These facts are easily confirmed. What is also confirmed is that everyone who had a deeply vested interest in finding His body used every means necessary to find the body, including questioning and torturing those who followed Jesus. Few recanted their belief He was God, especially the many who physically saw and spoke to the resurrected Christ.

In 24 hours, I’ve read dozens of Twitter tweets, Facebook updates and blog posts about the celebration Easter is in the lives of individuals. Rightfully so, although every day is in fact Easter for the believer because nothing will ever change the historical fact that Jesus received the wrath of a Holy God – punishment intended for the sinner – and was raised from the dead, confirming God’s satisfaction with the substitutionary sacrifice. What’s left is for the individual to believe by faith that Jesus came to this world to accomplish this stated purpose.

Unfortunately Easter is also a day of lamentation because more than 2/3 of the world’s population – 4 billion-plus people – do not call Jesus Lord or know that His death and resurrection are the only sufficient means to reconcile them to God. Sadly, many of that four billion have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. They are trapped in the endless spiritual search to generate some kind of righteousness to make them acceptable to whatever their idea of god is. This reveals the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion is a way for man to create a means for reaching God. Christianity is based solely on God reaching down to man.

It may seem subtle but there is a massive difference  between the two. Religion is easily manipulated to justify the ends of man. In religion there is no objective measure of righteousness, man becomes the center of establishing the standard and ultimately it is often left to the one who most vehemently asserts his beliefs as to whose perspective is “correct” (see long history of holy wars as evidence). Which religion, then, is right? Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism? Answer: none.

Christianity, however, is uniquely and exclusively set over and against these in that God sets the objective measure, indicates that every human is in the same boat (“all have sinned“), and that there are “none righteous” and “none seek after God.” Therefore every human stands on equally poor footing. Into this desperate situation God sent Jesus to bear His justified wrath. Jesus was a willing and perfect object upon which God’s punishment could be poured. The resurrection is evidence that His sacrifice was acceptable. Crying out in faith to Him for salvation is recognizing our need for something beyond ourselves to save us. This is Good News!

But it is only Good News if people hear it. Right now there are more than 5,000 unengaged people groups around the world, most of them in a swath of land extending across north Africa, the Middle East, central and eastern Asia and India. This means there are a significant number of Muslims, Hindus, atheists and Buddhists who either have no understanding of Jesus or a very skewed understanding of who He is, what He’s done and what He offers in terms of spiritual forgiveness and freedom.

We who have been granted forgiveness and salvation must remember every day the extraordinary grace extended to us through Christ, but we can’t linger in our celebration lest it become self-centered. We must remember the billions of people who have not yet enjoyed His grace, lament the staggering numbers who still stand squarely in the cross-hairs of God’s judgment and GO to them with the Good News of what the resurrection means for them.

I am amazed at the hypocrisy of the people who stand in judgment of Tiger – which is everyone who has felt superior to him based on some sense of personal moral righteousness. (I touched on this in my previous post about Tiger Woods and Christmas). I do not condone Tiger’s actions; what he did is inexcusable. But I wonder how the rest of us would have handled the skill, money, power, and access to so many willing accomplices. In one regard the rest of  us have the great luxery of never knowing the same pressures because there is only one person in the world in such a unique position: Tiger. The irony is that the rest of us fail in so many other ways, falling just as far short of the expectations God has for us and nobody bats and eye lash. We say, “Well I have my warts, but at least I’m not as bad as Tiger.” Actually, you are a lot worse than you think. Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Even a single “little” sin makes us a gigantic spiritual failure in the eyes of God.

With so many people picking up stones it is worth a reminder that Jesus said “He who is without sin can cast the first stone.” Tiger has to live with himself and the consequences of what he’s done and doubtful anyone will be as hard on Tiger as he will be on himself. Unfortunately, all the therapy in the world isn’t going to remove his fundamental problem. Only repentance found in Jesus, believing He is the perfect substitute to receive punishment due us will free Tiger – and anyone else – from the bondage of sinful hearts.

(Note: posted an update located here on Feb 19 after Tiger’s press conference.)

I’m a Tiger Woods groupie (well, not in the most recently reported sense). I guess I should say I have been a groupie in the golf sense since he won his last U.S. Amateur titled and blew onto the PGA tour in the mid 90s. I’ll never forget the putt on the first hole of a three hole playoff with Bob May at the 2000 PGA Championships. He charged after the putt pointing it – willing it – into the hole. Amazing.

Of course Tiger is now totally disgraced, the butt of  jokes and today sits on a boat floating somewhere near the Bahamas. His sexcapades are the talk of tabloids and mainstream media. Whereas many people couldn’t touch him on a golf course, they now liberally fire condescending criticism at him with the accuracy Tiger fires at difficult pin placements on Sundays at majors. I find it all to be pious and self-righteous.

I can’t seem to get Tiger off my mind, probably because we bought a Wii and Tiger Woods 2010 the day before news broke of his “traffic accident.” Every time I play I think about what the guy accomplished and about what has been flushed down the toilet. It reminds me how close I am to flushing my life down the toilet because of the carnal nature that battles for prominence in my life. Wish I could say I was an exception, but there really is nothing exceptional about the evil inclinations in the human heart. Whether we admit it or not there is a bit of Tiger in us all. In fact, we don’t know – and if we did are totally unwilling to admit – what we are capable of. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul spends the first three chapters of Romans talking about the sickness of the human heart and spends a good part of Chapter 5 explaining to us the spring from which our sin flows. Our hearts have been wicked nearly from the beginning, which makes us enemies with a holy God. He cannot allow it, has to punish it, and spiritually filthy people can’t do anything about it. What are we to do?

Absolutely nothing, except repent and believe.

God did something on our behalf and this is why I can’t think of Tiger without thinking of Christmas. An angel appears to some shepherds and speaks the most significant words ever spoken – words Tiger needs to hear: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). If God is to save Tiger – or you, or me – there had to be Christmas. He didn’t have to send Jesus to this world as a baby to grow to a man to die for the sins of the world, but in extravagant love he chose to. Literally, Immanuel, God with us. The good news of Christmas is that a Savior was born. The good news of Christmas is that regardless of what Tiger has done he can be set free from his sin. So can you.

Yes, it is easy to fire heat seeking missiles at Tiger, but what we each need is to – in great humility – admit we are spiritual failures – like Tiger – and this Christmas embrace the good news of a born Savior.

Al laid the blame for global warming in the right place – on us – but got the cause all wrong. The real Inconvenient Truth is that the Apostle Paul outed us nearly 2,000 years ago. God created global warming because of our sin. Read it: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it” (Romans 8:20; italics mine). God subjected creation to decay nearly from the beginning when He doled out punishment to Adam and Eve in the garden in Genesis 3. God created global warming right there in verse 17,: “…cursed is the ground because of you.”

Now I don’t fault Al for missing the truth. The irony here is that humanism actually gets it right for a change. Humans are the problem, although one would be hard pressed to get Al and his liberal friends to agree to the reality communicated in Scripture. As easy as it would be I am not going to pontificate too harshly against people whose greatest need is to embrace the truth of the gospel.

Instead, I’ll lay verbal wood to those who ought to know better: Supposed Christians who are on “save the earth” missions. Let me say from the outset the fact that God has subjected the earth to a curse does not excuse us from our need to be better stewards. On the contrary. As Christians we ought to be exemplary stewards of God’s creation (I violated all kinds of cultural protocols last year while in Uganda by lecturing some Ugandan believers for consistently tossing their trash to the sides of roads). That said, the UK is dangerously close to being brought into subjection by environmentalists and they have heavy support from all kinds of churches, not just the Church of England (although I will say I’ve been in three C of E churches and it appears their prominent agenda is colored green).

For example, here are three prayer requests from the C of E church I was in this morning listed, for a special-called prayer meeting exclusively for this week’s conference:

• Pray for a new treaty in Copenhagen that protects God’s creation from climate change
• Give praise for positive changes in the US. Pray for Obama’s team as they try to influence public opinion
• Pray that richer countries will agree to deep cuts in emissions and financial support to developing countries.

What do these three have in common? Answer: They seek human solutions to a spiritual problem. It matters not a single measure of particulate matter how much human institutions change laws designed to protect God’s creation from climate change, or how influential a human leader is in swaying public opinion, or how much money wealthy countries throw at developing countries. Man CANNOT undo the curse.

Increasingly churches in the US are as guilty of misplaced priorities as churches in the UK. “Christians” who ought to know their Bibles better are partnering with the world, seeking to solve the world’s problems with the wisdom of man. Instead, Christians ought to pray for the changed hearts of men from a state of pure rebellion against their Creator (Romans 1:18-32) to one of repentance and humility before God. Upon praying, they should then invest their energy in sharing the Good News that through faith in Christ alone God forgives sin, lifts the curse and adopts us as sons and daughters.

The truth is the world is in rapid decay and its only hope is found in the One who created all things. That hope is not found in the wisdom of man but in the folly of the cross.

But in the midst of that there was today. Our daughter’s school choir sang at the local Church of England Church, Holy Trinity. Part of the emphasis during this Advent season here in the UK is the Christingle. She leaned over and asked, “Dad, what’s a Christingle?” I confess that after receiving her orange with the candle stuck in it and gumdrops skewered with cocktail toothpicks poked in the sides that my answer to her question was a profound, “I have no idea.”

My daughter's school choir performed at Holy Trinity this morning during a Christingle service.

But Google knows so that is what I did. One of the cool things about living in the UK and Europe is the religious tradition surrounding various days, such as All Souls’ Day and Christmas.The Christingle is one of those traditions – along with All Souls’ Day that we in America seen fall to the side. I won’t repeat here what Wikipedia states about Christingle, but do think it is worth saying that the symbolism of the world, Christ as the light of it, the red ribbon for his blood, etc., is a picture of the gospel held in the hand. When the angels said that they brought good news that would be for all the world, they were proclaiming the gospel. Christ – the Saviour of the world – had come. Holding an orange and lighting a candle should be cause to reflect on the “point” of Christmas.

I’ve been chasing that question for about two months now. Some journeys take longer than others. There is simply too much to see.

I’ve been reading through Philippians but haven’t made it much past 1:27. That verse begins with the admonishment to “live in a manner worthy of the gospel.”

So, what does that mean? A similar question is: “What does it mean to be a Christian?”

Here’s why the questions are so important: There are people in the world who appear to be genuinely good people. I’m thinking of two as I write this. One is a Frenchman, Charles, who was the overnight manager at the hotel in which we stayed our first two nights in the UK. The second was a Thai waiter at a restaurant in the city near where we live. He went beyond service to helpfulness. These types of people deserve an answer to why their “goodness” isn’t good enough.

The first thought I had was, “What makes me better than them?” Immediately God reminded me there are no “good” people in the world.  A rush of Scripture verses flooded my mind reminding me and reprimanding me that I am not better than anyone: “There are NONE righteous, no not one…no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10-11); “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23); “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:1-3).

The reality is that EVERY person who has every lived and will ever live stands squarely in the sites of God’s judgment. God is a good and benevolent God, yet a more accurate reading of the Bible forces one to deal with the reality that God is also a righteous and just God who is perfectly holy and requires perfect holiness.

God quickly reminded me that it was by His grace (Eph 2:4), through faith He granted that I have the opportunity to believe in what Jesus has done (Eph. 2:8), which was to satisfy God’s penalty for sin by being a perfect and righteous sacrifice (Rom 3:21-26). I contributed nothing but sin. He contributed perfect righteousness. Martin Luther called it “The Great Exchange.”

There is a path near my house that leads to the open area I often walk. The path is often mucky because of water runoff. Decomposing leaves contribute to the mess. Life is like that path. It is mucky. We experience disappointment, hardship, broken relationships, lost jobs, financial ruin, unmet expectations, etc., but these are actually byproducts of our greatest problem, which according to the Bible, is our separation from God. There is no hope that the mucky paths of life lead anywhere except to God’s judgment apart from Jesus. But it doesn’t have to.

So, what does it mean to be a Christian? I’ve settled on two things.

First, it means to glorify God. (Notice I didn’t say removal from the mucky path!) That’s what we were created for anyway. We were created to have fellowship with God, enjoying His presence and glorifying Him as infinitely worthy of our praise. As enemies of God we can’t do this, but once He grants salvation and restores for us what He intended from the beginning, then we are free to praise Him and make Him known to others walking life’s mucky path if they will turn from sin and believe in Jesus.

Second, as a Christian it means living in the reality that this world is NOT our home. I’ve met way too many Christians who talk about eternal life, being sojourners in this world, heavenly mansions, etc., yet live like this world is their destination. They cling to the materialism of this world and try to anchor their hearts to something tangible. We want to stop in the muck. I’ve been there. God has graciously taught me that my heart does want to anchor to something tangible, but that tangle thing MUST be unwavering confidence in the finished work of Christ that looks forward to the reality of delivered promises (Hebrews 11:1).

The mucky path near my house eventually opens into a field ringed with wild blackberries and gorgeous views of the countryside. Every living person is traveling the mucky path of life. However, a life worthy of the manner of the gospel ought to be a life lived in the recognition of our calling to glorify God (including sharing His glory with others) while looking forward to open the spaces that lie ahead.

“Can you say that again?” I asked.

“Say what?” she asked, “Smashing?”

Yeah that was it. I knew she thought I was quite humorous but we were on approach to London and her “smashing” was like a cold-water wakeup call. “We are actually arriving in the UK,” I thought.

My reaction was quite different 10 years ago when we were moving to Costa Rica to begin language school. As were were landing then I asked Michelle if we could go home. “We have no home to go to,” she replied. She was right. We’d divested ourselves of what we had to follow God’s leading. Here we were on approach 10 years and six months later – this time with a daughter. I’ve been looking forward to this day for months.

When we were asked nearly a year ago to consider the position we’ve accepted, I knew right away that God was working. We were initially given 7-10 days to make a decision. I knew that would shock Michelle, but at the same time we both knew this was a no-brainer. God’s leading was obvious, but the decision to radically change our lives still required us to do some serious soul searching. We had what we called the Golden Triangle between a church we loved, a school in which our daughter thrived and a great house with great neighbors. We were struggling with the decision because we didn’t want to disrupt a great groove. However, one day I sensed God was using the paraphrased words of theologian Abraham Kuyper to both reprimand and challenge me: “Do you think you can care better for your daughter where you are than I can in any square inch of my universe?”

Of course the answer was no, I couldn’t, and here are three things God revealed to me in the process of deciding to lead my family overseas.

1. We really have very little control over our lives. There is no way to control the external factors of one’s life: job loss, death of a close family member, the way people treat you – and when we presume we can control those circumstances we are presuming heavily on the sovereignty of God (James 4:13-15). The only reasonable response we should offer is to throw ourselves on the goodness of God promised to us through the grace of the Gospel and in faith allow God to pull us forward in the certainty of His sovereign will.

2. God’s will really isn’t that much of a mystery. Too many people get hung up in wet and dry fleeces (see Gideon) and looking for ways to divine God’s will. If we’d take time to put God at the center of His story instead of ourselves at the center of the story we’ll see that there is already a vast amount of God’s will that is known. Here it is: It is His will that He be glorified among the nations and that we are the one’s making His name known among all people. I would list verses to support this but read the Bible from this perspective and you’ll find the entire Book points this direction. Frankly, if a person is pursuing God and not doing anything immoral or unethical I believe it is impossible to miss His will (See Proverbs 16:33; Psalm 37:23-24; Isaiah 46:9-10). (If you are struggling with this issue or what I’ve written, I HIGHLY recommend buying and reading the little book, “Just Do Something“, by Kevin DeYoung).

But let’s say it is impossible to miss God’s will while seeking God with selfless motives. Is it such a bad thing to miss in the direction of taking the Gospel to neighbors and the nations?

3. Finally, as the sage members of .38 Special sang back in the 80′s…”Hold on loosely.” The transience of this world fell heavy on me during this process. When I realized I really couldn’t pick a spot in which I’d prefer to be buried, I finally understood the meaning of the word “sojourner” and the truth of 1 Peter 2:10-11. We as Christians often talk about this world not being our home but our lives speak differently. When we hold on too firmly to this world we are robbing ourselves of opportunities to move forward in faith to things not yet seen. God calls us to hold on loosely.

Finally, I don’t want to end this with my family or me as the focus of this post. The point of this entire life transition is to make sure that Christ is the focal point. Read Romans 3:21-26, 5:8-9, 8:32, Ephesians 2:1-5, Colossians 1:11-14, 1 Corinthians 1:31 and you’ll understand why it is the JOY of the Christian to follow the Savior in obedience regardless of geographic location.

The experience is simply smashing!

Doubtful the producers of the Sprite commercial had any idea they’d stumbled into a profound theological question when they asked: “What’s my motivation?” One of the nuances of orientation is small group worship, simulating a Bible study that leads to a church plant. Our group has 11 people counting two kids.

Our task Sunday was to look at Isaiah chapter 6. This of course is a passage of Scripture that many people associate with a calling to go overseas as a cross cultural witness, however, I saw something in these passages that I’ve been chewing on for a couple days. It launched Isaiah on his journey and should keep me – keep you – on yours.

Verses 1-4 reveal the intense holiness of God, so much so that as Isaiah witnessed this holiness he was devastated by his sinfulness. Think about that. Here’s a guy who was already a cut above others in his culture (read the first five chapters to find out how depraved the culture was) and he was already serving God as a prophet. This “good” man was rocked by his sinfulness when compared to God’s holiness. Verse 5 recounts his reaction, God allows for (atones for) the cleansing of Isaiah’s sin in verse 6-7.

Verse 8 begins the famous calling passage that culminates in Isaiah saying, “Here am I, send me.”

I wonder: Would Isaiah have been so eager to volunteer if he’d first been given the next five verses (6:9-13)? Doubt I would have been. Read them. God brings judgment on the people for their sins and Isaiah is the guy to deliver the news.

Here’s the application: Isaiah was motivated by encountering a holy God and NOT the task he was given. The application for the workers here at orientation preparing to go overseas– and any follower of Christ for that matter – is that the Christian life will ebb and flow and tasks are subject to personal likes and dislikes. However, obedience to the will of God grounded in the unchanging character of God is all the motivation any of us should ever need to live a successful – albeit sometimes difficult – Christian life.

Something to mull over next time you’re drinking Sprite.

City located in Western China where roosters were run from the village squatty potty.

It was an emergency! I needed desperately to go to the bathroom and was frantically looking for the “squatty potty”, ducking down each street in an ancient city in the foothills of the Himalayas in western China where I was on assignment (The picture is the actual city). As I entered a very public toilet I heard the 20-something guy with whom I was backpacking shout, “Be sure to chase the roosters out before you go.”

“What?” I thought, totally perplexed. “That’s an odd thing to say.” I may have anticipated something like, “Be sure to close the door to keep the kids from staring at the white guy;” or “Don’t mind the flies, it’s like that everywhere;” or even, “Take a deep breath and hold it before you go in there.” But, “be sure to chase the roosters out before you go? Is he serious?”

Dead serious.

As I was about to straddle the porcelain trench, sure enough, I had to shoo the community roosters which were lurking about. He learned the hard way. Glad I got the tip! (And by the way, there was no door and the white guy drew a crowd, the flies really aren’t that bad everywhere – just squatty potties in remote villages, and I needed a respirator more than a deep breath.)

I was reminded of that story as I entered the cafeteria bathroom here at the facility in Virginia where our family is preparing to go overseas. Third stall to the right, open the door – BOOM – China flashback, minus the rooster. Here in the first world, in a building with perfectly good plumbing and three other “real” toilets, is a squatty. Now THAT is commitment to preparing people to live cross culturally! (Now if they’ll just teach us about bidets!)

This whole journey began most recently with a call back in November to see if we’d “be willing to throw some things in a crate and move back overseas.” Michelle and I lived in Panama before but frankly had settled into a nice little life in Middle Tennessee: Great church, great school for our daughter, great friends at work and plenty of affordable municipal golf courses nearby. Well, long story short, house is gone, job is gone, school is gone, clubs are crated – along with everything we didn’t sell (which isn’t much) – and we are eight weeks away from moving to Europe for only God knows how long.

So to document this journey, I decided to launch a blog, Travels With Me, so you could come along for the ride. I’ll take you places that I’ve been, places where we’re going and take you on trips with me to places across Europe and countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. However, not all trips will be to geographic places. Some journeys will be spiritual, as God continues to carry my family and me down a path that began years ago. Ultimately it is life’s spiritual journey that matters much more than the geographic.

So welcome. I plan to post frequently…and I’ll try to give advance warning if there are roosters ahead!