There’s a picture that I have shared on more than occasion. It is one that I first saw in my children’s school. I really resonated with the point that it was communicating. Check it out…

When I first saw this picture it came with a caption: “Equality is not justice.” I remember thinking, “Yes! Amen!”

Recently, in my research and study on what biblical justice looks like I stumbled on a different picture. This picture is even better:

That last caption describes justice well, in my opinion, “…all three can see the game without any supports or accommodations because the cause of the inequity was addressed. The systemic barrier has been removed.”

I continue to think about and process this statement from the prophet Micah, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8, ESV)” The conclusion that I am coming to is that “to do justice” requires the people of God to not simply create equitable solutions but actively seek to remove the systemic barriers.

My friend Rev. Tyler St. Clair wrote,

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The Church needs to be about helping to create educational, recreational, and economic opportunities in the areas where “the least of these” are most prevalent. This means that we need to enter in with the rural and urban poor and the minority cultures beyond giving them support systems. To “do justice” is to figure out how to remove the barriers that keep people from educational, recreational, and economic opportunities.

We must begin tearing down fences (dare I say walls?). The gospel subverts the systemic barriers of injustice. Let us be a people of grace and truth.

Justice — It’s More Than Equity was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

…or Are You A Two Faced Poser?

Growing up in a nearly all white community in a white family there were a lot of jokes about other races and nationalities. We would tell these jokes with reckless abandon in private and hushed voices in public. I am ashamed as I look back at the jokes and that I would tell.

As I grew older and entered into close relationships with people who looked different than me that these jokes didn’t seem as funny anymore. A few times I manned up and challenged the joke teller, “Well I’m not racist if that’s what you’re getting at. It’s just a joke. It’s not like I’d say that joke around them.”

In Galatians 2 Paul tells a story about a time when he and Peter (Cephas) had a little “issue”:

Galatians 2:11–14

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (ESV)

It’s sad isn’t it? 2,000 years later we haven’t changed a whole lot. Many of us still live hypocritically. We act one way with one set of friends and another with a different group of friends.

Will we ever come to the place where we live consistent lives? The hypocrisy of Peter is nothing new.

What we do and say in private is who we are. Jesus said,

Matthew 15:17–20

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (ESV)

Let us take stock of our lives. Let each of us look into the mirror and listen to the words that come out of our mouths. What do these words say about our heart?

How Many Faces Do You Have? was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sometimes pain, affliction, or suffering has purpose.

When we are going through the hard times in our lives we often wonder “where is God?” Philosophers have wrestled with the question of “why do bad things happen to good people?” There’s an entire text in the Bible about this very question, the book of Job.

Isaiah 48 opens with God explaining why his people are experiencing affliction. There are two reasons, first, he says they are stiff-necked. The sinews of their neck are like iron! This means that they can’t turn or change. It’s an illustration for a lack of repentance.

The second reason is that it is a result of the affliction or suffering God is glorified.

This second reason is a hard pill for me to swallow. It feels uncomfortable. But, then as I continued to ponder what he’s saying, I am drawn back to the opening verse, “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.”

He’s speaking to people who are called but have not yet trusted. So, he refines them. This refining is like the refining of gold and silver. This pain, this affliction is changing people. As they come to see their need for him, they turn. Their necks are loosened and they trust him. When this happens God is glorified.

The suffering does not bring God glory. The affliction is purposeful and transformative. When God’s people are changed and refined this is when he is glorified.

Is there an area that you are being refined in? Where is God working to transform you?

Tested, Refined, Changed was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Your friends and family won’t get you.

I remember sitting at the table at the family cabin after my first mission trip with Cru. My family was asking about the summer and what I had learned. As we started talking about Jesus and the gospel, it didn’t go so well. “Who is interpreting the Bible for you?”

When my wife and I became missionaries to the college campus, most of our backing came from people we didn’t know. Close friends and some family didn’t join with us. They prayed, of that I’m certain. But, they just couldn’t get on board with what we were doing.

As a pastor, I’m finding that my weird life is misunderstood by many of those closest to me. I’ve learned to be OK with it. To smile and laugh, I know it’s not mean-spirited.

Jesus was in his hometown and as he tried to carried out his ministry those closest to him said, “And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.”

What was Jesus response? “And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

I’m learning that when you are following your calling there will be those who won’t understand. They will often be the folks closest to you. Often it is those who love you the most that will understand you the least.

But, that can’t stop you. You have to move on. Keep going. Jesus did.

Without Honor was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Or…get your heart and mind right for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is January 20, 2017 and Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the President of the United States. Governor Mike Pence will be the Vice President of the United States. The country I live in will once again transition power from one sitting president to the next. There will be no civil war. There will be no intervention from the United Nations. There will be no need for a foreign super-power to act as a nation builder. Every time this happens it is an amazing thing to behold.

Many of my friends are excited about the prospects of a Republican presidency. Many of my friends are deeply concerned about a Trump presidency. I am sure that the people of my congregation fall on both sides of this spectrum too.

As the inauguration approaches I want to remind us that as Christians our primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God and this demands us to have perspective.

How should we respond on inauguration day?

1 Timothy 2:1–4 is a good place to start, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Our first responsibility on any inauguration day is to understand that we are called to pray for the president and our nation’s leaders. Your position on the incoming president will shape your prayer, and that is good. The key though is to pray. As we pray it drives toward living a life that is peaceful, quiet, godly, and dignified.

This leads me to the second thing that I want to challenge us with. In Romans 12:9–21 Paul gives an exhortation to the church there:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The church in Rome was diverse. There were Jewish and Gentile believers. They had very different ways of engaging with God. Their social, ethnic, and class identities were distinct from one another. Yet, Paul makes clear that they are to seek to “live in harmony with one another.” He goes on to say, “If possible, so far as it depends on on you, live peaceably with all.”

Does this mean that there should be no debate or correction? Of course not! Paul’s own life and ministry make very clear that these are necessary (read Galatians and 1 Corinthians if you doubt that). He begins by saying, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” He clearly believes that there is a response to evil and it is to abhor it. Yet, in the midst of this there is the deep value to seek harmony and peace.

We as the church must engage with one another not with the goal of “winning” an argument, but with the desire to build harmony and peace within the church. This does not mean, as some suggest, that we simply ignore or overlook wrong-doing in our leaders or when our brothers and sisters support that wrong-doing. It means, that we seek to speak to truth in grace with love. The telos or goal of the interaction must be peace. If it is not, then we are doing no favors to the church or the world.

Men and women like Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. challenge the sinful and broken systems of our society. He was non-violent but he stepped in and challenged the powers that be. Why? For the sake of causing division? No. For the sake of bringing peace and harmony.

As you step in to discussions regarding our political leaders, whether to challenge or defend, remember the admonition of Paul from Romans 12.

Finally, I leave you with the words of my dear friend Rev. Pete Scribner who summarizes my thoughts well, “One of the great freedoms and comforts of my faith is the fact that my ultimate joy, security and peace are not tied to who occupies the Oval Office. Therefore, while I have voted in every Presidential election since I turned 18, and I certainly have political convictions, I neither rejoice endlessly nor despair uncontrollably on any inauguration day. Not in 1992, not in 2000, not in 2008. Tomorrow will be no different.”

This is the key, is it not? We must not find our “ultimate joy, security, and peace…tied to who occupies the Oval Office.” If we do, we will struggle to pray for whomever holds that office and we will struggle to pursue peace and harmony within the church.

In Preparation of Inauguration Day was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Don’t waste a day!

I remember waking up in a dorm room at Ferris State University after a night of partying. I didn’t feel all that great. Honestly, I felt dirty and a little thin. The night before was fun, I laughed, I don’t think I cried, I drank a little too much and escaped from reality.

That morning as I drove back to Central Michigan University I was overwhelmed by the thought that, “There has to be more than this.”

There had to be right?

Tom Brady has asked the same kind of question:

As a college freshman I wasn’t very successful, but I was beginning to wrestle with some huge questions. The kinds of questions that altar your life.

Ephesians 5:15 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” This phrase, “making the best use of the time” has captured me.

From my Sophomore year at college until today, this verse haunts me. It has informed every decision I have made about how I understand God’s calling. There have been few decisions that haven’t been run through the grid of “is this wise? Is this making the best use of the time?”

So many of family have died untimely deaths. Every time it happens it shocks me back to the reality that tomorrow is not promised.

If tomorrow is not promised, I need to live to the full today. How can I make the most use of today? How can I use this day with wisdom? How can I bring just a little more light into the world?

How about you? Are you seeking to make the best use of the time given to you?

Make The Best Of It was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Or…why I don’t want to be a Grinch

One of my favorite Christmas stories is “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” I dig it for so many reasons. What I like the most is the Grinch’s revelation that Christmas is about something more than just presents.

Do you remember what happens in that moment?

His heart grew three sizes! It finally had room for the real meaning of Christmas and he finds the strength of ten Grinches!

I was reading in Psalm 119:25–32 today and this last verse hit me between the eyes,

I will run in the way of your commandments
 when you enlarge my heart!

The psalmist is acutely aware that he needs a larger heart. Our hearts start so small and there’s not enough room. We need new ones, bigger ones, ones that have room for the commandments. I love this image!

It reminds me of something that C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity,

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

This process “hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense.” When he’s finished it’s a palace, that he “intends to come and live in it Himself.”

I am so much like the Grinch. My heart needs to grow. To love well, to love like Jesus loved, it needs to grow!

Does yours?

My Heart is Too Small was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Christian life is not mind or heart but mind and heart.

I am reading After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright currently and it has been really helpful and really challenging. In my desire to avoid any kind of works based religion I have too often ignored the importance of good works. Wright has offered me an important corrective.

This morning I was reading Ephesians 4:17–32 and it tied in with a section from Wright’s work that I’m in on the importance of the Christian mind. We have entered into a time where there has been a loss of Christian intellectualism in America. The Church in America has become all about the heart. My training at seminary in communication focused on engaging people’s emotions and their “hearts.” Engaging the mind and the renewal of the mind was largely ignored.

Yet, as I read in Ephesians 4:17 and following I am struck by how the mind and heart are so intertwined. We can not pull them apart. The renewal of the mind is critical to the renewal of the heart.

Check out verses 17 and 18,

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Paul ties hardness of heart to the futility of the mind.

Then look at 20–24,

But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Putting off the “old self” and putting on the new self is connected to the renewal of the mind.

Heart change is intricately linked to mind change. We must be working on transforming our minds as well as our hearts. How can this be done? It is done through studying the Scriptures, reading good books, listening to good books, listening to podcasts, and the like. There are seminaries that have a masters degree worth of material online for free.

Do you want to change your heart? Do you want to change your actions? Transform your mind. It takes work but it is worth it.

Mind and Heart was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Nope, I don’t see any elephant ears…

“It’s not fair!” he whined, tears welling up in his eyes and his face beginning to flush red. “It’s not just NOT FAIR!”

My son had collapsed into a heap on the football field. The fathers versus sons two-hand touch football had just concluded. The game had been an epic contest between ankle biting five year old boys and way past their prime dads. This battle of football giants had ended, as they have from the beginning of time, in a tie.

“Don’t they know? Football games don’t tie! This is just terrible! IT. IS. NOT. FAIR!”

My son, my first born child who has a passion for justice, even at the age of five, just couldn’t handle something not being fair. He knew that the game was rigged, and he hated it.

My Facebook and Twitter feeds have been filled with adults whining, “It’s not fair!” Their candidate lost or their candidate is being maligned or their favorite sports team got a bad call and lost.

Somewhere inside each of us is this desire to see the world set right. We inherently know that the world is out of sorts. It’s a bit broken and at times, it doesn’t seem fair.

In Isaiah 42 we find the first of four of Isaiah’s “Servant Songs.” These songs give us glimpses into who the Messiah would be and what would do. In verse one Isaiah writes, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”

I love that one of the things that Jesus will ultimately do is to “bring forth justice to the nations.” The “nations” is referring to the whole of the people of the world. Eventually, there will be a day when justice will reign. As I continue to grow in my understanding of what it means to live out the gospel I am finding that as we apply it to every day circumstances justice is the result.

Biblical justice is a little different than our legal understanding of justice. Biblical justice refers to human society experiencing wholeness or “shalom.” It’s what happens when humanity is living in step with God’s commands and loving him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Ultimately, we will experience this when Christ makes all things new. Until that time, we have a responsibility as his ambassadors to begin trying to live that out now.

It’s hard to keep going and pressing on. Often I feel like my five year old son and just want to melt down. But, I’m reminded by Isaiah 42 that there is a bigger picture. There is more to come. So in the meantime, I will seek to remove the barriers to justice.

It’s Not Fair was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What we think we need is not always what we really need.

I am learning that there are two kinds of people in the world. There are “Baseball” people and “Not Baseball” people. We are definitely “Baseball” people. My wife loves the game. I love the game. My son, really loves the game. My daughter, barely tolerates the game.

Last summer my son was having one of his best years at the plate that he had ever had. He discovered the ability to hit with power and for average. His hard work in the off-season was paying off.

During a tournament where there was an opportunity to make an All Star team he began to struggle. Boy, did he struggle. Against one of the top teams in the tournament he had a great game. But, other than that, he didn’t do very much. Half way through the week he asked me what he was doing wrong.

We showed up early to the batting cages and we got video of his swing. It was beautiful. What we could see on the surface looked good. But why was he in a lull?

There was something deeper going on.

In the gospel of Mark there’s a story about Jesus healing a paralytic. Check it out:

And when he [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the paralytic — “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

There is a lot going on in this story. I want you to focus on Jesus’ response to the paralytic man. When he is lowered in front of him, what does he say? “You’re healed! Get up and walk!” No. He says, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

The paralytic had a physical problem. He couldn’t walk. His friends knew that Jesus could heal him. But, the man’s real issue was that he needed to receive grace and mercy and be reconciled to God. This was the root issue. It’s as if Jesus was saying, “Go deeper! No DEEPER! Let’s get down to the root of you brokenness.” Physical brokenness is a symptom of the fall of creation. So, ultimately to fix the problem Jesus dealt with the root issue, sin.

Over and over again I find in my life that I get focused on the symptoms. I have heartburn, so I take medicine, it handles the symptoms. The real problem is that I’m overweight. When I’m exercising, eating well, and losing weight the heartburn “magically” disappears. The other night I didn’t sleep, in the moment I thought it was because of the wind. It wasn’t. It was because I didn’t trust God to care for my family or home or me.

How about you? What symptoms are there in your life that you are trying to deal with? What might the root problem be?

After a little while in the batting cage, I finally figured out what was going on with my son. It wasn’t his swing. It was his head. He wasn’t having fun. He was trying too hard. I noticed he wasn’t laughing and joking around.

So, I made him play a game with me. When we first started playing he was not happy. He wanted to “work on his game.” I knew he needed to just “play his game.” I got him laughing and smiling. He loosened up and started smacking the cover off the ball in the cage.

As we walked to the field I said, “Son, remember that joy and that feeling of just having fun in the cage when you step up to the plate today. Relax and enjoy the moment.”

From that moment on, the “lull” ended.

What we think we need, is not always what we really need.

Go Deeper, No DEEPER! was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Night The Winds Kept Me Awake

Last night the winds blew. They rattled our home. I could hear the shingles and siding shifting and flexing with each fresh gust. Then came the “BANG!” That sound made my heart skip a beat. Then again, “BANG!” Then, “BANG! BANG!”

I looked out the window and saw what looked to be siding on the lawn. I ran downstairs barefooted and stepped into my boots. There was indeed a hunk of siding, but it was extra from a project our neighbor had done this fall.

Returning to bed I prayed, I asked God to help me sleep. Then, “BANG! BANG! BANG!”

As I laid in my bed my wife slept peacefully next to me. My children slept too. I couldn’t stop hearing the “BANG! BANG!” Every gust awakened my senses to fear of there being major damage to our home. Major damage that I wouldn’t know how to fix.

After two hours of sleeplessness I relocated downstairs where the sounds of the storm were significantly less and I finally slept.

As I reflect on last night I realize that I have a faith problem.

Isaiah 41:13 gives us a glimpse of God’s heart for his people. Isaiah is preaching to God’s people in exile and here he reminds them of God’s love and care, “For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

In that moment last night, I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t really believe this. I was focused on the symptom of my lack of faith and trust, namely, my inability to fall asleep. But, the root problem was that in that moment I couldn’t trust God. I was like Peter stepping onto the stormy sea. I was so caught up in the storm that I sunk.

Now what? Now, I need to deal with this struggle of faith. I need my mind to be renewed so that my heart can follow. I need to remember again that the Lord my God is holding my right hand and is helping me.

I Have So Little Faith was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

They get exactly what they want.

Over the last few days I have bumped into an article by Rhonda Stephens entitled, “Parenting: Are We Getting A Raw Deal?” I saw it once and read it. I saw it a second time and read it again. The first time I laughed and remembered my childhood and how it reflected much of what Stephens wrote. I appreciated that at the end she makes it clear that maybe the current state of affairs is not the way things ought to be.

Then it struck me, kids only do what parents allow them to do or not do. Her rant was great. But, maybe I missed it, is she making changes in her home? Is she calling for anyone else to make changes?

I am reminded of a marvelous section of Donald Miller’s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, where he talks about a family waking up to a similar reality. The dad made changes. It was hard but it transformed the family.

Parents we must step up, take ownership, and change the dynamic. If you don’t like everyone getting participation trophies, get on the board and change it.

You don’t like that your kids sleep till 11 during the summer and don’t do their chores? Put on the big boy or big girl pants and change it.

We have this weird glorified image of family dynamics from the past. I remember my mom going on strike, crying, yelling, whatever she determined the level of “mom-nipulation” that was required for my brothers and I to accomplish what needed to be done. Why did she need to do it? Because we woke up and didn’t “just do” whatever Mom told us to do. We didn’t want to clean toilets, vacuum, dust, do laundry, mow, trim, or weed. We were more than happy to ignore the list. When we did, there were consequences and she never backed down.

There were many days that Mom turned us out of the house and said, “Don’t come in until dinner.” Do you know what happened when she did (especially in the winter)? We threw fits and talked about how mean she was for a good twenty minutes before we started even making an effort to have fun.

It turns out that adults really are adults. Let’s stop the woe is me, these kids are so bad, baloney. They are the way they are because we made them that way.

So, the next time you’re about to complain on Facebook about how kids don’t drink from the hose, don’t do chores, don’t play outside, or whatever else it is that you’re about to complain about, stop for a moment. Ask yourself some questions: “Have I sent my kids outside like my Mom used to do? Have stood up to my kids and made them do their chores? Have I even considered giving them chores? Have I <insert your complaint about “kids these days” here>.

Adults, we can change things. Why? Because we are the adults. Parents, let’s parent. Let’s stand up to our precious snowflakes and begin to use this one magic word that my Mom taught me when I was a youth, “No.”

I don’t have it all figured out. But, I have found that my wife and I do a better job parenting when we are clear that we are the parents and the kids are the kids. There will come a day when we will be friends, God willing, but right now they are the kids and we are the parents.

If you feel like you’re getting a raw deal, like Stephens says, then change the deal. You’re the parent, you get to do that.

Parents Don’t Get A Raw Deal was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Today I’ve been thinking about the depth, majesty, and greatness of God. I’m a pastor, so I suppose that is not all that surprising. Yet, a passage from Isaiah has been floating around in my mind and heart all day today.

Check this out from Isaiah 40:27, 28:

Why do you say, O Jacob,
 and speak, O Israel,
 “My way is hidden from the LORD,
 and my right is disregarded by my God”?
 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
 The LORD is the everlasting God,
 the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 He does not faint or grow weary;
 his understanding is unsearchable.

Isaiah is writing to the people of God in exile. At this point they are despondent and broken-hearted. They feel as though God has abandoned them. They can’t worship at the Temple and so they are experiencing a deep separation from their God. Isaiah quotes them as asking why God is ignoring them (“my way is hidden”) and hasn’t brought about the justice (“my right is disregarded) that they think they deserve. In response, he challenges them remember who their God is.

I don’t think that we can even comprehend the experience of being exiled as American Christians. Yet, we can know the feeling of God being silent or the feeling of being wronged and that our rights are violated.

The bit that has been inescapable for me is the last phrase, “his understanding is unsearchable.” This splinter in the brain has invaded my imagination.

I so often think that I have God figured out: Read my Bible. Pray. Go to church. Say this or that. If I do these things then life will be just fine and God will bless me.

That’s not how it works.

As C.S. Lewis’ Mr. Beaver said of Aslan, “Oh no, he’s not safe, he’s not a tame lion. But he’s good.” So is our God.

You see God is not safe. He’s not manageable. His understanding, Isaiah says, is “unsearchable.” This means that God has an understanding that is deeper, more full, than we could possibly even imagine. We will never be able to fully figure God out.

I am married to an amazing woman. I think I have a good understanding of who she is. Yet, as much as I know her, after being married for almost 20 years I continue to find her mysterious and intriguing.

How much more so with our infinite God?

His very nature we cannot even begin to unravel.

As we consider the times of pain, heartbreak, frustration, and all the rest, this passage reminds us that God is always at work. He “does not faint or grow weary” and his “understanding is unsearchable.”

While we will never have every answer to every question, there is one thing that we can know with absolute certainty: God is sovereign and God is good.

He is Sovereign. He is Good. was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

On Twitter I follow a few accounts that post quotes from great coaches. They are usually inspirational and remind you that excuses are for chumps. There is also a common theme from most great coaches and that is, “Luck is fought for in practice.”

I am reading a book called, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright. The premise of the book is to highlight how Christians develop biblical virtue. It’s a wonderfully challenging book that is helping me to more deeply understand the tension between grace and works.

This morning in the Scriptures I was reading Psalm 1 and the first two verses really hit me between the eyes.

Blessed is the man
 who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
 nor stands in the way of sinners,
 nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
 and on his law he meditates day and night.

Particularly, what jumped off the page was the last phrase, “…on his law he meditates day and night.” I immediately thought of what I’ve been reading in Wright’s book about how Christian character is hard fought. It’s not easy. It requires discipline and practice.

I was struck by how similar success in the Christian life, which is often called blessing, is to success in athletics. Both demand practice. Both require a discipline that many people are unwilling to undertake.

Chesterton says, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

I think this is right on the money. The blessed man finds his delight in the LORD and meditates on the Scriptures day and night. He’s always practicing, he’s always working on his game. It takes effort, consistency, and perseverance.

Surely to experience blessing is an act of grace, but it is also the result of a diligent pursuit of God.

Blessing Isn’t Cheap was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I am always surprised by the moments in the life of leading a congregation that end up filling my soul. That conversation with a neighbor that I didn’t expect. Or maybe the conversation with the bartender at my local watering hole. Sometimes it’s an opportunity to serve a friend or a stranger. Often it has been seeing God provide for our family.

Tonight I had one of those moments.

Here’s the thing, I’m not a big corporate pray-er. I have never really enjoyed praying in groups. At conferences or gatherings where they make you split up into small groups and pray for each other, I slip out the back. It always feels fake and lame.

I’m a pastor, I shouldn’t feel like that. Before that I was a missionary, I shouldn’t have felt like that then either. There’s a spirituality standard for us professional Christians, right? If there is, I fail miserably at this point.

Tonight we started the new year with the missional community that meets in our home by praying for one another. I have to admit, I wasn’t really looking forward to it. It seemed like the right thing to do, I was convinced that this was what God was encouraging us to do. If I’m honest, I was kind of dreading it.

As the stories and prayer requests began to flow and the prayers were offered up for one another, I sat there enthralled. I was amazed at the answer to prayer over the year. My heart and mind were fully engaged in hearing the stories of my friends.

I took to Facebook after and posted:

I meant it. It was good for my soul.

Something changed in me tonight.

I think I’ll probably still slip out the back at conferences during “forced prayer” time. But, I can’t wait for the next time I get to hear the stories of my friends and pray for one another.

We prayed, and it was beautiful.

We Prayed was originally published in The Rev on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.