Walls to Fall

I have been aware and praying for many of the problems in Africa since I met Princess Kasune Zulu at a Youth Specialties Conference in Atlanta, I believe it may have been 2006 or 2007.  I’m sure many of you are aware of at least one of the problems in Africa, thanks to a video called Kony 2012 on YouTube.  If not, please watch it below.

No matter how many criticisms are claimed about the group that put on this video, I promise you one thing…these atrocities are happening.  I also believe that the group, Invisible Children, is doing a wonderful thing and doing it in a smart way.  I personally do not believe problems created by men can be solved through men.  I personally believe that we solve our problems in a way that creates new problems.  For example, I would be willing to bet that the government in Uganda took power in the same way that Joseph Kony is trying to gain power.  This is similar to the fact that America supported a war and rebellion that placed Saddam Hussein in power in Iraq.  This is not an indictment (at least today) against your support of a government with a veil of false Christianity covering it.  What I am doing is asking you, if you already support and believe government works, to support what this video asks.  Call up your officials. 

If you supported a war based on rumors of Weapons of Mass Destruction, then please support the movement to actually stop a Weapon of Mass Destruction that just so happens to have a name.

In this video they say that this is an experiment and they also say that there are a couple things that you can do to take Joseph Kony out of power.  They are lacking as they do not include God.  I would like to start a parrellel movement, not in opposition but alongside of Kony 2012.  I even have a catchy name for it…Walls to Fall, I am a sucker for catchy names.  The invisible Children neglected to include the Creator of all things in their video so I am asking for you to call upon Him.

In the first 3 days this video had over 30 million views.  Imagine if 30 million people committed to praying and fasting to remove these types of leaders from power.  Imagine if 30 million people groaned in pain at one time, to the Lord of the Universe.  The reason the idea of Walls Falling comes to mind is that this is not only an opportunity for those following The Way can help bring down a disgusting person, but to have it done in a way that would show the power of Jesus Christ.  I want Jericho to happen.  I want Gideon’s victories to happen.  The world is thirsty for a miracle, let us ask for God to bring Joseph Kony down in a way that sheds no blood, makes no sense and where all the Glory is the Lord’s.

The video says that on April 20^th millions of people will be covering the night with Joseph Kony’s face so that the world will support troops to remove him from power.  I am asking you that on April 20^th we as The Church ask for Christ’s intervention.  Please commit to skipping one meal or 40 days of meals.  Use that time for prayer.  Imagine if the entire Body of Christ fasted and prayed.  I am asking you to repost this, or pass on this idea to your friends and family, copy and paste what was written, just let people know that you and I will be praying and fasting for Walls to Fall on April 20^th.

God's Happy Endings

Here is a little quiz for you to take:

Do you often use the word “Happy”?

Have you ever said something similar to “God wants me to be happy”?

Do you believe that your happiness comes before your commitments?

Does the following sentence sound logical to you – I need to be happy before I can make others happy.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are either a Disney Character or an inward focused person that has become totally detached from your Creator and a healthy spiritual community.

I have tried to find a nice way of writing about the subject of marriage and the insanity that I see tearing it apart almost on a weekly basis, but can not find pleasant words for a disgusting circumstance.  The common thread of all of these broken marriages is the word “Happy.”  I will break down the insanity question by question.

Do you often use the word “Happy”?

I believe you can easily judge a person’s mind based on how often they use this word.  If you ask a normal person what they hope life will be like in 10 years, they may answer by talking about a career, having kids, visiting a remote island or any normal future thing.  If you ask the selfish detached person what they hope for in the future they will say they want to be happy.

Are you kidding me?  That isn’t a goal.  The reasonable response is to talk about things or events that may affect your happiness.  People generally hope for happiness through other things.  This would be discussing the means to an outcome.  Detached people will always talk about the outcome so that the means to that outcome is not as important.  Hitler concentrated what he said on a strong and financially secure Germany and people bought into it so much that how it was accomplished was glossed over and absolutely disgusting.  If this is the concentration of your life and your goals, I am sad to say that you will destroy whatever you can to sit on a mother f’ing rainbow singing to blue-jays.

Have you said, “God wants me to be happy”?

This is one of the most loathsome things you can ever say in my presence.  This makes me feel like you may have never cracked open the Bible, and yet you talk like you have.  This would be what blasphemy sounds like. 

Our idea of a happy ending is two people on a magic flying carpet ride, some girl getting rid of her fins and growing legs to be with her prince or being awoken by true loves kiss.  By saying that God wants you to be happy, you are telling the world that you have the emotional and mental development of an 11 year old, no offense to the countless 11 year olds that probably read this.

Here are some examples of God’s happy endings:

-Being crucified upside down on a cross.

-Being boiled alive in oil and then sent to a deserted island.

-Being stoned to death.

-Having people dip you in tar and set you on fire so they can light their parties.

Next time you feel like God desires for you to be happy, crack open His actual Word and find out what he actually says about His will for you.  Next time you say that God wants you to be happy, please climb onto the tallest thing around you and yell out for everyone to hear, “I am a liar!  I only care about myself!  I don’t care if you get in my way because you don’t matter as much as I do!”  Then take a bow because for once you may have stumbled upon honesty.

Do you believe that your happiness comes before your commitments?

My wife and I bought a car last year.  Our monthly car payment is about $297.  We will be paying this for the next 4 years.  It would make me happier to spend $297 on the casino, traveling or tattoos.  Why do we continue to pay $297 a month on our car rather than fun stuff?  We do this because a commitment supersedes our happiness.

There are only 2 types of people that this logic will not make sense to….toddlers and those that are trying to justify their selfishness in breaking up a marriage.  Try going to a restaurant and ordering a sandwich, eat half of the sandwich and demand that you only be charged for the half that you ate.  This is not how any part of life works.  Marriage is not a half of sandwich.  Marriage is not a toy that is only good to have while it is convenient.  Marriage isn’t even a car payment.  Marriage is the joining of two humans in mind, body and soul.  You who believe your marriage has fallen apart or that your spouse no longer makes you happy should look in a mirror.  You have turned your mind, body and soul inward.  You are the reason that your marriage is malfunctioning.

Does the following sentence sound logical to you – I need to be happy before I can make others happy.

Who do you think you are?  Do you think you are an f’ing clown?  Nobody wants you to make them happy.  We want you to stop being selfish.  We want you to repent for the vanity you have clothed yourself in.  We want to laugh and cry with you.

I was a pothead for a really long time.  I was very happy.  I had no pain in my life.  Guess how many people were made happy by my happiness.  Um, zero. 

If you think I am writing this specifically to you, then yes…it was meant for you.

In the last 6 months I have seen my friend Andy lost and alone because his wife Bethany was not happy.  She is still searching for happiness.  God has pulled him through and he has an amazing new job helping troubled youth.  He has not searched for happiness but rather the will of his Lord and Savior.

My friend Julian has spent many nights in my office, in my home and on my porch.  He now has an empty apartment because his wife couldn’t commit to 6 months of marriage.  She believes God wants her to be happy too.  I have never seen someone so in tune with God’s will through such a f’ed up time.  Julian has turned into a man after God’s own hear.  His wife Jaqueline is still searching for happiness.

Katie had her husband leave her  because he did not want to have “the burden of marriage” which is asshole code for “wanted to chase after his own lusts.”  Katie is still hurt but she is an awesomely powerful Roller Derby Girl that gets to knock other people down while having 8 wheels strapped to her feet.  I’m sure Johannes is still looking for happiness.

My dad left my mom after 33 years.  My mom gets to see 20 grandchildren and help raise them up as beautiful Christ-followers.  She has had her faith grow 100 fold over the last 2 decades and the last time I spoke with my dad, he was talking about trying to be happy.

In my own family this very day, I believe someone is talking of their happiness.  I know what this means.  We all know what this means.  Your selfishness is not cute or entertaining.  You are spitting in the face of your Savior and that is not cool.  We have already lost a father, husband, grandfather to “happiness” so snap the F out of it and get yourself right with God and stop trying to be happy with yourself.

I know this isn’t the most eloquent of writings that I have done, but I am straight pissed off.  I know it isn’t nice to use names and specific circumstances, but my Savior never asks me to be nice.  People are afraid to call people out on these things because we “aren’t suppose to judge.”  Once again read His Word not your loose memory of what His Word may or may not have said.

I ask all those that have made it to the bottom of this to join me in prayer.  The Lord told us that what we bind here will be bound in heaven.  I ask you to pray with me that Bethany, Jaqueline, Johannes, my dad, the un-named and any other person in these chains of selfishness, that they all have their happiness bound and unattainable.  Not to punish them but so that they may find forgiveness.  Jesus isn’t some ho at the end of the bar, he is the bloodied, mangled risen body laying next to you in the ditch.  

Miracles Expected

About a year and a half ago Chelsea and I moved to Scottsdale.  We moved here because she had accepted a position teaching at Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church and School.  About 3 weeks before she had her first class there was news that one of the school families had been in a plane crash.  One of the little girls in the crash was to be one of Chelsea’s students.  This beloved family lost a mother and little brother.  The dad had broken bones throughout his body, the elder girl was in fairly decent shape and Chelsea’s student had gone the longest without oxygen, was in a coma and was in all likely-hood going to suffer too much brain damage to ever return to school.

Chelsea and one of her friends went to visit the little girl in the hospital once she came out of the coma.  She could not talk other than guttural communications.  The doctors told the family repeatedly that she would have a hard time gaining enough mobility, speech and brain activity to function as a normal child.

One night while we were laying on the floor of our apartment we prayed for her.  In that prayer, God reminded us of miracles.  We continued praying no longer asking for a miracle but expecting a miracle.  After we prayed I told Chelsea that the little girl would be perfectly fine and would be back in school that year.  She was!

To talk about followers of The Way today, we have to talk about two very different sides of the coin.  I think we are represented by two very different groups in the life of Jesus.

The first group comes from one of my favorite miracles.  Jesus was speaking in a building that was packed with people.  No one could get in our out.  A group of friends had a friend that could not walk so they carried him around on a mat.  They had hoped that they could take their friend to see Jesus that day and see if the Healer could help him.  They could not get him inside to see Jesus so they took him up to the roof.  They dug through the dirt and thatched roof above Jesus and then lowered him down to our Savior.  Jesus spoke to the man and told him that the faith of his friends had healed him and that he should pick up his mat and walk.  So he did!

The second group comes from a moment in Jesus’ life when he heals 10 lepers.  He tells them to go to the High Priest and be declared clean.  This was a huge deal.  Until someone was “clean” no one would speak with them, help them or even admit that that person was there.  Only 1 leper returned to thank Jesus while the other 9 never returned.  We are a lot like the other 9 lepers.  We tend to forget the source of the miracle.  It seems to get easier every day to forget the source with technology and medicine.

In the comparison of the first group we do have some advancements to make.  We love to pray.  We pray for food.  We pray for our friends.  We pray for a lot of stuff.  We need more though.  In Hebrews it talks about Jesus making us heirs to the throne of God.  It talks about us having ever right to be in the throne room and to make any request boldly as we are now His sons and Daughters.  It seems like there is always something that is just under the surface that we wish everyone would pray for but we just can’t ask for it.  We want it with every ounce of who we are but when our hands are folded we neglect to ask our Lord for help in the area that is closest to our heart.  What would you ask for if you God specifically asked for the closest request that your heart has?  Would it be for a broken relationship that seems like it would be impossible to heal?  Would it be for the complete removal of the brain tumor?  Would it be for recognition of your sacrifice?  I have had the opportunity to think long and hard about this.  I would ask God to be free of debt.  Chelsea and I feel we have a large pull from God in a specific direction and debt is the one thing standing in our way.  I guarantee we will never bring this up when our small group has prayer requests.  We won’t pray about it before meals or at bed time.  Why not?  Because requesting some miracles seems ridiculous!

To twist around a quote by Dr. Suess…A miracle is a miracle no matter how small.  Let us as a people, as the heirs of the Lord start figuring out how we can lay more at His feet and not less.

As for the second group, we have very short memories. 

Doctors said a little girl would never be normal again.  She should be a beacon of Christ’s power when you see her. 

My wife had a mole removed this year that was pre-cancerous.

One of our neighbors was removed from an environment of physical and sexual abuse.

Our friends adopted a little boy who could have grown up with a mother that could not overcome drugs.

I have 20 nieces and nephews that are all perfectly healthy.

My student loan has been rehabilitated.

One of my friends quit drinking for 30 days which is the longest he had gone without a drink since 14.

I could list so much more.  In my down time I like to read Wikipedia.  This week I read the section on miracles.  It talks about a guy that criticizes the idea of miracles.  His name is Littlewood.  His idea is that if each second counts, there are about a million seconds in a our lives each month.  He goes on to say that we should expect a miracle, or a one-in-a-million type occurrence once a month.  In my mind he just proved that miracles happen every day and we should expect them.  I am expecting a miracle and I ask you to join me.  

These people need them and feel free to write in and add those that need prayer and an intervention from Christ in their lives:

Our friend Julian’s marriage is blowing up.

Andy has no idea what is going on in his marriage.

Katie needs healing after her marriage has wounded her.

A friend has a job opportunity in another state.

Janina’s sister has an inoperable brain tumor.

Chelsea’s uncle Jeff is battling cancer and needs miracles.

My nephew Jonathan’s friends were in a car crash and some of them have been taken home.  The remaining girls and the families need many many miracles.

Like I said, please let the miracles you are searching for be known.  We will lower you before our Savior!  Pick up your mat and walk! 

Dear Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

I wanted to title this blog “Dear Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, any church really, but mostly the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod because that is the type of church I have been placed in.”  Kind of a long-winded title, so I knocked it down a bit.  I don’t think I need to worry about receiving a rebuttle from them because any good LCMS-er knows there is a dash between the LC and the MS. 

Before I start this letter to my church body I want to squash an indescribably stupid argument.  “If you don’t like it, then leave.”  Pretty much the same argument people use when I talk about the United States.  Same argument (almost) the religious folks used on Jesus, except their argument was “If you don’t like it, then we will convince Rome to hang you by your hands.”  The argument didn’t work on Him and it won’t work on me. 

I really feel that your name should be changed to The Lutheran Church – More Stuff.  That way you can keep the LCMS shortening.  Why the name change?  Because it fits the personality of this church so well.  “Wait, we like our Church, we are the one’s who have it right…Faith alone, Scripture alone and Grace alone.”  Really?  Is that what you believe?

Jesus talks about a time when His Father will judge all men.  The Father asks both the righteous and the unrighteous similar questions.  He wants to know how they reacted, or tells them how they reacted, to Him when he was hungry and needed food, when He was naked and needed clothing or when he was in Jail and needed a visit.  Here are some questions He does not say:

I wish you had read more books.

I wish you were stricter with your close communion policy.

You didn’t have enough church meetings or rules in your church constitution.

I was hoping you would build bigger buildings.

I wish you would have separated  yourselves from other church bodies more.

It would have been nice if you could have spent more of your time telling everyone how their theology was wrong and yours was right.

You could have been more picky about the hymns and the type of songs sung in your “worship” services.

Speaking of worship services I wish they would have been more unlike worship and as far from service as possible.

I really wanted more Latin taught in my grade schools, and I wish you would have done it faster so that the people would be more likely to have their kids go to school elsewhere.  (This is a shout out to a small Lutheran Church in rural Wisconsin, and the nonsense that their egotistical impersonal “shepherd”/mouth of the enemy that is leading them.)

I wish you would have bickered more about how the church was run and who did what in church.

I wish you had voted more about My will in your church, I am a huge fan of the most popular opinion.

I wish you had spent more on candles, windows and ornamental robes.

I wish you had been more clever with Pro-life posters and advertisements.

I wish you had alienated “sinners” more.

I wish you had been smarter.

I wish you made people feel more like they had to go to you to have My Word explained to them.

I wish you had kept a bigger monopoly on my kingdom, thank you for grossly overestimating your part in the Office of the Keys.

I wish you had been more judgemental.

I wish you would have been even more upset when you found out Dave Ellefson of MegaDeath was going to school to be a pastor.

I wish you would were more unwilling to change with My Will.

I wish you would have spoken more about “giving” in the hour people were listening to you for My sake.

I wish you had been a bigger supporter of a Nation, of troops, of a government of policies and generally stuff that had nothing to do with My Kingdom.

Some of these things happen through most churches, but many of them are significantly Lutheran Church or Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  We have a friend that would be classified as a “sinner” in church.  She actually did one of the pet sins that conservative American Christians look at as being one of the worst.  She went to church shortly after this.  She felt like everyone was staring at her and judging her and never felt more hated in her life.  Great story, right?  What if the church was actually known for love?  This is a judgment on the leaders of our church.  Shit rolls down hill and so does love.  You have fostered an environment that is so far from Christ, but yet you cover this up with a cheaply made, rubber mask of Jesus.

The environment that our church has created is not a House of Worship but it is an idol.  We have made the church the intercessor on behalf of the people.  Sounds like the Church that Luther broke away from.  A church is there to support THE CHURCH, the people.  A church is not there to rule the spiritual lives of the people.  You are not The Shepherd but just a sheep.  You are not The Light of the World but just a light in the world.  Stop hindering the work of His Kingdom here on earth.

There are some good leaders in the church though.  Notice I said some, not a lot.  If you think you are one of the good ones, then I am probably not speaking about you.  I recently read a letter to a church in California, that had been bickering between themselves about whether a pastor should be re-instated due to a problem in his life.  The letter was written by the president of the Southwest District.  This is a paraphrase, but it said something like this, “While you are fighting amongst each other, there are people dieing outside your church that do not know the Love of Christ.”  That is a great leader in Christ’s church.

My church has some fantastic leadership.  The pastor of my home church recognizes that he is a Christian leader first and a Lutheran Pastor second.  He realizes that a church that is here to maintain is a church that is on it’s deathbed, but that a church that is crying out to the community is a church that has Christ as the Head. 

It’s time to realize that being doctrinally or liturgically sound is garbage in Christ’s eyes, compared to Love and clothing, feeding and visiting His people (not “sinners”) when they need it.

And They Will Know We Are Christians By Our?

I’ve been whistling a lot lately.  I don’t know why.  I whistle while I work.  I whistle when I walk.  I whistle to my dog, Akon.  Yesterday I drove to the store and instead of listening to the radio, I whistled.  For some reason, yesterday the tune to “They will know we are Christians by our love” was in my head.

I came to a disturbing reality yesterday.  We are a people that no longer worship idols.  Isaiah speaks on God’s behalf and almost mocks the thought process of those that make idols.  He talks about how ludicrous it is that people worship things that he created.  Well, we in the American Church don’t have that so much anymore, but we still continue to worship His creation.  This new idol just isn’t made of metal or wood.  It is made of flesh and blood.

I often hear from our brothers and sisters in Christ that they hate the sin but not the sinner.  If this is true, why are we so quick to judge and hand over the sinner to The Enemy?  Your hate for any of the topics that the Conservative Right has battled against in each of the last decades has bled over the lines into a feeling of hatred and apathy for those you disagree with.

Jesus tells us to Love God and Love our neighbor.  When asked who our neighbor is, He tells a story to the Religious elite about a person that they view as lower than low, unclean, unworthy of entering their temple…a sinner.  So we are to Love those that we think stand for everything that we disagree with, so much so (according to the story) that it may affect our religious standing.

Let me give you an example of how The Church today is not living up to its call.  Yesterday I had a conversation with my boss.  She has a same-sex partner.  She goes to Church a couple times a year.  She has yet to go to Church with her family without getting petrified looks by those around her.  When I had applied, she was given a copy of my resume.  Most of the Schooling and volunteering and even work I have done in the last couple years has been Christ-Centered.  I asked her what she thought when she first saw all of that stuff.  She told me that she was afraid I was going to be like “the rest” of the Christians she had met.  When I was interviewed I stayed faithful to the Lord and spoke of love and acceptance when asked about diversity.  Now had I answered in a way that would “toe the line” of what Televangelists have been telling us since the TV was invented, I would probably not have been hired.  Not because I was a Christian, but because I would have been a disruption to everyone in the office.

Political beliefs, Church half-truths and self righteousness would have stood in the way of multiple chances to Love my neighbor.  Being a follower of The Way means loving and accepting and doing what it takes to be the Face of Christ to the World.  Because Christ has called my wife and me to live this life we have been his tool to many people over the last year and a half.

I wish I could tell you the number of lives touched by Him through us but after much contemplation, I feel like it would sound like boasting.  I will boast in the Lord but my writing style and limited vocabulary may not convey who I am correctly boasting about.

So how does this relate to our new idols of flesh and bone?  We are those Idols.  Christ calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  That’s it!  That’s our job.  When you look back over the last 30 years (I am only 32 so I can only look back so far, this probably goes back much further) it looks like loving our neighbor is an after-thought.  Almost like we will love our neighbor once they start believing what we believe.  The way we talk, the way we involve ourselves politically, the way we talk and the books we write all seem to say that we are on this earth to conquer Sin, Death and the Devil.  That’s not our job.  That’s Jesus’ job and oh by the way, He already did it!  Our job isn’t to abolish any sin, it’s to love our neighbor, feed the poor, care for the oppressed teach what Christ taught us and baptize.

Take a moment out of your day and think about your “favorite” sin.  You know the one.  The one that makes you vote the way you do, the one that pulls on your heart strings, and the one that you fight against.  Now look it up in the Bible.  Take a look at all the words surrounding it.  Chances are it is surrounded by a lot of sins that you personally struggle with.  Why are we fighting the one sin we see in others when we probably should be fighting the rest of the sins on that list in our own lives.

If the song that I have been whistling lately is true, then they will know that we are Christians by our love, by our Love.  Until we change the culture in our hearts and in our Church, maybe we should change the lyrics to “And they will know we are Christians by our judgment, anger, apathy, voting ballot, self righteousness and the ‘Jesus Fish’ on the back of our cars.”  It’s not as catchy and doesn’t work well with the tune, but in the Church and World today, it’s more realistic.

The Girl Next Door

I don't know if any of you have ever seen the movie "The Girl Next Door", and if you have an aversion towards cussing, nudity and rated R movies, you may not want to see it.

Here is a synopsis for you.  This High School nerd has a beautiful girl move in next door.  He falls for her and then finds out that she had been a porn star.  The industry tries to pull her back in, but he fights to keep her out.  Funny things happen.  Crazy things happen.  Sad things happen.

This movie that will never show up on the shame shelf as Veggie Tales and Fireproof taught me something I had been struggling to understand.  Many of the discussions I have been having lately have revolved around "discipleship' and all that the word means.

Here is a quote from the movie that I am going to adjust a little bit:

"Let's see here...um...can't speak a foreign language, so that's out. And uh, I certainly can't quote JFK now, can I Ryan? You know, it's funny--I have this whole speech prepared, and I've been practicing for weeks but you know what? I'm just gonna go with it. Discipleship...so, what is discipleship? I mean, it's funny, cause I used to think it was always telling the truth, doing good deeds...basically being a f'ing Boy Scout. But lately I've been seeing it differently. Now I think discipleship is about finding that one thing you really care about. That one special thing that means more to you than anything else in the world. And when you find it, you fight for it. You risk it all. You put it in front of everything--your future, your life, all of it. And maybe the stuff you do for it isn't so clean; you know what--it doesn't matter. Because in your heart, you know that the juice is worth the squeeze. That's what discipleship's all about."

I don't know how we got to the point where we believe making disciples means we watch the right movies, go to church every week, talk like a kindergarten teacher and buy pencils with "christian" sayings on them.  Discipleship is a dual process.  You, the disciple, is continually being refined while you, the maker of disciples, continually challenges, heals and encourages those around you.  There is nothing safe about this process.  If your "christianity" is getting in the way of making disciples you may want to take a trip down humble lane.

This morning I took a road trip to Humbleville myself.  I took my wonderful wife out to IHOP for breakfast.  We were seated in a booth next to another couple that seemed pretty unhappy.  Within a couple minutes they were quietly yelling at each other.  We really couldn't hear what was being said, but I could hear her calling him an a**hole multiple times.  We giggled.  

It seems that our contentment in being "better" than them made us smug.  Their anger and pain was entertaining to us.  Then I saw her punch him in the forehead from across the table.  Not as funny.  Then she kept berating him.  I peaked over the booth and saw his eyes.  They were looking somewhere far off and he was holding back tears.  

This is when I realized that Jesus did not send us into the world to be smug pricks.  He sent us into the world to make disciples.  He armed us with grace.  I immediately excused myself from the table and went up to the counter and gave them a gift card I had received for Christmas.  I told them it was for the couple that was fighting.  I told them not to say who gave it to them and just to let them know that sometimes people need free breakfasts on Monday.  The waitstaff was blown away.  They had overheard the couple and were avoiding them.  Now, I did not get up and start preaching, but they did taste the grace that has been given to me.  The waitstaff also got to see grace in action.

We will never know why we sat next to them.  We will never see what happened when they realized their breakfast was paid for.  We can only hope that Christ's kingdom found a crack in their hearts today and that it will lead to an insatiable light in their hearts.

This is not a story about what we did right.  This goes back to the movie.  She just wanted someone to see her as a beautiful, broken person.  The movie, breakfast and discipleship are all about this.  We are all porn stars that want to escape from our hurt, pain, choices and prisons.  We are all on the same side.  We all have the same loving Savior calling and beckoning us to His arms.  Let's start acting like it without letting our smugness, judgementalness and "better than you" attitude from doing what needs to be done.  Sometimes this means we have to get our hands dirty, we just need to realize that someone had to get their hands dirty for us.

The Sewing Machine

One of my wife's Christmas presents arrived today.  I got her a Singer 6160 Sewing Machine.  I know, I know...it's pretty nice.  It's kind of like the Nissan Versa of sewing machines, in other words, it's awesome!

Anyway, I am watching her try and figure out how to use it right now.  She pulled it out of the box and was super excited when she saw it.  She started pulling and things and opening things and asking, "What's this?"  I asked her if she was excited and her response was, "I don't know.  I don't know how it works and I don't want to read the manual."

This totally reminds me of a time right before God's grace crashed the gates of my heart.  I had the goal of becoming a Christian for about a year prior this.  I wanted what some of my friends had.  I wanted to care enough about something, that I would die for it.

I stopped doing drugs.  I stopped perverting my relationships.  I slowed down my drinking.  I started using Christian terms and saying the right stuff.  I was even more miserable than I was when I was oblivious.  It took a year for me to ask someone what I was doing wrong.  It only took my wife 10 minutes before she started reading the manual for her sewing machine, but it took me over a year to crack open a Bible.

Why would I read the Bible?  I went to Christian schools from the time I was 5 until that point as a 24 year-old.  I knew all the stories.  I knew all the "Christian" answers.  Hell, I listened to conservative talk radio most of my life.  I knew you had to vote Republican.  You had to be Pro-Life.  You had to love America.  I knew what it took to be a Christian.

My misery was killing me.  I worked 3rd shift alone, and I remember spending much of the night crying because I longed to be oblivious again.  I wished I could go back and dull my pain with anything.  

Then someone told me to start reading the Bible.  I took this literally.  That night, July 5th, I had a conversation with Jesus.  He helped me by taking all of the things I had been trying to control into his hands.  And then I read.  And then I prayed.  And then I read more.  And then I fasted and prayed and read.

And then Christ kicked in the gates of my soul.  He went all Chuck Norris on my greed, on my selfishness, on my lust and on all the crap that had been stored up there for 24 years.  

I didn't have to pray some little prayer.  I didn't have to know a certain amount of stuff.  I didn't have to go to any specific church.  I didn't have to do anything.

I am not comparing The Word to a sewing machine manual.  I am saying that Jesus was not messing around when he said he was a Lamp onto our feet and a Light onto our paths.  I think a better comparison would be this:

Would my wife be this excited and happy had I just gotten her a sewing machine manual?  Probably not.  You cannot separate The Word from His grace, love and forgiveness.  She will read the manual and she will sew fabulous things because she knows what to do.  Maybe when we are lost, depressed and overwhelmed and can't shake the funk, we should try looking to The Lamp, The Light and The Word.

I pray that you head to the Scripture as soon as possible.  I pray that His Grace overwhelms you so that you are opened to the unlimited possibilities He has before you.  My hope for you is that you find healing, love, forgiveness, wisdom and the Savior in The Word.  It's never too late and it's never to early, but every second is just right to crack open the old dusty Bible.