Nothing One-a-Day Friday    10/7/16

Posted on by October 7, 2016
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A life worthy

My daughter and I are in a local production of The Hiding Place, a play based on the life of Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie and her family were followers of Christ who hid Jews from the Germans during World War II.  They were discovered, captured, and imprisoned. Only Corrie survived the camps.  To call it a powerful story is an understatement of the highest order.  This week I am taking a look at some of the lessons we can glean from this story.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord  (Romans 8: 35-39).

You know, it’s so easy for Corrie to quote this verse.  All she had to face was a Nazi death camp.  I have to…

Oh. Wow. Yeah. Never mind.

Beloved, chances are good that your Friday will not include Nazis or famine or swordsmen.  

‘Course, you never know.

Still, this day is just stuffed with things that want to get between you and Jesus.  It starts with your own sin and basic patheticosity, moves through this broken and selfish world, and culminates in a whole host of spiritual forces dedicated to your destruction.

Hmm…maybe the Nazis aren’t so bad after all.

Nope…they’re so bad.

Point is, none of it can pull you away from Christ.

Not the darkness outside.

Not the darkness inside.

You are his.  He has chosen you, in spite of…you.  He has claimed you as his own and he fiercely protects you.  He is stronger than anything you will face today or tomorrow or ever.

Breathe that in, Beloved of Christ.  Soak in it.  Let it lift you up and carry you through whatever today holds.

Happy Friday

The Least One-a-Day Thursday    10/6/16

Posted on by October 6, 2016
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A life worthy

My daughter and I are in a local production of The Hiding Place, a play based on the life of Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie and her family were followers of Christ who hid Jews from the Germans during World War II.  They were discovered, captured, and imprisoned. Only Corrie survived the camps.  To call it a powerful story is an understatement of the highest order.  This week I am taking a look at some of the lessons we can glean from this story.

“…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me (Matthew 25:40).

At one point before their arrest, the Ten Booms shelter a young Jewish mother and her newborn.  Desperate to find a more permanent hiding place for the tiny family, Corrie approaches a local pastor who has a large, secluded home.  The pastor, consumed with fear, refuses the baby.  “Definitely not!” he says.  “Why, we could lose our lives for that Jewish child!”  Casper, Corrie’s father, takes the baby in his arms.  “You say we could lose our lives for this child?  I would cosider that the greatest honor that could come to my family.”

As it happened, Casper and his daughter Betsie would die for that child and for the other Jews they had sheltered from evil hands.  I believe that he died without regret.

Beloved, what is your life worth?  Will you spend it on the least of those Christ loves?  You might be called to give it in one glorious, heroic gesture, as did Casper,

but  probably not.

More likely you will spend it little by little, quietly and unnoticed, changing lives without fully realizing it.  

Or will you hoard your life, clutching it to you as if by your own power you could maintain it?  As if life itself were the end, instead of the means.

That’s the funny thing.  In Christ, your life is not yours to keep; it is only yours to give.

“He who wishes to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Yeah, that.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

Thankful One-a-Day Wednesday    10/5/16

Posted on by October 5, 2016
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A life worthy

My daughter and I are in a local production of The Hiding Place, a play based on the life of Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie and her family were followers of Christ who hid Jews from the Germans during World War II.  They were discovered, captured, and imprisoned.  Only Corrie survived the camps.  To call it a powerful story is an understatement of the highest order.  This week I am taking a look at some of the lessons we can glean from this story.

…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus  (I Thessalonians 5:18).

How do you give thanks for evil things?

In the camps, Betsy encouraged her sister to give thanks for the overflowing barracks, the overflowing toilets, even the fleas that infested their living quarters.  

I think that might be just a little bit nuts.

I know, they’re spiritual giants, and I’m a spiritual hamster, but I can still disagree, can’t I?

So here’s the deal.  The Ten Boom sisters were suffering because of their service to Jesus.  So, in that sense, they could thank God for the privilege of suffering for Christ’s sake.

But the verse says, “Give thanks in all circumastances,” not, “Give thanks for all circumstances.”

There is a difference.

We’ve all been through various levels of yuck in our lives.  Do we thank God for getting fired, or getting in a car wreck, or getting dumped, or losing a loved one when we’re right in the middle of the mess?

I don’t think we do.  At least, I don’t.

I thank God that he is still there, even though I can’t see him.  I thank him that he will hold me together, even though my world is crumbling.  I thank him that someday, looking back, I might get a glimpse of the way he used the evil, the mess, the yuck, for my good and his glory.

I thank him that, my circumstances and fears and failures to the contrary, he remains God.

Hey, you. Beloved. What are you in the middle of, right now, that requires a dose of thankfulness?  Perhaps you can’t thank him for the pit, but can you thank him from the pit?

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Forgive One-a-Day Tuesday    10/4/16

Posted on by October 4, 2016
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A life worthy

My daughter and I are in a local production of The Hiding Place, a play based on the life of Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie and her family were followers of Christ who hid Jews from the Germans during World War II.  They were discovered, captured, and imprisoned. Only Corrie survived the camps.  To call it a powerful story is an understatement of the highest order.  This week I want to take a look at some of the lessons we can take from this story.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you  (Ephesians 4:32).

One of the most painful lines in the show comes from Betsy, Corrie’s sister.  She has just been struck by a guard and is sprawled on the ground in anguish.  As she lies there, she preaches forgiveness to her sister.  “Jesus died for those who beat him,” she says, “and those who beat us.”

Wow.  I really, completely, thoroughly, absolutely don’t like that even a little bit.

It’s much easier for me to identify with Corrie.  When she encounters that same guard, years later, she cries out to the Lord, “Forgive me, but I don’t want to stop hating him!  He deserves it!  He deserves my hate, forever!”

And it’s true.  He does deserve her hate.  But God has called her to forgive.

So, the Lord of the Universe calls us to the same kind of sacrifice He endured, turning aside from wrath and showing mercy and forgiveness to those who spew their evil upon us.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Isn’t that what he said?

This is an intriguing concept in the abstract, a concept worthy of discussion and debate.  Except that the Gospel refuses to stay abstract.  It has a frustrating way of working its way inside you, like ticks, or radiation.

Or…you know…something nice.

And here’s the kicker.  Forgiveness begets freedom.  That hate in your heart is dragging you down; you know it as well as I.  You will never be the person God has called you to be until you let go of your righteous, well-earned hate.

So, Beloved, who is it that you do not want to forgive?  

Yes, I am going there.

And so is He.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

Hiding Place One-a-Day Monday    10/3/16

Posted on by October 3, 2016
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A life worthy

My daughter and I are in a local production of The Hiding Place, a play based on the life of Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie and her family were followers of Christ who hid Jews from the Germans during World War II.  They were discovered, captured, and imprisoned. Only Corrie survived the camps.  To call it a powerful story is an understatement of the highest order.  This week I want to take a look at some of the lessons we can take from this story.

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance  (Psalm 32:7).

Corrie and her family provided a hiding place for people in trouble. In doing so, they became the hands and feet of God, working in this world to protect his people and bring him glory.  But it is not until the prison camps that the full meaning of this verse becomes clear.  God does not just provide a hiding place, Beloved.  He is our hiding place.  When everything else is stripped away and we are left raw and bleeding beside the road, we are still His.  We are still safe.

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

I don’t know what awaits you today.  

Probably not Nazis.

Whatever it is, God is already there and in full control.  He is waiting to surround you with songs of deliverance.  Let the singing begin.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

All One One-a-Day Thursday    9/29/16

Posted on by September 29, 2016
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A life worthy

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

E Pluribus Unum

Out of Many, One

It’s one of the mottos of the United States.  The words point out that, though we have come from many countries and cultures and creeds, we are one as American citizens.

Based on my news feed, America doesn’t feel very E Pluribus Unummy these days.  We fight and march and protest to defend, even glorify, our differences, rather than celebrate what makes us one.

Oy.

God sees it differently, Beloved.  When he looks at you, he doesn’t see color or gender or nationality or socioeconomic status.  He sees his Son shining out through your eyes.

And he likes it.

Maybe today, just for a while, we can try to see this tired, angry world as he sees it?

Care to give it a try?

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

New Clothes One-a-Day Wednesday    9/28/16

Posted on by September 28, 2016
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A life worthy

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ  (Galatians 3:26-27).

You show up to the wedding dressed in cutoff jeans and a pair of flip flops.  

There is no way you’re getting in wearing that nonsense.

But hold on, someone is coming.  It’s the bridegroom.  He smiles at you as though he were really glad to see you, as if you weren’t a total embarrassment in your grubbiosity.  He takes off his tuxedo jacket and drapes it around your boney  shoulders and your grimy T-shirt.  Then he turns to the attendant and says, “It’s OK…this one’s with me.

And just like that, you’re in.

And you, who have never really belonged anywhere, belong here.

Welcome home.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Babysitter One-a-Day Tuesday    9/27/16

Posted on by September 27, 2016
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A life worthy

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law (Galatians 3:25).

Remember having a babysitter?  When you were a kid, your parents brought in the babysitter to keep you safe.  The sitter had limited authority over you but, as you often pointed out to her, she was not your mom.  At some point, your parents decided that you no longer needed a sitter; you were big enough to be on your own.

Or, you know, that they were sick of shelling out bucks to the babysitter.

The law worked in kind of the same way.  It kept God’s people safe, gave them boundaries and rules and direction until…well, until it was time to be a grownup.

Abstract concepts like faith and redemption and eternity are hard for children to grasp, so God gave his children concrete examples like the lamb and the scapegoat and the incense and the oil.  When he knew the time was right, he gave them Christ.

We often say we want to remain kids forever, but frankly it’s the grownups who get all the really cool stuff.

Be a grownup, Beloved.

Happy Tuesday

Lead On One-a-Day Monday    9/26/16

Posted on by September 26, 2016
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A life worthy

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24).

I once worked for a ministry that connected churches in the US with sister churches overseas.  My job was to facilitate communications and streamline the process for the churches to visit one another.  I worked hard, and after a few months I had created a system that was basically automatic.  The churches no longer needed me as a go-between.

I had worked myself out of a job.

Oops

The law kind of worked that way.  It was designed to lead people to Jesus, after which it was no longer needed.  Those who continued to follow the law after the Resurrection were engaging in empty ritual.  Kinda like continuing to read the road map after you’ve arrived. At some point you’ve gotta put the map down and get out of the car.

I wonder how much of our current worship is like that.  How often do we focus on the song instead of the One the song was designed to lead us to?  How many times have we paid more attention to the performers than to the true Audience?  In how many of our churches–and hearts–do we value form over function?  

 

I stayed with that job for a few months after I had redundificated myself.  I pretended to my bosses and myself that my job still had value, but frankly it had none.  That was some of the least fulfilling time I have ever spent.

Hmm…something to chew on.

Happy Monday, Beloved.