Yesterday my son successfully solo climbed yet another fourteen-thousand-foot mountain in Colorado. Many of the Colorado 14ers are mere gentle giants in summer–long, hard, but not particularly dangerous. But in winter, even the most friendly of mountain environs can become downright deadly. Think about it–avalanche threats, wind, cold and wind chill, heavier and bulkier gear, deep and exhausting snow, fewer if any other hikers on the trail to render aid in a crisis, frozen water bottles, etc., etc., etc.—these things change the game entirely for even the most seasoned and well-conditioned climbers. Bottom line: everything’s harder in winter. It takes longer, requires more of you physically and has many more intangibles that can create a perfect storm of mountain madness.

This relatively gentle slope becomes a real struggle in deep snow and in the face of a fierce, cold wind.

The same is true spiritually.

For those of us trying to thrive in our respective walks with God, winter can be deadly. Now be certain, I’m not talking about the season on the calender we call winter, I’m talking about the spiritual winter that results when we isolate ourselves from God and his people. It’s like living without the sun for weeks or months at a time. It’s just really hard for plants to grow without access to light. The same is true for us. Without access to God’s light, we can’t grow. And his light is still best found in praying, reading his Word, worshiping and communing with his people.

Without God’s life-giving light, we can’t thrive spiritually. We love less, serve less or not at all, give less and are much more prone to sin. And, much like hiking in the snow, everything is harder.

Are you in a spiritual winter? The great news is that you’re only one prayer, one confession, one moment of worship away from Springtime.

Grand Love

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19

Valentine’s Day is the day of poets, and I have a poem for you. Years ago I heard the hymn The Love of God for the first time. I cried then and still do so whenever I hear it sung. The third verse and chorus are one of the most beautiful descriptions of God’s love that I have ever read. Scholars believe that this verse was written in the 11^th Century A.D. by a Jewish patient in a German insane asylum. I offer it on this Valentine’s Day for you to think about God’s grand love.

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.

 CHORUS:

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall for evermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Praise You God for Your Grand Love!

This past weekend, my wife Susie and I had the chance to teach together at our church, Austin Christian Fellowship, on one of our favorite topics, marriage. We’ve both written books and blogs on the subject, and we are always eager to share ways we’ve learned to keep our marriage alive. Here’s a brief summary of what we shared:

1. Marriage is God’s idea–don’t try to redefine it. There is lots of marriage tweaking going on these days, and none of it actually seems to be helping marriage. Since God designed marriage, we’d be wisest to use it as he intended.

2. Marriage is covenant. Forget the pre-nups, trial runs and escape clauses. Marriage is a agreement you make with God to love and serve another person just as God loves and serves you.

3. Marriage is temporary. You won’t be married in heaven, so enjoy your spouse now. Beyond that, if you and your spouse are both Christians, then he or she is your brother or sister in Christ. The commands for how we treat fellow Christ-followers still apply. Thus, we ought to treat our brother/sister/spouses better than anyone else.

4. Your spouse is your most important human relationship. We’re supposed to love our spouses even over our own kids. When it’s all said and done, all we have left is each other.

5. God is your most important relationship. You’re ability to love and be loved by others depends greatly on your ability to love and be loved by God. Put him first, and every other relationship will fall into place.

To watch or listen to the full message, click here.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Ephesians 5:25-27

A pastor in California is calling for a nationwide boycott of Starbucks by Christians and churches because the company supports the legalization of gay marriage in Washington state. (Read the full article here.) Bloggers are having a field day with this one–some condemning the pastor and some supporting him–with as much misinformation being spread on the subject as that which is helpful and accurate.

Here’s the question as I see it: Should a Christian boycott a company because the company has beliefs or practices that the Christian finds offensive, immoral or even harmful? I’ll let you decide for yourself how to live out your convictions. But here are some things to remember when trying to decide whom to protest and whom to patronize:

1. As believers, we can’t expect people or organizations to to share our values if they don’t share our allegiance to Jesus. I’ve always said, “Expect lost people to act lost.” If Starbucks is run by people who don’t share your theological convictions, then you can’t be surprised when they act in such a way that is counter to those convictions. Does that make them your enemy? No. Christians only have one true enemy, and it’s not a person, a company or a government. It’s Satan, the one who deceives people who happen to lead companies and governments.

2. As salt and light, Christians are supposed to be known for who we are, not for what we are against. Our walk with God in culture is much more about our shining light on what is true, not so much on what is untrue or immoral (the exception being within the Church). Paul commanded the believers in Philippi to  “Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night,” Phil 2:15 (The Message). Rather than pointing out what’s wrong, we are rather to point to what is right. So instead of attacking people whose lifestyles and politics threaten our view of marriage, why not point to the beauty of marriage as defined in the Bible? And that, friends, is difficult to do when Christians have the same divorce rates as our non-believing counterparts.

3. Finally, we must question whether such a boycott is a good use of a believer’s time and energy. Boycotts aren’t new to the Church. In my own lifetime I’ve been called by the Church to withhold taxes because I didn’t agree with the direction of my leaders and to boycott any number of businesses and corporations (including The Walt Disney Company) because of their offensive practices. And in some cases, such boycotts have merit. But it’s curious to note that Jesus lived under a repressive Roman government that openly encouraged slavery and all forms of sexual deviation, and yet he said nothing about it. But he was quick to condemn his Jewish brothers who thought their marriage vows where non-binding and who oppressed women, widows, orphans and those who were not the religious elite. Jesus never called for a boycott of Rome, but he openly opposed the religious hypocrisy of his day.

I don’t pass any judgment on this pastor or those who will join him in his boycott of Starbucks. I don’t see any biblical prohibition of his effort, so he must discern what God is or isn’t telling him to do. But in the larger scheme of things, we as Christians might want to pick our battles more carefully. There is an agency, an organization, a system that needs to be torn down, but it’s not of this world.

Late last week, Texas Ranger slugger and All-Start outfielder Josh Hamilton went public with news that he had fallen off the wagon. Hamilton, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, has been very public about his recovery and his faith in Christ since his habit almost ended his career several years ago.

But his reputation and testimony came crashing down around him after last week’s revelations. Or, did they?

How does God feel about Josh’s fall, and how should we feel?

To begin with, God is neither mad at nor disappointed in Josh. I’ve written much about our inability to surprise, shock or disappoint God. Jesus died for Josh’s failures, including his most recent struggle.

Second, as the old bumper sticker used to say, Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven. Any Christian who has ever faced an addiction knows that the battle never is over, no matter how many years of sobriety one may carry. Every day–better, every moment–requires a choice to follow Jesus. Sin is always lurking at the door, for all of us–Christians, non-Christians, addicts and non-addicts. Josh’s stumble is a painful reminder of how easily any of us can fall into sin.

Third, Josh responded well to his mistake. He offered no excuses. He immediately went public with news of his sin, asked forgiveness and fully owned the weight of his actions. That’s a refreshing contrast to our cover-up, make excuses or play the victim culture. Josh owned his sin, and we all need to own ours as well.

Finally, Josh Hamilton’s sin is really none of my business. I’m writing about it here because he is a public figure and his life and story have been played out quite publicly. He’s been open about his faith in Christ and, because of that, is open to scrutiny. So are the rest of us who live as disciples. But in reality, Josh isn’t a public figure who is fair game; Josh is my brother in Christ. My only response to him can be to pray for him and (if I happen to be part of his community) to seek his restoration. Anything other than that, including words spoken or written that don’t build up Josh and his family, are unbiblical and out-of-bounds.

Pray for Josh. Pray for courage for him and his family as they walk out their very public faith. And pray for me and you, that we’ll have the courage to do the same when we’re in the spotlight.

Legendary homiletics professor H.E. Luccock once told a group of Yale Seminary students, “Life is truly measured, not by the number of breaths taken, but by the breaths not taken, when breath is stopped, by the moments of breathtaking astonishment and amazement.” That being the case, the Christians who witnessed the events recorded in the Book of Acts must have truly lived, for they were always having their breath taken away.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:10

This verse describes the crowd’s reaction to the healing of a well-known man, a paralyzed beggar who stationed himself outside one of the main entrances to the temple. The man was a common and pitiful sight for all regular worshippers.

So when he responded to Peter’s command to get up and walk, when he responded by leaping, dancing and shouting throughout the temple courts, it caused no small stir. This was a bona fide miracle. No one, even the enemies of the church, could deny its reality. It took their breath away.

And therein lies either the confirmation or condemnation for every Christian and church today. Our reality as torchbearers for the Kingdom is not determined by the beauty of our buildings, the houses we live in, the size of our budgets, the numbers on our rolls or the cars we drive. The reality of the Kingdom is only revealed in Kingdom moments: undeniable, breathtaking acts of God. It is when our hearts are stopped and our breath stolen from us that we know we are truly experiencing God’s work among us.

Have the courage to look at your life, your ministry and your church in light of this reality. Does God repeatedly work in such a way as to cause wonder and amazement? When it happens, you know it: aging agnostics come to faith and are baptized, angry atheists embrace Christ and eventually become leaders in the church, shattered marriages are restored, decades-long emotional wounds are healed, financial provision comes seemingly out of nowhere, drug addicts find sobriety, crime rates drop inexplicably, rain falls on parched lands, runaway teens come home, cancers disappear.

It really is breathtaking, and it’s the best measure of a Kingdom church. This wake up call is for all who call Jesus’ church their home. Pray for breath-taking moments. Don’t settle for lethargy and mediocrity in Kingdom matters. Pray, wait and worship until God moves.

We don’t serve a dull King; we should not, therefore, demonstrate a dull Kingdom.

The Bible is one of the few books that, when you read it, you may not want to actually start at the beginning. There’s nothing wrong with Genesis; in fact, I love it. But if you try to read the Bible beginning to end and you don’t know some of the history and context, things can get pretty tough early on.

So, I coach people to have a reading plan that moves them around in the Bible several times a week. And if they’re new Christians, I encourage them to read almost exclusively in the New Testament until they begin to get their bearings spiritually.

You can determine where you are in your faith and what your needs are. But regardless, have a plan. Know where you’re going every time you sit down over the Bible. It will help you take the guesswork out of reading and not waste time wondering where you should start.

Here are a few links to helpful reading plans, including two of my own.

bibleplan.org–Several great options here.

YouVersion–This is a powerful resource from the folks at Lifechurch.TV. We use it at ACF.

Bible Gateway–Probably the best online resource.

Here’s the plan I use every day. Will’s Daily Bible Reading Plan #1

Here’s a tweak on my plan above, with a daily section of Psalms or Proverbs. Will’s Daily Bible Reading Plan #2 (Includes Psalms or Proverbs Daily)