In the Fire

Have you been reading or keeping up with the wildfires that have killed 180 people in Australia? I gotta be honest, I really haven't been. I've been bouncing around from one thing to the other, too consumed by my own life to be too much concerned with what's happened there. But, this morning, I was thinking about the missionaries and pastors and Christians in Australia, and I was wondering what kinds of doors and opportunities this tragedy is opening up.

See, here's the thing: when something horrific like this happens, it generally causes people who've never thought much about God, to spend a good bit of time with him on their minds, even if what they're thinking isn't that "God is great, God is good," type of things. But when it comes to light, as it has in this case, that humans were "responsible" for the fires, postmodern society really struggles. If everyone's supposed to be basically good and what they do right for them, what do you do with individuals who would start a fire like this that kills a bunch of people and destroys homes, property, and lives that have to be re-built? These are the types of questions that people have at times like these, and sometimes they turn to the church or to Christians to try and find answers. I'm praying that the missionaries and churches are ready to respond. . . not with all the answers, but with the Gospel. I'm praying they'll be there with garbage bags, hammers, saws, and food; arms that can hold, eyes that are wet with tears over the pain, and mouths that are appropriately closed when just being there is what's called for; and I'm also hoping they'll be there with open Bibles, ready to give people the only hope there is when what you believed about human nature is shaken and you're literally standing around in the charred rubble of your life.

Slain in the Dark

It was a council of three, called to order by the Father, and it was done in the dark. The topic of conversation was man's sin. How to deal with and make atonement for the sinful nature that all men would have as a result of the actions of the first man and woman. There was no discussion, there was no other point of view. God had to become man, live as a perfect man, and die for the sins of those he'd chosen. There was no other way it could happen, nothing else that could be done. So, there in the darkness, before the world was created (Revelation 13:8), in the mind of God the Father, his son was slain, thus opening the way for men and women of faith to find life in Christ, even before he came to earth. It happened in the dark. The decision, the settled certainty of the event that would bring more light and more hope to the world than any other in all of history, and it gives us another reason to cherish the darkness.

It Hath Charms

One of the effects of (or perhaps causes of) my nightmares and sleep issues has been extreme restlessness. It's not too hard to imagine that getting 2-3 hours of sleep each night would make it hard to concetrate and focus and be still, or it could be that this is spiritual warfare and demonic activity in my life and that's why I'm having trouble sleeping in the first place. At any rate, the result is I'm restless in body, soul, and mind most of the time. Except when there's music playing. The longer I live with this, the more things get added to the "weird" column, and I almost put this one into that column, until the Holy Spirit brought to mind the passage from I Samuel 16:14-23. It's after God has rejected Saul as king of Israel, and he (God) sends an evil spirit to torment Saul. The passage says that David was brought into Saul's presence and "whenever the eveil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him."

Okay, I gotta clarify a few things here, before I start getting a bunch of phone calls and e-mails. I'm not saying that God has rejected me as he did Saul. Biblically, I don't think that's possible. And, I'm also not saying that whatever is going on with me is an evil spirit that God has "sent" to torment me. The only parallel I'm drawing between Saul and myself right now is the fact that we both were/are tormented by something, and we both found/find comfort in the playing of music.

Here's the thing: throughout all this, I've found such comfort in music, both as it's played and sung. It's given me brief moments of peace and rest for my soul and emotions. One of the most precious (in multiple senses of the word) hours I've had through all this is each Wednesday night going to choir practice at my church. This past Sunday, as I was looking over my lesson for Sunday School one more time, I went up to the sanctuary where the praise team and band were practicing for the worship service, just so I could be near the music. It may not last forever, and right now it doesn't seem to be a permanent "fix" to the situation. When the music stops, the restlessness returns. But those moments while it's playing I am refreshed and well, and the evil really does seem to depart.

Chosen in the Dark

If you haven't read it yet, please take a minute and read the introduction to this series.

God chose me in the dark. Before light was created (Genesis 1:2-3), before the earth itself was created God chose me to be his son (Ephesians 1:4). There may be no better reason to love the darkness than this! It was in the dark, before there was life, before I could sin or do good works, before I had the ability to know God, he chose me, of his own accord, of his own delight. Even though he certainly knows all, he didn't peer through the darkness to see my decision and pre-empt me by picking me first. Instead, in that moment, the quiet, stillness of the dark, when it was only Him, his Son, and his Spirit, he said "yes" to Jason. Here's the thing: nothing any more significant than that could ever take place in the dark, and it is to that I cling when the darkness feels like a prison cell or like it's closing in fast to suffocate. It becomes, not an agent of constriction but one of freedom.

A "Dark Theology": Introduction

Okay, here's the thing: I'm a little nervous about posting this for a couple of reasons. One, I don't have all my ideas fully thought through, and there's nothing like putting something in print that you're not totally sure about! The second thing, is I'm a little afraid that folks will misunderstand where I'm coming from on this and will misinterpret what I'm actually talking about. That being said, here goes. . .

One of the things that can happen when you don't sleep is that you end up spending a lot of time in the dark. Over the course of the past few months, I've reflected on and thought about darkness. Darkness is used over and over again in Scripture as a symbol for sin, often times hidden sin (In John 12, Jesus talks about how he's come into the world so that we no longer have to walk in darkness. In 2 Corinthians Paul uses darkness to represent unbelievers and contrasts that to believers who are in the light. I John 1 admonishes believers not to hide their sins in the dark but to bring them into the light where God is). Figurative darkness is used in Scripture with mostly negative connotations.

But what about actual darkness? Is there a difference? Does physical darkness have about it the same secret, closed off, sinful ethos that figurative darkness does? As I've thought about it, I've come to realize that actually, a lot of really amazing and really important things concerning my Christian life and relationship with God happened in literal darkness, and so I've begun to try and reflect on some of these to make the dark that I find myself in more and more these days (and nights), and over the course of a few blogs, I'm going to be sharing and talking some about what I've discovered.

Sunday School Sneak Peek

This week's lesson is titled, "Evangelism: It's About Asking the Right Questions," and we'll be looking at how questions can be used as a great way to get into spiritual conversations with people.

See you at 9:05 in Room S-180.

Easy for YOU to Say. . .

One of the funnier side effects of all the sleep issues I've been dealing with is my speech. It typically happens later in the afternoon or at night, and it manifests itself in a few different ways.

The first way is that sometimes I actually can't put a sentence together. The words come out, but they don't come out in order or connected. It sounds a little something like this, "Yeah, it's like me too." Now, that would be fine if I was a surfer from southern California responding to a question and I added a "fur sure" on the end, but since I live in Alabama and am responding to someone who just said, "I really liked that movie" it tends not to make much sense.

The second way it shows up is stuttering. I've never really had an issue with stuttering or stammering, but all of a sudden I can't get the words out! Sometimes it's the first letter, but more often it's the entire word. I get about halfway through and have to start over. It's cu-cu-cu-curazy!

But, here's the thing: the last one is probably my favorite. That's when I start talking 90 miles-an-hour, like I'm on speed. I did this to a friend of mine the other night on the way home from work. I called her, and just went on and on and on, finally taking a breath to hear her laughing on the other end of the phone! Trust me, of the three, you definitely want the guy on speed to show up. It's much more fun and less frustrating than the other two.

So, next time you see me, and it's afternoon or evening, roll the dice and say "hi." Who knows what you'll get?!