Until We All Believe and More

Yesterday I had to acknowledge that I didn’t have the words. I don’t know how to speak into the chaos of violence and death before us with any measure of helpfulness. Likely I cannot.

Tuesday night I began to see the reactions of my friends.

Mad. Furious. Distraught. Distrusting. Apathetic. Vengeful. Frightened. Anxious. Detached.

All of them were true. And all of them were me too. 

“I’m sorry” seems trite. It seems empty. It is hollow. Perhaps because it’s heard so often and nothing has changed. And yet we keep saying it. I keep saying it.

In an already crazy moment in history the unthinkable just seems to pile on the suffering. Life matters. You know it. I know it. Life matters. “I’m sorry” is such a frail sentiment.

The fragility of our apparent sorrow is matched only by the louder outcry of inaction, indifference, and apathy. Love requires action. It requires response. Instead, we keep living like some lives matter more. Hear me please. Life matters. Every. Single. One.

Last week I sat in a waiting room as my car was being fixed. There were two other people in the small room. One was an elderly lady. The other a young woman. Out of the blue, the older lady said something. What she said probably seemed perfectly normal to her. I am convinced nothing about her life taught her to consider the weight of the statement.

“They sure are making a big deal about that little colored boy.”

Wait. What?

Before I even had a chance to gather any thoughts at all the young woman in the room burst forth in a torrent of emotion. Her tirade was one born of collective pain, generational outrage, and the plied truths of multifaceted racial injustice. It blew in hot and haggard. It erupted. It scorched and raged. Until her anger played out and she ran from the room an emotional wreck.

I sat there speechless. I’m supposed to have the answers. I’m supposed to interject kindness and help people who need help. It’s the focus of my life to try and make everyday a little better for everyone I meet. I failed. 

My how I failed. But we are all failing. We will continue to fail. Until we each believe and act. Act as though every life matters. Life matters!

The innocent matter. The guilty matter. All life matters. 

Growing up we used to sing “Red, yellow, black, and white. They are precious in His sight.” I believed it then. I believe it still, but belief needs more than acknowledgement.

We just spent two full months locking ourselves in our homes. Why? Because we believe old folks matter. We believe sick people matter.

Theaters are closed. Your health club may only now be reopening. Why? Because that’s what’s we collectively agreed needed to be done for a group of lives we all decided matter.

But all lives matter. Every life matters.

The old matter. The sick matter. 

You didn’t go to your friends wedding two weeks ago. Why? Because you believe their new life together is worth protecting. 

Married lives matter. All life matters.

You canceled your dream vacation. You didn’t see your parents for weeks. Why? Their life matters.

Your neighbor had a baby and you stayed home instead of taking them a meal. Why? That precious life matters.

You prayed in the parking lot at the local hospital. You showed your support to the diner down the street. You had a parade for the graduates, the teachers, and the first responders. Why? Their lives matter.

You’ve been screaming about the President’s wall for four years. Why? Because American lives matter.

You’ve been screaming about the suffering people at the border. Why? Because displaced lives matter.

You were outraged by what you saw on TV. Why? Because you know life matters. They ALL matter.

You don’t get to decide which life matters more. They all matter. Born and unborn. Black and white. American and immigrant. Red. Blue. Left. Right. Christian. Muslim. 

You don’t get to cherry pick the sanctity of human life and claim superiority. All lives matter.

Until life is seen as sacred we will continue to defile it under the weight of our selfish prejudices. And it will buckle. It will reel. It will suffocate. It will end.

Where You Will Fill Up

I had lunch with my Brad today. Brad is my best friend. We’ve been friends for decades. I love this dude. He’s like a 2nd brother to me. 

As I was leaving, the fuel light in my car came on. So I did what you’re supposed to do when that happens. I pulled into a gas station. When I went to pump some gas there was a problem. I swiped my card and put in the required information—but no gas came out. Nothing. There was a disconnect between the input and the output. I really needed gas. But I couldn’t get any. I got back in my car, went down the road, and got my gas. No problem. No disconnect. The input matched the output. I filled up the tank.

There are so many people who are empty. They pull right up. They. Need. What. You. Have. If you follow Jesus the people who’ve pulled up to you need the light of life living inside you. They need the joy that lights up your every day world to make a life-giving difference in theirs.

We can’t afford to have a disconnect between the output and the input. We can’t put up borders, boundaries, or hurdles. The invitation to Jesus is simple. “Come to me.” That’s what he said.

People will go where they can get full. They will go where someone wants to be there for them. But they don’t want the fake stuff. They don’t want a show. They don’t want religious hurdles. They don’t want rules. They want gas. They want the thing they need that will get them down the road. They want life in all of its explosive awesomeness. 

The thing about gas is there’s no hiding it. It smells. It’s distinct. The moment it enters the scenario it matters. It’s a game changer. 

Go be a game changer for someone. Make a difference. Help them matter and mean it. Don’t fake it. If it’s at your coffee table, your coffee shop, or your church pew. Connect them with the good stuff. Just a little bit matters. But I bet you have more than just a little. 

Hindsight: Add Value

 I'm older today. Though not exactly old. This last year has brought a few unexpected, yet God-ordained, transitions that have been wonderful blessings in their own right. I've learned a lot of stuff in my life. But it all boils down to this.

Learn how to add value to people's lives and you will never be without friends, job, cause to live for, something that matters, purpose that wakes you up in the morning, and a reason to keep on breathing.

Life is about more than just yourself. Life is about more than having the latest things, wearing the latest things, driving the latest things, knowing the latest things. Life—and the only thing that really matters right when you boil it all down to the bare essentials—is all about connecting to others, and helping others connect to God. The best, broadest, purest, and the simplest way is to learn to live, love, and add value to another person's life.

Life lived for yourself is a roller coaster, up one day and down the next—good and bad, great and worse. But life lived for others is never about you. It keeps the eye on the prize. It keeps the main thing the main thing.

You can never go wrong not living for yourself. You can never go wrong putting others first.

Another word we use for that sometimes is humility. Sometimes people think humility is about thinking less of yourself. That's not true. Humility is about thinking of yourself less.

What could be more humbling than a life lived in pursuit of adding value to the lives of others. Agree? Thanks for reading. God bless.

Living Water

  Man, there are few things more difficult than being thirsty for a prolonged period of time. Probably many of us have never really had to face true thirst. Especially dangerous life threatening thirst.  When I think I'm thirsty my first craving is for a Dr. Pepper or good old southern sweet tea. When I was a kid working in the hay field or watermelon patch with my dad there was nothing more satisfying than a tall cold glass of water.

Have you ever found yourself thirsty inside? That's thirst on an entirely different level. It's life threatening all the same. At the core of our soul. 

Maybe you didn't articulate it that way—but the acknowledgement for something more was present like an inexplicable craving or yearning. 

Do you believe in Jesus? He told us he was that kind of satisfaction. 

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’" ‭‭(John‬ ‭7:37-38‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

He made it really simple too. If you're thirsty go to him. How? Believe.

He is living water. (Check out the fourth chapter in John's Gospel for some more on that). 

He also said, that when we believe in him that same kind of living giving spirit would flow through us. We're not just receptacles. We're channels. 

Jesus himself saves, quenches, and supplies us with life inside—and desires that we might share it with all. 

That should impact is in the day to day stuff. Make us love bigger and better. Help us to speak with a kindness that is uplifting, work hard, and give selflessly. Basically, we should be refreshing to anyone and everyone we're around. 

How's that working out for you?

Thanks for reading! We're always interested in hearing from you in the comments. ~ Nate

The 3rd Lament: Hold On To Hope

When I think of Lamentations it's not usually a go-to source for encouraging scripture. But Lamentations 3:19-24 paints an incredible word picture of the beauty of God's love for us. I want to visit this wonderful passage over the next few days in hopes that it will encourage you as much as it has encouraged me.

... there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope... (‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬ MSG)

Remember this, there is one constant, God loves you. It helped Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet credited for penning the Book of Laments. He went through some really crazy stuff. But he held on to hope.

We go through some crazy stuff too sometimes. To others it might not seem so bad, but for the person experiencing the turmoil it's never a fun to place to be. The wildness of the ride this life throws our way can catch us off guard. It can blast the wind from our lungs, the strength from our hearts, and the opportunity from our fingertips—but it can not change the way God feels about us.

Even our own reckless personal choices can cause tremendous pain and heartache, but they don't affect the way God feels about us. He loves us deeply. And for those of us who choose to recognize that love for what it is, and abide in it, it is our constant.

When life gets shaky we can hold onto Him. We can hold on to hope.

September 20 - What Is Your Judgement?

Matthew 26: 57-68

"What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” (Matthew 26:66 ESV)

Jesus received an unfair judgement. Arrested in secret. Tried in the middle of the night. He faced a sham trial, with false witnesses, shady-power-hungry adjudicators, and a corrupted militant mob like police force. Jesus was judged guilty. He was declared deserving of death.

Ironic seems like such a pitifully inadequate word to describe the scenario. He was wrongly accused. Wrongly judged. Wrongly killed. All so that he might bring an opportunity for eternal life to the very men who were killing him.

"What is your judgement?" They asked. Well, thanks to Jesus all that have entered into salvation have entered into a judgement of life.

August 21 - These Will Go

Matthew 25:31-46

"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46 ESV)

Jesus stated very plainly that in the life to come there would only be two possible destinations for the soul. Heaven or hell. Eternal life or eternal death.

The thought of hell can be pretty crazy. Most literal interpretations or beliefs are rooted in the idea of a place of fiery torment that burns but does not consume. I don't know what hell will be, but I do know what my capacity for understanding the Scriptures leads me to believe. I believe that hell will indeed be a place of unending torment. It will be so horrible that it will be as if the most anguishing kinds of physical, emotional, and spiritual pain were all rolled into one.

Those who live under the grace and Lordship of Jesus will be spared that agony. They will find eternal life, joy, and peace. Everyone will wind up in one location or the other. There will be no in-between. There will be no other options. All will go somewhere in the life to come.

August 5 - Wrong

Matthew 22:23-33

But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." (Matthew 22:29 ESV)

"You are wrong," is not a phrase that I have heard many times in my life. I was that kid in school that usually seemed to know the answers. Today, I still get looked to for answers. And a lot of the time I either know the answer, or know how to go about finding it. But the reason why that is important is because all of the answers that matter are the ones that come from my knowledge of God.

Jesus hit that nail on the head repeatedly. To the point that the religious leaders did not know how to deal with him. He was always right. He always had the answer. And when they concocted their crazy tests to trip him up he turned it around on them as a way to point out their shortcomings.

Intellectually I am right a lot of the time. Spiritually I am definitely a work-in-progress. I am hoping that one day my family and friends will be able to look back over the course of my life and say that I was right. Not about intellectual facts or acquired knowledge, but about the things in life that truly matter.

I don't always succeed, but my hope as my feet hit the floor every morning is that I will grow in my knowledge of the Scriptures, I would serve God diligently, and love people genuinely. Because a person can life their whole life and seldom be wrong only to stand before Christ one day and find out that without him they were always wrong.

August 4 - God of Life

Luke 20:27-40

Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. (Luke 20:38 ESV)

The Sadducees were a group of religious leaders that did not believe in the after life. One day in a bid to discount and humiliate Christ they put him to question. Like their contemporaries, the Pharisees, they concocted a strange rhetorical situation as an attempt to determine Jesus' traditional affiliation and political leaning. Par for the course he proved that the people did not have their mind or hearts set on the things of God.

Those who belief on Jesus for their salvation are brought into a new life. They have rejected death. They have left behind sin. Not because they are perfect but because Jesus has taken sin from them based on their faith in his sacrificial power and blameless life.

God created men for life, love, and relationship with Him. To be in union with Him is to enjoy eternal life. God is the God of life. That all sounds perfectly strange and seemingly beyond comprehension, but in a way that is what makes the majesty of it that much more wonderful.

June 30 - From That Day On

Read: John 11:45-57

So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. (John 11:53 ESV)

An undeniable miracle had occurred in full sight and knowledge of many people. A dead man was no longer dead. Witnesses confirmed it. Critics acknowledged it. The religious leaders didn't know what to do with it.

Jesus was obviously beyond them. He was shaking up the status quo and the bureaucratic religious establishment was terrified. They were afraid of their Roman conquerors. They were afraid of losing their hold over the people. They were afraid they would lose their lucrative system of religious robbery. They did what fearful people do. They made plans.

According to their twisted minds the only way to solve the problem was to remove Jesus from the scene. So the formation of the plan to have Jesus murdered began. The men entrusted to lead the people to God ignored God's Son, schemed to murder him, and felt right about doing it.

From that day on the fear of men compelled them toward great evil. From that day on the willful stubbornness of a select few plotted the death of innocence. From that day on men planning to kill God were unknowingly ushering in the promised salvation of mankind.

June 29 - Come Out

Read: John 11:38-44

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." (John 11:43 ESV)

The time had come. Jesus had travelled to Bethany to raise his friend Lazarus from the dead. He reminded onlookers to believe. He commanded the stone to be rolled away. He prayed aloud for those nearby to hear. And then he called to Lazarus to live again and exit the tomb.

I'm not sure I can even imagine what that must have been like. They all saw it, all experienced, all knew what had just happened. Jesus, this man that was supposed to be a simple carpenter from nowhere—had become a premiere rabbi. He was saying things priests didn't say. He was helping people priests didn't help. He was doing things priests couldn't do.

The revivification of Lazarus was a turning point. It was undeniable. Someone that was clearly dead had been returned to life. It was a declarative miracle of a nature that surpassed all his precious public works. Jesus publicly and boldly declared himself to be master over life itself. He called Lazarus out of the grave, out of death, out of the past, into a kind of newness of life that only Jesus could give.

I really believe that Jesus is still doing that. He is still calling people to leave their tombs, leave their life of death, and leave behind their pasts to pursue newness, to pursue him. I'm so glad that one day I felt the compelling call of Christ stir within my soul and chose to come out of darkness into light. What is Christ calling you out of?

June 4 - By the Hand

Read: Matthew 9:18-26

But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. (Matthew 9:25 ESV)

There is something special about clasping hands with another person. Recently my son started learning to hold my hand as he tries to go up or down steps. It is a gesture of security, comfort, and closeness.

When Jesus went to Jairus's house he revived the man's daughter in spite of skeptics, and mockery. As he performed the miraculous sign he took the girl by the hand. Hand in hand with Jesus she awoke from death into a new life.

Each of us that have believed on Jesus for salvation have experienced the same kind of thing on a spiritual level. We were dead in our sin. Our spirit was stirred and we turned to Christ. In him we pass from death into new life.

May 20 - Leave the Dead

Read: Matthew 8:19-20; Luke 9:57-62

And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." (Matthew 8:22 ESV)

Life and death. You are alive or you are dead. That's pretty much how we think. That is especially how the naturalistic kind of perspective trains you to think.

Really we are, all of us, born into death. The curse of sin that was brought into God's creation by His first created couple is something we are all faced with. And the only thing that rescues us from that curse is life in Christ.

The question of life or death is the question of Christ. To be in Christ is to be alive. To be outside of Christ is to be dead, even though you may still draw breath. This is to what Jesus was speaking of. He was drawing followers to himself that could be counted on guide Christianity in its infancy. Jesus was, and still is, looking for people who would be willing to walk from anything and everything the natural life had to offer in order to discover supernatural life in him. Where does that leave you?

I don't believe God is asking us to leave and reject our loved ones. He is however calling us to leave behind death and follow him into life. Life in Christ.

April 28 - To Life

Read: Matthew 7:12-14

For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:14 ESV)

All of us have chosen death at some point in our lives. Often we probably didn't even mean to. Sometimes we actually probably thought we were choosing life.

Jesus taught a few things about life. He taught that he was the way, the truth, and the life. He taught that he came so that those who believed in him and followed him would have abundant life. He also taught that the entry point, the gate, and the path to life were narrow.

What all of that boils down to is this—Jesus is life. When we choose selfishness we choose death. When we choose our own path we choose death. Even with the best of intentions, without choosing Jesus we choose death.

That sounds horrible. It certainly could be. Except that Jesus actually made choosing him a pretty simple thing. It is simply a matter of faith. That means combining belief in Jesus as savior, with trust in Jesus for your future. That is the direction toward the path of life.

11 Lessons College Teaches Beyond the Classroom

I have worked in college ministry for a decade. My wife teaches at the local university. We were talking about things we see people learn in college outside the classroom. There are many many more things that could have made the list, but here are 11 that came to us pretty quickly.

1. No one but you is going to wake your lazy butt up every day.

2. Time is valuable. You can spend it well or waste it worthlessly.

3. Laundry doesn't do itself.

4. You're responsible for your own actions.

5. Some people like you. Some people don't. Sometimes you'll change that. Sometimes you won't.

6. Math is important. Intro to Film is not.

7. Money doesn't grow on trees, puppies, or hubcaps.

8. The Internet lies, especially Social Media.

9. Choices have consequences and the future is real.

10. Friends that tell the truth, even hard truth, are better than friends that don't.

11. There are more important things than homework, but not very many.

March 12 - Lose to Find

Read: Matthew 10:34-39

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39 ESV)

The Christian life can at times seem full of paradoxical things. One such paradox is the notion of losing life and finding life. Jesus was pretty clear. If you think you have found your life, you're lost, but if you're willing to let go of everything...only then will you really begin to live.

This is the kind of life he invites us into. To live, love, and serve him with everything. That in this process we abandon previous notions of what we thought our life was supposed to look like, and instead offer ourselves as a willing servant to be used for his purposes.

I am thirty two years old and rarely feel like I have it all figured out. I am solid in my relationship with God. That is, I am committed to continually growing in affection and obedience toward God. Even in that I find that I certainly never seem to know exactly what's going on in life every step of the way. Much of it often still seems a mystery.

It's actually when I begin to embrace the mystery of God that I usually grow the most in Him. Why? Because when I'm willing to place my faith in Jesus and follow where he leads I am willing to walk toward or away from anything. In those moments I am willing to lose the comfort and security of life to chase him completely. It's when you wake up thinking and acting like you have it all figured our that you are really in trouble. Which side of that coin do you find yourself on today?

I Love This Season

I love spring. I really look forward to it every year. And no, it's not quite spring yet. Especially these last few days have felt very unspringish—with a naughty wind that feels like winter's stubborn attempt to linger longer than it is welcome. But as the saying around here goes... this is Arkansas, if you don't like the weather just wait a little, it will change. Isn't that the truth? Weather is always changing here. Seasons are seasonal. We have four on the calendar but some years if feels like we have about fourteen.

Life can get that way too. It has its ebb and flow. There are times when things feel incredible. You feel unstoppable, unbeatable, and if you're looking in the direction, incredibly humbled by it all. That pretty much sums up how I'm feeling these days. Life is just so incredibly undeservedly good.

I'm working harder than I have ever worked in my life. I'm busier than I have ever been. I've taken on more responsibility, committed myself to do more, be more, and give more—and rather than feeling used up and burned out I am loving it! For me, this is a very good season.

My son will be a year old in three weeks, these last several months have been magical in a way that is inexplicably serene. I love my wife in a greater measure than I ever have before. I have built bonds in ministry that are astounding and eternal. The truth is that I have actually done very little of anything in any of this.

God is definitely at work in my life. Good things are happening. So while the weather can change at a moment's notice, for now I am going to keep on keeping on. I'm going to enjoy this season.

SOMETHING that ENDED on a FRIDAY

It's not going to happen. Friday 12-21-12 will be a pretty standard Friday for most of us. I for one will be glad to have it behind us. But what if it were actually going to all go away tomorrow? What if today was the last day you ever had? Are you satisfied with how your final moments played out? Did you do something worthwhile? Did you give yourself in something meaningful? The main idea here is that days like Mayan Apocalypse Day should, besides generating a ton of sarcastic humor, cause us to reflect on our lives. Days like these should make us stop and ask ourselves a few questions, not because we actually believe that the world is about to end, but because we believe that it will not. Are we satisfied with who we are, where we are, and how we are? What would we do to change any of it?

Jesus did something to change it. In fact, the first part of the most important moment in human history (the crucifixion of Christ) is widely believed to have happened on a Friday. Tomorrow is supposed to be a scary Friday. Jesus faced the scariest Friday ever. He did it with a willing commitment we will never be able to understand. He did it for you and for me, and to glorify the Father. He lived life free of regret, full of purpose, and focused on God. What about you?

The Story

Your life is a story. It is. It is your story. You will experience cast changes, genre shifts, and season finales. You will suffer through cliff-hangers, tragedies, and bad writing. Budget cuts, box office success, and misinterpretation are to be expected.

What is your story? Where, when, or how? Many of us become intricately woven into the tedium of predicting, or manufacturing, our ideal ending; but what about the moments that lead up to the closing credits?

The greatest stories are not those told frivolously without thought, or care, or creativity invested in the telling. The best stories are always told with passion and purpose. I believe that God has set you upon this world to be, join, and live a story. His story, your story, and a story that we all share in together. Sometimes it takes us a while to warm up to the part. Some sadly never discover their role in the story. Many never realize they are the sum of their own story. While still others think that their story is the only story of any importance.

How will you steer the nature of your's? Will you get lost in your own narrative? Or will you join your story to the Greater Work. We have been given the chance to join a bigger narrative. A story larger than our own. We must only take our role.

10 Ways to Simplify Life

Life usually doesn’t fit into nice neat little lists, but that doesn’t keep me from trying. Welcome to my Tuesday 10, where I try to fit the messiness of life into a list of ten. If your life is anything like mine it is probably hectic and messy. And it runs the risk only of getting messier. Here are ten ways to simplify life.

1. Don't buy everything you want.

2. Realize that if you take on a new hobby, interest, or commitment you'll probably have to drop a different one.

3. Tell the truth, even when it sucks.

4. Love people to a fault.

5. Trust your gut.

6. Pay off and cancel your credit cards.

7. If you don't use it, or need it, give it away, or throw it away.

8. Say no often, and mean it.

9. Don't procrastinate.

10. Realize that some things we see as choices are really not choices at all. They are just humanity's way of trying to rationalize our own selfishness.