Yes! Black Lives Matter.

These are difficult days.

As we march toward the election of our next President of the United States, I am reminded of Lincoln's words, from his 2nd Inaugural Address, spoken to a nation torn apart, divided and at war with itself.  

Those were difficult days.

Distress continues to divide us. As we wage an un-civil war of words--and worse--over civil rights, let us never forget that because this Nation lacked the moral courage, the humanity, to end slavery--we paid with the blood of 620,000 lives lost, an economy that took two generations to rebuild and a Nation torn apart and adrift.  Make no mistake: Black lives matter.

On that day as the Civil War raged POUTS Lincoln said...

"... Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.'

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

With malice toward none; with charity for all...let us strive to finish the work...A lasting peace, among ourselves, among ourselves--AMONG OURSELVES and with all Nations.  

May God's mercy rest upon us, may we turn toward one another; may we turn back to God.  


Live it well...bN tGit

Unplugged.

The Church in America is unplugged, it's powerless.  By power I mean spiritual gravitas which is the result of a clear anointing from God.  Most of the country perceives the confessing church to be the most conservative wing of the Republican Party.  I grew up hearing my mom say, "if the shoe fits wear it!"  Unfortunately, we've been tagged with this perception the old fashioned way, we've earned it.  We've chosen to contend for the soul of America using the political process--a grave error.  The shoe fits. 

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power."  2 Tim 3.1-4 

We routinely come to cultural "waypointes--places on a journey where the traveler can stop and change course."  It's past time for the confessing church to change our trajectory and become THE church. The fact is we've settled for sloppy seconds; too many of us worship in places that are driven by forms rather than power.  We've allowed popular culture to shape our vision of what Christ's church should be, what it should look like; we have embraced the wrong set of outcomes.

Today we measure the quality and effectiveness of our ministries based on the Big 3: People, Buildings, Revenue.  In fact, it's not difficult to erect buildings and fill them with people that generate million-dollar budgets.  False religions, cults and sects do it all around the world.  Jim Jones did in San Francisco and finally in Guyana.  Jimmy Swaggart did it, then did it AGAIN in Louisiana.  

People, buildings and money aren't wrong, they simply aren't the unique signature of Christ's Church. These, alone, won't produce transformational-redemptive power, nor are they the indicators of the anointing of God.  Powerless religion, form-driven religion has a micro focus: it sees "the church" as the end.  Forms--the way we "do church," the things we do or don't do that identify us as "christians," are paramount.  This is the kind of context Jesus came into in Judea; the context the Religious power brokers endorsed and protected.

Form-driven religion becomes a template that blinds us to the brokenness which surrounds us.  Form-driven religion makes us think in "wrong-headed ways" about what the world deserves v. what God desires--Us v. Them.  Form-driven religion becomes a tyranny which chokes our vibrancy and shrivels our generosity.

Power-driven godliness sees loving, reaching and changing the world as the end.  Power-driven godliness acts without conditions.  Power-driven godliness seeks to make hard lives easier.  Power-driven godliness understands that wealth, leadership, talent and spiritual gifts are resources graciously given by God for His redemptive endeavor.  Power-driven godliness doesn't seek relavance; it is relevant.

Outcomes are critical.  Matthew 9..."35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.  36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.  37 Then He said to His disciples, 'the harvest in plentiful, but workers are few.'" 

We've come to a waypointe.

Live it well...bN tGit

Less is More

Control the "Controllables"

Time.
Activity.
Stress.
Distress.

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.


Live it well...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; we would be chained to a relationship of enmity with God, no reverse, no repair--NO hope.

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. 

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; Paul give us very specific instruction in his second letter to the church at Corinth...

"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."   2 Corinthians 4.16-18

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

Live it well...bN tGit

He's NOT finished yet.

"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 43 years ago and WILL "love her for the rest of my life."

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

Live it well...bN tGit

The Hurt.

Two years 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...

“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.”  Matthew 11.28-30

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.'  



Live it well...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.  Forget the Queen; God bless America!


Live it well...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 must I do to please You, the Most High God?"  He reveals that answer to us in chapter 6, verse 8...

"He has showed you O man, what is good.  Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God."   Micah 6.8...Do-Love-Walk.

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

Live it well...bN tGit

Life is HARD.

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 21 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?  I'm ready.  Are you?  

Maranatha!


Live it well...bN tGit

Joy comes in the mourning.

This blog was originally posted June 30, 2015. Since then we completed Braden's treatment, only to have his cancer recur. He passed into the loving arms of His Savior on June 28, 2016. 

The anchor holds.   Ben Baier, July 8, 2016

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine, 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

This is a capstone of worship and benediction to Paul's prayer for the Ephesian Church in his letter to the same. The prayer, and this benediction, are perhaps my favorite text in the Newer Testament.

I've come to another perspective over the last few months about this promise in vv.20,21. The optimist in me always sees the glass half-full. These words "...abundantly, beyond all that we ask or imagine..." always brought great joy to my heart as I contemplated--then experienced--God's blessing on His people, His provision on a "just in time" basis--rarely early but never late.

But recently I've connected the dots in a different way; "...abundantly, beyond all that we ask or imagine..." can sometimes come to us through the portal of pain, suffering and loss. It isn't that I don't understand that God uses suffering in our lives. It isn't that I've never personally experienced that process. I'm 62 years old--who hasn't suffered in 62 years? God has always been a ROCK and walked though all the squasma with me. I simply have never connected THIS verse to THAT process.

Reflect on this with me for a moment--applying the text, "...abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine," to the crucible called suffering. This promise is a deep well of hope for those between a rock and a hard place. God wastes nothing that comes into our lives. I believe that most of what we suffer is simply the result of the ebb and flow of life impacted by a world wrecked by sin. Imagine (though the text says it's beyond our ability to imagine) God meeting us "abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine" in those hardest of hard "life-loss" moments--NOT removing the suffering or restoring the loss, but using it to transform us.

This--the hardest of hard-- is where I've lived since February 19, 2015 when we learned our 13 grandson, Braden, had a very serious cancer. God has met me in this barren place...abundantly, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

Braden is not cancer-free, and we have no guarantee, though his prognosis is good. The way to his current status has been difficult, he has suffered and lost too much. Yet, through it all, God has inhabited my fear, my anger and my tears. He has changed me, made me more dependent, forged a more profound faith in me; He has changed Braden. He has changed our family...abundantly, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

I have witnessed abundance through Braden's parents--their resolve and leadership; through Braden's transformed adolescent attitude; through younger brother Kellen pitching in, doing all he can to bring comfort and ease the load. I have witnessed abundance through answered prayer. I have witnessed abundance through the hundreds of people who are investing there time, energy, love and faith in us--generously, constantly. I have witnessed His abundance in my "dark night of the soul" moments...abundantly, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

I know this: God is. God is acting. God is acting for us. God is acting for us abundantly beyond anything we can ask or imagine--in celebration and through suffering.

Loss isn't abandonment. It isn't the death of hope. It's an "intersection" where one 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...abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine.

Sometimes, joy comes in the MOURNING.


bN tGit