Jeremy Lin, Tim Tebow and ... Eric Metaxas

Is God raising up bold believers in our time? These three men are turning the world upside down in their respective areas of expertise. The first two are athletes. The last is a rarer bird. He's an intellectual Christian. But he's not an intellectual first, buried in the doctrinal confusion that is so fashionable in academia. Instead, he is a passionate disciple of the heart, having come through Yale apostasy to Christ through a dream filled with symbols and yet clearly resolving his search for God. Go listen to his personal testimony  http://newbirthportraits.com/gallery/10 . Metaxas has delivered two epic biographies, one of William Wilberforce and one of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Both burrow into the role of the living presence of Christ in the lives of these men. Warriors for Christ.

When Tebow kneels, when Jeremy acknowledges his two loves, basketball and Jesus Christ, and when Eric Metaxas, whose early claim to fame was as a Veggie Tales writer raises up historic heroes of the faith, we are witnessing God's presence among us in three of his high profile heroes. Learn from them. Imitate them.

Tim Tebow inspired a nation with his faith and humility and became in one year the nation's favorite athlete. Lin is inspiring the basketball world in the same way. Metaxas gave the keynote address at this year's National Prayer Breakfast. See him speak truth to power here: http://www.ericmetaxas.com/blog/the-blurb-worth-a-thousand-words/ .

Now, whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever your sphere of influence, go and do likewise. We're being called to service, noble warriors. Gird your loins and prepare to defend the faith by giving an account of the hope that you have in Jesus Christ.

Support your Pastor/Priest/Preacher

These are confusing times for the church and for its shepherds. Surrounded by an apostate culture, they are tempted to give in to the prevailing culture to keep their flock from wandering. When the gospel is considered politically incorrect by the public and even in schools of religion, these brave souls suffer isolation, fear, alienation. Yet, if they are truly called by God to serve in the pulpit, this is their lot. They must accept it or find something else to do.

Unfortunately, they are not often rewarded for the intensity of their persecution in serving the Lord. They are often subject, in their denominations, to relentless political correctness from their leaders and their peers. If they choose to please their ecclesiastical structure, they may also be drawn to siding with  liberal leanings away from the word of God. The gospel is considered too simple for the academics that exhort them to social action.

Pray for them. Hold them up. Give them an encouraging word. Their isolation is terrible, don't add to it. Their mentor is Jesus Christ. His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane is their pattern. Their courage and comfort is in the support of the Holy Spirit.

Prison Friendships in Kairos

I've blogged before on my calling to visit men in prison. Currently I serve with about thirty other men who visit our brothers in Christ at Sterling Correctional Facility in Sterling, Colorado, about two hours drive ENE from Denver, out on the plains. We do two "short course in Christianity" weekends there, East Yard in the Spring and West Yard in the Fall. We then visit our brothers there the third Saturday of each month, East in the AM and West in the PM. It's a wonderful ministry. We bring the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to these men, with the proviso that we "Listen, listen, love and love". The weekends have food, bought and brought by the volunteers who serve. The format allows for continued support of the church and the chaplains in the prison.

Why the commitment to this population of men? At first, my fellow volunteers and I believed we were doing it for the benefit of the prisoners. However, nearly to a man, we now know that we receive as much grace from the experience as they do. To those of us seasoned by many trips to Sterling, we know that we do nearly nothing there. We have a structured weekend which is provided in a manual we use, featuring 14 short lay talks interspersed with chapel visits, poster contests, songs of praise and lots of laughter and fun. We get to mention during the talks how the theme of the talk has affected us. Other than that, we encourage their interaction at seven round tables at which six inmates and three volunteers sit for three and a half days. And we try to shut up.

This ministry works because each table "family" is visited by the Holy Spirit, tangibly. We know it, they know it. It is a powerful revelation that bolsters their examination of Christianity and their experiment in opening their hearts to God and to each other. There is no requirement that inmates be Christians. Buddhists, Wikkas, Satan Worshipers, and just plain Pagans attend. Many become believers during or after their Kairos, but all walk away from the weekend touched and changed by the experience. Back in the population, they are greeted by former Kairos graduates and inmate church leaders who involve them in Sunday worship services, bible studies and other transformational opportunities. They are informed monthly of our arrival and availability to visit, and they come and renew their friendships with us.

These men are guilty, convicted felons. They are murderers, drug dealers, bank robbers, extortionists, gang bangers, and they are just like you and me: Sinners in search of a loving, forgiving God.

It is a common observation among those who understand men that men's friendships achieve intimacy and depth in proportion to the conflict they go through together. For this reason, deep friendships can form in prison. The context of forming friendships with these men in the presence of God's Holy Spirit creates the deepest, abiding love, between them. We get to watch and encourage and enjoy the wonder of open vulnerable hearts and transformed lives.

I'm proud to say that some of my closest friends are volunteers and inmates in Sterling prison. Why don't you come along with me sometime and enjoy watching as the love of Christ filters through the bars and changes lives?

Holy Friendship

Looking for love in all the wrong places? Many have mixed up love and sex. Why settle for sexual satisfaction and miss an opportunity for love? Many think love is about marriage: that they go together like a horse and carriage, as the song goes. No. That's not it either. Marriage, done correctly, is filled with love. But loveless marriages show that the the horse can break free from the carriage. Some think love is a "feeling". Infatuation is certainly a feeling. Love is something more.

We're confused about love. Where can we find love? How do we show love? Some of the best loving relationships can come from friendship. I'm talking about "holy" friendship, the kind Jesus had for his apostles, and they had, eventually, for him. It is said that among men, friendship is only as deep as the conflict it is subjected to. The apostles went through it all and they had it all: fun, fear, disappointment, doubt, terror and deep love.

Friendship is open to everyone, not just the gregarious. Everyone. Cultivation of deep, meaningful friendships will cure most of our interpersonal problems, cure our obsession with sex, and can bring us closer to God, our father in heaven. From the scripture we are told that God is love and light. In Him there is no darkness at all.

How do you create a friendship of depth and purity? Include God in your relationship. God created us for relationship, with Him. Since the best way to get to him is love, the formula is simple. Show each other the love of God reflected through you. Voila! Deep, meaningful friendship. If you want to know what God's love is, see 1 Corinthians 13, then pursue the kind of friendships you were meant to have, that you were made to have.

Sin is a strong word.

Language is changing fast. Some words, that were commonly used when I was growing up, are too powerful for today's discourse. Here are a few that are seldom used: man, virtue, coward, liar, wrong, false, chivalry, truth and sin.

I have noticed it in the bulletin at church. There is a place where we admit our lack of love and commitment to Christ. But the pastor alters the absolution phrase, that forgives us for our sin and substitutes words like "faults" or "shortcomings". What is the matter with the word "sin"? The word is too strong. A weaker word is used to avoid it.

Another word suffering the same fate is "man" and "men". I hear people avoiding this one all the time. The preferred alternative is "guy" or "guys". Never "gentlemen" or "gentleman". Man, once again, seems too strong for modern sensibiliites. Manliness (also avoided) consists of "virtue", the root of which is "man". No one "lies" or calls someone a "liar". Too strong. If people use a word that is not true, they are said to have misspoken. Hmmm.

Recently a congressman used the word "liar" during a presidential speech. He was correct, of course, in the choice of "liar" and in holding the President accountable for not speaking the truth. But "truth" is another word that is disappearing from our language, so the congressman was assailed from all sides for calling a "liar" a "liar". The President is considered to have been "wronged", even though he was wrong, in the strictest sense of the word, in stating his policies were not discriminating in favor of illegal aliens (er, undocumented immigrants) in healthcare.

When Jesus was with his disciples, he was asked who he really was and he said "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

In the book of John, Pilate asks about Jesus kingship as reported in John's gospel,

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸ To which Pilate retorted, “What is truth?”

What is truth, indeed? In our time, lies are more common than truth. Truth and words that ring with strength are disappearing. How do we get them back? We seek, love and share the truth. We use powerful words to re-establish their meaning and existence in our time. We resist "politically correct" circumlocutions that bend and hide the truth.

Let's recognize our bent to sinning and the world of sin and death that we live in. Let's call sin sin. Let's call truth truth. Let's call courage courage and use the word hero for a hero, not a popular sports figure. Let's re-establish virtue, expecting it of others. Let's be men and leave the "guys" to the feminized community of metro-sexual persons.

Go to Dark Gethsemane

The Triduum, the three days of Jesus passion, are not "celebrated" by all churches. The Reformers threw some stuff out. The Resurrection Cross, without the crucified Christ is common in non-liturgical Christendom. I grew up with the dark cloaking of Lent. I remember vividly the nuns covering all the statuary in our parish with black. At All Saints, we started every school day in church. During Lenten preparations, second graders prepared for their first confession, practicing with a nun the words, "Bless me Father, for I have sinned." The sinfulness of man was on display in that we were educated to assume deep sorrow during Lent for the fact that our sins were responsible for Jesus' crucifixion and death. The dark draping included the altar, the nuns covered all stained glass windows, the music was somber, the tone was death. We attended Lenten prayers at the foot of the cloaked cross. We suffered with Him, we asked Him for forgiveness.

I attend a United Methodist church now. There are no statues to drape, no Christ on the cross, but there is a somber Maundy Thursday service bridge us from the Palm Sunday leccionary readings to Easter, giving a taste of the Passion along the way. When Mel Gibson's movie came out, we all saw it, Protestant and Catholic, Orthodox and Atheist. I know of no one who has seen it twice. It hurts us to feel responsible for His death; we look away. But the "sorrowful mysteries" include Dark Gethsemane. We must look.

But, the magical contrast between dark Gethsemane and Easter morning is not as deep. Let's remember to mourn our loss before we celebrate our salvation.

G. K. Chesterton Rocks

Finding a 6'4" 300 lb genius is quite a find. Here is the man whose book The Everlasting Man was credited with C. S. Lewis conversion(I always knew there was more to it that a motorcycle ride).

I first bumped into Chesterton on an EWTN half hour show narrated and written by Dale Ahlquist dedicated to his thought. I was intrigued and have now read a few books and am fascinated. His personality and intellect now consume me. His contemporariness is startling. A year after Nietzche was published in England, Chesterton knew where it would lead in our time. Chesterton predicted modernism and post-modernism. He debated the best thinkers of his time and bested them all. He did this as a working journalist, writing thousands of newspaper columns, a series of mystery stories featuring a Catholic priest detective, novels, plays, poems (that rhyme) and the most engagingly packaged philosophy and apologetics ever written.

I read Orthodoxy first, considered to be his most complete philosophical work. I re-read it three times (it's short). I read The Man Who Was Thursday. I read a Father Brown mystery, then Eugenics and Other Evils, Dale Ahlquist's two books, and an essay by Ralph C. Wood entitled "The Permanent Validity of Christian Humanism". I've become a member of the Denver Chesterton Society and have a new library card for the Chesterton Reading Room of the Cardinal Stafford Library at St. John Vianney Seminary that houses it. In short, I'm nuts about Chesterton right now.

I just bought The Everlasting Man to read on our Barnes & Noble color Nook. Gotta go.