Every nation has borders. Stakes claimed to a certain region of earth. Boundaries to keep their stuff in and your stuff out. Every kingdom has a line of demarcation that delineates where you are in, and where you are out of that provincial territory.

The same would seem to be true of the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus talked about a Kingdom quite often while he was here, likening it to several familiar things and happenings through stories he would tell along the way. The two terms kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven seemed somewhat interchangeable coming from his lips. Whichever phrase he chose, he definitely spoke of a kingdom.

At that time, the Jewish people were under the reign of a foreign empire. Rome had extended its borders far beyond where they have currently receded. Everyone answered to Rome. You were under their authority, but special privileges were given to those with Roman citizenship. Everyone else could be expendable.

Into this climate, insert a Messiah. Not just at that season, but for centuries, the Jewish people had interpreted the words of Prophets regarding a coming Savior to mean victory for their people. Peace and prosperity for those whom God has chosen. And as their lives were dominated by the Caesar at this time in history, it was easy to latch onto the hope that God would crush their oppressors via his anointed Messiah.

Jesus came speaking of a Kingdom. They listened, and nodded, and shouted. They tried to “make him king” Luke records, but Jesus slipped away. They heard the words they wanted to hear and were trying to make him the king they wanted him to be. They did not understand his kingdom.

I think today we still struggle with this. We are not trying to make him king in the same way. I have not seen and “Jesus for President” bumper stickers, or any mobs at the White House calling for a coup to replace George W. with Jesus. Nothing like that. But, we do have our own ideas of what the Kingdom is.

Often, I will hear people talking about our borders. Who is in, and who is out. In some minds, our borders are very certain. Jesus made sure we knew that you were either in, or you were out. He is the King, and he says so. Unfortunately, many of these same people may be quite surprised when the masks are removed and we stand with Jesus someday. There may be people in different camps than they had previously assigned them to.

And you will hear a preacher speaking of decisions that need to be made. You need to cross the line. You need to make a decision. You need to be in or stay out. (They don’t say that… that’s implied.) There is a very clear line of demarcation. For some it’s baptism. For some it’s a sinner’s prayer. For some it’s a more nebulous “asking him into your heart”, or “trusting Jesus”, “making him your personal Lord and Savior”. Those things are all well and good. The “Sinner’s Prayer” is not in the Bible, but a neat little collection of ideas from scripture in an easily presentable package. All part of living with Jesus.

But I don’t think Jesus was looking at the lines.

I don’t think Jesus approached every person with Border Goggles on, that display the information on current spiritual location of subject within view. “Subject is currently OUT of the kingdom. Employ conversion tactics.” No. Jesus did not seem to treat anyone as though they were in or out of the kingdom. To me, it even appears as though Jesus’ Kingdom was not anything like one of ours. The emphasis is not on the borders or the boundaries. It just is. His Kingdom… IS. It’s reality. It’s almost like Jesus was trying to get us to see how life really is, taking off our blindfolds so we could really see how he made life to be lived. As though we are already IN the kingdom, we just don’t see it. We’re missing it.

I am not advocating an “everyone gets to go to heaven” understanding of the kingdom. Jesus did tell a story of lines when he spoke of wheat and chaff, sheep and goats. There is another source of our line drawing. I do not fault the Christian line-drawers through the centuries, or even today. There is very good reason to see and draw lines. But I am beginning to think the lines are different than we present them to be.

We want clearly marked lines in time where we know if we did this we are in, and if we did not, then we are still out. I think Jesus wanted us to get away from that sort of thought pattern… it’s not about doing, or achieving. It’s about knowing. About loving. About living. The people who were made righteous by faith in Hebrews 11 were those who had some sort of relationship with God. They were far from perfect. They weren’t even necessarily trying to be. They did however know and trust God.

Life should not be consumed by getting people across the line. We are not the Kingdom INS. Letting the legals in and keeping an eye out for illegals. (We are in all fairness a lot nicer than the INS in that we WANT the illegals to become legals. But, the analogy still sort of applies.) 🙂 Jesus was not (that I am aware of) ever really concerned with this. He wanted people to know that God loved them. He told them to love God and love each other. He lived life to the full, and wanted that for everyone. He was so great at helping people see their self worth. He spent most of his time with the people that others hated. The tax collectors, prostitutes, disabled and diseased. Those were Jesus’ companions.

Was there some ritual they completed to enter his kingdom? Did he require something of them? The only thing that he required was that they follow him. Know him. Listen to him. That’s what Father said when Jesus was baptized. “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” He has words of life. He IS the Word of Life.

We keep looking at life with our old Border Goggles. We see lines, and ins and outs. We strive to use every opportunity to keep people in or move them to the decision line if they are not yet within the fold. If we could take off our Goggles, perhaps we’d see that the borders are much different than we think. And that the main thrust of life is not to point out the borders and get people on the right side. Perhaps the best thing we can do is help people see the Kingdom reality that Jesus spoke of. The Kingdom of God is near. Right here. It’s not a place, but a way of life.

People fight over borders. Territory is to be lost or gained. But we are not territory. We are children of the King. Rather than spread the word about borders, why don’t we just help people understand their true identity and begin living life to the full as the children of the Father they were created to be?

It’s not about our entry into the kingdom. It’s about living each day with our King, our Father, and knowing him more each day. About forgiving, and being forgiven. About sharing all that he has given us. It’s about knowing the freedom of his grace and his love. About loving people like he loves us.

Without borders.

Did you ever ask God for something and not get it? You really felt like your motives was pure, your heart was in tune with God’s heart. To your knowledge, there was not any sin in your life that was blocking God from giving you what you were asking for.

But still, your prayers are “unanswered”.

Now, we know that God does not ignore our prayers. Jesus said we should ask and we will receive, knock and the door will be opened. James said if we lack wisdom, ask for it. There are several times we are reminded that God is listening, and that he loves us and wants to hear our hearts expressed in conversation with him. We know that he listens, but still the prayers seem to go unanswered. There is no clear “yes” or “no”. Just apparent silence. Indifference to our request.

But sometimes, after some period of time, we are able to see why there was no response. We may understand in retrospect that the timing of our request was not in line with something far greater than what we had first asked in the first place. God’s knowledge of what is ahead is far superior to ours, and though actually trusting that is often difficult, he still is merciful to us by not granting us our short sighted requests.

I was trying to imagine the flow of all of these sorts of thoughts through the mind of a man who was very close to Jesus as he lived here. His name was Lazarus. He is most famous for not staying dead.

See, I imagine Lazarus had spent much time talking with God about his own future. Trying to understand how all of the recent events had unfolded in his life. Everything had been going so well… with friends and family, his business, God had probably blessed him in many ways that Lazarus, knew and thanked Him for everyday. But when the illness set in, and when it wouldn’t leave… He probably asked God at first confidently to heal his body, and allow him to continue serving him with his sisters here in this life. He may have struggled with that a bit, but Jesus told him to address God as Father, and spoke of such a closeness with the Creator as they had never thought possible. So, Lazarus prayed, and trusted.

But as the days passed, and the illness grew worse, he began to wonder. Did he do something wrong? Why was God not answering? His sisters were praying as well. They had sent for Jesus, but God would not even answer that prayer. Surely if they could just get through to Jesus, he could fix all of this.

Surely.

But there was no answer. And Lazarus breathed his last before he heard any answer (at least any answer he was likely seeking).

What happens when God just doesn’t answer? Does it mean he doesn’t care? Did Lazarus ask those questions? In his last moments, was there peace? Or, was there a very nagging doubt, perhaps even a guilt-driven questioning of his own role in any of this suffering. Did he do something to anger God? Or Jesus? Why did he not come?

We have no record of where Lazarus was for the four days John says he was dead. His body was right there in Bethany. We do not know if he was with God in paradise (like Jesus said to the man on the cross next to him) or perhaps with Abraham and the others prior to the completion of God’s work on the cross? All speculation, and not particularly important at the moment.

What intrigues me is, what did he think when he opened his eyes? What were the first thoughts to cross his mind?

You know when you have some really good sleep and you rouse just enough to know you’re not sleeping anymore, but you’re not too sure where you are. (Perhaps this happens more to us since we are often awaking in an environment foreign to us…) 🙂 It takes a moment, but you finally get your bearings and start coming back into reality. It might be a minute or two more if you were having a very intense dream. Perhaps Lazarus was experiencing something like this times a thousand. Or times a hundred thousand!

Just imagine! He was dead. Dead. Not alive. Cold. Stiff. Lifeless. Then he wasn’t. Ha! That’s nuts. What goes through your mind when you start breathing again after 4 days???

Did he remember the prayers? Were his first coherent thoughts focused on the incredibly power and mercy of his Father? Did he realize that God had indeed answered his prayers? Did he remember thinking that God had not heard him? Did he perhaps recall, as though the last echoes of a powerful dream, the voice of Jesus – the one whom they had longed to reach – calling out his name? “Was it just a dream?” he wonders. “Where am I?”

Taking the incredible first steps out of his own grave must have been a completely bewildering experience. And then to see Jesus there waiting for him. Wow.

I can only imagine.

I sang that song tonight. Will sing it again tomorrow. I have not seen Jesus in person. Lazarus had, but I am sure he was not planning on seeing him again, at least not for a long time. But there he was. Not sure how long it felt like to Lazarus, but I am pretty sure it was sooner than he anticipated, and so, so welcome. So astonishing. So God. Only a loving and merciful God.

He probably noticed the tear streaks on Jesus face. There were probably still tears pooling in the corners of his eyes as a wide grin formed on his weathered face.

His friend had come back. God had answered his prayers. Not how he had expected… I imagine Lazarus was not saying, “Hey God!!! I have a great idea!!! Why don’t you let me die from this sickness, and let’s say I stay dead for three, no… FOUR days! Yeah! FOUR days. Dude. That means I would be REALLY dead. THEN, when Jesus finally gets here, you can show everyone how cool he is, that he IS the resurrection and the Life. My short time of suffering would bring such amazing glory to you – people would see just how merciful, loving and awesome you really are! Isn’t that a great idea, God?!??!?”

I don’t think that’s how it went. 🙂

But I think Laz may have had a different perspective after getting up from that “set back”. I think he may have understood God’s ways a tad more than before after seeing what seemed to be indifference to his requests turn out to be so much greater than he could have possibly dreamed.

Every day was precious. Every moment was something God was using to reveal himself to people around Lazarus. How might any current suffering be used by his Father to show people his greatness again? Perhaps next time he would be dead for FIVE days!! I can almost see the smile on Laz’s face as he tried to out-do God’s plans.

Life looks different from the other side of the grave. It has to. Laz had an amazing chance most of us will never get. Not only to live his life again, but really to see a prayer answered WAY outside of the scope he could have possibly imagined.

God does not see things the way we do. It involved death and four days of dead to get to the place where Lazarus could see that. Where is he ignoring you? Perhaps the story of Jesus’ friend Laz can give you some hope. Perhaps things are not as bad as they seem. Perhaps like Laz, you just need a different perspective.

Our latest Netflix rental is Season 1 Disc 1 from Star Trek Voyager. We just started watching it two nights ago. Our local Fox network carried the show every night at midnight for a LONG time, so Jen & I used to watch every night! It was great! We love the show. The stories, the characters… it’s great Star Trek.

So popping it in again last night, starting from the very beginning of the series and following the 7-season plot was like getting together with old friends again. Like sitting down and reminiscing over some old home movies.

Before you go off just dismissing our trivial fun to our obvious succumbing to the Trekkie bug, I think it just reveals something of who we are, and what touches us.

Jen & I may enjoy a good dose of any Star Trek series, but the part that connects with us is the story. We love knowing the history of each character, where they came from, why they are who they are. As we get to know each one more deeply from time “spent” with them, we can relate more to the events as they unfold. We can understand why actions are taken, or not. We can relate.

That’s the power of a story. It draws us in, makes us a part. In a text book for a history class, you’re just getting facts. But in a novel from that same time period, you are getting the facts AND you are riveted by the compelling stories from the lives of your new-found “friends”. I have been listening to some Frank Peretti novels via AudioBooks loaned out from our library system. He is no doubt a great writer, but it is not just his talent for prose that keeps me coming back… it’s the story.

Jesus knew the power of a story. Most everything he taught was in the form of a story or an allegory. We call them parables. The truth of his kingdom fleshed out in the mundane of our experiences. A farmer, a father, a vineyard… all everyday things that the listener could relate to, revealing a deeper truth.

We were made to connect with other people. To experience life together. Ultimately to connect with our Creator. To experience life together with Him. So it makes sense that stories draw us in. They are life. They are life together.

So enjoy a good book, or a movie, or a TV show, or just find someone who tells a good story… and listen. Be drawn in. Go on that journey together.

And come back with a story of your own.

————
PS… we highly recommend Netflix! They are incredibly fast, and for FAR less than the price of cable, we can have DVDs of all the shows we wanted to watch anyway! (They even have cool old shows like Mork & Mindy!) So sign up for their free trial today!

So I have to sing a COUNTRY song this weekend. COUNTRY song. I said COUNTRY SONG!!!. And for some time now I have been lamenting that. I was wavering between hysterical laughter and a strange desire to vomit as I rehearsed the song the other day…. 🙂

I really, really, REALLY don’t like country music.

But last night at our worship team rehearsal, we finished the first part of our practice and then took some time to share with each other some things God has been doing in our lives. I shared a bit about how God continues to amaze us with his provision, even in the somewhat scary transition time we are in. Another lady in our group has been going through just a crazy time with her husband who vacillates every few months on whether or not to divorce her. It has been trying to say the least, but the news last night is that he is on the “not divorce” side for now.

Then another lady began sharing the story of how a couple months ago she found out she may have a terminal, incurable illness. They ran 5 weeks of tests on her, and in the 4th week, when she was particularly weary from the whole thing, she heard a song on the radio and it brought her to tears. It was so meaningful, and struck just the right chord in her heart. God gave her the song. A special moment from Him to her.

Can you guess which song it was?

Come on…. take a stab.

How about the genre. You know which genre it was from? Perhaps Rap? Heavy Metal? Big Band?

The song that so affected (in a good way) my friend…

WAS THE NASTY COUNTRY SONG I AM SINGING THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!

So. I was of course feeling pretty bad (sorta…) for my ramblings about how amazingly BAD country music is, and this song fits right in there…

I am glad she shared the story though. It gives me a tiny reason to sing the song and not feel toooo bad about letting a COUNTRY SONG come from my lips. I will just remember that this song is ultimate proof that God can use ANYTHING to show love to his children.

Even…. dare I say it….

A country song.

Well, since I am passing along silly addictive games… I found this one the other day on the Veggie Tales site. 🙂

Read the information on the link as it’s a bit more involved than slapping a penguin with an ice bat. 🙂

Click the image above for a demo.
Click here to play!

My sister passed this game along to me. You click the abominable snowman to get him ready, then a penguin drops from the cliff and you hit him as far as you can. Your distance is displayed with a little flag stuck through the penguin when you’re done.

Click the image above for a demo.
Click here to play

We rented VeggieTales: A Snoodle’s Tale recently from NetFlix and I can’t get the Silly Song out of my head! It’s soooo funny! It’s a couple of yuppies in their nice sweaters doing their mundane tasks in their 4 x4 sport utility vehicles. The song is great! They are quite creative those BigIdea guys…

Here’s a link to a clip… but you have to get the whole video to really appreciate it.
VeggieClip

I just remembered I had another story I wanted to share related to my blog this morning titled, Peace.

I realized as I was thinking about where I had placed my trust, that I was not what I thought I was. Now, this is not self-flagellation for past sins. I understand that to the best of my ability I have been letting God lead and trying to understand how to trust him more. And it was a big leap to go from our first real paycheck to NEVER asking for money. Never. When people asked what we charge, I would say, “Nothing. That’s up to you. Whatever you are able, that will be perfect.”

And God provided through that in so many amazing ways. It was not always easy. He certainly never promised it would be. Just, asked me to trust him by not setting up a minimum fee.

And I think I did trust him. But again today I just wondered if I had been misdirecting my trust. My self-sufficient ways are re-surfacing, and I am feeling the burden of it. One thing I noticed was my heightened tension due to an “empty” calendar. See, even though I had no idea what money would come in any given week… I could see the dates on the calendar. And, when we had 3, 4 or 5 events in a week… I “knew” money would be coming in. Yes, I was trusting God to provide it… but I think today I realized that a good bit of my trust was in my full calendar, and not in Him.

I trusted him to provide THROUGH things (my gigs, my work, my whatever) instead of just trusting HIM.

He is helping me know that, and as I see him work every day in my life, I know I will trust him more. I praise him today for the things that make me complain. When I complain, I am still worried about me. When I realize that, I think he is growing me into more of who I was made to be.

I have been asking God for peace lately. I just haven’t been feeling it. Stress from changes in life, too much to get done in too little time, various normal stresses in our family and of course, financial stress.

For some time now, I have almost been complaining. “God, why won’t you give me peace?” I go over all of the ways that he could give me peace… a little more money, a little easier work load, kids who behave so their mom is less stressed, slow down the flow of bills to our mailbox… 🙂 There is no shortage of ideas here. And, when none of my ideas seem to be listened to, I complain about that.

Today I woke up and began to think about the week; what bills were due, what money was coming in, prioritizing jobs by which would pay this week. And as I sorted these out in my head, I don’t know if it was God in me or what, but I just thought, “I don’t have peace because I don’t trust.”

It seemed that simple. If I could somehow believe that he really loves me and trust that he IS (not will… he IS) working things out for me… in HIS WAY… I would find that peace.

Think about it. What could cause you stress if you weren’t thinking about yourself anymore? If I didn’t have to make the money to pay my bills, but just trusted that God will bring it in when the time is right – there would be peace. If I didn’t have to try so hard to maintain peace in my relationships, but just allowed Father’s love to flow into and out of me into others, there would be peace. If I could just live for today, instead of being dominated by a calendar of looming events and deadlines – there would be peace.

Is peace something that I can achieve? Or is it a natural by-product of trust? Perhaps once my focus is off of my needs and my life and my problems, then I can know the peace. Peace might be at the end of my resigning control to the One who is actually able to control life. And who loves me more than I probably love myself. He loves me, and he loves my family, and he knows what we need, and for all the years I have known him, he has never – not once – left us in need. Never.

So why do I continually take back the reigns? Why do I shoulder the burden I was not meant to carry? Why do I pass up the peace I so long for?

My eyes are on me, and not him. Maybe I just forget that he wants to. Maybe I can’t believe that he wants to. Maybe I don’t think he should want to. But, he does.

Matt 11:28

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Peace comes from knowing him, and trusting him completely. And complete trust not only brings peace, but freedom as well. When I am no longer the source of my life ? my prosperity be it financial or otherwise ? then I am free to just be his. To do stuff that might not make sense like spend time with someone who needs a friend when I should be getting work done so that I will get paid.

God takes care of us. He promised.

Matt 6:31-34 | Read Context

“So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

How long does our stuff last? Just a thought before I hit the hay tonight.

How long did that fire for studying the Bible in the mornings with God last? How long did you keep praying for those missionaries every day? How long could you keep doing the good you wanted to do, or not doing the bad you didn’t want to do?

In our personal lives, fires come and go. The passion ignites, and drives for a time our desire to build something good. To do something with our lives.

At times, that translates to something outside of ourselves. Sometimes we have a good idea, and we run with it. Say perhaps a Bible study with friends. Every Wednesday night. We gather, we read, we study, we share, we can’t wait till next week. And then, after several good weeks, something else comes up and one person can’t make it, but the meeting goes pretty well. Then, after a few more absences, and an unspoken restlessness … like something’s not quite right… something has “changed”… eventually, the whole thing just falls apart.

This happens with most everything we try and put together. I play basketball with some guys on Wednesday mornings. Started out with me and another friend on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We were there each of those days. Every week. But, that changed to Thursdays. In the meantime I added Wednesdays with some other guys. Last year, that was GREAT. We were there all the time. Playing hard. This year? I have been at the gym by myself on quite a few Wednesday mornings. Sometimes the other guys just don’t show up… sometimes they are busy elsewhere. Not really an issue, just a furtherance of my point.

If you build it… it will fall apart.

Whether it’s a basketball schedule, a Bible study, a small group, a church, a program, a sports league, an annual convention… eventually, it will die. Some things maintain their existence a bit longer, but is it really worth it for the church of 10 people to continue to expend time and money to maintain a building for them to meet in every Sunday? Is it really necessary to get a preacher to speak to them every week?

You see, for some reason we don’t understand that things are for a time. Solomon spoke of this in Ecclesiastes. “To everything there is a season…” It’s true. And the grand orchestra conductor is not me. Nor you. It is our Father who guides and directs all things in perfect harmony. Perfect unison. He knows what is next, and for how long.

I feel like I am in a different chapter of life right now. I don’t think that I was building something that crumbled. I think God is changing our circumstances for a new chapter. The old is not thrown away, but built on. The new is still not my idea, but something that He is leading, and providing.

I am not trying to make universal statements of truth tonight… just observations.

When we build it, it will usually – perhaps even always – fail. But, on the contrary, when HE builds it, it is beautiful and freeing and life-giving… and succeeds wildly (even if only for you).

And then we move on.

Life changes. He does not. Help me God to not place my trust in the things I build, but to watch and follow you as you build into and around me the things that you want to.