What Winter is it?

I was driving home a few minutes ago and heard on the radio that the temperature has dropped to 49 degrees. If you have lived in East Tennessee for most of your life, as I have, you know that it is "dogwood winter" or "blackberry winter" or "red bud winter" or something like that. There have been many names applied to the expected-unexpected shift from 80 degrees to clear, frost-warning nights. More than once I have been tempted to speak to the trees and call into question their sanity as they "bud" out too early and then suffer the consequences of the cold snap. I'm tempted to complain, but I know better. Change is expected. The weather is not predictable. Neither is life. Recently when I preached from the text of John 3, the words of Jesus took on a deeper meaning for me. As Jesus rebuked/taught Nicodemus a lesson from Spirituality 101 he drew from the principles of nature. We can't control the wind. We can't predict the wind. Frankly, we can't understand the wind. Jesus wasn't sharing a lesson for future meteorologists. He was sharing just how well he understands the human heart (re-read the closing words of chapter 2). My fresh view of this familiar passage speaks to just how difficult it is for us to accept this fact. We love to control, predict and understand. But, we can't. Our frustration with this fact often undermines our faith. I realize that faith is not just ethereal, without substance or form. Yet, we love to define faith in our own terms. When it comes to faith in God - God is never subservient to our own terms...wouldn't be God if He was. So, go cover up the plants and prepare for a cold night.

Questions

Jim Belcher's book, "Deeper Church", contains testimonies from people who come to believe in Jesus. One such testimony reveals that a young man came to Belcher's church and enjoyed it because "it was a safe place to ask questions". Sadly, the church has not always been a safe place to ask questions. I guess questions can catch the church by surprise (although they never surprise God). I'm not sure why this is the case, especially if we are familiar with the Gospels. For example, who would expect John the Baptist to send runners to question whether Jesus is the "one to come or should we look for another?" (Luke 7:20) Rather than a chastisement, John receives quite an endorsement from Jesus. Even though John the Baptist is a pretty special guy, to say the least, there's a message for us. As representatives of Jesus, we should be ready, anxious and willing to respond to questions. They may be stark questions about the "who", "what" and "how" of our Savior and the church. Actually, I have come to find questions refreshing.

Did Thomas get a raw deal?

How would you like to be known as "Doubting Thomas" for centuries? Just because he wanted to see Jesus for himself, it doesn't mean he deserves to be known for eternity as the "doubter". For the next few weeks I plan to do some studying on the importance of "belief". I don't think I would bet much argument that there is a bit of a "crisis" of belief today. But, we need to be careful how we characterize the crisis as well as how we address it. Sometimes we treat our doubts as if they are a choice to believe nothing instead of something. That mis-characterizes are journey from doubt to belief. Instead, I think it's important to hold up our doubts in the "light" and question why we have chosen to doubt. Timothy Keller in his book, The Reason for God, states "All doubts, however skeptical and cynical they may seem, are really a set of alternate beliefs". When we consider that doubting God's existence or God's providence or God's presence is really a choice to believe something else we can begin to compare the choices. Often the reasons for doubting are substantial...but, unrelated to whether God is God. So, I plan to give a little kinder treatment to Thomas than some. But, in the end, I am glad he listened to Jesus. "Stop doubting and believe"!

The Cross and an Empty Tomb

This week I have been thinking about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. That means I have re-examined the cross and the tomb. These are more than symbols of my faith. They are more than reminders of the reality of the incarnation and sacrificial death of the Son of God. My meditation on the cross this week has refreshed my understanding of just how devastating the impact of sin. It's impossible to read the account of the crucifixion without sensing what a brutal and agonizing death it was. Why the brutality? With each thorn, each beating, each nail comes a reminder that sin is horrible. The death of Jesus was so terrible because, "He who knew no sin became sin for us". The brutality was the outworking of a sinful world. His suffering was a portrait of a sinful world. After His death, Jesus was buried. Is it possible for my sins to be buried? Not hidden, but forgiven. The empty tomb reminds me of the possibility of such a miracle. The forgiveness of sin is a miracle. It is life after death. It is new life after forgiveness. The cross shows the ugliness of sin. The empty tomb declares the beauty and depth of God's love and the magnitude of His power.