Jeff Noble's Blog, page 17

You are not “living” if you’re only living

Humans are everywhere these days. They may seem unrecognizable because of face masks, but these creatures are easily identifiable by their bent necks and upheld hands containing an electronic device that seems to lead them around like a technological leash. You can distinguish their likes and dislikes by what stores they frequent or what coffee they drink. They’re an awfully busy lot, these humans. Though they move, many are not actually living. While this may seem contradictory, machines can move. Rocks can move down a mountain in an avalanche. Human may also move, but that doesn’t indicate that they have true life within them. 

What does it mean to truly LIVE? 

Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” He didn’t mean longer physical life by “abundantly.” He didn’t come to extend one’s average lifespan from 60 to 80. He meant something far greater and more wonderful. Jesus came to give us LIFE. He does this primarily by revealing to us how much He LOVES us. Humans were made my God not as a science experiment but as beings to share His joy and know His love.

You were designed to be loved by God. To love being loved by Him, for He is a perfect Father. John’s gospel seems intent on showing us two things – the grandeur and majesty and wonder of Jesus AND how great His love is.

LOVE takes the IF out of LIFE

It’s in chapter 3 that a surreptitious meeting with a leading Pharisee (did he and Paul know each other?) named Nicodemus reveals the motivation behind the Messiah’s arrival – love. “For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son, that whomever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (16)

Throughout the gospels, but especially in John, Jesus is passionately intent on introducing His disciples (and us) to His Father. Where Jewish faith had centered on “God” and believed deeply in a personal, merciful and powerful Yahweh, they did not dare (up to this point) claim God was as intimately close as “Father.” Jesus was out to change that. He wanted us to know God desires an intimate love relationship with us. That He loves us beyond belief. If you read through John with an ear for how Jesus constantly referred to and corrected the disciples’ and Pharisees’ conceptions of His Father, you’ll be stunned. It was all He talked about, it seems.

The cross proved that you are more loved than you ever knew. God can do nothing higher, more radical, and more final than to place your sins upon His Son and invite you into His presence fully forgiven. God will not make another cross for Jesus to climb back up on to forgive you again when you sin “freshly.” What’s done is done. Forever. All your sins were forgiven at one time! It’s why Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished!”

That’s God’s love for you. That’s where LIFE became possible. Jesus reminded us that “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Living is not about cowering before viruses. Living is not being “woke,” existing in perpetual outrage. Living is… loving. God first, then people.

[image error] We live to love.
We are loved to LIVE.
We should love to LIVE.
In fact, LOVE takes the “IF” out of LIFE. (see how that works?)

Humans can only truly live when they are truly loved. God loves you truly. So why are you not experiencing, walking in, and enjoying God’s love for you today?

Jesus gives you life

“Because I live, you live too,” Jesus said in John 14.19.

You may think you’re living because you’re breathing. But that’s not abundant living. That’s just existing. In these days of cultural tensions, pandemics, lockdowns and protests, we need more than just another day like yesterday. We need hope. We need LIFE.

[image error]I was in West Texas last week, surveying damage done to my father-in-law’s ranch from a raging brush fire. Aerial fire fighters dropped chemicals on the ranch house to save it, but other things were burned up. The black swath of destruction was disheartening. And yet, at the base of singed yucca plants, green shoots were appearing. We saw deer and rabbits bounding through the black tree-stubbed land.

That seems to me to be similar to God’s love for us. We live in a world “burned up” by sin. Things are not as they should be. Brokenness, destruction and ruin are all around. And yet, we have been saved by the quenching love of the Father through the fire-proof nature of the cross. No fire can burn the cross of Christ to ashes. Instead, His love for you daily gives us “a crown of beauty instead of ashes.” (Isaiah 61.3)

Christians are the isolated spots of green in an otherwise burned-out humanity. Those who have the life of Christ in them through faith are able to offer it to others through a very old, very simple message: God is love. He came to give us life. Turn from your sin and hopelessness, and turn to Him. Rather than condemn, God saves all those who turn to Jesus in faith. He drops life-saving living water on our souls!

You are loved to live

God’s love gives us abundant, true life. You can truly say that you are “loved to live.” To enjoy life. To know life. To give life.

We can experience daily the extravagant, sin-shattering, merciful, forgiving, patient, empowering and freeing love of the Father through Jesus! He loves us and wants us to be more than moving creatures, more than addicted to our tech, more than consumed by fear, more than woke. He wants us to LIVE and LOVE. 

You are loved, Christian. Now show it by cultivating life and love all around you today.

Questions to think on:

What do you think about when you think about God’s love for you?
Are you disappointed in your life? In God?
What might convince you – for the first time or again – of God’s love for you?
What characterizes your LIFE? Routine? Kids? Eating? Exercise? Portfolio? Ambition? What is it that characterizes YOU?
What would it look like for you TODAY to breathe deeply and truly ENJOY life?
What role does gratitude play in displacing small life and leading to big life?
Who has loved you (besides God) most unselfishly? How has that impacted you?
Who can you show unselfish love to today?

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Loved to live

John’s gospel seems intent on showing us two things – the grandeur and majesty and wonder of Jesus AND how great His love is.

You are loved to LIVE.

It’s in chapter 3 that a surreptitious meeting with a leading Pharisee (did he and Paul know each other?) named Nicodemus reveals the motivation behind the Messiah’s arrival – love. “For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son, that whomever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting LIFE.” (16)

Throughout the gospels, but especially in John, it is recorded that Jesus is passionately intent on introducing His disciples (and us) to the Father. Where Jewish faith had centered on “God” and believe deeply in a personal, merciful and powerful Yahweh, they did not dare (up to this point claim God as intimately close as “Father.” Jesus was out to change that. If you read through John with an ear for how He constantly referred to and corrected the disciples’ and Pharisees’ conceptions of His Father, you’ll be stunned. It was all He talked about, it seems. God is the ideal Father, and all of our earthly fathers are in varying degrees effective reflections of Him (some not at all).

The fatherhood of God leads to the forgiveness of the cross.

The cross proves that you are more loved than you know. A perfect Father loves perfectly. God can do nothing higher, more radical, and more final than to place your sins upon His Son and invite you into His presence fully forgiven. How perplexing! That our sins – the instrument of Jesus’ agony and spiritual torment are immediately forgiven upon the cross and we become welcomed into the Father’s presence through simple faith in Jesus?! It was full and final. Sins taken from us. Forgiveness offered. Salvation given. 

Too simple?

Some of us spend our Christian lives attempting to “pay God back” for the cross. We give and live and seek to serve and solve humanity and problems as if the world depended on our efforts instead of His. As if we can earn our forgiveness. Complete and total forgiveness and acceptance by God through simple faith in Jesus just seems too… simple? 

Be careful that you do not insult the cross by attempting to pursue obedience to “please God.” We obey because we love God. 

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14.15) 

And He loves us SO MUCH that He sent His Son. God will not make another cross for Jesus to climb back up on to forgive you again. What’s done is done. Forever. It’s why Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished!”

His intent was not just to “save” you but to give you LIFE. You are loved to LIVE!

So why are you not experiencing, walking in, and enjoying God’s love for you today?

“Because I live, you live too,” Jesus said in John 14.19.

Are you living? Do you experience daily the extravagant, sin-shattering, merciful, forgiving, patient, empowering and freeing love of the Father through Jesus?

You are more loved than you know.

[image error]I was in West Texas last week, surveying damage done to my father-in-law’s ranch from a raging brush fire. Aerial fire fighters dropped chemicals on the ranch house to save it, but other things were burned up. The black swath of destruction was disheartening. And yet, at the base of singed yucca plants, green shoots were appearing. We saw deer and rabbits bounding through the black, tree-stubbed land.

That seems to me to be similar to God’s love for us. We live in a world “burned up” by sin. Things are not as they should be. Brokenness, destruction and ruin are all around. And yet, we have been saved by the quenching love of the Father through the fire-proof nature of the cross. No fire can render the cross of Christ to ashes. Instead, His love for you daily gives us “a crown of beauty instead of ashes.” (Isaiah 61.3)

Christians are the isolated spots of green in an otherwise burned-out humanity. Rather than condemn, His love saves us to fully live and bring life!

In the introduction to The Indwelling Life of Christ by Major Ian Thomas, he says:

To be entirely honest, I know of nothing quite so boring as Christianity without Christ.

Countless people have stopped going to a place of worship simply because they are sick of going through the motions of a dead religion. They are tired of trying to start a car on an empty tank. What a pity that there are not more people around to show them that Jesus Christ is alive.

I know of nothing so utterly exciting as being a Christian, sharing the very Life of Jesus Christ on earth right here and now, being caught up with Him into the relentless, invincible purposes of the almighty God, and having available to us all the limitless resources of Deity for accomplishing those purposes.

Can you imagine anything more exciting than that?

When we grasp that Jesus offers us LIFE – vibrant, full, circumstance-defying, and water-walking life, we will being to enjoy our relationship with Him all the more and also to radically and fully bless others with joy, purpose, hope, reconciliation and peace.

You are loved to LIVE, Christian. Now show it by cultivating life and love all around you today.

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Book Reviews: “Get Out of Your Head” and “Gentle and Lowly”

I’ve been plowing through a few books on my list in the past week. So in this one blog entry you get TWO book reviews! Can you take it? Do you have the spine for it? I don’t want to keep you in suspense. Both of these are real page-turners. I could write volumes about them. You should check them out.

[image error] Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen

Normally when I hear of a book that’s “all the rage” or extremely popular in Christian circles, I roll my eyes and suspect its theology or depth. I’m skeptical and cynical like that (more on that below). So it was with a certain perverted eager glee that I picked up Jennie Allen’s book ready to blog about its deficiencies. I repent. Not only is Allen a Little Rock native, but she’s got an exceptional book on her hands here that you need to digest.

Get Out of Your Head addresses our thought lives. The greatest battle you’ll ever wage is on six inches of real estate – the space between your ears. I was told by someone that the message of this book is simple – “make a choice.” That’s true, and the seven areas that Jennie walks you through in making mental choices forces you to examine the lies you tell yourself and embrace the truth from God about your lie.

What we think about is what we will become. Our thoughts will either elevate us and our relationships or tear them down. Learning to do this deeply theological and yet practical exercise of capturing our thoughts and examining them in the light of scriptural truth and God’s love for us will free us to enjoy living and escape negativity, worry, cynicism and discouragement.

Here are the seven choices to make (and when to make them):

I choose to be still with God (when I’m tempted to embrace distraction and triviality).
I choose to be known (embracing relationships when I’m tempted to think I can solve my own problems).
I choose to surrender my fears to God (when I’m tempted to distrust God’s ability to take care of me and my loved ones).
I choose to delight in God (when I’m tempted to be cynical and not trust others).
I choose to serve God and others (when I’m tempted to make life all about me and my esteem).
I choose to be grateful (when I’m tempted to have a pity party about my circumstances).
I choose to seek the good of others (when I’m tempted to simply do what I want to do).

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

 

[image error] Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund

I’d seen this book recommended on Twitter, and so I bought a copy, and one chapter in, I was telling others about it. It is such a refreshing, wonderful rejuvenating look at Jesus. It reminds me of Michael Reeves’ Rejoicing in Christ (reviewed here). I’ve not enjoyed such a drink of cool water in a book simply about Jesus as this since I read Reeves book. Its subtitle beckons all who are weary, beat up, burned out and burdened – “The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.”

The book focuses on Jesus’ wonderful invitation in Matthew 11:28-30:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I had to read one chapter in a sitting and then set it aside to let it soak. Friends, Jesus is simply WONDERFUL. He’s tender, compassionate and loving. He knows ME (and you). And He rejoices to do us good, to bring us blessing and to guide us home.

I love the Lord with all my heart, and I’m grateful for Ortlund’s words in making that love more vibrant, for tearing off some callouses that occur to my familiarity with “church” and Jesus’ people.

I love how he describes humanity’s natural heart resistance to being completely acquitted. It’s too good to believe that we are accepted before an Almighty, Holy God when we are, well, US. We know ourselves SO WELL. Or so we think. God knows us better. He made us, and He sent Jesus to pay for our sins and offer eternal forgiveness in exchange for.. faith.

“Every generation since then has had to rediscover this doctrine [of justification] afresh for themselves. It is the most counterintuitive aspect of Christianity, that we are declared right with God not once we begin to get our act together but once we collapse into honest acknowledgment that we never will.” (78)

These two books

Get Out of Your Head and Gentle and Lowly deserve to be on your summer reading list. One will help you as you seek to live for Him and manage your thought life, and the other will renew and refresh your love for Him all over.

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An open letter from a pastor

The following was written by Billy Reece, pastor of Formosa Baptist Church in Clinton, Arkansas. I asked his permission to repost it here. It is heartfelt, and in these surreal days of 2020, as I have begun a sabbatical, I deeply identify with it.

An open letter to all church members who have a pastor,

Dear church,

I love you! You are not a burden. Some of my favorite memories include times that I was with you. We are in a difficult time right now as a world, nation, and church. None of us have ever experienced anything like this. There is no manual that tells us best practices for a church during a pandemic. The most difficult aspect of it is that we have no idea how this will play out.

If I can be vulnerable with you right now, I would like for you to know that this is the most difficult time I’ve ever faced in all of my years of ministry. The Lord has put me in the role of a shepherd and I find that task not only humbling, but scary as I attempt to steer my flock in the way that the Lord would have me steer it.

I am used to hearing encouragement and also complaints as a pastor. However the moment that I find myself in now, most of what I am hearing is complaining. If we take precautions against this virus, I lack faith….according to some. If we move forward in faith, I am being careless….according to others. From one person I will get a phone call expressing their frustration with how we have decided to move forward, but a few minutes later I will get a call from someone else criticizing the speed in which we are moving.

I get it. I want things to be normal again just as much as you do. I did not enjoy talking to a camera as I sat alone in the church for three months. I also do not want to see any of you get sick or die from this virus. Believe me, I am trying to see this from every angle before making any decision to move forward.

I have experienced burnout before, and now I feel that this foe is knocking at my door again. Burnout is where you pour out more of yourself than you replenish. It’s kin to a dehydration. Pastors do more than just preach to a congregation. We never stop thinking about our role and how to best minister to a group of people that we absolutely love. Friend, right now…..I am feeling desperate for some spiritual water.

If you love me, please be patient with me. If you trust me, please understand that any decision I make is in hopes that I am moving forward with God’s will, for His glory and your good. No decision will please everyone, and no amount of pleading with you will keep you from having an opinion. But please understand that in our church there are many opinions, and I am the one who gets to hear them all.

The real tragedy will come not from people dying or from a transfer of this virus between us. Heaven is real, and we shouldn’t fear the joy that we will have from going there. The real tragedy will be if we cannot pull ourselves together out of a love for the Lord and a love for each other. If this tension that is happening right now all around us creeps into our church and it breaks us apart, that will be the true tragedy.

Again, you are loved by me. Even when you are not kind and patient with me, I am burdened for your well being. Even when you talk negatively about the pastor that your God sent to you and to your church, your pastor is still praying for you and is available to you most anytime. Even when you are disappointed with my shortcomings….most of the time I will agree with your assessment. When you have a difficult moment that you’re walking through…I want to walk with you through it. But friend….right now I am walking through that moment in my own life.

What most church members do not know, is that a pastors job is lonely. Incredibly lonely. If I really opened up to you, you probably wouldn’t like what you saw. If I asked you to pray for me as I struggle with some temptation or pain, you would probably think that it was a mistake to call such a man to this role. Who can I share my inner most thoughts with? Who can I really bounce ideas off of without someone being disappointed in my humanity? WHO CARES ABOUT MY SOUL MORE THAN MY ROLE? I need a friend….more than that….I need friends.

I hope that you can hear my heart in this. I am grateful to you and to God for leading me to you. But please understand that I am a human and all humans come to an end of themselves. I invite this ending, because I know that God’s strength is perfect in my weakness. I just hope that you can accept that weakness as an opportunity for you to minister to the minister.

You may not agree with every decision….in fact you won’t. But if you could understand that your pastor is walking a tight rope with dangers on both sides….and with no end in sight….maybe you would choose to give him some grace instead of your criticism. Friendly fire is coming at us from every side, and some of the friendly fire does not feel all that friendly right now.

Thank you for considering these words not as a complaint, and not as a dissatisfaction of you. I truly love you. Please accept this as a plea for patience, prayers, and true companionship. I want to serve the Lord with joy, and right now that joy is hidden behind a mountain of people’s opinions, and my own anxious prayers and exhaustion.

With Love,
Your Pastor

***Please share this if you are a pastor, or if you love your pastor. Church members everywhere need to hear these words as most pastors are struggling right now more than their congregations realize.

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Friend of sinners

Friend of sinners

We live in upside down days. In this morass of cultural turmoil, pandemics are politicized. Autonomous zones are proclaimed Edenic by a fawning media. Lifetime politicians don kente cloths and take a knee , all the while knowing that their million dollar homes and investments are safe behind walls and continue to appreciate in value. Statues are toppled. Police are vilified. The black community is objectified. 

We are experiencing another season of racial unrest. Politicians and media advance causes that do not lead to love, unity and humility between all people. Black lives do matter, of course, and it’s sad that expressions like all black lives matter or _____ lives matter should produce animosity. In fact, matter is such a small, insignificant word. “Matter.” Really? How about all life is precious? Created. Of course, when we introduce a spiritual narrative and proclaim that all men are created equal, we are accused of only preaching the Gospel. In point of fact, I want to be guilty of only preaching the Gospel. I’d be in good company with the apostles. When the gospel is preached, lives and societies are transformed, and faith works to bless the nations.

From COVID controversies to cultural tensions, the battle for sanity and joy is intense these days. We need reform everywhere – police reform, media reform, political reform, and academia reform. We don’t need a revolution. We need reformation.

Are you frustrated?

I’m frustrated by the right and the left and the middle. It’s disheartening. Social media is a cess pool of bickering, name calling, misinformation and bile. No longer can anyone have an opinion that counters the PCN (prevailing cultural narrative).

In scripture, the PCN was labeled as “this present evil age,” (Galatians 1:4) and Christians were urged to “not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

None of this removes my own small problems, issues, spiritual struggles and tiny ambitions. Or yours. We each are forced to carry on, attempting to make ends meet, playing fair, embracing faith, raising children, changing the oil, vacuuming the carpet, and wondering what went wrong so quickly.

It is in these days that the battle for sanity and joy are intense. Frustration is good when it leads us to spiritual friendship.

A friend of sinners

That’s when I remember that Jesus was criticized for “being a friend of sinners.” (Matthew 11:19) Dane Ortlund points out that “though the crowds call him the friend of sinners as an indictment, the label is one of unspeakable comfort for those who know themselves to be sinners. That Jesus is a friend to sinners is only contemptible to those who feel themselves not to be in that category.” (Gentle and Lowly, p114)

I am a sinner. I must be one of the first to drop the stone in my hand. I am tearfully grateful that Jesus wants to be my friend. Yes, He’s King. He’s Lord. He’s Creator and Sovereign. He’s Savior, and by calling Him Savior, I recognize that He has the power to save and the will to save.

This Eternal Ancient One has bridged heaven and earth, has defeated hell, and He invites me (and you) to be His friend through faith.

Thank God that God is a friend of sinners.

We need such a Friend.

A Friend who gives sanity and joy. A Friend that washes my sin away in a culture consumed with hand washing. A Friend who wants to topple my idols and replace them with love in a culture toppling statues. A Friend who renews my mind and constantly points me to focus on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable… moral excellence and… anything praiseworthy.” (Philippians 4:8) A Friend whose constant presence in my life makes me a person who exudes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

I need such a Friend.

When I want to rant, He’s there. When I get downright perturbed with someone’s social media post, He’s there. When I can smell my bad breath behind a face mask and get frustrated by wearing one, He’s there.

Jesus allies Himself with sinners. He allies Himself with me. I drop my stone, knowing that I have no right to cast it. Neither do you (especially through a store front window in protest).

When I want to cry in brokenness and helplessness and despair over our world and even my own internal confusion and selfishness and lack of completeness, He is there. A faithful Friend.

I am grateful that even when I’m not a great friend to Jesus, that He is a great Friend to me. It’s not my faithfulness to Him that sustains our relationship. It’s His faithfulness to me… and you.

What a friend we have in Jesus.

Who we turn to during our tense times influences our perspective. 

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.'” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

That’s why keeping company with Jesus will uplift us. Go rant to Him, and experience His calming perspective, His assurance of loving control, and encounter His vivid certainty that He is working all things out for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

(Joseph Scriven, 1855)

In these days where anxiety desires to consume us – second waves, riots, tension, and an election year on top it all (the vitriol will get worse), may we re-discover in Jesus that He is a Friend for all, because He is a friend of sinners. Like me. 

By the way

In trying to write this post, this atrocious song kept echoing in my head. It’s relevant since “Jesus Is My Friend.” Watch it and… you’re welcome:

Credit to churchatsouthlake.com for the graphic of “Jesus, Friend of Sinners.”
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Overwhelmed

Our church is in the middle of constructing its first ministry center. We need $3.5 million more to be able to move in debt-free.

Our world is experiencing the chaos and unprecedented turmoil in a pandemic.

Our country is hurting deeply after a series of deaths of black men and women, and the fires of protest and unrest have engulfed our hearts and even our city blocks.

It seems like the worst time for a pastor to take his first sabbatical.

As I drove away from the office Thursday for the last time for two months, I fought back tears. There are many reasons, but at the root, I’m overwhelmed.

I’m overwhelmed by the weightiness of serving the beautiful body of Christ, the church. I’m overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of global and national brokenness. I’m overwhelmed by my own inadequacies and shortcomings. And I’m overwhelmed by grace. Grace upon grace.

I should not be a pastor.

I wanted to be a doctor. After a year in pre-med as a freshman in college, I knew that I wasn’t wired for it. I fell (more) in love with writing, journalism and design. I spent the next four years pursuing that profession and loving every minute. Then.. I can’t explain it other than to say I was “called” to serve the church by a loving God whose love I had known and encountered since I was a boy.

I spent the next 29 years in four years of seminary, eight years of campus ministry, six years as a church planter, and finally the last 11 years as a pastor in Blacksburg, Virginia. Interspersed with ministry was more graphic design, a lot of cancer, financial stress, church splits and squabbles, salvations, baptisms, transformations, the birth of two kids, winning fantasy football, drinking lots of coffee, reading books, spraining ankles, running from wasps, telling a plethora of corny jokes, discipling many, being humbled, officiating my son’s marriage, learning, growing, stumbling, failing, traveling the world on mission, and growing all the more in my love for Jesus.

I don’t deserve to be a pastor. Then or now. I’m more aware than ever of my need for a Savior. Of our need for a Savior. I shouldn’t be a pastor. I don’t deserve to be one. And yet I am graced to be one.

I’m grateful

I’m grateful to the people of Northstar Church for the privilege of serving Jesus with them and for their grace in allowing me to step away for this season to rest and regroup. It’s been a long time since I wasn’t in high gear.

So while the rest of the planet is pandemicking and reconciling and our church is navigating these moments with humility and love while also building, I will be sabbaticaling. (Yes, I know that’s a new word. You’re welcome.)

And I’m ready. And yet…

Stay tuned.

Also in Sabbatical Reflections

Thoughts from my sabbatical during the summer of 2020.

Overwhelmed

View the entire series

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We need good news

[image error]I began reading Bradley Wright’s book Upside: Surprising Good News About the State of our World. In light of COVID, rioting, instability, anxiety and unrest, I was ready for some good news.

Wright is a Christian sociologist who I first was introduced to in his previous book, Christians Are HateFilled Hypocrites. . .and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media (and written a review of it here). I have constantly recommended it. His perspective and re-interpretation of data (and exposure of faulty/false perceptions) is desperately needed in fresh new ways.

The foreword by John Ortberg got me excited about it:

The good news about bad news is that there is not nearly as much of it to go around as you might think.

The bad news about good news is that good news doesn’t tend to sell. Everybody wants to get good news from the doctor and their boss and their (choose one) therapist/stockbroker/fantasy football league commissioner. But it turns out that articles which indicate that the economy should run along OK or that rivers are relatively clean don’t tend to sell newspapers, which means they don’t tend to get writers promoted, which means they don’t tend to get written.

People go to conferences that warn about dire situations.

People buy books that say the world is falling apart.

Bad news has probably always had this pull. Paul Revere didn’t get famous by riding around saying: “The British stayed home. Go ahead and sleep in tomorrow.”

But living in the information age (or perhaps more accurately the Anxious Information Age), we seem to get bad news more often, on more channels, in high def.

For a variety of reasons, folks in the evangelical Christian community are often seem to have a particularly sharp appetite for bad news. Authors and speakers who can document that the younger generation is about to lose their faith, or that churches are about to lose their congregations, or that the nation is about to lose its soul, never seem to run short of listeners no matter how shaky their case may be.

The gravitational pull of bad news is a problem. Like the little boy who cried wolf, the purveyors of doom can eventually lose all credibility, so that when bad news really does happen no one is listening anymore.

But there is Good News. Bradley Wright has written a terrific book.

The good news about this book is that it is not based on optimism. Its based on reality. It turns out that much of what gets repeated as bad news is often based on bad data. 90% of all statistics in the media are both negative and inaccurate. (I just made that up. But I’ll bet there’s a bias in that direction.)

Brad is an academician, a bona fide believer, and a highly engaging writer. He has a passion for all people—particular for people of faith—to think well and honor the life of the mind and treat statistics with discernment and not to chronically alarmist.

He wants to help us quit mistaking negativity with thoughtfulness.

He wants to help us stop mindlessly passing on pessimistic diagnoses that either neither helpful nor accurate.

He wants us to actually be aware of and celebrate good news that is spreading on multiple fronts.

–Crime is getting better (but we think its getting worse)

–we are working less and playing more (but we think we’re playing less and working more)

–Poverty is going down

Two thousand years ago, a book began to be widely read whose core was summarized as euaggelion—good news. Not dysaggelion.

We, of all people, should be able to recognize and celebrate and express gratitude wherever we find it.

For all good news is God’s good news. And to ignore it, hide it, minimize it, or distort it is neither mentally healthy nor spiritually sound.

So take a deep breath, turn the page, and get ready to be happy.

Good News

There’s SO MUCH good news out there. The best news, of course, is that God is in control, that God loves us, and that He offers forgiveness and life to all who come to Him in faith through Jesus.

It must be our sinfulness and the world’s brokenness that draws us to gasp and wring our hands over bad news. Our attention is drawn to the awful like a hapless rowboat on the precipice of a whirlpool. There’s more to life than extolling the bad, though. There’s good news. Hope, love, joy, peace are constantly manufactured by God for our discovery and enjoyment.

I need help to rip my gaze away from the disconcerting to the hopeful. I want to be a problem solver, a peace maker and a proclaimer of positive. In addition to faith, prayer, scripture and submission, I’m positive about Upside being a help in my journey.

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Guest blog: A new conversation and a new movement

I saw Nolan’s post on Facebook and was thankful and moved for its tone and appeal to faith-filled civility and redemptive dialogue in times of utter divisiveness in our country. I met Nolan in our church, where he served with joyful humility. One word that comes to mind for him is simply “kind.” I asked his permission to repost his entry here as a guest blog:

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Nolan McGrady

I usually find the best thing to do is to remain silent, but I can remain silent no longer.

These past days and weeks have been trying for all of us. Our collective response, particularly on social media, terrifies me more than any event of these times.

Over here, I see people suggesting that the indiscriminate raiding of property and endangerment of innocent lives as a means to an end is okay. On the flip side, others suggest that murder is excusable if the victim has a shoplifting history.

Somehow people believe that it’s okay to build a foundation on disregarding laws, disrespecting peers, and abusing women – as long as you’re the “red tie” figurehead of an improving economy. Others suggest that this man is evil, but that his challenger’s own accusations should magically be ignored because he wears a blue tie.

Many believe that a disease that causes death and devastation is fake, or at the least, not applicable to them, because it causes them inconvenience, exposes their weaknesses, and shows the extent of their powerlessness. They show no remorse for those who have lost their own lives or those of loved ones – because to them, self-control outweighs the sanctity of life.

Others exaggerate and fear-monger this crisis because they stand to gain personal power, benefits, or security. They show no remorse for those who are hungry, homeless, unemployed, or mentally ill – because to them, control over others outweighs the sanctity of life.

You are welcome to any of these positions, with whatever reasoning you choose. You are welcome to suggest that revenge, chaos, and suppression upon those we disagree with are the way forward. But I can assure you of this: all of these things have been tried and refined throughout human history. They have led and still lead only to oppression, slavery, discrimination, abuse, trauma, poverty, death, and every abominable result we know about. To try them again and expect a better result would be insanity.

On the contrary, I live on a conviction that the creation of humanity, the redemption of humanity, and the final restoration of humanity have/will come from the purest demonstration of love (from God to humanity). The conclusion, therefore, is that any motive or desire contrary to that to love our neighbor is completely worthless.

Love is difficult, especially to put into practice. Love leaves no place to tell those with viewpoints we find abhorrent to “unfriend us” or “go away”. [In fact, this behavior only gives our enemies more fire to use against us.] Love calls us to befriend those people, and through perseverance and compassion, influence them to a regard for human life and livelihood.

Love leaves no place for the apathy to ignore an issue because it does not affect us (a shortcoming I am very guilty of). Love calls us to actively seek out different perspectives, to ask how we can advocate for and support those who are afflicted, and then to follow through on what we know to do. Love also demands that to truly care for others, we must not condone/ignore their actions that compromise the life and livelihood of others; we must be clear in words and in example about what is right and true.

I hope that you all will come to the same conclusion – that a policy of unconditional love is the only solution to the brokenness of today’s world. I hope that you will ask yourselves how you can best help those who are afflicted – especially by COVID-19 and related restrictions, by minority vs police injustice, and by increased political abuse. I hope that you will also share with me ways that I can support those who are afflicted. Let’s start a new conversation and a new movement here.

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Easter: nothing prepared us for this

Nothing prepared us for this

I had just glanced over a list of articles that I’d saved to read later. Their context was surreal. Topics included:

church leadership (buildings, greeter ministry)
upcoming movies
March Madness predictions and brackets
articles about impeachment, Mueller, Russia Collusion and FBI scandals with FISA abuse

I felt like I was reading newspaper clippings from a time capsule, peering into the lives of those who had lived long ago. None of these articles were relevant to today. They were all written for another time and place.

As we move into our fourth week of “shut-down,” no one is attending my church anymore. We’ve just completed our fifth livestream service. We had never done one prior to the virus crisis. We may actually be reaching /more/ people through our online services than we did when we had a “come and see” approach.

Nothing prepared us for this.

No one could have predicted these days. Much is made of Bill Gates prophetic diatribe about a devastating, global virus crisis, and yet, no one could have prepared us adequately for the reality. One day I was watching a movie at Regal, and the very next day, Regal closed and has remained so. One day I was meeting people in coffee shops. Now I’m not. One day parents were sending their kids to school and then going to work. Now everyone who had denigrated homeschoolers is one.

Standing at the cross

Things had been going so well. Just a few days before a huge crowd had uproariously welcome Jesus into the capital amid fanfare and celebration. He had ridden into the city gates on a donkey, symbolically demonstrating a king coming to bring peace. Now the same man was gasping for each breath, suspended from a Roman cross by large nails through his wrists and feet. He blinked back blood that trickled into his eyes from the wounds caused from the crown of thorns that had been wedged onto his head.

The disturbed disciples stood uncomfortably apart. We know Peter and John were there, but we’re not told whether the other nine were. Judas had already killed himself for betraying Jesus.

They’d had such high hopes. They thought, “Nothing prepared us for this.”

Character revealed by crisis

We’ve all heard the expression, “Life is full of curve balls.” I’m sure there are Benjamin Franklin-isms galore to describe unwanted surprises. It’s normal for things to catch us off guard.

We are not in control, no matter how much we work out, work hard, or find work-arounds. When crisis hits – no matter the nature – the only thing we can manage is how we respond. Character is revealed in crisis.

The one thing crisis does is show us how well we prepared for one. How we respond in times of surprise, trial and catastrophe says a lot about what we invested our lives in /before/ the crisis. The time to prepare is /before/ a trial comes.

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)

It’s not unusual for ordeals to come. Rather, it should be unusual for someone who has seemed to be pretty steady to suddenly freak out and become fear-infested. A sudden change in character brought by a sudden change in circumstance tells us one thing. It’s not a change of character at all. It’s a revelation of character.

If we are steady and consistent before crisis and manic and panicked during a crisis, it shows that we haven’t based our lives on conviction and belief but upon control and comfort. When those things are removed… the proof is in the pudding.

It’s Easter.

For the first time in living memory, churches in the United States (and across the world) are not gathering to worship Jesus together. It’s surreal and strange. And yet, our inability to gather doesn’t change the fact that Jesus is risen. His crucifixion and resurrection is a gift.

We were once lost. Now all those who trust Jesus for salvation are found. Nothing could have prepared us for this. It’s too good to be true. Our sin and failure, smallness and stumblings, our insecurity and fear, our anger and abuse, our past, our present and our future… Jesus takes ALL our sin and the world’s sin upon Himself and in exchange offers peace, hope, joy, forgiveness and beauty??! Simply by trusting Him? Nothing could have prepared us for this.

Hindsight is always 20/20 they say. If the disciples at the cross had been able to grasp it, they would have been ready for it. Jesus had told them:

For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.” But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him. (Mark 9.21-32)

Nothing prepared us for this. Some ONE did.

The way to respond to crisis and change is to build your life on a foundation that will not shift – even in changing times and curve ball moments. If you attempt to create a carefully constructed life through routine, fitness, a financial portfolio, a trophy spouse or even trophy kids, you’ll discover that all good things can come to an end.

Therefore the Lord God said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.” (Isaiah 28:16)

Jesus told the disciples ahead of time about His betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection. They didn’t believe Him. And so they stood there at the Place of the Skull (Golgotha), on a wind-swept hill, forlorn and fearful.

They would go into hiding. “..the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews.” (John 20.19) It’s first-century social distancing at its finest.

And yet, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

Nothing prepared us for this.

It’s too good to be true. Jesus is alive and Lord of all circumstances. He comes and stand among the fearful, among those of us who have swung and missed at a curve ball, and He promises us peace. He comes to remind us that He will heal our brokenness. He will give us a new character. He invites us to depend upon Him for real, joyful, abundant life and not upon the lives we’ve attempted to craft for ourselves (and now seen how flimsy they were).

May you place your hope in Him afresh (or for the first time) this Easter.

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A viral post: Humor, Jesus and COVID

What blogger has not wanted to write *the perfect blog post* that people read and are moved by? It gets shared first by the blogger’s mom or normal readers, and then something just happens. Said post explodes across the interwebs in digital wonderdom. It goes viral.

I am claiming this as a viral post even as I’m writing it. Mainly because I’m writing about COVID-19.

[image error]Two of my life comforts and mental escapes are coffee shops and movie theaters. On Monday, March 16 at 6:40 p.m., I saw my last theater movie at the Regal Movie Theater in Christiansburg, Virginia. I had gotten whiffs that Regal might be closing its doors for the duration of the crisis, and so I went. I sat in the theater alone and saw Onward.

A couple of days later, I went to the Starbucks at First & Main in Blacksburg – my usual early a.m. reading and meeting spot. There wasn’t a lick of furniture in the store. I stood outside in the cold looking through the window in sullen disbelief. The earth shifted. I was on strange grounds.

It’s been almost three weeks since President Trump first said, “15 Days to Slow the Spread.” It apparently didn’t work because on Sunday night, March 29, he urged Americans to remain in social distancing protocols until the end of April.

Nooooooooooo

It was the “nooooooo” heard round the world, as parents of school-age kids everywhere paled and began to face a sobering, more semi-permanent adjustment to their lives and even livelihoods.

While the world is making radical changes to sequester and self-isolate, we’ve added new terms to our daily vocabulary. “Social distancing,” “self-quarantine,” “lock down,” and isolation are just a few.

Two things for sanity
Humor

People are funny. Thank goodness. The amount of irreverent and snarky memes, tweets, and videos I’ve seen just in the past two weeks are insane. However, because people are funny, they’ve helped the world laugh. And laughter at times like these truly may be the best medicine.

It’s a strange compulsion we humans have. We seek humor in hardship like mosquitoes seek bare skin in summer. The ability to laugh reminds us that we can rise above ruin. It is not our circumstances that define us. It is what we think about our circumstances. We are refined by how we are defined. If we dig deep, remember who we are and whose we are, we can not only laugh at irreverence, but we can even rejoice in life’s ultimate meanings.

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22)

Who hasn’t found some silver lining in these dark clouds? More time with family. A reminder of what’s truly important. Carving out new routines. Creating. Connecting. Learning how to Zoom.

Jesus
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Jesus and the disciples in a Zoom meeting for the Last Supper

Of course, a pastor would bring “Jesus” into this. It might ruin my chances of this becoming a truly viral post. Stay with me for just a little longer, and give me some thought time though.

I believe Jesus is who He says He is. With all my heart. I have experienced His presence in my life. I have found joyful lightheartedness in even the darkest times. I have found a sense of forgiven-ness that is simply not earthly. When I should have been crushed by guilt and fear, I have truly (I’m not kidding) walked in humble joy and astonished awe at the promises of God revealed through Jesus and in the Bible.

You may have heard it 1000 times or maybe you’re reading it for the first time, but John 3:16 says unequivocally:

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

God the Father sent/gave God the Son so that everyone. Who believes. In Jesus. Will not perish (suffer, experience eternal judgment, be separated from God, be excluded from hope and forgiveness). And have eternal (everlasting, forever, full, total) life.

Humor and Jesus. Of course, it’s more complicated. We can’t laugh our way out of this crisis. And we can’t just simply say, “I believe in Jesus” tritely and expect the world to fix itself.

But that’s where I’d suggest you begin.

The Butterfly Effect

One of my concerns as we have begun April (March 2020 was the longest month in modern history!) is that we are not (yet) considering the vast, monumental complexities of our stop-gap measures to contain the spread of this virus. Never before has there been a concerted, global (and almost manic/panic) attempt to stop a sickness.

All our decisions now will have impact later. There will be butterfly effects from the reality of our COVD-19 way of life. We are very aware of how it is impacting us in the here and now — but what will our future hold? News will continue to trickle in, and we will later see a rising tide of what these weeks of fear, isolation, abuse, lost jobs, lost dreams and turmoil have done to us. There will both beauty and ashes from all this.

Locusts?!

Now more than ever, we need eyes that see and faith that does not falter. There is hope. I promise. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel had experienced judgment, ruin and loss. They thought they were beyond hope. They’d even quit looking for good news. And yet God spoke:

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten..” (Joel 2:25)

Huh? What in the world do locusts have to do with COVID?! Simply this. God restored what was lost. God healed. God worked. God delivered.

What was written then was written for our encouragement and instruction. What God did then, He can and will do again. He is at work. Believe me. He’s got this.

Does He have you?

That’s the real question. It would be my highest joy to connect with you to answer question or point you in a direction you might find them. I don’t know all your pain and heartache. I don’t know your fear or frustration. I simply know Who does.

Turn to Him.

“Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

Do two things for me:

Leave me the funniest meme, video, image or whatnot in the comments. (copy this: img src=”paste your image URL here” and then place brackets < > around everything from img src to the last quotation mark)
Tell me something about how Jesus has helped you with the Virus Crisis. Your comments may encourage someone who doesn’t yet know Jesus to begin to explore faith in these days.

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