why don't we want the right kind of religion, a type that God considers "pure" and "faultless"?
Maybe our Biblical illiteracy keeps us from grasping the heart of God when it comes to adoption. Sadly, a growing number of Christians spend very little time in the Bible, much less have an in-depth understanding of what Scripture teaches. Adoption is close to God's heart. James 1:27 is not the only place where God mandates orphan care...the Bible is full of references to taking care of children, the poor, the weak, and the voiceless. But, even more importantly, the Bible makes it clear that we are spiritually adopted by God. Through the sacrifice of Christ, we are grafted into God's family tree as his sons and daughters. When we see God participate in a process on a major scale, it usually means that we need to imitate his work on a human scale. Adoption is a God-act, and therefore needs to be a part of the work of the Church as well.
Maybe we don't understand the gravity of the problem. UNICEF estimates that there are 140-210 million orphans in the world. Every day, nearly 6,000 children become orphans. Over 2 million children become orphans each year in Africa alone. This is an epidemic of epic proportions. The Bible mandates that we take care of the orphans. Maybe we have such a problem on our hands because the Church has dropped the ball for 2,000 years and failed to be what God has called us to be. If the Church isn't taking care of orphans, who is going to? (And on that note, if the Church isn't feeding the hungry who will? clothing the naked? housing the homeless? And the list goes on)
Maybe a lot of us are waiting around to have the feeling we are "called" to adopt. We are no more "called" to adopt than we are "called" to be kind, to help the poor, to share the Gospel, etc. James doesn't say that adoption is part of pure religion for the super-spiritual or "called to adoption" crew. It's for Christians. That includes me, and if you're reading this, probably you. It's not just for middle-aged couples who already have kids. It's for young couples with babies. It's for widows. It's for couples with children and without children. Pure religion is for every Christian which means adoption is for every Christian. Maybe some circumstance keeps us from bringing a new child into the house (although I would venture to say that most of us have some pretty lame excuses for why our circumstances keep us from adoption), but even in that case we can contribute to the cause of adoption by giving to someone else, supporting others, etc.
Alyssa and I are in the same boat as all of you. So, we are going to stop worrying about the finances, family dynamics, waiting for our own babies, etc. God wants Christians to adopt. We're Christians. So, we're exploring adoption options and considering what our next step is. We would appreciate your prayer and wisdom, but more so I hope you consider this epidemic and get involved personally. Tonight, all over the world, children are alone, without parents or a family They are hungry, cold, alone, and sad. Their one dream is to have a family. How can you help?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Sad Truth about Water
Water is a luxury that we (Americans/the Western world) take for granted. Showers, dishes, drinking water, car washes, toilets, washing machines, swimming pools, water fountains, ice cubes, decorative fountains---all things that take water, whether or a lot or little, that we don't bat an eye at. Water is plentiful---for us. In the majority of the world, clean water is scarce. Do you realize just how scarce it is? Check out these facts from Compassion International:
*50% of the world's hospitalizations are due to water-related illnesses such as cholera.
*One in five children (TWENTY PERCENT OF ALL CHILDREN!) worldwide die from diarrhea---that's more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.
*Poor people living in the slums often have to pay five to ten time more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.
*2.5 million people do not have adequate sanitation facilities.
*800 MILLION PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER.
*1.5 million children die of water-borne illnesses every year.
These numbers are absolutely staggering. I can't even comprehend the suffering that is happening worldwide. Life is cozy and safe here. Kids aren't dying because they don't have water. People aren't begging in the streets for clean water. We are isolated from this worldwide epidemic. We can choose to not be isolated. There are ways to help. Blood Water: Mission is a ministry that our family supports that builds wells for impoverished areas of Africa. Check out this video to learn more about what they do and how you can help.
*50% of the world's hospitalizations are due to water-related illnesses such as cholera.
*One in five children (TWENTY PERCENT OF ALL CHILDREN!) worldwide die from diarrhea---that's more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.
*Poor people living in the slums often have to pay five to ten time more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.
*2.5 million people do not have adequate sanitation facilities.
*800 MILLION PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER.
*1.5 million children die of water-borne illnesses every year.
These numbers are absolutely staggering. I can't even comprehend the suffering that is happening worldwide. Life is cozy and safe here. Kids aren't dying because they don't have water. People aren't begging in the streets for clean water. We are isolated from this worldwide epidemic. We can choose to not be isolated. There are ways to help. Blood Water: Mission is a ministry that our family supports that builds wells for impoverished areas of Africa. Check out this video to learn more about what they do and how you can help.
Our friends the Palms have a heart for Uganda and particularly an unsanitary holding area for orphans that lacks clean water. Read their story here and get involved by giving $20 to their cause.
We all need to do something. Please, get involved and save a life.
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