Weary.

Weary.  So very weary of the "if you criticize this President you must be a hater and racist" narrative.  It's time people stop crying wolf--it's hurting the Presidency, it's hurting relationships across racial and political lines, and it's hurting the Nation.

We can't control the racist vanguard; we can't control the haters...what they say or think; we don't need to.  We can force them to the margins of culture and make them irrelevant by refusing them a place "at our tables."

That said, the "loyal opposition" plays an enormously important role in shaping the Nation and the future--regardless of weather that opposition is conservative or progressive.  Any attempt to silence that voice is tyranny, and a threat to us all.  So let's all straighten up, act like adults, and cut-out this non-sense--regardless of what drives it.

Ideas matter.  Not all ideas are created equal.  Live with it.

bN tGit

Note to my Younger self

Today, I write to my younger-self, FOR my grands--Braden, Kellen, Gabriella and Grayson.

I know you will all make choices about the way you live your lives, how you will invest your energy and what kind of legacy you will eventually leave behind. I'm writing because I love you all and don't want to leave these words unsaid.

It's taken me a few years to figure this much out.  Were I able to send a note to my younger-self, this is what I'd say... 

Know, Trust and Serve God.
Follow Christ.
Be kind.
Think noble thoughts.
Read and reflect on history.
Be inclusive.
Love people.
Never mistake tolerance for love.
Be generous.
Teach yourself to say "I do not know."
Think God's thoughts after Him.
Be patient.
Stand up to be heard, sit down to be appreciated.
Cultivate quirky, life is more fun in the quirky lane.
Be a leader, willing to follow.
Invest in your family, you don't get do-overs.
Work hard to make other people successful.
Be humble.
Make mistakes. Learn from them, then celebrate them.
Wake up every day with a hunger to grow.
Be accountable.
Trust that loss isn't the end of life.
Believe that death isn't the end of eternity.  It's a portal, not a wall.
Be grateful.
Learn that God meets us in the stillness.
Embrace the things you fear. You may never master them, but then again, you might.

Finally, I pass on to you my life verse, Micah 6.8.  In it God provides us with an amazing guiding principle for your lives:  "With what shall I come to the Lord...He has told you O man what Is good; and what does the Lord require of you?  But to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God."   

Your choices will shape your character. Good character will empower you to be the kind of people God uses to make hard lives easier.  Making hard ives easier is a legacy that will transform your world, one needy--and often underserving, person at a time.  This is the miraculous power of grace.

I love you all more than life...Pop

bN tGit

Thank GOD it's today

Today, Now what?

Horizon indigo-blue, dawn.

Sweet slumber, my retreat.

Moments with God, my hope.

Today, wished away?

Sundance East.

Love's gentle touch, my confidence. 

Grands smiles, my delight.

Today squander, make great?

Sun blazes zenith, Noon.

Disapointment, my challenge.

Sweet fragance, my respite.

Today spent, invested?

Moon reflects suns glory, sublime beauty.

Kind word, my comfort.

Quiet reflection, my strength.

Today, a legacy?

Here, gone.

All I have, all I need.

I will rejoice and be glad.

bN tGit

Whisper Their Names

Taps begin.
Time adds little perspective.

Death in a hostile place, a time not chosen.
Cities hard to pronounce; countries hard to find.
Cause, clarity clouded, confused; hard to recall.

Whisper their names.

Taps begin

Time dulls memory. 
Pace pushes people on.
Space vacated, empty, gone.
Place dissolves, no trace; so it seems.

Whisper their names.

Taps begin.

Time stands still; this I remember. 
Their laughter, their scent.
First smile, first step, first word, first love.
A Friday night; life was simple.
The future, a certain dream, bullet proof, not.

Whisper their names.

Taps begin.

Time release; tears flow freely.
Pride in lives well lived.
Grieving for lives given, invested and gone.
The loss, the pain; broken plans, broken hearts--shattered.

Whisper their names.

Taps begin.
Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coastguardsmen, Airmen.

Duty, honor, country.
Last full measure, their devotion.
No greater love, their sacrifice.

In peace, now rest.

Whisper their names--and remember.

bN tGit

A work in PROCESS

The cause/effect relationship between the way we think and the outcomes we achieve is uncanny.  

A "mind," even a poorly developed one, is a powerful force.  God blessed us all with beautiful minds; having been fashioned in His image gives us access to resources beyond the natural, built right into our DNA.  

Our minds are, of course, the most unique aspect of our beings.  So...what are you doing with yours?  It's "the first day of the rest of our lives," May 21, 2015--nearly at the mid-point of this year;  a wonderful moment to look back at what was, then gaze into the second half of the year at what might be.  

Here's a perpetual list I use to keep my life compass oriented, "true North." Quite frankly, this is a "three steps forward, two steps back" process much of the time; but even one step at a time is progress!   We are on the cusp of the half-way mark in the year; finish strong in 2016...

• Go to and get out of bed earlier.  
• Be active, body and mind, with the extra morning time.

• Give up painful thinking.
• Don't throw others "under the bus."

• Refuse to think like a victim.
• Seek balance in my life.

• Look for the best in people.
• Find ways to add value to the lives of others.

• Give generously to a cause you feel great passion for.
• Volunteer and serve in some fashion, some place.

• Don't be a cynic.
• Refuse to associate with negative people.

• Spend time in dialogue with people who don't think like me.
• Make the effort to grow my intellect and expand my perspective.

• Transform obstacles into opportunities.
• Begin something that makes me feel challenged.

• Mentor someone younger and/or less experienced.
• Find someone to mentor me; be accountable to someone.

• Read and listen to good books that make me feel enriched.

• Journal: keep it simple and short; then watch that discipline begin to expand.

• Leverage the dearth of resources available on the Web.
• Use technology in a way that prevents me from becoming its slave.

Finally, most significantly...

"...do JUSTICE,  love KINDNESS and walk HUMBLY with your God."  
                                           ....Micah 6.8  ESV

For me, it starts by asking God (again) to empower me to resolve and retool the way I think and as result, the way I experience life:

"Father in heaven give me clarity to know myself; give me desire to reflect Christ; give me discipline to lean-into You; give me focus to remain on task; give me wisdom to make 'best decisions.'"  

Through Messiah Jesus, let it be.   



bN  tGit

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, 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 Christ, let it be.

bN tGit

The NOT post-racial Presidency

So much for "the first post-racial President in our history." Sounded hopeful, sort of like "hope and change" and "change we can believe in."  This Presidency certainly will not be described as post-racial by any perspective of history. 

 Not because it couldn't have been.

You see, the "we think it's cool" crowd doomed that possibility almost from that night in 2008, at Chicago, when a sea of well-wishers gathered to celebrate this President's first election. That certainly was a moment in history. But it didn't produce a post-racial result. You see, from that "moment" almost anyone who dared question this President's intelligence, fitness for office, ability to lead or wisdom in approaching the challenges facing the nation--has been tarred as a racist puppet of the Aryan Nation.

As I reflect back, all Presidents during my lifetime have been the subject of a national pastime geared toward laughing at their quirks, questioning their intelligence, reviling their politics and counting the days till the next election cycle. In this modern era, virtually nothing has been out of bounds. Now, let me state for the record, I don't believe what we subject our Presidents to is good for the nation; that said, it's become the norm, not the exception. It's mean, but it's not racist.

So, when this President stepped up to become the focus of the electorates ire, it's decried as racism. That is non-sense. Are there racists in America? Certainly. Is some the what we hear about this President racist? Certainly...just like some of what we heard about George Bush was hate-speech.

This is America. We need to be able to speak our minds, thoughtful or otherwise, because that's a treasured right here. It's part of what makes us, us. My concern as we turn the corner to the home stretch in this 2016 Presidential election cycle, is that we'll forget who we are and what makes this nation great. I pray for a civil discourse. But I also expect it to be a spirited and opinionated discourse, as it should be. "Ideas" do that to people. People must feel safe stating what they think about the candidates and believe to be the best course for the nation...regardless of their agenda.

We make judgments about the ideas placed before us by politicians and the people that support them; then, we VOTE!  This election cycle should be no different than those that came before it...but as we're seeing almost every night on our favorite news cast, some seek to prevent this process from playing out that way.

It appears that the election to determine the next President will be characterized by class warfare, race-baiting, vitriol, violence and a "take no prisoners" commitment to win at any cost. Now is the time to brace for just such an election. 

Prepare now to be driven to a decision by the facts and your conviction about what you believe is the best course for our nation going forward. How can one do that?

1. Critically consider your values and then ask, which set of ideas best represent those values. 
2. Become thoroughly familiar with who the candidates really are...not who they, or their handlers, simply say they are.
3. Go deeper than the talking points. Think through policy and how it effects the nation going forward.
4. Engage big ideas. Read, study, pray and reflect on the politics of the 21st century, then measure the ideas of those asking for your vote against your own understanding and perspective, born from that "due diligence."
5. Refuse to be an ideologue.
6. Measure twice and cut once.
7. Seek guidance from God; Seek His agenda. Be willing to embrace it.
8. Exercise your right, privilege and responsibility to vote.

We missed an opportunity to get it right under the leadership of the POTUS Obama, and, frankly, one has to wonder, what could have been?

The good news...while we don't always get it right the first time, Americans keep working at it until we do. No, this isn't the first post-racial Presidency, but it's taken us one step closer to that vision of Dr. Martin Luther King.  Sweet Dream.

bN tGit

It's Enough.

Difficult days.
News?  Conflict, chaos.
Too much dissonanace.
His Grace. Redemption.
His promise.  Hope.

His character. Strength.

He is able.
I am His.

It's enough.

bN tGit

Wrong War.

Our culture is changing--devolving.  It seems a day does not pass that we don't hear about the latest decent into the abyss on the Evening news. Many People of faith have dutifully written their Senators and Representative 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 faith are called to battle for hearts.  Little wonder minds have become utterly corrupt.  

In this process, we see how people of faith have been seduced too.  The culture war is self-serving.  It's an attempt to preserve and re-create a world less hostile, less chaotic, 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 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 like God does.  When people of 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 instruction 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

We win the world one heart at a time gently, 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 faith insert themselves into 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, 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 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 what Jesus described as "sheep without a shepherd."  They aren't like us, they don't think or act like us.  They are driven by differnt values, often by different passions.  Yet, they carry the same godly imprint on their souls that people of faith reflect...we are all created in His image.  We are all loved with an unconditional love.  We all have access the same unmerited overflow of His grace.  We are all sinners in need of a Savior.  

These lost sheep, 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 along side these unlovely people and their messy lives and seek to serve them in compassion, with sacrifice through love;  in that process God prepares a moment--empowers us to speak truth, and lives are transformed by the Risen Savior.

One heart, one mind; gently, respectfully.  POWERFULLY.

Let it be.

bN tGit

If my people.

Many people of faith (I've taken my shots) are piling on this Administration, decrying its polices, arrogance and penchant for demagoguery.   

     

But, let's face the the hard truth: Government shares 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

   

 This, is change we can believe in. It starts in Christ's church.  It includes me...and you.

bN tGit