How To Pray For Las Vegas

I kneel with President Trump, Melania, the families of the fallen, as well as the hundreds of thousands across the globe in prayer for the tragedy that took place last night in Las Vegas.  59 people died and 527 suffered injuries and countless suffered trauma at the choice of a man from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay.

My prayers go out to the families whose lives have forever changed.  President Trump spoke prophetically when he quoted Psalm 34:18: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."  I pray for the parent who will never see their child again.  I pray for the child who will never see their parent again.  I pray for the sibling who cannot see their brother or sister ever again.  I pray for the friend who mourns the loss of friendship.  I pray for all who have been affected by this tragedy.  I pray for those who are suffering post-traumatic stress disorder in the midst of the confusion, fear, and chaos of the shooting.  I pray for the family of the shooter and the confused neighbors, co-workers, and friends of the shooter.

In addition to comfort and closeness of the Lord, I pray that this situation and all of the pain caused by it produces grace and mercy for the broken.  From the beginning of mankind, we were never meant to harbor bitterness and resentment.  We are created in the image of God for the mission of God, which is of love and forgiveness.  I pray that the hearts of the victims of this evil are filled with grace, mercy, truth, and love that flows from God to the gunman and all of the situations in his life that led him to his bitterness and rage.

I dare not condemn this man to hell for only God knows the heart of man.  I apologize to the family and friends of the gunman for every Christian or any person of faith that plays the role of God and condemns this man to hell.  All are subject to hearing the lies of the enemy and acting on them.  None of us are free from the attack of our true enemy, the Devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.  And he'll whisper lies to anyone who will listen.  Lies such as, "choose bitterness.  you deserve better.  you should get revenge.  you should make someone pay."  and so on and so forth.  The enemy only speaks lies, so we just need to flip what he says and draw near to God who only speaks love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Stuff that no judge will ever throw someone in jail for.

This tragedy was so evil and offensive because we were never meant to kill, murder and destroy.  We, humans, we're never meant to die either.  Humanity was broken in the garden when Adam decided to rebel against God.  Eve was deceived and Adam watched his wife have a conversation with the enemy.  And that is when humanity died - spiritually. Then came physical death.  The first murder came after the fall.  Cain killed his brother Abel and continued the pattern of brokenness, depravity, and man's need to be reconciled back to God.  Ever since the fall of man, God has provided the way back to him.  Salvation by grace through faith in him.

And the best part is God gives faith to those who are dead because the spiritually dead (in which we all are upon birth) cannot muster up any faith on our own.  The redemption of mankind is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  And it gets better because God doesn't leave us at redemption.  He ushers us into a life of restoration.  A life that is progressive and a process that is sanctifying like how a sculpture chips away parts of a block that do not need to be there.

In the midst of this sad event in our history, I pray that all see this event through God's eyes rather than through a worldly viewpoint.  Let's fix our eyes on Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith.  Let's reject any temptation to become bitter, resentful, or prideful and be conduits of grace, mercy, and peace.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Building True Spiritual Community

I've been reading two books on (church) community: ”Becoming a True Spiritual Community" and "Connecting" by Dr. Larry Crabb.  Both have been extremely mind-blowing on WHY we/the Church have/has turned to “professional counseling” versus bringing “issues” to the community/body of Christ.  If we are all priests and are filled with the same exact Holy Spirit that indwelt/empowered Jesus Christ, are we not fully equipped to handle everything within a true spiritual community?

Romans 12:15 has been heavy on my heart as of lately: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

Whenever something comes to my attention, whether brokenness being revealed in my community group, some fall in my men’s group, or struggle in my own home, God has been gently reminding me of being aware of “teaching moments” and moments of simply joining at the hip with the mourner to mourn.  

Last week a fellow Pastor/friend of mine died. He was 36 years old before God promoted him to glory.   Several of us who knew him/worked with him all stood in the room together and grieved together after hearing the news.  I felt no pressure to try to say anything.  We were all simply mourning together.  The most senior Chaplain in the room had a few words to say and it was completely appropriate.  I love how God orchestrates all of that in the midst of what I called “chaos.”

God has been changing my thinking on what community looks like.  I’ve been so encouraged in pointing people to the Savior by showing them just how much I need the Savior.  And by implementing what Dr. Crabb calls, “turning my Chair inward,” I’m offering all of myself (and my brokenness) to form true spiritual community where people use my ears to bury their problems in order to begin healing.  Amen and amen!

Soul Asylum - Runaway Train and a Gospel perspective

It's throwback Thursday. I vividly remember like it was yesterday watching Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train" at my grandma's house (the only place I could get away with watching MTV).  Nearly 20 years later I can see how beautifully the band captured the brokeness in the life of a runaway.

How can we engage our culture through secular music?  Easy, extrapolate the truth found in it and connect it to the Gospel.

In the beginning, the Almighty God of the Universe created all things and called it "good."  But man fell and chose himself over God and ever since then it's been broken - homes struck with domestic violence, drugs, alcohol and addictions of all sorts.  There have been runaway kids since the beginning of time (not just in the 90's).

This is exactly why Jesus came down, born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, was crucified, died, was buried for three days, resurrected, appeared to over 500 people and ascended into heaven; namely, to pay the penalty for man's sin, which was death on a cross.  Because an Almighty God must punish sin and there was only one person that could cover the sin of the entire world - Jesus Christ the God-Man - Fully Man (because God can't die) and Fully God (because one man can't cover the sins of the World).

Jesus guarantees redemption and salvation to all who trust in Him for it.  And the Holy Spirit works in us and through us to restore us back to the way we were created to be in the "imago dei" (i.e. image of God), Christlike and a reflection of godliness.

Everyone is a victim of the fall - even more than that, we are all participants in it!  But the good news is Jesus Christ paid the penalty in full and even left the tip.  There is nothing left for us to do than to receive the free Gift of Salvation, which is not merely "getting in to heaven" but being redeemed and restored until the day we depart this life.

This is the Gospel.

"Broken Vessels" (Amazing Grace) by Hillsong Worship

This song was played by the music team this morning.  The truth in it brought me to tears...  May the truth speak to you today.  I've added it to my "SONGS OF FREEDOM" playlist.

All Sons & Daughters - Brokenness Aside

Tony Evans - The Beauty of Brokeness part 1

Broken Girl by Matthew West

Christ, Community and Culture

The Vision Video from our Church called TradeWinds Church put together a video years ago on the Gospel.  enjoy.

Everybody Agrees On One Thing - We are Broken

Everybody agrees that the World is a busted up place full of hurt people who hurt people.  You have been hurt by people you love and people you love have been hurt by you.  You have even hurt yourself.

I've traveled to 6 continents and have had meaningful interaction in every country I visit.  I see a very strong trend in human beings; namely, they/we are all made of the same stuff.  And all of our problems are the same - just in different languages.  Love and hate look the same no matter where you go.  Pride and humility look the same no matter the social status.  The rebellious teenager looks the same no matter what language he speaks.  You get the point.

Here is the bad news in which all human beings agree (including yourself, if you're being honest).  We are all messed up and are in a constant and desperate search to fix our brokeness.

Another proof that this is true:  The other day I visited my friend who works as a hospital Chaplain.  I passed by the Psychiatric ward and pulled a handful of books off the shelf knowing that it would make for a good illustration...

1) Breaking Destructive Patterns
2) SELF Matters
3) Raising Great Kids
4) Generation Me
5) A Walk In The Dark
6) Another Chance
7) When Anger Hurts
8) Fighting Cancer
9) Undoing Depression
10) Boundaries
11) Being Happy

See a pattern here?  They are all self books.

"A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from Self-Help, an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self-improvement", a term that is a modernized version of self-help" (wikipedia).

They are all books that address our brokeness.  They seek to manage the problems we (humans) face.  They all contain some truth and since all truth is God's truth, all of these books have some value.  But none of them are original.  If all truth belongs to God, these authors simply stumbled up on something that came from God. 

Without books on brokeness (i.e. self-help), bookstores would be out of business.  Dr. Phil would not have a job.  Oprah would not be the richest woman.  Dr. Oz would not have a show.  There would be no bookstores because

These books all show that there is BAD NEWS and we would spend money to figure out how to fix ourselves.

The GOOD NEWS is GOOD because it is seen in light of the BAD.  In fact, there is no such thing as good without bad.

The Gospel (i.e. Good News) is that Jesus Christ lived (perfectly), died, was buried and rose on the third day, which conquered sin, death and all the junk that constantly pulls at us - the impatience with your kids, the hatred towards your spouse, the rebellion towards your boss, etc. etc.

More bad news: Before we were even born, we were sinners. Born physically alive and spiritually dead.  And to top it off, as soon as we could walk, talk and drive, we committed all of the above - it was only a matter of time.  And since we are all guilty, we deserved hell.  Because righteous and holy God must punish such sin.

The good news: Jesus Christ paid that price in full.  So he went to the cross as if he was the one that downloaded porn and secretly watched.  He went to the cross as if he personally stole company money.  He went to the cross as if he molested a child, murdered an innocent man, lived a fake life and tricked friends and family.  He paid it all because he was obedient to God the Father.  And the Father loved you so much that...

"He gave his one and only son.  That whosoever would believe in him (Jesus), would not perish, but would have eternal life"

 

The Beauty of Brokeness

If a perfect pot has a light put in it and a lid placed on top, you will not see the light from within illuminating out. But if that pot is broken and cracked and put back together you will see the light within shining out of the cracks. God uses our brokenness to shine His light. We are his vessel to illuminate the world. Our flaws, defects, brokenness..God has turned around for good (@beautifulyouevent).

I found this video on a site called becauseyouarebeautiful.com while searching for brokeness illustrations.  It peaked my interest because I am a father, uncle and brother of many girls I dealy love and care for.  I'm also a huge advocate of any organization that points the the beauty of God's goodness in the midst of our brokeness.  That is at the heart of the gospel.  That Jesus Christ paid in full our salvation so that we would find our identity in Him rather than in our flaws and thus glorify our Father in Heaven.

For the girls, from the website:

“Beautiful You is not your average girls conference. It provides a unique opportunity for teenage girls to both learn and express themselves through the arts. The conference addresses important topics such as worldly expectations, relationships, leadership, and much more. From the beginning to end, each girl is constantly reminded of how truly unique and beautiful she is. I was impressed by how much genuine insight and wisdom was poured out in just one weekend. I felt encouraged and empowered by guest speaker Lisa Lloyd. She made herself vulnerable to us, sharing her own story and addressing the struggles of womanhood with pinpoint accuracy. When we discussed these struggles later in small groups, many of the girls were surprised to find that they had similar insecurities. Having a more intimate setting not only allowed us to speak our minds and be heard, but to give and receive encouragement from each other. I can’t wait to see what blessing God brings at the next Beautiful You!" (Elle Sanders)

God's School of Brokeness - by Charles Swindoll

In my search for more truth regarding brokeness I came across this message.  Honestly, I had never listened to a full sermon by Chuck Swindoll.  All I knew is that he had many great works pertaining to Grace-orientation (i.e. The Grace Awakening).  Wow! I had been missing out.  Be blessed by this sermon on God's school of brokeness.

"When God wants to do an impossible task, He takes an impossible person and crushes Him..."

Be edified, equipped and encouraged.