Author: Dave Burchett

Recently we volunteered to help out with the grandkids during a busy time. We met our son Scott and daugher-in-law Caroline late at night as they returned from a family getaway. Grandtwins Bennett and Clara were sound asleep when we made the transfer to our vehicle. Clara rallied briefly but Bennett never roused in the transfer to his bed at our home.

The next morning the kids were having breakfast when a thought crossed Bennett’s mind.

“Nana…how did I get here?”

We laughed at Bennett’s very legitimate question. He went to sleep in his car and woke up at Nana and Papas. The truth is that is a question that a lot of us ask during certain seasons of life.

How did I get here?

How did I get in this place in a relationship? How did I get here in my relationship with God? How did I get here with my health or the health of a loved one? All of us have “how did I get here” moments in our lives.

A song by Laura Story resonates when we ask this question. The song is called “Blessings” and the words are profound.

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity

There is nothing inherently wrong with praying for those things. But my attempt to maneuver God to grant my wishes is wrong. Laying out my will and praying for God’s notary seal is not what He desires. Blessings are not just receiving good things from God and that truth is beautifully captured by Story’s lyrics.

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

Her lyrics come out of learning to trust the object of her worship even through the trials. Her website bio describes her journey.

But amidst that success a brain tumor hospitalized her husband in 2006. The faith Story sang about was put through the unexpected fires of fear and loneliness; most young newlyweds don’t imagine being kept alive at one point by breathing machines or having to find their way through significant post-operative vision and memory loss. Could grace notes resound from such a life-altering struggle?

We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

Story relates the question she faced during the health crisis she faced with her husband.

“But there’s a decision that I find God is asking us to make: whether we are going to choose to interpret our circumstances based on what we hold to be true about God, or whether we’re going to judge what we hold to be true about God based on our circumstances.”

Our faith is not based on feelings or circumstances or checking off items on the prayer list. Our faith is based on the object of our faith. God is faithful. He hears our cries. But sometimes the answer is not what we desire. Paul learned the same thing and he wrote about it to the church in Corinth. You likely know the passage. Paul was given “a thorn in the flesh” that he beseeched three different times to be removed. Paul had a pretty strong signal on the Faith-o-meter. Five bars. But God said no. I like the translation from The Message.

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

   My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.  (2 Corinthians 12, The Message)

The gift of a handicap? Are you kidding me? But as I look back on the deep valleys and trials of my journey I see God’s hand and my growth through those events. Blessings from the pain? Without question. And I am learning the truth of Laura Story’s experience.

What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise?

More and more I am realizing that they are. It doesn’t always matter how you got here. It matters that you know that Jesus is with you.

A song by Joe South reflected my teenage disdain for those in power who seemed to not care a whit about the regular folk. I check the comments of Millenials today and I realize that not much, if anything, has changed since this song was recorded in the turbulent late 60’s.

“The Games People Play” was recorded by Joe South and here are the first two stanzas.

Oh the games people play now
Every night and every day now
Never meaning what they say now
Never saying what they mean

And they wile away the hours
In their ivory towers
Till they’re covered up with flowers
In the back of a black limousine

I have to admit that a bit of the anger and power of the protest was diminished with this hard-hitting chorus.

La-da da da da da da da
La-da da da da da de
Talking ’bout you and me
And the games people play

Hard to gin up a lot of “in your face” intensity and passion when you are singing “la-da-da-da-da-da-da”. My frustration with the hypocrisy I saw in my church was fueled by this lyric.

People walking up to you
Singing glory hallelulia
And they’re tryin to sock it to you
In the name of the Lord

We thought we could change the world by promoting love, hope and peace.  I see the same anger directed at my generation (pretty much deserved) that we felt toward my parent’s. I read how this generation is going to change things by promoting love, hope and peace. Can you say full circle?

We thought that hope would be realized with a leader or a political party. We believed that change would come because of kindred politicians or better laws or courts that would establish justice as we saw it. We thought that the right leader would make sure that we educated every child no matter their circumstance. We hoped that this political savior would provide for the needs of every person at no cost to them. We were wrong by placing that hope on the government without putting responsibility on ourselves.

So many people are placing their hope for happiness on political candidates and parties. I do believe that leaders make a difference. I care deeply about making an informed and prayerful choice. But I never place my hope or desire for change on a politician. The word hope is used about 80 times in the New Testament. The first appearance of the word in the NIV translation pretty much lays out my belief.

“In his name (Jesus) the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12, NIV)

Paul wrote about the hope that I have in his letter to the Romans.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NIV)

The second chorus of South’s tune has a real pearl of wisdom.

God grant me the serenity
To remember who I am

That is what I have learned since I was the angry young man hellbent on changing the establishment. I remember who I am. I am a follower of Jesus. A child of God. A servant who is humbled by His amazing grace.

I will be shocked if our leaders in Washington decide to work together for us. But I will not be surprised one bit if they do not. The important change for me has already happened. I am changed because of Christ. I have hope that is real. I have peace that transcends circumstance. Because of those truths I can deal with the rest of the news. I believe that no matter what happens in Washington in the coming months and years I am convinced that the following statement is true.

God is in control.

I was following a gravel truck down the highway when I noticed the usual warning.

The only problem was that you have to get closer than 200 feet to read the doggone sign! The message was simple. If you are going to follow this truck you have to keep a respectful distance so you won’t get hit with rocks. Following too closely has its risks.

I think we do the same thing with Jesus. We follow Him at a respectable distance because it does not always feel safe to follow Him too closely. I can talk about how Jesus is love and Jesus loves me but when I follow too closely I get hit with rocks of truth like this.

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

 Love my enemies? Pray for those who persecute me? Are you kidding me? But He is not kidding. Jesus is asking me to trust Him in a way that shows the miraculous gift of grace. He said to follow Him.

Closely.

And He said that quite a lot as I noted in my book Stay.

I think I falter because I make faith and trust entirely too complicated. Jesus didn’t say figure out every theological jot and tittle. (Note to spiritual hall monitors: there is an important place for that discipline. No e-mails please). Jesus didn’t say, “Go and clean up your act, and I will deem you a worthy follower.” He didn’t say, “Browbeat yourself and others into behaving better in order to earn the badge of righteousness.” He simply said,

“Follow me.”

Not once. Pretty regularly.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:19, niv

Jesus told him, “Follow me.”

Matthew 8:22

[Jesus said,] “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24, niv

[Jesus answered,] “Come, follow me.”

Matthew 19:21

Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

John 1:43, niv

[Jesus replied,] “Whoever serves me must follow me.”

John 12:26, niv

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

John 21:22, niv

“Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Matthew 9:9, niv

In the immortal words of Forrest Gump, “I’m not a smart man.” But like Forrest I have a keen sense of the obvious. Jesus is saying to follow Him. That takes childlike trust on my part. The rest of it we will figure out together as I follow Him in complete trust.

I don’t need to be afraid to follow too closely. Quit hanging back to avoid getting hit with rocks of truth. Follow Jesus closely this week. The risk is worth the reward even if you get a pride bump and bruise along the way.

I am sure that at least a few readers of these humble ramblings remember a song by Five Man Electrical Band. The song was called “Signs” and it told about some warning signs that dared to tell us what to do.

Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign

I remember the opening part of the song quite well.

And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said you look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you’ll do
So I took off my hat I said imagine that, huh, me working for you

woah!

What struck me most is that the official Five Man Electrical Band website actually has that last word spelled “woah”.  Hearing that song recently on an oldies station made me think about the mixed blessing of church signs. Some are clever and thought provoking. Most, sadly, are embarrassing or even harmful. I really dislike some of the signs that I have seen on display. Like this favorite that we see every summer in my state of Texas…

All I can say is…woah! That should bring hurting people in for sure. I imagine attending the church depicted by the sign below would be a grace filled laugh fest.

No Devil drums, dancin’ or fancy pants translations here. And stay off the grass!

Personally, I would be more drawn to this church.

I can honestly say that this sign does not apply to Pastor Jeff or Pastor Stephen at my home church, Waterbrook Bible Fellowship.

Some church signs are just clever.

That just makes me chuckle.

This sign might be a bit too obtuse for the casual passerby but it does contain the message of grace.

God grades on the Cross, not the curve. Indeed. Paul said it like this to the Ephesians.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,  that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved! (Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT)

As for me, I have one goal. I want to live my journey with such scandalous love, grace and abandon for Jesus that this sign will be true about my life.

I leave you with this bit of encouragement for the week.

 

 

The Monday Musing is actually an announcement. I am just putting the finishing touches on Waking Up Slowly: Spiritual Lessons from My Dog, My Kids, Critters, and Other Unexpected Places.

This has been an incredibly challenging, convicting and fun book to write. The premise is pretty simple. We are the most connected culture in history but arguably the most disconnected from God and one another because of devices, schedules and misplaced priorities. I asked myself this question as I began the book.

What if we are stubbing our toes on the sacred every day and not realizing it?

What moments of joy do we inadvertently miss as we stare at our screens? What performance idols destroy our ability to appreciate God’s gifts?

I set out to find out how life might look differently if I awoke each morning consciously looking for the easy to miss “postcards from God.” Waking Up Slowly is a completely vulnerable exploration of my journey to find out.

I hope that Waking Up Slowly will challenge the reader to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate the ways that God reveals himself daily. Through regular people, everyday situations, cuddly creatures, and stunning nature, God’s presence is real and discoverable. We just need to wake up to it.

The book will release on March 1st of 2017. You can pre-order the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook.com , and Books-A-Million.com.

I have been donating a portion of my royalties from Stay to Patriot Paws Service Dogs.

I will continue that program with Waking Up Slowly and I am doubling the amount donated for all pre-order copies. Pre-order you copy now and you will not be billed until the book ships next spring.

Looking forward to sharing this journey with you.

Blessings and grace,

Dave

(Joni shared her story at  Waterbrook Bible Fellowship and she referenced a blog I wrote ten years ago during her cancer journey. I re-read it yesterday and it brought back a lot of memories. I decided to share it as the Monday Musing as an encouragement to those going through valleys. You can make it one step at a time. You can watch her story here)

One of my smart aleck remarks that I use periodically is that “I am not burdened by that whole maturity thing.” There are many times when I go about demonstrating that in real life. But the unwelcome intrusion of “life” into my happy little routine has caused me to evaluate a lot of things. God is teaching and revealing a lot of things to me during our cancer journey.

1. I am clearly a work in progress as a follower of Jesus.
2. He has done a lot of work over the years that I was not aware of until this cancer trial came along.

Last night I had the weird privilege of helping clip off the rest of my bride’s hair that was falling out from the chemotherapy. As I reflected on that moment later I realized that nearly everything I knew about beauty when I was 25 years old was wrong. Like most men I looked for appearance first and then tried to find some good qualities. Joni was a stunningly beautiful woman when I fell in love with her over thirty years ago.  I have often said that I married my trophy wife first and got it over with. I also joke that I married her to deepen my gene pool. And she has done that admirably. One of the ironies of this cancer journey is remembering how much I loved Joni’s long hair in the early years of our relationship. In fact I was unhappy when she cut it a few years into our marriage without discussing it first. Her hair was a real part of her beauty in my stunted male view of what beauty in a woman means.

To be completely honest I wondered how I would react when the chemo therapy had its inevitable effect and she would be bald. Oh, I knew I would say the right things. I am not that stupid. But how would I react inside? Would it matter more than I cared to admit? And that is when I realized how much God has been working over the years. He has been retooling my thinking and my heart. Patiently. Quietly. Lovingly.

Joni’s hair began to give up while I was on a recent trip. She decided to get the buzz cut while I was gone. So I walked in the door and she, in typical Joni fashion asked, “Want to see my head?” When I did I realized what God has been doing over the years to a shallow and selfish guy. He has been changing me and what I perceive to be beautiful. Because the truth is that Joni is as beautiful to me today as she was with that long, shining hair thirty years ago. That is because I am learning what beauty in a woman really looks like.

Some days are better than others. I am grateful for the days when the sparkle returns to her beautiful blue eyes. Those eyes are the windows to a soul that has more depth than I could ever achieve. She is remarkable. She is my hero. Her faith inspires me. Her smile still lights up the room. I treasure each moment that I can make her laugh. The sound of her laughing is like a symphony to me. I have learned that beauty is so much more than what the world and testosterone ridden young men (or older men) think it is. Beauty is a package. One part physical to be sure. But beauty in the covenant of marriage is also emotional and spiritual.  When I fell in love with Joni I just thought I was marrying a foxy lady. I was really too stupid to know I was marrying a gift from God. The classic description of a Godly woman from Proverbs 31 fits her pretty well.

Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life…

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions. She carefully watches all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness. Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all! Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

I married an amazing women. Right now she happens to be bald…and so very beautiful.

 

The next couple of months of our political season are going to be brutal. The conversation between the two parties will be less than gracious. You have to be a trained professional to have that kind of grasp of the obvious. I felt like it was worth revisiting an earlier post about our political discourse as followers of Christ. A song by Chris Rice cycled up on the iPod titled “You Don’t Have to Yell”.

I tuned in to hear the news
I don`t want your point of view
if that`s the best that you can do,
then something`s missing
and experts on whatever side
you plug your ears, you scream your lines
you claim to have an open mind,
but nobody`s listenin`
don`t you think we`re smarter than this?

How should a follower of Christ engage in the political discourse? Dr. Gregory Boyd has said some controversial things but, in my humble opinion, this is not one of them.

“Christians are not to seek “power over” others – by controlling governments, passing legislation or fighting wars. Christians should seek to have “power under” others – winning others hearts by sacrificing for those in need.”

That is indeed what Jesus did. That is EXACTLY how a group of men and women in the first century with NO political power turned the world upside down. They sacrificially served others.

Dr. Boyd also noted that “America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Hard to argue with that. I love America. Like a lot of people of faith I once thought that electing the “right” politicians would change the culture. I was wrong. The fact is that government and laws can only restrain behavior begrudgingly and usually temporarily. Paul had a lot of thoughts on that in his letter to the Romans. Jesus can change the heart and change behavior from the inside out. I am saddened when I see good, well meaning people thinking that more education and regulation will solve our problems. I am certainly not against education but I would point out that it has been the brightest and best that got us into such a mess on Wall Street and in Washington. The problem is not lack of knowledge but a lack of understanding of the hearts of men and women. We all have a nature that needs to be changed. We deny that at our own peril and the peril of our culture.

I am not smart enough to decide what God has called people to do. If He has placed a desire for people to impact the culture through political action I am not about to question their motives. But I do believe that those of us who claim the name of Jesus need to communicate our views with grace and compassion.

I get nervous about using the church as a political base. God’s Word taught effectively will mold followers of Jesus that will view social issues wisely. My goal is to introduce people to Jesus, disciple them into a real relationship with Him and then watch as the Holy Spirit changes what my sermonizing and loud arguing cannot.

The body of Christ is about Jesus. About being a good citizen that respects authority. And about demonstrating His amazing grace to a desperately needy world. The message should be grace, redemption and the forgiveness available to everyone. All parties and colors are welcome at the foot of the Cross. We need to spend more time there…for the good of America.

That sets the stage for today’s gentle plea. May I challenge my fellow followers of Jesus to show grace in the current political season?

I have much to repent over in my past political history. I did not trust God consistently to accomplish His plan and I thought that my politics had to prevail for God’s plan to prevail. How arrogant on my part. Once again I was wrong. I was obsessed with politics and it was dangerously close to idolatry. I am sure I crossed that line at times. As we head into some spirited debate I am begging my fellow followers of Christ to be graceful in your debate. Things will be said that are maddening, unfair and mean. Responding in kind damages the name of Jesus. Solomon wrote these words that are so timely today.

A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness. (Proverbs 15, NLT)

You cannot change the minds and hearts of others by strident arguing and yelling. You can change a few hearts and minds by demonstrating the grace and good news of the Gospel of Jesus.The hope of the world is Jesus. That is my message. I want to be a good citizen but I must first be a grace filled representative for Christ.

Dave Burchett is the Author of Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. A portion of every sale goes to train service dogs for wounded veterans through Patriot Paws.