Thanks, I needed that

"So, how are you doing?" my friend asked me. We were past the small talk phase of our conversation, and we were talking about God stuff.

I stared uncomfortably down at my plate of chicken teriyaki. Did he know how long it had been since somebody asked me that?

I am grateful for his question, because the truth is... not as well as I'd like, which means... not really all that well. I could make all kinds of excuses. I have a lot of work to do and a lot of it is time-consuming administrative stuff that I haven't had to do in a while (thanks to past secretaries!) and I'm still not doing them very efficiently. I have a new baby boy who is also taking up a lot of time. I have pre-teen/early teen girls who are giving me some gray hair. I have many meetings to attend. I have lots of... lots of excuses.

In the midst of caring for my family, keeping the church worship and music ministry moving, serving as a team member on a church staff, etc., etc., etc., I have allowed my walk with God to move from first place to second place to third place to...

So my friend's question was a wakeup call. And I'm grateful.

Here's the kicker: my friend who asked me this question is a teenager. He is heavily involved in church youth groups, he has a regular quiet time and he's on fire for God. As I talk with him, I hear myself at his age. He is passionate for God - for righteousness - for the real deal.

That was then -- shouldn't that be now, too? Lately I've realized that I've been doing a lot of stuff... on my own, not in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A few weeks ago I felt a burden to start reading a book I haven't read since high school... Isaiah. I think I've blogged on it once or twice. The Word of God is living and active! Isaiah is as relevant today as it was when it was written thousands of years ago. I am so thankful that God is faithful to woo His wandering children back to Him. My desire is to keep my first love burning brightly in my spirit... abiding in the vine.

So, to my friend who asked me, "How are you doing?" this week, let me say,

"Thanks! I needed that!"

Rebuilding without repenting

I think the economy has all of us on the edges of our seats. What's wrong? Will there be anything left? What's going to happen?

"This might be bad now," we seem to hear from our current and future leaders, "but we can retool and create something even better."

Really?

I'm not saying that it CAN'T be done, but in order for them to be READY to do it, don't responsible parties have to at least accept responsibility and honestly admit that (a) there was/is a problem, (b) this is how the problem was created, and(c) this is how the problem is being perpetuated?

Instead we have a bunch of blustery self-righteous lawmakers scolding private sector people (like the auto industry exec's) for not recognizing problems in their industry that lawmakers should have recognized when similar things were happening under their purviews!

There is no admission of guilt, there is no acceptance of "Yes, this is what we have done wrong," there is no declaration that it was perpetuated one way or another by the system. There are no resignations, and there seems to be no justice.

In Isaiah 9, after the great prophecy about the birth of the One who we call Wonderful, the Lord states reason for His anger against Israel.

The Lord has sent a message against Jacob...all the people will know it... who say with pride and arrogance of heart, "The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been feeled, but we will replace them with cedars." (9:8-10)

In chapter 10, God declares His anger against those who seek their own riches while unjustly keeping the poor down. He promises destruction at the hands of Assyria for those who have turned against His law. Then God describes a small portion of Israel who will be kept through this time of judgement (10:20-22).

In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down (you know, the ones who said they would rebuild with better stuff?) but will truly rely on the Lord, the holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to Mighty God.

(parantheses mine)

Wouldn't it be amazing if the people responsible for our economic turmoil acutally admitted their responsibility instead of trying to shift the blame? Wouldn't it be incredible if there was repentance on Capitol Hill, Wall Street, and Main Street? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could put down our pride, self-reliance and/or reliance on other humans and human institutions and came to rely on Mighty God?

Is God calling us to do that? Could that be part of the economic problems we're facing? To realize that even well-intentioned people are just people and money is just money and I am just me - a person - and God alone is God? To put our emphasis where it belongs, to put less value in things that are rapidly losing value and treasuring what lasts for eternity?

May we be part of the small portion of God's people who return to Might God, and who will rely on Him.

Are you ready?

It pays to be ready!

Last weekend...

Last weekend was not the best. It started Thursday with the 7th anniversary of 9-11. I remember where I was on that day in 2001. I was fixing breakfast for Christina and me and listening to the radio - WLS in Chicago. The morning show hosts found a friend in New York City who lived close enough to the World Trade Center to have a good view of the buildings. They were describing the smoke from the first plane - which everyone thought was some sort of terrible accident - when they saw the second plane fly in. I remember hearing the terror in their voices as they screamed, "Oh no! Another plane just hit it!"

My oldest girl, now a freshman in high school, was getting ready to go to school. I looked down at her and said, "Sizi, I think you should go turn the TV on, this might be a lot for you to see, but I think this is a day you'll remember all your life." I remember the sick feeling of helplessness we had as we watched, and heard other horrifying news reports of the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania where a plane was brought down by a hero who prayed the Lord's prayer with a telephone operator and whose last recorded words were, "Let's roll!"

As I held my baby boy this past Thursday, I couldn't help but wondering what will happen in his childhood - in our lifetime, or in his lifetime.

Saturday, my Buckeyes lost to USC. You win some, and you lose some, but we only scored a field goal!?!?!

On Sunday afternoon I was preparing for a class I'm teaching as part of the youth group. It's a class on worship, and I am giving them a quick overview of worship through the Bible. Along the way, we're learning hymns and praise songs and I am giving them a little bit of background information on the circumstances in which they were written. About six weeks ago I came across a song video on ccli, I believe. It was a new song from Hillsong United about how Jesus is our Healer. The worship leader, a songwriter names Michael, introduced his song with the beautiful passage from Isaiah about Jesus bearing our iniquities and healing us with His stripes. Then this great song was sung with the chorus, "I believe You're my Healer." Michael wears oxygen tubes as he sings, and it's powerful.

My wife had to have some help breathing when her heart was in distress, and seeing him needing help breathing was a powerful picture for me.

This song video had suddenly become hard to find on the internet, and while I was searching for it, I ran across news stories that said that indeed Michael did not have the cancer he claimed to have. Instead, he was covering up an addiction to pornographic images that was wreaking havoc in his body. Could that itself be the judgment of God?

I was disgusted, disturbed, and bewildered as I saw these news stories unfold the story of a worship pastor caught living a lie. What a tragedy, and what a feeling of utter helplessness.

Earlier this week, I discovered that a great Christian artist whose music ministered to me at many times in my life, has "come out" and announced that he is gay. Apparently, he says that he feels closer to God now that he has quit hating himself. Is the first step to holiness happiness with our sin? Are we supposed to be happy about where we are in order to get closer to Jesus?

Again, a feeling of total helplessness... and yet a great sense of loss.

Early on Sunday morning, when some friends began needling me about the embarrassing performance of my Buckeyes the day before, I quoted Romans 8:37... then I realized that, even though I was being funny about my team, it's so true as I considered the feelings of helplessness I felt on 9-11, Sunday, and earlier this week...

"No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

May He receive praise!

summer's heat, the olympics, and zeal

Now that I have lived through a full summer in Bakersfield, I noticed something: the heat saps my strength. I know you’re all reading this thinking, “duh!! It’s taken you a whole year?!?” Being from the Midwest I’m used to heat and humidity, and that has its own set of trouble, but it’s not quite as draining as stepping out into triple digits. As you can imagine, I’ve been glad for air conditioning and ice water! And at the end of many recent days, I have enjoyed cooling off while watching highlights from the summer Olympics.

It has been fun, as I’ve watched the Olympics, to hear some chants of “USA” and hear people like Lebron James say, “We’re wearing red, white, and blue for a reason.” There’s nothing like good old-fashioned athletic contest to bring back enthusiasm and fresh feelings of national honor.

As I’ve heard sports reporters interview the athletes, though, I have noticed that they are not supremely motivated by going up against opponents from other nations. Over and over again, I hear athletes say things like, “I am just focusing on getting better and better. I am so honored to be here, representing my country, and I just want to do the best I can do.” This focus keeps them energized.

“Never be lacking in zeal,” Paul writes in Romans 12:11, “But keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

For those of us who feel a little wilted by the summer’s heat, Paul gives an energizing focus: keeping spiritual fervor. When I spend time in the Word, I give my spirit the nutrients it needs to grow. When I pray, I allow my soul to breathe, and when I listen to music written for worship, and even sing along, I find myself triply blessed. This of course requires time and discipline (if you’re like me, both seem to be in short supply!), but the returns are life-giving.

Linked to spiritual fervor is the phrase, “serving the Lord.” Some of the most inspiring people I have met were well up in years – 80 and beyond – but they chose to focus on serving God, spreading the Gospel, and investing in the next generation. Their faces shone with the joy of the Lord, and they were energized by being the best that they could be so that others would know the Lord through their testimony and teaching. Serving is energizing, and so is keeping keen focus on Who we are serving… not me, not traditions, and not trends. May God help us to have plenty of zeal, keep our spiritual fervor, and serve the Lord.

vocabulary

You can tell a lot about words by their context. Having heard the word "nuanced" a lot in the last 72 hours to describe a political interview, I now have a new understanding of the word. It must be that "nuanced" is synonymous with timid or spineless at best, clueless or not possessing enough leadership ability to make a decision at mid-range, or just flat out lying at worst. Why can't the media spin machine and liberal spokespeople just call it for what it actually is? It's not "nuanced", it's shockingly revealing, and I hope all of us think deeply about the "nuances" of electing a "nuanced" individual to high office.

Prayer Is Worship Too

I don't know about you, but I am often tempted to think of prayers as disposables: I need to clean up this mess, so I pray. I pray specifically for the problem, the mess, the situation, the disease, and I know that God hears my prayer. But then I get a feeling that God just throws my prayer away… kind of the same way Christina and I used to throw away our girls' homework papers, pictures, and coloring papers when they were in early elementary school. We would look them over, praise them or encourage them to do better, put the ones with stickers and happy faces up on the fridge, and then, sometime after bedtime, we would throw the old papers away and get ready for the new ones. (Maybe you shouldn’t tell them we did this.)

God doesn’t throw away our prayers – they are not disposable to Him. In Revelation 5:8 says that the prayers of the saints are saved for incense. Revelation 8:3-4 paint for us a picture of an angel at God's altar with incense, combined with the prayers of the saints. The mixture of incense and prayers is burned by coals from the altar and ascends as a fragrant offering before the Lord.

Have you ever stopped to think that our prayers will one day be offered in heaven as the angels worship the Great I AM?

The thought that God captures our prayers and keeps them as incense to be offered at such time as pleases Him should encourage you. He treasures your prayers. He loves you even more deeply than you can love or even imagine that your are loved. He doesn't just put your prayers on His fridge... He keeps their essence in golden bowls which heavenly elders and angels offer up to Him in worship around His throne.

The first day of this month is National Day of Prayer. That’s a good place to start in making this month a special month for prayer… not because I'm a super-saint, but because I need to pray more. Sure, I have a list of important requests: people who I love who don't know Jesus; dear friends who need a special touch from God or guidance and wisdom or provision from Him; goals that I have for ministry and my own person; and my wife and kids. But beyond the requests, I need to spend time with God adoring Him and asking Him to speak to me and be glorified in my life, my family, and my church family.
Our prayers, whether great orations or simple cries of “Help me God”; whether they’re spoken or sung, verbalized or groaned, are kept in heaven for a time when they are poured out as incense before God Almighty, and accepted because of the sacrifice of our precious Savior. So be encouraged as you pray… God hears and answers – and keeps – because you are loved by Him.

Life... comes fast! (especially for my First Church family)

Mid-July marked one year of serving with you at First Church and living here in Bakersfield, CA. As I think back on the year, two pictures come to mind. The first is the picture that was featured in last August’s issue of the Spirit, which was of our two daughters, Christina, and me right after my sister’s wedding. We were dressed in our best – and were probably the perfect picture of a put-together family.

The second picture I thought of was the picture we took last month for the church photo directory. You’ll have to wait to see that one. We’re dressed a little more casually – our “new best” – and there are other changes and events that the new picture represents:

...We came as a family of four, now we’re a family of five.
...Christina has been in the hospital more this year than she have been in the past seven years.
You, our new church family, showered us with welcome gifts, baby gifts and meals, cards, and other wonderful expressions of caring during Dumisani’s birth and Christina’s subsequent hospitalization.
...We’re not as put-together as we would like to be, but thank God, we’re still together, happy, and growing in grace and love. And we wouldn’t trade our new addition for all the fastidiousness in the world!

As I embark on a new ministry year with you, I’m reminded that life will continue to come at us fast. I pray that God will help us continue to grow into the kind of church He wants us to be. You already demonstrate tremendous love and caring, and continuing in that, let’s also grow in fervency of prayer and boldness of witness, to the glory of the Lord.

The Right Place at the Right Time

Christina, our kids, and I went on our first family camping experience (!) this past weekend. Yes, those of you who know us probably can't BELIEVE that we went camping... Well, we didn't go alone. We went camping with Greg and Joyce and their kids - a family we have grown close to at First Church. They are seasoned, accomplished campers. Good thing -- I would still be trying to set up the tent!

We camped in a campground in the Sequoia National Park, complete with such luxuries as flushless toilets!

Saturday (June 7) we decided to go for a hike on the Trail of 100 Giants. It was a very easy hike for the experienced outdoorspeople who came with us. It even had paved trails so we could push Dumisani's stroller! I was afraid we were crimping their style a bit, but they were good sports about it.

About half-way through our hike, Christina began to slow down. "I don't feel like I can breathe," she said as we walked to the nearest trailside bench. For a while we walked from one bench to another, until she got up from a bench, took a couple steps, and went backwards. We got her back on the bench, but weren't sure what we could do. She clearly wasn't breathing well.

A thousand thoughts screamed through my mind, the most prominent theme being, "Let's get her out of here..." Greg and his son were able to help carry her and I could help - but with my back, there might be two of us to carry before long, instead of just one.

Greg and I had her put her arms around our shoulders, thinking that we could at least balance her. She needed more support than just balance. Joyce and the kids went on ahead to find their way back to the parking lot to see if there was a wheelchair we could use. As they sped out of sight, I realized that in the stroller was our water bottle... smart!

A group of men had been around us for a few minutes by this time. As we struggled with Christina on the path, one of the men offered a bottle of electrolyte enhanced water. We received it gratefully and Christina began to drink.

I had noticed earlier on the trail that the man who offered the water had a t-shirt which read "sinner." As I got closer, I realized that in fine, red print there was a Scripture verse printed under "sinner."

When it became apparent that Christina needed more than water, the men behind us offered to carry her. We realized that God had arranged this. Three men who were Greg's height joined Greg in carrying Christina to our minivan.

A man named Bob walked beside me, and struck up a calming conversation. He shared with me that these men were from Saddleback Church, camping at a nearby Boy Scout camp for a weekend retreat. A man named Mike came up and asked permission to look at Christina. He was exceptionally gentle and thorough. Because of his manner I assumed he was an MD. I found out later he is an EMT. Whatever his credential, he and the men in the Saddleback Group helped save my wife's life. Not only did they care for her physically, but they prayed for and with us, too.

They sent members of their group to find help. About an hour later, an ambulance made it up the mountains to our location. All that time, Mike and other Saddleback men stayed with us.

We are thankful that her problem seemed to be related to elevation and not her heart (although her heart condition may have contributed to the severity of the problem). After oxygen, some protein, and lots of prayer, she was well enough to ride home in our vehicle, but not until she was evaluated by members of two ambulance teams, one of which was a helicopter ambulance team. Apparently, her situation was considered to be pretty serious at first.

I am grateful for our friends and their caring support. They took care of our girls and the baby and helped comfort our girls who were pretty concerned when their mother teetered on the edge of unconsciousness for a little while. I am also grateful for a group of men who stepped in and did the right thing. I hope I would have done the same, but I certainly would have first struggled with thoughts like, "They'll sue me if something goes wrong," or "I wonder if this is a set-up," or "Gosh, I feel terrible. I'll go alert authorities, but I don't have time to get involved."

In this case, the authorities had no resources to help us, but these men carried my wife, prayed for her, and stayed with us until help - which some of their members found for us - arrived on the scene.

So what did we learn? First of all, hiking above about 5,000 feet is probably not something Christina will be doing. Secondly, we learned again the value of doing the right thing regardless of inconvenience. Finally, we were reminded - by these men who were in the right place at the right time for us - that God is good, all the time.

Family Celebrations

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife, who celebrated one of her 25th birthdays on June 9th. We had homemade crabcakes and cheesecake, which, uh... wasn't homemade.
















Congratulations to Sizi who celebrated her 8th grade graduation with other students from California Virtual Academies (a charter school) on June 10th.

Skin Color Shouldn't Divide Us

She was pretty bleak as we talked about it. She is afraid, as many people are, that the current “hot topic” of racism coming from some prominent black churches in Chicago is setting our country back. “I used to be second-guessed because I’m black,” she said, “And I have enjoyed not being second-guessed for a while. I am afraid that we’re coming to a time when people aren’t going to get to know you past your skin anymore and base their judgments on your race. If you’re black, you must be seething against white people, trying to find your chance to get even. I don’t want people to think that about me, and I am afraid of the time when that will start to happen. I think it will happen soon.”

Wow. That really took me aback.

She is my wife.

But as I listen to reactions to a prominent Black preacher accusing the government of a variety of atrocities and calling for God’s wrath on America, I realize that unfortunately, my wife has a point.

I’m trying to steer clear of politics right now. It is difficult. I admit that I am thankful to be born in a nation whose founding documents began with the statement, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.” At the time, many thought members of the black race to be inferior and held black men, women, and children as slaves. Slavery is a deplorable practice, but it was a reality in the Bible – and Paul admonished Christians who owned slaves to treat their slaves as brothers and sisters in the Lord, not treating them harshly, but rather applying the golden rule to their treatment of them.

In these times, when we see the phrase “all men are created equal” we all agree that equality includes all people from every race. Period. We fought a civil war to settle that controversy… more Americans lost their lives in that war than any other we have entered. I am thankful to be able to say that my ancestors would have fought on the side of the Union, inspired by Abraham Lincoln, abolitionists, and the plight of the mistreated slaves. Others in my family tree were pacifists. Instead of fighting, they helped to organize the Underground Railroad and risked their lives to see many slaves to freedom.

Jumping many generations, my mother has told me several times about an inspiring experience she had which she cherishes in her memoray: having lunch with the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She and several students from the Ohio State University – students of various races and nationalities – traveled into the deep segregated South to meet with the pioneering civil rights leader and here his vision for a colorblind America.

Yes, there was a period of time when there was a significant culture of racism within the white community. Yes, there are still pockets of it today. There are occasional ignoramuses who still yell slurs out of their windows as they drive past. Not every bulb is as bright as every other. Human nature itself informs us that there will be dark places where racism is tolerated, and some corners, further and further away from the mainstream of society, where racism is even nurtured. Nonetheless, reality in our time is that white racists have effectively waved a flag of surrender as they have heard most of us tell them to get over themselves and begin to accept and love people for the people they are, regardless of their skin color.

Unfortunately, in our time there is still slavery in many parts of the world – African Christians are being sold into slavery in places like the Sudan. Whole Christian families are disassembled, and individual siblings are sold to one slave-buyer, the father to another, and the mother to another. Christians and other political prisoners are forced to labor to make economically-priced merchandise in Chinese work camps so that American companies who contract with the Chinese can ship their products back here and sell them to us, the American consumers, at bargain basement prices. This new kind of slavery hurts every American as they see entry level manufacturing jobs (and manufacturing jobs period) go to places like China, where workers are barely fed let alone make a livable wage.

And there’s a new kind of slavery in our nation as well: the slavery that illegal immigrants are subject to… this, in my opinion, is one of the evils of tolerating illegal immigration. In effect, we are enabling a new slave culture – it’s not that they are doing jobs that “no American will do,” it’s that no American will work for the pittance that “undocumented workers” will work for!

The media discourse we’re hearing lately has as its good point the exposure of the of a racial intolerance that should be addressed. I pray it does not describe, “The Black Church” in America (or any church in America!), but I know that, unfortunately, it describes many. Friends of ours who have come out of Chicago black church backgrounds have told us stories that still make our hair stand on end. White hatred was certainly extolled from those pulpits, and nobody said a-mumblin’ word.

I am not perfect, but I’m not out to get people who don’t share my skin color or national heritage. I want to fulfill my Lord’s call to love Him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, love my neighbor as myself, and my Christian sister or brother as Christ loves me – regardless of race or ethnicity.

God made Adam out of the dust of the earth, and Eve from a rib from his side. He breathed into both of them the breath of life. They could have been black, brown, olive-skinned, white, or green!!! The human race had a restart with Noah, his wife, and their three sons and their wives. Their race was never mentioned. Any claim that a curse involves skin color is one that defies the whole of Scripture.

The Scriptures are plain that every family derives its name from God. (Eph. 3:15) The Scriptures speak of a day when people from all races will be gathered around the throne of God, worshiping Him. Jesus still loves all the children of the world. We would do well to do the same, and in so doing, we will show the love of God – in whom there is no East or West. 10:42 pm est