Scary God

I must confess that stories of serial killers and deranged angry people interest me to no end. I like scary stories, thrillers and plots with twists and turns that shock you. I like to read Stephen King, who everyone in the world knows. I also like Ted Dekker’s books who is the Christian version of Stephen King. Ted Dekker also has sold millions of books, but certain dusty little corners of Christendom have never heard of him. That is because it is taboo or against the rules to read fiction, especially horror. I don’t understand this when taken against the backdrop of the bible, which if you made an accurate movie about would certainly be rated NC-17 if not X (and we read these stories to children).

In dark little corners of the church world, reading Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and on and on and on, are frowned upon. I guess that’s because the bible is true and fiction is, well, not true. 

If you ever read a good fiction book, you related to the characters, you nodded with their thoughts and saw yourself in their shoes.The bible on the other hand, at best most believe its history and say just like a good little boy or girl,

“I believe the bible is the inerrant word of God,” or some other rote kind of line they saw on the church website. You may even self-talk yourself into believing it. But, you don’t see yourself in it, you can’t often relate to the characters, especially God himself.

One minute He’s all gushy soft and cradling you to sleep under the shadow of his wings, and the next minute his fiery indignation is pouring out wrath. Jesus, the Lamb of God is ‘slain’ from the foundations of the earth, yet how many make Him out to be some Ghandi-type peacenik? I thought lambs were supposed to be nice and fluffy, not brutally murdered and left hanging on a cross to die a torturous death. (Hold on a minute, let me catch my breath).

I believe our modern society has done a good job of scrubbing up God and reworking His Image into something palatable. While real horrors upon horrors mount up around us, society has sanitized God to either make him a lifeless icon open to debate about his existence or an un-politically correct, judgmental warmonger, disallowed in our advanced and modern society. 

And, somewhere in-between he is a cross between Mister Rogers and William Wallace (as portrayed in the movie Braveheart). So which will it be folks? Mister Rogers or Braveheart?

As the Mister Rogers God, He just welcomes all to the neighborhood as he sits smiling in his unfashionable sweater sharing nice unoffending platitudes with all. He does not scare me, He is a sappy pushover.

As the ‘Braveheart’ God, He is a brokenhearted warrior seeking freedom and justice for the apple of his eye who has been violently brutalized and murdered by tyrants. He is now on a bloody rampage to set them free at any cost. He is uncontrollable and frightening.

I pick Braveheart God. As I said before about fiction, there is more truth revealed there than all the truth we can ‘conjure’ up.

Oh, and for all you overly sensitive religious types let me back it up with a little ‘scripture’.

Nahum 1:5  In His presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed.

  ⁶Who can stand before His fierce anger? Who can survive His burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in His presence.

This scares the HELL out of me. (But, I like this God)

I am also very relieved that it goes on to say…...

  ⁷The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him.

  ⁸But He will sweep away His enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue His foes into the darkness of night.

  If we would ever see God as He is, we would be quite frightened indeed, but we could also be comforted that this scary God is scary for me, if only I will trust Him to do what He does with the world He created.

God and Babies

God and Babies

"Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" ^{Matthew 18:1}

 (Jesus’ disciples asked this question) It wasn’t a religious doctrine question. It was a human question.

If their question didn’t “cut to the quick” of the matter the answer from Jesus did. Cut to the quick is when you trim your fingernail too short and it starts to bleed. You’ve cut into the flesh.

The disciples weren’t afraid to ask it, but I’m sure they were surprised, as they often were, when Jesus brought a little child in their midst. Then Jesus said unless you become like an infant you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven.

Farther on Jesus said that if you receive one ‘little’ child like this, you receive Him. Remember, He came to us as a helpless baby.

An infant doesn’t even think about that question “who’s great?”

Recently an infant has come into my life, I am 55 years old, little JoJo is 11 WEEKS old and up until we met I was baby adverse, meaning I felt uncomfortable holding, changing, feeding babies etc. All based on my own selfishness. I have raised my kids, the youngest is twenty-seven.

JoJo was stuck in a toxic environment lacking substantial nurture and peace. He had little chance of thriving. His natural options were limited. He didn’t have much of a chance.

Well, I can’t explain it but, I looked into the face of that infant and I saw GOD. (Not that he really was God, stay with me.) It was not a vision, I wasn’t planning on it, and the next thing I know, the baby cracked a smile and tears flooded my cheeks. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not this way. (Remember Mike, you don’t do babies.)

Now, only a few weeks later, through a series of divine circumstances, I am the legal guardian of little JoJo. Without me he can do nothing. He cannot eat drink or clean himself. He cannot go anywhere without me. He loves me.

He doesn’t love me because I take care of him. His thoughts are probably not that sophisticated. The same day I met that little guy, he looked into my eyes and I could hear him say, “Save Me.” He didn’t look pitiful, he looked happy, like he knew what would happen.

This is what Jesus was saying, unless you be converted or literally changed back into a little infant, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Now this means to live under his rule, reign and care.

Without Jesus I am living in a toxic environment without a chance of success. I need to put my helpless little self into his absolute care.

I need to be as dependent on God as JoJo is on me.

I need to worry less about if he will and just put myself in his hands.

I need to love God because He is, not for what he does.

My thoughts about greatness need to be simple or nonexistent.

Little JoJo is worried about nothing.

He is at peace in my care.

His only cry is “save me.”

Jesus said “anyone who welcomes a little child like this on My behalf is welcoming Me.”

That’s a pretty wild statement. Jesus made lots of them.

Once upon a time, God handed his helpless little SELF into frail human hands. One slip and the plan could have been over. He trusted us and therefore sealed the greatest relationship that could ever be. God and man.

“Save Me”

Fairy Tale Anyone?

According to Wikipedia, a  Fairy tale is a type of short narrative that typically features characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, with some magic and enchantments thrown in.

However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies.

In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe ‘something’ blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale ending" or “a happy ending,” though not all fairy tales end happily.

If you have gone this far, thank you for your patience there really is a point to make, hopefully.

This thought was spurred (no pun intended) as I was thinking of my closest friend, definitely not a fairy. A real man’s man if there ever was one. A bull riding (see the possible pun now), gold mining, explosives and repair anything man. Add to that story a  life of wasted (literally) youth and  destruction. Picture a drunken cowboy roaring around the desert in a beat up car ending too many nights sick or in jail.

Nowadays he works to heal this world.

If it had not been for the grace of God inserting itself in his life, the story would not have the fairy tale ending it does. (see now my fairy tale idea)

Amazing but true.

It even has its share of goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and even some magic or enchantments. (Can you say fantastic tests and trials of faith?)

In a non-fairy-tale world, unexplainable tragedies don’t befall the average person of goodness and faith. But they do and they did. And still the fairy tale life continues.

I have had one of those fairy tale lives too, full of goblins and ghouls but with an ending that is so stupendously happy it defies belief or logic.

Neither of these tales could have occurred without another story that many regard as merely a fairy tale.

A Creator God desperately in love with His creation inserts himself into his creation, as one of them. Starting as a helpless baby. Completely dependent on his own frail and failing creation.

One slip and God manifest would be no longer.

That baby grows to be a man. Perfect man that wanted to love all and do good.

Religious authorities plot to exterminate him. They nail Him to a cross and he dies the most brutal death imaginable(you know the story). 

He comes back to life three days later and hangs around for another forty days before going back to heaven.

The fairy tale ending is that the story itself has the power to bring fairy tale endings to so many desperate broken lives.

Too bad, that many good and ‘bad’ people decide that the way they are is good enough and never believe the tale.

Hence, no fairy tale life for them.

I love my fairy tale life.

Judge Not

Judge not, that you be not judged.

                             –Jesus

I know what you are thinking. Yes, I have already judged you just like I judged that nameless person that was walking out of FoodsCo, right before I started writing this.

I have judged you because I think I know what you are thinking. Probably the same thing I would be thinking if I saw a blog post titled ‘Judge Not.’

Seeing the title, and considering I was a Christian, I might assume what it was about without reading IT. Ah! That cute little word ‘assume,’ a veritable sermon in itself, a silent little preacher hidden away in six typed letters.

Heck, as a ‘good’ Christian I might assume that this blog would be a tirade about how all 'those other people’ shouldn’t judge anyone, especially people we consider to be ‘outsiders’ of the church. Those other people that aren’t as kind, loving and Christ-like as us.

I might assume that this blog was about not judging other people’s churches because they sing, don’t sing, clap, don’t clap, or the ever more controversial, “Do they dunk or sprinkle?” The list goes on doesn’t it. But, none of us reading this do this. Do we?

Or, I might make the assumption, that this post is about ‘those’ religious, legalistic Christians, you know the ones with all ‘their’ rules and regulations. The ones who go around judging everyone else.
That ‘might’ be a good assumption, considering the hands typing this are held on by arms with tattoos of snakes, dragons and death’s-heads.

Or, better yet, since those arms are attached to a preacher, that this blog would be just another sermon about how we shouldn’t judge anybody no how, nowhere, and being so sure that sermon was only meant for other people and not us, we might pass it up.

     Perhaps, if you happen to be an unbeliever, atheist or just didn’t care one way or another about God, the universe, religion or anything else, you might pass it up as just another sign of how hypocritical those Christians really are.

But if you are reading this, you probably didn’t make any of those ASSUMPTIONS, or JUDGMENTS.

You be the judge.

The world needs more people like you.

Kingdoms Of The Heart

          Ten desperate lepers cried out to Christ. Hearing, Jesus told them to go to the priest as the law required, and as they went they were healed. Imagine, if you will, the joy, the celebration that went through the ten on finding they were healed.

Only one turned around to thank the Healer.

     Imagine in our case, if it was cancer, the joy we would have if Jesus spoke and we were healed just as we were headed to our chemotherapy session. We would be dancing in the streets, calling our friends, even telling strangers what had happened to us. If we were standing in line at Taco Bell when it happened, we would be screaming and telling the whole store.

     How soon would it be that we got around to turning to God? How soon before we bowed our knee and heart in prayer?

     How soon was it after we found out we had cancer that we asked God to heal? How soon was it that it became a request on Facebook for people to pray?

     I am a self-centered person, I care more about me than you even know, or perhaps you do. If you asked my friends though, you may get a different answer.

     I know me, and I have learned that there are four people in the universe that I have not successfully fooled.

Me, Myself, I and God.

Maybe Me, Myself and I are fooled some of the time, but God? Never.

     Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within me.” ^{Luke 17:21}

This should scare, amaze and perplex the bejesus out of us, no pun intended.

     But, I have come to realize that there also are competing kingdoms ‘within us’ constantly battling for superiority.

All too well Illustrated for me this very morning.

     My wife asked me, “What is this withdrawal from our bank account for?” Instead of responding with a simple explanation, the Kingdom of Self and Money kicked into gear.

     The archers were sent to the walls, the drawbridge was raised and the moat was restocked with more alligators. Admittedly, I was even surprised at the rise of this kingdom.

I did manage to explain, and it was something inconsequential, and we went peacefully about our day.

     That’s why I was so surprised at the rise and full alert status of the Kingdom of Money within me. Money had joined forces with the Kingdom of Self. I was thankful that they didn’t mount an all-out assault; that would have been ugly. They did go into full alert defense though, until I explained and the threat went away. Keep me out of trouble here, the threat was not my wife, it was my self-interest and comfort zone.

     Ah yes! There is yet another kingdom. Is there anyone that doesn’t love to live in the Kingdom of Comfort and Pleasure? I picture the King of Comfort sitting in plush pillows or a nice recliner as pretty girls bring platters of ribs and bowls of chips at the snap of his fingers. They change the channel or fluff the pillows at his slightest whim, never debating about what he is watching, nor ever speaking unless spoken too. The King of Comfort even has people to make all his decisions for him, including when to send the archers on the wall.

     There is a multitude of kingdoms all battling for supremacy, within me.

     Yet another, and I won’t mention the details, is the Kingdom of Sex. I only know about the male side, the female side is a mystery that I have learned little about.

     Would you like one or two more? I thought you would.

     The Kingdom of Time could be the most brutal and vicious of them all. The Kingdom of Time rules with an iron fist, yet on observation seems loose, disorderly and out of control. The King keeps all of his time in an underground vault guarded by well-armed troops, ready to fight if even one second is stolen or lost.

     Employers, spouses, acquaintances and even loved ones are often the archenemies of time. The Kingdom of Time is ruled by the Kingdom of Mine which is the brutal over-lord of both Money, Comfort and Time. Mine has huge armies it sends out in mass, hard to detect, they are masters of camouflage. It wears many masks of Charity, Faith, Hope and Love. It’s King’s name is Self Interest, changing his color at whim.

     One more Kingdom to go, the most powerful yet. A defender of the host and the giver of Life, Hope, and Love.

The Kingdom of God.

The arch-enemy of the Kingdom’s of Money, Self, Sex, Comfort and Time. The only way that the kings win; by our allegiance till death, sworn and fulfilled.

Question to self?

Will it be the Kingdom of Money, Self, Sex, Comfort or Time?

Or the Kingdom of Life, Hope and Love?

    

Jesus told the one leper, "Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you." Luke 17:19