getting into real estate...

I can see the "up for grabs" sign already......flowing with milk and honey...hmmm...sounds lovely doesn't it? Perhaps I'll pitch my hammock under those trees and sip margaritas. When someone says "Promise Land", my mind instantly wanders to a place that is beautiful, lush, and ready to be relaxed in. It seems to skip over the micro fine print at the bottom of the contract: may house giants, and large fortressed cities filled with unfriendly people.
I find it interesting that God didn't lead a people across the desert to the lap of luxury. They didn't get to pitch their tents in the plains of ease and convenience. He brought them to a place overflowing with bounty so they could taste and see His goodness. But it was also filled with challenge and obstacles so that the people would learn to trust Him and seek His guidance.
The first rounders missed out because of two things:
fear and doubt.

Fear of what they couldn't accomplish.
Doubt of what God could.

When they finally got it (and after 40 years you think they would!) they crossed over the line.
There wasn't a battle won where God's counsel wasn't first sought.
There wasn't a city destroyed where His arm was absent.
There wasn't anything so great in all the land that God wasn't greater still.
But the coolest thing is that it wasn't just about the reward - it was a life lesson. God was showing His people the reality of what living by faith looked like. He was teaching them not to judge by the externals, but to overcome by trusting in what they could not see.
Last night God drew a line in the sand.
On the other side was the Promised Land.
It didn't just come packaged with the promise of prosperity...but the promise of obstacles, challenges, giants.
The only thing standing in my way were two things.
Fear.
Doubt.

I could receive...but that would mean I would have to lay down my own strength and walk in His.
Did I want it enough?
Was I ready for the pain?
Was I willing to seek God first on every battlefront?
I could receive...but it meant work.
Effort.
An end to apathy and spiritual laziness.
Nothing ever comes for free...there is always a bottom line - even if you don't have to pay upfront.
Even grace cost Heaven.

And in this moment I realized...this promised land isn't just a place...
it's people.
They are made in His image, and His promises are already in them.
Will we step over the line of the fear of man, and stop doubting what God can accomplish?
Will we face the giants?
Stand at the walls of strongholds with but a shout upon our lips?
Will we set captives free with our obedience?
Our praise?
Our allegiance to God?
How badly do we really want the Promised land?
Do we see the treasure?
The reward beyond the battle?
It's waiting...Let's hope it doesn't take 40 years...

what if?

what if this was your neighbour?...







oh wait! It is.

I am currently putting a world relief magazine together, and while perusing the stockpile of photos for my use, I stumbled across these. It made my heart sick. It made my stomache turn. And I could not keep it to myself.
Why is it that we are so conditioned to seeing these images that they no longer stir us to action? They make us sick, but the thought is soon distracted by a grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte - no whip, the scores of last nites hockey game, and the question of whether Jennifer Anniston and John Mayer are actually dating.
Yesterday's hot topic on the radio while I was at the gym was the alarming decrease in people frequenting strip clubs...something attributed to high speed internet and cheap patrons. 22,000 die in Burma and we don't even bat an eyelash...but the world is coming to an end when live porn stars are in short supply.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH US PEOPLE?!!!

The only thing more disturbing than these photos right now, is the apathy of people who have been gifted with the opportunity and priviledge of education and economy, have more than enough, and know better...yet can't see beyond themselves.

This isn't a call to Africa, folks...it's a call to open your eyes.
To have a heart...
To see people...

nothing...

Tonite I was driving home and my heart was breaking.
Breaking at the suffering of loved ones and strangers.
Breaking over the endless list of hurting people.
Breaking for a church that has grown complacent and powerless against the flow.
A phrase kept repeating itself over and over in my head...

...when the good do nothing...

I've read the Bible cover to cover and then some...I know the stories. I've heard the accounts of Jesus drastically changing the lives of many people. Of the disciples doing some far out ministry. I've often been in awe at its pages - filled with miracles, healings, and absolutely bizarre accounts of things that reach far beyond our natural realm.
I believe it to be true.

But in believing it to be true, what does this knowledge project upon my current earthly status?
If it is true, why am I not striving for the faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain?
Why do I feel helpless when hearing of cancer beyond cure, or medical conditions beyond understanding?
Why is it that we have resolved ourselves to the fact that we are sinners, and that whatever brokenness we may be facing is the consequence?
Why are we always looking at the physical realm with overwhelming discouragement, and not living in the passionate faith of a spiritual realm that will overcome?
What ever happened to the power of faith that committed people to all-night prayer vigils, who didn't take "no" for an answer, and saw men walk out of prisons?
Shadows of men that would bring healing to the sick?
Words that would cause the lame to walk again?
Singing that would open jailhouses?
If I believe it to be possible then, why shouldn't I believe it to be possible now?

Tonite I was driving home and my heart was hoping...
Hoping for a tangible miracle that would touch the magnitude of hurt in every realm.
Hoping for a stirring amongst silent churches, and prayerless people who have accepted this hurt as "life".
Hoping that the good people who, in faithlessness, are doing nothing...
and accepting nothing...
and changing nothing...
and believing nothing can be done...

Will start walking...
and talking...
and living...
by faith.

What are we waiting for?