A Convo With God

The Spark

2012-01-30T07:17:00.001-08:00

Some people have asked me "how does God speak to you? How do you know that it is God?"

One way that I experience God is what I call "The Spark".

Have you ever been reading something or watching a program or even just had a conversation when all of the sudden something triggers a jolt of energy within you? Maybe that jolt comes in the form of an idea or a feeling but either way that feeling is enough to momentarily stop you in your tracks.

Then we have a decision to make. Will we ignore the spark or ride the wave that it triggered within us?

In the past I used to ignore it. After all I have a lot of random thoughts swimming in my brain.

But then something interesting happened. I realized that I would get these same sparks when I read the Bible.

The more that I read the Bible the more often I'd have these triggers of inspiration. It was as if the Holy Spirit used my time in the Word to train me to see the genius he wanted to unlock within me.

The Holy Spirit has shown me that He is often the author of those sparks. We know that it is Him when it is in line with Jesus' message.

If you don't know what that message is try reading Matthew chapters 5-7. Read it through and I bet you will experience that spark at least once before you get to the end.

21 Days of Silence: Day 4 - Footsteps

2012-01-28T22:34:00.001-08:00

During my quiet time this morning the Holy Spirit showed me a lot about feet.

Sounds kinda weird but it'll make sense when you get to the end.

First He reminded me of the story of Moses and the burning bush. What he highlighted to me was that God told Moses to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground.

Then He said the following things to me (in bold below) while at the same time showing me some of the scriptures from the Bible in my memory. After I finished my quiet time I was surprised to find that every single thing was supported by Scripture, even the parts that I could not at first recall.

In short everywhere we step is Holy Ground because the Holy Spirit is within those who believe. When we walk in obedience we literally gain ground for God.

So walk boldly out into the world knowing that you will be victorious in your well doing.

Here is my journey.

Moses at the burning bush... Holy ground

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:2-6 ESV)

The disciples sent out... Where they were received they blessed

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. (Luke 10:2-12 ESV)

Feet covered with the gospel of peace... We bring peace everywhere we go.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. (Ephesians 6:13-15 ESV)

Everywhere you step the land is yours

For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you. (Deuteronomy 11:22-25 ESV)

"Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. (Joshua 1:2, 3 ESV)

We claim victory over all the land. Since God abides in us through the Holy Spirit then everywhere we go is holy land.

We must walk in authority when we walk in the fullness of the spirit. We are sons of God... The king of kings, the lord of lords. We are spiritual royalty

Every step must be taken in obedience to His will. We must walk in the spirit through obedience. Faith is radical obedience.

A Thick Cloud

2012-01-27T17:07:00.001-08:00

Exodus 19:9 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever."

21 Days of Silence Day 3: Being Christlike

2012-01-27T07:51:00.001-08:00

During my quiet time this morning I was hearing all kinds of noise from a dream that I had. In the dream I was panicking, frantically looking for something and felt that I was getting taken advantage of in my search.

When I woke up I was trying to figure out what the dream was all about but it didn't make any sense. So I started to pray in what has become my usual way (which I will share more on in the months ahead...). After praising God I then asked the Holy Spirit for help.

In speaking about the Holy Spirit Jesus said:

John 16:7, 12-13 ESV

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."

What a great gift the Holy Spirit is...

After thanking God for the Helper I began my silent time. Immediately thoughts of that dream filled my mind again so I asked for help. Then immediately the Holy Spirit said to me "Fear is not from the Lord"

Instantly those thoughts from the dream vanished and I was overcome with peace.

Often times we Christians forget that we have a Helper in the Holy Spirit. We think that we have to be Christlike all by ourselves. That is impossible.

We are called to be LIKE Christ, not to BE Christ.

This gives me so much comfort! Not only will I be forgiven when I fall short but also the Holy Spirit is there to help me stand tall. During our silent time the Holy Spirit has the space to speak to us.

Being silent helps the Helper do His job.

We do not have to try to be perfect. We just have to remember that we are not perfect, and know that the Holy Spirit is always there with us to help.

21 Days of Silence: Day 2 - The Helper

2012-01-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

We are in our second day of the first week which focuses on Quieting the Mind.

Some days are easier than others.

I tried doing it this morning but was having a tough time. Then I started reading this book I'm almost done with called Good Morning Holy Spirit. In it Benny Hinn talks about the importance of having a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

This book is changing my life.

But one of the things that he harps on a lot is that the Holy Spirit is our HELPER. Any time we are struggling to do God's will the Holy Spirit will give us that added boost that we need when we call on Him.

Help is just a few breaths away.

So I asked Him for help for myself and now I am asking Him to help all of you along this journey with me. God we thank you and praise you for all that you have done for us and given us. We thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit as a Helper to guide us on the path toward your will for our lives. Holy Spirit please help us to be still and hear you loud and clear so that we can better understand God's will for our lives. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

I hope that in your silence you are hearing God loud and clear.

What has God said to you today? Dare to share!

Week 1, Day 1: Quieting the Mind

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10

This Week's Reading: Matthew Ch 5

One of the biggest obstacles for me in my spiritual journeywas my mind. My mind races a mile a minute. It is quite easy for me to get lostin thoughts about the past, the future, or some problem that I’m trying tosolve. All of the sudden I’ll look up and minutes have passed without me beingaware of what is going on around me.

Not so great for my conversation skills.

The root of the problem is that I identified too closelywith my mind. I always prided myself on being a smart person and so it was easyto connect my identity to my thoughts.

I was stuck in the philosophical rut of “I think, thereforeI am”.

God helped me through this when he called me to a ten dayfast which included the Master Cleanse, no music, no internet, and no TV. Letme tell you, the silence was deafening.

I was forced to confront my mind. When I tried to shut it upit just kept roaring on. But, when I stopped and listened to it a breakthrough occurred.It was as if I realized for the first time that all of the thoughts runningthrough my head were not me. Once my mind became aware that it was being listened to it immediately shut up. Andthen my spirit started talking.

We are not our minds,we are our spirit.

This time was one of those times in my life where Idiscovered a lot about who I am and what God wants me to do. It only took a fewdays and some silence to LISTEN to what God had been trying to tell me myentire life.

Here’s how we canlearn to better listen to God.

Pray as you normally would for as long as you like. When youare done tell God that you will be quiet and ask Him to speak to you. Giveyourself at least 5 minutes of silence to allow for this to happen.

At first your mind will start to wander. That’s ok. Let it runaround and do its thing. You may have thoughts of doubt (this is stupid, Godisn’t real, why would he talk to me?), fear (oh my goodness, what am I going todo about this problem at work? Did I leave the stove on? What if John hollersat Sally before I get a chance to?) or even bad memories…

It’s ok… just hold onand be patient.

Instead of trying to control your mind by beating it intosubmission just LISTEN to it until it shuts up. Don’t judge it or get offendedby it. Just listen. Once it realizes that it is not in control then it willsubmit.

Then the spirit willspeak.

You’ll know it is the spirit because there will not be anyfear. Everything you hear will be in line with the Bible.

During this first week just start writing down theinteresting things you hear. If you hear something and don’t know if it is fromGod or not you can ask me here or in the facebook group and we will do our bestto help you along the journey.

I am willing to bet that if you spend at least 5 minutes aday LISTENING to God after you finish talking to Him in prayer he willdefinitely talk back.

God wants to have relationshipwith us. We just have to listen.

Let’s have fun with this. I’ll be here to help you along theway. Dare to share!

21 Days of Listening

2012-01-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

So we just did Five Minutes of Prayer for ten days. That waspretty amazing! But I have a question for you:

How much of those five minutes were spent with you talking?

50%?

60%?

99.9%?

If you are like me you probably spent more time talking thanyou did listening. Talking isn’t bad of course. God wants us to share with Himwhat is on our hearts. It is not because He doesn’t know but rather because Hewants to have a relationship with us.

But relationships are a two way street. It’s hard to hearwhen God talks back if we keep running our mouths right?

Well, here is my new challenge. Let’s build on what we havestarted with the 5 minutes of prayer and add on 5 minutes of listening. Of courseyou can do more but let’s try to do at least five minutes of each. The totaltime commitment is 10 minutes. Easy right?

Here are therules:

1. Prayany way that you like for at least 5 minutes.

2. Listenin silence for at least 5 minutes after you pray.

That’s it.

You might be wondering what you should be listening for.Well, we will get into that along the way. Often times those random sparks ofinspiration, fleeting thoughts, or even visions and dreams are from God.Sometimes they aren’t. We’ll figure out together how to tell the difference.Here is what we will focus on each week.

Week 1: Quieting the mind

Week 2: Discerning what is from God and what is not

Week 3: Acting on God’s instructions

We will discuss this daily in the ACWG Facebook group. Itwill also be helpful to keep a journal of everything that runs through yourmind so you can go back and reflect on it later.

I believe that if you spend 21 days LISTENING to God afteryou pray that God will have many wonderful things to say to you that very wellmay change your life.

Are you up to the challenge?

The challenge begins on Wednesday, January 25^th.

5 Minutes of Prayer: Day 1 The Promised Land

2012-01-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

OK...

So I prayed for 5 minutes this morning on the train and this is what happened.Recently a friend suggested that I read Exodus and Revelation to searchfor a connection there. So I've been reading Exodus. During my prayer time Iwas reminded of all of the abuses of Pharaoh against the children of Israel andhow when they got their freedom and were in the wilderness they cried out toRETURN to that slavery rather than face the fear of the unknown.

Then Godshowed me

my life and the times that I have sought out the shelter of knownslavery rather than walking faithfully into the unknown. It was quitefrightening actually, to see how many God given opportunities I have walkedaway from.

I have a fewprojects that are 75% done and I see now that it is fear that has prevented mefrom finishing the race. Will these projects give me freedom in the ways that Iimagine? I have no idea. But just facing them faithfully will be walking infreedom in and of itself.

Like theIsraelites... the time that we spend in the bondage of slavery or the limbo ofthe wilderness is determined by our courage to walk boldly into the PromisedLand and claim our inheritance. We should, like Joshua and Caleb, walk boldly,knowing that God is with us.

²⁰ The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as youasked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surelyas the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, ²² not one of those who saw my glory and the signs Iperformed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me tentimes— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promisedon oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will eversee it. ²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a differentspirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he wentto, and his descendants will inherit it. ²⁵ Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites areliving in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert alongthe route to the Red Sea.^[a]” – Numbers 14:20-25

The Prayer Challenge

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Raise your hand if you have ever heard someone say that they talk to God. Raise your other hand if you ever thought that they were crazy?

I see you over there with both hands raised.

I used to be the same way. I couldn’t grasp how that was possible. Why would some big far away God be bothered with the day to day world of little old me?

But then I tried it and little by little I started to hear as well. At first it was a whisper, a suggestion that I used to think was my subconscious. But when I started reading the Bible I realized that those thoughts I had were concepts that were straight out of the Bible; concepts that I had never “learned” before.

Intrigued, I started to listen to the little whisper more and more and in time it became much louder to the point where now I can’t imagine how I navigated through life without it before.

As we embark on this journey through this year of freedom I’ll also share how I pray, what I am praying for and the ways I am trying to grow in my conversations with God.

Let’s do it together!

I bet that by the end of the year we will in a place that we NEVER could have imagined. And I look forward to you all teaching me some things along the way as well.

The First Challenge: I dare you to pray for 5 minutes a day, every day for the next 10 days. This is 5 minutes of undivided attention, not praying while driving, watching TV, or chillin’ with your friends. Say whatever you want or even say nothing at all! But give 5 minutes of time to God.

Let’s see what happens.

2012: The Year of Freedom

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that everyone had a safe holiday and that you are feeling loved and blessed by God and family during this season.

I’ve been spending the past several months praying and thinking about what to do next with this site and our group. I felt that I was supposed to write about something very specific, but since I had not heard clearly on what it was, I decided to take a step back and wait until God revealed it.

Then a few months ago someone asked me: “What does it mean to be a Christian?”

This is a question that is dear to me because when I meet and talk to people about my beliefs they are often surprised. For some reason I am not what they expect when they think of a Christian. For many people Christians are what they see in the news. We are the folks picketing abortion clinics or harassing gay couples who want to get married. We are the ones championing “conservative” politics, always trying to keep things the way they were.

So when I discuss my faith with people they are often left scratching their heads. “How is this guy a Christian like ‘those other people’”?

This used to make me sad, that a small subset of Christians have tinted the lens through which the world looks at me. But now I see it as an opportunity. Maybe there is something that the outside observers have missed when they look at “those Christians”. Maybe if I share what it means to be a Christian to me, the Holy Spirit can help us all reach common ground that we didn’t previously think was possible.

So that’s what I’m going to do this year. I’m going to write about what it means to be “Christ-like”.

Jesus said “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” – Luke 6:43-44. So if we are supposed to bear good fruit in our lives then what is that fruit?

That fruit is the Fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23

During 2012 I will write about the fruit of the spirit as I endeavor to grow in them myself. I will also do several fasts throughout the year to help us learn in practical ways how to develop these fruits in our lives. The blossoming of these fruits is the evidence that we are on our way to being as Christ-like as we can be. It is the way to true freedom in this world.

The first step on our journey will be LOVE.

I hope that you will embark on this journey with me. This is the year that we will be set free.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. – Galatians 5:13

Let’s Get it!

Do You Believe in Miracles?

2011-11-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

Don't let anyone tell you that miracles don't happen anymore. Gabrielle Giffords has proven otherwise.

Part 1...

Part 2...

Food for Thought: Do you believe in miracles?

To Be Rich and Poor: Part 3

2011-11-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

Then he said, “I beg you therefore father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.”
Abraham said to him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”
And he said, “No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”
But he said to him, “if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” – Luke 16:27-31

Today’s Reading: Luke 16:19-31

Why do we wait for something extreme to happen before we decide to listen?

The reason why is because we are too focused on ourselves to see what is going on with other people in the world. I don’t say this to minimize our problems. Many of us are dealing with extremely challenging circumstances. Our economy has crashed, homes are being foreclosed on, many people who looked down upon the homeless have become homeless themselves.

And still there are many of us who still have jobs, still have homes and the luxuries of American living and we ask ourselves, why couldn’t they have been smarter? Why did they sign those terrible loan agreements? Why didn’t they go to college or get better training? Just as it is I who provided for my own success these folks experiencing challenges have made the beds they are laying in...

I hear this so much from Christians that if not for the grace of God I would be so mad at the world and the church that I’d have nothing to do with either.

Must we all fail to understand that those who need help are just like us? Must we all experience hard times before we can understand that maybe, just maybe, folks who are struggling don’t “deserve” their plight any more than we “deserve” our blessings?

Sure, many have made mistakes but so have we. Does that mean that they must go hungry for them? Are their hardships a commentary on their character? Is our relative success a commentary on ours?

No.

In the same way that Lazarus did not get to heaven because he was poor or the rich man to hell because he was rich our circumstances don’t say much about the condition of our spirits.

What speaks to the condition of our spirits is our willingness to love one another as ourselves, our willingness to be the light of the world, the beacon by which others can find God in the content of our lives and actions.

Food for Thought: What can we do to love our neighbors who are experiencing tough financial times? Do we have a responsibility to do anything?

11-09-11 To Be Rich and Poor: Part 2

2011-11-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

“He then cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented…’” – Luke 16:24-25

Today’s Reading: Luke 16:19-31

I last wrote about an encounter I had with a homeless woman. This verse shows an important reason why Lazarus was in hell and perhaps another motivation for why I did not give the woman some money.

Even to the bitter end the rich man was focused on himself.

Think about this for a second. The rich man lived with Lazarus at his doorstep for some time and didn’t help him, yet he asks that the same Lazarus travel away from paradise and into hell so that he might give him a drop of water to drink.

How selfish is that!?

But also, how human is that? It is just like us to be so focused on our circumstances that we would ask someone to enter into our world in order to save us, even if it means that they too must suffer. It was this same selfishness that prevented the rich man from helping Lazarus when they were living. He couldn’t see Lazarus because he was so busy looking at himself.

When the woman asked me for money I definitely felt a sense of loss. I thought about what I could do with the money. I thought about the bills that I have to pay, the parking ticket that I got the week before, the rent that was due. Even though these thoughts happened in a flash and were only a small part of my motivation (I hope), they still played a part in my decision process. When we look at our lives and our circumstances it is easy to find reasons why we shouldn’t help others.

When life is all about us then there is no room for God to enter in.

God is love and living in love requires us to get outside of ourselves and put our focus on God. This is the magic behind Jesus’ great commandments. He instructs us to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we switch the focus from ourselves and onto God then we can begin to learn what it means to truly love.

Food for Thought: What are some ways that you view life through the lens of “self” instead of through God’s eyes? What can you do to change this?

To be Rich and Poor: Part 1

2011-11-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. – Luke 16:19-21

Today’s Reading: Luke 16:19-31

When I went to Ralph’s the other day I saw a woman with a cane positioned right by the door.

“Uh oh, I know what’s about to happen… She’s going to ask me for money” was my immediate thought.

Generally I handle such situations based on the feeling I have at the moment. I work in downtown Los Angeles and if I were to give money to every homeless person I saw, I too would be homeless. The problem is that pervasive.

So as I approached the entrance to the grocery store, like clockwork, she said, “excuse me but do you have any change?” It was a sad situation, made all the more sad by the angry energy I felt from her. It just didn’t feel good. So I said, “no, sorry” and walked into the store to get a few quick items.

I’ve written here about other times where I have felt moved to give but that doesn’t really matter. The problem is big, bigger than me, but I still can’t help but to feel compassion for those that are less fortunate. I know it’s not my responsibility to save everyone, but is it my responsibility to help the people I come in contact with? Is it my responsibility to help them all of the time or some of the time? Will my couple dollars stop them from begging anyway? What they really need is a home and a means to get a steady income, right?

I’m sure these thoughts are familiar to you. I, like you, have comforted my unwillingness to give wish such rationalizations.

Situations like these are why the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is so challenging. The rich man ends up going to hell and the poor man to paradise with Abraham. Why is this so? Is it because the poor are better than the rich in spirit? Are the rich predestined on a path straight to hell?

No. There is nothing inherently wrong with being rich and nothing inherently good about being poor. The lesson here is about all of the time that the poor man was at the rich man’s door step and he failed to help him. The rich man ignored his plight while feasting at his table to the point where Lazarus died there, “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table”.

As Christians we are challenged to live our lives in accordance with our faith. Spiritual and political leaders challenge us to do this when it comes to lifestyle choices like sexuality or when we vote on issues like abortion and gay marriage. But for some reason we are strangely silent, politically, when it comes to the plight of the poor.

Food For Thought: Is it enough for us to give a few dollars to the homeless people we see or is more required? Are we as individuals like the rich man who ignored Lazarus while he starved? What about us as a community, city, nation?

Business and Moral Responsibility

2011-11-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6

I recently read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about corporate responsibility. Do companies have any responsibility to society?

The article outlined two views on this.

The first view is summed up by the Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman. He said "there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game."

The second view came from the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz. Mr. Schultz said "Companies that hold on to the old-school, singular view of limiting their responsibilities to making a profit will not only discover it is a shallow goal but an unsustainable one…Values increasingly drive consumer and employee loyalties. Money and talent will follow those companies whose values are compatible."

If I were to choose between the two I’d choose option two but for a slightly different reason. Sometimes we forget that corporations aren’t these huge monolithic entities. They are organizations of people and assets; but PEOPLE run them. Given that people are the ones making the decisions then are there moral obligations involved in business leadership? Should we bring the morals that we have at home into the workplace?

Of course there are limits to this. We can’t go around work slapping people on the forehead with our Bibles. Not only is that rude but we’ll probably get fired or sued. But if we are to be morally consistent people shouldn’t our basic values permeate through all that we do? What happens when maximizing profit conflicts with the welfare of your employees or the common good? What would God think if the companies we run don’t follow the basic tenants of our faith that we claim to follow in our personal lives?

I believe that we should be morally consistent with all that we do. Of course no one is perfect, we are all going to make mistakes along the way but if our hearts are in the right place then everything that we have control over in our lives should reflect that. That right place is rooted in love because God is love.

Food for Thought: Do you think that businesses have a moral responsibility? Why or why not?

The Other Side

2011-10-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. - Revelation 22: 1-5

Today’s Reading: Malachi 1-4; Revelation 22

Dear God,

I’m now seeing the Promised Land that you showed Moses. Or rather the Promised Land that perhaps you have for my life. It is the other side of the journey of faith that I talked to you about before.

The other side of the journey of faith is the place we land once we have taken the leap.

For a long time I remained standing at edge of the plateau of my understanding and looked out into the abyss of uncertainty that my path has led me too. I stood there and looked, afraid of what would happen beyond the next step. How can I take a step out when I don’t see the ground beneath? What is next? What will happen? This doesn’t make any sense!

But now I see that we all have a point in our lives where we are presented with a choice. We can either stand there where we are, turn back because what is to come is too scary, or we can leap, believing that You will give us wings to fly.

For some this is starting a business, or a ministry, or asking a girl out on a date. But always, without fail, the great things that you have waiting for us on the other side of faith require us to take a leap to get there. You take us from babies that cry to babies that crawl; then to babies that walk as you grow us into your children and adults who can run. Eventually there comes a time when merely walking or running won’t take us where you want us to go. You always give us the choice to stay on the ground if we want to because you love us. There’s no shame in that.

But you also show us that there is more. There is more to the world that we live in. You remind us that if we look back on the times where we went from crawling to walking, those times too required us to take leaps. Those leaps may be small compared to what we are facing now but they are evidence that You will always be faithful to your plans for our lives.

I stand now at my own personal plateau. Rather I’m taking a few steps back so that I can get a running start. I don’t know what will come but I know that whatever it may be, You will be there with me.

Thank you for always being there, and for being with me this past year and ten months.

See you on the other side.

In the name of Jesus,

Amen.

It Doesn't Cost Anything

2011-10-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. I am the Beginning and the End. Anyone who is thirsty may drink from the spring of the water of life. It doesn't cost anything! Anyone who overcomes will receive all this from me. I will be his God, and he will be my child. - Revelation 21:6-7

Today’s Reading: Zechariah 13-14; Revelation 21

Dear God,

This whole chapter of revelation really struck me hard but this verse hit me the hardest; especially this sentence: “It doesn’t cost anything!”

When I read it, it immediately struck me as true.
My spirit knew it was true but my mind hadn’t caught up yet so I posted the verse in our group. Immediately our friend Paula was struck by the same sentence as I was. It was only in seeing her response that I realized the truth behind these words.

It's only when one gets to the other side of the journey of faith that we realize that the "cost" was really a burden all along.

What I mean is that of course we are called to give up many things when we come to you. This is the pruning that you have taught us about. So how can we say that there is no cost when so much must be shed to walk correctly? Well I see now that all of those things that are shed; things, relationships, memories, all of these things were burdens in the first place. Shedding them actually is a benefit, it is not a cost. Without them we are truly free to move as the Holy Spirit guides us. We can live lives unfettered by the trappings of the mind and body but rather can move in complete obedience.

When I started this journey through the Bible with you I definitely didn’t think I’d end up here; but here I am. I have no idea where I’m going but time will tell.

Thank you for being here with me every step of the way.

Which "Spiritual Leaders" Should We Trust?

2011-10-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

The idols speak deceitfully,
  diviners see visions that lie;
they tell dreams that are false,
  they give comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep
  oppressed for lack of a shepherd. – Zechariah 10:2

Today’s Reading: Zechariah 9-12; Revelation 20

A few months ago I saw a really impressive guy speak. He was there to teach on words of knowledge and he did so by actually conducting a workshop. For the uninitiated, “words of knowledge” is one of the spiritual gifts. Someone who moves in this gift can know specific things about another stranger’s past in a supernatural and specific way that would be impossible without having met them before.

Let me tell ya… he was impressive.

He knew things about people that one could not possibly know about a stranger; addresses where people grew up as kids, names of parents and siblings, birthdays. He didn’t guess at them, he knew them exactly. I had never seen anything that powerfully accurate before.

But I was skeptical.

I know that the Bible tells us of soothsayers and diviners who see visions and do know things only to use them to lie to their own benefit. So I waited for what he had to say about God to determine how seriously I should take this man. In whose name does he come? Does he come in the name of Jesus, himself or some other spirit?

As he began to speak everything he said was in line with scripture. The Bible was his foundation and his guide. Then he also encouraged us to practice using words of knowledge in a scripturally accurate way. Of course no one in the audience was as good as him but there were some who did get words of knowledge. It was a cool workshop.

I have seen this work in a different way before. When I was about eight years old there was this woman calling herself a prophet that came to my church for several days to lead a revival. She too had amazing words of knowledge. She knew things that were impossible to know. Then toward the end of her stay she pointed at people and told them that God told her that they were supposed to give her money, large sums of money. And they did it. Some even gave her their rent money.

There are many people who operate in spiritually powerful ways. Some are genuine prophets; others are tarot card readers, magicians, psychics, and diviners. What I have learned is that it really doesn’t matter what kind of fancy tricks someone can do. What really matters is in whose name they are doing these things.

Are they representing for God or for some other spirit? That is the true test and the question that we must demand an answer to before receiving any spiritual instruction.

QUESTION: Have you ever received information from a person claiming to hear from the spiritual realm? What fruit did this information bear in your life?

From the Bride to the Groom

2011-10-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” – Revelation 19:7

Today’s Reading: Zechariah 5-8; Revelation 19

Dear God,

I see that we are the bride of Christ; but when I first heard this I thought it was one of the stranger things I had ever heard. As a man of course it is strange to think of myself as a bride. I was raised to think of protecting, serving and providing. So what is the role of the bride? What am I to do?

Well, I know you have described this relationship in Ephesians 5. The woman is to respect the man and the man is to love the woman. So that means that I am to respect you? The more that I think about it I have to get down to what it means to respect. Before I have ever respected anyone I have had to get to know them. I respect those that I can put my faith and trust in. So this means that I must do my best to know you, to see you for who you fully are, so that I can come to the utmost love and respect for you.

I have been working on this for several years now. The more that I have gotten to know you the more I have felt the urge toward obedience. I trust you more and more and it makes me want to do what you tell me to do more and more. I’d say that this is the renewing that is happening in me; the transformation of the inner man. I am changing because I love and respect you more and more.

I used to think about you with a groom mentality. I thought I had to find a way in my own strength to follow you, to be “righteous”; and when I fell short I got discouraged. Sometimes I even gave up. But you never ceased to forgive me and show me mercy and love.

Looking back on that it’s kind of funny. If I am the bride then why am I trying to be the strong one? That’s the luxury of being the bride! The bride is taken care of, protected, loved, nurtured and adored. All you ask from us in return is a little faith and a desire to know you so that we can respect you. It shouldn’t be a lot to ask of us, but sometimes it is. Sometimes we can’t see outside of our own little lives. We are too busy looking at ourselves in the mirror to see that you are standing there right beside us.

Help me God to become the bride who has made herself ready. Help me to respect you and honor you and devote myself to you. Thank you for always protecting me, even when I had my eyes away from you and focused on other things. You always remained faithful. I will do my best to return the favor.

An Open Letter: God Sized Goals

2011-10-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’

     Says the LORD of hosts. – Zechariah 4:6

Today’s Reading: Zechariah 1-4; Revelation 18

Dear God,

With all of these God Sized Goals that You have swimming around in my heart I’m realizing more and more how true this verse is.

I cannot do anything without you.

For the longest time I was scared to really pursue these goals that you placed in my heart. Much of that time I beat myself up for this. I thought that it was because of my cowardice that I was unable to move forward with the plans I had in my heart. I looked at the mountains of obstacles and wondered how I’d be able to scale them with my bare hands.

But now I see that I don’t have to scale them. Through obedient faith in You I will move them out of the way.

‘ Who are you, O great mountain?
     Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
     And he shall bring forth the capstone
     With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” – Zechariah 4-7

I’m still not here yet God. I don’t yet have the faith to tell a mountain to become a plain, but I see that it is true. I see that through building my faith in you through obedience the time will come when crooked paths will be laid straight, mountains will be hurled into the ocean, and I’ll be able to fly toward my destiny with Your wings.

Day by day I just want to take a step closer to You. Please continue to make those steps clear to me. Help me to have the strength and courage to take them obediently without delay.

And when I get to the first finish line help me to see that it is just the next mile marker in the eternal race to realize the purpose that we all have, which is to be more and more like your Son.

God Sized Goals

2011-10-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. – Haggai 1: 13-15

Today’s Reading: Haggai 1-2; Revelation 17

Have you ever felt that God was telling you to do something so big that it seemed impossible? I know that I have.

For me the first thought is always fear and then doubt. Of course fear doesn’t come from God but I’m just being honest here. I’ve thought man, how am I going to do that? I don’t have enough money. I don’t have the knowledge or the skills. I’m not trained for this or equal to the task. What am I going to do? Was that even God?

Sad, I know. It’s easy to get discouraged when we are staring something big in the face that seems impossible to tackle.

I bet that is how the folks in Haggai’s time felt when God commanded them to rebuild the temple. Not only was it in ruins but it was a huge task! What would it look like to their rulers to build a temple to God? Where would the resources come from when they had been starving for so long? There was no way that they could do it on their own.

But that’s why God came and said that He was with them. He then stirred the hearts and spirits of the leaders and all of the people and gave them what they needed to complete the task.

I believe that God still does this today. God puts huge goals on our hearts to accomplish. I call these “God Sized Goals”. These are the goals that are so big that they are literally impossible when you look at doing them in your own strength. The awesome thing about God is that He never tells us to do anything without also offering His help to get it done.

Don’t be afraid of the big dreams that you have. If God put them on your heart then He will stir up everything that you need to get them done.

All we have to do is take it one step at a time and trust that God will open the doors that we need to walk through to get to the finish line.

QUESTION! What are some God Sized Goals that God has put on your heart to do?

Pride is NOT the Business

2011-09-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. – Revelation 15:8-11

Today’s Reading: Zephaniah 1-3; Revelation 16

This reminds me of the Pharaoh during Moses’ time. The Bible says that God hardened his heart. This is something that I never really understood until recently. Why would God do that?
This led to all of those crazy plagues right? Doesn’t that mean that God made it so all of those people suffered, including the deaths of the first born? How can God be a loving God if he would make such a thing happen?

Some friends and I discussed this a few weeks ago and that conversation really gave me a new insight. God didn’t go inside Pharaoh’s heart and make it hard. But rather God just showed himself to be the one true God, something that Pharaoh couldn’t accept.

There’s a subtle difference here.

Pharaoh believed that he in fact was God. So how could some God of his slaves be more powerful than he was? It was this pride that caused his stubbornness which ultimately led to the destruction we saw.

This happened to me too for a while. I believed that I was in control of my life and the more that I tried to control it the more out of control it became. This made me cold and angry towards God and all the time that I refused to accept that I wasn’t the lord of my life God just kept showing me that I wasn’t until finally I broke down and admitted what was true all along, that God is in control.

I see now that all of us have something in common, Pharaoh, me, and the people in Revelation. When we believe that we are the god of our own lives it becomes a matter of pride to deny that God is who he is.

God is love and light, and from Him comes all goodness and life. I’m glad that I finally wised up and stopped fighting. The darkness of self is a lonely and scary place to live.

The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
and human pride brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. – Isaiah 2:11

Fake It Till You Make It?

2011-09-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Though the fig tree does not bud
  and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
  and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
  and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
  I will be joyful in God my Savior. – Habakkuk 3:17-18

Today’s Reading: Habakkuk 1-3; Revelation 15

Dear God,

You know the term “fake it till you make it”? This is the first thing that came to mind when I read the words above. How do I even get to this level of faith?
What happens in the heart of a person to be able to pray this prayer with authenticity? When things go bad don’t most of us blame You rather than praise You?

I know that I was in that camp for the longest. I believed that when things weren’t going well it was Your fault. You were bringing these things upon me. Sure I’m not perfect but this isn’t fair. Why would You want to hurt me so much? Don’t You want me to be happy? For a long while I stewed in this spiritual discontent, searching for answers and cursing You all along the way.

But then something changed for me. It didn’t change over night or even change completely. I still get mad at You sometimes... But the thing that changed was how I looked at You. My thankfulness and joy is no longer a function of the faith that I have that You will give me a certain amount of money or bless me with a certain job. My joy is now becoming rooted in my love for You. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I’m fully transformed into this spiritual juggernaut or something. I still do put my faith and hope in you that you will give me what I pray for but it’s not the foundation of our relationship anymore. Thank you for helping me with that.

I think it changed during all of those years where I was struggling financially. I spent so much time asking for your help but nothing seemed to change. Then one day I finally came to you to understand how I got in that place you told me instead to just seek you. Now that I know you a little better I see my anger and distrust was because I never made an attempt to know you. You were a stranger when all you wanted to be was a father and a friend.

Once I finally received your invitation of friendship and love my heart began to soften. You showered me with love, and in so doing you taught me how to love you and others.

Thank you so much God for showing me what love is and how to love. I see now that all of your blessings spring forth from obedience, and the first thing that you ask us to do is to love You.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:36-40

I will do my best.

Don't Be Afraid to Turn to God

2011-09-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

The LORD is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him… - Nahum 1:7

Today’s Reading: Nahum1-3; Revelation 14

Have you ever felt bad forreaching out to God?

There were times when Iused to in times of need. I thought that since I didn’t reach out to Himeveryday then I couldn’t reasonably expect God to be there when I started tocomplain and ask for help. Didn’t I have to earn His love, or go to church, orread my Bible to have a right to reach out to him?

I’m so glad that I gotpast this lie.

God loves it any time wecall out to Him. He is always listening and always there to protect us. He isready and willing to be our refuge in times of trouble. It is when we try tounderstand God with our limited minds and experience that we limit what He iscapable of. His love has no limits.

So why don’t we go to Him?Why are we afraid to bring our cares to the Lord?

I know that for me it wasbecause I was scared to bring ALL of me. I wanted to come to him for help withthe immediate things but the big things I was running from within myself… nothanks God. I didn’t want help with that. I didn’t want to share those thingsor even look at them myself.

But that’s the thing that’sgreat and challenging about God. We may go to him for that initial need but Heis there to care for ALL of our needs. Sure, in the process he may show us somethings about ourselves that we don’t want to see but it’s out of love. He wantsto shine a light on the dark places so that when He is done with us we havebeen made brand new.

We can rest assured thatwhen God offers to be our refuge, His wings are big enough to cover all of us;even the things we are most afraid to bring to Him.

More Like You

2011-09-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8

Today’s Reading: Micah 6-7; Revelation 13

Dear God,

Why is this so hard for us? Why do we fail at justice like your people did in the time of Micah? We strive for ourselves. We maximize our own self interest, and for what? At the end of the day what have we gained?

When I studied economics in college I learned that western economic theory is based on the idea that everyone maximizes their own self interest. If we were to expand this line of thinking even acts of charity are done to make us feel better. Healing the environment is done for our own ability to live healthily on the planet. Even providing for our families is done to make us feel better.

What does this say about us?

God, I believe that we need you more now than ever. We need help to see the truth of who you are so that we can see outside ourselves. Of course you already came and even when you were here many couldn’t see you for who you were. I’m sorry about that. I’m sure that really hurt your feelings.

I know that as a believer I am part of the body of Christ which means that I have to be an ambassador for you here on the earth. I have to reflect your infinite goodness in my finite and limited self so that when people see me they also get a glimpse of you. Please help me with this huge responsibility so that I can do my part to show those around me who you are by the contents of my life.

Many people that I know are tired of all the talk. They are tired of hearing people preach at them about how they should live their lives while these same messengers aren’t living up to that same standard.

One of my heroes, Gandhi, was quoted as saying "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ." How true these words are! These words have touched me ever since the first time I read them.

Please help us to take up this challenge with faith, a warm heart, and loving action. Please help us to be more like you.

Food for Thought: What can we change about our daily lives to be more like Christ?

Would You Die for Christ?

2011-09-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

They triumphed over him
  by the blood of the Lamb
  and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
  as to shrink from death. – Revelation 12:11

Today’s Reading: Micah 4-5; Revelation 12

Some friends and I had a conversation recently that is still lingering on my soul. It centered on this question:

Would you die for Jesus?

I was surprised by how quickly so many people responded in the affirmative.
One person brought up the girl in the Columbine tragedy who was asked by her killer if she believed in Jesus. She said yes and he quickly pulled the trigger, ending her life.

Now as for me, I believe that I would die for Christ. This is what I mean. If America turned into a land of widespread persecution of Christians by penalty of death and the police raided my home and asked if I was a Christian I believe that I would confirm that I am, and pay the consequences.

However I say “believe” very deliberately. I’m not sure how we can say with any kind of certainty what we will or won’t do until that time comes. Yes we can say what we believe we will do but when it comes to a life or death situation, how do you know exactly what you will do? Won’t you be afraid? Perhaps your courage will waver. Then what?

I am reminded of two people in the Bible who faced such a thing. One was Peter. He was the boldest of the disciples but when the heat came he denied Jesus three times. Then on the other hand was John. He was the only one of Jesus’ twelve disciples who was there at the cross when Jesus died. You don’t hear him boasting as Peter did but when push came to shove he was there with his beloved friend.

I don’t think it is wrong to proclaim loudly what we believe. As a matter of fact I believe that it is very important. We should be witnesses of our faith that everyone can see in a transparent way. But, there is something about life and death decisions that I find extremely humbling. Knowing that Christians around the world are facing such decisions today really challenges me to dig deep and be really honest about how I feel in regards to this question.

If the time came for me to represent Jesus at penalty of death I believe, with a strong conviction, that I would step up to the plate. I’m so glad that I live in a country where this question is a theoretical one rather than a practical one.

My prayers go out to everyone around the world who has to face such a decision about what they believe in. I pray that they have strength and courage in the face of such evil.

Food for Thought: Is there anything that you believe in or love enough to die for?

9/11: Ten Years Later

2011-09-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. – Matthew 5:43-48

Dear God,

Ten years have passed since this fateful day for America. When I look back over this decade I can’t help but wonder how things would have been different if we would have followed your instructions.

What would the world be like if we did our best to love our enemies?

What does that mean? What is the difference between loving our neighbors and protecting ourselves? Do we turn the other cheek to the point where we let our enemies continually hurt us?

I’m not sure God. All I know is that it doesn’t even seem like we tried to love or even understand. We didn’t reach out to build bridges; we just dropped bombs on them. What do you think of our behavior, our choices, and our actions? I can’t help but to think that much of our current struggles were born out of or reluctance to see our enemies as our friends. It’s just that it is such a hard thing to do.

God I pray that you help us in these next ten years to be better at following your commandments. Please help us to understand how to show love to our enemies. Help us to understand them and, if it is your will, find ways to turn these enemies into friends. I believe this will be a powerful way that we can honor the lives lost over the past decade, on both sides.

I will do my best to live this out every single day with the decisions that I make. I believe in your Word and that your truth has the power to set us all free.

Thank you God for your patience, love and understanding with your flawed children. We aren’t perfect but we’ll try to be better.

In the name of Jesus, Amen

Food for Thought: How do you think the world today would be different if we decided to love our enemies after the 9/11 attacks? Is this command too much to ask?

The LA "River"

2011-08-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

The nations were angry,
   and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
   and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
   both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” – Revelation 11:18

Today’s Reading: Micah 1-3; Revelation 11

Dear God,

Something that I nevernoticed before was the last sentence of this passage.

“and for destroying thosewho destroy the earth”

What responsibility do wehave to the earth?

Is it the same as what was given to Adam when you first sethim in the garden? It says in Genesis that “The LORD God took the man and put him inthe Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Gen 2:15). Did thatresponsibility change after the fall?

Two things that I saw recently made me sad.

The first was when I was driving back to Los Angeles from a recenttrip and saw the LA “River”. I put river in quotes because it looks like this.

What were we thinking? What was so important thatwe changed the original plan that nature had for this river?

Yesterday I was riding home from work on the goldline train from Downtown LA and I looked at the skyline. It was glimmering inthe beautiful backdrop of a perfect Los Angeles sunset and something struck me. It was strangeto see the beauty of nature behind these towers of human ingenuity.

I felt that sadness again.

I got sad because our civilization seems to be sofar from how You originally created the world. Most of us city dwellers neverset foot on actual earth. We walk and run on concrete and asphalt. Manicuredlawns and tree lined streets are the closest that we get to nature in what hasbecome, for many of us, our natural habitat.

But there’s nothing natural about the city.

So I wonder God, what do you think about what we’vedone with the planet? When I look at the wonderful beauty of untouched natureand compare it to the most beautiful skyline there really is no comparison.

Your architecture far surpasses our own. Too badwe always have to go and try to change things.

An Open Letter to Jonah

2011-08-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” – Jonah 1:12

Today’s Reading: Jonah; Revelation 10

Dear Jonah,

You remind me a lot of Sampson. God chose you to fulfill a specific task but you decided that you didn’t want to do it. So what did God do? He nearly destroyed the boat you were sleeping in just to get your attention.

But the thing that really gets me is what you said to your shipmates. You said that it was your fault that this great storm had come upon them. How did that feel? That just doesn’t seem fair. Why must other people suffer just because you strayed off your path for a second?

I guess that’s true for life too when I think about it. Everything we do, or don’t do, has an effect on the world around us. If we decide that we are too scared to say hello to someone that God wants us to touch then maybe they aren’t uplifted as they should have been. Maybe they needed encouragement that we were uniquely built to provide. Maybe they were headed toward a really bad decision that could have been prevented by a few kind words.

That seems like a heavy burden. It almost seems too heavy, but strangely it makes sense. Since we are all connected, it is important that we all do our part. God’s Will will be done either way, but the more that we decide to say yes the better things are for us and every one around us.

The storms stop, the clouds part and the sun rains down.

We could always choose to be like Sampson. We could just run away until our destinies catch up to us. Or we could walk into them with joyful obedience.

Either way God’s Will is always done; but just maybe we don’t have to lose our lives or be thrown overboard for it to happen.

Thanks for the lesson.

Watching the Throne, but I Don't See Kings

2011-08-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

The pride of your heart has deceived you,
  you who live in the clefts of the rocks
  and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
  ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
Though you soar like the eagle
  and make your nest among the stars,
  from there I will bring you down,”
           declares the LORD. – Obadiah 3-4

Today’s Reading: Obadiah; Revelation 9

Two of my favorite artists, Jay Z and Kanye West came out with an album together called Watch the Throne.

I was both anxiously anticipating it and a bit worried. I was anticipating it because I consider both to be geniuses who are unparalleled in the hip hop culture right now. I was a bit worried because I had no idea where this project was headed. Would they make a statement about themselves or a broader statement about the culture, the world, or something else that I couldn’t imagine?

Unfortunately they talked mostly about how great they are.

Yawn…

I know that bravado is a big part of hip hop. It’s been there since the very beginning. Hip Hop is an art form created out of a need for self expression from folks who were extremely depressed and oppressed. Part of reacting to how small you are treated is to tell the world just how big you are.

But come on fellas. We know you are the best in the game so why are you telling me this for the whole album.

The thing about being the best is that you don’t have to tell people. It’s something that everyone can see by the content of your work and your life. They see it in the fruit of your labor. Greatness is in how great you serve, not in how great you look or how much money you have.

When I look at the throne metaphor it is easy to see this point. The greatest kings and leaders are the ones who are remembered for serving others. The founding fathers of America fought to preserve independence and freedom for this nation. Abraham Lincoln fought to preserve the union and won. Leaders like Gandhi and King used their greatness to fight for freedom. Even business leaders today, who are generally accepted as “great”, are using their resources to change the world for the better.

The perfect example of this in the Bible is King Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived. When God told him to ask for anything he wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom to lead his people. He asked for something that would benefit his people rather than himself.

So as I “Watch the Throne” I am waiting to see how their greatness benefits those that follow them. I hope that I will see it before they fall from grace.

Life Without the Word

2011-08-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the LORD,
but they will not find it. – Amos 8:12

Today’s Reading: Amos 7-9; Revelation 8

Do you read the Bible everyday?

I try to but I know that there are some days where I slip. I was listening to a sermon by Charles Stanley a few months ago and he talked about this very thing. He did an experiment to see what it was like to live how most of us live who don’t read the Bible. He decided not to read it for a week.

It was not a good look for him.

He said that by the end of the week he felt down, totally depressed, and disconnected from God. He had no idea how we make it through the day without at least reading some of God’s Word.

Looking back at how my life used to be helps me understand where he is coming from. Everything was a struggle. I was stuck in all kinds of confusion. I was surviving instead of thriving.

When you’re in it you don’t really know that that is the problem. It is like when you have a chronic injury. Once the pain gets down to a bearable amount you kind of just deal with it. It is hard to remember what life was like before you had the pain.

But what if you could live differently? What if you could live each and every day feeling a direct connection to God?

That’s what reading the Bible does for me. No matter how down I am I can crack open the Good Book and things change. I may not break out into song but when I’m done my mind has been stimulated, my heart softened and my spirit uplifted.

Food for Thought: Can you commit to reading the Bible everyday for a week, a month, or a year?

What Happened to Justice?

2011-08-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

There are those who turn justice into bitterness
and cast righteousness to the ground. – Amos 5:7

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
and detest the one who tells the truth. – Amos 5:10

Today’s Reading: Amos 4-6; Revelation 7

Man… ain’t this the truth!?

I just saw in the news the other day a case of three men who have been in jail for 18 years for a crime that they didn’t commit. DNA testing showed no link to them and the victims and after 18 years they will be released from prison.

But there is one catch… they have to plead guilty…

HUH!? What do you mean they have to plead guilty? Well there is this weird clause in the law where they can plead guilty without saying they did it in order to avoid the cost and hassle of another trial. Really it is saving the state more money than it is saving them because many of the key witnesses in the original trial have died but that’s not really the point.

Where has justice gone? Why are we okay with accepting injustice? It seems like we are no longer outraged by injustice but rather we accept it in the forms that we have become used to.

Of course this is not new. The civil rights movement was a cry out for the nation to pay attention to injustices that they had built into the fabric of the popular culture.

Just because we’ve been doing things a certain way for a while doesn’t mean that it is okay.

These verses are still a challenge to us today to seek out justice in all things and to do our best to live by that justice. Justice is rooted in God’s love for us all. When we don’t live in line with God’s love then our society has no hope of being just.

This justice isn’t just in how our legal system works, but it is also in the love that we have in our dealings with each other. If we act in love then we cannot help but to uphold justice.

Let’s be bold in love and justice.

Food for Thought: Have you witnessed any injustice in your life. What can we do in our lives to fight the injustice that we see?

Do Your Part

2011-08-17T21:03:00.001-07:00

Thus says the LORD:

“ For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,
      I will not turn away its punishment,
      Because they sell the righteous for silver,
      And the poor for a pair of sandals.
       They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor,
      And pervert the way of the humble. – Amos 2:6-7

Today’s Reading: Amos 1-3; Revelation 6

I work in downtown Los Angeles. In the midst of the skyscrapers, fancy restaurants and high priced lofts are the residents that no one talks about.

The homeless

They are almost part of the landscape. If you were to walk the three blocks on Flower St between 5^th and 7^th you’d probably see several folks hidden in the margins. One to the right under a storefront trying to get those last few minutes of sleep before the security guards shoo him away. And there is another, wandering about trying to make eye contact with passers by, looking for the slightest bit of encouragement to beg for the morning’s meal.

After years of working downtown it’s something that I’ve gotten used to, but, what does that say about me?

What does it say about me that I can walk by that person and do nothing? I always feel something. I always look the person in the eyes and give something if I feel led to or politely decline if I don’t. But you know what… the whole situation isn’t cool. Of course most folks look at the situation and conclude that the problem is too big for them to fix or blame the homeless for being homeless.

In some respects both might be true.

But I wonder what God thinks as he looks down upon the scene. Can he say the same for us that he said for Israel thousands of years ago? Where is our compassion? Where is our sense of justice?

Sure, as individuals we may not be able to solve the problem but we can choose to take actions that may provide a little bit of help.

We can do our part.

This is a new approach for me. I used to look at the glass as half empty. If I can’t solve it then I shouldn’t do anything about it. Now I see that all God asks me to do is to do my part.

So that is what I am going to do.

Food for Thought: Are there any people in your community, nation or world that really touch your heart? What can you do to do your part to help them? What are you already doing?

God! Show Yourself!

2011-08-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and our daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. – Joel 2:28

Today’s Reading: Joel 1-3; Revelation 5

A few months ago I was talking to a friend of mine about God and it was pretty clear that he wasn’t so sure about this whole God thing. We were talking about the state of the world and how there are so many terrible things going on, and he came to the conclusion that
there must not be a God worth believing in if He would let all of these things happen the way that they are happening.

I told him that I was sure that there is a God and that he is very real. He asked me how and I told him because I’ve heard from him.

This kind of freaked him out. He knows that I’m not a crazy person but I’m sure that I was sounding quite crazy in that moment. So then I challenged him to put God to the test. Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: I talk to God all the time.
Him: Really? (not really believing me but respectfully curious to see how deep the rabbit hole goes for me).
Me: Yep, and you can hear from Him too if you want to. Do you want to hear from Him?
Him: *horrified silence…*
Me: Well I’ll tell you this. If you decide that you really want to hear from God just ask him to show himself in a way that is undeniable to you. If you do this I guarantee that He will show himself.

At this point in the conversation he was totally weirded out by his friend who suddenly turned into a crazy Jesus freak.

But I was very serious.

If you’ve never heard from God and don’t believe that it is possible give it a try (if you’re not scurrrred). Here’s all you have to do. Just say “God, if you are real, show yourself in a way that I cannot deny that it is you because I have never seen you so I don’t believe that you are real.”

But if you decide to do this be ready for the consequences. God will come and say hello. What will you do next when that happens?

I’m not sure if my buddy ever took me up on that bet but maybe one day he will. We shall see.

Food for Thought: Do you talk to God? Have you ever heard from God in one way or another? How so? If you haven’t heard from God would you be willing to dare Him to show himself?

Called To Love

2011-08-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. Revelation 2:3-5

Today’s Reading: Hosea 5-8; Revelation 2

We are called to love.

Before anything else we are called to love because God is love. Nothing else is more important and the purpose that God has for each and every one of us is rooted in love.

It’s hard sometimes to remember that.

I had a job once where folks made ridiculous demands on my time. I started out with the focus of going above and beyond the call of duty to get things done for the teams that I supported, but there was no recognition of my efforts. I was constantly thrown under the bus. The harder I worked, the less it mattered. At least that’s how it seemed to me.

So, after a while I got tired of it and I started to do just enough to get by. The quality of my work suffered and some things went undone. I grew apathetic. “Who cares” I thought. “I’m going to get pressured and yelled at regardless so I might as well just do enough to get by, right?”

I know that I have acted the same way spiritually. When I have been treated poorly by certain people I responded in kind. What’s the point of showing them love when they only show me pain? Why not just love those that love me?

Well, it’s because we are called to live to a higher standard than that. We are called to love others how God loves them and to love them as we love ourselves. That’s hard to do in the face of abuse or mistreatment.

But, when we chose to love others the way that God loves us something changes. We won’t change that other person (that’s between that person and God) but we change. We grow closer toward the person we were put on this earth to be. The funny thing is that this growth provides the path to the doors that God wants to open for us. Before we know it we have loved our way through that tough situation and God has moved us on to something bigger and better.

Stay strong in love. The situation that is dragging you down won’t last forever.

This too shall pass.

Questions: When is the last time you surprised someone with an unexpected or undeserved act of love? How did they respond? How did it make you feel?

Refresh! 40 Days of Water

2011-08-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

What's up folks?

A few folks and I on the A Convo With God facebook group decided that we are going to do a water fast for 40 days starting Monday August 15th!

Don’t be scurrrrred. We’re going to eat food as well.

Here are the rules.

Drink Water.

Don’t drink anything else

That’s it!
Eat what you want. Do what you want, but when it comes to drinking liquids we’re just going to drink water and we’re going to do it for 40 days. Imagine how much better you’ll feel without the sugar and high fructose corn syrup that we have all grown so well accustomed to? And who knows, just maybe God may come and holler at you about something special in your life.

If 40 days sounds scary to you don’t fret. Try to commit to 3 days, 7 days, or 2 weeks. Just commit to some period of time. The fun part will be encouraging each other as we do it together.

40 days was chosen because of how powerful the number is in the Bible. During the flood it rained for 40 days and Jesus was tempted for 40 days. There’s something powerful about this amount of time.

So if you feel moved to join us you are more than welcome, and most importantly, share your experience with us! We’ll be discussing the experience on the A Convo With God facebook page and I’m sure that I’ll post more than a few times here to share my experience with y’all (and hopefully we’ll get some guest posts from other folks down with the Convo…)

Let’s get it!

When Did God Get Married?

2011-08-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

“In that day,” declares the LORD,
  “you will call me ‘my husband’;
  you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ Hosea 2:16

I will betroth you to me forever;
  I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
  in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness,
  and you will acknowledge the LORD. Hosea 2:19-20

Today’s Reading: Hosea 1-4; Revelation 1

Wait… so God says that we will call him husband and no longer call him master?

What the heck does that mean?

This is one of those passages that I used to just skim over. I think partly because I’m a guy and couldn’t understand the bride metaphor and partly because I just didn’t get it and didn’t want to do the work to figure out what was being said.

“This is more of that prophetic jibber jabber” is how I used to treat it as I skimmed through the book so I could say that I read it.

But now I’m starting to get it.

God’s love for us is greater than anything we can ever imagine. But he really wants us to understand Him and how important we are to Him. How would I get that message across if I were God? I think I’d look for the most passionate relationships that we experience in this world as examples to show us even just a glimpse of the truth of God’s infinite love.

God has positioned himself as Father and Friend, and now as husband.

This notion that God is a jealous God now makes more sense. He so desperately wants to have a relationship with us but we take him for granted. We pursue other things and make them number one in our lives over Him. Sometimes it is money; other times it is a car, or a job, or another person.

God isn’t mad that we have a desire to have these things, but what he doesn’t want is for these things to come between us and Him. As long as God is number one, all of our other desires fall in their proper place.

Rick Warren says that “we become whatever we are committed to.” Isn’t that the truth?

What happens if we commit ourselves to God? Of course we will not become gods but we will become more like God. That means we will become more loving and better able to spread God’s love to those that come into our world.

This world is a place where so many people go through life feeling so unloved. I think that makes God sad. If only folks recognized how much God loves them then the world would be such a different place. As we learn how to be better children of God, closer friends to God and committed brides to God we will get better at loving God and our neighbors as ourselves.

Only now am I barely starting to scratch the surface of that understanding. And let me tell ya… I feel so blessed by the little I have seen and I’m eager to learn more.

Question: Do you feel like you can relate to God? How so?

The Questions...

2011-08-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

“It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” – Daniel 12:7-8

Today’s Reading: Daniel 11-12; Jude

“What will the outcome of all this be?”

If only I had a dollar for every time that I have asked that question. I’d be somewhere in Brazil right now sitting on the beach, drinking a caipirinha trying to decide between writing and chillin’ as the two best options for how to spend the rest of my afternoon.

Unfortunately asking these kinds of questions has not netted me free greenback manna from the sky but in all truth it has given me something even more valuable.

Peace.

There are so many things about the world that confuse and bother me. I wonder why people tend to act the way they do, or why we have homeless people, or why certain situations have to be the way that they are. I used to try to figure it all out on my own as if somewhere in the deepest recesses of my mind I could obtain the key to unlocking the mysteries of the purpose of life.

I didn’t find it. If you found it, please share it with me. Thanks.

Something changed though when I started to ask God these questions instead of asking myself. No, I didn’t always hear a booming voice from on high answer my questions but I found that God has his own way of nudging me in the right direction.

Sometimes an answer came in a whisper of a thought, other times I’d pray for an answer and some random person would give it to me in a conversation. Other times I heard the answers in a sermon or in a song on the radio. Other times I heard nothing in the form of a direct answer, but in those times God reminded of things that were more important, that he had better things for me to do than to figure out things that are beyond my control.

God loves it when we come to him with everything; our questions, our doubts, our concerns, and our joys. Often times people try to show us the fire and brimstone part of God but too often we miss the father, mentor and friend aspect of God.

If you’ve never talked to God before just give it a try. Don’t worry if you feel crazy when you do it. Just try it. Besides, when you think about it, who isn’t just a little bit crazy anyway?

I’m willing to bet that if you start asking God questions he’ll start providing answers.

Can It All Be So Simple?

2011-07-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. – Daniel 9:14

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 3 John 11

Can it all be so simple? - Wu-Tang

Today’s Reading: Daniel 8-10; 3 John

I came across both of these passages and wondered to myself, can it really be this simple?

Daniel is praying to God and asking forgiveness for his people and he sums up their calamity in that one sentence. God is simple. So of course the fact that they have acted wrong for such a long time means that they have to pay for their actions. The chickens always come home to roost.

John came with similarly simple truth. I tried to dissect it and find a way for it to not be so simple but it really is. Don’t imitate evil. Anyone who does what is good is from God and those who do evil don’t know God. After all, if you know God then why would you live an evil life?

Simple.

The more that I think about life the more convinced I am that yes, it is this simple. We know what is right and what is wrong. It’s really not all that confusing.

Here’s the issue: the truth is simple, we are not. We are the ones who complicate things.

We complicate things with our desires to do things that make us happy or make us feel good even when those desires conflict with doing what is right. I know I’ve been at that crossroads a million times. I have wanted things that ended up hurting others. Sometimes I held back and did what was right, but other times I still went for it and ended up hurting others in the process.

We live in a society that teaches us to go after what we want no matter how others are affected by our actions. That’s not an excuse, it’s just the reality. The question is whether or not we will do what is right or what is normal. It’s not an easy decision but it is a simple one.

Wu-Tang knows what I’m talking about.

Folks Are Real Flagrant These Days

2011-07-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. – Daniel 5:3-6

Today’s Reading: Daniel 5-7; 2 John

It’s wild how flagrant dude was with the stuff taken from the temple of God.

Recently I watched this really great movie with Audrey Tatou called God is Great, I am Not. In it she plays a woman who is on this search for faith. She starts dating Jewish guy and romance ensues; but the interesting thing is that she’s trying to be extra Jewish while he’s just laid back about his faith.

The moment that really stuck out for me was when his parents came to visit. She spent the whole time trying to impress them with her knowledge of their culture and faith and to prove that she was a worthy catch for their beloved son. It just so happened to be Hanukkah and the menorah was fully lit. She wanted to have a smoke and what did she do? She ignorantly grabbed the menorah and used it to light her cigarette!

It was one of those movie moments so absurd that it was tragically hilarious. Even with all of her effort to learn about his faith she was still so ignorant that she did this amazingly offensive act.

You know what’s crazy though. In the real world I see people doing similarly offensive things when it comes to Jesus. I’ve heard of movies where Jesus is giving someone a blow job and all other kinds of wildness. I’ve heard people mock and insult Jesus’ name around me or to others. It makes me wonder, how is it ok to just totally disrespect Jesus? The actions of the king of Babylon made me think of this. Just as how he had the audacity to go and drink wine out of the holy cups of Israel it seems like folks today think it is ok to do anything and everything with the character and identity of Jesus.

I wonder if there is some kind of cost to pay. I wonder if there is a writing on the wall coming for folks who do that. I don’t understand why folk think it is ok. Maybe they don’t believe in anything themselves so they can’t relate. Maybe they are just ignorant about what they are doing. But often times it seems like it is a deliberate attempt at disrespect.

The deeper I get into my relationship with God the more that these things bother me. There seems to be a profound loss of respect when it comes to spiritual things in our culture. I’m not Muslim but you won’t catch me insulting or otherwise defaming Muhammad.

It’s not cool to be disrespectful.

There are certain lines of disrespect that we shouldn’t cross. That’s just basic when it comes to treating other people how we want to be treated. If that’s the case then it’s even more so with God. But then again I guess not everyone believes in God like I do.

If it is a case of ignorance then that is one thing. We don’t know what we don’t know. But for those who know full well what they are doing I pray for mercy and love on their life that God may show them who He is in a way that gives them a chance at redemption and repentance.

Cause on the real, that stuff may be funny coming from an enthusiastic yet clueless girl in a French romantic comedy, but it’s not so fresh when it comes from a place that clearly and specifically tries to disrespect God.

Not a good look at all.

Next Level Spiritual Gangstas

2011-07-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

Today’s Reading: Daniel 3-4; 1 John 5

Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego were spiritual gangstas.

Period.

I remember hearing this story as a kid and the focus was on how they were thrown into the furnace and made it out alive because they were saved by God and their faith. But now that I’m an adult you know what the coldest part of this story is to me?

“But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Whoa… that’s serious…

When I think about faith it’s about what God WILL do, not what God can do. But these dudes were like we know God can do it, but even if he doesn’t save us we’re still not going to disobey Him.

Clearly these fellas are on another level.

When I think about my life and my faith in God I see that I’m just not that spiritually mature yet. I’m way too focused on what God does for me in ways that I can see rather than just loving God and trusting in Him. I think that’s why the book of Job was such a fascinating struggle for me. I could identify with Job’s laments. He did all this work to try to be the best that he could be and STILL all this calamity fell upon him. What’s up with that? Shouldn’t God treat us how we deserve to be treated based on our actions?

Ummm… actually that’s not the business. If that were the case then my monumental imperfections would have done me in a long time ago.

This next level faith is about transcending from being focused on material to being focused on the spiritual. For these three brothas they cared more about their spiritual lives than their eternal ones and were willing to be burnt up to prove it.

I’m so thankful that I don’t live in a place where I am repressed for what I believe. There are plenty of folks who face these kinds of furnaces all over the world. My heart and prayers go out to them.

But even in my much more comfortable world I know that my faith has and will be tested. My goal is to get stronger each and every day so that every time this does happen I am more and more steady in my walk.

For as much as God has done for me, I can work harder to step up the spiritual gangsta that I have growing inside of me.

The Walk part 4: Living in Love

2011-07-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:7-12

Today’s Reading: Daniel 1-2; 1 John 4

It’s all about love.

This is a point that I think gets forgotten, not only by folks who observe Christians from the outside, but also by us folk who call ourselves Christians.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us…”

This is the love that made it all possible. The eternal and infinitely powerful love of God is what transcends all of our faults and shortcomings and allows us to have a relationship with God. When we decide to love God then this love from Him transforms our hearts. It makes it possible for us to love each other.

Let’s keep it real. Some of y’all are hard to love… That sounds rough but it’s true. I know that I have been hard to love in certain times in my life. We tend to choose who and when to love based upon how that other person has treated us. We are much more inclined to treat others they way they have treated us then to treat them the way that we want to be treated.

But this whole Jesus thing flips it on its head. He challenges us to love others, not because they love us, but because God loves us. It is that original love that created us in the first place. It is what sustains us every single day. So if God loves us and we say that we love God then we aught to love all of God’s creation right?

That’s the challenge of this walk. We are challenged to live and love by God’s standards, not by the world’s standards, or by what we think people deserve, or by how they make us feel. If we were to live by our emotions and thoughts then why would we ever love someone else? After all, the people in your life are guaranteed to hurt you at some point because no one is perfect. It would make more sense to keep everyone at arm’s distance to protect ourselves from this inevitability.

But no, we must love.

We must instead grab everyone within our reach and bring them in. We must love them to the best of our ability. If they do not want to receive our love, then that’s ok; we can love them from where they are. But, in the end we must love.

As the passage above says “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

When we do our best to love we are opening ourselves to allowing God to live and flow through us. Then other people can see the truth of what we believe. That truth is not in words or labels; it is in the actions and life of a loving spirit.

Do you love? If you do, then God lives within you. The more that you love; the closer you are to God.

The Walk part 3: Freedom from Sin

2011-06-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 1 John 3:2-6

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 47-48; 1 John 3

It’s dope that we have forgiveness, but why is there this focus on sin? Why does sin matter so much if we have been forgiven?

That’s what's cool about the whole relationship with God thing. We are free to do what we want to do, but that personal relationship helps to shape our wants and desires. God helps us to be who we want to be by working on changing us from within.

This is the difference between deciding to believe in something and having a belief system imposed upon us. When we are told to believe something because our parents believe it, or out of fear of eternal damnation, or being ostracized from our families or communities then it is impossible to have faith. Faith implies a choice, willingly made, to live in a way that affirms one’s beliefs. Living a certain way because we are told to do so is just another form of bondage.

What I see through out the Biblical narrative is this constant discussion of freedom. God delivered the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt. He delivered them many times over during the times of the Judges and Kings. And finally with Jesus he provided a new kind of freedom, a freedom to live how we choose to live rather than just by how we feel.

I know that for me when I decided to really learn more about this whole Christian thing something changed within me. I’m not perfect but it’s amazing how different I am verses a few years ago. My heart is moved by different things. It is more sensitive to the plight of others. I feel more. I love more. I do more.

And these changes have not come because what I was doing was a “sin” or because I feared eternal damnation. These changes came because my heart has changed and grown from something that was hard and cold to a heart that is warm and soft and alive. I feel freer from not doing some of the things that I used to do than I used to feel when I did those things. It’s a strange paradox, but it is not a contradiction. The consistency comes from within, as it should.

I feel sorry for everyone who was raised in a society or a home of spiritual fear. I know that applies to many of us. I know so many folks who are angry at God and much of it comes from this environment of fear created, not by God, but by man.

God challenged me to come to him on my own terms. He dared me to step outside of that fear and come home. And you know what? I’m constantly surprised by how liberating obedience can be.

But I guess that’s just it, much like “sin”, obedience is a choice. I finally get that now and that’s such a blessing.

The Walk part 2: Forgiveness

2011-06-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2: 1-2

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 45-46; 1 John 2

We have forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an amazing thing. What it does is it allows for the possibility of developing a relationship.

This is true in any relationship. Can you think of a single person in your life that hasn’t let you down at least once? What happened when they hurt you?

You had a choice to make. Either you were going to forgive them or not. Forgiveness is the fulcrum of all human relationships. The fortunes of the union pivot along forgiveness’s axis.

I know that I have been in relationships where either I or the other person refused to forgive. Those relationships ended up with one person trying their best to prove to the other that they were worthy of their companionship. This process can be really disheartening and painful. It really sucks to constantly live on the edge of acceptance or rejection. In the end the original offender gets hurt just as much as the person who was initially offended. The love is lost. The friendship cannot be mended.

Wounds don’t heal when we keep picking at the scabs.

That’s why this notion of divine forgiveness is so powerful to me. God’s forgiveness doesn’t tell me that I can keep on acting wild. On the contrary, forgiveness is an opportunity to come back home. It is a chance to look within myself and understand how I went wrong so that in the future I can do a better job of staying connected.

This forgiveness gives me hope. He helps me to get back up, dust myself off, and try again to be the best person I can be.

Walking in the light is not an easy thing to do. But with forgiveness it is not impossible either. It is a process. Through trial and error, setbacks and triumphs, and successes and failures we have infinite chances to build a lasting relationship with God that will lead us towards being the people that we want to be.

That possibility doesn’t start with me coming back to God. It starts with God’s door always being open.

The Walk part 1: It's About Relationship

2011-06-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1

I’ve heard some folks say that Christianity can be hypocritical. That the whole forgiveness thing means that Christians can just act a fool and do what they want and then go to church and pray for forgiveness. How does this work? Why do Christians believe that they don’t have to be responsible for their actions?

Well one of the things that I love about Christianity is that it isn’t about our actions, but rather it is about our relationship.

The passage above is brilliant because it explains something that seems so complex in just a few short sentences. God is light and truth. There is no darkness in God. When we endeavor to have a relationship with God we are turning away from the darkness and walking into the light.

There’s no way that we can be perfect on our own. In fact we aren’t even asked to be perfect. God just wants to know us and or us to know him. He wants to live in us and all of the things that we do.

The thing that I have learned over the past couple years is that the closer I am to God, the better our relationship is, the more He informs my actions. When I am close He guides me in the right way. He helps me to make better decisions based upon love and giving rather than selfishness and greed.

The closer I am to God the more I allow him to heal my heart and spirit. It is through this healing that my actions flow.

Our actions are a reflection of who we truly are within. No one is pure good or pure evil. We are all works in progress trying to live the best life that we can possibly live.

For me that best possible life has turned out to be building an ever closer relationship with God.

I’m not perfect, nor am I trying to be anymore like I used to. But I believe that the more I try to be closer to Him, the better person I will become.

It’s a decision every single day to turn away from the darkness and walk into the light.

A Day Is Like 1000 Years? Not Exactly

2011-06-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 40-41; 2 Peter 3

So with the Lord a thousands years can be like a day and a day like a thousand years huh? That makes me think…

So you know the whole bit about God being omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent? It makes sense to me in this context, at least the omniscient and omnipresent part.

So imagine if you were in all places at the same time with the ability to take in all of the information that you experienced.
This would make you all knowing and all present as stated above. How much time would even just one second of experience on this earth represent in total time experienced for you as this extremely awesome being? Well I just did the math…

When I last checked the world population clock there were 6,923,472,432 people living in the world. So how much collective life experience is there when each of these people lives for just 1 second? To see that let’s look at how many seconds there are in a year, divide that by the total population and we’ll get a sense of how many “years” we all collectively experience in a single second on earth.

There are…

60 seconds in a minute

60 minutes in an hour

24 hours in a day

365 days in a year (assuming it is not a leap year).

This means that there are 31,536,000 seconds in a year (the real number takes into account the leap year and other fancy scientific factors… but let’s use the number we have cause… well… because it looks nicer).

If we divide the world population by this number then we get 219.5 total years of life experienced by all of the people on this earth in a single second of time.

If God is there for all of it then good gracious is he racking up years of experience at a stupid fast pace. No wonder why he’s so wise.

But of course the passage is that a day is like a thousand years. That’s easy, divide the total population by 365 and you get 18,968,417. So really a day is more like 18 million years… not a thousand.

After backing out the numbers and doing some fuzzy reverse logic math (algebra) I discovered that a day was like a thousand years for God when there were 365,000 people on earth. And since it is estimated that there were more than 150 million people on the earth around the time that these words were written you gotta go way back to when the population was that low.

I did this exercise for two reasons. 1. I’m a nerd.. and 2. I think it’s interesting to make some of these ideas really concrete. What are we saying when we say that God is omniscient and omnipresent? What would that have to mean for us if we had that job?

All I know is that if I were God I’d be tired of y’all by now. I’m glad that ain’t my job.

Celestial Naysayers

2011-06-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

…Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. 2 Peter 2:10-12

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 37-39; 2 Peter 2

The more and more that I think about it, the more I don’t understand people who are quick to speak badly of God.

Of course I am looking at this as a Christian but the same holds true for any faith in my opinion. There’s nothing wrong with saying that you don’t believe in something or calling out the actions of certain followers for being flaw when they are.

But if you don’t believe in God or don’t know for sure if God does or does not exist what is the point in even speaking on it? How can anyone know for sure anyway? What is the point of speaking with such certainty on “matters they do not understand”?

When it comes to spiritual matters what we “know” is what we believe. Many folks of course have experiences to support their belief. I am such a person. I have experienced some things that were so concrete that I could never say that God does not exist. But when I speak of God to others I don’t position God as something that they are foolish not to believe in. I do my best to connect that dialog to my experiences.

This is not an attempt to define God solely within the context of my life. I’m not the biggest fan of the “I think, therefore I am” line of reasoning. But I find that sharing God with people through the experiences of my life provides others with an opportunity to hear about God through something that they can identify with, the human experience.

To those celestial naysayers I have one question. What if God does exist? Would that change how you spoke of Him? If you were to momentarily suspend your doubtful reason and read the words above as if they were truth how would you feel about the things that you have said to others about God?

Of course not everyone who is atheist or agnostic takes on this kind of hostile posture. I have many friends who do not believe in God and they are nothing but loving and respectful when it comes to my faith. They just beg to differ.

And I totally respect that.

But it seems that more and more I hear folks, whether it be in the media or in regular life, boldly proclaiming the “weakness” of God, boldly ridiculing the invisible God and in turn celebrating the foolishness of those who choose to believe.

It’s cool if you decide that you don’t believe. Everyone is entitled to believing what seems right to them. But believing in what you believe does not have to include disrespecting what others believe.

Of course us Christians have a ton of work to do in this respect as well…

We Can't Destroy The World

2011-06-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” – Ezekiel 36:37-38

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 35-36; 2 Peter 1

The ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people huh? Flocks…what an interesting choice of words... What if that’s how God sees us? What if we are to God what flocks of sheep are to us? Maybe we aren’t even at that level. Maybe we are like one big ant colony digging up the ground trying to make sense of the world around us by rearranging bits of gravel.

I started reading this article from The Economist about how we have changed the world and now we have to change how we look at the world. From our perspective that is true. We have done some things to the earth that are not so fresh at all. Many say that we are destroying the planet. We are polluting the air and the waters with the byproducts of our civilization. The temperatures are getting hotter, the ice caps are melting, and the world is changing as we know it.

But there’s always been something about this notion that we are destroying the world that has struck me as being self-centered. It implies that we are capable of destroying it. There’s nothing that we can do to destroy the planet. All we can do is destroy our ability to live on it. The planet has been here for many millions of years and human existence on it represents a mere blink in its lifetime. At worse we are what The Matrix said we are; a virus to this world. But more accurately we are probably more like a flu or a cold.

Regardless of what we do to this planet it will recover. It will restore its natural balance. That’s how God created it.

The real question is what will we do? Will we learn to live in balance with the earth? Will we try to live in balance with the creation of our creator or will we continue on trying to live life on our terms.

The way that we treat the planet is really just a reflection of how we treat each other and ourselves. Maybe once we learn to love one another, our enemies as well as our friends, we will learn how to find that balance. That balance that our spirits long for. The balance that will enable us to move forward in such a way that everyone has enough rather than the imbalance that we have now where few people have plenty while others starve.

We are nothing more than a flock of sheep. And like a flock of sheep we cannot help but be lost without the shepherd.

Calling A Spade A Spade

2011-05-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved. – Ezekiel 33:7-9

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 33-34; 1 Peter 5

Dear God,

What is the difference between speaking the truth and judging others? What should we do when we know that something is wrong, that someone is representing something false as if it were truth but we cannot prove it?

The May 21st shenanigans are a good example of this for me. Dude was clearly off base, clearly not in line with scripture but he had his perspective. Does it do more harm than good to not “judge” him for what I believe to be flawed teaching? Is calling out the falsehoods in someone’s claim the same as judging them?

This is kind of like how we have come to use the notion that someone is“hating” on another person. When we say that someone is hating on us we don’t mean that they hate us, but we do mean that they are unfairly judging us, unfairly characterizing us as something that we are not. My friends are very well aware of the fact that I think that way too many folks hate on Kobe Bryant. The same goes for Lebron James since the decision. After a certain point it’s like ok folks… relax… it ain’t THAT bad.

But what if it is that bad? What if someone really is spreading terribleness through their actions or words in such a way that it is affecting others? Is calling them out on it judging them? Am I spiritually hating on them, or am I just calling a spade a spade. To what extent should we label others through the rules of our truth?

I guess that’s the line. When I am using my ideas or my truth then perhaps I’m out of line. When I use your ideas and your truth then I’m probably safe right? Well hopefully so. Many people have said that they were using your truth to do many terrible things… which gets us back to where we started.

Except that it doesn’t. I believe that deep down inside everyone knows truly what is right and wrong. We know what truth is when we see it, and we can smell a lie when it’s coming. Even the whitest of lies leaves a foul taste in your mouth.

In the end I hear you saying that we just have to trust you. The energy that we spend commenting on others can be better spent on doing what we can to make the world a better place or pursuing the purpose that you have for our lives.

Life is about living, not watching other people live it.

So I guess I have my answer. When I find myself focusing on how bad someone else is or how what they are doing is so wrong it is a better idea to focus instead on what I can do to make things better. Maybe in some instances it is speaking out against the lies. Other times it may be acting in ways that affirm life in the best ways that I know now.

Regardless of what it is it should be done with my eyes fixed on You and with a humble heart.

Thanks.

We're Still Here... Whew!!

2011-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Dear God,

Well what do you know… May 21^st came and went and we are still here.

Who’d a thunk it?

I know that Jesus himself said that no one would know the day or time except for you so I wasn’t trippin on May 21^st being the last day. After all, if someone is saying that they know when the last day will come then it is pretty much a guarantee that that day will not be the one.

But as I was headed to The Well at PIHOP that night I started to get real mad. I started thinking about all of the people who believed this guy and wondered what changes they may have made in their lives assuming that they were approaching their last days on earth. Then I started to think about this silly notion that even if it didn’t end up being the day then at least they “saved” a bunch of souls as a result of it.

When Jesus was at sea with his disciples and the sea got rocky he asked them why there were so afraid. Why was their faith so small that they were paralyzed with fear? Then with his faith he calmed the storm. How can someone get “saved” when they make that decision in the midst of a storm of fear like this May 21^st situation was?

Can salvation really happen when it is done with a metaphorical gun to your head?

And what now with those folks? I know that if it were me I’d be pretty pissed off. I’d be thinking something like this:

“This dude just scared the living day lights out of me and then the thing that he said I should fear didn’t even happen? What’s up with that? (Censored for your virgin ears)

I can’t even imagine how led astray those folks must feel now. I sure hope that they didn’t sell their homes, quit their jobs, or do any other such brash moves.

But this makes me think. Why even allow this to happen in the first place? This is one of those times that I wish it was like those times in the Old Testament where folks would get straight shot down by You if they weren’t acting right.

But then again if that were the case a whole lot of folks (including me) would have been laid out accordingly.

No one is perfect.

I guess the thing that You have taught me about this is to remember the fundamental lesson about what faith really is. Faith is all about choice. At the end of the day each of us decides what we believe and we ride that out.

Those who decided to follow this man made a decision. I make decisions every single day that affect and determine where my faith is headed. It is the content of these decisions that lead us in the right or wrong directions on each of our individual journeys to or away from the purpose of our lives.

I just really wonder what you thought about this one God. Were you up there mad like I was that this dude played the date game? Did you find it amusing? Did you find ways for it to work out for the best of those whose lives it affected?

I just hope that the folks who were moved by this man took this opportunity to do something good with what they thought would be their last day. Hopefully for them May 21^st will end up being the first day of a new season in their lives; a season where they decide to live life to the fullest, with love, hope and faith.

Holla back with an answer if you like.

Sincerely,

Is Today The Beginning of the End of the World?

2011-05-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

This just in…

Today is the end of the world!

Or is it?

According to these folks it is. Based on what some consider to be divine revelation (and others fuzzy Bible math) they have found patterns in the Bible that have led to them to believe that the rapture will happen today, May 21^st 2011.

For the uninitiated the rapture is when Jesus comes back and calls up those who believed in him to go with him to heaven. As for the folks who are left… we’ll you’ll have to stay tuned to the blog for when I get to that part of Revelation to hear me talk about it.

I’ve heard a ton of people call these folks crazy, stupid, fanatics and even worse. But out of all of these folks I don’t know a single person who actually read the argument for why they believe that today is the day.

That’s wack to me.

Dave Chappelle said something interesting on Inside the Actor’s Studio that relates to this. He said that when someone calls another person crazy really what they are doing is being lazy. Instead of trying to understand them, they just label that which they cannot understand as crazy.

Maybe it makes folks feel more comfortable to be able to categorize things that they don’t understand. When we think someone is crazy it is easy to dismiss them. It allows us to smooth over the discomforts of the world, pack them into a nice and neat box of laughs and ridicule, and go on with our lives as if nothing has changed.

So instead of doing that I checked out their website to see what it’s all about. There’s tons of literature on there. I didn’t read it all and I didn’t agree with everything that I read but at least I took the time to read it. The truth of the matter is that either Jesus will be here in a few hours or He won’t be. I’m not too concerned either way.

But this whole situation made me think something. What if today was the last day on earth as I know it? How would I spend this day? What would I say to the people that I love? What would I do differently today than any other day?

I think that’s a good way to approach every single day. Rapture or not we have no idea when our time will be up. Any one of us could die at any time. The sad thing is that so many of us live preparing for the future or reacting to the past that we never really stop to live in the present.

So, let’s take this rapture day and use it in a positive way. Do something today that you’ve always wanted to do. Say the things that you always wanted to say. Show the love that you always wanted to show. Whether or not tomorrow comes isn’t the point. The point is to live life as fully as possible, spreading as much love as possible. That way we will have no regrets when each evening passes away.

On Lebron and Second Chances

2011-05-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God… 1 Peter 8-11

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 30-32; 1 Peter 4

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about basketball and we started talking about Lebron James.

For those of you who don’t know he’s an amazing player, arguably the best player in the game right now. He came into the league straight out of high school and he has been a force to recon with from Day 1. Up until last year he was the darling of the media. Everyone loved him, the way he dealt with the writers and fans, his commercials, how he conducted himself on the court, and that he was the ultimate team player.

That was until of course his famous “Decision” to take his talents to South Beach.

When we were talking about him I couldn’t help but to feel sorry for him. Not so much for how he handled that situation but because of the burden of the spotlight. He’s been under a media microscope since he was sixteen!

Crazy.

When you are under that kind of intense focus from others it’s almost like folks are waiting for you to fall. And when you eventually do, they are right there to say “I told you so” or some other variety of hating type of behavior. But how can someone be equal to that standard all the time. It’s impossible to be perfect all the time right?

When I see passages like “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God” I can see how many Christian folk have the same feeling that I imagine Lebron must have. By definition Christians are supposed to be “Christ-like”. But what happens when we fall short? We see it in the media all the time. Folks slip (sometimes in insufferably major ways) and everything comes crashing down upon them.

How are you supposed to walk forward in your purpose when the standard is so high?

Well something that I’m learning is the power of grace. The notion that we can be forgiven, no matter what, based upon faith allows me to have the courage to get out into the world and do my best knowing that when I fall God is there to give me a hand and help me back up.

Lebron’s “Decision” shows us that people may not be so forgiving, but it’s good to know that other folks don’t determine our spiritual well being. We have God for that.

And God is pretty cool when it comes to second chances.

If Women Only Knew...

2011-05-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 1 Peter 3:1-2

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 27-29; 1 Peter 3

If women only knew even a little bit of the power they had with the men in their lives...

Years ago I remember having a funny conversation with my stepdad. We were talking about the roles of men and women in society as well as the issue of monogamy. We joked that women’s natural inclination towards monogamy (if for no other reason than that the notion that raising children is often more successful with two dedicated participants) is the reason why we have a civilization at all.

As Dave Chappelle said “If a man could (get) a woman (with) a card board box, he wouldn’t buy a house” (cleaned up for your virgin ears).

It doesn’t seem fair though does it? Why would Peter instruct women to obey their husbands and to bring them to the path of righteousness through the evidence of how they live their lives? Why must the burden be on women to keep the men in line?

Well, I don’t think it’s so much that the burden is on the women as much as Peter is speaking to a higher truth. Most men will do nearly anything to make the woman he loves happy. I’m not sure that today’s generation of women understands this like previous generations seemed to.

Sure, the man may be the head of the household, but if he loves his woman, he lives to serve her. So in truth the man isn’t really running things as much as he is leading the household in the direction that is best served to make his woman happy. At the very least he knows that he doesn’t want her to be unhappy.

A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping
of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
restraining her is like restraining the wind
or grasping oil with the hand. Proverbs 27:15-16

If only women knew that this is how the game works then the world would be so different. I don’t look at what Peter is saying as an argument for the subjugation of women. He is trying to put you up on game.

All a woman has to do is set the tone. If she has a man worth even just a little bit then he will follow suit.

Sorry Ezekiel... That Wasn't Cool

2011-05-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.”

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. Ezekiel 24:15-18

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 24-26; 1 Peter 2

What up Ezekiel?

So I gotta say… this isn’t cool man. Of all the prophets so far you seem to have gotten it the worst
(ok maybe not as bad as Job, but a close second). What happened to your wife? Was she already sick? Did she have some disease or form of illness that let you know that she was gonna die, or did God just snuff her out?

It just seems like God is being real hard on you just to teach the people a lesson. I bet you thought to yourself why can’t these ungrateful fools learn these lessons on their own? Why does God have to teach them with MY life?

This makes me think of something I was told over and over again as a kid. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes rather than learn them on our own. Life can be a school of hard knocks. The more hard headed we are the harder it knocks. But the comparison here isn’t apples to apples. At least when life’s school is in session there tends to be reasons why folks have to learn tough lessons, but you my friend seem to be singled out in a way that is just a tad less cool than being the first kid picked to play kickball in elementary school.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. That really sucks. When this happens my kneejerk reaction is to struggle to understand. But what happens when it is unexplainable? Maybe that’s when you get stories like this one that you have shared Ezekiel.

I still don’t understand but that’s ok. It ain’t the first time.

Thanks for listening and I hope you can cry it out sometime soon. Too much time has passed with you holding back those tears.

Sincerely,

Faith is a Tricky Thing

2011-05-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1: 8-9

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 22-23; 1 Peter 1

Faith is a fascinating thing to me. I have talked to many people about what I believe and when I explain the whole death and resurrection thing to folks I can see that glazed look pass over their eyes. After all, it is a pretty fantastic tale.

But that got me thinking. I wonder if faith in Jesus is harder for those of us who never saw Him in the flesh.
Maybe it was harder for those during his time. Like, what would I have thought if some dude from around the corner started claiming that he was the Son of God and started walking on water and raising folks from the dead; especially if I came from a faith that told me not to accept anyone who said that they were God.

Even Jesus himself said “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” – Matthew 13:57

I can see how that was a hard sell; especially if folks were looking at the events with their minds rather than their hearts.

The more that I thought about this I came to the conclusion that there is no shortcut to get to faith. I think it was just as difficult for the folk in Jesus’ time to believe as it is for us to believe. Where they had the ability to see the things he did, or personally know folks who saw them; we have thousands of years of folks whose lives have been affected by faith in Him and his teachings.

The bottom line is this: when it comes down to it, faith is a choice.

We can choose to believe or not to believe. But the proof for me comes in what happens after that choice. Does the faith bear fruit? Are there undeniable things that come from that faith? Does that faith change your life in a way that could not have happened unless what you believe in is true?

The standard that I have for faith is this: if what I believe in does not take on a life of its own then it’s not worth believing in. This is how I approached the Bible when I was willing to walk away from it. I felt that it had to show me something tangible, it had to deliver what it promised, or else what good was it in my life?

And oh buddy has it delivered.

What do you believe in? What have those things brought into your life?