Thank you, Lord, for my children. Each of them has blessed my life and the lives of others in unique ways. Each of them has challenged me in ways I could not have imagined; they have taught me about myself and other temperaments; they have taught me about a new kind of love. They have made me a better person.
Thank you, Lord, for the wife of my youth - for her years of giving and faithfulness; for her grace to our children and her industrious provisions for our family. Thank you for her intelligence, for our differences that challenge and bring appreciation for something wonderful I might not have known otherwise. Thank you for giving us companionship in our often individualized living and for creating one out of two
Thank you, Lord, for my parents and the family I grew up in - For the faith and righteousness that my parents exemplified and expected. Thank you for our ability to sacrifice for one another, to endure rivalry with grace, to allow for differences with appreciation. Thank you also for my extended family, for the good that was modeled in front of me, for the heritage of faith that teaches me what my own faithfulness can mean to others. Thank you for my brother’s and my sister’s family – that they have embraced me and mine with their hearts and hands.
Thank you, for your disciples, my God, who have surrounded me in times of triumph and defeat. Even in the worst of places and times, you have provided someone to minister to me. And in other times, you have given me that same opportunity. Thank you for trusting me and bringing me wholly into your family – a full participant and complete heir.
Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for stepping out from the veil of rules to reveal yourself personally to us. Thank you for enduring our worst and being encouraged by those rare moments when we truly love you deeply and completely. Thank you for letting us touch you in a crowd, or in a home, or in a place of worship; to touch your side where you were wounded, to touch your time with our common needs and habits, to touch your feet with our pain and tears, and to touch even your clothes and feel power flow into us through you. Thank you for enduring us past the point of endurance.
Thank you for the stuff of this world that you give us – for food and cars and homes and clothes; for education and jobs and prosperity. Thank you for the freedom we enjoy. Thank you for the cleansing rain, the changing seasons, the cool breeze, the shade of trees and their fruit that grows and produces by its own work on our behalf. And for so many more blessings that we cannot count, Lord…
Thank You.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Since God Chose You to be Holy…
One of my elders, Raymond, is known for his tender heart. He says he can cry at the drop of a hat, but that’s not really true – he cries for people. He is touched by the joys, the struggles, the losses of people who cross paths with him. His tenderheartedness is reflected in the compassion and dedication he exhibits in every encounter with people. And he is not the only one who cares. We all, who have decided to follow Christ, feel the struggle of balancing our responsibilities with our desire to serve the needs of others.
Colossians 3:12 says, in part, that tenderhearted mercy reflects our holiness. Indeed, this verse says that God chose us to be holy. He made his people unique when he selected them from out of the pool of humanity and set each one aside into his “keepers” bin. Then he says here is one way you need to reflect your uniqueness: treat people with a compassionate mercy.
Mercy is to not give people what they deserve. It is withholding punishment. It is also providing for them when they have not earned it. Mercy defies reason, since reason would dictate equity, but mercy freely slathers on much better than you could have expected. When you look back at mercy, you are still in wonder at how it could have worked out to be so beneficial for you.
Now, for all of those who have become immune to emotional entanglements with others; for those who often quote, “if a man will not work, neither shall he eat.” (2 Thess 3:10); for those who love justice more than mercy; and who are perhaps more taken with the legal requirements of scripture, please note that this is an emphatic statement – a command. You must be completely enshrouded with a tender heart that expresses itself through mercy. Give, give, give to others more than they ought to responsibly expect. And don’t stop. Look, there’s someone else over there who could use a little compassion.
Colossians 3:12 says, in part, that tenderhearted mercy reflects our holiness. Indeed, this verse says that God chose us to be holy. He made his people unique when he selected them from out of the pool of humanity and set each one aside into his “keepers” bin. Then he says here is one way you need to reflect your uniqueness: treat people with a compassionate mercy.
Mercy is to not give people what they deserve. It is withholding punishment. It is also providing for them when they have not earned it. Mercy defies reason, since reason would dictate equity, but mercy freely slathers on much better than you could have expected. When you look back at mercy, you are still in wonder at how it could have worked out to be so beneficial for you.
Now, for all of those who have become immune to emotional entanglements with others; for those who often quote, “if a man will not work, neither shall he eat.” (2 Thess 3:10); for those who love justice more than mercy; and who are perhaps more taken with the legal requirements of scripture, please note that this is an emphatic statement – a command. You must be completely enshrouded with a tender heart that expresses itself through mercy. Give, give, give to others more than they ought to responsibly expect. And don’t stop. Look, there’s someone else over there who could use a little compassion.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves You
In about 1997 the Mango Church of Christ and the Tampa Bay Church of Christ merged. They had come from very different backgrounds with very different personalities. The median age at one was about 37 and the other about 60. In the one, most of the brothers and sisters had grown up in the Church of Christ; in the other, most had been members less than 10 years and many had formerly lived very worldly lives. It is not hard to imagine many other differences between these two divergent groups of people. Yet they had made a decision to come together and work together.
The new congregation was named the Bay Area Church of Christ. Even after the merger was official, there were still many obstacles to be overcome. In a seminar each of the staff spoke about how the church could be united around and benefit from their respective areas of work. One of the ministers started his session by asking the question, “How do you feel about the Church?” My thoughts immediately wandered back through my experiences with the church. I thought of those who had cared for me and nurtured my spiritual growth. I had been the recipient of amazing love through the body of Christ. But I also thought of the pain that had come to me and to my family through our experience with the Church. I realized that there were people I didn’t want to sit next to in worship, or even be in the same room with ever again.
After his initial question, “How do you feel about the Church?” and a long pause, the speaker made what seemed to me to be a profound and convicting statement: “Christ, Jesus died for her.” That hit me in the face. Those brothers and sisters that I had felt so alienated from – Jesus died for them. The ones who had hurt me and I had kept my record of sins on them – Jesus died for them. The ones who were my enemies were worthy of the blood of Jesus, my very own Savior. How could I feel such enmity for those who Jesus loved so deeply and completely?
At that moment, another realization came to light: I was his enemy when he loved me. I was against him when he was for me. Those brothers and sisters who I had set myself against were no different than me and Christ poured out his life to purchase them and me together. How could I receive such love and grace from Jesus and refuse it to others? I was a hypocrite to love those who loved me and reject the rest. I had to learn to love the way Jesus loves.
“Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you, rather it is an old one you have had from the beginning. This old commandment – to love one another – is the same message you have heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the the truth of this commandment and you also are living it.” (1 John 2:7-8a)
The new congregation was named the Bay Area Church of Christ. Even after the merger was official, there were still many obstacles to be overcome. In a seminar each of the staff spoke about how the church could be united around and benefit from their respective areas of work. One of the ministers started his session by asking the question, “How do you feel about the Church?” My thoughts immediately wandered back through my experiences with the church. I thought of those who had cared for me and nurtured my spiritual growth. I had been the recipient of amazing love through the body of Christ. But I also thought of the pain that had come to me and to my family through our experience with the Church. I realized that there were people I didn’t want to sit next to in worship, or even be in the same room with ever again.
After his initial question, “How do you feel about the Church?” and a long pause, the speaker made what seemed to me to be a profound and convicting statement: “Christ, Jesus died for her.” That hit me in the face. Those brothers and sisters that I had felt so alienated from – Jesus died for them. The ones who had hurt me and I had kept my record of sins on them – Jesus died for them. The ones who were my enemies were worthy of the blood of Jesus, my very own Savior. How could I feel such enmity for those who Jesus loved so deeply and completely?
At that moment, another realization came to light: I was his enemy when he loved me. I was against him when he was for me. Those brothers and sisters who I had set myself against were no different than me and Christ poured out his life to purchase them and me together. How could I receive such love and grace from Jesus and refuse it to others? I was a hypocrite to love those who loved me and reject the rest. I had to learn to love the way Jesus loves.
“Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you, rather it is an old one you have had from the beginning. This old commandment – to love one another – is the same message you have heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the the truth of this commandment and you also are living it.” (1 John 2:7-8a)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Colossians 3:12-17
Reflections before I Get There
Colossians chapter three does not stand on its own; 2:23 says that the rules we make for ourselves, or even those imposed upon us by religion, “have no value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (NIV) One translation says, “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desire.” (NLT)
I confess that I have been a part of the tribe that has worked very hard to conquer the sinful desires in my life by adherence to the rules. I don’t mean just any arbitrary rules. I chose the best: straight from scripture (and my parents, and my church, and my own interpretation of all those…). And, I confess that it worked – that is, it sort of worked. I felt stronger by my adherence to the rules. I felt more pleasing to God because of my adherence to the rules. I felt that I was a better testimony because of my adherence to the rules. The rules were comforting as long as I believed that I was staying on top of them. But I finally realized that, although those rules of religion may change my behavior, they weren’t doing much to change me.
If Colossians 2:23 tells me that the power to overcome sin is not found in the rules, then the next verse tells me how sin is overcome – it is in being raised with Christ. Although much of this chapter, and the next, is occupied with right living, the reader is blessed who notes that, there is no claim here that righteous living will overcome sin and its inherent conflict within us. There is nothing to say that following even these rules will transform one into the image of the Christ. Instead, these “moralisms” are emphatically described as the result what has already been accomplished in Christ.
2:20
You died with Christ and were set free from the battle to attain righteousness through the rules that work in the flesh.
2:23
Those rules have no value in the transformation from a person embattled with sin to the one who lives in the image of Christ.
2:6, 7, 3:1-3
The power of transformation comes from sinking our roots deep into Christ, accepting him as the only way to win the spiritual battle with the allure of this world and its rules. The thought here is not that one roots himself in Christ, but that he allows (passive) his roots to sink into Christ, further, that he allows his life to be built firmly on those roots and his faith can also be expected to grow. Perhaps it could be said, Since you have accepted Jesus as your Lord, let him do his work in your body to anchor you, construct you and nourish your faith. That is similar to 3:1, Since you have been raised to new life (instead of trying to re-create that old life into something worthy, grab hold of your new vision of heaven and hold tightly to it. Stop being controlled by the old vision of a better you in this world and let heaven’s vision transform you. Someone has said, “live up to what Christ has done for you.”
1. If rules of righteousness provide no help in conquering evil desires, do these passages offer any help?
2. How may the rules contribute to self righteousness? Or defeat? How are rules comforting? Or disconcerting?
3. How does rule-keeping affect one’s testimony about the Christ?
4. How might Paul have meant for 3:12-17 to differ from the idea of rule-keeping?
5. Pray about the work of Christ in raising you into a new life and how his righteousness might live in your body. Do you think God might show you the answer to this prayer?
Colossians chapter three does not stand on its own; 2:23 says that the rules we make for ourselves, or even those imposed upon us by religion, “have no value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (NIV) One translation says, “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desire.” (NLT)
I confess that I have been a part of the tribe that has worked very hard to conquer the sinful desires in my life by adherence to the rules. I don’t mean just any arbitrary rules. I chose the best: straight from scripture (and my parents, and my church, and my own interpretation of all those…). And, I confess that it worked – that is, it sort of worked. I felt stronger by my adherence to the rules. I felt more pleasing to God because of my adherence to the rules. I felt that I was a better testimony because of my adherence to the rules. The rules were comforting as long as I believed that I was staying on top of them. But I finally realized that, although those rules of religion may change my behavior, they weren’t doing much to change me.
If Colossians 2:23 tells me that the power to overcome sin is not found in the rules, then the next verse tells me how sin is overcome – it is in being raised with Christ. Although much of this chapter, and the next, is occupied with right living, the reader is blessed who notes that, there is no claim here that righteous living will overcome sin and its inherent conflict within us. There is nothing to say that following even these rules will transform one into the image of the Christ. Instead, these “moralisms” are emphatically described as the result what has already been accomplished in Christ.
2:20
You died with Christ and were set free from the battle to attain righteousness through the rules that work in the flesh.
2:23
Those rules have no value in the transformation from a person embattled with sin to the one who lives in the image of Christ.
2:6, 7, 3:1-3
The power of transformation comes from sinking our roots deep into Christ, accepting him as the only way to win the spiritual battle with the allure of this world and its rules. The thought here is not that one roots himself in Christ, but that he allows (passive) his roots to sink into Christ, further, that he allows his life to be built firmly on those roots and his faith can also be expected to grow. Perhaps it could be said, Since you have accepted Jesus as your Lord, let him do his work in your body to anchor you, construct you and nourish your faith. That is similar to 3:1, Since you have been raised to new life (instead of trying to re-create that old life into something worthy, grab hold of your new vision of heaven and hold tightly to it. Stop being controlled by the old vision of a better you in this world and let heaven’s vision transform you. Someone has said, “live up to what Christ has done for you.”
1. If rules of righteousness provide no help in conquering evil desires, do these passages offer any help?
2. How may the rules contribute to self righteousness? Or defeat? How are rules comforting? Or disconcerting?
3. How does rule-keeping affect one’s testimony about the Christ?
4. How might Paul have meant for 3:12-17 to differ from the idea of rule-keeping?
5. Pray about the work of Christ in raising you into a new life and how his righteousness might live in your body. Do you think God might show you the answer to this prayer?
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Spiritually Formed
Eugene Peterson wrote, Eat This Book, from the conviction that we need to read and digest the spiritual words of God found in scripture. In Revelation chapter 10 John was preparing to take notes on the message he had heard from the angel, when he was interrupted by a voice telling him to go and retrieve the scroll from which the angel had been reading. John went to get the scroll, but then, oddly enough, the angel told him to eat it. It seems strange to think of eating even a small piece of paper, yet John ate the scroll of God’s word as he was told and it tasted sweet, but it soured his stomach.
Peterson hopes that we can approach scripture in the same way John was instructed. The Bible is not just rules of conduct, lists of doctrines, or even great stories about God and his people. God’s word is not dead words on paper, flattened and manageable. We must take it inside of us, let it digest into us and affect us…even if it sours our stomach.
This is the idea of formation. For much of my early life, I looked to the scripture only for doctrinal truth. I was missing the point of letting the word do its work of changing me more into the image of Christ. We would do well to submit our “self” to the words of scripture, to let the word critique our living, our attitudes toward righteousness and unrighteousness. As we read the word, we seek not just to learn some new fact or idea, but to learn about ourselves inside the word, to let it speak to our bodies and then, through our bodies to speak to others.
Our best worship for Jehovah God is to let our learning re-create us into his image (Romans 12:1). Where we live, right now, is God’s gift for our spiritual development (Acts 17:26, 27). You should take some time to contemplate the mystery of your own creation and the creation that surrounds you: all of it is from God for your eternal benefit. Submit yourself to God by being what he created you to be, participating with him in his work. Let your life become so intertwined with God’s that when you tell your story, people also hear his.
If we truly are what we eat, as the popular saying asserts, then let us not be formed by this world and its culture, but by the word of God living and digesting inside us. Let our story be God’s story in our bodies.
Peterson hopes that we can approach scripture in the same way John was instructed. The Bible is not just rules of conduct, lists of doctrines, or even great stories about God and his people. God’s word is not dead words on paper, flattened and manageable. We must take it inside of us, let it digest into us and affect us…even if it sours our stomach.
This is the idea of formation. For much of my early life, I looked to the scripture only for doctrinal truth. I was missing the point of letting the word do its work of changing me more into the image of Christ. We would do well to submit our “self” to the words of scripture, to let the word critique our living, our attitudes toward righteousness and unrighteousness. As we read the word, we seek not just to learn some new fact or idea, but to learn about ourselves inside the word, to let it speak to our bodies and then, through our bodies to speak to others.
Our best worship for Jehovah God is to let our learning re-create us into his image (Romans 12:1). Where we live, right now, is God’s gift for our spiritual development (Acts 17:26, 27). You should take some time to contemplate the mystery of your own creation and the creation that surrounds you: all of it is from God for your eternal benefit. Submit yourself to God by being what he created you to be, participating with him in his work. Let your life become so intertwined with God’s that when you tell your story, people also hear his.
If we truly are what we eat, as the popular saying asserts, then let us not be formed by this world and its culture, but by the word of God living and digesting inside us. Let our story be God’s story in our bodies.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
What do You Want?
“God, can I please have a girlfriend?”
“Well, George, I don’t see why not.”
“Yeah, me neither God, but it’s not working out so well. You see, there’s this girl I’ve been seeing, but now she is saying that we shouldn’t see each other anymore. I really think I love her and I don’t want to lose her.”
“Oh, I see. You know I have been watching and involved in that relationship too.”
“You have? Then you know that I have always treated her nicely. I have been respectful and affectionate and I have tried to be there for her no matter what.
“What I don’t understand God, is that I have been asking for this for a while now – I have told you before how badly I want this relationship with her – but you have not answered me. You remember that Jesus said, ‘you may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’ I asked in Jesus’ name, so why haven’t you been answering?”
“Well, George, there is this little thing you call, ‘free will’. I am not going to make her choose you. But there is something else you need to understand – ‘in Jesus’ name, amen’ are not magic words I gave so that you could conjure up the world at your beck and call. Those words convey a meaning that is much too valuable to abuse like that. When you ask for something in my son’s name, you are claiming his purpose and authority.”
“What? I don’t understand, God.”
“Yes, I have known that for awhile. You have seen those WWJD bracelets around for some time, right? So you probably know that is an acronym for ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ It’s a question that can help you orient your heart and thoughts to behave as my son would in every circumstance. At least as well as you can.”
“Well sure God, I’ve done that before.”
“Yes, and I have been pleased with your efforts.
“That is what praying in Jesus’ name means. It means to think about what you pray for in light of what he wants. In this case, what he wants for you and for her. And I can tell you that he does not want to make her love you against her own will. You might try a different approach, like, asking for guidance on how you can honor me in this relationship with her, whether you are ever a couple or not.”
“But God, that’s not what I want.”
“And that is the problem…you are saying you do not truly want to pray in Jesus’ name, you only want magic words to get your own will accomplished.”
“When you put it that way, it sounds bad.”
“It is bad, George. But it doesn’t have to be. I promise that if you truly pray in the name of my son – for his purposes and under his authority, I will bless you with blessings created especially for you.”
“Lord, I really want her, but I will try what you have said because I want you more.”
“Well, George, I don’t see why not.”
“Yeah, me neither God, but it’s not working out so well. You see, there’s this girl I’ve been seeing, but now she is saying that we shouldn’t see each other anymore. I really think I love her and I don’t want to lose her.”
“Oh, I see. You know I have been watching and involved in that relationship too.”
“You have? Then you know that I have always treated her nicely. I have been respectful and affectionate and I have tried to be there for her no matter what.
“What I don’t understand God, is that I have been asking for this for a while now – I have told you before how badly I want this relationship with her – but you have not answered me. You remember that Jesus said, ‘you may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’ I asked in Jesus’ name, so why haven’t you been answering?”
“Well, George, there is this little thing you call, ‘free will’. I am not going to make her choose you. But there is something else you need to understand – ‘in Jesus’ name, amen’ are not magic words I gave so that you could conjure up the world at your beck and call. Those words convey a meaning that is much too valuable to abuse like that. When you ask for something in my son’s name, you are claiming his purpose and authority.”
“What? I don’t understand, God.”
“Yes, I have known that for awhile. You have seen those WWJD bracelets around for some time, right? So you probably know that is an acronym for ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ It’s a question that can help you orient your heart and thoughts to behave as my son would in every circumstance. At least as well as you can.”
“Well sure God, I’ve done that before.”
“Yes, and I have been pleased with your efforts.
“That is what praying in Jesus’ name means. It means to think about what you pray for in light of what he wants. In this case, what he wants for you and for her. And I can tell you that he does not want to make her love you against her own will. You might try a different approach, like, asking for guidance on how you can honor me in this relationship with her, whether you are ever a couple or not.”
“But God, that’s not what I want.”
“And that is the problem…you are saying you do not truly want to pray in Jesus’ name, you only want magic words to get your own will accomplished.”
“When you put it that way, it sounds bad.”
“It is bad, George. But it doesn’t have to be. I promise that if you truly pray in the name of my son – for his purposes and under his authority, I will bless you with blessings created especially for you.”
“Lord, I really want her, but I will try what you have said because I want you more.”
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Praying
Henri J. M. Nouwen’s short, yet profound book, The Way of the Heart: connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, And Silence, begins at the first open page:
Solitude. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit where he undertook one of the most severe tests on his life. I suppose Satan sought to nip his ministry in the bud, so to speak. But it is promising that God did not abandon Jesus, ever. While he was in the wilderness, accosted by Satan, God sent his angels to minister to him. In the solitude of the desert, Jesus found the wonderful presence of his father in the midst of some of his darkest temptations.
Silence. The psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) To be still is to wait quietly. According to this verse, two powerful things can happen when we come before God listening and waiting in silence. First, we can be assured that he is God and second, while we are quite before the Lord, listening, he will be exalted among the nations.
Prayer. Nouwen criticizes our tendency to reduce our approach to God to a mere intellectual pursuit, advocating an intentional exercise of the heart in prayer. “When we enter with our mind into our heart and there stand in the presence of God, then all our mental preoccupations become prayer.” (p. 86) Nouwen points the way, through prayer, to a restful heart in a tumultuous world. This makes our prayer life of great value in our daily Christian walk.
Ancient spiritual wisdom to heal our troubled modern souls
On Solitude
“Solitude is the place of purification and transformation, the place of the great struggle and the great encounter…the place of our salvation”
On Silence
“First, silence makes us pilgrims. Secondly, silence guards the fire within. Thirdly, silence teaches us to speak.”
On Prayer
“The prayer of the heart opens the eyes of our soul to the truth of ourselves as well as the truth of God. The prayer of the heart challenges us to hide absolutely nothing.”
Solitude. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit where he undertook one of the most severe tests on his life. I suppose Satan sought to nip his ministry in the bud, so to speak. But it is promising that God did not abandon Jesus, ever. While he was in the wilderness, accosted by Satan, God sent his angels to minister to him. In the solitude of the desert, Jesus found the wonderful presence of his father in the midst of some of his darkest temptations.
Silence. The psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) To be still is to wait quietly. According to this verse, two powerful things can happen when we come before God listening and waiting in silence. First, we can be assured that he is God and second, while we are quite before the Lord, listening, he will be exalted among the nations.
Prayer. Nouwen criticizes our tendency to reduce our approach to God to a mere intellectual pursuit, advocating an intentional exercise of the heart in prayer. “When we enter with our mind into our heart and there stand in the presence of God, then all our mental preoccupations become prayer.” (p. 86) Nouwen points the way, through prayer, to a restful heart in a tumultuous world. This makes our prayer life of great value in our daily Christian walk.
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