Thursday, January 19, 2017

Do you believe in Miracles?

“Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’

“‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’“

Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.

Luke 16:29‭-‬31

Have you ever witnessed a miracle?

I am not talking about witnessing the birth of a child or an underdog sports team defying the odds to win a Championship, but a real miracle at the hands of the divine.

Or has God ever blessed you with a sign that undoubtedly proves of His  existance?

I have asked God for a sign plenty of times in my life (I think we all have). And I have pleaded for miracles or in the very least divine intervention at certain desperate moments.

When all else fails, "brake glass in case of emergancy" right?

Last year for instance I had a toothache causing me the most incredible pain I have ever felt. That day (along with taking WAY too many Ibuprofen) I begged God for a miracle.

And when my wife labored for over 24 hours with our first child, I desperately and helplessly gasped some of the most heartfelt, scared and real prayers I have ever prayed.

When sickness or impending death makes an unwelcome visit in the lives of our friends or family members prayers are offered up, often even by the most doubtful and faithless person.

The closest thing to a miracle or a glimpse of the divine I have ever experienced was in witnessing the slow, and yet peaceful and blessed  passing of my Grandfather, Edward Reeves. The doors between the worlds were being opened to allow my Grandfather in and I  felt a draft of its glory!

God is most often felt in our most broken, scared and helpless moments!

Now I have seen many answered prayers, although the skeptic within me will counter that things just broke the right way.

And people I know and trust claim they were healed of sickness and disease However, the added presents of medicine, doctor's and even hope plays a role in recovery thus clouding the results, so I don't always know how to respond to such claims.

I have also witnessed some weird things in Church services that some would call miracles, that merely left me scratching my head more perplexed than before.

I have heard people pray in unexplainable and mysterious languages not their own.

And strangers have approached me with wisdom into personal matters that they should have no way of knowing unless God whispered it to them himself.

I have witnessed healings or were they hoaxes?

I have seen people fall down involuntarily under the weight of Gods presences or perhaps they simply locked their knees.

All of these crazy, unexplained and often beautiful experiences I have observed or had myself, but no, I cannot say without a shadow of a doubt that it was God. Neither can I claim that I have witnessed a verified miracle or seen an undeniable sign of His handiwork.

We are evolved! We have science!

We can explain and reason away why certain incredible  things may have happened and we can discover the roots to all mysteries!

We can throw a bucket full of doubt on the fire of the miraculous and simply discount the acts of the supernatural. Like the above scripture says, even if God were to raise the dead we would find a reasonable explanation that excludes the hand of the divine.

We ask God for a sign of His existence and yet He is actively involved and intervening in our lives everyday, yet we fail to see or acknowledge it. Sadly the miracles that surround our lives daily become mundane. We allow the excitement of our first  love grow stale, we let sunsets fade without admiring its amazing beauty and we let the warm smiles and greetings from strangers go unnoticed.

My wife and I had the most incredible group of people come hang out at our house every week a few years ago. We called ourselves the Misfits because none of us really fit into the typical church setting. We had dinner,  laughed and cried together. But the highlight of every week was when we went around the circle challenging each other to name a place where we had seen God active in our life that  previous week. It forced us to be aware of God and look for him in even the most mundane moments. And sometimes we had to admit that we felt Gods absence, failing to recall Him in our lives at all.

When you make it a point to actively look for God there is a very real chance you will find Him. Maybe not in a measurable or tangible way, however often times in a small sign like a tatered relationship mended or new hope springing forth watered by encouragement from a friend. Sure, instances that can easily be explained away if you wish to, or perhaps it really was God.

Because God is there! And He is more concerned with our well-being, our day-to-day lives and our sh-- than we are!

Friday, January 13, 2017

The weight of responsibility on the irresponsible.

God spoke:

“Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible.”

Genesis 1:26‭-‬28 MMSG

The most terrifying thing in the world is raising children!

The hard part is not just that they are so often helpless, messy, misguided and dangerously putting themselves in harms way on a consistent basis. The difficulty is knowing that every interaction with them, every time you haphazardly scream a correction, every time you forget to pick them up from school, every time you unknowingly give more attention to one over the other, is slowly molding an adult person.

In moments of clarity I shiver in fear that I am responsible for four future adults!

God have mercy on them!

And He does! And gracefully His mercy extends to me as well!

So outnumber, my wife and I often look at each other and say jokingly "what were we thinking?" Obviously we wouldn't trade one of them in. There are those rare moments when sunlight does break through the clouds and one of them will catch you by surprise and gift you with a hug, a handmade card of affection or perhaps just fifteen extra minutes of sleep. And that somehow makes it all worth it.

Having a child and becoming a parent means becoming responsible, whether you like it or not.

In the same vain God created us to be responsible for this earth, for everything in it! Responsible not only in how well we combat global warming or how great we are at separating our garbage into recyclables and actual trash, but we are accountable with how we interact with humanity as well.

Life is about relationships, about people and how we cultivate and care for those relationships and those people. The greatest and yet often most difficult investments I have made in my life is in other people. The times you bite your tongue to refrain from speaking and simply listen, the times you break through your own discomfort and give a sympathetic hug to someone in need of one, those times that you do something for someone else which actually costs you something.

I have to be honest, this whole idea of having some piece of accountability in my relationships and friendships with other people makes me uncomfortable. It is so much easier to avoid people, draw the shades and take care of my own comforts and concerns. When it comes right down to it my greatest struggle is selfishness, because I love myself much more than anyone or anything else.

However, what if we looked at those around us, our family, friends, coworkers and casual acquaintances and weighed how much influence and impact we actually do have in their lives? As painful and uncomfortable it is, what if we invested more in them for no other reason than their betterment and not just our own? We cannot grasp how meaningful, how powerful that could be.

The world is a better place because of such people. I see them every so often and they inspire me! The people who buy a cup of coffee for the stranger behind them in line, the person who stops to casually chat with that "weird" neighbor that everyone else tries so hard to avoid, the person who answers the phone against all their better judgement when that one "draining" friend calls because they know no one else will.

The truth is we benefit for our "sacrifices", for our investments in the lives of others. We grow, we learn, we stretch ourselves beyond what we ever thought we could withstand and we thus become someone a little bit better.

God said “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature". We reflect God, in the very least we present a very small glimpse of Him when we put other peoples needs before our own.

If you want to know if there is a God, if you want to feel his presences in your life again or if you have as much doubt as you do faith then invest yourself in relationships, friendships and in people in general. It is at the heart of what Jesus did. He spent his precious time hanging out with humanity, simply sharing life with people in the mundane everyday and turning it into sacred moments.

God gave us everything on this earth, and thus made us answerable for it all! We only do it justice when we offer it right back to Him,  admitting that we do a horrendous job with it. We need supernatural guidance just to keep this world turning, just like our children need us to keep them alive!

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The Fall of Humanity (God as a negligent parent?)


Then God planted a garden in Eden. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.

God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”

Genesis 2:8-9 and 2:16‭-‬17 The Message


During his act the actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis, in a serious and reflective tone, says:

"I like to read the bible in public places where people are watching me read it."

After a dramatic pause for affect he continues,

"and I like to murmur out to myself: 'Oh BULLS---!'

Some Christians might view such a statement as a slight, an insult or a subtle attack dripping in irreverence and sacrilege. However if we are going to be honest about the Bible, then we have to admit that there are so many cringe worthy moments that makes you want to put it down (or maybe throw it across the room in disgust) and simply walk away. It is honest and real and full of human beings acting out in all kinds of selfish, arrogant and disgusting ways.

We come to the story of a talking donkey or all of these adorable couples of the animal kingdom finding their way to the safety of a huge boat captained by a bearded "madman" and even if not audibly, we think to ourselves "no way! I am calling bulls--- on that!

It is okay! God understands and is compassionate and tolerant of our doubt, our questions and our flat out refusal to believe. It is a much healthier place to be, because it is honest, it is broken, it is messy and it is troublesome. 

And it didn't take me more than two chapters into the Bible to have one of these minor/major crisis of faith.

Forget the talking snake for a minute, honestly that is a discussion I could hardly care to have. 

A wise cracking snake you say? fine! No problem! I can reason with that somehow. 

What really rattled around in my brain for a few days was this whole "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" thing.

My question (perhaps "complaint" is a better word) is why is this "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" so accessible? Why is it not surrounded by thorns, or the fruit protected within some kind of coconut shell or better yet, the tree guarded by angels wielding swords with burning flames?

It is hard not to read Genesis 2 and not feel a bit of bitterness and distrust at God, feeling that we have been a part of some heartless experiment without our consent. That we are simply exhibit A in some kind of a sick test.

Who tests the legitamicy of their childrens love and obedience this way? This cannot be Gods intent can it? 

As a parent, or even if you are someone who is not, we all understand how easily children get their little hands into everything. You have seen childproof lids on cleaners and medicines right? These don't taste good! But for whatever reason leave it within the  reach of a child and they are trying everything within their power to get at what is inside and eat it!

Why the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil"?

Really all we can do is speculate, which only makes it more confounding and troubling.

I do believe that God gave his creation free will to choose for themselves whether to believe in Him or not, to have a relationship with Him and whether to love Him. He didn't create mindless drones but thoughtful, creative people able to think and act for themselves. He could have removed all obstacles, dangers and temptations but what would that make us? Would we be as beautiful, loving and forgiving, despite all of our fatal flaws?

We will never know for sure why God placed the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" in the garden. Although I have my theories (weak as they are) and also my reservations and doubts, I have to trust that He had a good reason and that it somehow was for humanities best interests. Again we are only two chapters in, and it won't be the last time we question Gods intentions. 

Don't be afraid of calling "bulls---" on God, on faith and on the blessed words of the Bible. That is an honest, real faith. Remember that in their own ways so many heroes of the faith in the Bible had serious doubts, crisis of faith and wrestled with Gods plans, including Jesus himself.

Seeking truth and answers through gritted teeth (and sometimes curses), doubt and questioning only makes our faith sturdier, healthier and stronger.

So often in frustration I want to throw up my hands and yell "God, what are you doing?" You can call me naive, but I cling to the threads of faith that I have left hoping that this will all make sense one day. That God is working all things out for the good.


"When you set the table

And when you chose the scale

Did you write a riddle

That you knew they would fail?


Did you make them tremble

So they would tell the tale?

Did you push us when we fell?"

-David Bazan from the song "When we fell".