The Jesus Challenge has been a lot of fun this year.  It has particularly been fun as we have emphasized doing small things for people. 

            Going the second mile is a concept that makes an enormous difference in other people’s lives and strangely makes a real difference in ours when we go the second mile.  Taking the opportunity to help people when they don’t expect it and when you have no obligation to give it is a character and heart-life improving exercise. 

            This past Sunday morning I mentioned taking the shopping baskets (the kind that you carry around in the store) back to the pile for the cashier and mentioning it to the cashier.  I found myself caught between two points as I was thinking about telling her why I wanted to do that.  The first point was the desire to be modest and not call attention to myself.  The second was the desire to bear witness to the fact that Jesus Christ does put things like this in our hearts to do.  I’m glad I mentioned to her that I was doing it because of Christ and The Jesus Challenge, but I think it is always something we need to keep examining in ourselves.  Am I calling attention to myself or do I truly want to glorify Jesus? 

We can tie ourselves in knots worrying about such things, and I don’t want you to do that.  The truth is, if you are seeking self-recognition, it is not a condemnable offense.  Even Paul said of those who were preaching the Gospel out of envy and strife that it didn’t matter to him why people did it as long as the Gospel was preached.  So let’s give glory to Christ.  Let’s engage in The Jesus Challenge by helping people, and I hope you enjoy a fuller heart because you gave of yourself to others.

            When I had an opportunity to preach at the SBC Pastor’s Conference several years ago, I took the opportunity to take a swipe at Calvinism and have wished ever since I had not.  Any believer who is reformed is my brother and we will spend eternity together, and I should treat them with the respect any brother in Christ deserves. 

            That being said I am not a Calvinist for a number of reasons, the most prominent being the denigration of faith that they commit.  They confuse action with meritorious deeds by making them the same, and they are not.  Scripture makes it plain that in response to the eternal sovereign work of God I must believe in order to be saved.  My belief does not merit salvation, it does not make me worthy of salvation, it merely receives the salvation offered from before the foundations of the earth.  That is the one and only condition required in order to receive the saving, regenerating benefits of grace.  Granted on the timeline of salvation, it is a very small spec of difference between believing in order to be regenerated and being regenerated in order to believe.  But the Bible makes this spec of difference significant, and for me it will always keep me out of the Calvinist camp.

            I have many days when I wish all of us Christians believed everything alike.  But that would be as too good to be true as Bernie Madoff’s returns on investment.  So in the meantime, I remain anchored in the Biblical necessity of faith and in love with my reformed brethren. 

            What about you? What do you think about Calvinism?

Reading is such a great sport.  It started for me at age five with comic books.  One day I realized I knew what some of the words inside the cartoon characters’ speech bubbles were.  I hope you love to read.  It is surely the best way to connect to the best minds from whom you are separated by space, time, or both.

            On vacation I read Jeff Shaara’s story of World War II titled The Rising Tide.  This very factual, historical novel tells of the early events of World War II and the North African and Sicilian campaigns led by Dwight D. Eisenhower.  It describes the war from the standpoint of both Erwin Rommel (The Desert Fox) and his fellow German generals and Dwight Eisenhower and his fellow generals.

            Of particular interest was the representation of General George Patton and General Omar Bradley, two completely different men with fascinating personalities.  Patton never achieved as high a rank as most people believe he could have because his personality, while fascinating, also barred him from going any higher than he did.  (It is interesting that the highest rank to which he ever aspired was that of three-star general.  That was his dream from the beginning of West Point, and that is as far as he ever went.)  Omar Bradley, on the other hand, was remarkably resolute and strong and simultaneously incredibly modest.  This man was able to rise to the rank of four-star general, one of only four that ever served in the army.  This book is certainly well worth your time.

            Read any good books lately?  Tell me about them.

Writing is easier for some than others, and journaling doesn’t bless everyone.  However, a huge number of people who thought it would not help them and they wouldn’t like it have found it is an awesome help.  It might help if you think of it as your God blog.  Tell Him what’s going on, what you wonder, need, hate, love, and want.  He is interested in the hairs on your head, so He surely cares about this other stuff.  Journaling works best for me when I’m trying to solve a big problem.  But there have been times when it was my routine way of interacting with God.  No, I make no attempt to be absolutely consistent in how I relate to God, but I am very disciplined in spending personal time with Him every day.  I need Him, and I want my actions to show that.  So – journal or prayer blog – I don’t think it matters what you call it.  But if you try it, it might just help you.