What a difference a day makes...

Each year, I pause and reflect; it's easy to forget what life was like 55 years ago, what life could have been like, had God not intervened that evening in 1968. 

1968: Hair!

It was the last Saturday night of the year; I had a plan, and it certainly did not include an up-close conversation with God.  He had a different plan and, as it turns out, it changed my life...forever.

But the path to that evening in 1968 started ten years before, when my Grandmother, who lived with us at the time, would gather me up and carry me off to Church and Sunday School; what amazing grace!  

I still have my first Bible, the one mom gave me to take to church with Grandma. I didn't know, until I was a young adult, that my grandmother faithfully prayed for me each day that "BJ would experience the power of Jesus in his life and embrace Him as his Lord and Savior."  She eventually moved back to her roots in Fort Scott, Kansas. But I continued to get myself to church until 8th grade.

I don't recall why I decided to "drop out," but I'm sure it just didn't feel very cool to attend church and Sunday School any longer--and since I went by myself, it was my decision to make. Fast forward to the fall of my Junior year in High School. One evening I landed at a Campus Life meeting (thank you, Pauline Adams!) at the home of a classmate; it was the kickoff "Burger Bash" for the school year, and as advertised, it was all-you-could-eat and attracted a huge crowd of students. 

I got more that evening than a big meal. The Campus Life leader, Mark Zier (he leveled-up into the arms of Jesus this year), gave a short talk to close the event, and he asked the crowd..."If you died tonight, do you know where you're going?" I didn't. It bothered me for a few minutes, but then I moved on.

On December 28, 1968, I was set to attend an "After Christmas" party with some buddies (Jerry McClain was driving). Our "wires got crossed" (coincidence?), and they never showed up; stuck, I recalled something was happening at the Thousand Oaks Rec-center with Campus Life that night--they called it a Campus Life Rally. There was a girl I had some interest in, and I knew she would probably be there (I was right); I managed to catch Mark (Zier) before he left his house. He was delighted when I called, and he swung by and picked me up. 

After an evening of activities, and music, another amazing guy, Roger Cross, got up and challenged me again about my life and death. This time I was ready and wanted to get this question resolved; Mark talked with me and then invited me to pray a short, simple prayer to embrace Jesus as Messiah, and the rest...is history. 

Our 2nd date 1969

Three weeks later, I went to the Ventura Campus Life Rally. Mark asked me to share about my recent conversion experience with that half of the County I grew up in. Mark mentioned a girl he thought I'd really like, a sweet Sophomore at Buena High School named Laura. He wanted to introduce us. He was right. 

In that span of three weeks I'd had two introductions that literally changed the direction and the outcome of my life: I'd trusted Jesus Messiah and met my future wife--we married 3 years, 48 weeks, and 6 days later.  We celebrate 51 years married on January 5, 2024.
 
My home was a rather complicated place (aren't most?). Lots of love, AND pain. I was carrying some emotional baggage by that time and was making some bad choices. Jesus changed all that in an instant. The baggage was still there--in fact, it didn't get fully "unpacked" for years. But His presence in my life set me in a "best direction" that just never wavered. Laura's family embraced me as a "son" as my relationship with Laura blossomed; they, especially her dad (my dad died suddenly in 1970, just months after my 17th birthday), became difference makers in my life.

In the '80s, there was a popular gospel song written by Bill Gaither that describes my story.  I get choked up every time I sing it; the chorus declares..."Something beautiful, something good; All my confusion He understood, all I had to offer him was brokenness and strife, but He made something, beautiful, out of my life."

December 28, 1968. 

What a difference a day makes.  

Thanks be to God for our Blessed Hope!

One life.

Liveitwell!

Lost and Found.

 Christmas is, for many, a difficult passage at the end of each year. 

Our memories are strong. So many "moments" are surfaced by this remarkable season of faith, hope and joy; many who have experienced loss, feel it most acutely over the six weeks from Thanksgiving to the New Year. 

I'm reposting a blog I first wrote seven years ago about the mystery and paradox of loss.  Laura and I, our family, had been thrust into an intersection of loss.  This was the most difficult moment of our lives. Our 14 year old grandson Braden died on June 16, 2016 after a intense 16 month battle with cancer.  For those in pain today, this is for you...

Loss. I've had my share over the years.

Two weeks after I graduated from High School, my father died; he was 55 and I was 17. 

In 1984, just after my 31st birthday, my mother died, she was 53. 

I was 38 when I learned I had diabetes. 

I began a 'rest of my life' battle with skin cancer in 1996, at age 43. 

Disappointment...oh my, where do I start. 

Failure--several crushing chapters.

Unrealized dreams, of course!

My story isn't unique. It's the plot line that fleshes out a big part of 'being human.' Loss is just a part of the 'living experience.' Life is hard and is, at times, very harsh. 

Loss, though we all face it, is not simply a one size fits all process. For some, loss means never experiencing 'what could have been.' For others it's remembering 'what was.' For all of us it's losing people we love, to death, dreams to failure, lost love.  Life's 'Harsh passages' include broken relationships, disease, tragic accidents, children 'lost' in adolescence and never able to move on to productive adult lives, addiction, betrayal, unfaithful spouses and/or friends, failure...have I described your 'loss-story' yet?

Recently, an extended family member, and friend, facing a number of very difficult circumstances posted a comment about loss, she concluded, 'Easy to be philosophical...easy to be grateful too.' As I paused to reflect on her words, I was struck by this profound insight.

'Easy to be grateful too...' Really? We can't, generally, control loss. Bad things happen to good (and bad) people. We can, however, control our attitude and our response to loss. We can ask 'why me?' or we can declare'"why NOT me!' That's the 'philosophical' part.

The 'grateful' part comes when, our pain notwithstanding, we aren't swallowed by bitterness; through the darkness of the moment, we still see the sunshine we've experienced over the years--as well as the expectation that the sun will shine again. 

Loss frames our perspective. It reminds us of the providence of God and the blessings we enjoy and have enjoyed through the ebb and flow of life. It's ironic, loss and gratitude are two sides of the same coin. Tennyson understood this when he penned 'It's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.'

The sentiment that struck me as so profound was 'easy.' It just never occurred to my friend to not be grateful. The emotional and spiritual place that she 'lives' made gratitude a logical extension, not of her pain, but of His promise. The Psalmist (42.5) said it this way...

'Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again—

my Savior and my God.'

Loss isn't abandonment. It isn't the death of hope.  It's an intersection of life where wee can step back and see life not just for what it isn't, but for what it is; it's at that place, in that moment, we see the goodness of God, and it's 'easy to be grateful.'

Lost and found. The mystery that is God's Providence.

'The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is His faithfulness;
His mercies begin afresh each morning. 
24 I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; 
therefore, I will hope in Him!'” 

--Lamentations 3.22,23 NLT

I will Hope. 

I choose hope. 

I thank God for our blessed hope, Jesus...Emmanuel.

One life.

Burn bright...

Liveitwell!

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 exclusive AND INCLUSIVE 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; to live our lives based on the Truth of God's Word--IN the world but not OF the world--that His Will might be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Peter touches on this in his First letter, 3.14-16...

"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." ESV

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. It produces a synergy, “beautiful music” that the Holy Spirit uses to impel people to effective faith...Confessing "Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead." Romans 10.5-13

One life.  

Liveitwell.

A Different Perspective...

We now find ourselves living in the shadow of the most contentious Presidential Election since Adams v. Jefferson--a long time.  

Like so many, I am concerned about the long-term impact this election will most certainly have on the Nation my grand and great-grandchildren will inherit.  So much is at stake; the economy, our standing in the world, energy, health care, peace, terror, and of course--our culture. 

Our culture is changing--devolving into the chaos of a-morality.  Many People of effective faith have dutifully written their Senators and Representatives demanding action.  They are good culture warriors.  

I have a problem with this.  The "culture war" is the wrong campaign.  It's a battle for minds.  People of effective faith are called to battle for hearts.    

In this process, we see that people of effective faith have been seduced also; the culture war is self-serving.  It's an attempt to preserve and re-create a world less hostile, less chaotic, and less wrong-headed for our benefit.  It's about preserving our values, protecting our children, maintaining equilibrium and economy so we can live out our God-informed vision of what our lives should be like.  This is normal; it's also carnal...it's the way most humans think and act.

That's not the vision people of effective faith have been called to by God. We have been called to justice, to selfless living, to compassionate action; to loving the unreached citizens of this world as God does.  When people of effective faith do that, people with no hope notice. They understand that this kind of concern is counter-intuitive.  It's not the way normal people live; they want to know "why?"   

Peter's first letter to the church contains instructions for us "...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."   1 Peter 3.15 ESV

Peter informs us that we win the world, and transform culture, one heart at a time, gently, and respectfully.  It can't be done with legislation.  We don't win them with constitutional amendments.  The silver bullet isn't packing the courts with the "right kind of thinkers."  It's done by living alongside people who aren't like children of the King, who don't share His values, and act in ways that reflect how radically confused people without effective faith are.

When people of effective faith insert themselves into the culture in a transformative way, hearts begin to change.  When hearts begin to change, minds begin to change.  When hearts and minds begin to change, culture begins to change.  When people with no hope begin to see faith, hope, and love in their neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces--they pay attention!  They realize they are thirsty, hungry, and without hope. They realize there's more, and they want to know where they can embrace it...one heart at a time.

For too many people of effective faith, living this way just isn't something we want to do.  We're more comfortable on church properties that create space between the world without effective faith and our world of grace.  We shield our children from the world without effective faith in ways that create fear and contempt in their hearts. We forget what life without grace is like, and we become entrenched in a battle for minds using the least effective means available to us--the wisdom and power of the world system.  

Little wonder we seem befuddled, put off by who Jesus described as "sheep without a shepherd."  They aren't like us, they don't think or act like us.  They are driven by different values, often by different passions.  Yet, they carry the same godly imprint on their souls that people of effective faith reflect...we are all created in His image.  We are all loved with unconditional love.  

We all have access to the same unmerited overflow of His grace.  We are all sinners in need of a Savior.  

These lost sheep, these precious souls, are not the enemy.  They are victims in Satan's attempt to foil the purpose of God in the redemption of all people.  That purpose begins with a battle for hearts...and minds will follow.  We win hearts when in the power of the Spirit, we come alongside these unlovely people and their messy lives and seek to serve them in compassion, with sacrifice through love.

One heart, one mind... gently, respectfully, powerfully.

One life.

Burn bright...

Livitwell!

 

 We are owned by the most delightful young Black Labrador Retriever on the Planet. Really.

Jett is obsessed, wait for it, with playing ball with us--big surprise! He would do it 24/7 if we could sustain our energy and focus. But his version of retrieving is unique in our experience. Jett is Lab #3 for us, dating back 27 years. So we have some background. 

He prefers two games--catch and soccer penalty kick. He dares us to get the ball past him in the second game. He's quite good at it. I confess to having to deploy my opposable thumb to outmaneuver him because I CAN NOT kick the ball past him--he's that good. His secret? He has figured out THE KEY is to ignore anything, I mean anything, but the ball. 

He is a textbook illustration of an age-old coaching axiom; the cardinal rule of good hitting--baseball, golf, billiards, or retrieving games--is, of course, "keep your eye on the ball." 

That said, my mission as a follower of Christ--to proclaim the truth about God, His love for humankind, His provision for our redemption--does not require me to fear a culture filled with souls who "are like sheep without a shepherd."  It does NOT require me to win the so-called "culture war."  

I need to "keep my eye on the ball." 

Jesus saw the crowds of distressed people and was "moved with compassion" to the Cross, where He crushed the power of sin once and for all.  

God's Word makes it clear who the enemy is..."For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places"  Ephesians 6.12

God's Word tells me what it is I must do to engage these evil adversaries and prevail; I must keep my eye on the ball...

"10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."  Ephesians 6.10-24

Note that this passage does not instruct Christ-followers to revile the sinner, legislate a solution that protects my family, leave the Union, or disengage from "life in the world--not of the world."  This is not a political war, not a culture war--it is a Spiritual battle that calls for weapons fashioned by God for taking down, taking back, strongholds. Our weapons? See...truth, righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, faith, salvation, God's Word, intercessory prayer, wisdom from God to speak the truth in love with boldness, behaving as an Ambassador/Doulos (bond-servant) for the King.

When we allow ourselves to be drawn into a "culture-war" mentality, we lose; people yet to trust Christ and experience spiritual rebirth lose. We allow "the rulers, the powers, the world forces of darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness" to pick the time and place of the struggle; we lay the Armor of God aside--and we are impotent in the face of such evil. 

It's high time believers figure out "who and where" the enemy is and the rules of engagement, then take the fight to the enemy as per Paul's instruction in Ephesians 6.10-24. Only then will we see the tide of evil begin to recede. 

We will not prevail in the short term by building higher walls around the spiritual reservations we have fashioned our churches into. We will not prevail by asking Focus of the Family to lobby our politicians. We will not prevail by finding conservative, too often shrill, politicians to write laws and pack the courts.

Cursing the darkness won't win hearts and change minds.

Choose God.  

Love people.  

Know who the enemy is and...

"10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."  Ephesians 6.10   

Our battle is NOT against flesh and blood. The stakes are infinitely higher than a culture war; eternity hangs in the balance for those yet to embrace Christ with effective faith.  

For the sake of the Kingdom, and especially for those who have not yet secured a place in the Kingdom through effective faith in Christ, keep your eye on the ball.

One life.

Burn bright...

LIVEITWELL!

Dust...to Diamonds

Given the presence of carbon and vast amounts of time, extreme temperature (ranging between 1800 and 2400*F), and ear-popping pressure (650,000-850,000psi), the Earth will produce diamonds. This unique process makes diamonds a relatively rare and always valuable commodity.

It should surprise no one that God uses a similar process in bringing people with effective faith into a beautiful reflection of the image of our Saviour, The Lord Jesus Messiah; and yet, too often we miss what God is doing.

Dust to Diamonds.

Paul describes this process for us in his second letter to the church at Corinth..

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 we are 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.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke." 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

--2 Corinthians 4.7-18 NLT

Pressed on every side, perplexed, hunted, knocked-down, NOT crushed, NOT despairing, NOT abandoned, NOT destroyed. BUT suffering, sharing in the death of Jesus--for one glorious purpose: that the life of The Savior might be clearly seen in our bodies; IN us BY others.

Dust to Diamonds.

God uses hard places to fashion us into a new version of ourselves, still us, but transformed in ways that manifest His presence, His grace, His mercy. This is not what we will be, but we are sufficiently different in ways that produce confident expectation--hope. Look at how Paul describes it to the church in Rome, where he compares our struggle with the cataclysmic impact sin has had on the Earth; thus, all creation waits...

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God's curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

--Romans 8.18-25 NLT

Dust to diamonds.

What is responsible for this transformation and the hope it delivers? Paul clarifies this at the beginning of the eighth chapter of his letter to the Roman church...

There is, therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

--Romans 8.1-4

Don't miss it...for God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (humankind) and for sin (He absorbed the penalty for sin on His own body in our place), He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.

Sin broke the planet.

God is in the process of restoring what He created. The tipping point of the restoration is the passion, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Messiah. We have been redeemed and restored positionally; now we are waiting--suffering still, but knowing that "it is finished." 

In that suffering, as we lean into our weakness, our fragility, there, at that moment, the Manifest Presence of God shines brightly through us and our suffering; for us, for a watching world to behold in wonder. His strength made manifest through our weakness. Indeed, "the wound is where the light shines through."

Dust to Diamonds.

Suffering is NOT payback. 
Suffering is NOT God's plan spinning out of control. 
Suffering IS the last dying gasp of sin--Check, NOT Check-Mate.
Suffering IS the process God has sovereignly allowed to transform our lives on this side of the veil, from...

...dust to diamonds.

We don't get to be here long.

Liveitwell!