Posted on

Laughter Is Born: The Ridiculous Promise of God

When God’s Plans Sound Absolutely Absurd

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard of an elderly person accomplishing? Running a marathon at 100? Climbing Mount Everest at 80? Going skydiving at 103?

Now imagine this: having your first baby at 90.

That’s the story of Abraham and Sarah – and it’s so absurd that their son’s name literally means “laughter.” Because when God told them the news, they laughed. Not the joyful kind of laughter, but the incredulous kind. The “you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me” kind.

Continue reading → Laughter Is Born: The Ridiculous Promise of God
Posted on

Do Not Fear Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

We are hardwired to seek comfort. For most of human history, this instinct kept us alive. Being uncomfortable from hunger meant you were starving. Your body demanded rest or it would break down from overuse. You sought acceptance from your tribe because being an outcast meant death—whether from enemy tribes, predators, or the psychological toll of isolation.

But here’s the problem: we don’t live in that world anymore. When was the last time you were chased by a saber-toothed tiger? Yet we still operate as if we are. We still avoid discomfort at all costs, and ironically, this instinct that once saved us is now killing us—physically, mentally, and spiritually.

The philosopher Voltaire once said, “History is filled with the sounds of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up.” Hard circumstances create great figures, nations, and empires. Overindulgence in comfort leads to their demise.

Continue reading → Do Not Fear Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone
Posted on

The Little Things: How Small Gifts Can Change the World

What if the most powerful gifts aren’t the expensive ones, but the small ones given with great love?

When Little Things Make Big Differences

Early 1900s New Orleans. A beat-up old cornet in a pawn shop window. A struggling teenage boy walks by it every day, dreaming of making music but unable to afford it. His employers advance him a few dollars from his paycheck, and he finally buys that worn instrument.

That boy was Louis Armstrong.

Or consider a poor family in Northern Mississippi who saved up to buy their son an old six-string guitar. That gift helped launch the career of Elvis Presley.

Then there’s the 10-year-old girl who begged her mother for a typewriter so she could write her stories. Her mother hesitated—what 10-year-old would actually use it long-term? But she bought it anyway. That girl, Octavia Butler, grew up to be one of the most influential science fiction authors of our generation.

The right gift given to the right person at the right time can change the world—no matter how big or small it is.

Continue reading → The Little Things: How Small Gifts Can Change the World
Posted on

Sustaining Hope

Psalm 91:2

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

What a year it’s been. It has been almost a year to the day since we got the call informing us schools would be closed before and after spring break. We were nervous but hopeful that this would all be behind us by Easter, or by Summer, or by next school year, or by…. Yet here we are.

Continue reading → Sustaining Hope
Posted on

Jonah: Nope

Have you ever heard God speak directly to you? Odds are that you haven’t. I would say that most
people don’t.

If you did, how would you respond?

The closest I’ve come to hearing God speak to me happened when I was just out of my freshman year of high school. I was fifteen years old. We were at church camp that summer. It was one of those super emotional nights where a bunch of campers were thinking seriously about their lives. We ended each night with a time of singing. That night so many youth ministers and counselors were busy talking with teens in need that they turned over the song leading to some of us young guys. I got up in the middle of everyone and led a few songs. In that moment I could see and feel the Spirit of God at work in the lives of my peers. In that moment I felt/heard God tell me that this was what I was meant to do with my life.

From that moment on I began to pursue my calling to youth ministry and worship leading. I’ve been doing that full time for the last eight years. It hasn’t always been easy or fun or glamorous. But I can’t see myself doing anything else.

If God were to speak to you, how would you respond?

The Bible is littered with stories of men and women encountering the divine. The most common reaction is terror. They fall down in fear (Isaiah, Peter, Paul). Some of them choose to test and argue with the divine (Moses, Gideon). Others “gird up their loins” for a wrestling match (Jacob!). Still others willingly submit and obey (Samuel, Mary).

And then there’s Jonah.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3)

Jonah quietly slips out the back door without saying a word. He doesn’t protest or argue. He doesn’t try to bargain with God or air his grievances. He simply makes like a tree and leaves.

Obviously, Jonah doesn’t want to go to Nineveh. But when does God ever call us to something we already want to do? I guarantee you that God will never call you to pursue a promotion, a bigger pay check, more exotic vacations, a larger home, a nicer car, a more respectable position.

NOPE!

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” God called Moses to confront his past and lead an unwilling slave population to freedom. God called Gideon to face down an enemy army with just 300 men carrying trumpets and torches. God called Isaiah to speak out against the evil kings and governments. God called Saul/Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles, literally saying, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah thinks Nope! and runs the other direction. Jonah was totally cool with the stuff that benefitted his own people and his own standing among them. Jonah would prophesy all day long about how Israel would increase and their nation would become great again. But a mission trip to Nineveh? The enemy? No thanks, I’d rather not.

When I look at the state of the church in America, I am saddened to see so many people walking out the doors never to return. I’ve seen people leave our church without saying a word to anyone. They don’t want to have that confrontation, so they simply leave. They escape silently like Jonah rather than stick it out through a tough situation.

I also see certain churches thriving and growing at an unbelievable rate. Then I hear what their pastors are preaching and I’m sick to my stomach. They make it seem like following Jesus is always an easy and #blessed life. Follow Jesus and you’ll get that promotion. Follow Jesus and your family will be perfect. Follow Jesus and all that you want is within your reach.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We’re never guaranteed and easy life in the here and now. But we are guaranteed that God will be with us no matter what we go through.

God would have been with Jonah every step of the way on the 550 mile journey to Nineveh. But Jonah would rather go to Tarshish without God than to Nineveh with God.

Still Nope!

And here is one of the great ironies of the story. **Spoilers** The wind and the waves obey God. The gentile, pagan sailors obey God. The fish obeys God. The people and king of Nineveh obey God. The plant obeys God. The worm obeys God. The only player in the whole story who doesn’t obey God is the prophet of God!

If God were to speak to you and call you to a mission, what would you do? Creation has no choice but to obey the sovereign Word of the Lord. But humans have the ability to say Nope! and move on. God always gives his people a choice. You are always given a choice.

What’s your Nineveh that you might be avoiding?
What good but difficult thing might God be calling you to do that you would rather not bother with?
Are we really any better than Jonah?

Tell me, have you ever heard God speak to you? What did God say? How did you respond? Let me know in the comments, and subscribe for email notifications so you never miss a post.