Repent to refuge

Apostasy is the exact opposite of repentance. It is the deliberate walking away from God where repentance is the deliberate walking away from sin toward GOD.

A REFUGE is somewhere you go to escape danger.

My God, I want to take refuge in your mercy, your grace, and your love to escape the danger of what my sins deserve. I want to escape the dangers of my own conscience and its bent toward shame and guilt. I want to take refuge in your love, mercy, grace, and hope to escape the things which would otherwise plague my heart, mind and soul.

REPENT TO REFUGE I turn away deliberately from sin and toward you and the refuge I can only find in you

Separated from love: part 2

It is painful enough to know we have convinced ourselves of this, that God does not love us when we sin or screw up, but there is something even more painful to me.  It is even more painful that out of our inability to understand this we have spilled over into the world around us.  We are convinced that our actions and decisions can separate us from God, and we have enforced this ridiculousness on non-Christians around us.  We have convinced them that God does not love them because of their sin and life decisions. Something is heart-breakingly wrong here!

One of my students did graphic design for some extra cash in college, and one of his bosses was a night club owner, author, and homosexual.  He had been putting the finishing touches on a book, and he asked my student to read the manuscript.  My student had told me a lot of the things he saw in this book.  The book is quite autobiographical and reveals a lot of this man's ideas of God.  His main thought and belief is that God hates him.  He is convinced that God hates him.  He doesn't mention Christians hating him; he is convinced that GOD hates him.  God has completely removed his love from this man as far as he is concerned.

Where does he get this concept?

Likely he gets it from God's people who themselves seem to be convinced (see yesterday's post) that you can be separated from the love of God, and if they believe THEY can be separated from the love of God, then surely so would homosexuals.  So some make signs and scream from megaphones.

But lets be frank; we don't need signs and bullhorns on a street corner do we?  We are capable enough in our minds and comments to condemn homosexuals, drunks, whores, prostitutes and democrats to separation from God's love.

Why do we do this to people?

It appears that we do it to ourselves as well.  We have convinced ourselves that we can be and often are separated from the love of God.  This is crazy enough that we have convinced ourselves of this, but it is breaking my heart that we have convinced the homosexuals, drunks, sluts and divorced of the same thing.

The TRUTH of the matter is:

God doesn't hate 'fags', whores, sinners, or you...

His people do.

Separated from love

I once heard a speaker read through Romans 8, specifically the passage asking us, “What can separate us from the love of God….NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.”  He went on to speak maybe 2 minutes and posed the question, “Now dialogue with me for a couple minutes.  What kinds of things separate you from the love of God?  What things separate us from the love of God?” Hands went up all over the place!  Everyone had an answer.  “Sin!” “Temptation!” “Peers!” “Choices!” “Expectations!

I was dumbfounded!  We just read the passage 2 minutes before.  Had we already forgotten?  Did we really understand the first time?  I could not believe it.  We had just stood up and read aloud as a community in one voice that said, “NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.”  Why is this so hard for us to believe that we forget a pointblank reading of it 2 minutes later?

Something is terribly wrong here!

We are convinced that so many things can actually separate us from the love of God.  Yet, in a rare instance, the Bible is finely black and white on this issue.  We have convinced ourselves that we can separate ourselves from the love of God.

I am of the mind and heart that we can be separated from God, but we cannot be separated from his love in a million years.

Living out here in California has separated me from my family with most of America between us.  We all make choices and decisions that the others do not like.  So granted, I am not as close to my mom, dad, and brothers as I used to be.  We have been separated by geography.  We have been separated by growth and life decisions and choices. Does my mom love me less than she ever did?  No!  Does my dad remove his love from me? Of course not!  Have my brothers disowned me?  No!  They all still love me, and I still love all of them even though we are separated.  Nothing can separate me from the love of my family.

Yes, our sin separates us from God.  Our choices will sometimes place a hole, a distance between God and us.  The less time I spend with God results in lost intimacy and connection.  I can become disconnected and even separated from God.

BUT….

NOTHING CAN SEPARATE ME FROM THE LOVE OF GOD

I wonder why that is so hard for us to understand.  I took me years to realize the difference and its so simple.

No free lunch...or grace...okay maybe grace

God, I am sorry that I always take your grace for granted.  I so frequently find myself living under cheap grace...grace with no cost.  Sometimes I just live as though your grace was free to even you.  I live like you did not pay a cost for the grace I get for free.  I live like its free.  It may be free for me to accept but it is only there for me to accept because you paid a phenomenal price for it.  It is easy to focus on the grace being free to me, but when that's all I pay attention to, I begin to live my life under the banner of cheap grace and ride the coat tails of grace.  Even if I don't say it aloud or even consciously think it, I live my life as if to say, 'God will forgive me; why not.....?"  For that I apologize.  I have taken your mercy and loving grace for granted.  I need you!  I need your grace.

Random Friday thoughts fo'ya

What about this?  Maybe we need to read the story of Zacchaeus with the realization that this is a, man who desperately wants to see Jesus.  This is a desperate sinner who longs to see Jesus but can't.  The reason he can't see Jesus is because in the way are all the crowds of Jesus-followers.  These are a lot of people who already see Jesus and perhaps they are blocking out the sinner and despised tax collector.  They don't even notice the incredibly needy sinner just behind them who wants desperately to come to Jesus.  These people likely already knew Jesus was the Messiah.  That's why they followed him, but in the midst of it they left Zacchaeus to the side....the one who desperately needed and even WANTED to see and know Jesus. Isn't it interesting that one thing changed since the time of Jesus in that it used to be the sinners, whores, and drunks that came running to the compassion of Jesus and the Christian elite who hated Christ?  So what has changed now that it is the lost who hate Christ and even the mention of Christ?  What changed?  The compassion of Christ?  I'm leaning on no.

Kiddie Pools and Oceans

Why are Christians so terrified of reaching out to the lost?  We were called to be in the world but not of the world and yet we are afraid to actually go out into the world in any way.  We are terrified of non-Christian music, rated R movies and wearing hats in church.  But we are also afraid of bars, 'bad parts of town', credit cards, public schools, and even Santa Claus (He's not the real reason for the season....surprised you didn't know that [in the voice of Chris Farley in Tommy Boy). When we are afraid long enough, we can become utterly indignant about it.  We find ourselves flaring up our chests at Olive Garden to proudly deny the complimentary taste of wine.  "Proud to say I've never touched the stuff," while the waiter thinks to himself, "Okay, fine!  A simple, 'No thank you.' will suffice.....jerk."

I think it is because if you jump in the deep end without knowing how to swim, you will likely drown.  So why not just stay the heck away from the entire pool?  We are afraid of the world because we can't swim.  We are not confident and strong enough in our faith, beliefs, and stances to not be swayed by the thoughts and ways of the lost.  I think we are afraid because we are not strong enough.

On the other hand, I do not think the fact we cannot swim should keep us away from the kiddie pool or maybe, I know its risky, the shallow end where at least the water comes up to our chests.

We have to learn how to swim and we have to begin getting out of our pool and swim the ocean as we are called to do.

But we are terrified of the world for some reason.  I think that reason is because we are too weak to stay strong while being in the world.  Sure, it's risky and it will come with temptation, but how strong am I?  And if I am truly not strong enough yet, then what have I been doing in the church this whole time?  Have I been strengthening myself enough to get out into the world or am I just going to bask in the kiddie pool for the rest of my life?

* We should know where we are especially weak and stay away from dangerous temptations we KNOW we will fail in, but we cannot avoid the entire pool.

He'll just buy booze with it

My heart breaks to know many Christians and I have disregarded certain people because they'll buy booze with my change, they got themselves into this lifestyle, or their parents were piss-poor.  It breaks my heart the most to realize I focus more on HOW they got there than the fact they ARE there. I am broken at reading the story of the prodigal son and knowing the father did not withhold compassion because the prodigal chose this life.  I am hurt not to find the prodigal's father within me and my friends; this father who realized only one thing in the moment.  He realized his son needed compassion and love.  YES, his son DID choose this life.  His son DID use the father's money for booze, sex and other disgusting things.  These are all realities, but the father chose to realize only one thing: his son needed compassion, love and relationship.

I am broken at the reading of the prodigal son's brother and finding myself resonating, "Exactly!  He's been there at home serving his Dad faithfully.  And now look!"

I am broken to my lack of compassion, love and relationship with the least of these.

Are these things excuses for these people's current life choices?  No, but I cannot overlook the fact it just may be part of the reason.  Never mind how they got where they are; the fact remains, these people need compassion, love, relationship, and Jesus, and I have all of these to offer.

Improv(ing) God's will

Many of my favorite moments took place in any given improv class I took or as part of the traveling improv comedy and drama team I was part of for several years. While there is technique to improv, it is a lot of creating details around and within a framework of smaller prompts. Many of our classes took place outside where we could receive these prompts from passers-by...or from the audience at shows.

You may only know where your character is (setting) or a problem to overcome (conflict). You may only know a character trait. The rest of the plot you fill in with improv. You learn how to best interact with fellow actors in order to make your character stronger and help the scene stay alive. You follow improv rules and technique to help give to the scene and your fellow actors.

When many of us wait to hear God's voice in our lives, we are thinking we get to be character actors like Moses with God's cosmic voice speaking the script in perfect English (or at least in KJV Old English). When he does not do this for us, we start to doubt and assume he no longer speaks.

Today, God gives you a setting and a scene. He gives you a conflict to overcome. The rest is improv.

The rest is opportunity for your character to grow. To learn. The rest is opportunity for you to learn his rules and contribute to the scene, to give to your fellow actors.

Some scenes will fall drastically flat and fail miserably, but that is improv. It's life! Tomorrow God will give you another scene with new prompts to interact with.

You're Welcome: Seryn

I commonly come into various obsessions with bands and artists. Right now, I cannot stop listening to Seryn. There is not much I could say to describe them in comparison to other artists. It just really is fantastic music. Here is a live performance of Beach Song. It is not even my favorite song on their album, but the video is pretty good quality. Enjoy! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOiaBW6HBRw&w=420&h=315]

Why you get angry all the time

"There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, then he who captures a city." -Proverbs 16:25,32 NASB This is an issue of control. It is an issue of whether or not you have control over your emotion. With God's grace and our work, we need to control our anger and emotion.

Do not allow your anger and your emotion to be out of your control to points where you start thinking and saying things like, "I just get this way some times" or "I do not know how I got to this point" or "I just can't help it". THESE are points you are out of control.

Be very careful when something SEEMS or FEELS like it is right or good. Our feelings are undoubtedly fickle. They can (and DO) often lead us astray. Be careful in those moments when things just FEEL right.

Check these emotional moments, thoughts, and feelings. Check them with wiser people in your life. Check them with God's Word. "He who gives attention to the word will find good and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord." (vs 20)

When we are out of control with our anger and other emotions, it is because something in our broken heart actually believes (or FEELS) like that is the best reaction.

Our hearts are fickle, deceptive, and destructive when they are not constantly entangled and in-check with God's Word and Heart.

Book Review: Father Hunger by Douglas Wilson

Books about manhood and fatherhood are beginning to pop up everywhere for good reason. Fatherlessness is an epidemic in our culture today. Douglas Wilson addresses this enormous issue with this book. With very heady information, he walks the reader through the original intent for men and fathers. This leads well into a revelation of the ways the culture has drastically neglected those intentions. That neglect has lead us into several saddening realities in our culture as we know it today. 

The title interested me, which is why I accepted the offer to review the book for Booksneeze and Thomas Nelson. As a new father, there as encouragement in the possibility of good information regarding leading a family.

The larger surprises were found in the amount of discussion regarding sexuality, gender roles, masculinity and feminism. It grew to be a bit much at several points along the way.

There were different ways he handled certain topics, which were very enlightening. His connection of modern atheism to the fatherless epidemic is very intriguing. The connection to education is also very clear and easy to recognize.

On the other hand, there were quite a few topics addressed which felt like a great stretch. There are some generalizations that strike me more as an opinion, which smacks of conspiracy theories and “hell in a hand basket” outlooks. Even with the offerings of advice and challenges to step up as fathers, there remains a lack of restoration.

Finishing the book proved more daunting than I had expected.