It Just Ain't Fair

My Grandma Merna believed in fairness. She wanted everything to be fair for her family. Her compulsion to fairness always showed up at Christmas. She would, of course, spend the same amount of money on every grandchild. But she wouldn’t stop there. Every grandchild had to have the same number of gifts under the tree, so it would be fair. They were usually sized the same as well! When Santa came overnight, he miraculously believed as she did, and every grandchild received the same number of gifts from him too.

1 Kings 13 tells the story of a man of God who was sent with a message from God to King Jeroboam. The Bible doesn’t name the man of God, so let’s call him Frank.

King Jeroboam didn’t like the message, so he ordered the guards to seize Frank. But as his hand stretched out, pointing toward Frank, it shriveled up so he couldn’t pull it back.

As you can imagine, it scared the dickens out of him. Amazingly, he had a change of heart. He asked Frank to pray for the restoration of his hand. God answered. Did this change Jeroboam’s heart? Of course not. But he did see the wisdom of having a man of Frank’s stature on his side so he invited him to dinner.

Frank declined. In verse 8 he says, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’”

He heads home.

Another “old prophet” hears about Frank’s response (Gossip chains were alive and well, even in biblical times). He saddles up his donkey, chases after him, and invites Frank to dinner. Frank gives the same response.

The old prophet says, “I too am a prophet as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’”

He lied.

Frank listens. Returns. Eats. Then...dies for his disobedience.

It’s not fair.

What about the old prophet who lied?

We all know that life isn’t fair, but stories like this tweak our fairness meter, and make us question God. God’s fairness meter will never be tweaked, even when we don’t understand how it works. We can trust Him. Others…maybe not so much.

I don’t know why the story unfolds this way. But I have thought about who I listen to.

I had a church member once tell me that “God told me that you were supposed to put me on the worship team.” She couldn’t sing well enough. I had the wisdom to respond with, “When He tells me too, I’ll do it.”

Then again, I’ve done lots of things where I felt like the Lord was saying no and others (godly people) were pushing for yes. And then, whatever it was bombed. I listened the wrong way (fortunately death hasn’t been the result…yet).

We, who follow Christ, have the same power that raised Him from death, living in us. God speaks to us. He leads us. Who will we listen to? Will we cultivate the discipline required to recognize His voice and obey when He speaks? Will we have the courage to say no, when others are saying yes? Or yes, when others are saying no?

Frank would tell you to listen to and obey God.

Cloudy with a Chance of Sun

I love the sun.

I love the beauty of it when its light bends around the horizon, painting the sky like an artist’s canvas. I love the warmth it brings (to clarify, not the 117 degree warmth of Phoenix, just “normal” warmth).

Uncharacteristically, I found myself driving east this past week in the early morning (remember I am a musician…mornings aren’t generally my thing).

As I was driving, I was looking out at the horizon and the sun was up just far enough that the bottom edge of that beautiful orb just kissed the horizon. It was glowing bright and beautiful and yellow, and there were just enough clouds gracing the horizon that it captured the colors like a beautiful sunset, only it was morning!  It was absolutely gorgeous!

And as I looked at it, I noticed that there was what looked to be a beam of light coming up from the top of the sun, shooting toward the skies and filling what I imagined to be the throne room of heaven.

It was awe inspiring. I marveled at the majesty of God and His creation. It was beautiful. And I was reminded of how much I like sun (after winter and spring in Oregon, I need to be reminded).

Just as I like the warmth and glow of the sun shining in the sky, I like the warmth and the glow when my life is sunny. You know, when there really aren’t any problems more than just a few wispy clouds on the horizon. When I just get to live life and it goes the way I want it to.

Later in the morning as I was doing my quiet time, I was reading in the book of Kings about the dedication of the Temple that Solomon built.

When construction was finished, he called Israel together to celebrate and dedicate the Temple. They sacrificed upwards of 150,000 animals, they worshiped, they honored God.

1 Kings 8:10-11 says, “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.”

I got to thinking about the cloud. In my mind I pictured a nice, pretty, white fluffy cloud. But in the next verse Solomon says, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud.”

Wait. A dark cloud?

I don’t like dark clouds. I like sun.

But what Solomon says is true. When things are dark and rough and hard; when my soul, in desperation, cries out for the presence of the Living God. That’s when he meets me in a personal, life-changing way.

Whether sun or clouds, they’re both the presence of God. They’re both incredible. But they are different. And I know that I need both of those moments.

The beauty is that God is in both of those moments. And that leaves us with the ability to sing “Hallelujah” no matter what our circumstance.

Chris Reveals His Secret

Ok, it’s time to come out publicly and admit my secret…

I play Candy Crush Saga. I’m not addicted, like some folks I know. I can stop at any time. I don’t spend hours every day…five lives at a time…but I do enjoy an occasional game or two (or 10).

Wait, did I say enjoy?

It begins so deceptively. Just line up three candies of the same color. But by the time they’ve sucked you in they’ve add striped candies, wrapped candies and color bomb candies. I hear there are rainbow candies coming.

But that’s not all. Then they add bombs, licorice, chocolate (who’d have ever thought I’d hate chocolate), chocolate factories, bubble wrap…the list goes on and on. Now I’m dealing with stupid Easter eggs. Are they good? Are they bad? You’ll never know until they go off and mess up whatever you’re trying to accomplish.

Some levels are easy. First time through and BAM! Then there are the stupid, next-to-impossible levels that can take weeks to pass (yes…I’ve been there). When I was in Honduras, my friend Sami (Hi Sami!) finally gave up on level 98 and handed her phone to me to pass it for her. (As a side note, have you noticed how some people want help and other people…say, our wives…want us to stay as far away from their game as possible…even when you could actually help…and maybe they get mad when you ask what level they are on because they know you are so far beyond them when you play far less than they do…not to mention any names!)

Usually it takes me a couple of tries to get the “trick” to passing the level. I will admit that one time I played a level for a couple of days, trying (without any luck) to pass, before I realized I had misread the goal and was making it much harder than it was supposed to be. Duh!?!?

You probably saw this coming, but the Candy Crush Saga has many similarities to our spiritual journey (though obviously not even in the same galaxy of importance).

On every level of our spiritual journey we face the good and the not-so-good. On every level God has a lesson for us that will deepen our character and draw us toward Him.

Some levels are pretty easy. Other levels take time and strategy and perseverance. Sometimes we need help getting from one level to the next. Regardless, you can’t move from level 3 to level 20, except going through 4, 5, 6, 7…

God never graduates you to the next level until you’ve passed the one you’re on…ever.

Your character is too important.

1 Peter 1:7 says, “Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.”

I don’t know if there’s ever really an end to Candy Crush Saga (other than me just moving on to the next “greatest” game), but there is an end to this life. I want my life to display the evidence of His victory. I want my character to reflect the majesty of my Savior.

Do you?

Honduras Day 6: Back to Tegucigalpa

Today was a much more relaxing day. We left La Paz and headed back to Tegucigalpa for our last night in Honduras. After checking into the hotel, we took a 30 minute journey to the Valley of the Angels where we sauntered through souvenir shops.

 Upon returning to Tegucigalpa, we said our goodbyes to Ricky and Arianna, our young interpreters for the week. For the record, if there's anything in the world that is crazier than driving in Tegucigalpa, it's driving in Tegucigalpa at night! We came across this car while driving. The thought that it could have been us crossed our minds since it was in our lane of the intersection.

Since our day was low on the activity we had some space to breath. I have some observations:

First: Tegucigalpa, as the capitol city is clearly where the government money emanates out of. The farther you travel from the city, the less help there is for infrastructure, jobs, education, etc., and thus the poorer people are. La Paz is actually pretty close. The coast, where we visited in January, pretty far. But even in the capitol, there are the haves and the have nots. From beautiful homes to this tent home on the edge of a garbage strewn cliff beside the road.

Second: Austin South (and his wife, Keila...who we only got to meet today), Ricky and Arianna made our trip incredibly enjoyable. They didn't just speak for us when necessary (which was almost always for me), they got their hands dirty by working side-by-side with us. They were as much a part of the team as we are. Though Sister Edith may get (and deserve) all the credit for her loving care at the orphanage, Austin and Keila help her

do her job better and in a more sustainable way. Ricky and Arianna are the same age as Ashli and Lexi, which made the journey more fun for them as well.

Third: Though it didn't happen with everyone, God gave me Milton to love this week. One of the six boys, he stands out as the only boy who didn't "demand" his own way with any of us. I got the picture that he spends life in the background because the other boys are louder and more aggressive than he is, and they have the tendency to push their way to the front (or take what they want from him...not in a bullying way, just like older brothers might).

Every time we saw the kids, Milton sought me out. When we walked to the hot springs, Milton walked hand-in-hand, almost the entire way. When we had to cross the "Indiana Jones" bridge, he had me hold his hand...both directions. When we walked to the soccer park, again..with me. On the way back, he rode on my shoulders. At every lesson, he sat next to me and had me help him with the art projects.

When we first met, he wouldn't speak at all (at least around us), though he was always quick to smile. But by the time we left, he did speak (though I couldn't understand).

Milton was in desperate need for one-on-one attention from a positive male role model. God chose me to give that to him, and I believe it blessed us both...though I know it bless me.

Fourth: If a worship pastor from Salem; grandmas from Burns and Salem; 16- and 18-year old girls; a school teacher from Silverton; and a stay-at-home mom can make a difference...anyone can make a difference. As Sami reminded us this week...we are responsible for the loaves and fishes, Jesus turns it into banquet for thousands. What difference will you make?

Thanks for joining us on this journey. May you be inspired to take one of your own...whether it's serving in an orphanage in Honduras or serving up love in your own hemisphere.

Honduras Day 5: 100 Wheelbarrows of Dirt

The day started at the new facility, continuing the work project from yesterday. I think I personally filled more than 100 wheelbarrow loads of dirt for the courtyard. We were incredibly grateful that God saw fit to let some clouds roll in...it was about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. Of course, that didn't stop the sweat from coursing down our bodies. There were several nationals working with us who, we're sure, were thinking, "Don't give up your day job!"

When we finished, we stopped by a local bakery run by Paquita, an elderly woman who learned to make bread from her mother and aunt. Her family bakes bread in an old style oven. Shaped like the top half of an orange, they begin at 4 am each day by building a fire to heat up the oven. For ingredients they go through 200 pounds of flour and 720 eggs. After the wood has burned to coals, they clean out the ash and coals and then cook the bread throughout the day. She gave us a sample of one of the sweet breads and it was delicious. A woman of faith, she clearly allows the Lord to lead her life. She is content. Happy that she is able to leave her family a legacy.

After lunch we returned to the orphanage. Homework kept us from getting started right away on our activities. Finally, we took a walk to a local pay-to-play soccer field where we spent an hour and a half running, playing, giggling, and yes, crying. The kids had a ball (pardon the pun), and the adults wore out way too quickly...all except Sister Edith. She had as much fun as the kids. She even broke Douglas' sunglasses when she kicked a soccer ball to his head! Maybe she should be on the national soccer team.

We trudged back to the orphanage and shared Douglas' last lesson and art project with the kids. By the end, all of us, including the children were clearly done with activities. We said our goodbyes, shed some tears and headed home for the evening.

What a great day. Tomorrow we head back to Tegucigalpa.