heartist

A prayer for the home stretch...

2012-03-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Jesus...

"As I come to the last three weeks of reading the New Covenant and the dreams you lay forth for your church, let me not grow weary. Show me surprising things. Make mundane things sparkle. Cause predictable punchlines to hit a funny bone and worn out verses to put goosebumps on the gospel. I know you're not tiring of my interaction with you, may I not fall asleep on you. Watch and Pray. That is what I hear you saying to me and to our body. I'm saying to you today that I don't intend to. If anything, I want these final weeks of reading the New Testament to be the best of days. I've been pacing myself, but I want to sprint to the finish line. Help me to make good on my promise."

Amen.

Grace - "Breakfast instead of a Beatdown" - Mark - pages 328-337

2012-03-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

As I was reading the account of Peter's denial today in Mark for my daily reading, I was again struck with the beautiful, scandalous, relentless grace of Jesus. He is, as John Eldredge stated in his recent book, "The Beautiful Outlaw".

Many people believe that Peter was the source of authorship and that John Mark is simply communicating Peter's account of Christ's life. That seems very possible, even probable.

I wanted to take a little journey into the story of Peter's denial and all that surrounded it ultimately trying to reach the story of his reinstatement into ministry and the juicy little details surrounding the context of that incredible snapshot in the life of Jesus and the life of Peter. Mark tells a small little freeze frame of this story, but there are several frames in this reel that need expositing to get the whole story. In order to do that...let me move over from John Mark's to John's account.

Let's approach scripture with the curious mind of achild and pray that God allows us to see something “again for the firsttime” as it relates Jesus' graceful approach to “human beings who act like humanbeings”.

John 21:1-17 - 1Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. Ithappened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas(called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and twoother disciples were together.

3“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go withyou.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

3 years of Jesus’ investment and it took 3 daysfor them to go back to their old way of life. It took 3 days to erase 3 years.

Doesn’t it feel like that sometime, like it takes3 seconds to undo 3 minutes, or 3 minutes to undo 3 hours, or 3 hours to undothree days, or three days to undo 3 years, or 3 years to undo 3 decades?

The Mathematics of this passage would indicatethat it is 365x’s easier to fall away than it is to grow and stay.

John 21 - 4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did notrealize that it was Jesus. 5He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,”they answered.

6He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large numberof fish.

7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon asSimon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garmentaround him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

8The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for theywere not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, andsome bread. 10 Jesus said to them,“Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

Grace defined – “Instead of aBeatdown, you get Breakfast”

…but this was not the firsttime something like this happened…

Luke 5:4-11 - 4When he [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deepwater, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caughtanything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their netsbegan to break. 7 So they signaledtheir partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came andfilled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me,Lord; I am a sinful man!”

10 ThenJesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Doyou suppose that Peter’s expectation of Jesus’ reaction was all the more fullof fear the second go around? Ido.

It’sone thing when someone does something to you or something horrible happens toyou, but I feel so much more condemnation and guilt and shame when “Ihave no one to blame but myself”.

“Idid this to myself”.

“Iget myself into this mess.”

“Ideserve to be here.”

“Idon’t deserve mercy this time.”

Ican’t tell you how many people don’t come back to church because they “have noone to blame but themselves” for the predicament they’re in.

“Go away from me, Lord. I am a failure!” is the cry of so many who live in a world of guilt,shame and self-condemnation.

Butthe Lord replies in the beginning with Peter with “Do not be afraid.” And Hisreply in the end with Peter is “Come and have breakfast.”

John 21 - 11Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of largefish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared askhim, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

13Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.14 This was now thethird time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Why is it so difficult for us to trust in God’s love? Why does he need to keep coming backfor us showing up and showing us grace? (three times he showed himself to them)

John 21 - 15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John,do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed mylambs.”

16Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”

Heanswered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesussaid, “Take care of my sheep.”

17The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked himthe third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you knowthat I love you.” Jesus said,“Feed my sheep.

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Check out this list of 3's in this storyline of grace...

3 years of God’s love,

3 denials of that investment of love,

3 days to fall away and go back to oldlife,

3 encounters of relentless grace,

3 invitations to back to love.

Why do failure, weakness andfalling end up being used powerfully by God in the aftermath to position aperson for Kingdom-influence?

A man that is fullyundone by this process of sanctification has these 6 powerfulinfluential ingredients, better known as the “behavior of Heaven”.

1. Humble

2. Hungry

3. Holy

4. Humorous

5. Human

6. Humane

And this is the hope we hold out…that when we are expecting a beatdownHe makes us breakfast. And everytime we experience this grace, it should increasingly take off the “scales”that cover us all so that we can touch other people with the same grace we’vebeen touched with.

Thank you God for your grace. Thanks for making us breakfast.

Jesus was relaxed. Why ain't I? - Mark - 319-328

2012-03-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

A while back Mark Batterson wrote a book called “In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day”. The title is taken from a story in 2 Samuel 23 about a man named Benaiah. Instead of trying to retell the story in my own words allow me to quote the passage starting with verse 20:

20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors. 23 He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

We love stories like this, don’t we? Chuck full of vim, vigor and valor. Dripping with drama. Movie-worthy exploits. Front-page news. These are the books that sell quite frankly. Books that appeal to the “inner hero” stirring up the romantic ideals and best-case scenarios that latently pulsate in the underworld of our soul day in and day out.

We all want to think we would descend into a pit on a snowy day and kill a lion with our bare hands. Going to a hard place under inclement conditions to perform an impossible feat of strength…who doesn’t want to live that story? So we buy these books hoping to learn some secret that will turn us into “Benaiah” or “Jabez” or “John-Doe-Secret-Bible-Hero”. These books sell, especially with catchy titles that point toward adventure, success and heroism.

But I want to write a book with a different slant:

“Sleeping on a pillow in a boat on a stormy day.”

Somehow it doesn’t have the ring that Mark’s book possesses…the sexy curb appeal. But alas, this would be my contribution to libraries across the land.

By now, your mind has probably already located the passage of Scripture where this title derives its context. It speaks of a time in Jesus ministry that I can’t stop thinking about lately. It is one of Jesus’ highlight ministry moments, in my opinion, though it looks like one of his lowlight moments where he is exposed as a lazy lard of a leader.

The story that I'm talking about is found in Mark 4 (part of the Biblica reading today)…check this out…

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

I’m not sure why this story grips me so, but there something here that penetrates to my core. I think it’s the ability of Jesus to rest, to be at peace, to sleep so soundly in the midst of chaos, to pull away from the forefront and head below.

We are taught as leaders to be at the helm, and here Jesus is in the stern. We are taught to lead in the storm, and Jesus sleeps in the storm.

Picturing Jesus sleeping on a cushion calms me.

It doesn’t sell books quite like killing a lion in a pit on a snowy day, but I wonder if there isn’t more to leadership than savage feats of strength under inordinate amounts of stress produced in life or death situations. In my mind, life or death situations don’t always present themselves in the form we are looking for or feeling for. They often are found in the stern, below the deck, out of the panoramic gaze of panning cameras.

The best leaders understand the power of the pillow.

They get rest and relaxation. The can say, “Peace, be still!” to life around them because they know how to live in that place themselves. You can’t have a peaceful effect on life around you when you’re wound up tighter than a snare drum living a life of frenetic and manic energy. All you can speak to the waves is something like, “Hey, I know I have no right to tell you to calm down being that I’m the most non-calm person on the planet, and I know I can’t tell the driven wind to subside from the hyper-driven place I live from, and I sure as heck-fire can’t whisper a storm into submission when my life is nothing but a stormy quall itself, but can you please, pretty please, stop and be still?”

“Sleeping on a pillow in a boat on a stormy day.”

This is the kind of book I would write today ‘cause this is the kind of leader I want to be. I want to know when to be intense, and then I want to know how to out-rest the best of ‘em. I want to know when to live with unbridled passion at the helm and then to live with shameless relaxation in the stern. And even when the boat is about to capsize, I want to sleep like a baby knowing God is in control. I want to lead people in such a way that makes them restful and peaceful.

So, look on the bookshelf for this new release in the coming years. In a world where normal doesn’t really sell anymore, I hope to pitch a different story. And maybe this is what makes the life of Jesus so compelling…how normal he was.

Make me a normal leader, God.

Putting on the moves - James - pages 311-318

2012-03-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." - James 4

What a reminder. What a powerful notion. That when we move toward him, he will respond in kind. That we must move first, because he wants our want. It says in John that we love Him because He first loved us. But here it says that He moves toward us when we first move toward Him. It's highly relational, isn't it? It's a give and take. It's a reciprocal relationship. Back and Forth. Him first, then us. Us first, then him. If we abide in Him, He will abide in us. While we were yet in sin, Christ died for us.

Which is it? Maybe it's both/and.

God, will you keep reminding me of this?

Remind me of your presence today, Lord...it's hereness, it's nowness.
Remind me of people's potential.
Remind me of this world's good facets.
Remind me that I'm not alone in this redemptive movement.
Remind me that I'm not all that.
Remind me that I can make a difference if only I'll surrender to your stirrings.
Remind me to cling to what is important.
Remind me that fall speaks of the beauty of dying.
Remind me that I don't have to be right.
Remind me that the future shouldn't distract me from the present.
Remind me that I can change even if I think it's just the way I am.
Remind me that I'm weak without your empowerment.
Remind me that I need to confess my sins daily.
Remind me to inject a vaccine of goodness into this day.
Remind me to remind others of hope.
Remind me that people are the only thing carrying over to the afterlife.
Remind me that You aren't uptight.
Remind me that Jesus died for my shame, not just my sins. (Heb. 12:2)
Remind me that memorizing Scripture isn't negotiable.
Remind me that friendship is worth fighting for.
Remind me that without faith it is impossible to please You. (Heb 11)
Remind me to stay vulnerable and transperant with others.
Remind me to be humble with what I know and hungry for what I don't.
Remind me to love my family with a passion.
Remind me to breathe deeply each morning inhaling your optimism.
Remind me to give thanks in everything and to rejoice in the You always. (note: Scriptural)
Remind me to trust you with the little things.
Remind me that you don't need me to get the job done.
Remind me that you do want me to get the job done.
Remind me of these things...

And as you remind me of all of this...help me to draw nigh to you. And as I pull up next to you, move toward your good heart, would you do me a favor? Would you come close to me as well?

What a reminder.

Refreshers & Defreshers - Hebrews - pages 301-309

2012-03-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. - Hebrews 10:24-25

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I wrote this hypothetical piece to stir up a spirit of refreshment in the body of Christ:

How do you influence the environments you find yourself in? What impact are you making on those around you? What "attitude aroma" permeates the air when you come onto the scene? Are you an energy-taker or an energy-giver? Do you drain people and pain people when you press into their lives? Are you a source of encouragement or discouragement to those who know you best and love you most? Do you breathe life or death into relationships? Are you characterized as a sponge or a fountain? Do you repel people or attract people?....The real question is...Do you care?

None of these questions mean anything to the apathetic heart.

Defreshers:These are the ones who spread the fragrance of self wherever they go. They talk about themselves often and spread strife and negativism. They have answers for everything and everyone. They offer little encouragement and need gobs of attention. They vacuum up every morsel of energy they can and leave when they've used you and abused you. They don't listen and rarely hear. They are preoccupied with their business and could care less about anything outside the realm of their needs and wants. They come to get, never to give. They are alive to leach and to teach, not to learn and listen. They have trouble with their attention span and get bored easily. They never say thank you, even if someone bends over backwards to minister to their needs. They don't take advice or suggestions, they never ask for other's wisdom. They propogate rumors and broadcast other people's dirty laundry. They can't stand silence so they fill the air with loud, thoughtless, crude, rude, lude, shrewd comments in attempts to divert attention from their shallow immaturity. They shirk depth in conversations and gravitate to talking about humorous and irrelevant details rather than personal issues of the heart. They hardly ever build up, but are eager to tear down. They find themselves jealous when someone else succeeds, but are quick to remind people of their success. They are always one-up on every story or experience you share. They live in denial of their deviant and deceitful tendencies and ignore the advice of others to grow in their areas of weakness. IN ONE WORD...THEY'RE SELFISH!

Refreshers:
These are the people who often times are taken for granted but are missed deeply when they are missing. They smile often and laugh hard. They love it when you share things with them that made your day and glory in your successes. They share openly about their weaknesses and always ask your opinion when faced with a dilemna. They respond with a nodding head and a soft answer. They appreciate the slightest charity and feel wierd getting credit for their contributions. They are sheepish to be recognized and sluggish to step out for praise and admiration. They have a quite power about them almost like they know something you don't about life. They carry with them a level of moral authority, without demanding it, because of their quite character and consistent conduct. They openly admit failure and frustrations and never claim to have a corner on the truth. They accept criticism with teachable respect and encourage suggestions if someone may have a better way of doing something. They listen far more than they talk and they pick you up when you feel weak and weary. They seek to understand rather than to be understood. They are always asking questions and listening with rivoted attention to your answers. They don't cut you off when you're sharing and they probe deeper if they feel you desire to share your heart. The long to give rather than recieve and offer themselves selflessly and sacrificially to whatever cause is neediest at the moment. They resist applause and popularity fearing it may distort motivations and pollute purposes. They don't wear out their welcome and are discretionate about when to talk and how much. They don't interrupt you when you're occupied in another converstaion and they don't blame you if you can't drop everything for their every whimsical want. They don't hold grudges and are quick to forgive grievances. They promote positive thinking and don't dwell on the pessimistic side of things. They change the atmosphere that they touch and don't find comfort in blending into the existing scenery. They live out their dreams of what the conversation or situation could be rather than settling for what is status quo and culturally expected. They are full of hugs, hand shakes and high fives. They kill people with kindness and live out of the overflow of their Spirit-filled heart. They long to leave a place better than they found it. They are priceless and precious...they are above all loved by all who know them. IN ONE WORD...THEY ARE GODISH!

So what kind of individual do you see yourself representing most...the defresher who dries up the already parched soil of relationships, or the refresher eager to pour the water of life on everyone you come into contact with?

Memorizing Culture, not just Scripture. - Hebrews - Page 291-301

2012-03-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

“Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

“Thyworld have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against it.”

We are reading Hebrews this week as a church and there's not way to read this beautiful book without running into one of the greatest verses on the power of the Word of God...

"For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." - Hebrews 4

We don't just read it, it reads us.

But that's not what I want to focus on in this bit of writing. I've been thinking about the Words we read in the Bible and how powerful they are. But there is more going on than just a collection of words. There are worlds being interacted with. Everybody is a world unto themselves. Every place has a world all its own. Every author is talking to an audience. They are coming from a world and speaking to a world. You can't dismiss this without gutting the gospel. I've known this, but only in the last couple years have I seen all that I missed when I overlooked the culture behind the Scripture. The culture and the Scripture must both be held highly and delicately.

What good is it to interpret Scripture ifyou misinterpret culture? You havethe right words set in the wrong world. Background, context, storyline, timeline, characters and culture matteras much as the words penned to explain them. You can’t have rich theology without rich history.

We live in a Christian society that rewardsincompetence and illiteracy. Wemarket positive, family-friendly phrases. “Call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved.” There you have it, the one stopshopping network. It isaccessible, memorable, and pleasurable. “I’ll take it! Now how much do I owe you?” This cheap theology gets distributed in bulk. Most of the time, people don’t care whatsomething really means, they just want to suck on a pacifier.

But equally as important as what God saidis where he said it and to whom he said it to. You can’t accurately represent someone if you don’ttake those facts and facets into consideration. You can’t airbrush your own backdrop and handpick your owncharacters. No one has thatfreedom when it comes to the Bible. If you’re looking for a fictitious novel that invites your imaginativetampering, then hit the bookstore and find a New York Times bestseller. But leave the Scripture to speak foritself; it needs no facelift, it needs no editor. If you desire something more, go further in, not furtherout.

Even the word interpretation gives us toomuch room to make the improvements we deem necessary. “They won’t understand unless I rework this and rewordthat.” Language is lost. Settings are sterilized. Rome is traded for Raleigh. Jerusalem looks like Jacksonville. Palestine feels every bit like Pennsylvania. Aramaic turns into American. The Middle East takes on a Mid Westernfeel. What we call interpretationmany times is nothing less than bible butchering. Words lose their meaning when they are ripped out of contextand sold to the highest bidder.

Too often we have befriended the text andoffended the context. We have mademuch of Scripture and very little of culture. We have embraced the modern and replaced the ancient. In our search for a truth that’stimeless, we have settled for a truth that’s worthless. The one-size-fits-all approach tostudying the Scriptures leaves a good many wanting. It’s not that it doesn’t make sense; it makes too much sense. It’s not that it doesn’t connect, it’sthat it connects too well. It’snot that it is too difficult, it’s that it’s not as difficult as it shouldbe. Convenience never leads us tothe truth and almost always to corruption. Yes, our faith has found a resting place, but it is justthat rest that is starting to unnerve me. I think the hymn would be better phrased, “My faith has found arestlessness.”

So as we attempt to build bridges from TheMiddle East to the East Coast, let us not forget that we do our fellow man nofavor by memorizing Scripture and trivializing culture. When we avoid culture, we start cults.

And as we recognize this, the Word of God comes to life, cuts like a double-edged sword. The sword of culture and scripture. The two edges are a powerful weapon in the hand of God.

Code Orange...Saranac Campus Launch!!!

2012-03-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

And so it begins.

One church in Two locations.

It's been done before by others, but not us. This is a first and I hope it's not the last.

We are launching another campus in Saranac, home of the few, the proud, the brave. A town on the Grand River poised to shock the region. A sleeper. A diamond in the rough.

On the surface it looks like any other little village. Quiet, slow-paced, and simple. There isn't a stop light, only a couple 4 ways stops. It's got some Ma and Pa restaurants, the Middle School was merged into the High School building recently to save money, there is an ice-cream shop, a pizza shop or two, a Dollar General, a couple gas stations, several longstanding churches, city blocks with homes packed together like sardines, a dentist office, some historic buildings, an old downtown, and a couple bar and grills. Like I said, on the surface, a regular small-town vibe.

But I've learned something about this little humble village. There are tons of hungry hearts wanting to "kill it" in this town! They are dying for deep life and longing to pour their hearts into the local community. They love their town, but they love their Jesus even more. And it's this braiding of loves that I believe is going to generate a move of God that shocks the local landscape. Something volcanic is churning in the underworld...just you wait, it's going to blow your mind when you see "her" explode. Spilling over with love-lave, spreading ashes of affection for miles around. It's called Code Orange.

Along with our other 8 church plants, the Saranac Campus is part of an audacious vision to spread the love of Jesus into the outlying metro communities all over Grand Rapids, the state of Michigan and beyond. We want to "become flesh and dwell among the people". Incarnational community. It's easy to be relevant, but the idea of dwelling where people live makes us present. Presence is the essence of the gospel. The Word...becomes...flesh...and dwells...among...us. This is the Incarnational gospel. A movement toward humanity. We can do this. This wasn't just a Jesus-thing. He wants us to "become our surrounding and dwell 'with' people".

And this is the ultimate purpose of the Impact-Saranac expression...to go to where the people live. To not ask the world to go to church, but to ask the church to go to the world.

My heart is beginning to pray for Impact, both Lowell and Saranac Campuses, that God would go before us. That he would come before us. It is about Him. Him being felt. Him being seen. Him being know. If this is just a human feat of strength or a show of human ingenuity, it will fail. But if it is from God, it will be unstoppable. (Acts 5) We believe this is from God and we know it is for God.

Join me in prayer as we take the gospel to the doorsteps of his Beloved Creation in Saranac.

I love this humble little abode. The people. The place. The presence.

Producing isn't as important as reproducing - Matthew - pages 289-290

2012-03-02T08:46:00.002-08:00

Let me start with a random thought...the movie: "Pay it Forward"

Pay It Forward is onethose movies that leaves a lot of residue.

When it's over, thesetting and dialogue may drift from memory, but the core, the soul of the filmlingers.

The storyline, basedon the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde, is so simple and downright good that atfirst even the title boggles the mind. Ads for the movie explain, "Whensomeone does you a big favor, don't pay it back, pay it forward."

Such ideas expand theexpectations of goodwill. Most times, "big favors" encourage"big paybacks." Appreciation requires reciprocity. Give and ye shallreceive.

But Hyde's idea, andthe one that premieres in the screenplay written by Leslie Dixon says thatinstead of paying a person back for a favor, you "pay it forward" anddo something for three other people that they can't do for themselves. Thosethree people in turn continue the cycle of altruism.

Some say the story,which showcases the talent of intense performers Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt andHaley Joel Osment, teeters too close to the edge of sentimentality and syrupysocial consciousness. They criticize the story's structure, the jumbledsequence, the startling ending.

But that is not what mostmoviegoers will remember.

What lingers, in theway that mist does after a rain is the idea of extending one's blessings intothe universe, three by three by three…the power of multiplying one’s lifebeyond one’s self.

…the power ofmultiplying one’s life beyond one’s self

I love Latin...that is to say, I love studying etymology and am intrigued with dead language. One of the Latin phrases that has always gripped me is...

non nobis solum nati sumus - "not unto ourselves alone are we born"

…the power ofmultiplying one’s life beyond one’s self

Oneof the quotes in the movie that struck me afresh that has become one of themost popular expressions of frustration in our culture is the phrase…

"Everythingsucks"

…that sucks…you suck.

--Wheredid this phrase come from do you suppose? Maybe, just maybe, it’s too often so true…most things don’t gush…theysuck. They suck you dry, suck outyour vigor, suck out your energy. What if most things don’t produce, but reduce? hmmm?

There’s more Reaping than Sowing

More Infection than Affection

More Defreshers than Refreshers.

More Sterility than Fertility

Latin phrase that speaks of God’s desirefor multiplication…

ubertas et fidelitas - "Fertility and Faithfulness"

Matthew 25

The Parable ofthe Talents

14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, whocalled his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 Toone he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another onetalent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once andput his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also,the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But theman who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hidhis master's money.

19 "After a long time the master of those servantsreturned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man whohad received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'youentrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithfulservant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge ofmany things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 22 "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' hesaid, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

23"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithfulservant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge ofmany things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 24"Then the man who had received the one talent came.'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you havenot sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

25 SoI was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is whatbelongs to you.' 26 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So youknew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scatteredseed? 27Well then, you should have put my money ondeposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it backwith interest.

28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one whohas the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will begiven more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what hehas will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthlessservant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing ofteeth.'

But the man who had received the one talent went off,

dug a hole in the ground

and hid his master's money.

Three steps to ineffective living…

He went off (seclusion & isolation)
He dug a hole (sideways energy)
He hid his talent (selfishness & safety)

The Christian ideal has not been found tried and foundwanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. -- GK Chesterton

Core thought: Reproduction.

“Give a man a fish; you feed him fora day. Teach a man to fish; and you feed him for a lifetime”—Authorunknown

Other renderings…

“Give a man a fish; you feed him fora day…teach a man to fish and he’ll sit in a boat drinking beer all day long.”

“Build a man a fire, and he’s warmfor a day…set a man on fire, and he’s warm for the rest of his life.”

2Timothy 2:2 –

“Whatyou have received teach to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

"Disciples be damned. It's only the masters

that matter. Those who create."
- Pablo Picasso

But Jesus felt so differently than Picasso…Heheart was…

“Disciplesbe made! It’s only the multipliers

thatmatter. Those who procreate.”

–Jesus’ heartbeat.

Multiplication is really Influence.

Etymology of Influence:

Middle English, from Old French, fromMedieval Latin influenti. Date: 14th century

It's where we get the word "Influenza" – “The Flu”

How contagious are you? What virus are you sneezing so others can catch it?

The bible uses the analogy “ofclouds without rain” to describe a sterile and unproductive life.

Because it is not only importantthat we are creative…but that we are procreative.

It’s not just important that weare producers…but reproducers.

Proverbs25:14
Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts ofgifts he does not give.

Jude1:12
These men (false prophets/professing Christians) are blemishes at your lovefeasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feedonly themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown alongby the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

How contagious are you? What kind of influence do you have on others? What are you doing with yourtalents? Who are you affecting thesedays and how are you affecting them? Is your life reproducing life? Are you Paying it forward?

___________________________

He isgreatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of hisown. - Henry WardBeecher (1813-1887)

God, make me a procreator, not just a creator.

God, make me a reproducer, not just a producer.

The Social Gospel...what is it if it doesn't get social? - Matthew - pages 180-185

2012-03-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

The reading today stirred up an old "derogatory" phrase I used to hear in my church growing up. "The social gospel" It was spoken of as some cheap and liberal version of the real gospel. Anathema...Accursed! I understand the danger of the ditch on either side of the road, but as I've read the Scriptures, I can't see how you could read them without picking up on Jesus' heart for social justice and humanitarian compassion.

Based on the verse in Matthew 25 today, I spun off and grabbed a few more verses that provided some fundamental tweaksthat need to be made with what I call anti-social Christianity:

1. Christianity isn’t just about going to church to find Jesus, it’s also about looking for and finding him in the hurting world.

**Matthew 25:34-40 - “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
The Church building is the place you go on the weekend to find out what Jesus looks like so you can spot Him throughout the week.

2. Christianity isn’t just about a weekend service, it’s aweekday movement.
**Isaiah 58:5-8 - 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,  only a day for aman to humble himself?  Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed  and forlying on sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast,  a day acceptableto the Lord?  

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:  to loosethe chains of injustice  and untie the cords of the yoke,  to set the oppressedfree  and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry  and toprovide the poor wanderer with shelter—  when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,  and yourhealing will quickly appear;  then your righteousness will go before you,  andthe glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

“A [so called] Christian is a man who feelsrepentance on Sunday for what he did on Saturday and is going to do on Monday.” – Thomas Ybarra

3. Christianity isn’t just about a personal holiness, it’s aboutsocial wholeness.

**James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure andfaultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and tokeep oneself from being polluted by the world.

4. Christianity isn’t just about right doctrine, it’s aboutright action.

**Galatians 2:9-10 - James, Peter and John, those reputed to bepillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognizedthe grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and theyto the Jews. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember thepoor, the very thing I was eager to do.

5. Christianity isn’t just about meeting spiritual needs, it’sabout meeting physical needs.

**I John 3:16-18 - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christlaid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.17 Ifanyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity onhim, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with wordsor tongue but with actions and in truth.

_____________________________________

When you go to church you encounter the body of Christ, but when you go to the world, you encounter the face of Christ.

Lord, I want to see your face today.

A Movement vs. A Settlement - Matthew - pages 272-280

2012-02-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Matthew 11:12 (New International Version)

12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

I want to be a part of a movement, not a settlement.

A movement looks toward the future.
A settlement lives in the past.
A movement constantly changes location.
A settlement constantly changes the furniture of its location.
A movement doesn't wait until things are perfect.
A settlement doesn't move until things are perfect.
A movement needs people to keep moving.
A settlement needs policies to keep from moving.
A movement assumes failure as the cost of trying.
A settlement avoids failure at all costs.
A movement refuses to settle down.
A settlement refuses to move out.

Since the days of John the Baptist until NOW, the kingdom of God is on the move. I made up this German word, "gödizmüvin", a while back. I've come to learn that this belief is a driving force in what keeps me moving. I'm not a part of a faith that is static and stationary. A mark of maturity is not settling down, slowing down or simmering down. Anyone who grafts themself into the kingdom has heard the voice of God a time or two say, "Lead, Follow, or get out of the way." The kingdom is forcefully advancing, and only those who are forceful enough to grab it and hang on get to ride this freight train.

I have a deep burden for the bride of Christ. I ache for the unchurched, but quite honestly I'm even more broken for the mischurched. By that I mean those who have attended church their whole life and haven't the foggiest clue what in the world they are a part of. I feel like they have more hurdles to get over to encounter the living God. They work feverishly to get to the point where they are faithful (same time, same place, same person). "You can count on me! I won't let you down!" They pride themselves in being an immovable fixture in the church. They do whatever they must to tame their wild urges, calm their deepest desires, and curb their pesky dreams. They are godly because they never rock the boat, speak out of turn or disturb the peace. But to me, faithful doesn't translate into immovable. Faithful means stepping out against popular opinion. Faith is more closely associated with Risk. Faith doesn't always have the insurance of assurance...it moves forward without the gaurantee of anything but God's presence along the way.

I'm glad the kingdom of God is moving ahead forcefully. I love being a part of something that is advancing. You can almost hear God saying, "Stay on your toes, people. This is no place for nailbiters." We are invited into something that is already going...with or without us I might add. We don't get it going, we only jump on and hang on for dear life. The stamina of the kingdom of God has pulled it through some difficult seasons throughout history. It is the unstoppable force as Erwin McManus calls it. It is the undaunted movement of a sweating mob trying to keep up with God.

I serve a God who has been advancing like a Rhyno since John the Baptist had his head lopped off...and I only see him picking up speed as his coming draws near. If you're looking to settle down, check out your local retirement home. If you're looking for a speed induced nose bleed, I think I just saw the kingdom race by at the speed of God. That's faster than the speed of light for you scientists. I'll catch you at the end of this wild ride.

We need a name change - Matthew - pages 265-272

2012-02-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

We must be a people who breathe new names over people with our words and lives. We treat people the way we see people. It’s not about going up to someone and giving them a new name, it’s about bestowing the very opposite thing that the world has been telling them about themselves in the name of Christ.

Bestowing new names

I've always loved how God came into people's lives and gave them name changes. When I was reading Jesus' interaction with Peter..."You are Peter...and on this rock I will build my church." That's like my dad coming up to me and saying, "You are Jason." That is who you are. In case you forgot. In case you are gravitating back to your old name, Cephas. Your old identity.

If my father, Charles Frank Holdridge, spoke into me, Jason Matthew Holdridge, and said, "You are Jason." You are my son and your name means Healer. It would be like God saying to me:

"Your name is Jason, and on your Healing I will build my church."

God was always speaking new names over people...reversing curses...

“No longer will they call you Deserted,

Or name your land Desolate.

But you will be called Hephzibah,

And you land Beulah.” -Isaiah 62:4

He takes the names of embarrassment:

Deserted – abandoned, alone, rejected.
Desolate – worthless, boring, stupid

And comes in and breathes in a brand new identity:

Hephzibah – desirable, attractive, lovely
Beulah – married, befriended, connected

Lookat some other name changes in the Bible:

1. Jacob the Deceiver becomes…Israel the One whoOvercomes. (Genesis32:28)

2. Saul the Church-Hater becomes… Paul the Church Lover. (Acts13:9)

3. Abram the exalted father of few becomes…Abraham the father amany nations. (Genesis17:5-8)

4. Gideon the Wheat Thresher becomes…Gideon the MightyWarrior. (Judges6:11-12)

I'm sure there are more...he did it with people and people groups. And I think there is something powerful that happens in this exchange.

I hope I can do this for people who are trapped in a "shame name". Giving people "new names" is part of the redemption process.

A two-by-two relationship with God - Matthew - pages 259-265

2012-02-28T03:36:00.000-08:00

Our relationship with Godwas never meant to be one on one, it was supposed to be two by two.

Let me explain.

There was a Rabbi/TalmidRelationship in Jewish Culture that had gone on for years. Jesus didn'tstart it, he adhered to this cultural norm within the Jewish society. Itis at the heart of how he did ministry and, I think, how he longs for us tocontinue to do ministry.

You see, a Talmid ofJesus' day would surrender his life in order to be with his teacher,his rabbi. The disciple didn't only seek to know what the teacher knew, as isusually the case today. It was not enough just to know what the rabbi said, butthe foremost goal of any Talmid was to become like the rabbi and do whatthe rabbi did.

This is a huge distinctionas it relates to the relationship between students and teachers today. You see,a student wants to learn and know what the teacher knows. ATalmid (or disciple) in Hebrew culture, however, wants to be what therabbi is.

But there is anotherhistorical piece of discipleship that I fear is all but lost in our modernChristian culture.  A disciple studying under an ancient Rabbi wasalways given a study partner to work with. They would help each otherin their studies pushing each other to grow, keeping each other accountable toemulate the Rabbi they were following.

This was called a Talmidim.

A Talmid is adisciple.  A Talmidim is a pair or group of disciples.

Jesus took this practiceand developed it with each his disciples, not just the 12, but the 72.  We allknow that Jesus called twelve disciples. However many have missed thefact that he also combined them together in pairs.

In Matt 10:2-4 thetwelve disciples are listed in pairs.

Matthew 10:1-3
He called his twelvedisciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and toheal every disease and sickness.
These are the names of thetwelve apostles:
first, Simon (who iscalled Peter) and his brother Andrew;
James son of Zebedee, andhis brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew;
Thomas and Matthew the taxcollector;
James son of Alphaeus, andThaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot and JudasIscariot, who betrayed him.

So when Jesus sent thetwelve out to do mission projects, he sent them in pairs (Mark 6:7).

We see this model invarious texts throughout the Scriptures, but especially in the gospels andepistles as the truth was spreading to various people groups.

Some things in the Biblerequire us to ask the question “What would Jesus do?” Because wedon’t know if he would own a Summer home on the shore, watch “Dancing with theStars”, say the word “crap” or listen to “the Beatles”. But when it comesto discipleship, there are some things that aren’t up for grabs. Theyaren’t subject to our reinterpretation or spin-doctoring. And in thesescenarios the question needs to be asked…

“What Did Jesus Do?” not"What would Jesus Do?"

And veryclearly…throughout the Bible…He put people in teams of two and sent themout as such on missions together.
_____________________________

Allow me to hose you downwith Scripture that testifies to this fact.

We’ve obviously seen thathe does this with the 12 and the 72…but the Scriptures are replete withthis theme as the early church began to take over the world.

Jesus didn’t come up withthis idea…this was a part of Jewish culture; he was just obeying a commontradition that he deemed too successful to reinvent.

We see this two-discipletheme right off the bat with “John the Baptist” even before Jesus started hisearthly ministry…

_______________________________

John 1:35-37 –
35 The nextday John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When hesaw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the twodisciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

Luke 7:18-19 –
18 John’sdisciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should weexpect someone else?”

Mark 14:13 –
13 So he[Jesus] sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, anda man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.

Matthew 21:1-3 –
1 As theyapproached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent twodisciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and atonce you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them andbring them to me.”

Luke 24:13-15 –
13 Now thatsame day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about sevenmiles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other abouteverything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed thesethings with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.

Acts 12:25 –
24 But theword of God continued to increase and spread. 25 When Barnabas and Saulhad finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking withthem John, also called Mark.

Acts 15:22,32 –
22 Then theapostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their ownmen and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (calledBarsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.

Acts 15:36-41 –
36 Sometime later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothersin all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they aredoing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them inPamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.

39 They hadsuch a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas tookMark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left,commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went throughSyria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Acts 16:1-5 –
1 He came toDerbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose motherwas a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 Thebrothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted totake him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jewswho lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4 As theytraveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached bythe apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So thechurches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Acts 19:21, 22 –
21 After allthis had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedoniaand Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while hestayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

Acts 19:28-30 -
28 When theyheard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of theEphesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaiusand Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed asone man into the theater. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, butthe disciples would not let him.

Acts 20:1-5 -
1When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouragingthem, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. 2 He traveled through thatarea, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrivedin Greece, 3 where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plotagainst him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go backthrough Macedonia.

4 He was accompaniedby Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus fromThessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus andTrophimus from the province of Asia. 5 These men went on ahead andwaited for us at Troas.

Discipleship Duos,Talmidim Teams:
1. Paul and Sopater –Berea
2. Aristarchus andSecundus – Thessalonica
3. Gaius and Timothy –Derbe
4. Tychicus and Trophimus– Asia

Then everyone met together at Troas. hmmm?

Jesus did not send anyonealone; they went in twos everywhere they went. This is more than just aprinciple, it borders on prescriptive. We must join in twos for bothsurvival and success.

If you are only doingchurch, you can make it alone. But if you plan on being the church, youhave to work in partnerships, Talmidims.

Jesus knew, like RobBase the great theologian from the 80’s sang in his song, “It takes twoto make a thing go right. It takes two to make it out of sight.”

Primary Purposes of(Two-by-Two) Talmidim Teams in that culture:

1.   Read and memorize the Scripturestogether.
2.   Talk about what the Scripturesmeant to them.

1.   Choose little missions to liveout the Scriptures.
2.   Talk about what the missionsmeant to them.

Two-by-Two – Disciplesneeded a live-in/live-with a consultant and a counselor

Why can’t the church puttwo and two together? It seems like simple math.

The questions is: “Why wasthe prerequisite of “Two by Two” so predominant in Scripture as a whole?” Why did Jesus use this cultural strategy in his discipleship?

There are several reasonsthat I see as I’ve studied this paradigm.
1.    Study
2.    Safety
3.    Self-Awareness
4.    Stamina
5.    Seduction
6.    Sanity
7.    Success

Duet. 32:30 –
“one man chases athousand, but two put ten thousand to flight…”

Even with Jesus, the firstthing He did when he started public ministry: Found Friends. Andnot just 12, but within the 12 he selected a few to journey more intimatelywith.

He took three of hisclosest friends with him to the Garden of Gethsemane to “stay awake with him”,to “pray with him”, or as he said, to “Watch and Pray”. This is whatpartnership is for. People to bear witness to your life and to journeywith you in prayer through pain.

The ancient Christian teacher and writer Tertullianonce said…

“Solus Christianus, nullus Christianus”- A Christian alone is no Christian.

Though this might be going a little too far, I thinkit's powerful that the early church and the early writers saw this pairing ofdisciples essential to the health of the Christian and the spread of thegospel.

I hope this whole conceptgives you something to chew on and act on in the days to come. Get yo'bad self a Talmidim! hehehe.

Not a Fan, but a Follower - Matthew - pages 252-259

2012-02-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

John is sitting in prison waiting to be beheaded. Like anyone who pours there life into a good cause, he was expecting a kickback. Who could blame him? He has spent his whole life sacrificing for God as the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He was a zealot of the highest order, devout to beat the band. In every human sense, he deserved special treatment and honorable mentions. This was Jesus boy. He was "the man".

And yet, when he was thrown into prison awaiting his imminent beheading, he had some questions creeping in that he wanted to ask Jesus. They are questions of entitlement that any human being would have who feels God owes them something for their good behavior.

2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing(in Galilee), he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

Why did he ask this question? Because he’s a human…not a hero.

We are all humans…people.

Have you ever had someone ask you a question, when they are really making a statement? That’s what’s going on here.

**Make no mistake, John knew that Jesus was the ONE…

- He leapt in his mother’s womb when Elizabeth and Mary were pregnant and met with each other.

- When asked who he was by religious leaders, he quickly responded, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, preparing the way from the Lord.” Jn. 1:23

o (Is 40:3) - ‘A voice cries in the wilderness “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”’

- When it came time for Jesus to start his earthly ministry, John saw him coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!”

- He was the one whom Jesus asked to baptize him at the commencement his 3 years of public ministry.

- At that baptism, he heard the voice of God shout from the sky, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” He also saw the Spirit of God take on the form of a dove and lightning, and hover over the place where Jesus was immersed in the river.

- He was the one who uttered the powerful phrase, “He must increase, I must decrease.”

"Are you the one who was to come,

or should we expect someone else?"

I can’t believe how quickly expectancy turns into expectations.

We go from being Grateful to feeling Grated.

We move from overjoyed to annoyed over time.

We devolve from selfless to selfish.

We digress from Christ-o-centric to Egocentric.

No matter how hard you try not to care, It’s hard not to be offended when you feel like you’ve poured your life into the Kingdom and God doesn’t give you special treatment…

…a back stage pass.

…a package of fringe benefits.

…a free ride.

…a payoff.

Our motivations start very well-meaning, altruistic and generous. Then ever so slowly they devolve into actions done for praise, attention, and honorable mentions. We say we don’t care about who gets the glory, but deep inside, we are counting credits at the end of the movie to see if our name is scrolling in bold italicized letters. We almost can’t help it from happening in our flesh.

“Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

In other words…"WHY AREN’T YOU SHOWING UP FOR ME AFTER I'VE SHOWN UP FOR YOU??? If I had my druthers…you would get me out of this predicament…this pickle."

I’m sitting in prison…what are you doing in Galilee?

I’m about to get beheaded…when are you going to get me out of here?

I’ve done a lot of amazing things for you…all I’m asking is for you to return the favor.

Correct me if I’m wrong…but don’t you owe me something after all I’ve done for you?

I love this simple quote:

Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life in his terms.

- Elizabeth Bowen

**Jesus goes on to say in verse 4…

4"Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosyare cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

6 “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

“Blessed are those who don’t fall away on account of me.”

- Bless are those who don’t fall away because of me.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away when I don’t follow their instructions.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away because I don’t fulfill their expectations.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away when I don’t answer their every prayer in the affirmative.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away when I don’t show up at their every beck and call.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away because I won’t follow their plans.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away when they find out their not in the driver’s seat.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away when suffering comes and I don’t immediately rescue them out of it.

- Blessed are those who don’t fall away because they aren’t getting their way. (SPOILED)

Have you ever thought…

“Maybe I should be looking for someone else…

cause Jesus isn’t behaving.”

_______________________

Let me ask you something…. “What do you do when Jesus doesn’t behave? When he doesn’t mind you very well? When he doesn’t respond to your prescribed expectation?”

The subliminal message of American Christianity is that you snap your fingers, or tap your little ruby red shoes, or rub your little ancient lamp, or stick a quarter in your spiritual vending machine and POW! Shazam! Jesus is at your beck and call, fanning you and feeding you grapes.

It’s so easy to want Jesus as long as he gives me what I want…

I’ll tell you what I see in myself and in a lot of other American Christians…

- I see people exiting stage-left when they discover they aren’t the central personality in the gospel story.

- I see people bailing out when they don’t get their way.

- I see people questioning Jesus whenever they run into calamity.

- I see people leaving the church when it doesn’t meet their specific needs.

- I see people giving up on prayer if they don’t get their desired outcome.

- I see people following Jesus with the condition they get something out of it.

- I see people drawn to stick around so long as Jesus behaves.

**And I think what Jesus is looking for is someone who will say: “I’ll give my life to you, no strings attached, no small letters at the bottom of the contract, no disclaimers. NO more following you on my terms. I’ll follow you for you.”

7 As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:

'I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.'

11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

**What were you drawn to when you went to see John?…

1. “A reed swayed by the wind?” – Someone who was a people pleaser.

2. “A man dressed in fine clothes?” – Someone who was slick and professional.

- “John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt

around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.” – Matt. 3:4

3. “A prophet.” – Someone who was a visionary and a mouthpiece of God.

Jesus goes on to say…

12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

The Greek word for forceful is the same root word for violent. It carries with it the idea of a clashing, a crashing. Something marked by intensity or great emotional force.

The kingdom of God isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s not for the dropouts and copouts. It’s not for the ones looking for a free ride. It’s not the people looking for easy street. It’s not for the freeloaders and back-drafters. It’s not for the weak-willed and the road-killed. It’s not for the pathetic, lethargic, or apathetic. Those souls can’t hold on to the intense forward movement of the Kingdom…of the explosive and dynamic message of the Gospel.

It’s for the people who have a heart to be reckoned with. A soul that can hold on to something wild, raw and aggressive. A spirit that wants to take risks and follow God into the bowels of this world…reaching out at the risk of their lives. This is the kind of kingdom that we are invited into.

The kingdom that is near, at hand.

The kingdom that is in our hearts.

The kingdom that is forcefully advancing. Not sheepishly, not swimmingly, FORCEFULLY.

People who are absorbed in their own little empires, will never lay hold of the kingdom…the kingdom that must be laid hold of with both hands if it’s ever to be grasped at all. You can’t hold your empire with one hand, and God’s kingdom with the other. It takes everything you’ve got to lay hold of something this forceful, this vibrant, this intense.

16"To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

17" 'We played the flute for you,
      and you did not dance;
        we sang a dirge
      and you did not mourn.'

God doesn’t always do what we want him to, when we want him to, how we want him to.

We could be having great success, all the while he’s crying.

We could be having the worst day of our lives, all the while he’s filled with joy.

Our church could be growing while God is dying inside.

Our church could be shrinking while God is coming alive.

Blessed are those who don’t fall away on account of me.

Blessed are those who don’t fall away when I don’t behave according to their expectations.

When you follow God only when you get your way…

It’s no longer Theology…it’s Meology.

It’s not longer about deity of Jesus…it’s about the meity of "Jason". (insert your name)

Theology is the study of God.

Meology is the study of Me.

Theology concentrates on the worship of God.

Meology concentrates on the adoration of Me.

Theology speaks of the glory of God.

Meology speaks of the awesomeness of Me.

Theology seeks to promote God’s dreams and desires.

Meology seeks to endorse My objectives and aspirations.

Theology centers on Jesus.

Meology orbits around Me.

Jesus has asked us to follow Him. He is not following us. And though you have asked him into your heart…the real alteration of lifestyle and worldview comes when He invites you into His…and you accept his invitation.

John the Crazy Baptist!! - Matthew - pages 246-252

2012-02-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

John the Baptist was a wild man. As I listen to his words, watch his movements, and feel his passion I can't help but wonder what's become of Christ-followers. Now, I understand that our more civilized culture has led to advancements in our relational and cultural techniques, but honestly there are days when I long for something more barbaric and--in some ways--savage. Not in the cannibalistic sense, but in the wild, primal sense. Something less edited and air-brushed. Something more earthy...down-to-earthy, even. I don't mind relevant Christianity, so long as it's not cute. Please God, I don't want to be a part of something that is merely cute.

Was John the Baptist Polite andPolitical,

Sociable andCivilized,

Domesticated andDocile,

Cautious andConservative,

Stable and Steady,

Predictable andProper,

Consistent andConstant,

Reputable andRespectable,

Composed and Calm,

Secure and Sound,

Balanced and Behaved,

Poised and Posh,

Diplomatic andDecent,

Tame and Timid,

Refined and Reserved,

Subdued and Serious,

Collected andConfident,

Nice and Neat,

Clean and Careful,

Trustworthy and Teachable,

Cultured andCultivated,

Moderate and Modest,

Reasonable andRational,

Sensible and Sound,

Logical andLevel-headed,

Sophisticated andStylish,

Pleasing andPleasant,

Conventional andConvincing,

Appropriate andAmiable,

Friendly and Fitting,

Traditional andTimely,

Orderly andOrganized,

Methodical andMeticulous,

Smooth and Suave,

Concise and Cute,

Intelligent andInviting,

Universal andUniform,

Upstanding andUpright,

Separatedand Safe,

Corporate andCommercial,

Suspicious andSegregated,

Professional andProficient,

Groomed and Gregarious?

Have we been bredinto banal beings of boredom…

A colorless,savorless, lifeless, collection of cute Christian who have tradedgodliness for loveliness?

We need more John theBaptists and less Johnny Appleseeds.

Maybe this is why every now and again Jesus would say things like:

"Eat my flesh and drink my blood. If you don't, you can have no part of the kingdom."

Really, really? Why would you say something like this if you weren't trying to keep the Kingdom just a little crazy.

Daddy Issues - Matthew - pages 239-246

2012-02-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

I loved reading about Jesus' baptism today. But it wasn't the baptism of water, but the baptism of His Father's Voice, that pulled my heart strings. There is something powerful about your Father speaking into your heart, especially in those crucial rights of passage like we see here in the Son of God. He needed to hear from His Dad.

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
____________________________________________

The Baptism of the Father’s Voice:

God’s voice – “This is myson…”

God’s heart – “I choseyou.”

Our shame name – Alone - Self-identity issues

Our new name – Known (Youbelong to me.)

“This is my Son, whom Ilove; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!

God’s voice - “whom I love…”

God’s heart – “I love you.”

Our shame name – Afterthought - Self-hatred issues

Our new name – Desired(You mean so much to me.)

**Illustration – Phone message from Rob Smith

“This is my Son, whom Ilove; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

God’s voice – “in whom Iam well pleased…”

God’s heart – “I’m proudof you.”

Our shame name – Almost - Self-worth issues

Our new name – Enough (Youmake me very happy.)

“This is my Son, whom Ilove; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

God’s voice – “listen toHim!”

God’s heart – “I believein you.”

Our shame name – Average - Self-doubt issues

Our new name – Strong (Youhave what it takes.)

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listento him!”

I don't know where you find yourself today and what you need the Father to speak over you (into you), but I hope His voice will pierce through the clouds and fully immerse you, baptize you through and through.

Daddy, speak.

Real community is messy. - 2 Timothy - pages 227-238

2012-02-21T20:11:00.000-08:00

2 Timothy 4 - "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

I see this in myself as much as I see it in people around me.

I love to make stuff up to suit my desires. I love to gather around me what want to hear. I turn aside to myths with the best of them. Anyone who says they don't, is either lying to you or lying to themselves. To some degree, we are all guilty as charged of this misdemeanor.

But there is one area I see this manifesting itself lately that is deeply concerning to me. The area I'm talking about is "community". The myths we've made up about community are ridiculous.

It's really easy to be in love with the idea of community only to be quite unnerved by the reality of it. It's easy to say that you love the local church, but have you ever tried to be a part of one for an extended period of time? You can't control who you're going to run into, or who's going to run into you. You can't selectively weed out "crazies" only to have close relationships with the one's who fit your refined criteria. You are forced to have biblical community, which has very little to do with an idea and whole lot to do with a messy melding of mold, mothballs, and mildew; mud,muck and mire. There are personalities that annoy you. There are voices that are obnoxious. There are situations that are awkward. It's just plain messy.

You hold in high regard this ideal picture of community that you've manufactured in your fertile skull. You nurture it, journal about it, sculpt and shapen it, feed it and care for it...but in the end it's just alot of woolgathering (idle daydreaming) and mental role playing. It's not real. People, the kinds on the other side of your cranium crammed with clever contri"visions", are enigmas... hybrids of the image of God and invasion of Satan. Both Glory and Gory. Both awesome and aweful. And we have a choice of what to do with this "less than ideal" reality.

We can curse it and quarantine ourselves in regulated environments with firewalls to ensure only the worthwhile get welcomed into the inner sactum, or we can bless the mess with a presence that penetrates and permeates, absorbs and invites, melds and melts into the cracks of someones brokeness. We talk of loving the broken, but if you're anything like me, they never fit the brokenness that I've conjured up in my head...I want them to be the exact kind of brokeness that I feel compassion for...homeless, but not homely...lonely, but not loners...lost, but not losers. You know, rags without the rage...hunger without the desperation...filled with needs without being needy...starving, but not leachy...I think you know what I'm talking about.

So we all have these ideas of our dream "life group". We have concocted these fantastical pictures of "doing life with a community". We have dreamt up our own "Shire", our own "Narnia", our own utopian land of thoughtful wishing and wishful thinking. It's real pretty, but not real. It's quite literally unbelievable! And we wonder why we wander about looking for that which doesn't actually exist, stumbling from one friendship to another, one church to another, one job to another...we are looking for what is right in front of our face, we just have made a graven image that we bow to that distracts us from "Reality" and thus "Truth".

We have "read into" the Bible for too long. The woman at the well was a beautiful woman with an education that had some dirt on her face and a tattered robe. All she needed was attention and "whalla"...transformed into an upright, articulate model who now speaks at school assemblies about how wonderful it is to meet Jesus.

The little man in the tree is a shady business man that just needed someone to invite themselves over to his house and "Badaboom!", he's an emotionally centered soul who starts FPU classes for the community and becomes the lead character in the movie "It's a wonderful life!"

The woman caught in adultery just needed someone to defend her from her accusers. She didn't stutter and keep harassing Jesus every time he saw her from that point on with unreasonable conversation...no, people in the Bible that Jesus helped never were leachy with co-dependency issues and insecurity complexs and obsessive compulsive disorders. Nope, they were normal people with some dirt on their face that just needed someone to give them an "Extreme Makeover" and Presto...you have a well adjusted conversion that leads to a Great Awakening...and so on and so forth about "So and So" and "Such and Such"...it's fiction at it's best...and we buy it. We sell it.

And all around us the kingdom is pulsating. It's not the kingdom we've made up, but it's no less real. It's not the kingdom we're wishing for, but I believe it's the one we're looking for. It's less than ideal, but it's real. It doesn't make sense, it's not convenient, it's not pristine...but it's wasn't for Jesus either. We've just doctored up history with quixodic little stories and romantic fairy tales. And it's deception at it's finest. We are self-decieved.

You don't have to look any further than our portraits of Jesus that we humans have drawn...and then drawn conclusions from. "White, handsome, slender, blue eyes, muscular jaw, feathered brown hair with blond highlights, clean shaven face...Shouldering a little lamb, all the while playing with little kids who are propped up on his lap. He seems so calm, cool and collected. Wow...I wish I could be Christ-like!" Give me a break.

When will people die to their dreamworlds and come alive to the real world? Will we keep walking by the "guy in the tree" (Zach) and the "crazy dude in the graveyard" (Demoniac) and the "desperate chick looking for attention" (Mary) and the "religious zealot with an agenda" (Nic) and the "cocky guy who lives a double life" (Judas) and "the promiscuous girl who can't pull it together" (Woman at the Well). Who do we think these people were? Normal people with some dirt on thier clothes? Educated people a conversation away from being catapulted into Church Leadership? Broken people on the brink of breakthrough leading to healthy interactions and smooth success? Do you think they smelled like B.O.? Do you wonder if the continuation of the story was less exciting than the initial encounter? Do you ever think that Jesus needed to get away with His Father less to pray and more to recover from the onslaught of "real, everyday human beings"? I do. I don't really wonder...people are people, people were people, people will always be people. The same yesterday, today, and forever...until we are enjoying life on the other side of the Crystal Sea. And who knows that Heaven isn't going to be filled with people that get under your skin and on your nerves. It's free from sin, not personality. It's free from tears, not souls. I hope we're not cookie cutter robots without freedom of expression and emotion. And with expression and emotion comes tension and apprehension. "Be angry and sin not"... what that tells me is that you can emote without sinning. Hmm...I don't have time to go spelunking down that cave.

All I know is that everywhere I go I meet people and they never seem like the people in the books I read. I don't see quick change. I don't see radical transformation. I don't see rags to riches. I see humans being humans. I don't think they know about my fanciful ideas about who I wish they were, they just put themselves in front of me and I'm left to "can the ideal" and "embrace the real". And maybe, just maybe, all my stupid fabrications are the "vain imaginations" that Paul was so adamantly condemning.

We must move away from these myths we've created.
The Vanity of our Imagined Stories can keep us from living the Epic Story of God's Redemption in Everyday Human Beings. Warts and all.

The Bible warns us about the Bible - I Timothy - pages 215-226

2012-02-20T20:29:00.000-08:00

I Timothy 4:13,16

UntilI come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and toteaching…Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because ifyou do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

This Readingthe Scripture lately has been nothing short of breathtaking. I literally cannot wait to open theBible to happen upon nuggets that I’ve panned out before. Devoting myself to readin the Scriptureis one thing, but to ready it with others in public has taken it to anotherlevel altogether.

But the Scripture cannot betreated like a frog in fermaldihide, stretched out with tacks and dissected ina science lab. For one, it’s notdead. For another, it is a meansto an end, not the end itself. Jesus is the end, if we read and don’t encounter him, we areparticipating in an empty exercise.

We have to watch our livesand doctrine closely. If the Worddoesn’t affect our lives…what’s the use? This text seems to indicate that you save yourself, but you also save thepeople listening to you when you realize that the God’s Word and your Worldhave to both be engaged when you’re reading the Scripture. I kill ourselves and our hearers whendoctrine is divorced from life. You are supposed to read the Bible, but the Bible is also supposed toread you. This is when Jesus comesto life and the word pulsates with passion.

I love the passage that talksabout moving beyond the words to the Word. Moving beyond the principles to the person. Moving past the data to the drama. This is Jesus giving a backhand topeople that knew the Word like the back of their hands…

John 5:39-40 (NewInternational Version)
39 Youdiligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possesseternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuseto come to me to have life.

This might sound heretical, but it must be said. One of the most creative cultsspearheaded by the enemy is found in the company of people who idolize theBible. Instead of being a road to Jesus, it becomes a roadblock.Cross-referencing. Greek word studies. Doing "devotions". Debatesover doctrinal disagreements. Systematic theology. Bible memorization. Readingthrough the Bible in a year. Crafting creative sermons. The list goes on andon. I fear this world most because I'm in ministry and have come to understandthe difference between the God of the Word and the Word of God. You can easilyget lost in the latter and lose the former. I'm not trying to divorce them fromeach other, but I think it's vital to make the distinction every now and then.

Just like anyone, I love what I can get my hands on and my mind around. SinceGod can be somewhat illusive and mysterious, it's easy to sink your teeth intothe Scriptures and forget to feed on God Himself. You can take a verse and playaround with it like a hacky sack. You can sculpt an idea and develop a line ofthought that gives you a distracting sense of pleasure in and of itself. Youwant to know how I know this? Because I'm running the risk of doing it thisvery moment. I'm taking a verse and expounding on it with clever little spinsof spice. I can put together sermons for weeks on end without encounteringJesus. I can use the Word as a pacifier to give me a false sense of securitythat I'm close to God.

Remember, in this passage, Jesus is talking to professional Bible quizzers.They sat on those little electronic pads and prided themselves in being thefirst to stand and speak of the fine print, what was written between the lines,the infinitesimal nuances of every jot and title recorded in the text. Theywere the masters of Theology. And Jesus told them off.

I wonder how many get lost in the maze of Scripture and never find their way toJesus. I wonder how many pride themselves in knowledge without knowing. Iwonder if the Bible has become my little lump of play dough to shape and craftand squeeze and hold. It's just too easy to let it become the end all. In fact,I think the flesh would rather interact with literature than bother itself withthe messy ups and downs of unpredictable relationship with an living being. Youcan open it, shut it, leave it home, carry it around, put it in your pocket,download it onto your ipod, or just plain forget about it. You won't hurt it'sfeelings because "its" don't have feelings.

But Jesus, he's a different story. He doesn't like to be carried around in ourpockets and played around with like a lucky rabbit's foot. He pursues us whenwe forget about him and is rarely ever found in the place where we thought weleft him. He can't be opened and shut at our command and he won't be relegatedto a slot in our schedule. He's not black and white, He's alive and well.

If we stop at the Scriptures, we will have missed the point. For the Bible isonly the fork, Jesus is the feast.

10 things I've learned about paralyzing Stress...

2012-02-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

Ten things I've learned about stress this last year:

1. It doesn't always come connected to a specific event or moment. It has a mind of its own, is what I'm trying to say. I always thought it was directly related to an inciting incident or an anticipated tension. Not so.

2. It can manifest in the physical even while you feel like you're having a great time. Like people will be laughing around you and you'll be telling a joke all the while your chest cavity is burgeoning like an over-ripe watermelon. Weird.

3. It doesn't always go away even though you're telling yourself that things are "settled now" and "you're alright". Your mind might be doing just great, but your body keeps telling you that you're running for your life. Which brings me to the next point...

4. It feels every bit like you're falling backwards on a ladder from the second story of your house. The feeling under your sternum is the same as if you just experienced a close call that was life or death. You can cognitively know it's not so, but your innards aren't so convinced.

5. It doesn't back off even when things supposedly or seemingly "get better". After so much time living in this space, the body has created a new default of dread. You are in the clear, but it feels like a sniper is in the woods getting ready to pick you off. In fact, you're convinced they are.

6. Its present doesn't mean you don't like your life. In fact, if you would ask me how I'm doing, I could honestly say I "love my life" more now than ever before. I always thought joy and fulfillment couldn't coexist with stress. I feel blessed and stressed...isn't that messed? hehehe...

7. It does get better in time, but I'm surprised how much time it takes to feel like it's getting better. Stress isn't like a skin rash that you put some cream on and watch dry up and vanish in 5 days. No, stress is nuanced and layered in such a way that you can't apply remedial, medicinal cream to touch it. It's not a local and topical disease...it's more like a cancer than a cough.

8. It is caused more by people than projects. Projects are more static and predictable...people are more dynamic and capricious. They vacillate and change with free wills and free spirits. This makes it quite exciting, but when they don't follow-through it's like you hear the 'reverse beeper' on the dump truck and it isn't long before a mother load of stress is piled on top of you. People are the catnip and the kryptonite of life, aren't they?

9. It is addictive to be stressed. You want to get rid of it, but you've found the adrenaline to be quite compelling and your body doesn't want to go back to a life of peace. Managing mental chaos makes you feel important, like something huge is at stake and you're the one who needs to pull it off. Living this way makes you feel like Nash in "A Beautiful Mind". It feels good to be a central character in the story. It feels good to know that the pressure you're feeling is telling you that something depends on you, someone relies on you.

10. It is a refiner's fire that breeds humility. To the person who thinks they are above anxiety and the ills of common man, this blight...this plight demolishes pride causing you to see your need for God and your fragility without help of some kind. You need people. You need God. You can't pull it off on your own. It helps you to have compassion on those who are weak, thinned out by the rigors of life.

I'm sure I could sit here and list thousands of revelations about stress. Since taking the lead pastor role at Impact, I've experienced a level of pressure the likes of which I had never know before. It has been the best year of my life...but the journey has been fraught with inner perils I could have never anticipated. The attack I experience from the demon of dread at times can be paralyzing.

But here's the thing...in the last month, I've witness it lifting a bit. Not to the degree that I'm back to my jovial and juvenile self, but enough so that can smell hope in air, like the first whiff of spring. I can look back and see what it forged in my spirit. I can feel the confidence that comes with pressing through pressure. I can see the refiner's fire and the gold it purifies. I can feel the hope that comes with conquering. I can feel the joy that comes with knowing you are "weak", but through that God makes you "strong". He flexes his muscles when I stop flexing mine.

So for anyone who lives in the "valley of the shadow of death" (aka - stress), take heart. The Lord is doing something in you. He is using this tension to make you tender. And that is hope.

I had to get that off my chest.

Unspoken Prayer Requests - Philippians - pages 207-215

2012-02-17T08:57:00.001-08:00

Piggybackingon my last post about getting "naked" with people spiritually andemotionally, I was struck with Paul openness as it relates with struggle to thechurch in Philippi.

"Sinceyou are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that Istill have." - Philippians 1 (last verse)

Mydad was meeting for a men's prayer breakfast once and he really wanted to openup about the struggle men face sexually. He shared that he even struggledwith sexual temptations "in the past" and wanted to have moreopenness within the church to wrestle through this reality together.

Thecurrent pastor of that body pulled my dad aside after the meeting and said thatmy dad needed to be careful that he didn't insinuate that he was"currently" struggling with sin, but that he made sure that the menknew it was something from the "past". What? This onlybreeds the culture that you share today only what you struggled with 5 yearsago in order to create the safe distance needed to have a reputable position inthe church. You can't share anything that is happening in the now. That's what I love about this passage with Paul..."the struggle yousaw I had, and now hear that I STILL have." Beautiful honesty.

Ionce was talking to my dad about all the unspoken requests that used to begiven at prayer meetings growing up. The pastor would ask for a show of handsindicating that you had a prayer request that was unspeakable. I always used tofind this a bit odd. I remember wondering in my boyish mind what those requestswere.

Iwonder if they were things like…

-The need for strength against seemingly irresistible temptation or

-The fears that haunted them from their past or

-The deteriorating marriage that was teetering on the brink of divorce or

-The brokenness they felt over a wayward child flirting with disaster or

-The perennial struggle against pride that filled them with condescendingarrogance or

-The anger they felt against God for his aloofness in times of pain or

-The frustration they felt over an inability to guard their tongue or

-The ongoing fatigue of living in a wounded world separated from the living Godor

-The thinning defenses losing ground to things like lust, pride and rage or

-The lack of passion and compassion for those in deepest need of God or

-The wrestling match of hypocrisy that bred feelings of condemnation andconviction or

-The weight of financial debt sapping energy and creating a prison of paymentsor

-The weariness of standing for what you believe in a world that thinks you’recrazy or

-The ache over daily disappointments that aren’t measuring up to the promisedabundant life or

-The torture of watching someone you love continuing to turn to substance abuseor

-The emptiness and hollowness of trying to do things right but never quitearriving or

-The depression that plagues the heart over a host of little things that add upover the years or

-The effects of abuse from the past coming back to hunt down and haunt the heartor

-The angst over futility and failure that visits anyone who has a pulse on thisplanet or

-The disappointment of having strong desires and dreams that rarely findfulfillment or

-The huge questions that seem to go without answer in the church or

-The loneliness, lostness and lifelessness felt in the church.

Iwonder if I would have found prayer to be more real and powerful if we prayedfor some of this stuff. Instead, it was typically the familiar and predictablerequests for jobs, wart removal and dying relatives. This is not to downplaythe need for prayer over these things as well, but when the nitty gritty israrely, if ever, addressed, you are left with a sterile and standoffish faithafraid to go there. Where, you ask? Anywhere that is fraught with dicey detailsand raw revelations. Anywhere that is exactly where most people are living.Anywhere that smacks of the brass tacks of reality.

Asa little boy I think I needed to know that church wasn’t afraid to go wherepeople were actually living, where I was actually living. I was struggling withlust, but obviously no one else was. I was struggling with insecurity, butapparently no one else was. I was drawn to sin, struggling with faith in theunseen, bored with the Bible, sick of rules, scared of the big bad world, andhanging by a thread in this whole religion thing, and here we were sitting inpews praying for traveling mercies and showers of blessings.

AsI look back, the people who were gathered in that building were a bunch of strugglers.I know this now because many of them have been caught in unspeakable sins.Strip clubs, adulteries, drunkenness, pornography, rebellion, and apostasy…itmakes me wonder whether just speaking it out would have been the best thing forsome of these people. “Confess your sins one to another, that you may behealed. The effective prayers of a powerful person makes stuff happen” James 5

Unspeakablesins are bred by unspoken requests.

I'm so glad that Paul felt like he could"go there" with people...to normalize suffering and struggle. Ineed this...I think we all do.

Getting naked. - Colossians - pages 197-205

2012-02-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

I know that I'm supposed to be scrawling a thought on the book of Ephesians today, but once again, I just couldn't move on from Colossians quite yet. One particular phrase gripped me.

“To this end I labor,struggling with all his energy which so powerfully works within me.” –Colossians 1:29

I struggle. I struggle a lot. Years ago, I expended tons of energy to shroudthis reality under layers of togetherness. Exposure was out of the question; tome, composure equaled character. It seemed like grown ups were cover upsexpecting more out of the youth than they expected out of themselves. I honestlycan’t remember hearing any adult admit weakness when I was growing up. It ledme to believe that my foibles were atypical and unique to me. My lust, myinsecurity, my jealousy, and my fears were my issues and mine alone.

I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to read about all the nimrods andscrew-ups and perverts and psychopaths and addicts in the Scriptures who aren’tafraid to shed the shell of the poser, and share their honest to God-feelingsand dealings. Noah was a naked drunk, Abraham was a liar, Jacob was a conniver,Moses was a murderer, Samson was a numbskull, David was an adulterer, Solomonwas a ladies man, Jeremiah was a basket case, Jonah was a bigot, Peter was aloudmouth, Paul was an egotist, and these are just a few of the characters thatmake up the mosaic of the messed up morons used by God to get the message out.

“Struggling with all his energy…” If I must struggle, and I must, I want to doit with the energy of God. There is a God-energy that is available to those whowillingly enroll in the adventure of the Christian life. It is so easy totackle tasks that I can accomplish with my own energy and pass up anyundertaking that goes beyond my capacity. God energizes the ones who join thestruggle to advance the kingdom. I have felt surges of that energy at timeswhen I knew I had bumped up against the ceiling of my own ability and wasrelying solely on the capabilities of God. I wonder how much God-adrenaline Ihave passed up simply because I stay close to shore in my attempt to controloutcomes. There is a rush reserved for those who place themselves in the fatmiddle of the wrestling mat and invite struggle to take its best shot.

“…which so powerfully works within me.” I’m a realist just like the next guy. Ifind it hard to believe God is shacking up inside the likes of me. And it’seven harder for me to connect with the idea that he is carried away withactivity under there. Yet as hard as it is to comprehend, God is running anoperation inside my mess and working around the clock to empower me to meet thetasks I face. As I struggle, a power is unleashed from within to weather thestorm. He is talking me through trauma and off ledges. He is releasing HisGhostly presence (I don’t generally use that term to describe the Spirit, butit seems to carry an appropriate tone to it in this case) to walk me throughvalleys of doubt. I believe in the mystical presence of the God-ghost withinwho moves powerfully in my weakness to demonstrate His energetic ways.

All this is easier said that done, I know. But somehow I feel that if it’s leftunsaid, I will leave it undone.

Christianeze and outsiders - Colossians - pages 189-195

2012-02-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

The church is not supposed to cater to "insiders". With our inside jokes and Christian subculture, it's easy to forget to be sensitive to people that don't "get it". I love when people talk about how they hate seekers churches because it's unbiblical. They say it's because "no one seeks after God" based on Romans 3. Ok, if we want to play these semantics, I'll concede and give you the word: "seeker". Instead, I'll use words like people are "searching for truth", "looking for God", and "hungry spiritually"...because they are. You can tell them they're not based on a couple verses, but you have to be blind to not see the people who are investigating the faith and exploring the claims of Christ. I don't know how you can do that without seeking, but whatever. The point is that people on the outside need to be interacted with "wisely". Even if you're not into being "seeker sensitive", you have to be "outsider wise".

Paul wasn't just about preaching...he was about reaching. His heart to proclaim truth clearly, act wisely, seize opportunities with outsiders, and converse gracefully (with a salty seasoning) is impacting to me. I want to be this way with the world:

“Devote yourselves toprayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so thatwe may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, asI should. Be wise in the way youact toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversationbe always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answereveryone.” – Colossians 4:2-4

I’ve always been an “Insider”. I was born into a wonderful Christian family. We had morning devotions and eveningprayers. We had a family nightfilled with games, Bible stories, and singing around the piano. My mother would tickle the ivories andwe would break into four part harmony like little cherubs. We went to church early for SundaySchool, attended Junior church, and finally were promoted to “Big” church. We attended Sunday nights which weregenerally a lamer version of Sunday morning with less preparation and more spontaneity. Then there was Wed. night prayermeeting which was about 10% of the congregation gathering to give variousrequests and concerns with an occasional “unspoken” prayer request thrown infor good measure. I neverunderstood those, but they always said God did and that was all that mattered.

At age five, I packed my bags and headed to the smallestChristian school imaginable, though I didn’t know that at the time. I attended there for thirteen years andgraduated with two other guys, one a lifer, like me, the other came in midstream and never really got his oars in the water if you know what I mean. My other buddy and I were lifers,insiders, and we knew the ropes. Iloved being an insider.

I listened primarily to sacred music, with an occasionalsong that had that demonic syncopated rhythm, you know, the kind that makesplants shrivel and die. I playedChristian basketball and Christian soccer, and went to Christian artscompetitions. I ran in Christianmarathons and sang in Christian cantatas. I went to chapel once a week to sing and listen to another preachershare another message. (that’s four messages a week not counting Bibleclass) I memorized half the NewTestament. Our school would take awhole book and polish it off bit by bit throughout a school year. What makes that even more astounding isthat I memorized it in the King James Version. Sure, there were times I didn’t know what I was saying, butthe point is that I was getting the Word in me and “It won’t return void”, atleast that’s what they kept telling me.

I graduated from a Christian High School and quicklytransplanted to a conservative Christian Bible College, Baptist even. Lord knows that I couldn’t handle beingout of the bubble too long before encountering shortness of breath andunspeakable temptation. I attendedthere four years and acquired a degree in Youth Ministry. I went from there right into the youthpastorate and have been doing full time ministry ever since. Other than working at a Fruit Farmduring the summers, I was pretty much quarantined from the contagious virus of secularsociety for the last 31 years.

I’m not saying that I didn’t go to the mall or hear rockmusic in the grocery store on occasion, but the bulk of my time has been spentin the cocoon of Christianity. Ithas protected me from much harm to be sure, but it has also bred in me amindset that is very destructive. I tended to be suspicious of outsiders. I was taught to fear them and flee them. They were guilty until proven innocent. That tends to infect you with acritical eye and cautious heart in their presence…I think they can smell it,too.

This verse has deconstructed so many harmful patterns I’vedeveloped over the years. I nolonger have the “break the door down” approach to evangelism. I want for God to “open doors”, and heregularly does, especially when I pray for it like this verse suggests. I also have become more comfortablewith the gospel being a mystery. No longer do I have to “dumb down” the gospel in order for people to“understand” it. I think one ofthe most compelling facets of my new found faith is the texture that mysteryhas added to a, once, bland understanding of God. I love sharing with people the mind bending nature of Godand leaving them awed at the unexplainable, yet undeniable beauty of the mysteryof His heart.

It’s a paradox, however, because this verse bids us topresent the mystery “clearly”. Butthis is not unnerving to me anymore, because along with mystery, I’ve clearedout some space in my heart for “paradox” as well. Somehow, I don’t have to sugar coat God, but I also need tomake sure I’m taking great pains to present him purely and accurately. I don’t want people to walk away fromme with a distorted and diseased idea of God, I’m responsible to clearlycommunicate his mysterious love.

This is the part of love, “be wise in the way you act towardoutsiders”. I get that. We have our inside jokes and our insidelanguage and our inside friendships. The problem with outsiders is that have an outlook. And their outlook is vastly differentfrom an insiders “inlook”. When wedon’t take that into consideration, seeking wisdom in our relationship withthose who don’t have the same outlook, we get cocky and snooty. We tend to expect the world to be wisein the way they act toward us. Wewait for them to get a clue and meet us where we’re at in our understanding. The Bible is clear, it is ourresponsibility to act with wisdom in our relationships with the world, not viceversa. We are the ones who must adjustour conversations and adapt our interests and alter our agendas to meet themwhere they’re at instead of forcing them to climb up into our ivory tower ofunderstanding.

I want my conversations to be flavored with a submissivespirit toward the world. I amtheir servant. I am seeking tounderstand them first. I amlistening to their views first. Iam going to their world first. There is nothing quite so beautiful as the feet of one who moves towardthe world in humble love. God, teachme this virtue.

"Jacob have I loved"..."Esau have I hated." - Romans - pages 183-188

2012-02-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Romans today and just finished talking to my LIfe Group about an epiphany I had in Romans 9-11. I could say so much about what I learned about election, predestination, and foreknowledge...but more than anything I learned that God was trying to talk to Israel about how hurt he was that they were chosen and yet they were letting that lead to "I'm special" that led to entitlement. As a result, he chose to harden their hearts and open "full inclusiveness" (favorite two words in the reading today) to enrich the whole world expressed in his extension to the Gentiles. He did this to cause the Jews to be envious arousing their recognition of "His mercy".

They were so chilled in their "choseness", that he chose to "do the opposite of normal" by "loving Jacob" and "hating Esau"...nothing to do with hate and love, everything to do with Jews and Gentiles and how he would reverse the natural election and selection opening the door for "the unchosen" to be "chosen" and for the "chosen" to be "unchosen". If you think I'm speaking heresy, read through chapters 9-11 and check out how many times he talks of things like "you are descendants of Abraham, but not the real ones...and...you are Israel, but not the real Israel...and...I will make the nation, not a nation...and...the loved ones not the loved ones...and...the grafted ones from the cultivated olive tree cut off....and...the wild branches grafted in....and on and on and on he goes trying to challenge choseness and exclusivity, and to do crazy stuff like making them "bound to disobedience" as Israelites in ordero to get them to accept "mercy" by faith...a big deal to God. No more accepting him "by law" and "by rights"...he wants them to accept him "by love" and "by mercy"...I don't know where to stop, but I think I'll write on this subject in depth and detail after I complete the New Testament.

All this so say...I love that God wants the chosen people to choose him like the Gentiles, to move toward his "kindness" so that they, too, aren't "cut off". He wants them to want him, even if that desire is provoked by mere jealousy in the Gentiles.

Ineed a Savior. I haven't said that much since I asked Jesus to come into myheart when I was five. I suppose it's because I believed that once you'resaved, you don't ask to be saved again, because you can't lose your salvation.Logically, this makes sense if logic is your compass.

Butsomewhere I've grown to believe something else....something quite important. Ibelieve that I need to be saved every day of my life, every minute of the day,every second of the minute, every moment of the second. Something inside mestill cries out for a Savior to come to my aid and rescue me from myself and mybroken surroundings. I may even be more desperate for salvation post-conversionthan pre- The misconception is that salvation is solely "eternalsecurity" related. Not so. Salvation is the desperate need of any personliving eternity in the present. You can't survive the kingdom life without adaily salvation experience shielding you from the perils that seek to take youout. "Father, save me" must become a regular and routine piece of myconversation with God in order to wage war as I ought. (Everything I just saiddoesn't apply to the converted soul killing time until the rapture.) If you'retrying to do something redemptive in the here and now with an "overcomeevil with good" mindset, you can't help but cry out for salvation each andevery day. It seems to me that it would become as common a response as the gagreflex.

That'swhy I find my heart as burdened for the lost believer as I do the lostunbeliever. The one needs to be born again, the other needs to be reborn again.The one needs a vision of God, the other needs a revision of God. Both need tobe saved...and the salvation will produce similar results. If you're aroundchurch folk much, what you will find is that under the veneer of a thoughtlessassent to trusting God, there is a soul that doesn't trust God as far as theycould throw him. A good many Christians have just as much trouble believing Godas secular humanists...they simply attend church on the weekends just in case.You know why I know this...because inside my own churchy skin I wrestle withthis very angst. I resonate with the man who said to Jesus, "I believe,only help my unbelief." That makes as much sense to me as anything inbetween Genesis and Revelation. I respresent that remark. And so I know what itfeels like to be an unbeliever even as I rest in the security of my salvation.I need saved just as much as Joe Skeptical...because there dwells in all of usa Skeptic in disguise.

Ineed saved from my pride and my false humility.

Ineed saved from my talents and my put on performance.

Ineed saved from my knowledge and my know it all facade.

Ineed saved from my selfishness and my false compassion.

Ineed saved from my lust and my false vulnerability.

Ineed saved from my greed and my fake oaths to poverty.

Ineed saved from my self sufficiency and my mask of interdependence.

Ineed saved from my intolerace and my false flexibility.

Ineed saved from my judgementalism and my front of impartiality.

Ineed saved from my lies and my half truths.

Ineed saved from my anger and my sugar coated passion.

Ineed saved from my jealousy and my false compliments.

Ineed saved from my flesh and my dressed up flesh.

Weall do.

So I'm making a declaration of my need forsalvation today...and everyday from now until the Lord sees fit to terminate myoccupation of this planet. I need his salvation more now than the day I firstbelieved. Because for some reason, I slip into unbelief faster than I wouldlike to admit it, even though I just did. Save me, today, dear Jesus...Save mefrom myself.

I am moved by your mercy. Thank you for Romans 9-11. I've always avoided it cause I didn't understand it...now I'm drawn to it because I finally do.

Planting Churches - Romans - pages 177-183

2012-02-13T05:08:00.000-08:00

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel whereit was not known, so that I wouldn’t be building on someone else’s foundation.”– Romans 15:20

This verse serves as a reminder that the road to yourdestiny isn’t always paved. Mostpaths are still waiting to be discovered and cleared out. I’m not unlike others who waver in theface of challenge. I ask myselfthe same questions of self-doubt wondering if I’m equal to the task. But where would Christianity be ifeveryone was waiting for someone else to blaze the trail?

I’ve always wrestled with building on someone else’sfoundation. I don’t think it’sbecause I don’t know how to submit to authority or respect other people’svisions. I just feel like I’mcheating when I draft behind someone else’s leadership. I feel that I was created to be anentrepreneur.

“It has always been my ambition…” Those six words strike a chord with me. There has always been something insideof me that loved going first in a dare, loved taking the risk to find outsomething that wasn’t yet known, loved dreaming about what wasn’t thereyet. I almost feel like this hasalways been a part of me…and what started as my makeup has turned into myministry. Ambition. I love to dream about what could be andthen set off to make it happen. Myspirit loves to drift into dreams throughout the day wondering what else couldhappen that currently isn’t. Iwant to be more ambitious than I am, but I feel that in order to be ambitious,you have to be freed to lead. Youcan’t be ambitious tethered to another vision or philosophy. You have to be unleashed to move intoyour white hot passion.

It has always been my ambition…what has? Making sure people see the gospelclosely and clearly for one. Ilove to unveil to people the mysteries of God and his grand story filled withpleasure and fraught with danger. I love to share with people what God looks like from His Word and whathe feels and thinks and wants and does. The gospel (good news) has been turned into old news. And no news is not good news,right? I love to lift the spellthat has left a good many bored with God and his “so called” good news. I take the gospel verypersonally. I find myself scaredat times to speak out for God on certain subjects knowing that my homily couldmake or break people’s thoughts on God. There isn’t a time I step in front of people that I don’t shutter at thethought of making God look bad. AsA.W. Tozer says, “There is nothing more important than what comes to people’sminds when they think about God.” That is the gospel, what comes to people’s mind when they stop longenough to consider the option of God. I want to ambitiously share the true gospel with people that freesindeed.

Taking this message to “where it is not known” lights mylogs. I find myself stirred at thethought of heralding this good news in a region where it is presently unheardof. I love being the conduit ofdisclosure. It has always broughtme great pleasure to be the first to go somewhere or do something.

The promulgation of the gospel depends on this apostolicinstinct.

I stink at Prayer.

2012-02-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

Prayer is hard for me. Whether it's praying with my wife or praying for someone's healing--I don't know how to explain it--there is an invisible distrust in the whole transaction. I'm just being honest. Out of all the spiritual disciplines prayer tops the list of "most neglected".

"You should have a prayer closet."
"Prayer isn't about saying words, it's a lifestyle."
"Prayer shouldn't be a public performance."
"Try journaling your prayers."
"Close your eyes when you pray to avoid distraction."
"Pray out loud when you're in your car."
"Just talk to God like you talk to your friend."
"Pray Scripture back to God."
"Worship is like singing prayers to God."
"The best prayer is listening prayer...be silent."
"Prayer is not about asking for things, it's about connecting with God."
"Use the Lord's Prayer as a model for how to pray."
"God answers prayer by giving you himself."
"Talk to God with expectancy, not expectations."
"Be completely real with God...He can handle it."
"If you are having trouble with falling asleep at bedtime, just pray."
"The family that prays together stays together."
"You can tell how much you believe in God by how much you pray."
"Prayer isn't about a set time, it's supposed to be ceaseless."
"The Bible is God talking to us...Prayer is us talking to God."
"Don't worry about grammatical correctness...God knows your heart."
"When you don't know what to say to God, the Spirit groans what can't be put into words ."
"No matter what you say when you pray, Jesus intercedes and interprets your prayer to God."
"David sought God in the morning, so that is when you should pray."
"P.U.S.H. - Pray Until Something Happens."
"Jesus didn't teach the disciples what to pray, he taught them how to pray."
"No prayer, No presence. No presence, No power. No power, No passion. No passion, No point."

And on and on it goes. Prayer can seem as otherworldly as Bigfoot or UFO's. Like talking to an imaginary friend while playing pretend behind closed doors in your bedroom with your stuffed animals. Sometimes I'll be praying and just catch myself completely detached from my words...like I'm watching myself from the back corner of the room. I'm talking out loud, but I'm so far from my actual words. Like Jesus said to the Pharisees..."They honor my with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Wow! I get that all too well. It happens to me when I'm singing sometimes as well...like catching myself in a lie or something. Like I'm telling a fish story or something. It's disconcerting, but on the other hand, it really keeps me honest.

And I guess that's why I wanted to share this, to stay honest with myself, people and God about this matter of prayer. There is so much floating around out there surrounding this subject that it would really kill me if I didn't let people know how difficult prayer is for me contributing to the mass confusion and masked conclusions. Instead of being a spiritual leader, I become a spiritual liar.

So, no more unspoken prayer requests. (remember those in prayer meetings in the 80's?)

I have a spoken prayer request: "Could you pray for me that I will learn how to pray?'

Thanks.

Yours Truly,

Jason

Don't read the Bible by yourself. Please.

2012-02-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

Be careful what you wish for. You can say you want your church to read their Bibles on their own, but I can't believe how much easier it is to just skim over the stuff I don't want people to deal with and just touch on the stuff that fits my paradigm and is palatable for the everyday United States citizen. It wasn't until we got about a week into reading the Biblica New Testament together with our church that I thought to myself, "Oh God, what have I done? I forgot what was in this book!"

Things that I thought were clear aren't as clear as I'd hoped, and the things that I thought were very unclear are much clearer than I'd dreamt up. Reading the Bible knowing that you're going to gather together and talk about every nook and cranny takes it to another level. No more little Bible McNuggets for the soul, everyone wants to talk about the drastic and often dramatic twists and turns in the text!

They don't want to discuss the reasonable "asks" of God, they want to talk about what appears to be the unreasonable "asks" of God. They don't want to flirt and flit around with the easy stuff, they want to dig past the topsoil to the hidden and hardened clay of controversy. They want answers to the unusual claims of Christ, or the unadulterated requirements of Paul, or the culturally loaded statements of the epistles. I literally am sweating for two hours every Tuesday night for Life Group as we talk about everything from homosexuality as nature or nurture, women in leadership/speaking in church, divorce and remarriage, the narrow gate of the Kingdom, the personality of Paul that puts them off, the gifts of the Spirit, unpardonable sin, hating your father and mother, the seeming contradictions from one page to the next (and I'm not just saying that), circumcision, the prejudice of the Jews, predestination, the after-life, God choosing us vs. us choosing God, whether people who never hear of Christ go to hell, judging people, suffering in the world, and on and on and on.

And here's the thing...it has been "bar-none" the most awesome experience for me and those I'm wrestling through the Scriptures with. I feel like, in many ways, I've been born again "again". I can't wait to read the next day...I almost can't wait to see what will come out of nowhere. I feel like I'm finally understanding the personalities and subplots of the story in God's Word.

And I feel like what I'm loving isn't so much what is said, but what isn't said. It's what inferred or assumed that strikes me. It's what's going on behind the words that blows my mind. It's what's left out that you would bet a million bucks is coming next....and instead of being perfectly explained, it leaves you hanging there, dangling in the story to work it out yourself. It doesn't have great lead ins and perfect endings. It doesn't tie up loose ends and make perfect sense all the time...it forces you to throw yourself into the story and look around. It demands more than a casual reading, you have to climb into the Scriptures and fight through the surfacing questions. It's really, really adventurous! I mean it!

Here's the last thing I want to say. If I was reading the Bible by myself for myself, I would not only miss 90% of what God was trying to say...most dangerously, I would misread and misrepresent a good many portions of the Bible. There was one day of reading in I Corinthians that I could have started no less than 6 cults and 15 denominations if I would have taken things out of context and highjacked them for my subjective purposes! Without the interpretation and explanation of community, there is very little protection from pirating, then peddling the Word of God ignorantly.

We have a phrase our group came up with: "Read the whole page." You can't just take a line or a statement or a paragraph and make up a belief system...you have to read the whole page. You have to understand everything within the framework of its original intent, not just its original content. This is huge! But reading the whole page is only just the start...you have to read the whole book to really get what's going on with God and the world of mice and men.

I have snorkeled through the Scriptures with people, but I feel like we are scuba-diving this go around. And you wouldn't believe what things look like 20,000 leagues under the sea in comparison to the corral reef safe along the shoreline. Stunning. Simply stunning, I tell you.

The name of the Bible we're reading is called "Biblica"...you have to check it out and read it with some friends. You won't need your highlighter for this read through the Scriptures, you'll need your hardhat.

Love Wins, Rob Bell, and Romans 12 - Romans - pages 171-177

2012-02-10T05:09:00.000-08:00

I see "LoveWins" bumper stickers all over the place. Rob Bell is known to bethe brainchild of this initiative. But he's not, Paul is. The ideafinds it's roots in Paul's letter to the Romans...

“Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:21

There are many responses to evil. Some flirt with it. Some flee it. Some fightit. But one thing that the church mustn’t do is avoid it. Denial has never madeanything go away. Pretending like it’s not there and isolating yourself behindwalls of worship only fuels it in my opinion. You can’t stand on the other sideof the glass enveloped in sterility and soaked in disinfectant until therapture. I have a hunch that God’s going to look deep into your eyes and askyou what you were saved for in the first place. To live in hermitages of healthor hospitals of hurt? Jesus himself stated, “I did not come for the healthy,but the sick.” You can’t influence people without brushing up against the bador stirring up the stink. You have to come down from the ivory tower and getyour hands dirty by encountering death and disease and destruction anddepression. The sure way to eradicate evil is by spreading goodness. It’s nohelp to hide.

“Well, what you’re talking about is a social gospel!” Come to think of it, you’reright. But what is the gospel (REMEMBER…it mean good news) if it doesn’t affectsociety? A group of stuck up cover-ups hiding in holy huddles praying for Godto bless them and bless them and bless them. For what? In my humble opinion,God blesses us so that we can be a blessing. And the blessing is needed mostdeeply in the trenches of evil. If we don’t push back the darkness, it willovercome us. Our only hope is to overcome it first with the gift of goodness.Think about what could be reversed…

Do not be overcome with poverty,
but overcome poverty with generosity.

Do not be overcome with prejudice,
but overcome prejudice with hospitality.

Do not be overcome with anger,
but overcome anger with peace.

Do not be overcome with addictions,
but overcome addictions with liberation.

Do not be overcome with hatred,
but overcome hatred with love.

Do not be overcome with bitterness,
but overcome bitterness with forgiveness.

Do not be overcome with inequality,
but overcome inequality with unity.

Do not be overcome with pessimism,
but overcome pessimism with hope.

Do not be overcome with disease,
but overcome disease with healing.

Do not be overcome with orphans,
but overcome orphans with adoption.

Do not be overcome with revenge,
but overcome revenge with mercy.

Do not be overcome with pain,
but overcome pain with comfort.

Do not be overcome with racism,
but overcome racism with friendship.

Do not be overcome with consumerism,
but overcome consumerism with giving.

Do not be overcome with perversion,
but overcome perversion with purity.

Do not be overcome with depression,
but overcome depression with refreshment.

Do not be overcome with debt,
but overcome debt with freedom.

Do not be overcome with Satan,
but overcome Satan with Jesus.

It does no good speaking eloquently about the badness of the world if you’renot willing to lift a finger to demonstrate the beauty of the good. I want tobe known for my promotion of good, not my bellyaching about the bad. We don’tneed any more troubleshooters, we need beauty shooters.

Freedom for $1000, Alex. - Galatians - page 161

2012-02-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

I know that I'm supposed to be writing on the beginning ofRomans...but I got hung up with my pants pocket on the doorknob of Galatians. It is a verse that I can't get enough of.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” – Galatians 5:1

It seems a little redundant, I know. But repetition aidslearning as they say, and there’s hardly a truth that needs to be learned andlived more. People have lists of reasons for why Christ came and died. When Ihear some of them, I can’t help but beg to differ. He didn’t come to just diefor my sins; he came to release me from their talons. He didn’t just die sothat I could go to heaven; he died so that I could get there with some qualityof life. He wasn’t just born to die, he was born to free. That was the point ofhis death, the liberation of mankind.

I love telling people about freedom in Christ. It is in thoseconversations that I actually feel like I’m sharing good news. The kind of newsthat is convincing and compelling. The kind of news you’re not embarrassed topass along.

For a good many years, I found myself sheepish to share myfaith. It seemed like an invitation to be incarcerated for some reason. Icouldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why anyone in their right mind wouldwant to strap any more restrictions, rules, regulations or requirements ontheir already burdened back. It felt like a bait and switch. You tell someone thatChrist will release them from their burdens and when they take the bait you setthe hook and drag them into the boat with the rest of the paranoid pack ofbelievers living under heaps of stifling stipulations. I remember startingconversations with the disclaimer, “I know what you’ve heard, but I’m here totell you a different story.” Man, does the world need to hear a differentstory.

Jesus was a hero for the oppressed living under the tyranny oflawyers--men memorizing lists of laws to keep people in line. Jesus’ harshestwords were reserved for the religious-right binding heavy burdens upon people’sbacks without so much as lifting a finger to help them find relief. He spentthe better part of his life reversing the curse of “condemnation” theology. Hismessage was “redemption” theology, God breaking into prisons and setting thecaptives free. And when he set them free, they were free indeed!

I never want people to be able to use my life as an argument forreserved, restrained Christianity. Any interpretation of God that leaves peopletight and tentative, spooked with fear that their next step could anger thesleeping giant in the sky, does not see God rightly. He has our best interestsat heart and lives to usher in the freedom that we ignorantly forfeited in theGarden of Eden. The first words spoken to man by God seem fitting as Iwrap us this mini commentary. “You are free.” And when we used that freedom toimprison ourselves, our God sent his Son to get it back for us.

As foolish as it grammatically sounds, he set us free sothat we would actually be free. There’s no catch. There’s no hitch. There’s nobait and switch. I know…it seems too good to be true. Welcome to freedom, myfriend.

Getting drunk - Galatians - pages 155-163

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Sober judgement.

This is a term thrown around in the Bible that has caught my eye recently.

"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment." Romans 12

The alternative is drunk judgement...seeing yourself while "under the influence" of yourself.

"Think of yourself"...somewhat of an interesting concept or invitation.

But when you think about yourself, do so while trying to refrain from selfishness. How can self help itself from being selfish? You even see at the library "Self-Help" books...funny concept. Can self actually help itself or does it need an outside influence to make sure it's not "under the influence" of itself? Sometimes self-help seems like an oxymoron to me as I watch people assess themselves and modify themselves according to the data they gather from their own gleanings. There is a conflict of interest when you're "thinking of yourself" for the purpose of changing into something (someone) else other than you.

The verse I read today caused a rapid fire of verses that seemed to be saying the same thing with different expressions:

"If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves." Galatians 6

There is nothing more annoying that being around someone who thinks they are someone when they're really not. You don't know how to break it to them without coming across like you have a corner on the truth, so you don't. You just keep letting that bugger hang out of their nose hoping that someone else will tell them about it or that they will catch it themselves somehow. But one thing's for sure, this epidemic of self-awarelessness is spreading rampantly.

He spoke to the Corinthians with a similar thread of concern:

"Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know." I Corinthians 8

Here's another way of putting it: "The surest way to prove you don't exactly know what you're talking about is telling people that you know exactly what you're talking about." This verse comes right off the heals of "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up". Puffy peacocks with the swagger of Jagger sauntering about like they are something special. Saying you know shows that you don't.

The clearest indication of someone's sobriety (or sanity!) is a healthy sense of self-awareness that causes them to "walk humbly with their God". They are ok with not having all the answers. They are teachable teachers.

Sober judgement could go a long way to giving a much needed facelift to Christianity.

You ever feel like you're losing heart? - 2 Corinthians - pages 146-153

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This bookof the Bible is probably the most emotional and vulnerable of all of Paul'swritings. He's cries a lot, pleads for relational equity, talks of hisown hearts struggles, opens up about an emotional breakdown, gets honest abouthis fears and insecurities, and basically goes for broke by handing them hisheart on a silver platter to embrace or deface. One of my favorite versesin the Bible is tucked in this tear-stained letter to the church in Corinth...

2Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardlywe are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For ourlight and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that faroutweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what isunseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Loss ofheart goes way back. It happened to the best and brightest. It happened topeople who had astounding conversions, brilliant minds and fruitful ministries.I happened to people who had theophanies, were swept away into the seventhheaven, and survived venomous snakebites. It happened to Paul and he wasn’tafraid to admit it. Paul talks often of the heart, but mostly in regard to hisdesire to not lose it. I don’t have to wonder what his fear is in losing it.When you lose your heart, you lose everything.

The heartdies unless we become more spiritual people. I don’t mean religious or devout.I mean spiritual in the sense that we track with the other world. Maybe that’swhere the term otherworldly had its origins. Try telling someone that thoughoutwardly you’re wasting away, inwardly you’re feeling like a million bucks.Disregard their blank stare and continue on by telling them that every troubleyou’re experiencing is going to pay off when you kick the bucket. If thatdoesn’t induce a crooked smirk with a rolling of the eyes, they’ve alreadyblown you off and you might as well stop there. However, if they shake their headin disgust and accuse you of lunacy, share with them that the reason you havethis perspective is none other than your fascination with fixing your eyes onthe things that can’t be seen. Then piggyback on that thought by informing themthat everything you experience everyday with your senses is a rip off and thatwhat really lasts into eternity is everything that is out of sight. Gosh, Ilove the Christian life! It’s so simple to explain to people. I especially likeit when people wrap this mystery into little pamphlets and distribute them toperfect strangers on the street.

The lossof heart occurs when Christianity doesn’t allow for mystery anymore. Loss ofheart occurs when believers no longer believe that the unseen is the deepestreality. In this world, we don’t need blinders for better focus; we needblindfolds to shroud the alluring and seductive temptations to sell out topragmatic Christianity (a system of safe substitutes for the risky real thing).

I don’t lean into the darkness very well. I’m just as hell-bent onknowing and seeing and feeling and touching as the next guy. But there is adesperate need in our world for spiritual Christians. Christians who closetheir eyes to see and shut their mouths to speak.