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On many occasions, as I have said goodbye to a friend, my parting words to them have been, “Be courageous!” I have said this for a number of reasons. First, we are all in a fight. Everyone you know is in a fight with the world, the flesh, the devil, and with the profound consequences of living in a fallen world. In our world courage is essential and we face the temptation to give up or to act out. Second, I heard something or sensed something in that particular conversation with that friend at that time which told me they needed courage. Third, we can travel through life with either timidity or with courage. The journey is the same by way of circumstances but the journey is far different in terms of both the experience of the journey and the outcomes of the journey. A journey that we undertake with timidity involves emotional fear and generally poor outcomes. It is a very draining journey. The same journey, taken with courage, involves emotional hope and generally better outcomes.

A man by the name of William James once wrote, “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult undertaking which, more than anything else, will determine its outcome.” In my own experience this is true. I think this general principle applies in relation to courage as well.

So, to paraphrase Mr. James, “It is our level of courage at the beginning of a difficult undertaking which, as much as anything else, will determine its outcome.”

2 Tim 1:7 puts it this way, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

God is not the dispenser of fear. Fear comes from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Fear comes from falsehood and confusion and lack of faith. Fear comes from not being loved or not feeling loved. God is not the dispenser of fear.

God is the Dispenser of power. He gives to us the enabling ability of His Spirit to do what we need to do. He gives us the freedom to do what we should do. He gives us the raw strength to walk in the light. 2 Peter 1:3 and Philippians 4:13.

God is the Dispenser of love. He gives to us abundant love from Himself and He gives to us the enabling ability of His Spirit to love others well—indeed to love them as we love ourselves. God is love. 1 John 4:9 and John 3:16, 17. God loves us—past tense, present tense, and future tense.

God is the Dispenser of discipline. He gives to us sane thinking and the Spirit-control/self-control to do that which is right and just and God-honoring. Gal 5:22, 23 and Eph 5:18. He gives us all that we need to face the challenges of life with courage and wisdom and good choices.

The spirit of sanity, courage, power, love, and discipline comes from God and enables us to live skillfully in the difficult journey of life. This inner spirit also enables us to travel that journey without being emotionally battered and personally drained.

As a person gains spiritual maturity, relational maturity, and emotional maturity he or she is able to navigate even intense and bitter circumstances with both grace and courage. I am not saying that nothing bothers them or nothing fazes them. I am saying that they are able to honor God, bless others, and live an “emotionally and relationally sustainable” kind of life. They are not worn down to levels where they blow up, harm others, or quietly begin a passive/aggressive rebellion against God and others.

We are a week into 2010. You may have already experienced some challenges and fears and threats and unknowns and confusions. You may have had plenty of issues and fears that “transferred forward” from 2009. Be courageous!

Gaining courage that comes from God, rather than from self-confidence or positive self talk/spin, is a factor of several things.

Gaining courage from God involves walking closely with God. It is in the intimate presence of the sovereign, all-powerful God of creation that we feel courageous.

Gaining courage from God involves continual immersion in the Word of God so that we know what is true and embrace what is true. It is in the regular ingesting of truth and recalibrating of perspective that we get courage.

Gaining courage from God involves incessant prayer to God. Jesus told a parable in Luke 18 to teach that “men ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) This verse gives only two options: pray continually or lose heart.

Gaining courage from God also involves trust in God—a raw faith that is based not on sight but on the certainty of the faithfulness of God. Hebrews 11:1, 6.

If you look at these four statements about how to gain courage the common denominator in all four is God. It is His presence, His Word, His communication, and His faithfulness that gives courage. The state of the world and the levels of self-coping ability do not give much reason to be courageous in 2010. But God…He Himself gives reason to be courageous.

“That is a stunning dress you have on.” “You shot a stunning round of golf.” “That was a stunning performance of Handel’s Messiah.” “The sunset was just stunning.” “His indifference was stunning.” “I want to show them stunning kindness.”

In our world of hyperbole the word “stunning” is used a stunning number of times and in a stunning number of ways. (Forgive me.) However, “stunning” is a word that should really be reserved for very few things. If every American practiced plain and honest speech the word “stunning” would certainly take a precipitous drop in usage.

Please consider this definition and list of synonyms for stunning: “Causing or capable of causing emotional shock and loss of consciousness, of a strikingly attractive appearance. Impressive, surprising, commanding attention, arresting, sensational, disorienting, beautiful, striking, brilliant, remarkable, smashing, heavenly, spectacular, marvelous, splendid, dazzling, gorgeous, out of this world, jaw-dropping, staggering, shocking, astonishing, extraordinary, unexpected, startling, astounding.”

To be physically stunned is to be slammed with an object or a drug or a bullet and to be momentarily paralyzed and incapable of acting and in terrific pain. This is what happens when a person is hit with a “stun gun” or when a bear is hit with a tranquilizer dart or when a person is hit with a 2 by 4 across the brow. To be physically stunned is a fairly rare and bitter experience. We reserve the concept of “physically stunning” for very few things. Thankfully I cannot remember the last time I was physically stunned.

So if being emotionally stunned is as rare as being physically stunned, and I think it is, the word stunning is widely overused.

By this time you are thinking, what in the world is Dave worried about this for? Has he suddenly become the local lexical police? Are we paying him to write articles about overused words? No, I am not the local lexical police and I hardly care how often most words are used. You are paying me to write articles about God and about loving Him well and that is exactly where I am going with this.

I said all this to say that one of the very few proper uses of the word stunning is when it is applied to the God of the Bible.

He truly is stunning, causing emotional shock and loss of consciousness, of a strikingly attractive appearance, impressive, surprising, commanding attention, arresting, sensational, disorienting, beautiful, striking, brilliant, remarkable, smashing, heavenly, spectacular, marvelous, splendid, dazzling, gorgeous, out of this world, jaw-dropping, staggering, shocking, astonishing, extraordinary, unexpected, startling, astounding.

“Stunning” and all the rest of these words are not adequate to describe the God of eternity but they are the best we have in the English language. I doubt if other languages can do any better when it comes to really describing the God of almighty power. Still, “stunning” is a good word to apply to this self-existent Being.

God is a Being who is capable of causing emotional shock and loss of consciousness. People in the Bible who encountered Him did experience emotional shock and loss of consciousness. God is a Being Who will stun you and me when we encounter Him. God is a Being of such unimaginable existence that He will stun kings and presidents and CEO’s and sports super-stars and multi-billionaires and super models and princes and prima donnas of every description.

The most arrogant and jaded and capable and wealthy and intelligent and powerful and driven and domineering and famous and beautiful human who ever walked the planet may treat all other people with belittling disdain. But when this self-important person sees God he or she will be stunned—literally, immediately, totally, and irreversibly stunned. Paralyzed. In shock. Unconscious.

We do not know anyone like God. We do not know anyone close to being like Him. God is unique—He is “a set of One.”

If the Mona Lisa were the only painting ever painted in the history of humankind it would be truly unique—it would be stunning—it would be a set of one. While it is a wonderful and famous painting it is hardly “truly unique, stunning, and a set of one.” There are billions of paintings done by humans out there and for my money there are plenty of paintings that I like better than the Mona Lisa—a lot better. (Take a look at “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt to see what may be my favorite painting of all time.)

God is a set of One. Could it be that we have a stunning lack of understanding about Who He really is? Could it be that we are not at all clear about what He is really like and what is really true of Him and how He really exists?

For the next 7 Sundays at CBC we are going to make a valiant effort to get a better understanding of “this stunning God” and of how sane and humble people respond to a God like this—to a God that causes emotional shock and loss of consciousness.

You know the story. I know the story. People who do not believe the story know the story. People who know almost nothing about Israel or Judaism or Christianity or America know the story. “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of …” (Luke 2:1) From here the story goes to a Baby born in Bethlehem and angels announcing His birth and wise men worshiping the Child and parents fleeing with the Baby to Egypt and babies killed in Bethlehem and so forth. It is the Christmas story.

We tell the story over and over as we should. It is a terrific story. More accurately it is the terrific story. It is the story of rescue and of God coming down to dwell with man and the story of hope and joy and love. It is the story of Life coming down to overwhelm death and crush sin. There is no better story.

One trap in telling the story is that we are too familiar with the story and we tell it without really hearing it and without really feeling it and without really responding to it. We lose the miracle of it because we know it so well. We have heard it so often that we are not moved intellectually or emotionally or volitionally.

Another trap in telling the story is that we romanticize it and idealize it until we have created the picture of the nativity scene which is all warm and glowing and radiant and joyous and sweet smelling and utterly perfect. The nativity scene is subjected to the “Thomas Kinkaid Effect” and while nostalgic and feel-good, it is not true. Maybe we should have a church-wide “Annual Sleep in a Barn Night.” That would help us with the reality of the nativity!

Bed: As in, “a manger or animal feeding trough.” (Luke 2:7) Parents in America spend obscene amounts of money on cribs made of hardwood, professionally decorated nurseries, professional photos, alarm systems, and designer baby clothing. This Baby in the story was wrapped up in cloths and laid in a manger—an animal feeding trough. Presumably it was filled with clean hay or something soft and clean. Maybe not. While it was not a designer trough I am confident that Mary and Joseph took initiative to make it a nice trough. Nice trough? Well at least a clean trough.

Barn: As in, “Were you born in” one. “…because there was no room in the inn.” (Luke 2:7) In my mother’s South Dakota upbringing one of the most derogatory things you could say to someone was, “Were you born in a barn?” (Used in a full sentence: “Close the door child you’re letting the heat out!!! Were you born in a barn?”) The implication of the question is that you are about as bright as a milk cow and about as sensible as a goat and about as responsible as a barn cat. Jesus, while bright and sensible and responsible, was indeed born in a barn. He had one of those ignoble beginnings. (It was a harbinger of His ignoble ending.) It was a questionable or shady beginning that made people talk and distrust and belittle Him. After all, “What kind of a dysfunctional family would deliver a child in a barn and put him to sleep in a feeding trough?”

Beyond: As in, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) He was born in a barn. (He was homeless.) As an itinerate minister He “had no place to lay His head.” (He was homeless.) As our sacrifice He was crucified for us in a public place. (He was humiliated.)

The “beyond” is wrapped up in the truth that this homeless Man is God and is our Sacrificial Lamb and is our coming conquering King.

The story is about a Baby but it was first told 2,000 years ago and He is not a Baby anymore.

It seems to me that “keeping Christmas well”, as Scrooge learned to do, means that I enjoy the beauty of the story—soak in the warmth of the joyful time—but then I also move beyond the bed and the barn to live for the God Who is beyond the Baby.

Let me say this another way. It is wonderful and good to sing Silent Night with lighted candles in a hushed and beautiful sanctuary. It is one of my favorite evenings of the year and it is all good. But “keeping Christmas well” certainly means that I also move beyond that wonderful, one-hour experience to walk in the light all year long and to spread the light all year long and to be more concerned about the One born in a barn than about the bed and bath in my own home.

For us as followers of Jesus the “bed and barn” is the easy part. Now it is the “beyond” in which we now live and which becomes the great adventure. In God’s terrific Story the bed is good and the barn is good and the beyond is also great.

Have a Merry “Bed and Barn” Season and a Happy “Beyond” too!!!!

You might be surprised at what I consider to be the best gift I ever gave. It was not the most expensive gift I ever gave. It was not the most beautiful gift I ever gave. It was not the most flamboyant gift I ever gave. And, it was not the most sentimental gift I ever gave. Still I think it was the best.

For our 25th wedding anniversary I wanted to give Kathi a special gift. I wanted to express my love for her in a clear and substantial way. (Besides, when a woman of her character and beauty and giftedness was willing to stay married to a man like me for a quarter of a century she deserved something nice!) So I gave her a new, rather large, pine armoire. It stands about 6’6” tall, is about 4’ wide, and about 2’ deep. The upper 2/3rds of the piece is shelving behind two big doors. The lower 1/3rd of the piece is two large drawers that stretch across the entire piece.

As I said it was simple pine and really not all that well built as far as a fine furniture maker would see it. It was not shoddy but certainly does not have the kind of joints that are nearly invisible and the kind of corners and doors that are absolutely straight. The defects in the piece are obvious but still endearing.

On Craig’s List today it might go for $250. Or maybe $400. Or maybe just $150. But it certainly would not go for $3,000.

The reason I consider this to be the best gift I ever gave is because it is the gift with the most of me in it. I made the piece—over the course of 8 months—and I put a lot of me in it. I put in my time and a lot of it—sometimes hours at a stretch and sometimes 40 minutes in the late night when I was exhausted and wanted to be in bed. I put in my sweat and energy and a little blood. I put in my vision for how it would finally look. I put in lots of thought. I put in my problem solving skills to address numerous little issues that I had not anticipated in my very rough sketch that passed for a “plan.” I put in my passion for wood and for woodworking. I put in my passion for creating something out of not much. I put in it my love of simple things and my love of beautiful things.

It was my best gift ever because it had the most of me in it. The best gifts have the most of us in them.

I am not arguing that you need to make every gift you ever give. I am simply saying that the essence of a good gift is giving a piece of yourself—your money, your time, your thought, your passion, your energy, your memory, and your intentionality.

The best gifts contain the most of yourself. When someone gets one of your best gifts they can see that you are in that gift in some way.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”

Our greatest impact is in the area of our greatest passion.

Several years ago I was at a meal with a family I barely knew and I engaged in conversation with a teenage girl across the table from me. For the first half of the meal she had been polite enough but fairly quiet and not enjoying the time too much. So I asked her a few of the basic questions: How old are you? What grade are you in? What is the name of your school?

Then I asked her my “signature young person’s question.” I said to her, “What are you into—skate boarding, counted cross stitching, track, rodeo, scrap booking, music, bug collecting?” She smiled at the craziness of my list and said, “I am into drama.”

“Drama, really—that’s terrific! What kind of parts have you played? How long have you been doing drama?” I asked.

These questions transformed the quiet teenager who was waiting for the meal to be over so she could head up to her room. She got excited and energetic and began to tell me about her past parts and how she got interested in drama and about the current play that her drama club was working on and what she liked most about acting and how she hoped acting would play some part in her future. She was a starkly different girl than the one who was waiting to leave the supper table.

In short, this girl came alive.

She came alive when someone took an interest in her but more specifically she came alive when someone showed a genuine interest in her personal passion—acting.

If it is true that our greatest impact is in the area of our greatest passion, this girl should do all she can do to make acting a part of her life—either professionally or as part of the local community drama group. The world needs her to be engaged in that which makes her come alive.

As I think about the things that make me come alive the core things are these: significant connection with God (and this does not happen every day for me), joyful relationship with Kathi (and this happens most days for me), experiencing personal transformation toward maturity and fruitfulness, influencing others to personal transformation, influencing “systems” (like churches or schools) to corporate transformation, experiencing joyful relationships with others in which I do not have to “perform” or “be somebody” other than myself, engaging the wilderness, pioneering ventures, seeing new places, challenges for which the available resources do not seem adequate, restoring broken things, building rustic furniture, participative team leadership, creative communication—in speaking or writing or acting.

To the degree that I can do these kinds of things I come alive and I am, I believe, more like God created me and more useful to God and thus making more impact on the world.

Here then is the question: “What makes you come alive?” “Is it skate boarding, counted cross stitching, track, rodeo, scrap booking, music, or bug collecting?” “Is it reading, influencing, creative writing, building, acting, fixing, gardening, running, drawing, researching, helping, organizing, or gift giving?” “Maybe it is accounting, restoring, networking, affirming, encouraging, or adding value?”

Your assignment has two parts and will be graded on the basis of neatness, grammar, content, follow through, and creativity:

Part A—due tomorrow: Write down 3 to 7 things that “make you come alive.”

Part B—due the rest of your life: Fight to do those 3 to 7 things the rest of your life.

One of the most enjoyable nights of my life was leading three fire crews to fight four small forest fires. I spent the entire night shuffling fire fighters and equipment back and forth across the mountain between the four fires until they were all contained. It was terrific fun for me. I learned years later that this night with its challenges hooked into a lot of my passions: experiencing personal transformation toward maturity and fruitfulness, influencing others to personal transformation, influencing “systems” (like churches or schools) to corporate transformation, engaging the wilderness, pioneering ventures, challenges for which the available resources do not seem adequate, participative team leadership, and communication.

What are the 3 to 7 things that “make you come alive?” What makes you light up when you talk about it? What is fun for you? (Enjoyment, passion, and aptitude go together.) What have others said makes you come alive? What have you seen high impact from doing? What has made you “come alive” in the past?

A Christian writer named George MacDonald once wrote, “A man begins to die who quits his dreams.”

Here is the paraphrase: “A person begins to die who quits his or her passions.”

We really are more alive when we are engaged in our passions and we really make greater impact.

Life has periods of pure and extended “Blah!” You know what “Blah!” is like in your life so please humor me while I take a stab as describing this state of “Blah!”

First, there is a blandness and sameness and boredom to life. You are not necessarily depressed and there is not necessarily a crisis. But there is a feeling that your routine has metastasized and that the walls of the rut of life are deeper and steeper than ever.

Second, there is nothing changing up ahead and nothing exciting on the horizon. You look ahead and for the next weeks and months, maybe even years, all you see is the same dull routine. The future horizon is unbroken—just the same old, same old extending into the future—like when you get between two mirrors and your image is reproduced right next to itself countless of times—growing ever smaller into the misty distance.

Third, your entire life feels like responsibility. Life is a massive and growing and unending “to-do list.” Everywhere you turn there is work for you to do and things for which you are responsible. You find yourself thinking, “Do other people not have to do all these things or do they hire someone or are they just that much smarter and more energetic than me?”

Fourth, you are not excited about anything. Even the stuff that used to give you life and energy feels dull. Where you used to be very glad for the day off to ride your bike or work in your garden or golf, now you just feel at loose ends. You are as likely as not to wander around the house and putter on stuff.

Finally, your emotions are flat. As I said, you are not necessarily depressed but you are not experiencing joy and happiness either.

What can we do when life is “Blah!”? Where do we turn to find some new and holy excitement? (I say “holy excitement” because in times of “Blah!” it is so easy to find “new and unholy excitement.” More about that in a minute.) Here are some of the foundational choices for dealing with “Blah!” Please understand the basic truth, first taught to me by my mentor Jim Herrington: “If you keep doing what you have been doing you will keep getting what you have been getting.”

The paraphrase: “You cannot address and correct “Blah!” by continuing with what you have been doing.” Or, “The definition of insanity, or the definition of deception, is to keep doing what you have been doing and expect different results.”

Here are several new choices for fighting “Blah!”

Lean into God more. You may find this the “spiritual-thing-to-say” and thus a throw away paragraph. “Everyone knows this but it does not really help!” may be your attitude about this. However, there is nothing “Blah!” about God and the closer we get to Him the further we get from “Blah!” In Himself God is beautiful and majestic and powerful and glorious and absolutely amazing—indescribably unique. And as if that were not enough He is also engaged in a great Mission. He invites us both into intimacy and to worship of Himself and into the adventure of His great Mission. Nothing about God or His Mission is “Blah!” He is the greatest Being in existence and His is the greatest mission possible.

Do not “Stick your hand in the cookie jar.” One of the greatest temptations in the state of “Blah!” is to “act out” in some inappropriate or immoral behavior. Boredom and “Blah!” are responsible for a great deal of adultery and embezzlement and stealing and vandalism and gossip and experimentation with substances—controlled and otherwise. There is never, ever, ever a good outcome for sticking your hand in the cookie jar. Never.

Lean into your family more. Drawing near to your family—especially in new activities and new conversations—is a very high-leverage choice for reducing “Blah!” For example, one of the greatest failures in marriage is failing to renew the romance and the energy and the fun together. Sometimes the relationship is so far down the slope of boredom that it seems impossible to regain any of the early energy that you enjoyed in being together. It is not impossible. It will take some hard work but it is doable. Try this: Carve out a Saturday. Put the whole family in the car. Go to “The Egg and I” for breakfast. Get back into the car and say, “Where are we going?” I dare you! I triple dog dare you!

Lean into your friends more—including making some new friends. Our friends are a major part of the enjoyment and blessing of life. Cultivate the relationships. Pull them out of their routines. Do something different together. Do some impromptu things. Travel together. Camp together. Eat together. Tackle a project together. And, if you must, play a board game together. (No thanks, please do not call me.)

Change your routine. This is not a “heart-level” and “get to the core of the issue” action but it is a useful action. Change in routine can be very helpful in changing perspective and climbing out of a rut and fighting “Blah!” Move the couch. Drive home a different way. Get a gourmet recipe off the web and fix something for dinner other than the “Thursday evening meatloaf.” Vacation in a place none of you have ever been before. Call up friends at 11 PM and say, “Can you meet us at 59 Diner for breakfast—right now?” Gather 5 friends and schedule a hike across the Continental Divide or a bike ride across Arkansas or a trip to the tree-top ropes course over by Austin.

Learn a new habit or a new skill. Take a community education course in photography or cooking or wood burning or kite building. Learn to wind surf. Buy the CD’s and learn Spanish. Build a picnic table or a deck or a table or a clock or a kayak from a kit. Learn to paint with watercolors.

Courageously pursue that “back-burner-thing-you-have-said-you-were-going-to-do-for-18-years” thing. Start the book. Drive to Big Bend National Park. Build the garage apartment. Redo the landscape. Go on the F2F trip to build a home in Acuna or go to India with the outreach team or join the effort in England next summer called “London Bridges” as we reach out to Muslims.

If your life still feels “Blah!” next month you have no one to blame but yourself. “Chain-saw sculpture anyone?”

Years ago I was stranded in the St. Louis airport by a blizzard. I was flying from Dallas to Chicago to spend Christmas with my parents and got hung up when the entire St. Louis airport was closed.

Most of us who were stuck there were frustrated as the hours wore on and we sat or walked or napped or ate and generally stared at the blizzard raging outside—great volumes of whiteness traveling sideways. The airport should have been closed. I was far happier to be sitting in that airport than to be in an airplane flying through that weather.

One man was beyond frustrated—he was out of control. He kept complaining loudly and bitterly. He periodically stormed the gate station and belittled and berated the gate agent—as if she was personally responsible for a blizzard. At one point he turned away from berating the gate agent and shouted out to all of us, “The word is out, never fly Ozark Airlines!” Truthfully, this angry man was not saying anything about Ozark Airlines and he was not saying anything about the gate agent and he was not saying anything about the storm. He was only saying things about himself. With great clarity he was repeatedly saying to all of us that he was angry and impatient and devoid of compassion and foolish and not in control of himself. His messages were all about himself.

Through our words, actions, attitudes, and relationship choices we are habitually saying things about ourselves to other people.

Grateful people are revealing some significant things about themselves—they are spilling out oceanic personal revelation of their inner lives to others. Here is what grateful people are saying to those around them—they are saying:

“I understand that I am dependent.” Grateful people make it clear that they know about their inability to provide for themselves and to make life work for themselves. They are people who understand their finiteness and their need for outside help.

“I understand that God is my provider.” They know that God must help them. They have experienced the reality of God opening His hand to provide for them and help them and deliver them from trouble. They are very clear in their hearts and minds about the nature of God as their Provider and Protector and Helper.

“I am mature.” They are telling us that they have grown enough to understand their place in the universe. They have grown enough to have a grip on how to act in the ups and downs of life. They are showing us that they have the maturity to see the gifts that come to them and to know that the gifts have come to them despite their lack of personal merit in receiving those gifts.

“I controlled by the Holy Spirit.” One of the key traits of a Spirit controlled person is gratitude. When we are submitted to the control of the Spirit He builds into us greater and greater levels of thankfulness. We see more and more clearly our own need and the generosity of our Father. We see more and more clearly the reality that things that look “good” may not be good and that things that look “bad” likewise may not be bad.

“I have a long-haul perspective of life.” Grateful people are revealing another piece of their worldview—namely that life is a long run and that any blessing that comes to us in that run should be treasured and should be acknowledged to God.

Today is Thanksgiving Day. People who are grateful on Thanksgiving Day may only be going along with the Hallmark Calendar. They may simply be grateful on Thanksgiving Day and loving on Valentine’s Day and reflective on Memorial Day and affirming on Mother’s Day. But people who are thankful all year long are first of all connected with reality. And secondly they are shouting to us — revealing their maturity and sanity and a life controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Most often we want the Bible to be a comforting Book. And it is. It is a Book that assures us of many wonderful things:

• “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16, 17

• Beyond this most famous statement of the love and grace of God we could list verse after verse after verse that speaks of the love of God, the grace of God, the kindness of God, the protection of God, the provision of God, the good plans of God, the beautiful destiny from God, the hope given by God, the intense involvement of God, the oceanic patience of God, the second chances given by God, the beauty of God, the nurturing work of God, the kindness of God, the generosity of God, the goodness of God, the forgiveness from God, and the comprehensive blessing of God toward each of us.

These are all comforting things and we are truly grateful for them. This does not even scratch the surface of the comforting things in the Bible. Be comforted.

Truthfully, the Bible is not only a comforting Book, it is also a very hard Book—at times quite a disturbing Book. It says things that offend our sense of American fairness. It says things that offend our sense of American independence. It says things that offend our sense of self-will. It says things that assault our definitions of sin and our beliefs about how we should be able to act and what we should be able to say and think. The Bible says things that contradict our belief systems at many points. For example:

• “God forgives me in just exactly the same way that I have forgiven those who have sinned against me.” Matthew 6:12
• “You did not choose Me but I chose you.” John 15:16
• “If a man even looks at a woman with lust in his heart he has committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 6:28
• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 6:44
• “If they persecuted the Master they will also persecute His disciples.” John 15:20
• “In this world you will have tribulation.” John 16:33
• “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20
• “You cannot serve two masters; for either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Matthew 6:24
• “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
• “Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be the slave of all.” Mark 10:44
This does not even scratch the surface of the disturbing things in the Bible. Be disturbed.

The Bible has comforting parts and disturbing parts and if it is all the inspired and inerrant Word of God, which we at CBC believe it is, then it is all valuable and all true and all helpful to us—whether we find a given verse to be comforting or disturbing.

To have integrity in our stance toward the Bible we must be people who let the Bible say what it says. We must let the Bible say what it says and align our lives with what it says—both when it says comforting things and when it says disturbing things.

We may not be defining “good” the way that God defines it but everything the Bible says is for our spiritual good. Everything. Be comforted. Be disturbed.

Do you have an upcoming meeting or event that you are dreading?
Do you have one that you are rejoicing?

It seems to me that we all anticipate upcoming events—either waiting excitedly for something or dreading something in the future. I don’t think that we can not anticipate. There may be a rare few who so live in the moment or who are so disorganized that they do not remember what is coming up who do not anticipate. For the rest of us anticipating is a regular and inescapable feature of our lives.

One of my great weaknesses in life is dreading an upcoming event—either because I know it will be bad or because I am afraid that it will be bad. I have a gift for pouring emotional energy out on the ground about something that is coming in the next day or month. I think about the event obsessively and I worry about it and I decide that the worst case scenario will happen—I sinfully waste emotional energy on the thing I am dreading.

However, there are also cases where I draw huge renewal and gain emotional energy of the anticipation of a positive event. When I am going to have a week off and can rest and see some new scenery I anticipate it with real excitement. While waiting for the event or time I am renewed by thinking about it. I gain emotional energy for example by anticipating a visit from friends and I gain emotional energy by them actually visiting.

In regards to anticipating a positive event or time I think the lesson is to milk that anticipation for all the emotional renewal you can possibly gain. Take courage and renewal and get any increased emotional energy you can possibly receive from a joyful anticipation of that event. Truthfully the coming joyful event is a gift from God to you and to each one of us. That joyful event is a gift of renewal and a reminder of the love and generosity of God.

In regard to the dread of approaching negative events I think the lesson is to minimize the dread and minimize the wasted energy. Now you are surely thinking, “Dave that sentence is a great example of keen insight into the obvious.” I agree. Maybe I could redeem myself by saying how we might actually do that.

One piece of the “how to avoid wasting emotional energy” certainly deals with the issue of prayer, trust, and casting both ourselves and the situation on God for His work. It involves recognition of His power and compassion. It represents recognition of His terrific love for each one of us.

Another piece of avoiding wasted emotional energy is to reflect on the nature of God and His deep love for us. We need to remind ourselves of His goodness and His mercy and His generosity and His deep commitment to our maturity. Our lives can be wonderfully recalibrated by a truthful focus on the nature of the God Who loves us.

An additional key for conserving emotional energy is to live, as Jesus commanded, in this day—in today and not in tomorrow. Today has its own trouble without borrowing trouble from tomorrow and thus carrying a double load today.

A final piece of this work surely involves God’s command to, “Cast your cares on Him for He cares for you.” God is expecting and even commands that I let Him carry my cares. We were not designed to carry our own cares. We are made out of dust and we are finite and we are fallible and people like us are not capable of carrying our own cares.

Truthfully the coming difficult event is a gift from God to you and to each one of us. That difficult event is a gift of endurance and growth and it is a reminder of God’s sustaining presence and provision in hard times.

Maximize the energy from the upcoming joyful things and maximize the growth from the upcoming difficulties. I am both leaning on the Lord and fighting to do this.

(Some positive, joyful events on the horizon for CBC: Thanksgiving, Uncle Dave’s Diner, Christmas, New Year’s, Global Outreach Week, Easter.)

What if we are far more American than Christian?

What if we are far more upper-middle class than Christian? What if we are far more ethnic than Christian? What if we are far more loyal to universities than to marriage and the church?

Professing Christian after professing Christian comes up to a trial or a temptation and absolutely flames out because the shape of their heart did not allow spiritual success. They had been shaped at the heart level in ways that were not like Jesus and were not like the Commands of God. They had chosen to shape an “engine” inside of themselves that powered them to sin and duplicity and greed and callousness and selfishness.

I am convinced that many American believers are discipled (formed, defined, shaped, influenced) far more by the culture of America and the affluence of our lives than by the Bible and the values of God Himself.

Affluence and culture influence all of us through advertizing and the arts and the heroes and the pressures of our peers. These pressures to be certain kinds of people and to live in certain ways and to believe certain things (which I will outline below) dovetail so nicely with our sin natures and our bent toward selfishness.

All these forces form our hearts. Our hearts are the engines that power our lives. The full energy and issues and directions of our lives flow out of our hearts. The form of our hearts drives everything else in our lives—everything.

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23

There is a powerful sense in which we cannot form our own hearts—we can only choose the vehicles that will influence and thus form our hearts. I cannot just say to my heart, “Be more generous.” What I can do is: read the Word about generosity, watch people who are generous, practice generosity, read books about generosity, reflect on the merits of generosity, observe those in dire need, listen to songs about generosity and watch films about generosity. As I expose my heart to all of these positive influences toward generosity my heart is bent toward greater and greater generosity.

So as my heart is exposed to American culture it is formed in very sad and twisted ways. American culture and affluence and values influence me—form, define, shape me—by bringing me to:

• …believe that I am a resident of the planet and that I need to be fully invested in time and space.
• …believe that money and material abundance are of utmost value.
• …believe that I am an independent person who is not accountable to others and who does not much need others.
• …believe that I can put all manner of profanity, brutality, insanity, greed, immorality, cynicism, rebellion, dark literature or film, sexual innuendo, and violence into my mind without negative consequences.
• …value personal peace and affluence.
• …value security and belongings.
• …value leisure and experiences.
• …want more and more and more.
• …want freedom from obligation to the larger community of believers or unbelievers.
• …want independence from accountability and scrutiny of my life and choices.
• …not be willing to make sacrifice for others.
• …not value human life.
• …not be a person of compassion toward those who are “outsiders, nerds, jerks, freaks.”

When these beliefs and values are in my heart then my heart will then fuel the rest of my life. My choices and attitudes and words and lifestyle is in absolute conformity with my heart.

I do however have the option of exposing my heart to different influences that create a starkly different heart. God uses the Word to disciple God-like “heart shapes” inside of me—I eventually come to:

• …believe that I am a sojourner on this planet—traveling through to my real home.
• …believe that sacrifice and generosity are of utmost value.
• …believe that I am an interdependent person who needs others and must contribute to my communities.
• …believe that I must guard the gate of my heart so not to fill it with darkness and violence and immorality and greed.
• …believe that I must faithfully fill my heart and mind with whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good epute, excellent, and worthy of praise.
• …value intimate relationship with God.
• …value intimate, grace, and truth relationships with others.
• …value the Word of God.
• …want more and more and more to be like Jesus.
• …want to live under the authorities that God has put over my life.
• …want to be a major contributor to my communities.
• …want to live free from the love of money and things and security.
• …want others to love me and walk with me to the point of asking me hard questions and holding me accountable and giving me encouragment.
• …not live in self-absorption.
• …not devalue human life and not ignore human suffering.
• …not be passive about injustice.

Please understand something: Our hearts will not be shaped into God-like forms if we are casual and careless about them. God-like hearts are only the result of diligent watching and continual exposure to God’s Word.