Rain, Rain, Go Away . . .

Rain, rain, go away; come again some other day.

Like maybe next year! We've had our fill for now, haven't we? Here in Central Illinois, everything is flooded. Everywhere along the streets we see hoses and pipes running full stream as sump pumps run incessantly to fight the deluge invading our basements. For some, unfortunately, that has been a losing battle. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt to prove it. Well, maybe not the shirt part, but you get my gist . . .

Sometimes I have to wonder about the rain in our lives. Not the literal rain that falls from the sky, but that other type of rain, the flood of events that enter our lives which is sometimes a blessing, and other times, well, it's just too much of a good thing.

Take challenges, for instance. Challenges are opportunities, as the saying goes, which help us grow and improve. Like an athlete in training, without challenges we would never become stronger, never be faster, never be better at what we are trying to accomplish. If never tested, we never become more than we are. We become stagnate, stale, and frankly, risk losing the race. Rain in the form of challenges is good.

Until it becomes an overwhelming flood.

We've all been there, when so many "opportunities for growth and improvement" are thrown at us that feel like we are, indeed, drowning. We become so deeply immersed in the tidal wave of challenges that the waters of opportunity become a quagmire of anxiety, exhaustion, and failure.

That is when I call out, "Rain, rain, go away . . ."

What I really do is call out to God. I ask Him to either stop the flood or give me the strength to face each challenge in a way that is glorifying to Him and, secondly, strengthening for me. The story of Job is a good example of that. If ever a man was challenged, it was Job. His flood of opportunities were meant to prove his faithfulness to God, and he won the race. Do you think Job was stronger on the other side of his experience? I sure do.

So, when the floods come, I try to think of Job. I pray that in my life I never face such a cataclysmic flood as did he, but if I ever do, I ask God that He give me the strength to battle the currents long enough to finish the race, and be stronger on the other side.

Faithfulness in the Face of Fear

Sometimes it seems that God asks for a lot. I have two friends who are missionaries in West Africa. They are currently in Dakar, Senegal. Right across the street from the university where the guy from Guinea showed up with Ebola.

Scary, right?

Oh, and they have two children, 1 and 3, with them.

Holy smokes, Batman, I'm outta here!

That would likely be my response. I mean, nothing is worth risking my life and the lives of my family in the face of a contagious, incurable disease, right?

Wrong.

Want to know what my friends are asking? Not what is safest, not what is best for them or their family, not what other people think, but rather, "What does God want us to do?"

It's not like they do not understand the situation, or that they are ignorant of the risks; they know fear, but they simply have the bigger picture plainly in view. God put them there for a reason, and they want to be very sure He is ready for them to leave before they do so. They want, more than anything, to be faithful to God's will.

Faithfulness. Fear. How often they seem to go together.

I pray that I never have to make a decision like the one my friends are faced with, but if I do, I pray that I will have the courage to consider God's will before my own, just like our friends are doing. I also realize, that even if I do not face a decision of the gravity of theirs, I make decisions every day that concern God. Everything concerns God, therefore every decision I make concerns Him as well. That made me stop and think: How often do I respond out of fear rather than faithfulness?

I fear what people may think, therefore I refrain from expressing my beliefs. I fear being the outcast, therefore I join the crowd. I fear rejection, therefore I isolate. Nowhere in there is faith to be found. Faith in God who can do all things. Faith in God who pulled Lot's family from Sodom. Faith in God who preserved Daniel in a den of lions. Faith in God who delivered Peter from prison. Faith in God who can protect a missionary family from a deadly virus.

"Be strong and courageous," God told Joshua. "Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." That from Joshua 1:9. Faithfulness in the face of fear.

Pray for Guy and his family that they would hear God's voice and have the courage to answer his call, whatever his will may be.

Back To School--For Everyone

The kids went back to school today. What a bitter-sweet occasion that is! Bitter for them, that Summer is over; sweet for their parents--for the same reason!

What the first day of school reminded me is that we all need to be willing, and actively seeking, to learn continually. Summer is a great time to have fun, relax, take vacations, and allow the insidious creeping of intellectual and spiritual laziness worm its way into our lives. The first day of school is a great day to take stock and see if we have allowed that to happen.

What have you done this Summer to further your knowledge of God? Have you read any good books, attended a conference, participated in a Bible Study or Small Group, or read the Bible on a regular basis? What have you done to grow closer to God, to serve Him, to be served by Him? Having trouble answering that question? You're not alone.

It is hard to continually grow. It takes time, it takes resources, it takes effort. And let's face it--most of us do not have an excess of any of those. It is so easy to just slide by, enjoy the Summer (or Fall, Winter, Spring), and coast along. I know enough to get by, right? I mean, I've invested my time, learned what I need to know; I'm doing good enough, right?

Wrong.

We can always be better. We can be better at home, at work, with our families, our friends, our God. The access we have to incredible tools available to help us grow leaves us no excuse to become stagnant. Whether we are talking about our Christian faith, our parenting, our marriages, other relationships, our work--whatever--we all have potential to be better. One avenue to improve ourselves is through learning. Back in the Dark Ages when I was young, there was a short Saturday morning cartoon with the catch-phrase Knowledge is Power. Remember that? Well, it's true.

Knowledge is power. That is one idea which both the world and the Bible agree upon. One difference is that the world knows this, and many times tries to keep knowledge from us (or feed us false knowledge), while God knows that His knowledge builds us up, and offers it freely to us. Much like salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, God's knowledge and wisdom is a free gift to us, delivered to us through His Word. Why would we turn that down?

So, have you taken the Summer off? Have you neglected God's Word and your ongoing growth in Him? If so, today is the first day of school. What better day to get back in the swing of things.

Buried With Him, Raised With Him

Does sticking your head under some water while someone says some flowery words over you really do anything? According to the Bible, and our Christian faith, yes.

The baptism of a believer in Christ is a mysterious, awesome, and today, courageous act. Baptism is mysterious because the Bible says that in some way, when we allow ourselves to be immersed in water for the purpose of being baptized, we are being symbolically buried with Christ and united with Him in new life. If that is not mysterious, I don't know what is. Don't get me wrong--I absolutely believe it--but I believe it through faith, not through complete understanding. Baptism is awesome for the same reason; through such a simple act of obedience, we have closer communion with Christ. What a low price of admission for the greatest privilege ever granted. And today, such an act is courageous because, as I and many others have said before, almost anything goes in this world except for adherence to Christian values.

I was honored to witness the baptism of two men today. Yes, two grown men. They have families, they have lives, they are long past childhood, when many people think of being baptized. But they came to the point in their lives that they were ready to make that outward confession of their inner decisions to follow Christ. As always, it was a powerful experience for me.

Watching someone else get baptized always reminds me of my experience. I was baptized as an infant, but later in life decided that I wanted to experience full immersion as an expression of my changed life. When I came out of that water, I felt something, something powerful and magnificent. I cannot go so far as to say that everything changed at that moment, but I guess in some ways everything did. I have never forgotten that feeling, and that memory has influenced many of my actions and words. I do believe that I became closer to Christ on that day, and what could be more life changing?

When we make that decision to be baptized, we are buried with Christ in order that we may be raised again to life through faith in Him. Baptism is not salvation, but rather an action someone who is already saved takes in order be in obedience with God's will. Doing so brings us closer to our Savior. What greater honor could there be?

Brave Ones Against the World

They were going against the grain of the world, and they knew it. Their decision, the way they had chosen to live their lives, was antithetical to a changing world view and popular culture. They were throw backs, anachronistic outliers who were sure to be scorned, ridiculed, accused, and persecuted. But they didn't care.  They were brave.

Their act of rebellion against the ways of the world was pre-planned, intentional, and publicly announced. They did not hide their intentions, nor did they commit their unpardonable atrocity against political correctness away from the prying eyes of the disapproving. They were courageous in their defiance of the current of popular culture, their outrageous act of conservative fortitude. Once committed, there was no going back; just the way they, and God, intended.

Who were these perpetrators, these pariahs, these . . . these . . . shameless misfits of society? A young man and woman, committed to a cause and belief. Their act of defiance? They got married. To each other.

Gasp!!

This is not a parody. This is not sarcasm. This is reality. Our reality.

The grain of the world, the way in which things are moving, offers little support for traditional marriage.  Doubt me? Who is standing up for heterosexual marriage in popular culture? Think about it. Now, who is standing up for the other? Are laws and rules being changed in favor of traditional marriage, or the "newly defined" marriages of late?

See what I mean.

I fear the day will come that a marriage between a man and a woman may draw as much negative attention as homosexual marriage now draws positive attention. May God spare us that day!

Now, back to our young hero and heroine (not heroin!!). They are moral survivors in an immoral world. They are light in a world of darkness. They are righteous in a world of unrighteousness. They are enemies of the world, though they hold no enemity towards the world. They are targets of persecution, in our world and the one unseen.

Pray for them!

Raise them up to God in praise and adoration, in celebration of their walk with Him. Carry them in your hearts and remember them, for their walk will not be easy. Lift them up, fortify them with prayer against the attacks of the enemy, for those attacks will assuredly come, and likely have already begun. Even if you know them not by name, pray for them by the identity of their decision. God knows who they are, and they stand out to Him. Pray for this newly married couple--God knows their names.

May God bless you Brave Ones! Revel in your love for God and each other. Hold fast to the promises you made before us and your Creator. We, and He, are here for you; you are not alone. You are survivors. Hold fast to your faith, and God's blessings be upon you!

Beaten, bloodied, battered and dying . . .

Beaten, bloodied, battered and dying, he held strong. No matter what abuse they suffered him, no matter the insults they hurled at him, he did not waver. Through the pain, the humiliation, the torment, he held strong.

His face had been struck by fist and rod time and again. His nose was not merely broken, but mangled. Shards of twisted cartilage conspired with congealed blood to seal off his ability to breathe. Both sides of his head had been brutally assaulted by whips and belts, and his left ear, nearly separated from the rest of his face, hung near his jaw. His eyes, bloody slits nearly hidden by his grotesquely swollen face, were filled not with anger, but something else, something out of place in this scene of death.

His beard, twisted and matted with blood, spit, and bile framed the bottom of his seemingly inhuman face. A twisted mass of thorns, harshly puncturing skin and flesh, crowned his head. Stretched to each side, his arms strained, the tendons on their undersides taut to the point of tearing as they supported his weight. Through his wrists, still dripping blood, two large iron spikes were driven through skin, bone, and tendon into a rough hewn olive wood beam. His feet, crossed one over the other, were similarly pierced, securing him to the cross.

His chest heaved slightly, but stopped short of a normal breath. The weight of his body prevented his lungs from filling with air, and instead they filled with blood and water. Had he been able, he would have coughed the foul fluid out, but he was not. He had neither strength, nor desire, nor life to do so. Covered with dust and dirt, mixed with the filth cast at him by others, his body was encased in a crust of defilement.

He could have ended the pain, escaped the suffering, fled the humiliation at any time; but he did not. He could have called upon a legion of angels to avenge his wrongful arrest, but the command remained unspoken. His power was to do so, but his promise, his duty, was to not. His call was to bear the weight of punishment for a poor sinner not yet born, one who would too easily accept the price he paid.

He is Redeemer. He was man. He is God.

He is Christ, my Savior.

Do you know him?

In Debt Up To My Eyeballs

I'm in debt up to my eyeballs. But, thankfully, not in the way we usually think of such things. Let me explain.

I have a friend who is so much better at so many things than I am. Fishing, hunting, sports, and, most pertinently of late, building projects. Because he is so much better at these things than I am, I am always asking him for help and advice. And--weirdly enough--he even invites me to come with him to do fun stuff, and volunteers to help me on whatever I'm doing. It's a strange relationship known as friendship where a tally of who-owes-who-what is not kept.

And man, am I the beneficiary of that!

Were I to have to pay for all the consultations, expert labor, hunting and fishing guide services, and use of equipment (for work and pleasure), I would be thousands of dollars in debt. But he doesn't keep track, and won't let me either. And, if I had done any of these things without his presence, I probably would have been able to "make it work," but nothing would have been done as well, as quickly, or with as much enjoyment. Because he is a perfectionist, even more so when doing work for someone other than himself, every thing is done just right. It's amazing, really, the difference that makes. Something that I could have made work, while painful to look at, he makes work better and makes it aesthetically pleasing. Our most recent project was a privacy fence, mentioned in my last post. Thanks to him, it looks awesome.

But all of this leaves me feeling in debt. He doesn't keep track, but I can't help it. He gives me his absolute best, free of charge, and I have this feeling of obligation that I do not know how to repay. He tells me, "It's nothing," and he means it, but this feeling of indebtedness remains. It is said there are no debts between friends, and my friend personifies that; it's just hard for me to accept.

I don't like to owe anyone anything. I'd rather do things for myself, and not be obligated to anyone else. But I've had to accept that there are some things that I simply cannot do as well myself. That's when I call my friend.

This friendship reminds me a lot of my relationship with Jesus. There are so many things I cannot do myself that I call on Jesus for, and He is always there. And just like my friend, Jesus doesn't keep track of how many times I call on Him, or how much I owe. He responds, He gives, and He shrugs off the question of cost. "I'm glad to help," He says. The same thing my friend says. "It's nothing. Glad to help. Call if you need me. Don't try to do that alone."

Pretty amazing. I'm so very fortunate to have the friends I do, and to count Jesus Christ as one of them. I am forever indebted, but none of them are keeping track.

Now if only I could learn to do the same.