G.A.M.E.

Evangelical Christians claim to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Yet how many actually do have a relationship with him that is personal? Relationships involve give and take, mutual interaction and dialogue. Marriages that lack this grow stale. If I relate to my wife by giving her a daily list of things to do or by telling her about my thoughts and never ask her what her thoughts or feelings are, then our relationship becomes impersonal. I will know little about her. She will not know that I care about her. To have a personal relationship with my wife, I must listen to her as well as speak.

Our relationship with God should work the same way. Jeremiah 33:3 says, ‘Call to me and I will answer you.’ (emphasis added). God wants us to give him our praises, our struggles, and our questions. And in return he also wants to give to us counsel, encouragement, and consolation. This interaction becomes the fabric of our relationship. The more frequent and honest our give-and-take with Jesus, the more personal it becomes.

This is understandably uncomfortable. God may be personal, but he is also different from us in some critical ways. He is invisible. He is transcendent; that is, he is far above our understanding. He is all-powerful. He is completely holy.

So, while we may look for give and take in our relationship with Jesus, oftentimes the main thing we hear is silence. It is no wonder Christians struggle to make their relationship with him a truly personal one. Silence in conversation usually feels awkward.

While it’s true that God tells us over and over in his word to seek him and to love him, we must suspend our expectations of how he will respond to us. As we seek to know God personally, we must not lose sight of his transcendence.

Jesus wants us not to just know about him, but to actually have a deep, personal relationship with him - to know him and to be known by him. John 17: 3 says, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." If you look at the Greek origin of the word translated "knowing," it refers to the most intimate of relationships. He wants our relationship with him to be a deep and intimate.

• Forgive someone you haven’t been able to forgive (and then tell them about it).
• Confess the sin you’ve been hiding.
• Make a phone call to someone who would never expect to hear from you.
• Apologize and say, "I’m sorry."
• Invite a friend to church.
• Come back to God.
• Give something away to someone who has a need.
• Tell someone about God.
• Something else?

Place your fears in the strong arms of your Heavenly Father, and then trust Him enough to jump without reservation. When you’re not willing to jump, you miss out on the spiritual ride of your life… your eyes big as saucers and screaming at the top of your lungs, "THAT WAS GREAT … LET’S DO THAT AGAIN!"

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" ~ Proverbs 3:5

Many think because of my position as a leader that I never struggle with the common things they struggle with. Somehow many believe leaders are spiritual super-beings who can defeat Satan with their mighty "bible knowledge". Let me set those people straight. I am no spiritual superhero. I am not exempt from the very temptations, frustrations and challenges that you face. I’m simply a man who struggles with the same things you struggle with.

That being said, I’ve always tried to be transparent in ministry and on my blog. I don’t want to come across as perfect or someone that has-it-all-together. Instead I want you to know that because I struggle it causes me to search, and searching is good. Because I struggle it burns in me a desire to search for ways to become more like my Savior.

I wonder at times why I continue to blog, but something tells me that I am not alone in my journey to become more like my Savior. I have a feeling there are others who struggle like I do and because of it they are searching for ways, better ways, to overcome those struggles. If we can make this journey together … I think it makes it easier.

I just want us to be real about our faith. Let your faith be who you are and how you live, not just something you do on Sundays. In a sense, throw out your religion and simply search for a faith that is as pure as gold. Allow God to teach us today that the gospel begins with love. Love that is unyielding, unending, relentless, aggressive, passionate and merciful. Now if I can just get that through my thick skull.

  “Where are you from,” he asked.
“Bedford, Pennsylvania” I answered.
The architect sighed a lungful of mountain air. San Francisco sits on the west coast and is known for its famous bridge, hill topping trolleys, and homosexual community. Bedford is in the south-central Pennsylvania, where the Bible buckles its belt. If there is stigma surrounding what it means to be a homosexual from San Francisco, there is equal preconception of what it means to be a Christian from "Pennsylvania". While people in San Francisco cross the Golden Gate bridge and eat good seafood, Bedfordites go to church on Sunday and enjoy a diet rich in south-central Pennsylvania Christianity. We’re good at hospitality, but not always genuine acceptance. We sometimes get so hung up on being conservative that we forget to be compassionate.
The architect sighed, and with a smirk that obviously masked something like frustration or hurt or betrayal, he said, “Don’t worry. We’re not really as bad as they would have you believe.”
Every group has its opposite. Its rival. Its They. The architect assumed that because I share geography with them, I must also share their political opinions and moral judgments. I do not. He assumed that my culture has conditioned me to hate gay people. It has not. Although many Christians are comfortable condemning homosexuals as sinners, Jesus seems to have been comfortable associating with, touching, loving, and befriending a planet full of sinful people. Including homosexuals. And heterosexuals. And architects. And artists. And preachers. And people like me…

When we condemn those that Jesus forgives, we stand in danger of becoming the very people that Jesus himself most often condemned.

Quote of the day:
The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.

- Paul Valery

We desperately need to exhaust our personal resources and declare bankruptcy, falling on our knees in dependence before a God who is waiting to be more than our refuge of last resort.  We need brokenness in the worst way. I’d rather we get there through a swarm of bugs than not get there at all.

And that’s how it works: people minister out of their redeemed brokenness. When we’re broken, we move towards dependence on God. He redeems it, finding gold in the trash heap of our life, and once we’ve come through the brokenness, we can listen with appreciative tenderness and pray for others going through a similar trial.  Wild horses are that way - they need to be broken and then they are able to "partner" with their rider.

Like wild horses, God breaks us to help us run faster.

What has brought you to brokenness and a greater dependence on God?