In the Zone

Have you ever been in a strange place with nowhere to stay?  It can be very disconcerting. A few years ago, I experienced such a thing.  My dad and I had traveled to attend a NASCAR race.  We have hotel reservations, but when we arrived, they had no record of our reservation.  Even with a confirmation number, nothing showed up. To make a very long story short, we spent the night sleeping in my dad's van because there was literally no room for us in the inn, or any inn, for that matter. It can frustrating to get somewhere only to find out you have no place to go.  I imagine Joseph and Mary experienced that same frustration that first Christmas night.  Only there frustration was magnified because of Mary's pregnancy and Jesus's imminent birth. Luke 2 tells us that Jesus was laid in a manger - which is a feed trough - because there was no room for them in the inn.  Now, the Greek for inn may refer to a guest room and not a hotel, but the implicati...

I love Star Wars. If you didn't know that, then you don't really know me.  I have a Star Wars room. I collect Star Wars action figures.  I read Star Wars books.  Two of my top 10 movies of all time are Star Wars movies.  I am well-versed in Star Wars and can pretty much quote the Original Trilogy. This week is Star Wars week for me.  With the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I am so excited.  I have waited 30 years for this movie to be made.  I am giddy.  I got work done early this week just so the thought of the movie wouldn't distract me from getting things done. I love Star Wars.  I will see the first showing in just a few hours. That being said, Star Wars is just a story.  It has heroes and villains and a plot and characters.  It's themes are echoed not just in the Star Wars saga, but in many tales of adventure.  In fact, Star Wars is not an original concept.  It was based on the S...

When I was a young teenager, I knew exactly what I was going to be when I grew up.  I was going to be an attorney. Now, this decision didn't come as a result of me wanting to help people or because I had an affinity for the law. No, at the ripe old age of 13, I wanted to be a lawyer because lawyers were rich.  They made a lot of money, and coming from a family that didn't always have a lot of means, that was one of my desires as an adult. Thankfully, I soon found a new love:  journalism.  That one, though, comes at a much discounted salary from an attorney.  But I loved writing and covering sports and it's what I decided to do. Not long after I began my sports writing career, God called me to the ministry.  It wasn't long after I started serving as a part-time youth minister that I knew God had called me to full-time vocational ministry.  I've been doing that ever since. It's funny to think about how I got from a desire to be rich to a call t...

Do you have a flying car?  How about a hoverboard? Yeah, one of the big stories of 2015 was Back to the Future Day - the day in the movie Back to the Future 2 when Marty and Doc went into the future.  Leading up to the day, you could view any number of videos or stories about what the movie got right and what it got wrong. Obviously, no one is flying in a car.  Hoverboards don't really exist.  And, the Cubs didn't win the World Series.  So, they got a few things wrong. However, it's amazing how much they got right.  Video conferencing, wall-mounted televisions, and 80s nostalgia were all real things in our current day and age.  And while Jaws didn't produce double-digit sequels, 3D movies are bigger than ever. Now that we're approaching 2016, we're going to start hearing predictions for the upcoming year. We'll hear about Presidential elections, economic forecasts, upcoming movies and even anticipated weather.  A lot of these predictions ...

I once picked up a hitchhiker. I was driving back from Lexington, Ky, along a stretch of road known as the Mount Parkway, toward Pikeville. On that road, about 2/3rds of the way back, you reach what is really the last real stop for about an hour.  Near the location of the Natural Bridge State Park is a welcome center and rest area, and it routinely became my stop on that trip. This trip was no different. After a long day in Lexington by myself doing hospital visits, I was on my way home.  I stopped in a rest area to make my final pit stop for the day and as I exited the restroom, a seedy looking man approached me. "Hey, are you going to Prestonsburg?" he asked. Prestonsburg as at the end of the Parkway, and it was on my way home to Pikeville.  I'm a minister, on my way back from ministry visits, and without my family as an excuse.  As much as my sense of fear gnawed at me, I really had nothing else to say. "Yes," came my begrudging reply. "C...

I am not a big fan of conflict.  I don't know many people that are. Yet, one thing I learned in my communication classes in college is that in any human relationship or interaction, conflict is inevitable and unavoidable.  In fact, I teach in my marriage counseling that conflict, and how we handle it, can even strengthen our marriages. Conflict is not always a bad thing.  Through conflict, we see new points of view.  We grow as we weather the storm. We even strengthen our resolve. And, at time, God brings conflict into your life in order to move you from where you are to where he wants you to be. That's what happened with the Israelites.  In Exodus 14, we see that God moves to the Jewish people to the once place that means an unavoidable conflict with Egypt.  Surrounded by the Egyptian army, an impassible terrain and the Red Sea, Israel is forced into a confrontation with the Egyptian army.  They have no where to run and ultimately must liste...

I recently read the report of a missionary in a predominantly Muslim country. He was arrested for sharing the Gospel and converting Muslims to Christianity.  Despite the consequences, this missionary refused to stop sharing the Gospel, and even converted men in the prison with him.  Within a few days of the the trial and subsequent release, he was once again on the front lines, telling Muslims about Jesus Christ. He stood up for the truth no matter the consequences. That's a man I respect.  Too often, we back down when sharing Jesus is too hard.  We give in and compromise when the truth leads to conflict and dissension.  We soften our stance to be accepted by our culture at large. But the truth is the Gospel offends people.  The truth of Jesus divides families, friends and even countries and governments.  We have to have the boldness to stand up for the truth, even if it cost us our lives. John the Baptist did just that.  When faced wi...

Have you ever been somewhere, recognized the landmarks, but still have no idea where you're going? Well, that's me every time I go back "home" to Northern Kentucky to visit.  I lived in the Northern Kentucky area (which is really just a large suburb of Cincinnati) for most of my life.  But eight years ago, I packed up and moved away to pursue ministry opportunities in other parts of Kentucky and Illinois. Now, when I go back, I routinely have to ask for directions when traveling.  People give me a hard time, since I had lived there so long.  They don't understand how I can forget.  The reality is places change and so do people.  The longer I live elsewhere, the less I remember about the area.  I can literally drive in parts of Northern Kentucky, recognize the landmarks--the stores, restaurants and parks of my youth--and not really know where I'm at or how to get where I'm going.  I recognize that its familiar, but I don't know fully recogn...

When I was in college, there was a street preacher who used to come to the free speech area of campus.  Everyday he would come and scream at the college students that they were going to Hell and needed saving. Now, by and large, the gist of his message was correct.  A large percentage of those students did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and therefore were on a path leading to Hell.  The problem I had with him was two-fold.  One: He was extremely legalistic and told people that listening to certain forms of music doomed them to Hell.  I just can't get on board with that one.  Two: His approach kind of rubbed me the wrong way.  Screaming at kids to abandon music and movies in order to obtain eternal life is not biblical and unaffective. You see, he screamed and hollered and made a lot of noise.  People came out to see him.  They went to hear his words.  His words were off, but they came to see him.  Many came to argu...

People are always looking for a sign. As Christians, sometimes I think we are preconditioned to seek out signs for God's direction.  We interpret a scenario or a situation to be a sign from God.  We ask God to show us a sign. We even lay out our signs to God, asking him to make something happen if he wants us to go in a certain direction. We use all sorts of euphemisms about it too.  We're laying out our fleece or seeking our shadow to turn back.  We're quick to point to the signs God gave Gideon and Hezekiah and Abraham.  Yet, we don't often remember that Jesus told the people he would give no sign except for the sign of Jonah or the sign God gave Zechariah, John the Baptist's father. Zechariah, a priest, was serving in the temple when an angel spoke to him.  God had not spoken in 400 years, and he chose Zechariah to receive a personal message while he was serving in the temple near the Holy of Holies.  Instead of believing the account, he ask...

We make a lot of promises. We promise to get our work done by the end of the day.  We promise to keep our houses cleaner. We promise ourselves that we will eat healthier and exercise and lose a few pounds.  We even promise our kids that their life will be better than ours. Yet, how often do we keep those promises?  We may have good intentions, but we simply can't keep all the promises we make.  We are human. But God does. In Malachi 3:16-4:3, God makes a promise to his faithful followers.  For three chapters in Malachi, God has been dealing with whining and complaining Jewish people who believe God has abandoned them.  For three chapters, they accused him of being unjust, unloving and unavailable.  All the while, they continued to violate the standards he set for the relationship. In Malachi 3:16, God starts addressing those who defended God.  While he rebukes the whiners, to his followers, he made a promise.  When the day of judg...

What's in it for me? Isn't that what we hear to often in our society?  People aren't willing to help unless they receive some kind of financial or personal benefit from participating.  We hear it in the political process, the church, the office and the school. We all want something in return for our service. But that's not the way God designed service.  He intends for us to serve without an expectation of a reward.  Service, particularly service for the kingdom of God, is not about being rewarded, but honoring Jesus Christ.  We don't serve to earn a reward.  We serve to honor Jesus. In Malachi 3:13-15, the post-exilic Jewish people are once again complaining to the Lord, through the prophet Malachi.  They claim that serving God is a waste.  They serve God, and even mourn sin, but they get nothing in return.  Meanwhile, the wicked people of other foreign nations, prosper.  The insinuation is that it's better to be evil and prosper...

I remember a few years ago, I sat in a staff meeting at church and heard these scary words:  "Don't spend any more money this year or we will not be able to meet payroll." You could hear a pin drop when the pastor said those words.  All the assistant pastors and support staff just sat there and someone finally asked the question:  "How bad is it?" We had enough money to keep the lights on, buy the last bit of Sunday School curriculum we needed and meet payroll for the rest of the year but not much else.  There would be no raises or Christmas bonuses.  All other spending had to be approved by the financial team. Thankfully, we were close to the end of the year.  As the pastor uttered these words, we were a few days away from Thanksgiving.  Six weeks of no spending and we would be OK because certain accounts opened up in January.  It was one of the few times in ministry I got scared that the church might just shut down. What precipitated t...

Divorce hurts. I hope that is not something that surprises you.  Divorce has far reaching consequences that affect not just the couple, but everyone connected to them.  Children, parents, friends, family, co-workers and church members all feel the painful sting of divorce.  It disrupts relationships as people struggle to deal with the new dynamics at play. In a divorce, no one wins.  Everyone loses.  No one comes out unscathed from the marriage. Likewise, divorce is not a solution for marriage.  Solutions mean that two people come to a conclusion that improves the situation.  Divorce doesn't improve the marriage or the relationship; it just ends it.  An end is not a solution.  It is an end. It is no wonder that God hates divorce.  Yes, you read that right.  God hates divorce.  Don't believe me?  Look up Malachi 2:10-16.  In that passage of scripture, God is angry at the Jewish people.  They have divorce...

The church is dying.  Didn't you hear? That's what article after article raves, all with lively statistics about the growing number of disillusioned former members leaving the church.  There are calls to be more culturally acceptable and less judgmental.  Some bloggers call for the church to adapt and accept the new cultural norms, like gay marriage and alternative lifestyles and co-habitation and even recreational drug and alcohol use. Yet, at the heart of God's word, scripture warns us of the cost of blending in with the world and of accepting sin instead of holiness. In Malachi 1:7-2:9, the prophet warns the post-exile Jewish people, and in particular the priests, that he is tired of their accepting of substandard sacrifices.  You see, the priests had begun taking lame and imperfect animals in sacrifice instead of unblemished healthy animals.  God had some very specific requirements for sacrifices, and the priests ignored those. The priests, like so...

Enough is enough. Just today I read the Apple is pulling Civil War video games from their app store because the Confederate soldiers have Confederate flags. Yes, you read that right.  Apple is pulling Civil War video games because soldiers have authentic, time period, historical flags on their uniforms.  We have become so obsessed with not offending others that we are removing historical images from historical games. No matter what side of this debate you are on, we must agree that historical placement of images and symbols are not related to any argument on race or race relations.  It is a historical fact that southern soldiers had Confederate flags because they fought for the Confederate States of America.  When we erase these type of images, all we do is erase our history and that is never a good thing.  We must not forget the past and the lessons we learn from it. In Malachi 1:1-5, the Israelites accuse God of not loving them.  The past was n...

Nine people are dead in Charleston, S.C.  We have no words to express the outrage and the grief.  The questions and the pain. The horror and the shock. We only know this one truth: it hurts. It hurts because nine lives were suddenly snuffed out for no reason.  They gathered for a Bible study, something we do here each Wednesday at our church.  While they looked over scripture and prayed, a crazed person entered the church and took their lives.  I trust that those who died were believers, and that brings comfort in knowing they are in the presence of Jesus.  However, we hurt because their families must not grieve them on Earth. It hurts because it happened in a place of love and peace.  Churches, which used to be open and unlocked all hours of the day for prayer and meditation, now keep their doors sealed shut and keep security teams on alert.  A place of love and peace met the horrible disease of violence and it reminds us again of how ...

Dinner guests are a big deal. When my wife and I host someone for dinner, we make sure we thoroughly clean the house.  We carefully select the menu to include some of our favorite and best foods.  We find entertainment for the kids so the adults can talk after the meal.  We go out of our way to make sure dinner goes well. When someone comes for dinner, it's a special occasion.  As my parents would say, we have company.  That meant the night was specifically reserved for someone and that should not be interrupted.  In the same way, the Lord's Supper is a special dinner.  It's not a meal, but a remembrance.  We remember what Jesus did on the cross for us, and we also remember the promise he gives us to return again. The communion was made for us, as believers in Christ, to celebrate the risen Christ and to anticipate his second coming to usher in the kingdom of God. As believer, we take the communion together, as the body of Christ.  ...

We toss the word hero around quite a lot in our society today.  Sports stars are labeled heroes. Actors portray heroes.  Hollywood blockbusters feature superheroes. On patriotic holidays we speak of the heroic acts of soldiers. When a daring rescue happens, we proclaim first responders as heroes.  As someone battles cancer, we call it a heroic effort. Every once in a while, our pride beams when our sons and daughters call us heroes. Recently, that monicker got put on Bruce Jenner, the former Olympic athlete and reality TV star who had a sex change operation to become a woman.  The media were quick to laud him as a hero for making this decision and being true to himself. If I may, let me interject.  Bruce Jenner is not a hero. Heroes do things that take real courage, risk their lives, fight against the odds and do something that benefits others, if not a host of others.  They stay and fight when others run or rush in when others flee.  They co...