Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37
The context for this verse is where Jesus tells us not to swear by anything. He is not talking about cursing. He is talking about the promises/commitments we make to each other. Jesus is saying there is no need to back up your promise by swearing by something – by God, by heaven, by earth, etc. In essence He is saying that we need to let our word stand on its own. When we say yes, we need to mean yes. When we say, ‘No’, we need to mean no. We act in honesty and integrity when we do what we said we’d do.
Integrity is not a word we often hear in relationship to the Christian faith. Most often this term describes a character trait. A person with integrity is a person who tells the truth and acts in appropriate, moral ways. We don’t lie or steal or cheat.
All of us would like to be described as a person of integrity, and if we don’t lie, steal, cheat, then we might define ourselves as a person of integrity. But I think there is so much more to this concept then what we often consider. To be a follower of Jesus is to be a person of integrity. You are not following Jesus if you are not acting with integrity. But it means so much more than not lying, cheating or stealing. It means in every aspect of our lives we act in integrity. One helpful definition is, “Doing what we said we’d do when we said we’d do it.”
I say to John, “I’ll play with you in a couple of minutes.” After twenty minutes go by and I am still not playing with John, I have an integrity gap. I’ve said one thing and not done it.
When I say to Alisa, “I’ll be home at 5:00pm” and then show up at 5:27, I have an integrity gap.
When I say to Alisa, I am committed to honoring you and being faithful to you, but then let my eyes wander on other women or think unclean thoughts, I have an integrity gap.
When I promise to do something for someone, but don’t follow through, I have an integrity gap.
When I say to a friend in need, “I’ll pray for you” and don’t, I have an integrity gap.
Sadly, today, we often accept these small integrity gaps as normative. We’ve learned to really not count on each other’s word. We’ve just accepted the reality that keeping your word means less than keeping your word. If you do it most of the time, well, that’s great – better than most.
But here’s where it get interesting. When I lack integrity in my life – even though it’s in the “small” things, more than likely I lack integrity in the things that matter most – specifically my relationship with Jesus Christ.
To claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ implicitly means a commitment to full obedience to His Word. God has shown Himself to be completely trustworthy in keeping His Word and He asks us to do the same. When I say I am a follower, I have committed to loving my enemies, making disciples, proclaiming Christ crucified, denying myself, meeting the needs of the least of these, etc. These are not optional requests; they are mandates. When I choose not to do them, I lack integrity in my relationship with God. All of us have integrity gaps, but that is not an excuse to continue to live with gaps in our integrity.
There is hope and growth offered to us in the midst of these gaps. It doesn’t change the expectation that God has that we live in integrity in relationship to Him, but it gives us an opportunity to grow into integrity and not let guilt and shame keep us from His Way of life.
Another helpful definition of integrity involves 4 important steps: 1) I keep my Word. 2) When I fail to keep my Word, I honor my Word by seeking to clean up any messes I’ve made – apologize, ask for forgiveness, etc. 3) I become present to the consequences on myself and others when I fail to keep my Word. 4) I re-promise to keep my Word.
So often our integrity gaps are ignored. We fail to follow through and keep our promise and we do nothing about it. We begin to see that we can get away with this and it becomes a normative way of being. We think being a person of integrity really only matters in the big things. But if we look at integrity through the expectations of Jesus, everything we do matters. Every gap in our integrity has negative consequences on us and the people around us.
One of the most powerful ways we truly live into the integrity God desires is when we are willing to do the hard work of honoring our Word. We promised something and we didn’t follow-through. If we are willing to admit this gap to ourselves, to God, and to the people affected, we have an opportunity to grow and to encourage the importance of integrity.
For example, John is not fully aware of my integrity gap when I say I’ll play with him in a few minutes and either it’s 20+ minutes or I don’t play with him at all. But he is learning something about me that I don’t want him to learn. “Dad says some things that can’t be trusted.” I’m aware of this gap, and I need to do the hard work of honoring my Word. When I say to John, I’ll play in a couple of minutes I need to follow through on my word. I ask him to follow through on his word and I ought to expect this of myself. So here is how the conversation needs to go for me to honor my Word.
“John, I need to apologize. There have been numerous times I’ve told you I’ll play with you in a few minutes. More than a few minutes go by. I’m sorry I didn’t do what I said I’d do. I want you to know that when I say I’ll play in a few minutes that you can believe that. I need to work on that and I am asking for your help. I’m making a promise to you again that when I say a few minutes, I mean it. Can you tell me how you feel when I say I’ll play with you and don’t do what I say?”
That took all of a minute to say this to my son, but it is some of the most important work I do in his life.
You’ve said some things to significant people in your life and are not following through. You’ve made promises, commitments, vows, and more than likely there are some gaps in your integrity. Are you willing to do the hard work of cleaning up the mess you’ve made?
Remember the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13. One of the significant ways that this church was affirmed was because they kept God’s Word. They did what they promised to God. They lived in obedience. They trusted God’s Word to them, and in return they sought to keep their word to Him.
I can’t emphasize enough the significant work that God desires to do in each one of us – not only through our obedience – but also through our willingness to do the hard work when we are disobedient.
Where are you failing to keep your Word? Will you honor it? Will you do the hard work that honoring your word entails? Growth, healing, the abundant life that God promises is greatly hindered without a willingness to do this work. It is the work of grace and forgiveness and love.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Bible & Orphans
A father to the fatherless . . . is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.
Psalm 68:5-6
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.
Proverbs 31:8-9 (NLT)
The helpless put their trust in you. You are the defender of orphans. . . Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.
Psalm 10:14, 17-18 (NLT)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27 (NIV)
Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.
Isaiah 1:17 (NLT)
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV)
For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.
Matthew 25:35-36 (NLT)
Do not deprive . . . the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
Deuteronomy 24:17-18 (NIV)
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praises of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1:4-6 (NIV)
Once our eyes are opened we can’t pretend we don’t know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know and holds us responsible to act.
Proverbs 24:12
Psalm 68:5-6
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.
Proverbs 31:8-9 (NLT)
The helpless put their trust in you. You are the defender of orphans. . . Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.
Psalm 10:14, 17-18 (NLT)
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27 (NIV)
Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.
Isaiah 1:17 (NLT)
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV)
For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.
Matthew 25:35-36 (NLT)
Do not deprive . . . the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
Deuteronomy 24:17-18 (NIV)
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praises of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1:4-6 (NIV)
Once our eyes are opened we can’t pretend we don’t know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know and holds us responsible to act.
Proverbs 24:12
The Global Orphan Crisis
This information comes from Dan Cruver’s sermon titled, “The Cosmic Significance of Adoption: What It Means for Us and for Orphans." For this sermon and many other helping resources on caring for orphans, go HERE (www.orphansunday.org).
The Global Orphan Crisis
There are 143 million orphaned and vulnerable children in our world. If all of these children were moved to the country of Mexico, Mexico’s population would more than double,growing from 108,700,000 to 251,700,000.
There are approximately 47.5 million orphaned and vulnerable children in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
There are approximately 5.9 million orphaned and vulnerable children in Middle East and North Africa.
There are approximately 37.4 million orphaned and vulnerable children in South Asia.
30.1 million orphaned and vulnerable children live in East Asia and Pacific.
9.4 million orphaned and vulnerable children live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
There are as many orphaned and vulnerable children living in Ethiopia as there are people in greater NYC.
Almost 1.5 million children live in public care in Central and Eastern Europe.
That’s our world.
What about the United States?
More than 800,000 children pass through our country’s foster care system each year. There are over 500,000 children in our foster care system right now. 129,000 of those children are waiting to be adopted right now. That’s how many people live in the capitol of South Carolina.
Approximately, 25,000 children age out of the foster care system each year, many with no support system and little to no life skills. There are currently over 5,400 children in South Carolina!s foster care system. Over 1,500 of them are waiting to be adopted. So far this year only a couple hundred of them have been permanently placed in homes.
This brings us to this question: How many total children are adopted each year? Between 118,000 and 127,000 children have been adopted every year since 1987. More than 50 percent of all adoptions are handled by public agencies or come from countries outside the United States. More than one-third of Americans have seriously considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent have actually adopted. Only 4 percent of families with children (1.7 million households) contain adopted children.
With this many orphans in the United States and in the world, the church has a monumental task before it if it is to practice true religion. "James 1:27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction." "The church has its work cut out for it.
____________________________________
So here’s the big question: how is the hope of our glorious future as God’s sons through adoption even possible? How is it possible that God can take “children of wrath” and give them an unbelievable future on a renewed earth? What has God done to give us this hope that is laid out in Romans 8:23?
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
. . . Paul says, “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, (so that the eternal Son become the incarnate Son) born under the law.” The law under which the Son became incarnate meant condemnation for us. As Paul says earlier, this law ‘held us in bondage.’ It could not give us life. It could not quicken us. Rather, it puts us to death because of our sin.
But God sent His Son, His eternal Son, who became incarnate Son without ceasing to be the eternal Son, and he lived his life under the law in order to fulfill it. To paraphrase what Paul says in Galatians 3, “The curse of the law was placed upon his shoulders.”
At the cross the One who in the garden of Gethsemane cried out, “Abba, Father, remove this cup from me,” willingly submitted to the will of the Father on our behalf and went to the cross. At the cross this Son cried out, not ‘Abba, Father,’ but “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” He experienced at the cross what we sons of disobedience, children of wrath deserve.
Why did Jesus do that? Why did God send forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem us? Why did he do this? Paul tells us in verse 5: “that we might receive adoption as sons.” Jesus bore the curse of the law that we might be brought into the household of God to share in the love that has existed between the Father and the Son for all eternity. We who by nature are sons of disobedience, we who by nature are objects of wrath, are brought in to share in this amazing love which will one day fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.
. . . He accomplished redemption! He took the curse of the law upon his shoulders and was forsaken by the Father so that we might receive adoption as sons! And on the day of resurrection Jesus says to Mary, “Go to my brothers and tell them I’m ascending to my Father and YOUR Father.” YOUR FATHER! Mission accomplished! (my emphasis)
The Global Orphan Crisis
There are 143 million orphaned and vulnerable children in our world. If all of these children were moved to the country of Mexico, Mexico’s population would more than double,growing from 108,700,000 to 251,700,000.
There are approximately 47.5 million orphaned and vulnerable children in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
There are approximately 5.9 million orphaned and vulnerable children in Middle East and North Africa.
There are approximately 37.4 million orphaned and vulnerable children in South Asia.
30.1 million orphaned and vulnerable children live in East Asia and Pacific.
9.4 million orphaned and vulnerable children live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
There are as many orphaned and vulnerable children living in Ethiopia as there are people in greater NYC.
Almost 1.5 million children live in public care in Central and Eastern Europe.
That’s our world.
What about the United States?
More than 800,000 children pass through our country’s foster care system each year. There are over 500,000 children in our foster care system right now. 129,000 of those children are waiting to be adopted right now. That’s how many people live in the capitol of South Carolina.
Approximately, 25,000 children age out of the foster care system each year, many with no support system and little to no life skills. There are currently over 5,400 children in South Carolina!s foster care system. Over 1,500 of them are waiting to be adopted. So far this year only a couple hundred of them have been permanently placed in homes.
This brings us to this question: How many total children are adopted each year? Between 118,000 and 127,000 children have been adopted every year since 1987. More than 50 percent of all adoptions are handled by public agencies or come from countries outside the United States. More than one-third of Americans have seriously considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent have actually adopted. Only 4 percent of families with children (1.7 million households) contain adopted children.
With this many orphans in the United States and in the world, the church has a monumental task before it if it is to practice true religion. "James 1:27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction." "The church has its work cut out for it.
____________________________________
So here’s the big question: how is the hope of our glorious future as God’s sons through adoption even possible? How is it possible that God can take “children of wrath” and give them an unbelievable future on a renewed earth? What has God done to give us this hope that is laid out in Romans 8:23?
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
. . . Paul says, “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, (so that the eternal Son become the incarnate Son) born under the law.” The law under which the Son became incarnate meant condemnation for us. As Paul says earlier, this law ‘held us in bondage.’ It could not give us life. It could not quicken us. Rather, it puts us to death because of our sin.
But God sent His Son, His eternal Son, who became incarnate Son without ceasing to be the eternal Son, and he lived his life under the law in order to fulfill it. To paraphrase what Paul says in Galatians 3, “The curse of the law was placed upon his shoulders.”
At the cross the One who in the garden of Gethsemane cried out, “Abba, Father, remove this cup from me,” willingly submitted to the will of the Father on our behalf and went to the cross. At the cross this Son cried out, not ‘Abba, Father,’ but “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” He experienced at the cross what we sons of disobedience, children of wrath deserve.
Why did Jesus do that? Why did God send forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem us? Why did he do this? Paul tells us in verse 5: “that we might receive adoption as sons.” Jesus bore the curse of the law that we might be brought into the household of God to share in the love that has existed between the Father and the Son for all eternity. We who by nature are sons of disobedience, we who by nature are objects of wrath, are brought in to share in this amazing love which will one day fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.
. . . He accomplished redemption! He took the curse of the law upon his shoulders and was forsaken by the Father so that we might receive adoption as sons! And on the day of resurrection Jesus says to Mary, “Go to my brothers and tell them I’m ascending to my Father and YOUR Father.” YOUR FATHER! Mission accomplished! (my emphasis)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
What's in it for me?
Sometimes being a Christian (and pastor especially) feels like being a salesperson. I often feel like I have this great product with great benefits and my whole existence is focused on getting you to ‘buy’ this product. What does a salesperson do? He or she tells you everything that is good about their product. And nowadays, the focus is on telling you how the product is going to make your life better. The overriding question that the salesperson is seeking to answer – even though you may not ask it out loud – is “What’s in it for me?”
The army’s motto during the time of the World Wars was “I need you.” That was enough to encourage people to sign up. The country needed them and so, for the greater good of the country, people said yes. Today the motto has changed. It addresses the question above. Today it’s “Be All That You Can Be.” It is not country centric but individual centric. The army will help you be all that you can be.
Sunday after Sunday, the pastor can feel called to lay out all the benefits of signing on to Jesus and following Him. You get this and that. You’re promised and guaranteed this and that. You get to go to heaven. You get to experience peace and joy and love. You won’t have to worry anymore. You get guidance and strength and comfort. You get to make a difference in the lives of others. You get blessed. It’s similar to the “Be All That You Can Be” promise of the army.
How would you answer this question: “Why are you a Christian?”
Is it primarily because of what’s in it for you?
Consider asking someone about to be married: “Why are you getting married?” If they responded with, “Well that’s easy. I’m getting married because of what’s in it for me. I get this person who loves me, serves me, says encouraging things about me. I’m not alone. I have someone to eat with, sleep with, talk with. I have someone who’ll do at least some of the housework, maybe bring in some income, and really make me feel ways that I want to feel.” What do you think about this response?
Or what if the question was: “Why are you having kids?” “Well, that’s easy. I’m having kids because of what’s in it for me. It will be fun. They’ll help me look good. I’ll have a chance to mold and shape them into who I think they should be. They’ll love me and take care of me when I get old. They’ll help with the household chores. I’m sure they’ll be entertaining at times. I want to be a Mom/Dad and I can’t be one unless I have a child.” What do you think about this response?
I hope the following responses make you uncomfortable. They are just not right because they are coming from a selfish perspective. They reflect the consumer driven and transaction nature of relationships that permeate our culture. “What’s in it for me” has become one of driving forces of our lives. We make decisions based on this. We base relationships on this. And in doing so, we show very clearly that what is most important is me - my happiness, how I feel, what’s best for me.
How does that perspective fit into the life that Jesus is calling you to live. Does he want people who are in it for the benefits? Do you want a husband or wife who is only in it for what you do for them? Do you want a mom or dad who is looking for you to build up their identity, to make them feel good?
The best example of the opposite of this perspective that I see on a daily basis is my wife, Alisa. I watch her day after day SHOW LOVE for John. Her love for John is what motivates and drives her to set aside her own wants/needs to serve him. There is no transactional nature involved. She is not doing it so he will do something for her. She serves, sacrifices, and gives because she loves him. There are definitely benefits to being in John’s life and being his mom, but she is not at all driven by what’s in it for her.
What’s in it for you with Jesus? Everything. Is that what ought to drive us to follow him – so we can get what he offers? No. What drives us in following Him is the love we found in Him which enables us to love Him (albeit imperfectly) but it is love that is the foundation of our commitment to Him.
By the way, the full story of what’s in it for you with Jesus is found throughout Scripture. It isn’t just heaven and joy. It is also suffering and sacrifice. It is courage and risk-taking. It is humility and dependence. It is ultimately dying to self. It is seeing the hard truth about who you really are and receiving the gift of Jesus and His grace in spite of yourself.
What's in it for me being a Dad? John & Anna
What's in it for me being married? Alisa
Sure there are incredible benefits to being a Dad and being married. But they pale in comparison to the gift of the relationship I have with these incredible people in my life.
Maybe it is not completely inappropriate to ask what's in it for me with Jesus. Because maybe there is a good answer to that question. It is not the benefits; it's Him. What's in it for you and me when we surrender ourselves to Jesus ultimately is the gift of Him - a relationship with our Lord, Redeemer, Savior, and King.
The army’s motto during the time of the World Wars was “I need you.” That was enough to encourage people to sign up. The country needed them and so, for the greater good of the country, people said yes. Today the motto has changed. It addresses the question above. Today it’s “Be All That You Can Be.” It is not country centric but individual centric. The army will help you be all that you can be.
Sunday after Sunday, the pastor can feel called to lay out all the benefits of signing on to Jesus and following Him. You get this and that. You’re promised and guaranteed this and that. You get to go to heaven. You get to experience peace and joy and love. You won’t have to worry anymore. You get guidance and strength and comfort. You get to make a difference in the lives of others. You get blessed. It’s similar to the “Be All That You Can Be” promise of the army.
How would you answer this question: “Why are you a Christian?”
Is it primarily because of what’s in it for you?
Consider asking someone about to be married: “Why are you getting married?” If they responded with, “Well that’s easy. I’m getting married because of what’s in it for me. I get this person who loves me, serves me, says encouraging things about me. I’m not alone. I have someone to eat with, sleep with, talk with. I have someone who’ll do at least some of the housework, maybe bring in some income, and really make me feel ways that I want to feel.” What do you think about this response?
Or what if the question was: “Why are you having kids?” “Well, that’s easy. I’m having kids because of what’s in it for me. It will be fun. They’ll help me look good. I’ll have a chance to mold and shape them into who I think they should be. They’ll love me and take care of me when I get old. They’ll help with the household chores. I’m sure they’ll be entertaining at times. I want to be a Mom/Dad and I can’t be one unless I have a child.” What do you think about this response?
I hope the following responses make you uncomfortable. They are just not right because they are coming from a selfish perspective. They reflect the consumer driven and transaction nature of relationships that permeate our culture. “What’s in it for me” has become one of driving forces of our lives. We make decisions based on this. We base relationships on this. And in doing so, we show very clearly that what is most important is me - my happiness, how I feel, what’s best for me.
How does that perspective fit into the life that Jesus is calling you to live. Does he want people who are in it for the benefits? Do you want a husband or wife who is only in it for what you do for them? Do you want a mom or dad who is looking for you to build up their identity, to make them feel good?
The best example of the opposite of this perspective that I see on a daily basis is my wife, Alisa. I watch her day after day SHOW LOVE for John. Her love for John is what motivates and drives her to set aside her own wants/needs to serve him. There is no transactional nature involved. She is not doing it so he will do something for her. She serves, sacrifices, and gives because she loves him. There are definitely benefits to being in John’s life and being his mom, but she is not at all driven by what’s in it for her.
What’s in it for you with Jesus? Everything. Is that what ought to drive us to follow him – so we can get what he offers? No. What drives us in following Him is the love we found in Him which enables us to love Him (albeit imperfectly) but it is love that is the foundation of our commitment to Him.
By the way, the full story of what’s in it for you with Jesus is found throughout Scripture. It isn’t just heaven and joy. It is also suffering and sacrifice. It is courage and risk-taking. It is humility and dependence. It is ultimately dying to self. It is seeing the hard truth about who you really are and receiving the gift of Jesus and His grace in spite of yourself.
What's in it for me being a Dad? John & Anna
What's in it for me being married? Alisa
Sure there are incredible benefits to being a Dad and being married. But they pale in comparison to the gift of the relationship I have with these incredible people in my life.
Maybe it is not completely inappropriate to ask what's in it for me with Jesus. Because maybe there is a good answer to that question. It is not the benefits; it's Him. What's in it for you and me when we surrender ourselves to Jesus ultimately is the gift of Him - a relationship with our Lord, Redeemer, Savior, and King.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Teammate vs. Referee
A friend of mine is helping coaching middle school football. It has given me a chance to live vicariously through him as we’ve talked about coaching and team and football. It’s been fun for me, and I think he is really enjoying not only the experience but the relationships (with students, coaches, parents, etc.).
Sports like football have rules. Without the rules, it would be like Calvinball. (You’ll know what I’m talking about if you are a fan of Calvin & Hobbes. If not, ignore my reference and read on.) Calvinball had no rules. You made them up as you went. It was chaos.
Football has rules. There are boundaries. There are sidelines and end zones which mark the field of play. You don’t play outside of these boundaries. There are specific ways you score points. There are limits to the number of players on the field. There is a limited amount of time the game is played. You have equipment you must wear and rules you must follow. Otherwise, you are penalized for not following the rules. SO, there are referees that exist to enforce the rules during a game. We might not always agree with their decisions, but they have final authority when it comes to enforcing the rules.
Often, we love the referees when they call something in our favor or when they penalize the other team. We don’t love the referees when they call something NOT in our favor or they penalize our team. They get yelled at a lot. It is not an easy job, but it is an important job to make sure the game is played by the rules.
There are also players – teammates. These are the people who are actually on the field of play who have to abide by the rules of the game. They get to hit, tackle, run, block, pass, etc. They get to enjoy the exhilaration of the game as well as deal with the emotions of winning and losing. The referees don’t do any of this. They don’t get to play. They watch and manage the game and make sure the rules are followed.
Following Jesus is like playing football. (That’s probably not a sentence you’ve heard before, but stick with me.) Yes, I know, you don’t really get to hit and tackle, but in many ways, following Jesus is similar to playing the game of football. There are rules to follow. There are boundaries to keep. There are certain things we do that are penalized because they are breaking the rules. We are on a team. It is not an individual sport. We experience ups and downs throughout the experience. Unlike a football game, which lasts for 60 minutes, following Jesus is a game that lasts a lifetime. There is a start, but not really a finish. It may not be about winning and losing in the way a football game is, but it is about living and dying. When we play we find what it is to live, and amazingly so, we also have the opportunity to invite others out of the stands and into the game. We have the chance to encourage others to move away from dying and into living.
There is a referee, too. However, unlike the football refs, this referee is perfect. He never makes a bad call. He is always working toward helping and encouraging the team to succeed. We may not always enjoy his input in our lives when we are breaking the rules, but we can know he is always making the right call and always seeking to help us grow and enjoy the game even more.
Part of the challenge we face in playing this game of life is the temptation to take over for the referee. We are all tempted to be referees. We like wearing the striped shirts, blowing our whistles, and pointing out the infractions in others. Our sinful nature has a propensity toward judgmentalness, so we are very prone to taking on the role of referee in the lives of others.
It is not our job. We are teammates not referees. Teammates are in the game. Referees are not. God has given us the rules and boundaries so that we experience His life - that’s when the game is most exciting, meaningful, and joyful. He did not give us rules so we could all become referees – pointing out each other’s faults and shortcomings.
I’m not denying the important role that accountability and tough love play. Any good team recognizes how important it is to hold each other accountable to playing the game to the best of our ability AND playing the game as a TEAM.
It is one thing for a fellow teammate, who you know loves you and is committed to your success, to challenge and encourage you in a different direction or point out a place where you are falling short. It is quite another story when someone wearing a striped shirt and blowing a loud whistle – not on your team and not in the game – begins pointing out all of your shortcomings and faults.
If you are not following Jesus, but believe it’s your job to tell others how they need to change, then you are a referee. You need to get in the game and on the team.
If you are following Jesus, play as a team. Be teammates.
Sports like football have rules. Without the rules, it would be like Calvinball. (You’ll know what I’m talking about if you are a fan of Calvin & Hobbes. If not, ignore my reference and read on.) Calvinball had no rules. You made them up as you went. It was chaos.
Football has rules. There are boundaries. There are sidelines and end zones which mark the field of play. You don’t play outside of these boundaries. There are specific ways you score points. There are limits to the number of players on the field. There is a limited amount of time the game is played. You have equipment you must wear and rules you must follow. Otherwise, you are penalized for not following the rules. SO, there are referees that exist to enforce the rules during a game. We might not always agree with their decisions, but they have final authority when it comes to enforcing the rules.
Often, we love the referees when they call something in our favor or when they penalize the other team. We don’t love the referees when they call something NOT in our favor or they penalize our team. They get yelled at a lot. It is not an easy job, but it is an important job to make sure the game is played by the rules.
There are also players – teammates. These are the people who are actually on the field of play who have to abide by the rules of the game. They get to hit, tackle, run, block, pass, etc. They get to enjoy the exhilaration of the game as well as deal with the emotions of winning and losing. The referees don’t do any of this. They don’t get to play. They watch and manage the game and make sure the rules are followed.
Following Jesus is like playing football. (That’s probably not a sentence you’ve heard before, but stick with me.) Yes, I know, you don’t really get to hit and tackle, but in many ways, following Jesus is similar to playing the game of football. There are rules to follow. There are boundaries to keep. There are certain things we do that are penalized because they are breaking the rules. We are on a team. It is not an individual sport. We experience ups and downs throughout the experience. Unlike a football game, which lasts for 60 minutes, following Jesus is a game that lasts a lifetime. There is a start, but not really a finish. It may not be about winning and losing in the way a football game is, but it is about living and dying. When we play we find what it is to live, and amazingly so, we also have the opportunity to invite others out of the stands and into the game. We have the chance to encourage others to move away from dying and into living.
There is a referee, too. However, unlike the football refs, this referee is perfect. He never makes a bad call. He is always working toward helping and encouraging the team to succeed. We may not always enjoy his input in our lives when we are breaking the rules, but we can know he is always making the right call and always seeking to help us grow and enjoy the game even more.
Part of the challenge we face in playing this game of life is the temptation to take over for the referee. We are all tempted to be referees. We like wearing the striped shirts, blowing our whistles, and pointing out the infractions in others. Our sinful nature has a propensity toward judgmentalness, so we are very prone to taking on the role of referee in the lives of others.
It is not our job. We are teammates not referees. Teammates are in the game. Referees are not. God has given us the rules and boundaries so that we experience His life - that’s when the game is most exciting, meaningful, and joyful. He did not give us rules so we could all become referees – pointing out each other’s faults and shortcomings.
I’m not denying the important role that accountability and tough love play. Any good team recognizes how important it is to hold each other accountable to playing the game to the best of our ability AND playing the game as a TEAM.
It is one thing for a fellow teammate, who you know loves you and is committed to your success, to challenge and encourage you in a different direction or point out a place where you are falling short. It is quite another story when someone wearing a striped shirt and blowing a loud whistle – not on your team and not in the game – begins pointing out all of your shortcomings and faults.
If you are not following Jesus, but believe it’s your job to tell others how they need to change, then you are a referee. You need to get in the game and on the team.
If you are following Jesus, play as a team. Be teammates.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Freedom to Feel
Jesus wept at the loss of his friend. Jesus cried in anticipation of the difficult road to the cross. Jesus displayed a range of emotions – he felt deeply and he was perfect.
I was in a meeting today and the person speaking started to get choked up. He apologized.
I was with a group of people last week and numerous people started to cry. Some seemed embarrassed.
I was listening to someone share her story and she started to cry. She said, “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry.”
Often people in my office cry. I have a box of Kleenex on my desk for that reason. And invariably, they are either embarrassed or apologetic or disappointed in themselves for letting their emotions come to the surface.
You’ve been there, too. Someone starts to get emotional and it makes us uncomfortable. We are tempted to tell a joke or distract or simply act like nothing is wrong and ignore the person struggling.
OR we’re the one with the emotions starting to bubble out. We fight them. We hide them. We apologize that we’ve ‘lost control.’
John hit his head pretty good at school the other day. It was enough for his teacher to call us. One thing she said surprised me, “He didn’t cry.” Yet, a few days later, John and I went golfing and he accidentally bumped his head with a golf club. He fought the tears for a moment, looked at me, and started to cry. He already feels (for some reason) that crying at school is just not as accepted as when he’s with his dad. I’m not trying to say that’s right or wrong just interesting.
Some people haven’t cried for years. Some are proud of that.
Some cry at the drop of a hat. Most are embarrassed by their inability to control their emotions.
I don’t think Jesus was an emotional basket case. I do think he felt deeply and sometimes those feelings overflowed.
It’s been an emotional few weeks for the Sauer’s. We are definitely emotionally tired. But we are also overwhelmed with joy. It is so good even though it’s been so emotional. Life has become more real and meaningful in these last few weeks. Tears flowed. It was hard to catch my breath. I looked silly. I didn’t care.
I believe when we live deeply, we feel deeply. When we step into this life God has for us, our hearts will be transformed. We’ll feel more. I’m not saying you have to cry a lot to follow Jesus, but I am saying your feelings will change (and grow) as you live His life.
Jesus loves. This love moves him deeply. He weeps. He challenges. He calls us to His way of life because He knows what that will mean for us and He loves us so deeply, He can’t help but express His emotion. He also feels deeply for us when we live apart from Him. He feels deeply for those who reject Him. He feels deeply for those who do not know Him. He feels deeply for those who do not feel deeply for Him.
Authenticity includes being transparent with our feelings.
I was deeply moved today by this man who, with tears in his eyes, expressed his conviction of his lack of love for those who are lost. He was overwhelmed with his emotions as he was convicted of his lack of compassion. He was crying out for God to help his heart be more reflective of God’s heart. He saw clearly that to ignore the needs of those apart from God was to have a heart of stone – very much unlike the heart of Jesus.
Love and tears go hand in hand. Take away those moments when you felt deeply in your life. I bet you can hardly imagine your life without those moments. I hope and pray that more and more of them come for me. I believe they do and will when I truly seek after Jesus and His Way of life.
You never have to apologize for letting Christ’s heart change yours. It's gonna show.
I was in a meeting today and the person speaking started to get choked up. He apologized.
I was with a group of people last week and numerous people started to cry. Some seemed embarrassed.
I was listening to someone share her story and she started to cry. She said, “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry.”
Often people in my office cry. I have a box of Kleenex on my desk for that reason. And invariably, they are either embarrassed or apologetic or disappointed in themselves for letting their emotions come to the surface.
You’ve been there, too. Someone starts to get emotional and it makes us uncomfortable. We are tempted to tell a joke or distract or simply act like nothing is wrong and ignore the person struggling.
OR we’re the one with the emotions starting to bubble out. We fight them. We hide them. We apologize that we’ve ‘lost control.’
John hit his head pretty good at school the other day. It was enough for his teacher to call us. One thing she said surprised me, “He didn’t cry.” Yet, a few days later, John and I went golfing and he accidentally bumped his head with a golf club. He fought the tears for a moment, looked at me, and started to cry. He already feels (for some reason) that crying at school is just not as accepted as when he’s with his dad. I’m not trying to say that’s right or wrong just interesting.
Some people haven’t cried for years. Some are proud of that.
Some cry at the drop of a hat. Most are embarrassed by their inability to control their emotions.
I don’t think Jesus was an emotional basket case. I do think he felt deeply and sometimes those feelings overflowed.
It’s been an emotional few weeks for the Sauer’s. We are definitely emotionally tired. But we are also overwhelmed with joy. It is so good even though it’s been so emotional. Life has become more real and meaningful in these last few weeks. Tears flowed. It was hard to catch my breath. I looked silly. I didn’t care.
I believe when we live deeply, we feel deeply. When we step into this life God has for us, our hearts will be transformed. We’ll feel more. I’m not saying you have to cry a lot to follow Jesus, but I am saying your feelings will change (and grow) as you live His life.
Jesus loves. This love moves him deeply. He weeps. He challenges. He calls us to His way of life because He knows what that will mean for us and He loves us so deeply, He can’t help but express His emotion. He also feels deeply for us when we live apart from Him. He feels deeply for those who reject Him. He feels deeply for those who do not know Him. He feels deeply for those who do not feel deeply for Him.
Authenticity includes being transparent with our feelings.
I was deeply moved today by this man who, with tears in his eyes, expressed his conviction of his lack of love for those who are lost. He was overwhelmed with his emotions as he was convicted of his lack of compassion. He was crying out for God to help his heart be more reflective of God’s heart. He saw clearly that to ignore the needs of those apart from God was to have a heart of stone – very much unlike the heart of Jesus.
Love and tears go hand in hand. Take away those moments when you felt deeply in your life. I bet you can hardly imagine your life without those moments. I hope and pray that more and more of them come for me. I believe they do and will when I truly seek after Jesus and His Way of life.
You never have to apologize for letting Christ’s heart change yours. It's gonna show.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Seven Deadly Spirits - T. Scott Daniels
Next Sunday, Sept. 19th we begin a series taking us through the seven letters to the churches in Revelation 1-3. Revelation is an important and difficult part of Scripture. There are lots of different views and interpretations of this book. Some base our understanding of the future on Revelation. Some see it as primarily symbolic and not literal. Some avoid it all together. Our focus for the next few weeks will be in the first three chapters. I thought a little help in preparation would be good. The following are quotes from T. Scott Daniel’s book, Seven Deadly Spirits: The Message of Revelation’s Letters for Today’s Church.
I believe the purpose of this great and awesome revealed word to the early church was not to give the church the key to predict the future but to give the followers of Christ in the first century the ability to view from the perspectives of the divine the culture that surround them. (19)
The primary force that opposes the gospel in John’s vision from Patmos is not the beast or the Antichrist but the principality and power he names Babylon. (20)
Babylon holds a special place in the great and populated pantheon of Jewish oppressors and captors, especially for the biblical prophets. Particularly in the book of Daniel, the reader discovers that the primary problem of Israel’s second great exile was that life in Babylon wasn’t nearly as oppressive as their days of slavery in Egypt. Egypt violently oppressed the Israelites. Although many people died at the hand of Pharaoh, the children of Israel were not invited or tempted to become Egyptians. The distinct problem of the Babylonian exile was that the culture of Babylon gave enough freedom and offered enough wealth and power to their Israelite and Judean captives that the greatest risk the people faced was not slavery and oppression but that their children would become Babylonians. In fact, when we read the famous stories of Hebrew children facing the fiery furnace rather than bowing to the king and Daniel accepting the lions’ den rather than accepting restrictions to his faith, we realize that their faith was demonstrated in their ability to resist the lure of the Babylonian empire and not be assimilated into or be conformed to the culture. (20)
Situated in another empire, Rome, John the Revelator recognizes that the primary challenge his brothers and sisters in the early church face is not just sporadic persecution but the constant lure to compromise with the new Babylon. Like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel before them, the first-century Christians must constantly be alert to the ways the empire is pressing them into its mold. The book of Revelation gives the early church the language – the linguistic glasses if you will – to see that the goddess Roma (the spiritual embodiment of the power of Rome) will not give them the abundant life she promises; instead, like Babylon she will lure them into a variety of compromises that will conform them to her values and rob them of the abundant and eternal life they have received and are experiencing through the Lamb. (21)
The Revelator recognizes that it takes a special set of skills to live a faithful Christian life in caesar’s Babylon. Certainly the “visible Caesar” represents the continual threat of violence and persecution inflicted on those who seem suspicious to the status quo because of their perceived disloyalties. The larger letter of Revelation, and the letters within the letter, contains many references to endurance, long-suffering, and hope beyond physical death, but John seems equally to recognize the threat of the “hidden Caesar” that invites us to compromise. To find Caesar in all his hiding places requires the believer to see the world apocalyptically. The spiritual survival of the early Christians depended on their ability to not see Rome as the eternal city but to see her as another Babylon on the way to implosion and collapse (Rev. 19). Followers of Christ cannot view the economics of the empire as “just business”; rather, they must have the insight to see it as the trap and lure of the beast. Disciples, who are committed to overcoming evil with good, must not view political and military power as a necessary means to a peaceful end, but they must be able to recognize in caesar’s chariots and horses the never-ending cycle of the principalities and power’s attempts to overcome coercive power with more coercive power and to stop violence through the use of greater violence. (22)
Each church is caught in a tug-of-war between Christ and its surrounding culture. In each letter, the church is called by the one “who walks among the seven golden lampstands” (Rev. 2:1) to “listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (2:7) and to “conquer” or overcome the forces that are keeping it from fulfilling its divine purpose and character. (22-23)
I believe the purpose of this great and awesome revealed word to the early church was not to give the church the key to predict the future but to give the followers of Christ in the first century the ability to view from the perspectives of the divine the culture that surround them. (19)
The primary force that opposes the gospel in John’s vision from Patmos is not the beast or the Antichrist but the principality and power he names Babylon. (20)
Babylon holds a special place in the great and populated pantheon of Jewish oppressors and captors, especially for the biblical prophets. Particularly in the book of Daniel, the reader discovers that the primary problem of Israel’s second great exile was that life in Babylon wasn’t nearly as oppressive as their days of slavery in Egypt. Egypt violently oppressed the Israelites. Although many people died at the hand of Pharaoh, the children of Israel were not invited or tempted to become Egyptians. The distinct problem of the Babylonian exile was that the culture of Babylon gave enough freedom and offered enough wealth and power to their Israelite and Judean captives that the greatest risk the people faced was not slavery and oppression but that their children would become Babylonians. In fact, when we read the famous stories of Hebrew children facing the fiery furnace rather than bowing to the king and Daniel accepting the lions’ den rather than accepting restrictions to his faith, we realize that their faith was demonstrated in their ability to resist the lure of the Babylonian empire and not be assimilated into or be conformed to the culture. (20)
Situated in another empire, Rome, John the Revelator recognizes that the primary challenge his brothers and sisters in the early church face is not just sporadic persecution but the constant lure to compromise with the new Babylon. Like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel before them, the first-century Christians must constantly be alert to the ways the empire is pressing them into its mold. The book of Revelation gives the early church the language – the linguistic glasses if you will – to see that the goddess Roma (the spiritual embodiment of the power of Rome) will not give them the abundant life she promises; instead, like Babylon she will lure them into a variety of compromises that will conform them to her values and rob them of the abundant and eternal life they have received and are experiencing through the Lamb. (21)
The Revelator recognizes that it takes a special set of skills to live a faithful Christian life in caesar’s Babylon. Certainly the “visible Caesar” represents the continual threat of violence and persecution inflicted on those who seem suspicious to the status quo because of their perceived disloyalties. The larger letter of Revelation, and the letters within the letter, contains many references to endurance, long-suffering, and hope beyond physical death, but John seems equally to recognize the threat of the “hidden Caesar” that invites us to compromise. To find Caesar in all his hiding places requires the believer to see the world apocalyptically. The spiritual survival of the early Christians depended on their ability to not see Rome as the eternal city but to see her as another Babylon on the way to implosion and collapse (Rev. 19). Followers of Christ cannot view the economics of the empire as “just business”; rather, they must have the insight to see it as the trap and lure of the beast. Disciples, who are committed to overcoming evil with good, must not view political and military power as a necessary means to a peaceful end, but they must be able to recognize in caesar’s chariots and horses the never-ending cycle of the principalities and power’s attempts to overcome coercive power with more coercive power and to stop violence through the use of greater violence. (22)
Each church is caught in a tug-of-war between Christ and its surrounding culture. In each letter, the church is called by the one “who walks among the seven golden lampstands” (Rev. 2:1) to “listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (2:7) and to “conquer” or overcome the forces that are keeping it from fulfilling its divine purpose and character. (22-23)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Stepping Over the Line
I’m not talking about crossing the line – doing something that you shouldn’t do. I want to encourage you to step over the line.
There is a line in each of our lives which separates our comfort zone from our risk zone. As you approach this line, you tend to experience things like fear, anxiety, and unease. Because of these normal responses to this line, most of us move back into the area of comfort.
We see a friend or family member heading in the wrong direction. We begin to think about what we ought to say to encourage them back in the right direction. We start to feel anxious, so we decide to do nothing.
We hear of a need that moves our heart. We feel strongly that we need to help. As we begin to move closer to doing something about it, we begin to doubt, so we do nothing.
We sense Jesus calling us to take a step of faith in our lives. We are hesitant and afraid of what this will mean, so it is easy to distract ourselves with our own busyness or justify why taking a risk isn’t the right decision. We do nothing.
All of these describe instances of moving toward the line that separates comfort and risk and how often we stay in the area of comfort.
This is not the Jesus Way. This is not the pathway of the Epic Life. It is safe, comfortable, easy, but not biblical. And if we’re honest, many of us, if faced with the decision to give up what we’ve found in this life, won’t take the risk. If given the chance to pursue a life of risk-taking and adventure where we’re called into the unknown having to be dependent on something outside of ourselves, most of us balk. “Why would I choose that?” “Why would I give up my good and comfortable life?” “What would I risk it?”
These are legitimate and important questions. And what’s true about them is God gives you the opportunity to ask them every day. It’s not a one-shot experience. You may choose comfort today, but God is going to invite into His life tomorrow. The invitations will keep coming no matter how often you reject them.
The Jesus Way involves stepping over the line. It means stepping over the line at work. It means stepping over the line in relationships. It means learning to live a life where Jesus’ Way of living is your guide. You are dependent upon Him and not yourself. It will not be comfortable. It will not be easy. It will not be safe. But it will be good and epic and abundant and life-changing and kingdom building and obedient and joyful and . . . it will be life as life is meant to be lived.
In fact, another way to describe what I’m saying is that it will be a life where the steps you take are steps of faith not certainty. You will have to put your foot in places where it is not clear whether you will find solid ground. You’ll have to trust in the one you can’t see with your eyes to be the foundation upon which you walk. Steps of certainty are found in the land of comfort. Steps of faith are found in the Jesus’ Way.
Right now, I believe, Jesus is encouraging you to step over the line. It may be in a relationship. It may be in your walk with Him. It may be in a willingness to do something that makes you uncomfortable, but you believe it is what God wants you to do. Don’t move away from these feelings of fear and anxiety. Step into them. Step into them knowing that you step into the arms of God. Though you may trip and struggle and even suffer, know that THIS LIFE is His life, and His life is a life that truly changes the world and will definitely be a life that enables you to experience the promises of His joy, peace, purpose, love, hope, and freedom. Comfort is easy, but it is also shallow and self-centered and in the long run empty.
If you don’t believe me, then look at Jesus’ life. Look at His disciples. Look at what they found. LIFE by stepping over the line, by stepping in faith, by stepping into a place where they were forced to depend upon their Father.
There is a line in each of our lives which separates our comfort zone from our risk zone. As you approach this line, you tend to experience things like fear, anxiety, and unease. Because of these normal responses to this line, most of us move back into the area of comfort.
We see a friend or family member heading in the wrong direction. We begin to think about what we ought to say to encourage them back in the right direction. We start to feel anxious, so we decide to do nothing.
We hear of a need that moves our heart. We feel strongly that we need to help. As we begin to move closer to doing something about it, we begin to doubt, so we do nothing.
We sense Jesus calling us to take a step of faith in our lives. We are hesitant and afraid of what this will mean, so it is easy to distract ourselves with our own busyness or justify why taking a risk isn’t the right decision. We do nothing.
All of these describe instances of moving toward the line that separates comfort and risk and how often we stay in the area of comfort.
This is not the Jesus Way. This is not the pathway of the Epic Life. It is safe, comfortable, easy, but not biblical. And if we’re honest, many of us, if faced with the decision to give up what we’ve found in this life, won’t take the risk. If given the chance to pursue a life of risk-taking and adventure where we’re called into the unknown having to be dependent on something outside of ourselves, most of us balk. “Why would I choose that?” “Why would I give up my good and comfortable life?” “What would I risk it?”
These are legitimate and important questions. And what’s true about them is God gives you the opportunity to ask them every day. It’s not a one-shot experience. You may choose comfort today, but God is going to invite into His life tomorrow. The invitations will keep coming no matter how often you reject them.
The Jesus Way involves stepping over the line. It means stepping over the line at work. It means stepping over the line in relationships. It means learning to live a life where Jesus’ Way of living is your guide. You are dependent upon Him and not yourself. It will not be comfortable. It will not be easy. It will not be safe. But it will be good and epic and abundant and life-changing and kingdom building and obedient and joyful and . . . it will be life as life is meant to be lived.
In fact, another way to describe what I’m saying is that it will be a life where the steps you take are steps of faith not certainty. You will have to put your foot in places where it is not clear whether you will find solid ground. You’ll have to trust in the one you can’t see with your eyes to be the foundation upon which you walk. Steps of certainty are found in the land of comfort. Steps of faith are found in the Jesus’ Way.
Right now, I believe, Jesus is encouraging you to step over the line. It may be in a relationship. It may be in your walk with Him. It may be in a willingness to do something that makes you uncomfortable, but you believe it is what God wants you to do. Don’t move away from these feelings of fear and anxiety. Step into them. Step into them knowing that you step into the arms of God. Though you may trip and struggle and even suffer, know that THIS LIFE is His life, and His life is a life that truly changes the world and will definitely be a life that enables you to experience the promises of His joy, peace, purpose, love, hope, and freedom. Comfort is easy, but it is also shallow and self-centered and in the long run empty.
If you don’t believe me, then look at Jesus’ life. Look at His disciples. Look at what they found. LIFE by stepping over the line, by stepping in faith, by stepping into a place where they were forced to depend upon their Father.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Letter to YOU from God
Too often the voices we listen to in our lives are not God's voice. We are encouraged to live in shame and guilt or pride and self-righteousness. These voices define our identity and color our ability to see ourselves, each other, and God clearly. I'd encourage you to write a letter to yourself from God. What would He say? What would He say about what you are going through? What would He say about who you are? What would He say about how He feels toward you?
I came across the following letter HERE. I hope this helps you to discern what God is trying to say to you.
My Child,
You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
(Psalm 139:1)
I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
(Psalm 139:2)
I am familiar with all your ways.
(Psalm 139:3)
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image.
(Genesis 1:27)
In me you live and move and have your being.
(Acts 17:28)
For you are my offspring.
(Acts 17:28)
I knew you even before you were conceived.
(Jeremiah 1:4-5)
I chose you when I planned creation.
(Ephesians 1:11-12)
You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
(Psalm 139:15-16)
I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
(Acts 17:26)
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
(Psalm 139:14)
I knit you together in your mother's womb.
(Psalm 139:13)
And brought you forth on the day you were born.
(Psalm 71:6)
I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
(John 8:41-44)
I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
(1 John 4:16)
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
(1 John 3:1)
Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
(1 John 3:1)
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
(Matthew 7:11)
For I am the perfect father.
(Matthew 5:48)
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
(James 1:17)
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
(Matthew 6:31-33)
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
(Jeremiah 29:11)
Because I love you with an everlasting love.
(Jeremiah 31:3)
My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
(Psalms 139:17-18)
And I rejoice over you with singing.
(Zephaniah 3:17)
I will never stop doing good to you.
(Jeremiah 32:40)
For you are my treasured possession.
(Exodus 19:5)
I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
(Jeremiah 32:41)
And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
(Jeremiah 33:3)
If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
(Deuteronomy 4:29)
Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
(Psalm 37:4)
For it is I who gave you those desires.
(Philippians 2:13)
I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
(Ephesians 3:20)
For I am your greatest encourager.
(2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
(Psalm 34:18)
As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
(Isaiah 40:11)
One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
(Revelation 21:3-4)
And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
(Revelation 21:3-4)
I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
(John 17:23)
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
(John 17:26)
He is the exact representation of my being.
(Hebrews 1:3)
He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
(Romans 8:31)
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
(2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
(2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
(1 John 4:10)
I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
(Romans 8:31-32)
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
(1 John 2:23)
And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
(Romans 8:38-39)
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
(Luke 15:7)
I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
(Ephesians 3:14-15)
My question is…
Will you be my child?
(John 1:12-13)
I am waiting for you.
(Luke 15:11-32)
Love, Your Dad
Almighty God
I came across the following letter HERE. I hope this helps you to discern what God is trying to say to you.
My Child,
You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
(Psalm 139:1)
I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
(Psalm 139:2)
I am familiar with all your ways.
(Psalm 139:3)
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image.
(Genesis 1:27)
In me you live and move and have your being.
(Acts 17:28)
For you are my offspring.
(Acts 17:28)
I knew you even before you were conceived.
(Jeremiah 1:4-5)
I chose you when I planned creation.
(Ephesians 1:11-12)
You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
(Psalm 139:15-16)
I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
(Acts 17:26)
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
(Psalm 139:14)
I knit you together in your mother's womb.
(Psalm 139:13)
And brought you forth on the day you were born.
(Psalm 71:6)
I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
(John 8:41-44)
I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
(1 John 4:16)
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
(1 John 3:1)
Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
(1 John 3:1)
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
(Matthew 7:11)
For I am the perfect father.
(Matthew 5:48)
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
(James 1:17)
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
(Matthew 6:31-33)
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
(Jeremiah 29:11)
Because I love you with an everlasting love.
(Jeremiah 31:3)
My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
(Psalms 139:17-18)
And I rejoice over you with singing.
(Zephaniah 3:17)
I will never stop doing good to you.
(Jeremiah 32:40)
For you are my treasured possession.
(Exodus 19:5)
I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
(Jeremiah 32:41)
And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
(Jeremiah 33:3)
If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
(Deuteronomy 4:29)
Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
(Psalm 37:4)
For it is I who gave you those desires.
(Philippians 2:13)
I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
(Ephesians 3:20)
For I am your greatest encourager.
(2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
(Psalm 34:18)
As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
(Isaiah 40:11)
One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
(Revelation 21:3-4)
And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
(Revelation 21:3-4)
I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
(John 17:23)
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
(John 17:26)
He is the exact representation of my being.
(Hebrews 1:3)
He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
(Romans 8:31)
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
(2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
(2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
(1 John 4:10)
I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
(Romans 8:31-32)
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
(1 John 2:23)
And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
(Romans 8:38-39)
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
(Luke 15:7)
I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
(Ephesians 3:14-15)
My question is…
Will you be my child?
(John 1:12-13)
I am waiting for you.
(Luke 15:11-32)
Love, Your Dad
Almighty God
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Epic - John Eldredge
The following is an excerpt from John Eldredge’s book, Epic: The Story God is Telling and the Role That Is Yours To Play.
Walk into any large mall, museum, amusement park, university, or hospital, and you will typically meet at once a very large map with the famous red star and the encouraging words You are here. These maps are offered to visitors as ways to orient themselves to their situation, get some perspective on things. This is the Big Picture. This is where you are in that picture. Hopefully you now know where to go. You have your bearings.
Oh, that we had something like this for our lives.
“This is the Story in which you have found yourself. Here is how it got started. Here is where it went wrong. Here is what will happen next. Now this – this is the role you’ve been given. If you want to fulfill your destiny, this is what you must do. These are your cues. And here is how things are going to turn out in the end.”
We can.
We can discover the Story. Maybe not with perfect clarity, maybe not in the detail that you would like, but in greater clarity than most of us now have, and that would be worth the price of admission. I mean, to have some clarity would be gold right now. Wouldn’t it?
Start with the movies you love.
I’m serious. Think about your favorite movies. Notice that every good story has the same ingredient. Love. Adventure. Danger. Heroism. Romance. Sacrifice. The Battle of Good and Evil. Unlikely heroes. Insurmountable odds. And a little fellowship that in hope beyond hope pulls through in the end.
Next, I want you to notice that all the great stories pretty much follow the same story line. Things were pretty good, then something awful happened, and now a great battle must be fought or a journey taken. At just the right moment (which feels like the last possible moment), a hero comes and set things right, and life is found again.
Have you ever wondered why?
Every story, great and small, shares the same essential structure because every story we tell borrows its power from a Larger Story, a Story woven into the fabric of our being . . .
All of these stories borrow from the Story. From Reality. We hear echoes of it through our lives. Some secret written on our hearts. A great battle to fight, and someone to fight for us. An adventure, something that requires everything we have, something to be shared with those we love and need.
There is a Story that we just can’t seem to escape. There is a Story written on the human heart.
As Ecclesiastes has it,
He has planted eternity in the human heart. (3:11)
(10-13)
Christianity, in its true form, tells us that there is an Author and that he is good, the essence of all that is good and beautiful and true, for he is the source of all these things. It tells us that he has set our hearts’ longings within us, for he has made us to live in an Epic. It warns that the truth is always in danger of being twisted and corrupted and stolen from us because there is a Villain in the Story who hates our hearts and wants to destroy us. It calls us up into a Story that is truer and deeper than any other, and assures us that there we will find the meaning of our lives.
(14-15)
Walk into any large mall, museum, amusement park, university, or hospital, and you will typically meet at once a very large map with the famous red star and the encouraging words You are here. These maps are offered to visitors as ways to orient themselves to their situation, get some perspective on things. This is the Big Picture. This is where you are in that picture. Hopefully you now know where to go. You have your bearings.
Oh, that we had something like this for our lives.
“This is the Story in which you have found yourself. Here is how it got started. Here is where it went wrong. Here is what will happen next. Now this – this is the role you’ve been given. If you want to fulfill your destiny, this is what you must do. These are your cues. And here is how things are going to turn out in the end.”
We can.
We can discover the Story. Maybe not with perfect clarity, maybe not in the detail that you would like, but in greater clarity than most of us now have, and that would be worth the price of admission. I mean, to have some clarity would be gold right now. Wouldn’t it?
Start with the movies you love.
I’m serious. Think about your favorite movies. Notice that every good story has the same ingredient. Love. Adventure. Danger. Heroism. Romance. Sacrifice. The Battle of Good and Evil. Unlikely heroes. Insurmountable odds. And a little fellowship that in hope beyond hope pulls through in the end.
Next, I want you to notice that all the great stories pretty much follow the same story line. Things were pretty good, then something awful happened, and now a great battle must be fought or a journey taken. At just the right moment (which feels like the last possible moment), a hero comes and set things right, and life is found again.
Have you ever wondered why?
Every story, great and small, shares the same essential structure because every story we tell borrows its power from a Larger Story, a Story woven into the fabric of our being . . .
All of these stories borrow from the Story. From Reality. We hear echoes of it through our lives. Some secret written on our hearts. A great battle to fight, and someone to fight for us. An adventure, something that requires everything we have, something to be shared with those we love and need.
There is a Story that we just can’t seem to escape. There is a Story written on the human heart.
As Ecclesiastes has it,
He has planted eternity in the human heart. (3:11)
(10-13)
Christianity, in its true form, tells us that there is an Author and that he is good, the essence of all that is good and beautiful and true, for he is the source of all these things. It tells us that he has set our hearts’ longings within us, for he has made us to live in an Epic. It warns that the truth is always in danger of being twisted and corrupted and stolen from us because there is a Villain in the Story who hates our hearts and wants to destroy us. It calls us up into a Story that is truer and deeper than any other, and assures us that there we will find the meaning of our lives.
(14-15)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Prayer & Faith - E.M. Bounds
Here are a few excerpts from The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer.
. . . prayer is simply faith, claiming its natural yet marvelous prerogatives – faith taking possession of its illimitable inheritance. . . when faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live.
(13)
. . . when faith is broken down, the foundations of spiritual life give way, and the entire structure of religious experience falls.
And besides this, giving diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8
Faith was the foundation on which other things were to be built. Peter does not enjoin his readers to add to works or gifts or virtues but to faith.
The faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers itself on a powerful person. Faith in Christ’s ability to do and to do greatly, is the faith which prays greatly.
(14)
Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored; it takes God at his Word, and lets him take what time he chooses in fulfilling his purposes, and in carrying on his work. There is bound to be much delay and long days of waiting for true faith, but faith accepts the conditions – knows there will be delays in answering prayer, and regards such delays as times of testing, in the which, it is privileged to show its mettle, and the stern stuff of which it is made.
Pray on. Wait on. You cannot fail. If Christ delay, wait for him. In his own good time, he will come, and will not tarry.
(15)
Patience has its perfect work in the school of delay. In some instances, delay is of the very essence of prayer. God has to do many things, antecedent to giving the final answer – things which are essential to the lasting good of him who is requesting favor at his hands.
(16)
True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread enough. Bread given for today is the strongest sort of pledge that there will be bread tomorrow. Victory today, is the assurance of victory tomorrow. Our prayers need to be focused upon the present. We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely with him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task and duty of each recurring day – daily prayer for daily needs.
As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No amount of praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow’s praying. On the other hand, no praying for tomorrow is of any great value to us today. Today’s manna is what we need; tomorrow God will see that our needs are supplied. This is the faith which God seeks to inspire. So leave tomorrow, with its cares, its needs, its troubles, in God’s hands. There is no storing tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s praying; neither is there any laying-up of today’s grace, to meet tomorrow’s necessities. We cannot have tomorrow’s grace, we cannot eat tomorrow’s bread, we cannot do tomorrow’s praying. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; and, most assuredly, if we possess faith, sufficient also, will be the good.
(17)
. . . prayer is simply faith, claiming its natural yet marvelous prerogatives – faith taking possession of its illimitable inheritance. . . when faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live.
(13)
. . . when faith is broken down, the foundations of spiritual life give way, and the entire structure of religious experience falls.
And besides this, giving diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8
Faith was the foundation on which other things were to be built. Peter does not enjoin his readers to add to works or gifts or virtues but to faith.
The faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers itself on a powerful person. Faith in Christ’s ability to do and to do greatly, is the faith which prays greatly.
(14)
Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored; it takes God at his Word, and lets him take what time he chooses in fulfilling his purposes, and in carrying on his work. There is bound to be much delay and long days of waiting for true faith, but faith accepts the conditions – knows there will be delays in answering prayer, and regards such delays as times of testing, in the which, it is privileged to show its mettle, and the stern stuff of which it is made.
Pray on. Wait on. You cannot fail. If Christ delay, wait for him. In his own good time, he will come, and will not tarry.
(15)
Patience has its perfect work in the school of delay. In some instances, delay is of the very essence of prayer. God has to do many things, antecedent to giving the final answer – things which are essential to the lasting good of him who is requesting favor at his hands.
(16)
True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread enough. Bread given for today is the strongest sort of pledge that there will be bread tomorrow. Victory today, is the assurance of victory tomorrow. Our prayers need to be focused upon the present. We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely with him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task and duty of each recurring day – daily prayer for daily needs.
As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No amount of praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow’s praying. On the other hand, no praying for tomorrow is of any great value to us today. Today’s manna is what we need; tomorrow God will see that our needs are supplied. This is the faith which God seeks to inspire. So leave tomorrow, with its cares, its needs, its troubles, in God’s hands. There is no storing tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s praying; neither is there any laying-up of today’s grace, to meet tomorrow’s necessities. We cannot have tomorrow’s grace, we cannot eat tomorrow’s bread, we cannot do tomorrow’s praying. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; and, most assuredly, if we possess faith, sufficient also, will be the good.
(17)
An Excellent Article on Faith
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Synod of the Great Lakes - Convictions
Do you ever wonder about the role of denominations? I recently received a document with the following vision that is extremely encouraging to me about the direction of the Reformed Church in America, specifically the region our church is in, the Synod of the Great Lakes. I hope this encourages (and even challenges) you. See if your convictions resonate with these.
OUR CALL:
Following Christ in mission together, led by the Holy Spirit, and working with all the partners God provides, we believe that God is calling the Reformed Church in America over the next ten years to focus its efforts and resources on
- starting new congregations and
- revitalizing existing congregations,
thereby empowering fruitful and faithful ministries for the glory of God.
I. Convictions:
We believe:
A. Jesus Christ will build his church through some of us, in spite of some of us, and without some of us. (Matt. 16:18) JESUS WINS!!!
B. The church of Jesus Christ exists to fulfill the Great Commandments (Matt. 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).
C. It is the central calling of the church to consistently place participation in God’s mission at the center of its life and ministry, and to choose God’s mission and reign before treasured traditions, popular trends, personal preferences and valued relationships.
D. Regarding faithful and fruitful ministry in the twenty-first century, our congregations have only two options: deep transformational change (Luke 5: 36-38) or slow death. In all deep change processes there will be conflict. Therefore, conflict management skills are essential to the transformation process, so that the conflict can be life-giving, not life threatening.
E. People, including congregational leaders, experience transformation into Christ-likeness by embracing the wonder of the GOSPEL of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, “for God shows his love for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “For by grace you are saved, through faith, not because of works, lest anyone should boast. It is a gift of God. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2: 8-10) A sign of this transformation will be increased love for God in Christ and other people, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
F. Personal transformation of congregational leaders through the GOSPEL of God’s grace in Jesus Christ precedes congregational transformation. (Romans 12:1-2)
G. Therefore, as go the congregational leaders, so goes the congregation. (Acts 6:1-7)
H. Healthy churches grow and reproduce in a variety of ways.
I. The proven strategies to reach new people for Christ are planting new congregations and renewing existing congregations. These approaches are “two sides of the same coin”, represent God’s work, and produce results for the sake of the GOSPEL. However, the data indicates that the single most effective strategy is planting churches.
OUR CALL:
Following Christ in mission together, led by the Holy Spirit, and working with all the partners God provides, we believe that God is calling the Reformed Church in America over the next ten years to focus its efforts and resources on
- starting new congregations and
- revitalizing existing congregations,
thereby empowering fruitful and faithful ministries for the glory of God.
I. Convictions:
We believe:
A. Jesus Christ will build his church through some of us, in spite of some of us, and without some of us. (Matt. 16:18) JESUS WINS!!!
B. The church of Jesus Christ exists to fulfill the Great Commandments (Matt. 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).
C. It is the central calling of the church to consistently place participation in God’s mission at the center of its life and ministry, and to choose God’s mission and reign before treasured traditions, popular trends, personal preferences and valued relationships.
D. Regarding faithful and fruitful ministry in the twenty-first century, our congregations have only two options: deep transformational change (Luke 5: 36-38) or slow death. In all deep change processes there will be conflict. Therefore, conflict management skills are essential to the transformation process, so that the conflict can be life-giving, not life threatening.
E. People, including congregational leaders, experience transformation into Christ-likeness by embracing the wonder of the GOSPEL of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, “for God shows his love for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “For by grace you are saved, through faith, not because of works, lest anyone should boast. It is a gift of God. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2: 8-10) A sign of this transformation will be increased love for God in Christ and other people, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
F. Personal transformation of congregational leaders through the GOSPEL of God’s grace in Jesus Christ precedes congregational transformation. (Romans 12:1-2)
G. Therefore, as go the congregational leaders, so goes the congregation. (Acts 6:1-7)
H. Healthy churches grow and reproduce in a variety of ways.
I. The proven strategies to reach new people for Christ are planting new congregations and renewing existing congregations. These approaches are “two sides of the same coin”, represent God’s work, and produce results for the sake of the GOSPEL. However, the data indicates that the single most effective strategy is planting churches.
Stumbling Blocks
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16:23
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!” Matthew 18:6-7
“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” Romans 14:13
“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:3-10
For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:13
As I read these texts, I am challenged by the reality that I can be a stumbling block. People can actually trip over me and be encouraged to change course (away from God) because of me.
I was raised with an understanding of faith which meant going to church. We didn’t talk about faith. We just went to church. Now please understand I am not trying to say that what my parents did was wrong, but it was a stumbling block. They weren’t intentionally trying to confuse us; they did what they knew. It’s a stumbling block to our children to teach them that faith is about attending a church service once a week. It compartmentalizes faith and gives the false impression that faith is a part of my life not the foundation of my life.
When I don’t pray out loud with my children, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t care for the least of these, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t read the Bible, I’m a stumbling block.
When I gossip in front of others I’m a stumbling block.
When I won’t do the hard work of restoring a broken relationship, I’m a stumbling block.
When I define worship based on my preferences, I’m a stumbling block.
When I see myself primarily as a victim, I’m a stumbling block.
When I won’t let people into my life, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t intentionally seek to make disciples, I’m a stumbling block.
When I believe God owes me, I’m a stumbling block.
When I get intoxicated, I’m a stumbling block.
When I treat employees poorly, I’m a stumbling block.
When I lie in front of others, I’m a stumbling block.
When I claim faith and live by my own power, I’m a stumbling block.
When I call Jesus Lord and spend no time with Him, I’m a stumbling block.
Do you remember in Genesis 3 what the serpent did? He gently encouraged Eve to question whether God was really trustworthy. He sought to plant a seed of doubt. “Maybe God doesn’t know what He’s talking about.” “Maybe what I think and want will be better for me.” Eve tripped. Adam tripped. They both stumbled away from God and began living a life of shame, where they actually felt the need to hide from God. (We’ve become so good at hiding now. We are experts at keeping people from knowing and seeing the truth about us.)
We have the opportunity to be like the serpent in each other’s lives. The serpent used words primarily. For us, it tends to come with our actions. Just the fact that we are too often prone to say one thing and do another has become one of the greatest stumbling blocks to people coming to faith in Jesus. They look at the followers of Jesus, feel judged and see hypocrisy, and WE trip them up on the path to Jesus.
What part are you playing in the lives of others? Does your life do more to trip people up on the path to Jesus or is your life an encouragement to keep walking toward Him?
Ask the people of your life. I’m not kidding. Ask them.
“How does my life encourage you in your walk with Jesus? How does my life get in the way?”
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!” Matthew 18:6-7
“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” Romans 14:13
“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:3-10
For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:13
As I read these texts, I am challenged by the reality that I can be a stumbling block. People can actually trip over me and be encouraged to change course (away from God) because of me.
I was raised with an understanding of faith which meant going to church. We didn’t talk about faith. We just went to church. Now please understand I am not trying to say that what my parents did was wrong, but it was a stumbling block. They weren’t intentionally trying to confuse us; they did what they knew. It’s a stumbling block to our children to teach them that faith is about attending a church service once a week. It compartmentalizes faith and gives the false impression that faith is a part of my life not the foundation of my life.
When I don’t pray out loud with my children, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t care for the least of these, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t read the Bible, I’m a stumbling block.
When I gossip in front of others I’m a stumbling block.
When I won’t do the hard work of restoring a broken relationship, I’m a stumbling block.
When I define worship based on my preferences, I’m a stumbling block.
When I see myself primarily as a victim, I’m a stumbling block.
When I won’t let people into my life, I’m a stumbling block.
When I don’t intentionally seek to make disciples, I’m a stumbling block.
When I believe God owes me, I’m a stumbling block.
When I get intoxicated, I’m a stumbling block.
When I treat employees poorly, I’m a stumbling block.
When I lie in front of others, I’m a stumbling block.
When I claim faith and live by my own power, I’m a stumbling block.
When I call Jesus Lord and spend no time with Him, I’m a stumbling block.
Do you remember in Genesis 3 what the serpent did? He gently encouraged Eve to question whether God was really trustworthy. He sought to plant a seed of doubt. “Maybe God doesn’t know what He’s talking about.” “Maybe what I think and want will be better for me.” Eve tripped. Adam tripped. They both stumbled away from God and began living a life of shame, where they actually felt the need to hide from God. (We’ve become so good at hiding now. We are experts at keeping people from knowing and seeing the truth about us.)
We have the opportunity to be like the serpent in each other’s lives. The serpent used words primarily. For us, it tends to come with our actions. Just the fact that we are too often prone to say one thing and do another has become one of the greatest stumbling blocks to people coming to faith in Jesus. They look at the followers of Jesus, feel judged and see hypocrisy, and WE trip them up on the path to Jesus.
What part are you playing in the lives of others? Does your life do more to trip people up on the path to Jesus or is your life an encouragement to keep walking toward Him?
Ask the people of your life. I’m not kidding. Ask them.
“How does my life encourage you in your walk with Jesus? How does my life get in the way?”
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A Question on Homosexuality
I received the following question recently and thought you’d be interested in this conversation.
Question
This is not urgent, but sometime, could you give me some insight on homosexuality? I have always believed that it is a sin and that the person has a choice, but lately several of my Christian colleagues are going over to the secular philosophy that it is genetic and therefore not a choice. What is your opinion?
My Response
I believe the Bible is clear when it comes to homosexual behavior. It is sin. The more difficult question has to do with homosexual orientation. I believe people can have a predisposition toward members of the same sex, but I would see this in the same category as the predispositions we all have toward certain sinful behaviors. I am drawn to certain sinful practices more so than others. Whether that has to do with how I was raised or how my nature has been tainted because of sin, it is still sin if I choose to give in to these inclinations. However, having the inclinations toward same sex relationships is not sin. It is temptation. The voice inside of us that encourages homosexual behavior is not the voice of God because God never contradicts what He’s said in His Word.
The Church has done a pathetic job of really loving the homosexual community. We’ve been good at judging and excluding and even condemning. I hope that changes. I hope that the Church has a “room for all” perspective. I don’t mean we affirm or accept sinful practices as if we just turn and look the other way. But too often we start by trying to change people’s behavior instead of loving them to Jesus. What the homosexual community needs more than anything else is to see Jesus tangibly lived out by His Church THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS not statements of condemnation or anger.
Jesus is the agent of change. There is no transformation for any of us away from our sinful inclinations without the power of the HS at work within us. We’ve often lived under the false assumption that the church exists for those who have overcome the sin in their lives and now they are ready and welcome in the church. That is not the picture of church I see in the NT. The Church definitely needs to be a place of support and encouragement for fellow followers, but the Church also needs to be a place where people can explore Jesus, see how He’s working in others, and experience Him through His followers. If people can only come once they’ve rid their life of sin (impossible for all of us anyway), our churches will never have the kingdom impact God desires.
Question
This is not urgent, but sometime, could you give me some insight on homosexuality? I have always believed that it is a sin and that the person has a choice, but lately several of my Christian colleagues are going over to the secular philosophy that it is genetic and therefore not a choice. What is your opinion?
My Response
I believe the Bible is clear when it comes to homosexual behavior. It is sin. The more difficult question has to do with homosexual orientation. I believe people can have a predisposition toward members of the same sex, but I would see this in the same category as the predispositions we all have toward certain sinful behaviors. I am drawn to certain sinful practices more so than others. Whether that has to do with how I was raised or how my nature has been tainted because of sin, it is still sin if I choose to give in to these inclinations. However, having the inclinations toward same sex relationships is not sin. It is temptation. The voice inside of us that encourages homosexual behavior is not the voice of God because God never contradicts what He’s said in His Word.
The Church has done a pathetic job of really loving the homosexual community. We’ve been good at judging and excluding and even condemning. I hope that changes. I hope that the Church has a “room for all” perspective. I don’t mean we affirm or accept sinful practices as if we just turn and look the other way. But too often we start by trying to change people’s behavior instead of loving them to Jesus. What the homosexual community needs more than anything else is to see Jesus tangibly lived out by His Church THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS not statements of condemnation or anger.
Jesus is the agent of change. There is no transformation for any of us away from our sinful inclinations without the power of the HS at work within us. We’ve often lived under the false assumption that the church exists for those who have overcome the sin in their lives and now they are ready and welcome in the church. That is not the picture of church I see in the NT. The Church definitely needs to be a place of support and encouragement for fellow followers, but the Church also needs to be a place where people can explore Jesus, see how He’s working in others, and experience Him through His followers. If people can only come once they’ve rid their life of sin (impossible for all of us anyway), our churches will never have the kingdom impact God desires.
Children Matter
“Let the children come to me.” Jesus
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Jesus
“The real integration of children into our lives is happening all across the world – just not very much in Western society. Here we have forgotten that there is really no higher calling than to raise a child. We tend to do a lot for our children but not nearly enough with our children.”
Wes Stafford, Too Small to Ignore, p. 33
Definition of failure: “to succeed at something that doesn’t really matter.” Stafford, p. 93
I’m becoming more and more aware of how often I succeed at things that really don’t matter. Stafford calls that failure. I’m having a hard time arguing with that perspective.
Hardly anyone would disagree with the statement that children matter. It is never a ‘failure’ to invest in the life of a child. We would all affirm the importance of children and the priority they ought to be in our lives, churches, and communities. Children matter.
God has helped affirmed their importance and stated some things that really turned our understanding upside down. He said things like, “unless you become like this child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” or “you need to have faith like a child.”
For me, the rubber meets the road in the midst of the daily requests I receive from John for my attention. Whether its Uno or Frisbee golf or playing a computer game or reading, John always has a plan for my life. I’m often torn. I often don’t want to do what he wants me to do. I also have a plan in my head for my own life. I have ideas about the things that I want to do. John rarely if ever wants to buy into my plan, and sadly, my plan often involves doing something on my own.
To succeed at something that doesn’t really matter is failure. So often my plans fit into this category. I’m definitely drawn to them. They keep my attention and entertain me, but they almost always don’t matter.
John matters – more so than most of the rest of my life – but in the day to day life it is tempting to lose sight of living this out. It is easy to say that John matters and that being a parent is one of the highest callings I have, but the proof is shown in how I live. Do I live out how much he matters? Do I invest in him not only in the games we play but in the conversations we have? Am I “training him up in the way he should go”? Am I modeling a commitment to prayer, God’s Word, caring for others, being a godly husband, serving, listening, etc.? I know that is a lot to consider, but it matters. This is the stuff that really matters.
John’s not going to remember how many times he beat me in Uno or how many fish we caught or how many books we read or all that we talked about. But he will remember whether or not his dad spent time with him. He will become the man that he’ll become due in a large part based on the dad he had. And he will also form ideas, impressions, values, beliefs, etc. based significantly on the ideas, values, beliefs, and impressions of his dad.
I can’t lose sight of the gift I have in John. It’s not just about doing my part so that he turns out well, it’s enjoying the gift it is to be a part of his life. There is more joy to be found here than in the multitude of others plans I create for myself that really have no eternal significance.
Every child (yours and mine and those in between) matters.
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Jesus
“The real integration of children into our lives is happening all across the world – just not very much in Western society. Here we have forgotten that there is really no higher calling than to raise a child. We tend to do a lot for our children but not nearly enough with our children.”
Wes Stafford, Too Small to Ignore, p. 33
Definition of failure: “to succeed at something that doesn’t really matter.” Stafford, p. 93
I’m becoming more and more aware of how often I succeed at things that really don’t matter. Stafford calls that failure. I’m having a hard time arguing with that perspective.
Hardly anyone would disagree with the statement that children matter. It is never a ‘failure’ to invest in the life of a child. We would all affirm the importance of children and the priority they ought to be in our lives, churches, and communities. Children matter.
God has helped affirmed their importance and stated some things that really turned our understanding upside down. He said things like, “unless you become like this child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” or “you need to have faith like a child.”
For me, the rubber meets the road in the midst of the daily requests I receive from John for my attention. Whether its Uno or Frisbee golf or playing a computer game or reading, John always has a plan for my life. I’m often torn. I often don’t want to do what he wants me to do. I also have a plan in my head for my own life. I have ideas about the things that I want to do. John rarely if ever wants to buy into my plan, and sadly, my plan often involves doing something on my own.
To succeed at something that doesn’t really matter is failure. So often my plans fit into this category. I’m definitely drawn to them. They keep my attention and entertain me, but they almost always don’t matter.
John matters – more so than most of the rest of my life – but in the day to day life it is tempting to lose sight of living this out. It is easy to say that John matters and that being a parent is one of the highest callings I have, but the proof is shown in how I live. Do I live out how much he matters? Do I invest in him not only in the games we play but in the conversations we have? Am I “training him up in the way he should go”? Am I modeling a commitment to prayer, God’s Word, caring for others, being a godly husband, serving, listening, etc.? I know that is a lot to consider, but it matters. This is the stuff that really matters.
John’s not going to remember how many times he beat me in Uno or how many fish we caught or how many books we read or all that we talked about. But he will remember whether or not his dad spent time with him. He will become the man that he’ll become due in a large part based on the dad he had. And he will also form ideas, impressions, values, beliefs, etc. based significantly on the ideas, values, beliefs, and impressions of his dad.
I can’t lose sight of the gift I have in John. It’s not just about doing my part so that he turns out well, it’s enjoying the gift it is to be a part of his life. There is more joy to be found here than in the multitude of others plans I create for myself that really have no eternal significance.
Every child (yours and mine and those in between) matters.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Thoughts on Faith - Buechner
The following are excerpts from Fredrick Buechner’s excellent book, Secrets in the Dark.
The world and all of us in it are half in love with our own destruction and thus mad. The world and all of us in it are hungry to devour each other and ourselves and thus lost. That is not just a preacher’s truth, a rhetorical truth, a Sunday school truth. Listen to the evening news. Watch television. Read the novels and histories and plays of our time. Read part of what there is to be read in every human face including my face and your face. But every once in a while in the world, and every once in a while in ourselves, there is something else to read—there are places and times, inner ones and outer ones, where something like peace happens, love happens, light happens, . . . . And when they happen, we should hold on to them for dear life, because of course they are dear life. They are glimpses and whispers from afar: that peace, light, love are where life ultimately comes from, that deeper down than madness and lostness they are what at its heart life is. By faith we know this, and I think only by faith, because there is no other way to know it.
“By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear,” says the author of Hebrews. Faith is a way of looking at what is seen and understanding it in a new sense. Faith is a way of looking at what there is to be seen in the world and in ourselves and hoping, trusting, believing against all evidence to the contrary that beneath the surface we see there is vastly more that we cannot see.
What is it “that is seen,” as Hebrews puts it? What is seen is the ruined landscape I saw through the train window, the earth so ravaged you can’t believe any green thing will ever grow there again. What is seen is all the streets in the world like Forty-Second Street—the crazy drunks, the child whores, the stink of loneliness, emptiness, cruelty, despair. Maybe most of all what is seen, if we’re honest, is that there is in all of us what is both sickened and fascinated by such things, attracted and repelled. What is seen is a world that tries to sell us what kills us like the cigarette ad and never even gives it a second thought, as you and I rarely give it a second thought either but rush to buy what the world sells, and in our own way sell it ourselves.
Who or what created such a world? On the face of it, there seems to be only one answer to that question. We ourselves created it—that is the answer—and it is hard to see on the face of it—hard to see—that what created us can have been anything more than some great cosmic upheaval, some slow, blind process as empty of meaning or purpose as a glacier. But “by faith,” says Hebrews, we see exactly the same world and yet reach exactly the opposite answer, which is faith’s answer. “By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God,” it says, “so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.”
By faith we understand, if we are to understand it at all, that the madness and lostness we see all around us and within us are not the last truth about the world but only the next to the last truth. Madness and lostness are the results of terrible blindness and tragic willfulness, which whole nations are involved in no less than you and I are involved in them. Faith is the eye of the heart, and by faith we see deep down beneath the face of things—by faith we struggle against all odds to be able to see—that the world is God’s creation even so. It is he who made us and not we ourselves, made us out of his peace to live in peace, out of his light to dwell in light, out of his love to be above all things loved and loving. That is the last truth about the world.
(70-71)
The world and all of us in it are half in love with our own destruction and thus mad. The world and all of us in it are hungry to devour each other and ourselves and thus lost. That is not just a preacher’s truth, a rhetorical truth, a Sunday school truth. Listen to the evening news. Watch television. Read the novels and histories and plays of our time. Read part of what there is to be read in every human face including my face and your face. But every once in a while in the world, and every once in a while in ourselves, there is something else to read—there are places and times, inner ones and outer ones, where something like peace happens, love happens, light happens, . . . . And when they happen, we should hold on to them for dear life, because of course they are dear life. They are glimpses and whispers from afar: that peace, light, love are where life ultimately comes from, that deeper down than madness and lostness they are what at its heart life is. By faith we know this, and I think only by faith, because there is no other way to know it.
“By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear,” says the author of Hebrews. Faith is a way of looking at what is seen and understanding it in a new sense. Faith is a way of looking at what there is to be seen in the world and in ourselves and hoping, trusting, believing against all evidence to the contrary that beneath the surface we see there is vastly more that we cannot see.
What is it “that is seen,” as Hebrews puts it? What is seen is the ruined landscape I saw through the train window, the earth so ravaged you can’t believe any green thing will ever grow there again. What is seen is all the streets in the world like Forty-Second Street—the crazy drunks, the child whores, the stink of loneliness, emptiness, cruelty, despair. Maybe most of all what is seen, if we’re honest, is that there is in all of us what is both sickened and fascinated by such things, attracted and repelled. What is seen is a world that tries to sell us what kills us like the cigarette ad and never even gives it a second thought, as you and I rarely give it a second thought either but rush to buy what the world sells, and in our own way sell it ourselves.
Who or what created such a world? On the face of it, there seems to be only one answer to that question. We ourselves created it—that is the answer—and it is hard to see on the face of it—hard to see—that what created us can have been anything more than some great cosmic upheaval, some slow, blind process as empty of meaning or purpose as a glacier. But “by faith,” says Hebrews, we see exactly the same world and yet reach exactly the opposite answer, which is faith’s answer. “By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God,” it says, “so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.”
By faith we understand, if we are to understand it at all, that the madness and lostness we see all around us and within us are not the last truth about the world but only the next to the last truth. Madness and lostness are the results of terrible blindness and tragic willfulness, which whole nations are involved in no less than you and I are involved in them. Faith is the eye of the heart, and by faith we see deep down beneath the face of things—by faith we struggle against all odds to be able to see—that the world is God’s creation even so. It is he who made us and not we ourselves, made us out of his peace to live in peace, out of his light to dwell in light, out of his love to be above all things loved and loving. That is the last truth about the world.
(70-71)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Ambivalent answers from God?
I was recently asked the following question via email. I thought it was a good question and one worth sharing.
The Question
Does God give ambivalent answers to prayer? I guess what I mean is, is there always a clear cut answer, such as 'do this' or 'don't even think it'? Can an answer be left in doubt or is it just the human mind that perceives the doubt? Is there such a thing as a 'murky' answer to prayer?
My Response
"If any of you is lacking wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord." James 1:5-8
'Does God give ambivalent answers to prayer?' I guess, from our perspective here on earth, we can't help but say, "Yes." However, I don't believe God ever responds with uncertainty. He knows exactly what He is doing (or not doing). James says we need to "ask in faith, never doubting . . ." and I believe it's very important that we do this. But what are we putting our faith in? The easy answer is God and that's right. However, I think we blur our perspective because we really put our faith in THE ANSWER. If I hear clearly and know just what I need to do, then God is trustworthy and faithful to the promises He's made. If I don't have the answer, either a) God can't be trusted or b) there is something wrong with me.
If we put our faith in God and we define faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1) AND we define 'hope' biblically meaning guaranteed, then we KNOW God will answer. But more often than not, God's answer is not in direct response to our question. He is interested in doing a work IN us not just FOR us. So when I prayed that God would heal my dad of cancer, He didn't just say, "No, Chip, I will not do that." Instead He said, "I've heard you. I care deeply about you and what you are feeling and desiring. Trust me, and even though you will not get what you want, you will find in me what you need regardless of the answer you seek. So just because I do not respond with a YES doesn't mean your faith in me should be any less certain."
What's God's ultimate goal with us? It is to draw us to Himself (and in doing so the world will see Him in us). Regardless of what we ask for or not, God is always working in our conversation with Him to fulfill this ultimate goal. We often think if He'd answer us the way we want, then we'd be more easily drawn to him, but if you think about that as a parent, you realize how foolish that is. God doesn't revel in not giving us what we want, but He loves us so deeply, He won't always give us what we want. To Him it's not a transaction that ought to be the focus, but a relationship, and nobody does relationships better than He does.
I just finished reading an outstanding chapter on faith in Fredrick Buechner's book, Secrets in the Dark. It’s worth reading and addresses some of these challenges of faith.
The Question
Does God give ambivalent answers to prayer? I guess what I mean is, is there always a clear cut answer, such as 'do this' or 'don't even think it'? Can an answer be left in doubt or is it just the human mind that perceives the doubt? Is there such a thing as a 'murky' answer to prayer?
My Response
"If any of you is lacking wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord." James 1:5-8
'Does God give ambivalent answers to prayer?' I guess, from our perspective here on earth, we can't help but say, "Yes." However, I don't believe God ever responds with uncertainty. He knows exactly what He is doing (or not doing). James says we need to "ask in faith, never doubting . . ." and I believe it's very important that we do this. But what are we putting our faith in? The easy answer is God and that's right. However, I think we blur our perspective because we really put our faith in THE ANSWER. If I hear clearly and know just what I need to do, then God is trustworthy and faithful to the promises He's made. If I don't have the answer, either a) God can't be trusted or b) there is something wrong with me.
If we put our faith in God and we define faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1) AND we define 'hope' biblically meaning guaranteed, then we KNOW God will answer. But more often than not, God's answer is not in direct response to our question. He is interested in doing a work IN us not just FOR us. So when I prayed that God would heal my dad of cancer, He didn't just say, "No, Chip, I will not do that." Instead He said, "I've heard you. I care deeply about you and what you are feeling and desiring. Trust me, and even though you will not get what you want, you will find in me what you need regardless of the answer you seek. So just because I do not respond with a YES doesn't mean your faith in me should be any less certain."
What's God's ultimate goal with us? It is to draw us to Himself (and in doing so the world will see Him in us). Regardless of what we ask for or not, God is always working in our conversation with Him to fulfill this ultimate goal. We often think if He'd answer us the way we want, then we'd be more easily drawn to him, but if you think about that as a parent, you realize how foolish that is. God doesn't revel in not giving us what we want, but He loves us so deeply, He won't always give us what we want. To Him it's not a transaction that ought to be the focus, but a relationship, and nobody does relationships better than He does.
I just finished reading an outstanding chapter on faith in Fredrick Buechner's book, Secrets in the Dark. It’s worth reading and addresses some of these challenges of faith.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Rhythm of Life
If you haven’t heard yet, I’m teaching a dance class. The questions and ‘concerns’ about this endeavor have been downright entertaining. “Are you qualified to teach dance?” “Who taught you?” “Are you really going to dance?” “Are you really going to make me dance?” “What does dancing have anything to do with God?” “Are you serious . . . dance . . . on Sunday?”
Have you ever found yourself singing out loud to yourself and even dancing? Have you ever felt like you just need to move? Don’t you have that song or artist that just gets you out of your chair? Your feet start tapping, your body starts swaying, etc.?
Do you know (and feel) the rhythm of creation?
God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night . . . (Genesis 1:16-18a)
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance . . .
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-4)
Spring reminds us of this rhythm of life. Plants are sprouting. The rich color of green covers our landscapes. Birds are returning (and singing). The rhythm is driving us outside and we see an increased spurt of activity – raking, mulching, spring cleaning, planting, watering, discarding, etc.
Think about your typical day: rest – rise – eat – work – eat – work – eat – play – rest. Now John’s rhythm is different than mine but he has a rhythm: rest (not enough) – rise (too early) – eat – play – eat – play – eat – play – rest.
Take any of us out of our rhythm and it may seem nice for a while, but there is something inherent in each of us about keeping this rhythm. Remove eating or resting and it becomes even more pronounced.
Think about the seasons. Spring (planting/new life) – summer (growing) – fall (harvest) – winter (dying/rest).
Think about relationships: It is not good for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18) We are created to be in relationship. There are important rhythms we have in relationship. We need to love and be loved. We need to give and to receive. We need to listen and be heard. We need help along the way. We really are out of sync when we are out of relationship both with each other and especially with our Creator.
Because there is a rhythm, there is an opportunity to dance. In fact, I would suggest that God created us to dance to the rhythm of His creation. And when we dance to His rhythm, we experience a freedom unlike anything else we’ll ever experience.
Have you ever felt that freedom when you dance? Have you ever experienced that joy and abandonment when you’ve just let your body move to the music?
Although God is probably not asking us to gyrate our bodies throughout each day, He is inviting us to move to the rhythm He has created within creation and which He has instilled within us.
Have you ever found yourself singing out loud to yourself and even dancing? Have you ever felt like you just need to move? Don’t you have that song or artist that just gets you out of your chair? Your feet start tapping, your body starts swaying, etc.?
Do you know (and feel) the rhythm of creation?
God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night . . . (Genesis 1:16-18a)
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance . . .
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-4)
Spring reminds us of this rhythm of life. Plants are sprouting. The rich color of green covers our landscapes. Birds are returning (and singing). The rhythm is driving us outside and we see an increased spurt of activity – raking, mulching, spring cleaning, planting, watering, discarding, etc.
Think about your typical day: rest – rise – eat – work – eat – work – eat – play – rest. Now John’s rhythm is different than mine but he has a rhythm: rest (not enough) – rise (too early) – eat – play – eat – play – eat – play – rest.
Take any of us out of our rhythm and it may seem nice for a while, but there is something inherent in each of us about keeping this rhythm. Remove eating or resting and it becomes even more pronounced.
Think about the seasons. Spring (planting/new life) – summer (growing) – fall (harvest) – winter (dying/rest).
Think about relationships: It is not good for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18) We are created to be in relationship. There are important rhythms we have in relationship. We need to love and be loved. We need to give and to receive. We need to listen and be heard. We need help along the way. We really are out of sync when we are out of relationship both with each other and especially with our Creator.
Because there is a rhythm, there is an opportunity to dance. In fact, I would suggest that God created us to dance to the rhythm of His creation. And when we dance to His rhythm, we experience a freedom unlike anything else we’ll ever experience.
Have you ever felt that freedom when you dance? Have you ever experienced that joy and abandonment when you’ve just let your body move to the music?
Although God is probably not asking us to gyrate our bodies throughout each day, He is inviting us to move to the rhythm He has created within creation and which He has instilled within us.
Monday, April 5, 2010
What a God!
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now! God is keeping a careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all – life healed and whole.
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”
The Message, I Peter 1:3-9, 13-16
What a God we have! What a gift we’ve received in our salvation.
There is nothing better. There is nothing that can bring us such joy. There is nothing else that can lead to a life (no matter what) of REJOICING.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
We experienced a feast at Easter. It was a table filled with delicious fruits, vegetables, meats, and treats. The table overflowed with lots of food. Could you imagine having such a feast by yourself? Can you imagine coming to this table and seeing that you are the only one there? What a waste? I can’t possibly eat all that is there. There is so much more than I could ever want or need. Others have to come.
Thankfully, there were others at this feast. A huge part of the joy of the meal was not simply good food, but good friends and the opportunity to get to know each other better. There is something very right about SHARING in the feast together. It wouldn’t be the same if I (or you) was alone.
Now imagine what you’d think if the table was filled with a little food and not very good food. You’d be much more hesitant to want anyone else to experience this meager table. For one, there is not enough to go around and two, who would want to eat this simple fare anyway? Based on what you see on the table can determine how much you want others to be there and share in the meal.
The table of God’s salvation is the most amazing feast you can imagine. It’s a table that overflows. There is no way you would ever imagine sitting at this table alone. Others have to come. So bring everyone from your church and every Christian you know and seat them around this table. It is still way too much for even this crowd to enjoy. More have to come. The feast is so splendid and beautiful and there is such quantity, more just have to come.
Too often, I (and maybe you) lack the urgency that we see modeled in the disciples. We fail to see the significance of the table we sit at. We fail to see the overwhelming bounty of God’s grace right before us. And as a result, we too easily forget about the people around us, those who have not responded to God’s invitation to come. We sit there too focused upon the minutia of our lives and fail to see the feast before us. Until we truly see and keep looking at the gift of our salvation, we will be less likely to invite others to come. And isn’t this our calling? We are called to be family members who are invited to bring everyone we can to partake at this table. There is more than enough.
May God help us long for every person we know to come and sit at God’s table of grace. May we not get so caught up in the busyness and distractions of our life that we forget our true calling and we fail to look closely at the feast that lies before us. May you and I commit to praying for our lost friends and family every day, asking God to bring them home and asking God to use us to help them see the Way.
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”
The Message, I Peter 1:3-9, 13-16
What a God we have! What a gift we’ve received in our salvation.
There is nothing better. There is nothing that can bring us such joy. There is nothing else that can lead to a life (no matter what) of REJOICING.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
We experienced a feast at Easter. It was a table filled with delicious fruits, vegetables, meats, and treats. The table overflowed with lots of food. Could you imagine having such a feast by yourself? Can you imagine coming to this table and seeing that you are the only one there? What a waste? I can’t possibly eat all that is there. There is so much more than I could ever want or need. Others have to come.
Thankfully, there were others at this feast. A huge part of the joy of the meal was not simply good food, but good friends and the opportunity to get to know each other better. There is something very right about SHARING in the feast together. It wouldn’t be the same if I (or you) was alone.
Now imagine what you’d think if the table was filled with a little food and not very good food. You’d be much more hesitant to want anyone else to experience this meager table. For one, there is not enough to go around and two, who would want to eat this simple fare anyway? Based on what you see on the table can determine how much you want others to be there and share in the meal.
The table of God’s salvation is the most amazing feast you can imagine. It’s a table that overflows. There is no way you would ever imagine sitting at this table alone. Others have to come. So bring everyone from your church and every Christian you know and seat them around this table. It is still way too much for even this crowd to enjoy. More have to come. The feast is so splendid and beautiful and there is such quantity, more just have to come.
Too often, I (and maybe you) lack the urgency that we see modeled in the disciples. We fail to see the significance of the table we sit at. We fail to see the overwhelming bounty of God’s grace right before us. And as a result, we too easily forget about the people around us, those who have not responded to God’s invitation to come. We sit there too focused upon the minutia of our lives and fail to see the feast before us. Until we truly see and keep looking at the gift of our salvation, we will be less likely to invite others to come. And isn’t this our calling? We are called to be family members who are invited to bring everyone we can to partake at this table. There is more than enough.
May God help us long for every person we know to come and sit at God’s table of grace. May we not get so caught up in the busyness and distractions of our life that we forget our true calling and we fail to look closely at the feast that lies before us. May you and I commit to praying for our lost friends and family every day, asking God to bring them home and asking God to use us to help them see the Way.
Prodigal God - Keller
These are excerpts from Timothy Keller’s book, The Prodigal God.
Elder brothers obey God to get things. They don’t obey God to get God himself-in order to resemble him, love him, know him, and delight him. So religious and moral people can be avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord as much as the younger brothers who say they don’t believe in God and define right and wrong for themselves. Pg. 42-43
Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life. Pg. 43
There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good. Pg. 44
The gospel: In its view, everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change. Pg. 45
The first sign you have an elder-brother spirit is that when your life doesn’t go as you want, you aren’t just sorrowful but deeply angry and bitter. Elder brothers believe that if they live a good life they should get a good life, that God owes them a smooth road if they try very hard to live up to standards. Pg. 49-50
If a group believes God favors them because of their particularly true doctrine, ways of worship, and ethical behavior, their attitude toward those without these things can be hostile. Their self-righteousness hides under the claim that they are only opposing the enemies of God. When you look at the world through those lenses, it becomes easy to justify hate and oppression, all in the name of truth. Pg.54
Elder brothers may do good to others, but not out of delight in the deeds themselves or for the love of people or the pleasure of God. They are not really feeding the hungry and clothing the poor, they are feeding and clothing themselves. The heart’s fundamental self-centeredness is not only kept intact but nurtured by fear-based moralism. Pg. 62
The last sign of the elder-brother spirit is a lack of assurance of the father’s love. The older son says, “You never threw me a party.” Pg. 63
Elder brothers have an undercurrent of anger toward life circumstances, hold grudges long and bitterly, look down at people of other races, religions, and lifestyles, experience life as a joyless, crushing drudgery, have little intimacy and joy in their prayer lives, and have a deep insecurity that makes them overly sensitive to criticism and rejection yet fierce and merciless in condemning others. What a terrible picture. Pg. 70-71
Pride in his good deeds, rather than remorse over his bad deeds, was keeping the older son out of the feast of salvation. The elder brother’s problem is his self-righteousness, the way he uses his moral record to put God and others in his debt to control them and get them to do what he wants. His spiritual problem is the radical insecurity that comes from basing his self-image on achievements and performance, so he must endlessly prop up his sense of righteousness by putting other down and finding fault. Pg. 77
To truly become Christians we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right. Pharisees only repent of their sins, but Christians repent for the very roots of their righteousness, too. We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness-the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord. We must admit that we’ve put our ultimate hope and trust in things other than God, and that in both our wrongdoing and right doing we have been seeking to get around God or get control of God in order to get hold of those things.
It is only when you see the desire to be your own Savior and Lord-lying beneath both your sins and your moral goodness-that you are on the verge of understanding the gospel and becoming a Christian indeed. Pg. 78
Jesus had not come to simply deliver one nation from political oppression, but to save all of us from sin, evil, and death itself. He came to bring the human race Home. Therefore, he did not come in strength but in weakness. He came and experienced the exile that we deserved. He was expelled from the presence of the Father, he was thrust into the darkness, the uttermost despair of spiritual alienation-in our place. He took upon himself the full curse of human rebellion, cosmic homelessness, so that we could be welcomed into our true home. Pg. 101-102
The Bible insists on using sensory language about salvation. It calls us to “taste and see” that the Lord is good, not only to agree and believe it. Pg. 107
The climax of history is not a higher form of disembodied consciousness but a feast. Pg. 110-111
Jesus is saying that the inevitable sign that you know you are a sinner saved by sheer, costly grace is a sensitive social conscience and a life poured out in deeds of service to the poor. Younger brothers are too selfish and elder brothers are too self-righteous to care for the poor.
Christianity, therefore, is perhaps the most materialistic of the world’s faiths. Jesus’ miracles were not so much violations of the natural order, but a restoration of the natural order. God did not create a world with blindness, leprosy, hunger, and death in it. Jesus’ miracles were signs that someday all these corruptions of his creation would be abolished. Christians therefore can talk of saving the soul and of building social systems that deliver safe streets and warm homes in the same sentence. With integrity. Pg. 112
Christianity is by no means the opiate of the people. It’s more like the smelling salts. Pg. 113
Jesus doesn’t love us because we are beautiful; we become beautiful through Jesus’ sacrificial love. He is the ultimate spouse to us, his “bride,” in the gospel. Pg. 118
If we say “I believe in Jesus” but it doesn’t affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven’t truly understood or believed in Jesus at all. Pg. 124
There is no way you will be able to grow spiritually apart from a deep involvement in a community of other believers. You can’t live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find a place. Pg. 125
Christians commonly say they want a relationship with Jesus, that they want to “get to know Jesus better.” You will never be able to do that by yourself. You must be deeply involved in the church, in Christian community, with strong relationships of love and accountability. Only if you are part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness. Pg. 127
Elder brothers obey God to get things. They don’t obey God to get God himself-in order to resemble him, love him, know him, and delight him. So religious and moral people can be avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord as much as the younger brothers who say they don’t believe in God and define right and wrong for themselves. Pg. 42-43
Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life. Pg. 43
There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good. Pg. 44
The gospel: In its view, everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change. Pg. 45
The first sign you have an elder-brother spirit is that when your life doesn’t go as you want, you aren’t just sorrowful but deeply angry and bitter. Elder brothers believe that if they live a good life they should get a good life, that God owes them a smooth road if they try very hard to live up to standards. Pg. 49-50
If a group believes God favors them because of their particularly true doctrine, ways of worship, and ethical behavior, their attitude toward those without these things can be hostile. Their self-righteousness hides under the claim that they are only opposing the enemies of God. When you look at the world through those lenses, it becomes easy to justify hate and oppression, all in the name of truth. Pg.54
Elder brothers may do good to others, but not out of delight in the deeds themselves or for the love of people or the pleasure of God. They are not really feeding the hungry and clothing the poor, they are feeding and clothing themselves. The heart’s fundamental self-centeredness is not only kept intact but nurtured by fear-based moralism. Pg. 62
The last sign of the elder-brother spirit is a lack of assurance of the father’s love. The older son says, “You never threw me a party.” Pg. 63
Elder brothers have an undercurrent of anger toward life circumstances, hold grudges long and bitterly, look down at people of other races, religions, and lifestyles, experience life as a joyless, crushing drudgery, have little intimacy and joy in their prayer lives, and have a deep insecurity that makes them overly sensitive to criticism and rejection yet fierce and merciless in condemning others. What a terrible picture. Pg. 70-71
Pride in his good deeds, rather than remorse over his bad deeds, was keeping the older son out of the feast of salvation. The elder brother’s problem is his self-righteousness, the way he uses his moral record to put God and others in his debt to control them and get them to do what he wants. His spiritual problem is the radical insecurity that comes from basing his self-image on achievements and performance, so he must endlessly prop up his sense of righteousness by putting other down and finding fault. Pg. 77
To truly become Christians we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right. Pharisees only repent of their sins, but Christians repent for the very roots of their righteousness, too. We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness-the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord. We must admit that we’ve put our ultimate hope and trust in things other than God, and that in both our wrongdoing and right doing we have been seeking to get around God or get control of God in order to get hold of those things.
It is only when you see the desire to be your own Savior and Lord-lying beneath both your sins and your moral goodness-that you are on the verge of understanding the gospel and becoming a Christian indeed. Pg. 78
Jesus had not come to simply deliver one nation from political oppression, but to save all of us from sin, evil, and death itself. He came to bring the human race Home. Therefore, he did not come in strength but in weakness. He came and experienced the exile that we deserved. He was expelled from the presence of the Father, he was thrust into the darkness, the uttermost despair of spiritual alienation-in our place. He took upon himself the full curse of human rebellion, cosmic homelessness, so that we could be welcomed into our true home. Pg. 101-102
The Bible insists on using sensory language about salvation. It calls us to “taste and see” that the Lord is good, not only to agree and believe it. Pg. 107
The climax of history is not a higher form of disembodied consciousness but a feast. Pg. 110-111
Jesus is saying that the inevitable sign that you know you are a sinner saved by sheer, costly grace is a sensitive social conscience and a life poured out in deeds of service to the poor. Younger brothers are too selfish and elder brothers are too self-righteous to care for the poor.
Christianity, therefore, is perhaps the most materialistic of the world’s faiths. Jesus’ miracles were not so much violations of the natural order, but a restoration of the natural order. God did not create a world with blindness, leprosy, hunger, and death in it. Jesus’ miracles were signs that someday all these corruptions of his creation would be abolished. Christians therefore can talk of saving the soul and of building social systems that deliver safe streets and warm homes in the same sentence. With integrity. Pg. 112
Christianity is by no means the opiate of the people. It’s more like the smelling salts. Pg. 113
Jesus doesn’t love us because we are beautiful; we become beautiful through Jesus’ sacrificial love. He is the ultimate spouse to us, his “bride,” in the gospel. Pg. 118
If we say “I believe in Jesus” but it doesn’t affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven’t truly understood or believed in Jesus at all. Pg. 124
There is no way you will be able to grow spiritually apart from a deep involvement in a community of other believers. You can’t live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find a place. Pg. 125
Christians commonly say they want a relationship with Jesus, that they want to “get to know Jesus better.” You will never be able to do that by yourself. You must be deeply involved in the church, in Christian community, with strong relationships of love and accountability. Only if you are part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness. Pg. 127
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Life of the Trail - The Summit
Brian and Mabel recently received the great news that their adoption of Mehret is all set. They leave in the middle of April for Ethiopia to pick up their 5 year-old daughter. Praise God.
Mehret knows she has a family in Michigan that wants to adopt her. She’s received cards and pictures of her new family. She even has a few pictures of her room, her new house, and the community of Charlevoix. She knows that is where she is headed to live with her new family, the Carsons.
Imagine for a moment what is going on inside her head. She doesn’t really know the Carsons. She’s never been to Charlevoix or Michigan or the United States. She’s seen pictures, but pictures are a far cry from the actual experience – of being in the place you see in the pictures.
Her life is different today because of what she anticipates in the future. She knows she’s leaving, so I’m sure there are a lot of mixed feelings. “Do I really want to leave? I’ll miss this or that or him or her. But I have a new family who says they love me and has a room for me and new stuff.” Because of where she is going, it affects how she views her life today. We experience this same thing when we have a vacation coming or we’re pregnant or about to get married. We look at our life today differently because of what is coming in our future.
As you consider this journey you're on with Jesus, what is the destination? What does the future hold for you? These are important questions and how you answer these questions affects how you live today. Is there a better place, a better day, a better life coming? Or is this the best there is? Can you affirm the song that says, “This world is not my home”?
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world – the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches – comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
1 John 2:15-17
“It’s summit day.”
I clearly remember those words coming from the mouth of our guide. It was the day we were going up to the top of the mountain. We were going to climb up to 14,000 feet. It was an exhilarating experience. The oxygen got quite a bit thinner. The effort it took to climb was more intense. All of us kept looking up to see if we could see where we were headed. The summit was never easy to see until you reached to top.
What a view. It was worth all the effort, all the struggles, all the pain and hunger and discouragement. To see from the top was more satisfying than any of us imagined. We took pictures. We gave hugs and high fives. We sat and enjoyed the view. It was glorious. You could see all around you. You could see further than you’d ever seen before. What a joy.
But sooner than anyone wanted it was time to climb down. We couldn’t stay or live on the summit. We had to head back down into the valleys.
But there is a day coming when we will stay on the summit. We won’t climb down. We won’t live in the valleys any longer. We will enjoy the mountain top eternally. There will be no letdowns, no suffering, no brokenness, no discouragement. We will be home because home is on the summit with the guide who has brought us here. We will not know what it all looks like until we get there. We have a few pictures and glimpses like Mehret but we won’t really KNOW until we are there. That will be home. That is home. Everything else is just what we see in a mirror dimly.
Live for the summit.
Mehret knows she has a family in Michigan that wants to adopt her. She’s received cards and pictures of her new family. She even has a few pictures of her room, her new house, and the community of Charlevoix. She knows that is where she is headed to live with her new family, the Carsons.
Imagine for a moment what is going on inside her head. She doesn’t really know the Carsons. She’s never been to Charlevoix or Michigan or the United States. She’s seen pictures, but pictures are a far cry from the actual experience – of being in the place you see in the pictures.
Her life is different today because of what she anticipates in the future. She knows she’s leaving, so I’m sure there are a lot of mixed feelings. “Do I really want to leave? I’ll miss this or that or him or her. But I have a new family who says they love me and has a room for me and new stuff.” Because of where she is going, it affects how she views her life today. We experience this same thing when we have a vacation coming or we’re pregnant or about to get married. We look at our life today differently because of what is coming in our future.
As you consider this journey you're on with Jesus, what is the destination? What does the future hold for you? These are important questions and how you answer these questions affects how you live today. Is there a better place, a better day, a better life coming? Or is this the best there is? Can you affirm the song that says, “This world is not my home”?
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world – the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches – comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
1 John 2:15-17
“It’s summit day.”
I clearly remember those words coming from the mouth of our guide. It was the day we were going up to the top of the mountain. We were going to climb up to 14,000 feet. It was an exhilarating experience. The oxygen got quite a bit thinner. The effort it took to climb was more intense. All of us kept looking up to see if we could see where we were headed. The summit was never easy to see until you reached to top.
What a view. It was worth all the effort, all the struggles, all the pain and hunger and discouragement. To see from the top was more satisfying than any of us imagined. We took pictures. We gave hugs and high fives. We sat and enjoyed the view. It was glorious. You could see all around you. You could see further than you’d ever seen before. What a joy.
But sooner than anyone wanted it was time to climb down. We couldn’t stay or live on the summit. We had to head back down into the valleys.
But there is a day coming when we will stay on the summit. We won’t climb down. We won’t live in the valleys any longer. We will enjoy the mountain top eternally. There will be no letdowns, no suffering, no brokenness, no discouragement. We will be home because home is on the summit with the guide who has brought us here. We will not know what it all looks like until we get there. We have a few pictures and glimpses like Mehret but we won’t really KNOW until we are there. That will be home. That is home. Everything else is just what we see in a mirror dimly.
Live for the summit.
Grafting and Pain
It is just a little ironic that the day after I spoke on “Grafting,” I actually had a tissue graft done in my mouth. (Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?) This past Monday, they sliced out a chunk of gums from the top of my mouth and attached it to the front of my mouth. It took about an hour. I experienced no pain. I did close my eyes the entire time so I couldn’t see any of the instruments going in or stuff coming out. Yet, there was no pain. Even as I write this article today (the afternoon of the procedure), I’m experiencing no discomfort. I have some wads of silly putty in my mouth to protect the areas that were worked on, but so far no pain. I just can’t eat much and can’t speak. Thank goodness for shakes.
What a gift it is that technology and medicine have advanced to the place where these procedures can be done quickly and with little (if any) discomfort. The ability to numb is quite remarkable. It definitely leads to some funny feelings and awkward moments, but it also keeps the nerves from sending the PAIN message to your brain.
We can’t say the same thing about being grafted into Christ. With grafting comes pain. If we are to remain connected to the vine and bear fruit, we can’t avoid pain. The “dying” to self that the Bible talks about is not an easy process. It is hard to experience and it is hard work to let our “self’s” die.
It is interesting how many opportunities there are in our lives to pursue numbness. Our world offers all sorts of opportunities to avoid and deaden pain. The obvious ones are drugs and alcohol, but other common numbing agents are busyness, entertainment, avoidance, denial, distractions, etc. We are good at avoiding pain. In fact, for some it seems to be the purpose of our existence. If the number one desire is pleasure it makes sense that what we seek to avoid (at all costs) is pain.
Please don’t get me wrong, I am not promoting a masochistic approach to life where we define success based on the amount of pain. Instead, I am acknowledging that the primary purpose of the Christian life is not the avoidance of pain and would add that being grafted into Jesus inevitably means suffering and pain. That’s why it’s not the easy path. That’s why Paul promised persecution and Jesus promised that we’d be hated by the world. That’s why rejection cannot be avoided or “tickling” the ears of men embraced.
You might argue, “Well, of course, suffering and pain are inevitable. We all live in a broken world.” I would agree, but also add, imagine the choice the disciples had following Jesus’ death and resurrection. They could have chosen to stop risking their lives for his sake. Yes, their lives would have some experience of suffering due to the brokenness of this world, but do you think it would have cost them their lives? Would they have been martyred if they had rejected Jesus and stopped following? I doubt it.
Do you think our friend and his family in Nigeria would experience the same level of suffering if they chose not to obey God’s commands to reach the Muslim world for Christ? Do you think our friends in Nepal would experience the same level of persecution if they chose to reject God’s call to reach the lost in Nepal? Do you think your middle class, American life will be the same if you fully commit yourself to following Jesus Christ? Do you think it will be just like your non-Christian neighbors?
But what’s interesting about this discussion is that it really is not about the pain or suffering. Those are natural consequences to denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus. They are not the focus. He is. His life is. The experience of purpose and hope that His life brings far outweighs the costs, even when the cost is your life. I know that few of us have ever been in a situation where our faith might cost us our lives, but whether we’ve experienced it or not doesn’t mean it isn’t true. How far do you take it when Jesus says, “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life”? (John 12:25) Is there anything that God could ask you to give up that would cause you to reject Him and say, No? Your health, family, possessions, job, house, life?
What a gift it is that technology and medicine have advanced to the place where these procedures can be done quickly and with little (if any) discomfort. The ability to numb is quite remarkable. It definitely leads to some funny feelings and awkward moments, but it also keeps the nerves from sending the PAIN message to your brain.
We can’t say the same thing about being grafted into Christ. With grafting comes pain. If we are to remain connected to the vine and bear fruit, we can’t avoid pain. The “dying” to self that the Bible talks about is not an easy process. It is hard to experience and it is hard work to let our “self’s” die.
It is interesting how many opportunities there are in our lives to pursue numbness. Our world offers all sorts of opportunities to avoid and deaden pain. The obvious ones are drugs and alcohol, but other common numbing agents are busyness, entertainment, avoidance, denial, distractions, etc. We are good at avoiding pain. In fact, for some it seems to be the purpose of our existence. If the number one desire is pleasure it makes sense that what we seek to avoid (at all costs) is pain.
Please don’t get me wrong, I am not promoting a masochistic approach to life where we define success based on the amount of pain. Instead, I am acknowledging that the primary purpose of the Christian life is not the avoidance of pain and would add that being grafted into Jesus inevitably means suffering and pain. That’s why it’s not the easy path. That’s why Paul promised persecution and Jesus promised that we’d be hated by the world. That’s why rejection cannot be avoided or “tickling” the ears of men embraced.
You might argue, “Well, of course, suffering and pain are inevitable. We all live in a broken world.” I would agree, but also add, imagine the choice the disciples had following Jesus’ death and resurrection. They could have chosen to stop risking their lives for his sake. Yes, their lives would have some experience of suffering due to the brokenness of this world, but do you think it would have cost them their lives? Would they have been martyred if they had rejected Jesus and stopped following? I doubt it.
Do you think our friend and his family in Nigeria would experience the same level of suffering if they chose not to obey God’s commands to reach the Muslim world for Christ? Do you think our friends in Nepal would experience the same level of persecution if they chose to reject God’s call to reach the lost in Nepal? Do you think your middle class, American life will be the same if you fully commit yourself to following Jesus Christ? Do you think it will be just like your non-Christian neighbors?
But what’s interesting about this discussion is that it really is not about the pain or suffering. Those are natural consequences to denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus. They are not the focus. He is. His life is. The experience of purpose and hope that His life brings far outweighs the costs, even when the cost is your life. I know that few of us have ever been in a situation where our faith might cost us our lives, but whether we’ve experienced it or not doesn’t mean it isn’t true. How far do you take it when Jesus says, “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life”? (John 12:25) Is there anything that God could ask you to give up that would cause you to reject Him and say, No? Your health, family, possessions, job, house, life?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Life on the Trail - Suffering
I played soccer in high school. Soccer in Fergus Falls, MN, was a new sport and did not necessarily receive a lot of support from the school system. But slowly but surely we made progress. My senior year, we actually had a new practice field, yet it was so poorly constructed and cared for, it was more like farmland that is mowed really short. One day while playing, I slid for a ball. It was a bad idea now that I have the chance to look back. I stripped off the skin on my entire shin because the ground was dry and hard. It didn’t bleed. It seeped. I won’t go into any more detail, except to say that it took a long time to heal. I went and visited my Young Life leader a few days after the accident. He took one look at my leg, went into their house, and came back with a bottle of peroxide. His plan was to pour peroxide all over my leg. I wasn’t so fond of the idea, because I thought it would include a great deal of pain. He agreed that pain would be part of this experience, so I wondered out loud why I would choose to experience pain. He smiled and poured the bottle on my leg. Yep, sure enough, there was pain. It actually bubbled on my leg. Fun.
My friend told me that the peroxide would help the wound to heal and make sure it didn’t get infected. It made sense, but I sure wasn’t a fan of the pain.
I see pain pretty frequently. I was going to say because of my job, which is true, but I bet you, too, see pain around you. I see it in the physical challenges that people face whether because of old age or cancer or injury. I see pain in the emotional turmoil of broken relationships and the hurts that have happened. I see the pain that is caused by fear and anxiety which often hinders people experiencing joy and peace in their lives. I see pain as I read about some of the tragedies and turmoil that are taking place around this globe (Haiti, Chile, Kenya, Nigeria, etc.).
Suffering just happens. It is unavoidable. It is not fair or equal. Some seem to suffer so much more than others. Suffering happens to kids and adults. There is often little explanation as to why certain things happen to certain people. God just doesn’t seem interested in telling us why suffering happens. That is more than a little frustrating at times.
The Bible says a few things about suffering:
Here’s what Job said to God about his suffering:
I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? Are you days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?
Job 10:1-7
Paul’s take is quite a bit different:
. . . we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4
Here is what Joseph (thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, spent years in the Egyptian prison, falsely accused) said to his brothers who sold him into slavery:
Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.
Genesis 50:20
It is tempting to blame God for the suffering and stay focused on being a victim. Yet, it seems that based on these Scriptures and the multitude of examples of suffering in the Bible, that is not what God desires. He gives us freedom to tell him how we feel, but I also believe He really longs to do a “good” work in us through these challenges. Please understand I am in no way minimizing the pain or struggle that comes with it, but I also am learning that God promises to help us grow and it is often in these experiences where growth happens.
If I believed God caused Jeff Bakker or Jack Balchik to get cancer, then I would really wonder about what kind of God we worship. But what I see God doing, although very difficult for the families directly involved, is good. It’s hard, but good. I’m sure if you asked them if every moment is good, they would say, No. Suffering is suffering and no one wishes that upon themselves or anyone.
I hope and pray that God will heal their cancer. I pray for that. But I also trust God to do (or not do) what is best, even though He may not do what I want.
Editor's note: Jeff passed away last night (Thursday, March 11th around 1:30am). God answered our prayers for healing - not necessarily the healing we wanted, but God has healed Jeff more fully than we know. Jeff is home - praise God.
Please keep praying for these families and others, too, who we know are facing very difficult roads.
My friend told me that the peroxide would help the wound to heal and make sure it didn’t get infected. It made sense, but I sure wasn’t a fan of the pain.
I see pain pretty frequently. I was going to say because of my job, which is true, but I bet you, too, see pain around you. I see it in the physical challenges that people face whether because of old age or cancer or injury. I see pain in the emotional turmoil of broken relationships and the hurts that have happened. I see the pain that is caused by fear and anxiety which often hinders people experiencing joy and peace in their lives. I see pain as I read about some of the tragedies and turmoil that are taking place around this globe (Haiti, Chile, Kenya, Nigeria, etc.).
Suffering just happens. It is unavoidable. It is not fair or equal. Some seem to suffer so much more than others. Suffering happens to kids and adults. There is often little explanation as to why certain things happen to certain people. God just doesn’t seem interested in telling us why suffering happens. That is more than a little frustrating at times.
The Bible says a few things about suffering:
Here’s what Job said to God about his suffering:
I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? Are you days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?
Job 10:1-7
Paul’s take is quite a bit different:
. . . we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4
Here is what Joseph (thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, spent years in the Egyptian prison, falsely accused) said to his brothers who sold him into slavery:
Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.
Genesis 50:20
It is tempting to blame God for the suffering and stay focused on being a victim. Yet, it seems that based on these Scriptures and the multitude of examples of suffering in the Bible, that is not what God desires. He gives us freedom to tell him how we feel, but I also believe He really longs to do a “good” work in us through these challenges. Please understand I am in no way minimizing the pain or struggle that comes with it, but I also am learning that God promises to help us grow and it is often in these experiences where growth happens.
If I believed God caused Jeff Bakker or Jack Balchik to get cancer, then I would really wonder about what kind of God we worship. But what I see God doing, although very difficult for the families directly involved, is good. It’s hard, but good. I’m sure if you asked them if every moment is good, they would say, No. Suffering is suffering and no one wishes that upon themselves or anyone.
I hope and pray that God will heal their cancer. I pray for that. But I also trust God to do (or not do) what is best, even though He may not do what I want.
Editor's note: Jeff passed away last night (Thursday, March 11th around 1:30am). God answered our prayers for healing - not necessarily the healing we wanted, but God has healed Jeff more fully than we know. Jeff is home - praise God.
Please keep praying for these families and others, too, who we know are facing very difficult roads.
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