When "what the heck?" happens

What happens when you listen to God and he tells you to do something that scares you half to death? What if after obeying, it looks for all the world like you misheard? Do you pack up and go home to the comfortable, controllable Christianity you’ve always known? Do you leave before someone gets hurt?

                Two weeks ago, I had a blood-rushing, body-trembling experience that felt like a direct message from the Lord. Trouble is… It was a message of judgment… for someone I had never met. A change was required, a deadline set, and divine judgment threatened. I sweated and struggled with it for a long time. Was it biblical? Was it feasible? Dare I speak this judgment in God’s name? Dare I not? How could I deliver such an ominous message in a non-threatening spirit of humility and love? Finally, I made the call, left a message, and waited all day for the police to show up.

 Two days ago, this guy emailed me back. While respecting my sensitivity, he gave me three reasons for rejecting my message.  I responded and apologized for any harm done. It looks like I was wrong. Maybe I was. I never pretended to be a prophet, just another guy trying to be obedient. But does my “obedience” make more trouble than it’s worth?

Did the Old Testament prophets who “prophesied delusions” actually know that they were deluded? Or did they truly think they were hearing from the Lord? What was the difference between them and real prophets? Would God allow me to make such a monumental error? So the word of the day is, “what the heck!” I wish I had an answer. Right now, I just don’t. I can’t go back and I don’t know how to move forward.

Pumpkins, chickens and MORE!!!!!!

Good Lord! Why am I STILL waiting to eat this? It's in the oven right now and the aroma is overpowering. Fried chicken is amazing. It's Debra's recipe.

In other news, I carved my first jack-o-lantern in forever. It's a big pumpkin looking quite shocked at the sudden fate of his smaller counterpart. Pretty cool eh?

Now.... what's the MORE you ask? Well... I don't know. oh wait! There is one more thing! Annabel was a sock monkey for Holloween! Isn't that adorable?!

I like coffee (reprised)

I am not addicted. I can function perfectly well without it. I can quit whenever I want! Oh.... sweet creamy bliss! How I miss you this morning! But NO. I got plenty of sleep and I I wn't give in. Se?e I cjn blog with perfect4 clarity wit OR without c... c... coffee.

Goosebumps Christianity

We respectable evangelicals aren't comfortable with pentecostals and their "goosebumps Christianity". Sometimes is seems like they get so caught up in their transcendental experience of the Holy Spirit that they forget to be normal, decent human beings. They can seem strung-out on the Spirit, unstable, disorganized, unorthodox.

As my generation of evangelicals lashes back against the eastern mysticism of our post-modern peers, we try to take God out of the realms of mystery, and seat Him firmly in our midst. Reacting against dualism, we attempt to incorporate God into the mundane, the secular. Our prayer life loses all formality, our churches becomes spiritualized coffee shops (rather than grand cathedrals), and Eugene Peterson writes... The Message.

God's incarnation in our lives is our favorite new doctrine. And to a degree, this is GOOD! Loose the shackles of legalism and religiocracy! Find a God who is REAL, who is RELEVANT, who dwells among us. In college, I loved to meditate on the earthiness of God. I wrote a song that said:

All the liturgies in flight could not lose altitude
to find where You hang out: among the dirt, the grass, the roots.

Yet I was missing something. God is also bigger than me, higher than me, and still chalk-full of mystery. And these days, when I experience God, I think it's funny that I get goose bumps every time. He is the needy, crying, pooping baby in the manger. But He is also the burning bush, the one enthroned above the wheel full of eyes, the just, the merciful, the profound. Our experience of Him must profoundly encompass both images.


Isaiah 58:15 says, "I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly place of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." Yes, God is both lofty and low, ethereal and earthy, mystery and manifestation. So I propose that if you never get goosebumps as a Christian, something may be amiss. Let's work for a fuller picture. Let's be equally dedicated to both extremes.