Random Thoughts for Tuesday

• God loves me. Sometimes that is all you can hold onto.
• I am not perfect, but I am forgiven.
• Life is not all about me but how I fit into God's narrative.
• God is the one who sustains, provides and forgives.
• He has a plan. I don't always understand it, but he he has one.
• Jesus hung out with a bunch of "used to be's." She used to be a prostitute, he used to be a tax collector, she used to be filled with demons.
• Sometimes my life is so sanitized that I can't see any potential "used to be's" around me.
• I long for more! I want to see God more and more in my life and ministry.

Jesus and the Law

Yesterday I spoke out of Mark 5 where Jesus heals the woman with an issue of blood. I went into some historic detail about why it was so improper for her to come to Jesus and what significance her touching his cloak was all about. After the service, a friend pointed out something that really stuck in my head.

As we were talking in the lobby, my friend commented that Jesus never considered himself unclean after the woman touched him. He never went and ceremonially washed or stayed away from the temple as far as scripture tells us. He simply went about his business and carried out his mission. Jesus never gave the law a second thought in this case.

The reason this stuck with me is that we often think of Jesus, and by extension God, as the Great Rule God!! He is ready to beat us down and hold our sin over our heads if we break his rules. Now I am not suggesting that God ignores our sin. In fact, nothing could be further form the truth. What God does is forgets our sin and covers it with the blood of Jesus.

Wouldn't it be great if we could forget our past as God does? Wouldn't it be awesome if we let ourselves off the hook the way god lets us off the hook? Jesus paid for our sins completely. he overcame the results of our sin on the cross. By his grace we are free from the penalty our sin deserves.

This is called grace. It is what Jesus demonstrated to the woman in Mark 5 and it is what he wants to give all of us who call on his name. How amazing it is to think that the God of the universe sees us through the lens of grace. If only we could see ourselves that way!!!

A Little Less Talk

Okay, I expect to take some heat for this, but take your best shot. There is a song I remember hearing somewhere that struck me as I was reading scripture yesterday. The song is "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" by Toby Keith. Now, don't quit reading. I know, country music is an oxymoron, but this jumped into my brain. I don't listen to country music, don't condone country music, and have a hard time even admitting there was a time I liked country music. It is not that I think the lyrics are bad or anything, but how many songs about a dog, a pick-up truck and a girl named Louise can you write? Give me some classic rock, some Zepplin or old school Aerosmith, but not country. I may be committing heresy here by using country music in context of scripture, but cut me a little slack. (If you are a country music fan, I apologize. And may God have mercy on your sin sick soul!!)

However this little phrase jumped into my head as I reflected on Romans 12:9-21. Paul is writing about what our lives should look like as followers of Christ. He says this at the very beginning: "Love must be sincere." If you go no further in the passage you have a whole ton of stuff to wrestle with.

As I was sharing with some high school students last night about this verse I brought it down to the very simple concept: Love = Action!! Christians are great about talking about love. We like love. We focus on love. We dream about love. But what does it mean if love never translates to action? If I tell my wife I love her, but I never demonstrate it to her by buying her a card or flowers or sending her a little text message, do I really demonstrate love?

As followers of the Way of Christ, we must begin to model love. We put it into action. It leads us to inconvenience and self-sacrifice. It costs something. But the reward is awesome. Love acted upon is the greatest example of God's love for us. Check out Romans 5:8 for a picture of his love.

So, today, let's do one thing. I never thought I would say this, and I know it is taken out of context of the song, but let's put love into practice. In the words of Toby Keith, "We need a little less talk and a lot more action."

Life at the Zoo!

People sometimes wonder what happens around a church between Sundays. Every now and then the adventures have nothing to do with spiritual things.

Today we found three baby raccoons. One had fallen off the roof and two were just hanging out watching him. Our resident wildlife expert Carey took care of them. We called Animal Control to take them away. And yes, I am man enough to admit I would not hold one of them!!!

Covering the Basics

I have been coaching my son's basketball team this summer. It has been a lot of fun. Zach has gotten into it and the Lakers haven't done all that bad. this Saturday, we lost a game we should have won. It was no big deal. There was no screaming or pouting or crying. The boys handled the loss pretty well also.

Last night we had practice. I talked to the boys and told them that the reason we lost the game on Saturday was that we forgot the one thing that has been a solid point for us all season: aggressive defense. The Lakers play some defense. They hustle after balls, they rebound, they run all the time. Saturday, it just didn't happen. So last night at practice we went over the basics. how to stand, how to shuffle your feet, how to attack the basketball. It was almost like the first practice of the season.

As I was thinking about it this morning, I realized there are some great parallels to our spiritual lives here. (You knew there would be, right?) Sometimes the Christian life is not about lofty theology, or passionate worship or incredible messages. Sometimes it is simply about getting back to the basics. Reading scripture, honest prayer before God, and serving others even when we don't feel like it all become the basics of our faith. Sometimes, instead of looking for the three point shot, games are won and lost with aggressive rebounds. So is our spiritual life. We must rebound from our sin, our laziness and our guilt. We must be aggressive in going after our faith in Christ.

So, what can you do today? What one thing can you do to get back the the basics of the faith?

Going Deeper

I have a need to be deep. What I mean is that I desire to think on deeper levels, to have relationships that are deeper than the surface and to have deeper insights about God and his desires for my life. What I guess I really mean is that I am discontent with where I am. When I read this again, I realize how shallow I am.

We all strive to be more than we are. At least I hope to!! I want to be a better husband and dad. I want to be a better friend and neighbor. I want to be a better pastor and leader. I have a desire and an idea that somehow better means deeper. I don't know if that is reality, but it is where I am. I am not sure I even know how to be deeper, but I think it has to do with wanting more than just the surface.

I want more than the surface of Christ. I want more than just the title of pastor. I want more than just the mantle of leadership. I want to live it, breath it, and pass it on to others. Some people say that in going deeper we lose ourselves. I disagree. I believe that as you go deeper in your relationship to God, you do not lose yourself, but you find a more accurate reality of who you were meant to be.

That is my prayer. That is my desire. I want to find exactly who I was created to be and live in that reality. I want to go deeper.

How about you?