Press Your Own "Like" Button

"As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior.

Those who believe in the Son are not judged; but those who do not believe have already been judged, because they have not believed in God's only Son. This is how the judgment works: the light has come into the world, but people love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil. Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up. But those who do what is true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God."
—John 3:14-21

This is a world that lives by the "Like" button. We look for approval. We want to be popular; some even seek fame. At one time or another, most of us find ourselves in situations where approval by someone matters: That proposal you are making to a company for a big sale, or that job interview. If we are not careful, we find our own opinion of ourselves becomes measured by our acceptance of others.

But God has a message for all of us: He loves us, unconditionally. That's not to say he approves of everything we do. But regardless of our activity, the scriptures repeatedly tell us that he holds us very dear.

Yes, there are many in the world who deny him. They reject his love because it interferes with their own pursuits. But know this: whether or not you believe in him, He believes in you. The most direct message communicating this is John 3:16, shown above. But as you dig deeper into the Bible, time and time again he offers compassionate love and opportunity for us to come to him.

For man, this is not a easy thing to understand. When someone denies us or rejects us, we usually turn away from them. Families become torn apart, friendships fade, business relationships end, and are seldom renewed. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

But I am here to tell you that in spite of any rejection you have felt, or for that matter, have dished out, God understands. And hear me on this: He loves you anyway.

There is much inside of you that is good. Now, you can choose to let those rejections tear down your mood and opinion of yourself. My own mother had tremendous self-esteem troubles, and often told me she just would rather stay at home in bed under the covers, that come out and face a judgmental world.

God wants you to see in yourself the vast and intense beauty of the person he created you to be. There is much to be done in the world, and if you let yourself rise above the judgment of others, then you can begin to see a better you. If you seek out that person, you can make the changes that will completely change your attitude.

Personally, I can tell you from experience that I have seen this change in me. I have done some very unforgivable things in my life. I have hurt others, sometimes unintentionally, but no excuses: I blew it. But what is to be gained if I wallow in it? Shall I commit to living the rest of my life imposing punishment for it? Why? I cannot change the past. But I can learn from it, and try to live a wiser future.

Make that change. Give yourself permission to find joy. Pursue your passions, and help others do the same. Press your own "Like" button. There is much there to appreciate.

Thoughts for a Tough Month

Just because they say some people may now marry whomever they want, it doesn't mean YOU have to. If you have a problem with it, then marry heterosexually. Live life according to your principles, but don't expect everyone else to jump on board. That's called freedom.

The Bible tells us to not allow ourselves to be double minded. But your principles are yours, and the nation has to forge its own to accommodate all of its citizens. I have my beliefs, but I also understand that what goes down in Washington isn't always going to agree with me.

The fight we need to fight is one to preserve this system, so that we may all worship and believe as we choose, and stand united with the common ground of being Americans.

If you really want a fight, then fight those who would undermine the authority of constitutional law with another set of laws that do not recognize the rights of all. Do not let Sharia law set a foot down in this land.

And it is time to stop bowing to terrorists and cowards. Do not give them the satisfaction of being able to frighten you. Have faith. Pray for peace. Walk in love, instead of fear or hatred, or prejudice.

Yes, we all have our issues... our flags to wave and drums to beat. Things need to be better. But we can do it. We can meet any crisis, with God's help.

Count the Blessings of Life

Romans 12:11
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

I woke up this morning to a usual sound. I've been blessed to have them all my life. Mockingbirds. Living first in the hills above Los Angeles, and now in Orange County, the song of the mockingbird reaches every suburban corner.

Now, I know they can be noisy. They try every sound they can come up with to do whatever the reason birds chirp. Sometimes repeated "check marks." Other times loud scolding. Immediately following, they sing complicated ditties that repeat and then go into variations.

I lay in my bed and thought "What a blessing." Then I listened deeper. Other birds joined in song. There was silence beyond. No traffic noise. "Blessing number two and three," my waking brain added. Number four was a light snoring. My little Yorkie, Mattie, lay sleeping soundly at the foot of the bed. This little dog, who came to live with us a year ago after being rescued from a puppy mill, was enjoying her luxurious new lifestyle. A far cry away from cement floor cages hosed down occasionally by rough, uncaring workers.

As I lay there, I thought that I could just coast and count blessings all day. My love, Gwen, next to me. My canine pal Bentley Bones, nearby. My house, my bed, this pillow... the list went on and on. I thought of Bing singing "Count My Blessings Instead of Sheep." Instead of going into slumber, I thought this was a great way to wake up.

Gradually the morning opened up to coffee and toast. There on my kitchen counter lay the program from a memorial service I attended yesterday. Michael, who died of cancer last month, looked up from the page with the smile we all enjoyed so much during his life.

Michael was a man who knew how to be a friend, and always created more of them. On the surface, he fastidiously worked his station at our favorite restaurant serving the customers he loved. He barked orders to the bartender when cocktails weren't just right. He hugged and kissed the ladies and greeted the men with "Hey Stretch." He extolled the benefits of a health food product for which he was a distributor. He was both professional, and a rascal. At 69, Michael had more life in him than most other people I know.

His favorite word was "yes." Sales convention? "Yes." More wine? "Yes." Skydiving? "Absolutely. Pick a date." He swam 100 laps daily, and exercised at the gym regularly. He mentored young folks naturally. He was always clean, always friendly, always organized.

Like all of us, Michael had a history, but instead of letting it stop him, it motivated him to be more open, more focused, and above all, a man who counted his blessings. Was he in pain? Yes. Did he ever let people know? Never, though we knew he was.

I looked around the room at his memorial. It was standing room only. People packed the room to mourn their loss of Michael. He brought people together, made them feel good, and helped more than we will ever know. He was the ultimate server. A man who found blessings with everyone he met.

Some people minister to others more than a thousand sermons. They remind us that a person lost is really a person just around the next corner. We never really lose them: they remain with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, and in the way our lives were changed by their presence.

Michael taught us all to be grateful for the things in our lives. Notice the chirping of birds and the smell of a fresh breeze. Know that there is always hope, and that we can all change our lot in life by changing ourselves.

The Voice of the Loud vs The Lord

Romans 14:10-13

"You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister."

The other day I was in a comic book shop to pick up a new release. As I browsed the wall of new magazines, I saw a new independent comic that was about a team of "Robin Hood" robbers who plot to hold up mega-churches right after the morning offering. The author, who makes no bones about being an atheist, is compelled at the close of issue one to tell the readers that he was raised in a Southern Baptist church and even volunteered at Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusade... That is, until he began to see the hypocrisy inside the church, and questioned the need to believe in God. He concluded he would like to believe, but he no longer feels his rational mind can accept the idea.

Of course, his depiction of the faithful is less-than-flattering, making church-goers appear as mindless sheep, willing to repeat anything the pastor says, singing hymns with lyrics all about giving. The implication is that they have all been programmed to swallow the kool-aid, and are willing to open their wallets completely blind to the foibles and indiscretions of the leadership. The thieves see themselves as morally justified for stealing millions from the church safe and distribute it anonymously to what they consider more deserving charities.

All this sets up a dynamic between the two investigators; one an experienced detective who happens to be a Christian, and the other an athiest hacker, who feels empathy for the criminals. Using the relationship between the two, the author is able to pose discussions between them that seems so far to stack the deck in favor of being an atheist.

Here's the thing. I totally get his thinking. Christians have been using comic books for years as tools to lead youthful readers to Christ. This guy is just turning the tables and doing the same. And like the Christian counterparts, he makes the same mistake: he fails to represent the opposition very accurately.

There has been a groundswell of activity lately from atheist and other camps to proselytize their opposition to belief in God. Billboards, television/radio ads and other social media are filled with efforts to discredit churches and try to cast the Bible as a collection of myths and legends far too long in the past to be relevant in today's scientific world.

It saddens me to see it. Not so much that I fear the impact their efforts will have, although if people are led away from faith in God, I am deeply sorry. No, I am sad to see how trivial the subject has become. In some ways, this guy has a point: all too often we let our churchy-ness interfere with engaging our minds. I think of this every time I hear people mumbling along with praise songs and repeating liturgy or simply reading aloud something printed in a church order of worship. People repeat memorized prayers without so much as to grab on to any meaning behind the words. Blah Blah blah blah, Amen. Yawn.

We give without demanding fiscal responsibility. We fail to do our homework. We talk about reading the Bible more that we actually read it. We say we love and then do hateful or simple judgmental things without considering the impact. We preach faster than we act.

Let me just say that I am fascinated by the great strides we are learning in the world of science and medicine. It is all amazing. Cures and discoveries are happening at astonishing rates, and we get photos of planets, stars and galaxies billions of miles distant. It boggles the mind, the size of the universe.

But even as it happens, I just don't see anything that discounts any possibility of the existence of God; that higher entity that set it all in motion. I never really see the supposed conflicts in scripture as something that can be dismissed. One one hand, we can choose to ignore the conflicts as they arise. But instead, I prefer to reflect on them. Whenever I do that, I learn so much about God and his creation!

I know I have a choice. I can believe in God, or I can dismiss him. The trouble is, I have more conflicts if I dismiss him than when I believe. I choose faith, and the more I reflect on existence, I find confirmation. Any doubts I may feel are always proven wrong.

Our comic book writer would tell me I am just reacting to the conditioning of faith that I have had from my youngest days, but I just don't buy it. I have felt God's hand in my life. I have seen first-hand his works. It's too amazing to ignore.

The critics of faith are loud. They shout their pronouncements and pontificate almost as well as any Bible-thumping preacher. They are cunning, and smart, and have an answer for everything. But still, there is a quiet voice of assurance in me. God is real. Like Elijah, in that still, small voice, onward came the Lord!

I know I haven't given any sort of convincing argument here. Frankly, I'm not really trying to engage in debate. All I know is that God is real, and I acknowledge that yes, the church has made lots of mistakes. But my faith is not a religion. It's a full-time engagement of my mind with the world and He who is greater than the world. I believe in God, and in Christ who died for me.

Yes. I Mean It.

Matthew 5: 34-37

"But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

I recently saw a cartoon of Abe Lincoln, watching his wife try on a dress. Mrs. Lincoln says "Dear, does this dress make me look fat?" The caption of the cartoon was "testing the limits of Honest Abe's honesty."

Getting caught telling a lie is awkward and hurtful, but telling the truth can really get you in trouble. We live in an age where lying is celebrated by even the highest officials. Case in point, Senator Harry Reid recently admitted to lying about Mitt Romney not paying his taxes. Romney was able to prove he did indeed pay taxes, but Senator Reid had no regrets for lying or feeling the need to apologize for his prevarication. In fact, these days we assume we are being lied to by everyone in politics.

So when the very people who we have held up as leaders of our nation think nothing of lying, it becomes hard for society to value speaking the truth. It is even to the point where truth comes in various degrees. One would think that being truthful is a black and white affair: You either tell the truth or you don't. The term "Truthiness" comes to mind. Comedian Steven Colbert coined the word to describe the fullness of truth-in-degree.

There is a reason that our court system swears in each witness with the phrase "the whole truth and nothing but." We sometimes lie by not telling the whole story. My wife could ask me "Did you go to lunch with Dave?" and I could answer a simple yes. But if Dave brought along a couple of pretty ladies to dine with us, my affirmative answer didn't exactly tell the whole truth!

Navigating in a world like this is uncertain. How wonderful it would be if we could know for certain when someone is lying or withholding the entire truth. Full disclosure could surely make decisions easier to make. But it's just a fact of life. We move ahead cautiously, hoping the things to which we commit will prove to be true and honest.

The only part of the equation we can do anything about is with ourselves. We are urged in Matthew to let our "yes be yes" and our 'No be no." That means we need to come clean before others, and tell them the best truth possible. If disclosing any portion of the truth be pertinent to the other, we owe it to them to let them know.

It's not easy. We tend to want to please. But it is a challenge to be honest with those we encounter, because ultimately what we are aiming for here is a truthful reputation. Once you establish the habit of being fully truthful,then when it comes time for you to talk about your faith, you are better prepared.

Make It So You Don't Have To Fake It

Romans 10:9-10

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

There is an adage around these days that goes "fake it till you make it." It has wide application. People advising others about how to survive in a new job say it to impart the idea that new work peers will assume you know what you are doing if you act like it. Eventually you will learn the job, and you will impress them with your confidence.

Other applications are found in the world of pop-psychology: if you find yourself less-than-happy, put on a grin anyway. Eventually your smile will convince you to be happy. That one I have a hard time buying, but so it goes.

"Fake it till you make it" is probably not the best advice to give some people, who might just endanger others along their learning curve. Trying to fly a plane or drive a locomotive comes to mind. In those cases, I'm fairly certain there is a reason you'd better be trained properly. Faking it is no substitute for knowledge.

It is interesting advice that Paul gives to the Romans above. When it comes to matters of faith, you really can't fake it till you make it. Both your mouth and your heart need to be aligned. I've seen a lot of preachers who thump a Bible talking about loving others, but then turn around and do some pretty hateful things. You heart has to believe, and then your mouth will profess.

Sometimes we may not always be standing on solid ground when it comes to faith. Situations arise where we may have little faith that our words will match our hearts. In prayer, we may ask God to meet our need, but our faith is tentative. We might not believe it possible that our prayers will make it all the way to God's ears. Even as we ask, we plan for contingencies.

God invites us to test him. He knows our trepidation. Remember, he built us this way. He instilled in us all mechanics to operate independently, and frankly, uncertainty is part of the kit. Uncertainty and doubt is a survival tool that protects us. We know that there are situations that arise where we need to test the waters... or frozen ice on a pond. Check the lines on a rope bridge before you get out to the middle.

What Paul is telling us is to proclaim our faith, and choose to believe. Talk to your inner soul and get aligned. Faith is a choice. You may sometimes be challenged to keep the faith you have chosen, but stick with it.

The amazing thing about choosing Christ is that as life becomes more complex, you will discover that your faith will grow in equal complexity. You will be able to think deeper thoughts, be wise in a multitude of challenges, and discover more about the world around you as you stick to one simple truth: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is real. His resurrection is the ultimate triumph over this world.

Develop a faith in your heart, and you will triumph too.

Reacting to a Rude Awakening

Matthew 6: 5-8

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

This morning I got a phone call before I was fully awake. I had been "coasting" for about five minutes but suddenly I had this urgent call that required that I spring out of bed and deal with something with a clear head.

It didn't help that the caller was already anxious! It took a little while for me to get to a point where I could get involved with his need, and come back down gently. The best I could do was fulfill his request, and hope for the best.

Unfortunately, from his viewpoint, resolution didn't happen immediately! Again he urged me to make some programming changes undoing what I had just done. But I could already see that things were settling down in the software, and I finally had to just tell him to let it go for now... give it some time for the changes to take effect. Once I did, he backed off. Perhaps he was a little uncomfortable that my sense of urgency did not match his, but if I had let the situation continue to escalate and make repeated change requests, we might have really harmed the program. Hopefully by now he can see things are working out.

Let me be clear. My caller was never rude. The anxiety of the situation just jarred my resting spirit. While the caller is always very courteous with me, the sense of urgency made it more difficult to transition into a calm morning. Even this afternoon, my nerves are still a little rattled!

Most of us has had that "rude awakening" feeling where we've felt suddenly jarred into taking action before our thoughts are prepared. All too often we hang on to those feelings, because we sense we need to act immediately, but we just are not quite sure which way to go.

Whenever that happens, it is good to find time to talk to God. Like meditation and other spiritual pursuits, prayer has the ability for us to seek out that quiet essence inside. But prayer has an added plus, because it enables you to think beyond yourself, and focus on a higher power. Prayer, unlike meditation, is open-ended on two sides; Meditation guides you to find peace within, whereas prayer helps you connect beyond yourself with God.

Some meditative methods seek to free your mind, and empty your mind of negative and challenging thoughts. Prayer, on the other hand, gives you the opportunity to get down to the essence of your need. It helps you discover the source of your trouble, and then helps you seek and find solutions.

Now, it might be a little hard at first to train yourself to not react in your usual manner, and instead recognize a shift might be needed. But try to be ready. Pray continually for the wisdom to seek out God's guidance in everything.

If you do, then when those panic moments arrive, you'll be better equipped to seek out God's solution.