fake or real?

Hebrews 12:1 challenges us: “Let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.” The way of Jesus is not trouble-free, but it is always right. Jesus offers us a journey of transformation, but it’s not a free pass. There is no detour from which we can escape painful realities in life. Rather than safety and ease, he promises adventure and risk. Success is not measured by the standards of this world but by the quality of our character. We cannot follow Jesus and remain the same. The journey of faith will change our passions and priorities, our direction and desires. It is nothing less than leaving the fake for the real.

losing focus is...good?

Leonard Sweet writes: “If you try to see it, you’ll never see it. You must first loosen up and let things get cloudy. Give up preconceived notions of how to do ministry. ‘Fuzzy’ is good. Our problem is not that we can’t see, but that we don’t want to become blind to old ways of seeing. We must first do some unlearning before learning to see anew. We ‘know’ too many things that aren’t true or are partial truths. The church must be an unlearning organism before it can become a learning organism.” In the biblical story of the man born blind, Jesus speaks of why he came into the world: “So that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” (John 9:39)

let there be laughter

I read where children laugh an average of 400 times a day and adults need at least 50 laughs a day to stay healthy. The Christian author C. S. Lewis concluded that one of the great signs of evil is the absence of humor. So, how are you doing at laughing? At yourself? At life? At the church? How much do you need to lighten up because most things aren’t nearly as serious as we make them out to be?

from a wounded Christian

I recently received this email: “When a wounded Christian begins to spiritually seek again, they have a different perspective the first time they walk into a church service. The first impressions they have are of the people of the congregation. Do they have a scowl on their face? Are they pompous with an air of church conceit about them? Do they get along with one another or talk about each other behind their backs? Many wounded Christians will purposely “dress down” or find other ways to “test” the congregation or pastor. They want to ensure they aren’t going to be fooled into joining a church that they later discover is no better than the one that wounded them in the first place. As a recovering wounded Christian, let me tell you my experience with Journey Church. As I looked around the atrium, I noticed that people were greeting each other with laughter and genuine interest. The older children were greeting the preschoolers by name and escorting them to their rooms with joy. I instantly wanted my family to be embraced by this community in the same loving manner that was displayed all around me. When we entered the church in our jeans and sneakers, we did not receive any condescending looks. When the sermon began I was reduced to tears. At the time I assumed this was because the message was so applicable to my life. However, I now think it may have been my soul’s response to finally having a deep void filled.”

contacts

I wear contacts. One contact helps me see up close. The other helps me see further away. Yesterday the eye doctor had me try out several different lens to discover what would help me see the best. I’ve been thinking about the lens that I see the world through, and I’m not talking about contacts. I try to see all people through a lens that’s loving. I try to see those who are needy through a lens of compassion. I try to see children through a lens of delight. I try to see God’s church through a lens of hope (because deep within me I believe it’s the hope of the world.) Sometimes the way I see is distorted. I pray for clearer vision to see the way God sees.

thankful

Philip Yancey tells of what brought him to faith in God. It wasn’t the Bible. It wasn’t sermons. It wasn’t Christian literature. He turned to God primarily because of his discovery of goodness and grace in the world: through nature, through music, through love. Enjoying these, he began to seek the giver. Full of gratitude, he needed Someone to thank…Today I choose to be thankful.

what do you expect?

The Bible’s teachings are often not what we expect—the first shall be last; find your life by losing it; the one who serves is greatest; God’s kingdom has come but not fully; measure self-worth not be what others think of you but by what you think of them; we are saved by faith alone but faith without works is dead. It can be confusing. Andrew Greeley writes: “If one wished to eliminate uncertainty, tension, confusion and disorder from one’s life, there is no point in getting mixed up either with Yahweh or with Jesus of Nazareth.” Is that contrary to what you expect?

self-absorbed

In the Greek myth Narcissus looked into a pool, saw his own image, and fell in love with his reflection. His greatest admirer was a nymph named Echo. They were a perfect match. He only spoke about himself, and she only repeated his self-indulgent praise. When we’re self-absorbed, we become prone to only listen to ourselves and to what we want to hear. We can want to feel good about ourselves more than we want to become good. We trade in the insight of others for unconditional affirmation, even if it’s self-destructive. Narcissus experienced this. Eventually his self-absorption led to his losing the will to live. He laid down and died. I continually am trying to figure out whose voice am I really listening to. Is it always just my own? Do I value when other people try and speak truth to me? How open am I to really hearing God speak into me? Am I walking in ways that only confirm my own self-interest or am I open to living beyond myself?

free

I’ve been thinking about freedom. We were created to be free. We were called to be free. To know this freedom, we must experience a transformation of our souls. Our freedom must never be about us and us alone. Freedom is the gift of serving others out of love. God meant for us to be free to forgive without reservation, to be merciful when it’s undeserved, to be generous beyond reason, to risk happily, to care compassionately, to live fully, to love completely. John 8:36 says: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

can’t keep up

I remember an episode of the I Love Lucy TV show. Lucy and Ethel go to work in a candy factory where their job is to take candy off a conveyor belt and put it into boxes. Everything starts out fine, but soon the belt begins to speed up. They grab the lever to slow the belt down, but instead it just starts going faster. Lucy and Ethel start popping candy into their mouths, trying to keep it from falling off the end of the belt, but pretty soon they can’t keep up, and everything is a mess. Way too often I can relate. At least for today I’m trying to slow down.

act as if

I’ve ministered as a professional counselor in the past. At times I’ve encouraged people to “act as if” a certain thing were true, no matter how unreasonable it may have seemed to them. By acting as if a thing were true, a new perspective was created that opened the possibility that change really could happen. For example, if you want to preserve your marriage but aren’t really sure you love your husband, start acting as if you love him. You may re-discover the love you thought you’d lost as you act in loving ways. It’s much easier to act your way into feelings than to feel your way into actions.

education

I’ve had an education this week. I’ve been communicating with school board members and school administrators and board of supervisor members and newspaper reporters. Journey is exploring the possibility of renting Lord Botetourt High School for Sunday morning services, wanting to launch a second campus to move forward in implementing our vision of becoming a multi-site church. I’ve been struck by how political leaders are very, very cautious as they seek to represent multiple constituencies. It must not be an easy job. I simply pray a wise decision be made and God’s will be done.

would you rather be told?

When you stand at the Pearly Gates, would you rather be told . . . you believed too much or you believed too little? you cared too much or you cared too little? you tried too hard or you didn’t try hard enough? you were too forgiving or you were too judgmental? “well done, you hyper-hopeful and risk-taking servant” or "well done, you cautious and play-it-safe person?”

computers

I spend a lot of time on my laptop computer. It’s with me pretty much constantly. The truth is that computers are ubiquitous today. Tiny computers are everywhere, hardwired into everyday products we use. Our children take this for granted and can’t imagine life being any different. “Tell me again, Mom, what it was like when you were a kid and you had to walk across the room to change the channel!” Cars today have more computational power to get down the street than all the computers combined in the Apollo 11 spacecraft that carried Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon. Who knows what will be the impact of computers in the years to come? The question I wonder about is—how can God’s church best use them for redemptive purposes?

as smart as

There’s an old saying: “None of us is as smart as all of us.” Trying to do life alone and isolated can lead to so many wrong choices. We need one another to gain wisdom greater than our own. We need one another for accountability because we can try and lie to ourselves. We need one another because our personal perspectives can be limited and distorted by selfishness. We need one another because none of us is as smart as we think we are.

a recipe for survival

Leonard Sweet writes: “Not to be able to get one’s way is a recipe for survival.” That grabbed my attention. If I always get what I want, it will lead to my self-destruction. I don’t always know the best way. I need to learn from others. I need to be challenged. Living in community with others and sacrificing my wants for them brings life. Living in selfish isolation brings death (slow maybe, but death nevertheless.)

change or . . .

Did you know that skin replaces itself every month? The liver every six weeks. The skeleton every three months. Ninety-eight percent of the atoms in our bodies are replaced every year. In the medical world, a clinical definition of death is a body that does not change. If we don’t change, we die. It’s that simple. It’s that scary. Of the Fortune 500 companies on the 1955 list, 70% are now out of business. One third of Fortune 500 companies are nowhere to be found seven years later. What works today won’t work tomorrow. Still, many people would rather die than change.

had it not been

Got an email today. This was in it: “I had been a Christian wounded by Christians and had lost all of my faith in Christianity. Even the name "Jesus" made my skin crawl. Had it not been for the members of Journey Church, I may have never regained my faith. This is a very special church that reaches out lovingly and non-judgmentally to those who are spiritually seeking or previously wounded by Christians.” No wonder I love Journey so much.