25 September 2014 The Gamble

The Gamble

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If you’ve been following my posts on Fyodor Dostoevsky, here is the final and perhaps the best one. Last week I challenged readers to read the famous chapter, “The Grand Inquisitor,” from Dostoevsky’s crowning achievement–an epic novel called, The Brothers Karamazov. It’s so remarkable that complete copies of the chapter are available online.

I wept, reading it again. I always do, even though it is a fantastical story in a fictional novel. Take a moment now in your busy week and ponder the deep questions in this famous piece of writing…

Imagine the wonder of Jesus returning to the earth. Not as promised in all His glory—yet. Rather, just to see what’s become of us in the interim, in the long lapse of time that started when He said, “Behold, I come quickly.”

The Seal for the Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition

The Seal for the Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition

The sub-story is set in Spain at the time of the Inquisition, a forceful suppression of religious freedom, punishable by death. Jesus came in ordinary clothes to the hot pavement of Seville, which on the day before, a hundred heretics had been burned by order of the Grand Inquisitor. Dostoevsky initially paints a beautiful scene…Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Experiencing God, God's design Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
20 February 2014 Of Shadows and Light

Of Shadows and Light

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“Dear God, I cannot love Thee the way I want to.

You are the slim crescent of a moon that I see

And my self is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon…

I do not know you God, because I am in the way.”

~Flannery O’Connor, A Prayer Journal 

Flannery O’Connor’s personal writings show a heart that longs for intimacy with God. Her initial entries, however, reflect feelings of failure. As a Catholic, she knew traditional prayers but noted, “I have been saying them and not feeling them. My attention is always very fugitive.”

One particular phrase caught my attention. She asked God what He really wanted from her, hoping to avoid the pitfalls of “scrupulous nervousness” and “lax presumption.” I believe countless people of faith either live in one mindset or the other. Or worse, they ping-pong between the two.

Labyrinth photoThink about it for a moment. Does the Christian life feel like a perpetual labyrinth, requiring constant attention to avoid a wrong turn or falling into a hole? Do we have to keep some sort of perfect equilibrium to get through the minefield of carnal life and finally win the pleasure of God?

Or do we compartmentalize our faith into something we do on Sundays? Does our prayer life boil down to “Help!” in times of urgency? Still, we’ve been baptized and know the Scriptures, and occasionally give a dollar to that guy on the street corner. So we’re set.

Is God breathing down our necks and wagging a finger? Or is He off in the distance, giving us an occasional thumbs up? Of course, neither image characterizes God.

I closed O’Connor’s book and felt a wave of gratitude. For years now, I have been free from the shadows of condemnation. As I describe in my book—being under condemnation feels like God is constantly disappointed with you. You come up short every day and say with resolve, “I’ll try harder tomorrow.” You spend hours baking cherry pies only to find out that God really prefers apple.

Somewhere on my long journey of faith, I discovered that freedom from condemnation is not presumption.Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Barriers, Character of God Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
28 November 2013 God’s Poem

God’s Poem

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This is a true account of a sign and wonder.

In 1994, Jenny and I met to pray with a very troubled woman. Our youngest sons were toddlers at the time, and that day, there seemed to be a lot of commotion–fighting over toys, crocodile tears, and the tromping sound of unhappy feet. Every time we sat down to pray, some new difficulty would arise.

Jenny recognized it as spiritual warfare. Though the term has become cliché, if you’ve ever been on assignment for God you know that’s usually when the dog runs off, the milk spills, or the car won’t start. Firebrands. That’s what I call them. Sent by the enemy stir up trouble.

So what did we do? We sang a song and worshipped God together. Remember that if you’re ever in a time of distress, if you’re scared in the dark or feeling hopeless. It’s a powerful countermove.

Right after we sang, Jenny sensed that the Lord was about to give her a prophetic word. She often compared it to the feeling you have right before you sneeze. You know something is coming.

Jenny would basically “see” or “hear” in her mind—a phrase. When she spoke it out loud, another phrase would form, and she’d continue until the words stopped coming. That day the words came in such a downpour, I barely had time to take notes. Fortunately, I had my laptop. I can type much faster than I write.

Because it came rapidly, I typed her words in one continuous sentence. Later, when I made spelling corrections and added punctuation, I realized the phrases formed a rhyming poem.Continue reading

Filed Under: 2013, Barriers, Biblical Foundations, Experiencing God, Hearing God's Voice Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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