Month: September 2022

Quick story about a different “Ian”…

Earlier this year, a few months after I lost a ministry job, I went to spend some time at Teleo Coffee in Kirkwood, Missouri one morning. I was working on my laptop, setting up my new freelance business. Meanwhile, I kept noticing this good looking dude sitting near me with long hair and a “Jesus loves you” shirt on. After sitting there for some time, he got up and approached my table.

With a grin on his face he asked, “Hey, I couldn’t help but notice the Greek tattoo on your arm man. What does it mean?” I told him the word means “loved unconditionally,” and explained a little bit of the spiritual backstory as to why I got the tattoo in the first place. “I thought I got the impression you might be a believer,” he said enthusiastically, and we started to chat a bit about our personal histories with the Lord.

I told him we should get coffee sometime and connect more. He gave me his name (Ian) and phone number, but told me he was leaving town and wouldn’t be back in the area for a good while. Nevertheless, he texted me later that day to ask me if there was anything he could be praying about for me. I responded that the main thing weighing on my mind was my financial situation, because I was late on making a payment that I owed. He asked me how much the total was. 

A few days later Ian messaged me to tell me he just got a paycheck… and then proceeded to send me a big chunk of money via Venmo to cover my bill!

I was so moved that a stranger felt led to spontaneously invest in me like that. I texted him and told him he was too gracious, and he replied, “God is too gracious! In fact, that’s literally what my name means.”

It felt like a wink from Heaven.

That’s just one of countless stories I could tell of how people have been the hands and feet of Jesus to me in this chapter of my life — encouraging, supporting and blessing me in surprising ways. In other words, intentionally modeling Christ’s loyal love in an embodied manner, as the Church that He intended for us to be to one another.

We don’t always get it right in how we treat each other… But then again, a lot of times we actually do. Either way, God knows how to step in, show up, and continue in every season to be exceedingly gracious.

Do you have even the slightest clue how much your very existence overjoys God’s heart?

God does not “tolerate” you. Nor does He just “accept” you. No, God absolutely cherishes you and celebrates every fiber of your being. He is mad about you, and wants you for exactly who you are (not “despite” who you are). 

Sometimes I hear believers say things like, “God will take you how you are, but He won’t leave you how you are. Can I get an ‘amen?’” Generally speaking, that kind of messaging really doesn’t sit well with me. It is true that God won’t leave us wallowing in dysfunction and oppression. His love is radically transformational, to be sure. Nevertheless, when He comes alongside us to lift us up, build us up, and empower us to live a more flourishing life — He’s calling the gold out in us the whole time.

We don’t necessarily have to view God as trying to “change” or “fix” anyone. He molds and shapes our futures with us without treating us like we’re mere projects to be improved upon. He crafted us in His beautiful image, and whether we see it in ourselves or not, that is the image within that Christ has successfully redeemed (see Ephesians 4:24).

God also sees our failures and our mess, for certain. Yet He is well able to differentiate who we are from all of that garbage. He will help you learn, grow and course-correct where needed, without ever treating you like there is something intrinsically wrong with you. You are not your own worst thoughts or behaviors, your untamed egotism, or your own self-righteousness (Romans 6:11). Further, your growth (or lack of growth) is not indicative of how utterly treasured and esteemed you already are in all of your uniqueness — to your very core. (Psalm 147:11, Psalm 149:4, Isaiah 62:3-5, Zeph. 3:17, Psalm 139:13-14)

There is no hoop you have to jump through for the Lord to like you, and no authentic part of who He made you to be that you can’t bring to His table of fellowship. As for any guilt, shame, or bondage that interfered with you knowing Him and His favor… He has already addressed and overcome it through His own self-sacrifice on the Cross, once and for all time (Hebrews 10:10).

You are simply and thoroughly desirable to Jesus. Even now He says to you, “You have absolutely captivated my heart, with merely one glance” (Song of Solomon 4:9). Continue reading Do you have even the slightest clue how much your very existence overjoys God’s heart?

Experiential Faith

It saddens my heart when I talk to believers who have been worshiping and serving Christ for years, and yet they still testify to having little or no personal experience with the manifest Presence of God in their lives. Some folks seem to have gotten the message that this is simply what it means to walk in “faith” — to believe and obey despite the lack of evidence for what they believe in. They trust a God they’ve heard of on this side of eternity, hoping that they will finally actually get introduced to Him in the life to come.

This line of thought might be based upon a partial truth, but I don’t believe it is the full truth by any means. The reality is, when Jesus took on human flesh and came to Earth, the Lord was not dipping in and out of our world. God wasn’t merely paying us all a quick visit. Christ’s coming was meant to display to us the very nature and eternal character of our Father. Jesus was demonstrating to us who God is in His very essence — an incredibly incarnational, relational Being who does not leave us like a human father might leave his children (John 14:18).

We need to know that we do not serve an abstract deity who stands at a distance while asking us to merely relate with Him via the words on a page in an instructional book. Other monotheistic religions may sometimes teach that sort of thing, but the God Jesus portrays to us is characteristically interactive, affectionate, and embodied. He pursues us in His love, seeking to know and be known. Personally known. Intimately known. He takes the lead and initiates real closeness with us. That didn’t stop happening when Jesus ascended to His Throne.

Life can be so profoundly harsh and unfair to us sometimes, but as Christians we do not have to brave it alone. We have a friend who stands closer than any other brother (Proverbs 18:24), and He is not a mere concept, theory or principle for us to put our hope in. He’s actually near to the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18). He’s attuned to our needs and invested in our lives — stirred by zeal and compassion (Isaiah 26:11, Matthew 9:36). He works to catch our attention with signs, to soothe our anxieties with His gentle voice, and to touch us with the consolation that only His contact with our hearts can bring.

One of God’s names in the Old Testament was “Yahwey Shammah” — “God who is present.” In the New Testament, Jesus is called “Emmanuel” — “God with us.” This is simply who He is. It is how He functions. Jesus is the type of Person who (sometimes disruptively) grabs our attention, makes Himself known, and sweeps people off their feet with the wild, expressive, wonder-working ways He loves them. And the Bible says He is the same “yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). In fact, because of His Spirit poured out, we have it BETTER than when He physically walked the Earth among His first disciples (John 16:7).

Don’t underestimate how experiential your relationship with God can be. It doesn’t have to be dramatically spectacular 24/7, but it also doesn’t have to lack in real tangibility, in warmth, or in dynamism.

God is available. He is here. He is not withdrawn or apathetic. He offers us “daily bread” — fresh revelation and encounter — every day. I’m not telling you exactly what it has to look or feel like for you personally… But let your senses be awakened to His movement all around and within you. Don’t settle for anything less.