by Lance Cashion | Nov 6, 2014 | Lance's Philosophy, News, Personal Growth, Philosophy, Uncategorized, Wisdom, Worldview
If it is raining outside, how you ‘feel’ about the rain won’t stop it from raining. The reality of the rain cannot be changed by how you feel about it. If you refused to believe that it is raining outside, all you need to do is walk outside and you’ll experience reality in the form of water falling from the sky.
How you ‘feel’ about your situation does not change the reality of it. When a person denies reality, they deny truth. When they deny truth, failure will be the outcome. Denying reality is the same as intentionally believing a lie. When one makes choices based on lies, reality will be the wall on which one breaks himself.
In the final analysis, failure is the only outcome when decisions are rooted in lies. Emotions don’t always correspond with reality. Emotions are important but not as a primary driver in decision making.
by Lance Cashion | Sep 16, 2014 | Christian Apologetics, God, Jesus Christ, News, Personal Growth, Philosophy, Theology, Uncategorized, Wisdom, Worldview
God is completely unlike anything we know or can comprehend. Man is very knowable. It seems completely rational that we can trust that which we know over that which we can’t completely comprehend. But, is that really the case?
Can we trust in that which we can’t fully comprehend?
Due to a busy life with work and family, writing is a rare pleasure these days. I don’t post on my blog as often as I like but I do continue to journal. I decided to share the outflow of some of the experience here.
As I wonder down the path of walking with God, each day brings a new experience. I returned to a book that I’ve meaning to finish for several months, ‘The Knowledge of the Holy’ by A.W. Tozer. This classic dives into the nature of God.
The question many ask is ‘What is God like?’
We cannot fully comprehend the infinite because we are finite. Our limited capacity to understand that which is holy (separate and unlike anything we know) brings us to the edge of our understanding. It is at the edge of our understanding that we peer into an expansive and immeasurable light that is pure and endless. Welcome to the brink of the eternal.
Each step into that which is eternal brings us no closer to the end than the thousand steps before. God alone claims to to be the ‘Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending’ claiming for himself the title of the eternal, almighty God.
When we consider time (the measure of change) and space (distance) in light of eternity, we understand that our finite minds are incapable of understanding or fully grasping what we simply refer to as ‘eternity’.
Where can we establish an anchor on which we can place our trust with finite understanding?
One thing that fully corresponds to our experience of reality is the fact that Jesus Christ brings to light an accurate diagnosis on the malady of the human race, sin and death. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?‘ Death is the result of the disease of sin. We observe the world around us and the evidence proves this to corresponds to reality.
Malcolm Muggeridge said, “The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.”
If every man’s heart is deceitful and sick, can man be truly trusted? Or can we trust in one who accurately diagnosed the illness and offered a cure? Among many claims that Christ made, the most staggering was his claim to be God in the flesh. He said, “I AM the alpha and omega.” This sets Jesus Christ apart and he stands alone.
The incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection inject coherence and meaning to the human experience. ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.‘ Before Christ suffered, died and rose from the grave, he foretold his experience. Thousands of years before the incarnation, these events were predicted. Through the risen Christ, man can shyly glimpse at the radiant reflection of that which is holy.
From our expulsion from the garden, through the desert, to the cross, to the empty tomb – the fallen can lay hold of that which the Savior has laid hold of for us.
Shall we trust in man or the Almighty ‘I AM’?
by Lance Cashion | Aug 11, 2014 | Education, God, Jesus Christ, News, Relationships, Uncategorized, Wisdom, Worldview
“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.” – Matthew Parris (RichardDawkins.net article 2009)
The more brokenness and lostness you see in our world, the more you recognize that the problem at the core of humanity is NOT solved through material means. Governments and organizations provide tons of material relief where spiritual transformation is needed. Material resources do not solve the brokenness of the human spirit. Relief has its place but is not the answer. Relationship is the answer.
At its core, the human problem is a spiritual problem and demands a spiritual solution. Dumping money on communities that need rehabilitation exacerbates the problem. If your house was on fire, would you attempt to extinguish it with water or gasoline?
Jesus Christ is in the transformation business. He is the only figure in history to properly diagnose our disease (sin and death) and offer a cure (salvation and life through Christ alone). Every other worldview requires human effort. The world scoffs at the name of Jesus Christ. Strangely, an atheist recognizes the transformational power of the Gospel of Christ. I commend him for his honesty.
If you read the Matthew Parris article, you must conclude that the transformation he is describing in Africa is authentic. He is observing the outward manifestation (evidence) of an inward transformation of the heart. People who are truly ‘in Christ’ bear the fruit of Christ; sacrificial love, service, hope, joy, discipline and patience.
The entire article is very interesting, but Matthew Parris’s conclusion nails it:
“Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.
And I’m afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.“
Imagine waking up having settled the biggest question of life once and for all (destiny). No matter what the world throws your way, you are at peace. In the midst of the storms of life, you know for a fact that you are eternally secure. You are free to love and forgive others because you walk in the power of God’s grace in relationship with him. Experiencing God’s grace changes who you are, how you act and your motivations. Your relationship with Christ changes your relationships with others.
If you believe that ALL humans are created in the image of God, it changes the way you see yourself and others.
Further reading and resource:
“When Helping Hurts” (Corbett and Fikkert)
Matthew Parris: As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God (2009 Article)
by Lance Cashion | Jul 24, 2014 | God, Jesus Christ, News, Personal Growth, Uncategorized, Wisdom, Worldview
I confess that my desire to be right, liked, recognized and accepted by people overshadows my attention to their need for the Gospel of Grace. I’m like a thirsty man in a desert who finds a cool refreshing spring and does not tell others who are dying of thirst about the spring. Shall I drink and be refreshed as I watch friends and foes alike die of thirst? May it never be!
People are curious about my choice to enter into full time ministry. Folks I am close with tell me that it all makes perfect sense. I chuckle. Perhaps to them it makes sense, but I find it unbelievable! But, you know something? I’ve been walking with Jesus Christ for several years now. He has never let me down. He has always been faithful to the promises in his Word (the Bible). (more…)
by Lance Cashion | Jun 23, 2014 | Encouragement, God, Lance's Philosophy, Leadership, News, Relationships, Uncategorized, Wisdom
Bear Grylls can start a fire in a monsoon and 85 mph winds with nothing more than a Twizzler and a soaking wet single match. You can too with a word of encouragement.
The world is a pretty harsh place. You never know where a person is at any given moment.
There have been times when I’ve been down then, out of the blue someone else reaches into my life with a simple word of encouragement.
There have been times when I’ve been upbeat and forging ahead. Again, here comes someone with a word of encouragement that propels me further than I thought I could go.
Words have the power to build-up or destroy. We must use them wisely.
Why do we find it so easy to tear someone else down yet difficult to hand them word of encouragement? By nature, humans are selfish little beasts! We often spend more time tending to our own fires instead of helping others stoke their fires.
It’s not all about you. Lift up your eyes and look around. Ask God the question; Who needs a genuine word of encouragement around me today?
Starters: Stoking the fire
- Hey, great work on that project last week!
- You are a great wife and mother, here’s why…
- You know, something you said to me last week really impacted me…
- I’ve watched you work hard and I want to tell you to keep at it!
- You have been a great waitress/waiter today, it blessed me. Keep up the great work.
If you look around and observe others, you will find an opportunity to stoke their fire with a word of encouragement.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thes 5:11)
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works…” (Heb 10:24)
Share a time when someone has delivered a word of encouragement to you and how it felt by commenting below.
by Lance Cashion | Jun 12, 2014 | Encouragement, Family, Friendships, God, Jesus Christ, Lance's Philosophy, News, Personal Growth, Relationships, Trending Topics, Uncategorized, Wisdom |
When Kathryn and I were dating, her grandmother (lovingly called ‘Mom-mom’) began experience catastrophic health problems. She had a series of strokes and ended up in a full-time nursing facility. Kathryn’s parents visited her daily and cared for her needs. Kat and I would go visit her on occasion. It was tough for me because I did not have a close relationship with Mom-mom at the time.
It was while she was in assisted living center and later, nursing home that God created a beautiful doorway to enter into a relationship with Mom-mom. We got to know each other more and more as we visited. She spent many months in the home as her condition would deteriorate then improve, and deteriorate again.
On one occasion, Kat and her parents were all out of town at the same time. They asked me to check on Mom-mom while they were away. I remember that she was in bad shape, confined to a bed and surrounded by machines. So, I sat with her and talked to her as I held her frail hand in mine. We talked about Kathryn. I told Mom-mom how much I loved Kat. I made Mom-mom a promise that day. I promised her that I would take care of Kathryn no matter what happened. A few weeks later, sweet Mom-mom passed away.
Our daughter carries Mom-mom’s name, Lillian (Lilly). I still carry Mom-mom’s kindness and words of encouragement in my heart to this day.
What if God in his perfect wisdom creates doorways through suffering to bring people into authentic relationship?
Would this change your view of suffering?
It may be easier to recognize severe physical suffering. Perhaps you’ve had a family member who’s had a stroke and lost function of a section of their body? Or maybe you’ve seen the suffering that terminal cancer causes in a good friend?
“Be kind, everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” (Unknown)
Walk through an entire day and you will come into contact with many types of suffering. In many cases suffering goes unnoticed unless you are connected in intimate relationship with a person. Also, suffering can have many layers and faces.
Loneliness, loss and depression are forms of suffering.
Losing hope is the worst kind of suffering.
Maybe it’s worth exploring suffering with spiritual eyes to see that when all the stuff we strive for in life is at the bottom of a trash heap, the only thing of lasting value is relationship. Suffering is everywhere! So, there are doorways everywhere to step through into relationship. I encourage you to consider what your life would be like if you stepped through a doorway. People have stepped into my suffering when I needed to be loved and supported.
Share your thoughts below!
Has someone stepped into your life when you were suffering?
Maybe you have stepped though the doorway into someone’s life?
