Hope -vs- despair

My family spent the first weeks of August vacationing in Montana. I grew up in the "Big Sky Country" and I don't know how to explain it but the sky just does seem bigger. That's especially true at night where, free from the "light pollution" of more populated areas, the stars seem to be suspended so close you can almost touch them.

One night as I sat on the deck observing the majesty of the skies I was joined by my cousin. As we visited, I was constantly distracted by the amazing number of "falling stars" that illuminated the sky.

"When I look up at the stars", I told him, "I can't help but believe in God." His response floored me.

"Really? I don't like to look at the stars anymore," He replied. "When I do, I feel so small and insignificant"

For the next hour we dialogued over our vastly different views of the universe. It was as if we were looking through opposite ends of the same telescope. While to me the "heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1), conversely in the vastness of the night he felt that he was just an insignificant speck, here today and gone tomorrow. What an expression of hopelessness.

Paul writes that, "the mindset of the flesh is death," but that the mindset of a believer leads to "life and peace" (Rom 8). In his book, "The Divine Conspiracy," Dallas Willard contrasts these two views of the world.

The mind of the spirit is life and peace precisely because it located us in a world adequate to our nature as ceaselessly creative beings under God. The "mind of the flesh," on the other hand, is a living death. To it the heavens are closed. It sees only "That inverted Bowl they call the Sky, Whereunder crawling cooped we live and die." It restricts us to the visible, physical world where what our hearts demand can never be. There...we find we constantly must violate our conscience in order to "survive."

And that was the sense of despair my cousin described. He expressed to me a Darwinian view that his life was no more significant than that of his beloved dog or a crawling ant. They were all just trying to "survive" and when that struggle ended they would cease to exist. In our over one hour of conversation the greatest statement of optimism he could muster was, "I hope I'm wrong".

Sometimes we can forget the despair and hopelessness of those who don't know Christ. Apart from a spiritual mindset that God alone bestows, our neighbors and friends lead lives that are" at the worst so painful and at the best so monotonous, poor and limited that the urge of escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and has always been one of the principal appetites of the soul." (Doors of Perception, Huxley). Some attempt to feed this worldly appetite with adventure, money, or at best service to humanity. Others may try to numb the gnawing pain by taking chemical vacations. However, there is nothing of this world that can satisfy the hunger or fill the vacuum that inhabits every human soul.

It is for that reason that we are called to "always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." (1 Peter 3:15) While my cousin listened politely to my "hope", he still cannot comprehend a universe where a personal God would love mankind so fully. To be honest, either can I. Any yet I know it's true. That's what I feel when I look up into the night sky. That is my hope!

The Question

Lessons from ST. Louis

While in STL I was asked the question, "How much time, in minutes, have you spent in the Word and prayer today?" OUCH! What kind of Pharisaical question is that? I don't judge myself on quantity of time with God like a worker punching the clock. I focus on quality - a fresh relationship with God. But I couldn't get away from the question.

So often I comfort myself with the fact that I spent some quality time with God. But most of the time that's just a cop out. I know that I've been negligent and so I fall back on the quality time excuse, something I'd never buy in any other relationship. My wife doesn't accept only a few quality minutes in our marriage. She rightly wants both quantity and quality. And it's the same with my kids. Any relationship that is truly meaningful rejects the "quality time" only claim.

And so I've begun asking myself "the question". Yes, I guess there is a chance I could become a pharisee and focus only on quantity but I don't see that becoming a problem anytime soon. For now I'm just going to try to carve out more time to spend with God.

By the way, "How much time in minutes have you spent in prayer and the Word today? This week?

Ambushed by God

Lessons from St. Louis

This year in STL was unlike previous years. While much was the same (the schedule, training, 15th street), something very different was happening below the surface. I sensed God working in amazing ways in the lives of Mt. Zion's students. While for most of them the Project was nothing new, it's almost like God ambushed us. He was speaking to us in new fresh ways and we all seemed to be ready to receive the Word with gladness.

I sensed in our students a desire for more - something deeper and more real. There was less immaturity and goofiness from the students and a seriousness about God. Wow. I pray that what began in St. Louis continues.

One thing we talked about as we prepared to come home from STL is accountability. Too often t we exhibit Lone Ranger spirituality and fail to remember that God gave us the church so that we could live in community with others. Accountability should naturally be a part of that. My prayer is that we will each take action on those things God spoke to us about. I'm praying that I will grasp my role in making that happen.

Taco Bell Evangelsim

Lessons from St. Louis

Sometimes it's true that actions speak louder than words. Yes, I believe that "they cannot believe in the one whom they have not heard" (Rom 10), and yet an act of service can prepare the soil of the heart for the planting of the gospel. I saw this clearly at a late night run to Taco Bell.

The guy behind the counter was not happy to see our group of 15 walk through the door so close to closing. He already had a mop bucket in the corner and was probably look forward to getting cleaned up early. When I first read his face I was tempted to find another restaurant but then I reminded myself that he was being paid to serve us, plus I really wanted Taco Bell. The lobby was still supposed to be open for another thirty minutes so we proceeded to order and grab a seat.

Maybe we were capping off the end to an already bad day for the guy - troubles at work, problems at home -I don't know, but something was wrong and he was letting us know about it. Maybe I was being a little paranoid but the fact that our whole group was wearing Christian T-shirts worried me. Would we provide opportunity for him to harbor a bad attitude against Christians, the church, or worse, Christ? Like I said, I was probably just being paranoid but it led to an idea.

As it neared the closing time we approached the counter again. I could see it in his eyes, "not another order", but instead we asked for a couple of rags to wipe off our tables. I suspected that our request would be denied but he grabbed a couple of rags that he likely had been ready to use thirty minutes earlier and we went to work. While one group of students wiped off tables and chairs another team proceeded to sweep and mop the lobby. Between drive-in orders I watched his countenance change. As we were nearing the end he thanked us and said that we didn't need to clean the whole lobby. We told him we wanted to be a help to him and he asked us where we were from - suddenly he opened up the door to share our purpose. When we left he was smiling and thanking us.

Why don't we serve others more often? Selfishness I suppose. We're so caught up in our own daily grind that we fail to remember that life is not about us. We forget that everyone we encounter is someone that God loves and that we're called to love our neighbors as ourselves. We need a lot less Christian T-shirts and gospel tracts and a lot more followers of Christ that will lovingly serve a needy world. I suppose we could have given Taco Bell guy a gospel tract but what would that have done - not much I suspect. When we met his needs however his heart was softened and suddenly he was open to the gospel message.

Isn't that how Jesus did evangelism? Jesus met needs. When He encountered people in need of healing He didn't just give them a gospel tract or preach a sermon. He met both their perceived immediate need and also revealed their deeper spiritual need. That's the kind of evangelism we need more of and that's the kind of evangelism that is most effective.

A few days later we were able to see servant evangelism work again in East St. Louis. Across from 15th Street Baptist is a neighborhood bar and local hub for the pervasive crack trade. Behind the bar a small group of people gathered daily, sitting in lawn chairs and attempting to wash their problems way in the bottle. On Friday we had leftover lunches and decided to take them across the street to our "neighbors". Again, an act of service provided opportunity to share a gospel witness.

My prayer is that as I leave St. Louis God would help me to share the gospel less and be the gospel more. Wasn't that Jesus' method?

Lessons from St. Louis

Our youth group arrived in St. Louis yesterday afternoon to begin a week of mission work. Our team will be working in East St. Louis. For the next two days we'll be planning, praying, and preparing our hearts for this important work.

Last night we heard a message by Norm Howell. Norm is a great man of God. He served as my pastor while I was in college and then spent a decade working with New Tribe Missions in Paupua New Guinea working with unreached people. It's always a blessing to hear Norm preach.

His message was titled, "How to be bold as a Lion" from Proverbs 28:1
"The wicked flee when no one is pursing them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion"

God talks about the Lion around 150 times in the Bible. Our prayer is that we will be bold for Christ this week. Not offensive. Not pushy. Bold in a godly way that brings Him glory.

Tragedy in KC

Just last night my family attended the K.C. Shakespeare festival. The weather was perfect and the crowded audience was treated to a fantastic piece of theater. While the tragic tale of Othello is not my favorite, it is still Shakespeare and thus worth viewing. If you are ever in KC in late June - early July, the festival is not to be missed. It's free to attend and provides us backwoods folk a little bit of culture. My family looks forward to it each summer.

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.
Othello, 3. 3

Jealous souls will not be answered so;
They are not ever jealous for the cause,
But jealous for they are jealous.
Othello, 3. 4

It makes us or it mars us.
Othello, 5. 1

I have done the state some service, and they know 't.
No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice. Then, must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe.
Othello, 5. 2

corporate spirituality

The more I read the New Testament the more I see an emphasis on community. Most of the New Testament letters were written not to individuals but to a community of believers - the Ekklesia or "call-out ones". Too often we over personalize what we read and fail to understand that the Christian life is meant to be lived in the messy fish bowl of community.

In my recent reading in Ephesians, Paul's vision of the Body of Christ is evident in nearly every passage. Developing the "mature" body he speaks of however, is no easy task. It requires that former enemies, "Jew" and "gentile" become one in Christ, learn to serve one another, confront each other (in love) when necessary, and walk in the Spirit (just to name a few).

O that the Church of God, the Body of Christ, would become such a spiritual community.