all men die...few men live

The title above has long been a favorite line from the movie "Braveheart." William Wallace (Mel Gibson) is facing an epic battle and staring the possibility of death in the face.  In speaking these words, he was getting at a profound truth: that death is sure to come eventually to all men, but that the bigger question is how each man has lived -ie,  whether the life he's led up 'til that point was actually lived. Or if it was wasted...

It reminds me of another favorite quote:

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still inside them."

- Henry David Thoreau

The tragedy, all too often, is that many people take the life they've been given...and do nothing with it. The song stays trapped inside them - never sung and, thus, never heard.

Someone I know who broke out of the pull of inertia to sing his song boldly and gracefully is likely someone you've not met. His name is Zhya Jacobs, a friend of mine from Mumbai, India, who I had the pleasure of knowing for 6 months before his untimely death at the age of 34 this past November.

To all who knew him, he was a passionate man, one who lived his life with zeal, with grace and from a place of great love and care. The impact of this life, even in the days after his drowning, was reflected clearly in the incredible outpouring of sorrow and gratitude that followed. Sorrow because many (can you say multitudes?!) were feeling the profound loss of a good man. But, on the other side, gratitude - for having had him in our lives for however long we had been blessed to have him. This is because Zhya, in his short time here, had lived. And lived fully. And this life clearly touched others.

He would be the first to tell you - and tell you quite insistently with a large smile on his face - that this had everything to do with JESUS. See, Zhya was a whole-hearted student of JESUS - meaning that he not only believed in the truth of the Scriptures and in the effect of JESUS' life, death and resurrection, but that he sought to live in their reality. To love others, even his "enemies." To reach out to the marginalized and poor. To live in purity of mind and body. And to seek GOD above all else. Yes, he was a man who walked the talk, and was growing in that, day by day.

But even here, Zhya would tell you that it had nothing to do with him. Rather, he would tell you quite plainly that he had met GOD. That he had encountered the CREATOR of all that exists and had found in HIM a love beyond measure. And a reason for living: to share this love generously with everyone he came into contact with. And, thus, to live for a greater purpose than himself.

I believe that it's THIS that people were responding to when Zhya passed - the very life of GOD inhabiting a man who was surrendered to HIM. A life transformed by an ongoing relationship with this GOD - to be all that GOD had made him to be. A bright light shining in a dark world.

Ultimately, though, Zhya would tell you that all of this is available to you too. That you don't have to settle for less. That you don't have to live a life of quiet desperation. But, rather, that you can live fully in the life that GOD has created you to live. Here. And now.

May you come to do that just as he did.

::

"We shine like stars in the summer night, we'll shine like stars in the winter night,

one heart, one hope, one love..." 

With Or Without You | U2

brand new

This past Sunday, we held a baptism in Lake Michigan off North Avenue Beach in Chicago - with a stunning view of my favorite city as the backdrop.  

Personally, it was an amazing and humbling moment...taking part in baptizing 17 people from our two communities in the swells of the lake waters. Watching some come out of the water with clear joy etched on their faces.  Experiencing others' tears of relief and release.  And with each, having the idea that something much larger than me, than us, was happening in those moments.  

It led me to think about my own baptism, which took place in August 1999, where I gave my life wholly to JESUS in these same Lake Michigan waters, along this same shore.

It's a moment that's marked me ever since.

Not in any way that I can explain, actually.  But more so, somewhere deep down in the core of my soul something profoundly shifted that day - kinda like the day I got married to Janel.  Though we went through a pretty common ritual, led by a pretty normal guy (Pastor Dave), both of us felt it - that, in that moment, the universe shifted to accommodate something new that didn't exist before (Janel and I as ONE) and that a new reality was underway, with no going back to the old one.  Yes, from that point forward, we were no longer who we were before...but rather, we were "new" creatures, with a new identity, a new viewpoint and a new way of living.

It's no different with baptism.  When you plunge under the churning waters of Lake Michigan (or wherever you do it), you are bringing all that you've been to that moment - the good, the bad and the downright ugly (and boy, did I have some ugly to bring with me!) - with you.  Yet, when you arise out of the water, to gasp another breath and re-open your eyes, you are coming up with those very things that used to define you left behind.  As with my wedding day with Janel, I can't explain it, I can't point to any specific thing or event or circumstance to prove my point.  All I can tell you is that I just know.  Everything is different when you come up from the water.  You may be the same general person. You may look the same (albeit a little wet).  You may have the same hopes and aspirations (for now).  But you are new.  With a new identity, a new viewpoint and a new way of living.

This is what a follower of JESUS named Paul is getting at when he wrote these words to a community of fellow JESUS followers in an ancient greek city named Corinth:

"...Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone. A new life has begun!"

What he's getting at is at the very core of what we celebrate at baptism, and in taking communion.  That through JESUS, somehow, mysteriously, we have been given a clean slate - a new lease on life, if you will.  Quite literally, the old life is over. Done. Finished. And a new life, started fresh, is underway.  Oh, it may not be readily apparent at first, but it's there, like a seed lying dormant under the surface of the soil, beginning to burst forth, but still needing to make a lot of progress before it breaks through the topsoil to reach for the warmth of the sun.  

That's how baptism was for me 9 years ago.  Something started deep inside my soul, and over the past 9 years I've begun to see some of the outward effects of that decision to wholly follow JESUS.  Of course, I've not done it perfectly, but more and more I'm seeing the fruit of a life with HIM borne out.  More and more I'm finding myself moving in concert with HIS ways rather than the ways of the world, the way of self-promotion and self-service. And I'm more and more experiencing HIS idea of an abundant life - a life lived in the center of HIS purposes for you, giving away what you've been given to love and serve and bless others.  It is nothing short of miraculous, this change, especially in light of where I was when I went under the water in August 1999.

May you, and may those who were baptized on Sunday, see the same (and more) unfold in the days, months and years to come...

::

what's happened to you? - you used to look so tired

now there's a spring in your step and your words are on fire

did you hear some great secret? did the words ring of truth?

did you rise from the ashes? what's happened to you?

What's Happened To You? | The Call

rock or sand?

I was in Grand Rapids this past Sunday, at a church called Mars Hill...aptly named for the site in the Scriptures where this follower of JESUS named Paul addresses a group of religious people who are looking out for the latest idea about GOD (or the gods). who dialogue regularly about the meaning of life and all that's behind that. seekers of truth in the midst of a pagan society - some of whom are irreligious themselves.

it's a place that resonates with me, not only for the teaching of its pastor, Rob Bell, but for the things they believe in. you see, at Mars Hill, they actually attempt to live out the things they're learning from the Scriptures. oh, I'm sure not perfectly. but at least they're making a good showing of it. except that's just it - it's not for show. it seems to be bigger than that, as if they actually believe the things they preach.

which makes sense, actually. especially when you consider that what you do is a natural outcome of what you truly believe. an author I like to read says it quite pointedly this way: "what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do." see, what he's getting at in that power-packed tidbit is that you can't take people at their word for what they believe. oh sure, we'd like to. but history, and the Scriptures, teaches us that it's quite easy to profess one thing - even a noble thing - but then to go on living contrary to that. sometimes the hypocrisy is obvious, sometimes its subtle, but truly the proof is in the pudding. or the doing. 

the point? you will only act on something if you truly believe it. 

which means...if you want to know what someone believes, look at the way they live.

JESUS hits this truth hard as HE summarizes HIS sermon which has been famously recorded by HIS follower named Matthew (in the book of Matthew, of course).  this is how HE put it:

"Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on the bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash."

Perhaps the most intriguing, and revealing, part of that whole passage is the idea of sand.  Now, to most of us, that word conjures up images of playing on a beach as a kid, with a pail and a shovel, making some sort of structure, be it a castle or house or even a simple "mudhut."  Eventually, the water would come (or we would help it) and wash away the sand, causing our structure to fall in upon itself, crumbling into the from from which it came.  No surprise there.

So looking again at JESUS' words, our response must naturally be, "of course, only a complete fool would build on that type of surface."  Unless there is something more going on here than meets the eye.  And given that it's JESUS, you can figure that there probably is...

Which is why it's important to understand some context.  See, in JESUS' part of the world, there is something called sandstone that abounds everywhere.  And the thing about this sandstone is that it appears to be rock.  To even the trained eye, it looks like stone (hence, the name). And further, it feels like rock - hard and impenetrable...solid. For all practical purposes, it's stone.

Which works quite well to build a house upon.

Until water comes.

And THAT seems to be what JESUS is driving at in this teaching, as much as anything.  He knows that water will come - in the form of violent storms and  destructive wind.  And when it does, the foundation of the house will be revealed for what is.  Which is exactly what happens in our lives...

It's not the sunny, pleasant, safe times that reveal what we're made of.  No, not at all.  In fact, during such times, having a foundation of sandstone looks alot like having built on rock - with very little perceptible difference.  See, it's only when all hell breaks loose, when the **** hits the fan, and when the going gets tough, that the foundation shows through.  yes, THAT is when what we believe, who we trust, and - more importantly - who we follow is revealed.

I think JESUS is driving at the idea that you can subscribe to a religion, you can claim to be a Christian, and that you can spend plenty of time acting religious and pious, but that when storms of life come (and they will come - if you have any doubt, read the book of Job in the Old Testament), what you truly believe will be exposed.

Will you trust GOD and move closer to HIM?  Will you pray and meditate on the Scriptures and listen for HIS voice and dwell in HIS comfort?  Or will you take things into your own hands and try to figure out every detail and manage every aspect?  And will you push for what you want, what you need or what will work out best for you - whatever it takes?

See, like everything, it comes down to a question of who you trust and what agenda you follow...you and yours or GOD and HIS?

May you build wisely now...before the clouds ever gather...

::

to trust You with my life, to believe You all the time

and to leave my doubt behind - oh, to trust You with my life

and to give You everything, all the deepest parts of me

and to know You're always right - oh, to trust You with my life

To Trust You | Ginny Owens