Face to Face

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." Psalm 105:4

A few years ago my wife gave me a book for Christmas entitled "Need for the Bike." I loved it! If I haven't been out on my bike in a few days I start to feel that need. I tell my wife I need some bike time.

Even more important than bike time, however, is face time. There's no substitute for being face to face with my wife, or with any of the people I love and care about. We all understand this, and it's why "Face Time" on the iPhone, iPad and MacBook has become so popular. It's alsy why Skype is so widely used. Even though it's not the same as being "face to face," Face Time or Skype is a better alternative than just hearing the other person's voice over the phone, or worse yet, just exchanging an email or text message.

There are times when I try to "multi-task" around my wife. As she's talking to me I'm looking at the computer, reading a book or a newspaper, or playing a game on my phone. Her stunning accusation is, "You're not listening to me." In fact, even if I am able to repeat word for word the sentence that she just spoke, it doesn't help the situation. The reality is that she wants some face time. She wants me to put down what I'm doing, look her in the eye, listen to what she says, and respond appropriately. Face time is demanding!

Face time is also rewarding. It's cements relationships. It strengthens bonds. It increases trust. It brings joy. It mends rifts. That's why face time with God is so important. Yes, that's what I said, "face time with God." But how do you get "face time" with a God we cannot see?

God has clearly revealed Himself to us, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." When we look to Jesus we are enjoying face time with God. But even Jesus isn't bodily present here on earth. So how do we get our face time with Him? The answer is found in God's Word. When we spend time in the Word, we come face to face with God.

But so often, we don't enjoy the kind of quality face time that we should. We are too rushed to make time for our personal Bible reading so we settle for just being in church. Or we do our devotional reading out of a sense of obligation, just rushing through it to get done. We don't meditate on His Word. That's face time with God.

Sometimes we just shoot quick "arrow" prayers up to heaven about the immediate need in our life, and fail to spend any focused time in prayer, speaking to God from the heart and listening for His Spirit. That's face time with God. But when quick "arrow" prayers is all that our prayers consist of, we're not seeking God's face. All we're seeking is His hand or His gifts. God wants us to seek His face.

And sometime we're too busy to sit down face to face with a hurting person and listen to their needs, hear their hurt, and share their pain. That's face time with God, believe it or not. Because when we do this, we're being Jesus to the person we're face to face with.

Face time is important. Let's not do to God what I sometimes do to my wife, multi-tasking our way through the day without ever spending any real face time in His presence. God's Word tells us to seek His face.

At the Cross

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

I was on my bike today listening to some music when the words of Jeremy Riddle’s song “Sweetly Broken” hit me so hard that I literally found myself weeping as I rode along. Here’s just a few of the lyrics from that song:

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

I was struck by how gracious God is to call me to Himself, and allow me to be reconciled to Him through the cross. This is something I never could have done for myself. It’s not something I could earn or deserve. It’s not something I would have the courage, or even the will to do on my own.


It reminded me of watching my seven year old grandson Elijah at play. When he dons his plastic helmet and shield, and picks up his plastic sword, he is suddenly transformed into a knight in shining armor. As he wields the sword powerfully he looks as though he’s ready to take on any foe that might come at him. Then, suddenly, I realize that this is the same little boy who is afraid to go upstairs on his own when it’s dark. His knightly bravado is just a game, a child’s effort to pretend to be strong and brave.

The truth is that I play the same sort of game, pretending to have life under control, pretending to be strong and brave. But in reality, I know my weakness, my fears, my sins and my failures. When it’s dark upstairs I have to coax Elijah to climb those steps, encouraging him to remember that God is with him, reminding him to turn on the lights as he goes, and reassuring him that I am right there watching over him. Only then does he have the courage to make that daunting ascent.

God has done the same thing for me. If I’m honest with myself I would never come into God’s presence on my own. I’m too sinful to come before a holy God. I’m too broken to enter His throne room. I’m too fearful to make that daunting ascent. In fact, I’m too rebellious to even want to. But there is God, at the cross, beckoning me, drawing me gently by His perfect love, coaxing me to come near, reminding me of His love. I realize that I deserve God’s wrath, that I am under sin’s curse and have earned the wages of sin, which is death. But God is there, at the cross, calling me out of death and into life, undeserved life. So, I don’t have to make a show of make believe bravado like Elijah does in his knight’s armor. No, I can come “sweetly broken, wholly surrendered,” because of the perfect love God has shown me in Jesus. What a wonderful God we have! What a priceless gift we have been given through Christ crucified. Because of Him we have confidence to make that daunting ascent to the throne of God, to worship at His feet. That journey begins “at the cross” where our loving Father beckons us to come.

When evil isn't good enough!

"I'm not satisfied with the term 'evil'," says Simon Baron-Cohen, a Cambridge University psychology and psychiatry professor. “I've been looking for an alternative – we need a new theory of human cruelty." He calls for a kind of rebranding of evil to offer a more scientific explanation for why people kill and torture, or have such great difficulty understanding the feelings of others. His proposal is that evil be understood as a lack of empathy – a condition he argues can be measured and monitored and is susceptible to education and treatment.

Meet the new Savior of the world, Simon Baron-Cohen. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could eliminate evil just by rebranding it as a “lack of empathy” and then educate people to be completely understanding of the feelings of others? Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. Evil is a real as the news we read every day. And evil is the result of another very real human condition – sin. We’ve also tried rebranding sin (human frailty, mistakes, poor choices) and it hasn’t worked either.

The reality is that sin is such an intransigent problem that the only solution was the love of God manifested in His Son Jesus Christ. In order to overcome sin Jesus, who was God come in the flesh, had to live a sinless life as a real human being and then take upon Himself the sin of the whole world. He had to suffer terrible cruelty at the hands of sinfule men and die on a cross in order to absorb the wrath of God and pay the penalty in full for sin. That’s a horrible solution but sin is a horrible problem. Look at the evil that results from it day after day all over the world.

We will not redefine our way out of evil. We will not educate our way out of evil. We cannot talk ourselves out of evil. And we cannot reform ourselves to overcome evil. We need a Savior, a real Savior, whose loving sacrifice becomes the compelling reason for us to live not for ourselves but for Him who died for us and was raised again. Once we have trusted ourselves to Him, then – and only then, by the power of the Holy Spirit – and only by the power of God – can we begin to live a new live in which we say “No” to sin and “Yes” to self-controlled, upright and godly living.

Fitness vs. Temptation

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

At Concordia Lutheran Church we are in the midst of a series of messages entitled "Fit for Life." In this series we are looking at many different aspects of fitness--spiritual, physical, financial, intellectual and relational. God wants us to be "Fit for Life" in all of these areas, but staying fit in any of them can be a real struggle.

I've noted that in the area of physical fitness particularly. Since moving to Texas I've fallen in love with half pound burgers, beefy barbeque, and sizzling steaks. As a result I've put on 20 pounds that have made life on the bike difficult to say the least. Hills seem steeper and longer. Rides of any distance over 20 miles seem endless. Even swift descents are more harrowing with a higher center of gravity (more weight on top of the bike).


All of these issues have conspired to motivate me to try to get back in shape. As a result, I've broken out my stationary trainer, mounted my Giant bike on it in the upstairs guest room, and started sweating to the commands of Coach Troy in my "Spinervals" DVDs. With a pounding heart and quivering legs I've driven my body to try and regain some of the strength and tone I once had.

The equation, however, has not been complete, because I have yet to change my eating habits. This is where the Bible verse above comes into play. The truth is that we all face similar temptations. My situation is not unique. I need to remember that God is faithful. The temptations I've been giving into are the same ones that countless other people have overcome every day with God's help. God promises to provide a way of escape from temptation if I will only take it. Maybe that means passing up seconds, avoiding some of the restaurants where the temptations are the greatest, or just swapping brocolli for a baked potato with butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and bacon.

Fitness in every area means relying on God's help to overcome temptations. Financially it may mean refusing to lay down that credit card to purchase a luxury you can't really afford. Spiritually it may mean disciplining yourself to spend those few minutes each day in God's Word. Intellectually it may mean refusing to buy into the futile thinking of the world's philosophies. Relationally it may mean saying no to self-indulgence in order to serve those you love.

Ultimately, fitness as a self-improvement project is rarely successful. But when we rely on God's faithfulness and his strength to overcome tempation, then we can succeed in becoming more fit for service to Him.

Unecessary but Nice

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

Yesterday I took my grandson Elijah (age six) out for a ride on his trailer bike. The front end of his monocycle attaches to the seat post of my bike and we ride together. We went 15 miles and tackled some pretty significant hills. The biggest one was about eight tenths of a mile long and rose about 170 feet. That makes it a four percent grade, not much in a car but pretty significant when you're pedaling up it with a 75 pound load on the back of your bike. The profile of the hill from my GPS makes it look even more difficult.

Elijah's trailer bike does have pedals, but most of the time he gets pretty lazy back there, content to freewheel and let Papa do all the work. When he does pedal along, if we're on a flat stretch of road it's almost impossible to detect any difference in the level of effort required on my part. But yesterday was different. Yesterday Elijah was very enthusiastic about going for a ride. And when it came to the hills Elijah was eager to help out. In fact, on a couple of occasions he was pedaling so hard that I'm convinced I could have stopped pedaling momentarily and he would have kept us going uphill for some distance.

I know that I would have made it up every hill in our ride without Elijah's help. His efforts were not required to successfully climb the 9 or 10 hills on our 15 mile ride. But when I was going uphill and could feel his little legs adding power and speed to our climb it felt good. It made my heart smile to know that he was giving it his all and doing everything he could to make our ride a success.

As I read Colossians today, I was struck by the greatness of Christ. Paul's words drove home the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord of all! He created all things and rules over everything with all the rights of a firstborn Son. He existed before anything, and everything that exists is held together by Him. Yet, He chose to give us a role in carrying on His ministry after He ascended into heaven following His glorious resurrection victory.

I realized that Paul's words in Colossians 1 make it clear that Jesus doesn't need us to get His work done. He can accomplish His will by His own divine power without any of us lifting a finger to help. But He has honored us by allowing us to participate in His work here on earth for the salvation of mankind. It made me think about yesterday's bike ride. I would have gotten up those hills without Elijah's help, but it was good to feel his efforts on the back of the bike. It made my heart happy to know that we were in it together, part of a combined effort. I'm sure it makes Jesus happy when He sees our efforts to serve Him. He is not dependent on our contribution, but the joy of sharing His ministry with us is a blessing to Him, just as it is a blessing to us.

Creators for the Creator

(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Hebrews 3:4

I watched a video yesterday on wealth creation. It described how wealth can be created out of nothing. When someone has an idea, then takes that idea and turns it into reality, the real object, invention or improved product becomes something that someone else sees as valuable. The creator can then sell that object to the person who values it and consequently increase his or her wealth.

Where did the wealth come from? From the person who bought the object? Not really. The money would have never changed hands without the idea that was conceived in the creator's mind. The idea is that which created the wealth to begin with. Or is it?

Where did the idea come from? From the mind that conceived it? Certainly that is the case, but where did the mind itself come from, or the ability of that mind to create something new out of nothing? It came from God. The reason we are creative people who are able to conceive of something new, something that no one has ever thought of before, is because we are created in the image of God.

God Himself is the ultimate Creator. Just as every house must have a builder, so everything in all of creation must have a Builder too. That Builder is God, and when God graciously created us to be like Him so that we could have fellowship with Him, He became the ultimate Originator of every idea that has ever been conceived. Thus, God is the Builder of everything. Not just the trees and flowers and animals and people that are a part of nature. But even the cars, houses, office buildings, computers and cell phones that we use every day. Because if God had not made us in His image, if He had not made us creative like Him, we would be like the animals who cannot conceive of a doggie door, or a kittie litter box, or a hamster ball or the anything else that is not "natural."

We honor people who create something new with wealth for their useful inventions. But even more, we should honor God for everything that exists, even the things we invent. Because God is the Builder of everything.

People to be thankful for?

"We give thanks to God always for all of you." 1 Thessalonians 1:2

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and of all the things I am thankful for, that for which I am most thankful is people. Most of all, I am thankful for my family, those dear people God has knit me together with most closely, my wife, my children, and my grandchildren. But there are many, many other people for whom I am thankful.

Paul's words, however, are amazing if you think about them. Two words jumped out at me as I read this verse, "always" and "all". I recognize that these may not have been literal expressions, but knowing Paul, I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Paul says "We give thanks to God always for all of you." I was forced to ask myself, "Am I always thankful for all the people in my life?" What about the person who cuts me off in traffic? What about the fast food worker who messes up my order? What about the in-law coming for Thanksgiving dinner who always, always has to be "right" about everything? I've been reading "Tour de France, Tour de Force" lately and one of the competitors even talked about how thankful he was for the competition, the other competitors who rode so hard that it forced him to ride even harder.

Upon rereading Paul's words I noticed that he didn't say, "We are always thankful for all of you." He said "We always give thanks for all of you." There's a difference. I'm sure that my family is not always thankful for me, especially when I'm being selfish or I lose my temper. But they can always give thanks for me. And when I give thanks to God for another person, it will improve my attitude toward that person, even if I am not thankful for them at the moment.

As I look back on my life I am thankful for so many people. I am thankful for my godly mother who loved me and all five of her children unconditionally. I am thankful for my grandfather, who loved God and his family dearly. I am thankful for my wife, the most tenderhearted and sensitive person I have ever met.

But even when I look at the people in my life who have caused me pain or let me down, I can give thanks. I can give thanks for the things I learned from them, if only by negative example. I can give thanks for the ways I grew as a result of their hurt or disappointment in my life. I can give thanks for the privilege of forgiving them, even as I have been forgiven by God.

Perhaps you can take some time today or tomorrow and make a list of the people in your life, both past and present. Maybe it can take a form something like this, "I give thanks to God for [name] because..." I'm guessing that when you're done your heart will be overflowing with gratitude and your attitude towards some of those people will be just a litte bit better. Happy Thanksgiving!