A Few Easy Ways to Choose Gratitude

Tis the season of gratitude... or at least the season with "thanks" in the title.
I usually find myself getting more annoyed and finding more things to complain about when we all get together to say thanks. It's like we as a culture say "here are all of the things you have to do to have a good holiday season! Don't screw it up or we'll all notice and stare. Oh! And try to relax and be happy!"

Yesterday I heard a powerful message about joy in the lives of followers of Jesus. Maybe the greatest example of Christ we can be this week is with genuine thanks and a grateful attitude. Here are a few ways to focus on gratitude this week.

1. Focus on what you have: It is obnoxiously easy to get obsessed with what I want or think I need. The reality is that if we are sitting inside eating turkey this Thursday we have it better than so many people suffering across the world and in our own cities. This week, every day, focus on what you have. Be thankful you have a job, even if it's no fun at all. Be thankful for your family, even if you don't get along very well. Be thankful for your home, even if it feels too small. Be thankful for your food, even if it's not your favorite. Fill your perspective with what you have, not what you lack.
2. Don't Complain: Just don't. Complaining is the worst way to fix a problem. Also, sarcasm is just a more fun way of complaining. Sarcastic posts on the internet are the same thing except it's harder to tell if you're kidding or just being mean.
Instead of "mom, why isn't there any pie?!" try this: "Mom, I know you're busy this week. How can I help you? Maybe we could make a pie together?" Instead of posting something political, even if it's witty and hilarious, try posting something encouraging, even if it encourages someone you don't really like.
Think of it like this. Choosing a bad attitude is like volunteering to swim in a pool of sadness. Complaining is like pushing someone else in and holding them under. Drastic analogy? Yes. But pretty accurate.
3. Choose to be Grateful: We usually cannot choose the way we feel. We can always choose the way we act. Your feelings, circumstances, or struggles are not your identity. Don't let them control you. In a world that is blown around by feelings like a kite in a hurricane, be different. Let your hope in Jesus decide your actions.

As I write this post I realize even more clearly that I need to do all this stuff as much, if not more, than anyone else.
I hope we can all choose gratitude, not just during the "thanks" time of the year. 

3 Things for Followers of Jesus to do Post Election

For the last year social media has been a violent place. Yesterday it got worse. For those of us in the USA who follow Jesus, we have the opportunity to stand for unity, hope, and love in an atmosphere looking for as reason to fight. Here are 3 simple things to do to show the love of Jesus in a hurricane of opinions.

1. Pray.
Pray for our neighbors, no matter who they voted for. Pray for our president, no matter who we voted for. Pray for our nation, no matter how we feel about it right now. Some feel that a victory has been won. Some feel that an enormous battle has been lost. The answer in both circumstances is to humbly pray. It's easy to pray what we want and do very little listening in times like these. Let us pray for God's will, let us repent of our own pride, and let us align ourselves with the heart of God by seeking him above all.

2. Be Positive.
I never thought I would say that I miss the "I can hazzz cookiezz" cat or the "share this or have bad luck for 13 generations" pictures, but I do. Christians have hope. In us breathes the Spirit of the living God. There is a time for mourning, yes. But through everything we should have joy in the Lord, hope in our Savior, and the ability to laugh. Think before you post. Then think again. Then have your wife or husband read it first. Then think again. Then maybe delete it and share a picture of your dog. Let's be the ones who quit cursing the other side for winning or bragging at the other side for losing. Let's bring hope.

3. Serve.
Here's the most controversial thing I will say: no matter how good or bad you feel a policy is, it is not the spiritual responsibility of a government to care for the poor, the outcast, the disenfranchised, the minority, the sick, or the oppressed. It is the spiritual responsibility of followers of Jesus to do this. No matter who you voted for we can see clearly that there are many people in our world who need hope and help. No government ever will fix that. Following Jesus means taking that responsibility on ourselves.

Lastly, In an effort to do my part
Here's a picture of our cat:


And if you don't comment or share this post you'll more than likely spill your coffee today.... or something....

The First Lie Ever

The first lie we were ever told was this:

who you are created to be isn't good enough.

That is the lie the reverberates throughout humanity.

It pushes us to greed, lust, envy, rage, violence, self-harm, identity crisis, divorce, hate, and all kinds of evil. We do anything in our power to become something better and if we can't achieve it we drown the feelings of inadequacy in whatever form of solace we can find - drink, drug, person, or career.

That is the lie that keeps us from accepting grace. It dresses up for different occasions. "You're not good enough to be loved." "You're too strong to ask for help." "Never admit weakness." "Do anything they ask to get their approval."

But the lie is always the same. "who you're created to be isn't good enough."

Satan, always crafty, told Adam and Eve (yeah Adam was there too, being a non-committal, buck-passing bum like so many of his progeny... myself included. Nothing like he was created to be.) "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5)." You don't need to settle for who God made you to be. You could be better. You could be just like him. 

Here's my challenge to you today: Don't believe the lie. 

God created you in his image. The true story of your life is that you have been made as a portrait of God, by God. Sin has gotten in the way. It has lied to you, told you things and told other people things that have hurt you. It has confused your identity. But God made you in his image, and He passionately desires to redeem you. He died for it. He rose again for it. 

God never lets bad things stay bad. 

No matter how many lies you have believed or how many mistakes you have made God can redeem you into the person He created you to be. He sent his Holy Spirit - the third person of the trinity - like a loving mother, to comfort you and guide you, to transform you. 

Don't believe the lies. Proclaim the true story over yourself. 

Who you were made to be is much better than good enough. It is a self-portrait of God being remade by the Holy Spirit in you. 

A Different Story: do not fear the struggle

Over the past few weeks the phrase "blessed are those who mourn" has taken on new life in my mind. Not because I have personally faced any sort of tragedy, but because of the incredible tragedy that has repeatedly besieged our nation and our world.

Fear is the antagonist in a story of despair and hate that repeats its morbidly captivating climax over again until we cannot look any more. Then, in fear, we hide our eyes. We sit in our churches, shop in our malls, watch our romantic comedies, and get out of town for the weekend to convince ourselves that it's really not that bad. We gather together on Sunday to proclaim the hope of Jesus, all while pretending not to notice the very reason we need the hope.

In some cases we.... I ....post sympathetic and pseudo-compassionate updates on social media to appease our conscience. We #prayfororlando and #kalamazoostrong or even #blacklivesmatter for the sake of solidarity. Then we go back to our own lives, continuing to deny the intrinsic connection between "us" and "them."

All because, at the core of every bit of hate, bigotry, racism, injustice, denial, blame-game, and false-compassion is fear.

Fear.

Fear of the "other."
Fear of being wrong.
Fear of being uncomfortable.
Fear of what might happen.
Fear of being part of the problem.
Fear of the long, painful, and intense process of reconciliation.

The author Cheryl Strayed, in her book Wild, wrote that "fear is a set of stories we believe. So I told myself a different story."

Fear wins because we are telling no other story. Fear is the story of the worst case scenario. Fear is the story of everything going wrong. Fear is the story of falling out of the tree that keeps us from climbing any higher. Fear is the story of being rejected that keeps us from striking up a conversation.

But there is another story.

1 John 4:18 introduces a new paradigm. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 

Those who follow Jesus are the prophetic voices proclaiming a story that is more real than any fear, but lies just behind the headlines. It is a story written in the mourning families prayers of peace, in the reconciled lives of dirty cops and wrongly accused criminals, and in the painfully awkward conversations that bridge the gap between "us" and "them."  (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-the-road-innocent-michigan-man-ends-up-working-alongside-crooked-cop-that-locked-him/)

It is the story that proclaims black lives do matter. They matter because all lives matter and they matter very much right now because of the odds stacked against them. It is the story of of police lives that matter because they defend and protect and serve and do not deserve to be maligned because of a few who chose evil. 

It is the story of believers serving those in need even if they cannot condone their life style and mourning deeply at the loss of life, even when they believe the life is being lived in sin. Because they value all life. They love everyone, without the need to agree with them. 

It is the story of the love of God that is already victorious. The love that is extended to dirty cop, criminal, white-middle class-male pastor, gay couple, black 20-something, and "normal" family in the suburbs. It is the love that offers forgiveness and reconciliation to even the most violent offender. It is the love that looked down from the cross on his murderers to ask for their forgiveness, before they had even finished killing him. 

And it is the love that writes our story. Followers of Jesus do not live in the story of fear. They live in the story of redemption and hope. 

We are not afraid of being part of the problem. I know I am part of the problem, but Jesus is the solution. I am being emptied of myself so that the Holy Spirit can transform me and use me to write the story of perfect love. 

We are not afraid of those who are different than us, because we know the unconditional love of God that is offered to everyone 

We are not afraid of the process of reconciliation because we know that the end of the story is so grand and so beautiful that any amount of tension and pain is nothing in the light of Jesus and what he is bringing. 

We do not fear the struggle. We do not fear the pain. We do not let fear make our decisions for us. We do not let fear define us. We will not let fear write the story.

We tell a different story. The story of hope. 

The story of life.

The story of Jesus. 

What story is your life telling? 

More importantly, what story are those around you reading when they look at you? 

For the Sake of Freedom

It seems like there are two ways most of us - myself included - apply the Christian life. 

Option A: don't sin and then someday you'll die and get a crown. 

Option B: believe in Jesus, but still find security in success, money, government, and/or reputation. 

The problem with one of those options is that if dying is the goal then living seems.... superfluous. The problem with the second is that Jesus then becomes a club and a set of morals that is really secondary in the scheme of things. In both options the real goal is to not go to hell. 

Unfortunately for us, success is subjective and temporary, and hell in the future is not a terrible threat to those desperate for hope in the present. In other words, if you're not a believer in Jesus then neither of those options offer real hope. One is the same as the life you've got now and the other is... just ... sad. 

Fortunately for us Paul, in Galatians 5:1, gives a compelling reason for following Jesus. He says this: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

Freedom, in the truest sense, is not the ability to do whatever we want. Freedom is the ability to become who we are created to be. Paul's terminology implies that freedom is some sort of separate entity that can be experienced and enjoyed. God has freed you from sin for freedom's sake. Because freedom is what you were created for. 

Not freedom in the sense of being able to do anything without repercussion, but freedom in the sense of being able to become your true self. Understanding this mission of Jesus enlivens the application of his teachings. For instance:

He did not teach against materialism because he doesn't want you to have things. He taught against it because he doesn't want your joy to be based on what you have or don't have. He wants you free.  

He teaches forgiveness because forgiveness is a life free of bitterness. 

He teaches peacemaking because it is freedom from conflict. 

He teaches justice because it is freedom for all. 

He teaches to care for the poor because freedom is definitely for those who do not have it, and it is even for those who might not deserve it. 

It's tempting to think that freedom is life with no rules. The early followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth faced the same temptation.  In 1 Corinthians 10:23 Paul told them "'I have the right to do anything,' you say--but not everything is beneficial. 'I have the right to do anything'--but not everything is constructive." Another way to say it would be "just because you can do it does not mean it's not stupid." When Jesus offers freedom he is basically saying "I designed life. I know how it works best. If you want to make the most of it you'll want to do these things." 

Jesus offers a genuinely better life. Not just an eternal life, a better life. Shane Claiborne says that some people are "so heavenly minded they are no earthly good." The life that Christ has for you is not easy - you were not created for ease - but it is certainly better. He offers a better marriage, better finances, better jobs, better adventures, better purpose. He offers those things by redefining them all together. He says that good finances aren't defined in abundance but in generosity. He says that a good marriage isn't in always getting along; it's in sacrificial love. Adventure isn't an escape; it's an experience you were made to have. Purpose isn't what happens when you retire or die; it's what you live for every day. 

The Christian life stands out as a life of freedom in a world that is enslaved to appeasement. It stands out as a life of joy in a world that is constantly searching for it. It stands out as a life of contentedness in a world that is always one big break away from happiness. The Christian life stands out. It doesn't stand against and it doesn't stand in for anything. It stands out. 

That's freedom. That's why Christ has set you free. 

Double Exposure: Pray for Kalamazoo

I sat alone on a park bench in downtown kalamazoo. It was an unseasonably warm day for late February. There were people everywhere, as if they had come out of hibernation to forage for something they had missed all winter. 

Being in Michigan, that thing was the sun. 

I looked around the park at the trees absorbing the warmth but vacant of any leaves. As I looked I could see the new life that would pour out from the branches in a few short months. The image of spring was like a double exposed picture, filling in the void of one scene with the fullness of another. This must be what God sees when he looks at our world. He sees the world of cold, dark, and emptiness, but, between the hurt and pain, seeping through as if it's been there the whole time... As if it's just as real as anything else but hidden in another dimension...

Is the hope of new life. 

Redemption is the double exposure printed on our world. 

What I didn't realize as I looked across Bronson Park was the devastation that would strike in a few short hours. Six people would senselessly loose their lives in the type of tragedy that you see on television and never imagine it would happen in your city. 

Sometimes the darkness that overwhelms our world is impossible to see through. It feels as though pain is the only authentic reality and there is nothing breaking through the seams. I think that this is what faith means. This is what the author of Hebrews meant when she wrote that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see. 

We might not see its full glory yet, but hope is here. Hope is leaking through the seams like light through a tent at dawn. It's always there. It's always real. Sometimes it's just hard to see. Jesus is hope. Jesus is love. Jesus is here. 

Witnessing Jesus

Jesus' last words to his disciples, as recorded in Acts 1:8, were as follows: "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In this midst of Jesus' mission statement this is one word that is unsettling. Like the look a friend gives when you're listening to them tell a story while their words and expressions don't line up. Unsettling like the times you heard the words but it doesn't feel like you really caught meaning.
We will be his witnesses.
In a culture where is seems like every Christian is up in arms with defending, proving, protecting, and defeating, Jesus calls for witnesses. What does that mean? 

Simple. 

He called for people who would tell of what they have seen. 

Jesus doesn't need defending. He doesn't need protecting. He is not afraid that the other team might score. He is not powerless. Defense might win championships but it does nothing for the kingdom of God other than tell everyone that we're afraid of losing. People who already have victory don't need defense. What He asks for is witnesses. People who know what he is like and can tell of what He has done. This requires us to ask of the disciples, and ourselves, what exactly did they witness? 

They witnessed a man who spent a lot of time with the poor, the prostitutes, the outcasts, and the sick. A man who was threatened and hated but NEVER ONCE, no matter how many chances he had, responded in violence. A man who only seemed to act in anger against those who were manipulating his Father's law to serve their own purposes. A man full of grace and truth. A man that was hated by those who's power was threatened by him but loved by those that most had hated. 

They witnessed him saying "whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." Also "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Even "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." 

They witnessed Jesus not having many possessions in the world but never worrying. They witnessed him mourning for Jerusalem and weeping over those who are lost. They witnessed him voluntarily give his life. It was not taken from him. He gave it up. They witnessed him wash the feet of someone who would betray him in the worst way. They witnessed him love every person he encountered. They saw him laugh and play with children. They witnessed his life, his death, and his resurrection. Because they saw it, they could testify to the truth. 

The question we each have to ask is simple: have we witnessed the real Jesus? I think that many of us, myself included, have missed the real Jesus for a middle class, American version of him. One that wants to love people in a safe, protected way from a distance. One politician recently made a statement about giving Christians back their power. I wonder if we have really ever witnessed Jesus if we are more concerned with having power than loving people. I think we might have witnessed morals. Maybe even biblical principles. But Jesus isn't either of those things. Jesus is a person.

This morning I had the wonderful privilege of sitting down with Muslim family in their home and simply listened. I was just tagging along with a friend, and all I did was listen and nod. We laughed, joked, and told stories. They didn't pray and cry and repent. We just showed love to them. We blessed them with a small gift to help get through a rough time. There was no reason to be afraid of them. I think maybe they witnessed a little of Jesus. I think maybe I did too.

Repost: Forgettable Generation

The amount of articles one can find either defending or attacking the millennial generation is astounding. Whether it be sarcastic twenty somethings who are tired of being called lazy or abrasive or 50 somethings who are tired of having basement dwellers, there are volatile voices on both sides pointing fingers back and forth.

It's getting old.

When you begin comparing scars between generations what you will find is that you've got a bunch of people who are all human. Each one with social, economic, and religious stressors that push in one direction or another. Each one no better or worse than the one before, and really not that different either. If the millennials were born in the 70's they would probably have experimented with psychedelic drugs, ruined the eco system, and tanked the economy. (because all of those things happen in one generation of course... oh wait...) If the boomers were born in the 90's they would live in their parents basement and work part time at Starbucks.

Why? Because each generation does what normal humans do with the circumstances they are given. You can't blame some one for doing the best with what they have. This finger pointing is just proof that each generation is still very capable of pitching fits and tattling like children.

If there is one great danger the millennial generation is facing it is this: spending more time complaining about our world than  doing something about it. We're in danger of being entirely forgettable.

Myself and my peers love being "aware" of the need in the world. We love buying Toms and shopping at 10,000 Villages. We love knowing that our light roast single origin coffee was purchased sustainably from an environmentally friendly farm that helps orphans. To over simplify it's this: we love supporting other people's efforts to make the world a better place in a way that eases our conscience.

This leads us to use controversial hashtags, wear mildly offensive t-shirts that question the norm, and make a big deal online or at a rally about the problems we see. That is not a bad thing. In fact holy discontent is a good thing. As believers we should look at the world and be unhappy with the injustice that we see. Here's the caveat: We only have the right to complain if we're willing to do something about it.

It's not that we shouldn't spend our money through responsible organizations like Toms. It's that we shouldn't pass the responsibility for change off on other people by purchasing expensive shoes that make us feel like world changers. Buying Toms is great, but the shoemaker is bringing about change by making the shoes, I'm just buying shoes like a always do.

We must each find our place in making a difference instead of simply wearing tshirts that quote Ghandi. We're in danger of being forgettable because we're in danger of not doing anything. It's time to do something. It's time to live our values instead of just buy them. If your passion is the environment, keep buying organic, but do more than buying food. If your passion is ending human trafficking, do more than wear the tshirt. If your passion is helping the hurting, then go physically help someone.

Changing the world is our responsibility, yours and mine. The Holy Spirit doesn't use people who don't do anything.