I need bras for the weekend!

Are you seen as an odd duck? 
I am. 
God commanded me to be.
Am I?  Here was my conversation at the school bus stop today. You be the judge:

"Good morning ladies! I've got something going on this weekend and need your help!

 Can you get me some sport bras please?  

They didn't give a second look but simply asked how they could get them to me.

 No, I do not wear woman's clothing. 

My neighbors simply know me, and in so doing, they know my faith in Jesus, and my desire to serve the broken in the world by any means I can find. They know my family collects underwear for the homeless because most don't have more that two pairs. They know most folks in shelters don't have the extra money to was their clothes, so they do so in the sink at the shelter or wherever they can and their underwear runs out. My truck always has underwear around some wear. I would even venture to say that most rooms in our house has a random package. Honestly, we can't really go anywhere without a friend handing me a package they had bought. 

We are called to be odd ducks as followers of Christ. We are to stick out like a two people on the street kissing during a protest, like the fresh air rushing through the first open window of spring, like a lit match in a deep cave. 

This is what God has to say about it:

"But you are the ones chosen by God, 

chosen for the high calling of priestly work, 

chosen to be a holy people, 

God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him,

 to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—

                                   from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted."
                                                                                                           1 Peter 2:9 (Message Translation)

Here is a simple test, try it, not to "prove" anything, but to check HOW you are living; 

• Do the people who live in the houses around you know what you are doing for the glory of God and to eliminate the suffering of the people? 
• Do the neighbors around your church know what you are doing for the glory of God and to eliminate the suffering of the people? 
• If either you, or your church disappeared over night, would the vacuum left in your place be felt and cause people to weep? 

I think the church got this verse a little bit wrong. Folks aren't supposed to look at us as Jesus freaks because we speak in tongues (which is fine), or dance with abandon (which is fun) or shout with praise (which is biblical) or even swing incense (which is lovely) or use stained glass (which is art). We are peculiar not because of the things we don't do, but what we do do. Yes, we abstain from things God doesn't like such are murder, and stealing, and robbing the poor, but we will be seen as Godly Odd Ducks when me love enemies, bless those who persecute us, and live our lives for folks who can never get us ahead in life simply because this is what Jesus did for us.
 
Now settle down folks, I'm not getting upitty and holier-than-thou on you. I'm just trying to live out the life of the suffering servant like my King Jesus did for me. 
...Oh, and if you want to give me your underwear, leave me a comment with your contact info

Following Jesus is like running a marathon? Have you run one?

"I can do that".
These are the words behind God's call that most folks see as the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. We can break it down like this:

Be intentional
Be sacrificial
Be sustainable 

Once we are called to God, we are given choices. We can love or not, we can obey his words or not, we can forgive or not. We will be forced to make hard choices. We must love those who not only love us, but those who hate us. It goes to reason then that we must not only know of, but be involved in the lives of those who hate us. Do you? Be intentional.

We are called to live lives of selfless compassion and mercy, emulating the life of Jesus. This will force us to write down acts of mercy into our planners and if need use two alarms on our smart phones. Do you have "visit the prison" next to "so-and-so's playdate on your dry erase calender? When you shop, do you pick up the extra items on your list for the food bank? Do you not do something you enjoy so that you can care for another? Be sacrificial.

We are called to this life for the long-haul. I am a distance runner and have heard the cliche over and over that the life of following Jesus is a marathon, not a sprint. But here is a tip from a guy who actually has run 8 of them; we train hard for months before the race, logging in literally hundreds of miles. We run in the rain because the race day may rain. We run at night if we have kids and a job. We wake up at 6am on weekends so that we can get in a three hour run before it gets too hot.

Our families give up time so that we can compete.

During the race we may puke, pass-out, or get injured. You will use products so that you will not chafe parts of your bodies but you will bleed. You will want to quit when you hit a "wall" and your mind and body says stop. You will have to stay hydrated and fed so you try and balance and keep ahead of the game. If not you will cramp, HARD.

The next day, if you ran hard, you will experience Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It will be hard to walk and most will have to walk down stairs backwards. It will take days to recover but you will not die.

Now most of you are saying "why do it?" The apostle Paul was quick to point out that we are just wired to do things like run and complete. We all do (see here).

Being a distance runner is a lifestyle. We make choices about what to eat, how long to sleep, and how to train. Following Jesus is the same. We think we can just do enough like read and pray and go to church sometimes and then jump in and run the marathon it is.

We must make this a sustainable life.
We must see that it is like a marathon, but marathons are "NOT long easy runs". They are  painful and costly.
Take these tips to run sustainably:
1. Be intentional and focus
2. Be sacrificial and put in the hard work
3. Be sustainable and rest when you need to, run hard when you have to. Remember, resting is NOT passive, it is actively choosing to trust. 

When we have completed the race, we will gain the prize and you will have new bodies. We will be with Jesus. We do NOT run hard so that we will be rewarded for our hard running. We simply run hard because the run IS hard. Jesus finished the race and gave us his medal. Do not kid yourself.
Run in such a way so that you will have nothing left when you cross the line. Why?
This is how Jesus ran and how he asks us to

Love the one you're with

Do you love where you live because of the great opportunities it provides you?
That is loving yourself.

Jesus calls us be the light of the world.
Light goes where it is absent, and disappears when it it reaches itself.

I fear far to many followers of Christ have become Black Holes while our call is to birth little Sons.
If indeed the Light that came into the World was not overcome by the darkness it only stands to reason that He was want to reside there.

He lived with the physically, spiritually, and emotionally sick, the lightless, so that they would have been made light too.

It was not because he hated what they did.
It was because He loved them.

So I ask us all today, stealing a line from George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers;
Who do you love?


We love because he first loved us.
1John 4:19