Do We Have Eyes But Can Not See?

1 billion....That's the estimated number worldwide who have never heard the Gospel. A bit more sobering is the 4.5 billion people worldwide who don't know Jesus as Savior. A recent mission trip to Germany was an eye opening experience for me. We encountered people there who have no concept of God. Not just people who have heard the Gospel and rejected it, but people who have no idea of who Jesus truly is. People who wake up every morning and go through the motions of life without any thought about spiritual things whatsoever. While I did meet some believers there, I would say at least 85 percent of the people I talked to claimed to be atheist or agnostic.

Now, I might expect those kinds of numbers if I was to go to some remote jungle somewhere, but I have to admit that it was a bit shocking to experience that in Berlin, Germany. I'm not sure what exactly I expected, but I do know that I didn't expect to encounter 12 and 13 year old young people who consider themselves to be atheists having never really been challenged to think otherwise. I didn't expect to meet so many older people who had never heard the story of Jesus. I didn't expect to meet so many people who never even consider spiritual things.

Perhaps, I didn't expect those things because living in the comforts of my home back in America, I've grown a bit blind. Not intentionally, but slowly over the course of life, it just happens if we aren't careful. We get locked into doing life and its extremely easy to get tunnel vision. Our eyes slowly become dim to the world around us and life slowly becomes all about us. We often get sucked into falling in love with this world and the things in it and as a result we lose sight of the big picture. A big picture that places God's dreams far above our own. A big picture that is much bigger than our own little world.

While my next statement may be hard to swallow, as a follower of Christ, I have to believe its true. Without knowing Christ, 4.5 billion people on this planet would split hell wide open if they slipped into eternity today. I know that's not politically correct to say that, but according to Scripture its an accurate statement. I know, I know, hell is not a very popular topic. And we believers who make statements like that are often labeled arrogant, narrow minded, and a lot of other things too inappropriate to list here. But the harsh reality is that as a true follower of Christ, we have to hold to the truth that apart from Christ there is salvation for no one. We have to believe that in Him is the only way anyone can find eternal salvation. There are those who want to believe that everyone's journey is different and because of that God's grace allows for many different ways to find salvation. That sounds great and while it may be politically correct, it simply doesn't line up with Scripture. I think so often the church buys into that philosophy because it relieves them of the responsibility to share the Gospel. It excuses them from stepping out of their comfort zone and engaging people in spiritual conversations.

Here's the cold hard facts. All around us, people are hungry for the truth. Yes, I know there are those who want nothing to do with Jesus, God, or the church, but there are also those who are desperately seeking God. While I was in Germany, I saw this scenario play out before us every day. There were those who scoffed at spiritual things and rejected everything we had to say, while at the same time there were those who hung on every word. There were those who were brought to tears when engaged in spiritual conversations. There were those who had no hope who were longing for someone to give them a lifeline. There were those who had never believed in God, who were open to be challenged in what they believed. There were those who were hurting who wanted a healer. It is no different here. We go to work, go to the store, go to the restaurant, go to our kids sporting events, etc. and all the while there are those around us who are longing for someone to throw them a lifeline. They are longing for someone to engage them in a conversation other than how hot it is or if you think the Texans will finally make it to the playoffs. Yet, we've grown blind to it all. We've been lulled to sleep by a spirit of comfort that prevents us from risking rejection to save a life. I'm afraid we have eyes but can not truly see.

Trust me when I say if there are 4.5 billion unbelievers worldwide, there are those in your circle of influence. And if not, your circle needs to grow. While we can kick back and relax and trust that God's going to reach them, could it be that He's put you in their life because you're His tool for reaching them?

These words to a Casting Crown song have been the testimony of most of my life.

"So maybe this time I'll speak the words of life

With Your fire in my eyes

But that old familiar fear is tearing at my words

What am I so afraid of?

'Cause here I go again

Talking 'bout the rain

And mulling over things

That won't live past today

And as I dance around the truth

Time is not his friend

This might be my last chance to tell him

That You love him."

I pray its not the testimony of my life from here on out!

There's A Hole In The Bottom Of The Sea

"There's a frog, on the knot, on the log, in the hole in the bottom of the sea." Not sure if you've ever heard that song, but it was one my Dad sang way too much when I was growing up. He would start it up at times like when we were on long trips and we had played the ABC game until all of us kids were bored out of our minds. It never mattered how much we protested, the song went on and on and on. And while the song was a bit annoying, I never really thought about the fact that there might be a big hole in the bottom of the sea. Until now that is. Now looking at what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico, that annoying song seems to be playing out in front of us. I'm thinking maybe if we could find a big enough log with a big enough knot and a big enough frog, we could solve a really big problem.

Ok, so maybe the whole log, knot, frog thing isn't going to work, but it appears nothing else is getting the job done either. Now, while I have no idea how to fix the spewing oil in the Gulf, as they didn't offer that course at the school I attended, I'm struggling a bit with the fact that we are pretty intelligent beings but can't plug a hole. I know, I know, its deep underwater and its got a lot of pressure forcing the oil out, and I'm sure the greatest minds are at work trying to fix it. I think there a couple of things that bother me about this whole thing. Number one is that those who lost their lives in this accident have pretty much become a side note. Let's remember that children have been left fatherless, wives have lost husbands, and mom's and dad's have lost sons. Another thing that bothers me is everyone blaming everyone else. BP's under the gun, the government's getting hammered, people are mad at oil companies, and our President is going to kick somebody's... well, we won't go there. I'm thinking lets just get the hole plugged and then worry about all that later.

Anyways, I was just sitting here wondering what God thinks when He sits back and watches mankind do his thing? I mean lets face it, we are really good at making messes. Lets see, there was that Russian nuclear meltdown thing, Exxon Valdez, the unsinkable Titanic that sank, and the madman from Germany to name a few. Throughout the ages we've made one mess after another. Our man-made messes date all the way back to the first man and woman that God created. Remember, there was that whole forbidden fruit thing that really got things headed in the wrong direction. The problem with that mess though was that man's best efforts couldn't fix it. When Adam and Eve blew it in the garden, mankind was presented with a problem that only God, Himself could bail them out of. Fixing this mess would require a hefty price, but thank God, He stepped up to the plate and did what He had to do to save humanity.

What is so special about mankind, that God would stop at nothing to save him? Scripture says it like this, "What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that You visit him?" The longer I live the more I believe that this is really less about the man and more about God. What I'm trying to say is that this scenario reveals much more about the heart of God than it does about the value of man. Think about it all for a minute. God does an amazing work in His creation of the universe. He spins the planets into motion and adorns the sky with the sun, moon, and stars. He landscapes our planet with mountains, plains, oceans, and thousands upon thousands of different kinds of plant life. Then, He continues this creative wonder by creating sea life, birds of the air, and every kind of "creeping" thing that calls this planet home. And, to top it all off, He creates us and places us right smack in the middle of all He's created and allows us to be stewards of it all. Then "we," the thankful, and gracious recipients of all His goodness did what could only be expected. We did what amounts to spitting in His face by rejecting Him and aligning ourselves with the enemy of God. Crazy isn't it? Can you see the big mess we caused?

What's even crazier is how God responds to our mess. He cleans it up. Wait a minute, let me paint the complete picture. It's like we're in the middle of the ocean surrounded by flesh eating sharks and God doesn't just simply throw out a life saver. No, instead He throws Himself to the sharks in order to rescue us. Our actions put us under a death sentence, but instead of God simply turning a blind eye, He takes our place and condemns Himself to death in the person of Jesus. What's mind boggling is that after all of that, there are those who still reject this God and all His goodness.

While I have no idea how this oil spill in the Gulf is going to play out and how big of a mess it will ultimately be, I know for certain that regardless of how big it is, it will never compare to the mess we created in that garden so many years ago. And while it is certain, this clean-up will probably cost more than any clean up effort in our history, the price that was paid for our salvation eclipses it by a long shot.

Now, let me see where was I? Oh yeah, all together now..."There's a hair, on the wart, on the frog, on the knot, on the log, in the hole in the bottom of the sea...there's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole in the bottom of the sea."

Don't Squeeze Me Too Tight!

A couple weeks ago, my 3-year old son came running down the stairs screaming, "Daddy, Daddy!" Thankfully, this was a happy proclamation and not one of alarm. I could tell from the excitement in his voice, he couldn't wait to tell me something. When he finally got to me in the living room, he was grinning from ear to ear as he said, "I asked Jesus into my heart?" Of course, I gave him high fives and hugged him real tight like any father would. He stepped back for a second and let me know that I can't hug him very tight anymore because Jesus was now in his heart and if I hugged him too tight, I might kill Jesus again.

Kids say some pretty funny things don't they? I get a kick out of it when they say things that reveal their simplistic way of looking at life. I couldn't help but laugh just a little. But as I sat there chuckling, I began thinking, how awesome his reasoning was. He literally believed that Jesus came to live in his heart. Think about that for a second. He prayed and asked Jesus to come live in his heart, and he really believed that he did. The excitement that he came down the stairs with was not because of the prayer he prayed, but at the fact that Jesus actually now lived in his heart.

As we walk through our Christian journey, wouldn't it be great if we could remain this innocent and full of trust and faith in God. Let's face it, my 3 year old isn't tainted with religious ideologies and all the junk we often acquire through the years that suck the very life of God out of us. He doesn't care if we are going to heaven pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib. He doesn't care about whether or not he goes to a seeker friendly church, spirit-filled church, or liturgical church. He doesn't care if we have to pay tithe on our gross or our net earnings, he just loves giving in the offering. All he knows is that his mommy helped him pray and Jesus now lives in his heart. And from what I can tell, he's pumped up about it.

Jesus speaks of coming to Him with a child-like faith, and I have to think this is exactly what he's talking about. Years have a way of shrinking God and his ability to do the miraculous in our minds. We grow up and we start putting God in some type of religious box and limiting him in our minds. So often rather than growing, our faith starts to shrink. How God longs for us to just believe Him and trust Him. Naturally, he wants our knowledge of Him to grow beyond that of my little 3-year old, but in doing so he wants that 3-year old kind of simplistic faith to remain in us throughout the process. He wants that kind of excitement that my little one ran down the stairs with to be evident in our lives.

My son will eventually learn what it means to have Jesus in his heart, but I hope he never allows his simplistic faith in God to waiver. And by the way, I still hug him real tight, taking care not to squeeze his heart too much.

Good Friday?

I know it seems a bit strange to label the day Jesus was brutally beaten and killed as "good." At least my 6 year old is struggling a bit with that terminology. After all, it was a moment that Jesus asked the Father if it was possible to spare Him from it. Of course, it was the only way to redeem lost man, so Jesus followed through with the plan. A plan that would require an innocent man to be arrested, mocked, ridiculed, beaten, abused, whipped, nailed to a cross, and ultimately killed. And we call that "good."

Good, because we know what it all meant. At least what it all meant for us. The "good" was what it meant for us. Redemption, restoration, salvation, and much more. It was a moment in time where the mercy, grace, and love of God met at the same point with the justice, and judgment of God. We being the recipients of His mercy, grace, and love and Jesus being the recipient of His justice, judgment, and wrath. Its the point where God poured out the punishment for sin and Jesus agreed to take that punishment for us.

Scripture tells us that He became our sin. Is it any wonder, God had to turn His back on Him? Jesus became the very thing God hated. Think about that for a minute. Jesus, who is God, became the very thing God hates. God, Himself, became something He hates in order to rescue what He loves. We've all seen Hollywood try to illustrate what happened that day, and I believe none of their attempts come close. Sure, Mel Gibson's, "Passion of the Christ," probably is the closest, but even with all its detail of the crucifixion, it still falls short. There is so much going on at this point in time besides a crucifixion. Our sin, all of it, was carried to that cross that day. From Hitler's inhumanity, to our little white lies. Every murderer, adulterer, pedophile, liar, thief, gossip, or drunk. Every abusive parent, rebellious child, or uncompassionate, unloving, selfish person. Jesus became that sin! Ponder that for a moment. Jesus became all of that sin. It brings a great deal more understanding as to why God the Father, couldn't stand to look at Him.

The wages of sin is death. The payment, punishment, and judgement of sin is death. All of us have sinned. Every single one of us fit into that category of deserving death. But God stepped in with His grace, mercy, and love. He came in the flesh and became sin so that He himself could take on our punishment of death. Isaiah tells us that, it pleased the Father to bruise Him. It pleased God for Jesus to be crucified. That's sounds a bit odd, without knowing the whole story, but when you know what all was going on that day, you understand very well why it pleased the Father. Redemption, restoration, and salvation was made available to us all that day, because of what Jesus did. Because, Jesus, who is God, submitted his eternal, immortal self to death as a man, mankind could once again have the eternal life he was designed to have.

I'm sure the disciples thought that crucifixion day was anything but "good." But on that resurrection day can you imagine what type of emotions stirred in them all? Every doubt, every question, every tear was gone in an instant as they realized it was all true. Everything He said he was and everything He said he would do, had to have come racing back to them as they stood at the door of that empty tomb. That sin he took on Himself, He shed, having never sinned himself, and in an instant God raised Him from the dead. For the disciples, all the pieces of the puzzle came together that day, as they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the man they had dropped everything to follow, had dropped everything to save each one of them. He was indeed the Messiah the world had long awaited for and His salvation was available to all.

It was at that very moment, I think they all realized how "good" that crucifixion day really was. We have grown up celebrating this day as "Good Friday!" Many workers just see it as another day off, while many retailers see it as another day to make some money. For the believer though, who understands what happened on that day some 2000 years ago, he/she sees it for what it really is...."Good Friday!"