Psalm 73

This speaks to us all, for sure, but I post this today with all of the kids going back to school this week - Don't doubt your resolve, don't doubt God's goodness - 
This is Psalm 73 from The Message translation: 

^1-5 No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted. 
   But I nearly missed it, 
      missed seeing his goodness. 
   I was looking the other way, 
      looking up to the people 
   At the top, 
      envying the wicked who have it made, 
   Who have nothing to worry about, 
      not a care in the whole wide world. 

 ^6-10 Pretentious with arrogance, 
      they wear the latest fashions in violence, 
   Pampered and overfed, 
      decked out in silk bows of silliness. 
   They jeer, using words to kill; 
      they bully their way with words. 
   They're full of hot air, 
      loudmouths disturbing the peace. 
   People actually listen to them—can you believe it? 
      Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words. 

 ^11-14 What's going on here? Is God out to lunch? 
      Nobody's tending the store. 
   The wicked get by with everything; 
      they have it made, piling up riches. 
   I've been stupid to play by the rules; 
      what has it gotten me? 
   A long run of bad luck, that's what— 
      a slap in the face every time I walk out the door. 

 ^15-20 If I'd have given in and talked like this, 
      I would have betrayed your dear children. 
   Still, when I tried to figure it out, 
      all I got was a splitting headache . . . 
   Until I entered the sanctuary of God. 
      Then I saw the whole picture: 
   The slippery road you've put them on, 
      with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. 
   In the blink of an eye, disaster! 
      A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare! 
   We wake up and rub our eyes....Nothing. 
      There's nothing to them. And there never was. 

 ^21-24 When I was beleaguered and bitter, 
      totally consumed by envy, 
   I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox 
      in your very presence. 
   I'm still in your presence, 
      but you've taken my hand. 
   You wisely and tenderly lead me, 
      and then you bless me. 

 ^25-28 You're all I want in heaven! 
      You're all I want on earth! 
   When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, 
      God is rock-firm and faithful. 
   Look! Those who left you are falling apart! 
      Deserters, they'll never be heard from again. 
   But I'm in the very presence of God— 
      oh, how refreshing it is! 
   I've made Lord God my home. 
      God, I'm telling the world what you do!

Chick-fil-a. and what it Really means.

*Please do not comment or form opinions one way or the other until you have read this entry in its entirety.  If you can not or will not commit to reading every word of this post fully, please don't start reading it at all.*

This is a hard post to write... I've honestly wrestled with whether it was better to respond at all or just let this one go.

We've all seen the news stories of the dreaded "Chick-fil-a" bigots, cast our votes one way or the other, seen the "Chick-fil-a appreciation day" and the counter "Kiss-a-chick" day.  But what does it all mean, where did it all come from, who was right, what was wrong, and what now?

First off, as a constitutionalist, if I separate all of my Christian feelings (which of course I couldn't completely) I stand behind Chick-fil-a's 1st Amendment right to free speech.  There's a reason why that was the FIRST Amendment.  I can't stand hate groups and wish they were all banished from the face of earth (I'm Not talking about Chick-fil-a here, I'm talking about venomous HATE groups), however, they are allowed to speak their minds, I use the term "mind" loosely here, despite how much I Hate what they spew, they are allowed to spew it.

Now that that's out of the way, let's take the next most simple step forward before we actually address the issues.  Chick-fil-a stated, and I quote (a novelty that most news sources have forgotten how to do):

1.  "“I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’ I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think we can try to define what marriage is all about.”"
2.  "“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. …“We are very much committed to that,” Cathy emphasized. “We intend to stay the course,” he said. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”"

Ok, let's look at these two quotes.  Despite what he did say, did Cathy ever say that gays weren't welcome at Chick-fil-a?  Did he ever say gay people couldn't work at Chick-fil-a?  Did he ever say he hated gay people?  Did he ever mention 'hate' anywhere, at all, ever?  no...
Secondly, and this wont matter to some because their passions are too high, but one must also consider the audience.  This would be more offensive and draw a larger attack (should have anyway) had Cathy posted these words on Chick-fil-a's corporate blog or had he hung a sign on every door publicly stating that he felt gay marriage was wrong.  But he didn't, he made the remarks to the Baptist Press, a like minded religious press of which he is a part of.
Also, this Can't Possibly be a newsflash (unless you're the Huffington Post) that Chick-fil-a is a deeply religious company that refuses under any circumstances to be open on Sundays, who operates with no debt, and who conducts vetting on their board to ensure they are all married to their first spouse (no divorcees and yes, all heterosexual marriages).

Keep Reading, Don't stop now!

Now, let's go a little further:
I don't know what Cathy was thinking.  No, really, I simply don't know.  Neither do you, neither does the news, neither does the Christian community or the LGBT community.  We just don't.  We don't know his heart of hearts so I can't decisively speak to his thoughts or motives.  I can only look at facts and expound on what I think
(on a side note - the New's job is to report NEWS FACTS and let viewers on all sides decide what those facts mean - somehow all 'news' anchors are now are dressed up talkshow hosts, and we all know what happens when you put lipstick on a pig...)

Do I love gay people?  Emphatically Yes.
Does God condone homosexuality?  no.  Does he love homosexuals?  Deeply, madly, gracefully - so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for them (and you, and me, and Everyone else - He didn't exclude who He died for so who in the world are we to exclude who He died for?).

Does the Bible say that homosexuality is wrong?  yes, it does.  It also says sex before marriage is wrong, adultery is wrong, cursing is wrong, watching porn is wrong, flipping off the guy who just cut you off in traffic is wrong... cast the first stone.
So wait, does that mean I'm saying it's ok to be gay?  nope, but it's also not ok to have sex in high school, run around on your husband, not be a virgin when you get married, and cuss out referees at the ball game.  Cast the first stone.

Don't stop reading.  You promised.

What I keep coming back to is not the verses in the Bible about homosexuality that everyone keeps quoting, I keep coming up with the adulterous woman who was brought before Jesus (Jesus Christ, you know, the whole Author, Alpha-Omega, the One, He who died, He who decided all the stuff that's said in the Bible?  Yeah, Him).  Let me refresh your memory:

John chapter 8.  The Pharisees and Keepers of the Law (ie, the religious people, the scholars, the pastors) brought a woman to Jesus and said that she had been adulterous.  That the Law of Moses (the first covenant-of which the world had previously been under, BC) commanded that she be stoned to death - what did He (Jesus) have to say about that?  Jesus ignored them.  As they continued to yell and holler about her sins and her 'deserved' punishment (sounding familiar yet?) Jesus replied:  fine, whichever one of you is sinless and without blame, start things off, throw the first stone.  Well, as you know, there wasn't a single one of those who had brought her there who was without sin, so 1 by 1 they all left.  Soon, Jesus and the woman were all that remained.  Jesus looked at the woman and said:  hey, what happened?  Where is everybody?  Is no one going to condemn you?
She hesitantly looked around and sheepishly responds, "no one..."
Jesus replies:  Neither do I.  Go on your way and sin no more.

This is so profound, so insightful, so mind blowing, and so deep!
Here's what we need to understand:  everyone in the crowd who wanted to condemn the woman for her sin was guilty, they were all sinners, and Jesus told them only whoever in their midst was blameless should throw the 1st rock.  They all left.  But who was still there?  Jesus.  Who actually was completely blameless and without sin?  Jesus.  So who actually Could cast the first stone?  Jesus.  And he didn't.

You see, the crowd (us...) wanted to condemn, but couldn't  -  Jesus could have condemned, but didn't.  Did Jesus tell her "don't worry about your adultery honey, you go right ahead, I'm good with whatever you do!"  no.  He didn't.  He said "go on your way, and sin no more".  Jesus knew she was guilty, but He didn't condemn her:  He condemned her sin, but not her.

A much better way to put it comes from Rick Warren:

"Our culture has accepted two huge lies: 

The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. 

The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do.

Both are nonsense.You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate"

Quick thoughts?

What if we stopped talking about the church and started being the church?
What if we started telling people what Jesus is for instead of what He's against?
What if we started living abundant life and not just quoting it?
What if just immediately prayed for someone instead of just saying we will?
What if we saw a need and acted instead of forming a committee? 
What if we started doing instead of watching?

Haven for Hope

What a week!

We (8 teens and 9 adults) just returned from our mission trip to San Antonio, TX.
Yes, that's right, Texas.

Domestic mission trips may seem strange to some, but it all depends on your perspective and what you're looking to accomplish.  1 thing to remember, statistics show there are more Christians currently in Africa than there are in the USA (chew on that for a minute).  Furthermore, the mission (in my mind) is people - reaching the needy, the hopeless, the lost with the LOVE of Jesus Christ through relationships.  That, my friend, can (and desperately needs to) be accomplished anywhere.

In San Antonio, one of things we did was spend most of the week at a place called Haven for Hope.  Haven for Hope is a 37 acre campus dedicated to serving the homeless in and around San Antonio (and no, that's not a typo - 37 acres!)

I can't call it a 'homeless shelter' because it is so much more!  On the 37 acres sits 15 buildings (expanding right now) consisting of over 1/2 a Million square feet under roof.  Under those roofs is not one autonomous entity but nearly 80 different non-profits and government partner agencies.  On any given night there will be about 900 'semi permanant' residents staying at H4H and an additional 900 or so staying in the overnight shelter; each night Haven For Hope houses between 1500 and 2000 men, women, and children.

Speaking of children, 1 of the most shocking statistics for our group was to hear that the average age of a homeless person in San Antonio (where over 25,000 a year experience homelessness) is 9.  9 years old.

During our stay, sure, we did some of the hard work to help out as best we could (literally moving tons and tons of materials in a warehouse, rearranging 300 new mattresses that came in on shipment, sorting clothes, staging the store, scrubbing baseboards, mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms, etc. etc. etc.), but that's not what the trip was about.

Our teens (and adults) found people.  We sat for hours, talked a little, and listened a lot.  We spread the hope of Jesus Christ while receiving more encouragement than we ever imagined.  We met kids, moms, dads, grandparents, college students, middle school students, and babies.  We listened to their dreams, their goals, their hopes, their fears...we shared ours with them, we prayed, we sang, we hugged, and we smiled.   And THAT is needed everywhere, by everyone, and can be done by anyone, anytime, anywhere.

The Talents

When was the last time you read the Parable of the Talents?  I knew the story 'very well' having heard it most of my life, but this last week was challenged to unpack it a little more.

Take a quick look:  Matthew 25:14-30

What do you notice?
There were 3 servants.  He gave them all different amounts of money, why?  "According to their ability".  Ok, so already we see 'to whom much is given much is required' (how many talents do you have?)

What did the master own?  The money? yes.  The land? yep.  The servants?  Them too.  Everything belonged to him.

What happened when the master left?  Well, 1st think about this, what would happen if your boss left, didn't say when they were coming back, but it would be a long time.  What would happen?  Want a better example?  Think of a college/high school classroom.  What would happen if the teacher left the room and was going to be gone?  How many students would stick around and do what they were suppose to do?  ('while the cat's away the mice will play')

But what happened?  By those examples, 1 went 'to play' and 2 went to work (do work!).  It doesn't even say what they did, just that they went to work.

Ok, next:  How'd they do?  One buried the money and made nothing, the other 2 doubled-up.

So, when the master came back, how do you think the servants responded?  The one that made nothing, do you think he hid around the back of the room, avoided eye contact, and tried to look busy?  Probably.  Now what about the other two?  Don't you know they were busting the doors down to Run to get an audience with him!

Now, what happened next?  What did the two servants who doubled up have to say?  Not much, they didn't have a need to, they just let their actions speak.  The third servant, the one who didn't make anything, what did he have to say?  He blamed it on the man.  He said, "you see master, it's really YOU'RE fault... that I didn't do anything"  He blamed the master for his inaction.  (how often do we do that....)

Last thing from the text I want you to notice.  Who owned everything again?  The master.  Who's money was it then?  The master's.  Notice the end of the parable, he says take the 1 talent (from the man who had done nothing) and give it to the man who has 10.  So, the man who had 5 of the master's talents and doubled them to make 10 (of the master's talents), still had the 10 talents.  The master hadn't taken them away, he had left them with the servant.  Think on that.

So what's your ROI?

break bread

This morning I was reminded of the importance of fellowship, the importance of accountability (in more ways than one), and the importance of same sex small groups.

Yesterday I ran into a good friend of mine who told me to meet him the next morning... at 6:00 am.  I admittedly waffled a bit.  His response to my uneasiness was "either I'll see you there at 6, or I'll be at your house at 5:45 blowing the horn to pick you up".  At that, my wife just laughed and told me (tender and lovingly, of course) "Ha!  You met one just like you!"

So, this morning I got up, drove down the hill and met him and about 10 other guys.  It was all guys meeting in a carport.  In age we ranged from about 12 - 60 years old, in athleticism from the ability to do body weight air squats to picking up small automobiles and throwing them over their shoulder.  We had college football players, football and soccer coaches, principles, teachers, students, and physician assistants.  We had sons, brothers, fathers, and grandfathers.  All different, but all united in purpose (2 purposes actually).

For about 45 minutes we all, regardless of ability, had our butts kicked in Crossfit hybrid (directed by a special forces soldier, Crossfit certified instructor, and all around Beast) workout of weights, kettlebells, rowing machines, ski machines, and all other manner of torturous devices that we all love.  At the conclusion, this group of men all stood around, sweaty and breathing hard.  Much like any crossfit or bootcamp exercise you might go to.  What made this one different was what happens next.  A mix of devo, discussion, and preaching (this one on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25) followed by prayer.  Powerful prayers from a group of men passionate about The Living God.

Surround yourselves with such people.  The disciples needed each other (even when sent out they were sent 2by2), Jesus had a small group (the apostles) and 3 best friends even within that group.  If the apostles needed it, if Jesus Christ the son of God needed it, we need it.

God is love.

God is Love. 
Period. 


As such, He can not also be the god of hate. 
Though God may (does) hate the sins that we all commit, that does not translate into a hate for the people committing those sins.  See, God hates sin for what it does to those He loves.  God did not create a bunch of arbitrary rules and "though shalt not"s for the fun of it or to be all controlling and manipulative, or to give us ways to fail.  Every law/rule/command in the Bible is given for our own good - for the protection of His children (you, me, us).  God hates that we can not see the consequences of our actions, that we don't see how much better our lives would be without sin, how much more abundantly we would live if we followed His commands (in place for our protection), but He does not hate any person.

hear me, Hear me, HEAR ME: God does not, will not, can not hate You.