Come Up Higher: 2017

Hey friends!

I'm just going to be honest and say that in just a few ways, my 2017 started today. Maybe it’s the same for you.  It’s not typical that I rush to define my new year in a word or verse until one settles in my heart - so this one came about two weeks ago in the thick of all that is life right now.

Life in the USA – that is.

January could've been a full year in and of itself. The swift changes, sharp repercussions, tensions, sadness, the flaring passions, and frustrations – like the vision of a kaleidoscope and the twist of its dial by hand, it seems that complexities have either multiplied, or re-presented themselves. And the view isn’t exactly beautiful or awe-inspiring – but it does call for a real response – an honest, practical, reasonable, what do we do now - JESUS kind of response.

I have carried a few burdens in my heart. I have watched. I have prayed. I’ve gotten angry, and I’ve calmed down. I’m concerned for the vulnerable. I am intrigued and eager to converse with those who stand on a certain few convictions – I am worried about the ones who want to shut their ears and pretend none of this is happening – but, most of all, I am concerned for the body of Christ – 

Which Jesus are we giving the world right now?  

Is it the One in the bible?

What are we saying?  

What are we not saying?

New President. Same God. Bigger Problems… What to do?

These are real questions that need real answers. 

As political and moral reasoning become more polarized, we are forced to ask what this year will mean for us.  And future events don’t have to define us any more than we can predict what is to come, but will we stick our heads in the sand and play dumb? Or is there a story to be written about the part we played when times got tougher? 

And not just for ourselves –  for everyone. 

Are we praying? What are we doing?

And what is true on the inside?  

Where are our convictions coming from? And what are we going to do with them?

What is informing our hearts? 

Being unclear and undecided has long gone out of style. And staying in the gray isn’t enough.  Where are our markers?

 

Eventually, we’ll have to know what we believe and why we believe it. And whether the kings of the earth will dictate what we think – or our King in Heaven.  This is about the moment we’re asked to pick a side & take a stand - and knowing right now, in advance, what we’d stand for. Of all the sub-goals I have for this year, it's bigger than what's personal -- 2017 screams “Come Up Higher.”

Will my fears inform me or His Word? Will I take on the responsibility of an aggressive prayer life - the kind that moves mountains, the kind that God initiates - the kind that God sustains? Am I going to obey when it's time to get to work? Am I a responsible carrier of the light & hope of Christ?

Self reflection time - 

Are we sleepwalking, or are we wide awake?

I think of the disciples who fell asleep while on post when Jesus went away to pray and I find that the last thing I’d want to be is caught sleeping on the job by my Savior. 

We can’t afford to do that now. 

As long as we are here, the world should see and hear and feel Jesus. He’s trusting us with Himself. Will we walk worthy of the call? 

To defend the voiceless – provide for the least of these – love the outcast – and spread truth and love… We know who our Father is, but do we know what He wants?? Are we truly about the Father’s business? Are we jointly fit together? Is the Body of Christ, united and alert or divided and distracted? Are we too bent up on who’s Democrat and who’s a Republican?   

God is much bigger than politics. 

It’s time we function from what we agree on & not what we don’t.

Bottom line: JESUS

What really matters? Whatever matters to Him..

Where do we take Him? To this world.

Son of light. Daughter of the Day.  Know Whose you are. You live under wide open skies. You have access to the Father. Come up Higher. Hear His heart for mankind.

And use YOUR voice. Now is the time.

Romans 10:15b | “… How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the good news!”

Throughout the next weeks I’ll offer more specific and practical thoughts on how we can live out loud in times like these. Really.  

More convictions to come...

Praying for us…

Shea

The Obamas: The Love & Decency We Needed to See

It was 2008 at the DNC Convention when I first "met" Michelle ... I was at my grandfather's house watching intently because I wanted to hear the Senator's wife. 

Barack Obama was his name -

I wanted to know what she was like. 

In a sea foam colored dress - with sophistication, compassion & soft wit, Mrs. Obama shared the importance of education, hard work, her father's commitment to her family and the strength of middle class America. She spoke of her "two heartbeats," her daughters, and she captured mine - first go 'round.

Michelle could've run in 2008.

As she wrapped up her first major twenty-minute hello, I ran to the guest room door and yelled down the stairs --- ok. Maybe I screamed.

"POP POP!!!!!!!! POP POP! Did you see her?!! ...Did you hear her?! She's BEAUTIFUL! ...That's our First Lady! They're gonna win!!" 

With tears in my eyes & a certain elation, it didn't take long before the secret was out.

#NotAfraid

As if the past year and a half wasn’t preparation enough, these past 9 days have taken many Americans on quite an interesting ride (and that’s -- to say the least). We’ve faced unwelcome surprises. Daily, political developments grow more & more bizarre. We’re either witnessing overt and sick behavior we haven’t seen before, or, overt and sick behavior we haven’t seen in decades... We’re greeting old friends and wondering who they voted for… failing to make eye contact with strangers at Shop Rite, signing out of social media because it’s just too much, or signing on because we’re info-addicts. We’re watching the news all day or shutting off the TV in protest for peace. We're living in a new kind of day, but perhaps without the cheer that newness typically brings.. 

It's true.

 Because - the biggest misstep, I believe, is that some have tied their entire futures to the successful or failing fate of this country. Now - whether this past week was a victory or a loss for you, if you’ve paid enough attention to anything that’s taken place – ANYTHING -- you may have felt a new kind of fear, faced different doubts, drummed up new concerns, or at the very least, found that you had new questions... And it's true.

It’s clearer now more than ever before that times are changing and this world needs more than a “good man” in a seat -  it needs God, and He's on a throne..

Ray Rice and Other Thoughts on the Golden Rule: A Response

I have to be honest -- I was a little bothered after reading responses to the Ray Rice scandal on Facebook.

As soon as Janay indicated she would stand by Rice in the light of what really happened on that elevator (which, in my opinion, was obvious without the new video leak).. FB blew up again - NOT withholding unfiltered ridicule and name-calling. I don't know what the commentary was to accomplish, but it seemed as though the general public was unconcerned, and maybe even hoping that the Rices would stumble across their taunts.

I must preface this writing by admitting that perhaps because I've seen this guy a few times on campus, held a conversation or 2, went to football games and threw rice on the field.. he's not just a face on the TV screen. I preface this by saying, I DO NOT, in any way agree with or intend to minimize what he did, BUT, I do consider him human, and so is Janay. I do consider them to have hearts, and wills, and emotions. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in the public eye at your darkest moment, but it was a lot for me -- to wake up to a newsfeed full of  popular consensus to throw them away.

I resolved to pray for them, but meanwhile on FB...