This Broken Place (Japan, Eden, and everywhere else)

How can you not look at the horror of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and wonder, even if just for a second:  Is God really a loving God? Is God really an all-powerful God?  It can't possibly be both, right?  I mean that is the question being bumped around the world right now.  More importantly, it is the question that has drilled its painful little punctuations right into our hearts.  How can one look at such horror, loss and pain and not be shaken, not doubt, not question?

The world is utterly broken.  

We see the brokenness of the world, the earth, when tsunamis happen on a grand and terrible scale.  But signs of the broken world surround us everyday: broken bodies, broken hearts, broken children, broken parents, broken systems.  When we take our blinders off its easy to see, its not hiding, this is a broken place.  

It's been like that for a long, long time, but it wasn't always this way and it wasn't supposed to be this way.  

The story goes something like this:

There once was a garden, more beautiful than you could ever imagine.  Not a garden like in your mom's backyard, but a garden as if the whole earth was full and plentiful and perfect.  I know its hard to image in a place like that while huffing in the toxins and fumes of years and years of pollutants.  But try.  This place was full of everything beautiful and everything good.  There was a Father and his two children and this family was perfect, in fact you really could say that they were made for each other.  There was so much love, real love, perfect love.  In fact the Father had brought about the two children in love and to love, to love him and to love each other.  True love of course requires freedom.  It's not true love after all if it is forced or manipulated and so with everything else in the whole world, with his very own love the father gave his children freedom.  Freedom to do as they saw fit, freedom to make their own choices, freedom to love, a freedom that would not be recalled.  About this time a lie crept into the world, a lie that would change it all that would break it all.  The lie was whispered into the hearts and souls of the children.  The lie was that the father really didn't love them, not fully, not perfectly.  After all if he did why would he have given the children a choice.  Its a lie that is still whispered to us all today.  Its a lie that seems to creep in when we need to know the truth about true love the most.  The kids bought the lie and as it is with all choices, that choice had consequences.  This beautiful place along with the heart of the father...broke.  It was no longer as it should be.  

In a place like this the water was perfect, the food was plentiful, the earth grew and blossomed and now decay and death, earthquakes and tsunamis, pain, loss and everything that didn't belong made its way into this world.  Not because of the father...but because of the kids...because of us, because we chose and continue to choose our own way, a way that has always and will always continue to break down, corrupt and pollute what was once perfect.

Because everything is connected, everything is broken. 

Including the earth.

Including us.

I felt this more than I ever had when death and disease became personal.  On March 1st 2008 I lost my 19 year old baby brother in a horrific car accident.  I went to the hospital and saw his broken body.  I saw the broken ground, the broken car.  My soul was pierced.  On March 14 2008 I lost my mother after a short fight with pancreatic cancer.  Her broken body.  Our broken hearts. 

It was never supposed to be like this...and I believe that one day it will be like this no longer.

Where is the paradox?  Love requires choice and freedom and freedom isn't real freedom if every time we choose to break something God stays our hand.  I believe in a God who is love and defines true love...and true love requires the kind of freedom that broke the whole earth from the beginning. True love stays true even when we are breaking things.   

I know at time like this when tragedy is still so near and fresh, theological debate is about as useful as throwing a tennis ball at a tornado.  I know that what the people in Japan need most is not discussion, platitudes or even Christians trying to make a point.  What they need most is love, prayer, support and probably money.  What they need somehow is a father, lets call him God, to walk with them through the storm, through the pain, through the destruction and through the brokenness.  A God who is loving enough and powerful enough to not let anything: not trouble, not hardship, not persecution or famine or nakedness, not death or life, angels or daemons, the present or the future, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in this messed up and broken place to separate them from his very own love.

Free Talks on iTunes

Just uploaded a new podcast to iTunes, called Everything Changes.  You can check out some of my talks for free on iTunes.  Search for: joshua ott in the search bar.  Subscribe to have the newest talks downloaded to your iPod or iPhone or just to your computer.  We make zero dollars off this, it is a free resource given to you by GEFC.  The church I am the lead dude at.  If you want to support the continuation of stuff like this you can donate to the church here: http://gefccressona.org/Giving.html 

All of these donations go directly to the church not to me.  Which is a great thing because they help support many of the awesome ministries of this church.

I hope to be posting some more talks on i-tunes soon.  And some more questions will be answered on this blog in the upcoming months

Jesus Storybook

I was reading this to my daughter Taylor last night and it just drew me in.  Great "Kid's Bible,"  But my recommendation is for everyone to pick one of these up and read it.  It tells the story in such a beautiful way.

I haven't looked forward to reading the next part of spiritual book in a long time.  But if I had a day on the beach with this one, it would be done in record time.

The Jesus Storybook Bible
Every story whispers his name

Recommended: What's so amazing about grace? Visual Edition

People always ask me what I am reading.  Right now its:   What's so amazing about grace? Visual Edition.  This is a must have book.  I have read the full version (and its great) but this visual version is something I keep coming back too.  It helps me keep things in perspective. 

Amazon has great prices...just click the link and pick up your copy today.

Whats the easiest way to explain the difference between all the religions?

Its a very good question. After much thought I decided to avoid a lengthy discussion and to just list a few.

Grace...it means unmerited favor. In other words we don't get what we should get. We get forgiveness instead of punishment, a faithful God in spite of our unfaithfulness, unconditional love instead of love with strings attached.

Love...Many other religions have a loving leader who cared for his, her or its people but not even close to the extent of Jesus. First the Christian God loves all, not just those who are doing a good job following him. He loves us all unconditionally. Nothing you could do could make God love you more and nothing you could do could make him love you less. The Bible say in 1 John 4 that God is love. Love is perfected in God which means it is complete. You don't have to work to win his favor. He already favors you.

God is pursuing you ...always has been and always will be. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, God is pursuing you with His love. His great hope is that you will accept His love. That you will take the forgiveness offered to you, because you will never be perfect, and He can't expect you to be. Because He knows you will do it again...He knows you need forgiveness. Forgiveness so that you can be free, so that you can have hope, so that you can walk into a place that is perfect as something you could never be on your own...perfect.

Maybe that's the biggest thing of all...where else is there a god who died on a cross because He loved so deeply the people he created? What other God demonstrated His love in dying for us so that we wouldn't have to die spiritually and then rose for us, so that we could live again? What other God would send all that He had...His son... to this dirty and dark place to die for a bunch of screw ups like us?

Listen, this is important...The story of God and Christ was never supposed to be about religion. We interject religion as people and inevitably things get messed up. Christians have made many mistakes. We have mistreated people, even nations, and done horrible things, sometimes even in the name of God. And so from a religious standpoint people can make a pretty good case that Christians aren't much different than any other religion. But here is the most important thing: This story is not about religion...its not about being religious...its about faith...its about hope...its about love...its about being able to have a relationship, real and active, with a God who loves us perfectly.

Honesty...It goes a long way in our relationships with others and in our relationship with God. to really embrace honesty we have to stop hiding. Some things we have kept in the dark need to be shown the light. Scary? For sure. But who knows we may be surprised to find out that even with out junk we are loved.

Why isn't God as satisfying as my addictions?

"Hey, My addictions keep coming back? I traded them for God. Why isn't he as satisfying?" sincerely Kantkic Dahabit.

Hey Kantkic,

There is something about your question that captures the struggle of so many, so well.

There is so much I could write about addictions and because this stuff is pretty important I'm going to try to stay on task. But I could not possibly get into everything that may be helpful in one post. So here's a blip, hopefully it will raise some more questions and we can continue this conversation in the future.

Addictions are linked to tolerance and dependence. Our body builds up a tolerance for a certain substance and then our normal mode of functioning (on the inside) is altered to a new normal. In simple terms, we now need the substance to feel normal. We depend on the substance to feel normal, physically, and emotionally. Unfortunately it doesn't stop there. Often we continue to tolerate more and more of the substance, which means it takes more and more of the substance to feel normal and we need more to get lit up, high, smashed, stoned (whatever you want to call it.)

Each substance (or thing) we get addicted too has its own unique way of affecting our brains and bodies so it is difficult to talk specifics without knowing what addictions you struggle with. People struggle with addictions to drugs, sex, alcohol, pornography, nicotine, adrenaline, prescription drugs, food...the list could go on and on. To really get the help, you need to talk to someone who can talk you through some specifics and help you get the help you need.

One thing they all seem to have in common is the way they affect the pleasure centers of your brain. Addictions alter the normal functioning of these pleasure centers as well. They cause you to be dependent on substance to feel pleasure plus it takes more and more to feel the pleasure you were seeking. Remove the substance and crash...withdraw, which often includes depression.

Addictions are not something you just trade away in a day. The body has to go through the process of getting back its original mode of operation. Sometimes the process of beating an addiction takes a long time and a lot of hard work. Deciding to do the work is a great first step...if they keep coming back I think it is time you got some help, talk to a school counselor, call a private counselor, or talk to your doctor. The point is to get some professional help.

Addictions have consequences and eventually these consequences get pretty messy. These addictions don't just affect the addict. Inevitably a lot of people get hurt by the addiction.

I think these consequences affect our relationship with God as well. We replace God with our addiction. We come to depend on our addiction to fill our needs instead of depending on God to fill them.

I think to start to get ourselves back to a good spiritual place, its good to ask ourselves what our needs are, or what pain or hurt we are try to make go away. I guess I am suggestion you look into why you have been starting on the roads to your addictions. And then start to take those things to God and ask him to help you deal with them. That might be hard for you to do if you don't really understand who God is. I find so many people think God is some kind of angry, punishing, disappointed God. He is not like that at all. There is no one more on your side than God is. He loves you completely and nothing you could do could ever make him love you less, nothing you could do could ever make him love you more. He might not be as satisfying because you have not really started to search him, to know him to understand his love.

I think God doesn't feel as satisfying sometimes, because we don't give Him the chance to be. We expect a quick high, when the reality is the real change that leads to real satisfaction takes healing and time. What God has for you is so much better and lasting and real than what the addictions have to offer. In the short term a drug may seem more satisfying but in the long run it makes a huge mess of your life. The life God has for you is so much better, filled with so much hope and love. Its hard to trust that everyday and I find myself having to remember that. I guess it really boils down to trust. Who do you trust with your life, with your future?

I wrote a little more about addictions some time ago...here's the link: ADDICTION LINK

I hope this helps, or at least helps you form some different question. Feel free to get back in touch with me. ottjgefc@verizon.net

And please seek professional help.

Josh