MKE my City

When you wake up and your city, specifically a couple miles from where you live, is the headline on CNN you know something went horribly wrong the night before. That is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday morning. Another police shooting with an African American. But this time it was different than Ferguson and the other shootings throughout the country. This time it was a black officer and a black victim, who also happened to have a gun himself. Sylville Smith was ordered by the police to drop his weapon. He ran, he did not drop the weapon, and was shot by the officer. The neighborhood was outraged because rumor spread on social media that Sylville was shot in the back three times, contrary to what the police had said. Without the body cam video being released they were going to believe that their friend had been shot unjustly. The neighborhood turned to destroy their own community that evening through the early morning. People burned down 6 businesses, set cars on fire, threw rocks at the police, and cried out for justice…. Or maybe it was just an awakening to what our city has been experiencing since the formation of Milwaukee.

Opportunity, education, money, etc. have all been extremely lacking for African Americans since their white neighbors moved to the suburbs and took all of their jobs and resources with them. You drive down North Avenue and, literally, you can see the dividing line between White and Black Milwaukee.

Milwaukee has been suffering for a long time as the most racially segregated city in the entire country. I cannot go a single day without hearing about shootings in our city. Some days we have up to 10 in the same day!  This has been building since my mom grew up right outside of Sherman Park where the riots of 1967 took place.  The city had the same problems then that they still have today.

“What happened last night was not the result of greed or an ignorant display of anger as some have called it, but rather pain and frustration built up from 400 years of oppression.” – Coalition for Justice

Then a glimmer of hope….Sunday morning, in the aftermath of the destruction, we drove down to the park.  We saw people of the neighborhood cleaning up.  Cleaning up the burned down buildings and overturned bus stops.  People realized they destroyed the very place that they lived.

We went to go get some lunch for the residents and trash bags for ourselves, then drove back to Sherman Park and the burned down BP station. You could readily see that a lot of the people who had arrived by that time were not from the neighborhood. Prayer circles and activist speeches began across the street.  Meanwhile the youth of the neighborhood stayed away from the outsiders. Someone spoke out and said, "Go talk to the youth! Find out why this is happening. Don’t ignore the root cause of the youth’s pain."  By now all of the major news stations were there, from CNN to ABC Chicago. The media set up outside of the burned down buildings. But what you didn’t see were the hundreds of people on the other side crying out for the years of pain they have been experiencing.

I spoke to one individual who said, “It might not have been right what happened here with the destruction, but it caused you all to wake up and see there are deep problems here.”

As someone who never had to worry about my safety, being judged for my skin color, or not given opportunities, I felt utterly saddened for all parties involved.  Sad for the police who are doing their job to keep us safe.  Sad for the African Americans of Milwaukee who don’t have the resources that I do.  Sad for the city officials who have ignored the problem.  And the list goes on and on.

Ask anyone in Milwaukee and they'll have a different answer: Deep systemic problems of poverty, unemployment, segregation and education. Easy access to firearms. Lack of personal responsibility and the breakdown of the family. An ineffective criminal justice system. Lax sentencing. A pursuit policy critics say too often limits police chases. Too much policing. Not enough policing. – JS Online

Feeling helpless, we asked someone from the neighborhood what we can do going forward? How can we help?  They said, “show up.” Those are two powerful words.  Love your neighbors as yourself.  Pretty sure someone really important said that once.  Jesus said to not judge the person next to you and instead just love. Love selflessly. And that is what I plan to do. I want to be part of the solution and not the problem. I will also defy these labels we so easily throw around:  black, white, us, them. Labels are nonsense. We all bleed red… when will we wake up and realize that?

Defy Your Label – Please watch this video for another perspective. Let’s rip off these labels!

We are all a Human Family


Written by Jamie, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Follow her journey here and here.

I Love Words

I love words. They represent individual worlds all unto their own. I spend my days surrounded by these worlds, pondering their treasures, traversing their landscapes, discovering their histories. 

I love the way words feel as I roll them around my mouth. Some words are a pleasure to say like “punctilious” or “ululation” or “juxtaposition.” Then there are words that I really have to think about and form the sounds like “eponymous” or “sherbet” or “synecdoche”; otherwise, I’ll say (or spell) them wrong every time. Then there are words that are a cacophony to my ears like “moist” or “bucks” or “literally.”  

I love rooting around for the most precise word for my ideas, combing through the thesaurus, re-discovering words I forgot I knew. Even more amazing is when someone strings words together to make sentences, and sentences to make paragraphs. And those paragraphs? There lies the magic. An artistically crafted paragraph that conveys profound thoughts is worth the time it takes to dissect and unpack the author’s layered message. A text that holds my attention for days at a time, holds my heart, becomes my obsession.

Other than the works I teach on a yearly basis, I am currently obsessed with the pre-WWI Modernism literature. I find that the atmosphere leading to WWI is similar to our current social and political climate. I feel a kindred connection with the sometimes bombastic rhetoric and turbulent social unrest, the artists’ creativity and innovation. But more than their message, I see a movement that seeks to eschew the classics, yet they can’t help but refer to and lean on classic works-- both popular and obscure. This was a time of great contention and a generation calling out for something to excite, to fill their void. Unfortunately they determined that war and the glory of war would satiate their deep discontent and purge the injustices they saw from their global society. I spend hours pouring over texts and researching histories and commentaries over certain Modernism pieces. I write papers digging into the wealth that I uncover in some of my favorite novels.

Yet in the midst of my library binges, I find myself wondering what would happen if I studied a passage of the Bible the same way I dig in to the literature I teach or devote my studies. If I took my love of words and literary art and married it with my passion for my Father God and Savior, Jesus Christ, imagine the depths I could traverse in my relationship with the Almighty. Psalms 1: 1-3 is one of the very first passages I memorized as a child, so I thought it would be interesting to look at three popular translations.

New King James Version	New International Version	New American               Standard Bible
1Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the  ungodly, Nor stands in the path  of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,    And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree    Planted by the rivers  of water,  That brings forth  its fruit in its season,  Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.	1Blessed is the one    who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take    or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,    and who meditates on  his law day and night. 3 That person is like a  tree planted by streams  of water,    which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—    whatever they do  prospers.	1How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

I noticed some changes in word choice. Wicked vs. Ungodly, Scornful vs. Mockers vs. Scoffers. Which of the words do you like better? I like how walk and wicked flow together. I also prefer mockers because I feel that word has some modern connotations that work for our current times (plus the ‘m’ in company reinforces the ‘m’ in mockers, thus reinforcing the idea of the verse).

I love how all three versions use “meditate day and night” for the way a blessed man treats God’s word or “law.” Meditate means to engage in thought or contemplation. As believers, as the blessed ones who have accepted God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice, we are to ponder, contemplate, and deliberate about God’s word day AND night. Not occasionally but always and constantly.

The last verse is a simile that transcends the centuries. Those in drought-ridden areas understand the importance of water and healthy vegetation. So much can be said about the necessity of agriculture and the restorative power of nature. Contemplate your relationship with nature and all that could mean in the context of verse 3. The NASB adds the adverb “firmly” to show the strengthening power of constant meditation on God’s word. 

Finally, what does the last word “prosper” mean? The word has evolved over time from “flourish, thrive and succeed” to include a financial connotation. But in context of this simile, prosper means to bring about beauty, and life-giving, spiritually-sustaining nourishment.

The more I read this passage the more I think about the poetry of the words and impact of the message. I could write for days, but I’ll stop for now. Your turn: What do you notice? What word sticks out to you the most and why? What message can you meditate on both day and night?

How perfect God’s word is. How blessed we are to engage with our Lord God and His message anytime we want.

Written by Heather, Canyon, Texas

Outside Voices

I serve as the Lead Pastor of a church that is just 15 miles outside of Washington, DC.  I’ve been in the role for the last 12 years and for the 10 years prior to that I served as an Associate Pastor of the same church.

One of the things I’ve learned over the last 22 years is the value of having outside voices in my life.  And when I say “outside voices” I mean people who have wisdom and the ability to speak that wisdom into my life.

Proverbs 1:5 says “…let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.”  

I’ve benefited from outside voices in my marriage from people who were further along than me.  I’ve benefited from other pastors and leaders as I’ve tried to lead our church through needed change and even difficult times.  And I’ve benefited from people who have raised their children as I try to raise mine and help them to grow to be devoted followers of Jesus.

EVERYONE needs outside voices – people who have wisdom AND who have been given permission to speak that wisdom into our lives.

A habit I started several years ago was capturing quotes – things people have said that I felt were wise enough to write down.  I actually have a file of quotes that I’ve captured through the years.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Perfectionism is simply intolerance of the imperfect.  

Mike Katchura 

People will not desert a leader; they only desert a boss. People will not quit a mission; they only quit a job.  Joe Tyre

Compassion is never compassion until you cross the street and invest yourself. We sometimes confuse compassion with sympathy. Often, we are just emotional, not compassionate.  Christine Caine

God has given you just enough time to do His will. If you're under pressure, it means you’re either doing the wrong thing or the right thing in the wrong way.  Rick Warren

You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don't help.  Calvin

We don't have to give a voice to every thought we have. Sometimes silence is the greatest indication of our wisdom.  Russ Williams

If you have momentum and you don't know why you have it, you're one bad decision away from losing it.  Andy Stanley

We have to love the mission enough to do the right thing, even if it means hurting someone's feelings.  Craig Groeschel

I've missed 9000 shots, lost almost 300 games, & missed a game-winning shot 26 times.  Michael Jordan

When we turn people into caricatures, everything’s game. The moment we depersonalize them, our consciences harden and we can mock and slander at will and have a blast doing it. Snide blogs and tweets and Facebook posts about various leaders can also be effective ways to jump in their spotlight. Bullies aren’t just mean. They’re self-serving. They’re platform hunting. They have to borrow one to perform.  Beth Moore

Every mile you go in the wrong direction is really a two-mile error.  Mark Batterson

We are not called to defend God's character, we are called to reflect it.  Heather Zempel

If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven't spent the night with a mosquito.  African Proverb

Listening is non-negotiable in leadership.  People don't need to have their way, they need to have their way considered.  

Paul Dunk

Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they can tolerate.  Rich Hurst

Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage and He calms you.  Nicky Gumbel

Who are the voices in our lives?  Are they wise voices?  Are we giving them permission to speak into our lives?  Are we applying their wisdom?

Written by David, Fairfax, Virginia
Find out more about his ministry here.

I'll take World Affairs with a side of Fear for 500, Alex.

Brexit, Trump-ville, gun-laws, same-sex marriages…Hillary and emails, another possible referendum in Scotland?

Turkey, Berlin, Nice, Munich, Brussels, Syria, San Bernardino, Orlando, and refugees.

Olympics, Russian athletes, Bieber, Jen and Ben, Pokemon in the Holocaust museum...what?

#blacklivesmatter #alllivesmatter, scroll and scroll, heart, like people still poke!, tweet

Ok…breath. Ahhh. Typing this out has actually brought my heart rate up (slightly). For the most part, the world of “world-affairs” bring an increasing amount of anxiety, despair and hopelessness. What and how our world and media choose to talk about is often wrapped in fear and panic.  It doesn’t create a solution for the undeniable problems that arise, just a rising sense of angst. 

Question, and let’s really thing about it…Is fear changing your vote? Is hope a distant memory when you think about the future of your local or national or global community?

I think it is very valuable to know what is happening in the world, have opinions, educate ourselves, and most importantly, help one another through times of despair. I want to have a real discussion about these topics with hearts that are open to be brave rather than clouded in biased opinions that strangely thrive on bad news. I believe it is time we cultivate hope and positivity more than ever because we - all of us - are light. Light always shines brighter in sheer darkness. It is far more valuable to be constant and steady than a ship that changes its course with every toss of a storm.

Graham Cooke, a prophetic voice of our time said, “Why are we stuck on thoughts that are generated on the world around us when we have the whole kingdom inside of us that thinks completely differently. Let’s work on the new man because he is alive.”

I most recently was visiting my friends and family back in the United States for a little over a month.  I have come to an odd realization that a lot of people don’t like good news. Many have programed their minds to hear nothing more than what comes from the loud daily grind, form quick opinions, spit them out at the next pub/dinner table conversation and then fill up again the next day….Is this you? At times it can seem harmless, but it actually effects family, the ongoing formation of society, and the decisions we make for our future. 

The way we talk about these things is important for so many reasons. Living in fear and hopelessness will cut off your inheritance. We were born for greatness, to live in partnership with our Creator, to receive love and become reckless in giving that away. We are a prophetic expression…a vital part of a grand story! The reality is that at the same time Trump is making headline after headline, someone in Mozambique was just raised from the dead and over 40 victims who were once sex-slaves are rescued in California. We are the solution and it starts in how we respond and how we plan for the future. God always helps us to see possibility through darkness. 

How are you cultivating positivity and hope in yourself and in others?

It can sometimes sound like the word positivity is a bunch of sunshine birthing unicorns and rainbows but it's not. Cultivating a positive spirit will change the way you see your future. It’s how we learn from the past. It will change our voice and our vote. 

What are you letting influence you? 

The way we think about this world will influence our dreams, decisions, politics, communities…the nation's of the globe.  If you think the world is going to hell in a hand basket, you're not going to dream of new opportunities and business that can revolutionize our resources or how to end loneliness through loving our neighbor. No! You’re probably going to end up building a safe bunker, operate your life out of control and fear and buy tons of water and canned food in case the world ends tomorrow.

I challenge you to let your world slow down for 10 minutes today and begin to set your thoughts on some of the thoughts above. I do this by lying down and listening to my heart beat. Thankfulness arises - it honestly does. Sometimes I let my mind reposition itself in space with the Lord and look how small the world is in comparison. I gain a new perspective. I receive from His unending love and I am aware that God’s heart is for us. His plans are higher than ours. This begins to change everything for me. These are the times I give him the pain I feel for the refugees in Kurdistan or my current anger with politics. These moments cultivate hope! These moments change my steps.

I leave you with this verse. Read this as though you are addressing the weary of the world and let hope arise. Much, much love to you!

Isaiah 43:19-21The Message (MSG)

 This is what God says,

    "the God who builds a road right through the ocean,

    who carves a path through pounding waves,

The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—

    they lie down and then can’t get up;

    they’re snuffed out like so many candles:

Forget about what’s happened;

    don’t keep going over old history.

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.

    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?

There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,

    rivers in the badlands.

Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’

    —the coyotes and the buzzards—

Because I provided water in the desert,

    rivers through the sun-baked earth,

Drinking water for the people I chose,

    the people I made especially for myself, 

a people custom-made to praise me."

Written by Tara, Málaga, Spain

Follow her journey here and here

Idolatry and Sonship

I recently found out that I was going to have some extra income. It was a significant amount and my heart rejoiced. Even though it was going to be dispersed evenly throughout the year, I began to make plans for this extra money even though none of it had been deposited into my bank account.  I thought to myself, "Wow I can give more, save more and I won't have to feel guilty about grabbing a cup of coffee, or spending too much money on my lunch break."

Then, almost without warning, it was yanked away. I felt like I had failed my wife and my marriage. Soon, the condemnation turned to anger against the alleged "perpetrators."  In my "righteous" anger I was going to confront those who took away the income that I needed so desperately. I even had a scripture verse to justify myself. 

"His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord,  for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
Judges 14:4. 

I felt like maybe the Lord was using this occasion for me to expose the evil in those who had unjustly taken away my income. 

Later in the week I met with my mentor, Tom.  I knew I needed some wisdom on this issue because my emotions were running high and I was still very angry.   At one point in the conversation Tom said something like "sometimes our basic challenge as sons is to worship the Giver, not the gifts."  I said to him "this discipleship stuff is not as easy as it I thought it was."

Later that morning as I was driving to work the Lord spoke clearly to me. He said the evil that needed to be exposed was not the evil in the people with whom I was angry.  The evil that needed to be exposed was the idolatry in my own heart. My anger, my condemnation, my frustration, all pointed to something that was wrong in me, not in my alleged perpetrators. I was an idolator. My heart had so quickly had begun to worship the gifts and not the Giver. As I wept before the Lord, I was reminded that He is a good Father who will expose everything in His sons that prevents them from enjoying the Father.  God is aggressively angry about idolatry because it prevents us as sons from enjoying the good pleasure of a good God. He wants me to know that He is good and He is the ultimate Father who will not withhold what is good from his Children.  As my friend, Tom pointed out, God did not dangle this income in front of me and yank it away because He's bad.  He allowed this to happen to expose me and reveal Him in His glory and goodness.

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalms 84:11 ESV

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Romans 8:32 ESV

As of this writing, the income has been restored. He is really good all the time with or without more income.

Written by Joel, The Colony, Texas

Keep It Simple Stupid

“If you abide in My word you are truly My disciples.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31&32)

Abide… My word… My disciples… The truth will set you free.  Sometimes I read things like this and they just echo throughout my head like, “what… the hell… does that mean… In my life.”  How?  What does that look like?  And why the disconnect resulting in my question?

I have been the recipient of the greatest gift that could ever be bestowed upon a human heart — God’s Love.  I know Him.  I’ve experienced His love.  It has plastered me to a couch cushion for hours. It has swept me off my feet, and caused me to give my entire life to Him without reservations.  I KNOW HIM.  He is magnetic.  His love is intoxicating.  He is like adrenaline pumping through your veins at times, and like a pot-brownie that sends you to another place and state of rest that you didn’t know existed.  (Obviously, the Real Thing, a.k.a. Jesus, far surpasses my earthly references, but you get the picture)

He’s SO good.  He has demonstrated faithfulness again, and again, and again.  He has mended my broken heart.  He has done miracles in every corner of my life.

And I turn my head.
If only for a moment… and can experience what one novel refers to as “Shadow Sickness.”*
I have tasted the marrow of Life, and in the next breath I am eating the rotten fruit of despair, selfishness, and fear, and all those other nightmarish nouns that come to claim our life.

Years ago, I was in Berlin on a mission trip (This is how and where I met Chuck & Della Magnet, Re-Generation).  There was a man from Israel with a crazy-amazing prophetic gift.  I observed as he delivered spiritual arrows of hope and destiny straight to the hearts of friends and strangers all around me.  I was one of the last ones that he spoke to, but it sounded so different than prophetic words I had heard until that point, and still to this day.  It was like an urgent warning.  Honestly, it was as if my life DEPENDED on what He was saying.

He said, “You have to learn to renew your mind”.

It was the way he said it.  It was the fact that He said it so many times. It unnerved me a bit.  I thought, ‘okay.  I mean the name of a nation, or some cool calling would have been awesome, but thanks for the tip, buddy!’
I am laughing now at how ignorant I was.  Not that I have fully grasped the significance and full weight of it, but I’m certainly starting that journey.

My life DOES depend on this.  This is life or death for me.  See a few paragraphs up.  We are talking about the difference between Dark and Light. Truth and Lies. Walking in Truth, with Truth — or Shadow Sickness.

I choose which reality I live in. I make that choice based on trust. 

Can I look Jesus in the eye and accept what He says about me, how He sees me, how he sees my circumstances, or others, and choose to believe those things because its the Truth?  Because HE IS TRUSTWORTHY.

When thoughts, feelings, emotions, circumstances, and sometimes the devil is raging in my ear and my head - and seems pretty damn real, can I just choose to trust what God has said - and live from that place?

When we see with His eyes, when we walk through the door of Truth and Life - we experience rest, and peace, and joy, and love, because we are face-to-face with Him.  If we ABIDE in THE WORD (which is HIM) we will know the TRUTH and it will set us free.

Free to laugh with Him.  Free to find joy in the midst of our crazy circumstances.  Free to rest while all else screams otherwise.  Free to play!  We get to discover His perspective, and explore His amazing plan on using this wild ride to bring us into even greater intimacy with Him.
It is not easy to choose this - I know.  I know so, so well.  I have lived with shadow sickness.  Way to long.  It’s not easy, but it is SIMPLE.  And that gives me such hope.  It really is two-plus-two-equals-four-simple. When we focus on Truth: which is HIM, we experience Life abundantly! We taste the kingdom, the fruit of love, the life that Christ died for - all because we Trust Him.

Life.

When we believe a lie, and it captivates us - we are towed-under by anxiety, frustration, fear, isolation, insecurity, and the like!

Death.

It’s life or death.  It’s truth or lies.  It’s the daily work of Trust.

But I know - if we choose to trust what He says about us, about who He is to us, and our world - it will change EVERYTHING.  We become ONE with the mind of Christ.  We partake of ONENESS.  One heart, one mind, one body.  We live in the Kingdom.

And then… we spread that Kingdom.

*”Eve” by Paul Young

Written by Justine, Los Angeles, California

No Regrets or Forgets

After my Freshman year in college, I was home for the summer and we had some overnight company come to town. We could have all squeezed in and found a place for everybody to sleep--but I knew a much better option. My grandparents lived in our little family hometown about 20 minutes outside the city where we lived. 

Their house was one of my favorite places in the whole world to be. They lived in the big 2-story house on top of a hill where my family had lived since the close of the Civil War. It was always a magical place to be. A rambling, old, 5-bedroom house filled with the relics, treasures, and possessions of 6 generations of our family. My grandmother never got tired of wandering from room to room and telling the stories of the people who had owned and used those things. There was a long balcony upstairs where we would drag out some old rockers that my grandparents began their marriage with in 1915. We'd sit in those rockers until late in the night looking up at the stars. Those very rockers were the ones that my "Nanny" had sat in while she rocked her babies...including my dad. One of those rockers is in my study today. 

Mattie, the woman who had been their housekeeper and cook since long before my parents met, heard I was coming and had cooked all of my favorite foods for dinner that night. That meal would always crescendo with a thick slice of what our family, with awe and respect, simply referred to as "Mattie Cake"...three incredibly moist layers of yellow cake with a rich chocolate icing. I can close my eyes decades later and almost taste that cake! 

After dinner, Nanny and I went out to a patio under the big trees beside her house. We sat there and watched the sun slowly set. She told me again of the people who had made their lives on that hill. She talked about her mother who had died of tuberculosis there when Nanny was just a girl. She told me again of her sister who had died the same slow, suffocating, death less than a year later. She talked about her only brother who was on his way back there from a trip to Galveston. He was running to catch the train that had started to move. He slipped on a wet spot on the train platform, fell under the moving train, and was instantly killed. She talked about raising four children there during the darkest days of the Great Depression. She gave birth to all four of them at home. That was the only option for women in that time. My dad came breech birth. I had heard the stories that you could hear her screams for blocks in all directions as she nearly died giving birth to him. 

Finally, I had to ask her the question that I had wanted to ask for years. I said: "Nanny, I really don't understand you. You've had enough horror to walk through in your life to kill most people. Why hasn't all of that just crushed you? How have you managed to not only survive, but thrive, through all of that?!" 

I usually carried a little plastic covered New Testament in my hip pocket in those days. She asked if I had it with me. I told her that I did. She asked me to turn to Romans 8 and start reading it to her. 

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son..." 

But, Nanny, all of that death, and loss, and pain, and work, and struggle--where's the joy in all of that? She just smiled, looked off toward  the horizon, and told me to keep reading. 

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed..."

"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all---how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

It was my first time to really hear those words in context...all in a row. It would take me a lot of years to finally begin to understand the principle that "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us". It's one of the toughest truths for people to absorb. It's one of the hardest promises to claim. How do we look back at all the pain and mess of our lives and smile? How do we face today without regretting and forgetting? 

One of my favorite stories of the power of remembering our pain is in 1 Samuel 7. For 80 years the Philistines had constantly tormented Israel. Two of the Judges that God had selected to lead His people, Samson and Eli, had been powerless to do anything about it. When Eli died, God appointed Samuel to lead His people. 

The 1st thing he did was to begin freeing Israel from themselves. The Philistines had stolen the Ark of the Covenant and put it in one of their pagan temples to their god Dagon. There are some great stories about the grief that caused them in 1 Samuel 5-6 that are worth the read! To say the least, the Philistines were more than ready to be rid of that creepy magic box of the Israelites and were more than happy to send it back home. Samuel put the Ark back where it belonged. God was restored to Israel. Israel was restored to God. Now they're ready to rebuild the "covenant" relationship between God and His people that is built on his Promises. 

The 2nd thing Samuel did was to remove all of the things that the people had held on to instead of God. He toured the land and tore down all the altars they had built to other gods. He re-installed the Word of God, their Faith in God, in the hearts of His people. Now they're ready. "So, Israel put away all of their idols and served the Lord only." (7:4) 

The 3rd thing he did was to lead them into battle. For 80 years the Philistines had brought pain and horror down on God's people. The strong man Samson had slaughtered 1000s of Philistines--but he never actually set his people free. The Priest, Eli, had taught wonderful lessons and improved the moral climate--but he hadn't set them free. Now, the people of God are God's People again. They're ready to face the battle. 

Once all of that was done, Samuel stayed on the mountain to pray. He sent the people down into the valley to fight. Listen to how it works: Samuel prayed...Israel fought...Philistia fell. In the circles of recovery where I live my life we're taught that it takes all of those things to win our battles. First, "we seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God...praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." Then, "we carry the message to others...and practice these principles." Without both of those, in that order, we're going to lose. 

At the place where they won their victory they erected a stone monument so that they would always remember where they had come from...so that future generations wouldn't forget what a God had done. 

 "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the Lord has helped us'." (7:12) 

But, John, I'm really, really, bad. I've done terrible things. I'm so guilty. Okay, I'll buy that. I believe that's true. You are...I am...they were...we are...Guilty. The heart of our Good News is that those of who live "in Christ" live our lives in a Guilt Free Zone. "But God demonstrates His own love for is in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) 

Do you remember how Jesus was criticized by the self-righteous church folks for hanging out with the likes of us? Do you remember His answer? He told them: "Healthy people don't need a doctor. Sick people do. Go and learn what this means: I have not come to call righteous people. I have come to call sinners to turn back towards me." No doubt those people deserved to suffer. So do I. So do you. I thank God for an Ebenezer. I thank God for a monument of truth that sinners like us don't get what we deserve. I learn from Ebenezer the completeness of God's forgiveness. 

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly". (Romans 5:6) 

When God promises us that "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)...He doesn't mean just the good things, or the smart things, or the happy things. He has the astounding ability to take even our worst things and work them together for His good and ours. Some of my greatest blessings, some of His greatest gifts to me, have come from directly from the fact that I come from those dark places. He has used some of my greatest pain to do some of His greatest good...in me and with me. Between Gilead and Mizpah God had his people to erect an Ebenezer so that they would never forget that they jumped into a very dark pit...God loved them even there...and lifted them out. He used all of that for His good and theirs. 

So, today, I will not regret the past--nor wish to shut the door on it. In the words of a great old hymn: "Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I've come. And I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home."

Written by John, The Colony, Texas
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