Gas Prices

In some places gasoline is already nearing $5 per gallon. In our area, low by comparison it will hit $4 per gallon by May. It's a more complex issue than a simple mind like mine can tackle, but here are some thoughts.

First, as a culture, it's our own fault. Blame Big Oil, environmentalists, foreign oil, or anybody else, no one's hands are clean in this. We want convenience, we don't want to sacrifice, and we don't want to change. While computer technology leaps forward daily, internal combustion and auto technology have move at the speed of a dinosaur heading for extinction. We have the means for alternative fuel sources and alternative technologies, and we have all collaborated to stay addicted to fossil fuel. Let's just accept that, and start working together on a better direction.

First, the macro-level: We need to stop polarizing in our country and start collaborating. We must lessen our use of foreign oil. So, for a time, we're going to have to access domestic oil, deciding at the starting gate that we will do so in an environmentally friendly way. Then, we need to hold ourselves to a firm timeline, recognizing that our use of petroleum, foreign or domestic, must taper and stop. We must fast-track new transportation technologies and intentionally phase out fossil fuel use and/or the internal combustion engine itself. This is urgent; we must stop this selfish myopic habit of taking care of our generation only.

The micro-level: Our goal must no longer be to maintain our individual lifestyle. We must start sacrificing. For the general public, this is a necessity. For followers of Jesus, this is our DNA. High gas prices effect everybody, every business, and every aspect of life in these United States. We must do our part to minimize use. Limit driving, consolidate trips, carpool - you know the drill. Hard economic times pull the layers back on our real priorities. Our priorities need to be mutual and sacrificial, not individual and protective.

I have joined others in a commitment to sacrifice money in 2012 for Kingdom causes. Specifically I and others are setting aside $10 a week over and above what we already tithe. That's $520 at least for the year. As gas prices rise, it's going to be easy to think about dipping into that, and just going back to the tithe. We can't do it. I have to start walking, getting back on my bike, consolidating my trips to the larger community a half a mile north of us, etc.

I think I remember that the root of the word "crisis" has something to do with a decision point.
We're all there. I'll see you around the next bend in the river; and it will have to be a river that's pretty close!

Awesome Ash Wednesday!!

I witnessed a holy, awesome moment not an hour ago! First, you need to know that today (02.22.12) is a day regarded by many Jesus-followers as "Ash Wednesday." It is named such because many who follow Jesus will allow a small mark of dark ashes to be placed on their foreheads, which they will wear throughout the day. Ashes are an ancient symbol in the Jewish faith signifying two things - our mortality and our penitence. We recognize that God is God and we are not, and that we have put much distance between us and the heart of God. Ash Wednesday starts of Christian season of the year known as "Lent." (From an ancient word that means "Spring.") Lent is the 40+ day period of time when followers of Jesus prepare for facing Jesus' execution and Jesus' resurrection. At our church, one of the Ash Wednesday options is to come to our chapel early in the day for individual worship and to receive the ashes.

This morning one of our newest followers of Jesus came to experience Ash Wednesday for the very first time. She came with that uninformed eagerness that characterize people who are completely new to some of the practices of following Jesus. As she came forward to receive the ashes, she was a little nervous and said, "I don't know what to do?" That opened up a whole discussion about Ash Wednesday, Lent, and how this fits into walking daily with Jesus. Turns out she was on the Internet most of last evening trying to learn about this dimension of her new found faith.

That was a cool enough Kingdom moment by itself. Then, as she was leaving the chapel, two women were entering. These woman have walked with Jesus for years, have long been a part of the Body of Christ, and have had ashes placed on their foreheads for quite some time. They met the newcomer just outside the chapel, and had a long, energetic, engaging conversation. I heard one of the veterans say to the newbie, "We are just so glad to have you with us!"

I think of how our church has prayed and struggled like so many congregations in order to turn from inward focus and maintenance to outward focus and leading people into new life with Jesus. I am so humbled and honored to see instances like this happening all around me in these days. I can't think of a better way to start Lent!

For those of you who follow Jesus, I pray for a powerful Lenten season for you. Keep your eyes and hearts open for the people who don't have a clue about Jesus, much less about ashes and what the word "Lent" means. God is making holy moments happen everywhere!

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Rick Murray - A Great Commission Hero

Last Sunday's worship in our church focused on Matthew 28:19, about making disciples of all nations. The word translated "nations" in most English Bibles is the Greek word "ethne," meaning much more than just political boundaries. It means every possible way human beings group themselves or are grouped, officially and unofficially. For first century Jews it could also signify any non-Jews, and thus all groupings with whom they believed they should not associate.

At one of our worship services a friend of mine, Rick Murray, was able to attend. Most Sundays his job keeps him away from our Sunday worship opportunities. He works as a guard at a state penitentiary in our area. From the time he started this job he has prayed daily that God would help him exemplify and communicate the living presence of Jesus to those he would encounter among prisoners and prison employees. Rick works in an "ethne" that most of us will never encounter, nor, honestly, would we want to do so. He realizes that that he may have one chance with any one inmate to help him connect with the One who loves them enough to die and rise for him. Rick was able to come on Sunday because he is on a short injury leave. He was injured trying to deal with an altercation on one of the prison floors.

When Rick realized the focus of our worship and message, the Holy Spirit compelled him to share with the congregation. In the midst of the altercation at the prison that injured him an inmate came to Rick and assured him that if he was ever in a vulnerable position like that, the inmate would have Rick's back. This was a convicted rapist and murderer, who is among the many for whom Rick has tried to be Jesus' ambassador in this volatile, harsh environment. At one time Rick would have never thought that any connection would be made with this man. Now, Rick reported with tearful joy, the door is open.

Rick wanted to encourage us never to underestimate what God can do when the Holy Spirit causes us to step out of our contexts and comfort zones and into another "ethne" to represent the grace of God in Jesus. I am convicted of the number of times I have acted as if the great commission of Matthew 28:19 says, "Stay inside your church buildings and wait for people who look and act like you to come to you, and then make them my disciples..." The key word is in the actual verse is "go..." Rick chose to go when sent, and the Kingdom of God is impacted because of it.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river, and in the next "ethne" to which God guides us!

Must We "Feel" God's Presence for God to be Near?

I'm reading a very impacting book by Larry Crabb - SHATTERED DREAMS: GOD'S UNEXPECTED PATHWAY TO JOY. I don't agree with all of it, but I get the basic premise: Nothing in this life provides for us that which a relationship with Jesus gives. We are designed for that. Everything we think we need in life; those things/people/situations without which we believe life is not worth living will all fall short of filling that which knowing God through Jesus provides.

In this book, Larry Crabb makes this radical statement: "When (God) said, 'I will never leave or forsake you,' apparently (God) didn't mean, 'and you'll always sense that I'm there.'" (Page 157.) Think about that. In our culture we are conditioned to measure life in terms of how we feel. If I feel good, then life is good. If I feel bad, then life stinks. We ourselves become both the lens through which to see life and the barometer by which to measure life. (We're a very ego-centric bunch, when you think about it!) So, God's closeness, God's activity, and God's love all then are assessed by how we feel. If we feel close to God, then God is close. If we don't feel God's presence, then God is somehow absent.

Crabb suggests that this is not the biblical view of God. In multiple instances people did not feel God near. There are too many to mention, so let's just go straight to the top. Jesus did not feel God near while dying at Calvary. (See Matthew 27:46.) Did that mean that God in fact was not present and not doing something? If so, all Jesus-followers need to find something else to which to give our primary allegiance, because our salvation and new life in Jesus would then be a lie.

I would suggest that experiencing "nearness" to God is more a function of our surrender and obedience than it is a function of how we feel. Something for 21st Century western Jesus-followers to consider...I'll see you around the next bend in the river.