A letter to my friends on Facebook

Hi.  Thank you for reading this.  Some of you I know (or knew) because we went to high school (Fergus Falls) or college (St. Olaf) together.  Some of you are Young Lifer’s.  Some of you I know through coaching or my time in Grandville at First Reformed Church.  Some of you are close friends and family.  Some of you are connections through Charlevoix or Community Reformed Church or other encounters that have allowed our paths to cross.  I’m thankful for what you’ve added to my life and thankful for the opportunity to stay connected in this unique way through Facebook.

I’ve always wrestled with how to be on Facebook.  Should I share more?  What should I share?  Do people really care about what I’m thinking, where I went for vacation or what my growing family looks like?  Not sure, but today I’m feeling the need to share. 

I’m a dad of a 9 year old (John) and 2 year old (Anna), so the recent events in Connecticut have affected me in ways that I am still trying to understand.  Understanding feelings is no easy task, is it?  I had a conversation with John yesterday trying to help him know what to think (and feel) about what has taken place.  He said he’s a little scared.  Me, too.  But fear is not the driving emotion for me.  It’s there.  What’s driving me more than anything else, and really what has led me to go public with my thoughts, is faith.

In these last few days, our faith was tested.  I don’t know what you put your faith in, but whatever you put your faith in, I bet it was tested.  Can we trust our school systems to protect our children?  Can we trust our government to defend us?  Can we trust each other?  Can we trust God?  This final one was John’s question.  “Daddy, I don’t understand how God can let this thing happen to these kids.”  Why does God allow something so horrible like this to happen?  How can he love us and let children be brutally killed? 

I feel the tension of these questions in the context of this time of the year.  It’s Christmas.  The song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”  I don’t feel like this today.  For the folks in Newtown, it’s hard to imagine how different this Christmas will be for them compared to what they were expecting a week ago.  My Christmas is already different this year because of what happened in Newtown last Friday. 

My faith has been tested.  Faith is putting our trust in someone or something.  My faith in the school system has been impacted.  My faith in humankind has been altered.  I feel less trust.  I feel more concern.  I took socks to John at school today and I looked at the school differently as I drove in.  I felt different.  I’m hopeful that good conversations can result that help us consider how best we can care for and protect the children of our communities.  But that isn’t the ultimate answer.  We should do this work, but there are no guarantees.  There is definitely a conversation raging in the public square today about guns and gun control.  I hope this conversation will lead to a deeper understanding of the place of guns in our society today.  But that isn’t the answer.  I know there is a growing conversation unfolding about the challenge and reality of mental illness.   There is some important work to do here, to come alongside families who are wrestling with this challenge, but this isn’t the answer either.  Please don’t get me wrong, there is important work to be done in all of these areas and I’m sure many others, but if that is where you ultimately put your faith, I think you are going to be let down if you are not already.  No matter what we do about schools, guns, and mental illness, evil will still exist in our world and that will impact children, your family and mine, hopefully never like we see in Connecticut, but again, there are no guarantees.

It’s been a good year and a hard year for me.  I’m growing.  Yes, for those of you who check out our pictures on Facebook, I am growing in some ways I wish I wasn’t, but that is not the growth I’m talking about.   I am growing inside not just in girth.  I’m growing in my ability to see myself more clearly.  I don’t love everything I’m seeing, but as I recognize more clearly who I am, I see the opportunities for me to change in the places I need to change.  I’m a better Dad today than I was a year ago.  My relationship with Alisa is growing.  Our friendship and intimacy are deepening.  I have a clearer picture of why I am here in this world.  I am more authentic.  I love more freely and less selfishly.  My priorities are moving in the right direction.  I’m valuing the things that matter more than the things that don’t.  I’m learning to ask for help.  I’m learning to stop pretending and trying to be someone who I think others want me to be, and instead am getting more and more at peace in my own skin, in who I am and know I can become.  I’m caring more deeply about people, and even though that gets messy, I wouldn’t change it for anything.  I’m less easily angered.  I don’t judge as quickly or as fiercely as I used to.  I am learning to see the good in others and encourage more.  I’m learning to live a life that is less and less about me.  Still a long ways to go in all of these areas, but I am growing, and I’ve come to embrace that I’m a work in progress and extend myself more grace. 

I’ve put my faith in Jesus Christ.  Many of you know that.  You expect pastors to say stuff like this.  Please give me a chance.  I’m not writing to preach or to try and make you feel guilty.  I’m not here to get you to church.  I just want to share what Jesus is doing in my life (emphasis on what JESUS is doing), and as I’ve wrestled, cried, and tried to understand the events in the last few days, my faith has come to the surface, and though I don’t understand and can’t make sense of the senselessness of last Friday, I continue to put my faith in the One who does understand, who was as present last Friday as he is today.  I don’t know what God is doing or will do or why he didn’t stop what happened, but I do know that regardless of my ability to understand, of all the choices of who or what to ultimately put our faith in, I choose him.  I hope John and Anna will too, and I feel a deepening responsibility to encourage them in this direction not simply by my words but by my life.  I hope they see my faith in Jesus as much as they hear about it.

Some of you I know really well.  Some of you I haven’t seen or talked to since high school.  (Go Otters!)  I would just ask that as you ponder, feel, and respond to what has happened and as you consider what Christmas means to you, would you wonder with me about your faith?  I’ve spent a lot of my life putting my faith in myself – my smarts, athletics, abilities, charisma, etc.  I see the short-term gains these have led to but also the long-term costs.  I’ve used people, been puffed up in pride, been selfish, and have experienced separation in relationships as a result.  The more I learn to trust Jesus, the more I see my life becoming what I’d hoped for – the more I see my life really serving and loving the people around me and offering to Alisa, John, and Anna what they really deserve.  It is what Jesus promised when he was asked why he came.  He said he’s come to give life – abundant (a growing marriage, connected with kids, loving neighbors, serving those in need, joyful, peaceful, though not at all easy, purposeful) life.

I really do love my life, and I’m convinced that this abundant life I’m learning to live into is only found in Jesus Christ.  He is the only one who can empower me to live this life.

There.  I went public on Facebook with something other than pictures of my kids or funny videos or articles worth reading. I hope I’m not being weird or crossing some Facebook etiquette line.

I hope you’ve felt no judgment.  I feel none toward you.  I write this because of all the things I could share on Facebook, this is what I want to share.

Thank you for the investments that you have made in my life.  I’ve experienced a little more of this life I’m talking about because of the connections I’ve had with many of you.

I hope you experience the joy of Christmas, and I hope that will include being open to the gift of Jesus Christ.  I’m putting my faith in him.

Wisdom of God - Scripture Verses

Click HERE to see a list of 200 Bibles verses that address wisdom.

RCA Our Call Video - Community Reformed Church is HIGHLIGHTED

Check out the new video the RCA has put together to celebrate God's work through Our Call.  Community Reformed Church is one of the churches highlighted.  You can see some of our church family. Click below.

Our Call

Why Slaves to Mammon Cannot Find Peace - Phil Johnson

Here's an excellent article about the nature of mammon and its impact on our lives.

Click HERE.

Who Is This Man? John Ortberg

Please read this book and be reminded of the profound impact that Jesus Christ has had on the world today.  See once again how this one man (more than a man, I know) with little worldly power changed everything.

Click HERE to purchase this book at Amazon.

In God We Trust

Here are a few resources I came across in my sermon preparation.  The national motto is "In God We Trust."  Interesting. What does that mean?  What should it mean?

Here's a little history on the origin of the motto.

Here's an article on Congress's responses over the years to the national motto.

Here's a proclamation by Abraham Lincoln appointing a national fast day.  Please read this.  What a proclamation from our government!  Could this happen today?  Should it?

Here's a response to a movement (Pulpit Freedom Sunday) in the church for pastors to start endorsing candidates and parties from the pulpit.  It's interesting that this movement is choosing October 7th which is Worldwide Communion Sunday as the day to endorse a person/party.

Enjoy.

A Counterintuitive Response to Chick-Fil-A

There is an interesting debate in the public arena regarding Chick-Fil-A, and their president's stance on marriage being between one man and one woman.  This is leading to all sorts of conversations and responses.  Some are boycotting Chick-Fil-A and some are trying to make a statement by eating there.  My good friend, Nate Pyle, pastor in Indianapolis, has written about this in his blog and I found it very helpful.  It is titled, A Counterintuitive Response to Chick-Fil-A.  Click on the title to read.

A Prayer

I came across this from a friend but am unclear of its source.  It is a prayer I'm trying to embrace but a little afraid to pray.

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Source Unknown

Partially loved

Something incredibly significant happened in Genesis 3. We can’t overstate the consequences of our fall. Each of us is now tainted because of our disobedience and the reality that we are ‘born sinful.’

Most of us would say that God loves us. Would you say God fully loves you? Are we fully lovable? Most of us would say, NO, BECAUSE our fall brought shame. We are ashamed of ourselves. We are not fully lovable. We can no longer be fully loved. We are so sure of this truth that we hide. We have become experts at hiding the truth inside for fear that if the truth is revealed, we will be loved even less than we are now. So we hide. We pretend. We cover up. We work incredibly hard to create an (false) image of ourselves that we believe is lovable.

And we settle for a love that really isn’t love. We settle for fleeting happiness, pleasure, and embrace even more fully a commitment to self-centeredness (which led to the fall in the first place). We center our lives on ourselves. We become the idol we worship, the image that matters, the primary focus of our attention.

Why? Because deep down inside, we no longer believe we can be loved. So we try and get what we can. When I look good, I get attention and affirmation, I’ll take that. When I strive to get what I want, I get what I want; I’ll take that. When I portray myself as a victim, I get attention and don’t have to take responsibility for myself; I’ll take that.

We get what we can because we no longer believe we can find what we need.

What does this stir up in you? Where do you go from here? How would you finish this post?

Power source

I have a new daily workout.  It's sole intent is to help me abide in Christ.  I've been 'at it' for couple of weeks.  I'm so thankful for this help.

I am spending time alone without an agenda.  I'm back in Scripture without the need to 'use' it with others.  I'm journaling.  I'm listening.  I'm back into space with silence.  I've chosen some practices of abstinence.  I've also embraced a relationship with a coach.

All of this has come out of the invitation to be a part of the Faithwalking experience, which was started in Houston and now is making its way north.

As I began this opportunity, I kept reading in the materials how the daily workout, which is homework to be completed every week, is crucial, and the materials described it as "your power source."  I'm finding that to be true.  At first, I read this like I normally do - passive agreement, 'I get it', with little thought.  I'm really starting to finally get it, but not in some intellectual understanding, but through the experience of these past few weeks.

I really need this.  I need power outside of myself.  Let me say that again for MY OWN SAKE.  I need power outside of myself.  I need eyes beyond my own, helping to see myself clearly.  I need to be reminded of who God is and I need to hear what He is saying to me.  I need to let my mind have space to be still, to listen, and to let God get a word in.  I need solitude where I'm away from the distractions that ALWAYS come.  I need accountability in love which consistently asks, "Did I do the homework?"  "What am I hearing/seeing in the homework?"  "If I didn't do the homework, what has me stopped?"

I've always wrestled with a devotional time, both because I'm driven my performance - I want to look good, so I work on things that I think make me look good and because I don't want to 'limit' my time with God to an alloted time.  But what I'm coming to realize is that this scheduled, alloted time is critical to living the rest of my life with Him.  It is my power source.

What's your power source?  Are you plugged in?  (Sorry, just seemed like a fun and important way to end.  We can have power all around - even within - us and still live an disconnected life.)

Charles Spurgeon Quote - Hell

I received a lot of response to the following quote and thought it would be good to share.  What does it stir up in you?

Charles Haddon Spurgeon - 

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies.  And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay.  If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one person go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

                (Spurgeon, Spurgeon at His Best, p. 68-78)

Hell

I'm doing a few messages this summer on hell. Our sermon series is titled, "Love Does Win" and is a response to the questions raised by Rob Bell in his book, Love Wins. In no way are we seeking to bash Rob Bell, but he has raised important questions about foundational aspects of the Christian faith, so we are talking about them. Hell is one of the areas he addresses. I'm sure just reading the title of this post caused you to pause and wonder if you want to even think about this possibility. There are probably a lot of other blog posts to read, sports scores to check or maybe even some time to spend on Facebook. Anything would be more uplifting than this.

Yet, we have to talk about hell. Our view of hell impacts our Christian faith and practice. "It is difficult to reject the reality of hell and hold a high view of Scripture," says Dr. Michael Wittmer in his book Christ Alone: An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell's Love Wins.

I also listened to a very challenging message by Tim Keller. You can find it HERE. It's titled, "Hell: Isn't the God of Christianity an angry judge?" A couple of the quotes from the message that stood out, "What does it cost your God to love you?" and "If God is not angry at injustice, that God wouldn't be worthy of worship." 

And finally this quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one person go there unwarned and unprayed for.” (Spurgeon, Spurgeon at His Best, p. 68-78)

Don't you think that one of the main reasons that countless men and women over the course of history have given their lives for the cause of Christ is that not only did they believe in who He is and what He offers, but it is because they also believed in the reality of hell. Why the urgency if there is no hell? Why sacrifice all if we're all saved in the end? We can't make decisions about hell and God is if we are the final authority. We cannot create God in our image and determine who he is because of who we want him to be. We can't say there is no hell because we want a loving god. We must allow God to be the final authority and source of His own revelation. He has to show us who He is and we have to listen to what He says. He has revealed the reality of hell. We cannot deny and we cannot minimize it. We cannot long for anyone to end up in this place. We must embrace our call to share the truth of Jesus Christ and the consequences for those who reject Him.

Beginning Again I've been on a break from blogging because my operational leadership has been running my life. The tyranny of the urgent has been an idol and the space for reflection, prayer, and doing those things that increase my capacity have been lacking. I confess this before you and want to recommit to this endeavor - not for your sake but for mine. It is part of my learning. It is part of adaptive leadership. It is a means to process, listen, and grow. I am thankful for your patience, but I hope you will not give up on this site. You can get a sense of what's been unfolding by reading past posts, but I hope you'll see in the future, how God has been significantly helping me grow - in both understanding but also through action - through living out the practice of following Jesus. I invite you on that journey, and if this space is helpful, all the better. I commit to a weekly offering so if you check back each week, you will find new content, thoughts, and maybe even confession. I hope you are reminded in a multitude of ways today how deeply you are loved and how important it is that we open ourselves up to God and each other to be deeply known.