He Is With Us

I had trouble sleeping this weekend. I was preaching at a church a few hours from home and had to go alone. My wife and three children were at home together and I was in a hotel 2 hours away.

I will admit, part of me enjoyed the peace and quiet, all too rare with three toddlers in the house. I was able to read as much of a book as I wanted uninterrupted. The car ride was peaceful and the radio stayed on the station I wanted to listen to. I didn't have to take anyone to the potty and I didn't have to change a single diaper all weekend. It was nice.

But then I tried to fall asleep. I didn't realize how accustomed I had become to having someone else in the bed with me. I tossed and turned all night and laid awake for hours. I discovered I don't really like sleeping alone. I like to know someone is with me.

I don't think I'm alone. I think most people like to know someone is with us.

I was reminded of my sleepless night while reading the drama of Joseph's life. Joseph rode a roller coaster of favor and famine. From his father's favored son to his brother's pit. Then from the pit and slavery to Potiphar's house. From Potiphar's house to prison then from prison to the throne.

I was particularly taken by a verse about Joseph's time in prison. The Bible says that, "God was with Joseph and showed him stedfast love and gave him favor" (Gen. 39:20-23, ESV). In prison.

Most of us think we've been abandoned by God when we're in the pit. God showed Joseph "stedfast love" and was with him. It's often difficult, when you're living in the graybar motel, to feel as if you've been shown stedfast love and favor. And yet, He is with us.

We often don't even know it but He's with us. We must not judge the two disciples on the road to Emmaus too harshly because we've all walked in their shoes. Distraught, confused and completely unaware that while we deliberate the dilemma we're in He is walking with us.

The most common promise in scripture is not that He will heal us, though He will. It is not that He will deliver us, though He is a deliverer. It is not that He will provide for us, though He does bless His children.

The most common promise in scripture is, "I will be with you." Even the promised name the angels declared was "Emmanuel" which being interpreted is "God with us" (Matt. 1:23).

So, as a friend once advised me, if you come to a fork in the road, take it. Because no matter where you go, He is with us.

Reputation

"I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."
George Washington

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better be alone than in bad company."
George Washington

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
John Wooden

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
Abraham Lincoln

"If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of me."
Dwight L. Moody

"Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving."
William Shakespeare

"Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us."
Thomas Paine

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
(Philippians 2:5-11, KJV)

I fear I am not alone in my concern for my reputation. Often, in ministry, your reputation is all you have. If you don't protect it no one else will. My fear, however, is that I and many others are protecting our reputations at the expense of the Kingdom. We fear the effects the tongues of men will have on our reputations if we should dare to follow the raw challenge and call of God we've heard.

That being said, I am haunted by Philippians 2.

Christ was willing to make Himself of "no reputation" in order to fulfill His divine commission. Yet we hesitate and pass on opportunities to further the Gospel and the kingdom, to minister to souls we have every right to minister to in a way that is acceptable to God because we fear the effect that ministry will have on our reputation. We guard our reputation with more ferocity than we fulfill our call. That is idolatry. Nothing more, nothing less.

When I read the Old and New Testament record I find men and women who lost their reputation in search of a greater treasure than the approval and praise of men. When I read the modern story of the revelation that came at Azusa and after I read of men and women who lost the status they held in their networks, lost friendships and reputations, in pursuit of truth and the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Joseph lost his reputation and maintained his character while following the plan of God for his life. Moses lost his reputation pursuing God's purpose in his life. David lost his reputation and was excoriated by his brethren yet he kept his spirit right with God.

A good name is better to be chosen than riches. Truth. I am not advocating reckless behavior which sacrifices both character and reputation willfully. Maintain your reputation as best you can by maintaining your character. Yet the reality is that your character can be clean and your reputation be soiled by the slander and the libel of wicked men. Men will malign your motives and curse your name for every good intention. When they do, care not for your reputation and continue to do good.

Sometimes following the call of God in our lives might mean we face the reality of men mischaracterizing our motives and misunderstanding our intentions. We could be subject to unjust criticism and rebuke. When we face that fork in the road and must decide between our reputation and God's call, even if we are "despised and rejected of men", I pray we have the courage and the faith to pursue God's purpose in faithfulness and integrity.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ...

I Am Not A Christian

I’m not a Christian. Not in any meaningful sense of the word.

Sure, I believe in Jesus Christ. I attend a church service or two every week and occasionally read my Bible. But sitting on a pew does not make me a Christian any more than standing in a bank makes me wealthy. My relative location to Christian things and spaces does not transfer to me Christ like character. I may go to church, but I am not a Christian.

I pray when I need something and worship only when it’s convenient. I give, yet often grudgingly and sparingly. I forgive, but only when it might benefit me. I serve, but only when called upon to do so and offered acknowledgement and reward. I love, but only when love is offered in return. I bless, but only those who have blessed me. I care, but often only for those who I feel are deserving of care. I sacrifice, but only after I have been shamed, rewarded, or pressured to do so. The more I read the BIble, and then examine my life in light of how Christ lived, the more I am convinced, I am not a Christian.

He ate with sinners and politicians without one reservation as to how the company he kept would effect His reputation. He touched people He should have never even talked to. He healed people that His culture didn’t even demand He recognize as persons. He went out of His way, and often, to minister a small thing to one individual in a meaningful way. He showed kindness and grace to everyone, except for those who felt they deserved it. It was with the religious that Jesus argued, the hypocrites he rebuked, and it was the self-righteous which He humbled. The people I’m most comfortable with, church people, were the ones Jesus felt most at odds with. The people He invested in were those with failures and sin, the same people I avoid.

He sacrificed all and asked nothing in return. He was a man of “sorrows and acquainted with grief” knowing that millions throughout history would reject His love. He was giving, loving, gracious, virtuous, kind, merciful, long-suffering, faithful and true. I find in myself that I am selfish, ungrateful, hard hearted, impatient, demanding, dishonest, intemperate, corrupt, deceptive and unfaithful. I am not a Christian.

It was John Piper who, when asked what if anything might cause him to disbelieve in God, said, “If anything might cause me to disbelieve in God it would be how painfully slow and inefficient the sanctification process has been in me.” I take comfort in the fact that Paul wrestled with the same assessment of himself. He called himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) and confessed that he felt as though he had not yet attained Christ-likeness, but he was still trying (Phil. 3). He wrestled with his nature and called himself carnal and sinful (Rom. 7:14-25) acknowledging that “the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do”.

If being a Christian is defined in generic terms as anything associated with the teachings of Jesus Christ then I suppose I could call myself a Christian. However, if being a Christian means possessing the character and virtue of Christ, then I am not a Christian.

What I am is a believer, a follower of Christ, who all too often falls short of being like my Lord. However, I am still a disciple of His. I am redeemed, justified and still trying. I believe if I remain subject to the Holy Spirit Christ will continue to be formed in me and someday I will be like Him for I will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). The truth, right now, is that I am not a Christian. Not yet.

I think the nerves of a parent get worn down over the course of the day. There's something about the constant questions and yelling and action that surrounds children that can be exhausting.

They can't reach something, they can't find something, they're fighting with each other, someone's thirsty, someone's peed their pants. It's demanding and we end up saying, "No".

I found myself saying "No" the other day. My daughter asked for a cup of chocolate milk in her naturally energetic manner. I told her No. A few minutes later, "Can we go outside?" Again I said No.

Daughter: "Can you find my crayons?"

Me: "No, you can find them."

"No, you've had enough. Not yet. In a minute. You'll have to wait. Not right now. Put that down. Get down from there. Sit down. Quit that. No, No, No."

After a few hours of this it dawned on me that all I had said to her that day was "No". And that didn't bother me so much as that I didn't know why. I was just saying No because it was my first reaction and it was easy to do. It kept me from interrupting my plans to do what she had asked. Even though they were simple requests I just said, "No".

I wonder how often I've unnecessarily said No to others. I like when people say Yes to me. I like when people cooperate with me. Yet I find it easier to dismiss their requests than to say Yes to them. So I say No. "I can't. So sorry, that won't work. I wish I could, but No."

A few years ago Jim Carrey starred in a movie called "Yes Man". He found his life isolated and uneventful and decided to change all of that. For one year he said "yes" to every one and every thing that came his way. As is expected from Jim Carrey, hilarity ensues. The underlying message of the film was to learn to balance the yes and no's of life. To say "yes" as often as possible and to say "no" only when necessary.

I don't find myself isolated and my life is certainly not uneventful. Yet I still feel the challenge to say "no" less and "yes" more. I wonder what I might be missing by rejecting opportunities. I wonder what friendships and experiences I'm missing by saying no instead of yes.

I wonder how often I've said No to God. I wonder how often He's asked me to do something and, just because it was easier, I said no. Maybe I said No because it was my first reaction and it was easy to do. It kept me from interrupting my plans to do what He had asked. They might have even been simple requests, yet I just said, "No".

It makes me wonder what I've missed out on. What experiences and rewards. What opportunities to minister to someone, to share the love of Jesus Christ. What blessings and what change in myself has been delayed because I've said no to something I should have said yes.

No. I don't want to say no as much anymore. Not to chocolate milk, not to my wife. Certainly not to the voice of God.

I will continue to say No to socks with sandals.

Everything else, I'll start with yes.

Off The Grid

We do a lot of driving. A lot. When you put as many miles on a vehicle as we do you get to see many interesting things.

Recently we were driving through Northern Illinois, down an endless stretch of Interstate 39 (motto: "If you're not asleep yet, you will be."), when we saw something interesting. It was several miles worth of wind turbines. The further we traveled the more we saw.

We drove into Iowa and we saw more. In Iowa City we saw a factory where the blades were being assembled and distributed just off the interstate. In Bloomington, Il. we saw miles of them along the highways. Near Interstate 55 in McLean, Il. There's another couple hundred acres that has several dozen wind turbines on them.

I got curious. I got on Google.

Apparently this is one of the clean energy sources that our nation is investing in to supply the power demands typically filled by fossil fuels. According to a NY Times article on October 12th, 2010, Google and a unnamed New York financial firm have each agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5 billion transmission backbone for future offshore wind farms along the Atlantic coast between New Jersey and Delaware*.

Wind farms are big business and are indicative of a growing trend in America. There is a movement of people going "off the grid". The way things have been done for the decades since electricity became commercially available are under scrutiny and many are choosing to reject the "grid".

There is a family that lives outside of the town where we live who has a wind turbine on his property. It is smaller than the kind you would see off the interstate because it must only power his home. His home is connected to the grid but it does not draw any power from the grid. His wind turbine produces all the energy required to power his home and any excess energy is stored in a battery shed also located on his property. On some months his turbine produces so much energy and stores it in the battery shed that the power company will draw reserve amounts from him for use on the mainstream grid. Thus, some months, not only does he not get a bill in the mail, he gets a check!

A public utility begins to serve a region with electricity. Poles are raised and wires are strung. When a contractor builds a home he ties that home into the electric grid and that home has access to power. For decades this has been a business or home owners only choice for power. However, with new technology and the availability of clean energy being of great concern to many the grid is no longer a consumers only

choice. As a result many now are choosing to go off the grid.

I feel a movement of the same degree is advancing through American spirituality. Many are tired of the high cost and the inefficiency of what the grid has to offer.

We're born and then sent to school before we even know what's going on. We go to school, get good grades and hopefully graduate. We go to college, get drunk, sleep around and hopefully graduate. We find a job, get married, raise a family, take a couple vacations, volunteer somewhere and hope at the end of it all we don't have to go to a nursing home and someone cries at our funeral. We live and die and there's nothing more to life.

And that's all the grid has to offer.

I, along with millions of other Americans, reject that notion. I join them in going off the grid!

We reject that life is meaningless and random but we believe there is more to life than death and taxes. There is freedom, peace, and real joy to be found. In our travels we've found scores of youth groups and churches that have unplugged and gone "off the grid". They've decided that they want their lives to be fueled by the power of the wind. They're not plugging into this world and paying the highest of costs to draw the sorrow and heartache that the grid has to offer.

They've decided that they don't have to be promiscuous, they don't have to intoxicate themselves with drink and substance, and they don't have to chase the dollar and status at the expense of their family and peace. They can plug into the power that a life lived in Jesus Christ has to offer. A power Jesus compared to the wind when He said, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (John 3:7-8,KJV).

If I live a little bit different than most it's not because I'm crazy. It's because I've found there is more to life.

I'm going off the grid.

*http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/science/earth/12wind.html

Simplicity

I tried recently to set up a new laptop and wireless network for a PC user, who will remain unnamed. I was quickly reminded why I have the enthusiasm I do for my mac. In a word, simplicity.

After three failed attempts to setup the network the PC suggested I call customer service. I did so and their automated system disconnected me, not once, not twice, but three times. I was finally successful at getting everything the way we wanted it, but not without great frustration and a bitten lip.

I readily admit, I don't understand PC's. Frankly, I don't think anyone does. I know the tech guys at Staples act like they do, with their fancy words and their complicated Microsoft jargon. But they don't really know. No one does. How else do you explain Vista?

I walked away quickly, joyfully, thankfully, from that Acer laptop ever so grateful to return to the waiting trackpad of my friendly, efficient Macbook. They're just so...there's no words, it's just better.

It's just better with a Mac. They're simple, clean and efficient. I think it's the simplicity that draws me into the fellowship of other mac lovers. All I've ever used, since I was 14 years old, is an Apple product. I once backslid for about a year in an ill advised fling with a cheap Compaq laptop that proved itself as dependable as a leaky rowboat. My conversion is complete. Yes, I even have the apple sticker on the back of my foreign car. As much as is within my power, I'll always use a mac.

Life is complicated enough. I don't need my computer to join the fray.

I feel myself being drawn, in nearly every aspect of my life, to those things that offer the most simplicity. I don't think I am alone. Trend watchers will tell you that there is a paradigm shift occurring in our culture from the complicated and complex to the simple and the organic.

From business models to education plans, cell phones to computers, there is a rebellion occurring and complexity is being thrown out of office. Complexity has two ugly children; reduced efficiency and higher costs. Complicated, demanding systems are often pretentious, affected and incredibly inefficient. They tend to marginalize participants and, when they're "fleshed out", end up serving the system rather than the purpose for which the system exists. I realize these are grand generalizations but as I talk with friends I find this sentiment echoed with increasing frequency.

The office superstore Staples struck a chord with their "easy button" marketing campaign. People are exhausted with complex, convoluted, difficult systems. We want things to be simple again.

Complexity is being replaced with simplicity. There's something very appealing about simple things. Simple chords, simple words, simple acts, simple machines. Simple lives. Life is so complex it overwhelms most of us. Tax codes and instructions, manuals, procedures, red tape, bureaucracy, policy and applications. Why? Why can't things just be simple?

I think they can. I think they are. Things are changing and the world is beginning to arc towards simplicity. A wonder amongst it all is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been beautifully simple since Jesus first came.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

I love that. He said, "I'm easy". There is nothing simpler or more compelling than what Jesus Christ offers.

Enough is Enough

After an evening of watching television commercials one might easily be convinced that the American dream is to be in debt.

"That's a little dramatic don't you think?" Think again.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston there are 156 Million credit card holders in the United States and 576.4 Million open credit cards. That is 3.5 credit cards per person with an average balance of $3,000 per card. As of March 2010 the total U.S. revolving debt, 98% of which is made up of credit cards was $852.6 Billion dollars and total U.S. consumer debt was $2.42 trillion. That's just the credit cards. That leaves unstated mortgages and vehicle loans.

When is enough enough?

The average American has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 cars and 1 big problem. We want, we buy, we charge, we consume. We end up in debt, stressed out, working more overtime, sacrificing our families because we have bills to pay. We miss watching our kids grow up and lose precious time with them to make sure we have the shiniest metal in the driveway and the most square feet in the best of neighborhoods and we call it all living the dream. We don't know when enough is enough.

Famed Chicago architect Mies Van Der Rohe made famous the dictum "Less is more." That may be true of the skyscrapers downtown but as far as the suburbs are concerned, more is better.

There must be a place in our lives where the contentment of enough takes over. A moment where we can step back and realize we have been blessed. Enough is enough.

I was particularly stressed some time ago over an amount of money that I needed to spend, did not want to spend and did not have to spend. I spent a day or two worrying about it and being generally irritable. Then I started to look around and realized just how blessed we were.

My wife and I have everything we need. I could have never dreamed of all the ways we've been blessed and had our needs met. We have a simple and comfortable home, two dependable vehicles and 2 beautiful children. We have friends whose company we enjoy and loved ones we are blessed to live near. For us, it's enough.

Would we like more? Sure. If someone gave us a Cadillac Escalade, we'd take it!

Contentment is not synonymous with stagnation. Just because we are content does not mean I would not like a newer car, a more spacious home or more money in the bank. It does not mean we've given up trying or have decided to be proud of our poverty.

Our contentment means I will not sacrifice what really matters for those things that are just things. We will try to acquire what we need and what we would like as we are able. Until then, we can be satisfied and content in the blessings we enjoy all around us.

We have enough, and enough is enough.

*source for credit statistics: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276.php