Destiny: Frog or Follower?

There was a frog that absolutely knew his destiny was to turn in to a handsome young prince. But for confirmation, he decided to visit a fortuneteller. The fortuneteller brought the frog in and gazed into her crystal ball. She said, “Oh, I see something. You are going to meet a beautiful young woman.”

      The frog gets very antsy, “Yes, I knew it. I’m going to become a prince.”

      The fortuneteller continues, “From the moment she sets eyes on you she will have an insatiable desire to know all about you. She will be compelled to get close to you--you’ll fascinate her."

      The frog is very excited. He asks, “Where am I? At a party? A restaurant? A book store?”

      The fortuneteller answers, “No, Biology class.”

The frog BELIEVED he was on the path to happiness, fortune, position and glory.  With ALL HIS HEART he believed.  He so believed that even as the fortune teller described his future the amphibian was seeing what he wanted to see, hearing through the lens of the believed destiny.  He filled in the blanks with pictures that came from desire rather than truth.  His belief actually blinded him to truth.  Wow!

Did the fact that he believed with all his heart change his destiny?  Nope.  Truth was still true.

How many of us see our future through the lens of desire rather than truth?  It paints a picture that is wonderful but is a fairy tale. 

There is a popular religious philosophy called “Universalism” that paints a fairy tale picture. And that fairy tale is embraced by many.  Universalism states that everyone will eventually go to Heaven. Everyone, without exception, will be reconciled with God and enjoy eternity in everlasting blessedness.  Sounds appealing because we don’t like to think of anyone we care about missing Heaven and entering Hell.  But what does truth say?  Over and over in Jesus’ teaching and that of the other New Testament writers we read that ONLY those who turn to God will go to Heaven.  In fact, Jesus says it is only a comparable FEW!!  Jesus’ words, not mine.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

  

Who are the "few" who find the road that leads to Heaven?  Read on.

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)

Those who KNOW Jesus and, as a result, do the will of God are the few who go to Heaven.  Exclusively.

Fairy tale or truth. 

Someday we will stand before He Who is THE Truth.  Many will face it shocked and wide eyed like the frog as Jesus says “I never knew you” and go to eternal pain in Hell. Few will feel their hearts jump when Jesus welcomes them into Heaven.  At that point, all that matters is TRUTH.

What are you living?  Seriously, don’t get smug and flippant.  Take a hard look.  Are you really, really doing the desires of God out of loving relationship?  No excuses, no “oh, God will understand,” no twisting Jesus’ words even a little bit.  Simply a very hard look into TRUTH.  Better now than later.

Because the truth is what matters. 

Frog or follower? 

Boldly, Herb

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Romney, Obama and 180 degrees

If a Jupiterian (is that a word?), a person from Jupiter visited earth during the month of August 2012, he/she/it would have lived an interesting experience.

One week he/she/it would have discovered that, according to the roar of the crowds in Tampa, that Mitt Romney has all the answers for America to move toward Utopia in the next four years.  And that the nation is cheering madly for him.  And that Barack Obama has no answers and no supporters.

The next week he/she/it would have discovered that, according to the roar of the crowds in Charlotte, that Barack Obama has all the answers for America to move toward Utopia in the next four years.  And that the nation is cheering madly for him.  And that Mitt Romney has no answers and no supporters.

180 degrees from one another.  Completely opposite messages, completely opposite platforms, completely opposite support.

Or so it would seem.  But look more closely with me.  Pull back the veneer, get out the magnifying glass and what we will see is an embedded, generally accepted, taken for granted message shared by both.

I know, I know.  Some of you are thinking I was in the August sun too long.  Yet the message is the same.

Ready?  “The answers to life can be found in this world.  The human spirit is enough to turn around all our problems to have a healthy, prosperous, enjoyable life.”  Granted, they have different paths, but the same message.

180 degrees from reality.

This world is broken and human beings have been trying to fix it with their knowledge and skill for eons.  How’s that working for us?  Tower of Babel, Roman Empire, Constantine’s hijacking of Christianity, Middle Ages, industrial revolution, atomic energy and on and on it goes.  The human race has developed an incredible ability to take what is good and break it.

180 degrees from what we really want.

The answers are available… but not from this world.  After thousands and thousands of years doesn’t it just make LOGICAL sense (beyond spiritual) to try something different?  That is the definition of insanity, you know.  But we have also developed the incredible ability to deny truest reality and keep trying to figure it out and fix it.

I wonder what the Jupiterian’s report to HQ would be.  Ponder for a moment what God says.

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” 1 Corinthians 1:25 (NIV)

“… so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” 1 Corinthians 2:5 (NIV)

 “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:15b (NIV)

 ^“We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

180 degrees.  Will you join me in getting smarter by looking to the ONLY ONE with real answers?

Boldly, Herb

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Pigs in a Blanket

Centuries ago Sheila and I were preparing for our wedding. “How about if we have pigs in a blanket at the wedding?” she asked. I thought it was rather strange that sausages wrapped in a pancake would be served at a wedding reception. But this was Toledo… in a polish family… not the first time I had discovered something odd about my wonderful fiancée… and she was the bride, so I agreed.

Months later we were walking hand in hand out of the sanctuary where, for some reason beyond my understanding, Sheila had said “I do” when asked if she took me to be her husband. “You need to get into the fellowship hall! They’re ready to serve the food,” my brand new mother-in-law exclaimed.

First in line (being the groom has a few privileges), we gathered our food at the buffet. I saw all the food we had requested except the pigs in a blanket. In their place were hamburger stuffed into cabbage covered in a red sauce. “Where are the pigs in a blanket?” I whispered to the woman in white beside me.

“Right there!”

“Right where?” Perhaps love really had blinded me. “I don’t see them.”

Sheila poked her fork at the cabbage rolls, “Right there!”

“Those aren’t pigs in a blanket,” I responded. “Pigs in a blanket are sausages wrapped in pancakes.”

“Why would we have sausages and pancakes at our wedding reception?”

“That’s what I thought when you asked to have them months ago, but, hey, it’s your wedding.”

“That’s just silly. Eat your pigs in a blanket and be happy.”

It was our first argument as a married couple.

Who was right? Both of us. In southern Ohio pigs in a blanket are sausages wrapped in pancakes. In northern Ohio they are hamburger wrapped in cabbage.

Neither one of us thought to describe them because we couldn’t imagine anything else. And so we were both blind to the reality of the other person.

Is it possible we have grown up in a world so upside down from God’s reality that we are blind to what is true? It’s not that we ever intended to be, it’s just that we have not spent enough time with God to see and hear Him describe what is real, what is true, what is valuable, what is important, what we should live for, what will matter while we’re alive and when we die. Is it possible that we think we know what God is talking about but will only find out on our “wedding day” (see Revelation 21) that what we thought was WAY wrong?

It’s not a big deal to know what pigs in a blanket are. It is eternally essential to know what is really real.

“What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:15b (NIV)

^“We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

Boldly, Herb

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We Want a Pill, God Requires a Process

Much is made of the 40 years the Israelites spent rootless in the desert after crossing the Red Sea without a bridge or a boat. Even people unfamiliar with the Bible know of that side trip. It was never meant to be that way. But it was. Because…

The Israelites wanted a pill when God required a process.

It is only about 250 miles, or about a month’s journey from the KOA at the Red Sea to the milk and honey stand at the Promised Land. Yet after two months they were not even gazing it. Did God fail them? Nope. God’s design was for them to spend a couple years or so in the desert preparing for the challenges ahead. These were idol worshipping, fearful, complaining, uneducated ex-slaves who didn’t know how to take care of themselves let alone go to battle for the Promised Land. God intended to use the comparatively short time in the desert to transform them into the people of God who could take the land from the people there, who would represent Him and who would bless all nations. The only way for that to happen was a process that would take more than 8 weeks.

But they insisted on a pill when God never relents on requiring a process.

Like every other person left to human tendencies, the Israelites didn’t want to wait, to say no to their desires, to allow the necessary process. They wanted the promises of the Promised Land NOW! They saw God’s delay as God holding out on them or punishing them when in truth He was protecting and preparing them for more than they could imagine.

The demanded a pill when God offers only the path of a process.

As a result, only two months after the ejection from slavery, they thought Moses was lost and they were abandoned. They felt Moses had been gone too long a time (it had been less than 40 days) so they voted God out of their lives and golden calf in. Instead of being the people of God, they became a laughingstock to the other nations by their revelry. God had to use the Levites to cut down 3000 to regain order, and He sent a plague to punish them.

We want a pill; God requires a process.

It appears to me anything less than 10 years is a bargain when we look at the length of Biblical processes.

Abraham: over 35 years waiting, watching and obeying.

Joseph: 13 years as a slave.

Moses: 40 years in the wilderness.

Joshua: 40 years as Moses’ assistant.

Jesus: 30 years growing up as a human.

Paul: 3 years in the desert of Arabia and more years learning from Christian leaders.

If we asked them, “Would you prefer a pill that would deliver instantly or a process that will be painful, long and try you to your last reserve?” I’m sure the natural preference would be the tablet with a glass of water, please. I also believe that if we asked them at THE END of the process, “Was it worth all that you went through?” they would answer without hesitation, “YES, YES, a thousand times YES!” Because the results of God’s process are ALWAYS far beyond what we could dream up. And pills never, ever deliver what we really want.

God doesn’t do pills. The world offers a pill when God offers a process. And we know how that works out.

⁸“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. ⁹“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

So which will it be - pill or process? If you choose God, give up the complaining and moaning. Look for what God wants to do and do it quickly. The Israelites could have been out of the desert and into the Promised Land in a fraction of 40 years but they did not submit to God’s process.

What about you? Pill or process? Desert or Promised Land? Golden calf or cooperate with God? Your Choice.

Boldly, Herb

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Broken Limbs on the Family Tree

As a kid I got interested in my ancestors.  My dad’s reply to my questions:  (are you ready?)  “Herbie,” (yes, that’s what they called me, but don’t YOU try it!), “Don’t go looking too far up my family tree.  You’re likely to find some people hanging there.”  He meant it literally.  He was wrong.  I found people hanging on BOTH sides of my family tree.

Broken limbs. 

All the way up and down the branches are patterns of brokenness of every kind.  Repeatedly.  Ugly.  Nasty.  Surprising. Disappointing. Wouldn’t think so since I am such a nice guy, eh?  To be fair, there are many good people along the branches as well.  I just didn’t realize how many messed up it is. Broken limbs.

I’m feeling better now.  Recently I checked up Jesus’ family tree.  You’d think, being the Son of God and all, that Jesus would a branch of a healthy, clean, nearly perfect family tree.  And you would be totally wrong.  Abraham was a liar, throwing his wife under the bus by claiming she was his sister to save his hide.  Isaac was permissive, following his father’s footsteps and Rebekah was a controlling deceiver, following suit with her family system.  Jacob stole his brother’s birthright and blessing, ran to his mother’s brother to avoid Esau’s wrath, was deceived by his future father-in-law and then turned around to do the same to him.  Joseph was a spoiled brat and his brothers were angry and jealous enough to kill him.  There are murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, outcasts and every other broken limb you can think of. 

But He was the Son of God Who forgives, reconciles and empowers!  The broken limbs of his ancestry do not define Him. 

Nor do mine.  Nor do yours.  It doesn’t matter what they were, it only matters WHOSE you are! 

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Why?  Just so we could be better than the broken limbs of our past?  No.  So that we can enjoy the freedom and blessing of being whole.  AND so that we taste, look and smell like Him, causing people to look at us but see Him.  Salt of the earth, light of the world, aroma of Christ.

¹⁵And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. ¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:15-21 (NIV)

If not for Christ, I would be one of the broken limbs.  But Christ has made me new.  Brand, spanking new creation.  From the inside out, remaking this broken limb.  No credit to me.  All I did was say “Yes.” 

Have you? 

Boldly, Herb

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Dick Clark and Chuck Colson

Two men died this week.  Well, actually, more than two died, but I’m thinking of two in particular.  Both had huge impact in vastly different ways. 

Dick Clark aspired to greatness in the entertainment industry.  He is being remembered as a man who shaped the way TV looks and feels; who “legitimized” rock n roll through the new medium of TV; who brought Chubby Checker, Kiss, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, James Brown, Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Madonna, and many more to the world stage.  His work made him wealthy, powerful and present in American entertainment for half a century.

Chuck Colson aspired to greatness in American politics.  He is remembered as a man who had the ear of THE president and an office next to him in the White House.  He was described as "Richard Nixon's hard man, the 'evil genius' of an evil administration."  His ambition led him to great heights.  His desperate desire to stay there led to committing crimes in the blemish known as Watergate and to prison for seven months.  He was disbarred, despised and disgraced, ending his career in law and politics. 

Of those two men, it appears that Dick Clark was the one to be admired and emulated.  “That is success, my child.  Try to be like him,” many a parent could say and point to Dick Clark.  “That is failure, my child.  Avoid at all costs being like him,” the same parent could say and point to Chuck Colson. 

But that depends on how “success” is defined. 

As far as I can tell, Dick Clark was a nice guy. Outwardly he had it all and people seemed to love him.  But is that TRUE success?

Chuck Colson was pursued and arrested by God during the Watergate scandal.  Having all outward success yanked from his tightly clenched fists, he looked up to his Pursuer and surrendered to Christ.  Colson thought prison was the end yet it turned out to be the beginning.  In prison Colson’s heart was also arrested by the injustices done to prisoners and the lack of true rehabilitation.  After his release, he founded Prison Fellowship, a ministry to prisoners and their families as well as a voice for prison reform.  In addition, for over three decades he became one of the key Christian voices speaking for Christ into a secularized culture.

Dick Clark gave us music and entertainers to make us happy.  Chuck Colson brought hope to the hopeless.

Dick Clark left a plethora of songs to please our ears.  Chuck Colson left actions and words that challenge our souls to look to the only One Who can give us true pleasure.

Dick Clark got us to dance.  Chuck Colson challenged us to feed the hungry, visit the prisoners, bring justice to the oppressed, clothe the naked and live boldly for the Savior.

Dick Clark died wealthy and powerful.  Chuck Colson died humbly and away from the places of power, having chosen a humble path.

Both found out what TRUE success is this week when they DIED when they faced Jesus.  Who do you think is “successful” now?  What do you suppose matters now?  Which man do you think was surprised and wishes he could go back and do a lot of things differently?

We ALL DIE.  We ALL face Jesus.  We ALL will be evaluated by what God values and rewarded accordingly.  Dick and Chuck were fortunate to live past 80.  No matter the length of life it is a miniscule dot on the line of eternity.  What matters?  What we do during that dot. It determines what we experience forever. 

Sobering.

Which all begs some most important questions: Have you been arrested by Jesus?  (Not praying a magic prayer but having your life turned right side up).  What will you do with the amount of dot you have left?  What impact will you leave behind?  What will you do that will go into your eternity with you?

I’m just asking…

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6b (NIV)

¹⁵He (Jesus) said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. Luke 16:15 (NIV)

Boldly, Herb

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Love and Consequences

LOVE started it all.

Was God setting them up? Did He know that they were unable to do it, but required it anyway? Was God just playing some great cosmic game with them that was pre-determined?

I mean, really… what was God thinking?

One might draw those conclusions in reading the first few chapters of the first book of the Bible. And one would be very wrong!

God put the prototype man into the perfect world with perfect relationship with God, with one another (a little bit later) and with the world. I mean, PERFECT!! Beyond imagination perfect. He told him to enjoy it all and then would visit in the cool of the day to enjoy being with them. Work that was fulfilling and relationships that were satisfying. PERFECT!

So what was the problem? There wasn’t any, I mean, NONE! How would we then perceive that God was setting them up? No problems, however, there was ONE (count them - one) stipulation to enjoy this Eden (literally). God even stated it with the best first, showing that the stipulation was very small though very grave.

“Adam, look around you. Everything you see that looks good to eat is yours. No transfats, no preservatives, no chemicals, no artificial sweeteners, colors or flavoring, just good-for-you, tastes-great, all natural food that looks desirable and tastes even better. Sound good?”

“Absolutely. Yep, that’s good, Lord.”

“Great! Only one thing to avoid.”

“Anything, Lord. You’ve given so much. What else could ever be wanted?”

“Excellent. Here it is. Look at me. I want to make sure you get this. Stay away from that tree - see it? It is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of all the other trees, you will live long and prosper. If you eat of that tree you will die.”

“Whoa! That doesn’t sound good.”

“Trust me, it is the worst possible scenario. In fact, you are incapable of grasping the atrocity of that act.”

Sometime later God created Eve and either Adam or God let her know the same. Off limits!

Why did God even put the tree there? Why not just make it all good? Because if there is no choice to disobey, no choice to love themselves rather than God, then they are simply robots. God did not want robots, He deeply desired relationship.

Which takes us to God’s original intent - to create beings with whom He could have a genuine love relationship. He wanted to pour out love on them because it is His nature; God IS love. That required that those beings have the choice to accept His love. Which required the choice to reject His love.

They chose obedience and the unimaginable experience of perfect love relationship… for a while. Then they opened the Biblical Pandora’s box.

CONSEQUENCES of sin are overwhelmingly devastating. Destruction of the perfect relationships with God, one another and creation. Exile from the perfect garden. Pain in childbirth. Difficulty in raising crops/ making a living. The human race’s devastation to itself. Jesus’ death. And on and on it goes.

LOVE of God means it doesn’t have to stay that way. No, there will never be another Garden of Eden, but because of God’s initiating love we can live life as an ongoing restoration of all that was lost there and experience it in perfection in Heaven.

Which are you focusing on? Living a life of love or a life of escalating consequences?

I’m just asking…

John 10:10 (NIV) ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

1 John 4:7-12 (NIV) ⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Boldly, Herb

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Darkness

The trauma was over. In them was the backlash of post traumatic stress. In the world darkness reigned.

Those that had walked with the light huddled in secret places. They knew they were safe on this Sabbath day. But tomorrow, well, that would be another thing when the Jewish leaders were no longer constrained by Sabbath limitations. Then the same darkness that swallowed Jesus would over run them.

It wasn’t mostly fear that made them hide; it was shame. Clusters of disciples sat in silence, heads down, consumed by regret. Little conversation, little care for basic needs, little of anything except being overrun by internal darkness. A knot of women stayed close to Mary, His mother, trying to be and do what she needed. But what is there anyone can do after watching her oldest son tumble from the pinnacle of success to scandalous disgrace resulting in appalling death?

Peter sat alone, mindlessly twisting his robe, rocking back and forth, staring at his sandals. A few had put their arms around him, others stayed away as if Peter’s thrice betrayal would infect them. He was best left alone. Well, not really, but at each approach he began to weep and moan anew. Hopeless and helpless, unable to see any path out of the guilt of his abandonment and treason. “Had Judas taken the right road?” he could prevent himself from wondering. No, that can’t be right. But there can be no way out of this. There is nothing to do but wait for arrest and death. We had been so SURE! How could we have been so wrong? Regardless, all hope is bankrupt. Gone. Only darkness.

Same with us after Good Friday. Without hope. Plunged into DARKNESS we are helpless against. Besieged by the shame of our betrayal and abandonment. Guilty of sin that nailed Jesus to the cross. Without God and without hope. Bound for the same kind of death and deservedly so.

Easter will mean little unless we pause to suffer the darkness. Light is not valued unless we allow ourselves to be enveloped by the pitch blackness in which we live without the resurrected Christ.

We will not celebrate raucously, with abandon unless the bottomless darkness is pierced and expelled by resurrected life. Unless the impossible, miraculous life is felt in contrast with the hopeless darkness.

I cannot imagine the palpable darkness of Jesus’ followers after Good Friday. It is both a blessing and a curse to know the end of the story. You and I will never be able to delight in Easter as Jesus’ followers did. Well, not on earth. But someday, when we see Him as they did. THEN we won’t be able to stop dancing!!

¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:12-13 (NIV)

Boldly, Herb

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Perspectives on Jesus’ Death on the Cross

I ran across the following quotes from great men of faith. Read through them slowly on this weekend.

"The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success for its standard." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

"The cross cannot be defeated, for it is defeat." - Gilbert K. Chesterton.

"There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross- bearers here below." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

"We need men of the cross, with the message of the cross, bearing the marks of the cross." - Vance Havner.

"He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay." - Anonymous.

"All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning." - Oswald Chambers.

Galatians 2:20 (NIV) ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

John 14:19 (NIV) ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

“Lord, there is no way we can ever fully value Your death or comprehend Your pain for us. Would you help us to live lives of gratitude by shining light on Your cross. Every moment of every day.”

Boldly, Herb

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Familiar But Oblivious

We are so familiar and yet so oblivious.

We can recite the circumstances and meaning but we fail to comprehend the depth of their significance.

We attend events and hear recitations but we are ignorant of the implications.

We have crosses around our necks, in our ears, on our key chains, on our bumpers and various other spots but we do not pause to consider the horror of the reference. Would you wear an electric chair around your neck? Would you put little lethal injection syringes? Or hang nooses in the sanctuary of your congregation? Or put a picture of a guillotine on your bumper?

We trivialize our sin by committing sin carelessly knowing that we are forgiven, treating the death of Jesus as marginally significant.

We even purchase chocolate crosses, place them into children’s Easter baskets along with eggs purportedly delivered by a furry mammal. We bite into the representation of a death instrument and savor the flavor rather than savoring the forgiveness and vowing to live up to Jesus’ death.

We are so familiar and yet so oblivious.

Please don’t read these words as blame. How can we not live in this culture without being very familiar with the symbols of the Passion Week? They are everywhere. But “familiarity breeds contempt” is the adage. When we see something a great deal we stop respecting it. It’s just the way we are.

But DO read these words as a challenge to change that! To bring us to the depth of appreciation requires deliberate effort. And Jesus deserves that.

Good Friday was not good. It was only made good by what Jesus did there and on Easter.

The cross was not good, but a cruel, torturous instrument of death. We sing about it, see a beautiful icon while in worship, we speak of it freely - and become so familiar that we are oblivious. It was only made good by Jesus’ work there.

Sin is not trivial. The violence of Jesus’ beatings and death reveal the brutality of our sin against God.

Why did the cross have to be so awful? Because of the awfulness of our disobedience to God, our sin. The price of our forgiveness could not be cheap because sin had turned this world completely upside down.

I CHALLENGE YOU to get a fresh glimpse of the cross this week. Watch “The Passion of the Christ,” or read an analysis of Jesus’ experience of suffering. Here are just a couple of the many available:
http://www.csun.edu/~hbeng151/icc/studies/account.html
http://www.thecross-photo.com/Dr_C._Truman_Davis_Analyzes_the_Crucifixion.htm

Is it wrong to have crosses all around us? Not if we are living the transformation that Christ died there to make. Not if we are reflections of the revolutionizing power grace, forgiveness, mercy, reconciliation and surrender that Jesus’ suffering released. Not if we wear them in awe of Christ rather than because they are nice. There was NOTHING nice about the cross!!

It IS WRONG to take Jesus’ work for granted. As Scripture says:

“How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:29 (NIV)

Between now and Easter, would you join me in taking time to contemplate Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, mocking, beatings and crucifixion -- and how our sin sent Him there. THEN we will truly celebrate Easter!

Boldly, Herb

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Hard is Not Bad; Hard is Hard!

It seems that the word "hard" is nearly synonymous with “bad” with most folks these days.

"I won't take that class, it's too HARD."

"That job is HARD - don't accept it if offered!"

"I can't stay in this marriage. It's just way too HARD."

Listen for a day to notice how often you hear such statements. The implication is that hard is bad.

I want to propose a new mantra: "Hard is not bad; hard is hard." Hard is usually painful, but pain is not always bad - just HARD.

I hope this new mantra goes viral because often HARD is good, it's just hard. More often than not, hard is an opportunity to improve - it's just hard. And many, many times, HARD is essential to becoming, accomplishing, discovering, enjoying what we want and need most. It's just that HARD is painful, difficult, not enjoyable or fun.

So everyone say it together, (though it is hard to bring yourself to do so):
"Hard is not bad; hard is just hard."
Now, let's go embrace the hard but important things we must do today. Repair a relationship. Confront a difficult reality. Love an enemy. Discipline yourself to become better. Whatever it is - grit your teeth, endure the pain and do the hard thing.

Boldly, Herb

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What Will You Do With the Extra Day?

You have been given a gift. A gift that comes once every one thousand four hundred and sixty days. The endowment of an extra day.

So how will you use it? 24 hours to use any way you want. Oh, you may not be in charge of your schedule. Most of us have to go to work, school, take care of kids, cook, clean, fill the car with gas and all that. But within those activities we have the opportunity to use those extra minutes to gripe, waste, play, encourage, learn, help, work, and on and on. Do you see the possibilities?

But it is up to YOU. Not your boss, spouse, kids or strangers. No excuses, it is YOUR choice.

It will not happen by accident. We will not drift into good use of these 1440 minutes. We default mostly to the unproductive.

So what will you choose? C’mon, before you use another minute of this day, decide to use part of these bonus hours to make a difference in the lives of others.

Who will you call? Who will you care for? Who will you send a gift or card? Who will you buy groceries or take to dinner? To whom will you bring laughter, love and a lightened load? Who will you contact to let them know THEY have been a blessing to you? Who will you hug or smile at?

Here’s an idea: what if we did so with EVERY PERSON we come into contact today?

So how about it? Let’s make Leap Day a day to make others leap with joy! Who knows - it may catch on for the other 1460 days between now and 2016!

Boldly, Herb


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What Part of “For a Lifetime” Am I Missing?

What Part of “For a Lifetime” Am I Missing?

I am not one to get riled up, but this one ticked me off. Big time!

As Sheila and I were winding down the evening last night, she told me of hearing about Pat Robertson’s latest public degree that a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife with Alzheimer's disease in order to marry another woman. The dementia-riddled wife is, Robertson said, "not there" anymore. http://ow.ly/6vzjE. It had made a secular news broadcast in Pittsburgh.

What part of “as long as we both shall LIVE” am I missing?

Pat Robertson’s statement is so wrong at so many levels!!!

There’s the human commitment level. We live in a culture that is already confused about commitment and is attempting to redefine it all the time. Jesus is the model of commitment and we are to follow that example of never, ever, ever giving up on commitments. “’til death do us part” or “as long as both shall live” is a lifetime commitment, not just until we selfishly conclude “she is no longer there.”

It is wrong at the caring level. In Sheila’s work with the elderly, she has learned that most often the last part of the brain to cease functioning is where feelings are sensed. Even though his wife may not respond in any other way, it is highly likely that she could respond to loving, self-sacrificing, heartfelt touches and words of love. People are “still there” long after our observations believe they are not.

It is wrong because of God’s purpose in marriage. Marriage is not just about the commitment between husband and wife. The Bible is clear that it is also a picture of the relationship between Christ and His Bride, the people who are His Church. If Christ was willing to die for His bride, what right does a husband have to divorce his wife because she no longer fulfills the husband’s needs? Rather, it is an opportunity for the husband to live out for God and the world the picture of Christ’s love for us! I love Gary Thomas’ book, “Sacred Marriage.”* The subtitle gives you a taste, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” Yes, marriage is a gift from God, but a much different gift than most of us think. It is the opportunity to live and love as Jesus modeled.

Our human nature tends toward selfishness. Our world’s culture promotes that same selfishness. Those result in an attitude that marriage is for me, my happiness, my pleasure, me… me… me!! God’s design for marriage is an opportunity to become like Christ in self sacrificing commitment FOR A LIFETIME! Not until it is no longer convenient or enjoyable or my spouse “is no longer there.”

I would ask Pat Robertson, If it is right to abandon a spouse when “she/he is no longer there” then what prevents abandoning the spouse any other time my desires, needs, satisfaction are not fulfilled? Where does it stop? It is a slippery slope that we should not even peer at through binoculars.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND: my heart goes out to spouses and family members who must watch a loved one suffer the effects of Alzheimer’s disease or any other debilitating condition. I watched my mother care for my grandmother through long years of Alzheimer’s, my uncle lovingly care for my aunt through ALS, my best friend love his mother as she deteriorated and my father-in-law care for Sheila’s mom through debilitating illness. I don’t dismiss the pain, but I celebrate the courage and commitment of people who refuse to give up!! It is the right thing to do!

At the end of the issue is the fact that only God has the authority to proclaim what we should do, not any other human being. And He does not provide a loophole for us to abandon our commitment because we are not happy.

Just my thoughts. As passionate as they may be. I’d love to hear from you on this issue.

Boldly, Herb

*I highly recommend this book. It has given me a Biblical understanding of marriage as nothing else.

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What is God Feeling? 9/11 Revisited

On September 13, 2001, I wrote the email newsletter below. With all the remembrances around the ten year anniversary, I thought it appropriate to post it here again. At the risk of offending. Please understand that my heart and prayers go out to those whose lives have been forever altered and in no way want to diminish their loss. But more than that, my heart belongs to God. So read if you dare.

From Where God Sits, Special Edition
September 13, 2001

"What Is God Feeling?"

Along with millions of other people I listened and watched Tuesday’s tragic events unfold. Sheila and I were on our way to a night away and were headed for the PA Turnpike through Somerset County. After hearing the report of the fourth plane going down within 40 miles of us, it felt like the world was coming to an end. We turned around and headed home. Shock, horror, sadness, anger, frustration, hurt, disbelief were just some of the emotions we all felt. I hope your first reaction was to pray. Sheila and I did. Along with millions, our family has kept praying.

September 11, 2001 is a day that will live in infamy with Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, and the Challenger explosion. Only worse because of the nature of the tragedy and the cruelty of the terrorists

Interviews reported the emotions of people close to the scenes. Those of us removed by distance can only imagine the emotional, mental as well as physical trauma endured by those involved close up and those who lost loved ones. That trauma has only begun.

For the first 24 hours I was in shock, overwhelmed by feelings of being violated, by emotions of sadness for the victims, by a sense of helplessness that we can’t change what happened. Finally on Wednesday I asked God, “What is Your perspective on this tragedy, from where You sit? How do you feel?” He answered me. In a moment I’m going to let you know what I heard, but I’m taking a risk that you will not understand. I expected God to let me know how sad and angry He is. I expected words of comfort I could pass on to others. That is not what He said to me. Frankly, He shocked me and I have hesitated to pass it on. But I asked for Him to tell me. I guess I have to be ready for anything when I ask God a question!

I don’t want to sound cruel or heartless. What has occurred is a tragedy of enormous proportions. There are thousands of people who have been killed, wounded or have loved ones who are dead or suffering. That is awful. So, please understand I’m not trying to make light of it. I am not insensitive to the pain. But I heard God’s Spirit clearly speak two messages. (If you don’t like them, you can take it up with God. Remember I’m only the middle man.) Here they are…

MESSAGE #1. Moments after I asked God to give me His perspective, I heard Him say, “You kill 3,500 innocent Americans everyday. Why are you so upset and so angry about those killed Tuesday?” I was shocked. I was expecting words of comfort, of direction, of help, or anger. I heard none of that and I was immediately convicted. God’s right. He’s always right. Why are we so upset when foreign terrorists kill thousands when we do it to ourselves everyday through abortion? The life of an unborn child is just as valuable to God as any of the people who perished in these attacks. In fact the Bible is clear that God is even more protective of the little ones.

MESSAGE #2. “There is something worse than dying physically. It is dying without a relationship with Me and going to Hell.” All of heaven welcomed many of the people who died Tuesday into an eternity beyond our wildest imaginations. Those people are better off, they’re receiving a reward that will last forever and ever and ever. Others, however, entered an eternity beyond our nastiest nightmares because they refused a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That is worse than the cruelest death we will hear about.

God’s words to me, as surprising as they were, have helped bring me out of the fog of the tragedy and have given me His bigger picture perspective. Yes it is a tragedy. The ripples will last for decades. The worst may be yet to come. But thousands of people around the world suffer daily. Persecuted Christians perish day after day. People die every day within blocks of us, sometimes even cruelly. Perhaps if we are honest with God and ourselves, we have to admit that our feelings are selfish. The tragedy has threatened our personal sense of security, our personal comforts, and our self-absorbed way of life. It grabs our attention because of the unthinkable way in which we were attacked and the enormity of the loss. We are shaken. This one hit home where we thought we were safe and secure.

I invite you to refocus. Ask God to give you His perspective. Live by His promises. Absorb these…

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (NIV)

I also invite you to put your full trust in God. Only in Him do we have true security. All other kinds of security are myths.

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." Psalms 20:7 (NIV)

Let’s be God’s hands and feet, His Presence in the world. Whatever we can do, we should do. Pray, give blood, make donations, and talk with others about God’s desires for people to know Him and invite them to place their hope in God.

But let’s keep God’s perspective and live for Him in dailyness as well as times of tragedy.

Boldly, Herb