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. 

Amazing grace. 

bN tGit

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. 

 bN tGit

A gray cloudy day...

Lake slips into a mist of gray
Horizon broken by trees stripped by Fall, bracing for winter.
Seasons change, storms pass.

A metaphor for life?
Fifty shades of gray, stripped by storms bracing for loss.
Where is hope?

A Blue Herron floats over the water.
The Spirit floats over the chaos of life.
Seasons change, storms pass.

Flashes of color break through the mist.
God--not lost in the gray.
There is Hope.

bN tGit

A new song.

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

Friday morning I began to notice the birds vocalizing--a song to the human ear.  I thought it was curious given the wind, rain, and biting cold we encountered that morning.  But there they were, intent on doing what birds do.  They sang, I groused (pun intended).

Their internal calendar told 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 doesn't 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."

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

Sing. 



bN tGit

Two Camps, Big Problem

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.

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 need not be 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

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 ponder 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.

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 will give you many opportunities to share the reality of God's provision--through Messiah Jesus.  This is a legacy that will transform your world, one needy--and underserving, person at a time. This is the miraculous power of grace.

I love you all more than life...gPA

bN tGit

Help!

Celebrated my year #63, on March 14, 43 shared with Laura as my mate-for-life.  In this photo, about one-month into our dating relationship, Laura was 15, I'd just turned 16.  I remember that day like it happened yesterday.

Reflecting on life at 63, I am reminded, again, about the plaintive message in the Beatles tune "Help." It occurrs to me...what a tremendous insight that song had into what happens to us as we move into the final third of our lives--but seen through the eyes of those five young men.  Hence the plaintive nature of the song.  In fact, from this side of the time continuum I realize that life today is filled with tradeoffs. While I can't "do it all" anymore, the tenderness I experience as Laura, our kids and friends "stand in the gaps" is profound. 

The FabFive had it figured out in 1969, they just didn't realize the light at the end of the tunnel was a train, coming to pick them up and carry them into a new chapter; Life is certainly different, it's definitely sweeter. 

The humility that comes with interdependence is liberating.

bN tGit

The love of God & Hope.

Grateful today that on December 28, 1968 I embraced the Risen Christ.  He paid a debt He did not owe, because of His great love and the Father's grace. It's been 47 years. 

I've experienced real transformation; a day does not slip by that I don't reflect on how different my life has been because of a very simple, heartfelt prayer.

More than this, I have confidence, assurance that "It is well with my soul." He has promised..."No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8.39

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible and 47 years "of Christ in me, the hope of glory," tells me so.   Maranatha!

bN tGit

Vexed NOT beaten.

Someone recently asked me about a passing comment I'd made about the Tower of Babel; wanting me to expand on what was said. 

Over the years I've always attempted to find "dynamic equivalents" in the culture around me to help people understand a deeper principle from the Scriptures. The Tower of course was the penultimate expression of hubris on the part of humankind; our effort to shake a collective fist at God and say "See, you aren't so transcendent after all." Foolish pride led to an inflated opinion of who we were; God breathed, language changed and chaos ensued. We discovered we were no match for the transcendent God.

Fast forward to modern culture: God, in his grace, has allowed mankind to apply his intellect and ingenuity, these also graciously granted by God, to "discover" thousands of things that insulate us from the ill-effects of the fall: drugs, asphalt, steel, plastic, roads, air conditioning, engines, automation--the list is endless. We in turn, tainted by sin and swelled with pride, believeing ourselves to be wise "shake our fists" at God and say, "You see, the Scriptures are myth; there was a big-bang and then there was mankind and look at how we have evolved...we have the power to give and take life. We don't need myths to prop us up anymore. We are God." 

In reality, everything we touch we corrupt. Look at what we call our "system of Justice." We condition the air at the same time we poison it with hydro-carbons. We pollute the planet, poison our bodies, can't beat cancer or aids and when/if we do, something else always emerges. Regardless of how effective we are at blunting the effect of sin on life and the planet, sin always trumps our best efforts...and God allows it, to point us to our need for a Savior and His gracious provision for our redemption.

The farther evolved civilization becomes the further it devolves into moral and spiritual chaos--abortion, failed economies, addiction, violence, corrupt governments, greed, broken relationships, idolotry, shaminism, social injustice. Think about it, in 1965 LBJ gave us the Great Society. These unfunded mandates have done nothing to enlighten culture and end poverty--but they have driven us to edge of bankruptcy and destroyed families while perpetrating genocide on the poorest of the poor. The smarter we get, the dumber we are. We can run from God, but we can't hide.

So then, civilization as we have fashioned it, has become mankind's' most recent "Tower of Babel;" the work of "our hands" which demonstrates our independence, our ability to "get it done without God." We set out to be like God, and in a final irony, we create the very modality that could be the end of life as we know it. We can destroy it, but we can't fix it..."and all the king's horses, and all the king's men, couldn't put humpty-dumpty back together again." 

The lie that deceived Eve, continues to vex us; but we aren't beaten. This Truth has set us free..."When we were utterly helpless...God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5.6a,8

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

bN tGit