Month: March 2010

Dog friend Hannah loves the morning walk.

When she sees me grab the walking shoes she begins to vibrate with excitement. If T.Boone Pickens wants to find an untapped energy source we should harness Labrador tails. Got to think Hannah could power a small apartment building when she gets excited and that tail starts going. I love the morning walk as well. It is a time to meditate, pray, listen to messages and good music and enjoy God’s company.

The walk is pretty much the same each day for Hannah. She checks for new messages left by other dog friends on her social network. Sometimes she leaves a reply. She gets excited when she sees another person or dog or, to be honest, anything breathing. Hannah loves life. But I noticed something about my canine friend today that caused me to reflect on my own faith journey.

Hannah is happy to just get out and go walking. The fact that she is on a leash does not keep her from heading out the door in anticipation and despite that restriction she still finds lot of stimulation along the way. Today the park we regularly visit was empty. There is a chance that we were in temporary violation of city code 5544 today. On the backside of the park there is a wooded area and I felt comfortable letting Hannah off the leash. She became energized by her new freedom. She ran ahead of me and turned and ran back. She spotted a squirrel several yards away and she instinctively froze. Her body tensed in anticipation, she crouched down and took a couple of slow, deliberate stalking steps toward the critter. Then she bolted at the squirrel at full throttle with ears flying in the wind. The squirrel darted up the tree and Hannah stopped, looked up the tree and turned with a look of complete satisfaction as she trotted back toward me. She had a dog smile from ear to ear. It occurred to me that Hannah is fully alive when she is off the leash. Her freedom gave her such joy and energy. The squirrels did not care so much for Hannah’s release to her canine calling. When we reached the front part of the park I called her and re-attached the leash. Her body language was still happy but there was not quite as much spring in her step.She had lost her freedom.

For some reason Hannah’s foray into freedom made me think about my journey with Jesus. I have spent too many years on the leash of legalism and performance based acceptance. When I take off that collar of bondage and put on the no leash allowed collar of grace I am free to be fully alive in Christ. There is a bounce in my step and spirit. In the freedom of grace I am realizing and believing who God says I am. Unleashed in grace I am understanding and trusting who God says He is. I could live on the leash and get by. I know that to be true because I have done it. Most of you wouldn’t really notice my constraints. I would still have fun and enjoy the journey just as Hannah enjoys the restricted part of her walk. But why should I accept partial freedom when God is offering complete freedom in His amazing grace? Take off whatever leash is holding you back today and walk (or run with ears flying) in grace. You were created to be in relationship with God. Don’t settle for walking with Him on some self-imposed leash. God’s grace can unhook the leash and allow you to run in freedom and worship. God will love watching you joyfully run in freedom.

A lot of my colleagues over at Crosswalk are great at coming up with lists of things to do. My buddy Ray Pritchard wrote a great article titled Seven Reasons Not To Speak When You Are Angry. He also came up with 25 Reasons to Give Thanks When You Don’t Feel Like It. Holy Cow. After trying two or three things on the list I start being distracted by shiny objects and squirrels. The most read articles are often 8 ways to do this or 11 ways to do that. So today I tried to come up with my own article featuring a snappy list. So far I have “Six Things I Screwed Up Yesterday Because of My Own Self-Sufficiency” and “Seven Times I Didn’t Tame My Tongue This Week”. Hmmmm. Then I saw an article at Yahoo.com about a scientific study that shows five ways you can be happier. Let’s work with that. Here is part of that article.

Some scientists have argued that happiness is largely determined by genetics, health and other factors mostly outside of our control. But recent research suggests people actually can take charge of their own happiness and boost it through certain practices.

“The billion-dollar question is, is it possible to become happier?” said psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, Riverside. “Despite the finding that happiness is partially genetically determined, and despite the finding that life situations have a smaller influence on our happiness than we think they do, we argue that still a large portion of happiness is in our power to change.”

Lyubomirsky spoke here Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She and colleagues last year reviewed 51 studies that tested attempts to increase happiness through different types of positive thinking, and found that these practices can significantly enhance well-being. The results were published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Here are five things that research has shown can improve happiness:

1. Be grateful
2. Be optimistic
3. Count your blessings
4. Use your strengths
5. Commit acts of kindness

Seems like a good list. Where have I seen these things before? Was it in Oprah’s magazine? Reader’s Digest? Wait, it is coming to me now. Wait for it….it was in the Bible! Who knew that the One who created us would know how we could improve our happiness? Here is a little list that I compiled from God’s list.

1. Be thankful – Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3, NLT

2. Be optimistic – “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 14, NLT)

3. Count your blessings – Those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. (Galatians 6, NLT)

4. Use your strengths – Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. (Romans 12, NLT)

5. Commit acts of kindness – Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesian 4, NLT)

The Journal of Clinical Psychology has some good thoughts. But to quote another wise man from the Bible. “Nothing under the sun is truly new”. I would agree with the study that our happiness can be genetically influenced. I have been much happier since my spiritual DNA was rewritten when I trusted Jesus as Savior. I became a new creature on that day. Believing the good news of the Gospel many years ago was the best answer for me to be happier. The other list is icing on the cake.

Some stories make me really angry. Some make me really sad. This one accomplishes both. First, the part that makes me angry.

State Delegate Bob Marshall of Manassas, Virginia says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy. He made that statement last week at a press conference to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood.

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall. “In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

This particular Christian would suggest nothing of the kind. Mr. Marshall’s declaration of God’s intent is staggering in it’s arrogance. Is every child born after the mother has had an abortion delivered with handicaps? Of course not. Are some children born with handicaps to moms who never had an abortion? Of course. Joni and I are the parents of a little girl who was born with a profound birth defect. She lived eighteen months. Joni never had an abortion. But we did have a Christian “friend” who suggested that there might be sin in our lives that led to her birth defect. That was really helpful. Some of the events surrounding her birth and life led to my first book, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People.

The accusation did cause me to examine what a more reliable source said about who is to blame when hard things happen in life. Jesus was asked about some tragedies that had occurred and it is interesting to note that He did not establish blame…

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”  Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.  (John 9, The Message)

There was another time when Jesus could have let us know how judgment is dispensed here on earth.

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish.”  (NLT, Luke 13)

If Jesus had a chance to establish blame and did not do it then I am pretty sure that a politician cannot decipher where God’s judgment might fall. Jesus did call for repentance as individuals. But He did not tie their spiritual condition to the tragedies that happen in life. My God disciplines as an act of grace but He does not punish. There is an incredible difference.

I do not question Mr.Marshall’s heart to protect the unborn. I share that desire. I do disagree strongly with his casting shame and doubt instead of stating his case for the value of life with grace and truth. That is the part that makes me sad. The comments that accompanied the article were typical and heartbreaking like this one from Sarah.

“These people call themselves Christian???? No wonder Christians are disliked often by the secular world.”

That would be my response if I were an unchurched person and I heard comments like this. You can stand firm for your convictions and still demonstrate grace. People are repelled by high-handed moralizing but they are drawn to grace. Tim Keller wrote this in his amazing book, The Reason for God.

God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.

Those who realize their need for a Savior are humbled by that grace. I have made the point many times that it is easy for unbelievers to dismiss the hypocrite. No problem to ignore the angry and judgmental religious types. But I remember being troubled when I saw some Christians who displayed something different in their lives. I could not dismiss so readily the joy, peace, strength, courage and love that they modeled. They were “troublesome” Christians to me.  I could not ignore them because their lives were authentic and different (different good, not weird). I want to be that kind of Christian.