Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Daily Life

Thankfulness and the American Orphan

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To most of us in America, Thanksgiving Day is all about three things: turkey, football and a day off. Quite honestly, I’m a big fan of all of those things. Unfortunately there are many for whom this day has no meaning. They have lost hope amid the struggles and trials of our modern society. They have become too bitter to be thankful for anything; they are simply in need. For those of us with Christ in our lives, we have something to give. We have hope for the future, and we have love. These gifts are not to be hoarded; they are to be given away.

I’ve been reading the book “Street Lives: An Oral History of Homeless Americans” recently. It’s a collection of firsthand accounts of living on the street. It is truly heartbreaking to read their stories. While the language and subject matter can be a bit rough at times, I encourage you to read this book or books like it. We are so isolated in our comfortable homes and neighborhoods. Few of us know what true hunger feels like. Even fewer know what it’s like to have no bed, no home and no hope. While there are many shelters that do a good work, there are far more that are abusive and even perpetuate the mindset that keeps people living in despair. The number of children and veterans among the population of the homeless is staggering. Many of the homeless have no family remaining, no place to turn for help and no one to love them. They are truly the orphans of America, regardless of their age.

As followers of Jesus we are called to care for the orphans. What are we doing to help? For most of us, helping involves giving to shelters and inner city ministries, and probably buying some groceries or meals for those in need. This is necessary and admirable, but it does not go far enough. Food for the belly is obviously important, but food for the soul is paramount. We need to feed more than their stomachs. We need to feed their hearts, their minds, and their self worth. We need to clothe them not only with blankets and coats, but with love. What can you do to help? What can I do? We must come together and do something about this crisis. Why? The answer is simply because Jesus said to do so; that is enough. We who choose to follow Christ have an obligation to do the things He did. As the orphans in need of love cry out to us, they convict us of that which we are not doing. None of us can end homelessness by ourselves. We can, however, love one person. Together we can solve the problem in our cities by determining that we will not tolerate the way homeless orphans are treated.

The love of God provides the love, strength and hope that we all need. There is enough for us to bask in and still have plenty in reserve to give away. I am thankful for the love of Christ. I am thankful that He saved me. I am thankful that I am not an orphan. Yet I am thankful for the orphans all around us, for they are opportunities to share the immeasurable love of Christ. We must put aside our fear, our prejudices and our preconceived notions; it’s time to reach out and love the orphans all around us. Put your arms around someone in need today, and rejoice in the opportunity to be able to do so. Be thankful for all you have, and then give others something to be thankful for as well.

The Alive and Devoted Church

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I write a lot about personal responsibility, focused here on this blog as our duty to follow Christ with all that we are. This is our call as followers of Jesus. If we are not personally “all in” for Jesus, we cannot expect to have any merit with those to whom we would speak. We have to model our beliefs without wavering, trusting always in Christ rather than in anything we might possess or accomplish. I would be remiss, however, if I were to stop at personal responsibility. We are called the body of Christ, meaning we are part of a connected network, a family. Jesus called this family His bride, the church.

Today we tend to think of church as a building, indeed as several building throughout our cities. This is a misrepresentation of what the Church was created to be. The Biblical church never referred to a building, but rather a body. We are supposed to amplify all the things we are called to do as individual followers of Christ, by gathering with other believers and doing those same things together. The power in a group of followers of Jesus can be breath taking. There is more power in love than any other force in the universe. This is true on an individual level, but even more pronounced when a group of people come together to love others.

Together, through love, we can feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, care for the widows and single moms, and look after the orphans and those from broken homes. Love is powerful. Love, amplified, is unstoppable. We are called to be the church, yet most of us associate being the church as going to a predetermined building each Sunday morning, being entertained for an hour or two, then maybe even getting involved in a couple of programs. Mission accomplished, duty fulfilled, right? Doubtful. There are a few modern “churches” that get it right. They do the things Christ commanded us to do. But by and large, the modern Western church has become a divisive collection of mini-corporations with building campaigns, catering budgets and medical insurance benefits. Much of the money collected from the church members goes to pay the overhead of the staff and electricity bills. Thankfully we squeeze small corners of the budget in so we can help out in the inner city and send some rice overseas. We manage to earmark just enough money to soothe our conscious so we can get on with bigger ideas such as building campaigns.

I cannot begin to imagine the sorrow of Christ as He looks down on all of this. Is this the reason He sacrificed His own life, so that we could build better playgrounds and more adequately cool our “sanctuaries”? God, forgive us. What have we become? How we have twisted His mission to the point that our own professed Lord would no longer recognize it. This is not the church Christ died for. We – you and me – we are the Church for which He died. Yet we ignore the commandments of Jesus and we spit on the cross where He bled for us because we can’t see past our own comfort to notice a wounded and dying world, a world that cries out to us for help. We pass by the homeless and overlook the poor. We ignore the needs of the outcast and cater to those more like ourselves. We are the Church, but where is the work of the church, where are the results? We need more than Sunday morning sermons and soon forgotten resolutions of commitment. We need true followers banding together to go out and care for this world. We need to come together and be the Church. We need to be the ones who are not afraid to stand in the face of oppression and persecution. We as the Church should be throwing our bodies over those in need, protecting them, loving them and nursing them back to health.

But we stand off to the side. We bicker over styles of worship, the length of sermons and meaningless nuances of religion. We are not called to be a people divided, but rather a people united under Christ. He is to be our Lord and Leader. So how about it Church, are you with me? Are you ready to abandon the buildings and divisions and begin to be about being the Church rather than simply attending one? The church is the bride of Christ. A bride does not merely attend her wedding but rather is fully engaged in all facets of it and fully focused on the one she loves. It’s time to stop merely being in attendance. It’s time to be the Church, fully devoted, fully alive.

Are You Making a Difference?

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What if we’re not making a difference at all? What if we sit behind our desks all day, every day, for twenty years or more and never make a difference? We weren’t called to this. Indeed, we weren’t made for this.

Increasingly this is becoming the age of the knowledge worker. Many don’t even go into an office at all, and those that do are cordoned off from each other in 5×5 cells we call cubicles. Community and interaction are left in favor of self-achievement and autonomy. Along the way we have lost our mission and I dare say a piece of our humanity. The past couple of generations have been raised in an environment of individualism at the sacrifice of teamwork. Self ambition has blinded us to the beauty of working together and helping each other. When my grandparents were my age, everyone looked out for one another and lent a hand as needed. Now many of us have never even met the neighbor two doors down from us.

God help us. What have we become? It’s no wonder there is a waning interest in Christianity in this country. Those of us who profess to know Christ live identical lives to those who don’t. We’ve been sucked in by the lies of society. We’ve bought into Madison Avenue and it may very well be costing us our soul. We must turn back and repent. We must rediscover our mission in life, and we must refocus our lives on Jesus Christ.

True religion is this, that we care for the orphans and the widows and keep ourselves untainted by the world. (James 1:27) Are we doing it? Do we take the time to mentor kids from a single parent home or to buy a sack of groceries for a single mother? Do we spend time with the elderly and the homeless? Do we give hope to anyone? When was the last time you unconditionally loved someone, the last time you loved someone without expecting anything in return? We are sick, we are selfish and we have lost our way.

There’s no happy moral today, no silver bullet of encouragement. There is only this: take an honest look at your life. Are you living a life worthy to be associated with Jesus? Are you living a life that displays grace, mercy and love to everyone around you? Are there areas of your life that remain closed to God, areas that you will not surrender? When was the last time you told someone about the love and redemption found only in Jesus Christ? We are sick and we need to get well. Repent today. Turn away from the life you’ve bought into and start fresh living the life God planned for you. We must make a difference or there is no point in any of this. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing and hope to make a difference. Modern Christianity is failing and we must change. We must repent of Christianity and turn instead to a life of following Christ. Replace your selfishness with selflessness, your greed with generosity and your bitterness with love. Repent with me today and walk in the way of Jesus.

Incredible Love

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There are days when I cannot move. There are days when I am so overwhelmed by the love of God that I cannot make sense of anything else. This love is so inconceivable. Even in the worst of times, I am so incredibly blessed. I find myself with one simple question on my lips: “Who am I?”

As Israel Houghton wrote, “Who am I that you are mindful of me?” When push comes to shove, I am quite simply the world’s greatest screw-up. I have failed far more times than I have succeeded. I have fallen so often that I consider the ground one of my closest friends. Why does God take the time to care for me? Why does He take the time to constantly help me up every time I fall? What in the world is in it for Him?

That is the wrong question. It’s not about what’s in it for Him, but rather who He is. While it may be cliché in our modern age, the truth is God is indeed love. At His core, His very essence, God is love. It is who He is. Everything else flows from that love: justice, mercy, grace and righteous anger. God is all of these things and more, but ultimately He is the embodiment of perfect, unrelenting love. His love compels Him to constantly strive for each of us, to forever pursue us in order that He might lavish His love on us.

It’s too much. I cannot conceive of such love. In my own imperfection I have known love and I have shown love. But it is nothing compared to the love of our Savior. No matter how deeply we love our spouses or boyfriends or girlfriends, can we honestly say that every day we relentlessly pursue them for the single purpose of lavishing love on them? Do we forgive those we love as Christ forgives us? Are we willing to not simply overlook but to completely blot out their shortcomings? Jesus does this for us, and in so doing demonstrates a model of perfect love.

To consider such loves leaves me speechless and overwhelmed. I am truly and completely undone. He loves us in our weakness and imperfection. He loves us perfectly and completely. I never want to disappoint the one who loves me so much. I just want to serve Him with all that I am. Knowing I am loved in such a way, I cannot wait to fall down again. If I never fell, I would never know the warmth and acceptance of those arms that lift me up. It is in the failing that we learn and in the falling that we advance. It makes no sense, but then again, when was the last time love made sense to anyone? There is no logic here; there is simply mercy and grace. There is only love. Take a moment and bask in His love today.

Where Are You From?

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For many years growing up, I used to dread the inevitable, “Where you from?” question that came with introductions to new people. As a military “brat”, we moved around a lot. I had lived in three states and in three different countries before I ever hit first grade. While being exposed to different cultures and ethnic groups has forever shaped who I am today, in the early years I was left with somewhat of an identity crisis. These days, for the first time in my life, I have a solid handle on that dreaded “Where you from?” question.

One of the reasons I really struggled with the question earlier in my life stemmed from the fact that I didn’t really identify with any area or group of people. Today it’s the same, but I now understand the reason why. I am a follower of Christ, I belong to Him. I identify with Jesus. Spending time with Him is when I feel most at peace, when I feel at home.

Lately I can’t turn on the television or radio, much less pick up a newspaper, without being bombarded with the latest political argument of what it means to be an American. I hear arguments from both Christian and non-Christian friends, both trying to win me over to their point of view. I feel wonderfully disconnected, if not somewhat frustrated, from all the fuss. You see, I’m not from America. Sure, my birth certificate will tell you I was born on United States territory, but that is simply geography. I am extremely thankful to have been born in a country that has allowed me to express my opinion freely, and a country that has let me pursue a way of life of my own choosing. But make no mistake, I pledge my allegiance to the Creator God and to His Son who sacrificed His life for me. I do not pledge allegiance to a colorful rag, but rather to the blood stained robes of my Lord and Savior. I do not love any particular area of dirt, but will bow on any piece of land before my God.

If you ask me where I’m from, I will proudly and unashamedly tell you that I am part of the Kingdom of God. This is where I place my allegiance. How about you? Where are you from? With whom do you identify? The Bible makes it clear that we cannot serve two masters. We can’t serve “God and country”, because our country will most assuredly come into conflict with God. Whom then will you choose? Do you boast in your country of origin or in your true place of origin? God created you with specific talents and abilities, intended for use according to His purpose. All that we have and all that we are originated with God. We are from Him, not any plot of soil. Do you show God the same allegiance you do to your country? If not, it’s time to choose this day whom you will serve.