Shifting Gears

A few years ago now I had to sell the first brand new car we ever purchased... and that made the decision even more difficult. Looking back, the thing I miss most about that car is that it was a stick shift. Now those of you who have only ever driven automatic transmission cars may not fully appreciate the analogy I am about to draw.

The thing I learned the most about driving "a stick", as it is typically called, was the need to shift gears. Without this knowledge I would have blown the engine... almost immediately. Doing this with cars came quickly to me... it had to. Doing this in life and ministry is sometimes more difficult to navigate.

Effective immediately I will be shifting my energies to a new blog that more accurately communicates how I desire to be used of God in the days ahead. You can read about it and hopefully follow it too at thejesusguy.blogspot.com. See you there!

Jesus In the Laundry

My first admission is a sad one. I will just get it out of the way so you can all curse me... and then hopefully be able to hear the rest of my thoughts.

I don't do laundry. I'm not sexist. I don't think it's "my wife's job". It has just always (almost 14 years worth) been that way. She has not previously worked outside the home and so it just seemed to make sense that she would be the one to handle the laundry duties.

If you're still reading, over the weekend I assumed the laundry duties! To quote Jeff Foxworthy, "Women may do 99% of the work, but men are more proud of their 1%." And so began the lesson of the laundry. Honestly they were many... and almost constant.

First was the collecting. As I gathered the smelly, sometimes soggy clothes from the various piles I was reminded of how God must see certain attitudes and actions that I exhibit each day.

The sorting process reminded me that different situations call for different "temperatures". I seem to see many situations in black and white. The reality is that there are different colors and fabrics that make my life much more complex than I am able to realize. Jesus knows I am bent this way. That's why He teaches me to pursue things like forgiveness and love and childlikeness... all of which seem to be difficult for adult humans with black and white sight.

The folding - believe it or not - is right up my alley. I have a love for order (this is code for less-than-mild obsession). If you've ever been in my office, you know this. But this day as I folded the seemingly endless supply of clothing, I felt many things.

1. I felt guilt that I have so many clothes while others in the world wear the same things for days & weeks at a time.
   
2. I felt joy as I noticed the expanding sizes of the clothes I was folding... our children are growing up.
   
3. I felt determination that I would not have to keep changing pants sizes to accommodate my growing waistline.
   
4. I felt that I was very near to the heart of God as I thought about all these wonderful indicators of how our family is developing.

Hots and colds. Delicates and cottons. I am thankful for these lessons. Most of all I am thankful that on this day I found Jesus in the laundry.

The Murderer In All of Us

Two recent news items have drawn my attention to thoughts about murder. The first was the pastor's wife who shot her husband and the second was the largest mass murder in US history, the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

In many ways they were the typical American family. All smiles... and matching outfits... and horror that apparently lay just beneath the surface of anyone's suspicions. So how did we get from "perfect family" to the events of that March day in 2006? How could a woman shoot her husband in the middle of his back with a shotgun?

Then - perhaps somewhat ironically - during the week of Mary Winkler's trial, a young man wakes up shoots two classmates, mails a videotape rant about how much he hates Christianity (among other things) and proceeds to kill 30 more and injure a dozen or so others before turning a gun on himself. Where does this come from?

My first instinct is the same as yours. I want (desperately) to believe that this kind of madness comes from some terribly dark and unfamiliar place. When I strip all the verbiage away, I am frightened to know a different answer. These two days of shame come from the same place... the depravity of man. But Mary Winkler and Cho Seung-Hui started in the same place that each of us begins. They were people. Humans trying to live life and wrestle with issues that please us and plague us... at times simultaneously. So what happened?

Sin happens.

It happens to Mary and Cho and Rob and you. It is dark and sinister and causes us to be capable of things that we never wanted to think were possible. So perhaps we already know the answer to the question of "what happened?" Maybe a better question for each of us is... "Will I take that sick feeling that is in my gut when I watch and read of these things and turn it on my own sinful choices?"

Though sin visits all of us (the book of Romans reminds us that no one is good), the better question is, "What am I going to do about it?" The beauty of my situation is that it is my situation. Sinful choices are simply that... they are choices. I may not like that. But I know it intuitively and by my own experiences. Sin does not choose me. Rather, I choose to sin. So the fact is that there is a murderer in all of us. We are one bad decision away from becoming that horrible person that we watch and read about and loathe.

May the loathing continue. But may it turn away from Mary and Cho and turn to sin and wicked choices. And may the hope in this situation be that with the power of Christ I have a choice! I can resist sin. What a beautiful reality. On my own... I am nothing... and potentially worse. But with the power of Christ I can overcome sin. Thanks be to God.

Baseball & the Resurrection

My two favorite events happen every springtime: celebrating the opening of another season of baseball and celebrating the resurrection of Christ (not necessarily in that order). In fact, they are definitely not in that order. What could baseball possibly have in common with the most important event in history? You might be surprised.

1. Both events mark new beginnings.
2. Both anticipate a return of glorious proportions.
3. For Cubs fans and Atheists they signify the beginning of an illusion.
4. For the rest of us... they represent new life given to all.
   

My attention was particularly drawn to the image accompanying this post, admittedly because I am a White Sox fan, but even more because I am a huge fan of the Incarnation. The most amazing thing about the reality of Christ for me is that He is unlike all the other religious systems that this world has to offer (including the aforementioned Atheist). When the fence (that's you and me) wouldn't/couldn't come to Him, He came to the fence. Praise be to God for His unspeakable gift!

Amazing Indeed

This past Sunday night I took a group of high school students to watch the movie Amazing Grace... which is essentially the life story of William Wilberforce. Quite frankly, I did not know much about Wilberforce's legacy until I began studying up so I could let students know about why we were seeing this movie. My studies led me to a man who gave his life to living out the principles that he believed were paramount to following Jesus. In his case it happened to be the anti-slavery movement.

The challenge I gave my students ahead of watching the movie was, "What is God calling you to give your life to?"

The movie's title hearkens back to the title of the famous hymn by the same title... Amazing Grace. It is the life story of John Newton, the former slave ship master. It leads us to discuss the very nature of grace which communicates special favor given to the undeserving.

The question I was left with - in a rather overwhelming way - was the same question I left with my students... what does God want me to give my life to in this way?

As noble as abolishing the slave trade is (and I mean that), there is a far more important work to which I aspire. My life's work is very simply to help people see the reality of who God is and the difference I can make in the way people choose to live their lives!!!

Freedom!

I love being a teacher! Almost every time I open God's Word to teach students I receive much more than I could possibly give. This week as I prepared for my 2 talks that I would present Sunday I was struck by the similarities in theme. The irony is that they did not come from the same text and at face value, have little to do with each other.

The AM lesson was from the all-too-familiar passage in Luke 15 where Jesus gives the parable of the lost son. We looked at the response of the father. It was really a study of forgiveness. We talked about the freedom that is found when we are willing to let go of past hurts (even legitimate ones).

The PM lesson was a completely different track. We have been working our way through some of the classical spiritual disciplines of the faith. Tonight was a discussion of the discipline of simplicity. Learning to simplify our lives for the purpose of having a singular focus on the Kingdom of God. Our main thought came from Kierkegaard's book entitled Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing. We learned to cut away superfluous (even sometimes good) things for the sake of focusing on what Jesus says ought to be the main thing... the Kingdom.

In both lessons I heard freedom. Freedom from anger and bitterness in the morning. And freedom from things that distract me from Christ in the evening. Lord, help me to live free!