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.”
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’m the proud owner of some new art.
It’s on my arm, I’ve got a new tattoo. This one is my tenth. This one is an important link to my history.
I’ve had it for a few days so we are in the healing process. It’s scabby and a little puffy. Sometimes,during the healing process, you can’t really see the picture clearly. In the first few hours, it’s really hard to distinguish because it’s clouded by blood and ink.
Tattoos are art that grows on you. It’s a scar that becomes a story.
Life is like that too, healing can be a process. It takes a little time for our scars to become stories.
Life is art that grows on you.
Let me tell you the story of my newest art…
it’s an incredibly sweet old school panther.
It was done by my friend, Taylor Cornwell, who is an AWEmazing artist and really cool guy. He is ALSO from me and my Dad’s hometown…Tulsa! Here is why that is significant…
My latest tat is a tribute piece to my Dad.
My Dad had a tattoo on his forearm, he got it when he was in the army. He was stationed in Germany, a long way from home and he got a tattoo.
I’m pretty sure there was alcohol involved, because it wasn’t a very good tattoo.
It was always a little bit of a mystery about what the tattoo actually was…I always thought it looked like a misshapen sweet potato. Dad told us it was a panther. “Hmmm….sure, Dad, Maybe a panther with a goiter”. But he insisted it was a panther. His panther was etched on his arm, but it’s also forever etched in my memory. As a little kid I would study it and touch it. As I grew older it became another chapter in the manliness and mystery of Delano Lang.
My Dad didn’t talk a lot about his past, he was very private. But, this was a story that he couldn’t hide. He wore it on his sleeve…literally.
My Dad moved to heaven 14 years ago, I miss him.
There is not a day that goes by that i don’t think about him.
I wonder what he would do in situations.
I wonder what he would think of the man and father that I’ve become.
I try to carry him with me.
I decided it was time to carry a piece of him with me in a symbolic sense. But, as every generation must learn to do, I carry him in my own way. So I got a panther tattoo, it’s not an exact replica, because it’s always better to remember the past than to try to replicate it. It’s a second generation cat tat.
It’s my Dad’s story in my style.
and…
it’s healing.
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!!!
This last Saturday, we welcomed a fuzzy new family member.
She is a beautiful little beagle.
She is 3 or 4 years old, we aren’t sure.
She is a rescue beagle. She was rescued from a pound in Virginia, where she was about to be killed.
She arrived with an old name. But, after getting to know her, we REnamed her, Maggie.
She just looks like a Maggie.
Maggie Lang.
She is, quite possibly, the sweetest, most affectionate dog I’ve ever been around.
She is the canine embodiment of the word “cuddle”.
She loves to snuggle, to really press in and nuzzle face to face. It is a beautiful, healing thing.
She’s not perfect, we didn’t expect her to be. It took her about 42 seconds for her to leave a mess on our carpet. We didn’t love her any less.
She doesn’t do any special tricks, we don’t care. We were just looking for someone to love and she found us.
She is learning to trust us. There are certain behaviors that hint at her past, she is a little skittish, timid. It’s going to take some time. That’s okay, we have time.
We had love to give and she showed up. It’s a beautiful, healing thing.
I’m amazed at what a snuggler she is, but I have a theory…
I think she fully realizes the situation that she was saved from.
Sometimes when you are saved from death, the only right reaction is to snuggle. That is both the only and the greatest thing that she can offer us.
She showed up with paperwork telling us who she was, and a tagged collar that read “RESCUED”.
We gave her a home and a new name. It’s a beautiful, healing thing.
As I was thinking about this, it dawned on me that my situation is the same as hers!
I’m a rescue person.
Jesus rescued me from death.
I’m a rescued person.
He has given me a home and a new name.
I’m learning to trust my Heavenly Father. Some days, I get it right. Some days, I’m a little skittish.
I’m not perfect, I still make huge messes. He doesn’t love me any less.
If I realize the situation that I was saved from, I also realize that my only reaction is to snuggle with my Savior.
It’s not about doing the right tricks perfectly.
It is not about performance, but presence.
The goal is to really press in and nuzzle face to face with God. It is a beautiful, healing thing
I want to simply snuggle with my good, loving, heavenly Daddy.
That is both the only and the greatest thing that I can offer Him.
I’m a rescued person. It is a beautiful, healing thing
“You see, you have not received a spirit that returns you to slavery, so you have nothing to fear. The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy.” Romans 8:15 (@TheVoiceBible)
The rebel alliance…
Posted: November 30, 2014 in fizzy faithTags: faith, jedi, Jesus Christ, rebel alliance, Star Wars
I was in 7th grade when my life was changed forever!
It was at the Crown theater in beautiful downtown Collinsville, OK.
The Crown theater was a little one screen movie house (yes kids, once upon a time we got a choice of ONE movie, instead of sixteen) the theater was dark, dingy and it smelled unnaturally nasty (it was a lovely combination of mildew and old popcorn). the floor was always sticky (from years of accumulated dropped milk duds), and the seats made loud screeching noises every time you moved. But it was in that funky old theater that something truly magical happened…
I saw Star Wars for the first time.
The Opening scene took my breath away and captured my imagination.
It was like nothing i had ever seen….star destroyers & amazing music! I was transported to a place, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”
I was hooked! I was destined to be a star wars nerd forever.
I Collected action figures, trading cards and stickers.i had a R2D2 lunch box. I made homemade light sabers out of old toilet paper rolls and duct tape. I still have toys in my office & an impressive collection of Star Wars shirts.
Star Wars changed my life in other ways. it made me proud of my name…Up until that point, I had been the only Luke I ever knew. It wasn’t a super popular name. I got called Luke the Puke a lot ( yeah, I know, REAL original!!) but, suddenly people were calling me Luke Skywalker ( much cooler than a nickname involving vomit).
It Changed everything!!
That was the first movie which, as it turned out, was really the fourth movie. at first it was just “star wars” then it became “star wars…a new hope”
It changed everything!!
I wanted to be a Jedi…a mysterious warrior…a freedom fighter…a card carrying member of the rebel alliance.
It tapped into something deep within my soul, I wanted to fight injustice and evil though out the galaxy.
Turns out those cravings to do something stellar are not accidental.
I have been called upon to be a freedom fighter, to join a rebel alliance that offers a new hope!
I am a Jedi…for Jesus.
We can live as Jedis for Jesus, but we gotta let Him be our Master. In order to experience everything he has for us, we need to join the rebel alliance!
Rebel against the world…rebel against the norm…rebel against average…rebel against selfishness.
Jesus was not a skywalker, but He was a waterwalker and someday He will be a skycracker.
and He started a rebellion! He Turned everything upside down…which actually made it right side up!!!
Jesus changed everything!!
He wasn’t the kind of God that anybody expected, but he WAS the God who everybody needed.
He hung out with all the wrong people. he didn’t worry about what anybody thought. He didn’t play by the rules.
He introduced a Radical new way of loving people and doing things.
He created a rebel alliance…
An alliance for anybody who is sick of the world and media telling you what to do, how to dress, how to be a winner…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is sick of a luke warm, wimpy version of Christianity…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is Sick of normal, appropriate or average…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is sick of a faith that is more about behaving than following Jesus…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is Sick of seeing injustice, watching people hurt…c’mon rebel!
Rise above…grab ahold of something exciting and UNnormal!
There was a Luke in the Bible too. He wrote two really cool books:
the Gospel according to Luke, which tells the story of everything that Jesus began to do and teach. The birth of the rebellion…a new hope for mankind.
Then he wrote the sequel…the empire strikes back otherwise known as The book of Acts. It tells the story of the mission of Jesus carrying on thru his rebel alliance.
We dont meet one of my favorite characters until the second movie…YODA!!!
We dont meet one of the main characters in the rebel alliance until the second book…Paul.
Paul went from trying to destroy the rebellion to being a leader of the rebel alliance. He went from the dark side to the light side. He was a hardcore jedi for Jesus.
He was the Obi Wan of the early church! He had several padawans, one of them was a dude named Silas (Silas Skywalker?), everywhere they went they made some noise, they got a reputation.
Acts 16:20: “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials.”
Acts 17:6: “…Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.”
Everywhere they went they stirred things up! They were rebels!
The church was never meant to be a clone army,
It’s a rebel alliance of beautifully unique scoundrels.
The Rebel alliance is for people who are:
* Intensely passionate for God.
* Believe that they are here to love people by any means necessary!
* Respond to evil with good and to hate with love…that’s how you start a real revolution!!!
* Have a fire in their eyes and in their gut
* Have a nothing is impossible mind set
* Believe that Jesus is not meek and mild, he is mighty and wild!
There is No age limit…membership is all about hunger and passion…Courage and compassion.
The Rebel alliance is not safe…you gotta be willing to risk it all for the cause!
You gotta be crazy enough to turn the world upside down.
Don’t let anything hold you back!!!
Members of the rebel alliance destroy the death stars in their life…fear, unforgiveness, insecurity, conformity, mediocrity.
Members of the rebel alliance have heard God say “I am your father” and it has changed everything!!
They have rebelled against:
low living,
selfishness,
pride,
evil,
apathy
They use the force of the Holy Spirit and they have pledged allegiance to their true master…Jesus Christ.
Join up! Join the rebel alliance.
“I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.” Ps. 51:13
carbonated joy 