I Almost Lost Control of My Car When I Saw This Billboard

A couple of years ago as my wife Annette and I traveled up I-75 about 40 miles north of Atlanta, I spotted a pretty cool (or so I thought) billboard. It quoted Philippians 2:10 – “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” I always enjoy seeing this type of public acknowledgement of faith.

But as we whizzed by the billboard, two additional words below the verse popped out:  “Even Democrats.”

I just about drove off the road when I saw this!

There are at least two reasons why this was an inappropriate and even dangerous billboard. First, there have been numerous attempts to wed Christianity and secular government. And that rarely ends well. Yes, in one sense, it was wonderful when Christianity became Rome’s official state religion in AD 380. The persecution and execution of Christians stopped, and many more people were introduced to Jesus. All this was good.

But the co-mingling of religion and government inevitably led to perversion of the faith as people recognized the political advantage of aligning with the officially approved religion. Christianity started down the road of being leveraged by “the establishment,” leading to its growing corruption.

At various times, well-meaning Christians have attempted to coerce virtuous behavior. Don’t get me wrong. Our faith should affect every part of our lives including our participation in the political and policy making processes. Having laws that support biblical and moral values is crucial for a moral society. But it becomes dangerous when those efforts descend into enforced religious practice or mingling of faith and partisan politics. Just one example:  On October 21, 1663, John Harlow, a Virginia colonist, was fined 50 pounds of tobacco for failing to attend church. Bad idea.

Clearly, our current political climate is highly partisan and bitterly divided. But no more so than that of Jesus’ day.

Quick quiz:  With which faction or group did Jesus align himself:

A.    Herodians – A religiously oriented political party tied to the house of Herod

B.     Sadducees – A powerful, aristocratic group that rejected many aspects of the spiritual world, including belief in resurrection, angels and demons

C.     Zealots – Revolutionaries extremely loyal to the Jewish way of life to the point of advocating violence

D.    Pharisees – An influential religious group that attempted to impose scrupulous behavioral standards on the Jewish people to hasten the appearance of the Messiah who they expected would rescue Israel from Rome

E.     None of the above

Of course, the answer is E.  

As the old saying goes, “If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me.”

As important as it is to be responsible and active citizens, the moment we allow politics – or anything else for that matter – to assume more importance than our single-minded commitment to Christ, we are swimming in dangerous waters. Linking “Jesus is Lord” with an anti-Democratic message (and an implied endorsement of the Republican party) borders on blasphemy. Some Republican Christians may be surprised when they arrive in heaven and discover there are actually some Democrats there. And some Democrats will be surprised to learn they will be sharing eternity with some Republicans,

The second reason this billboard is inappropriate is that it can be a major impediment to sharing the good news of God’s grace. Think about it. If I am a Democrat who self-identifies as an atheist or an agnostic, how likely is it that this billboard will encourage me to explore what it means to acknowledge Jesus as my Lord? If I take this billboard at face value, you are asking me to abandon my political convictions – perhaps deeply held – if I want to follow Jesus. Instead of alienating people, we should seek ways to welcome them.  

Let me repeat that we as Christians ought to be actively involved in the political process. Some politicians demonstrate more godly policies and behavior than others, and they deserve our support, but don’t wrap Jesus around your candidate.

I thank God that he calls some people to pursue political office motivated by their desire to serve others and improve the world. But this becomes problematic when my allegiance to any party or candidate gets conflated with my loyalty to Jesus. So be sure to vote, but keep your political loyalties a clear second to your commitment to Jesus.

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Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 124:8 – ESV 

  • How much influence do you think the Christian faith should have on public policy?

  • How engaged are you in the political process? Should you be more involved, or are you basing too much of your hope and happiness on the outcome of any particular election?

We Came Within 50 Feet of Disaster

A week ago, we got to live out the truths of two cliches:

  • Life can change in an instant

  • When all is said and done, what really matters is the safety of your loved ones

On Thursday, September 5, Annette and I drove to the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles to babysit the grandkids for nine days while Andy and Liza went to New York and Maine to celebrate their tenth anniversary.

Sunday afternoon, we started hearing about the Bridge Fire, about 15 air miles south of our town of Wrightwood in the Angeles National Forest. The fire was pretty stable all day Monday and into Tuesday morning.

Mid-afternoon Tuesday, Annette drove back to Wrightwood for her Bible study meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning. Before she got there, she called a couple of times alarmed by the ominous smoke clouds over the mountains.  “The sky looks like tomato soup!” she exclaimed. An hour after she got home, San Bernardino County issued a sudden “Evacuate NOW” order, so she jumped back in the car and made a beeline down the mountain.  

Tuesday morning, the Bridge Fire covered only 4,000 acres, but because of what fire officials called a 1% of 1% set of weather conditions, within a few hours it had exploded to over 40,000 acres. Because we are in a canyon that backs up to one of the ridges, our neighborhood was incredibly vulnerable.

As Tuesday evening wore on, the possibility that our house could be gone by morning grew increasingly real. I began to think through what we would have to replace in the event of a total loss:  all our furniture and appliances, the car we left behind, all our clothing (down to socks and underwear), our hundreds of books, Annette’s kitchen gear, my 50+ harmonicas (each of which costs about $45 and some of which are hard to get), the 150+ music charts I had spent countless hours arranging, even mouthwash and Q-Tips. But then I remembered that we were safe and so were our family and friends.

As Annette and I lay awake in bed at 4:00 a.m., I echoed what many before us have verbalized when they escaped death and injury but lost everything they owned. “At least we’re all safe.” She wholeheartedly agreed and said that, if the worst happened and our town burned down, what she would be saddest about would be the inevitable scattering of our immediate neighbors whom we have come to love. Then I said, “I’m so glad to be going through this whole thing with someone who knows how to respond the right way.”

We came so close to calamity that the back of our next-door neighbor’s fence got charred! Thankfully, by God’s grace and through the incredible work of the hundreds of firefighters, only a handful of structures in Wrightwood burned. You probably heard about our fire on national news.

Since we bought our house four years ago, we’ve suffered two years of serious drought, a severe blizzard, a few very minor earthquakes, a hurricane, close encounters with a bear and a rattlesnake, and now this (our second wildfire evacuation). We’re living a lot “closer to the land” than we did in Metro Atlanta!

A few people have asked, somewhat facetiously, if we regret moving here. Absolutely not! Even if our house had been destroyed, I would say the same.

The punchline of a talk called “Demystifying Decision-Making” which I have given several times is that if you deliberately, responsibly and prayerfully seek God’s will for important decisions, you must interpret everything that results from that decision as part of his plan. And that includes even such tragedies as your house going up in flames. God is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving That means none of the unfortunate aftermath of a decision is beyond his control or has caught him by surprise.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you won’t experience frustration, disappointment, or even anger over the circumstance, but ultimately, you have to settle in to the fact that God filters everything through his omnipotent and loving hands.

Next time, I’ll relay some of the great things that have already happened because of this forest fire experienc

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Keep your life free from love of money; be content with what you have. He himself has said, after all, “I will never, ever leave or forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5 (The New Testament for Everyone)

  • What is the hardest set of circumstances you have ever faced? To what extent were you able to see God’s hand in the situation?

  • How do you think you would react if you lost all your possessions?

 

A New Twist on an Old Summer Camp Story

Part of the “evening ritual” at the 4-H summer camp I worked at while I was in college was the vesper talk designed to help our campers reflect on their days and perhaps the larger meaning of life. We had a pool of stories that we would regularly recycle. Thank goodness the kids were only there two weeks or else we would have run out of material.

One of my favorite talks involved a somewhat mean kid whose dad wanted to teach him a lesson by giving him a 12” log, a hammer, and a sack of 5” nails. “For this next week,” he instructed, “every time you do or say something that hurts someone, drive a nail it into the log.” 

If you ever endured poison ivy, mosquito bites and bug juice at summer camp, you might have heard this story and know where it’s heading. But don’t bail on me. After I get to the punchline, I’ll present a new angle I hope you will appreciate.

The son thought his dad had lost it. “What’s with the nails in the log? What’s that supposed to do?” But he agreed to comply and by the end of the week, the log resembled a porcupine with nails sticking out everywhere.

“Now,” said the dad, “for this next week, every time you do something kind, I want you to pull one of the nails out.” Realizing how many bad things he had done, the son felt some degree of remorse and tried to make up by going out of his way to do and say kind things. And, voila, by the end of the week all the nails were gone.

Although the dad was pleased by his son’s attempt to compensate, he pointed out that even though the nails were gone, the holes in the log weren’t.

Our little sermonette to the campers stressed that even if they tried to “undo” some of the harm they had done, the damage couldn’t be erased. So just don’t be mean. That’s an important lesson, and many of the kids took it to heart.

But I recently thought of a way to recast this story to reflect an even more significant lesson.

Instead of the log representing my relationship with others, think about it as my own soul. And instead of driving a nail into the log when I hurt someone, think about it as driving a hole in my soul every time I sin.

The overwhelming majority of people – religious or not – would say they try to compensate for their shortcomings by doing good things to balance the scales. It’s the old “If my good deeds outweigh my bad ones, God – if there is one – will accept me.”

As this old camp story teaches, though, even when the nails are removed, the holes can’t be. And in my new version, the nail holes are not damage done to others but damage to my own soul.

The Christian message as taught in the Bible is that I can never fill the holes in my core being caused by my sin. And those sins separate me from God.

It would be depressing if the message stopped there. But it doesn’t. The rest of the story is that Jesus can and will fill those holes if we ask him to. And he is the only one who can. 

As important as it is to realize the negative implications of our bad behavior on others, it’s more important to recognize what it does to my relationship with God. And even more important is finding the only true remedy to my alienation from God caused by my sin. And that is confessing my rebellion against or indifference to God, claiming Jesus’ forgiveness, and committing my life to him.

I hope you can relate to my revised adaptation of this story.

One last thing. The lesson from the original version still rings true. Even though Jesus can and does repair the devastation to the souls of people who recognize their need and turn to him, relational and sometimes even legal consequences remain. So, let’s not forget the implications of our behavior on others.

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  • To what extent do you believe that, in God’s eyes, your good deeds can make up for you bad ones?

  • Have you ever gotten to the point of recognizing that nothing you can do will make you acceptable to God but that Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection can do just that if you turn to him?

. . . [T]he wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal like through Christ Jesus our Lord – Romans 6:23 (New Living Translation)

If You See Something, Say Something

Our little town of Wrightwood is nothing like the rest of Southern California. We have only 5,000 residents, no stop lights, and no fast-food restaurants. But we do have snow. Not exactly downtown LA.

We also have a country club. But forget everything you know about country clubs. Ours consists of a sag pond (created by the two sides of the San Adreas Fault that runs directly under it) with thousands of tadpoles, a few tennis courts, a small fitness center, and a snack bar. The closest thing we have to golf is a disc golf course. But one nice feature we do have is the summer Sunday afternoon concert series with blues, jazz or rock groups playing in the pond’s bandshell.

A few weeks ago, as Annette and I were signing in at the main gate to enjoy the music, the young check-in lady turned to Annette and out of the blue said, “You are really pretty.” Annette was slightly taken aback, but then a big smile came over her face as she thanked her for her kind remark.

Why are we so chintzy with our compliments? That comment cost the check-in girl nothing and brightened Annette’s afternoon.

A phrase that came into fashion shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was, “If you see something, say something.” Of course, it was intended to intercept potentially dangerous acts, but let me offer a slight variation:  “If you see something you like or respect, say something.” Why not? Who doesn’t like positive feedback? Everyone gets slammed or criticized when they mess up, so why not offer a counterbalance?

 I meet with many men one-on-one to listen to them, encourage them, let them know that I care about them, and offer input as appropriate. Lately, I’ve been making a point to mention during our meetings at least one positive thing I see in them. It’s usually easy to find something encouraging and specific to say.

For example, if the guy recounts some serious trials he’s facing, I might say, “Obviously, you’re going through a hard time, but I’m impressed by how you’re leaning into it,” or “I know this is hard for your whole family, and I love how you how you’re trying to minimize the impact on your wife.”

If I forget to offer such a comment, I sometimes drop a quick text later that day to remind him of something that impressed me. Better late than never.

I urge you to be on the lookout for how you can express genuine appreciation to those in your world. Like any other new behavior, it might take a while to make this a default piece of your conversations, but once you do, you will be amazed how easy it is to identify positive attitudes and behaviors.

 Various studies suggest that it takes anywhere from three to ten positive comments to counter one negative one. The negative ones always seem to find us. Why not be part of the positive side of that ratio?

If you see something, say something.

Who in the World Was Stuart MacLennan, and Why Should You Care?

Here’s a hint. He was pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church early last century. Does this help you figure out why you should care? No? How about this?

Just over 100 years ago, he was guest speaker at a small church in Minneapolis where he met Henrietta Mears, a single, “bookish,” physically impaired high school principal in her 30s who lived with her sister. His message so inspired her that she immediately started meeting and corresponding with him and eventually moved to Southern California to become Christian Education Director at his church, a position she held for nearly 35 years.

This is an impressive story. However, that still doesn’t explain you should get excited about Stuart MacLennan. Let me help you.

During Henrietta Mears’ decades-long tenure at Hollywood Presbyterian, among the people she mentored were:

  • Bill and Vonnette Bright – co-founders of Cru and Athletes in Action and the force behind the Jesus film. This film has been translated into 2,166 languages, and estimates are that there have been more than 7.3 billion viewings of the film.

  • Dawson Trotman – founder of The Navigators

  • Jim Rayburn – founder of Young Life

  • Wilbur Smith – cofounder of Fuller Theological Seminary

  • Richard Halverson – a future United States Senate chaplain

  • Many other Christian leaders and Hollywood celebrities

She also went on to establish Gospel Light Publications and collaborate with leaders of such internationally significant ministries as World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, and Wycliffe Bible Translators. Beyond that, she was an early leader of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Oh, and then there was a young preacher named Billy Graham whom she discipled and encouraged to stage his 1949 Los Angeles crusade which launched his international ministry.  He once commented that, besides his mother and his wife, Henrietta Mears was the most influential woman in his life.

During my nine years on Cru staff, I often heard about Henrietta Mears and her phenomenal impact. But I never heard of Rev. MacLennan until I recently read an article about Ms. Mears penned by my friend Paul Batura, Vice President of Communications at Focus on the Family. From a human perspective, none of Henrietta Mears’ influence would have happened without Rev. MacLennan. Of course, God could have used someone else to inspire her or someone else to accomplish all she did. But, for whatever reason, God chose to use Stuart MacLennan and Henrietta Mears.

One more thing. My story intersects with Stuart MacLennan in a way I hadn’t realized. In a real sense, I am part of his legacy. He discipled Henrietta Mears, Henrietta Mears discipled Bill Bright, Bill Bright founded Cru, and I came to know Jesus through Cru decades after Henrietta Mears’ first encounter with Rev. MacLennan.

Stuart MacLennan’s legacy serves as an example to us all. If you are in professional ministry, you are undoubtedly helping many people. We all have a tendency to gravitate toward the leaders and superstars. If there had been a web page featuring people seeking to become influencers who would change the face of American Christianity, Henrietta Mears would have gotten almost no “likes.” Yet look how God used her. And it’s largely because Stuart MacLennan looked past her “demographics” and discipled an unlikely lady with a heart for God. Don’t write off people just because they may not be one of the “cool kids.” Jesus certainly didn’t.

If you are not in professional ministry, God can still use you in huge ways. Although Rev. MacLennan was the major influence on Henrietta Mears, there were undoubtedly many others along the way who encouraged her and fed into her life. You can do the same.

Help a Christian struggling with a personal tragedy. Invest time teaching the 10th grade boys’ Sunday School class. Share with a coworker or neighbor what God has done in your life. Any of these actions could have a profound impact on someone’s world. And perhaps God will bring someone into your life with whom you can develop a deep discipleship relationship and who just might go on to have a global impact. You never know how you might be influencing future generations.

My parting challenge is, regardless of how big or small your “reach” is, always be looking for ways to help someone in Jesus’ name and to further God’s kingdom.

Tears of Sorrow, Tears of Joy, and Just Plain Fun

In mid-March, I flew to Atlanta to attend the memorial service of some dear friends’ daughter who died after years of addiction and many other problems. The trip was filled with emotional extremes.  

I was greatly honored that the family asked me to welcome people to the service and offer the opening prayer. A few days before the service, I happened to be in the church office at the same time as the mom. She teared up on seeing me and expressed sincere appreciation for my presence.

As the service began, I could only get a few words out before I choked up. One of the band members didn’t realize I was overcome with emotion and thought I had merely lost my place in my notes.

Obviously, the sadness of the day had a lot to do with my inability to speak, but I think it also reflected the recent collective weight of other people’s burdens I was sharing:  an executive facing job loss for the second time in two years; two friends going through divorces; a man in his 40s who just learned he needed a third major back surgery, this time to fuse nine (!) vertebra; an amazing cyclist who has been completely sidelined by long Covid; friends at church recovering from a major leadership disruption; and many other challenges my social media friends were facing. The cumulative weight of these problems got to me and caused me to lose my composure.

But there were also tears of joy. I had a delightful two-hour Starbucks meeting with Chris, my Job-like friend (see my August 11, 2023 post) in which we both got emotional. He told me about a recent conversation his son had with his girlfriend who had been going through some rough times. His son told her that he believed in her and was on her side. This was super-meaningful to Chris because that’s exactly what he has been telling both his sons, and he was delighted his son had internalized that truth to the point of passing it along.

Chris told me that story because that message of encouragement was a breakthrough moment for him early in our relationship. I had recognized that he had never in his entire life heard that level of affirmation from anyone, and I wanted him to know that at least one person – me – saw the deep goodness in his heart. Watching Chris’ lips quiver as he told me his son’s story humbled me to the point that my own eyes got misty.

The night before I returned to California, my best friend, his teenaged son, and I met for dinner at Chili’s. Their family has experienced an extended time of great stress. I don’t remember how this came up, but my friend turned to his son and asked him, “If you had to tell one of your friends what your dad is like using only one description, what would that be?” After thinking a moment, the son said, “I know you’re always there for me.” That was precisely what his dad wanted to hear. What a joy to watch him hug his son’s neck for nearly a minute and then grab a napkin to wipe his eyes.

So, yes, this trip was characterized by tears both of sorrow and of joy.

Beyond the emotional extremes, it was also filled with just plain fun:

  • Catching up with several other dear friends

  • Sharing Mellow Mushroom pizzas with our Bible Study friends with whom we have “done life” for 19 years

  • Playing a goofy card game with the family I was staying with – The picture accompanying this post is of Douglas, their affectionate hairless cat. That cat is a hoot!

  • Recording a podcast discussing my healthcare book (https://youtu.be/SxjbyZPt01g?si=cFMM5CwrDzw4cotT)

  • Cycling on my beloved Silver Comet Trail

I was blessed by this trip in two ways:

  • First, by seeing how favorable my circumstances are compared to the heartbreak others are experiencing. I have nothing to complain about!

  • Secondly, by recognizing how privileged I am to have so many close friends who, depending on their circumstance, have invited me to rejoice or weep with them as Romans 12:15 says.

I share all this as testimony of God’s goodness to me.

WHAT DO YOU CALL THE OPPOSITE OF GOD BLESSING A VENTURE?

Among my other responsibilities as Executive Vice President at Georgia Hospital Association (GHA), I served as the “front door” for vendors seeking the association’s endorsement. I met with hundreds of companies over my 19 years there. Some of them got it right, and others were flaming disasters. Additionally, I had the chance to lead GHA teams in developing our own products to sell to hospitals nationwide. So I thoroughly get what it takes to successfully launch a healthcare product.

When I founded my consulting company post-GHA, I infused it with my deep understanding of what it takes to successfully sell to healthcare instituti0ons. These insights also made it into my book, Thriving in the Healthcare Market:  Strategies from an Industry Insider for Selling Your Product. The book features 84 pitfalls I’ve seen trip up vendors and also offers nearly 200 tips on how to avoid them.

Almost miraculously, the publisher – an affiliate of the 80,000-member international Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) – approved my proposal two days after I submitted it. This never happens! I was also delighted when the book got glowing endorsements and the highest possible rating from an outside organization that reviews business-related books.  

Once my book hit the market, I pulled out all the stops to get it before the right audiences:  joining 31 LinkedIn healthcare technology groups, regularly posting brief articles and crisp videos highlighting the top 10 pitfalls and other significant topics, approaching many health tech incubators and accelerators, doing podcast interviews, and speaking at various meetings and conferences.

Not all my promotional efforts panned out, however. In fact, several of them totally bombed:

  • A division of Emory University considered developing a video curriculum based on my book but ultimately dropped the idea because of budget constraints.

  • An affiliated arm of HIMSS failed to promote the book to HIMSS’ 80,000 members.

  • Every year HIMSS has a huge convention and expo with up to 40,000 participants and hundreds of vendors on the exhibition floor. These vendors are the book’s perfect target. The publisher invited me to the HIMSS 2020 trade show as their guest but, alas, the Covid pandemic shut the whole thing down.

  • For HIMSS 2021, I spent many hours developing a joint talk with HIMSS’ immediate past chairman, a highly sought-after international speaker. Unbelievably, the education committee rejected this proposal, even though it came from HIMSS’ top leader.

  • The HIMSS chair and I tried again for HIMSS 2022. Same result!

  • I contacted six senior leaders and professors at a for-profit educational company whose sole focus is preparing sales executives to succeed in selling to healthcare organizations. They couldn’t have found a more perfect resource than my book! Despite two emails and a phone call to each of them, not one of them ever acknowledged my emails or voice messages.

  • I co-chaired two regional multi-day health tech conferences for an organization that also has a magazine devoted to promoting emerging technology. Since I knew the president, I approached him about seeing how my book might help his readership. After his initial expression of interest, he ghosted me.

Had any one of these initiatives succeeded, the book’s reach would have greatly expanded.

What do I make of all this? If I were cynical, I would accuse God of “teasing” me with so many false starts. Interestingly, I usually find it easiest to trust God when multiple things go wrong. One or two disappointments are frustrating, but so many fizzles can’t be “just coincidence.” (Of course since God absolutely controls everything, nothing is truly coincidental.)

Over the years, I’ve learned accusing God is a bad idea. First of all, he’s God and I’m not. Similar to what God asks Job after Job complains for several chapters, where was I when God created everything and set the world in motion?

Secondly, God doesn’t owe me anything. What I really deserve is condemnation and hell because of my sin. By his grace, God touched my heart years ago and forgave my sins, bringing me into a relationship with Jesus. Anything beyond this is pure blessing.

Furthermore, I’ve stopped “demanding” that God explain his reasons when things go south. Sometimes I can look over my shoulder and see some good that eventually emerges from problems or disasters. Sometimes I can’t. And that’s OK. Like I said, God doesn’t owe me anything. 

So what do you call the opposite of God blessing a venture? I call it part of God’s loving will for me, even if I don’t fully understand it. I hope you can embrace this attitude too.

Don't Do This to the Bible

In the 1980s I worked at a religiously sponsored hospital, and in 1988 they issued a wall calendar featuring a beautiful photo, a Bible verse, and an inspirational thought for each month of the year. Here’s the January entry:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me - John 14:6

Great verse! It comes from the lips of Jesus himself, and he claims the only way to truly know God is through him.

But look at the calendar’s reflection on that verse:

Am I the Way for others – or do they see me as a barrier?

Is my Truth evident in what I say – as opposed to what I do?

Does Life fill my days and nights – or is mere existence all I know?

Although these are important questions, the only thing they have in common with John 14:6 is the repetition of the words, “way,” “truth” and “life.” Jesus is pointing to himself in this verse, but the calendar turns that around to make the reader the focus.

This application violates the most fundamental principle of biblical interpretation:  understand what a verse means in its context before you decide how it applies to you.

Here’s John 14:6’s context. Jesus has just told the disciples he was going to the Father to prepare a place for them and that he would come back to take them with him. He then says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” This prompts Thomas, one of the disciples, to ask, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

This is when Jesus declares himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one came come to God apart from him.

Do the calendar’s three questions bear any relationship whatsoever to Jesus’ statement? When Thomas heard Jesus’ words, I suspect he was no more likely to wonder if he (Thomas) was a barrier to others (as mentioned in the calendar’s reflection) than he was to wonder what the weather was like in Rome that day.

The calendar’s questions are good ones, and we should consider whether or not we are following their advice. The problem is that the questions have no more connection to what Jesus said in John 14:6 than they do with advising me whether or not I should eat organic food.

It’s been said that you can use the Bible to prove any point. That’s true. In fact, I can show you that the Bible declares that God doesn’t even exist. Psalm 14:1 says – and this is a direct quote – “There is no God.”

Does that trouble you? Well, let me put you at ease. That’s only part of the verse. This is what the entire first part of Psalm 14:1 says: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

That’s quite different.

But my manipulation of that verse demonstrates how it’s possible to find a string of words that states something I already believe and then act as if God endorses my position. This amounts to treating the Bible like a book of magic. If I can find just the right combination of words, it has to be true. Never mind that that’s not what the passage really teaches.

Instead, we must fully understand what a particular passage means in both its immediate context and the Bible’s larger, overall framework before rushing to questionable interpretations or applications. Occasionally, I have gently challenged a well-meaning Christian’s interpretation or application of a particular passage I think they are misinterpreting only to have them question whether or not I really believe the Bible. Of course I do. But it has to be read responsibly.

Let me point you to a very helpful book about how to get the most out of reading, interpreting and applying the Bible:  How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. It’s both comprehensive and accessible to any reader.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-All-Worth/dp/0310517826/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TAG7UYYL90KB&keywords=how+to+read+the+bible+for+all+its+worth&qid=1708108859&sprefix=how+to+read+the+bible+for+%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-1

Reading and applying the Bible responsibly takes some work, but doing so is enormously rewarding as it will help you more completely understand how to live in the fullness of God’s love for you.

What My Eye Surgery Taught Me About the Christian Life

I’ve been blessed with excellent health my whole life. I never get sick. In fact, at my high school graduation, I was awarded a $25 savings bond for never having missed a day of school from third grade on. That’s about $2.50 per year.

The one exception to my crazy-good health is my eyesight. I started wearing glasses at seven and experienced continued nearsightedness until my glasses entered the Coke bottle range – minus 13.00 diopters – until it was greatly improved through surgery.

 

About ten years ago, I started experiencing double vision, a condition that was controlled by adding prisms to my glasses. However, in the last year, it got progressively worse to the point where my ophthalmologist recommended strabismus surgery where she would reach behind my eyeballs to adjust the muscles.

After waking up following the surgery in July, I noticed an immediate improvement, but the double vision had morphed a bit. I was still seeing double, but in a different way.

What happens is that, although the underlying muscle problems had been addressed, my brain needed time to “reprogram” itself to the new reality. Over the years, my brain had adapted to compensate for the muscle deficiency, and it needed time to relearn how to see. My surgeon told me this is normal and that the transition would take several weeks. And she was right. Over the next month or so, the symptoms gradually diminished, and things are back to normal now.

As I thought about this physical progression, I realized it’s also highly parallel to our spiritual growth. My double vision problem was immediately resolved by the surgery. But it took weeks for my brain to catch up with this new reality.

Isn’t that exactly what we experience as Christians? The moment you recognize your need to have your sins forgiven based on Jesus’ death and commit your life to follow him, your biggest life problem – separation from God – is solved. If you were to die at that moment, you would be immediately ushered into Jesus’ presence in heaven. However, if you remain on earth – which you clearly have done – you are still human with all the problems and limitations created by living in a messed-up world and by your past experiences, sin and mistakes.

Just as it took weeks for my brain to catch up with the new visual reality, it takes time to allow the Holy Spirit to transform me to become more like Jesus. In fact, the process will continue for the rest of my life.

Here are two implications of this dynamic:

  1. Give yourself grace for your mess-ups. You’re never going to completely “arrive.” The main thing is that you are submitting yourself to God’s leadership in your life and seeing him gradually change you.

  2. Extend the same grace to others. I know of some Christian leaders who demand immediate changes in a new believer’s life. Addictions and deeply ingrained patterns of sin take time to get uprooted. Of course, we should lovingly and graciously encourage changes based on God’s standards, but it’s important to give the other person time to mature into a more Christ-like life. You can’t demand someone go from 0 to perfect in a few days.

I’ve been writing about grace a lot lately, and this transformation process is just another example of how we need it for ourselves and others.

Meet Job Version 2.0

Back in May 2020, I introduced you to a very good friend of mine, Chris Hogg. I mentioned that I didn’t think I had ever known anyone else who has had so many things go wrong, none of which were self-inflicted. Here is the list of woes I mentioned:

·       His mother was an explosive bi-polar, and his father was a narcissist who constantly berated him.

·       His only sibling is a brother who was estranged from the family for years. Chris has a college-aged niece he only recently met.

·       Right before we started getting together, Chris’ wife of twenty years unexpectedly left him for another man.

·       His ex-wife did all she could to turn his children against him. He spent many thousands of dollars and almost two years battling to get custody of his then-school-aged son.

·       On January 30, 2018 Chris came within inches of being crushed to death when another driver performed an illegal U-turn right in front of him, causing a nearly fatal T-bone accident. Chris suffered a traumatic brain injury, major vision damage, significant pain, and multiple other injuries. Most of these problems remain five years later.

At the time, I stated that if there is a “Society of Job” in heaven, Chris will be a shoo-in once he arrives.

Since my last post about Chris, his credentials for joining the “Job Club” have only increased:

·       When Chris had to reign in his father’s reckless spending and take his car keys away for his own safety, his dad reported his to state Department of Family and Child Services for alleged theft and elder abuse.

·       On top of their full-time work responsibilities, Chris and his second wife had to assume nearly-full-time caregiving duties for both his parents as their health declined. Both parents recently died within a few months of each other.

·       Chris’ children and stepchildren have suffered significant personal and health issues, nearly bringing the family to the breaking point. One of his children has a severe medical condition from which she may not recover.

·       Chris’ own health has steadily declined to the point where he can only effectively function for a few hours a day. And he has to be in near complete darkness because of severe photosensitivity, an after-effect of the accident. What’s worse, there are days when he has trouble even getting his words out because of the traumatic brain injury.

·       About two years ago, Chris’ high-end camper was destroyed in a freak accident when the building it was stored in burned to the ground.

·       Last December, Chris contracted a mysterious eye infection which resulted in additional scarring and has further compromised his vision.

·       Besides the direct physical fallout from the truck accident, Chris has other ailments including a torn rotator cuff (brought on by his decades as a building contractor) and kidney cysts. He recently had a knee replacement and said he has never experienced this level of pain before, even from the accident. That’s quite a statement from someone who has suffered as much as he has.

 

A couple of months ago, I heard him complain for one of the first times. If it were me, my complaint undoubtedly would have included the entire list of everything mentioned above.

 

But what was Chris upset about? “I’m afraid all my physical needs are stealing my wife’s life from her.” Unbelievable! That was what was weighing most heavily on him – not his personal pain, not his reduced ability to work, not a sense that God was being unfair to him. He was most concerned about the impact of his needs on his wife!

 

When Annette and I visited Atlanta in June, I had the delightful experience of spending two hours over bagels and coffee with Chris. His genuine smile in this picture reflects his peaceful trust in Jesus despite unimaginable hardships. As he walked to his truck, Chris’ parting words to me were, “I’m super thankful, and I’m so blessed. This isn’t my permanent condition. Eternity will be a whole lot different and a whole lot better.”

 

I hold him up to you as one of the most incredible people I have ever met, not to make you feel guilty if you aren’t as upbeat as he is, but as an inspirational role model. He exemplifies trust in God, faithfulness, and humility like few I know. Next time you are tempted to complain about your rough circumstances or doubt God’s goodness, think about Chris and ask God to give you just a fraction of the grace he has blessed Chris with.

Two Things that Are Not Instant

Mezquita-Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain

As I’m writing this, my wife Annette and I are flying back from Madrid after two great weeks in eastern and southern Spain, our sixth or seventh trip to this wonderful country. Before each visit, I break out my high school Spanish textbook to reactivate the foreign language brain cells.

In college, I studied in Madrid for four months during which time I would occasionally dream in Spanish – a sign of true fluency. I also became certified to teach high school Spanish, and at one time I would have rated myself a 7 or 8 on a 10-point fluency scale. Today. I’m a 5 or 6 at best.

Unfortunately, once Spanish-speakers discover I’m pretty fluent, they often assume I can understand everything they say and start speaking as if they were a finalist is the “See How Many Words You Can Get Out in a Minute” contest. Not helpful.

During this trip I referred to my digital Spanish-English dictionary several times a day to look up technical words we encountered, and I learned the Spanish words for “drought,” “sickle,” “shortbread,” and (believe it or not) “Smurf.”

Somehow, a few months ago Face Book figured out we were going to Spain, so I have been flooded with offers to “learn Spanish in just 30 days” or “become conversational in just 10 minutes a day.” I doubt that any of these courses teach you the word for “Smurf.”

Residents of other countries love it when you at least try to speak a few words, but really feeling “at home” with a new language takes much more than casual study.

I learned this the hard way on my first trip to Europe while in college. Since I had a postcard to mail from Ulm, Germany, I decided to apply my one semester of college German to find a mailbox. After consulting my German-English dictionary, I patched together the German for, “Where is the postbox?” which I confidently asked the hotel desk clerk. He proceeded to deluge me with four rapid-fire German sentences, none of which I understood. It hadn’t occurred to me that if you ask a question in German, you will get an answer in German.

So, implying any truly conversational fluency in 30 days is optimistic at best. The fact that I’m only 5 or 6 in my Spanish fluency with my extensive background illustrates that language acquisition isn’t instantaneous.

I know this is disappointing in a day where “instant” is almost a given. I can “instantly” message anyone across the globe or “instantly” create an object using 3-D printing. So why not “instantly” learn a new language?

But it doesn’t work that way.

Nor does it when it comes to growing in your faith. Of course, anyone can start a relationship with Jesus the moment they recognize that their sin has separated them from God and that trusting in Jesus’ death and Resurrection is the only remedy. It’s free, and it’s available to everyone.

But some people who have been Christians for years lament the fact that they don’t know more about understanding the Bible, growing in their faith, grasping theology, or knowing church history. Well, how do you excel in anything:  a new language, tennis, piano? By study, diligent work and persistence. Why should it be any different with your walk with Jesus and knowledge of the faith?

You master Spanish by devoting yourself to memorizing vocabulary words, studying grammar rules, working on your pronunciation, and practicing your conversational skills. Historically, things that have helped Christians grow are reading the Bible, memorizing important verses, spending time in prayer, attending worship services, meeting with other Christians, sharing their faith, investigating church history, and studying theology.

Disclaimer! I am not listing these activities as yet another set of burdens or requirements. Anyone who knows me knows I hate anything that smacks of legalism:  doing good things so God will think more highly of you. What I’m pointing out is that people find the time to pursue the things they really care about. You don’t accidentally become fluent in Spanish. Nor do you accidentally become fluent in all things Christian. The latter takes motivation and determination empowered by the Holy Spirit. Rather than guilting you, I’m trying to challenge you to consider if you need to step up your game when it comes to deepening your understanding of the faith and your walk with Jesus.

And beyond this encouragement, let me recommend that if you ever have the chance to visit Spain, do it!

As You Plan, Don’t Forget the “G Factor”

Some financial planners say the word “retirement” isn’t in most people’s vocabularies until they’re in their forties – typically the first time they get serious about retirement planning.

 

When Annette and I hit that decade, we took stock of our progress. We were in decent shape, but I wasn’t sure if we were completely on track. This caused us to look at how to close the gap. The most likely possibilities were:

  • I could potentially get a new job that either paid more or had a better retirement program.

  • Either Annette or I could work additional years which would both allow us to add to our retirement savings and reduce the number of years in retirement (meaning our savings would last longer).

 

I didn’t have any likely job prospects on the horizon, and, although we didn’t have specific target dates for retirement, we weren’t excited about the thought of prolonging our working years.

 

This led us to brainstorm about some additional options. Disclaimer:  Some of these are far-fetched, and a couple are downright apocalyptic.

  • Perhaps my going-in assumptions were overly conservative, meaning our situation was actually more favorable than my modeling projected.

  • We had a distant family member with considerable resources. PERHAPS, some of that wealth would eventually come our way.

  • There was always the possibility of an inheritance.

  • Although we didn’t play the lottery, occasionally someone would give us a ticket. MAYBE one of them would result in a windfall.

 

And now here are the more extreme scenarios:

  • Perhaps both Annette and I would die before retirement age, thereby eliminating altogether the need for retirement income.

  • Perhaps the entire economy would collapse, in which case, no amount of planning or saving would ultimately matter.

  • Perhaps Jesus would return before we retired.

 

Admittedly, these last few are highly improbable, but they WERE remote possibilities. For the record, I don’t recommend counting on Jesus’ return as your primary retirement strategy.

 

This analysis of our situation was a bit discouraging, even somewhat depressing. And it prompted at least some worry. Although we thoroughly believe God controls absolutely every circumstance of our lives, I couldn’t help just a little fretting.

 

I’m all for realistic analysis. However, as you plan, you should never overlook the “G Factor” – the God Factor. Despite your best planning, you really can’t control the outcome. That’s up to God. The book of Proverbs refers to this numerous times:

  • Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails (19:21).

  • The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord (21:31).

  • Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth (27:1).

 

Jesus urges us in the Sermon on the Mount to refrain from worrying (Matthew 6:25-34). And in Philippians 4:6-7 the Apostle Paul teaches:  “Do not be anxious for anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will rule your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

      

This applies even when things are less than ideal or even disastrous. We can sometimes catastrophize the future – assuming the worst will happen – when projections are unfavorable.

 

I know. It’s easy to say we shouldn’t worry but much harder to practice.  However, God wants you to live that way.

 

Bottom line:  Plan realistically based on the most likely scenario, do your part to achieve your goals, but never forget that God ultimately controls everything that happens. This means that you have exactly what he wants you to have – no more and no less.

 

It turns out my assumptions were far too conservative, and we also received some unexpected fiscal blessings, one of which was not even on my list. God has been good to us!

Responding Like a Brat

During my five years in the Cru music ministry, it was always a special treat to visit the home areas of someone in the ministry, and one time we happened to be playing for the Sunday morning service of the music ministry assistant director’s home church in Ohio. And, it just happened that Larry and his family were in town that same weekend. And, it also just happened to be his four-year-old daughter Ashley’s birthday that Sunday.

Admittedly, there might have been a slight “kiss-up” motive in doing this, but we decided to present Ashley with a birthday gift – a cute little kids’ china teapot with matching tea cups. So right before the service, we told Larry we had a gift for Ashley. Larry located her in the elementary kids’ play area where she was fully engaged in cooking a pretend meal – so engaged, in fact, that she didn’t want to stop, even after being asked repeatedly to do so.

“Ashley, can you come here?” Larry asked.

Nothing.

“Ashley, please stop playing and come see Daddy.”

Still nothing,

“Ashley, look at me.  Come here now.”

This time, she looked up and said, “I don’t want to.”

The scene escalated to the point of anger on Larry’s part, tears on Ashley’s, and embarrassment on ours to have to witness this scene. She finally settled down enough so we could present our gift to her, but the joy of the moment had clearly vanished for all of us.

Later that morning, out drummer Stuart connected the dots and wondered out loud how many times we react to God’s gifts the way Ashley did to ours. Here we were, offering her a free gift of something we had picked out especially for her, something we thought she would particularly enjoy. But she was so wrapped up in playing with borrowed toys that she wouldn’t stop long enough to receive a gift she would be able to keep forever if she liked.

In Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus asks:

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

In Ashley’s case, she wasn’t even asking for anything. We were the ones initiating the gift-giving. God gives each of us good gifts every single day:  life, health, food, clothing, relationships, the chance to help others, etc. And then there are the times he blesses us with extra-special little reminders of his presence, things he’s orchestrated to bless us in specific ways, tailored for each of us. 

But you have to be willing to lay down your “borrowed toys” long enough to accept the unique gifts he’s selected just for you. How closely are you listening? How willing are you to respond without hesitation?