"The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this:

If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters,

could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? "

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

— John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself

Mirror Reflections

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. -James 1:23-24

When I look in a mirror, it's usually not for the sake of seeing myself. It's to make sure I'm presentable, that I don't have anything stuck in my teeth and my hair is in place. Or maybe something is amiss and I see pen smeared across my face, or realize I need to hit the gym a little harder. If I see something, I usually try to fix it right away.

Not this man. He looks in the mirror, notices some pepper in his teeth, gum in his hair, and dirt on his face. He's aware of these things he needs to fix. But then he gets distracted. He glances away from the mirror and is on to the next thing before he does anything about his appearance.

So the Word reflects our spiritual condition. We look at it and see things that need to change - gossip that needs to stop, cursing that shouldn't be said, love of money we shouldn't have, extra-marital relationships that smudge our hearts.

But how many of us actually do something to change those things - immediately? Instead, don't we tend to put down our mirrors and think, "Man, I really need to change that," and then forget about it as soon as we move on to the next thing?

We choose to walk around in front of everyone else, wearing our dirt and grim on the faces of our souls for all to see. And the whole time we've forgotten to do anything about it.

I sure don't waste time trying to fix my face or hair when I see it's amiss. Why don't I rush to do the same with my heart?

Listen...Then Do.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so decieve yourselves. Do what it says. -James 1:22

I came to this paragraph of chapter 1 with a little bit of excitement and a lot of familiarity. I've been working through Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and in one chapter he hits this topic pretty hard. Or maybe it just hit me pretty hard. He observes that so often we sit in church, feel convicted about something the preacher says, and then go on with life without ever actually changing anything.

With that message fresh in my mind, I approached these verses. I sat for a few moments. Then I made a few notes in my journal:

Still waiting for James to say something convicting to me right now so I can apply this verse. Not that there aren't other verses in the Bible I can't use until then...

You see, while I had been getting some good study notes from the previous 21 verses of the chapter, nothing had really punched me in the gut to tell me what I need to change in my life. But almost in mid-sentence my pen stopped abruptly.

Hmm...does that make me like one who merely listens and so deceives myself?

Ouchie.

I took a few steps back to try this again.

Ok, so what has James told me to do so far?

• Find joy in trials (v.2)
  -Maybe I should start looking at the tiny trials that bug me through my day since I'm not exactly in the middle of a major crisis right now.
• Ask God for wisdom (v.5)
  -I'm sure not complete in this area.
• Believe God
• Take pride in humility
• Do not let my desires drag me into temptation
  -Hard. Especially when by itself, the desire seems innocent, or is disguised by something else. For example:
  

  -Desire to be done working early leads me to be tempted to take shortcts with my work.
  -Desire to have friendships with my co-workers leads me to be tempted to listen to/participate in gossip.
  -Desire to avoid conflict leads me to be tempted to not speak up and defent Jesus' Name when someone misuses it.

• Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger
• Get rid of moral filth & evil; accept the Word planted in me.

Guess that's a pretty applicable list after all.

Now, what am I going to do about it?

Call to Action

"You know that video you posted?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't like it."
"Neither did I."

That's how our conversation started. Before you read any more, I'd really like for you to watch that video clip at Lyla's blog: breviloquence.com.

I watched it for the first time (and so far the only time) right before bed one night. Usually I will spend some time studying the Word before I turn my lights off, but this particular night I was unable to carry on with my routine. My heart was too burdened by this video.

That's why we didn't like this video. In a way, it's fascinating. But mostly it just made our hearts hurt.

Millions and millions of people all over the world who have no idea who Jesus Christ is. No one has ever told them.

And we're responsible. Jesus told us to spread the Good News. He came to draw all people into His Kingdom. He doesn't want any of them to live in hell forever.

But we sit here in our comfy American homes, attending our quaint American churches, doing our comfortable American thing.

We have such a cushy faith.

We have no idea. None whatsoever.

We never step out, never reach out.

Some pray. Some give money.

But very few go.

We have no idea. And we don't even care. In our culture that the entire world desires to be a part of, we have trivialized our faith. We have made Christianity fit into our lifestyles, but only so it is convenient for us. We have made it comfortable, desirable.

You know what? I don't know that there's much about the Christian life that is desirable. Heaven, yes. Everyone desires to go to heaven. But that's not the Christian life.

The Christian life is hard. It hurts. It means sticking our necks out there.

Speaking up.

Reaching out.

Giving until we have nothing left to give.

Going without.

Abandoning our comfortable lives so that another soul might possibly find eternal life.

Death.

We say we know these things. But really, we have no idea. That's why we didn't like the video. We know we are responsible. We are supposed to take action. I suspect the right answer is to buy the next plane ticket to China, Kenya, Guatemala...wherever...to proclaim the Good News to those who are dying. They are dying in this life, and they will die forever in the next.

That's not the sensible thing to do. Oh my, is it ridiculous in our American minds. To abandon job, family, money, and everything we've worked for? Makes no sense at all.

But to look at it from the eternal - it's the only thing that makes sense. Really and truly.

Lyla and I don't want to be the people who hear, are convicted, and do nothing. We've been that too many times. We haven't got it all figured out. The truth still tears at us from the inside. But we're taking action. A mere baby step in the direction God is pointing. But we are starting. Here. At home. In our community. We are entering the harvest field.

What are you going to do?

Of 'Coons and Dogs

One morning as I was driving along an old paved road through the middle of the countryside on my way to work, I saw something I'd never seen before. It had me laughing and puzzled at the same time. I finally made myself turn around and drive back so I could take a picture with my phone, because I figured it would make a good blog post someday.

That would be a telephone pole. But not just any ordinary telephone pole. This telephone pole comes equipped with the added accessory of a raccoon.

It wasn't until I drove by the second time to get the picture that I noticed a couple of other details. First, even though this poor guy was as high as he could safely get, he was still trying to climb even higher. He was trying to step up onto the very top of the center pole, but there just wasn't enough room for all four paws. Second, the reason for his attempts at climbing as high as possible was positioned at the base of the pole: a large, yellow lab.

This coon had been chased by a big dog, and he went for the nearest and tallest structure he could find. He was now in the wide open view of everyone and everything who happened to be watching...

But he was safe.

So it is when we find safety and refuge in the LORD, our Rock. Sin and evil chase after us and bear down on us. We are forced to make a choice.

Like the raccoon, we can seek shelter under earthly solutions that look safe - leafy bushes right ahead, or maybe behind the barn just beyond. But our destroyer is on our heels, ready to flush us out of the bushes or tackle us behind the barn.

Mr. Raccoon was smart. He knew the shrubbery and walls weren't going to protect him for long. That left two other options: a large leafy tree a few hundred feet away, or the skinny telephone pole straight ahead.

Both of those are good choices. In fact, had I been the 'coon, I'd have preferred the tree. Easier to climb, more branches to hold onto, and some shade to keep me cool while this dog stares me down all day.

But to run to the tree would mean more opportunity for the destroyer to catch up and overpower. The protection would be great, but the path to get there is longer and more dangerous.

God always provides a way out. It would be so much more convenient if He would give us a tree every time we are pursued. But that's not always how He works. Sometimes we get a telephone pole.

It's close, and we can reach it in time. But the climb to the top is straight up and hard work. If we let go, it's a free fall straight to the ground into the jaws of the predator. Not only that, but anyone paying attention might see us out in the open. Exposed.

But it's safe. Because God is there. He will not let us fall into harm when we have run to Him.

Besides, once we reach the top, we'll find that we just can't climb quite high enough to be satisfied.