Facing Up

For a couple of years, now, I've been an avid fan of a guy who many find to be a bit, well, crazy. His name is Bear Grylls, main-man of the Discovery Channel's hit series "Man vs. Wild," a devout Christian, and former SAS serviceman. If you don't know much about Grylls, let's just say that he shows people how they can survive if put in a life-threatening situation in nature (although I'm sure he knows how to defend himself, since he was SAS, his show is about surviving on your own, in the wild). He does this by showing people what plants and animals are edible (often raw), how to build shelter, how to navigate and all sorts of other survival techniques. Just a week or so ago, some boys who fell through an ice-covered pond up north survived by copying what they had seen Grylls do after he was soaked in frigid water on a Patagonian glacier. They probably wouldn't have survived otherwise.

Many people don't know that Grylls is the author of a couple of books. He has written two books about his adventures, thus far, one called "Facing the Frozen Ocean" and the other called "Facing Up." I have just gotten done reading this particular book. Its main focus is on the harrowing adventure Grylls and a few of his comrades had as they scaled Everest in 1998. Upon completing this feat, Grylls, then 23, became the youngest Briton to scale the world's tallest mountain. It's a great adventure book, but, rather than being entirely focused on the physical aspect of his time on the mountain, the spiritual side continually shines through.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is one that Grylls has actually used on his show. It actually came from Grylls' father, who taught him how to climb from the time that Bear was a small boy. 

"You can never know how steep something is until you rub noses with it."

Life is often compared to being a mountain. Christ tells us that with faith we can move mountains. Mountains are places of beauty, serenity, and magic. Mountains bring rejuvenation. Do we catch a theme here?

How often do people simply sit back and whine about how "hard" their lives are? We are all guilty of acting as though life could just not get any worse, yet, if life is a mountain, how often do we really "rub noses" with it? How often do we get right up to it and see the steepness of it... whether it's a gently rolling hill or a sheer granite wall? Many of us mistake the cliffs for the dales and plains.

I know that, in my life and in my marriage, Carrie and I are about to face a new part of our climb. As we prepare for parenthood, there are many times that I can feel a bit overwhelmed and as though I'm scaling some massive mountain's face. But, when I realize, yet again, that God is the One who is leading us through this great adventure called life, it is not all that steep. Even the places that are tricky, He guides us through. As we prepare for a next step (no pun intended) with missions, the future can look greatly daunting, yet He has us in His hands! As we look to the future, and moving to Asia, buying homes, raising Christ-glorifying kids who will make His Name great among the nations, it can look like such an impossible task... and then I'm reminded. 

It's something that Bear Grylls took great hope and peace in as he climbed to the top of Everest.

It's something that we often sing worship songs about.

It's something that God's people, from King David to Believers in Burma today have held on to through all things this World can throw at us, even death.

Remembering that life is a mountain, the Psalmist speaks fresh spirit into our walks with Christ:

"I lift my eyes up to the mountains. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121v.1-2)

The same One who created the heaven and earth, is the same One who is walking with His children up the mountains of their lives, of which He has created, seen us through, and rejoices in, with us. I cannot wait to dance on this mountaintop when all is said and done, joyfully giving praise to the One who was with me through the entire climb.

Hunger

"Man, I'm hungry!" I thought as I wrapped up my morning studies and planning. The granola I had eaten for breakfast had evidently run its course. I quickly made my way out to the van, all the time mentally running through the foods that sound best for keeping one going through a Monday afternoon.

"Taco Bell? Nah..."

"Subway? I don't think so."

"Arby's? Had it the other day..."

"Sandwich at home? Still need to get stuff done at the office, don't want to get side-tracked!"

"Barbecue sandwich? Bingo, barbecue sandwich at Market Street."

I jumped in the van and put the key in the ignition... nothing. I tried again; same result. Not being one to admit to insanity (doing the same thing, over and over, expecting different results), I had two options: a. wait for Carrie to get done with her Beth Moore Bible study and have her pick me up something on the way back to the office (while getting some stuff done in there myself) or b. take a hike. Although it's a little bit chilly and I'm in sandaled feed, I opted for option B.

We live in a society that seems to forget that it even has feet. As spread out as things are, especially here in Texas, it's incredible, to us, when we see someone walking. I would look at the people as they drove by me... I got every look from the soccer mom's "Oh, that poor guy, he's got to walk somewhere..." to an older man in his Mercedes talking on his cell phone who looked at me as though I were a transient on my way to his house to steal his cigar collection, precious stones, and little fluffy lap dog.

On my way to Market Street, though, I kept thinking about the Beatitudes, where Jesus is talking about those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because, in Him, they will be satisfied. I was hungry enough to walk through the loose sand, rocks, and weeds (not to mention encounter several bad Lubbock drivers on cell phones) in order to get my barbecue sandwich and Dr. Pepper. How much am I willing to endure for righteousness?

Far too many of us never even think about being hungry spiritually. We're so set in our ways when it comes to our "walks": go to church on Sunday mornings, worship for sure, maybe Sunday School (it just depends what activities the family has for the afternoon how long we stay); have a quiet time hopefully five times a week, but more like twice; make it to Wednesday night meal and worship twice a month; talk about Jesus to a couple of co-workers. We're set, or so it seems. The vast majority of us need to take a harder look at our lives and determine if we're really hungering and thirsting for the Lord. Do we need the nourishment of diving into His Word daily, or is it just some spiritual thing to check off our morality "to-do" list? When we worship, are we wanting to praise and have communion with the Father, or are we doing it because that's just "what we do" before Pastor Andy gets up there and preaches? I know, for me, I too often don't even think about the very real, very needed sustenance I get from my time with my Saviour. It can just become that thing that I do as a pastor.

We all need to take time out to remember what it is to hunger after the Lord. This may be just a time to meditate on what hunger really is, it may mean taking a day or two (or even a week... GASP!) to fast and take into ourselves hunger. It may even take us going to the nations on a mission trip to truly see hunger, firsthand, both in a physical and spiritual sense of the word.

What do you hunger for? The things of the World, like a sugar-high that makes us feel so good for a little while before letting us crash back down; or, the all-satisfying nourishment that is the Word and fellowship with the One who wrote it, that spurs us on those extra miles until we arrive home?

New Wine

As of 12:00am on Tuesday morning, a new leaf was turned over around the world... New Year's day was ushered in from the Christmas Islands to Honolulu, from Lubbock to Moscow, Khoa Koa Kao to Vienna. Around the globe, people adopted new resolutions and made new beginnings, some for the tenth time in as many years. It seems that even the World can get into the idea of new birth when it comes to New Year's, almost acting as though the previous year has no further consequences of anything else to affect us.

For the first time in quite a while, I myself made some resolutions, although I choose to call them "New Year's Resolute Goals." I say this because it's so easy to get into the mindset that resolutions are made to be broken, and these are things that I want to carry throughout the whole year. In fact, I made lists and printed them out so that I can have them in my office, on my bathroom mirror at home, and even in my wallet... constant reminders of those things that I hope to achieve and simply do better in 2008.

With all of the "new beginnings" happening around, I thought about the spiritual aspects of new beginnings. How often do we need to repent and, essentially, have yet another "new beginning" when it comes to our personal walk with Christ? I'm not saying that we "get saved again," but I am saying that each time we repent from where we're stepping, it is a sort of new beginning; a coming back to Christ. We should all know that the ultimate new beginning comes when a person truly accepts Jesus Christ as their Saviour. But, there are also a plethora of new beginnings  that we all make, as humans, from a new diet to making new friends to starting a new school or college, moving, getting a new job, getting married, having a baby, etc. but they simply don't carry the same weight as when a person becomes a Christian.

When it comes to new beginnings, Jesus used a great analogy in the book of Matthew. In chapther 9, verse 17, Jesus uses the analogy of placing old wine in new wineskins. The entire passage (v.14-17) is talking about fasting and why Jesus' disciples weren't fasting like the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist, but it is definitely talking about new beginnings. But how relevant this particular verse is to this time of the year for us! As we think about what, exactly, an old wineskin might look like, and what it might be filled with, we get a good picture of what our former lives, before we came to know Christ as Saviour and Lord, must look like. The bags are darkened with oils and sugars from what they held. The wine, inside, has long gone past its "good year" status and has become a nasty smelling and tasting vinegar. No one would like a sip of the vileness inside of the wineskin, yet it sits there anyway, continuing to fill the skin with its putrid smells. There is no life in the wineskin. Our lives, without Christ, are filled with the nastiness and toxic tastes, smells, and looks of sin. There is no life-giving liquid within us, without Christ, and no one truly wants to take a draught of what we've got on the inside, because it's nothing but death.

On the other hand, we see the new wineskin. It is fresh and filled with new wine; wine that gives life and sustenance to a person. In the same way, we are crafted anew when we come to know Christ as Lord and Saviour, becoming that new wineskin that is ripe to accept the sweet drops of new wine, which is the Holy Spirit. Ours has become a skin that the world over wants to take long drinks from to be filled by that which gives life. The wine, the Spirit, that we've been filled with, is the only thing that can give life to a world that is in the clutches of death. This gives new meaning to the Eucharist / communion / Lord's Supper, as we see that being wineskins, and wine symbolizing blood, we essentially take into our own bodies Christ's blood, becoming very one with Him. It is a very beautiful thing to see what God begins for us anew, as we walk through life with Him!

When it comes to our lives, as Believers, there are certainly many instances where we're going to go through changes and realize that the point we're at is actually a new beginning that is about to transpire. Sometimes, when we are on these thresholds, it can be extremely scary, while at other times, it is one of the most exhilarating and exciting things we could ever endeavor. Often times, it is a strange combination of both!

The thing about new beginnings, though, is that God is always in control of them. He is the one who directs them and sees them through; they are never done in or of our own prideful power.

With the new year being here, there are many of us who are looking for a new beginning, whether that's in school, in some friendship or relationship, or even with God. Take the time to think about new beginnings, and the point, in your life, where you might need one (or several!). You, a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, are a wineskin that God has crafted to hold the best wine this world has ever seen. Don't continue to settle for being some grungy old sack of vinegar hanging in the back. Be the cask that is full of the sweetness of the Lord, whose fragrance fills up the room and whose wonderful taste affects all who come in contact with you! As one of my favorite bands sings, "God is the wine, I am the wineglass." We are vessels meant to be broken for other people.