Silent Night, Holy Night!
Heaven is breathless at the sight.
Infinite power contained in a child.
A rescue plan so beautifully wild.
Glory wrapped up tight in a warm blankey.
Teen mom kissing the sweet face of majesty.
Creator dependent on creation.
Bringing peace and liberation.
Jesus, Lord at your birth.
Jesus, King of heaven and earth.
a while back, we went to the race. I was excited! I love NASCAR. I love being at the race. there’s really nothing like a live race, it’s a special flavor of fun. We had just arrived, parked about 12 miles from the track and We were walking into the redneck promise land. We were swept up in a big beautifully imperfect wave of humanity, lots of interesting sights, sounds and smells. there was a crazy sense of community as people bragged about their driver and talked a little smack about other drivers. I’m a Kyle Busch fan so I always attract a lot of unsolicited advice and gestures. It’s all good fun.
But then…
I heard the voice…
The voice of one screaming at the speedway.
He was a sweaty, angry man with a big megaphone and a message for Y’ALL. He was wearing one of those Christian knock off t-shirts designed to look like a biker shirt. It had a bedazzled cross on it. He didn’t seem to have a central message, He was just preaching against anybody and anything that caught his attention…rock and roll, alcohol, tattoos, scantily clad women, the government, etc. etc.
He was right next to an intersection where people had to stop and listen to his rant.
As I stood there something made me feel a little nauseous and it wasn’t the fragrance of the fried food.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against street preaching…
The truth is I think We are all called to be street preachers. but before you grab your megaphone, I think there might be a better way.
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus told a great story comparing the Kingdom of God to a party and he begins to wrap it up by saying: “And the host said, “Well then, go out to the highways and hedges and bring in the complete strangers you find there, until my house is completely full.” (Luke 14:23 – the voice) We are told to go out and invite people to be a part of the party.
Instead of putting people in their place, We need to let people know that there is a place for them.
Here are some random thoughts about street preaching…
Serve instead of shout.
Let love be the loudest thing in your life.
Listen more than you talk, you can learn how people are hurting and offer them a cure.
Earn the right to be heard.
Don’t be a jerk. I don’t see Jesus ever being a jerk. The only one who never sinned was the least judgmental person ever.
Don’t be so angry, don’t take yourself so seriously. People are attracted to joy.
Tell stories of hope.
Remember, the Gospel means “Good news”. Jesus compared the Kingdom to a party, not a tax audit.
There’s a time for uncomfort that will lead to life change, but the Holy Spirit is so much better at orchestrating that than we are.
Realize who you are representing…the Creator. His amazing creativity is constantly on display in the beautiful diversity of humanity. It’s not about making people conform and look like us. People are different from you…that’s by divine design…get over it.
Our job is simply introducing people to our best friend and inviting them to His party.
Don’t call people names…lift up THE name that has the power to save and heal…Jesus.
Let’s go into the highways and hedges and make some friends.
Hit the streets, but leave the anger and the megaphone at home.
I love the news stories and YouTube videos of soldiers coming home to surprise their kids. A mom or dad has been stationed far away, and the separation has seemed like it’s FOREVER!
The kids have held onto the hope that Dad is coming back someday, but SUDDENLY someday is happening.
The kids are on a playground or school assembly or living room, it’s a normal day. SUDDENLY Dad rounds the corner, they turn around and see him. SURPRISE!!! The floodgates of raw sweet emotion burst open.
SUDDENLY nothing else matters. Everything is swallowed up in the moment. There is only HIM and only THEM. There is an explosion of sloppy love. hugs…kisses…uncontainable JOY!!
The sweetness of reunion.
It gets me every time, I get all mushy inside.
There is something in me that connects with this, because there is something in me that hungers for reunion…for someday.
I hold onto the hope…
Jesus made a promise:”Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:3)
Jesus made us a promise…someday, He will come get us. The Father will be reunited with His kids. The sweetness of Reunion will happen. Someday WILL happen.
CAN YOU IMAGINE the moment when we see the Lover of our soul?
SURPRISE!!!
The floodgates of raw sweet emotion burst open.
SUDDENLY nothing else matters. Everything is swallowed up in the moment. There is only HIM and only US. There is an explosion of sloppy love.
hugs…kisses…uncontainable JOY!!
Until then we hold onto hope. We don’t know when someday will SUDDENLY happen, but it will.
The sweetness of Reunion is fueled by SURPRISE not strategy.
Excuse me…it gets me every time I think about it, I get all mushy inside.
Growing up my dad and me had a weird relationship.
He never told me that he loved me, but I kinda knew in my gut that he did.
But there was something that always made me feel like I wasn’t enough.
We were completely different.
That made it tough for him to relate to me, he wanted me to be like him. I wanted to be myself.
He wanted me to be athletic…mechanical…outdoorsy.
I wanted to read and draw and daydream.
so honestly, I grew up felling like I was never ENOUGH.
I think we all wrestle with that at some point.
Am I okay?
Am I important?
Am I making a difference?
Am I ENOUGH?
We think we lack.
it’s not a new emotion, in the Old Testament, Moses wrestled with it (despite the fact that evidently he looked a lot like Christian Bale). He is standing and staring into a talking, burning bush spouting out words of “notENOUGHness”…
Moses: “not me God…I’m scared…weak…poor…stupid…ugly…unqualified.”
God: “you are enough…you are equipped…I AM with you!”
STOP…REWIND…carefully read God’s words, because they contain the secret to ENOUGHness.
We look at a lot of different things to see if we are ENOUGH…
Other people…relationships…achievements…likes on Instagram…possessions…position… bank accounts.
but, here is the hard cold truth about ENOUGH…
If it’s about other people, we will never be ENOUGH. Someone is always MORE…bigger…better.
If it’s about me, I’m not ENOUGH…by myself; I don’t have what it takes.
But, wait…if I’m a follower and friend of Jesus, the Bible says the Holy Spirit lives in me. I’m a home for the holy.
on my own, I’m not ENOUGH…compared to others, I’m not ENOUGH.
BUT, if it’s all about the one living in me, than I am ENOUGH.
God is ENOUGH…there is nothing more than him.
I’m ENOUGH, because HE is ENOUGH and HE lives in me.
if HE lives in you, then KNOW, in your gut, that you are ENOUGH, because HE is ENOUGH.
Know that you are a child of the one true God.
His love is the most powerful force in the entire universe. His love is in you and it flows through you.
HIS love is always MORE…
it is constantly ENOUGH.
On the days that you do not feel that you’re ENOUGH; know that nothing can separate you from the love of God. That love casts out fear. You are always covered in his love.
You are ENOUGH, because HE is ENOUGH and HE lives in you.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.” (Ps. 51:10)
We are created in God’s image. That’s actually a lifelong process.
We want to instantly arrive.
We like instant.
We don’t want to wait.
We like payoff, not process.
God is an Artisan.
He won’t be rushed in His creation of us.
He doesn’t paint by numbers.
He is not interested in ramen noodle redemption.
So…take a breath…
Be still and know.
Let the Artisan of your soul create you today.
It’s not a secret that I am a big fan of bacon. It’s wonderful meat candy! It makes everything better. So, you can imagine my disgust a while back when I was looking at a jar of bacon bits, I realized that bacon bits contain no actual bacon! I was shocked and saddened! It dawned on me that bacon bits are all about presentation. You put them on your salad and they provide a little chemically induced crunch. Bacon bits look good, they may smell good. But they are not real. They are a cheap and crunchy imitation. They aren’t as messy as the real thing. They don’t taste the same. They don’t contain what they represent. When we make our faith all about presentation we run the risk of becoming bacon bit believers…all crunch, no Christ. If it becomes more about appearance than authentic we lose our sizzle. Don’t be content with just crunch, press into the sometimes messiness of the real deal. We must contain the One we represent! He makes everything better.
Psalms 34:8 says “taste of His goodness; see how wonderful the Eternal truly is.”
i have an ugly confession to make…growing up, I started several fights, BUT I was never actually IN a fight. Confused? Let me elaborate, because of my innate ability to say stupid things at just the wrong time, there were many times, when random people wanted to pound my face in. I would just be trying to entertain myself and I would inevitably offend somebody. (I’ve gotten a little better, but this still happens.) Yup, I was a mouthy little punk. Of course, because of the genetic gift of who I am, these people were always much larger than me…further proof that I just wasn’t thinking!! I started fights with my big mouth, but fortunately, I had a really good friend named Jimmy. He was a scrapper, he looked out for me. He was my next door neighbor and my self appointed body guard. I think Jimmy realized that if I was left on my own, things would not go well. anytime he saw me about to get beat up, he stepped in and took my place. It was a great arrangement…for me.
Flash forward and I realize that, in the biggest fight of my life I also have a friend who has took my place. The fight of right…a fight that I can never win on my own. I can just NEVER be right enough. There is too much wrong in me. Because of my sin And stupidity, I have an opponent who is ready to pound me. And, I got it coming…I don’t deserve to get out of this. But check this out…
“He orchestrated this: the Anointed One, who had never experienced sin, became sin for us so that in Him we might embody the very righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus, the sinless One, stepped in and took our place. He took our sin so we could experience His life. He didn’t sin…He actually became sin. It is hard to grasp this, but He became the living embodiment of everything ugly, so that we could become the living embodiment of His righteousness.
He became the ultimate sacrifice. In the Old Testament they had a really messy way of dealing with sin, they made sacrifices. They did annual sacrifices to cover their UNrightness. They would take an unfortunate farm animal and kill it. They would bring a lamb to the temple. The lamb/ sacrifice had to be perfect, it couldn’t have any blemish or defect. The priest would come out and inspect the sacrifice. The priest didn’t inspect the person making the sacrifice. They were expected to be flawed, that is WHY they were there. The physics of rightness said that the sacrifice had to be perfect in order to cover imperfect people.
Jesus, the only perfect, ultimate sacrifice stood in and took our place. (To the relief of farm animals everywhere) when we live in that truth, when God looks at us, He sees the sacrifice, not the sinner. It is gift. We can’t make ourselves right, all we can do is surrender to the sacrifice.
Jesus took on our sin…ALL our sin. He didn’t leave anything or anyone out. But, We have to have an infusion of RIGHTness. We didn’t earn it, we don’t deserve it. But, it’s available simply because of love.
We can’t compare our sin to others. We can’t use our RIGHTness as a ruler, because it’s not our RIGHTness…it’s His.
Jesus fought the fight of RIGHT for us. He became the living embodiment of everything ugly, so that we could become the living embodiment of His beauty.
Stand behind His sacrifice!
This is my feeble first attempt at fashion blogging. It’s been a long time coming. You might say that I’m, pretty much, a fashion expert. I HAVE been wearing clothes most of my life. I did pick up a Vogue magazine once, in a dentists office. (It was 3 years old, but that still counts, right?)
I have my own unique style. Sadly, some people don’t appreciate my sense of fashion. I am a 49 year old man who still dresses like a 5th grader…cargo shorts, a t shirt (usually a Star Wars, superhero or Harley Davidson shirt) and a comfortable pair of vans. Most of the time I look a little wrinkled, but that has more to do with my body than my clothes. I have made some daring fashion statements over the years, I wore a fanny pack the entire summer of 1985. I rocked red parachute pants. I have stylishly worn Hawaiian shirts that look like industrial accidents. I’ve had a perm. I’ve proudly worn clothing that would make Cyndi Lauper blush. I had a mullet during the early nineties. When I couldn’t grow a mullet on the back of my head, I grew one on front of my face…it’s a chullet (chin-mullet).
I can safely say, Nobody will ever stop me on a red carpet and ask “who are you wearing?”, I will never be on a best dressed list.
I’m okay with that!
For me fashion is more about comfort than conformity. I think that is one of the keys to happiness. Find out who you are and just be you.
I don’t get fashion advice from people magazine. I think that is boring.
For fashion I turn to the Bible…
Here’s some advice from a guy named Paul, who was quite the fashionista:
“Since you are all set apart by God, made holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a holy way of life: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12
There it is, the ultimate fashion statement.
Our looks should grow out of God’s love.
God loves you and has set you apart. Your “clothing” should reflect that.
Put on the holy.
But, notice the definition of holy here.
It’s all about what we exhibit, rather than what we exit.
We make holiness all about the external…
God says it starts with the internal.
We think it’s all about how we dress and choose to adorn our bodies.
God says it’s all about how we dress and choose to adorn our hearts.
I heard about a lady who was very concerned about covering up her knees.
I don’t know, I’ve seen my knees and I’m pretty sure they aren’t gonna make anybody stumble.
On the other hand, if I clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, it covers the things that can make me stumble.
It’s preventative fashion. Think of it as a really stylish life jacket.
Holiness has more to do with humility than halter tops.
I need to daily choose to put on the attitudes that matter.
if I do that, I’m truly dressed for success.
Let me tell you about a pretty common occurrence in my life. I will be standing in line (at a fast food place, the movies, a sporting event, wal-mart, whatever) and someone will come up behind me. And, because I’m a foot shorter than them they feel that’s it’s okay to get right up in my personal space. It’s like I’m invisible. They are about an inch away from me. Then…something happens, because of the proximity of my naked scalp in relation to their nose, I feel their warm breath on my big bald noggin. It’s a little unnerving!
The funny thing is that what bugs me when it comes from people, builds me when it comes from God.
I crave the breath of God. I want to feel the breath of God on my face today.
I need Jesus to get right up in my space today (that happens as I get right up in his space). I need to be unnerved by the Spirit today.
I want to LIVE in the proximity of the presence of the Living God.
I want to be so close that I feel His holy breath on my face.
Breathe on me Lord…
“Then He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.” – John 20:22
“The boat was in the water, some distance from land, buffeted and pushed around by waves and wind. Deep in the night, when He had concluded His prayers, Jesus walked out on the water to His disciples in their boat. The disciples saw a figure moving toward them and were terrified.
Disciple: It’s a ghost!
Another Disciple: A ghost? What will we do?
Jesus: Be still. It is I. You have nothing to fear.
Peter: Lord, if it is really You, then command me to meet You on the water.
Jesus: Indeed, come.
Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and began walking toward Jesus. But when he remembered how strong the wind was, his courage caught in his throat and he began to sink.” Matthew 14:24-30 (@TheVoiceBible)
There are so many super chunky truth nuggets in this story. Jesus walked to his friends IN the storm. He didn’t calm it right away, in fact he invites them to a little water walking party IN the midst of the storm. (I believe that his invitation was open ended, Peter was the only one with the guts to get out of the boat).
Listen in…
Peter: “WHOA! Can I play?”
Jesus: “COME…let’s do the impossible.”
Once again we see Jesus using his favorite word…COME.
we often think that Jesus’ favorite word is “GO”.
After all didn’t he say “GO into all the world”?
We get consumed in the going. We prove our worth by going and doing.
It’s real easy for us to think that Jesus’ favorite word is “GO”, because that’s what we have heard from other authority figures all our lives…”GO…get out of here…I’m busy…GO…leave me alone…GO…I’ve had a rough day…leave me alone…GO”.
Jesus says “COME…hang out with me…you belong…I have a place for you…COME…let’s do the impossible together.”
He does tell us to go into all the world. But, COME always precedes GO.
COME so that you don’t have to GO alone.
COME so I can give you the Holy Spirit.
GO so that we can do the impossible TOGETHER.
GO, but COME back often…continually…you are ALWAYS WELCOME.
Meanwhile, back on the water…the storm is STILL raging. Yet, Jesus and Peter are surfing without surfboards! Peter is doing fine as long as he remembers that Jesus said “COME”.
But, sadly too often the chaos distracts us from the “COME”.
Jesus says “COME”, but there is so much to do, we are so busy, we are hurting and confused.
Peter was walking on the water until he REMEMBERED that he couldn’t.
He was living in the impossible until he REMEMBERED what is possible.
…and he sunk…glub…glub.
He was drug down by the harsh reality of the possible.
Don’t get pulled down by what is merely possible.
Thumb your nose at what is possible.
Jesus says to us: “COME…let’s do the impossible.”
carbonated joy 