GLENN'S PODCASTS!

AFTER ALL'S BEEN SAID AND DONE-

...a lot more's been said than done. I know it's a cliche- but it's true
enough!

Does God love you even when you don't work hard? Of course. Will He stop
loving you if you are lazy, spiritually and/or otherwise? Nope. So... are
we spending a great deal of time theorizing what's wrong with the church,
this or that culture or subculture and trying to think through what we
ought to be doing... or aren't we?

Seems to me, we (most serious Christians) are doing a LOT of thinking,
reading, talking and attending meetings from house churches to emerging
churches to you-name-it in our postmodern (a term that in itself seemingly
escapes definition!) world.

So... are we lovING Father, Son and Spirit MORE than before we had these
thoughts, discussions, gatherings, articles and books? Cool! Are we loving
our neighbor (even noticing her/him with God's heart, eyes and a bit more
of His mind) better than we did prior? Excellent!

Cuz if not, The Wind (Holy Spirit) ain't quite blowing like some of us
think He is... or perhaps we're just proving an old, tired phrase is a
fairly applicable truth. History. Either way, one day "history", is us.

COMMANDMENTS AND OPTIONS

For lack of a solid foundation, large buildings topple.

It seems to me that a saving faith in Jesus, personal relationship with Him in accord with His Word, and an acceptance and basic working knowledge of Christ's commands provide the foundation so many creative people lack.

Often, artists without such a foundation get swept up in the run to what I'll call "the next level" long before they're ready -and spin out into the "spiritual" woods.

What, you ask, might that "second level" refer to? Imagination, creativity, an exercise in public expression without a solid foundation.

Put another way, it's like launching into algebra without a comittment and working understanding of addition. It follows that priorities can get both compromised and confused real quick.

Put yet another way, without a solid foundation in a knowledge of and comittment to God's commands, the "electives", that is, the creative selection arrangement of possibilities and options get chosen ahead of the things He clearly wants all of His followers to focus on daily.

Have you ever known a gifted pastor- truly a great preacher, speaker, teacher, lecturer... who has a continually lousy relationship with his spouse due to his own bad attitudes and ungodly personality traits... rough disposition and the like? Gifted in this or that skill or art, but just a sad, messed-up human being....

Have you ever come into contact with a genuinely gifted musician or other artisan who is genuinely immature regarding relationships, basic personal responsibilities and faithfulness? Then you get my point.

We often value people due to their output rather than their apparent ability to love God and others. We all know character issues are core but many of us are happy to overlook them when we get what we want from their creative or "gift" output. But if the foundations are lacking... or even rotten, the house will indeed shift... and people will nearly always get hurt. The worst hurt is to the individual him/herself.

When I was in high school I LOVED "electives", the optional classes where I could simply pick and choose what I liked, or at least thought I'd like. Basic math, science (you know, the "required stuff") was a pain that I couldn't escape.

In point of fact, few people get to do what they purely WANT to do in terms of making a living. If only we were finally able to make a living off our personally chosen "electives"!

That's the rub. Too many folks would just as soon spit at others than to surrender their chosen electives in order to submit to God's commands.

We live for options and tolerate His "interference" with our free-will ability to spread paint, music and speech -as WE see fit. Then we wonder why we have so few truly deep relationships with godly people.

I find the most spiritually important, ongoing relationships in my life have little to do with whether the people involved truly love (much less swoon to) my artistic accomplishments. Admittedly, most of them like what I bring to the table, but it is their insistence and example of loving God and living out His commands at the most basic daily level that inspires me most. It's about who they ARE, not what they give me regarding my art or ministerial accomplishments.

What I'm saying is that most of us don't need an audience or groupies who drool over our ability to artfully create... we need friends in Christ who love and disciple us whether or not we create anything of particular interest to them.

Nobody needs another idol, and none of are gaining anything by being one.

My advice is to enjoy the electives God allows, rejoice in creativity and indeed, create! Enjoy options, but play safe. Never lose sight of His Word (The Bible), for His words are "spirit and life", not simply law and dead letters. Take care to not confuse human creativity and option with genuine spiritual life.

ROMANCE & HUMILITY

Rom. 12.16b "...associate with the lowly [or] be willing to do menial work."

It's interesting how in some senses, even romantic a call to serve the
poor, the widow, the orphan, the homeless, the elderly, the addicted and
the biologically crazy can seem... until you do it.

It's equally interesting how most of us seem to lean toward being the
captain on our very own ship... and the Titanic comes to mind here!

I travel a great deal, speak and write often about direct ministry to the
poor. The truth is that speaking and writing, even praying for people is a
LOT easier than the daily grind of living alongside of and working with
and for them. After every honeymoon comes a marriage... or it certainly
should.

But a marriage is about dishes, mopping floors, laundry, screaming kids,
it's about mess, inconsiderate thoughts, words, behavior (from all
directions, husband/wife/kids/in-laws) and that's just life! But many bail
out of life due to the risks and associated pains thereof.

When I was a full-on hippie boy (mah aaaaaaage is shewin' heayah) a saying
made the rounds often: "reality is what you make it". Uh-huh. Except when
you realize there is a real and present God who alone is GOD, that HE defines
reality and you -among other things- recognize you weren't nor could ever
be In Control. That's the rub.

Bible-believing Christians recognize God and His angels, the devil and his
demons, the Christian with an old and new (both, simultaneously) nature
and all of these affect daily choices and events. Beyond all of this there
are a load of uncertainties regarding sin, sickness, nature and the
elements of the natural world (i.e. climate) none of which we have nor
ever will have total control over. Does all this sound romantic enough for
you to "sign up" for?!

You're here. And you're not alone. What are you going to do about it?

One answer is to get your eyes off of yourself, trust that "God loves you
(as Tony Evans says:) just the way you are. But He loves you too much to
let you stay that way!" Realize you're here for God and others. And
lots of those "others" will bring you grief and pain. Ditto you to them!

This is where truly going to Jesus daily with our hurts, frustrations and
whims is HUGE and needed for our own sanity. It's the only way to live,
for romantics are- face it- often miserable. The "dream" rarely if ever
supercedes reality. Unless "the dream" is indeed God's plan unfolding
in your loving obedience... "humble tasks"... "lowly" folks... you and me.