Christian Living

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The motto that I have used to describe my writing is "a real God for real life." For me, this is not only a slogan but a purpose. I don't want a God that I only hear about in a sermon from my pastor on Sunday Morning. I want a God who is directly involved in my life, not just a tradition handed down from previous generations. I want a God that can do the things that I have read and heard He has done in the past. I don't want to only relive those stories of past glory; I want to experience them in my own life today. Don't you feel the same as I do?

So why is the God we hear about, brought to life at church on Sundays, seem to be nonexistent when we face our own battle for Jericho during the rest of the week? Where is the Lord God of Elijah during those times when we need that fire from heaven?

Jesus did mighty things like walking on water, raising the dead and causing blind eyes to see. He said that when we truly do believe, even greater works than His we would see. (John 1:50) Now, maybe I don't live in the right place or know the right people, but I'm not seeing anything even close to powerful things Jesus did in His time on earth. So what happened to the greater, and what has happened to our believing? And when we are believing, why aren't we seeing what we are believing? I was in the company of someone who once made the comment that if we believe in prayer like we say we do then why aren’t we growing as a church? Initially I was offended by the remark but then I got to thinking that this person spoke the truth. What’s the problem here?

Part of the problem is our self-sufficiency. We act the same way that the Israelites did during their time in the wilderness. They weren’t desperate for God until they REALLY needed Him. We act the same way, we aren't really as desperate for God as we sing in our choruses or claim in our testimonies. We say that we want God and that we are desperate for Him but the truth is that we have conditioned ourselves to where we can survive whether God shows up or not. We have gotten so good at doing church that we can even have church without God showing up at all. We know how to play the game and put on a good show. I'm not saying that we are doing this intentionally to deceive people but we still DO all the things we've done in the past and it isn’t working. The problem is that those things aren't working anymore. We are following our itinerary and our own words rather than God.

Let me be totally transparent with you, I grew up in a denomination where emotionalism was often the barometer of whether or not God’s presence was with us. If we hollered loud enough or jumped the pews high enough we felt sure that God truly had visited with us. I can honestly say that in those times, I never saw the first person healed, blinded eyes opened or the dead raised up. It is an embarrassment and today it upsets me because it was all so lame. I understand that we are emotional beings but we need more than emotional pep rallies, we need God! If we are to be doing greater works than Jesus Christ himself, then when are we going to start doing them? I dare say that many of us don't really believe that the dead can be raised. I've heard stories but that's all they have been...stories. I was taught not to speak negative of these stories for fear of the sin of blasphemy. That's not what I'm doing. I’m just speaking the facts here. There’s got to be more to being a Christian than this.

I am weary of the televangelists that start every new year promising that God will move in a mighty way this year than in the previous year yet we find ourselves in the same place the following year and hearing the same old rhetoric again and again. I have enough “words” from prophets to write a book. Going to church has become a joke really; we seem to get caught up in spending our time figuring out how to keep people entertained or just to keep the people we've got coming to church instead of people flocking to church under the power of conviction. People don’t want to pray anymore. We pray for 15 minutes and we think we’ve really done God some big favor. Something is very wrong with us. If this seems a little harsh, examine the situation before you judge. The truth can be difficult to digest. We would rather sit in our same seat and do our “time” on Sundays rather than face the reality of our so-called experience.

Before you label me a "doubting Thomas" let me say that for years I believed all those stories people would tell of God's power. I believed all of the stories preachers have told in recent years of miracles involving the exchanging of anointed socks and divine phone calls. I also hear these entertaining stories from the “famous” preachers on television about angel visitations and face-to-face meetings with Jesus himself but the awe gets lost when they start tying it in to their “exclusive” claim of the connection with a “love offering” for their ministry. These stories have lost their steam with me now. I don't believe them anymore. I can't live on these stories; I need God. Not stories about God but of God's divine influence and power in my own life. Too many people have started ministries or even religious movements based upon an alleged encounter with God. God doesn't need another ministry, He wants our attention. He doesn't need another angle. We don’t need to find another prayer of Jabez or 40 days of something…we need to find our knees in prayer before God without all the hoopla that goes with it.

I could play this game and get along with everybody but inside I would be as a dead man spiritually (Matthew 23:27). I could easily change my line of work and become a “career” preacher and be good at it but it wouldn’t be real. I’m sure I could even do it without God. I’ve seen plenty that have done it (and some who are still doing it). Don’t get me wrong, everyone is not in it for themselves. While there are plenty of self-sufficient ministries out there, I am also surrounded with ministers who are the real deal. Still, I have learned from the best at how to do church but this isn’t a game. There’s more to this Christian life than having a large congregation and a “Reverend” in front of my name. To me, this is about hurting people being healed, seeing the compassion of Christ touching lives. Not something I could say from a pulpit or write in an article. I just want to experience it and be a part of it. I don’t want to be in charge of it or get the recognition. I want to be the man in the crowd like when the woman with the issue of blood touches the hem of His garment and is made whole. I want to be the one who reaches out the hand to help her to her feet. I want to see the look in her eyes when she is made whole again!

Which brings me back to my original question…..where is God? Actually it isn't a question about where God is but rather the question is where are we? God hasn't left; however, He may be just letting us play church until we are ready to get serious about Him. It is clear that we aren't. Our prayer request boxes are full and none are being removed. The only time we "get serious" is when something serious hit our life and we have no other options.

Has God turned a deaf ear to us as He did to the Israelites? He does you know. He tells us in Jeremiah 11:11 – “I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.”

Just like God’s people in the Old Testament, we depend upon other “gods” to sustain us until we get to the point that we really need God. If we have church and God doesn’t show up – that’s okay. We’ll just do what we want anyway. We depend upon the advice of Oprah or Dr. Phil to solve our relationship problems or we take another pill to ease the emotional or physical pain. If we have a little money, we will buy what we need. If not, we’ll just charge it and max out our credit cards. Of course, this will result in more anxiety and a continued need for Dr. Phil or prescription pills. It isn’t until we hit “rock bottom” that we realize that we need God.

Many times the very thing we worship more than God is often the very thing that brings us down. In Numbers 21:4-8 when the Israelites complained against God or wanted their own way, God sent fiery serpents to attack them. God certainly has a way of getting your attention. It may not be a fiery serpent but a “fiery” situation will happen in your life to bring you back to God’s attention. God can't be bribed and He doesn't care what your title is. Prayer is the only way you can truly get God's attention. Not by giving Him your wish list but by giving you’re your attention and doing what He tells you to do. If we are going to get serious with God, we must remove the obstacles to our prayer.

When all the smoke of Christianity clears, we see that it is about a relationship and what Christ did for us all on the cross. It’s still the cross. The cross still stands for us all. In their song “Still The Cross”, contemporary Christian group FFH says it appropriately:

“So bring your sick and your poor
And your longing for more
To the place of relief
It’s still the cross
There is hope for the lost
It’s still the cross”

I’m longing for more aren’t you? It’s got to be about the cross. Our faith, our hope, our eternity is all about the cross.

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