So many people have so many perspectives...

I don't think I have experienced so many emotions as a result of internet browsing in quite a long time. The recent Supreme Court decision to legally recognize gay marriage in all 50 states has produced the largest mixture of reactions that you could imagine. And unfortunately, a lot of it has gotten ugly, especially on the internet.

You have people saying what they feel, what they think, what they think they should think, and stuff that they don't even really know much about. It's like people have no filter when it comes to what they say online, in posts, in comments, and in direct messages even! And in the midst of all the proverbial dust that is getting kicked up, somehow we have begun to see so many different types of people saying all sorts of different things to other people "in Jesus name." And as I look through all these comments, it is obvious that Jesus couldn't have said all of those things, and most likely wouldn't say most of it. At least not the Jesus I read about in the Bible. And as a result of these kind of people, Jesus is made to sound a lot like a judgmental, cold-hearted, hateful person who pushes others away when he doesn't like them. And who is going to listen to or follow someone like that?

So I was super happy when my wife began to write down her thoughts on this complex issue. And with her permission, I would love for you to soak up her God-inspired wisdom.

                                                            

Since when has our culture come to a point where you have to be perfect to be accepted in a church? If this is the case then, somewhere along the line, we have interpreted the Bible incorrectly. We have not gotten past the Old Testament to see the good news in the New Testament. Mark 2:15-17 recounts the dialogue Jesus had with the Jewish religious leaders. All they said was “How could he stand it, to eat with such scum?” (The Living Bible). Jesus replied by saying, “Sick people need the doctor, not the healthy ones.” But yet the Christian culture has been acting a whole lot like the religious leaders who condemned “such scum.”

I was raised in a Baptist church and background. I don’t have anything against Baptists except the fact that I feel like they taught me to condemn the sinner and not the sin. I still cringe when I hear that somebody is gay or has gotten a divorce. But what I have been learning is that Jesus would never do that. He would love them first. Brant always says that all we ever do is to get people to change their behavior before they ever know Jesus, and they die without Jesus, all we have done is sent them to Hell better behaved than before. We must focus on showing them the love of Jesus before we ever try to change their behavior.

I have also learned that a denomination should not define you. We are followers of Christ. No matter what church you come from, we should all work towards the same goal and that’s to bring lost souls to Christ with love. I can see that our culture is changing a lot but I also see the church changing. Christians are starting to realize that we need to end our bad reputation of hurting people and instead love people for who they are.

Now to understand love you need to know God. Did you realize that if there were no God, there would be no understanding of love? “God is love” is what we hear but for some reason I didn’t ever take it seriously. Real love is not the conditional kind – “If you do this for me then I will love you.” Real love is the sacrificial kind where no matter if they take it or ignore it, you still love them. Maybe all of the divorces and all the hurt in our world are because people don’t know what love really means.

I want to encourage you to take one step as a Christian and love somebody without knowing his or her background. That should mean that we treat everybody the same no matter what. And maybe…just maybe that will change how people view Christians, and in turn bring people to Christ.

I was up late last night thinking about what it really means for me to follow Jesus and why it even matters. I was processing what the point of it all even is and how I could articulate this to someone who doesn't quite get the point of following Jesus. And though I feel like it's kind of weird for me to share this simplified story on a blog post, but I think it is important to be able to have a version of your own story that you have processed and then condensed so you can genuinely talk about it anywhere.

This is my story...in a very, very small nutshell:

I was 3 years old when I became a follower of Jesus. So my life before Jesus consisted of learning to walk, run, and ski. However, I distinctly remember the exact time and place when and where I put my trust in Jesus. I was in the hallway between my bedroom and the kitchen. I was there on the ground talking with my dad about Jesus and salvation and I decided right then that this was a life I wanted.

Even though, I was young when I became a follower in Jesus, that simple decision has had a profound impact on my life. I can’t claim that I was messed up before Jesus began to rule my life and then I changed because I didn’t have a ton of will power before 3 years old, and because I have been messed up pretty much my entire life - even after becoming a follower of Jesus. 

But the thing that has profoundly impacted my life is the reality of grace in every space of my life. I can never outrun the grace of God and I can never out-sin the grace of God, no matter how many times I think I have. Knowing that there is a God with a love so vast and inclusive as to love me to the point of death has captured my fascination and continually draws me to Jesus. 

Even though it is taking me a long time and the process is very messy, I am slowly becoming more like Jesus and I wouldn’t trade this life for an easier one. I can be real with a God who will never give up on me. I can have the hope of glory. And I can walk in confidence, knowing that my massive list of imperfections has already been forgiven and forgotten. And now I can know the God of the entire Universe...on a personal level! And this makes it worth it all.

The verses that have left the biggest mark on my life are Romans 5:8...

"God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!"

... and 2 Corinthians 3:5...

"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God!"

What's your story?

I am writing early on a Sunday morning. This time of the week has been called many things over the years. But one of the things that has come to my mind this morning is the fact that this part of the week can often be the most segregated time of the entire week. People usually worship at churches where they feel like they belong. And often that means that they gather together at churches with people who are just like them.

As I was praying this morning for my city and my state, God put this on my heart. I couldn't shake out my head this concept that it is more like Jesus to spend my time around those who don't belong. Jesus was always seen with the outcasts and the misfits. In fact, one time he was even confronted by the Pharisees and scribes (the pastors and church workers of his day) about this in Luke 5:30-32. And he said to them,

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance."

 It made me really reevaluate my priorities as a follower of Jesus. If I am really trying to live like him, what should my social circles look like. If all my friends are just like me - white, male, employed, married, stable family, etc. - then I might not actually be living like Jesus as much as I would like to think.

So as I was letting this thought marinate in my mind this morning, I was drawn to pray that God would give me a heart for those who don't belong.

And I hope he does for you too.

Because the more we embrace people around us who need the love of God - regardless of skin color, social class, or even personality - the more we will begin to look like the One who came to seek and to save the lost.

   On Sunday, November 25th, the Grandmother Hall of Fame saw the passing of one of its foremost members. Louise Cole entered the unhindered presence of the Lord, and left us all missing her terribly.





   When I think of my grandma, many things come to mind. When she would wrap Christmas gifts, she would always hide the names of the recipients somewhere in the designs of the wrapping paper. My brother and I were the designated ones to find the names and distribute the gifts. Also on Christmas, she would always get me a new nutcracker (to add to my enromous collection). On New Year's day, we would always go to her house to watch college football and eat chili that she had prepared. It was at grandma's house that my brother and watched our first Saturday morning cartoons. It was at grandma's house that we first watched The Prestige and Miracle while eating a huge bowl of popcorn and drinking Diet Coke (a favorite of hers). I remember the time when she was about to tear off the head of the umpire who botched a call and made us lose our Little League District Final game. It took everything in my mom's persuasive power to calm her down. She was always our biggest fan. As my brother notes, there were only ever two people he could hear as he was playing, my dad and my gandma. I remember all the times she would take my brother and I to horse pulls in Northern Michigan. It was her goofy way of celebrating the fact that she could see us again after her winter in Florida.



   It was not subtle to anyone that she loved my brother an I, her only two grandchildren. As my grandpa told me today, "You and Benjamin are really the only reasons that grandma wanted to go on living at all. Otherwise, she was anxious to leave this world. She wanted to be with her precious Savior. She wanted to go 'home.'" That was another thing that was not subtle in her life; she was always anxious to meet Jesus face to face. In the songs she played, in the hymns she sung, in the words she spoke, in the letters she wrote us, she displayed an eagerness to be in perfect fellowship with the Lord. That legacy was passed on to us. When I think of her death, I am not overcome with grief. Yes, I do miss her a lot. But I am eternally happy for her. She is better off than all of us. She is experiencing the culmination of her salvation: glorification. It was an eternal joy when she was justified. There was rejoicing in the heavenly court. It was evident to the world to see her her sanctification unfold. But now, as I write, she can finally rest in the fulfillment and culmination of her salvation, the fact that she is completely freed from the presence of sin. Not only that, because her sin has been removed, and Christ's righteous record applies to her, she is granted complete and perfect access to the presence of God with out fear or shame. And in this, I am very happy for her.

   In the wake of her death, I am not angry at God for taking her from me. And I am not overwhelmed with my own finity, though it does come closer to home now. Instead, however, I yearn to leave a legacy of love and faithfulness only half as well as she did. I want to make every moment count. I want to live my purpose all the way to the end. And when I finish this race, I desire with everything in me to hear the Savior say, "Well done."

   P.S. Give Jesus a hug from me, Weezie.



Adapted from my journal on September 13, 2012:

   I am thinking about the word Hosanna. So often when we sing it, I think we think it means "Praise God!" But it means the equivalent of "Lord, save me!" And if we knew what it meant, I wonder if we would sing it differently. I have definitely been singing it differently lately.

   I need God to save me. I mean, he already saved me at a justification level. But that's not what I mean. I need God to save me at a daily-save-me-from-myself-and-everything-pressuring-me level. I need him to save me from not being able to pay for school, my car, and food. I need him to save me from my own selfishness. I need him to save me from failure to complete my school work well. I need him to save me from my anger. I need him to save me from the agony of waiting... But most of all, I need him to save me from a failure to seek him, to feel his love, to love him back, to know him, and be close to him. I am in such danger of not being close to God.

I need God to save me.

   I need his salvation.

   Everyday.

   In everything.

   Hosanna!