Pedro Does Not Work for the Bus Company

My family just returned from a surprising trip to Puerto Vallarta. Surprising both since we hadn't even imagined it until two months ago and in how much we thoroughly enjoyed it. We'd never been to the beach as a family before. I'll share more soon. Today, however, I want you to meet Pedro. He says he works for the bus company.

Buses in Puerto Vallarta are inexpensive. Fifty cents US gets you anywhere you want to go. They're slower than a taxi, hotter than a taxi, and maybe smellier than a taxi, but you can not beat the price. Plus, you get to meet more folks and chat along the way. Communication happens with smiles and courtesy as your best Spanish meets their best English with the folks on the bus. It's fun.

That warm afternoon we'd spent some time along the popular boardwalk and just returned to the nearest bus stop. Having ridden a bus to and from that very stop the night before, we knew we were in the right spot. Or so we thought.

Within a minute a serious looking Mexican gentleman walks up and says, "Where you going? Marina? One of the hotels?" His English has little accent.

"Yes, Marina."

Without a beat he proclaims, "You're in the wrong spot. Your stop is down this way," as he points down the road to the south.

"But we caught the bus right here last night. It was the right bus and dropped us right where we needed."

"My name is Pedro. I work for the bus company," he assures. "I help tourists like you. This is the wrong spot. They just stopped here last night because they could tell you weren't from around here. Follow me," as he begins walking rapidly down the road.

I shrug to my wife, Melanie, and hustle the kids to come along while repeating, "He works for the bus company," as my defense.

"How far is it, Pedro?"

"Just a few blocks. About four blocks. Just over this little hill."

At about the four block mark our bus is approaching. I see it written on the window. So does Melanie.

"There's our bus! Make them stop here. You work for them. They know you, right?"

Pedro, undaunted and speedy as ever, says "I can't make them stop here. Not with these curbs painted this way. Walk with me."

"We've gone more than four blocks. I see the next stop. It's another four or five blocks. That's eight or nine total, Pedro."

"Mexican blocks," he chuckles as he continues hustling along the narrow sidewalk toward the south.

At this point I know for sure that Pedro does not work for the bus company. I wanted to believe him. That's why I followed him. It's my nature to trust people. "Who would lie about such a thing? He's a hard-working guy out here doing his job," I'd thought at first. It's also my nature to see the best of people. There's a name for this occasional social psychosis I suffer, maybe you suffer from it too. It's called projection bias. 

Projection bias means you believe others think or feel or see life as you do. You unwittingly make assumptions. You unconsciously settle expectations. As such, you grant them—for better or worse—your own qualities. And, in that very granting, you give away your ability to discern truth from fiction and even good from evil.

With a bus arriving as we are approaching the second bus stop nine hustled blocks south, Pedro repeats quickly, "I work for tips; give me a tip. I work for tips; give me a tip."

I wanted to holler, "I'll give you a tip, Pedro: DON'T LIE TO PEOPLE!" Yet I thought better of it reckoning that my monetary tip would speak louder than any words. While stepping onto the bus, I hand Pedro two five Peso coins, the only small denomination I had.

He retorts, "That's less than a buck!" 

I turn my attention from the pitiful prevaricator on the curb to the bus driver, "That guy, Pedro, says he works for the company. Do you know that guy?" 

The driver doesn't say a word. He doesn't need to. His look of amusement tempered with resignation says it all.

Pedro does not work for the bus company.

“The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”

— Proverbs 12:22

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The Resurrection and Trust

Trust, say social scientists, is a basic human need. Yet you don’t need to be a social scientist to know that truth. You live it. You, as all of us, have an innate desire for trust. It’s faith, confidence, assurance, and certainty. It’s trust, and we all long for it. 

Have you considered what the bodily resurrection of Jesus teaches us about our relationship of trust with God?

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved… For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

— 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV

Written by the Apostle Paul a little more than 20 years after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, the passage above teaches us about trusting God. In verse 3, Paul writes that these topics—the gospel and the resurrection—are “of first importance.” These are foundational truths for Christ Followers. These four verses offer three lessons about our relationship of trust in God that we can learn from the resurrection. 

God’s Word is True—I can depend on the Bible completely
Twice this passage says, “in accordance with the Scriptures.” In other words—just like God had written in the Bible before that time. Did you know there are 353 Old Testament prophecies of Jesus that came true in his life and recorded in the New Testament? Jesus himself predicted his resurrection. You can trust God at His Word. His Word is the Bible. If He can raise Jesus from the dead; He has power to handle your problems too.

God’s Love is Real—I can know Him personally
The word “gospel”—also mentioned twice in our passage—means “good news.” The Bible says “all have sinned” and that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23 and 6:23). That’s bad news. But the good news is that God loves us and invites us to know Him personally. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” states John 3:16. No matter who you are, where you are from, or what you have done, you can trust God’s love for you.

God’s Gift is Free—I can accept Jesus freely
Paul says the gospel was “received” by Christ Followers. God offers us a free gift of eternal salvation when we die and abundant life while we still live. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” says John 1:12. If you have never trusted Jesus as your personal Savior, you can do that right now. Pray to God; ask His  forgiveness of your sins; commit yourself to follow Jesus. You can trust God for His free gift of eternal salvation.

You can depend on the Bible. You can be certain of God's love. You can accept Jesus as your Savior. The bodily resurrection of Jesus teaches us we can trust God with absolute certainty.

If you've yet to trust Christ as your personal Savior, speak to a Christ Follower you know or contact me.

If you have already committed your life to follow Jesus, then rejoice with me in his resurrection and share this post with friends.

Thanks be to God for all the resurrection of Jesus is to us!

Born That Man No More May Die

You know how it happens. You're minding your own business and all the sudden eternity crashes in. Listening to our church choir and orchestra perform their Christmas musical on Sunday, an unconsidered line from “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” sprung to life in my mind.

Born that man no more may die.

Those unacquainted with Christian theology find therein one more reason to think the Kingdom of God is crazy. “Of course we die!,” they’d accurately assert. That is true, but physical death isn’t the only death. In writing this carol, Charles Wesley was not referring to the heart stilled from beating.

Jesus Christ isn't just a figurine at the center of a Nativity scene, he was born that man no more may die. In his sacrificial death, he died for all who commit their lives to follow him. He died. The just for the unjust. Once and for all. To bring us to God. And in Christ’s death there is victory. 

O death, where is your victory? O grave, where is thy sting? Death’s sting is sin. Sin’s strength is in the Law. But Jesus, born to be our Savior, gives us victory over death and sin—thanks be to God—and he invites us to die.

We’ll all die physically. Yet, in our sin, we are already dead spiritually. Our sin separates us—eternally—from God. Jesus invites us to confess our sin, repent turning from our sin, and commit our lives to follow him. Jesus invites us to die to our sinful selves in order that we might gain eternal, abundant life in him.

Truly, in trusting Jesus, we see this great reversal that for us to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Jesus was born that we no more might die. Jesus died that we might be free.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem." 
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest heav'n adored:
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the favored one.
Veil'd in flesh, the Godhead see;
Hail, th'incarnate Deity:
Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail! the heav'n born Prince of peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die:
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!”

If you’d like to know more about a personal relationship with Jesus and the eternal, abundant life mentioned here, then please contact me.

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You Would Have None Of It

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.”

— Isaiah 30:15

Pride. Plain, simple pride. But you would have none of it. It wasn’t your idea. It’s not the way you roll. You’re not in control.

So, you would have none of it.

With that phrase God, the Righteous Judge, drops the gavel with a frightening list of indictments against His people. Read Isaiah 30. You get the idea that this will not end well for God’s people. He begins by calling them stubborn, piling sin upon sin. Their pride in control.

You would have none of it.

God goes on to explain their alliances with and dependance upon other nations; these will fail in shame. He prophesies against His people due to their errant ways. More so, God calls them rebellious, deceitful, and unwilling to listen. Sounds like folks in our day, doesn’t it? It may even sound like me. Or you. Depending on the moment, right?

You would have none of it.

God’s people had rejected His messengers, His messages, and His ways, relying instead on alien nations, the ways of this world, and their own sinful nature. And He says to them, “It’s all coming down around you.” God is warning you. God is calling you back to Himself.

You would have none of it.

Then we get to verse 15 as quoted above. Note how God describes Himself. Not one, but two titles of imminence. “The Sovereign Lord”—He has authority and power over everything. And “the Holy One of Israel”—the eternally righteous God of this people. Yet, sovereign and Holy as He is, He desires an authentic relationship with you.

He offers salvation to you. How do you engage His salvation? Repentance from self and sin to rest in His loving power.

He offers strength to you. How do you enable His strength? Through quiet dependance and trust in His sovereign faithfulness.

But, you would have none of it.

Consider your life with me, dear friend. Are you fully relying on God’s salvation and strength? Or are you, in some way or another, busy running, and ruining, your own life without desire of God’s control?

He loves you. He desires a love relationship with you. He will provide. He will guide. If you will surrender control to Him.

Or, in your pride, would you have none of it?

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Don't Put Your Bottom

Don’t put your bottom on other people’s faces. #ThingsYouSayToBoys

Yep. Just like that, I said those words to my boys and laughed as I sent it out on Twitter with the appropriate hashtag as you see above. Why? Because this had just happened...

Son One is laying on the living room floor next to me. We’d been wrestling around in a good natured father-son sort of way. Now he’s laying there giggling. Son Two walks by and must think, “Wow! There’s my brother’s face on the ground. Why don’t I sit on it?” Standing over One, he lowers his bottom so quickly One can't react fast enough. And there you have it.

While holding back laughter, I pronounce, “Don’t put your bottom on other people’s faces.” Comical as it is gross. Son One wasn’t hurt. Son Two, thankfully, broke no wind in the process. We laugh together at my fatherly "Don't..." pronouncement.

Looking back at this, it made me think of encounters in our grown up world. Life is fine. Everybody it getting along well. And then someone tries to put their bottom in another person’s face. An opinion is misplaced. An attitude is too strong. An argument leaves reason. Sounds like Facebook, right?

Our face-to-bottom encounters remind me what Scripture teaches.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

— Ephesians 4:29 & 32

Next time your tempted. Keep your bottom in it’s place. Remember: Don't put your bottom on other people's faces.