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Archive for the ‘Grace’ Category

Prayer in a Taxi

Posted in Community, Grace, Missions on November 10, 2009| 1 Comment »

It was a short 10 minute taxi ride from the hotel to the San Diego airport on Sunday.  It was early and I was more than ready to be home.  But I felt compelled to get to know the driver.  So I asked him how long he had been in the beautiful city of San Diego, to which he replied, “Five years.”  So I asked the next sensical question, “Where were you before that?”  He told me that he grew up in Africa and had been in the US for only five years.  He asked if I had ever been to Africa and I told him I had not but it is one of the places I want to visit some day.  He asked what I do for a living and so I told him that I am a minister in a church.

He began a conversation about Christianity and his Muslim faith of Islam.  I asked if he was able to practice his religion here and he explained that it is hard to be faithful when the strict practice requires all men to attend the mosque five times per day to pray.  I explained that Christians believe that we should pray regularly throughout the day as well but that we can do it anywhere.  We discussed the similarities in our heritage and in the difficulty of being faithful to our beliefs.

As we pulled onto the airport property, I knew our time together was drawing to an end so I asked his name.  As we parked, I asked him if it would offend him if I prayed for him.  He said it wouldn’t, so we sat in the car near the curb at the Southwest check-in and I prayed for my driver, Mohammed.  It was a very brief prayer, but when I raised my head to look at him, he was smiling.

That was it, I retrieved my bags from his trunk, shook his hand and paid the fare.  I am not so pious to think that my effort and concern made a huge impact in Mohammed’s life – maybe it did.  But I can tell you that my eyes and heart were opened to the fact that we are all human beings with similar desires and interests – with real convictions and beliefs.  Now please understand, I do not subscribe to the doctrine of Islam and I certainly don’t condone the actions of the extremists.  But I do believe that Jesus calls us to love everyone – no matter who they are or what they believe.

Is there room in your heart to love someone who doesn’t see things as you do today?

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Your Own Personal Jesus

Posted in Formation, Grace on November 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I am going to show my age and my eclectic music tastes here but I was listening to an old song from Depeche Mode today titled “Personal Jesus.”  Depeche Mode is far from a Christian group, but the song has a distinct Christian message.  It starts by telling us to “Reach out and touch faith.”  I think all of us want a faith we can touch and feel.  But the message of the song is more along the lines of Jesus’ personal care for each of us.  Jesus cares about us individually – he knows us individually.  That is an awesome truth and one we should never forget.

However, what we tend to do is look at Jesus not as personal but as customizable.  We want to make Jesus fit our mold – not change ourselves to fit his.  We want a Jesus we can call on to protect us, to make us feel better, but when it comes to actually listening to and applying the teachings of Jesus, we tend to gloss over those things.

My challenge to you today is to make Jesus personal but don’t try to customize Jesus to fit your needs and wants.

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Keep It Simple

Posted in Grace, Hope, Missions on October 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

One of the quotes I have pinned to my bulletin board caught my eye yesterday.  It is a quote from a jazz legend named Charles Mingus.  Here is what he said, “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”

Reading this quote has had me thinking off and on since.  I have had this question rolling around in my head since yesterday, “Have I made the simple message of the Gospel complicated?”

I think one of the downfalls of the church is the sad truth that we have taken a simple message of love and forgiveness and made it immensely complicated.  Instead of focusing on a relationship, we have made it about religion.  Instead of concentrating on freedom, we have made it about rules.

God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you – that’s it in a nutshell.

It really is that simple!  Have you made it more complicated?

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Don’t Be a Pharisee

Posted in Church, Formation, Grace on October 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

We’ve all known people like this – loud, overly confident, always bragging about accomplishments they have made or how much they know – arrogance is all around us.  To be blunt, I don’t really like being around arrogant people – they annoy me, especially the ones who are arrogant about their faith or their Christian walk.  I have said this before, but if you ever encounter a person who suggests they have everything worked out and can explain all the mysteries of God – you need to run; get as far away from them as you can.

I don’t think God takes delight in arrogance.  In fact, that is what got the Pharisees in trouble.  The fact that they were so sure of what they believed is the very downfall that kept them from recognizing Jesus as the son of God.  I don’t want to be a Pharisee!  I want to remain open to what God is trying to do in and through me.  So this requires humility.

Humility is hard for all of us – more so for some than others.  Our society teaches us that it is ALL ABOUT ME!  I have rights and you can’t tell me what to do.  We are so programed to believe that the world revolves around us that it is sometimes hard to remember that God is in control – not us.

If we are truly going to follow God, we must do so out of a sense of humility – humility that understands God is in charge and others are just as important as us.  We have to remember that we do not have the corner on the market for understanding God.  We have to remain open to the fact that we can really only understand as much about God as God reveals to us.

Remember that God is God and we are not – don’t be a Pharisee.

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Praying At Gun Point

Posted in Grace, Humor on October 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I read something this morning and I thought, maybe I need to go back and qualify what I said yesterday.  The post yesterday dealt with focusing on God even in the mundane tasks, giving God the glory for everything we do.  In that way, we will begin to experience God’s presence in all things.  But I think this might be taking that thought a little too far.

As I read this story it made me laugh and still does – my first thought was, “I wonder if this was a pastor?”  But I know that could not be the case because some of the money was left behind.

As for the clerk, what bravery and concern – I am not sure I could have prayed at gun point – could you?

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Are You Judgmental?

Posted in Church, Formation, Grace on October 14, 2009| 1 Comment »

Are you judgmental?  What a way to start the post today!

The Pray As You Go meditation today is focused on Romans 2:1-4 (you can read it here).  We all judge – the act of comparison of ourselves to others leads us to judge.  But in reality, we are no different than anyone else.  We have all done things we aren’t proud of at some point in our lives.  So Paul tells us that we don’t have an excuse.  We have no right to judge others.

But the real heart of this passage comes in verse 4.  God, who has every right to judge, shows kindness, tolerance and patience to all.  It is this reaction that leads us to a change of heart.

So what can we learn from this passage?  Maybe we should focus more on kindness, tolerance and patience when it comes to relating to others.  I don’t believe that God expects us to turn our backs to injustice, but when it comes to relating to others, the key is to treat them with kindness.  That is how God deals with us, why should we treat others any other way?

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Some Days It Just Doesn’t Happen

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on October 13, 2009| 2 Comments »

Some days it just doesn’t happen – you know?  No matter how hard we try, some days we just never settle enough to hear from God.  It should never be an excuse but I think rather than beat ourselves up, we should realize that God is near and trying to speak to us regardless of our disposition.

From the outset of this ministry, my intention with this blog has been to be completely transparent with my thoughts.  Sometimes that comes out more raw than polished but you will not find anything but honesty here in these posts.  My blog posts, most of the time, flow directly out of my own personal journey and the insight God gives me through that journey.  But today, I went to the file cabinet in my mind and found the files pretty bare.  Pray for me.

But even in this experience, God is teaching me that we are not going to have a deep, inspirational time with God every morning (or whenever you spend time with God).  The real issue becomes faithfulness and consistency.

So know this today, even on the days that your time with God seems dry and lacking fruitfulness, God is there right beside you.  Stay strong – stay faithful.

May the God of all blessings and mercy shower you today with the peace that you can’t understand.

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Have Some Fun

Posted in Formation, Grace, Motivational on October 7, 2009| 1 Comment »

I have been listening to the new David Crowder Band CD for about two weeks.  I don’t know if you are a Crowder fan but I have always loved their music.  I had the opportunity to visit University Baptist Church in Waco a few years ago and got to hear them there (they are the worship band for the church).  I think I have every release they have done.

At any rate, this new work is a little different (of course most of Crowder’s are).  The title cut is called “Church Music.”  The song is not what you would expect – it has a 70’s disco sound combined with a little 80’s pop – and it is just fun.

As I was listening to the song this morning, I was reminded that church – and our Christian walk – are not meant to be serious all the time.  God created us to have fun occasionally too.

So here is your challenge today – go have some fun.  Do something spontaneous – and while you are doing it, praise God for loving you!

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A Code That Opposes

Posted in Church, Formation, Grace, Hope on October 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I have been reading out of Colossians this week while practicing lectio divina (a fancy term for meditative prayer and reading).  Chapter 2 of that book deals with getting at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus – and also points out in the process, what doesn’t lead us to Jesus.

Verses 13 – 15 of chapter 2 talk about the fact that when God saves us, we are freed from the rules that man has put in place (you can read it here).  Verse 14 gives us a very vivid picture of what God thinks of the rules man has set in place to make our way to God.  It says that God canceled those regulations and took that code “that opposed us” and nailed it to the cross along with Jesus.  In other words, all the things man had put into place that were necessary to follow God, to draw near to God – all those things were destroyed.  I don’t know about you but that is a liberating thought for me.

It got me to thinking – what code have we put into place in modern day religion that opposes people?  Or put another way, what hurdles have we placed in our religious systems that make it difficult for people to come to God?

Do we expect people to act a certain way to come into our churches?  Do we expect people to talk a certain way to come into our churches?  Do we expect people to dress a certain way to come into our churches?  Do we expect people to like what we like to come into our churches?

Reading this passage reminds me that the rules we throw up that make it harder for people to come to Jesus are not of God.

How do you make it hard for people to follow Jesus?

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For Ruben

Posted in Church, Community, Grace on September 25, 2009| 2 Comments »

We buried Ruben yesterday.  He was 51 but looked much older.  I have known Ruben for most of the time I have lived in this town.  He always had a very long and scraggly beard.  He couldn’t work anymore due to disability, but he worked before his accident.  He liked to grow things and he liked people.  He loved to walk around town and visit with people.  He rarely turned down food and on occasion would ask for money.  But when he would ask, he would always commit to pay it back – and he often did.

In the church business, Ruben was considered a “benevolence case.”  We helped him from time to time.  The world might call him one of the “forgotten.”  But standing at that graveside yesterday, I was reminded that Ruben was so much more.  Jesus died for him, just like he died for me – and that fact puts us all on the same playing field.  I was reminded that Ruben was loved absolutely by God.

My mind then began to remember times that Ruben and I talked (looking back, it was not nearly frequent enough).  I also remembered a time or two that I helped Ruben with a little money – again, not often enough.  But in each of those times of interacting with Ruben, I don’t remember thinking, “This is a child of God.”  And for that, I am regretful.

Ruben has taught me that every single person in this world, regardless of status, capacity or any other measure we can apply, is loved by God.  As such, we are called to love them as well.  I don’t have all the answers as to how to go about it, but I believe it starts with caring enough to know their stories.  From there, I believe God will lead.

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