Articles

The God Who Won't Give Up

07 September 2021

Not everyone in Jesus’ world gave him a warm welcome. Not everyone received him with grace. And many didn’t just ignore him, they rejected him.

Isaiah prophesied his reception like this: “He was despised and rejected by men” (Isa. 53:3 NIV).

John summarized the rejection of Jesus with these words: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:10-11 NIV).

How did Christ endure treatment like that? At any point he could have said, “I quit. I’ve had enough.” Why didn’t he? What kept him from giving up?

I wonder if Lee Ielpi understands the answer? He is a retired firefighter, a New York City firefighter. He gave twenty-six years to the city. But on September 11, 2001, he gave much more. He gave his son. Jonathan Ielpi was a fireman as well. When the Twin Towers fell, he was there.

Firefighters are a loyal clan. When one perishes in the line of duty, the body is left where it is until a firefighter who knows the person can come and quite literally pick it up. Le made the discovery of his son’s body his personal mission. He dug daily with dozens of others at the sixteen-acre graveyard. One Tuesday, December 11, three months after the disaster, his son was found. And Lee was there to carry him out.

He didn’t give up. The father didn’t quit. He refused to turn and leave. Why? Because his love for his son was greater than the pain of the search. Can’t the same be said about Christ? Why didn’t he quit? Because the love for his children was greater than the pain of the journey. He came to pull you out. Your world had collapsed. That’s why he came. You were dead, dead to sin. That’s why he came. He loves you. That’s why he came.

That’s why he endured the distance between us. “Love…endures all things.”

That’s why he endured the resistance from us. “Love…endures all things.”

That’s why he went the final step of the incarnation: “God made him who had not sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21 NIV).

Why did Jesus do that? There is only one answer. And that answer has one word. Love. And that love of Christ “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7 NKJV).

Think about that for a moment. Drink from that for a moment. Drink deeply. Don’t just sip or nip. It’s time to gulp. It’s time to let his love cover all things in your life. All secrets. All hurts. All hours of evil, minutes of worry.

The mornings you awoke in the bed of a stranger? His love will cover that. The years you peddled prejudice and pride? His love will cover that. Every promise broken, drug taken, penny stolen. Every cross word, cuss word, and harsh word. His love covers all things.

Let it. Discover along with the psalmist. “He…loads me with love and mercy” (Ps. 103:4). Picture a giant dump truck full of love. There you are behind it. God lifts the bed until the love starts to slide. Slowly at first, then down, down, down until you are hidden, buried, covered in his love.

“Hey, where are you?” someone asks.

“In here, covered in love.”

Let his love cover all things.

Do it for his sake. To the glory of his name.

Do it for your sake. For the peace of your heart.

And do it for their sake. For the people in your life. Let his love fall on you so yours can fall on them.

(published with permission)

Helping Someone Through Hard Times

13 July 2021

As a pastor for more than three decades, I’ve heard more than a few stories of heartache and hurt. Health scares, financial woes, relationship valleys: everyone I know is going through a hard time to some extent, and probably everyone you know is as well.

So what should we do when people share their turbulent times with us? Here are a few dos and don’ts:

Do tell them they’re not facing this time alone. Offer a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. Be available to run errands, care for kids, or provide a meal.

Don’t make the situation about you. It’s tempting to share your personal story—or that of a loved one—but this makes the conversation all about you, not about the person facing turbulent times. Focus on the person who is hurting.

Do urge them to make a plan. Hard times are a petri dish for brainless decisions, so help make a plan for getting through. And then help them stick to it.

Don’t enable foolish behavior. If your friend is in debt, a shopping spree won’t help the situation. An affair won’t mend a struggling marriage, and you can’t fix a drug addiction with more drugs. Stupid won’t fix stupid.

Do encourage forgiveness. Forgiveness can take time, but it’s the key that releases us from a prison of bitterness. As long as someone’s trying to forgive, they are forgiving.

Don’t advise revenge.  If someone’s been wronged, the desire for retribution can be hard to ignore. Revenge can feel sweet for the moment, but then what? The after effects of lashing out won’t help anyone get through the pain. It will only prolong the hurt and break more hearts.

Don’t promise a quick resolution. While we all wish a cancer would go into remission tomorrow or that pain would vanish next week, that may not be the case. Remain positive without being naïve.

Do look for the hidden good. When the time is right, look for positive outcomes that might be found in the mess, like restored relationships, a renewed zest for life, or wisdom for the future. All are possible effects of turbulent times. Help a friend focus on these silver linings when they appear.


(published with permission)

Do I Applaud What Is Right

20 May 2021

The summer before my eighth-grade year I made friends with a guy named Larry. He was new to town, so I encouraged him to go out for our school football team. He could meet some guys, and being a stocky fellow, he might even make the squad. He agreed.

The result was a good news-bad news scenario. The good news? He made the cut. The bad news. He won my position. I was demoted to second string. I tried to be happy for him, but it was tough.

A few weeks into the season Larry fell off a motorcycle and broke a finger. I remember the day he stood at my front door holding up his bandaged hand. “Looks like you’re going to have to play.”

I tried to feel sorry for him, but it was hard. The passage was a lot easier for Paul to write than it was for me to practice. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15 NASB).

You want to plumb the depths of your love for someone? How do you feel when that person succeeds? Do you rejoice? Or are you jealous? And when he or she stumbles? Falls to misfortune? Are you really sorry? Or are you secretly pleased?

Love never celebrates misfortune. Never. I like the way Eugene Peterson translates the passage: “Love. . .doesn’t revel when others grovel, [but] takes pleasure in the flowering of truth” (MSG). J.B. Phillips is equally descriptive: “Love . . .does not gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it shares the joy of those who live by the truth.”

You know your love is real when you weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. You know your love is real when you feel for others what your heavenly Father feels for you. Remember, love “rejoices whenever the truth wins out” (1 Cor. 13:6 NLT).

Excerpted from A Love Worth Giving
(published with permission)

So Glad God Doesn’t Require a Smartphone

16 April 2021

My cellphone contract is up. So, I am a candidate for a new smartphone. A week of shopping has made me wonder:  am I smart enough to buy a smartphone?

HTC, iOS, WWDC, S3, Samung, G-U-L-P. How many models are there? How many options can one brain process? Carriers, updates, data plans, and sizes…someone help me! 3G, 4G, LTE, GSM, HSPA+. NFC, GPS, PPI. Dual-core, quad-core. Five megapixels, eight megapixels. Android 4.1, Android 4.2. iOS 6, iOS 7. Q10, Z10. Google Play, iTunes, iCloud. Windows Phone 8 (or is it Windows 8 Phone?). BlackBerry . iPhone 5, iPhone 5S. Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S4. HTC One. Nexus 4.

Leaves me longing for the day of  wired telephones in the living room. I remember when my parents bought an extension for their bedroom. We thought we had moved ahead one century! Hang on to your hat, Alexander Bell.

Changes happen so fast these days, can anyone keep up? By one estimate, there are some 37,000 smartphones on the market today. That was a month ago. Odds are the number is now 38,000. Increasing at the rate of the national debt. Are you kidding me?

I am glad, really glad, that talking to God does not require a smartphone.  Jesus taught us to begin our prayers by saying, “Our Father in heaven” (Mt. 6:9). More specifically, our “Abba in heaven.”  Abba is an intimate, tender, folksy, pedestrian term, the warmest of the Aramaic words for “father.” Formality stripped away. Proximity promised. Jesus invites us to approach God like a child approaches Daddy. No special training required. No monthly plan needed.

Stunning, don’t you think, that the highest conversation in life requires nothing but an open heart and a “Dear Father?” How gracious of God to keep it simple.

Even more gracious of Him not to require a smartphone.

(published with permission)

How To Survive The Storm

08 February 2021

On January 12, 1888, a blizzard roared out of the skies of Canada and fell upon the Northern Plains of the United States. People of Montana, the Dakotas, and Nebraska felt the temperature drop 18 degrees in just three minutes. It kept falling, the wind kept howling, and the snow kept blowing. And within hours, a relatively warm winter’s day became a frozen siege that took the lives of at least 250 people. 

The air was so thick with crystals that people couldn’t breathe. Visibility was so poor that people couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces. Meteorologists call this zero/zero visibility. A person can’t see up or horizontally. As a result, a woman near Sioux Falls froze to death with her key in her hand just steps from her door. A husband and a wife died while walking in circles past each other in their farmyard. Most of the people who died, did so because they simply couldn’t find their way out of the storm.

The ones who survived relied upon bearings and markers to show them the way. Like Mr. Cotton, the schoolteacher, and the two boys Andreas and Johann Graber. They set out from the schoolhouse in the direction of the Graber homestead. The wind laced needles of snow in their eyes. The drifts pulled on their feet. The whiteness covered the roads and trails. Soon they realized they had no idea where to go.

Then the air cleared, for just a moment, and they spotted a row of trees. The boys recognized them as the fruit and nut saplings their father had planted. The trees lined a path from their front porch.  If they could move from tree to tree, they would be home.

Maybe that is what you need. The sudden storm has left you blind, disoriented.  Do you need a series of markers to guide you home? Make one. Through the years I have found this question a good one to ask in times of crisis. “What do you still have that no one can take?” Granted, the storms can take much, but they can’t take all. So, right in the midst of the snowstorm, make your list...

  • The promise of heaven
  • A family who cares for me
  • A God who knows me
  • God’s word to guide me

Make the list; then, like the boys in the blizzard, let it lead you to a safe place.

(published with permission)

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It's A New Day and It's Your Choice

01 January 2021

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice.

Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.

I choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical… the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace. I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience. I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite Him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I choose kindness. I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I choose goodness. I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I choose gentleness. Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control. I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful-ness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

(published with permission)