For where two or three are gathered…

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers!” – William Shakespeare

“As Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another” – Jewish Proverb

I have few close friends so I try to cherish the ones I have been blessed with. Yesterday was a day that will cement in my mind and soul as a day that I grew closer to two men I call my friends.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend” – Jewish Proverb

The following is not an account of wounds from a friend but it was an interesting experience to say the least. I got a call from my friend Petie yesterday afternoon, asking me if he could use my help for a couple of hours.

I gladly accepted and decided to meet up with him and another friend of ours, Josh. The favor was to help him go and pick up a hot tub for him to surprise his wife with for her birthday. Sounds simple and straight forward, cut and dry? Well that was not how the whole “adventure” turned out.

After a drive to Bellevue and filling the time with good conversation, we arrived and proceeded to examine where we were going to pick up this hot tub. To our surprise, the tub was about a third of a mile into this property described by Josh as, “Over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s house”, which was not far off because there was a creek, some woods, and wetland involved.

Well we got to the tub and found it in great shape. Petie tried unsuccessfully to bargain with the man selling the tub, but still ended up purchasing it for a reasonable price. This is the point in the story where it gets dirty, because we could not simply back up the truck to the tub, oh no we had to ROLL the tub through the woods and wetland to the truck, this took a little under an hour to accomplish.

We were dirty, cold, and using a lot of our upper body strength, which consequently for me is not very much (I told them, they called the weakest link). It was hard, but we had a blast joking about it and just getting through it as guys do, “grab it and growl”!

As crazy as this account sounds, it was fun. I am reminded of this passage in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus is talking about how we as brothers in the faith are to handle situations together.

“Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” Matt. 18:18-20.

I love that, “When two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there”. It felt that in what we were doing, helping a brother out in love and friendship asking nothing in return was a moment where Jesus was “sure to be there”.

I believe that we had fun and enjoyed this time of misadventure together, it was worship in some strange sense, and I felt God breathe into me. These guys mean more to me because of this. They are good men who I am proud to call my friends.

Carmel or Tariyaki Sauce

“Create in Me a Clean Heart Oh God”

- King David

“Some may trust in _(insert your trust here)__, and some in _(and here)__,

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God”

-Psalms 20:7

“Oh when I look to the shape of my heart,
It’s separated only by scars
That cut in and cut out
Oh and leave me without
Oh a heart that functions at all. “

-Noah and the Whale

It was 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning and I was fuming with anger at the irresponsible and childish individuals who have been renting out my 555 sq. ft. house here in Puyallup. I was inside a refrigerator with a rag and razor blade scrapping out what I can only guess was either carmel or teriyaki sauce or a mixture of both (i hope it was and not something else, but i wouldn’t be surprised). It was disgusting and infuriating to be doing this, cleaning up the mess someone else has made of something that was mine. Consider that, I did all this while listening to worship music but worship was nowhere to be found.

It was not fair.

My heart was in a dark place and I was mad. Pissed off. Beyond words.

I chose to linger in that place of hatred and seething resentment and I enjoyed it. It felt good and it felt right. And why not? I was owed this! I could feel this way, I get a pass right?

I was wronged.

I was wrong.

My heart was far from Jesus and it hurt. How could I find my way back to Him? Does He feel the same way toward me that I felt toward these people who had been so irresponsible and selfish.

How can His love be that big?

He works in ways that blow me away.

I was at church the following Sunday and my good friend who is one of the Pastors there was preaching on desperation. Wow can you believe that? I love the ways of God. He taught on the point of desperation that was displayed in Jyris needing his daughter healed and the Woman Jesus encountered who was bleeding for twelve years and was healed by the touch of His garment. The service was AMAZING and spoke right to my heart where I was hurting. The teaching, coupled with the worship and the awesome and I believe “Mystical” sacrament of Communion helped heal my heart. Jesus was glorified in the service and I went to Him broken and in desperation. I would like to share with you this song that is so on point about the condition of the heart.

Bruised

Don’t build the castle
At your centre
Oh the heart can’t love
What it can’t remember
Be willing to be hurt
Oh be willing to be bruised
‘Cos a heart that doesn’t love
Is a heart that isn’t used

Oh turn your love to life
Let your love shine through
In everything you do
Let your love shine through

Oh I thought I felt my heart beating
Well I thought I’d never know that feeling
Oh I thought I felt my heart beating
Well I thought I’d never know that feeling

Well my heart was like a cave
Now light shines in it
Oh to fall in love is brave
Oh my heart was like a stone
That barely moved
Oh my heart was like a magnet
Oh for hearts like yours

Oh turn your love to life
Let your love shine through
In everything you do
Let your love shine through

-Noah and the Whale

Its breath-taking, the power of Jesus. He proclaimed in His home town of Nazerath what His mission on this earth was all about and is still about today. Thank you Jesus.

Isaiah 61:1

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners…

As one of my favorite speakers, Steve Brown says… “You think about that. AMEN”

The Road

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

I wonder after reading this which road I’m traveling down.
Am I going down the road paved and known or am I venturing into the dark mysterious wilderness where adventure and danger lurk?

Who will be my guide? Is it going to be safe? Where will I eat or sleep?

Wondering these things calls to my mind one of my favorite books called “The Road” by Cormack McCarthy. It’s a story about a man and his son on a road attempting to survive in a desolate and hopeless world. Throughout the story the man is teaching his son how to survive in this bleak world they find themselves in. It also becomes evident as the story progresses that the man is preparing the boy for his eminent demise.

The questions that linger between the lines in McCarthy’s story are; What will the boy do?, Where will he go?, and Who can he trust after his father is gone?

Oh how that story and the poem parallel my spiritual state. I feel that my father has taught me and prepared me for much and now I’m heading down a road in this dark world and I wonder is it safe to be on this road? I know he is limited with what he can teach me and my questions are the same as the boy in the story. The difference is that the father in my story has taught me that there is One who will guide me when he is gone, the One who has guided him all along.

I find my answer to the question if the road is safe or not in McCarthy’s book and that answer is no. In no way is it safe to be on the road but with the Father of my soul as my teacher, it is good to be on this road. He comforts and guides me just like my earthly father has but this Father knows me, all of me because He is my God.

The Father is my Shepherd, I shall not want.                                                                               

He makes me lay down in pastures of green.                                                                                  

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow or on “the road” of Death,                                   

I will fear no evil for the Father is with me.                                                                                  

He is with me.

AMEN.

Who will Pray for Obama?

“You’re the God of this city
You’re the King of these people
You’re the Lord of this nation
You Are.”

- Chris Tomlin

“Will Evangelicals rally behind and pray for Obama as they did around Bush?”

- Petie Kinder (a pastor at my church)

I had a good time last night with my friends from church watching the results come in about who will be the next President of our great country. It was so cool to see my living room split down the middle in their support. We had two Obama supporters, two McCain supporters, and five people who didn’t care much either way, and if forced they would split down the middle in their support as well. It was an interesting night.

I like President-elect Barrack Obama. I think that he will be a good leader and a great example. I do not think he is above reproach, I believe as a passionate Christ follower that we need to embrace with open arms the man that God has placed in charge of our nation.

On a whole, Evangelicals are known for holding grudges politically and that’s wrong, its not what Jesus taught us to do. I would love to see the kind of passionate fever for soon to be President Obama that many Evangelical communities have displayed in the past when offering up prayers for President Bush. I don’t think it will happen. But I have faith in the Lord of this nation. God always has a select few that adhere to His words very seriously and follow Him intimately.

We must remember that God is in control and nothing happens that surprises Him. He will work this for good and glory will be brought to His name with President Bush in office or President Obama.

“America is like an Eagle, it needs a Right wing and a Left wing to fly”

– Unknown

Please friends and family don’t get caught up in this left wing and right wing diatribe. Put your trust in Him who is incorruptible, He knows what He is doing; every good and perfect thing comes from Him. So walk with your heads held high and proud to be in a nation that has elected its first African-American President. Please pray for soon to be President Obama with passion, sincerity, and out of familial obligation because he calls himself one of us, an imperfect follower of Jesus Christ, I will take him at his word. I would offer up a prayer now for our new President but I have come across a prayer that has captured in words how I feel.

“Heavenly Father, please protect our new president and his family. Give him compassion for the unborn and voiceless of this world. Give him strength to protect the innocent. Close his ears to evil. Give him discernment to be a good steward of the trust and treasury of our great land. Give him grace and your blessings. Let no evil or harm befall him. Keep him humble and dependent upon You. My you be glorified through our new president. Amen.”

“P.S. I voted for McCain. (this part is true for me too) ” – Joe Chambers

A Dishonest Debate

Q: How do you know when a politician is lying?

A: When his lips are moving.

 

I feel lied to.

It irritates me when McCain takes a “cheap” shot at Obama and vice versa. It makes me feel that they think I am stupid and I don’t know the games they are playing.

Watching this debate reminds me of a recent experience that I had when Ashley and I went used car shopping. I’m telling you the similarities are very relevant. I was talking to the salesman about gas mileage, particularly what was the mileage that this van got in the city, and you know what he told me? 20-25mpg! “What are you kidding me?” was my response, and he told me again with a serious and straight face.

I was insulted because I knew that from previous research that was untrue. I told him what I learned from research and he blew me off explaining that it was because “they” don’t test it accurately for fuel efficiency.

In the same fashion, I feel that both of the candidates tried to sell me a bill of goods last night that I knew was wrong. And just when I try to object with reason and rational they hit me with another one.  Don’t get me wrong, they said some great things as well and got a good debate going on. But here is my problem, they love to distort and misrepresent each others policies and words.

I hate that, and it’s wrong. Now it so happens that tonight I found McCain doing more of this distasteful tactic than Obama, but that doesn’t give Obama a free pass because there have been similar times in the past where he was just as guilty.

Obama in the past has misrepresented McCain’s words that “we could be in Iraq for the next 100 years just as we are in Germany, Japan, South Korea, etc.” and turned that into “McCain wants to continue the Iraq war for the next 100 years” that is untrue and dishonest.

The past has also shown that Obama’s camp has jumped on McCain’s words about the “fundamentals” of our economy being good in poor economic times. But in reality, which is outside the “spin zone” McCain was communicating that the workforce, spirit, determination, etc. are going strong not that the housing market, gas prices, etc. are going well. So that’s my beef with Obama on “parsing” words or lying as I like to call it.

Now McCain at this debate was just as bad as Obama has been on the campaign trail. He distorted Obama’s vote on not funding the troops when McCain also did not vote to fund the troops just for a different reason. That is wrong and dishonest. The issue obviously was not funding the troops it was on a strategy or tactic for the war.

Lastly, when McCain attacked Obama on nuclear energy, he said that Obama was against it, that’s a distortion. Obama does want all forms of ”alternative energy” he just has reservations on the safe handling of the waste.

Why do the politicians feel the need to dumb down the debate? I am offended that they think that I and others are just going to blindly take whatever they hand us, unfortunately for the majority its true. What we need is critical thinkers preferably clear thinking non-partisan ones, or non “kool aid drinkers” as I like to call them.    

Those who know me, will understand that I watched this debate very differently than the last Presidential Debate I watched which was in 2004. In this debate I found myself not rooting for either side, I was genuinely interested and sympatric to both arguments.

It is so weird to think that I can sit there and watch these debates and not have a major partisan bias, key word there is “major” I know it’s not possible to be totally “fair and balanced”.

What do you think? Am I fair or balanced or something that resembles it?

The Stench of My Sin

“Create in me a clean heart Oh God!” – King David

“Oh me what have I done, Oh me what have I done?” – Madeline Adams

“Sin is not just disobeying a law, it’s a missed opportunity” – N.T. Wright

Last week my church put on this drama which I was honored to take part in. I started front and center on stage before the congregation in a white shirt, then a figure in black approaches and proceeds to blemish my shirt with black paint. During this assault I stood there and took it while words were playing on the screens saying: thief, stupid, dumb, ugly, I hate you, I wish you were different, what is wrong with you, etc. With each blow came a word or phrase. Then after the message was given I came back up on stage and all blotted and spotted when a white figure came and struggled to take my blemishes away but I refused until I eventually gave in. He ripped off the soiled shirt and underneath was a pure white one and then we walked off stage as One. It was a very powerful service and one I will not quickly forget.

“Oh Lord, I’m overcome in wanting what is wrong.” – Madeline Adams

I have always had in my mind the image of sin causing a cube in my heart to round into a sphere. Let me explain. My dad gave me this image when I was young, that if you don’t go to Jesus and talk to Him about the wrong you have done then your sin causes your heart to get numb. The effect of sin is that the cube knocks around in your heart with its edges and it hurts, that’s good because that means that you have a soft and sensitive heart. But if you don’t talk to Jesus and come broken and in need of fixing to Him, well then your cube wears down from knocking into the sides of your hard heart and turns slowly into a sphere that doesn’t knock against anything. The inside of your heart gets so calloused because of built up sin and then you have a hardened heart.

“Does God have Himself an X-Ray, to see inside me the stench of gin and whiskey?”

- Madeline Adams

Now my favorite words from God are these “We have no condemnation it Christ Jesus” I love and cherish that! But we need to keep our hearts SOFT. I know that I feel so very dirty and broken when I sin, but when I sin and don’t talk to Jesus about it, that is worse! My sin develops this stench that is overwhelming! I feel that as a Christ follower, when I sin it is worse than when someone who doesn’t know Jesus sins, because I know better and I have the Holy One inside me guiding me and telling me to do right. What excuse do I have? I have none but I have an Advocate in my “Beautiful Jesus” my “Beautiful Savior”.

One of my favorite songs is this; “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus”.

“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

“What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

“Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow,

No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

It is so very important that we talk to the Master about everything; we need to come to Him and worship Him in Spirit and Truth, He commands it and we should want it.

Romans 4:7-8

“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

 

Grace and Peace in the Name of Jesus. Amen

A Great Prayer

I am a Independent/(Slightly Conservative) Moderate. I know that is long but “Republican” or “Democrat” does not define me, and the labels ”Conservative”, “Liberal”, and “Moderate” do me little justice as well. Sad to say, I think that I will end up voting for John McCain in November but I truely wish I could vote for Barack Obama. I am one of those stubborn Jesus followers who can’t get over the whole “life begins at conception” thing. From my days in High School I have had a deep  LOVE to follow politics and that may be an understatement. So as I watched the Democratic National Convention taking place in my lovely Home State of Colorado, I was attracted to what Donald Miller, author of ”Blue Like Jazz” had to say at the close of the first day of the convention. Here is what he prayed:

“Father God,

This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.

We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.

We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.

Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.

Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.

Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.

Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.

Help us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.

Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.

We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.

Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.

A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.

Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.

Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.

Lastly, father, unify us.

Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.

And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.

God we know that you are good.

Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.

I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.

Let Him be our example.

Amen.”

I love that prayer! I ENDORSE THAT PRAYER. I would vote for that prayer. I don’t know where I really stand on the whole political spectrum, I once did until recently when I started listening to people like Donald Miller, Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, and Dallas Willard. I have seen a new path toward making policy in our nation that is above “Democrat” or “Republican” and that is the way of my Savior who doesn’t endorse McCain or Obama. I see positions on both sides of the isle that attract me, not as an American Voter but as a Voter who follows and tries to live out the teachings of Jesus, the One and Only Son of the Most High God. I want our next President to follow as much of that prayer as possible, because that is where my heart is and I have a feeling that is where the heart of my God is as well.

DISCLAIMER: Could be wrong, seeking the Holy Spirit constantly for guidance. Just my opinion as a PASSIONATE follower of Jesus and politics.

Feel free to voice your thoughts, I would love to hear them.

Just the Sound of His Voice

 “Can you hear me now?” –Verizon Commercial Guy

“He talks with me and He tells me I am His own” – In the Garden

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” – Jesus

“His voice is so sweet that the birds hush their singing” – In the Garden

Sometimes I feel like the guy on the Verizon commercial saying to God “can you hear me now?” and I get nothing.

I can’t get God to hear me. Or He hears me and doesn’t respond to me. I am pleading to Him, and He is silent. What is going on?

God is always talking; I know that for a fact. He loves His people and He speaks to us all the time, it’s just the other end of the conversation that is blocked, we don’t always listen. Story after story in the Bible is filled with prophets and kings talking to God and receiving His directions. I don’t believe that the Bible is full of exceptions; God spoke then but not now? I don’t think so. “If you are a good parent and you give good things to your children then wouldn’t God who is your Heavenly Father give you good things as well?” We speak to our kids and they know what we ask of them, God does the same.

Do you know how many times in the Bible the phrase “He who has ears let him hear” is said? Jesus spoke that phrase 10 times in the Gospels and before that in the Old Testament “ears” are referenced to over 60 times. Rarely, are these passages referring to physical ears in fact Jesus did not refer to just those who have physical ears but spiritual ears that are open or need to be opened. I have been struggling with God over this issue for many weeks. I talk to God almost every night while I am at work by my self, and if some one were to watch me they would think that I a crazy because I talk out loud and it must look and sound very strange. It is mostly a one sided conversation and I ask God regularly to give me ears that hear His words and a heart that is soft like His. I have felt alone even though I know that He is with me and I know He indwells me. In the past I could feel Him correcting me all the time and leading me to a higher kind of life, one that is of His Kingdom and not of my own. But now He feels so distant. I would love to hear from Him, directly and unequivocally, wouldn’t we all? There are brief moments of reprieve and I have put faith in the fact that God speaks to me and I hear Him in small subtle ways. He corrects me and illuminates my path with Truth found in His word and by the working of the Holy Spirit within me. What I feel I need is a moment like Jesus had at the Jordan River when his cousin John baptized Him and God spoke a benediction on His life and mission.

• “In Him was Life and that Life was the LIGHT of men”

• “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

• “I am especially found of you” – The Shack by William P. Young

Then my world of darkness was pierced by LIGHT! He came to my rescue! He touched me. He spoke and I heard it! GOD had mercy on me and came to me and Spoke into my Soul. WOW GOD, WOW!

This is what I wrote that night when God came and spoke to my soul, not audibility but just as real to me:

“God met me tonight! He told me HE LOVES ME, FORGIVES ME, and He is PROUD of ME. He brought a smile to my face and a joyous laughter to my soul. My face hurts from smiling. He is so good to ME. He ROCKS! God is so COOL. My heart overflows with delight in my God because He told me HE DELIGHTS in ME!”

That’s it, He told me that He loves me, forgives me, and is proud of me. Simple and so very sweet. It all started when I took a ten minute break from my work to stop and talk to God. I told him about my weekend and that I loved Him and that I was sorry for the sin that I had committed in the time between we last talked. I praised Him and called Him “daddy” and “abba” which I don’t usually do, I usually call Him Jesus but tonight I felt like calling Him “daddy” but I don’t feel that that was the “magic” word to use to get God to speak to me, it was just different. I related to Him differently, as my Father and He responded to me differently in kind. It was an intimate moment with My God. I was praising Him and I suddenly felt the need to say “I know you Love me”, “I know you forgive me”, and “I know you are proud of me”. I stopped. That was weird; I don’t do that, what in the world was that? I asked Him “was that you? Are you telling me that You love me, You forgive me, and You are proud of me?” Do you know what He said? “Yes”. I was floored, blown away, in shock. I started beaming with a HUGE smile on my face that wouldn’t go away for like ten minutes, and I couldn’t stop laughing like some one told me the funniest joke and I couldn’t stop. When I calmed down I went to Him and asked is there anything else? Do you want to say anything more to me? I felt Him say “be content”, and I was.

How did this happen? Why did this happen? Why now? I don’t know and I don’t care, all I do know is that God showed me awesome and incredible love. He intentionally spoke the words that I needed to hear and that encounter was…WOW! I feel like He is strengthening me and encouraging me for the road to come. I am starting Seminary next month and I couldn’t think of a better way to go into this time of intensity then with an awesome benediction by my King and Father.

Hate and Why the Left Wingers are NOT the Party of Jesus

Many would think that because I am a conservative leaning “Evangelical Christian” that I would write a critique on the Left Wingers involving their support of aborting unborn babies. I have however decided to address the issue of hate as it relates to the politics of the Democrat Party. Now this is not a free pass on the Republicans because I have found hate to be there as well. What I am concerned with and will address is the “in your face” hatred that permeates everything the Left touches which is embraced by the Democratic Party.

You may ask me where do I see this vial hate that comes from the Left wing of the Democrat party, and I would direct you to these websites that are central to its political machine.

http://www.dailykos.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

http://www.moveon.org/

Exploration of these websites at the time of this blog finds no particular instance to take issue with; having said that, there have been many issues in the recent past with presumably more to follow. These websites have openly celebrated the deaths of people like President Reagan, Jerry Falwell, Tony Snow, and many others. I understand getting excited about political victories like when the Democrats took control of the majority of United States Government in 2006 but being ecstatic over the death of individuals is crossing the line. But it is not just these websites that I am concerned with it is groups like “Code Pink” and “Cindy Sheehan and her followers” that make me cringe as a centrist minded individual. What is going on here? These are people who go into Senate hearings and wail “Death to Bush” and “Bush loves the death of our Young Men” and they will pour blood out to show their fanaticism. I know there are crazy abortion clinic bombing “Christians” but I have not seen the Right embrace and openly court these groups or individuals like the Democrats have done with the like of “Code Pink” and others.

I love the writings of Anne Lamont who is among other things an author, activist and a Jesus follower; all I have in common with her is the Jesus part and maybe a love for the unloved then again the two are connected. In reading her book “Grace Eventually: Thoughts on Faith” she tells of her trials and struggles with God and her Christian faith, also included are many references to hatred for President Bush, neocons, and televangelists. My beef is this hatred thing. I don’t understand why someone who happens to be left on the political scale writes a book on faith and feels the need to write about how much they hate the current Administration. I can’t imagine Dr. Dobson of “Focus on the Family” writing a book detailing his faith and personal walk with Jesus and oh by the way his extreme hatred for Al Gore. Now I see the critique coming, “well maybe Dobson isn’t open about his hate for Al Gore and Anne Lamont is up front and open about her hatred of George Bush” I don’t think so, I just don’t see it. I understand that there are many short comings in the “Religious Right” but extreme hatred and ill will for certain political figures I just don’t see. I could be wrong being to close to the “kool aid” for many years some of that might of found its way into my system and has yet to be purged, so pray for me. I am reminded of something St. Augustine said that applies here “she’s a whore but she’s my mother” he said this about the church and I feel the same way about the church and conservatism.

So where am I “left” with in all of this? (no pun intended, can you tell?)

Understand that this is more of a referendum on our political system as a whole where extremists have high jacked our conversation, than a “bash the left and bash the right” campaign on my part. I have come to a point in my spiritual and political maturity where I can see my self voting for an Atheist who is a Democrat and I could sleep soundly at night; if you know me that statement is evidence of a huge amount of growth on my part. I just want to see an open, honest, and respectful debate and discourse in the political community about spirituality and the spiritual community about politics. I’ll leave you with this quote by Shane Claiborne who, being raised a conservative southern Baptist turned moderate Christian activist I find a kindred spirit in, he says this;

“I am stuck between unbelieving activists and inactive believers” .

Well everyone, that’s where I am in all this, I want to be an Activist Follower of Jesus Christ in all I do and all I believe.

Proverbs 10:12

“Hatred stirs up dissension,
       but love covers over all wrongs.” 

 Matthew 5:43

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

AMEN.

Last C.S. Lewis Post “God is on the Move”

It is frustrating sometimes, trying to “feel” God’s presence in your life. I have had my struggles in the past and still do even now through all He has shown me and done for me, I still want to see a miracle or hear a voice or see something “supernatural”. Then then the words ”oh yea of little faith” come to my mind, I try but it feels sometimes that living in this media dominated world, that it is harder and harder to live on a strict diet of faith alone. Then I ground my self in the Word and realize the truths that God has reveled to us, summed up; we are not alone. God has sent the “Great Comforter” who is the Third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Take this passage from “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis on the “movement of God” and the actions of the Trinity in the life of a Christ follower.

“An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God; God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God, that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying, the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on, the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. The whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher kind of life.”

Wow that makes me look at my relationship with God in a new way. Do you see what is happening here? God is on the move. He is working in the Christian’s life and moving in it even if he doesn’t “feel” it. Here are two experiences I have had with God in my past.

The first is when I was about fifteen years old when I found myself at an evening church service to prayerfully consider if our church would make my Dad an Elder. There then came a time for members of the church to go up to my dad and pray over him and speak words of encouragement to him. I was taking the time that night very seriously and I humbled myself in prayer to God, asking him to use me in any way he could. Then I felt something I had never felt before and only have felt rarely since then. My heart felt like it was full and ready to burst open, my soul was overwhelmed with this utter feeling to go, go, GO! And somehow I knew that meant to go to my Dad and speak to him. As I walked up to the front of the church I was wondering what in the world I would say to him, what was I doing? A “God thing” happened at that moment and you would think that at such an important point in my life I would remember every word I said but it was like someone else did the speaking for me. I know I said something like, “I am proud of you Dad and you can do this you have what it takes” but I truly believe the words I spoke were from God the Father to my Dad that night.

 The second experience has been an unfolding one. I have been following through with this “Challenge 21″ my pastor put before our church two weeks ago, it is a challenge to go four weeks five days a week in the Word of God studying it daily and getting to know the heart of God. I have drawn closer to God through this challenge and I have developed a dependence upon this time with God to preserver through the day.

So what does this all mean? Well ironically enough as I write this blog entry I had a very similarly related study in the Word today with my “Challenge 21″. I studied Mark 8:1-13 and I want to share this passage from it Mark 8:11-12

“The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth; no sign will be given to it.”

From this passage I learned this, don’t test God, just believe in him, and don’t always be looking for signs and miracles. The world displays a “dog eat dog” mentality but that’s not the way of the Kingdom. The world needs proof to believe but the way of God and his Kingdom is faith without sight. Trust in him, that his motives are good. He loves it when you trust in him and have faith in him without sight or signs. We as Kingdom people need to show others that faith is to be valued and faith brings about life change. Faith is based in relationship with the Resurrected Christ.