Category Archives: Relationships

Where’s the evidence?

A question that’s been going around for many years still has power to pierce our souls:

If being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict me?

That is, in what ways is my life different because of the grace of Jesus? And how is he continuing to reveal himself through me? God accepts us where we are but loves us too much to leave us there in our old patterns of self-seeking, prideful, and even hurtful thinking. Just as you want the best for your child, so God longs for his children to live a full and meaningful life.

GLOW is pleased to sponsor Cru’s Athlete’s In Action (AIA). Director Gary Schmalz describes how God changed these college students hearts:

A few weeks ago, Lauren and Hailie, both varsity athletes at Wisconsin-Madison came to the AIA weekly meeting for the first time. They heard about the Winter Retreat in Chicago and decided it would be worth their time.

At the retreat, they heard relevant messages about the Christian life. On Saturday morning, they were trained for an outreach to the inner city of Chicago. During that training, Holly, our new AIA staff at Madison, noticed that Lauren and Hailie were confused while discussing a Gospel sharing tool called Knowing God Personally. Holly answered their questions, and they both asked Jesus to be in their lives!

Two hours later, they shared the same booklet with a high schooler at the community center and he received Christ as well!

One of the strongest evidences for God is a changed life!

It is hard to dismiss a changed life. Lauren and Hailie would tell you that they are different now and have just attended church for the first time.

If you have ever wondered if college athletes are hungry for the Gospel, I could provide you multiple examples from the 22 college campuses across the Upper Midwest where AIA operates and witnesses “evidence for God,” when He shows up and changes a life.

If God can take a couple of college students and in a moment change their lives from confused to compassionate and confident, he can change your life to. He has the power to change your doubt to faith, worry to prayer, anxiety to peace, apathy to compassion, a critical heart to a humble one, emptiness to a full life!

Thank you for praying for athletes to come to Christ. Why not ask him to transform your life too?

The rock in my shoe

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Marcia and I love to take walks together. Only in recent months they have been short and slow. She is so patient to slow down for “me and my cane.” The other day, I picked up a rock in my shoe and as much as it irritated me, I knew it would take considerable effort for me to bend down and remove my shoe to get it out; I tire so very easily. So I kept walking with the rock in my shoe, pretending it wasn’t that big of a problem. But the longer I walked with the rock in my shoe, my pretending it didn’t matter became less and less convincing.

The minor ordeal caused me to think about other “rocks in my shoe” we sometimes tolerate. Like living with worry, regret, anxiety, fear, or doubt. Or criticizing or mocking others or a pessimistic attitude. They’re all rocks in our shoes that limit the enjoyment of our spiritual walk. In fact, they can ruin a whole day grumbling and getting upset over little things. But I wonder if we don’t mind the pain so much, because we don’t take the effort to remove them from our lives. It seems easier to react the way we always have reacted, forgetting – or denying – the power of God’s Spirit to transform our lives in such incredible ways!

Josias girls Other rocks in our shoes may not seem to hurt us at all, but they cause pain to others. If a child complained of a rock in their shoe, you’d help them remove it, right? And yet our incessant focus on our own busy lives prevents us from noticing that others around us (and around the world) have rocks in their shoes they can’t remove – without our help. Rocks such as living on $2 per day, not having money to send children to school (cost of $1/day), not being able to provide a hot meal for a child ($1.25/day), or clean water (pennies per day). If you knew someone who endured these rocks in their shoes, you’d help them out. I mean, which of us cannot afford $1/day or even 50 cents per day?

Feliz dia del ninos This is how Go Light Our World works. We find children and adults in need, Quechua families in Bolivia. We know them by name and they know us. We’ve known one child for nearly 15 years, others for 5 years. GLOW helps them, often with no more than $1/day, to live a safe life, escape the cycle of poverty, and learn the hope of Jesus.

We invite you to help remove the rocks from the shoes of children at risk. Who knows, you might make a lifelong friend and find that your own walk is a little more enjoyable and fulfilling.

Go ahead – change someone’s world!

Learn more at: www.GoLightOurWorld.org/Giving

The God I love

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Think of a good friend of yours, one you trust and love. One whose character speaks goodness and comfort to you. What is it about this good friend that speaks to you, inspires you, and motivates you to want to spend time with them? What is it about their character that even influences who you are and how you see yourself?

When I focus on who is the God I love, he also influences my life in specific and powerful ways. When we ponder his very character we come to experience who he really is. We are drawn to him by how he reveals himself to us. It’s how we see ourselves in his eyes.

What do you see when you envision the God you love and trust? Is he the God of all power and might, of all knowledge and wisdom? Is he primarily the holy and just God, jealous and full of vengeance? Does knowing God is everywhere at once and knows your innermost thoughts and desires give you pause to consider how you should act toward others? Does it motivate your life goals and ambitions? Does his love lead you to love and care for others – even those who are strangers to you? Even those you don’t particularly like? Do his faithful promises bring you hope? How do you respond to his forgiveness and mercy, the amazing grace that he pours over you when you come humbly to him?

If you could experience only one of God’s mighty attributes, what would it be?

I know I would shrink under his power. I would be crushed under his holy judgment and fall so very short of his glory. Even as I grow in understanding, I find his wisdom is too great for me. But… when his grace, so underserved, washes over me, I am at once humbled and lifted up. It fills me with hope that transcends the unworthiness I might otherwise feel in his presence. Because there is no possible way I can get my act together and then come to him, I fall humbly and thankfully before him and receive the most amazing gift of grace and mercy I could ever request. He accepts me as I am, and yet loves me too much to leave me there. This God of unending love and amazing grace restores me to who I am meant to be. It leads me to goodness and peace and contented joy. His mercy is the reflection of his goodness. How could I not love such a God as this?! How could my life not be devoted to the one who loves me and guides me and who fills me with promised hope that does not disappoint? Yes, God is full of power, wisdom, holiness, and judgment. His ways are so much higher than my own. I could think of a hundred reasons to love and fear him. But it’s his mercy that continually draws me to him and teaches me to love others.

Who is the God you love?

Who is the God you love?

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Do you love God? Does celebrating his love serve as your purpose in life?

Our response determines every aspect of our life. If I don’t love God, then who is the focus of my devotion? If not, “In God we trust,” then who?

It seems the default answer is to trust in ourselves: our own abilities to think, philosophize, communicate with others, earn a living, make things with our hands, set goals and agendas, and become the captain of our own destiny. Is it possible to believe in God and trust in yourself?

We all trust to some degree in our good health, our intellect, the faithfulness and devotion of our friends and family. We trust in our leaders, our wealth, or the comfort and safety of our home. But who is the God we truly love and trust above all else? Who is the God of your daily schedule and life ambitions?

Maybe your view of God is formed by the God of the Bible. Over the years you’ve come to grasp an understanding that he is who he reveals himself to be in his Word, that he is who he says he is. You believe what he says, that he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for the forgiveness of our sins; that this same Jesus rose from the dead and gave his very Spirit to reside in the hearts and minds of his true followers. Ah, the name of Jesus; perhaps you’ve noticed how the mention of his name dramatically changes the conversation of God from one of intellectual belief to personal conviction.

But have you personally experienced his truth, grace, and power in your life? Have you discovered his transformational power to make you free from the bondage to sin, even while you remain ever so imperfect like me and everyone else around you? Have you experienced his power to find real peace in the middle of life’s difficult storms? When the world shakes around you, have you found him to be your unshakeable foundation, your solid rock? Have you found the secret of being content, realizing that your circumstances don’t define you? Do you know for sure that you are the beloved child of the King of Kings, and that his inheritance is yours for all eternity?

This is what the God of the Bible says:

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:7-9

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:11-13

God is more than an idea, more than an emotional feeling. The God above all gods call you and me to a life of love. Believe in him and find peace. Experience his love.

Shipwrecked no more

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Spring is here and thoughts of summer already upon us. My neighbor has his boat out, anticipating great times with his family at the lake. It reminds me of a time when my sister and her husband invited us for a lake outing. We were sailing in his craft when we came upon two guys in shallow water. Yelling and screaming, they frantically kept diving into the water. Trying to help, we discovered these guys were desperately trying to save their three best friends whi had fallen overboard. Only it turned out the friends’ names were Jim Beam, Johnny Walker, and Bud Weiser.

Unable to carry on a coherent conversation with the guys and assured they we’re as safe as they wanted to be, we went on our way. But it caused me to remember, I’ve been there before – living for the fun of it with no thought of who I was becoming or who I was meant to be.

Suppose you came across me in such a state and, at the risk of your own life, you rescued me from my shipwreck situation, saving me and resuscitating me to a new life. I would be forever indebted to you, wouldn’t I? Imagine inviting me to your home and caring for me until I was recovered. Over time we come to enjoy each other’s company more and more, sharing both the celebrations and the real challenges of life together. Picture a scene where, instead of being the rescuer and the shipwrecked, we become full partners in the business of life. And we marvel at how a dramatic rescue effort turned into a fulfilling lifelong friendship.

An amazing piece of fiction or a true story?

Isn’t this actually the story of our lives, constantly buffeted by the waves of life, with no rudder to guide us and seemingly at mercy of the sea? Unable to save ourselves by our own efforts, we find ourselves tossed against the rocks and shipwrecked, without hope. But then a rescuer came to save us. Only instead of risking his life, he actually gave his life so we might be saved. Saved not only from being eternally shipwrecked but saved also from a life of meaningless and fruitless effort, tossed this way and that. Not only saved, yet also redeemed and restored… renewed into a vibrant and fulfilling relationship with our rescuer, who as it turned out, overcame death itself!

How do you picture yourself in this story?

Actually, there are four of us in this story. One of us feels like it’s smooth sailing and everything is under control – at least until the threatening storms come our way. Another sees themself in the midst of a stormy life, desperately clinging to the sides of the boat, trying to weigh anchor and find a secure hold, hoping beyond hope to be rescued. Yet another has already experienced the throes of a disastrous shipwreck. Whether it be relationships, finances, business and life goals, or our own deteriorating bodies, we find ourselves tossed against the rocks. And finally, one of us finds themselves rescued from the disaster that came upon us. In fact, impossible as it seems, here we are surrounded by the broken pieces of our lives, but not alone. It would have been enough had we been rescued from the stormy seas, but our rescuer came to take us from this hopeless place to a place of restoration and forever celebration. And as we wait, we find ourself miraculously changing from a miserably lost, shipwrecked fool, to become known as friend and beloved son or daughter. Not only that, but our redeemer regards us as so valued he gives us his inheritance, even the right to become his child.

How do you see yourself in this story of life? Are you the captain of your own destiny, the lost soul in stormy waters, the hopelessly shipwrecked, or the rescued, restored and redeemed? Jesus is the one who longs to rescue us all; and not only rescue us, but bring us into a place where the broken pieces of our lives become fully restored. Reach out for his lifeline and inherit a whole new life!

Shipwrecked no more!

Waiting to die

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Marcia and I enjoyed our visit with friends in a care center. Diagnosed with terminal cancer and no treatment options remaining, he is waiting to die. It’s inspirational to witness his positive attitude and it’s clear he is at peace with his pending future. In fact his wife says he’s like a kid before Christmas and can’t wait for that special day to arrive. Except in this case, that special day is the moment he steps from this life into his heavenly home. And like the child before Christmas, it’s hard to wait. “Why can’t Christmas (heaven) come right now?!” He tells me how is body is deteriorating and doesn’t understand why he has to wait for his heavenly home. I know how he feels.

We seldom dare think of it but we all share the same mortal diagnosis. None of us get out of here alive. But unlike the countdown of days before Christmas, we don’t know when our final day will arrive. It could be tonight. Passing a bad accident on the other side of the interstate today, we prayed for those involved and pondered how they had no clue what was in store for them this very day. Neither do you or I.

And yet we live pretty consistently in a way that denies our pending end of this life’s journey. We make plans for a future that may never arrive. And so we must. Bills have to be paid, laundry done, and work tasks accomplished. There are children to raise, friendships to foster, relationships to mend, and investments to be made. We can’t truly live as if this were the last day of our life, but shouldn’t we live with that very reality in mind?

I kiss my wife before she leaves the house and remind my grandchildren how amazing they are as I hug them each time we meet. There are so many to-do lists that scream for attention and many that have no real lasting value but call to us just the same. But we must not let the tyranny of the merely urgent control what is really important. Isn’t this what living a full abundant life is about? Walking each day’s tightrope, aware of both the threatening perils of a fatal fall and also the immense joys waiting for us at the end of the line.

I don’t have it all figured out. Mostly each day seems a hot mess; you never have it all together. But in the midst of that struggle between fully living and being at peace with dying, there exists a certain level of contentment and satisfaction – a peace that surpasses all our common understanding.

Just as it’s hard to wait for Christmas Day on earth, so it’s hard to wait for a glorious heavenly life. Here’s to keeping both in mind throughout this very day!

What can I do?

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An attack in Brussels, a suicide bomb targeting Chrsitians in Pakistan, continuing war and genocide in Syria and throughout the world, despair even in our own land. It may be the cry of your heart: “Is there anything I can do?!”

Yes, there is. You and I can make a difference, in a world far away and also in the place we are right now. But we have to pay attention. We seldom make a difference by accident.

At the sound of an ambulance you can, as a simple man once taught me, say “Lord, have mercy.” Stuck on the highway because of an accident ahead? Again, “Lord have mercy. Provide for them according to your good purpose.”

Numbed by headlines filled with terror, we begin to make a difference by first acknowledging that these people are part of us. By recognizing that so many of our worries pale in comparison to their present terror. Remember, our stories and theirs are woven together into the fabric of our own lives and difficulties. Don’t just skim the headlines. Linger for a moment at least, resisting the curiosities of entertaining news and take a moment to pray for those who are suffering. Some are fellow believers. All are fellow sojourners.

Does prayer make a difference? It’s a valid question. After all, we live in a world of instant gratification and response. Press a button and get something in return. Work and get paid so we can afford to rest. Even in church we’re eager to count numbers of hands raised when what matters is lives radically transformd by the power and grace of Jesus. Every leading of the Spirit begins in prayer. If not your own prayer, the prayer of someone else on your behalf, and always the prayer of Jesus himself that draws us ever closer to our Heavenly Father.

Have you noticed how very often Jesus himself “went out to pray?” Prayer releases God’s power on earth. I don’t fully understand why God chooses to work that way. Perhaps it is because prayer is not designed to be a wish list of things for God to do for you, but a faith led and heartfelt request for God to work through you. Our prayers mark our cooperation with God in accomplishing his plan.

Through your actions of kindness, your helping hand, through your generosity to invest in others lives, you also make a difference. Surrending a dollar a day from our exceeding luxuries, we change the world for a child sponsored by Compassion International. Invested in Go Light Our World (GLOW), that same dollar buys a nutritious meal delivered with the truth and love of Jesus. Through GLOW, a dollar a day pays for medicine for a family for months. Twelve dollars buys a pair of shoes for someone who has none. Or have you considered how you could use a few dollars to create a care package that is kept in your car for the next time you see a homeless person in need?

The prayers and deeds of a righteous, God-seeking person are effective and powerful – even when we don’t see the results. You understand the value of planting a tree you will never see grow to its highest heights. You comprehend the benevolence of giving without expecting return, of helping a small child or an elderly stranger. You give directions to one who is lost. Surely, you can see that prayer also has real consequences that remain unseen for now, but will one day be fully revealed. I expect countless people will come up to you in heaven, expressing thanks for some way you spoke value and hope into their lives, for sharing with them even a simple story of how God works in your life. Likewise, I expect there will be people who approach you in heaven because you prayed for them, even when you did not know their name.

Living for God means loving others. “What can I do in the face of such large scale disaster?” Pray and ask God to open your eyes to what you can do.

Walking along a distant shore

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In a dream, though neither fully asleep nor fully awake, I find my present age self walking along a distant shore. Colorful seashells littered the sand, some large and grand in appearance, others small and seemingly less significant. Holding each in my hand, I gaze upon empty shells that once were full of life. As I lift each one to my ear I hear the echoes of past memories, part of who I am now and yet also a distant past. Peering into their darkness I’m surprised to see a certain light, sometimes bright and clear and other times shadowy and less distinct – all bearing witness to a life gone by. There’s no going back.

The stones on the beach likewise caught my eye. Some were jagged and rough bearing the scars of stormy waters. But so many of them, so very many, were worn soft and smooth by the continual and gentle washing of the sea of God’s love. As I pick them up, one by one, each bears its own testimony. Piled together they make an altar of remembrance of a life lived sometimes carelessly without serious intent and thankfully, other times lived ever so passionately and vibrantly. The smooth stones and the rough all laid together in a common pile.

A small boat, sufficient for only one passenger at a time, is docked nearby. Approaching it, I place one foot on the boat but keep the other on the dock. At once, I recall how many times I have been in this very same stance, as if paralyzed, wanting on the one hand the security of the shore and on the other the thrill of adventure. But the adventure always, always, begins only when I set both feet, my whole self, into the boat and allow it to be carried by the current of God’s immense and providence mercy.

And so it is is now, my whole self in the boat. And at once the boat is adrift and the shore a distant sight. No “captain of my own destiny,” I am surrendered to the course ahead, set by God himself, who knows and commands the seas. Alone in the boat, I realize why it affords passage for only one, because only one can go at a time to the next distant shore. Already I am overwhelmed by its magnificence. Sights so familiar to the best I visited before, but at the same time so much more colorful and springing with life and beauty. How is it that I am allowed to enter such a land? Only by the grace of God, only by his grace!

I could scarcely take it in when suddenly I found myself on the beach again. But not the distant beach of the future shore, nor the far away shore of the distant past. But now, how could this be, here I am again at the shoreline of my present life! Boulders of troubles remain in my sight, but also springtime meadows and great, magnificent mountains begging to be climbed.

And people. . . so many people to welcome me and join in their festivities and share also each others woes. People who are alive now, not just memories of who we once knew. People shaped by the currents that have uniquely tumbled them here, along with me. People, God’s gift to us, each a piece of each other’s puzzle, like fragments of great seashells carefully crafted together by the master’s hand.

And so the journey continues, not in a dream, but fully awake – eyes wide open. But this is a journey of intention, not whimsical fancy or mindless distraction. It’s a path of purpose and passion guided by God’s own Spirit, and leading only to him, only to him. Ultimately, the path narrows to single file, where we can only pass one at a time. But for now, however long or short that time may be, we remain together for a common purpose to encourage many more, so many more, to follow in the steps of the ones who leads us, Jesus.

Only Jesus.

What does the resurrection mean to you today?

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“He is risen.”

Three simple words. When combined they present an astounding truth that challenges us all. Jesus conquered death. He lived, he suffered and died, and also he rose from the dead to live forever. This was an historical first. There had been many great teachers, many who lived “good lives,” many role models to inspire us. But THIS was the first time that God sent someone, His very own Son, to live and die for us. And not just to die for us and for the forgiveness of our sins. But rather, Jesus died and rose from the grave.

We rejoice in what he did for us then, but does his resurrection power impact our life today? It does, because he left his very Spirit to dwell in us. Just as Jesus is one with his Heavenly Father, so his Holy Spirit is one with him and also with us. That means his same resurrection power also lives in us. It is the power to be overcomers, just as he promised. It is the power to finally trade sorrow for joy, tears for laughter, troubles for treasures, and worries for real faith that sustains us.

Because Jesus rose from the dead we who believe in him also have real hope of living beyond the grave. But not only that, to live an abundant life right now, despite the crushing circumstances that seek to overwhelm us. The resurrection of Jesus breathes new life into the crippled and dead areas of our life. His resurrection makes all things new. We become a new creation in him, not just in his death and our being crucified with him, but in his resurrected life, experienced now through the power of his Holy Spirit.

“He is risen!” And so we can rise above the mundane, troublesome, painful, and sorrowful crosses in our lives. He is risen. Let’s live risen with him, even now.

And what remains is love

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“Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

No doubt, we are all familiar with the great “love chapter” that Paul wrote to encourage us so we would always focus on what matters. It’s not speaking in some exotic tongue, nor prophecy that amazes, nor in great knowledge. Not even in faith that moves mountains, if it is not expressed in love. Not in giving generously to the poor or submitting our bodies to all sorts of hardship. We could have all these things and still, if we have not love, have nothing at all. Without love we are rich only in the poverty of our souls.

But love…that makes the difference!

Love, true love, is ever patient and keeps on waiting. It leads me to examine my heart today and what is my intention for expressing true, patient love. Pure love is not accidental. It is purposefully kind, not harsh. It actively resists envy or boasting or becoming proud. This love we seek to have and to share intentionally looks and plans and acts to lift others up, not to put others down,or ridicule or mock them. Love honors others with great value not belittling or ignoring them. Such great love looks toward the best interests of others, not our own. It keeps us calm, not given to sudden bursts of anger. It forgives and forgets, not remembering where “the hatchet was buried.” This is the love I want to mark my life,rejoicing in truth and abhoring evil. It is with such love that I protect those close to my heart, by trusting, hoping, and always persevering.

Great love doesn’t fail because it never ever gives up. Oh yes, though we try to deny it, everything else fails and come to an end: prophecy, fancy speech, astounding knowledge – it all comes to an end. These are pieces of our lives but not the whole, and not even close to the most important and lasting part of who we are. When we stop thinking as children we see more clearly the real life we were meant to live – a life marked by great love.

I wonder if when we come finally to heaven if we won’t need faith because we will be at last truly united with the object of our faith, Jesus. And perhaps our hope will likewise have been fulfilled because what we have so long hoped for has been provided, being one with our Lord. Even so, the one thing that always will remain, that “greatest of these” that will last forever from earth to heaven and all time beyond, is love.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:7-12

Love is how we are made complete. Who is it that needs your love today?

Love God. Love others in his name.