The UNITED States, May It Be So!

At this point in the history of the United States there are no Democrats, Republicans, Muslims, Jews, Christians, gay/straight couples, rich, or poor, alcoholics, unemployed, widows, hourly/salary, blue collar, or white collar.  We are Americans.  As of this writing 33 of our brothers and sisters are dead in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy's destruction.  Millions are without power, flood waters have swamped mass transit, homes and tunnels, fires have destroyed homes, and businesses and first responders and utility/emergency management workers are swamped.  Wall Street is on hold and making a trade should be the last thing on any one's mind.  The Presidential election is not the most important matter facing us at this very moment.     (Photo: Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

People are hurting, broken, beaten and simply trying to survive.  Those trained in Disaster Relief are preparing to go to the northeast, en route, or already on the scene.  Mud out, chainsaw, portable laundry-shower facilities and feeding crews will soon be on the scene.  They will render physical aid, but they will also offer emotional support for those devastated by one of the largest storms to ever strike U.S. soil.

For those of us in regions spared by the storm, there but for the grace of God go you and I.  Though most of us cannot go to help, we can offer empathy, mutual concern, and care through our thoughts, prayers, financial support and blood donations as able.  People in New York, New Jersey, and those in the New England states are resilient people.  Yankees (I'm using that word in a positive way) are tough people.  Spend one winter in snow/ice country and you will gain a great appreciation for their tenacity.  They will get through this, but not without our help.

One of the most decent and honest things we can do (especially for Christ-followers) is to reject gossip and untruths attacking people, local, state and federal government leaders, or comments that seek to do political damage, or impede relief efforts.  This is not about ANYONE looking good, or criticizing emergency responses, decisions, disaster plans and utilities.  There will be an appropriate time for disaster evaluation, but not now.  Rumor, gossip and half-truth's do not help anyone.  It's not the time to argue about whether the crane over the luxury skyscraper in NYC was properly secured or not.  Just get the thing secured, or down as soon as possible.  One example of refuting untruths is the quick work done by bloggers and reporters to dispel the "doctored" photograph of the Statue of Liberty in the hurricane that started circulating on the Internet yesterday.   Right now it's about Americans coming to the aid of their fellow Americans and doing what's right! And we will.  Let's shine for the world and show them the best our country has to offer-----a helping hand, concern, care, resilience, compassion, and empathy for our fellow Americans who just happen to live in another part of our great country.

Here are Disaster Relief Links you can check out to donate, or help:

• Salvation Army Disaster Relief
• Samaritan's Purse Disaster Relief
• The American Red Cross
• Southern Baptists Disaster Relief

Helping with Disaster

How can we help our brothers and sisters in states and cities hit by Hurricane Sandy?  Here are two reliable and trusted Disaster Relief Organizations.  Give blood as able and give financially.  See their links for donations:

http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-text-dynamic-arrays/3C5471700B61E262802573DF0063B7C8

Rest In Sweet Jesus Wendell!

Heaven got a little more crowded this morning.  Wendell Knight went home to be with the Lord after a long battle with cancer.

Wendell and Darlene are like surrogate parents to me.  We grew up in their home, took vacations together and worshipped together during my childhood years.  Wendell and Dar are among my parent's oldest friends.  Both Wendell and Dar hail from my Dad's hometown in West Kentucky.

You wouldn't know Wendell, he wasn't famous, but he was big in God's eyes!  He was a man of great faith who lived what he preached.  He was one of my faith heroes.  I could get up very early, work like a dog and never have the depth of faith and character of Wendell!  His life was authentic and honest.  No one enjoyed a joke or a laugh more than Wendell.  He knew how to hold confidences and you could trust his word.  He had a generous, encouraging, servant's heart and of all the biblical characters he brings to mind, none sticks out more than Barnabas, the encourager.

Wendell coached me in baseball, softball, and basketball.  He taught me how to do a belly-flop in a pool and how to body surf at Myrtle Beach.  When he was near you knew the kids were gonna get ice cream!   Dar and Wendell's home was my home growing up.  And they accepted me with all my PK struggles of growing up in the fish bowl of ministry.  They provided  a "safe place" for my sister and me to be regular kids in a day and age when know one knew how important that was to minister's kids and their overall mental and emotional health.  I will be forever indebted to Wendell and Dar for those "safe" years.

Scripture says, "Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints."  I know God smiled this morning as Wendell passed from this imperfect, blemished world into the arms of sweet Jesus.  Sleep well Wendell.  Well done, good and faithful servant! Now enjoy the place God has prepared for those who are in Christ!

Who Cares for the Caregiver?

Who cares for the caregivers?  Who cares for:

• The spouse of someone with cancer
• The parent of a child with special needs
• The spouse/child of someone with Alzheimer's
• The parent of a child in prison
• The child of an aging parent
• The spouse of an alcoholic/addict

There are four mainline supports for these folks:

• God in Christ
• The church (small groups, pastoral/deacon/elder staff, etc.)
• Family
• Close Friends

But why are so many caregivers overburdened, depressed, feeling lonely and overwhelmed?  If these supports are really available, why are so many caregivers at the end of their rope?  One reason is that caregiving is a 24/7 role even if the person is reasonably capable of functioning.  One hot meal carried in, a quick visit, or an email isn't enough.  It's a start, but it's not enough.  We can do more.  We should do more, because there but for the grace God go you and I!  

However, caregivers have got to reach out, cry out and pull the "help" cord.  Have you ever been into an older hospital, or nursing home bathroom?  Remember those pull cords by the toilet?  Most of them are pulled all the way down and aren't even used anymore.  But they were there for a reason.  If a patient needed help they could pull the cord.  Life is the same way.  You gotta pull the cord when you need help.  You gotta reach out.  You gotta speak up.  Chances are there's an army of friends and family ready to help, but they don't know if no one tells them!  

In pastoral ministry we call it the crystal ball syndrome.  People go to the hospital, or have a family crisis, don't tell anyone, and then lament when the pastor, or a church leader doesn't show up to help them.  The pastor doesn't have a crystal ball!  I missed the seminary class when they passed them out.  I sure wish I had one.  Then again, I'm glad I don't!

Caregivers you have an awesome and often daunting task and calling.  Most of us can't imagine what you go through until we are wearing your shoes.  During my cancer battle I had all this support (medical, family, friends, etc.), but I kept thinking about my wife.  Who helps her?  Who washes her feet?  Who listens to her heavy heart?  I'm grateful for some very special people, two women in particular who know a lot about cancer who reached out to her and took the initiative to minister to her. Still, there were times I knew she was carrying a heavy load while I was in treatment.  One of her sisters was absolutely faithful in wiping her tears during those days.  

It became even more clear to me when our dog was recently diagnosed with cancer.  It had been one year since I was in treatment.  This is the second rescue dog diagnosed with cancer on both sides of my lymphoma and surgeries that led up to it.  One was euthanized after my first surgery so the emotional impact of this new diagnosis was heavy for us.  When the news came, all the junk surrounding my cancer came back up.  As the victim/patient, I wasn't prepared to deal with it because when it all went down the previous year I was getting chemo and radiation and didn't have the advantage of processing all this with her.  For the first time I really experienced what she must have experienced the previous three years: a feeling of helplessness.  I couldn't "fix" it!

Caregivers I'm begging you to speak up!  Tell a friend, family member, pastor, small group member, anyone you can trust.  Let them decide if they can handle it or not.  And by the way, you aren't weak for crying out.  In fact, you are smart if you do! Don't "wall" off the world, pretend it's not happening, or bury your head in the sand.  It will eventually surface.  It comes out and if it's unprocessed it can come out in very destructive ways.  Find someone who is somewhat disconnected that can offer an objective ear and simply hear your heart.  And if you have the privilege of being the person a caregiver vents too please just listen, pray with them, hug and hold them.  Try to limit the advice.  Just let them know you care, but even more, let them know there is One who cares even more than you:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Ps. 55:22)

When Community Is Lost

Christ-followers were made for community.  God created community.  Community began with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.  God created humans and brought us into community.  Jesus came and modeled community with the disciples.  The Early Church was the model community.  Community is an inextricable part of the Christian DNA.

The absence of community in the life of a Christ-follower is like a hidden cancer in the body.  At first you don't notice it, but over time it begins to hurt the body and the "body of Christ".  As time passes the self takes center stage.  Self-sacrifice, sharing, mutual encouragement, help, serving, giving and the joy of others give way to self-protection, preservation and desire.  Anger, bitterness, pride, envy and even depression can accompany a loss of community.

When community is lost everyone loses.  The individual loses accountability, physical, emotional, spiritual and much needed prayer support.  Not to mention the opportunity to look beyond self and see the hurts and wounds of others.  When I hear and see the pains/problems of brothers and sisters in the body my issues don't seem nearly as important, or big as they were before.  And being part of a community means that I am not alone in my pains and struggles.  The spiritual body hurts when someone they love and care about goes AWOL from community.

You can't "do" community by yourself.  Self is the polar opposite of community.  Doing life together means we are together.  We invest in each other.  We spend time together.  We grow together.  We serve together.  We minister together.  We pray together.  We laugh together.  We cry together.  We aren't islands floating alone in the big sea of humanity.   That is a prescription for drowning.

After all these years I continue to be amazed by people who leave the body when they need it the most!  I don't understand why you would leave a group of people who have invested in your life, care about you and genuinely want God's best for you just because you are struggling with something.  I don't know about you, but I need community most when I am struggling.  I need to lean on people who see things more clearly because they are more objective.  I need their prayers, advice, hugs, and listening ears.  I just need them to be there.  And that means I need to be there when they need me.  Punting on community is really the product of an immature faith, or worse, spiritual arrogance.

Now authentic community isn't for wimps, or the faint of heart.  It is tough.  It takes work, patience and a commitment.  It means we don't always agree.  We learn how to practice love to people with whom we even disagree.  It means you go when your tired, or don't feel like it.  You don't let work, distance, or the calendar get in the way.  The truth is that we ALL make time and space for what's important to us.  When we lived in Indianapolis as a lay couple, we drove 45 minutes one way to be part of a faith community and small group.   Sure there were times we didn't feel like going, or wanted to sleep in, but we were part of something bigger than ourselves and we made a commitment.  Maybe that's the difference between today and 25 years ago-----perhaps we live in a culture that no longer values commitment.  Amazing how people will never sleep in, or blow off work, but won't think twice about doing it with their faith community.  You know who hurts the most when Christ-followers fail to live in community?  God.

I know I hurt God weekly when I sin and live by the flesh instead of the Spirit.  I have to constantly confess those issues and sins then work to avoid repeating them.  But I am not going to hurt Him by intentionally rejecting the very community He created for me.  If you've never been part of authentic biblical community this probably makes absolutely no sense.  Let me encourage you to jump in and try one.  There's a body that needs you, and you need them!  If you have checked out of a biblical community go back.  I guarantee they miss you and will shower you with love.

My favorite Winnie the Pooh scene from A. A. Milne, is a picture of Piglet sidling up to Pooh from behind.  "Pooh?" he whispers.  "Yes, Piglet?"  "Nothing," said Piglet, taking the old bears hand.  "I just wanted to be sure of you."  That is the epitome of community.  Somewhere there's a group that just needs to be sure of you!

("Huddle" graphic from KL Communications website)

Go to Your Happy Place!

Happy place!  The Intracoastal Waterway in Murrell's Inlet, SC.

The Great Default

The Apostle Paul said these three remain: faith, hope and love.  And he noted that the greatest of these is love.  The Apostle John noted in his first pastoral letter that if we don't have love we don't abide in Christ!

Love should be the great default of anyone who calls Christ, Lord!  Sadly, love is often lacking among God's people.  We have confused behavior, attitudes, and actions as our pass for being able to choose who we love and who we don't love.  The truth is that behavior, conduct, attitudes and actions have absolutely nothing to do with our responsibility, calling and command to love others.

Jesus gave no options or passes for loving others: ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  

He even had the audacity to tell us to love our enemies.  Love is the yardstick for measuring the depth of our relationship with Christ.  Deep love for God in Christ = Deep love for people (ALL people).  Limited love for others =-Shallow love for God in Christ.  

As Christ-followers we can disagree, abhor, detest and even denounce certain behaviors, actions and attitudes, but we don't get a green light from God to hate, dislike and demonize the people behind them.  We have one singular responsibility with others and that is to love.  Yes, even people with whom we disagree.  Feel free to voice your disagreement, dissatisfaction and disappointment on biblical grounds, but be full of love when you do.  

This is one of the biggest reasons non-Christians distrust us and look at the church with skeptical eyes.  Our actions have often betrayed our pledge for biblical love.  As a result we are often viewed as hypocrites, angry, mean-spirited and judgmental.  Scripture says that our mouth speaks from what's in our heart.  If we are filled with anger, hate and judgment sooner or later it comes out.  If we are filled with love people will see it and take notice.  Don't confuse love with a blind endorsement for things we believe are wrong.  We don't approve of our neighbor's adulterous affair, or the guy who embezzled the funds from our community center, but we have to love him/her.  We love because He loved us despite our sin, behavior, actions and attitudes that disgraced and defamed His name.  We love because our hearts have been captivated by His relentless and unconditional love.  

German theologian Karl Barth was once asked the greatest theological/scriptural truth he knew.  He replied, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."  The wise and brilliant theologian was right.  All of this seemingly complicated theology can be boiled down to a simple, but profound historical act: Jesus Christ crucified, buried and resurrected so that we may know the love of God in a way never previously known to humanity.  We have been loved wide, deep, long and tall.  And because we have been loved by God in Christ, we must love others likewise.  I didn't say it was easy.  It's actually tough to do.  But people will be drawn to a loving cup.  And they will run from a bitter one.  Paul was right, we have an outstanding debt of love---To Christ and others.  Let's pay down our love debt.  The world will take notice!

(Photo: Robert Indiana's "Love" Statue at the Indianapolis Museum of Art)