He's Not a Tame Lion

That is one of the greatest quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It is spoken of the lion, Aslan, who represents Jesus.

The wildness of God has really appeared to me as we have been studying the book of Judges in our Bible class. Try looking for it...it's quite clear. God loves the children of Israel, wanting to give them the best, and is their best friend. But time and again the people sin and God becomes their worst enemy.

The words of the Angel of the Lord in chapter two are especially telling:

...you have not obeyed m voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall becomes thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you (2:2-3, ESV).

This is certainly not limited to the time of the Judges, by any means. I came across a remarkable passage in Isaiah:

I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord...and the great goodness to the house of Israel...for he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely." And he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them...but they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. 

 It's quite amazing. God's love was abundant, but their rebellion turned him into their enemy.

My friend John has three children. He's a great dad, in my opinion. He shows affection and there is no doubt his children know their dad loves them, but he is also quite strict. I recently asked him about how he found this balance. I can't quote him (and he said it much better than I will recall), but he said he looks at his relationship to his children like our relationship to God. He wants to be their friend and have fun with them, but if they want to know the joy of their father, they have to obey him. Otherwise, he is not their friend.

I don't know about you, but I thought that was pretty awesome. What a great philosophy.

Our heavenly Father isn't safe. Jesus certainly isn't safe either (try reading Revelation--a guy with fiery eyes, iron feet for crushing his enemies, and a sword coming out of his mouth isn't a guy to be taken lightly). But He is good. And he wants to have a good relationship with us, but he leaves the ball in our court.

It's alive....IT'S ALIVE!!!!

I'm proud to announce that Clyde, my beloved 1100cc motorized horse, has awakened from his winter slumber. He is typically very difficult to wake up (as most old men are), but after the wind and wet ground caused him to fall onto his side yesterday, he cranked right up (after I picked him up and rolled him into the carport).

You may be thinking, "Wow...Clyde is the coolest name in the world for a motorcycle!" Well, thank you! I endowed this beast with said moniker quite easily because for a very long time I have considered Clyde to be the most masculine name in the English language. It reeks of testosterone. It makes me think of biceps, tattoos, body hair, and B.O.--the four elements of manliness (maybe not B.O.).

Clyde is a 1987 Honda Shadow 1100 that I obtained through a sweet deal with my uncle. Having seen better days, Clyde is not in the best shape. Here are a few battle scars this warrior has obtained:

• No third gear (which makes cruising through a busy town tricky)
• Speedometer does not work (I think I'm getting good at reading the RPM, though)
• No right battery cover (as the picture indicates)
• Right front blinker is connected by electrical tape.
• Choke gave up the ghost last fall.
• Unknown mileage (see the second item in the list)

Other than that, it's in good shape!

There is something liberating about riding a motorcycle on a sunny day. You feel free to take in the surroundings, marveling at God's wonderful Creation, but at the same time you feel wild and powerful. I think that is how God meant for men to be. Wild and free...but in love with Him.

Listen to some of the first recorded words of God to man in the beginning:

And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' (Gen. 1:28 ESV, emphasis mine)

Did you hear that?! "Here Adam...take this entire world and subdue it. I put it under your dominion." God didn't say, "Now Adam, you be a good little boy. Mind your manners. Don't get your clothes dirty when you go out to play. And please keep your voice down...you're not an animal, you know. Oh, and don't wander too far away...you might get hurt." NO! God said, Take this creation and subdue it. He didn't emasculate Adam and make him think and act like a woman (he would later give him an awesome gift that sparked a poetic outburst in Adam, a gift that he would love more than his own body, but that's a different story).


I wonder what Adam thought. "Do what? How do I subdue it? Where do I start? What should I do? Do I have what it takes? I can't do this." I don't know what he thought, really. But if I were in Adam's shoes, those are questions I would have asked, sadly.

I like to think that Adam didn't have those insecurities. After all, he had a Father who walked with him and, no doubt, taught him everything he needed to know about being a man. He had a Father who went on adventures with him, bonding with him. God created Adam for adventure.

"But motorcycles are dangerous." True...but men need to be a little dangerous sometimes. I saw a lion in a zoo a couple of years ago and it was one of the saddest sights. Here was the "king of the jungle" being gawked at by creatures he would normally have for supper. He was meant to be in the wild, free from bondage, but he was trapped...captured. Sure, he has some grass, a tree, and big rock for naps, but he just seemed boring. When you put a lion in a cage, it loses something.

The same thing can happen to a man. When you put a man in a cubicle or on a pew or anywhere and tell him his job is just to be nice, he loses something. Morality, kindness, gentleness, are all virtuous and quite important, but why not do those things and walk with God. Jesus is the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah. 

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10, ESV)

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. (1 Cor. 16:13, ESV)

Beautiful, Risky Love

Remember that movie Say Anything? Lloyd Dobler (the nobody) pursues Diane Court (the "most likely to succeed"), but she was not very interested in Lloyd. He continues to pursue her until she falls for him. At first glance, Lloyd did not seem to have much to offer. He gave Diane everything he had and everything he was and when she stopped talking to him he was heartbroken. But as he steadily pursued Diane, she fell for him.

My wife and I recently watched this movie for the first time and it immediately shot to the top of our favorites list. After all, we love a good 80's movie and this is one of the best.

Lately I've been thinking about God and His interaction with us...His "plan" for all of us (Gal. 4:4-7)...and it reminded me a little of Say Anything. Think about it...how much does God pursue you? Yes, we preachers always speak of God's "eternal plan" of salvation, which is very important. Some brave souls may even say that the salvation God offers is personal (Gal. 2:20). But what about on a daily level? Do you even see Him or hear Him? My eyes are focused on the ground but every now and then He takes my breath away.

On the way home from work:

 

Taking out the trash:

I'm not a pantheist, nor do I believe God audibly speaks to me, but I am definitely not a deist. Truly, the heavens declare the glory of God.

But why is it that I'm only struck by this occasionally? Why is it so hard to remember that God is still pursuing me? I don't think I forget...I just don't want to take the risk.

Maybe the risk in our love for God is not that God will cease loving us but that we will find the divine love unfulfilling due to our sin or dysfunctional lives or simply to a lack of understanding as to how God is loving us in our present situation.(John Sanders, The God Who Risks, p. 180).

I think everyone wants the love that God offers, but many don't want to take the risk it requires. Thus, we turn to other sources of comfort and security: food, money, cars, sex, drugs, alcohol, women. Each of these has its proper use, but it should not be in the place of God....they cannot give what God offers, but we'll do whatever we can to get them.

Like Lloyd, God has "put himself out there" for me. Will I put myself out there for Him?

That's my choice every day.