LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

The year 2005 “was a very good year” as Frank Sinatra would sing. Oh sure, there were times in the last twelve months that I could have done without. There were some heartbreaks: isn’t there in every year? But if you want to win a big one, you have to pay for it. As someone has said the higher the price, the greater the prize: reminds me somewhat of Mark 10:30.

I discovered Jesus in a whole new way: a deeper more intimate life was opened unto me. Lo and behold, I discovered I was a mystic! Me, the logical one. I was always emotional (one of the traits my mother gave me), but mystical? Hardly! But then it became so obvious. Jesus Christ was probably the world’s greatest mystic. And my following Him would then make me what? You say you just can’t get there (accepting mysticism)? And you believe in a trinity:? Explain that one logically (The Apostles Creed notwithstanding).

Where would this now lead me? I was never religious, or at least I felt I wasn’t; however, maybe that was in comparison to those I associated with in my earlier days. But if I was now adding mysticism to my non-religious nature, was that good? I was pondering that thought when I stumbled on to a line by Donald Miller, in his book, Blue Like Jazz, “I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. That is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God.” There you go! Maybe I will be okay after all.

There are so many things that I’ve questioned about Christianity: and probably rightly so. There are no questions about Jesus, so why do we spend so much time on doctrines and so little on Him? Why do we beat each other up over this or that when at the end of the day, it’s about loving Him- and them? And, when we love Him, we can’t help but love others: we’re compelled to love others. Why do we go to such lengths to justify some miracle in the Bible; particularly an Old Testament miracle. And then we try and “use science” to verify it?

I’ve listened to people wax eloquently about how “scientifically” the waters were parted; how scientifically, the sun stood still; and how scientifically, the whole earth was flooded. Interesting that a Christian would have to use science to make a point (not that it’s impossible). It smacks of a Sunday School teacher using Noah and the flood as a children’s story, even building animals and a huge boat to make the story more epic. And then one day the child grows up and wonders about this God that kept all but a handful of humans off the boat, while unmercifully drowning the rest of the planet! Do we really need to go there?

I feel we’ve inadvertedly created a religion for the intellectually naive instead of a spiritual way of life for the hungry and needy. But in THIS YEAR (2005), I have been reconnected to my FIRST LOVE! It didn’t come without a price and it didn’t come cheaply. Who would think it could? Now, I look forward in 2006, in seeing some fruit from the labors of working in His vineyard, and more importantly, from sitting in His presence. The journey has only begun!