About Performances

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." -- Apostle Paul to the Galatian churches

It never ceases to amaze me how the kingdom of God is completely upside down (or is it right-side up?)compared to the kingdom of this world. After all, blessed are the meek and oppressed. Cursed are the proud and mighty. And then there is this: salvation and good standing before God is not swayed by anything we do. What was that? Performance doesn't matter? What about all those "do's" and "don'ts"? Well, they don't affect how God sees you. He knows that you and I can't cut it as holy people. We do not have that ability inherent within ourselves. There are none righteous, King David crooned a long time ago.

In the kingdom of this world we judge each other based on what we do, not who we are. If a man has great wealth and gives a lot to charity, we consider that man to be blessed. "He must be doing things right!" we think. Never mind the six marriages, the live-in girlfriend, the lives he has trampled on his way to the top. Nope. We don't judge based on his character. We judge based on the external things.

But in the kingdom of heaven, the King calls us to accept one another based on who we are — despite what we do. We will all mess up and fall. It's inevitable. But we are children of the King — adopted sons and daughters of God the Father — who are deeply flawed but dearly loved. And because we are sons and daughters, we should acceot one another, even if we stumble and fall. This is the message of grace. That the unacceptable would be accepted; the dead resurrected; and the unlovable found to be lovely. Permanently.

It's not based on performance. It's all about God's perfect grace. As the Chris Tomlin song, "How Can I Keep From Singing?" states, "I am loved by the King; and it makes my heart want to sing!"

Be God's!

Sweet Dreams

Here's another poetic offering, compiled and recreated over the past few years. It's my wish for a young boy, just starting to discover the world of make-believe. As I posted earlier, I believe that dreams are fuel for the engine that drives the hearts of men. They take us beyond the here and now -- beyond the reality we see around us -- and lead us someplace better, someplace holier, and, perhaps, someplace with greater adventure.


SWEET DREAMS

Standing on the beach, I watch the tide roll out
Sending the ships out to sea
And I wonder, young friend, how you're doing right now
Chasing your heart's deepest dream

'Cause right here on the shore, it is such a bore
I'd rather be out on the sea
Sailing away to some far away land
There's adventure just waiting for me!

So drift off away to a far away land
of paupers and prophets and kings
May God ever hold you in the palm of His hand
and fill your young mind with sweet dreams

In every boy's mind, there's a treasure to find
Of stories too good to believe
Of heroes and giants, villains and kings
Who play out a breathtaking scene

Maybe there are pirates! Maybe a storm!
Maybe a princess in need!
I'm never gonna know, if I never go
And follow my heart's deepest dream

So drift off away to a far away land
of paupers and prophets and kings
May God ever hold you in the palm of His hand
and fill your young mind with sweet dreams

Poem: Dreams

Just the other day I was thinking about the role that dreaming (dreams, desires, fantasies) play in the lives of men. I thought about how I am personally affected by the ambitions and dreams I have for my own life, or my family, or my church. Dreams can often carry a person away from reality and become a distraction when real problems need real attention. But without dreams, we never will go anywhere in our lives. We never will test our boundaries or set our goals higher than where we already are. Dreams keep a person going in the midst of an unsettling reality, because that person knows that things may get better in the future. And maybe they'll become more than better -- they'll become extraordinary. With these things in mind, I wrote the following poem over two lunches at Wendy's, my favorite lunchtime "think tank."


DREAMS

Close your eyes and dream with me
Of cotton sands and a turquoise sea
Where palm tress frame a place of rest

And I'm with you and you with me
Our ears are filled with the musical sea
As the sun shines down we are blest

And we dream away...

I did not think we'd have gone this far
When the waves were high and the valley dark
And emotions clouded everything we'd see

Yet we hoped that this would not be the end
For our love is constant more than the wind
And we hoped that better things were yet to be

So we dream away...

Some say dreams are but lofty notions
Meant only to distract and deceive
But I say dreams are fuel for the engine
In the heart of a man; to keep him going
When a valley is all that he can see

He's got to dream away....