Behind and Beyond The Manger

For me, there's a problem surrounding our picturesque Nativity scene.
Coming to us each December, framed with warm and gentle hymns, and quiet lights, we are lulled peacefully by the image of the stable with lots of warm hay, and a family huddle there as the baby Jesus is born. Animals kneel in reverence, we want to believe. Shepherds and wise men approach in order from poor to rich (the least shall be first). Some, honestly, believe there was even a drummer boy, i.e. the Rankin-Bass cartoon. The brilliant star shines on it all. Silent Night, peaceful night, Holy Night.

This Christmas-card scene leads us to quiet, candlelit Christmas Eve services, where we turn down the lights and turn up the candlelight. Peace on Earth, goodwill to men.

I'm pretty sure the birth of Jesus wasn't very peaceful or silent. It was real life. It was messy. Jesus was born into chaos. The birth of Jesus was also unlike any event before or since or ever to be again. And, there is an incredible back-story that we ought to understand in order to fully understand Christmas.

Vicki’s daddy was a brilliant man – an engineer – who ridiculously loved problem-solving, mechanics, and math and science. One weekend, as I visited, I found him on a Sunday morning, removing the engine from the family car. That entire day, he spent removing the engine, cleaning it, eye-balling it, and then replacing it in time for everyone to go to dinner. It was a hobby. I would shake my head and he would say, “You look at it, you think it’s just a car. You open the hood and explore, and you find it’s so much more than that. It’s a machine.”

Let's go under the hood of a conversation within the Christmas story - before the manager scene.

First, a disclaimer. Most Americans are illiterate when it comes to Scripture. We revere the Bible, but we don't read it. We don't study it. Only about 50 percent of Americans can name the four gospel writers; more than 60 percent can't name the Ten Commandments. It's pretty tough to follow God's law when we don't know it. Within the Bible, there's so much teaching that can bring peace, hope, joy and love to our lives and  yet we don't seem to care. Within the Bible, there's so much teaching about what we should be doing, how we should be living, and what we should not be doing. Yet, we would rather plead ignorant, as in, "I can't be held accountable for what I don't know." Unfortunately, that's not true. We will be held accountable according to all that's in Scripture.

I should study the Bible more - every time I do, I am blessed and convicted, encouraged and corrected. Even the correction somehow feels good - like having my hamstrings stretched. It's painful, but feels great. I believe the Bible. I believe every word of it is true. Certainly, I believe it's written by men, but I believe those men were divinely set apart and were writing as inspired by God. I believe that it's dangerous to pick and choose what we want to believe and not believe within the Bible. When that pick and choose subjectivity happens, Scripture begins to unravel, faith can be compromised, and fellowship with God jeopardized. So, for me, it's all or nothing with Scripture, and I choose to believe it all.

And, believing it all requires a lot of faith because there's so much in the Bible that is supernatural and beyond my feeble ability to comprehend: The virgin birth, the Resurrection, David and Goliath, the flood, Lazarus brought back from the dead, the temptation in the wilderness, the strength of Samson, the hand-writing on the wall . . . it goes on and on. Supernatural stuff. I choose to believe all of it for fear that hedging on even a little is dangerous territory for those who love Jesus.

And, that brings us to angels.

Scripture does not tell us much about angels. But, the angel - coming to Mary in full person - is a significant part of the Christmas story. Inexplicable as it is, it happened. A living, breathing angel showed up on planet Earth and this young girl saw him. It happened. Truth.

Humans and angels are the only two-self conscious beings in the universe. The Bible tells us that humans and angels can both have intelligent conversations with God. Humans never become angels - there's no Scriptural  basis for that. It's a cartoon myth.

On the first day of creation, Genesis 1:1 says, "God created the heavens and the earth." Some argue that on the first day, God created both humans and angels. "The earth was empty, a formless mass covered in darkness," Scripture tells us. Humans were created to procreate. Hebrews 12:22 refers to "thousands of angels" without reference to that number being the total of angels. There could be millions. We don't know. But, on that first day of creation, they were probably created first, as part of the heavens, and then watched as the Earth was created. Job 38:4-7 reads, "Where were you (Job) when I laid the foundations of the earth? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone, as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"

It must have been, in simplistic terms, like hitting a walk-off grand slam to win the seventh game of the World Series. Heaven erupted at the creation of Earth. Genesis 1:31 reads, "Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day." Sin - the love of anything over God; the love of self over God - was not present.

In Genesis 2, Adam and Eve first populated the world, and were tempted, in Genesis 3, by Satan. So, between heaven erupting over a perfect Earth, and Satan tempting Adam and Eve, something happened. Something supernatural happened beyond the realm of human understanding.

Some of the angels sinned, challenging God. They were led by what Isaiah infers was the wisest and most beautiful of the angels, Satan, who challenged God in heaven. 2 Peter 2:4 reads, "For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; He threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgement day." (There's a message here, friend: Challenge and mock God with unrepentant behavior will not end well.)

Satan was cast to Earth and many followed him and became demons. A spiritual war began between Satan's armies of darkness and God's angelic armies of light. Satan went after what God loved (John 3:16) - me and you. That's why he tempted Adam and Eve, and introduced sin into the world. Satan went on to tempt Jesus, and in Revelation we know that Jesus leads a powerful army at Armageddon - the final battle - and destroys Satan once and for all. Satan is then cast into the lake of fire. Until then, however, the supernatural war between good and evil, right and wrong, holy and unholy rages all around us. It rages today.

Satan is one of three angels introduced to us, by God, through Scripture. The other two angels are Michael and Gabriel. It's very dangerous to go looking for other angels and studying too deeply about angels. A casual study beyond Scripture can quickly lead us away from the 66 books of our Bible into resources that feel and look like Scripture, but are not. It's easy, especially with web searches, to end up in seemingly fun websites with direct ties to the occult. Remember, Satan is a demon - a dark angel - and you can't study angels without bumping into him. It's also easy to begin worshiping angels. Angels exist, and God certainly uses them to intersect with us. We know that from Scripture. But, there is no Scriptural need for a personal, guardian angel. We have Jesus. I know people - you do, too - who talk more about their guardian angels than they do about their Savior. That's dangerous theology. My opinion.

We know that there is a hierarchy among angels. Jude 1:9 refers to Michael as one of the mightiest of angels - an archangel. Daniel 10:13 refers to Daniel's help coming from Michael, one of the chief princes.

Revelation 12:7-8 reads, "Now, war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon (Satan), and the dragon and his angels fought but were defeated." Clear evidence of Michael, an angel, leading spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness, led by Satan.

And, now we come to Gabriel.
In Daniel 8:15, the prophet writes about Gabriel - "the man" - coming to him. Angels, apparently do or can look like us. There's no mention of wings though lesser angels - seraphs and cherubs - inexplicably have wings. In verse 17, Daniel writes, "As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate." While Daniel fell into a deep sleep, Gabriel brought a message from God about "the time of the end." It all left Daniel exhausted and ill for several days (v.27).

Here's the man who survived the lion's den and who saw God's hand write on the wall, and yet this "man" appearing to Gabriel was terrifying. Clearly, Daniel was in the presence of something unworldly; something crystal clear from God himself; something with a message directly from God.

This is the same Gabriel, sent directly from God, during a heavenly war with Satan's forces, to Mary (Luke 1:26). This ancient messenger of God, who scared the pee out of Daniel 600 years earlier, comes to Mary and says, "You are highly favored! the Lord is with you."

Scripture says that Mary was troubled "at his words" (not his presence). Gabriel comforts her and says (v.31), "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name of Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will given him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

Mary doesn't question the assignment, but she's concerned - how can a virgin have a baby?

Gabriel says (Luke 1:35-37), "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

This may be one of the most hopeful testimonials in all of Scripture. Here's an ancient being, Gabriel, who is in the presence of God all the time. Gabriel is at the top of the angelic heirarchy, presumably with Michael (Daniel 10) and at one time Satan. Gabriel has directly heard the voice of God. He is a messenger of God. God pulls him from battle with Satan to go to Mary with news that God loves the world so much that He is coming - as Jesus - to deliver those who believe from sin and Satan. Gabriel has heard and seen things in the supernatural - things foreign and strange to us as humans. And, I can almost imagine him grinning to himself as he encourages Mary by saying, 'Trust me, Mary. I know, I KNOW,' that "nothing is impossible with God." Gabriel saw the Earth breathed into existence. He knows that nothing is impossible with God.

The Christmas story is not warm and cuddly. It is a wartime event that comes quietly to us, but is actually an eternal event. How I wish I could see Christmas from God's perspective . . . of even Gabriel's. I'm not sure we can fully wrap our minds around it. That's why we anchor ourselves with faith in Scripture.

Christmas is the turning point in the great battle for the soul of men and women, and boys and girls.
John 3:16, "For God so loved (insert your name) the world that He gave his only son so that whoever believes (trusts) in Him can have eternal life." That includes a peace-filled, joy-filled, hope-filled, love-filled life today, too. Those who believe this join God's family; those who do not will be on the losing end for all eternity.

I believe that one of Satan's deceptions is to lull believers into lethargy and complacency. Many point and complain about commercialism at Christmas or the media's sensationalism at Christmas, but the problem is not "them" as we like to say; the problem is with us - believers who have dumbed-down Christmas into a Christmas card cliche that makes Christmas easy to swallow. We've heard the Christmas story so much that we gloss over it each year and move on to our worldly agendas, which come back to self-gratification. I know believers - you do, too - who give to charity at Christmas to ease the guilt of spending more extravagantly on themselves throughout the year. Gee whiz.

Being reminded of Gabriel at Christmas, reminds me people all around us are living and dying without hope or an eternal future, and most all of us - as believers - seem lethargic about it. We rarely talk about the unsaved. We rarely lift prayer requests for them. (Most of our prayer requests are for self). We don't explore opportunities to share faith. We don't invite people to churches. We don't give Bibles, with notes inside, as Christmas gifts. We don't have luncheons with single-agendas - "may I tell you why I love and follow Jesus?" At some point, we must get serious about what we believe because what we say we believe at Christmas is serious business.

Most believers approach faith with the same casual attitude as going to the grocery store. When that happens, Satan wins and the brilliance of the Christmas story is dulled.

As believers, we are Christian soldiers - much like Mary - and we have a responsibility, as commanded by Jesus (the one born in that manger) to make disciples and teach Scripture. Look what Mary said when Gabriel gave God's orders to her: She said, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." (Luke 1:38). Jesus commands us to go make disciples. Do we respond with, "I am your servant. May it come true"? This Christmas, I pray we are each convicted - and encouraged - about how we will approach 2013 toward helping people discover Jesus as Savior through our words, actions and lives.

Birth Announcements

Job is coming out of a dark and deep valley, and he says to God, humbly and exhausted and broken, "I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you."

When searching for something to fully describe the power of Almighty God, Job's words just stop me in my tracks: God, I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. No one can stop you. Not all the armies and all the kingdoms and all the rulers together can stop you. The forces of evil and darkness can't stop you. You can do anything, God. And, by contrast and comparison, we can do nothing.

And, yet, this powerful, Almighty, sovereign God chooses to love each one of us. For those who love Him, through faith in Jesus, He says that He will keep us from harm, watch over our days, and all things in our lives will work to bring Him glory. He says that He has plans for us, and had those plans before we were even born.

God is all powerful and all loving.

This season of Christmas, we celebrate birth. We celebrate God coming to Earth as Jesus to provide a way for restoration with God. This past week, I've been a spectator of two powerful examples of birth and rebirth. I've been a spectator of what Job says when he says, "I know that you can do anything."

Jeff

Jeff and my oldest son, Andrew, were on the University of South Carolina track team together for three years. They became friends. For the past five years, we have prayed for Jeff - not in pitiful ways, but in expectant ways that God would make Himself known to Jeff, and through Jesus, launch a new chapter in Jeff's life.

For the past few Easters, we have opened our home for the boys to invite their college friends to our church, and then to our home for Easter lunch and an egg hunt. This year, Andrew called to say that Jeff was coming with him. We had a great time, and enjoyed getting to know Jeff. Afterwards, we didn't think much more of it. Yet, prayers continued. (Pictured is this year's group of egg-hunters; Jeff is in the top row, left; Andrew is in the center (blue shirt).

At Thanksgiving, I asked Andrew if Jeff ever attended church with him near campus, and Andrew said that Jeff did not and probably would not attend church with him. And, we just sort of dropped the conversation. Yet, prayers continued.

Last Monday, Dec. 3, at 9:46 p.m., I received this text from my oldest son, "Jeff gave his life to Christ tonight."

And, putting on my "Reverend" hat, I responded in the most call-worthy way I could at the moment: "Holy Crap!!" I texted. And, here's the ensuing text conversation.

Me: I need details.

Andrew: We went to get wings. And, then Jeff asked me to get ice cream. He said he's been thinking about Jesus a lot and what that means. He talked to me about coming to church with me over Easter, and then he just asked questions. I shared the gospel with him as best I could and then asked him, "Why not (give your life to Jesus) right now." And, Jeff said, "Yeah, I want to." So, he asked me what to pray and I told him. It was huge.

Me: Did he pray?

Andrew: Out loud (in the Sandy's parking lot).

Me: Wow, son, you watched someone be born again!

Andrew: I can't stop laughing when I think about it. God can do anything. It is so exciting. God is going to do great things with Jeff.
Since that conversation, I've had opportunity to meet with Jeff and begin discussions about believer's baptism, joining with a fellowship of believers, Bible Study and prayer. I've reminded Jeff that this is not the end of a story or a mile-marker, but the beginning of a new life - a new story in Jesus and following Jesus. In his own genuine way, he's all over it, and I'm confident Andrew will continue to mentor his friend. I will pray for both of them.

Born again. This story has some messages for me and you:

• Never give up praying for people.
• Never doubt that God can do anything, and that His timing often does match our timing.
• Simple hospitality with no agenda can make a difference to people.
• Be ready to share the gospel "as best you can" when you have the opportunity to do it. Don't walk away from the chance to introduce someone to Jesus.

Kelly & Leigh Ann
Kelly and Leigh Ann Roberts are near and dear to my heart. Leigh Ann is my baby sister. I was months shy of 15 when she was born in 1974. She and Kelly have been married 15 years, and have been unable to have children of their own. A few years ago, at Christmas, Kelly and Leigh Ann gave out gift cards to my family and to the families of my brothers. This was unusual because we siblings don't exchange Christmas gifts. When I acted surprised at their kind gesture, my sister said, "Well, we don't have anyone to buy gifts for and this is something we want to do."

In my heart of hearts, I ached for her. It was as if that Christmas gift was her way of saying, "We give up, and surrender the desires of our heart to Almighty God."

My former sister-in-law, Cindy, is a labor and delivery nurse at a south Georgia hospital. Because Cindy will always be the mother of "cousin Paul," we've kept the doors of communication open with her and still love her. Off the family radar - and a few hundred miles away - Cindy has always been on the lookout for a baby in need of adoption.

Last Friday morning, I was visiting my parents in Atlanta. When I came downstairs, about 8 a.m., my mama said, "Cindy has found a baby for Kelly and Leigh Ann." I was two cups short of coffee, but was still able to grasp the reality. A baby had been born in the pre-dawn hours of that Friday, and its parents wanted to place it for adoption. Cindy called my mother, who found my sister. Leigh Ann, a nurse, called Kelly, a school teacher, and told him the news by telephone. It went sort of like this:

God has provided us with a baby. We need to make a decision right now.
The decision was easy.

As long as I live, I will never forget my sister's words when she called me about mid-morning.

"You have no idea how long we have prayed for this, and I know this is a gift from God," she said. "This is how God works in my life - He comes quickly and in big ways."

On Saturday morning, without nine months to plan and prepare a nursey, these two took off for south Georgia, where they adopted this little girl and named her - Emilee Joy Roberts. (Pictured, right, with her mommy) Her middle name is so very appropriate for this Christmas gift from God. How blessed we are that the birth parents chose to have the baby and not pursue abortion; how blessed we are that they loved this girl enough to ensure she has a home dedicated to loving and serving a Holy God; and how blessed we are that God preserved our relationship with Cindy for all these years.

A life born to one day be born again. This story, too, has messages for me and you:

• Never give up pouring out the desires of your heart. God hears them; He absolutely hears them. And, in His time - not ours - He will answer those prayers even if it's not how we might expect them to be answered.
• Never doubt that God can do anything.
• Preserve the relationships that come in and through your life. Finish well this life with no ill will toward anyone. You never know how that person might be used, by God, to love and serve the ones you love down the road.

This Christmas, be reminded. Please be reminded, "Oh God, I know you can do anything, and no one can stop you." Amen.

Christmas Warmth

No one will ever convince me, ever, not ever, that you can go to a building each week, sit as a spectator for one hour, never be introduced to another person, and then claim you were in church. Being with the church is about being in a meaningful group, surrounded by people you can join in fellowship, love and service together, and be warmed by the family of faith. Being with the church is not about being a consumer; it's about investing your entire life into other people.

In Ecclesiastes 4:7-11, the great King Solomon is reflecting on his life, which he largely lived apart from God. He's lamenting in this look back, and he's offering wise counsel for all of us: "Don't live like me." In these verses, Solomon equates going at life "alone" as meaningless. His words also remind us that:

• We should avoid working so hard and long that relationships are compromised.
• Two people working together can get twice the work accomplished.
• When trouble comes, one can help the other.
• In the coldness of the night, two can keep each other warm.
• Two - and even more - can protect one another from harm.

The reason we have Christmas parties is to celebrate the value of relationship that Solomon writes about. And, when those parties and celebrations are framed in faith - by families of faith (churches, Sunday School classes and small groups) - we are reminded of the warmth that comes from being a part of a family of faith. Christmas gives us that gift.

My dad was very involved in our community’s Empty Stocking drive at Christmas each year. The community came together, donating toys and coats and food items, packaged it all together in church basements.and warehouses. Families would join together to sort and package the items from lists provided by the community's social services. And, then on Christmas Eve, men - mostly through the community's Jaycee organization - would take the lists and deliver the toys, clothing and food.

Late one Christmas Eve, my dad had one final delivery. He took me with him because we were headed home to a family Christmas celebration afterward. The delivery was to a “neighborhood” of dilapidated mobile homes arranged in a neighborhood along a red clay hill with a ragged dirt road connecting the housing units. By the time we got to this small, shabby community, it was almost dusk. My dad parked his panel van and went house-to-house delivering boxes. I won’t ever get over the images of that evening. I was surrounded by poverty.

Poverty is ugly because it reveals the hardest reality of life. In describing the poverty (my word) of life, Dickens wrote in A Christmas Carol, about man's condition at the crossroads of "Ignorance and Want." Poverty, for me, is that place where people want xyz, but don't care enough about themselves or others to even try and achieve it. It's a horror. And, that's what my boyish eyes saw that evening delivering toys to the neighborhood. I saw a generational cycle of poverty - "wanting" but no desire to improve.

Before you and I thumb our collective nose at those living in cycles of economic poverty, let me add a dimension to it. As King Solomon reminds us - we need each other. We need each other for warmth, security, defense and support. Going at life alone is foolish. Going at life alone is another form of poverty - the absence of the warmth of other believers is a horrible place of poverty. Human Nature craves relationships - poverty is not caring about or ignoring that impulse. The Holy Spirit, I believe, craves relationships with other believers - poverty is not caring about or ignoring that conviction.

I know a lot of affluent people living in poverty. They are surrounded by friends, and yet don't have a single friend in faith. They don't have one person in whom they can confess life's pain for fear their social friends will quickly turn to whisperers. They don't have one person who will hold their hand and pray over them; not a flippant "I will pray for you" that never results in prayer. They don't have one person who will "drop everything" and come running to provide Christian warmth in this cold world.

This is a form of poverty: Being surrounded by "friends" and yet not having a single one in faith.

On occasion, my church youth group would have bonfires. We would gather for food, music, devotion and, yes, flirting. Just before one of those bonfires, our beloved youth director, Ron McClure, called a few of us together for an object lesson. On a blackboard, he drew a bonfire with several rings around it. The fire represented the faith family with its light and its warmth. Each circle around the fire represented where people stood in relationship to the fire. The further people stood from the fire the more they stood in the cold and dark. He told us to be attentive to where people stood at the upcoming bonfire. Who would be nearest the fire, fully enjoying the bonfire? Who would be standing further removed? Who would be standing in the shadows? Who would not even be there? He reminded us:

• Believers will always want to be as close to the fire as possible, but many don't know how to break through the crowd to get there. How can we keep the inner circle open?
• Sometimes the fire can be too hot for people, and we have to let them be content to stand a few steps behind, but always inviting them to be closer.
• Many in the shadows choose to be there because, sadly, it's gotten comfortable to be in the dark and the cold. There's no risk in the shadows, it's easy to be invisible, and it's easy to walk away. But, these good people will never fully know the joy, peace, love and hope that comes from the warmth of being arm-in-arm with other believers. Friends, I've been there. Scott Vaughan has been in the shadows while being at the church property every single Sunday.
• How do we invite more people to the bonfire? We are surrounded by people who want to be with us, who need to be with us, but don't know it's available or the benefits of it. Keep in mind, some of these are regularly sitting in worship services - never fully experiencing the benefits of faith community.

Where are you? Are you as close to the fire of faith as possible? Are you out there in the shadows, engaged in the exercise of casual faith? Are you showing up here and there, sitting back, perhaps waiting on your spouse to endorse taking faith to the next level, wanting to get more involved in the exercise of faith but just not able to pull the trigger . . . afraid of what they might expect or ask you to do?

If you are warm and cozy beside the fire, are you turning around and making room for others to join you at the fire? Or, have you slipped into ugly "faithful sin" - claiming the warmth and forgetting about those not at the fire? I'm guilty. So are you.

Solomon reminds us that there is power, protection, service, love, warmth, and defense when we are joined with one another in the family of faith. It's time for some of us to step up to the fire, and for others to make room. Jesus came for such a reason as this one - that the gospel comes alive through the warmth of faith relationships.

              

              
                

Joy at Christmas

I begin this Christmas season by proclaiming, "Joy To The World" as in Jesus, our Savior, has come to the world. Believing in Jesus as the only true and pure Joy, and knowing the Holy Spirit resides in each believer, it is inexcusable for a believer to whine, "I can't catch the Christmas spirit." 

Here's how to find the Joy at Christmas; here's how the believer can catch the Christmas Spirit today and every single day.

I was so happy on that Christmas morning when I received the green bicycle. It had high handle bars and a banana seat. It was dark green with a black center bar. I was happy because it meant freedom on a lot of levels. I now had wheels. I could get to my grandparents’ house, Herschel Harrison’s country store, and the pond in half the time. I could also explore. We could load the bike in our station wagon, and now I could ride it to see all of my friends when I went to town, where my mother worked.

If I made a list of the top five Christmas presents presented on the top five Christmases of my past – the green bicycle would be at the top of all lists. That bike made me so happy I’m not even sure I could list a No. 2 all-time without a space between it and bicycle.

And, yet, that bicycle was in the trash heap in about five years – replaced with a larger 10-speed that I never quite loved as much. The treasures of today will surely be the dust of tomorrow. That bike was incapable of bring me Joy; it could only bring me temporary happiness.

You have no idea how much my mama wanted a daughter. She and my dad had three boys, 15, 13 and 10. A run at adoption of a little girl had failed. Attempting a fourth pregnancy had ended in miscarriage. All of my mama’s best friends had a daughter. My grandmother, my mom’s mama, had six grandsons and no granddaughters.

And, in late 1973, my mama found out she was pregnant. We all began praying for a healthy baby, but one that would also be female. Everyone was watching this pregnancy – boy or girl? Would my mama be able to contain her disappointment? It would surely be yet another Vaughan boy.

On March 7, 1974, my dad came by the high school and got me out. He went around to the other schools and got all my brothers. He called my grandmother and told her – it’s time – the baby is coming.

At the hospital, there were about 30 people in the waiting room. Boy or girl? Boy or girl? Probably a boy. The doctor came out and said, “It’s a girl.” It was like winning the lottery – people cheering and nurses crying. It was a community event. I worked at a local pizza restaurant and that night at work - the manager gave me a free dessert by way of celebration. When my grandmother came into the hospital, I shouted down the hallway, “Mema! It’s a girl.” And, she passed out.

People described it as a joyous day, but for those without a faith in Jesus, that was not true. For those, it was only heightened happiness and Earthly celebration. For those of us who were believers, having prayed and heard those prayers answered, it was a Joyful day. Joy only exists when Jesus exists. Joy, for me, and in my opinion, is that sweet spot of worship when my life and its events are in concert with Almighty God, through faith in Jesus.

Read the words of Psalm 98 and reflect on the Joy mentioned in it.

• Joy is a reflection of a deep and personal relationship with God through Jesus. It is impossible for people to now Joy apart from a faith in Jesus. What the unsaved will know is a heightened measure of happiness. The reason we sing “Joy To The World” each Christmas is because apart from the gift of Jesus, there is no joy.
•  Joy is found in authentic worship, pouring out the pain and sorrow of life to an Almighty God – praising and thanking God for all his blessings even in the midst of pain.
• And, while Joy is provided by God, we must pursue Joy, too. It’s an inward disposition. You can be a believer and not be joyful, and that’s a sad and pitiful way to live. It’s like being given a wonderful gift and never opening it.

How can we experience Joy? How can we experience the fullness of faith in Jesus? And, in experiencing that sweet spot with God, how can we fully celebrate His son's birth each December? How, then, can we capture the Christmas Spirit?

First, and foremost, the individual must be a confessing follower of Jesus Christ - not with head, but with heart; not with the right words or the right cadence before each meal, but with disposition and attitude and decorum. And, then, these considerations:

• Make God’s words personal – Jeremiah 15:16 – "Your words are what sustain me. They bring me great joy and are my heart’s delight. For I hear your name, O Lord God Almighty." Would you believe that an estimated 80 percent of all believers are Biblically illiterate; more than 60 percent of believers never even read the Bible. What does that say about the state of Joy in today's believers and then collectively within the church? Go to Scripture.
•  Whole-hearted service – 1 Chronicles 29:9 – "Then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord." Service without disclaimer; service without expectation – not even with the expectation of a thank you. Understand that your money is not yours; your time is borrowed – give it all away to bless the lives of others.
• Faithful service – Matthew 25:23 – Recognizing the source of all things in our lives, and plowing those things into service. It's not just about time and money. It's about the greatest gift many of us have - our children. 3 John 1:4 reads, "I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth." I look at the trophy shelves containing all the trophies and awards that my boys have gathered, and yet Joy comes to me when I know Andrew is driving college students to worship services on Sunday mornings. See the difference between the Earthly and the Eternal? Happiness is in the Earthly; Joy is in the Eternal.
•  Knowing your heart is right with God – Psalm 3:22 – "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice all who are upright in heart." My heart is not always right with God. I get frustrated, I lose my temper, I slink into negativity and cynicism, I say and do things that I regret, and I then I feel ashamed in front of Almighty God. But, what Joy comes when I recognize the sinfulness of my heart, cry out to the Lord, and feel Him wash through me. There is no Joy like the sweet spot of being right with God.
• Winning souls – Psalm 126:5 – "Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy." Have you ever watched as someone came to know Jesus – broken and then redeemed? Can you remember that feeling in yourself? Only in the last five years have I introduced anyone to Jesus, and I can tell you that there’s nothing like it. Once you have experienced the joy of seeing someone come to Jesus, you will want to live the rest of your days – you will cry out for those days – for that pure joy found in soul-winning.
• Answered prayers – John 16:24 – Jesus says, “Ask, in my name, and you will receive and you will have abundant joy.” Are you praying? Are you thinking about prayer? Have you experienced the abundant joy of answered prayers. There is Joy in the knowledge and affirmation of a loving, Almighty God through answered prayer.

Joy, to the world!

When Jesus was born, Joy entered our bleak and empty world. When the Holy Spirit comes alive in each believer, the opportunity for Joy enters that human life. Christmas should be a season of worship; Christmas should be a season of the focused pursuit of Joy. Don’t let it slip away from you – Serve, Pray, Dive into Scripture, Confess Sinful Attitudes, and look for the opportunity to hit your sweet spot with Almighty God.

Expecting God To Reveal Himself

Ask God to forgive your sin (selfishness) against Him, clearing out the decay that comes between your daily walk with God through faith in Jesus.

Expect God to reveal Himself to you - in big and small ways, through things you see, words you hear, and people who cross your life. Sometimes God will reveal Himself through your ministry to others; sometimes God will reveal Himself in the way you are encouraged. Sometimes you will need to look in the rear view mirror of your day and see how God revealed Himself.

In Exodus 7:1-13, God comes to Moses, who is living in the desert. He instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh, whom God has made stubborn. Pharaoh loves having more than 600,000 slaves to build his empire, and he is not about to free them. Freeing them would all but destroy the Egyptian economy. God tells Moses to go see Pharaoh and a supreme leader of the world to release the Jews from captivity. God tells Moses that Pharaoh will refuse to listen to Moses, opening the door for God to "multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. I will crush Egypt with a series of disasters after which I will lead the fores of Israel out of Egypt."

God told Moses: (a) Go to Egypt; (b) Do what I tell you to do; (c) Know that I will do exactly what I say I will do; (d) No human force can stop me; and (e) Expect it to happen.

Moses reaction (Exodus 3:11) was to doubt Himself and, in reality, doubt God. Moses was 80 years old. He was returning to Egypt, where he had committed murder. Moses sinned because he doubted God. Throughout chapter 4, Moses wrestled with God, offering excuses which God dissolved. In the end, Moses surrendered "self" to God plans, and God allowed Aaron to travel with Moses.

Imagine these two men standing in front of almighty Pharaoh. In a test-drive, God had revealed his miracles to them, but this was showtime. Exodus 7:10:  “So Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh, and they performed miracles just as the Lord had told them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and the court, and it became a snake. Then Pharaoh called in his wise men and magicians, and they did the same thing with their secret arts. Their staffs became snakes, too! But, then Aaron’s snake swallowed up their snakes.”

There are no forces more powerful than Almighty God. He speaks to common people just like me and you, calls us to work that only He can do, puts events in our lives that only He can calendar, and crosses our lives with people that only He can send. We must recognize that God can do things we can't understand and we must expect it, and be ready to act.

In Jeremiah 29:13, the people of Judah are in Babylonian captivity, and God says to them, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” That chills me to the core. You and I are captives to this sinful world – God says we will find peace, joy, love, hope, patience, courage and wisdom when we seek Him with all you heart – when we completely turn from the worship of the world – we will find a sweet spot with Him. He says, "I will show up." But, we must turn from the worship of the world and then seek God.

I've started to pray with an expectation that God will reveal Himself.

It begins with shaking loose the sour spots of my life, confessing that my actions and attitudes (even when some are rationalized as good), are sins against God. And, once I've made that confession, I have an expectation that God will reveal Himself to me. Most of the time, these revelations can just be a reminder of God's goodness in my life through a memory, or an encouraging word, or someone He sends my way. Most of these revelations aren't "big events," but small expressions of His love that my otherwise busyness would cause me to miss completely.

God is all around us. 

God is living in us.

God never sleeps.

If we can't daily see God at work, what does that say about us?

I believe God wants to reveal Himself every day and all the time. I believe He wants to encourage us, and remind us of His greatness. I believe He is calling us to be on mission with Him.

Last week, I went "home" to Georgia. I had not been since May. I love to stand in my mama's front yard, in the fall, with the wind rushing through those hardwoods and leaves falling all around. It's one of my favorite things to do and I wanted to experience it. My dad is having back surgery after Thanksgiving, and my visit also allowed me to go to his pre-op appointments with him.

As I drove to Atlanta, I prayed. I confessed my sins against the Lord, and then I prayed, “Lord, this is going to be such a busy trip; I pray that you teach me through others, that you allow me to minister as necessary, and that you reveal yourself to all of us.”

On Friday morning, my dad and I got up at 5:30 a.m. to make an 8 a.m. doctor’s appoint – 15 miles from their home. On the way to the doctor's office, traveling in the dark, drinking coffee, my dad began to pour out how proud he is of me. This is the serious side of my dad. He is a lover, and he loves to encourage the ones that he loves, especially when he has them one-on-one. I just listened as God spoke through Him, encouraging me to continue loving Vicki and the boys.

God showed up.

During the pre-op visit at the doctor's office, the nurse remarked that dad's blood pressure was a little high. As we got to the hospital for the pre-op testing, his blood pressure had gone higher still. As we sat in a small room, I asked him, “Daddy, are you nervous about this surgery?” He said, “Not nervous, but I do wish I didn’t need to have it.” Then, he really began to tell me just how the pain is – in his back, legs and feet. It is the byproduct of scar tissue from back surgery 50 years ago.

Soon, a nurse case worker came in – Elizabeth. Around her neck, she wore a cross. I know many people wear crosses for secular reasons, but there was something special about this nurse. There was a sincerity to her voice, a calming in her nature, and a wonderful "bedside" manner. As she talked to my dad, his desire to entertain the nurses with funny stories began to subside. He grew calmer. Elizabeth began fingering the cross on her neck. I believe she sensed my dad's nervousness about the surgery. As we talked, and as she worked the cross, I had this feeling that she was working to communicate with us without having to say the words.

Finally, she turned the conversation to Christmas. And, she stepped into unknown waters, telling us how she respected all religions, but that she much preferred "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays." And, we agreed. And, that opened the door for her to say, "You know, Mr. Vaughan, you don’t have to worry about this surgery, right?” God was so powerfully there at that moment. She said, “You can be nervous, but don’t worry. Faith will see that everything works out the way it should.” It was probably risky for her to do that, but it was so wonderfully orchestrated by Almighty God.

God showed up. God revealed Himself to me. 

Moses was nervous, scared, inadequate and felling very out of control. God provided Aaron, and as Moses responded to God over self, God provided the strength and courage for Moses to move forward on mission.

God showed up.

This Thanksgiving week, and on into the Christmas holidays, you and I will be around a lot of people – family and friends, and strangers in Wal-Mart. Let me encourage you to turn from whatever selfishness is between you and God, and then pray that God will reveal Himself to you – in conversations, chance encounters, and quiet time with family. It may be that you are needed to minister to someone; it may be that God will encourage you through others. But, don’t miss the opportunity each day to see and hear from Almighty God, who loves each of us so much. 

God is all around us. Expect to see Him at work.

Childlike Faith

Acceptance, Faith and Trust.

This past week I was in Denver, leading a clinic for pastors from five states – Colorado to California.

There was a Target across the street from the hotel, and so it naturally hypnotized me into going inside and spending about $35. As I was waiting in the checkout line, the lady in front of me pointed to a little boy – about five or so – sitting alone on a bench. She said, “I have been watching him for several minutes, and I’m not sure there’s an adult with him.” This got my attention, the clerk’s attention, and the attention of a few others. A store manager was called. As I checked out, I drifted closer to the adults who gathered around the little boy.

The kind store manager was asking him his name, asking if he was lost, and the little boy sat there perfectly calm. He simply said, “I’m waiting on my dad; he said he would be right back.” Is he in the store? Is he in the restroom? Where is your dad? The little boy said, “I don’t know where he is, but he said he will be right back and for me to wait.” And, so he was patiently waiting. So trusting of his dad, I believe he would have been whistling, too, had his dad asked him to whistle while waiting.

Just as the manager was about to call the police, the little boy’s dad arrived. Obviously, he met a lynch mob with two dozen scolding eyes, a few tough questions, and reminders that this is not a safe world.

Most of the people left that quick scene thinking about the lunacy of the dad. I left thinking about the faith of the little boy. His words made an impression on me: “I’m waiting on my dad; he said he would be right back.”

Faith is action without understanding. 

That’s what the little boy had – faith in his dad. To his core, he knew his dad would be back. He didn't know where his dad went or his dad's motivation, but he trusted what he didn't know and what his dad had told him. He had faith. The world around the little boy didn't share his faith, but the boy knew all was well because he knew his dad. And, he trusted his dad. And, he had faith in his dad. And, while the scene did not make sense to all of us – to the little boy it all made perfect sense, especially when the dad showed up.

This is a metaphor for our relationship with God made possible by faith in Jesus. 

Like the little boy, we say, "Lord, I don’t understand everything in The Bible, I can’t see you when I pray or hear your audible respond to my prayers, and it blows my mind to think that a feeble-minded human like me can communicate with you as the sovereign Lord of the Universe. And, yet, you tell me that you love me, and I have faith that you do.You tell me not to be afraid of yesterday, today and tomorrow because you will be with me until the end of the age, and I faith that you are there. You tell me that you have a plan for me, and I can believe that you do. My questions about life often outnumber the answers, Lord, but you tell me to wait on you and everything will become clear, and so I have faith in that, too."

That's exactly how each of us approaches the Lord. Right? No, we don't. Few of us are consistent in that childlike approach.

Something happens between childhood and adulthood. We are born totally dependent on others and so we develop faith that our needs will be met, we will be protected and we will be loved. We don't fully understand where and how it comes from, but we have faith that it is provided. But, as we age and mature, we become more self-reliant and independent. The world teaches and forces us to do so. We realize that we can do better for ourselves than others can do for us. We are hurt by the fickle nature of humanity. We lose faith in people, and that causes us to lose faith in God. We bring God down to our human level and ask human questions like, "Why did you let this happen?" or "Where were you?" We forget that God is supernatural; we are not. Our childhood faith is replaced by a jaded, adulthood faith.

As a little boy, before age 10, I was feeling conviction of the Holy Spirit to commit my life to Jesus. I could not escape it. Every chapter of my life – family, friends, church – everything was pointing me back to Jesus, and knowing Him as my Savior. But, I was scared; I was hesitant. The public profession, the baptism – it all paralyzed me.

Each summer, our family attended a few evening services at the Holbrook Campmeeting, which was a United Methodist event but attended by a lot of Baptists and Pentecostals. Services three times each day culminated in that evening service in the center of a circle of cabins. Services were conducted in an outdoor arbor with sawdust floor, old wooden pews, and funeral home fans because there was no air conditioning.

I can’t remember the name of the preacher on that hot summer night, but I remember the Scripture that he preached – Luke 18:15-17: “One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told the parents not to bother Jesus. Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.”

As the preacher finished, I just went to pieces. I thought God Almighty was about the punish my parents for my failure and nervousness about publicly acknowledging Jesus. My mama helped me understand that I had missed the message; that despite all of my fear and questions, I needed to simply let go and accept the salvation from sin offered through Jesus. Childlike faith - stepping into Jesus with lots of questions.

The faith of a child. Accepting the helplessness of the world, and the reality that God reigns over all of it. Faith that many of my questions will not be answered until I get to heaven, but I will trust completely in God's provision through Scripture. And, like a little boy in Target, I will have a quiet confidence that someone much larger and greater than me - God - is in control.

I am honored and humbled that people come to me with questions, for prayer, and with concerns over the problems of this world. And, what I try to do is reach in beyond the problem to the question of childlike faith. Where are you with Jesus? Do you believe in what Scripture tell us - not to worry, focus on others, and trust in Jesus? So many times, we as believers, focus on the problems and the root of our problem is a lack of childlike faith. If we had a child's faith, the swirl around us would not sting as badly because we would know - to the core of our being - that God is in control and all things work to His glory. 

Where are you? Please don't delay conversations about your faith journey or taking that journey to the next level. God has something He wants you to do and it's something that only you can do. And, He is waiting on you to step up with a childlike faith - not understanding and not knowing - to advance His Kingdom on Earth.

Oh, yeah, Jesus

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, it’s time for the Vaughans to begin the annual Thanksgiving poster. 

When the boys were little, Vicki began the annual poster as a way for each person to express their thankfulness for all to see. And, of course, the poster always included the serious – friends and family – but it also included the silly and goofy as the boys tried to make us all laugh.

At some point during our posting, one of us would come around to say, "Oh, yeah, Jesus." We had completely over-focused on all the Earthly things for which we were thankful and completely forgotten to be thankful for Jesus. "Oh, yeah, Jesus. I suppose we should put Him on our poster somewhere."

You are probably no different. We get so wrapped up in counting our Earthly blessings that we fail to think about the fountain from which all of those blessings flow. We get so distracted on the Earthly that we are blinded to the Eternal.

As I watched Halloween come and go this past week, Facebook friends began their annual day-by-day lists of Thankfulness. A few led with Jesus, but many led – just like my family's annual Thanksgiving poster – with the human and the Earthly. I watched good-hearted, wonderful believers lead out with thankfulness for the family dog, Moe's restaurant, favorite football teams, jobs, our country, and Chick-fil-A lemonade. And, so I  used my Facebook page as a reminder that all of our blessings - including family and friends - flows from the No. 1 that is Jesus. And, only Jesus. Some did not take my reminder well, reminding me that their priorities were their priorities, or that Facebook wasn't the place to be so serious, or that they didn't want to offend others with a lot of spiritual conversation. Hmmm. That all sounds like my excuses when I shamefully have that "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moment in front of our Thanksgiving poster.

As we consider, or list, or post our thankfulness at this time of year, let me make a case for Jesus being our No. 1. And, I will use two hymns from The Baptist Hymnal to do it.

In the hymn "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," the lyricist Robert Robinson reminds us that “Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandring from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.” And, he writes, “Come thy fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.” As part of our fellowship with God, Jesus - as the source of all Earthly and Eternal blessings - sought us out. Jesus is the fountain of all our blessings and deserves our loudest praise.

Revelation 22:1-2 reads, “And, the angel showed me a pure river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, coursing down the center of the main street.” John’s vision reminds us that the water of eternal life pours out the richness of life with God through Jesus. I can almost imagine this fountain in heaven, pouring out blessings on those who love Jesus, and those blessings pouring into our lives here on Earth. The blessing of our salvation is really the only blessing that we need; the only source for our thankfulness.

In the hymn, "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow," we read these simple words: “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above ye Heavenly host; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

James 1:17 reads, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father." Every good and perfect gift is from above. Every one. And, those gifts flow down from God because of our faith in Jesus.

On Tuesday, April 28, 1998, I was under a lot of stress at work and at home. I was managing a lot of responsibility at work, and then coming home to four little boys under 10. Vicki and I were like zombies passing in the hallway of our home. And, so on this Tuesday in 1998, I took an entire day to get alone with God. I went to the Baptist retreat center near Winnsboro, and went down to the lake there. I sat for hours, praying and reading Scripture, and everything came back to simply praising God and being thankful for my blessings. God even allowed me to take a nap on a bed of leaves and pine needles. At the close of the day, I made a list in the back of my Bible of all my blessings, and especially all of those times in my life when I knew that God was taking care of me.

In preparation for this lesson, I turned to the back page of my Bible and here's what I had written in the No. 1 position: “I felt your presence when I prayed to accept you in my life – when I made my pubic profession of the surrender of my life to you. I am thankful for that.”

At that worshipful moment in 1998, as I made a list of my thankfulness, Jesus was not part of an "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moment. No, I had recognized that all the blessings in my life flow from my faith in Jesus - the one who sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. In that 1998 list, the remaining 18 things include my Vicki, when the boys were born, my parents, my siblings, when my sister survived serous surgery, when my brother returned safely from the Gulf War, when God used unemployment to teach me compassion, and on and on and on. But, all those blessings flowed from the No. 1 and the only One – that Jesus died on the cross for me, and He convicted me to lay down my life and follow Him.

In Robinson's hymn of the fountain of blessings, he reminds us, too, that we are constantly being pulled away from the cross to that place of "Oh, yeah, Jesus" when he writes, “Let thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.” But, then there’s the chorus, where he writes, “I am bound for the kingdom, Will you go to glory with me? Hallelujah, praise the Lord.” So, even though we slip and stumble, and often forget about Jesus, the "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moment does call us back to praise Him and honor Him in the No. 1 position of thankfulness. We can celebrate and be thankful for the tether to Almighty God, calling us back to Him. We can give thanks that the Holy Spirit provides those "Oh, yeah, Jesus" moments.

This Thanksgiving, I am going to pledge three things, personally:

1. On the Thanksgiving poster, we will acknowledge Jesus as the center of our thankfulness, placing His name first on the paper. And, I will lead my family in that recognition. From there, the serious and the silliness can unfold. Yes, there is a place for the silliness because I believe Jesus loves to see us laugh with one another, especially within our families.
2. When I have the opportunity, I will remind others – as with this lesson – that all our blessings – all of our thankfulness – pours from the fountain of the cross and the resurrection. As we look into the loving faces of family, we must be reminded that the blessings of those loved ones come to us from a loving God, whom we know because of Jesus.
3. I will be attentive during these three weeks of Thanksgiving to the hurt and the pain of others, and I will look for ways to build relationships through which I might – with the courage of the cross – state and ask, “I am bound for the Kingdom, will you go to glory with me?” Lord, please use me as you will to help another person begin his or her journey of thankfulness with you.

Finding God On The Apache Trail

"Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his temple, everyone shouts, 'Glory!' the Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever. The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace." ~ Psalm 29:1-11

Sometimes – many times – God sneaks up on us. I think it's because:

1. We aren't God. God exists without a watch or a calendar; God has a different view from ours. He can see our tomorrow, our today and our yesterday; and God can be everywhere at the same time, and He is the King – the Lord – over everything. We are just a wisp of air.
2. We are so distracted and so busy that we often aren’t looking for God or expecting to see Him. We are over-worried about what’s for dinner, or the next thing on the calendar, or how much money is in the bank account. We are so focused on the temporary that we can't see the eternal. We have a limited brain capacity and often reserve none of that for God.

This past week I was in Phoenix, serving churches there. I was speaking all day Thursday for a group of city-wide church leaders. Back in the late 1980s, my brother Tim was stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, and I made a handful of trips out there to visit him. I fell in love with the Arizona desert, borrowing Tim’s Trans Am and driving out into the desert. I drove off the main roads and into places where they have signs warning you to have plenty of food and water.

So, going to Phoenix this week, I scheduled the trip so I could be there as early as possible on Wednesday, providing all afternoon to drive in the desert, windows down, and classic rock and roll blaring. And, I specifically wanted to drive the 33-mile Apache Trail, which is actually State Highway 88 from the small town of Apache Junction to Roosevelt Dam.

But, let me back up just a minute. My flight on Wednesday morning began in Charlotte. I am on a quest this year to read 25 books and to read 200 over the next eight years. On this flight, I was finishing up former Yankee Bobby Richardson’s book, Impact Player, and so – at the Charlotte airport – I stepped into a bookstore to find something to start reading. I have been trying, rarely successful, to rotate my reading among biographies, fiction and books to improve my faith journey. In the Charlotte airport book store, I was looking through the fiction books when I noticed a section of inspirational books. It was there that I picked up Paul Stutzman’s true story – Hiking Through. Stutzman, a restaurant manager, lost his wife, Mary, to breast cancer, and overcome with grief, quit his job to hike through the 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Having hiked most of the trial in Georgia, during my younger days, I bought the book.

On the flight to Phoenix, I finished Richardson’s great baseball biography, and began Stutzman’s book, which I quickly realized was a fantastic story of being out in the wilderness, grieving over life’s greatest setback, and asking questions of Almighty God. I won’t give the book away, but Stutzman’s book is as good a book about an everyday man's faith journey as I have ever read. It is a great adventure story of  man v. wilderness, but it's also fascinating to be with Stutzman as the trail journey mirrors his faith journey. In the middle of nature, he becomes broken before Almighty God and responds to God's calling. Why did I enjoy Stutzman's story so much? Because he could be me and most everyone I know.

And, so it was while reading Stutzman's book that I drove from Phoenix to Apache Junction to drive the Apache Trail. The Apache Trail is a 33-mile road – State Highway 88. It was first a trail used by the Apache tribe to cross the Superstition Mountains, and then it was a stagecoach road for the same purpose. The first 11 miles of the trail are paved though not very well maintained. These miles pass by some pull-outs for tourist views of the desert, the mountains and a few reservoirs. The paved section of the trail ends at a roadhouse / restaurant / gift shop called Tortilla Flat. You can see Tortilla Flat as you approach it because there’s a mannequin hung by a noose from a gallows built on the top of the building. (It's pretty cool).

Many travelers get to Tortilla Flat, buy a souvenir, have a drink, and then go back to Apache Junction. But, you can go further on a 22-mile drive to Roosevelt Dam, which at the time of its construction was the largest block dam in the country (so sayeth a sign there). That 22-mile leg of the Apache Trail is all dirt road. The roads are narrow with one-lane bridges, no cell service, and extreme mountain driving with no or limited guard rails. Along the trail you cross many areas with warning signs of flash flooding as in "don't drive through here if you see water." As a note, many RV rental companies do not permit their vehicles to use the Apache Trail. There’s also the customary warning to have plenty of water.

And, so, off I went in my small rental SUV.

Words can’t describe that drive. I drove until there were no power lines and my iPhone lost all of its service. My sophisticated telephone even stopped searching for service. Deeper and deeper I drove into the desert, thinking about Paul Stutzman on the Appalachian Trail and searching for God there. At one point on his walk through the wildnerness, Stutzman had one of his many God moments. He asked himself, "Why am I hurrying to finish this long walk? Shouldn't I stop occasionally and marvel at awesome God?"

Shouldn't we ask that of ourselves? Why are we rushing through this life of ours? Why aren't we spending more time with the ones we love? Why aren't we spending more time doing for others? Why aren't we stopping to be still and reflect on the glory of Almighty God all around us?

And, as I drove the Apache Trail, I thought the same thing: Why I am hurrying to finish this scenic drive? Why don't I stop along the way and just experience God?

My GPS wasn’t working, but I estimated by the odometer that I was about 20 miles into the Apache Trail. As I came up and around a cliff, I pulled up to the top of a mountain and there was a pullout. So, I eased the SUV into the pullout, turned off the ignition (praying it would restart) and then got out and climbed on the hood of the vehicle to sit.

It was the great expanse of the desert that first got to me – it just caused me to exhale. As David wrote of God's glory in Psalm 29, all I could think to say was, "Glory, Glory."

But, it was the quiet that really got to me. There was no sound except what little the wind made. With no trees to stir, the wind was more felt than heard and I felt as though it were the hands of God reaching out to me. No birds. No cars. No noise or racket. Just the deafening quiet. And, I got the feeling that the only two living things at the moment were me and God. I came to the realization that God was using Stutzman's book to prepare me for this time of worship. And, I pulled out a pen and paper to make a few notes, seeing it as opportunity for a tune-up of my life.

1. I will take time to get away, by myself, and be still before the Lord – away from people, away from the noise and the clatter, even if for just a few hours – I will get away by myself, leave the cell phone at home, tell no one where I am going, and simply rest in the arms of the Lord. He wants it and I need it. And, I need it more often.
2. I will invest more time with my Vicki – just with her – even if it’s just watching television with her. I won’t let the boys and all their business get between me and the one whom God chose for me - the one God chose for a relationship set apart from all others. I will put off all other relationships and ministry to them in order to have more time to spend with my Vicki. There will be a day when one of us will go on without the other. I want to cherish these days more often.
3. I will make sure the boys know that I love them – not by spending time with them, not by spending money on them, not by ensuring they are happy – but by listening to them, hearing them and encouraging them even if what they say makes no sense to me. I will be their champion; not the uninvited “fixer” of their problems.
4. I will be a better friend. I will work harder to stay close to my friends who are hurting; I know I’m not qualified to provide all the answers they need, but I can ensure they know that I will be on life's journey with them.
5. I will be unashamed of the Gospel – willing to talk about Jesus at any time to any person regardless of the circumstance. I was reminded that I can’t save anyone, I can’t make anyone accept Jesus as their Savior, but I have a responsibility to make the introduction – to say to people, “Here is my friend, Jesus, and I would like for you to meet Him, and I would like to tell you why He is my friend.”

There’s a feeling of accomplishment when you drive out of the desert and see Roosvelt Dam. It’s not the same as completing the Appalachian Trail, but you are glad you made it without need of a search and rescue.

God snuck up on me last week, introducing me to a book that slowed me down to hear from God in the Arizona desert.

Chasing Jesus is life-changing

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." - Matthew 16:24.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

Followers of Jesus choose to pursue Him. Followers of Jesus can look at today, compare it to the same day last year, and say, “Yes, I am closer to Jesus and I am more like Jesus today than I was on this day last year.” There is an assurance of that.

You see, the word following implies forward movement; it implies a pursuit or chasing after Jesus. And, so it stands to reason that if I am following Jesus, I will be on a forward-moving journey with Him, and in that journey I will become more like Him, and my today will not be the same as my yesterday.

I’ll go so far as to say those who today are no closer to Jesus than last year, well, they aren’t really following Jesus at all. More than likely, these good people are simply church Christians who believe church attendance, church busyness and participation in church stuff is synonymous with following Jesus. Churchyness (my word) can contribute to the spiritual journey of following Jesus, but for many it does not. Churchyness is largely a clinical exercise to meet cultural expectation: I want people to know I am associated with a church so they will believe that I am a good person. If I were Satan, I would love, love, love people to buy into that theology.

Look at what the prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 51:1: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.” We are called to “pursue” and to “seek” Jesus; we are called to be moving forward in our faith journey. We are called to be followers.

In Philippians 3:12-16, Paul writes, “but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” and “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul says we are to be moving forward, following Jesus, “pressing on” and “straining toward.” Am I? Are you? Is your today significantly more close to Jesus than your yesterday? Ask your spouse. Ask your parents. Ask your friends.

It’s all easier said than done, frankly, because we live in a broken and sinful world, and because we are broken and sinful people. But, that does not excuse us from being on the journey. In fact, we are guaranteed the journey will be hard and also that few will actually choose to take this narrow way. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

At this writing, Vicki has me on a diet. To be on that diet requires life changes on my part and a diligent moving forward. I am on a journey. At the end, I will be different than I am today. But, along the way, I will face temptation and may even slip backward. In fact, unless I am diligent and focused, I will choose to fail. And, then I will no longer be able to say that I am on a diet at all. I can “watch what I eat” and lie about being on a diet, but I know that I won’t really be on a diet at all. On the other hand, I might stumble on the diet, regroup and begin the journey again. Even though I have slipped, I can still claim to be on the diet because I am continuing to move forward.

So often, the faith journey - following Jesus - is a two steps forward and one step backward journey, but it is still about making that one step of progress. It's always about moving forward and being more like Jesus.

Life is constantly calling us backward to the easy, to the comfortable, to the “be like everyone else” and if you and I succumb to that, we will never be able to follow Jesus. Nothing about that cross is easy or comfortable or like “everyone else."

In summary:

Following Jesus is about saying:

1. My life is better, more peaceful, more joyful and more hopeful when I set my eyes on Jesus and decide to follow Him.
2. By following Jesus, what I really mean is that I will respect Him as my leader, and pursue Him. He is in front of me, and I will chase Him and pursue Him toward a goal of being more like Him. What does that mean? I will intentionally choose to (a) completely love people – all people – not just in words, but in deeds; (b) extend undeserved forgiveness to people; (c) see beyond the surface attitudes of people to understand the motivations, and then minister to them; and (d) I will build relationships with all people – all people – and help them discover joy, peace and hope that’s only found in Jesus Christ. I will call others to pursue Jesus and pray to see them baptized according to Matthew 28:19.

And, I know that I as I draw close to Jesus, and as I follow Him, it will be very difficult to maintain the pursuit.

1. People won’t understand. They will raise an eyebrow, and I can expect following Jesus to reshuffle the deck of my relationships. I will gain new friends; I will lose old friends. It will be joyful and painful all at the same time. In the end, though, it will be peaceful.
2. I can expect following Jesus to cost me something. It might cost me a job. It might cost me position. It might cost me time and money. Jesus' sacrifice on that cross was costly to Him; following Him and becoming like Him will absolutely cost me. There is no cheap grace; only a costly, expensive grace. That's why it's the narrow way and few really choose it.
3. As the white hot light of the cross burns my sinful nature, the pressure of it all will cause me to retreat into the darkness of my sinful nature. And, I will find myself in a sorrowful place because my retreat will grieve the Holy Spirit within me. And, I can expect Jesus to find me and ask, “Scott, what are you doing? Are you a believer or not? In or out? Let’s get back on the journey.” And, I will decide to follow or not.

What I have learned about following my Jesus:

1. I must be intentional about it. The world is calling me away from Jesus; following Him requires my absolute focus and best effort.
2. I must allow the Holy Spirit to place me around people – even people that make me feel uncomfortable - for encouragement and correction; love and service. 
3. I must look beyond what I want and see what others need. And, then I must respond the best that I can. And, where I can't respond, I will mobilize others to respond.
4. The call on my life is not to be perfect; the call of my life is to simply focus my life on being more Christ-like and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts, actions and my attitudes.
5. I must anchor my life in Scripture and prayer.
6. The world will notice, my family will notice, my friends will notice, and following Jesus will tighten some of my relations and loosen others. Following Jesus comes with a cost, but it is a cost worth paying.
7. I only understand a fraction of all this, but I understand all that I need to know. I need Jesus, others need Jesus, and it is my responsibility to follow Jesus – to work to be more like him – each and every day of my life so that others can see and know Jesus because of His reflection on me.
8. If my today is not closer to Jesus that my yesterday, I am not following Jesus at all.

Being attractive

There is one thing of which I am certain:

No one wants to be around someone who is unattractive, thereby leaving the unattractive all alone a great deal of the time. Someone who is perpetually alone isn’t building healthy relationships with others, and therefore is failing to introduce people to Jesus. And, each of us is commanded to help people discover Jesus as Savior. (Matthew 28:19).

Are you attractive or unattractive? That’s the question.

And, it has little to do with beauty though Satan would have us believe that beauty and attractiveness are synonymous. Satan would also have us think this is all a women's issue, but it is not.

Beauty is only skin deep.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And, I like this one: Beauty doesn’t matter after 50 because you will either be overweight in some degree or thin and wrinkled – choose one and be happy with it. (Personally, the overweight seem more healthy and fun to me, but then again I am one of them. J)

Beauty is a characteristic that is based on a perceptual experience. That’s why we all see beauty differently. It’s why someone decorates their home and says, “Wow, this is beautiful” and then someone like me comes in and says, “Wow, what were they thinking?” Beauty is subjective.

Unfortunately, we assign beauty to being Godly, and it’s not. Beauty is of this world. When 81 percent of 10 year old boys and girls say they are afraid of being fat because it makes them ugly – that’s a problem. That statistic alone speaks to a world more focused on being superficially beautiful than being inwardly attractive to others.Being attractive is so much deeper than beauty. Attractiveness is a quality that stirs an interest in someone else.

I know a lot of people who are attractive, but the world doesn’t necessarily see them as beautiful.
I know a lot of people who the world calls beautiful, but those people aren’t very attractive.
I know a lot of people who bloom beautiful *because* they are first very attractive.
I know a lot of people who are so very unattractive that their beauty has faded into ugliness.

Beauty is fading, fleeting and a distraction to what is really important. We need to focus on being attractive to others and let beauty, on occasion, bloom from that if it will. People will migrate toward people who are attractive; people will be repelled by those who are unattractive. People want to be around the kind, the encouraging, the serving, the loving, and the positive-thinking. People don’t want to be around the self-focused, the bitter, the negative, the superficial, and the lazy. Lonely and without friends? How attractive are your attitudes?

And, I know, we all have moments of being unattractive. We all do; none of us is spared. I know that. But, we have to be working toward an attractive attitude.

So, how do we cultivate and sustain this attractiveness – what I’m calling an attractive spirit. And, why is it important for followers of Jesus? Here’s why – you and I are commanded – not encouraged or invited or asked – but commanded to make disciples, to see people baptized, and to be expressive about Jesus. Well, who has the more authentic opportunity to reflect Jesus? The attractive or the unattractive? If my life is so self-absorbed that I am no longer attractive, what effect does that have on my ability to build relationships with people and tell them about Jesus? It has a huge effect. The more I’m focused on me, the more addicted I am on me, the more unattractive that is to others, and the less chance I have to tell others about Jesus.

A rotten spirit of attractiveness destroys our opportunity to help others find Jesus.

So, here are some things that I found in Scripture this week to help us focus on being more attractive for the purpose of building relationship and sharing Jesus. And, while Scripture sometimes puts these in the context of women, I think we men must pay attention to them, too. You will see what I mean.

1. We must be a follower of Jesus. And, look what happens in 1 Peter 3:1-4 – “. . . your Godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” Your Godly lives – that implies that we must be in fellowship with God through faith in Jesus. People are attracted to those who have an inner peace about their lives and where they are in life.
2. This 1 Peter Scripture passage also points to being “gentle and having a quiet spirit.” My daddy has that gentle spirit – and I try to be like him in this regard. A few years ago, we were at the movies, and I turned around and he wasn’t there. Then, I saw him. He was on the sidewalk, helping a little boy who had spilled his M&Ms, and I heard him say, “If dirt would kill us, we’d all be dead.” He is quietly gentle toward others, and possesses a quiet and loving touch on someone’s life. People are attracted to the kind of person who lives unassuming.
3. Psalm 29:2: “Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” Being holy is attractive. What is holy? It’s about being “set apart” – if the world is busy, busy and materialistic and flashy, then holiness – set apart – is the antithesis of that. People in this culture are attracted to those who live a simple, uncomplicated, authentic and down-to-Earth life because it gives people hope that they can live that way too and in so doing everything will be just fine.
4. Ephesians 5:21: Paul writes about the relationship of husbands and wives and says, “Further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Marriages are attractive when husbands and wives submit to one another. I know that when I submit to Vicki it becomes learned behavior that allows me to submit to the best for others, too. I love my Vicki so much that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. If she says, “Scott, go with me to counseling,” I’m going. If she says, “Scott, it sure helps if you will do the laundry” then, I’m doing the laundry.” If she says, “Scott, you need to lose some weight” then I’ll make a run at it. Why? I submit to her because I love her more than I love myself. But, I also have confidence that she’s only going to ask of me those things that will either make me a better person or make our marriage better. Neither of us is going to ask the other to do something through selfish motivation.Those kinds of marriages are attractive to others, give hope to others, and create environments through which faith can be shared.
5. Matthew 5:14-6: Jesus says that, “You are the light of the world . . . shine for the world to see. Let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” An attractive spirit does good work for others, and does it out there so people can see us get our hands dirty. It’s not about advertising it; it’s about getting out there among people and doing it. People will notice when you donate time to the good of the community and the good of others. And, it inspires others to do that, too. It inspires conversation that you can use to talk about Jesus. Every believer should be involved in the community in some way – hands and feet to real service. What does it say when only 15 percent of believers are actually involved in hands-on ministry or service? It says we don’t really believe what we claim to believe – and that’s not very attractive.
6. Last, Isaiah 3:16-26: The great prophet presents a metaphorical warning for those who subscribe to a superficial obsession with beauty. And, what we take from this is that it’s far better to live a life that is meek and humble, simple and encouraging, and gentle and quiet, focused on pursuing attractiveness for the sake of the Gospel – a life focused not so much on the mirror, but the window of opportunity to build relationship and share faith.

Lord, let me be attractive today. Let others fall in love with you because they see you reflected in everything that I do, say, and think today.