Something Worth Dying For (Tribute To Fallen Soldiers)

In my own small way, I am mourning the loss of the Navy Seals this past weekend.  The true weight of the tragedy; however, is borne by the widows and children of those that perished.  They are, as the enemy might put it, collateral damage.  When I imagine my wife and children getting the news that Daddy is not ever coming home again, my heart sinks.  I freeze in my own skin, left breathless. The men that died were in a line of work that predisposed them to danger, to the possibility of capture, torture, maiming...and death.  They knew this and counted the cost to them and to their loved ones.  But they still considered this country and all the American flag stands for, something worth dying for. I am sure that if given the choice, they would do it all again. Few have their courage, their honor, and such a sense of duty. Thank God for them. May He have mercy on them and their families in this time unspeakable.

And to honor them, may we who bear the cross of Christ, He whose blood was shed for our eternal freedom, in a tribute to those who shed their blood for our freedom as Americans...may we live our lives to the fullest- and by so doing show the world that they did not die in vain.

A Passionate Janitor

It's been a month since I wrote, sorry about that.  In an effort to try to be more consistent I am going to try to keep my thoughts shorter.  With that said, in a nod to the most influential person in my life who I've never met, I'd like to parrot a thought from Oswald Chambers.  For at least two (maybe three) years I spent my devotional time (almost slavishly) meditating on his daily thoughts about all things spiritual in his book "My Utmost for His Highest".  I credit Chamber's amazing insights with helping a me desire a deeper life with Christ when I was in college. I've found over the last 20+ years that this desire is not a given...I must continue to fan it or risk a hardened heart.  So this is me fanning.

Christ used his death on the cross to symbolize communion.  His body is the broken bread, His blood is the poured out wine.  We understand that, as believers, it is what defines "half" of our faith (the other "half" being the resurrection).  What Chambers emphasized is that we should offer our lives to be so available to God for His purposes and glory that our lives (I believe the Greek word is "Zoe") are also broken bread and poured out wine.  Then, and only then, will the power of the resurrection be so part of us that whether we are a prophet, a pastor, a shoemaker, or a janitor...will we be identified not as mere churchgoers, but as disciples of the living Christ.  And many lives changed eternally.  God glorified. It is, after all, why we're here isn't it?

How One 3-Letter Word (ALL) Could Change Your Life

A former Bible teacher of mine, Chuck Carter, used to say, when trying to understand Scripture don't just read it...read it backwards, to get a different perspective on time.  Also, read it with a view of what he called "Umbrella Theology"...that is, interpret it based on other Scripture on the subject to get a more thorough understanding and gain a more complete picture of what the writers were trying to convey.  He would also say to read what is said...then read what is NOT said. That's the one I most enjoy.  

I have just invested almost $1,000.00 of my hard earned bacon on my passion for that last concept.  You see, in Mark 12:30 (NIV) Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."  I have just started a business/ministry to promote this idea.  More on that later.  

So for a year or so I have been focusing on what I think most of us focus on in that verse...namely "love".  Or in the Greek - Agape' - unconditional love. But what Chuck's unique twist showed me was that the word "ALL" is perhaps the key word.  It is the most used word in the verse.  He doesn't say "Love him with "some" or "most" or "all the love that you can muster"...it's simply "All".  An interesting word.   This is a rallying cry for all of us who are tired of half-hearted loving. Half-hearted living. God expects more.  So should we. It is what we were created for - to love God with all that is in us. David loved God in such a way.  So much so that he danced for God (in his underwear) before the entire nation of Israel.  That my friends is an "all"-type love.  I believe this is a much needed rallying cry for our generation. I hope that you agree.

I am reading the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris.  It is the younger (teen) generations rallying cry to rise above the low expectations that our society has for its young people.  It started with a blog, but struck a nerve with thousands of believing teens, and has become a monumental movement to live in Christ's potential not the worlds.  These young people call themselves "Rebelutionaries".   Their enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious. 

Getting to the thing I mentioned earlier.  I come with these ideas and people keep telling me "You should put that on a T-Shirt".  So, I finally did.  I pick them up tomorrow.  It is (hopefully) a unique and compelling way to promote that thing that we were created to do - Love God with ALL...pictures of the shirts will be posted in the next day or two.  

Now I don’t want this to be artificial or contrived, but a genuine personal challenge, a life quest even.  In retrospect, the reason I started this blog was to “flesh out” those thoughts and ideas and movings that were churning in my heart at the beginning of the year.  So in the spirit of Do Hard Things, I, Keith Murrill, am 42…and I am a rebelutionary. Is there anyone out there who wants to join me?  

Fox Mulder and A.W. Tozer...Kindred Spirits??

One of the most influential books in my Christian life was The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer. In it, Tozer challenged me to quit faking desire for God (my words not his). "When you are full", I was admonished, "rejoice"; but when empty...admit it, fall to my knees and beg God for a spark...for a drip...for the desire to desire Him. My favorite quote in his book is this:

"O God I have tasted Thy goodness,and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more...I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee, I long to be filled with longing, I thirst to be thirsty..."

It's not hard to see how this book can change the life of any sincere believer. It changed mine. I never approached God the same way after reading it. The thing I like most about this sentiment of desiring to desire God is it's abject humility and admission of failure. I have been in the place before (as I suspect all who read this have) where I allowed my heart to harden and grew cold toward God and the things of God.  It's a lonely place.  But in His endless mercy He brought me to that place where I recognized the hardness and knew that I had no desire for God.  That recognition for me...that I did NOT desire Him, but WANTED to desire him... was paramount in it led me to pray the above prayer.  Praise Him.  Even the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:24 confessed his unbelief even after admitting he believed and saw his son healed.  Jesus knew his heart, and He knows ours.

Now, I was not a The X-Files enthusiast; (in case you don't know or forgot, The X-Files was the sci-fi thriller that was so popular in the 90's) however, I did manage to catch a few episodes and was always drawn to the poster on Fox Mulder's wall above his desk in that dark FBI basement that was his office.  It read, "I WANT TO BELIEVE".   This is the secular version of Tozer's sentiment, I think.

Now I know the show was fiction, but that poster broke my heart every time I saw it. Because even though I know the  character was fictional, there are thousands (millions?) of people who are NOT fictional, who share that same open-ended longing for truth.  There is the desire, without any care of the object of that desire.  You could place aliens or a ham sandwich as the object of desire just as easily as God.  But for our "whatever" post-modern society...it's a start.  I wonder if God looks down on people who desire to believe in something larger than themselves, who, while not there yet, have begun the journey of pursuing, and is pleased.  I don't know the answer to that. I just wonder if maybe Tozer would have seen the desire to believe by the sincere unbeliever (Mulder) and have saw the slight beginning of a spark, a drip,...a desire to desire God.  I think it's important in our society, that we recognize the Mulders in our circles of influence and "always be prepared to give an answer...for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15 (partial). 

The Wee Passion of the Faithless (and other Limericks)

While driving to work yesterday I passed a car with this license plate:  FATH LST.

Now my first instinct was to think that this poor wretch had lost their faith, but I hadn't yet considered other alternatives for the 70 mph word puzzle.  So  I tried a few out in my head: 

Alternative 1) Fat H-List...I had no idea what that could possibly mean

Alternative 2) Faith List...a list of faiths...strange, but possible

Alternative 3) Farth Lahoost..which of course we all know is the name of the iconic Irish touring dance troupe to celebrate the Northern Irish Wee Knickerbocker Brigade....OK, that's a lie....because when I passed him...he clearly was not wee.

OK, so now I'm faced with what is clearly this person's attempt to push their religion, lost or otherwise, on me. Then it occurred to me that I am passionate about a few things that I would think keen to have on my license plate in order to let the world know about me as I fly by them on the highway. But it takes real commitment to actually get it on my plate, not to mention money which I am loathe to part with.  So, this person who lost their faith was so passionate about losing it that they went down to the DMV, stood in line for at least 36 hours (they actually rent cots now I think), tried out a few vanity plates that had already been taken, paid the money, then waited by the mailbox to get it, and then put it on their car.  (It literally takes an act of Congress for me just to put my Registration Tag on mine every year).  That is real, genuine passion and commitment about NOT having their faith. This person is so angry at God, they want the world to know how angry and was commited enough to go through not a few obstacles to make it happen. 

 What if I was so joyful for God's love for me that I was willing to have the same commitment to tell the world.  The Lord  convicted me of this using a person who lost their faith...sometimes God is weird.  Does anyone else feel that way sometimes?