The Practice Of Love

I'm pleased to let you know about a book published by Civitas Press that is being released on May 1, entitled "The Practice Of Love: Real Stories Of Living Into The Kingdom of God."

It's a collection of essays about people practicing the love of Christ. I usually don't recommend books to you, but I have a selfish motive for this one.  I wrote an essay for it.

I've been spotty in my posting lately because I've been doing some writing on the side. My mother was an author and I remember the process she had to endure to get books published. She'd send off manuscripts and query letters by the dozens to only get a barrage of rejections, but she'd press forward.

For me, in this information rich age, the process was easier and I thank God for His mercy and the people at Civitas. I made a comment in a post one day about writing and was contacted the next day by the editor at Civitas Press. They have a heart for writers and good writing. Jonathan Brink, the editor, has made me into a better writer with a lot of input.

I was asked to write a submission on what it means to love oneself. At first, I inwardly scoffed at the idea. I thought, "I love myself just fine, maybe too much." But the request came at a time when I was struggling with reconciling with people I had hurt through my fall.

While writing my submission, I had a breakthrough and realized that I had spent a lot of time beating myself up over sins that God had already forgiven me for. I realized that Christ loved me despite my sin and that He had freely forgiven it. On the other hand, I still hated myself for what I had done. That was the basis for my essay.

I hope you'll buy the book which is available through the publisher and will also soon be available on Amazon. Either way, thank you for taking the time to be a faithful reader.

Candy Crosses

About three years ago, I got into a fierce Facebook argument over Easter candy. Yeah, it was kinda stupid.

A friend of mine posted a picture of "candy crosses" on his Facebook page and asked people what they thought of a crucifix made of chocolate. Oh, yeah, I had an opinion. You bet I did.

But I waited for the first Suzy Sunday School to post her "bright and happy" opinion before I tore her up.

She said something like, "I don't see anything wrong with it. It's just candy and it teaches our kids about Jesus. It's harmless."

I was dripping venom on my keyboard as I responded with something like this: "The Roman cross was a tool of torture that killed our Savior. And we make it into a chocolate confection? Is that really what we should do to celebrate Resurrection Sunday? Let me give you the modern crossover. How about we make little chocolate electric chairs filled with creamy filling? Or lethal injection kits with injectable raspberry goodness?"

Yeah, tactless. And a huge conversation ensued.

But it's three years later and I've changed my mind. I think we should keep candy crosses around.

On my way to church each Sunday, I've got about a 30 minute drive and I love to listen to the AM band on the radio. (Not to mention the junk that's on television each morning.)

The gospel is hardly being preached. Jesus is presented as someone who wants to make us prosper. It's a false gospel meant to make us well, meant to make us rich, meant to make us the happiest people on planet earth.

That's not the gospel.

The gospel is our Savior crucified for our sins, in our place.  We were once the enemy of God but we can now come to Him because of what Jesus did. He doesn't promise an easy life, but suffering if we follow Him.

So we need to keep the candy crosses around. Know why? Because our poor, pitiful modern church has created some pathetic versions of a confectionery, fake Jesus that need to be crucified on them.

Learning From Chris Brown: Moving Past Ourselves

Singer Chris Brown sat down with Robin Roberts of Good Morning America yesterday for an interview before he sang a single from his new album, "F.A.M.E."

Roberts asked Brown about his past with singer Rihanna and the restraining order that was placed against him due to violence against her. Brown was agitated with the questions, performed his song, then went to his dressing room and allegedly busted out the window.

Here's the video of the interview:

I don't have a dog in the hunt because I don't really care about the entertainment industry as a whole. It did cause me reflection on my own life, however.

Brown said that "F.A.M.E." stood for "Forgiving All My Enemies." I don't know what sparked the dressing room melee, but it seems it was the questioning by Roberts about his past. Maybe I'm wrong.

I am sympathetic towards him in his journey, however. I'm not sympathetic towards his sin. I was where he was at one point. I can identify with his frustration.

At one point, I thought I had moved past my adultery, humbled myself, and was in a place where I was moving on enough to talk to people at my former church. I thought that if the topic of my former sin was brought up, or if I was confronted with it, I would be fine and could let it roll off my back. Even if someone told me what a wretch I was and wanted to hound me about it (which Roberts wasn't doing, in my opinion), I would be okay. I thought I could just smile and own up.

But I was wrong. I was fooling myself. That process took much longer than I thought. It takes a humbling work of God to show us that we are prideful people who need to confess that we are lowly people who have much work to do.

Sometimes, deep within us, we still hold on to the idea that despite our awful sin, we were somehow right. Sure, circumstances may occur to lead us in a certain direction in life. And at times, people may treat us poorly after we sin, but sin is still sin.

Until we take ownership of that sin and confess it and say, "You know what? Sin is sin. I messed up," we can never really "forgive all our enemies." We will never be able to look them in the eye with the confidence that Christ has forgiven us, even if they persecute us.

Because when Christ has forgiven, who is left to condemn us?

Stress And Fasting

Ever have a lot of stuff hit you at once?

Of course you do. It's called life. I've got about eight projects going on right now that I need to finish yesterday.

One of the ones I'm really anticipating is that I've been asked to preach next month. I haven't preached in almost a year. I miss preaching. It's at the church Cynthia and I used to go to when we first go married.

I made amends with the pastor and I'm planning on going there and giving my testimony on my fall. I'm not giving gory details, but I do plan on telling them about how despite our sin, Christ does forgive and cover all of our sins. I'm nervous, yet excited.

It's one thing to be transparent on a blog, but it's another thing to open your life, soul and heart in front of a congregation. Most of the people there didn't know I fell. I have the feeling they'll be understanding.

I also know that hearing the story of forgiveness from Scripture might help some of them as well. But then again, they might light torches and chase me out of there. Who knows? No, of course they won't. They're great people and will be very supportive.

I've just been under a huge amount of stress lately at my work and with other projects. So, I decided to fast. Which isn't easy with a lifelong health condition I have. However, fasting is extremely important.

I read a book by John Piper on the subject once and I'm loosely paraphrasing his definition here. He said that fasting gets our focus off the gifts and puts our mind on the giver of the gifts. I enjoy the process of fasting.

As consumeristic (is that a word?) Americans, we're so tied down on eating and gluttony. We have drive-thrus so we don't have to get out of the car. We go to the grocery store and the junk food is stacked on the end of the aisle. The candy is right next to the register. The restaurants have buffets for us so we can keep shoveling it in. And those things aren't bad, trust me. I love the convenience.

But once in a while, I have to remind myself that the gift of food is just that - a gift. I have to concentrate on the giver of those things. And when I do, I break free of those bonds and pray for a few days and thank Him. After the initial hunger goes away (and it takes a while), it's easier to focus on Him and what He wants me to do.

Check out Piper's book, "A Hunger For God," if you can. It's available on Kindle as well. (I don't get a kickback either.) Usually you can buy it from his website for cheaper. If you can't afford it, you can call them and work something out with them.

So if you're feeling stressed, realize that it may be because you're too focused on the world. Take time to focus on the Giver of all that is good.