.Hope.

I have spent a lot of time here expressing my hurt for the realities of tons of people in desperate need, all over the world... I have reflected some of the world's most compassionate people and asked their burning questions.

Like this one:

"Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for?
Do you believe him enough to obey him and to follow him
wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture -maybe
even our churches- turn the other way?"
~David Platt

I have found myself crushed by the reality of my ridiculous perspectives of God. I have starred into the mirror of the Text and found myself struggling with this:

"The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted,
or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way,
and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see
Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage
to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God
never had an identity crisis. He knows that He’s great and
deserves to be the center of our lives."
~Francis Chan

But today, there is hope. I was informed that Into the Streets of Ethiopia, a ministry that God is burning onto my heart finally received a donation of 600 cans of formula.

So What?
So a child that may have died due to malnutrition can grow to be a child who is loved in a forever family that shares the Gospel with him/her, and that child can be held up by His Father who desperately wants to adopt Him into the family of God.

God, there is only One who can be exalted when nothing makes sense... You! May I never forget You... Use me.

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.Last Night, I Visited Hell... Again.

Through the wonder of the World Wide Web, I visited hell once again... and I was not prepared to handle what I saw... Then again, Who is?

I walked into my house and my wife sat me down and said, "You have to read this (click to read)..."

I was confronted with the reality that while I sit in A/C in the summer... heat in the winter... while I have bemoaned the 10 pounds I put on this summer from the "stress"... this woman sat in her own feces in a ramshackle broken-down hut starving for 10 years.

She is 23 years old and weighs 37 pounds... PEOPLE OF GOD, I CANNOT SEE THE KEYS OF MY KEYBOARD BETWEEN TEARS, BECAUSE THIS IS WRONG!

God, open my eyes to the reality that I am blessed. Help me to see how incredibly blessed I am... and shake me for Your glory. I cannot be blind to it anymore... it makes me sick... not her, ME! God, I am sorry I never cared... I'm sorry...

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.Counter-Culture Club.

I'll tell you what's wrong with our culture...

We need men to rise up and build great homes. Men need to get back to being the protector of the home. If men would just work a little harder... you know get up a little earlier, got to bed a little later... make just a little bit more money.

If women would just cling to their husbands for security... If ladies could just be content with a few children, and nice little home. If they would just find their security in their loving husband...

We would all be OK... {You with me?}

Ahh the voice of the American Christian... {me.} Meet Psalm 127.

Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Five quick Truths for this Tuesday:

1. God is the builder and protector of the home... all other options are vain {wicked}
2. God provides work and grants rest... to constantly pursue more is wicked.
3. God's rewards with {money, fame, fancy cars, nice clothes, etc.} Nope. Children.
4. Parents role is {Builder, provider, protector} Nope. Warrior.
5. The path to contentment is: {having the best stuff} Nope. Lots of kids!

Father, may I, today, be a warrior, willing to point my kids into dangerous circumstances, for Your glory, understanding that You are the builder of my home, You are the protector of my home, You are the one who rewarded me with my children... and You asked me to be a warrior willing to use my arrows in battle! Your glory, nothing else!!


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.At the Heart of the Gospel.

The heart of the Gospel... the heart of my Savior.

I realized for the first time the other day that there are two things planted deeply within the heart of God... Marriage and Adoption.

For some reason, it had never occured to me before now how much God cares about those two things...

On the one hand, here I am, the filthy whore, standing before my Knight in shining armor.

I shutter to picture it: How must my pathetic plea sound?
I am sorry I slept with him again... he just treats me so nice... I know there has never been anyone who cares for me like you... but it makes me feel good to be with him... {I just threw up in my mouth a little.}

On the other hand, God reaches down and looks at my poor impoverished condition, and says... I want to make you My son.

And here I am, with nothing to offer on either account... No way to bring glory to me... All I can do is point to my Creator and say "Glory to God... Glory to God, forever..."

It's no wonder marriages are falling apart everywhere, it makes sense that there are 147 million orphans...

Why? Because we're comfortable...

God, send revival... in me.

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.Dear Anonymous.

This afternoon I received a tearful call from my wife (You can read her thoughts here). She said, "we just received an anonymous donation to our adoption for $4,000." I have no idea what to say or do... so whoever you are, this is what I have to say:

I have been working through a theme in my life lately. The theme? Shaken.

Shaken by the holiness of my Creator. Shaken by the reality of my sin. Shaken by the Glory that He deserves. Shaken by the small place I give Him. Honestly, today I am once again shaken.
Shaken by the fact that He used you for His glory by grasping me... a miserable wreck... a realistic failure... a complete mess.

I have no words.

This is all I can say: Thank you for allowing Christ to use you to show me something about Him. May His name and renown grow because of your humble gifts... and may I continue to be shaken.

Thank you God for your greatness.

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.Don't Get Comfortable.

The shock value in me wants to say, "settle onto your coach, grab a nice cup of coffee, get comfortable... and go to hell."

The Problem: I don't actually believe that.

I have been transformed into an American Dream hater... I doubt that is a big secret to anyone who knows me well, but the question becomes, "Is there a balance?" or "Is it possible to be sold out to the American Dream and Christ?"

Yikes, I think I liked the first question better than the last. My answer the former is, "sure." After all, I live in America... There are conveniences here that simply make life easier and save time and energy. It would be foolish to say that I would not partake in the use of a vehicle or purchase groceries at the store, or... fill in the blank. So the balance is that my world just can't be wrapped up in the "dream."

Now, about the latter, "Is it possible to be sold out to the American Dream and Christ?"

Ummm... {Wince} No.

Why? I think there is a wealth of reasons, but the one that I continue to come back to is one of comfort. I beg someone to show me from the Text of Scripture where we are called to a life of ease. I fail to see anywhere in the whole of the Bible where we are asked to get comfortable. Get Silent. {Yes.} Rest in Christ. {Yes.} Don't worry. {Absolutely} Get Comfortable. {No.}

Here is the other problem: Tons of people say "I don't think God (or Jesus) would want..." then something about their discomfort... Great. Except one little detail, if that was true, wouldn't He include that somewhere in the Text?

Can we all just STOP THE SPIT BALLING!! Seriously, if God wants to communicate it, He would through His Word, Right? If that doesn't sit well with you... Read Luke 9 and find the "be comfortable" command.

So What? So live as though I am a part of a different paradigm... What if I lived my life a though this world has nothing to offer in comparison with what my Father has for me? To live otherwise is Ridiculous!

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.Is It True?.

Truth... ahh Truth. Is it really true? You know the Bible... is it really True?
Among my circle I had always thought that this was a rhetorical question.

You know:

• Do we believe the Bible is true? {Yes.}


• Does it really change lives? {Yes.}


• If it exposes a deficiency will I change? {Yes.}

Whoops... I was W-R-O-N-G.

I recently learned the real answer to these questions.

Are You ready? Really? Because I was NOT.

Do we believe the Bible is true?
The Real Answer: If it affirms what I "know" to be true... If it speaks to a point that I want to make... If it points to ancient Truths that have no bearing on my current life... {Yes.}
If it steps on my toes... If what it says is uncomfortable... If it impedes on my goals... {No.}

Does it really change lives?
The Real Answer: If you mean do I smoke, chew, drink, or swear... If you mean I live differently than vulgar lower class citizens... {Yes.}
If you mean has my life changed because of something the Word exposed this week, month, or year... If your asking if it makes people different daily... {No.}

If it exposes a deficiency will I change?
The Real Answer: No qualifier necessary... Flatly {Yes.}
Oh that Truth, you must not understand the Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic. Your version can't be accurate... That wasn't written for me, you are looking at a pre-church passage... That was strictly apostolic... In other words... {No.}

Friends, I don't have a cute pithy statement... it is true, based on the way we live.

God, make it not true of me! Change me!!

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