I read the news today…

-and sobbed over the state of the world. Young people with seemingly everything going their way committing suicide, a jogger randomly shot because some young men were bored, a man freakishly dying while on vacation with his family and an 88 year old veteran beaten to death. And that’s not even a drop in the bucket. There is so much tragedy and so much pain, it’s overwhelming.

What can we possibly do? Is there an answer? I know there is and I know it isn’t christianity. The answer is Jesus pure and simple. Not the jesus you believe in, not the jesus you control by doing this or that according to the rules. The answer is the Jesus that you know for real, personally, intimately, the Jesus that lives in you, The Jesus that the hurting world is desperate to know, The One that truly is the only answer for their/our pain.

Get

Each day our world becomes more and more about getting. Even our Christianese is laced with words like obtain and receive. We do see the occasional act of kindness that amazes people but too often these acts are just giving in order to get something in return. Can’t (shouldn’t or will) we give to give?

Sameness

God’s highest hope for each of us is to find and stay in an intimate, unique, and completely fulfilling relationship with Him. It’s not His idea for us to walk the path of everyone else. Different is good.

The world is countering God’s plan with sameness. We’re becoming franchise humanity with no tolerance for anyone unlike ourselves and will soon be herded into one of only two crowds; it’ll be them and us. Much of the church today is playing right along with this plan.

Our answer has to be personal. Our intimacy with the Lord will result in an outpouring of love on individuals, persons that are different than we are and our goal can’t be to make them just like us.

Persons

We’re all called to the ministry of persons, individuals, families and small groups of folks we can know intimately, care deeply for and do life with, that’s the great commandment. We really mess things up when we decide to minister to people, large groups that we can plug into the system or run through our programs. Too often the great commission of going into the entire world subverts the commandment to love because we assume the enormity of the world is on our shoulders, so we must do it big, when all God’s asking for, is us to help Him one person at a time.

Freedom

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.” – Jim Morrison

Yes, really, Jim Morrison.

Why do we so often believe it’s easier to change the world around us than it is to let God change us from within? Freedom will never be found in trying to control the world around us, only from knowing the One who is in control.

Pain

There is enough real pain in this world that we don’t need to relive yesterday’s.

Two

It seems that there are two kinds of people in the world, them and us. Is that how God would have us see it?

Exploration

What a big beautiful world we’ve been given! We should experience as much of it as we can instead of settling in, getting comfortable and living lives we can easily control. Where’s the faith in that?

Stay Focused

Don’t let the busyness of the world around you keep you from taking the Lord into every aspect of your day. Slow down enough to listen, He wants to share with you. The day God has planned for you is far better than the day you have planned for yourself. Don’t be afraid of getting off the beaten path and don’t get frustrated by interruptions that alter your well planned day. Chances are they are opportunities He has brought your way. Love those near you well.

Your Pursuit of Him

I am amazed on a daily basis at the way so many of you seek God with all of your hearts. This pursuit of yours speaks volumes to the world around you. It’s not normal. Most of the world ignores His existence altogether while much of the Christian world, wants just enough of Him to squeeze into heaven but not have their lives disrupted too much. Your fervent quest for more of God is truly astounding. There is always more of Him to be discovered and you will not be disappointed as you come to know Him more deeply. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for how your relationship with Him encourages me.