“We have wept this week as we have watched the devastation of the earthquake in Haiti.  Reporters have wept as they tried to tell the story.  There is no answer to the question, “Why?”  All of our answers end up sounding just crazy.

A friend of mine this week was seated in a waiting room.  A man was spouting off “matter of fact” that the earthquake in Haiti was because they had a pact with the devil made in the 1700’s.  Spouting off what he had heard Pat Robinson say.  Not a word was said about the Christians who were suffering and dying there.  Mothers and innocent Children who had no pact with anyone.  To him it was like God pulled the trigger on the whole thing in spite of all the innocents who would get killed or maimed for life. Not a word was said about what good people and Christians are to do in response.  Their so called “pact with the devil” meant he could walk away smug in his own self righteousness with an excuse to do absolutely nothing.  My friend said, “I wanted to say to him, but bit my lip and did not, ‘the people in Haiti are not one bit more evil than you are’!”

Many Haitians have prayed to dedicate the country they love to God.  A so called pact with the devil did not cause the shift of subterranean plates.  It is natural evil that is a part of our fallen world, in the same category of floods, storms, and fires.  We want to interpret all of these things personally.  I am loved so I was spared.  I don’t have a pact with devil so I will be not be hurt.

Don’t try to interpret storms, earthquakes, or even disaster in your personal life as a personal commentary of God on you.  Diseases, job loss, divorces, and all kinds of suffering is part of our fallen world.  He loves us if we don’t get our miracle.  He loves us if we slowly die crushed by concrete and unable to free ourselves, and there is no one who has the equipment to get to us in time.

The Christian response to a world of suffering is to enter the world of suffering and do all we can to help the hurting.  It becomes a commentary on us as to where and how far we go to perform a rescue and give someone a miracle.“

What do you think?  Why is there suffering in the world and what should our response be to it?  Let me hear from you.

1. I will live intentionally with purpose and meaning.
2. I will be disciplined; personally, spiritually, financially and professionally.
3. I will live in the present and be where my feet are planted.
4. I will face the difficult decisions first.

How will you “be” in 2010?

It’s my hope and prayer that with God’s help you and I can be more in 2010 than we were in 2009.

Happy New Year!

The older I get the more I value silence.  Unfortunately, it’s not really something that is available in abundance in our society.  Everywhere you go, there’s music playing or a TV on and if not, our iPods allow us to take it with us–anywhere, anytime.  It’s almost as if we are afraid of silence.

Because of that propensity to filling our lives with noise, we’re missing out.  We were created for times of stillness and silence.  Why?  In large part for communion with our creator.  You can’t hear a still small voice standing next to a jack hammer.

I believe that noise is also expressed in busy-ness, our full calendars & the myriad of activities which drown out any hope of peace.  A friend expressed it to me this way last week, “Doing is highly rewarded and that’s what keeps us from being.”

As my wife can agree, I’m certainly no silence or stillness expert, but I will share with you what I’m learning.

1. Silence is not easy.

Like everything else in life, I have to make time for silence.

2. Silence is not comfortable.

Often silence brings me face to face with my true self, which is never pretty.

3. Silence requires honesty.

I can not be silent and face my true self without complete transparency.

Gregory of Sinai, a 14th century Turk put it this way, ”Nothing is better for rendering the heart penitent and the soul humble than wise solitude and complete silence”.

Years ago Ben Benson wrote a book called He Speaking Softly, learning to hear God’s voice.  The point of the book is simple, “God has something to say to you!”  Bob goes on to say that if we really believed that, it would change everything about our lives.  I think he’s right.  I think we need stillness.  I think we need silence.  Bose had it right.  We need to cancel the noise.

What’s the noise that keeps you from silence?

You don’t have to read the headlines to know that life is full of distractions.  Everyday we hear about someone who got distracted, just for a moment.  Sometimes those distractions can be inconvenient and sometimes they can be life-changing.  My friend Michael Hyatt tells a story about how he and his wife Gail went snorkeling in Hawaii.  They got in the water early one morning and were immediately captivated by the beauty of the coral reef below them.  A few hours past before they looked up to realize that the rip current had pulled them far from the shore.  After almost an hour of “hard swimming” they made it back to the safety of the beach, exhausted.  Mike says they didn’t snorkel anymore that vacation!

The truth is, distractions can be as big and beautiful as a coral reef or as small and chewy as a Gummi bear.  But the consequences for both can cost us everything.

What’s distracting you?

Will you commit to join me in praying for Phil, as well as all the other soldiers, over his deployment?  If so, PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENT BELOW as an encouragement to our friend.

Blessings,

Joel

You can see more photos from Phil’s recent show with Sonicflood HERE.

Enjoy!

As we had with Wesley, we had decided to wait to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl.  So the delivery room that morning was filled with anticipation.  When Katie entered the world, I could only weep–we had a little girl.  Holding her for the first time alleviated any fears I had about how much love would be left for her.  God had placed within me more than enough love for both of our children.  And while I loved Wesley, my love for Katie was not greater or less than, just different.

From day one Katie and I have shared the unique bond reserved for Daddies and little girls.  Soon after she began to walk, I remember coming home from an overnight trip.  When I opened the back door and she “toddled” toward me with arms flung wide open laughing “Daddy”, I knew I was hooked.  Today she still does the same thing–every single day.  She is always the first one to greet me at the back door, she is always the one who wants to sit next to Daddy at dinner and read me a story at the end of the day.  She’s my little girl.

To say that I love my children is an understatement.  There is nothing more precious or sacred than the gift of a child.  As parents we have been entrusted with two young lives.  It is a privilege and a great responsibility, and one that we do take very seriously.  If we fail, we fail our children and their children.  If we succeed, their lives will show it.

Some measure success by wealth, fame or even the number of friends.  I measure success by the joy of my children.  There are many things that I’ll never be able to give them, but with God’s help, courage and strength I can lead them to Christ, their hope and salvation–who has more than enough love for all of His children.

I’ve often heard my parents’ generation talk about “where they were when JFK was assassinated”.  For my generation we will  always remember where we were the day the twin towers fell.  Much has been said about how that day changed our nation for the worse.  But we also came together as a nation.  We were more prayerful.  We attended church more frequently and we began to take the time to speak to one another with more care.

Tragic events like 9/11 make us face the hard reality that we don’t have as much control over our lives as we believe.  In the end, that’s not a bad place to be.  It’s a place where we realize that life is a gift and as such, it should be nurtured and treasured.  And just maybe in the process, we too are more willing to share our lives with our fellow man who have been created in the image and likeness of God.

At the conclusion of another national crisis, one of our greatest presidents had these words to say, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”

One of the good things that can come out of 9/11 is the same thing that Abraham Lincoln came to understand so many years ago–the realization that our wisdom and understanding alone are “insufficient for that day”.

May God help us to be faithful, to realize the insufficiency of our own strength.

Earlier this week a friend reminded me that a spirit of thankfulness should characterize my life.  While I may not always feel like being thankful, I should none-the-less practice that spirit of thanksgiving in everything.  But the reality is that sometimes being thankful is a choice, an act of the will.  True thankfulness is not based on our circumstances.  If we wait until everything is “perfect”, we’ll never be thankful.

Years ago I had a pastor whose preached a series of sermons he called Positives from Philippians.  When I was reminded that I should be thankful, I remembered four of those verses that too often I have forgotten.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

In a world searching for circumstantial happiness, thanksgiving offers true peace.  Choose to focus on the positives of what you have and be thankful in all things.  Why?  Because the “Lord is near”.

For what do you have to be thankful?