A WOMAN ASKED ME IF I, AS A PASTOR, GOT INVOLVED IN POLITICS because the pastor at her church refused to talk about political issues and discouraged congregants from doing the same. I assured her that I thought it was a Christian’s mandate to involve themselves in the issues of the day, one in particular,
YES, I ACTUALLY WENT TO A BETO O’ ROURKE RALLY! If you aren’t a Texan, then you need to know that Beto (pronounced Beato in the Hill Country), is Conservative Ted Cruz’s liberal arch-rival. But, wait! Before you pick up stones, let me explain. My daughter wanted to go. Since we had not seen each other for a while and she was down from college with a freshly pierced proboscis, nose ring and new-fangled University politics, I accompanied her.
It was a sacrificial act of love.
She wanted some assurances that I wouldn’t argue, roll my eyes or preach.
Agreed.
I had a far more inventive plan to try out….Heh, heh, heh….
In case you didn’t notice there’s a war going on in the America.
“What a long, strange trip it’s been” is an album title from the 60’s band Grateful Dead; it also sums up the last five years of my life here in Texas. I moved here from L.A. on September 29, 2013 and it has been quite the roller coaster. There were more hardships, losses and disappointments than I can count—but, just as many blessings. Each time I was at the end of my rope, God provided an inch more. When the other shoe was ready to drop, I tap danced. He’s taken me to the precipice time and again, yet I never fell off. Why? I leaned on the Everlasting Arms and trusted in a faithful Savior.
Still, there are times when bad things happen to everyone, when enough is enough, when life becomes so intolerable, so painful, all we can do is get on our knees, look up and cry out to God, “Why?”
For the last seven years, I’ve been taking great comfort in a devotional called, “Streams in the Desert.” It is a compilation of writings from godly authors on the theme of Christian suffering, put together in a little book by a woman who watched her missionary husband suffer for many years before he died. I came across this particular article attributed to someone simply as J.H.M. It’s in the public domain, so, I thought you’d be encouraged by my sharing it with you:
I WAS MAD AT GOD. My daughter was sick and getting progressively worse; we were headed to the hospital and I couldn’t afford another emergency bill. And He wasn’t doing a darn thing about it.
Earlier in the week my High School Senior had complained about some pain. I asked her to tell me that if it got any worse we would go to the doctor. It was Homecoming Week and with all the activities, the Community Pep Rally, the Senior Skit, the Parent’s Skit, the special dress-up days, the friends and all the hullabaloo, not to mention the Big Game on Friday, she neglected to tell me that her condition wasn’t getting any better…until Sunday, right after church. Laurel weakly whispered that she was in great pain.
I looked on the computer for an Urgent Care. All closed. Even Web MD couldn’t help.
Then I got mad at her, sensitive dad that I am. She could’ve told me on any other day of the week that she wasn’t improving. After all, doesn’t the Bible say that for six days you shall get sicketh, but on the Lord’s Day you shall not because it’s too expensivith? No, it doesn’t.
That’s why I got mad at the Almighty, too—and for good reason.
Why I Kissed Evangelism Goodbye (Kind of….)
I KISSED EVANGELISM GOODBYE on this day a year ago. Well kind of….
For those who know me, this is an odd confession. On January 1, 2004, I made a commitment to share my every day. Then on July 31st of 2005, I heard “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” after Ray Comfort taught at our church. My eyes were then opened to the most effective way to share my faith.
Soon after, I taught The Way of the Master for seven years at my former church Hope Chapel—and everywhere, even in China! I also led evangelism teams to almost every large event in the L.A. area, including Michael Jackson’s memorial service, (we were outside in the streets), the Academy Awards, The Emmy Awards, the Lakers Championships, the L.A. Kings, and thirteen parades a year. I was quite the zealous Gospel proclaimer over the years, handing out perhaps, hundreds of thousands of tracts, preaching in the open air, and, of course, having hundreds of one-to-one conversations, reminding people how they have broken God’s Law and how they needed a Savior to be forgiven.
Not only that, our teams preached with Ray Comfort regularly in Huntington Beach and I served as a leader for three years with the Ambassadors’ Academy, the training arm of Living Waters Ministries.
I say all this so you will know that I was totally committed to the cause of preaching the Gospel, because, after all, “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)
Then something changed as I was praying in my bed during my devotional time on that October 22nd Monday, 2018.
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