carbonated joy

Okay, completely true story…several years ago, a good friend and I were hanging out at a mall. It was a lazy summer night and we were just killing time. We wandered into a big and tall store. Almost immediately we were approached by a loud salesman with perfectly coiffed hair. He said “hello, may I helpppp…WHOA!” The immaculately dressed man looked me up & down with a sour look on his face. After viewing my 5 foot tall self, he said in equal parts shock & disgust: “EWWWW….we don’t have anything for people like YOU!” At first I thought it was a really awkward attempt at humor. But noooo! He was serious. I could feel my ears turn red as I felt the sting of his rejection. He just gave me a constipated stare until I walked out of his store. I just walked away, befuddled and bruised, even now my face starts to twitch a little every time I walk past a big and tall store or section.

It is a painful thing to be labeled as “other”, to be confronted with the ugly truth that there’s no room in the room for you.

Speaking of ugly truth, we, as the organized church have been communicating “EWWWW….we don’t have anything for people like YOU!” to a lot of people, people who don’t look like us or act like us or talk like us. They have rough edges. They made questionable choices and they’re not quiet about it. We have made it clear that they can’t be a part of our club and they have walked away with the scar tissue of rejection on their souls. We have traditionally stared down the untraditional until they’ve left the building.

They have walked away, befuddled and bruised, and they start to twitch when someone mentions church.

But, I don’t remember Jesus ever saying “EWWWW….we don’t have anything for people like YOU!” In fact, I see him saying things like: “Come to Me, ALL who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

So the invitation to find rest, hope and peace in the person of Jesus is for ALL. that seems pretty clear…seems like it includes people like me…people like YOU.

God help us…

Father, please forgive us for misrepresenting you.

We repent of slapping your name on our prejudices and preferences.

To the people stung by the religious rejection of “EWWWW….we don’t have anything for people like YOU!” Please forgive us for making you feel like there’s no room in the room for you.

As the church of the living & loving God, we have something for people like YOU….no matter who you are.

We have…hope…grace…forgiveness….rest…love…for…YOU…yes, YOU.

When it comes to earning our way into heaven or manufacturing hope we are all in the same boat. We are ALL people like US in need of a God like HIM.

I was a huge professional wrestling fan growing up. my brother and me watched it faithfully every Saturday morning,and then we would carefully try to recreate the moves in our living room.

Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, the Junkyard Dog, the Iron Sheik…it was unparalleled sweaty greatness!

I wanted to be them! I had a signature move…”the atomic cheeseball” (it involved violently plummeting an opponent with Cheetos). I also had an intimidating entrance song (“YMCA” by the village people, it caused opponents to tremble with fear).

I wanted to be a pro-Wrestler!

The problem was a rather obvious lack of skills!

It looked like I was moving in slow motion even when I wasn’t.

I have no depth perception so I can’t even fake a pile driver right.

I still loved wrestling! Especially tag teams!

My favorite tag teams were the Steiner Brothers, the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express & D-Generation X.

There was something cool about being a part of a team. You were stronger together! Somebody had your back.

If you tag out before you tapped out, you were still in the fight.

Every day, as Christians, we fight a fight.

It is NOT a fight AGAINST people, it’s a fight FOR people. (Please read that last sentence again, it’s REAL important to remember).

it’s a spiritual wrestling match, against the biggest heel of all time.

On our own we are woefully unprepared and mismatched.

Lucky for us, we are not alone.

We have a partner…we are part of a tag team.

It’s the most lop sided tag team EVER.

here’s what it looks like…

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” (Romans 8:35-39)

Sweet victory is OURS through Christ!

It’s not our own efforts or good intentions, it’s not because we are nice people who never screw up.

The only way to win is THROUGH Him.

It’s a completely lopsided tag team!

That’s good news, if we were left on our own, we would get our butts kicked.

NONE of us are strong enough…

NONE of us are good enough.

We stumble into the ring…

Gassed…

Scared…

Unprepared…

We look over & our partner smiles and says..

“I got this…

I got you!”

My advice…stay close to the One who has you!

Get as close as you can.

Tag him as often as you can.

Do what you see Him doing!

He gets us in his VELCRO love lock and we are safe.

TAG! HE’S IT!!!

There seems to be growing intolerance in our culture, a general distrust…of happy people.

it’s become super cool to be cynical. There seems to be a philosophy that states stay angry & Never let anyone see you enjoy.

This has produced a horde of angry People who would rather squint that smile, they take themselves very seriously, they ooze angst. They just look constipated and pained (maybe it’s the skinny jeans).

That’s not me, sorry, but I’m not wired for that…

It seems that I’m wired for nonsense.

I’m unashamedly happy…I enjoy life…I like to giggle…most of my heroes have laugh lines & I’m working on it.

Happiness really seems to bug some people. I’ve had a lot of people try to steal my happy… “When are you gonna grow up”, I’m sorry, is there an age limit on fun? I’ve been passed over & put down because I’m…happy?!

Over the years, I’ve been called shallow, lightweight, lowbrow & fluffy.

It’s like you have to choose between being deep & happy.

I think you can do both, you can be deeply happy.

I’m not living in denial. I know, firsthand, the world can be a cold, ugly place. There is a lot of pain & we are all touched by it. Just because the world is hateful doesn’t mean I have to be. I choose happy over hate.

I also know that there are people who are wired very differently than me. They are serious and that is cool. If your personality is reserved, just relax & be yourself. Our happy is going to look different.

I really can’t take myself seriously…I know myself too well…I’ve seen myself in a bathing suit.

Considering the noises & smells that come out of our bodies, I really don’t think God intended for us to take ourselves seriously.

Happy actually makes us healthy. It’s true, look at this:

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” (Proverbs 17:22) this is one of my favorite Bible verses… It’s divine permission to get happy.

We need to stop taking ourselves so seriously, it only leads to disappointment.

Instead, take yourself silly. That leads to fun.

Lighten up people…

Get over yourself…

C’mon get happy.

Say it loud…I’m happy & I’m proud!!

EVERY life matters.
EVERY ONE matters to the ONE who made them.
We were ALL crafted by a good Father who lovingly calls us to HIMself. He longs to make us ONE…to make all things NEW.
red and yellow, black and white…we are precious in HIS sight.

For my wedding, I rented a tux. I know, everybody does that & it usually works out fine.

I’m not everybody…

My body and my circumstances were different.

I got measured for the tux in Virginia and we sent the measurements to a clothing store in Keokuk, Iowa. They evidently thought the measurements were a mistake. After all no one can have a 24 inch inseam, right? It must be a 42 inch inseam. So that is what they did. The day of the wedding I went in and tried on the pants. They were WAY too long for my stubby little legs.

The tailor tried a quick fix involving safety pins and masking tape…

it was less than ideal.

It looked okay from the outside, but something just wasn’t right.

The pants were not mine, they were designed for some other dude.

It didn’t become a huge problem until the dance, I was trying to move but it was tricky. The pants were itchy and didn’t fit right. I was constantly pulling them up and tucking them in…it was awkward…

It’s tough to dance in another man’s pants.

It makes me think of a story…

David is about to have a lethal dance off with Goliath. King Saul tosses his pants to David, it gets a little awkward…

“So Saul outfitted David in the king’s own armor: a bronze helmet to protect his head and a coat of mail to protect his chest. David strapped on Saul’s sword outside the armor and then discovered he could not move because he was not used to the restrictions of the weighty armor.

David: I’m not used to these things. How can I attack an enemy when I can’t even walk? So he removed every bit of Saul’s armor. He would fight the Philistine as he had fought those lions and bears.” (1 Samuel 17:38-39)

Second hand armor never serves a first hand vision.

In other words…don’t wear another man’s pants.

But we do…

Out of fear, tradition or insecurity, We try to dance in another man’s pants and it gets awkward.

It’s not our dance!

We try to move but the groove can quickly become a rut.

We see how others dance, and how good they look doing it. That MUST be the way to dance, so we imitate their moves.

It’s not the same…

It’s awkward…

It’s not our pants!

We get constricted by comparison.

We remember the dances of the past, they were so much fun.

We refuse to learn new steps because “We’ve always danced that way!”

Without discounting the success of the past, today is…well…today.

It’s completely different from yesterday. We can’t hold onto the same old dance.

The Creator is constantly choreographing fresh movements.

Let’s get in step with Him.

Fight your own fight.

Dance your own dance.

Wear your own pants.

The creator who took the time to make you beautifully different from EVERYone else, also took the time to design a dance just for you.

Sadly, there are people who, instead of dancing, spend all their time trying to keep other people off the dance floor…or they tell you how to dance…or they try to make you sit down if you don’t get all the steps exactly right. David ran into that with his snarky big brother:

“David’s oldest brother, Eliab, overheard this conversation and became angry with David. Eliab: Why have you come down here? Who is watching your tiny flock in the wilderness? I’m your brother, and I know you—you’re arrogant, and your heart is evil. You’ve come to watch the battle as if it were just entertainment.” – 1 Samuel 17:28

David ignored his brother, you should ignore the destroyers of the dance too!

Don’t listen to them.

Dance!!

Dance your own dance.

Wear your own pants!

do things no one is doing to reach people no one is reaching.

Take aggressive dance steps of faith…

put on the pants that God has just for you…

get out on the floor & let the Spirit move you.

The Creator is constantly choreographing fresh movements.

Let’s get in step with Him.

It was in first grade that, I remember, first experiencing the unequalled joy of creativity. My teacher was Mrs. Ethridge, incredible lady/fantastic teacher/nonstop encourager of children. There was an art contest. “Draw/color/paint what you want to be when you grow up”. I don’t know why, but I drew the 6 year old me as a fireman. I got 1st place! I got a lovely, wrinkled blue ribbon. I was affirmed for my art. It wasn’t a perfect picture (because it was created by the 6 year old me). As I remember, My head was way bigger than the rest of me. I didn’t color inside the lines (I still don’t), but that silly little drawing ignited something within the deepest parts of me.

I was hooked/smitten/caught by creativity.

It was what I was born to do…

I was created to create…

“It was by Him that everything was created: the heavens, the earth, all things within and upon them, all things seen and unseen, thrones and dominions, spiritual powers and authorities. Every detail was crafted through His design, by His own hands, and for His purposes.” Colossians 1:16

In the beginning God created…

God created EVERYthing, he carefully crafted palm trees, waterfalls, clown fish, coffee beans and You.

God made art. God made you. you are art.

There is a beautiful design behind IT all…

There is a beautiful design behind US all.

You are art, sometimes that is hard to believe because the original has been marred. Any art can be twisted, defiled or vandalized, but underneath the original beauty remains.

We are offered counterfeit, it might look good but there is something lacking. The colors are not as bright, something is just not right.

You are art, you are poetry, you are a song that needs to be sung.

There is a beautiful design behind you…There is a beautiful purpose for you…

Good art declares the fact that there is a Creator, a song shouts that there must be a Songwriter. There is no accidental art.

You are art, you are poetry, you are a song that needs to be sung.

Sing…

I once took karate for about 3 weeks, I was only about 4 years away from getting my black belt so that pretty much makes me an expert…RIGHT? So I want to teach you a highly specialized form of spiritual combat…joy jiu jitsu.

During my extensive training I learned a few things:

* Make sure that your karate belt is tied, otherwise you can really embarrass yourself.

* the concept behind jiu jitsu is that a small, weaker person can defend themselves against a bigger, stronger person by using the right leverage. It’s not about what you have, it’s about how you use what you have.

* In martial arts there are exercises that you go through called “katas”. A kata is a series of steps that you go through to practice & position yourself. It’s best to follow each move with a loud grunting noise. Katas are all about remembering what you need to know & rehearsing in your mind where you need to be.

In joy jiu jitsu we have a kata too, it’s something to know, remember and continually run through to prepare for the fight.

Here is our joy jiu jitsu kata: “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)

Our joy jiu jitsu kata reminds us that we have an unseen strength. Even when we face impossibly big problems we can let joy be our leverage.

JOY is not a feeling or happy little buzz, it’s a deep knowing that life may not always be fun or easy, but it’s always a gift so I will treat it as such. It’s a inner peace that everything is gonna be alright that causes you to rejoice regardless of outward circumstances.

Happiness & Joy are two completely different things. Happiness is based on circumstances. If everything is going your way…if you are getting what you want…you are happy.

Joy is not about what is happening TO you, it’s about what happened IN you.

Joy is never out of reach, even in the darkest times. Joy is based on the unsinkable fact that God loves you & you can trust Him.

It’s all about remembering what you need to know & rehearsing in your mind where you need to be.

Here’s an example: one of the hardest times of my life was also one of the most tangibly joyful. When my Dad passed away, he was unconscious in the hospital for eight days before he moved on. During that time our family came together in a stuffy waiting room. We cried, we hugged each other, we remembered, we cried some more…but, we also laughed, we shared old stories about Dad that gave us guts full of fresh laughter, we pulled pranks on each other, my Uncle Bill and I took a remote control fart machine on an elevator and made …umm…new friends. This probably sounds really strange if you haven’t walked through it.

But, We were able to laugh in the worst of times because we were able to hope.

We had the hope of heaven…of family reunions.

I had the hope that my earthly father was safe in the arms of my Heavenly Father.

We had the hope of a God, whose love is stronger than whatever opponent is staring us down.

Leverage…

I can beat this because I have hope…

I can beat this because I’m loved…

I have joy because I can beat this.

Happiness is born of circumstance.

Joy is born of hope.