Simply Real

Let me start by saying "you're welcome" to my mom who requested I change the colour of my background so it would show up better when she printed out my posts.

Now on to other items.

I grew up in the church. Sunday School as a kid, Youth Groups as a teenager and eventually graduating into "big church." The bible was a central part of my upbringing. But to be honest I often struggled reading the bible, even as an older teen and into my early 20's. I was drawn to stories I had heard my whole life because I felt like I understood them but the rest of the bible, (which I discovered there was a lot I missing) I couldn't quite wrap my head around.  Then one day, as I was struggling to read and "get something" out of a passage I hadn't really focused on before, I had what's referred to as an "ah-ha" moment. It's going to sound stupid but it was an epiphany for me.

The Bible is real.  

That was my moment.  I told you it would sound stupid.  But it was ground-breaking for me. I always believed the Bible was true. I believed it was the written word of God.  But the realization that the events contained within these pages had actually taken place was mind-blowing to me.

I suddenly found myself in the crowd as Jesus performed miracles and said some pretty radical things. I began forming mental pictures of the walls of Jericho falling...except for where Rahab's house was built.  I began imagining what it would be like to watch Lazarus walk out of the grave still wrapped in his burial clothes and then look around as some people still didn't believe. These weren't fables and myths. I began to understand that the life and faith these people showed wasn't unattainable. In fact, the more I realized these stories were real, the more human the characters became. In reality, they struggled just like I struggle. They were flawed just like I'm flawed. The difference is that we are seeing their struggle and how they pushed through without always hearing the inner dialogue expressing their fear and doubt. But when you look at their actions and reactions and you put yourself in their shoes, it becomes obvious that they aren't much different than me and you.

This may not be super profound to some of you because you have already grasped this truth. If that's you, than all I'll say is thank God and never lose the wonder of that truth. But maybe there are some of you that struggle in reading the Bible. Maybe you know the Bible is true but you're just not getting the point. Let me suggest something. The next time you read, stop and ask this question:

"What if this happened to me?" 

Think about it. What if you were at a church service and it seemed like it was never going to end. (That may not be too hard for some of you to imagine.) You're hungry. You're wondering if this long-winded preacher is ever going to be quiet and dismiss before the grocery store closes. Suddenly, you see his staff members on stage talking to him and you're like; "Finally, someone is telling him to stop." Instead, they wave a kid with a lunch box over and you see them take out some bread and a couple packs of tuna. The kids lunch. The preacher prays over it, then turns and hands it to his staff who start passing it out. You're thinking, "I knew I should have sat at the front. There's no way, it's going to make it back here." But they keep passing and they keep walking and soon the food makes it to you. Not only do you get fed but it wasn't a snack size portion, you feel full. You look to the back and the staff is trying to figure out what to do with all the leftovers.

It's easy to look at this familiar story and think, well that was Jesus so it's a completely different situation. But this is where our thinking is off.  Jesus had just started His ministry. He hadn't died and rose again and these people weren't "Christians" yet. Most of them weren't sure yet if this was really the Messiah, the one that had been prophesied about.  But we tend to read the bible and think that everyone in that time had the same perspective that we have today. But we need to remember the Bible wasn't written yet. There were people from his hometown that were hung up on the fact that they watched Jesus grow up. The history we read today was in the process of happening. They didn't have the benefit of reading ahead to see what was coming, they had to truly walk it out in faith.  I know in my life, this realization made a profound impact on how I read the Bible.

So what's my point? I want the Bible to come alive for each and every one of you. So let me finish by challenging you to begin to read the Bible in a new way. Allow yourself to become a part of the story After all, the Bible is as much about your life today as it was about the lives of God's people then. Put yourself in the crowds that watched Jesus perform miracles. Imagine what it would be like to eat the same food and wear the same clothes for 40 years. Question for a moment if you could have the faith to not bow down to a statue when faced with a fiery furnace. Close your eyes and put yourself in the jail cell with Paul as he writes those letters to the Christians of that day who were also facing imprisonment and death. Paul wrote some powerful words that become more powerful when you look through his eyes and see the jailer on the other side of the cell door. In a situation that would have made it easier to walk away from his new found faith, he instead encourages the church, both then and now, to live a life of faith. As you picture the conditions of Paul's imprisonment, read the words again from Ephesians 6:12

"Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God." (NLT)

I challenge you, dust off the Bible and begin to read it again for the first time. With new eyes, with new questions, with a new perspective and I pray God reveals new truths for you everyday.

Life is hard sometimes

Life is hard sometimes.

I know I'm not supposed to admit that since I'm a Christian and a Pastor. But seriously, life can be rough. I think that's why I don't like when people try to make it sound like once you become a follower of Jesus that everything will be perfect. Whenever it rains, the clouds will part and there will be a beam of sunshine on you. Because let's face it, all of us need a little rain in our lives now and then. It's part of how we grow. When approached with the right perspective, these stormy periods in our lives can reveal things about God we would never have seen otherwise. I wanted to share some things I've learned about the storms in my life.

So here's 5 things I've come to understand about these times in my life.

1. Storms don't mean you are outside the plan of God.

Mark 4:35-41 is the story of Jesus calming the wind and the waves. It's pretty obvious when you read the story that the disciples got freaked out when that storm came up and started rocking their boat. 

But verse 35 says, "when evening had come, He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.'"

Who's idea was it to get in the boat and go out on the water? Jesus. They were just doing what they were told to do and next thing you know they are scared out of their minds while Jesus was sound asleep.  Too often we assume that when bad things happen in our lives, God is punishing us. While there are consequences to the choices we make in our lives, sometimes you can be smack in the middle of God's plan for your life and still face scary circumstances. Maybe it's not life or death but maybe it's financial, maybe it's health, maybe it's a strained relationship. Whatever the case, remember storms don't always mean you're doing something wrong. Step back and review the path that got you there and if you can honestly say you're in the will of God, then remember this next point.

2. Bad things happen in a broken world.

³⁷  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.

Many of the disciples were fishermen by trade. They were comfortable on the water. Why is that important in this story? Because I think it shows that these guys didn't set out in bad weather. The geography of the Sea of Galilee makes it susceptible to sudden storms. This was a natural event. Sometimes we too are simply victims of the environment we live in. We live in a broken world. Broken because of sin that was not a part of God's original plan. He never intended sickness, disease, death, shame, hate, violence, emotional and mental trauma. Romans 1:28-31 tells us that bad things happen in this world not because of a vengeful God but as a result of a broken people refusing a loving God.

3. When you feel like giving up, wake up instead.

The disciples panicked at first and then when things seemed at their worst, they remembered that Jesus was in the boat with them, they just had to wake Him up. When we go through difficult times, it's easy to get angry at God and blame Him for all our problems or not doing enough to help us. It's in those moments when you feel like giving up that we instead need to realize that Jesus never left the boat, He's right there with us. We need to awaken His power in our lives to get us through.  Our thoughts and emotions can be our own worst enemies. Read Psalm 73 and see if you relate to the words of David at all. After admitting that he was "almost gone" he came to the realization that life wasn't unfair but that his "heart was bitter and I was all torn up inside." 

4. Jesus is revealed in the Storm.

I love the last part of this story in Mark 4. Jesus wakes up speaks to the wind and waves and calms everything down. Then He turns to the disciples and is like, "what's wrong with you guys? Settle down." Their response is "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" They had watched Him do amazing miracles before but this was a whole new level of power revealed when they saw Him command even the elements of nature.  What do you need to see God do in your life? There is no storm that Jesus can't speak to in your lives. Allow Him to speak to your storm and reveal His full power in your life.

5. Don't just SURVIVE but THRIVE 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

This verse is quoted a lot by those of us in the Christian faith as a proclaimation of hope. And it is, but have you ever read the context of this verse? It's part of a letter Jeremiah wrote to those who were in CAPTIVITY in Babylon. Yeah, captivity. Where's the future and hope in that? Well go back and read the beginning of the chapter and what you'll see is that God was telling the people to build homes, plant gardens, get married, have kids so they will give you grandkids.  He was telling them to live their lives and not only that but to live their lives well.  He was telling them not just to survive their time in captivity but to actually THRIVE while they were there. He was saying, "sure it doesn't look good right now but I have a plan for you so don't give up." How often have you felt like just shutting down in life? Or maybe just laying low until the "storm" passes by? God says, live your life and know He has a plan for you that doesn't end in disaster.

A.W. Tozer said a "low view of God is the cause of a hundred lesser evils but a person with a high view of God is relieved of 10,000 temporal problems."  In other words, the worst of our problems are not always the circumstances but our perception of the problems. When we have a "low view" of God we lower the power of God down to the level of our biggest problem. Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small. When we have a "high view" of God, we lower our problems to the level of God's greater power.

Life is hard sometimes....true. But God is greater than any storm. He's bigger than our circumstances and He doesn't just want us to survive our storms but THRIVE in the midst of them. Don't give up, don't shut down, don't get angry. Instead, seek God during those imperfect times and allow Him to reveal His power to you in ways you never thought possible.