Is This Really a Victory

Can you imagine the celebration taking place right now by the people of New Orleans.

Lost man

Their Saints just won the most impressive game in the NFL.  They beat the Indianapolis Colts.  The HUGE favorite in the most important game of the season.

For more than 4 years, the city of New Orleans has been struggling to rebuild after one of the most powerful storms North America has ever seen.  In those 4+ years people have sent aid, money and prayers to the battered town of New Orleans.

Two years ago, my church, Sunnycrest UMC sent a team down to work on rebuilding houses.  We guessed that we would be seeing the most destruction left by Katrina.  In reality, members of our team did not see the complete devastation of the hurricane until some of us became lost in those areas.

Tomb

While all three teams worked to rebuild houses/homes in the areas ravaged by the swells of the hurricane, none of us realized the damage until we experienced the Lower 9th Ward first hand.

While Legions of fans flood the streets to celebrate the Superbowl victory, I want to emphasize that the work in New Orleans is NOT done.  Many peoples’ attention has shifted to Haiti (rightly so).   New Orleans, five years ago, experienced an event just about  as devastating…if not more so.

Superdome

Two years ago I went with a team to help rebuild some houses in New Orleans.   TWO YEARS AGO!!!  You know what that tells me…the disaster that was Katrina is NOT over. Thousands of people are still struggling to kick themselves out of poverty or make ends meet as thousands party on Bourbon Street to celebrate a game.  Give the $$$ to helping people.

The unfortunate fact about natural disasters is that we as Christians have an unfortunately short memory.  In less than 4 years we have forgotten about a disaster that displaced hundreds of thousands in favor of a team that celebrates only a couple of thousand.  In the very stadium that housed tens of thousand of potential dying people, we cheer for a ton of guys making a million dollars a year.

Thousands of fans feel great about cheering the Saints to victory, but how many have actually helped the city of New Orleans recover from Katrina?

Vacant Skyscraper

It is sad that so many people are willing to cheer for an NFL team, but are so willing to let part of a city die.  So many do not realize that so much of New Orleans is still dying as a result of the hurricane.  There are so many  band- wagoneers that jump on to support the “poor” city that has been beleaguered by natural disaster and government iniquity that I just about get SICK.

All you band-wagoners who cheered for the Saints because the city “deserved” a Superbowl need to get off your couch and see how scary it is in the lower 9th ward.  You feel fulfilled because you cheered for a team that represents the recovery effort in New Orleans when THOUSANDS are still homeless and struggling to even live basic lives.

Do you realize that 1 in 25 in New Orleans are HOMELESS?!

There are over 400,000 people living in New Orleans.  More than 3,000 people are homeless right now in a city many people are celebrating Superbowl Champs.

So all you happy Superbowl fair weather fans, keep partying, because any who really cares about New Orleans is sticking that money back into the city 0r trying to save the kids from a life filled with crime and lies.

And while I love American sports as much as the next guy, I want to make sure it is without consequence.  I truly hope that those partying over the Superbowl stop to realize that while Bourbon Street is hot and heavy, many in New Orleans are still out in the cold.

Christian Controversy

From Mark Driscol

There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity.

—Mark Driscoll, Relevant Magazine^[14]

More to come in a little while.

So Hard…

I am just a baby Christian.  Eight years ago in a dorm room at South Dakota State University I made a conscious decision to follow Jesus Christ.  It was a tough decision, but one I have never regretted.

Since then I have marveled at how people treat their faith.  Some wear it like the latest fashion…purely for show but as disposable as an old hat or pair of shoes.  Some are ashamed of their faith.  They hide it from all but their closest “Christian” friends.  Others are not honest in their spirituality.

I prefer honesty.  A long time ago someone taught me that “honesty is the best policy.”  The silly, crazy amazing thing about that statement is that it is absolutely true for faith as well.  I have worked with youth groups for the better part of eight years now, and one trait I pride myself on when dealing with teens is my honesty.  If they trust me enough to ask a tough question, I am not going to insult them with a half-truthful answer.

I am a fallen man.  I know that.  I am not like Jesus.  I sin.  But I have hope.  I know that I cannot possibly be a perfect man.  I can sure try like heck, but I often fail.  It is the acceptance and open honesty of those failures that make a real Christian legitimate.  You see, every Christian has been accused of being a hypocrite by someone.  You know what?  They are right.  We as Christians have put ourselves into the position of hypocrisy because of our desire to follow and emulate a perfect Savior.  We preach perfection, but fail to live it out because we cannot.  Here is the pivotal point.  We cannot hide behind the perfection of our Savior to hide our sins.  I am not saying that we have to air our dirty laundry for the world to see or that we should stop emulating Jesus, but we MUST be honest with ourselves, our Savior and those around us.

Part of that honesty must be in the way we worship Jesus.  For a long time, open, passionate worship was condemned as too emotive and shameful.  People became self-conscious about raising hands in church or singing Christian songs in public.  If you are not moved to do that…great…no problem, but if you are and you suppress that honest urge, I have a question for you.  Why?

Why are you embarrassed, ashamed, self-conscious  of the way you express your worship?  I often times feel out of place singing out loud or falling to my knees in church and will not follow through in those acts of worship.  Afterward I feel as I have missed an opportunity to commune with my Lord.  The other day I was practicing some songs for a band I play in with some friends.  One song we cover is David Crowder’s “Oh Praise Him.”  I looked the song up on YouTube and found this video that someone had made.

About half-way through the song, I realized what was happening.  I stopped practicing and watched as this young man cast off the cloak of shame and self-consciousness and truly worshiped in plain sight of God and everyone.  I was very moved by this video, yet at the same time, I was shamed.  Could I do that?  Do I have the passion living in me to throw caution to the wind and throw down for my Savior in front of whomever may be watching?  I would like to think so, but I am afraid…

I normally try to end my messages to my youth with a challenge or a call, but I am afraid of the call I want to end this blog with.  But here it goes…I need to shed the shackles of my pride.  I need to cast off the cloak of self-consciousness.  I need to stop caring what others think of me and my faith.  I need to be honest with myself, my Savior and those around me in my faults, in my failures and in my worship.  I need to stop caring how foolish I look to those around me when I honestly and passionately open up to God because I know no matter how foolish I may look on the outside, God knows how I look on the inside.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

²⁶Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”^[d]

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

What if Today Was Your Last Day?

Four years ago tomorrow marks the anniversary of a sort of rebirth for me.  It was a day that I faced the “what if” question.

It still surprises me how much I remember about that day…or how clearly I remember what I was thinking or how I felt.  It is amazing when a person faces his/her mortality, how life becomes so much more simple.

Imagine for a moment that you have just been told you are going to die.  Not “someday” or “eventually” but “soon.”  What are the first thoughts that run through your mind?  Are you scared of the unknown?  Do you fear the “next step?”  Do you have regrets?  Are your thoughts focused on the people in your life or the things you have left to do. 

First off, you shouldn’t be scared.  You should not fear what is next.  Jesus took care of that for us.  Of all my fears when I was told my news, the fear of what was going to happen to me was the least pressing of them all.  It was not a conscious lack of concern, but a warm sense of relief that God had taken care of that part of my journey long, long ago.  It was my faith in Jesus that allayed my fear of the unknown beyond life.  I know that when I die, I will get so see my savior.  I know that I will be greeted by all of the saints who have gone before me.  I will see my grandma and grandpa again.  I will find friends in heaven that I have lost in this world.

Second, don’t live with regrets.  My mom is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  She has to be, she put up with three large, crazy and stubborn guys.  But she has lived by the thought that when she does something, when she makes a choice, she will have no regrets.  Should you turn left or right.  Should you jump or slide.  Should you take the easy way or the fun way.  It would be a shame to look back at a life lived full of regrets.  It should not take the threat of death for you take life by the horns and live it until the end.  My friend Mike listened to my mom’s advice and moved far away to go to college.  He was afraid to leave his family and his home, but he chose to take the chance.  He chose to step out in faith and live with no regrets.  He is now happily married to a woman he met so far away from home, and he found out that family can be wherever you are.  Take responsibility for the decisions you make and be proud of the steps you have made.  Learn from you mistakes and build them into successes.  Live life with no regrets.

Finally, life is not about the times in life you have been touched by someone, but about the lives you have touched in your time in this changing world.  If, when you imagine what you would do if you were going to die, you find yourself thinking of visiting the Pyramids of Egypt or skydiving, you may want to reconsider your priorities in life.  Do you really want to finish off your last days on this planet wishing that you had _______ (fill in the blank)?  Do you want to be the type of person who is remembered for his possessions or for how he lived his life and touched those around him? “He who dies with the most toys…still dies…“

Here are your choices:  You can live life worrying about what tomorrow brings.  You can collect all the treasures you can afford.  You can become the wealthiest man in the world, travel to distant places and indulge in every fantasy.  Or you can live like Jesus.  You can live with no regrets.  You can take the road less traveled.  You can touch the lives of those around you. You can step out in faith on a daily basis and know that no matter what happens, everything will be ok.

What if today was your last day?  Could you forgive, could you leave yesterday behind, could you live with no regrets, could you shoot for the stars? Could you live your life the way your God and Savior would want you to live?

It’s not as easy as it sounds, but man is it worth it.  Trust me…I know.

Matthew 6:25-27 & 34
Do Not Worry

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?

³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

Man’s Best Friend

I am amazed every day at where life changing lessons can come from.  Many of us spend huge chunks of our life pursing “higher” knowledge.  I spent seven years in college, and more than likely will spend several more pursuing a higher degree before I die.  We dedicate massive resources, both financial and spiritual, to learning lessons that we think will help us make the most of our time on this planet…meanwhile we often miss the most important lessons that are absolutely free.

In June two good friends of mine talked me into visiting the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society.  I grew up with all sorts of animals.  Seriously…I lived among a virtual zoo of felines, canines and fowl, but in the 14 years since I moved out on my own, I had not had a pet of my own.  I love dogs.  Not “little yapper type dogs” (if you know that reference, leave a comment), but hefty, big dogs.  During our foray into the halls of the Humans Society, we came across a 5 month old Labrador/Newfoundland mix then named Bruno.  He was a mellow black lab looking pup with smart eyes.  We took him out to the play pen, and I fell in love.

I took him home and got to work turning my house into a haven for his oversized puppy antics.  He got to work destroying everything.  But from the moment I took him home, he would not let me leave his sight without voicing his displeasure.  I couldn’t walk to the neighbors or wash my truck without him wanting to be in my hip pocket.  It didn’t matter if I had to punish him for peeing in the garage or eating my landscaping, he would crawl back on his belly just to be close to me.

Fast forward seven months and that dog is still a puppy…just a MUCH larger version.  And just like all those months ago, he can hardly stand to be out of my sight.  Today I helped clean out a couple of driveways after the blizzard of the decade and my pup barked constantly until I came home.  Part of me hates that he barks, because he is not supposed to.  Another part melts, because I know that he loves me so much that he cannot stand to see me walk away.

It is in my dog’s barks that I began to think about the hidden lesson.  You see, he has several tones to his barks, and over the months I have come to recognize them.  One means, “I see you and don’t know who you are.”  Another means, “play with me NOW.”  But the most recognizable one is the “please don’t walk away and leave me” bark.  That bark means that my pup wants to be a part of my life no matter if I am taking out the garbage or going to work.  He wants to be by my side if I am going to the store or going into battle.

That is the true lesson.  We always refer to the dog as “man’s best friend,” but I beg to differ.  My 115 lb. bundle of fur, energy and joy only represents “man’s best friend.”  You see there is a real life best friend out there who is the physical embodiment of all the qualities that we need.  There is One who is patient, kind, understanding, loving and forgiving.  One who hates to see us walk away and gets excited to see us come back home.  There is One who truly wants to go with us no matter where we go.  He doesn’t care how boring, how busy or how dark our destination may be.

It may seem like a stretch or a little sacrilegious, but all of the characteristics that make dog “man’s best friend” are the exact same traits that live within Jesus.  But there is one HUGE difference.  Your dog may watch longingly as you leave and be sitting, waiting when you return home, but only Jesus makes it possible for us to get home in the first place.  He is our beacon in the darkness.  He is the light that shines the way, and He has already given everything to show us how much he really loves us.

So while we spend our lives walking through the hallowed halls of universities and seminaries, let’s not forget the everyday lessons that can be taught sitting on the floor of a living room.  While we relish the unconditional love that our favorite companions share, let’s not forget the One who IS unconditional love…the one who gave everything to show us that love.

And let’s show that love to others.

One Love
One God
One Way

The Approaching Inevitability

Change.  It is the most feared of all inevitabilities.  People fear the change that is always coming because they are comfortable and safe in their current situations.

I am a hypocrite when it comes to change…and so are most people.  We often complain that something needs to be done to institute a “change” but we either remain immobile, oppose any sort of change or grumble and complain after the change has been made.  And the scariest thing about our attitudes towards change is the corner we often back ourselves into trying to avoid change. 

We hem, we haw, we procrastinate and avoid having to change until the necessity becomes a catastrophe that sparks an interminable sequence of change and rebirth.  In the end the simple, subtle changes that we should have been making all along would have been much less painful than the explosive recreation that results.

The Bible features numerous examples of people who hardened their hearts and refused to change or accept the changes happening around them.  Jeroboam did not change his evil ways.  The Pharaoh’s heart hardened.  Ecclesiastes 8:1 says “Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man’s face and changes its hard appearance.” The idea of “change” most often presented in the Bible often accumulates into a culminating transformation.  For the most part, people look forward to the end transformation.  They want to eat healthier, they want to quit smoking, they want to get to Heaven.  The problem lies not with the end goal, but the steps necessary to get there.  They scare people.  These steps are “too much work.”

The modern truth is that this unwillingness to change permeates society.  We want the government to change, but are afraid to take the steps necessary to make it happen.  We want to rid the world of thirst, but don’t want to give up our daily mocha latte.  We want the church to be relevant for the next millennium, but don’t want to sacrifice our cathedrals or organs.

The problem is that without making these small changes, we back ourselves against a wall.  The government will begin to fail.  Millions will thirst to death.  The church will begin to die.  This will continue to happen until we are trapped by two inevitabilities…drastic, Earth shattering, face melting change or die.  All because we are unwilling to make a few small changes at a time.

It doesn’t have to be that way.  Change doesn’t have to be the result of triple bypass surgery, governmental bankruptcy or failing churches.  It can be the CAUSE of a transformation.  Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” A transformation can be a violent, catastrophic event like the eruption of a volcano.  Or it can be a beautiful miraculous process like a caterpillar to a butterfly.  The difference is the process.  One builds until nothing can stop it from happening and it is often as damaging as it is rejuvenating.  The other is an acceptance of  a natural progression.

That is the sound of inevitability… It is the sound of your death… (The Matrix 1999).  We have a choice between two inevitabilities.  Only we can choose.

God in the Glass

The Man In The Glass

Anonymous

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in you life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum
And think you’re a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

He’s the fellow to please-never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
For years now, that poem has been a favorite of mine.  My mom used to tell me that above all, I had to be accountable to myself and had to live with my decisions.  So far I have been pretty happy and regret free in my life.  It has not been easy.  There are many times when I wonder if I shouldn’t have turned right instead of left.

Every day I get up and put my contact lenses in and contemplate whether or not the things I did the day before were acceptable.  Sometimes I have a hard time looking myself in the eye, others I feel pretty good about myself.

How have you been doing?  Are you happy with where your life is going?  Are you content with where you life has been?  Why or why not?  What is keeping you from being able to look yourself in the mirror and not blink, flinch or shudder?

For too many people (yours truly included) fear prevents them from being able to confront the “man in the glass” some days.  For many people guilt manifests in a lowering of eyes or shrug of the shoulders.  What are you afraid of?  What have you done that is so bad?

Romans 8:31-39

³¹What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He 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? ³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^{[l] 37}No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither 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.

If the above is true, why do so many people have such a hard time with the “man in the glass?”  You see, I think the Man is the ultimate representation of Jesus in us.  He is our conscience and our heart.  Fear and guilt are the enemies of our conscience and our heart.  Those two devils make us weak, and the crazy thing is that we let them.

Nineteen times in the Bible it says not to fear, but we do.  God tells us not to worry.  That tomorrow will have its own batch of concerns.  But still we do.

The other day, a good friend of mine asked me what is keeping me from pursuing some of my dreams and goals.  I told him “fear.”

He responded “Of what?”

I had all sorts of answers, and I started listing them off to him as he sat there shaking his head.  They were all viable, legitimate fears, but they all stemmed from one thing.  While I have faith in God, while I trust in Him, I don’t want him to be in control.  The funny thing is that I let God be in control once…I had to…and everything turned out just fine.  That one time where I really gave it all up to Him is one of the most remarkable times I had looking in the mirror afterward.  I had no fears, I had no guilt, I had no regrets.  He had taken care of them all.

So do you struggle with the “man in the mirror,” or are you struggling with Someone so much bigger?  Jacob wrestled with God and came out so much better for it.  Jacob became Israel and was blessed by God.  So as you stand in front of that mirror, do not be afraid to struggle with God, for to struggle with God means that you are letting him touch you.  He will bless you because of it, and “the man in the glass will be your friend.”

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

Whatever Happened to Love?

I have been thinking about this topic for quite some time now.  The more I think about it, the more I wonder what has happened to our society/world to make such an awesome thing so taboo.

Several years ago now I told a friend of mine that he was one of my best friends, and that I loved him.  It freaked the crap out of him.  He could not understand why I cared so deeply for him after knowing him for such a short time (about 6 months).  I told him that time was an irrelevant factor in the equation of love.  The most important factor being how much he had positively effected my life.

A couple of weeks ago, I talked him into joining me at the Lifelight music festival for its final evening of music on Sunday.  We walked up to the final row of more than 100,000 people prepared to watch the Newsboys perform and caught one of the most moving performances of the festival, the reenactment of the “Everything Skit” by a local church group.  After watching the skit and being brought to tears, I walked over to him, placed my forehead on his and said “that is why I told you years ago that I love you.”

You see, he was the person God used to bring Jesus into my life.  I loved him not because of how long I had known him, but because of the impact he had on my life.  God used him to “save” me.  But it took him almost seven years to understand the reason why I told him that all those years ago.

So why has “LOVE” become so taboo?  I think it is because that an awful lot of people don’t really know how to love one another.  I think it is because LOVE has become a catch phrase for unidentified emotions.  But love is so much more than an emotional attachment.  Check out what love means according to Wikipedia.  It is kind of a dry, fleeting emotional definition.  The dictionary definition fails to give life to the most powerful of human instincts.

The New International Version of the Holy Bible sites over 690 references to the word “Love,” but one sticks out.  John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  This is not an example of love as an emotional attachment. This does not quantify love as a “feeling” or “pleasure.”  In fact, this shows love as a sacrifice.  God loves us so much that he willing traded his son for us.  For a parent that is the ULTIMATE sacrifice.  For me that is the ultimate impact made upon my life.

But look at someone and tell them you “love” them and interpret the looks on their faces.  I bet they range from astonished to disgusted to worried.  Tell a friend and they may roll their eyes or brush you off.  Tell a complete stranger and you may find yourself with a black eye.  Tell the wrong person and you could end up in jail all because the real definition of love has been twisted by society and connotation.

Last year my students asked me why I bothered to teach when I made so little money and had to work so hard.  I told them that I did it because I loved them.  Half laughed.  Half rolled their eyes.  None believed it because of what love has come to mean.  Towards the end of last year, a student came to me with a HUGE concern.  Something so big that he/she could not possibly handle it him/herself.  I listened, I consulted the counselors, and I worked with the student.  Over the course of the summer I communicated with the parents and developed a relationship with him/her.  We went golfing, disc golfing, bike riding, out to lunch, whatever, but he/she always felt safe.  One day I dropped the student off at his/her home and was talking with his/her dad.  The student leaned up against the side of the dad’s truck and said “You really do love us don’t you.  I always thought you just said that.”  Then he/she asked me “why.”

I don’t have a good answer why for either my friend or my student other than “I just do.”  I feel it is something we all should take a good hard look at.  Why do we love the people we do?  Why don’t we love the people we don’t?

Matthew 22:37-40 says “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

That is a lot of weight to put on a word like “love.”  Everything revolves around it, but so few people understand it.  1 Corinthians 13:4-6 says “⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

The last verse always gets me.  It is a verse of sacrifice.  Love protects…from what?  Love trusts…in what?  Love hopes…in what?  Love perseveres…through what?  The last verse requires ACTIVE participation from the one who is doing the loving.  Jesus protected, trusted, hoped and persevered all out of love.  He did all those things for us.

So what are we doing for others?  When we look inward, do we know what LOVE really means, or do we just toss the word around casually?  My best friend in this world (besides my brother) loves me so much that he is willing to let me dislike him, if it means that my soul will benefit.  He is willing to sacrifice our friendship for something higher.  That is love.

Jesus was willing to endure unspeakable tortures and agonies.  He even saw his Father turn away from him: Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  He did this all out of love for us.

What are we doing for others out of love?  How do we pass on the gift that our savior shared with us?  Are we afraid to love because it is not cool?  Or do we throw caution to the wind and offer our love unconditionally and as a sacrifice to others?

“When love beckons to you follow him,Though his ways are hard and steep.  And when his wings enfold you yield to him,Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound.” – Kahil Gibran

“To live is like love, all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.”  – Samuel Butler

“I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.”  – Henry Ward Beecher

“To love another person is to see the face of God.”  Les Miserables

May you love without caution.  May you love without regret.  May you love without capacity.  May you feel the way it feels to be loved those ways by a savior who showed us how to do it.

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

Can We Make a Difference?

Sometimes I sit here and wonder the purpose of everything.  Why are we here?  Why were we created?  Is it all worth it?

I know there are people with simple, glib answers that they think are based on their faith or whatever, but when you stop to really dig, the answers are not nearly so easy to find.

So I ask the question “Can one person really make a difference?”  I think of the man who spends his life traveling in search of answers only to die old and full of question.  I think of the person who does everything life has to offer only to die with regrets.  I think of the person who has met everyone and been everything to all, and still he dies alone.  I sit here thinking of all of this and really begin to wonder if the pain, humiliation, trials, and work that is life is really going to bear some fruit?

I have traveled to all sorts of places.  I am really lucky for a small-town South Dakota boy, but despite my travels, I still have this insatiable wonderlust that I cannot escape.  I have met thousands of people, but I still yearn to know more, to meet more, to make an impact on more people.  I want to make a difference, but every time I look back at what I have done, all I see is more work to do.

So I guess, I am wondering what it takes to feel fulfilled?  What does it take to fill the emptiness that sometimes lives inside a person?  What does it take to make a difference?  Is it even worth trying to make that difference?

Does it matter what job you do?  Does it matter how many lives you touch?  Does it make a difference if one person shows up to your funeral or a hundred?

If it does not make a difference, if one person cannot make a difference, what does that mean?  What does it mean if you are just a regular guy from the Midwest?

One Love
One God
One Way

Jason

First Day Blues

It is now 7:57 A.M. and for the first time in 28 years I am NOT getting ready for the first day of school.

My room would be a buzz of activity as fresh-faced freshmen, totally lost in the enormity of their first day timidly found a desk well before the first bell rang.  Backpacks, empty for now, except for the barest essentials of paper and pencil would strew the aisles of the classroom.

Outside in the halls, the clamor of old friends and upperclassmen sharing stories of summer conquests and adventures would waft in every time the door swung on its hinges.  The smell of cappuccinos, chewing gum and fresh wax accompany every pink face and set of shuffling feet that walks through the door.

I would glance one more time over my to-do list for the day, arrange the syllabus, honesty contract and personal info sheet before checking my e-mail one more time for any last minute announcements from the office.

It is 8:05 now.  The first bell has rung.  I close my laptop, grab a mouthful of ice water and prop the classroom door open. It is time to greet my new batch of students.  I don’t know who is more eager, me or them.

But it is not like that here in my office at home.  There is no screaming in the hall, only the beeping of my Blackberry as today’s work e-mails rush in.  There are no syllabi to sort or notes to look over here.  The only set of eager eyes belong to my faithful companion Porter.  He doesn’t want to learn, he wants to play fetch.

Yeah, I miss it.

Pray for the kids today.  Pray for the teachers.  Pray for the parents.

Ding…8:10…school has just started.

God Bless

Jason