Far from this vision of Love

"What the world needs is not great visionaries proclaiming love. We need great practitioners of love. Because the hurting don't need the message of love, they need the fruit of the message; they need to interact with love, to feel its presence, to be comforted by its touch. Talking about the love of God only goes so far as one's voice travels. Living it out goes the full distance of the universe and back, going so far as to pull all of heaven into its movements." - Mick Mooney

As i read this post on a friend's Facebook page today, it was the perfect description of the type of love my heart has always longed to give as well as receive. In the circle of churches, family and friends that have been a part of my journey, there has been tireless and tiring talk about love, -especially in Christian circles, yet for all the talk few truly heartfelt expressions of it. 

It's hard to believe that people wouldn't want to give or receive love, since all our hearts were created to give and receive it. Love that is given needs also to be received, for both the giver and receiver to find joy in it. When one party expresses love and the other rejects it, love becomes wounded. And wounded love cannot express the fullness of what it was created to be. 

Take a look around, what do you see? Do you see a world full of loveless people, or a world full of people with wounded love? God created us to love at all times, but evil has wounded love's intent. Rejection is one of the biggest wounds, another is indifference. These wounds can run deep into the heart and stifle the expressing and reception of love. Truly loving and caring people can become crippled by these wounds, especially when they've been repetitively wounded. 

People do become cold and callused after severe wounding, seemingly unlovable. Walls are built to protect their fragile hearts from feeling pain again. Even people who choose to remain vulnerable, don't always find the courage or know how to express love to it's fullest. It's never because love's not there, it's just that the walls and guards of one's heart tend to speak louder... 

Scripture says 'Perfect love drives away all fears'. There's a world full of people who fear to love or be loved. Fear is the demon that locks love away, and the evil that attempts to kill it for good. Yet it should be love that defeats all fear, if it weren't only so wounded itself. 

Yes, everyone's heart has been wounded at some point in life. Some are fortunate to be surrounded close ones who love them towards healing, while others only receive harsh words or are abandoned to their wounds. Yet God calls those who have received true love not only to share hollow words, but express this love to the unlovable, those who's hearts have been hit with crippling wounds.

Especially in this season, which can be one of the darkest seasons for many.

Fueled up Lamps

Many analogies are used to describe the Christian life, but one in the Bible tells us to keep our lamps burning. Great analogy given by Jesus to what our preparedness should be, especially the importance of never letting our lamps run out of fuel..

Well, these days few of us still oil lamps as they did in Jesus' day. We are more accustomed to coming home in the evenings and flicking on a light switch to get instant light. Even still we have artificial light all around us, from streetlights and car headlights. So this analogy is somewhat lost on modern man.

Imagine if you would, living in those days. No 'maglight' in our pockets, no cell phones with flashlights, no car headlights showing the way. Coming home in the dark you would need to know exactly where your lamp's located (for you have no light to find it), then make sure it's filled with fuel and the probably with the spark of a flint light it up. Then carefully adjusting the trim just right so you're not burning too much of the wick or creating too much soot and smoke. Too large a flame would cause damage to the lamp, whereas a too small flame failed create enough light.

Caring for the lamp was so important in it's day. A lamp not well cared for became unclean and unreliable. So is there something in the context of Jesus' analogy we should keep in mind to keep our lamps burning?

Yes, fuel is a key element, without which the lamp cannot function at all. Well, if not the lamp, what do we fuel in this modern age? We fuel our cars with a 5 minute procedure at the petrol station. We fuel our houses, without moving a finger since there are gas lines directly fueling our home heating furnaces. As mentioned earlier, we no longer fuel our lamps with more than electricity available at the flick of a switch..

So in the context of the day, what did it mean to fuel a lamp? First of all one needed to acquire the oil, be it by buying or making it as a byproduct of agricultural activity. A hundred years ago most needed to make hay as 'fuel' for their horses, chop wood for heating their homes. How many of us really have any inkling of what all this entails? All we know is how to pump gasoline into our cars and adjust the home thermostat, but that's about it.

How do we approach 'fueling our lamps' spiritually? Do will get our weekly 'fill-up' at church on sundays, and then adjust our spiritual temperature listening to a song or two during the week? Or do we make all the preparations needed to fuel our own lamps. Do we search for and pay for the fuel, with our time and effort? Do we work on polishing and tuning our lamp to give greater light?

I think there's much more to Jesus' analogy than meets the modern man's eye. It's not just a matter of flicking a switch to turn on the light. There's significant work and preparation involved. Through our own studying of the scriptures and prayer we acquire deep fuel reserves. Are we prepared to make the investment to acquire the oil needed, and tune-up our lamps so they can always shine bright?

When Suffering Makes a Spirit Sweet

Nelson Mandela passed away today. Some say he changed the world, though more than anything else he changed his own world and the world of those who surrounded him.

As i look back upon his life, Nelson Mandela gave much of his life to fight for the rights of his people and to liberate his homeland from apartheid. The protest of a seemingly angry young African, though he peached peace and non violence, drew a loyal following of revolutionaries. Imprisoned as a traitor he endured 27 years of suffering, many of which included forced labour.

Yet prison didn’t break Mandela, nor create a stone cold heart. No suffering could break his spirit, but something did beak his heart. It was not the pain of his suffering, but the pain for his people and the love of his land. He learned bitterness could never become the way forward, for it is in bitterness the enemy wins. So prison did not become a place of loss or defeat, but a place of deep seeking and preparation for what lay ahead.

Mandela developed extraordinary grace under pressure, long before he was freed. Grace to have compassion on those who have suffered and reconcile with his enemies. It was suffering that made his spirit sweet, and grew the grace later needed to lead his beloved land.

From prisoner to peacemaker, he brought reconciliation to his land. Mandela's sweet spirit identified with all black and white, and never made anyone feel as if they were any less than him.

May the sweet spirit of this man be an inspiration to us all.

Two Shoe Salesmen in Africa. Who’s wiser?

I’m sure you’ve heard this story in the context of optimism and seeing opportunities... 

Two shoe salesmen were sent to Africa to see if there was a market for their product. The first salesman reported back, “This is a terrible business opportunity, no-one wears shoes.” The second salesman reported back, “This is a fantastic business opportunity, no-one wears shoes!”

So a couple of short questions for you..

Which salesman saw the best opportunity? 

Which salesman was wiser?

Many would call the first salesman a pessimist and the second an optimist. True, can’t argue with that, but did the optimistic or pessimistic one see the best opportunity? 

Personally, I think neither saw the best opportunity. The judgement of both salesmen were clouded by egocentric quick-profit centered thinking. Neither sought out to find what they could learn from the shoeless Africans. They knew the answer to the question and the answer was shoes. One realized that it would be fruitless to educate the Africans on the benefits of footwear, while the other thought he could and make a nice profit at it. 

Neither imagined they could learn anything from the Africans about footwear. For example, how could we minimize our need for shoes? Is there a product that might work better than traditional footwear? Is there something the Africans need other than shoes? Is the Africans’ lack of the need for footwear worth additional research and development?

Well no mention of any such research happening in this story, though the 'optimist' stayed in Africa believing in a profitable opportunity selling shoes, while the ‘pessimist’ left seeking other (perhaps easier and less risky) opportunities.

I found the following link, which gives an insight on how well the ‘optimist’ and ‘pessimist’ succeeded. The conclusion may surprise you:

http://theoccasionalceo.blogspot.ca/2010/04/two-shoe-salesmen-rest-of-story.html

Life, Death, and Life

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Fires and floods

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Giving more than you receive

It's always been a passion of mine to help those in need and help them grow. Along this journey I have often meet people who share a similar passion and vision to help fellow sojourners along their way. This is the story of one such man.

I met Marek at a missional business conference about a month ago in Budapest. A simple, dark haired man in his mid thirties, he openly shared about his life, his few accomplishments as well as his sorted business and personal failures.

During a longer than permitted stay in a foreign land, his life was transformed. Some might call it a religious experience, but as you listen to this man, he is anything but religious. Transformed by God, he set on a mission to try to impact and transform people in need.

He returned to his native Slovakia and settled in his home town, some 30km outside Bratislava. With some gained wisdom and experience, he set out to create jobs through an enterprise he created. Landing a government reforestation contract, rather than recruiting the finest workers he could find, he decided to hire the social outcasts, homeless and needy. People with problems, people with poor work ethic, people lacking motivation, vision or at times even hope.

As I watched him each evening tour the town, it almost seemed uncanny how many people he knew. He would shake hands with officials, business owners, restaurant operators and would make no difference in his approach as he greeted the 'socially undesirables'. He would ask how things are going, and invited those who were part of his team to work in the morning. Normally 10-12 would give their definitive yes.

The following morning, only 3-5 would show up. This didn't faze Marek the least. With joy he took those who wanted to work to the planting site.

To be continued..

Emptiness

News of Rick Warren’s son’s suicide saddened me deeply. In this time of devastating loss my heart goes out to the Warren family, and each person who mourns his untimely death.

Now i don’t know the circumstances which led to this young man taking his life, nor do in any way want to judge, but perhaps in some ways i can relate to the pain which leads to such a drastic actions. Yes, there have been moments so dark in my journey where i’ve contemplated ending it, but through what i can only describe as divine grace have i held on to a hope of something better.

Pain and loneliness has become a rampant epidemic in the 21st century. Yes, even though there are more options and activities than ever in history to fill our lives, many of us sense greater emptiness than ever. We are entertained and amused, we perform, strive in our careers, we probably socialize much more than our parents ever did, yet there is a gnawing emptiness that fills most souls, christian and 'heathen' alike. Many christians may deny it, but i bet if they could slow down and become truly quiet, 9 times out of 10 they will find the emptiness is still there. We tend to mask it with activity, albeit good activity.

The life propagated by many christian teachers and preachers, is often a far cry from what Jesus taught. We have this need for performance, to meet a standard set before us. Yet most standards set are unreachable, and even if some reach them, they inevitably topple on them. No standard is ever good enough, for even if we reach one there will be another to strive towards. That is why love and grace always trumps any need for purpose and performance.

I don’t how much emptiness this young man felt, nor how much pressure he felt to meet a standard purpose and performance set before him, and perhaps these aren’t the key questions to ask. Did this young man feel fully accepted as he was? I don’t know the answer to that, but i personally have rarely felt fully and unconditionally accepted by my believing peers. There’s always seems to be the expectation to meet their standards. But i thank God that through Christ i’m accepted by Him, completely and unconditionally. Not by purpose or performance, but only unconditional acceptance can truly fill the emptiness of a soul.

Everyone loves a Success Story

Over the past few days, I've received three separate invitations to events where speakers and teachers are sharing their experiences in business, ministry, or both. Two are large faith based organizations, the third is not, but all are organizations i have a high respect and regard for. Each invitation promoted speakers who have had great success in their calling or vocation.

Yes, everyone loves a success story. Not often do stories of apparent failure draw crowds. With the passing of Easter weekend, my thoughts have been drawn more to Christ's life, suffering, death and resurrection than usual. I've began thinking on how people perceived Him, as a success or a failure?

Jesus drew crowds, huge crowds at times. He spoke as a man with authority, his words pierced hearts of seekers, people who were searching for a change, truth, healing and redemption from their struggles. He touched lives, performed miracles, healed the lame and blind, even raised people from the dead. Word of His success reached far and wide.

People became ecstatic in following such a man, as there was none like him. They laid palm leaves on the road, praising Him as he rode on a donkey into Jerusalem. Never had anyone received such praise and adoration for what they had done. Yet how many really knew or understood the reason He came...

Christ's greatest success was actually what most men view as failure: His betrayal, arrest and death sentence. He lost it all. Not only was it all taken away from Him, He chose to give it all up voluntarily. He could have resisted, fought for His rights. He could have performed more signs and wonders to gain support and turn the masses towards Him again. Yet he chose to remain silent before his accusers, and to loose the respect of so many of His followers, even those closest to him. Yes, even Peter denied he had any association with Jesus.

People are so easily swayed by man's view of success and failure. I wonder how many of those who weeks earlier were amazed by Jesus, were now calling for His crucifixion. People who once followed, were now walking away. We really don't like to hear stories about difficulty and avoid talking about pain. Instead we judge people who seem to fail, questioning their credibility and abilities. Failures are usually not worth following, or even wasting any time with.

How many people remained at Christ's side while He died? You could easily count them on one hand, a far cry from the masses he drew weeks earlier. Yet His sacrificial death was His greatest deed, the greatest sacrifice anyone can give for another, an action worthy of more praise and honor than all of His previous words or miracles. But where had all that praise and honor disappeared to?

Resurrection day came quietly. No fanfare, no crowds drawn in to witness Christ's victory over death. This is news breaking material, think of the acclaim and respect He would have received, and how much more impact He could have had amongst the masses! No, God thinks differently than we do. He chose to raise Jesus with no witnesses on hand. Over the following days Jesus appeared to each person personally, but not to the masses. Why? Probably because He wants us to know Him personally, not as part of the masses who are so easily swayed by popular opinion on success and failure.   

A Worthy Substitute

Easter Sunday i heard a sermon on the Emmaus Road experience the disciples had after Christ had risen. They did not recognize Him, as they were preoccupied trying to figure out why things didn't go as they thought they should. And do we recognize Him as Risen Savior in the midst of our disappointments? It was a good sermon, however my thoughts were led to something the preacher probably didn't intend with his message.

The pastor posed a question: What is the greatest desire you have? My immediate response was clear, a longing for someone i miss very deeply (possibly not the best desire at this point, but an honest one). He shared that 20 years ago his and his wife's greatest desire was to have children. However, it was biologically an impossibility, though they long prayed for a miracle.

So in the midst of pursuing other desires, an opportunity for a career move was presented. It seemed to be all they had dreamed and prayed for (outside of having children). As they took some time to pray, expecting God to rubber stamp their decision, they both sensed God giving them a resounding 'No' instead! They could go ahead pursuing this plan, and though God may still bless them, they sensed it would not be the best plan as God had something better in mind.

After rejecting the wonderful offer, they remained living in the same place. Within weeks they were approached by a young pregnant teenager in the area who felt led to ask them to adopt her child since she did not have the means to look after the child herself. They knew this was God's plan. Sometime later another single gal was led to do the same. Now they have two beautiful kids, all orchestrated by God. Would have this happened if they had moved away? Who knows, but possibly not.

So was this God's ideal plan? I don't think so. Ideally kids should be born into secure and stable homes. But this plan was a worthy substitute for the kids who's biological mothers couldn't provide for them. It was also a worthy substitute for this couple who couldn't have kids of their own. What it is is God's redemptive plan for things that went as they shouldn't have.

Isn't that the story of the resurrection? Was sacrificing Jesus God's ideal plan? Not at all! His ideal plan was for man to never sin, but man did. Christ was The Worthy Substitute to restore us to Him.

I've often wrestled with finding God's ideal plan for my life, be it in work, ministry or relationships. And i often get hung up and kick myself for missing out on God's best for me. Yes, i've screwed-up countless times! But who hasn't? No human has ever got God's ideal plan right from the beginning of time. Everyone has screwed-up. Just look at biblical characters, David committed adultery and murder, Moses killed an Egyptian and ended up wandering in the wilderness for decades before God called him back. Would have things been different if these men didn't mess up? Sure, God may have had better wife in mind for David, He may have rescued the Jews from slavery decades earlier if Moses hadn't committed manslaughter...

It's always been about redeeming what was lost with a worthy substitute. Starting with our relationship with God, to our vocation, family, and relationships with others. We can't control the outcome of bad decisions, not ours nor those of others. But we can be open to His redemptive plan, if we allow Him to redeem our failures and those of others, in this fallen and broken world.

Holy Shit..

Shocking title? Well, that’s part of what this Sunday’s sermon was about. How often do we find ourselves dealing with crap in our lives? We can’t figure out why we have to deal with pointless hardships, difficulties that seem to have no use or purpose. How do we respond to the crap? Do we fight it off, or do we look for the good in it? Really?!! Can we find good in all the shit we go through? Maybe... The preacher pointed out the response of Jesus after HE had been questioned about unfair suffering. Gospel of Luke, Chapter 13:

⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

'Dig around and fertilize...’ These words could easily describe what many of us experience with our lives being dug up and dumped on. Could it be that we can find nutrients in this fertilizer? Maybe this is  the purpose, for us to produce better quality fruit. Yet so much of the fruit is dependent on us. Do we allow the fertilizer to do it’s work deep within us, or do we try to rid ourselves of the crap -rejecting the good it could do for us?

This thought was an eyeopener for me this weekend. Just a couple of days earlier i raised my complaint to God, why do i have to deal with all this shit??? Today i’m thinking of how i can tap the nutrients from it, rather than trying to rid myself of it. Yes, it’s a different perspective, an uncommon vantage point.

Let’s face it, life is full shit, all kinds of it. The typical response is anger, and rejection of the crap. But if we look at it from the gardener’s vantage point, it may just be what we need to grow and mature into whom God’s created us to be.

Imprisoned

Life at times throws the unexpected at us, things that are unfair, unjust and can even be considered evil. What is our response when someone robs us, falsely accuses us, kills our well intentioned dreams and plans, or worse still destroys someone dear to us. And then comes the inevitable question: Where's God in all this?

We expect to be fairly treated, if not by the world but at least by God in who's hands many of us have entrusted our lives. But when we encounter overwhelming struggles, too painful to endure, how do we respond to the circumstances and to God? Do we struggle and fight against them or do we embrace them as God given opportunities? Opportunities for what, you ask? How can this unrighteousness and pain be an opportunity for anything good?

These are questions i've wrestled with for many years. After losing the love of my life to the deceit and manipulative tactics of missionary friends, people i once trusted. After a thriving youth ministry was destroyed by church politics which focused more on performance and numbers, than on disciplining it's flock. After a trusted friend and business partner destroyed our successful joint venture for personal gain. After the legal system of my homeland failed to uphold what is just and right. After God unexpectedly took away my closest friend and mentor, in the midst of the most difficult trials of my life.

No, i'm not lamenting,.. at least not so much anymore. At times i still wrestle with these questions, not to find someone to blame but to look for resolution and purpose in it all. I often quote Romans 8:28, that all things work for good, for God's purposes, - which admittedly i often still fail to understand.

Joseph was always one of my favorite characters in the Bible. What a great picture of enduring faith in God. After being sold by his brothers into slavery, falsely accused of rape and imprisoned, after several opportunities to be exonerated and freed have passed him by, he is left to rot in a prison cell. Certainly not a good place to be. But Joseph understood something so many of us fail to understand. He understood God allowed this for a purpose, though there was no way he could imagine for what.

Apostle Paul found himself similarly in prison. Together with Silas, their ministry seemingly derailed by lies and deceptive charges, and were unjustly imprisoned. How could God be in this? How could God allow such a successful ministry of two men to be cut short by imprisonment? In our minds we could never comprehend how God could possibly use this.

We tend think they would have been much more effective free and outside of prison, rather than within the walls that surrounded them. However Paul and Silas didn’t and neither did Joseph in the previous story. They understood that man-made walls can never stop God's plans, they can only stop man's plans. It was certainly not Josephs's plan to be imprisoned, nor Paul or Silas', but they looked for God given opportunities in the imprisonment, not seeking to get out of it. It in fact made them sing!

Yet we are so bent on our concept of freedom. We get angry and fight for the right to be free, and in many ways i admire the passion with which my American friends fight for this freedom. Yes, freedom is a God given right we should stand for, but it's also a choice and a privilege we choose regardless of what our surrounding circumstances may be. Joseph, Paul and Silas were more free in prison than many of us who live in the free world today. What often imprisons us is our own fight for our rights, and our understanding of justice. Our thought are  about us, how we can be more effective, how we can have more success. And of course many of us like to say it's for the glory of God and the furtherment of His kingdom. But what if God decides that our unjust imprisonment would be more effective for His purposes? How do we respond to Him then? Would we have the heart of Joseph, Paul or Silas, or would we only only wrestle with our loss as Job did? In many ways Job became imprisoned by his losses, and found no key to liberty in the words of his 'righteous' friends.

These are tough questions to address. I know too often in my life, my response to hardship has not been like Joseph's or Paul's or Silas'. I've been a fighter, fighting for what is right and true and just. And yet in my fights i've become tired, i've failed, and i’ve become lost. I've wrestled as Job did, to the point of loosing faith, hope, and purpose. Call it my sackcloth state. It was part of the journey Job needed to go through, and sometimes a path we need to travel as well. But it's not a place we should stay, focused only on our losses. For there's opportunities hidden in our deepest loss, and there's freedom to be found within prison walls. This is something Joseph, Paul and Silas understood well. 

Within our struggles, is it possible we can learn to understand this too?