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Blessed?

2011-11-02T16:17:00.000-05:00

I’m meditating/studying my way through that section of scripture we call “the sermon on the mount.” (Matthew 5-7) These are teachings Jesus shared with his disciples, and overheard by the crowd, while he was sitting on a hillside. Since he was sitting on a mountainside, someone somewhere began calling this section of scripture “the sermon on the mount.” The title stuck.

Jesus begins with several statements, each starting with the word “blessed.” So “blessed” is a key word that needs to be understood in order to get the full impact of what Jesus is saying. So, I decided to spend the thirty minutes I allotted for today trying to understand what was meant by the word “blessed.” Two hours later this is where I’ve landed.

There are multiple Hebrew and Greek words we translate into some form of the English word “bless.” The concept of blessing is such a huge component of our faith I soon found it impossible to survey the entire concept and all of the original language words, so I limited myself to trying to understand the Greek word we translate as “blessed” in Matthew 5. That word is makarios, and its structure in a sentence is apparently as important as what the word itself means. (Don’t worry. I’m not going to bore you with the details, partially because I am not sure I understand it well enough to explain it!)

Some would say the word means “happy.” If it means happy, it is a happiness that comes from something other than circumstances, for one would not expect those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger, or those who are persecuted to be happy. The definition I like best, hopefully because it is correct and not just because it fits with things I already believe, says that to be blessed is to be “marked by fullness from God.” It indicates a state of being that transcends one’s immediate circumstances. “To be blessed, is equivalent to having God’s kingdom within one’s heart.” This certainly fits well with the very first statement Jesus makes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, NIV84)

There’s more work that needs to be done at some point to fully understand what the word “blessed” in Matthew 5 means, but for now it may be enough to know that it means a state of happiness and fulfillment within oneself that is not dependent upon present circumstances but relies instead upon the King establishing himself within us. After all, it is not possible for God’s kingdom to be established within us if he, himself is not also established there.

One in a Crowd or Disciple?

2011-11-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

What makes me a disciple of Jesus? What separates me from the crowd? Just before Jesus begins what we have come to call The Sermon on the Mount we read that large crowds were following him. When he saw the crowds he went up on a mountainside and sat down, and “his disciples” came to him. There is a distinction made between “the crowd” and those who were “his disciples.”

Jesus was in the early stages of his public ministry. He was traveling the land teaching, preaching, and “healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23-25) Imagine that – every disease being healed! Of course this was too exciting to keep quiet, so news spread and people came from everywhere bringing those who were sick, injured, and demon-possessed, and Jesus healed them! It’s no wonder that large crowds followed him.

In the crowd we would probably find those who sought some benefit from him. People who were struggling with issues beyond their control and ability to fix would turn to him to be healed. There would also be the curious, those who simply had to get a look at this worker of miracles. There were probably people there who were drawn to his words, finding them interesting and wanting to know more. A disciple would have been someone who was looking for something more than this.

A disciple is one who patterns his or herself after someone else. To follow Jesus as a disciple and not just another one in the crowd is to reject everything we think we know and embrace the totality of who he is, what he teaches, and the relationship he offers us as not just a pattern for living but as life itself! Ultimately a disciple is not interested in his own life but seeks the life that only Jesus can give. To gain that life a disciple is willing, even participates in, the tearing down of their life in order that Jesus can replace it with something new – not just something better.

Today when we take a look at the landscape of all those who follow him, there are some who follow as if they were members of the crowd. Some look for what value he might add to their lives. Others see him as a curiosity, and some follow him because of his celebrity status. An even smaller number follow him as disciples, people who throw off everything in order to embrace what he has to offer.

Am I disciple? The truth is sometimes I am, and sometimes I find myself standing in the crowd. But Jesus is always a disciple-maker, continually extending his grace to me when I have drifted back into the crowd inviting to come back to him on the mountainside.

Faithwalking: People are staying away in unprecedented numbers

2011-04-27T10:14:00.000-05:00

Faithwalking: People are staying away in unprecedented numbers

Jesus: What does His name mean?

2010-12-18T08:27:00.002-06:00

What does the name “Jesus” actually mean? We sometimes forget in our culture that names were once words with definitions. To us they are not words to be defined; they are just names. In biblical times names were given to mark the circumstances surrounding a child’s birth or to say something about the child’s destiny. The definition of the word was very important. So when the angel instructed Joseph and Mary to name the baby “Jesus,” it was no small thing. It was full of meaning. (See Luke 1:31 and Matthew 1:21)

Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. Most simply put, when translated it means “God saves.” In fact, in Matthew 1:21 when Joseph is told Mary’s baby is to be named Jesus, he is also told why, “because he will save his people from their sins.” So from the very beginning Joseph and Mary knew their son Jesus would save people from their sin even though they surely did not know all that saving people from their sin entailed.

Knowing what the word “Jesus” means frames the story for us. If we knew nothing else about Jesus other than the meaning of his name, we would know that the story of Jesus is the story of a savior. Those of us who already know the story know it is not just about a savior but about The Savior. That’s a great place to start when telling or thinking about the story of Jesus.

While researching this to see if any new discoveries could be made about the meaning of His name, I ran across this list of names/titles used in the Bible to describe Jesus. A good spiritual exercise for all us would be to work our way through this list, meditating on what each title tells us about who He is. I find that when I force myself to write things down, either in a journal or a blog, it forces me to sharpen my thoughts about something, so you might want to try both.

The following list is taken from the The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names. (See footnote below.)

DESCRIPTIVE TITLES FOR JESUS:

They are listed alphabetically in this dictionary.
The ramifications of the name of Jesus are so great that the Bible is filled with descriptive titles for Jesus. Nearly three hundred of these are listed below with a few having the number of times the word is mentioned in the Scriptures in parentheses.

Advocate
1 John 2:1
Almighty (57)
Revelation 1:8
Alpha and Omega
Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13
Altogether Lovely
Song of Solomon 5:16
Amen
Revelation 3:14
Ancient of Days
Daniel 7:22
Angel of His Presence
Isaiah 63:9
Anointed
Psalm 2:2
Apostle
Hebrews 3:1
Apple Tree
Song of Solomon 2:3
Approved of God
Acts 2:22
Author of Our Faith
Hebrews 12:2
Author of Salvation
Hebrews 5:9
Babe
Luke 2:16
Beginning of Creation of God
Revelation 3:14
Beginning and Ending
Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13
Bishop of Souls
1 Peter 2:25
Branch
Zechariah 6:12; Isaiah 11:1
Branch of Righteousness
Jeremiah 33:15
Bread of Life
John 6:35
Bridegroom
Matthew 9:15; John 3:29
Bright and Morning Star
Revelation 22:16
Brightness of His Glory
Hebrews 1:3
Buckler
Psalm 18:2
Builder
Matthew 16:18
Bundle of Myrrh
Song of Solomon 1:13
Captain of Our Salvation
Hebrews 2:10
Captain of the Lord’s Host
Joshua 5:15
Carpenter, Son of Mary
Mark 6:3
Carpenter’s Son
Matthew 13:55
Chief Shepherd
1 Peter 5:4
Chief Cornerstone
1 Peter 2:6; Ephesians 2:20
Chief Shepherd
1 Peter 5:4
Chiefest Among Ten Thousand
Song of Solomon 5:10
Child
Luke 2:40
Chosen of God
Luke 23:35
Christ Jesus My Lord
Philippians 3:8
Christ of God
Luke 9:20
Christ the Lord
Luke 2:11
Christ; Son of the Living God
Matthew 16:16
Cluster of Camphire
Song of Solomon 1:14
Consolation of Israel
Luke 2:25
Counselor
Isaiah 9:6
Covenant of the People
Isaiah 42:6
Covert from Tempest
Isaiah 32:2
Creator of Israel
Isaiah 43:15
Day Star
2 Peter 1:19
Daysman
Job 9:33
Dayspring
Luke 1:78
Deliverer
Psalm 18:2; Romans 11:26
Desire of all Nations
Haggai 2:7
Dew
Hosea 14:5
Door
John 10:7, 9
Emmanuel
Matthew 1:23
End of the Law
Romans 10:4
Ensign of the People
Isaiah 11:10
Everlasting Father
Isaiah 9:6
Express Image of His Person
Hebrews 1:3
Faithful and True Witness
Revelation 3:14
Faithful and True
Revelation 19:11
Faithful Witness
Revelation 1:5
Finisher of Our Faith
Hebrews 12:2
First Begotten of the Dead
Revelation 1:5
First and the Last
Revelation 22:13
Firstborn of Every Creature
Colossians 1:15
Firstborn
Romans 8:29
Firstborn From the Dead
Colossians 1:18
Firstfruits
1 Corinthians 15:20
Forerunner
Hebrews 6:20
Fortress
Psalm 18:2
Foundation
Isaiah 28:16; 1 Corinthians 3:11
Fountain Opened (for sin)
Zechariah 13:1
Fountain of Living Waters
Jeremiah 2:13
Friend of Publicans and Sinners
Luke 7:34
Fruit of the Womb
Luke 1:42
Galilaean (KJV)
Luke 23:6
Glory of Thy People Israel
Luke 2:32
God of the Whole Earth
Isaiah 54:5
Good Shepherd
John 10:11
Good Master
Matthew 19:16, 17; Mark 10:17
Governor of Nations
Psalm 22:28
Governor
Matthew 2:6
Great
Jeremiah 32:18
Greater Than Solomon
Matthew 12:42
Guide
Psalm 48:14
Head of the Body; the Church
Colossians 1:18
Head of the Church
Ephesians 5:23
Head of the Corner
1 Peter 2:7; Matthew 21:42
Head of All Principality and Power
Colossians 2:10
Head of Every Man
1 Corinthians 11:3
Healer
Matthew 14:14
Heir of All Things
Hebrews 1:2
Helper
Hebrews 13:6
Hiding Place
Isaiah 32:2
High Priest
Hebrews 3:1; 6:20; 7:26
High Priest Over the House of God
Hebrews 10:21
High Tower
Psalm 18:2
Higher Than the Heavens
Hebrews 7:26
Holy Child Jesus
Acts 4:27
Holy One
Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 43:15
Holy One of Israel (31)
Isaiah 41:14; 54:5
Holy One of God
Luke 4:34; Mark 1:24
Horn of My Salvation
Psalm 18:2
Horn of Salvation
Luke 1:69
Hope, My
Psalm 71:5
I AM
John 8:58
Image of Invisible God
Colossians 1:15
Immanuel
Isaiah 7:14
Immortal
1 Timothy 1:17
Intercessor
Hebrews 7:25
Invisible
1 Timothy 1:17
Jesus (977)
Matthew 1:21
Jesus is the Lord
1 Corinthians 12:3
Jesus Christ Our Savior
Titus 3:6
Jesus of Nazareth (17)
Luke 4:34
Jew
John 4:9
Judge of the Quick and the Dead
Acts 10:42
Judge of Israel
Micah 5:1
Just One
Acts 3:14
Just Man
Matthew 27:19
Justifier
Romans 3:26
King
Matthew 21:5
King of Glory
Psalm 24:8
King of the Jews (18)
John 18:39; 19:3
King of Israel
John 1:49
King of Saints
Revelation 15:3
King of kings (6)
1 Timothy 3:15; Revelation 17:14
King Eternal
1 Timothy 1:17
Lamb
Revelation 5:6; 15:3; 17:14
Lamb Slain
Revelation 13:8
Lamb Without Blemish and Spot
1 Peter 1:19
Lamb of God
John 1:29
Last Adam
1 Corinthians 15:45
Lawgiver
James 4:12
Leader and Commander of the People
Isaiah 55:4
Life
John 11:25
Lifter of My Head
Psalm 3:3
Light of Men
John 1:4
Light to Lighten the Gentiles
Luke 2:32
Light for the Gentiles
Isaiah 42:6; Acts 13:47
Light of the World
John 8:12
Lily of the Valley
Song of Solomon 2:1
Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Revelation 5:5
Living Bread
John 6:51
Living Stone
1 Peter 2:4
Lord (1131); LORD (6471)
Luke 24:3; Acts 2:36
Lord and Christ
Acts 2:36
Lord Both of the Dead and Living
Romans 14:9
Lord From Heaven
1 Corinthians 15:47
Lord God Almighty
Revelation 15:3
Lord of the Harvest
Matthew 9:38
Lord of the Sabbath
Luke 6:5
Lord of Hosts
Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 32:18
Lord of Lords
1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16
Lord Our Righteousness
Jeremiah 23:6
Love
1 John 4:16
Lowly
Zechariah 9:9
Man of Sorrows
Isaiah 53:3
Manna
John 6:57–58
Master (57)
Matthew 22:24; John 11:28
Master in Heaven
Colossians 4:1
Mediator
1 Timothy 2:5
Merciful, Faithful High Priest
Hebrews 2:17
Messenger
Malachi 3:1
Messiah
Daniel 9:25, 26
Messias (the Christ)
John 1:41
Mighty God
Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 32:18
Mine Elect
Isaiah 42:1
Minister of the Circumcision
Romans 15:8
Minister of Sanctuary
Hebrews 8:2
My Beloved
Song of Solomon 2:8; Matthew 12:18
My Beloved Son
Matthew 17:5
My Strong Habitation
Psalm 71:3
Nail
Isaiah 22:23, 25
Name Above Every Name
Philippians 2:9
Nazarene
Matthew 2:23
New and Living Way
Hebrews 10:20
Offering; a Sacrifice to God
Ephesians 5:2
One Shepherd
John 10:16
One That Bringeth Good Tidings
Isaiah 41:27
Only Begotten of Father
John 1:14
Only Wise God
1 Timothy 1:17
Our Lord Jesus Christ (55)
Galatians 1:3
Our Peace
Ephesians 2:14
Overcomer
Revelation 17:14
Passover
1 Corinthians 5:7
Potentate
1 Timothy 6:15
Potter
Romans 9:21
Power and Wisdom of God
1 Corinthians 1:24
Precious Corner Stone
Isaiah 28:16
Precious
1 Peter 2:7
Priest
Hebrews 5:10; 7:17
Prince
Daniel 9:25; Acts 5:31
Prince of Life
Acts 3:15
Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6
Prince of the Kings of Earth
Revelation 1:5
Prophet
John 4:19; 7:40; Deuteronomy 18:18
Prophet of Nazareth
Matthew 21:11
Propitiation for Our Sins
1 John 2:2
Purifier of Silver
Malachi 3:3
Quickening Spirit
1 Corinthians 15:45
Rabbi; Son of God
John 1:49
Reconciler
2 Corinthians 5:19
Redeemer
Job 19:25; Isaiah 41:14; 54:5
Refiner
Malachi 3:3
Resurrection
John 11:25
Reward, Exceeding Great
Genesis 15:1
Rewarder
Hebrews 11:6
Righteous
1 John 2:1
Righteous Branch
Jeremiah 23:5
Righteous Man
Luke 23:47
Righteous Servant
Isaiah 53:11
Rock
Psalm 18:2; 28:1; 1 Corinthians 10:4
Rock of Offense
1 Peter 2:8
Root of David
Revelation 5:5; 22:16
Root of Jesse
Isaiah 11:10; Romans 15:12
Root Out of Dry Ground
Isaiah 53:2
Rose of Sharon
Song of Solomon 2:1
Salvation
Luke 2:30
Samaritan
John 8:48
Savior (Saviour, KJV) (29)
Luke 2:11; Acts 5:31
Savior (Saviour, KJV) of the World
John 4:42; 1 John 4:14
Scepter of Israel
Numbers 24:17
Second Man
1 Corinthians 15:47
Seed of the Woman
Genesis 3:14, 15
Servant
Isaiah 42:1; Philippians 2:7
Shadow from heat
Isaiah 25:4
Shepherd
Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25
Shield, Thy
Genesis 15:1
Shiloh (rest, tranquility)
Genesis 49:10
Son of David
Matthew 9:27
Son of God (48)
Mark 1:1
Son of the Highest
Luke 1:32
Son of Joseph
John 6:42
Son of Man
Matthew 9:6; Mark 14:62; John 6:27
Son of the Blessed
Mark 14:61
Son of the Living God
Matthew 16:16
Star Out of Jacob
Numbers 24:17
Stem of Jesse
Isaiah 11:1
Stone
Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42
Stone Cut Without Hands
Daniel 2:34, 35
Stone of Stumbling
1 Peter 2:8
Stranger in Jerusalem
Luke 24:18
Strength
Psalm 18:2
Stronghold (in the day of trouble)
Nahum 1:7
Sun of Righteousness
Malachi 4:2
Sure Foundation
Isaiah 28:16
Surety of a Better Testament
Hebrews 7:22
Teacher From God
John 3:2
Tender Plant
Isaiah 53:2
Testator
Hebrews 9:16, 17
The Child Jesus
Luke 2:27
The Christ (19)
Mark 14:61
The Lord’s Christ
Luke 2:26
The Man
John 19:5
The Man, Christ Jesus
1 Timothy 2:5
The Word
John 1:1; 1:14
Thine Husband
Isaiah 54:5
Thy Maker
Isaiah 54:5
Thy Seed
Galatians 3:16
Tree of life
Genesis 2:9
Tried Stone
Isaiah 28:16
True God and Eternal Life
1 John 5:20
True Vine
John 15:1
True Light
John 1:9
Truth
John 14:6
Vine
John 15:5
Voice
Genesis 3:8
Way
John 14:6
Way of Holiness
Isaiah 35:8
Wonderful
Isaiah 9:6
Young Child
Matthew 2:11
Your King
Isaiah 43:15

Stelman Smith and Judson Cornwall, The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names, 132-43 (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos, 1998).

Exposed!

2010-12-17T08:47:00.001-06:00

Genesis 3:10 (NIV) — 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Among the first things we learn as we acquaint ourselves with the pages of the Bible is the story of Adam and Eve. When interpreted strictly as a historical event the story is pretty straight forward and the rereading of it yields little new information. When we interpret the story from the vantage point of what it tells us about the nature of human beings, God, and their relationships new insights are endless. I’ve known the story for at least forty years and just last week a new insight surfaced for me.

I’m not exaggerating when I say there is nothing I find more satisfying than connecting with God through some focused time of prayer, study, meditation, spiritual reading, or some other exercise meant to foster an intimate encounter with Him. Yet, it is so easy for me to neglect those activities allowing all sorts of endeavors to push them to side. This has always been a mystery to me. Why? Why would I neglect to do that which is more satisfying, enthralling and helpful to me than anything else I do?

In the story of Adam and Eve God is pictured as looking for them in the garden, yet they are hiding from God because of their disobedience. They are afraid. The reason Adam gives for his fear is his nakedness. They have failed God and realize they stand totally exposed before Him. It may not be so much about a lack of clothing as it is about their realization of how they have failed God. They stand exposed before God and themselves in their lack of being who they were created to be, so they hide.

I think my own awareness of how I don’t measure up plays a role in why I sometimes avoid spending time with God. Even though I know God loves and forgives me, there are corners of my heart and head that are not fully persuaded of this truth, so I try to hide in the bushes of busyness or neglect. Knowing I am unworthy perhaps I am fearful to consciously be in His presence. The only reason why this would be true for me or any of us is if we are trying to live life with God based on our own merits instead of on His.

None of us are worthy to be in the presence of God. We have all sinned. We have all gone our own way. We can never enter or be in God’s presence or move forward in a life with Him based on the basis or our personal worthiness. The only way any fellowship with God is possible is because He has made it so. We are completely dependent upon His grace and mercy. So if I am hiding from God because I am unworthy, then even though I know better I have to conclude there is still some dark shadow of self-righteous living in me. The only way I can feel unworthy is by depending upon myself rather than depending upon God’s provision to make me worthy. God is sufficient, but I am not.

Pride in who we are is a life-long enemy on the stage of life with God. No matter how many times we strike it down it lurks in the shadows ever yearning for the spotlight. The moment pride appears on the stage, it draws attention away from God and the plot of our lives begin to revolve around ourselves instead of God. Self righteous pride will keep us from God, and it will keep God from manifesting His life in and through us. Therefore it must be struck down daily in order to keep it from upstaging God’s life in us. Perhaps this is one reason why Paul said, "I die daily.” (I Corinthian 5.31)

Is my life with God lame?

2010-12-16T06:29:00.001-06:00

I learned a new word this morning as I was reading Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. The word gave me new insight into both my life with God and the story of Jacob wrestling with God found in Genesis 32:22-30.

Chambers encourages us not to become “a hirpler in God’s ways.” (A hirpler is one who walks with a limp or a gait somewhere between walking and limping.) Chambers says that we become such when we wrestle against God and implies this is precisely what happened with Jacob. We must always be ready to wrestle against the things that keep us from God or to wrestle for people in prayer, but that is quite a different thing than wrestling against God.

It made we wonder. Is my life with God lame? Do I embrace Him fully and completely or only when it suits me? If I only embrace Him when and how it suits me, then am I not wrestling against God, sometimes embracing Him and other times resisting Him? Can I characterize my life with God as a confident walk or is it really just a notch above crawling?

The last thing I want to do is to cripple myself, or others, in my pursuit of God. Today I am asking myself, “In what ways to a wrestle against God instead of wrestling for Him?” If the answers to that question leads me into a more genuine, authentic walk with Him, then pondering the question was time well spent.

How Does Our Love of God Grow?

2010-01-13T10:56:00.001-06:00

Does our love of God grow? Is it an either / or proposition as in we either love God or we don’t? Or are there predictable stages through which our love of God grows. I read an interesting summary this morning of Bernard of Clairvaux’s “four degrees of love.”[i] Bernard discusses how our love of God begins to take root and then deepens.

The First Degree of Love: Love of Self for Self’s Sake

All love comes from God, but human love is first focused on love of self. The desire to love one’s self is within all human beings. Initially every act is motivated by the benefit it brings to one’s self.

The Second Degree of Love: Love of God for Self’s Sake

At some point we suffer calamity or trouble of some sort. When we turn to God He helps us through these times. We find there is benefit in loving God because of what he is able to do for us and through us. Even though this is love of God, it is love for the sake of one’s self.

The Third Degree of Love: Love of God for God’s Sake

As we continue to go to God for the help he can be to us, his grace begins to soften our hearts. We come to love God for who he is. We are drawn “to the pure love of God more than our needs compel us to love him.” This only happens if we continually go to God with our needs and in prayer.

It is at this point that it becomes easier to fulfill God’s second greatest commandment, the love of others. Those that truly love God love what God loves. Knowing we are loved by God enables us to love others. It is this same knowledge that helps us fulfill all of God’s commands for we now understand them to truly be instructions issued out of his love for us.

The Fourth Degree of Love: Love of Self for God’s Sake

Such experiences are rare and momentary. If I understand Bernard’s correctly, these are those moments when we are so caught up in the bliss and wonder of being with God, we find the requirements of our mortal existence to be an intrusion. It is painful to return to our earthly requirements and responsibilities. It may not be possible to perfectly attain this level of love in this life, but when it does happen, “We are, for those moments, one mind and one spirit with God.” While the summary I read does not say it plainly, to return to our mortal state is to love ourselves as God created us for God’s sake.

How Does This Help Us?

I think being aware of these four degrees of love helps us evaluate where we are at any given moment in our love relationship with God. However, I think the best help it gives us as parents, small group leaders, pastors, and mentors is to understand that there is a developmental process that takes place in people as they become mature Christ followers. Knowing the degrees helps us understand ourselves and those we are mentoring in faith and life. The understanding will help us know how to coach ourselves and others.

[i] Foster, Richard, and James Smith. Devotional Classics. HarperOne, 1993. Print.

Who Are Your Enemies?

2009-12-31T11:02:00.001-06:00

Eternal One, my adversaries are many, too many to count.

Now they have taken a stand against me!

Right to my face they say,

“God will not save you!”

Psalm 3:1-2 (The Voice)

This psalm was written by a man who was fleeing for his life. It’s the story of David and Absalom. Absalom was seeking to take the kingdom by force, and David had to flee his home in Jerusalem to save his life. You can read the story beginning in the fourteenth chapter of second Samuel.

Never have I had to flee for my life. While I have had adversaries, I don’t know what it’s like to be hunted and pursued by people who want me dead. Most of the battles I fight are not as clear cut as fighting for my life or control of a kingdom. Most of the enemies I confront are not so easily named.

As I reflected on this passage today, I wondered if I could name my enemies. One enemy jumped out at me right away and a second one followed close behind. Two of my primary enemies are Distraction and Deception.

It has always been easy for human beings to be distracted from what is true and of eternal significance. However, I am convinced that this has never been more true than it is today. The explosion of information and communication technology and its usage that has occurred in the last fifty years is staggering. We live in an age where devices are used by organizations and people with sophisticated marketing strategies designed to capture our attention and create loyalty to their ideologies or products. While these are useful tools, the point is that we have never had so much information, so many people vying for our attention. It takes effort to be centered on God and our relationship with him. Once distracted, we can easily be deceived.

Any of us, given enough distraction, can eventually become so deceived we might hear and believe, “God will not save you!” However, initially the deceptions are not so grand. In the beginning most deceptions start as an innocent question. “ I wonder what would happen if…?” Because we are distracted, because we are not fixed on the one in whom our soul finds its worth, we entertain all sorts of scenarios. Sometimes we imagine the worst. Sometimes we imagine things that on their own are not necessarily bad or good, but they might not be consistent with God’s intention for our lives.

Even if we do not embrace and act upon these scenarios, we have wasted precious mental and emotional energy that has robbed us of the peace and confidence that is ours in Christ. Obviously, this lack of peace and confidence has a detrimental impact on all our relationships and endeavors. We make the wrong decisions about what to do and not to do. We become defensive and perhaps hostile in the face of the most innocent comment or well-intended suggestion.

If we are deceived because we are distracted, then we must figure out how to remove or minimize the power of distraction. We must establish practices, habits in our lives that will anchor us; keeping us from drifting awash in a sea of information that seeks to distract us from our love life with the Holy One. For me, sacred spaces must be marked out in my life where I am minimizing distraction and building on attraction. While diligent study and reading are an important part of that process, I would also include things like sitting in my recliner and pondering over a short devotional I just read or taking walks where the purpose is not physical exercise but prayerful thought. These are the things that work best for me.

What about you? What name would you give your enemies, and what is your strategy for fighting? Make no mistake. You have enemies that seek to deprive you of the joyful, fulfilling life that God wants you to live. You need to know who they are and have a strategy to make sure they do not succeed.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T02:21:00.002-06:00

The American Civil War is by far the bloodiest military conflict in US history. The loss of life due to combat death and war-related disease numbers somewhere between five and seven hundred thousand, around 3% of our national population at the time. (Today, a three percent loss would equate to roughly nine million deaths, about the population of New York City or the state of North Carolina.) Still, during this unspeakable tragedy, Abraham Lincoln issued the proclamation that set the precedent for a national day of Thanksgiving.

I don’t know the circumstances of your life on this Thanksgiving Day, but I do know that giving thanks to God is important in times of great joy and in times of great sorrow and concern. In good times it reminds us that our circumstances are not always of our own making. In times of sorrow we are reminded that there is hope. Perhaps the words of the proclamation will be good food for thought.

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln

Woodstock

2009-11-26T01:38:00.001-06:00

I’m watching a Woodstock documentary. I am filled with sadness. I’ve been trying to put into words why, but I can’t find them. It has something to do with how deeply people hurt and desperately long for something better, yet they look to behaviors and philosophies that ultimately enslave them instead of free them. With that in mind, it also has something to do with my failure and the church’s failure, by and large, to authentically live in and accurately portray the life and love of Jesus. When I look at some of the things that have been done in the name of Christ, things he himself would not do or approve of, I am not surprised that the people who experienced or witnessed those things reject him rather than embrace him. Even so, God continues to woo people to himself, and people continue to embrace the life he offers them. This is only possible because, among other things, God is merciful, kind, loving, forgiving and patient.

The temptation is to say we need to do better. We need to find better ways to communicate who Jesus really is to our culture. We need to live better lives. We need to try harder. While I would agree the quality of what we do and how we do needs to improve, to focus on improving it is to fall into a performance trap.

I think the answer is to draw nearer. The only way our lives will ever authentically reflect the beauty and majesty of Jesus, is for us to nurture his life within us. Our behavior will never be perfect, for we are infected with a tendency to reject God and his ways. Still, when we nurture the life of Christ in us, that life will show up in the way we live.

Image Is Everything

2009-11-07T23:50:00.001-06:00

Our image of God determines everything. Think about it. What we believe to be true about anyone determines how we relate to them. It is no less true for what we believe about God. In fact, people who study different cultures tell us a culture is defined by the people’s understanding, or rejection, of God. This is one of the reasons why worship is so important. Worship helps us grow in our understanding and appreciation of who God is.

Years ago, actually decades ago, I saw a short movie by a Christian comedian sketching out different views of God. He portrayed God as a mean traffic cop that lived for the opportunity to catch people violating the rules; as a sleepy old man in a rocking chair on a huge porch that only woke up to take his medicine and wasn’t really aware of what was going on in his creation; as a plump cherub who just wanted everyone to luuuuvvvv everyone else. When our view of God is limited to any one of these three understandings, or even some combination of all three or some other dwarfed understanding of who God is, we will have difficulty in our relationship with God. We will not experience or reflect the majestic, transformational power of his love.

So what is God really like? There is not room to answer that question in this article, even if I felt I could. When we read the Bible, it is obvious God wants to be known by us. It is also obvious there are aspects about God that are mysterious to us. We don’t fully comprehend him. Why would we? He is eternal. We are not. He is all powerful. We are not. He is perfect in every way. We are not. He knows everything. We do not. He is creator. We are created. The list could go on about the differences between God and us that would explain why we cannot fully understand nor appreciate the full wonder of who he is. Yet, he makes himself known to us in ways we can understand! Even that tells us something about who he is. The one who does not need us and is so far above us we cannot possibly comprehend him desires to be known and loved by us.

This is why we worship God. There are so many reasons to value him above all other things. At the same time, when we worship God it grounds us in what is truly real and important. In one sense we know as much about God as we need to know. In another sense, our understanding of who he is and what that means will be the pursuit of our lives, a pursuit we cannot engage without taking time to passionately worship him.

Does God Have Me?

2009-10-24T12:25:00.003-05:00

The title of this post was not the title of last Sunday’s message at Ranch Community Fellowship, but it was the question we were asking. Does God have me? Have I truly surrendered myself to him and trust him with my life? We’re looking at our use of money to answer those questions.

What does our giving say about our relationship with God? People give many reasons for why they do not give to God and others generously. At the root of almost every reason one can imagine there are two issues that cannot be ignored.

First, some of us don’t believe God is capable of providing for us with what is left after we give to Him. Admittedly, many of us have either mismanaged our money. We have used credit way too freely to get what we can’t really afford. Some of us have had a staggering, unexpected crisis of some sort that has shaken our financial footing. Still others of us have been struggling with our financial stability for so long that we don’t know what it’s like not to always be worried about there being more month than money. Of course, it takes more faith to give in the face of these situations, but it always takes faith to give to God. With God’s multiple promises to take care of us couple with his directives to give, what does it say about us when we don’t give. Does it say we don’t trust God to do what he says he will do; that we don’t trust him to provide for us when we give to him?”

The second reason can sometimes, but not always, be related to why we find ourselves in these situations. As a result of the sin infection we all carry, most of us tend to view life as if we were the center of the universe. We’re what matters, and as long as our desires, wants, and needs (real and imagined) are met, that’s what’s important. While it may sound harsh and we might not want to admit it, we’ve clearly determined that what God wants is not as important to us as what we want. Does this mean we have not surrendered our lives to God?

A popular passage on tithing, Malachi 3, is often quoted simply to encourage people to tithe, that is, give ten percent of their income to God. However, that is not the main point of the passage. While I have no doubt God wants us to give ten percent and more (tithes and offerings) to him and that he will pour out blessings so great we cannot contain them, this is not the most important thing here. In Malachi, God is bothered the people are not fully embracing and following him. He points to their lack of giving, among other things, as evidence that they neither fully trust him nor are they fully surrendered to him.

“I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Malachi 3:6-10, NIV)

Generous giving indicates our trust in God and the full surrender of our lives to him. As harsh and as crass as it sounds, when God does not have our money he does not have us. There is no such thing as mature Christ-follower who is not a generous giver.

Proving God Exists, Part 1, Introduction

2009-10-16T17:28:00.001-05:00

Recently a friend asked me, “How do we KNOW, other than something we feel in our heart, that there is a God?” So far the only answer she had been given by anyone was, “When you know God, and he is in your heart, there is no doubt.”

I was bothered that my friend had not been given a better answer. Essentially my friend was told, “If you want to be sure God exists, you just need to know God.” That’s a bit circular.

Is It Possible to Prove the Existence of God?

How does one definitively answer that question? Is it even possible to “prove” the existence of a supernatural being? My well-worn copy of Webster’s dictionary defines the supernatural as “an order of existence beyond the visible, observable universe.” The same dictionary also states the supernatural departs “from what is usual or normal, especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature.” If something is not visible or observable and is not confined by the “laws” that customarily govern our understanding of the world, how can we “prove” that which is beyond our ability to observe or to fully understand?

The Subjective Nature of Proof

Another challenge we face is the subjective nature of proof. Consider a criminal trial by jury. In our system of justice, twelve people are asked to judge the proof presented by an attorney to judge whether or not a person is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. My extensive legal education, obtained from watching way too many reruns of Law and Order, has taught me there are trials that end in hung juries, where the jurors have an irreconcilable difference of opinion as to guilt or innocence. In other words, the evidence that was presented was enough for some to KNOW the defendant is guilty, but not enough for others to KNOW the same thing.

Why We Call It Faith

With these challenges in mind, perhaps this is why we refer to any system of thought that acknowledges a belief in the supernatural as a “faith” system. That same Webster’s dictionary to which I referred earlier offers the following as one definition of faith, “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.”

Does Proof Matter?

I guess these are just a couple of the problems we encounter as we try to answer this question. Perhaps that is why my friend got the answer she was given. Perhaps it is impossible to “prove” that God exists according to the laws of evidence in a courtroom, by scientific method, or by mathematical equation. However, I’m not sure how much that matters.

While there are many who are honestly seeking proof of the truth, for most, I suspect proof is irrelevant. Most of the discussion I am finding on this topic is put forth by those on one side or the other seeking to bolster what they already believe. No matter what proof is offered, they will cling to their predetermined belief. After all, even today there are people who believe, in spite of all scientific data to the contrary, the world is flat. (See International Flat Earth Society.)

In some ways I fall into that camp. I clearly believe in the existence of God. More specifically, I believe in God as revealed to us through the Christian Bible, and because I find so much benefit through what I believe, I want others to believe as well. Even though I personally feel no need to bolster my belief with an effort to construct data and philosophy that would support it, I understand how such efforts might be helpful to others. Therefore, I am willing to make the effort.

If I am unable to prove the existence of God in a way that would satisfy standards accepted in a court of law or in a scientific laboratory, it does not mean God does not exist. It only means I was incapable of proving it by standards generally accepted in our culture. However, I hope to add enough “evidence” that it will help move some closer to accepting this vital truth.

Walking in the Shoes of Others

That being said, I hope to set myself apart from those who do not make an honest attempt to put themselves in the shoes of those who struggle with believing in the existence of God; those who may even want to believe in God’s existence. I hope my views are sensitive to their concerns and not condescending. Too often honest seekers with questions have been dismissed because their questions were hard to answer. Sometimes they were even ridiculed. Such responses were, and are, harmful rather than helpful.

Join Me in the Journey

Over the next few weeks, as I think and research this topic, I hope you will be patient with me. This is not easy writing for me to do, since I have not given much thought to proving the existence of God. Having always accepted the idea that God is real, I’ve never felt the need to “prove” it.

I am looking forward to this process, and I invite you to join me with your thoughts, even if they run counter to mine. Our honest opinions and responses will help us to sharpen each other’s thinking, and I am sure you will think of things I have not considered. Your questions are also welcome. I cannot promise I will always be able to provide an answer, but you will get an honest, genuine response.

Technorati Tags: bible,God,atheist,agnostic,apologetics

Fulfilling the Heart of God: Acknowledging the Gifts of People

2009-10-15T17:59:00.001-05:00

1 Corinthians 12

As I was reading the passage designated in our personal journals for the week, I didn’t get much further than Verses 4 through 6 when things I had not noticed before began to jump out at me. It actually set the tone for the rest of the passage, as I concluded this passage is about unity without uniformity. Let’s take a closer look at those three verses and their relationship to the rest of the chapter.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, NIV)

The people of God have always held as a central thought that God is one God. We see God operate through three different persons: the personhood of the Father Creator, the personhood of Jesus Redeemer, and the personhood of Holy Spirit Empowerer. In these three verses we see all three aspects of God in the words “Spirit,” “Lord,” and “God.”

The words “gifts,” “service,” and “working” also caught my eye. There are at least two things to learn from the use of these words. First we learn that there are more than one kind of each of these. There are multiple gifts; there are multiple services; there are multiple “kinds of working.” The second thing we can learn is seen in the words themselves. “Gifts” is about the different expressions of God’s grace that is shown in the different abilities bestowed upon people. “Service” has to do with the different ways these varied abilities contribute to and provide for the church – the people who follow Christ. And “kinds of working” has to do with the varied impact or results of the gifts expressing themselves in service.

As interesting as that might be to some, I think there is actually a larger point in these three verses that carries through the rest of this chapter, into chapter thirteen, and perhaps farther. In these three verses we see a contrast repeated in every verse between “different” and “same.” The emphasis seems to be on how diversity functions for the benefit of unity. We can see this theme in the rest of the chapter.

v. 7 varied expressions of God’s grace are given for the common good.
v. 11 after a listing of various expressions of God’s grace, the passage emphasizes that they all spring from one Spirit.
v. 12 -27 the emphasis is on the fact that we are one body with different parts and every part needs each of the other parts.
v. 28 to the end of the chapter is how God has “appointed” different people to fulfill different functions, but in the text it’s clear these different gifts are for the benefit of the one body given by the one God.
Even though Chapter 13 was part of our reading assignment for today, a case can be made that the discussion on love is about how we are to be bound to each other in love.

Often we mistake unity for uniformity. Uniformity has to do with everyone doing everything in the same way. Unity is more about purpose and motive. Unity allows for variety and diversity, as long as the expressions of that diversity enhance, rather than divert, the unity of the group.

As you pray about this week’s question, seeking to understand how the gifts God has given you can be used to further and enhance the Kingdom of God, you might also want to consider how your gifts contribute to the diversity and creativity of God’s people without threatening the unity that is ours in Christ.

Fulfilling the Heart of God: Growing Through Relationships

2009-10-08T12:55:00.002-05:00

Ranch Community Church is in the second week of a series of messages, small group discussions, and personal reflection on what each of us need to do तो be in alignment with God’s vision for our church – thus fulfilling the heart of God. Below are my reflections, not my finished thoughts, on this week’s passage and questions.

As I read through Romans 16, this week’s passage in our “Fulfilling the Heart of God” journal, three things caught my attention.

Personal Relationships

First, I noted the large number of people to whom Paul was personally connected or knew about. In this one chapter I counted twenty-nine individuals or groups to whom Paul sent greetings or in some way praised. (That does not include the eight people mentioned as having been with Paul when he dictated this letter.) This is astonishing since, as far as I know, Paul had not previously visited Rome. In fact, it was only one of two churches in Paul’s letters that were not “planted” by him. I’ve never thought of Paul as a “people-person,” but it seems clear he was.

Hard Work

Second, more than once I saw phrases that involved the words “worked hard.” I also saw the words “tested and approved,” in his references to individuals. I am not exactly sure how these people worked hard or how they were tested, but it is interesting to note that hard work was a part of church life even in that first generation of Christ-followers. We sometimes choose not to do things as a church, because we feel it is asking too much of people. It’s almost as if we are trying to orient ourselves around all the other stuff that goes on in our lives rather than orienting our lives around what’s truly important, a life with God. We would never want to become insensitive to what’s going on in people’s lives, but there does seem to be some truth in the idea that we squeeze our life with God’s people in around everything else, effectively giving it a much lower priority than we should. I’m not sure we should ever apologize for expecting people to work hard for the benefit of the rest of the church.

Unity of Thought

Third, I noticed an emphasis on unity. Beginning in verse 17 Paul warns them to be on the lookout for people who “cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.” Obviously the warnings about division are about protecting the unity of the Christ-followers. However, the encouragement to not stray from what they had learned about the Gospel could also be seen as protecting the unity of the group. Obviously, knowing what we believe and bringing our lives into compliance with those beliefs is important for what it brings to us in terms of eternal and full life. However, striving to maintain the integrity of the truth they have learned was also important in maintaining their relationships – their unity. If they began to differ in what they believed, it would certainly have an impacted in their relationships with each other.

Their Connectedness

The theme I see, if I am not working too hard to “force” several paragraphs into one theme, is about the connectedness of these early Christ-followers to each other. They had strong personal ties, they worked hard for the benefit of the church which is the same as saying the worked hard for each other’s benefit, and they had integrity as a group as they sought to remain true to what they had learned – letting no one disrupt their unity.

Answering the Questions

None of this is possible without a relationship with Christ. Only in Christ can we put to death our selfish, prideful desires that would cause us to be only about our selves than to be about each other. Only in Christ can I become the kind of person who seeks to benefit others rather than to simply be benefitted by them. I suppose that would be my answer to the question posed for the week and the one I added last Sunday. How do we benefit from our relationship with God, and how do others benefit from their relationship with us. At the very least, it’s a start to answering the questions.

The Role of Praise

2009-10-06T10:48:00.001-05:00

Today, as I was reading in Jeremiah, I came across these words.

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (Jeremiah 17:14, NIV)

For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled internally when someone says to me, “Praise the Lord!” I can distinctly remember the emotional reaction I felt when a life-long family friend looked at me and said, “Praise the Lord, Eddie!” I cringed on the inside – not wanting to “praise the Lord.” Nearly three decades later I still “feel” resistance within me when I hear that phrase, and it bothers me.

We do a great disservice to those who are already Christ-followers, and to those who are not, when we focus only on behavior that is displeasing to God. The real issue, the real wound between us and God, is an attitude of not wanting to let God be God. We don’t want to surrender control. We want to think what we want to think and do what we want to do. We are too full of ourselves and convinced of our own self-importance to acknowledge a relationship of dependency upon God. That’s why my internal reaction when someone encourages me to “praise the Lord” bothers me. What is it telling me about how I am dealing with that attitude of self-sufficiency that is at the root of every sinful thought and act?

Genuine praise of God, or the lack of authentic praise, is an indication of what place God holds in our lives. To praise God is to give him credit; to lift him up. To praise God is to acknowledge who he is and, therefore, who we are. He is God; we are not. So when I sense hesitancy or reluctance within myself to give God praise, then I have to take a moment to wonder what’s going on in me that I would not want to acknowledge God as God!

I hope my resistance to someone telling me to “praise the lord” has more to do with how those words might have been abused in my past rather than with me not wanting to give God his rightful place in my life. I don’t seem to have the same resistance when I acknowledge God’s greatness in other ways. Still, since I am human, infected with the same tendencies as every other mortal on the planet, I know resistance to letting God be God is always lurking somewhere within me; preventing me from being in a right relationship with him and experiencing the good gifts that come through that relationship; gifts like healing and salvation.

Fortunately, that very attitude is why Jesus died. He died, not only for our forgiveness of it, but to render its negative influence in our lives powerless. It is precisely because we struggle with a willingness to let God be God that he died.

With this in mind, is it possible that our praise of God is not just an emotional or mental response to God? Could it also be that scripture repeatedly encourages, even commands, us to praise God for the benefit we derive from it? After all, does God really need our praise?

God does not need our praise, and he loves us unconditionally. Therefore, God’s instructions to us in scripture always contain benefit for us. When we praise God, whether we feel like it or not, it functionally helps us to let God be God of our lives. It deals with the root attitude, from which all sinful thoughts and activities in our lives flow, and reminds us who God is and who we are to be. Perhaps the praising of God is not just intellectual or emotional response. Perhaps it is also a spiritual discipline; a gift God has given to us to practice so that he can enter more fully into our lives. If that’s the case, then there is only one thing to say or do. Let’s PRAISE THE LORD!

Technorati Tags: praise,God,Jesus,Bible,sin,relationship,healing,salvation

Focusing on the Future

2009-10-01T16:21:00.001-05:00

This morning I took time to do exactly what I am asking every friend and member of Ranch Community Fellowship to do. I skipped a meal and spent time with God praying, reading His Word and reflecting on the question in our “Fulfilling the Heart of God” journal. Even though I am your pastor and responsible to serve you by leading us in our journey, I also see myself as your friend and fellow traveler; someone who walks with you and not in front of, nor behind you. With that in mind, I want to share with you the thoughts that came to mind as I read this week’s journal selection.

The question I found myself asking was not exactly the one our journal proposed. The journal question for this week is, “What would our church look like in ten years if our vision for ministry was successfully accomplished?” I’m really more interested in what our church should look like, regardless of the time frame; today, ten, twenty, or more years in the future! In one form or another, that is the question that is always before me.

The suggested scripture readings for this week, 2 Timothy, Chapters 2 and 4, were loaded with images: soldier, athlete, farmer, workman, instrument/utensil, drink offering, fighter, and runner. These passages are also full of instructions, too many to list here. However, the words that seemed to jump off the page at me did fall into some themes.

A Life Fully Surrendered

Paul seems to repeatedly share with Timothy, a young pastor whom Paul deeply loves and mentors, images that talk about being completely sold out to the Gospel. He speaks of the soldier that does not get entangled in civilian affairs, the athlete who does not wander outside the boundaries of the course, the workman who obviously works hard at his task, an instrument/utensil that is useful to its master, a drink that is upended and poured out as an offering, a fighter that has fought well, a runner that has finished his race, a person who has not abandoned their faith. All of these images speak to me of a single-minded devotion to God in private and in public, or in difficult times as well as good times.

A Mind Fully Informed

Perhaps it should be so evident it goes without saying; unfortunately it is not. God’s word and the instruction of it are central to our ministry and what we are supposed to be about. Paul talks about being chained, but God’s word is not. He encourages Timothy to correctly handle the word of truth. We are to instruct in the hope that others repent. We are to preach. We are to correct, rebuke, encourage, and do the work of an evangelist. Knowledge of God’s word is necessary for any Christ-follower to live the life God has for them.

A Heart Full of Love

Throughout these two chapters are scattered encouragements to be gentle, kind, patient, and not resentful. Paul encourages Timothy to persevere, to endure, and be ready to take advantage of every opportunity for the Gospel. It’s important not only to do the right things, but to do the right things in the right way. It’s possible to not only be right, but to be DEAD right! (I can’t help but think of 1 Corinthians 13 where we are taught that when we do things without doing them in love, we are nothing!)

Our Mission

RCF passionately loves God, each other, and the world and influences others to do the same. That statement of our mission requires we be completely surrendered and sold out to God, have a solid understanding of what he teaches us through His word, and are not only doing the right things but doing them in the right way.

Questions

Are we there yet? We’re definitely on the right track, but I think we have a ways to go before we can say we are that group of people. Fortunately for us, it seems traveling in the right direction is more important than arriving. In some sense we can never fully arrive in this life. While we are forgiven and set free, the sin infection is always lurking in each of us trying to influence our thoughts and actions. I

I think the question for us is, “How do we move in that direction?” We continue to pray, to worship, to learn what God teaches us, and to invest in each other, and to serve the world in an attitude of grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness. Repeatedly giving ourselves to the right things with the right attitude is what we must do to be and to become the people God has created us to be.

The Future

As I look toward the future for our church, I see a group of people who are head-over-heels in love with God. We are completely surrendered and sold out to him and nothing is more important to us than He is. We are a people who love His word and are living by it. Because His love and His word lives us, love will be the word that characterizes our every motive and action.

Make no mistake, you and I will be different. RCF, Cypress and Northwest Harris County will be a better place because we are, and people will have been rescued from the destructive clutches of evil. We will be known as a place of refuge for the desperate and a place of rest for the weary. And it will all be because we have chosen to passionately love God, each other, and the world.

Marked By His Presence

2009-07-22T15:35:00.003-05:00

The Holy Spirit is not primarily about power, signs and wonders, speaking in tongues, healing, words of wisdom, fruit, or any of the other things that immediately spring to mind. First and foremost, the Holy Spirit is about God’s presence with us. It is the presence of God, the presence of His Holy Spirit, that makes all these other benefits possible. The presence of God with and in us is what distinguishes the people of God from all other people.

Consider the book of Exodus. Israel comes to the holy mountain, the place of God’s “dwelling.” Moses is the only one allowed to engage the presence of God. Moses receives the Book of Covenant and then receives precise directions for the construction of a tabernacle. The plan is for God’s presence to move off the mountain and dwell among the people, going with them on their journey. This plan is threatened when the people, in favor of a golden calf, reject God. An angel informs Moses that God’s presence will not be going with them. (Exodus 33) Moses, recognizing the inadequacy of God not being with them, pleads with God.

Exodus 33:15-16 (NIV) 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

What marked God’s people as His people was His presence! God grants Moses’ request. They build the tabernacle, and God’s glory (presence) “filled the tabernacle.” Once Solomon’s Temple is constructed, the same presence fills the temple. (Compare Exodus 40 to 1 Kings 8:11.)

Later on this same language, temple language, is picked up in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 6:19. This is where Paul speaks of our lives being a temple wherein the Holy Spirit dwells! This is the gift referred to in Acts 2:38, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus living in us! In our typical WIIFM approach (What’s in it for me?), we have focused too much on the by-products and not enough of the gift. Somehow this infection of sin is always diverting our attention away from the true gift, the true gift being that God is with us!

I believe with all my heart God wants us to enjoy the benefits of His presence. He wants to bless us to bless others. However, when we lose sight of the true gift of His presence in us, that is when abuses and misuses of His gift occurs. That is when churches are torn apart and people become disillusioned. That is when worship celebrations become shows and pastors become ringmasters instead of servants. That is when this wonderful gift of God’s presence within, a gift that should empower us for life and ministry, becomes a distraction and an instrument for division.

Some of the inferences are mine, but the main idea of God’s presence being what marks us as His people came from page 7ff of Gordon D. Fee’s book “God’s Empowering Presence.” Tonight was about the third time I read this section of his book. Each time I have read this section, I have become more convinced this is foundational teaching about the Holy Spirit that we gloss over.

The Mature Disciple

2009-04-30T16:39:00.001-05:00

I caught a tweet identifying the need for a definition or description of what a mature disciple of Christ looks like. (Yes, I am twittering now. Even if you don’t twitter, you can follow me here.) This has been something my mind has been mulling over for several months, years even, without a satisfactory conclusion. So I wanted to post my thoughts here, in the hope that you can help me and I can help you sharpen your thinking in this area.

Like the person in the tweet intimated, as a pastor I feel a need to identify the characteristics and qualities of a mature disciple. After all, my call to ministry is to make disciples. To do that, it is helpful to know what one looks like, so, in as much is possible, I can orchestrate events and experiences that provide opportunity for me and others to mature. That’s where I start, but even as I write there is something inside me that screams “Noooooo!”

That approach seems a bit pharisaical in nature to me. Once we identify what the marks are and are not of a mature disciple, does that not lend itself to an approach where people are identified, based on exterior appearances, as to whether or not they are “truly” following Christ? Even if I don’t use it that way and only use it in reference to myself, does it not provide for sinful pride in what I have “achieved?” I think so.

Still, there is the need to understand what a disciple is in order for one to be one and for one to make one.

Lately I’ve been opting for a process based model of discipleship, but it has its flaws as well. By process I mean to focus on what I believe every follower of Christ needs to do in order to mature – namely that which is found in Acts 2:42.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

I see four things here in which the early community of believers engaged that formed them into God’s community of people. After coming to faith in Christ, then engaged in understanding what they believed, developing friendships with other believers, worshipping and communicating with God. I think these activities, engaged with frequency and regularity, form the character of God within us so the outer expressions of maturity manifest as we inwardly grow close to God, but there are two problems with this approach.

This assumes that discipleship is about a growing intimacy with Jesus Christ. I don’t see that as problematic. I see that as truth. The problem is that we sometimes see the things we do to get close to God as an end in themselves. (i.e. Bible study, Prayer, Worship, Small Groups, and any other spiritual discipline you wish to name) This opens the door for another pharisaic trap that is very similar to one cited above. That is to judge our maturity based on whether or not we engage the spiritual disciplines with fervor. Unfortunately, we all know people who do these things faithfully but whose character is no more like the character of Christ’s than a toad is like a butterfly. (Another assumption I make about the being a mature follower of Christ is that such a person’s character exemplifies the character of Jesus.)

The second problem is the New Testament does show evidence of early instruction that is focused on behavior. One need look no further than Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians to “expel the immoral brother!” So we cannot discount behavior all together.

Several years ago I attended a church conference at Ginghamsburg Church. I picked up a illustration which I believe was entitled, “The Anatomy of a Disciple.” I’ve misplaced the original illustration, and this illustration I have I edited a bit. I’m a bit embarrassed by the quality, or should I say lack of quality, of the clip art below. Still, it helps make a point.

The graphic above is a mixture of characteristics that may be desirable in a mature believer. Some of these characteristics are observable while others speak to motive. It’s not really meant as an attempt to bring two divergent thought streams together, but I guess it could be viewed that way.

A couple of book resources might be helpful here.

“The Lost Art of Disciple Making” published by NavPress. In its appendix it has a list of objectives to be achieved in the disciple making process.

A second book would be “The Master Plan of Evangelism” by Robert Coleman and published by Revell. Don’t let the title fool you. This not merely about introducing people to Christ but about how Jesus himself discipled others through relationship.

If you are still reading, you are a brave soul. I recognize the above is neither well-written nor does it come to an adequate conclusion. It’s just to get my thoughts out there to invite others into a process where we might help each other in our thinking. Having said that, I treasure your comments.

When God is Silent

2009-04-03T11:49:00.004-05:00

Any disciple of Christ who has followed Jesus for some time will confess times in their journey when they felt God was nowhere to be found. For whatever reason, there was no sense of God’s presence in any of their endeavors to draw near to Him. Philip Yancey, in Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference, offers the following “survival strategies” for those times when God is silent, those times when our prayers seem not to connect. (pp. 202ff)

First, Yancey runs through a checklist of what might be blocking the communication.

Is there deliberate sin or callous inattention to God? If so, the channel must be cleared through confession.
He examines his motives. Am I seeking particular feelings? Am I pursuing God on my own terms rather than His? Perhaps I am seeking new revelation, when, instead, I should be focusing on the revelation that God has already given.
Have I been pursing results from my prayer, rather than companionship with God?

Second, if he finds no reason for God’s silence from his checklist, he begins to treat the silence in prayer the same way he treats suffering. Saying it does little good to ponder the “Why?” questions of suffering, he points out that the Bible moves the emphasis from the past to the future. The Bible, particularly the New Testament, talks of the future benefit of present suffering: character, hope, perseverance, etc. In like fashion, Yancey asks God to use this time of spiritual dryness for future growth.

A final survival strategy he uses is to rely on the faith of others. Pointing out that the Bible gives strong emphasis to the practice of praying with others, he talks about the help he has gained by praying with others who are currently not experiencing the dryness he is experiencing. “At times, when I have no words and my faith falters, I find solace in listening to the prayers of others and realizing that not everyone is sharing my sense of desolation.” The most meaningful prayer in many churches is prayer like this, prayer that happens in the context of a small group when someone takes the vulnerable step of confessing to the group a recurring failure and asking for help. Everything else is pushed to the side while the group lovingly lifts up “a friend” to the One who cares most.

When God is silent, we often assume there is fault on our end, rather than realizing there may be purpose or something else on God’s end. Yancey speaks of a pair of red foxes on the hill behind his mountain home that raises a litter of kits each spring. They have become accustomed to his roaming the hill and occasionally stopping in front of their den. Sometimes the young ones poke their faces out at him. Sometimes he can hear them scurrying around in the den. Sometimes there is only silence.

In taking a friend to see them, he reminds the friend that there is no guarantee they will see anything. “They are wild animals, you know. We’re not in charge. It’s up to them whether they make an appearance or not.” (p. 207) Weeks later his friend wrote him about that moment and how it helped him understand God. His friend had just gone through a long season of depression. Sometimes God felt very close, and at other times he had no sense of His presence at all. His friend wrote of God, “He is wild, you know. We’re not in charge.”

Personally, I believe we often want to tame God. We would never say it this way, but we act as if God were a service animal trained to perform on command. After all, it is in our sinful nature to subjugate God and raise ourselves to the position of “master of all.” When I take time to pray and intentionally enter into God’s presence, how dare He not show up in ways I expect and can understand. Yancey says, “When I am tempted to complain about God’s lack of presence, I remind myself that God has much more reason to complain about my lack of presence.” (p. 208) That sentence is self-explanatory; but in case you missed it, God never neglects us, but we often neglect Him.

The Life of Every Believer

2009-02-14T09:07:00.004-06:00

Whether you are new to the faith or have been following Jesus for some time, it's important to focus on the most foundational aspects of our faith. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we have grown past a need to return to the basics; but I assure you, none of us can afford to think like that. Consider John Wooden.

Even if you are not a basketball fan or don’t like sports in general, you would have to agree, John Wooden is impressive. He was a three-time, all-state player in high school, winning a state championship. He was a three-time, all-American player in college, winning a national championship and named collegiate player of the year. As a coach, his UCLA Bruins won ten national championships, including seven in a row; and they still hold the record for consecutive games won (88). He is enshrined not once, but twice, in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, once as a player and later as a coach.

How did Wooden achieve such greatness? He focused on the basics, the fundamentals of the game, including passing, dribbling, shooting, running, and teamwork. So fanatical was his devotion to the basics, it is even rumored he taught his players, on the first day of practice, how to tie their shoes. Wooden’s teams never got too big for the basics, and we should never think that way about our faith.

Earlier today I was reading an author (Dallas Willard) who claimed most of the dissatisfaction people experience in their faith and most of the problems Christian congregations experience can be traced back to a failure to properly understand and apply the most foundational truths of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. As a pastor with close to twenty years of experience helping people grow and leading ministries, I would have to agree.

Let’s make sure we are not numbered among those who are missing the fulfilling life God offers because of our inattention to foundational truth. Let’s not gloss over the basics in favor of some supposedly deeper truth or more advanced ministry design. Let’s give ourselves to mastering the fundamentals so that we can live out our faith with integrity, grace, and power. Let's remember the basics.

A life surrendered to Jesus Christ.
A life empowered by the Spirit of Christ.
A life directed by God’s Word.
A life committed to Christian community.
A life engaged in worship.
A life communing with God in prayer.
A life reflecting the character of Christ.
A life inviting others into God’s love.

When we get these things right, they provide the tools we need, to grow deep and strong in our faith, so we can experience the very fullness of life that comes through Jesus.

When You Feel Abandoned by God

2009-01-26T14:13:00.005-06:00

Preface: I'm teaching at Chuck's small group tonight while Chuck is in Los Angeles teaching Doctor of Ministry candidates. I wanted to share some of the things I am learning as I study the passage he assigned me, Isaiah 40:9-31. (By the way, for those who might not know, our rock guitar loving Worship Pastor, Chuck, is an Old Testament scholar, complete with a Ph.D., and is on the faculty of Houston Graduate School of Theology. I'm glad he left me with some of his notes!)

As we grow in our relationship with God, there is a crisis we face at least once. We find ourselves in a situation where we are desperate for a certain thing to happen. We pray and pray, yet nothing happens. Worse yet, the wrong thing happens. In that moment we wonder if God has forgotten us, of if he even cares about things important to us. In Isaiah, God puts it like this:

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? (Isaiah 40:27, NIV)

What do we do when we feel like that, forgotten, even ignored by God?

First, let's not be too hard on ourselves. We are not the first people in history to feel this way. The words of verse 27 are used by God to identify what the people were feeling, so this is nothing new. It seems to be in our fallen nature to think God has abandoned us or just does not care when things don't go like we think they should.

Second, we must remind ourselves there is a reason why God is God and we are not. In the verses immediately previous to verse 27 God has been reminding us of his greatness, his supremacy when compared to us. In the face of such greatness, who are we to question what he allows and disallows, when he intervenes and does not intervene? Remembering the greatness of God helps us believe He knows what's best for us.

Third, we must trust him. Following verse 27 we are reminded again of God's greatness, specifically with regard to his endurance and wisdom in comparison to ours. The good news is that he imparts his strength to us. In some of the best known words of Isaiah we read,

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:29-31, NIV)

"Those who hope in the Lord..." Some translations say wait, but perhaps the best word is "trust." Certainly trust would be required to wait or hope, for we need to trust in God's ability to deliver if we are going to "wait" or "hope." In order to do either, we need to remember God's supremacy in all things, just as we have been reminded in the preceding verses.

There are many things that test us in life. Among the most difficult are the ones we don't understand. It is in those moments, those moments when we feel pushed beyond our ability to understand or endure, that we have our greatest opportunity to put our trust in God.

Skinned Alive

2009-01-23T10:07:00.001-06:00

A somewhat well-known passage of scripture is found in Matthew 9:37 where Jesus informs his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” He goes on to instruct them to pray for more laborers in order to achieve a greater harvest, but what did Jesus see that caused him to take that moment to say those things?

Verse 36 answers the question, and an expanded translation of the Greek gives us a better understanding of what he was actually viewing. Verse 36 says, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36, ESV)

The word harassed comes from the Greek word skullo that translates as harass, trouble, or weary. However, the word also means to skin, flay or lacerate. The word helpless comes from the Greek word rhipto. It means to throw, cast, hurl, scatter, or disperse and is also used in regard to sick people who are laid on the ground. In addition to these words, Jesus goes on to describe people as “sheep without a shepherd.”

Having lived in West Texas sheep and goat country for a short time, I learned a few things about sheep from the local ranchers.

Sheep follow other sheep blindly, and seldom does the lead sheep actually know where he is going.
Sheep are timid animals, and they startle easily. Once they startle, panic sets in to the point that the sheep can become far more destructive to themselves than whatever it is that startled them.
Sheep have no ability to defend themselves. They must be defended.

So what did Jesus see when he observed people? He saw people who were in deep anguish, so deep that words carrying connotations of their skin actually being peeled off or words that were used to describe those who were so sick they laid helplessly on the ground. He saw people who were directionless, easily startled, and unable to defend themselves against those things or forces that sought to destroy them. While the text is not explicit, since Jesus’ focus was on the spiritual and eternal, I am sure he had in mind not just our earthly existence or enemies. He was mindful of the eternal implications and the ways Satan seeks to take advantage of our helplessness. Satan wants to skin us alive.

While the point of the passage, in my opinion, is about the need being so great more workers are needed to bring people into relationship with Jesus, it also reminds us of some important truth. When we don’t know which way to go, we have a shepherd that provides us with direction. When we are anxious and fearful, we have one who calms us. When we feel vulnerable and defenseless, we have one who protects us.

The Benefits of Intimacy with Jesus

2009-01-08T06:09:00.002-06:00

I thought you might be encouraged by the following short paragraph. I so want these words to be more than words on a page. It is my prayer, and sure hope, that this is what we each experience together at Ranch Community Fellowship and in other communities that honor Jesus Christ.

"When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic. The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Him. The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that Our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him."

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (January 7). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

The Christmas Gift

2008-12-12T15:55:00.002-06:00

For years I’ve been heart-sick from the realization that the church of modern times, at least in the United States, is no where near the church God intends us to be in terms character, community, and her ability to transform lives. Nor does my life emanate with the clarity, confidence, and conviction that every believer should possess. As a pastor, these are agonizing thoughts to me for they are related. No individual can live the fulfilling life offered to him or her through Christ without the influence of a powerful Christian community, and powerful Christian communities cannot exist without individuals who are experiencing, not talking about but experiencing, the fullness of life Jesus died to give us.

Dallas Willard writes in The Sprit of the Disciplines[*] of the human condition and our efforts to address it through political and societal revolutions. He asks whether or not modern Christianity is the answer.

And amid a flood of techniques for self-fulfillment there is an epidemic of depression, suicide, personal emptiness, and escapism through drugs and alcohol, cultic obsession, consumerism, and sex and violence – all combined with an inability to sustain deep and enduring personal relationships.

So obviously the problem is a spiritual one. And so must be the cure.

But if the cure is spiritual, how does modern Christianity fit into the answer? Very poorly, it seems, for Christians are among those caught up in the sorrowful epidemic just referred to. (Willard, p. iix)

I am not throwing stones as much as I am recognizing a need and acknowledging a longing, a hunger within me and many, for that which I lack as a child of God and that which we lack as a church. It is sometimes hard to name what we lack, but we know we lack because the longing is real.

We turn many things to satisfy the longing. If it is not “escapism through drugs and alcohol, cultic obsession, consumerism, and sex and violence” then it is good things like a great worship experience, a moving prayer meeting, excellent Bible teacher with a great message, or dramatic works of power. While these are beneficial, they fall short as an end in themselves. We are constantly changing methods, changing churches, and sometimes changing spouses thinking that our emptiness is due to the circumstances around us instead of the circumstance within us. We keep looking to God wondering why he is withholding good things from us, and that is the problem. We are looking for the things instead of him. We are seeking what he can give us with his hand instead seeking his heart and face. He is THE GIFT and all other good gifts come with Him.

It is Christmas time. At Christmas time, we celebrate the entrance of Christ into the world as light, love, joy, and peace. These are not things he gives us as much as they are who he is. It’s a total package, but it comes by nurturing his character within us while we create community among us. For our common commitment to him compels us to be committed to each other – to the other believers in our fellowship. It can be no other way, as our relationship with him strengthens our relationship with each other, and as our relationship with each other strengthens our relationship with him. Until we get that, we get nothing. Let this Christmas mark the year we begin to get it.

[*] Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.

Success and Circumstance

2008-12-11T16:59:00.007-06:00

As long as I can remember I have always wanted to succeed. When I was a child, the successful endeavor was scaling the newly erected fence that was put there to keep me in the yard or climbing the next door neighbor’s tree to a higher height. Granted, my endeavors and the measures of my success have changed over the years, but success remains a constant theme – even if I do still get an urge to climb a tree every once in a while.

In our culture we worship success. We are especially fond of the “self-made man,” the one born into humble or adverse conditions yet still achieving greatness through their abilities and hard work. I suppose that’s why I found myself puzzled when I read these words, words that indicate time and chance may be as big a factor to success as abilities or hard work.

"I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all." (Ecclesiastes 9:11, NIV)

Recently I read Outliers, a book by Malcolm Gladwell.* The subtitle of the book is “The Story of Success.” Only the book is not your normal “how you can be a success” book. Gladwell weaves his customary outstanding research into a very interesting read on all the factors involved in success. He shares with us the stories of Bill Gates and the Beatles – focusing on what they have in common that contributed to their success. He takes us through time and space as we examine the Canadian hockey leagues as well as the century’s old practice of rice farming in China. He demonstrates how factors outside the individual’s control such as culture, history, intelligence and nationality – combine to impact one’s ability to succeed. He concludes…

…success follows a predictable course. It is not the brightest who succeed…Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers [the exceedingly successful] are those who have been given opportunities – and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them. (Outliers, p. 267)

His conclusion is success is not only about effort and innate ability, but it is effort and ability coupled with the right conditions – conditions often beyond our control – that give rise to success.

If you are like me you find Gladwell’s conclusions, coupled with the words of Ecclesiastes 9:11, almost discouraging. I want to believe my success, whatever it may be, is the result of the choices I’ve made. To be fair, neither Scripture nor Gladwell say my efforts don’t have an impact, but they both indicate circumstances beyond my control will frame any success I have. So as a disciple of Christ, what do I make of that?

First, God is in control of when and where I was born. He knew who my parents would be. He knew the culture into which I was born, and the historical context of my life. He knew the opportunities I would have and the obstacles I would face.

Second, God has a plan for my life. We see that in Psalm 139:16 where the Psalmist talks about the days of lives having been ordained before we were born. We see that in Jeremiah 29:11 where God is speaking to those in exile about the good plan he has for them.

Third, God judges success in very different ways than we judge success. I bet you’ve heard or read, “Whoever has the most toys when he dies wins!” Our culture in preoccupied with manyness and muchness, while God is interested in Christ likeness. When the Bible talks about Jesus being perfect, it is not only talking of him being without sin – but of the perfection achieved in his completion of his mission. We tend to judge our successes through contrast and comparison with others when God’s plumb line is to measure our efforts against his plan for our lives.

“…we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. (Galatians 5:26, The Message)

So then, I realize these three things:

God is in control of the things which I cannot control and is fully aware of their impact on me.
God has a plan for my life. There is purpose behind why, when and where I was born.
God’s standard for the success of my life is not determined by comparing my life to others. Instead, the measure of my success is found in my completion of God’s individualized plan for me.

With those realizations I can relax about those things that are out of my control, for I know God has not left the circumstances of my life to chance, so I am exactly where and when I need to be. I also need not worry about my life in comparison to the life of another. I am only concerned with completing the course he has marked out for me – not someone else’s course. So I go back to Ecclesiastes for guidance that now seems helpful rather than discouraging.

"Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…" (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10, NIV)

I’ll confess I do not understand why the passage refers to our lives as meaningless, but what I do understand from the passage is we are to live. Be glad. Be joyful. Now is the time of God’s favor for our lives. Enjoy living life with your spouse, and whatever you do, do it with all your might. After all, while we cannot control the circumstances into which we were born, we can control whether we make the best of those circumstances or not knowing that to do so, is to fulfill God's plan for our lives. This is success.

*Gladwell, Malcom. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008.

From an Absurd to an Obedient Life

2008-12-10T07:54:00.001-06:00

I thought some of you might enjoy this selection from the writings of Henri Nouwen as taken from Devotional Classics, edited by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith and published by HarperSanFrancisco.

Nouwen writes...

From all that I said about our worried, overfilled lives, it is clear that we are usually surrounded by so much outer noise that it is hard to truly hear our God when he is speaking to us. We have often become deaf, unable to know when God calls us and unable to understand in which direction he calls us.

Thus our live have become absurd. In the word absurd we find the Latin word surdus, which means "deaf." A spiritual life requires discipline because we need to learn to listen to God, who constantly speaks but whom we seldom hear.

When, however, we learn to listen, our live become obedient lives. The word obedient comes from the Latin word audire, which means "listening." A spiritual discipline is necessary in order to move slowly from an absurd to an obedient life, from a life filled with noisy worries to a life in which there is some free inner space where we can listen to our God and follow his guidance.

Jesus' life was a life of obedience. He was always listening to the Father, always attentive to his voice, always alert for his directions. Jesus was "all ear." That is true prayer: being all ear for God. The core of all prayer is indeed listening, obediently standing in the presence of God.

Living Water for India - A Christmas Missions Offering

2008-12-04T18:49:00.003-06:00

Living Water for India

Our Christmas Missions Offering

A letter to Friends and Members of RCF from Senior Pastor, Ed Wandling

Little did the staff know when we selected a ministry in India for RCF’s annual Christmas Missions Gift that Mumbai, India would be so prominently and tragically in the news, but that’s exactly what has happened. While no one, including God, would want this senseless loss of life, there is now greater opportunity than before to influence India for Christ.

Times of India, an Indian Newspaper, conducted a survey in which it asked what one thing the people of India wanted more than anything else. Ninety-three percent of the people wanted clean water. Through Sower of Seeds International Ministries, Inc., we are going to be able to help meet this vital, physical need felt by nearly every Indian while spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The typical Indian family’s life revolves around obtaining enough water for cooking, washing, and drinking. Half the day is spent waiting in long lines or walking long distances to contaminated water sources. Thousands of children die every year due to waterborne illnesses, and water is often auctioned to the highest bidder - taking half of a family’s earnings.

Sower of Seeds is an international ministry, based out of Keller, Texas, providing water wells in India. One well provides 1,000 people with water for the next thirty years. Almost always these wells are paired with the ministry of a Christian Church, allowing the people of the church to become the town heroes as they point out Jesus Christ provided them with clean water – something their 30,000 Hindu gods had not been able to do. You can see the power of this approach.

Our 2008 Goal for our Christmas Mission Gift is to supply $4,800 to sink one well that will provide 1,000 people with clean, convenient water for the next 30 years. It’s an aggressive goal, and we have no money in the budget for it. So we will be receiving special offerings throughout the month of December to meet this opportunity. The challenge for us is to give above and beyond what we would normally give so our local ministry does not suffer while we support this important mission.

On January 18, Chase Wilsey of Sower of Seeds and Champions for India will be speaking in our service. It’s my hope we will be able to present him with a check of at least $4,800 at that time. Let’s make a difference, not only in the lives of 1,000 people for a day, but for a generation and for eternity!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T12:20:00.002-06:00

We often track the origins of our thanksgiving celebration to 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians broke bread together in a harvest celebration. However, Thanksgiving did not become an “official” part of the American landscape until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln invited his fellow countrymen everywhere to set aside “the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

Lincoln proclaimed “The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.” When one considers the backdrop, that is a startling statement. These words were penned in what is still today the bloodiest conflict in our nation’s history. 550,000 people were killed – 150,000 more Americans than were killed during World War II. Yet, Lincoln urges Americans everywhere to take a day to praise God and give thanks to Him.

As you enjoy your Thanksgiving holidays, I thought you might also enjoy reflecting on the proclamation by one of our greatest Presidents – a proclamation made almost a century and a half ago.

Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

The Struggle to Forgive

2008-10-24T00:18:00.001-05:00

An E-mail sent to friends and member of Ranch Community Fellowship on October 16.

The Struggle to Forgive
By Pastor Ed Wandling

Have you ever struggled with forgiving someone – I mean really forgiving them and not just saying you’ve forgiven them? It’s a common struggle and a major threat to receiving and living the fulfilling and significant life God wants to give us. Who do we forgive? What should we forgive? When do we forgive, and how do we forgive? These are questions with which we all struggle. These questions are among the most important questions we will ever ask. Our answers and our application of those answers in how we live our lives will most certainly be the determining factor in whether or not we live lives of fulfillment or lives of misery.

Jesus taught us to pray that God would forgive us in the same way we forgive others. Those are strong and terrifying words, for those of who have been hurt so deeply that we either won’t or can’t extend forgiveness. And even if we can mentally bring ourselves to forgive, often our emotions don’t seem to get the message. See if the following scenario seems all too familiar.

You’re driving down the highway thinking of nothing in particular. One thought leads to another and all of sudden you notice your heart is beating faster, your breathing is more vigorous, and your grip on the steering wheel is way tighter than it needs to be. You realize your wandering thoughts have found their way to that person or those people who hurt you. In your mind you see yourself saying or doing things to “even the score.” Some of those things are so violent you are surprised and ashamed that you could even think them. When you come out of your trance, well – let’s just say you are not in a positive mental state. Unfortunately you are left with a reservoir of yucky emotions that negatively impact everything and everyone around you. Your ability to enjoy life, at least for the moment, is gone.

Sound familiar? That’s an example of how, even though we have decided with our head to forgive, our hearts don’t always follow. We get drawn into that vortex of darkness where all vitality and zest for life is sucked out of us. It happens before we know it, and it is the guerilla warrior that attacks the heart to rob us of the joy God wants us to have. This enemy of God’s heart in us must be defeated!

Over the next two to three weeks in our both our Sunday 10:30 worship service and our 9:00 discussion, we are going to be talking about how to nurture and sustain a heart of forgiveness. I’ve been looking forward to bringing this teaching as God has used it in the past to help people find freedom and catapult into a whole new level of victorious and fulfilling living. It’s important, so if it’s in your power to make a decision to be with us over the next several Sundays or to be somewhere else, for your sake you need to decide to be with us.

The Stronghold of Unforgiveness

2008-10-24T00:08:00.001-05:00

This is a copy of an e-mail sent to members and friends of Ranch Community Fellowship on October 23, 2008.

The Stronghold of Unforgiveness

By Pastor Ed Wandling

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds [emphasis added]. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, NIV)

This is one of the most familiar verses among Christians, but have you ever asked what is meant by “stronghold?” The context tells us it is about thought patterns. The words use in verse five that help us understand the nature of a stronghold are “argument…. pretension [meaning opinions],” and “thought.” A stronghold is a way of thinking that is different compared to God’s way of thinking. Ed Silvoso describes it this way.

A stronghold is a mindset impregnated with hopelessness that causes the believer to accept as unchangeable something that he or she knows is contrary to the will of God.

This is precisely where we are when we do not forgive. We know we are to forgive, but because the wound is so deep or the offense is so unjustifiable, we cannot or will not bring ourselves to do so. We have no hope that we could or would ever extend forgiveness. So we have accepted a position that is contrary to the will of God, and it is eating away at the meaningful life God wants us to have.

One reason we do not forgive is our definition of forgiveness. Our misunderstandings of what forgiveness is and what it is not prevent us for experiencing the joy God has for us in this area. We need a Biblical understanding of what it means to forgive.

This Sunday at RCF, in our current message series entitled “Guard Your Heart,” I will continue to teach about forgiveness. An unwillingness to forgive is among the most common strongholds believers face. All of us struggle with it. Many of us are gripped with it. You are not alone in your struggle. Come this Sunday as together we lay this down at the foot of the cross. Let’s let Jesus, by the power of his most holy Spirit, set us free.

Developing Your God-Given Gift

2008-10-23T23:47:00.006-05:00

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity [fear], but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7, NIV) [1]

I was meditating on this verse before going to bed tonight. It's a another one of those Christian favorites to which many of us often turn. I began to wonder to what the "For" was there for. So often we pull this verse out any time we are afraid of something or struggling with self-discipline issues, but I realize now the Holy Spirit had a more specific purpose in mind when I looked at the verse that immediately precedes this one.

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands." (2 Timothy 1:6, NIV)[1]

Through Paul I think God may be telling us how to use and a develop the gifts he has placed within us. To use those gifts it takes an exercise of strength (power). They are to be exercised in love for without love they amount to nothing. (1 Corinthians 13) It also requires self-discipline to develop the gifts and to use them at their proper time. The good news is that God has not only gifted us, but he has empowered us with the abilities we need to "fan" those gifts into a "flame:" power, love, and self-discipline. That's awesome!

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan. [1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

A Matter of Trust

2007-05-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

John 8:31-32 (NIV)31 …Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”[1]

Which comes first, understanding or obedience? A positive response to authority is always easier when we agree with what we are being asked to do. However, the real issue is not agreement, but trust.

Picture the child who is about to run out into the street and a loving parent yells, “Stop!” If the child obeys, trusting his parent’s view, then serious injury or even death is averted. However, if the child subconsciously says to himself, “I don’t see why I need to stop,” and runs into the street, trusting his own view of the situation… You get the idea.

Michael Slaughter, a pastor in Ohio, tells of an experience in Germany. In a discussion with German Christians, Slaughter discovered they have no word for “lord.” They refer to Jesus as Herr Jesus – Mr. Jesus. In the conversation they said to him that American Christians might as well not have the word “lord,” for we refer to Jesus as Lord without really making him Lord.

Sadly, I think this is more true than we want to believe. All too often he is Lord only as long as we agree with him. Is that trust? Absolutely not! Yet, placing our trust in Jesus, as opposed to anyone or anything else, including ourselves, is not just foundational to receiving God’s blessing it is a prerequisite to everything that God wants to give us and do through us. True trust demonstrates itself in obedience which more often than not, leads to understanding.

According to the verse above, the mark of discipleship is obedience to the teachings of Jesus. The by-product of that trust displayed in obedience understanding and freedom. The old hymn had it right. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Who Did Jesus Claim To Be?

2007-05-03T11:37:00.000-05:00

John 8:24-25 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been claiming all along,” Jesus replied.

Everything rests on the true identity of Jesus. For the Christ follower, our identity is rooted in his identity. Jesus was very concerned that his identity was being correctly interpreted. That is why he asked the disciples traveling with him, "Who do people say I am?” As a follow up he asked, “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:13-16; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-20)

Who is Jesus? What or who does Jesus claim to be? I looked up all the places in the Bible where Jesus uses the words “I am.” I was specifically interested in the places where those words referred to who he claimed to be. One of the most interesting statements I found was in John 14:20 where Jesus says, “I am in you.” Think about that while you read through a few selected “I am” statements below. This one you are reading about, Jesus, wants to live in, and through, you!

I am gentle and humble in heart… Matthew 11:29
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob… Matthew 22:32
I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20
I am,” said Jesus. [the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One] Mark 14:62
I am among you as one who serves. Luke 22:27
I am the bread of life. John 6:48
I am the light of the world. John 8:12
I tell you the truth, Jesus answered, before Abraham was born, I am! John 8:58
I am the light of the world. John 9:5
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— John 10:14
I am God’s Son... John 10:36
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; John 11:25
You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. John 13:13
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:20
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
You are right in saying I am a king. John 18:37

The Passionate Focus of Jesus

2007-05-03T10:28:00.000-05:00

John 19:28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”[1]

It was only after Jesus knew his work was completed that he turned his attention to his own needs to say "I am thirsty." I am so stunned by the insight from this one verse, this glimpse into the single-minded desire of Jesus, that I don’t know what else to say. No wonder Jesus’ movement toward his own crucifixion is often referred to as “the passion.”

[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Jn 19:28). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Possessing, Not Receiving, The Promises of God

2007-04-30T12:52:00.001-05:00

My post from earlier today, although only a few minutes old, got me to thinking about how often we encourage people to "receive" some gift or promise from God. As I wrote earlier I used the phrase "possess the promise" of God. I don't know why I wrote it that way, and I have no clue why I started thinking about it, but we must encourage people to possess the promises of God instead of just receive the promises of God.

"BLASPHEMER!" I hear you say. I know I am flying in the face of what we customarily practice in many corners of Western Christianity, but at least give me two minutes to make my case.

The Promised Land was called the Promised Land because it was promised by God. (duh) For the descendents of Israel to recieve the Promised Land they had to possess the Promised Land. The difference between possessing and receiving is that the former is active while the latter is passive. To receive something is to wait on someone to give something to you. To take possession of something requires one to take action.

If by "receive" we mean "believe", then I would agree that we must receive the promises of God. However, for the promises to fulfill their value to us we must possess them as well. The Jewish people could have "received" the Promised Land for all eternity, but the full value and enjoyment of being the recipients of that promise was not theirs until they possessed the land - until they possessed the promise.

What promise from God have you received that you are not possessing? What words of hope and encouragement has he spoken to you that you are passively waiting on him to fulfill? It is time for you to quit waiting on circumstances to change. It is time for you to make whatever changes you need to make, to take the action you need to take, to set aside the things that are hindering you, and POSSESS THE PROMISE OF GOD!

"Be Strong and Courageous"

2007-04-30T12:17:00.000-05:00

Hebrew is not my forté, neither is Greek for that matter, but I have at least studied Greek enough to know some of the basics. Never the less, I felt impressed to explore the meanings of some Hebrew words today, for the only thing that jumped out at me in today’s reading was the word “strong” in Joshua 23:6 . It only shows up once today, but whenever this word shows up in the context of possessing the Promised Land, it seems to get my attention. I decided to do a little study of the word in the book of Joshua. Here is what I discovered.

Simply put, the word means "be(come) strong, strengthen, prevail, harden, be courageous, be sore (meaning be severe)"[1] The Hebrew word shows up eight times in the book of Joshua. Five of those times the word “courageous” shows up with it. Courageous means "be stout, strong, alert, bold, be solid, hard."

Most interestingly, it shows up four times in the first chapter as Joshua is receiving instructions and encouragement from the Lord about leading the people into the Promised Land. Three times God tells him “be strong and courageous.” ( Joshua 1:6-9 ) The fourth time the encouragement comes from the people Joshua will be leading. (Joshua 1:18) The context tells us the exhortations are not just about the battles that are waiting to be fought. It is more about adhering to the covenant made between God and his people with the battles being an extension or manifestation of keeping the covenant with God. The exhortation to “be strong and courageous” is an exhortation to be unwavering in one’s application of God’s instructions – His Word.

There are several important implications for us.

It takes effort on our part to fully receive and enjoy the benefits of God’s word to us. God may promise it, but we have to possess it.
Possessing the promises of God is not for the faint of heart. The effort that must be made needs strength and courage. This is because we are to act on our conviction of God’s promises to us in spite of what the physical circumstances appear to be. There were fortified cities and warriors of great stature in the land, but the people of God were to act on the basis of God’s promise rather than what the physical circumstances might seem to dictate. However, the good news is the Holy Spirit lives in us making it possible to perceive and act on the promise of God in spite of the our circumstances.
Obedience to God is important. It seems that full-time obedience is a pre-requisite for winning the incidental battles we fight. I don’t mean to imply we “earn” God’s good favor and therefore he grants us a “win” here and there. I think it’s more akin to positioning ourselves to be a conduit of God’s grace. Where God’s grace flows there is power. Willful sin somehow gums up the works and impedes the exercise of that power. Now you must treat this idea with caution as I am not sure I am right, but I put it out there in hopes of getting some feedback which, one way or the other, will help me as I wrestle with this thought.

She Left Her Jar: Questions Every Heart Asks

2007-04-29T19:00:00.000-05:00

John 4:4-29, 39-42

A few days ago, I posted some thoughts on John 4. Having given it some more thought, there were four subconcsious questions driving the women's interractions with Jesus. These four questions are in the heart of every person as they move toward a life with God. I shared my thoughts with the New Life Alamosa congregation this morning. If you find the outline below intriguing, you may want to go to www.newlifealamosa.org where podcasts of the messages presented on Sunday mornings will soon be available.

Why Would You Have Anything To Do With Me?
She was a Samaritan
She was a woman
She was an outcast

Can I Trust You?
She wondered about Jesus' motives.
Are you greater than Jacob?
Jesus was focused on the spirtual while the woman was mired in the physical.

Where Can I Find God?
Jesus confronts her with the truth of her situation.
In response, she wants to know where she can go to connect with God.
She is still rooted in the physical
Jesus helps her move to the spiritual

Can You Help Me?
She speaks of the Messiah
Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah.

A Woman Transformed
The woman makes the leap from the physical to the spiritual
She leaves her jar
She moves from being someone who goes to draw water when no one else would normally be there to one who is intentionally engaging others.

As the people of God we not only ask these questions, we must embody the answers.

Why Would You Have Anything To Do With Me?
Is your life an open invitation?
Are you assertively building relationships?

Can I Trust You?
Are you a safe person?
Will you be shocked by my sin?
Will my sin illicit grace or judgement?
Will you see past my insecure behavior?

Where Can I Find God?
Is Jesus alive and well in you?
Is Jesus alive and well in your church?

Can You Help Me?
Will you invest time with me?
Will you help me connect with other Christ followers?
Will you tell me about Jesus?

One of the most interesting visuals in this encounter is the woman's jar. She brought it to the well with a focus on meeting her physical needs. Her encounter with Jesus causes a shift in her focus from the physical to the spiritual, from the temporal to the eternal, from the mundane to the transformational. What's in your jar? What are you so focused on that it is distracting you from the truly imporant? Maybe it's time for you to leave your jar behind.

God Will Do What He Says He Will Do

2007-04-27T10:38:00.000-05:00

Joshua 21:45 (NIV)45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.[1]

God always does what he promises. He will always do what he says he will do. If someone thinks God has failed to deliver what he promised to deliver, they might be better served to question their interpretation of what they believe God said, rather than question God. God's Word is wholly reliable and without error. Our interpretation and application of it is not.

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

“Get To” not “Got To”

2007-04-26T12:23:00.000-05:00

Jesus says “…do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.” (John 5:45 NIV)

Many of us are confused about the relationship between the law of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. Very often we treat the grace of Christ as if it supplanted the law of God, yet Jesus himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)[1] While many of us know this academically, practically we overemphasize the law, or grace, which leaves us an unsatisfying life with God and an inaccurate witness.

The New Testament teaches us that the law has at least two purposes; to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24) and to teach us how to live in love (Matthew 22:37-40 ). In many respects, the law actually foreshadows the kind of life God wants us to have, but the law, by itself, was incapable of producing that life. It was only capable of exposing our need for a savior while giving us a hint of what life could be.

Unfortunately, we are still left with a dilemma. How do we reconcile the law of God with the grace of God? I think Kevin Myers, a pastor in the Atlanta area frames it best. He basically says we “get to” rather than we “got to.” We “get to” live the life of God. Earning a life with God is no longer a “got to” proposition. Through the grace of Christ we “get to” live the life of God with God.

The work of Christ not only provides an avenue of forgiveness for our sin, but a conduit of power propelling us toward sin-free living. That conduit is the Holy Spirit, God, living within us. When we are living a truly spiritual life, that is to say living by the Spirit, then we fulfill the law of God. (Galatians 5:16-18 ) The Law becomes a guide, a measuring stick, to which we compare our lives. The degree to which our lives measure up indicates to us how well we are nurturing our relationship with Christ and experiencing the joy of living in his grace.

We are still expected to fulfill the law of God, but the difference is found in how we fulfill it. Do we fulfill that law as a goal through our own efforts? Or rather do we fulfill the law almost as a by-product of nurturing the life of Christ within? The former is from the outside in while the latter is from the inside out. I believe the latter is God’s plan, and it is even found throughout the Old Testament books of the Law. To cite one example, in Deuteronomy we read, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”[2]

© 2007, Ed Wandling

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Take Jesus at his word, and...

2007-04-25T12:40:00.000-05:00

John 4:50b (NIV)50 …The man took Jesus at his word and departed.[1]

These words jumped out at me as I read today. The son of a royal official was ill. The Father went to Jesus and begged him to heal his son. Instead of going with the man, Jesus told him that his son would live. At that, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”

Two thoughts come to mind. The first has to do with how we seem to struggle with accepting the idea that God will do what he says he will do. The anxiety and worry with which we approach some of life’s situations betray our lack of trust in him.

The second thought keys off of what the man did. He believed…and departed. What would we do if we truly believed? Jesus said, “…if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”[2] I’ve heard the question put this way. “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” In my own life in the lives of those who have trusted their thoughts with me, more often our actions are shaped by our fears of what we cannot do than by our belief in what Jesus said we can do.

God places dreams in the hearts of every man and woman – a desire for something to be better tomorrow than what it is today. But when we fail to take God at his word regarding what he wants to accomplish in and through our lives, we allow our fears, anxieties, and insecurities to keep us from fulfilling the destiny God has planned for us.
It is time we stopped defining our world and our existence in our own limited view. It’s time for us to take God at his word, and…

© 2007, Ed Wandling

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

How do People Begin to Believe in Jesus?

2007-04-24T17:34:00.000-05:00

In John 4 we find Jesus traveling through Samaria, a region Jews regularyly avoided in New Testament times for fear of coming in contact with a Samaritan and thus becoming "unclean." He ends up having a discussion with a Samaritan woman. She, along with many Samaritans from her town, eventually "believed in him."

Is there a pattern of realizations here that are common to people in their journey toward "believ[ing] in Jesus?"

John 4:9 - Do we find it hard to believe that God might speak to us as the woman found it hard to believe a Jew would speak to a Samaritan.
John 4:11 - Do we share the same disbelief about God being capable of doing what he says he can do as the woman had about Jesus's ability to draw water?
John 4:15 - Do we misunderstand the promises God makes to us, seeking less than what he is able to deliver just as the woman misunderstood what Jesus was offering.
John 4:17 - Are we even more surprised that God wants to know us, when we discover the depths of his insight into who we are?
John 4:19-24 - While this contains more about what Jesus says than what the woman says, I think this interchange is about making the leap from physical to spiritual realities. Surely the statement about worshipping in truth was part of what led the woman to make her next comment.
John 4:25 - OK. I know this is reading between the lines a bit, but I think the woman is suspecting that Jesus is the Messiah. He has just taught her something. He has just explained something. She responds by saying the Messiah will "explain everything" to us. Is she saying, "I think I know who you might be but I'm not sure yet?"
John 4:29 - She, even though she may not be sure yet herself, invites people from the town to come meet this man and suggests, in a question, he might be the Christ.
John 4:40 - The people from the town want to spend some time with Jesus, and urge him to stay. He stays two days. Isn't it natural to want to spend time with him as you begin to realize who he is. In 4:41 it says monay more came to believe in him because of his words, presumably words he was able to speak during the extra time.
John 4:42 The people come to the place where they believe in Jesus based on their own relationship with him verses the relationship someone else has with him.

What do you think? Am I on to something here, or have I pushed thing too far? What would you add? What would you say differently? If this is the progression that some people go through, then I believe there are implications for how the church should engage people. Maybe I can deal with that in a future post. In the mean time, feel free to make your own suggestions.

Connect!

Blessed?

One in a Crowd or Disciple?

Faithwalking: People are staying away in unprecedented numbers

Jesus: What does His name mean?

Exposed!

Is my life with God lame?

How Does Our Love of God Grow?

Who Are Your Enemies?

Thanksgiving

Washington, D.C.October 3, 1863

Woodstock

Image Is Everything

Does God Have Me?

Proving God Exists, Part 1, Introduction

Is It Possible to Prove the Existence of God?

The Subjective Nature of Proof

Why We Call It Faith

Does Proof Matter?

Walking in the Shoes of Others

Join Me in the Journey

Fulfilling the Heart of God: Acknowledging the Gifts of People

Fulfilling the Heart of God: Growing Through Relationships

Personal Relationships

Hard Work

Unity of Thought

Their Connectedness

Answering the Questions

The Role of Praise

Focusing on the Future

Marked By His Presence

The Mature Disciple

When God is Silent

The Life of Every Believer

When You Feel Abandoned by God

Skinned Alive

The Benefits of Intimacy with Jesus

The Christmas Gift

Success and Circumstance

From an Absurd to an Obedient Life

Living Water for India - A Christmas Missions Offering

Thanksgiving

The Struggle to Forgive

The Stronghold of Unforgiveness

Developing Your God-Given Gift

A Matter of Trust

Who Did Jesus Claim To Be?

The Passionate Focus of Jesus

Possessing, Not Receiving, The Promises of God

"Be Strong and Courageous"

She Left Her Jar: Questions Every Heart Asks

God Will Do What He Says He Will Do

“Get To” not “Got To”

Take Jesus at his word, and...

How do People Begin to Believe in Jesus?

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863