Lord, this is so inconvenient

Last Sunday I was in church. A very "hip" and "spiffy" church. Slick worship, great music. The worship leader felt prompted by the spirit (must have been the spirit because he told us that he hadn't planned on saying what he was about to say) to share about a dialogue he'd had with God three days earlier.
"I came home from work and I didn't feel well. 'O, no', I said to myself, 'I'm getting a cold'. In the middle of the night I woke up and, you know how it feels when you have a cold, my head thick and full, and nose and stuff... I decided to talk about this with God. I said to Him, 'You know I am supposed to lead worship this coming Sunday and a cold is going to be so inconvenient, I can't use this and I really want to stand there and lead the people in worship, so if you please...'. And guess what. I woke up the next morning and my head was clear. The Lord healed me". I was expecting that at this point the whole congregation would give God a big clap but either they are so used to these type of miracles or they were embarrassed. I hope it was the latter.
My wife left her seat to go powder her nose. Later she told me she was so disgusted that she had to walk out of this, and catch her breath.
My mind drifted of and I saw a seven year old African girl, almost starved to death. Just like many of her thousands and thousands of starving contemporaries. She walked to the pulpit and started to share her testimony, "A couple of days ago I was tired after a day of trying to find some food. I hadn't had any food for days and I was really sad. But I know what to do so I prayed to God and said: 'Lord, you know how hungry I am and you also know that starving is very inconvenient. Lord, I want to say to you that I can't really use this. If I may be so blunt as to ask you to fix this thing for me (In Jesus name, of course). I cried myself to sleep and woke up a couple of hours later and to my big surprise I smelled freshly baked bread. I looked and I saw this huge picnic basket full of the most delicious food".
I can say only one thing: Lord forgive me, forgive us in the Western world where you've become a Santa Claus whose job it is to meet my needs and deal with all my inconveniences.

I am ashamed and embarrased. Again I pray: Forgive me.

Humble or what...

I am reading a book. Nothing new. I’m always reading books. Sometimes a title stands out. The last couple of weeks two books really stood, and stand out. Gregory Boyds’ ‘God of the possible’ and right now Alain de Botton’s ‘Status Anxiety’. It is an amazing book that really helps me better to understand where I’m coming from and how much I take for granted. Whether I like it or not, I am a product of Western Civilisation. And, while reading this book I am more and more ashamed and embarrassed. I want to apologise to the world: I am ignorant, I am a snob, I am arrogant and I have a big and a loud mouth. I thought I was different (slightly better than the other, not as Western as the other; I’m a Christian, remember….) but I have to repent. I am no different. Yet, I want to be different. So, how do I change.
“Ignorance is bliss”, the saying goes. It’s much better not to know stuff; avoid confrontation with reality and truth. For a healthy, reasonably intelligent western person this ‘blame it on my ignorance’ is an extremely lame excuse. Most people revel in their ignorance; living in their artificial bubbles and cocoons, with a preference for watching “Fear Factor” and “Big Brother”. The media helps us a lot in shutting ourselves off for our own “demons”. Perpetual entertainment numbs the reality.
Change Step One: WAKE UP. There is no excuse.

Change Step Two: LOWER YOURSELF.
The bible calls it “humbling yourself”. Stop comparing. Stop elevating your self. Stop pointing your finger at others. Stop criticising. Esteem others, especially those that you think are “less worthy” of you attention. People of other religion, the poor, the addicts, the HIV-positives. From the absolute lowest point everybody else is higher, more worthy. That’s what Jesus did. He humbled himself and gave himself for me while I was kicking Him in the face and cursed him. God, forgive me for feeling better that Jesus when I refuse to give to the poor, when I claim my right to “my well deserved time off”.
Help me to, just like you, just LOVE people. Not just a few, but ALL people. In Jesus name.

A Romans Six Day

That's what I call a day where I stubbornly refuse to crucify the old self. Some would call it a bad hair day but I don't think it's fair to blame it on your hair. Nowadays we've got sprays, gels, combs and brushes so there's absolutely no need for people in the Western World to have bad hair days. Call it what it is: admit it, you're just depressed and or grumpy. Life sucks and so do others.
And that's the problem. Life can't help being what it is. Others can't help being "other". They just "are". But I can help and change being me. And the way to do so is through death.
But: I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!
So here we have it: I just want to live. And yesterday was one of those days that I ended up fooling around with my time. And time is extremely valuable so I don't want it to just leak away. In my discpelship group we were studying the story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples as a demonstration of endless love. My hair "went bad" when I realised that I don't have any problem with others sacrificing for me but that I find it rather difficult when I have to sacrifice something for others (unless I expect something in return).
So... I had to take it to the cross. To kill it. I know I will have to revisit the cross again and again and again. To die. In order to gain life. And that's exactly what I want: LIFE.

How little we know, and do

I am a believer. People will refer to me as an evangelical. Evangelicals oversimplify life. Life is easy because the answer to everything is Jesus. And, when things get tough, well, Jesus is somewhere in that, too. Not that I understand it but that's okay, as long as he understands and sort of knows what he is doing.
Ask an evangelical a tough question and I bet that Jesus will be somewhere in the answer. That's how we are conditioned. So that's why evangelicals are poor people. Not all evangelicals, but many.

"The sundayschool teacher says: 'listen up children. I'm gonna describe something to you and when you think you know what it is that I am describing just raise your hand'. 'It's rather small with paws and has a very soft fur. It loves to eat carrots and...' Little John interrupts the teacher when he raises his hand in great excitement and anticipation. 'Go ahead, Johnny', the teacher says. 'Well', Johnny says, 'it sort of reminds me of a rabbit but I bet it's Jesus'".

Capice?

So, we, evangelicals have a problem. Most of us don't have answers to the world's big issues. Poverty, (civil)war, famine, aids, environmental issues....
Bear with me, I'm just generalising and that's why it's important to realise that some of the most pro-actively involved thinkers and doers alive today are evangelicals (by the way, evangelicals claim to "just believe the bible"); Os Guinness, Ravi Zacharias, Bono, Jimmy Carter, Charles Colson...

Because we've oversimplified live we also tend to stick our heads in the sand (enjoy the view..) and end up living our lives just like any other consumer and continue to exploit the resources God made us stewards of.
I am ashamed and embarrased. I don't want to be an evangelical, if this description of an evangelical is true. I'd rather follow Jesus. But that's what evangelicals claim to do. So, I'm probably saying that I'm not much different. That's probably right.
But I choose to be different. The only problem is that there's so much to do and now I'm frustrated adn annoyed because quite often I just don't know what to do.
This week I saw a documentary on women (most of them from Eastern European countries) that are forced into prostitution. They think they are going to Europe to make money in some legit. business but become modern slaves. It is devestating. I get so mad. I want to get a machette and start chopping of dicks of all those (male) perverts and sex-adddicts. But the next day it's already alomost forgotten.
I applaud those that take action on my behalf. They get my support.

Anyway, I am an evangelical.