Move, adapt, and keep feeding kids

While we all acknowledge the unfortunate reality that there are food-insecure people in every city across the nation, it may surprise you to hear that High Point, NC is one of the worst in the nation for this problem.  Despite being known as “the Furniture Capitol of the World” and having many metro amenities for city its size, as recently as 2015, a Gallup survey found that the Greensboro-High Point metro area had the highest level of food hardship in the country. 

Many churches and organizations have stepped up to address this challenge.  For several years now, our church, Connection Valley Church, has partnered with a local charity whose aim is to provide food to food-insecure families in the High Point, NC area.  Feeding Lisa’s Kids is the passion project of local businesswoman Lisa Hawley.  Currently about 140 families, which includes approximately 400 children, are provided with pantry-stocking foods once a month, with an extra delivery for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  On the first Wednesday of each month, a small army of volunteers meet to both load cars with food and to deliver to the families.

Recently, the monthly distribution site changed.  Previously, we would meet on the back grounds of a large church at 6:30am.  There was a pavilion where we could lay out and organize the pallets of food to be broken down and placed into cars.  The parking lot was spacious with plenty of room to make a path for the delivery volunteers to drive their cars through a well-defined route, where they would stop at the first station to get their assigned delivery family addresses, move up to another station manned with loading volunteers, get the food, and be on their way to the families in need.  We had been working from this place for a long time, and had the whole process down to a science.  Everyone understood the plan and what part they played in the process.  So much so, that we often finished the loading work early, before 7:30am.  The location was tucked away from any major roads or traffic.  It was a relatively peaceful place to meet up with friendly faces to do some good for others in our community.

But this past month, the location changed.  The new host church, First UMC of High Point, is located in downtown.  No longer tucked away from the noise and the traffic…instead, we are now in the middle of it.  The two stations – family assignment and food pickup – were no longer in a line-of-sight with each other.  Communication between the two was only possible via walkie-talkie.  There was a significantly smaller parking lot for the drivers to navigate, get their assignments, and then go to the next street over to load up with food.  A garage space smaller than the previous pavilion held the pallets of food.  The loading stations were along the right lane of a one-way street.  Traffic was just getting started for the day, and those that were out were not slowing down for anything.  The whole setup was nothing like we were used to, and, adding another degree of difficulty, we had fewer loading volunteers show up than in typical months.

We knew the morning was not going to run as smoothly as we were accustomed to.  After talking through the logistics and dividing into teams, one of our pastors prayed for God’s blessing on the families, but also that God would help us manage our frustrations as we navigated this new space.  I’d love to tell you that after he prayed that prayer, everything then went perfectly – but it didn’t.  At first, the family assignment station sent cars for food loading as soon as they gave out the addresses, but this quickly overwhelmed the three smaller loading teams, which led to a traffic build-up on the roadways.  As the pallets of food were broken down and placed for the loading teams to pick up, the only place to put the food was on tables which took up half the sidewalk.  Then, navigating the sidewalk around each other as we carried food to the cars slowed down the process.  No one was snapping or yelling, but there were plenty of concerned looks and frustrated faces.

But we adapted on the fly.  The three loading teams condensed down to two teams.  Those breaking down pallets adjusted how they were bringing food out to the sidewalk.  The loading side would walkie-talkie to the assignment station when to send the next car around.  We weren’t done early, by any means – but the work got done.  Families were fed, and that is the goal.  We all talked briefly afterward, grateful that God helped us keep our tempers in check and that the cloudy weather never turned to rain.  We agreed there were a lot of lessons learned and adjustments to be made for next month.  This wasn’t a “bad location”, but there are additional logistics to work out before we are as smooth and polished as we were in the previous location.

Walking back to my truck, a construction worker called out to me from across the street, asking if we were starting a food bank.  I told him about Feeding Lisa’s Kids and that this was our first time at this new location.  He asked if the food was going up to the mountains – and that’s a fair question, because there are still relief efforts ongoing for people in western North Carolina who were impacted by Hurricane Helene last fall.  I told him, “No, this food is for local families in High Point.  We’re feeding hungry kids here.”  He replied with a smile and said, “I’m glad we’re feeding the kids.”  I told him we’d be there the first Wednesday of every month, and then we both went on our way.

Driving home, I reflected on everything that happened throughout the morning.  I came to the conclusion that as good as we had it in the previous location, whatever issues we have to work through with the new location…our actions and the kids’ needs are going to be much more visible to the community.  Many people who work or drive through downtown High Point have likely never heard of Feeding Lisa’s Kids.  Now, every month, what will they see?  They’ll see two churches and a non-profit working together to help local families in need.  What will come of this?  I don’t know, but I’ll leave that up to God.  We’ll just put into practice one of Jesus’ directions from His “Sermon on the Mount”:

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

I’m excited to see what happens from here.

If you’re local to High Point, come join us the first Wednesday of each month.  If you’re not local, I guarantee there are needs of people local to you that you can meet.  Get out there and shine your light in ways so they can see your good works – all with the aim of pointing them to your Father in heaven.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We'll do greater works than Jesus?

Today is the Thursday before Easter, also known as Maundy Thursday.  “Maundy” is a shortened form of the Latin word “mandatum” which means “command”.  This Thursday remembers the day when Jesus held His Last Supper with His disciples and gave them their marching orders for when He would be gone.  In John’s record of Jesus’ teaching, three times Jesus commands them to love one another (John 13:34, 15:12, 15:17) and two more times He urges them to follow this command (John 14:15, 15:14).

There is a part of Jesus’ Last Supper teaching that has always sat a little odd with me.  Philip has just asked Jesus to show them God the Father, and this was Jesus’ reply:

John 14:9-12
Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know Me, Philip?  The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.  How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?  The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own.  The Father who lives in Me does His works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.  Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

Truly I tell you, the one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do.  And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Greater works than Jesus???

That’s a hard concept to wrap my mind around, let alone accept.

Many commentaries and preachers will say that Jesus’ “greater” comment was more about scope rather than size.  They’ll argue that we’re not running around performing even bigger miracles than Jesus did, but that because He went to be with the Father, the Holy Spirit indwells all believers – the result being that the good news of Jesus is spread to the entire world, instead of the small section of Israel that Jesus ministered in. 

While that answer makes sense, I’ve never been fully convinced it fits what Jesus was talking about here.  However, I came across an explanation from Donald Barnhouse that both helps me understand…and blows my mind.  He takes an analogy from a real-life hero, Wheeler Lipes, who was an officer in the Navy.  In 1942, Wheeler was a Pharmacist’s Mate aboard a submarine and had to perform an emergency appendectomy.  He did not have the proper medical equipment, nor any formal surgical training…but the procedure had to be done, as a fellow sailor’s life was at stake.

Here is Barnhouse’s retelling of Wheeler’s story and his analogy back to Jesus’ Maundy Thursday statement:

Aboard a United States submarine in the enemy waters of the Pacific, a sailor was stricken with acute appendicitis.  The nearest surgeon was thousands of miles away.  Pharmacist Mate Wheeler Lipes watched the seaman’s temperature rise to 106 degrees.  His only hope was an operation.  Said Lipes: “I have watched doctors do it.  I think I could.  What do you say?”  The sailor consented.  In the wardroom, about the size of a Pullman drawing room, the patient was stretched out on a table beneath a floodlight.  The mate and assisting officers, dressed in reversed pajama tops, masked their faces with gauze.  The crew stood by the diving planes to keep the ship steady: the cook boiled water for sterilizing.  A tea strainer served as an antiseptic cone.  A broken-handled scalpel was the operating instrument.  Alcohol drained from the torpedoes was the antiseptic.  Bent tablespoons served to keep the muscles open.  After cutting through the layers of muscle, the mate took twenty minutes to find the appendix.  Two hours and a half later, the last catgut stitch was sewed, just as the last drop of ether gave out.  Thirteen days later the patient was back at work.

Admittedly this was a much more magnificent feat than if it had been performed by trained surgeons in a fully equipped operating room of a modern hospital.  Study this analogy and you will know the real meaning of Christ’s words.  “Greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”  For Christ, perfect God, to work directly on a lost soul to quicken and bring out of death and into life is great, but for Him to do the same thing through us is a greater work.

Jesus can represent the Father perfectly.  He said, “the Father who lives in Me does His works.”  As such, Jesus can flawlessly show who God is to everyone He interacts with.  We are as far from perfect as Wheeler Lipes was trained to perform emergency surgery.  We are rudimentary and broken and unrefined, having no merit to partner with the Creator of the Universe in anything…let alone to be the ones to share the Father with other broken humans.  And yet…we who believe in Jesus as the Messiah are the ones whom God partners with.  That is the greater work.  This partnership is far better and more eternally impactful than performing physical miracles of restoring sight and healing broken bodies.  To use lesser instruments and still achieve the results that would come from perfection…that is a magnificent feat indeed!

So, on this Maundy Thursday, remember Jesus’ command – love one another.  But do not forget that we will participate in greater works as we partner with Jesus and show others who the Father truly is.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Sometimes, God provides chainsaws

For many years, our family has supported the mission of Chestnut Mountain Ranch, located in Morgantown, WV.  CMR started in 2004 as Steve and Dawn Finn began making moves and building support to create a debt-free ministry.  Their vision is “Restoring hope to children and families” and they accomplish this by being a Christ-centered safe haven for boys and families in crisis… a place for family restoration, where boys can enjoy school again, and all can experience positive family values.  They provide these troubled boys with a Christ-centered home and school.  They aren’t looking just to get these boys to “learn to behave” or simply make up how far behind they are at school, instead CMR reaches for the hearts of young men and aims to restore broken families through a structured, loving community.  The undergirding promise CMR relies on is found in one of Paul’s letters to the believers in a town called Corinth:

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

My wife and I have been able to support them in a variety of ways over the years: we’re monthly supporters, we’ve put sweat equity into various builds and projects, we’ve participated in fundraising events, and we have often donated when I have received a bonus check.  One time, we were in the market for a “new” used car for my wife, and instead of trading in her old vehicle, we donated it to CMR.  It’s been so awesome to support them in many small ways and in a few big ways…but the story around our most recent donation is probably now my favorite.

On Wednesday, March 12th, I received a bonus check from work.  We immediately talked about how we can help CMR.  We went to their Amazon Wish List to do some shopping.  The biggest item on their list was a chainsaw.  Now, you have to understand, CMR is located on 300 acres in wild, wonderful West Virginia.  A chainsaw is a necessity for their area – they have tons of land to manage and trees to remove as they expand the number of homes onsite to house the boys.  We thought this would be a perfect gift to buy for them…one problem, though.  Every time I went to purchase the chainsaw on Amazon, I received an error message saying “This item cannot be purchased off a wish list.”

So the next day, I sent Steve a text to let him know that the Amazon Wish List wasn’t an option to get him a chainsaw.  Here’s his reply:

I’m not sure why Amazon blocked the sale but if you want to order one that would help us.  We’ve got a mission team here this week and two of our chainsaws went down.  Stihl saws are the best.  It seems like everything else we’ve used over the years doesn’t last.  We use chainsaws a lot here.

The timing couldn’t be better. We were just talking this morning about how our chainsaws were dying out over the last few days with this mission team.

I got the specs of the Stihl chainsaws they needed and started searching the web.  I found a Morgantown Stihl dealer that had two of them on hand.  When I called them and explained the donation situation, they offered to unpack them and get them ready for use at no additional charge. 

The best call came next.  I called Steve and told him that there were two of their exact-request chainsaws waiting for them to pick up.  His first words were, “Are you serious?” and then he told me that previously, rebuild kits had been purchased, tried, and had not fixed the two chainsaws they were using.  In fact, he said, that morning he was talking with the other leaders about needing to replace those two saws.  And then…out of the blue…there are two new chainsaws ready to go.

The thing is, Steve and I hadn’t communicated in over a month.  Sometimes several months pass between texts.  He and I had never talked about this mission trip, what they were working on, or anything about chainsaws.  We were not aware of CMR’s need, and they were unaware of our new capacity to give on that particular week.  But somehow, God orchestrated it all. 

What’s really cool about this story?  This isn’t the only time God has stepped in to provide for an issue that has come up for Chestnut Mountain Ranch.  Steve can tell you dozens of stories just like this one, and many of them on a much, much larger scale.  God has always provided for them, and this time…well…God provided chainsaws.

But this story isn’t just about God providing tools to get some manual labor done.  Looking at this from a larger perspective: Steve and CMR were, once again, reminded that God is actively moving in ways to support them; the mission crew will be able to refer to this incident for the rest of their lives and share with others how they witnessed God’s provision; and we were affirmed that following God’s prompting to give has the potential for great impact.

And for you?  Check out the links above.  Learn more about CMR, take a look at their Amazon Wish List.  Because everything donated to them – whether it’s basketballs, sweat equity, chainsaws, money, or anything else – all goes to the mission of showing these troubled young men that in Jesus, they can find hope and a future.  They will learn that they can become God’s new creation.  Becoming new means they have a second chance.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite: Jesus said you must

Jesus said you must
Originally posted on April 02, 2020

The word “must” is a big deal.  When God says we “must” do something, we need to be paying attention to what that something is.  In this case, Jesus is teaching the Samaritan woman what worship toward God should look like.  Watch for what Jesus says true worshipers “must” do:

John 4:19-24
“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know.  We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.  But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.  Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

Notice that Jesus is giving instruction for worship, but He also says the Father wants to be worshiped this way.  But what, exactly, does it mean to worship in Spirit and in truth? 

First thing Jesus says is that God the Father is spirit.  The essential reason worship of God must be spiritual is that God is a spiritual being, not a physical idol.  Worship of a spiritual God requires spiritual worship, not just going through certain acts and motions of worship at a special location. 

Secondly, Jesus says that God the Father must be worshiped in truth.  The Greek word for truth (aletheon) is a compound word, consisting of a + lanthano – when independently translated means not + keep secret, not + escape notice, or not + be hidden.  Therefore, truth is found in what God has revealed about Himself.  This means our worship should be in accordance with what God has told us about Himself and in line with what He wants…not just whatever chords or lyrics give us an emotional response.  If we must worship God in truth, then people cannot simply worship God in any manner that seems attractive to them.  We must worship Him as He, by the Spirit, has revealed that we should.

When Jesus said that a time is coming when worship will not be on Mt. Gerizim or in Jerusalem, He was throwing out all division points between the Samaritans and the Jews.  Worshiping in spirit is in contrast to how the Jews worshiped physically, via ceremony and letter of the law.  Worshiping in truth is in contrast to how the Samaritans worshiped in ignorance. 

Both the Samaritans and the Jews were concerned that worship of God was done right.  However, they believed that focusing on the where the worship occurred would give them the closest relationship with God.  Jesus corrects this thinking and tells the woman that worship of God the Father is no longer confined to a specific location, but worship rightly done will focus on how – in spirit and in truth.

So how does all this relate to us modern believers?

Looking at Jesus’ teachings after this encounter can give us some help.  “In Spirit” can also refer to The Holy Spirit, which Jesus later sent to assist believers in the church age (John 14:26).  “In truth” can also refer to Jesus, since He is The Truth (John 14:6).  Putting this all together, true worship is in step with The Holy Spirit, with Jesus, and aimed toward God the Father.  This makes our worship a trinitarian event – we are interacting with all three persons of the godhead!

And yet, still today, some people worship God in religious ignorance.  Ritual activities and tradition have become so comfortable for many believers that their own spirit is not engaged during worship.  And unfortunately, a lot of modern worship services are so focused on generating an emotional response that they do not stay true to what God has revealed about Himself.  Jesus shows us the correct way to worship – in Spirit and in truth.  If we want authentic, real worship…this is how we must do it.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

It’s time you do this on your own

Have you ever met someone who refused to grow up?

I’m not talking about someone who tries to keep a child-like curiosity and wonder about their life.  Instead, I’m asking if you’ve met someone who still thinks and behaves immaturely, whose view of the world is completely self-centered, small, and childish.  Have you met someone like that?  Of course you have.

Even though they are adult-sized, it doesn’t take long for a childish adult to stand out.  You can hear the whine in their voice.  Any topic of discussion is oozing with self-centeredness.  Other people only matter so much as they are beneficial to them in that moment.

Unfortunately, it’s a little harder to spot a childish Christian, but they can’t hide for long either.  When we first believe in Jesus for eternal life, we are born into God’s Family.  This new life can happen at any biological age – childhood, teens, young adult, older adult – and we all start out as spiritual infants.  However, spiritual growth doesn’t happen automatically like physical growth does. 

Spiritual growth comes from learning about God in the Scriptures (both by being taught and by your own study), applying what you have learned in your life, praying with God, and spending time with others who are in God’s Family and further along than you are.

Want to know an easy way to spot an immature Christian?  Listen to what they say.  Unfortunately, buzz words and buzz phrases have made their way into how many Christians speak…and these phrases are often held at the same level of truth as the Scriptures themselves.  How many of these phrases do you recognize?

God helps those who help themselves.
Money is the root of all evil.
God won’t give you any more than you can handle.
When God closes a door, He opens a window.

None of these are in the Bible.  In fact, some of these are exactly opposite of what’s in the Bible.  But they are often spoken as spiritual truths coming directly from Jesus and His disciples.

Unfortunately, Biblical ignorance (which is nothing more than not knowing what God actually says) isn’t just a modern problem.  At one point during his letter, the author of Hebrews had to stop and call out his audience:

Hebrews 5:11-14
We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.  Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again.  You need milk, not solid food. 

Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant.  But solid food is for the mature – for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

No punches pulled there.

The Greek word translated as lazy – nothros – means sluggish or stupid, dull or stubborn.  And the thing to note is that they didn’t start out with this deficit!  The author says you have become too lazy to understand – their willful choices are holding them back.  They could have chosen to grow in their walk with Jesus, in fact by now they should have been teaching others, but they liked being childish so much that they refused to learn or mature.

They have become a drag to the church and are unable to confront the societal pressures they are currently facing.  Their immaturity is part of the reason why they received this letter.  The author’s hope was to spur them on to put their faith into action, so they wouldn’t regret wasting their lives on things that did not have eternal value.

And what of us?  Will we heed the same warning?

Let’s stop being lazy and distracted.  Instead, let’s get into the Scriptures for ourselves.  Then we can grow and mature into the people God has created us to be.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Bring your whole self to God

Over the past decade, there has been a push to make places of employment “more inclusive”.  While that term has a variety of definitions and applications, one phrase that I’ve frequently heard is the desire to “bring your whole self to work” – and this idea is often hooked up to the argument that we’re not autonomous worker-robots simply there to do the company’s bidding.  Instead, we’re told, the ideal would be to foster belonging and acceptance, because a unified group gets more accomplished than a fractured group.

The counter-argument doesn’t necessarily advocate for a fractured group, rather the question is more around “How much of ‘our whole self’ really needs to be identified, shared, and celebrated within the workplace?”.  And this debate has volleyed back and forth over the recent years, with many businesses and employees caught in the cross-fire.

Regardless of how you view the idea of “bringing your whole self to work” – I have to wonder how much we have this same struggle in our relationship with God.  Are we holding back?  Are we over-sharing? If you’re not sure, try a few of these questions:

Do we approach God in prayer with the same robotic, formula-driven phrases because that’s what we think He wants to hear? 
Are we afraid He will get mad at us for being less-than-perfect or frazzled by the day’s events? 
Have we convinced ourselves that our issues are too small for the God of the Universe to be bothered with?
Do we feel guilty after we have an emotional outburst (anger, tears, etc.) while talking to God?
Do we think that God will “bring down lightning” or punish us for questioning His plans?

When we’re troubled by questions like this, the best place to go is to the Scriptures.  One famous psalm that is familiar to most people is Psalm 23, which starts out like this:

Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Reading through that psalm, we can find many truths that can be very comforting.  But did you know that the psalm just before it, Psalm 22, starts out very differently:

Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Completely different feeling and situation from what we read in Psalm 23.  Both psalms are authored by the same guy, David.  He’s talking about the same God in both psalms.

Most importantly – don’t miss this – God considers both of these psalms to be acceptable worship.  Psalms were not just words written on a page, but they were songs to be sung.  Can you imagine singing “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” in a church today?  And yet, the ancient Israelites sang it to God.

Take a look for yourself and survey the first verse of any number of the 150 psalms in the Bible – you’ll find that the ancient Israelites indeed brought their “whole selves” to God, looking to Him for truth, rescue, comfort, relationship, excitement, guidance, and support.  Regardless of circumstances, God welcomed them, just as they were.

So let’s stop with trying to say “the right prayer” or worrying that we don’t sound like our pastor when he prays.  Bring your whole self to God.  There’s no need to hide or pretend to be perfect.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Do not memorize this verse

Did you know that the numbering for chapters and verses in the Bible are not original with the text?  Instead, they were added later on to help us navigate the text in a consistent, reliable manner.  In fact, chapter numberings were first introduced around 1227 AD and verse numberings not until 1448 AD for the Old Testament and 1551 AD for the New Testament.

As such, we should not consider these numberings to be at the same level as the inspired Scripture text; instead, they should be viewed as helpful navigational landmarks.  Most of the time, chapter breaks and verse numberings make sense within the text; however, there are more than a handful that seem a little random or even interruptive to what the author was writing.

Many times we use these chapter-verse landmarks to help us identify truths that we want to recall later – to hide them in our heart, as the writer of Psalm 119 states.  Scripture memorization is an awesome tool to help us keep God’s perspective in focus through whatever life throws our way.

That said, not all verses are equally helpful, taken at face-value.  Check out this verse from the Mosaic Law:

Leviticus 11:30
geckos, monitor lizards, common lizards, skinks, and chameleons.

Feeling edified and uplifted?  Ok, maybe not so much.

While we might not find this particular reference to be a statement we want to immediately recall…we need to avoid thinking that because we shouldn’t memorize a verse that it means the verse isn’t all that useful.

Admittedly, taken by itself, this verse is kinda odd.  Since this is the back-half of a sentence, let’s go back to verse 29 and see if we can figure out why God would bother listing out a bunch of lizards:

Leviticus 11:29-30
These creatures that swarm on the ground are unclean for you:
weasels, mice, any kind of large lizard,
geckos, monitor lizards, common lizards, skinks, and chameleons.

Ok, well, that gives a little more perspective.  God is telling the Israelites that these lizards were unclean for them – meaning they should be avoided.  Interestingly, God gives them additional clarification about handling these creatures:

Leviticus 11:31-35, 41
These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures.  Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening.  When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean – any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work.  It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.

If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you are to break it.  Any edible food coming into contact with that unclean water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean.  Anything one of the carcasses falls on will become unclean.  If it is an oven or stove, it is to be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you…All creatures that swarm on the earth are abhorrent; they must not be eaten.

Well, that seems like a lot, doesn’t it?
Why would God get so seemingly bent out of shape about lizards?

When reading Scripture, not only is it important to read individual verses in context, but it’s important to remember the timeline context, as well.  At the time of the Mosaic Law, there are no refrigerators or freezers.  Food is always prepared fresh, otherwise it spoils.  None of the cleaning supplies we use everyday are available.  If a dead lizard fell and landed in your clothing or food or water, it would be contaminated.  Just because they didn’t know about bacteria and microbes doesn’t mean they couldn’t become seriously sick from them.  Getting a clay pot or clay oven cleaned out?  There’s no way they could guarantee that they had disinfected all parts of that super-porous material…the Israelites really were better off smashing them and moving on.

God gave these rules (and others) to both set them apart from the practices of the surrounding nations and to protect them from potential dangers/illnesses they could not foresee or understand. 

This is where the ancient rules in Leviticus actually teach us modern-day believers something…there are some commands that God gives in the New Testament that we might not fully understand.  For those instances, I would propose that God is doing with us the same thing He did for Israel – He wants us to live distinctly from the culture around us and He wants to protect us from potential dangers that, right now, we can’t foresee or fully understand.

So maybe you don’t memorize a verse from Leviticus that is nothing more than a list of lizards…but do remember the principle that God has a purpose in everything He commands, even if we don’t fully understand it at the time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Hope while navigating catastrophes

My wife and I recently watched the Netflix movie Leave the World Behind, starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke.  As the movie progresses, you begin to realize that something catastrophic has happened in the USA, and the technology we all rely upon is no longer available.  The main characters struggle to figure out what’s happening, what they should do next, and how much they should trust each other.  Through odd camera angles and tension-building music, the director paints a picture of unease and curiosity that lasts over two hours.  By the end of the movie, there is no resolution given to the world changing events; instead, the story has focused on the dynamic of ordinary people reacting to and changing in situations they can’t control.

To be honest, I don’t watch a lot of movies, but when I do, it’s typically for simple entertainment value.  Give me a story where the problem is resolved, there’s some crazy action stunts, sprinkle in some unexpected, quippy humor…and I’m good.  Leave the World Behind did not even come close to that category of film. 

Afterwards, my wife and I talked through all the different catastrophic scenarios that could happen in our area and what we could do about them.  We recognized that you can prepare for a lot of stuff, but ultimately, you can’t prepare for everything.  That’s when it hit me – if all there is to our lives are the events we are living through right now, then the realization that a natural disaster or global catastrophe could end everything we know and love…that would be mind-shatteringly depressing.  However, if Jesus is right and death is not the end of our lives…then the potential of these terrible scenarios, while still horrific, have much less bite. 

In light of God’s promise of life beyond what we see here, thinking through all these uncontrollable world events reminded me of a few verses I memorized many years ago, from my NIV84 Bible:

Titus 1:1-2
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Christ Jesus for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time

The faith we have in God and the knowledge God gives us of the truth are not simply coping mechanisms to make us feel better in this life.  Trusting God is who He says He is and striving to understand Him better are not just distraction techniques or escapism fantasies, ideas that have no foundation other than our own wishful thinking.

Instead, Paul tells us that our faith and knowledge [are] resting on the hope of eternal life.  Our foundation for our trust in God and our perspective on this life rest upon our confident expectation that God has promised eternal life to those who believe Him for it.  God promises that He gives us never-ending absolute fullness of life.  Do you believe that?  If you do, then our confident expectation of eternal life is what sustains us as we move through all of life’s troublesome times.  Even when the catastrophic happens.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Depressed, messy prayers

There is a lot of nervousness right now about the economy and job security.  Government jobs are under heavy scrutiny, and while many private-sector companies are cautiously optimistic about the future…they’re also worried about budget constraints, talent shortages, foreign politics, domestic politics, and waning consumer sentiment – because many Americans still feel the impact of high prices.

If you’re feeling like your job security is low, then public perceptions, partisan divides, and loudly-shouted mixed opinions about economic data do nothing to alleviate your fears.  While I’m not currently there, I have been before.  There have been times in previous positions where I’ve been worried that I might lose my job for something I did, or times that I worried about moves the company was making that could eliminate my position, or times when fear and nervousness spiked because a “reduction in force” happened with no warning at all.

And in all those times, you know what always grew?  The amount of time I spent praying.  Nothing drives you to increase your time talking with God as much as having your paycheck security threatened. 

But what of those prayers?  How do you pray for help when the world around you feels so uncertain?  Especially if you haven’t talked with God 1-on-1 in a while…just letting the preacher on Sunday talk to God for you.  Should I sit up straight, fold my hands, bow my head, and close my eyes?  Do I need to drop down to my knees and (politely) beg?  Should I recite the Lord’s Prayer five times…ten times…more?  What are the right words to say?  Pastor Tony Evans has this advice:

If you have wrongly assumed that all prayer should be dignified and employ only theological jargon in your petitions to God, you have not understood prayer rightly.  Let David be your model. He approaches God honestly, pleading emotionally for deliverance.  As a troubled child depends on his or her daddy, go to your heavenly Father in your turmoil and open your heart to Him.

That is exactly what David did.  In Psalm 142, the beginning header recounts that this was written when he was in the cave.  How dark was it?  How confining?  How much despair and depression did the sloped walls communicate?  They certainly contributed to his mood and the raw words he prayed:

Psalm 142
I cry aloud to the Lord;
I plead aloud to the Lord for mercy.
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I reveal my trouble to Him.
Although my spirit is weak within me, you know my way.

Along this path I travel they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see: no one stands up for me;
there is no refuge for me; no one cares about me.

David certainly felt isolated and unsure of his future.  When he looks to the right and sees…no one, he feels utterly alone.  There was no one there to be his “right-hand man”; a warrior would have his trusted ally on his right to help protect his flank while holding his own shield with his left hand.  But for David…he looks and finds no one to care about him.

Alone.  Surrounded by cave walls.  No support.  All he sees are hidden traps up ahead. 
Perhaps you can relate. 

So David does the only thing he can do, and it is a model for us as well:

I cry to you, Lord;
I say, “You are my shelter, my portion in the land of the living.”
Listen to my cry, for I am very weak.
Rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
Free me from prison so that I can praise Your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because you deal generously with me.

There are no highbrow words, no flowery talk.  David doesn’t posture, fake being strong, or try to bargain with God.  Instead, he readily admits: I am very weak…they are too strong for me.  He can’t do this on his own.  The future, apart from God’s rescue, has no hope.

Looking at David’s example…it’s ok to pray this way.  Be raw.  Be real.  Be honest.  Tell God that you are weak, but you trust that He will be strong.

David made it out of that cave, because the God he trusted took care of him.  You can, too.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

All my heroes could transform

Growing up in the 80s and 90s provided me with many advantages – and one of the greatest advantages is that we had some of the best cartoons ever made.  With just a handful of TV channels to choose from, weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings were prime-time cartoon viewing as the networks put out their best efforts to captivate an audience.

Here is a short list of my favorites…see how many you recognize:

TigerSharks – A team of humans and aliens had access to the Fish Tank, a device that allowed them to transform from their humanoid forms into super-powered marine animals.  They used their abilities to defend the inhabitants of the planet Water-O from various evil enemies.

ThunderCats – The ThunderCats were cat-like humanoids who escaped their war-ravaged world to start a new life on a new planet.  They fought several groups of power-hungry, evil bad guys by calling on the power of the Eye of Thundera.  The Eye would grant the ThunderCats enhanced strength, speed, skill, or anything else they needed to defeat the evil Mumm-Ra and his minions.

He-man and the Masters of the Universe – Whenever the unassuming Prince Adam would hold the Sword of Power and say, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!” – he was transformed into He-Man.  Along with his friends, He-Man defended his planet from the schemes of the evil Skeletor.

Transformers – The Transformers were split into two factions: the noble Autobots and the evil Decepticons.  They crash-landed on earth and continued their eons-long conflict, with the Autobots defending humans and the Decepticons looking to either enslave or wipeout the humans.  Both groups had a robot form and could transform into a vehicle or other objects. 

You might have noticed a running theme in all my favorite cartoons…and while I didn’t make the connection when I was a kid, it is rather obvious now: Every main character was able to transform from their “normal” state into a super-charged version of themselves with enhanced abilities.  Of course, these enhanced abilities were crucial to defeating evil and winning the day. 

I’m sure you can see the same theme in some of your favorite shows, movies, books, and comics.  Us gravitating toward stories of transformation-leading-to-success speaks to our own desire to change and overcome.  But sadly, most of our stories about transformation are external changes – the TigerSharks became aquatic animals, the Transformers changed their outer form, and both the ThunderCats and He-man gained physical abilities.  By and large, the transformation stories we seek to tell about ourselves are also mainly external – we got a new job, we went to the gym, we bought a new car – and while those things are good…there remains a part of us that is unchanged.  It’s the part inside, at our core, we most want to transform…and that isn’t touched by any external changes.

This is our dilemma.  How do we find real, lasting, life-altering change?

Jesus offers us Himself:

John 10:10
I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

The Greek word for life – zoe – describes a life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, and blessed, in both this world and the next for those who put their trust in Christ.  Once we believe in Jesus for His gift of this zoe life, we are part of His family and we can begin to experience this life-change here and now, as well as in eternity.

While Jesus’ gift is free to any one (John 3:16, 5:24) and cannot be lost, we can participate in our own transformation and experience into abundant life.  But this transformation doesn’t start with the outside.  Instead, the Apostle Paul said it begins with how we think:

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Being able to know God’s will sounds like a super-power for living a life that conquers evil.  To get there, we need transformation of our minds.  What are we thinking about?  What are we spending our free time exposing our minds to?  Are we being conformed to this age or are we achieving the transformation we deeply desire?

These are hard questions, but ones worth wrestling over.  Don’t skip this.  Stop right now and ask God to renew your mind. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken