When Jack Black Preaches a Sermon

I don’t cry much. Hardly at all, actually. Once a year? Twice if I had an emotional year. So when I do cry, you’ll know that my heart was really touched.

One time I cried at Jack Black. As much as I loved Kung Fu Panda, this wasn’t my favorite Jack Black movie. That honor goes to Shallow Hal. I cried! And I know what you’re thinking. Disbelief. I know this because that’s how everyone feels when I tell them in person. If you don’t remember the movie, Hal (portrayed by Jack Black) was hypnotized to see everyone by his or her inner beauty (or lack thereof). He sees selfish people as ugly, and good-hearted people as handsome or beautiful.

In one scene, Hal is volunteering at a hospital, spending time with children. There is one particular girl, Cadence, which he is particularly fond of. He picks her up in his arms and says, “Hey beautiful.”

Later, in the movie, when Hal’s hypnosis wears off, he is back in the hospital and stopped by a disfigured girl. She says, “Hi Hal.”

“Hi, um, how do you know my name?”

“Its me, Cadence.”

Hal’s eyes scan upward, and he sees the sign ‘Pediatric Burn Unit’. Only then did he realize that this affectionate little girl was a burn victim, utterly unrecognizable with her facial scars. He kneels down to her level and says, “Oh hi, Cadence. How are you beautiful?”

Sniff! Even now, just writing this blog, tears well up in my eyes. I remember one time, I told my friend’s wife that I cried during Shallow Hal, and she made fun of me. Then I reminded her of Cadence’s story, and she replied, “Oh yeah, I cried at that part too…!”

Jesus spoke of this.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40)

Just as God saw us with worth when we were broken, we are to see the least of these like Cadence as beautiful. The burned, the scarred, the ugly and the abused. Beautiful. Are still hypnotized, and do not see the beauty in the broken. Ask God to heal your eyes, so that you may see the broken as beautiful as God sees them.

So yes. I cried at Jack Black.

Unity in the Christian Community

As most of you remember, the topic of the gay community started when I decided to listen to the opinions of gay Christians. With a motive only to learn and make friends, I wrote an interview and contacted over a hundred self proclaimed Gay Christians.

One of which was Rachel.

Rachel, answered my questions, and asked me a few of her own. After several long winded facebook messages, an internet friendship formed.

Come to find out, Rachel lives with her wife, Sarah, in London, and they wrote a book together.

Living it Out - “A survival guide for lesbian, gay and bisexual Christians and their friends, families and church.”

“London, no way. My wife and I will be in London for the next three months.”

“If you're in London on January 27th you'd be very welcome to come along to an event we're having in a bookshop in London about Living It Out. I'll send you an invite.”

So there Cait and I sat, on the fifth floor of Waterstone Booksellers, second row, far left.

Circumstances like this are too big to be called coincidences. Rachel and I randomly began discussing controversial topics in late December. The first time I traveled away from North America is the same week she releases her book. Her book is the only one of its kind, a survival guide for Gay Christians. The book store that hosts the release launch is a short train ride away from my house.

Sitting there on the second row, it felt too big to be a coincidence.

Maybe it’s a God thing.

For years, I have felt a deep appreciation for the diverse branches of Christianity. And in our diversity, unity. From Catholics to Protestants. From Traditional to Post-Modern. From Calvanist to Open Theology. From Conservative to Liberal. Underneath all of these branches, we are unified in our beliefs of God the Father sending his son Jesus to die for our sins. In Jesus we have restoration of relationship.

The church is big. The church is diverse. The church is unified as one bride.

And now, it seems that a new branch is forming. And to my knowledge, it has no clever name yet. But there are Christians who believe a gay lifestyle is a sin, and those who believe a gay lifestyle is of God.

There will be arguments. There will be tears. But like it or not, they are unified in our faith of Jesus.

Last week I spoke of a lifestyle called ex-Gay. When an individual decides they are gay, there are three ways to respond to the call of Jesus.

1. They can deny him, and remain a non-Christian Gay.

2. They can accept him, and leave the gay lifestyle. 



and there is a third option


3. They can both accept him and embrace their gay lifestyle.

Those who choose follow Christ and be gay have wrestled with the passages of Scripture. And their conclusion is that a homosexual monogamous marriage is right in the eyes of God. Homosexual infidelity, adultery and fornication are sinful, but a marriage is of God.

I’m sure that you have already made up your mind, but I found it fascinating and challenging to read counter arguments.

In America, there are several Christian leaders who have taken the stance of godly gay marriage (Mel White, Jay Bakker, Brian McLaren).

The American Church has changed a lot in the past 50 years. For decades, if someone in the church were to get a divorce (a biblical sin), many would refuse to talk to the divorcee. Today, painfully enough, divorce is common. Although divorce is not encouraged, we have a much holier response to divorce. We cry with the hurting.

Until recent years, most in the church would consider the consumption of alcohol a sin. Yet, frustrated, we read the Bible closer and realized that Scripture does not say such a thing. Drunkenness, abuse, brokenness and poverty caused by alcohol are sins, yes. But the consumption is not. Rather, consumption of alcohol is celebrated in the Bible.

“Praise the Lord, O my soul...

He makes grass grow for the cattle,

and plants for man to cultivate,

brings forth food from the earth,

wine that gladdens the heart of man.”

(Psalms 104)

In my honest opinion, the awkwardness between Christians who think homosexuality is a sin, and those who think gay marriage is godly will dissolve. Though everyone may not agree, it is my prayer that unity will prevail.

My father wisely told me,

“Chris, you will find many people you disagree with. But remember this one thing. Unity begins at the Cross. It is the most important place to agree. As you move further away from the Cross, the disagreements become less and less important.”

Though you disagree with the lifestyle choice, agree in the salvation of Jesus Christ. For it is what makes us all ‘Christian.’

And this is how I choose to finish this series on the gay community. Though you disagree, do not let that prevent fellowship. Be accepting, loving. If you agree on the Cross, let nothing else separate you.

And this may bother you. Accept gays as Christians?

Follow me for a bit.

What if someone struggled with arrogance. He prayed his entire life that God would make him humble. He fasted. He served. He went to counseling. At times he would defeat his arrogance, living in humility. But years later, he would become prideful again.

What if one day he told you, “I think I’m arrogant. And I will always be arrogant. I still love God, but I am not going to change.”

Would you accept him as a Christian? Does he in fact have a relationship with God?

Why is it easier to accept this fictional prideful man than to accept someone who is gay? The Bible has many more passages condemning arrogance than it does homosexuality. The Bible speaks much more strongly against pride than it does homosexuality. Why is a lifestyle of pride accepted more than a lifestyle of homosexuality?

I admit, the example is far fetched. But doesn’t it say the same thing? Gay Christians have spent years in prayer for God to remove their nature. But it seems that God’s hand remains motionless. God, all too often, does not turn gay people straight.

If they, after years of prayer, fasting, and counseling, accept their lifestyle and embrace God, are they not Christians as well. Should we not accept them as Christians?

I believe we should.

She is the Church. She is beautiful. She is to be fought for. She is to die for. Let her be unified.

This blog series has stretched, challenged, and strengthened me. And I pray it did for you too. I have made great friends (gay and straight). Yet it has been draining as well. ‘Is this can of worms worth opening up?’ ‘Will this hurt my chances of getting a job in a church?’ And most of all, ‘Will people receive this?’

Here are the two most common responses I have received.

1. “Chris, I have felt like this for a long time. I just didn’t know how to say it.”

and

2. “Chris, thank you.”

So I say, thank you for being a part of it. Thank you for reading. Hopefully you will come back to read future posts. Though not on the gay community, there are other areas that we need to grow in.

Though I am finished blogging about the gay community. I invite any more questions via email (leadingfromtheheart@gmail.com) or facebook.

God bless,

-Chris

Connecting the Gay Christian Community

“I have stopped counting how many times I had to tell my gay friends to forgive people because they spoke out of ignorance. So much damage has been done.”

“Pretty much everyone I know has had experiences of being excluded and made to feel unwelcome by the Church.”

“They asked me never to come back. That's pretty sad. I mean that's really awful. I got over it quick, personally I didn't care much because it was their own ignorance. Things like this cause unstable people in my situation to commit suicide, and the church gets off free by saying "it was their sin, they did not repent, they brought it upon themselves.”

“There are almost too many to be counted. The recent thing that I saw was a reverend that was quoted in a certain newspaper that he hates gay people. What kind of message does that sent out to gay people? Many gay people have turned away from God because they believe that God doesn't love them anymore.”

They believe that God doesn’t love them anymore.

Overwhelmingly, the response is negative. And it should hurt you to hear that. People no longer expect compassion from the church because they have been deeply wounded by Christians.

“Love the sinner. Hate the sin,” we tell them.

They get the ‘hating sin’ part. But where is the ‘love’?

Many Christian spokesman speak out against homosexuality. But I say they’ve gone too far. It is one thing to call the lifestyle a sin, it is quite another to say that homosexuals are child molesters and commit bestiality (intercourse with animals).

• Christians like Scott Lively travel the world, preaching and proclaiming that homosexuals influenced the extreme militarism of Nazi Germany. That gays are the reason for the holocaust. His book is entitled The Pink Swastika.

• Westboro Baptist Church hosts the website godhatesfags.com.

• Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell claimed that gays, lesbians, abortionists and feminists were to blame for the September 11th tragedy.

• As a Christian, you should know that Uganda is in the process of passing a bill that will call for the execution of gays, the imprisonment of anyone hiding gays, and the execution of anyone diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. You should also know that Scott Lively, Caleb Lee Brudidge and Don Schmierer, three Christian missionaries who speak against gay lifestyles, are seen as major influencers to push the bill through.

So much has been done in the name of Jesus, Christians, and the Church to cripple the credibility of our faith.

Yes, I believe that a homosexual lifestyle is a sin. But let me be clear: it is a sin, it is wrong, unholy and derogatory to label them all pedophiles, connect all homosexuals with bestiality, or describe them with other demeaning language. When these assumptions are voiced as absolutes, relationships are severed and the image of Christ is stained. And when we communicate only their sin, and show no actions that we actually care about them, then they have no good reason to think that God loves them either.

Whether you like it or not, as a Christian, when you begin with a conversation with someone who is gay, lurking behind you is a lifetime of derogatory, anti-gay comments made in the name of Jesus Christ. And all you did was say, “Yes, I am a Christian.”

All I want you to do is understand this one, simple sentence:

There is power in apology.

When meeting someone who is gay, let the first words that you speak sound something like this,

“I am sorry. People of my faith have said many hateful things to you and people like you. They spoke out of sin, ignorance and hate. On behalf of them, my Jesus, and my faith, I apologize for our sins.”

I hope you can see the healing power that an apology like this will begin.

Read this story of a conversation between pastor Shayne Wheeler and his gay friend. Shayne said,

“Tell you what, you don’t assume I am a gay-hating bigot, and I won’t assume you’re a pedophile. Deal? If we buy into stereotypes, we’ll never be able to love one another.”

Tears streamed down his face. He said, “Are you sure you’re a Christian?”

Now there were tears of my own.*

My challenge to you is this: apologize. Apologize to people that you know who are gay. Email strangers randomly on Facebook and write them an apology. Take the first step into creating a friendship.

Love them first.

Because while we were still sinners, God loved us first.

*Conversation from UnChristian


UPDATE:
If you are offended that I suggest we apologize, before commenting below how you feel, read this blog article entitled "I Hugged a Man in His Underwear. And I am Proud." I will gladly read any feedback after you read the article.

Questioning the Gay Christian Community

For the past few months, I have had a controversial topic on my mind. That being how the church treats the gay community. It started years ago when I read the book I so often quote in this blog, What’s So Amazing About Grace?. In one specific chapter, Yancey talks about his observations on how the church withholds grace from the homosexual community.

With that last line, I am sure that your own opinions rose to the surface. And I guess that is natural. But for the past few weeks, I’ve decided to do the opposite. Rather than make it a point to spread my own opinion, I asked others. Specifically gay Christians. What do they think of the gay community and the church?

I wrote seven questions and contacted a hundred or so on Facebook. Their responses were thorough, thoughtful and always emotional. I had no intention of turning this into a blog. But after my heart was touched by their answers, I understood that I had to talk about this. So this week I share with you only the questions, my reason behind the questions and their answers. This week I withhold my opinion. Next week I will share what I think and what really bothers me.

1. What do you prefer to be known as? Gay? Homosexual? GLBT? Why do you want to be called that?

I asked this question, because I recently read a Christian article that suggested ‘homosexual’ to be an offensive, anti-gay label.

2. Do you think being gay is a choice? Or born that way? Both? Neither?

I asked because I am tired and frustrated with short, easy answers that the Church/Christians give.

3. How would you explain to someone how you can be Gay and Christian without one negating the other?

Those who I interviewed have embraced both the Gay and Christian lifestyle. I found this to be an important and tough question

4. What has been your positive experience with Christians/the Church?

Though hardships, these individuals have decided to embrace Christianity. What positive experiences encouraged this?

5. What has been your negative experience with Christians/the Church?

This is a risky question, because I know that all of these individuals have been hurt in one way or another by the church. But I think it is important to know what these gay christians have experienced, so that we can better understand what non-christian Gays have been through.

6. What are your thoughts on the phrase “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” as a reference Christians use to treat gays?

I know that this phrase is detested in the gay community. It’s another simple, easy answer that we give. But our easy answers don’t always add up.

7. If anything, what would you want to communicate to the Christian community?

Here, especially, we should bend our ear to what they have to say.

So here are some of the responses (abbreviated, obviously).

1. What do you prefer to be known as? Gay? Homosexual? LGBT? Why do you want to be called that?

“I prefer not to be known as anything, a good standby would be ‘gay’. ‘Homosexual’ has become a bit of a derogatory term, most often used condescendingly by Christians.”

“Gay. because that's what i am. that's what my entire struggle has been. accepting myself for what/who i am. if i went by any "politically correct" label, it wouldn't feel as effective. the others you mention seem to tiptoe around the real word in everyone's mind - GAY. i won't tiptoe around what i am. If I'm gonna say it, I'm gonna say it right.”

2. Do you think being gay is a choice? Or born that way? Both? Neither?

“If it was a choice, people wouldn't be killing themselves. Nobody in their right minds would choose to go through the things we do.”

“Seriously, who would choose to be subject to ridicule and inequality? I do believe there is a measure of choice in coming out and living a life of truth, but one's sexuality is not a choice and certainly not a sin, like every other human being I was fearfully and wonderfully made by an almighty and wondrous God.”

“Personally I do believe it is a mix of both (nature and nurture). I do believe that inherently there is something biologically constructed, but I do believe that our environments do shape how we feel, think, and express ourselves.”

3. How would you explain to someone how you can be Gay and Christian without one negating the other?

“Probably by saying I do not believe them to be oil and water, nor do I think that the verses in the Bible used to condemn same sex relationships actually address homosexuality as we know it today. Also, Jesus says nothing about homosexuality, and instead says a number of things about greed and divorce, etc...two things the church seems to ignore. I don't think you can pick and choose what laws from the Bible you are going to use.”

“Being gay is NOT the sin. Promiscuity however is. No where in the bible does it say anything about gay people that life in a committed relationship to one partner. The same rules as for heterosexual people apply, the only thing that changed is that it is a same sex relationship. To me it is important to reconcile these people with God himself and let Him do the changing that needs to take place in their lives.”

“The Bible's verses are taken out of context and used to attack us. Again, it's that simple. If people would stop taking preachers' words for it and do the research themselves, they'd be surprised at what they'd find.”

4. What has been your positive experience with Christians/the Church?

“God does awesome things through the church, but the church often does terrible things and justifies it by twisting the Bible. However, all in all, I’ve spent several awesome years as a part of my church.”

“For every negative story, I come across a positive one too.”

“My current spiritual mom is a heterosexual Christian and counsellor. I have known her for the last 6 years.”

“Coming to the realization that God loves me just as I am, that I am part of the "whosoever" mentioned in John 3:16 and that I can belong and worship in a Christian community (albeit it in a a "gay neo-charismatic" one) without fear or rejection.”

“Learning theology, some good friends.”

“I have actually never had a positive experience with the Church.”

5. What has been your negative experience with Christians/the Church?

“Pretty much everyone I know has had experiences of being excluded and made to feel unwelcome by the Church.”

“There are almost too many to be counted. The recent thing that I saw was a reverend that was quoted in a certain newspaper that he hates gay people. What kind of message does that sent out to gay people? Many gay people have turned away from God because they believe that God doesn't love them anymore.”

“I have stopped counting how many times I had to tell my gay friends to forgive people because they spoke out of ignorance. So much damage have been done.”

“Overwhelmingly, I have had negative experiences with "Christians" even though I enjoy going to actual church. My family is religious and it has made us closer.”

“They asked me never to come back. That's pretty sad. I mean that's really awful. I got over it quick, personally I didn't care much because it was their own ignorance. Things like this cause unstable people in my situation to commit suicide, and the church gets off free by saying "it was their sin, they did not repent, they brought it upon themselves.”

6. What are your thoughts on the phrase “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” as a reference Christians use to treat gays?

“I love that phrase. however, when used to talk about gays, I hate it. It's ridiculous. It's all in their comfort zone. This is how they justify hate with God's blessing. It's that simple and doesn't deserve anymore explanation.”

“A bunch of crap. Everybody has sin in there life known or unknown to others. The word says love covers a multitude of sins. It is only real love (no conditions) that will bridge the gap between straight and gay people.”

“I think it's an over-used phrase that makes Christians feel superior to gays.”

“I despise the phrase, not only is it still placing blame ON the person but biological ideologies come through.”

7. If anything, what would you want to communicate to the Christian community?

“I'd want us all to remember that God calls us to be in relationship, even with people we may not agree with and we may find difficult.”

“Accept the fact that you may not know all the answers to all the questions in life (especially regarding gay people).”

“Life is to short to not act like Christ and show real love to others.”

“That they NEED to sit down, engage, discuss, and have an open communication with VARIOUS (not one type or form of "queer" member).”

These are my questions to you:

1. Are people born gay? Really think about their responses. Would people choose to kill themselves because of their 'choice' to be gay?

2. How do you think gays feel about Christians refusing the idea of being born gay?

3. How do you feel about the negativity concerning 'Love the sinner, hate the sin."?

A Whisper of Grace

This is one of the most powerful stories I've ever read. Taken from my favorite book, What's So Amazing About Grace?.

A young girl grows up on a cherry orchard just above Traverse City, Michigan. Her parents, a bit old-fashioned, tend to overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to and the length of her skirts. They ground her a few times, and she seethes inside. “I hate you!” she screams at her father when he knocks on the door of her room after an argument, and that night, she acts on a plan she has rehearsed in her mind a thousand times. She runs away.

She’s visited Detroit only once before, on a bus trip with her church youth group to watch the Tigers play. Because the newspapers in Traverse City report in lurid detail the gangs, the drugs and the violence in downtown Detroit, she figures that’s probably the last place her parents will ever look for her. California, maybe. . .or Florida. . .but, not Detroit.

Her second day there, she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. He offers her a ride, buys her lunch, arranges a place for her to stay. He gives her some pills that make her feel better than she’s ever felt in her life. She was right all along, she thought – her parents were keeping her from all the fun.

The good life continues for a month, two months, a year. The man with the big car teaches her “a few things that men like”. Since she’s underage, men pay a premium for her. She lives in a penthouse, and orders room service whenever she wants. Occasionally, she thinks about her folks back home, but their lives now seem so boring, so provincial, she can hardly believe she grew up there.

She has a brief scare when she sees her picture printed on the back of a milk carton with the headline “Have you seen this child?” But, by now, she has blonde hair and with all the makeup and body-piercing jewelry, nobody would mistake her for a child. Besides, most of her friends are runaways and nobody squeals in Detroit.

After a year, the first sallow signs of illness appear and it amazes her how fast the man turns mean. He growls at her and before she knows it, she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. She still turns a couple of tricks a night, but they don’t pay much and all the money goes to support her habit. When winter blows in, she finds herself sleeping on metal grates outside the big department stores. “Sleeping” is the wrong word, however … a teenage girl at night in downtown Detroit can never really relax her guard. Dark bands circle her eyes. Her cough worsens.

One night, as she lies awake listening for footsteps, all of a sudden, everything about her life looks different. She no longer feels like a woman of the world. She feels like a little girl, lost in a cold and frightening city. She begins to whimper. Her pockets are empty and she’s hungry. She needs a fix. She pulls her legs tight underneath her and shivers under the newspapers she’s piled atop her coat. Something jolts a synapse of memory and a single image fills her mind: of Traverse City in May, when a million cherry trees bloom at once, with her golden retriever dashing through rows of blossoming trees in pursuit of a tennis ball.

God, why did I leave, she says to herself, and pain stabs at her heart. My dog back home eats better now than I do. She’s sobbing and she knows in a flash that more than anything else in the world, she wants to go home.

Three straight phone calls, three straight connections with voice mail. She hangs up without leaving a message the first two times, but the third time she says “Dad, Mom, it’s me … I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a bus up your way and it’ll get there about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, well … I guess I’ll just stay on the bus until it hits Canada.”

It takes about seven hours for a bus to make all the stops between Detroit and Traverse City and during that time, she realizes the flaws in her plan. What if her parents are out of town and miss the message? Shouldn’t she have waited another day until she could talk to them? And, even if they are home, they probably wrote her off as dead a long, long time ago. She should have given them some time to overcome the shock.

Her thoughts bounce back and forth between those worries and the speech she is preparing for her father. “Dad, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong. It’s not your fault. It’s all mine. Can you forgive me?” She says the words over and over again, her throat tightening even as she rehearses them. She hasn’t apologized to anyone in years.

The bus has been driving with lights on since Bay City. Tiny snowflakes hit the pavement rubbed worn by thousands of tires and the asphalt steams. She’s forgotten how dark it gets at night out here. A deer darts across the road and the bus swerves. Every so often, a billboard. A sign posting the mileage to Traverse City. Oh, God.

When the bus finally rolls into the station, its air brakes hissing in protest, the driver announces in a crackly voice over the microphone, “Fifteen minutes, folks. That’s all we have here.” Fifteen minutes to decide the rest of her life. She checks herself in a compact mirror, smoothes her hair and licks the lipstick off her teeth. She looks at the tobacco stains on her fingers and wonders if her parents (if they’re even here) will notice.

Walking tentatively into the terminal, not knowing exactly what to expect, other than to be disappointed, not one of the thousand scenes that’d played out in her mind could have prepared her for what she’d see.

There, in the concrete-walls-and-plastic-chairs bus terminal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of forty brothers and sisters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and great-grandmother, to boot. They’re all wearing party hats and blowing noise-makers … and taped across the wall of the terminal is a banner that reads “Welcome Home”.

Out of the crowd, breaks her dad. She stares out through the tears puddling in her eyes and begins the speech she’s memorized. “Dad, I’m so sorry … I know …”

He interrupts her. “Hush, child. We’ve no time for that. No time for apologies. You’ll be late for the party. There’s a feast waiting for you at home.”

Powerful, huh? Read the original story here.

Dahnmaya's Song

This is one of my favorite passages. It comes from Philip Yancey’s book Prayer.

I have seen evidence of God's presence in the most unexpected places. During our trip to Nepal, a physical therapist gave my wife and me a tour of the Green Pastures Hospital, which specializes in leprosy rehabilitation. As we walked along an outdoor corridor, I noticed in a courtyard one of the ugliest human beings I have ever seen. Her hands were bandaged in gauze, she had deformed stumps where most people have feet, and her face showed the worst ravages of that cruel disease. Her nose had shrunken away so that, looking at her, I could see into her sinus cavity. Her eyes, mottled and covered with callus, let in no light; she was totally blind. Scars covered patches of skin on her arms.

We toured a unit of the hospital and returned along the same corridor. In the meantime this creature had crawled across the courtyard to the very edge of the walkway, pulling herself along the ground by planting her elbows and dragging her body like a wounded animal. I'm shamed to say my first thought was She's a beggar and she wants money. My wife, who has worked among the down-and-out, had a much more holy reaction. Without hesitation she bent down to the woman and put her arm around her. The old woman rested her head against Janet's shoulder and began singing a song in Nepali, a tune that we all instantly recognized: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

"Dahnmaya is one of our most devoted church members," the physical therapist later told us. "Most of our patients are Hindus, but we have a little Christian chapel here, and Dahnmaya comes every time the door opens. She's a prayer warrior. She loves to greet and welcome every visitor who comes to Green Pastures, and no doubt she heard us talking as we walked along the corridor."

A few months later we heard that Dahnmaya had died. Close to my desk I keep a photo that I snapped just as she was singing to Janet. Whenever I feel polluted by the beauty-obsessed celebrity culture I live in -- a culture in which people pay exorbitant sums to shorten their noses or plump up their breasts to achieve some impossible ideal of beauty while nine thousand people die each day from AIDS for lack of treatment and hospitals like Green Pastures scrape by on charity crumbs -- I pull out that photo. I see two beautiful women: my wife, smiling sweetly, wearing a brightly colored Nepali outfit she had bought the day before, holding in her arms an old crone who would flunk any beauty test ever devised except the one that matters most. Out of that deformed, hollow shell of a body, the light of God's presence shines out. The Holy Spirit found a home.

Why I respect Jay Bakker

If anyone has a right to hate God, I think it would be Jay Bakker.

Don’t know him? You may remember his dad, Jim Bakker. Jim Bakker of TV’s Praise the Lord. Jim Bakker who was arrested for fraud. Jim Bakker, the first of many televangelist to fall into scandal. If anyone has a right to hate God, I think it would be Jay.

Imagine the hell of watching your prestigious father go from Christian television’s biggest hero to behind bars. Imagine the betrayal. Imagine how he was treated by self-righteous Christians for his father’s sins. My heart broke for him when I read his autobiography, where he recounted the fall. Jay did nothing wrong, but he suffered more than anyone.

Being abandoned by his father to prison, abandoned by the church who ridiculed him, Jay turned to rebellion, drugs and bitterness.

For years, Jay worked at a church he started in Atlanta, The Revolution. Late one night, while walking the streets of Atlanta, I was speaking with a man who ran a homeless shelter. He mentioned that The Revolution was a few blocks down the road. I asked him, “What do you think of Jay Bakker?”

“Jay is weird.” He replied, probably alluding to Jay’s liberal theology. “But Jay loves Jesus. I have no doubt about that.”

If anyone has the right to hate God, I think it would be Jay. But he doesn’t.

Jay found God’s grace when he extended it others. He forgave the people he hated the most, his father’s consultants turn betrayers.

Jay found God’s healing when he shared his pain to crowds of Christians. Finally accepted after years of chastisement, as they listened to his pain rather than hurl their insults, God healed.

When I think of this tattoo covered preacher, I don’t think of his father’s sins, nor his years of rebellion, I think only of God’s grace.

If Jay can love God after the undeserved hardships he has suffered, then so can we.

Perspective

Perspective. My car is usually dirty. But instead of cleaning my entire car, I just clean my windshield. Approaching my car, I notice it needs to be washed. But when I sit down and look through the windshield, I think, “Ah, clean!” Simply cleaning my windshield changes my entire perspective. It changes the way I see everything.

Mentors help change the way we see the world. They change our perspective.

I met with mentors. I grew. I changed.

I began to wonder, if I could have coffee with any historical figure, who would I pick? C.S. Lewis? He could read the culture and offer extraordinary perspective. Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, with his talent to find grace in the most bleak of circumstances? Or the Greek poet Homer, who although blind could paint a story so captivating it would be retold for thousands of years?

We allow mentors to shape perspective. How we spend our time, talents, energy, and money.

I was caught off guard the day I realized the wisdom I was searching for was hidden in the Gospels. I simply forgot his advice was there. I re-read the Gospels, discovering my mentor’s advice.

Jesus taught me to keep a heavenly perspective.

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. (Matthew 6:28-29)

He taught me to find grace in the most bleak of circumstances.

‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ (John 8:7-11)

He could paint a picture so captivating, so rich with irony, that we would retell it through the ages of the church.

The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:21-24)

Who influences the way you see the world? Through what lens do you perceive your circumstances? Are you like me, and forgot that we can find the wisdom we were searching for in the words of Jesus? He spoke of a world in need of grace, of forgiveness. He gave freedom from material possessions. Given the chance, what would you ask him? Has he already told you your answers in the Gospels?

And this week, I am going to clean my car. More than just the windshield.

*Photo belongs to Rain. She let me use her work. You can see the rest of her work here. She was generous enough to let me use her pic, so please check out her other work.

P.S. Cait asked if I noticed the title of last week's post could be a double meaning. I picked the title specifically. The double meaning was intended.