Irish Eyes

Patricia Blankenship Baier, Tennessee Ernie Ford & Ben Baier 1960

Red hair, hazel eyes
Bright with life,
mischief, delight.

Red hair, hazel eyes
dimmed by rebellion
discipline too harsh.

Red hair, hazel eyes
filled with sorrow;
bad decisions,
heartbreak the consequence.

Red hair, hazel eyes
swept by strength;
refuse the victim
children her focus.

Red hair, hazel eyes
glimmer fades;
live with regret,
press on; what waits?

Red hair, hazel eyes
determined, hard;
give up? Refuse.

Red hair, hazel eyes
weary, worn;
too many
bad days,
lonely nights,
dreams dashed.

Red hair, hazel eyes
ablaze with light,
smile restored;
happiness,
an island
found.

Red hair, hazel eyes
weak with disease,
filled with fear,
questions;
needing peace
wanting rest.

Red hair, hazel eyes
closed too soon;
hope a reality,
mountains our reminder,
eternity her destiny.

Red hair, hazel eyes
a memory now;
children her legacy,
Peaceful rest.
Irish eyes are smiling.
Miss you mom.

Grace. Amazing.

I need not run from a Christ-Centered world view to embrace ALL people with compassion and love. 

Being passionately concerned for others who do not "look, act or think" like me, while refusing to embrace their values, isn't hateful. It is the ultimate expression of Christ-like love; reaching out in spite of a great divide, seeking to build bridges. 

 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."  Romans 5.6 NIV

Grace.  Amazing.

Live it well...bN M6.8

Death By a Thousand Cuts

Culture in America is on an inverted spiral out of control--devolution. "Civil rights" have replaced "the moral imperative" as the final arbitrator in America. We've come to embrace the idea it's (here's the irony) "immoral" to deny the rights of individuals to act as they see fit as long as "no one is hurt in the process." But this rubric fails to understand that morality isn't defined as just "the absence of a victim." Debased behavior, wether it's Wall Street, the Silver Screen, Congress, Education, Church or at home diminishes the entire culture and has set in motion a "death by a thousand cuts" cultural bleed-out.

In the name of freedom we have acted in ways that have produced unintended consequences. We have come to believe that because we have the protection under law to do something, produce something, say something--we can. The problem is that liberty in that context is license--and license leads, inevitably, to lawlessness. One of the most important lessons I learned at home was this; just because I CAN do something, doesn't not mean I SHOULD do it.

If we as a culture, can get back to this simple lesson and apply it with consistency to the way we LIVE our lives, run our companies, invest our money, lead our homes, churches, communities and our nation, THEN I believe we will have taken a FIRST-STEP toward restoring sanity to our decision making process and rebuilding the ramparts that protect our culture from evil and devolution toward certain destruction.

But mark this, healing our culture must ultimately address our spiritual need. The Older Testament prophet Micah lived in a truly evil world. The theme of his prophetic letter stresses the integral relationship between true spirituality and righteous conduct. Toward the end of his letter he turns to an axiomatic concern: Micah 6.6 "...with what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high?" In today's vernacular it might sound something like this..."What kind of life will reflect and infuse truth in a world whose reality is based solely on pragmatism, pleasure at any price; driven by relativism?"  He reveals that answer to us in chapter 6, verse 8...

"He has showed you O man, what is good. To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."   Micah 6.8

Friends, it's not a fiscal cliff we see looming on the horizon. 

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

Choice Matters

My choices shape my character. 

When I chose Jesus Messiah through effective faith, God's Spirit began to inform and impact my character. Godly character will empower me to be the kind of person He uses to make hard lives easier.  

Making hard lives easier is a legacy that will transform my world, one needy--and often underserving, person at a time.  

This is the miraculous power of God's love and His amazing grace.

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

Keep Your Eye on the Ball!

The cardinal rule of good hitting--baseball, golf, billiards--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."

Jesus saw the crowds of distressed people and was "moved with compassion" all the way 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...

"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 re-birth 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 long-term by building higher walls around the spiritual reservations we have fashioned our churches into,  by asking Focus of the Family to lobby our politicians, by finding conservative--too often shrill--politicians to write laws and pack the courts; cursing-the-darkness won't win the battle. 

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 infinitly 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,  keep your eye on the ball.  

Life is fast.

Live it well...bN M6.8

God's love finds a way.

The confessing church has aligned itself into two camps.  This division has created a wall that impacts Christ's church in a profoundly negative way.  The challenge Believers face is to embrace both the social justice and eschatological mandates of the Gospel; it isn't either/or, it's both/and.

The irony is that the same end, passion for people who have become as Jesus described “sheep without a shepherd”, drives both “camps;” yet we (all of us) "preach" a different gospel when we fail to apply the whole counsel of God to our praxis.  It has stripped the church of its relevance on one hand, and spiritual power on the other--leaving only a shell for those "asking, seeking, and knocking" to behold. 

The good news is that God isn't marginalized by our failure to embrace the whole Gospel. His love continues to find a way. If only we who have confessed Christ and embraced effective faith could come together, face the harsh reality that WE are the problem, and seek God's face, healing would come; that's the promise of 2 Chronicles 7.14... 

"...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." 

May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.


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

Sunday's Comin'

Today we marked another "Good Friday" off the calendar as time moves toward that final consummation when the Trumpet Sounds and our Father in heaven begins the finale toward a New heaven and earth.  I'm reposting a blog I wrote just over two years ago.  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 the Resurrection Day celebration expand their appreciation for what God in Christ did for humankind at the Cross. That said, reflect and prepare.  It's Friday, but Sunday's comin.'

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 (2 Corinthians 4.1,2...7-10) instructs us...

"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!  It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin.'


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

A New Song

Spring is off to a very slow start (again), even for Northern Indiana.

This past Monday morning I began to notice the birds vocalizing with a frenzy that produced a cacophony to the human ear.  I thought it was curious given the wind, rain, and biting cold that has once again defined our Spring.  But there they were, intent on doing what birds do; they sang, I groused (pun intended).

Their internal calendar informs the birds "it's Spring." They sing with confidence because they know, intuitively, that regardless of what the weather may be like today, it's Spring, and it's going to feel like Spring sooner than later.

It occurred to me this morning, off to another blustery start, as I listened to them sing outside my window, I can do that too.  I know my life is "hidden with Christ in God," and even though it may not feel like that today, it will again, sooner than later.

Colossians 3.2-4 "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."

Wow!  He put a new song in my heart.  "Its Friday, but Sunday's comin'."

So...sing.  Life is fast.

Live it well...bN M6.8


bN tGit

Above the Law

Anger and hate are easy because they are intuitive to our human nature. 

Empowered by God, we can do better; "...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

No law; Statutory, Constitutional or Sharia can stand against these compelling virtues. They are a starting place, pointing us to the truth about the Universe we can see, but not fully experience; the world we can experience, but not fully understand and ourselves--with hearts so desperately sick, who can know them.   

Need help?  Let's talk.  Message me.

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

NeXT

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.  What sets apart those not beaten, from those that are?  It is what that "lifetime process" produces in us. 

I've been reminded recently, 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."

Be sure not to miss v.5...God prepares us for NeXT, gives us a holy desire to "level-up" and then seals the deal with His Holy Spirit--indwelling, empowering, informing us--all the while transforming us into the image of Jesus Messiah--in this life with godly character--in the NeXT life with a heavenly body.  Yahoo!

Over these past 30 months 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, power and certitude about NeXT.  Paul acknowleges this too (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."

Trusting Jesus Messiah, through effective faith, is what makes the difference--"so that we could be made right with God through Christ."  No one makes it out alive.  It's what happens NeXT that matters for eternity.  It's a quality-of-ETERNAL-life issue.  The Apostle Paul spells out exactly what we must do in his letter to the church in Rome...

"...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”  Romans 10.9-13

NeXT looms close on the horizon for each of us--we know it's there, what will you do with Jesus?  

Life is fast.

Live it well...M6.8