“Stuart, it seems like a long time ago doesn’t it? I’m thinking of that day climbing that mountain to get to the top and thinking how difficult it was, but I was going to make it up there. ”

-my friend and brother in Christ and life

A friend emailed me recently a reminder. A reminder of the journey we had been on together. He called me to remember back to who I was years ago. To remember where the Lord has brought me from. To remember the work he is doing in me right now.

Often times, life gets busy and I forget. I forget who I am and who the Lord has called me to be. I forget what is important and what is true. And if I’ve lost that, what am I left with?

So take some time to remember. What does the Lord not want you to forget?

“We have to give up the small gospel that simply confirms what C.S. Lewis called ‘our congenital preference for the safe investments and limited liabilities’. The freedom of grace grants us many gifts, including that there is ‘therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus(Rom 8:1) This assurance of grace is meant to set us on the road of faithful discipleship, not just to assure us of grace at the finish line. Such freedom enables Christ’s disciples to love because we have first been loved (1 John 4:19). The grace that settles our account with God is meant to set us free from the self-interest for the sake of loving others with abandon.”

- Mark Labberton “The Lima Bean Gospel” in Christianity Today

A friend of mine sent me a note of encouragement that had this quote in it. It got me thinking (as most things do). Do I love others with abandon? And what does this abandon look like if it’s being walked out in my life? Either the gospel, or the way I’m living it, is bland like lima beans or vibrant like Christ. I just know I never want to be compared to lima beans…

Any thoughts?

As I’ve said before, I’m not fan of politics. There’s no one running on either side that I particularly like. And you’ll never see this blog endorse anyone. It just won’t happen. That being said, a friend of mine sent me an article about Mike Huckabee, a Republican running for President. He’s a former Southern Baptist pastor and has a unique perspective of seeing both sides of government and church. I love this quote from him. I think in this instance, he’s spot on. There’s so much truth to this statement.

“Government knows it does not have the answer, but it’s arrogant and acts as though it does. Church does have the answer but will cowardly deny that it does and wonder when the world will be changed.”

My loathing for politics comes from this idea: why change the world through political force, when it can be done with prayer and following the Lord. I just see two diverging paths. One is consumed with gaining power (politics) and the other is all about giving it up (following Jesus). Policy will not change hearts. It will only make rules and enforce them. Yet we still try to make this happy marriage of Jesus and politics. If Jesus is going to save America is through the brokenness and humility of the churches seeking the Lord and reaching out in compassion to the hurt, broken and poor. The whole point of Huckabee’s quote is that we as believers can change things, but won’t. So we turn to politics to vote someone to do it.

So what do you think? Am I wrong? How can both Jesus and politics coincide?

“Don’t blame the darkness for being dark. Blame the light for not shining into it.”

-Craig Gross - The Gutter 

One of my friends is writing a paper for her seminary class on evangelism. The paper is about community and how we define it. So she asked me some questions and we talked about some random thoughts, then she posed this in her blog:

What does true authentic community look like? What is needed to have an authentic community? Vulnerability, trust, love, faith, hope? I truly believe that deep at the core of every person there is a burning desire for community, acceptance and love. If this is true how do we accomplish this? Is it part of the Church or not? What does it look like? Is there structure? Is it completely organic?

- Jessica Maher

So I want to ask for your thoughts or ideas - partially out of curiosity and partially to give her some perspective for this paper…

What is true community to you?

As we still have Thanksgiving on our minds and leftovers in our fridges,  let us not let these ideas of thanksgiving, and gratitude slip away too fast. Sometimes we’re in such a hurry, we forget to have honest moments with God. I read this quote this morning and thought that it was a good reminder of why knowing the Lord fills us with gratitude, awe, and hope.

We know a time will come for us to look back with our Lord over the story of our lives. Every hidden thing shall be made known, every word spoken in secret shall be uttered. My soul shrinks back; how will this not be an utter horror? The whole idea of judgment has been terribly twisted by our enemy. One evangelistic tract conveys the popular idea that at some point shortly upon our arrival in heaven the lights will dim and God will give the signal for the videotape of our entire life to be played before the watching universe: every shameful act, every wicked thought. How can this be so? If there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), how is it possible there will be shame later? God himself shall clothe us in white garments (Rev. 3:5). Will our Lover then strip his beloved so that the universe may gawk at her? Never.

However God may choose to evaluate our lives, whatever memory of our past we shall have in heaven, we know this: It will only contribute to our joy. We will read our story by the light of redemption and see how God has used both the good and the bad, the sorrow and the gladness for our welfare and his glory. With the assurance of total forgiveness we will be free to know ourselves fully, walking again through the seasons of life to linger over the cherished moments and stand in awe at God’s grace for the moments we have tried so hard to forget. Our gratitude and awe will swell into worship of a Lover so strong and kind as to make us fully his own.

     -John Eldredge The Sacred Romance