More Than a Feeling

This title is from an old song by the group Boston, and it also communicates how we are to live as believers.

Feelings are unreliable. We are taught by our culture that if it feels good do it. Feelings are given great attention in our society. Everyone focuses on how they feel and if something does not feel good, then we quit. This is a habit that has created a nation and culture of quitting. If you go by feelings and things get difficult it will be time to cut and run. Quitting has become acceptable in our culture, but it is not acceptable to the Lord.

Scripture has much to say about perseverance. In Hebrews chapter 11 we are given a litany of people who did not quit. Were times hard for them? Yes, more than any one of us can imagine. Did they feel like quitting? I am sure more than once. What was it that kept them going? The chapter tells us that it was their faith in God.

Faith vs. feelings. It is a common matchup in the life of a believer. We feel one way, but faith tells us something completely different. Often times to do what God asks us to do in obedience means to go against our feelings. A common phrase and approach in our culture is to “follow your heart.” Doing this has probably led a lot of people out of the path of obedience. Scripture tells us in Proverbs that there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is death (Proverbs 14:12). Jeremiah tells us that the heart is deceitful and wicked above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). Clearly, our hearts cannot be trusted. We must choose to lead our hearts and not allow them to default to their own desires. Faith leads the heart to where God desires it to be.

Sometimes a Christian will feel despair, pain, suffering, devastation and even depression. These feelings are to be countered with faith. Faith says that God is at work and He sees you and cares about you. Faith says that even when we cannot trace God’s hand, that we can trust His heart. I pray that each of us can operate in faith and live out our lives for Christ based on faith, which is so much more than a feeling.

Numbed by the Numbers

Please consider the following:

• Every year 15 million children die of hunger.


• The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed, one-third is starving- Since you've entered this site at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year.


• Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - live on less than $1 per day.


• 3 billion people in the world today struggle to survive on US$2/day.


• One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night.


• To satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements would cost only US$13 billion- what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year. (Just for a bit of perspective, the U.S. government has dolled out over $100 billion to struggling insurance company AIG, to keep them afloat after their risky investments went bad).

How does a believer deal with such numbers? How does a Christ-follower born into American affluence properly put these statistics into perspective? Where is God in all this suffering and injustice? These are weighty questions that are not easy to answer.

My mind immediately races to Matthew chapter 5, where our Lord basically says that those who will be ultimately blessed are not necessarily hanging at the country club. Christ said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

Our Lord has a clear message. Things are not always as they seem. Those who live in luxury and ease in this life will most likely not be truly blessed. Christ taught very plainly that the trappings of wealth and comfort are very ensnaring. This makes it easily understandable why the Church in more "impoverished" parts of the world are thriving while the American church is dying on the vine. We have thumbed our nose at God because all of His great blessings have convinced us that we do not need Him. How terribly tragic.

May we take very seriously Christ's admonition to us to care for the poor. In Matthew 25 Jesus speaks very clearly again about His followers responsibility to care for those less fortunate: "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

In this matter, I have more questions than answers. I pray that the Lord will reveal His heart to each of us as to how we should respond. May we seek to honor Him in all that we do and serve His people with each bit of our time, talent and treasure. May He bless you and yours today!

More than meets the eye.......

We are visual people. Scientist believe that the retina seems to process about ten one-million-point images per second. The human eye is a scientific phenomenon. Interestingly, the eye was the one thing that Charles Darwin truly struggled with as he attempted to explain away the glorious creation with incidental randomness.

Can we trust our eyes though? Should we go by what we see? The old saying goes, "If I can see it, I will believe it." If that is where we stop, with only what we can see, we will miss most of what actual reality is. Faith is not a denial of reality, it allows us to see more of reality.

Scripture defines faith as the "evidence of things not seen." Paul tells the church at Corinth that "we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). In the very next chapter he writes, "We walk by faith, not by sight". (2 Cor. 5:7)

Paul is saying if you can touch it, feel it, see it or spend it- it has very temporary value. However, things you cannot see- faith, love, relationships, hope, salvation, heavenly reward- these are the things of true permanent value. My fervent prayer is that I will live for those things. That my eyes will be able to look past this physcial world with all its allure and focus on the Eternal King, Jesus Christ.

I pray that each of us can, as the writer of Hebrews stated, "....fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Life will lie to you, life will leave you hurting and life will leave you confused. Life will disappoint and let down. Life will seem at times out of control and full of despair. The one remedy, the one hope, the one sure fire solution is to have our eyes and hearts focused fully on the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that each of us will look to Him today and each day.

Sustainability.....

No one wants to go into a season of spiritual dryness. No one desires that their walk with the Lord becomes stagnant. No one hopes for spiritual apathy. But it happens. It happens to the very best of Christians. Even the most dedicated of those who follow Christ get lulled to sleep. It happened to me recently, not just for a week, but for a much longer period. The question is why did it happen and how do I prevent it in the future.

Lets begin with the why. It happens because Satan attacks and convinces the believer that the need for spiritual vitality is not that real. The Devil makes one think that they are doing just fine, when they are in fact struggling. In my case, Satan convinced me that if I was in the Word just a little, prayed and went to church that my walk with the Lord was "A Okay." There are a million things that can take our eyes off of Christ: other people, work, money, hobbies and the list goes on and on.

There is one thing however that will bring Him back into sharp focus in our lives and that is to experience just a bit of pain. Introduce an ounce of pain into the life of a believer and spiritual growth will almost certainly follow. Pain is the most sure fire catalyst for growth. Shouldn't we then welcome the pain? Shouldn't we welcome anything that would bring us closer to Him? Afterall, the ultimate point and purpose of life is fellowship with Christ. All things must bow to that purpose. Even good things are not good if they take away from intimacy with Him.

Now for the preventative part. How do we as believers safegaurd against seasons of spiritual futility? Well, I would love to hear your thoughts, but here are just a few of mine. A few steps to sustained spiritual vitality: 1) Be about Him, not about yourself or anyone else. 2) Don't just read the Word, but absorb it and allow enough time for it to change your heart. 3) Give yourself to the Lord fully in uninhibited, absolute, fall on your face, deep, soul shaking worship. Allow God to work in your heart through praising Him and just being fully in His presence.

The cry of my heart is to know the full and complete joy of being His and knowing Him intimately. The Psalmist said it this way, may this be the prayer and hope of my life:
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Psalm 51:12).

What I Wish For Me

Most all of my talents in life are mediocre (at best). I pole vaulted 11'6" in high school, a height rarely garnering a medal. I was short, but slow, so 11'6" was all that was happening. So, I tried the 400M dash. 53 seconds is respectable but again will leave you off the medal stand basically every time. I played football and basketball and had tons of fun, but few accolades.

Scholastically, I was pretty much middle of the pack. Place me against any metric and chances are I will you show you the mean. I do not hate being average, it is totally okay by me. Especially when it comes to the things that the world tends to keep score on. Earn an average living, drive an average car, live in an average house- all well above what I feel I need to accomplish.

However, there is one area in my life that I refuse to settle for the norm. I want to love exceptionally well. My heart longs to be known as someone who gave love. Not with bias, precondition or with any expectation of returned love. A person who loves as if there is no tomorrow and who is so in tune with the Holy Spirit that love is the overarching theme of their life.

Scripture says it like this (I Cor 13): Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

By my own efforts, I will never live out any of those attributes. However, with Christ in me, each is not only possible, but the full will of God. I invite you to read that passage and place (Christ in ____- your name). For example, I plan to read it each day like this:

Christ in Lance is patient, Christ in Lance is kind. Christ in Lance does not envy, Christ in Lance does not boast, Christ in Lance is not proud. Christ in Lance is not rude, Christ in Lance is not self-seeking, Christ in Lance is not easily angered, Christ in Lance keeps no record of wrongs. Christ in Lance does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Christ in Lance always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Candidly, right now, not a bit of that is true. I, like many, ebb and flow in my walk. The reality is the condition of my heart has been in free fall for a while. Would you pray for me, that in time, at least parts of the above paragraph could have some reality in my life? May the Lord richly bless you and yours!

No One Hit Wonders

Jimmy Buffett did one thing. One thing that was so incredibly popular that he was able to cash in on it and live the good life for the rest of his life. When Buffett wrote his only hit song, "Margaritaville", he etched his name in the anals of music history. Jimmy then parlayed this success into a whole franchise of merchandise, clothing and even restaurants and bars. Is this really possible? Write and perform one good song and be set for life? In America, yes, it is not only possible, but it happens pretty regularly.

I think sometimes we feel as believers that if we do something meaningful for the Lord or walk close to Him for a season, that we should be able to coast the rest of the way. Being a disciple is totally different than this idea. I have heard discipleship best explained as a "long obedience in the same direction." God is not interested in us loving and serving Him deeply for a bit and then walking away.

Scripture is chalked full of examples of people who walked in obedience for a long time before seeing God's faithfullness come to fruition. Moses spent forty years in the desert, Joseph spent time in a pit and in prison and Abraham and Sarah waited along time to have children. Are you in the waiting room today? Have you been walking with the Lord and do not yet have your desired outcome? Be patient. He knows what we need better than we do. Scripture says it like this, in Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

A Singular Focus

I love the Guiness Book of World Records! The feats accomplished are simply astounding and those who hold these records are to be applauded. Some of the categories get pretty creative and make you wonder who would even think of that as a record to be had? For instance, England's John Evans balanced a 352 lb Mini car on his head for 33 seconds at The London Studios, UK on May 24, 1999. Another crazy one is the longest distance to drive a lawnmower. That record is 14,594.5 miles in 260 consecutive days by America's Gary Hatter. Hatter started his drive through Portland, Maine, on May 31, 2000 and passed through all 48 continuous US states as well as Canada and Mexico before arriving in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 14, 2001.

I am not sure who wakes up and says, "I know i can balance a bigger car than that on my head," or "that lawnmower record is a joke and I am going to make a mockery of it!" However, I am sure that anyone who holds a Guiness record has at least two things going for them: focus and determination. To hold such a record a person has to make it their express purpose in life to accomplish the feat. They cannot dabble in several things and spread their time and energy over many interests. Such a record holder must have a singular focus.

When Christ came to earth He had a singular focus. There was one thing that mattered, there was one mission that must be accomplished. He left the fellowship of His Father and the comfort and bliss of heaven with one thing on His mind. There was no litany of reasons to compel Him to walk the Via Dolorosa. Every step He took, every move He made was towards one end. That end was to save sinners. Paul says it this way, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst."

May we follow Him with that same single mindedness. May our hearts be undivided as we seek Him. May our daily living cry out that He is the one thing that matters. May the entirety of our lives simply state that He is indescribably good, glorious and worthy!

Telling it like it is

The prayer below was offered by Pastor Joe Wright in the House of Reprensatives in Topeka on January 23, 1996.

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ''Woe to those who call evil good,'' but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism; We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism; We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle; We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation; We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare; We have killed our unborn and called it choice; We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable; We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition; We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression; We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will.I ask in in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards could not have known how correct they were when they penned this Rolling Stones hit in May of 1965. Jagger had been amazed by the commercialism that was consuming America as he traveled across the country and this song reflects those feelings. The trend has only intensifed since then. Americans are less happy than ever although our standard of living has advanced three fold since the mid 60's.

What was true in '65 was also true when Solomon penned Ecclesiastes and said essentially the same thing. God allowed Solomon to live out a grand experiment in which he basically got anything that his heart desired. Wealth, power, women, knowledge.... whatever he desired to have became his. Solomon's conclusion?? That it was all foolishness and made him no happier. I love the phrase that he uses to describe the whole ordeal, "it was like chasing after the wind."

Today, you and I live better lives than Solomon or any other wealthy king could have imagined. Solomon never rode in a car, flew on an airplane, talked on a phone, sent an email or enjoyed modern health care. Are we any happier though? I doubt it. Are our lives any more meaningful? Probably not. The problem is that we have tons of time saving gadgets that are supposed to "free us up" for the important pursuits of life. Tragically we chose rather to fill that time with more vain pursuits in the constant push for more.

I hope that one day we as believers will be able to say with integrity that, as Paul put it, we are content. Whether in plenty or in want, in any and every circumstance that we are satisfied. Content because we have Christ and that He is ultimately satisfying. That whether or not our greatest hopes and dreams materialize that we will be perfectly joyful either way because we know Him. These words of John Piper are so meaningful to me that I carry them with me everywhere I go, "God is most glorified when I am most satisfied in Him." May we be satisfied.

The Rest of the Story

Paul Harvey lived one of the most God-honoring lives I know about. Millions of Americans, myself included, have had their lives enriched by his news and commentary. Most people will remember him for his honesty, his zeal for life, and his excellent story telling. I will remember him as a hero of the faith. Paul led an incredible life marked by deep faith in Christ, abiding love to his wife and real commitment to his family, his job and his country.

One of the best sermons I have ever heard was not really a sermon at all. Paul Harvey was speaking at Kansas State as part of the Landon Lecture series. I will never forget the simple humility that Harvey spoke with while describing his own conversion. He talked of how the Cross changed his life and how he was so undeserving of grace and mercy. He recounted how his baptism was a pivotal moment in his life in which "he stopped trying to tear himself in half." He spoke at length of the goodness and faithfulness of God in his life. After nearly sixty years of marriage he spoke of his wife with the smitten attitude of his youth. He loved to brag about his wife and to tell of how he had proposed on their first date.

This last saturday Paul Harvey went home to be with the Lord. I am confident that if Hebrews eleven were to be writtten today that it would be simple men like Paul Harvey who would be enshrined in faith's hall of fame. Paul looked forward to heaven and spoke of his excitement to see all that Christ had prepared. He loved to say that the Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days, imagine what He has done in heaven with over 2000 years. Now, Paul Harvey knows the rest of the story.

Glad in God

When I think of spiritual disciplines, I usually think of reading the Bible, prayer and fasting (although I hardly ever fast and when I do I think I am headed for a near death experience). The word "discipline" conjures up images of suffering and hardship. We desire to be obedient though and so we do as the Lord has commanded. Its all about being obedient. Obedience, a word that usually carries a pretty negative connotation.

That is why learning that God commands us to be joyful was a shocker that changed my life several years ago. Could that be right? That God actually demands that we be happy? That His glory is on the line and that He insists upon us being a joyous people? That He cares just as much about our enjoyment of life as He does our living clean lives? Yes, that is exactly how it is. God wants us to be happy because He wants us to be intimately close to Him. Long faces and long lists of do's and dont's are not God's idea of being like Christ. Being glad in God is what I hope most for myself in this life.

Is there Scriptural evidence that God cares about our joy? Yes, there is, and here is the cliff notes version. Galatians lists the fruit of the Spirit and checking in at #2 is joy. The Psalmist writes "in His presence is the fullness of joy". Peter says that because we believe we are filled with a "glorious and inexpressible joy." Paul commanded the church at Thessalonica to "be joyful always." James even tells us to consider hardship "pure joy."


At times joy will have to be fought for. Other times it will come easy. May we always remember though that God is not only "okay" with us being happy people who laugh and have a great time in this world, but that He has actually commanded us to live that way.

A State of Despair

The state of Oregon is one of the most beautiful places in the entire U.S. I recently visited and it is in my top five for prettiest states. Mount Hood, Crater Lake and the scenic drive along I-5 are truly breathtaking. Oregon has some of the best coast lines in the country as well. Along with all of this beauty you would think would come passionate worship of the One who created it all. Not so.

Oregon is the least "churched" state in the union. Church attendance falls way below the national average. Their divorce rate is among the highest. Drug and alcohol abuse are near the top as well. That all sounds bad, and it is, but the news gets much worse. Oregon has more "adult" bookstores than any other state. As I drove south on I-5 it reminded me of the western corridor of Missouri along I-70. Needless to say, these stores do untold harm to marriages, families and the social fabric of the entire culture. How truly tragic it is for there to be such widespread sin and unholy living.

While in Oregon I thought a lot about Paul's words in Romans one:

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.

Oregon is a beautiful place where God's power, glory and might are clearly on display. However, for the most part, worship of Him has been exchanged for a lie. How heartbreaking. I pray for revival for the state of Oregon and applaud all those who are laboring there for the Kindgdom. Their work is difficult, the task is monumental and the oppostion they face is stifling. Please remember them as you pray.

No better option

As Americans we face many decisions. Coke or Pepsi (I say Coke, the cherry kind), paper or plastic, Curly fries or regular, Dove or Hershey, Ford or Chevy, the list goes on and on. These decisions are obviously fairly trivial. Other choices are much larger and truly matter. The most significant decision that any human makes is what they do with Jesus Christ. Will they worship Him as almighty God? Will they deny the reality that He is God? Or will they marginalize Him with words of belief but no acutal faith?

John records for us an incredible event in the earthly ministry of Christ. It is one of my favorite moments in all of scripture. Immediately before this Jesus had just fed the five thousand and had walked on water. Two events that would seem to indicate that He was indeed God! However, He had also just spoke about being the bread of life and this confused and angered most everyone (including some disciples) who was listening. So, they said forget it and left.

Jesus then turns to the twelve remaining disciples and asks, ""You do not want to leave too, do you?" As you would expect, it is Peter who replies, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

What a great question. If not Christ, then who? If not Him, then what? If He did not love us, where would we be? If not the Cross, then how? If not His blood, how do we ever repay? If not His grace, where would we find freedoom? If not His mercy, how could we move forward? If not His word, what direction do we have?

May we be a grateful people, we have much to thank Him for. May we be a worshipful people, He is so deserving. I pray that all things detracting from Him will be subtracted from our lives and that He will increase greatly in all things.

Laughing until it hurts......

I love to laugh. There is nothing like it. There are things and times in life that are truly hilarious and it is a gift from the Lord to get to enjoy such funny times. One of those times was Saturday night at Brian Regan. Brian is an incredibly talented comedian who takes the day to day parts of our lives and shows us how funny they really are. I am pretty certain that we laughed uninterrupted for a bit over an hour.

Interestingly, Scripture has quite a bit to say about laughter. When Sarah gave birth to Isaac she said that God had brought her laughter and that everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. The Lord spoke through Job saying, "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." Apparently, laughter and Biblical joy are connected and the Lord desires that we have both. Finally, the Psalmist reiterates this truth by saying, "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." Again, laughter and Biblical joy inexorably linked.

I pray that God brings you laughter and that He also brings you those who will share in the fun. I am forever grateful to be a part of a family (and extended family) that loves to laugh and can do so in good taste. May the Lord find us with a cheerful heart and mouths full of praise......

John 8:32

Jesus spoke in John chapter 8 and said that once believers know the truth, that they will be set free. Why then, I have been wondering lately, are so many of us bound by the same chains that grip most of the world? Many of the issues that are most troublesome for believers have a similar core characteristic. That characteristic is insecurity.

Insecurity afflicts most everyone in some shape or manner. Whether it be not liking our appearance, our intelligence, our personality or our gift mix; most of us wish we could change something about us. We feel inadequate in many of these areas because we are constantly striving for the approval of men, not the approval of the Lord- the one vote that counts.

The world keeps score in many ways. That score is regularly published. Whether it be a grade card, a performance review at work or the numbers appearing on a tax return; we are regularly are told how we are doing. God does not provide us with such frequent reviews. Instead, He is waiting to judge the "total body of work" that we complete in our lives. On that day, we will all know for sure that only one vote counts. I want to live for that day. I want that vote to be affirmative.

So... here on this blog.... I hope to encourage you to live in light of eternity and to share with you how I am doing and what is going on with me. I pray it is an encouragement to you as you have been a great encoragement to me. May He richly bless you and yours-

Lance