Thank You Ryan Woods

Thursday Brotherhood

My friend Ryan Woods took a short cut today.  After spending his rich life generously, graciously and with much humor and honesty - He left.  Too soon for those that knew him even a little.  He raised the bar for the rest of us and kept the angels laughing and scratching their beards.  I will miss him and I am terribly sad for Jess and their kids but God is good and he will love them well.  

Ryan laid it all out.  He risked nearly everything.  I’d just say he risked it all but I don’t know him that well.  It sure seemed like it.  In doing so, he secured all that was important and left behind a whole passel of people who at the very least are curious and at most are following him while he follows Jesus.  

Ain't That Simple

It just ain’t that simple.  Life.  It’s complex.  Seriously, and I’m sorry about this, I know I often find some comfort in this effort, but - there really is no way to break life down into a few easy steps.  It’s not something we can wrap our brains around.  If I’m paying attention, really aware of all the different pieces of any experience, I can’t even wrap my head around one event.  In the end, even in the beginning, this is better.  Infinitely better.  Imagine if we really could understand – boredom would overwhelm us.

To illustrate complexity in a simple event, let’s take pounding a nail. 

Good Things for a Bad Person?

It is a scary place, this spinning speck of dirt caught between the tide of heaven and hell.  When my imagination brings some meaning to the information my brain is collecting, I am so relieved to know I am saved from the terror.  It’s scary to know I am so close and it is so easy, so regular to end up drifting in ignorance, rebellion and abject stupidity into the abyss. 

I am at odds with my base desires when I soften to the strong, quiet affections of Jesus.  But, oh, it is a worthy effort to let go and rest in them.

Letter To Old Men

Dear Older Men,

We respectfully request the honor of your presence on the battlefield for our lives.  The tactics of the enemy are overwhelmingly successful.  It is evident that there is no longer hope for an immediate solution.  The enemy’s attack requires weaponry we are not sufficiently able to operate.  We are loosing this battle and many more will, according to the score of casualties, be lost by us.  It is now incumbent, upon those who are able and willing, to inspire the survivors and train the untested.  While this must be done with vigor and urgency, we believe it can only be done over time.  Please confirm.

Score Matters?

Monday Columbian sports page headline reads, “Score Is All That Matters.”  I call BS.  Since I have a BS degree, I can do this.  In the online version a less dramatic title headlined the article.  I like the print version better; it’s controversial, not just informative.  I think it comes from the journalistic confluence of art and fact.  The sports editor also wrote a commentative article entitled “Chance to Win Not Same As Ability To.”  I agree with these titles… in context.  But that’s important.  Truth spoken and agreed to out of context does more damage to faith and hope than any circumstance. 

Head Too Small?

God never does the same thing over and over.  He tolerates us doing it, but I can’t find where he does it.  Maybe in some really macro galaxy way, but that doesn’t count.  He invents really weird things to.  And people.  I know some weird people.  It’s quite likely that someone else somewhere is saying that right now and in their head is a picture of me.  That’s ok.  I’m making a point and if that is happening, it helps me.  Here is my point:

We can’t figure anything out apart from God. 

I Wish Tinker Bell was Real

I wish Tinker Bell was real. I wish I could squint my eyes really hard and clap my hands with joyful exuberance and she would wake up. I believe Tink, I believe! I’m doing it right now just to see what it feels like. The exuberance is a little muted because everyone else is asleep and I don’t want the dogs to start barking. This blog gets me in enough trouble already.

But wouldn’t that be nifty... if we could make things real and alive just by believing in them?

God Makes Me Suspicious

I am suspicious. I have morphed over the last few years into a bit of a cynic. Maybe even a skeptic. Those who have known me for a long time may still chuckle at this claim but I swear it’s true. I really don’t think everything will work out anymore.
But, that’s not how I’m using the word suspicious. I have found it to be useful in describing the way I relate to the cosmos swirling around me and the involvement of God causing certain of its elements to collide with my trajectory in seemingly intentional ways… quite often.

Loosing Things

I’d like to introduce you to my duck. You may kick him if you like. You can step on, poke or yell at him. You can even pick him up and throw him against the wall. Don’t be surprised if he flies. I expect he will probably quack. In some cases he may bite you. If you pet him, you may become friends.
In any case, he’s my duck. See if you can make him quack.

People don’t loose things for “sharing their faith.” Christians loose things because we are like Christ.

Getting Up to Pee

I wake up earlier than I used to. It’s not because I’ve finally become disciplined, it’s because I have to pee, one of the joyful failings of middle age. My older friends smile condescendingly and say, “just wait” like I do to whiny teenagers. But everyone has a pain they must endure that seems a heavier burden than they can bear. Mine is undesirable pressure to rise early.

Kingdom of Heaven - Matthew

Timeline:

Preaches repent
Invites disciples
Explains the kingdom of heaven
Speaks of cost to follow
Compares world to kingdom
Demonstrates justice, mercy & humility
Dies
Resurrects
Installs Holy Spirit
Opens eyes
Instigates church
Commissions us…


The Kingdom of Heaven is real. Jesus has invited us to it for now and later, not just later. It requires a complete change of approach to existence. This internal alteration with external evidence is possible only through trusting and relying on Jesus. It’s why so many people come to Christ or see their relationship with him redefined through impossibly tragic circumstances they cannot handle. The change effects every aspect of life: relationships, money, possessions, defining success, interpretation of all circumstances, what gets celebrated, how and where we live, everything.

I cannot hope to make this change without healing of my brokenness (instantly or over time). In fact, the healing and the change are the same process. This is not a matter of perspective, of figuring things out and thinking rightly. That is again sacrifice and burnt offering, rather than true mercy (Hosea 6:6) (loving God, others and myself), which can only come from the only pure source – He who created love. The healing is a death. As I let go of that which is damaged in me, my spirit comes alive by the entrance of the Spirit into those places I had been protecting. The new me comes more alive, the old me gets deader. I cannot follow a formula to make this happen. I cannot speed it up or control it in any way. Jesus alone is in charge of this process and he uses it for his kingdom as he sees fit. This is what my life on earth is for; for him, for coming fully alive. Becoming a full realization of his artwork in me. Reflecting the glory of God and taking unimaginable joy in knowing his love for me. Participating in the story he has written in the critical role he has made me for.

Jesus says, just as John did before him (Matt 3:2): “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Matt 4:17) In essence, change the way you have been living your life because there is a new way, and this one works. He goes on to describe, illustrate, allegorize, exemplify and discuss this new Way with and for everyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear, including me and you. He in fact is The Way (John 14:6). He says the new way is not about what you do any more, but about what you are. This refers to statements made by prophets and is one of the themes Christ returns to repeatedly. He wants mercy and not sacrifice, acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6). If we knew what that meant, we would understand what God wants for us and from us (Matt 9:13, 12:7,). For example, “You have heard it said, do not murder and do not commit adultery, but what really matters is that you do not hate or lust in your heart (Matt 5: 21-30). This is either a lot harder or a lot easier. As the story of the Old Testament illustrates well, if one could not successfully fulfill the law and thereby receive personal connection to God and eternal reward, then how is one supposed to not only fulfill the law but keep our heart and mind pure as well? This can only be possible if the new way is made possible by the Way. Jesus does it. He fulfills the law (Matt 5: 17).

After beginning to preach repentance and Kingdom of Heaven dynamics, he invited men to follow him (Matt 4: 19-22) and have the focus of their lives changed from seeking gain from the world to seeking gain for the kingdom. He says he will change them from fishermen to fishers of men. They follow and listen as he explains the new kind of kingdom to anyone who will listen.

5: 1 – 12 The Kingdom of Heaven is for the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and those who yearn for righteousness. I suspect he spoke of those who not only wanted to be righteous but who wanted to see righteousness in the world. The kingdom of God is for the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers and for those persecuted for being righteous. He, conspicuously, does not mention those who have big houses, triple humped camels, positions of authority, college degrees, successful businesses, lots of resources, chiseled and tanned features, obedient children and great marriages, ministries with large numbers, titles, or significant influence on important people. He speaks of the unnoticed and non-glorious. He does not say rich, successful, powerful, attractive people are bad (more on that later), he just does not use them as examples of the beneficiaries of his kingdom. The blessing belongs to those who do not receive blessing from this world. Even further, if I am one of the blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven and the world treats me bad, I should rejoice and be glad because my reward is even greater! So – bad in the world, is good in heaven, and the worse it is here, the better it is there.

13 – 16 Along with this paradigm shift comes Jesus’ specific instruction to be what he has made us to be. We are salt – so be flavorful. We are the light of the world – so we need to position ourselves where we can eliminate as much darkness as possible. This is not some great effort on our part, it is just being what God has made us to be by his design. There really is no room for twisting this into a suggestion to be applied in unusual or infrequent circumstances. He is saying that the difference between the world and us IS so significant that it is impossible not to notice. The only way it can be hidden is by our own intention. We actually have to try to be bland. We have to hold back our light. Unfortunately, the ingenious, insidious nature of fallen man, with great effort and much help from the enemy, has succeeded in this undertaking with enormous and tragic results. Even those of us who are the light mostly walk in darkness.

It is in the true meaning of all the known commandments; in a new understanding of them that this kingdom is described. It is a kingdom that is established in our hearts and has no boundaries except those we set up by holding back from God. Our participation in this kingdom changes the way we think of others and how we act in relationship to them. It no longer matters what is fair and just according to the world. We relate according to what is fair and just according to God. Since he is just, he asks that we trust him for fairness rather than seeking it out for ourselves. We are to make ourselves vulnerable to pain from this world, emulating his example. The sacrifice of ourselves, by the power of his love, according to true justice, is what draws the world to Jesus. Those whose hearts are soft towards God will recognize him in us and their desire for him will be unquenchable. The opportunity to participate in the process of drawing people into the kingdom is a fundamental reason for our existence. It is in the mundane, daily encounters, repeated over and over to make relationships, that this glory reveals itself. It cannot be reduced or packaged into a system or a strategy with time lines and boundaries. It comes from and is empowered and completed by God

Apparently, the kingdom he is ruling is not visible to the eyes in our head, audible to our ears, or noticeable to our noses, our tongues or the tips of our fingers. It is an invitation extended to that part of us which is eternal, our spirit, the most authentic and holy part of ourselves. He is inviting us to allow him to separate us from that which separates us from God, our flesh. All that has been ruined and broken is to be left behind.
It’s what he quotes from Isaiah 61 the first time he speaks in the temple (Luke 4: 18), “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
He sits down. Everyone is staring at him, expectantly… “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Do we suppose that he only meant the people in that room? Was he not speaking to all creation; time and space irrelevant?
He sends his disciples out with the same message “The kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt 10:7).
He preaches it in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3-12). It is as if we have finally been given a chance, an opportunity we can take hold of. Since the departure from the Garden of Eden, there has been no way to come close to God, no way to return to where we were before the error of distrust and self-reliance.

The greatest commandment – Mark 12:28 – 34s

The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are interchangeable. He allowed us our effort. He let us try it our own way. We followed the liar and lived in his kingdom, foolishly. We trusted in ourselves because the enemy told us we could. He neglected to tell us that just because we could didn’t mean we should. We have destroyed the creation, ruined it beyond our capacity to fix – including ourselves. God grew weary of our pain and our separateness from him because he wanted us as his bride. So he brought us back to his love by humbling himself and paying the just price (Micah 6:8) with his own pure, glorious, eternal life. He has now established his rule in our hearts. We can receive all that he has for us and be all he wants us to be by resisting no more. Giving up the fruit of this world, the rotten fruit, we can now pick up the ripe, satisfying, jewel like fruit of heaven.

There is more. There is and will always be, so much more…