Lessons from Uganda Part II – I Will Never Leave You!

We have all been in those situations where we need to be reminded that God is somehow with us during our times of need. Brent continues his story by sharing how God provided encouragement to his wife Leah, when she needed it most!

I find Leah and said, “Babe, can you and Lilly go get some food at that little market right there?”

She heads off to the market and I step back into the police station. By now all of the officers have left except for one – Nelson.

“Nelson, can I stay here all night, sleeping in front of this door?”

“Yes, you can. And when your madam returns, I can let your son out into the lobby here and you can all eat together.”

“Thank you so much.”

I tell Bo the plan up to this point through the door and let him know I am going to make some phone calls. I start calling everyone I can think of that might have some sort of wisdom, experience or pull in this situation. Then someone mentions the US Consulate. Great idea! I just so happened to have the US embassy’s emergency phone number in my phone. I saw it on a piece of paper when I was at the embassy a few weeks ago getting a Texas DPS document notarized for my daughter Amy.

“You have reached the US embassy in Kampala, Uganda. We are currently closed. If you are an American citizen and you are having a serious emergency, please press one.” Of course, I pressed one and anxiously awaited someone to pick up the phone. A very nice gentlemen picked up the phone and asked me what my emergency was. I explained to him the situation and he promptly sent me through to another gentleman.

“Special Ops. Agent ________. How can I help you?” I explained the situation again. He reassuredly explained to me that this is not right and ended the conversation with, “I will call you right back… and we will get your son out tonight.”

As I hung up the phone, I was starting to get a bit worried why Leah hadn’t shown up yet. She had been gone longer than it should take to get a bit of food. She later told me that she was crying in the store as she was gathering things up. As she went to pay, another customer in line straight up asked her if she could pray for her. Leah told her briefly what was happening, and the clerk shared that the same thing happened to her father – wrongly accused and thrown in jail. After a month her dad was released, and everything is fine now. A month? Leah thought, I could barely handle a night. Oh God, please release my son. The customer shared their journey of getting him out and how God had used this situation to bring others in jail to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Then she encouraged Leah that it would be OK. They prayed together outside the store and my wife was so thankful for this angel who encouraged her in a dark hour. About the time I felt I needed to send someone to go find Leah, she shows back up. Once again, we are all together.

I have always been convinced that God does his best work through people. Leah is a great woman of faith and has always known that God was with her but as Dr. Henry Blackaby says, “There is a world of difference between knowing something to be true in your head and experiencing the reality in your life.” In that moment of despair God put a total stranger in her path to remind her that God was with her when she needed him most. May you experience and be encouraged in knowing that God is with you today.

Lessons from Uganda Part I – I Will Never Leave You!

Malaria, spitting cobras, and a host of other deadly critters affect daily life for those living in Uganda. As dangerous as those animals are, another danger to avoid is a Ugandan jail. In this three-part installment, I have asked my long-time friend Pastor Brent Phillips, CEO of Cherish Uganda, to share a real-life example of a father not leaving his son. I hope as you read this harrowing tale you will be reminded of God’s faithfulness and how he promises to never leave us.

“They are going to put Bo in jail.”

The phone call comes from my wife Leah around 6:45, “Bo pulled onto Entebbe Road after we thought the presidential convoy had finished going through, but it hadn’t. He was pulled over and now they want to impound the car. Can you come and get us?”

Bo and Leah had taken one of our staff girls to the doctor and were on their way back. They just so happened to be on the same road at the same time that Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were travelling from the airport into town.

Typically, if you are pulled over by a traffic cop in Uganda they either take your license or impound your car, or both, to insure that you will pay your traffic fine. Once the fine is paid you can get your license and/or car back. I hopped in our other car and headed up the road to go and get them. About 15 min. later I receive another call from Leah, through tears she says to me. “They are going to put Bo in jail.”

“What?”

She repeats, “They are going to put Bo in jail.” I tell her I will be there soon and start accelerating through the traffic.

I pull up to the police station, enter and see my wife seated in a chair in front of a desk, crying. Bo is surrounded by 4 or 5 police officers and I start asking questions:

“What did my son do wrong?”

“Why do you need to detain him?”

“Isn’t this just a traffic violation?”

“Who is in charge?”

All of these questions go unanswered. I then look to a man who is writing a report and ask him if we could work something out. He gives me the phone number of the head of traffic in Kampala and says this is the man I must deal with. I immediately call him. He answers the phone right away.

“My name is Brent Phillips and you are holding my son Bo Phillips…”

He cuts me off, “His actions were a breach of national security and I cannot allow it to stand. He interrupted a convoy of his Excellency, the President of Uganda and your secretary.” Click…

This can’t be happening. Does he think Bo is a “breach of security?” Is he looking at my 18 year old son and my crying wife thinking they have planned an attack that he has now foiled and Bo will have to pay the price? I start pleading with the officers in the station.

“Can I stay in jail in his place?”

“No, you are not the offender.”

“Can I stay in there with him?”

“No, you did not commit a crime.”

They go on to explain to me that he will go to court tomorrow and he will be prosecuted then. Prosecuted?!? The men start pushing Bo toward the cell. Leah’s cries get louder, Bo looks at me with fear in his eyes and I am pleading with God asking what I should do. I tell the men I need to see the cell before you put my boy in there.

“Fine.”

It is a dark empty room with no one in it. There is a light bulb hanging from a wire coming out of the ceiling, but it doesn’t work. There is a window with bars on it and a locked steel door that leads to the outside with a rusty hole in the bottom.

The officers ask Bo to take off his shoes, his belt and empty his pockets. They put him in the room and shut the door. I will never forget the look on his face as the door closed. I tell Leah to wait there in the lobby and I immediately run around the building to that window I saw. I call out Bo’s name and kneel down to the rusty hole in the door. He is already kneeling there. Up to this point Bo had been so full of courage and strength, even comforting Leah in the lobby. But now, I am looking into the eyes of my son and he isn’t 18 anymore – He looks like he is 10. We start praying through that rusty hole, asking God for strength, courage and freedom. I say Amen and Bo looks deep into my soul and says, “Dad, don’t leave me.”

“Bo, I am not leaving this place. I will be sleeping in front of this door or the other door until you are out of here.”

May you be encouraged and reminded that just as this earthly father would never leave his son, so to will our Heavenly Father never leave you…no matter what situation you are currently facing.

You Know What I am Really Like

There is a story in the Old Testament that captures an exchange between God and King David. At the time David expressed a strong desire to build a temple for God. After all David was living in a nice palace while the temple of God was housed in a tent. But God told him that yes, a temple would be built, but David wouldn’t be the one to build it. Instead God told David that he, “Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth” (I Chronicles 17:8 NLT). And that “His throne would be secure forever” (vs. 12).

David was awestruck that he should be afforded such honor and responded with thanksgiving and humility by stating to God, “You know what I am really like” (vs. 18). So, what was David like? He was a:

- Murderer

- Adulterer

- Abuser of power

- Deceiver

- Filled with lust

- Manipulator

Not exactly the godly credentials of a king. Not exactly one worthy of the accolades God promised him. And yet that’s exactly who God chose to lead Israel. And that’s exactly the person who would be the ancestor to the coming Messiah.

It’s important to remember, in a story such as this one, that the Bible isn’t so much about the characters in its pages as it is about the story of God, and how he is actively involved in the lives of people. May you be encouraged in knowing that God is a pursuer and lover of people…including you! And that God deeply loves you in spite of knowing what you are really like (or maybe because of what you are really like). May this be of encouragement to you today.

A Dying Friend



“What Remains” by Margaret Ambridge

"What Remains is what's left of the person when you lift them off the pillow and they've still got the shadow and the form of their head and their shape in the pillow and to me that's a very powerful image because it's still the essence of them," Ms. Ambridge

My Friend: I’m not afraid

Me: You’re not afraid of dying? What scares you most about leaving this earth?

My Friend: I'm most fearful for my wife and daughter. They will be without me…who’s going to take care of them? Death doesn’t scare me at all. What I’m most fearful of is what is going to happen to my family?

This is a short snippet of a much longer conversation that I had some time ago, at a VA hospital, with a friend of mine who was slowly dying of cancer. Within a four-month period he went from a healthy 165 lbs. to a frail 120 lbs. the last time I saw him. During that time, he was taking some experimental drugs that were supposed to be very aggressive in attacking his particular type of cancer. Everyone was hopeful that these drugs would work, but the last time I saw him, his gaunt figure and raspy voice, were clear indications that he would soon pass from this life to the next.

As a pastor I’m supposed to have answers during these types of visits. At least that’s what I used to think. Over the years though, with the help of visiting numerous sick and dying people, I have learned the best thing for me to do during these visits is…nothing. I’ve learned the best thing to do is to simply just be there; be present with them. This oftentimes means engaging in lengthy periods of uncomfortable silence (you know the kind where you feel like somebody should say something). I’ve learned that those times of silence gives the dying person, and myself space to contemplate the moment, and not get caught up in trivial talk. Out of these moments of silence comes discussions on dying, living, fears, hopes, God, family, and love to name just a few. Very rich, meaningful conversations for sure

The truth is that we are all dying, aren’t we? Most of us, myself included, don’t act like it. I suppose part of that is a good thing. But the other part of it is most of us don’t live with the same resolve and focus that a dying person does. As my friend illustrated, the concept of death helps a person focus on things that really matter; things like love, family, and faith.

May today be a day of focused living!

Car Running

The other day I asked my wife if I could borrow her car to take our oldest son to the airport. She never lets me borrow her car for reasons that you will understand in just a minute. This particular morning however, she had a weak moment and graciously let me use her car. My son and I had a good visit on the way to the airport and as I returned into town, I dropped my wife’s car off at her work at about 8:15 that morning.

At 4:25 that afternoon I receive the following text from her:

So, my car has been running since you dropped it off this morning. Somebody just told me, and I went downstairs and turned it off. IT HAS BEEN RUNNING THE WHOLE DAY.... not good!

That was about ten hours of her car running with eight of those hours parked in the parking lot of her work on a 98-degree day. Needless to say, her car and my wife were HOT!!! And I mean that in the worst possible way.

I wish that I could tell you that we had a good chuckle about it later that evening…we didn’t.

On the same day of the car incident, I officiated at a wedding and was reminded of something that many of you already know. Marriage is full of opportunities to practice grace and forgiveness. As the couple in front of me exchanged the traditional vows of, “for better or for worse” I knew that they were about to embark on a journey that would try them in ways they could never imagine in that moment.

Here’s to new beginnings and to practicing grace and forgiveness towards the ones we love!

What is Next?

Jesus Christ Raising Daughter Of Jairus by Carl Bloch

About a year ago I officiated at a funeral for a retired, former Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. Being a veteran myself it’s always an honor to officiate at a fellow veteran’s funeral. The service was very meaningful as this man, aside from his Navy service, had participated in a wide variety of experiences throughout his life. During the service several people came up and shared about the impact that he had on their lives, and how he was such an inspiration despite the numerous health challenges that he faced towards the end of his life. All in all, it was a wonderful service.

After the service at the funeral home, those in attendance were invited to attend a graveside service at the cemetery. With it being a military funeral, the graveside service had all of the pageantry to go along with it; the folding and presenting of the flag, a twenty-one-gun salute, and then finally the playing of Taps.

Taps has been played at military funerals since the Civil War and is arguably the most heart tugging musical piece that a person can hear. So, as the bugler began playing, people were gazing at the ground, and wiping away tears while hearing this haunting musical piece. But after about twenty seconds of playing the bugler suddenly stopped.  

It’s hard to explain the tension in the air at that moment as people slowly raised their eyes from the ground and turned to see what had happened with the bugler. At this moment everyone present was silently wondering what was going to happen next? By the time I looked over to the bugler, dressed in his crisp white, dress uniform, he had calmly put the bugle under his left arm and remained at attention as if there was nothing wrong.

That moment of what is next is something we see many times in the life of Jesus.

Imagine yourself in a house full of people where Jesus is talking and suddenly you hear rustling on the roof above you. Pretty soon pieces of the roof start to fall on your head and slowly a hole opens to reveal faces peering down upon you. Pretty soon the people above you start to lower their paralyzed friend right down in front of Jesus. In that moment everyone was wondering what Jesus was going to do next? (Matthew 2:1-12)

Or perhaps you are holding a rock along with a crowd of a hundred other rock holders, about to carry out the sentence of death upon the woman who is cowering in front of you. Jesus is amongst this crowd and as he squats down to the ground all eyes are on him wondering what is he going to do next? (John 8:1-11)

Or you find yourself part of a crowd that has gathered at the local synagogue leader’s house. Inside lies his daughter who has just died. Wails of grief fill the small house as Jesus arrives and instructs the crowd to wait outside. As Jesus makes his way to the little girl everyone wonders what is he going to do next? (Matthew 9:18-25)

It seems that whenever Jesus arrived somewhere there was an expectant tension in the air. After all he had a reputation for displaying other worldly acts that seemed to defy the normal, natural state of our existence; things that no mere human could do. These supernatural acts garnered the attention of both the common folk, and the Pharisees who followed him from a distance wherever he travelled. They would stand in the shadows and wait to see what Jesus was going to do next. As their hope was to catch him doing something that went against their rigid belief system

This idea of what is next is something for all of us to cling to, remembering that whenever Jesus shows up things happen. And not always how we might expect.

I hope that you are like me and wonder what Jesus is going to do next in your life.

Holy Spirit

Is it fair to say that there is no more confusing aspect of the Trinity than when you start talking about the Holy Spirit? I have always been a bit apprehensive when it comes to the Holy Spirit because of my lack of understanding who he is. I mean first of all what is Spirit? What makes the Spirit holy? Then you throw in the King James version which refers to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost, so now we’re talking about ghosts? What is all of this?

I think, in general, that the Holy Spirit is this sort of ethereal, kind of out there sort of thing that most people just don’t understand very much. People get and understand God the Father, we all have Father’s. And people can grasp God the Son, right? Jesus was an actual historical figure. But the Holy Spirit can just flat out be hard to understand. Anyone else with me on this?

To help me better understand the Holy Spirit is this word Paraklētos, which has a couple of different meanings.

The first is Advocate…such as when we go to court, we hire a lawyer to act on our behalf, to be our Advocate, to argue our case. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate who intercedes on our behalf.

The other meaning of the word Paraklētos is as a helper.  And Paraklētos literally means, “One called alongside.”  The Holy Spirit is meant to come alongside us as we navigate life; as we face all of the challenges and pitfalls of our world. To kind of get a visual on this I have a friend, Christian Isakson in the picture on the right , who is one of the top long-distance athletes in the world. A few months ago he participated, and took 3rd place in the Ultraman Florida race. To give you an idea of what this race entailed, this is what he did for three days:

Day 1 – 6.2 mile Swim, followed by a 92 mile Bike ride.

Day 2 – 171 mile Bike.

Day 3 – 52.4 mile Run.

As you might imagine Christian needed some Helpers to help him get through the most trying times of this race. The picture here is of Christian’s friend and coach walking alongside of him, coaching him, offering words of encouragement. Along the way they would talk about eating, drinking, pacing, and about his heart rate.

This is a great illustration of what the Holy Spirit does for us. He walks alongside us.

But here’s the thing Christian had the choice to listen to his coach or not!  He could have just as easily ignored what his coach had to say. But he would have done so at his own peril, and it’s the same with us and the Holy Spirit

Pastor John Avery says that,

“The Holy Spirit comes alongside us in various ways. Sometimes He meets us as a helper, at other times as a friend. We often need His comfort and His advocacy.”

Something for all of us as Christ followers to remember is that the Holy Spirit is the most personal aspect of the Trinity. Jesus is residing at the right hand of God in Heaven. But the Holy Spirit resides inside of you and me. And because of that we can live with confidence in knowing that we are not alone in this world. My point is to pay attention to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And to remind us that as we deal with the ups and downs of our lives, we have someone who is walking alongside of us.

I Disappoint God III

Several years ago, Dos Equis beer ran a hugely successful marketing campaign where they introduced the “Most Interesting Man in the World.” These are probably my all-time favorite commercials. If the “Most Interesting Man in the World” suffers from anything, feelings of inadequacy are not one of them. He can speak French in Russian. When he goes for a swim, dolphins appear. His blood smells like cologne. He doesn’t cry when he dices onions and he can walk a chihuahua and still look masculine. I mean this is the guy who can do it all, right?

However, for Donny Abbott, and I suspect for many of us, it’s a bit of a different story. This lie of believing that we disappoint God really stems from feeling inadequate. Feelings of inadequacy happens for a number of reasons:

1.     We compare ourselves to others. I personally tend to feel inadequate as I look around and I begin to think, "why can't I do that?  Or why can't I have that? Why can't I have more money, or be taller, or better looking, and on and on my thoughts, go.  And because I don’t live up to my expectations, I begin to feel that God is disappointed with me.

2.     Being put down by influential people in our lives. For many of us that usually goes back to our fathers. Perhaps you were someone who never quite lived up to your father’s expectations for you.
And because of that you have a hole in your heart. A hole that you are constantly striving to fill with either things or accomplishments.

If you are married, interactions with your spouse can also lead to feelings of inadequacy. Your spouse might verbally or with body language remind you that you are inadequate and you don’t live up to their expectations of you.

3.     Falling short as a Christian. When it comes to God, you might be thinking if God only knew the things that I’ve done, he wouldn’t want anything to do with me. Or perhaps you're trying this Christian thing, but you don’t really like church, you can’t find your way around a Bible and therefore you feel inadequate and God must be disappointed with you.

There are many more areas I could mention but what I want to remind us all is that God has created each of us for a purpose. And God has you exactly where He wants you, as imperfect as you are. As inadequate as you might feel. God has a plan for you. Our typical response to inadequacy and disappointment is to work harder:

to go to church more,

to read our Bible more,

to volunteer more,

to tithe more,

We engage in these practices and other things thinking they will help us feel better about ourselves and get us back into a right relationship with God so that he is not disappointed with us. The problem with this approach is that we fail, don’t we? The other problem with this is that you and I can never do enough to get back into a right relationship with God on our own.

The truth is that feeling God is disappointed with us is really an identity issue. You and I have a choice every day to gauge our value and worth based on the thoughts, feelings, words, and actions of others, or we can choose to believe what God says about us. So, what does God say about us?

Let me first remind you that Gods word is a story that depicts how much he loves you. In the story, God is the pursuer of man. And God goes to great lengths to find his lost children. Remember in the garden after Adam and Eve sinned, they went into hiding? God pursued them and asked them what I think is the most haunting question in all of Scripture, “Where are you?” Of course, God knew where they were physically. He asked that question of them so that they could see where they were in their relationship with God. “Where are you?” is a question asked by someone who is pursuing. God is constantly pursuing people.

He offers forgiveness for our waywardness, he performs miracles on our behalf, he's even given a piece of himself and sacrificed his Son. He does the types of things we would do to pursue our own wayward children. You and I would do anything to get our children back. And some of you have. So, in the story of God, what does that say about you? About me? Why would God go to such great lengths to win us back? It's because you and I have inherent value and worth to God.  He pursues you because he desperately loves you. God isn’t disappointed in you in the least.

Brennan Manning writes in his book the The Ragamuffin Gospel:

“He is not moody or capricious; He knows no seasons of change. He has a single relentless stance toward us: He loves us. He is the only God that man has ever heard of who loves sinners. False gods—the gods of human manufacturing—despise sinners, but the Father of Jesus loves all, no matter what they do. But of course, this is almost too incredible for us to accept.”[1]

That sounds too good to believe doesn’t it? It’s hard to believe that God would pursue us. It’s hard to believe, because so many of us give up on one another so easily.

So many of us have been given up on by others. But God doesn’t give up on you. He’s your number one fan. He wouldn’t pursue you if he felt you weren't worth it; if he was disappointed in you.  Our identity is not found in what others think of us, or what we can do, or how much money we have, or any other external factor. Our value and worth and adequacy come in the simple fact that you and I are children of the Most High God.

“Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.”  (2 Cor. 3:5)

What if I told you that any feelings of inadequacy you have might actually be a good thing? That your areas of weakness are places where God can truly shine in your life” Chuck Swindoll says:

“Our inadequacy forces us to rely fully on God for power and strength. God longs to meet us at the place where we have reached the end of our abilities. When we have exhausted our own strength and have nothing left, “"That's where He can do His best work—in your weakness…He doesn't use super-strong, self-assertive, self-centered people. He uses [the] weak, [the] trembling, [the] inadequate, and [the] ill-equipped."”[2]

And as we read the Scriptures, they show us that God clearly does His best work through people he could have easily been disappointed in, people who were inadequate. The Scriptures tell story after story of people who were drunks or liars or womanizers or adulterers. People who you would never think could be used by God. But if you read your Bible, you know that God did some amazing things through these pretty ordinary, sinful people. I don’t know about you, but that’s good company to be in. God wasn’t disappointed in them, and he’s not disappointed in you.

Back to our friend Peter. After his denial of Jesus, Peter went back to doing the only thing he knew how to do and that was fishing. And one morning after pulling an all-nighter and not catching anything guess who shows up?

Jesus!

He shows up not to just cook Peter a breakfast, but instead to invite Peter back into a right relationship with Him. To tell Peter and show Peter that he is not disappointed in him. And to remind him that Jesus has big plans for him.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again, Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

God in pursuit over breakfast. Asking a variant of the question that was asked of Adam in the garden. Jesus wanted to know the condition of Peter’s heart and where he was in his relationship with God. It is interesting that after the resurrection Peter was one of the first people who Jesus showed himself to. We don’t know what took place in their conversation, but we do know that in this situation, this meal at breakfast, Jesus wanted to publicly acknowledge Peter and extend grace and mercy to him. And it shouldn’t be lost on any of us that three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Why would he ask Peter three times if he loves him? He did so as a way of redeeming the three times that Peter denied knowing Jesus. It was also important for Jesus to restore Peter in the presence of the other’s because Peter had denied Jesus in the presence of others.  It was important for Peter to hear that Jesus wasn’t disappointed in him, but instead had great things planned for Peter. Jesus knew that Peter would be the one who the church would be built upon. That doesn’t sound like a disappointed God to me.

Why would Jesus do all of this? Because God is a god of second chances.

The chance to redeem ourselves and to be redeemed by God always comes through the person of Jesus Christ. Like I said earlier, you and I can never do enough to get back into a right relationship with God. We can’t do enough, so instead, we have to rely on the grace of God. And grace is in short supply in our world isn’t it? Man, you mess up today and you’re going to pay for it. But grace is different in God’s economy. God knows that you and I are just a bunch of Peters walking around. God sees through our outward appearances and knows we are just frail human beings, desperately in need of his grace; getting what we don’t deserve.

In 2000 the rock band U2 recorded a song called “Grace”; it was the last song on their album. The song is about how God finds beauty and goodness in you. Don’t believe for a minute that any storm you are currently going through is because God is disappointed in you.

1. Manning, Brennan, The Ragamuffin Gospel (New York: Harper Collins, 2000), 22.

2.  Swindoll, Charles R. , Getting Through the Tough Stuff: It's Always Something! (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2004), 176, 185.

I Disappoint God II

Nowhere in Scripture does it say that God is ever disappointed in us. We have to remind ourselves that God loves us more than we will ever know. You see the Father heart of God is one that doesn’t experience disappointment with us. The Father heart of God doesn’t feel shame towards us. Can you take a moment and say this out loud?

 I am not a disappointment to God.

Personally, I feel like this is such an important statement to make because it is a game changer. Many of us have gone our whole lives thinking that we are failures, that we don’t measure up, that we are a disappointment to God. Some of us may not even be able to say the words, “I am not a disappointment to God,” because we don’t actually believe it. Many of us have the idea in our head that God is this cosmic ogre who has his arms crossed, shaking his head in disgust when he thinks of us. I want you to know that is a lie. It is a skewed view of God, and Satan loves it when we don’t have a clear view of who God is. God has nothing but love for us.  It doesn’t mean he isn’t saddened by our poor choices, by our sin. He doesn’t affirm everything we do. I have three kids. They do some of the craziest things.  I don’t affirm everything they do. I am saddened when they do stupid things. When they start doing crazy things, I call them on it to correct them. Why?

Because I love them.  It’s the same with God.

Another thing to remember is that God is easily pleased with you but is never satisfied. For those of us who have had children, think back to when your baby took his or her first steps. I remember with our first child, my wife and I spent what was probably hours rejoicing over Jack’s first steps. We would sit on the ground and he would walk back and forth between us. We were thrilled but we weren’t satisfied.  We knew that Jack would go on to greater things like walking and running and riding a bike. You are thrilled when your child reaches each of those milestones, but you are not satisfied. It’s the same with God. God is pleased with us when we are fulfilling his will. But he’s not satisfied because he has great things in store for us, including when we reach glory in Heaven.

Consider that God isn’t shocked by anything.  God has seen it all. He is all knowing. And because of this, he never says, “Man I didn’t see that one coming.” He knows that although we are the peak of his creation, we are fallible, sinful creatures. He knows what we are made of and in spite of that he still pursues us.

There is no better example of God in pursuit in all of Scripture, than in the life of Peter. On the last night of his life, Jesus gathered his closest friends for an intimate dinner:

Jesus said to his disciples,

“During this very night, all of you will reject me, as the Scriptures say,

‘I will strike down the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’

But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

Peter spoke up, “Even if all the others reject you, I never will!”

Peter is feeling pretty good about himself. Pretty confident wouldn’t you agree? Jesus goes on to tell Peter what was going to happen next?

Jesus replied, “I promise you that before a rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” But Peter said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never say I don’t know you.”

All the others said the same thing.      (Matthew 26:31 - 35)

A short time later, Jesus’ words came true:

Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.          (John 21:15 - 19)

Of Jesus’ twelve disciples Peter was one of the “Big Three” Peter, James, and John were the disciples who were closest to Jesus. Peter was big, he was bold, he was brash, borderline arrogant, confident in who he was as a person. Remember Peter is the one who stepped out of the boat and walked on water towards Jesus. Peter is the one who, when Jesus told his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and die, Peter in his boldness corrects Jesus and says, “Never Lord, this shall never happen to you.” Peter is the one who, when the mob came to arrest Jesus, he cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. Peter is the one who tells Jesus that even though everyone else will desert Him, he never will.

And now Peter is left alone, a tragic figure; weeping because he sees his failings as a person. He sees his failings as a friend; his failings as a follower of Jesus. He recognizes that Jesus saw right through his blustery, confident persona and knew Peter better than he knew himself. What Peter was feeling is disappointment with himself. He not only let Jesus down but embarrassingly and publicly he let himself down. In short, Peter came face to face with his own inadequacy. I think our feelings of inadequacy oftentimes leads us to feel we are a disappointment to God. Check back next Friday as I talk about Dos Equis beer commercials and inadequacy.

I Disappoint God

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Have you ever felt that you disappoint God? You know the nagging feeling that there is one, or perhaps several sins, that you just can’t quite overcome. There are certain behaviors that you just can’t correct. You feel like you can never quite get things right. And because of that God is disappointed in you. You wish you could be more patient with your spouse, more patient with your children. And you oftentimes wonder if God is happy with what you’ve made out of your life. And you’ve gotten to a place where you feel like you need to work harder to please God; so as not to disappoint Him. You might also be thinking in the back of your mind that the storms you are currently facing are because God is disappointed in you. In this three part blog post I want to dispel those thoughts, and share with you over the next two weeks how God is not disappointed with you.

Several years ago, Philip Yancey wrote the hugely popular book called “Disappointment with God”. If I’m honest I am frequently disappointed with God, because He never does what I think He should do. Do you ever feel like that? If you’re like me, you’ve got things figured out right? You know why you deserve that job, or that house, or that person to be your spouse. So why doesn’t God see what you see? At times we all get disappointed with God, don’t we? But the question that I often ponder is, “Does God get disappointed with me?”

Just for the fun of it I recently asked the question of some of our church staff, “Do you ever feel that you disappoint God?” I probably asked this question of a dozen people. So just a small sampling. Church staff, people who have been Christians for anywhere from just a few years to over 50 years. A couple of them felt that they disappoint God because of bad teaching they experienced when they were younger. Pastors, or teachers would try to scare the hell out of them, sort of scare them into Heaven. And because of this “turn or burn” approach to God’s Word they feel as if they are constantly coming up short and don’t measure up to what they think God expects of them. I’m sure that many of you have experienced that also.

One person talked about the influence of parents. And this is big because we oftentimes project onto God the things that we experience with our parents when we were younger. This of course can be either good or bad. Because of the influence of parents some experts say that a parent should never say that they are disappointed in their child because of the weight that comes with that kind of statement. A child can then feel that “well if my dad is disappointed in me then God must be disappointed in me also.” A couple other staff said that God is disappointed in them because they don’t keep up with the disciplines of Christian living; prayer, reading the Bible, going to church. A few of them also mentioned shame. I thought that was interesting because shame is powerful isn’t it? It’s a close cousin of disappointment. If someone is disappointed in you then you will probably also experience some degree of guilt and shame that go along with it. and who wants any of that right?

Whenever I dive into a topic, I always go to my favorite Bible study tool; blueletterbible.org.  It is a great tool that has dictionaries, and commentaries and other tools. I find it to be a really helpful resource. It has a nice feature where you can type in a word and it will tell you how many times that word appears throughout Scripture. So, for the heck of it I typed in the word “Disappoint” using the NIV translation. Guess how many times the word Disappoint appears in Scripture? Zero? Zero results turned up. I’m thinking that can’t be right. So, I tried the New American Standard translation? One result:

“And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

 Hope does not disappoint. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that God is ever disappointed in us. So, as you go about your day today remind yourself that God loves you more than you will ever know. Come back next Friday to read part two of this three-part post.