I'm not sure what repulsed me more, the stench of sweat and alcohol or the way little particles seemed to fly out of his mouth while he talked. But there he was just inches from my face talking to me. I could understand only about one fourth of what he said as I looked him over from head to toe. His clothes were disheveled and dirty but what stood out to me most was his hat. It was a regular ball cap, but it was black with large green dollar signs all over it.

The other patrons standing in line at this McDonald's had cleared out of the way, hoping not to be the next target of the loud-talking, smelly man. However, when I looked into his eyes I didn't feel repulsed. I felt sad. In some way I hope I saw this man as God sees him - good. My thoughts were interrupted by his mumbling and rambling. At this point he was showing me his armband from a nearby mental institution. I shook my head unsure of why he was telling me this.

He then did something that shocked me. Read more »

I read a blog post over at the Nicodemus at Night blog that really got me thinking about doubt and questions. I left a rather long comment that I decided would make a good post for my blog. It's a story from one of my trips to India and an encounter with God's grace and love.

I was in India for a few months and was at a point where I was questioning (aka doubting) a lot of things. One of the tourist attractions in Chennai, where I was, is a Catholic church - St. Thomas Basilica. I'm not Catholic, but having spent the past few weeks touring Hindu temples, the church was something a bit more familiar.

This basilica once housed what was believed to be the bones of the apostle Thomas. Catholic tradition states that Thomas traveled to India preaching the gospel and was killed there near present-day Chennai. I really didn't want to go in at first because the fancy, ornate church was incredibly out of place against the backdrop of some of the surrounding poverty.

The history was too much for me to pass up so I did enter and spent some time observing the relics and such. It was then that a passage of scripture caught my attention. It was the words of Thomas as found in John 20:28, "...my Lord and my God." I immediately opened the Bible on my phone and read the passage. The compassion that Christ showed Thomas when he was struggling to understand or believe was overwhelming. I cried. I have never been afraid to ask God questions since then.

There seems to be a fad among Christian circles these days talking about leaving a legacy. How will you be remembered? Will future generations know you existed? I'm not sure that should really be my concern.

Sure, I hope Read more »

Something Different

Matthew 3:1-12

Are you odd, eccentric or weird? Do you know someone who is? Is different good or bad?

As I read Matthew 3 I was struck by the phrase in verse five "Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity were flocking to him..."

Perhaps that stood out to me because our popular culture loves popularity and fame. Maybe it stood out because I like for people to like me. I'm not sure exactly why it stood out, but it is amazing that John was able to garner such a following. And I have to wonder if part of the reason these people flocked to John was because they were a lot like people today: They wanted to see someone different.

People today, as apparently then, want to see someone who is different. Read more »

Have you ever been punched in the face by someone you haven’t even met?

That happened to me this week. The attacker was Richard Stearns, the author of a book I’m currently reading. I have not finished “The Hole in our Gospel” yet, so I will not be posting a review of it at this time, but this one passage did shake me up enough that I wanted to share it with my friends.

The part of the book that hit me in the face was Stearn’s modern paraphrase from Matthew 25. Stearn’s version goes like this:

For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.

“Ouch,” is about all I can say at this point. I can tell something in me has to change. Read more »