How many of you have heard the saying, "God first, family second, ministry third."
I remember once, long ago, saying that to my Pastor's wife. She responded by disagreeing, and saying, "no, it is all God! If you just make Him your everything, He will put everything else in it's proper place."
I really liked that, it made a lot of sense to me, because, often times, the whole 'family before ministry' is really a way to make family before God; it is a cop out.
===================
So a woman asked that exact question in our Discipleship Group this past week. "Who am I supposed to love more, God or family?"
...and so, I explained to her what my pastor's wife had once explained to me...
Unfortunately I wasn't doing such a good job explaining, because our friend didn't understand what I was getting at and she asked, "Am I not supposed to love my family at all? I am only supposed to love God?"
Then Tom chimed in:
"God is the lens through which we see our family... and everything else!"
===================
It isn't that God doesn't want us to love family, or to prioritize other good things in our lives, but rather He wants us to prioritize our lives around Him and His agenda. Saying "God, family, ministry, in that order," makes God one priority among many, even if He is the first priority. God should be the one who sets our priorities for us! He is above all of our other priorities...
God is not the biggest planet in orbit; rather He is the sun, the gravitational center around which the planets orbit.
9.18.2009
9.17.2009
9.16.2009
9.15.2009
9.13.2009
No Longer a Joke
A long time ago I heard the following one liner:
'You spend the first year of your kids lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives yelling at them to sit down and be quiet!"
It really made me laugh when I heard that!
===============
Three kids later, it doesn't really make me laugh; it's just too accurate a depiction of my daily reality to be a joke.
'You spend the first year of your kids lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives yelling at them to sit down and be quiet!"
It really made me laugh when I heard that!
===============
Three kids later, it doesn't really make me laugh; it's just too accurate a depiction of my daily reality to be a joke.
9.12.2009
Financial Blessings aren't a Blessing?
Budget shortages force us to reconsider our priorities; a shortfall gives us a great excuse to kill unnecessary programs and other initiatives.
9.08.2009
Getting the Most Important things Right...
"My point is that those thoughtfully living in Evangelical circles throughout the generations will very likely believe they do not quite measure up if they are missing out on any of these areas of activity."
Dallas Willard
Dallas Willard
More Lyrics From Another Life
you've sworn allegiance to your dreams but still it seems so hard
that tightrope that you walk why can't you put it down
drink your way through one more clouded chapter of your life
the hands reaching out to help you only seemed to push you further away
your time's up and away
you've made your choice now there's nothing left to say
your times up and away
mistreated and abused but they couldn't steal your heart
everyone was so confused but your friends all played their part
most likely to succeed still you threw it all away
now your dreams lie buried next to you they're gone forever
where's the spark in your eye i miss your smile
you're burning inside out did you want to?
everything they told you to make the bad things go away
everything that they kept from you everything i wanted to say
that tightrope that you walk why can't you put it down
drink your way through one more clouded chapter of your life
the hands reaching out to help you only seemed to push you further away
your time's up and away
you've made your choice now there's nothing left to say
your times up and away
mistreated and abused but they couldn't steal your heart
everyone was so confused but your friends all played their part
most likely to succeed still you threw it all away
now your dreams lie buried next to you they're gone forever
where's the spark in your eye i miss your smile
you're burning inside out did you want to?
everything they told you to make the bad things go away
everything that they kept from you everything i wanted to say
9.04.2009
Moral Confusion
"The reason to turn off the porn might become, to thoughtful people, not a moral one but, in a way, a physical- and emotional-health one; you might want to rethink your constant access to porn in the same way that, if you want to be an athlete, you rethink your smoking. The evidence is in: Greater supply of the stimulant equals diminished capacity."
From the article linked above.
=============================
The world is confused about morality.
The quote above shows how this journalist views morality, namely, it is what you should do, whether or not it is actually good or bad for you to do. People use the word moral to indicate, not something that is good or the delineation of good from bad, but rather to indicate what the code or law says. There is of course, the implicit assumption that the code or law has no real world relationship to what is good or bad.
This is, however, a completely ignorant point of view.
=============================
To say that something is bad for you, or them, or society as a whole, is to say that it is immoral! To say that something is immoral is to say that it is bad for you!
Of course people are often confused about specific moral judgments, 'Why is this wrong, or that bad?' Why is this right, or that good?' There is a place for explanation, but this doesn't change the reality, if something is wrong, it is because it is bad for you!
From the article linked above.
=============================
The world is confused about morality.
The quote above shows how this journalist views morality, namely, it is what you should do, whether or not it is actually good or bad for you to do. People use the word moral to indicate, not something that is good or the delineation of good from bad, but rather to indicate what the code or law says. There is of course, the implicit assumption that the code or law has no real world relationship to what is good or bad.
This is, however, a completely ignorant point of view.
=============================
To say that something is bad for you, or them, or society as a whole, is to say that it is immoral! To say that something is immoral is to say that it is bad for you!
Of course people are often confused about specific moral judgments, 'Why is this wrong, or that bad?' Why is this right, or that good?' There is a place for explanation, but this doesn't change the reality, if something is wrong, it is because it is bad for you!
9.02.2009
Identity and Obedience: Homosexuality and Jesus pt II
A major stumbling block for homosexual people is the awareness that God is asking them to deny a piece of themselves; God is not accepting all of what they are. In fact, this is an assault on the core identity of some individuals. The very thing that has become the center of personhood, the core identifying trait, the seat of identity, is rejected by God.
If we are to come to terms with the issue, the Church must understand this reality!
To the heterosexual: what if God saw you this way? What if you were expected to admit the sin of being attracted to the opposite sex, leave your spouse, and live a celibate life? Would you follow such a demanding Jesus?
=========================
This, however, doesn't go nearly far enough, although it certainly goes farther than many heterosexual individuals are willing to go.
A homosexual person in many ways has a deeper understanding of the Christian life than many Christians. The death to self, and the relinquishing of identity required of those who chose Jesus is as readily understood by the average homosexual person as it is not readily understood by the average Christian.
The point of Christianity is neither heterosexuality, nor sexual purity, but rather life in Christ. The real issue for us as Christians is not sexual propriety, but rather an obedient life that emanates from an identification with, and identity in Christ. It is not just homosexual people who must endure the 'assault on their core identity,' but rather this assault is what repentance from evil and confidence in God is all about for all humans! God does, indeed, see YOU this way, the very core of your identity is rejected by God, and He wants to give you a new one!
As though God's primary goal for our lives is that we would be sexually stimulated by the right gender... the scope of His plan is so much more grand!!!!
=========================
Indeed for all people regardless of sexual orientation 'the very thing that has become the center of personhood, the core identifying trait, the seat of identity, is rejected by God.'
Homosexuality as an issue is a pertinent place to ask the question, 'Do I have my earplugs in?'
The Spirit is speaking, are you listening?
If we are to come to terms with the issue, the Church must understand this reality!
To the heterosexual: what if God saw you this way? What if you were expected to admit the sin of being attracted to the opposite sex, leave your spouse, and live a celibate life? Would you follow such a demanding Jesus?
=========================
This, however, doesn't go nearly far enough, although it certainly goes farther than many heterosexual individuals are willing to go.
A homosexual person in many ways has a deeper understanding of the Christian life than many Christians. The death to self, and the relinquishing of identity required of those who chose Jesus is as readily understood by the average homosexual person as it is not readily understood by the average Christian.
The point of Christianity is neither heterosexuality, nor sexual purity, but rather life in Christ. The real issue for us as Christians is not sexual propriety, but rather an obedient life that emanates from an identification with, and identity in Christ. It is not just homosexual people who must endure the 'assault on their core identity,' but rather this assault is what repentance from evil and confidence in God is all about for all humans! God does, indeed, see YOU this way, the very core of your identity is rejected by God, and He wants to give you a new one!
As though God's primary goal for our lives is that we would be sexually stimulated by the right gender... the scope of His plan is so much more grand!!!!
=========================
Indeed for all people regardless of sexual orientation 'the very thing that has become the center of personhood, the core identifying trait, the seat of identity, is rejected by God.'
Homosexuality as an issue is a pertinent place to ask the question, 'Do I have my earplugs in?'
The Spirit is speaking, are you listening?
9.01.2009
Identity and Obedience: Homosexuality and Jesus
I have happened across several conversations recently on the topic of homosexuality and the Church. While you may find yourself in a place on this issue where no depth of thought is forcing itself upon you, I would encourage you to engage more deeply on this topic as I see a wealth of understanding and life to be found at this precise place of trial. (As CS Lewis would say, 'you expect to find game hiding behind cover.') If the Church will actively engage culture motivated by the Spirit of Christ, informed by Scripture, then we will find Paul's childbirth metaphor to be true. This is a controversy that will bring much pain and discomfort, but if we will push through it and engage with it, we will find that they are birthing pains, new life is coming...
I recently had a conversation with a Christian who is in a long term monogamous homosexual relationship. This person asked me what I thought about homosexuality...
I must confess, my answer was fraught with uncomfortably long pauses, and much confusion about how to communicate what I believe...
I recently had a conversation with a Christian who is in a long term monogamous homosexual relationship. This person asked me what I thought about homosexuality...
I must confess, my answer was fraught with uncomfortably long pauses, and much confusion about how to communicate what I believe...
Why?
According to the white house website, "the President believes we must all come together to help reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion."
My question is why?
My question is why?
8.28.2009
12 Punch Combo!
12-13And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love! 13-15Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out. 16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. 19-22Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22, The Message)
MAN!!!!
I am always blown away by passages like the one above. There are so many just like it in scripture. It is easy to read over a list of commands like this one and think something like, "Paul wants me to be a nice boy," but when you actually ponder each one, it is like getting punched in the gut, repeatedly!
Be cheerful NO MATTER WHAT!
Submission, selflessness, honesty...
Intellectual commitment, humility, thankfulness...
My friends words about "God's framing hammer of righteousness..." are echoing in my ears.
I could spend a lifetime on each one of these things, thanks for the sucker-punch Paul!
MAN!!!!
I am always blown away by passages like the one above. There are so many just like it in scripture. It is easy to read over a list of commands like this one and think something like, "Paul wants me to be a nice boy," but when you actually ponder each one, it is like getting punched in the gut, repeatedly!
Be cheerful NO MATTER WHAT!
Submission, selflessness, honesty...
Intellectual commitment, humility, thankfulness...
My friends words about "God's framing hammer of righteousness..." are echoing in my ears.
I could spend a lifetime on each one of these things, thanks for the sucker-punch Paul!
8.27.2009
Consumerism and Church
Phil Kenneson, used to say: "The church does not exist to meet people's needs; the church exists to help us understand what our legitimate needs are."
Follow the link above...
Follow the link above...
8.25.2009
Church Growth Success
'I am not called to be successful, but to be faithful."
-Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu
I don't want to get your attention. I don't want to gather a crowd. I don't want people to think I am cool.
I want Jesus.
-Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu
I don't want to get your attention. I don't want to gather a crowd. I don't want people to think I am cool.
I want Jesus.
8.24.2009
Reflection on a Hymn
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet?
'Love hurts,' so the saying goes.
Why?
I had a conversation with a friend yesterday about community, how the notion of it is attractive to all people and yet the reality of it often frightens people away from it.
To love is to know and to be known. Intimacy and vulnerability are two sides of the same coin.
To be vulnerable is to expose your weaknesses to another; and to do so in a fallen world is to court betrayal and loss.
========================
This sheds greater light on just what it was that Jesus sacrifices for us, and what it is that He accomplishes on our behalf.
He lived in a community of divine love where this vulnerability and intimacy carried with it no taint, no threat of violence or fear of deception. There exists within the Godhead a complete selflessness without the need for protection, submission and surrender without mistrust, service and sacrificial love without suffering. All is love, and all is joy!
He left this behind to come to a world that knows only the faintest glimpses of love, our best loves are merely glimpses of shadows of the real thing. We love, even when we love truly, with one hand on our wallets. We love, if we love at all, with a contingency plan in the back of our minds. And so Jesus came, vulnerable and offering this same intimacy with us, that He shared with His Father. A baby in a blanket, laid in a feeding trough in a poor town, born to a single mother from a small people who were oppressed by one of the largest and most powerful empires in human history. Vulnerable. A man, naked, even his skin has been flayed from his body, put on display before the crowds of the capital city, pinned there, unable to escape, or to move. Barely able to breathe as he is nailed to wood, exposed. Vulnerable is not a strong enough word.
(Take a moment here and close your eyes, imagine yourself being stripped naked and tied up spread eagle in front of City Hall; imagine yourself being captured by a serial killer and being tied down as he prepares to go to work on you. Or even, less gruesome, imagine that you are to stand before a large crowd and proclaim your love for someone who doesn't know how you feel about them and you are unsure of their response. That feeling is complete vulnerability.)
Is a young man who professes love to a girl in front of the entire school vulnerable? God has become more so!
Is an animal being prepared for vivisection vulnerable? God himself has undergone such treatment!
========================
It was our own weakness that he accepted, our own evil world that He exposed, and the shame heaped upon this Good Man was born without retribution, and so was revealed for what it was, our shame.
It is His very weakness and shame that allows us to enter into His strength and glory...
'Love hurts,' so the saying goes.
Why?
I had a conversation with a friend yesterday about community, how the notion of it is attractive to all people and yet the reality of it often frightens people away from it.
To love is to know and to be known. Intimacy and vulnerability are two sides of the same coin.
To be vulnerable is to expose your weaknesses to another; and to do so in a fallen world is to court betrayal and loss.
========================
This sheds greater light on just what it was that Jesus sacrifices for us, and what it is that He accomplishes on our behalf.
He lived in a community of divine love where this vulnerability and intimacy carried with it no taint, no threat of violence or fear of deception. There exists within the Godhead a complete selflessness without the need for protection, submission and surrender without mistrust, service and sacrificial love without suffering. All is love, and all is joy!
He left this behind to come to a world that knows only the faintest glimpses of love, our best loves are merely glimpses of shadows of the real thing. We love, even when we love truly, with one hand on our wallets. We love, if we love at all, with a contingency plan in the back of our minds. And so Jesus came, vulnerable and offering this same intimacy with us, that He shared with His Father. A baby in a blanket, laid in a feeding trough in a poor town, born to a single mother from a small people who were oppressed by one of the largest and most powerful empires in human history. Vulnerable. A man, naked, even his skin has been flayed from his body, put on display before the crowds of the capital city, pinned there, unable to escape, or to move. Barely able to breathe as he is nailed to wood, exposed. Vulnerable is not a strong enough word.
(Take a moment here and close your eyes, imagine yourself being stripped naked and tied up spread eagle in front of City Hall; imagine yourself being captured by a serial killer and being tied down as he prepares to go to work on you. Or even, less gruesome, imagine that you are to stand before a large crowd and proclaim your love for someone who doesn't know how you feel about them and you are unsure of their response. That feeling is complete vulnerability.)
Is a young man who professes love to a girl in front of the entire school vulnerable? God has become more so!
Is an animal being prepared for vivisection vulnerable? God himself has undergone such treatment!
========================
It was our own weakness that he accepted, our own evil world that He exposed, and the shame heaped upon this Good Man was born without retribution, and so was revealed for what it was, our shame.
It is His very weakness and shame that allows us to enter into His strength and glory...
8.23.2009
Theology 101
Don't Major on the Minors!
I can't tell you how much mileage I have gotten out of this simple, unobtrusive little maxim.
It plays out (and plays well) in so many different settings, and topics... this past Sunday we talked about the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
===========================
We fail to recognize the majors and the minors of the work of the Spirit, whenever we mistake powerful signs and wonders, awe inspiring revelation, or charismatic experience as the goal. These are not the ends, but rather the means of the Holy Spirit's work.
We stated the four purposes the Spirit is working to accomplish (or rather the primary purpose that has three main components) as first and foremost to glorify and reveal Jesus as the Visible Image of an Invisible God, true Sovereign Lord of Creation and All Within it, and the Reconciliation of Lost Children to a Heartbroken Father.
The primary method by which the Spirit accomplishes this task is through the Church. This then means that the Spirit is also working towards transformation of individual Christian women and men into the likeness of Christ. Making you and I look like His Son. The Spirit is at work within us to make us holy because this both glorifies and reveals Jesus. The Spirit also is the source of unity in the Body. If the Spirit has joined me to Christ, and the same Spirit has joined you to Christ as well, then we are now joined to each other. The Spirit is at work creating the mystical community amongst all believers because this both glorifies and reveals Jesus. Finally, the Spirit is at work in the Church in mission. The proclamation of the Kingdom in both word and deed is the reason for the existence of the Church, and this is the Spirit's work within us; compelling us, equipping us, guiding us, and empowering us to usher in the Kingdom in all the earth. The Spirit is at work within us to proclaim and perform the Kingdom because, this too, both glorifies and reveals Jesus.
===========================
So a focus on the majors (instead of the minors) allows us to see that the Spirit indeed does perform signs and wonders, anoint individuals for powerful ministry, as well as provide individuals with euphoric experience, yet these are not His focus, but merely some of the ways He works to accomplish His primary aim; (1) glorifying and revealing Jesus through (2) making individual Christians christ-like in character by uniting them to Jesus, (3) uniting individual Christians to each other as they are joined to Jesus, and (4) preparing, empowering and organizing the Church to accomplish God's redemptive purpose on the earth.
8.15.2009
Where is True Power?
"Today there is the wide spread conviction—and corresponding levels of practice—that sin wins."
Dallas Willard
Dallas Willard
8.14.2009
Responsibility: Individual and Corporate
"...no one should go broke because they get sick."
-Someone you've probably heard of
What do you think?
-Someone you've probably heard of
What do you think?
8.12.2009
The Alpha
"Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee."
Charles Wesley
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee."
Charles Wesley
8.11.2009
8.09.2009
Rebel Against... ?
'In our fear and desperation we do the only thing we know how to do: rebel.
Standing up tall we proudly stick our middle finger in the air for the whole world to see as we pat ourselves on the back with our other hand and think about how authentic we are.
We then look to our left and to our right and realize that the whole world is standing up with us, flipping us off along with everyone else.
We then began to get scared again.
We then remember all the problems around us and we shrink back into our shadows and remain there until further opportunities of courage arise but they don’t… because this is the world we live in.'
-Hermano
Standing up tall we proudly stick our middle finger in the air for the whole world to see as we pat ourselves on the back with our other hand and think about how authentic we are.
We then look to our left and to our right and realize that the whole world is standing up with us, flipping us off along with everyone else.
We then began to get scared again.
We then remember all the problems around us and we shrink back into our shadows and remain there until further opportunities of courage arise but they don’t… because this is the world we live in.'
-Hermano
Mis Hermanos de Santa Cruz
What an amazing 10 days!
We really got to see some amazing things take place, here are some highlights:
Community BBQ's were a great success, free food, free games and face painting for kids, tons of conversation with neighbors, and LOTS of opportunity to pray over many people. We followed the BBQ with worship, and had a great time praising an amazing Savior with neighbors watching, or joining in...
Cory launched his Friday night street ministry the last night of the trip. We were invited into homes (and offered a host home if we needed one!), prayed with TONS of people. Prayed over people who were drinking/smoking, prayed with people who were hurting, prayed with people who were praising; prayed for muslims, prayed for christians, and agnostics... We spent about an hour and a half praying over people, and had to stop what we were doing to go home, but we could have stayed there for... well, forever! Almost everyone said, 'yes' and even the ones who said, 'no' seemed blessed that we offered.
Two of the people who came to Buffalo from Santa Cruz were still 'counting the cost' of following Jesus when they arrived here. But before they left they made a determined choice to give their lives to Jesus and His purposes! (Wild ride ahead!)
Went to the top of City Hall, on the observation deck where you can see for miles and prayed over the whole city.
The real depth of community that took place between two different groups of people from opposite sides of the country! Amazing times of intimate worship, prayer and prophetic words for each other.
'God help me, I'm addicted to crack!'
One of the men from a neighborhood we minister in confessed his addiction, and spent several days with us staying clean until he could get into a year-long Christian Discipleship/Rehab.
We had a couple of people from different neighborhoods show up to church on Sunday, and discipleship group on Wednesday, after connecting with us at one of the neighborhood BBQ's, both of them were moved by the Spirit to tears.
Sunday night, seeing a whole room full of people, praising God, and laying hands on one another in prayer.
I could go on, and on...
God spoke, healed, touched, called, encouraged, convicted, welcomed, included, and saved!
Jesus is ALIVE, and He is LORD!!
It was an amazing 10 days!
8.07.2009
8.04.2009
Cultural Drift
"One of the most astonishing volte-faces in my lifetime has been the change from a liberalism which sought to be counter-cultural, anti-establishment, ‘agin the government’, protesting against the drift of society, and the present would-be liberalism which insists that because society has now drifted in a new direction the church should follow where that culture, the new ‘establishment’, and now even the government, are going."
NT Wright
NT Wright
8.01.2009
7.27.2009
What Hills will You Die on?
I got this in an email:
The five "fundamentals" of our faith are:
The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture
The Deity of Christ
Subsitutionary Atonement
Christ's Literal Resurrection
Christ's Literal Second Coming
Do you agree or disagree?
What would you point to as the five 'fundamentals?'
For the record, I am still pondering this...
The five "fundamentals" of our faith are:
The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture
The Deity of Christ
Subsitutionary Atonement
Christ's Literal Resurrection
Christ's Literal Second Coming
Do you agree or disagree?
What would you point to as the five 'fundamentals?'
For the record, I am still pondering this...
7.25.2009
Mulan 2
I just happened to catch a little of the movie my kids were watching:
One of the princesses in the film (who is being sent to meet her husband for the first time) asks the main character, 'Fa Mulan, how do you chose between your duty and your heart?'
She did not want to marry for duty, but instead wanted to marry for love.
Mulan responds by telling her that she has discovered, 'My duty is to my heart.'
===========================
Now, I don't plan on arranging marriages for my children, but (setting aside for the moment the cultural in-sensitivities of the film) it is precisely this message that is destroying so many lives...
If my duty is to my heart, then what is my course of action when I no longer want to provide for my children, remain faithful to my wife, pay my taxes, or answer my employers questions with integrity? Obviously, if my duty is to my heart, then my course of action is to simply do whatever I feel like doing, whenever I feel like it!
===========================
The interesting thing is that the movie refuses to portray the actual effects of such a moral philosophy. There is no scene where the princess tries valiantly to remain dutiful to her fickle and inconsistent moods. Nor is there the discussion of a love that runs deeper than emotional desire into the realm of willful action.
So much for learning wisdom from cartoons!
One of the princesses in the film (who is being sent to meet her husband for the first time) asks the main character, 'Fa Mulan, how do you chose between your duty and your heart?'
She did not want to marry for duty, but instead wanted to marry for love.
Mulan responds by telling her that she has discovered, 'My duty is to my heart.'
===========================
Now, I don't plan on arranging marriages for my children, but (setting aside for the moment the cultural in-sensitivities of the film) it is precisely this message that is destroying so many lives...
If my duty is to my heart, then what is my course of action when I no longer want to provide for my children, remain faithful to my wife, pay my taxes, or answer my employers questions with integrity? Obviously, if my duty is to my heart, then my course of action is to simply do whatever I feel like doing, whenever I feel like it!
===========================
The interesting thing is that the movie refuses to portray the actual effects of such a moral philosophy. There is no scene where the princess tries valiantly to remain dutiful to her fickle and inconsistent moods. Nor is there the discussion of a love that runs deeper than emotional desire into the realm of willful action.
So much for learning wisdom from cartoons!
7.24.2009
Horse Manure Revisited
I received an email the other day from a friend; someone had told him of their leaving a church because they had felt used by the church. The church had asked them to work in one of their ministries without paying them, they had said. 'yes,' but then left feeling used...
This had prompted my friend to email me; we asked the question, 'Does the church exist for people, or do people exist for the church?'
Now on the face of it, this question is a great one to wrestle with; however, when we come to the truth that the church is people, then we have to realize that the question (as poignant as it is) fails to grasp the basic nature of church, and so is ultimately an invalid question...
The question as it stands is really, 'do people exist for people, or do people exist for people?' It's a non question because it is attempting to ask, 'does A exist for B, or vice versa?' But A and B are the same thing!
============================
The question needs to be turned inside out...
Does the Church (Christian people) exist for itself, or for something else?
The simple truth is that the Church (Christians) exist for non-Christians!
We often talk about the various functions and purposes of the Church, mission being one of them, yet the reality is the Church does not have a purpose.
Let me explain:
God's purpose is to redeem the entire world, His heart is to reveal His Son to all people, but what is His method? How does He plan to accomplish such a task? God's chosen method is to create a new thing, the community in mystical union with the Son, the Church!
So the Church does not have a mission, but rather, God's mission has a Church. To talk about the purpose of the Church is to confuse the issue, the Church is the method of achieving God's purposes...
============================
We must take a good look at our hearts and ask, "am I the gravitational center, around which everything else orbits?" (Questions about purpose, God and His desires, my own desires, etc.)
OR...
'Is God is the center of gravity, around which we find our own orbit?" (We find our purpose by first finding His, we find our desires by first understanding His.)
============================
So the people actually do exist for the people! But which people we are talking about is the real question! The people (church) exist for the people (world)!
Whenever we exist for ourselves, we are piling up horse manure into a massive lump of poop (hold your nose!), but whenever we exist for others, we are spreading manure over the field causing things to grow; the difference between excrement and fertilizer is whether you pile it, or spread it...
So here is what I want you to do:
Repeat after me:
"This is not about me, it is about them!
7.22.2009
New Song from a Friend
Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore, be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified
Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul, in the fountain that flowed
For you and for me and for all
On the hillside, you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored, by the river that poured
From our blessed Savior's side
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night
Thanks Bernard
7.19.2009
7.17.2009
Joy and Happiness
Happiness is about making sure that everything around us brings us pleasure, whereas joy is about a deep confidence in the love and goodness of God no matter what goes on around us, or inside us.
7.14.2009
I know...
I know that you live, and I long to see you
I know that you speak, yet I long to hear you
I know that you are love, yet I long to feel it
Why must faith include so much blindness
God I long to love you, must love exist in the absence of passion?
Grant me a heart that is astir with flame
I have heard your voice, yet now you are silent, have you gone forever
Do not leave me to my fate, I cannot survive on my own
You have destroyed my ability to walk the path of blissful ignorance
I cannot replace the veil of this world, shielding my view of my purpose,
Yet, must I pursue your course without guidance, without your presence?
Has my right hand failed me? Where, O Lord, have you gone?
I am nothing, yet I know my place, I am a son of the Most High
My Father, how can I walk as a Son with no sense of your Spirit?
-anonymous
I know that you speak, yet I long to hear you
I know that you are love, yet I long to feel it
Why must faith include so much blindness
God I long to love you, must love exist in the absence of passion?
Grant me a heart that is astir with flame
I have heard your voice, yet now you are silent, have you gone forever
Do not leave me to my fate, I cannot survive on my own
You have destroyed my ability to walk the path of blissful ignorance
I cannot replace the veil of this world, shielding my view of my purpose,
Yet, must I pursue your course without guidance, without your presence?
Has my right hand failed me? Where, O Lord, have you gone?
I am nothing, yet I know my place, I am a son of the Most High
My Father, how can I walk as a Son with no sense of your Spirit?
-anonymous
7.06.2009
Atonement
I got a phone call the other day while I was at work; my son Zane had said some nasty things to my wife. She told him he was getting soap in his mouth.
==========================
My kids do this thing that is really frustrating, but also makes me very proud of them; they fight me when I have to punish the other ones. If Zoe is in trouble, Zane will tell me, 'You're mean!' and throw toys at me...
==========================
So my wife is in the middle of preparing Zane for his punishment when Zoe jumps in.
"Mama, I don't want Zane to be sad, so would you put soap in my mouth instead?"
It is at this point that she called me...
What do you do in a situation like this? When your five year old re-enacts this most central act on behalf of her brother? Made me think through some things about what the Father was thinking and feeling, on how Jesus was motivated, on gratitude...
7.05.2009
Yikes
As A.N. Wilson (the great biographer of C.S. Lewis) recently wrote of philosophical materialists in explanation of his re-conversion to Christianity, "they seem to me like people who have no ear for music, or who have never been in love. It is not that (as they believe) they have rumbled the tremendous fraud of religion--prophets do that in every generation. Rather, these unbelievers are simply missing out on something that is not difficult to grasp. Perhaps it is too obvious to understand; obvious, as lovers feel it was obvious that they should have come together, or obvious as the final resolution of a fugue."
7.03.2009
Unity
"Unity is indeed a second-order doctrine which follows from truth. Peace is a virtue that all Christians should seek after, yet true and lasting peace stems from agreement on Christian doctrine."
Came across this on a blog, and it got me thinking...
Is it agreement on doctrine that provides for unity?
Came across this on a blog, and it got me thinking...
Is it agreement on doctrine that provides for unity?
7.01.2009
6.28.2009
Horse Manure
I heard evangelist Louis Palau say, 'the church is like manure, pile it all up in one spot and it sure stinks, but spread it out over the earth and see what grows!'
=============================
The early Church often made the mistake of thinking the gospel was for them. They were very wary of any contact with outsiders, (read for yourself the reaction of the early church to the idea of a mission to the Gentiles on the pages of the Book of Acts). The reality, however, is that the gospel is never for us, it is always for them! One of the major subplots in Luke's account of the early church is precisely the way God of Israel began to reveal Himself as the Lord of all people.
We too, can make the same mistake; thinking the gospel is about christians and Jesus. We retreat to ghettoized seclusion in christian music, suburban homes, Martha Stewart colors on our newly built suburban worship centers, preventing our children from worldly corruption (and so preventing them from engaging in God's mission), informed by all the latest church growth techniques in how to attract all of the christians from other churches to ours...
...hold your nose!
=============================
All of us, however, recognize the real beauty of the church acting as fertilizer instead of excrement. Mother Teresa holding dying lepers, William Wilberforce spending his life and health advocating for the end of slavery, untold missionaries who died on the field; there are those who fight child prostitution, those who teach in poverty stricken urban schools, and those who serve in mental health facilities, all without applause.
=============================
Manure for its own sake is just a pile of poop...
But when it is used to 'bless' the soil, all sorts of beautiful, fruitful, and nourishing, things are produced.
How could we begin to think this way about the Church?
6.27.2009
Dandelions Revisited
What if we were to model our church structure on this image?
What if we saw the Holy Spirit, the breath of Jesus as the compelling wind, blowing the dandelion seeds of the church to the four winds?
The internal compelling of the Holy Spirit is 'GO!' The command of our Master and Savior is, 'GO!' The Father is the very One who sends us; 'GO!'
==================================
The first disciples were told to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. They were promised the Spirit, a Divine Wind that would take them to 'Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Ends of the Earth!'
We read in Acts 13:1-3 the story of this Holy Breath on a dandelion in Antioch. Believers had gathered, God was present, people grew in God's grace, and now a heathy thriving dandelion-church had grown up, the head was white with seeds; Jesus plucked the dandelion and blew!
We are all sent, each one of us is on mission, sent by God, to a specific place or people. The Church should be modeled on this reality. We need to leverage all of our resources to equip people for their specific mission field. We should be sending constantly; each family, each group, each church, each region, is a dandelion that God wants to blow on, scattering seeds to other families, other regions, sprouting up new groups and new churches, till the whole earth is filled with dandelions.
==================================
So how do we incorporate this reality? How could we structure our churches less like institutions and more like dandelions?
Where is God wanting to scatter your group to?
Where are you sent to?
Perhaps you are being sent to another country, or merely across town? Perhaps you are called to leave everything behind and go, or perhaps you are simply to realize that where you currently live is not where you currently live but rather where you have been sent!
6.26.2009
Dandelions
You've all seen it, and you've all done it; picked up one of those ubiquitous little weeds, that every owner of a patch of grass longs to eradicate, and you have done your part to help spread the seeds to the four corners of the earth, perpetuating dandelions for generations to come!
I see this image as a wonderful image of church!
==============================
John records for us a powerful moment in the life of the first disciples. It is one of those unforgettable moments, where something surreal happens, it seems almost weird at the time, but you never forget it and it takes root in your mind...
Jesus breathes on His disciples.
What do you think that might have been like? To have Jesus breathe on you?
And then he says, "Receive the Holy Spirit, as my Father has sent me, now I am sending you!"
==============================
Jesus is the one holding in his hand, with wide-eyed excitement, a dandelion of twelve disciples; and it is His breathe that scatters those seeds to the winds...
6.25.2009
Apples Revisited
Barnabas was the first one to see something in Saul; he took a risk and vouched for him. He brought Saul along so that he could see the things that God was doing in Antioch. Barnabas' was an apostle and a church planter, but his true impact was in discipling another man who would become the most prolific apostle. For decades it would have been easy to judge the merit of Barnabas' ministry on the work he had done with his own energy; that mistake is corrected by the view of Barnabas' impact on the entire history of faith, through his impact on Saul...
======================================
It would be easy to mistake the apple as being more important than the tree... we focus on the shiny fruit, the tasty treat!
However, the life of the tree, the reproductive process of tree>apple>orchard>apples>, is more important than the fruit.
Discipleship in the Church is the point of the Church! It is the very commission Christ left us, 'go, make disciples!'
Paul himself models this for us as he invites Timothy and John Mark to follow him as he follows Jesus.
======================================
The Church is to be modeled after a healthy apple orchard, with living trees, producing fruit, and that fruit containing seeds that bring forth new trees, and even new orchards...
The local church should be a healthy tree producing 'fruity' people who bear within themselves the seeds of new churches, new works, new small groups, beach heads in foreign soil, new christians...
======================================
The point of Church is not to attach shiny fruit to a dead tree, but rather to care for a living tree that will produce others. This shift in focus to discipleship means we will no longer be concerned with 'perfection' or 'excellence' for its own sake, but rather look to give people opportunities to fail and learn!
6.24.2009
Apples
What is the fruit of an apple tree?
Did you say, 'an apple?'
Think harder!
(Maybe this will help, what is the fruit of an apple!?)
The fruit of an apple tree is ultimately... an apple orchard.
======================================
A wonderful life to consider is that of the apostle Barnabas, specifically his relationship to a young man named Saul:
Here is a list of verses in the New Testament that share his story...
Take some time and read through them, asking questions about Barnabas and his relationship to Saul
Did you say, 'an apple?'
Think harder!
(Maybe this will help, what is the fruit of an apple!?)
The fruit of an apple tree is ultimately... an apple orchard.
======================================
A wonderful life to consider is that of the apostle Barnabas, specifically his relationship to a young man named Saul:
Here is a list of verses in the New Testament that share his story...
Take some time and read through them, asking questions about Barnabas and his relationship to Saul
Apples, Dandelions, and Horse Manure
All of us have a grid for understanding things. Generally speaking that grid is something we inherited from others, and we generally don't think too much about it. It is like the air around us, we don't really think about it unless something is wrong with it, and even then, we might not notice. It takes a fairly perceptive fish to realize he is wet, (after all, to a fish there is nothing that isn't wet, so the distinction between wet and dry isn't even a real possibility).
When it comes to church, my grid growing up was something along the lines of 'ceremony/ritual' mixed in with a little 'school/self help.'
I would imagine that this is typical for most of us?
I would like to suggest three other metaphors, however, that might be a better grid for understanding church. 'Better', here means closer to the picture that scripture paints of church, and closer to God's heart for His church...
These are the metaphors we explored this past Sunday as possible helps to accurate understanding:
Apples, Dandelions, and Horse Manure
When it comes to church, my grid growing up was something along the lines of 'ceremony/ritual' mixed in with a little 'school/self help.'
I would imagine that this is typical for most of us?
I would like to suggest three other metaphors, however, that might be a better grid for understanding church. 'Better', here means closer to the picture that scripture paints of church, and closer to God's heart for His church...
These are the metaphors we explored this past Sunday as possible helps to accurate understanding:
Apples, Dandelions, and Horse Manure
6.19.2009
The Receding Tide
The previous quote is a wonderful and humorous image...
(It's a quote I stole from Dave Ramsey)
I think it also captures a reality for us: whenever trouble of any sort hits us, it tells us a lot more about ourselves than we often care to admit. For example, when confronted with an opportunity to be dishonest or undisciplined, our choices reveal the character we have. We can easily say, "I normally don't act this way, but a situation came up where I knew I wouldn't get caught, and so I gave in to temptation." The reality, however, is that we are the type of people who give in to temptation in that situation.
Another example is the current US economic reality: so many people were "caught" by the crisis. "If only the economy wouldn't have tanked, I could still afford this mortgage." The reality is, it was an unwise decision in the first place, and people just got caught!
Nobody looks naked when the tide is up...
Character is who you are when nobody is watching. Character is wearing your swimming trunks, even though nobody can tell if you are or aren't...
(It's a quote I stole from Dave Ramsey)
I think it also captures a reality for us: whenever trouble of any sort hits us, it tells us a lot more about ourselves than we often care to admit. For example, when confronted with an opportunity to be dishonest or undisciplined, our choices reveal the character we have. We can easily say, "I normally don't act this way, but a situation came up where I knew I wouldn't get caught, and so I gave in to temptation." The reality, however, is that we are the type of people who give in to temptation in that situation.
Another example is the current US economic reality: so many people were "caught" by the crisis. "If only the economy wouldn't have tanked, I could still afford this mortgage." The reality is, it was an unwise decision in the first place, and people just got caught!
Nobody looks naked when the tide is up...
Character is who you are when nobody is watching. Character is wearing your swimming trunks, even though nobody can tell if you are or aren't...
6.14.2009
Let's Play
Ray Hollenbach framed part of the conversation by essentially asking 'where exactly is the playing field?'
I'd like to continue in that vein:
Just who is 'everybody?'
This is largely a strength of the Vineyard. When we say everybody, we really do mean it. We make a real effort to train and include laity in ministry; women and men, even children, people of all backgrounds and social classes.
The only real 're-thinking' I see necessary at this point is in the inherent tension between 'excellence in ministry' and allowing the visibly broken to play. I have seen new Christians, non-Christians, those with drug problems, and even those presently under the influence of drugs, all ministering in Vineyard churches in some capacity. However, there is a real attempt to prevent these types of people from engaging in 'real' ministry. We will let them hold the door (if they're pretty enough), or let them print fliers, or play the drums (if they're capable enough), but there are real boundaries we place upon just what they are allowed to do.
For the record, I am not advocating placing drunk agnostics in the pulpit, I would certainly agree that there are standards for Christian ministry. The question that must be grappled with is this:
Is the bar we set for Christian ministry about 'excellence' or is it about 'health?' Do we prevent some from certain places in ministry and Church life because they are unseemly, or because they would hurt themselves or others?
I contend that Scripture has no value for 'excellence in ministry' that is ultimately a cover for excluding those people who might make things slower, uglier, or technically flawed. Our decisions to include someone in ministry should be based on whether the individual is healthy enough to step into a particular role, not whether they are skilled enough.
This decision has tremendous communicative properties...
Just what do we mean by 'play?'
It is here that we must give significant energy to re-thinking current practices.
We largely conceive of ministry in terms of practices and care/direction given to Church members or performed on their behalf. Ministry is preaching and teaching, ministry is playing musical instruments, administrating the needs of the church, leading Bible-studies, praying for people, even maintaining church buildings and running technical equipment, etc.
The results of such a definition is manifold, the most problematic are the two following: 1) Christians who are deeply engaged in ministry yet have little or no involvement in mission, 2) Christians who view 'real ministry' as being done by the professionals while viewing their jobs as distractions from Kingdom work.
We must rethink this conception.
Play must fundamentally mean mission! Leaders should be player/coaches who equip others for ministry to the world.
As a pastor I am naturally focused on the local faith community of which I am a member/leader. This must not be allowed to divert my own focus from the wider community that is the object and context for the Church's mission. This must not be allowed to 'leak down' onto the church, causing the stale atmosphere of spiritual inbreeding that is a result of a church that ministers to itself.
Play must include the entire scope of human activity. Almost all occupations can be Christian vocations.
As a pastor I am resourced to take future church leaders through an equipping process. I can teach someone how to lead church activities. I am competent to teach people how to live a life of spiritual disciplines. But when it comes to the single largest fact of most peoples daily lives, I am left with one of two options for discipleship. 1) Quit your job so you can do 'real ministry.' 2) Pray for and witness to your co-workers while maintaining personal integrity at your workplace. What is largely missing is any sense of training people to view their occupations as their vocations.
Scoring Goals
It is here that the Church has the largest problem, and hence, the largest need for re-imagination. Our system rewards and reinforces a view of ministry that is largely out of sync with our stated philosophy of ministry. We say everybody gets to play, but the rules of the game, and the way in which we 'score goals' (ie incentives and definitions of success) are set up to prevent everybody from playing. Of course this is unintentional, but still true!
A 'winning' church (to continue the metaphor) is defined by characteristics that have nothing to do with 'everybody getting to play.' Because of this we simultaneously recognize a need to have everyone play, while attempting to keep the star players in the game as long as possible; in our system you can't score goals with mediocre performance. Because of this, we give some attention to the idea of workplace ministry, but it somehow never really makes it into the playbook; you can't score goals by practicing law, or building bridges, only by proclaiming the gospel or praying for people. In short, our definition of success prevents us from implementing this value more fully.
Our most essential task is to create a system of in which 'everybody gets to play' is itself one of the markers for success, is itself defined as one of the ways in which we 'score points.'
6.09.2009
A Christian Nation
"When I ask myself what it might look like for Britain to be a genuinely Christian country I don’t think first of everyone going to church, though naturally I’d like that too. I don’t even think of everyone saying their prayers, though that would be marvellous. I think of a society where the weak and the vulnerable, the very old and the very young, the strangers in our midst, the long-term unemployed, the victims of crime and the criminals who’ve forgotten that there’s another way to live, all know that we are looking out for them and taking thought for how to order our common life for the common good, especially theirs. I think of a world where generous love overflows in voluntary work and contribution which doesn’t ask What can I get out of this person but rather How can I help."
NT Wright
NT Wright
6.08.2009
Gravity
Hope is bigger than fear, life than death, joy than suffering, peace than chaos, faith than doubt, freedom than bondage; the former have weight and length and depth, existence, the latter lack any real (that is spiritual) mass, in fact lack existence.
(This is to simply say that, “God is,” and that “what is not God, or from God, is not.”)
God is true substance, all else derives from Him and is infused with His weight, His glory; and whatever refuses that infusion ceases to be, crumbles and becomes dust, less than dust, simply the absence of something that should have been...
We are in His orbit, unless we would rather choose to careen off into abyss...
(This is to simply say that, “God is,” and that “what is not God, or from God, is not.”)
God is true substance, all else derives from Him and is infused with His weight, His glory; and whatever refuses that infusion ceases to be, crumbles and becomes dust, less than dust, simply the absence of something that should have been...
We are in His orbit, unless we would rather choose to careen off into abyss...
6.07.2009
Truth
"truth is what you believe it to be"
Saw a bumper sticker that said this the other day, and I was tempted to go ask the guy about it.
That sentiment works fine in the realm of cute bumper sticker philosophy, but it is an unfortunate disaster as a basis for understanding reality.
Saw a bumper sticker that said this the other day, and I was tempted to go ask the guy about it.
"The truth is that the car you are driving is actually mine, so give me the keys, buddy!"
That sentiment works fine in the realm of cute bumper sticker philosophy, but it is an unfortunate disaster as a basis for understanding reality.
6.06.2009
Yet Another Note on Submission
"...so he circumcised him..."
Acts 16:3
You can read the whole story here.
Isn't it interesting. Paul had Timothy circumcised so that he could bring him along for the task at hand. And just what was that task? Proclaiming to the Churches that circumcision was not required!!!!
Can you imagine the conversations that Paul and Timothy had on this?
...after all, it is only a small piece of skin, right?
===========================
As followers of Christ, we go the extra mile. We bear the burden of others. We gladly suffer pain for other peoples misconceptions, so that they might not stumble...
You can imagine that if Timothy read these words before he met Paul, and then read them again after he joined Paul's ministry, they would cary much more personal significance the second time!
Acts 16:3
You can read the whole story here.
Isn't it interesting. Paul had Timothy circumcised so that he could bring him along for the task at hand. And just what was that task? Proclaiming to the Churches that circumcision was not required!!!!
Can you imagine the conversations that Paul and Timothy had on this?
...after all, it is only a small piece of skin, right?
===========================
As followers of Christ, we go the extra mile. We bear the burden of others. We gladly suffer pain for other peoples misconceptions, so that they might not stumble...
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."
1 Corinthians 9
You can imagine that if Timothy read these words before he met Paul, and then read them again after he joined Paul's ministry, they would cary much more personal significance the second time!
6.05.2009
Another Note on Submission
When you think of sin, do you think of your own? Or of other people's iniquity?
When you think of virtue, do you think of your own good deeds? Or of someone elses?
A mature Christian will always spot the virtue in her friend, and the sin in herself. It is a sign of immaturity to find sin in others, while highlighting virtue in oneself.
=======================
Do we seek the good of others? Or of ourselves?
When you think of virtue, do you think of your own good deeds? Or of someone elses?
This certainly reveals much about my heart!
A mature Christian will always spot the virtue in her friend, and the sin in herself. It is a sign of immaturity to find sin in others, while highlighting virtue in oneself.
=======================
Do we seek the good of others? Or of ourselves?
6.04.2009
La Republica Dominicana
(Click the title link to the Vineyard Church of Santiago)
Here are some pictures of me hard at work on the mission field:
But then again, I was just trying to stay culturally relevant:
Don't worry, I really did do something other than sleep:
I will post some more photos, and a real recap of the trip soon!
;-)
Here are some pictures of me hard at work on the mission field:
But then again, I was just trying to stay culturally relevant:
Don't worry, I really did do something other than sleep:
I will post some more photos, and a real recap of the trip soon!
;-)
6.03.2009
A Note on Submission
We read about the Phoenician and Samaritan Christians as they respond to reports of Paul's mission to the Gentiles:
"This news made all the brothers very glad."
Acts 15:3
=============================
And then we read about other responses to that same work:
Peter's response when God instructs Him to share the good news with non-Jews:
The early church responds to Peter's preaching to the gentiles with skepticism:
The Jews are scandalized at the idea of God acting on behalf of the Gentiles:
The Jews respond to Paul sharing his calling:
=============================
In general the Jews were jealous and bitter towards the Gospel going out to the Gentiles. Even Christian Jews were turned off at this notion. Peter himself, even when directly commanded by God, found the idea less than desirable. Time and again we see this response, and it is the very thing that lands Paul in prison, and ultimately beheaded in Rome.
It would, however, be a mistake to view this as a Jewish problem...
People just don't like the idea of 'those people' receiving blessing.
I don't either, and if you are anything like me...
=============================
We are admonished in scripture to "consider others better than yourselves."
How do we respond when other people are blessed?
Do we ask, 'what about me?'
Do we think through the reasons they should be disqualified from blessing?
Do we compare ourselves with them?
...are we jealous?
Or does the news make us "very glad?"
-============================
I want my heart to be like that of the Phoenician and Samaritan Churches...
I want to genuinely desire the blessing of other people, and rejoice when they receive it!
...Jesus teach me!
"This news made all the brothers very glad."
Acts 15:3
=============================
And then we read about other responses to that same work:
Peter's response when God instructs Him to share the good news with non-Jews:
"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.
Acts 10:14-15 & 28
The early church responds to Peter's preaching to the gentiles with skepticism:
The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
Acts 11:1-3
The Jews are scandalized at the idea of God acting on behalf of the Gentiles:
On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.
But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.
Acts 13:44-45 & 50
The Jews respond to Paul sharing his calling:
"Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!"
Acts 22:21-22
=============================
In general the Jews were jealous and bitter towards the Gospel going out to the Gentiles. Even Christian Jews were turned off at this notion. Peter himself, even when directly commanded by God, found the idea less than desirable. Time and again we see this response, and it is the very thing that lands Paul in prison, and ultimately beheaded in Rome.
It would, however, be a mistake to view this as a Jewish problem...
People just don't like the idea of 'those people' receiving blessing.
I don't either, and if you are anything like me...
=============================
We are admonished in scripture to "consider others better than yourselves."
How do we respond when other people are blessed?
Do we ask, 'what about me?'
Do we think through the reasons they should be disqualified from blessing?
Do we compare ourselves with them?
...are we jealous?
Or does the news make us "very glad?"
-============================
I want my heart to be like that of the Phoenician and Samaritan Churches...
I want to genuinely desire the blessing of other people, and rejoice when they receive it!
...Jesus teach me!
5.26.2009
5.25.2009
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Ends of the Earth
"In addition, whenever Paul talks about justification he is also talking about the coming together of Jew and Gentile in Christ. I do wonder whether for many Christians in the Western world that sort of sense of ethnic integration has just not been on their radar screen. Or if it has, it’s been as one distant fragment of the message, rather than something that is front and center. And making it front and center I think is very uncomfortable for many people, not because they’re racists necessarily, but just because there’s a sense that this wasn’t something we thought was as central as that. No doubt we should love all our brothers and sisters in Christ, but it didn’t seem to be as important. For Paul it is radically important, and I think that demands in a lot of people a major category shift which they’re really worried about making."
NT Wright
(Click on the title link for the whole interview)
NT Wright
(Click on the title link for the whole interview)
5.18.2009
He
born blind; half human, half empty
blind to the Truth, blind to my own state of affairs
human yet missing even the knowing of something missing
a hole in my heart that only ached, not knowing it needed filling
a bleak picture of half a man, ever seeking, ever searching
ever running from the monster in the mirror
lost to myself, to the kingdom, to the King
lost to the King; my being cut out of existence
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, THE WORD WAS LIGHT AND LIFE
HE CAME TO THE WORLD OF MEN, HE HAD CREATED IT
HE GAVE HIS LIGHT AND LIFE TO THE WORLD OF MEN
HE SPENT INFINITY GIVING HIMSELF TO THE WORLD OF MEN
THEY HAD TURNED FROM HIM, YET HE STILL GAVE LIGHT AND LIFE
TO THOSE WHO WOULD TURN BACK
ever seeking, yet somehow knowing,
the direction sought was not the one traveled
this life was producing Death, running to-and-fro and accomplishing nothing
beating the air with my fists, vain rebellious conformity to the world
searching roads that ought not be traveled, push past the warnings
now mired in the swamps, feeling Death
i knew i needed to extend a hand, to reach beyond myself
somehow to find the Truth beyond this world, to find Life, to have it live in me
only the hole in my heart ached now, stuffed with the Death i had filled it with
it was visible, the black oozing scar where a soul should be
and then i knew, i must reach beyond myself, to the only cure
THE WORD TOOK THE WORLD HE HAD CREATED, THE WORLD THAT HAD DENIED HIM
AND PLACED IT UPON HIS SHOULDERS, THE DEATH, REBELLION, HATRED, VILE...
HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE DEATH OF THE REBELLION WORLD
THE PLUNGING DAGGER OF VENOMOUS DECAY INTO HIS OWN BURNING BLEEDING HEART
THE WORD EMBRACED THE DEATH THAT WAS ELECTED BY HIS OWN CREATION, HE SWALLOWED IT WHOLE
AND DIED
THE UNIVERSE WENT OUT, INFINITY HAD ENDED, LIFE WAS DEAD, LIGHT WAS DARK
DEATH ITSELF, HEIR TRIUMPHANT, PRESUMED TO CLIMB THE THRONE
THE ACCUSER GLOATED, TAUNTING, VICTORY WON...
...YET DEATH COULD NOT KEEP IT’S HOLD UPON HIM!
THE AUTHOR OF LIFE, THOUGH DEAD, NOW LIVED!
FOR THE RESURRECTION-LIFE COULD NOT BE KEPT IN DEATH, THE WORD REIGNS
THE LIFE-LIGHT BLAZED OUT OF THE DARKNESS; THE DARKNESS COULDN’T PUT IT OUT
and the Word turned to me; He looked and He saw
He stretched out his Bleeding Hands; hands offering Life
He offered his Life; He offered to fill the hole where my heart should be
with his Bleeding Heart
and where once had been emptiness, was now The Life
and where once was crusted blackness and oozing decaying Death
now flowed the streams of Living Infinity
i have met the Word
the great Fountain of Life at the center of Infinity
HE LIVES WITHIN ME
blind to the Truth, blind to my own state of affairs
human yet missing even the knowing of something missing
a hole in my heart that only ached, not knowing it needed filling
a bleak picture of half a man, ever seeking, ever searching
ever running from the monster in the mirror
lost to myself, to the kingdom, to the King
lost to the King; my being cut out of existence
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, THE WORD WAS LIGHT AND LIFE
HE CAME TO THE WORLD OF MEN, HE HAD CREATED IT
HE GAVE HIS LIGHT AND LIFE TO THE WORLD OF MEN
HE SPENT INFINITY GIVING HIMSELF TO THE WORLD OF MEN
THEY HAD TURNED FROM HIM, YET HE STILL GAVE LIGHT AND LIFE
TO THOSE WHO WOULD TURN BACK
ever seeking, yet somehow knowing,
the direction sought was not the one traveled
this life was producing Death, running to-and-fro and accomplishing nothing
beating the air with my fists, vain rebellious conformity to the world
searching roads that ought not be traveled, push past the warnings
now mired in the swamps, feeling Death
i knew i needed to extend a hand, to reach beyond myself
somehow to find the Truth beyond this world, to find Life, to have it live in me
only the hole in my heart ached now, stuffed with the Death i had filled it with
it was visible, the black oozing scar where a soul should be
and then i knew, i must reach beyond myself, to the only cure
THE WORD TOOK THE WORLD HE HAD CREATED, THE WORLD THAT HAD DENIED HIM
AND PLACED IT UPON HIS SHOULDERS, THE DEATH, REBELLION, HATRED, VILE...
HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE DEATH OF THE REBELLION WORLD
THE PLUNGING DAGGER OF VENOMOUS DECAY INTO HIS OWN BURNING BLEEDING HEART
THE WORD EMBRACED THE DEATH THAT WAS ELECTED BY HIS OWN CREATION, HE SWALLOWED IT WHOLE
AND DIED
THE UNIVERSE WENT OUT, INFINITY HAD ENDED, LIFE WAS DEAD, LIGHT WAS DARK
DEATH ITSELF, HEIR TRIUMPHANT, PRESUMED TO CLIMB THE THRONE
THE ACCUSER GLOATED, TAUNTING, VICTORY WON...
...YET DEATH COULD NOT KEEP IT’S HOLD UPON HIM!
THE AUTHOR OF LIFE, THOUGH DEAD, NOW LIVED!
FOR THE RESURRECTION-LIFE COULD NOT BE KEPT IN DEATH, THE WORD REIGNS
THE LIFE-LIGHT BLAZED OUT OF THE DARKNESS; THE DARKNESS COULDN’T PUT IT OUT
and the Word turned to me; He looked and He saw
He stretched out his Bleeding Hands; hands offering Life
He offered his Life; He offered to fill the hole where my heart should be
with his Bleeding Heart
and where once had been emptiness, was now The Life
and where once was crusted blackness and oozing decaying Death
now flowed the streams of Living Infinity
i have met the Word
the great Fountain of Life at the center of Infinity
HE LIVES WITHIN ME
5.15.2009
More Lyrics from Previous Life...
Reason is gone
This brain is out of practice
Thinking is alien
It’s alien to me
The day is through, the lights are out, and I’m alone again
Electrons comfort me, the television is my only friend
There was a time that I swore, this would never happen to me
I look for inspiration like I’ve done so many times
There’s something missing here I can’t define
Would you like to go to a place inside my head?
Or would you like to watch me fall asleep instead
Instead
Indecision, Television
Takes my mind away
Growing stronger, how much longer
Will things be this way?
I look at my close friends they wear expressions of concern
They don’t want me to forget all that they think I’ve learned
I’ve explained my situation, but why can’t they see
Friday’s just another night for me
For me
Now there’s a feeling that I get when I’m at peace with all I see
And it’s a rare time that I spend with no one else around but me
These moments are so precious now
Getting better just like wine
But wine won’t make me happy
There was a time I thought it would
I thought it could, I thought it should
Now turned around I’m looking down
There’s nothing there but I can still
See myself a lonely boy
This brain is out of practice
Thinking is alien
It’s alien to me
The day is through, the lights are out, and I’m alone again
Electrons comfort me, the television is my only friend
There was a time that I swore, this would never happen to me
I look for inspiration like I’ve done so many times
There’s something missing here I can’t define
Would you like to go to a place inside my head?
Or would you like to watch me fall asleep instead
Instead
Indecision, Television
Takes my mind away
Growing stronger, how much longer
Will things be this way?
I look at my close friends they wear expressions of concern
They don’t want me to forget all that they think I’ve learned
I’ve explained my situation, but why can’t they see
Friday’s just another night for me
For me
Now there’s a feeling that I get when I’m at peace with all I see
And it’s a rare time that I spend with no one else around but me
These moments are so precious now
Getting better just like wine
But wine won’t make me happy
There was a time I thought it would
I thought it could, I thought it should
Now turned around I’m looking down
There’s nothing there but I can still
See myself a lonely boy
5.14.2009
Did you say something?
But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Luke 19:40
Luke 19:40
original sin
he is a decent sort
but flawed
always so close
only to be brought down
holds the key to every door
yet has not realized his aim
somehow i think
he is not quite right put together
his antagonist is Himself
but flawed
always so close
only to be brought down
holds the key to every door
yet has not realized his aim
somehow i think
he is not quite right put together
his antagonist is Himself
5.12.2009
God Doesn't...
"God doesn't call those who are equipped, rather, He equips those He has called..."
=====================================
"When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities."
The apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus
=====================================
God isn't really all that impressed with a 'fast horse,' but rather a horse who is willing to be trained. (Psalm 147:10-11) A football player who runs a 4.2 second 40-yard dash, but has trouble determining which end zone he should run towards, is of no help to his team whatsoever.
Similarly, a person who has tremendous knowledge of scripture, or wonderfully effective communication skills, or wields charismatic influence over others, is of no service to God (and is a danger to him/herself and others). If they are not humble before God, receiving His wisdom and power instead of offering God theirs, then there is as much good to come from their efforts as the blazing fast running back who unwitting heads the wrong way down the field...
=====================================
"When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities."
The apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus
=====================================
God isn't really all that impressed with a 'fast horse,' but rather a horse who is willing to be trained. (Psalm 147:10-11) A football player who runs a 4.2 second 40-yard dash, but has trouble determining which end zone he should run towards, is of no help to his team whatsoever.
Similarly, a person who has tremendous knowledge of scripture, or wonderfully effective communication skills, or wields charismatic influence over others, is of no service to God (and is a danger to him/herself and others). If they are not humble before God, receiving His wisdom and power instead of offering God theirs, then there is as much good to come from their efforts as the blazing fast running back who unwitting heads the wrong way down the field...
5.10.2009
How Serious?
"But other Means must be employed in most cases. Two of the most useful are: openness to others and resolute avoidance of situations in which pornography can be indulged. As for openness, this may involve confession (to appropriate persons in appropriate ways), sharing with others in the same difficulty, a "buddy" (accountability) system with a small group of others (not all necessarily in the same difficulty) that allows you to meet and discuss regularly and to call on others for prayer and support in the hard times. Another measure that can be taken here is to kneel down publically and pray out loud for deliverance from your temptation. Perhaps "in church." (St. Benedict threw himself into a briar patch upon the occasion of salacious thoughts, and it seems to have done wonders for him.) Now at this point one might say: Are you serious? My answer would be: Are you?"
Dallas Willard
(Click on the title link for the whole article)
Dallas Willard
(Click on the title link for the whole article)
5.09.2009
Great turn of Phrase
"There is an adage that says the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better. The Kingdom of God is the iceberg to the Titanic of the world's idolatries and ideologies. I don't want to overstate the case, but I don't think the primary way the Kingdom of God functions is by being an adversary to culture. It is by "being," period.
If we are art connoisseurs looking for a great painting, and someone holds up a Rembrandt in the midst of a bunch of stick figures, then little critique of the stick figures is needed. Obsession with critiquing stick figures becomes counterproductive. Objecting to the inclusion of human images in paintings because stick figure paintings contain human images becomes outright destructive. That is why the central focus must be on who we should be not what we should oppose.
Paul (and others) does critique the empire in a variety of clever ways but I suggest that he sees the ultimate and most powerful critique as the simple presence of Kingdom of God."
I thought the above comment (taken from a conversation at the Jesus Creed blog) was worthy of reprinting:
Micheal W Kruse
If we are art connoisseurs looking for a great painting, and someone holds up a Rembrandt in the midst of a bunch of stick figures, then little critique of the stick figures is needed. Obsession with critiquing stick figures becomes counterproductive. Objecting to the inclusion of human images in paintings because stick figure paintings contain human images becomes outright destructive. That is why the central focus must be on who we should be not what we should oppose.
Paul (and others) does critique the empire in a variety of clever ways but I suggest that he sees the ultimate and most powerful critique as the simple presence of Kingdom of God."
I thought the above comment (taken from a conversation at the Jesus Creed blog) was worthy of reprinting:
Micheal W Kruse
5.08.2009
Scripture
A real and great temptation with scripture is to apply it to other people...
=================================
Remember, there are two kinds of wisdom:
James 3:13-18
=================================
The trick is not really about knowing scripture, but about living in harmony with the God scripture points to...
=================================
Remember, there are two kinds of wisdom:
James 3:13-18
=================================
The trick is not really about knowing scripture, but about living in harmony with the God scripture points to...
5.07.2009
Inaugurated Eschatology and the Invasion of Normandy
Inaugurated
Dictionary: in·au·gu·rate (ĭn-ô'gyə-rāt')
tr.v., -rat·ed, -rat·ing, -rates.
To induct into office by a formal ceremony.
To cause to begin, especially officially or formally: inaugurate a new immigration policy. See synonyms at begin.
To open or begin use of formally with a ceremony; dedicate: inaugurate a community center.
Eschatology
Dictionary: es·cha·tol·o·gy (ĕs'kə-tŏl'ə-jē)
n.
The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind.
A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.
=========================================
The German forces had conquered Europe. Adolf Hitler held dominion over the entire continent.
The Allied forces planned an attack on the mainland from England. Day One of the invasion onto the coast of France was called D-day. The Allies needed to gain and hold a beachhead on the coast of Normandy. To fail to do so was to risk the possible loss of the continent to Germany, to succeed here was the beginning of permanent victory.
The Allied success in establishing a beachhead at Normandy was the point at which the outcome of WWII was decided.
The war was not yet won, but in a sense it had been won. From this point on, the German armies had no real hope of success. The victory had been achieved, but not yet realized. Hitler had been defeated, but had yet to realize it.
=========================================
Inaugurated Eschatology
Christians believe that we are currently live in the time of the end. What was achieved by Christ on the cross was precisely the final victory. There is still the manifestation of that victory, the 'putting it into effect' that is, and must be, taking place. But the victory is already won.
There is still the possibility of loss and casualty, but there is no question of the outcome of the war.
We live between the times.
Jesus has won the great battle for us, and we now put into effect that victory as we await His return and the full and final consummation of victory.
Dictionary: in·au·gu·rate (ĭn-ô'gyə-rāt')
tr.v., -rat·ed, -rat·ing, -rates.
To induct into office by a formal ceremony.
To cause to begin, especially officially or formally: inaugurate a new immigration policy. See synonyms at begin.
To open or begin use of formally with a ceremony; dedicate: inaugurate a community center.
Eschatology
Dictionary: es·cha·tol·o·gy (ĕs'kə-tŏl'ə-jē)
n.
The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind.
A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.
=========================================
The German forces had conquered Europe. Adolf Hitler held dominion over the entire continent.
The Allied forces planned an attack on the mainland from England. Day One of the invasion onto the coast of France was called D-day. The Allies needed to gain and hold a beachhead on the coast of Normandy. To fail to do so was to risk the possible loss of the continent to Germany, to succeed here was the beginning of permanent victory.
The Allied success in establishing a beachhead at Normandy was the point at which the outcome of WWII was decided.
The war was not yet won, but in a sense it had been won. From this point on, the German armies had no real hope of success. The victory had been achieved, but not yet realized. Hitler had been defeated, but had yet to realize it.
=========================================
Inaugurated Eschatology
Christians believe that we are currently live in the time of the end. What was achieved by Christ on the cross was precisely the final victory. There is still the manifestation of that victory, the 'putting it into effect' that is, and must be, taking place. But the victory is already won.
There is still the possibility of loss and casualty, but there is no question of the outcome of the war.
We live between the times.
Jesus has won the great battle for us, and we now put into effect that victory as we await His return and the full and final consummation of victory.
5.06.2009
Smoke Machine Jesus
Had a conversation with a friend recently who visited a worship service that had a fog machine during worship...
Got us talking about the bells and whistles of church and how that compares to what church is really about.
Devotion, Community, Discipleship, Mission.
(As an aside, excellence in showmanship is not necessarily antithetical to Jesus, there are times when they coincide, and when they do we should be appropriately grateful, but we should choose to pursue Jesus!)
===========================
Got me thinking...
What do you do when people show up at your church from another church in town?
Do you know them?
Do you know their story?
When you find out that they are leaving community to come and participate in your community because of the bells and whistles, what do you do?
(Lets say they are coming to your church because their past church was 'too big,' or 'too small,' or 'the worship was too white, or too black, or too old, or too new,' or perhaps 'you preach the Word,' or their Sunday School didn't have enough kids in it... you get the point.)
Why would you leave your friends to have good music?
The answer is either a deeply perverted view of God, or little to no love for those so called friends, or both...
Why would you allow someone to leave another community behind and start spending time with yours? It obviously isn't because you care about them and want them to grow into mature Christian people...
==============================
I come from a church where people were encouraged to work it out with their previous church, not simply to plug into ours; so I guess I have a hard time understanding the inclusion of people into a community who have left another one...
Love to hear your thoughts...
Got us talking about the bells and whistles of church and how that compares to what church is really about.
Devotion, Community, Discipleship, Mission.
(As an aside, excellence in showmanship is not necessarily antithetical to Jesus, there are times when they coincide, and when they do we should be appropriately grateful, but we should choose to pursue Jesus!)
===========================
Got me thinking...
What do you do when people show up at your church from another church in town?
Do you know them?
Do you know their story?
When you find out that they are leaving community to come and participate in your community because of the bells and whistles, what do you do?
(Lets say they are coming to your church because their past church was 'too big,' or 'too small,' or 'the worship was too white, or too black, or too old, or too new,' or perhaps 'you preach the Word,' or their Sunday School didn't have enough kids in it... you get the point.)
Why would you leave your friends to have good music?
The answer is either a deeply perverted view of God, or little to no love for those so called friends, or both...
Why would you allow someone to leave another community behind and start spending time with yours? It obviously isn't because you care about them and want them to grow into mature Christian people...
==============================
I come from a church where people were encouraged to work it out with their previous church, not simply to plug into ours; so I guess I have a hard time understanding the inclusion of people into a community who have left another one...
Love to hear your thoughts...
5.02.2009
Trust, Pain, and My Father
Had some real deep conversations this past week with some friends:
What in my life has hurt me?
How have I experienced rejection, alienation and abuse?
What am I afraid of?
Do I still feel the effects from these things?
Where do I find it hard to trust people?
Where do I find it hard to trust God?
Are these emotional scars and painful experiences directly related to the places where I mistrust my heavenly Father?
(Check out Floyd McClung's book The Father Heart of God)
What in my life has hurt me?
How have I experienced rejection, alienation and abuse?
What am I afraid of?
Do I still feel the effects from these things?
Where do I find it hard to trust people?
Where do I find it hard to trust God?
Are these emotional scars and painful experiences directly related to the places where I mistrust my heavenly Father?
(Check out Floyd McClung's book The Father Heart of God)
Lyrics from a previous life...
I’m feeling cold today
Frozen to the core
I need some inspiration
To pull me from the floor
Take me down the road
To a place I’ve never been before
Open up my eyes
Show me colors that I’ve never seen
Open up your mouth
Give me perfect words I’ve never heard
I’m ready now let’s go
Burn my world a southpaw curve
Fast and hard, like vida blue
I’ve lived a lot of everyplace
But nowhere I’d call home
The look in every strangers face
Tells me I’m alone
Take me down the road
To a place I’ve never been before
Open up my eyes
Show me colors that I’ve never seen
Open up your mouth
Give me perfect words I’ve never heard
I’m ready now let’s go
Burn my world a southpaw curve
Fast and hard, like vida blue
- ALL
Frozen to the core
I need some inspiration
To pull me from the floor
Take me down the road
To a place I’ve never been before
Open up my eyes
Show me colors that I’ve never seen
Open up your mouth
Give me perfect words I’ve never heard
I’m ready now let’s go
Burn my world a southpaw curve
Fast and hard, like vida blue
I’ve lived a lot of everyplace
But nowhere I’d call home
The look in every strangers face
Tells me I’m alone
Take me down the road
To a place I’ve never been before
Open up my eyes
Show me colors that I’ve never seen
Open up your mouth
Give me perfect words I’ve never heard
I’m ready now let’s go
Burn my world a southpaw curve
Fast and hard, like vida blue
- ALL
4.29.2009
4.25.2009
Who's gift to whom?
I remember my pastor's wife once saying:
"Your life is God's gift to you, what you do with it is your gift to Him"
I came across this verse the other day:
10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;
11 the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
My abilities and skills are not my gift to God, although I often like to think about them in those terms. I say to myself, "Look at what I have done for God..." but I am like a horse who thinks his strength is his own, to offer to God, or not. The reality is that my strength is God's gift to me, and so He isn't very impressed by it; nor is He overwhelmed with joy when I offer Him some of it.
What impresses God is when I trust Him, when I look to Him, when I allow Him to direct my life in such a way that the gifts He has given me are put to work for justice and mercy...
Jesus, help me!
"Your life is God's gift to you, what you do with it is your gift to Him"
I came across this verse the other day:
10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;
11 the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
My abilities and skills are not my gift to God, although I often like to think about them in those terms. I say to myself, "Look at what I have done for God..." but I am like a horse who thinks his strength is his own, to offer to God, or not. The reality is that my strength is God's gift to me, and so He isn't very impressed by it; nor is He overwhelmed with joy when I offer Him some of it.
What impresses God is when I trust Him, when I look to Him, when I allow Him to direct my life in such a way that the gifts He has given me are put to work for justice and mercy...
Jesus, help me!
4.18.2009
The Easy Road
This quote seems to go very well with my previous post:
"The road of the cross that Jesus walked was a difficult road. But it was a blessed road. The road that Jesus walked silently was the correct road. The road of the cross was not a short cut. However, although it may sound a bit paradoxical, it was the easiest road for Him. Henry Miller said that, "In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest." The cross road was the road of resurrection. No cross, no resurrection. There would be no glory if there was no cross. That’s why the cross is God’s wisdom and power."
Joshua ChoonMin Kang
To read the rest of the article click on the title link and go to article # 152
"The road of the cross that Jesus walked was a difficult road. But it was a blessed road. The road that Jesus walked silently was the correct road. The road of the cross was not a short cut. However, although it may sound a bit paradoxical, it was the easiest road for Him. Henry Miller said that, "In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest." The cross road was the road of resurrection. No cross, no resurrection. There would be no glory if there was no cross. That’s why the cross is God’s wisdom and power."
Joshua ChoonMin Kang
To read the rest of the article click on the title link and go to article # 152
Identity
"When Christ bids a man, He bids him come and die!"
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Had a great conversation about this with my brother the other day...
It is interesting how two people can come at a point of truth from two totally different perspectives.
I was speaking of a friend and how I had encouraged him to 'die to self' in a specific circumstance he found himself in. My brother asked some penetrating questions about this, specifically addressing the problematic way in which this might promote an unhealthy dose of 'martyr-complex-death-wish' thinking, along the lines of some early Christians. (There were cases of some Christians actually seeking martyrdom at the hands of the Romans, instead of merely accepting martyrdom when it confronted them...)
It took a while for us to come to terms with each other on the subject, but when we did, I realized how different we see the world.
I was attempting to stay faithful to the call of the gospel to relinquish control to a Victorious Jesus, Lord and Christ over all Creation. I come from, however, a place of almost whimsical and carefree living. My psychology is much more spontaneous and prone to pursue whatever pleasures this moment offers. And so, I have come to see the call of Christ for me as a constant setting aside of my desires in order to learn His instead...
My brother, however, was approaching this from the perspective of one who tends to approach God from a very different mindset. One who, prior to Christ, tends to seek punishment for sins, and who views their own character flaws through a microscope will find in God a Father who offers a life of affirmation and pleasure that counters the inherent tendency to self-critique and self-condemnation...
I believe we are both talking about the same thing, yet doing so from very different places:
The call to follow Jesus is a call to die, but it is also a call to truly live!
For it is only in Jesus that true life can be found, and it is only after our own will is subjected to His that we can find it. It is on the other side of the Crucifixion that lies the Resurrection. Along any other path lies only a counterfeit, a broad and easy path that leads to nowhere, or worse...
And so, the call to come and die, is paradoxically, also a call to come and live! ...to experience real life, in all of its sensual pleasure and beauty and comedy!
The call to the cross is a call to identify with Jesus, as is the call to life a call to identity in Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Had a great conversation about this with my brother the other day...
It is interesting how two people can come at a point of truth from two totally different perspectives.
I was speaking of a friend and how I had encouraged him to 'die to self' in a specific circumstance he found himself in. My brother asked some penetrating questions about this, specifically addressing the problematic way in which this might promote an unhealthy dose of 'martyr-complex-death-wish' thinking, along the lines of some early Christians. (There were cases of some Christians actually seeking martyrdom at the hands of the Romans, instead of merely accepting martyrdom when it confronted them...)
It took a while for us to come to terms with each other on the subject, but when we did, I realized how different we see the world.
I was attempting to stay faithful to the call of the gospel to relinquish control to a Victorious Jesus, Lord and Christ over all Creation. I come from, however, a place of almost whimsical and carefree living. My psychology is much more spontaneous and prone to pursue whatever pleasures this moment offers. And so, I have come to see the call of Christ for me as a constant setting aside of my desires in order to learn His instead...
My brother, however, was approaching this from the perspective of one who tends to approach God from a very different mindset. One who, prior to Christ, tends to seek punishment for sins, and who views their own character flaws through a microscope will find in God a Father who offers a life of affirmation and pleasure that counters the inherent tendency to self-critique and self-condemnation...
I believe we are both talking about the same thing, yet doing so from very different places:
The call to follow Jesus is a call to die, but it is also a call to truly live!
For it is only in Jesus that true life can be found, and it is only after our own will is subjected to His that we can find it. It is on the other side of the Crucifixion that lies the Resurrection. Along any other path lies only a counterfeit, a broad and easy path that leads to nowhere, or worse...
And so, the call to come and die, is paradoxically, also a call to come and live! ...to experience real life, in all of its sensual pleasure and beauty and comedy!
The call to the cross is a call to identify with Jesus, as is the call to life a call to identity in Christ.
4.16.2009
4.09.2009
What do you love?
"What we love determines the kind of person we are. We pursue what we love and embrace what we desire. We become similar to the things we love."
Pastor Joshua ChoonMin Kang
Click the title link and then go to article # 292 to read the whole piece on embracing Scripture.
Pastor Joshua ChoonMin Kang
Click the title link and then go to article # 292 to read the whole piece on embracing Scripture.
4.06.2009
Be the Church
"The vision of Quest is simple, bland, and redundant. Our vision is to be the church. The process, however, can be scandalous, powerful, and hopefully, redemptive because a church ought to wrestle with 1) what the church is and 2) and how a faith community LIVES out that calling in its respective context and culture."
From Pastor Eugene Cho's blog...
(Click the Title Link)
From Pastor Eugene Cho's blog...
(Click the Title Link)
4.04.2009
Discipleship
My friend Cory said once that when we are in the midst of temptation we should ask, 'God what are you doing here?'
It has stuck with me...
Now, I have been taught to ask that question always, but had never thought to ask it of temptation! In fact, upon reflection, I have really oriented myself towards asking that question with respect to the outside world. 'God what are you at work in, out there,' but never (or rarely), 'God what are you doing in me?' Perhaps that is the result of a position in leadership? But I am bent towards other peoples lives, generally a good thing, but in this particular instance, a blind spot...
When I am frustrated with my sleepless children, 'God, what are you doing in me?'
When I am annoyed with my wife who won't simply live to serve my needs, 'God, what are you doing in me?'
=============================
So I had a conversation with a group of folks from our Church about suffering...
...and perseverance that leads to character.
And this came together as I read Ephesians 4:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
=============================
Why is it so easy to talk about discipleship?
Why am I so blind to the places where I am being called to grow into Christ?
It has stuck with me...
Now, I have been taught to ask that question always, but had never thought to ask it of temptation! In fact, upon reflection, I have really oriented myself towards asking that question with respect to the outside world. 'God what are you at work in, out there,' but never (or rarely), 'God what are you doing in me?' Perhaps that is the result of a position in leadership? But I am bent towards other peoples lives, generally a good thing, but in this particular instance, a blind spot...
When I am frustrated with my sleepless children, 'God, what are you doing in me?'
When I am annoyed with my wife who won't simply live to serve my needs, 'God, what are you doing in me?'
=============================
So I had a conversation with a group of folks from our Church about suffering...
...and perseverance that leads to character.
And this came together as I read Ephesians 4:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
=============================
Why is it so easy to talk about discipleship?
Why am I so blind to the places where I am being called to grow into Christ?
4.03.2009
If...
If we are joined to Christ, then we will become like Him.
If we are joined to Christ, then we will be joined to each other.
If we are joined to Christ, then we will have His heart.
If we are joined to Christ, then we will give ourselves to His mission.
If we are joined to Christ, then we will live His life.
...and that is the calling of the Church.
Joined to Christ, to each other, and to His agenda. Investing in people, speaking prophetic destiny over them, and then setting them free to run to the ends of the earth!
If we are joined to Christ, then we will be joined to each other.
If we are joined to Christ, then we will have His heart.
If we are joined to Christ, then we will give ourselves to His mission.
If we are joined to Christ, then we will live His life.
...and that is the calling of the Church.
Joined to Christ, to each other, and to His agenda. Investing in people, speaking prophetic destiny over them, and then setting them free to run to the ends of the earth!
4.02.2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)