Labor Day Reflection…

•September 2, 2013 • Leave a Comment

It’s Labor Day 2013.

Some people love their jobs.  Some people hate their jobs.  Some people are ambilivalent about their jobs.  Some people just live for the weekend.   Some good, hard-working people are looking for jobs right now – we should pray for them.

I was just thinking this morning how good God has been to me in my labor over the years – he’s always provided.

My dad was a businessman and entrepreneur.  I worked for him all my young life and some while I was in college (and, yes, I WORKED – he cut me no slack).  In college I always had a job.  At 22 I was pastoring my first full-time church and have been working (sometimes at various and sundry things – not always in the “ministry”, but working nonetheless) since then.   I’ve worked in air-conditioned offices and dug ditches in the scorching sun.  And now, God provides a generous living for my wife and me through the wonderful church I pastor and through the businesses she has established.

All that to say:  IT IS GOD WHO PROVIDES.  I’m learning that it’s not so much about MY labor but about GOD’S grace.  Yea, I’ve worked hard – but at the end of the day – it is the grace of God that provides.    I deserve nothing but I receive so much.  I’m not that smart – but he provides anyway.  That’s grace.

So, have a good, safe, happy, and fun Labor Day with family and friends.

Just be mindful of and be thankful to the One from whose hand it all comes.

Peace to you.

 

Posted in Uncategorized

I have decided…

•April 20, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I’ve decided…

…to stop taking myself so seriously.  The same God who made me also made the hippo, hammerhead shark, platypus…and Larry the Cable Guy.

…to be thankful for all the incredible blessings I enjoy as I shift into fifth gear and roll back the throttle on the open road.

…to take a nap.  Jesus took naps even during extreme gale warnings.

…to turn the volume up to 11.  If I’m going to lose my hearing I might as well enjoy the process.

…to give more than I get.  I can’t keep it anyway.  God has a huge end-of-the-earth bonfire planned and all the material stuff to which I cling so tightly is going to end up as ashes…I’ll let it go now.

…to remember that this life is unpredictable.  It is best lived in a state of dangerous wonder rather than linear monotony.

…not to try to figure it all out today, and I won’t expect you to do it either.

…to make it job number one to hang on for dear life to Jesus, my family, my friends, and my mission.  Everything else goes to the back of the line.

…to follow Jesus…no turning back…no turning back.

Posted in Miscellaneous

A place for me

•April 10, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I had the privilege of reading John 14:1-7 this morning…

Jesus said:    “Do not let your hearts be trouble.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Fathers house are many rooms; if it were not so,  I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Then Thomas said:    “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Then Jesus replied:    “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus has gone to prepare a place for me and all who know (believe in) him.

It is an unearned place.  I don’t deserve to go to that place.  I deserve to go to the OTHER place.  I could never be good enough for heaven.  I am sad when I encounter people who think they can earn salvation and heaven.  I will step through the gates of heaven and onto its golden streets not because of my goodness, but because of his grace.

It is an extravagant place.  I can’t imagine what heaven will be like.  Jesus told the story of a father who threw a party for his rebellious son who had finally returned home (Luke 15).  It was an extravagant party – especially for a kid who threw away his father’s inheritance on wild living.  If an earthly father throws extravagant parties for rebellious kids, imagine what kind of party our heavenly Father is going to throw for us (and yes, I’m pretty rebellious sometimes, too).  One word – extravagant.

I’m glad that this morning Jesus reminded me that it’s not over yet.

He’s preparing a place for me.

Unearned.

Extravagant.

By grace.

For me.

Posted in Miscellaneous

When they’re coming for you…(1)

•February 19, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Some of the best stories are in the Old Testament!

In 2 Chronicles 20, there is a story about Judah’s King Jehoshaphat.  The story of King Jehoshaphat’s 25-year reign glows with his devotion to the LORD. He never once fell into the pagan religion or practices that plagued neighboring Israel, and many of Judah’s kings as well.  One of Jehoshaphat’s best moments came when his nation was under attack by an alliance of three powerful armies (vs.1).

A “vast army” was coming for Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah (vs. 2).

What was Jehoshaphat’s response?

*  He was afraid (vs. 3).  That’s natural.  Ever been afraid?

* He set his face to seek God (vs. 3)  Where do you turn in times of anxiety?  What’s your response to a threat?

* He asks God three powerful questions.  Questions that seem to be reminding God of some things and challenging God to do some things on Judah’s behalf.  Interesting…

1)  “Are you not…?  (vs.6 ) Jehoshaphat asks God whether or not he’s the God who is in heaven;  who rules over all the kingdoms; who has power and might in his hand;  the God whom no one can withstand.  God is powerful.

2)  “Did you not…?  (vs. 7) Jehoshaphat asks God about his previous powerful acts such as driving the Canaanites out of Canaan so Israel could occupy it.  In so doing, Jehoshaphat reminds God that he has worked on their behalf before – why not again?  God has shown his power in times past.

3)  “Will you not…? (vs. 12)  Jehoshaphat asks God whether or not he will show up again on Judah’s behalf and deliver them from their enemies by “judging” their enemies.  Why shouldn’t God show his power again?

Are you not…?  Did you not…?  Will you not…?  Three good questions that don’t offend God.

* He recognized his own powerlessness to fix the situation (vs. 12).  God can’t intervene for us until we have exhausted our control, manipulation, and “I-can-fix-it” attitude.

* He recognized his own ignorance about what to do (vs. 12).  God cannot intervene for us until we figure out that we can’t figure out the situation.

* He fixed his eyes on God (vs. 12).  He didn’t trust the weaponry of his army or the might of his nation or the strength of his kingship.  He focused his entire attention upon what God alone was able to do.

* He and all the people stood before the Lord…and waited (vs 13).  Standing and waiting – not my forte – but it’s often required before God will intervene on our behalf.

What or who is “coming for you” today?  What will your response be?

Posted in Prayer

Book Review: GLORIOUS RUIN: HOW SUFFERING SETS YOU FREE

•February 7, 2013 • 1 Comment

GLORIOUS RUIN:  HOW SUFFERING SETS YOU FREE  (Tullian Tchividjian, 206 pages)

Tchividjian is the grandson of Billy Graham and the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale Florida.  He writes out of his suffering in two areas:  1)  the very public divorce of his parents (yes, Billy Graham’s daughter is divorced – it happens to even the best people), and 2) the painful split of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church after he became pastor.  Tchividjian was attacked mercilessly by old-time church members there who wanted him to continue the traditions of the former pastor (and if you’ve never suffered as a pastor…well, that’s another story).  So, when he talks about suffering, he’s a reliable source – he’s been through it.

I bought the book to read because of my own personal struggles right now.  Three acquaintances of mine passed away last week.  We’re struggling through some family issues (aren’t we all at one time or another?), I’m dealing with some health problems and recently had a friend walk away from our relationship.  I needed to put suffering into perspective.   This book has been a tremendous help.

The book is broken down into three parts:  The Reality of Suffering;  Confronting Suffering;  Saved by Suffering.

The author begins by pointing out the “required cheerfulness that characterizes many of our churches produces a suffocating environment of pat, religious answers to the painful, complex questions that riddle the lives of hurting people…this culture (in churches) of mandatory happiness actually promotes dishonesty and more suffering.”   In other words, churches should deal honestly with people’s suffering rather than minimizing it and making people feel guilty for experiencing it.

Tchividjian deals at length with the Old Testament personality of Job.   He concludes that “Job lost everything.  He could not fix what happened to him, much less stop or explain it.  In fact, he could barely hold on.  Thankfully, the good news of the gospel is not an exhortation from above to ‘hang on at all costs,’ or ‘grin and bear it’ in the midst of hardship.  No, the good news it that God is hanging on to you, and in the end, when all is said and done, the power of God will triumph over every pain and loss.”

We don’t need answers about our suffering as much as we need God’s presence in our suffering.  Information about suffering is OK, but information alone does not heal a wounded heart.  Information, even information about Jesus, does little to comfort the pain of an aching soul.

Suffering is inevitable.  Suffering is serious.  Suffering isn’t always your fault.  God does not always deliver us from suffering.  Suffering reveals to us what we really worship.

In a wonderful twist, Tchividjian presents and explains the presence and work of God’s grace in our suffering.  He uses grace to explain that the world is NOT a place of investment and return = do right and right things will happen.  He explains that “before we can even begin to grapple with the frustrations and tragedies of life in this world, we must do away with our faithless morality of payback and reward.”  That, clearing away the clutter of the nefarious idea of cosmic payback is a relief to us.

Tchividjian reminds us that suffering doesn’t always end in “victory and joy”.  Not every story ends like Job’s (where everything he lost was given back – plus some).

The author reminds us that we are never closer to the Cross of Christ than when we are suffering.  The gospel is for the sufferer.  Jesus suffered…and died for the sufferer.

In one of my favorites quotes from the book, Tchividjian says, God makes us cry ‘uncle’ so that we might cry ‘abba'” (Father).

This is a great book to go to for theologically sound, grace-based, and practical help with suffering.

Posted in Book Reviews

Repentance…

•February 6, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Repentance.  In a day of feel-good, touchy-feely sermons, preaching on repentance seems awkward.  Awkward but necessary.

There’s two kinds of repentance:  1)  Initial repentance for salvation.   This repentance means realizing that you can’t save yourself and that Jesus is your only hope.  Therefore, you turn away from your self-confidence and turn toward Jesus for forgiveness, making him the Lord of your life.   This repentance assures us that Christ has forgiven us of ALL (past, present, and future) of our sins and makes us absolutely and totally acceptable to God – forever.  Period.  2)  Continued repentance for the Christian journey.  This repentance doesn’t have to do with our salvation (#1 took care of that).  This repentance is a daily process in which the Holy Spirit reveals un-Christ-like issues in our lives and nudges us to turn from them so we may look more like Christ.   This repentance has nothing to do with legalism or Law-keeping or trying “to be a better person”.  It is a work of grace that God does through us – the process of sanctification.  Repentance, here, simply allows God the continued opportunity to do his grace-work in us.

Questions:  How is your heart today?  How is your spirit?  What is the condition of your interior life?

As Christians, we continue to disobey, rebel, and sin.  The Bible describes sin as hardness, darkness, stiff-neckedness, stubbornness, rebellion, disobedience.  1 Samuel 15 even describes rebellion as the sin of witchcraft.  Sin is serious – even in the life of Christian.

The good news Jesus always invites his followers to repent and turn from their disobedience.

REPENTANCE IS THE FIRST STEP IN REPAIRING YOUR LIFE.  The rebellion and disobedience we practice has a way of breaking our lives.  For healing to take place – repentance is the first step.  Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps doesn’t repair your life.  Changing churches doesn’t repair your life.  Finding a new spouse doesn’t repair your life.  Self-improvement doesn’t repair your life.  Repentance is the first step.

REPENTANCE IS A CHANGE OF MIND THAT LEADS TO A CHANGE OF ACTION.  Both the Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible describing repentance indicate that repentance is a 1) change of mind that leads to 2) a change of action.

I offer some general areas in which you might want to consider some reparative repentance.  Let me explain where this list came from.  Several days ago, I engaged in a 24-hour period of prayer and fasting.  I’d planned to pray about our church and its direction for the year but God chose instead to do some work in my personal life.  You can see my related post entitled PRAYERFUL OBSERVATIONS.  I describe it as wonderfully excruciating.  One of the things he pointed out to me was my need of repentance in some areas of my own life.  This is the list he gave me (don’t attempt to read things into the details – that’s my business!).  However, it is somewhat of a public confession.  It was a long and arduous process – but very healing and life-restoring.  So, this is from my own experience, therefore, I’m not condemning or judging you.  It simply may be that some of the following areas may be some areas that you need to do some repenting in as well.

You and I may need to repent of…

1.  The havoc you’ve wreaked.  There are simply some Christians that wreak havoc, drama, and chaos everywhere they go.  Are you one of them?  There are businesses, communities, families, neighborhoods, and churches that suffer tremendously because of self-centered Christians who create tension and drama.

2.  The money you’ve squandered.  God places resources into our hands to steward…not to spend entirely on ourselves.

3.  The words you’ve spoken.  Consider both the quality (critical, negative, whiny, complaining) of your words and the quantity of your words (we live in a talkative generation – sometimes we just need to be quiet).

4.  The over-reactions you’ve executed.  Emotional outbursts and decisions made from emotions are usually unhealthy and often disrupt other people’s lives and plans.  Are you driven by emotions (even emotions that seem good at the time)?  What damage has it done?

5.  The people you’ve hurt.  What kind of pain have you brought to others with your words, actions, attitudes.  Are you willing to ask for forgiveness?  For many of us the most spiritual thing we could do today is call someone (perhaps a relative, co-worker, fellow church member, pastor, spouse, son or daughter, mom or dad) whom we’ve hurt deeply and apologize to them.

Perhaps your refusal to repent and make some things right is the reason you feel so bound-up, inhibited, and joyless.

The good news?  God knows our weaknesses and loves us anyway.  God is supremely patient with us.  God invites us to come to him in confession and repentance.  God longs to restore us and allow us to move on in joy and victory.

Posted in Repentance

Prayerful observations…

•January 16, 2013 • 1 Comment

Returned last night from a 24-hour period of fasting and prayer.  Thought I was going to pray mostly about our church but God made it mostly about me (hate it when that happens!).  I can only describe it as wonderfully excruciating.

Just wanted to share a few of the things God impressed on my heart.  Again, these are things he meant for me but you might can connect to a few as well…

A.  God forced me to probe the depths of my personal selfishness – it wasn’t pretty.

B.  In addition to A (above), God reminded me that facing the truth about myself is probably the most difficult and painful thing I will do in my life.

C.  However, in addition to B (above), God knows my truth about me (my selfishness, bad decisions, sins, errors in judgment, hang-ups, issues, idiosyncracies, weirdness, etc.) and he can handle it.  Perhaps other people can’t handle it – but HE CAN.

D.  God re-established in my thinking that I have absolutely NO excuse for my disobedience – none whatsoever.  The good news is that the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross is the propitiation (covering) for my sin.

E.  God reminded me that what’s done is done and its in the past.  His plan for me is in the future.  Right here at the beginning of a New Year and having just turned 50 (with 50 years of a lot of goof-ups behind me), that is GOOD NEWS.

F.  God reminded me that salvation is not just about HEAVEN, it’s about spiritual HEALTH on the way to heaven.  That’s why Bible study, church, prayer, generosity, solitude, self-examination, etc. are so important.

Just some things he impressed on my spirit these last few hours.  Maybe something in there for you as well.

Grace to you.

 

Posted in Miscellaneous

Loving what Jesus loves

•January 14, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Jesus Loves the Little Children.  Jesus Loves Me.  The Love of God.  Remember these songs from church?  They are all true.  Jesus loves us.

There’s another thing Jesus loves – his church.  In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says he came to build a church and he sealed the deal with his death at the Cross.

Some of you back away from that.  You only want to think about Jesus loving you, you, you.  The church? Not so much.  Especially when it comes to your participation in it. Maybe it’s not all about you as an individual. Jesus has a thing for his collective church, too.

Disclaimer:  I’m NOT saying you have to go to church to be a Christian.  Not at all.  But why wouldn’t a Christian not want to attend, support, pray for, and give to the church for which Jesus died?  A Christ-follower that doesn’t flesh-out his followship through a local church?  There’s something just not right about that.

I understand why non-Christian outsiders often loathe the church – sometimes our actions deserve their contempt.  What I don’t understand is why Christian insiders ignore the church.

Attendance and participation in churches in America (a Christian nation?) has reached an all-time low.   Data-gatherers now define a “regular church attender” as someone who attends church once a month!  Really?  The Southern Baptist Convention boasts a church membership roll of over 16.2 million people. But on any given weekend only about 6.1 million are in a worship service.  (I’m not picking on the SBC.  It’s much worse in some other denominations.)

Proof of Jesus’ love for his church?

A.  He died for it.

B.  He calls it his Bride.  Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church & gave himself for it.”  See also Revelation 19:7, 21:2, 9-10.  I wonder what Jesus thinks when we treat his Bride so shabbily?

C.  He calls it his Body.  1 Corinthians 12:26 says,  “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts;  and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”  I wonder what he thinks when the individual parts don’t plug-in and function as he has designed them to do?

D.  He calls it his Building. Ephesians  2:21-22 says, “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being             built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”  I wonder what Jesus thinks when parts of the building refuse to be joined together?

Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- & all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The church of Jesus Christ is often messy, sometimes chaotic, frequently unprofessional,  usually uncontrollable, often hypocritical, sometimes judgmental, frequently selfish, usually trying to figure it out as we go along.  The church is filled with sinful human beings.

But it is STILL the Bride, the Body, and the Building of Jesus Christ.  And it is beautiful.

And if you claim to be a Christ-follower, you should support it.

Period.

Grace to you.

Posted in Church

Steadfast Love … Abundant Mercy.

•January 7, 2013 • 1 Comment

After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, was confronted by the prophet, Nathan, and convicted of his disobedience by the Holy Spirit, he prayed a prayer of repentance that is recorded in Psalm 51.  He begins verse one with…

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Notice that David appeals not to his own goodness or good works for God’s forgiveness, but to the love and mercy of God.  David appealed to who God is … not who David is.  David appeals to what only God can do … not to what David can do.

David makes this clear in verses 16 and 17 …

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

David is clear that the forgiveness of sin that he seeks is found only in God’s love and mercy – not in anything David can DO to attain it.  There you have it – grace in the Old Testament.

And nothing has changed.  When I come to Jesus, I come to him making my appeal based on who HE is and what HE has done – not on who I am and what I have done.  It’s called grace – and it rocks .

Today, this year, live in – enjoy – soak up – wallow in Jesus’ steadfast love and abundant mercy.  Make your appeal to him based on who HE is – not who YOU are;  not on what YOU do, but on what HE has done.

Grace to you.

Posted in Grace

Connecticut…A powerful silence

•December 16, 2012 • Leave a Comment

I will simply borrow the words of another…

A Powerful Silence

I don’t want to hear any more news today.

I don’t want to hear the opposing sides shouting self-righteously about how armed teachers could have saved those children or how gun control could have prevented this all from happening in the first place.

I don’t want to hear the names they’re calling the shooter, like “evil” and “coward”.

I don’t want to hear about innocence and unfathomable grief and holiday presents that will never be opened because my heart just can’t bear that right now.

I don’t want to hear Wolf Blitzer on CNN saying things like, “It may be maudlin to say, but just imagine how tragic it will be when we start seeing the actual images of the children’s bodies.”

I don’t want to hear timelines, recorded police calls, press conferences, crime experts, or the President.I don’t want to hear reporters eagerly clamoring to confirm whether the death toll is rising, how many are children, whether it’s 27 or 28 dead now, whether this will be “possibly the 3rd, or POSSIBLY the 2nd worst mass shooting in our nation’s history”.

I don’t want to hear about what kind of gun he used or how many rounds he shot or how many bullets the clips could hold.

I don’t want to hear about children huddled in locked bathrooms or being told to hold hands and close their eyes while being led from bloody classrooms.

I don’t want to hear any of it anymore.

All I want to hear right now is the sacred silence of our souls in prayer, in contemplation, meditation, reflection, seeking salvation, seeking compassion, holding tight to a love more powerful by far than what happened today.

It is only from this silent place that change will come and this madness will end.

No shouting.  No demonizing.  No politicizing.

Silence.

(This article can be found at http://onlybiggerthinking.com/2012/12/14/a-powerful-silence/)

Posted in Miscellaneous

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