Thursday, July 5, 2012
Daddy's Rocking Chair
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:28-32
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
I have seen an interesting new twist in this Prodigal Son story. I want you to see what I see now when I hear this story. So, welcome.
So, have you ever wondered why the older brother didn't respond the same way the dad did? I'm assuming most of us know the story (if not, go read Luke 15). Okay, its obviously because he was too busy working and trying to be a good boy for Dad, so, what should he have been doing instead?
I invite you to just go with this illustration I'm about to paint, because I asked myself the question, "Where was the Dad while the boy was working?" Well, we can imply that the Dad was waiting and looking for His son to come home because of this verse, "But while he (the lost son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." Luke 15:20.
So imagine a large house with a front porch. And the Dad, every morning, walks out to the front porch and sits in His rocking chair to watch for His son. He stares down the long driveway, heart burdened that His son is still gone. But, He's hoping that He'll see His son again soon. And just imagine if the older brother would have came and sat down next to the Father on the porch?
Can you imagine the intimacy? I see it as similiar to sitting in a hospital room with someone in the hospital bed, and you can't help but have an intimate time with the person in the hospital bed because in that moment they're suffering, they're weak and vulnerable---and there's nothing they can do about it. So you're seeing them in their weakest moment---this is how I imagine the Father sitting on His porch. The Dad is suffering for His son, I'm sure praying and hoping that he would return home.
Can you imagine the intimacy? Sharing in the Father's suffering for your brother. The intimacy of trying to relate in His pain, and the amazing conversation available as you wait. The wisdom the Father can pour into you as you wait. I mean, just being where the Father is, of course you'll recieve an overpour of information and wisdom and love and discipling as you just be near the Father. And I love what the Father tells the young boy, "you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours." Almost hinting at why do you need anything more than just me? And even if you need anything more, everything I have is yours. If you want a goat, go get one. If you want a calf, go get it. But you're here, enjoy me.
I realize that a lot of Christians are missing this key element of their Christian walks. Yes, God wants you to grow in knowledge of Him, to learn how to explain the trinity and to learn how to pray and to learn how to disciple others, but ultimately, He wants us to enjoy Him---to return to the place of Adam and Eve where they had full connection and full intimacy with Him.
If we're ever reaching a place that we're focusing more on working and being obedient to the Father's orders than sitting on the porch and enjoying time with the Father, then we're missing the point of being home.
If you're a believer, you're home. Take a break and just sit with the Father on the porch.
If you're not a believer, your Father is waiting on the porch for you---and He's not concerned with the state you're in or what you've done. He's more concerned about you being back with Him----He's waiting to shower you with compassion and love. He's just waiting for you to come home.
The Nagging Wife
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
I'm a pretty open minded person. I have my beliefs and opinions, but I'm not so strong on them that I won't hear you out. That sounds like a good thing, but when I allow too many opinions and beliefs to crowd my own, it gets overwhelming. So I hit the "Move To Recycle Bin" button and deal with it later. But, I honestly love this topic I'm about to share with you all, and again, maybe these are my opinions. Hopefully, you're a reader of this blog because you value my opinion---hope it doesn't stop here.
So here lately, I've been doing a lot of comparing, or spatial thinking. Visual learning works best for me. And I generally love a good PowerPoint slide with images and text that slides and moves, the animation and transitions working in spontaneous ways, entertain me please as I learn---it's not that hard to add that element to learning. Anyways, so as I've been learning, I have found it interesting that God compares husband and wife to Jesus and the church. But let's pull out a specific detail in this relational comparison and see that when it comes to submitting to authority, here's the layout: the wife to the husband, the church to Jesus, the citizen to the government, so on and so forth. Are you following that?
You have to get that framework in place for you to get what I'm saying. So when it comes to us submitting to anything, I've been looking at it through the lenses of wife to husband. That seems to be easier for me to wrap my mind around. I'm a product of this cultures having no clue how to honor and submit authority, but when the word "authority" is instead "husband", I can handle that. So, people, let's talk.
So, the husband is the leader of the family. He ultimately has the say on the vision of the family. So, let's say this husband really feels God is encouraging them to have their children home schooled. The wife disagrees. (This is getting good already). So, the wife's natural response is? She disagrees, so she instantly wars against him. Not intentionally, but, since she disagrees, she wars against him because usually her first response is that she doesn't go and ask the husband and find out the heart behind his decision. She may find out that his heart is he wants the best for THEIR children and he feels the best is them to be home schooled. But she never confronts him, she just disagrees without consideration. She'll even hold conversations with her girlfriends about the stupid decision, and spreads the venom among their circles. But, this Christian wife has two options, well, actually just one, she has to submit. The husband feels strongly about it so she must submit. Now, here's where the options get interesting---she can either submit and commit willingly, or she can submit forcefully with grumbling. Both SEEM desirable and godly because she's submitting, but only the first one is truly godly. Because if she chooses the second one, this is what happens.
By the way, I'm going somewhere with this. Hang in there.
So, the wife bitterly agrees to home school her children. "I just don't believe in this. I don't want my children home schooled. I don't want them to be socially awkward and too sheltered and, I just don't agree. And it's a terrible way to really teach them. I can't teach them like a public school teacher can. This is not going to work. And that's more work on me. And I have to do this and do that." Only pointing out the negative effects.
So within this grumbling she's half-heartedly going through the motions of teaching her children. Since she really disagrees and only submitted because she "had to", she's not giving it her all. Her arm was twisted, so she only serves her children in home schooling them only because she had to and God told her to submit and this suck. So a few years go by and the children are not on a reading level as their peers in public school, and she pulls the husband to the side and tells him, "See, I told you it wouldn't work."
Crazy isn't it?
Glad you agree. And guess what? We do this ALL THE TIME.
Hey, listen to me. ALL OF THEM. Every method is right because all of them have worked. And why did they work? Because He works. I mean, God is speaking through burning bushes, why not send a pet coyote to speak to Moses?
Nawww...I want the flaming bush today, that'll really freak him out.
Remove the faith in the methods, and put it on Jesus. Notices there's never been a message on discerning the voice of God without a burning bush? It's ALL about God. Submit to something that's following Him, covenantly, and just...
Love our husband.
I'm a pretty open minded person. I have my beliefs and opinions, but I'm not so strong on them that I won't hear you out. That sounds like a good thing, but when I allow too many opinions and beliefs to crowd my own, it gets overwhelming. So I hit the "Move To Recycle Bin" button and deal with it later. But, I honestly love this topic I'm about to share with you all, and again, maybe these are my opinions. Hopefully, you're a reader of this blog because you value my opinion---hope it doesn't stop here.
So here lately, I've been doing a lot of comparing, or spatial thinking. Visual learning works best for me. And I generally love a good PowerPoint slide with images and text that slides and moves, the animation and transitions working in spontaneous ways, entertain me please as I learn---it's not that hard to add that element to learning. Anyways, so as I've been learning, I have found it interesting that God compares husband and wife to Jesus and the church. But let's pull out a specific detail in this relational comparison and see that when it comes to submitting to authority, here's the layout: the wife to the husband, the church to Jesus, the citizen to the government, so on and so forth. Are you following that?
You have to get that framework in place for you to get what I'm saying. So when it comes to us submitting to anything, I've been looking at it through the lenses of wife to husband. That seems to be easier for me to wrap my mind around. I'm a product of this cultures having no clue how to honor and submit authority, but when the word "authority" is instead "husband", I can handle that. So, people, let's talk.
So, the husband is the leader of the family. He ultimately has the say on the vision of the family. So, let's say this husband really feels God is encouraging them to have their children home schooled. The wife disagrees. (This is getting good already). So, the wife's natural response is? She disagrees, so she instantly wars against him. Not intentionally, but, since she disagrees, she wars against him because usually her first response is that she doesn't go and ask the husband and find out the heart behind his decision. She may find out that his heart is he wants the best for THEIR children and he feels the best is them to be home schooled. But she never confronts him, she just disagrees without consideration. She'll even hold conversations with her girlfriends about the stupid decision, and spreads the venom among their circles. But, this Christian wife has two options, well, actually just one, she has to submit. The husband feels strongly about it so she must submit. Now, here's where the options get interesting---she can either submit and commit willingly, or she can submit forcefully with grumbling. Both SEEM desirable and godly because she's submitting, but only the first one is truly godly. Because if she chooses the second one, this is what happens.
By the way, I'm going somewhere with this. Hang in there.
So, the wife bitterly agrees to home school her children. "I just don't believe in this. I don't want my children home schooled. I don't want them to be socially awkward and too sheltered and, I just don't agree. And it's a terrible way to really teach them. I can't teach them like a public school teacher can. This is not going to work. And that's more work on me. And I have to do this and do that." Only pointing out the negative effects.
So within this grumbling she's half-heartedly going through the motions of teaching her children. Since she really disagrees and only submitted because she "had to", she's not giving it her all. Her arm was twisted, so she only serves her children in home schooling them only because she had to and God told her to submit and this suck. So a few years go by and the children are not on a reading level as their peers in public school, and she pulls the husband to the side and tells him, "See, I told you it wouldn't work."
Crazy isn't it?
Glad you agree. And guess what? We do this ALL THE TIME.
I'll just hit it in the mouth---church methods. I'm
exhausted with debating and discussing church methods with other believers.
Because I know what we do, we weigh the entire thing based on a few
individuals. We'll say "this method" doesn't work because it
hasn't enticed you yet. Only seeing the negative. Or you don't
"see" how it can change anybody. Only seeing the negative.
Or you want discipleship over evangelism, pastor feeding or self feeding,
communion every Sunday, or just on special occasions, Methodist, Baptist,
sprinkle or immerse, salvation prayer or explaining what salvation mean
and seeing if they still want to receive it or not---(that personally
crack me up).
Where's the power at people? In God? Or the methods?
Then, this is my favorite part, we'll grab a Bible verse to support our opinion. Like I'm about to right now. Mark 5:25. The story about the woman with the issue of blood had faith that if she touched Jesus's garment, she would be healed. WHERE IS THAT IN SCRIPTURE? Were there any other example of that in scripture? Let me know if it was, where in Exodus Moses commands people to touch the hem of his garment for them to be healed. I mean, help me if there is. Because I haven't had the privilege of reading the whole Bible yet--working on it---but maybe it's in there. And I can hear how we would tear this woman to pieces. With our culture's critical minds. We see the wrong in everything, and feel the right and need to express our opinion. I love Twitter and Facebook during high profile crimes, man, everyone has an opinion and a moral code then. And we'd probably preach an entire sermon on why touching the hem of a garment is wrong, and have three points, and miss the fact that it worked for her.
It worked for her.
The key word is her. She had the faith that Jesus would heal her, so that worked for her. This is my opinion and my desire----I just want us to choose a church, submit to the church, and love the husband, willingly and with all we got---oh, and just shut up. Yes, there will be times, ladies, when you disagree with your husbands, but first hear him out, you might be on the same page, but if you still disagree, just TRUST in HIM. Not the method, but just TRUST IN HIM. Just love your husband. Can we just love our husband? Can we just choose a method that works for us and love our husbands, put faith in our husband, just love our husband? Let's commit covenantly to ANYTHING for that matter, and submit our lives to building it up. You see a crack, go fill it.
Stop nagging. All the church is doing is praying for a healthy marriage but we're warring against the husband because we don't believe in His methods. Hey, here's the funny thing. If you haven't noticed, it's never been about the methods for Jesus. You realize that He healed people in many different ways. So he did, ONE THING, multiple ways: by touching them, them touching him, spitting, just speaking, calling their name, commanding them---ahhhh!!! WHICH ONE IS THE RIGHT METHOD!?
Where's the power at people? In God? Or the methods?
Then, this is my favorite part, we'll grab a Bible verse to support our opinion. Like I'm about to right now. Mark 5:25. The story about the woman with the issue of blood had faith that if she touched Jesus's garment, she would be healed. WHERE IS THAT IN SCRIPTURE? Were there any other example of that in scripture? Let me know if it was, where in Exodus Moses commands people to touch the hem of his garment for them to be healed. I mean, help me if there is. Because I haven't had the privilege of reading the whole Bible yet--working on it---but maybe it's in there. And I can hear how we would tear this woman to pieces. With our culture's critical minds. We see the wrong in everything, and feel the right and need to express our opinion. I love Twitter and Facebook during high profile crimes, man, everyone has an opinion and a moral code then. And we'd probably preach an entire sermon on why touching the hem of a garment is wrong, and have three points, and miss the fact that it worked for her.
It worked for her.
The key word is her. She had the faith that Jesus would heal her, so that worked for her. This is my opinion and my desire----I just want us to choose a church, submit to the church, and love the husband, willingly and with all we got---oh, and just shut up. Yes, there will be times, ladies, when you disagree with your husbands, but first hear him out, you might be on the same page, but if you still disagree, just TRUST in HIM. Not the method, but just TRUST IN HIM. Just love your husband. Can we just love our husband? Can we just choose a method that works for us and love our husbands, put faith in our husband, just love our husband? Let's commit covenantly to ANYTHING for that matter, and submit our lives to building it up. You see a crack, go fill it.
Stop nagging. All the church is doing is praying for a healthy marriage but we're warring against the husband because we don't believe in His methods. Hey, here's the funny thing. If you haven't noticed, it's never been about the methods for Jesus. You realize that He healed people in many different ways. So he did, ONE THING, multiple ways: by touching them, them touching him, spitting, just speaking, calling their name, commanding them---ahhhh!!! WHICH ONE IS THE RIGHT METHOD!?
Hey, listen to me. ALL OF THEM. Every method is right because all of them have worked. And why did they work? Because He works. I mean, God is speaking through burning bushes, why not send a pet coyote to speak to Moses?
Nawww...I want the flaming bush today, that'll really freak him out.
Remove the faith in the methods, and put it on Jesus. Notices there's never been a message on discerning the voice of God without a burning bush? It's ALL about God. Submit to something that's following Him, covenantly, and just...
Love our husband.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Mission Field
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and surely, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28: 19-20
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
It was a hot Monday in July. If you've ever experienced a hot Alabama summer day, you know the weight of that word hot. I was headed to a nearby city to met up with some of my students from SWITCH. And it pains me every time I drive up to the foreign town, because its an area still with evident poverty and brokenness. But I wasn't in town to address that, simply just to play a little basketball with the students. So as I pulled into the parking lot of the high school, which was in the middle of a neighborhood that consisted of wearing away homes, I realized that my first thought was "be sure you lock your doors."
That was when my heart started to break. Because I asked myself, "Why are you thinking that?"
So anyways, I got out the car and gathered my basketball shoes and walked into the gym. Now my agenda was to again, simply, just to play basketball. Nowhere in that agenda was I planning on being an emotional wreck. But it started when I immediately entered the gym.
As I entered the gym, everyone knew I was a visitor. Even the ones in the middle of their games shot gazes at me. The town is small, so everyone pretty much knows each other---or they are able to find a connection by figuring out who family they belong to. So I found my students. And I gave them big greetings and sat next to them. I watched how they interacted in their environment. The gym was filled with just guys. And a large range of age was represented, from 5 years old to 20 years old. So I began to people watch, as I shyly sat on the side bleachers and became instantly afraid to play basketball with these guys. Over the past few years, my inactivity has driven me into playing less basketball than I used to growing up, which has caused my confidence in my game to shrink to little to non-existent.
My first interaction with a foreigner was a little boy. Strangely, he walked pass me and gave me a weird look. This little boy, probably around the age of 5, was a bold little stinker. He looked me up and down and his first words to me was, "Give me that necklace." I smiled at him. I liked the thought that I was being bullied by a 5 year old. He then leaned closer to me and reached for my necklace. I grabbed his hands and held them in mine. I was instantly in love with the kid. He was my first new friend in this foreign town. I then asked him his name, hoping he could tell me. He told me it was J.R. I said my name was Claude and I extended my hand for him to shake. He fived me instead---which is far more cooler. So then I asked, "So how are you trying to take my necklace and we just met?" Pretending to ignore me, he smiled and reached for it again. I grabbed his hands again and offered a deal with him. "What will you give me if I give you this necklace?" He smiles back at me, seeing a glimmer of hope for my necklace, he says the first thing that comes to his mind. "What kind of animal you like?" I grinned and thought to myself, "This will be easy. Don't say one he can actually get me." "My favorite animal is a tiger." He says, "A tiger? I can get you one. I can get my dad to take me to the zoo, he works at the zoo, and he can get me a tiger for you. Do you want it killed?"
"Um? No. Why would I want it killed? I want it alive, so I can pet it." I responded.
"You sure you want to pet a tiger?" His face was precious. It was like he knew I was crazy for wanting such a dangerous pet. "You know they growl really loud right?" I'm laughing at this point, because I'm holding a fairly intelligent conversation with a 5 year old. "Yes, I know they growl loud. That's why I want one. Can you show me how they growl?" He leans his head back and let's out a baby tiger growl. "Really? You sure that's how they growl?" I lean my head back and growled with him. He laughs and does his growl again--much better this time.
The gym was filled with broken young men, probably most of them without dads or good male role models. They want so desperately to change their situations, but they have no idea how. And sadly, every way to work towards changing their situation isn't much encouraged in their community and culture. I mentioned reading to one of my SWITCH students that was sitting next to me and he laughs, like reading is for squares---which I'm sure was a shared belief in the gym. And if you've ever wanted to know why I have such a beef with the rappers now-a-days, this is why. I see a gym full of guys who listens to these rappers music and adopt their words as if it was Bible, because they're just looking for someone to look up too. And it was interesting to watch how the younger boys would stare and watch in awe at the older guys whizzing and darting around the basketball court, clearly in a search for a role model----but for the older guys, they're searching for the same thing and don't even know it.
So I finally get enough courage to play, with the kids. To my defense, the court I was playing on was with guys younger than me but taller than me, so... good trade off. So anyways, I'm praying for an opportunity, but honestly I was a little overwhelmed. Like, God, there's 80+ guys in here, there's no way I can reach out to all of them and try to build relationships with all of them, that's impossible. I'm sure most of them need you.
Just reach out to 1 or 2.
So I did, and God was faithful with the opportunity. I went after the guy guarding me the first game. His name was Zinn. He was a quiet one. I had watched the entire gym and had quickly realized that it was filled with loud mouthed tough guys, but this guy had a gentleness to him, almost emotionless. And Zinn was good at basketball. I had a difficult task of guarding him, but I managed. I made a few moves, got a little confidence, lost it again with a bad move. That will be the story the rest of my time there. So after we lost, we waited a few more games and we got to play Zinn and his team again. This time I was determined to get a smile from him. I started to trash talk.
"Hey, Zinn isn't scoring this game. I guarantee it." I looked at him and smiled. And he just looked back at me, again, emotionless. So the entire game, I was play tight defense on him, still saying he wasn't going to score. And of course, he still manged to score, and I'd follow up with some praise for still managing to score on my tight defense. (yeah right). The whole game I talked and talked, and he still scored 11 of their points. After he made one his shots, I made a face at him and I got a slight grin from him. Didn't last long, almost as if he was had a quick laugh at my pathetic attempt to stop him.
So I left the gym a few hours later, heart heavy. I've fallen into the trap of creating convictions because I've never had the passion for overseas missions, and in that moment as I drove the 30 minutes back to Auburn, God revealed to me with vision up vision of how He has given me a heart for missions. My heart longs for the hopeless...period. Doesn't matter what race or country, age or gender, my heart breaks for the ones who live without purpose, who live without love, who live without family, who live without life.
I'll share one of the visions with you that brought me to tears. I was standing in a room, perhaps a church service was going on, and I saw arms raised praising God. And it was arms of former thugs and heathens, or better described as sons of God, tattoos running down their arms, the past shackles falling off of them in worship as they realize that their Creator adores them, and He's provided and conquered their generational curse with the gift of salvation, which IN THAT, their hope has been found. Not a prosperity gospel to only focus them on getting a better Earth situation, because their aspirations for NBA and NFL and famous rapper satisfies that enough, but THE GOSPEL, the only one there is, to get them to focus on getting a better eternity. To be back in the presence of God, to be living sacrifices for their communities, to proclaim the gospel with their lives----that's my vision. To show them and labor with them until they are able to feel the weight of how dearly loved they are by God. Again, that's my vision.
That's my mission field.
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
It was a hot Monday in July. If you've ever experienced a hot Alabama summer day, you know the weight of that word hot. I was headed to a nearby city to met up with some of my students from SWITCH. And it pains me every time I drive up to the foreign town, because its an area still with evident poverty and brokenness. But I wasn't in town to address that, simply just to play a little basketball with the students. So as I pulled into the parking lot of the high school, which was in the middle of a neighborhood that consisted of wearing away homes, I realized that my first thought was "be sure you lock your doors."
That was when my heart started to break. Because I asked myself, "Why are you thinking that?"
So anyways, I got out the car and gathered my basketball shoes and walked into the gym. Now my agenda was to again, simply, just to play basketball. Nowhere in that agenda was I planning on being an emotional wreck. But it started when I immediately entered the gym.
As I entered the gym, everyone knew I was a visitor. Even the ones in the middle of their games shot gazes at me. The town is small, so everyone pretty much knows each other---or they are able to find a connection by figuring out who family they belong to. So I found my students. And I gave them big greetings and sat next to them. I watched how they interacted in their environment. The gym was filled with just guys. And a large range of age was represented, from 5 years old to 20 years old. So I began to people watch, as I shyly sat on the side bleachers and became instantly afraid to play basketball with these guys. Over the past few years, my inactivity has driven me into playing less basketball than I used to growing up, which has caused my confidence in my game to shrink to little to non-existent.
My first interaction with a foreigner was a little boy. Strangely, he walked pass me and gave me a weird look. This little boy, probably around the age of 5, was a bold little stinker. He looked me up and down and his first words to me was, "Give me that necklace." I smiled at him. I liked the thought that I was being bullied by a 5 year old. He then leaned closer to me and reached for my necklace. I grabbed his hands and held them in mine. I was instantly in love with the kid. He was my first new friend in this foreign town. I then asked him his name, hoping he could tell me. He told me it was J.R. I said my name was Claude and I extended my hand for him to shake. He fived me instead---which is far more cooler. So then I asked, "So how are you trying to take my necklace and we just met?" Pretending to ignore me, he smiled and reached for it again. I grabbed his hands again and offered a deal with him. "What will you give me if I give you this necklace?" He smiles back at me, seeing a glimmer of hope for my necklace, he says the first thing that comes to his mind. "What kind of animal you like?" I grinned and thought to myself, "This will be easy. Don't say one he can actually get me." "My favorite animal is a tiger." He says, "A tiger? I can get you one. I can get my dad to take me to the zoo, he works at the zoo, and he can get me a tiger for you. Do you want it killed?"
"Um? No. Why would I want it killed? I want it alive, so I can pet it." I responded.
"You sure you want to pet a tiger?" His face was precious. It was like he knew I was crazy for wanting such a dangerous pet. "You know they growl really loud right?" I'm laughing at this point, because I'm holding a fairly intelligent conversation with a 5 year old. "Yes, I know they growl loud. That's why I want one. Can you show me how they growl?" He leans his head back and let's out a baby tiger growl. "Really? You sure that's how they growl?" I lean my head back and growled with him. He laughs and does his growl again--much better this time.
"So here's the deal." I bargained with
him. "Next time I come, you have the tiger, you'll get the
necklace." He laughs and runs away, which I'm assuming doesn't
finalize any deal. But, he's getting the necklace either way next time I
see him. He later came back to me with an interest in just small
talk. He grabbed my hands and brought them together. He started to
put all of his weight on my hands as a balancing act. So I asked him,
"Did you know you can fly?" He smiles and tells me no he
can't. "Lean back on my hands." And as he does that, I
lift him up off the ground and up into the air. His face lights up as is
he's legs off the floor in flight aboe me. I lower him back down and he
tells me to do it again. So I do it a few more times until some calls him
away.
But at this moment, my heart is warmed over. But then I return to the hopelessness running around in the gym. Not to judge a book by its cover, but, let's just be honest.
But at this moment, my heart is warmed over. But then I return to the hopelessness running around in the gym. Not to judge a book by its cover, but, let's just be honest.
The gym was filled with broken young men, probably most of them without dads or good male role models. They want so desperately to change their situations, but they have no idea how. And sadly, every way to work towards changing their situation isn't much encouraged in their community and culture. I mentioned reading to one of my SWITCH students that was sitting next to me and he laughs, like reading is for squares---which I'm sure was a shared belief in the gym. And if you've ever wanted to know why I have such a beef with the rappers now-a-days, this is why. I see a gym full of guys who listens to these rappers music and adopt their words as if it was Bible, because they're just looking for someone to look up too. And it was interesting to watch how the younger boys would stare and watch in awe at the older guys whizzing and darting around the basketball court, clearly in a search for a role model----but for the older guys, they're searching for the same thing and don't even know it.
So I finally get enough courage to play, with the kids. To my defense, the court I was playing on was with guys younger than me but taller than me, so... good trade off. So anyways, I'm praying for an opportunity, but honestly I was a little overwhelmed. Like, God, there's 80+ guys in here, there's no way I can reach out to all of them and try to build relationships with all of them, that's impossible. I'm sure most of them need you.
Just reach out to 1 or 2.
So I did, and God was faithful with the opportunity. I went after the guy guarding me the first game. His name was Zinn. He was a quiet one. I had watched the entire gym and had quickly realized that it was filled with loud mouthed tough guys, but this guy had a gentleness to him, almost emotionless. And Zinn was good at basketball. I had a difficult task of guarding him, but I managed. I made a few moves, got a little confidence, lost it again with a bad move. That will be the story the rest of my time there. So after we lost, we waited a few more games and we got to play Zinn and his team again. This time I was determined to get a smile from him. I started to trash talk.
"Hey, Zinn isn't scoring this game. I guarantee it." I looked at him and smiled. And he just looked back at me, again, emotionless. So the entire game, I was play tight defense on him, still saying he wasn't going to score. And of course, he still manged to score, and I'd follow up with some praise for still managing to score on my tight defense. (yeah right). The whole game I talked and talked, and he still scored 11 of their points. After he made one his shots, I made a face at him and I got a slight grin from him. Didn't last long, almost as if he was had a quick laugh at my pathetic attempt to stop him.
So that was my dealings with Zinn. And there was
one more guy on his team. He was one of the loud-mouthed tough guys, so
he was the majority. Earlier I had overheard him talking about some girl,
it was a very vulgar conversation. A tad dirty of a mouth, and all
of this was entering into the 8th grade. I was standing on the sideline
watching him play and he got hot from behind the three point line. He
made two in a row! And every time he would make one, he would do this
silly dance while holding three fingers in the air. It made me laugh, and
it also reminded me that he was an 8th grader. A "love to have
fun", 8th grader. So I yelled from the sideline, "Bet you can't
do it again." He heard me and accepted the challenge. And sure enough, he
got the ball and shot another three pointer, nothing but net. He did his dance
again while looking at me. I laughed. So the next game, he invited
me into his world. He walked up to me and said, "I want you to guard
me this game." I grin and agreed to it. His name was Boobey.
I'm sure that's not his birth name, but whatever, I can identify him now.
So the entire game, I played overly aggressive defense on him,
which always seems to entertain people. He was quicker than me so he was
usually able to blow past me all the time, but he liked to somehow tease me
with his dribbling. He tried a few threes on me and I wasn't having it, okay,
he just missed them. But after listening to his language and
his disgusting look on women, it was fun just to laugh with him in a
basketball game, because in that moment, we were just the same, a son of
somebody, a breathing human, loved by a holy God, chosen to be adopted into His
family.
So I left the gym a few hours later, heart heavy. I've fallen into the trap of creating convictions because I've never had the passion for overseas missions, and in that moment as I drove the 30 minutes back to Auburn, God revealed to me with vision up vision of how He has given me a heart for missions. My heart longs for the hopeless...period. Doesn't matter what race or country, age or gender, my heart breaks for the ones who live without purpose, who live without love, who live without family, who live without life.
I'll share one of the visions with you that brought me to tears. I was standing in a room, perhaps a church service was going on, and I saw arms raised praising God. And it was arms of former thugs and heathens, or better described as sons of God, tattoos running down their arms, the past shackles falling off of them in worship as they realize that their Creator adores them, and He's provided and conquered their generational curse with the gift of salvation, which IN THAT, their hope has been found. Not a prosperity gospel to only focus them on getting a better Earth situation, because their aspirations for NBA and NFL and famous rapper satisfies that enough, but THE GOSPEL, the only one there is, to get them to focus on getting a better eternity. To be back in the presence of God, to be living sacrifices for their communities, to proclaim the gospel with their lives----that's my vision. To show them and labor with them until they are able to feel the weight of how dearly loved they are by God. Again, that's my vision.
That's my mission field.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Undiscerning Rebellion
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
I can go many different directions with this. I'll just touch on one today.
I love my friends very much. To there misfortune, I continually to learn more and more from them in their moments of being vulnerable with me. It seems that I've discovered this idea that every moment is a teaching moment, so I search and dig and find something to gain from whatever it is. Check this out.
I listened to one of my friends deeply groan about her trust issues with men. Her story is this, she's been poorly led by men so she questions their words. And, rightfully so. When you've been misled or lied to time and time again, a brokenness can erupt and become a stumbling block in how you approach relationships. Right? Are most of us experiencing that now? Our past continues to govern our present and future. I've always had this idea that the hopeless at one time was hopeful in something. It's hard to be in a "less" something when it was never "full" to begin with. Like my friend had at one time been hopeful that some guy was "the one", and it turns out he wasn't. So now her hopelessness comes from having hoped in it at one time and had it ripped from her. So the situation she is in now is that a guy has approached her with the same language that the last guys have used.
"Hey, I like you. I can see myself with you." Or in some variation of that.
In some way or another, every guy makes a woman feel this way. Whether the woman is perceiving the guy simply being interested in her as commitment already, or the guy actually communicated it to her----but, that's another blog for another day.
So the first thing that I had to send through my "You Cannot Say That Right Now" filter was this, "He told you he liked you. What's the big deal? Is that not enough security for you to be content?" But in that moment, God whips out the chalkboard and starts teaching a class.
"Behind all this grumbling, she's not trusting in his word, therefore not trusting in his leadership, which produces an hesitation in submission, which is rebellion.
God what? How is her unable to trust considered rebellion?"
That was the magic question. I'm going to ramble now, please read carefully and hang on.
What happens when we sin? We war against God's rule right? So God's perfect word, the Bible, is God's law for us. Everything He says in it we must be willing to submit and conform too. Just like the common ones discussed, "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal", this almost pushes the weight of the same commands "trust in me, put your faith in me, submit your lives to me". All are commands from God, therefore all considered sin when we disobey them. So when we refuse to trust in God, what are we saying?
God, I don't think you can handle this situation, so I'm going to do it my way---undiscerning rebellion--- which is us warring against Him, which wars against His leadership in our lives, which wars against the vision and purpose this leader has for our lives. So when a woman is unwilling to trust in a guy, she's also refusing to submit, because if she doesn't trust his word, then she doesn't trust his leadership, therefore will put her in the place of a sinful woman.
Oh my my my. So, what is the dilemma?
We're rebelling all the time against God, and don't even know it. Our past continues to dictate our present response to God. So He says trust in me, and our response is usually what? "God, I've trusted in something before and it failed me"--in that we're warring against Him saying prove to me You're any different than that guy, or my own father, or my friends. When God says put your hope and faith in Him, and our usual response is, "well God I've hoped in something before, and it failed me." When God says He loves you, and you've had people who have said they love you mistreat you and abuse you, that can create an intimacy issue with God, does it not?
Hey, if God has removed your past and sees it no more, then you should do the same. Allow God to make ALL things new in your heart. Give you a new perception of trust and hope and love. This blog is called "Undiscerning Rebellion" because this is a subconscious stumbling block, very unrecognizable. The enemy doesn't plainly say this to us, just like he didn't plainly tell Adam and Eve that them eating from the tree was just like telling God that's He's not enough for them, that they needed more. Hey, let's be a generation that realizes that God is enough for us, and let's allow Him to make all things new in us so that we can truly walk this out.
Dear God guide us,
Amen.
But one thing remains. Guess what God is saying to you right now.
"Hey, I like you. I can see myself with you."
Brother, sister. Stop rebelling. Rest in submission. Rest in the security of God.
His love never fails. It never gives up. It never runs out. Listen to this song by Jesus Culture.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Spiritual Eye Drops
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
First, let me paint the illustration.
So many of us, ok, most of us, alright, all of us have some eye burn. This eye burn has ruined our sight, its ruined our depth perception, our sense of clarity, and how we see the world. And we all have our different ways of coping with this eye burn. A technique many of us use are the "encouraging" eye drops.
Recently I had a good friend of mine and a follower of this blog ask me the tough question, check it out.
"Claude, how do we get to place to where we actually are believing and walking out the things we hear?"
Her question was stemming from a conversation we were having and the topic got brought up about how we hear these good things all the time. Things like, God has a plan for your life, you're beautiful, don't worry about it, let go and let God, all these encouraging words that usually gets us over the hump of bad days or bad situations or bad moods. So her question left me interested in being able to answer that the next time she or anyone else ask me. Here's what I got.
We have to get away from only being comfortable with the encouraging words, or the spiritual eye drops for our eye burn. Instead, we should seek true healing of the eye burn.
Let me say it this way.
A lot of us tweet these encouraging quotes from C.S. Lewis and ones we come up with our own, or Tweetable lines that awesome pastors drop every week in a sermon, but what will it take to actually get us applying these quotes to our lives. How do we get away from being Junkie Christians, where we just show up to worship services with our minds ready to only get our weekly fix of Jesus?
Here's my suggestion, let's focus less on getting the eye drops and more on getting the Jesus.
Let me start from it this way. Place two people in front of you, a stranger, and your best friend. Now, at the same time, these two people can say the same thing, but you'll receive them in two different ways. Let's just be elementary and imagine we're in a sandbox.
Stranger says. "You're ugly."
Best friend says. "You're ugly."
Which hurts more? They both hurt in some degree or on some measure, but the one from the best friend hurts the most. Why? Because the words from that best friend are weighted so much more than the words from the stranger. So here's what I suggest, Jesus may be too much of a stranger to you. Yes, I am suggesting that you may not know Jesus as well as you think you do. You can't feel the weight of His words for you. Which is why we must.....
STUDY OUR BIBLES.
Never in my life have I ever realized how important this is. We must study, not just read, study. What is God meaning? Its okay to ask that. Stop blindly just reading and walking away with surface level understanding. But dig in that thing. Press in on God to explain to you why you should trust in Him completely. Why He wants us to flee sexual immorality. Why we are saved by faith and not by our works. Why am I supposed to dress modest. Why should I honor women. Why, why why.
Now, I must say this. This thing doesn't work like our method of electing governing officials. Where we ask God all of our questions and then make a decision whether He should be God over our lives or not. He's already that. So all I'm suggesting is this....
Know the person that's saying these things to you.
A pastor can tell you all day that God thinks you're beautiful and worthy of respect. But, imagine the weight of hearing it from God Himself. It doesn't have to be hearsay friends.
A pastor can scream at the top of his lungs that God loves you, His grace is sufficient for you, nothing you have done can exceed the amount of grace He has for you, and once you're IN CHRIST, you have been justified and cleared of the wrath of your sins because of the sacrifice Jesus made for you on the cross---- this is grace, we can hear that time and time again, but...... miss out on feeling the weight of the Gospel. Why? Because we just know what happened, but we don't understand what happened. Too many Christians know what happened, because we've sat in Easter services for 20+ years, but we don't understand what happened. We don't understand the weight of our sins, therefore missing the weight of His wrath, and therefore missing the weight of His love, and therefore missing the weight of Jesus's sacrifice, and therefore missing the weight of grace.
I dare you to go chase after the weight of all that. Read your Bibles people. You have no idea what God is exclaiming to you deep within the text if you do not dig into it. Stop being okay with the spiritual eye drops, the comfort verses, the get over my bad day verses, the message notes I took, or whatever. Dive into it, define what God is saying to you so you can feel the weight of it.
Stop just knowing. Seek to understand. Understanding brings clarity---which proves your healing of your eye burn.
First, let me paint the illustration.
So many of us, ok, most of us, alright, all of us have some eye burn. This eye burn has ruined our sight, its ruined our depth perception, our sense of clarity, and how we see the world. And we all have our different ways of coping with this eye burn. A technique many of us use are the "encouraging" eye drops.
Recently I had a good friend of mine and a follower of this blog ask me the tough question, check it out.
"Claude, how do we get to place to where we actually are believing and walking out the things we hear?"
Her question was stemming from a conversation we were having and the topic got brought up about how we hear these good things all the time. Things like, God has a plan for your life, you're beautiful, don't worry about it, let go and let God, all these encouraging words that usually gets us over the hump of bad days or bad situations or bad moods. So her question left me interested in being able to answer that the next time she or anyone else ask me. Here's what I got.
We have to get away from only being comfortable with the encouraging words, or the spiritual eye drops for our eye burn. Instead, we should seek true healing of the eye burn.
Let me say it this way.
A lot of us tweet these encouraging quotes from C.S. Lewis and ones we come up with our own, or Tweetable lines that awesome pastors drop every week in a sermon, but what will it take to actually get us applying these quotes to our lives. How do we get away from being Junkie Christians, where we just show up to worship services with our minds ready to only get our weekly fix of Jesus?
Here's my suggestion, let's focus less on getting the eye drops and more on getting the Jesus.
Let me start from it this way. Place two people in front of you, a stranger, and your best friend. Now, at the same time, these two people can say the same thing, but you'll receive them in two different ways. Let's just be elementary and imagine we're in a sandbox.
Stranger says. "You're ugly."
Best friend says. "You're ugly."
Which hurts more? They both hurt in some degree or on some measure, but the one from the best friend hurts the most. Why? Because the words from that best friend are weighted so much more than the words from the stranger. So here's what I suggest, Jesus may be too much of a stranger to you. Yes, I am suggesting that you may not know Jesus as well as you think you do. You can't feel the weight of His words for you. Which is why we must.....
STUDY OUR BIBLES.
Never in my life have I ever realized how important this is. We must study, not just read, study. What is God meaning? Its okay to ask that. Stop blindly just reading and walking away with surface level understanding. But dig in that thing. Press in on God to explain to you why you should trust in Him completely. Why He wants us to flee sexual immorality. Why we are saved by faith and not by our works. Why am I supposed to dress modest. Why should I honor women. Why, why why.
Now, I must say this. This thing doesn't work like our method of electing governing officials. Where we ask God all of our questions and then make a decision whether He should be God over our lives or not. He's already that. So all I'm suggesting is this....
Know the person that's saying these things to you.
A pastor can tell you all day that God thinks you're beautiful and worthy of respect. But, imagine the weight of hearing it from God Himself. It doesn't have to be hearsay friends.
A pastor can scream at the top of his lungs that God loves you, His grace is sufficient for you, nothing you have done can exceed the amount of grace He has for you, and once you're IN CHRIST, you have been justified and cleared of the wrath of your sins because of the sacrifice Jesus made for you on the cross---- this is grace, we can hear that time and time again, but...... miss out on feeling the weight of the Gospel. Why? Because we just know what happened, but we don't understand what happened. Too many Christians know what happened, because we've sat in Easter services for 20+ years, but we don't understand what happened. We don't understand the weight of our sins, therefore missing the weight of His wrath, and therefore missing the weight of His love, and therefore missing the weight of Jesus's sacrifice, and therefore missing the weight of grace.
I dare you to go chase after the weight of all that. Read your Bibles people. You have no idea what God is exclaiming to you deep within the text if you do not dig into it. Stop being okay with the spiritual eye drops, the comfort verses, the get over my bad day verses, the message notes I took, or whatever. Dive into it, define what God is saying to you so you can feel the weight of it.
Stop just knowing. Seek to understand. Understanding brings clarity---which proves your healing of your eye burn.
What Are You Really After?
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
Readers. Friends. Can we talk?
One of my blessings and curses is that I wonder about you. Yes, you specifically, and all the others just like you. Is it true that we all have a our issues? We can all agree on this right? And I'll be the first to share with you that I do not have it all together. Here's how I reached that conclusion.
The other day, after a morning of complaining and praying for things to change for the better, I had one of those "mirror mirror on the wall" moments. I was putting on a shirt in the bathroom and I was looking at myself in the mirror. And, I guess I usually don't do this, but I was looking deep into my own eyes. Like, I was seriously gazing into my own soul. And this question pops into my mind.
"Claude, what are you really after?"
I dropped the shirt. The question floored me. It also exposed me, gave me a deep conviction and a reality check. My own self ratted me out. Or perhaps the Holy Spirit was doing His duty. So now, I bring this question to you. What are you really after? Here's an illustration.
Have you ever been a sucker for TV ads? The first one that pops in my mind for myself is P90X. I remember sitting there and wasting a lot of my time watching the same infomercial over and over again, because I was stunned by this one sentence, GET FIT IN 90 DAYS. Sounds good. And the sucker that I am and millions of Americans are, bought the merchandise and even got the pull up bar, got a few new workout clothes, made a playlist, set a date to start, and got ready to start this GET FIT IN 90 DAYS.
But what's the one thing that I actually forget to do? I didn't begin to prepare myself for the pain. I didn't prepare for the endurance and self discipline of completing a workout everyday for 90 days. See, I was wanting the results, but not the work. Wanting the 3 MONTH chiseled beach bod, but not the 3 MONTH sacrifice of eating better and staying committed to this thing.
What was I really after? Just the glory, instead of the pain.
Or I'll say it this way, I was after the glory, while blindly ignoring the process to get to the glory.
So it hit me. I wonder what we're really after? Why do you go to church? Why have you chosen to believe in Jesus? Why do you disagree with religion? Why do you dress the way you dress? Why do you tweet so much? Why are you so ready to get married? Why do you want love? Why are you wanting to join that sorority? Why are you wanting to be a leader in your church? Why are you prideful? Why are you chasing that dream? Why are you in college?
I tweeted the other day a revelation I had that day. Here it is.
"How you handle disappointment might expose what you really have your hope in."
Because I found it interesting how tore up we get when things don't go our way. It seems to be a frustrating season for myself and some of my friends, because we're feeling some kind of way about our lives. But for myself, I was able to follow the issue to a heart problem. Instead of my hope being only in Jesus, oh don't miss that, ONLY in Jesus, it was beginning to be placed in SOMETHINGS working out my way.
Since I've become a pastor, I've noticed how easy it us for pastors to get shot at for not delivering a certain message that a certain person needs at a certain time. Like somehow one person is supposed to know what 100 people need to hear at the same time. What are we really after? Someone to pursue Jesus for us?
Sorry, that was a rabbit trail. But, I'm going to look at you and say you're the blame. So many pastors are delivering truth, that if you choose Jesus today your life will get better, but with our selective hearing, we only begin to apply, "Ooo! Better life yes! My life is in shambles!"
So we then become after a better life, missing the part of CHOOSE JESUS. Missing the foundation, the process of getting to the glory----- we just want the glory. Everyone wants a better life. You're insane if you don't. So marriage become the ultimate gain for singles. Money becomes the ultimate gain for poor people. Fame becomes the ultimate gain for insignificant people. Love becomes the ultimate gain for the neglected. Sex becomes the ultimate gain for the abused. And more becomes the ultimate gain for people who have all of this.
Is our ultimate gain not Jesus?
Scripture supports this deeply. I'll just use one illustration. Lol. Good luck making it through this one.
Mark 10:17-27. We know about the rich young ruler right?
"A man came running up to Jesus, knelt down, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" ...Jesus responds...."You know the commandments: 'You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother."
"Teacher," the man replied, "I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young."
"Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one think you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
At this the man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
What was this guy really after? Eternal life? Or more security. He wanted the glory, but not the process to get to the glory. So what about you? What are you really after? If God asked you to give up what you're actually after and choose just Him, could you?
What is your ultimate gain? What are you really after?
I'll let you dwell on it. Ttyl ;)
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
Readers. Friends. Can we talk?
One of my blessings and curses is that I wonder about you. Yes, you specifically, and all the others just like you. Is it true that we all have a our issues? We can all agree on this right? And I'll be the first to share with you that I do not have it all together. Here's how I reached that conclusion.
The other day, after a morning of complaining and praying for things to change for the better, I had one of those "mirror mirror on the wall" moments. I was putting on a shirt in the bathroom and I was looking at myself in the mirror. And, I guess I usually don't do this, but I was looking deep into my own eyes. Like, I was seriously gazing into my own soul. And this question pops into my mind.
"Claude, what are you really after?"
I dropped the shirt. The question floored me. It also exposed me, gave me a deep conviction and a reality check. My own self ratted me out. Or perhaps the Holy Spirit was doing His duty. So now, I bring this question to you. What are you really after? Here's an illustration.
Have you ever been a sucker for TV ads? The first one that pops in my mind for myself is P90X. I remember sitting there and wasting a lot of my time watching the same infomercial over and over again, because I was stunned by this one sentence, GET FIT IN 90 DAYS. Sounds good. And the sucker that I am and millions of Americans are, bought the merchandise and even got the pull up bar, got a few new workout clothes, made a playlist, set a date to start, and got ready to start this GET FIT IN 90 DAYS.
But what's the one thing that I actually forget to do? I didn't begin to prepare myself for the pain. I didn't prepare for the endurance and self discipline of completing a workout everyday for 90 days. See, I was wanting the results, but not the work. Wanting the 3 MONTH chiseled beach bod, but not the 3 MONTH sacrifice of eating better and staying committed to this thing.
What was I really after? Just the glory, instead of the pain.
Or I'll say it this way, I was after the glory, while blindly ignoring the process to get to the glory.
So it hit me. I wonder what we're really after? Why do you go to church? Why have you chosen to believe in Jesus? Why do you disagree with religion? Why do you dress the way you dress? Why do you tweet so much? Why are you so ready to get married? Why do you want love? Why are you wanting to join that sorority? Why are you wanting to be a leader in your church? Why are you prideful? Why are you chasing that dream? Why are you in college?
I tweeted the other day a revelation I had that day. Here it is.
"How you handle disappointment might expose what you really have your hope in."
Because I found it interesting how tore up we get when things don't go our way. It seems to be a frustrating season for myself and some of my friends, because we're feeling some kind of way about our lives. But for myself, I was able to follow the issue to a heart problem. Instead of my hope being only in Jesus, oh don't miss that, ONLY in Jesus, it was beginning to be placed in SOMETHINGS working out my way.
Since I've become a pastor, I've noticed how easy it us for pastors to get shot at for not delivering a certain message that a certain person needs at a certain time. Like somehow one person is supposed to know what 100 people need to hear at the same time. What are we really after? Someone to pursue Jesus for us?
Sorry, that was a rabbit trail. But, I'm going to look at you and say you're the blame. So many pastors are delivering truth, that if you choose Jesus today your life will get better, but with our selective hearing, we only begin to apply, "Ooo! Better life yes! My life is in shambles!"
So we then become after a better life, missing the part of CHOOSE JESUS. Missing the foundation, the process of getting to the glory----- we just want the glory. Everyone wants a better life. You're insane if you don't. So marriage become the ultimate gain for singles. Money becomes the ultimate gain for poor people. Fame becomes the ultimate gain for insignificant people. Love becomes the ultimate gain for the neglected. Sex becomes the ultimate gain for the abused. And more becomes the ultimate gain for people who have all of this.
Is our ultimate gain not Jesus?
Scripture supports this deeply. I'll just use one illustration. Lol. Good luck making it through this one.
Mark 10:17-27. We know about the rich young ruler right?
"A man came running up to Jesus, knelt down, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" ...Jesus responds...."You know the commandments: 'You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother."
"Teacher," the man replied, "I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young."
"Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one think you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
At this the man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
What was this guy really after? Eternal life? Or more security. He wanted the glory, but not the process to get to the glory. So what about you? What are you really after? If God asked you to give up what you're actually after and choose just Him, could you?
What is your ultimate gain? What are you really after?
I'll let you dwell on it. Ttyl ;)
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Inner Roar
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
I have a feeling you've been needing me? Or perhaps I've been needing you. I find it interesting how writing finds its way to be a comfort. Clearly in that statement, I'm confessing it's an idol I turn to to ease my pain. Or it's just as simple as a digital venting as I pray my thoughts onto the screen. And the fact I'm making it public, I hope you're able to feel the weight. That I've chosen to title my blog a Heartbeat Aligned with the Cross for such a reason as this. As to title it with the clarity of my intentions for every article.
So, here we go.
It's.....interesting.... to me how I naturally check my value when disappointment enters my life. How I literally, invert the situation as a flaw of me, as a lack of in me, as an inadequacy to lead properly, or to honor honestly, or self control myself enough, or to respect others enough, or to achieve anything, able to do anything, you're nothing Claude, just why do you even bother.
And I have finally understood how I've heard pastors say time and time again the value in reading your Bibles. The value in knowing the truth about what God feels about you. Because, it activated the other night.
I was sitting in my apartment and my friend had just left after another dumping of my problems and frustrations. Oh, and I'm also the kid that gets mad at himself for being a whiner, because I've listened to culture tell me that men don't have emotions, that men don't whine, blah, so whatever.
But I was sitting in my apartment, and the flood of lies I listed earlier began to consume me. I felt like a timid little boy begging for his Dad. A lost boy, shivering from the cold, fear of the dangers that could be approaching him because he felt so alone, crying out for help. And, all of a sudden, I hear a faint roar.
What was that?
Then it sounds again. And it was louder this time. A roar like a lion. And the boy realized it was coming from inside of him. He then feels a flickering flame that slowly begins to warm him as the words of His Father's affirmation begins to ring loudly in his mind.
"Son, you are mine. I've designed you to be a leader, to be a man, to be a King, to be a warrior."
And almost immediately, the beauty of the situation reveals itself.
"Son, I saw the whole thing. I never left you. I needed you to feel this. I needed to see what you'd do. Just like Abraham, I just needed to see what you'd do. I was always there."
The roar becomes deafening as the little boy rises up off the ground and picks himself up. The truth about himself comes rushing to his mind.
"Son, you are Mine. In your weaknesses, I am made strong. So embrace the weakness, because I roar alive in you when I have to make you strong. I have covered your sins, stop beating yourself up. You are mine, you're alive IN ME. You are free from that bondage. Refuse the chains, refuse them son. You're free. You're alive."
And tears slowly
slowy
drip down my face.
Relationship.
Here---Religion would have left you with a bunch of verses to sort through to figure out which one to apply to hopefully make you feel better.
Relationship, the voice of the those verses comforts you in a personal message directly for you for whatever you're going through.
Yeah, you needed to the hear that.
I have a feeling you've been needing me? Or perhaps I've been needing you. I find it interesting how writing finds its way to be a comfort. Clearly in that statement, I'm confessing it's an idol I turn to to ease my pain. Or it's just as simple as a digital venting as I pray my thoughts onto the screen. And the fact I'm making it public, I hope you're able to feel the weight. That I've chosen to title my blog a Heartbeat Aligned with the Cross for such a reason as this. As to title it with the clarity of my intentions for every article.
So, here we go.
It's.....interesting.... to me how I naturally check my value when disappointment enters my life. How I literally, invert the situation as a flaw of me, as a lack of in me, as an inadequacy to lead properly, or to honor honestly, or self control myself enough, or to respect others enough, or to achieve anything, able to do anything, you're nothing Claude, just why do you even bother.
And I have finally understood how I've heard pastors say time and time again the value in reading your Bibles. The value in knowing the truth about what God feels about you. Because, it activated the other night.
I was sitting in my apartment and my friend had just left after another dumping of my problems and frustrations. Oh, and I'm also the kid that gets mad at himself for being a whiner, because I've listened to culture tell me that men don't have emotions, that men don't whine, blah, so whatever.
But I was sitting in my apartment, and the flood of lies I listed earlier began to consume me. I felt like a timid little boy begging for his Dad. A lost boy, shivering from the cold, fear of the dangers that could be approaching him because he felt so alone, crying out for help. And, all of a sudden, I hear a faint roar.
What was that?
Then it sounds again. And it was louder this time. A roar like a lion. And the boy realized it was coming from inside of him. He then feels a flickering flame that slowly begins to warm him as the words of His Father's affirmation begins to ring loudly in his mind.
"Son, you are mine. I've designed you to be a leader, to be a man, to be a King, to be a warrior."
And almost immediately, the beauty of the situation reveals itself.
"Son, I saw the whole thing. I never left you. I needed you to feel this. I needed to see what you'd do. Just like Abraham, I just needed to see what you'd do. I was always there."
The roar becomes deafening as the little boy rises up off the ground and picks himself up. The truth about himself comes rushing to his mind.
"Son, you are Mine. In your weaknesses, I am made strong. So embrace the weakness, because I roar alive in you when I have to make you strong. I have covered your sins, stop beating yourself up. You are mine, you're alive IN ME. You are free from that bondage. Refuse the chains, refuse them son. You're free. You're alive."
And tears slowly
slowy
drip down my face.
Relationship.
Here---Religion would have left you with a bunch of verses to sort through to figure out which one to apply to hopefully make you feel better.
Relationship, the voice of the those verses comforts you in a personal message directly for you for whatever you're going through.
Yeah, you needed to the hear that.
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