Innoculation

My friend Jane recently shared about a pastor in Dallas whom she follows, Matt Chandler. After she referenced him I wanted to know more so I googled him and read some things about him, as well as watching several video clips on youtube. One of his recurring clips is called "Jesus wants the rose." Check it out if you have time. It's great!

But in another clip he put out an idea that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. His church is in Dallas, entrenched in the Bible belt. He said that many, many people in the Bible belt have been "inoculated" against the Gospel. This works just like the shots we get to protect us from many terrible diseases. When we get the vaccine, what we are getting is a small dose of the germs that cause this disease, in order to form an immunity to it. Now think about this in terms of the Gospel. Many people get just enough of the Gospel so that it has no real power over them. They are immune to it.

This is an amazing thought.

What it needs to cause us to do is to think. To consider. How do we reach people who have been "inoculated" from the Gospel? New methods, new approaches will have to be launched. We will have to use great creativity. It is a challenge.

Boom Boom Revolution

I have invited all my FaceBook friends to take part in the Boom Boom Revolution. I want to give a further explanation of what this is all about here.

You’ve heard of Random Acts of Kindness. Well, the premise behind Boom Boom Cards is that we should be doing intentional acts of kindness. So each of the cards has a task to be completed, some good deed. Some of the deeds will cost something, but many of them won’t cost a thing. You can choose to do all the tasks or pick the ones that work for you. It won’t matter if you aren’t able to do a particular task on the day it is posted either. Just do it when it works for you. The main idea is to plan to do something.

I’ve been thinking of doing this for a long time. But there are principles behind the reasons for doing these small, simple acts. One of my favorite quotes comes from Helen Keller. She said, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” I love this idea because it works to squelch the pride I battle in my life often.

Another quote comes from President Obama. During his speech for the memorial service for the Arizona victims this week he said that we all need “a continuously widening circle of concern.” It will only widen as we stretch ourselves to reach beyond those we comfortably reach out to regularly.

Hebrews 10:24 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” So that’s my goal, to spur you on.

For those of you who have young children, I hope you will involve them and engage them in conversations about the good deeds that are all around us, just waiting for us to have eyes to see. Train them in this kind of thinking.

So, beginning February 1 I will be posting a task each day. If you decide to play along I would love to have you post on the event wall what you do and any thoughts you have about what we’re doing. I’m excited about the possibilities.

The Tapestry of My Life

One of the reasons I wanted to come to Indianapolis this week was to see Robin. Robin and I were best friends in high school. I was Maid of Honor at her wedding. I don’t have a great memory for things that happened long ago but I do remember a time I spent the night with her. We could not stop giggling, and Robin’s mom had to come in repeatedly to tell us to be quiet. For whatever reason we were crazy about Mark S. and this was the source of our giggling. How silly we were!

We kept in touch somewhat during college years, but then our lives took us in very different directions. We didn’t talk for over 25 years. Then last year she found me on Facebook. We got together during spring break for our first visit, and now we have had our second. She had a letter that I had written her in 1978 saying that it didn’t matter how long we had been apart, that we were always able to just pick back up with each other as if no time had passed. And that was true again today. I like her now for all the same reasons I liked her so long ago… she’s funny, she is insightful, we have great conversations… she’s just dear to me. I’m so glad she’s in my life again.

So I’m finding once again that life is like a tapestry, a picture/story that is being told thread by thread. Sometimes the threads are visible in the picture but other times they run underneath, only to resurface when they again become part of the picture. I have found this so true in my life over the past year. Former friends have resurfaced and have become active once again in my life, and they are such a blessing. I’m thankful the color and texture they bring to the tapestry of my life.

I love you, Robin!

Romans 8:28

In the previous post I talked about the tremendous attacks that I feel my family has been under. I wanted to add some further thoughts to this idea.

Sunday night Bro. Brian preached from one of the greatest and most comforting verses in the Bible, Romans 8:28. It says, “For we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

As I reflected on this verse and the many examples we find of this in the scriptures such as Joseph, Daniel, Paul and others, I came away with renewed assurance that my family will survive these trials. Every attack, every problem, that the Devil sends our way with the intention of destroying us, devouring us, God intends and allows for our good. No matter how impossible it may seem that anything good can come from these situations, I will take hold of this promise and run with it. I have complete confidence that I will be able to one day look back on all this and see the purpose of God fulfilled in bringing the best to all our lives.

This, too, is part of the fight.

The Roaring Lion

I believe in the devil and all the Bible says about him, but I've never been one to talk about him like others do. I hear people say things like, "The devil has been attacking me," or "I could feel the devil at work." I am often skeptical when I hear people talk like that because I don't think like that normally. But I have to say that today I became a believer.

I just got a clear picture in my mind of I Peter 5:7-9. It says, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

The devil is attacking my family. He is seeking to devour my children. It is real.

Now here is my next thought. If a lion were literally attacking my children, if the lion had one of them in its jaws and were dragging them off, I would not run away and hide, or stand there and cry. I would find myself a club or some kind of weapon and go after that lion. I would beat the lion and grab hold of my child and fight with all my might to take them from the jaws of the lion.

So I'm on the attack. I have my weapon, the Word of God. I will resist the devil with all my might, and the Word promises that the devil will flee. Pray for me. The battle is raging.

My Dear Sister

Today was a sad day for me. My dear sister Penny and her husband David left for Ukraine this afternoon. She told me she was sad but that once she got on her way she would be fine. And she said that being sad didn't mean she didn't want to go. She was looking forward to being back to the home she has made there in Kharkov. Finally, she told me that she thought it would be easier to leave her boys once they were both married. It wasn't true.

Penny has been such an inspiration to me. She takes the hardships of life in Ukraine with much ease and grace. I know it hasn't always been as easy as she makes it look, but God has been gracious to her in giving her what we might think of as a "pioneer spirit." She has been able to go to the "frontier" and make a beautiful life. I have had only peeks at the sacrifices she has made throughout the years she has been in Ukraine. I feel that I don't recognize them or acknowledge them enough.

When I was able to go to visit her five years ago I got a small taste of her life there. We ended up in several circumstances that I found very challenging. I told her that being there was really hard for me in so many ways. I tell you again... she made it look easy.

She has been my dear sister and friend for all these years. I have been so thankful that she has been here for me in some of the most difficult days of my life. She has been a strong arm to lean on.

God bless you, Penny. I love you very much.

What I've Been Reading

I was roaming around on Facebook one night, just checking on some of my friends and I came across the profile of J.D. Whitlock. He's married to my dear friend, Jane. As I looked at his profile he described his religious views as "Christian hedonist." Now I was intrigued. What is a "Christian hedonist"? So I began exploring this idea and found a book called Desiring God by John Piper. I ordered the book and that is what I recently finished reading. I intend to share some ideas and quotes from the book here over the next few days. I was afraid if I posted it all at once I would scare off some reluctant readers.


The famous old tradition says:
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The Christian hedonist changes this to say:
The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever.

So the premise of this book is that God is most glorified when we seek our own happiness and find it in Him.

The first section was about how God is the happiest being of all because he accomplishes everything He sets out to do. None of His purposes is ever thwarted. Just think how happy that would make a person!


Ps. 33:10-11 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

“And if none of His purposes can be frustrated, then He must be the happiest of all beings."

“Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated and despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected? Could we join David and say, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water”?
“I don’t think so. We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him, or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor."
(I'm so thankful that we don't have to feel this way about our heavenly Father.)

“The foundation of the happiness of God is the sovereignty of God…He does all that He pleases…He makes all things work together for His glory."

“He has designed from all eternity, and is infallibly forming with every event, a magnificent mosaic of redemptive history. The contemplation of this mosaic (with both the dark and bright tiles) fills His heart with joy.”

I like thinking about this happy Father. I like serving a God like this.

More later...