Category Archives: Blog

You Are The Witness He Left

Mark 5:17-19

Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.  Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.

Go. Tell people.

The woman at the well. She went. She told people. “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,  “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” John 4:28-29) 

When Jesus left this earth He gave His last command to His disciples – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19)

Go. Tell people.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Jesus leaves witnesses, and those witnesses have a story to tell.

“As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Peter and John – Acts 4:20)

This is what I know: we are the witnesses of our generation, our time on this earth. We are the ones who are to go, to tell someone. I also know that when I do that, it’s like a B12 shot to my soul. Gratitude and joy come rushing in at the retelling of God’s goodness in my life, whether it was many years ago, or yesterday. It stirs the waters of faith that have become stagnant – in me, and in those who are hearing my witness.

This is what I don’t know: Are we the Peters and the Johns of our time, who are compelled to speak of what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard? Are we stirring faith and tapping wells of gratitude because we are witnesses of the goodness, the power, and the faithfulness of God? Are we going and are we telling anyone at all what God has done right in front of us and in us?

Or have we found a comfortable spot in our religion that allows us to curl up and be theologically sound, but not theologically active? Are we observers more than we are witnesses? Do we see the joy in others and wonder why we can’t find it in us? Do we summon up the acceptable gratitude of “thank You for this food”, but we have lost that thing in us that weeps at the knowledge that God rescued us from eternal death and gave us abundent life? Or that He healed our heart in ways we didn’t even know it needed to be healed? There’s been financial provision, healing, doors opened and doors closed, prophetic words given, relationships restored, sin overcome, strength when there was none, comfort when it was needed, and the small, still voice of God even when we weren’t listening for it. So many ways that God has been with us and for us – years ago and yesterday.

We are the witnesses that He has left for our day, in our generation. Where are we going and what are we telling?

If you’d like a place to start, start here! Leave a comment and witness to something God has done or spoken in your life.

I’ll go first. Over the past year I have sensed a fire in me growing stronger, and an increased desire to join God in whatever He is doing around me. Little by little He has been showing me doors that He is opening for me to walk through. At work, a small group of us are now meeting every week(ish) to talk through the Word of God, and grow in unity and compassion for one another. He also opened the door for me to volunteer as part of the Discipleship Training School staff at my church. As I have prayed for God to stir in me, to move in my life, to lead me to where He wants me, I have watched Him answer that prayer, and as I recall it and speak of it, joy is welling up! I serve a God who speaks, who hears, and who moves in me, through me, and for me!

Go. Tell someone.

The Fig Tree and the Church

Matthew 21

“Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”  Immediately the tree withered.”

He cursed the fig tree and I found that curious. But He and His disciples moved on, so I went with them and left that figless tree standing there, cursed and withered.

A few days ago I came across it again and this time I studied it. Squinted long and hard until my vision cleared and now I have to get the words out before they drift away.

The fig tree had leaves, and from a distance it looked like it was a good tree. But when Jesus moved closer to the tree, it became apparent that the tree had no fruit. No figs on the fig tree is no bueno. But why?

Leaves on a fig tree appear with the fruit, or shortly after the fruit. If the tree has leaves, it should have fruit. So the tree had the appearance of bearing fruit from a distance, but there was no fruit. And that is what preaches in this story.

In John, chapter 15, Jesus told His disciples that every fruit bearing branch would be pruned, but branches that did not bear fruit would be cut off. He also told them that bearing much fruit would glorify God and prove they were His disciples. And finally, He said He had chosen and appointed them to bear fruit that would last.

Our fruit bearing is connected to our prayer lives, to God’s glory, and to the authenticity of our relationship with Him. I dare say, fruit matters.

But I keep coming back to one thing: the fig tree had the appearance of bearing fruit, because it had the leaves. But when Jesus drew near, fruitlessness was obvious. Nothing can hide from Him.

And now there are questions scrambling around in me.

What are the leaves that give the appearance that I am bearing fruit? The things that make me look good, but aren’t bearing anything of value? What glorifies me from a distance, but doesn’t actually glorify God?

But it isn’t just me. It’s all of us. The local church that makes up the global Church. Can we ask the same questions as a congregation? Are there leaves, but no fruit? Are we busy doing things that have no impact for the Kingdom? Do we look the part, but Lord help us if Jesus comes near?

The fig tree is but one of a number of lessons Jesus taught regarding outward appearance with no inward substance. In one in particular, He didn’t speak in a parable, didn’t use a word picture. He said what He said.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:22-23)

Pleanty of leaves, but no fruit.

Father, forgive us. Have mercy on us. Heal us.

Random Thoughts

They come in the middle of the night when I’m awakened by either God or my bladder. Hard to tell which it is sometimes. The thoughts trickle in while I drive, while I work, when I’m knee deep in the gospels, and while I’m cooking dinner (admittedly, a rare event). Thoughts, whole and unfinished they come. Like a dripping faucet of Holy Spirit whispers that I hold close, not quite sure what to do with them. Some are the questions of my own ever searching heart. All of it feels like the hands of the Potter, shaping and re-shaping, molding, and smoothing my rough edges.

make your life a sacrifice. the whole life, not just the parts you don’t mind giving up. in order for it to be a sacrifice, you have to give what you’d rather keep. the best, the most, the prized, the coveted. all belongs on the altar.

big picture – make disciples. the church, working as one to reach the lost. global purpose, global pursuit. but it’s the smaller picture that pushes me back and pulls me in close at the same time. the picture of letting Christ be formed in me, not through performance but through bending my knee again and again. and again. big picture, little picture. He is saving the world and He is saving me. glory.

This earth offers two things: light and momentery afflictions, and light and momentary pleasures. we chase the pleasures and hope to avoid the afflictions but the pleasures do us no good. no room for growth, no reason to change, no faith required. it’s the afflictions that matter the most, because they form Jesus in us. push us to seek Him out, lean into Him, fall at His feet.

we should rather have momentary afflictions and eternal pleasure, than momentary pleasure and eternal affliction.

if you understood the grace that is yours, you would live differently. you just would.

matthew 14:17. “we only have…”. the cry of us all. i only have a little. i only have this much, that much, not much. when will i understand that it doesn’t matter how much i have, it matters what God will make of what i have? who might He feed with my little lunch?

you can’t give someone what they are meant to get from Jesus.

Jesus is heaven’s response to sin. every time.

what the church has built for herself, will come down. I will find My remnant.

Jesus, You fascinate me.

how am I living as though God is not in control?

God does not have dreams. He has unchanging plans and purposes, and they are good.

we need to stop telling people to chase their dreams and start telling them to chase the heart of Jesus.

no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. our destination is a person, not a place.

discipleship isn’t making people look like us. it’s helping people look like Jesus.

Mark 1:23. demons knew who Jesus was, and what He could do. what do demons know and believe that i don’t?

the devil lied, but Eve engaged the lie. how have i been engaging the lies the enemy is telling?

Matthew 14:14. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. not because they asked the right way, or because they had enough faith, or because they did all the right things. they were healed because He had compassion. no other reason.

Jesus, offend the religious spirit in the church. and in me.

i am as in need of Jesus today as i was the first day i met Him.

what has following Jesus cost me?

every need i have is met in Jesus.

marriage is a good thing, but it is not the better thing (Luke 10:42). glory days are good, but they are not the better thing. success is a good thing, but it is not the better thing. i fear we are making idols out of good things because we forget there is a better thing. or is it that, honestly, we value the good thing more than the better thing?

Jesus never changed course or softened His message because people were being offended.

can we just talk more about what God is doing than what we’re doing? goodness, let’s talk about Jesus more, in and out of the church.

Random thoughts that push at the edges of my mind until i write them down. Thoughts that turn into conversations with the Holy Spirit and then into something in me moving out of His way, making room for more of Him and less of me.

Don’t ignore the random thoughts.

What Are We Building for Heaven’s Sake?

I have no idea if what I’m about to talk about will make sense. We’ll see. My style is not to wait until the story takes shape before I begin to type. Instead, I sit down at this blank screen as soon as I know something is pushing at the edges of my brain; when a whisper becomes persistent, and then I see where it all goes. This is that. I’m in the book of Haggai. Don’t ask me why, it will only distract me.

History: Haggai speaks of the rebuilding of the temple. In 538 B.C., King Cyrus of Persia, who had defeated the Babylonians [who had conquered Jerusalem and taken the Jews captive], gave his permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Roughly 50,000 of them returned and began the work. Two years later, the foundation was completed, which caused great opposition from surrounding neighbors who feared what might happen if the temple were completely rebuilt. So the work stopped. Enter the book of Haggai.

“The Lord of Armies says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Haggai 1:2-4)

And this is where something is beginning to push a little harder, but I can’t grab it yet, so let’s keep going.

“You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. “Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.” (Haggai 1:9)

I picked at the thread, so now I have to keep pulling and see where it goes.

“So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22 – emphasis mine)

Old Testament temple. Physical picture of a New Testament spiritual reality. Us. The Church. We are the house of God. The place of His dwelling.

“Now, the Lord of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your ways:

You have planted much but harvested little.
You eat but never have enough to be satisfied.
You drink but never have enough to be happy.
You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm.
The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.” (Haggai 1:5-6)

Because they neglected God’s house, while building their own.

What does that look like here, today, in our world? I don’t know, but I’m willing to throw out some what ifs on the table.

What if it looks like…

  • a greater desire to be culturally relevant than biblically sound
  • a place where pastors, teachers, and worship leaders are turned into celebrities and where “followers” usurps “following”
  • an online presence mattering more than the presence of God (subtly, of course; never admitted. Heavens no.)
  • acceptance = love, but a call for repentance is hateful
  • having the right credentials (degrees, education) is a greater qualifier than the anointing of God

But the thread doesn’t end with the corporate entity known as the Church. Because we, me, you, we’re the Church, so we have to pull that thread until we can see ourselves in the book of Haggai.

What if it looks like this in me, or in you, but probably in that other guy over there for sure…

  • a greater interest in making decisions for the church than making disciples
  • church being where we go or what we do, not who we are – more about a building than a body
  • we prefer to serve in the seen than the unseen
  • we’re more willing to be 10% of Jesus’ wallet, than to be all in as His hands and feet
  • we’d rather walk away with our offense than stay with our forgiveness and grace
  • investing in our future is more important than investing in the Church
  • Church has become optional

Do we feel like we have put so much work into our lives, but don’t really see anything for it? Are we continually dissatisfied, wishing and wanting for something more, something else, something different? Does what we have never seem to be enough?

I wonder if we have attempted to disconnect our personal lives from the Church, when in fact they are indelibly connected. Should we not be sad that we have preferred to build our own house with dead stones, than to be a living stone in building the house of God?

Even worse, are we building a church that looks nothing like the house of God?

I think I can let go of the thread now. I may need a nap, but I absolutely need some time with Jesus to let Him speak truth into me and into my life.

Thanks for hanging out with me.

On That Day

Two blind men following Him around seeking mercy. “Do you believe that I can do this?” (Matthew 9:28)

pistis. It means “belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) …” (Strong’s)

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God…” (Hebrews 11:6) Same word. Same meaning.

But there is a scene that Jesus describes that puts the pistis rubber to the roman road.

The people in this scene are “many”. The place is before the throne. The time is on that day.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’ (Matthew 7:22-23)

The fact that He called them lawbreakers tells us that they were still under the law, not under grace, and therefore, they were not saved.

The many who will say Lord, Lord will be those doings works while remaining under the law because they put their trust in their works and not in Christ. They used the name of Jesus while not actually knowing Him or being known by Him. The fact that they were were casting out demons and doing miracles did not mark them as belonging to Christ. Even Satan can do miracles.

“The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie, and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9)

So, to the one who thinks you can do enough good things to make it to heaven, please, lean in for just a minute.

You can’t. You can’t do enough. You can’t prophesy enough, do enough miracles, serve the poor enough, be kind enough, or good enough. You can’t give away enough stuff, pray enough, fast enough, or cast out enough demons. No matter how long you live, you will never do enough to earn one single thing from God, especially salvation.

Because on that day, your eternity will not depend on what you did or didn’t do. It will only depend on whether or not you trusted in Jesus’ atoning work on the cross to be enough.

pistis. Full trust, full dependence, full confidence in His blood to be enough for your salvation. His atonement to be the finished work on your behalf. His payment of your debt. His righteousness for your unrighteousness.

The scene Jesus painted for His disciples of the “many” standing before Him, will be a scene that comes to life one day. On that day, I pray that you and I will stand before Him with only one claim to eternity. His blood.

Thank You Jesus, for saving a wretch like me. May every work I do on this earth be done out of love for You, not a need to be good enough for You.

From Have to Have Not

I have a cute house. Nothing fancy, but a very decent house in a very decent neighborhood. Know what I don’t have? Nice carpet.

I have a cute truck. I’d been wanting one for years and now I have one and I love it to death. But it doesn’t have the back up screen, so I have to twist myself around to see what’s behind me when I’m backing up.

I’m kind of smart, but I don’t have a degree. I’m a writer, but I’m not published (yet). I’m fearfully and wonderfully made, but I’m not very tall, or thin, or…

Do you see my problem? My haves always lead to my have nots. But I’m not the first.

Genesis. First chapters. God made everything, called it good, gave it all to the man and the woman, which He had also created. He told them they could have it all, gave them dominion and told them to make lots of babies (be fruitful and multiply – same thing). To everything, He said yes, except for one thing. One tree.

And then chapter three happened. The devil came, as the devil always does. Here is that conversation –

“He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

First, he asked a question that was a lie. God never said they couldn’t eat from any tree, He said they couldn’t eat from one tree. So he drew the woman into the conversation by giving her something to correct.

Then, he contradicted God and made Him out to be a liar, planting the seed that He was withholding from her.

And finally, she saw the tree as something it was not – good for her. It took one conversation with the enemy to convince her that something deadly was something good (and boy ain’t that a sermon for another day). And in all of this, I see one important thing that relates to this conversation we’re having today.

The devil shifted the woman’s focus from her have, to her have not. From God, to herself. And he has never changed his methods, because why change what works?

So now I’m trying to take my focus back. To enter my home with a thankful heart rather than a critical eye. To look around in wonder at the many ways God has blessed me and refuse to believe He has held back from me anything that is good. To trust that if He hasn’t given me something, then it would not be good for me to have it. I’m trying to shift my gaze off of me and back to Him because that is how I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. By actually seeing His goodness, instead of seeing what I don’t have.

Who we are, what we have been given, it is abundantly good, until the enemy is able to shift our focus from have to have not.

Don’t let him do that. Fight back. Be thankful. Trust His goodness.

The Narrowing

It was subtle, so I didn’t notice it at first. And then one day I looked around and realized that most of the things I wanted when I was much younger, I no longer want. But it goes deeper than that.

I was having breakfast with a friend recently and she asked me what I’m looking for in community. I told her that I had come to a place of wanting to be around people who just want to talk about Jesus, that not much else interests me, and I wasn’t sure why. She nodded in understanding and dubbed it “a narrowing” and that term just felt so perfect. A narrowing.

When I was in my young decades – 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, the space of my life was filled with oh so many things. Family and work. Fears and pain and wants and dreams, and a past I was trying to outrun. At the far end of my 20’s, Jesus moved into that tattered, crowded space, and I had no idea of the narrowing that had begun and now, three and half decades later, I see it, and it is a joy to behold.

My narrowing is still in motion, and it’s painful at times, but man do I find it to be beautiful. I wish for a narrowing for us all. Instead of the wideness of everything this life has to offer, I want us to find life in the narrow space of the one thing, and to feel utterly satisfied in that space.

“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” Psalm 27:4

It is the space of His presence, where the need for company narrows to just the One, and the desire to be with Him eclipses every other desire.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” He said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” Mark 10:21

It is the culling of our idols. Letting go of the one thing most of us lack—the giving of it all, especially that which is most dear. The ability to lay down what we have held so close. Everything that gives us our sense of security, or allows us to feel in control. What provides our comfort and gives us value. It is a painfully necessary narrowing, this one.

“The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42

When the many things get crowded out by the one thing. In this narrow space, we find the value of being, over doing and we finally understand that doing must flow from being, or it will wear us out.

 He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!” John 9:25

My thirst to know the ins and the outs and the greek and the hebrew and the what the when and the where has been narrowed to one thing. I was blind and now I see and I want to know the God who did that. This has been the continual, sweetest, narrowing for me – the pursuit of the heart of my Father, who pursued my heart first.

Sometimes I still strain to make space for other things, only to find that those things do nothing to satisfy the true longing in my soul. So I pray for the narrowing to continue in me. And I pray it for you.

May you find that God has been narrowing your life in all the best, even painful, but beautiful ways.