Hope For Srew-ups

If you have never read the story, The Prodigal Son, go get a Bible and read it. First, it’s a great story. Secondly, you need to have read it to understand this blog entry.

It seems to me there are three sons in this story, not just two. I will reveal the identity of the third son at the end of the blog.

Most of the story concerns the younger, irresponsible, worldly son who is disrespectful towards his father. He demands his inheritance and leaves home to squander his father’s hard earned inheritance on useless things and activities.

Soon, this young man has spent all his inheritance; has no back up plan and winds up working on a pig farm and eating pig food!

Most of us would agree that the prima dona got what he deserves! Let him live the rest of his life in the pig sty!

Many of us are like the younger son. We are spontaneous and adventurous. We tend to be risk takers and don’t fit societies mold very well, in fact, we break molds. And many of us end up like this son, or even worse. Definitely those of us that fit this description qualify for the screw-up category.

The older son is the responsible one. He does everything right. He is the model citizen. He plays by the rules of the game. He has money in the bank, drives a nice car, and has saved for retirement.

At the end of the story though, the hard heart of this son is exposed. He has worked for his father all these years, but does not really know his father, and he despises his younger brother. I don’t know which is worse, a son who blows his inheritance on selfish living, or the son who uses his father for gain and cares nothing about relationship.

Some of us are like the older son. We have our agenda and our goals and we will play the game hard and we will win and have our stuff—but will have missed what matters most—relationship. He qualifies for the screw-up category.

The one son who is not directly in the story is the son who is the story-teller. He is The Son—of The Father. He understands and loves his Father and his Father understands and loves him. He is the Son who invites us into his relationship with his Father.

Yep—he invites us screw-ups who have no clue how to do relationships, and immediately we are accepted by his Father, today, just as we are. He disarms our defenses and exposes our fears.

Then he soothes our heart with the aloe of his unconditional love. Unconditional love is not found in our human world. All we have ever known and will know is conditional love! That is how the younger son and the older son loved their father, conditionally.

But the father in the story represents the Father of Jesus! His love is unconditional and will forever seek us out. Will forever call our hearts. Will forever reach out to us until that day when we finally get it—embrace it—and live in the reality of such eternal, relentless love.

TITLE: BABY TURTLES AND SEAGULLS

Everyday holds a learning moment. There lies locked all around us opportunities to grow, to become more aware, and to awaken to our Father’s world.

One such natural event I have only viewed on TV—the scene of baby turtles struggling to get to the safety of the ocean only to be eaten by seagulls diving out of the sky. The poor little turtles don’t even know what hits them as they become lunch for a scavenging bird.

The turtles that survive the aerial assault make it to the safety of the water only to face more predators in the food chain. Most of the baby turtles don’t make it to adulthood, in fact, most become food for sharks and other turtle-hungry fish.

It’s not hard to look at our lives that way. Some babies die in the womb. Some children loose their lives to disease. Some teens die tragically in car accidents. Some of us don’t survive our twenties.


Many disappear in their thirties. When we hit our forties our bodies begin to show signs of wear, and before you know it, a new assault begins on our lives as aging sets in.

Seems our lives are so fragile and precarious. Many of us spend our time looking for meaning and dodging seagulls! Some of us just keep waddling to the perceived safety of the water never giving a thought to the danger from the sky over our head.

I don’t know about you, but it leaves me scratching my head as to the meaning of life. Who am I? Why am I here? What is this all about?

King Solomon was considered the wisest man on earth at during his lifetime. This is what how he summarized human life:

“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun…the fate of the fool will also overtake me. What then do I gain by being wise? I said in my heart ‘this to is meaningless’. For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die….so I hated life… ”.


In my observation of sea turtles and seagulls I shared with you how I might see life. Solomon also shares with us his view of the human condition. You may have another view and someone else may have a totally different view. But one thing is true for all of us; we are seeing life from the inside out.

There is a serious amount of pain inside most of us and that internal pain colors the way we face each day. It sometimes determines how we will relate to the people around us.

The wisest man on earth had an itch he could not scratch. I wonder what kind of pain was inside of Solomon?

We are the ones who define this life for ourselves. And sometimes, someone else defines our life for us. Scary, isn’t it?

Who wants to be trapped in the toxic nightmare of another human being? Millions of people were prisoners in Hitler’s nightmare. Nightmares are happening today, you may be in one.

Whatever your condition of life today, you are seeing life from the pain that is inside of you. The sky might be a royal blue and the sun a blazing yellow and the breeze in your face, but you will not see it. You will not enjoy the miracle that is before you.

But what if you are participating in the life of somebody else? What if the dreams of belonging, assurance, and acceptance, and being cherished are not just the fantasy of a dying soul, but the present reality of someone greater imparted in the depths of your being and you know it to be true, but can’t quite put your arms around it?


You may want to consider this: you certainly are more precious than any sea turtle! And, it may be that the life of someone who is so much greater than you holds the key to your existence.

Jesus said that he had come to give you life, His life, abundantly. You just need your eyes opened! Ask Him, and enjoy some clear vision, his vision.

My Little Jesus

Title: My Little Jesus

Thirty-five years ago, at the age of twenty, my life had taken a nose dive and I found myself very sick and house-bound.

In those days of rabbit ears that offered only three TV channels, life got real boring for me, and I had a lot of time to think about my life. During that time, two friends of mine came by to visit me. They did not collaborate, but the intention of their visits were the same: to share with me their own unique experience with Jesus.

I had heard about him of course. I grew up in a denominational church. I celebrated his birthday on December 25. I felt bad about his death on Good Friday, and was glad he rose from the dead on Easter Morning. I especially liked that day because I ate a lot of candy in his honor. In other words, I was glad for Jesus, but it meant nothing to me personally and the holidays were a brief respite from an otherwise boring church life.

My Jesus was a “little” Jesus.

One evening I was in despair for my young life and decided that I should pray. On my knees I went and spoke out loud to Jesus. I said, “If you are real and you are who you say you are, then please come into my heart. I’m not sure what that means, but I know I need you. If you’re not real, then I guess I’ll try something else. Amen.”

I got up, and lay in bed—waiting. Nothing happened so I fell asleep. The next morning I awoke to a wonderful surprise—it is still hard for me to describe.

I could see—from the inside out! Oh, my eyes had always worked, but this sight was different. It was if I was awakened on the inside. It was as if I was barely experiencing life and now someone had turned the light switch on!

There were a couple things I intuitively knew to be true: First, Jesus was real. Secondly, God was Papa. Thirdly, I was alive, and I knew I was supposed to be alive! My Jesus just got bigger!

Over the years I have watched my Jesus get bigger and bigger until lately he boggles my little mind. You see, that had always been the problem—Mike’s little mind. Jesus was always a big Jesus, but my little mind defined Him instead of Jesus expanding my little mind.

I have realized that it was not a matter of me inviting Jesus into my little life, but Jesus inviting me into His life! And oh what a life it is!

I was twenty years old when I had that experience. In retrospect, I now understand that He had been attempting to reach me in so many ways, I just did not know His voice and could not see the work of His hands in my life.

I was sharing in His life and could not appreciate it because I thought it was my life. But all along, I was living in His life.

I know that might not sound like good theolgy, as far as theology goes, but I know Jesus is way bigger than our exclusive thinking. His love is way deeper and way wider than any of us can imagine.

I really don’t want the Jesus of my imagination or of my little thinking or a Jesus shaped by my circumstances.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering.”

I think Paul kept experiencing a bigger Jesus. I think Jesus kept blowing his mind. I think he began to realize that Jesus was bigger than any religion or theology or movement or anything human that would limit him. He was willing to be known for one thing—he was following this Jesus, the Light of the Cosmos.

Some people think that God can’t or won’t reach us—but a big Jesus clothed Himself with humanity and came to us all—Emmanuel, God with us.

Some people think that there is limited space in heaven and that most of our race won’t make it in—how big is their Jesus?

Some people think that those who have never heard the gospel will not make it to heaven—how big is their Jesus?

Some people think the world is out of control and we are all doomed—how big is their Jesus?

Some people think their particular church is the pillar of all truth—geez—how big is their Jesus?

Some people think that God’s plan to save humankind is limited to their missionary work—wow—how big is their Jesus?

You may be in the worst situation of your life and have given up on the Jesus that you think you've known---truth be told, all of us are just awakening to who He really is, and He is way bigger than the Jesus we now know.