An Inconvenient Christianity

Congestive heart failure or CHF, which can be caused by years of hypertension, occurs when the heart muscle is weakened and can no longer pump blood like it should. It causes fluid to back up in the lungs and is overall very bad for your system. Left untreated, it can lead to death. Why do I know this? My (sainted) father was diagnosed with CHF this past weekend after being rushed to the hospital while on vacation. I love my dad VERY much and I was dismayed (to say  the least) at the news. Thank God he is doing much better. Jehovah Rophe is still in the healing business. Hallelujah!! Of course, I began thinking about CHF in spiritual terms. Are we letting our spiritual heart muscles get weak to the point of failure? Are we, AM I, being ever vigilant about my spiritual heart? Do I have the heart of Christ? Do I have a pure heart? A heart that follows hard after the Lord?  My dad knew he was hypertensive. He'd seen several doctors and was on medication long-term, to the point w

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. A day when the country remembers the sacrifice of our servicemen and servicewomen. The president makes a big speech and lays a wreath on the grave of the unknown soldier. And all over the country, parades and services were held in honour of our veterans. Thank God for them and may God continue to bless those who currently serve this nation. Of course, as most things do, it got me thinking about the idea of taking time out to remember. I thought about the children of Israel and how they would build monuments to remember the things that God brought them through. Sometimes, we like to forget the past. Especially the difficulties of the past because it is easier not to dwell on the negative. I know that for me, I find it much easier to remember the good times because the bad times in the past can still awaken feelings that are better left dormant. But those bad memories have a positive spin. They remind us of what God has done for us, of ho

Let me first start by saying that I cannot take credit for the following example, as I did not originate it. In fact, I was listening to Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah and I was so touched by what he shared that I thought I would share it with all of you. Let's say I have a large, empty 5-gallon jar. If I place fist sized rocks into the jar until no more can fit, is it full? Before you answer, let me say that after I place the rocks in the jar, I pick up a bag of gravel and begin to pour that into the jar. Where does the gravel go? In between the spaces left by the rocks. After I fill the jar to the brim with gravel, is it full? Before you answer, consider this: I pour a bag of sand into the jar. Where does the sand go? Into the spaces left by the gravel, of course. After filling the jar to the brim with sand, is it full? Before you answer, consider this: I pour a pitcher of water into the same jar. Where does the water go? Into the spaces between the grains of sa

I'm taking a few moments to post this blog as I try to quiet my heart before the Lord in these last hours before I have to "preach" tonight. I hate feeling like this: nervous and inadequate. But if I didn't feel like this, I would be worried. Delivering a message, whether by preaching at a revival, ministering in song, teaching Sunday School class/Bible Study or just sharing your faith with a friend, coworker or neighbour is an awesome task that should NEVER be taken lightly. When you do it often, however, and when people tell you how well you do, it can be easy to start trusting in your own strength and ability. You know...the more you do something, the easier it becomes. But when it comes to the message of the Gospel and how we handle it, we should never let it get to be commonplace. It is always a daunting task. ALWAYS. Because whatever we do as Christians is not about pleasing our earthly audience. It is only ever about pleasing our heavenly Audience. We oug

Yesterday, for the first time, I was on the program to give the message in our largest Sunday service. Nervous does not even begin to describe how I felt. I grew up in my church. Literally. When my family came to the United States in 1980, my church is where we began our collective spiritual journey. And now, 32 years later (I guess you can all figure out how old I am...), we are still active members. So you can see why it would be particularly daunting for me to address a congregation that by and large has watched me grow up from pig-tails and bobby socks to the person that I am now, by God's grace. When I was asked (read: told) to give the sermon, my immediate response was no. In fact, if I remember correctly it was more like, "NO! Uh uh...Not happening!" But as I stood behind the sacred desk yesterday, I realised that my verbal "no" meant nothing. When you are called and ordained by God for a specific task, no matter how great or how small, there is no sens

I don't know if you are watching it, but there is a show on ABC called Scandal that has become my latest obsession. It's ostensibly about a woman who functions as a "fixer." If there is a problem in the government, or something potentially scandalous, enter Olivia Pope (the heroine) to save the day. In one of the episodes, Olivia is with her love interest (no spoilers). They have a forbidden love and the Olivia's love interest asks her to spend one minute with him. No words, no touching, just one minute of silent intimacy...it's pretty intense. Even brought tears to my eyes, but then I'm a bit of a cry baby... When the minute was over, they reluctantly separated without a word. But you could tell that they were irreversibly changed because of that one minute. That got me to thinking...what if we did that with the Lord? What if we set aside everything else in our lives and spent one minute, just 60 seconds with the Lord? Not asking for anything, not e

The title is exactly how I feel. Today, I think I literally went from pillar to post. Whew! I am exhausted. And because of this I am finding that I have to multitask and consolidate. That's why I am sooo thankful for technology. My YouVersion app (I've blogged about it before) is so handy! It can read the Word to me in the mornings, so I can do all of the tasks I need to and get out the door in the timely fashion. Hearing the Word read aloud allows me really think about what I am hearing and meditate upon its proper application to my life. Occasionally listening to the Word being read engages the mind and spirit in a different way than reading would....plus it keeps me from being late. It seems like there are a lot of people in the same position as me. Today, I even heard about a church that was advertising a 30 minute service on Sunday mornings. It is for those people who find that there are just not enough hours in a day. The motto for that service is "Get in. Get out.

I'm just gonna come right out and say it: Children tear my nerves to pieces! They are cute to look at...from a distance. They say the darnedest things....until you can't get them to shut up. They have lots of energy...and will wear you out if you let them. Whew! Lord have mercy! I don't know how you mothers do it. Day in and day out. No breaks. No vacations. Nothing. I heard a statistic recently that toddlers need a mother's attention every seven minutes. EVERY SEVEN MINUTES?! How do moms of little ones get anything done? Then think about the moody, angst-ridden tweens and teens (they work my nerves on a different level). Mothers can't get away from them either. And grown children are probably the worst of all (I should know, I am one). Still mothers, biological or adoptive, are patient, kind, caring, encouraging, loving, generous, etc. Maybe not all at the same time and maybe not to the degree that their children think they should be, but they are. Moms that

I don't ever talk about politics here, but.... Yesterday, President Obama announced that he is in favour of same-sex marriage. My jaw scraped the floor. I didn't think he would make a definitive statement about his position, but yesterday he minced no words about it. Now, I'm not stupid. I understand why he did it, but I am not happy about it. Strategically and numerically speaking, it was the right thing to do. Mr. Obama's poll numbers with the under 40 demographic have fallen off substantially since he was merely a candidate in 2008. Now this same demographic is by and large in support of same-sex marriage. If you add in the fact, that a majority of independents (whose votes Mr. Obama needs) favour same-sex marriage, the announcement seems inevitable. So, yes I get why he made the announcement. I even get why he changed his views... Many conscientious, hard-working, upstanding citizens are in the LGBT community and it just seems unfair that they are marginal

Yesterday, I watched CNN with tear-filled eyes as they displayed poorly shot video of a homeless, mentally disturbed young man being brutally beaten by Fullerton Police Officers. If you have the stomach for it, you can see for yourself ( http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=GVR4wTPsHYk ). Again, I warn you that it is NOT for the faint of heart. Apparently, the incident happened some time ago. The young man was initially hospitalized, but died 5 days later from asphyxiation caused by his extensive injuries. The young man apologized several times for whatever perceived wrongdoing. Finally, in desperation he yells out, "They're trying to kill me, Dad! Help!" His father was not present at the scene. It was simply the desperate cry of a helpless man who didn't know what else to do. I bring this to your attention not to shock you, nor to stir up negative feelings towards the police. I bring this to your attention because as I watched the video, I couldn't help but think

I've talked about music quite a bit on this blog, but I can't help it. I likes a good song, I does (to be read with a cockney British accent). A lot of the time, the songs that come to mind are not even Christian songs per se. I've found, however, that secular songs can have a much deeper meaning if you listen to them with spiritual ears. I said that to say that the lyrics of "Language or the Kiss" by the Indigo Girls came to my mind a few days ago. Especially the line that reads: "Oh the fear I've known that I might reap the praise of strangers and end up on my own..." On its face, the song seems to be about the loneliness of being a performer/entertainer and pleasing crowds, but not really forming any real relationships. But for the first time since hearing the song when I was in college (many moons ago), I heard those same lyrics with spiritual ears. What if all I do for the Kingdom of God enriches the lives of others, but I myself end up lost

...is today. And I am excited. Why? Because I have a rare opportunity to be in prayer with literally millions of other believers at the same time....and know it. How amazing it is to know that on this very day, people all over this country--every race, both genders, every walk of life-- are making special time to pray to Almighty God in thanksgiving for His mercies and blessings and in intercession on behalf of our families, churches, nation and its leaders. It makes my heart swell to know that I am a part of this great multitude. Now for the inconvenient part: last night the Holy Spirit challenged me to pray for a certain individual (alright...individualS) that I don't particularly care for. I'm ashamed to admit it, but there are people that I just don't like, try as I might. Usually, I dislike a person for just cause; the person wronged me in some way and I am hurt. Yet despite that and to my chagrin, the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit challenged to me to pray

Today, the news broke that former NFL-star Junior Seau died from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/sports/football/junior-seau-famed-nfl-linebacker-dies-at-43-in-apparent-suicide.html ). Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but it still makes me wonder what would cause someone attempt to take his/her own life. The cares of this life can be overwhelming. Illnesses, death of loved ones, broken relationships, etc. If you add the in the struggling economy, a factor that would depress even a happy situation, life can seem pretty  hopeless. In the most depressing of moments, looking to another person for encouragement might not always be possible.  Sometimes you have to encourage yourself like King David. Psalm 42:5* reads: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." Sometimes, we have to grab ourselves by the collar and

Christian people always look at me like I have two heads when they hear that my main practice area is criminal defense. And even if they don't ask it, they think "How can you defend guilty people as a Christian?" I used to answer that question by saying that everyone needs a defense or that the American judicial system requires that an accused person be represented by competent counsel. After reading 1 John 2:1, I stopped saying that. Christ is our advocate (I even wrote a poem about it:  http://www.christart.com/poetry/poem2635.htm ) . He never says to the Father, "My blood doesn't cover that sin."  So now I tell people that Christ shed His blood for the guilty, not the innocent. I tell people that if Christ could go through the torture and agony of the cross for EVERY sinner, then I can represent a guilty person...no matter how morally reprehensible I find their conduct. What if I am the only Christ they will ever see in this life? Christ Himself was c