God, the Only Source of Meaning in Our Lives

     Have you ever been engaged in a long conversation with a group of well dressed people at a dinner party when someone new joins the group, stops, looks you in the eye, and says "Excuse me, but you have a big piece of spinach between your two front teeth."  PLEASE!  It's been there the whole time but no one was honest enough to point it out.  Let me assure you that I'm really liking the honest guy who isn't afraid to share what's on his mind even if it might lead to an brief awkward moment.  Real relationships require truth and transparency.

     This ministry isn't about being superficial, trite, or serving up religious platitudes.  Last week someone had the courage to share his doubts about what I was apparently trying to say in my most recent post.  He was a bit unsure how I'd react but I was totally geeked!  (Is that word still in vogue?)  Anyway, the I-61 Project has, at its core, the desire to be transparent in our faith but also to be a safe place to be truthful and open about YOUR questions, concerns, doubts, worries, and struggles.  SO, kudos "B" for your courage!

     I want to address something "B" brought up regarding his doubts about the God he was taught about growing up; a God portrayed as one who sounds to me more like a cosmic genie in a bottle.  Somewhere in the perversion of the Christian faith came the idea that when we trust Jesus Christ, God will "hand deliver us a sense of fulfillment, protection, happiness, or better yet 'blessings' or 'rewarding' our lives."  There is this false teaching that if we read our bibles, give enough to the church, or live "holy" lives that God will make us happy, wealthy, and filled with bliss; that he'll save us from all danger and disease.  When people chase after this kind of God, they can't catch him, like my dog chasing after the spot of light.  However, my last post was truth .  "If you're without God, you're chasing the wind."  Does that mean if you seek God that your life will be filled with earthly blessings, protection, and happiness?  The question is "What does the Bible really say about the life of followers of Jesus Christ?"  "What is the Good News in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?"  I can only give a small appetizer in this post but will give more of a main course next week.   Here goes:

     The Apostle Paul was beaten, stoned, flogged, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and beheaded.  He was in danger from "rivers. . .  bandits. . . his own countrymen, the gentiles" and was in danger "in the city, in the country, and at sea"  He said in 2 Corinthians "For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn - conflicts on the outside, fears within."  Either Paul hadn't been reading his Bible enough, praying enough, giving enough to the local church, or just maybe the life of faith in God through Christ isn't about fleshly happiness, protection, and worldly fulfillment.  Jesus, betrayed by a friend, beaten, flogged, mocked, and nailed to a cross.  Comfort, peace, and protection?  Nope.  You're right "B" and all else who have been disillusioned by a Christian message that's come up short!  God's promises are SO much bigger and SO much deeper than that.  As I said, this is destined to be more that I can address in this one post so for now take this home with you:

     Everyone of us will find ourselves at times beaten down (maybe by a spouse or by our own self abuse), shipwrecked (maybe a crashed business or a shipwrecked marriage), imprisoned (behind bars or maybe held captive by pornography or drugs), and surrounded by fear.  God promises us grace and strength sufficient for the day, joy (which is the soul's equivalent to the mind's happiness), and freedom from the condemnation of sin.  Make no mistake, God can and often does protect us from real dangers (we'll never know the dangers that God's hand has protected us from).  God does bring blessing to our lives (My guess it that if you're reading this you have electricity, a computer, eyes that see, lungs that breath, and a brain that thinks.   WOW! Amazing blessings indeed!  OK, enough for now.  We'll get into the meat of it next week.

     Please, hit the "Comments" link or "Email the Author" with comments, questions, needs, etc.  It's all OK!  We love when it gets real.  Thanks "B" for opening that door!

Stay tuned,

Blessings in Christ, David