DownshoreDrift

Have You Decorated For Christmas Yet? When Do You Start?

So, three weeks ago when we were putting up our Christmas tree, playing a little Bing on the old turn table, warming chestnuts over the fire, and sipping Egg Nog, I couldn't help but think about just how much I love Christmas.  All the presents were bought, wrapped, and under the tree and we had already purchased the Christmas goose and cranberries.  Each night thereafter, I cuddled with my kids and read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to them. We pulled out the Christmas programs on DVD and watched them all. Then, about a week ago we went and had our picture taken with Santa at the mall.  Finally, the big day will come tomorrow and we will open all the presents. We'll have grandparents over and we'll have a big feast. Everyone will wear their Christmas sweaters and we'll really "Deck the Halls," so to speak! 

We've decided to follow the lead of the retailers and start doing Christmas early this year to avoid the rush.  Next year, I think that we'll move it up to October. You can't get started too early, now, can you?

Seriously, guys, this is getting ridiculous. Everywhere I go, I am already seeing Christmas stuff. People are starting to shut down and get ready for the holidays. Folks all over our city are already putting up Christmas trees and are decorating in their yards. Plastic snowmen are beginning to dot the landscape. The insanity of it all!  The whole month of December is wiped out with Christmas celebrations and it is next to impossible to schedule anything that is unrelated. I was at a local Baptist association meeting last week and we were talking about some initiatives for 2009. We wanted to get some pastors together and everyone agreed that if we wanted to do it before January, we had to have the meeting before Thanksgiving. That is how it is with my church and just about everyone else that I know as well.  I stopped the meeting and asked everyone if things were like this when they were younger. Basically, people are out of pocket for about 6 weeks. Everyone agreed that it was not this way years ago. Christmas celebrations did not start up until about two-three weeks before Christmas. That's how I remember it as well.

There are some reasons for this, I think.  Some of them good, some bad. Here we go:

1. As people live further and further away from their families, Christmas is the one time of the year when everyone gets together, so it has become a REALLY big deal.  "I'll Be Home For Christmas" puts more of a lump in our throat now than it ever has. Christmas' little brother, Thanksgiving, is an alternate Christmas for many families that are split because of divorce or it is a time to meet with one side of the family or the other. Our family rotates Christmas and Thanksgiving between my wife's side and mine. But, gifts are exchanged over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend every year now.
2. The commercialization of Christmas is completely out of hand. Our consumeristic economy depends on us spending truckloads of money on stuff that few of us really need or want. I recently saw that Americans spend $500 billion a year on Christmas!  Alternatively, $10 billion would provide clean drinking water for every person on the planet and would help prevent the deaths of 1.6 million children a year that occur from lack of access to clean drinking water. Shocking, isn't it?
3. I think that a lot of people are looking for the "perfect Christmas."  There is this ideal that is promoted that has you gathered with your family and friends experiencing warmth, peace, and comfort. There are so many different ways to experience Christmas now that you can't possibly do all of them, so, you have to spread it out for six weeks or so to get it all in. It seems that we aren't getting enough of what we are supposed to be getting during the year, so we try to get it all in at Christmas. Or, we are so empty as a culture that we can't wait to start celebrating something that makes us feel loved. 

Is any of what is driving the expansion of Christmas into November even remotely related to the birth of Jesus Christ?  Remember Him? He is the "Reason for the Season," isn't He? It seems that Jesus isn't talked about much until right around the actual day of Christmas.  We kind of wear ourselves out regarding Christmas and then remember that this is supposed to be about Jesus (or for most, family) after all. I know that I just explained the plot line of just about every Christmas movie ever made, but there is some truth to it.

So, this year I have decided to NOT celebrate Christmas at all until 18 days before.  Why 18 days? Because that is when our church Christmas Party is. On December 7th, we will gather with Family Life Bible Fellowship and have our annual Christmas Extravaganza. If I can't fit it in in 18 days, then it is too much, right? 

Everything else, I'm calling Festivus after the Seinfeld episode where George's father came up with a different holiday besides Christmas. I don't think that we'll do the "airing of grievances," the "festivus pole," or the "feats of strength," but I am going to survive this year by recognizing that everything that is not fairly close to the holiday or is not related to Jesus in some way is just Festivus. 

In case you're wondering about Festivus, here's a clip:

So, no Christmas for me until the time is right. I think that I'm actually going to enjoy Thanksgiving!

Poll: When do you decorate for Christmas?

Prophetic vs. Political: Thoughts on the Day After Obama's Election

President Obama. I'm still trying to get used to saying those words. I didn't support him, but now that he is president, I will give him my respect and prayers as he engages the very difficult task of leading our nation. I had an interesting talk with my kids as I took them to school this morning. They asked me why Obama's election was so historic. I was able to explain to them that just a few years ago, it would have been impossible for a black man to be elected president. They didn't understand, so I told them about the evils of racism and how white people behaved in ways that were not pleasing to God. That is changing, and for that I am glad. In many ways, America is a better place today because we are putting aside race as a determining factor in how we treat people. I still believe that the Church can lead the way on this, but I am glad to see America moving on from past sins. In a strange way, America engaged in national repentance last night for over 300 years of wrong. If our eyes are closed, we will miss what is happening.  UPDATE:  My friend Andrew sent me a link to a really interesting CNN article talking about the racial healing that is taking place in America with Obama's victory. Some of the interviews take place in my city of Montgomery, Alabama. Check it out.

As I said in my previous post, I am not worried about a liberal Democrat becoming president. I do not agree with many of Obama's policies, but I trust that God is in control. I choose to look to Him. As I watched the news coverage last night, I heard news anchors who were almost in tears because of their joy. I saw people dancing in the streets and I DID see many people in tears. A lot of people in America now have a great deal of hope that things are going to be better. I understood the emotion from African Americans, and to an extent, I understood why Obama supporters were so happy. Even though I understand, I am struck with the folly of putting our faith in men. I hope that Obama is a good president, but no matter how well he governs, he is just a man. Men fail and disappoint us. It seems that we struggle to learn that lesson.

Along those same lines, I hope that evangelical Christians have learned that the Republican Party is not our hope. It is now fractured, inept, and very sad. They lost their way and we didn't even have enough moral strength to affect the party that we had lashed our hopes to, must lest affect the nation. Something in me says that evangelicals have lost their way as well. Most younger evangelicals that I know have long given up on the Republican Party, seeing it for what it is. The issue of abortion has kept us in the fold up till now, but after years of Republican presidents, a majority in Congress, and 7 out of 9 Supreme Court justices being appointed by Republicans, many understand that if Republicans were going to do something about abortion, they would have done so. We have to get back to changing hearts and minds and that only happens when people have an encounter with God. Unfortunately, our close ties with Republicans have caused many to see evangelicals in a political way, instead of as people overcome by the power of the gospel. We should be involved in politics, but we should do so in a prophetic, transformative way.

A.W. Tozer said, "It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound . . . while our idea of God is erroneous and inadequate."

Rick Warren has said, "What you believe about God determines your happiness, your direction . . . and ever facet of your life."

It appears that our view of God has diminished a great deal and we are bearing the fruit of that. We see God in a consumeristic way, as though He is there primarily to meet our needs. Salvation becomes all about us. Our spiritual life becomes all about us. Church participation becomes all about us. God becomes a means to our own personal happiness. It is not surprising that we view politics, government, the economy, our relationships, our jobs, and our marriages the same way. So, how will things change? We must be salt and light and value God and His glory above everything else. If we will live from that point and lash our hope to Him, then we are free to change and engage the world prophetically. There are a lot of positives that could come from an Obama presidency. Let's make sure that we, as the people of God, act as a blessing to this nation we say we love during this incredibly pivotal time. Let us rejoice with those who rejoice because for many, this election signals a new America - one that they have spent their lives praying for.  If we fail to understand that we will not be able to communicate with people from other perspectives. The gospel remains the issue. Let's not diminish a hearing for the gospel over politics.  

When Will We Address Our Greed Problem?

The Church remains largely silent about the economic problems of our day. Why is that? Alan Greenspan in his report to Congress yesterday admitted the fallacy of deregulation and expressed shock that banks took on risky loans and did not protect their shareholders.  It seems that CEO's with $20 million salaries and golden parachutes weren't really concerned about their shareholders. I'm shocked. The truth is, some regulation is good. It is the role of government to constrain the wickedness that comes from our sinful natures. Romans 13:1-5 tells us that God has put government in place to direct the affairs of men. Not all government is good, and too much government regulation and taxation does affect our freedom and prosperity. But, the absence of regulation also shows us that the human heart, unrestrained, will engage in more and more evil. In this case, greed is destroying us.

Of course, this greed does not just take place in the financial sector. Consumers also want more and more. I believe that this is one of the greatest spiritual problems of our day. We are desperately trying to fill a void within us and we have bought into the lie that bigger is better and that the more we have, the happier we are. The truth is, only God satisfies, but we seem to have forgotten that. I am not saying that we cannot ever have big houses or nice things. Those things are not inherently wrong necessarily. But, so many of us are living beyond our means to chase after an illusion. Contentment escapes us.

Let's look at house sizes for an example. The American Dream involves home ownership, among other things. Well, we have taken home ownership to a new level. Apparently, as families have gotten smaller in America houses have gotten bigger. New homes are 239% larger now than they were in the 1950's. 239%.  Families have dropped from 3.1 people per family to 2.6 since 1974, the year I was born. Why do we need all of this house?  A very interesting article from 2006 told us that people thought that it was their right, they NEEDED this much space, they were looking for privacy, and they wanted to have their own private space. Was all of this good? With the collapse of the housing market, what will happen to all of these huge homes?

Owning a home is a wonderful thing - or, it can be. My point is that we never seem to be satisfied. We want bigger and more all the time. Our appetites are unrestrained. America is 4% of the population and consume 25% of the world's resources. Our prosperity is built upon our appetites. If all of this prosperity had led us to become more generous, then it would be put to good use. But, that is not the case either. Recent reports are telling us that Christians are giving less and less each year to their churches. Maybe that is because churches spend the money on themselves as well (it has been said that over 90% of all the money given by Christians is spent on themselves). 

• Americans spent nearly twice as much on first-day sales of the video game “Grand Theft Auto IV” as the Southern Baptist Convention and its International Mission Board would need to share the gospel with all the world’s unreached people groups by 2010, according to a new report on church giving.
• The total portion of per capita income given to churches in 2006 was lower (in 2006) than in the worst year of the Great Depression (this was a year of great prosperity).
• it would cost each U.S. church member just 8 cents a day to help reach the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goal of cutting infant mortality by two-thirds by 2015

The financial crisis that we are in reflects a major moral crisis in our nation. We have put money and things ahead of God and people and. But, the Church says nothing because we have bought into the same lifestyle that is producing the problems that we see. We have even altered the gospel of Jesus Christ into the "prosperity gospel" so that we can go to church to learn how to become rich and keep feeding our insatiable desires.

Something tells me that this is what judgment looks like. We need to repent. But, if the Church does not call people to repentance, then what hope do we have? 

 

The Road to Dehradun

I wrote this around 4am in a guest room in a remote area of the Himalayas last week. There was no electricity where we were, so I wrote by candlelight as my travel companions slept on cots beside me. Through this writing, I was able to capture my thoughts about India and the work that we are able to do there. I hope that you enjoy.

The Road to Dehradun

It is an early morning hour as I sit by candlelight in a distant valley of the Indian Himalayas. I am surrounded by verdant forests and mountains while the night is filled with the roar of waterfalls from a nearby river. Creeping through the forests are panthers and tigers and I have been told that men who wander often do not return. I sit at a little desk in a 10X12 room owned by a school that we have traveled many hours to visit. My two companions lay sleeping on their cots beside me as I endeavor not to wake them. I have journeyed many days and find myself precariously at the ends of the earth.

What has brought me here? I have been to India over and over again in search of God's Hand as He calls people to Himself. I have met His servants in this place and have seen their sacrifice, their courage, and their passion for the Lord Jesus. Risking life and fortune, they have spread wide into the hills and valleys of this remote land bringing Good News of Salvation, hope, and eternal life. Persecution has met them. They walk miles each day with no regard for their own lives. They strengthen fledgling believers, heal the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim the in-breaking Kingdom of God.

There is no easy route to this place - at least not one that I have yet traversed. Arriving in the sprawling metropolis of Dehli, 16 million living, breathing souls on the edge of eternity, we only pause to gather ourselves briefly before setting out on the Road to Dehradun, which takes us to the provincial capitol of Uttarakhand, the northernmost Indian state straddling the Himalayas. At all hours of the day and night, this road is filled with weary travelers, rising from the sweltering mass of Delhi and following the twisting, dusty trail north to Dehradun, the threshold of the Land of the Gods. Men, women, children; oxen, goat, and holy cow; truck, car, motorcycle, and bus - cross the sandy plains and decaying villages that lie on the edges of the Road to Dehradun. India, in all her romantic, confusing, shifting and contradictory manifestations, is present along this road.

Relational India - men sit together, locked in close conversation at roadside respites in the early hours after midnight.  Industrial India - trucks carrying food, crops, goods, and supplies belch their black pollutants into the air as they crawl and lurch along the highway. Religious India - pilgrims ride the cramped busses and jostle for air at the windows opening to the night sky. They are traveling to the holy cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh to dip themselves into the River Ganges to wash away their sins. They travel along the road to climb the winding paths out of Rishikesh on their way to the resting places of Krishna, Vishnu, and Shiva - the Land of the Gods high in the Himalayas. Their trek along this road sends them in search of salvation and hope; a deliverance for the grinding struggle of life with its unforgiving Karma and ceaseless punishments for past sins. They hope to be unlocked from the chains of the cycle of life and unending rebirth into human forms and less.

As the Road rises it enters Dehradun, the city with its feet in the plains and its head leaning upon the edge of the mountains. Dehradun is the gateway to Beautiful India - the Himalayas, rich in majesty and mystery. It is into these mountains that we have traveled, searching for and finding the people of God who have forsaken all to live among the mountain tribes, far removed from the larger world that is unaware of their existence. Patterns of life continue here as they have since the dawn of civilization. Nomads tend their herds of goats and water buffalo; farmers scratch at the hard, rocky soil, bringing sustenance out of barreness. Life goes on here as it always has - birth, life, death, and according to the Vedas that were written here eons ago, rebirth. Fear and superstition cloud the minds of the people and traditions are adhered to ceaselessly. The fast moving world of technology and globalization has barely made its mark here, and when it does intrude, it bows to the flowing waters of time, tradition, tribe, culture, and religion.

In the midst of this Hindu Haze, a light flickers, not unlike the dancing candle flames that sit on my desk in my sparse, dark room. While there are many dark corners where the light does not reach, the illumination of the flaming glow enables those with eyes to see the contours of the room itself - the reality that exists, not the illusion imagined. The actual light that illuminates these mountains is the light of God's Children - native born Indians who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. For God has not left Himself without witness, even in this distant, idolotrous land. Vessels of Christ have come, led by the Holy Spirit for years now, bringing light and salvation to all who have eyes to see and ears to hear. For a few days, I am privileged to be among their number.

The dancing candles also remind me that our lives are fragile and temporary. While the Divine Light of the Presence of Christ will never be extinguished, our own journey along the path of this life is a misty affair. We appear here only for moment before we make our way to judgement and eternity. I think at this moment of how I spend the few days that I have here. I think of my wife and children, God's precious gifts to me. I think of their love and the hope that dances in their eyes. I wonder where God will send them and if they will also find themselves at the ends of the earth, living as candles to light the darkness. Our days here are so few - how do we use them? God calls us to Himself and spreads us throughout the world to flicker and flame in dark places. He puts us in families to propel His glory and Good News across the generations. Do we journey with Him, or do we make our homes in familiar places, arranged for our own comfort?

The Road to Dehradun is filled with danger, mystery, and adventure. It is a dry and dusty road, teeming with trials and temptations. Yet, it must be traveled and the pitfalls along the way must be overcome so that we can arrive at our destination. At the end of that road, the mountains rise into the heart of darkness - the Land of the Gods awaits. Light must penetrate darkness and the chains that enslave those that God loves must be broken. Christ won the victory over darkness and evil on Golgotha, but the message of this victory must be brought to those who slumber in the night, with no light to illuminate their path. It is carried by those who have stepped off the road of progress and civilization because their hearts belong to Another and their ambitions are lashed to the fortunes of the damned. Like yeast in dough, like a flickering candle in a dark room, their presence brings transformation and illumination.

Redemption lies at the end of the Road to Dehradun and it flows from there to the Ends of the Earth. For a time, I flow with it and I praise God.

America Becoming More Diverse, Older

In case you haven't noticed, America is rapidly changing. According to a new report issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, America is going through a demographic shift so rapid and severe, that it will look very different in the next 40 years. Here are the highlights:

• The U.S. population is currently at 305 million. By 2050, it is projected to grow 43% to 439 million
• Minorities, which are now 1/3 of the population, will be a majority by 2042 and will reach 54% by 2050
• Hispanics, which are now 15% of the population, will reach 30% by 2050
• By 2030, 20% of Americans will be over 65. By 2050, it will be 25% - most of these are white
• Minorities will comprise more than half of all children by 2023 and 62% by 2050
• The black population is projected to increase from 41.1 million, or 14 percent of the population, to 65.7 million, or 15 percent.
• The Asian population is projected to climb from 15.5 million to 40.6 million. Its share of the nation’s population is expected to nearly double, from 5.1 percent to 9.2 percent.
• American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to rise from 1.6 percent to 2 percent.
• The number of people who identify themselves as being of two or more races is projected to more than triple, from 5.2 million to 16.2 million.

I think that I had better learn to speak Spanish.

So, what does this mean for the Church? God is really laying on my heart the fact that we MUST understand that the Gospel is for ALL people and the Church must reflect the gospel message in its make-up (if you have read my blog lately, you understand). If we do not learn to diversify our churches, do we even have a witness in a country as ethnically diverse as America? This is not just trying to be culturally relevant. The Bible commands us to be this way. In Christ, there is neither Jew, Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, Slave, Free, Male, or Female. Christ is all and is in all (Gal. 3:26-29; Col. 3:11). In Christ, the dividing wall between races has come down (Eph. 2:11-18). There are many other passages and arguments for this.

If America's original sin is slavery and racism, we still bear the residue upon our collective soul. The sad thing is, it appears that our secular culture is trying to work this out faster than the Church is. But, we have the power of God! We have the Gospel! We have the Holy Spirit!  Think of what Heaven will look like, with all tribes, ethnicities, and languages coming before the Lord! (Rev. 7:9-10). If the evangelical church does not lead the way into this coming reality, then we have truly missed an incredible opportunity to address the sins of our past and help forge the future.

Just think: Who in America knows how to live in a multicultural world like this? Who better to figure it out and point the way than Christians that have been infected and transformed by the love of Christ? If we do not lead on this issue, any claim to care about America or to desire to see her come to God must be disregarded.

This issue of diversity and the accompanying problems of education, poverty, healthcare, and culture development is THE major issue facing our nation and the Church in the coming 40 years. How will we face it? What will it mean to be missional in this context? How can we live out and proclaim the gospel for such a time as this?

Some people say that diverse cultures cannot come together. It is impossible because we are too different. So, they promote multiculturalism, which is the idea that disparate cultures will exist alongside one another in America holding onto their traditional customs. I think that this will happen, to an extent. But, I also believe that Christians are one in Christ and we must learn to submit our culture to Christ so that He can express Himself through us in many different ways. America needs that kind of witness. Instead of seeing the Church as a refuge for each individual culture to be alone and with people just like themselves, my prayer is that the Church would be the one place in this nation where people come together over something bigger than themselves, Someone greater than their cultures, races, and economic backgrounds.

We are one in Christ.

Wilderness Leadership

The era of the “promised land” is over for the mainline church in America. Because we have not been faithful, we find ourselves again in the wilderness, or perhaps, in exile. In either case, the establishment is collapsing and with it, the predictability, security and comfort that has allowed us to be at ease in Zion for several generations. The model of the “king” is no longer appropriate for leadership in today’s church. We need leadership more akin to the “judges” of ancient Israel, who arose out of the community in crisis to lead by the consent of and in concert with the community. And those judges were selected not by caste or class, but by demonstrating the authenticity and therefore the authority that comes from having attended to the inward journey with God.

Edward A. White from "What Kind of Pastor Will Most Likely Empower Laity."

I think that the idea of the "Church in Exile" was intriguing to me in this quote. If we are really in exile, or the Wilderness in relation to our culture, then what does that mean for how we function? For leadership? For cultural engagement? Yes, it appears that Christendom has crumbled. What will replace it and how will we manage a post-Christian America? It is apparent that spiritual leadership in a post-Christian culture must be more focused on God and our walk with Him, than it is on success, results, power, and influence.

Apparently, the Only People Reading My Blog Right Now Are . . .

. . . people interested in Heath Ledger and the role of the Joker.  Not really, but it seems that way. That post I wrote in January is in Google's top ten when you type in just about anything that reads like, "Did playing the Joker role lead to Heath Ledger's Death?", or "How did the Joker role affect Heath Ledger?"  I have an invisible statcounter on my blog that gives me search engine type information and it is telling me that there are a lot of people who are wondering if Heath Legder got in touch with some type of evil that ended up leading him to his death. You cannot watch the role that he played as the Joker without thinking that it must have affected him. He spent hours and hours meditating on the evil of the Joker until it consumed him and destroyed him. It is not far from accurate to say, "You are what you think."

The Bible tells us to think on things above, not on things of this earth (Colossians 3:2). How much time do we spend worrying about things? How often do we wonder what is going to happen to us? How much do we think about material things, evil things, deadly things? Are we envious? Do we covet? Are we lustful? Are we unforgiving, or do we hold grudges? Are we full of pride? Hate? Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) turns everything upside-down and tells us that it is not enough to just be outwardly righteous - we must be inwardly righteous as well. What we thought about internally was just as important, if not more so, than what we did externally, because out of the heart flows all types of evil things. Romans 12:1-2 tells us that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us to put off the old self that is corrupting us, to be made new in the attitude of our minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. We need to think on things above.

The only way that we can really change is through Jesus. We have to admit to Him that we cannot change on our own and we have to ask Him to change us. The other day, I saw a brief moment of a show on MTV called "From G's to Gents." It takes a bunch of 20 something guys who are hoodlums and it is trying to show them how to be gentlemen. If they make the transition from thug to gentelmen, they win $100,000. I thought that it was pretty interesting because they were dealing with guys that had no hope for change and they were trying to help them change and become better people. What caught my attention was the guy who was on the phone with someone from back home crying saying, "I can't change." He was hopeless. Even when $100,000 was on the line, he could not give up the thug-life. It had become who he was because he had spent a lifetime devoted to it. Interesting.

We are all in that boat, though. Whatever we think about is what we become. Because we are born sinful, we are prone to think about sinful things. The only way that true transformation can really happen is if we are born from above and are given a new heart and mind by God. Jesus has to save us. We must look to Him in faith and ask Him to change our lives. When we do this, He cleanses us and gives us a new start. Then, we continue to think about Him and His ways and our minds are changed. Instead of dwelling on the sin and selfishness that destroys us, we dwell on Christ, our source of righteousness. We start thinking about how we can bless people instead of use people. We think about others instead of ourselves. By the power of God that aids us in this, our lives change.

Heath Ledger spent his time dwelling on the dark side. He played an amazing role in an amazing movie, but he took it too far. He could not control it and it consumed him. But, lest we throw stones, how many of us are consumed by money, by greed, by selfishness, pride, anger, lust, anxiety, our appearance, our popularity, our security, or our place in life? How many of us get consumed by religion thinking that we can in some way merit the merit of Christ? We are consumed by a million different things and all of them lead to death apart from Jesus. He is our Source of Life. The sooner that we realize that, the sooner that we find the reason that we were created.

I'm Back

We had a great time on vacation. Lots of sitting, playing, resting, and reflecting. God is good and has blessed me so much. It was good to spend time with the family and just be together.

My birthday was on Sunday. I turned 34. I'm in my mid thirties and it seems weird and it is causing me to think about a lot of things. I used to see guys who were in their 30's as being old. Now, they seem a lot younger. I guess that will keep happening as I get older. Funny how your perspective changes. I'm not as young as I used to be - Profound, I know.

My church called me on Sunday morning and sang "Happy Birthday" to me over the phone. That put a big smile on my face! Thank you guys!

On another note, Steve McCoy and Joe Thorn are blogging together at Subtext: The Gospel in the Suburban Context. They have some interesting insight. I've been looking for thoughts on this issue for some time and have found few. Thanks, guys!

The Glorious Beauty of a Fresh Perspective

I am taking a break for a week or so (also known as vacation).  I plan to sit and basically do nothing. Oh, I'll sit on the beach, float in the Gulf of Mexico, play with my kids, and try not to sunburn. I'll lounge around the pool, throw some meat on the grill, play putt-putt, and sleep - a lot. But, all of that will basically be put under the category of "doing nothing."  I call it that because it sounds so relaxing and non-stressful.

I love vacation. I love the beach because of the wind and the ocean. You stare at it and you can never see the end. It stretches beyond the horizon and its waves wash over you from far off. Are they from Cuba? The Domincan? Did this water come from Africa? As I feel the wind blowing over me, I remember days long gone with my family on these same beaches. The world was full of promise then and everything seemed new and possible.

The promise is being fulfilled as I watch my children play and hold my wife. I can see a bit more clearly now and I know that God is at work all around me. He is more limitless than the ocean and His blessings come from every direction, just like the waves and the wind. With Him, there is no lack - no promise unfulfilled. I come to this place to hear a bit more clearly what He has in store for us in the coming months. I come to have my soul renewed and to lay down all that I have held so tightly. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

I have begun to step into a new perspective, even before this week. Through prayer and surrender, I have seen God at work in new ways. I look forward to what is to come and I am embracing what He is doing in my life right now. God is good - all the time.

I just wanted to give Him praise. 

If We Want to Follow Jesus . . .

Americans are clustering more and more into cultural, social, economic, religious, and political enclaves according to Bill Bishop in his new book, The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart. Basically, our affluence has led us to the place that most Americans want to live, work, and play with people just like them. The Homogenous Unit Principle that I spoke of a few posts ago, seems to be alive and well in an increasingly multicultural America. But, instead of becoming a melting pot, we look more like a salad bowl of Balkanized special interests. Of course, we have seen this for years with white-flight and the rise of the suburb, but it is now apparently happening across other areas of life and it has profound social, political, and religious implicatoins.