Do You Feel Out of Place?

    Have you ever felt totally out of place, unsure of where you were at, and less sure about where you were going and how you would get there?
    I’m writing this while on a plane heading to Paris. It was a sudden opportunity for a free, albeit quick, turnaround trip to a place I have never been, so I’m taking advantage of it. My wife is a flight attendant and when she was suddenly awarded this trip with a long enough layover to do some sight-seeing, I quickly rearranged my schedule and took a couple of days off to join her.
    But for security reasons, I’m not able to travel through Paris to the hotel along with the flight crew. So I have to find my way, and it’s on the other side of the city. I’ve never been to Paris. I do not speak French. I’m completely unfamiliar with the French transportation system. So while I’m excited for the opportunity, I’m pretty nervous. I’ve got a map in French and some written directions with words I can’t pronounce, much less understand, to the crew’s hotel. I’m hoping to get there before it’s time to turn around and head back to the airport.
    That's kind of where some of you are at. Thinking of it this way may help the rest of us to empathize with many who are new to The Bridge and church world in general. Our church has been growing rapidly. Over the course of the last few months, many who have little or no church background have been making their way in. We are thrilled to have you!
    But I’m sure that sometimes you feel as though you are trying to navigate foreign concepts in unfamiliar territory all by yourself. If you’ve never before read the Bible, listened to preaching, or sang worship songs with a live band, it can all feel overwhelming. But we want you to know this, you are not alone. Not only are there many others here like you, most of us were where you are not that long ago. And the people around you are only interested in helping. They are not judging you. They are not wondering why you don’t sing along (if you don’t) or have trouble finding your way around in the Bible. We are all just really happy you are here and we want you to stick around.
    But unlike my escapade in Paris, there is a really big reason you are here. I’m just visiting France for the adventure. You are here because God brought you here. Some are going through hard times and that’s why you began searching. Others have just sensed an internal yearning that you are hoping can be satisfied here. Whatever your reason for coming, ultimately, it is God’s doing. He wants to reveal himself to you, to bring you into a relationship with him. Once you respond to his offer of salvation, you’ll no longer feel like a foreigner who is in unfamiliar territory. You’ll know you are with family and that you are home.
    That’s what I’m praying for you for, right now.

Legally Dead

    There was an interesting story in the news last week about a living man who was declared legally dead. He wasn’t comatose. He wasn’t brain dead. He wasn’t even “mostly” dead. He was alive, talking, walking and sitting in the courtroom in front of the judge who declared him to be legally dead.
    Donald Miller disappeared in 1986 and after family, police, and private investigators could find no trace of him, he was declared legally dead in 1994. He later reemerged in 2005. After reapplying for a drivers license, he learned that he was not eligible because he was supposedly dead. It took him a while before his attorney was able to petition the state of Ohio to have the ruling of his death overturned.
    But then Judge Allen Davis, presiding over the matter in Hancock County, Ohio, discovered that the law in Ohio did not make allowances for a man declared dead to then be declared alive. Just this last week, with Mr. Miller sitting before him in good health and answering questions, the judge said, “I don't know where that leaves you, but you're still deceased as far as the law is concerned.”
    If you are a follower of Jesus, that’s true of you as well.
    Paul the Apostle wrote this in Romans 6:5-8, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
    In other words, Paul was saying that when we believe on Jesus with saving faith, our old nature, our sin nature, is united with Jesus’ death on the cross (see also Galatians 2:22). Paul concludes, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).
    From God’s perspective, because of Jesus’ vicarious death, if you have put your faith in him for forgiveness and salvation, your old self, your sinful nature, has been declared by God himself to be legally dead. So he says we should live like it. It should be apparent to others that we are not living with the sins of our past. Our new life is totally different, changed by the death of our old selves and the new life of Christ within us.
    This is not a morbid thought. Our old sin nature was leading us to eternal death. Putting it to death was necessary for us to receive the life of Christ. This is something to rejoice in!
    And that perspective helps us to see everything in life in a different way. Look at what Paul said about this in Colossians 3:1–3 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (NIV).
    You’ve been declared dead. As ironic as it sounds, live like it!

Harder Than Running a Marathon

    I was waiting towards the back of the pack of 40k+ marathoners to approach the starting line to begin the “race”. It was over an hour from the time the first group of runners started before the final group crossed the starting line. Shortly before my group even got to the start, the announcer, being humorous, said, “I have some bad news, you’re probably not going to win.” I chuckled, knowing that the leaders of the race were already nearly half-way through the course.
    But then I thought, “I’m not doing this to win, or even to compete. I’m not even doing this to run. I’m doing this to help kids in Africa get clean water.”
    That evening, while lounging in my family room, nearly immobile from the pain in both legs, I asked a friend who also ran with Team World Vision, “How was your time?”
    He said, “I don’t even know. To tell you the truth, I didn’t do this to make good time. I did this for the fundraising.” I was proud of him.
    But there’s a problem with our efforts to raise money to help people on the other side of the world. Some call it, “Drive-by giving.” I do think God wants us to give towards international projects and needs. But for too many of us, doing so satisfies the voice in our head that tells us to be generous. I don’t think it should.
    I challenge you to take it a lot further.
    God wants you to be generous with your resources, but even more so, he has called you to be generous with your lives. Don’t let your little gifts to charity cause you to forget about the pain, misery, brokenness and purposelessness all around you. God has called us to do more than support a marathon runner for a mile, or even tithe our incomes to the local church. God has called us to invest our lives in the  broken people who live all around us, work with us, are related to us. He wants us to live generous lives for the sake of others in the world around us.
    That’s harder than running a marathon. A lot harder.
    But think what would happen if we really did that. Think of what would happen if Christ-followers everywhere reached out to the coworkers who are struggling with a sick child...reached out to them as in visiting the child at the hospital and offering to take care of things for them while they are distracted by their crisis. Think what would happen if we all engaged the neighbor whose wife is no longer living at the house...and we offered to take him to breakfast or to share with his child care needs.
    Think what would happen if we invested ourselves with generosity when people’s lives are messy. What kind of an impact would we make?
    I’m thrilled with the 1,200+ kids we have provided clean water to in Mali, West Africa. But right now, I’m really concerned with the hundreds of thousands of people who live within driving distance of our church, who are far from God. Let’s live generous lives and invest in them too.

Government Shutdown

    So the federal government is shut down.
    Well, it isn’t really, but some aspects of it are. And it’s making for political warfare in Washington, at National Parks, private businesses operating on federal land, and even in barroom brawls and interoffice debates.
    I get both sides. The Republicans believe they were elected in the midterm elections to do what they are doing, to stop the madness of overspending. And we have to admit, outspending our means and perennially increasing our already way too lavish debt is ludicrous. Think of what your state of affairs would be like if you did that in your personal budget. But on the other hand, Democrats believe they were also elected to maintain their principals. So there is no negotiating going on, rhetoric is filled with hyperbole and animosity, and little if anything constructive is being accomplished.
    The federal government is shut down, but God’s government isn’t.
    We may live in America and we may be American citizens, but if you belong to Jesus, you are first and foremost a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20) and our political loyalties here are very temporary. I’m not one to ridicule or criticize our elected officials; I think many of them are doing what they believe to be right. But let’s face it, they’re all over the place. And our local, state, and federal governments are led by fallible humans, limited themselves by their own errant opinions, misleading emotions, critical attitudes and selfish desires. Even democracy has it’s weaknesses, which we are currently witnessing. While we as Christians should be the best influences we can possibly be, no matter how hard we work or how loud we debate, we are not going to solve the problems of humanity through politics.
    That’s why I’m glad God’s government isn’t shut down and it’s never going to be.
    Maybe during this time of political debate and social upheaval, we can point people to the unchanging Jesus Christ, and the foundation for life that they can find in him. We never have to be concerned about him raising our taxes or breaking his promises. He is not in debt, but has forgiven the debt we owe him. He will always be the same, and he will always be in charge.

What's the Hardest Thing You've Ever Done?

    What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
    I’m not asking what the hardest thing you’ve ever gone through, but what’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done.
    Emotionally, the hardest thing I’ve done has been to let a staff person go. I spent quiet time alone in tears, both before and after those dreaded meetings.
    Spiritually, the hardest thing I’ve done took place a year and a half ago when I committed to pray for a hundred hours in a month for people’s souls. That was nearly three and a half hours of praying every day. It became a wonderfully valuable month for me, but the hardest thing I’ve ever done, spiritually.
    Physically, dozens in our church are in the middle of doing the hardest thing that they have ever done, culminating next weekend. Most of our Bridge Team marathon runners have never been runners before this year, and now they are running a marathon. Think of that!
    Some of the stories are downright amazing. If you spend some time praying for each of the runners, you’ll quickly realize the huge sacrifice they have made to develop the mental and physical stamina to just get to the place where they are today, ready to run.
    The story I’m most familiar with is that of my wife. Most of you do not know that Linda was diagnosed with Acute Rheumatoid Arthritis three years ago. There were days she could not get out of bed without my help. I used to have to turn on and turn off the shower for her. Few knew about it, because she’d always show up for church, smiling, working with the kids, and doing her best to not let on the pain she was living with.
    Early next Saturday morning, she will line up to run 26.2 miles,

 probably without walking. It’s hard for me to believe. Linda didn’t play sports in high school, never ran in her 20s, 30s, or 40s, until this past year. Linda, with debilitating arthritis, asked God to give her the strength to run for the kids in Mali, West Africa, who are having to haul water every day from a mud pit to their villages. And he has. She is today, symptom free and off all medications. While I was forced out of training three times this summer due to ankle injuries, Linda has been the energizer bunny. Nothing stops her. I’m so inspired by her and other heroes in our church that have overcome amazing odds, that despite my own inability to now run this marathon, I’m going to walk it.
    Linda’s is just one story. There are many other similar ones. I do hope that you pray for every one of them. And if you have not yet supported a runner for at least a mile, please do. If all of us who are not running will support just one runner for one mile, every runner will reach their goal.
    So what’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done? Does that even compare to what those 7 year old girls in Mali, West Africa are doing every day? Mine neither.
    So let’s do something about it. Let’s support those in our church who are doing the hardest thing they’ve ever done. $50 supports a runner for one mile, and one child drinks clean water for the rest of their life.