Monday Musings: free drinks for life

“Free is a very good price!”

Growing up in Portland, I used the hear that phrase a lot.

It came out of the mouth of a local businessman who used it to promote his business on TV and entice people to come into his stores…and spend money.

Ahhh the catch.

Seems like there is always some kind of catch when something is “free” doesn’t it?

Buy one get one free.

Free drink with 12 points.

Now, don’t get me wrong…I like free stuff.

It’s just that we often have to spend money or work at something before it actually becomes “free.”

Because nothing in life worth having is truly free…right?

Wrong.

The truth is that the best thing you can have in life is free.

The prophet Isaiah put it this way in Isaiah 55:1…

“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink-even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk-it’s all free!”

And, then there was Jesus, who told a woman who was filling up her empty bucket with water at a well…

“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)

Both the prophet Isaiah and Jesus understood that we’re all thirsty…and not just physically thirsty.

We all have spiritual thirsts.

We all have relational thirsts.

We all thirst for significance, security, and acceptance.

We all thirst for meaning and purpose.

The bottom line is, we were all created to be thirsty beings.

And, we all go after all kinds of things to quench our thirsts.

Power.

Status.

Money/possessions.

Comfort.

Control.

Relationships.

Idols.

Religion.

But, here’s the deal…

All of those things will cost you something.

And only leave you more thirsty.

God created us to be thirsty beings, but he also gave us the opportunity to quench all of our thirsts forever in Jesus.

At the end of the day…

At the end of your days…the only way that your thirsts will be quenched forever is by accepting something that is actually free.

So, take Isaiah’s advice back in Isaiah 55 when he says…

“Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.”

Jesus paid to quench your thirsts forever with his life. But, there will be a day where your time on this earth will run out.

A day when this free offer is no longer available for you to accept.

A day where Jesus will be the one sitting on his throne in heaven saying…

“It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega-the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.” (Revelation 21:6)

Free is a very good price…especially when it’s truly free.

The invitation is there from Jesus.

Free drinks for life.

Are you ready to accept his invitation before it’s too late?

Monday Musings: 3 questions we should all be asking

Ahhh 2020.

Just when we think we’ve got you figured out (insert your favorite conspiracy theory here)…

And, now the Left Coast is on fire.

Seriously.

Entire cities and towns and even hospitals (hospitals?!) have been evacuated up and down the states of Oregon, Washington, and California.

This year has been one like no other in recent memory…and apparently it’s not over yet.

So, as we watch our land burn (literally)…

As we put our political stakes in the ground and wait for Election Day to save our country…

As we argue and debate and look down condescendingly at anyone who thinks differently than we do about COVID-19 or any other “hot-button” issue in our culture these days…

We should all stop, take a deep breath, and think (I mean REALLY THINK) about these three questions…

Where is God in all of this?

Has God lost control of the world?

If God can make all of this go away, then why doesn’t He?

The answers to these questions could fill a book (or LOTS of books), but I’m intentionally keeping this short.

So, let me just end with these words from 2 Chronicles 7…

13 At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. 14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 

If God might shut up the heavens or send plagues to get His people’s attention, don’t you think He might also send a global pandemic or throw countries into political and social unrest or allow fires to burn?

Because if He did, then we need to stop arguing and complaining and fighting against it all and do more of this instead…

Humble ourselves.

Pray.

Seek the Lord.

Turn from our wicked ways.

And then trust God to forgive us of our sins…and heal this land.

Monday Musings from Psalm 37

March 2020.

A month and a year that won’t be forgotten any time soon…or ever.

March 2020 started like any other “normal” month, but halfway through everything went sideways.

It started in the United States with the NBA shutting down its season on a Wednesday.

By Friday, schools were closing their buildings.

That Sunday, it was churches.

And the dominoes continued to fall with theaters and restaurants and parks and pretty much any “non-essential” public space closed or heavily restricted by the end of the month.

Fast forward six months and September is starting like a new “normal” month.

The NBA season is back…playing games in a bubble.

Schools are starting back up again…online (at least for now).

And churches are slowly starting to gather again indoors with guidelines for social distancing.

Same with many businesses and public spaces.

Welcome to the new normal.

As many of us go kicking and screaming into the final stretch of 2020, we need to stop and listen to the wise words of King David in Psalm 37.

Beginning in verse 7, he writes…

“Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper-it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land.”

In a country that is becoming increasingly louder and more polarized may we all as Christians daily choose to…

Be still in the presence of the LORD.

Wait patiently for him to act.

Stop worrying about evil people.

Stop being angry.

And trust in the LORD.

Perhaps if we all choose to live these last days of 2020 like this, we’ll be in a better place to receive whatever God has for us in 2021.

And in a better place to point people to the only One who can bring lasting hope and peace and healing to this broken world.

Advent Musings: how will you react to Jesus?

When you hear the name “Jesus” what’s the first word that comes to your mind?

Savior?

Christ?

Prophet?

King?

How about this…what reaction do you have when you hear the name “Jesus”?

Is it positive or negative?

Is it for him or against him?

Is it a reaction that reflects belief or unbelief?

Words matter…and words that reflect what we believe and lead us to action (or reaction) really matter.

So, how do you react to Jesus?

In the original story of Jesus’ birth, people reacted…

All who heard the shepherds wondered at what the shepherds told them. (Luke 2:18)

Jesus’ mother Mary treasured up all that was being said about her son. (Luke 2:19)

And, the shepherds praised God for all that they had heard and seen about Jesus. (Luke 2:20)

Later, the wise men searched for Jesus, and when they found him, they worshiped him. (Matthew 2:9-11)

But, not everyone reacted that way.

The birth of Jesus troubled Herod the king. (Matthew 2:3)

And, he reacted with deceit, and lies, and fear; and ultimately with a hatred that drove him to kill all the male children in Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:16)

The point is this…

The name of Jesus provokes all kinds of reactions. And, those reactions go one of two ways…

Positive or negative.

For or against.

Belief or unbelief.

This Advent season is an opportunity for you to react to Jesus.

It’s an opportunity for you to wonder (to be amazed) at who Jesus is, like the people who heard the news from the shepherds.

It’s an opportunity for you to treasure the Good News of salvation, like Mary did.

It’s an opportunity for you to praise God for the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, like the shepherds did.

It’s an opportunity for you to search for him and worship him for the first time, like the wise men did.

Or, it’s an opportunity for you to continue living in fear and unbelief, like Herod did.

What’s your reaction to Jesus going to be this Advent season?

Advent Musings: what a new watch and a pile of Legos taught me about the gift of Jesus

I still remember the Christmas when I got my first real watch.

For some reason, I’d always wanted a watch…not the cheap digital watches you got in Happy Meals back in the 80’s, but a real analog watch.

So, it’s Christmas morning back in 1980something, and I open a gift that’s a small, square plastic container with the word “Timex” on it.

I can’t see the watch at this point, and I have no idea what “Timex” means, so I just kind of set it aside and start playing with some new Legos.

I still had no idea that the watch I’d really wanted was sitting inside that plastic container, buried under all the wrapping paper next to me.

At the time, I actually thought I had been given a useless plastic box.

Imagine waking up on Christmas morning and opening the one gift that you’ve always wanted…

Just think for a second of the feelings that you would have the moment you realize that’s what it is…

Excitement.

Joy.

Anticipation.

Gratitude.

Love for the giver.

And the list goes on…

Now imagine that you open that same gift, but you have no idea that it’s the gift. What would you do?

All the feelings of excitement and joy would be replaced with feelings of…

Indifference.

Apathy.

Disappointment.

Distraction…

Kind of like me and my Timex watch.

I got what I always wanted, but I let it get buried under a heap of wrapping paper, because I had no idea that there was a real analog watch inside that plastic box.

So, what does this all have to do with Advent and the Christmas season?

Jesus is the gift that we’ve always wanted.

Receiving him is the only way that we will ever find true peace and joy and hope and meaning in this broken world we live in.

But, the problem for many is that Jesus isn’t the gift they expected.

Ever since Jesus was born in an out-building in a small village instead of a palace in a large city, he’s been marginalized and misunderstood by the masses.

And so instead of remembering Jesus’ birth with feelings of excitement and joy and anticipation and gratitude, we bury the meaning of Christmas under a pile of wrapping paper.

Instead of accepting the greatest gift any of us could ever want, many in our culture today look at Jesus at Christmas time with indifference, apathy, and disappointment.

And, even for those who have already received the gift of Jesus, there is still the danger of distraction…

We can all get easily distracted by the holidays, and then forget what we’re actually supposed to be celebrating in the first place.

So, what about you?

This Advent season are you experiencing the joy of receiving the gift of Jesus and celebrating him?

Or, are you being distracted by everything else around you…

And settling for that pile of Legos?

Advent Musings: Is God’s Way the Only Way?

Religion is like a mountain…so the saying goes.*

And, we’re just all at the bottom of that mountain trying to figure out the best way to climb it.

My path may be different than your path, but that’s okay…

Because all the paths lead to God (or whatever you call him).

The Buddhist path.

The Hindu path.

The Christian Scientist path.

The Muslim path.

The Mormon path.

The Christian path.

(Insert your path of choice here).

One mountain…many paths…same destination.

The question is, can this even be possible?

Can all religions by true?

Or, to put it another way, can all religious paths lead to the same place?

For all religions to be true (and lead to the same place), two things would have to happen…

  1. God would have to be a universalist.**

2. We would have to be able to achieve the impossible…

We would have to be able to save ourselves.

But, the reality is, we can’t save ourselves.

We can never be good enough.

Nice enough.

Generous enough.

Holy enough.

Separatist enough.

Perfect enough.

Or religious enough to save ourselves.

Because religion doesn’t save anyone…only God saves.

So, God looks down on His creation from the top of that mountain and sees the impossibility of anyone reaching Him…

And He makes a way.

The way.

He sends an angel named Gabriel to a virgin named Mary, who tells her that she will bear a son whose name is Jesus.

This Jesus will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David…and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Because, as Gabriel says, nothing will be impossible with God.***

God did the impossible.

God is doing the impossible.

God will do the impossible.

He has made the impossible possible by sending His Son Jesus down the mountain to us.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

He is the way, because He is the path.

He is the truth, because He is the only path that truly leads to God.

He is the life, because the end of His path is eternal life with God.

Every religious path requires faith.

But, the Christian path is the only path where you’re putting your faith in someone other than yourself.

And, that someone is Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, and that whoever believes in Him will not die…but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

God’s way to salvation is Him coming down to us and doing the impossible.

All of the other paths to Him require us to find a way to save ourselves…

And, that’s just not possible.

*Oprah made this viewpoint popular back in the early 2000’s, and it’s still going strong in our culture today.

**A universalist believes that all humankind will eventually be saved.

***For the rest of story, read Luke 1:26-38.

Thanksgiving…holiday or habit?

I love Thanksgiving…

I love the food.

I love the family and friends.

I love the football.

I love it all.

(In fact, it may even be my favorite holiday, because I just love that combination of food, family & friends, and football all in one day.)

But, it’s just one day.

Imagine if we were only thankful one day a year.

Maybe that sounds crazy, but how often do we actually celebrate what we’re thankful for the other 364 days of the year?

Is thanksgiving more of a holiday or a habit for you?

Is it something that you celebrate every day or only on special occasions?

Do you need a reason to be thankful every day or do you choose to be thankful even on your worst of days?

Are you teaching and modeling every day thanksgiving to those around you, or do they see you living in a perpetual cycle of discontent?

Thanksgiving isn’t just a once-a-year holiday.

It’s an every day choice.

And, when we choose to be thankful every day, those choices turn into a habit.

Don’t let Thanksgiving be just a holiday for you this year. Let it become a habit that you celebrate every day.

Let it become a habit that keeps pointing you (and those who are watching you) to Jesus.

Let it become such a part of our every day lives that the generations that follow us think less of thanksgiving as a holiday and more as a way of life.

1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
    and praise your name forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day;
    yes, I will praise you forever.
3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
    No one can measure his greatness.

4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;

(Psalm 145:1-4)

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

The kids are watching you… always watching

Anyone who has seen the movie Monster’s Inc. knows the classic line spoken by Roz to Mike Wazowski…

“I’m watching you, Wazowski! Always watching…”

Mike doesn’t really like to hear that, because you get the impression from Roz’s character that she really is watching him ALL THE TIME.

And there’s some pressure and responsibility that go along with that. There’s a lot at stake for Mike knowing that Roz is always watching.

If you are a parent or youth worker, you have little “Rozs” watching you ALL THE TIME.

And, just like with Mike, there’s a lot at stake (for them and for you).

Because the kids are watching you to see what following Jesus really looks like in a Christian culture that makes a lot of things gray.

And, what we make gray today will only get grayer for the next generation.

Here’s what I mean…

Parents (and youth workers) remember… your kids are watching you, always watching.

And, the decisions you make about things like church, entertainment, alcohol, and social media are going to have an impact on your kids whether you realize it or not.

If church attendance/participation is optional or sporadic in your family now, your kids will take it another degree or two further, and will find more excuses/reasons not to go when they are older.

If your entertainment choices are dictated more by what the culture thinks is a “good” movie or album to listen to (and less about what the Bible says is “good”), where do you think your kids will look for what is “good” when they have more freedom to make those choices?

If your approach to alcohol is casual, don’t assume that your kids will know what “casual” means or that they will have the same ability/desire to make alcohol just another element of their social lives when they get older.

If social media is a place where you vent, rant, overshare, misrepresent yourself, or spend too much time on, know that your kids are taking cues from you on things like: where their value and identity comes from, how to communicate, and how to deal with conflict (not to mention how to manage their time).

The truth is our kids will generally take the things they see in us and take them one or two (or even three) degrees further.

The gray only gets more gray…not less.

And, believe me, they are watching you.

Always watching.

Failing is an earth thing…and why that should give you hope

We all want hope.

We all want a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

And so we go searching for it…

We go to work hoping that we’ll like our jobs and make enough money to be comfortable.

We go to school hoping that someday all those classes will lead to a job that we’ll like and make us enough money to be comfortable.

We play sports hoping that someday we’ll get paid to play a sport we love and make us more than enough money to be comfortable.

We make friends hoping that someday we’ll find the one that we’ll spend the rest of our comfortable lives with on this earth.

But, then things go sideways.

We don’t like our jobs, or we can never seem to make enough money.

We don’t like school.

We love the sports we play, but our bodies fail us.

And, we just can’t seem to find the one.

Deep down, we ask ourselves, where can I find hope?

Because failing seems to be a big part of this world that we live in.

But, here’s where it actually gets better.

Yes, failing is an earth thing. Failing is part of living in a broken world.

But God is not of this world.

And, because God is not of this world, He doesn’t fail. (Hebrews 13:5)

We live in a world where people are searching for hope in places that ultimately fail them…work, education, money, relationships, and the list goes on.

The good news is that real, lasting, get-out-of-bed-everyday hope doesn’t fail…and it’s found in a personal relationship with God.

This is the hope we all want.

This is the hope this failing world needs.

This is really good news.

The question is…are you ready to share it?

If someone asks you today what is it about believing in Jesus that gives you hope, what would you say?

“I will never forget this awful time…
21 Yet I still dare to hope
    when I remember this:

22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends![b]
    His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
    therefore, I will hope in him!” (Lamentations 3:20-24)

“…if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” (1 Peter 3:15b)

Why we need to be warm

As I write this, it’s a beautiful fall Monday morning here in the PNW…

Actually, it’s a beautiful, chilly fall Monday morning.

It’s one of those mornings where you wake up and everything’s covered with a layer of frost…like God saran wrapped His creation overnight with a breath of cold air.

The chilliness of the morning reminds me how much I value warmth. I like to be warm (not hot!). I like to be warm so much that when I’m cold, I’ll figure out a way to get warm again.

Warmth is inviting.

It’s something that embraces me and changes the state I’m in.

Warmth is attractive.

It accepts me when I’m cold, but it doesn’t leave me chilly.

The value of warmth though is not limited to things like body temperature. Turns out that relational warmth is important too…especially in our homes and churches.

In fact, when it comes to our kids’ faith development, family and church warmth are both key factors to their spiritual growth.

So, what does this kind of warmth look like?

A recent study describes a warm family as one where a child perceives a close relationship with one or usually both parents.*

And one of the major conclusions of this study was that kids are more likely to embrace the faith of their parents in a warm family than in a cold one.

Kids who feel relationally close to their parents tend to follow after their parents in lots of ways (including faith). On the other hand, kids who feel relationally distant, tend to walk away.

In other words, the culture that we create at home has a huge impact on the faith that is being created in our kids.

The same is true of course with our churches. Warm churches create a culture where faith grows. Whereas, cold churches create a culture where religion grows (and faith tends to die).

So, how do we create a culture of warmth in our homes and churches?

Go to God first.

God is a relational God. And, He has invited you into a warm relationship with Him. So, it only makes sense to start by praying, and asking Him for wisdom and grace as you seek to create a culture of warmth.

Go to your kids second and ask them this question…

“If you could change anything about our relationship, what would it be?” In other words, go ask your kids what would warm up your relationship with them and hear what they have to say.**

(In a church context, you might talk with your leaders about the value of building a culture of warmth in your church and then ask this question: how can we become a warm church where relationally hungry people can gather and grow and “be warm” together, and then go out and “be warm” in their communities?)

Then, do something to create warmth…

Ideas for families:

  • create a family group chat and use it to share things like a verse of the day or things you see or do during the day.
  • plan a family vacation or activity together.
  • pray together as everyone leaves in the morning for school/work.
  • put your phones away at mealtimes or when doing something all together (like playing games or watching TV).

Ideas for churches & youth groups:

  • create space in your services for people to share a story from their week that fits with whatever the message is that day.
  • plan fun activities at least once a quarter.
  • pray together (this is one way that you can “rejoice with those who rejoice…and mourn with those who mourn” together)
  • eat together.

Finally, don’t be discouraged if you find that your home or church is chillier than it should be. Creating a culture of warmth in those places may not happen overnight, but its impact in shaping people’s faith has the potential to change the state of our culture both now and in the future.

*From the 2013 study, Families and Faith: How Religion is Passed Down across Generations.

**For more ideas and insights on creating a culture of warmth in your family, check out the book Growing With: Every Parent’s Guide to Helping Teenagers and Young Adults Thrive in their Faith, Family, and Future by Kara Powell and Steven Argue (especially chapter 3).