I'm Just a Normal Person

"I'm just a normal person, I don't have any powers."

those words killed me, murdered me tonight.

my son has wanted to be a Jedi for a long while now, and tonight while i was putting him to bed he burst into tears as he confessed "Jedis aren't real."

he wept. literally wept. there was nothing more he wanted to be. and realizing or coming to grips with the idea that a Jedi isn't "real" was just too much for him. he confessed that he isn't a jedi, just a normal person and that he didn't have any powers.

it took all of me to not break down with him.

all i could do is assure him, that while a Jedi isn't really real, that i was so proud of him that he wanted to be a Jedi. because a Jedi is good, and protects people and fights for what is right.

i told my son these are all things that i hope for him. and even though Jedis aren't real, i am truly proud that he wants to be one.

i also told him that i'm just a normal person. i know, hard to believe. but the reality is our kids look up to us and don't see us as normal people. i told him that i'm just a normal person but God helps me to do great things all the time.

i told him that i pray with people to be healed and get to lead people in worshiping God. these are great things. its okay to be a "normal" person, because God will help us do great things.

so here is to being a normal person, and how devastating it is when we discover that.

may we be equally rocked when we discover the greatness of God and what He wants to do through us!

history

just say the word "history" to yourself a few times.

what comes to mind? world history? church history? personal history?

i am not a history buff. my brother-in-law is. but he kind of has to be because he teaches it. but one thing i know is our history informs the present, and our present will inform our future.

it doesn't mean we are bound by the past, it just means the past is like a reference on your resume'. whether you know it or not, the past has something to say about how things may unfold for you. especially if you are unaware of your past.

the fact is, i have had things happen in my past, in my history, that were not good, were not healthy. these things inform me now. but it is up to me to filter those things and evaluate how to act on what i'm hearing.

think about the history of God's people. God is well informed that His people always seem to walk away. Yet God always opens the door and welcomes. The bible does describe a day when the option of returning will no longer be on the table, but until then, it seems like God, being all-knowing, looks at the past, at the history, and chooses to believe the best for us.

there is a kagillion books out there about thinking positively to overcome your past.

i'm thinking we don't need those books as much as we need the Mind of God.

history says you are unlikely to stay close to God... but God believes the best. you can too.

so when you think of history, when you think of your past... for a moment, let the way God sees things permeate its way into your mind. you may see things differently.

camel or comrade?

lets just say that camaraderie is like water. camels don't need much. are you a camel or a comrade?

i was reading about camels, for no particular reason, but noticed a number of things about camels that relate to the idea of camaraderie, or the lack there of.

camels don't need water the way we need it. yeah, they need it, but not like us. i was reading that a camel can lose up to 20-25% of its body weight due to sweating before it is in danger of health risks... if the human body loses only 15% of body weight through dehydration it goes into cardiac failure! the lack of water will actually destroy your heart's chances of survival.

camels are set up for water retention. if we retain water we get depressed... haha, that was a joke.

seriously though, a camel's nostrils are created to reintegrate moisture, when they sweat (only once their body temp reaches 106) most of the sweat helps cool their body below their coat. a camel's kidneys and intestines are so efficient in saving water their urine comes out like syrup and their feces comes out so dry you could start a fire with it immediately.

everything about a camel has been fine tuned to retain water and to survive in a dry climate.

we are not that way. we just aren't. we need water. we show symptoms of dehydration after losing only 2% of our normal water volume. we need it.

camaraderie is like water to my soul. i need it more than most things.

now, i think we each make a decision. camel or comrade. look at your life. are you a camel, do you live like you don't need anyone, are your relationships surface and for the purpose of accomplishing a goal, or are you a comrade to those around you?

if tomorrow you were suddenly surrounded with a new life and new people and you could no longer be in relationship with those you know now, would you weep for the loss of their camaraderie?

i'm not asking if you would be sad you wouldn't see them anymore or for a while. would you miss their camaraderie? camaraderie is the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability. do you offer that to others, are you in relationship with people that offer it to you?

i don't want to be a camel. i want to be human. and being human means i need water regularly. it means i need camaraderie. i think you need it too.

i will do my best to give it to you and will be thankful when i receive it from you.

choose your battles...

I read something interesting about Conflict in 2 Chronicles yesterday. I had never noticed this before.

Josiah was a great king. He rid the nation of foreign Gods like no other had, celebrated Passover in a way no other king had, but at the end of his reign he died because of an avoidable battle.

He didn't know the difference between his battle and "a" battle. He takes his army out to meet King Neco, who is on his way to fight an unnamed enemy. King Neco tells Josiah not to get involved because God is for him and Josiah would lose.

Then the bible says something strange, it says King Neco was right. God was with this king from Egypt. But Josiah disguises himself and they battle anyway and Josiah is killed with a random arrow.

I started wondering why he fought. Was it an old grudge against Egypt? Was King Neco on his way to battle one of Josiah's friends? We're not really told.

What we are told is King Josiah died pointlessly in a battle that wasn't his business and ended up fighting against the God he loved and served more faithfully than most of the kings in Jerusalem.

Because he didn't know the difference between his battle and "a" battle, he died.

It is particularly sad to read what happens to his people and his country in the following few months and years because of his death. This is an important lesson for me and think its worth asking the question to you....

What battles are you fighting? Any chance you're actually fighting against God?

I get the sneaking suspicion Josiah thought God could never be with or for a King from Egypt...and sometimes we may be convinced God couldn't be in or for or with this or that or the other, and we open our mouth and disagree before seeking God to make sure we aren't really fighting him in the name of fighting "a" battle.

imaginary lines

We draw imaginary lines habitually, like an addict distracted from what is really happening in front of us because of our internal knee-jerk need to get a fix, we draw lines.

A good example is the Insane Campaign we are doing at The Vine. I sent the support letter to everyone in my email explaining how we are trying to finish a facility to benefit the kingdom of God in the area of Braselton, Georgia. One response I got basically asked me not to send this letter to anyone from “their” church.

A line was drawn because this person didn’t understand and they have good reason to think the people from their church wouldn’t understand why a person from one church would give dollars to another church in America.

Now, that same person or same church has no problem when a missionary to another country asks for dollars to help finish a facility to expand the kingdom of God in that non-North American area. Why the line?

Think about when Paul from the Bible would go on missions, the churches he had started helped support the ones he was now starting, and they all basically would have fit within a geographic location smaller than the United States.

Can you imagine people writing Paul back and saying, “We won’t be supporting this particular venture of yours because it’s relatively close geographically. If you however choose to travel further away, beyond our own country’s border, we would consider helping.”

Lines are stupid. God didn’t put these lines here. Its ridiculous.