Perspective

*Journal Entry*
Perspective is an interesting concept. As I write this I am thousands of feet in the air, flying home after a wedding in California.
Looking down I see the cars inching their way along the road below. I think back to the trip I made with my friends in college. We drove all the way from Salem to Disneyland, stopping only at the house of my friend whose wedding I was in yesterday. It took so long just to cross the border into California. The scenery slipped by at a rapid pace, and although it took some time, we seemed to be moving along fast enough.
From up here I see miles upon miles of endless, curving roads. The cars zipping along down there seem to scoot through the pass at a snail's pace. Three years ago when we made that trip we were four young, ambitious college students with things we wanted to do, places we wanted to see. We were racing through college one assignment at a time (and sometimes three). The lessons, experiences, adventures, and friendships flew past as we rushed down the freeway of college life. Down on the road all we could see were the things that were important to us: relationships, grades, adventures, and making our mark on the world.
As it is, I'm not far removed from that freeway, and my perspective hasn't changed much. But as I look down on those rippling ridges and patchwork plains I can't help but think that some day I will look at the landscape of my life and realize that those speeding miles were lingering inches, and all around me was a world and a story that I could never have fathomed.

He Sets The Lonely In Families

It truly is a wonderful time of year. Some folks would go so far as to say it is the Most wonderful time of the year. Others would find that hard to believe. For some people it is the most lonely time of the year (just watch the opening credits to the movie "Surviving Christmas" and you'll see what I mean). It's a time when family comes together...unless you have no family. It's a time to celebrate with friends...unless your world is friendless.
Who cares if a baby was miraculously born so many years ago? Who cares that angels proclaimed the birth of a new king? Peace on earth and good will toward men are great taglines, but where are they?
Even our Christmas specials and holiday movies declare over and over again that the only thing you truly need to have a wonderful, joyful, and maybe even miraculous Christmas is your family and friends. So what good is this holy celebration to those who are lonely and abandoned?

If this is you, I would say that you have more to gain from the miraculous Christ-child than any of us. And if that is going too far, then at the very least you could understand and appreciate him and his purpose more than most. He came here for you.

In celebrating the Christmas season we rejoice in the coming (and subsequent life, death, and resurrection) of our savior, and look forward to the second coming of our glorious king.
But there is more to the birth of baby Jesus than that. There is something much more simple, and perhaps more meaningful in the coming of the God-child.
I am talking about Emmanuel.
It means "God with us." God has come down to be with us; to live with us; to know and be known by us.
Jesus didn't just come to die. He came to start a relationship between man and God that had been--for the most part--lost since the fall of Adam and Eve. He came because he sees our loneliness and wants to fill it with his love. That is why he came in our likeness to relate with us, connect with us, and show us how much he loves us: first in his life and even more in his death.
God knows we are lonely. We are ALL lonely. Certainly, we cover it up well with our schedule of activities, our social circles, our hobbies, and our vices. But when you take them all away we feel just how lost, empty, and alone we really are. God is not fooled by our antics. He knows. That's why he came to be with us.
He came to show us where we are and lead us on the right path. He came to feed us the bread and water of life. He came to care for us, to be with us, and to create a family for us with him as the firstborn and God as our father.
"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing" (Psalm 68:5).
Even Christ's death was the means of making a way for us--broken and wicked humans--to approach and know the perfect and loving God. He made a way for us to have a relationship with himself now and forever.

So as we celebrate this Christmas season may we certainly worship the Christ-child as God and honor him as king, but may we also love him as our great and dear friend.
"We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

God Loves Us

Why is god so judgmental?
That seems to be the question that bothers a lot of people these days (and probably for millennia past).
"What does god have against us anyway? What did we do that's got him so ticked off?
"I don't think that's very reasonable of him. In fact I don't think that's really god at all. I think that's just the impression of god created by religious systems that want to manipulate people and scare them into their masses.
"So then, if there is a god, what is he like? What would make a good god?
"God should be kind, good, loving, peaceful. And why not? After all, we know that the opposite of those things would make for a very bad god. So if there really is a good god he must be those things. Which also must mean that he can't be judging, because judging isn't very loving..." or is it?
Let's think about this for a moment. Why is love so great?
1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Love looks like a pretty good thing. I can see why people would want a god of love.
Looking even further we see that love fulfills all the requirements of scripture.

One of them, an expert in the law, tested [Jesus] with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'
Jesus replied: '"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.' (Matthew 22:35-40)

And again:

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Does this not sound appealing? If the world was governed by love, would it not be a wonderful place to live?
Why is that? How do we know that the world would be better without these things (murder, theft, covetousness/envy)? What is it about love that generates these actions of good-will, this way of life that would be so...good?
I would submit as the answer to these questions, Righteousness.
Love knows right and wrong. Love seeks out what is right for ones own actions, and for the benefit of others.
Love longs for justice. NOT the broken justice of our corrupt human legal systems, but the justice that is governed by Righteousness and Truth.
This is why we long for a god of love. We have lived for so long in a broken, evil and corrupt world. We see the wrong done to others; the wrong done to those we care about; the wrong done to those for whom our hearts break. We want justice. We love.

Now do you see why a god who is simply our approximation of "love" is an incomplete god? We think of love, but not of righteousness. We want a god that cares for us, but we don't want a god of justice.
We cannot have true love without righteousness. We cannot have care and concern without a desire for justice.
Now do you see why God--a great God of limitless love and measurelesss mercy--must be a righteous God; a just God?
For it is written:

The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice. The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9:7-10)

And again, "Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Isaiah 30:18).
If we do not understand justice in conjunction with love, it is because we are a broken and sinful people. We do not have true righteousness as our compass. That is why we NEED a God who is not only a god of love, but also a God of justice.
"Many seek an audience with a ruler, but it is from the LORD that man gets justice" (Proverbs 29:26).
We need a Benevolent Ruler and a Righteous Judge.
We cannot have one without the other.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

The godly life is like building a bike. Only it's not like building a bike. But if it helps, yeah, it's like building a bike.
I was reading Paul's letter to the Church in Rome when this parallel occurred to me. In chapter 2, verses 12-29 Paul addresses the issue of having the law vs. obeying the law. He says that those who have the law (the Jews) yet don't obey it will be judged by it. And those who don't have the law (everyone else, aka. Gentiles) yet obey it are declared righteous.
My thoughts went to Christ's parable of the two sons who were each given the same instructions. Their father tells them to go out and work. One son says he will, but never does. The other son says he won't, yet decides later to go out and work anyway. It is the second son who is praised, even though he initially dishonored his father by refusing his instruction.
As I considered further I realized that it is very much like building a bike. It could be building anything at all, really. But for the sake of this discussion let's call it a bike.
When you first purchase a bicycle they usually come with instructions for assembly. Many a man throughout the ages has rejected the manufacturer's suggestion that they follow the complimentary assembly pamphlet. And what has been the conclusion? countless bicycles, tricycles, wagons, play structures, BBQ's, tents, book shelves, and all other sorts of structures and accessories have been utterly butchered.
What pleasure will be had from a bike that doesn't work? Who is going to praise the man that built something wrong? There is no gain. There is no reward.
So what does this teach us, that if we follow the instructions we will always be right? Not quite.
Certainly there are those people who look to and follow the instructions as they form their bicycle in a sufficient manner. And of course there are people who can assemble most things without using the instructions. These two groups--whether following the written instructions intentionally or not--will get their reward. We would agree with that. That makes sense.
But there are those, are there not, who, try as they might, don't really get the instructions even when they read them? They look at the instructions just enough to make them dangerous, but the result is a mess. Or they come into it with their own ideas of how it should go, and then glance at the directions so they can say that they had.
Again I ask, what is gained from a bike that doesn't work? Who will praise a man for building something wrong?
Paul uses the image of a structure to describe a man's life in one of his letters to the Christians in Corinth.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation [the Gospel] as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Cor. 3:10-15)

Here Paul is talking to people who are, without a doubt, saved. This isn't quite the issue of Jews/Gentiles or law/no law that we see in Romans. But I think the concept of living in obedience vs. living in rebellion (ie. selfishly) carries through. We have everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We have the Spirit of God within us. So how are we going to keep building this house? Will we seek God's best, and in obedience build with gold, silver and costly stones--which takes more effort and comes at a higher price. Or will we try to make it on our own, pleasing ourselves, and building with hay, straw and sticks because they are cheap and easy materials? It all goes through a purifying fire in the end. Which of those materials do you think will form into a crown of righteousness?
Who will praise the man that builds a house that is burnt to the ground?
It is far better to simply obey.
May God help me and guide me in obedience to Him.

Hiding In Shame Vs. Living In Freedom

What causes shame?
The very presence of shame implies a standard. A person may be ashamed of their clothing because they recognize the standard of attire within their society. A man may be ashamed of his hobbies because of the stigma attached to those hobbies. A person may be ashamed of his actions if those actions defy the public authorities. A man may be ashamed of his sin because he sees it in light of God's righteousness.
No one likes to be exposed when they don't meet the standards they recognize. That's why we are okay with wearing whatever we want around the house, but might not want to wearing the same thing in public. That's why students don't mind bragging about their passing C's among peers, but try to avoid showing the report card to Mom and Dad.
"Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (John 3:19-20).
However, it is possible for a standard to exist without being recognized. Either the person does not recognize its existence, or he does not recognize it as valid. That's why tourists continue to stick out like sore thumbs in other countries. This is not to say that all standards should be recognized. There are a lot of standards that are not worth recognizing or are optional. Take a look at a high school commons during lunch and you will see a plethora of standards represented, and many of them in contradiction to each other. One has to choose which standards he will recognize as important.
There is, however, one standard which stands valid over all people, whether or not they recognize it. God's righteousness is a standard we will all face one day. Like Jesus says in the Gospel of John, men don't want to be exposed in the light of that standard because it brings a sense of shame.
Shame is fear of judgment.
The standard makes us feel shame because we are afraid of being judged according to that standard. Shame is not the judgment itself (that is condemnation).
If we all recognized the standard of God's righteousness we would be ashamed, which is why we avoid it. That is why men prefer the darkness where they feel their actions are not exposed to the light of God's righteousness. That is why men avoid God.
But Jesus came (and we are in the season of celebrating his first coming even now) to free us of that shame so that we might come to God freely and unashamed. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law [the standard] of sin and death" (Romans 8:1-2).
This is the message of grace (a free gift that we did not deserve). We no longer have to live in hiding; in darkness. We don't have to live in a way that is followed by the phrase, "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." We can live righteously so that what we do in secret would only bring us honor if spoken of in public.
Are we perfect? No, but as we live openly and honestly before God he works in our lives to make us more and more like him in regards to righteousness.
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!" (Romans 6:1-2) We have been freed from that life of filth and slavery. Why would we want to return to it? And on top of that there is still the standard of God's righteousness to recon with.
It is true that as Christians we are no longer condemned for not meeting the standard, and so we may approach God freely and confidently. But there is another judgment:

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation [the Gospel; the foundation of salvation]... But each one should be careful how he builds...If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones [righteous works; living in accordance with the Spirit], wood, hay or straw [plain or worthless works; living according to selfish desires], his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day [of judgment] will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

Notice that Paul is talking about a person who has the Gospel and is saved. Yet, even we who are saved will be judged according to how we build on this Christian life. When it comes to those things we do simply because they aren't outright forbidden in the Bible, do we really want to wager that those things are "gold, silver," and "costly stones"?
Therefore, brothers, let us not continue to walk in darkness as people who should be ashamed before God of their unrighteous deeds. But let us walk in the light, where our deeds are exposed, and we may learn to live according to the grace Paul speaks of in his letter to Titus:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (2:11-13)

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Real Lies

"The heart is deceitful above all things... Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).

I would like to expand upon my statement in my last post. I said, "I understand that emotions are dodgy things, and not to be entirely trusted, but they are the only reality we have experienced." First I would like to explain the fallaciousness of our emotions, then I will explain the reality within those same emotions.

I think Jeremiah explains things pretty well. The heart (the poetic seat of our emotions) is a liar. Because of our emotions we perceive things that aren't there. Emotions cause us to concoct grand explanations for behavior: for our own behavior (excuses) and for the behavior of others (gossip or conspiracy theories). Emotions filter our perception of the world, distorting and subverting reality leaving us with either a dream or a nightmare. Emotions cause us to love the imperfect, judge our peers and condemn the innocent. In short, emotions deceive us.

This is not to say that emotions are bad. I am not suggesting we go the rout of the Vulcans and purge our minds of all emotion. God created us with these emotions. Granted, they have been distorted by sin, but they can be redeemed through Christ and reshaped by the Holy Spirit. For now, however, they are broken, and we should be careful not to trust them too quickly.

That being said, there is a reality behind emotions. It is not necessarily a reality of Truth so much as it is a perceived reality. Just because feelings may produce ideas and perceptions of things that don't exist does not make the actual emotions any less real.
Emotions are real things, even if they aren't founded on reality.
I have worked at a camp for the last two summers, and when working with my campers on trust exercises and encouraging/supporting each other I tell them just that; emotions are real things. It doesn't matter if you Know that your friend is safe. If your friend Feels like he isn't safe, it's as frightening and dangerous in his mind as the real thing. You had better take the situation seriously, because he is not laughing, and he needs to be able to trust you.

On the flip side things that have no effect on our emotions what so ever can very easily be dismissed because it lacks the perception of reality. You can be inundated with the most powerful truth on earth--even the Gospel of Jesus Christ--and still miss the reality of its message if it does not affect your emotions in some way.
How we experience things through our emotional filter is the only representation we have of reality. That does not mean that our perceptions are reality (or truth). But the perceptions are real.
The tricky balance is then figuring out how to recognize and validate people's perceptions (including our own) without dumping truth out the window. This might be one of the reasons Christians are to live in community. With our various perspectives of God (as seen through the filter of scripture) perhaps we can help each other to have a more accurate perception of reality.

...Hi......

Humor me for a minute.
Today's discussion: Outgoing and Shy people and the ability of people to have deep and personal/intimate discussion.
Most people would agree that there are two kinds of people in our society: Outgoing people and Shy people. Let me be clear--I am not talking about introverts and extroverts. There are plenty of introverts who are outgoing, social people. And there are shy, withdrawn extroverts. I am talking about people who are more or less comfortable holding up a conversation in a social setting, and those who are more or less comfortable being a non-contributing member of the conversation (or better yet, sitting just outside the conversation).
I submit that we are all the most shy people in the world. Each and every one of us has a social equivalency to the most painfully shy person of all time. I don't want to go so far as to say the most reclusive person. There would have to be a whole different line of reasoning to support that claim, and I'm not ready for that. The kind of person I am describing is still someone who is out-and-about, but resistant to social interaction. That's the kind of person that each of us is like on a certain level.
I also submit that many of us (and perhaps most) have learned or are naturally adept in the skill of surface talk. Surface talk includes all kinds of useful, fun, engaging, pointless, and some times necessary information. Let me be clear: surface talk is a natural and necessary part of social life, and is not inherently bad.
When those of us shy people (as I hope you remember we all are) who are equipped to do so employ the skill of surface talk, we generate what I would like to call an external shell. This shell is how we present ourselves to the world. Granted, it does include more than just our social conversation. One's shell is made up of everything he does in public settings: how he walks, talks, eats, dresses, carries himself, his facial expressions, how he treats people. The shell is the public image.
For the sake of this discussion I will focus on the element of the shell that pertains only to conversation: surface talk.
What is surface talk? My concept of surface talk is defined by what it is not. Surface talk is not deep. It is not personal. It does not connect with what is really going on in the person's emotional center. You can have all kinds of meaningful and life changing conversations that stem from the mental (both logical and creative) and spiritual centers of your self, but unless those topics connect to your emotional center it is all surface talk. The reason is that how we feel (our emotional response or connection) toward something is what gives us our perception of that thing's value. If it has no emotional value (positive or negative), then it is as deep and personal as talking about the weather.
I understand that emotions are dodgy things, and not to be entirely trusted, but they are the only reality we have experienced. (I would love to explain my thoughts on this topic, but I don't want to get too sidetracked.)

What do we have so far? We are all shy people. Some of us have created a social image, but underneath that image is still the shy person. If it is the surface talk that creates the shell, then what is it that the shy person inside is keeping to himself? It is the deep, emotionally connected things that we are shy about.
I would like to point out that shy people are not mute. Shy people talk. Shy people can interact, and converse, and develop relationship with other people. It just takes time and a willingness to take a chance.
The issue is not that we never share those things which have an emotional connection for us. In all reality we each operate at different levels of sharing those things with others. Some are more comfortable than others with sharing. Some just have more experience--they have taken the risk and met with a favorable outcome. Others have taken the same risk and found only pain.

What's my point? Simply put, we aren't so different, you and I. We may interact with people differently. We may have different values. We may look different, talk different, and even treat people differently. But underneath the shell--whether it's a big, outgoing, firecracker of a shell, or a meek, church-mouse, barely above the surface shell--we have things that mean something to us, and that we hold close. We have pain, wounds, scars, and infections. We have dreams, desires, and loves. We have emotions--hidden or not--like fear, anger, confusion, hurt, and joy, comfort, longing and love.
We aren't so different. At a certain level we are all shy people who want to be known and loved, but fear being known and hurt.