We Will Not Lose

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39

Today’s Reading: Psalms 70-71; Romans 8:22-39

I love this. Paul is so absolutely ride or die with his faith. This is one of those spiritual pep talk scriptures for Christians.

But there is an important thing to remember here. The part of this passage that hits me the hardest is “through Him who loved us.”

Paul lists off all of these things that seem to be more powerful than us: death, life, angels, principalities, powers. Against these things we are to be more than conquerors. We shall persevere through the trials of the present and the future. There is nothing that can separate us from God and what God has for us to do.

But this statement isn’t a statement of one’s own power. It is a statement of what we can do when we connect with the love of God. That’s what “through Him who loved us” means to me. When we tap into that love that goes beyond human understanding then nothing can stand in our way.

Proof of this for me is the example that I always go back to; the Civil Rights Movement. It must have seemed so strange when black folks in the south and their allies from various cultural backgrounds resisted the violent policies of Jim Crow intimidation with peaceful measures. I remember learning about it as a kid and thinking that it was crazy.

But I get it now. As King said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

It takes a love beyond my understanding to live like this; and for me, that love can only come from my connection to God.

It has not only been helpful in the extreme environment of social struggle but it can be helpful for all of us in our day to day lives. The same love that was required to turn the other cheek during the sit-ins is what powers our forgiveness of those who have wronged us. It is what allows us to take another chance on love when we have been hurt in the past. It is what allows us to reach out and help those in our lives who take more than they give.

The power of love cannot be defeated in and of itself. It only yields when we have lost our faith, when we have lost the courage to get up, carry on, and continue on love’s journey.

If we don’t give up then we will never lose. 

The Power of Kanye West

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. – Romans 7:14-15

Today’s Reading: Psalms 66-67; Romans 7

I recently had lunch with two inspiring fellows, Jim and Joe. We were talking about all kinds of things related to our spirituality but there were two things from our time together that jumped out at me when I read the words above.

The first was a conversation that centered on hypocrites. They asked me how I came to where I am spiritually. I explained how some people who claim to be “Christian” are the same folks who seemed to be doing so much ill in this world. I had to understand how these people could claim faith in the same God that I believe in but act so contrary to what I believe. So, I dove back into the Bible for answers.

As we discussed this idea further Jim said something like this:

It is the hypocrites that are the courageous ones.

Wow.

Shortly after the meal was over we walked back toward my car. Jim bid Joe and I farewell and we were left to our own one on one conversation. We started talking about Hip-Hop and artists that we like and Joe brought up Kanye West. He said that one of the things he likes about Kanye is his honesty. Kanye discusses some Christian values in his songs but in a way that shows his struggle with them. And he does it for the whole world to see.

Kanye is one of my favorite artists today and someone that I actually look up to. These two exchanges are the reason why.

It takes courage to stand up and speak out for what you believe in.

Regardless of one’s particular faith, most of us have certain core concepts of decency that are shared across the board. We say that we believe in the golden rule: treat others the way we want to be treated. But even in this seemingly simple task all of us fail. We all have our moments where we fall short of this and the other standards we hold ourselves to.

This is why I am so impressed by those brave individuals who are outspoken about their beliefs. They speak candidly about the way they feel the world should be, knowing that they too cannot live up to their standard all of the time.

When they fall we trample upon them. We terrorize them with words of judgment and ridicule. We call them hypocrites for saying one thing and acting another way.

But aren’t we all hypocrites? Yes, we are.

It’s just that the majority of us don’t have the courage to step out in front of the world and loudly proclaim what we believe. And even fewer of us have the strength and courage to stand back up after we have fallen, after the world responds to our shortcomings and failures with slander and disdain.

Kanye is not perfect nor has he ever claimed to be. But the power of Kanye West is in his faithful courage. It is in his fearlessness to stand in front of all of us and speak his truth. It is in his audacity to stand back up again after he has fallen and proclaim his truth again and again.

Like many of his fans I am encouraged by his journey. I wish him the best and hope that he has the strength to maintain the courage he has shown us over the years.

I am rooting for him. I hope that you are too. 

The Power of Meditation

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

Today’s Reading: Psalms 46-48; Acts 28

I had a conversation recently with a friend about meditation. We were talking about how powerful it is, how when we are able to reach that place where we can let go, we are connected to something that is wonderfully powerful, beyond measure.

This brought me back to the time where this blog was born; the ten day fast that I did in September of 2007.

Many years had passed since I had really spoken to God. Sure God was around and maybe I hollered at him every now and then when I thought I needed him, but I was in an utter state of confusion. I couldn’t see anything clearly.

Then I decided to do the master cleanse and unplug from the TV and Internet for 10 days.

The experienced changed my life.

When I look back on it I see that the power of that experience wasn’t in the lemon drink or the salt water flushes. The power was in the silence. When everything was shut off my spirit was able to shake off the burden of the noise in my mind and finally exercise its wings again. In the silence I was able to hear what God wanted me to hear. I was able to listen.

The times that I spent meditating and reconnecting with God were so powerful and so comforting. It was like going back home and realizing that I never left.

For several years prior to this I spent so much time trying to solve all of the spiritual problems of the universe that I had forgotten what my position was. In the attempt to understand God, I gradually started trying to do his work. I tried to answer the questions that only He can answer. I tried to solve the puzzles that only he can solve.

But when I became quiet I was able to see clearly and know without a doubt that He is God. Not me.

Often times we don’t know the next step we are supposed to take in life because we spend too much time talking and not enough time listening. Give listening a chance sometime. Find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted and just close your eyes and sit there. No music. No soothing meditation sounds. Just silence.  If your mind starts racing about random topics, let it race. Listen to what it is saying without trying to control or judge it. Let it talk freely and observe what it has to say. Eventually it will tire itself out and go silent.

This is when the miracle begins.

From this silence the spirit will burst forth. It will sing the songs that God wants to speak into your life. This is what inspiration is for me. It is when we are blessed with ideas and visions and dreams that are bigger than our small minds. They are so big and beautiful for our lives that it is clear that they are not ours.

Then when you open your eyes you will see what I saw and continue to see. What once was foggy is now clear. And in that clarity you will know the next steps to take to make your dreams come true.

The only question is… do you have the courage to take the first step?

If you don’t have some crazy, miraculous epiphany the first time, that’s cool. Keep trying. Having the patience to reach a state of quiet is very difficult. It takes work and patience.

But I promise that if you put in the work, you will reap the fruit one hundred fold. 

Humility Gives Us Power

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker…

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. – Excerpt from Acts 14: 11-15

Today’s Reading: Job 32-33; Acts 14

It’s interesting that this comes so quickly after the episode with Herod. When Herod was worshipped by the people he received their praise. As a result he was eaten by worms.

Yuck.

When Paul and Barnabas saw that they were being worshipped for healing a paralytic they were horrified and begged and pleaded with the crowd to see them for what they were.

Regular people just like them…

The juxtaposition here is interesting. The first thing I thought was wow… with great humility comes great power. But how does one stay humble when they possess such power? How did Paul fight off the urge to start feelin’ himself a bit too much?

I’m sure that the occasional stoning helped… but seriously… how does that work.

These were regular dudes with an irregular level of faith. But in the end they were regular folks. They had the same weaknesses that we all have to the human vices.

I imagine that the key to their walk was understanding that they were not the center of their own universe.

Here’s what I mean.

When Paul and Barnabas saw the paralyzed man they “saw that he had faith to be healed”.

It’s really hard to see others when you are looking at yourself.

The gifts that Paul was given to heal and to teach functioned through his humility. If he lost focus on God and others and started focusing on himself he wouldn’t have been able to see these opportunities that he had to work miracles.

When we place ourselves at the center of our worlds, that world has a funny way of collapsing in on us. We aren’t strong enough to support it.

But when we recognize that we don’t have to be that foundation, but rather, that we are standing on infinitely stronger shoulders; then there is no limit to what we can do.

Giving up control gives us power.