A flashing light.

A warning light.

A light in the window.

A light in a cave.

The bright light in a surgery room.

The flickering light in the waiting room.

The joyful lights of Christmas.

The tearful lights of a funeral.

We all experience the light of God in different ways and in different seasons.

And yet, we all experience the light of God, even those who don’t recognize it as light from God.

Even those who have thrown the covers over their heads like adolescents craving a little more sleep in the darkness. They have done so in an attempt to block the light because – and please, dont miss this – the light is there.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalms‬ ‭139:11-12‬)

For those of us who have embraced the Light of the world, this God-man named Jesus, and have taken His command seriously to be light in the world, we need to be reminded often that the light is there.

So be light.

Whether your light is bright and strong, or weak and wavering, all He asked us to do was shine because He knew that the one thing all of those different lights have in common is this:

Darkness can’t stop them.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John‬ ‭1:5‬)‬‬

So flicker, flare, blink, or blind. However you shine and wherever you shine, just keep being light. And soon, His light in you will become His light in them, too.

One of the songs that The B99 and I sing loudly in the house is from Bethel Music, and the chorus simply says:

I can see the light in you

I can see the light in you

Even if it’s dark to you

Oh, I can see the light in you

The light in you

The price for being light is being rejected, but the prize of being light is being received, and when people, cities, and cultures receive the light, it’s worth all the times we fought to make sure our light was never hidden.

Shine on, friend. Shine on.

That woman in the middle of the picture was born on July 4th, and I’d give anything to celebrate her birthday with her today. But she’s with Jesus, and so instead of sparklers and watermelon with her, let me take a minute to tell you about her.

She was strong. After staying home and raising a family that included a child with special needs, she went on to run a successful business that impacted an entire region. I still have people tell me about how much that simple Christian bookstore meant to them.

She was full of joy. That smile on her face was the real thing, but it wasn’t the only thing. She knew deep sorrow, and that smile wasn’t there to hide the pains of life, but rather because she knew a joy that is made more real by the pains of life.

She was relentless in her passion for people and for Jesus. She allowed her love for Jesus to fuel her love for people. She would give it all away, and when God gave her more, she’d do it again. She taught us how to serve, how to give, and how to love.

And her love? Her love was strong and fierce. She fought with and for everyone in this picture (and others who aren’t in it). She held us together, and held us accountable. She refused to allow us to walk away from family, and no matter what, she had our backs.

Today, the country that shares her birthday could learn a lot from the woman in the middle. We’re all different. We’ll all fight. And yet, we’re family, and family fights for each other even when it fights with each other.

“With” is a word of relationship, of commitment, of presence. Too many today are choosing to let other words define them. Words that are easier in the moment, but harmful to the family over time. Words like isolated, offended, separated. Words that keep us in our own echo chambers, and apart from those we need to learn from and grow with.

It’s time to have each other’s backs again. To America – and to the church in America – I make this plea: on the day when we celebrate an independence that came because brave and courageous people fought for it together, let’s remember that we’re in this together. We’re family, and family fights for family.

The woman in the middle taught me that.

One of the most troubling trends in our nation today is what appears to be a mass exodus from the church. From people who claim to be deconstructing their faith to people leaving the largest denomination in the country over abuse by leaders and the cover-up of that abuse by other leaders.

As the saying goes, it’s a hot mess right now.

And if I’m being honest, I would rather not clean it up because it’s not my mess. But lately, the Lord has reminded me about all the times when I would show up on a job site with a painting crew to put the finishing touches on a project. Not only would we clean up the mess that we made, but we’d also clean up any messes that other crews had made. My boss would simply say, “We’re the last ones here. Whether we made the mess or not, the owners will assume we did, so let’s clean it up.”

God could literally have anyone on the earth right now. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Peter, Paul. Even Jesus. But in all His wisdom and sovereignty, he chose you and me to be a part of the final crew. We’re the ones who are alive at a time when there are messes to be cleaned, and God intended for it to be that way.

How do we begin to clean up messes that we didn’t make? Do we blame the church people who ghosted the body? Do we look at a woman abused by her pastor and shrug our shoulders as if to say we’re sorry, but it’s not our problem? No. We do what Daniel did when he prayed in the ninth chapter of the book that bears his name: we take ownership of the sin, and we lead God’s people in repentance.

If you’ll read verses 4-19 of that chapter, you’ll notice something very interesting. There are numerous collective pronouns used, but what you won’t find are any “y’alls,” “yous,” or “yous guys.” Daniel prayed, “We have sinned. We have rebelled. We have been wicked.”

But he hadn’t done any of those things. He had stayed true, even when being true could have gotten him chewed up by lions. And yet, he took ownership of the problem, and as a result, he was used by God to help lead a nation to the solution.