The Shack

Awhile back, within a single week, three different people recommended the same book to me. I figured that if three different people recommended the same book to me in the same week I should read it. And, WOW, am I glad I did!

If you haven’t read The Shack you are missing out on a GREAT book. It’s a simple story of a man (Mack) who becomes bitter when his young daughter is killed by a serial killer. One day a note from God arrives in his mailbox. The note is an invitation from the Trinity to meet them at the very shack where his daughter was murdered.

One side note. . . the book almost seems to have been written by two authors. The first part is awkward and poorly written. I almost gave up reading it a few times. Eventually, however, the grammar and sentence structure improved and the book become immensely more readable.

The rest of the book is a series of conversations that range from the nature of evil to the nature of God’s love. The writing is such that you can speed read the book but I urge you to take your time. Savor the conversations and experiences at the shack. Reflect on the dialogue. You will find your own questions about God being raised and answered in an enlightening way.

You won’t agree with everything that is said, but you will be inspired. Many of your theological assumptions (some that you didn’t even know you had) will be challenged. More than anything else, you will come away with a profound sense of God’s love.

God Doesn’t Forget

I was reading Hebrews 6 this morning and was blown away by 2 verses.

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.

How cool. God notices every good deed we do and he remembers each one.

When no one else notices, he does. When you don’t get a “thank you,” he gives you one. When you get tired and don’t think you can do another thing for another person, God is right there saying, “Keep going. I’m with you.” When you wonder if what you’re doing matters, God says, “It matters to me.” When you wonder if it’s really worth it, God says, “Yes, it is.”

Keep going. Make your hope sure.

I Smell Manure

My sweet bride and I got to spend the weekend in Lubbock, TX. We were there so I could preach the wedding of two dear friends. In between final arrangements, rehearsals, talking with old friends for hours, and the wedding itself, Mimi and I got to spend lots of time running around Lubbock.

Eight years ago we lived in Lovington, New Mexico. Lovington is a little town on the east side of New Mexico, about 90 minutes from Lubbock. When people from Lovington want to go to “the city”, they go to Lubbock. I made countless trips to Lubbock from Lovington to visit people in hospitals. I took several classes at Lubbock Christian University. Both our children were born in Lubbock. Lubbock holds some great memories for us.

We spent most of this particular weekend roaming the streets. We reminisced about restaurants where we had eaten, hotels where we stayed the nights before our daughters were born, stores we had shopped at, and churches we had attended. The weather was crisp, the sky was clear, the people were friendly, and the weekend was perfect.

Lubbock is a clean, modern town. The streets are in great shape, there is construction everywhere. Modern strip centers are going up in an orderly fashion. We didn’t notice a single piece of graffiti. It’s obvious, the city is going places. The weather was crisp, the sky was clear, the people were friendly, and the weekend was perfect.

Honestly, both of us became a bit melancholy as we thought about Corpus Christi and its dirty beaches, sticky weather, backwards thinking city leaders, etc., etc., etc. We soon started wondering aloud what it would be like to move to Lubbock. Mimi even said, “When we get back to the hotel I’m going to look up the schools in the area and see what we can find out.”

I was with right with her. . . for awhile. I was with her until Sunday morning as we walked out of our hotel room to go to church. That’s when it hit me. I was hit head on with the smell of manure.

No matter how you cut it, Lubbock is a panhandle, West Texas, prairie town. Suddenly, I remembered a few other details about Lubbock. Like the spring-time sand storms. They get so bad that the paint on your car can literally be sand-blasted off. I drove  through more than one storm where I couldn’t see the lines in the road. They’re like driving through blizzards. I also remembered the terrible allergy problems I used to have. It gets hot there in the summer (yes, it’s a dry heat; but, it’s still hot) and terribly cold in the winter.

When all these memories came rushing into my mind, I told Mimi, “I smell manure! Now I remember why I don’t like Lubbock. There’s no way I want to move here.”

Of course, my dear wife took a long, deep whif of the manure filled air and said, “I’d move here tomorrow!”

Lord, help me.

Burning the Bible

I was reading today how King Jehoiakim cut up and burned a scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecy. It’s really a cozy little picture the Bible paints of the event. King Jehoiakim sat by the warm fire in his winter apartment as his servant Jehudi read him Jeremiah’s prophecies. Every three or four columns that Jehudi read, Jehoiakim would slice off and throw them in the fire (Jeremiah 36).

Very few of us would actually burn the Bible because we didn’t like something in it. True, Thomas Jefferson cut out the parts he didn’t agree with. (You can read about the Jefferson Bible at Wikipedia). But few of us “Christians” would do the same. 

Yet, I wonder if we don’t do exactly that when we ignore God’s word to us.

When we refuse to listen to and obey God’s commands it must be just like we cut verses from the Bible and threw them in a fire. After all, it’s not the paper and ink that is sacred. It’s what God said that matters. So, when we rationalize our sin, when we discount the consequences of our actions, when we dismiss the promptings of the Spirit, and when we ignore God’s will for our lives we might as well take a Bible and throw it in fire. 

There are at least two things God does in Jeremiah 36 that really catch my attention.

First, God pronounces HUGE consequences for Jehoiakim and the people of Judah because “they have not listened.” How often have I not listened to God. . . and each time I endure consequences. When will I learn???

Second, God has Jeremiah dictate another scroll to Baruch, his secretary. God’s word won’t be destroyed. God’s word is enduring. God wants to give us another chance to hear what he says.

Will we listen this time?

A Preacher’s Heart

I’m no longer doing much preaching, but I still have the heart of a preacher. I guess that’s why I’ve been so drawn to Jeremiah lately.

A friend gave me wise counsel not long ago. I was lamenting some things in my life and he said I needed to find a Bible character with whom I could relate. He said I needed to live with that character for awhile and explore that person’s strengths and weaknesses and watch how God dealt with that person.  He said I then should be honest about how God is dealing with me and my strengths and weaknesses.

As soon as he said that, I thought of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was a preacher who hated to preach; yet, he HAD to preach. He preached not because he was told to, but because he HAD to. There’s a big difference between preaching because you have to and preaching because you HAVE to.

It’s one thing to put a sermon together because Sunday is just around the corner and you have to deliver the goods. It’s an entirely different thing when a sermon you’re preparing puts you together — just after it rips you apart.

Early in his ministry every preacher learns of Jeremiah 20:7-18 where Jeremiah’s schizophrenic dilemma comes spilling out in a prayer to God. He tells God how much trouble preaching has caused him and that he has decided not to preach any longer. Yet, he quickly finds that he’s miserable when he doesn’t preach. So, he accuses God of mockery and deception, but then he praises God for defending him, just before he curses the day he was born.

It must have been a wild ride for Jeremiah. . . and all the while God wouldn’t let him go. He was teaching Jeremiah. He was growing Jeremiah. He was preparing him and using him for something great.

I don’t know what God has planned for me. Maybe it has something to do with preaching and maybe it doesn’t. I guess the best I can do as God works on me is to pray (and live) Jeremiah’s prayer, “For to you I have committed my cause.”

Speaking for God

When I first started preaching I often listened on tape to two well-known preachers to steal sermons enrich my spirit. One particular sermon stands out. God had obviously given the message to the preacher. I know God gave him the message because he began the sermon by telling people they really needed to listen because God had given him a special message for them that day.

It was a masterful sermon. Deeply theological. Amazingly practical. I couldn’t wait to preach it that next Sunday night! But before I did, I needed to listen to another well-known preacher speak on the same topic. After all, using just one source is plagiarism but using two or more is research.

I couldn’t believe my ears. As I listened to this second preacher I was blown away by another masterfully delivered, deeply theological, and amazingly practical sermon. Well, it wasn’t really “another” sermon; it was THE SAME sermon! It was almost exactly the same — except for the part where the preacher on the first tape said, “God gave me what I think will be a powerful message for you today.” Now, the crazy thing was that the first sermon I heard was preached second and the second sermon was preached first. I know this because of the dates printed on the tapes. In other words, the guy who said he got his message from God actually got it from another preacher.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t bother me that one preacher was using another preacher’s material. Every preacher does this. What bothers me was the claim of WHERE the sermon came from.

“God gave me this . . . idea. . . plan . . . desire . . . dream . . . vision. . . .message.” It rolls off some people’s tongues so easily. And how can you argue with them? I mean, after all, if God showed them something then who am I to say that it’s actually the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard?!

It amazes me how God often gives people ideas that just happen to correspond with the last book they read, the last conference they attended, or the last sermon they listened to. The cynic in me “knows” these people are lying through their teeth. They’re using the “God gave me this” line to evoke HIS authority and enforce THEIR desires on others.

Now I know God has spoken in the past at many times and in various ways — and he can do so again if he chooses. God can use a prophet, a book, a sermon, a movie, an email, a spouse, a kid, . . . anything he wants.

But there is a HUGE difference between God speaking to nudge a life a closer to himself and humans presuming that every idea they have is from God. There is a HUGE difference between a preacher HUMBLY studying, praying, researching, and doing the hard work of lesson prep and simply claiming divine authority. There is a HUGE difference between a leader saying God pointed the way when the way is nothing more (or less) than an effective program stolen borrowed from another church. 

Again, I see absolutely nothing wrong in getting ideas from others. God wants us to do that. I also believe God does speak to us today. I just believe we tread on VERY DANGEROUS and VERY HOLY ground when we claim to speak for God. 

When the prophets of Jeremiah’s day claimed to speak for God, God told Jeremiah to tell the people; “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16).  And God went on to say two verses later, “See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplished the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand clearly.”

We tread on VERY DANGEROUS and VERY HOLY ground when we claim to speak for God.

Magor-Missabib

The power of good name.

When I was a student at ACU a bunch of us Bible majors decided we’d put together a flag football team for the intramural league. We played teams from the PE Department (coaches and athletes in training). We also played teams from the men’s social clubs. They were “The Men of Galaxy” and “Sub-T 16″ and “Frater Sodalis”.

But we were Bible majors. . . people didn’t exactly quake in fear when they thought about playing a bunch of egg-head, Bible-thumpers who spent most of their time in the library.

But all of that was before we picked a name for our team: Magor-Missabib.

Say it out loud. Magor-Missabib. It causes you to shudder in terror, doesn’t it?

We were a pretty good team. We made it into the championship tournament before losing out to Galaxy.

But our name. Who could forget our name?

Actually, I forgot it until I was reading through Jeremiah again. Magor-Missabib comes from Jeremiah 20:3. It means, “terror on every side”. What a great (if not geeky) name for a football team!

I doubt our name struck terror into anyone who played us, but I do know God meant for that name to cause terror for Pashhur, the priest and temple official in Jeremiah’s day.

Jeremiah said God didn’t even know the priest by the name Pashhur, but by Magor-Missabib, terror on every side. God didn’t come to think of the priest as Magor-Missabib because Pashhur was a terror on the football field but because God was about to bring terror into his life. God’s patience had run out. Judgment was about to arrive.

Don’t let God’s patience run out on you. Don’t let God’s judgment fall on you. You don’t want to experience the terror of God.

Praying for Your Enemies

One of the things I love about the Bible is that even its heroes are imperfect. It’s their imperfections that give me hope for myself.

Jeremiah was God’s man. Out of all the prophets of Israel, God saw something in Jeremiah that made him say, “Now there’s a guy I can use to preach for me. He’s the kind of man I’ve been looking for.”

But even Jeremiah had his moments.

In chapter 18, after “his congregation” had enough of Jeremiah’s negative preaching they began to criticize him, gossip about him, and even plot against him. So what does Jeremiah do? Does he ask God, “Forgive them father for they know not what they do”? Does he go and try to find a compromise with the people. “Listen, guys. I think there’s been a little misunderstanding here. When I said you were going to be like **** (dung) on the ground I wasn’t really talking about you specifically.”

No, Jeremiah doesn’t do any of those things. Instead, he prays that God will starve their children to death, that their wives would become widows, that their sons would be killed by a sword. He even prays, “Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins”. (You can read the details in chapter 18).

Wow! I think Jeremiah was a little upset. He definitely wasn’t being a “compassionate conservative”.

There’s hope for me. If God can use a guy like Jeremiah, he can use me. . . and he can use you.

When God Gets Ticked

I’ve been reading Jeremiah in my devotional times lately. Talk about a book that will keep you up at night (or make you suicidal). . . .

Basically, God’s people have screwed up again and God has had enough. They’ve been prostituting themselves to other gods by worshiping idols, acting unjustly to others, ignoring Yahweh except when they want something from him, going through the motions of worship in hopes of gaining his favor without having to really commit to him. The usual stuff people do when they turn their backs on God. (The word “backsliding” occurs several times in the book).

So, God sends Jeremiah to let the people know what’s coming. He wants them to think about the hammer that’s about to fall on them. He wants them to sweat it out. He wants them to be afraid. . . be very afraid. (Yes, there are elements of grace in the book; but for the most part God is just cutting loose on the people).

The passage that got me today was Jeremiah 16:4. Talking about those who will soon be judged, God says, “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”

Wow! “Like dung lying on the ground.”

That’s kinda vivid!

I think church is probably one of the few places that you can still hear the word dung. It’s less offensive than other words we could use. And by all means, we certainly don’t want to offend any nice church-going people.

Or do we?

I think that’s EXACTLY what God was trying to do! He wanted to offend people!

I know it’s really fashionable to talk about how loved by God we are (and we are). I know it’s more fun to talk about how God wants us to succeed and be happy and drive nice cars and live in big houses and wear nice clothes and eat at the best restaurants.

But I think we also have to–at least occasionally–talk about how God also wants our obedience. He wants us to give him our lives, our hearts. Without question. Completely. After all, he is the one who created us. We belong to him.

And when we don’t give to God what is really God’s, he gets ticked. When we church people prostitute ourselves to false gods, go through the motions of worship without really meaning it, act unjustly toward others, and generally just live a life of sin, God gets ticked.

And when God gets ticked, you and I could end up like **** on the ground.