"Stay tuned!"

Have you ever felt like you have to go through a complete overhaul on your mind? That may seem like a stupid question to those of us who are followers of Christ, but I've come to find that many people are, to use a coined phrase, "sleeping giants." Now, I know that this colloquial term usually encompasses the entirety of the Church of Christ, but since we're "more than conquerors," it follows that we should be living our lives larger than, well, life.

A few months ago, our church was given a sort of guide for reading through the New Testament together in a couple of months. Well, that couple of months has come and gone, and quite honestly, I'm nowhere near the mark that was set for us. But, I have been taking very seriously the challenge that was posed alongside the schedule: read everything about Christ as though you'd never heard of, let alone read about, Him.

This is getting difficult.

You see, my whole mind feels like it's going opposite ways. To use an illustration here to let you gather a better picture of how I feel, imagine a chocolate chip cookie. Oh, yeah. You know what I'm talking about...it's the perfect one, straight out of the oven in a Nestle's Toll House commercial. Warm, and when it pulls apart, you see all the strings of that heavenly chocolate pulling away from the halves they were once member to.

Yeah...that's NOT how my mind feels.

Now imagine with me The Hulk. You know, the big green dude who really should take a few anger management courses, but it's probably better that he doesn't, because he'd likely murder the group leader and other members? Now imagine him holding a tank in his hands. You see where this is going? As he rips the Panzer apart, the metal squeals, shrieks, and pries apart with a stubborn tenacity only found one of those tiny fruit flies that goes kamikaze into your mouth as you're trying to enjoy your dinner. Got it?

That's more like what I'm going through...but don't be disillusioned. I'm actually really happy with it, because it means there's hope.

Case in point: in the book of Matthew, after Jesus is finished feeding the 5,000 on the hillside, walks on water to the disciples, heals many people, and ticks off the Pharisees, He encounters a Canaanite mother. Let's read it together to refresh our memories of the story:

And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and begged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before Him, saying, "Lord, help me." And He answered her, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.

---Matt. 15:22-28 (ESV)

Whoa...we tend to glaze right over that one, don't we? What has often been used as a passage for sermons based on faith and determination has been transformed in my mind. Yes, this passage speaks of those things. Be like the Canaanite woman, don't stop knocking on the door, stay at Christ's feet until He answers. But there's a HUGE theme here that most people miss, unless we ask ourselves a vital question: "Why is this even in the Bible?" It's NOT about the healing. In fact, I don't necessarily think it's about faith as much as being about Christ's availability. But not to man. Rather, this passage is about Christ's availability to God.

Keep in mind, right before this incident, Christ was said to "withdraw" to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Withdrawing tends to share the meaning of "getting away from it all." We see Him doing this all the time throughout the Gospels. Basically, Christ ministered and then withdrew to a place by Himself or just with His disciples to pray. What would He pray for? Strength, determination, love, communion with the Father? Yes, all of these, because these are the things He taught us to pray for. However, I believe that there was something more.

Remember, Christ was God, but He was also COMPLETELY man. That said, I don't believe He saw the future the way He inevitably does now...there were things that God the Father gave Him in glimpses as to where He was going, but I don't think He saw everything coming a mile away. (viz., being "surprised" at the centurion's amount of faith, and even the exclamation point at the end of this passage shows surprise at the Canaanite woman's logic) The point is, you're not surprised if you already know what's going to happen. Jesus didn't know everything that was going to happen so He could maintain a fair amount of humanity. Otherwise, it's an unfair advantage and we don't have the Perfect Sacrifice. Make sense?

As I was reading this, I began to see that Christ did everything purposefully. We all agree with that. He had a road to walk and neither looked to the left nor the right. THIS is why this passage is necessary. Jesus knew His purpose was to save the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." But more than that, His purpose was to "do only what the Father does, and say only what the Father says." He knew that His whole existence hinged on God's glory. At this moment, God decided His glory would be best shown through His Son by doing something that, until that moment, had been hidden from Jesus' mind.

So, re-imagine the passage with me:

Jesus is getting away from the crowds to commune with God the Father, and is in an area that is not inundated with Jews. While there, a non-Jewish woman comes to Him with a request. Jesus has already heard from the Father that His goal is to save the lost Jews, not anyone else. As He walks, though, Christ is continually listening to keep Himself in check with the Father. And then, this woman comes along, and at first Christ doesn't pay her any attention. Is He being cold to her? Or, is He listening to hear from the Father what to do about her?

She continues to plead with Him, and He tells her honestly what He's here to do. And she uses a logic that not only astounds the human part of Christ, but also speaks to the Spirit-led part of Him, allowing Him to turn from the road He's on momentarily to show the others NOT that He was here at that time for anyone else but the Jews, but that He WAS here to obey EVERYTHING the Father told Him to do.

Basically, it's a first-class scenario of God telling you to jump, and the correct response being "how high?"

This passage is about obedience. And Christ set the mark, and He did it perfectly.

Do you hear God say something, get the message, embrace it, and then turn off the spiritual "walkie-talkie" until you get to a fork in the road? Or, like Christ, do you constantly listen to that walkie to hear God's voice as you go. He may tell you to do things that don't line up with your idea of His vision for you. But that doesn't matter. He's God, and we're not. Listen always...pray without ceasing. Do what the Father says do and say what the Father says say, and you'll be in perfect harmony with God's will.

My challenge is simply this: ALWAYS listen for the Holy Spirit's prompting, whether you feel like "you've got this one" or not. Then, and only then, will the sleeping giant be awakened. We can do it. Let's do it, then.

"Let the Children Come to Me"

Hello again...it's good to be back.

Ever since I began writing this blog, life has taken on a new scope for me. At least, I think of life in terms of "between the blogs," if that makes any sense at all. Basically, I let a few days (or weeks, if I'm too busy or too lazy...they can be interchangeable at times, I'm sad to admit) go by to "refresh" my lens and get a grasp on something a bit different, or even updated from my last posting. Not that life revolves around the blog; no, it revolves around Christ, but He opens my eyes to different things all the time. So, without further ado...

I'm involved with a movement called KIDZ ROCK in my area. Actually, if you want to get right down to it, it's the brainchild of mine and my father's vision for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Well, at least one leg of it, anyway. I cannot begin to describe how desperately excited I am about this move.

You see, the children are the Church of tomorrow. And as the Church of today, it's our job to get them involved in the Church of today so they can have an even greater and more Biblical Church of tomorrow. Following?

Often times, we see youth groups that are stagnant and dying, or we see them bursting at the seams with event after event and full schedules of great fun and outings, and even some outreach. However, the reason people say that youth leaders have it the hardest is sometimes because adolescence is a very difficult time for teenagers, what with hormonal changes, life readjustments, and the struggle to become someone who is NOT self-serving or egocentric. (Don't we all struggle with that on a day-to-day anyway?) And, many times, we can trace that back to a slightly faulty method of raising those kids in the admonition of the Lord.

Now, before you behead me mentally, hear me out. I am not a father, so I am NOT about to say the all-time favorite cliche of "I know how I'd raise my kid!" Nay, I don't want those words put in my mouth...rather, I'd like to speak on behalf of children and youth having recently (that is, in the last 15 years) been a product of either of those groups in the Church.

I remember having a lot of fun in "Children's Church." I remember hearing Bible stories. I remember snacks, glorious snacks. And that's about it. I remember singing, but not being LED. That's not to say that my teachers/guardians at the time were ungodly. They were some of the sweetest and loving people I've ever known. But I think, all too often, we undermine the imagination and mindset of a child.

Remember what Christ said about children? In Mark 10:13-16, we see that children were brought to Jesus (by a very wise parent, no doubt) and the disciples rebuked them and tried to turn them away. (hmmm, does this sound familiar?) But Jesus did something unprecedented, like He seemed to always be doing. He said:

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.

Now, to unpack that, we're not just talking about a child's ability to believe things that adults have a hard time believing. That's gullibility in many cases. That's not the business Christ was in. However, in the ancient Jewish lifestyle, children were at the bottom of the totem pole, often times viewed as lower than those who were sick with leprosy, which when you think about it, is pretty low.

Jesus turned the whole hierarchy on its head with those two statements. Children not only believe the "unbelievable;" they also see the invisible. That is, they see the plain truth when our older, wiser spiritual eyes get fogged up with the surrounding elements of that truth. If this is true, then why not challenge the young to become even wiser in the Word and the truth?

Back to KIDZ ROCK. It's our hope to raise a generation of children who become so enthralled with Christ, so in love with Him, and so uninhibited in their worship of Him, that it overtakes their being and allows them to walk with Him closer than any of us could at their age. And DO NOT think or say "that's impossible," for as we all know, "all things are possible with God."

This is why we choose songs that are a good mix between children's "party" songs, where Biblical principles are present, but they're mostly played to get the kids' attention, and those songs that even adults sing to entice the spiritual being of the child to come to foot of God's throne in a way that Christ described as the only way to "receive the kingdom of God." Sure, we sing "Undignified." But we also challenge the next generation with songs like "Sweetly Broken," which, until now, has been viewed as a song "too deep" for our children. I say let 'em try. They tend to believe Jesus better than us anyway. Why not let this time be one where we let THEM lead US in how to worship?

I've got no beef with anyone on this subject, by the way. I just love kids and want to see them stick with the move of God's kingdom through their adolescence and young adult years, all the way until they're seniors who are dancing, still uninhibited, in the aisles of church buildings, just to show their kids how to worship freely.

It's possible. And it's necessary. So, let's do it together.

By the way, if you're interested in KIDZ ROCK, just find the Organization page on Facebook. You really don't want to miss it. There's NOTHING like a couple hundred children singing/shouting/dancing/whooping/hollering their love of Christ.

And just in case you're a skeptic, re-read the Scriptures, come see what this whole thing is about, and be open to God's move through our future. You won't be disappointed.

We have one life to live. Everyone wants to leave a legacy. Let ours be through our children in a Biblical and Spirit-led way. I promise we'll see Christ glorified through it and because we allow His Spirit to build His kingdom through us and our kids, we'll be able "to enter it."

And as the kids say at KIDZ ROCK..."OH, YEAH!"