From the Ashes

It’s that slightly odd time of year; the days between Christmas and New Year’s. After all the hubbub and build-up of Christmas, what do you do until the 31st? I watch people every year and I have become accustomed to the slightly lost looks of folks as they file back into the shopping centers. I don’t think it’s because we have to get those after-Christmas deals; I think it’s because we need to find people to connect with.

As much as we say the holidays are family time, I find that is what is oftentimes missing for me the most. We just keep on looking for people to connect with. I’ll be honest: as much as I love my family, I felt most welcomed and at home when I was in church for Christmas Eve service.

It’s nice to know that God is always there to connect to whether I am in a room by myself or in a crowd of people. This year, I felt that more than ever. Now and again I feel as many others do, distant from God. This Christmas, I could honestly feel Him holding me tight and giving me opportunities I have not had to minister to my family. I was amazed and blessed.

Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa. 7:13-15, NKJV)

We all hear the verses referring to Immanuel every year and nod when it is once again translated for us: God with us.

What does that mean to you? Does that mean you feel God around you? Does that mean you see God in the world about us? Do you feel and see God working through your hands? When I read those verses, I saw something much more. Isaiah is talking to people who need hope and those who found it hard to trust that the Lord would do a great work among them. I was thinking: I am like SO in that crowd. I always need some hope.

Isaiah says the Lord will come and not just be among us, but one of us. He’s going to need food just like us and will be able to recognize evil and choose to do His Father’s will, just like we are able to do in Him and through Him. We lose sight of that at times.  The Lord commands us to fellowship because that is another facet of being Immanuel among us. That’s why we keep on looking for those around us to connect with; it’s the Immanuel within us that finds our brethren and those to minister to.

And that’s for all of our lives, not just this season. If you have a resolution to make this year, resolve to be more of Him and reach out with His hands and love. I say that a lot but I keep on seeing how we hold ourselves apart from people who know us and love us and those who have no idea Who it is we serve.

With each day we are closer to seeing Him with our own eyes. How cool would it be for Him to show up as we are busy doing the tasks He designed for us?

Continuing the Sacred Retreat….access the original Sacred Retreat thread here.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  For, 

"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." 

And this is the word that was preached to you. 

~1 Peter 1:22-25

You know we are a fallen people when it is now possible to get a ticket for being annoying. That’s what a city in Michigan has done: “Being Annoying Now Illegal In Brighton.”

Right away, I was thinking: ABOUT TIME, PEOPLE!! (getting the happy dance on…)

And what happened then? The Holy Spirit had a few things to say about that. You see, if I could have ticketed people for being annoying this past weekend, I would have. I am done with Christmas shopping (running out of money really helps with that) and my kid and I were just browsing and getting a little exercise. We were laughing and enjoying each other’s company and both my kid and me noticed a couple looking at us like we were nuts. So many people around us were wound tight and stressed with the business of Christmas I guess our lack of it seemed out of place. After a few more stares and glares, my kid and I went to church.

I was just so bugged and I had a hard time letting it go. Then I read this article and I felt better. I felt better because I was thinking I was better than all those other annoying people.

Wrong.

What the Lord reminded me of was the importance of forgiving others and not thinking I was better because I was not buying into the whole loot-is-the-only-reason-for-the-season thing. I sure was not thinking on the Lord coming to be with us when I was feeling so good about myself. I have no idea what was going on with those people around us and because of that, I have no business reacting negatively to them.

Although we cannot ever know what is motivating people, we can choose to set down the blunt and often ill-used blade of self-righteousness and either extend a kind word or helping hand to others or go our way without creating any more drama. In short, if people offend us, especially unknowingly, we can be like Christ and not make it about us and forgive them.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. (Col. 3:12-15, NKJV)

He came not just to save us but also that we would learn from Him. The greatest gift we can give this year to one another is the one we can be the stingiest with: forgiveness and compassion.

The more we share of that, the more we become like Him. Is that not a better way to share the season with one another?

(Photo Credit: ProjectAiko.com) 

As many of you know, I love reading the news. This week, I saw a story that just made my jaw drop: “Canadian Man Builds Himself Robot Girlfriend.” An engineer built himself what he believes is a perfect woman. He is getting many accolades lauding his ingenuity and inventiveness.

Hogwash.

The more “advanced” we get, the more in love with our selves, our intellect and personal power we become. That is in stark contrast to what Christ had to say about that: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5, NKJV)." Sinners that we are, we continue to insist that our ways are better than His, our power and understanding greater than His. The Lord is not pulling rank on us when He says this; He is just being truthful.

I read this article and my heart just broke. I have long been waiting the Lord’s choice for me for a spouse and all I could think of was: Who is supposed to be for this man who will be kept waiting? Instead, he chose an extension of himself, a selfish creation to feed his own ego. And the thing of it is this: we already know from popular culture this is going to fail. Who remembers The Stepford Wives? Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (later: Bladerunner)? The Cylons from Battlestar Galactica? The list goes on but rarely will there be a happy ending.

I have endless compassion with those whom the Lord has decided they need to wait but not in my wildest dreams would I go so far as to trump the Lord’s ability to provide in such a fashion. What arrogance! No wonder we need a Savior. Are we so convinced that either 1) the Lord will not provide or 2) His provision will be so far below our expectations? How that must disappoint Him.

As much as I would like to shake my head in disgust at people who may think this way, I have to take a step back and admit that I have been just that arrogant a time or two in my life. My arrogance came from doubting the Lord. Although if you know how rich my life really is, thanks to Him, you can be totally justified in shaking your head at me for my stupidity.

How do we get off our own high horses then? We need to look at that verse a little more closely. He is the vine, where our life and growth comes from. As the branches, if we get pruned from the vine, we will perish. We need that life; we need what the Lord has for us to live a Christ-like life so we can bear that abundant fruit. But fruit picked from the vine too early is either tasteless or bitter. Would it not be worth it for the fruit to mature so we could enjoy the very best of it?

It’s worth taking before the Lord to hear what else He has to say about it.

(Credit: The Far Side, Gary Larson) 

Have you ever had an issue with someone and after you went to them, they had no idea what you were talking about?

I am not talking about forgetfulness, I am talking about missing the point entirely.

This just happened to me. Someone I have known for a while said something to me that really offended me. At first, I just tried to let it go. I mean, things happen right? But I found I could not. I had to say something. You see, this person has offended me over this particular issue before and I have not ever stepped up and said something so we could come to some sort of understanding. I really thought about what I was going to say and I said it. I did not accuse but I did explain why that particular statement did not get received well by me.

The response I got was completely baffled. It was not the “I would never…” defense or the “how could you think I would even say something like that” reaction. It was this: you have your way of doing things and I have mine and I guess we’ll never understand how that feels for the other.

I was stunned. How do you deal with that? Where do you go with it?

Of course, it makes the issue my issue alone. But I can’t go with that. When the offending statement was made to me, this person caught them selves and uttered a quick “sorry.” So even in the moment, it was not all my issue.

This is a classic rock and a hard place situation. I went to Matthew 18 for guidance and I found it. However, I did not find that guidance where I expected to. In this instance, thinking of the non-response I got, it might not get us anywhere closer to resolution to go them again with others in tow. But I did find what my next step needed to be:

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22, NKJV)

And so, I need to forgive. What also occurred to me was that although a resolution that satisfied me did not happen, I was able to let this person know their words could hurt and hopefully, they will be more careful with others in the future. I may have simply been positioned to plant the seed for that accountability and others will be used for understanding.

I am going to forgive this person. It’s not just a commandment; it’s just not worth it dragging all this stuff about. I think that’s what the Lord really is trying to teach us: it’s more work to drag our drama around than it is to leave it in His hands and move on. I need to drop a few pounds anyway; I think I’ll start with dropping my drama first.

Due to various ongoing issues with me personally, I have decided to put The Charismatic Century book discussion series on hiatus.

It may mean I don't return to it for quite awhile; conversely, if things change I could pick it back up as soon as next week

If this series is important to you, please, let me know in this thread.

Thank you for reading and supporting From the Ashes.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. - Hebrews 11:6 (ESV, via Bible Gateway)

Many years ago, I went through a pretty rough time emotionally.

It had to do with questioning the existence of God, and the reality of Christianity, and it hit me like a hundred hurricanes.

In the branch of evangelicalism I was a part of at the time, I found no answers. I read through the popular evangelists' magazines, and the references I saw to faith had to do with what's known as positive confession or word-faith theology - take a verse of the Bible, and because God is obligated to honor His Word, what you say must and will come to pass. But nothing on the actual existence of God.

I looked for reasons to believe. I wanted to believe. Going through life, alone, without a loving and powerful God to guide me and help me, wasn't an appealing notion.

I approached one of the pastors at my church about my turmoil and was as honest as I could be. During that moment, I felt like God was not there. At all.

His response was to blow off my struggle and instead give me a mini-lecture about missions and how people were dying on the missions field (he's a pastor at another church, now, and I hope he's been kinder to other people who approached him with the same questions).

I didn't quit at that point, though. I fought for faith, and in the end, I came away with a stronger faith. I was aided by apologetics, and the ministries of such men as Gary Habermas and Josh McDowell. They helped me see that the Christian faith wasn't rooted in mythology and lies, but in facts and truth. That helped me enormously.

But afterwards, there were the occasional questions - is this all there is? Is God real? Is this fantastic story really real? Why can't we know for certain, one way or the other?

I've learned that, though there are real facts and is real evidence to back the Christian faith, that it is also, to some extent, a mystery. We don't know everything, and I'm convinced we can't know everything, nor understand everything.

If we did, we'd almost be like God Himself. Maybe that's by His design…because none of us manage our lives perfectly as is. Can you imagine us trying to run the universe?

As Hebrews 11:6 tells us, the very act of coming to Christ requires faith.

I don't believe it's blind faith, based in some story. I believe that faith can and should be based in logic, in evidence, in facts, in truth.

But, even when these facts and logic take you to the point where the existence of a supreme being and the fact of His Son living in ancient Israel, dying on a cross and then rising from the dead, you still have a choice: believe or not.

Some people just believe, without ever being challenged by a Christopher Hitchens or cracking open a Josh McDowell or Tim Keller book. Some people wrestle through the issues before deciding one way or the other.

You still have to exercise faith.

Faith that He exists, faith that He's there, faith that He died on the cross for your and my sins, faith that He rose from death and He is alive and waiting for you in a different, better place when your life on Earth finally ends.

Faith based in truth, reality and evidence, that holds up to scrutiny.

Faith with some mystery, because even honest skeptics will admit that if you can't prove God, you can't disprove Him either.

But in the end, you have to look at the evidence, seek honestly, ask Him to show Himself, and choose. Come to Him in faith, seek Him, and believe that He will reward you because of it.

A friend of mine asked a question today: Do we really live as if we are waiting on the Lord’s return?

I know my friend is. There is not a day that goes by when that awesome, blessed event is not referred to. But what is confusing is when Christians don’t seem to await His return.

 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:32-37, NKJV)

I don’t know about you, but that sure sounds like a commandment to me. It’s not a “don’t” commandment, it’s a “do.” And in truth, what better thing is there to spend our time doing? Or, are we too tied to this world and it’s cares?

Please don’t get me wrong: I am not telling you that caring about the people and events in front of you is bad or unworthy of your time and energy. What I find I have to remind myself of is that those things are not the only things in my life. I have an eternal life coming that is going to blow my mind.

I don’t desire His return to get out of the cares and trials of my life, although some days, that’s exactly what I want. I desire His return because I want to see Jesus with my own eyes and see the Bible come alive.

I desire His return because I will get to hold His hand for real.

The Lord has given me a very good life but I would ditch it all in a heartbeat to touch His hand. The world pales immediately when I think of that. What is best is that I will actually get to do it. It’s not some idle wish; it’s going to happen.

Those verses remind us that our lives are in motion and just like the Lord asked Peter to do, we need to be ready to drop our nets where they lie and follow Him. That’s tough to do as we want to either experience or fix so many things around us before we go. I think it’s hard for us to get really excited about what’s coming beyond our earthly deaths because we have not spent time getting to know what is coming.

I am aware that much of what many of us are going through is painful and we want so much to be vindicated in our trials. The Lord knows intimately what that feels like: He was beaten, betrayed and murdered. But He was not vindicated while He was here in the flesh. Instead, He looked up to the Father as we need to. When we do, when we really put all that we have into the hands of God, there is nothing in this world that He can’t do. And He’s going to do the very best for us, no matter what it looks like.

In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the LORD. (Isaiah 54:14-17, NKJV)

With that kind of promise, I invite you to keep looking up. Our trials are not for us alone; they are to give us opportunities to experience more of the Lord every day. And when we really know He is alongside of us, we can focus on what’s coming without worrying about what is behind us.

Folks… I have to apologize. I was on travel this holiday and then my kid got injured in a soccer tournament. It's all good, though. I had to take care of all that and did not get an article written.

I will post my article later tomorrow.

I hope you all had a blessed and quiet holiday. Until then, grace and peace.

Now that the turkey's been carved and the leftovers consumed, with us in the month of December there's no excuse to refrain from listening to Christmas music

I have a "stash" of Christmas music that I carry with me; there's something about it that makes the holidays more festive, more enjoyable. Here are my Top 39 songs:

1. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
2. Stille Nacht - Mannheim Steamroller
3. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
4. Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson
5. Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy - David Bowie/Bing Crosby
6. Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Mannheim Steamrolller
8. Jingle Bells - The Singing Dogs
9. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams
10. Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters
11. O Holy Night - Mannheim Steamroller
12. Happy Christmas (War is Over) - John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band
13. The Chipmunks Song - Alvin & The Chipmunks
14. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Temptations
15. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
16. Please Come Home for Christmas - The Eagles
17. The Twelve Days of Christmas - Ray Conniff Singers
18. Christmas in Dixie - Alabama
19. The Christmas Song - Luther Vandross
20. Jingle Bells - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
21. It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Johnny Mathis
22. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops
23. White Christmas - Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters
24. You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch - Thule Ravenscroft
25. Pretty Paper - Roy Orbison
26. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
27. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLaughlan
28. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
29. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
30. What Christmas Means to Me - Paul Young
31. Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys
32. Have A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
33. Christmas/Sarajevo 12/24 - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
34. Little Drummer Boy - Bob Seger & The SIlver Bullet Band
35. Mele Kalikimaka - Bing Crosby/Andrews Sisters
36. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer - Elmo & Patsy
37. Step Into Christmas - Elton John
38. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Frank Sinatra
39. Hark The Herald Angels Sing - Point of Grace

What does your list look like? What songs did I leave off - and I was right to keep on?