Thoughts

One of my favorite verses comes from James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.” I liked it because it seemed like a free wisdom boost, kind of like you get in a Jamba Juice. I doesn’t really cost anything extra, God’s just kind of giving it to you in addition to your salvation. I never really made the connection, though, between that verse and what comes a few chapters later. James goes on to define wisdom in 3:17: “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” When you’re asking for wisdom, then, what you’re really asking for is for spiritual purity and these other godly qualities; so now you come to understand that the wisdom you’re asking for is no mere boost to your faith. Becoming pure, like everything else in God’s economy, costs something. It means letting go of impurity, it means sacrifice. Th...

When I was a teenager, I had a friend who was kind of hyperactive; so we're driving one night, when he decided to roll down his window and yell at the top of his lungs. The only thing was, he didn't know there was a car next to us. Inside it was a young guy with some friends. Either the young guy thought my friend was actually yelling at him, or he wanted to impress his friends. At the next stop sign, he pulled in front of my car to stop us, got out, and began punching my friend in the face. You'd think I would have put the car in reverse, rolled up the window, or something, but I didn't. I was shocked by what was happening. After hitting him a few times, he finally gets in his car and speeds off, with my friend bleeding and swollen. After all of this, though, my friend said something I still remember: he said "God loves you." When I think about the purpose of the resurrection, I think about my friend; and how he turned something so horrible into an act of f...

I believe I have found my calling. It is a calling that, though requiring strict discipline and steady wisdom, will lead to unfathomable rewards. What is this calling, you might ask? It is none other than swing dancing. That's right. I am going to start an organization to benefit the rhythmically challenged. I shall certainly be the foremost member, but what rhetorical energy I have shall be devoted to encouraging the crestfallen and downcast, those lost in the shadows of the graceful and elegant, those like me; for when I attempted this arguably simple dance, recalling what moves I could from past swing experiences, I began to believe that perhaps something was wrong with me. Didn't I have the same ability to understand directions that others had? Then why did my hand go one direction when it was supposed to go the other? Why did I lead the girls with whom I was dancing into fitful missteps? Happily, my unsuspecting partners were forgiving. Not me. It will take years for the s...

Under the Nazis, a group of "Confessing" Christians in Germany found it necessary to make a clear statement of their allegiance. This "Barmen Declaration" declared that the church was subordinate to Christ alone, not the state. Although the conditions in 2009 are different from those of 1934 (it was risky for a German to defy the state in the 1930s, both in and out of the church), it's still true that we should know exactly what we believe and why. First Peter 3:15 says "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have...." Although I don't always act according to it, the following ultimately explains who I am. I guess you could say this is my "Barmen Declaration." I believe that Jesus Christ has a direct influence on my life, and that because I obeyed his Spirit, I was and am changed. I was once a slave to the wrong things that control...

There have few times in life when I have felt closer to God than when I have been in need. What is it about loneliness, fear, and becoming keenly aware of our own depravity that compels us to run to him (I guess when I say us, I mean Christians, though I know this is what brings some people to God in the first place)? Christians, through history, have found purpose in these things. Soren Kierkegaard, for example, thought it necessary to forsake all things pleasurable and to embrace despair. This, he said, would cause in us a crisis that would lead to faith in God. Only with this faith, he said, could life have any meaning. Honestly, it sounds a little like Buddhism, but I do agree that there is purpose in suffering. Read I Peter 5:10: "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." That seems manageable, that God would allow us to go through...

Ravi Zacharias tells a story of his visit to a museum in England, dedicated to Paul Bunyan. At the end of his tour of the museum, he speaks to the clerk and asks "Isn't it amazing that a mender of pots and pans has won such worldwide acclaim?" Her response was that she had never read the work. Ironic, he claims, that someone could work in a museum dedicated to a man whose single most popular book she had never read. Speaking of Jesus' message, his point was that we can be so close to such crucial truth, and yet ignore it or treat it indifferently. He goes on to quote Elizabeth Barrett Browning: "Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries." Though he was talking about all humanity, the same oversight can be found in Christians. I don't believe this is intentional, for the most part. My own experience has told me that it's a result of amne...

Why is privacy so important to us? I think it's because we're afraid. We build our lives, compartmentalizing work, play, political and religious beliefs, and (especially) our faults in separate rooms of the same home because we can't imagine losing what we've gained. We gladly invite the appropriate guests into the family room of work or play, but prevent them from seeing the messes of our respective pasts that we've left in our respective bedrooms. The problem with building something, anything, is that there will always be something to threaten it. I believe that threat, real or (more likely) imagined, produces in us a defensiveness that stands anathema to meaningful relationships. So we build walls around our lives, walls that have signs clearly displayed and telling others that it's not their place to ask about who we are. What's interesting is that these walls are fortified by the added benefit of making our house look better than it actually is. No one ...