Enriched by Grace

I have been meaning to write about this for a while yet, just time keeps on slipping away.

A few weeks ago, I went into town early with my dad to attend a meeting with a group he started a few years ago called the R12 Alliance. It's a group of Christian business people who see their life/careers as their mission field for sharing the Gospel. Some are accountants, self employed, and car salesmen.

As my dad and I stumbled into the hotel and pressed the button in the elevator for the top floor, I blew my nose for the 240th time that morning. Man, it was early, I was hungry, and sick of these allergies. I followed my dad into the Fireside meeting room and saw a bunch of men sitting around a large, square table. Some I recognized or new from church and family. Others I had never seen before in my life.

I spotted a couple chairs opened to my right and proceeded to sit down near the corner by a broad-shouldered man with a large smile. He stood up and introduced himself to me.

Jim began to lead the conversation and I scanned the menu. That chicken fried steak sounded good and my stomach was already turning early this morning.

One of my most recent favorite things to apply in my communication studies is posture. In my speech class last fall, we took a whole day talking about non-verbal communication and what your posture says about yourself.

I took a quick look around the table. Most of the men had their arms crossed in front of them (including myself), which gives off the sense you're not listening...however...sometimes I really just like crossing my arms, so that one can be debatable. Some other men were seated sideways, had one hand on the table in front of them and the other propping up their chin.

But one man stood out. His posture was unlike the others. He was hunched over the table with his arms stretched out in front of him and hands folded together. Every once in a while, he would bring his hands to his chin and close his eyes as if he was praying. Straight in front of him was a large, brown Bible that was well-loved. I couldn't figure out his whole countenance, but I was thinking This guy is a man of God. I don't know exactly what it is about him, but he's allowing God to lead him.

 A few minutes went by and Jim opened for this man to share what had been going on in his life. I don't think anyone was expecting what he was about to share.

Apparently, he got caught in some bad business that basically took everything of his and now the FBI was meeting with him regularly because they figured him a criminal.
His wife left him and got married a few days after the divorce finalized.
He has four adopted kids that mean the world to him, but he hadn't seen them in almost 2 years. They were scheduled to come to Washington to visit, but since the FBI has the right to call him to Detroit anytime, his kids can't fly out to visit.
This large, strong man's face turned bright red and he couldn't stop the tears from pouring.
"I've lost everything. My wife. My kids. I can't sleep and I can't eat. I've lost so much weight. I just don't know what to do."

My appetite dissipated. My heart went out to him. I wanted to grow 3 times bigger, wrap my arms around him, and tell him everything was going to be alright. I just kept praying the rest of the time as the men encouraged through personal testimony and Scripture.

Before we left the conference room, I heard him say:
"I just want to smile again. I can't remember the last time I did."

And that's the story I originally wanted to write.
I wanted to ask whoever would be reading this to pray for him. Please pray for this man's spirits, the the Lord's comfort and peace would surround him.

But that's not the end.
Because I've waited so long to write this, I have more to the story.
I apologize for this lengthy post, but the end is so sweet.

I only work two days a week at my dad's office.
But a few weeks later, this man just so "happened" to walk in while I was there.

He had a smile on his face.
For a moment I wasn't sure if this was the same man. But it was.

I greeted him. He asked for my dad, but he was on the phone.
So I talked to him.

He got to see his kids for the first time in years.
They went to the movies for the first time.
He had life behind his eyes by the grace of God.

Wise counsel was encouraging him to move closer to his kids no matter what the cost,
so the last I heard, he's in Michigan now and I might not see him ever again this side of heaven.

I've never seen someone so down. So brokenhearted.
It is only a testimony of the outstretched arms of Jesus.
I was so worried every night that he might not reside on the earth for another day.

Seeing him with hope now gives me peace.
It doesn't mean I've stopped praying for him, but I've been giving a new prayer.
A prayer of thanksgiving.

Thank you, Lord, for Your protection, grace, and sustaining power.
You never give us more than we are able to stand.

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I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God 

that was given you in Christ Jesus, 

that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge 

- even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you - 

so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, 

as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Who will sustain you to the end, 

guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

God is faithful,

by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 Corinthians 1: 4-9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meet My Friend

I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine.
She's actually quite close to my family and me.
She lives a little drive away, but comes over often because she is my brother's bestest friend.

She loves to cook and be goofy.
She loves to swim and play her piano.
She loves to take pictures and wear feathers in her hair.

But most of all she loves Jesus.
She loves Jesus with her whole heart.

Her name is Emily Joy.
And her name is quite appropriate.

Here is her blog.
Read it.
I can't explain everything that's going on in her life, because it's a ton.
Just imagine horrible pain throughout your body and hundreds of medical tests resulting in a prescription in a radical change of lifestyle and habits.
The LORD has called her worthy to go through this and I am honored to know such a woman so willing to obey His command.

Emily's Blog: Because You Shine

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Dear Emmi,

I thank God whom I serve as I remember you in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother and your mother and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame...the gift of God, which is in you, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. You count it all joy, my sister, when you fall into various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let that steadfastness have its full effect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Blessed is the daughter of Christ who remains steadfast under trial, for when she has stood the test, she will receive that crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.

Blue Like Jazz Round 2

So I sat down for a second time to read the book “Blue Like Jazz” by Donald Miller. As I have stated before in my other ‘recollections’ of his writings, I’m not wholly on-board with his theology, but he does give good viewpoints and nuggets worth pondering.
This second time I read a few chapters. They were longer than the others, but had a good story line throughout.
They talked about his experience going to one of the most ‘god-less’ schools in America and how refreshing it was. He talked about meeting people, talking to them, and engaging them in intellectual conversation. He told a few stories, then climaxed with the redemption of a good friend who had turned her back on God. It was a beautiful piece of the book and probably one of the sections I would agree with most.
Miller especially hit on the problem of Christians today who sit in their perfect Christian bubble and don’t live their life among real, thinking people. Christians have stopped thinking and smart people view them as ignorant because they have no apologetic.
It was hard to find specific quotes from the section that stood out to me because you must read it as a whole and that is too much for me to type tonight (and possibly illegal ). But at the end of my section, I found this portion to hit me. Might not hit you in the same way as I, but it certainly has caused me to think about what I love and what I do.

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“And that’s the tricky thing about life, really, that the things we want most will kill us. Tony the Beat Poet read me this ancient scripture recently that talked about loving either darkness or loving light, and how hard it is to love light and how easy it is to love darkness. I think that is true. Ultimately, we do what we love to do. I like to think that I do things for the right reasons, but I don’t, I do things because I do or don’t love doing them. Because of sin, because I am self-addicted, living in the wreckage of the fall, my body, my heart, and my affections are prone to love things that kill me. Tony says Jesus gives us the ability to love the things we should love, the things of Heaven. Tony says that when people who follow Jesus love the right things, they help create God’s kingdom on earth, and that is something beautiful.

“I found myself trying to love the right things without God’s help, and it was impossible. I tried to go one week without thinking a negative thought about another human being, and I couldn’t do it. Before I tried that experiment, I thought I was a nice person, but after trying it, I realized I thought bad things about people all day long, and that, like Tony says, my natural desire was to love darkness.

“My answer to this dilemma was self-discipline. I figured I could just make myself do good things, think good thoughts about other people, but that was no easier than walking up to a complete stranger and falling in love with them. I could go through the motions for a while, but sooner or later my heart would testify to its true love: darkness. Then I would get up and try again. The cycle was dehumanizing.”

(page 77)

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(Sounded to me like Benjamin Franklin’s endeavors.)

Blue Like Jazz Round 1

Some quotes that intrigued me in my first sitting of a “Blue Like Jazz” reading.
The book was written by Donald Miller.
I just finished his “sequel” to this book called “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” and you can read my review of it here.
I’m not completely on board with his theology per se, but I connect with his writing style and the fact that he looks at the world through a right-brained perspective as I personally do.

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“Some people skip through life; some people are dragged through it…

I believe the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God.”

(page 13)

“If you don’t love somebody, it bets annoying when they tell you what to do or what to feel. When you love them you get pleasure from their pleasure, and it makes it easy to serve. I didn’t love God because I didn’t know God.”

(page 14)

“It is hard for us to admit we have a sin nature because we live in this system of checks and balances. If we get caught, we will be punished. But that doesn’t make us good people; it only makes us subdued. Just think about the Congress and Senate and even the president. The genius of the American system is not freedom; the genius of the American system is checks and balances. Nobody gets all the power. Everybody is watching everybody else. It is as if the founding fathers knew, intrinsically, that the soul of man, unwatched, is perverse.”

(page 18)

“I think the devil has tricked us into thinking so much of biblical theology is story fit for kids. How did we come to think the story of Noah’s ark is appropriate for children? Can you imagine a children’s book about Noah’s ark complete with paintings of people gasping in gallons of water, mothers grasping their children while their bodies go flying down white-rapid rivers, the children’s tiny heads being bashed against rocks or hung up in fallen trees? I don’t think a children’s book like that would sell many copies.

I couldn’t give myself to Christianity because it was a religion for the intellectually naive. In order to believe Christianity, you either had to reduce enormous theological absurdities into children’s stories or ignore them. The entire thing seemed very difficult for my intellect to embrace.”

(pages 30 & 31)

Notorious

"After this He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth.

And He said to him, 'Follow Me.'

And leaving everything, he rose and followed Him.

And Levi made Him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.

And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at His disciples, saying,

'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?'

And Jesus answered them,

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.'"

~~~~~~Luke 5:27-32~~~~~~

What am I known for?
Do I have a bad reputation because I hang out with the social outcasts and crowds that people don't like?

Jesus did.

He partied with the "unspiritual" ones who the "faithful" ones despised.

These tax collectors and sinners were nasty to them.

Jesus' life orbited around these sinners.

What would Jesus do?

Story

So this is somewhat of a reflection on a book I recently read.
It's called "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" and it was written by Donald Miller.
I wouldn't say this book was "theologically sound," but it was inspiring. Inspiring for someone who is already aware of the ultimate fulfillment found in Christ alone.
The book is the story about Miller's experience of writing a movie script of his life. He realizes he is not a very exciting person and from this endeavor flows a desire to get off the couch, turn off the TV, and live life.
Miller believes in God and in heaven. However, I didn't gather he believes in the sinful nature of man. Sure, this is picky, but I kept waiting for him to get to the punch line that every man is desperately wicked and hope is only found in Christ. Instead, Miller comes to the conclusion of containing a positive attitude about people and that they are "good." Miller does take a small portion to talk about God as the Great Writer of our story, but does not run with that concept.
All in all, this book did inspire me to live a memorable life. To do things different.

I would not use it as a guiding source of knowledge, but it was a pleasant, quick read. Miller is a talented and artistic writer, so you might want to pick it up sometime if you have a few spare hours.

Here are some sections of the book I found interesting that caused me to think:

     "I've wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don't want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn't remarkable, then we don't have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims rather than grateful participants.

     But I've noticed something. I've never walked out of a meaningless movie thinking all movies are meaningless. I only thought the movie I walked out on was meaningless. I wonder, then, if when people say life is meaningless, what they really mean is their lives are meaningless. I wonder if they've chosen to believe their whole existence is unremarkable, and are projecting their dreary life on the rest of us" (page 59, 60).

     "A lot of people think a writer has to live in order to write, has to meet people and have a rich series of experiences or his work will become dull. But that is drivel. It's an excuse a writer uses to take the day off, or the week or the month off for that matter...

     People who live good stories are too busy to write about them. Nobody ever strapped a typewriter to the back of an elephant and wrote a novel while hunting wild game...

     I only say this because part of the reason my life had become uninspiring is I'd sat down to earn a living. Literally, I sat in a chair and typed words. And that's fine, because I like the work, and it pays the rent...I didn't want to live in words anymore; I wanted to live in sweat and pain...

     My desire to live a better story didn't motivate me to do anything...

     Here's the truth about telling stories with your life. It's going to sound like a great idea, and you are going to get excited about it, and then when it comes time to do the work, you're not going to want to do it. It's like that with writing books, and it's like that with life. People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen. But joy costs pain...

     A general rule in creating stories is that characters don't want to change. They must be forced to change. Nobody wakes up and starts chasing a bad guy or dismantling a bomb unless something forces them to do so. ..

     The rule exists in story because it's a true thing about people. humans are designed to seek comfort and order, and so if the have comfort and order, they tend to plant themselves, even if their comfort isn't all that comfortable. And even if they secretly want for something better" (page 97-100).

Sara

Last fall, a fellow student walked onto the stage of the Psalm Center.
Her name was Sara.
She had what looked like a knee that couldn't bend, short pixie haircut pulled back in a headband, and a beautiful smile that reached to the farthest seat.
Sara was a senior communications student and she was standing in front of us to share her story.

In the summer of 2009, cancer was discovered in her knee.
Many surgeries were performed along with chemotherapy.
She ended up with a titanium knee and hip in October 2009.
Then she went through multiple lung surgeries that winter.

She spoke on how it was so hard.
She wanted to give up and go Home to Jesus.
But it wasn't time yet.
Tears poured down my face as she shared.
She displayed love and obedience to Christ even through this fatiguing battle.

She returned in the fall of 2010 to finish her senior year at Corban University.
I never personally met her, but her positive attitude and contagious smile was encouraging to me when I'd see her around campus.

In January, the student body was notified that the cancer had made a resurgence.
It would not let up this time.
Corban decided to award her an honorary communication degree because of all her hard work and the work of other students who helped to fulfill her remaining community service credits.
A special ceremony was arranged in her living room with the school's president, vice president, and her family.


For a few weeks I hadn't heard an update on how she was doing.
This week,
          finals week,
                     the week before she would graduate,
                                             I got an e-mail from the school.

On Monday night, our prayers were answered.
Sara was completely healed.
This fellow saint was delivered into Jesus' arms to worship Him for the rest of eternity.
She is now dancing and praising Him in the absence of pain.

I don't pity her.
I envy her.
She's in heaven, free of the bonds of this fallen world!

Sometimes I think the church focuses on the earth too much.
Guys!
Let's get excited about heaven!

Sara can do anything now...
Save one thing.

She can't share her story with those still on earth.
She can't share the greatness of the One who carried her through the suffering.
While she was still here, she was faithful to do so

But it's our turn now.
I'm sure she doesn't regret any time she shared the Gospel with someone.
She can't witness now, but we can.
There's no telling what Sara's posthumous testimony can accomplish for the Gospel.

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For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face...

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;

but the greatest of  these is love...

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect,

that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing....

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,

for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life,

which God has promised to those who love Him.

~~~~~~~~1 Corinthians 13:12-13, James 1:2-4, 12~~~~~~~~