I was challenged yesterday: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!

We usually see this as a description of the world around us. Open sin in the streets, unchecked appetites and moral anarchy. But “God is describing the attitudes of the mind. The body may still be comfortable but the mind does not function the way He wants it to function.”

Romans 1:18-32 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen. This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The males in the same way also left natural relations with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error. And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die —they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

God created us with an awareness of Himself, the ability to plainly see Him for who He is. Yet most reject Him. In our society, “almost everything gets a pass except Jesus. We want to push God aside and do things our way. We think of judgment as a natural disaster or financial collapse, but it is instead God’s release of the mind to go where it wants. Our sins of denying Him, being unthankful to Him, etc. will go down through the generations one after another.”

So what is the answer?

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.

Ephesians 5:25b-27 …Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If…my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Relationship...

If religion is a reflection of my belief about who God is and how I might best please Him, then that belief will change with newfound perspectives drawn from my own experience. If however, religion is a reflection of God’s revelation of Himself to me, then it does not change, because He does not change. Self-invented religion will leave God looking at us with an expression of disbelief, while relationship with God based upon His foundation of truth and grace will leave us with an expression of awe. I for one choose to base my life upon the foundation external to myself.

Come Home...

Andy Griffith died this week. Like many other people, his passing has caused me to consider his unique impact on my life. And like many others, I considered writing about it. I considered writing about the wise sheriff of Mayberry, of the loving father, of the loyal friend. But there are many other better writers who are doing the job. So, I'll just cut to the point.

This morning I was looking through the onscreen TV guide for something to watch and saw "Matlock". It had already started, but I thought it would be interesting to see Andy in action and do a little reminiscing of my own. As I changed the channel a commercial was finishing, so I just looked back to my computer for a moment. The show returned with Andy (Ben Matlock) sitting at his kitchen table. He was quietly plucking a banjo and singing an old familiar hymn:

...tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me; see on the portals He's watching and waiting, waiting for you and for me.

Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home...

I can't think of a better tribute.

P.S. For those who may not have known, Andy Griffith was a devote Christian and early in life considered being a minister. He instead graduated with a degree in music and became a music teacher before going on to become the actor we all knew so well.

My Heroes

Have you ever had the opportunity to meet one of your heroes in person? Were you fortunate enough to have the time to get past that initial awestruck moment and share with them just what they mean to you? Well, I just did. I actually met two of my heroes. Believe it or not, I ran into Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw having lunch together. They were sitting right there chatting like old friends, and I actually had the nerve to speak to them. They were kind and allowed me to ramble on about memories I had and then to express my appreciation for what they had been to me in my childhood. But, just as the encounter was turning into a conversation, I woke up… As I lay there, a bit saddened, I really started remembering a lot of things. So, I decided to get up and tell you before I forgot it all.

There is not a more dedicated fan than an elementary school boy. His imagination is the real world and his heroes are the giants in that world. In the 70s there was no greater rivalry than Dallas and Pittsburgh. I was a Cowboy fan. Roger was my guy. He was my giant. He was the epitome of the Christian gentleman and an example of character to all of us. Graduating from the Naval Academy, he had gone on to serve his 6 year obligation to our country including a tour in Vietnam before he played in the NFL. That kind of commitment is rare today (Pat Tillman embodied it). I loved watching the Cowboys whenever they were on one of our two and a half channels. (One channel was more like radio than TV.) Roger really showed you how to handle yourself no matter what happened in the game. He was poised and reserved. He did his job, and he waited until the game was over to celebrate. (Sounds a little like someone else, but that’s another story.)

The Steelers…they were the enemy. They were rough and mean and were always stalking my Cowboys, waiting for any chance to take away what rightfully belonged to them. Several times they did, right before my eyes. I hated Terry Bradshaw. In my young eyes, he was everything that Roger was not. And, worst of all, he was the leader of the pretenders to the throne. I have to admit I had a soft spot for Joe Greene after his Coke commercial came out, but all I could think was “How can a nice guy like that play for the Steelers?” I was sure he got a good talking to by the rest of his team. Did I mention I hated Terry Bradshaw?

At the Super Bowl they were at it again. My Cowboys were there to receive their deserved championship trophy and the Steelers were there to lie and cheat and yank it away. But Roger and the boys would have none of that. They really turned up the heat that day. While the offense did their thing, the defense painted a target on Mr. Bradshaw and everybody took their shot. They really clobbered him. They did everything by the book of course, but that was before a lot of the quarterback protection rules we have today. Time after time, he would come to the line and they would just lay him out. It was late in the game, and they were still pounding him when he really took a shot. Two of my guys were coming full speed as he was scrambling, and they sandwiched him. I think he still feels that one. He was already limping around, but this one really hurt him.

That’s when I saw it. All through the game, I had been watching my guys lay the wood to Terry Bradshaw. What I didn’t see until that moment was that Terry Bradshaw kept coming back. That’s a lot for a 12 year old boy to process. There, staring me right in the face was commitment…determination…perseverance. In that moment, I realized I no longer hated him. I respected him. No, I didn’t switch my allegiance. But I took note of this man. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that this man also had qualities I could admire. I learned about his struggles on and off the field. I learned about how he faced his own short comings and the way he kept coming back. Roger Staubach was my hero from day one. Terry Bradshaw became my hero, and Roger doesn’t mind. I know because he told me so.

Broken Pieces…

It was after 11:00 p.m. as I drove down Kingston Pike. Like so many times before, the light shown brightly, and I had to pull the car over. No one else was around, so I took my time. After carefully considering my options, I said, “I’d like a blueberry cake donut. And may I have a regular cake donut dipped in chocolate?” The nice lady replied, “Sure thing. Just pull around.”

So, there I sat, counting out the money and waiting for that donut goodness to come into the car window. I wondered which one I would eat first. I really like the way the blueberry taste combines with the crisp texture of the sugary glaze. But I also really like the way the rich chocolate icing compliments the simple goodness of the cake donut. Decisions, decisions. So, I waited…and waited. It seemed like five minutes had passed when finally a rather frustrated looking lady appeared at the window.

She apologized for taking so long, and I noticed she had nothing in her hand. (I wondered if this would be another one of those great dissapointments.) She said, “The cake donuts are still warm and they keep falling apart in the chocolate. I’m trying to get you a good one.” With that she darted away. “No, wait!” I called. “Just scoop out the pieces. I’ll take them.” But she was already gone.

She returned moments later with a box and a victorious smile. I thanked her for her trouble, paid and drove away. In the box were two perfect donuts, just what I had ordered. But all I could think about were the beautiful, chocolate covered pieces she was now throwing away. If only she had understood. She didn’t have to make the perfect donut. I would have been happier with the broken pieces.

It’s the same with God. He wants me to come to Him, but I feel so unworthy. I try to clean myself up…to make myself presentable…to put the pieces back together. But then He says, “I wanted what you were before. That’s what I can really use.” He doesn’t say, “Bring me your perfectly ordered life.” He says, “Bring me your broken pieces.” Hear His words:

“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:17-18)
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)

Don’t try to perfect your life. You can’t. Just take Him the broken pieces. That’s what He really wants, anyway.

And There Was Light...

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

These first few lines of scripture provide a marvelous image of God’s character. In them, we see His power, His imagination, His perfection and His desire. Look with me. First, God made the earth out of nothing. He perfectly imagined the elements and the laws that would bond them together to form the rock formations, the soil and the water. He lovingly held this watery rock in His hand in the darkness, enjoying His creation. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light.’” Not the sun. Light. The idea of light. And He was the source.

On days Two and Three He separated the waters, formed land and seas, and created vegetation which brought forth its fruit. All this was warmed by His light. Only on day Four did He create the sun and the moon and the stars to “serve as signs for festivals and for days and years.” Then He placed His little earth in orbit around the new sun and gave it a spin.

Over the years we have learned to count on the sun. It comes up and goes down every day. It’s guaranteed. Many have learned to trust in the sun rather than the Light, the created thing rather than the Creator. Romans 2 even describes people who choose to worship the sun as if it were God. We have a difficult time grasping that. It sounds silly. But in our own way we do the same thing. We also tend to “exchange the glory of the immortal God for images [of created things].”

Encountering Christ, we see our mistake. We repent and turn to Him. But then we spend the rest of our lives struggling to change our focus. All the habits of our sinful nature wars with the truth of God. His desire is to be the true Light in our lives. He wants more than anything to lovingly hold us in the palm of His hand. But He doesn’t force us. He was the first to “love something and let it go.” I want to focus on Him as the source of Light in my life. I don’t need the sun or anything else created. I need my Creator. Once I’m focused on Him, then all the other is in its proper place, and I can truly have abundant life.

In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”