The Podcast is up!!

25. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

The podcast for Bruce’s radio show “Think Out Loud” is now up!  This past Saturday’s show featured a great line up including Mr. Louisiana Politics, Jeff Crouere, Chad Garrison, and Author Matt Rogers.  The show also included a surprise interview with Rev. Jesse Jackson!!

The show covered local and state politics, the national Presidential race and the Obama/Biden updates, McCain strategy, and Rev. Jackson’s reaction to the Biden pick.

Bruce talked with Matt Rogers, author of When Answer’s Aren’t Enough, about the V Tech tragedy and the role of pain in our lives.

This is a show you have to hear, and features Bruce’s impersonation of one of America’s most colorful political figures.

The link is here for your use:

http://wgso.com/content/view/7532/172/

Just cut and paste the link into your browser, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the show!

optimuslife.org

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Dear Bruce, I have failed…

22. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Dear Bruce,

I am a mess of a person.  I have made many bad choices in my life and have lots of pain in my life to show for it.  Because I have lived a life choosing my plan before God’s plan, I am not even sure God still has a plan for me.  Is there a future worth looking forward to for someone like me?  Or do I just have to accept I will live the rest of my life, because of my poor choices, in a state of mediocrity at best?

John

John,

Heartfelt questions, ones which I think all of us can closely identify with.  Let me, from the start, make you keenly aware that the Gospel, the message of Jesus’ teaching, is for people like you, me and the rest.  Biblically speaking, and as a practically observable reality, we have all made poor choices in our lives.  Even some of the heroes of faith we often look to for inspiration have made royally poor choices.  Moses-murderer.  David-murderer and adulterer.  Paul-murderer of Christians.  The list could go on…one liar, thief, trickster, moral failure after another.  That is not to say that some don’t obviously choose to live in a pattern of persistent failure.  Many do, sadly.  The Gospel message and the message of Jesus’ life and teaching, however, are all about bringing mercy and grace to those who have seen themselves bring pain into their lives.

Last week, on my radio show “Think Out Loud” (wgso.com) I addressed this reality as we discussed various scandals in the political arena and in public life in general.  As humans, we are prone to make a mess of things.  Adultery, greed, lust, violence, thievery, falsehood, anger, and so  many more ills infect us.  When we come to a place where we are willing to admit to ourselves, to God, and to others that we are in need of mercy and renewal, that is where the road to healing begins. Paul, who was transformed from a killer of Christians to a hero of the Church is famous for his cries to God to help him deal with the allure of sin which caused him to do all those things he wished not to do.  Too often, Paul commented, he was prone to do the bad he did not want to do, and found himself too often unable to do the good which he longed to do.  We are all in the same place.

The good news, it would appear, is that you have finally come to a place where you recognize that your choices are not merely choices.  You seem to have admitted to yourself and perhaps to God that your missteps have been moral failings, breeches of God’s best for you.  In coming to that place, and in openly acknowledging that you have failed to live up to God’s agenda for you, you can ask for and expect His mercy.  He is about mercy.

My encouragement to you at this point in your life would be to take stock of the condition of your heart, ask God and others for forgiveness and healing where you have failed Him and others, and begin to make a grace-filled, concerted effort to allow God to show you where He desires to lead you for the duration of the journey.  Ask Him for His help where you know you are prone to weakness, and allow Him to use your strengths to further His work in you and others.

In relationships, work, play, and in the fabric of our thought-life, hopes, and dreams, God desires to offer His good and best purposes for us.  Abandon the thirst for putting Him off and open yourself to making His Plan A your Plan A.  So many have brought untold difficulty into their lives as a result of expecting God to bless their agenda.  Your “Plan B” can never match the good God offers in His plans, and He is not about blessing our misguided attempts to live life in a way that contradicts who He is and what He is about.  Though many try, and try hard time after time, our Plan B will never bring us the fulfillment we are looking for.

Take heart.  You will never be good enough to earn your way to God.  You will never climb a moral ladder high enough to please Him.  Its not about that.   Its about a trusting relationship with the lover of your soul.  You have failed and will fail again.  In those times in which you do just that in the future, run back to the compelling, tangible, vivid, artistic, and life-giving demonstration of God’s love which is the cross of Christ.  And, rather than making the cross into something of your own design (like so many in our culture are prone to do, abusing the image of the cross and turning it into a formula for financial success or an impotent bejeweled ornament of comfort and even sexuality for some) fall upon that image of mercy and grace and power.  In the mess of our lives we all find the healing, perspective, and future we hunger for at the foot of the cross, the beautiful cross.

Find yourself in Him,

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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Run Baby Run!!! …How to run the race of life

19. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

The American’s have swept the Men’s 400m hurdle final!  Now that the spotlight has shifted from the pool to the “Bird’s Nest” and the Track and Field competition, I thought it might be appropriate to change our focus and spend a little time reflecting on our ability, desire, and passion for running the race of life.  To that end, I have attached the following excerpt from my book, Soul Storm (www.soulstormsite.com).  Lace ‘em up, and enjoy the read!

This ain’t no sprint!  Building for the long-term

 

 

“This ain’t no sprint, this is a marathon!”  I have heard these words a thousand times since Katrina has come and gone.  In coffee shops, at dinner, in the papers and on television, people are recognizing more and more every day that the effort to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region will not happen quickly.  “Rome was not built in a day, and New Orleans will not be rebuilt in a day”, I heard recently.  City officials, state officials, and the Feds are trumpeting the same message.  It’s going to be a long road back.

 

No doubt, we are in for a long, hard run in this rebuilding effort.  This is going to take a great deal of time and huge dose of endurance.  I cannot help but think, however, how much of this grief we could have avoided here in New Orleans had the construction crews, engineers, and leadership prepared our levees for the long run.  What seems sure now, and as I have stated earlier, the evidence now shows that the extensive flooding that overcame New Orleans was a result of poor levee construction.  The levees, it seems, were constructed with materials that, over time, broke down leaving weak spots in critical places.  Those weak spots gave way in the worst of times and the results were devastating. 

 

What if New Orleans’ levees had been constructed with materials known to have the ability to maintain their integrity for a much longer period of time?  What if the levees were built to withstand a category five hurricane rather than just a category three storm?  Standing amidst the rubble now, the answers to those questions are clear and frustrating.  As is the case with this physical destruction, so it is with our lives.  When we prepare, construct and build a life for the long-term we win.  When we construct our lives and build our decisions upon the short term, the momentary, we fail and destruction ensues.  Further, when our decisions or life’s circumstances have led to our need to rebuild, we must at that point make a conscious decision to design the rebuilding effort for the long haul. 

 

My goal in the next few pages is to offer a model for building or rebuilding a life, a community, a city, a country for the long-term.  The marathon runner offers us some helpful insights into this endurance challenge.  As any accomplished marathoner is aware, a successful race requires much more than the unbridled enthusiasm and inspiration you feel while at the starting line.  If the long distance runner is going to make it to the end and attain his goal certain abilities have to be nurtured.  I believe the lessons here will be helpful to anyone looking to gain a fresh start.  Though the goal may seem like it is a long way off, with proper training, conditioning, and care, you can make it to the finish line.  Not only that, you can run the race and finish well.  With proper training, nutrition, and care the race can be a rewarding one.  Let’s take a look at our strategy to stay in the race and enjoy the competition.  Here are the key ingredients needed to make it through this marathon we call life.

 

 

1. Learn to adapt to any race day conditions.

Strong marathoners prepare themselves to run in any temperature.  Even in overwhelming heat, the good marathoner will be able to adapt and indeed thrive in the race.  As people searching to find our way in the disasters of life, we need to find the resolve that enabled Shadrac and his friends to remain in the furnace waiting for God to show up.  The heat will be turned up at times in our lives.  If we choose to bail out and give up each time a major challenge comes our way, we give up on the call of God to make us what He is calling us to be.  Jeremiah was the “weeping prophet”, but he endured and was God’s great spokesman.  Do not forsake the race of faith when all around you appears to be caving in.  Endure the heat, adapt, and run for your life.  When the wind and waves have made conditions around you less than favorable, take courage, look up, and keep running.  There is a reward at the end.

2. Beat muscle soreness.

The race will take its toll at times.  You can feel beat up.  But as any athlete knows, muscle soreness is a sign you are doing things right and growth is taking place.  Don’t quit when the soreness sets in.  Work through it and allow God to bring about the growth He intends.  It’s part of the process.  There is no better feeling than to know you just gave it your all, played your guts out, left it on the field, and you stand exhausted but exhilarated because of your effort.  Run through the tough spots, keep your stride.  It hurts at times, but remember, joy comes in the morning.  The only way to get rid of the soreness is to keep on keeping on.  Keep building.

3. Learn to train when you hurt.

Press through the workouts even when you feel some hurts.  All great runners and indeed all great athletes “play hurt” from time to time.  Who can forget those nights when Michael Jordan came to the court totally depleted, dehydrated, weak, and yet played his heart out and scored 50 points to lead his team to a big win?  Those kinds of moments inspire those looking on.  You don’t forget them.  When you are pressing hard for the goal there will be moments that hurt—stay with it, keep running, and never, never, never give up.  When you are rebuilding and giving every ounce of energy you have, sometimes you can lose focus and drive that hammer right into your thumb.  The explicatives come and the pain throbs.  But keep hammering away.  A few more nails and you may just have yourself a house. 

4. Massage therapy

All marathon runners have many massages during their training period.  Without this kind of professional care and attention their muscles would not last for the next day of training.  Massage, attention to muscle soreness, is critical for muscle repair and functioning.  None of us, no matter how “spiritual”, can go it alone all the time.  We all need some help occasionally.  At times, even leaders, need to get in front of someone who can offer counseling and help for issues we wrestle with.  There are no Christian Supermen.  Rather than pretend you are something you are not, get help when you need it.  It’s o.k.  God intends for us to minister to one another.  Left unattended, some of our issues, hurts, pains, will scar us for life and will kill the life of God in us.  In the wake of hurricane Katrina everyone in her reach was affected.  Rich, poor, middleclass and everyone of every color, shape, size and age felt Katrina’s wrath.  Too many, however, try to hide behind money, position, accomplishment, a spiritual façade to mask the fear and uncertainty.  None of us can go it alone all the way and all of us need someone else to give us an ear occasionally.  We were created for community and we die when we do not have it.  That’s why few runners run alone.  There is strength in numbers.  Get some care when you need it.  When your arms are heavy from lifting too many rafters, call for some support.

5. Injury recovery strategies

It is not true that “time heals all wounds”.  Some wounds, left alone, only get worse.  Scar tissue can hinder proper function in the body.  Runners pay special attention to hip, back and knee issues.  If a runner leaves an injury to one of these areas alone too long it can indeed take him out of the race.  These are big ones for runners.  A marathoner cannot endure 24 miles with a major problem in one of these critical areas.  As builders we must address the “big” issues in our lives.  Those besetting sins which we hide from others can ultimately sideline us.  Take care of the nasty wounds and get a bandage on them as quickly as you can.  Properly cared for they can heal and gain new strength.  Neglected, they can put you on the disabled list.  And if you are on the disabled list, you cannot be a difference maker, you cannot run.  Bitterness is not the proper response to the events in life you consider unfair.  Surrender to the forces that are battering you is not the way to victory either.  Allow God to bind up your wounds and get you running again. 

6. Proper nutrition

Eating the proper diet is absolutely critical for the long distance runner.  The right mix of fat, carbohydrates and protein are essential to performance.  If a runner eats too much fat or too few carbs leading into race day he will not perform as he should.  Likewise, as people attempting to rebuild, if we do not feed on the Word daily we will falter, wear out, loose momentum.   Sunday is not enough.  We must place ourselves at God’s training table on a daily basis.  Remember, the chief end of man is to know God and enjoy Him forever.  We cannot know Him if we are not spending time learning of Him on a regular basis.  If we do not know Him then we cannot enjoy Him.  If we are not enjoying Him we cannot have the emotional capacity to stay in the race when the challenges of the course come.  Dieting on drive thru philosophy, the fads of the day, will, like sugar, bring a quick high, but ultimately, a huge crash.  Jesus said He was The way, The truth, and The life.  He suggested that no one comes to God apart from Him.  He is the fuel our race was meant to run on.  When tempted to give up on the rebuilding effort, when you find yourself too tired to get up another day, open His word and get the nutrition you need to keep at it.

7. Keep a training log

Runners will often times keep a very accurate journal of performance.  Seconds shaved can make a difference.  Adjustments in technique can save a long distance runner minutes in a race.  Accomplishments and goals pursued and recorded offer ongoing incentive to the runner to keep on track with the training process.  As long-term builders we find great hope when we can look back on what God has done in our lives, the lessons we have learned along the way, how we navigated challenges in the past.  These records of performance give us passion to remain in the race and pursue the finish line.  This is not a sprint.  Keeping that in mind, we must recognize that our memory tends to fade over the long haul.  Keep track of those key moments when you know that God gave you the extra spark you needed to stay in the race.  In the future, when fatigue and discouragement set in, you may need these reminders of God’s care and providence. 

 

We must pursue rebuilding and life like the finish line is worth pursuing.  Remember, our reward is eternal and the joy set before us is our inspiration.  Run to show the life of God in you.  Pursue the finish with the same enthusiasm with which you started.  In fact, make it your prayer that God would enable you to sprint through the finish line!  Be faithful, finish well, and build it better than before.

 

Run!

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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Podcast, “Think Out Loud”

18. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Check out Bruce’s radio show podcast for “Think out Loud”.  The show, which aired on Saturday, features discussions on politics, leadership, and finding God’s grace and renewal amidst failure.

Simply cut and paste the following link into your browser in order to hear the podcast.

http://wgso.com/content/view/7472/172/

optimuslife.org

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Dear Bruce …Wash me away from the waters of indifference

15. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Dear Bruce,

I have been really challenged by many of your writings and the call to embrace a different sort of life.  Like most people, I tend to view life from a day to day perspective and don’t really look at life in terms of doing anything particularly great.  And I certainly don’t look at life in light of eternity on a regular basis.

Trouble is, for me, I get so lost in the routine and trying to stay afloat, that I just cannot see myself actually creating, let alone working toward, a strategic plan focused on a new life.  I am good at business, and am fairly smart, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not living up to my potential or “calling” as you put it.

Simply put, I think I am at a point in my life where I do want something different, but I am not sure what it is or how to begin.  I just sort of know that I want something more.  I want to do and be something more.  So, how do I get there from here?

Ed

Ed,

Great letter.  Huge questions.  Real life reality.  Many, I believe, are right where you are.  Just today I ran into a friend who had moved away for some time and has recently come back to town with his wife and kids.  The guy, who has done very well in business for some time, is moving back in order to do “something different”.  The adventure he and his family are just starting is an admirable one, but a very tough one.  They are starting a church!  As he put it, “If I were not called to do this, I am not so sure I would be altering my life like I am in order to get after it.”  As I former church planter myself, I encouraged him with these words, “If you are called to it, you will be miserable not doing it.  If you are not called to it…RUN FOR THE DOORS NOW!”

What is important here is to point out the significance of life altering decisions which determine how we live, who we impact, and how our lives play out.  This guy and his family have no “need”, other than the need to do what they were  meant to do, to be on such a journey.  Business and the good life were plenty entertaining enough.  However, what they have learned, and what we all learn at some point, is that ease, comfort, and passivity can only last so long.  Eventually, we all stand before the proverbial mirror to our souls, and we are confronted with the stark reality that this is not all there is.  There must be more.  It is then that a desire to live a larger life begins to take shape.  Seems like you may be at that point.

So, on to your journey.  The only impulse, one which will last throughout the adventure and all its wonderful dangers, is a sense of being washed away (to keep with the Olympic water sport theme of the week) from something (your current approach to life) and to a new vision (a larger life).  If we are not caught up in the tide of God’s moving, it is doubtful that the swim to a better shore will amount to much.  When God is calling us to Himself and to certain visions for life, He captures us, He washes us away with the splendor of His plan for us.  Ask God for that kind of sense or leading for your life.  When you are so enamored with a life bigger than the one you can pull off on your own, you will feel washed away from the mundane daily sense of “So what?” and you will be swept up in the tidal wave of adventure God is calling you to.  Anything less leaves you open to the possibility of running out of gas midway through the swim and calling for a life preserver as you struggle for your life in the waters of indifference.

In order to help you a bit more I am attaching a section from my book, Soul Storm (www.soulstormsite.com) which addresses this very theme.  Read about the life and music of John Coltrane and allow yourself to be swept away in the drama of God’s divine plan for your life.

Enjoy the read.

 

 

Washed Away

 

John Coltrane was a jazz master.  His accomplishments have reached beyond the realm of jazz and his recordings are studied by musicians of every stripe.  If you have ever taken time to listen to his work you know what it is to be washed away, lost, for a time.  “Train” or “Trane”, as he came to be known, pushed the envelope in the jazz world.  Always looking for a fresh sound, an innovative creation, Coltrane was perhaps, the hinge point for change in the jazz world.  His music registers on a different scale from the many jazz greats that had gone before or have come since.  John Coltrane’s ability with the saxophone is legendary as is his ability to carry listeners beyond what they have known or experienced.  Trane’s greatest achievement as a musician, is the highly regarded A Love Supreme.  Coltrane, himself, knew almost immediately that this was what his entire musical journey was leading up to.  He had come to know also, how far away he was from truly living life with passion, understanding and insight.  Leading up to the creation of this work Coltrane’s story was like too many we have heard about.  Fame, travel, money, the pursuit of pleasure, had all led to a life of addiction and desperation.  As the winds blew over the years the storm within his soul grew in intensity.  Eventually, the addictions, brokenness and strife washed over him and He made a turn, a change.  Out of this change, one of the most important contemporary musical contributions on record was birthed.  A Love Supreme spoke to him immediately, and has arrested hearers every since. 

 

A Love Supreme was born over a five day period in 1964.  John Coltrane had been going non-stop that year and had recently seen the birth of his first son.  Taking a few weeks away from his brutal schedule and planning to spend time with wife and child, Coltrane got away from it all.  He took his wife and son to their new home and planned to kick back for awhile.  Then “the work” came calling.  Amidst the joy and expectation of having a newborn son, John Jr., came the birth of another creation.  This new birth would be the crowning achievement of his musical life and would demonstrate a new found desire to leave his old life behind in pursuit of the divine call to a higher life.  His new artistic creation would be a marvelous, poetic, heart stirring jazz tribute to God.  After those five days of seclusion in a separate part of the house John Coltrane came back to earth a different man.  His wife knew something different had taken place.  Ashley Kahn, in the introduction to his book on John Coltrane, titled after Trane’s most famous work, records Alice Coltrane’s remarks,

 

It was like Moses coming down from the mountain, it was so beautiful.  He walked down and there was that joy, that peace in his face, tranquility.  So I said, ‘Tell me everything, we didn’t see you really for four or five days…’  He said, ‘This is the first time that I have received all of the music for what I want to record, in a suit.  This is the first time I have everything, everything ready.”

 

This work, written as a tribute to God, became a best seller as soon as it hit the stores.  Its impact still reaches listeners today.  Musicologists, musicians, music lovers can tell of their first encounters with this amazing work.  Ashley Kahn, points to a few of the memorable recollections of first-timers,

 

The first time I heard A Love Supreme, it really was an assault.  It could’ve been from Mars as far as I was concerned, or another galaxy.  I remember the album cover and name, but the music didn’t fit into the patterns of my brain at that point.  It was like someone trying to tell a monkey about spirituality or computers, you know, it just didn’t compute.  (Carlos Santana)

 

I was at the top of the Grand Hotel in Chicago [on tour in 1987] listening to A Love Supreme and learning the lesson of a lifetime.  Earlier I had been watching televangelists remake God in their own image: tiny, petty, and greedy.  Religion has become the enemy of God, I was thinking…religion was what happened when God, like Elvis, has left the building.  I knew from my earliest memories that the world was winding in a direction away from love and I too was caught in its drag.  There is so much wickedness in the world but beauty is our consolation prize…the beauty of John Coltrane’s reedy voice, its whispers, its knowingness…Coltrane began to make sense to me.  I left the music on repeat and I stayed awake listening to a man facing God with the gift of his music.” (Bono, Lead Singer U2)

 

Just as Santana, Bono, and many others have gotten washed away to another place while listening to Coltrane’s work, so we too can be carried away by the Master’s purposes. 

The experience of Coltrane moving on from a life of addiction and despair toward something more birthed a musical achievement that will live on for time to come.  His willingness to hear, listen, and respond to God stirring him, moving him, and offering him a better life provided all of us something of beauty we can appreciate.  Had he chosen to stay where he was, living in what he had previously known, we would be without this great work.  And the same is true of us.  When we are brought to that “moment”, that fork in the road, that turning point, we must pursue the route that God assures us is for an enlarging of the borders of our heart.  Moving on and allowing God to wash away what we formerly knew is critical to our future.  Like Santana, though we may not at first see the patterns in the music, in time we can come to recognize the value of God’s plan.  In the wash cycle of God’s work, we find a life clean, fresh, new, and more desirable.  When the old is gone and the new has come we understand what Coltrane intended in his titling his glorious work A Love Supreme.  It is the Creator’s supreme love that gives our lives direction.  The supreme love of God is where we find a life worth living.  In the stirrings of our lives we ought to look for the hand of God seeking to lead us to a better place.  Washed away in the waters of His unending love we find ourselves carried away to new life.  Displacement of the life we once knew may be the very thing we need. 

 

Go get ‘em!

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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Records falling in Water World…except one!

14. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Back on the water theme today.  In light of Michael Phelps amazing performances and the unending media coverage there of, I am still pondering the water theme.  The 2008 Olympics is all about the water, and the records being set in it.  Like many, I am pulling for Phelps to win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win (I think that is eight wins).  When he does so, he will have accomplished a seemingly unattainable feat.

The name Mark Spitz has stuck with me and my thoughts of Olympic greatness ever since I was a four year old.  Born in 1968, the ‘72 Olympics sticks with me as my first real and vibrant sports-related “moment”.  Now, decades later, Phelps stands poised to break that record of 7 gold medals, and seven world records, in a single Olympics…a record set in the water.  Wow.

As impressive as all of this is, I would like to take a moment to offer us a little perspective.  No matter how amazing Phelps’ run turns out to be, he will never overcome one record, a water record, which has stood for over 2,000 years.   Like so many other athletes who have come before him, and so many that will follow, Phelps is taking it all in and the media is eating it up.  I for one am loving the ride.  It is thrilling to watch greatness as it is happening.  As a fan and a decent athlete, sports has captured me since I was a small child.  For me, life has always unfolded in its most vibrant hues on the field of play.  I come alive and my spirit soars inside the lines of a court or a field.  The Olympics, for me, has always been a thrill.  I can remember, as a younger guy, literally beginning the four year countdown as soon as the Olympics wrapped up.  I was hungry to see the next great performance on the world stage of competition.

Back to Phelps and his record setting.  As astounding as this run is, and it truly is stunning considering how many races he is swimming in a short period of time, his water run, as I mentioned prior, falls more than a bit short of the greatest water record ever set.  That record, unlike any that had come prior, save the parting of the Red Sea, stands today as the single most majestic “run” ever etched in the annals of Waterdom.  Moreover, this record, never to be matched in any Olympic venue, stands as a watermark for life not merely competition.  This record, a true conquering of the waters, offers us the clarion call to find the life we were meant to live.  This record calls each of us to conquer our fears, doubts, false sense of security, and our hunger for more out of life.

The record of which I speak is, of course, that of Jesus (and Peter) walking upon the water.  Yes, they actually walked on the water.  Right on top of it.  Try that Michael Phelps!  In light of the focus on the water theme this week, and in an effort to synchronize my efforts with that of the Games, I offer the reading below on Jesus’ and Peter’s great record.  Do you want to know what it means to soar?  Do you want to experience a quality of life that even exceeds that of Mr. Phelps?  If so, and as the reading suggests, you have got to get out of the boat!  It’s time for you and I to make an attempt to chase that record set some 2,000 years ago.  Let’s take our best shot at walking on water.

If you, like all great athletes and record setters, are looking for “more”, attempting to scale the next feat, take the next hill, or accomplish the next great task, then I believe you will find encouragement for the race in the excerpt below which comes from my book, Soul Storm (www.soulstormsite.com).  As you read, prayerfully consider what it is that God is calling you to do and to be in the race of life.  As was the case for Phelps when he was just a young boy, and as is the case with nearly all great athletes who are successful in individual competition, the journey to greatness begins with the risk of getting after it.  The future cannot be fully known, and the sacrifices are great, but the journey and the destination are worth the risk required for greatness.  Enjoy the read.

 

 

The Call to Something More

 

What if you could walk on water?  Pursuing the “what if” is not easy, but the rewards are worth everything you risk.  We often refer to this hypothetical dream as if it has never happened or we refer to it as if only “one guy” has ever done it.  In reality, Jesus was not the only person to have ever pulled this off.  Earlier in the book we looked at the first part of the account, but now let’s look at Matthew’s version of the rest of the story.

 

…and in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I.  Do not be afraid.’  And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’  He said, ‘Come’.  So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.  (Matthew 14:25-29)

 

What an experience this must have been.  Amidst a major storm, the winds howling, the rain pounding down, and in all likelihood surrounded by waves as tall as Peter stood himself, this man got up his nerve enough to take an enormous risk.  He got out of the boat, and walked on water!  What an absurd notion for anyone in the real world to even suggest something so stupid.  Who did this guy think he was anyway?  And if it were not ridiculous enough already to attempt something so bizarre, this guy wanted to try this in the middle of a violent storm.  What arrogance! 

 

But was Peter really arrogant, stupid, and over-confident or was he pursuing life as God intended it to be pursued?  We get too few big moments in life.  What if Howard Schultz would have taken “No.” for an answer when he was first refused in his petitions to join the ranks of Starbucks?   What if Gary had never left his home and traveled away from the surroundings that had kept a liver transplant from taking place?  What if the man, crippled with Palsy, had never been carried to Jesus for healing?  What happens if we miss the big moments life brings our way and we don’t venture out in new directions?  Do we settle for less?  We certainly do. 

 

For those who have never taken a risk on faith in God, they miss the abundant life He offers.  The fear of “giving up” what we know can leave us spiritually crippled in this life, never knowing what it means to live a life of significance.  It has been said that the problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting, but rather, it has been found hard and left untried.  Get out of the boat, take a chance on God.  See what He is capable of doing in and with your life.  God can and will instill new visions, bigger dreams, and greater clarity in your life when you trust Him for your purposes.  He may call you to things you never imagined or He may fulfill that desire in you that has yet never been voiced, planned or attempted.  He may use you in leadership to help others rebuild homes, cities, countries and lives.  He may use you to bring a plan into shape that will help numerous people recapture their lives.  Are you willing to take a risk?  Are you willing to dive in?

 

Peter’s venture toward a massive, God-sized risk was not perfectly executed, but it certainly was filled with drama, excitement and an exhilarating experience of the power of God.  The story continues to unfold as we read,

 

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’  And when the got into the boat, the wind ceased.  And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’.  (Matthew 14:30-32)

 

Peter, a man taking an audacious risk, started out in confidence and strength and then got distracted by the storm around him causing him to lose focus and lose sight of his dream to do what had never been done before.  In the midst of the storms of our lives God is calling us to get out of the boat and take a chance on something more.  He always wants to pull us beyond ourselves toward bigger things.  When we are willing to take a risk on His agenda the unthinkable dream can come into shape.  When our eyes focus too much on what life looks like from our vantage point, however, we settle for less and we begin to sink.  We must learn to ask, amidst the winds and waves, what God is calling us to.  As it was for Peter, so it will be with us, there will be moments of fear and distraction.  We will not get it right all of the time.  Storms will continue to rage around us and we will feel vulnerable.  Thankfully, the Creator looks on us with compassion and love and extends His reach to us during those moments.  He does not push us further under the water forcing us to cry “Uncle!”  God does not take joy in our drowning.  Rather, He desires that we walk on the water beside Him with poise, composure, and strength, no matter how big the waves that threaten us.      

 

What is God calling you to now?  Whether you find yourself at this moment amidst great trouble or if you find yourself on top of the world, God’s call is the same.  It rains on the just and the unjust, and it is also true that the just and the unjust find “success”.  In either place God is calling us to know, love and serve Him.  The void that exists for those who have gotten more than a life’s share of rain is the same void that exists in the heart of the person that has seen a life of plenty.  The call to take a risk on knowing Him remains.  The call to risk your life for knowing the life of Christ is the decision by which we will all be measured.  As Saint Augustine suggested long ago, there exists a void in all of us, a God ordained void that cannot and will not be filled with anything other than Him. We will find no rest until we find our rest in Him.  Building a life God’s way entails a release of all that makes us secure and an embrace of a future lived under the gaze of the One who controls the winds and the waves.  What if you took that chance?  What would your life look like as you stepped out onto those waters?  There’s only one way to find out.  Don’t leave that risk untried. 

 

Risking it all on Him,

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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Here comes the wind and the water!

12. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Have you ever considered how fundamental the basic elements of wind and water are to life as we know it?  Have you ever thought about how much time we spend in and around water?  As humans, we seem to be drawn to water.  We consume designer water, bottle after bottle, we join health and country clubs where we can socialize with others around water (swimming pools, whirlpools, etc.), we watch our kids fill up little plastic balloons and throw the stuff at each other at parties during the summer, we go to water “parks”, aquariums, lakes, rivers, and we love to go to the beach and play next to and in the shark infested waters!  And, hopefully, most of us bathe in water regularly.

Water.  It can affect us in a number of ways.  At times, like yesterday, as I watched my two daughters stand, sing, and laugh outside during a downpour, the waters of life can offer us a respite, a refreshing.  At other times, the waters of life flood us with grief both physically and emotionally.  Water, and the other “elements” of life have a profound role in our lives.  It would do us well then, I think, to consider the One from whom the waters ultimately flow.  For any sense of understanding and hope as to the impact of the “elements” in our lives we must consider the One who holds them all in His hands.  Amidst the painful waters of death, loss, sadness, and sin, we must give thanks to the One who offers life, blessing, joy, and forgiveness.  In the torrential downpour of difficulty we face, we must turn to Him for safety and shelter.  Amidst the blissful soothing showers of life, and as we bask in the beauty of His rainbow of promise we, again, must thank the One who brings the blessing.

The writing below, an excerpt from my book Soul Storm (www.soulstormsite.com), is a brief glimpse of this One who brings, allows, controls, and ultimately gathers all the waters of our lives.  He brings the rushing waters of change, and from Him flows the river of cleansing for our guilt and shame.  He even bottles all of our tears, we are told in scripture.  In the midst of all the elements God is at work.  Consider Him.

God of Wind and Water

 

Wind and water are, of course, elements without which we cannot live.  The two are capable of refreshing and sustaining us and are essential to life on our planet.  Agencies, governments, and all kinds of groups are devoted to the critical task of making sure that the quality of our air and water are maintained.  Technology, money, and many resources are dedicated to the management of these most basic of elements.  Water treatment plants, bottled water, flavored water, spring water, well water, water testing, water parks, watering holes, water sports; there are references to importance of water all around us.  The same is true of wind.  Windmills, whirlwinds, the “windy city”, winds of change, passing wind (excuse me); wind is everywhere.  Water provides hydration for our bodies, nourishment for plants, a habitat for sea creatures, and is the backbone of the farming industry.  Wind provides for our needs in similar ways that affect our use of power, the way we travel, the development of plant growth, and the balance of our environment. 

 

Meteorologists study the trends and movement of our planet’s winds and waters, and have learned much about the way our world is affected by these elements.  All of us tune in regularly to hear the latest forecast for our area from the weather “experts”.  Though the experts are regularly proved wrong we have come to place a great deal of confidence in them.  Those of us that live in areas regularly affected by hurricanes have come to invest an extraordinary dependence on the experts during the six months of the year we have come to know as “hurricane season”.  Some of us border on Weather Channel addiction. 

 

Weather is all around us, and the wind and water of our world determine so much in terms of how we live from day to day.  The changes brought by the winds and waters of our world can and do affect our coming and going.  Farmers know the importance of the right balance of wind and water and just how important this balance is to economic survival.  Sailing enthusiasts know how the winds and waters can determine a great outing or day of misery on the boat.  Skiers are keenly aware of just how miserable it can be to get caught ten thousand feet up with the winds howling and the snow blowing.  Skiing in blizzard conditions is not much fun, I can attest to that.  Wind driven snow can turn a vacation into what literally feels like a cold day in hell.  Residents in areas prone to mudslides can tell of the destruction that comes from an over abundance of rain.  The wind and the rain to, indeed, bring significant changes to our climate and our lives.

 

With so much forecasting of the wind and the rain on the Weather Channel, CNN, and our local news stations we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that in our modern, technological and “advanced” age, we can manage the affect of these elements upon our lives.  However, what Katrina, the recent wildfires in California, the mudslides in Central America, and the recent earthquake in Asia have demonstrated, the winds, waters, and forces of our world can bring enormous, life-altering change.  This far into the “advancement” of our world, we are still susceptible to the winds of change. 

 

We would do well to remember the origin of the winds and the waters.  Rather than speaking of “Mother Nature” as do many of the meteorologists, we should consider what the scriptures say of Father God and His direct and personal involvement in the direction of the laws of nature.  From the beginning we see the significance of these most crucial of elements in God’s plan,

 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  …And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let us separate the waters from waters.”  And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse.  …And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” (Genesis 1:1-2,6-7,9)

 

Early on, from the very beginning actually, water was instrumental in the plan of God.  When the world was “without form” the waters were used to bring form to our world.  Could it be that God still uses the waters and the winds to bring form to our lives?  Could it be that God brings seasons of change into our world and into our lives to birth forth newness of vision, growth, and purpose?  Just as God did with Noah, He still uses the waters to bring forth new beginnings when His plan has gone awry.  Likewise, just as it was with Noah, though everyone around may doubt the sanity of those who embrace the coming storm and even question the reality of it’s existence, God still calls His people to see, embrace and prepare for the rising waters to come.  While God promised never to send a flood that would drown the entire world again, He certainly uses the waters and the winds to bring climate changes in our lives in order that His objectives and dreams for us might be accomplished.  The scriptures and history are replete with examples of God doing just this.  For those that find shelter in Him amidst the wind and the floods, good comes from the storm.  Even in being uprooted, relocated, and displaced, the purposes of God are not thwarted.  In fact, God’s best may be unfolding even as we find ourselves blown away from our present moorings and having been moved away by the winds.  Though we as people are habitually resistant to major change, in allowing God to change our view, we will find He has lifted us to new places, places He has designed for our good.  Remember, He has told us, “I have plans for you!”

 

Grace and Peace,

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

 

 

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Dear Bruce, …Help me find “normal”.

8. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Dear Bruce,

I have been a believer now for about three years.  Before I came to faith I was, I guess, the typical modern person living from experience to experience, day to day, pleasure to pleasure, moment to moment.  Before I was a Christian I would just hang with my friends, go to a bar, experiment with various chemicals, “enjoy” sex, and just kinda live with a “If its what I want at the moment…I do it” sort of mindset.  Over the last three years, as a believer, I have found that my guidelines for living have become “abnormal” in the eyes of all my previous friends.  People tend to view me now as abnormal.  I don’t like the way that feels, but I do want to live like God desire me to live.  How do I make sense of this and process this mental/spiritual ordeal in a prudent way?

Is the Christian life about being abnormal?  Do I always have to look like the sore thumb in every “fun” situation?  What am I missing here?

Thanks for your insight,

Katie

Katie,

I love your honesty, transparency, and willingness to ask what many people deal with but never really voice.  Essentially, your question gets to the core of the faith walk, its motivation, its essence, and its aim.  Here is the good news: believers are the most “normal” people on earth!  For most of us, we tend to lose sight of the biblical call to “normal” in light of the scriptures which encourage us as “aliens” in this world.  We tend to see that the believer is called to be “different” from the rest of the world, but fail to realize that this difference takes us back to where God’s intentions began for humanity.

Let me explain.

What most of the world views as normal actually is severely abnormal, marred, broken.  In a recent Newsweek article I noticed a striking example of this reality.  Apparently Newsweek regularly runs a piece that is sort of a meter or gauge of cultural realities.  The piece actually is nothing more than a scale, drawn out like a time-line, with one side showing a moderate rating and on the far end an excessive rating.  In this particular issue the scale was evaluating the degree of moral failure in three particular current events.  On the moderate end, which was merely listed as morally “tacky” was Alex Rodriguez’s “serial adultery” which has been brought out in the Yankee star’s divorce filing.  On the “mid-level” scale the indicator pointed to Martin Bashir’s (a news co-anchor with one of the major network news shows) recent “caveman”-like, sexually laced comments about a certain popular female.  His comments were merely a joke it seems, but deemed more offensive than serial adultery.  On the severe end of moral failure, listed as a gross breech of morality and decency, and thought to be unthinkable, was a politically driven song by Ludacris which promotes Obama’s campaign.  The Newsweek article, this moral scale, suggests that the most offensive form of immorality in our culture, at this moment in our national development, is anything which would bring any hint of damage to a certain politician’s campaign.  In the writer’s opinion, apparently, despite the fact that Ludacris was actually promoting Obama, any hinted association between the rapper and Mr. Obama could only serve to damage rather than aid Obama’s campaign.  Such an act, unwarranted promotional evil, even though it’s intention was to aid the potential President, was viewed as the “wort kind of evil” by the magazine!  This is absolutely heinous and unforgivable in the eyes of the writer.

What I am getting at here is simply this; how the world views morality is not how God views morality.  We are called to see what God views as normal as normal.  In a world that places more value on successful political campaigns than it does marital fidelity, believers must have a much clearer view of how people are to live.  No party or political platform was ever intended to, nor can it, define ultimate reality.  Likewise, the general opinion of a culture is never to be our benchmark for living.  Though the average moral scale may appeal to the majority to be the best way to go, we must recognize that in reality such a guideline is abnormal.

Getting back to normal, something I have written at length about, is all about understanding why we were created and how we find the greatest sense of meaning, purpose, and peace in life.  That kind of life comes from an understanding of who God made us to be and how He intends for us to function.  While your friends may view sexual “freedom” and partying as the way to “happiness”, you must recognize that such an approach leads you far away from a life worth living as defined by God.  The proof is in the puddin, as they say.  In a culture where morals have been in decline for decades, while affluence and entertainment access have been sharply on the rise, we have seen an explosion in rates of depression, addictions, psychological illness, and general human failure.  More people are in counseling and rehab than ever, more relational distress exists, and personal isolation has shot up dramatically by all accounts.  We are not getting happier by experiencing more pleasure it would appear.  How  many high profile celebs must we see destroying their lives before we get the hint.  Life lived for pleasure does not end in pleasure.  For many, such a life, sadly, just ends.  For too many others such an approach to life actually leads to psychological, physical, relational, and moral imprisonment.

Lastly, if you want to see a vivid picture of “normal” with pristine clarity, and the kind of peace, love, and purpose it brings, simply do a study on the life of Christ.  He has been called, simply, Ecce Homo “The Man”.  Finding normal is found in beholding The Man.  He is the definitive look at what it means to be “normal” in God’s eyes.  Normal is what God intended, let’s not forget that.  Anything shy of God’s desire for us is deviant, off the mark, other than normal.  What we were intended to be is the norm from God’s perspective.  That kind of normal leads us to the kind of life we all crave.  Because we are all prone to the abnormal life of  sin quests of all sorts, we wind up less than what we could be.  That’s why Jesus came.  He came to offer a bridge back to normal, the original intention, communion with God, and proper community with others.  If you really want to find normal, study Him, apply the Ten Commandments, and embrace the Sermon on the Mount.  With regard to the latter, has there ever been a more counter-cultural, “abnormal” approach to living on this planet?  Yet, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ great moral presentation, remains the benchmark for true living.

I can attest personally, as one who to some degree has lived an “abnormal” life as defined by society (I have had sex with one partner, my wife, and that only while married, in my lifetime, have never tried a drug of any sort, and desperately attempt to submit my life, thought, and actions to God daily) that the biblical quest for normal is the most fulfilling approach to life.  I am far from perfect, and fail regularly, but my deepest drive is to be all God has called me to be.  I am a single father of three, love parenting, and thoroughly enjoy my kids more than all other pursuits or activities.  I refuse to embrace any romantic relationship not in keeping with God’s agenda for me, and some time ago I walked away from a job which provided a very large income for me in order to write, speak, and teach others about finding God in a world of distractions.  I have been told regularly, “This is not normal”.  I share these things not to promote any high view of myself, and certainly do not think I have it all together, rather, I offer these realities simply to let you know, as a guy who could be viewed as completely “abnormal” by the cultural standard of measurement, that this kind of life is more thrilling, enjoyable, and purpose-filled than I could ever explain fully.  I am convinced that the pursuit of God is the quest for normal.  Anything else makes me less whole.  I have seen that it is the good life and it is worth pursuing.

Normal is found in Him.  Embrace, enjoy, and live in that reality and watch as your life becomes more than you could ever imagine.  Dare to be normal in His eyes!

Pursuing true normal,

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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What color are your stretchy pants, Hero?

6. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Below, is a somewhat lengthy article/essay I wrote on the heels of the Spiderman 3 movie.  In the wake of the new Batman movie, which is breaking all records in moviedom, I thought it would be a good time to consider, again, what it means for us to apsire to the “heroic life”.  I am intrigued by the whole hero genre and believe that as a culture we are drawn to this form of entertainment because it resonates with something deep within us.  We all hope to be bigger than life in some sense.  That is, we all desire to live above and beyond the normal every day drudgery and banality we see around us.  We all aspire to be and do more good.  Yet, we all face the darkness, bitterness, and the crushing weight of our moral weakness which lurks in the depths of our being.  These themes are highlighted with great clarity in many of the superhero scripts of our time and they capture us.  I believe this is why Batman, with its great acting performances, script, and plot, is drawing many of us to the theater more than once.  We are drawn to the heroic ideal which Batman portrays, and we are all too familiar with the deep darkness which fuels The Joker.  The very same theme was present in the last Spiderman flick as Spidey wrestled with the drive for heroism and darkness within himself.

I hope you will take the time to read the following article on finding the hero life within, and living the kind of heroic life we all aspire to.  While it was written some time ago, it is relevant today, especially in light of the recent buzz over Batman.  The Jack Black fans out there will appreciate the look into the heroic ideal brought out in the movie Nacho Libre!  Enjoy the read.

 

What Color Are Your Stretchy Pants?

By Bruce Smith, author of Soul Storm

www.soulstormsite.com

 

Have you ever thought about what it must be like to be Super Human?  Great?  Super Good?  Exceptional?  Uniquely important to the world?

Spiderman 3 has just blown past all former records for the largest opening weekend in box office sales at theatres in the United States.  For the record, I thought the first two films were the better movies.  That being so, Spidey 3 still inspires the wanna-be superhero in me.  Even the third installment of the webbed wonder boy’s adventures stirs me enough to want to put on my own stretchy pants.

In the last couple of years I have thought much about the whole superhero thing.  It seems, if Hollywood’s success with hero-adventure movies is any clue that many in America and around the world think about the heroic ideal. Why is this?  What is it about heroes, superheroes, and other marvel working caped types which draw us so intently?  I think I am beginning to understand. 

Several months ago, in my home, a curious encounter and a really silly, but really great movie brought this issue into sharp focus for me as I was wrestling with who God has made me and what He is calling me to be and do with my life. 

Here is what happened. 

 

“Dear God!  No.  Not this!”  And then, “Son, what in the world are you watching?”  These are the words I spoke late one night, not too long ago, after walking in on my teenage son watching the unthinkable on the television in his room. 

As a guy, you might think I should be a bit more understanding, a little less shocked.  After all, I was a teenager once.  And yes, the testosterone raged in me as well.  However, as a father, devoted to God, striving to instill Christian values in my son, this type of behavior came as a major blow. 

It is one thing to wrestle with one’s own demons.  It is something quite different to be rudely awoken to the reality that your offspring, your only son, has demons you prayed incessantly he would never have to deal with.  Walking into my son’s room that night, hearing the moans, slaps, and other sounds of fleshly activities, it was all so unbearable.  To see my son mesmerized by these kinds of primal urges displayed in Technicolor on the tube was a blow unlike few I had experienced as a father.  The sweating bodies, the shirtless participants, and the raw, uninhibited interaction were enough to make me crazy with fear and anger.  How could my son, the one I had groomed for years to pursue a thoughtful and restrained life, be given to this kind of immorality? 

“This is garbage!” I thought to myself.  Instantly, fear of my son’s future and lifelong addiction consumed me.  I looked at my son as a disappointed obedience trainer would look at an obstinate Labrador, and yelled, “Wrestling!  You are watching wrestling!  Turn that mindless garbage off right now, son!  Don’t you know this is why America is in the moral abyss it is in?  Just because the rest of the country watches this crap, doesn’t mean we watch this junk in our home.  We have higher standards in this house.  Turn it off, pick up a book and expand your mind.  Don’t make me take this television out of your room!”

Not too many moments later I remembered how, as a young kid, I absolutely loved JYD (The Junk Yard Dog).  I realized that my son’s longing to be the big bold super-figure was also mine. 

The desire still lurks.  In fact, it is growing.  What I find, as I draw closer to God’s heart, is that the hunger to be a human hero grows.

 

A few months after this incident my son and I were watching Jack Black’s movie Nacho Libre together, laughing hysterically, and cheering for Nacho as he pursued his dream, his calling.  Soon thereafter, my testosterone fueled son and I were shopping for our stretchy pants and scratching the superhero itch deeply rooted within us.  His color of choice was red, mine was blue.  Don’t laugh.  As Nacho reminds us, “Sometimes a guy likes to wear stretchy pants.  It’s for fun”.  We have yet to find the knee high wrestling boots.

Life can be fun.  It can actually be adventurous when we find ourselves and pursue that for which we were created.  Nacho Libre, a somewhat goofy movie, finds its strength in the deep seated passion of it principal character to “find himself” and his quest to pursue his dream, his divinely inspired dream.  That dream is, in essence, the same dream that each person who lives and breathes has in his or her heart.  This dream is actually our consuming passion to know why we are here and what we should be doing with our lives.  Finding this dream sets one on the path of exhilaration.  The loss of this dream leads to the kind of individual and communal misery and emptiness with which we are too familiar. 

This quest for the “ideal” in our life is, I think, what captures us so much as we watch movies like Spiderman, Batman, and yes, Nacho Libre.  We all want to know that we can BE GREAT.  Intuitively, we seem to understand that we were created for something more than the life we are living.  Mediocrity is just not enough.  Spiderman, ultimately, stirs that hunger within us to dream about what life would look like if we were able to cast off our meager existence and embrace a bigger dream, a dream for the Best Life God has for us.

 

Settling for less than Best:  the Black Suit

 

Spiderman 3 brings the reality of good vs. evil into fantastic light.  This battle of forces, one against the other, rages in each of us.  What is so compelling about Spidey 3 (though again, I liked the first two better), is the plot twist which demonstrates that even the best among us, the super figures among us, wrestle with the less than honorable impulses which reside in the depths of one’s heart and mind. 

The struggle for Spiderman, for Nacho, and for us, is the same.  The daily battle to embrace the easy way, the alluring way, and often, the dark way, tugs at each one of us.  As the movie demonstrates, our cravings for vengeance, recognition, flattery, respect, and ego scream out for their fulfillment.  It is so much easier to give into the pull of the black suit, isn’t it?  When we lose focus the dark side is always there to wrap itself around us and shackle us to its destructive ways. 

What about this black suit though?  How is it that we are so drawn to it?  Why was Spidey so tempted to leave the promise of the red suit and its good deeds for the empty offerings of the dark side?  In truth, his struggle has been the struggle of humanity since Adam and Eve.  That original breaking of boundaries unleashed the tide of darkness that still runs ramped in our world.  The doctrine of original sin is a common sense reality.

Scripture has suggested to us that the pursuit of godliness is the key to an abundant life, and the key to a successful defense against the darkness of our own hearts. David, the greatest king of Israel, amidst his fame, riches, power and privilege, found this reality to be so.  When David submitted to the black suit and found himself in the throws of adultery and murder his soul was wrecked and the carnage worked its way through his family.  When David found his passion directed toward the heart of God he found a life so full of beauty, artistic expression, and glory that few in history have been able to capture the thrill of living with such singleness of vision as David did.  The Psalms are replete with amazing testimonies of David’s intimacy with God and still capture the hearts, minds, and souls of readers thousands of years later.

The “promise” of the black suit is unveiled in our day in vivid detail on television news nightly.  It shows up in the voice mail messages of raging celebrity fathers, the jail sentences of gorgeous, empty, drunk, party animal actresses, and on the videos of stammering-drunk celebrity fathers video-taped by their young daughters.  The “promise” of the black suit shows up in our own lives in the wreckage inflicted upon ourselves when we make poor choices morally, relationally, and otherwise.  The “promise” of the black suit shows its power to be deadly when our college and high school campuses are plagued by mass killings.  The “promise” of the black suit is shown to be false each and every day if we are willing to view life realistically.  Anna Nicole, John Belushi, and many a lost rock star or movie star tell us of the “promise” of the dark side.  Likewise, the demise of many well-known preachers, evangelists, and political leaders speak to us of the remains of life lived in the black suit.

The scriptures compel us, “Come, let us reason together”.  Is it reasonable to choose our own desires and ideas when God offers us a clear plan for right living?  Is it reasonable to embrace lust, sex without boundaries, greed, revenge, limitless pleasure, and selfish ambition, when God has already instructed us as to the results that will be obtained?

If we are to abandon the trap of the black suit, as Spiderman ultimately did, we must choose to change our focus.  The word repentance, scripturally, denotes a putting down of one thing and a choosing of another.  It is a turning from one direction and a traveling toward another.  To repent is not to “confess” a laundry list of rules broken every now and then; rather, it is a conscious decision to live in a different manner.  More directly, it is a decision to allow oneself to be made into a different person.  We cannot do this.  Only God can work this kind of miracle.  We must however, say to Him, “I am tired of the black suit.  Please, change me and put another suit on me”. 

Just as Spiderman eventually came to see how entrapped he was by the all-consuming desires he was prisoner to while in the black suit, we must recognize that in the end the patterns of living the selfish life are methodically robbing us of our true selves and all we can be.  The questions arises, then, “How do we escape?”

 

 A New Suit:  Becoming something new

 

Psalms 27:4 reads, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.  

 

Our ability to put on a new suit, a red suit in the case of Spidey, depends upon our focus and desire.  As the Psalmist indicates here, the consuming passion which anchors the soul is that which is bigger, better, and beyond anything this world can offer.  If all of life, real life, meaningful life, is reduced to one quest, it must be, as the Westminster Confession asserts, the quest to know, love, and enjoy God forever.  Nothing else in all of human experience compares to this experience.  No beauty, even that of a man or woman, the crown of God’s creation, can compare to the beauty of the Lord. 

David found this to be so.  Smitten by the beauty of an enthralling, and married, woman, whom he viewed as she bathed, he chose to disregard the safety and protection of the God fearing King’s robe, and made a conscious choice to disrobe himself from God’s agenda and pursue her.  In the end, a Hamlet-like scene unfolded.  Beauty is to be pursued, beauty as defined by God.  Not all men, women, careers, or opportunities are God’s plan for us, no matter how attractive they may be to us.

I love beautiful things.  In the past I have been a part of interior design businesses.  I have bought and sold art, collected vintage watches, bought and sold fine furnishings, and pursued the hobby of photography.  Beauty and design speak to me.  I believe we were created with an attraction to beauty because God, in His very nature, is beauty defined.  Design speaks of a designer.  For me, to walk into, live in, or to help someone design an inspiring environment is pure joy.  The explosion in home decorating and design-shows on television, I think, demonstrates that people in general have an innate sense of structure, design, beauty, and long for a “space” where form comes together.  This is a hint of how life is to be lived.  Who is not captured by the sight of a world-class athlete who has refined the body in amazing ways?  How lovely are those whom God has blessed, male or female, with abundant physical beauty?  Beauty is all around us.  It is there to inspire us and to point us upward.

God has given us a design for life.  A spectacular life unfolds when we put on God’s suit for us and we follow His plan uniquely formed for us.  When we view the artistic beauty of scripture as merely “rules” or “puritanical laws” we sever ourselves from the potential to live a beautiful and inspired life.  Without putting on the super-hero costume, the stretchy pants God intends for each of us, we have no hope of finding a life that thrills us.  Our uniquely designed plan, we must remember, unfolds amidst the safe boundaries of scripture.  Just as Spidey found his most heroic feats performed in his red suit, the suit he was intended to wear, we find the life we were meant to live in our quest to focus on God’s plan for living.  Our benchmark for such a life, is none less than Jesus who said, and literally meant, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  God gives us one option because He knows, as the Psalmist found out, that only in Him can we find wholeness, and only in Him can we be made new.

 

 This just makes good sense.  If God does exist, does it not make sense that He would define, construct, or build a framework that His creatures could follow?  A loving God would not allow for 6 billion varying “truths”, differing truths.  How could a good God, with a plan for His creation, extend love, if He provided no roadmap to follow?  Those who wish to embrace the idea that no absolute truth exists, must also embrace an unknowable and unloving deity.  For if no truth, real truth, knowable truth exists, then one persons’ belief in murder on demand cannot be viewed any differently than another’s belief in greed, or another’s belief in polygamy, or another’s belief in pedophilia, or another’s belief in snake handling, or another’s belief in, well, you name it.

God, by definition, is a unique being with a certain set of characteristics.  In finding out who He is, as He has revealed Himself in scripture, we find our blueprint for building a life worth living.  We can never fulfill our thirst to live life to the full short of turning toward God’s way of life.  It must be the one thing that directs all activities, decisions, desires, emotions, and pursuits.  This is how we are made new.  It happens as we surrender ourselves to the superhero of superheroes, the one who gives us power, grace, joy, peace, poise, and overcoming abilities.

God’s word offers us a sure and inspiring hope when we turn from the dark suit and “put on” the new suit He offers us.  In the very moment we open our hearts to Him He creates something new in us.  The scriptures say, “Behold, the old is gone and all things have been made new”.  Just as Spiderman came to realize the destructive chaos associated with the black suit, se we too are called to realize how disjointed and unfulfilling our lives are when detached from God’s artistic plan for us.  In the end, Spiderman found he was able, willing, and ready to “put to death” the darkness within him, and he found a renewed passion to embrace the call of the good suit.  We must do the same.  We cannot hope to achieve this death to the darkness within us that causes us to make destructive choices, however, until and unless we turn to God and ask Him to make us new.

 

Stretchy Pants of your own

 

At the end of the day we all want to know that we matter.  All human beings need to know that they are in some way a unique feature of life on this planet.  Jesus demonstrates just how much we matter in all of His interactions with others.  When those with afflictions were brought to Him and were longing for His touch, He had compassion.  When those who were oppressed by the religious “leaders” of the day were in need of inspiring truth, He gave it.  When the outcasts of society were in need of grace and dignity, He offered it.  And when people who were created to know, love, follow, and enjoy Him made a wreck of their lives as they turned to the way of the world, He brought the hope and power of a changed life. 

So here is the question.  How are you living?  Do you know His plan for you?  Would you know it if it ran you over?  Have you found your own stretchy pants?

In the movie Nacho Libre, Jack Black, plays the part of a man who desperately wants to do something worthwhile with his life.  Apparently, he had come to the realization that life lived the way most people lived it was not enough.  Thus, he decides to commit his life to Godly reflection and service to orphans.  Sounds good enough, right?

The only problem for Nacho is that, while he wants desperately to live a life worth living, he feels somewhat trapped in the monastery.  He wants to serve the kids, but he feels the religious leaders around him have lost all passion, creativity, and beauty.  He wants to be the best he can be, but he feels that his long lost dream to wrestle has left him with a gaping hole in his soul.  And he wants to know the joy of loving a woman, but he feels that the rules of the monastery forbid such human interaction.  What is a man to do?

Eventually, what Nacho comes to find out is that God is not a God “in a box”.  That is to say, God often works in ways that are more creative and unexpected than we could have imagined.  He still works within His clear guidelines as revealed in scripture, but in ways that surprise us.  In contrast to Adam and Eve, who were deceived into thinking that the only way to a fuller life was found beyond the boundaries (this is what the enemy of our souls always tells us), Nacho comes to find that God’s good plans and creative genius are boundless.  He came to see, like Spiderman, that each time we go beyond the lines God has drawn, we only bring pain, confusion and doubt.  And he came to find that embracing God’s unique plan for us can be unexpectedly, humorously, and inspiringly joyous and can reach, lift, and inspire others.

Nacho saw his dark desire to wrestle for fame, fancy ladies, and money transformed into a desire to provide a more adventurous and bountiful life for the orphans.  Likewise, Nacho came to the unexpected realization that the life of an individual pursuing the one thing (as in Psalm 27) we most need is a life beyond anything we could ask or imagine.  Nacho found that his calling was to serve God creatively, authentically, and joyously.  He was able to do so while retaining his priestly robe (a metaphor for the Godly life), all the while wearing his “stretchy pants” (the uniform of the wrestler) underneath.  The metaphor we find here is that of a man who finds his unique gifting and calling and who has been won over by the romance and thrill of Godly living.  As has been suggested, there is nothing so boring and ultimately unfulfilling as separation from God and nothing so lovely and inspiring as orthodoxy (right belief). 

The good news is that God is still in the business of creating such superheroes.  God is still calling and creating individuals who will pursue Him with devotion, passion, humor, and sincerity.  He still wishes to make colorful characters who will serve the interests of others, those who will care for the underprivileged, those who will protect the oppressed, those who will defend the fatherless, those who will care for the widows, those who will mentor the orphans, and those who will do the unexpected and love the unlovely. 

So, what color are your stretchy pants?  Will you ever discover them?  Will you suit up?  Will you take off the black suit that so entraps your life?   Will you put on the new suit God has for you? 

Just as Spiderman suggests, “We all have a choice”.  And as the scripture suggests, “Choose this day whom you will serve”.  Today could very well be the day that defines the rest of your life.  This could be the day you are made into a superhero, a super-lover, a super-forgiver, a super-leader, a super-father, a super-mother, a super-artist, a super-attorney, a super-giver, a super-trainer, a super-missionary, a super-____.  You and God fill in the blank! 

And now, as you get ready to offer the prayer below as a true expression of your heart to God, remember, what the scripture offers is true, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes”.  Suit up today!

 

*Here is a simple prayer to help get you “suited up”:

“God, I have chosen to live in the black suit of sin, meaninglessness, and life apart from your will for me for too long.  Today, right now, I ask that you would make me new, create a new heart in me.  Transform my thinking about life, truth, and you.  Heal me spiritually, and make me what you are calling me to be.  Make me your person, pursuing life your way, and give me a hunger to make you my One Thing in life.  Make me a beautiful example of your love.  And help me to live every day in the new suit you have created for me. Amen”

 

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If you or someone you know read the article above and prayed this prayer, I would love to hear from you about that.  Please, take time to share your story with me at my email address:  soulstormwriter@yahoo.com

 

Grace and Peace,

Bruce Smith

www.soulstormsite.com

www.optimuslife.org

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Radio show, Think Out Loud Podcast is up!

4. August 2008 by BruceSmith.

Check out Bruce’s podcast for his radio show Think Out Loud…it is now up!  This week Bruce interviewed family counselor Melanie Audibert and discussed the nature of happiness, stress, and the search for contentment.  The link is below:

http://wgso.com/content/view/7365/172/

Just cut and past the link into your browser and give it a listen.

Optimuslife.org

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