Fat. Ugly. Retarded. Stupid. Gay. Jerk.  

And then there are the ones I can’t (or shouldn’t) even type.

We’re an evil-tongued people.  We swear, we lie, we curse, we gossip, and we put others down.  James had it right when he said, that “the tongue is a fire…the very world of iniquity… and is itself set on fire by hell.”  (James 3:6)

But welcome to 2011 (2 days til 2012).  We have set ourselves completely free to say whatever we want to say because we think it and we think it should be said, and we desire to say it.  Freedom of speech gone a muck.  That’s America for you.

As cowardly as a put-down is, it reaches a new level of cowardice when say from behind a keyboard, through a text, or even worse: posted online for all to see, prop up, and revel in.  Under the banner of “just saying”, we’ve allowed ourselves free reign to bypass the filter between our brains and our mouths.

As you may know, I’ve been working with middle and high school students for nearly 17 years.  And there isn’t ever a shortage of put-downs floating around.  But as I’ve listened to them and corrected them (or attempted to), I’ve seen some common threads.  Whether you’re a teen or not, you can likely resonate with these:

1. Put-downs come from those who have been put down.

It’s the old saying “hurt people hurt people”.  While the sin nature in all of us is surely the leading factor, its also true that when you see someone being destructive with their words (at work, at the grocery store, on the playground, in the home), know that you’ve found someone who has been shown how to hurt others.  This does not condone or defend the behavior, but I constantly have to remind myself that those who are the most painful to be around are often people in the most pain.

#2: Put-downs give a false sense of victory.

Have you ever “stuck it” to someone?  You got entangled in an argument, things got heated,  and that perfect “zinger” came to mind at just the right time?  You likely had a sense of “take that”, but if we’re honest with ourselves those fleeting moments of victory get swallowed up in guilt and an even greater sense of defeat when we choose to employ dirty tactics to gain an upper hand in a verbal combat.

Put-downs are also used in elementary, middle, and high schools to establish who’s who.  Oh yeah, and they’re also used in traffic, in workplaces, offices, factories, homes, and nursing homes.  Heck, I’ve even seen them used at funerals!  All in an effort to establish a footing on a higher pedestal than others.

#3: Put-downs should be corrected…immediately.

Now, some might disagree with me on this one; especially the ultra-tolerant “live and let live” types.  But I’m a firm believer in speaking the truth in love.  Not in pride, or in piety, or in self-righteousness….in love.  When you hear someone say something hurtful, be bold enough to model for them a better way of communicating.  Sure you might get blasted yourself, but hey, take comfort in the fact that you did the right thing. Throwing someone a lifeline is your job.  Whether they take it or not is up to them.

If the atmosphere is too tense then just wait a while, but not too long.  Use a “Remember what you said a little while ago? I wanted to talk with you about that because I’m really struggling with it.”

We possess such power within the small muscle inside our mouths.  Did you know that the tongue is the only muscle not attached on both ends?  That means that you’ve always got a loose end to watch out for!  If you need help then there’s good news.  The God who made it knows how best to help you handle it.  Ask Him.   James was right when he said, “No man can tame the tongue.”  (3:8)  But we know Who can!

Ask anyone.  I’m not a complainer.  Complaining is akin to worrying and neither strategies do any good.  Jesus said it best (duh, of course He did–He’s God) when He said, “And which of you by worrying and add a single hour to his lifespan?” (Luke 12:25)  It wasn’t a question to be answered, but a strong statement all by itself.

Also, Dan Webster once said, “Complaining is the language of cowards.”  I use that one on my kids from time to time but they’re not quite ready to fully appreciate the truth of it.

So don’t think I’m some “grumpy old man” leaning back in his rocker waxing nostalgic about the glory days.  Lord knows I’m not old enough for that.  Really.  I’m not.  I’m really not.  And besides, how the heck did “glory” get connected with the past anyway?  If you ask me, glory hasn’t arrived yet!  But the more I look around, the less things seem to be going well for us as a human race.  We seem to have released our grasp on the concept of doing what’s decent, what’s civil, what’s amenable, what’s respectable, and dare I say it; what’s “right”.  Now all you hipster relativists can hold your tongue on your “what’s IS right?” soliloquy.  I’ve heard it all before.  And I’m not even arguing for Biblical behavior (for the moment), I’m arguing for “I’m a human, you’re a human. Let’s treat each other with dignity and care.”

I’ve stepped in it, haven’t I?  Yep, I’ve put my size 12’s right in the middle of a pile of the issue our society is entrenched in.  For all our “greener world” do-gooding, we have left behind the sense of common anything.  For all of our connectedness, I’d defy you to find a time in history when we were less TRULY connected than we are today.  For all of our intentions and ideals to be a better people, we just aren’t.  And from where I sit, its getting worse.

I once worked at Axelsson & Johnson’s Fish Market in Cape May, NJ.  It’s still there.  Go eat a crab cake sandwich. They’re delicious.  While I was working there one day, I stood at the cutting table next to a co-worker named Jen.  Jen and I were killing and gutting live lobsters as fast as our hands could move.  There was a big order to fill, and we were the ones to get it done.  While we worked, Jen asked me (without looking up from her lobster), “What if God is a lobster and we’re going to be in big trouble for killing all these lobsters?”  Now, I consider myself an open-minded individual but I’ve heard it said that you can be so open-minded that your brains fall out.  Personally, I prize truth over open-mindedness.  I’m an extremely teachable person…unless you’re wrong.

So, I quickly affirmed my belief that God is NOT a lobster, and shared that belief with Jen.  I added that lobsters don’t have souls.  They were created by God for His good pleasure and our good purpose; namely food.  Jen showed neither acceptance or disdain for my stance on the whole lobster/God issue and it was honestly never brought up again.

I tell you that story to point out that in my estimation, we’re forgetting that every person we see has a soul.  And not just a soul, but an eternal soul.  And not just an eternal soul, but a precious eternal soul that God (non-lobster that He is) cared/cares enough about to offer a pleasant eternity rather than an eternal punishment.  But when we lose sight of the fact that everyone has a soul, we start treating others like obstacles, like objects, and like opportunities.  In other words, we’re dehumanizing ourselves.  We’re bit-by-bit subtracting from ourselves the very thing that causes us to be human in the search for the human experiences of happiness, peace, joy, hope, and love.

There’s more to say on this (which I’d rather hear from you), but for now I’m going to get up from this computer, walk out the door, and look for souls to show love to.  Join me.

 

“You don’t have a soul.  You are a soul that has a body.”  –C.S. Lewis

If historical records can indeed be trusted, anyone who denies that Jesus was born in Bethlehem just as prophesied hundreds of years prior is not someone you want on your team when playing Trivial Pursuit.  (No offense to the morons.)

A college student in our church wrote me several months ago to ask me some questions that arose from a Religions class she was taking.  As we wrote back and forth, I came to find out that her professor for said class denied the birth of Jesus.  Not the birth of Jesus as the Son of God and ransom for humanity; just the actual historical event itself.  How anyone can refute the fact that a baby named Jesus was born in Bethlehem at the time of Caesar Augustus, during the reign of King Herod, when Quirinius was governor of Syria is simply beyond comprehension.  I can understand denying the significance of His birth, but to deny His birth altogether?  Somebody needs a pink slip from their position as Professor of Religion.  But I digress.

In the whole Christ-birth story, we tend to focus on all the various characters involved; from the shepherds to the angels to the magi to the sheep.  Heck, even an unnamed inn keeper gets an honorable mention.  But it has always felt to me like Joseph gets among the least amount of attention in all this.

Have you ever read the first 17 verses of the book of Matthew?  Most people skip it because it seems to be essentially a long list of names.  Not terribly exciting.  Like watching somebody else’s home movies, but nobody you know.  Most people generally skip to the good part which starts in verse 18 so that they don’t start nodding off as they try and get through the genealogy of Jesus.  But its in the genealogy that we find some pretty interesting details.  Do you know what 14 x 3 is?  It’s 42.  Now 42 might just seem like a number, but what we should realize is that this the minimum number of generations that had been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting (don’t worry I won’t do this 42 times) and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for the promised Messiah to come.

We’ve lost sight of that kind of waiting.  It doesn’t exist anymore.  That stretch of time was a once-in-history thing.  Trace the lineage of the genealogy back into the Old Testament accounts and you’ll see glimpses and foreshadowing of the Messiah.  The centuries preceding His birth are peppered with teasers as to the fact that He was still on His way.  So, when He came it wasn’t just a “Oh look. Jesus is here.” kind of thing.   It was a sky-splitting, angel-heralding, eternity-shaking, shepherd-gawking, humanity-rejoicing kind of thing!  And Joseph was the final man in the long line of waiting.  Joseph would be the one chosen, just as Mary was chosen, to usher in and raise up this child from heaven.

Not much is said of Joseph, but we do know that he was in the line of King David, so he had a legal right to the throne.   We also know that Joseph was a carpenter by trade.  The last mention in Scripture of Joseph was when Jesus was age 12 and was found in the Temple discussing the Law with the priests and teachers.  It was then that Jesus made His well-known statement, “Didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business?”  And by “Father”, He didn’t mean Joseph.

We can safely assume that Joseph likely died before Jesus earthly ministry began.  He is not found at any of the otherwise significant events recorded in Scripture.  He wasn’t at the marriage feast in Cana where Jesus performed His first miracle; only Mary was mentioned.  He wasn’t mentioned at the cross where Jesus was crucified; only Mary was mentioned.  And remember that at Jesus’ death, He turned the caring of Mary over to John, his cousin.  This would indicate no one was left to take care of Jesus’ mother.

So, what can we learn from a man who we know so little about?  Let’s take what we know and apply it:

1. Joseph sought to do what was right.  When he learned that Mary was pregnant and that the child wasn’t biologically his, he planned to divorce her quietly so as to save her from public disgrace and quite literally save her life.  Do I live each day with a sincere desire to simply do what’s right, no matter the cost?

2. Joseph was dedicated to his wife.  We get the sense that Joseph was a “man’s man”; a guy who worked with his hands, who wasn’t afraid to get dirty, a man with a solid work ethic, and a man who loved to love his wife.  We see glimpses of this in how Joseph cared for Mary through her pregnancy, how he listened to and obeyed the angel’s instructions (Joseph also got his own angelic visit, too).  Do I dedicate myself every day to the care, love, and protection of my wife?

3.  Joseph cared about Jesus.  If there were anyone in history that could rightly have that “That’s my boy!” sentiment, its Joseph.  From the delivery of Jesus to the toddler years in Egypt to helping to retrace their steps back to Jerusalem then they misplaced Him at the age of 12, Joseph cared deeply about Jesus.  And not merely Jesus his son, but Jesus THE Son.  Do I care about Jesus more than I care about any other person or thing in my life?

As you move slowly toward Christmas this year, take some time to get to know Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.

As I sit and type this post tonight, I do so in the warm glow of Christmas lights on our tree nearby.  And within arm’s reach are our stockings hanging on the mantel.  Across the room I can see garland wind through the banisters lining the steps leading upstairs.  From the other room comes wafting the sounds of Amy Grant singing “A Christmas To Remember.”  I’m struck by how appropriate the song is at this very moment.

Today is December 1st, and along with millions around the globe, I have started on the road we call “Advent”.  It will eventually lead us to peer over the edge of a manger and to gaze down at a child wriggling in the blanket He’s wrapped in as the straw is pushed away from His face by His mother.  We’ll gather there and stand in amazement at not just the miracle of birth, but rather the miracle of THIS birth; the fleshy incarnation of the divine plan to reunite the creation with the Creator.  In this baby is the promise of the ages, the help for the nations, and the hope for eternity.  In the face of the God-child, we see all-at-once the normal traces of a newborn child as well as the mystery of a God who would care enough about His lost children to send the only One who can help, who can save, who can redeem.  The Messiah is born.

The word advent is a word that means “coming”.  It is the season of expectation that precedes the arrival of Jesus, born to earth.  The focus on this season is that our hearts would be drawn into a reverent, jubilant announcement that the Savior of the world, prophecied about hundreds of years beforehand, is finally here!

I’ll be honest.  While I have known about Jesus almost as long as I’ve known about Santa Claus, I really haven’t gotten myself into the whole “Advent” thing.  My mind has traditionally categorized it under the same heading as things like Lent, Ash Wednesday, and other “high church”-feeling activities.  To put it simply, it hasn’t been interesting to me.

Until now.

Let me share with you a brief history of me and Christmas.  I grew up in a home that loved Jesus.  I saw it more as loving going to church services, but now I see that a love for Jesus was behind it all.  Still, my parents (I don’t blame them) also wanted me to have the fun of believing in Santa Claus.  So for the first several years of my life I went to bed Christmas Eve with the full knowledge that an overweight elf was going to somehow deliver gifts to my house.  The fact that we didn’t have a fireplace didn’t seem to faze me in the slightest.  After all, if he can visit every home in the world in one night, the absence of a chimney hardly seemed like an obstacle.  Not to mention, he had proven himself several years running.  Yep, a fan of Santa was I.

That is, until the inevitable happened.  It was Christmas Eve and my folks had tucked me in to bed and I assumed were heading off to bed themselves.  After all, they wouldn’t want to get in Santa’s way, right?  Certainly they wouldn’t want to slow him down, what with his tight schedule and all.  That’s why I didn’t think twice about getting out of bed and heading down the hall toward the kitchen for a drink.

And that’s the moment Santa died.

I approached the living room to find my parents; each with presents in their hands as they were in mid-stoop to place them under the tree.  They both turned to look at me and……have you ever been in that moment when you walking into an occupied bathroom and both occupier and intruder have that hanging moment when eyes lock, minds scream, but neither does or says anything due to being frozen solid?  Yep, that’s the moment.

I don’t remember saying anything, and come to think of it, I don’t remember getting that glass of water either.  I simply remember being back in bed shortly after with a new found maturity and newly lost grip on who in tar nation had been raising me all these years, because according to recently discovered evidence, I was the lovechild of two bold-faced liars.  Turns out they’re actually 2 amazingly gifted and giving people.  And I have grown to love them dearly.

This morning I was reading “Day 1″ of an advent reading.  It was the account of an 8-day-old Jesus being brought to the temple for his…um…shall we say…”ceremony”.  A man there named Simeon had been awaiting the arrival of the King and identified the Godboy immediately.  In fact, he was so moved by seeing Jesus he took God the baby in his arms and began talking to God the Father: “As you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.”  Or in other words, “I can die a happy man!”

Can you imagine that kind of joy?  Just the very sight of a drooling, perhaps dirty-diapered baby; but the One you KNEW was the promised, anointed Savior of the world.  The very sight of that child brought Simeon to immediate readiness for the grave.  Can you reach into your own heart and bring out that kind of passion for Jesus?  THAT is the kind of joy this Christmas season will captivate my heart with.  And I can’t wait.

Where are you right now?  What are you doing?  Is it something you enjoy?  Are you feeling alive as you live your life?  Are you compelled by something bigger than yourself?

What reasons exist behind the way you’re living your life right now?  Are you driven by a paycheck?  By a striving for ambition and accolades that perhaps always seem just out of reach?  While you may not love the line of work you’re in (most don’t), is your perspective drawn down by the weight of what you consider an undesirable role?  For most people, the answer is yes.  It is for that reason that we call can sing along with “Everybody’s working for the weekend!” when it comes on the radio, and we can’t help but crank the volume up just a bit.

We all want to be compelled by something greater than the hum-drum of daily life.  We all want there to be a supply of “fuel” in the tank of our spirit; something deeper, higher, and greater than what we see in the mirror.  In fact, when that sense of compulsion feigns, we are left with a bleakness, a hopelessness, and a weight within that we can’t seem to lift.

I’ve been working with teens in some capacity for nearly 20 years now.  And every so often I am reminded that few and far between are those that are taught and understand how to live a life that is not only compelled, but is itself compelling to others.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it is clear to me that the life that is uncompelled is the life that is self-centered and consumeristic.  It is the life that is constantly looking for what it can get from you, from me, from others, from any/all situations it is in, from the world, from life.  It’s constant cry is “feed me, I’m still hungry.”  And in this self-absorbed state, it lives day after day missing countless opportunities to look beyond itself for what can truly satisfy.

As time has marched on, we have become more and more a people who are self-catering.  We are hedonistic, pleasure-driven, and entitled to nothing less in our own estimation.  What this has done to today’s teens is to set the perfect climate for them to be down-cast, lost, purposeless, and desperate; all while perpetuating the guise of being happy, free, fun, and satisfied.  It’s as if the mirror tells them one thing, but the image just beyond the mirror tells them the opposite.  No wonder they’re conflicted, reeking of entitlement, confused, and searching for love, hope, and meaning wherever they can find it, no matter the cost.

But as someone who is not only a “youth pastor”, but a human being who follows Jesus and loves all teens everywhere, I find myself with a deep ache inside to communicate a way of life that will not be dismissive of the inner ills they feel, but instead will face them head-on in a confrontational way; a way that sees the futility of the self-absorbed life and chooses instead the self-denying life.

As much as I’d like to, there’s simply no way to speak about self-denial in a way that is comfortable or even non-controversial.  I’d suppose that some might read these words and think this or that about how naive I am, or simplistic, or just dead-wrong.  But this is the nature of the life Jesus invites us to: it’s gloriously uncomfortable.  And in it any human can find the deepest, most compelling life to live.

Last night, I volunteered at an event called “Bless Richmond”.  And as I type the word “event”, I whisper a prayer that it would not merely be an “event”, but an ignition point, an awakening, and a compelling call to thousands–no–tens of thousands of followers of Jesus (present and future) in the Richmond, VA area (or wherever you live) to move beyond living because of their ability to breathe to living because of uncontained passion for Jesus, the greatest self-denier, the justice-giver, the spotless lamb, the Savior of the world, the Son of God.

Philosophers will call us ignorant.

Educators will call us unenlightened.

Atheists will call us weak.

Cynics will call us idealistic.

Religious rule-followers will call us irreverant.

Historians will call us predictable.

The media will call us do-gooder weirdos.

And they’ll all be right.

But…

God calls us beloved.

God calls us His children.

God calls us ambassadors.

God calls us a royal priesthood.

God calls us agents of His grace.

God call us conduits of His love.

God calls us announcers of His redemptive hope.

There is no greater calling, there is no greater life, and there is nothing more compelling than that.

Last month, I spent 4 days with the people of New Life Baptist Church.  Its been a long time coming, but I wanted to–no–HAD to write about that time we shared together.  And even as I type these words, I pray that they’re moving through what God did among us as we sought/seek that oft-elusive thing we call “Revival”.  If you’d like to read what I wrote BEFORE those 4 days, click here.

What must be said before I get into what we shared together in God’s Word is this one singular fact:  the people of New Life Baptist Church simply want Jesus.  They want Him proclaimed, they want Him exalted, they want Him in charge.  And as simple as that sounds for me to say about a church, it is the most profound truth a collective body of believers can hold to.  Their fellowship was intoxicating, their love for people was infectious, and their embrace of me as their “revival speaker” was humbling to say the very least.  In a nutshell, I absolutely loved every moment I spent with them.

When I am invited to speak somewhere (anywhere), I don’t go to the plethora of messages I have on file that I’ve delivered in the past.  I don’t “recycle” messages like I know many wonderful speakers do.  I go right to God and ask, “What do You want said to these people of Yours?”  Over the months approaching this revival  series at New Life Church, I clearly sensed God’s leading as I leaned in to hear what His heart wanted conveyed to the people He so desperately loves.

For my own purposes of preparation, I broke things down into 4 headings:

1. “Reviving Revival”

In this message, we discussed what life ready for revival looks like.  Namely, we considered 3 things: C.P.R.

Contrite Heart: Contrite is a fancy word for “busted” and without being broken, we are of no use to God.  This flies in the face of the statement I’ve heard so many people say so many times, “I’ve got to get my act together before I come to church/God.”  No, you absolutely do not.  Jesus Himself said He didn’t come for those who are well (no one is), but for those who KNOW they’re sick/broken and need a doctor!

Prayerfulness:  The people of New Life Baptist spent months in prayer for revival before I ever got there.  I could have sang “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and played Tiddly Winks and they would have been blessed by God’s renewing and refreshing Spirit.  Because as was said about me before my arrival, “He’s not bringing revival in his suitcase.”  Revival is a result of earnestly seeking God, and that’s precisely what they did and are doing.

Readiness: Simply put, readiness for Jesus’ return and readiness for revival are one in the same!  If we’re so distracted by the world’s issues and cares, we simply cannot be on the ready for what God wants to do in us and through us!  The simple question was/is: “Are you really and truly ready for revival?”

2.  “Revival comes from a refocus on Jesus as the centerpiece of both human history and heaven’s army”

We looked at 2 different instances from Jesus’ earthly ministry: when he healed the demoniac at the Geresenes (Mark 5) and his first recorded miracle (John 2) of turning water into wine.  We came to see that while we might follow Jesus (as a disciple), are we believing who He really is?  We learned from John 2 that Jesus had disciples who didn’t yet believe that He was the Messiah!  How many of us are involved in churchy activities without truly turning our lives over to the One who stands as heaven’s Savior as well as humanity’s ransom?  Is He a great idea or is He your intimate, in-control “Lord”?

3. Revival comes from reigniting our passion for salvation.

We exposed the popular doctrine that there is no literal hell; why its popular and why its anti-Scriptural.

We considered the calling of Matthew (Levi) and just why Matthew was so quick to forfeit his tax-collecting, money-grubbing lifestyle and instead take up the sheer uncertainty of following a Rabbi named Jesus.  I challenged those listening that “If you want revival, you can’t stay here.”  And no matter where your “here” is, God wants to lead you on into what He has for you.  But as slothful, lazy, and (let’s face it) disobedient children, we often would rather sink into our spiritual recliners.  I shared an illustration from a conversation with my youngest daughter.  I was having lunch with her one recent Friday when she was telling me about art class she had just come from.  She was working on a painting of a lighthouse and told me, “Dad, my lighthouse isn’t like everybody else’s lighthouse.”  Intrigued, I asked “Well, what’s different about your lighthouse?”  She explained, “Well, MY lighthouse isn’t near the water like the others.  Mine is in the hills with grass all around because I think that looks prettier.”  Are we building churches and growing “Christians” that have chosen to live far from the dangers of the mission we’re called into?  Are we lighthouses that serve no purpose because we’re not near the water, where the light we shine warns the world of the dangers of sin and hell?  Too often we choose safety for us rather than salvation for the lost.

4. Revival comes when we reaffirm our God-given mission.

As we closed our 4 days together, I simply challenged them to identify themselves as one of three things: a lighthouse, a treehouse, or a warehouse.  As a lighthouse (as was mentioned the day before), we are willing to go to where the danger is, to where the help is needed, and shine the light of  God’s love in practical, tangible, visible ways so that those around us might “see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Some churches though would rather view themselves as a “treehouse”.  When I was young, my cousin had a great treehouse in his backyard and we’d love to climb up in there to play with a “Us only!” attitude.  Are we going to be a people who are safe and secluded from the world below, and have we adopted a “no girls allowed” mentality when it comes to who we reach out to, and who we don’t.  Is our church more of a “members only” social club?

And finally (and most ghastly), are we identified as a “warehouse”.  We’ve been “saved” and we reckon ourselves as good-to-go when it comes to our eternity, but until then we’re just marking time as if life after receiving Christ becomes some waiting room while we literally do nothing until His return.  If that’s the case for us, then Scripture is already clear about what the outcome will be.  I closed with one of my favorite parables, the Sheep and the Goats.  When in the end it was not what we believe that determines our eternity, but what we DID with what we believe.  In this, they as a church and as individuals are faced with a “fork in the road”.  Will they move toward being the lighthouse God has called them to, or circle back and enjoy the comfort of the tree house or the rigor mortis of the warehouse?

I was honored and humbled to be a part of those few days at New Life Baptist Church and pray that not only them, but you and I would continually strive for a steady sense of “revival” as we walk hand-in-hand with our Creator, Savior, Messiah, and Lord!

I wrote a blog post yesterday called “Moral Failure” (scroll down for that one) and while most of my posts have readership in the 10s, that post had readership in the 100s.  I was astounded to watch the “hits” on that blog post rise throughout the day.  Clearly, I hit a nerve.  And I wanted to follow it up with a somewhat related post today.  Go with me as we get there.

She may not know it, but my wife (before she was my wife) gave me one of my most valued possessions.  When we were in college, a folk musician by the name of Michael Kelly Blanchard came to a chapel service and sang.  (I wasn’t really into folk music, but I really enjoyed what I heard.)  That night, he held a concert for the student body.  I will never forget how mesmerized I was and still continue to be at the lyrics of his songs.  Some of them you may know, but perhaps didn’t know that he was the songwriter.  A popular tune in the Church is “Be Ye Glad”, made popular by an A Capella group called “Glad”.  The words though, were written by Michael Kelly Blanchard.

Last Saturday my wife and I were cleaning out our closet and I came across a box of cds.  Nostalgic as I am, I couldn’t resist sitting on the floor, opening up the box, and going through its contents.  I came across a cd called “Mercy In The Maze” by Michael Kelly Blanchard.  It was a cd my wife bought for me back in college when Blanchard visited our school.  Clearly, she saw how moved I was by his music and wanted me to have my own copy.  More on that in a moment.

Thousands of years ago, God spoke and created every thing you see.  The sky, the oceans, the forests, the mountains, the fish, the animals, the flowers, the grass, the deserts, the stars, the moon, the Sun, the galaxies.  Everything came into existence by the very will of God through the very spoken word of God.  He simply spoke and order came.  Perfect design flowing from the  mouth of the Perfect Creator.  What power is His, evidenced by what happened when He simply spoke.

But God didn’t speak humans into existence.  Genesis 2:7 tells us that God “formed a man from the dust of the ground”.  While God could have most certainly simply spoken man into existence just as He did the stars and fish, God wanted man to be a “hands-on” project.  Look down at your arms, your hands, your feet.  You are literally the work of God’s hands.  Psalm 139:13 finds the psalmist declaring, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb…”  God created you with His own hands.  Do you see how precious and priceless you must be to Him?

And after God formed man from the dust, Genesis 2:7 tells us that He then “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…”  While scientifically it’s true that you’re breathing oxygen right now, can you embrace the truth that spiritually speaking you are breathing the breath of God?  You are alive right at this moment because of the breath on loan to you from God Himself.  Pause just a moment and contemplate that truth.

The book of Genesis, in the very next chapter no less, tells us that the serpent was the most crafty of any creatures the Lord God had made.  Let me tell you what one of the greatest and yet most effective lies the serpent speaks is: “You’re beyond grace.”  Everyday to as many people as he can, Satan whispers into their ear that they are beyond help, beyond forgiveness, beyond repair, beyond the reach of God’s love.  They’ve done too much, they’ve sinned too much, they’ve hurt too many people.  They’ve simply gone too far and nothing can bring them back to the redemptive embrace of their Creator.

How I desire for every person who is taking the time to read these words to understand and embrace this fact: No matter what you have done, no matter where you have been, no matter what you think of yourself, no matter how painful the pain is that you’ve caused or that you now feel; there is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING that can keep you out of God’s reach.  I beg you to please reject the lie of the enemy as he seeks to pull you further and further into the darkness of your own shame.  Whatever you have done, the blood of Jesus Christ covers it.  You are still the object of God’s affection.  You are still the target of His love.  You are still breathing the very breath of God; the grace-filled breath of your loving Creator.  Please believe that.  Please embrace it.  Please accept it.  Please take that truth in to the deepest part of the darkest pain you have and allow it to be the salve, to be the balm that heals the hurts.  It is not merely words on a screen you’re reading–it is the most real reality there is.  It’s the truest truth that exists:  God loves you right where you are.

I want to introduce you to a song by Michael Kelly Blanchard.  The video that follows is dated, but the message being conveyed is as relevant and needed today as it ever has been.  And as you listen to this song, I invite you to place yourself in it.  Hear the words as they come from the singer and realize that this is God’s loving anthem over you.  If you have failed morally, if you have reckoned your situation as hopeless, if you have been convinced that you are beyond repair, beyond redemption, beyond God’s reach….listen to His message of grace today.  And breathe His grace in.