Have you been tested today?

As a kid I never liked tests! I wasn't all that crazy about school in general, but I had a particular distaste for tests. Back then I didn't realize that grade school, high school and college were doing a lot more than providing an education, they were preparing me for life. It took me a long time to realize it, but a lot of testing takes place outside of the classroom.

James reminds us that God tests us (James 1:1-5). Trials, hardships, disappointments, struggles - these are all methods of testing. There are periods in my life when it feels like finals week at college. Just about the time I successfully (or unsuccessfully) navigate through one challenge, the next one is right in front of me. I find myself whining - "Lord, I'm tired, I'm discouraged, how about giving me a day off now and then."

Then there are those lousy days that I commit to doing thins better. "Today, I am going to turn over a new leaf. Today, I am going to start fresh and things are going to be different." I am not sure why I make those foolish statements. What I am really saying is, "OK Lord, I think I have my stuff together - TEST ME!!!" Why would anyone in their right mind do that. It's like the woman who got pregnant everytime she asked for patience.

Tomorrow is Saturday. How great it would be to lay in bed, watch football, shut out the world and have 24 hours without a trial in it. I hear you laughing. Yes, I have three girls at home this weekend. Yes, there are things that need to be done around the house. I know, I have projects for work that need to be finished. I know there is a test tomorrow - the problem is, I don't know which one to study for.

Embracing Grace

Can a child of God fall from grace? Most of my early teaching around the subject of grace centered on answering this question. I have always believed a child of God could fall from grace. It happened to Demas and I have seen it happen in others that I loved and respected.

My purpose is not to re-ignite the old arguments about whether someone was truly a child of God, or what faith, grace, law and works looks like. Just for today, I want to better understand how to embrace the grace of God - now, in the present, to know it is working in my life.

Not a day goes by that I don't stumble, fall and violate some command of God. Rarely a week goes by without questioning my motives, behavior and at times my own faithfulness. As I look over the years I realize how much God has had to forgive; how often I have drifted dangerously close to departure and how dependent I am upon his forgiveness and grace.

I understand that God's grace is extended through the blood of Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. I know that willful disobedience jeopardizes that free gift from God (Romans 6:1). I can comprehend the Biblical admonition that "graces teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world" (Titus 2:12).

Where I struggle most is with embracing God's grace is in the present. When I know that my immediate actions are sinful, when I am struggling inside to do what is right, when I don't feel close to God, or think, "He doesn't want to hear about this again."

Father, teach me to embrace your grace and forgiveness. Instruct me in your perfect way. Guide and direct my paths so I may ever seek you face. For you are pure and holy. Your mercies are everlasting and your love transcends my weak, sinful and disobedient nature.

A Compassionate Touch

It was Henry David Thoreau who said, "The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." Those words echo in the ears of many as they walk quietly through back alleys of the inner city, or stand in line at the unemployment office. Every day seniors sit alone waiting for someone to call, or pay them a visit as minutes feel like hours and days feel like years.

It was just another day along the dusty streets of Galilee. Merchants were moving from town to town, servants were filling their buckets at the well, but our Lord had just completed fourty days of fasting in the wilderness. He understood how it felt to be tempted, hungry and weary to the bone. As he moved through the region he healed many of the diseased, cast out demons and made time for his own need of solitude and prayer (Mark 1:34, 35).

Preaching and teaching as he moved from town to town, a beggeredly looking man approaches Jesus. Sickly, tired and teetering on the brink of hopelessness the leper falls down at Jesus' feet, "If you will, you can make me clean" (Mark 1:40). How many times had he presented himself to the priests in hopes of purification? How many doctors sent him back to the leper colonies to waste away like the others? Jesus was moved with compassion as he reached out and touched the man and said, "I will."

An outcast, a leper, a man with the most feared contagious disease of his day and Jesus touched him. He didn't say, "stand back and I will make you clean," or "go dip in the Jordan river." Jesus touched this man. This was likely the first act of tenderness he had known for years. Our Lord did more than restore his body, he returned his dignity.

In studying the teachings of Christ we need to spend more time studying his actions along with his words. How many times do we read, "and he was moved with compassion?" Ministry isn't just providing groceries to someone who is out of work, or providing classes to improve your marriage - ministry involves empathy, getting our hands dirty, loving the unloveable and embracing the ugly and profane in our society.

As Jesus prepared for his public ministry he walked along the sea of Galilee with common fisherman, he fasted in the wilderness so he could understand our hunger, temptation and trails, he ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus didn't preach to us from his ivory tower, he served us from the foot of the table (John 13).

The world is crying out to see the real Jesus live in us. The compassionate, empathetic Savior who will reach out his hand to a leper, break bread with sinners, rescue a woman caught in adultery and forgive his enemies as they spat on him, torture and deny him. Our ministry begins when we reach out our hand to the sick and sinful and care for them with the Master's touch.

Unclean, unclean, unclean

In Bible times lepers had to walk through the streets crying out, "unclean, unclean," so that other members of society would not have to come in contact with them. Not only did they have to suffer with this debilitating disease that ate away at their bodies, they had to endure the humiliation of being social outcasts and living alone.

While many may argue that we are far more accepting of divorce than we used to be, there is still a social stigma that divorced people carry. We walk around with the feeling that there is a great big, scarlet D on the center of our chest. This is especially true when we arrive at church on Sundays.

A few years ago I surveyed over 400 single Christians (most of them divorced). The single most common complaint was, "I feel alone in the midst of 400 or 500 people." Surrounded by children of God, they feel hopeless, alone and struggling to find their place of service in the kingdom. Over the past six years I have realized that the divorced community are not the only ones who feel this way at church. We have singles that feel alone, people who have been restored from public sins that feel alone, everyday members because of feelings of loss or inadequacy feel alone.

So what is the point? Few things are as devastating to our spiritual lives as a feeling of isolation and loneliness. Feeling others look down on us, or at the very least don't accept us in the same manner or fashion as "regular members." For the past six years I feel as though I have been climbing a spiritual Mt. Everest. One day, maybe if I am good enough, if I work hard enough, if I give enough of myself to the kingdom, I will be allowed to return to my full measure of service.

Many of you who know me may laugh at that assertion. Trent! You have served as the local minister, worked in outreach ministries, traveled to Africa on mission trips, taught Bible classes - you have arrived. That is all fine and good until you hear those old stereotypes repeated publicly:

• "We can never really be sure of a divorced persons past."
• "Maybe their actions drove the other person to unfaithfulness."
• "Members of the church may not follow them because they had a divorce in their past."

No matter how much repentance has taken place and no matter how much work has been done, people still view you with a jaundiced eye. There are still lingering doubts in the back of people's minds. Unclean, unclean, unclean!

Agony of Defeat

Most of us have seen the opening for Wide World of Sports and remember the phrase, "the agony of defeat," but do you know who that man was who went sailing off the ski jump on March 21, 1970? His name is Vinko Bogataj.

After his recovery he returned to ski jumping, but never finished higher that 57th place. He returned to Slovenia and worked as a forklift driver, wood carver and artist. In 1991 he helped to coach Franci Petek to a World Championship.

Most of us over the age of 20 have the seen the image of Bogataj careening off the ski jump. At its peak this promotional clip aired over 150 times a year. In 1991 Vinko was invited to the 30th Anniversary of Wide World of Sports. He was not only stunned by the invitation, but by his celebrity - people like Mohammad Ali were asking for his autograph. Though his image appeared thousands of times on U.S. television, he was completely unaware of his unique claim to fame.

Later that year Vinko was driving to an interview with ABC when he was in a minor automobile accident. His reaction to the event was, "Everytime I am on ABC, I crash."

Vinko Bogataj did not allow his failures to define him. He is a family man, artist, successful coach and is content with his life. I am glad that my failures do no air on national television. I don't want to be remembered like Bill Buckner, Vinko Bogataj, or Glenn Rice, but the truth is that my mistakes are just as serious or more so. I struggle daily with being the man God wants me to be. It is during those times I am thankful that he carries my burdens, forgives my sins and helps me to overcome my failures.

The Power of Discouragement

Father,

Some mornings I wake up and I am certain I must have dipped into my stock of stupid pills. I say the wrong thing, I snap at my children, and most of the time my bad decisions and irresponsible behavior come from taking you out of the equation.

It is amazing how quickly things can deteriorate in our life when we stop praying, stop studying and stop serving. It is that same old ugly thing called SELF. We make bad decisions because we don't consult you! We fall into sin because we haven't immersed ourselves in your word.

While we make plenty of foolish decisions in our life, the most damaging, irresponsible and destructive is when we drift from your Holy presence. Please give me the wisdom to seek your counsel and follow your paths.

The Trouble with Me

Dear Father,

Please help me that I, " don't act out of selfish ambition or be concieted. Insted, humbly think of others as being better than myself" (Phil. 2:3). Those words are permanentaly attached to the bulletin board in my office. They are a reminder for me not to get too big for my britches (one of my most serious character flaws).

I used to work with a man who told me, "If you don't blow your own horn, no one else will either." This man taught me a lot, but he was dead wrong about this. There are two seriously flaws with self-promotion. First, nobody really wants to hear us brag about ourselves. It is irritating and annoying. Second, when we become self-consumed, no one else wants to brag on us either.

Let me give you an example. When my children tell me how great they are - my initial response is to bring them back to reality (i.e. don't get too full of yourself). On the other hand when they are humble, contrite, and self-deprecating I can't wait to tell the world how wonderful they are.

Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees and their long, loud, ostentatious prayers, or fasting to be seen of men - "they have their reward" (Luke 6:16, 17).

We are involved in a great work together for God. We don't have to sound the trumpet before us. We don't have to tell the world that we are the best, that we have the answers, that the sun rises just for us. Emerson was right when he said, "build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door."

If we do God's work, in God's way - He will recieve the glory.