The Lotus Eaters

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

Have you ever felt like you were the only one aware of something extremely dangerous? How about one of those situations where a person you really cared about was doing something you knew was going to hurt them, their family, or someone else? Naturally, you tried to speak with them rationally (hoping they would see reason); you lovingly entreated them; and you even went so far as to make ultimatums but, for better or worse, they had their own decisions to make. You couldn’t do anything. It was a desperate and powerless feeling. All you could do was pray.

Poetry has the uncanny ability of communicating in the most vivid colors the feelings and pictures we see in our mind’s eye when our emotions are at their height. Tennyson’s poem “The Lotus Eaters” based on book nine of Homer’s epic tale, The Odyssey, describes the journey of Odysseus’ men into apathy after casually consuming a plant given to them by an island’s inhabitants. It’s a little known part of Homer’s story but the message is pretty significant. We still see the Lotus Eaters in our world today.

Odysseus’ men had been anxiously working to get home but the leaves the Lotus Eaters fed them relaxed them into blissful, careless euphoria, like Dorothy’s encounter with the field of poppies on her way to see the Wizard of Oz. Completely unaware of the danger, the men fall into a numb, dream-like state where they no longer care about anything or anyone:

“Branches they bore of that enchanted stem,
Laden with flower and fruit, whereof they gave
To each, but whoso did receive of them
And taste, to him the gushing of the wave
Far far away did seem to mourn and rave
On alien shores; and if his fellow spake,
His voice was thin, as voices from the grave;
And deep-asleep he seem’d, yet all awake,
And music in his ears his beating heart did make…
They sat them down upon the yellow sand,
Between the sun and moon upon the shore;
And sweet it was to dream of Fatherland,
Of child, and wife, and slave; but evermore
Most weary seem’d the sea, weary the oar,
Weary the wandering fields of barren foam.
Then some one said, “We will return no more;”
And all at once they sang, “Our island home
Is far beyond the wave; we will no longer roam.”

In Homer’s story, Odysseus saved his men. He was alone in his understanding of what had happened and the fact that his men were living in a death-like stupor no longer caring for their families or homes. He pulled them back to his ship where he chained them on deck, crying and fasting, until their minds and bodies were free of the lotus flowers’ effect.

Sadly, a full-scale intervention like this is nearly impossible today. How often are we argued out of our position against a harmful practice because “what’s right for you, isn’t right for me.” Relativism is rubbed in our faces as people, even those we love, make their choices without regard for anyone’s happiness but their own. (Ironically, the selfish choices we make in an effort to secure happiness result in total loneliness.  A sad pay-off but appropriately due the one who lives for self alone.) Either what’s true is true for everyone or it isn’t true at all!

The Bible often refers to the remnant (the few) of God’s people; like Odysseus, they’re the ones who haven’t eaten the lotus, whose eyes aren’t clouded by sleepiness and who are awake to God’s wisdom, like it talks about in I Corinthians 2.  “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit doesn’t accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t understand them; they are spiritually discerned.”

In the mind of the dude tripping out on lotus leaves, talk of Jesus or anything important would have to sound like idiocy; he may even get mad at you for trying to stir him up. The same is true of people we’re surrounded by every day consuming messages that don’t align with the absolute Truth of God’s Word.  Are we one of those that says, “man, you’re way too excited about this stuff… chill out” or are we fully awake and passionately recognizing what’s important to God (those things that are “spiritually discerned”)? I guess what I’m really asking is, do we know the Truth or do we just think we know? There’s a BIG difference.

Most of us faithful, church-going Christian students and adults think we’re doing great if we participate in normal weekly church activities. What about those brownie points we wrack up for getting really involved and teaching Sunday school or taking food to the homeless shelter every week.  We do our best and then God’s grace covers the rest, right? Paul put it this way: “What are we gonna say, then? Will we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Of course not! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6)

What more can anyone expect?! Perfection?! We read this verse in Romans 6 and can’t help feeling violated. Isn’t he being a bit extreme? We’re doing our best here!

In the words of Jonah, “those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” (Jonah 2) Maybe you haven’t realized it but, yes, YOU can be an idol, your desires, your perceptions, your hopes, your thoughts, your dreams, your control over your own life. The judges for American Idol, help confirm the position for at least one person every year and inspire the rest of us to “follow our hearts” and “believe in ourselves” (yes, even those great church activities and Christian bandwagon mission trips we wanted to take to Africa can be classified as idols – check your motivation).  As Jonah said, cling to it (ANY of it!) and you can just forget about grace! You’ve lost it!

As for the heart… truth is, it’s “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked…”  (Jeremiah 17) I’ve found most of my worst problems come from “following my heart.” The words sound pretty but that’s Lotus Lingo.  We’re supposed to be following Jesus’ heart, God’s heart.

We need to get back to the wakeful state of carefully assessing all our actions in light of scripture. We have a motive for everything we do… we’d better know what that is; it matters to God. Do you know how many decisions you make in a day? HUNDREDS. What are we thinking, doing, hoping, watching, reading, and planning? Who are we living for if these decisions told our life’s story? And, just so you know, THEY DO.

This all sounds intense and may be more than you want to deal with but, as always, the best choices aren’t the easy ones and the most valuable gifts in life require a ton of work to attain – if it was easy, it wouldn’t be valuable, would it? (“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” – Philippians 2). If we get so exhausted from working to do things right that we just want to quit because it’s so ridiculously impossible and hard, TURN ON THE COFFEE! Why do you think Paul describes the Christian life as a RACE? If you burn out, you don’t finish and you certainly don’t win. How can anyone who truly understands the gospel of Jesus Christ NOT live on the edge of their seat working constantly to become more like Christ, trying to shake awake as many people as we possibly can along the way?

The lotus leaves, whatever they represent in our lives, put us on the sidelines; they disqualifyus. Like an Olympian athlete on drugs, you can kiss that gold medal goodbye. Forget heaven, forget eternal life, and FORGET being close to Jesus, who made us (are we forgetting? do we care?)… like the story of the Tortoise and the Hair, we’ll lose if we sleep through the time we’ve been given in this life, regardless of how gifted or sure of ourselves we are.

“It’s like a man going away on a trip: when he left home, he gave each of his servants instructions about the work they were to do, and told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the house will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch!!” (Mark 13)

So which category do you think you’d be in if your story was immortalized in poetry today? Does the reasoning and loving entreaty you’ve read here sound like idiocy or wisdom to you?

Posted in Life Philosophy, Renewed Thinking | Leave a comment

The Marriage Question

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

To be married or not to be married? That is the question.  It’s a question I receive several times a week these days, usually when someone is referring to my single status or another recommendation for a perfect match… “He’s cute, single, and works in finance in Copenhagen! You two would be perfect together!” (yes, someone actually did say this!) Why do people think I need to be married right now? These conversations end quickly if I can help it.  The subject seems to ignite interest in others but, am I wrong for believing a manhunt is a waste of time?

“Mah-wage… that blessed awaingement… that dweam within a dweam…” as it’s called in the Princess Bride. Not to throw a huge, wet blanket on the romantic idealist but it’s hardly the blissful, romantic enterprise movies portray or that we might imagine it to be. To put it pragmatically, it’s a facilitator of life, a potentially powerful partnership, and an important calling for some but not a prerequisite for happiness or fulfillment. Sometimes, in fact, it has the opposite effect and one can find themselves committed to an existence of pain and regret.

You might say, “But you’re not married, so how would you know?” I don’t fully know anything. Truly understanding that kind of relationship isn’t possible until you’ve experienced it for yourself; but even as a single without any romantic attachment, I can watch what’s going on in the lives of people around me. Sometimes that’s the best preparatory teaching there is.

I learn a lot at weddings and from my parents, actually (and I really do love weddings). Sometimes I see weddings turn into, what appears at the moment, to be a happy marriage.  Several brides have confided to me their struggles since the Big Day but continue to see their relationships through eyes of faithfulness.  My parents say that marriage is “one of those things worth working for.” More often than not, however, I’ve seen magical, white, fairytale weddings turn into tragic divorces in less than 3 years.  Sometimes this was because one or both partners were feeling lonely and discovered unmet expectations and more loneliness in marriage; sometimes it was because one or both partners felt pressure from family, friends, their university culture or other social circles to move into the next phase of life when they weren’t emotionally ready; most commonly, however, physical attraction has been the hinge-pin of the unsuccessful ones.  These marriages came undone with the first slammed door.

There’s no question we would have fewer divorces if we had more objective assessments of why we’re choosing to marry.  Idealism is hardly helpful when we’re making a decision that will last the rest of our lives and, yet, the mindless feelings and lusty infatuation of what we mistakenly call “love,” drives our logic. This shouldn’t be. You’re marrying the girl because she’s HOT? That’s a rock-solid foundation.

My family has begun to discuss this subject more often the older my siblings and I have grown to be and the ending statement is always the same: “we will all know when it’s the right one.” I have my doubts on this. I’d prefer an arranged marriage to the terrible task of orchestrating it myself or hunting for a person with every character quality necessary to achieve that kind of consensus. I like what Paul says in I Corinthians 7 about marriage. Yes, it’s another kind of lifestyle but shouldn’t be any more or less satisfying to us. Dating websites? Why would anyone want to subject themselves to that? What good would it do for us to maneuver, plan, scheme, or put our effort and time into seeking something that’s supposed to be a natural outgrowth of a complete, fulfilled life? Winning another person’s love shouldn’t be a goal; it should be a by-product – icing on the cake.

All perspectives considered I’ve come to the conclusion that the best idea is to simply wait without investing any concern in the matter of whether or not marriage is a part of life. It’s too complicated a question and should be left in the care of a God who knows everything about us.  As my mother said before she was married, “God’s just going to have to plop him in my lap.” Otherwise, it’s a completely pointless waste of time and thought.  You can feel free to disagree with me but I believe this to be the best, most rational alternative to the feverish, rollercoaster ride of relationship hunting.

If we serve a God who’s already given us direction for our lives, why go searching for fulfillment elsewhere? Why be so anxious to quit the phase of life He has us in now? Do we have so little ambition for accomplishing greater good with our lives that we can’t imagine any grander calling than marriage; how small and self-centered is our world?  Life is about more than this! If we care about anyone’s happiness besides our own, our time is well-spent ministering to the needs of people who have no one, serving God faithfully and joyfully in the sphere of influence He has already given us, not trying to push for an answer to the distracting, unnecessary marriage question.

:::Edit:::

Not looking” certainly doesn’t mean “not open.” Actually quite the opposite. I’m advocating satisfaction with one’s current stage of life (in light of what God can do with one’s productive singleness) and a pragmatic, logical approach to a usually emotion-based decision.

Posted in Life Philosophy, Questions | 9 Comments

Do We Need to Grow Up?

Posted on April 20, 2013 by

Legos, coloring books, and creative play were my happiest childhood memories. Life used to be simpler.  We all used to be simpler. Friendships were made in minutes because everyone needed to talk about birthdays, favorite colors, and food.  Smiles were as easy as breathing and Grandparents were superheroes. There were no bills, deadlines, or complicated relationships and it only took five minutes to get ready for the day.

A few short years later, life changed for all of us. After a childish or naïve action, we were told to “grow up.” So we did grow up and not just physically.  We thought it was a rite of passage… it’s what we are all supposed to do, right? So it begins with sexy and violent media, biting comments, and bad relationships hijacking any pure thoughts, forcing us to toughen up. Reality hits sooner than we expect and we doubt every dream and question every authority.  For many, the expectations of family, friends, and peers suck the simple life down the drain and a child is left naked in the bathtub, feeling dirty and let down. After innocence is beaten out of you that way, trust doesn’t come easily anymore because no one wants to get hurt.

Life is hard but we still want relationships, don’t we? We need them. So we maintain friends and family but we stuff cushions between ourselves and everyone else. The internet, cyber dating, iTech and a rapidly growing personal media market help keep us in control. We’re in-touch without too much.

According to 2011 Pew Research, over 75% of people ages 12-17 in the U.S. have a cell phone. 88% of that number text many times a day. At Cedarville University in 2010, a student research sample showed that one out of every three freshmen students sent over 100 texts a day, 3,000 texts a month, and 36,000 texts a year.  As Communication Age aficionados in the 12 to 35 years of age range, we text as much as we talk and refer back to our most difficult conversations by recalling our chat history.  We have more potential to be insecure face-to-face but disclose our deepest secrets to the world via Facebook.

Even researchers have taken an interest in how this effects our relationships. “We’re texting at a distance,” said Psychologist Sherry Turkle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We’re using inanimate objects to convince ourselves that even when we’re alone, we feel together. And then when we’re with each other, we put ourselves in situations where we feel alone — constantly on our mobile devices.” (see article here) So what if our young adult life is chronicled in hundreds of online photo album archives, blogs, sms, and YouTube video channels? Sure, it’s recorded for posterity but does anyone care? Everyone knows our status but nobody knows our hearts.  We discover that growing up makes life more complex but less complete.

Please tell me again… why do I need to grow up?  Clearly, normal in this case isn’t always better. The Bible says we’re supposed to “Be imitators of God as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1).  That means getting smarter but not because we’re digging through trash for the education: “be wise about what’s good and innocent about evil” (Romans 16:18). Jesus put it even more strongly when he said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Therefore, the saying “less is more” rings true. If we have all the intelligence of a full grown adult and none of the simple, trusting relationships that make life worth living, what good is achieved? Going back to the beginning, in this case, (being “reborn” a “new creation” [2 Cor. 5:17]) is the only way to go forward.

I Corinthians 1:27 sums it up well. “God chose the simple things of the world to confound the wise.”

Posted in Life Philosophy, Renewed Thinking | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Serving God: For Me or For Him?

Posted on April 11, 2013 by

In 1965, The Rolling Stones sang a song that said, “I can’t get no satisfaction, though I try, and I try, and I try.” Depressing? Of course, they’re rock stars; they don’t have the fulfillment of living for a purpose or cause bigger than themselves. They live a morbid, selfish, shallow existence. So… Why is it, then, that believers in Jesus Christ, even those in ministry, deal with the same feelings of emptiness, loneliness, pain, and frustration?

That’s a good question.

As Christians, aren’t we supposed to be living satisfied lives brimming with joy and purpose? Isn’t this the Christian generation of Purpose Driven Life? What about Pentecostal prosperity and the pursuit of Your Best Life Now? We grow up in church, go to a Christian college, graduate with big dreams, find a lucrative job with a high-dollar salary, get married, have children, and teach Sunday school or get involved in other church ministries.  This should be enough.  So what’s wrong? Hello, Rolling Stones!… most of us aren’t satisfied either!

Here’s a simple question: Is Christianity as a religion, reasonable?  One would have to say yes under certain cultural conditions. It has its social benefits in this country.  It fills a need for understanding in the same way that all religions do. We have our traditions and our services and our faith, and these all help make the world a happier place in which to live. So, in this respect, serving God is reasonable.

However, what happens when, like in the book of Job, you lose everything? (I was reading Job today… so now you know where all this reflection came from) What about Christians who are persecuted for what they believe? How do you explain to a Christian friend why their son or daughter has a sexually transmitted disease or why they are dealing with bankruptcy or cancer when they have given of themselves for Christ’s sake? The answer has been around for a while but it doesn’t make it any easier to communicate.

Pleasing God does not mean your life will be free of trouble. In fact, far from it! If you choose to please God, it’s the tougher road. Peachy and Pollyanna perfect are descriptions sometimes associated with Christian life when, in fact, the opposite is often true. In her fiction book, Soulforge, Margaret Weis uses a description that could very aptly depict the Christian life: “You choose to go voluntarily into the fire. The blaze might well destroy you. But in surviving, every blow of the hammer will serve to shape your being. Every drop of water wrung from you will temper and strengthen your soul.” It’s called testing. (Like in I Corinthians 10:13) It gages your level of learning and can be passed (about as easily as a kidney stone sometimes). No one likes tests.

As a personal example, thinking about this has not been emotionally easy because my parents who have been in pastoral and evangelistic ministry since I was a child are dealing with overwhelming pain and frustration even as I write. Why? is a question they ask continually. If all we want to do is serve you, why would you allow us to go through all of this? Sometimes it’s an incredibly lonely place where no one seems to have any comprehension of what we’re going through. Sometimes all I can do is cry with my parents and try to be supportive. There have been moments when the pious programmed responses of brothers and sisters in Christ grate on me like fingernails on a chalk-board.  Yes, I have heard countless times the common Christian mantra that says living for Jesus makes life good and that you must be missing something if you are not feeling fulfilled. If you’re a Christian and you’re not feeling happy and fulfilled, don’t worry; that just means you’re human like the rest of us.

In Larry Crabb’s article, On the Occasion of a Friend’s Retreat into Sin, he says that a prevailing heresy in our evangelical culture is the idea “that living for Jesus reliably provides the soul with a depth of satisfaction that exceeds the satisfaction found in sin.” If this is, indeed, what Christians in this country live for, they won’t achieve it! Ultimately, in the case of my parents, I’ve realized that they’re not ministering with the intention or goal of fulfilling their own personal desires; if they were, they would have left ministry years ago. They serve out of faithfulness and a committed relationship to the Lord.  It has been an incredible example for me, my brothers, and sister.

According to Ted Dekker, in his book The Slumber of Christianity, “The incomparable great power we have as believers is tied up in hope; lose the hope and you lose the power.” This is where our answer lies. Our hope can’t be in doing everything according to “God’s will” because perfection in that area is humanly impossible; we can’t hope in ministry and accomplishing great things for God or we’ll be ripe candidates for burn-out; our hope has to originate from the unconditional, unfathomable, and deep love God has for us. Our roots need to be grounded in that relationship over all others. Yes, he’s the Creator of the Universe, the One whose words became reality, but He’s also my Daddy.

The relationship we can have with God today as opposed to the way things were in Job’s day are vastly different. We don’t have to make daily or weekly sacrifices for our sins but we do have to be willing to sacrifice our desires, our drive for fulfillment, and our preconceived notions concerning cushy Christian living. “In this world, you’re going to have trouble but take heart (hope!) because I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33)

Posted in Questions, Renewed Thinking | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Personally Experiencing God’s Power: Travel Journal 2010

Posted on March 22, 2013 by

Deuteronomy 4 says “…watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”

January 20, 2010: Coming home from Hong Kong

I’m sitting right now overlooking the road coming into O’Hare Airport from the terminal waiting area at Gate B22. Our flight to Dayton was rescheduled because we missed the 1PM departure but we were thankful for the extra time and the suspended pressure. I just had a Starbucks cappuccino and a double shot of Jamba Juice wheatgrass but I still feel like I’m in a hazy, sluggish limbo. My limbs and eyelids feel much heavier than normal as if the pull of gravity increased proportionally to the loss of hours.

When we landed on the runway in Chicago I felt like standing and singing America the Beautiful but when we entered the airport, I felt just as much like a foreigner as I did anywhere in Asia. I didn’t hear any true English spoken by anyone and there were more blacks and Hispanics employed in airport security and immigration than there were people who looked at all like me. Airport employees were loud, large, and pushy – the antithesis of every other Asian airport I’ve been in over the past 2 months. It’s amazing to feel like a foreigner in one’s own country. The more countries I visit, spending time with the people and learning their cultures, the less I feel like I belong or fit in the United States or any other country. The blessings of our country have been unparalleled and I would never choose another place to call home but the feelings of belonging here are gone. I also realize we’re not supposed to feel like we fit. It’s a poignant reminder that this is not my home.

Over the past two months:

I witnessed over 20,000 people come to faith in Jesus Christ and worshiped in house churches suppressed by government regulation.

My family sang about Jesus Christ in a country that has not allowed a DSC00822single foreigner (even in a SECULAR venue) to share in public since the 1950s; what’s even more amazing is that it wasn’t just a small group but a group of 45,000 people!

I personally prayed with Malaysians, Thai, Indonesians, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Australians, British, Chinese, and Indians.

I rang in 2010 singing familiar praise and worship songs in 8 or 9 different languages, sharing communion, and eating foods from all over the world.

My family and I stood on top of Victoria’s Peak with friends on New Year’s Day and prayed over Hong Kong as a gateway city and port of China.

I stood at the door of a church three days after it and 7 other churches were bombed by Islamic terrorists in Kuala Lumpur and my family and friends prayed for God to bring revival to Malaysia (We didn’t even know we were GOING to Malaysia until a week before!).

I did ministry with my family in a Muslim nation for the first time ever and prayed with precious people at the altar.

I ate in people’s homes, went to their favorite hang outs, slept in too many different beds to count for too few hours, played games, teased, sang, danced, and felt the peace and presence of God in places of heavy spiritual battle and intense persecution.

The most incredible part of it all… none of these things happened because of me or my DSC06141family or our gifts or our connections. Had we found the best promoter on the planet, we could not have humanly organized the connections and events that took place so quickly. It was nothing but the grace and favor of God! I get teary and overwhelmed thinking about it, especially if I look back over the past 12 months.

2009 was a hard year. I realized in so many ways how one blind or selfish choice could change my life forever and remove capacity for ministry or powerful destiny. With how many times I’ve questioned God and his direction for my life, I don’t deserve for him to bless me… I even questioned continued involvement with my family in this ministry this past year. However, I do recognize that I HAVE TO be faithful and look for God’s best even if it’s not an idea I came up with for myself. Praise God for his faithfulness to us even when we don’t deserve it.

All that being said, the past two months obviously had nothing do with us but God uses very flawed, dedicated soldiers. You just do what you have to do. What good are gifts if you hold onto them or selfishly use them to further your own ambitions? God disciplines you mind, body, and spirit and then commissions you into active service. I think this is what God is calling for when he says we have to die; Dying to oneself is choosing something you don’t want and didn’t ask for and finding that the sacrifice doesn’t even compare to the reward.

What an amazing God we serve. Without his direction my aims are pointless. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t give to see people love and serve him.

Posted in Memories, Renewed Thinking, Travel Journal | 1 Comment

A Few Things I’ve Learned

Posted on July 17, 2012 by

Repost from April 25, 2010
Because David Letterman already has the copyright on the top 10 list, I’ve decided to do my own thing and make it twice as good with a Top 20. Click on the links to see posts detailing some of the reasons behind each one – these are all born out of the experience of one insatiably inquisitive redhead:

  1. Discipline is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. If you’re not disciplining yourself, your thoughts, words, and actions, you’re not a disciple.
  2. Knowing and understanding are completely different. To understand something you have to experience it and let it become a part of you.
  3. Never claim an illness or disease. If you say “my” cancer, diabetes, flu, etc. God will respect your claim to it.
  4. Going through the motions with God and calling yourself a Christian is like a loveless marriage (e.g. claiming commitment and then living for yourself).  If it’s just about rituals and words and you’re not passionately in-love and deeply emotionally, spiritually, and physically connected, give up the charade or seek counseling.
  5. Freedom is, quite simply, choosing who to serve. If you choose yourself, you’re in for a lonely ride.
  6. Conviction is better than conscience. One’s conscience can be ignored; conviction comes from your core and necessitates action.
  7. Satan is the author of confusion. If you’re confused, whatever’s confusing you is not of God.
  8. The most important book in your study of anything is the Bible – God made the world; God wrote the Bible.  There’s no more simple, logical relationship.
  9. Arrogance is THE parent-sin. You’ll find it behind every unresolved issue and conflict. It’s the opposite of love (yes, hate or apathy are considered the opposite but even these are born out of arrogance).
  10. Your face and the way you carry yourself tell almost everything about you.
  11. Because we’re a body, mind, and spirit, all three are all you and equally important. Neglect one and you’re not a whole person.
  12. People are the only asset worth investing in; they’re the only investments you’ll ever make that will last for eternity.
  13. Internet friends ARE NOT real relationships. You can’t trust them and should never make any emotional investments in them. Their stock is as flimsy as that of BP in 2010. There is no credibility.
  14. THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE: Life is too short to lend an ear to a pessimist’s drama or to drink bad coffee. Both will ruin your day and leave you bitter.
  15. Never believe in people too much. They’re only human.
  16. Human beings are all weak-willed; if we hear or see something long enough, we begin to believe it. If we believe it, we reason according to our belief; if we reason according to a belief, we act on it and it then becomes a confirmed part of who we are.
  17. Thoughts are the circulatory carriers of the mind, like the blood is to the body. In the same way the foods you eat affect your body positively or negatively, the movies, music, books, and messages you take in will affect your mind. Whatever is pure, noble, of good report, etc. (Philippians 4:8) are the building blocks of a healthy mind.
  18. Every person alive is an artist. Each life is a canvas. Every action and word is a brushstroke. All you say or do is recorded for better or for worse.  When we get to the end of our lives, God will show our work to us and, like any good art instructor, won’t mark us down for the mistakes made if we used them creatively as a part of something beautiful and meaningful.
  19. You have only two choices when it comes to the Bible or faith in Jesus Christ: you either accept all of it or reject all of it. By rejecting part of it, you are rejecting all of it. There is no space in-between.
  20. Prayer is the only way anything good happens.
Posted in Life Philosophy, Renewed Thinking | 2 Comments

Never Get Old

Posted on July 13, 2012 by

Repost from April 3, 2010

Old isn’t the number of years you’ve lived; it isn’t an AARP membership; it isn’t playing bingo; and it certainly isn’t life experience. Old, as an overall concept, is a state of mind. It’s the perception that says “I’ve been through so much” or “I’ve experienced ENOUGH change” or “I just can’t…(fill in the blank)”. It’s the belief that most of your life is over or that you’ve “given the best years of your life” to such-and-such or so-and-so instead of believing “the best is yet to come.”

The song Live Like Your Dying by Kris Allen struck me this week when I heard it on the radio.  Living like your dying might be a good concept for those hard-nosed, unfeeling adults who need to break down and say “I love you” or fix their messed up family but overall, people who live like their dying are hopeless, careless, and ruled by their emotions. That’s pretty much the essence of the Emo Movement, isn’t it?  “Get in friggin’ touch with your feelings man… don’t hold back.” It sounds very esoteric and artsy-chill but why would anyone want to get in touch with loneliness, pain, fear, etc?  Chill wasn’t supposed to refer to mortuary freezing, was it?

It’s not like there’s something wrong with expressing yourself; deeply meaningful art and communication is the higher brain function and creativity exemplifying that we’re made in the image of a creator; but you have to ask yourself if you’re expressing young or old, living or dying? What point are you trying to make with what you’re saying, doing, and wearing anyway?

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EXPRESS YOURSELF! (where does your shipping label say you’re going?)

It’s commonplace to think any expression is good.  We have to spit it out or choke on our lies of omission.  That’s the belief.  The opposite is actually true.  In the words of Jesus, “What comes out of [our mouths] makes us unholy” and puts us in the camp with the dead and dying spiritually. This is because “…the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’.” (Matthew 15) (By the way, he’s not saying “don’t talk” – he’s warning us to keep a lid on our self-expression. Put his thoughts in your mouth and you’re always clean.  No worries. Express away.)

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in (model, strut, exhibit, express) the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” I John 1:5-7

So if our LIVES are our greatest work of art, our daily exhibition of who we are, who’s lying?  If you claim to be a follower of Christ, are you living or dying by the tell-tale heart you commit to paper, speak aloud, or entertain in private? If your everyday expressions are those things the Bible associates with DEATH (fear, pain, anger, insecurity, pride, loneliness, etc.) according to I John you’re either lying or deluded when you say, “I’m a Christian.” You say you’re going to heaven but your express label says Hell.

Once upon a time, a young man who was still under 20 years old came to my house for a visit while he popped pain pills for a sore throat. He’d taken nearly a third of the bottle when my mom indicated that it was only a sore throat. He must have felt disrespected because he responded with, “I have dealt with more pain than anyone in this house, except maybe YOU since YOU went through childbirth!”

The guy in pain left shortly thereafter, never to be seen or heard from again… and we all lived happily ever after.  In reference to people like him, I made up a saying that has carried me through a lot of difficult friendships -

I don’t want to be surrounded by dying.  It’s too catchy.

The fight for LIFE is different.  As a believer in Jesus Christ, it’s impossible not to love and respect those who have truly fought through trouble and hurt to find hope and healing (they’re doing what the Bible says in sharing the suffering of Christ “who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross.” Hebrews 12).  But then there are the people who victimize themselves by their own mindset and use it as a tool for sympathy, crying “woe is me” over the loud speakers.  Self-inflicted pain doesn’t count as martyrdom.  And yes, the more you express the pain and not the joy or reasons to be grateful (you can find just as many of those in any given situation), the more a part of you the pain becomes.  The guy chugging the bottle of pain pills probably had a really sore throat but, good grief, hasn’t everyone had a sore throat?!  He was already using the decrepit argument of “I’ve been through so much” and he wasn’t even 20!

Please don’t think I’m age-biased but I’d rather be hanging out with a person more than twice my age if he or she loves to laugh.  My best friend is older than my mom… she’s a 60 year-old widow who does crazy things like wear a clown nose to work to prank her co-workers or go out with me to shop, have dinner, or see concerts.  She’s so in-love with life that she’s not at all focused on the death of a man she passionately loved.  You could say that’s calloused but, if you really understand love, you understand that it doesn’t stop when a loved one dies.  How better to remember the life of someone you loved than the pure, beautiful expression of LIVING?  If you’re constantly mourning and dwelling on death, you’re celebrating their death.  How morbid.

Life and youth is about way more than experiences and numbers.  I say we throw out the stupid numbers and start adding up what counts.  My friend’s version of ”old” is a million times better than most people’s ”young.” Our generation needs hope and innocence even more than we need beautiful, toned bodies, sexy haircuts, or tight skin.

Christians like to quote the feel-good verse in II Corinthians 5 that says “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a NEW creation, the OLD has gone, the NEW has come.” That sounds so nice but do we even read the rest of that passage?  How about including, “We make it our goal to please [God]…for we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body”? You’re a new creation, huh?  What proof do you have to back that up?

If you buy something new, it isn’t dull and it certainly doesn’t whine and squeak around like it’s ancient; hopefully, it reflects the light and tackles obstacles like a defensive linebacker.  Yes, I’m making a point here. As Luke Brandon said in the movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, “Cost and worth are two very different things.”

If you saved up for years to buy something and that new pc or stereo system groaned around or operated like it was built in the dark ages, you’d not only be upset, you’d probably take it back.

Are we doing what we’re designed to do?  I was “bought with a price” (I Corinthians 6:20) but am I worth it?  An innocent man’s death on a cross was a pretty hefty cost.  I could never be worth that but I’ll always give Him my best.

Ephesians 4 put it perfectly: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” The deception here is that expressing death and dull apathy is young and cool (no one will contest the fact that a dead person is cool to the touch).  Life is found “in the attitude of your minds.” This is the fountain of youth, my friends.  Age has nothing to do with it; life is expressed in “love, joy, peace, patience,” etc. (Galations 5:22-23); newness starts with your mind and spirit.

You have a promise from the Maker of the Universe that if you employ the thoughts and actions He designed you for, you’ll never get old.

Posted in Life Philosophy, Renewed Thinking