Jesus...The Man

Jesus. What images form in your head at the mention of his name? I was reading in John this morning, attempting to send my heart into Easter mode. I confess it doesn’t always get there. I wanted to enter into the defeat of what it must have been like to see Jesus slaughtered and buried. I came away in awe, not about the loss of hope, but instead about the man Jesus was. I don’t mean man as in God in human form, but the kind of man that would be bragged about sitting around a campfire or in a locker room. Stud. Warrior. Hero.

In chapter 18, John describes in detail the arrest in the garden.

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" (John 18:4, ESV, italics mine)

I love those italicized words. Jesus is in complete control. He knows not only what’s going on, but is wholly intent on entering into the pain and chaos. He even initiates it all. “Whom do you seek?” I can only imagine the weakness in Judas’ voice as he replied. Upon Jesus’ answer, the Pharisees and soldiers collapse. Again Jesus speaks. “Whom do you seek?...I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” Within hours of death, Jesus offers no attempt to protect himself, only those behind him.

Compare this example to the first man in another garden. When the Enemy slithers in, Adam doesn’t know what’s going on. He is not in control. He is there, but without a hoe or shovel in hand. He makes no move to act or speak. He is silent. He is weak. He does not protect Eve, but lets her take the fall. He is the definition of self-protection. He shows no strength, and the chaos overwhelms him.

Now my heart is ready to celebrate. Adam is not the defining sculpt of a man. I meet, see, and am Adam everyday. My heart longs for Jesus. Oh to be in the care of such a King. Adam is ruled by chaos. Jesus rules over the chaos. Thank God. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Life is available because of a man, a stud, a warrior, a hero.

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, ESV)

Wanting More than Food

Knowing the cook can be an even greater pleasure than enjoying his food.
-Larry Crabb, Finding God

Regardless of a person’s circumstances and physical well-being, this statement applies. Of course there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the food. But knowing and tasting God is the point. How quickly I forget. For the most part, God exists and becomes a help in solving problems. A resource to notify when pain needs to be taken away. Much like a doctor who prescribes medication.

Listen to your prayers throughout the day. Are they centered on “God, this situation is hard, help me clear it up and get through it,” or “God, I don’t know what to do and the pain is real. Help me to trust that you are good regardless of what the outcome is”? When in pain or struggle, I tend to approach someone older and wiser in an attempt to have my pain cured or problem solved. Just get me through this and stop the hurt. How many counselors make their living off situations like these?

We all desire Life. Jesus promises it (John 10:10). It just doesn’t happen the way we want it to. My God, how maddening. The chaos of life threatens our homes built on the sand. How sweet of a resting place it would be to experience the following story:

You and I walk into a 5-star restaurant. Before we can give the host our name and table preference, she welcomes us by name, tells us the chef has already notified her of our arrival, and she brings us to our seats. The menu given to us is personally tailored to each of our tastes. As we look over the choices, our mouths salivating and our stomachs growling, we suddenly realize the food is not why the restaurant was built. Setting the menus down, and skipping the wine, we head towards the kitchen, this time it’s our hearts that ache. Before we even reach the doors, they swing open and the cook is running our way.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Psalm 34:8

What's In a Name? (Part 5)

As I take a look deeper, it seems that living to offer life to others through personal sacrifice is the real way to make a name remembered. And in comes the paradox: the only way to live in such a way is to be caught up in service to something greater than yourself, thus not living for your name at all, but someone or something else’s glory. So to aspire to become great is to start out defeated before ever beginning.

The Office and the end of The Story

A friend lent my wife and I season 2 of The Office. It is has taken us approximately three days to view over half of the episodes. We love it. The writing is brilliant, and Jim and Dwight simply carry the show. Something has grabbed me, though, that I did not expect. A love story. I’m a bit ashamed to admit it. Just as Titanic’s epic romance did for so many people around the world, Jim and Pam’s love struggle affects my heart in a way love stories used to, before innocence was lost and the world blinded me from God.

Before we began season 2, my wife blew the ending, informing me that the two kiss at the end of the last episode. I didn’t care then, not yet having been pulled into the romance. But now my heart is pulled in, and I had an epiphery (to use Michael Scott’s dictionary). Knowing the final scene doesn’t diminish or lessen the hoping, tension, and yearning for Jim to win Pam’s heart and kiss her. In fact, knowing the story ends well only heightens the anticipation and drama. Unfortunately, I don’t know how Jim and Pam will end up when The Office eventually ends (hopefully never). But in real life, I must know how the story ends.

God, I need this to be true. In our postmodern world, the idea that life is a story may be too easily accepted or too quickly discarded. But it’s true. And we must know how it ends. We must. It would change how we live, the energy we bring to each day, the focus we give to each moment. And like Jim and Pam’s love story, knowing how the Larger Story ends would only increase our anticipation and longing for it. How does the story end for those who have been ransomed by the Hero? To better answer this and stay close to the 300 word goal I set for blogs, I leave you with some wells that give me a taste of eternal water…

The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis

Chapter 12 “Coming Home” in The Sacred Romance, by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge

The last 5 minutes of the movie Gladiator

“Into the West,” a song by Annie Lennox

(pictures from nbc.com)

Playboy Sex Nudity Nude Women Love Adult XXX

“Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God”
-G.K. Chesterton

“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust in them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers.”
-C.S. Lewis

This blog is really an experiment. An experiment about the heart and its longings. It was posted to satisfy my curiosity, but who knows what God might do with it in you. During the last month, two blogs were published on this site that contained these words in their title, “Playboy, Michelle Manhart, and Adult XXX.” It was astounding to me that that this humble little blog received such an incredible amount of views on those days. Desiring Life averages 5 views per day. On the “Playboy’s Michelle Manhart” day, I think it reached close to 267 views. There were no pictures. Only words in a title.

Immediately I thought of the G.K. Chesterton quotation above. “Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God.” The thought only comes into clearer focus with the help of C.S. Lewis. Our actions reveal our search for Life. Whether it be through eating, work, ministry, money, marriage, pornography, or sex.

I have become more and more convinced that Jesus really is the answer to every desire we have. If Christ is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), and it is God who created beauty and fashioned us to be sustained on him, then we might do well to at least think about that. The claims Jesus makes about himself all reflect our desire. The woman at the well. The rich man asked to sell everything. The disciples. The blind man at the pool. All those parables about treasure and a pearl. But what about for the man searching the internet for sex and nudity, or for the woman posing on the XXX sites?

I find it fascinating in John 7:37-38 that Jesus waited until the end of this feast to say what he does. I imagine myself and my fraternity brothers in the days leading up to a football game and the all-night party to follow. Anticipation and excitement grew with each day. People around campus would talk about it. Guests lists would be filled out. The band would arrive and set up. The kegs were brought in. After the game, the fraternity house would slowly and steadily grow louder and louder. The girls would come, scantily dressed. It seems Jesus knew the best time to offer Life to people. He waits until the end of the party, when the realization that the promising satiating activities of the night before prove to be liars.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Teacher of the Year

If you could be coached to do anything, what would it be? To take it a step further, imagine you could be coached by the greatest coach in the world at that particular skill. Would you choose leadership? Speaking? Managing a business? Acting?

Something drives all of us. We all strive to be something. Growing up, my dad took me to baseball coaches to instruct me in the art of hitting. Some of them helped more than others. I wonder how good I could have been if Tony Gwynn had been my coach. I went to basketball camps, trying to perfect my jump shot. There were lots of players there and individual attention was rare. I wonder how much I could have developed under one-on-one coaching from Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

Howard Hendricks got me thinking about this. He pointed out that the only thing the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them was how to pray (Luke 11:1). Think about that for a moment. These knuckleheads are going to be left to spread the word about Jesus to the world. They will be faced with numerous challenges: teaching, starting and building churches, equipping others to disciple, writing letters, facing intellectual, spiritual, and physical opposition from Jews and Gentiles, Rome, each other, and oh yeah- Satan’s legions. And they have limited time with the greatest teacher to walk the Earth.

Yet, the only thing they want to be taught is how to pray. It is convicting to me. I strive to do and be. But I don’t always recognize what precedes anything I do or am. Connection with God is central. It’s where our identity lies. We will never outlive or outdo how we see ourselves. It seems like every time the disciples go looking for Jesus, they find him on his knees. Jesus really knew how dependent he was on connection with his Father. If I really saw that as crucial, then maybe I too would ask God to coach me in prayer.

Stacey's Left Eye

My friend got together with some people that he had not seen in a long time. Conversation around the corner table at Starbucks naturally turned into an update on each other’s lives. Mary was in the middle of a job change. Ted was still working in the corner office with the large window view. Mercy’s kids were doing great as ever, both excelling in the 3^rd and 6^th grade.

Then Stacey shared. At first, she was able to contain herself. Then her composure began to unravel, and with it, so did everyone else’s. Stacey had grown up with partial blindness in her right eye. As she journeyed into her early 20’s, surgeries on the eye took a turn for the worse, leaving her permanently blind in the right eye. Now years later, she is having trouble seeing out of her left eye. She went in for tests and the report confirmed her fear: she was progressing towards being permanently blind. She faces the same surgery that cost her the sight of her right eye fifteen years ago. Her days are now filled wondering how long she will be able to see the faces of her children.

When Stacey finished telling her story, the listeners, including my friend, sat stunned. Breaking the silence, Ted asked what kind of doctor she was going to see. Mary asked where the surgery would take place. Mercy wanted to know what hospital her first surgeries took place in. Stacey calmly answered, the flow of her tears ceasing more and more with each question.

As my friend related the story to me, I sat amazed. I, too, was taken into Stacey’s story. What also amazes me is that we (human beings) struggle so deeply with our inability to control life. We hate mystery and the unknown. When it comes to life and death and things that matter, we want control. In response to Stacey’s story, her friends responded with concrete questions that had sure answers. A reach to maintain some sort of control. Stacey may never know what her son’s face will look like when he say’s “I do” and kisses his bride. And our instincts are to ask about the names of doctors.

I wish we could just sit in silence and cry. Instead, like Adam and Eve’s arms, we greedily reach for control. God is a mystery. And thus, life is too. How refreshing it might be to enter into the pain of living outside Eden and accept that. Maybe then we would echo in unison Revelation 20:1, “..Come, Lord Jesus!”

The Father's Heart

Hello. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was full of family, laughter, and many thoughtful gifts. One of mine was this Palm Treo phone. I don’t need it, but I love it. My dad gave it to me. But to tell you that does not do the story justice. You see, a number of Christmases back my father bought me a cheap little black-and-white Palm pilot. I played with it all morning long. The next year he brought me shopping to pick out a top-of-the-line Pocket PC. Though I knew what I was getting, he would not let me touch it until Christmas. He absolutely delighted to watch me play with it while everyone else opened presents. That Pocket PC lasted me three or fours years. Each year though, he asks if there is anything electronic he can buy for me. This year I let him. Because my dad is overjoyed to see me happy.

Last blog I suggested that dealing with the circumstances of life has everything to do with our interpretation. Along my journey, many people have contributed to my perspective. These interpreters have helped shape the conclusions I make about life. In any given person’s life, I don’t believe anyone has more influence than the father.

The Bible describes God as Father. I have an intuit sense of this thanks to experiences like this Christmas. I know what it means not only to have a father delight in me, but one overjoyed to bless me. Luke 12:32 gives a glimpse into the Father’s heart. Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Jesus knew His Father. He knew it was essential to hear the Father’s delight in Him (see Luke 3:21-22). Now it makes sense to me why he would want to pass it along to us. Something so wonderful as a father’s delight moves us to desire to pass it along to others. But before we pass it on, just like Jesus, we must enter in and know the Father’s heart for us.

Entering In (Part 2)

A week ago my wife and I attended a concert by a guy named Andrew Peterson. Andrew’s first song begins at the beginning of the Story, then traces God’s pursuit of humanity down through the kings and prophets and then to Jesus. In essence, the music tells the Larger Story, the drama of God’s workings since time started. But I missed it. I didn’t enter in. I listened and I analyzed. I tried to intellectually grasp the narrative and fit it into a box that could fully be understood.

It makes sense to me now why Paul says what he does in Colossians 2:1-2, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you…to reach…the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ.” It’s ironic to me that he uses the word “knowledge.” I don’t think he means that in a heady sense. To me, knowledge here means entering into an experience, like a relationship.

Try it today. Watch a movie, read a book, read the Bible, talk to a friend. Don’t analyze or think too much. Enter in. Ask God to show you His heart and invite you into the experience of it all.

Desiring Life

It’s been a hard week. Work has been busy and nights have been fully scheduled. Time to reflect, read, and pray have been scarce. Just this afternoon, I returned home, read for thirty minutes, then realized I had a half hour until it would be time to go...again. I felt rushed, pressed, and stressed. I was not going to be able to do everything that needed to be done to satisfy my heart’s demands. I felt the urge to go pray. Thankfully, I followed it.

Something in me encouraged my heart to pray quickly: I still had to publish a blog. I couldn’t believe the conniving of my heart. I so often view satisfying Life as getting everything done that I schedule for the day. Writing a blog fit into today’s plans. Completing that would be a step towards fulfilled aspiration. Then I pictured the blog’s title, Desiring Life. Fortunately, I was reminded. I am after real Life, not the life that I arrange for myself.

Jesus talked about real Life being the experience of knowing the Father and Him. He prays about it in John 17:3. Real life is not reading the quota of Scripture that I set for myself each morning; it’s not praying for a certain number of times each day. It’s not writing a deeply spiritual book. Although all these things can be good, when they become the point, bad things happen.

I feel rescued. My focus tonight has shifted. I was reminded of Jesus and a discussion with some Pharisees in John 5:39-40. I am often a Pharisee. I study and memorize Scripture as if it is the point. Jesus rebukes them, and me. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

Tonight, I want Life. Not my version, but the Real kind. I asked God to walk with me and show me that the experience of relating well with them really is the point.