Less is more

Control the "Controllables"

Time.
Activity.
Stress.
Disstress.

Why don't we say "no?"  Our fear of loosing an edge is ravaging relationships, creating monster expectations, ruining our health and creating distance between us and God.

The fact is we really do live in a "less is more" world.  "White space" is what makes good Art so fetching, great landscape design so dramatic and relationships work.  It gives us permission to breath, to be creative, to recharge and recreate.  

Who "moved the cheese" and convinced Americans that the contemplative life is empty and worth-less?  
We did.  

Stop.
Breath.
Listen.
Smile.


bN tGit

We will Rise

Several years ago I received a note from a good friend..."my dad's cancer is progressing. His time here is probably down to days..."  When I read those words I was transported back to the last time I was with his dad.  I was saddened by this news, concerned for the grief this final act of life would introduce to my friend and his family...and not.

My friend's father did lose his life; but not once was he in danger of losing his hope: the certain promise that he, as a believer in Jesus Christ, would finally be transported into the presence of His Lord and Savior, there to enjoy life as HE designed it to be.

Life is hard, then we die.   We will all lose our lives, but we need not lose our hope.

Praise God for the hope we have in Christ, and the healing death brings for those who have embraced Christ through effective saving faith.  For these death is not something to be feared; it is a gracious provision that carries us back into a "face to face" real-time relationship with God. Without death, we become eternal beings, like Lucifer and the legion of angels which were cast out of heaven because of their rebellion...eternally separated from God, without hope of redemption.

Death became the modality that God uses to foil Satan's attempt to co-opt God's crowning creative act, the human race.  So then, death is the definitive "check-mate" and demonstrates God's mastery; always steps ahead of evil and the chaos of sin. Genesis 3 describes the event that initiated the rebellion of Adam and Eve to sin and it's necessary result, death; it's also here that we learn that death is part of God's bigger plan for hope and the redemption of human-kind.

The rest, is history, 1 John 4.9,10...

"God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son 

into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 

10  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us 

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

We know that love is a four letter word, spelled H-O-P-E; more importantly, we know that death simply marks the first day of the rest of our lives, 2 Corinthians 4.16-18...

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet 

inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary 

troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, 

since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

We will rise, thanks be to God.  It's a GRACE day.

bN tGit

He's not finished.

"When I Grow Up (to be a man)"  Link to song

This is of course one of the "sounds of summer" delivered to us by, who else, The Beach Boys. It's a favorite. When the DJ's at KRLA or KHJ in Southern California spun this selection I'd turn the radio up (even louder) in my 1960 Ford Falcon--and be transported into thoughts of...the future; "how will my life play out?

Today, when I select this tune on my iPod, or hear it on my Pandora "Beach Boys Radio" selection, I'm transported into thoughts of...the past; we all grew up.  I settled down early, married my High School sweetheart 42 years ago and WILL "love her for the rest of my life." While it's true that life is rarely fair, it's always good.

I've grown up.  Now that I'm growing older, I think about legacy.  What will I leave behind that will distinguish my place in the passage of time?  What will my grandkids carry through their lives that has my fingerprints on it?  Have the lives of people been enriched because they spent a season in close proximity with me?  Have I been an agent of positive change?

I'm grateful I'm not done. 

       I'm grateful I'm not alone. 

            I'm grateful He's not finished: 

"Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling and 

will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.²⁵

All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and 

in the present, and beyond all time! Amen."  Jude 24, 25

bN tGit

The Hurt.

One year ago this week Robin Williams took his own life.  

I recall having a lunch-time conversation with a friend about that tragic decision.  My friend expressed his dismay over the way many in the most conservative wing of our faith tradition had chosen to excoriate Robin, because of suicide.

Robin had an extraordinary gift--not his comedic gift--but the one which allowed him to tap into what being human is, what it feels like, what it looks like, then being able to create a "connect-the-dots" visual--using words, diction and TONE.  When we heard him speak we realized "that's it...that's me!" He moved us and made it possible to breath again, he delivered relief and hope because he understood us.

Being that intuitive and dialed in--takes a toll of a person's soul. In the end, Robin could not find his "Robin." Don't be harsh because Robin was too vulnerable; because he couldn't believe his way to a faith based answer.  Simply learn the last lesson he left us--no man is an island. 

That said, we all hurt; there is a healer.  His name is Jesus.

"Jesus come and break my fear, wake my heart and take my tears

Find your glory even here, when the hurt and the healer collide."  Mercy Me

Jesus extends to every person this timeless promise:  Matthew 11.28-30

28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Follow this link below to a beautfiul expression of our frailty and God's provision..."The Hurt and The Healer" by Mercy Me.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxqfDs-64I0

It's Friday, but Sunday's comin.'

bN tGit

The Great Debate.

Politics is part of our DNA.  It's why we don't choke up when we hear our cousins from across the pond singing "God Save the Queen."  That said, let's work to keep the Debate civil and respectful.

Let me be clear here; civil doesn't mean we can't passionately disagree with each other.  It doesn't mean we can't say what we think and apply with dazzling skill (or not), the amazing resources at our fingertips to back up our opinions.  It's ironic that we have come to believe that it's politically correct to be neutral--or at least give the appearance of neutrality.  The term "political" has no application apart from the idea of people engaged in advancing a specific set of ideas to govern the way we do things--in our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, communities and government!

The freedom to speak is part of the foundation of our nation; our nation, that survives today because citizen-soldiers have taken up arms against those who would seek to subjugate us and our way of life--without regard for wether they agreed with all the politics.  We owe those who gave so selflessly a debt of great responsibility with regard to our deportment as a free-people.

That said...let's engage in the debate. 

• Let's speak out with boldness.  
• Let's refuse to be thin-skinned.
• Let's choose kindness.
• Let's refuse to brand "not like me" as hate speech.
• Let's make it passionate, but not personal.
• Let's give each other the space to be stubborn and blind. Not everyone is as smart as we are...that's a good thing (wink, wink).
• Let's believe the best about those who think differently.
• Let's ask questions to clarify.
• Let's exercise grace and tolerance for those who seem, from our perspective, so intolerant.
• Let's be willing to grow and change.
• Let's not be ugly.
• Let's remind those who may embrace what we believe, but do so in ugly ways, that "ugliness isn't funny, helpful or appropriate--ever."
• Let's work to control hyperbole...which is rhetorically useful and appropriate but must be done with balance.
• Let's allow for another rhetorically useful tool: sarcasm...but those who use it unwisely do so at their own peril.  Less is more.
• Let's be willing to own our errors humbly and with grace.
• Let's be willing to forgive.

Come that first Tuesday in November 2016, let's close ranks and hold those elected to govern responsible, for the way they govern; let's also allow them to compromise and advance the business of the Nation forward toward a brighter future.

Remember, we have a new-direction "fork in the road" every two years.  It's the "governor" on the system and virtually assures that the more things change, the more they stay the same; therein lies the genius of the Founders.

Politics, it's part of our DNA.

bN tGit

Bleeding out.

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, Hollywood, 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; toward 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 and 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.  

bN tGit

That's enough!

Difficult days.  
News?
Too many dissonant voices.

His Grace. Redemption.
His promise.  Hope.

His character. Strength.

He is able.

I am His.

That's enough.

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.

Humility, repentance, healing.  It all begins in the Church.

This, is change we can believe in.

bN tGit

Exceptional.

American exceptionalism: our multiple failures, our human weakness, TRUMPED by redemptive generosity across the land and around the world.

bN tGit

tGit!

Make a hard life easier today--opportunities abound. A kind word, a smile; a simple generous gift. See it, do it. Thank God it's...today.  TGIT!

bN  tGit