Beautiful music.

These are difficult days...yet not unlike the climate-of-culture in the first Century before the ascendance of the Gospel.

As the Scriptures predicted, culture has again devolved to a post-christian paganism where pre-born children are targets of infanticide, gender is a mythic construct, love is whatever we declare it to be and values are defined by those who wield the most persistent, cynical and compelling narrative.

Yet this remains: People on the Way have been given a mandate to declare this Truth, "For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have eternal life." John 3.16

It seems, too often, that some within the Faith Community would be content to simply shout it from the rooftops with conviction, yet absent compassion. This loveless approach FEELS like these zealots are bent on brandishing the sword of truth to "cut others down to size" in the name of fidelity to the Gospel--the good news.  According to these, to do otherwise amounts to a compromise of Truth...indeed it is to preach "another gospel."  What tragic irony.  This amounts to a christianized version of Jihad. 

One need not compromise the message to deliver it in a fashion that communicates truth, urgency, conviction, exclusivity in its truth claims--in a context of grace, love, mercy and civility. The Gospel is inclusive AND EXCLUSIVE at the same time--God's Word is unique and powerful in this way.

He has called us to proclaim the Gospel in a context of suffering, commtted to making a choice to live our lives based on the Truth of God's Word-- IN the world but not OF the world; so that His Will might be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Peter touches on this in his second letter, vv.14-16...

"14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."  English Standard Version

We NEVER compromise Truth. We never accommodate culture. We never embrace human wisdom as a lens through which we selectively apply God's Word. This praxis will certainly lead, has led, to suffering, persecution and aggressive steps to marginalize us and God's Message. That said, WE ALWAYS deliver that message with gentleness and respect born from our life-altering encounter with God's grace and mercy.  

When God's people, empowered by God's Spirit, in submission to God's Son, live transformed lives...it is breathtakingly beautiful and powerful at the same time; beautiful music that the Holy Spirit uses to impel people to effective faith "...Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead." Romans 10.5-13

Life is fast. Play on.

Liveitwell!

Run hard. Finish well.

Life is hard. 
Age diminishes us. 
Disease ravages us. 
Then, we die.

Or...

Life is hard, 
and softens our hearts. 
Age diminishes us,

and equips us with wisdom.

Disease ravages us,
and empowers us to embrace hope.
Then we die and pass into eternity.

What happens to us, all of us, in the course of a lifetime is simply a variation on the same theme. So, just what sets apart those not beaten, from those that are? It is what that "lifetime process" produces in us.

I've been reminded over the past several years, we are fragile and our bodies will eventually fail--some sooner than others, but for all of us life ends in one final breath. The ability to see our sojourn as a prelude to "something more" is the key to empowering us to embrace all we experience in time, with wonder; while anticipating what we glimpse of eternity with hope.

Yes, I'm talking about faith. A specific "effective-faith" we are given instruction about in the Scriptures; the Second letter to the church in Corinth, written by the Apostle Paul (5.1-5):

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit."

I've invested time in some weary people...all filled with hope. They are fragile over-comers. Their lives are a tapestry illustrating God's grace, love, presence and power. Paul acknowleges this later in chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians 5.17-19, 21...

"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them...21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

Thanks be to God for our blessed hope in Jesus Messiah. Life is fast.  I'm ready.  Are you?

Maranatha.

Liveitwell!

The hard truth...and hope.

Many people of faith (I've taken my shots) are piling on progressives, academics, feminists, LGBTQ and just about anyone who might be percieved as the enemy in the culture war.

But, let's face the the hard truth: these groups share only part of the responsibilty for the troubled state of our Nation. The failure of the Church to be the Church has accelerated our decline. The light from "The City set on a hill" cannot penetrate the darkness because The City too often has become an anemic, self-indulgent, impotent place--flirting with priorities, forms and dogma that have no genesis in God's Word.

The Church has embraced popular culture and been absorbed by a pursuit of a reworked (secularized), dumbed-down (sequestered) version of the "abundant" life; by a quest for "relevance" in the name of Christ. She has a vital role in culture: to be the watcher on the wall, the harbinger of Good News, a conduit for God's love given without regard for conditions or behavioral change. Instead, she slumbers, points her finger at others and cries "foul." The Church need not quest for relevance; when she behaves as The Church, she is relevant. Instead...

Apathy, division and moral compromise have ravaged the fruit of the Spirit.

Reaching out with the Good News has become an unfunded mandate.

Codependence has swallowed up courageous leadership. 

Sound teaching has been replaced by pop pyschology.

Relevance has pushed reality to the back of the bus. 

Sacrifice is considered a synonym for weakness.

Integrity is open to interpretation.

Godliness just isn't hip.

This isn't the first time the people of God have lost their moral and spiritual compass...
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."  2 Chronicles 7.14

It ended badly for Israel. But, it need not end badly for this nation; there is hope.

Hope springs from humility.
Humility leads to repentance.
Repentance produces healing.  

Humility, repentance, healing; change we can believe in.
Empowered by the Spirit, it all begins IN His church.



Liveitwell!

Why Jewish people?

Just last week the world observed "International Holocaust Remembrance Day." Any time this subject comes up it often leads to a question most of us have heard or have ourselves asked: "Why does the world hate Jewish people?"

It is quite simple.

First, their story is a testament about God; as in, the God who created the universe and everything in it. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6.4,5 NKJV. 

Their history declares this about God: we can run but we cannot hide. He pursues us with a redemptive purpose, loves us with an unconditional love, rescues us with an amazing grace.

This of course does not fit the narrative humankind prefers.  A narrative filled with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the boastful pride of life.  A narrative characterized by hubris more than humility.

Second, they are a repudiation to those who, once victimized, choose to remain victims. 

Jewish people endured slavery in in Egypt for 400 years; they were crushed by Babylon, Persia and Rome. Marginalized and reviled in the diaspora, enslaved again by the Russians, slaughtered by the Nazi's, only to be treated with disdain by ALL of Europe, finally to emerge triumphantly to bless the Nations; Science, Medicine, Technology, Literature, Law, the Arts...using Jewish intellect, talent and gifts.

The crown jewel, of course, was the rebirth of ISRAEL--an event without precedent, and quite frankly, of gargantuan significance.  The subsequent ascendence of this tiny Mid-East Nation gives testimony to the mighty hand of God. Indeed, never again.  

Chazak u'varuch--Be Strong and Have Courage. 


Liveitwell!

Link to WSJ "The Return of Anti-Semitism"
http://www.wsj.com/a…/the-return-of-anti-semitism-1422638910