I'd rather risk the potential foolishness of too much faith than to live the tragedy of a life lived by my own strength and resource. Only the mediocre are always at their best because they never risk anything, they rarely try something new and they believe only in what they can see, feel and hear for themselves.
It is a telling commentary that almost everyone believes in the inherent power of evil to spread its influence but few believe the same about the transcendent power of Goodness to infect, infiltrate and permeate its surroundings. Don't believe me? The next time someone sneezes on an elevator ask yourself what the following few minutes feel like for everyone trapped in that box. Or take a quick inventory of your faith after you read about or hear of another shooting in a tough neighborhood.
The uproariously good news of the Kingdom of God, as it is displayed and purely taught by Jesus Christ, stands waiting for a company of renewed minds to take it at its core value and conquer nations with righteousness, peace and joy by the regeneration influence of the Holy Spirit. The potential spread of Absolute Goodness and Glory is far greater through us than any seed of evil ever dreamed of being.
For this, we MUST risk the foolishness of too much faith. For this, someone somewhere must inspire at least a few everyday. Do not wait for extraordinary opportunities but seize the common and ordinary to put an extraordinary God on display.....TODAY!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dump a Toilet on His Head or Pray
OK. Just bear with me for a few minutes. I need to say something unpopular and clearly outside the culturally acceptable norm. Yesterday on MySpace one of those stupid baiting ads wanted me to play a game to win a ringtone. The object of the game was to dump 3 port-a-potties on the head of President George Bush. That did it for me. Did what, you ask? Pushed me to write this blog.
It is now the easy, culturally acceptable, popular, "hey look at me I'm smart like everybody else" thing to do to bash and insult the president. If you don't, people look at you like you are wearing clothes from the '90s. "Eeek! You aren't cool!" If you say anything positive, anything even remotely complimentary you surely must be stupid or naive or just blind as a bat Republican. Don't believe me? Go ahead....experiment with the notion of saying anything, and I mean anything decent or kind about President Bush in a group of more than 5 people. Or, if that's too daunting for you, read this blog to someone or follow the potential comments that will be added....
I am absolutely frustrated out of my mind by the war in Iraq. I hate the growing death toll of both war fronts. But the only thing we accomplish by our immature carping and whining and publicly humiliating the president is a diminished capacity for honor, esteem (if you want self-esteem, you must first learn to give esteem outside yourself) and the courage to stand alone against "approval ratings".
Those who know me best will tell you that I started this rant during the Clinton administration. I said then that the greatest danger of the disrespect for that president (that became like a sport for some evangelical Christians) was that we truly devalued our own sensibilities. II Peter 2:9-16 is a striking indictment that warns against being dishonorable even against the most dishonored. Why? Because we marginalize the potential beauties of our own soul by coarse behavior toward any in authority. The greater damage is far greater than any one president.
"Honor the king" (I Peter 2:17) was written in day when kings were pagan monsters. Honor given is holy humility received. Pilate and Herod make all of our politians look like God....yet, Jesus kept His own dignity intact in their presence. It deeply troubled me 10 years ago when high profile preachers dishonored President Clinton. It is even more troubling to me now when we are told that 70% of our nation is doing the same thing. I believe that the "toilet dumping" is on our own head.
There you have it. I am now officially unpopular. While I'm at it, I'll go home and dig out my old clothes from the '90s and start growing a mullit. "Eeewwwwww, gross!"
It is now the easy, culturally acceptable, popular, "hey look at me I'm smart like everybody else" thing to do to bash and insult the president. If you don't, people look at you like you are wearing clothes from the '90s. "Eeek! You aren't cool!" If you say anything positive, anything even remotely complimentary you surely must be stupid or naive or just blind as a bat Republican. Don't believe me? Go ahead....experiment with the notion of saying anything, and I mean anything decent or kind about President Bush in a group of more than 5 people. Or, if that's too daunting for you, read this blog to someone or follow the potential comments that will be added....
I am absolutely frustrated out of my mind by the war in Iraq. I hate the growing death toll of both war fronts. But the only thing we accomplish by our immature carping and whining and publicly humiliating the president is a diminished capacity for honor, esteem (if you want self-esteem, you must first learn to give esteem outside yourself) and the courage to stand alone against "approval ratings".
Those who know me best will tell you that I started this rant during the Clinton administration. I said then that the greatest danger of the disrespect for that president (that became like a sport for some evangelical Christians) was that we truly devalued our own sensibilities. II Peter 2:9-16 is a striking indictment that warns against being dishonorable even against the most dishonored. Why? Because we marginalize the potential beauties of our own soul by coarse behavior toward any in authority. The greater damage is far greater than any one president.
"Honor the king" (I Peter 2:17) was written in day when kings were pagan monsters. Honor given is holy humility received. Pilate and Herod make all of our politians look like God....yet, Jesus kept His own dignity intact in their presence. It deeply troubled me 10 years ago when high profile preachers dishonored President Clinton. It is even more troubling to me now when we are told that 70% of our nation is doing the same thing. I believe that the "toilet dumping" is on our own head.
There you have it. I am now officially unpopular. While I'm at it, I'll go home and dig out my old clothes from the '90s and start growing a mullit. "Eeewwwwww, gross!"
Monday, June 25, 2007
Only the Mediocre are Always at Their Best
Back in the middle '80's the Dean family lived in Austin, Texas. One of the coolest towns on earth. Art and entertainment venues, natural eye-popping sights and a variety of people and cultural types that live in one of the best kept city secrets in America. I'm proud to say I lived there for a short time. One of the best and free entertainment spots was the State of Texas Capital.
I went there at least once a week to pray and people watch. When the legislature was in session, the variety show was better than anything on TV. One time sitting in the balcony and watching the dog and pony show going on the main floor, I was laughing hard and trying not to be a disruption. Suddenly from behind me someone tapped me on the shoulder and I thought I was going to be kicked out. Instead, I turned around and here was Ann Richards (then State Treasurer, soon to be Governor and nationally a Democratic Party power player) laughing with me. Through her own laughter she said, "Pretty good show, ain't it?"
Not long after that incident I was in that same spot when a local Southern Baptist preacher was asked to open the session with prayer. His words were short and riveting. He took the podium, simply said, "Let us pray", and proceeded to hit a grand slam with one of the shortest prayers I've ever heard. "Lord, remind us today that only the mediocre are always at their best. Amen." The legislative floor was stunned into unusual silence. I wanted to laugh and shout, "Amen" at the top of my lungs!
Allow me to take a leap of truth from that statement and offer my own; I would rather fail at attempting the miraculous than to succeed at mediocrity. Lately, my insides are on fire with spiritual desire. The youth camp I spoke of in my last blog is history and the young people from it are about to make history. They were challenged to find their own voice by the power of the Holy Spirit and attempt the miraculous with every step they take.
One story I heard from camp was that a group of teenage boys were praying into the morning hours after an evening service and the suggestion came up that if Jesus could walk through walls, we should too. So, one boy got up, prayed and walked full force into a door. The door did not yield. He picked himself up, declared it must be his lack of faith and took off for the door again. The door won again, but this little band of brothers was not discouraged. They declared that someday, they were going to win this challenge! I can already hear the growlings of the religiously mediocre; "Someone should instruct these children to temper their expectations". Why? So that Pharoah's magicians can continue to eat our shepherd's staff? NO! Keep experimenting with your faith, boys. One day, you'll get it right and Pharoah's serpents will be consumed by a shepherd's staff.
My point here is that for too long Christianity has allowed for a mediocrity at almost every level of its expression. We screwed up the motto, "Failure is not an option" by reversing it into a call to be safe and never daring. I would rather fail at attempting the miraculous than to succeed at mediocrity. Good has always been the greatest enemy of the best and the best was never intended to be leveled off at mediocrity.
I went there at least once a week to pray and people watch. When the legislature was in session, the variety show was better than anything on TV. One time sitting in the balcony and watching the dog and pony show going on the main floor, I was laughing hard and trying not to be a disruption. Suddenly from behind me someone tapped me on the shoulder and I thought I was going to be kicked out. Instead, I turned around and here was Ann Richards (then State Treasurer, soon to be Governor and nationally a Democratic Party power player) laughing with me. Through her own laughter she said, "Pretty good show, ain't it?"
Not long after that incident I was in that same spot when a local Southern Baptist preacher was asked to open the session with prayer. His words were short and riveting. He took the podium, simply said, "Let us pray", and proceeded to hit a grand slam with one of the shortest prayers I've ever heard. "Lord, remind us today that only the mediocre are always at their best. Amen." The legislative floor was stunned into unusual silence. I wanted to laugh and shout, "Amen" at the top of my lungs!
Allow me to take a leap of truth from that statement and offer my own; I would rather fail at attempting the miraculous than to succeed at mediocrity. Lately, my insides are on fire with spiritual desire. The youth camp I spoke of in my last blog is history and the young people from it are about to make history. They were challenged to find their own voice by the power of the Holy Spirit and attempt the miraculous with every step they take.
One story I heard from camp was that a group of teenage boys were praying into the morning hours after an evening service and the suggestion came up that if Jesus could walk through walls, we should too. So, one boy got up, prayed and walked full force into a door. The door did not yield. He picked himself up, declared it must be his lack of faith and took off for the door again. The door won again, but this little band of brothers was not discouraged. They declared that someday, they were going to win this challenge! I can already hear the growlings of the religiously mediocre; "Someone should instruct these children to temper their expectations". Why? So that Pharoah's magicians can continue to eat our shepherd's staff? NO! Keep experimenting with your faith, boys. One day, you'll get it right and Pharoah's serpents will be consumed by a shepherd's staff.
My point here is that for too long Christianity has allowed for a mediocrity at almost every level of its expression. We screwed up the motto, "Failure is not an option" by reversing it into a call to be safe and never daring. I would rather fail at attempting the miraculous than to succeed at mediocrity. Good has always been the greatest enemy of the best and the best was never intended to be leveled off at mediocrity.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Finding Our Voice
Next week I'll be speaking and ministering at a youth camp with the theme, "Finding Our Voice". I actually suggested the theme a few months ago and it immediately resonated with everyone at that planning session. For me this has been a life long passion because it has to do with far more than the words I speak. It has to do with the prevailing influence, weight and power of who I am.
We all know people whose mouth moves and sounds are emitted from that cavern but no one is interested in spending any energy to actually hear and decipher what was just said. That's because the words are not vitally connected or rooted in any living dynamic. If I say, "war is hell" and you ask me how I know that and my only response is tell you where I found that quote and who originally said it, we might end up having an enlightening conversation but little else is likely to come from it. But if I'm a marine being treated in a military hospital for multiple fresh wounds from an ambush I just survived, and I look up into your eyes and fight to reach for enough air to say those same 3 words, we are going to have an altogether different exchange of thoughts. In fact, those 3 words might be all that is necessary.
In grammar, the concept of voice has to do with the form of a verb showing the connection between the subject and the verb, either as performing (active voice) or receiving (passive voice) the action. "The dog bit the boy" is the active voice because the subject is the dog and the dog is active. "The boy was bitten by the dog" is the passive voice because the subject is the boy and he is on the receiving end of the action. I'm going to strain the analogy for a moment because I hate the word, passive. To find our voice we must learn that all of life is waiting to be lived. We are the subject and we must act or we will be acted upon. I hope the grammar works here because I don't want you to miss the point.
Jesus said that we, His people, are the light of the world. When you enter a room that is pitch black, you don't ask, "Where did all this darkness come from?" do you? You enter the dark room reaching around the corner with the demand, "Where's the light?". If we fall for the notion that our voice is for the purpose of informing the darkness of its varying shades of dark, we are wasting our breath. Our voice IS the light!
The Voice of Jesus calmed storms, forgave unrepentant people, healed sickness, awakened the dead, rebuked religious bigots, raised hopes, loved losers, spoke when silent, silenced ignorance, blessed those who cursed Him, prayed heaven into hell, changed names, called the unqualified, drove demons into pig prisons, opened prisons, lit fires of the heart, whispers peace and trumpets triumph.
Psalm 29 says, "The Voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the glory of God thunders...the Voice of the Lord is powerful, majestic. The Voice of the Lord breaks the cedars...the Voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire. The Voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness...strips the forests bare and in His Temple everything says, 'Glory'." This is the Active Voice. This is the Voice that calls us to be a Voice of equal harmonic beauty, power and true influence.
This boy bites dogs.
We all know people whose mouth moves and sounds are emitted from that cavern but no one is interested in spending any energy to actually hear and decipher what was just said. That's because the words are not vitally connected or rooted in any living dynamic. If I say, "war is hell" and you ask me how I know that and my only response is tell you where I found that quote and who originally said it, we might end up having an enlightening conversation but little else is likely to come from it. But if I'm a marine being treated in a military hospital for multiple fresh wounds from an ambush I just survived, and I look up into your eyes and fight to reach for enough air to say those same 3 words, we are going to have an altogether different exchange of thoughts. In fact, those 3 words might be all that is necessary.
In grammar, the concept of voice has to do with the form of a verb showing the connection between the subject and the verb, either as performing (active voice) or receiving (passive voice) the action. "The dog bit the boy" is the active voice because the subject is the dog and the dog is active. "The boy was bitten by the dog" is the passive voice because the subject is the boy and he is on the receiving end of the action. I'm going to strain the analogy for a moment because I hate the word, passive. To find our voice we must learn that all of life is waiting to be lived. We are the subject and we must act or we will be acted upon. I hope the grammar works here because I don't want you to miss the point.
Jesus said that we, His people, are the light of the world. When you enter a room that is pitch black, you don't ask, "Where did all this darkness come from?" do you? You enter the dark room reaching around the corner with the demand, "Where's the light?". If we fall for the notion that our voice is for the purpose of informing the darkness of its varying shades of dark, we are wasting our breath. Our voice IS the light!
The Voice of Jesus calmed storms, forgave unrepentant people, healed sickness, awakened the dead, rebuked religious bigots, raised hopes, loved losers, spoke when silent, silenced ignorance, blessed those who cursed Him, prayed heaven into hell, changed names, called the unqualified, drove demons into pig prisons, opened prisons, lit fires of the heart, whispers peace and trumpets triumph.
Psalm 29 says, "The Voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the glory of God thunders...the Voice of the Lord is powerful, majestic. The Voice of the Lord breaks the cedars...the Voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire. The Voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness...strips the forests bare and in His Temple everything says, 'Glory'." This is the Active Voice. This is the Voice that calls us to be a Voice of equal harmonic beauty, power and true influence.
This boy bites dogs.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
King's Quote
In my previous blog I referenced Martin Luther King Jr. For a full reading of the context of this quote you can use the internet to look up, "Paul's Letter to American Christians, November 4, 1956 by Martin Luther King Jr." I distinctly remember reading this entire letter in the library of my middle school in 1965. I felt like the room had suddenly entered a heavenly realm and that I was all alone with this man of God. It was many years later before I understood the words or the spirit of what happened to me that day. King's words are distinctly and profoundly Christian. I fear that too few today appreciate the depth of his faith and the width of his covenant to Christ.
Anyway, here is the portion of that letter and the quote for my blog:
"I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may."
Anyway, here is the portion of that letter and the quote for my blog:
"I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may."
Monday, June 04, 2007
Passionate Desire
Passion is rooted in knowing the will of God and doing it, no matter what the cost. This is a definition I extracted from a quote attributed to Martin Luther King Jr.; " The purpose of life is not found in avoiding pain and seeking pleasure. The purpose of life is doing the will of God come what may." I live in and love this kind of passion.
Then, there is this quote, which I believe comes from the movie, "Braveheart"; "Everyone dies, but not everyone lives". Add to this another word I have recently heard by Kris Vallotton from Redding, California; "The greater tragedy is not that 3000 brave people have died in Iraq, but that many millions back home will live for nothing." Shortly after I heard him say this, I picked up a newspaper and read an article about vets of the Iraq War who have lost a limb. They've been sent home for recovery and are being fitted for prosthesis and yet they desparetely long to get back into the battle. The reporter was perplexed but I understood their passion. Once placed in a circumstance where life and death is determined by your focus and by the focus of a passionate team around you, you'll never be happy with life on any other level. Channel surfing or sitting in a bar listening to people laughing at inanity is unacceptable.
Don't get me wrong, I like having fun as much as anyone. But isn't "having fun" the reward at the end of some term of sacrifice and not a prolonged end in itself? I thought that the word, "recreation" was based on a need to re-create when we've been spent on a worthy cause.
C.S. Lewis once said, "You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive,' or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity.' In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate (the beast) and bid the geldings be fruitful." I am caught once again in a season of my life where I am carefully inspecting the boiler of my soul. I'll do my best to blog while I carry out this inspection so that anyone interested can join me for a re-firing. I need to warn you, however.....I will not go gently through my own inspection, much less, leave you in a "ghastly simplicity."
Then, there is this quote, which I believe comes from the movie, "Braveheart"; "Everyone dies, but not everyone lives". Add to this another word I have recently heard by Kris Vallotton from Redding, California; "The greater tragedy is not that 3000 brave people have died in Iraq, but that many millions back home will live for nothing." Shortly after I heard him say this, I picked up a newspaper and read an article about vets of the Iraq War who have lost a limb. They've been sent home for recovery and are being fitted for prosthesis and yet they desparetely long to get back into the battle. The reporter was perplexed but I understood their passion. Once placed in a circumstance where life and death is determined by your focus and by the focus of a passionate team around you, you'll never be happy with life on any other level. Channel surfing or sitting in a bar listening to people laughing at inanity is unacceptable.
Don't get me wrong, I like having fun as much as anyone. But isn't "having fun" the reward at the end of some term of sacrifice and not a prolonged end in itself? I thought that the word, "recreation" was based on a need to re-create when we've been spent on a worthy cause.
C.S. Lewis once said, "You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive,' or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity.' In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate (the beast) and bid the geldings be fruitful." I am caught once again in a season of my life where I am carefully inspecting the boiler of my soul. I'll do my best to blog while I carry out this inspection so that anyone interested can join me for a re-firing. I need to warn you, however.....I will not go gently through my own inspection, much less, leave you in a "ghastly simplicity."
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
$10 Rambler Theology
When I was 16 my dad promised me he would buy my first car. The only caveat to this tantalizing teenage dream was that he would observe my driving behavior and purchase a car that he felt was equal to my level of maturity. Four months into my test, dad drove up with a 1959 Rambler which he found rotting in a backyard and bought for $10. Painted with house paint and 2 of the 4 doors rusted completely into useless oblivion (the 2 useful doors were on the passenger side) this finely crafted piece of automotive genius was my dad's way of trying to tell me something.
When it rained, the house paint drooled off the fenders of this Rambler and onto the driveway. The chrome letters in the grill that once proudly spelled, "Rambler" were diminished to "amle". Since my humility was not so much chosen as it was imposed upon me, I took the low road approach to my father's object lesson. I decided to run this "thing" into the ground. I drove it harder than any car should ever be driven. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that I was a geeky, yankee duke of hazard with a Private No Class Amle and not a General Lee. That dumb car had no better sense than to last a complete year! My dad had successfully taught me a valuable life lesson.
At the risk of straining an analogy, let me pose a few questions. I walked past a "Christian" section of a book sales rack the other day at Wal Mart. On the cover of the most prominent book for sale in the Name of Jesus, for all of the millions of middle America to see, is a full color picture of a nuclear bomb. The author wants us all to know that God is fixated on His wrist watch, the middle-east is in the oven and our "goose" is almost cooked. So I ask you, with the apparent popularity of this kind of tripe, is it possible that God, our Heavenly Father, has allowed for a theology that matches our maturity level?
Is He standing back and allowing for us to be sufficiently humbled by this embarrassingly shallow interpretation of the treasury of the scriptures? How many widely varying predictions of the late great planet earth have to be dead wrong before we look to the Holy Spirit for a more complete and soul satisfying revelation of Jesus Christ? If the devil can not get us interested in out right miserable lifestyles, wouldn't it stand to reason that he would have us obsessed with self-destruction which is labeled "holy" so that we can not effectively exercise our faith for the healing of the nations? Why would I pray or believe for a nation to be healed if I am taught that that nation is just a pawn for the "showdown" at high noon? Here's another intriguing question for you: why would I have any true vested interest to pray and act for the Kingdom of God to come on earth, just as it is in heaven, if I am convinced that everything is just hooked up to God's time table for a group of angry little nations who have been bitterly fighting each other for the past ka-zillion years?
What if God's time-table (if such a thing exists) is connected to the Body of Christ growing up and becoming a magnificent partner of and mirror image to Jesus Christ? What if the metaphors and the artistic, poetic majesty of books of the Bible like "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" held explosive spiritual secrets waiting for hungry, curious, insatiably and voraciously eagar seekers to find a True and Irresisitible Spirituality? What if some of us decided to walk to that goal rather than to drive a contribution to the spiritual pollution that has been killing the ozone of God's Highest and Best?
And, by the way, hasn't the greatest enemy of "Best" always been "good"?
When it rained, the house paint drooled off the fenders of this Rambler and onto the driveway. The chrome letters in the grill that once proudly spelled, "Rambler" were diminished to "amle". Since my humility was not so much chosen as it was imposed upon me, I took the low road approach to my father's object lesson. I decided to run this "thing" into the ground. I drove it harder than any car should ever be driven. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that I was a geeky, yankee duke of hazard with a Private No Class Amle and not a General Lee. That dumb car had no better sense than to last a complete year! My dad had successfully taught me a valuable life lesson.
At the risk of straining an analogy, let me pose a few questions. I walked past a "Christian" section of a book sales rack the other day at Wal Mart. On the cover of the most prominent book for sale in the Name of Jesus, for all of the millions of middle America to see, is a full color picture of a nuclear bomb. The author wants us all to know that God is fixated on His wrist watch, the middle-east is in the oven and our "goose" is almost cooked. So I ask you, with the apparent popularity of this kind of tripe, is it possible that God, our Heavenly Father, has allowed for a theology that matches our maturity level?
Is He standing back and allowing for us to be sufficiently humbled by this embarrassingly shallow interpretation of the treasury of the scriptures? How many widely varying predictions of the late great planet earth have to be dead wrong before we look to the Holy Spirit for a more complete and soul satisfying revelation of Jesus Christ? If the devil can not get us interested in out right miserable lifestyles, wouldn't it stand to reason that he would have us obsessed with self-destruction which is labeled "holy" so that we can not effectively exercise our faith for the healing of the nations? Why would I pray or believe for a nation to be healed if I am taught that that nation is just a pawn for the "showdown" at high noon? Here's another intriguing question for you: why would I have any true vested interest to pray and act for the Kingdom of God to come on earth, just as it is in heaven, if I am convinced that everything is just hooked up to God's time table for a group of angry little nations who have been bitterly fighting each other for the past ka-zillion years?
What if God's time-table (if such a thing exists) is connected to the Body of Christ growing up and becoming a magnificent partner of and mirror image to Jesus Christ? What if the metaphors and the artistic, poetic majesty of books of the Bible like "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" held explosive spiritual secrets waiting for hungry, curious, insatiably and voraciously eagar seekers to find a True and Irresisitible Spirituality? What if some of us decided to walk to that goal rather than to drive a contribution to the spiritual pollution that has been killing the ozone of God's Highest and Best?
And, by the way, hasn't the greatest enemy of "Best" always been "good"?
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Renamed
I grew up with a love-hate relationship with my name. “Randy” just never seemed cool enough or tough enough. I had friends named, Bob, Joe, Al, John, Roger and David and for some reason I saw them as regular “guys”. It was like I had a mental image in my head that said, “Their name can beat up my name.” The “y” on the end of my name had a girlie sound to it in my thinking. Of course, it didn’t help anything when in 7th grade a new girl showed up at my school with my name. The fact that her name ended with an “I” did nothing to ease my angst.
For a little while I tried my legal name, “Randall”. That was until a junior high teacher started saying, “Good morning Ran-doll” and all the Bobs, Joes and Johns around me started having way too much fun at my expense with the “doll” part of that equation. So, did I say I had a love-hate relationship with my name? Maybe if you figure it as 10% love and 90% hate.
Somewhere in high school everyone started calling each other by their last names and that came just in time to save some of my tattered self-image. “Dean” felt cool. But then the summer before I went to college I got a job working with a couple of British seminary students and all it took was a moment of weakness on my part when I introduced myself, “Hi. I’m Randy”. Do you know what I mean when I describe that awkwardly long wait for someone to stop laughing at you so you can ask them, “Did I say something funny?” only to have them start laughing again? If you aren’t sure what’s funny about my aforementioned introduction look up my name in a British friendly dictionary.
Well, all of that is to say that I have always been fascinated with how quickly and easily God took to changing names in the Bible. Abram to Abraham, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul. I completely understand why God needed to do this in some cases just from the standpoint of the need for these folks to drop their previous self-loathing behavior. A name was a prophecy and a name was a destiny.
So, without going to court for a legal name change, I have, a long time ago, found my way to be renamed. I am convinced more people need the same spiritual therapy. Self-prophecy, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will do you more good than you may be able to imagine. In fact, one scripture says, “making melody with (and in) your heart”. That means change the internal dialogue, find your name and every time you hear it….say “AMEN!”
For a little while I tried my legal name, “Randall”. That was until a junior high teacher started saying, “Good morning Ran-doll” and all the Bobs, Joes and Johns around me started having way too much fun at my expense with the “doll” part of that equation. So, did I say I had a love-hate relationship with my name? Maybe if you figure it as 10% love and 90% hate.
Somewhere in high school everyone started calling each other by their last names and that came just in time to save some of my tattered self-image. “Dean” felt cool. But then the summer before I went to college I got a job working with a couple of British seminary students and all it took was a moment of weakness on my part when I introduced myself, “Hi. I’m Randy”. Do you know what I mean when I describe that awkwardly long wait for someone to stop laughing at you so you can ask them, “Did I say something funny?” only to have them start laughing again? If you aren’t sure what’s funny about my aforementioned introduction look up my name in a British friendly dictionary.
Well, all of that is to say that I have always been fascinated with how quickly and easily God took to changing names in the Bible. Abram to Abraham, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul. I completely understand why God needed to do this in some cases just from the standpoint of the need for these folks to drop their previous self-loathing behavior. A name was a prophecy and a name was a destiny.
So, without going to court for a legal name change, I have, a long time ago, found my way to be renamed. I am convinced more people need the same spiritual therapy. Self-prophecy, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will do you more good than you may be able to imagine. In fact, one scripture says, “making melody with (and in) your heart”. That means change the internal dialogue, find your name and every time you hear it….say “AMEN!”
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Releasing the Power of Forgiveness
Right after His resurrection, Jesus "popped" in on the disciples. I like to think of it as a playful moment on His part. In some measure just to leave a lasting impression of what He was about to say to them. John records that Jesus breathed on the group and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
I have no interest the doctrinal debate that can swirl around the Words of Jesus. Quite frankly, I don't think Jesus had any interest in that sort of debate either. He came to give us Life, not doctrinal statements. He was laying a principle of Life in these pregnant Words. He was daring all of us to search out the Life inherent in this principle.
Receive the Spirit and release forgiveness. To me, this is not about dealing with someone who hurt my feelings which in turn requires me to forgive them. This is about the larger picture of what is loaded into this scene. A recently butchered man is now alive again! He has just passed through a locked door. His body still bears scars and His first Words are, "Peace!", followed by the quote from the previous paragraph. Jesus clearly wants His statement to have a lasting and profound impact!
Here's what I believe that impact should be; get loaded with the reality of the Holy Spirit and then blast the world with spiritual shock waves of forgiveness. Walk through market places and intentionally "oooze" forgiveness, especially when you see someone who is easy to judge by appearances. Aim the devine power of forgiveness at every cultural and politically charged issue that comes across your line of sight. Frankly, I believe that one of the reasons so many people remain so incredibly sinful, by our own definitions, is that too many people who call themselves the people of faith choose to retain sins upon groups we deem either deserving or too guilty of their failures to be helped. We have too rarely given them any other air to breath around us.
The crippled man lowered through the roof in the gospel of Mark had not spoken a word, but Jesus started the conversation by telling him that his sins were forgiven. The woman caught in the act of adultry and brutally dragged to Jesus had not whispered a word of repentance when Jesus just took charge of the situation with the anointing to forgive her. The butchers standing around the cross were likely barely coherent due to their vile task but Jesus spoke to the mountain of their sin and commanded forgiveness upon them.
So, what would Jesus do with the next political petition against a group of people that we get asked to sign? What would Jesus do with the next anybody "caught in the act" and taken to the town square of the evening news? What would Jesus ask us to release with every footstep we take protesting abortion on one side of the politcal spectrum or war on the other?
Let me help you; He would breath on us, command us to be genuinely, radically, ridiculously and uproariously filled with the Holy Spirit so that we could become clouds filled with the water of heaven! Forgiveness, in this context, is an atmosheric shift, an environmental energy and a transcendent domain placed within our charge.
I have no interest the doctrinal debate that can swirl around the Words of Jesus. Quite frankly, I don't think Jesus had any interest in that sort of debate either. He came to give us Life, not doctrinal statements. He was laying a principle of Life in these pregnant Words. He was daring all of us to search out the Life inherent in this principle.
Receive the Spirit and release forgiveness. To me, this is not about dealing with someone who hurt my feelings which in turn requires me to forgive them. This is about the larger picture of what is loaded into this scene. A recently butchered man is now alive again! He has just passed through a locked door. His body still bears scars and His first Words are, "Peace!", followed by the quote from the previous paragraph. Jesus clearly wants His statement to have a lasting and profound impact!
Here's what I believe that impact should be; get loaded with the reality of the Holy Spirit and then blast the world with spiritual shock waves of forgiveness. Walk through market places and intentionally "oooze" forgiveness, especially when you see someone who is easy to judge by appearances. Aim the devine power of forgiveness at every cultural and politically charged issue that comes across your line of sight. Frankly, I believe that one of the reasons so many people remain so incredibly sinful, by our own definitions, is that too many people who call themselves the people of faith choose to retain sins upon groups we deem either deserving or too guilty of their failures to be helped. We have too rarely given them any other air to breath around us.
The crippled man lowered through the roof in the gospel of Mark had not spoken a word, but Jesus started the conversation by telling him that his sins were forgiven. The woman caught in the act of adultry and brutally dragged to Jesus had not whispered a word of repentance when Jesus just took charge of the situation with the anointing to forgive her. The butchers standing around the cross were likely barely coherent due to their vile task but Jesus spoke to the mountain of their sin and commanded forgiveness upon them.
So, what would Jesus do with the next political petition against a group of people that we get asked to sign? What would Jesus do with the next anybody "caught in the act" and taken to the town square of the evening news? What would Jesus ask us to release with every footstep we take protesting abortion on one side of the politcal spectrum or war on the other?
Let me help you; He would breath on us, command us to be genuinely, radically, ridiculously and uproariously filled with the Holy Spirit so that we could become clouds filled with the water of heaven! Forgiveness, in this context, is an atmosheric shift, an environmental energy and a transcendent domain placed within our charge.
Friday, April 06, 2007
A Culture of Life
The death of Jesus Christ was brutal and vulgar. It demonstrated the worst of human systems gone mad. God allowed all of our most confused, bureaucratic, religious stupidity a full and tortured expression on the Body of Jesus. Every human system participated and Satan kicked back at the end of the day, looked up at heaven and asked, "Hey, God! What do You think of Your creation now? Still think its 'good'?"
God answered three days later. With the physical resurrection of Jesus God has forever stated, "What I have made IS GOOD. Creation was kissed in the beginning and now it has been twice kissed."
Some elements of Christianity today are obsessed with original sin and total depravity. They are fond of announcing that we are born in sin. The follow up to that is the mantra, "We are just sinners saved by grace." My response is, "Alright, already. We get it. But what about now....post resurrection. Aren't we born AGAIN? This time, born again RIGHT and righteous?" At some point we have to start being the New Creation!
I love the cross and its message, but the cross is not God's final statement. LIFE is God's final statement! And since it is, the implications are off the charts for what we have been called to be and to do. Jesus said, "The thief has come to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that you might have life and that with flourish, dynamic and complete animation!" The church is called to be a culture of life. Not a parenthesis holding cell awaiting life after death.
We are a culture of life filled with belly laughs, loud glorious singing, expansive divine curiosity, entrepreneurial inventiveness and a passionate exploration of the Life and Character of God that might challenge safe theological boxes. The vacated grave of Jesus is the genius of God which calls every hungry heart to reject death in all of its expressions. Somebody, somewhere is going to leap into this culture of Life and live it for all its worth, someday. I believe this is my destiny, will you join me?
God answered three days later. With the physical resurrection of Jesus God has forever stated, "What I have made IS GOOD. Creation was kissed in the beginning and now it has been twice kissed."
Some elements of Christianity today are obsessed with original sin and total depravity. They are fond of announcing that we are born in sin. The follow up to that is the mantra, "We are just sinners saved by grace." My response is, "Alright, already. We get it. But what about now....post resurrection. Aren't we born AGAIN? This time, born again RIGHT and righteous?" At some point we have to start being the New Creation!
I love the cross and its message, but the cross is not God's final statement. LIFE is God's final statement! And since it is, the implications are off the charts for what we have been called to be and to do. Jesus said, "The thief has come to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that you might have life and that with flourish, dynamic and complete animation!" The church is called to be a culture of life. Not a parenthesis holding cell awaiting life after death.
We are a culture of life filled with belly laughs, loud glorious singing, expansive divine curiosity, entrepreneurial inventiveness and a passionate exploration of the Life and Character of God that might challenge safe theological boxes. The vacated grave of Jesus is the genius of God which calls every hungry heart to reject death in all of its expressions. Somebody, somewhere is going to leap into this culture of Life and live it for all its worth, someday. I believe this is my destiny, will you join me?
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Heirs of the World
I'm enjoying Romans chapter four these days. Massive doses of "oh, my lanta" come to mind when I allow the raw material from these words strike me with any reality or honesty. Need a for instance?
Abraham is called an heir of the world and we are collectively considered partnered heirs with him. Now, the difference between him and most of us is that he acted like an heir of the world and too many of us don't give it much thought. The upshot of that is that God saw Abe's faith, liked it so much (what's not to like about a 100 year old man believing for a baby) that He just decided that Abraham should get a free season pass to being a righteous man.
Now, mind you, Abraham got this righteous season pass NOT for believing for being forgiven of his sins, going to heaven, etc. That's the stuff we spend an inordinate amount time obsessing about. Abraham believed God for becoming a father at 100 and through that miracle, becoming an heir of the world! That kind of absurd faith just made God's mood elevate right through His heavenly roof. God said, "Whatever else this guy does or does not do, I declare him right."
So I've been thinking about giving God another reason for a good mood. I've been considering raising my own faith to some absurd level. Praying outside safe boundries. Preaching like my life depends on it. Living spiritual abundance enough to leave hands full of the Kingdom of God in my wake. Some goof balls stare at spoons and try to bend them. I'm staring at mountains and I am determined to see them move.
Here's the way I've got it figured: if I am nothing else except a man believing God absurdly, I figure that God will, at the very least say, "Wow. He's entertaining. Let's give him one of those free righteous passes....Hmmmm....and, hey! All heavenly hosts and resources. Listen up! Let's vaporize a mountain for Randy just to see the expression on his face!"
Abraham is called an heir of the world and we are collectively considered partnered heirs with him. Now, the difference between him and most of us is that he acted like an heir of the world and too many of us don't give it much thought. The upshot of that is that God saw Abe's faith, liked it so much (what's not to like about a 100 year old man believing for a baby) that He just decided that Abraham should get a free season pass to being a righteous man.
Now, mind you, Abraham got this righteous season pass NOT for believing for being forgiven of his sins, going to heaven, etc. That's the stuff we spend an inordinate amount time obsessing about. Abraham believed God for becoming a father at 100 and through that miracle, becoming an heir of the world! That kind of absurd faith just made God's mood elevate right through His heavenly roof. God said, "Whatever else this guy does or does not do, I declare him right."
So I've been thinking about giving God another reason for a good mood. I've been considering raising my own faith to some absurd level. Praying outside safe boundries. Preaching like my life depends on it. Living spiritual abundance enough to leave hands full of the Kingdom of God in my wake. Some goof balls stare at spoons and try to bend them. I'm staring at mountains and I am determined to see them move.
Here's the way I've got it figured: if I am nothing else except a man believing God absurdly, I figure that God will, at the very least say, "Wow. He's entertaining. Let's give him one of those free righteous passes....Hmmmm....and, hey! All heavenly hosts and resources. Listen up! Let's vaporize a mountain for Randy just to see the expression on his face!"
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Too Long, No Blog!
My apologies for the long pause between blogging. Hang with me. Google has had some "issues" with their blog site and I've been locked out of my blog for almost 2 weeks. Stay tuned...
Thursday, March 01, 2007
It's Not About "Them"...
It's not about them, it's about us. It's not about the "world", it's about the church. "They" aren't the problem, we are. If we shine, they will see. If we are salt, they will taste AND see. We must get off the world's back, get on our knees and repent.
What if we loved "them" the way God loves "us"? What if an epedemic of forgiveness swept through the people of God, so widespread, so contagious, so prolific, and so virulent that no sin, no wrong done, no past issue, NOTHING mattered more than being a river of God with trees growing on our banks that produced leaves that healed entire nations?
It's not about their sin, it's about our ignorance.
I'm not the least bit concerned about a documentary claiming to disprove the resurrection of Christ. That's the nature of unbelief. I'm far more concerned about Christians whose living shows no evidence of resurrected life. The uninformed may be convinced by this documentary, not because it is compelling, but because we have not been compelling.
It's not about "them".
What if we loved "them" the way God loves "us"? What if an epedemic of forgiveness swept through the people of God, so widespread, so contagious, so prolific, and so virulent that no sin, no wrong done, no past issue, NOTHING mattered more than being a river of God with trees growing on our banks that produced leaves that healed entire nations?
It's not about their sin, it's about our ignorance.
I'm not the least bit concerned about a documentary claiming to disprove the resurrection of Christ. That's the nature of unbelief. I'm far more concerned about Christians whose living shows no evidence of resurrected life. The uninformed may be convinced by this documentary, not because it is compelling, but because we have not been compelling.
It's not about "them".
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Heaven's Lent
Today is Ash Wednesday, the traditional start of the Lenten season of being serious, giving up something "for lent", repentance and reflecting on the life of Jesus (especially leading up to His trial and crucifixion). This traditionally culminates in Good Friday, where, traditionally speaking, believers are supposed to wrap themselves in the sadness of Christ's death so that, traditionally, on Easter Sunday we can finally whoop it up.
C.S. Lewis said, "Joy is the serious business of heaven." I am more and more and more and more convinced that Christianity has yet to fully tap into its truest potential. "On earth AS IT IS in heaven" is packed with truth waiting to be revealed in sons and daughters of God who are ready to be revealed as true sons and daughters of God. And, of course, there are elements of truth to everything in the first paragraph, BUT....
Unfortunately, Lent has played into the natural mind that says, "If we regularly beat ourselves up over bad behavior and allow for a sufficient amount of 'holy self-loathing', we can get right back to all that bad behavior we enjoy so much. And, of course, next year start all over again."
If you have any doubt that this is true you have but to look at "Fat Tuesday" celebrations.
Here's my Lenten challenge: give up joyless, unhappy behavior wrapped in the Name of Jesus! Turn on and tune into the serious business of Heaven's Lent. Sing loud. Worship hard. Pray passionately and genuinely. Love furiously. Hope like a kid. Laugh in the Name of Jesus. Going back to prayer; ask, seek and knock with delirious abandonment. Ask big. Seek widely and knock the door off the hinges. When you are through, walk as though you believe that you have received those things that you have prayed. Celebrate the results before you "see" them with your eyes.
Heaven can not do a thing that earth will not allow. If the serious business of heaven IS joy, and I believe that it is, then let's loose on earth what is loosed in heaven. Unspeakable joy.
C.S. Lewis said, "Joy is the serious business of heaven." I am more and more and more and more convinced that Christianity has yet to fully tap into its truest potential. "On earth AS IT IS in heaven" is packed with truth waiting to be revealed in sons and daughters of God who are ready to be revealed as true sons and daughters of God. And, of course, there are elements of truth to everything in the first paragraph, BUT....
Unfortunately, Lent has played into the natural mind that says, "If we regularly beat ourselves up over bad behavior and allow for a sufficient amount of 'holy self-loathing', we can get right back to all that bad behavior we enjoy so much. And, of course, next year start all over again."
If you have any doubt that this is true you have but to look at "Fat Tuesday" celebrations.
Here's my Lenten challenge: give up joyless, unhappy behavior wrapped in the Name of Jesus! Turn on and tune into the serious business of Heaven's Lent. Sing loud. Worship hard. Pray passionately and genuinely. Love furiously. Hope like a kid. Laugh in the Name of Jesus. Going back to prayer; ask, seek and knock with delirious abandonment. Ask big. Seek widely and knock the door off the hinges. When you are through, walk as though you believe that you have received those things that you have prayed. Celebrate the results before you "see" them with your eyes.
Heaven can not do a thing that earth will not allow. If the serious business of heaven IS joy, and I believe that it is, then let's loose on earth what is loosed in heaven. Unspeakable joy.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
The Mystery of Potential
The western rational mind gets nervous around the mysterious, the mystical and the spiritual. As such, American church circles are quick to label such things as "of the devil" or "false teaching". Interestingly enough, however, God did not chose the western rational mind as the platform for the launching of the scriptures. God, from His eternal perch, could see that the eastern, tribal mind would best serve His purposes through out human history. Ever read about tribes in the Bible? How about Wise Men from the East?
That's why the Bible poses several challenges for us. Let me offer a sampling of some of these challenges and examples of the ones that annoy me the most. If you are bothered by these questions or concepts , or you bother other people with these things....duck. "Where are the dinosaurs?" "How old is the earth?" "Where did Cain get his wife?" "The Bible's version of Creation should be taught in our public schools as a counter balance to evolution!".
Ignorance in these matters is not bliss. It's a pain in the tail. The Bible is not a book of science. I repeat, not a book of scientific explanations, scientific data or anything remotely related to science. To impose western scientific questions upon it is like looking for the meaning of life in a calculus textbook. If people of faith taught and lived the Bible from its truest value we would actually fight to KEEP it out of public schools for fear and concern that the public school system would dumb it down into science! It MUST be handled by the hearts and hands of people born from ABOVE and genuinely born of SPIRIT. Our silly fear of evolution (and a myriad of other modern boogie men) is rooted in our lack of BEING people of SPIRIT! Dare I say that the best way to resist the theory of evolution is for church people to stop acting like religious monkeys?
The Bible intentionally raises the bar of mystery to call out to and from the human condition the spirit factor. God's Voice is calling deep unto deep waiting for a child to respond. The Holy Spirit seeks hearts first, not minds. The resonance of the human heart echoes back to the chords of God's mysterious Voice. Listen. Stop imposing formulas and lists and shallow bureaucratic filters on God's passionate language of love.
In his book, "Leading Without Power", Max De Pree says that organizations of all types and kinds degrade and suffer, "when poets are terminated and bureaucrats promoted". The American church has allowed this virus to truncate our truest power and value in the name of rational debate and even for political purposes. I say its time to reach for our core values of the sweetly mysterious Spirit and let the Wind blow "where it wishes" so that once again we can "hear the sound of it" because, "so is everyone who is born of the Spirit". Read the source of these quotes again, for the FIRST time; John 3:8.
I'm ready for the mystery of our potential to be released and realized! How about you?
That's why the Bible poses several challenges for us. Let me offer a sampling of some of these challenges and examples of the ones that annoy me the most. If you are bothered by these questions or concepts , or you bother other people with these things....duck. "Where are the dinosaurs?" "How old is the earth?" "Where did Cain get his wife?" "The Bible's version of Creation should be taught in our public schools as a counter balance to evolution!".
Ignorance in these matters is not bliss. It's a pain in the tail. The Bible is not a book of science. I repeat, not a book of scientific explanations, scientific data or anything remotely related to science. To impose western scientific questions upon it is like looking for the meaning of life in a calculus textbook. If people of faith taught and lived the Bible from its truest value we would actually fight to KEEP it out of public schools for fear and concern that the public school system would dumb it down into science! It MUST be handled by the hearts and hands of people born from ABOVE and genuinely born of SPIRIT. Our silly fear of evolution (and a myriad of other modern boogie men) is rooted in our lack of BEING people of SPIRIT! Dare I say that the best way to resist the theory of evolution is for church people to stop acting like religious monkeys?
The Bible intentionally raises the bar of mystery to call out to and from the human condition the spirit factor. God's Voice is calling deep unto deep waiting for a child to respond. The Holy Spirit seeks hearts first, not minds. The resonance of the human heart echoes back to the chords of God's mysterious Voice. Listen. Stop imposing formulas and lists and shallow bureaucratic filters on God's passionate language of love.
In his book, "Leading Without Power", Max De Pree says that organizations of all types and kinds degrade and suffer, "when poets are terminated and bureaucrats promoted". The American church has allowed this virus to truncate our truest power and value in the name of rational debate and even for political purposes. I say its time to reach for our core values of the sweetly mysterious Spirit and let the Wind blow "where it wishes" so that once again we can "hear the sound of it" because, "so is everyone who is born of the Spirit". Read the source of these quotes again, for the FIRST time; John 3:8.
I'm ready for the mystery of our potential to be released and realized! How about you?
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Mo' or Jo'?
Moses had a relationship with God that bears little or no resemblence to anyone, anywhere I see today. Yet, curiously, I hear people invoke how God dealt with Israel under Moses' leadership as a parallel for what God is speaking to America today. Things like destruction upon our country for its sin and evil deeds. I promised myself to aim high with this blog and avoid going head to head with the prophets of doom....so lets just move along before I brake my promise to myself.
Back to Moses. When Israel decided that Moses was gone too long on his mountain retreat, they invented a new religion and made a golden calf. God slipped this into the morning devotional with Moses and said, "Let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." Did you catch that? And not just a one "that" but there are two "thats" here...
First of all, God said to a man, "Let Me alone..." or "Get out of the way..."! And secondly, in a naked appeal to the man's pride, God offered to make a "great nation" out of that man. On the first account, Moses did NOT get out of the way so that God could smoke Israel and on the second account Moses made an equally naked appeal back to the character of God and said, "Turn from Your burning anger and change Your (almighty) mind!" (I added "almighty" just for grins). In fact, Moses later added that if God was going to fry Isael, then He should start with Moses.
Too many current religious leaders would have stepped aside, with a smug smile and given God their blessing, found the nearest TV camera and announced, "God told me..." To say nothing of the fact that they would gleefully accept becoming the founder of a new great nation/ministry. Aw shucks...I think I just broke my promise.....
There's another Old Testament story that comes to mind here as well. God told Jonah to give the city of Ninevah a 40 day notice that a terrorist act would blow them up...or something akin to that. Did Jonah do his best Moses imitation? No. He looked more like us. He ran right into the digestive tract of a fish in order to hide from his God given responsibility. When it finally occured to him that being obedient might be better than becoming fish manure, he repented and the fish puked him up within a 3 day walk of Ninevah. Upon his arrival, he preached, Ninevah did some serious repenting and the terrorist plot was canceled. End of the story? No....
Jonah pouted and prayed to die. In the midst of his praying to die, he admitted that he knew the character of God so well that he said, "I fled...for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and One who relents concerning calamity (terrorist attacks)". In other words, he wanted them to get what they deserved so that the end result of destruction would make him look like a real prophet. As it was, nothing bad happened like Jonah hoped it would....hmmmmmmm...
It seems to me that God is looking for something deeper in those of us who represent Him than just the ability to scare the pants off the nearest bystander with predictions of doom or pronouncements of God's "will". I know there is much more that needs to be said about all of the above, however, for the sake of this one blog let it be summed up that more of us need to look like Moses and much less like Jonah!
What if your one life means the difference in historic change or historic calamity? Would you chose to pay the price to introduce change or would you take the path of least resistance and step aside and watch calamity with the explanation, "Oh well, it must have been God's will..."?
Back to Moses. When Israel decided that Moses was gone too long on his mountain retreat, they invented a new religion and made a golden calf. God slipped this into the morning devotional with Moses and said, "Let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." Did you catch that? And not just a one "that" but there are two "thats" here...
First of all, God said to a man, "Let Me alone..." or "Get out of the way..."! And secondly, in a naked appeal to the man's pride, God offered to make a "great nation" out of that man. On the first account, Moses did NOT get out of the way so that God could smoke Israel and on the second account Moses made an equally naked appeal back to the character of God and said, "Turn from Your burning anger and change Your (almighty) mind!" (I added "almighty" just for grins). In fact, Moses later added that if God was going to fry Isael, then He should start with Moses.
Too many current religious leaders would have stepped aside, with a smug smile and given God their blessing, found the nearest TV camera and announced, "God told me..." To say nothing of the fact that they would gleefully accept becoming the founder of a new great nation/ministry. Aw shucks...I think I just broke my promise.....
There's another Old Testament story that comes to mind here as well. God told Jonah to give the city of Ninevah a 40 day notice that a terrorist act would blow them up...or something akin to that. Did Jonah do his best Moses imitation? No. He looked more like us. He ran right into the digestive tract of a fish in order to hide from his God given responsibility. When it finally occured to him that being obedient might be better than becoming fish manure, he repented and the fish puked him up within a 3 day walk of Ninevah. Upon his arrival, he preached, Ninevah did some serious repenting and the terrorist plot was canceled. End of the story? No....
Jonah pouted and prayed to die. In the midst of his praying to die, he admitted that he knew the character of God so well that he said, "I fled...for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and One who relents concerning calamity (terrorist attacks)". In other words, he wanted them to get what they deserved so that the end result of destruction would make him look like a real prophet. As it was, nothing bad happened like Jonah hoped it would....hmmmmmmm...
It seems to me that God is looking for something deeper in those of us who represent Him than just the ability to scare the pants off the nearest bystander with predictions of doom or pronouncements of God's "will". I know there is much more that needs to be said about all of the above, however, for the sake of this one blog let it be summed up that more of us need to look like Moses and much less like Jonah!
What if your one life means the difference in historic change or historic calamity? Would you chose to pay the price to introduce change or would you take the path of least resistance and step aside and watch calamity with the explanation, "Oh well, it must have been God's will..."?
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Fight Like Hell
Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and Tour De France champion, is credited with saying, “If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages then maybe we can learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell.”
Of late I am in the process of God’s yanking me upward in my faith and hope. Last week I read the book, “Rees Howells; Intercessor” by Norman Grubb. It was like a spanking that made me laugh and cry all at once. When I was a kid growing up in the harsh realities of Milwaukee’s ‘60s I had a good friend who bragged that when his dad spanked him he would laugh. I knew his dad to be a brute and I didn’t believe him until one day I was a witness to one of these weird rituals. Now, I know the illustration fails to be entirely accurate to the character of God (God is not a brute; although you might think so if you managed to push Him hard enough) but the idea of a spanking making you laugh at yourself is the best way I can describe what I learned from this incredible book. Read it for yourself….I think you’ll discover what I mean.
Anyway, all this takes me to Lance’s quote that finishes with, “fight like hell”. I’ve fought like hell. In fact, going back to my Milwaukee roots, one of the survival tactics I lived by was to spread far and wide the following information: if you pick a fight with me, you will likely win. Just know this: you will never forget me! I’ll be the skinny little white guy who left teeth and toe-nail prints on any part of your body I could reach. Think ‘Tasmanian Devil’. You’ll always wish you had not enjoyed the pleasure of beating me up!” That strategy probably saved my life.
Now, I’m no Lance Armstrong and the following musing is with all due respect to him. I’m just Randy Dean and from my perspective I’ve learned that there is a better way to fight. It IS fighting in the same spirit that Lance suggests except with a different root source in place. I’ve found out that Heaven fights too. The difference is that heaven always wins and uses temporary loses as stepping stones toward greater victories. One story in the Old Testament says that ONE angel from God went to battle and killed 185,000 skilled and successful warriors in one night. I’ll take those odds.
My point here is this: GET YOUR HOPES UP! Refuse to live by resources short of heaven’s bounty! HOPE like crazy. HOPE like there IS a tomorrow. HOPE in spite of every haunting doubt. Grab, claw, scratch and snag at heaven’s extravagant treasury. And if by some definition, you “lose” (whatever that may mean!) for God in Heaven’s sake...at the very least, LEAVE SOME TEETH MARKS BEHIND AS A TOKEN FOR YOUR ENEMY TO REMEMBER YOU BY!
Of late I am in the process of God’s yanking me upward in my faith and hope. Last week I read the book, “Rees Howells; Intercessor” by Norman Grubb. It was like a spanking that made me laugh and cry all at once. When I was a kid growing up in the harsh realities of Milwaukee’s ‘60s I had a good friend who bragged that when his dad spanked him he would laugh. I knew his dad to be a brute and I didn’t believe him until one day I was a witness to one of these weird rituals. Now, I know the illustration fails to be entirely accurate to the character of God (God is not a brute; although you might think so if you managed to push Him hard enough) but the idea of a spanking making you laugh at yourself is the best way I can describe what I learned from this incredible book. Read it for yourself….I think you’ll discover what I mean.
Anyway, all this takes me to Lance’s quote that finishes with, “fight like hell”. I’ve fought like hell. In fact, going back to my Milwaukee roots, one of the survival tactics I lived by was to spread far and wide the following information: if you pick a fight with me, you will likely win. Just know this: you will never forget me! I’ll be the skinny little white guy who left teeth and toe-nail prints on any part of your body I could reach. Think ‘Tasmanian Devil’. You’ll always wish you had not enjoyed the pleasure of beating me up!” That strategy probably saved my life.
Now, I’m no Lance Armstrong and the following musing is with all due respect to him. I’m just Randy Dean and from my perspective I’ve learned that there is a better way to fight. It IS fighting in the same spirit that Lance suggests except with a different root source in place. I’ve found out that Heaven fights too. The difference is that heaven always wins and uses temporary loses as stepping stones toward greater victories. One story in the Old Testament says that ONE angel from God went to battle and killed 185,000 skilled and successful warriors in one night. I’ll take those odds.
My point here is this: GET YOUR HOPES UP! Refuse to live by resources short of heaven’s bounty! HOPE like crazy. HOPE like there IS a tomorrow. HOPE in spite of every haunting doubt. Grab, claw, scratch and snag at heaven’s extravagant treasury. And if by some definition, you “lose” (whatever that may mean!) for God in Heaven’s sake...at the very least, LEAVE SOME TEETH MARKS BEHIND AS A TOKEN FOR YOUR ENEMY TO REMEMBER YOU BY!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
God With Us or Us With God?
My title here is too important to give passing notice. You really must pause and read it. Now, which is it? Be careful...this is a trick question. The trick is to get all of us asking ourselves some hard and overdue questions.
The Christmas story teaches us that the angel told Joseph that his new son, Jesus, would be called, "Emmanuel". More than the most common name of a Lutheran church, this title tells us the depths of God's thoughts and character for what He intends to be an unbending reality of our faith. God.....WITH.....us. GOD.....with....US. However, in more ways than I care to count or discuss, we have unintentionally and intentionally distorted that most basic of all truths and have literally reversed it; Us....with God.
After all, we often tell people that the ultimate goal of going to the altar and "getting saved", being confirmed, "praying the sinner's prayer", finishing catechism classes, believing the 4 spiritual laws, receiving Jesus, etc. is that we "go to heaven when we die". Hence, "us with God" is the goal. If we are not careful, and I might add, we have not been careful, this ideal becomes "true north" on our spiritual compass. Hence, I believe that we have lost our way....pun fully intended.
Problem is, everything about Jesus, His life and teachings, was anchored in the prophetic power of the Emmanuel reality. God stepped into and became The Human. The human did not become a god. The human did not achieve divinity. Divinity, if you will, achieved humanity. God dignified the human condition and forever made a statement of His goals "down here". Even when we imply subtle changes to that order, we vary from the path like a car drifting over the yellow line or into the ditch.
God with us means transcendent realities are part of the everyday life of the folks with whom God IS. God with us means no more being afraid of "this old world"; in fact, in means "this old world" should be put on notice that world changers are on the scene. God with us means we can be carriers of an insuperable, irrepressible Presence. God with us means that Jesus meant every little Word of His prayer, "...ON EARTH, as it is in heaven...". And every word of His other prayer, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one". God with us means we can shred the barrier between us and "heaven" and expect heavenly realities breaking out in ever increasing measures in us and around us.
"GOD WITH US" changes everything, and NOTHING about that should be ANYTHING less than the "true north" on our compass.
The Christmas story teaches us that the angel told Joseph that his new son, Jesus, would be called, "Emmanuel". More than the most common name of a Lutheran church, this title tells us the depths of God's thoughts and character for what He intends to be an unbending reality of our faith. God.....WITH.....us. GOD.....with....US. However, in more ways than I care to count or discuss, we have unintentionally and intentionally distorted that most basic of all truths and have literally reversed it; Us....with God.
After all, we often tell people that the ultimate goal of going to the altar and "getting saved", being confirmed, "praying the sinner's prayer", finishing catechism classes, believing the 4 spiritual laws, receiving Jesus, etc. is that we "go to heaven when we die". Hence, "us with God" is the goal. If we are not careful, and I might add, we have not been careful, this ideal becomes "true north" on our spiritual compass. Hence, I believe that we have lost our way....pun fully intended.
Problem is, everything about Jesus, His life and teachings, was anchored in the prophetic power of the Emmanuel reality. God stepped into and became The Human. The human did not become a god. The human did not achieve divinity. Divinity, if you will, achieved humanity. God dignified the human condition and forever made a statement of His goals "down here". Even when we imply subtle changes to that order, we vary from the path like a car drifting over the yellow line or into the ditch.
God with us means transcendent realities are part of the everyday life of the folks with whom God IS. God with us means no more being afraid of "this old world"; in fact, in means "this old world" should be put on notice that world changers are on the scene. God with us means we can be carriers of an insuperable, irrepressible Presence. God with us means that Jesus meant every little Word of His prayer, "...ON EARTH, as it is in heaven...". And every word of His other prayer, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one". God with us means we can shred the barrier between us and "heaven" and expect heavenly realities breaking out in ever increasing measures in us and around us.
"GOD WITH US" changes everything, and NOTHING about that should be ANYTHING less than the "true north" on our compass.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Hail Mary!
I love Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her story, her life, her spirit makes me want to shout out, "Hail, Mary!"
I heard a great man of God, David du Pluesis, say, "Catholics worship her, which is a mistake, but Protestants ignore her, which is an equal mistake". In other words, to make her a god is to miss the power of the reality that God wants to be mightily glorified in little, simple, normal human beings. But, to minimize her because some rigid religionist might accuse us of being too "catholic-y" (an accusation I have actually heard) is just as evil as making her the fourth member of the God-Head. The gospel of Luke says that her faith made her sing, "all generations will call me blessed and declare me happy and to be envied!" (Amplified Version of Luke 1:48)
Pretty heady stuff for a peasant girl living under the political boot of Roman blood-thirstiness. Not to mention the sheer spiritual audacity of her faith in the atmosphere of a stale and dead Jewish religion. The fact that the angel Gabriel came to her in a full material appearance should say more to us than we usually accredit to this kind of event. Angels don't appear with good news to folks who are not inclined to believe such an outrageous event. She is clearly a firebrand of faith prior to her visitation. Pretty heady stuff indeed!
Now, what about you and me? Are we inclined to believe that God is looking for more peasants to exalt in the face of political and material arrogance? Do we have any expectations of angelic visitations? Is there anyone out there walking in any kind of faith that is rocking any ships of state or status quo? How about some virgin spiritual soil ready for a Kingdom Word that will give birth to some transcendent supremacy on the earth AS IT IS in heaven?
We simply must stop reading the Bible like we're visiting a museum. It's a calling! It's a dare! It's a document, 1400 years in the making, of prophets, poets and warriors relating how God is fishing for people who are willing to risk everything for an evening stroll on stormy waters. Praying, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth AS IT IS in heaven..." is pure stupidity if we are not ready, eager and willing to make room for Gabriel to challenge our normal sensibilities about what can or cannot logically happen!! Heck, I'd settle for a chat with an angel named Snorklenose if it meant being chosen for making some Kingdom history!
Where are the Marys of 2006? If its you, let me be the first to shout out a "HAIL" in your direction. Let's pray and live some Kingdom disruption on earth AS IT IS in heaven.
I heard a great man of God, David du Pluesis, say, "Catholics worship her, which is a mistake, but Protestants ignore her, which is an equal mistake". In other words, to make her a god is to miss the power of the reality that God wants to be mightily glorified in little, simple, normal human beings. But, to minimize her because some rigid religionist might accuse us of being too "catholic-y" (an accusation I have actually heard) is just as evil as making her the fourth member of the God-Head. The gospel of Luke says that her faith made her sing, "all generations will call me blessed and declare me happy and to be envied!" (Amplified Version of Luke 1:48)
Pretty heady stuff for a peasant girl living under the political boot of Roman blood-thirstiness. Not to mention the sheer spiritual audacity of her faith in the atmosphere of a stale and dead Jewish religion. The fact that the angel Gabriel came to her in a full material appearance should say more to us than we usually accredit to this kind of event. Angels don't appear with good news to folks who are not inclined to believe such an outrageous event. She is clearly a firebrand of faith prior to her visitation. Pretty heady stuff indeed!
Now, what about you and me? Are we inclined to believe that God is looking for more peasants to exalt in the face of political and material arrogance? Do we have any expectations of angelic visitations? Is there anyone out there walking in any kind of faith that is rocking any ships of state or status quo? How about some virgin spiritual soil ready for a Kingdom Word that will give birth to some transcendent supremacy on the earth AS IT IS in heaven?
We simply must stop reading the Bible like we're visiting a museum. It's a calling! It's a dare! It's a document, 1400 years in the making, of prophets, poets and warriors relating how God is fishing for people who are willing to risk everything for an evening stroll on stormy waters. Praying, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth AS IT IS in heaven..." is pure stupidity if we are not ready, eager and willing to make room for Gabriel to challenge our normal sensibilities about what can or cannot logically happen!! Heck, I'd settle for a chat with an angel named Snorklenose if it meant being chosen for making some Kingdom history!
Where are the Marys of 2006? If its you, let me be the first to shout out a "HAIL" in your direction. Let's pray and live some Kingdom disruption on earth AS IT IS in heaven.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Christmas Predictions
I am The Great Rann-Dee', or at least The Average Rann-Dee'. I see all, or at least I sort of see some things. I know all, or at least kind-0f know some stuff. Hear me as I make Christmas Predictions for 2006!
Christian Family Councils will urge you to to boycott stores who do not say, "Merry Christmas". Your friends and family will warn you about the political agendas of merchants who will not allow bell ringing in front of their doors. Nativity displays will be banned from public properties. Other holiday greetings will be mixed into our Christmas celebrations. The Up-tight, Up-Right, Intoleration Patrol will demand Holy Action! I know, I know. You are overwhelmed by my prowess...or at least by my mediocrity.
Let me now predict what discerning, wise spiritually alert people will do. They will re-read my last blog and apply that truth to the Christmas season. Instead of fighting the nasty evil liberal conspiracies of our day, they will channel their energies toward positive purposes. They will bless those who curse us, they will pray for those who abuse us, they will love their enemies, turn the other cheek, walk the second mile and practice other idealistic virtues taught by the Christ of our Christmas.
Wait....I'm getting another message from the Beyond, or maybe just the Book Shelf. Here it comes..."if your enemy is hungry, feed him and if he is thirsty, give him a drink...do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good". There you have it...I must go now. I am so exhausted from the use of my mystical powers.
Christian Family Councils will urge you to to boycott stores who do not say, "Merry Christmas". Your friends and family will warn you about the political agendas of merchants who will not allow bell ringing in front of their doors. Nativity displays will be banned from public properties. Other holiday greetings will be mixed into our Christmas celebrations. The Up-tight, Up-Right, Intoleration Patrol will demand Holy Action! I know, I know. You are overwhelmed by my prowess...or at least by my mediocrity.
Let me now predict what discerning, wise spiritually alert people will do. They will re-read my last blog and apply that truth to the Christmas season. Instead of fighting the nasty evil liberal conspiracies of our day, they will channel their energies toward positive purposes. They will bless those who curse us, they will pray for those who abuse us, they will love their enemies, turn the other cheek, walk the second mile and practice other idealistic virtues taught by the Christ of our Christmas.
Wait....I'm getting another message from the Beyond, or maybe just the Book Shelf. Here it comes..."if your enemy is hungry, feed him and if he is thirsty, give him a drink...do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good". There you have it...I must go now. I am so exhausted from the use of my mystical powers.
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