Hotdogs, Hamburgers and Jesus

Saturday was our annual cookout and evangelistic outreach at Charlotte Correctional Center. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and served them up to the inmate population along with all of the fixings. Our speaker for the event was Jerry Moore, Head Football Coach of the three-time National Champion Appalachian State University Mountaineers.

Coach Moore had the attention of every inmate on the yard

It was great to see so many smiles on the faces of the inmates and to see their excitement and appreciation for the event. The volunteers were fantastic, the weather was beautiful, the music was incredible (Thank you Larry Greene), and Coach Moore's message was a home run.
Many of the inmates stayed around for prayer, a word with Coach Moore or one of the volunteers, and most just because they didn't want the afternoon to end.

I know that eternal things took place yesterday on the prison yard. It seems you can really do a lot with hotdogs, hamburgers and a bunch of smiling, christian people who just want to be Jesus to the world around them.

I Really Mean It, Lord

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer."
~ Psalm 19:14

These are the words we pray as a congregation as we conclude each church service. It's easy for such a practice to become rote; just a religious formality signifying that we're done. I've caught myself repeating those words with all the conviction of, "Have a nice day. See you later."

But lately it's been different. Those words seem to reverberate in my mind and heart throughout the week. Lately I pray those words with real sincerity; the way I'm sure David felt when he wrote them. I really do want the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart to be acceptable in the sight of God.
Unfortunately, all too often, by Tuesday my words and my thoughts fall far short of anything approaching acceptable. Why is it such a struggle to just think right and say the right things?

I wonder if David realized what an impossible standard he set when he penned those seemingly simple words.

Figuring Out What It's All About

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort;
who comforts us in all of our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Most often our prayers are focused on avoiding affliction. Nobody enjoys affliction. Nobody is looking for pain and hardship in life.
"Lord, keep us safe. Lord, keep us well. Lord, protect... Lord, remove ... Lord, give favor ... Lord, help us ... Lord, bless" All of these are legitimate prayers from sincere hearts. But all seek to avoid even the slightest discomfort in life. And should discomfort or affliction come our way, we tend to default to "What have I done wrong? Why has God allowed this to happen to me?"

What if we're looking at affliction all wrong? Sure, it's no fun. Yeah, we'd rather avoid it. But it seems God has a reason for it.
The key to figuring out what these afflictions in our lives are all about are found in the words "so that". "... who comforts us in all of our affliction so that ..."

"So that" what? So that we can turn around and comfort someone else going through a similar plight. Not with our own words of wisdom or empathies. But with God's comfort. The same comfort that has seen us through. We become a conduit of God's all-sufficient grace to those most in need.

I've figured something out in life: Whatever you're going through, or whatever you've gone through - God has a purpose for it. And, most often, it's not about you at all.

My Dad

" ... the glory of children are their fathers."
~ Proverbs 17:6

My dad has been gone for nearly thirty years now. There are many things that trigger memories of my dad - events and certain dates and significant happenings in my own life. Every year, Memorial Day is one of those triggers.

At one time, long before I was born, my dad was a soldier. He was a Bronze Star recipient, having performed meritoriously under enemy fire in Korea.

He never talked about it - at least not that remember. Not ever. Heroes just don't do that.
I actually remember hearing some things about my dad's military service from other kids in our neighborhood. They'd heard it from their dads.
I've seen the medal and read the military citation that goes along with it. I've even seen the little, yellowed newspaper clipping from the hometown newspaper about my dad in the war.

He's been gone for nearly thirty years now. And it occurred to me this Memorial Day - all these years later: He was shaped by things that I'll never understand. Being a combat veteran was just part of who he was; something I can't even imagine.

My dad was always larger that life to me. I hope somehow I'm measuring up to the standard he set.

You Want to be President?

Visiting Missouri, one of the leading presidential contenders had this to say about the lack of foreign language translators in the military:

"We only have a certain number of them, and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan.”

This was a serious statement from a serious candidate. Do you think we ought to point out to Mr. Obama that in Iraq they speak the Arabic and Kurdish languages, while in Afghanistan they speak Pashto, Farsi, and numerous other, non-Arabic languages?
C'mon, dude! Surely you or someone in that traveling circus around you thought about this. Think before you say something.

When I heard the sound bite I couldn't stop laughing.

If you'll listen to these people vying for the highest office in the land, you'll quickly discover they really don't know much more than a 5th grader.

Disclaimer: Please excuse what may seem to be a blatant political post today. I don't mean for it to be. It's really just my attempt to point out the ignorance of those supposed to be the wisest among us. Jesus said in Matthew11:19, "... wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

Real Tragedy

Interstate 80 in Illinois was shut down for much of the day yesterday after a truck overturned, spilling it's cargo. The truck was carrying Orea cookies. 14 tons of Oreos! Double Stuff Oreos!

How I would have loved to be the first on the scene with 10,000 gallons of milk.

Instead, adding to an already stressful economy, the price of Oreos is sure to skyrocket in the coming days. Maybe we'd better stock up now.

Since When Are We the Only Ones?

Here is an excerpt from an article that appeared in today's local newspaper:

Despite fierce criticism from some Christian activists, N.C.-based evangelist Franklin Graham said Sunday he's sticking by his opposition to any "illegal" missionary work during this summer's Beijing Olympics.
Graham, who recently met with state-sanctioned church leaders and government officials in China, told the Observer that as head of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, he obviously supports evangelism. But he said he worries that the planned influx of American and other foreign missionaries into China for the Olympics could jeopardize freedoms Chinese Christians have won in recent years from the Communist government.
"I would be against any groups that would be coming in and encouraging people to break Chinese law," said Graham, who has no plans to attend the Olympics or send any missionaries. "As foreigners, we can come in and make some mistakes that would hurt the (Chinese) church. Then, long after we're gone, they suffer for it."
Christian mission groups from around the world -- including Southern Baptists, "Youth With a Mission" and "Awaken Generation" -- plan to quietly defy the Chinese ban on foreign missionaries and send thousands of volunteer evangelists to Beijing.


As I consider this ongoing debate I'm left wondering: Since when are American Christians the only ones qualified or otherwise able to do the work of evangelism at this Summer's Olympics? I know the article mentions other foreign missions organizations as well, but I believe this touches on a very real problem that has grown up in the American church.
Have we really become so egotistical that we somehow believe that unless we send American "missionaries" to evangelize, the job won't get done?

Franklin Graham makes a very sobering observation when he points out, "As foreigners, we can come in and make some mistakes that would hurt the (Chinese) Church. Then, long after we're gone, they suffer for it."
I think that's well worth consideration. Wouldn't it be tragic if, because we bull-headedly refuse to trust God and our Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ to witness, we caused irreparable harm to the ongoing work of the Lord in that nation?
Maybe, instead of arguing the merits of sending our missionaries to China to evangelize, we ought to be asking the Chinese churches how we can assist them. What can we do to help? How can we provide for them in this effort?

One more question comes to mind: How much time, effort and money have these "Christian mission groups" (Southern Baptist, Youth With a Mission, and Awaken Generation along with many others) committed to assisting the Chinese in the crisis aftermath of the devastating earthquake last week? What are these missions organizations - who are so gung-ho on being at the Olympics to evangelize - doing to relieve the suffering going on today?

I'm not trying to be cynical about what I'm sure are very real passions about evangelism. I'm just thinking that maybe we've come to believe God needs us to get the job done much more that He really does.

"Change Me, Lord!"

Watching the developing news coming out of Myanmar and China this week, it is difficult not to be deeply moved at the human suffering. But that's the condition I found myself in early in the week - unmoved, unaffected, emotionless, and even kind of matter-of-fact, like "Well, that's tragic, but that's how life is."
I wanted to hurt for those suffering so much, but it just wasn't there. Have I seen so much in the course of my life that I'm numb to the suffering of others? Or is it that it's just so far away from my day-to-day life that I am unfazed by it? I was bothered by my own ambivalence. So bothered that I asked the Lord to change me.


This morning, as I watched the news coverage and saw the images of the Chinese people amidst the devastation, and heard the people mourning husbands and wives and children, tears welled-up in my eyes. My heart hurt for them as the tears rolled down my cheeks and I began to pray for them with a fervency I haven't felt in a while.


I feel a little more whole today.

God's Take on Faithfulness

When I think of things that displease God - things that arouse His anger, or His wrath - I usually think of vile, wicked things. I think of sin and disobedience. That's probably fairly typical.
But this morning as I was reading a couple of Jesus' parables, I noticed something.

In the parable of the prodigal son, a man's son took part of his father's wealth and blew it on riotous living. Sex, drugs and rock n' roll. He wasted every dime. It was enough to make anyone angry. But the young man's father simply waited patiently, longing for the boy's return. When this wayward son finally did come home, there was no wrath, no fury at all.
Instead, the father threw a party. His boy was home.

In Matthew 25, Jesus told another parable. In this one, a wealthy man was leaving for a long journey. Before going he left a portion of his wealth with some of his servants to manage. With one servant he left five talents, with another two, and with a third he left a single talent.
The first servant went to work investing and doubled his investment. The second did equally well in his finacial decisions. But the third simply buried the money.
When the master returned he called in the servants to give account. Whe he saw the profits of the first two servants, he rewarded them each handsomely. "Well done, good and faithful servants!" But when the third servant came in and confessed that he was afraid and hid the talent, the master erupted in anger. "You wicked, lazy servant. Take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. And cast this worthless servant into outer darkness."

One blew what he was given on sinful living. The other was afraid so he hid what he was given. One came home with nothing in his pockets. The other returned with exactly what he had to begin with. One found a father filled with joy. The other faced the fury of his master. One was given a party. The other was given the boot.

It almost seems kind of mixed up to me. I guess it's a good indication of how God looks at the faithful stewardship of His people.

God in a Tool Belt

Over the past few weeks we have undertaken a rather large home repair project. We've been in our home over just fifteen years. The thing that sold me on this particular house when we were looking was a very large patio in the back shaded by large trees. It's 20' x 36' and made of brick pavers. It's really a beautiful place. When I first saw it, I pictured myself sitting out there enjoying a good book or good company. It's been all that and more.

But we've noticed something happening to our beautiful patio over the past few years. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, part of the patio had begun to sink. In fact, one whole side had sunk nearly three inches. In other areas tree roots had begun to push up under the brick pavers, causing them to buckle.
As I looked out over the patio in early Spring, I knew we had a major renovation on our hands. We began a few weeks ago by taking up all of the pavers (literally hundreds of them) that made up a portion of the patio. It was hot, dirty work. Then we replaced some of the wood framing that surrounds the pavers. We dug and cut and chopped to rid ourselves of all the troublesome tree roots. Sand was brought in to bring everything back up to level. Twelve hundred pounds of sand! Finally, we carefully laid the brick pavers back in place one-by-one, being careful to lay each one level with those around it. We finally finished it this past weekend. And it's back to being the beautiful place that I fell in love with when I first saw it.

I've been wondering: How much like my patio is my life? Are there some areas that are imperceptibly sinking - things that may be getting out of level as the years pass? Are there some roots - things like anger, bitterness and resentment - that have worked their way in causing parts of my life to buckle? I know there are some areas that need some work.

In Amos 7, the prophet saw a vision of the Lord with a plumb line in His hand. He said, "Behold, I will test my people with this plumb line." (Amos 7:8 NLT) A plumb line is used to check for accuracy. It indicates if things are square and level.
Can you picture God as a workman in a tool belt and muddy boots, checking our lives to see how we square-up to His standard? Because that's exactly what He does. And much of this life - the trials and tribulations we go through - is simply God as a workman renovating our lives to make us a beautiful habitation for Himself.

Serving God

Here is a quote I heard recently:

"Many people want to serve God, but only as advisers."


Kind of stings a little bit, doesn't it?

The State Way of Thinking

Just an example of what I deal with every day:

Our prison has a wonderful program which permits certified volunteers to take inmates who have earned the privilege from the prison to church in the community. It's really a great way to prepare the inmate for release and help him to get acclimated in a church body out in society.

The other day one of the staff members at the prison called me with a problem. "These volunteers won't answer their phones when they have these inmates out to church on Sunday."
My response was, "Huh?"
He proceeded to explain to me that "we need to be able to monitor the inmates while they are away from the facility. To do that, we're trying to call the volunteers on their cell phones to be sure they are where they are supposed to be with the inmate. But your volunteers won't answer their phones during church services."
Me again. "Huh?"

It took me a few moments to gather my thoughts. Then I suggested we think this through.
First, who answers a cell phone in the middle of a church service? Not gonna happen. That's just a ridiculous expectation.
Then I brought up the more obvious issue. If you're calling a cell phone, they could be anywhere. How would you know? They could be three states away and say they're in church and you would never know it, would you?

Then it was his turn. "Huh? I guess we never thought of that."

Morning Rain

Is there anything better than a light rain falling in the early morning as you enjoy your first cup of coffee? The sound, the smell, and so very peaceful. That's been my morning.
It's truly one of the simple pleasures of life.

"He Restores My Soul"

In Luke 9:1, Jesus gave His disciples power and authority, and sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. "And departing, they began going about among the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere." (Luke 9:6)
Pretty cool, huh? The miraculous took place at the hands of these ordinary men called by Christ. At His instruction, they went out and did the impossible.

Upon their return they told Jesus all that they had done and, the Bible says, Jesus took them and withdrew Himself to Bethsaida. It was time for rest.
But, as typically happened when Jesus was close, a crowd gathered. Jesus welcomed the people and began to preach and heal the sick among them. As the day drew on and the shadows began to grow, the disciples approached Jesus to say, "Send the crowds away. It's getting late. Send them to find food and shelter." But Jesus said to them, "You give them something to eat!" (Now keep in mind, they'd just been out healing the sick.) And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people." (Luke 9:13)
In other words, "We can't, Jesus. That's impossible! It can't be done!"

Isn't that amazing? One day they were so full of faith they could go out and preach the gospel, and even heal the sick everywhere they went. A few days later, they couldn't muster enough faith to trust Jesus when He told them to fix dinner.
One day He asks the impossible ("Go preach and heal the sick") and they run out and do it. A short time later He asks the impossible again (You feed the people") and they throw up their hands and say, "We can't."
One day, full of faith. The next, struggling to believe God is able.

There's a simple, but profound message here. You can't live on yesterday's faith. What you had yesterday will not sustain you today. One day the disciples had enough faith to do the impossible; the next day all they saw was the impossible.
Oh how often the same thing happens to us. I believe the Bible calls it being "weary in well-doing." Our faith gets tried, and it gets tired. And we find ourselves struggling to believe God with the same level of trust we had yesterday.

Been there? Me too. I've found the only thing that works when I find myself in that state is to get away from ministry and get alone with the Lord and His Word.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul ..."

Where Has the Glory Gone?

For the past week or so, I've made Mother's Day cards available to the inmates in the chaplain's office as we've done for many years. There has been an almost constant stream of inmates at my door to get them.
With an inmate population of two hundred sixty, I purchased five hundred Mother's Day cards. I am just about to run out.

Conversely, when Father's Day rolls around next month, we won't be able to give away Father's Day cards. Thirty or forty cards will be quite sufficient. It's been this way for years.

What does this say about our society?

The Bible says that "... the glory of children is their fathers." (Proverbs 17:6.) We've lost our glory.

Why Take Time Off?

Have you ever taken a few days off, then returned to work only to end up wondering why in the world you ever took the time off?

It's pretty crazy around the penitentiary today.