Love and Boogers

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I was reading some quotes recently and came across this one:

Love is like a booger. You keep picking at it until you get it, then wonder what to do with it.

I am not sure who the author of the quote was but it got me to thinking.  Not about picking my nose but about the love aspect and how hard it is to understand some times and even hard to know what to do with it.

Think about that first puppy-love moment when you got all twitterpated (see Disney’s Bambi for explanation on that term).  Your belly was full of butterflies and your brain was mush and you weren’t sure how to approach the object of your affection.  That fear was part fear of rejection but I wonder how much of it was to do with not knowing what to do if instead of rejection the feelings were reciprocal.

How about that time for the first-time parents when all of a sudden the bump in the belly becomes a squirmy, crying, poo-making machine?  This baby that was at one point a culmination and celebration of love and life between husband and wife is now here and it is its own person.  Do you remember asking yourself that question, “what do I do now?”

For those of you who proclaim Christianity and have quoted that God is love and that this same God has come to ‘indwell’ you as the personhood of Christ, what do you do with that kind of love? Is that a ‘sticky’ question?  Do you wish you could ‘flick’ it somewhere else?

Maybe we think about it too hard.  You know there was a time in our lives when we didn’t have tough questions like, “what is love?”  Go back to that time before you got your first sweaty palms by looking at boy or girl for the first time like you wanted to kiss them instead of play tag.  Yeah… way back then when love wasn’t a booger.  How would a child answer the question about what love is?

Glad you asked because I found this floating around on Al Gore’s web:

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8
year-olds, “What does love mean?” The answers they got were
broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.
See what you think:

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over
and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her
all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”
Rebecca- age 8

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is
different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.”
Billy – age 4

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on
shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”
Karl – age 5

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of
your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”
Chrissy -age 6

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.”
Terri – age 4

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she
takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.”
Danny – age 7

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired
of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My
Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss”
Emily – age 8

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop
opening presents and listen.”
Bobby – age 7

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with
a friend who you hate.”
Nikka – age 6

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.”
Noelle – age 7

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are
still friends even after they know each other so well.”
Tommy – age 6

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared.
I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and
smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.”
Cindy – age 8

“My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don’t see anyone
else kissing me to sleep at night.”
Clare – age 6

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.”
Elaine-age 5

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still
says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.”
Chris – age 7

“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left
him alone all day.”
Mary Ann – age 4

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her
old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”
Lauren – age 4

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and
little stars come out of you.” (what an imagination)
Karen – age 7

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t
think it’s gross.”
Mark – age 6

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it.
But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”
Jessica – age 8

Which one of those statements from the mouths of babes most speaks to you today about love?

For me, it was the one that said, “You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.”

I Like

I like vanilla ice cream.

I like the way a book store smells.

I like the cold side of my pillow.

 I like to drink ice water from a glass.

 I like many things.

 I don’t want to like Christianity. I think that there are already too many people who like it.

 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold(hate) or hot(love). So because you are lukewarm(like), and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.’ ~ Jesus Christ

So what do you like?

God Loves Haiti

In times of devastation, catastrophe, plague, or pestilence, there is a question raised from humanity’s lips -“Why?”  That question comes in many forms:

• If God exists, then why doesn’t He intervene?
• If God is loving, why does He punish the innocent?
• Why did God do this?

No one has the ultimate answer to those questions.  Hopefully, we are not so arrogant to presume to know exactly how God is working through this circumstance.  Those of us who believe in the character that God has portrayed about Himself  in His Word, have faith that He is at work in many ways through each person who is somehow touched by this event.

• Some will know complete devastation
• Some will know the loss of family and friends
• Some will know a life forever changed by injury
• Some will lose trust in their fellow man
• Some will worry about what is going to happen next

And yet, there will be:

• Some who experience the love of a stranger
• Some who will be blessed
• Some who will be a blessing to someone else in their time of need
• Some who will see God for the first time

So many ways that people will impact or be impacted through this circumstance.  And that is all that it is – a circumstance.  I don’t mean to belittle the Haitian plight by no means.  There is real hurt there.  There is real loss there.  There is a real NEED there.  But still it is a circumstance… and God is bigger than any circumstance.  In fact, I would surmise that circumstances are one of His tools to point us back to Himself.

The greatest need in Haiti right now is God.  And whether you are in one of the camps that believes God orchestrated this event or that He allowed it or that He had nothing to do with it, it’s not something worth arguing about.  Listening to the radio this morning I was surprised by the comments coming out from Pat Robertson, but I was equally surprised by the counter attack from those that responded to his comment.

People were getting caught up in the philosophy of the moment and forgot the reality.  Haiti needs God because God is bigger than this circumstance.  They need all of God… not just the parts we want to assign.  What do I mean by that?

• Some want to assign God’s judgment to the situation
• Some want to see God’s love show up through the kindness of strangers
• Some want to see God’s providence at work following the aftermath
• Some want to see God’s grace at work in the lives impacted by this tragedy

I could go on but you get the point.  And I am saying that we need all of God to be present there and that includes judgment, love, providence, grace and any of the other aspects of God that you would like to include.

But I would put this to the question – weren’t all those aspects at work in Haiti before AND during the earthquake?  I don’t believe that God is a ‘Johnny-come-lately’ to the island of Haiti.  I do believe that He can and will use this circumstance for His glory in more ways than we can enumerate.

God loves Haiti.  Pray for the country, pray for the people, pray for the aid that is on the way.  But also be kingdom bringers and donate, go if you can, contact the Red Cross and see if there is a way to help.

God is bigger than this circumstance.  And if I were to lapse somewhat into philosophy or theology, I would say this – what we see in the physical concerning the devastation in Haiti cannot compare to the spiritual condition of much of the world.  Maybe God wants us to understand that as well.

Haiti needs Him in more than one way.

They need all of God.

Hesed She Said

Psalm 23 is a well known scripture even outside of religious influences.  In fact, I bet most of  the visitors who just read the two words that began this post started saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”, inside of their heads.  This post isn’t going to be about the 23rd Psalm, however… though I do want to allude to one verse – the 6th – and only to half of it..

Here are three different translations of the first part of the 6th verse:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ~ KJV

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life ~ NIV

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life ~ NASB

I have highlighted the only difference between the three translations.  Isn’t it interesting that the 3 different translations used a different word to translate the Hebrew word that sits in the original language? What is that word, you ask? Good question.

The Hebrew word in question is checed which is pronounced as HEH SED with a throat clearing sound for that first letter ‘C’ in the word.  What is beautiful about that word is that the English language trips all over itself trying to find a short definitive response that makes sense to the readers.  Consider that those 3 different translations use 3 different words to try and explain it.

Mercy, Love, Lovingkindess – all great words but all short of the full meaning behind hesed.  I got to studying this word because it is used in the book of Ruth when Naomi is addressing and blessing Ruth for her kindness towards her.  Heced points to a covenant loyalty – it entails faithfulness.

Ruth lives out that word when she speaks those timeless words:

“Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

She said those words to a woman that had nothing left to offer her except empty hands and a home in a land where she would be an outcast.  Naomi recognized this devotion from Ruth as heced.

Maybe that is why I like how one group on the internet has described this Hebrew word:

The consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, furious love of our Father God

Isn’t it awesome to think that when David penned the words, “Surely goodness and heced will follow me…”, that in his mind he pictured something far stronger than those three English words that we have been given.

Salvation – ABC to BRO

If you have been around the American church for very long, you will have learned several tools for communicating salvation to those poor wayward souls who do not yet know Christ.  There is the Roman Road, GOSPEL, and, of course, the ABC’s of salvation to name a few.

I want to take a look at the ABC approach to witnessing for just a moment.  A quick internet search will show that the ABC’s are not as simple as we would be led to believe because the letters are not always assigned the same meaning. I will demonstrate the one that I am most familiar with, here:

• A – Admit your a sinner.
• B – Believe in Jesus
• C – Confess that Jesus is Lord.

Seems simple enough on the surface – maybe too simple.

For instance, in order for someone to admit they are a sinner, they must first Believe that there is a greater authority on what is right or wrong.  Otherwise, how are they to define sin?  Conviction of sin can only come from a true knowledge of God’s character and how out of step from that character we are.  It is my belief, then, that the first letter in this acronym must be “B” for Believe.  That belief is what leads the lost person to be convicted of their sin and seek Repentance.  Which, “R”, is the letter I would use for the second part of the acronym that I  propose.  And finally, repentance/belief are both marked by Obedience and the means that “O” is the final part of my acronym.

Salvation which is another way of saying someone coming to Faith in Christ, brings an important point to this discussion.  Let me define faith as this:

Faith, is in the same moment, both a belief and the response to that belief.

Let me use that definition to walk my acronym:

B – Believe there is a God whose character has demonstrated our need for redemption and that this same God made a way for this redemption through His son, Christ Jesus.

This belief must be acted on by either rejecting His authority or accepting it.  By accepting it, we are called to Repentance.

R – Repentance is agreeing, in love, with God that we are contrary to His will and that we need His forgiveness for redemption.  That belief calls for action on our part to turn away from our own desires and, instead, seek His will in our life.  This requires Obedience. For the new convert, they are to follow in obedience by being baptized and publicly confessing that Christ is Lord.

O – Obedience is believing that God knows best for our lives and has set forth instructions for godly counsel in His Word, the bible.  That belief calls for us to be modeling our lives after His teachings.

With each step, a belief (faith) is followed by action.  I think James, the brother of Christ, would concur with this equation.

I would like to point out that the version of the ABC’s that I have presented here never get around to dealing with repentance.  This along with the problematic issue of admitting sin before belief, makes me wary of using this particular tool in an effective manner.

If I had more time, I would dig into the following verses. 1 Corinthians 13:13, Luke 9:23,  Hebrews 11:1, James 1:27, and 1 Peter 3:15.  Take some time and dig into these verses and see how Faith, Hope, and Love fit together.

Northern Church done Southern Style

This is another installment of my thoughts from World Changers  in upstate New York.

On Sunday, the 5th of July, the crews that I would be working with were blessed with visiting the church who would be sponsoring our lunches all week.  I really enjoy visiting other churches because it gives me a chance to see how others conduct themselves when gathered together as a body of believers.  I was really interested in experiencing the upstate New York Baptist church that we were going to visit.

We arrived at service time for the small church that sat next to a muddy river in the foothills of the Appalachians.  I was immediately taken back to the small churches that I had visited down in the south (Kentucky and Tennessee).  Our 17 World Changer members did two things to that church that morning: doubled their attendance and lowered the average age drastically.  I wasn’t surprised to learn that the pastor was a transplant from Kentucky because the little church and its members could have been picked up from the south and dropped right there in New York such was its make-up and conduct.

I wondered if that was an underlying reason for the small size of the congregation.  The church conducted themselves like a southern church while being surrounded by northern people.  They had been able to attract congregants that had grown up in the south and now found themselves in the north because that was the demographic to which they had made themselves relevant.

Now the gospel is relevant to all, so don’t get me wrong, but the way that we practice community can be very different from one demographic to the next.  Most of us would find ourselves in an uncomfortable situation if we were dropped off in a Christ-believing church in a small African village for no more reason than we may not be able to understand their language – though that is an important reason.  The interesting thing about language is that its not limited to just the spoken or written word.  We communicate through our actions as well and the church that we visited acted like a southern church though they were surrounded by northern people.

Let me mention one weird thing… we pledged allegiance that morning to the United States flag, the Christian flag, and the bible.  I understand that this is common practice in some schools and even in some churches.  To me, it was just weird.  We followed that up with a bunch of patriotic hymns – most likely because it was Independence weekend.  For some reason, that just carried over the weirdness of all the pledging to the music part of the worship.

The pastor got up and preached a message that was fantastic.  He geared the message that morning to those of us there from World Changers AND to his congregation.  In short, his message to us was ‘make sure you are here for the right reasons’ and to his congregation he challenged them to follow-up on the work that we would start in their neighborhoods.  I really appreciated what God had led him to speak that morning.

Following service, they invited us to a meal that they had prepared and, boy, were we blessed.  That is where the southern community can speak the universal language – food.  There were at least 7 different potato salads on display that day and I had my first home-made whoopee pie.  Being an extrovert, I enjoyed getting to know those that sat around me during lunch, and truth be told, some that were not so directly around me.  We laughed and cut up like we were old acquaintances.  I can’t say how much I enjoyed lunch with that body of believers.  Its interesting how eating together can have that type of impact… no wonder the bible records that as one of the many things that the early church did.

As I sit here and reflect on them today, I pray that God blesses them and hope that they accepted the pastor’s challenge to follow up on the work we had started.  I met several people in their neighborhoods that were touched by the love on display that week…people who needed the ultimate touch of love that only knowing Christ can bring.

Secret Family Language

Language is not always limited to the spoken or written word.  We all know that our body forms language in the ways we shrug a shoulder or wink an eye.  There are times that we know someone so well that we can tell what’s on their mind just by the way they stare off into space.

Or the section of a song that they hum.

Or how they sigh.

I like to believe that every family has some form of a secret language that lets each member know how they feel about the other.  Especially that they are loved or cared about.

As I write this, I am reminded of the Carol Burnett show that my family watched when I was a kid.  At the end of the show she did something that was part of her secret family language – she would tug on her ear.  I pulled the following off of this site: http://www.nndb.com/people/784/000022718/.

Carol Burnett’s parents were alcoholics, and her earliest memories are of their screaming, drunken fights. Her father abandoned the family when she was eight, and she and her mother moved in with Burnett’s loving but eccentric maternal grandmother, a hypochondriac subject to “hissy fits.” Burnett’s mother soon faded from the family into the bottle, leaving Burnett to be raised by her grandmother. They became very close, and Burnett’s famous “ear-tug” gesture, offered at the end of all her live performances and on her famous TV series, began as a silent signal to her grandmother, meaning “Everything is OK.”

My family has developed a secret way of saying “I Love You”.  When we are holding hands, we simply squeeze the other person’s hand three times.  One squeeze for each word:  “I” – “Love” – “You”.  Proper etiquette requires that the other person return the three squeezes.

How about you? Does your family have a way that they share their feelings that other people wouldn’t necessarily catch?

Why should we C.A.R.E?

This coming Sunday evening I will be teaching my last youth lesson for, well, let’s just say a while.  We will be talking about ‘Why we do missions’.  As I have been preparing this week, I was reminded of a presentation that I did for a school assembly 2 years ago that covered the title of this post.  I have since used it a couple of times in a youth setting because it is so relevant to either.

I am sure that you have recognized that the word CARE is in the form of an acronym because you are a very perceptive reader.  Its a simple 4 step presentation, that goes like this:

Convictions:

There is a country song that states, “you gotta stand for something or you will fall for anything.”  Too many of us walk around having not defined what our core convictions are.  These are those beliefs that we will not bend on regardless of circumstance.  In Christian circles we would call them the ‘Christian World View’.  They define our character – which is another C word that could have easily been used in the acronym. 

I have posted in the past about a topic on the church where I stated my opinion on the need to have equal emphasis on Doctrine & Community.  Another way those two words can be stated are Truth & Love.  In order to C.A.R.E, we need to spend the time to define our convictions in light of the Truth that we have been given.  I have spent 5 weeks defining missions to these youth.  It starts with the Holy Spirit calling, leading, and empowering us to go to those places and persons in the times that He has ordained.  That’s a lot to say in one simple sentence – just understand that the who, where, and when is directed by the Holy Spirit which is the how.  I think we often go in our own power instead of in the Spirit’s.  We could all use a deeper understanding of the presence behind the how.

Last week we defined the what.  We looked at the actions of the early church and the commands that Christ gave to His followers.  The easiest definition of ‘what’ in the mission context, is this: Meeting a need whether its phyiscal, emotional, financial, or spiritual.  If you want some biblical passages to study, go to James 1:27 or Matthew 25.  Those are just two of many.

The second part of that Truth & Love pairing is very important and cannot be separated from the first, otherwise, as Paul would say, “…but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal”. 

Amore:

Ok, so I cheat a little with using the Italian word form of love.  But I do this because we have to define love and that’s best done by understanding these three aspects:

• Eros – That love that is shared between man and wife.
• Phileo – Brotherly love or common courtesy.
• Agape – Unconditional love. 

I could have easily slippd Agape into the second part of CARE but then would miss out on helping people understand that we misuse and misunderstand love because we generalize its usage.  For example, we will tell our spouses that we love them and then tell our co-worker that we would love to go and have lunch because we love that restaurant.  I think you see what I mean.  We also confuse emotions with love – such as infatuation or lust.

So what is love?  Read this well-known scripture in its KJV translation;

Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  Charity never faileth.

You are probably used to this verse reading ‘love’ where the word charity is used and you may even prefer it that way instead of this way.  But consider this: What image does charity bring to mind?  Do you see something being given away without an expectation of recompense? 

Charity has taken on a negative connotation in our culture but it is a noble action where the giver gives without expectation.  Christ had this to say about the greatest possible love, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ”  Both of these verses are about agape – unconditional action.  Jim Henderson and Matt Caspar used a term, non-manipulative intentionality, in their book when describing how they felt Christians should carry out their mandate.  When we do things out of an expectation of something in return, that isn’t love, its manipulation.  

Love is action whose purest form is sacrificial. 

I could go on for pages about this subject but I think enough has been said to bring across the importance of love combined with our convictions.  By the way, you will notice that I highlighted part of the passage which supports my beliefs that truth and love are important to each other.

Responsibility:

To whom much has been given, much is required.

If I were to use a more contemporary form of this sentiment, it would be: Man Up!  The problem with that modern quote is that our society is quickly losing the idea of what a true man looks like.  The problem with the first quote is that most of us struggle with recognizing how much we have been given.

We, as Christians, are supposed to understand Grace by recognizing the extent of mercy that was granted to us.  If we come to a point where we can say, “Yes, I understand the enormity of what was given to me on Calvary’ we have to accept the responsibility that comes with that realization.  We are to be kingdom workers!  In fact, Christ directed us to pray in this manner:

“Our father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

Those highlighted words are not about us giving permission for God to do His thing but a commitment to His kingdom work.  How is God’s kingdom carried out in heaven?  Immediately!  I don’t believe the angels slouch about their duties when directed by the Lord.  And, so, we are to pray in agreement to the responsibility of obeying His will in our lives as kingdom workers here on Earth.

Those first three letters spell CAR which is a vehicle for transporting people or objects.  In this instance, our CAR, or vehicle, is faith.  It is our trust that God will do what He says He will do.  When we recognize that, we can more easily accept the last part of this presentation.

Everything Else:

Christ told those listening to His sermon from the mount that they were not to worry about tomorrow.  Just as God takes care of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, He would look after their needs all the more.  Our CARE recognizes that all of life is a mission in which we are responsible for sharing grace with those we come in contact with.  God is going to take care of everything else.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

So why do we do missions?

Because we C.A.R.E.

You’re a Walking Contradiction

The title of this post comes from a line in the following video.  I have referred to this video before but was reminded of it as I am preparing to teach this weekend on how wives and husbands are to relate to one another from a biblical viewpoint.

Here are some lyrics to a song that I think also explains something about the ‘Walking Contradiction’.

Here we go again,
hurting each other for no reason
wondering why we keep committing the same mistakes.
Sometimes I’m feeling
that it’s more than just illusion
Tell me why we keep pretending
Are we so scared of give and take?
ohh…

CHORUS:
Why do we always hurt the ones we love?
(Why?)
Just when it seems we’ve finally made it through
Why can’t we fly between the eagle and the dove?
Why do we always hurt the ones we love?

BRIDGE:

When you cry, the tears were falling like raindrops
From my eyes…why do we do hurt each other?
Tell me why we shouldn’t try, are there some things we didin’t share?
Why do I see you walking out right w/ me,
I see you standing here?

Isn’t it amazing that we can see a reflection of the Christian experience, the good and the bad aspects, in the marital relationship?  I may come back to this post to flesh it out more as I have time later today… actually, I think I have to but I have some more thinking to do on it first.  I welcome your input.