An e-mail from God

We were talking in Bible Study how it would be nice if discerning God's will was simple. I even suggested how cool it would be if God sent us an e-mail every morning telling us exactly what we should do. Then I thought how scary that would be. I imagine mine would look something like this:

Good morning Terry, I love you so much.
Today I would like you to visit that lady who rubs you the wrong way and in that visit I would like you to be loving, kind and compassionate to her. 
I would like you to stop being judgmental towards that person you view as judgmental.
Stop getting so angry at people because they don't use their turn signals or because they're driving slower than you would like.
You know that friend you complained about losing, work hard at reconciling that relationship. I know you have every right to be hurt, but reconcile it anyway.
Get your nose out of the books and find someone and brighten their day.
And remember everyone you encounter is hurting in some way, be kind to all you encounter.
Live your life abundantly today with love as your driving force.
Have a great day my child.
God

Humanity

Let me begin this post by saying what happened in Boston is a real tragedy and my heart goes out to all who are affected. This post is not meant to make light of that horrible event or dismiss it as frivolous, if you interpret it in that way I apologize in advance.

I was watching the news in the lobby of a waiting room yesterday and a woman said to me: "What is wrong with humanity, what is wrong with the United States...we're becoming barbaric like other nations."

I know she was grieving the Boston Marathon bombings in her own way, but right away I was struck by our short sightedness when it comes to thinking the United States was/is a beacon of morality. As the movie "42" reminds us it wasn't that long ago that we treated African Americans horribly--and a short time before that when we treated them like property to be beaten and sold. I'm also reminded of the genocide that we perpetrated on the Native Americans from our moral high horse.

I wanted to tell this woman, "no ma'am we've always lacked respect for humanity as a whole." Instead I shook my head with her and said "it is sad." 

How can we move forward in peace? How can we live the life we're called to where we all love one another?

Cross Roads

I finished reading William Paul Young's new novel Cross Roads (he is also the author of The Shack). 
Three things I absolutely love about Young:
1) He knows how to get me emotionally invested in a story...I laughed, wept and smiled a lot while reading this book.
2) He does a masterful job of presenting a relational Trinity that is not far away, but active and involved in our lives.
3) The unique way that he pushes against our stereotypes of each person of the Trinity causes me reflection and ultimately makes me feel closer to God.

I know some don't like Young's books, some even call him a heretic. Remember, he isn't writing dogma, he is telling a beautiful story--a parable if you like.

This story presents Tony who has lived a solitary existence with success and self preservation as his goals. An accident leads him on an unexpected journey where he is given the opportunity to make choices that will allow healing for his many failures.

I loved the book! 

Politics

I watched a train wreck materialize on Facebook yesterday. It started with one friend posting something negative about a candidate he disagreed with. . . it ended with two friends shredding their own dignity by stooping to juvenile vitriol. Maybe they made up through private messages or a phone call, but based on the angry tone of their back and forth posts, I doubt if that happened.

Why do we let politics ruin friendships? Why do we get so angry when someone disagrees with us? How can we be so arrogant to think that we are absolutely right and those that disagree with us are either misinformed or downright ignorant? When I was a mailman I hated the political season because of all the extra mass-mailings. Now that I'm a pastor I hate the political season because of all the times in the year it is the season where I believe we act the least Christ-like. Dare I say we even try to manipulate Christ to fit him into our own political shoe box so that we can claim exclusivity to divine love.

SMH