In a former life that I now dimly remember, I occasionally got free music as a sales associate for The Ark Bookstore in Denver. Normally, the samples were of new, relatively unknown groups that their label was trying to push. There was the rare exception, however, and those were moments that made the low wages and long hours almost worth it. Chief among those moments was when our Sparrow representative stopped by with a pre-release copy of Steve Taylor's 1993 album, Squint. It was the last—so far—studio album that Taylor would release, capping a decade-long career in the Christian music industry. Most folks don't know who Steve Taylor is. However, most Christians have likely heard the Newsboys' song, Shine, which Steve produced and wrote the lyrics to. In fact, Steve's partnership with the Newsboys is what most credit them for their success.
Steve's music has had a huge impact on my life. Songs like Hero, Meltdown, On The Fritz and so many others fed my spirit when I faced religious hypocrisy and pretentious spirituality at a young age where I needed truth and solidarity. Truth confronts, but it also comforts. One of the best examples is in the song, "Curses," where the chorus (echoing Psalm 37:25) repeats,
Never have I seen the righteous forsaken
Never abandoned in the floodlands
Never have I seen their children out begging
Never have I seen them slip through your hands
This simple refrain would echo in my mind every time I faced worries about making mortgage or buying groceries. It remains a reminder that not only is God faithful, but that I am not the first of his children to encounter financial difficulty.
There is something else about the chorus. In this modern,"lower-middle class" lifestyle, I tend to forget the meaning of floodlands. Today, modern civilization has flood control. Rivers that used to rage and ravage towns and cities are now harnessed and regulated by dams and reservoirs. The floodlands were areas that were normally dry but prone to extensive inundation. As a result, no one who could afford to build would build in such an area. They tended to be vast areas with thick undergrowth crisscrossed by a myriad of foot trails. The only inhabitants were the poorest of the poor, vagrants living a nomadic lifestyle and eating hand-to-mouth. If a river were to flood, they would be among the first victims, sometimes the only victims. Being abandoned in the floodlands would never be by choice. It would be the last stop before dying.
God is always mindful of our situation. He never lets us slip through His hands. We make mistakes, but He never does. Also, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that we would never see the floodlands, or walk through them. He may have us pass through the floodlands for any number of reasons, not the least of which would be to reach out to those are also in desperate need. Yet here is the one thing that brings me such comfort: we will never be abandoned! We have a God who carries us through the fiercest storms and the highest waves. Most importantly, when it's all over, we get to go home with Him. That's worth any trek we might face here on earth.
Just in case one thinks I'm blowing smoke, I'll offer a subjective proof, one of many small miracles God has done for me and my family. Two weeks ago, my mind turned to Christmas. It dawned on me that we might not make mortgage, let alone have the ability to purchase gifts this year for my children. Rather than fret, I told God about it and asked Him to please provide Christmas gifts for my kids. Later that week, I got a call from our church saying that a family wanted to bless a family in need with Christmas presents and asked if I would be interested. "Are you kidding? I was just praying about that this week!" I told them. Needless to say, everyone was blessed at how God worked the whole thing. He usually isn't so blatant and obvious. God uses subtle and practical ways for us most of the time. But once in awhile he offers us unmistakable signs that He's there. With God, we are never abandoned.
I have held off on writing this post for a couple of days, mostly because I needed time to reflect and process the raw emotions of it all. Like a lot of guys, I don't handle emotions well. I keep the lid tightly screwed down and only let off steam in a controlled way when I know it's safe, just like a pressure relief valve. This works for being a dad, usually, unless there's too much pressure, and then it's either vent or explode. I know others can identify with this. The problem for me, however, is that chronic pain and the natural stresses of being disabled (economic, physical, and psychological) have my boiler at an already high pressure. Sometimes, people feel they have to tip-toe around me, and I am so ashamed of this.
I am disclosing this very real struggle simply because this weekend, I met a family who has been through so much more than I have in the last 15 years and yet remain bound to each other by the love and grace of God.
Many in the homeschooling community know of Chris Klicka and his work with the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). Until recently, few have known about his battle with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Since the MS has progressed and robbed him of even the more basic functions of life, he came to a national homeschool conference to be with the leaders one last time. Last Friday, he became so ill that they hospitalized him. My wife and I were able to meet with the family on Sunday, mostly to pray with and encourage them.
It was then that God used one of the classic tactics in his toolbox. We went there to minister and bless, only to find ourselves being ministered to and blessed. I'm sure we did help, but we were witness to such love and grace that we found ourselves humbled and almost embarrassed. One of their friends said to us, "You are at ground zero. So many prayers from around the world are focused here." It was clearly evident. What could have been a time of great sorrow and frustration was instead a time of patience and prayer. Sure, there was uncertainty looking at the future, especially where Chris's future was concerned, but there was no doubt that whether he stayed or went, he would be blessed. Paul wrote the church in Phillipi with the same dilemma, saying,
If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
The understanding is that Chris wants to leave this body and be with Christ. The only thing keeping him here is the will of God, which is tied to the needs of the believers here. Whatever God wants to work here while Chris remains, whether it is calling people to prayer or bringing some unseen fruit out of this situation, the Klicka family is submitted to it. They pray over him, read scripture to him, love on him as much as they can, but they know that God will call him home when He says it is time. So much love, submitted to God's authority was incredible and humbling! Could we face the same situation with as much love and grace? Only by God's power and strength.
While we traveled there for one purpose, it's becoming clear to me that we were there partly so that Chris' family could impact us, which in turn means that Chris himself survived a close call on Saturday night because we needed to witness God working through his family on Sunday. I do not know the future, but I know that such love submitted under God's will can only reap a bigger and better harvest in the coming days and weeks.
If you want to follow Chris Klicka's condition and his family, you can visit his Caring Bridge journal. Please continue to pray for the grace and peace to flow through and around this family!
I have been extremely blessed by Lisa Notes the last two days. Lisa has listed 5 Reasons To Seek Contentment and 5 More Reasons To Seek Contentment. Contentment is the amazingly simple answer to so many issues that seem to push Christians out of God's will. Please take the time to read them!
When I regularly watched nighttime TV--I can't stand most shows now--I remember enjoying a laugh or two and then getting blindsided by a slam on Christianity or God. As a sincere follower of Jesus, those potshots usually hit a little close to home and left me thinking, "The writers just don't get it."
I am witness to and the beneficiary of God's love for all of us. ... I am witness, too, to the fact that His love is so strong that it was even able to open my rusty old closed heart. I will thank Him forever because He gave me new life and a heart which is truly able to love for the first time in my life. His love is mine.
A "cocaine cowboy" comes home and finds that God not only left the light on for him, but He ran across the north 40 to grab him up in His arms. Do we sit back like the other son, saying, "Great. Woo-hoo. Just wonderful," or do we join with God, rejoicing over Joe's life won back from death and hell?
God's love reaches beyond those rusted doors, behind the graffiti-scrawled walls, down into the lowest places we dare conceive our hearts can sink to. It reaches out, breaking through those defenses and reaching the heart of the most desperate with hope, the most abandoned with security, and the most broken with healing. His love does that. It takes the used up, the abused, the disfigured, the maligned and the humble and lifts them up, bringing glory to Himself. "The LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes."
The first chapter of James (NIV, NAS, MSG) is one of those landmark passages in the Bible that exposes much about the Christian life. Many Christians can find themselves nodding when they read James because they know exactly what he's talking about. They have lived it because, as Hebrews 8 says, God has written His law on their hearts. It is a chapter with something in it for every Christian, and that's why I want to examine it here on my blog.
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
James is writing to his fellow Christian Jews. They share the commonality of the old covenant and the fledgling faith in the new covenant. What stands out to me is that James isn't standing on his credentials here. He simply writes that he's a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't need to emphasize his experience or his education. He is simply a servant.
Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James starts his letter off with a bang! This is something that probably knocked the scribe off his perch when he first read it. Instead of crying foul and singing the blues over persecution and "trials of many kinds," James goes the other direction entirely. He doesn't just say to be willing to go through it, not just "don't worry, be happy." He says to consider it pure joy! Be as happy as you can be that you're going through a horrible time, because it makes your faith real. Like a muscle, faith has to be exercised to be useful. The more you exercise your faith, the stronger it becomes.
Anyone who has exercised knows that building up muscle is painful and difficult to put up with. Moreover, I've climbed mountains, and I know that only the most conditioned, seasoned veterans can make a serious effort to conquer Everest. The training takes years of work, but candidates for the climb endure it willingly because they want to be ready and able to go. They work to have the endurance to make it to the top. They have put in so many hours strengthening their bodies to endure the greatest challenge in climbing.
Unlike the Everest hopeful, however, the Christian exercising their faith does not have an summit in mind. Instead, James offers a mature and complete faith as the goal for the Christian, being ready for anything that comes. Our perception is extremely limited, and we are in no position to declare, "At last, I've arrived!" The moment we do, it's our undoing because either we let go of the training or we allow pride to set us up for a fall. This is why James immediately advises going to God for wisdom. Wisdom guards the Christian against these mistakes.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Faith leads to believing that God can do what He offers and promises. Doubt is essentially anti-faith. Where faith says, "I believe," doubt says, "I disbelieve." So those who believe in God need to go all-or-nothing. You can't have two minds about anything in life and expect to go anywhere or do anything of consequence. Someone like that will not make use of any gift he is given. God, Who knows our thoughts, won't give what won't be used.
Solomon is a great example. When God offered Solomon anything, he asked only for wisdom, and God greatly blessed him. Solomon would later make great use of the gift. Here the offer of wisdom from God extends to everyone in the faith. This is not the worldly wisdom, the cover-your-tail, get-all-you-can and can-all-you-get wisdom. It is godly wisdom that does not go forward in spite of the supernatural, it goes forward embracing the supernatural. It looks beyond the temporary illusion of this life toward the eternal, lasting and real. James illustrates to this transcendent wisdom in the next few verses.
9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
Christians can make the error of believing that riches are a sign that God approves of a person's heart. On the other hand, we can also mistakenly believe that only the poor can be spiritual. James makes the point that riches and poverty are not good or evil of themselves, but each offers its own opportunity to move forward in the faith. The poor Christian develops faith by relying on God for daily providence and the rich Christian develops faith by looking beyond temporary riches and seeking God's eternal glory.
If it isn't good or evil, why does James link the poor with high position and the rich with low position? It seems that he is taking Matthew 23:12 into account when Jesus said, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." James views his world with the topsy-turvy glasses of the Kingdom and uses the irony of high vs. low to emphasize the difference between worldly and Kingdom perspectives.
James ties it all together in the last verse here,
12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
That is the result of our goal! We will have "arrived" only when we receive that crown of life. God makes the award to us when our time is over and we have completed the test. He is the ultimate judge and only He can give something that is eternal. Anything man gives is temporary. Even that Awana award you may have earned in the 5th grade is landfill material. The lasting, eternal award of life is what we truly crave, and we only get it when we've stood the test.
13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
James is trying to help us understand that while God allows us to be tested, He does not do the temptation. The desires of our hearts drag us away from God and entice us to sin. He doesn't point out Satan as the source of temptation, as dualism would have us believe. No, Satan is an accessory to the crime, not necessary for sin to come forward.
Christians can be lead into a time of testing just like the testing the Spirit led Jesus to face. Jesus had to stare down the darkest desires of His fully human heart and steadfastly resist those desires using the Word of God. He did not use his human strength, but God's strength, to resist the desire. Verse 15 paints a picture that every farmer, shepherd or parent can understand. Desire conceives sin and gives birth to it, and once sin itself is fully developed, it gives birth to death. Sin is something that seems good at the time, but when it plays out, yields death to the user. It's also necessary to point out that having desires is not sinful, but the act of entertaining those desires allows sin to be conceived. We are not sinful for having human desires for power, sex, money, etc. It is when we pay attention to those desires, when we feed and nurture those desires that we blunder forward into sin. Temptation toward death can't come from the same source as the source of life. Instead of God tempting us, God gives us gifts that lead toward life and love.
16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created.
The same God who created the sun is unchanging and constant, in other words, completely unlike the Greek gods of the time who saturated Mediterranean culture. Greek gods were capricious and arbitrary in their dealings with men. Instead, God persists in giving life to us, re-birthing us from death to life through the Gospel, making us the forerunners, the standard-bearers of the new heaven and new earth, crowned with this new life.
Last night, I was up late again. I didn't know why I couldn't get to the sleepy point where I knew I was ready for bed. I'd had a medical appointment yesterday and the news wasn't entirely positive. Add to it the news that our house payment will be going up next month. I watched the hours tick away. Two o'clock ticked by, three o'clock, then four... Finally, at five, I asked out of frustration, "What is it?!"
"Steve," I felt the Holy Spirit say, "you're not trusting me!"
"Oh."
"Go and lie down. Leave the rest to me."
I did, and I fell asleep as God brought scriptures and promises to my mind.
Aaron gets it. We may fool others. We may fool ourselves, but we don't fool God. God knows our hearts much better than we do.
A friend of mine passed on a blog that looks interesting, although I haven't gone through much of it yet. For now, I'm concentrating on this latest one titled, "Obedience cannot be balanced." Like a good writer, he observes something in life that's worthy of ink, or in this case, bytes of data, and puts it down on paper... web space... whatever. Aaron, as he identifies himself, is absolutely right when he points out the ridiculousness of "carbon offset," the idea that you can pay to plant trees to atone for your vehicle's emissions on a pristine--well, lets just say "gently used" planet. He points out the conceptual kinship to the Double Quarter Pounder, Large Onion Rings, & Diet Pepsi phenomenon, where people order the combo thinking it's balanced nutrition. I even agree with his comparison to the Christian walk as not a moderated, balanced commitment, save this one small thing.
While our God is utterly holy and His law requires un-moderated obedience, Aaron does not address how capable any of us are in meeting that required obedience. In this case, none of us can pay the penalty to offset our sins of commission and omission. There is no form of payment we can offer. Quite seriously, the payment required life blood of the unblemished, sinless man, found only in Jesus Christ. It is by that life blood that grace is offered to Aaron, to you and to me. This grace is not carbon offset or balanced nutrition in the sense that we have both sinned and recovered from it. While we were still foundering and flailing about in our sins, Christ died for us. We had no hope without Him. While some are off to save us from carbon emissions and others want to charge us to lose 10 vanity pounds of water weight, the most serious work has already been done. All we have to do it take it and believe it, and then trust that His love that started at the cross will keep changing us until we see Him in His unequalled glory.
I've always had a keen interest in aviation. It's just part of that drive that some guys seem to have to love big, noisy things that go fast. I have been watching with a lot of amazement the tale of the US Air flight that ditched in the Hudson River last week. Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III (Sully) has been credited with a perfect ditch that to my mind is the only example of a large-body aircraft to do so. Planes like that are designed to be able to fly on just one engine if the other is destroyed. They are able to "trim out" the yaw (sideways push) of flying on just one engine. It's kind of like driving straight with your steering wheel cranked all the way in one direction. You can make it, but it takes a lot of skill to work the controls.
In this case, however, it was two engines at once. Experts commenting on the crash say that it seems to be the result of a bird strike, where birds get sucked into the engine and their bodies cause extensive damage to the engine. Usually, the damage is limited to just one engine. However, given a large flock of birds, any aircraft with two engines is vulnerable. LaGuardia has had problems with birds taking up residence near the airport, so much so that in the past, they have taken unique steps to run off populations. It's not unlikely that it was a bird strike.
So what happens when both engines develop cases of duck flambe? You have a 180,000-pound glider on your hands, and those wings just aren't going to keep it in the air for long. It's too heavy to stay up there without thousands of pounds of active thrust. That Sully got the plane lined up on the river, that he didn't meet any boat traffic making a crossing, that he kept the plane upright, that it didn't break up or even split in two, these are all miracles! Had the rear exits been opened after they landed, had they not been in sight of ferry boats that could help evacuate, had they panicked, people would have died. Not one died. That is the culmination of not one miracle but a sequence of miracles. I believe angels were involved in keeping those people safe. Thank God.
Hebrews is a curious little book in the Bible. No one knows for sure who wrote it. It obviously was written to those who were raised as Jews, but it does not address one city group like Phillipians or Galatians. Among other things, it focuses on how Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, functions in light of the law of Moses. At the end of the book, there's a bunch of random topics all jumbled together. In the NIV, they group it under "Concluding Exhortations." The second one (verse 2, imagine that) says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Whoever the author is, he just blurts it out. He doesn't bother to explain what that means, which leaves the reader to take it at face value or to dust off some commentary, if they have one, to see if this involves kosher food or if a table at Denny's will do.
Entertaining angels without knowing it is a startling thought! How incredible!
Now, I'm not saying we should go out and invite just anyone into our homes or such. I do believe that we should be open to what God can do, including His sending angels to convey special messages or work in special ways toward the good of us and others. It may not always come as we expect. In fact, the verse implies just the opposite; we don't expect angels in our midst. Maybe we should.
Some folks get a little obsessed over angels. They weird me out. They wear angel pins and collect books and videos about angelic appearances. They're into angel-ology, if there is such a term, and go for apochryphal teachings and such. It's almost as if they worship them instead of the One Who made them. Every account of angels in the Bible seems to indicate that angels are extremely careful that all honor and glory is directed at God, not them.
To me, angels are a cool perq that comes with having faith in God. Whenever the situation calls for one, I'm sure God will send one my way. Although, I'm not sure that I want to be in any situation where an angel is the first choice! I would much rather have an angel to dinner than need one to keep my car from rolling off a cliff, like my dad did. Regardless, God's promise to His children is clear:
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone
I know that God will protect me--using angels or any other instrument. I know that His perfect hand will cover me in season and out of season. I don't need to worry about my future. I don't need to have a plan B in case this God-thing doesn't work out. My life over the past 5 years has been one amazing rollercoaster ride that has convinced me once and for all that God exists, that He loves me, and that He can be trusted with everything I can or could control, and everything beyond my power to control. He gets all the glory!
It's hard to believe that Christmas Eve is only a week away. Yikes! Where did the time go?
Last night, I read Tabitha's Travels aloud to my family. Afterward, my beautiful wife, Karen, asked what everyone's favorite Christmas carol was. The Little Drummer Boy was mentioned, as was Breath of Heaven and Emmanuel. Strangely, The 12 Days of Christmas wasn't even mentioned. I said that while I liked Silent Night as a little kid, O Holy Night had the most meaning for me.
It's origins are from early 19th century France. I really like Nat King Cole's version of it (listen free on last.fm). I appreciate the historical irony that the third verse of the carol is explicitly abolitionist. Had that part of the carol not been fulfilled, it's likely Nat's version would never have been recorded.
The strength of the song to me is that we how we all suffer the weight and needfulness of sin and how the birth of Jesus breaks the effects of sin like the sunrise breaks the darkness of night. The supreme contrast of the King of all kings lying in a lowly animal trough, the praise rightly due Him and the beauty of the Nativity all fit into the song. The music is serene and yet powerful. It can fill the largest church or the smallest spaces.
Like all good songs, I have a specific memory tied to this music. One night, my dad and I were driving through Denver, close to Christmas. As the homes decked with lights rolled past, I asked my dad what his favorite carol was. When he told me, we started singing it. Two deep baritones sang a capella in our family Jeep. Forgive the notion, but it was a very sweet experience.
Here are the full lyrics to O Holy Night:
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
Please comment in with your favorite carol, if you'd like.
aloud to my family. Afterward, my beautiful wife, Karen, asked what everyone's favorite Christmas carol was. 
of it 
