The Truth Is ... I'm a Mess

"Jesus responds to desire. Which is why He responded to people who interrupted Him, yelled at Him, touched Him, screamed obscenities at Him, barged in on Him, and crashed through ceilings to get to Him. Jesus cares more about desire than about competence."
~ Mike Yaconelli - Messy Spirituality



As I get a little older, I'm coming to realize that spirituality (aka: life with Christ) is messy. It's not as neat and clean as I thought it might be, or as I have been taught. It seems that, contrary to popular belief, Jesus did not wave a magic wand over my life and pronounce me competent in all aspects of the life He has given me. In fact, I'm totally incompetent. I'm a mess. But I'm His mess.

For many years I've been taught to seek perfection. To live a holy life. That sounds like such a noble cause: I want to be a perfect believer; pleasing to God in all things. That's the tradition into which I became a Christian. It's the way of Pentecost. The holiness movement. And the Bible does say, "Be ye perfect even as I am perfect."
Of course, I've been frustrated with my lack of success most days and have seriously wondered how I could have missed the "God-thing" so badly. I don't pray enough. Don't read my Bible like I should. Not as committed as I know I should be. What am I doing in ministry anyhow?
Now I'm learning that I've had the wrong aim a lot of the time. I don't need to seek perfection. I don't need to live my life walking on eggshells and hoping I can "do better" today. I just need to seek God. Trust Him with the mess.

Here's another neat line from this neat little book:
"Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God's being present in the mess of our unfixedness."

Now T-H-A-T-S Great Service!

Twice this morning I experienced exceptional customer service. Twice on the same day. One right after another. You may think I'm making too big a deal out of it, but one of my biggest pet peeves is poor customer service. There's just no excuse for it.

First, I had to take my car in to Hendrick MINI for service. Most of the time I'd rather ask for ice cubes in hell than ask a dealership to service my vehicle. But this was the best experience I've ever had at a dealership. Routine service. All under warranty. No extras. No surprises. "Here's the coffee. Soft drink? Let us know if we can get you anything." And it was ready when they said it would be. Again, no hassles. No hidden agenda. Just a smile and a "thank you" from the service manager.

Then I decided to stop for lunch. There's a Backyard Burgers close by and I couldn't resist. Fast, friendly, courteous service. A clean restaurant. And the best "fast food" anywhere.

I thought about it on the way home. Why is this such a big deal? Why did it make such an impression on me this morning? I think it's probably because great service is so rare these days.

If you want to impress the heck out of someone today, serve them with your very best. That's good advice whether you work on cars, or sell burgers, or serve the Lord in ministry.

An Awesome Weekend

Hi. I'm Olivia. Grandpa is letting me guest blog today. Saturday I came to Charlotte along with my mom and dad. Aunt Emily came home, too. We celebrated Grandma's and Aunt Alisha's birthdays. I got to try some cake with frosting. (Thanks, grandpa!) It was an awesome weekend. Grandpa loved it.

Making God's Day When We Pray (2)

"... the prayer of the upright is His delight."
~Proverbs 15:8

I realize my previous post may have been a bit lengthy; maybe even an incoherent bit of rambling at times. A couple of factors played in: 1) A mind racing ahead of fingers that can't keep up; 2) telephone interruptions; and 3) inmates coming and going. But I meant well.

My point is very simple: God loves it when we pray. The picture of the Lord meeting with Moses, speaking to him "face to face as a man speaks to his friend" is, I believe, what God desires with each and every one of us. Like Moses, He even wants us to ask more. "Show me Your glory!"

If prayer has become a chore for you, maybe it's not even prayer anymore.

By the way, God honored Moses request. He placed Moses on the mountain and let His glory pass by. He even covered Moses ever so gently in the cleft of the rock with His own hand. But that wasn't the end of the story.
About 1500 years later, when Jesus was transfigured before His closest disciples, who was that standing with Him? That's right! Moses! Still having that prayer answered. Still enjoying new revelations of His glory.

Making God's Day When We Pray

"... the prayer of the upright is His delight."
~ Proverbs 15:8

What's your prayer time like? Here's a thought for you: God loves it when you pray. That's right! When Y-O-U pray!
That's what the Bible says. But that's not how many of us feel, is it? For many of us, prayer has been hard work. It's become a chore to be endured rather than a pleasure to be savored. More of a "got to" than a "want to." Many approach prayer with a sense of foreboding and dread; a necessary time to be sure, but far from desirable.
Some say they just don't know what to say in prayer. After all, prayer is talking to God. Why would God care what I've got to say? (He does)
Other are afraid when they pray. There's a tension when we go to pray: as if ... maybe ... what if God is mad at me? (He's not)
For still others, prayer is nothing more than dragging our load of requests before the Lord each day. "God I need this, and I need that, and please help me with the other, and bless so-and-so. Amen."
But the Bible says that my prayers (and yours) are His delight. When we pray it makes His day! He loves it! It shouldn't look like what we've made it out to be. From God's perspective, our prayers are a blast. So what does that look like?

In Exodus 33, Moses was praying. The Bible says he was in "the tent of meeting" where "the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend." No tension. No fear. No apprehension about what kind of a mood the Lord might be in. Just two friends talking.
Now let me paraphrase. God was honked-off at the people because of their sin. (Remember the golden calf?) He just wanted to cut them loose; to send them out on their own to find their way to the Promised Land.
Moses told God he didn't want to go on leading God's people if God's Presence wasn't going to be with them. (Remember, this is two friends talking.) So God said to Moses, "Alright, Moses. I hear you. I'll go with you and lead you." (That's where most of us stop. "Here's what I want, God.")

But not Moses. He was talking to his friend, God. Friends can tell friends anything, or ask anything of their friends, right? So Moses said, "Show me Your glory!" "Let me see what no one else has ever seen. Let me know You like no one else ever has, Lord"
And God did it. (What a Friend, huh?) As Moses stood there on a precipice on Mt. Sinai, God's glory passed by. As He passed, God put Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand. And Moses heard the Lord proclaiming Himself as He passed by.
That's prayer that goes beyond the mundane. Prayer that exceeds the trivial. It's a man and his God enjoying their time together. It's a picture of the delight God finds in the prayers of one that He has called.

Arduous. Exhausting. Grueling. Hard. Laborious. Punishing. Taxing. Toilsome. Wearisome. Those words should never describe our time with the Lord. Prayer shouldn't be a chore like laundry or taking out the trash. God never meant for it to become that for anyone. Our prayers are His delight.

WWJD? ... Indeed!

Found this in the news this morning:

"The Associated Press has prepared an obituary for 26-year-old Britney Spears"


How incredibly sad. I don't know much about Britney Spears. Couldn't name a single song she sings. Obviously the media has made a sport of watching her life self-destruct. And people are watching it, and buying the grocery store tabloids like they just can't wait for the next chapter to unfold in this sad saga.
Now they seemingly can't wait for her demise.

I'm just wondering: Since when is all of this okay? Is our society so heartless and sin-sick that our morbid sense of delight can only be satisfied by this kind of pitiable spectacle? I can't even imagine someone having the audacity to prepare an obituary for a 26 year old who's life is in such distress. Who do these people at the Associated Press think they are?

Folks, this is not okay. This is really sick stuff. How would you like it if the AP put your struggles out there for everyone to oogle over, then decided to write an obituary for you on the assumption that you're not going to be here much longer?

"Jesus Did What?!"

They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!" And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.
~ Mark 7:32-35

I have a very vivid imagination that tends to work overtime as I read the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. I like to put myself right there where the action is. I'm in the crowd, right up near the front so I won't miss anything. I try to imagine the scene, see the looks of the faces, and hear the words being spoken and the murmur of the crowds. Sometimes I can even feel the mood of the people around Jesus - wonder, awe, excitement, hurt, despair, and yes, even anger.

I've put myself on the scene in Mark 7 before. I've been there as they brought the man who was deaf and struggled to speak with any clarity. I've felt that man's trepidation and the deep desire of those who brought him to Jesus to see him healed. They knew Jesus could. It was His season of miracles.
When Jesus took the man by the arm and led him away from the crowd, in my mind, I went with them. Jesus put His fingers in the man's ears (Without washing his hands?), and then spit and touched the man's tongue with the saliva (Oooo! Gross, huh?) I'd seen this scene all before.
But there is something here that I had never seen until today.

"... and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said ..." With a deep sigh? I'd missed that before. Jesus let out a deep sigh, then He prayed and healed the man.

Now I know what it usually means when I sigh deeply. Usually it means I'm angry and beginning to lose patience with something or someone. Sometimes a deep, exaggerated sigh let's everyone know how superior I am to everyone else and how gracious I'm being to even give the little people the time of day. I sigh when I don't like something, don't agree with something, or decide to dig in my heels and be stubborn about something.

But I don't think Jesus' sigh was anything like my sighs. His was the sigh of a Creator who's creation was broken. It was a somewhat sad, maybe a bit mournful, even a little frustrated kind of sigh. A sigh that said, "It's not supposed to be like this. This isn't what My creation is supposed to look like."

I wonder how often Jesus looks at our lives and sighs that same kind of sigh. Even as He makes intercession with the Father for us, I can almost hear it. How often He must look at us with all of our issues, and the baggage we drag around with us, and say, "It's not supposed to be like that. I didn't make him like that."
People in the midst of the pain of separation and divorce. Lonely people. Sick people. Addicted. Homeless. Helpless. Prisoners. People hurting and causing so much hurt for others. It wasn't supposed to be like that.
I think we all illicit a sigh from our Savior every now and again. But then He prays ...

You've Got a Reservation

Excerpted from A Simple Faith Will Do, my someday going to be bestseller.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, …

1 Peter 1:3 - 4

Don’t you love having a reservation? You pull up to your favorite place and notice that there is a long line of people waiting to get in. No matter. You’ve got a reservation.

You step past the waiting crowd and catch the eye of the maitre’d. “I called ahead. I’ve got a reservation. Table for two. The name’s Burger.”

As he checks his list you glance around. You notice people staring, others whispering with nods in your direction. You know what they’re saying. They’re saying, “How’d he get up there?” “He must be someone important; He must know someone. Do you recognize him?”

After just a few moments you hear, “Ah yes! Mr. Burger, Welcome! Right this way” And you are shown to your place.

At that moment you feel like somebody, don’t you? You might have had a lousy day up to that point. You’re boss might have made your day miserable. The kids may have been in trouble and even the dog gave you fits. But none of that matters at the moment. You’ve got a reservation and now you’ve arrived.

After a long, hectic week it’s nice to know you have a reservation at your favorite place, isn’t it? Well, after a long, hectic life it’s nice to know you’ve got a reservation, too.

There’s a reservation with your name on it at the end of this life. Peter said that there’s a place in heaven reserved for you. I’m not sure how it will look, or how it will all work when you get there, but you can be sure of this: You’ve got a reservation. Your place is guaranteed. You’re getting in.

Now this may be a brand new way to see things for you. You may be one of those who worry constantly, “Will I make it to heaven? O, I hope I can just hang on until Jesus comes.”

Maybe you’ve had a bad day or a bad week and you’ve wondered. If so, you can relax. We all have bad days, days where things just don’t go well. We’ve all had those weeks where nothing seemed to go as planned and our whole lives seemed to be unraveling. Situations get sticky and people get testy. Maybe you’ve even lost your temper this week; said something you shouldn’t have or wished people or circumstances were different because you don’t like either right now. Those are the times that we don’t feel much like Christians. Sometimes we just don’t feel very ‘saved’, do we? Here’s a question: What are Christians supposed to feel like, anyway?

I’m not trying to be critical, or to downplay those very real feelings. But the Bible teaches us that “the just shall live by faith.” Feelings come and go. Feelings will fool you. They’ll leave you feeling like a fool, too. This Christian life that we’ve embarked on is a life lived by faith, not feelings.
Feelings are fragile. Faith is not. And your salvation isn’t fragile either. It isn’t something we carry around gingerly; concerned that it may break or won’t last.
Many Christians worry that they might lose their salvation. That’s a question I get asked a lot. “Chaplain, can I lose my salvation? I’ve had a bad week, you know, and I’m kind of nervous about it.” Or, “I’m just not sure I’m saved anymore. It doesn’t feel like it used to. Is it possible I’ve lost my salvation, chaplain?”

I’ve been known to lose some things over the years. I’m really bad about losing things out of my pockets. I don’t mean to do it, but when I’m not paying attention things just seem to slip out and they’re gone. I’ve lost a lot of pocket change that way. In chairs, sofas, cars and everywhere else I sit. I’ve probably lost enough pocket change over the years to put my daughters through college.
I know people who constantly lose their keys. They set them down almost anywhere and then forget what they did with them. But I just don’t believe that you can misplace your salvation like a set of keys. And I don’t believe it can slip away from you like change out of your pockets.

How can you lose something that Jesus called “eternal”? Didn’t Jesus say, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”? And, “My sheep know My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.”

That’s quite a word, isn’t it? Eternal. There’s no constraint on eternal. It’s not bound by time or environment. Conditions can’t change it and feelings can’t foul it. When something is eternal it is forever true and changeless.

I’m so glad Jesus used the word “eternal” in describing this life He’s given us.

Then there is Peter’s description of this hope that we’ve been born again into: … an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
Somebody would have to explain to me how something that the Bible says is “imperishable” and “undefiled” and that “will not fade away” can be inadvertently lost. I just don’t see myself (or you) being able to lose something the Bible says is “reserved in heaven for you”. To think that I can lose what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross of Calvary kind of makes me much more important than I really am, doesn’t it?

Now you might be thinking, “Well, so-and-so used to be a good Christian, but now …” Maybe that’s true, but don’t you think there is a big difference between losing something and openly rejecting something? That would be akin to me taking the change out of my pocket and throwing it as far as I can away from me, scattering it in all directions. I didn’t lose it, I threw it away.

My point here is simply this: God has a place reserved in heaven for you. Jesus said, “There are many rooms in My Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you.”

Feelings come and go. Bad days happen to all of us. That’s all a part of life. There may be many things in this life that bring you cause for concern. You may worry about your children. They don’t always do what we want them to do, do they? You might be concerned about finances. There’s just never quite enough to make ends meet. Just once you’d like to be able to do what you’ve dreamt of doing without the worry about what it will do to the budget. You may stew about things that just don’t seem right in life. But your salvation should not cause you to fret.
No matter how things go in this life, please remember: You’ve got a reservation! That one thought will carry you through the rough patches. One day, you’re going to get there and you’ll know: it was all worth it.

A simple faith will get you there.

Train Up A Child ...

Robert James was a farmer and a Baptist preacher in rural Missouri. One day a stray dog wandered into the preacher's yard. The preacher's two young sons were quickly taken with the dog, running and playing with him as boys will do. Even the preacher became fond of the animal.
The whole family was visibly upset when word reached them that a new family had recently relocated to their town, and that the family's dog had disappeared. The description of the dog matched the stray perfectly - a solid black dog with three white hairs on his tail.

Not wanting to disappoint his sons, the preacher came up with an idea: Paint the three white hairs on the dog's tail black with shoe polish.
When the dog's owners came by, it was obvious that the dog recognized his owners. "But," the preacher subtly argued, "This can't be your dog. He doesn't match the description. There are no white hairs on his tail."

Robert James' family managed to keep the dog. But, in the process, the minister lost his sons. The preacher's sons were Frank and Jesse James.

To Please Him or to Trust Him?

We all want to please God. But what happens when our desire to please Him goes too far.

When we begin to depend upon our efforts to please God, we quickly step out of the territory of trust. We soon begin to trust in our efforts for Him, rather than simply trusting Him. What's the difference?
Well, when I'm living my life to please Him, failure is deadly. In my own mind, when I fall I am not pleasing to Him. So every time I fail, I pick myself up and redouble my efforts to please Him. I try harder. I begin to work harder on my sin, and my shortcomings, and all of the hang-ups in my life - all because I want to please Him.
But it's an exhausting way to live. And when I get tired, I get cranky, maybe even cynical. It's like trying to climb a slippery slope in tennis shoes; progress is painfully slow. Every misstep causes me to feel a bit more like pleasing Him is an impossible goal.

On the other hand, when I trust Him we face my problems together. Me and the Lord take inventory and I stop trying to hide the stuff I know won't please Him. Instead, I trust Him to take care of it for me. I begin to believe His grace is greater than all of the garbage I've been hauling around with me.
When I trust Him, I stop trying to fix it all myself. I can't. By faith, I know He will.

That was Jesus' message to people who'd been striving their entire lives to please God. Their religion had evolved from trusting God - (Abraham "believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness." Gen. 15:6) - to trying to please Him. The method they followed wasn't much different than ours: They followed laws. "Do this, and don't do that." "Keep these laws and God will be pleased with you."
Then one day, they stood before Jesus (John 6:28-29):
They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He hath sent."

"What shall we do?"the people asked. "Believe," Jesus answered. Just trust Him. How freeing is that?
Stop working so hard. Stop worrying. Stop striving to do the impossible. Just trust Him. That's really all He wants from us. You see, to trust Him is to please Him. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him."

I Know the Feeling

My daughter, Alisha, is a second grade teacher. She shared this story with me and, since she doesn't have a blog to share it on, I figured it's fair game.

The other day at recess one little girl got tired of playing outside. She came over and sat down near Alisha to wait for the period to be over and to go back inside. After a few minutes, and apparently tired of waiting, the little girl turned to Alisha and said, "Ms. Burger, I'm boring inside."

Funny stuff! But I think I know exactly how that little girl feels.

The Look of Love

Recorded in Mark 10 is an incredible moment in time. It's one that most of us have experienced ourselves, but one we may have forgotten about as we've gone about the business (and busy-ness) of living the Christian life.
It's the story of the rich young ruler. (That's what we call it. The Bible does say "he had great possessions", but it doesn't say anything about his age.) He ran to Jesus and, falling at His feet, asked what he must do to "inherit eternal life." Jesus gave him the Bible answer; He gave him the commandments to which the man replied "I've done all of that! Since I was a little boy."
Then it happened. Jesus gave him "The Look." Mark 10:21 says, "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, ...

Can't you just feel that? Jesus ... beholding him ... loved him.
Jesus eyes locked on him. At that moment nobody else mattered. Nobody else was even in the same zip code. It was just him and Jesus. And the look in Jesus eyes revealed the depth of love He felt for this wayward man who had so much in this world.
It must have been an extraordinary look. Some twenty to thirty years later, when Mark recorded Peter's recollections of the Savior, he wrote about "The Look."

Do you remember that look? Do you remember the first time Jesus' love penetrated your world like that? All of our learning and growing and planning and doing can carry us far from that moment in time, can't it? But it's that look that changed our lives.

That moment in time when His love overwhelmed us is the moment when the course of the rest of our lives was set.

Happy New You!

Well, it's Janaury 10, 2008. Ten days into a brand new year. I'm just wondering: How are those New Year's Resolutions going?

Yeah, that's what I thought. Me, too. Not that I made any resolutions to begin this new year. I know better. I know me. I'm a real lame when it comes to the sort of self-discipline it takes to keep those resolutions.
It's kind of funny, isn't it? Every year, as we approach another new year, millions of us undergo this rush of incredible resolve. "I'm going to ..." You can add anything you want. Lose weight. Exercise more. Save money. Change my attitude, or eating habits, or whatever. But for the vast majority of us, it doesn't last more than a week or two.

We can't change ourselves. Resolve, or self-discipline, or willpower doesn't get it. The truth is only God can make lasting change in our lives. In fact, that's what He is all about: changing us.
But He's not changing me to make a better me. Far from it.
His plan, and the changes He's making in my life, are all toward making me to be "conformed to the image of His Son." (Romans 8:29)

To be like Christ. That's the goal. And that's His master plan for each of us. It doesn't happen with the turn of a page on the calendar or just because we start another new year. It happens every day, week after week, month to month, over the course of years.
The goal isn't "Have I lost twenty pounds since the first of the year?" Or "Am I watching less TV?" Or any of that stuff. It's "Am I more like Jesus today than I was yesterday? or last month? or last year?" That's God's resolution for us all.

Through a Child's Eyes

After watching his new baby brother dedicated in the church service, three year old Johnny began to cry. All the way home he sobbed almost uncontrollably. His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally able to compose himself, little Johnny said, "The pastor said he wanted us to be brought up in a Christian home."
'That's right," his dad responded.
Little Johnny began to cry again, and said through his tears, "But I want to stay with you guys."

Elijah - When the Passion Runs Out

Elijah was an incredible prophet of God. Bold. Fearless. Full of passion and vitality. But something happened to Elijah; something that seems to happen to many of us as we pursue the path God sets before us.

In 1 Kings 18 Elijah took on King Ahab and all of the false prophets operating among God's people. Mount Carmel served as the "OK Corral" for this showdown. It was 850 against 1. All the people were there to see who would prevail.
The challenge: prepare a sacrifice, then see who's God would bring the fire. After enduring Elijah's derision all day long as they waited for an answer from Baal and the false gods of the prophets, the people witnessed the power of the true and living God.
Elijah built a simple altar, then prepared his sacrifice. Then, with a cocky kind of swagger about him, he told the people to pour four barrels of water over the sacrifice, the altar and the wood. To be sure they got the point, he did it twice more, soaking everything entirely. At the time of the evening sacrifice Elijah prayed a simple prayer calling on God to prove Himself to the people. Fire flashed from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones of the altar, and the water with which they'd soaked everything. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and called upon God. Elijah commanded that the false prophets be bound, and he slew them all.

What a day, huh? The payoff for Elijah's passion was miraculous and caused repentance to break out among God's people. He should have been stoked, right?
But he wasn't. In fact, a few verse later we find the prophet laying under a juniper tree in the wilderness asking God to take his life. The passion he'd exhibited on Mount Carmel had evaporated in the face of resentments and threats. It's kind of funny. It only took a woman with a big mouth and a bad attitude to do what 850 false prophets couldn't do.

Was Elijah depressed? Maybe. Just feeling sorry for himself? Definitely. Whatever he went through, it was obvious he'd lost his passion. What do you do when the passion is gone?
Elijah didn't need another Mount Carmel experience. He didn't need to find somewhere to preach or a good church to get involved in. A fellowship dinner wasn't going to help.
Only God, who implants passion in a man to begin with, can restore passion lost.

It happens, you know. Life is filled with ups and downs. High times come and go. When you loose the passion, don't go looking for 'big' and 'loud' to get it back. Instead, listen for a 'still small voice.' Let Him speak to you. Let Him refresh you in His Presence. It's only there in the Presence of the Lord that your heart can be ignited once again.

Caleb's Enduring Passion

At the age of forty, Caleb was one of the twelve spies Moses sent into Canaan to report on the land and it's inhabitants. They weren't sent to determine if the people of Israel could take the land. The land was already promised to them. It had been given by God to their father, Abraham.
But ten of the twelve said they couldn't take the land. It was "too hard." The people who occupied the land were "too big." And the people of God were "too small."
Caleb's response to their fear and doubt was passionate. "Hey! God already gave us the land. Forget how big they are. Forget how hard it will be. Let's go take the land!"
But it was too late. Fear had infected the people. And God sentenced them to wandering in the wilderness for forty years, until all the doubters died in the desert. All would die except for Joshua and Caleb, the ones who believed God and advocated for taking the land. They would receive a blessing in the Promised Land.

Fast forward forty-five years. The children of Israel have entered Canaan. They've defeated the kings and kingdoms inhabiting the land. Now the land is being divided as Moses had directed. Out from the back of the crowd steps and old man. His skin is bronzed and leathery from the desert sun. Forty years of walking among the rocks will do that. But there is a fire in his eyes. As he begins to speak his passion is evident. Forty five long years have done nothing to dull the fervor of his heart and soul. (Joshua 14:6-13)

Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh said to him, "You know the words which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea.
I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.
Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully.
So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and your children forever, because you followed the Lord my God fully.'
And now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today.
I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.
Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord has spoken."
So Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.

Caleb waited forty-five years. But his passion never left him. Still determined. Still trusting God. Still desiring to see what God had promised come to pass. Caleb hadn't forgotten. He hadn't given up. He was still fired-up about what he knew to be right; about this land that he'd walked through four decades prior.

And the reward for such enduring passion? (Joshua 15:14) And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak.
Caleb was still the baddest man in Israel.

Moses' Passion

I've got this whole 'Passion'-thing going on in my head now. I think it may be my theme heading into the new year. More Passion. A renewed fire. In my life. My ministry. The Church. Everything.

Moses was a man raised up by God and called to be the deliverer to lead God's people out of Egyptian bondage. After 430 years of slavery, what kind of a man would it take to lead as many as two million people through a desert to a land God had promised to their forefathers? A passionate man.

Early on, Moses' passions were raw and uncontrolled. When he saw an Egyptian abusing an Israelite, he killed the abuser and hid his body in the sand. He was temperamental with a side of nationalistic pride. He let his passion get the better of him. Forty years on the backside of the desert in Midian was what it took to harness his passion and make him usable to God's purpose.

In Exodus 33, Moses' passion is again on display; this time as he confers with the Lord "face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend." After receiving God's instruction, and His promise to accompany Moses and the people of Israel to the Promised land, Moses couldn't help himself. Having found favor with God, he had one more request (Exodus 33:18): Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"
He wanted more. More of God. Forget the journey. Forget his position. The Promised Land could wait. Nothing else mattered at that moment as this man of passion stood before his God. "Show me Your glory!" If you'll permit me to paraphrase: "I want to know You, Lord. I want all You've got for me. I'll not be satisfied to just hear from You or receive instruction from You. I want to see You. I want to see Your glory."

Moses' passion was finally channeled in the right way. He wasn't a passionate politician. He wasn't passionately nationalistic anymore. He was passionate about his God. And that made Moses the great man of God he was.

Where's the Passion?

My brother gave me a DVD recording of the Buffalo Bills - Houston Oilers Wildcard Playoff Game from January 3, 1993. It was the greatest comeback in the history of the NFL. The Bills were down 35 - 3 in the third quarter but came back to win 41 - 38 in overtime.
I watched it this morning before I came to work. What an amazing game. Still unbelievable all these years later. There was passion on that football field. The kind of passion that refuses to be denied. The kind of passion that achieves the unthinkable. The players showed it. The fans showed it, too.

Passion. That's what it takes to do incredible things. In football. And in life.

Seasons

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: ...
~Ecclesiastes 3:1

As we turn the calendar on a new year, I'm reminded that seasons come and seasons go. If the passing of the Christmas season wasn't reminder enough, the frigid temperatures as I walked outside this morning were a blaring indication that the winter season is upon us.

Life is a series of seasons. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Baseball, Football, Basketball and Hockey. Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We measure life by seasons. And typically, while in the midst of one season we find ourselves looking forward to the next. In the dead of Winter, most look forward to the awakening of Spring as it brings forth it's new life. The dog-days of Summer often bring a desire for Fall with it's cooler temperatures and beautiful foliage. For six months out of the year, most men long for football season. That's just the way we are, isn't it?

I've learned that it's that way on the inside of each of us, too. There are seasons in our souls. We've all tasted Spring, when everything seems so fresh and new and alive. Many know the pleasure of Fall, when there is a great harvest and your soul is bursting with goodness as you reap of God's bounty. Maybe you've even known Winter, when its seems your heart is so cold it could crack and the landscape of your life seems frozen and dead. Maybe you find yourself there as we begin 2008. If so, don't despair. You're not alone. We've all been there at one time or another. (Some of us are there with you right now.)

Instead, take heart. Spring is coming. You can count on it. Keep praying. Stay in the Scriptures. And before long, you'll begin to see signs of life breaking through the barren ground. No season lasts forever.