Why Faith Matters To Me

On January 4th 1973 I did something crazy. I made a decision that radically rebooted my life and pulled me away from religion. All I had known to that point was a belief system based on religion. Do this…don’t do that…embrace this…release that…show up for this…run from that. It was mildly helpful but for the most part…I always felt lost. Being lost is such an unnerving experience. You can see it on the faces of little kids who momentarily loose the grip of mom’s hand at the store and cry out her name alone and frightened in aisle 4. Years ago while hunting in the “Big Woods” of Pennsylvania, we were sitting around the camp fire late at night when a young guy appeared out of the darkness. He had been lost for hours and even though he was a tough Marine home on leave…he was terrified by the experience and very happy to be found.

I was religious yet I was lost. That made no sense to me. There was an emptiness to my life that haunted me and I knew I belonged to something or someone bigger and ancient but just didn’t know how to make the connection. The decision in 1973 was to accept an offer made by God Himself. Someone had the guts to tell me that Jesus embodied substance, purpose, significance and had the true power to transport me from lost to found. God reached out His hand to me through a person willing to take a risk and walk up to a complete stranger with life changing news.

That was 36 years ago. I moved from religion to friendship. Faith matters to me because Jesus matters to me and I matter to Him.

I'm heading to Haiti!

In thirteen days I’ll be making my way to Haiti. This will be my fourth trip to the poorest nation in the western hemisphere…I’ll be traveling and serving with 8 amazing people. The 2009 team is Daniel Warner, Alyssa Zimmer, David DeWall, Meg Chilcott, Dustin Clark, Marianne Borkowski, Sharon Segal and my teaching partner for nearly 10 years…Bob Deppen. There is an excitement about this particular trip that’s undeniable. These guys are ready to go and ready to serve.

Haiti has rocked my heart more than any one place on Earth. Moving through the streets of Cap Haitian, the islands second largest city, is surreal. The poverty just smothers you. In spite of such dire surroundings, the Haitian people are remarkable. They have a joy and serenity that is quiet different from the kind that comes from possessions, status and success. They realize so little of those things. If we come to mind…please pray for us. Hopefully, we will be sending out video reports at the end of each day. You can access them at whoisgrace.com.

A competitive person will find few things more satisfying than being the one to cross the finish line first. Winning floods us with buckets full of gratification and to be honest…I like winning as much as anyone. The funny thing is that for the past 36 years, God has been building into me a whole different kind of motivation---how to lose. The Christian life is a life of great losses. My selfish center always wants to come in first; the true Christ follower learns how to come in last. Paul said: “For Christ’s sake I have lost everything!” That “everything” included his life.

I will never amount to anything for Christ until I attend my own funeral and place all that is my life at the curb. It’s a thought by thought process of owning this one biblical statement. He must become greater; I must become less.

It’s early…it’s snowing and I’m enjoying the quiet of this cold February day. Today stretches out before me and I want to take full advantage of its freshness. A few people came to mind that I’ve been struggling with relationally. I don’t want distance between myself and the people I love so I’m going to take a few simple steps toward upgrading these friendships. I honestly believe relationships are our greatest gift and resources. They need to be cared for with intentionality, humility and action. Yep, I’m going to make a few calls today and move toward the middle with some folks I’m really glad are in my life.

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.
Arnold H. Glasgow

Wealth Beyond Measure!

One of the premiere pursuits of life is to accumulate things. We work hard towards buying a home, possessions to fill the home, vehicles, stuff that aligns with our interests…etc. We always seem to be in need of something more. We assume the wealthy to be fortunate because they acquire everything they need or want. Often times, the wealthy are extremely sad people because they have come to the conclusion high finance can’t purchase joy.

The apostle Peter tells us that the Christ follower is the wealthiest of the wealthy! If accumulating things is the benchmark….Christ followers have maxed out. Peter says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness!” My relationship with Jesus assures I have everything I need for this life! I don’t have to chase anything or exhaust myself trying to earn my portion. Peter says He has given us very great and precious promises. Promises He will keep. What is required of me to realize my grand fortune is to become more and more like Him. Peter says “for this very reason we add things like faith—goodness—knowledge—self-control—perseverance—godliness—brotherly kindness—love. If I bank these things in increasing measure, they will keep me from becoming ineffective and unproductive in my knowledge of Him…the source of my wealth.

It’s early in the morning and I’m alone in a building that is usually teeming with life and bursting with activity. My wife has a new work schedule so on Thursdays, I drop her off and I head over to the church office. I’m enjoying this quiet time. It gives me a chance to pray for what goes on all week long in this place.

The sole reason 7300 Grubb Rd exists is to point people to Jesus Christ! Our weekend services, weekday social opportunities, nightly meetings, our publications, team meetings, our counseling appointments…all of it communicates the deep need for Christ that rests in every man.

This morning, as I drove past our sign, I considered our name. Grace Church. It will take all of eternity for me to get my head around the meaning of Grace. It means unmerited favor. Grace is God giving me something I cannot obtain on my own. Grace is being accepted by God even though I do not deserve it, even though I am not worthy of it. I pray this church will forever be agents of grace to a community drowning in isolation from God.

Have the best day. Today is a clean slate!

When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day's pay for his time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award--yet receives such a gift anyway--that is a good picture of God's unmerited favor. Anonymous

Brennan

I read this today and it reminded me afresh of the breathtaking power of grace. God's abounding grace!

What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own unruly emotions, and bruised by rejection and riducule, authentic disciples may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far country. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus.

After life has lined their faces a little, many followers of Jesus come into a coherent sense of themselves for the first time. When they modestly claim, "I am still a ragamuffin, but I'm different" they are right. Where sin abounded, grace has abounded more. Brennan Manning--The Ragamuffin Gospel

What's Your Day Look Like?

I don’t know what an average day looks like for you. Mine is doing life with people who are often struggling with something. They want more out of life and more out of God but that something is crushing them. Some days, the breakthroughs are breathtaking! Most days….the brick walls are thick and high. I take comfort in knowing that God loves them with far more intensity than I could ever muster. I just received an email from a friend serving in central Africa. Here’s a look at his average day.

Jesus wept. I think He's getting tired of weeping. I am. Don't you think He must be planning to come again soon? I can't wait, but wait we must, and work and pray for the night is coming. Glory! Oh, that will be glory for you and me, but terror and judgement for so many who have been blinded and cannot, will not, see. My heart grieves for the lost around me.

I interact daily with multiple patients and family members who, even at high noon on a cloudless day in our small clearing in the heart of the Congolese Rain Forest, are totally in the dark. They live in the dark, the heart of Satan's Darkness. In deception. In slavery to sin. They don't even know or understand that they can be free in Christ, even though we tell them until our voice is hoarse and we sound like a broken record. Death has such a hold on people here. Even those who don't need to die, who have no reason to die, sometimes who are not even very sick, sense the inevitable and seem to yearn for it! An incredible tendency to run, walk, limp, crawl, or be carried into the grave!

Death is celebrated so much more than life. Baby's come. Baby's go. But whenever a "real" person (over age 8) dies, the whole family, village, tribe, shows up for the 3-day, all-night drunken dance-seance-trance that follows.
Patients that slowly decline in the hospital for weeks who have no one to feed or care for them, besides our busy staff, suddenly have hordes of people come like flies on yesterday's roadkill, as soon as they begin to breathe their last. And too often, just when the patient is getting better, or the appropriate treatment has finally been initiated, they demand the release of their relative, so they can bring them to the fetisher and pay big money for "Kisi ya BaNkoko." To consult the ancestors as to the "real" cause of the tumor, or infection, or anything more than a cold!

Enough! It is finished! But there is so much more work to be done! "In repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength." Isaiah 30:15. God help us.

Well maybe this is more than you asked for...but just want you to know that the yearning is strong here among His faithful. Even so, come LORD Jesus, take us Home!

Walk This Way!

I love a good conversation. The kind that leaves you challenged, energized and a little uncomfortable because you’ve been stretched. This Sunday, my dear friend Bob Deppen and I will launch into a five week conversation with 40 people from Grace as we begin a new Just Walk Across The Room class. The JWATR experience is amazing in it’s simplicity. I’ve been through so many outreach training experiences that frame sharing your faith as this complex---almost impossible information dump. Pointing another life toward God rarely involves one stand alone conversation. More often, it’s believers wholeheartedly stepping into a person’s life and slowing pointing them to the God who loves them. This happens through relationships!

You’re welcome to join us! Room A-1 @ 11:00am. The class lasts all of February.

Joshua 1:7-9

"Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. They you will be prosperous and successful."

How many times have we pointed to not knowing God's will for our lives as the reason we are paralyzed from doing it? Yet, as with Joshua, there is enough truth in the Scriptures to fill our entire lives. The problem is not that we don't know what to do---the problem is we don't do what we know.

The Least

This thought from Dave Burchett’s book When Bad Christians Happen To Good People pushed a good reminder my way:

Notice that Matthew 25:35-40 doesn’t say, “For I was hungry and you gave a check to the local food bank, I was thirsty and you gave money to a fresh water relief fund, I was a stranger and you supported a homeless shelter, I needed clothes and you made a quick drop-off at Goodwill, I was sick and you donated to a Christian medical outreach, I was in prison and you supported Prison Fellowship.” There is nothing wrong with doing any or all of the above, but I would suggest we all need to mix in personal contact.

I have made a commitment in this area: I am committed to giving something besides my money to the mission of Christ. There is a time to give money and a time to give yourself. You won’t get the same kind of blessing or personal growth out of sending a check that you would rolling up your selves and actually touching someone.

Chasing Daylight

Nearly 3 months ago, I began meeting weekly with an incredible group of young men. None of the guys really knew each other and they are all extremely different individuals. One guy was actually finishing up a prison sentence. I literally took him back to his step-down facility after our gatherings. These guys were hand-picked based on the amount of un-tapped potential I saw in each one of them.

We walked through a study of a very unique book entitled Chasing Daylight by Erwin Raphael McManus, a gifted pastor from Los Angeles. The purpose of this book is to focus Christ followers on the difference between living a life of purpose and adventure, and living one of apathy and missed opportunity.

We concluded our experience last night. I can only say that God exceeded my wildest expectations as to what might happen when a group of strangers join together to ask God for guidance. Here’s an excerpt that was part of our closing session.

There’s so much talk about potential in our culture, as if it’s the end-all of success. Has anyone ever said about you, “He/she has so much potential?” If you’re under twenty five—consider it a compliment. Potential---your untapped or unlocked capacity. Potential---the hint of greatness not yet developed. “He has so much potential”---a statement of praise and maybe even adoration. And then you’re thirty, and you still have all this potential. Pressing forty, and you’re still full of potential. If you’re forty-five and someone looks at you and says, “You have so much potential,” pause…excuse yourself...step into a closet...and have a good cry.

What was once a statement of promise is now an assessment of lost opportunity. There is a point where you’re supposed to be full of potential; you’re supposed to be full of talent, capacity, product. Potential is a glimpse of what could be, yet there must be a shift from where we have potential to where we are potent.

finally

My kids gave me a laptop for Christmas. Totally blew me away. I haven't had a computer at home for some time so I was really grateful to receive it. Hopefully I'll be able show up here more often.

I just came across this in an email. Caused me to pause and be thankful.

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her."

When I say ... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'"
I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain..
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!