Two millennium’s ago, a Foreign Policy was instituted upon the earth. The Foreign Policy was called LIFE.  The Foreign Policy of LIFE is violent and it never has, nor will it ever be vetoed or impeached.  Its demands authority and commands everything from the smallest element to the largest entity.  It takes ground everywhere it goes, as the instituting King’s mastery is Life.  From His shadow to His very spit, LIFE itself erupts – bursts – rockets.  Yet the instituted Foreign Policy has somehow, somewhere, been lost within the vernacular of the King’s citizens, as the understanding, recognition, and authority that the Foreign Policy maintains is overwhelmingly diluted, ignored, forgotten, and rejected,  as the lives of the people who call the King their Lord, have laid the Foreign Policy down in hibernation.

The common cold.  The season of flu.  The epidemic of cancer.  The reality of death.   All dealt with by this King thru His objective of LIFE in His instituted Foreign Policy.  Yet for some reason, the citizens of this King tolerate, accept, and permit these things – colds, flu’s, cancers, disease, sickness, illness, death - to exist, assuming them as the normalcy of everyday life.

According to the King’s Foreign Policy, these things – colds, flu’s, cancers, disease, sickness, illness, death – are not to be tolerated.  They are not to be accepted.  They are not to be permitted by His citizens.  Nor are not the thoughts or fears that follow them.  Just as they cannot stand in the presence of instituting King, the institution of the King’s Foreign Policy has decreed them non-permisable amongst His citizens.

What if the citizens of this King – the King of heaven and of Earth, the King of all King’s, the Lord of all Lord’s, the victorious risen savior for all humanity, JESUS CHRIST – took this Foreign Policy – LIFE – for more than just a fancy?  What if the citizens of this King – Jesus Christ – literally established the Foreign Policy of LIFE to every arena around them?  What if the citizens of this King – Jesus Christ – ceased in tolerating, accepting, and permitting colds, flu’s, cancers, disease, sickness, illness, death? What if the citizens of this King – Jesus Christ – stopped imagining the possibilities of the King’s FOREIGN POLICY and began living in the promise of the King’s FOREIGN POLICY?

John 10:10 – I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. TALK ABOUT A FOREIGN POLICY.  STOP IMAGINING IT.  GO LIVE IT.

OBTAIN!  OBTAIN!  OBTAIN!

POSSESS!  POSSESS!  POSSESS!

STOCKPILE!  STOCKPILE!  STOCKPILE!

OWN!  OWN!  OWN!

And after living a lifestyle aimed at doing so for years, confidently I announce:  Everything.  All of the possessions.  All of the material.  All of the ownership.  All of the coin.  All of the pleasures.  Everything ADDS up to NOTHING.

WHAT!!!

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 – 1 I said to myself, “Let’s go for it – experiment with pleasure, have a good time!” But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke. 2 What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane! My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it? 3 With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life. I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth. I Never Said No to Myself 4 Oh, I did great things: built houses, planted vineyards, 5 designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them, 6 made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees.7 I bought slaves, male and female, who had children, giving me even more slaves; then I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me in Jerusalem. 8 I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms. I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and – most exquisite of all pleasures – voluptuous maidens for my bed. 9 Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What’s more, I kept a clear head through it all. 10 Everything I wanted I took – I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task – my reward to myself for a hard day’s work! 11 Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.

Here is a man, a man known traditionally as Solomon, who had everything.  Literally everything.  Yet we find him in this moment – reflecting – realizing – announcing – “All of the houses.  All of the cars.  All of the vacation properties.  All of the stocks and bonds.  All of the trophies.  All of the coin.  All of the pleasures.  EVERYTHING.  All of it.  Everything ADDS up to NOTHING.“

When I sit back and look at life.  When I sit back and reflect on what Solomon is saying.  I come to the place where I find that an orgy [any act of immoderate indulgence] of pleasure[s] only satisfies for the moment and it shares the same defect as human wisdom:  it accomplishes nothing and it adds up to nothing.

In the middle of the most prolific & powerful message ever given, Jesus says this at the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 6:19-21 – 19 ”Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or – worse! – stolen by burglars. 20 Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. 21 It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”

Why do we contend for hoardings of life when we are called to contend as herolders of truth?  Jesus is my treasure.  Where He is, that is where I most want to be.  Everything apart from Jesus – all of it – everything else ADDS up to NOTHING.  Death couldn’t hold Jesus down. Nor can moth and rust and burglars take Him from me.  He is my treasure.  I want to be in His presence.  Side by side.  Chest to chest.  That is where I will be. Everything else ADDS up to NOTHING!

Definition:  the continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it.

In other words - physical force, load, stress,thrust; compression, weight, strain, tension, difficulty.

Now.  Say the word PRESSURE.  Say the word PRESSURE audibly.  PRESSURE.

When you hear the word PRESSURE – what fills your thoughts?  How do you feel?  What memory floods your mind?

For some reason, the word PRESSURE  is a word that sells negativity to our brain the minute we hear it, see it, taste it, feel it, or sense it.  For most people, the minute that PRESSURE is heard, seen, tasted, felt, or sensed – they run.  Buckle.  Hide.  And go into a trance of denial.  For some, just answering the question above caused or brought back one or two of those gut reactions.

PRESSURE.  When I think about pressure I think of its craftsmanship.  I think of its mastery and proficiency.  I think of its punch and capacity.  You see, PRESSURE does one of two things.

ONE:  It bursts. [The sheer arrant power of PRESSURE forces pipes to burst when too much PRESSURE runs through them.]

TWO:  It creates. [The sheer arrant power of PRESSURE creates diamonds in the earths upper mantle.]

So my question is – WHAT DOES PRESSURE DO TO YOU?  Does it cause you to burst or cause you to create?

The difference in the equation is simple.  Elementary if you will.  The difference between the two is all in how you respond.  Pipes run, buckle, & hide when PRESSURE comes their way.  So what do they do?  They burst.  Diamonds [the elements thereof] harness the opportunity, they seize the PRESSURE and create.

What do you do?

When pressure [physical force, load, stress,thrust; compression, weight, strain, tension, difficulty] approaches you – how do you respond?  Do you burst [run, buckle, hide]? Or do you create [initiate, launch, produce, engage]?

1 Corinthians 10:13  All you need to remember is that God will never let you down;  He’ll never let you be pushed past your limit;  He’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Dont let PRESSURE cause you to burst.  You are a son, a daughter, to the Risen King.  The Conquerer of Death.  You are a King, a Queen in the Kingdom of God.  You are so beloved, cherished, and adored that He will never let you down.  He will never let you be pushed past your limits.  He will always be there for you.  He will always help you come through it.  There are no boundaries to which He cant save.  Respond to Him – ignore & rebuke the PRESSURE – watch Him create in you something new.  Something beautiful.  Something spectacular.

Remember that next time PRESSURE builds.  Remember that next time PRESSURE causes you to almost burst.  Lock your gaze on Him – watch Him create.

Table scraps:  a small piece or bit.  A fragment.  Parts leftover for disposal.

Is it possible to know how it truly tasted?  How fresh and warm – succulent and flavorful it was seconds after being cooked?  Is it possible to know the fullness of the meal if all you ate was a small piece or bit?  A fragment?  Part of the meal that was leftover for disposal?  If all you ate were the table scraps of a meal, it would be impossible to know the fullness of it.

The truth is just as you can’t know the fullness of a meal by eating the table scraps thereof – you can’t know the fullness of God if all He gets from you is the table scraps of your time, day, week…and especially life.  Make no mistake.  This is not legalism.  This is truth.  The bulk of us give God our table scraps.

Small pieces and bits of our time because everything and everyone else comes first.  Fragments of our day(s) and week(s) because everything and everyone else has top priority.  Parts leftover for disposal once everything and everyone else has had their share of our lives.  Work, people, play, entertainment, hobbies, sin… All conditions that somehow – someway – get first dibs at our plate.  Yet we still expect to know the fullness of God with only giving God the table scraps.

Matthew 6:33a But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…

Remind me.  What is the first thing we are told to do?  Remind me.  Who should be getting our first?

Seek God first – that is what.  Give God our first – that is Who.  Notice that the scriptures don’t give a count identifying how many times this is to take place.  Why?  Because this isn’t a one time deal.  This is a continuum that never curbs and parks.  It’s a daily conviction of priority in life.  It’s an establishment of preeminence to every counting second of life.   It’s a craving to know the fullness of God, as there are no table scraps in the conversation.

It’s reading the scriptures.  It’s praying.  It’s worshipping.  It’s giving.  It’s serving.  It’s seeking first – at all times, in all circumstances, in all places – God.

Nobody likes table scraps.  And that includes God.

Wake up everyday – seek first.

While you drive in your car – seek first.

During your day at work or school – seek first.

Whatever you are doing.  Wherever you are.  SEEK FIRST.

Jesus didn’t give us table scraps.  He gave us everything.  Give God everything.  Seek first.

A season of life has finally blown away and dissolved.  It was a season that can only be diagnosed as “the perfect storm”.  It was a season of despondency.  Despair.  Anguish.  A constant resounding melancholy.  A colossal valley of war and tension.  A residual menace.  The perfect storm raged physically, emotionally, and spiritually for months among me.

Betrayal pierced my heart.  Vengeance riddled my mind.  Mayhem guillotined my spirit.

I found myself with my head hung low.  Any amount of confidence I once had, was now burrowing in the floor.  The courage and passion that was once torrential inside me, was now nothing short of a drought.

When apex of the storm reached unbearable magnitude , a friend hurled himself into the eye of the storm with no regard and without regret.  He warred for my life.   He contended for my courage and confidence.  He grappled with my mind and my heart.  He took roars and blasts from the storm.

We talked and prayed continuously.  He spoke candidly and listened timely.

One day, in the medium of it all, he spoke something I will never forget:  ”You will never lose if you take the high road.  Regardless of right and wrong.  At fault and faultless.  Correct and out of line.  If you respond by taking the high road with integrity, love, humility, and peace – you will always win”.

Have you ever heard something that you have known and believed your entire life, only to find out that you haven’t lived it?  You’ve only preached it.

With my world rocked, I left and set out to get alone with God.  On top of a mountain, I turned to Psalm 3:3 and prayed it out loud over, and over, and over, and over again.  “God, you are God.  You shield me on my front, my back, my left, and my right.  You alone ground my feet and you God, YOU, are the lifter of my head.” Then with my face digging into the dirt of the mountain peak, I knelt in silence.  Suddenly a voice penetrated the moment, with timeless timing, God responded:  “How can I lift your head son, when you haven’t bowed it”.

After playing football for 10 consecutive seasons, I find it exhausting not relating moments like these to those on the field.  In the game of football, when two men go head to head – the one who gets low – always wins.

History tells us that when King David wrote Psalm 3:3, he was in the middle of a perfect storm.  Surrounded by despair.  Struck with anguish.  Hung by betrayal.  David is despondent, as his son Absalom is out to take not only his crown, but also his life.  And its in this moment, this exact moment, that King David cries out to God, “All of this stuff is happening God.  Its hard.  Its difficult.  Its unruly.  Its powerful.  Its beating me.  I want to give up.  Im confused God.  Im worried God.  Im afraid God.  I don’t understand.   But you, God, shield me on all sides; You ground my feet, you lift my head high”.

David had a right to not get low.  He was King and he was wronged.  And wronged by his own son.  Yet we find him, in the midst of his perfect storm, getting low before God.  Taking the high road with integrity, love, humility, and peace.  Bowing.

I urge you.  Regardless of right or wrong.  Fault or faultless.  Correct or out of line.  Not matter what, whether on the perfect beach or in the midst of the perfect storm, take the high road.  Get low.

Get low – integrity always wins.

Get low – love always wins.

Get low – humility always wins.

Get low – peace always wins.

Get low – and let God shield you on all sides.

Get low – and let God ground your feet.

Get low – and let God lift your head high.

I might not know what you’re going through.  I might not know what you’re dealing with or struggling against.  I might not know what you’re facing or experiencing.  I might not be in your perfect storm.  But I do know, that God is a faithful God.  He is a just God.  And if you will get low – He will shield you, ground you, and lift your head high.

Have you ever been there?  On a road trip of life where springs of creativity, life, abundance, joy – once moved wildly and raged like a roaring rapid – but have now dried up.  A place where the soil of your life has been swallowed up and left you cracked and dried.  Barren.  Arid.  Yet  in the midst of the seemingly perpetual drought, everything is extremely JUICY.  Yes, certain areas have completely dried up. Yes there might be areas in the process of drying up.  BUT, new springs of life are gushing.  And they are succulent, wet, sensational…to die for.  JUICY!

Have you ever experienced such a place?

Have you ever been on such a road trip?

This is my road trip:  I have an acute passion to write.  To articulate on paper [or in this case on screen].  For five months now, I have been dry in my writing.  I have tried and tried to write, and I just haven’t been able to.  For whatever reason, I couldn’t articulate on paper.  I’ve done everything possible, but I just couldn’t write.  I have been in a perpetual drought in my writing.  Yet other areas of my life, some new some old, have been JUICY.

To be completely candid, I dont understand this paradox.  That we can be in such a dry yet JUICY place.  How can a dry place be JUICY?  Those two words completely contradict each other.  How can a place be one…while still being the other?

I cant make any sense of it, nor can I grasp the onramp for such road trips [seasons if you will] in our lives.  The only thing that I can offer to this universal paradox is that following God cannot be explained.  Following God never ends with a period, but it always begins with a question mark.  What I mean by that is when we follow God, we have no clue about where He will take us. The road trips God takes us on cannot be put into words.  Following God requires following.

But for some reason, we as humans have an innate ability to tell God to follow us.  We get in front of Him.  ”Its shorter this way God.”  ”Its easier this way God.”  ”It makes more sense to do it this way God.”  And in the process of us telling God to follow us, we get lost.  We don’t see what God wants us to see.  We don’t experience what God wants us to experience.  We don’t encounter what God wants us to encounter.  We don’t learn what God wants us to learn.  We don’t become who God wants us to become.  We don’t go where God wants us to go.

[GRASP]  Following God may lead you to a mountain top.  But following God may lead you to a valley bottom.  Following God may lead you to the autobahn of life.  But following God may lead you to a one way gridlocked rush hour road of life.  Following God may lead you to the promise land.  But following God may lead you to the desert. Regardless of where He leads you, one thing is emanate:  some areas may dry up and some areas of may not, but when you follow God – when you are relentless is your pursuit for Him, when you refuse to be denied – life is always JUICY.

So I encourage you.  I challenge you.  Lock your eyes on Jesus.  Gaze upon Him.  Hunt Him.  Stock Him.  Follow Him at all costs.

Regardless of the road trip – LIVE JUICY!

To make changes.

To move in uncharted directions.

To do things differently.

But after years and years of youth ministry, I have come to the conclusion that there is only one thing – just one thing – that causes you to respond immediately, to take charge now, and refuse to wait like years prior.  You see, I believe that in most cases, the many things that come at us year after year – goading us, pushing us, spurring us, motivating us to due things – in my opinion – are all established out of pity.  Pity to help a people group.  Pity to see a people group not walk the same path we have walked.  Pity to…[insert the pity you've repeatedly worked according to].

But you see, its not about having pity.  Pity wont change peoples lives.  Pity wont start a movement.  Pity wont do a thing that exceeds the current moment.  Having pity when you think about it – is all about you!

What it is about is having a burden.  Movements aren’t started by people that have pity for others, they are started by people that have a burdens for others.   Burdens change lives.  Burdens start movements.  Burdens change history.  Having a burden when you think about it – is all about people [not yourself]!

Here is where I am going with this.

I am done.

I am done playing games.  I am done waiting.  I am done going through the motions.  I am done with pity.  I am done chasing the opportunity to change the moment verses start a movement that changes history.  Now is the time.  The time that a generation stands with a burden for a people.  The time that a generation refuses to have a pity party and starts a burden movement.

If you were to go into a pitch dark room and close the door, what would happen?  Would the darkness consume you?  Maybe you would get scared?  Or maybe nothing would happen and you would just blend in?   Or maybe, just maybe, you would light it up?

The reason I asked  this question is because you live in a pitch dark world.  A pitch dark world that promotes and markets  its darkness.  A pitch dark world full of void, hurt, pain, suffering, depression, emptiness, and loneliness.  A pitch dark world full of arrogance, death, destruction, lust, and fear.  A pitch dark world in which you are called to be a light in.  A light of hope.  A light of peace.  A light a life.  A life of love.  A light of Christ.

So I ask you.  What kind of light are you?

Maybe you’re a night light – a light that is so dim, it barely illuminates anything.  Half ashamed and half proclaimed.

Maybe you’re a flash light – a light that is present, but small, and only during special circumstances.  Only ON when it feels good and right.

Maybe you’re a strobe light – you’re on one second, then off the next.  Then on again, then off again.  A repetitious on one minute, off the next minute – I’m the light of the world lifestyle…or I’m not.

Maybe you’re a spot light – bright, visible, and loud – lighting up everything around you.  Confronting darkness with vigor, passion, and mission.

My fear is that many of us are more than just one of these.  Many of us are one of these lights during certain occasions, in certain groups and settings, at certain times.  Then in other occasions, in other groups and settings, at other times, we are a different one.  That is, if you are one at all.

One of the reasons why Jesus said these words in Matthew 5 – that we are the light of the world – is because He is stating that there needs to be something different about us.  Something clear.  Something bright.  Something loud.

Something that points the way to that which is different about us and sets us apart.

Something that signifies who we are and Who we represent.

Something that shouts I am the light of the world and I cannot be hidden.  I am not ashamed.

Something that leads the way.  Something that confronts darkness without hesitation – lighting a path for others to follow.  Something that refuses to back down.  Something that says its no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me.  And because He lives in me, I am a bearer of His light.  I am a heralder of His inextinguishable light, love, and life.

You are called to be the light that is on all the time.  24/7.  365.  Not a night light.  Not a flash light.  Not a strobe light.  You are called to be a bright light that is highly visible.  Distinguishable.  Recognizable.  And it is He – Jesus Christ – who resides in you – Who is the source of the light in which you are.

You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill that cannot be hidden.  Shine bright.

Mario Brothers.

Duck Hunt.

Donkey Kong.

Excitebike.

R.C. ProAm

Jackal.

Castlevania.

Commando.

Paper Boy.

Double Dragon.

Just to name a few of my FAV’s.  With the success of Nintendo, others followed in their footsteps, creating game consoles Saga Genesis, Dreamcast, Playstation, etc…and the list continues to grow [yes I left out some other game consoles].

I remember the day when I got my Sony Playstation.  I sat in a line at WalMart for hours in order to get my Playstation.  Once I brought it home, I was a Playstation.  It was all I did.  Play games.  Play games.  Play games.  Given my passion for the game of football, I quickly mastered the John Madden quest.  I wasn’t just good, I was the best.  Especially when I set the difficulty at “Beginner”.  Although my talent was at the top, and I could take the Playstation 1 on 1 at its most difficult level, I was an avid “Beginner” difficulty enthusiast.  You see I didn’t just like to win by 7. 14.  or even 28 points.  I had to score 100 points.  And as for the Playstation, it wasn’t allowed to score.  My aim was to destroy the Playstation, not just win.  I would celebrate the victory like I was really a Super Bowl Champion.  I would feel great as if I just accomplished something rare and monumental as I wiped out the computer and ran up the score.

When I think about ‘running up the score”, my mind doesn’t gravitate toward Elite College Football Teams running up the score against Underprivileged Short Bus College Football Teams.  Or Top Ranked College Basketball Teams running up the score on Home School College Basketball Teams.  My mind gravitates and concentrates on Jesus.  And how He has run up the score on sin and death.

You see, Colossians 2:14 says “the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s Cross.”

What does this mean?

It means that Christ has run up the score through the power of the cross for the purpose of salvation.  It means that Christ has run up the score by canceling all the debt that sin buried us in and defeating death itself.  It means that He has run up the score by not only forgiving us for our sins, but completely obliterating them, and wiping them out past, present, and future.  It means that He has run up the score by not allowing sin to score again.  It means that He has run up the score by not just winning, but by destroying sin and death.

How?  He ran up the score because He is the best.  And sin.  Death.  Was but a beginner.

Why?  So that all, not some, but all, would be saved.

He has Run Up the Score.  And the score is 0 to …..a number so vast and expansive that our human minds cant comprehend its number.

Today He is Running Up the Score.  The number is growing.  The number is expanding.  The number is exploding.  So join in on the fun.  Be part of the winning team and run up the score on the devil by following God and going after people.  You’re on the team.  You’re first string.  Not second.  Not third.  You’re not a bench warmer.  You’re first string.  You’re not only good, but you’re the best.  So get out there.  Get on the field.  Get in the game.

RUN UP THE SCORE.  Spread the good news of salvation.

We make plans to go from here to there.  To do this and do that.  To buy this and buy that.   And when our plans get detoured or disrupted, what is our first response?

Doesn’t our first response mean a lot?  Yet isn’t our first response usually born out of control issues?  The truth is that this inherent ability to make plans isn’t necessarily the make or break deal that defines us, but our ability to adapt, submit, and surrender is.  Too often I believe that we live life and make plans based on the eBay “BUY IT NOW” tab feature.  For those of you who aren’t “eBay’ers’, the “BUY IT NOW” tab feature is what we ‘eBay’ers’ call a gift from above, because it takes away the waiting / bidding process, and gives you complete control over the entire auction.  What I am suggesting is that I’m not sure our inherent ability to make plans is really about making plans, but more about having control.  Complete control.

Isn’t this true?

Don’t we all want to have complete control?

Doesn’t every single one of us struggle with having complete control?  With being control freaks?

From driving on the freeway and having someone cut you off, thus making you an entire .0003 seconds later than you were before that driver cut you off.  To not getting the very front parking spot at Walmart and having to walk an extra three spaces.  To not getting “it” when you were told you were going to get “it”, thus having to wait longer.  We all want life, the plans we make, to be like the Burger King model.  Have it your way = Have it MY way.

Over the past 12 hours, I have come to realize that I can have it my way, or I can have it His way.  I can make all of the plans I want.  [And making plans is good.  Have goals.  Have dreams.  Have ambitions.]  But when it boils down to it, my plans are just plans.  Sheets of paper that I have scribbled all over.  Possibilities.  Maybes.  What Ifs.  They are imaginary lines that don’t exist.  But my destiny, the steps that I will walk out, are drawn in heaven by the Creator of the Universe. And my steps are ordered by Him, not by my plans.  And when I adapt, submit, and surrender to Him, His best is inevitable.

So from this day forward, my first response isn’t to hold on tighter to my plans, but my first response is to let go, let God, and be ready.

To let go of my plans.  (Adapt)

To let God order my steps. (Submit)

To be ready to be launched into the destiny He has ordained for me, from the before the foundations of this world were created. (Surrender)

Even if I don’t have it in my plans!  Because His destiny is bigger, better, and more expansive than any plan I could ever imagine, make, or have.  The next step isn’t mine to take.  The next step is for God to make.