Easter Part II: God Came Late

No special honor for the forgotten day
Between the crucifix and Sunday.
Just dreaded surrender to the hand of Fate:
If God came at all He came too late
To save his son, or rescue me.
Life is broken dreams and a bloody tree.


What does your future look like? Is it as rosy as it was 48 hours ago, or does each new day bring a crushing weight? You wake up hoping yesterday was a bad dream, but the sunlight reveals that you are, in fact,
Afraid
Alone
Abandoned.

Sunday isn’t good for anything if we can’t make it through Saturday. And as far as the Easter story goes, the Bible is pretty much silent on what happened Saturday. Maybe it’s because planet Earth was left to fend for itself for a day? It would have served us right, but I don’t think that’s it.

Saturday is, if anything, a day when Heaven is silent. We fill the time as best we can, but sorrow enters with every breath. Every heartbeat echoes in the vault left empty when hope fled away.

If you are there today- suspended between heaven and hell- then all I can say is this:
If there is anybody near you, then grab a hand and HANG ON. If nobody is there, send me a message. Really, I’m not kidding. I’ll hang on with you, and I know some others that will too.

Cuz we gotta get through to Sunday.

Easter Part I: The Last Choking Cry

Exalting in that last choking cry-
What cruelty in the claws of Death
As they squeezed tighter the neck of God!
They offered despair while stealing breath,
And watched the only Life-Giver die.


There are levels of sorrow and despair. Have you felt them? Do you feel them now?
The frustration of a weak cup of coffee
becomes
The depression of unemployment
turns into
The ragged, gaping hole where you heart used to be because ______________.

Good Friday is coming, and I wish I had been there when someone decided to call it good, because it wasn’t.

Or rather, it isn’t.

Right now your life may be day upon day of Good Fridays. Those claws of Death come, and hope hangs suspended and lifeless on the gallows of your circumstances and bad choices. I’ve been there too.

Will you wait there with me my friend? Will you wait with me- just a little while longer -at the foot of the cross? I promise it’s not the end of our story.

Holey Moley, and Other Things I Shouldn't Say

Holey moley. Apparently my blog post Cigars and Jesus smoked out some strong feelings. I appreciate all the comments made; sometimes they are more fun to read than the post itself!

Alas, life isn’t all about fun, and there was one comment that I feel the need to address. One reader, who will remain anonymous (because I have no idea who it was) asserted that my “provocative attitude is doing anything but building for unity in the church of God!” Ouch. Words like that would really sting if I thought they were true.

Here’s the thing: I’m all for unity. But I am fighting for a bigger, deeper, grittier unity than I currently see advertised in some church buildings. I am a profoundly flawed human being. I always have been. I’m not proud of that fact, but it’s the truth. Now, I know our soiled laundry doesn’t need to be made into a dirty little banner, but are we really so close to perfect that covering the holes of our togas with bigger and bigger fig leaves will tip the scales in our favor? If I need to buy into an idea of unity that says I have to part my hair on the side and fall in line before I get smacked with a King James, I’m going to have a lot of bruises.

Anonymous, do you want to hear me say it? Okay. I’ll say it.
I think Jesus IS coming again to judge us. Both of us.
I think He IS worthy of all glory. ‘Cuz He died for losers like me, and not a lot of gods have done that and lived to tell about it.
I think every knee WILL bow. And if I can portray Jesus in such a way as to guarantee that a dirty smoker or crack addict is kneeling in white garments right next to you, I’m going to laugh my freakin’ head off.

Cigars and Jesus

When you think of Jesus, what kind of person do you envision? I grew up in conservative Christian churches, so whether He was carrying a lamb on His shoulders or knocking on somebody’s door in the wee hours of the morning, my Jesus always looked serene. He didn’t smile that often. If He loosened up enough to have a little fun, I believe He really would have been a great poker player, but that wasn’t likely. The perpetual glow on his face must have been from washing with holy water.

Quite frankly, when I was young I understood I needed Jesus in order to get my Heiny-Outta-Hell Card, but I never would’ve chosen to spend any time with him. We had nothing in common. Or so I thought.

Then someone told me something that started to change everything I ever thought I knew: Jesus wanted to be my friend!

Let's talk about friends for a moment. You know you have a genuine friend when he laughs at you, and you don’t mind. My friend Troy is like that. If you ever see me in Tim Horton’s wearing a green face, sipping on peppermint tea, and there’s a guy across the table from me who can’t stop laughing, that’ll be Troy. Let me tell you this little story.

It was a miserable, sleeting spring evening when it all went down. I don’t see Troy too often, so times when we get together we try to make into Macho Hallmark moments. This one happened to be just before my second daughter was born, so we went to The Smoke Shop to purchase a couple prenatal cigars. Now you have to understand- Troy makes everything he does into an art form. You look at him smoking a pipe or cigar, and wonder if the Mona Lisa wouldn’t look better taking a drag on a big Cuban. So I (being a naïve, conservative, Baptist deacon at the time) let him choose the stogies.

Twenty bucks a pop later we were puffing away on my back porch cowering against the house, trying to stay out of the wind and sleet, and generally feeling pretty good about life. The dizziness hit me when there was only about two inches left on my cigar, so I figured it would be no problem to finish the thing. (Note to potential smokers: the dizziness is not ‘the buzz’. The dizziness comes after the buzz, a few minutes before the nausea.)

From there I’m not sure of the timing of everything. I think I was sitting down to keep from falling over when Troy’s giggles started. By the time I had my head facing around the corner and over the railing of the house into the storm to get some fresh air, his belly must’ve been starting to ache from laughing!

I was done, but we weren’t. We still had to do our traditional Tim Horton’s coffee run. Troy was quite considerate and offered to drive. I mostly didn’t want to throw up in his car, so being a good friend I managed to hold it together until the parking lot. I’m glad it wasn’t crowded because it wasn’t too spectacular; just a big heave and a little dribble - pitifully ridiculous.

Ah, good times- sitting in Timmy’s, my pale green head down on the table with Troy talking about the kingdom of God. We’re so spiritual!

This little insight into my friendship with Troy has a point. What I haven’t told you about him is that he is a really busy guy. He has a great ministry with students in the city, and there’s always a fistful of people and events competing for his attention. Troy drove three hours that night to come visit me, because he knew I was at a low point emotionally and spiritually.

Jesus is like Troy. I didn’t need someone that night to tell me to get a grip. I didn’t need someone to tell me life could be worse, or even that it would get better. I needed someone who knew how easily I could make a fool out of myself and want to hang out with me on the back porch anyway. Maybe even someone who was secure enough in our friendship to laugh at me instead of simply tolerating me.

Jesus is like that. Jesus does not tolerate you. Jesus does not condemn you. “John 3:16, 17” I’m grateful that I can tell you that Jesus loves you, and not because He has to! He likes you.

A Matter of Time

It’s just a matter of time
Until a daddy’s drunken rage
No longer makes his little girl cry.
And though tears still fall
As the seconds pass by,
We believe peace reigns
It’s just a matter of time.

It’s just a matter of time
Before our hearts are wide open
To the cries of the orphan children.
Today we may think
Our indifference is hidden,
But justice will come
It’s just a matter of time.

It was a matter of time
When you knelt down in the garden
Knowing they’d come to take your life.
After you shouldered
Our rebellion and strife,
Love and life would win
‘Twas just a matter of time.

The Raining Season

Yesterday her old-soul eyes were dry.
Just another scorched spirit empty
Of any tears to cry.

Yesterday they were lonely and sick,
Homeless, fatherless and forgotten
Their arms and legs just sticks.

Yesterday we shrugged, and stretched, and yawned,
Never admitting that children’s lives
Were something to be pawned.

Today quits our dry, selfish reasons.
We’ll be God’s voice, His hands and His feet,
‘Cause today is the Raining Season.

Today somebody with them played games,
Fed them rice, tucked them all into bed
And knows each of their names.

Today she softly began to weep
As she heard your voice, and in your arms
Safely was lulled to sleep.

-click here for more information about The Raining Season organization, or here for their Facebook page.

The Burden

Eyelids close with weariness but find no peace.

Was it better when I did not care;
When switching the channel cleared the air?

Shoulders bend under pressure with no release.

Why cannot God have died just for me,
Instead of the whole damn family tree?

Back aching to shed an impossible load.

"Lift your eyes my child and find some hope,
You are bound by love- not a slaver’s rope."

Spirit refreshed, knows this is a well trod road.

Another Disgraced Evangelist?

Jerusalem (National Current)- Religious Fanatic Revealed As Fraud

One of the Middle East’s most polarizing evangelists was tried and executed last week in what some are calling the biggest religious scandal in recent history.

Yeshua Benyosef was once little more than a small town carpenter, trying to scratch out a living to support his widowed mother and extended family. All that changed three years ago when he reportedly went missing for over a month, then suddenly returned claiming to possess power over evil spirits, and the ability to heal any ailment with a simple touch.

 With his charismatic personality, and a politically incorrect approach to almost any debate, Rabbi Benyosef quickly gained a following among those disenfranchised with the region’s current political and religious establishment.

 Although claiming to be a devout Jew, Rabbi Benyosef regularly angered local religious authorities by alluding to his supposedly divine origins.

Last Friday, in a rapid turn of events, Rabbi Benyosef was arrested on suspicions of political espionage and rumors that he had spoken of possible terrorist attacks on religious sites around Jerusalem. He was executed and buried as an enemy of the state, and increased security has been posted at his burial site as authorities fear a backlash from his supporters.

Rob Bell

Just putting his name on my blog could really generate a lot of hits. I'm not going to comment on his new book- I haven't read it! But in jumping around the Internet to see what all the controversy is, I stumbled upon this little video.



It started me thinking. Which doctrines do I have to believe in to keep from being labeled a heretic? And if I help people see that Jesus is the only way to God, but don't believe in hell, could you still call me a preacher of the gospel? Would you still call me a preacher of the gospel?

When will we be ready to engage the world with respect and humility? Or is it really still as simple as laying down the cold hard facts, getting a few souls to sign some decision cards, and then moving on? I hope not.

So is Rob Bell a heretic? Dunno.
Is his theology unbalanced, misguided, or worse? Dunno.
Do I as a conduit of the Spirit of God need to study the ancient scriptures for myself, so that I can know God better. Uh huh.
Do I as a follower of Jesus need to walk in humility? Yup.
Do I as a disciple of the Christ have to demonstrate love as my default setting? You betcha.

So let's get on with it.

Bad News for B.C. Families

The Baynes do not get their children back yet. Another 6 months at least. This is absolutely incredible. I don't understand it! For the full story click here.