A couple days ago a good friend was sharing his heart with me concerning his parents who are currently undergoing a major crisis touching several areas of their lives. After describing their situation he made a comment that I’ve heard hundreds of times. “You, know,” he said, “they don’t have one friend.”

Oh, yes, they’re part of “the family of God” and they’ve been in the midst of many Christians Sunday morning after Sunday morning for years. I’ve met them on a couple of occasions and found them to be friendly folks. But they might as well be Cyclops with “leprosy” written on their name tags.

Yesterday my sister who is here for our mom’s birthday was telling us about her daughter and her circle of friends. She mentioned that they weren’t necessarily a Christian group, but that their love and care for one another was remarkable. They accept one another with their differences, are there for each other when a need arises and love to be together as often as possible. She hasn’t seen that in the “church.”

The same thing is true of my daughter’s non-Christian friends. Love, acceptance and making allowances for one another seems to be the norm for them. Rachel and I enjoy spending time with them because they’re fun to be with and have no measuring sticks or hidden agendas.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Imagine how things would change if those who professed to follow Christ realized that God actually loves us and wants to be our friend. The kind of friend that loves, accepts, forgives and sticks closer than a brother. The kind of friend that enjoys every bit of his creation and wants his friends to enjoy it/them with him. A friend that loves to have fun. A friend that hurts with us and rejoices with us, who never manipulates us, never has false expectations of us and is the most generous being in the universe. A friend who never fails but thinks none the less of us when we do. Who’s always truthful but never condemning and is always rejoicing over us and with us.

Most likely we would respond naturally in loving obedience to the only command Jesus left us with. And close friends would never be lacking.

David Fredrickson

Posted: June 25th, 2010 under General.
Comments: none

“Standing on the Word”

Remember that phrase? Word of faith folks like to use it. Believers facing hard times like to use it. I don’t like to use it.

I heard that phrase recently and it made me shutter. It was used by a person that had lost their contact with Father. I asked them what they sensed Father is saying about a situation and they replied “I don’t know, but I’m standing on the word (i.e. the Bible)”.

They were listening to tapes of faith teachers and trying to make sense out of their situation. It gave me the shivers. Here was a seasoned church goer facing a very difficult situation and they had lost contact with Father and were trying desperately to look through the Bible like it was the phone book trying to find God’s telephone number.

My family and I spent some time with them and just simply led them back to who they were in Christ, and that they indeed were connected to him w/o need of any super spirituality on their part. It’s funny how a few moments of simple relationship releases the river of living water that restores the soul.

bob humphrey

Posted: June 21st, 2010 under General.
Comments: 4

Back in the days when I was running a religious institution I talked a lot about intimacy with God and did my best to get everyone praying, fasting and reaching out to the lost. Yet after many years of hard work I saw very few “results” of our labor. The following scripture from Isaiah 26 describes the whole experience perfectly:

“As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Oh Lord. We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to the people of the world.”

Bottom line, we worked our buns off hoping for the sound of “a mighty wind” and ended up breaking wind instead. Of course I now realize that putrid hot air is all one can expect from religion. And down wind everyone suffers as well. No wonder the “unchurched” aren’t rushing to fill the pews.

Still, most of us were as sincere as we knew how to be and truly wanted God to be glorified and for his kingdom to come. And he heard and answered our prayers. He just didn’t do it quite in the way we expected. We didn’t see thousands turn to Christ ( I would have settled for 30) or an explosion of miracles or revival break out in the city. Rather, he blasted a bunch of people free from an unforgiving and lifeless religious system, bathed them in his love, opened their eyes to see who he really is and led them on a God journey of discovery. Like a mighty wind.

So if you’re mourning wasted years or grieving over lost opportunity, be encouraged. The next verse says:

“But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.”

David Fredrickson

Posted: June 16th, 2010 under General.
Comments: 2

“I’m sure God is trying to teach me something through this situation.” Ever heard that before? I was having a conversation with a guy the other day that kept using that phrase to try to make sense of a senseless act. It got me thinking because I noticed I haven’t had that thought since leaving the institutional church. But I can understand why people in the institutional church would think that way. I used to. I have used the allegory of the institutional church being like a high School that you can never graduate from. You have to just keep going back repeating the classes, maybe become a teacher’s aid, or cafeteria helper or cleaning the chalkboards or whatever little task that’s available. There’s always a new lesson to learn from things that happen in life.

But something changed once I began living in my relationship with Father outside of the institution. I discovered that I had stopped being anxious about what “God is trying to teach me through this situation”. If God is distant like the principal of a high school, then sure, I’m going to be anxious to be on his good side and learn my lessons well, but if God is my heavenly Father that I’m confident in his love for me, then I simply trust him with life and pour out my heart to him when life hurts.

bob humphrey

Posted: June 12th, 2010 under General.
Comments: 1

A couple months ago when I set out to practice the truth contained in such scriptures as Philippians 4:8 and Colossians 3:2, I knew it would be a challenge. Being super gun shy of projects fueled by self effort AKA “and great was the fall thereof” there was no doubt in my mind that the line between Spirit enabled discipline and dead works could be easily crossed with frustrating results. But it’s not a sense of religious obligation or self generated motivation that has offered the greatest challenge. The opposition turns out to be distractions powered by relationship to earthly things.

I know. It should have been obvious. No one has to strain their brain to think about food when they’re hungry. No valiant effort is needed to pull one’s mind to attention when their favorite sports team is playing or their favorite TV show is on. And if one is in love, the object of their affection is always in their thoughts.

What, so I don’t love God “more than these?” Not necessarily true. I don’t think I’d hesitate if I had to decide between God and a cookie. Or God and the losing team I follow. Or between God and anything or anyone else. But somehow the visible, tangible things that surround us gain the attention of our visible, tangible bodies more readily than does the invisible. It’s easy to stay focused while praying, sharing with others or engaging in whatever some may see as kingdom business. And even earthly pleasures when enjoyed with an attitude of thanksgiving do not distract from a heavenly focus.

I don’t know about you, but when the dinner burns, the team loses, the car breaks down or bad news is announced my thoughts often stray for a bit from what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. But then the emptiness that follows makes me even more hungry to turn my eyes back on the one who is altogether good all the time.

David Fredrickson

Posted: June 7th, 2010 under General.
Comments: 1

Here’s another good video from Badd… The Killer.

bob humphrey

Posted: June 3rd, 2010 under General.
Comments: none