All is meaningless…

I get that.

I just returned from visiting with my uncle in South Korea who is dying of throat cancer. He has been battling the disease for a couple of years and the disease is getting the better of him. This once vibrant, strong man is literally half the man he used to be. He has a tube in his throat so he can breath, and a tube to his stomach so he can eat.

My uncle is a good man. He is a good husband and a good father. He is also a wealthy man. My grandfather left a sizable inheritance to all his children.

He has everything that a man could want.

Yet, as I spent time with him while cancer is destroying his body, I couldn’t help but wonder how non-Christians deal with the most important questions: the questions of life and death.

If this is all there is to life, this existence, this life…if this is all there is…all is truly meaningless.

If this is the end…if there is nothing more after my uncle finally loses his battle against cancer, then all this – his wealth, his life, his current suffering, his current struggle to fight against cancer – all this is absolutely pointless.

There is one more thing about my uncle who is dying of cancer…he’s also a Christian. He has no doubt about where he will be once he draws his last breath. He knows that he is merely passing through in this earthly life. Whether the cancer gets him now or later – this is not his home. He is created for eternity.

The aim of his life is to bring glory and honor to God in all that he does, all that he has, and all that is strives for…even his dying. It’s all for the glory of God.

I really feel bad for those who don’t know Christ as Lord and Savior. I don’t know how people can cope with death if earthly life is all they know.

But that’s just the thing. You too can trust in Jesus. You too can become a child of God by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior by confessing that you are a sinner in need of God’s grace and receive God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

What’s there to lose. If I am wrong about the whole Jesus thing, you still end up living a good life. But if you are wrong about the whole Jesus thing, you will end up losing everything.

All is truly meaningless…if you don’t know Jesus.

The only thing that Ferguson proves is how deeply divided our nation is. People are hurting. People are angry. People are losing hope. People are becoming distrustful.

In to the darkness of bitterness, violence, and division…unto you a child is born.

There will be a day when there will be no more violence, no more death, no more anger, no more crime.

There will be a day when the police, armies, wars will no longer be the way we deal with conflict.

There will be a day when all people will be treated with respect and dignity, honor and charity, mercy and justice because they are our brothers and sisters.

We long for that day. Come Lord Jesus. ‪#‎Advent‬ ‪#‎Christmas‬

“Kingdom and church are not the same thing,” says Richard Rohr.

This is a fantastic reminder.

Ministry is difficult. Even though we try to make church about the kingdom, the harsh reality is that budgets have to be met, programs need to be effective, and our churches have to grow. And too often, the pressures of growing the church, ensuring the effectiveness of programs, and that budgets are indeed met get too much of our attention and too much of the leader’s focus.

And before we know it, what we end up being about is getting people plugged into church, getting people into programs that meet their needs, and getting people to support the budget. We know it ought to be about the kingdom but we end up making disciples of churches instead of disciples of the kingdom.

It’s a travesty when that happens. Churches can’t change people. Only God can through establishing his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.

Our churches are only needed as churches establish God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. As soon as the church forgets this vision, the church fails her mission.

“Kingdom and churches are not the same thing.” Rohr continues and says, “The church is a means of pointing to the kingdom of God, just as John the Baptist pointed toward the Lamb of God. When the church does not point beyond itself to eternity and God, but only tries to make you loyal to the church, it’s entering into idolatry.”

Thank you, brother Rohr, for this needed and necessary reminder.