Drinking From The Source

In times like these, when the economy is tough and the money is tight, it helps for a little "re-centering" of our perspectives.

For instance, I recently had a run-in with my employer regarding my compensation. I thought we were operating under one understanding (a signed document from the owner is hard to misinterpret), and they thought otherwise. The end result was my losing out on a considerable amount of money I had been counting on. In any economy, it would be tough to handle this, but especially now because of current circumstances, this stung quite a bit more.

My initial reaction was to fight for what was rightfully mine. I knew what I was entitled to, and I wasn't going down without a fight!

But, thankfully, God spoke to me through a couple of much more sound-minded, level-headed and cooler-tempered friends. They challenged whether this was my fight to fight, or not.

This caused me to really seek out what I was supposed to do. What was my role to play? Should I fight, or sit down and wait?

I'll be honest, I didn't want to turn the other cheek. That pre-supposes that you're ready and willing to get hit again - and I clearly wasn't. But I knew I needed to.

As I approached The Throne, I was given an image that I would like to share with you. It profoundly impacted my life, and I hope it will do the same for you. Perhaps it will be helpful to you where you're at and what you're going through right now, or perhaps it may come in handy some day down the road.

The image is of a massive body of water atop a high mountain with many streams pouring out of it. There are streams of all sizes -- from fast, raging whitewater to a slow but constant trickle. There are also dried up creek beds that once carried streams, but are patiently standing by, ready and waiting for their chance to flow once again.

If you follow these streams, you will see them flow in and out of other streams, intermingling and intertwining, feeding off each other as they race down the mountainside.

You will also notice little pools, or eddies, along the different parts of the streams. They are full of life - a world of their own fed by the life-giving flow from the streams.

If you haven't already guessed it, the water symbolizes God's provision for us. He has promised to meet our needs and the water is the fulfillment of that promise. And we are the pools along the way - thriving and existing only off of His provision.

It may follow different paths (one stream may be a paycheck from work, another may be from church or government assistance, or even help from a friend), and they may even take on different forms (money, groceries, clothing, etc) -- but it all comes from the same Source.

This image helped me immensely in my struggle with my employer. See, I was angry and upset when the flow of one stream was reduced -- and because I was so focused on that one, I took my attention off any other streams that may have been ready to increase to make up for the reduced flow of the one.

Once I realized that God will come through on His promise to provide, and that it may not come down the path I am expecting, I was able to let this conflict go. I had a peace because I knew the provision was on it's way, all I had to do was trust... and wait.

I contacted my employer and let them know I had no intentions of fighting any longer. Even though I would be within my rights, it would bring unnecessary tension and cause them painful repercussions that made what I was fighting for seem extremely petty.

I'll be honest, this was extremely difficult for me to do. By nature, I am a grizzly bear when it comes to my family. If you wrong them or harm them in any way, may God have mercy on your soul, because I won't. (God is working on me in this area, so please no comments on this!) But I know it was what I had to do, even if, by turning the other cheek, I was about to get hit again.

But, do you know what happened? The "flow" came through a couple of unexpected streams. A "random" check in the mail, some money from a couple dear friends, some groceries from some other friends. The amount of money I was missing was quickly, and easily, replenished through other paths.

And the best news? The day after I sent the email to my employer, they sent me a response (full of legalese, clearly stating that their change of position was not an admission of guilt or wrong-doing) alerting me that they would compensate me according to my understanding and our original agreement.

So, in the end, once I realize this wasn't my battle to fight and looked at it from a much different perspective, God blessed us by meeting our needs in abundance.

Now, real quick. I need to put a disclaimer in here: I am NOT advocating the whole "Health and Wealth Gospel" here. So PLEASE do not lump me in with lunatics like Joel Osteen.

But, the story - and the stream - doesn't stop there. We are not the final destination of the outpouring from the Source. Far from it. Remember, we are simply pools along the way, and just as we received God's provision flowing through other people upstream from us, there are other people downstream, waiting for our obedience so they can receive their portion from the Source as well. We must not be greedy. We must not build dams in an effort to horde more for ourselves. We must realize we are God's instrument of provision to others.

So I leave you with this simple challenge: When the flow of one stream lightens up, don't freak out and don't get angry - rather sit back and watch which other path it will come from. God is good and promises to meet our needs. Remember, not only has He made us this promise, but He is able to keep it!

And if you, like me, get angry at all the starvation, homelessness and poverty in our world - don't even think for an instant that God isn't coming through on His promises. Instead, His provision has been held up by someone upstream who has decided to build up the walls of their pool in an attempt to fill their storehouses instead of being obedient and blessing others out of their abundance. And we all know, from history, what happens to them.

The Morning After

So here we are. It's come and gone once again. The fervor, the buzz, the proverbial insanity of another presidential election has come and gone. Like a steam engine rolling through a small town in the middle of the night... with all its fury, and deafening noise, it is over almost as quickly as it began.

Chances are, you're reading this and you're either celebrating or you are grieving. You cast your vote, you let your voice be heard, and either it wasn't enough to get the outcome you desired, or it was one more for good measure with the majority.

Either way, I encourage you to take a moment. Celebrate, if yesterday's results were exactly what you had hoped for. Or, if they were not, then take a moment to grieve. Do what you need to do. Take your time. Take a deep breath and collect your thoughts. Collect your wits. Collect your courage.

When you're moment is finished, look across the aisle. Grab your brother's hand. Give your sister a hug. We are one. Though the political machine would like us to believe otherwise, we are united.

We cannot allow what happened yesterday to divide us. We must come together. We must realize that the horse and pony show that we just witnessed accomplishes nothing. It's only smoke and mirrors. An illusion. A facade. There is a "wizard" behind the curtain that wants us to believe otherwise, but we must not fall victim to the lies.

What happened yesterday, accomplishes nothing. Even though it's hard to believe, and maybe still a little too early to think about it, it doesn't change a thing. Yesterday's victor is not tomorrow's savior.

We are one. We have one mission. And we have been called by the only One who matters.

It's not about what happened yesterday that counts. It's how we will live tomorrow that makes the difference.

There is one faith, one hope and one baptism, one God and Father of all.
There is one church, one body, one life in the spirit now given so freely to all.

The Greatest Sale Ever Sold

I am a born salesman. I can apologize for it, or I can admit it. Its who I am. It's woven into the center of my being. I like to sell. I've been selling forever. When other kids were out playing, I was walking the neighborhood, going door to door, selling greeting cards and stationary to housewives and little old ladies. I was good at it too. I mean, who can say no to a fourth grader peddling greeting cards at your door? I've been told I could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves, ice to an eskimo, sand to an Arab... on and on, you get the idea.

I know when someone's trying to sell me, and I know when I've been sold. It's not very often that someone can pull one over on me. My favorite is when I don't realize it until its too late, and instead of being upset that I didn't see it coming, I have respect for a salesman who is better than me. But I also love the thrill of smelling an approaching sales pitch and prematurely snuffing it out before it ever has a chance to entice me.

So why am I telling you this? Why should you care? Well, part of being a natural born seller is that you can recognize other people's salesmanship. I can look at someone and immediately be impressed by a good sale. To me, there aren't many things better than a clearly thought out and eloquently articulated sales pitch, primed with precision rebuttals and heartfelt reassurances.

I have to say, I think that one of the best sell jobs I have ever seen throughout history was when someone sold the idea to the Church that our power is found in the political arena. Whoever you are, wherever you are, my hat is off to you. Kudos, sir. We took the bait, hook, line and sinker. And we did it with a smile on our face. And best off... we haven't fully realized our mistake yet.

I mean, at least when someone was sold oceanfront property in Arizona... they eventually realized there was no such thing. Reality sunk in, and they had to face their decision. Here, we have believed the lie, hit the ground running and haven't stopped or slowed to look back since.

It's sad, really. I mean, look how divisive politics is. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the lines drawn in the sand. You're either with me, or against me. You won't change your mind, and I don't need to change mine. I'm right, you're wrong.

Take a look at people's status updates on Facebook. Look at the barrage of blogs that are written and emails that are sent. We have our candidate, and we want to whore him out to the rest of the world. He is our savior. He will bail us out. He will solve the problems. He will bring peace and justice and relief to a hurting world.

Or will he?

I think of Tolkien's character, Gollum from the Lord of the Rings. At one point in his life, he is a normal human being, er, hobbit. He even has a name, Smeagol. But when Smeagol finds the ring, it changes him. Not drastically at first... but slowly, over time he begins to errode away until he is a horrid creature that hardly resembles his true self. He becomes the thing known as Gollum. He becomes so infatuated with the ring, that he never lets it go. His chokehold on the ring, ironically ends up choking out his very life. Sure, the ring has power, but Gollum rarely experiences it. Instead, his quest for this power, to keep it out of the hands of anyone and everyone that opposes him, destroys him. He spends his days lonely, in hiding, constantly repeating the words we have all come to know so well... "My precious!"


We are Gollum, and politics is our "ring."

Somewhere back down the line, we were sold a lie. We were told that our true power exists in the political arena. We were told, that if we passed laws, like they did in the Bible, then we would change the world. We could have a Christian nation. We could replicate the Kingdom here on earth... if we only had the power. Imagine the lives that would be saved! Imagine the transformation that would happen. Just think... an entire nation, nay, WORLD of Christians! Held together by the Ten Commandments as our Constitution, Christian morals and principles guiding us as our country's rudder. Imagine the possibilities!

If we only held the power. If we only had the ring.

Now look at us. We are divided. Both sides, as equally passionate, and equally wrong. We have allowed this quest to wear us down... to suck the very life from us. We are an ugly, mutilated and abismal representation of our true self. We must fight for our ring!

They want to recognize same-sex unions? Not over my dead body! They want to give a woman the right to choose an abortion? Not on my watch! We will oppress them! We will take away their voice! We will limit their options! We will pass more laws, and have more restrictions until everyone has no choice but to abide by God's Law! For all practical purposes, they will be Christians! We will make them behave like one, and then eventually their hearts will give in and follow. They will have no choice! It's for their own good! Who will stand in the gap? If we don't, who will?

My precious!

Smeagol eventually woke up, in a sense. I mean, he was beyond the point of no return in a lot of ways. Physically, with his gangly body, receding hairline and a dentist's nightmare for a "grill", he wasn't much of a looker. His quest had taken its toll on him. The damage had been done, and he wasn't going to look like Prince Charming any time soon. But, we see his split personality start to come out. He's lovable, and playful and funny. He's loyal and helpful and charming. His bi-polar personality is a 180 degree turn from before. Do you know when these times are?

When he is not holding the ring.

We have become so fixated with our control freakedness that we can't imagine letting "non-Christian" laws be passed. We have such a stranglehold on politics that our narrow minded vision is being obstructed by blinders. We don't see reality. We can't see reality. We are too engrossed with our Precious.

The reality is we serve a Savior... a True King who's power isn't limited by such petty things of mere mortals like politics. His power trumps the power of earthly law. Just like rock beats scissors, so the Kingdom of God annihilates the Kingdom of the World.

Let them pass laws that redefine the world's definition of marriage. We know what true marriage is, and we have a hard enough time keeping that pure. We will love them anyways. Let them pass laws that puts the right to choose life or death in the mother's hands. We will rise up and give that mother so many reasons to choose life that the alternative becomes completely invalid.

So what if it's legal? Is that going to stop us from loving and caring? Is that going to limit us in how we can impact them? Are we going to be bogged down in the Kingdom of Earth, or we going to rise to our calling in the Kingdom of God?

I will be the first to admit that I struggle with this. It's easily enticing. It's ingrained in us. It's a part of who we've been raised and taught to be. To some of you, the concept of letting go of the political ring is as foreign (or impossible) of an idea as trying to make your heart stop beating just by thinking about it. But it is possible. Not only is it possible, it's required. We need to let it the ring go.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. If he asks your opinion, give it. But do so in a way that you hold the outcome in an open hand. What will be will be. No matter who the next President is, our calling is the same. Our hope doesn't lie in the outcome of Election Day. Our ability to affect change in the lives around us has nothing to do with what is legal and what is not. Let them pass all the "non-Christian" laws they want... it won't stop us. We can't be stopped. We aren't confined by their laws. We aren't limited by their political process.

Our power is greater. Our love is larger. Our God is bigger.

I'm reminded of another sales pitch that happened a couple thousand years ago. The salesman was probably the same. The outcome was incredibly different. He took a man to the top of a temple and promised him power. Power that was to be lived out in the political arena. Power to rule. Power to pass laws. Power to be king. To be president. To rule the masses the way he wanted them ruled. But the man didn't take the bait. He had a different perspective. He knew the Truth. His Kingdom is not of this world. He could see through the pitch and snuffed it out.

Oh, if we had only been so wise.

Church or State?

I was reading another blog today about the upcoming election, and the following question was asked:

"Should the government be allowed to replace the responsibilities of the home or the church?"

It didn't take long for me to think about it and formulate my response.

My answer is simply, unfortunately, yes.

Why "yes"? Well, someone has to do it.

Why "unfortunately"? Well, the church clearly isn't doing its job.

That really sums up my views on all of these issues right now. If the church was doing what it was called to do, no one would be asking the government for help.

Social programs such as welfare, unemployment, medicare/medicaid, and subsidized housing would be non-existent if we, as the church, were living out our true calling.

But we're not. And should the innocent, the poor, the homeless, the sick (those a Wise Man once referred to as "the least of these") suffer because of our failure? I would say the answer is a resounding "No!"

My wife and I just had this same conversation this afternoon as we were re-watching last night's debates.

The Bible is full of God's promising to take care of us and to meet our needs. To provide us shelter, and food and clothing.

However, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look around and see that there are people within our borders and beyond who are not provided such "luxuries."

Is it because God is a liar? Of course not. He has provided, just like He said He would... unfortunately there is such a disproportionate disbursement of wealth around our country (and beyond) that His provision is being held up in someone else's "storehouse."

Its a sad state of affairs when the church has failed so miserably at their calling, that we have to rely on the government to tax people and force them to do what God has originally asked the church to do.

So, again, should the government be allowed to replace the responsibilities of the church?

Unfortunately, yes.