Michael Jackson

Like many others, I've been asked to weigh in on the death of Michael Jackson. The strongest message that comes to me through all of this has to do with something he recently said. I believe the most poignant words about his life are his own words to a Jewish Rabbi who had recently spent time with Michael in preparation for a book he was going to write about the entertainer's life. (You can read the article at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245924935526&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull)

In an article in The Jerusalem Post yesterday, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach wrote the following words about Michael Jackson:

I will never forget what he said when we sat down to record 40 hours of conversations where he would finally reveal himself for a book I authored. He turned to me and said these haunting words: "I am going to say something I have never said before and this is the truth. I have no reason to lie to you and God knows I am telling the truth. I think all my success and fame, and I have wanted it, I have wanted it because I wanted to be loved. That's all. That's the real truth. I wanted people to love me, truly love me, because I never really felt loved. I said I know I have an ability. Maybe if I sharpened my craft, maybe people will love me more. I just wanted to be loved because I think it is very important to be loved and to tell people that you love them and to look in their eyes and say it."

With all the talk about the life he lived and the death he died, the above quote from Michael Jackson may be the most important admission of his life. What does that say to the rest of us? It reminds us of the opportunity we have to love people with the authentic love of Jesus Christ. Where Michael Jackson stood spiritually, I don't know. I do know that he was a man in search of love. There are many others like him among those who are famous, those who are infamous and those who fit neither category.

There's a line in the sand with religion on one side and Jesus Christ on the other. Religion harshly judges the people that Jesus loves. I want to spend the rest of my life being on the right side of the line, don't you? Who knows what difference you will make in somebody's life if you do.

Those "Holy" McVeys

My eleven year old granddaughter, Hannah, comes running to Melanie this past weekend:

Hannah: Grandmommy, Jeremy just choked me!
Melanie: He choked you?
Hannah: Yes, look at the red mark on my neck!
Melanie: Go tell Jeremy to come here.

Melanie: Jeremy, did you choke Hannah?
Jeremy: Shakes his head yes with a guilty expression on his face.
Melanie: Jeremy, you can't choke your sister.
Jeremy: I can't go to jail until I'm thirteen.
Melanie: Jeremy, nobody has said anything about going to jail. You don't choke your sister because you love her! Do you love Hannah?
Jeremy: Shakes his head yes again.
Melanie: Do you think there's anything you want to tell her?
Jeremy: I'm sorry.
Melanie: That's a good idea.
Jeremy goes into the other room and apologizes.

Yep, that's my daughter's children! Jeremy really is a sweet boy. No, really. I'll admit though that his train seriously jumped the track with that incident.

It's noteworthy that the first response that popped into his seven year old head was about the law and jail. The little legalist - takes after his dad's side of the family.

I'm kidding, of course, but the issue here is that it is the bent of the flesh to think in legalistic terms. Would it be wrong to do this or that? Would I be punished for doing it?

We miss the point altogether. It's not about right versus wrong or about punishment. The catalyst for our lives is to be love. When our lifestyle is grounded in our union with Triune Love, we live from that benchmark, not a set of rules that come with a corresponding set of rewards and punishment. We act lovingly because Love is our DNA. In Him we live (and love) and move and exist.

So, when your own behavior jumps track at times, don't look upward to an imaginary Judge of the Universe who stands ready to send you to jail. Look into the face of Pure Love and you'll find yourself wanting to behave well on the basis of His attitude and actions toward you.

O Brother...

I was watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? last night on TV. It's a story that is loosely based on Homer's Odyssey and is a movie I never get tired of seeing again and again.

The scene that struck me last night was when Everette, Pete and Delmar had just robbed a bank with Baby Face Nelson. After the escape, the three of them were sitting around a campfire when Delmar spoke:

"Well, that was some some fun though, wut'n it, George? Almost makes me wisht I hadn'ta been saved. Jacking up banks! I can see how a feller'ed derive a whole lotta pleasure and satisfaction out of it. Whoo, doggies!"

Delmar had been baptized in an earlier scene and was determined to walk the straight and narrow now, but he still couldn't help the attraction he found in finding "a whole lotta pleasure and satisfaction" in the wrong ways.

Many Christians have more in common with Delmar than they may want to admit. They believe that when a person becomes a Christian there are a lot of "Whoo-doggie!" experiences they have to say no to despite how enticing those potential experiences might be.

They miss the point altogether. The Law (religious rules) tells you the things you can't do, but along with the prohibition it throws gasoline on the flames of desire to do those very things. In fact, the Apostle Paul said that sinful passions are aroused by religious rules. (See Romans 7:5) Grace does just the opposite. It gives us the desire to live a godly lifestyle and also the power to do it. (See Titus 2:11-12)

If you find yourself at times almost almost "wishtin' you hadn'ta been saved" so you could enjoy the things other people seem to enjoy, I challenge you to "grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" and you'll find more "Whoo-Doggie" in life than you can imagine!

This Week's Sunday Preaching Is Now Online

Check out our home page at www.gracewalk.org. The title is "Better Things: Forgiveness of Sins"

Where God Ain't

He was just a little boy,
On a week's first day.
Wandering home from Bible school,
And dawdling on the way.

He scuffed his shoes into the grass;
He even found a caterpillar.
He found a fluffy milkweed pod,
And blew out all the 'filler.'

A bird's nest in a tree overhead,
So wisely placed up so high.
Was just another wonder,
That caught his eager eye.

A neighbor watched his zig zag course,
And hailed him from the lawn;
Asked him where he'd been that day
And what was going on.

'I've been to Bible School ,'
He said and turned a piece of sod.
He picked up a wiggly worm replying,
'I've learned a lot about God.'

'M'm very fine way,' the neighbor said,
'for a boy to spend his time.'
'If you'll tell me where God is,
I'll give you a brand new dime.'

Quick as a flash the answer came!
Nor were his accents faint.
'I'll give you a dollar, Mister,
If you can tell me where God ain't.'

(Thanks to Daniel Peterson for sending this to me.)

Shi Weihan: A Modern Day Apostle Paul

This is the man to whom I dedicated my newest book, "Walking In the Will of God" Let's pray for our Father's intervention in this terribly painful situation for him and his family as well as respond in the ways mentioned below. See my earlier post (June 15) for more details.

Statement of Defense & Christian Testimony Brought in Shi Weihan Trial

Dear Friend of Shi Weihan,

Below is a summary of an English translation of the Statement of Defense made on behalf of Shi Weihan in the case of "Illegal Business Operations" brought against him and six others for printing and distributing bibles and Christian literature free of charge. This is now public information and we ask that you share it with as many people as possible.

Part of this well written defense makes a strong testimony for the value of the Gospel being freely proclaimed in society.

"First of all, in this case, the purpose of the defendant Shi Weihan in printing the Bible and other religious books is to spread the Gospel of Christ and is a conduct based on his own belief. The defendant Shi Weihan is a devout Christian. He began to believe in the Savior of his life, Jesus Christ, back in 1990 and later became a pastor. According to Christian teachings, spreading the Gospel is a great mission Jesus Christ issued after He was resurrected and ascended to heaven. He commands His believers to spread the Gospel to every corner of the earth. Therefore, the believers also regard the spreading of Gospel as their joy. During his missionary work, Shi Weihan found that many Christians lacked materials for true Christianity, and these believers are often harassed and confused by some cults. In order to cultivate the right faith in them and enhance their spiritual level, spreading the Gospel through words is the best way. That’s why Shi Weihan printed the Bibles and other religious books with money donated by other believers. In this way, the believers can enhance their spiritual life through words and understand and practice better Jesus Christ’s teachings so that they love other people as they love themselves, which is beneficial for social stability and harmony."

Other points brought in the Statement of Defense:

* It appeals to the right of Christians to freely practice their faith.
* It appeals to the need for Christians to be able to have sufficient materials to help them protect themselves from cults that are rampant in parts of the poor countryside of China.
* It appeals to the supremacy of the Chinese Constitutional guarantee of Religious Freedom and Freedom of the Press over the Procedural Regulations regarding governmental bodies given the power to deny the right to print and distribute publications deemed undesirable by them.
* It makes clear the impropriety of a criminal charge for "illegal business practices" being applied to an operation where bibles and other materials are given away for free rather than for a motive of profit making.

The original judge found Shi innocent of the charges on two previous occasions. The Public Security Bureau continued to hold him and press for a conviction. The Defense Statement makes it clear that a new judge assigned at the most recent hearing is the same judge who had previously held another Chinese pastor who printed and distributed bibles--Cai Zhouhua--guilty on the same charges as those brought against Shi Weihan.

The lawyer who brought this brilliant defense has since faced the failure of the Chinese government to renew his license to practice law (along with 21 other attorneys who have championed human rights cases in China). Hence, he was unable to be present at Shi Weihan's sentencing. It is interesting to note that the case was delayed beyond the legally specified time alloted by Chinese law. During the delays, the lawyer's license to practice expired and the government failed to renew it, essentially preventing him from continuing Shi's defense.

Now, with just nine days left to mount an appeal, the family is unable to rely on the attorney most familiar with the case. It is hoped that the family will, nonetheless appeal to the court for reasonable treatment in light of the circumstances. Friends and Christians all over the world stand in solidarity with them to appeal to the Chinese government for fair and merciful treatment for Shi and for thousands of other Christians that continue to suffer suppression of free religious expression in China.

Given Shi's well-attested character and good deeds performed on behalf of many poor and disadvantaged citizens of China, it is hoped that the courts will show mercy and allow Shi to be released so that his health (he suffers from diabetes and his family has been refused in their efforts to provide him medicine) can be properly attended and his family can resume a semblance of normality in their daily lives.

You can request the "immediate release" of Shi Weihan by calling or writing the following Chinese officials:

Tang Long
City of Beijing Deputy Secretary General
of the Municipal People's Government
Phone: 011-86-10-62362008

Liu Jianchao
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Director of Information Department
Phone: 011-86-10-65963342

Chinese Embassy
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202) 328-2500
Fax: (202) 495-2138

Encouraging letters can be sent to:
Shi Weihan
Qinghe Detention Center of the
Haidian Sub-Bureau 2585,
Longgang Road, QingheTown,
Haidian District, Beijing China

AND

Shi Weihan's wife
Zhang Jing, and their two daughters,
Shi Jia (12) and Shi En Mei (8):
3207 Jisheng Villa, West Sanqi,
Haidian district, Beijing Municipality, China

A Faithful Servant and Beloved Brother

This is a heartbreaking outcome to a situation many of us have prayed about for a long time. Please pray for this family. Email me at info@gracewalk.org for information I'm not free to publicly publish here.


China imprisons 'hero' for crime of giving out Bibles Shi Weihan shown in a 2007 photo in a school for the children of migrant workers in Shanxi province, China.

Man praised as model citizen gets three-year sentence for violating publishing law
Jun 13, 2009 04:30 AM
Bill Schiller
ASIA BUREAU

BEIJING – By all accounts, Shi Weihan was a model Chinese citizen. A kind-hearted man with a sense of social responsibility, he donated funds to send poor kids to school, raised money for those suffering from congenital heart disease, and when the Sichuan earthquake hit, worked tirelessly for the emergency relief effort.

But Shi had a fatal flaw. He printed Bibles – and gave them out for free. This week a criminal court in Beijing sentenced him to three years in jail. His wife and 65-year-old parents were crushed – his two daughters, 13 and 9, were inconsolable.

"The children just cannot accept it," says Zhang Jing, Shi's wife. "Their father is their biggest hero. They cried uncontrollably. They couldn't believe their father was convicted like an ordinary criminal."

Shi was also fined about $25,000. Six others who stood trial with him received lesser sentences this week.

Despite a constitution that guarantees freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly and even of religious belief, religious activities in China remain strictly monitored by the Communist party government and for those who dare to operate outside of that control – there are punishments.

Shi's is one such case. He is the pastor of a "house church" group, a small gathering of Christians who choose to worship outside the gaze of government and its Religious Affairs Administration, which keeps a close eye and tight rein on all churches in China.

But Shi's staunch Christian belief and his humanitarian work in the countryside brought him into contact with many other "believers," his wife explains, and he learned that there was a dearth of Bibles in rural China.

That inspired him to spread the word, she says. "He saw that we shared the same belief with those poor people," she notes, "and they didn't have access to Bibles."

Shi's lawyer, Zhang Xingshui, argued in court earlier this year that despite the fact the Bible is the most printed book in the world, "there is not a single bookstore in China where one can buy Bibles or other gospel books."

Believers can only buy Bibles in churches approved and watched over by the government. So, together with a group of friends who ran a printing shop in downtown Beijing, Shi began printing and distributing Bibles for free.

The government first swooped down on him in November 2007 and charged him with illegally running a business operation with the purpose of "gaining illegal profits."
He was released, rearrested and finally tried this year.

"Shi Weihan is a devout Christian," lawyer Zhang Xingshui told the court during a hearing in April, explaining that his client printed the Bibles and other religious books with money raised by other churchgoers.

He said they follow Christ's teachings to "love others as they love themselves, which is beneficial for social stability and harmony."

China's President Hu Jintao has repeatedly stressed that "stability" and the creation of a "harmonious society" are the Communist party government's paramount goals.

Shi's lawyer repeatedly stressed that, "teaching people to be benevolent, tolerant and loving to all people," could only help the government and China to achieve those goals.
And he went further, citing a speech by the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, defending religious freedom.

"On April 24, 1945, Mao Zedong said in `On United Government,'" a report he delivered at the Seventh Communist Party of China National Congress, that "people's freedom of speech, press, assembly association, thinking, faith and personal freedom are the most important types of freedom."

But the court's prosecutor argued that even if Shi had not sold the Bibles for "illegally gained profits," he contravened the government's "regulations on the administration of publications," which says only companies "approved by the state" are allowed to publish anything in China.

Shi's wife, Zhang Jing, explained yesterday that her husband had made an application to the government to win such approval. "But the government rejected the application," she said.

Lawyer Zhang Xingshui countered that such regulations were clearly unconstitutional, as they violated rights guaranteed in the Chinese constitution itself. "Citizens' freedom of press means freedom of expression, copying and publication without the approval of the state," he argued. "One should not punish people with criminal law for their religious activities," he told the court.

Zhang Xingshui was not in the court to hear the verdict this week. His licence has been suspended by the government department that oversees lawyer licensing. Shi's wife said she feared his licence had been suspended for having taken on her husband's case.

Reached by phone, Zhang Xingshui declined to be interviewed, saying he was still hoping to have the suspension of his licence overturned.

Would Shi's wife be seeking another lawyer to launch an appeal in the meantime, she was asked. "There might not be another lawyer who would take this case," she said, "because it deals with religion."

Radio Interview

Click on this link to hear a recent radio interview I did on Women's Bible Study Expo.

http://www.marnie.com/Expo/2009/Clips/gracewalk.mp3

June 14 Sunday Preaching Now Online

This week's topic is "Better Things: Freedom From Struggling"

Check it out at www.gracewalk.org

God's Default Setting

One of the most debilitating problems I have seen in Christian's lives since I began constantly traveling in ministry fifteen years ago is a faulty concept of God the Father. It seems that there is a worldwide perception that, while Jesus is gentle and kind, the Father's holiness and justice causes Him to be more like a stern parent who says he loves you, but all he seems to think about is whether you are behaving or not.

How did the Father come to get such a bad rap? He certainly never did anything to deserve it. He has shown His heart toward us from the instant man breathed his first breath. The Bible describes that moment when man was created: God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)

What did he do then? Did He sit them down and start rattling off a list of rules they had to obey to stay on His good side? Did He remind them that, after He was good enough to give them life, they ought to spend it serving Him?

There are three words in the Bible that tell exactly what God did right after He created Adam and Eve. These three words are the very first thing the Bible says happened after "male and female He created them." Do you know what it was?

"God blessed them." (Genesis 1:28) That's right, He blessed them. He spoke fruitfulness and abundance and authority into their new lives. The Trinity must have laughed in delight and pleasure to now have others with whom they could share the love and life He had been enjoying for all eternity past. After all, when it comes to a party - the more the merrier.

So then, the very first mention of God and man tells us that God blessed man. That's because it is His nature to bless. What else would One whose essence is love want to do? A little later, when Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves in the garden, we again see God's heart.

God and Adam had established a wonderful habit of walking in the Garden together every evening around sunset. But when Adam sinned, he assumed that God surely wouldn't want to walk with him now. So he hid - the same thing man still does when he mistakenly thinks he has behaved in a way that disappoints or even angers God. Sin changed Adam's mind about God. He now saw God is a different way. He perceived Him to be angry, so he hid.

What did God do? He came for His walk, just like He had done every day. Get this point: sin didn't change God. It changed man. The Father, Son and Spirit still adored man although mankind had now become blind to that fact.

What did the Father do when He finally coaxed Adam and Eve out of the bushes? He looked at their feeble attempts to make themselves look more presentable to Him with a heart of compassion and love - His default setting. Then God took animal skins (a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God) and covered them so they wouldn't be ashamed.

Notice that through it all, God never changed in His attitude toward man. He banished them from the Garden, not because He was angry, but because He didn't want them to eat from the Tree of Life and cause all mankind to be forever trapped in their fallen estate. Before they exited the Garden of Eden, He assured them that One would come who would totally vanquish the evil one who had lured them into this mess in which they now found themselves. (See Genesis 3:15)

Here's where people still miss it today: God isn't angry with us. He loves us and has "proven His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) There is nothing you have ever done or could ever do that could change how God feels about you. He is Love (1 John 4:8)and love keeps no account of wrongdoing. (1 Corinthians 13:5)

God's default setting will forever be to love and accept you. The only unanswered question that remains then is this: Will you accept His acceptance?

New Sunday Preaching Series for June Starts Today

The topic is "Better Things" and the video can be seen on my home page at http://www.gracewalk.org Scroll down the page and you'll see the player. I leave it up all week.

Sometimes Life Just Doesn't Make Sense

The single greatest characteristic of the flesh is its insistence on being in control. That's why there is always such a conflict between the flesh and Spirit. (See Galatians 5:17) We want to control our circumstances and, if we can't, we want an explanation from God about why what is happening in our lives is happening -- and it had better be a good reason.

We all want to find relief from the stresses and strains of life. And didn't Jesus promise that He brings us peace? Then how are we supposed to experience it? The answer is to let go of our own life; to lay it down at our Father's feet and recognize that He is in control and not us. The most direct route toward experiencing a sense of peace is to give up our own attempts to be in control and to trust Him.

Our Father is loving and there's no doubt about that. If He is loving and if He is sovereign (and He is both of those), then we can let go and trust Him even when life doesn't make sense. The young couple in the video below model it very well for us all.
The grace walk is a faith walk. Not a faith we muster up by empty words or forced positive thinking, but a faith that comes from knowing who He is and resting in His character when we can do nothing else.



(Thanks to Mike Zenker for sending this video to me)

Confronting Other People's Sins

A message about this week's Sunday Preaching sent to me on FaceBook:


When I talk to others about this story of the Father's love, they often bring up where Paul excommunicated a gentleman because of his sin and that is what we must do when we see it. Yes he did it to give an opportunity for the man to turn from it, and we can do nothing less than Paul did. This is what they say. Also, they give the verses from knowing a good tree by its fruit vs bad tree and that is the way they judge if others are saved are not. I see many problems with this, but wanted to know how you would respond. Liz

Liz,

Okay, the Apostle Paul and sins: First, Paul always laid a VERY strong foundation with the churches about their identity before he ever talked about their behavior. Sadly, that is the missing component in the modern church world. We want to tell people how to act without having told them the basis for developing the right actions. We focus on stopping bad behavior, but unless we teach people their identity in Christ, by what power can they see their behavior be changed? When pastors/churches don't understand identity, they give the people more rules/principles/methods, etc - in other words, another flesh plan.

I do believe that confrontation can be an expression of love and believe in confronting when appropriate. Here are a few questions that come to mind though for those who are "trigger happy" about dealing with other people's sins:

1. Why do you want to confront this person's behavior? Is it REALLY because you love them and don't want to see them be hurt by their wrong choices? Or is it because of your own heightened sense of right and wrong and a need to make people "do right?"

2. Are you going to talk to them about their behavior in terms of right and wrong or in a way that you will lovingly help them see that their bad behavior is really just a misguided way that they are trying to get perceived needs met apart from Christ? (That's what all fleshly actions are.) In other words, what's your goal here - to cause them to change how they act or to help them see Jesus as the answer and to come to the place where they trust Him as their life source?

3. When you confront them, what will your demeanor and attitude be? Will you shed tears of compassion so they KNOW that it is love that motivates you? Or will the confrontation have more of a judicial, courtroom feel to it? Note that is is possible to be strong and yet still clearly communicate love in a way that the offender sees the love you have and knows it is real.

4. What sins are you planning to confront? "By their fruit you shall know them," many like to point out. Well, what fruit are you looking for in a person's life? Which rotten fruit deserves to be confronted? Adultery? Oh yeah. Drug abuse? For sure. There are many about which none would argue over their seriousness.

But how about gossip? Will you confront every gossip in the church? (As a pastor, I saw much more damage done in the church by gossips than by adulterers or drug addicts.) What about pride? I see that in churches all the time. Are you going to confront that? What about selfish ambitions? Paul lists that in Galatians 5 in the same sentence with idolatry, witchcraft, fits or rage, drunkenness, orgies, etc. So are you going to deal with those in the church who try to build a following around themselves and become a big shot in the church? Are you going after only the "big sins" that everybody around you will agree with you about, or are you also going to confront the ones that aren't politically correct (in the church world) to address? After all, fair is fair. If you're going to deal with the open car wrecks in the church, you need to deal with the hidden cancers too. Both will kill the church.

5. What gives you the right to confront this person? Have you developed the kind of loving relationship with them that entitles you to become an extension and spokesman for the Holy Spirit? While it falls within the bounds of the church to lovingly confront behavior at times, it isn't a given that we have the right to become "behavior police" in people's lives at every moment. Will not the Holy Spirit lead and chasten them as necessary? Certainly there will be times He uses us, but are we "trigger happy" about confronting people when we really haven't earned that right by loving them beforehand?

6. What sins are in your own life? Do you see your own fleshly inclinations and areas where you too need to be changed? None of us are perfect, are we? Do you easily see the sins in other people's lives and stand ready to confront those while either being blind to your own sins or else excusing them, minimizing them or ignoring them? Why shouldn't somebody confront you about the things in your own life that need to change? Do you need that? Would you be grateful if they did?

Here's the bottom line: Yes, there are times to confront AS THE LORD LEADS, but it needs to always be done as an expression of love and not as some sort of godzi who takes a condescending, judgmental attitude toward somebody whose sin doesn't happen to be the same as ours.

Much of the time, when "church discipline" is done, it is carried out in a penal environment and there isn't even the slightest whiff of grace in the air. That's sad. When confrontation is, to quote David Augsberger "carefrontation," it will work. Otherwise, it will cause the offender to become filled with self condemnation and bog down even deeper into sin while at the same time shunning the people he feels are judging him.

Check out this video somebody just sent me. You may think these occasions are rare, but I tell you with first hand knowledge, they are not.


I hope this helps answer your question,
Steve McVey