NOTE: One last article by Milton Glaser. A nice follow up to yesterday's essay on Truth.
Keep in mind that he's writing this to designers and writers who work in the advertising industry.
-kg
**
The Road to Hell by Milton Glaser
I once created a test called The Road to Hell, ... a series of questions that become more difficult the deeper you go. The first couple are easy, would you—
1. Design a package to look larger on the shelf?
2. Do an ad for a slow-moving, boring film to make it seem like a lighthearted comedy?
3. Design a crest for a new vineyard to suggest that it’s been in business for a long time?
4. Design a jacket for a book whose sexual content you find personally repellent?
5. Design an advertising campaign for a company with a history of known discrimination in minority hiring?
6. Design a package for a cereal aimed at children, which has low nutritional value and high sugar content?
7. Design a line of T-shirts for a manufacturer who employs child labor?
8. Design a promotion for a diet product that you know doesn’t work?
9. Design an ad for a political candidate whose policies you believe would be harmful to the general public?
10. Design a brochure piece for an SUV that turned over more frequently than average in emergency conditions and caused the death of 150 people?
11. Design an ad for a product whose continued use might cause the user’s death?
When I gave this test to students between the ages of 21 to 28, I discovered that in a group of 20, three or four of them were willing to go all the way — That is, participate in advertising a product whose use might cause the user’s death.
These were generally idealistic young people as yet seemingly uncorrupted by money or professional life. However, they drew the line at harming their family, friends or neighbors.
The other day in the country, I thought I’d make a Greek salad for lunch. Tomatoes are not quite in season but I had some good onions, peppers, cucumbers as well as a small square of feta and some excellent olives, olive oil and Greek oregano.
As I was adding the feta to the salad I checked the nutritional label; it read 70 calories per serving. “Not bad” I thought, and crumbled the cheese into the bowl.
Something made me examine the label again. Under “number of servings” it said 7. I had just added 490 calories to a diet-conscious lunch for my wife and myself.
I wondered how did a thimbleful of feta become a serving? You all know the answer.
After lunch I turned on the TV to watch the ball game. A commercial for a nasty-looking green salve to treat arthritis was on, showing a smiling young woman testifying to the efficacy of the medication.
“I was barely able to move my fingers” she said, “and now I can type for hours without any pain.”
At the bottom of the screen in 6 point, barely visible type, were the words “results may not be typical”.
Could I have picked any more trivial examples to indicate the lies we experience in daily life? Perhaps not, but the truth is we are subjected to a thousand of such misrepresentations every day of our lives.
So pervasive is the culture of small distortions that we can no longer recognize them as lies. To quote Mc Luhan, “The fish in water doesn’t know it’s in water”—nevertheless the assault has changed our brains and our view of reality and truth.
Most of us here today are in the transmission business. While we don’t often originate the content of what we transmit, we are an essential part of communicating ideas to a public that is affected by what we say. Should telling the truth be a fundamental requirement of this role? Is there a difference between lying to your wife and friends and lying to people you don’t know? Certainly one thing that makes lying easier is thinking of the audience not as citizens but as consumers—the consumer is another species, and in professional life they are often thought of as the “other”.
To quote Elaine Pagels in her book, The Origins of Satan, “The social and cultural practice of defining certain people as ‘others’ in relationship to one’s own group may be, of course as old as humanity itself.”
While marketing is obsessed with the way groups behave it doesn’t generally conceive of those groups as being our fathers, mothers, sisters or friends, this would make the job far too complex. Rather, these groups are thought of as ‘markets’ with generalized characteristics that make manipulating them seem ethically acceptable.
One thing seems consistent, the greater the psychic distance the easier it is to persuade people to act against their own self-interest. The issue seems more significant than ever. Today, given the aggressive distortion of truth and reality that pervades our civic and business life. It is not a coincidence that Karl Rove, a brilliant marketing man is, next to the President himself, the most important man in Washington and perhaps the world.
What is truly frightening is the degree to which lying has become acceptable in our public life. I’m not sure when the word “spin” replaced “lie” but it is characteristic of how our language has become a way of deflecting or distorting reality. We seem to be awash in lies from business, the government, and almost every institution we have traditionally looked to as a source of belief. Our government has embarked on an investigation to determine whether the atrocities performed at Abu Ghraib were aberational or systemic. What would be equally important is an examination of whether lying has become systemic in our nation and the way our government speaks to us. The relative lack of public outrage as government and business lies are revealed is troubling, and may indicate how the American sense of what truth is has been profoundly shaped by our most pervasive educational medium, advertising.
Actually it works two ways, advertising influences our relationship to government and government influences our view of advertising. A recent somewhat homophobic ad by Anheuser-Busch (no relation), in addition to characterizing Miller as a “sissy” beer, “outed” the Miller Beer Corporation as being owned by a South African company, paralleling the outing, by unknown government insiders, of CIA Agent Valerie Plame.
As you all know, that event was triggered because her husband told the truth about whether or not nuclear materials were being shipped from Niger. In my memory this is the first time that the patriotism of a competitor has been questioned in order to promote beer sales. Marketing can be shameless.
Politicians and businessmen have re-discovered the power of Lenin’s old idea that a lie repeated often enough, becomes the truth. This dark assumption throws a pall over America as well as the entire world and endangers democracy itself. When people believe that their government systemically lies to them they become cynical.
Cynicism breeds apathy and a sense of powerlessness that causes people to withdraw from public life. It is not coincidental that less than half our population votes.
If only 44% of our country vote and we are equally divided ideologically, it means that 20% of the electorate control the fate of our nation—this has become a profound threat to the future of our republic and democracy itself. We can only call this a systemic scandal and observe that those in power have done very little to change the condition. Which raises one last question. From our government’s point of view, have we become the “other”?
**
ABOUT MILTON GLASER – Creator of the iconic “I Heart NY” image, Milton Glaser helped revive illustration in the 1960’s when photography was thought to have swept the field. After studying at the High School of Music & Art, then Cooper Union in New York, Glaser studied etching in Bologna with the painter Giorgio Morandi.
Find out more at:
MiltonGlaser.com
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
MILTON GLASER: THE TRUTH
*Note: The following article was written by Milton Glaser and appeared in the AIG publication: "The Truth Issue". I have reproduced it here without permission. Mainly because I could not find it anywhere else online and because I wanted to share it with all of you.
Some of you know that my day job is in the field of marketing and advertising. I work as a copywriter and penning headlines, taglines, corporate advertising slogans and compelling editorial copy is what I do to put food on my table.
In this world of advertising and marketing, Milton Glaser is something of a legend. All you need to know about him is that he invented the "I (heart) NY" graphic which has since become synonymous with the city of New York. He's a genius. He's also something of a philosopher of advertising (if you can imagine such a thing) and at times his articles and interviews even take on issues of ethics and conscience - something sorely lacking in most marketing firms around the globe.
Because of this, I reprint this article by Milton Glaser on something quite rare for this field: The Truth.
See if you find any parallels to modern culture or christianity.
-kg
**
Subject: MILTON GLASER: THE TRUTH
I went to Las Vegas for the first time to participate in the AIGA conference. I was booked at the Venetian – a hotel whose vast vistas of painted, cloud-filled skies had required the skills of more mural painters than had ever existed in Venice during the entire 15th century.
On my first day at the hotel, I noticed a sign that said, “Grand Canal.” I asked the concierge at the reception desk where it was. “One flight up,” she said. The earth reeled beneath my feet. A canal one flight up; what a concept.
The canal was, in fact, upstairs, complete with gondola and gondolier who would cheerfully take you around a bend to the Piazza San Marco. Later that same day, the hotels plubming broke down, and suddenly the entire ground floor began to smell like Venice on a warm day. I actually found myself wondering whether the hotel had planned it. Is there such a thing as virtual smell?
On the Dallas leg of the flight from Las Vegas after the AIGA conference, the hostess entered the aisle with a vigorously steaming tray of hot towels. I noticed that a wine glass filled with water was the source of the steam.
“What is that?” I asked the hostess, pointing to the glass.
“Dry ice and water,” she replied.
“Is that for drama?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
Even to a dormant mind, a trip to Las Vegas inevitably raises the question, “What is real?” and, by inference, “What is truth?”
Obviously, “What is truth?” is one of humankind’s most persistent questions, but it seems ever more insistent at this moment than at any other time. What can it mean when a freezing glass of dry ice is used to simulate a steaming towel on a plane trip? Can this modest deception benefit either the airline or its passengers? Where was the decision made to do it? In the boardroom? In the advertising agency? On the flight itself? Does the airline believe that the drama of the steaming towels will suggest a policy of concerned service? What happens to the customer in the last row of the plane when he is handed a cold towel while the tray above his head is steaming madly? Doe he doubt his own nervous system? What makes me uncomfortable with all of this? Why do I believe that harm is being done? All of which leads us in a convoluted way to the question of professional ethics.
“How can we tell the truth?” can be thought of as two separate questions. The first part asks why we believe what we believe; the second, where ethical questions begin, involves our responsibility to others.
One must start with the presumption that telling the truth is important for human survival, but at this moment of relativism and virtuality, I’m not sure how many would agree on what truth is or how important it is in our private and professional lives.
But we must begin somewhere. The question becomes a professional one, because as designers or communicators (the preferred current description), we are constantly informing the public, transmitting information and affecting the beliefs and values of others. Should telling the truth be a fundamental requirement of this role? Is there a difference between telling the truth to your wife and family and telling the truth to a general public? What is the difference?
In a profession that defines itself by effectively persuading others, it’s impossible to consider our work outside the context of advertising, an activity that is so fundamental to our economy and so pervasively influential that it may have informed our idea of what truth is, more than any other single thing.
We drown in the sea of relentless persuasion that we help create as well as receive. There are now ads under our feet in supermarkets. I opened a fortune cookie the other night and found that an advertisement for an e-commerce company had replaced my fortune. (I am not kidding!) And some weeks ago, we were informed that the pauses in Rush Limbaugh’s talk show had been electronically eliminated to gain six more advertising messages per hour. All these messages intend to sell rather than inform, and tend to distort or modify the truth in ways that we can no longer see. Our brains and sense of truth cannot be unaffected by this onslaught.
For years, I have struggled with the question of whether the designers, by virtue of their positions as communicators, should have more ethical responsibility than the average citizen. Perhaps a better questions would be, “Should they have less?”
**
ABOUT MILTON GLASER – Creator of the iconic “I Heart NY” image, Milton Glaser helped revive illustration in the 1960’s when photography was thought to have swept the field. After studying at the High School of Music & Art, then Cooper Union in New York, Glaser studied etching in Bologna with the painter Giorgio Morandi.
Find out more at:
MILTONGLASER.COM
Some of you know that my day job is in the field of marketing and advertising. I work as a copywriter and penning headlines, taglines, corporate advertising slogans and compelling editorial copy is what I do to put food on my table.
In this world of advertising and marketing, Milton Glaser is something of a legend. All you need to know about him is that he invented the "I (heart) NY" graphic which has since become synonymous with the city of New York. He's a genius. He's also something of a philosopher of advertising (if you can imagine such a thing) and at times his articles and interviews even take on issues of ethics and conscience - something sorely lacking in most marketing firms around the globe.
Because of this, I reprint this article by Milton Glaser on something quite rare for this field: The Truth.
See if you find any parallels to modern culture or christianity.
-kg
**
Subject: MILTON GLASER: THE TRUTH
I went to Las Vegas for the first time to participate in the AIGA conference. I was booked at the Venetian – a hotel whose vast vistas of painted, cloud-filled skies had required the skills of more mural painters than had ever existed in Venice during the entire 15th century.
On my first day at the hotel, I noticed a sign that said, “Grand Canal.” I asked the concierge at the reception desk where it was. “One flight up,” she said. The earth reeled beneath my feet. A canal one flight up; what a concept.
The canal was, in fact, upstairs, complete with gondola and gondolier who would cheerfully take you around a bend to the Piazza San Marco. Later that same day, the hotels plubming broke down, and suddenly the entire ground floor began to smell like Venice on a warm day. I actually found myself wondering whether the hotel had planned it. Is there such a thing as virtual smell?
On the Dallas leg of the flight from Las Vegas after the AIGA conference, the hostess entered the aisle with a vigorously steaming tray of hot towels. I noticed that a wine glass filled with water was the source of the steam.
“What is that?” I asked the hostess, pointing to the glass.
“Dry ice and water,” she replied.
“Is that for drama?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
Even to a dormant mind, a trip to Las Vegas inevitably raises the question, “What is real?” and, by inference, “What is truth?”
Obviously, “What is truth?” is one of humankind’s most persistent questions, but it seems ever more insistent at this moment than at any other time. What can it mean when a freezing glass of dry ice is used to simulate a steaming towel on a plane trip? Can this modest deception benefit either the airline or its passengers? Where was the decision made to do it? In the boardroom? In the advertising agency? On the flight itself? Does the airline believe that the drama of the steaming towels will suggest a policy of concerned service? What happens to the customer in the last row of the plane when he is handed a cold towel while the tray above his head is steaming madly? Doe he doubt his own nervous system? What makes me uncomfortable with all of this? Why do I believe that harm is being done? All of which leads us in a convoluted way to the question of professional ethics.
“How can we tell the truth?” can be thought of as two separate questions. The first part asks why we believe what we believe; the second, where ethical questions begin, involves our responsibility to others.
One must start with the presumption that telling the truth is important for human survival, but at this moment of relativism and virtuality, I’m not sure how many would agree on what truth is or how important it is in our private and professional lives.
But we must begin somewhere. The question becomes a professional one, because as designers or communicators (the preferred current description), we are constantly informing the public, transmitting information and affecting the beliefs and values of others. Should telling the truth be a fundamental requirement of this role? Is there a difference between telling the truth to your wife and family and telling the truth to a general public? What is the difference?
In a profession that defines itself by effectively persuading others, it’s impossible to consider our work outside the context of advertising, an activity that is so fundamental to our economy and so pervasively influential that it may have informed our idea of what truth is, more than any other single thing.
We drown in the sea of relentless persuasion that we help create as well as receive. There are now ads under our feet in supermarkets. I opened a fortune cookie the other night and found that an advertisement for an e-commerce company had replaced my fortune. (I am not kidding!) And some weeks ago, we were informed that the pauses in Rush Limbaugh’s talk show had been electronically eliminated to gain six more advertising messages per hour. All these messages intend to sell rather than inform, and tend to distort or modify the truth in ways that we can no longer see. Our brains and sense of truth cannot be unaffected by this onslaught.
For years, I have struggled with the question of whether the designers, by virtue of their positions as communicators, should have more ethical responsibility than the average citizen. Perhaps a better questions would be, “Should they have less?”
**
ABOUT MILTON GLASER – Creator of the iconic “I Heart NY” image, Milton Glaser helped revive illustration in the 1960’s when photography was thought to have swept the field. After studying at the High School of Music & Art, then Cooper Union in New York, Glaser studied etching in Bologna with the painter Giorgio Morandi.
Find out more at:
MILTONGLASER.COM
Monday, January 25, 2010
FULL DISCLOSURE: I SUCK
I’m going to make a few observations about myself in the interest of full disclosure.
Personally, I struggle with pride. Anyone who knows me knows this is true, so this isn't my big confession yet. That comes later.
Anyway, because of my struggle with pride, I’ve always had a hard time being the guy behind the pulpit. Not because I’m uncomfortable there, but precisely because I am much TOO comfortable in that spotlight. My love language is “Words of Affirmation” and whenever I am the focus of everyone’s attention I tend to absorb more than my fair share of ego-inducing energy. After a short time, I begin to see my sermons as performances and I tend to experience a blurring of focus. I start to believe my own hype and I over-internalize all those well-meaning comments about how great I am and what a good sermon I preached and how blessed they were and blah, blah, blah.
Let me be clear, I’m not against public speaking or teaching. It’s not a bad thing to have someone teach others about God’s Word for twenty minutes while they take notes, or better yet ask questions. God has given teachers to the Church for the building up of the Body. That's good. The problem I had with preaching in front of an audience was me. The problem was with me.
So, here I am, about four years later. I’ve started a house church in my home. I am no longer “the pastor” and I do not preach in any formal way. In fact, if anything, I’ve done my best to encourage others to teach and to share more than I do. I’ve also wrestled internally with being a member of the Body of Christ rather than as any sort of “leader” in the Body. I still think I talk too much, and others in our house church would agree. But overall it’s been a great experience for me to step down off the pulpit and allow others to teach me for a change.
Now and again I do still preach and teach, but only on rare occasions and, so far, only at other churches or gatherings outside of our house church. Again, I’m not against preaching at all and when it comes to my own issues with standing behind the pulpit I’ve mostly overcome the challenge.
So, imagine my despair when it dawned on me about a week ago that nothing has really changed at all. In fact, I still continue to preach from a pulpit and accept adoring praise as a way to fulfill my own ego and pride every single week. It's called: This blog you're reading right now.
My blog, and my Twitter page, and my Facebook account, are all just cyber-versions of that same pulpit I thought I had escaped. Each comment and Tweet sent my way in appreciation continues to feed my desire to be stroked. Every re-Tweet sent is yet another drop on my endlessly expanding ego sponge. Every shared link to my blog is just another brick in the ever-growing temple to my own vanity.
And there you have it. I suck.
Seriously, this realization nearly killed me. I mean, in my spirit, in my heart, it physically hurt me to the core. For the last seven days I have been in spiritual and psychological pain. One friend of mine described it as the Dark Night of the Soul and I would have to agree. It was very dark. My soul was in deep distress. I hated myself for being so foolish and selfish. And trust me, there's no greater suffering than for someone who loves himself to discover he cannot stand being in his own skin.
So, I contemplated ending my blog, killing my Twitter account and shutting down my Facebook page. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. What was the point anymore? I was so disgusted with myself for being so full of pride. The only thing that kept me sane during this time was my wife and her prayers for me. A few of you also prayed for me and I am grateful for those prayers, but sadly they did little to lessen the pain. When I closed my eyes at night and laid my head on the pillow one thing remained the same: I was still a scumbag. My prideful heart was still pumping strong. All I wanted to do was crawl under a rock somewhere and die.
Today I think I felt the clouds parting slightly. Maybe it’s not all for nothing. Maybe, in spite of my pride, God can still use my teaching ability. Much like my ordeal with preaching from the pulpit, I was able to manage my own response to those words of affirmation and continue to teach, however sporadically, without allowing the praise to go to my head. Perhaps, with my blog, I can do the same thing? Maybe I can continue to write articles and encourage people here without taking myself too seriously? Maybe, now that I am aware of my weakness, I can learn to manage this part of my pride as well? Maybe.
So, for now, I will continue to write articles here and to Tweet now and again, and to post things over on Facebook once in a while. But, today I am more aware of my own wicked heart and my own deceitful nature. My hope is that I can edify and encourage you – my brothers and sisters in Christ – without using this as a platform to spread my own meager fame.
Again, the problem here is not with blogging, or the internet. The problem is with me. I am the problem. The tool is just a tool, but I need to learn to use the tool for the common good, and not for my own selfish purpose.
Please forgive me for being a hypocrite. I hope to improve my serve in this area, as God gives me Grace.
Peace to you,
Keith
Personally, I struggle with pride. Anyone who knows me knows this is true, so this isn't my big confession yet. That comes later.
Anyway, because of my struggle with pride, I’ve always had a hard time being the guy behind the pulpit. Not because I’m uncomfortable there, but precisely because I am much TOO comfortable in that spotlight. My love language is “Words of Affirmation” and whenever I am the focus of everyone’s attention I tend to absorb more than my fair share of ego-inducing energy. After a short time, I begin to see my sermons as performances and I tend to experience a blurring of focus. I start to believe my own hype and I over-internalize all those well-meaning comments about how great I am and what a good sermon I preached and how blessed they were and blah, blah, blah.
Let me be clear, I’m not against public speaking or teaching. It’s not a bad thing to have someone teach others about God’s Word for twenty minutes while they take notes, or better yet ask questions. God has given teachers to the Church for the building up of the Body. That's good. The problem I had with preaching in front of an audience was me. The problem was with me.
So, here I am, about four years later. I’ve started a house church in my home. I am no longer “the pastor” and I do not preach in any formal way. In fact, if anything, I’ve done my best to encourage others to teach and to share more than I do. I’ve also wrestled internally with being a member of the Body of Christ rather than as any sort of “leader” in the Body. I still think I talk too much, and others in our house church would agree. But overall it’s been a great experience for me to step down off the pulpit and allow others to teach me for a change.
Now and again I do still preach and teach, but only on rare occasions and, so far, only at other churches or gatherings outside of our house church. Again, I’m not against preaching at all and when it comes to my own issues with standing behind the pulpit I’ve mostly overcome the challenge.
So, imagine my despair when it dawned on me about a week ago that nothing has really changed at all. In fact, I still continue to preach from a pulpit and accept adoring praise as a way to fulfill my own ego and pride every single week. It's called: This blog you're reading right now.
My blog, and my Twitter page, and my Facebook account, are all just cyber-versions of that same pulpit I thought I had escaped. Each comment and Tweet sent my way in appreciation continues to feed my desire to be stroked. Every re-Tweet sent is yet another drop on my endlessly expanding ego sponge. Every shared link to my blog is just another brick in the ever-growing temple to my own vanity.
And there you have it. I suck.
Seriously, this realization nearly killed me. I mean, in my spirit, in my heart, it physically hurt me to the core. For the last seven days I have been in spiritual and psychological pain. One friend of mine described it as the Dark Night of the Soul and I would have to agree. It was very dark. My soul was in deep distress. I hated myself for being so foolish and selfish. And trust me, there's no greater suffering than for someone who loves himself to discover he cannot stand being in his own skin.
So, I contemplated ending my blog, killing my Twitter account and shutting down my Facebook page. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. What was the point anymore? I was so disgusted with myself for being so full of pride. The only thing that kept me sane during this time was my wife and her prayers for me. A few of you also prayed for me and I am grateful for those prayers, but sadly they did little to lessen the pain. When I closed my eyes at night and laid my head on the pillow one thing remained the same: I was still a scumbag. My prideful heart was still pumping strong. All I wanted to do was crawl under a rock somewhere and die.
Today I think I felt the clouds parting slightly. Maybe it’s not all for nothing. Maybe, in spite of my pride, God can still use my teaching ability. Much like my ordeal with preaching from the pulpit, I was able to manage my own response to those words of affirmation and continue to teach, however sporadically, without allowing the praise to go to my head. Perhaps, with my blog, I can do the same thing? Maybe I can continue to write articles and encourage people here without taking myself too seriously? Maybe, now that I am aware of my weakness, I can learn to manage this part of my pride as well? Maybe.
So, for now, I will continue to write articles here and to Tweet now and again, and to post things over on Facebook once in a while. But, today I am more aware of my own wicked heart and my own deceitful nature. My hope is that I can edify and encourage you – my brothers and sisters in Christ – without using this as a platform to spread my own meager fame.
Again, the problem here is not with blogging, or the internet. The problem is with me. I am the problem. The tool is just a tool, but I need to learn to use the tool for the common good, and not for my own selfish purpose.
Please forgive me for being a hypocrite. I hope to improve my serve in this area, as God gives me Grace.
Peace to you,
Keith
Friday, January 15, 2010
WHO SINNED?
How can a follower of Jesus look upon the heart-breaking devastation being reported in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti and respond by proudly declaring that the God you follow is responsible? I don't understand this.
Do we not believe Jesus when he says, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father"? Are we not convinced that God is merciful when Jesus shows mercy? Are we unmoved by his treatment of the woman caught in adultery? Are we unphased by his compassion for the leper, the blind, the outcast? Can we not fully accept that God, the Father, is just as merciful and loving as Jesus?
"Don't you know me...even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?" - Jesus, (John 14:9-10)
Those who believe that the tragedy in Haiti is the result of their being judged for their sinful practices must consider the following:
1 - 80% of people in Haiti are Catholic.
2 - America is the world's largest exporter of pornography in the world.
3 - The United States of America is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking in persons. It is estimated that 14,500 to 17,500 people, primarily women and children, are trafficked to the U.S. annually.
4 - Poverty is not the evidence of God's judgement. Neither is wealth an evidence of God's favor.
"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower" - (James 1:9-10)
"Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" - (James 2:5)
5 - Suffering, natural disasters and tragedy are all opportunities for those who walk in the light to bring hope to those in the darkness.
"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (Jesus answered) "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - (John 9:1-5)
We, the followers of Jesus, must change our attitudes about sin, and most importantly, about sinners.
First, we must remember that we also are sinners. There is no "Us and Them" here because we are still struggling with sin ourselves, even though we know the Savior and are in fellowship with Christ. Sin is our enemy and we struggle with it daily.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." - (1 John 1:8-10)
Our response to the distress in our world is to humble ourselves and pray and confess our own sins to God and cry out for people to be healed and saved - not judged and condemned.
"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." - (2 Chronicles 7:14)
It is the people of God who need to humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways in order for God's healing and forgiveness to fall - not the "sinners".
We need to erase this sentence from our minds:
"If only those sinners would get saved, the world would be a much better place".
The idea being that, if there were more people in the world just like us, then everything would be perfect...because of course, we are so much better than all of "Those People" who are not like us.
What God says needs to happen first is that we humble ourselves. That means we don't use statements like "If only those people would be more like us, everything would be wonderful". Humble people don't talk like that...or think that way either.
Jesus reminds us that the Father allows rain to fall on the just and the unjust as well. Because of this, whenever we show mercy to the unbeliever, or love to our enemy, we are being like our Father in Heaven. He is loving. He is merciful. He mourns with those who mourn and rejoices with those who rejoice. We should do the same.
Finally, we must remember that the time for the judgement of our sins is not in this life. This comes later, at the end of time and the return of Christ. For now, we are in a season where God waits beause he is not willing that any should perish. This is a season of mercy, not a season of judgement.
We would also do well to remember how Jesus will judge us on that day. When it comes he will divide the sheep from the goats based on how well they loved those who were the victims of poverty, or of tragedy, or injustice.
The tragedy in Haiti is an opportunity for the people of God to respond with compassion and love. Let us focus our attention on being light in the darkness. Let us bring hope to the hopeless. Let us not assign the blame to the victims while we sit in luxury.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." -Jesus (John 13:34-35)
Peace,
Keith Giles
Do we not believe Jesus when he says, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father"? Are we not convinced that God is merciful when Jesus shows mercy? Are we unmoved by his treatment of the woman caught in adultery? Are we unphased by his compassion for the leper, the blind, the outcast? Can we not fully accept that God, the Father, is just as merciful and loving as Jesus?
"Don't you know me...even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?" - Jesus, (John 14:9-10)
Those who believe that the tragedy in Haiti is the result of their being judged for their sinful practices must consider the following:
1 - 80% of people in Haiti are Catholic.
2 - America is the world's largest exporter of pornography in the world.
3 - The United States of America is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking in persons. It is estimated that 14,500 to 17,500 people, primarily women and children, are trafficked to the U.S. annually.
4 - Poverty is not the evidence of God's judgement. Neither is wealth an evidence of God's favor.
"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower" - (James 1:9-10)
"Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" - (James 2:5)
5 - Suffering, natural disasters and tragedy are all opportunities for those who walk in the light to bring hope to those in the darkness.
"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (Jesus answered) "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - (John 9:1-5)
We, the followers of Jesus, must change our attitudes about sin, and most importantly, about sinners.
First, we must remember that we also are sinners. There is no "Us and Them" here because we are still struggling with sin ourselves, even though we know the Savior and are in fellowship with Christ. Sin is our enemy and we struggle with it daily.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." - (1 John 1:8-10)
Our response to the distress in our world is to humble ourselves and pray and confess our own sins to God and cry out for people to be healed and saved - not judged and condemned.
"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." - (2 Chronicles 7:14)
It is the people of God who need to humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways in order for God's healing and forgiveness to fall - not the "sinners".
We need to erase this sentence from our minds:
"If only those sinners would get saved, the world would be a much better place".
The idea being that, if there were more people in the world just like us, then everything would be perfect...because of course, we are so much better than all of "Those People" who are not like us.
What God says needs to happen first is that we humble ourselves. That means we don't use statements like "If only those people would be more like us, everything would be wonderful". Humble people don't talk like that...or think that way either.
Jesus reminds us that the Father allows rain to fall on the just and the unjust as well. Because of this, whenever we show mercy to the unbeliever, or love to our enemy, we are being like our Father in Heaven. He is loving. He is merciful. He mourns with those who mourn and rejoices with those who rejoice. We should do the same.
Finally, we must remember that the time for the judgement of our sins is not in this life. This comes later, at the end of time and the return of Christ. For now, we are in a season where God waits beause he is not willing that any should perish. This is a season of mercy, not a season of judgement.
We would also do well to remember how Jesus will judge us on that day. When it comes he will divide the sheep from the goats based on how well they loved those who were the victims of poverty, or of tragedy, or injustice.
The tragedy in Haiti is an opportunity for the people of God to respond with compassion and love. Let us focus our attention on being light in the darkness. Let us bring hope to the hopeless. Let us not assign the blame to the victims while we sit in luxury.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." -Jesus (John 13:34-35)
Peace,
Keith Giles
Sunday, January 10, 2010
CHANGE
It's one of the most terrifying things I've ever read in my life before. What makes it so frightening is the idea that it's talking about me.
If you're someone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus, then the truth is you should feel the same way I do because it's also talking about your future too.
I'm talking about Matthew chapter 25 where Jesus gives us a snapshot into the future. He explains that, in the end, all those who call themselves followers of Jesus will be gathered into the same place together.
You will be standing there. I will be there too.
If there was a DVD edition of Matthew 25 you and I could freeze the wide shot and begin looking for our faces in the crowd.
There! You're just behind the guy with the black ponytail. Oh, there I am, next to the skinny guy with the beard. That's me.
When we really consider that our presence in this passage is an actual point in time, it makes the passage all the more difficult to read.
Maybe you've already read this passage before? Maybe not. Maybe you understand the sobering reality of the words spoken by Jesus here, and maybe you have already considered the consequences.
I wish there was a way for me to adaquately communicate the seriousness of Matthew 25 to everyone, but perhaps it's more powerful if each person simply reads it for themselves?
At any rate, Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that there will come a day when you will be standing in a large place with everyone else who has ever called themselves a follower of Jesus. Or more specifically, with everyone who has ever called Jesus "Lord".
You'll be there one day, in that great assembly. You'll cheer when Jesus makes His entrance. You'll feel the goosebumps. You'll bend your knees and weep. You will want to pinch yourself because you'll hardly believe that you're really...actually...in the presence of Jesus, here at the end of time.
Then Jesus will stand up in front of everyone and he will ask some of the assembly to move to the right side of the room, and others he will ask to move to the left side. We'll all shuffle around wherever he asks us to move, of course, perhaps so taken in the moment that we'll not realize what exactly is taking place.
Then Jesus will ask those on the left side why they never gave him anything to drink when he was thirsty. He will ask them, with tears in his eyes, why they didn't feed him when he was hungry. The room will grow quiet. Finally someone will respond by asking him what he's referring to exactly.
That's when Jesus will explain to them that whatever they did for the least of those in the life they had on Earth, they were doing it to him also.
It makes me wonder, what will my response be?
We can ask ourselves this same question right now. We don't have to wait for Jesus to ask us at the Great Judgement, thankfully. I think that's the whole point of Jesus giving us a sneak preview of this moment. So that we can be prepared to give an answer that will please Him when the time comes.
If you're not in the habit of caring for people who walk into your path on a regular basis, then you already know what your answer will be to Jesus on that day. "I'm so busy, Lord" or "Those people should have gotten a job", or "If only I had known it was you, Jesus".
But of course, we already DO know that don't we? That is the whole point of Matthew 25. We get to have a window on the future so that we can begin to live now in a way that will reflect the Truth on that final Day.
You will be standing there one day. You really will. I will too.
What will your response to Jesus be when He asks you that question?
Honestly, I don't want to motivate anyone to start caring for the poor out of a sense of guilt or coercion. If nothing else, sit down and read Matthew 25 all by yourself. See what you think it is saying to you. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you on this subject.
What I find fascinating about Matthew 25 is the fact that those who do care for the poor are just as unaware of the significance of their actions as those who failed to care for the poor. They answer, "When did we see you naked and clothe you? When did we see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?"
Those who sincerely loved Jesus and who cared for the poor in their life on Earth did so because they were incapable of walking past someone who was hungry without doing something about it. It was almost a natural reaction for them, it wasn't a task to be completed or a ticket out of condemnation. Their acts of compassion were almost unconsciously done out of a heart of love for others.
"Swimming won't make you a fish, but if you are a fish you will swim"
Because of the fact that Jesus had really changed their hearts and made them a new creation, they found it impossible to walk past a fellow human being in need and turn the other way.
If anything, what's most necessary is to become transformed from within. You and I need Jesus to change us into the sort of people who love others more than we love ourselves. We need to become people who have a heart like His heart.
Only Jesus can change us into people like this. It takes a miracle, and lucky for us, Jesus is in the Miracle Business.
-kg
*Originally posted on the [Subversive Underground], November, 2006.
If you're someone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus, then the truth is you should feel the same way I do because it's also talking about your future too.
I'm talking about Matthew chapter 25 where Jesus gives us a snapshot into the future. He explains that, in the end, all those who call themselves followers of Jesus will be gathered into the same place together.
You will be standing there. I will be there too.
If there was a DVD edition of Matthew 25 you and I could freeze the wide shot and begin looking for our faces in the crowd.
There! You're just behind the guy with the black ponytail. Oh, there I am, next to the skinny guy with the beard. That's me.
When we really consider that our presence in this passage is an actual point in time, it makes the passage all the more difficult to read.
Maybe you've already read this passage before? Maybe not. Maybe you understand the sobering reality of the words spoken by Jesus here, and maybe you have already considered the consequences.
I wish there was a way for me to adaquately communicate the seriousness of Matthew 25 to everyone, but perhaps it's more powerful if each person simply reads it for themselves?
At any rate, Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that there will come a day when you will be standing in a large place with everyone else who has ever called themselves a follower of Jesus. Or more specifically, with everyone who has ever called Jesus "Lord".
You'll be there one day, in that great assembly. You'll cheer when Jesus makes His entrance. You'll feel the goosebumps. You'll bend your knees and weep. You will want to pinch yourself because you'll hardly believe that you're really...actually...in the presence of Jesus, here at the end of time.
Then Jesus will stand up in front of everyone and he will ask some of the assembly to move to the right side of the room, and others he will ask to move to the left side. We'll all shuffle around wherever he asks us to move, of course, perhaps so taken in the moment that we'll not realize what exactly is taking place.
Then Jesus will ask those on the left side why they never gave him anything to drink when he was thirsty. He will ask them, with tears in his eyes, why they didn't feed him when he was hungry. The room will grow quiet. Finally someone will respond by asking him what he's referring to exactly.
That's when Jesus will explain to them that whatever they did for the least of those in the life they had on Earth, they were doing it to him also.
It makes me wonder, what will my response be?
We can ask ourselves this same question right now. We don't have to wait for Jesus to ask us at the Great Judgement, thankfully. I think that's the whole point of Jesus giving us a sneak preview of this moment. So that we can be prepared to give an answer that will please Him when the time comes.
If you're not in the habit of caring for people who walk into your path on a regular basis, then you already know what your answer will be to Jesus on that day. "I'm so busy, Lord" or "Those people should have gotten a job", or "If only I had known it was you, Jesus".
But of course, we already DO know that don't we? That is the whole point of Matthew 25. We get to have a window on the future so that we can begin to live now in a way that will reflect the Truth on that final Day.
You will be standing there one day. You really will. I will too.
What will your response to Jesus be when He asks you that question?
Honestly, I don't want to motivate anyone to start caring for the poor out of a sense of guilt or coercion. If nothing else, sit down and read Matthew 25 all by yourself. See what you think it is saying to you. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you on this subject.
What I find fascinating about Matthew 25 is the fact that those who do care for the poor are just as unaware of the significance of their actions as those who failed to care for the poor. They answer, "When did we see you naked and clothe you? When did we see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?"
Those who sincerely loved Jesus and who cared for the poor in their life on Earth did so because they were incapable of walking past someone who was hungry without doing something about it. It was almost a natural reaction for them, it wasn't a task to be completed or a ticket out of condemnation. Their acts of compassion were almost unconsciously done out of a heart of love for others.
"Swimming won't make you a fish, but if you are a fish you will swim"
Because of the fact that Jesus had really changed their hearts and made them a new creation, they found it impossible to walk past a fellow human being in need and turn the other way.
If anything, what's most necessary is to become transformed from within. You and I need Jesus to change us into the sort of people who love others more than we love ourselves. We need to become people who have a heart like His heart.
Only Jesus can change us into people like this. It takes a miracle, and lucky for us, Jesus is in the Miracle Business.
-kg
*Originally posted on the [Subversive Underground], November, 2006.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
LOOKING FORWARD AND LOOKING BACK
Keeping a journal has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. I can go back to old journals from ten or fifteen years ago and see what I was thinking, what was happening in my life that day, and what God was doing in me at the time.
On New Year’s Eve, just a few days ago, I sat down and looked back at what was going on in my life over the previous year. One thing that jumped out at me was how much of what I was experiencing and struggling with back in December of 2008 and January of 2009 was exactly the same as what I was experiencing in December of 2009 and January of 2010.
So, what does that tell me? I suppose the most obvious thing is that I haven’t grown very much over the last year. If I’m still having the same internal dialog a year ago that I’m having now, it must be because I’m still asking the same questions and wrestling with the same issues. It also tells me that spiritual growth and maturity don’t happen overnight. Sometimes – maybe all the time – our process of learning and re-learning what it means to trust God takes serious time to sink in. There are no easy answers. There are no get-mature-quick shortcuts to spiritual maturity.
Honestly, for most of last year I was deeply saddened and empty. I read over my journals from 2008 and over and over again, I read about my feelings of being alone, of being empty, of being in severe emotional pain. Much of that stemmed from being rejected by brothers and sisters in Christ who I had poured my heart and soul into for several years. It hurt – really, really hurt – to be told I wasn’t welcome anymore to teach or encourage people who mean so much to me. I also endured the loss of having two dear friends move away in 2008. These were people who inspired me, loved me, and connected with me in ways that only my wife Wendy could rival. When they moved away it left a very large hole in my heart. I can’t say I even expected it to hurt me so much, but it really did. And it still does.
Last year at this time I was trying to finish my third book, “This Is My Body”. I’m still trying to finish it. Although, I am in the final stages now. The book is all written. I just need to finish it and get it ready to publish.
Last year I resolved to disciple my sons each week and spend time with them one-on-one to teach them about the Kingdom of God, and encourage them, and pray with them about their walk with Jesus. I was also having to start, and re-start, this on a regular basis as other things began to crowd out our time together. I am still having to fight to keep this appointment on a weekly basis, but the fight is part of the resolution. It keeps me in the battle for my sons and their spiritual development every single day.
Last year I was concerned for the direction our house church was taking. We were growing larger, and to me, this signified a need for us to plant a second house church. I prayed about this, I voiced this concern to the group, we met and discussed this as a Body, and then God showed me how I needed to let go of this and allow Him to worry about it. So, I did that. Now I’ve just begun to realize that part of what God was doing in me last year was loosening my grip on this church. He was showing me that this is His Church, not my church. I am a member of this Body, but it’s His Body. I am a brother among brothers and sisters in this Family of God. I am not the Father. There is only one Father and one Lord. We are all called to submit to His Headship.
This year, I’m excited about experiencing life in the Body as one of the functioning members and not as “the Pastor”. This year, I’m resolved to disciple my sons and teach them what it means to follow Jesus with their whole life and to love Him and love others – and to demonstrate to them how those are all really the same thing.
This year, I know that I will journey deeper through the valley of the shadow of death with my friend, Robert Higgins who is dying of bone cancer. He has no family but me and a few friends. He has nothing but a few belongings that could fit into the back seat of my car. He has barely enough money to afford his motel room and a little food each month. I already know that I will be with him on the day he dies. In fact, just yesterday I made a few phone calls to investigate cremation services for him and to make arrangements for all of it. The reality of this is looming nearer now. I know that he, and I, cannot avoid what is coming. My only prayer is that I can be the friend, and the pastor, that he needs right now…and on the day he breathes his last.
This year, I am looking forward to finishing up my book and having that out of my hands and into print. Twice now I’ve nearly abandoned the entire project. Thanks to the encouragement of my mother-in-law, Ellen, and author Jon Zens (who contributed the Foreword and did a lot of proofing for me), I have made it this far. Now, with my wife Wendy’s help, I will finish it this year. Already I’m looking forward to experiencing life without this book hanging over my head.
This year I look forward to seeing God do more incredible things at the Church that He is building at the California Studio Inn in Santa Ana. I’m grateful to be included in the team of men who teach there and I’m humbled to see what God is doing to change lives and bring healing and hope through this Body of believers. It truly is a work that God is doing and I love seeing His joy as people learn to “be the Church” and love one another.
Above all, this year I’m looking forward to letting go of some of the things that have held me back from walking by faith. I look forward to embracing Jesus more and more. I look forward to what new things Jesus has in store for me and my family as we follow Him daily.
-kg
On New Year’s Eve, just a few days ago, I sat down and looked back at what was going on in my life over the previous year. One thing that jumped out at me was how much of what I was experiencing and struggling with back in December of 2008 and January of 2009 was exactly the same as what I was experiencing in December of 2009 and January of 2010.
So, what does that tell me? I suppose the most obvious thing is that I haven’t grown very much over the last year. If I’m still having the same internal dialog a year ago that I’m having now, it must be because I’m still asking the same questions and wrestling with the same issues. It also tells me that spiritual growth and maturity don’t happen overnight. Sometimes – maybe all the time – our process of learning and re-learning what it means to trust God takes serious time to sink in. There are no easy answers. There are no get-mature-quick shortcuts to spiritual maturity.
Honestly, for most of last year I was deeply saddened and empty. I read over my journals from 2008 and over and over again, I read about my feelings of being alone, of being empty, of being in severe emotional pain. Much of that stemmed from being rejected by brothers and sisters in Christ who I had poured my heart and soul into for several years. It hurt – really, really hurt – to be told I wasn’t welcome anymore to teach or encourage people who mean so much to me. I also endured the loss of having two dear friends move away in 2008. These were people who inspired me, loved me, and connected with me in ways that only my wife Wendy could rival. When they moved away it left a very large hole in my heart. I can’t say I even expected it to hurt me so much, but it really did. And it still does.
Last year at this time I was trying to finish my third book, “This Is My Body”. I’m still trying to finish it. Although, I am in the final stages now. The book is all written. I just need to finish it and get it ready to publish.
Last year I resolved to disciple my sons each week and spend time with them one-on-one to teach them about the Kingdom of God, and encourage them, and pray with them about their walk with Jesus. I was also having to start, and re-start, this on a regular basis as other things began to crowd out our time together. I am still having to fight to keep this appointment on a weekly basis, but the fight is part of the resolution. It keeps me in the battle for my sons and their spiritual development every single day.
Last year I was concerned for the direction our house church was taking. We were growing larger, and to me, this signified a need for us to plant a second house church. I prayed about this, I voiced this concern to the group, we met and discussed this as a Body, and then God showed me how I needed to let go of this and allow Him to worry about it. So, I did that. Now I’ve just begun to realize that part of what God was doing in me last year was loosening my grip on this church. He was showing me that this is His Church, not my church. I am a member of this Body, but it’s His Body. I am a brother among brothers and sisters in this Family of God. I am not the Father. There is only one Father and one Lord. We are all called to submit to His Headship.
This year, I’m excited about experiencing life in the Body as one of the functioning members and not as “the Pastor”. This year, I’m resolved to disciple my sons and teach them what it means to follow Jesus with their whole life and to love Him and love others – and to demonstrate to them how those are all really the same thing.
This year, I know that I will journey deeper through the valley of the shadow of death with my friend, Robert Higgins who is dying of bone cancer. He has no family but me and a few friends. He has nothing but a few belongings that could fit into the back seat of my car. He has barely enough money to afford his motel room and a little food each month. I already know that I will be with him on the day he dies. In fact, just yesterday I made a few phone calls to investigate cremation services for him and to make arrangements for all of it. The reality of this is looming nearer now. I know that he, and I, cannot avoid what is coming. My only prayer is that I can be the friend, and the pastor, that he needs right now…and on the day he breathes his last.
This year, I am looking forward to finishing up my book and having that out of my hands and into print. Twice now I’ve nearly abandoned the entire project. Thanks to the encouragement of my mother-in-law, Ellen, and author Jon Zens (who contributed the Foreword and did a lot of proofing for me), I have made it this far. Now, with my wife Wendy’s help, I will finish it this year. Already I’m looking forward to experiencing life without this book hanging over my head.
This year I look forward to seeing God do more incredible things at the Church that He is building at the California Studio Inn in Santa Ana. I’m grateful to be included in the team of men who teach there and I’m humbled to see what God is doing to change lives and bring healing and hope through this Body of believers. It truly is a work that God is doing and I love seeing His joy as people learn to “be the Church” and love one another.
Above all, this year I’m looking forward to letting go of some of the things that have held me back from walking by faith. I look forward to embracing Jesus more and more. I look forward to what new things Jesus has in store for me and my family as we follow Him daily.
-kg
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Joyous New Year!
My friend John Wahrmund recently emailed me to wish me a Joyful New Year. In his words, "Happy" just wasn't enough:
"As I have reflected on the phrase "Happy New Year," happy doesn't seem to be the right word. Happiness is fleeting...but joy, now there is something powerful.
My friend, I hope we all have a Joyful New Year and in the words of Paul..."Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
I have to agree. Our constitution promises every citizen the right to the pursuit of happiness, but our happiness usually involves being selfish about our wants and desires at the expense of others.
Joy is a spiritual reality where a permanent fountain of God's rich internal satisfaction wells up from within. The joy of the Lord is our strength. It sustains us even in difficult times. Joy is not dependent upon our circumstance. It can thrive, and often does, in spite of our trials and tribulations.
In 2010 I wish every one of you the joy of the Lord. I pray that He would fill you with His goodness and allow you to experience the peace that passes understanding and the joy that gives us strength to endure and overcome.
-kg
"As I have reflected on the phrase "Happy New Year," happy doesn't seem to be the right word. Happiness is fleeting...but joy, now there is something powerful.
My friend, I hope we all have a Joyful New Year and in the words of Paul..."Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
I have to agree. Our constitution promises every citizen the right to the pursuit of happiness, but our happiness usually involves being selfish about our wants and desires at the expense of others.
Joy is a spiritual reality where a permanent fountain of God's rich internal satisfaction wells up from within. The joy of the Lord is our strength. It sustains us even in difficult times. Joy is not dependent upon our circumstance. It can thrive, and often does, in spite of our trials and tribulations.
In 2010 I wish every one of you the joy of the Lord. I pray that He would fill you with His goodness and allow you to experience the peace that passes understanding and the joy that gives us strength to endure and overcome.
-kg
Monday, December 28, 2009
RE-POST: BETTER THAN ME
BETTER THAN ME
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" - Philipians 2:3
I'm nearly ok with treating others like they're as good as I am, but "better than I am"? I don't know if I'm ready for that.
I used to be in a band with three other guys. I was the lead vocalist and lyricist. Early on I told all of them they had permission to kick my butt if they ever felt like I was getting too prideful or self-absorbed. Luckily, they all were quite eager to provide a butt-kicking to my ego whenever necessary, and I managed to hold my pride in check for nearly five years.
Actually, my ego was still incredibly virile, but I shudder to imagine what it would have been like had my band-mates not engaged in actively serving me large helpings of humble pie.
"Humility is a virtue so beyond my understanding that should I achieve it, I would be proud of myself" - Benjamin Franklin
Someone once defined a prideful person as someone who spends too much time thinking about themselves and not enough time thinking about me. I can relate.
As an only child I've never had any trouble thinking of myself, or how everything in the Universe relates to me, or to who I am or what I want. Maybe I'm so fascinated by the discipline of humility because I realize that I am most lacking of this quality?
Andrew Murray once said, "Humility is not thinking less of myself, it is not thinking of myself at all." If this is so, I've got a long way to go towards humility.
The verse in Philipians urges us to consider others as being better than ourselves. I struggle with treating people as being on par with myself, to be honest. The idea of putting the needs of others above my own is still not the same as behaving as if everyone around me is actually better than I am. I can put the needs of others above my own needs and still believe that the people I'm serving are less important or intelligent than I am. What I'm called to do in this verse is to consider others through the lens of humility, and to see them as better than I am, as more deserving of honor and service than I am.
Again, God's Word compels us to throw ourselves on His mercy and confess that we are not capable of such selflessness. It's just not in me to love others sacrificially, or to serve them joyfully, or to regard them as more important than I am. It's just not.
That's where we have to fall on our knees and pray that God would transform us into the sorts of people who are capable of loving and serving this way. I need to beg God for the kind of humility that actually believes that others around me are better than I am. This means believing that I am not as fabulous as I think I am. It means humbling myself before God, and even before other people, so that God can work in me, and through me. My heart needs to be softened, like clay, so that God's fingerprints can be seen in my life as He kneads and twists and forms my heart into the shape of His Son's.
One interesting thing about the Kingdom of God is that to enter it you must first humble yourself, (see Mark 10:14-15). That's because the Kingdom of God is quite simply that place where the absolute will of God is done. This means that God is King, and that you and I are not. So, if we will not humble ourselves and submit to God's will in every way, we cannot enter the Kingdom. Better said, when we refuse to humble ourselves, we have left the Kingdom of God and entered our own Kingdom, where our will is done.
Even Jesus began his ministry by humbling himself to become flesh, to be born to a simple, poor family, and even to lay down his life for us all. (see Phil 2:5-8) See, God went first. He humbled Himself before us. He submitted Himself to us first, and even when we were putting nails through His hands and feet, He continued to surrender to us in order to rescue us from our sins.
I believe that is why Jesus set the example of washing his disciples feet. He humbled himself before them, served them as a slave would serve his master, and then said, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you...Now that you know these things, you will blessed if you do them." (John 13:15;17)
God has a lot to say about pride, and as I go through my life I have seen the wisdom of these words played out numerous times.
"God opposes the proud, but gives Grace to the humble." - (Proverbs 3:34)
This is good news, because I need Grace in greater measure every single day. If humility is the only way to receive this Grace, I am more than willing to be humbled, and to remain there, so that the Grace of God may shower down on my life like warm summer rain.
Let it rain.
kg
**
Posted here originally, September 28, 2007
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" - Philipians 2:3
I'm nearly ok with treating others like they're as good as I am, but "better than I am"? I don't know if I'm ready for that.
I used to be in a band with three other guys. I was the lead vocalist and lyricist. Early on I told all of them they had permission to kick my butt if they ever felt like I was getting too prideful or self-absorbed. Luckily, they all were quite eager to provide a butt-kicking to my ego whenever necessary, and I managed to hold my pride in check for nearly five years.
Actually, my ego was still incredibly virile, but I shudder to imagine what it would have been like had my band-mates not engaged in actively serving me large helpings of humble pie.
"Humility is a virtue so beyond my understanding that should I achieve it, I would be proud of myself" - Benjamin Franklin
Someone once defined a prideful person as someone who spends too much time thinking about themselves and not enough time thinking about me. I can relate.
As an only child I've never had any trouble thinking of myself, or how everything in the Universe relates to me, or to who I am or what I want. Maybe I'm so fascinated by the discipline of humility because I realize that I am most lacking of this quality?
Andrew Murray once said, "Humility is not thinking less of myself, it is not thinking of myself at all." If this is so, I've got a long way to go towards humility.
The verse in Philipians urges us to consider others as being better than ourselves. I struggle with treating people as being on par with myself, to be honest. The idea of putting the needs of others above my own is still not the same as behaving as if everyone around me is actually better than I am. I can put the needs of others above my own needs and still believe that the people I'm serving are less important or intelligent than I am. What I'm called to do in this verse is to consider others through the lens of humility, and to see them as better than I am, as more deserving of honor and service than I am.
Again, God's Word compels us to throw ourselves on His mercy and confess that we are not capable of such selflessness. It's just not in me to love others sacrificially, or to serve them joyfully, or to regard them as more important than I am. It's just not.
That's where we have to fall on our knees and pray that God would transform us into the sorts of people who are capable of loving and serving this way. I need to beg God for the kind of humility that actually believes that others around me are better than I am. This means believing that I am not as fabulous as I think I am. It means humbling myself before God, and even before other people, so that God can work in me, and through me. My heart needs to be softened, like clay, so that God's fingerprints can be seen in my life as He kneads and twists and forms my heart into the shape of His Son's.
One interesting thing about the Kingdom of God is that to enter it you must first humble yourself, (see Mark 10:14-15). That's because the Kingdom of God is quite simply that place where the absolute will of God is done. This means that God is King, and that you and I are not. So, if we will not humble ourselves and submit to God's will in every way, we cannot enter the Kingdom. Better said, when we refuse to humble ourselves, we have left the Kingdom of God and entered our own Kingdom, where our will is done.
Even Jesus began his ministry by humbling himself to become flesh, to be born to a simple, poor family, and even to lay down his life for us all. (see Phil 2:5-8) See, God went first. He humbled Himself before us. He submitted Himself to us first, and even when we were putting nails through His hands and feet, He continued to surrender to us in order to rescue us from our sins.
I believe that is why Jesus set the example of washing his disciples feet. He humbled himself before them, served them as a slave would serve his master, and then said, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you...Now that you know these things, you will blessed if you do them." (John 13:15;17)
God has a lot to say about pride, and as I go through my life I have seen the wisdom of these words played out numerous times.
"God opposes the proud, but gives Grace to the humble." - (Proverbs 3:34)
This is good news, because I need Grace in greater measure every single day. If humility is the only way to receive this Grace, I am more than willing to be humbled, and to remain there, so that the Grace of God may shower down on my life like warm summer rain.
Let it rain.
kg
**
Posted here originally, September 28, 2007
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
BEST AND WORST OF THE DECADE
The Upside of this decade for me:
*Discovering house church.
*Discipling my sons, David and Dylan.
*The rite of passage celebration for Dylan's 13th birthday.
*Celebrating 20 years of blissful marriage to Wendy.
*Setting my sons up with their own blogs.
*Getting a great new job as a copy writer in marketing.
*Meeting Jon Zens.
*Hosting the Non-Con with Jackie Pullinger and David Ruis.
*Hosting Engage and The Heart of Jesus conferences with David Ruis.
*Seeing the new church being planted at the motel in Santa Ana where we've served for over 7 years.
*Getting to know Robert Higgins.
*Self-publishing my books and giving away a combined 1,820 copies for free on PDF.
*Getting my Elysian Skies songs on iTunes and Amazon.
*Performing with Jake Wright at House of Blues, the Artery, and Chapman Coffeehouse.
*Getting two articles published in the Channel Advisor magazine.
*Being named one of Orange County's Twitterati (People to follow) by the O.C.Register.
*Meeting so many great people online like Lionel Woods, Alan Knox, Heather and Daniel Cosby, Charles Pike, Jules Wilcox, Brant Hansen, and Mark Main.
*Being discipled and mentored by people like David Ruis, Jon Zens, and my house church family at the Mission.
*Reconnecting with so many old and dear friends via Facebook.
*All the encouragement I received when I decided to end my [Subversive Underground] e-newsletter after over 3 years and 180 articles.
*
The downside of this decade:
*Saying goodbye to my dear friend Lito and his family (who moved to San Antonio).
*Saying goodbye to my friend Scott Laumann and his family (who moved to San Diego).
*Saying goodbye to my sister in Christ, Mary Anne Serna, who died from brain cancer.
*Saying goodbye to people who left our house church family.
*Being uninvited to speak at churches I care about because of this blog.
*Counseling friends as they lose their marriages, or take wrong turns in their spiritual life and being unable to help them very much.
*Getting a lot older and only a little bit wiser.
**
Here's hoping that the next decade is filled with more adventure, more joy, and a deeper walk with Jesus, the Messiah.
Peace,
Keith
*Discovering house church.
*Discipling my sons, David and Dylan.
*The rite of passage celebration for Dylan's 13th birthday.
*Celebrating 20 years of blissful marriage to Wendy.
*Setting my sons up with their own blogs.
*Getting a great new job as a copy writer in marketing.
*Meeting Jon Zens.
*Hosting the Non-Con with Jackie Pullinger and David Ruis.
*Hosting Engage and The Heart of Jesus conferences with David Ruis.
*Seeing the new church being planted at the motel in Santa Ana where we've served for over 7 years.
*Getting to know Robert Higgins.
*Self-publishing my books and giving away a combined 1,820 copies for free on PDF.
*Getting my Elysian Skies songs on iTunes and Amazon.
*Performing with Jake Wright at House of Blues, the Artery, and Chapman Coffeehouse.
*Getting two articles published in the Channel Advisor magazine.
*Being named one of Orange County's Twitterati (People to follow) by the O.C.Register.
*Meeting so many great people online like Lionel Woods, Alan Knox, Heather and Daniel Cosby, Charles Pike, Jules Wilcox, Brant Hansen, and Mark Main.
*Being discipled and mentored by people like David Ruis, Jon Zens, and my house church family at the Mission.
*Reconnecting with so many old and dear friends via Facebook.
*All the encouragement I received when I decided to end my [Subversive Underground] e-newsletter after over 3 years and 180 articles.
*
The downside of this decade:
*Saying goodbye to my dear friend Lito and his family (who moved to San Antonio).
*Saying goodbye to my friend Scott Laumann and his family (who moved to San Diego).
*Saying goodbye to my sister in Christ, Mary Anne Serna, who died from brain cancer.
*Saying goodbye to people who left our house church family.
*Being uninvited to speak at churches I care about because of this blog.
*Counseling friends as they lose their marriages, or take wrong turns in their spiritual life and being unable to help them very much.
*Getting a lot older and only a little bit wiser.
**
Here's hoping that the next decade is filled with more adventure, more joy, and a deeper walk with Jesus, the Messiah.
Peace,
Keith
Monday, December 21, 2009
Obedience to Jesus Is Not Optional
*From the series, "Top 10 Things Every Christian Should Know (But Probably Doesn't)"
"If you love me, you will obey what I command."
- Jesus (John 14:15)
Somehow we have allowed the idea that someone can be a follower of Jesus without actually obeying Jesus' teaching or becoming a disciple. What we have in modern American Christianity is a brand of religion that says to its founder, "I'd like a little of your blood to cover my sins, but I don't care to follow you or take your teachings seriously. If you would please excuse me, I’ll get on with my life. See you in heaven." Dallas Willard calls those kinds of people “Vampire Christians” because all they want is some of Jesus’ blood, but none of His leadership.
"You are my friends if you do what I command"- Jesus (John 15:14)
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
"Easy Grace" is the short answer. The long answer is that, in an effort to streamline evangelism and create a sound-byte version of the Gospel we've reduced the message to "Pray this prayer if you don't want to go to hell when you die". This makes the ninety-second evangelist happy, but the full message of the Gospel is lost in the process.
Gone is the idea that Jesus calls people to follow Him. A decision to become a Christian is a decision to give up your personal rights to call the shots in your life. It means submitting to God, to the teachings of Jesus and the authority of the Word of God as the one and only source of how to live.
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." - Jesus (John 14:21)
Remnants of this more complete Gospel are still part of our Christian-ese language. People still say things like; "I gave my life to Christ" or "When I surrendered my life to Jesus" as part of their church talk, but many don't literally mean that they've done this, or that they are still doing this today.
The decision to obey Jesus, to submit to Him is a daily decision. We must bend the knee and whisper the prayer of surrender to Christ each day. It is not a one-time thing. This is why Jesus urges His disciples to ask for daily bread when they pray and to make their obedience to Him an act of daily taking up our
cross to die to ourselves. This is also why God's mercies are new every morning. We have short memories and God knows we need to surrender to him afresh with every breath.
Some of us still sing "I Surrender All" and we still have a "Jesus is Lord" bumper sticker on our car, but many in the modern American Church have forgotten the meaning of those words. Jesus is not really the Lord because we're not actually surrendering all to Him.
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:23)
What is most striking to me as I study the clear teachings of Jesus on the issue of obedience is the tight connection He makes between our obedience to His teaching and our love for Him. It is impossible to separate our devotion to Jesus from our submission to Him as our Lord.
This gives new meaning to the passage that says, "If anyone says, 'I love God' yet hates his brother he is a liar."- (1 John 4:20). If we say we love God but we disobey His clear teachings to love others, He knows we don't really mean the words we say. Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another, and to love our enemies as ourselves. If we say we love Jesus but we fail to obey His teaching to love others, we are liars and the love of God is
not in us. This is also why Jesus said that they would know we are His disciples by our love. Because we have obeyed His command to love others it will be clear that we love Him above all.
HOW DO WE GET BACK?
"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.."
- Jesus (John 15:10)
I believe we have to start by changing the way we do evangelism. We have to stop inviting people to pray a one-time prayer in order to get the license to Heaven. We have to invite people who are tired of doing life their own way to surrender their life to Jesus and learn to follow Him and His teachings every day.
As Todd Hunter says, we need to ask people who have an interest in Jesus, "Who will you follow and how will you live your life?" instead of asking them, "If you died tonight do you know you'd go to Heaven tomorrow?"
We need a Gospel for life, not a Gospel for death. The Gospel that Jesus came and gave His life to communicate was that the Kingdom of God had come and that we could begin to live under His reign and rule today, right now. Not after we die.
Most importantly, we ourselves need to re-think our concept of what it means to be a Christian. It's not about attending a church service. It's not about where we shop. It's not about the bumper stickers on our car. Being a Christian is the way we live our lives. We are followers of Jesus. Daily we have to take up our own cross and obey the words of the Lord we love.
Obedience to Jesus is not an option. For a Christian, it's a necessity.
"He who does not love me will not obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:24)
-kg
***
For further study:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven"- Jesus (Matthew 7:21).
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
- Jesus (Matthew 28: 19- 20).
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him." - 1 John 3:21-22
"Those who obey His commands live in Him and He in them."
- 1 John 3:24
"This is love for God: to obey His commands." - 1 John 5:3
"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands."
- 2 John 1:6
Also: Revelation 12:17; Revelation 14:12; John 13:17; Psalm 103:18
OTHERS ON OBEDIENCE:
"There is absolutely nothing in what Jesus himself or his early followers taught that suggests you can decide just to enjoy forgiveness at Jesus'expense and have nothing more to do with him."
- Dallas Willard ("The Divine Conspiracy")
"A notable heresy has come into being throughout evangelical Christian circles; the widely—accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to...salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures."
- A.W. Tozer ("I Call It Heresy")
"If you love me, you will obey what I command."
- Jesus (John 14:15)
Somehow we have allowed the idea that someone can be a follower of Jesus without actually obeying Jesus' teaching or becoming a disciple. What we have in modern American Christianity is a brand of religion that says to its founder, "I'd like a little of your blood to cover my sins, but I don't care to follow you or take your teachings seriously. If you would please excuse me, I’ll get on with my life. See you in heaven." Dallas Willard calls those kinds of people “Vampire Christians” because all they want is some of Jesus’ blood, but none of His leadership.
"You are my friends if you do what I command"- Jesus (John 15:14)
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
"Easy Grace" is the short answer. The long answer is that, in an effort to streamline evangelism and create a sound-byte version of the Gospel we've reduced the message to "Pray this prayer if you don't want to go to hell when you die". This makes the ninety-second evangelist happy, but the full message of the Gospel is lost in the process.
Gone is the idea that Jesus calls people to follow Him. A decision to become a Christian is a decision to give up your personal rights to call the shots in your life. It means submitting to God, to the teachings of Jesus and the authority of the Word of God as the one and only source of how to live.
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." - Jesus (John 14:21)
Remnants of this more complete Gospel are still part of our Christian-ese language. People still say things like; "I gave my life to Christ" or "When I surrendered my life to Jesus" as part of their church talk, but many don't literally mean that they've done this, or that they are still doing this today.
The decision to obey Jesus, to submit to Him is a daily decision. We must bend the knee and whisper the prayer of surrender to Christ each day. It is not a one-time thing. This is why Jesus urges His disciples to ask for daily bread when they pray and to make their obedience to Him an act of daily taking up our
cross to die to ourselves. This is also why God's mercies are new every morning. We have short memories and God knows we need to surrender to him afresh with every breath.
Some of us still sing "I Surrender All" and we still have a "Jesus is Lord" bumper sticker on our car, but many in the modern American Church have forgotten the meaning of those words. Jesus is not really the Lord because we're not actually surrendering all to Him.
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:23)
What is most striking to me as I study the clear teachings of Jesus on the issue of obedience is the tight connection He makes between our obedience to His teaching and our love for Him. It is impossible to separate our devotion to Jesus from our submission to Him as our Lord.
This gives new meaning to the passage that says, "If anyone says, 'I love God' yet hates his brother he is a liar."- (1 John 4:20). If we say we love God but we disobey His clear teachings to love others, He knows we don't really mean the words we say. Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another, and to love our enemies as ourselves. If we say we love Jesus but we fail to obey His teaching to love others, we are liars and the love of God is
not in us. This is also why Jesus said that they would know we are His disciples by our love. Because we have obeyed His command to love others it will be clear that we love Him above all.
HOW DO WE GET BACK?
"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.."
- Jesus (John 15:10)
I believe we have to start by changing the way we do evangelism. We have to stop inviting people to pray a one-time prayer in order to get the license to Heaven. We have to invite people who are tired of doing life their own way to surrender their life to Jesus and learn to follow Him and His teachings every day.
As Todd Hunter says, we need to ask people who have an interest in Jesus, "Who will you follow and how will you live your life?" instead of asking them, "If you died tonight do you know you'd go to Heaven tomorrow?"
We need a Gospel for life, not a Gospel for death. The Gospel that Jesus came and gave His life to communicate was that the Kingdom of God had come and that we could begin to live under His reign and rule today, right now. Not after we die.
Most importantly, we ourselves need to re-think our concept of what it means to be a Christian. It's not about attending a church service. It's not about where we shop. It's not about the bumper stickers on our car. Being a Christian is the way we live our lives. We are followers of Jesus. Daily we have to take up our own cross and obey the words of the Lord we love.
Obedience to Jesus is not an option. For a Christian, it's a necessity.
"He who does not love me will not obey my teaching."
- Jesus (John 14:24)
-kg
***
For further study:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven"- Jesus (Matthew 7:21).
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
- Jesus (Matthew 28: 19- 20).
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him." - 1 John 3:21-22
"Those who obey His commands live in Him and He in them."
- 1 John 3:24
"This is love for God: to obey His commands." - 1 John 5:3
"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands."
- 2 John 1:6
Also: Revelation 12:17; Revelation 14:12; John 13:17; Psalm 103:18
OTHERS ON OBEDIENCE:
"There is absolutely nothing in what Jesus himself or his early followers taught that suggests you can decide just to enjoy forgiveness at Jesus'expense and have nothing more to do with him."
- Dallas Willard ("The Divine Conspiracy")
"A notable heresy has come into being throughout evangelical Christian circles; the widely—accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to...salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures."
- A.W. Tozer ("I Call It Heresy")
Sunday, December 20, 2009
RE-POST: OUR POOR
by Keith Giles
As I hear what people are saying about poverty in America, I always have to mention that, although poverty in our country may not be as "severe" as what we see in Africa or India, etc., it is not any less poverty.
For example, if you were to give air conditioning or color television to one of those families living in a cardboard box in the Sudan, would they cease being poor? Of course not. And families in America with color tvs and air conditioning are no less poor because of their level of comfort. They are still poor. And they are "Our Poor".
I belive that there is a Biblical difference between how we are called to serve the poor in other countries and "our poor". The poor in India, Mexico, Ethiopa, etc. are seriously, desperately poor. No one argues that. This is why I've served on the board for groups like Arms of Love (www.armsoflove.org), a ministry that builds orphanages in the poorest nations of the world to provide homes for street children who live in the city dumps and are forced into prostitution, etc.
So, please, let's be clear; I'm not saying don't help the poor who are "out there".
But the poor in your city, in my city, down the street from me, they are "our poor", and what we're called to do, Biblically, is something about it. Not to solve poverty. Not to cure it. Not to erase poverty forever, but to do what we can to help a few, in the name of Jesus and with the compassion of Jesus.
Actually, as I've said before, the point of serving the poor is not to "cure" or "solve" poverty, but to befriend people who are in need and to learn to love and serve them as we would serve and love Jesus. We are the one's who are most changed in that relationship, by the way.
The quote from Jesus in Matthew about "the poor you will always have with you" was Jesus referencing Deuteronomy 15:7-11. You should seriously read this passage. The point is that God, the Father, is commanding the Jews to not have a hard-heart or a closed fist towards the poor, the stranger, etc., but to give generously, freely to the poor among them. At the end of the passage, God say, "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land."
That's what Jesus means when he says what he does in Matthew.
Read Matthew 25. At the Judgement Seat of Christ the one criteria is whether or not those who call him "Lord" had any regard for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the prisoner. The Sheep almost unconsciously care for these poor, not because they think it will get them into Heaven, but simply because they have genuinely been transformed into the people of God. The Goats, who also call Him "Lord", have the same unconscious attitude, but towards the existence of the poor or their needs.
The people of God, redeemed by the Blood, saved by Grace, seem to have an inability to walk past someone who is naked, poor, hungry, thirsty, lonely, etc. and do nothing. They cannot do that. It's not in their new nature.
We have a Biblical mandate (and it's alllll over the Scripture, both Old and New) to care for the poor..."our poor"...and that takes more than writing a check.
Again, this is my very biased conviction. I've been hammered by God on this issue and I cannot let it go because it won't let me go.
Do you know what the sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49. It's not what you think. "Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen."
Wow.
How about this one?
Galatians 2:10- "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." (Paul being sent out as the first missionary by Peter, James and John).
or...
{God is speaking of King Josiah:}
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" (Jeremiah 22:16)
Wow.
"Is that not what it means to know me?"
What does it mean to "Know" God? This verse suggests that it means to care for the poor and the needy.
and of course we could also look at, Isaiah 58:6-7, Amos 5:21-24, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:14-17, etc., etc.
God has called us to care for the poor, not to justify their poverty or our lack of compassion by comparing them to the "real poor" in third world countries.
So..how are we doing with serving and loving and befriending "Our Poor"?
kg
As I hear what people are saying about poverty in America, I always have to mention that, although poverty in our country may not be as "severe" as what we see in Africa or India, etc., it is not any less poverty.
For example, if you were to give air conditioning or color television to one of those families living in a cardboard box in the Sudan, would they cease being poor? Of course not. And families in America with color tvs and air conditioning are no less poor because of their level of comfort. They are still poor. And they are "Our Poor".
I belive that there is a Biblical difference between how we are called to serve the poor in other countries and "our poor". The poor in India, Mexico, Ethiopa, etc. are seriously, desperately poor. No one argues that. This is why I've served on the board for groups like Arms of Love (www.armsoflove.org), a ministry that builds orphanages in the poorest nations of the world to provide homes for street children who live in the city dumps and are forced into prostitution, etc.
So, please, let's be clear; I'm not saying don't help the poor who are "out there".
But the poor in your city, in my city, down the street from me, they are "our poor", and what we're called to do, Biblically, is something about it. Not to solve poverty. Not to cure it. Not to erase poverty forever, but to do what we can to help a few, in the name of Jesus and with the compassion of Jesus.
Actually, as I've said before, the point of serving the poor is not to "cure" or "solve" poverty, but to befriend people who are in need and to learn to love and serve them as we would serve and love Jesus. We are the one's who are most changed in that relationship, by the way.
The quote from Jesus in Matthew about "the poor you will always have with you" was Jesus referencing Deuteronomy 15:7-11. You should seriously read this passage. The point is that God, the Father, is commanding the Jews to not have a hard-heart or a closed fist towards the poor, the stranger, etc., but to give generously, freely to the poor among them. At the end of the passage, God say, "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land."
That's what Jesus means when he says what he does in Matthew.
Read Matthew 25. At the Judgement Seat of Christ the one criteria is whether or not those who call him "Lord" had any regard for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the prisoner. The Sheep almost unconsciously care for these poor, not because they think it will get them into Heaven, but simply because they have genuinely been transformed into the people of God. The Goats, who also call Him "Lord", have the same unconscious attitude, but towards the existence of the poor or their needs.
The people of God, redeemed by the Blood, saved by Grace, seem to have an inability to walk past someone who is naked, poor, hungry, thirsty, lonely, etc. and do nothing. They cannot do that. It's not in their new nature.
We have a Biblical mandate (and it's alllll over the Scripture, both Old and New) to care for the poor..."our poor"...and that takes more than writing a check.
Again, this is my very biased conviction. I've been hammered by God on this issue and I cannot let it go because it won't let me go.
Do you know what the sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49. It's not what you think. "Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen."
Wow.
How about this one?
Galatians 2:10- "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." (Paul being sent out as the first missionary by Peter, James and John).
or...
{God is speaking of King Josiah:}
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" (Jeremiah 22:16)
Wow.
"Is that not what it means to know me?"
What does it mean to "Know" God? This verse suggests that it means to care for the poor and the needy.
and of course we could also look at, Isaiah 58:6-7, Amos 5:21-24, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:14-17, etc., etc.
God has called us to care for the poor, not to justify their poverty or our lack of compassion by comparing them to the "real poor" in third world countries.
So..how are we doing with serving and loving and befriending "Our Poor"?
kg
Friday, December 18, 2009
I'M OFFICIALLY LICENSED AND ORDAINED MINISTER OF THE LAITY
by Keith Giles
After over twenty years as a licensed and ordained minister of the Gospel under the auspices of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, I have finally achieved something extraordinary – I am now a fully licensed and ordained minister of the Laity.
It all started about four years ago, I suppose. My wife and I felt God calling us to step away from our on-staff pastoral position at a local church we had helped to plant with some of our friends in order to plant a house church where 100% of the offering could go to the poor.
I’ve always said that Wendy and I have “backed into house church” because our original desires for starting this house church weren’t the typical ones people usually express. We weren’t reacting to any feelings of disenfranchisement in the traditional church. We weren’t reacting to any books we’d just read about the pagan rituals embedded in our institutional church. Instead, we were consumed with the excitement of being part of a church where all of our offering could go to the poor, like in the New Testament.
It wasn’t until we began actually practicing the priesthood of the believer, and then re-learning a lot of what we thought we knew about God’s design for His Body, that the scales began to fall away. Now we can totally see where the traditional church restricts the life of the Body as Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 12, and how the 58 “one anothers” in the New Testament aren’t really possible when only one person is allowed to speak or teach while everyone else sits passively listening.
“Being the Church” has become more real to us than attending church ever was. We’ve discovered how following Jesus in our every day, actual lives is actually easier when we begin to see the Church as the people who gather throughout the week and not a building we rent or a meeting we attend.
Still, I passed another milestone a few weeks ago. I finally stopped being the pastor of the Mission House Church and started realizing that I am really only a member of the church body that meets in my home. It’s not “my church”. It’s really God’s Church. Jesus is really our pastor, not me. He’s the one who is our head. He is the one with the agenda. He is the one who shepherds us, and leads us, and makes His will known to us by His Word and His Spirit. Not me.
Part of my revelation involved pulling back from the duties that some in our house church expected me to always perform such as leading communion, or prayers, or leading our open share times. For several months I sat at the back of the room and refused to speak or lead in any way. This allowed everyone else in our body to step forward and take initiative, and ownership, of life in the Body. As I exercised restraint, I began to observe what God was doing in our times together more. I began to listen more. I suddenly found myself to be superfluous in some areas, but necessary in others. My true place in the Body was being redefined as I stepped outside the spotlight and allowed Christ to be our Head.
The final steps in my ordination into the laity involved realizing two simple truths: First, that Jesus is alive and fully capable of communicating his will for us. Secondly, that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we, his sheep, are capable of hearing his voice. By exercising this truth, it became more and more clear that whenever we, as a Body, took the time to stop and ask Jesus to lead us and to speak to us (and then we actually waited for him to speak and lead), that Jesus would be faithful to do this.
While we’re still just beginning to scratch the surface of what it means to surrender to the Headship of Christ in our regular gatherings together, I have to believe that a significant aspect of our ability to explore this was only made possible when our founding pastor finally took his God-given place as the head of His Church. That pastor, our good shepherd, is Jesus.
As soon as I gave up being the leader, and began to realize that this was not “my church” but that I was simply one of the members of His Church, our chances of experiencing the Headship of Christ jumped exponentially.
So, please celebrate with me my official ordination into the ministry of the laity of Christ. I am one of many gifted members of the Body of Christ in a Church that belongs to Jesus and happens, for now, to meet in my home.
-kg
**
“If God ‘visits’ a church, it betrays the fact that it doesn't belong to Him. A homeowner doesn't visit his own home. He lives in it. In a divine visitation, God will bless His people. But He will eventually move on and search for a home that He can call his own. Thus if the headship of Jesus Christ is not fully yielded to any given place, the best of Lord can do is visit. He cannot take up residency.”
– Frank Viola; From Eternity to Here
After over twenty years as a licensed and ordained minister of the Gospel under the auspices of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, I have finally achieved something extraordinary – I am now a fully licensed and ordained minister of the Laity.
It all started about four years ago, I suppose. My wife and I felt God calling us to step away from our on-staff pastoral position at a local church we had helped to plant with some of our friends in order to plant a house church where 100% of the offering could go to the poor.
I’ve always said that Wendy and I have “backed into house church” because our original desires for starting this house church weren’t the typical ones people usually express. We weren’t reacting to any feelings of disenfranchisement in the traditional church. We weren’t reacting to any books we’d just read about the pagan rituals embedded in our institutional church. Instead, we were consumed with the excitement of being part of a church where all of our offering could go to the poor, like in the New Testament.
It wasn’t until we began actually practicing the priesthood of the believer, and then re-learning a lot of what we thought we knew about God’s design for His Body, that the scales began to fall away. Now we can totally see where the traditional church restricts the life of the Body as Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 12, and how the 58 “one anothers” in the New Testament aren’t really possible when only one person is allowed to speak or teach while everyone else sits passively listening.
“Being the Church” has become more real to us than attending church ever was. We’ve discovered how following Jesus in our every day, actual lives is actually easier when we begin to see the Church as the people who gather throughout the week and not a building we rent or a meeting we attend.
Still, I passed another milestone a few weeks ago. I finally stopped being the pastor of the Mission House Church and started realizing that I am really only a member of the church body that meets in my home. It’s not “my church”. It’s really God’s Church. Jesus is really our pastor, not me. He’s the one who is our head. He is the one with the agenda. He is the one who shepherds us, and leads us, and makes His will known to us by His Word and His Spirit. Not me.
Part of my revelation involved pulling back from the duties that some in our house church expected me to always perform such as leading communion, or prayers, or leading our open share times. For several months I sat at the back of the room and refused to speak or lead in any way. This allowed everyone else in our body to step forward and take initiative, and ownership, of life in the Body. As I exercised restraint, I began to observe what God was doing in our times together more. I began to listen more. I suddenly found myself to be superfluous in some areas, but necessary in others. My true place in the Body was being redefined as I stepped outside the spotlight and allowed Christ to be our Head.
The final steps in my ordination into the laity involved realizing two simple truths: First, that Jesus is alive and fully capable of communicating his will for us. Secondly, that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we, his sheep, are capable of hearing his voice. By exercising this truth, it became more and more clear that whenever we, as a Body, took the time to stop and ask Jesus to lead us and to speak to us (and then we actually waited for him to speak and lead), that Jesus would be faithful to do this.
While we’re still just beginning to scratch the surface of what it means to surrender to the Headship of Christ in our regular gatherings together, I have to believe that a significant aspect of our ability to explore this was only made possible when our founding pastor finally took his God-given place as the head of His Church. That pastor, our good shepherd, is Jesus.
As soon as I gave up being the leader, and began to realize that this was not “my church” but that I was simply one of the members of His Church, our chances of experiencing the Headship of Christ jumped exponentially.
So, please celebrate with me my official ordination into the ministry of the laity of Christ. I am one of many gifted members of the Body of Christ in a Church that belongs to Jesus and happens, for now, to meet in my home.
-kg
**
“If God ‘visits’ a church, it betrays the fact that it doesn't belong to Him. A homeowner doesn't visit his own home. He lives in it. In a divine visitation, God will bless His people. But He will eventually move on and search for a home that He can call his own. Thus if the headship of Jesus Christ is not fully yielded to any given place, the best of Lord can do is visit. He cannot take up residency.”
– Frank Viola; From Eternity to Here
Thursday, December 17, 2009
ELYSIAN SKIES SONGS NOW ON iTunes!
Voted one of the Top Indie Cd's of 1998 by The Phantom Tollbooth Magazine (ranked #4).
THE BAND
Composed of Keith Giles on vocals, John Wahrmund on guitars and bass, Wendy Giles on background vocals, John Feighery on guitars, Bill Schmidt on percussion and Ben Busch on keys, and guitars.
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Recorded at the legendary Green Room in Huntington Beach, California, "Exquisite Whisper" features all original songs written by Keith Giles and John Wahrmund.
Produced by J.J. Plasencio (Plumb, Sixpence) and engineered by Andy Pricket (Prayer Chain, Violet Burning), mixed by Gene Eugene, and mastered by Mark Rodriguez.
Overdubs produced by Wayne Everett (Prayer Chain).
ALBUM TRIVIA
Three of the songs from this recording(Broken, What Can Never Be Replaced and Tacit Blue) were featured on the award-winning soundtrack for the independent film, "When Love Walks In" from Paladin Pictures, directed by Kent Williamson.
Andy Prickett plays the guitar solo on the first track, "Digg" which was featured in the N-Soul compilation CD, "The Sparkler Sampler" (also available on iTunes).
Mike Pritzl's (Violet Burning) guitar was used on the track, "Faded Chameleons".
J.J. Plasencio plays bass on several tracks as well.
All proceeds from the sale of the original CD pressing went to support Feed the Children.
ALBUM REVIEW FROM THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH MAGAZINE (www.tollbooth.org)
With a little help from their friends, Elysian Skies has created an indie release worthy of notice. Serving as executive producer, J.J. Plasencio (formerly of Plumb and Sixpence None the Richer) is a believer in this band. Also, Gene Eugene (of Adam Again) mixes the album, and both Andy Prickett and Wayne Everett (formerly of the Prayer Chain) contribute in one form or another. That's a lot of positive support from some respected folks in the industry for a virtually unknown band on the national level.
With Exquisite Whisper Elysian Skies has created an album of modern rock ranging from acoustic guitar-driven ballads to songs with an aggressive swirl-of-sound. They haven't attempted to recreate modern rock here, and they manage to play well without embarrassing the form. The production values are excellent--not at all what you'd expect from an indie (with the amazing Gene Eugene on the boards it's easier to see how that happened). The result is an album with an appealing sound that suggests alternative pop bands like The Waiting (but with fewer frills).
The lyrics are positively pro-Christian in their content, and without exception they deal with matters of faith in an honest and poetic way. On "Blood of Innocence" in particular, lyric writer Keith Giles fuses Biblical truth with modern-day trials while turning a good phrase or two along the way:
A dishonest man brought me into the fold
And an unfaithful girl brought me in from the cold
It rains on the unjust and righteous as well
The sound of the truth is louder than hell.
A forgetful Samaritan passes away
His friends and his family have nothing to say.
The children of poverty ask for a drink.
I'm lost in my thoughts so I don't stop to think.
This band's love for our Lord Jesus is foremost on their mind as they exhibit compassion for the disenfranchised, downtrodden, or just plain discouraged. Augmenting the songs' themes are a collection of delightful quotes from Henry Van Dyke, St. Francis of Assisi, Pablo Picasso, and Psalm 68. Extra bonus points are given for the artsy packaging; for example, the CD is black with a gold Half-Moon-Face with three accompanying stars. I appreciate the artistic attention given to layout details.
Keith Giles voice is reminiscent of the lead singer from The Beautiful South or The Housemartins at times. This may just be a matter of personal preference, but I find he sings most pleasingly on the slower tempo numbers, while his gentle voice seems incongruent with the rambunctious music on the more bumptious tracks. That critique aside, this band will in time undoubtedly carve out their own niche and continue to garner appropriate amounts of attention from musical colleagues as well as fans.
By Steven Stuart Baldwin
**
Click the icon below to buy one song at a time or buy the entire album for just $7 bucks!
THE BAND
Composed of Keith Giles on vocals, John Wahrmund on guitars and bass, Wendy Giles on background vocals, John Feighery on guitars, Bill Schmidt on percussion and Ben Busch on keys, and guitars.
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Recorded at the legendary Green Room in Huntington Beach, California, "Exquisite Whisper" features all original songs written by Keith Giles and John Wahrmund.
Produced by J.J. Plasencio (Plumb, Sixpence) and engineered by Andy Pricket (Prayer Chain, Violet Burning), mixed by Gene Eugene, and mastered by Mark Rodriguez.
Overdubs produced by Wayne Everett (Prayer Chain).
ALBUM TRIVIA
Three of the songs from this recording(Broken, What Can Never Be Replaced and Tacit Blue) were featured on the award-winning soundtrack for the independent film, "When Love Walks In" from Paladin Pictures, directed by Kent Williamson.
Andy Prickett plays the guitar solo on the first track, "Digg" which was featured in the N-Soul compilation CD, "The Sparkler Sampler" (also available on iTunes).
Mike Pritzl's (Violet Burning) guitar was used on the track, "Faded Chameleons".
J.J. Plasencio plays bass on several tracks as well.
All proceeds from the sale of the original CD pressing went to support Feed the Children.
ALBUM REVIEW FROM THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH MAGAZINE (www.tollbooth.org)
With a little help from their friends, Elysian Skies has created an indie release worthy of notice. Serving as executive producer, J.J. Plasencio (formerly of Plumb and Sixpence None the Richer) is a believer in this band. Also, Gene Eugene (of Adam Again) mixes the album, and both Andy Prickett and Wayne Everett (formerly of the Prayer Chain) contribute in one form or another. That's a lot of positive support from some respected folks in the industry for a virtually unknown band on the national level.
With Exquisite Whisper Elysian Skies has created an album of modern rock ranging from acoustic guitar-driven ballads to songs with an aggressive swirl-of-sound. They haven't attempted to recreate modern rock here, and they manage to play well without embarrassing the form. The production values are excellent--not at all what you'd expect from an indie (with the amazing Gene Eugene on the boards it's easier to see how that happened). The result is an album with an appealing sound that suggests alternative pop bands like The Waiting (but with fewer frills).
The lyrics are positively pro-Christian in their content, and without exception they deal with matters of faith in an honest and poetic way. On "Blood of Innocence" in particular, lyric writer Keith Giles fuses Biblical truth with modern-day trials while turning a good phrase or two along the way:
A dishonest man brought me into the fold
And an unfaithful girl brought me in from the cold
It rains on the unjust and righteous as well
The sound of the truth is louder than hell.
A forgetful Samaritan passes away
His friends and his family have nothing to say.
The children of poverty ask for a drink.
I'm lost in my thoughts so I don't stop to think.
This band's love for our Lord Jesus is foremost on their mind as they exhibit compassion for the disenfranchised, downtrodden, or just plain discouraged. Augmenting the songs' themes are a collection of delightful quotes from Henry Van Dyke, St. Francis of Assisi, Pablo Picasso, and Psalm 68. Extra bonus points are given for the artsy packaging; for example, the CD is black with a gold Half-Moon-Face with three accompanying stars. I appreciate the artistic attention given to layout details.
Keith Giles voice is reminiscent of the lead singer from The Beautiful South or The Housemartins at times. This may just be a matter of personal preference, but I find he sings most pleasingly on the slower tempo numbers, while his gentle voice seems incongruent with the rambunctious music on the more bumptious tracks. That critique aside, this band will in time undoubtedly carve out their own niche and continue to garner appropriate amounts of attention from musical colleagues as well as fans.
By Steven Stuart Baldwin
**
Click the icon below to buy one song at a time or buy the entire album for just $7 bucks!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
FACEBOOK IS TAPPING YOUR PHONE
Your phone rings and you answer it. “Hello, this is Amanda from Enterprise Marketing Group. Would you be willing to participate in a brief survey of your favorite entertainment brands so that we can sell this information to businesses who want to improve their targeted advertising efforts?”
My guess is that you would probably hang up the phone on someone like this. What would be the point in helping a marketing company gather information about you just so they could send you more junk e-mail, postcards and coupons? Yet , if you have an active Facebook account you’re probably already sharing even more information with these same companies than you realize.
Facebook collects and stores every single fragment of information about you in their constantly enlarging database. They know who your friends are. They know your top 20 favorite films. They know the Top 10 books you’ve ever read. They know which Smurf you’re most like. They know your favorite TV shows. Even more than this, if you are consistent with your status updates, they also know what days of the week you go shopping, or take the kids to baseball, or spend a night out with your friends.
The genius of Facebook is that they have made the collection of your targeted, actionable data very entertaining. Because it’s fun to post your Top 20 favorite movies list to your Facebook page and then share it with all 250 of your friends so that they can also post their lists and share it with their friends, you’ll gladly do it. But, if someone from a professional marketing team called you on the phone to ask you the same information, not only would you hang up, you’d probably ask them to put you on their no-call list.
Before Facebook, and other social media sites, marketers had to depend on very general demographic profiles to essentially guess at what your favorite foods might be, or what your spending habits might involve. They could guess from your birth date that you fell into a general group (baby boomer, Generation X, Tweeners, Metrosexual, etc.), and based on your sex they could place you into a category most likely to purchase certain brands or shop at certain stores. Now, thanks to the growing mania of Facebook, marketers no longer have to guess about your favorite ice cream flavor – they know for a fact that you love Cherry Garcia from Ben and Jerry’s because you posted it on your profile, or shared it with a friend on your wall.
Lately there’s been a lot of talk about changes to Facebook’s privacy policy. Even their own CEO has been the victim of loop holes in the new policy, to hilarious effect. However, the greatest shock is still yet to come. One day, and perhaps it’s already started to happen, all the millions of terabytes of data Facebook has on file about you will be sold to the Enterprise Marketing agencies of the world.
What could be worse than that? Perhaps you’d better sit down for this part. As a friend and I were talking about this very subject one afternoon, he made reference to a chilling discovery about Google’s Picasa photo software. As he was uploading a picture of his family from a recent vacation trip to the museum, the software window that popped up said, “This looks like Aidan.” Aidan is my friend’s elementary-age son. He said his finger hovered over the mouse for a moment as he began to realize that the software had recognized his son’s face due to the tagging features they had used to identify him, and the rest of the family, on other photos that had been uploaded to the website.
Clearly, the applications of this facial recognition software are even more nefarious in the wrong hands. Now if anyone, anywhere, uploads a photo of you to the internet, people can find you and recognize you immediately. Your friends don’t even need to tag you in any future photos because you’ve already been tagged enough times for the software to get a lock on your features.
All of this makes me wonder if public outcry against the selling of our personal information might spawn the creation of newer, "Black Box" style social media where you might be asked to pay a premium to prevent your personal data from ending up on search engine results or allow your personal photos to be seen by the entire planet.
In fact, it makes me wonder whether or not Facebook themselves will eventually offer their users a pay-for-privacy black box solution. Not only would this solve the problem they've created themselves, but it would also earn them billions more dollars a year in revenues from users who value online privacy.
Even though there is a clear warning to this effect, many Facebook users are also unaware that when they participate in third party applications and games on Facebook (such as Mafia Wars, Farmville, etc.), they are granting permission for these companies to collect, use and sell their personal information, and often their friend's personal data as well.
In a safe and perfect world, facial recognition technology and personal information will only be used to direct you to the best deals on your favorite things at exactly the right moment by recognizing your face as you enter your favorite shopping mall, or online store.
Of course, we can only guess who might have already purchased information about you, and your family, and your photos, and your detailed personal likes and dislikes. Hopefully it will be the good guys who take charge of this data.
Hopefully.
**
Keith Giles is a marketing copywriter and published author and blogger who lives in Orange County, California. Find out more at http://www.KeithGiles.com or follow him at http://twitter.com/keithgiles
Monday, December 14, 2009
CHRISTMAS IN REVERSE
For the last three years now my family has been making an effort to shift the way we celebrate Christmas. I guess it all started when we partnered with a sister church here in Orange County to bring a blessing to a single mom with brain cancer and her teenage son a few years ago. I remember walking back to the car afterwards and telling my wife, "That was my Christmas. From now on, don't buy me anything for Christmas. Let's just bring a blessing to as many people as we can."
So, for the last few years that's what we've done our best to do. This year our family is helping to buy Christmas gifts for children living in a local motel with their families. Our house church is working to provide free groceries, buy gifts, and share what we’ve been given with our friends living in this motel. We're also putting together several baskets of food to give to a local orphanage, and this week we're going to sing carols at a local senior care center down the street from our house.
Just last week I read an article from the great John Fischer about how we should change the question, "What did you get for Christmas?" to "What did you give for Christmas?" I completely agree. More than changing the question, we're changing the emphasis of Christmas. When we focus on giving then all that matters is what we give away, not what we receive in return.
The most amazing thing, however, is that even though my family does not buy me a Christmas gift to put under the tree anymore, I still get plenty of gifts. In fact, I receive significantly more for Christmas now than I have ever received before. It's just that what I get for Christmas now is the sort of stuff that won't fit inside any box, or be contained by mere wrapping paper.
I know of many other families who are doing exactly what we've started to do this Christmas. Maybe you do too? Or maybe you and your family would like to start a new tradition of giving away more than you receive?
If you're really lucky you'll start to realize that you can give extravagantly no matter what time of year it may be. People in need are hungry and lonely and thirsty on all the other days of the year, so why should we only give to them once or twice a year?
Someone once said that whenever we measure our generosity we tend to measure how much we give away, but when God measures our generosity, He measures how much we keep.
If Christmas is really about giving, then let's focus on giving. And if Christmas is about the miraculous, incarnational birth of God in the flesh who came to be "Emmanuel" - God with us - then let's follow His example and give ourselves away for the sake of others.
Peace to you,
Keith
So, for the last few years that's what we've done our best to do. This year our family is helping to buy Christmas gifts for children living in a local motel with their families. Our house church is working to provide free groceries, buy gifts, and share what we’ve been given with our friends living in this motel. We're also putting together several baskets of food to give to a local orphanage, and this week we're going to sing carols at a local senior care center down the street from our house.
Just last week I read an article from the great John Fischer about how we should change the question, "What did you get for Christmas?" to "What did you give for Christmas?" I completely agree. More than changing the question, we're changing the emphasis of Christmas. When we focus on giving then all that matters is what we give away, not what we receive in return.
The most amazing thing, however, is that even though my family does not buy me a Christmas gift to put under the tree anymore, I still get plenty of gifts. In fact, I receive significantly more for Christmas now than I have ever received before. It's just that what I get for Christmas now is the sort of stuff that won't fit inside any box, or be contained by mere wrapping paper.
I know of many other families who are doing exactly what we've started to do this Christmas. Maybe you do too? Or maybe you and your family would like to start a new tradition of giving away more than you receive?
If you're really lucky you'll start to realize that you can give extravagantly no matter what time of year it may be. People in need are hungry and lonely and thirsty on all the other days of the year, so why should we only give to them once or twice a year?
Someone once said that whenever we measure our generosity we tend to measure how much we give away, but when God measures our generosity, He measures how much we keep.
If Christmas is really about giving, then let's focus on giving. And if Christmas is about the miraculous, incarnational birth of God in the flesh who came to be "Emmanuel" - God with us - then let's follow His example and give ourselves away for the sake of others.
Peace to you,
Keith
Sunday, December 13, 2009
THE GOVERNMENT CHURCH
In some countries, the Christian faith is under the control of the State. These governments control the spread and expression of Christianity by regulating churches, and keeping pastors on the payroll. Those Christians who dare to speak out against Government policy or who criticize military operations or otherwise go against the grain are threatened with seizure of property or loss of certain rights.
Many of you know exactly what I'm talking about because you live in America. Here, the Government reuquires that all Christian churches register with the State. These State Churches must have a 501(C)3 to operate legally. Without one they cannot open a bank account, claim tax exempt status on their property, or for donations received, or for pastoral salaries.
Several times in American History the Government has threatened to revoke the tax exempt status of several of these registered State Churches whenever they speak out in ways that are not approved of. For example, on issues of abortion, or civil rights, or other political issues.
This is not to suggest that the Government is in favor of Politics without Religion, or Religion without Politics. On the contrary, the Government in America is very much in favor of how the State Church supports military efforts abroad. To that end, the Church has been one of the most vocally supportive segments of American Society when it comes to war overseas, the torture of enemy soldiers, and the loss of human life (other than American lives).
In recent years, the State Church in America has also been largely instrumental in helping to elect her Presidents and push political agendas for both the Left and the Right.
NOT ABOUT POLITICS
Still, my contention is not with the Government of this great nation. In fact, my concern is for the Bride of Christ who has willingly submitted herself to an Empire, rather than to the rule and reign of Christ.
Do we need the Government to tell us that we are the children of God? No, of course not.
Do we need a tax write-off in order to give our money to help the poor? Absolutely not.
And yet, we often allow these things to prevent us from operating and behaving as the Body of Christ.
CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Can you imagine being part of a Church where no one received a salary? Or where no one kept track of your tithes and offerings? Can you imagine being part of a Church where the people were the only building? Or where the Church owned no property or held no bank account?
I'm not saying that these things are evil, in themselves. However, I do find it troubling that the Church in America has so willingly participated in a State Church system where the Government is allowed to decide who is, or is not, a valid expression of the Body of Christ Jesus in the community.
HAVE I LOST MY MIND?
Before you sharpen your knife or load your revolver, let me explain why I am writing this today: The Church I read about in the New Testament, from which all of us have originated, was born under the sun of the largest Empire the world has ever known.
This early church did not conform to the pattern of the Empire, but it set itself apart from the Empire. It quietly, yet firmly, resisted the Empire's lust for power and expansion through bloodshed. They resisted even to the point of shedding their own blood - but not the blood of others - to demonstrate another way of living. This way of life was not like the life people lived outside of the Body of Christ. In fact, the only real source of life and wisdom came from Jesus, the Messiah, and it was the radical lifestyle of the early Christians that testified to this truth.
Their Lord (and ours) had also modelled a life which was contrary to the Empire of his day. The Empire had even used its power to put Jesus to death, so those who put their faith in Jesus as the Messiah continued to live in opposition to the pattern of the Empire after His Resurrection. The idea of conforming to the way of the World was anathema to them. Why is it not anathema to us today?
I understand that our nation has a different set of origins than the Roman Empire. I do understand that America is a place where the practice of religion is widely accepted (and not just Christianity, either). The parallels between America and Rome are not exact, however they are both Empires which are built upon the ideals of men (however noble they may be).
The American Empire is not built upon the teachings of Jesus. No Empire has ever attempted to carry out the policies of the One who said that we should turn the other cheek and love our enemies. In fact, no man-made, human lead government could ever survive with such policies as these. Only when Jesus Himself sits upon the throne of this Earth will His Kingdom be established in full. On that day, we might finally understand what a Christian Government looks like, but not today.
BE SET APART
When the Apostle John tells us about the fall of the Empires of this Age he records the words of an angel in heaven who says, "'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities'" (Revelation 18:4,5)
The phrase, "come out of her" is the exact phrase one would use when referring to the cessation of a sexual act. He is commanding us to repent of our fornication with the Empires of this World and to escape the wrath of God against those systems of man-made rule.
"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a royal priesthood. a holy nation, God’s very own possession." - 1 Peter 2:9
If we are the people of God, let us consider who we submit ourselves to, both in theory and (most importantly) in practice.
Are we a Church submitted more to the State than we are to the Lord Jesus?
Have we forgotten to resist the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds? (Rom 12)
What would it mean to be fully surrendered to Jesus alone, in every way?
Is Jesus really the head of the Church? Is He the head of your church?
Only you can answer those questions for yourself. I'm not here to create controversy for the sake of controversy. My heart's desire is for the Church to open her eyes and to consider how her actions and her attitudes reflect Christ in the world today.
Is the Church a tool of the State? Is the Church being leveraged to pass legislation or elect officials? Are we being manipulated by politicians to do their will? And if so, shouldn't we desire with all of our hearts to repent of this and to return to Christ as our only Lord and Master?
I suppose that's up to us to decide for ourselves.
Peace,
Keith
**
"The Church is not meant to be the master of the State, nor is the Church its servant, the Church must be its conscience." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Many of you know exactly what I'm talking about because you live in America. Here, the Government reuquires that all Christian churches register with the State. These State Churches must have a 501(C)3 to operate legally. Without one they cannot open a bank account, claim tax exempt status on their property, or for donations received, or for pastoral salaries.
Several times in American History the Government has threatened to revoke the tax exempt status of several of these registered State Churches whenever they speak out in ways that are not approved of. For example, on issues of abortion, or civil rights, or other political issues.
This is not to suggest that the Government is in favor of Politics without Religion, or Religion without Politics. On the contrary, the Government in America is very much in favor of how the State Church supports military efforts abroad. To that end, the Church has been one of the most vocally supportive segments of American Society when it comes to war overseas, the torture of enemy soldiers, and the loss of human life (other than American lives).
In recent years, the State Church in America has also been largely instrumental in helping to elect her Presidents and push political agendas for both the Left and the Right.
NOT ABOUT POLITICS
Still, my contention is not with the Government of this great nation. In fact, my concern is for the Bride of Christ who has willingly submitted herself to an Empire, rather than to the rule and reign of Christ.
Do we need the Government to tell us that we are the children of God? No, of course not.
Do we need a tax write-off in order to give our money to help the poor? Absolutely not.
And yet, we often allow these things to prevent us from operating and behaving as the Body of Christ.
CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Can you imagine being part of a Church where no one received a salary? Or where no one kept track of your tithes and offerings? Can you imagine being part of a Church where the people were the only building? Or where the Church owned no property or held no bank account?
I'm not saying that these things are evil, in themselves. However, I do find it troubling that the Church in America has so willingly participated in a State Church system where the Government is allowed to decide who is, or is not, a valid expression of the Body of Christ Jesus in the community.
HAVE I LOST MY MIND?
Before you sharpen your knife or load your revolver, let me explain why I am writing this today: The Church I read about in the New Testament, from which all of us have originated, was born under the sun of the largest Empire the world has ever known.
This early church did not conform to the pattern of the Empire, but it set itself apart from the Empire. It quietly, yet firmly, resisted the Empire's lust for power and expansion through bloodshed. They resisted even to the point of shedding their own blood - but not the blood of others - to demonstrate another way of living. This way of life was not like the life people lived outside of the Body of Christ. In fact, the only real source of life and wisdom came from Jesus, the Messiah, and it was the radical lifestyle of the early Christians that testified to this truth.
Their Lord (and ours) had also modelled a life which was contrary to the Empire of his day. The Empire had even used its power to put Jesus to death, so those who put their faith in Jesus as the Messiah continued to live in opposition to the pattern of the Empire after His Resurrection. The idea of conforming to the way of the World was anathema to them. Why is it not anathema to us today?
I understand that our nation has a different set of origins than the Roman Empire. I do understand that America is a place where the practice of religion is widely accepted (and not just Christianity, either). The parallels between America and Rome are not exact, however they are both Empires which are built upon the ideals of men (however noble they may be).
The American Empire is not built upon the teachings of Jesus. No Empire has ever attempted to carry out the policies of the One who said that we should turn the other cheek and love our enemies. In fact, no man-made, human lead government could ever survive with such policies as these. Only when Jesus Himself sits upon the throne of this Earth will His Kingdom be established in full. On that day, we might finally understand what a Christian Government looks like, but not today.
BE SET APART
When the Apostle John tells us about the fall of the Empires of this Age he records the words of an angel in heaven who says, "'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities'" (Revelation 18:4,5)
The phrase, "come out of her" is the exact phrase one would use when referring to the cessation of a sexual act. He is commanding us to repent of our fornication with the Empires of this World and to escape the wrath of God against those systems of man-made rule.
"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a royal priesthood. a holy nation, God’s very own possession." - 1 Peter 2:9
If we are the people of God, let us consider who we submit ourselves to, both in theory and (most importantly) in practice.
Are we a Church submitted more to the State than we are to the Lord Jesus?
Have we forgotten to resist the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds? (Rom 12)
What would it mean to be fully surrendered to Jesus alone, in every way?
Is Jesus really the head of the Church? Is He the head of your church?
Only you can answer those questions for yourself. I'm not here to create controversy for the sake of controversy. My heart's desire is for the Church to open her eyes and to consider how her actions and her attitudes reflect Christ in the world today.
Is the Church a tool of the State? Is the Church being leveraged to pass legislation or elect officials? Are we being manipulated by politicians to do their will? And if so, shouldn't we desire with all of our hearts to repent of this and to return to Christ as our only Lord and Master?
I suppose that's up to us to decide for ourselves.
Peace,
Keith
**
"The Church is not meant to be the master of the State, nor is the Church its servant, the Church must be its conscience." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
URGENT: PLEASE FORWARD TO EVERYONE!
DISCLAIMER: Please read the following article VERY CAREFULLY before you do anything
at all. There is more going on here than meets the eye. You have been forewarned. -
URGENT!
As most of us are aware, Christians today need to be more vigilant than ever before.
This is why what I am about to tell you is SO CRITICAL for each of us. I'm tempted to ask everyone to forward this to EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK right away. (Especially if you "really" love Jesus).
What I'm about to tell you is SO ALARMING, it could seriously threaten Church in America forever!
NEW LEGISLATION
There is new legislation in motion, at the earliest possible stage, which I need to let everyone know about now before it gets out of our control.
First, many of you are already aware that there are forces out there that threaten to take away the non-profit status of Christian Churches in America whenever messages of a political nature are delivered from the pulpit. As desperate as this is, there is a new development brewing now that is EVEN WORSE.
There are people who want to propose legislation that would challenge the non-profit status of any Christian Church simply based on whether or not that Church actually gives a significant percentage of its funds back to the community, as most other "non-religious" non-profits are required to do.
WHAT THIS MEANS is that your church could be in DANGER OF LOSING ITS NON-PROFIT STATUS simply because little of the tithe money goes to help out those poor families who live around the community. EVEN IF THEY DON'T ATTEND YOUR CHURCH!
Of course, there are plenty of churches in America that do care for the poor in their community. They pass out free groceries, they provide free oil changes for single Moms, they host after-school programs for kids in the area at no-charge, etc. Churches who are already "giving back" to the community in this way and serving others the way Jesus would would have NOTHING TO FEAR!
However, if a church in the community were to spend 70%, 80%, or even 99% of its tithe on ITSELF, it would be in danger of losing that non-profit status and would have to pay taxes JUST LIKE ALL OTHER LARGE CORPORATIONS.
This means that a church spending most of the tithe for salaries, or a new building, or the new flat-screen plasma televisions for the announcements in the nursery, or the Starbucks Coffee bar at the back of the Church, or the new carpet, etc., would have to justify their non-profit status on the basis of whether or not they were actually performing any actual "service" to the poor around them. If they couldn't demonstrate a tangible connection between their church and the community around them, their NON-PROFIT STATUS would be REVOKED FOREVER!
REGARDLESS OF THE FACT that Matthew 25 suggests that Jesus takes our concern for the outcast seriously, this attack on the non-profit status of our big, fat American churches is just NOT FAIR!
We've earned the right to collect as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as we like in the name of Jesus and it should be totally up to us how we spend that money. Especially if it's for our OWN NEEDS, WANTS AND DESIRES.
Just because we're not really involved in the needs of the poor around us, the Church SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED IN THIS WAY.
Regardless of the fact that the Church in America HAS THE POWER and the ECONOMIC RESOURCES necessary provide affordable housing, long-term community development, and primary health care to everyone who needs it, the US Government should NOT be the one to force this upon us through legal means. That should be left up to a Higher Power.
Even though Universal primary education would cost $8 billion a year, which is about half of what parents in the US will spend THIS YEAR on TOYS FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN, this has nothing to do with those of us who are called by the name of the One who humbled Himself and surrendered His life to demonstrate the compassion of God to the World, and especially to the least and the lost.
So, if you want to protect your church from this kind of judgement, I urge you to write to your pastors, your elders, your deacons and your church leaders and let them know how you feel about this very serious issue that faces the modern Church in America.
We, the Church in America, are dangerously close to the SIN OF SODOM!
Do you know what the Sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49:
"Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen."
Obviously, the issue facing the Church in America today is WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN SIMPLY OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS! If the Church were to rise up and spend their money this way, THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME THING, and yes, a lot of people would probably stop calling us HYPOCRITES and maybe they'd take us seriously when we tell them that Jesus loves them, because we've demonstrated that (just maybe) we love them too.
As you may have guessed, this legislation IS TOTALLY FICITIOUS! I have made up the entire thing with the help of my good friend Jarred Romley who first suggested the concept to me.
I couldn't resist mimicking the style of those alarmist Christian email messages we all get forwarded telling us that we must send it on to everyone we have ever known in order to prove our love for Jesus. Please, also forgive me for all the CAPITAL LETTERS I USED!
Seriously, I think if my friend Jarred were to introduce a Bill like this one to our Congress it might put a fire under our churches to wake up and realize that their Bibles are full of commands to care for the outcast, the poor, and the needy who are all around them. If nothing else, it would create an amazing open dialog in the media between the leaders of the Church, the members of the community, and the man on the street about issues of compassion, Christian charity, and the calling of Jesus to care for the poor as we would care for Him. (see Matthew 25)
Until that legislation comes to pass, I will have to resort to stunts like this to try to wake people up and realize that God's heart is for the poor and that He has taken this issue very seriously.
The truth is, the idea of their church losing its non-profit status is more likely to spur Christians to action than the fact that there are thousands of homeless, and poverty-stricken human beings suffering a few blocks from their front door.
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"- GOD, speaking of King Josiah in Jeremiah 22:16
Keith Giles
at all. There is more going on here than meets the eye. You have been forewarned. -
URGENT!
As most of us are aware, Christians today need to be more vigilant than ever before.
This is why what I am about to tell you is SO CRITICAL for each of us. I'm tempted to ask everyone to forward this to EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK right away. (Especially if you "really" love Jesus).
What I'm about to tell you is SO ALARMING, it could seriously threaten Church in America forever!
NEW LEGISLATION
There is new legislation in motion, at the earliest possible stage, which I need to let everyone know about now before it gets out of our control.
First, many of you are already aware that there are forces out there that threaten to take away the non-profit status of Christian Churches in America whenever messages of a political nature are delivered from the pulpit. As desperate as this is, there is a new development brewing now that is EVEN WORSE.
There are people who want to propose legislation that would challenge the non-profit status of any Christian Church simply based on whether or not that Church actually gives a significant percentage of its funds back to the community, as most other "non-religious" non-profits are required to do.
WHAT THIS MEANS is that your church could be in DANGER OF LOSING ITS NON-PROFIT STATUS simply because little of the tithe money goes to help out those poor families who live around the community. EVEN IF THEY DON'T ATTEND YOUR CHURCH!
Of course, there are plenty of churches in America that do care for the poor in their community. They pass out free groceries, they provide free oil changes for single Moms, they host after-school programs for kids in the area at no-charge, etc. Churches who are already "giving back" to the community in this way and serving others the way Jesus would would have NOTHING TO FEAR!
However, if a church in the community were to spend 70%, 80%, or even 99% of its tithe on ITSELF, it would be in danger of losing that non-profit status and would have to pay taxes JUST LIKE ALL OTHER LARGE CORPORATIONS.
This means that a church spending most of the tithe for salaries, or a new building, or the new flat-screen plasma televisions for the announcements in the nursery, or the Starbucks Coffee bar at the back of the Church, or the new carpet, etc., would have to justify their non-profit status on the basis of whether or not they were actually performing any actual "service" to the poor around them. If they couldn't demonstrate a tangible connection between their church and the community around them, their NON-PROFIT STATUS would be REVOKED FOREVER!
REGARDLESS OF THE FACT that Matthew 25 suggests that Jesus takes our concern for the outcast seriously, this attack on the non-profit status of our big, fat American churches is just NOT FAIR!
We've earned the right to collect as many hundreds of thousands of dollars as we like in the name of Jesus and it should be totally up to us how we spend that money. Especially if it's for our OWN NEEDS, WANTS AND DESIRES.
Just because we're not really involved in the needs of the poor around us, the Church SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED IN THIS WAY.
Regardless of the fact that the Church in America HAS THE POWER and the ECONOMIC RESOURCES necessary provide affordable housing, long-term community development, and primary health care to everyone who needs it, the US Government should NOT be the one to force this upon us through legal means. That should be left up to a Higher Power.
Even though Universal primary education would cost $8 billion a year, which is about half of what parents in the US will spend THIS YEAR on TOYS FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN, this has nothing to do with those of us who are called by the name of the One who humbled Himself and surrendered His life to demonstrate the compassion of God to the World, and especially to the least and the lost.
So, if you want to protect your church from this kind of judgement, I urge you to write to your pastors, your elders, your deacons and your church leaders and let them know how you feel about this very serious issue that faces the modern Church in America.
We, the Church in America, are dangerously close to the SIN OF SODOM!
Do you know what the Sin of Sodom is? Read Ezekiel 16: 49:
"Now this is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen."
Obviously, the issue facing the Church in America today is WAY MORE SERIOUS THAN SIMPLY OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS! If the Church were to rise up and spend their money this way, THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME THING, and yes, a lot of people would probably stop calling us HYPOCRITES and maybe they'd take us seriously when we tell them that Jesus loves them, because we've demonstrated that (just maybe) we love them too.
As you may have guessed, this legislation IS TOTALLY FICITIOUS! I have made up the entire thing with the help of my good friend Jarred Romley who first suggested the concept to me.
I couldn't resist mimicking the style of those alarmist Christian email messages we all get forwarded telling us that we must send it on to everyone we have ever known in order to prove our love for Jesus. Please, also forgive me for all the CAPITAL LETTERS I USED!
Seriously, I think if my friend Jarred were to introduce a Bill like this one to our Congress it might put a fire under our churches to wake up and realize that their Bibles are full of commands to care for the outcast, the poor, and the needy who are all around them. If nothing else, it would create an amazing open dialog in the media between the leaders of the Church, the members of the community, and the man on the street about issues of compassion, Christian charity, and the calling of Jesus to care for the poor as we would care for Him. (see Matthew 25)
Until that legislation comes to pass, I will have to resort to stunts like this to try to wake people up and realize that God's heart is for the poor and that He has taken this issue very seriously.
The truth is, the idea of their church losing its non-profit status is more likely to spur Christians to action than the fact that there are thousands of homeless, and poverty-stricken human beings suffering a few blocks from their front door.
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"- GOD, speaking of King Josiah in Jeremiah 22:16
Keith Giles
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
MY FRIEND ROBERT HIGGINS
My friend, Robert Higgins, is dieing of bone cancer.
I met him just over a year ago when Pete, the manager at the California Studio Inn in Santa Ana called me on my cell phone - something he never does unless it's an emergency.
Pete told me about Robert, a 77 year old man who was living on the streets. It was cold outside, mid-December, and icy rain was falling outside. "If I send him out in this," Pete told me, "I'm afraid he'll die on a park bench somewhere. He's really sick."
Pete would hardly describe himself as a follower of Jesus. In fact, when I first came to him to ask about serving at the motel he told me to hit the road and that I was wasting my time. Now, he's one of our partners in this ministry to the people of this motel. Without him we couldn't do anything there, and often he actually initiates our relationships with people in need.
Our house church family donated the $250 to buy Robert a week at the motel to give him a place to stay until his own Social Security checks came in. Eventually, with a lot of help from Pete, Robert ended up taking a regular room in the motel as a resident.
Initially I would drop by to check up on Robert now and again. Sometimes I'd run groceries up to his room on one of the Saturdays our house church was passing out food. Over the months, I can't really explain how, Robert and I became friends.
As I've gotten to know Robert I've learned that one of the things he hates the most is being helped. Sometimes people bring him gifts to show their love for him, but he's told me how it actually makes him angry. "If I were living on the streets and I had no income, that would be different," he says. "But I've got money, I've got a room of my own. I don't need anyone to take care of me."
I've tried explaining to him that when people from the church bring him gifts that it's their way of saying, "I love you," and I know he knows that, but it doesn't make it any easier for him to receive gifts.
"The help you give me," Robert says, "like when you pick up my mail for me or something like that. At least that's the kind of help I need, not the help people want to give me."
I've come to the conclusion that hell for Robert would be an army of people waiting on him and doing things for him and bringing him things he didn't ask for. He really, really hates when anyone does that - including me.
Over the last few months I've learned not to do anything without asking him. Only once have I done something that he explicitly told me not to do. I brought him a slice of homemade pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving day while he was staying at Fountain Care down the street from me.
He'd refused to come over to share Thanksgiving with my family. "That's a family thing," he said. So when I told him I was going to bring him a piece of Wendy's pumpkin pie after dinner he said, loudly, "No!"
"Yes, I am," I said.
"No, no, no."
"I'm just as stubborn as you are, Robert. I'm bringing you that pie with a big old layer of whip cream on top."
"Whip cream on top?" He paused. "Ok, then."
That was pretty much the only battle I've ever won with him.
Well, almost. On Monday of this week I shared lunch with Robert at his room in the Studio Inn. As we ate our KFC dinners he and I talked about his family, which he hasn't spoken to in several years.
"Have you thought about contacting your son again?"
"No, it's too late," he said.
"No, it's not too late. You've got months and months to live."
"It's the worst possible time for me to call them," he said."I think they think I'm already dead anyway. How would it be for them to get a call from me saying 'it's me' when all this time they've thought I was dead?"
"Wouldn't they be thrilled to know that you're still alive? And that they can still talk to you before you die of bone cancer?"
Robert shook his head. "No. It's too late for that now."
"I just know that if my Dad were dying of bone cancer I'd at least want the opportunity to say goodbye to him," I said, hoping for one last chance to change his mind. He was unmoved.
But, today I got a call from him on my cell phone. He even left a message which he's never even attempted to do before. I called him back and he said, "You got any plans for lunch today?"
I pulled my warmed up soup out of the microwave and snapped the plastic lid back over it. "Nope. You want me to bring you something?"
"How about some chicken from Pollo Loco?" he suggested. His meals usually flutter between KFC, Taco Bell and El Pollo Loco.
"Ok, I said."
After he gave me his order he added, "I'm buying this time. It's my turn." Then he said, "I was thinking about calling my son again. Maybe you could help me punch in the numbers?"
I stood there for a moment next to the microwave and smiled. "Sure, Robert. I can do that. I'll be right there."
Sadly, when Robert and I tried to track down his son and his ex-wife Rosa we discovered that they no longer lived in the same house in La Mirada. They had moved.
He hung his head and started to cry. "Just when I was ready to try and get back in touch with them," he said.
"It's ok, Robert. We've still got time to find them."
Robert kept his head down for a while. Then he said, "I sat here last night thinking about it. I'm not ready to go. I know I don't have much here in this life," he said. "But I'm not ready."
I sat across from my friend and I considered how to respond. As his pastor I knew I could rattle off a few Bible verses, or try to lead him in a prayer of salvation. But as his friend, I knew that what he needed in that moment was someone to understand his fear.
"You don't know how much time you have left, Robert. The Doctor's are only guessing at a number. You could have two or three years to live. Heck," I said. "I could die before I get back to work in a car accident. No one knows how long they have."
Robert nodded. "I know."
We talked for a while after that about his son, and his daughters. He shared the good memories of his ex-wife Rosa and wondered if she'd join him at the motel someday - if he could find her again.
"I think she might," I said.
"I'd like to talk to her again," he said. "I would tell her I miss her a lot. I think of her often and I still love her," he said.
I prayed that Robert would be able to reconnect with his wife and family again before he dies. I left him alone in his room with this fragile hope and shut the door behind me after saying goodbye.
As I walked down the set of steps down to the parking lot and back to my car I wondered about my response to Robert. I'm sure a better man than me would have whipped out the scriptures and sealed the deal with the four spiritual laws. I'm sure that's what I should have done as a pastor, and I didn't. I didn't because it didn't feel like a genuine response. It felt like what I was expected to do, but not what Robert needed in that moment.
Time after time I have walked this line with Robert between being his friend and being his pastor. I'm doing my best to love him because love isn't something Robert is used to. He's always accepted help and love from others with suspicion because everyone in his life has always made sure there were strings attached. Even his family. Especially his family.
There have been other moments where Robert and I have talked about God. Once, when he was recovering from surgery at Fountain Care, he took my hand in his own bony, withered hand and squeezed it. With tears in his eyes he told me, "Keith, I know I can make it as long as I've got you and the Lord with me."
I squeezed back. "God really is with you, Robert," I said.
"I never understood about God much when I was younger. It never made sense to me before what the pastor was saying up there, but I think I can talk to Him and I think he hears me," he said.
"I think sometimes we make it more complicated that it is," I said. "As long as we're willing to admit that we can't do it on our own and that we need God's help I think we're on the right track," I said.
Sometimes when I talk to people about Robert people ask me if Robert knows the Lord. It's difficult to answer that question right now. I think he's in process. I think God is speaking to Robert in his pain and through these circumstances. I think God is showing Robert how much he really loves him. I know that Robert has begun to see that God is very good to him, even in his suffering, and I know that Robert knows that he can talk to God anytime he needs to.
Right now my prayers for Robert are that he can regain contact with his son, Richard and his ex-wife Rosa before he dies of bone cancer. I also pray that one day the Lord will allow me to lead Robert into His presence and surrender his life to Jesus.
I already know that I will be with Robert until the very end. I will stand at his bedside when he is on morphine. I will be holding his hand when he passes from this life into the next one. I pray with all my heart that I can faithfully hand him off to the One who loves him more than he will ever know - on this side of eternity - when that day comes.
My friend, Robert Higgins, has bone cancer. He's 77 years old. And I'm the only family he has right now.
-kg
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)