blog-carnival

Jesus Wears Rocket Boots

Frank

Last night as I was putting my son to bed, we were tackling all the hard questions in life. My son asked a question about the Bible that I couldn’t answer, so I simply told him that some things in the Bible we can’t explain. They are miracles and we have to take them on faith that they really happened. I said, “take Jesus walking on water. We don’t know how he did that, just that he did.”

“Oh! I know,” my son quickly interrupted. “Jesus was wearing rocket boots, like Iron Man!”

Ok, maybe we can explain everything in the Bible. I suppose when the sun stood still for Joshua, Superman was flying around the Earth so fast that it stopped turning. (It worked in the movie, anyway)

A child’s imagination allows for robot armor, light sabers, men who turn green when angry, and talking animals. There’s room in their little minds to accept raising people from the dead, driving out evil spirits, and.. talking animals. Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15)

As we grow older, we also grow more cynical and skeptical. It is harder to accept Jesus walking on water; and even if we can make that logical leap, no way do we allow for Peter to do the same. Feeding 5000 with just a few fish and a couple of loaves of bread? Turning water into wine? These are harder to accept. Driving out demons can be explained away with psychology. We no longer have the faith of a little child.

Yet we spend billions to watch “The Avengers” while eagerly awaiting the next “Batman” and “Spiderman” release and speculating online about what, exactly, “Prometheus” is all about. We go in to the latest blockbusters willing to suspend belief for two hours. And then expect the Sunday morning sermon to be preached from science and history books.

I’m not saying we  should check our brain at the door to our churches. But rather we should allow for our imaginations to do just what God intended them to do- grasp at the unknown, wonder in awe at God’s power and creativity, and maybe in some way be inspired to share our unique insights through art, music, or prose.

If we can be child-like watching our childhood heroes on the big screen, why can’t we be child-like, as Jesus commanded, learning about our ultimate hero in Jesus? Miracles cannot be explained. If they could, they wouldn’t be miracles. And as I had to explain to my son, rocket boots weren’t yet invented when Jesus was alive. But I suppose that would have been a miracle too.

This is my first time joining my friend Duane Scott’s blog-carnival “unwrapping His promises”. Click the button below for more.

More than Mom

Frank

Before all the flowers and cards last Sunday, there was a mom who loved you first. A mother who loved you before you could even open your eyes. Who rocked you to sleep. Who wiped away your early tears. A loving mom who sealed every Band-Aid with a kiss and the comforting words that everything was going to be all right. Who stayed up late waiting for you to come home. Who did countless loads of your filthy laundry, even after you moved away. A mom who loves you so much, you could never call enough.

Believe it or not, God loves you more than that.

Who can fathom the immeasurable extent of God’s love? It is so far above what our thoughts can grasp that it feels like every slip-up and every stumble should diminish our value in His eyes. Yet that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

God’s love is more than we can imagine and we have so much more value than we ever feel. The closest we can come to relating to that level of love, that degree of sacrifice, is that of a parent. So I think of my mom and how much she sacrificed for my sake. I think of how much she has had to forgive me. And I think of how there is nothing I can do that would separate me from her love. And God loves me more than mom.

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by my friend Peter Pollock. Stop over at his place for more blogs posts on “more”.

Homeless Jesus

Frank
“Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Matthew 8:20

A headline over the weekend caught my attention. It was a story about how off-duty LAPD officers were helping a cat rescue organization to save dozens of stray cats on Skid Row. The irony of this heart-warming story is that living among these cats are hundreds of homeless people. And while these volunteers are trying to find caring and loving homes for the kittens they save, I wonder if they have the same care and concern in their hearts for the people living there on the street. Interestingly, the news left out the part about the church who had been taking care of the cats as a secondary concern while ministering to the homeless. That church can’t afford its rent and will have to move, leaving the cats. Sure there are other churches, other ministries, and other volunteer organizations in and around Skid Row to take up the slack meeting the needs of the people there, but it seemed like a glaring omission in the media coverage.

That news got my wheels turning and reminded me how just a weekend before I bought a new mattress for our master bed. It was past time to replace our second-hand mattress that my wife and I have been sleeping on ever since we were married, so we took advantage of a deal at Costco. As I was loading the mattress to the top of my SUV many commented on how I was going to have a great night’s sleep that night. Feeling pretty good about myself, I pulled out of the parking lot and got stuck at a red light. There, at the intersection, was a homeless man asking for change. I felt embarrassed giving him a relative pittance while we talked about the quality of sleep and the comfort of my new bed. He wasn’t critical at all, in fact he could have been any one of the other shoppers at Costco wishing me well, but the circumstances from where he was relating hit me to my very core. Here I was, taking home a new mattress, talking about quality of sleep to a guy who that night would be sleeping under a bush.

And the wheels in my head kept turning, reminding me of a date I had with my wife down in downtown LA a few months ago. After a delicious dinner, the group we were with walked down to a trendy pastry bakery/restaurant. The place was packed and the line for dessert went out the door. The restaurant side of the house was bustling with Gen-X-ers dressed to be seen. But just outside the door were two men, a father and a son, who were wearing the same clothes they’ve been wearing for weeks, if not months. They weren’t pushy or overbearing to ask for change. In fact they just sat right outside the door quietly, carrying on a conversation with whomever would listen. After our expensive dinner and debaucherous dessert, it was literally the least we could do to buy these guys some coffee. While our friends waited, we handed the cups over and engaged in a brief conversation. After retuning to our group, one of our friends told us, “oh, you guys are so sweet.” Sad, my heart responded that sweet had nothing to do with it as I had to fight back the criticism that my wife and I appeared to be the only two who cared.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends who leads a church in Bakersfield, inspired by “freegans“, shared how they have partnered with a local Trader Joes to provide food to one of the local food banks. Trader Joes has a bad reputation for throwing out food that is perfectly good, but not “pretty enough” to put on their shelves or that hit the sell-by date. So he and his wife started “dumpster diving” and then approached Trader Joes to start working together to provide that perfectly good food to the homeless. Twice a week they fill several shopping carts with food and either take it to the bank or distribute it first-hand in the community.

Another irony hit me as my church started to get more involved with our local shelter. As we surveyed their needs, they told us they more than enough volunteers to help with their soup kitchen but they still had a huge need there. They said they had no volunteers to help on Wednesdays and Sundays. Why? Because most, if not all, of their volunteers were from churches. Something about religion that God accepts comes to mind…

Do you know what else is ironic? Jesus was homeless. The Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father, walked this earth with nothing. Consider the scripture above as you read the account of the Samaritan woman in John 4. From her point of view, Jesus was no different than a homeless beggar asking for change at an intersection. Think of that the next time you’re stuck at a red light.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by my good friend, Peter Pollock. Visit his site for more entries on the topic of “much“.

Point Of View

Frank

This picture was a hit on the interwebs last week. Follow the link to the original and instructions on how the picture was made.

Step away from your computer, what do you see? But come closer and the image changes. Yet again, what do you see?

Even though the image in your mind is different, in both cases you see the same thing- a face. It is only as your point of view changes that the image changes.

When I saw Peter pick the topic of “secular” for his blog carnival I was stumped. But then my wife found a picture on Pintrest that uses one of the Urban Dictionary’s definitions of Christianity:

The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree…

Yeah, Christianity makes perfect sense.

And I remembered the picture above. (Yes, my brain works in odd ways. I’m having that checked) But the point that stood out to me was that the “definition” above is only one point of view. Secular it may be, but is it really that far off?

Before you scream “blasphemy!” consider- your perspective and my perspective are different. If we were to each give a description of Jesus, chances are we would say different things. You say loving, I say faithful. You say merciful, I say bold. We could go on and on. Francis Chan makes that point in Crazy Love with respect to God- that if every person in the world used a different word to describe God, we would run out of people before we ran out of words. Your experience with Jesus is different from mine. Different still from the secularist. Yet like in the picture above aren’t we all seeing the same thing, Jesus?

So the Urban Dictionary description makes Christianity sound crazy. But isn’t it, really? Has Christianity in our day and age become so “normal” that we forget just how crazy it is to give up everything and follow a Jewish zombie that told us to eat his flesh and drink his blood to atone for some internal demon that we all have just because some naked chick in a garden ate the fruit of a magical tree because a snake told her to? I’m not offended by this. My faith in Christ is crazy, I am ready to admit. But that’s just my perspective.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. This week’s topic is “secular“. Be sure to click the link to check out other posts and other perspectives.

Battle Plan

Frank

As I mentioned Monday, this past weekend’s Halloween-themed sermon was on battling our monsters  drawing lessons from David’s confrontation with Goliath. (h/t Fred for the lesson and Dave for the additional insight!)

Recall the epic battles in “Braveheart” with each nation’s army lined up on opposite sides of the valley below. Remember the shouting back and forth, signaling strength and confidence. Now imagine that continuing on for 40 days and NO ONE ACTUALLY FIGHTING! I figure everyone would’ve been pretty hoarse after just a couple of days.

That is the scene David walks into in 1 Samuel, chapter 17. For 40 days the Philistine army had been lining up opposite the nation of Israel, daring them to fight. Leading the taunting was nine-foot tall Goliath and not a single Israelite dared to take him on. Except for young, diminutive David.

I think the reason the army of Israel was afraid to fight was because they were thinking of a conventional fight, taking on strength with strength. Of course that strategy works if your strengths match up. But if you know you’re at a disadvantage, it is wise not to fight.

“Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.” (Luke 14:31-32)

But this wasn’t a conventional fight. The army of Israel wasn’t fighting alone. They had the power of the Lord Almighty fighting beside them.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:4)

Somehow they forgot that in the face of someone stronger. But David didn’t. He remembered the LORD his God. But he still needed a strategy of his own.

It is obvious that he was thinking of this while with Saul when he told him he “could not go [in Saul’s armor]” because he “was not used to them.” (1 Samuel 17:39) He knew his only chance was to match his speed against Goliath’s strength.

Also note that he picked up not just one, but five smooth stones. He expected he would need to get off more than one shot. He had a plan and he had a strategy.

But God had another strategy in mind. He only wanted one to stand up for His Name. So David only needed one shot to take down this giant.

Sometimes when facing our own inner demons, the sin that so easily entangles, we get stuck in a stare-down. We are too afraid to commit to the fight. Other times, we try and match strength for strength, but we can not overcome our sinful nature on our own. “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” (Romans 7:21) So we need to try unconventional means. We need to plan. We need to be cunning. “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) We need a strategy.

This post is part of the One Word at a Time Blog Carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. This week’s topic is strategy. Be sure to click the link to check out other posts!

Do you need a fence?

Frank

Good fences make good neighbors -Robert Frost

When Peter first mentioned this week’s Blog Carnival topic, fences, several thoughts ran through my mind.

I thought of the fence where I grew up. How it was effective keeping the dogs in the yard, but as time went on due to lack of care or concern, the fence began to fall down. I though of how I tried to mend the fence when it really needed to be rebuilt.

I thought then of my current home where we don’t have a fence so much as a block wall. I thought of how just the other day I was in the yard and noticed a spot where the wall was right by a sprinkler head and the masonry had begun to erode.

I thought of the fence my wife and I want to build in our front yard so we will be without with less worry our kids will run into the street while playing.

Then for some reason I thought of the book Who Moved My Church and the different approaches people took once their church was again “found”. One locked all the doors to close out the world. Another opened the doors wide and embraced the world. Neither had its desired effect.

The last thought brought up the question what are fences for? Are they to keep the dogs and kids in the yard? Or, like Frost alludes to above, are they to keep others out? Don’t they do both? So fences are really about safety and security. Keeping what you want in, while keeping what you don’t out.

So I think again of the church. In some ways the church could be criticized for building fences, even walls, to keep out the poor, the wretched, the sinners outside. So some churches over-correct and tear down the fences and accept any and all. But then where is the safety and security provided by the fence?

It would be easy to say our churches need to tear down the fences and walls that divide. It would be an obvious temptation to allow anyone and everyone in for the sake of Christ. But is that the right attitude?

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:1-10)

But we need to see that it’s not us who are to break down the fences or open wide the gates, but Jesus himself. Anyone who comes in any other way, as Jesus describes, is a thief or a robber.

That still sounds like opening wide the gate, letting everyone in, and let Jesus sort them out. But it’s not. Because the gate is not wide.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

We want our churches to be “seeker friendly”. We want them to be large and reach many. We want as many as possible to enter through the gate of Christ. But Jesus himself said that few will even find the gate. If few actually find and enter through the gate, then aren’t most of the rest that come in in the name of acceptance or tolerance thieves and robbers based on the first parable?

Fences are built for safety and security. The Kingdom of God is surrounded by a fence with only one way in. Don’t tear down your fences so that more can come in. Because if you tear down the fence, you don’t need the Gate.

Today’s post is part of a Blog Carnival hosted over at Peter Pollock’s site. This week’s word is “fences”. Please check out the many other well-written, thought-provoking posts.

Night Driving

Frank

I recently went on a business trip, driving after work six-plus hours through the night to get to my destination. Driving through the night can be intimidating. There are no streetlights with only the moon to light the sky. And it is lonely with only the occasional fellow red-eye driver on the road. Not to mention having to fight off sleep and keeping the mind from wandering too far.

Along this long stretch were few signs. And as the miles and hours passed, the signs to guide the way seemed further and further apart. My inner-clock deceived me into thinking that I have been driving longer than the many times I had been on this road before. I began to feel insecure. Did I miss a turn? Did I miss a sign? At night I couldn’t see any landmarks to guess at my location or even determine my direction, and I was too tired to trust the miles rolled off my odometer. I just had to have faith I was on the right road, heading the right direction.

Life doesn’t have signposts. We’re not given directions in advance. And we’re often too prideful to stop and ask for directions. Am I on the right road? Am I going the right direction? I think I’ve been down this road before.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

The road following Jesus is narrow. It may be scary to look over the ledge while carefully navigating each switchback as you climb closer to heaven. But you are safe. There aren’t many other cars on this road, but you’re not alone. Thankfully, you don’t have to make this drive in the dark of night. You can follow the light ahead of you. And you don’t have to know the way. Jesus isn’t your co-pilot, he’s your GPS.

This post is part of a blog-carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. Our theme this week is “road“. Check out other contributors for more road-wise posts.

Psyche!

Frank

So after yesterday’s post, I was expecting to share some exciting discussion from my Crazy Love group last night. Nope. The truth is, stepping out on faith is scary… for everyone. When asked the question, “if you had unlimited faith, unlimited resources, and unlimited support what would you do?” the group drew a blank. Sure we thought of some broad things like travelling the world to personally end hunger or to intercede in some conflict to bring about peace. But we were unable to come up with something that we, as Joe Shmoe Christians, could practically do right now.

My brother in law was in town this weekend, and we all got together for dinner Saturday night. He was telling us about his one time trying out skydiving. He said it wasn’t that scary; he was confident because of all the practice and prep that came before. But when he was on the plane, and the person in front of him jumped out of an open door into nothing, he was paralyzed. It’s not the jump that scares you, it’s the anticipation right before.

The big adventures in faith are like that. Once we step out, we realize it’s not that bad. But thinking about it ahead of time. Praying about it. Planning it. We can  psyche ourselves out before we ever take that first step if we’re not careful. That’s why it was so easy to make excuses when confronted to follow Jesus.

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:57-62)

Peter, on the other hand, didn’t think ahead. When he saw Jesus walking on water he stepped right out. It was when he started thinking about it that he began to sink. (Matthew 14:22-36)

I guess the moral of the story is don’t think! Actually, I’m curious: has there ever been anything you’ve wanted to do that you talked yourself out of because you thought too much about it?

And since I couldn’t get this song out of my head when I heard the topic for this carnival (and it helps that I have two small children) here for your viewing pleasure is some Sesame Street:

This entry is part of a Blog Carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. This week’s topic is “adventure“. Be sure to visit the carnival and check out all the other posts!

Treasure, Aaarrrgghh!

Frank

My son loves pirates. It’s one trend he isn’t fickle about. Star Wars is hit and miss. He’s lost interest in his monster trucks. He no longer wants to grow up to be an astronaut (snif). But you can never go wrong breaking out some pirate toys.

So it was fitting that over spring break we went with grandma to a museum exhibit on pirates. I wasn’t sure how well it would hold my six year-old’s attention, but I shouldn’t have worried. Myself, I’m a museum nerd. I will read the description on every display and I’ll be lucky to make it through a single wing in a day. I even bought the audio guide to the exhibit. A lot of good that did, as I would be listening intently, studying what was before me, while my son would be ripping my arm out of its socket to lead me around the corner to see what was next.

There were canons, guns, flags, and of course, treasure. Real pirate treasure! Funny thing about pirates, much of what we think we know are really products of books (Treasure Island) and movies (“Peter Pan”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”). For example, did you know that walking the plank is a recent fabrication? There is one known example of this being documented, but it was in the late 1800’s, well after the peak of piracy we associate with the Jolly Roger. In fact, the image of walking the plank was introduced to our cultural memory by the original stage production of “Peter Pan”.

Another myth is that pirates buried treasure. This myth was encouraged by the book Treasure Island. But the truth was that the “booty” pirates would collect from captured ships was often spent in port on alcohol and prostitution. It would be unlikely there would be any left after a shore-leave of revelry.

That doesn’t make Jesus’ parable of the buried treasure irrelevant however. In Jesus’ day there were no pirates, but there was buried treasure. It wouldn’t be uncommon for a family to hide away some of their possessions by burying them. After all, there were no banks insured by FDIC and they were under Roman occupation. It was a safe (though unreliable) way of protecting what was yours. But there was a risk in doing so. They could forget where they buried it, or they would often be forced to move before having a chance to retrieve it.

So imagine someone’s surprise to find treasure buried in a field. In Jesus’ parable, it is an honest man. I think today, we’d just dig it up and claim it as our own. But he went and sold all he had so that he could buy the land and its treasure.

This is a parable of the Kingdom of God. What is it worth to you? Are you willing to give up everything you have, risk it all, for the sake of God’s Kingdom? After all isn’t the treasure being stored up for us in heaven more valuable than anything we could ever obtain on this Earth? Or like the pirates of old are you wasting what you have here on worldly pleasures as if our short life is no different than a stop in port?

Aaaarrrgghh, indeed.

This entry is part of Peter Pollock’s blog carnival. This week’s topic is treasure. Be sure to check out the many other thoughtful posts.

Blessing or Curse?

Frank

Yesterday I talked about stress and worry. It’s a topic worth talking about more (and you’ll notice there’s a theme to this week).

Stop and think about what stresses you out. The little things and big things. What are you stressed out about right now? What were you stressed out about a week ago? (admit it, you were stressed out about something a week ago I’m sure)

Of all the things we stress about, either major or minor, we stress because we can’t control it. We don’t know the outcomes. At its root, we simply do not trust God.

But what do we stress most about? Our family, our jobs, our car breaking down, our bank account, our leaky roof… What do all of these things have in common? They are blessings! Think about it. The things that stress you out the most are blessings from God. You don’t deserve them, you aren’t owed them, but God has given you a family, a roof over your head, a job (or even at times, no job at all), money in the bank account (even if just pennies until the next check). And yet we want to control what God gives. We want to know how things turn out when only God knows.

This week’s Blog Carnival topic is Sacrifice. It may be cliche to reference Abraham and Isaac when talking about sacrifice. I’m sure you’ve heard a dozen of sermons asking, “what’s your Isaac?” But it’s worth looking at again.

Going back a bit, Abraham and Sarah were stressed about not having children. Then God came along and made Abraham a promise. The promise wasn’t fulfilled right away, so they stressed some more and made a bad decision along the way to allow Abraham to lay with Hagar in order for her to have his child since Sarah was barren. But God eventually came through and Sarah gave birth to Isaac.

Then we get to Genesis 22, where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. Abraham doesn’t protest, he doesn’t even say a word. He just goes. When Isaac asks where the sacrifice will come from, Abraham simply replied, “the Lord will provide.” (v 8) Still no stress, but simple trust in God’s promise.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice a blessing because he believed in God’s promise. He didn’t know how God was going to work it out, but he knew God would. So he had no stress, no worry.

Of all the blessings that stress you out, what are you willing to sacrifice believing in God’s promise? No, God probably hasn’t personally spoken to you to promise anything. But there is this, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Another cliche, but consider what that “good” is that God promises. Verse 29 continues, “…to be conformed to the likeness of his Son…” That is the good we are promised.

Are we being conformed to the image of Jesus when we stress out? Not likely. But we are when we are willing to give some things up, even if they are blessings, because we believe God’s promises.

What are you willing to give up?

This post is one of many on the topic of sacrifice. Be sure to visit Peter Pollock’s blog to see other posts to be inspired, encouraged, and challenged as others share their thoughts, feelings, and convictions.