the writing in the sky

to the pastor or church responsible for the sky writing plane over disney:  while visiting the magic kingdom, my wife and i, along with my two sons, noticed the writing.  at first, we thought it was part of the "disney experience", but as the writing spelled out "g..o..t..o.." we figured it to be some sort of advertisement.  then the "j..e..s..u..s.." appeared.  aside from it not really making that much sense, we also noticed the reactions of many of the people around us.  they ranged everywhere from rolling eyes to indifference.  the following messages of "u..+..God..=..:)" and "t..r..u..s..t..j..e..s..u..s.." went largely unnoticed.  while your intentions may have been good, your methodology was significantly flawed.  i can imagine God saying to you when you get to heaven, "i give you an 'a' for effort, but next time, use that thing i put between your ears and be a wiser steward of the money that i have given you."  i think about the hundreds or even more that you spent on that plane and pilot to write ignored messages to uninterested patrons, and ways of how that money could have been better spent.  for all practical purposes, you would have done better to stand in the bell tower of your church and ring the bell for everyone to come, and you would have gotten the same effect, at a much cheaper price.  instead, you could have used that money to feed the hungry in your town (there are plenty), to buy bibles to give to those without, to fund a missionary to go on a mission trip, etc.  the point is, Jesus said that whatever we do to the most lowly of people, we do to Him. 

if you could have seen the looks of the people that were turned off by your message, you would have deeply regretted your attempt.  you essentially became one of the priests that ignored the man beaten and bleeding in the street that the good samaritan stopped and helped.  you took the easy way out, as so many churches do today, and avoided getting your hands dirty, and tried to proselytize from afar.  have you not heard the adage, "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care"? 

next time, think about your investments.  choose to love people in person rather than saying "we love you, but not enough to actually do something that would benefit you."  follow the example set by our Saviour, who chose to come to us, suffer alongside us, and die for us, rather than writing "God loves you" in the sky with the endless natural resources at His disposal. 

look! it's . . .

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child, will never enter it." Mark 10:15

like a little child. such a foreign concept to most people. and rightfully so. we are told from the time we are old enough to understand, that we are to strive for adulthood. we tell our kids to be "big boys and girls". teachers tell elementary students to think about what they want to be when they "grow up". we tell teenagers that they are to act like "young adults". and then when we finally make it to adulthood, we are constantly bombarded with phrases such as "immature", "childish", and "act your age". being child-like is a taboo. so for us to become like a little child is hard, and often times impossible. if we do venture into the realm of immaturity, it usually either takes the form of pettiness or silliness, and definitely a far cry from what Jesus was trying to communicate to His disciples. one of the best ways to understand the point Jesus was trying to make is to actually observe little children.

on a recent trip to the magical kingdom of walt disney world, i was given a lesson in becoming like a little child. aside from my own trip back down memory lane, the most memorable part of the trip was watching my two boys, ages 6 and 3, as they were completely overwhelmed by the characters, buildings, rides, and music. everywhere we went, the amazement at witnessing the world that they had only encountered through books, movies, and television, was evident on their glowing faces, fixed into a smile that i began to think would have to be removed with plastic surgery. enthusiastic waves to characters on floats at the parades, entranced smiles while watching the shows, and looks of awe at the fireworks display over cinderella's castle will be captured forever in the hundreds of pictures that we took. every day brought a new surprise. the culmination of the trip was on the last day, when the boys finally got to meet their hero: buzz lightyear! this was the moment they had been waiting for, and one that they will never forget! the other characters were exciting, but none held the esteem that buzz carried. it was a moment that none of us will forget any time soon.

on the last night, while watching "fantasmic", the water, laser, and fireworks show at hollywood studios, it occurred to me what Jesus meant by entering the kingdom like a little child. as the boats came by carrying all of the major disney characters, i looked over at my two boys, who were waving enthusiastically at the characters that were waving "back at them", and it clicked.  to them, the characters were no longer just images on a screen or in a book.  they were now living, breathing personalities that "knew" my sons (at least to them) and were waving to them.  we are to have that same sense of excitement when it comes to the things of God. while disney was something that was tangible to my kids, the kingdom of heaven is a little harder for us. my sons knew that disney existed. they had seen cinderella's castle at the beginning of every disney movie that they watched, but they had never been to disney. in the same way, they know that heaven exists. why? because they trust that if God says it's real, then it must be. but not for us. we need something tangible. our logical and scientific minds have rationalized away the concept of an unseen world somewhere. most of us believe in heaven to some extent, but if we are truly honest with ourselves, then we must admit that it's a little hard to grasp. but we must become like little children, and again somehow recapture that amazement at the things around us. when we look at creation, or when we think about grace and mercy, our faces should light up. when we think about the opportunity we have every day to not only talk to the creator of the universe, but to actually have a relationship with Him, our eyes should fill with joy, and smiles should cross our faces. one day, heaven will be tangible. and we will be like my two sons at disney. close your eyes and picture it. forget who's watching you. let go, and be a kid again. can you hear the exclamations of sheer excitement at the characters? "look! there's adam! and there's peter! king solomon!" what about the amazement in the voices of those around you as they walk the streets of heaven? "wow! the streets sparkle! feel of this! it's real gold! look at the mansions! did you see how big the gates were? and they were really made of pearl! can you imagine the size of the oyster that it took to make that?" and the speechlessness of the crowds as they witness the angelic choirs and orchestras playing the music that is the foundation for all music ever played. "how beautiful! i just got goosebumps hearing them sing! have you ever heard such perfect harmony?" but the culmination of heaven, will be that moment, the moment that will pass all others. listen. you can hear the excited whispers and see the people pointing. "it's Him! it's really Him! it's JESUS! wait! He sees me! He is motioning for me to come over to Him! what to i do? what do i say? i just have to go!" followed by a running sprint, like a child running to his dad when he comes home from work, as one by one, Jesus welcomes all of us into His arms!

on the last night, as we waited on the bus to take us back to the resort, my oldest started crying. not a fit throwing cry, or a tired cry, but a genuine, sad, cry. i asked him what was wrong, and he responded, "i don't want to go! i want to come back tomorrow!" when i informed him that our tickets ended that day, he cried that much more. for him, it was a world of happiness, of magic. one that he never wanted to leave. the beauty of heaven, is that we will never have to experience that sadness of having to leave! we will have every day to discover new things, to meet new people, and to live in child-like wonder at the new world around us. and who knows, you may even overhear someone saying as they point at you, "it's him/her! i heard about them! they are the one that told my great-grandfather about Jesus! they are the one that . . ."

forget finding your inner child. let go, and be a child!

i am a c. . .i am a c-h. . .

christian. the term is used with such flippancy today that it is almost nullifying. frankly, i have heard it so much, that when someone tells me that they are a christian, i think no more of it than if they were to tell me that they were say, a republican. the terms are almost synonymous in nature. both today have come to refer to ideologies and political stances, as opposed to the true meaning of the word "christian".

the term christian was first used during the early days of Christianity, while it was still considered a sect of judaism. in the book of Acts, we see that the disciples were first called "Christians" at antioch. at the time, the term was derogatory in the eyes of the public. they were in essence, mocking the disciples. the term Christ, was recognized to mean "saviour" to the people of the day, and by calling them "christians", they were calling them "little Christs". however, this was the ultimate compliment. the disciples were acting enough like Christ that they were being compared to Him. today, we could hardly compare to those heroes of the early church. yet, everyone who says that they believe that God exists are now labeled "christians." i have a tremendous problem with this. first, let us look at the aspects of those early christians that qualified them as earning the label "christian". they were known as those who hung out with Christ. they lived lives of sacrifice, forsaking all, including their freedom and safety, to spread the gospel. they performed miracles. all of these are mirror images of the example Christ set for them. it was only natural for them to be compared to the Saviour Himself.

now, let us look at those today who would so boldly dare to even place themselves in the same category as those early disciples and call themselves "christian". how many self-labeled "christians" today can honestly say that they "hang out" with Christ everyday? many don't even crack open their Bible once a week, let alone every day. and as for prayer, saying grace before meals is a stretch, and is the closest they get to communicating with Christ. how many of them even know what the word sacrifice means, much less practice it? for many, even opening their mouth at work to share the gospel with a co-worker is not an option out of fear of rejection or embarrassment. and finally, other than the charlatans such as benny hinn who claim to perform miracles, i do not see any of those persons who refer to themselves as "christian" claiming to perform miracles.

what can we take from this? one, none of us deserves the title "little Christ." it is said that the thing a person speaks the loudest against is the vice they are the most susceptible to. i cannot deny this. i am one of those who does not deserve the title of "christian". i tend to refer to myself as a "Christ-follower", but even that is a stretch sometimes. i echo the sentiment of the apostle paul, when he said that he "does the things which he does not want to do, and does not do the things he should do." in thomas a' kempis' imitatio a Christi, he discusses how we are to be like those early disciples, imitating Christ to the point that others cannot help but comparing us to our Saviour. this is the ultimate goal for a true follower of Christ: to become like the Saviour, to be molded in the likeness of Christ. this is the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a true Christ-follower. however, we must not get in the way and sacrifice ourselves, our lives, and our pride in order to be moldable. if we go on claiming a status that we have not yet achieved, we see no need in working toward that status.

and second, in order to imitate Christ, we must be a student of Christ. He tells us in Matthew to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him. one cannot learn from someone with whom they do not spend countless hours observing, studying, and talking. i have been teaching my son gavin, to play golf. it was amazing to see how i could show him how to hold his club, how to swing it, and where to hit the ball, yet it wasn't until he stepped back and watched me swing, that he actually figured it out and hit the ball surprisingly well! it must be the same way with Christ. we must both learn of Him, as well as spend time with Him, to truly start imitating Him, and therefore begin working toward the title of "little Christ."

do you live up to the title you are claiming?

ashes, ashes, we all fall down

today is fat tuesday, the day of gluttony observed by those of the catholic faith, as well as anyone else looking for an excuse to binge on anything, whether it be red meat, alcohol, tobacco, etc., on the day before ash wednesday, the start of the lenten season. during lent, a person is asked to give up something that is dear to them for the 40 day period before crucifixion friday. i used to be amused by my classmates that would say "i'm giving up broccoli!", or "i'm giving up homework!" not being catholic, even i knew there was something hokey about that! i remember thinking, "i'm not sure that is how it works," but i always held my tongue. hollywood took a jab at the observance a few years back with the movie "40 days and 40 nights", starring josh hartnett, about a young man who gave up sex for lent, and all of the struggles, hijinx, and temptations that went along with that decision. tonight in new orleans, bourbon street (or rue bourbon for you "saints") is crawling with people partying and binging. how many of them will actually observe lent in the morning, is yet to be seen. having personally been to french quarter during mardi gras, as much as everyone was drinking, i don't imagine they would even want to look at an alcoholic beverage for 40 days!

every year, my wife and i give up something for lent. our church back home in tupelo, ms is also having an ash wednesday service tomorrow. they also observe the advent season, the period leading up to CHRISTmas. "but chris, aren't you baptist?" you ask. the answer is yes. have i given up my baptist doctrine? have i been voted out of the convention? no! absolutely not! as a matter of fact, our church back home is a baptist church. "so why are you observing catholic rituals?" i assume is the next question. if you will give me a second, and not begin the gathering of the deacons to revoke my ordination, i shall explain.

first of all, let me say that i am not one of these people who say that the baptists are right and everyone else is wrong and bound for hell. i just line up with the baptist doctrine more than any other faith. that being said, let me also say that in practice, baptists have a lot of things right, but sometimes we steer so clear of anything related to liturgy and catholicism, that we throw the baby out with the bathwater.

while in rhode island, there were no baptist churches to attend. let me rephrase that, there were no southern baptist churches. there were plenty of american baptists, but those churches in the area have a very bad reputation of corruptness and liberalism. so, while there i attended st. john the evangelist anglican church, and i gained a new appreciation for the reverance paid to the sacred. but going back to the subject of lent, i must explain why i observe it. i must issue a disclaimer in that i do not believe that there is anything salvific in the observance of lent. however, there is a biblical principle that permeates the season of lent: fasting. donald s. whitney, in his book "spiritual disciplines for the christian life" (a must-read for every Christ-follower) lists fasting as one of the most powerful discipline for strengthening your walk with Christ. i observe lent as a reminder and as a preparation of my heart for crucifixion friday (i never understood why they call it good friday) and the subsequent resurrection sunday. (i also do not like the term easter as it is a modification of the word ishtar, a pagan festival of fertility) during this time, i give up something that is a daily part of my life, so that whenever i am tempted to partake in the given up item, i am reminded of the sacrifice Christ made for me in leaving His throne in Heaven to become a ridiculed, poverty-stricken, unpopular, unattractive man in an oppressive government with an ultimate end of torture and abandon, all so i could have a daily relationship with Him. i have given up things such as cheeseburgers (you laugh, but ask my wife how much i love a good cheeseburger), sodas (another hard one, dr. pepper anyone?), and even television one year. did it grant me favor with God? no. did it earn me a spot in Heaven? no. did it mean i was better than others who did not observe it? absolutely not. i am just a sinner, undeserving, saved by grace. however, it did cause me to focus more on Christ and His love for me.

so what am i giving up for lent this year? i respond by saying that i choose to keep that between myself and God, as well as my wife to help keep me accountable. in the Bible, we are told not to broadcast our sacrifices, but to put on a spirit of humility when we fast. this year, even if you are not catholic, or any of the other "catholic-light" versions of Christendom, i encourage you to consider a fast for the season of lent. if you desire a deeper walk with God, i know of no better way. many think of a fast as giving up food and going hungry. that is an extreme version, but there are all kinds of fasts. the point of a fast is to give up something that you will miss, so that during the times that those cravings or longings come up, you can instead turn your focus on God and pray. (an important note: if you are married, and you choose the abstinence route for lent, remember that the Bible says that it must be done in agreement with your spouse. sorry if you thought you suddenly had a better excuse than "i have a headache"!) during the times of longing, instead pray, read scripture, memorize scripture, or sing praises to God (as we see the disciples doing during their many imprisonments). I pray that this lent season will draw you closer to our Saviour and strengthen your relationship with the One who owns everything and gives and takes away! aei pistos!
-C.

love...twue love

for those of you that follow this blog, a lot has happened since i last posted. i am now on active duty with the navy as deputy chaplain for mag-31 at the marine corps air station in beaufort, sc. a majority of my work so far involves trying to fix marriages that are on the verge of calling it quits. the command sergeant major came and talked to me and asked me what i thought the problem might be. i told him that i believed a lot had to do with immaturity. however, last night, my prognosis was called into question.

while sitting down with my bride and watching one of our favorite guilty pleasures, "the bachelor", jake, this season's bachelor, was talking about his decision to eliminate one of the four remaining girls. in his many interviews, he kept repeating the phrase, "i am falling in love with her", referring to the four girls in question. i began thinking about that phrase, "falling in love". i myself have used it many times. however, i believe this is a large part of the problem with marriages today. we have a very skewed idea of what love actually is. hence the phrase, "falling in love".

think about that phrase for a second. what is love? a ditch? a grave? it must be if it's something you can fall into. i think a more proper phrasing would be "falling in lust". after all, that's what it is a majority of the time. and lust is definitely a rut, or a grave. and you can definitely fall into it. but isn't that the picture that is painted for us on the tv and in the movies? love is shown as a trivial feeling that is usually based on a sexual attraction or intimacy. love has been trivialized down to nothing more than a feeling. and marriages built on the shallowness of this viewpoint sprout quickly, like a seed that falls on the patch of dirt on top of a rock, but as soon as adversity hits, the "love" that bloomed so quickly withers and fades and the marriage ends.

so the question that is left is "what is true love?" one definition we can find is in 1 corinthians 13. in the list that is presented there, nowhere do we see that love is a feeling. nowhere do we see that love is based on physical attraction. instead, love is portrayed a very selfless action. i used to say that love is a decision. however, in recent days i have realized something. love is more than a decision. in order to truly define love, we need only to look to the One who personified love. Christ. He came to this earth out of love for us, denied everything that was rightfully His, and sacrificed Himself out of love for us. in that portrait of love, we do not see in any way that Christ's love for us was based on anything about us. in fact, we give Him every day reason after reason NOT to love us. yet He loves us still. in corinthians, husbands are told to love their wives the way that Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her. so the answer: love is CHRIST.

if love is Christ, then we are to look to His example of love. even in the face of infidelity, Christ's love for us remains true. why? because His love is not based on trivial and shallow ideals. it is pure love, the love that we are to have for our neighbor. if we are to have it for our neighbor, it is reasonable to expect that we have it that much more for our spouse. if we seek to love as Christ loves us, then it will not matter how mad our spouse makes us, nor how many pounds they put on in that third or fourth year of marriage. it will not matter if they return our love, or if they give it to someone else. we will still love them because we are modeling Christ.

this valentine's day, remember what love really is. it isn't flowers or candy or romance or candlelight dinners. those are all expressions of love. but they are not love. flowers wilt, chocolate gets eaten, candles go out, and romance comes and goes. love, Christ-like love, lasts forever.

compassion or condemnation?

in the book of matthew, chapter 9, we see Jesus looking at the crowds out of jerusalem and the Bible says that He was moved with compassion, because they were like "sheep without a shepherd." i recently went on a trip to the decadent city of new orleans, one of many that i have made in my lifetime, and was dismayed to learn that despite recent hurricane activity, the city was still as evil as ever. however, i was able to make a trip down to the french quarter and even on bourbon street (gasp)! while some may find this disturbing, i invite them to remember the people that Jesus associated with were anything but upstanding members of their local church. during the course of the night, i did not drink anything stronger than pepsi (dr. pepper was hard to find there and sweet tea was even harder, and i thought it was a southern city!) and struck up conversations with quite a few people there on the street and was able to share Christ with them. at one point, i was relaxing in the jacuzzi in the hotel courtyard after a physical training session and a couple came over and we started making the usual small-talk, where everyone was from, why we were there, etc. i was surprised to learn that they lived only a couple of miles from the hotel and they also worked in french quarter on bourbon street in one of the topless bars. he was the dj, and she was the bartender. i was able to have a very meaningful conversation with them about Christ and what the Bible said about their relationship and a variety of other things. i ended up getting to see them again before i left and was able to talk some more with them about salvation. what struck me as odd was that this couple lived in the south, where there is a church in practically every square mile of every city and town, and had never heard the gospel. this is a reproach on the church. we had the same problem in seminary. we began to learn that there were people who lived only a few hundred yards of the seminary that had never heard the gospel. all of them had heard about Jesus, but never about sin and the separation it created between God and us and the need for a Saviour! i'm sure that this can be said about countless churches throughout our country and the world today. so where are we going wrong?

i believe the first place we have missed the mark is in our view of the lost. notice that Jesus was moved with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. not because they were sick, or poor, or destitute, or repressed. He hurt because they had no idea of the fate that awaited them, and they had no hope without Him. we as a church collectively have made great strides over the last few years in getting the gospel out. however, i believe we are still missing the mark. here is the lithmus test: when you go out on missions, are you going because you feel like you need to, or are you going because you truly hurt for those you are ministering to? when you give your money to missions, are you giving out of obligation or guilt, or are you giving because you lose sleep at night thinking about those who die each day and go to an eternal hell?

the second place we have missed the mark is in our view of the sinner. we seem to think, again as a church collectively, that we are better than those out there who don't go to church and who participate in sinful activities. we condemningly refer to them as drunkards, homosexuals, abortionists, drug addicts, etc. nowhere in the Bible are we listed as qualified to judge the sinner. we are told to judge each other as Christians and to hold each other accountable, but the only person qualified to judge the sinner is Christ, and the Bible says that He will one day. the reason we are not qualified to judge them, is because we are in the same boat they are. the only difference is that we have had our penalty paid for our sin. that makes us no less sinners as it does the homosexual or the child molester or the murderer. if we break part of the law, then we are guilty of the whole of the law. we are all lawbreakers. the next time you think that you are better than those "sinners" around you, try and go a day without sinning. good luck. however, if you can accept the fact that we are just as depraved and deserving of the same punishment as everyone else, then you can get past your self-righteousness and go into the less-than-desirable places and reach out to others who are lost just as you were once. there is a group of ladies that go into the strip clubs and witness to the dancers there to teach them about the glory of their created bodies and to show them a better way than exploiting themselves.

i must say, that i am guilty of this very thing. i tend to think of it in terms of "us and them." however, this past week in new orleans reminded me that the place we are going to find the lost is not in our churches. so instead of hiding our light under the bushel of the church, we need to carry it out into the darkest places of our worlds, however big or small, comfortable or not, and let it shine brightly. a lost sinner is far more likely to respect someone who comes into their world to reach out a hand, rather than standing in the church doors pointing at the cross on their steeple. a good friend of mine told me something a while back that changed my whole perspective on missions: expect lost people to act like lost people. (thanks jason!) only when we can stop looking down our noses at those participating in activities that we find reprehensible, only then can we be truly effective witnesses for our Saviour! remember, there but for the grace of God go we! aei pistos!
-C.

talkin bout my generation

we are failing. the price is going to be great, perhaps more than we are willing to bear. what are we failing? we are failing our kids. our youth are being thrown to the wolves with no weapons with which to defend themselves. what wolves? the wolves of the secular society. we are becoming a society that is increasingly less godly and more secular humanistic.

what are we doing to combat this? the same thing we have done since the 1950s. and we stand back with our chests puffed out and rest on our "blessed assurance" thinking that we are preparing them for the world. after all, we send them to church, and to youth camps, and teach them to have a "quiet time". the problem is, it's not working. let me say that again, it's not working!

why isn't it working? because we have dumbed down kids and give them fluffed up Bible stories that are so shallow they make a bathtub look deep. the Bible says to "train up a child in the way he should go." it does not say to tell them a bunch of stories with morals to them. those are called fables people. aesop has some very good ones. and consequently, when our youth stand before a humanistic professor demanding to hear proof in the existence of God or that the Bible is true, all they can do is spout Bible stories.

we teach kids to compartmentalize their lives, where church and God fits in one, school fits in another, family fits in another, etc. or to "prioritize" their lives. you know, God first, family second, school third, etc. these are both flawed ways of thinking. we should teach them that Christ permeates and should be the center of all we do, not sitting at the top of our priority list. when we do that, He is excluded from the other areas of our life.

we are even failing in our so-called Christian schools. they come out with an education that is comparable to a public school, but with a Christian spin on things, and they have no depth, no change in thinking, no worldview perspective. just a trumped up religious private school education, where we can all feel good about ourselves and say "i sent my kid to Christian school!" in the end, it's all about appearances and feelings.

make no mistake, unless we abandon the kumbaya mentality of the 1950s and start preparing kids to face the challenges of today's intellectual and secular society, our churches will dwindle. the numbers of professing Christians will diminish. and it may just be a precursor to the prophecy in the New Testament concerning the many that will leave the faith. the book of James is very specific. those who teach will be held to a stricter judgment. that goes not only for pastors and youth pastors, it also goes for parents, teachers, grandparents. i think i may have to go and cover up my mirror, because the finger i'm pointing ends up pointing back at me.

can your mirror remain uncovered?