Clean up on Aisle Four

Man was she loud, I mean really loud. I am not sure this little girl’s voice had a volume control, one sound fits all. I mean the kid was going to town, talking about this that and the other. I asked her to whisper but we didn’t seem to connect. Her little sister came over and tried to get her to whisper.

I talked with her about an inside voice and outside voice but I began to suspect I was getting her inside voice. I got on my knees in our aisle and asked her if she had any idea what the Lord’s Supper was.

Her voice was so noticeable because one of our members was sharing a word before we took the Lord’s Supper. The place was so quite you could hear a pin drop, except for my little friend in aisle four.

I remember messes. In high school I worked at our small town’s grocery store. We had five aisles of food. The store didn’t have a deli or video rental center but it worked for our small community. I spent my last two years of high school doing whatever I was asked.

Aisle four in that store was the worst for messes. If you heard, “clean up to aisle four,” you new you probably had trouble. It contained two of my most dreaded products: syrup and sweet pickles. You could mop and mop the area if either of these hit the tile floor but the sticky would remain.

I flashed back to my clean up days as the tray approached. What would you do in my shoes? In our little store back in St. John, Kansas you could have shut down aisle four and that would have insured that nothing destructive took place. The problem with this of course is that 20% of the store would have been off limits to our customers.

What do you do? Those little hands reaching for a tasty snack as the tray and all its content crash to the floor. What could I do? I tried to explain what was happening, not because I’m some legalist, but because it matters. The reality is she is four. Four without ever experiencing church.

What would you do? My little friend’s family has only just begun attending our Sunday gatherings. They have no real church background other than a deep longing that says they need God. They came to our Back to School day and the Spirit really touched their hearts.

Do we wall off 20% of our church for those who don’t know any better? Do we close down our open doors because they may create a mess in our aisles? I really don’t know what everyone else thought that day but I new I didn’t care, because I am suppose to be ready for true clean up every Sunday, no matter the aisle. I thank God that I am at a place that may just need clean up on aisle four.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Mark 2:17a

Discipleship and the Unanswered Question

You hear a lot about discipleship today. I mean, it makes sense. Jesus said go into all the world and make disciples in every nation. It isn’t called the minor commission or the insignificant commission, it is commonly called the great commission. That would seem to say that Christianity has marked this one as one of the key instructions given by Jesus.

But what does it mean? Let’s be honest, whatever point a group thinks is most important will be what they mean by making disciples. Isn’t that true? If a group thinks memorizing the Bible is most important, then making a disciple will be making someone who has memorized the Bible. If the spiritual gifts are what is most important, then making a disciple will be making someone who has the spiritual gifts.

But is that what it was suppose to mean? I have been thinking about this a lot. “Are we helping make disciples at New Heights Church?” I sit and wonder if we are carrying out what we have been commissioned to do.

I have ended up at the place I am today. You see I carry expectations of discipleship from my personal life experience. The question that rolls in my head is, was the way discipleship was judged in my experience the actual way Jesus expected discipleship to be judged?

Tough question. Not sure about the answer yet. In my experience discipleship has been measured by how “with it” you are. How together you hold everything, or seem to hold everything. I realized that in my experience discipleship was also measured by ones time at the building and ones Bible knowledge was considered essential. Is that the correct way to measure discipleship?

When looking at our church I realized that these were the unwritten rules I used to measure discipleship success, but is that true? Are those really key indicators? How would that work with Peter? How together were any of Jesus followers? In Acts 2:7 the people question what is taking place because Jesus followers are from Galilee.

This fact doesn’t seem to instill a sense of worth in the listeners that day. Men who spent their life as fisherman and tax collectors would not have been viewed as worthy teachers at this point in history. Cicero, in On Duties, said that fishing was considered a shameful occupation.

How about time at the building? The gospel records that Jesus went to the synagogue on a regular basis. Why not more focus on what took place in those places? I don’t deny that he spent time at the synagogue, gathering with the body matters, but is it wise to use it as a primary gauge for discipleship? Maybe I am off on this one, I don’t know.

Finally, how about Bible knowledge? Those early disciples were clueless. They didn’t understand what was going on and often times found themselves totally cross with God’s plan. Would I deem someone a worthy follower who argued about who was the greatest? Is getting called Satan by Jesus a good sign of being a disciple? Not sure I would think they were a particularly valuable Christ follower. I don’t know if I would have thought they were getting anywhere.

Maybe that is a proper way to measure discipleship, but maybe it isn't. What do you think? If not, what should the criteria be?

Ten Dollars and the Good Samaritan

"What was he thinking, traveling that road alone? Didn’t he know the dangers? Hadn’t he heard the reports of bandits traveling that stretch of highway? It serves him right that he got jumped. Maybe he will learn something from the experience.

Okay, I suppose I could help him out, get him to an inn or something, but that is it. I will pay for his first nights stay, but after that the bill is on him. He will have to figure out how to pay the innkeeper. That should teach him a lesson to avoid this road without some kind of armed escort. I will help him but I’m going to make sure he learns not to do this again."

No these aren’t the thoughts of the Good Samaritan recorded in Luke 10:30-26, but I wonder if they would have been mine. This past week I received a call from a woman who needed some gas to get to work. She said that she didn’t get paid until the end of the week and just needed something to get her to the paycheck. She had heard that our church helped people out.

I said sure, I could help her with ten dollars, and told her I would meet her at the convenient store up the street. She said she would be there in a few minutes in a maroon Grand Am.

I drove to the convenient store and pulled in the parking lot. I had a definite picture in my head of the vehicle and person. We had never met but I felt like I knew who she was. I saw a beat up Grand Am with trash in the back window. I saw a woman who looked like she had seen better times in a vehicle that definitely didn't have that new car smell. I had created a mental picture of who I was going to meet.

I didn’t see the Grand Am. I certainly didn't see anyone matching the description I had created in my mind. I went inside and purchased a candy bar and waited. The only car I noticed was a Chrysler LHS Sedan with custom chrome wheels. The parties in that vehicle puffed away like smoke stacks on their cigarettes as I chewed my candy bar.

I waited and waited for the maroon Grand Am, but there was nothing. Eventually I decided to return to my office, I didn’t have all day. I went back two other times, never seeing a Grand Am but noticing that the Chrysler with the tripped out wheels remained.

Eventually I got another phone call. It was the woman in need of gas. She said she was actually in a purple Chrysler, it was her son-in-law who would be driving her to works car. When I returned to the convenient store I saw that it was the chain smoking crew from earlier. I got out of my car and began to laugh. Their ride was much nicer than my own.

The man followed me into the store and I gave the clerk the ten dollars. Her son-in-law said thanks and we began to talk. During our conversation I realized that I had failed. These were people, people who needed Jesus. Sure they were probably taking me, but I don’t see where that comes into play in the text. I had an opportunity to rise above that, to share the love I have received, and what did I do? I laughed.

The question is not whether they deserved the aid or assistance. The question is, are they my neighbor? That is what I missed that day. Does this mean I give money to every person who asks? No. It just means that I should see them as my neighbor and treat them accordingly.

Morgan Paige Sweetheart Hamm and the Gift of Service

God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Romans 12:6-8 NLT

It simply amazes me, and in many ways I consider it unfair. I have never seen this text come to life more than with our youngest daughter. At this point in my daughter’s life she simply wants to give to others. At a very early age she has wanted to help. While our other two children went to run and play, Morgan Paige Sweetheart Hamm was helping pick up. While others said, “This is mine,” she would always say, “Can I give this to you?”

At no time was this clearly than this past week. My wife referees volleyball in this part of the country, and is quite good at what she does. Her job takes her away some evenings and this requires that I pick up the kids from school. I don’t mind this at all, I am thankful I have a job with such flexibility.

Last week I decided to get each kid a snack while they spent time at my office. We went to the convenient store up the street and each purchased an item they could snack on.

Morgan, being Morgan, shared her snack generously with her brother and sister. They were only too happy to oblige her generous nature. The problem came when the gum Morgan chose ran out. She had given a lot of it to her brother and sister. She had generously shared hers without asking for anything in return.

When she started to get hungry she asked her brother and sister if she could have some of their snacks. They were not born with a generous nature. They told her there was no way she could have any of their snacks.

It was a teachable moment for our other two children, the ones without the natural giving hearts. I talked with them about what Morgan had done, and I asked them what they thought about it. In the end I decided to get Morgan another treat, just for her. When the kids complained it was easy to tell them why.

What really got me though were the first words out of Morgan’s mouth when I told her she would get a treat of her own. The first thing she asked was, “Can I share it with my brother and sister?” She looked at them and told them that she would share.

It confirmed to me this text in Romans 12. It has also encouraged me to find what each of my child was made for, and to insure that I too am being who God made me to be. John Maxwell says that you should spend 80% of your time focusing on the 20% you are good at and it sounds like Paul would agree.

It seems Morgan is well on her way to maximizing her 20%.

Superiority

My final thoughts on grace

I am better then you. Have you ever heard those words? Spoke them? Maybe you’ve never said them, but have your actions told others that is what you believe? It is a nasty habit isn’t it. I must confess it is a hard one to avoid. Anytime I think I am right, or that my answers are better simply because they are my answers, I have fallen into the trap of thinking I am superior.

Paul warned the early church about such notions. He told the church in Philippi to, “consider others better than yourselves.” Is religious superiority present in the American church today?

Have you ever had someone tell you they were superior because they had a full manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit? I have. Been told you were a brother in error, our interpretations are clearly superior to yours? It has happened to me. Should I continue the list?

Why is it we find so many ways to divide? So many ways to say we are superior? You want to grow a church in today’s culture? Just tell people you do it better than the others. Play on the need to feel superior.

My problem is, when I point out others being superior, I tend to think this makes me superior to them.

What do we do with the fact that the Christian faith has nothing to do with our superiority? What do we do with the fact that Peter and James each tell us to humble ourselves before God? What do we do with the fact that in doing this we will be lifted up?

Grace is supposed to keep us from this false pride, this I’m better than you. Grace is supposed to be the great equalizer. “All have sinned and fallen short.” In Galatians 3:28 Paul tells us that we are all equal, no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, we are all one in Christ.

Yet we divide. Not because of grace, grace says we are together. Grace says we are all the same before God. Be warned, when anyone starts to sound like they are smarter or better, especially if it is me, run the other way.

I praise grace, the great equalizer, I pray that I will live under it so that I never think I am smarter, better or closer to God.

I confess, I am not superior.

Spinners

more thoughts on grace

I pulled up behind the giant SUV. It was decked out from hood to bumper. It looked like someone’s ride had been pimped. The golden color of the tank shined in the midday sun. My eyes were drawn to the spinners on the wheels. They continued to roll even though we were stopped at the light.

I don’t know where this craze started, and I’m not sure why it caught on, but I see them a lot these days. I mean you can even get plastic knock-offs down at your local Wal-Mart, though I am sure these were not the plastic clip-on sort.

The reason I really pondered this massive vehicle though, was because of a sticker on the back window. On the lower right hand side was one of those Calvin like characters bowing at the foot of a cross. Something in that moment, with the spinners spinning, and the sun shining off all the vehicles bling, gave me this strange juxtaposition. Something just seemed out of place.

I’m still not sure what I think about that moment. I realize that my 1995 Chrysler Concorde is a luxury that the majority of people in this world will never experience. I understand that our trips to see grandparents hundreds of miles away is unheard of in many parts of the world, but something about the image troubled me that day.

It just seemed that something about being a Christian is being missed these days. The purpose of it all has somehow shifted. Maybe it’s just me, maybe I am wrong, and I hope I am wrong, but it seems that flash comes before substance.

I am not questioning the salvation of the occupant of the vehicle, that is not the point. The point is something about how we show we are Christians has changed. Something fundamental about how we shine light into this world is different. Something about how we measure our faith seems misguided.

I wonder why. How did this happen? I keep hearing the words of Jesus when he says, “love each other.” John says that you will know who the children of God are because they love their brother (1 John 3:10).

What excites people about churches today? When a church has a conference what is it about? Have you been to a “How to Love those in your Neighborhood More” conference? Seen any invitations? Had a fellow believer visit your church and ask, “How well do you love others?” I don’t get that question. I can’t remember those types of invitations. How about you?

Truth be told, I can either complain about it or start doing it. I can start talking about it, living it out, and praying that we all catch the desire to love more. I don’t want more bumper sticker testimony. I want authentic love shown to the least of these around us.

Grace wasn’t extended so that I could say, “Look I’m saved,” like some sticker that I put on my window. It was extended so that I could love more and more. Let me embrace grace. Let love be the only measure of my allegiance to Christ.

A New Apartment

thoughts on grace

They weren’t supposed to tell me her name. I really don’t know why, it seems there was something in her past they were trying to protect. I received the call on a Friday. The next day our church was doing our Garage Sale Giveaway. They had seen an ad on Fox News and had called to enquire about the items we would be giving away.

The case worker on the other end on the line explained that the young lady had been homeless, that her life until a year ago had been one on the streets. The case worker explained that they were moving the girl into an apartment, but she had no money and no real belongings. I guess it is hard to keep a U-Haul full of items when you aren’t even sure about your next meal.

They wanted to know if we would have items that could help this young woman, we will call her Ann, as she gets settled in. I told her that the items went fast and that they could come up early and look to see what we had. I told them to come early and knock on the door and we would let them it.

I will never forget the looks on the faces of all the other people waiting in line. I could almost here them say, “It’s not fair”, but then thinking better of it.

Ann loaded up several boxes of items that day. She packed up a comforter for her bed and plates for her kitchen. She loaded a storage container and pots and pans for her new beginning.

I smiled as they drove away because I knew we had been Christ to Ann that day. We had exercised pure religion that day, we had been there to help the orphan start again.

After they left we opened the doors to the rest. No one asked or complained about this young ladies early entry. I had thoughts of the parable of the workers in the vineyard.

There were other stories that day of people touched in the name of our King as we extended grace.

My List

I am not a forward person but since asked I will answer.

1. One book that changed your life: God Came Near by Max Lucado

2. One book that you've read more than once: The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: Socio-Rhetorical Commentary series from Ben Witherington III

4. One book that made you laugh: The Time warp Trio by Jon Scieszka

5. One book that made you cry: No Wonder They Call Him the Savior by Max Lucado

6. One book you wish had been written: Why We Should Avoid Labels and In Words

7. One book you wish had never been written: Questions and Answers by Guy N. Woods

8. One book you're currently reading: called to Counsel John R. Cheydleur

9. One book you've been meaning to read: Pilgrim Heart by Darryl Tippins

One thing that struck me doing the list was how much Max Lucado impacted my journey. I have not read a Max Lucado book in years. I own a lot of them but I rarely read them. When I was a new Christ-follower his books really blessed me. He was a wonderful writer who helped me embrace Christ and grace. It is a good reminder that I may have outgrown his books but I can never forget his impact.

Hope, part 2

(The conclusion to Reactor and Wasteland)

What’s in it for me?

It is a question I find impossible to avoid. It comes up all of the time. I think the question is appropriate. It is impossible for us as individuals not to think that way. Jesus repeated, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The Old Testament didn’t say love your neighbor instead of yourself and Jesus certainly didn’t change the meaning. Since we are going to love ourselves, that is just how it is, we should attempt to show the same love to others.

A tall order, but one that clearly assumes that we can not avoid the ‘me’ of it all. A tall order when we have a broken core and we are living in a wasteland.

How is your me? When I was in high school I played on our schools basketball team. Well, maybe saying played is a stretch. I was voted most likely to sit the bench. There were games that I was so certain I wouldn’t play that I brought candy concealed in my warm-ups. It was nice having a snack while I sat and watched.

My brother was a different story. He started on the varsity and lead the team to a regional championship his senior year. I say all this to point out the one great advantage to being a poor basketball player. I have good knees. My brother hasn’t been so fortunate. He has had several operations on his knees over the years to repair the damage that was done. I may have ended up with a larger dental bill but my knees are great. The fact that you have to actually play combined with the fact that you have to go up to come down wrong, has left my knees in pristine condition.

Unfortunately, we in many ways are like my brother’s knees. We are all first team players in the game of life. It is impossible to sit on the end of the bench. Everyone who has a job, a family, a home and a whole host of other responsibilities, understands that you can not claim bench warming status. But with the activity of life comes the results and they impact me as an individual.

The Gift

This is why one statement that Jesus makes resonates with me. The book of John records this promise that Jesus made to his followers. “I tell you it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.”(John 14:7) Jesus tells them it is actually better for them if he leaves. The core is broken and there is something better than having God with us in the flesh.

I must go so the Helper will come. We are broken, the core is cracked and our infinite God of wonder and wisdom has sent us the Helper. To give us a new heart, a new operating system. To take away the broken and corrupted core of stone and replace it with one of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) To give us life.

The Spirit is not simply some concept or fact of Christianity. Something to be affirmed as indwelling, let’s move on to affirm the next concept. It is the essential item that makes the story different. It is what gives us hope, a hope that we can live differently than the broken world around us. A hope that we don’t have to give into the desires of our cracked and decaying core.

Paul’s letters are filled with this hope. Hope that only came because Jesus died for us. Hope that could only be realized when we were made clean by the blood of the lamb. Hope because we have been made a proper place for the Spirit of the living God.

This is a part of the hope for this world. Shouldn’t believers be a stark contrast in this world’s barren landscape? Shouldn’t a group of people, living in harmony as we were made to be, a light? Shouldn’t it give our neighbors a glimpse of what it will be?

If we will allow the new core to operate, if we will allow the Spirit to rule and run our system, then the story can be different. It is suppose to be different. In Galatians Paul implores the church to “walk by the Spirit.” He contrasts the fruit that comes from our new core with that which is produced by what is broken, the flesh, and he tells them to “be led by the Spirit.”

In the end all have hope. You and I, creation. Each lives and waits with hope. A conscious understanding that one day we will receive a new body, perfect, and a core that is unbreakable. A time when all of creation will be restored. Until that day we must fight. We must fight the darkness that comes from the broken core. We must seek to live by our new operating system, the Spirit. It is not easy because our broken core and the wasteland constantly work to take us back.

Our world needs to see people who model a different way, a way of the new core. Will we always allow the perfect Spirit core to control? No, but that isn’t the issue. The issue is, will we strive to allow our new core, that which is perfect, that which Jesus died to allow to live within us, to be our primary operating system?

It is a fight worth fighting because ultimately I believe a day will come when my broken core will be permanently destroyed and I will receive what is without blemish. All of creation will be perfected because of Christ. All will be fixed upon His return.

That is our ultimate hope, that we can show a glimpse of this in this current wasteland, always pointing to a better place. A place where justice will reign, mercy will be the rule and we will walk with God.

Hope, part 1
(The conclusion to Reactor and Wasteland)

It’s a big word isn’t it? It carries so much meaning when those four letters are pressed together, yet our story seems so hopeless. Isn’t that why people attack Christianity? The hopelessness of the world? The brokenness that they see? They want to know why. They want us to explain how a God of love could allow such devastation.

I respect and appreciate their question. The question is asked by people who want answers. People who want to know why. Our world is broken, the core has melted down. The question for believers is not why, we know why, but what can we do. People who ask the question want us to fix it. They want God to fix the problem, repair the damage and we know deep within that He is and will. That Jesus is the answer.

How many of you have read these entries and been frustrated? How many have wondered when I would get to the point? As believers we know the ending of the story and yet because we know the ending we tend to skip over some very important information. I know that I to many times want to get people to Jesus without giving them any reason to want, need or even like Him.

The story of a Deli

There is a deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Zingerman’s Delicatessen. I read about Zingerman’s in an issue of Inc. Magazine several years ago. I just want to share their concept of training in hopes that it can bless you as we talk about this important story we believe.

There’s a concept taught in ZingTrain’s seminars concerning the mastery of a skill. When you know absolutely nothing about a skill, you are unconsciously incompetent – that is, you don’t know what you don’t know. As you learn more, you become consciously incompetent: you know what you don’t know. With training and practice you become consciously competent, while total mastery makes you unconsciously competent, meaning that you use the skill so effortlessly that you’re not even aware you’re doing it.

Here’s the kicker: in order to teach a skill, you have to go backward, from being unconsciously competent to being consciously competent. Until you can teach it, moreover, you don’t really know what you know. Inc Magazine Jan. 03, page 72

I hope you can understand why that article has stuck with me all of these years. I mean what really is the answer? No, not the ten second answer. I mean the deep meaning answer, the story that lives and breathes at a level for those who want to fully dive in?

The funny thing is the deep answer is actually the shallower. Why? Because it more adequately explains the story. The surface level question, do you want your sins forgiven, is actually very complex because it fails to tell people who know nothing what they don’t know. It seems simple because the believer who shares it is unconsciously competent. They know what they know so much that they assume everyone understands. To explain the deep truth of our broken core is actually the most elementary because it assumes that they don’t know anything.

In this final post of the series I want to look at how the hope that we know and understand fills the questions that all have with meaning. Creation and humanity are broken, cracked at the core, and yet there is hope.

The Creation

Paul tells the church in Colossae that Jesus is, “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17)

This is no small verse, no insignificant statement that we can use to say that Jesus is important. This helps to explain everything. Jesus answers all of our longings. Not just our sin but for our broken core, and more importantly, our broken creation.

When the new heaven and new earth come we will see the final answer to the broken core. We will witness the solution to our desire to see things made right. Isn’t that what the environmentalists want? They want to see things made right. They want to see things as they should be.

Shouldn’t we as Christ followers agree? Shouldn’t we second the idea? We understand why it is all broken. We can understand that no matter how much work and effort is put in, everything still seems broken.

What if we can tell the person who longs to see the oceans clean and the forests flourish that there will come a day when everything will be made right? What if we can tell them that the deep hope that they feel is legitimate? What if we can agree that their desire is noble?

We have the answer and it is Jesus. He holds all things together and they have been broken by sin. The core has cracked and no matter how hard we try it can never be fixed. As believers we do our best to model our desire for reclamation. We seek to be responsible with our

belongings. We seek to treat creation better. Because we believe we can fix it? No, but because we know who can and will. We model hope for creation by trying to be hope in every area of our lives.

How about justice? We believe that one day God will repair all of this and make it right. We see the AIDS epidemic in Africa and we seek to show we care. We want people to see that they matter to God, that they are redeemable, that they can have hope.

Why is our solution superior? Because we can all see that no matter how many laws we pass, no matter how much money we raise. The world is cracked and broken. No matter which party rules the White House things go wrong and creation suffers. We have hope because we believe that Jesus will come again and make it right.

What other answer is there? That all humanity has this deep hope without any way for it to be realized? That we desire creations repair, that we long for justice only to find that it is hopeless? I don’t believe that. I believe that I have the answer. That Jesus is the answer. That He makes sense of all of this mess, this brokenness. That we seek to model Jesus in his desire to fix what is broken but that we ultimately fail because we live in a wasteland. That in the end Jesus is the ultimate answer for what burdens us inside.

I don’t believe in Jesus simply because Christianity is the most popular religion in the country of my youth. I believe in God the father, His son Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit, because it best explains my experience. It explains why everything is such a mess, the core is broken, it best explains why everything breaks down, I live in a wasteland, and it is the only one that gives hope for what I long for that never seems to come.

To be finished…

Wasteland, part 2

What can we do?

We are a curious people. Is that a bad thing? We like to solve problems. How else can you explain a game show where they give the answer and you have to figure out the question. We like to solve problems. Our history is littered with individuals who saw a problem and asked, ‘What can we do?’

We have a long list of examples of such men and women. Men like Ladislo Biro. His name is one of those that jump to mind when you think of inventor’s right? How about Mary Phelps Jacob? I am sure that everyone is thankful for this pioneer who asked, 'what can we do?’ Douglas Engelbart is a name that probably rolls off your tongue. I am reminded of my gratitude as I type this. I have more, what do you think, should I share?

These great pioneers have had a great impact on our society and yet I didn't know any of their names or what they invented until I researched for this entry.

I want you to think about this. Do we really believe that without James Ritty we wouldn't be able to check-out at a grocery store? Do we truly believe that without Benjamin Franklin I would be working on this by candlelight?

You may be asking, 'what's the point'? You may be thinking, he's been up late typing, too much coffee. The point is, all of these, "inventors", have one thing in common. No, not the ability to say 'what can we do', they were all first. They ran to the patent company before the person down the street. They had the "EUREKA" moment, days before their next door neighbor. We are too easily impressed with ourselves. We are impressive, but not because of whom we are, but whose image we carry.

No matter how many wonderful inventions, or how many flavors of coffee with different names and ways to make it, we are still living in a world with a broken core. No matter how nice our home, the size of our bank account, we reside in a body with a broken core.

Where to next?

We should grieve over our broken core because we are hopeless to fix it. But if you know anything about our Creator, our God, then you realize already that this is not a bad thing, but a good one.

I want to give you just a glimpse of how God responds to the broken core. In Genesis 3 God comes to Adam and Eve and explains to them what their actions have brought. Historically man has little appreciation for consequences. If you have ever witnessed a government program go bad, then you know this already. When we throw a rock into a pond we think we just added a rock to the pond. We are typically not looking at the ripple and waves. If the rock is big enough, like the meltdown of our core, the ripple is enormous.

In Genesis 3 God explains just how large the ripple is. Man, woman, creation, and serpent get an explanation. If we simply stop with the explanation then what we have is hopelessness. The core is broken, everything is in meltdown, all is decaying, dying. But look at what God does. Read on and see who our Creator is, who our God wants to be. In Genesis 3:21 "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

How many disasters have you had around your home? Have your children ever decided that the paper on the wall was more drawing pad than decoration? Do you know just how much toilet paper it takes to plug the toilet? Maybe something worse. Come home to find your child passed out on the garage floor? Found their stash in their dirty clothes?

As I was writing this I experienced a "disaster." I took our three children to watch a junior high basketball game. Well, I guess more accurately, I took our children to play while I watched a junior high basketball game. I told the children that I would buy them a treat at the game.

Our oldest insisted on Skittles. You know, those bite size candies, taste the rainbow? About half way through the bag, as I attempted to watch basketball and keep an eye on the kids, I heard what sounded like marbles cascading over the tile floor. I looked over to see our son frantically trying to retrieve the candy before it spent too much time on the ground, five second rule. After explaining that the five second rule was void in public places, never know where that floor has been, we began to retrieve the "disaster."

I decided that our son had had his chance with candy that night. He was just going to be stuck with less candy than his sisters. Nathan had his chance with his Skittles, tough luck. That was my response. Thankfully his mom had another plan. She purchased him another bag. She explained the need to share with his sisters, but she wanted him to enjoy his treat as well.

I modeled what comes with the broken core, my wife showed me a glimpse of God. Isn't that what Jesus teaches us? Jesus explains that He "did not come to judge the world, but to save it," and again, "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent." Judgment comes with what is broken and Jesus warns us not to. Like God clothing Adam and Eve, my wife extended Grace. Did my son deserve another bag? No. Did his actions draw her response or did her love?

The world was broken, turned into a wasteland by sin. The core was cracked, and is still in the same condition. What did God do? Did he tell man tough luck, you dropped your bag. You had the treat of the garden and you blew it. No, God explains the consequences of the meltdown, and then he made them a new set of clothing.

I don't react that way to my disasters and they are of no consequence when compared, but God did, and it is in this simple truth, this plain statement that gives us hope. The core is broken, the wasteland is unavoidable and God offers us clothing.

What if Jesus didn’t come just to take away our sins, but instead to take away our sins so that we could be clothed? Would that change the way we see hope? Would that change what we hope for? Would it change the way we live in this wasteland?