You Can’t Choose Your Relatives – Dad does….

We all have one. Somewhere among the branches, limbs, and twigs on the family tree – he’s there. Lurking in the shadows, waiting for just the right opportunity to embarrass you as none other. Yes, it is the uncomfortable, embarrassing relative. Maybe yours is just a little louder than anyone else in the room – or the county. Maybe he hasn’t learned the when and where of proper nose-picking. Maybe he comes to the family reunions looking for a date! (You thought it, I just put it in writing) Maybe it’s the time he spent in jail or the time he should have. Maybe it is the large collection of ex-wives, or the impersonations that have just a little too much effort in them, but whatever the case you know who I am talking about. That Person that we have to decide what to do with, how to respond to, and how not to gossip about!

One of my favorite phrases related to That Person is, “You can’t choose your relatives!” It is simple, direct, and to the point. No matter how embarrassing or different he may be, he is still family and it isn’t like you chose to be seen with him, it is by default because you both swam in the same gene pool. “You can’t choose your relatives!” seems to absolve you of responsibility and if we aren’t careful can open the door to justifying your ridicule of your not-so-favorite uncle, aunt, cousin, or some other in-law or out-law. If this predicament seems a little too familiar, good. I hope we can all learn something from it.

In Mark the third chapter, Jesus finds himself in the middle of a family discussion. The large crowds had been following Jesus, and that caused a few problems. He and his disciples went into someone’s house for a bite to eat and the droves of people with them literally prevented them from eating. Jesus’ family decided that enough was enough, His divine cheese had officially slid off the cracker and it was time to put him straight. So right in the middle of His simple teaching on the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ mother and brothers arrive. (Sarcasm very much intended) They can’t even get in and send word inside that it’s time for Jesus’ divine episode of Intervention in regards to the big crowds and the missed meals. Let’s pick it up in Mark 3:31:

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:31-35 (NIV)

Now at first glance, we might think that Jesus wasn’t being very honoring to His Mom and brothers; after all they were only trying to help. We must, however, remember who we are talking about. Jesus didn’t have to wonder about the reason for the sudden relatives on the doorstep. We might have to wade through some smalltalk and other pleasantries before we found out the REAL reason they just happened to be in the neighborhood. Not Jesus! We must remember that he was and is able to judge our very thoughts and intentions of our heart. So when the family delegation was announced, Jesus wasn’t surprised. He knew exactly why they were there, to try and persuade him to back off from what he was doing.

In perfect Jesus fashion, the Son of God then uses a well-placed question to make everybody think. “Who are my mother and my brothers?” We know he wasn’t suffering from amnesia, but He was helping people to see a key spiritual truth, You can’t choose your relatives – Dad does. With just a few words, Jesus shows that he was more interested in mission-centered, kingdom-minded, truth-guided action agents than he was with shared genome traits! Not only was he not to be stopped by His relatives in the flesh, but He wasn’t going to be limited by them either. He explains in crystal clear language that family inclusion wasn’t to be based on anything other than accomplishing God’s will. According to Jesus, if they are doing it – they are family, if they aren’t – they’re not!

Bottom line is, You Can’t Choose Your Relatives – Dad does! If we want to know who our spiritual family is, look for those who are doing what the head of the family says to. It is so simple, but so misunderstood and unnecessarily complicated. Some look for the right words and creeds and statements and affirmations and condemnations to know who their spiritual family is. Jesus said look for the right verbs. Are they doing God’s will? Yes – give a big hug and hang a stocking at Christmas, No – then they just became the object of the mission, didn’t they?

I love my family. Anyone who knows me would back that up. But I hope and pray that my love for my bloodline won’t allow me to ignore His. He DIED to let me into HIS family…

You Can’t Choose Your Relatives – Dad does…

Touch Who?

Compassion is a word you hear a lot. Maybe you use it, maybe you don’t. Organizations use compassion in their name and compassion always seems to get more use when there are people in great need. Have you given much thought to what the word compassion means? The dictionary defines compassion most commonly used as a noun meaning:

“a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”

So if we say that we have compassion on someone, say people suffering in Haiti, then by definition we feel sorry for them and have a strong desire to stop their suffering.  Here is the rub, where the rubber meets the road, the challenge, the point.  Honestly, for most of us, including me, compassion stops with that feeling.  Somehow we are satisfied with the fact that we were moved to a deep feeling.  “Whew, I felt spiritual there for a moment; glad that’s over, now what is next on my list for the day?”

If, like me, you are a follower of Jesus, compassion can’t stop with the feeling.  By another definition, to follow Jesus means to be like Him and again and again we see Jesus’ compassion turning from feeling into action! One example I was reading today is found in Mark 1:40-42.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. (NIV)

So Jesus sees a man with a horrible condition, leprosy.  People were shunned, made to live away from others, and considered cursed by many.  I am sure that even then, many people were filled with compassion, that feeling, for those with leprosy. One thing you didn’t do, however, was touch them.  Leprosy was contagious after all.  Compassion has it’s limits – unless you’re Jesus.  “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.”

Our first reaction might be that Jesus could do that because He was God.  True.  Jesus could touch the man and with his supernatural powers keep the leprosy from spreading to His body.  Sure.  But in all our justification and imagination, maybe we have missed something.  Jesus didn’t have to touch him.  Couldn’t He just heal him with, “Be clean!” and go on his merry way?  Absolutely.  So why didn’t He?  I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have an idea.

Along with the effects that leprosy was having on his body, the man had also been missing something else.  I wonder how long it had been since another human being had touched him?  “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.” It was as if to say, “I care about you. Feel the warmth of my touch.  I am another person who cares about you.”  Sure, then he cured the terrible disease, but I think more than the body was cured that day.

I have to ask myself the question, “Who will compassion move me to touch?”  It’s one thing to send some money to someone who needs it, or write them an encouraging note, but there is nothing that replaces the touch of another human being.  God is calling you and I today to touch someone.  Maybe they don’t have leprosy, but nevertheless have been uncared for.  Touch who?  Ask God, then look for the answer and do it. Reach out your hand and touch someone!

Earthquake Through The Eyes of my Grandson

I miss my Daddy. He is a preacher and since I’m three, I know that means that he loves Jesus. I think everybody loves Jesus.  He and my Mom talk about Jesus a lot, they have even taught me to talk to Jesus.  I especially like to talk to Jesus with my hands in the air and say A-MEN real loud!  I have an older sister and a younger sister and my Mommy even has a new baby in her tummy! Anyway, our family loves each other a lot and I guess you would say that Jesus is a big part of our family too.

I miss my Daddy.  My Daddy tells me his job is to tell other people about Jesus. He reads the Bible a lot and tells me great stories from it! He writes about Jesus, speaks about Jesus, and helps other people be able to learn about Jesus.  Today, my Daddy is in Haiti. I haven’t been there, but I think it is farther than Grandma Joan’s house cause Daddy had to fly there in an airplane.  Before Daddy left, he told me he would be gone 11 days.  We made a real special paper chain with the days on it and take off one day at a time until Daddy comes home. Daddy went there to tell more people about Jesus.

I miss my Daddy. Something happened. Mommy is upset. She tries not to let me see, but I think she misses Daddy too.  Instead of staying at my house, my sisters and my Mom and I went to Granny and Boom-Pop’s (Grandfather) house. I keep hearing about an earthquake.  Mommy told me that the ground shook a lot where Daddy is at.  She says that he is helping lots of people.  All the adults seem to always be checking the computer or talking on the phone. I hear them asking people to pray for my Daddy and the others in Haiti. I don’t understand. Mommy says that she is not sure when Daddy is going to come home. I am scared.

I miss my Daddy.  I got to talk to Daddy for a minute.  He sounded really far away, but he was really happy to talk to me!  It was hard to hear him, but he told me he loved me.  My sister talked to him too, I think my Mommy was crying.

I miss my Daddy.  Boom-Pop says that he’ll be home soon, but to me that means today. Granny feeds me good stuff and hugs me, but I still miss my Daddy. My Uncles and Aunt play with me and I get to sleep in the same room with them. It is kind of a camp-out…but I still miss my Daddy.

I miss my Daddy.  Can’t he just come home?  Maybe Jesus will let him come home.  I sure hope He does it soon, cause I miss my Daddy!

You Must Speak…

There are times when the simplicity of something in the Bible just smacks me upside my dense, overly analytical head.  Today, I was reading in the book of Ezekiel.  In Chapter 2, I came across this in verses 6 and 7:

“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”

God was sending Ezekiel to speak to a people who were openly rebellious, pursuing other Gods, and often antagonistic to God’s message.  In the midst of that environment, God gives Ezekiel the encouragement to not be afraid or terrified.  He knew that Ezekiel needed the confidence that God was with him.

God has sent His church to speak to a world that is openly rebellious, pursuing other Gods, and often antagonistic to God’s message.  In the midst of that environment, God has given us the encouragement we need that He is with us as we speak His truth to the world around us.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

If God is with us, and He is, what do we have to be afraid of? My reminder for today is:

You Must Speak….

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

What is my life story? What is there worth remembering? How will my children or grandchildren describe my life? These questions and many others swirled through my mind as I finished Donald Miller’s new book, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.”

Consider what your life is telling is important to you. Is there anything memorable? Are you taking any risks? Have you been out on any limbs lately?

In the book, Miller uses the backdrop of turning his memoirs into a movie screenplay to reexamine his life. What he discovers about the elements of a really memorable movie are what makes up a really memorable life. He shares a very personal metamorphosis that takes him through territory familiar to most people: family, relationships, contributions to society, and others.

The book was excellent! Not only does Don take us into his life, but I closed the book challenged about who I really am and excited about what the possibilities are! His background as a writer makes this book especially interesting to those who use the business end of a pen but equally interesting to anyone! I highly recommend it! I reviewed the book as a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson Publishers! http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

Fearless by Max Lucado

The new offering by prolific author Max Lucado is in a word – Courageous!  Max approaches a common malady with the wit, insight, and biblical base that readers have come to expect. In Fearless, the subject of fear is dissected and analyzed, and the cure concocted and applied from the author of authors – Jesus. He takes fear after common fear and brings the reader to the answer for that particular phobia in the pages of the Bible.

I was absolutely thrilled with this book. I didn’t even realize how timely it is. I personally found myself dealing with some fears that I wouldn’t have even characterized as fears!  Time and time again, I found the answer in the Word of God!

I was especially pleased that the follower of Christ wasn’t painted as having a “No Fear” sign on their back. He addressed fears for believers and non-believers alike! As Max says, “Don’t Christ-followers enjoy a calendar full of Caribbean cruises? No!”

Fears are not drowned in the lake of psychology or positive thinking, they are put in the perspective of a holy, loving God who has the answers for our lives. Today. Now.  The book is inspirational and practical and so relevant to the world in which we live. I hope that it is read by many and that each is pointed to the Savior who is it’s hero!

Fearless Cover Page

MMAD Week 2009

Here is the video from the Multimedia, Music, Arts and Drama Camp 2009 performance entitled, “Why?”

Please enjoy these young people using their talents for the Lord and I am sure you will be blessed by the message.

Training for the Big Wave

Alright, I know that blogging on the beach is really geeky! But I am relaxing! I have my comfy chair, shade, family, ocean breeze… you get the picture. Anyway, the whole setting really gets me to thinking..Check this out:

We have been coming to the beach for years, it is a place we all love to be. My son Gabe is 13 and growing into a young man. I am watching him facing big waves breaking near the beach head on. Sometimes from a sitting position he watches the wave and knows just when to duck so he doesn’t get pounded into the sand. Other times, he is standing and facing the oncoming tsunami in training with confidence and dives under the breaking edge only to emerge on the other side unscathed. How did he learn to do that?

Enter my youngest son, Noah. He is an energetic 8 and also loves the beach – sort of. You see on his last outing, things didn’t go so great. He too was facing the waves, but without Gabe’s confidence or experience. When the big wave came – he wasn’t watching, his back was turned. I’m sure you have seen the result; there he went, head over watersocks, tumbling at the will of the breaking waves. His body parts taking turns being slammed against the ocean floor; soft tissues bruised, skin scratched, air knocked out of his lungs, until finally he struggles to his feet apparently having escaped the clutches of the relentless wave bent on his destruction. Almost. Just then, he is painfully reminded that he is tethered to a well-meaning, fun-focused boogie board. Said beach “friend” is continuing to be tumbled, twisted, and pummeled by the force of evil – and Noah is attached. Down he goes again, more bumps, more bruises, more scratches, until he drags up the beach feeling thoroughly defeated.

Today, he wasn’t so thrilled about the waves. The boogie board never left the sand. Noah? He had to be coaxed to even go near the water. But go he did, coaxed by Gabe, and then I saw something really beautiful. Gabe left the excitement of “Big Man” waves and came to the relatively unexciting little waves where Noah was. The training had begun. As I watched, I could imagine what was being said. “Keep facing the waves, you need to know when they are coming. Duck under now – yes, step toward it as it breaks. Timing is everything and I am right here, nothing is going to happen.”

How did Gabe learn to face the big waves? The same way Noah was learning to, by facing little ones.

1 Peter 1:3-9 says:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (NIV)

Peter says that temporarily we are going to have to suffer grief as we face trials. Like Noah, we go through faith training as we face trials. Sometimes we go for quite a tumble. Sometimes we are dragged down by a misguided friend. As we do, we gain confidence that will help us face the bigger waves of trials as they come. Practically, it is much better to train side by side with someone who has faced trials like we are facing. The result: for Gabe and Noah the waves get faced together with ever-increasing confidence. For all of us, as we face down the waves of life together, our confidence in the Lord, our faith, is proved. Our faith in God’s way of approaching life is validated.

Doing life together, we call it community. We plan for it, program for it, pray for it.

Thankfully, my kids just do it. Thanks guys!

The Offer You Shouldn’t Refuse

If you watched the movie, you can’t forget Marlon Brando in the Godfather saying, “We’re going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”  Of course, he was speaking of a “Do or Die” kind of choice issued to someone opposing his “Family.”  The truth is we have offers made to us on a daily basis.  We are offered opportunities for work, recreation, relationships, purchases, plans, etc. and we always have a choice to make.  For those just entering adulthood, dealing with with these choices can be a little overwhelming.

The apostle Paul is talking about offers in Romans 6 as well.  In Romans 6:13, the Bible says,

“Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

So, as followers of Christ, we have been made an offer we “shouldn’t refuse.”  It is in those choices we make everyday, are we offering ourselves to God, using our bodies as instruments of righteousness; or are we offering ourselves to Sin, using our bodies as instruments of wickedness?  We are the ones who have the choice.  Part of our new life in Christ is making these difficult choices.

We have the ability with the help of God to chose the best.  We shouldn’t allow ourselves to get caught up in the thinking of, “I just couldn’t help myself,” or “I had no control.”  When we go down that path, we slap in the face the God who even made the choice possible.

So how do keep the fact that we have choices to make everyday in front of us?  It is easy to say time spent with God, it is much harder to make this a daily practice that guides the rest of our day.

How do YOU do it?

Are You Sure?

Surely you remember the feeling?  For me, I first felt it when I had to admit to my parents that yes, I had done something wrong. There was the time that I was kicked off the bus in First Grade because I had discovered that my paper folder made a really interesting “Whack” sound when it struck the head of the unsuspecting child seated in front of me. Unfortunately, the bus driver and Mom didn’t see it that way.  There was also that time when I convinced my three year old brother that the dead flies on our back porch tasted just like raisins.  Mom didn’t see that my way either.  The feeling? Ashamed.

You know, that tightening in your belly that goes with distressed thoughts in your mind.  The feeling that under normal circumstances makes you want to hide your face, go away from people, and make it right.  In abnormal circumstances, it is the feeling that seeks to be numbed by alcohol or other substances or ended in suicide. Ashamed.  Most of us have felt it, and none of us want to again.

Are you sure?  Am I? Because there is one circumstance of being ashamed that we really don’t want to think about, but it may be the most common reason for shame.

In Luke 9:26, Jesus said,

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

So, are you sure? Are  you sure you aren’t ashamed of Jesus and His Words?  What would that look like? Possibly denying the power of Jesus to change someone?  Maybe denying His Words by not obeying them? Conceivably denying Him by not responding to someone with His truth?

However, we do it, I DON’T WANT TO! and I am sure you don’t either.

So, how do we ensure that we are not denying the Lord or His Words? Please share your thoughts.