Archive for the 'Thoughts on God’s people' Category

Hope!

January 1st, 2010

As this New Year gets a start I love listening to the pundits, the preachers, and just regular Joes at the coffee shop discuss this previous year and how they feel about the upcoming year. I have always been one who is inclined to people watching, but I am ever more so at New Years. What fascinates me so much is that at the beginning of a new year everyone is an optimist. Sure there are some who are not, but for the most part no matter how damaging of situation they have been in a person looks to the future with hope. Sometimes it is cynical, as in “well this year sucked. Lost my job, lost my wife, she took the dog so what could be worse?” But most of it is people doing the introspection for the last year and then deciding that the next year will be better. Karma will be on their side, the cosmos must owe them something because of the string of bad years.

One thing that I believe sets American’s apart from so many other nationalities is our audacious hope. When the writers of the Declaration of Independence sat down to begin what would be one of the greatest subversions in history, they had hope. I believe hope was inculcated into our national D.N.A. the moment those men set the pen to parchment. I am glad to see that it has not left. Times are tough for sure. People are losing jobs, losing cars, losing savings and retirement like crazy. More and more people are becoming bereft of the things that traditionally are seen as indicators of stability and safety. I am no exception to this, and boy it hurts, for awhile anyway.

The book of Lamentations is a great view of what happens when it all goes wrong. When God judges your sin, when the car is repossessed, your wife is drug through the streets and raped, when your children are sold into slavery and your fields are burned to the ground and turned into the Kings vineyard. Yet, in the midst of all of this there is Jeremiah reminding his people to hope:

“I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, and the poison I’ve swallowed.

I remember it all –oh, how well I remember, the feeling of hitting the bottom.

But there’s one thing I remember. And remembering I keep a grip on hope.

God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.

They are created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!”

Lam 3: 19-24 (msg)

America, we have an incurable and insatiable optimism and hope. Guess where it comes from? It is built into who you are by your creator and it is a gift. Optimism is a gift. We have been given the gift of foresight, hindsight, and the ability to reason rationally in the present with these things in mind. What sets us apart from animals is we are given these gifts, and we are given the ability to choose them over all else in times of great stress, trouble and pain. We do not have to fall back on doing what we have always done and wishing for another outcome. That is how animals go extinct. Some variable changes and they do not have the ability to cope. We have the ability to cope because we have hope. A hope that comes from a living and active God. Our trials are only for a time. Our time in the wilderness is for a season, and our Joy truly does come in the morning when God and his mercy and love are renewed upon us.

America, let’s turn our faces toward our heavenly father this year, let’s turn our minds towards the hope that is in us. I want to be like the church in 1 Thessalonians when Paul first speaks to them:

“Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love,

And your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much

But also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words.

Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions”

1 Thess 1:2 (msg, bold mine)

We are set apart by God. We are his workmanship and he has a plan and a purpose for us. Let’s all commit to look for it in 2010. Let’s let the steel in our convictions become evident before all this year and let’s watch and see what the Lord will do. I, for one, am excited to see it.

~Selah~

##Update## I saw this from Bono and found it fascinating and very hope filled. He believes this next century is going to be great, I agree.

Thankfulness on this Holiday

November 26th, 2009

” For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever. “

NRSV Jer 7:5-7
This Thanksgiving, as ever Thanksgiving does, gives me an opportunity to pause and give thanks for so many things. My health, my family, a good job, great friends, an awesome church…you get the picture. And truly I am blessed and truly I take extra pause to thank God for those things today. But I have been a little bit stirred lately about the command of God to take care of the orphan and the needy and how God really just lays it out there that if you are rich, but do so by oppressing the poor or are not sharing with those who are in poverty among you that he is going to work against you.

I am not trying to be sappy and say “shame on you” for getting together with family and having an excellent meal and some time with your family. God is in the midst of such things without a doubt. But what aspects of our Thanksgiving holiday can be taken used as a way to bless the poor? Put another way, is there something that you and I do consistently in our celebration that might bring poverty to another person? This takes some thinking, but I think there is. In a lot of what our consumerist culture does there is an aspect of it that is potentially oppressive.

Today I give thanks that God has choosen to bless me and my family. But, in recognizing my blessing there is a mandate spoken again and again by God that can not be ignored to then bless the poor, the needy, the alien and widow in your midst.
Many of us know widows in our church or through our community. Do you know what they are doing for Thanksgiving? What is it that they might need done around the house or taken care of? What about an orphan? That is a little harder to define, but think of it in a way of a co-worker who just lost their last living parent and is now headed into the holidays without them. Can you minister to them? Can you maybe have what has often been called an “orphans dinner” at your home and invite him, as well as others in for a nice meal and a nice time of communion with your friends? Talk about loving your neighbor, and that is the greatest command of all.
I am just putting these thoughts out here because even I, the guy who works in a ministry that works with the impoverished and the poor and needy do not think often of these things. I am guilty of thinking that they are on the other side of the world, and then here I am and I am not exposed to people like that. I am “blessed to be a blessing” and all of that, even as my neighbor down the street does not have enough to eat.

I am thankful and greatful for so much. This year I want to take steps to let that grace “trickle down” from me unto others. I am not sure what that will mean specifically for my family. But, I bet God has a plan for it all!
~Selah!

Living Local

November 17th, 2009

Recently I was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend about living radically in a world full of increasing cultural amalgamation and homogenization and I started to wonder what it would mean if Christians committed to traveling no more the 100 miles from home for a period of time? The reason that I started to wonder about this is because I believe that a healthy and life giving church is a church that is engaged in the culture in and around it fully and completely.

I love traveling and entering into new cultures and new places and being a fish out of water. I love walking the streets of India choking on the smoke and smog of a congested city and being followed by a gaggle of children who have never seen a bald white man. It is exiting to see the life and vibrancy of a culture so different from my own. However, I believe if I can engage in that culture fully and really appreciate it, I need to be a culturally literate Christian.

Every neighborhood I have ever lived in has had a life blood and rhythm all of its own. From living in rural Colorado, to living in a few different places in the Colorado front range or places in California, they all have a flavor and experience that sets them apart from the rest of the world. The reasons are many. What industry the town is built around, what the average age of the residents is, what the spiritual landscape of the region is and so on. If a business wants to thrive in a region it must know its consumers. The same goes for a church. If a church is to know the people it is there to minister to and to lead into a life of holiness and godliness, then they must have a view of the local culture that is unique and geographically dependent.

I know that if I were to challenge myself to staying in the area for a year I am asking myself to sacrifice a lot. I like the freedom of hoping on the Interstate and being in Denver in no time. I like the freedom of a cheap flight to go see my family in Las Vegas. I feel like the Southwest Airlines tag line “You are now free to move about the country”. Or, I am the “Roaming Gnome” of Travelocity fame. I see the ability to travel as my “god given right” even though 125 years ago the average person never moved much further then 25 miles from home in a lifetime.

I believe that a few things would change in my life

1) A greater vision for the community that I am in. Being forced to observe and participate in the local culture for a time means bumping up against the people, places and things of my local expression of culture. I will see the good, but be forced to acknowledge the bad as well. It will be harder and harder to ignore the poverty of my neighbor, the homeless guy down the road, the local political landscape of where I am.

2) A greater sense of urgency and passion for the people close to me. By listening more and more only to the voices and people in my close sphere of influence, my little “halon” of existence, I can be a better advocate for my neighbor, be a better friend, be a better example to those around me.

3) A deeper understanding of the expression of Christ. Jesus did not travel far and wide in his ministry. He stayed very local and never traveled any further then where his feet could carry him in his adult life. We do not see Jesus riding camels or riding a donkey even until he came into the gates of the city to face his execution.

4) Be more environmentally friendly. Not driving so much is less Co2 in the air. Staying local will help me start thinking local and buying local foods from farmers markets, from local farms and other such things. This minimizes Co2 as well. By staying local I will care more what my local landscape looks like and be more concerned about things like traffic and how it affects our community health and so on. It is easier to think about a sustainable community if I keep myself in it for a time.

I am just thinking out loud here. I am not sure where this will all lead. But what do you think? Is this completely nuts? Or, is this the love your neighbor in full force?

Sam Van Eman over at New Breed of Advertisers has This gem to add Maybe I am not as original in my thought process, but if we all commit to this I think the spiritual landscape of communities will change, and do so quite quickly.

~Selah~

Authority and Submission

November 15th, 2009

8Afterwards David also rose up and went out of the cave and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. 9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of those who say, ‘David seeks to do you harm’? 10 This very day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you into my hand in the cave; and some urged me to kill you, but I spared? you. I said, ‘I will not raise my hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your cloak in my hand; for by the fact that I cut off the corner of your cloak, and did not kill you, you may know for certain that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you are hunting me to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between me and you! May the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.”

NRSV 1 Sa 24:8-12

David knew how to be under authority. He knew, even though Saul was not walking very close with God and that he had been promised by God to be king that he was not yet to be king. It would have been so easy to kill Saul in that cave. He had the element of surprise, he had a defensible position in the cave against Saul’s men, he could have chosen to bring the nonsense to an end right then and there. Instead, he stayed under the authority that had been anointed by God. Never once in all of 1st Samuel do we see David curse Saul. Instead he blessed him many times over again.

“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water? of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is sure I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone. 9 But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, 11 since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned.”

NRSV Tit 3:1-11 (bold mine)

I have been plenty guilty of not submitting to authority at times. I still am learning to submit and to listen and operate under authority. I thank God that I live in a Constitutional Republic that gives me the right to have an opinion and allows me to think freely and share freely. However, thinking for myself, and being divisive and subversive are two very different things.

I got my tail caught under the rocking chair this weekend when I would not speak loudly and politically, at church none the less. A person whom I respect felt that because I would not loudly shout down what Obama is doing I was not taking a stand for freedom. As I walked away the tension was palpable and completely not honoring to God. I did not handle the situation best, but neither did they.

What we need is a lot more David thinking and a lot less derisive speech. When we can submit to the authorities in our earthly lives we will begin to find it is easier to submit to not only the authority of others, but to God as well.

Worshiping under our own power

April 25th, 2009

How many times have you sat down in a worship service and felt like something was out of place? How many times do you walk away thinking that it was something with you and how you approached God? How many times are we tempted to blame it on the worship band not doing their job, or not singing the right songs? Our approach to worship determines how we worship. No other external factor should be interfering with our worship. If it is then it is an idol and it must be dealt with as such.

Reading 2 Samuel 6 this week has been an interesting experience. Why is it that God would strike Uzzah the High Priest dead for touching the Ark? He was simply trying to keep it from falling off the cart? Why was it that David’s dancing and praising earned the scorn of Michal and why was it that God caused her womb to be barren? These all seem to be pretty harsh things. I think that they were two symptoms of a greater problem, the problem of hindered worship.

2 Samuel 6:3-7 (NLT)

3 They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart as it left the house, 4 carrying the Ark of God. Ahio walked in front of the Ark. 5 David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, singing songs* and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7 Then the LORD’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this.* so Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.

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Released from the Need to know!

February 27th, 2009

I have been blessed and honored in the last 6 months or so to work more and more in the Chaplaincy role. While my ultimate goal is to be a Pastor, working as a Chaplain has and is developing several attributes that are helping shape my pastoral heart.

One thing that I have found is that I can release myself from the need to know. Let me unpack what I mean a little bit.

1) I need to know you are in pain. Pain, like a tootache, is what sends us to the Dentist. In the spiritual case, it sends you to someone who can care for your soul.

2) Like a Dentist, I dont need all the details. The Dentist does not care if you cracked your filling on a lolipop, an almond, or rocks. It just does not matter. What matters to him is alleviating the pain and helping you restore your mouth to a state of normalcy. As a person in soul care our same goal should be restoration and alleviation as much pain as possible and a return to normalcy.

How often when praying with someone does the specific thing need to be spoken? Are we so faithless as to believe that the Holy Spirit is not working in the life of the saint LONG before they come to us? I have had several instances at work and at church just in the last week where I have told someone whom I know is in distress that I am praying for them.  A simple declarative statement. No details needed. I have heard from them that they appreciated knowing I was praying for them and not having to relive the whole darn thing again.

The tricky aspect is to make myself available should someone want to speak more about it. Saying a simple “I’ll pray for you” and walking on by is not appropriate. But lingering for a few seconds is. In that few seconds you will know that praying now with them is good, or they are content to know you are praying for them.

We all work or go to church or school in a world that is gossipy and more then often a little judgemental. If we as the body of Christ would work a little harder at alleviating our need to know the details in the name of “praying specifically” for a person I think we can truly impact each other to a greater degree. Prayer stimulates the activity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows us intimately down to the sinewy details. We are just to be faithful to the call to pray for one another.

Am I terribly off base here? Please feel free to opine.

Advocacy

February 23rd, 2009

Advocacy begins at home. Time and time again sociologists, psychologists, religious leaders and others tell us that our worldview is shaped in the home. Within the economy of the home we are spiritually and intellectually shaped. I can not agree with this more, and scripture backs that idea up an exponential amount of times.

God is working in me. I am trying to “see the Calcutta in my back yard” to quote a wise and contemplative friend of mine. It started truly and deeply after the last story I shared on my blog, but it really was just a boiling up and final spilling over of God’s work, and His timing, and me.

Today I read this article on Fox News and it just brings it home for me, and I hope too many more people as well. We can no longer as God’s church sit in an isolated bubble, give our money to the missionaries and hope all goes well in places like India, Ukraine, Thailand and many other places. We need to bring these discussions into our homes. Talk to our children about what is happening, don’t scare them, but shape the reality of their worldview. How do you do this? Well, here are a few thoughts.

1) Do not raise your children to think that they are somehow privileged in the eyes of God because they are Westerners. This is HARD to do, I know this. But I believe that if we can limit the television time, read the Bible with them, and watch what they are learning in Sunday school we can do it. We must be diligent. We can not farm out our spiritual nurturing of our children to churches any more then we can safely farm out our child’s education completely to the public schools. It takes time, energy, and humility. I say this as I realize that I stink at this sometimes. I am going to work on this.

2) Fast. Spend time fasting for others. Do not fast in the typical fashion that most evangelicals think is fasting. I stop eating so as to get something from God. It probably will not work if you do it that way. Instead fast in response to sin and tragedy. Child prostitution is a tragedy; it is a sign of our moral failure as a nation. It is fasting that God listens to. Isaiah 58 6-9 states:

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
I am fired up and I admit it, but I want to hear God say “Here I am.” And I want my son to be able to hear that voice as well.

As I write this the movie Slum Dog Millionaire cleaned house at the Oscars. I am glad, but I wonder if the message will really make an eternal impact or difference in the mind of the west? (In the interest of full disclosure, I have not seen it yet, but plan to very soon) I do not think it will unless we as parents and followers of Christ will enter into the discussion with strength of conviction, with tenderness of heart, and the resolve of the Lion of the King of Judah.

Would the Real Church step Forward?

February 16th, 2009

Please don’t read this as a rant against the church, take it as a call to action, or if you read it as rantings and ravings just write me off as a mad man. I love and respect the church, I am part of one, I am in leadership in one, and I love my church, but man do we have a problem.

I normally attend church on Saturday nights. I like having a full Sabbath day rest on Sunday and it just works well when you have a youngster. This week because of Amy having another seizure we did not go Saturday night, and I went to Sunday morning service. We had a leadership meeting after service as well so I felt it necessary to attend.

My church is not far from downtown Colorado Springs. Right in the heart of the city is a well frequented Starbucks. I went there regularly before moving because it was convenient on my drive to work and the service is usually pretty quick. One thing that made going to this Starbucks tough was the amount of pan handlers outside at any given morning. They have a regular supply of willing givers headed into the offices nearby, or driving through the area to a few large employers to the north. God used those panhandlers to convict me on numerous occasions about how I live.

I stopped going to this location because I moved. But yesterday I went and was immediately shocked to see no panhandlers. Not a homeless person in site. At first I thought maybe they all were being served. Colorado Springs has a large outreach through the city to the homeless in the area. All too quickly God quickened my heart and told me why. He told me as plain as day it was because the Sunday morning church crowd that comes through does not give them anything. They have better luck elsewhere. Oouch… that stung. The more I realized and watched the crowd, the more I could see it being very true. What hurts even worse is this Starbucks is right under the shadow of two very large, very well established churches in the area. Between the two churches they probably have 15,000 worshipers a week. Does not the church realize the mission before them, and that the mission is literally in their back yard? I went to my car and cried. I have not been moved like that in awhile.

Working in a mission’s organization is a wonderful thing. I truly do enjoy the satisfaction that I am working on behalf of “the least of these” but I have been hard pressed to remember that missions is not just in the aggregate. I can think on the global scale about things like justice, compassion, mercy, forgiveness and so on. But I can not forget that mercy, justice, compassion and forgiveness start in my own back yard. It starts in how I see my neighbor, and who I define as my neighbor. God reminds us so well in the story of the Samaritan that all people are our neighbors.

The one thing that frustrates me in global missions and causes me to loose sleep is how to lead people over the hump of just thinking that God needs their money, they give it and somehow God just shows up and uses it? God does not need our resources, but he asks for them. Money is a resource, but so is our time. What would it take for me to get more involved in my own back yard in helping “the least of these” at home? This is a question that I am beginning to ponder, and quite frankly I am loosing sleep over. Then, how do I (we) motivate the church to go beyond the giving, beyond the self satisfying feeling that they tithed and that is all that God requires?

God is calling workers into the fields of the harvest. I spent my childhood in a Baptist church and watching Lottie Moon and her missionaries come through from time to time asking for support. I was given the impression, either by being told, or by omission, that God called some people into the mission’s field, and called others to fund them. I agree to a small extent. I thank God there are missionaries who go to New Guinea and have a heart for writing a bible for them. I support them. But the field is ripe there, and it is ripe here, and it is ripe in Africa, and it is ripe in Europe. None of us can be in all places at once, but each one of us who follow Jesus can be present in our circumstances and showing and sharing the love of Christ. Sometimes that is a cup of cold water for a friend, other times it is getting out of your comfort zone and giving a car to the single mother household. God calls us ALL into the mission field, and he equips us ALL for the task that is at hand. That task is being present. Present for friends, family, neighbors, strangers, and most importantly, for the Holy Spirit to show up and give you a task or a cause. My question is, will you accept?

~Selah~

If you wonder why I work in the fields of the fatherless

September 10th, 2008

Take a moment and Read this article. If you like it please share it with others. Tom Davis is right on, as usual.

Lessons from the Field

September 4th, 2008

Dominican Republic BeautyWhile in the Dominican Republic this last week I was constantly in a state of shock and awe. The people I saw were completely awesome, the work being done is nothing short of amazing, and the kids were absolutely amazing. As you can see by the picture on the right, kids are cute there, just as they are all here.

On the last full day in the Dominican Republic God gave me such an amazing opportunity that I was not prepared for at all. I did not have my Blackberry at this particular moment so I am sorry I do not have a picture.

We were in a rural area and most people were very hardworking farming families. Faye had just blown through and done some crop damage and they were very busy. I had a chance to pray with a man who lives near one of our Compassion projects. As I went to pray for him and for the success of his crop and that he would become more “prosperous” he stopped me dead in my tracks and said he was going to pray for me, that I would become poor, and therefore more prosperous. I was visibly taken aback by what he had said and was quite perplexed for a few moments as I bathed my soul in that statement. After a few moments he said that he pities the “westerners” who are Christians but who do not have a felt need for Christ because we are not in need of anything. Everything we have is given to us, or is easily obtained. He said that he felt blessed because he lived so close to the earth and was therefore so dependent upon the divine grace of God.

While chewing on this for the last week I have realized that I have no desire to become poor in the sense that I am without any resources, but he has the right idea about being spiritually poor. How much faith do I put in my material resources and job? How much do I look to the things that I am blessed with for my security, and not my heavenly father who waits to give me all good things and who favors me so ridiculously that I could never deserve it on my own?

After talking with him for a few more minutes he told me that he worked and worked one year to afford a television for his family. He had a good crop year and was able to give his children the thing that they desired. They loved it. As the children grew older they started to fight against staying home and learning from him and his family. Two of his three children left for other cities and countries and ended up drug addicted and one died. After lots of soul searching he believed one of the contributing factors to them rebelling was the television. I agree to a degree as well.

A 5 minute conversation with a sun battered poor farmer in the middle of the Dominican Republic taught me more then any sermon I have heard in a very long time. I also found out that his house is considered to be fancy in the neighborhood because he has a house that is not completely made of tin. Here is a picture of what the neighbors considered to be luxurious:

Dominican Republic House

I have been complaining about having to move into an apartment that only has two bedrooms. Geez I have a lot to learn.

“Lord teach me to rely on you and not my own self. Lord

open my eyes to see your love and wisdom spoken in the people

and places that you love so much. Convict me of my arrogance and use me

as a beacon of your love. ~Amen~

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