Vampire Confessions

As of today Twilight New Moon made history by becoming the third biggest grosser in box office sales worldwide = $259 million in three days. This success and the current cultural fascination with all things vampire got me thinking.

I have a confession to make. I WAS A VAMPIRE… and sometimes I relapse into my old blood-sucking ways.

Dallas Willard has defined vampire Christians this way. One in effect says to Jesus: “I’d like a little of your blood, please. But I don’t care to be your student or have your character. In fact, won’t you just excuse me while I get on with my life, and I’ll see you in heaven.”

The gracious blood of Christ on Calvary cleansed me of all sin, wiped away my shame, and launched me on a journey of faith. But I sometimes fall back into the self-centered thoughts, words and actions that dominated my pre-Christian days. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the type behaviors that make headlines. I’m talking about a preoccupation with all things “mine” – family, friends, work, etc. These are all good things in and of themselves. But my preoccupation with them can easily distort the biblical priorities for Christ followers.

One example. Almost all prayer requests deal with issues directly related to the life of the person making the request. There is nothing wrong with asking for prayer for my job, my health, my mother’s care, my friend’s wife or even my dog. But if this type need dominates my life and prayers, what does that tell me about my faithfulness to Jesus’ core calling to follow Him in service to others? My prayers have sometimes sounded like, “Jesus bless me, my family and my friends. Thanks. Bye.”

This kind of “discipleship” does not honor Christ or further His mission in the world. This lifestyle is a vampirist caricature in which religious people try to suck blessings out of the Savior while continuing to live by their own interests. God help us.

Pray for me. I want to be a man that allows the blood of Christ to move me beyond selfishness to servanthood. I want to be faithful to my family and friends, but also join God’s mission to lost and hurting people beyond my circle of intimacy and comfort. I don’t want to be a vampire.

Carolyn and I will celebrate Thanksgiving with all our clan in Mississippi this week. We have a lot for which to give thanks. God is good.

Speak

I read through the Book of Job this week. The issue of suffering (and the little piece of global suffering that I experience) was not the primary message I received in my current reading of this heavy book.

Most of this portion of God’s inspired Word is full of talking heads and wagging tongues. There is a lot of discussing, correcting and challenging. But there is little listening. Job talks. His three friends talk. Finally young Elihu talks. Talk, talk, talk.

By the time I began chapter 37, I was weary of the “talk” of mere mortals, Job and his four counselors. I know how the Book of Job ends, and I was anxious to get to the good part – “Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm…” (38:1ff).

Honestly, I sometimes grow weary of my own wagging tongue and the flapping lips of others. Don’t get me wrong. Like some of the words of Job’s four friends, many of the words I hear are helpful, godly, wise and accurate. But deep in my soul, there is a longing. Perhaps you have felt it… or feel it now.

I want to hear from God.

“God, I want and need to hear from You today. Quiet my wagging tongue. Speak to me, holy and loving LORD.”

Travel Update – I hit the road again tomorrow (November 11) and look forward to visiting with friends and church leaders in Tallahassee, Niceville, Fort Walton Beach, Mobile, Jackson, Starkville, Birmingham and Atlanta. I’ll be flying pretty low – returning home on November 16. Thanks for praying.

A Bigger Windshield

In early January, I decided to begin driving instead of flying – any time that I could. Among many benefits, this pattern has provided me opportunities to begin and/or stay in touch with a bunch of people that I was “flying over” in the past.

Last Tuesday I returned from a seven-day “tour” that included stops in Atlanta, Charlotte, Clemson, Raleigh, Greensboro, Boone, Asheville… and Atlanta again. Accomplishments included a board meeting with Minorities for Christ International, planning meetings with Chinese leaders, meetings with leaders about better mobilizing their churches in mission, discussions with men and women desiring to more tangibly participate in God’s mission, great fellowship, and some time with my grandkids.

Special thanks and prayer to all those who provided food, lodging, prayer and fellowship along the way – the Grantham’s, Chiang’s, Hasting’s, Baddour’s and Gilland’s. A different bed each night is really not so bad as long as I’m staying with people that love me.

As I drove last week, I enjoyed the beauty of God’s handiwork in the mountains of NC, but I also realized something. What we see out our own windshields has a way of limiting what we focus on and pray about. We tend to think, worry and pray for people and things that we see out our windshields – my family, my friends, my neighbors, my church, my nation. God knows that these are all things in need of prayer and my attention. But is that all there is to faithful Christian discipleship? 

I think God is trying to give me a bigger windshield. What about you?

Pray for me as I drive out today. I look forward to connecting with God’s people in Destin, Jackson, Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta in the next week. I’ll be trying to keep my windshield clean and big.

Raining in Georgia

Atlanta got hammered by storms last weekend.

My family had gathered there to celebrate the fourth birthday of my grandson George. It was raining when we arrived, and it was raining harder when we left on Sunday. Although the joy and laughter of my grandchildren were life-giving, infectious and hope-building, the storms and clouds were relentless. Quite a contrast.

Record-setting rain, lightening, flooding, shock, loss of property, loss of life, fear, pain and loneliness. In mansions and in shacks, people are dealing with the thoughts and emotions of the song written by Tony Joe White in 1962, Rainy Night in Georgia.

As I drove south out of Atlanta, I contemplated the pain and loneliness in much of human experience. I also thought through the raw life experiences recorded in the Bible – especially in Job and the Psalms. It may even be raining in your life right now.

Although my life has been blessed – free from much of the trauma that is familiar to many – I do know about loss, broken relationships, unfulfilled dreams, betrayal, grief and fear.

Tony Joe White includes an interesting phrase near the end of his romantic poem. Perhaps these words hint at how he made it through the storms of life, or perhaps they were only meant to impress the current object of his affection. “When it’s hard to rest I hold your picture to my chest and I feel fine.”

So here is the question. In times of pain, what is it that you hold to your chest in the hope of getting the power, direction and hope that are beyond your abilities?

Pain is universal. But knowledge of the love and mercy of our resurrected Savior is not universal. Billions of priceless souls must face the storms of life without a picture of the only One that can transform darkness into light, hopelessness into hope, and brokenness into wholeness.

Hold Jesus close this week. It may be raining, but there is a Rainbow of promise. Jesus is the hope of the world. Share that Good News.

Encouragement File

Yesterday was interesting. I came upon a file folder that I started over thirty years ago  (This is a “real” file as opposed to a section of the hard-drive on my computer). I call this folder my Encouragement  File. As I began my ministry, some loving saint advised me to begin a file to hold the special notes and letters that people might send me over the years. The saint suggested that I should go back and read these notes from time to time, especially when I was in a “valley” – loneliness, depression, sadness, feelings of insignificance or other negative and destructive emotions. 

To some degree, I have heeded my friend’s advice. I created the file, and I occasionally put something new in it – a note from a friend, family member, or coworker that struck a deep chord in my heart. I am grey-headed so my file is pretty fat by this time. However, it has probably been over twenty-five years since I have looked at anything in the file. That won’t happen again.

Yesterday I was trying to remember a story about an old friend, and then I thought of my Encouragement File. Hoping that something in there would jog my memory, I began to read. Within minutes I was crying. A long letter from Howard, a guy that had been in my youth group in Memphis – now dead. Kind notes from people with whom I experienced Christian community in a small group. People that had prayed with me to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. People with whom I experienced weddings, births, deaths, baptisms, funerals, career changes, tragedies and victories. Correspondence from people of different races, nations, and tax brackets. Here’s part of a note from my Mom and Dad (1920-2008) in 1995: Twenty-five years ago you became a Christian. A new life began for you and the family. How thankful we all are for spiritual birth and Christian beginnings. God bless you as you continue His work. Although I grew up in a loving and religious family, I was the first Christ follower in our family. After my conversion in 1970, a wave of new life spread across our family… as part of a powerful movement of God in Jackson, MS.

Here’s the takeaway for me and you today. I need to visit my Encouragement File more often. You probably need to start one. But we both need to write someone this week – probably creating a new addition to their Encouragement File. Although the remembering, eulogizing and sharing after the death of a loved one is nice, how much better is it to celebrate the impact of one’s life before she or he goes onto Glory.