New Year's Resolutions...Again?!

Happy New Year!! This is a time when many examine and perhaps try to tweak the direction of their lives through resolutions. For example, "I am going to lose weight, eat more healthy, exercise, improve my time management skills"

I think it is good to evaluate your life, your strengths, weaknesses, desires, and to set goals accordingly. However, on our own strength we can do only so much. I submit that for too long we have been drinking the kool-aid of humanism...the belief that we can lead lives of "personal fulfillment" without the supernatural (i.e., without God). Speaking for myself, my self-imposed and self-enacted "resolutions" generally fade with time. Under the pressures of everyday life I tend to slip back into old habits. It was probably frustration over such failures that led to the statement "My new year's resolution is not to make any resolutions!"

What if instead of making a list of resolutions you sought vision for your life? Something that resonated deep within you, that you knew to be from beyond yourself, and perhaps even for which you were created? Vision that gave your life greater direction, purpose, and meaning? Wouldn't that be worth pursuing? I can attest that such a thing is possible, I have experienced it. So has my wife. As have countless other Christians. My prayer is that you too would too, even though yours would certainly be unique to you. I would like to stimulate you to pursue such vision this year!

The source of my finding such meaning, purpose, and vision has been from my faith in Jesus Christ. Christianity teaches that our Creator has good plans for us, plans to give us hope and a future (1). Jesus himself taught us to "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need" (2). The Psalmist (David) exclaimed "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart" (3). The point is, God wants us to pursue him and the result will be an increase in his vision for our lives, which he prepared for us even before we were born (4)! Why settle for less than learning about your calling, discovering the deepest desires of your heart, living with the hope that there is a bigger picture out there and you get to play a special and unique part in it? Wow!

C.S. Lewis said "...if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (5).

To encourage you to accept this challenge for the new year, here is an exciting promise from God: "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland" (6). Do you want a fabulous "resolution" for 2012 (or any year, month, or day for that matter!)? Let God do this for you! It is possible and available to anyone who asks him.

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Footnotes:

Immanuel - God with Us

"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us") (1).

God with us. What does this mean?

Christians believe that Jesus came ~2000 years ago as "God in the flesh" and walked among us for about 33 years. Christians also believe that through his Holy Spirit, which came after Christ's resurrection and ascension into heaven, God can reside in our hearts if we allow him (2,3,4). When I was a child, probably the closest I came to feeling God's presence was during Christmas eve services when all the lights were turned off and everyone held a candle while we sang Silent Night. Unfortunately, as soon as I returned to "regular", everyday life, somehow God seemed distant again.

In our world, we recently passed the milepost of seven billion people now alive. Given these multitudes, it is easy to feel small and insignificant. Is it possible that in this massive sea of humanity, God really notices me personally? Sometimes it almost does not seem possible, which can lead to despair. I have felt that despair at such thoughts and doubt I am the only one who has.

Still, there was a promise given us that the coming of Immanuel is meant to be deeply personal, and I believe to the point of being connected with the deepest yearnings of our hearts. God knows you, he came for you on Christmas, and he continues to come for you (5,6). I am reading Henri Nouwen's book Life of the Beloved, who wrote that the words "You are my Beloved" reveal the most intimate truth about God's inclination towards each of us. Nouwen's point is that YOU are treasured, precious, cherished, prized, and loved. YOU matter to God, YOU are adored, he treasures your uniqueness. (7,8,9,10). And you need to know this deep down in your heart because it is core to your identity, foundational to your life.

Especially when we usually hear the opposite from the world around us, things such as "you are not special", "you are worthless", "you fall short", "you are ugly", "the world would have been better if I had never been born", etc. These lies can lead to crippling diminishment and self-rejection. Nouwen warns that in the face of these accusations we must dare to reclaim the truth that we are cherished by God. Nouwen wrote: "The truth, even though we cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace." Christmas demonstrates this (see also my last post "Invasion at Bethlehem").

So, Merry Christmas! And I urge you to not limit your thoughts about Christmas to shopping, packages, parties, listening to holiday music, or even to families and friends or to a stable in Bethlehem 2000 years ago (though those are all good things). Think about the glory and beauty of God's coming for you. You can know and experience his presence in your own personal life if you so choose, and that is very good news indeed!
                                                                                        

Footnotes:

Invasion at Bethlehem

"Christmas is the most stunning rescue story of all time. Under cover of night, in a remote village in Palestine, in a world held captive by the dark prince, God comes to earth as a human being, a little boy. He invades the human race in order to rescue the human race...The beauty of the act cannot be adequately expressed."  John Eldredge

"God has too much on his mind and is way too busy maintaining this huge universe to be concerned about me and my problems!", a friend once told me. Undoubtedly my friend isn't the only person in the world who has felt this way.

Christmas is the perfect time to ponder this. After all, what is Christmas and what does it say about God and what he thinks about us? The next couple of blog posts will be dedicated to this.

In "The Return of the King" (Lord of the Rings), Aragorn takes his

rightful place on the throne of Gondor. This is symbolic of Christ,

who is the King of kings and will one day return in this role

(Revelation 17:14) (5).

To me, Christmas demonstrates an intentionality in God's love...of God's "coming for us." At Bethlehem, God through Jesus "personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all" (1). But his birth was opposed. Recall that after Jesus' birth, King Herod killed all the baby boys who were 2 years old or younger in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the prophesied King Jesus (2). Revelation 12 presents a fascinating description of the tumultuous events surrounding the birth of Christ, and offers an alternative perspective from the peaceful nativity scenes we typically see at Christmastime. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, Christmas represents an invasion into enemy-occupied territory (the world) by the rightful king (Jesus) (3), who came to cast out the evil "ruler of this world" (4). Spiritually speaking, this is no silent night. It is D-Day. God came to rescue us! (See my earlier post The Great Rescue).

This is good news, and is the meaning behind the words "A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices" in the Christmas song "Oh Holy Night"!

So Jesus came to "set right" humanity (yeah!), but humanity is mighty large. And a single person can get lost or feel very small or insignificant among 7 billion people. But be encouraged, the Gospel really is good news and by its very nature is personal and intimate! Let's look at that side of Christmas with the next blog post. Stay tuned...(see post "Immanuel - God With Us").

                                                                                                            
Footnotes:

Beautiful Outlaw: My Review AFTER Reading the Book!

Jesus was accused of breaking the law, keeping bad company, heavy drinking, being the devil himself. But those who knew him best loved him passionately.

 
In an earlier post I excitedly told you about the book "Beautiful Outlaw" by John Eldredge even though I had only read one chapter. Hmmm, nobody commented that they thought that was strange, unfair, or highly illogical. If I had read my own blog I probably would have blasted myself for being so rash (actually I do read my own blog and sometimes it seems a lonely feeling!). Nevertheless, I felt I owed you a post-reading review of the book. In fact, this is the VERY FIRST book review I've written for Amazon.com ever! Apparently it takes 48 hours for Amazon to process my review before it is posted, so I thought I would give you a special treat and let you see it first (okay, you can stop the applause now)! It is possible that Amazon may reject my review though, so if that happens you will will be among the privileged few who get to read it. So, without further ado...

Click on the picture to go to the Ransomed Heart
website and learn more about the book and video.

Must Read!! (Five stars out of five)

This refreshing book reveals significant aspects of Jesus' personality that have been largely neglected by the church in my lifetime (I'm 52 and grew up in the church). In fact, John Eldredge takes on the "religious fog" that has typically resulted in perceptions of a "lofty" Jesus doing strange, undecipherable things. Take playfulness, for example. When Eldredge first mentioned that Jesus has a playful, humorous side I was skeptical. But this book is convincing. From chipmunks frolicking about to our own bantering and laughing with friends, where else would we think something this good comes from (after all, who created chipmunks, laughter, and us?). But humor isn't the only missing aspect of Jesus' personality tackled here. Jesus had a fierce intention...did you realize that Jesus deliberately took the time at the temple to make his whip from cords before he drove the money changers out of the temple? Jesus was more human than any of us, honest, cunning, and much, much more. If you are a believer, you will fall in love with Jesus all over again. If you are not a believer, this book is for you too; you may find yourself attracted to this beautiful outlaw who was constantly in trouble with the religious leaders of his day. Late in the book is a very good discussion about the practical accessibility of Jesus; that any of us can connect relationally with him and experience his presence and wonderful traits in our own lives. This is a fabulous book, perhaps even surpassing Eldredge's earlier books "Wild at Heart" and "Waking the Dead", and I highly recommend it.

Was this review helpful to you? Feel free to respond in the comments...unless of course you don't like it (only joking...Jesus was honest, so I want you to be too!).

The Red Pill or the Blue Pill?

The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it. Galadriel, Lord of the Rings. 

Paradise lost. Do you feel it? A sense that something in the world has been lost and that things are not as they should be. Why do terrible things happen such as human trafficking, genocide, rape, or murder, to name a few?

What about in your own life? Do you sense something has been lost or perhaps taken from you? I'm not just talking about someone beating you out of the last parking place at the mall. Perhaps you have been abused or wounded, either physically or emotionally, or you have lost loved ones, etc.

So what is really going on in the world and in our lives? Do you ever wonder? Is there any way to find out? As it turns out, the Scriptures are surprisingly clear about it. If you are a person who asks these deep questions, there really is a way to know more. The only requirement is that you really have to want to know, for the Word of God promises that those who seek will find (1).

An excellent analogy to this comes from the movie "The Matrix". If you have seen it you probably recall the scene where the main character Neo (Keanu Reeves) is offered a choice between a red pill and a blue pill (you can Google it and watch it on youtube if you like). If Neo takes the red pill he learns the truth about the matrix, which permeates the world around him but is really only an illusion. In the movie, the matrix is like a veil pulled over everyone's eyes to hide the fact that they were all born into bondage. By taking the red pill he can learn the truth about and escape the prison of the matrix. Conversely, if Neo takes the blue pill he can remain and live in the deluded world of the matrix, totally ignorant of the truth that something is terribly wrong. I'll let you watch the movie if you want to know more!  :)

This concept is really quite a stunning analogy to the spiritual world as described in the Word of God. Part of the purpose of this post is to encourage you to "take the red pill", so to speak, to begin to learn more about the nature of the world around us as taught through the Scriptures. Paradise really has been lost (2). We are all born into bondage (3, 4). Things unseen really are more important than things seen (5). Freedom and redemption are available (6, 7), all weeping will one day cease and death will be destroyed (8). And those who choose redemption will receive treasure in this life (9) and one day will take their place in paradise restored (10). Don't misunderstand, there are some things we will never understand this side of heaven, including some of our sufferings. But a little clarity now would do us wonders as we face the trials of everyday life.

A good summary of this can be found in the book Epic, by John Eldredge, which is a short 104 page read that gives a bird's eye view of these things. If you click the link here and scroll down the page, there is even a brief overview of the book. It is worth spending a couple of minutes to read!

                                                                                                 

Footnotes:

Scientists Who Believe in God

In this short interview (<4 min) Dr Francis Collins (Director, National Human Genome Research Institute) explains why he believes in a personal God and how his faith is compatible with science. For a brief article about Dr. Francis Collin's road to faith, see Why this scientist believes in God.

Given the apparent "rift" between science and faith in God in our modern world, it is perhaps surprising to learn that many famous scientists of the past had a deep faith in God! Many of today's scientists do too although you may not often hear about them. And like believing scientists before them (see a partial list below), they don't see a conflict between Christianity and science. Dr. Collins in the youtube video above is one example.

This topic is one I hope to visit time and again, but today I simply want to list a few scientists whom you may have heard of who were devout Christians:

1. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543): Polish astronomer who put forward the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun.
2. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1627): Philosopher known for establishing the scientific method of inquiry based on experimentation and inductive reasoning.
3. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630): Brilliant mathematician and astronomer. He did early work on light, and established the laws of planetary motion about the sun.
4. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642): Galileo's troubles with the established church are famous, but his problem was with the institutionalized church, not Christianity. His controversial work on the solar system was published in 1633.
5. Rene Descartes (1596-1650): French mathematician, scientist and philosopher who has been called the father of modern philosophy.
6. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662): French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher.
7. Isaac Newton (1642-1727): In optics, mechanics, and mathematics, Newton was a figure of undisputed genius and innovation.
8. Robert Boyle (1791-1867): One of the founders and key early members of the Royal Society, Boyle gave his name to "Boyle's Law" for gases, and also wrote an important work on chemistry.
9. Michael Faraday (1791-1867): The son of a blacksmith who became one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. His work on electricity and magnetism not only revolutionized physics, but led to much of our lifestyles today, which depends on them (including computers and telephone lines and, so, web sites).
10. Gregor Mendel (1822-1884): The first to lay the mathematical foundations of genetics, in what came to be called "Mendelianism".
11. William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907): Kelvin was foremost among the small group of British scientists who helped to lay the foundations of modern physics.

LIFE and death

The immortality of the soul is something of such vital importance to us, affecting us so deeply, that one must have lost all feeling not to care about knowing the facts of the matter"  Blaise Pascal

Me in the cockpit of a Piper Pawnee C, which I flew during
the summer of 1980 to apply pesticides to crops and pastures
near Scotia, Nebraska where I grew up.

My tension was rising as I powered my Piper Pawnee airplane down the short runway. I had been crop dusting all summer at my small-town airport but somehow this takeoff seemed different. The plane was fully loaded, sluggish, and had already passed the "point of no return" (where the airplane was moving too fast to safely stop even if I throttled back and applied brakes). The plane didn't seem to want to lift off, and the end of the runway was rapidly approaching. Immediately beyond was a county road with ditches on both sides and a barbed wire fence and tall corn field just beyond that. I knew the airplane wouldn't fare too well if I couldn't lift off by the time I got there, but worse, I knew I wouldn't fare too well either. By the time I got to the end of the runway the plane was still on the ground.That was not how I had planned for that day to go.