Jesus is in the ICU

 I have spent the better half of the last 4 days in either the Intensive Care Unit or the ICU waiting room with my Dad. As I look around the room, I see the deepest hurt, pain, worry, and sadness imaginable. The family across the room is visiting their patriarch as his life hangs in the balance moment to moment; the entire clan gathers to cry and share stories. The lady sitting across from me has been sobbing off and on all day, when I stopped to pray with her she said her Mother died 2 months ago, her step mother died 3 weeks ago, her husband is a disabled veteran who has been denied any benefits and is battling colon cancer all while she sits in this waiting room being told the tumors in her fathers kidneys are inoperable and they have no idea how to proceed. The family to my left waits out a final diagnosis on their elderly mothers cancer, only to find out that the prognosis is bleak. My own family gathers worried about Dad and how his future may look with a severely damaged heart and the only kidney he has left dysfunctional.

 During the morning visiting hours, in a moment of divine intersection, I looked up from my Dads bedside to catch a moment in time I'll never forget. There was an elderly man across the unit, who to that moment had no visitors, his condition is obviously critical and the "crash cart" had gone in out more times than I could count. I ached in my spirit for the man; as my Mom and I gathered around my Dad, talking to him, wiping his brow, holding his hand and no one gathered at that mans bedside! No one mourned his illness, no one wiped his brow and it seemed no one cared. As I tried to field the innumerable texts, calls, and emails I had been receiving, as we had a strategy laid out to filter the many guests via relational priority and the whole time this poor guy lay in a bed suffering all alone. I wept and thanked God for his faithful attention to our family. I prayed and thanked the Lord for the network of people in my life that care and then it struck me to pray for the man in that room to have someone come to his side. We left visiting time to return to our "fort" we had built in the waiting area when we encountered a new lady that hadn't been a part of our band of suffering brothers in 4 days! She was a bit lost and frazzled and no idea where to go, she was sure that she had missed visiting hours and was noticeably upset. She had been working double shifts and had taken her lunch hour to run see her Dad but couldn't find it. She was sure that this was where they told her to go. It only took a few moments to find out that she was there to see that man who was all-alone! I was so thrilled to walk her down to the ICU doors and watch her run in and run to the bedside to love on her Dad. I was so thankful, the man no longer was suffering alone when it dawned on me: He was never alone! Just like we were serving my Dad, the Lord has been serving this man. The Lord was in that room just like in my Dads. Jesus was at all times attending to the needs of those in that room and waiting room. He wiped tears and hugged necks. He reassured and comforted. For the first time in a week, I KNEW Jesus was in the ICU!

Bad "Things" & "Good" People

Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s the age old question that plagues us all still. There are multiple problems with this question. First, at what point did "bad" things become relegated to circumstantial issues that concern God in the least bit? Is he no more in the know of these occurrences than when they don't happen, or when life is good? Or is he justified in such times maybe when the person it happens to is more "deserving"? I just don't know at what point we made the decision that what happens in this life isn't ultimately good in every way? Understandable? Likable? Or even Preferred? Maybe not, but its dangerous to say that what happens isn't in any way connected with Gods loving hand moving in our lives!

 Second, when did we become good? Jesus even deferred "goodness" strictly to the Father. I'm just not sure that when asking such a question that we can appropriately label any of us "good". Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly believe that in Christ we ARE a new creation and perfected before the Father as taught in the New Testament. I also am well aware of the dangerous popular cultural belief that our lives in Christ should be filled with comfort and ease! The model of life for us all is Jesus, right? Was he not the ultimate example of life and perfection? Yet his life was filled with hurt, pain, and ultimately suffering and shame at the expense of we the "good" people.  

I am not writing because I have answers, I am writing because I am suffering, people around me are suffering, and I want to be submissive to what Christ is calling us toward.... I want to obey the suffering; I want to be more like Jesus today than yesterday!

Small Steps Lead to Giant Leaps

The process of spiritual maturation can be daunting. I often become overwhelmed at how little growth I see in myself compared to what I desire and what I know God desires for me. I have students text me almost weekly and ask questions like, "How do I know I am looking more like Christ?" or "How can I be a Christian when I make so many mistakes?" Just like my own questioning it leads to despair. However, when  having these times of discouragement, I am reminded of Jesus' words, “If anyone would come after me, he must first deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35 NIV). 

 The passage is laid out by Jesus himself in steps: deny, take up, follow.... steps. Now these steps aren't a coincidence. These aren't just SOME steps to spiritual maturity, these are THE steps! The denial of self and the desires of the self. To take up or assume upon oneself the new life Jesus offers. Finally, continue to follow Jesus into the service of his kingdom. When we take these "small" steps daily, we discover down the road what  a giant leap we've made from who we use to be!

4 Ways to Waste your Time...and Life

Time is the greatest commodity we have! It's precious and we waste so much of it!
 Below are 4 of the greatest wastes of time I have experienced in life and ministry:

1. Fear- Fear is not to be confused with worry or the "fear" that the Bible descibes as reverence for the Lord! Fear is an unrealized, presumption of what might be happening or could happen. It often is related to a circumstance of our past and has no real bearing on the present moment. However it can be crippling and rob us of precious time. We should remember that fear is NOT from God, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT)

2. Worry- Worry, like fear is an unnecessary presumption, but it's more about the future than the present reality. It's a fear of the unknown and can literally rob you of the joys of the moment. Worry is also an indicator of your faith and reflects your view of who God is. Jesus reminds his disciples "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25 NLT) he goes on to say later in the passage "And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are"(Matthew 6:26 NLT) We tend to forget that when we worry, we simply tell God that he isn't big enough.

3. Doubt- seemingly a synonym for the latter, doubt is one of the more precarious time stealers. When we doubt, we basically do not trust in the character and provision of God. When doubting, we waste our time on the "what if's" or "can it be's" rather than relying on what we already know to be true about God. Scripture reminds us, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NLT) You see doubt will always keep you from seeing exactly what God is doing in your life and that's time wasted!

4. Anger- Finally there is the fierce force known as anger. Scripture tells us that anger can make you look like a fool (Ecclesiastes 7:9) That in a growing relationship with Christ it should be something we are slowly moving away from (Col 3; Eph 4) And that it if not carefully addressed can lead to deeper sin (Psalm 37). More than anything, anger can be very harmful to your relationships with others, which is one of the key ways God desires for us to use our time on this earth. Anger is also another indicator of your faith and trust in God and how he is moving and working in your life and relationships. 

Time is precious, we have been entrusted with a certain amount of it, and it would be a shame to allow Fear, Worry, Doubt, or Anger to waste your time!

Martin Luther on Generosity

Although the Christian is thus free from all works, he ought in this liberty to empty himself, take upon himself the form of a servant, be made in the likeness of men, be found in human form, and to serve, help, and in every way deal with his neighbor as he sees that God through Christ has dealt and still deals with him. This he should do freely, having regard for nothing but divine approval.

He ought to think: "Although I am an unworthy and condemned man, my God has given me in Christ all the riches of righteousness and salvation without any merit on my part, out of pure, free mercy, so that from now on I need nothing except faith which believes that this is true. Why should I not therefore freely, joyfully, with all my heart, and with an eager will do all things which I know are pleasing and acceptable to such a Father who has overwhelmed me with his inestimable riches? I will therefore give myself as a Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself to me; I will do nothing in this life except what I see is necessary, profitable, and salutary to my neighbor, since through faith I have an abundance of all good things in Christ." - Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther

The Quest for Greatness

As I watch the Olympics I am in awe of the dedication, discipline, and sacrifice every one of these athletes and their families have made for this moment! When I visited the Olympic training facilities in Colorado, our guide told us that the average athlete spends $250k a year to train and that many athletes family's have several mortgages and loans just to support this dream! I again say, I am in awe of such sacrifice of anyone for anything. I began to think about so many who don't make it, can't afford it, have injuries end their career or just aren't as good as others. How do they measure themselves at that point? I am grateful that in my life, greatness is measured by who Christ is and not how I perform, how many medals I get or how fast I get it done! One of the pastors who mentored me in the early years would always say, "God judges you on your faithfulness not your effectiveness!" I am so grateful for those words and the truth they remind me of after all these years. Doesn't mean I don't strive for greatness, but my quest is not found in my ability or results but in a loving savior who "will finish what HE began in me". I am great because Jesus declares me great... That's victory! Hebrews 2:11

I'm Batman....

Sitting in a hotel room it scrolled across the screen: "Breaking News: Shooting in Colorado Theatre at opening of Batman Movie." Sadly I was almost none responsive as if I was completely inoculated in our day of shootings, terrorism, and ramped depravity. But after a moment, my gut sank, my throat got dry and I began to mourn. I mourned for those in that theatre, who simply went to be entertained and enjoy a movie, but instead lost their life or had their life altered forever physically, emotionally or psychologically. I mourned for the shooter, his brokenness, his depth of hopelessness and the shear sadness of a person constructing such evil in his heart. I mourned for families, parents, spouses, Moms and Dads who suffered unmentionable loss in that theatre. I also in the moments ahead thought back to years before, the very day that I stood before the students in my very first Youth group to explain why two kids went into their school and began to kill classmates in a brutal savage way. I am reminded of the human condition and the ever deepening sense of reaching as many people as I can with the hope of Jesus...Why does God allow such things to happen? I think the better question is Even though such things happen, why does God keep lovingly pursuing people like us? Lord may I never forget that without you, I am simply a Dark Knight vigilante myself...thank you for calling me into your great light!