Carl Medearis's Blog, page 5

My New Year resolution for YOU.

I don’t know if this is fair or not. Probably not. Seems that most things I do are not “fair,” so why not make a New Year’s resolution on your behalf. Here it goes.

I think you want to know Jesus more. Just a wild guess. From whatever background you come, my guess is you’d love to just get to know him. For the first time, or the millionth time. So here’s my resolution for you:

Assuming the above is true – there’s one really great way to get to know Jesus. Read the four gospels though four times this year. And here’s how I’d suggest you do that:

1. Read them through like you’d read a novel. Just read them. A chapter or five at a time. However much time you have in a sitting – just read till you can’t read any more. There are 89 chapters in the four books so if you average three chapters a day, you can read all four in a month. But let’s say you’re slow (like me) and you read all four books in two months. Don’t take notes. Read thoughtfully and prayerfully, but just read.

2. Now…start over in Matthew 1. This time read them all the way through again, but look for all the times Jesus interacts with people. Make notes in a notebook or on your computer. Note how he interacted with outsiders (that would be women and children. Lepers. Demoniacs. Samaritans. Etc). Take note of each of his encounters and start drawing some conclusions. This might take you three or four months.

3. Go back through them a third time and study all of his teaching sections. It’s helpful to have a red lettered bible for this – just makes it easier. Notice his big chunks of teaching like the Sermon on the Mount and the times towards the end of Matthew and the end of John. Read them carefully and reflect on them. Then notice the parables. About 42 of them. Learn them. Memorize them. They are the means by which God chose to communicate with the world. Must be important!

4. Finally, start to make comparisons with yourself and Jesus. Do you believe what Jesus believed? What DID he believe? Do you talk like him? Do you not answer questions the way he didn’t answer them? Do you tell a good story? Do you think and react like him? Do you spend time with a few the way he did? Be honest. Involve some friends in this quest.

The point is – for 2014 – do you have a plan to become more like Jesus? And if not…this one might do for a start.

There you go – no New Year’s Resolution needed now. Oh well okay, you can still exercise more and lose weight and pray more and take your wife out on a date every week – I made all of those (again) this year too!

My “Best of” 2013

Never done this before but was inspired by Donald Miller’s “Best of” blog. So…here it goes….

The Best of 2013:

Best music Album: Mumford and Sons – Babel

Best Movie: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best family moment: Watching our son, Jon, reel in a 5 foot shark in the Gulf off of the Florida coast.

Best event: The Simply Jesus Gathering in Denver this November.

Best book: The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith.

Best Bible book: James. We studied it this year with our neighbors and had such a wonderful experience.

Best “new thing”: Our William Jessup online University courses on the Middle East.

Best spiritual moment: My two days before the Simply Jesus conference in the mountains all alone.

The best of the best: Jesus. My family. Awesome!

Happy New Year to all. May 2014 be full of surprises. Fun. Jesus. Family. And good friends!

Gay Ducks

I can’t stand it any more. I have to weigh in. Besides, everyone else is and I’m feeling left out.

I don’t really want to repeat what Duck Dynasty’s hairy dad, Phil Robertson, said – if you somehow missed it – just log on to any news site or watch TV. He was quoted saying that homosexuality is sin, in a fairly graphic manner. He then went on to say some things about black people that I personally found far more offensive.

So….as you would guess – it’s a lightning rod for both sides. Everyone’s up in arms. Here’s what I think. I might surprise you….

I’m very conservative when it comes to biblical interpretation. I believe that acting out on homosexual desires is a sin. Feeling gay is not. Thinking you might be gay – not. Deciding you’re gay, but remaining chaste, is not. It’s the homosexual act that God is against (in both the old and new Testaments). There are only about 6 verses total that say this. Not very many. But there are no verses that support a homosexual lifestyle. There is no example in nature that supports it. It’s not natural. It’s sin.

Now that I’ve surprised some of you – let me bring in a couple of other thoughts that might be helpful. First, Jesus never mentions it. There was plenty of homosexual activity in the days of Jesus. He could have said something. He didn’t. I try (not very well, I might add) to be like Jesus. He didn’t talk about it – I don’t want to. (Except for this blog, of course)!

Secondly, I believe the word and concept of “sin” is often misunderstood. It’s often described as “missing the mark” which is the perfection God requires. Or it’s thought of as hurting God.

Here’s what sin is. It’s something that hurts us! God doesn’t want us to sin – because he loves us and wants the best for us. And when we sin, it hurts us. I have yet to meet a fully healthy happy practicing homosexual. They typically have lots of pain in their life. That’s what hurts God – he wants them (and us) to be whole. Healthy. Happy. He’s for us!

Thirdly, more specifically about this controversy, when we make the issue the issue – it’s not usually helpful. I don’t want to run from things or pretend they don’t exist, but focusing on issues (abortion, gay marriage, politics) isn’t the way of Jesus. He went much much deeper – he headed for the heart.

Talking about “issues” is easy. We’re either for or against something. in this case, we can focus on the freedom of speech. Or gay rights. Or what the Bible says. Or bigotry. Or….any number of issues. And then we’re either for or against them. Easy.

It’s much more difficult to ask heart questions. Questions that make us ask “why” rather than “what.” Questions that focus on motivation and purpose rather than facts and figures. But here’s the problem with focusing on the heart – only God knows it. We can’t. I cannot know what’s in the heart of Phil Robertson or the GQ editor asking him the questions or Piers Morgan right now on CNN or Sean Hannity on Fox. I can make some guesses based on what they say – but I’ve found that’s often wrong.

And the deepest problem/frustration is this – not only can we not know someone’s heart, we can’t fix or change it. Only God can change hearts. He uses us for sure. When we focus on the issues – people’s hearts often grow more calloused towards God – it’s a weird reverse psychology that happens. When we fight against “them” they don’t appreciate it. They can’t hear. And their hearts grow cold (whoever the “they” might be).

When we love people the way Jesus did, and lift him up for them to see – the actual biblical Jesus of Nazareth – hearts are changed. When hearts are changed, issues change. Issues change because the people have changed.

It’s simple to say – hard to live. I commit to the way of Jesus, once again!

The new and (vastly) improved “Middle East Experience” website.

I don’t know how often you check out this site – but it’s now a lot more interesting with a ton more content. Spend some time here: www.MiddleEastExperience.com

Also we’re doing a little fund-raising campaign – but you get a bunch of cool stuff for a pretty small donation. You can get my “Tea with Hezbollah” book. Porter Speakman’s film “With God on Our Side.” The movie “Little Town of Bethlehem.” And some coffee from the Bethlehem Coffee Company. Oh, also my daughter’s first film – the award winning “From the Eyes of Hope.”

All sent to you “free” when you give a donation.

Pretty cool. Check out the link: http://www.middleeastexperience.com/about-middle-east-experience/donate/

Good and Beautiful God

I’m reading a stunning book right now called “The Good and Beautiful God: falling in love with the God Jesus Knows,” by James Bryan Smith. http://amzn.to/1kdCBFe

It’s stunning. So…the first “Book of the Month” read is this one. I invite you to join me and about 20 friends who have already started (we’re just on chapter four – so you can catch up). I’ll write more here at the first of the year. But, you need to go out and get the book and start reading it NOW!

carl

The Process of Writing a Book.

So….sort of big news. I’m signing a contract this week for a new book – with Bethany House/Baker publishing. (They did my first book – Muslims, Christians and Jesus – and I’ve loved working with them). The back and forth of writing a good proposal and then the contract negotiations took about two months – now we sign. And then….I have to start writing. Here’s how that goes………… Not that well.

Here’s how it looks when i write. First, I go somewhere. Could be downstairs to my basement where I have a treadmill desk and some chairs and a big couch. All of them get used at certain times (depending on how I feel). Or, I might go out to a coffee shop and sit in a corner. Sometimes I go to a nearby church that has a little room in the back where no one can find me. But I need to be alone. It took me several years to realize I can’t write while i talk to people (I’m a slow learner).

I get my computer out. Stretch. Pray. Think. Look at my emails, then remember I need to turn that option off. Then look at Facebook, until I remember to completely disconnect my wifi.

I open up my book file. Try to remember where I was last and what I was thinking at that time – maybe from yesterday, or from a month ago. That takes some doing. Getting back in the groove and feel of the book takes me a bit.

So far, this process will have usually taken me about an hour at this point.

I’m ready.

I write a sentence. It doesn’t make sense. I delete it. Then…..finally, I have a good thought. A whole paragraph. I write it. Maybe two or three pages flow freely from my stubby fingers. But then I stop and think – and realize that although it was a good though – maybe a great thought – it really wasn’t what this book is about. I erase it (or save it into a very large file I have called “Future Books”).

i start over.

And that’s it. That’s the process. I can set aside a whole day and write like mad – which means about 15 pages – or, I can “write” a whole day and have nothing at the end to show for it. More than a little frustrating!

I’m going to start using my blog as a way to unblock my brain when I get stuck. I’ll write about what I’m wiring about (or not writing about) and for bunny trails that might be fun to process with you. So there you go. You can look forward to that.

A generous life

One of the things I’ve learned from generous friends – is that the generosity of sharing friends is perhaps the most profound kind of generosity. In the world i come from, who you know is everything. If you have a “big donor” you would never introduce that person to your other ministry friends because they might “steal him.”

If you know a major influencer, you need to be careful who you introduce him/her to. If you have a best friend – don’t share them too quickly or they might become someone else’s BFF.

All not true. This mindset of scarcity exposes how we view God. A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us…” So what you think about God’s generosity will tell you what kind of a generous (or not) life you will live. So let me ask you – when you think of God….do you think of an insanely wildly generous God who is literally scheming for ways to bless, love and encourage you? One who can’t wait to lavish good gifts on you? Or is the god in your head a miserly partially angry god looking for his next chance to punish you?

I have close friends doing incredible things. To name a few:

Greg Khalil leads the Telos Group. If you want to do a life-changing experience in the Holy Land….he’s your man. http://www.telosgroup.org

Ted Dekker just wrote a new book that will rock your view of God and his mission. It’s called “Outlaw.” http://amzn.to/1aw57dd

Jer Swigert an Jon Huckins lead this amazing work with helping western Christians experience hard places in a way that changes minds and hearts. I love this stuff: http://theglobalimmersionproject.com

Brad Corrigan is a dear friend here in Denver that integrates music, art and service in some incredible ways. He has a new album: http://www.bradcorrigan.com

John Harley leads Pathways for Mutual Respect. http://www.pfmr.org/#/welcome/welcome

Rick Love leads http://www.peace-catalyst.net

Andy Braner has the coolest youth camp ever: http://www.campkivu.com

Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon are changing the way we see and love our neighbors: http://artofneighboring.com

Hugh Halter is shaping how we think of church and missional communities: http://hughhalter.com

And…I could go on and on (the obvious danger to me doing what I just did – is all those I left off who are doing amazing things – this is a very partial list. I’ll come back with more next time). But these are some of my friends – and I want to share them with you. They are pastors, businessmen, activists, film makers, and just great all-round guys. They are the kind of friends I’d want you to have!

I’m Thankful….

…for a great family. Wonderful parents and two great sister. An amazing wife and three great kids (when can i stop calling them “kids”). For friends. Unbelievable friends – the kind that stick with you through thick and thin. An amazing “job” – not sure what makes a job a job, but whatever it is I get to do everyday – I almost feel guilty it’s so fun!

For a cool dog – my golden retriever, Zoe. A persian cat, actually from Persia (Iran) who we brought back to America with us and is somehow still living (I thought there were sanctions on bringing Iranians in).

A house. Two cars (one more than we need). Books. A computer (two actually) so I can write these annoying thoughts, assuming someone cares. Other stuff.

God.

Fishing. Hunting. Camping. Friends. Did I already mention friends? Church.

Our neighbors – wow, we have the best neighbors ever. How can they be so nice?

Today is Thanksgiving. Every day is actually – I just sometimes forget. I am a thankful man.

Complicating Jesus

Two weeks from today we start our gathering called “Simply Jesus.”

I’m in the first week of teaching my online University course to 21 eager students – “Jesus in a Muslim Context.”

We have a new small group study guide for my book “Speaking of Jesus.”

Last weekend I was in Chicago and this weekend in Richmond – encouraging Christians to follow Jesus.

Two days after our Simply Jesus deal here in Denver, Chris and I will be traveling to Jordan with a pile of friends to encourage our Middle Eastern friends to more deeply consider the way of Jesus.

I sense a theme here. Yep….Jesus! Simply….Jesus. Except one thing. It feels complicated and I don’t think it should. So who’s complicating Jesus. Guess. Yes, I confess – it’s me. I’m doing the complicating and he’s doing the unraveling.

Jesus said it’s simple – everything was summarized in “Love God. Love People.” He said. “Don’t judge.” “Forgive.” “Love your enemies.” “Serve.” “Follow me.” “To enter the Kingdom of God, become like a child.”

“Become like a child.” But I’ve grown up. The world is complex. I live in the middle of the complexities of the Middle East. Muslim-Christian and Jewish (mis)understanding. Arab-American. Politics and policy. Hosting conferences that we call gatherings. Writing books, blogs, email and twitter posts and cramming in a quiet time when I have time. It’s complicated. My life, that is.

But it’s actually not. When I stop. Breathe. Look around – here’s what I see. Three wonderful adult kids who love life and God. An amazing wife that doesn’t just ‘stick with me’ but actually loves me (imagine)! Great friends. An incredible privilege to work with the coolest, funnest wonderfulest people in the whole world. Spring colors. Pleasure and privilege all around. Some created by Jesus, and some just because I live in Denver Colorado. It’s not complicated at all – when I remember that He’s called me to come sit with him and learn from his easy-yoke-burden-light way of Life. This is My King.

Now….yes, there are things to get done. But they come from sitting with my Friend, not out of my self-induced Frenzy.

So you CAN still sign up for Simply Jesus (a few spots left) by going to www.SimplyJesusGathering.com

And you can now buy the “Speaking of Jesus Study Guide” directly through Amazon or by emailing my friend who helped put it together if you want to buy a bunch of them: Richard Bahr at: richard.bahr@comcast.net

And you’re free to love your neighbor (as in, have them over for dinner) and love your family, and….this is a hard one, even love your former boss or ex something…. It’s all right there in front of us – this wonderful way of Jesus!

Syria, the Government Shutdown and a girl named Malala

Someone asked me last week at a Q and A time where I was speaking in San Antonio, “If you had a few minutes to advise President Obama on what he should do with Syria, what would you say?”

I replied – as you might guess: “Jesus.”

There was laughter through the audience. Then some uncomfortable silence as i didn’t continue. The man said “No. Seriously.”

Okay, so maybe I wouldn’t just say the word “Jesus” and nothing more. (Although, that wouldn’t be a bad idea). I would probably say “You know….that reminds me of something Jesus said….”

It’s funny how easily we forget (or never learned) that Jesus has the answer for everything. Like you, I grew up around the bumper stickers that said – “Jesus is the Answer.” I think I had one in the ’70′s. But by that we meant – “He’s the answer to get you to heaven. Not the literal answer to current real-life problems. And for sure not the answer to political issues as we all know he doesn’t do politics.” i think that’s what we meant.

But I think Jesus had very specific things to say to governments. To leaders. On economic policy. War. The oppressed and the oppressor. What to do with evil and violence. Those from both sides of any aisle and how to work together.

So, yes, I would absolutely encourage our President to consider acting upon the ways of Jesus. And I’d also encourage Boehner and all the folks in DC to consider his ways as well. It’s not that the ways of Jesus are impossible – it’s that they’re untried.

Well, not completely untried. A little Muslim girl in Pakistan tried them. When asked what she would do if she had time to react to a Taliban person who would come to kill her – she said “I would have considered hitting him with my shoe but then I realized I’d be as bad as him, so I would just tell him I wanted his girl to be educated as well as me.”

Sounds like Jesus is involved in Pakistani politics after all.