Creation on Display

Yesterday (Monday) I went to the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden and the Stockyards on another wonderful photographic field trip. Even though it was 100-plus degrees in North Texas, I came away from the trip with a number of pictures that show various elements of God's creation -- from animals to plants to patterns. I've posted a few in a slideshow below.

The Call to Do Nothing

"How can I kill the ones I'm supposed to love? My enemies are men like me."

Songwriter Derek Webb sings those words in the chorus to his song, "My Enemies Are Men Like Me." What Webb is saying in the song is that even though many of us enjoy watching conflicts -- real and imagined -- as they unfold on TV, what we fail to realize is that Jesus has called us to love our enemies and bless those who insult us. Our enemies are broken people just like we are, with the same problems and the same basic needs. They, like we, need a Savior.

I've been learning a lot about the Kingdom of heaven lately and one thing that I've come to understand is that the new weapons of fighting are not weapons at all -- and we are not meant for fighting. We are meant for trusting. Blessing those who curse, Paul elaborated, is the greatest insult we can give an enemy. To think... not fighting back is more powerful than a knuckle sandwich! By doing nothing in retaliation, we are actually denying our opponent the satisfaction he or she is looking for in a fight.

And when their guilt sets in... oh, man, is it ever convicting. Just a thought stirred up by a song.

I might add:

"We can point our guns at the other side
and with our mouths let insults fly;
But to turn the cheek the other direction
Is the strongest gesture of godly aggression."

All Creatures of Our God & King

I took a field trip with a friend to the Ft. Worth Zoo today, a majestic place of atmospheres, animals, and all around good fun. Seeing the varieties of creatures reminded me of the beauty of God, particularly how that beauty can be seen in creation. We entered a parrot cage where parakeets, parrots and the odd pigeon were flying around and it took my breath away. There were yellow birds and blue birds; red birds and gray birds; bigger birds and smaller birds; all flying representatives of the beauty and intimacy of the King.

Enough chatter from me. Here's a slideshow of some of the creatures we saw as captured through my lens. Enjoy!

An Upside Down World

Have you ever had one of those moments when a truth you learned as a kid ... and always kept with you ... suddenly becomes new again? What about a Bible verse you've always known but never fully understood until now?

Lately, I've been wowed by the makeup of the kingdom of heaven. You know, the first shall be last, the poor shall by rich, the meek shall overcome the proud, turning the other cheek, picking up your cross, etc. Jesus came and turned the known world upside down. He said all the wrong things and, as N.T. Wright famously wrote, He "blessed all the wrong people." He flipped their concept of righteousness and in the process revealed the true way of righteousness. The true way doesn't seem glorious. But the true way is the only way to pure glory.

Blessed are the poor in spirit...
Blessed are those who mourn...
Blessed are the merciful...
Blessed are...

As Christians living in a hostile culture, we often want to play by that culture's rules. We want to fight back when attacked. We want to boast of our accomplishments. We want to have a church building that's way bigger than the other church buildings. We're not looking at the world from an upside down perspective. We want to interact with the world right side up. But in doing so we are becoming like the world and not like our Lord. He stayed upside down and called you and I to do the same.

I know I'm not doing it as well as He'd like. So I keep on trying. How are you doing?

A Day in the Park (or Garden)

Here are a few snapshots from today's trip to the quaint little/big city of Grapevine, just across the lake from good ole Flower Mound.

Behold... A Video Blog Sequel!

Yet Another Favorite Picture

This one was taken at the Dallas Arboretum on April 5. I don't know why it appeals to me but I remember exactly what I was thinking when I saw the water fountain pictured here. "Gee, that's a pretty cool spiral. I guess I ought to take a picture." So I did. It's not the best picture I've ever taken, but not the worst, either. It just happens to be a picture I like.

Sometimes photography doesn't take great planning. All it takes is a willing heart and an opportunity. Just like the Christian life. If our hearts are willing to serve the Lord, He will provide us with opportunities to serve. A photographer prepares his or her camera, tripod/monopod, lenses, etc. in hopes that he or she will find the right picture opportunity. Sometimes it comes. Sometimes it doesn't. But the photographer is prepared nonetheless. So we should be. Identify your spiritual gifts and get them ready for service. Pray for open doors and then start looking for them. If the lens of your heart is open to the Lord, then He will provide a picture-perfect opportunity.

Of Miracles & Ministers

People flock to Lakeland, Florida, by the thousands these days. They aren't seeking the sunshine, nor the orange groves. They're seeking a miracle of God -- one provided by the hand of pastor Todd Bentley of Fresh Fire Ministries, a charismatic outreach located in the central Florida city.

Bentley is not from Florida, though his followers could care less. Many fly in from around the world to receive a miracle from God through healing, touting Bentley as a man who "is very close with the Lord." Bentley himself is no saint, having come to the ministry after spending a number of years behind prison and far from Christ. But the people don't care about his past. They need a miracle and Bentley supposedly delivers them.

Revival services draw thousands. Bentley's ministry staff grows by the week. As does his popularity. But he doesn't claim to provide miracles, only to give his followers the faith they need to be healed. He says this because in today's modern age, most miracles are easy to disprove. And phoneys are easy to uncover.

So they hide. Just like Bentley.

You see, Bentley claims the authority of Jesus in his miracles yet he does not follow the pattern of Jesus when he lays hands on the sick and screams at demons in his microphone. He ignores the methods of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus. Yet he claims Christ's authority over sickness and pain. Bentley backtracks and covers for his "miracles" when pressed to prove them. On an ABC News Nightline report tonight, Bentley was asked for the names of people he had healed so that they could be contacted. After some stalling, Bentley said his staff would provide ABC with a packet of persons. They failed to come through in a timely manner. ABC did finally get some information directly from the staff but important details were blacked out, such as addresses, doctor names, and other verifiable facts. And a disclaimer was issued by Bentley that basically said all miracles are not guaranteed to be full and final.

Partial miracles? Just like Jesus? Hidden miracles? Just like Jesus?

I'm amazed at what passes for "faith healing" these days. Todd Bentley, and the even more famous Benny Hinn, can wave their arms and shout into any microphone while sending people to the floor in emotional overload but no one gets fully healed on the spot. When Jesus healed folks, He did it in full. And Bentley can black out verifiable facts all he wants but Jesus did every miracle in plain sight. The participants went walking around as two-legged billboards for the reality of Christ's authority over sickness and pain. The Pharisees even wanted to kill Lazarus because he was walking proof that Jesus raises the dead! Peter and John healed a man in the Temple in Acts 3. Paul healed many along his way.

I do believe there is healing in this world and I do believe miracles happen every hour. I've heard that most happen on the front-line mission field, like in India, Africa, and SE Asia. They come through the hands and hearts of those who have committed their lives to sharing the Gospel in the authority of Jesus Christ. They live in poverty (not Bentley's 100 grand) and combat dark spirits and cold hearts in distant places. The power of Christ protects them and the Spirit of God goes before them.

But Bentley? Partial healing at best, if even that. It takes one walking in the pattern of Jesus to exercise the authority of Jesus.

Singular Thoughts

If only I was Catholic...

I just got done talking to my little sister Heather about the frustrations of being a single Christian. Both of us are single adults in some form of ministry -- her a missionary to college athletes and me a former pastor and current member of my church's staff. Both of us have dreams about doing things for God in future ministry. But both of us also know that the mindset of the evangelical church of America is against us.

In the evangelical church, marriage is expected for ministers -- whether ministry directors, pastors, or missionaries. Remaining single late in young life is not respected. "When are you going to meet a nice young lady?" I'm asked repeatedly. "I can't believe you've lasted this long without getting married," others say.

What's wrong with being single? Why the rush to marriage? What's wrong with God's timing?

Heather has seen how her singleness has led people to treat her as less of a missionary. People may say, "Good for you. Another nice young lady wants to do something good for God," but they don't open their pocketbooks to help her. She needs financial support just as much as a missionary family of four in Poland. She may not need as much money but she still needs her daily bread. Interestingly, I have actually heard of this happening to other single missionaries through the years.

I have come to the sad conclusion that in the evangelical church singleness is a scarlet letter. Married ministers just don't understand the dilemma of the single Christian. We want to devote our lives to serving God and His church fully but we are barred from participating in the leadership of the Body of Christ. We can serve with our bodies until we are worn out mentally, emotionally and spiritually, but we cannot be considered serious spiritual leaders or wise old mentors. I guess wisdom only comes trough marriage. I'm happy to serve with my hands but I also want the dignity of being heard and taken seriously.

Sadly, I've found that many married pastors barely remember being single, if at all. I worked under one 60-something pastor who married later in life (ripe old 28!) and could have easily put himself in my place as a 28-year-old single. I sought his counsel but he couldn't even remember how he felt at 25, 26, 27, 28... He couldn't relate though he once was in my shoes. Marriage erased his single memory. Perhaps even sadder, I have yet to meet a pastor that accurately knows what it is like to be a single believer in the 21st Century. They all think they know. But they just don't get it.

Here is the basic dilemma that hurts me the most as a single man, ordained into the pastoral ministry three years ago this Thursday. In the evangelical church, there is this unspoken expectation that ministers are to be married men. How many single senior pastors have you heard of? I'm not talking divorced or widowed. I mean never married. Indeed, when it comes to selecting criteria for a pastoral search, "single" gets quickly thrown into the trash heap. It hurts me deeply. I am willing to minister for Christ wherever and however He wants. But to barr me from being a church leader because of my marital status? Scarlet letter.

It doesn't seem to matter that Jesus and Paul were single men. Nope. Spiritual leaders must be married.

But in the Orthodox church, the single man and single woman are celebrated and lifted up. They are sometimes called "Father" or "Mother" and looked to for guidance and spiritual counsel. Fascinatingly, in the Catholic Church spiritual leaders are expected NOT to marry. You cannot be a married priest unless you came into the priesthood as a married man.

While I do not agree that spiritual leaders should NOT marry, I believe Scripture is more on the side of the Orthodox faith than the evangelical faith. Marriage is mentioned only a handful of times in the New Testament, though we all agree that purity and faithfulness in marriage is most sacred. But singleness is also mentioned in the New Testament and each time it is mentioned it is in a positive, God-honoring light. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7 that single believers were blessed because they could devote themselves and their attention fully to the Lord and doing His work. I would expect a pastor or missionary to behave this way. But a married person cannot do so for his or her attention is divided between family and God. Jesus said in Matthew 19 that some were given the gift of singleness so that they may glorify God.

Orthodox faiths get it. Evangelicals do not. I must confess that, as a single man seeking ministry, I would run headfirst towards the faith that accepts me if not for the 99 doctrinal things with which I disagree.

This kills me. It discourages me. No wonder the young single demographic is missing from modern evangelical churches.

I have much more to say but the hour is late. Build up the single believers around you. Don't pressure them to get married. And don't hold them back from ministering for the Lord when you know you shouldn't.

Of God & Government

July 4th fireworks, Flower Mound, TX

Of God & Government.

Now that's a broad title! The following discourse could go any number of directions and cover any number of subjects. Whenever you talk about God and government (the human institution) you're almost always going to step on someone's toes. And that toe-stepping is always going to hurt someone. My apologies in advance.

Yesterday was July 4, Independence Day in the United States. Now we here Americans usually celebrate in grand fashion, inviting family and friends over for backyard cookouts or lakeside fiestas and then watching a slew of colorful and majestic fireworks to conclude the celebration. In between morning and night is , basically, one big, long daytime party. For most folks, anyway. I spent yesterday resting and working in my yard. No poolside party, no lakeside loitering. It was quite nice to have a day of rest. I didn't think about work once.

But every July 4 I find a disturbing philosophy once again infiltrates the church in America. Patriotism for America almost always becomes part of the theology of the church. Churches display American flags and sing patriotic hymns. Preachers give thanks for their freedom by invoking George Washington and Jesus Christ in the same sentence. When I was a worship pastor in Gainesville, I refused to lead the Sunday congregation in patriotic music around July 4 because we come to church to celebrate the Body of Christ and not the country of our residence.

There is a separation that exists between church and state and it's not the separation you might think. It's not liberal theology or conservative ideology. I'm talking about God's created separation -- a separation process that started with the cross and ended with an empty grave. God has separated those who believe in His Son from the rest of the world -- its inhabitants, its institutions and its philosophies. Those whom He has saved (separated) He has placed into His Church, the Body of Christ, and has given them citizenship in a different country -- a far country -- a better country. Listen to the words of Paul to the church in Philippi.

"For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Phil 3:18-21)

One thing all believers need to realize is that we are eternal citizens of heaven. But what about my passport? What about my driver's license? What about the IRS? Here is where the line is drawn. We are citizens of our national governments on paper but their power over us does not touch the spiritual. We are commanded to live at peace with our neighbors, to pray for our governments, to obey them by observing their laws and paying their taxes. We have such duties under those governments.

But the country and the church are not the same.

And I, for one, am very glad they are not the same. A quick study of church history shows that the Church was severely damaged in 325 A.D. by the intrusion of Emperor Constantine into the spiritual affairs of the church. What followed the famous Council of Nicea was 1700 years of governments messing with religion.

Where am I going with all this? To simply remind you that the fireworks may be pretty and the pool party fun but never forget that you are citizens of an eternal kingdom -- a far country, to be sure -- but one that demands your allegiance. Serve the Lord always. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

I have no problem with celebrating Independence Day or any other national holiday. We are physical citizens of the United States and enjoy the freedoms earned for us by our ancestors. So celebrate America! It's a great place to live, in my opinion. But are you willing to leave it behind for the sake of heaven, if God asks you to do so?

America may one day fade away as a nation. But heaven has been established by God. Seek the higher kingdom. But also enjoy the fireworks.

UPDATE (6/9): The sentiment I expressed in this post is echoed in a marvelous song by Ben Shive called "4th of July." You can listen to it through the Rabbit Room. Follow the link below and celebrate the "evening star."

http://www.rabbitroom.com/?p=911#more-911

Another Favorite Picture

For some reason, I am naturally drawn to pictures that seem to defy time and space. Pictures that take me away from the reality of this life and seem to place me somewhere else, in some other time. Like maybe in a cheery fairytale land or in some forbidden hollow. I'm drawn to pictures that tell stories -- or at least have the potential to tell stories. The first picture I posted on this blog back in February was of a mysterious and magical gateway. The viewer stands on one side of the gate. A sunny and green world stands on the other side. In between is the gate -- Narnia's wardrobe, if you must -- that beckons me to enter and see the wonders of a mystical world beyond comprehension.

The anonymous picture I posted today also has a story to tell. Some person is walking into (or is it out of) a sea cave. They are walking into the darkness, abandoning the light. But why? For what purpose? The light is far better, don't you think? This picture almost has a spiritual tone. It as if this is one big allegory, and the person is you or me. And we're straying away from the light -- perhaps by curiosity, perhaps by temptation -- and headed into a dark place that will will soon regret. Or if the person is walking out of the sea cave, they could be heading out of the darkness into the light -- what a glorious possibility! But which one is it?

That mystery makes this anonymous photo one of my favorites.