Satan Loves Cynics; God Loves Dreamers: On Christians hiding behind Revelations

*Disclaimer: This post talks about weighty subjects that I am not even going to pretend that I am smart enough to have figured out. I am simply sharing my journey. I hope it blesses and encourages you.*

"At the end of forty days they [the Israelite spies] came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the cogregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, 'We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendents of Anak there....'

But Caleb quieted the people before moses and said ' Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.'" Numbers 13:26-30

"Then the Lord said..'But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit, and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendents will possess it." Numbers 14:24

What was the difference between the cynical other spies and Caleb? I think the "different spirit" that God was talking about was faith. Faith makes us sort of a dreamer, doesn't it? I bet Caleb seems like a real yahoo to all those "realistic" Israelites out there. "Yeah, us short Jewish folk are going to be able to fight against the MILLIONS of Cannanites and some are GIANTS...yeah right." they must have thought. Caleb was labeled a dreamer, a "head in the clouds", "lost touch with reality" kind of guy. But guess what? God LOVED it. It was what he desired. It was what he commanded. And all through scripture, I find other dreamers that God seemed to be big fans of. Like David (killing Goliath), or Esther (saving her people), or Noah (how bout that ark?). These people had big goals. They were laughed at. They weren't realists. They were scoffed at by cynics, dismissed by the general population. But God honored them and thought that their faith stories were important enough to be put in His word.

God called us to be faith-filled dreamers, not stick in the mud cynics. In fact, Satan loves stick in the mud cynics because they don't do nothin'! So why is it that we as believers think it is okay to stop dreaming for our world, just because "we know it's all going to end anyhow"? I confess that I have had that mentality for far too many months and years. I am reading a book by Paul Rogat Loeb called the Soul of a Citizen. This book, in combination with my work on my masters degree and my work here in New Orleans has reignited by soul to dream again- to have faith that God CAN do amazing things and change people and situations and is calling us to join him.

Now, let's stop right here. Do I believe that the world as we know it will end? YES!

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." Revelation 21:1

Do I think our world will continually degenerate until Christ comes again? YES!

"And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdome. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains." Mark 13:7-8

Do I think our response should be to throw up our hands in surrender and say, "Oh well, it won't get better til' Jesus comes back?" NO!

Let me explain my position on this a bit. For me, I always try to make my attitudes and beliefs line up with Jesus'. Let's look at his response. By the way, It is Christ that said the above verse, so Jesus fully acknowledged the degeneration of the world. But, did he give up on impacting it? Let's see.

Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem. This was his response, "How often would I have gathered you children togather as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.." Matthew 23:37. What a beautiful picture of Christ's compassion on the city. He wants to wrap them up in a bear hug and save em'.

Jesus' mission was described in Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.." Isaiah 61:1

You see, Jesus got the eternal physical plan without missing the spiritual plan. God is calling us to go to the PEOPLE. Yeah, we can acknowledge Revelations all day long, but Jesus spent most of his time helping people spiritually and physically. He was a dreamer. He spent his time

Granting social justice to prostitutes

Encouraging that children should be taught and acknowledged

Loving on tax-collectors and other outcasts

Giving out bread to hungry people

AND IN ALL THIS giving them hope that lasts forever. The Living Water, Salvation in Jesus.

I don't want you think that I am preaching a Social Gospel. But I DO think that we (I) should stop using God's word as an excuse not to get our hands dirty and start dreaming a little. Jesus knew all the facts. He knew the prophesy. That didn't stop him from going to those groups in need and ministering to that need. I want to do that. Dreaming hurts..it opens you up to rejection, scoffing, and worse- failure. But God's measures aren't our own. I think that when I stop shaking my head about how "sad" a situation is and start doing something, I look a little more like Jesus. What do you think?

Hornets and Elephants

We had another fabulous weekend here in New Orleans. I have to say, we love being married and childless in this city. If you have read all of my entries, you know that this has not always been the case, but God has brought contentment, peace, and even happiness here. There are so many fun things to do outside of Bourbon Street, and we enjoy getting the chance to do them. Also, I feel like as Christians, we should be out supporting these things. The NBA's New Orleans Hornets are at risk of leaving because of lack of support. Honestly, I hate to see this because that is one less family-friendly thing to do in New Orleans. Unfortunately, we cannot be season ticket holders (it's like 500 dollars!!!) but we can sneak in a game or two every season and we hope to continue doing that, as long as they are here in NOLA. Crossing our fingers they raise enough support to be back next year. I so badly want business people that set up shop in the city to begin having the mindset that they will make MORE money if they bring something other than a bar or club. And as Christians, we can be part of that change by investing in those places that do bring positive events to our city. So anyway, off my soapbox! This weekend, JK surprised me with tickets to see a NBA Hornets game. It was really a lot of fun. They have a "BUZZ Fest" beforehand with a band, facepainting, and inflatables. JK shocked me by saying we could have all the stadium food we want, which was such a fun treat! He really spoils me. I have got to admit that I highly prefer college (MSU) basketball, but it was still a great time. Saturday we put to use our ZOO MEMBERSHIP and spent about 2 hours at the zoo. We LOVE the zoo for several reasons. One reason is that now that we are members we can go to that or the aquarium anytime for free. The second reason is that the staff does an incredible job doing educational programs, feedings, and other fun activities. We always get a schedule and try to go to the feedings and zookeeper chats. They are so neat! So here are some pictures of the weekend.

Feeding the pelicans. They are HUGE in person.

Date Night! This guy was on stilts at Buzz Fest..how cool!