My canine companion Maggie and I try to do a couple of walks per day. We have individual goals. She likes to sniff and I like to pray. On a recent walk it occurred to me how often I thank God for one particular response to me. Patience. For over four decades I have been responding to God’s grace and love in very inconsistent patterns. Sometimes I am grateful and serving. Sometimes I am selfish and frustrated. Yet His love for me never changes one bit. I sometimes imagine comparing my faith journey to being a new employee beginning an amazing and undeserved job. On the day I am hired and sign the contract I am excited and committed. I keep that excitement going for a while until I begin to encounter circumstances that discourage me. Instead of going to the boss or seeking solutions I begin to doubt the company and boss. My effort and trust fade rapidly. If
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When I became elder chairman at Waterbrook Bible Fellowship I had to learn Roberts Rules of Order. Not exactly my fastball but having that protocol in place helped the meetings proceed in an orderly fashion. Recently I have been pondering publishing the “Grace Rules of Order”. Seems a little odd because grace doesn’t depend on legalistically following rules and law but please hear me out. I made a conscious decision a few years ago to focus on communicating the message of grace and identity in Christ. With that I decided to avoid the polarizing path of politics. Some have told me that is cowardly but I can honestly say there is no message more important to me than the liberating freedom of grace. I want to share the joy of living out of what Jesus has already accomplished and what God says is true about me. I feel called to be a messenger of hope and grace. Plus I feel
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Joni and I watch a lot of HGTV shows together. I love how they take a house that is dysfunctional and ugly and make it useful and beautiful. The process is intriguing. Identity the problem. Come up with a new plan. Demo the old stuff. Rebuild with hard work. Results? Amazing. Too often we take that process and convert it into a do-it-yourself project to grow as followers of Jesus. The results? Not so amazing. I tried executing the DIY blueprint over and over. I am dysfunctional. Check. I have identified the problem. I believe God has a plan for my life. Check. Now I need to rebuild my spiritual dwelling place. This is where I veered off the Biblical script. I thought the self-demolition of my sinful behaviors and personal remodeling of my life would be based on my hard work. Bad plan. Jesus doesn’t remodel a messed up structure. He builds a completely new one on the day
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Because of my career path in secular television I have a lot of people very dear to me who do not share my faith and hope in Jesus. Some are simply disinterested. Some think their good works will outweigh their bad deeds and they will be granted entry to Heaven. Some think that faith in God is a foolish pursuit that no intellectually honest person would consider. Some have witnessed horrible actions of people claiming to be Christians. Some have experienced harsh and legalistic religious types who make living a life of faith miserable and emotionally damaging. Some are pushed away by those who share sincere beliefs in a way that does not show the love of God. Any combination of these factors can cause people to step away or not pursue what it means to follow Jesus. I get it. I have struggled with many of those things over my long journey of faith. Brennan Manning wrote this very
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Why me Lord? I suspect that most of us have cried out to God with that question. I would also guess that approximately ninety-nine percent of the time we are asking God why some trial has come our way that we feel is undeserved. The same question has been asked throughout history. “Why me Lord? Why me?” A song by Kris Kristofferson cycled up on on my satellite radio today and reminded me of a better perspective. I have loved Kristofferson’s song “Why Me?” since I was a young believer and, if you do the math, you realize that I am not so young a believer anymore. The truth is I am still trying to apply the wisdom of these lyrics. Why me Lord, what have I ever doneTo deserve even oneOf the pleasures I’ve knownTell me Lord, what did I ever doneThat was worth loving youOr the kindness you’ve shown So true. What have I done to deserve even one of His blessings? I
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Amy Grant recorded “My Grown-up Christmas List” for her “Home For Christmas” album. The lyrics imagine an adult going back to Santa with a different perspective on what matters most in life. Instead of material things the writer now asks for good things for others. I love the sentiment of the song. No more lives torn apartThat wars would never startAnd time would heal all heartsEveryone would have a friendAnd right would always winAnd love would never endThis is my grown-up Christmas list I thought about my “grown-up” Christmas list this week. I would love for all of the things in the lyrics above to come true. But I have lived enough to know they will not. Everyday lives are torn apart. Wars start too frequently. Time does not heal every heart. Some who are reading this are lonely. Right seems to lose way too often and love ends for many. So what could I wish for that would be available for all?
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Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. I love the music, the memories, the traditions, and the chance to annually think about Burl Ives. His memory returns with my annual viewing of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Ives is the voice of Sam the Snowman who narrates the “enhanced” story of Rudolph. Rudolph and his elf buddy Hermey don’t fit in with the others. Rudolph looks different than his peers. Hermey is not interested in making toys. In an odd plot twist, Hermey wants to be a dentist. Not surprisingly, his elf supervisor is upset with the unproductive Hermey. So the two outcasts set off to find their purpose and a place to be accepted. The part of the story that resonates with me these days is when Hermey and Rudolph find their way to the Island of Misfit Toys. All of the toys on this island are castoffs because they are flawed and deemed worthless. There is a “Charlie
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