A Hope with Scars... (Trials... just one more)

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  
-- 1 Peter 1:6, NLT

Perseverance has a point. Trials have purpose. In a word, it is hope. And hope is an incredibly powerful thing.

Paul writes:
We rejoice in hope... not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does put us to shame (does not disappoint, NASB)...
-- Romans 5:2-5

Rejoicing (in hope) is easy when it is easy. But there is a depth of hope that comes through fire. It is an unshakable hope. Hope with muscles. Hope with scars.

Persevering through trials deepens and refines character. Who we truly are - and are becoming - is both forged and revealed in the furnace of difficulty. And the hope that is easy in the easy times becomes an experienced commodity. It becomes a part of who we are. It IS who we are.

The hope of (and in) God NEVER DISAPPOINTS!

God, I will hope in you.

For now...
D

The Joy of Trials

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  
-- 1 Peter 1:6, NLT

We tend to think of enduring as not only a means, but an end. It often seems the best we can muster. But this is not enough. Surviving and thriving are vastly different things.

Peter writes that we are to be truly glad because, there is wonderful joy ahead. Jesus' brother James put it this way, Consider it pure joy... when you face various trials (James 1:2).

There is art and faith necessary to thrive even in the midst of trials. Required is a steely-eyed willingness to acknowledge the reality of the giant standing before us; mixed with a childlike - almost silly - belief that the giant will fall.

It would be inauthentic and possibly damaging to dismiss our trial. It is real. But just as real, realer if you will allow me, is the joy beyond. And the One who stands behind the giant of our trial is gianter.

We must learn to look to the far side. Christ himself endured the trial of the cross by focusing on the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2).

And here is the key: the joy beyond, is our joy in the midst. If I were preaching, I'd pause, then slowly enunciate those words again. The God who stands behind the giant also stands beside us as we face the giant. His shadow overshadows every giant. (Yep, I'd repeat that one too.) And, in his presence is the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). So as we face the trial, we recognize the joy on the other side and we realize (as in experience) the joy of his presence even in the fog of trial.

I saw the movie Everest the other day. It is the story of the catastrophe that surrounded the May 1996 expedition attempting to summit the highest pinnacle on the planet. There are many analogies and lessons that I will save for later. It is one statement made by Doug Hansen that impacted me. "Suffer a few more days, and for the rest of your life you'll be the guy who got to the top of Everest."

Endure because you must. Survive because you can. But thrive because because there is a joy... a joy on the far side... a joy that is also here, now.

God, as Nehemiah said, "The joy of the Lord is (will be) my strength."

For now...
D

Trials

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  
-- 1 Peter 1:6, NLT

It has been a bit since I last wrote. A little funny, the topic I was working on was that of trials.

We all have trials. They are inevitable. I've heard preachers quip (and have been guilty of such myself), "You are either in the storm, have just come out of the storm, or are about to enter the storm."

For many of you, like me, it's been a little stormy. But in the immortal words of Donna Summer (and a loose transliteration of the Apostles Peter and Paul), I will survive! And so will you.

To do so, we need the imminent presence of the Holy Spirit, the support of the community of faith, and some old fashioned guts.

At times we cannot move forward. We feel like we cannot advance. Paul writes, ...having done everything to stand... stand firm... (Ephesians 6:13-14).

So stand.

The words simply haven't come the last week or so. But words will return.

More to come on trials.

Since I've already broken all reverence with a disco quote, I'll end with an 80's Elton John lyric: I'm still standing!

For now...
D

Ramblings... Ugliness, Orlando and the Overwhelming Power of Beauty

Ours is a beautiful world. And it is an ugly one. Often the beauty is demonstrated in the aftermath of tragedy. The ugliness: the tragedy itself; especially when man-made.

We always wonder in the face of ugliness. We speculate and offer half-hope reasons and responses. We attempt to make meaning of it, but the dots cannot be connected.

This relationship between beauty and ugliness mirrors our hearts. Within each of us there is beauty. And there is ugliness. To put it in biblical terms; there is darkness, and there is light.

Ugliness is not creation. It is distortion. And ugly acts result from distorted attitudes, distorted views.

A distorted view of God.
Man-made tragedy is often perpetrated in the name of (a) god. I readily admit to a bias: I believe there is One God. And I believe this God has chosen to reveal himself in many ways; through creation, through scripture, in mankind, and ultimately and fully in Christ. To those who might say this is in some way narrow-minded, I simply challenge: do the work of honest investigation for yourself. If God is a God of truth and beauty, he can stand the scrutiny. But a word of caution: be ready to deal with the revelation. Light exposes darkness and beauty exposes ugliness. (I won't apologize, after all Ramblings is in the title of this post.)

Those who do damage in the name of God, at best misunderstand his nature. More likely, their distortion is due to a counterfeit version of God; a god of their own making.

The biblical God (and again, I admit my bias) is a God of love. I don't begin to understand every facet of his character, methods or means. But I trust his heart. After all, he demonstrated his passion through ultimate sacrifice.

In the aftermath of the Orlando tragedy I have heard both pronouncements of judgement and calls for tolerance. I cannot agree with the former, and find the latter to be a watered-down version of love. (Who would ever desire to be merely tolerated, when they could instead choose to be loved!?)

We live in a world of beauty and ugliness, light and darkness. And though I don't always understand the relationship, I do know the same God who calls me to stand on his truth, calls me to love unconditionally.

Ugliness is a distortion of beauty. And ugliness in the name of (a) god, is the result of a distorted view of God.

A distorted view of self
Each of us is the result of myriad relationships, experiences, pains and joys. These all come together to form our identity - the way we view ourselves. Scripture says we are fearfully and wonderfully made; that we are a special creation in God's image, in the midst of the beauty of his spectacular creation.

Our (self-)identity can however, become distorted. Sometimes we forget there is a God, or we replace him with a counterfeit. At other times we personally take on the role of god. Oblivious self-importance causes us to think too highly of ourselves. Or the opposite - extreme self-deprecation forces us to lose sight of our uniqueness.

Each of these results is a distorted self-view and gives birth to ugliness.

A distorted view of others
It could probably go unsaid; with a distorted view of God and ourselves, there is little hope of viewing those around us in a healthy way. Long ago I read in a counseling book the following line: Damaged people damage people. We've seen this axiom played out; whether it be a parent on the soccer sideline, a priest in a church, a politician in the seat of power, or a man holding a weapon with murderous intent.

Any and every ugly act becomes possible when we lose sight of the beauty and person-hood of our neighbor(s). Ugliness is almost always the natural outcome when a person or people are devalued.

Jesus summarized the key to living a life of beauty with the statement: Love God and love others as you love yourself. Distortions removed. Ugliness washed away. Beauty wins out. Light overcomes the darkness.

In summary, the tragedy of Orlando is the result of ugliness to the extreme. The sad reality is there will be another Orlando; another Oklahoma City, 911 or Waco. There will be another because ugliness exists.

However - and this is the huge however - beauty ultimately wins! I believe that from my core. I believe it because the nature of God is beauty without ugliness. He is love without distortion. He is light that overwhelms the darkest darkness.

Do I understand tragedy? No. But I trust. And that is beautiful in itself.

For now...
D

Ramblings... Ugliness, Orlando and the Overwhelming Power of Beauty

Ours is a beautiful world. And it is an ugly one. Often the beauty is demonstrated in the aftermath of tragedy. The ugliness: the tragedy itself; especially when man-made.

We always wonder in the face of ugliness. We speculate and offer half-hope reasons and responses. We attempt to make meaning of it, but the dots cannot be connected.

This relationship between beauty and ugliness mirrors our hearts. Within each of us there is beauty. And there is ugliness. To put it in biblical terms; there is darkness, and there is light.

Ugliness is not creation. It is distortion. And ugly acts result from distorted attitudes, distorted views.

A distorted view of God.
Man-made tragedy is often perpetrated in the name of (a) god. I readily admit to a bias: I believe there is One God. This God has chosen to reveal himself in many ways; through creation, through scripture, in mankind, and ultimately and fully in Christ. To those who might say this in some way narrow-minded, I lay down a challenge: do the work of honest investigation for yourself. If God is a God of truth and beauty, he can stand the scrutiny. But a word of caution: be ready to deal with the revelation. Light exposes darkness and beauty exposes ugliness. (I won't apologize, after all Ramblings is in the title of this post.)

Those who do damage in the name of God, at best misunderstand his nature. More likely, their distortion is due to a counterfeit version of God; a god of their own making.

The biblical God (and again, I admit my bias) is a God of love. I don't begin to understand every facet of his character, methods or means. But I trust his heart. After all, he demonstrated his passion through ultimate sacrifice.

In the aftermath of the Orlando tragedy I have heard both pronouncements of judgement and calls for tolerance. I cannot agree with the former, and find the latter to be a watered-down version of love. (Who would ever desire to be merely tolerated, when they could instead choose to be loved!?)

We live in a world of beauty and ugliness, light and darkness. And though I don't always understand the relationship, I do know the same God who calls me to stand on his truth, calls me to love unconditionally.

Ugliness is a distortion of beauty. And ugliness in the name of (a) god, is the result of a distorted view of God.

A distorted view of self
Each of us is the result of myriad relationships, experiences, pains and joys. These all come together to form our identity - the way we view ourselves. God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made; that we are a special creation in his image, in the midst of the beauty of his spectacular creation.

Our (self-)identity can however, become distorted. Sometimes we forget there is a God, or we replace him with a counterfeit. At other times we personally take on the role of god. Oblivious self-importance causes us to think too highly of ourselves. Or the opposite - extreme self-deprecation forces us to lose sight of our uniqueness.

Each of these results is a distorted self-view and gives birth to ugliness.

A distorted view of others
It could probably go unsaid; with a distorted view of God and ourselves, there is little hope of viewing those around us in a healthy way. Long ago I read in a counseling book the following line: Damaged people damage people. We've seen this axiom played out; whether it be a parent on the soccer sideline, a priest in a church, a politician in the seat of power, or a man holding a weapon with murderous intent.

Any and every ugly act becomes possible when we lose sight of the beauty and person-hood of our neighbor(s). Ugliness is almost always the natural outcome when a person or people are devalued.

Jesus summarized the key to living a life of beauty with the statement: Love God and love others as you love yourself. Distortions removed. Ugliness washed away. Beauty wins out. Light overcomes the darkness.

In summary, the tragedy of Orlando is the result of ugliness to the extreme. The sad reality is there will be another Orlando; another Oklahoma City, 911 or Waco. There will be another because ugliness exists.

However - and this is the huge however - beauty ultimately wins! I believe that from my core. I believe it because the nature of God is beauty without ugliness. He is love without distortion. He is light that overwhelms the darkest darkness.

Do I understand tragedy? No. But I trust. And that is beautiful in itself.

For now...
D

STUMBLING

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling...
--Jude 24

The older I get, the more stumbling hurts. I stuck my toe in some deep carpet while walking through a convention hall this week. The resulting stumble was minor - imperceptible to anyone who might have been watching - but the back pain was immediate and lasting.

Stumbling hurts. And though I am being literal at the moment, it is also true metaphorically. Stumbling brings pain into our lives, and often to those around us.

Here is the problem: We all stumble in life; missed steps and missteps, bobbles and trip-ups that don't usually result in full face-plants. But they are painful nonetheless. We casually gather ourselves, look around to make sure no one noticed, and limp away as gracefully as we can muster.

When we stumble, it is not due to a lack of willpower (and I am speaking of life/faith stumbles). We stumble due to a lack of relationship.

There is One who goes before us, who walks with us, who shows the way. He is a light to our path and a compass to our course. He points out the rocks and roots (and carpet monsters) that might catch our feet. But we must follow him. Striking out on our own will lead to stumbles... and pain.

God, direct my footsteps according to your word (Psalm 119:133), that I might not stumble.

For now...
D

MIRROR

Examine yourselves... test yourselves...
--2 Corinthians 13:5

Scripture is a mirror. If in it we see others - what they should do or not do, where they fall short, etc. - then we are choosing to look past our own reflection.

Scripture is a spotlight. It exposes darkness. The invasive power of truth's light always forces shadows to shrink away. We must first be exposed by the cleansing light before we can be light-bearers to others.

Scripture is a lantern. It provides illumination to the path before us.
Though we share many common paths, each of us has paths that are unique. We must each carry our own lantern to find our steps. (OK - It sounds like a flashlight, but lantern just sounded cooler.)

Scripture is a sword with which we attack the enemy's lies. It cuts through deception and impales the negative things we hear whispered deep within. Unchecked, these can become hideous monsters robbing us joy and peace. The sword of scripture however, was never intended to be a club wielded in the hands of the uncaring. It's blade must first make it's mark in us.

Examine yourselves... test yourselves...

God, expose me to me so I can be wholly yours.

For now...
D