All Powerful vs All Good

So I just watched Batman vs Superman last night, and while I enjoyed the movie I was disturbed by the rational of Lex Luthor (and apparently I'm not alone. A fact I discovered as I searched for the clip online and got a BUNCH of reactions coming up as well.) Now I know he's the "bad guy" in the film and therefore isn't necessarily supposed to be the voice of good conscious, but still. I have a feeling more than a few people resonate with his words. Before I go any further, allow me to offer a link to the clip and I speak of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuwNhed4ObU

"The problem of You Above All--because that's what God is."
"God is tribal, God takes sides."
"If God is all powerful, he cannot be all good, and if he is all good, he cannot be all powerful."

Allow me to work backwards through these assertions. First, I would like to point out that no Human is "all good." We all make mistakes, we all fail at some point. We are all to one degree or another, selfish. Which makes sense if you think about it. We were all born helpless. We couldn't feed ourselves or protect ourselves. We had one thing we could do--make noise to alert someone else to our needs. All we know how to do is want. Kindness, compassion, love, selflessness, these things come later. We learn them (hopefully) through the influence of those around us. As we grow, we develop a degree of self sufficiency, but even in that, people need people. Look at the degrading effects of solitary confinement! We need community. We need others. It is a beautiful thing, but it is also a limiting thing. If I need others, then I have needs I cannot in and of myself fill so there is a risk that I may not get what I need. So sometimes I become selfish because I'm focused on my own needs or I prioritize them over other's needs. Now let's look at God. If He is all powerful, then he is self-sufficient. AKA he doesn't have needs he cannot fill. Actually, he doesn't have needs at all! Therefore he will never be in a situation where he will want or be forced to look to his own needs at the cost of someone else. He will never have a time where he will try and fail. He's all powerful!  So I would like to propose that BECAUSE God is all powerful, He is ABLE to be all good. He's the only one strong enough.

Now part of me would love to go on a tangent and deal with the definition of good, but at the risk of this becoming too long, I will refrain. However, this does bring me to the next quote, "God is tribal, God takes sides." I see how this would seem logical. Christians and Jews believe that God CHOSE Abram (Abraham) to be the father of many nations: "They will be my people and I will be their God." However, if you were to read the entire Old Testament (or Torah and the Law and the Prophets if you prefer,) you would find that God sometimes "allied" himself with "pagan" nations AGAINST Israel, or had mercy on the "heathens" against the request of "His people." So why would he do this if he was "on their side?" I would like to propose that the truth is God is on God's side. I realize this may not be a popular thought. We want God to be on our side. We like to think of him as choosing teams, or states (God Bless Texas!) or denominations, or political parties. But while God may care, he doesn't align himself with us, he aligns himself with... himself. Which brings me to the last quote: "The problem of You Above All--because that's what God is."

Well... to put it succinctly: Yes. And this is a problem for many people. God is not a being that can be controlled or manipulated. He is all powerful. He's above that kind of thing. (Which is actually really good! Look at what happens to Superman! He's not all powerful, and because of that, Lex Luthor is able to manipulate him!) But God is all powerful and therefore above all. For some, that's scary. For some, it invokes envy. In America, we especially don't like having something over or above us. But I believe we fear this because we don't put in that third truth: He is all Good. A. W. Tozer reminds us that God is all of himself all of the time. He doesn't set aside his Goodness to be All Powerful, he's both.  God is above all, all powerful, all good, and all on his own side.

If this is true, the question becomes, whose side are you on?

What if He doesn't?

So there was a sermon this past Sunday that I GREATLY APPRECIATED. Normally, I share my own thoughts here, but today, I'm sharing the thoughts of Rev. Kurt Powell.

Daniel 3--a pretty well known chapter amongst those who grew up in church. It chronicles the story of three Israelites: Shadrach Meshach and Abednego (or if you're Veggie Tales: Rack, Shack, and Benny.)  Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,  creates a statue that he commands everyone to bow before, but these three refuse. So the King threatens  throw them into a furnace, still they refuse. Now, normally we focus on the part of the story where they are thrown into the flames yet they are unharmed. In fact, the King sees not three, but four men in the flames! But Powell focused on another section.

¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^[a] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

It's great when things go the way we plan. It's wonderful when God answers our prayers. But what if He doesn't? What then? Powell asserted that there are five responses we tend to have as believers.

1. Abandon Ship

When the going get's tuff, some get up and go. I personally have seen this too many times to count, and it breaks my heart. It's usually couched in language like, "If God is so loving then____________" or, "I can't believe in a God who would __________." In fact, I have made similar comments in my Christian life. I've gotten mad because I thought God should have or shouldn't have done something. But oh dear wounded heart! In those dark moments God didn't forsake you. He isn't petty or unjust or uncaring. He counts our tears! He is Elroy, the God who sees. He knows you better than you know yourself and He does love you. The WORST thing you could do for yourself would be to walk away. Stay! Throw a tantrum if you must. Be honest with Him, but stay.

2. Question Your Faith

Another response is to place blame on yourself. You are able to hold on to the truth that God is good, so if the blame isn't on Him, perhaps it's you. If only you had more faith. If only you'd prayed more. If only you were a "better Christian." The truth is yes, sometimes our sin--our mistakes, shortcomings, selfishness--hurts other people. But we must be careful in thinking that if we're "good enough" then God will do what we ask. As Christians, our whole theology hinges on the point that we aren't good enough--no one is perfect! And if we associate lack of desired outcome in prayer with lack of faith, our theology can quickly warp into a work based religion. First of all, no one can arm twist God to do something they want by doing good acts; and secondly, who are we to think we "deserve" it? And for that matter, look at what God has done for us! Look at how much He has given above an beyond "deserve."

3. Ignore the Pain

Then there is the "don't talk about it" response. We don't have a good answer for why that child died, or why this person is sick, or why I still don't have a job so we don't talk about it. We sweep it under the rug. We only acknowledge the answered prayers. But this is SO dangerous. One we're avoiding the issue, and nobody is fooled when we do this. Two, Christianity begins to take on the hue of a summer vacation commercial--everyone smiling and laughing and living it up. Yes, there are good times. Yes there are deep pools of Joy that we can tap into, even this side of heaven. BUT we live in a broken world. A world that is hurting and dark and the last thing anybody needs is for us to shy away from it, ignore it, or avoid it. What we all truly want and need is authenticity. "I don't know" is an acceptable answer. As a friend of mine once taught me, "Sometimes it's okay to not be okay." Look at David. Look at Mary and Martha. These are giants in the faith so to speak. Yet they were able to speak honestly with God and others about disappointment.

4. Cynicism.

This is where we start to think, "Well God is in control and He's going to do what He's going to do and He knows what I want and need, so why bother talking to Him about it?" We don't pray because we think it's ineffective, or we're afraid of being disappointed... Yeah. Definitely been there. But not praying doesn't solve our problems does it? Disappointment still comes. And without communicating with Him, God begins to feel even more distant. Friends, Satan would like nothing more than for you to feel cut off and alone. To feel that God doesn't have your back. That what you say doesn't matter. But it does! Honesty with the Lord invites intimacy. It allows us to better see ourselves. It can lead to healing and empathy and peace. WARNING: It might take a while. But don't give up!

5. Deepen our Faith

The final response is to choose to allow the disappointment to deepen your faith. And though it may not feel like it at the time, it is a choice we can make. It's the choice of believing that God is a good Father--parent's don't give their children everything they ask for (or should at least! Because if they do what happens? That kid turns into a spoiled brat!) Good parents look out for the welfare of their children. Good parents don't abandon their children when the going gets tough. They protect and nurture--even though most of the sacrifices they make will go unnoticed for many years, if they are ever discovered at all! Sometimes they are misunderstood, sometimes they are undervalued, yet they continue to love. Why? Because they are good parents. God is GOOD my friends. So good.

Laura Story wrote a song (based on her life btw) called Blessings. I highly recommend you look it up if you don't know it. Hillary Scott has a song called Thy Will Be Done. Again, listen to the lyrics. C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters which is a fictional correspondence between two demons. Uncle Screwtape is mentoring his nephew Wormwood. In one chapter He writes, “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” 

Powell ended his sermon with a beautiful illustration from the movie version of Chronicles of Narnia. At the climax, Peter and his brother are standing with those faithful to Aslan before the army of the White Witch. A hawk flies down and reports to Peter that her army vastly outnumbers their own. Peter turns to the centaur on his left and asks a vital question, "Are you with me?" to which the centaur replies, "to the death."

Jesus asks the same question.  "In this life you will have trouble. There will be times when I seem far from you. Times when you are confused and disheartened. The Tempter's Lies will sometimes ring louder (and truer)  than Truth. You will face disappointment. But I have overcome the world. I see the path. I know the 'why' and the 'how.' So even though the enemy is strong, and his army vast, and the way seems unsure, are you with me?"

May we choose to respond,

"to the death."

Red

Red. The color of anger. The color of hate. The color of pain. There is so much red in the world. Sometimes it's overwhelming. I sit and listen and I hear... red. Anger at the government. Anger at systems. Anger at corporations. Anger at institutions. Anger at each other. Anger at self. Anger at the pain we feel. Pain from loving and losing. Pain from rejection. Pain from watching another's pain.  Pain from the emptiness inside that can't seem to be filled... with anything. Pain and anger sprouting from fear. Fear of losing. Fear of missing out. Fear of pain. Fear of being too much or not enough. Fear the emptiness will never be filled. Red dipped in red garnished with red. So much red it makes my heart ache.

But there is another side to red. Red is the color of life--the blood running through our veins. Red is the color of love, of the heart.

And during this time of the year, Christians celebrate RED:
The color of Anger so hot it sent an innocent man to death.
The color of Pain as Jesus was abandoned, scourged, pierced with nails, and left to die.
The color of Love as He allowed it to happen. "Father forgive them/Father let them."
And the color of LIFE because Jesus didn't stay dead. He came back--for us.

And His RED can cure our red. It has the capacity to fill the emptiness inside. It has the power to  diffuse our anger and pain and fear and give us peace. It has the power to give abundant life, now and forever. To Christ followers, death is just a speedbump.

Friends, God loves you. He longs to be known by you. He longs for you to trust Him. He longs to pour out His RED on you that you may filled. Trade all your red, your anger and fear and hate and pain, for His RED and find true Life/Love.

Saying Goodbye

There's nothing like a move to put your life in perspective. For all of you wondering why I suddenly packed up a truck and left Houston for Tyler, the short answer is: one of my jobs was turned into a voluntary position. Yes, I'm fine. No really, I'm fine. I mean it--Fine. Really. God has been so gracious with my heart and mind through this whole process. I could hazard a dozen guesses at what all He was/is doing with this, but as I have no solid answers, I will keep those thoughts to myself for now. What I would like to talk about is actually a byproduct of this whole adventure.

Because of the timing of things, I ended up saying "goodbye" in tiers. As each job came to a close (I was up to three,) I would go through the "goodbye" process again. I'm not that great with in person goodbyes. I do much better with notes (as many of you can attest to.) But the hardest ones by far were the people I regretted not talking with more. So here's my advice. Don't put off talking with people--whatever the reason may be. If there is a rift between you and someone, go talk to them! If you have a friend or family member you're worried about because of the life decisions they are making, go talk with them! If you know someone who is going through a rough time, go talk with them, or more importantly, go listen to them! If there is someone who always lifts your spirits, tell them. If there is someone you admire, tell them. If there is someone who gives great advice, or is a great listener, or is just a close friend (or family member) tell them! My fellow Christians, if you have someone who is struggling spiritually, go talk with them. If you have friends who think you're crazy for what you believe in, go talk with them! If you DON'T KNOW their opinions on the matter go talk to them!!!!  A "goodbye" could be waiting right around the corner for you. Don't wait.

Trust me on this. "Tomorrow" is not the best option to bank on. And as Point of Grace once sang, "This day is fleeting, when it slips away, not all our money can buy back this day..." So Today, let's put people first. Let's ask the questions, do the catching up, give the encouragement, call out the good (and bad--in love.) Because waiting too often leads to regret.

Part 2

Satan lies. This we know (or should.) And I discovered one of those deep reaching, long hidden lies not too long ago. (See my last blog.) It was, “you are useless.” And like any good recovery program, the first step is knowing/admitting you have a problem. So I admitted it. More than once. I saw how this lie wrapped its tentacles around my thoughts, how it perverted Truth. And honestly, I thought that was the end. Now I know the lie and I must fight to disbelieve it.  Heh, have you ever tried to disbelieve something? It’s rather hard!  It reminds me of a parable of Jesus. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” (Matthew 12:43-45) I knew the lie, and that is a good start, but I didn’t know the truth. Not really. So finally, I began to ask God. “God I feel useless, but I know that’s a lie, could you please tell me the truth?” First day… nothing. Then I asked again, “God please replace my lies with your Truth; who do you say that I am?” And again… nothing. Then today, without even asking the question, God spoke. He spoke through a video posted to Facebook where a man named Joe told his story but I heard my own. It was one of doubt and fear and exhaustion, then he told me God’s answer to his story and in it I heard my own… “I made a covenant with you, for better or worse, in sickness and health, and I will take you into heaven one day. You are mine.”

 To say that I cried was an understatement. I was a sobbing, blubbering mess. I am his. He claimed me. And in the midst of my tears I started to laugh as I realized that has always been his answer to me. I say, “how many mess ups do I get before you walk away?” and he says, “If you’ve offended me, shouldn’t I get what I want? I want you.” I say, “what if I don’t make it? What if I let go before the end?” and he says, “By the way, I’ll see you in heaven.” He has promised to talk with me face to face, he has named me precious. He claims me over and over again as his own. He said it a thousand different ways through the prophets and apostles of old, but he is still willing to speak to broken, scared, souls and claim us. “My grace is sufficient, my power is made perfect in weakness.” Take that Satan. You may call me “useless,” but God has called me his own.

Useless

Useless

There has been a theme coming up over and over again this past week, and generally when that happens it’s time to sit up and take notice. This time it came in the form of a “little known fact,” and that fact is: Satan lies. Mind boggling right? He lies! He is a liar. He invented it. It’s his native language. All lies in the entire universe find their origin in him. And he doesn’t just lie once, or once in a blue moon. He does it EVERY DAY. Some of the lies he tells us are universal. Some are personal. But all are repeated and reinforced as time goes on. The really unnerving thing is that we don’t even recognize many of them. They sound like culture, or they sound like reason, or they sound… true. We wake up in the morning to find a pimple has bared its ugly head on our face and he leans in and whispers, “Gross! Look at that thing! It’s so ugly. You’re so ugly. You’re gross. You need to hide it! You need to hide.”

Some lies are smoke screens to hide bigger lies; some reinforce core lies; some are buried so deep beneath everything else we’d never even know they were there. And those are the truly dangerous ones. The ones that lay close to our core—the ones that were rooted long ago and have sat festering under everything else, robbing us of joy, peace, love, contentment, etc. It takes some digging to find those lies, but DIG WE MUST! If we want any sort of freedom in this life, we need to carve those lies out and expose them to the light to show what they truly are! Lies!

My own digging started because of a lesson I did at church with the Youth. We were talking about how God views us. (Priceless works of art, worth saving, with function and purpose—see Ephesians 2:10) And I realized that even though I said it, I didn’t believe it about myself. Red flag. So today I asked the question: Why? Why didn’t I believe that to be true? And what did I believe? (A really good question, because I find that I often don’t know right away!) What did I feel was true? (Oh I could go onto a side tangent about feelings here! How feelings are based out of perception and can be very authentic, but lie to us. They’re good because they work like the nervous system: they communicate that something is going on—but don’t always indicate what that is. Anyway, back to my original point…) I realized (after a lot of digging) that I felt unloved and lonely. Why? The God of the universe loved me. And he said he would never leave us. But I realized I didn’t believe that was true either. Red flag number two. What did I believe? I believed that I was a screw up… okay, but the world is full of those… so what? That I was constantly disappointing God, and sure he loved me, but what if that wasn’t enough? What if he didn’t like me very much? Why would he not like me? Because I’m lazy. Why do I think I’m lazy? Because I choose to not do more. I run to entertainment. I run from pain. I’m deathly afraid of it. So I bury myself in movies and fiction. Why? Because in those things are worlds where I can feel like I am who I wish I was: that I could change the world… that I could change me… that I could speak out and take action and be persuasive and love people—and make God proud of me… so he would like me, because I wouldn’t be useless.

Finally my shovel hit rock. This lie that has been buried for so long: I’m useless.

Suddenly things started falling into place. Why do I have this NEED to know everything? Because I’m fighting the fear, the lie, that I’m useless. Why wasn’t it okay to make mistakes? Because I’m fighting the lie that I’m useless. Why do I struggle to believe that I’m a priceless creation of God and that he has plans and purposes for my life? Because I believe I’m useless! SO many things in my life go back to this one lie that Satan has been solidifying in me for a long time now. Every time I mess up he leans in and whispers “useless.” Every time I fail, “useless.” So I begin to fear failure because, “you’re useless.” I struggle to feel loved because, “you’re useless.” I stop trying because, “you’re useless.”

Interestingly enough, I don’t feel worthless. That word doesn’t zap me. Maybe Satan tried that one and it didn’t take. I don’t know. All I know is when I discovered the word “useless.” I felt it to my core. BUT that is not God’s name for me. And now that I’ve discovered the lie, I can combat it. Like the old adage goes, “knowing is half the battle.”

Alright. Now that I’ve gone supernova in my vulnerability (allow me to wink at those of you who know Brene’ Brown and her thoughts on floodlight vulnerability,) let me state this: Please do not pity me. And don’t feel the need to tell me how useful I am. That is not the point of this. The point is to expose Satan for who he truly is: A liar. And to ask you what names/labels has he given you that keep you in chains? Because I’m not the only priceless piece of art around here. You are! And if you don’t believe that, why not? God says you’re his poime (Greek) his poem, created to do good works that he’s already prepared for you to do. Paul says it is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not allow yourself to be burdened again by the yoke of slavery. So we need to ask the questions. We need to dig. We need to expose those lies and treat them as such. Because God wants to use you. He wants to work in and through you. He loves you with an everlasting love. You are valuable to him. Heavens, we’re about to celebrate this in a few months! Immanuel: God with us. What Jesus came down to do was for the whole world, and that includes you.

Having said all that, allow me to end this with a prayer of Paul’s that I find most apt: I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the strength together with all the saints to grasp how high and long and deep and wide is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses all understanding that you may be filled to the measure of all fullness in God. And now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. To him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. May it be so (Amen.)

"Today"

God is constantly astounding me with his Grace. I’ve been talking with him for the past few weeks about this streak of lethargy I’ve seen in my life. I “know” that time shouldn’t be wasted, but I don’t really act on that knowledge. Result? I’ve wasted a lot of days here lately. Now I’m not saying that I need to do “more.” I am saying that I need to better manage the time I do have. Prioritize. “Work smarter, not harder” as the motto goes. Sadly, all I’ve done is talk to God about it and that is a far cry from doing anything about it. This morning as I worshiped I revisited this stale conversation, knowing full well that it would take a small miracle to actually kick my rear in gear. Little did I know, God was ready and waiting to talk back, because today’s sermon was all about not wasting our “Today.” And for the next half hour, God spoke back to me much of what I’ve been saying for the past month. Maybe that sounds odd to you, but for me it was golden. The God of the universe took the time to tell me what I needed to hear, even though I already knew it! It was like he was saying, “You know this. Now do it—because you can. You are completely capable.” Again, I realize it sounds crazy, but it was exactly what I needed. The ultimate pep talk. I don’t want to waste my todays because I don’t know how many of them I am going to have. I want to see and hear God (more than just occasionally.) I want learn to love and trust more deeply. I want to serve graciously. I want to live intentionally.