One Difference

While having my devotion time the other 29° morning, I made sure to position myself right in the sunlight. My office is the coldest room in the winter and hottest room in the summer at our house. So on this chilly morning, I wanted to be squarely in the sun.

I was reading Jeremiah 5 at the time ... a sad little chapter where God tells the prophet to try to find just one honest person in Jerusalem, and He will forgive the entire city. You know the Genesis 18 Sodom and Gomorrah story where Abraham begs God to save the cities for 10 righteous people, then He can't find 10 and destroys them? Well, in this instance, God will save the city for one. And Jeremiah can't find one. The people refuse correction, refuse to repent. God calls them "foolish" and "senseless" and promises recompense. God says they are about to be conquered by a nation of mighty warriors that will go on a destruction rampage. And, boy, do they ever. The Persians destroy the city, burn the temple and take captives back to Babylon. It's a devastating blow for the Chosen People, and God says they will ask why it happened, to which He replies: "As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own." And  they do ... for 70 God-ordained years. But notice that God does not destroy the nation. In the midst of God's prediction of punishment for the Jews, he says he will not destroy them completely. He brings them back to their lands and the temple is rebuilt.

You can hear the anguish of the Father in this chapter. He's frustrated with His children whom He has asked time and time again, through the prophets, to repent and do good, worship Him alone, and care for orphans, the poor and the oppressed. But they don't. "Should I not punish them for this?" declares the Lord. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?" He asks in verse 29. Back in verse 22 He asks them why they don't fear Him when He is the Almighty One who set the boundary for the sea at the sand, that that "waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it." This is the God we serve. He may have patience, unbelievable patience, but even God eventually says, "Enough."

While I sat in the sun reading, the sky darkened slightly. Noticing a shadow and sudden drop in temperature for those seconds, I looked up to see a tiny ... and I mean tiny ... cloud covering the sun. We had perfectly clear skies except for that blip of a vapor. But wow, what a difference in temperature it made for the brief time the cloud had possession of the sun. I anxiously awaited for that thing to move on. And it did quickly. But I couldn't help but notice what a difference one small cloud could make. And it made me aware of the power of just one wee thing. The whole neighborhood was darkened by that one cloud. Scary how something so little can easily shadow the light.

But Scripture tells us one can easily make a difference, too. Just imagine if Jeremiah would have found just one honest person in Jerusalem. What a difference it would have made in Jewish history.

It did take One later to make a true, complete and perfect difference. A little less than 600 years later, God sent One to make all the difference in the world and save us all. He brought an inextinguishable light. A gift of atonement and forgiveness to forever cover the multitude of "foolish" and "senseless" sins that we have committed in the 2,000 years since, if we only ask. Glory to the Most High God for His love and precious Son Jesus.

Praying that in the midst of our generation, where there seems to be more than one cloud darkening the nation, we can be the difference that stands on the Word in worship, obedience and love. We sure need it.

Make Jupiter

Last week I spent hours working on a Shutterfly project. I had just got it completed and hit save when I lost the website connection. One thing you learn from being a journalist is that you "save early and save often." All you have to do is lose one completed project to know how important it is to save frequently. And I did for this project. The problem is, when I reestablished the connection and went back to Shutterfly to find the project, it had only saved the first few pages. Everything else was gone. I went ballistic. I was so angry. Hours wasted. I got up and walked away from the computer, my mouth pouring forth speech that was not appropriate for anyone's ears. One of my biggest pet peeves is technology that doesn't do as it's supposed to (I'm sure God is giggling at me right now, thinking of His creation not doing what it's supposed to). So instead of continuing this rant, I decided to turn it into a discussion with God. I don't know that I could even qualify it as prayer, with the ferocity with which I spoke. It was a very one-sided discussion. I needed to vent. So here's pretty much how it went:

"Lord, I'm sorry for these outbursts, but come on! You saw me finish it! I did everything right! It's not fair! God, imagine if you were right in the middle of making Mars, and just as you were about to finish it off, it disappeared. Mars is gone. Imagine how you'd feel! Of course, you're divine, so I'll bet you'd just say, 'I'll make one better' and go make Jupiter."

It was then in the second of silence I gave my Lord that He whispered to my spirit...

"Then make Jupiter."

It caught me off guard. And instantly calmed me. Of course! Instead of wallowing, throwing a fit and complaining, just get back to work and make it better!

So I did.

And the project is. It's actually probably two times better than it was. I was able to tweak some parts, make a far more powerful addition and embellish in places I hadn't thought of before.

Now here's the thing. I would have redone it anyway. And it might have been better regardless. But God did something beautiful in my temper tantrum. Rather than scold me, rather that just listen to me angrily and vigorously expound on my poor-pitiful-me fortune, God in His sweet grace and love, whispered a pretty funny comeback to calm me down. He's so clever. He's so amazing. He's so beautiful. He's so loving. He's so patient. He's so awesome.

Now, I am never going to make a Jupiter, but created in His image, I can certainly make a better attempt at whatever I am working on, no matter the roadblocks, diversions and failures. And trust me, anytime in the future when this happens again ... and it will happen ... I have a new mantra. I will do as God sweetly commanded ... and make Jupiter.

A Mist That Vanishes

I finished teaching a Bible Study on Noah and the ark recently, where participants spent part of the time talking about genealogy. That every human being could trace their lineage back to Noah and subsequently back to Adam is truly amazing, with more emphasis on the "truly." How remarkable to realize that we are all related to one another. It gives you a different perspective when dealing with people who disagree with you or flat out do not like you.

As a result of the study, I decided to do a little digging of my own with ancestry.com to see how far back I could trace my family tree. My objective was to get as close to Noah as possible. Well, truth is, it's impossible with the records we have available today, but it was fun to see how far back I could go. Thankfully, I have an aunt who spends hours doing genealogical research, so most of the job was done for me. I was able to trace our family back to the third century AD. That's pretty amazing itself.

While doing this research, there was something impactful I learned: most of the people I came across were just names. Yes, they had lives with, I'm sure, fascinating life stories, but we'll never know them. There is just no written historical data about most of these people. Names with no stories, no birthplace records, no occupations, no adventures, no spiritual revelations. It was sad in a way. The only people who had any information about them where the sprinkling of royals in the line or those famous for something really good or, ahem, bad. Like good old Algernon Sydney Cook, my third great grandfather on my mother's side of the family, who served in the Civil War. I excitedly looked up military records to learn what I could about his service, only to discover he created Cook's Guerilla's, a terrorist group, and opened at least one brothel. Yay, great-gramps.

But I found nothing on 95% of the names. The only legacy these people left for me to find was their children ... and their children ... and their children.

I wanted to know more, but there just isn't any more available. It made me look at my own life a little closer. While I am grateful for a legacy of two children and the hopes of future grand and great-grandchildren, I don't want my name to be all that's left of me, (although I'll take that over being remembered for something bad). I want to leave a legacy of faith behind me. I want there to be stories circulating long after I'm gone about what was done to grow the Kingdom of God, the miracles of God at work and lives changed in His name. 

There's a song by Branch & Dean called The Dash about the dash between our birth and death years

found on a tombstone. One line in the song says, "Our story's defined by how we spend the dash." Doing this ancestry hunt brought that home for me. I don't want all that's left of me to be two years and a dash.

James 4:14 says, "Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." Our lives are a blip. A vapor. In the words of James, a mist that vanishes. What is the solution? Out-giving, out-loving, out-serving our neighbor in Jesus' name. That's a dash-filled life and legacy.

Praying hundreds of years from now when my descendants do their own family tree hunting, that when they see my name, it's not just a birth and death year they find, but countless stories of serving Christ. Not lost to history but rather motivating the future to do the same ... and leave a legacy of faith.

Mysteriously Moved

In addition to this day being Thanksgiving and the 55th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it is also the 55th anniversary of the death of one of my favorite writers, C.S. Lewis. Lewis died without much memorial fanfair in the shadow of a horrific American tragedy. Yet he is beloved and venerated by so many. He is the author of some of my most favorite books: Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicle of Narnia, to name a few.

Recently, I have been listening to an audio biography about Lewis. About two days ago I came to the part where Lewis talks about his conversion to Christianity. He was a vocal atheist calling Christianity a "myth." He was introduced to Christianity slowly through the planting of many seeds by people around him, but it was a late night walk with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson on Sept. 20, 1931, that pretty much sealed the deal. They talked of all manor of subjects way past midnight, spending a good bit of time on Christianity. Lewis wrote to a friend after that stroll on Addison's Walk at Oxford University that he was "mysteriously moved" by the idea of God "sacrificing himself to himself."

There was something about that statement that made me stop, rewind and listen again. This is not new information for me by any means, but the phrasing was sweetly simplistic and accurate. The idea of God in heaven being worshiped by countless sacrifices over thousands of years - which never fully atoned for His creation's disobedience - then coming to the conclusion that He must sacrifice Himself on our behalves is overwhelming. An all encompassing sacrifice so that we would never again need to atone: Christ has done it all. Of course, such a revelation would be profound for Lewis. As a result of this realization (and his acceptance of Christ into his life nine days later), we are the grateful recipients of some of the best books of the last century and some profound theology. Praise God for the persistence of Lewis' friends and God's unwavering patience for his lost children.

This is why I never give up praying for and sharing the Good  News of Jesus Christ through words and love to the people in my life who have not accepted Him as Savior. While it can seem a daunting task when it seems God's mercy is falling on deaf ears, hearing about stories like Lewis' is inspirational and encouraging. We can strive on in hope that those we love will one day be "mysteriously moved" by something which brings them to a point of reverence, repentance and acceptance. The end result is so worth it and changes the world time and time again.

I excitedly await the time those on my prayer list come to the realization that our Awesome God, who sacrificed Himself to Himself, loves them that much. What a day of rejoicing that will be. Just as the very day C.S. Lewis walked through the gates of Heaven to meet face-to-face the God who persistently pursued him. Glory to Him!