Lost

Lost: One planet with some people still on it. Lost: One child left in confusion, one woman raped of sanctity, one man castrated of manhood. Lost: One adult deaf to hope. Lost: One generation lacking moral justice. Lost: One society gulping down gallons of self-tranquilizing propaganda -- "we can have something for nothing." Lost: Leaders clawing one another to death in their lust for power. Lost: Huge segments of society carried off by rip currents of relativism. Lost: Freedom mauled by political predators, redefined by social architects, negated by power brokers. Lost: Substantive relationships with people and God. Lost: People somewhere east of hell. Lost: Common sense, personal significance. Lost: Our way and our God.

Lost: Not moments of disorientation that can be corrected by a GPS, but a life-condition that we can't correct by ourselves. We've drifted into treacherous waters, currents stronger than we are. We're lost and we can't get back to shore.

Lost as a life-condition is terminal. Every way is the wrong way. Every turn the wrong turn. Every step takes us deeper into the black forest. We're confused, angry, afraid, out of sorts. We should know better but we don't. We should be able to find our way home but we can't. We've lost our innocence, our faith, our direction, our center, our sense, our God.

There is One who waits for our return. "... there is one bell that rings above all the tinkling cymbals." It is the voice of a Waiting Father. His voice never ceases to sound. For the lost, His is a voice of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Follow the voice home. Kneel at His feet. Repent. "Father, I have sinned against you."

Fall into His forgiving arms.

And the lost is lost no more.

Toad's Can't Talk ... Can They?

As I meandered down a dirt road sulking about my uselessness, I saw a huge toad sitting beside a small pond. It wasn't the first toad I'd seen; I glanced at it and kept walking.

That's when it happened. A deep, small voice called out, "Come back here." I turned around. The command seemed to be coming from the toad. But toad's can't talk ... can they? I must be more depressed than I thought!

The small base voice said, "Come closer!" The toad's lips were moving. A talking toad? I'm losing it!

Curiosity got the best of me and I stepped closer to the ugly creature. "What do you want?" I asked. "I'll tell you when I'm good and ready," the toad quipped.

"Whatever you have to say better be good," I retorted. "And you can change your snotty attitude or I'll stomp you into the ground."

"Take it easy big fella," the toad said. "It's too hot to get all worked up."

"You're right. But I don't like toads and you're at the top of my list. Speak up. What's on your pea-sized mind?"

"Do you believe God created me?" the toad asked. "Sure," I said. "But only God knows why. You're ugly as sin."

The toad ignored my insult. "Did God create you?" "Absolutely! I'm created in His image."

"Good for you," the toad continued. "One more question: Why did God create me?" The toad's penetrating stare unnerved me. This ugly little creature was dead serious.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know why God created you. And frankly, at this moment, I don't give a damn." I turned to walk off.

"God created me," the toad said, "to live out my short life in the confines of this pond, to reproduce, and to eat bugs. Flies are fat, juicy, and tasty this time of year."

"So, you are an amphibian fly-eater?"

"Something like that, but that's not all. God also created me to make you look good."

"Really? How's that?"

"Pick me up," commanded the toad. "Go ahead sissy. You won't get warts." I should have stomped the arrogant toad, but I picked it up.

"Take a good look at me. I was created to do what I do and that's it. But I can't do a fraction of what you do. I'm a brownish-green, bumpy, creature with powerful legs -- which some of your fellow humans find tasty -- a long, sticky tongue, a loud croak, and an veracious appetite for bugs. That's all I'll ever be. But not you. There are few limits to what you can be. God made you the crown of his creation. So, when you feel insignificant, get down on yourself, or feel worthless, think about me."

As I put the toad down and watched him hop into the cool waters of the little pond, I remembered David's words from Psalm 8 -- "What is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings (angels) and crowned him with glory and honor."

But toads can't talk ... can they?

What No One Else Knows

God knows what no one else knows. He knows every secret thought I keep locked up in my soul's safety deposit box.

Thoughts I keep to myself. Thoughts I don't tell my best friend. Thoughts that haunt me. Thoughts that encourage me. Thoughts I despise. Thoughts I enjoy. Thoughts I accept or deny. Thoughts of defeat and success. Dark thoughts. Light thoughts. Good thoughts. Bad thoughts.

Whatever else these thoughts are, they are my thoughts.

No one knows my secret thoughts. No one except God -- "He knows the secrets of the heart" (Psalm 44:21). How? God knows everything about everything. Is there anything that God does not know? Nothing exists outside His knowledge, understanding, or intelligence. No thought hides from God.

Psalm 139 expands this truth: "I'm an open book to You, even from a distance, You know what I'm thinking ... You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence."

Can I keep my thoughts secret from other people? Yes. Can I keep even one thought secret from God? No. God's Spirit fills all time and space -- I'm never out of His earshot or out of His sight.

What do I do with my secret thoughts? I follow David's lead: "Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).

My secrets are no secret to Him. Yet Papa-God loves me enough to invite me to open-up and come clean. Do I trust Him enough to tell everything to Him? He loves me enough to listen, understand, correct, forgive, and secure me in my journey toward eternity with Him.

God knows what no one else knows.

Diversity???

I received a complaint about the tone of a Christian alumni newsletter. The person suggested that the tone of the newsletter was too bias, too Christian, too conservative. She further suggested that in the future the newsletter should reflect the diversity of the alumni in their opinions, beliefs or lack thereof, and lifestyles.

Diversity sounds right. It makes sense. It seems fair, the right thing to do. Yet it doesn't settle well with me--like eating a meal of bad fish that looks delicious.

So, what about "diversity" as a life-philosophy? We humans are without a doubt a diverse bunch. Ethnic, cultural, educational, political, religious diversity describes the world as we know it. But here's what I think. The real issue behind diversity as a life-philosophy is relativism. Reduced to its basic thesis, diversity means: "anything goes and everything is acceptable." No rules. Few boundaries. Furthermore, this life-view implies those who are not "open minded" are narrow-eyed bigots and intellectual-snails.

Diversity promotes a broadminded, inclusive, gracious, live-and-let-live attitude. When dressed in Christian clothes, diversity appears caring and compassionate. What is wrong with that?

Nothing ... until we meet God.

Then the rub comes. God reveals himself as the One and Only God -- there is one God and no god but God. God is absolute. This alone sets God in direct opposition to diversity as a life-view.

If God is absolute, then obedience to this absolute God must include a refusal to accept anyone or anything that threatens to usurp God -- his place, authority, person, character, or truth. Therefore, diversity as a life-view (even when it's promoted by the church and/or society) is a dangerous form of idolatry that dares to slap God in the face.

Diversity as a life-view benches God, dilutes truth, and headbutts absolute truth off the playing field. Therefore, people who know and follow an absolute God and choose to live by God's absolute truth become impossible people because God's truth is not "both-and" but "either-or."

With God: it's light or darkness, truth or a lie, right or wrong, real or counterfeit, holy or profane, saved or lost. We can't have it both ways. John was clear about this: "The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (I John 2:4).

"There is one God, there is no god but God, and there is no rest for any people who rely on any god but God. Let God be God."