Book Review - AHA - Awakening.Honesty.Action by Kyle Idleman

Ok, I admit it.  I am a huge fan of Kyle Idleman.  This would be my third post about a book he has written.  To see my thoughts about the other two, click on the titles: Gods at War and Not a Fan.

If you are familiar with his work, you would notice sound biblical teaching peppered with a great sense of humor.  This book is no different.  Make sure you read the footnotes, as some of these made me laugh out loud.*

The book follows the very familiar parable of the lost son found in Luke (Luke 15:11-32).  You may be familiar with the story, but to quickly recap, a man has two sons, one who worked hard, and one  who rebelled and traveled to a distant country with his future inheritance.  After hard times hit, the son had a sudden awakening, was brutally honest with himself, and took action to return home to amend his relationship with his father.

Kyle takes the passage, and breaks it apart in a very real way.  He describes our own acts of sin and rebellion as a trip to the "distant country."  He explores the concept of a sudden awakening moment - the moment you realize the consequences of your sins.  He then is very brutal in his honesty of these sins, discussing the difference between regret and repentance.

The awakening must lead to honesty.  Conviction must lead to confession.  This is the biggest difference between regret and repentance.  Many of us will have an awakening and regret that things have turned out the way they have, but we won't repent of our part in it. (Chapter 5)

He noticed that Christians find ourselves struggling to be honest with ourselves, let alone with others when it comes to the secrets sins we harbor.  He then goes one step further and says it's even worse for pastors.  He says we all need someone in our life with whom we can be brutally honest.  This person should be one you trust and who trusts you completely, one who is honest and who shares in your convictions, and above all, one who has freely received grace from Jesus and freely offers grace to others.

Is this someone you have in your life?

The third part of the book is the last piece of the puzzle: taking action.  Kyle challenges the excuses we all take when we fail to act, even after recognizing and confessing our sins.

I am currently reading this book for the second time, taking advantage of the study questions at the end of the book.  I highly recommend this book for small groups or leadership teams, or even just for personal study.

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." ~James 5:16 (NLT)

*It's the random stuff, like the usefulness of Jedi mind tricks that make me laugh out loud.

About Time

I recently watched a movie I found in the Redbox rental unit: About Time.  This movie isn't a Christian movie or even one that is on a family's "safe" list for kids, due to adult situations, but the story is compelling.  

The premise of the movie is a father who shares with his newly grown son that the "men of this family can travel in time."  He goes on to say they can only go back in the time of their own experiences and relive specific moments of their own life.  His grown son experiences disbelief until he goes into a dark place, clenches his fists, and imagines himself back to the moment he wishes he could do over.  

Wouldn't you like to do a moment of life over again?  What if you could change some pivotal bad decision you made, either by action or inaction?  What if you could relive that perfect day over and over?  I found myself getting caught up in the story, as I could see the real relationship was in the father's love for his son.  The lesson of the movie was to live each moment of life as the present, without worrying about the future or agonizing over the past.  Each moment is to be lived in the here and now.  

I reviewed Solomon's writings in the book of Ecclesiastes after I watched this movie.  Solomon had learned about the futility of life, and wrote specifically about this.  Most people could recognize the passage about time:

For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under the heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance. 

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

A time to search and a time to quit searching

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

A time for love and a time for hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NLT)

Solomon was dealing with the futility of pursuit.  He realized that there wasn't meaning in chasing after the things of the world.  In the end, the only thing that mattered was the time spent with God.  

This is the relationship we must cultivate and develop.  Every moment of every day we live, we must remember our God who granted it.  Some of the moments of life are very good, and we should thank our God for these moments to we have to cherish.  Other moments we would rather forget, or do over, but these are the moments He chooses to use for our growth.

I'm living for God today.  Are you?

Crossing the Chasm

Who knew the same walk would yield yet another picture to write about?  Walking through a forest preserve, my friend captured a picture he titled, "Entanglement."  He told me the tree branches represented the vining trappings of what he considered the world (I called it sin).

Later he sent another picture called "Post Entanglement."  He said to me, "OK, I have overcome that problem, this addiction, but this is the world I still live in."  I told him sometimes, even the righteous still have problems and there sometimes is no explanation.  I told him even in the low times of calamity, God is still there with him.

Just this week, he sent this photo.  He said this represents the image of the bridge that crosses the chasm that is the world today.  He said he is pushing on.  He broke the bonds of entanglement, and he withstood the vast wasteland of post entanglement.

He said he did not do that alone.  God provided a bridge to cross the great divide.  He provided Jesus.  There is biblical truth to this statement.  The message in the gospels is that there is no path to heaven without Jesus.

Jesus told a parable about a rich man who found himself on the wrong side of a deep chasm, the place of the dead.  Across the void, the man saw a previous acquaintance in the place of Abraham, and he begged to cross the great divide.  Luke records this scripture, "And besides, there is a great chasm separating us.  No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there." ~Luke 16:26 (NLT).  Jesus told this parable to relate that after death, there are no more chances to cross over to heaven.  The choice to cross the chasm belongs solely to this life.  We need to accept Christ as our savior.  He alone is the bridge to our salvation.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.  Go to church and hear about how Christ defeated death and rose from death to break the power of sin.

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)

The Scapegoat

The scapegoat that was sent away into the desert

Today, we remember the ultimate sacrifice Christ made for us.

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the lord laid on him the sins of us all. (Isaiah 53:5, 6 NLT)

This past Wednesday, our church hosted a Messianic Jewish man who led us in a Seder Dinner.  During the dinner, each of the traditional symbols of atonement were explained.  During the Seder, he pointed out that before Christ, each person had to slaughter their own sacrificial lamb and spill the blood as atonement for our personal sins.  This was considered important, that the person feel the pain of the sacrificial animal that had to die to atone for the sins.  In this same manner, we need to understand that if it was not for our personal sins, Christ would not have had to die.  In this sense, we killed him.

Personal sacrifice was not enough in the Old Testament.  The priests also sacrificed a goat once a year to atone for the sins of the nation, laying on all the sins to a second goat, known as the scapegoat, which was driven out into the desert.

Let's explore the concept of a modern day scapegoat.  A scapegoat is the person that takes the blame for all the wrongdoings of an organization.  He is the "fall guy."   Every one else in the organization escapes the consequences of the action because this one guy accepted all the blame.  Usually that guy gets fired.

The last line of the Bible verse above, "Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all." indicates that not only did Christ die for you and me, he also accepted the sins of the world.  He became both the sacrificial lamb and the scapegoat.

He paid, so we didn't have to.  Accept and believe.

Lunar Eclipse - The Blood Moon

There has been lots of discussion lately about this upcoming lunar eclipse.  I heard this will happen four times in the next two years, which apparently is not common.  It made me think about some verses I heard as a new Christian about the end times:

"Then, after doing all those things,

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your old men will dream dreams,

and your young men will see visions.

In those days I will pour out my Spirit 

even on servants - men and women alike.

And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on earth -

blood and fire and columns of smoke.

The sun will become dark,

and the moon will turn blood red

before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives."

~Joel 2:28-31 (NLT)

Click here to watch the moon turn red

It's pretty scary stuff for a new believer.   I don't really think this lunar eclipse will signify the beginning of the end, or even the next one or the other two.   But, even if this turns into something, we need to remember the very next verse in Joel:

"But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,

for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,

just as the Lord has said.

These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called."

~Joel 2:32 (NLT)

God will save everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.  We just need to get out and share that message.  As for the eclipse, it will start Monday night (Tuesday morning) at about 1:00a.m., reach total eclipse at about 2:00a.m. and end about 4:30a.m.  I plan to get out and watch if the sky is not too cloudy.  Will you?

Hidden Purposes

A student discusses fish with his teacher

I have been asked why I got into the field of teaching special education.  My answer was simple.  I fell in love with the kids.  All through high school, I believed I was going to be a top executive in a company, managing financial affairs and personnel.  I was accepted into college with a major in Business Administration.  However, everything changed for me the summer after high school graduation.  I got a job working with kids in a summer day camp, for kids with severe and profound needs.  

These were kids who couldn't talk, or couldn't walk, or needed to be fed.  The adults who cared for them often felt tired at the end of each day, with all the lifting, walking and other physical care they provided.  What struck me about these kids, was that despite all of their limitations, they had individual unique personalities that defined each of them as a person, separate from their disability.

Holly* was girl who could command the attention of every adult in the room, simply by her facial expressions and her vocal tones.  She knew just what she wanted and knew just how to get it.  We called her a princess.  David was a young man who loved be chased.  He would get up from the circle, and run away, turning back to see if there was an adult chasing after him.  Of course we did, but as we did this, he would just laugh and laugh.  Emily loved to meet new people.  She would look up into our faces, just smile and melt our hearts.  There wasn't a person there who didn't love Emily.  She was always so glad to see us.  Marcus scowled all the time, and we had to be careful that we would not be hit if we got too close to him.  He was hard to love, but we found out later he felt pain all the time.  Natalie was the one who knew how to punch my buttons and make me very angry.  She actually would enjoy watching my face turn red and my temper rise.  In fact, I was "fired" many times by Natalie.  There are other kids from that summer that I could talk about and many stories of interactions.  By the end of the summer, I had my calling.  I was going to be a special education teacher.

I still didn't have a relationship with God at this time, but I was able to see love in action.  It was these kids who taught me how to love the way God loves all of us.  It wasn't much longer that I accepted Christ and began my walk.  It was those kids who pointed the way.

I tell this story for a reason.  God created us all, uniquely and with a purpose.  There is not one individual He made that does not have a reason to be here on Earth.  Sometimes, the purpose is not so evident, but He uses all of us in our gifts and talents and in our weaknesses.  When you see an individual with a disability, look beyond the limitations and find the person.  You will be richly rewarded when you do.

He makes the whole body (of the church) fit together perfectly.  As each part (person) does its (his) own special work, it helps the other parts (people) grow, so that the whole body (of the church) is healthy and growing and full of love. ~Ephesians 4:16 (NLT) (emphasis added)

  

*Names were changed to protect identities.

Strength in Adversity

Isolated tree in the Grand Canyon National Park

I found this photo from one of our family vacations from many years ago, and I was again struck by the single live tree growing right in the rocks of the canyon wall.  I remember thinking to myself, how can that tree get the nutrients it needs from the rock, and how could water remain in the roots long enough for the tree to flourish like it did?

From what I know about plants and trees (very little, I admit, since I can't keep house plants alive), trees need a strong root system to sustain.  Very often the depth of the "primary" taproot is as deep as the tree is tall, and the "feeder" roots spread as wide as the breadth of the tree's canopy.  It seems unlikely that the tree in the picture could have a root system as described.  So, again, what makes this tree grow?  Since we know trees need soil, water and room to grow roots, it would seem that this tree took root in a crevice.  When it grew, the tree held onto the cliff by the roots, which gripped the edges of the joints in the canyon wall.

The tree symbolizes strength in adverse conditions.  It still grows, isolated from ideal soil or water conditions, clinging to the canyon walls to prevent sliding down the cliff.  So many of us could take a lesson from that tree.  How many of us retreat when we are facing adversity?  How many of us hide when life challenges us?  We should strive to be more like that tree, a symbol of perseverance.  When life gets hard, we need dig down into the roots of our walk with God.  Unlike that tree, we are not meant to walk in these adverse conditions alone.  We need to strengthen our bond with daily conversations with God, and with our God-fearing friends and family.  It is only by God, that we can stand strong.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time He said, "My grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

~2Corinthians 12:8-10 (NLT)

Justifying our Sins

12 Years a Slave haunted me earlier this week when I watched it for the first time.  It was difficult to imagine people who could justify their behaviors of cruelty to others.  A free man, Solomon Northrup, was kidnapped and sold into slavery.  His "free papers" were taken, as well as his identity.  The kidnappers justified their action as financial need, as well as a belief that Solomon's race was inferior. 

He was sold first to "Master Ford," a benevolent slave owner, if there is such a thing.  He showed concern and kindness to his slaves, but some of the comments made by both he and his "Mistress" showed the underlying view that it was fine to own people.  They genuinely believed that people could be bought and sold, for the purposes of work.  He did not want to hear that Solomon was free and sold him to another owner.  

This is when the story becomes truly horrifying to watch.  "Master Epps" was shown to repeatedly rape and abuse his slaves, quoting Bible verses that showed his belief that all of his actions were condoned by God.  He never wavered that he was right in his actions.  They are property, after all.  The story continues to unfold until one outsider finds out the story of a free man who was kidnapped, and reported it.  Solomon was rescued because one man did not conform to the common worldview that it is fine to own other person, even though the law permitted it.  

How does a man become so warped in his belief system?  Consider this Bible verse: Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.  These desires give birth to sinful actions.  And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. ~James 1:15 (NLT) He probably started by first conforming to his society of people who believed people could be owned.  Then, slowly his thoughts became actions.  Each action he took did not have a negative consequence in his mind, and the next action became easier to take.  Eventually, he found it fine to rape and beat his slaves on a regular basis.  He was on the path to death.

Can we become warped in our thinking, condoning acts that are unthinkable?  YES! It has been proven that we can find ourselves down the path if we took baby steps along the way.  I have written about this before in The Corruption of a Leader.  

For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching.  They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.  They will reject the truth and chase after myths.  ~2Timothy 4:3-4 (NLT)

It's so important to stay grounded in the absolute truth of the Bible.