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PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!

I still remember the look on my son’s face the first time he rode a roller coaster.  It was a mix of fear, joy and panic rolled into one. When the ride ended I turned to see if he was OK only to watch him race back to the line so he could get ready to do it all over again.  He was hooked and now there’s not a coaster he won’t embrace.   A few years ago we hit Disney World as a family and got to experience a whole other level of excitement.  Talk about fear and fun wrapped into one.  We zigged, zagged, looped and dove savoring every ride we took.  It never seemed to grow old.  Every day there was a new ride that would drop our throats into our stomachs and cause us to scream like little school girls.  For two weeks we lined up again and again to experience the gauntlet of emotions that came with it all.

 I think if Jesus were walking the earth today He would use a roller coaster ride to describe what it’s like to live in relationship with Him.  But since there were no theme parks two thousand years ago, Jesus had to find another way to explain why He came to earth.  Here’s what He said, “I have come so that you may have life to the fullest.” (John 10:10).  Jesus wants you to know that if you want to live life on full then you better be ready to experience some ups and downs and twists and turns.

 Think about it.  No one spends money to ride something that goes slow and straight.  Instead, we pay money for rides that surface every emotion known to man.  We want to be scared, exhilarated, happy and sick all at the same time.  We want to experience a plethora of emotions, so long as we know we’ll be safe.  We trust the ride because we trust the operators.  It’s the same with Jesus.  No matter what life dishes out, you can trust Him.  He’s the operator and His job is to make sure you stay in the ride.

 Over the years my kids have evolved in their roller coaster abilities.  At the beginning all they did was scream, close their eyes and hang on for dear life.  Now it’s different.  They no longer use their perfectly good arms and hands to hang on.  They have chosen to trust the safety measures built into the ride which allows them to embrace the way a roller coaster was meant to be ridden, with hands in the air.

 That is what God intended for you and me when it comes to this roller coaster ride called life.  He knows that along the way you are going to be scared, sick and upset.  He’s not surprised when you feel trapped, out of control and screaming for the ride to stop.  He knew all along that you would have moments where you would be moving at warp speed, hanging upside down in complete darkness.  That’s life.  He also knows that along the way you will experience some sweet moments of deep joy.  He promises that there will be exhilarating and amazing times where you wish the ride would never end.  That’s what the promise of a full life looks like from God’s view.  It’s a life that’s unpredictable, always changing but definitely never boring.  It’s a life where God positions Himself as your safety bar so that you can enjoy this ride called life the way God intended; with your eyes wide open and your hands in the air.

Religion or Relationship

I grew up experiencing God in two ways, religiously and later relationally.  Religious God had a lot of rules, rules for what I should wear, how I should talk, who I should associate with and even who I should vote for.  Religious God likes to begin most of His sentences with “Thou shall not…”   He’s quite content to point out your short-comings and all though He says He loves you, you’re never quite sure if He means it. 

 The second experience was with relational God.  I discovered that He can be known personally, that He wants to communicate with you, lead you and help you discover His purposes for your life.  Relational God wants to be your friend.  He accepts you just as you are but cares enough about you not to leave you there.

 If you choose religious God you’ll always know where He stands and what He expects.  You’ll know what you should do but not always why you should do it.  He uses fear to dictate your actions, likes it when you keep your questions to yourself and appreciates it when you minimize your doubts and emotions.  He is happy when you look good on the outside, encouraging you to ignore the mess on the inside.   Religious God likes to keep His distance and never actually be known.  That is the goal of religious God - to make sure everyone acts, looks and thinks the same.

 Relational God is very different.  The lines around Him are a lot more blurred.  There is a mysterious dynamic to relational God.  He is approachable and trusting yet commands respect and awe.  He is full of surprises and constantly reveals more about who He is to you the longer you know Him.  Relational God invites you to become His friend.  He welcomes your questions and deals with your doubts.  He forgives, cares, leads and encourages you.  When it comes to relational God, rules don’t regulate the relationship, love does.

 These two views of God have split a lot of people and a lot of churches.  One view breeds familiarity and fear, the other, mystery and wonder.  They both claim to honor God yet offer very different experiences.  They both bring change but with very different outcomes. 

 Jesus had to deal with a group of people who embraced religious God.  They were called Pharisees, the spiritual leaders of the day.  Jesus was constantly in conflict with them because He was all about calling people to a relationship with God.  The Pharisees focused on rules, control and blame, which is always the bi-product of religion.  They, like many of us, missed out on the opportunity to actually know God.  They didn’t like Jesus’ offer of relationship because it meant He would no longer fit into their box.  So, they settled for religion instead of relationship.

 Way too many people choose religion over relationship, trading in a fulfilling life for a mundane existence.  Safety, familiarity and control become the order of the day, and when it is all said and done, God is seen only as their religion rather than what He really desires …their relationship.

SHAME!

What or who embarrasses you?  For me, it’s our family dog.  Her name’s Pepper.  She’s about 3 pounds, pure black and is a cross between a Terrier and Poodle.  She’s known as a “Yorkiepoo” - which is hard for me to say with a straight face.  I’m just glad she’s not a cross between a poodle and a Shitsu because that would make her a…..never mind.

 Anyway, Pepper is very small, so small that my wife sometimes carries her in her handbag.  She has her own little house, toys, clothes and will often refuse to eat her food unless she is spoon fed.

 She’s not a man’s dog!

 I realized this the day I took Pepper for a walk at a local park.  The words yelled at me from across the field still make me cringe in embarrassment.   “HEY!  Why don’t you pick up your purse?”

 I don’t walk the dog anymore.

 We all have embarrassing moments, but they usually wear off and become stories that we laugh about later.  However, dig down a few layers and you'll often find something that can do a lot more damage. It’s called shame.  Unlike embarrassment, shame can be lethal.  People never tell funny little stories about their shame.   Why?  Because shame destroys your confidence.  It can crush your spirit and paralyze your relationships.  It attaches itself to who you are.  Shame defines people.

 At the beginning of the Bible we read about God creating this amazing garden for the first man and woman.  We’re told that they were naked yet they felt no shame.  That is until the devil came along, convinced them to eat the forbidden fruit and then whispered in their ear, “hey – you might want to put something on!”

 They look, they blush, they cover up, and then they run and hide.  That’s what shame does.  It causes us to run, hide and separate ourselves.

 Far too many people know the manipulating power of shame and how destructive it can be.  It’s harnessed by parents in order to control their kids.  It’s used by some churches as the primary technique to motivate people's behavior.  It takes hold in people’s lives because of a bad decision that they or someone else made.  Shame is a driving force in many people’s lives.

 Yet, God never intended that you live your life with shame.  The Bible tells us that there is something way more powerful than the control shame can have on us.   Here’s what it says, “No power in the sky above or the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:39).

 Did you catch it?  Don’t miss it, because this truth places you on the verge of a miracle.  Whatever is in your life that holds you captive to shame doesn’t compete with the love of God.  No matter what you’ve done or had done to you, the “shame on you” that your holding can easily be replaced with the love that God offers. It is a love that brings freedom and fresh starts.  It’s a love that connects instead of separates.  It’s a love that lets you hold your head high in spite of your past.   

 So, what’ll it be?  A life defined by shame and separation or a life defined by God’s love.  I pray you’ll make the obvious choice.

I Wonder...

If you spend any time with kids then you have undoubtedly been presented with a question or two that got you wondering.  You know what I’m talking about, ‘Dad, why is the sun hot?’ or ‘Mom, why can’t I breathe under water?’ or my personal favorite, “Can you ‘stare off into space’ when you are in space?”  This is what kids do.  They wonder about a lot of stuff.   We tend to lose the innocence of wonder the older we get.  Our focus becomes more about facts, figures, proof and evidence.  If we can’t explain it, define it or prove it than we usually don’t believe it.  By losing the ability to wonder we never experience the adventure of living a faith filled life.

Wonder is the fuel of faith.  Wonder, strangely enough is what brings clarity to the questions, circumstance and events that we can’t explain or find suitable answers to.  Yet at the same time wonder is the very thing that keeps us asking, searching and seeking.  Oddly enough there is a strange comfort in wonder that many people lose the older they get.  So, when was the last time you ‘wondered?’  What did you wonder about?  What were the topics, issues, struggles, dreams that filled your brain space?  What did you do with your thoughts?  Anything?  Did you deal with them?  Did you try to get them out of your mind?  Did you write them down?  Did you try to do what you were thinking of doing?

What about God?  Do you ever wonder about him?  Do you wonder if He actually exists?  If you could ask God anything what would it be?  Would you ask an intense question like, “Why don’t you do something about the evil in the world?”  Or would you simply ask Him “Why in the world did you create mosquitoes?”  Do you ever wonder what He's like?  Why He does what He does?  Why He doesn’t do what you think He should do?  Do you ever wonder why He put you where you are on this planet?  Do you wonder what God wants you to do...tomorrow, next week... in 2011?   Do you ever wonder about these things?

Do you ever wonder what you will be doing in 20 years?  What will you look like?  What you will have accomplished?  What trail you will have forged?  What legacy you will have left?  Do you wonder if the advice you gave yesterday will benefit someone today?   Do you ever wonder about taking a risk?  Do you ever wonder if it is time to step out or step up or maybe even to step down?

Do you wonder?  I do.  I wonder a lot... and I think that is what God intended.  You can't step out in faith or discover God without experiencing wonder.  The Bible says that, “As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him” (Mark 9:15).    That is what faith does.  It creates wonder and then draws us towards God.  In fact, I don’t think you can ever really get to know God without experiencing some wonder in your life.  Maybe that is why Jesus said that “The Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like…children (Mark 10:14).  If you want to see and know God then maybe it is time to stop trying to figure out all the answers and just start asking some questions.