Better than Beethoven.

Many of my friends express concern about the fact that "God is being forced out of the public square." It's become a favorite pastime for People of Faith (yes I'm guilty); lamenting the "sorry state" of the Nation.

What concerns ME?  It's this: People of Faith have come to embrace the notion that the symbolic presence of God is the same thing as the authentic presence of God.   Here is a short list of hot-buttons, not intended to be exhaustive--but illustrative.

• Do we want God in our schools--disciple your children to know and love Jesus. 
• Do we want our Nation to understand that marriage is a beautiful metaphor, designed by God, of a much bigger relationship--and for this reason it is a sacred estate? Love your wife selflessly and trust your husband implicitly.
• Do we want values to govern our economy, greed to be disdained--choose simplicity and invest our resources on behalf of the poor, widows, orphans; be seekers of justice for all the disenfranchised.  
• Are we befuddled by the National obsession with abortion-rights, perplexed by the disdain modern cultures have for human life, and high regard they show for endangered species?  Find your voice and speak passionately-forcefully for the little Ones, consider...adoption, Foster parenting, Mentoring programs.

For too long, too many of us who profess to be followers of Jesus have routinely phoned it in.

• We've been content to build private school sanctuaries, teaching Bible courses, that will disciple our children for us.
• We've turned a blind eye to the failure rate of marriages in our churches.
• We've justified selfish ambition and the boastful pride of life as "what's ours is ours" and left justice to government inefficiency and the dehumanizing impact of its one-size fits all insanity.
• We've ceded the heavy lifting for protecting the lives of unborn-children, the quality of life for born-children to others "called" to missional living.

Consider this: God's plan has always been to show-up via the beautiful music being played through lives well-lived by those who are His devoted followers--the Scripture makes clear that no law can stand against such purposeful, selfless living, "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5.22,23 NASB

Lives lived this way will produce a breathtaking symphony that will bring relevance back to our Mission as His Church--no longer engaged in managing the kingdom (small ''k") but compelled to build HIS Kingdom (big "K"). 

WHEN we take seriously our empowerment, from God, to add value to the lives of people, to make hard lives easier, to speak the truth of the Gospel into the brokenness of life without Christ, to model the transformational reality of the Gospel through the choices and investments we make--with our lives and resources, THEN they won't be able lock God out of the public square. There is no law that can stand against this kind of authenticity.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20,21 NASB

I hear a symphony.  Through Jesus Messiah, let it be.

Do. Love. Wak.

Live it well...M6.8 bN

Cracked Pots. We are.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a season of reflection and preparation for Resurrection Day--coming this year on April 1.  I'm reposting a blog I shared three years ago, today.  At that time it had been just a few months since one of the Rocks-of-my-life passed into the presence of God.

Gene Cherrie was my father-in-law.  He was an extraordinary man. I'm hoping these words will help those looking forward to Resurrection Day expand their appreciation for what God in Christ did for humankind at the Cross. That said, reflect and prepare;  Sunday's com'n.

Gene's Repurposed Scissors--Our life in Christ

"The family gathered in November 2014 to say our final farewells and remember Gene in a memorial tribute to his the life and legacy.  At that time I ran across a pair of scissors that belonged to him. My first response--I laughed out loud! Then my heart was warmed as I realized they were metaphor for Gene's life--his legacy, and God's amazing grace.

They are an ordinary three-dollar pair, with customized handle--the one that your middle finger slips into. It's been very skillfully fashioned from a one-inch piece of ply-wood. It's clear that Gene had created a jig from the broken handle; carefully cut the wood using the jig, then shaped it with a grinder to fit precisely the targeted finger; sanded to be smooth and pose no splinter threat to the user.

The stub of plastic it has been attached to was skillfully reshaped to be the base for the new wood-extension. The extension has been precisely measured so that the fabrication slips tightly over the stub with one end slightly longer than the other to provide the proper leverage as the scissors are opened and closed (Physics matter). The extension has been glued to the stub and secured with three very intentionally placed wood screws, two on the long end, one on the short to complete the revision. The screw on the short end has been ground down just enough to allow the scissors to close precisely as they did when they were new just coming off the shelf at Staples.

I immediately asked Betsey, Laura's step-mom, if I could have them--she very graciously said 'Of course, take them.' As I've used these scissors, and yes--reflected on them--over the past several months, I realize they say as much about God, as they do about Gene.

This came clearly into focus for me just this week as I had breakfast with a dear brother-in-Christ and our conversation turned to the impact, the life-long impact, of sin on our lives. There isn't a re-set button for the bad choices we make. The grooves sin cuts into our lives are deep and stubborn, they don't simply disappear when we confess our sin and seek God's forgiveness. The consequences of our willful choices and bad decisions are still part of our daily experience. If it ended there it would be a difficult load to bear. But, thanks be to God, it doesn't.

When we come to Christ through effective faith, God takes us as we are, then carefully, lovingly and skillfully refabricates our lives. The scars are there, still visible--painful--but He restores us. Like Gene's re-visioned pair of scissors, we become fully-functional again. He never throws us away; He picks us up, dusts us off and empowers us to carry on. The scars, the memories, they serve to instruct us each day about His gracious provision, His empowering desire and His loving redemption.

Paul writing to the Church in Corinth (4.1,2...7-10) instructs us...

'4 Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods...7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.'

Did you see that? We are cracked pots; pressed not crushed. Perplexed not confused. Pursued not abandoned. Pushed down not destroyed. Suffering, but fully ALIVE in Christ! The scars that remain serve as a map pointing others to Jesus. It is our weakness that serves as such a remarkable witness to the power of God--choosing the weakness of the human condition to transform our spheres of influence one person, one family, one neighborhood, one community, one nation at time. This humble path-to-power is, in fact, the real road less traveled. 

I thank God every day for that pair of scissors. They have an honored place in a simple container, with other tools we use on a daily basis, on one of the counters in our kitchen. Each time my gaze falls on them, I remember Gene--and in that moment, the legacy of his life points me to God's grace, power and love. He takes the total-loss that was our lives and transforms it to treasure...'all I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful out of my life.'"  

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Sunday's Com'n.




Life is fast.
Live it well...M6.8 bN