Category Archives: People

Good People

The poisonous political atmosphere shows no signs of ending soon. I will not be the one to end it. I will not be the one to influence anyone to pay attention.

No matter. I just need to declare that I think there are some good people serving our country, no matter what the political rhetoric may be today.

My wife heard on MPR yesterday someone making a comment that they guessed the presidential election was now down to voting for a “Muslim or a Mormon.”

It’s a disappointing thing to say. All right. I’ll say it. It’s an awful thing to say.

So, to those on the “right” I am about to tick off, just stay steady. And to those of you on the left… same thing.

I think Mitt Romney is a decent man. As is President Barack Obama.

While I cannot agree with either man on everything, I don’t find it in me to declare false things about either one of them. They may do things I disagree with, but I cannot find it in myself to fling nasty comments around.

There are good people trying to do good things in this nation. On both “sides” of the “aisle.” No one seems to be willing to acknowledge that. I will. Not that it will make a difference this election cycle.

Throwaways

The death of Junior Seau will cause some debate on concussions again. Good.

But beyond that I’ve been reflecting on athletes and entertainers and our culture of idols.

I don’t want to take away from personal responsibility. Athletes and entertainers need to learn how to live life beyond the big stage. So many do it well.

Yet, we have a throwaway culture that cheers loudly for the young and talented, then tosses them aside when the next hot thing comes along. In our hunger to see the next hot talent, we drive people to live for that particular moment without regard to what is next.

Again, there are certainly great entertainers who have lived a long career either as an entertainer or in some other field. There are athletes who have gone on to other careers once they retire. But many just are lost. They’ve been conditioned for the spotlight and once that light is off and the adoration is gone, they are lost. And our culture has some blame to share in that loss.

Many years ago I had the incredible fortune of sitting in the same waiting room as a former major league pitcher and a current (at that time) NFL player. I introduced myself to the pitcher because he had overcome some incredible adversity earlier in his career and I wanted to thank him for his inspiring story. The NFL player then came over and introduced himself to the pitcher. Both men then talked about lives outside their sports. They were searching for their identities. It was an amazing conversation to listen to.

We are a crazed culture living for the moment. We have no problem using up athletes at the collegiate level in hopes of cheering them on in a professional arena. But if they don’t make it to the pro level, we just toss them aside and wait for the next “one and done” player (in NCAA basketball) or the next great linebacker that we can turn into a human missile so he can maim some quarterback and we can all cheer.

We have no problem churning through hundreds of auditions for the next “idol” or “voice,” not caring if we hear of them five years from now. We just love that talent NOW. And it’s the talent we love. Not the person.

And don’t even get me started on ministers and ministry! ;)

We are not doing very well in our culture (or in our churches) in the area of building legacy and long-term growth and development. We are living in the NOW… and it may just be killing us. For Junior Seau, it’s certainly has.

Changing Tastes Takes Help — David Brainerd

There is a taste I need for the Kingdom of God. It’s like moving from McDonald’s burgers to aged steak.

But sometimes we need to be taught. We need to walk the path others have gone. It is helpful to me to read from others who have a taste for the Kingdom of God. I have begun to dip my toe in The Life and Diary of David Brainerd.

He is helping me change my taste.

One day I remember in particular (I think it was in June, 1740), I walked to a considerable distance from the college, in the fields alone at noon, and in prayer found such unspeakable sweetness and delight in God that I thought, if I must continue still in this evil world, I wanted always to be there, to behold God’s glory… On Lord’s Day, July 6, being sacrament-day, I found some divine life and spiritual refreshment in that holy ordinance.

Brainerd describes several times when he sensed a special sweetness at the Lord’s table.

We need new tastes. Tastes for the Kingdom.

Chuck Colson

Chuck Colson has passed away. The media, of course, begins with the statement that he was Nixon’s “hatchet man” in the Watergate era. The media may call him a “hatchet man,” but then they typically do a hatchet job, depicting Colson as “reinventing” himself.

Colson was transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. He then turned to help others see the power of transformation. He was instrumental in reaching back into prisons and dedicated his life to prison reform and seeing prisoners truly set free by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He would never call himself a prophet, but I believe the American church lost a true prophetic voice with his passing.

Eternal memory.

Happy Birthday, A.W. Tozer

Today apparently is the birthday of A.W. Tozer.

Some great Tozer quotes:

“One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.”

“I want the presence of God Himself, or I don’t want anything at all to do with religion… I want all that God has or I don’t want any.”

“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.”

Discipline IS Love

One of the backward ideas we seem to have is that God doesn’t “punish” his people because he looooovvvvves them.

As if discipline isn’t love.

He finally had to bring Judah down to get their attention. It was harsh. It was brutal. Yet, it was not out of God’s fierce anger for revenge. It was out of his heart to get them back home.

And they would learn:

18 I hear, yes, I hear Ephraim lamenting:
“You disciplined me,
and I learned my lesson,
even though I was as stubborn as a mule.
Bring me back, let me return,
because you are the Lord my God.
19 After I turned away from you,
I regretted it;
I realized what I had done,
and I have hit myself—
I was humiliated and disgraced,
and I have carried this disgrace
since I was young.” (Jer. 31:18=19, CEB)

“I have hit myself…”

Remember that old Skin Bracer commercial?

Too often we think God dealing with us is some sort of “child abuse,” so we think it’s someone else’s fault. It’s not someone else’s fault. God had to deliver the discipline. And it’s not HIS fault, either. If we’ve strayed off, it’s our fault. 

Blessed Memory

The past few days have carried heavy news for those who are a part of our church. We lost a dear church member Saturday night in a battle to cancer. Earlier in the week, a missionary we support lost his father to disease. Word came tonight of a pastor’s wife who has passed on to glory. She had battled brain cancer. Her husband is left with 8 children.

A verse I reflect on in these times reads like this in the NIV:

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his faithful servants. (Ps. 116:15)

The Common English Bible is incredibly interesting and more significant for me tonight:

15 The death of the Lord’s faithful
is a costly loss in his eyes.

It feels costly this weekend.

We bless their memories, dear Lord.

How to Get Jesus to Say, “Good Answer!”

Mark 7 has Jesus exploding all over the religious leaders’ views of what is “in” and what is “out.” What is “proper” and what is “improper.”

Then, it’s lived out in the story of Syrophoenician woman. She has come to beg Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter. Jesus has never hesitated to cast out demons. Here, he does. And he insults the woman along the way. She was a Gentile.

It was proving a point with the disciples. They were all too ready to reject the woman because of who she was. Her need didn’t matter to them.

But she kept at it. When Jesus insulted her, she stayed with the request. Finally, he slams her by saying it wasn’t right to give the children’s food to the dogs.

28 But she answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

29 “Good answer!” he said. “Go on home. The demon has already left your daughter.” 30 When she returned to her house, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone. (Mark 7:28-30, CEB)

Jesus responds to an “unclean” woman because of her tenacious faith.

While the “religious” people were complaining to Jesus about this, that, and the other this unclean woman was in pursuit of an answer. She was tenacious. She wasn’t giving up. She came to the Kingdom out of need. And the Kingdom didn’t disappoint.

How are we coming to Jesus? With our complaints? With our gripes? With our views of perfect theology and pointing out the flaws in others?

Or, are we coming in desperate need for the Kingdom to touch us with power?

Which one could illicit the response: “Good answer”?