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A friend of yours is having big trouble with his attitude toward God. He’s so distant from Him that he’s stopped attending worship service. He’s stopped participating in the downtown street feed, something he’d done faithfully for years. He’s withdrawn from his friend groups and has been isolating. His isolation is brooding, unhealthy, pessimistic, suspecting that God has changed His mind about him and now has it in for him. He confides that it’s been months since he spent devotion time praying and perusing the Scriptures.

Eventually, your friend lashes out at you, “You’re an idiot!“

            “Where did that come from?” you wonder, “What have I done?”

            “Think you’re so much better than everybody else!” as he exposes more of his heart.

            He’s critical of everybody, not just you, but he’s particularly belligerent toward you.

            You drive into the church parking lot excited to connect with God, to worship Him with your friends, to offer a gift to the Lord, a gift of praise, a financial gift for the offering, a gift of time hearing God’s Word with a surrendered heart.

As you’re walking up to the doors of the church, a memory invades your mind. You recall with clarity a conversation you had with someone when you were talking about a mutual friend, the one with the negative attitude. You were saying to that person that your mutual friend could be more effective for God if he would stop pursuing earthly success so vigorously.

            “That’s it!” you realize, “That’s the problem he has with me. It must’ve gotten back to him, what I said.”

            Just as you’re reaching your hand out to open the door and enter to church lobby, these words come to your mind as if someone is speaking them: “Leave your gift and go.” The Scripture immediately comes to mind. The pastor spoke on it several weeks ago and you ran across it again in your morning Bible reading just the other day.

            It’s unmistakable. You know what you have to do. You turn around and walk back to your car, get in and drive to your offended friend’s house.

“We need to talk.” You say when he answers the door. “I think I must’ve hurt you with something I said about you.”

            Your friend nods his head. “Come on in.”

            You and your friend get out of your car and walk toward the entrance to the church.

            “Thank you.” he says, “this is the first time I’ve actually wanted to go to church in a good while.”

            “I just thank you for forgiving me so quickly.” You say with relief, “I’m sorry I caused you such problems.”

            “It’s not all your fault. I didn’t have to take offense.”

            “Let’s go get our praise on.”

But I [Jesus] say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought to court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

            So, if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:22-24)

This is the third in a 3 part series of significant phenomena in the U.S. over the past 100 years.
A hundred years ago, in 1922, a man named Poplawski created an electric blender. Today, my go-to meal – usually six to eight times a week – is a smoothie, either standing in line at
Smoothie King or collaborating with my wife in the kitchen because she wants one, too. Point is, I’m not the only smoothie lover. Nor are smoothies the only use for blenders. Good work, Mr. Poplawski!

Ninety-five years ago, Ford Motor Company concluded its production of the Model T; Henry
Ford and company had succeeded in individualizing the automobile. Today, I drive one of 289 million cars on the road in the U.S. And some days I’m sure most of them are in front of me at the stoplight.

Ninety years ago, polaroid photography and the zoom lens flashed onto the scene. Now the
most common picture is the selfie. The smart phone is the most oft used camera.

In 1937, eighty-five years ago, the copy machine was invented. Now when I want a copy of
something, I often use one of many ways to get it onto my phone and print it by Bluetooth (oh, but that’s jumping ahead about seventy years).

1942 was the year the electronic digital computer was invented. It occupied a 1,500 square feet room. The one I’m typing on right now occupies my lap.

Three surprises had come along by the end of 1947 (and I don’t mean some couple’s unplanned triplets). I’m referring to the microwave oven, the mobile phone (though not exactly the cell phone), and the holograph. (If you don’t know what that is, just Google it; I did. Fascinating!)

So you get the idea. You can get a good sample of the past century’s technology growth by
peeping in five year increments. And what we see in each thread that’s tied to its future (us) is that it becomes more individualized.
Instead of a family tv, like my family had when I was a kid, the whole family viewing
programming together, each family member has their own screen, so there are as many
different musings being viewed as there are people in the household.

My siblings and I used to play vinyl records on our very big stereo that sat in our living room.
Now everybody has their ear buds in and listens to their chosen music, regardless of how many people are around them or what those people are doing.

Previous generations sat on their front porches, watched passers-by and communed with their neighbors. We sit inside where the AC is cool and “connect” in a different kind of neighborhood on social media.
We’ve gained freedom, individual choice and convenience, but we’ve lost fellowship and
togetherness. Some consider that a good trade; others treasure times when technology was less advanced and we did things together.
We live in a time when access is quick and easy. That we can get the answer to almost any
question in a matter of seconds is a privilege unique in history.
The real question is what should we do with such privilege of access. That answer lies in
Romans 11:36 For everything comes from [God] and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. The technology available to us is neither bad nor good per se. The tendency is to judge it by its use. We should judge it by its potential to bring glory to God. Viewing it through that lens, we see it in a more positive light.
What if we thank God every time we use one of the advanced tools of our age? What if we
consulted God for how we should view and use it? Our perspective on it would change and so would what we do with it.
So God, we thank You for the tools you’ve placed in our lives. When they’re in our hands help us to honor You, to bring glory to you in the way we wield them.
May we cooperate with God as He answers our prayer.

This is the second in a 3 part series of significant phenomena in the U.S. over the past 100
years.

In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul lists what we’ve dubbed the five-fold ministry. These are the five “offices” of leaders in the church (the body of Christ). In other words, they’re the categories into which we can divide ministers to the church to understand their various roles.

When I reflect on the past 100 years in our nation, certain ministers come to mind as
functioning in these various roles. I’m certainly not the final authority on this subject. Many
may disagree with me on several differe nt choices. I wouldn’t put up an argument at all. So if you comment with an opposing view, I won’t respond. I’ll just let it sit. You’d probably be right, anyway. Regardless, here’s my list of representatives of each of the five roles.

1. Apostles

• Chuck Colson – Dr. Colson took the gospel of Jesus Christ into new territory (prisons), organized the ministry, named Prison Fellowship, and raised up other leaders to continue the work beyond his own years. I believe that’s what an apostle does. Apostle really means one sent by God; I believe God purposed Chuck Coleson to transform inmates and prisons in response to the crimes of which Colson was convicted as part of the Nixon Watergate scandal.

• Chuck Smith – Rev. Smith responded to the hippie movement of 1960s California by leading multitudes of young people into a relationship with Jesus. They became known as the Jesus People as part of the Jesus Movement. Eventually Pastor Chuck organized the Calvary Chapel movement, raising up many local pastors, evangelists and local fellowships across the country.

2. Prophets

Martin Luther King, Jr. – Dr. King is one of the most impactful figures on American culture in our nation’s history. I count him a prophet because he challenged injustice across our land by leading civil rights followers with both courageous example and eloquent speech, which is what Old Testament prophets did. And he did so as a minister of the gospel and by the teachings of Jesus (nonviolence). His vision – or dream – was racial equality and interracial love. He wouldn’t settle for resorting to retaliation but held tight the priority of mistreated African Americans not taking on the attitude of the hatred with which they had been treated. The abuse he suffered is also reminiscent of that of the Old Testament
prophets, and with comparable impact, even, as many Bible prophets, to martyrdom . I consider MLK Jr. the prophet to America in the twentieth century.

3. Evangelists

Billy Graham – Dr. Graham preached the gospel in person to more people than anyone in
history. Yet many came to faith in Christ by watching his crusades on TV. There have been many effective evangelists in America, but Billy Graham stands apart from all others as the evangelist to our land in the past one hundred years.

4 & 5. Pastors/Teachers
We’ve had many, many wonderful pastors/teachers these past hundred years, so many that I almost scrapped this blog for my inability to decide whom to exclude. I’m going to list several and include their more specific contributions (in parentheses).This list is a very subjective list, based on my opinion and limited by my own exposure. I know many would disagree with some of my choices and I’m ok with that.

Rick Warren (organizer) – The lead pastor and founder of Saddleback Community Church
constructed the mold for local church structure. His Purpose Driven Church is my favorite on the topic. And his Purpose Driven Life and Forty Days of Purpose have helped millions of individual Jesus followers organize their walk with Christ in an effective Scriptural way.

Tony Evans (teacher & master of the sermon illustration) – Senior Pastor of Oak Cliff Bible
Fellowship in Dallas, Dr. Evans is my favorite Bible teacher/preacher. Whether topical or expository (not necessarily mutually exclusive), his preaching is clear, Scriptural and edifying. His mastery of using relevant illustrations to help listeners understand God’s Word is second, in my opinion only to Jesus Himself. Pastor Evans is also a prolific author. His ministry has crossed racial and cultural lines, doing much to unify a historically divided U.S. church.

I want to include others – though I’ll surely leave out many – who have been used by God to equip many Christians in the U.S. to serve God.

Chuck Swindoll (teacher), Charles & Andy Stanley (teachers), Adrian Rogers (teacher), John Piper (teacher), John McArthur (teacher), TD Jakes (teacher), Joel Osteen (encourager), Craig Groeschel (teacher & innovator of smart phone Bible app), Steven Furtick (teacher),
Joyce Meyer (women, as well as me and other men), James Dobson (family)

Finally, let me not neglect to mention the less-known local pastors across our land. Some of the very best preaching, teaching and ministry of all kinds is carried out by the local pastors and leaders of our local churches. They may not be as widely known, but their impact may actually be even greater than the list of well-knowns I’ve made above.

Dear God, thank You for every person named and unnamed here! Please bless them all and all of us whom they’ve so faithfully equipped!

This is the first in a 3 part series of significant phenomena in the U.S. over the past 100 years.
In the past 100 Years, there are eight athletes that, in my opinion, stand out above all others. I’ll name and elaborate on them here.

But first, let me name a few that don’t quite make the list – but receive honorable mention – and explain why they didn’t break into The Great 8.

Tiger Woods. Tiger was on track to prove himself the best golfer ever, but his legacy imploded in 2009, along with his personal life, when his infidelity was discovered. He hasn’t been the same since. Never able, even in his best years, to pull beyond comparisons with Jack Nicklaus and other greats from previous generations, his 2009 implosion derailed him from what seemed his likely destiny of being the winner of more majors than Jack and more tournaments than anybody . Still, I’m not saying Tiger hasn’t been the best golfer ever. I happen to think he has. But he lacks longevity and needed it badly to make The Great 8 list.

Wilt Chamberlain. Before Lebron James came along, there were debates about who the all-
time best basketball player was. Wilt or Russel? Wilt or Kareem? Wilt or Doc? Wilt or Magic? Wilt or Michael? Notice Wilt was always in the conversation. Michael finally ended the debate in my mind (although it still goes on for some). Wilt receives honorable mention for two big reasons. First, he did more than any player in history to change the game from a rules and regs standpoint. For example, they widened the lane because he could practically straddle the old one. And they instituted offensive goaltending as a rule so his opponents might have a chance for some defensive boards. The second reason Wilt gets honorable mention is the records he set. I seriously wonder if any of these will ever be broken: Most points in a game (100); Most points in a half (59); Most points per game in a season (50.4) Most minutes per game in a season (48.5). That’s just 4 of Wilt’s records. There are 68 more that he still holds. His reason for not cracking The Great 8? He didn’t win as many championships as Michael, Russell, Kareem, Magic or Bird. More championships would’ve elevated his legacy, for sure.

Michael Phelps. The most dominant swimmer in history, Phelps shattered Mark Spitz’s records of the 1972 Olympics. Not only is he the most decorated swimmer, but the most decorated Olympian of all time. He has more medals (28), more gold medals (23) than any athlete, and a host of records in specific events and in swimming in general. Perhaps Phelps would make The Great 8 if he competed in a different sport. That logic may be lame, but it’s all I’ve got, sorry. I’m not a sports writer. Just an average fan. And I don’t swim very well. Sorry, Michael.

Bo Jackson. That Bo is mentioned after having had such a relatively short career says a lot by itself. He was a professional athlete less than four years, but excelled in two professional sports. He’s the only player to ever be named an all-star in both major league baseball and the NFL. His combination of strength and speed set him apart from other players in both sports. It’s crazy that he doesn’t make The Great 8, because it could be argued that he was the greatest athlete of all time when you consider his strength-speed combination.. But it’s simply his brevity that disqualifies him. Although he may have had the strongest throwing arm in baseball history, could either and/or both run over and/or outrun would be NFL tacklers and was freakish in some of his exploits, his career-ending hip injury in his fourth pro season grounded him as an athlete. Still, I see Bo as someone not unlike the heroes of ancient mythology. If Hercules or Odysseus had been real and living in the twentieth century, that’s Bo Jackson. I’m not worried that Bo would be offended by my snub from The Great 8 (like he’d ever know of it anyway), because in terms of where he stands in history, I feel confident of this: Bo knows.

Lebron James. When Lebron first came into the league, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I remember saying he had the athleticism of MJ and the skillset of Magic with Karl Malone’s body. It was frightening for all his league-mates. As for the reason he didn’t make The Great 8, it’s simple. While he’s the most complete individual player ever (He can play all five positions at both ends.), like Wilt, he lacks the championships.

And now here are The Great 8 in chronological order.

1. Babe Ruth. A hundred years ago, Ruth was already in the eighth season of his MLB
   career. But he wasn’t near its end; he still had thirteen more seasons to go. He’s easily
   the most famous baseball player in history. Even a hundred years after the prime of his
   career, everybody is familiar with the legend of the Babe. Many still consider him the
   best ever. But Babe isn’t on this list just because he’s the best-ever baseball player. It’s because he was, and still is, bigger than baseball. Like all the athletes here, he transcended his sport.

2. Muhammed Ali. The Greatest? Greatest what? Greatest boxer? I think so. But many
   don’t. Some say he didn’t have a bona fide knockout punch as a heavy weight. I’ll
   concede that. But his agility, mobility, boxing skill and hand speed offset that deficiency;
   they gave him the ability to wear down his opponents and jab away until he was able to
   deliver the knockout blow. And he still had enough fuel in the tank in the later rounds
   because of his superior cardio condition. But two other factors may have been more
   effective for him than any of his physical abilities: his mind and his mouth. So intelligent
   and innovative was he that he could utilize a winning strategy nobody had ever seen
   before and make history with it, i.e. the rope-a-dope, and that was after his prime when
   his cardio and foot speed had waned somewhat.

3. Pele. 1970s North Carolina had three primary sports for boys: basketball, football
   (American, not futbol) and baseball, and we were separated from any other sport by a
   wall as strong as the one running through Berlin and the one protecting China. A fourth
   sport, hockey, was popular in some regions, but not in the South, where the only ice we
   had was in our glass of sweet tea. Yet Pele broke through this great wall of separation
   and ushered in with him this sport that has now become equally popular with the
   traditional sports across the US. Without Pele, that doesn’t happen.

4. Secretariat. So phenomenal was this horse, the first triple crown winner (in 1973) in
   twenty-five years, that he is considered by consensus to be the greatest racehorse in
   history. He still holds the record for the fastest time in all three Triple Crown races. The
   last of those three races, the Preakness, he won by an astounding thirty-one lengths. I
   was ten years old that summer and I remember the overwhelming buzz around this
   horse. People were talking about him at school, at home, at church and on tv and my
   world wasn’t even a horse racing culture.

5. Michael Jordan. Michael did three big things: 1. He restored the image of NBA players
   to a more respectable – even admirable – one. 2. He did for basketball what Pele had
   done for soccer, achieving global acceptance of the sport. 3. He changed the way the
   game was played; the NBA is now about finding the mismatch and exploiting it with
   isolation (Michael always created the mismatch, something many others have wrongly
   assumed they also do); it’s allowed great individual players to shine, but it’s also
   exposed many players as being not as dominant as they wished they were. Michael’s
   athleticism, skill and style were huge for his legacy, but if I’m pointing to a stat that
   proves he’s the GOAT, it’s that he won more regular season MVPs and finals MVPs
   combined than any other player ever (11, and the next closest is 8). That tells me he was
   the best player and leader on the most successful teams, and he was the main reason
   for those teams’ success. And we haven’t even mentioned his college and Olympics success.

6. Serena Williams. Power. Power. And more Power. And without sacrificing quickness,
   touch in volleying or placement of the ball with any type of shot. Serena is simply the
   greatest women’s tennis player ever. She’s Stephi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris
   Evert all rolled into one. And you know what? Go ahead and throw a little Roger Federer
   in the mix too – just because she could probably have competed on the men’s tour.
   (Easy now, guys, not saying she’d win, but she could stay on the tour with the men.)

7. Usain Bolt. How do sprinters inch forward over decades, breaking records by only one
   to three percent increase each time, and then have a guy come along suddenly running
   twenty percent faster than the current record? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I know that’s exactly what Bolt has done. And how is it that that guy’s named Bolt? Talk about the power of a name! I just don’t think he’d have done what he’s done if his name was, say, Creeper. Or maybe he would.

8. Tom Brady. I thought Brady was just a major cog in the workings of a winning machine.
   A machine that had to include Belecek. Then Brady went to Tampa and led that team to
   a Super Bowl victory. To me, that says it all. He’s not only the best QB ever. He’s the best
   FP (football player) ever.

So that’s my Great 8. My blog isn’t usually about sports. It’s purpose is to bring honor and credit to Jesus Christ. So before I sign off, let me do that with this prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gifts You gave these athletes and the way You have used them to inspire millions, even billions, in my generation! They are, like the other greatests of your creation, representations of how great You are, Oh Creator of all!

I turned thirty-nine this week. I was born in the first hour (just after midnight) on
October 11, 1983. It was then that I surrendered my life to Jesus and was born…again.

Many would say that, at that point in my life I was already a supremely privileged person, and I wouldn’t disagree. I was a twenty-one year old white man, so I was in the most privileged classes of gender and race, plus I was in the prime of my life physically at age twenty-one and, although I didn’t realize it at the time, I was in the days of less responsibility and more freedom than at any time in my life, because I was a full-time college student. But at the moment of my rebirth in Christ, my status jumped to the most privileged ever in the universe. I became a son of the Almighty Creator, Savior, Deliverer and Sovereign Judge.

The original text in certain New Testament passages is often “son”, even though many
English versions use “sons and daughters” or “children” in those cases. Galatians 4:6 is an example of that. Modern translations expand the terms to be sure readers understand that females are as privileged in Christ as males are. I’m glad those versions use more inclusive terminology because nobody needs to feel less or more privileged in Christ than anyone else is. Galatians 3:28 takes care of that point for us by clarifying that neither ethnicity, religious background, social status nor gender means anything in Christ. It was important for those early Christians to understand that because, in their culture, sons, not daughters, were the recipients of their fathers’ inheritances. In Jesus we are all equally and supremely privileged. That doesn’t mean God levels all playing fields for Christians. Just as Jesus didn’t solve the Roman-oppression problem, the slavery issue or the problem of male dominance in first century Palestine culture, we shouldn’t expect Him to relieve all forms of injustice in our culture. What He did in the past, and still does today, is help us navigate our difficulties in a way that evidences His power to personally overcome any challenge.

If you’re a person who’s fed up with unfair classes of privilege, there’s one place – and
only one place – you’ll ever find remedy. You won’t see worldly systems fixed; what you’ll see is inner power to deal with troubles in this age and a complete and perfect culture in all these ways in the age after this one. Eternity with Jesus will be the great equalizer where all have received eternal life because of our faith in Christ. This world can’t handle real equality; only Heaven can contain such goodness. Jesus said you can’t put new wine into old wineskins, and this unfair privilege issue is another in a long list of issues to which that analogy applies. We’ll find the new wineskins in our Spirit-filled hearts and in eternal Heaven. For the latter we need patience and for the former we need to walk in the Spirit.
Finally, please understand that, if you haven’t received the supreme privilege of being a
son of God, like the invited guests to the great banquet of Luke 14, you have only to accept
Jesus’ invitation.

And because we are His sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts,
prompting us to call out, “Abba Father.” – Galatians 4:6

There is no longer Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male and female. For all are one in
Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:28

A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. – Luke 14:16

It’s time for the first ever Tew Awards for TV & Film Production. The reason these awards
have never been given, no ceremony ever been held, is that completely unqualified is the
creator and judge of the awards. But why should that stop me? The show must go on.
This year’s awards all go to The Chosen, since it’s the first and/or best of its kind, in
many senses of the word, in human history. My ignorance will be exposed as I write this, but
I’m so excited that something as phenomenal as The Chosen is happening in my lifetime that, dang-it, I’m just writing it anyway. Here are the twelve (same as the number of Jesus’ apostles and tribes of Israel) awards going to The Chosen.

1. Best Ever Depiction of Jesus Christ in Any Medium. It seems to me you have to have a
   complete team, with all cylinders pumping, to pull off the Jesus The Chosen pulled off.
   Two men made up most of that team, writer and director Dallas Jenkins and actor
   Jonathan Roumie. Still there were crews and a cast, any of whom could have made it
   more or less difficult to capture Jesus of Nazareth the way they did. Not very
   knowledgeable about the process of making a show like The Chosen, I am an observant
   viewer of many portrayals of Jesus over the years. In my mind, although many have
   done it well, there isn’t a close second to the Jesus of The Chosen.

2. Best Treatment of Women in a Scripture-based Work. Every other production of a
   Biblical narrative I’ve ever seen has given women less dignity than they’ve given the
   men. But The Chosen shows how Jesus would’ve treated them in the context of first
   century Palestinian Jewish culture. He honors and respects them, and Jenkins gives the
   female characters more true to life character traits than other productions have. For
   example, Mary of Magdala, who follows Jesus right along with the male disciples, is
   often the one contributing the most wisdom in the disciples’ conversations. It’s very
   refreshing. The women in my life – my wife, mother, sisters, daughters and friends –
   have often been voices of wisdom for me. Why wouldn’t that have been the case in any
   generation, including Jesus’? Some other productions have stuffed female characters
   into images to fit fundamental stereotypes, including sexualizing them. So it’s nice to
   see women like Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ mother Mary and Simon’s wife Eden portrayed
   as wise, godly, yet still lovely female characters. And that description would fit every
   prominent female character in The Chosen.

3. Best Use of Creative Backstory for Scriptural Narrative. This is one of The Chosen’s
   greatest strengths. The backstory it established for Mary, whom the Bible says was
   delivered from seven demons, sets forth a scenario to consider, as does the one
   established about Simon’s need for a miraculous catch of fish after trying unsuccessfully
   himself all night before meeting Jesus. And Nathanael’s reason for being under the fig
   tree, why it was significant that Jesus saw him there, is a masterful creative suggestion.
   Also, why did Matthew just follow Jesus straightway from his tax booth when He called
   him? The Chosen backdrops a story that would answer that question, as it also does questions we’ve had as we read about the Samaritan woman at the well. After watching these episodes, you’ll never read those passages the same again.

4. Best Ever Para-Scripture Resource. The best-selling book in history, after the Bible, is
   John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. My son, Sidney, says The Chosen is the Pilgrim’s
   Progress of this era. I concur, but I’ll take it a giant step further. I believe history will
   prove that The Chosen eclipses Pilgrim’s Progress as the best ever work that is Scriptural
   but not Scripture itself. It does have the advantage of benefitting from a medium (tv)
   that wasn’t available to Bunyan. And even though it’s visual in nature, I’d put the sheer
   writing up against any Christian literary work.
5. Best Connector of Historical or Biblical Culture to Viewers’ Culture. It seems a
   challenge creators of period pieces always have is how to bridge across the cultural
   language barriers. Our culture is filled with idioms, like “pushing someone’s buttons”,
   meaning “getting a reaction out of someone.” Obviously, that expression didn’t exist in
   first Century Palestine, especially in Aramaic or Greek, since it derives from pressing a
   button in the tech age to cause a certain function. But “You know which buttons to push
   with Thro [a character in a Jericho tavern]” is a line out of The Chosen. To me it’s a good
   use of a modern US English idiom to accurately portray banter in that particular scene.
   There are many others. The writer is clearly careful and intentional in the use of idiom
   throughout the series. He does it very well. It communicates to our culture what was in
   theirs. And that’s what good period pieces do well.
6. Best Ever Multi-season TV Series. Until The Chosen, my favorite series was The Andy
   Griffith Show. I still love it, especially being a lifelong North Carolinian, but The Chosen
   has firmly bumped it into second. This Is Us is number three on my list. There are lots of
   good series now, like Call the Midwife, Turn – Washington Spies and others. But The
   Chosen stands head and shoulders above all others when you consider all the elements
   of a show.
7. Best Ever Christian Production. Admittedly, I prioritize message over acting, production
   and other factors. We have six kids – four Millennials and two Gen Zs, plus two
   Millennial daughters-in-law. Typically, I’ll judge a movie or series good if it has a strong
   Christian message or theme and my kids will argue the quality of other factors is lacking,
   often using words and phrases like cheesy, not-believable acting or predictable stories.
   And they usually help me see their points. Not so, though, with The Chosen. It’s strong in
   every single element and, as far as I know, my kids agree with me.
8. Best Writing. I’m not sure how they divvied up the writing in their collaboration. Tyler
   Thompson and Ryan Swanson are listed as cowriters along with Dallas Jenkins.
   Regardless of who did what, everything comes through with the utmost quality and
   clarity, and I’ve heard the actors and crew members say only good about the script.
9. Best Casting. I believe Amanda Jenkins, Dallas’ wife, was in charge of casting. And she
   nailed it! Every actor seems absolutely perfect for their role. I simply don’t know how
   they could have cast the show any better.
10. Best Actor in a Lead Role. Jonathan Roumie makes Jesus a real and believable person;
    he also somehow captures his divinity, which Jonathan admits to not understanding
    how to do. The final product is simply the most accurate Jesus, according to my
    hopefully Scripture-based image of Jesus, any actor has ever portrayed.

11. Best actor in a Supporting Role. This is a tough one. Every actor is amazing; they all
draw the viewer into their characters. I’ve cried tears and shared in the gamut of every
characters’ emotions. I guess the real point is that The Chosen has the top six or eight
supporting actors ever in a production (After them come Don Knotts and Ronnie
Howard.) I’m not making two categories, just one, including males and females. It seems
in keeping with the equal treatment of the genders by the show. I have to be careful to
not merely choose the character I like, but look more at the acting, which, again, I’m
probably unqualified to judge. I love the characters of Little James and Thaddeus.
Shahar Isaac (Simon) is definitely a nominee, as are Austin Reed Alleman (Nathanael),
Erick Avari (Nicodemas) and Vanessa DeSilvio (Photina). So is Paras Patel (Matthew); I
consider Paras the runner up….. And the winner is…. Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary
Magdalene!

12. Most Spirit Anointed Production. I’m reluctant to make this twelfth category a
competitive one. I don’t believe God would have us look at it that way. I’m definitely not
qualified to judge who or what project is more anointed by God’s Spirit than other
Christian projects. But let me just say it like this. I receive heart-level ministry from God
every time I watch The Chosen. And I watch an episode as part of my daily devotions almost every morning. On the merit of having included the Holy Spirit so obviously in the making of every scene, The Chosen deserves the highest possible recognition.

If you haven’t seen The Chosen, please watch it asap. Download the app on any device. (The Chosen is the name of the app.) The show has its own app, and it’s free. Everything about the show is free, although you can donate to it, since it’s completely crowd funded. But binge watch seasons 1 and 2, so you’ll be ready for season 3 whenever it comes out. Hopefully soon!

The one trait that sets Christianity apart (or should) from every other religion, philosophy and belief system is grace. Grace is simply the undeserved favor God generously offers everyone willing to accept Jesus Christ as God’s Son sent to save us from our sin problem. Every other religion/system is predicated on getting what we deserve and, therefore, earning what we want and need. 

Judaism, the very system from which Jesus, a Jew, brought freedom after fulfilling its requirements and its prophecies is built on the Law of Moses, which delineates consequences for each violation of one of its 613 laws. In Hinduism and Buddhism, Karma assures justice is served, even if it takes multiple generations through reincarnation to accomplish it. Crimes and punishments under Islamic Sharia law dictate very strict dos and don’ts, with the harshest of resulting punishments, especially for women. Those are the big three besides Christianity, and as we journey through the other less known systems we don’t find anything resembling the grace of Jesus.

There really is a constant string of surprising pieces of good news as a Jesus follower walks out their faith with Jesus. What makes it so surprising is the “you-get-what-you-deserve” environment we all come from and must continue to walk through. Grace surprises me everyday and it’s been doing it for almost forty years now. (I came to Christ in 1983.)

​Grace is the favor of God (FOG) and all us recipients of life in Christ walk in it, often without even knowing it. It’s so counterintuitive to our original nature, so foreign to our current culture, that we scarcely believe or recognize it. 

​Grace will always be foreign to whatever culture exists in this world – that is, until Jesus reigns those one thousand years on the earth. That shouldn’t surprise us. But the FOG shouldn’t be counterintuitive to those walking in it, to those who have accepted God’s grace by accepting Jesus. Anyone who doesn’t recognize the FOG, will never live as a DOG.

​A DOG is exactly the life God wants for us. One of the main ideas Jesus tried to instill in His disciples, and the Spirit tries to instill in us modern age disciples, is that we are to dispense what has been so lavishly poured out to us. I am to be a dispenser of grace (DOG)

​ Jesus said people would know his followers by the love we have for one another…we are to love our enemies, those who mistreat us…it’s no longer eye for eye, tooth for tooth, but give another chance to the one who just slapped you in the face…don’t repay evil with evil but give even more to the one who just stole from you…don’t stone the adulterer but let them go without condemnation and help them where they need help…don’t help only the ones who can repay you, but precisely the ones who can’t and leave it to God to repay whatever recompense there’ll be. 

​This idea is radical, and that’s exactly the point. FOG is foreign to this world, but a DOG can change that. Imagine what an entire worldwide church of us can do.

​I must say, lest I be a hypocrite, that I am not the model DOG. I’m definitely still orienting to the concept. But God has taught me that, while writing about, or preaching about, something may not make me exemplary in it, it must challenge me to apply it along with – yea, ahead of – my readers/listeners. So His Spirit is giving me individualized directions as I’m typing. Will you join me by seeking Him for yours? I’ll be your DOG; will you be mine? After all, we are in the FOG.

I turned sixty this week. To do battle against the idea that I’m now officially old I wanted to do something epic (for me, at least).

Since I’ve always had a fear of heights, I thought skydiving would be a good way to finally face and conquer that fear. So several months ago, I made a decision and commitment to go skydiving on my birthday. Well, three of my four sons (and Luke would’ve been there if it’d been possible, and with much less fear than I had) surprised me on the eve of the skydive by showing up at my house and announcing they were doing it with me. I was touched. Touched by both their gesture of support and the hardening reality that I was actually going to jump out of an airplane the next morning. 

Once on the plane, I sat fearful five feet from the doorway into the arid blue sky. Rock-paper-scissors had providentially determined that I go first. Terrified at the idea of rising and taking the two steps to the threshold, I searched my mind for any comforting thought. I rejected thoughts of parachutes not opening, becoming detached from my instructor and a thousand other ideas designed to strip me of my courage. Then it came: if Jesus can forgive all my sins and take me into His eternal kingdom, He can certainly take care of me as I do this thing that people do everyday. I knew it was a Scriptural truth but the actual verse was too vague in my mind for me to remember. Chris, the instructor who would tether himself to me and expertly assure all went well on the dive (and whom I thank from the bottom of my heart for making it as smooth and easy as possible for me), said to me, “Just hold your hands close to your chest; be sure to not stick your hands out as you go through the doorway.” As I rose, stepped forward and placed my feet on the threshold, my hand instinctively went up onto the wall above the doorway. 

Nothing in me wanted to exit that plane. Chris politely pulled my hand down and nudged me forward. I leaned forward and off we went into the wild blue yonder. 

It was nothing like what I anticipated. I expected serenefloating in the sky. But it was loud, hectic and chaotic. Chris pointed out geographical features down below as we rushedtoward our drop zone target, but I was distracted by all the wind noise to really take in what he was saying to me.

Soon after he opened our chute I became nauseous and dizzy. I told Chris how I was feeling, so he took it easy the rest of the way down, making as few turns and spins as possible.

Still, by the time we landed I was weak and white as a sheet. My co-divers, my three sons, helped me to the seating area, since my knees were weak and my legs shakey.

So my skydiving experience wasn’t what I hoped it would be. I envisioned myself standing strong and tall, having conquered my fear by heroically jumping from a plane and landing on the ground in the posture of a Marvel character. Instead, I cowardly leaned out of the opening of the plane, somehow survived my anxiety throughout the fall and landed on weak legs and groped for someone to help me back to the hanger. I was embarrassed.

I didn’t really feel like I accomplished my goal of overcoming my fear of heights. But I think I did accomplish something else. I soon searched and found the verse of Scripture I needed that would help me put my day into perspective. It was Romans 8:32, and it’s simple logic. If God has done something as great as sending His Son to die for us, which of our smaller needs would He be unwilling to meet? 

My plan is to remember my skydiving sixtieth birthday experience and Romans 8:32 to remind me that God will always take care of my needs, whatever they are, since He’s taken care of my greatest need via the cross. Whether my need is for courage, peace, provision, protection, or whatever, it’s smaller than the gigantic need He’s already met through the greatest act of sacrifice in history. That’s the promise of Romans 8:32, and it’s more reliable than the strongest of parachutes and the best of skydiving instructors (which would be Chris).

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

All of us who were old enough remember the tragedy of 9/11. The Twin Towers in New
York were destroyed and the Pentagon in DC was badly damaged by three highjacked
commercial passenger planes. A fourth plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The death toll, including the passengers on the planes as well as the people in the targeted buildings, was nearly 3,000. Each of those three thousand people whose lives were so sadly cut short left behind loved ones whose unspeakable pain continues today, more than twenty years later. In fact, people across America and even the world felt the pain of that terrible day’s loss. It was the most tragic national event of my lifetime.

On the heels of that horrible day in 2001, was another day, not of terror but disappointing nonetheless, that not many remember or even recognized. It was the third Sunday after 9/11. Vivid in my memory are the worship services on 9/16 and 9/23. Those were
the two Sundays immediately following 9/11, and churches all across our nation were packed. I remember the sentiment of the day as everyone turned to God for comfort and answers. We were hurting and confused, and for two weeks we were keenly aware of our need for God.

But that third week something happened. We were suddenly okay. Not really, we only thought we were. And by 9/30 the desperation was noticeably absent. The masses’ hunger for God was short-lived. Church attendance was back to pre-9/11 numbers. I remember being in our worship sanctuary, expecting to see those same people who had attended the previous two Sundays, but they weren’t there. I was far more surprised at their return to life as usual than I had been at their rush to find God’s comforting presence two weeks earlier. That we would run to God in the wake of national calamity made sense; to become disinterested so quickly did not. How quickly apathy had supplanted our anguish.
Jesus said “I didn’t come for the righteous but for sinners…It’s the sick who need a
doctor, not the healthy…blessed are the poor in spirit/those who mourn/the persecuted…for theirs is the kingdom of God/they shall be comforted/great is their reward.” The poor in spirit are those who are aware of their need for God and are willing to seek Him out as beggars to get His help. Those who mourn are they who are fervently aware of loss and depend on God for comfort and restoration. The persecuted, those who have been wrongly harmed. 9/11 left behind people in all three of those categories. We knew we needed help, and for a mere three weeks we turned to God for it.
For two weeks our national personhood was poor in spirit, mourning, sick, stinging from
terrorist attacks. But then…it wasn’t. It was fine without God.
The world’s biggest problem can be summed up in this attitude: we believe we’re fine
without God. America demonstrated it in the three-week aftermath of 9/11. And most of us
demonstrate it every time we hit a crisis; we seek God for comfort, but then end that pursuit prematurely. I’m certainly guilty of it, and I propose that we all are because it’s a natural desirefor us to assume ourselves self-sufficient.

I’ve read through the Old Testament several times. Every time something that’s jumped
out at me is how quickly a generation of Israelites could forget God, despite His recent
intervention, and become dependent on some idol, a false god or their own strength. Now I’m not at all saying the 9/11 attacks were God’s intervention. Some well-meaning but off-base preachers proclaimed the attacks were God’s judgment on a nation that had turned its back on God. I don’t believe that. What I believe most ardently about the 9/11 attacks is that God will somehow use them (and already has used them) to bring about something good for those who love Him and embrace His purposes (Romans 8:28). And I believe those attacks should have caused us to turn to God for help and healing, relentlessly pursuing Him for the rest of our vulnerable lives. Even though we can’t blame Him for those murders, we could and should give Him our humble and complete attention, not for blame but for help. When we turn our attention away from God it’s usually a gradual process. We’re usually like the proverbial cold- blooded frog in the pot of tepid water on the stove. We aren’t thrown into water already boiling; rather, we’re sitting in comfortable water, and eventually, when it’s too late, realize we’re being boiled to death.

I understand that we can be mesmerized into destruction. What puzzles me is how relatively short the mesmerizing is, how soon we can self destruct. In the Old Testament, scenarios usually involved a generation or longer – though some were far shorter than that – before God’s people realized they had done a one-eighty from Him. The speediest one I can think of was during the generation that wondered through the wilderness for forty years. It was a mere three days of travelling after God had performed the most famous miracle in pre-Messiah history – the parting of the Red Sea. In three short days the Israelites had taken on an attitude of faithlessness and complained against God and Moses. Little did they know, God already had a plan to give them the fresh drinking water they needed. So as is always the case, turning their hearts defiantly away from God proved futile.

I recently had an old friend call me. He’d had a near death experience. Emergency
medical workers had to use CPR on him. Fortunately, he revived after a single chest
compression. It got him thinking about the brevity of life and being prepared for what’s next. We texted back and forth for several days, looking for an opportunity to get together. By the time we met for lunch, about two weeks after he first called, he was no longer interested in discussing eternity. I was very disappointed. I felt like the incident a couple weeks before woke him to the most important things, and by the time we got to talk, he’d fallen back asleep. He’s still in my prayers and I’ll continue to try to be there whenever he’s interested again. I hope that interest is sparked again, hopefully this time without a medical emergency.
I certainly have no room to pass judgment. I know I frustrated people who worked so
patiently through prayer and persuasion to help me come to Christ. And even since God gave me life and His very Spirit I’ve had frustrating patterns of cooling off in my devotion to Him.
Nevertheless, whether it’s we as a nation, my old friend, or I myself, the problem of
apathy toward such a powerful and loving God is unfortunate. Our solution? Like David, we
should hide God’s Word in our hearts, so that we won’t sin against Him. What Word? Here’s a good one:

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

It’s been a long time since I was single. Seems like single life was a whole separate
existence before this one. One thing I remember about it is how hard – at times frustrating – it was to find mutual attraction. It seemed like most girls I was interested in weren’t interested in me. And many of the girls who showed interest in me, did not appeal to me. So there was this ongoing frustration of a yearning never satisfied.

therooster.com (a site I’ve never read or even heard of, but came up when I searched
“odds of finding your soul mate”) says “the odds of finding your soul mate during your lifetime are 1 in 10,000 [but]that figure doesn’t take into account the fact that 9,891 of those people probably live in a place you’ll never conceivably go.
Now I’m not one to think in terms of odds for something like finding the person you’ll
spend your life with. I was just curious what would come up in a search. “Odds” are never valid anyway when you factor in God, and it’s far less stressful for us to trust Him to lead us to the person He’d like us to marry.
But I’m not really writing today about inter-human love.

God’s Word tells us that He loves us so much that He gave up His only Son to die for us.
It tells the stories of a shepherd who found his lost sheep and rejoiced, a woman who found her single lost coin and invited her friends over to celebrate, a dad whose wayward son returned home to him and the dad threw a fattened-calf-killing celebration and that shook the neighborhood. All these parables, found in Luke 17, express the love God has for us and the joy He has when one of us accepts His invitation to join Him.
God has never been incomplete, like we often feel in our single days, but it’s clear in
Scripture that He has yearned to have intimate fellowship with us ever since humankind was separated from Him by the sin of the first two of us.
Ever since then, throughout human history, He has loved us with a longing we could never
completely understand but could only remotely fathom by that feeling we’ve all had of deeply, and for a long time, loving someone who didn’t love us back.

I remember the joy that came over me as I realized the girl I’d longed for, for a long
time, was actually also interested in me. She worked in her parents’ Christian bookstore, and I first went in to buy my first Bible soon after coming to Christ. Subsequently, I went in about every week or so and bought a lot of books I never actually read. I’d go in just to see her. Eventually, I mustered the courage to invite her to go on a date. When she accepted I was ecstatic. As we went out a second and third time, and so on, I fell ever more deeply in love with her, and it became apparent that she loved me back. I enjoyed a satisfaction like I’d never really had before.

It must be like that for God concerning us. He waited, longingly for more than twenty-
one years before I would respond to His love, millennia for humankind in general. Finally, after really seeing His love for me, somehow for the first time, I loved Him back. According to the Bible, the day I loved Him back, He was so overjoyed that He threw a Heaven-wide celebration. The one He loved finally loved Him back! Imagine that: the sovereign Creator of the universe could hardly contain Himself because His love for me was requited at last.

In closing, two things:

1. Please don’t get the idea that I think I’m more loved by God than any other person.
   God has the ability to – and actually does – love each of us as if there were only one
   of us. He’s as joyful over you as He is over anyone.
2. If you haven’t come to the place in your life of loving God back, please know that He’ll be absolutely thrilled when you do. You have the power to make God happy.