Marveling At The Mundane

Two lives, One Story

A young boy steps mindlessly beside his father’s flock of sheep. A few stones in his hands are his only distraction from the monotonous bleating and endless munching of the sheep. One stone skips across a brook. Another makes a mark on a tree as it ricochets harmlessly down.

A young man slouches casually in the stern of his boat as he bobs on the waves of the sea. The nets have been up and down at least a hundred times, and, other than an occasional tuft of seaweed, they have been completely fruitless. The work isn’t bad (unless it rains), and it’s what he knows. He’s been a fisherman since he was a fisherboy.

Mundane: ordinary; commonplace, not unusual, often boring. It’s how most of life is spent. It’s the stuff we leave out of our diaries. And it’s precisely the place where God loves to show up.

The Baby Brother

David was the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse. His heart was filled with adventure, but his days were occupied with sheep. His was the typical experience of baby brothers down through the ages.

Even after the occasional wrestling match with a wild lion or bear in defense of his closest companions – the sheep – he would return home to half-attentive (and quarter-believing) listeners to the recounting of his battle only to be rewarded with yet another less-than-glorious task. Today it’s delivery duty and fact-finding at the war camp where his three oldest brothers are serving. (1 Samuel 17)

A Fisherman’s Tale

Simon Peter is a fisherman. It’s what he does. It’s what he is. He fishes. Every day revolves around tides and nets and weather reports and hotspots. Some trips out are better than others. Last night was as bad as they come (at least it hadn’t rained), and now it was that part of the fisherman’s routine when he checks, repairs, and readies his nets to start it all again tomorrow. Even without any fish, Simon Peter is a fisherman.

Today, the crowds come to the shore not to buy his fish (if only he had caught some!), but to hear and be near Jesus. There is something in the air more refreshing than the breeze off of the water. It’s an anticipation. An attention to the words that Jesus is speaking. The crowd is buzzing, but begins to hush as Jesus steps into Simon’s boat. ‘Push us out a little bit, Simon.’, he says. Well, a little sooner than he had expected to be back in his boat, but……(shove, jump, glide). (Luke 5)

David and Simon Peter. Two illustrations of how God can and does take what we do everyday and transform it into what He does everyday. Illustrations of God making the mundane marvelous.

Mundane Offerings, Marvelous Results

As David pulls into the camp to make his delivery and check on things for his father, he’s eager to hear about and join in the action of the frontlines. But as it turns out the extent of the action has been one giant Philistine trash talking the men and God of Israel for the past month and the men of Israel shivering in their armor talking big about how someone should face the giant and take him out. Talk. Brave words from scared men.

Now, what David lacked in physical stature he more than compensated with faith. The kind of faith that sees beyond the physical stature of the giant to the spiritual power of God. So to David there is a simple fix to the problem. Step up to the big bully and shut him up. But how? (That’s the other guys wondering. Not David.)

For David God makes all the difference. His brothers don’t get it, and they belittle his confidence. Sounds similar to what Goliath has been spewing for the past 40 days. Saul doesn’t get it either, and he tries to bolster David up physically with his armor. An external show with no heart within. Like big words, but no guts.

But David gets it. My everyday plus God’s everyday equals look out if your on the other side. My mundane in the service of God equals marvelous.

Simon gets it, too. While he finds faith breaking the mold of his day on a smaller scale in his encounter with Jesus, the ramifications to his life (and the world) are just as big (if not bigger).

Jesus literally steps into Simon’s world when he gets into his boat. But he doesn’t stop there. We don’t know the specifics of Jesus’ discourse that day, but perhaps it had something to do with believing and obeying (they’re really the same thing). As Jesus wraps up his words to the people he continues into Simon’s everyday existence by saying, ‘Simon, fish. Do what you do.’

Simon gives his disclaimer about the previous night’s lack of success, and humors Jesus by going through the motions. But this time by faith. ‘I’ll put my nets down by faith, not by routine today’, Simon basically says. And the result? Marvelous. Especially to Simon. Too many fish to hold in one boat. So much success he had to bring in his friends.

But then Jesus takes the marvelous factor up a notch with Simon. He says, ‘You’ve seen what I can do with your everyday life. Now let me show what I want to do with you.’ This time Simon’s nets go down, but not into the water. Rather, they fall to the sandy beach and Simon follows Jesus into a new deep water seeking a different catch.

Same Story Today

Peter (a.k.a. Simon) writes in his first epistle that everything we do should be done so that ‘in everything God may be glorified…’ (chapter 4). In everything. Peter mentions speaking and serving, but he may have considered putting fishing on the list as well. And certainly it could include what you and I do every day at work or school or play. Everything means every thing.

Whatever it is we do or however it is we look on the outside, realize that it is God that makes the difference. And he is not limited by our resume, stature, age, or hometown (‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?!’). Place whatever faith you’ve got – big like David’s or seemingly fleeting like Simon’s – and watch, better yet marvel at, what God will do through what you can do.

The Burdens We Bear

‘Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple’ –Jesus in Luke 14

What are you carrying in your hands today?  Under what are you burdened?  What is weighing you down right now?  If your hands are gripped around anything other than a cross, you need to let go.

Rather than ask, ‘What?’ let me ask, ‘Why?’  Why are you carrying that weight around today?  Why are you shouldering that burden?  Why is that thing weighing you down right now?

I imagine that on this journey we call life, the things we carry with us are the things that we value most.  They are the things we believe we must bring with us rather than leave them behind.  So, ‘Why?’

Why do you think that working 80 hours a week is what you have to do?  Why do you believe that there are too many things that you have to do and too few hours?  Why do minor things become major headaches?

If I were to put forth a guess, perhaps it’s that you find your identity in the things that you have and do.  Or that you would like to.  The good news is that you’re right.  That which you cling to will be what determines the worth of your life.  The bad news is that you can ‘have it all’, and have absolutely nothing at the same time.

In the struggle for significance, our biggest obstacle is (and always will be) our sinful selves.  Much of what we choose to carry around with us is an attempt to outweigh the bad with good.  The problem is that our bad selves and those good things are weighed on different scales.

Our sins are not compared to our good deeds.  They are matched up against God’s eternal perfection.  Erecting an entire world of ‘goodness’ apart from a separation from our sins is futile.  And the only place that this can be found is on a cross.  Our cross.  Daily.

And here a mystery takes place.  A mystery that cannot be unraveled with human reason, but only by faith.  The mystery is that as we take our cross to bear it we find the load already lifted.  As we set our feet to move it forward we find we are the ones being moved.  As we go to take our place on its beams we find them occupied by another.  We find Jesus in our place, on our cross, bearing our burdens.

This is what makes struggling under the burden of ‘things’ and ‘life’ so laughable.  How clean does a house have to be to equal the work done by Jesus on your cross?  How many hours at work does it take to accomplish the task that Jesus did on the cross?  How many ‘good’ things can you try to carry to the scale to equal the weight of Jesus’s sacrifice for you?  The only thing that matters in terms of significance is the cross.  And at the cross we find Jesus.

So when life happens (and it always does) and you begin to feel burdened and weary, hear the words of Jesus as he says, ‘Come to me, and I will give you rest.  My burden is light.’  Find your worth and identity solely in the cross born by Jesus.  Cling to it with two hands.  Allow no other ‘thing’ to wedge itself in and add an unnecessary burden to your soul.  Be found daily and at the end of life with no other burden or claim on your soul but the cross you deserved and Jesus bore.

If there is any burden in your hands right now other than a cross, let it go.

The Approach to Training

Crossover Effect

By tying our spiritual training with our physical training we can get a crossover effect. The spiritual emphasis reminds us of the proper priorities of fitness (physical is good; spiritual is better), and the rigors of physical training give us insight into what it means to “train” ourselves spiritually. As with most things, positive results and improvement in both types of training require three things: discipline, sweat, and time.

Discipline means a constant regard for correction and attention to detail.

Sweat represents the effort and sacrifice we invest into this endeavor. Intensity is the not-so-secret secret to improving physical fitness. It’s the same for spiritual fitness as well. We must push ourselves beyond what we believe we can do. One more rep. One more set. One more exercise. One more hour. One more chapter. One more step of obedience. This won’t feel easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

And finally, time means we get to our destination eventually, not immediately. Tomorrow will look and feel much like today, but over weeks and months fruit will begin to appear. You (and others) will notice a change. An understanding of the time it takes and the discipline to keep pushing forward is what it takes to get anywhere physically and/or spiritually.

The Plan

So what’s the plan? Thankfully God has beautifully laid out instructions and guidance through His word (the Bible) as to how to train ourselves spiritually.

Therefore, each day begins with a verse or two followed by a short devotion to give us some insight into what the verse says.  In addition, there will be a paragraph or two applying the scripture to our physical training.  Gain insight into the spiritual aspect of ‘training yourself’ from these thoughts about physical training.  And vice versa.

Following this will be a portion of scripture to be memorized during the week (broken down into daily nuggets). Carry these words with you throughout the day. Let them (cause them) to take root deep within your consciousness and become the foundation of your thoughts, speech, actions, and attitudes.

Next will be a prayer focus. Take the time to apply the truths we’ve studied to your life by speaking them out to God. Repeat them back to Him in your own words. He’ll clear up any questions, and show areas of application we may not see initially. Do this on your own and don’t rush. Sit with God for a while and spend time talking (out loud) about what He has said and what we are to believe.

After that there will be an ‘OutWork’ which will be a clear action to take during the week in order to begin to live out the words we’ve studied. This will be one of the more challenging aspects of this training. But just like with lifting weights or running, the discomfort is part of the process of growth. Commit yourself to the outcome of a new life. That means doing new things, saying new things, knowing new people, going new places. It may mean not going to some old places or not doing some old things. That’s part of the discipline we talked about.

Finally, we will have a periodized, weekly physical ‘WorkOut’ plan. Daily exercises will be given with an aspect to be recorded for tracking results.  For explanations or variations, shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to provide a more personalized option.

Our motto

The motto we’ll follow for this training is, ‘Do what you can, when you can’. That means if something feels too difficult, modify it so that it’s just challenging enough to feel like you’re pushing yourself one step beyond normal. On the flip side, this means stepping it up when it feels too easy.

As with any exercise program make sure you’re aware of any limitations or special circumstances you may have before you begin. Talk with a physician, get a physical, get a true understanding of what your physical condition is first. Remember, we’re looking to start at the (your) beginning, and we can’t know what that truly is without asking hard questions and honestly seeking the answers. You can’t find the end, until you find the beginning.

We’re here. We’ve got a goal. We’ve got a plan. We’re ready!

Timothy’s Workout Plan

“…Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, holding promise both for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7b-8

Intro

Over the next few weeks, I will be putting forth a workout plan that incorporates both spiritual and physical fitness.  If you need a little help getting in shape, or have wanted a deeper motivation for working out the following posts will be a journey toward godliness mixed with some ‘bodily training’.  It will be challenging on both levels.  Please join in and follow along.  Post comments and give some feedback.  More details on the plan tomorrow, but for now: the beginning…

Beginnings

When we begin an endeavor like this (fitness/rightness), it is always best to begin at the beginning. And there we typically find questions. Lots of questions! But questions are good because they can reveal what answers we’re looking for, and when we know that then we have a beginning.

“What is valuable?” “What value do I have?” “What is good?” “What is good about me?” “How can I get right/fit?” “How can I change this?” By looking at these common questions (and, yes, everybody is asking basically the same questions as you), we can begin to define what is our goal. We are looking for fitness. Rightness. Righteousness.

righteousness – acting rightly; according to what is right [Webster’s]

If we’re honest (and we must be or else our questions are useless), we recognize that something is wrong with the world, with our lives, with us. And it’s not just surface things like “I don’t like my job” or “I don’t like the color of my hair”. Those things are changeable. No, there is a deeper problem that we can’t put our hands on and change. It’s our hearts. Our nature. Not how we are, but who we are.

Caution!

This questioning can seem depressing. Both the answers we find and/or the absence of answers can lead us to a sense of despair. Worthlessness. Helplessness. But here’s some good news…that’s ok. It’s ok to make an honest assessment of the things around us and within us and come away with a bleak outlook. Because there is an answer that exists outside of everything we’ve ever known or been, and it speaks words like faithful, true, and righteous. The condition we find ourselves in (as revealed by the questions we repeatedly ask) is not unchangeable, and it is addressed head on by the only One who can do anything about it. God.

faithfulness – steadfast in affection or allegiance; firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty [Webster’s]

When we begin at the beginning we discover that we begin with God. And we find He is already way ahead of us on this road! God ALONE is faithful. God ALONE is true. God ALONE is righteous. God ALONE is every answer we desire to hear in response to our questions. Who He (truly) is, is who and how we (truly) want to be. And the road we are setting out on is the road that leads us to that reality. God’s likeness. Godliness.

godliness – devoutly conforming to the will of God [Webster’s]

What will you choose?

‘One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after…’

In life we will always have choices.  It may not feel so in the moment, but it’s true nonetheless.  At our most comfortable and at our most trying we have (and always will have) the ability to choose – fear or faith.  Fear that overcomes faith will be a prison.  Faith that overcomes fear is freedom.

There is no position in life that one may obtain (riches, security, power) that can safeguard against the outstretched arm of pain or worry.  However, there is also no destitution that can come upon us which can render us beyond the reach of faith and hope.  The presence of clouds doesn’t change the fact that the sun is shining still.  We can’t see it, yet we know it.

The same is true in life.  Christ in on His throne, and all things are being brought into submission to Him (Heb 2 from Ps 8).

Now in putting everything in submission to Him, He left NOTHING outside His control.  At present, we do not yet see everything in submission to Him, but we do see Him…,namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor….

How then do we ‘see’ Jesus crowned with glory and honor while we don’t ‘yet see’ all things in submission to Him?  Faith.  Belief.

David prays in Psalm 27,

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

So we can see some action words in these verses: ask, seek, dwell, gaze, inquire (or meditate).  These words must help to guide our choices throughout life’s highs and lows.

Whether healthy or dying, are we seeking to dwell in the Lord’s house?  Whether rich or poor, do we seek to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord?  Whether comfortable or afraid, are we inquiring in the Lord’s temple?  The Lord, reigning at the center of everything, must be our one thing.  And we must seek after it continually.  For faith chosen today is good, but the choice will return again tomorrow.  Faith is like manna in that way.  Yesterday’s is no good for today.

The glory of the gospel of Christ is that we now have a choice where before there was only despair.  Therefore, let us joyfully and courageously partake of the freedom we have been given to choose.  Or as Hebrews 10 proclaims,

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH.  …LET US OLD FAST THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE WITHOUT WAVERING, FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL.

Comforted

The problem of discomfort

Think with me for a second. Things are not as they should be. Or, at least in our minds, things are not as they could be. Live long enough in this world and you will learn the simple equation, Life = Discomfort.

I probably don't need to do much convincing on this point, and I'm aware that we all carry around our own pain (Prov 14:10). So my thoughts turn towards....'Now what?'. Is there any answer for the reality we live through?

A fork in the road

Philosophies of life, stated or assumed, are formed in the responses we make to life's discomfort, and I think there are two general paths that are chosen. Some choose to stockpile comfort in this life/world by continuously amassing stuff and then holding on, hoping it never runs out. Others seek a different world altogether. The hoarders and the givers. The near-sighted and the far-sighted. The comfortable and the comforted.

The words of Jesus clearly speak, 'In this world you will have trouble.' Maybe that sounds like an understatement to you, but the words don't end there. Jesus is setting the stage of life with the props and characters we are all familiar with, but then He steps onto that same stage and speaks His line. Who we become (or may become) in this troublesome life depends largely on how/if we read the rest of the verse. 'But take heart! I have overcome the world.' (John 16).

Not enough pillows in the world

To attempt to pad ourselves with the cushions of money, fame, or possessions (or worse numb ourselves with drunkenness, apathy, or oblivion) is like trying to outrun your shadow. In fact, many of the characteristics of those we think comfortable in this world (and perhaps envy a bit?) may be attributes of cowardice. Now, I'm not denouncing wealth in one's life, unless that treasure pile has become one's sole (or soul) security and comfort. Jesus said, 'Take heart!', not 'Buy stock!' or 'Marry rich!' or 'Get drunk!'. The call of Christ is to be bold in belief and commitment.....to Him.

Why? Not because He sells the best insurance policy or has found the best loophole around the pain problem. He says, 'I haven't merely overcome your circumstances. I have overcome this entire world and the way it is and does things.' He speaks of a comfort that this world cannot give or understand because it (itself) is broken (John 14). He (Himself) is the only remedy to life's discomfort.

Where we end up

Please don't take these words as a prosperity, Jesus-makes-everything-happy, no more tears pat on the back. All His words are true, and you will still read 'you will have trouble' in John even after you receive His salvation. But just as John's Gospel is true, so is his Revelation. There will come a day when there will be no more tears, no more death, mourning, weeping, or pain. No more discomfort.

The sequence we are called to is not comfortable living now followed by more really comfortable living later. The way of life we are called to is to be comforted by believing now through all that may come, and then be brought to the day when true comfortable life becomes a reality. It arrives with Jesus, Him whom we have believed. And, as impossible as it sounds, nothing now (yes, even that) will compare to the comfort then, but you can believe it.

Reposo II

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."

"My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people."

"Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart..."

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you..."

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life..."

"My soul thirst for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."

"The Lord upholds all who those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down... You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."

"But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in Your hands..."

"How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer. ...Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"

"I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."

"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God."

From all that dwells below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise;
Let the Redeemer's Name be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.

Eternal are thy mercies, Lord,
Eternal truth attends thy word;
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
till suns shall rise and set no more.

-Isaac Watts

John 1; Ezekiel 37; Psalm 24; Ezekiel 36; Psalm 27; Psalm 42; Psalm 90; Psalm 145; Psalm 31; Isaiah 30; Isaiah 57; Revelation 11; Revelation 21

Simple human things

If you have a copy of 'My Utmost For His Highest' by Oswald Chambers, I encourage you to read the entry for Feb 21 entitled, 'Have you ever been carried away for Him?' If you don't have a copy, check it out online at http://www.myutmost.org/ and go to that date. Here are a couple of highlights: 'Have I ever been carried away to do something for God not because it was my duty, nor because it was useful, nor because there was anything in it at all beyond the fact that I love Him?...Not Divine, colossal things which could be recorded as marvelous, but ordinary, simple human things which will give evidence to God that I am abandoned to Him?...Abandon to God is of more value than personal holiness. ...When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time.'

What are those 'simple human things' that Chambers talks about that serve as tokens of love to God? One form they can take is compassion and comfort for others in need (Matthew 25:40). However, we often undercut our very attempts at compassionate service because we have a greater desire to be in the spotlight than to abandon ourselves to the work God will do through us, and the sentiment interpreted by the world is, "Here, let me help you, not because I care, but because I'm better than you are and it's what I'm supposed to do." Compassion gets lost in the wake of our drive to appear compassionate. I think if we will slow down for a second and truly evaluate the compassion we have been shown by God, the authenticity of our outreach will never again be in doubt.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 that God is the 'Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.' I don't think any of us have to think very hard in order to bring to mind someone who is struggling through troubles. Perhaps you don't have to think very long because it is you who are feeling weighted down by troubles. If that's the case, I pray you will receive this time as an opportunity (albeit a hard one) to understand just how deeply God cares for you. Grasp the boundless extremes of God's love and allow His comfort to overwhelm you even in this darkness. In order for us to know the expanse of His faithfulness, we have to journey to places we can't believe (yet!) that God can reach. God comforts us in all our troubles.

However if that's not the case right now, we will eventually find ourselves in that place where we can compassionately serve our neighbor, and it is there that we have to be very careful to acknowledge what (more accurately Who) is the source of our comfort. Somebody in this world is experiencing trouble right now, and the source of their comfort is God. But the delivery of that comfort is you and me. Don't mix those roles up! Believe me, I can do remarkably little to comfort a brother or sister in trouble when I draw from my own compassion stores. But when I allow the comfort God has bathed me with to overflow into another person's life, true compassion is both given and received. Most importantly, all parties involved recognize that God is the Father of ALL compassion, and glory is given to him alone.

Now, notice two small words in the passage from 2 Corinthians above: all and any. God comforts us in all our troubles. We have never pulled ourselves out of any holes of despair. We have never encouraged ourselves to endure through the midnight of heartache because we would bring the dawn of healing. We have never been in any trouble that God was not there actively applying comfort and healing to our wounded hearts. Not once. Not ever. Big. Small. In ALL our troubles, God has been and will continue to be our comfort.

Also, we have been given the capacity to comfort our neighbor through any trouble they are facing. How many times have we passed over a stranger in trouble (or worse a friend) rationalizing, "I can't do anything to help them."? That's absolutely right! But we shy away because we fail to recognize the true source of all compassion and comfort. It's not us, it is God. This is where we have to get it out of our heads that we are anything but vessels of God's compassion and comfort. We must get to that place of abandon that Chambers talks about, and find God working through us. Only He can comfort ANY trouble, and he will do so through you and through me.

Shine the spotlight on me, and you'll find a wounded, weak, patched up pot that isn't worth a second look. But look inside me and find the inestimable treasure that is God's mercy when He sought me, found me, and healed my wounds. Discover the brilliant Glory of Love that covers over every sin I ever perpetrated against Him and those around me. Let me show you the marvelous purpose and destiny that he has graciously placed within me. And then let me tell you that neither He nor His love ever changes. The same comfort that I've been given is for you, too. And all that treasure, all that goodness inside, all that love is for you as well!

So those 'simple human things' that we do out of abandon to God are passing along all the comfort that we have received from God to any other who finds themselves in trouble, and simply, honestly, and humbly revealing the glorious treasure of Who God is and what He has done in our hearts.

God, I now realize that it has always been You comforting and caring for me when my world, my life, and my heart were broken. You poured out love beyond measure and life without end into my heart, and now You allow those radiant riches to shine through and overflow out of my cracks into the hurts and wounds of my neighbors in this world. I pray that today I would offer back to you some simple human thing that expresses how carried away I am by Your Love! In the Name of Jesus, my Comfort in all troubles, Amen.

under-loving, under-worshiping

The channel for the river of our worship of God is cut by the current of our understanding of His love for us.

We love and know what love is because God first loved us (1 John 4), and our worship of God is the expression of our love for Him (Luke 7). True and right worship is dependent upon a deep realization and true understanding of God's mercy and forgiveness (Romans 11:32-12:1). Paul prays for the church at Ephesus '...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...' In his first letter to Timothy, Paul would testify as to how he had come to grasp (and be grasped by!) the wonder that is the love of God in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 1). How do we grasp love? What does my worship tell me about my understanding of God's love for me?

In Luke 7 we have the story, not a parable, of a supper that Jesus was invited to at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. What transpires there gives us an illustration of the ties that exist between mercy, forgiveness, love, and worship.

As Jesus reclines at the table of Simon, a woman enters the room and begins to weep, wash Jesus's feet, and pour sweet perfume onto Him. She doesn't say a word, but everything she has just done is an expression of how much she loves Jesus. In short, she has worshiped Him.

Now, this woman is described in the text as having 'lived a sinful life in that town', and apparently her sins are common knowledge to everyone, including Simon the Pharisee. In his supposed righteousness, he says to himself, "Some 'prophet' this Jesus is. If he only knew who this woman is and what she's done....she is a sinner!"

Jesus enters into Simon's one-man conversation and says, 'Simon, I have something to tell you.' Simon welcomes this word from Jesus perhaps assuming that Jesus will highlight the differences between a sinful life and a righteous one using this woman and Simon as prime examples. Simon isn't far off the mark, but he will be shocked to see that his role is the exact opposite of what he expects. Jesus proceeds to tell him a parable about two men who owe a man money, and the connection between forgiveness and love begins to come to light.

The summary of the parable (and of the happenings that night) is found in verse 47: '[This woman] loves much because her many sins have been forgiven, but he who has been forgiven little, loves little.' I can imagine the incredulity that ensued. Here was Simon, a Pharisee, a teacher of the Law, a man known for his 'righteousness' being outdone in the love of God by a woman known for her sinful life.

Perhaps we can cast Simon for the role of the self-righteous Pharisee praying at the temple in another of Jesus's parables in Luke 18. There we find a Pharisee standing and loudly 'praying to himself' (another one-man dialogue!) as he recounts why he is so good, especially compared to the despised tax collector who is also praying in the temple. The tax collector, however, is huddled off to the side, undone by the weight of his sinfulness, begging for mercy from God. It is he, not the Pharisee, who is held up as the righteous one in that parable.

So it seems that Simon was misunderstanding both the nature of sin and from where true righteousness comes. Simon assumed he was 'okay' because of the life he had lived, but he was unaware that it isn't the number of sins you commit that is important, it's understanding the true nature of sin.

In James we are told that anyone guilty of breaking even one part of the Law is guilty of breaking it ALL (James 2). Even self-righteous Simon, if he was honest, would admit that he was guilty of missing the mark at least once, but his misguided concept of righteousness would probably lead him to the conclusion that it was no big deal.

I recently heard John Piper relate a saying his Dad had told him: 'It's not hard to get people saved, but it's really hard to get people lost.' Ponder that for a second and you'll realize that that is precisely what Jesus was saying to Simon. Jesus is moving Simon's paradigm from self-centered to God-centered. Focusing not on what Simon did or did not do, but recognizing Who God is.

The sinful woman's actions sprang from her grateful response to Who Jesus is and the undeserved Love she needed; however, Simon viewed his actions as the basis for his righteousness and the reason God should love him. See, Simon had over-estimated his righteousness, thereby under-realizing God's mercy and forgiveness and under-loving God when He came and reclined at his dinner table.

This post is a call to honestly recognize the depths to which we have fallen. However, that is only the beginning, not the end. What should then follow is a heart-freeing, God-glorifying 'Hallelujah!' with a new, truer recognition of the length to which God goes to reach us and save us.

Remember, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8). The point of more deeply grasping the truth of our sin is to subsequently grasp more deeply the forgiveness of our sin trough Jesus. The intensity of our salvation will be dependent upon our view of ourselves before the Cross. In other words (according to Jesus), our love for God is limited by our estimation of our forgiveness. Those without an honest recognition of sin or those with much comfort will fatally under-appreciate the Task of Christ, under-realize the Love of God, and under-worship Him.

Take comfort in the 'trustworthy saying' of Paul as related to Timothy. Paul's testimony to Timothy is that he was the worst sinner of all, but Christ came into the world to save even Him in order that the infinite extent of God's patience and love would be displayed as an example for all who believe. Paul recognized the truth of his sin, but didn't stop there. Christ had so manifested the love and forgiveness of God in his life that he would spend the rest of his life proclaiming the gospel to those who felt like they were the worst sinners in the world. Paul ends his testimony worshiping out of the love welling up within him on account of Christ's forgiveness: 'Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the Only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever!'

My sincerest aim in pointing us to an honest evaluation of our sin, is that we would RE-evaluate the grandness of the mercy and forgiveness of God, RE-grasp the infinite dimensions of His love for us, RE-discover the indescribably Glorious character of God, and be so filled with love for Him in return that our hearts would overflow in worship.

O Lord, I am undone by my sin, but I am even more undone by Your love and forgiveness. Remove the limits of my love and worship for You as I grasp the limitless Love You have for me. I echo the words of John by saying: how great is the love that the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! That is what I am! Now I worship You, the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God. To You alone be glory both now and forevermore. Amen!

The C.o.r.e. of Christianity

There's a saying in strength training that you're only as strong as your core. Without a good connection between lower body and upper body, you won't function very efficiently or effectively. In other words, you're limited in applying whatever peripheral strengths you may have. With that in mind, what's the core of Christianity? What is it that must be built upon in order for everything else we do to be effective?

C - the Cross of Christ

The Cross of Jesus Christ is a capital C. Apart from an understanding of the Cross, every effort towards righteousness, love, faith, hope, etc. is foundationless. We are limited if we believe that we can do anything of significance apart from an embracing of the Cross and what it means. The Cross speaks of the core of our problems: sin, and it reveals the core of the only lasting solution: resurrection. If we vainly attempt to apply salves and bandages to our own or our neighbors' wounds we ultimately accomplish no healing at all. It's not until the root problem of sin is addressed and overcome by the Cross that any newness of life can be experienced. It's also a capital C because while the remaining three core fundamentals may be shared by other worldviews, the Cross of Christ is exclusive to Christianity. It stands alone and unrivaled throughout history. Nowhere else do we see the roads of God, man, meekness, and conquering cross paths except in the life and gospel of Jesus.

0 - outreach

This hearkens back to the 'extending God's love' from a previous post (My 5 Exes, Part 1). Christianity is a life of outreach. There must be a missional mindset among believers if we are to truly represent the core of our faith. All through scripture we see this outreach of God to mankind. In the garden of Eden, God calls to Adam and Eve, 'Where are you?' after they had made the choice to disobey by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The prophets record God's pleading words with Israel as He declares not only His knowledge of their sin, but His complete forgiveness and deep desire to be reconciled completely with them forever. Jesus is the appearance of God in human flesh as He reaches out to a people ' without hope and without God in the world' (Ephesians 2). Jesus said that He came to 'seek and to save' those who are lost. Clearly at the core of who we are (or must be) is being people who do not turn blind eyes or deaf ears to the world around us, but rather we are the hands that reach out in love and the feet that carry good news to the ends of the earth joyfully.

r - relationship

At the core of Christianity, we find relationships are more cherished than all other things. The indescribable Triune God, Three in One. There is relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The scripture 'God is love' in 1 John 3 can't be understood apart from how highly God values relationships. He expresses His Nature through them. Marriage. Parenting. The church. Our bodies. The miracle of diverse things being connected together for a unified purpose of love, activity, and joy serves as a clear highlight that relationships are fundamental to understanding God and the life we receive from Him. Consider the relational focus of Paul's writings in the New Testament. Again and again he is greeting or warning or encouraging or reminding or praising or rebuking or boasting about another individual or group of people - all for the sake of relationship. He loved the people God had placed in His care. Relationships were everything to him. Jesus' teachings can clearly be understood as the truest approach to relating rightly to God and other people. From the sermon on the mount to the instruction to John concerning Mary from the cross, we see and hear Jesus showing and telling us what love for God, love for our neighbor, love for one another, and love for our enemies looks like. Relationships, forming and maintaining them, must be at the core of who we are as a people of faith.

e - eternal life

This is the gift of God to us: eternal life in Jesus our Lord (Romans 6). The foundation for our thinking and our living must be an understanding that all this creation around us is temporary. We, however, are not. This gives a new perspective to our priorities. That Lexus in the garage is temporary; the hitchhiker in the rain is not. That new huge-screen TV is temporary; that baby playing with the knobs and buttons on it is not. That new blog you started working on every week is temporary; your wife is not. People and relationships take on greater worth when viewed through the lens of eternity. Consider the sheep and the goats parable as taught by Jesus in Matthew 25. The actions and attitudes of the two groups of people were revealed by how they lived and who they loved. The core of the goats was self, outer appearance and social status. The core of the sheep's hearts was outreach, relationship, and love for God and neighbor. They valued eternal things and therefore entered into the enjoyment of eternal life. As Christians, we must fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12) and set our hearts on things above (Colossians 3). If we are swayed by the sights and times in which we live, our strength and function as believers will be limited and diminished.

The beauty of the Core of Christianity is that all the parts work together, rely on one another, and complement each other. The Cross is the culmination God's outreach to the world in the attempt to restore relationship between Himself and mankind - a relationship that will last for eternity. These are the heart of what we believe. They are our core. Weakness or neglect in any/all of these will seriously hinder any other strength we have or effort we make.

Father God, Your strength and power are unmatched, and I know how desperately weak I am, all because of sin. Thank you for overcoming my weakness with Your strength through the Cross of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for showing me how to be and live strong. Work me over again and again until my core is the strongest part of who I am. I repent of focusing on less important gifts that make me look good while turning away from the harder work of relationships and outreach. Give me the perspective of eternity so that I will value that which lasts. You, O God are the strength of my heart and my portion forever! Amen.

What Is Really Important?

The apostle Paul is a man few can compare to when it comes to knowing the extremes of the spectrum of life. He was a persecutor of Jesus and His followers, until he became a proclaimer of Jesus and His worthiness to be followed by all men. He was an amateur in the matters of the Gospel, until he became the author of the majority of the New Testament. He was loved. He was hated. He was worshiped by foreigners as a god, and he was stoned, beaten, and whipped by his own countrymen for proclaiming the gospel of the One True God (see 2 Corinthians 11 for more details about Paul's journey through life as a Christ-follower; you'll never mistake your troubles for 'persecution' again). So when Paul begins his letter to the Philippians (written 'in chains' during his imprisonment) by giving insight into what is really important in any and every situation, we would be wise to take a closer look. In Philippians 1:12-26, I see (at least) three phrases that give us a solid framework for determining what our focus should be during those times in life when we aren't sure which way to go.

1.) '...Christ is preached.' - Paul tells the Philippians that while he has been imprisoned God has been at work stirring up 'most of the brothers' to proclaim the gospel boldly and unashamedly. Now, some, out of 'love' and 'goodwill', were sincerely inspired to take up the banner of Jesus and to continue the defense of the gospel for which Paul was thrown in jail. Others, however, saw an opening for gaining some notoriety for themselves with Paul conveniently out of the way. Paul recognized their motivation for what it truly was: 'envy', 'rivalry', and 'selfish ambition'. So, where can we find a foothold in situations like this when our circumstances are being maliciously used by others for their good and our trouble? The secret, Paul would say, is to forget about ourselves and focus on Christ being preached. Think about it this way. If an opportunistic glory-seeker began to preach the gospel in an attempt to steal a bigger share of the market at Paul's expense, and Paul lashed back in order to defend his ground and reputation, who is the center of attention? It's Paul. So, recognizing that trap, Paul gets opportunistic himself by saying, 'Jesus is the One Who matters here. Not me!' Following Paul, with an honest helping of humility and a true heart for the name of Jesus (even at the expense of ours) we see the first key to knowing what is truly important in any and every situation. Whether it be from goodwill or slander in regards to us, see that Christ is preached.

2.) '...Christ will be exalted in my body...' - This is a big one. And therefore it needs a big platform to rest upon which Paul gives us in verse 21: 'For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.' The dilemma here, for Paul, is choosing how to face death. Rome was not a friendly place for Christians in Paul's day, and as Paul contemplates the near future, death (likely a gruesome, torturous death) is a very present reality. So he falls back on how he has chosen to live in order to guide him through how he will die. He says that he will now die, as he has always lived; exalting Christ. Exalt means to raise up or elevate in rank, power, or character. Paul is showing us here the placing of Christ above himself, his life, and his death. Paul has ceased to be the center of his universe. That is Christ's place now, and the important thing is not whether Paul lives or dies, it's whether Christ is shown to truly be more important, more powerful, and more impressive than all others. Also notice the confidence and the willfulness of Paul's statement. 'Christ will be exalted...' Paul made up his mind long before that Christ would be the substance of his life and the purpose beyond his death. Christ was exalted above all for which Paul would both live and die. Paul is living out his preaching here. In the next chapter, Paul will proclaim Jesus Christ as being exalted by God to the highest place (2:9). He has shown the world what that means in his life, and he is ready to show them what it looks like in death. So our key here is to rest upon Christ for our life, so that no matter what happens, even death, Christ will be exalted in our bodies.

3.) Others' needs are served - After Paul has considered that this might be the end of him, he begins to ponder what each outcome will hold. On one side: Life = continued service and fruitful labor in the Lord. On the other: Death = leaving this world and being with Christ. He even tips his hand as to what he would prefer saying that the latter is 'better by far'. But which way should he go? He throws up his hands and cries, 'I don't know!' We now find the third key for choosing what is most important when we're torn between two things and don't know what to do. Paul determines that it is 'more necessary' for him to remain alive and meet the needs of the Philippians for their '...progress and joy in the faith...' This is something we can see in Paul in other places as well. In Romans 9, Paul actually wishes that he could be 'cut off from Christ' for the sake of his brothers, the Jews, in regards to their acceptance of God's salvation. And here he does the same thing. He would deny himself heaven for the sake of others finding faith and joy in Jesus Christ. Would we say that of ourselves? We must if, according to Paul, we would choose those things that are most important.

A word here about joy. Joy will prove to be a theme throughout the book of Philippians. It is the goal of so much of Paul's ministry. These defining choices we make (Christ being preached, Christ being exalted, others being served) are to be choices filled with joy. They are the right answers! They are the best choices we can make! Paul is encouraging us to relish the wonderful truth of the gospel and to live the life that is overflowing with all the love, joy, and peace that Christ has come to give. Preach Christ. Exalt Christ. Serve others. All in joy!

Exalted God! My heart is singing because of the joy You give! I pray that it would be a loud song for all the world to hear. A song exalting Your Name - Jesus! Give me the courage and ability to live so deeply for Christ today that when I face death it will truly be gain. Free me from fighting for my name, reputation, and comfort. I pray that my life on earth will result in overflowing joy in Christ Jesus for all those You would place around me. Glory to Your Name!

Reposo I

'Reposo' is a Spanish word meaning 'rest'. Much like the 'selah' that is interjected into the Psalms to indicate a reflective pause, a casual (lazy) stroll through various quotes from various sources will be the final post of every month in an attempt to slow down, meditate, and enjoy. I invite you to take a deep breath along with me and ponder...

'The LORD sets prisoners free,
He gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down...'

'How good it is to sing praises to our GOD,
how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!'

'He spreads the snow like wool...
Who can withstand His icy blast?
He sends His word and melts them;
He stirs up His breezes and the waters flow.'

'For the LORD takes delight in His people...
Let the saints rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.'

'God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him' - John Piper

'Desire reveals design, and design reveals destiny' - John Eldredge

'Courage...means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. ...[A man] must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine.' - G.K. Chesterton

'Thus God would have me grow - though the rain may seem disagreeable, it comes softly and builds me up, giving me what I lack to withstand yet heavier storms.' - Jim Elliot

'Father, let me be weak that I might lose my clutch on everything temporal. My life, my reputation, my possessions, Lord, let me loose the tensions of a grasping hand. Even, Father, would I lose the love of fondling - how oft I have released grasp only to retain what I prized by 'harmless longing', the fondling touch. Rather, open my hand to receive the nail of Calvary - as Christ's was opened - that I, releasing all, might be released, unleashed from all that binds me here. He thought heaven - yea equality with God - not a thing to be clutched at...so let me release my grasp.' - Jim Elliot

'I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Oh, praise the greatness of our GOD!
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong...'

'My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.' - Jesus Christ

'Be still, and know that I am God...'

'Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.'


Psalm 146:7-8; Psalm 147:1; Psalm 147:16-18; Psalm 149:4-5; 'Don't Waste Your Life'; Wild at Heart'; 'The Journals of Jim Elliot'; Deuteronomy 32:3-4; John 17:15-17; Psalm 46:10; Psalm 116:7

The Muddy Work Of God

Darkness. Blindness. Not being able to recall what 'sight' even is. Zero vision. I'm describing those times in life when nothing seems to be working. No amount of prayer or devotion or effort on your part will produce even a ray of insight into the deep cavern you feel within your chest. Not only is there an absence of light, but there is a smothering sense of the absence of anyone else. Aloneness. Questions receive no answers or acknowledgement. Prayers echo off the walls. And the thought that becomes most prevalent and repeated is one word..., 'why?' (or as it's most often pronounced, 'WHY!!!'). I know you can relate (as I certainly can) to being in that place of utter blindness. If you can't, just wait awhile. Your night will come.

We all find ourselves struggling with blindness at some stage in life. The duration varies for all of us. Days, weeks, months, sometimes years go by without so much as sensing one glimpse of light penetrating our hearts. So what are we to do? Start by closing your eyes. Imagine having never seen one single thing. Blind from birth. Not even the memory of light. John 9 gives us the account of Jesus and His disciples encountering such a person, and the lessons drawn from it can literally be eye-opening for us.

The story starts with Jesus crossing paths with a man who has never seen anything. His disciples want to know whose fault this is (we love to do this as well!). Who sinned? The man or his parents? The first 'Why?' has surfaced. And here's where the miracle begins to unfold. Jesus says that no one has sinned. 'This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in [this man's] life.' What is this 'work of God'? One perspective of this term is: what God can and does do. However, three chapters earlier, in John 6, we find another slant on what this means. Verse 29: 'Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.' This is the human side of the work of God. So the work of God is what He does and our subsequent belief in Who He is revealed to be.

Now, there's no back story here of this man born blind. Whether he was bitterly railing against God and the injustice of his life, or if there was a testimony to God's faithfulness and years of steadfast, unrelenting faith in the face of this tremendous hardship, we don't know. But, as is the case today with you and with me, it doesn't really matter how we've handled things up to the point when God shows up. Whether you've been a whiner or a winner, the power of the story comes in the present, not the past. How will you respond now? So, let's allow the story to roll forward and see how this 'work of God' reveals both God's actions and the man's (and hopefully ours) in the darkness.

'[Jesus] spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes.' What? What kind of healing is this? Doesn't this fit your experience of God showing up on our scene? We're locked in darkness. Jesus is the 'Light of the world' (v. 5). He'll wave His hand, brilliant lightning bolts will shoot forth from His fingertips into my eyes, and BANG! I can see! Yes!..........No. 'Why?' makes it's second appearance in the story. Why is Jesus doing what He is doing? Here's why: this is the 'work of God'. He will do it the way He chooses. If you're grappling with and groping through a blinding situation right now, I pray you'll hear these next words. You won't want to, but here they are: God rarely (maybe never) delivers us from our desperate darknesses in the way we want Him to or hope He will or think He should. We must remember our side of the equation. We are to believe in the Answer He sends.

The miracle continues to unfold in the next verse. ''Go,' he told him, 'wash in the pool of Siloam' (this word means Sent).' Notice the irony. Why does the man need to go wash? He's got mud-spit on his face. How'd it get there? The One telling him to wash, put it there! You can hear him thinking, 'Lord, if You want me to be clean, why the mud bath?' And so 'Why!?' rears it's ugly head for the third time. Here's the take away from this part: Don't despair in the darkness even as your lack of understanding deepens. Our role is not understanding, but belief. A belief that obeys. And here I pray that we will show as much obedience as this man does in the midst of his darkness. 'So the man went...and came home seeing.' I find some significance in the name of the pool in this story, Sent. Much like the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5), it wasn't the reputation or fame of the water that mattered, but the emphasis remained on the man's belief in God's direction. In this case, the man was sent to Sent, and he went where he was sent. And the work of God continued to be unveiled.

The story here takes us into the new perspective of the healed man as he returns home and encounters those he's only known as voices until now. First, his neighbors inquire about what has happened, and the man gives his simple, sweet testimony. '[Jesus] put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see!' I fear much of our trepidation about sharing our testimony of the work of God in our lives stems from the amount of material that we have interjected into it. This is our attempt to make more sense of what has happened, but it usually just makes the story more complicated than it needs to be. In our effort to explain away the mystery, we diminish God's role in the story, and inflate ours. Brothers and sisters, let us follow the example of the man in this story, and simply stick to the truth as mysterious and God-centered as it is. After the man's neighbors are done with him and can't figure out what's happened, he's taken up the food chain to the Pharisees. Here he's given opportunity after opportunity to give credit where it isn't due in order to explain away the mystery, but thankfully he keeps the truth of the work of God at the center of everything. In the end, because he won't offer any more palatable explanation than the truth, he is thrown out.

Jesus reappears at this point. 'Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him...' I love the last three words there: He found him. It stands to reason that the man wouldn't recognize Jesus (he never saw him), so Jesus, in the continuation of the work of God, seeks him out and goes beyond the opening of the man's physical eyes; He opens the 'eyes of his heart' (Ephesians 1). Earlier, as the man was testifying before the Pharisees, he was asked who he believed Jesus was, and his answer was, 'He is a prophet.' Now Jesus draws near to take the man beyond his experience of Jesus's power as a prophet, and reveals to him His identity, his person, as the 'Son of Man'. He draws the man into fellowship with Who He is. This is a deeper place than What He does for the man (or you or me).

And this is the 'work of God'. He reveals Who He is by What He does in our darkest times, and we believe in the One He has sent. And what is born is worship - the perfect ending to the perfect picture of the work of God in our lives. In the darkness, God muddies, we believe, we see, we testify, He draws near, we know Him, we worship Him.

Lord, You are the Light of the world, and You find me in my darkness. You reveal Yourself in Your time and in Your ways. You heal my blind eyes and heart. You rescue me from the dominion of darkness and bring me into Your Kingdom, Your Presence. Thank You for the work You are doing in and through the circumstances of my life. I believe Who You are, and I worship. Amen.

My 5 Exes (part 2)

Moving forward now to the final three 'ex-' statements that provide direction and clarity to the question, 'What is the purpose of my life? What is my goal?' The first two are Express God's character and Extend God's love. These are the Who and the What that the remaining three Hows rest upon. Jesus as the 'exact representation of [God's] being' (Hebrews 1) living in me, and His mission of God's outreaching love and salvation for the world accomplished through His cross and carried forward through our lives today. So, 3-5......


3) Explain God's Word - '...that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.' (Ephesians 6); 'the gospel...is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...' (Romans 1); 'faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.' (Romans 10). If we want a picture of what this looks like, we can turn to the account of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8. The Ethipoian is reading a passage f scripture from Isaiah when Philip is prompted by the Holy Spirit to strike up a conversation with him. The key exchange happens here:


Philip: "Do you understand what you are reading?"

Ethiopian: "How can I unless someone explains it to me?"


Like Philip, we must be available and obedient in order to be a resource to those around us at the proper time. This is the way almost every person in history comes to understand the gospel. But often we shy away from conversation believing that we don't know enough. We shouldn't feel inadequate if we lack a PhD in Biblical Languages. We each have a testimony and we each have the understanding of the Word of God taught to us by the Holy Spirit. Remember the theme here - this is all about God. Not you. Not me. The voice and the life experience and the words of explanation He has placed in the person that will best suit His glory and purposes will be the one He will use. Be available. Be obedient. I'll add this though, be ready. Paul exhorts Timothy to 'correctly handle the word of truth.' (2 Timothy 2). Peter says to 'always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.' (1 Peter 3). Be in the Word. Daily. Significantly. Memorize it. Meditate upon it. Ask for understanding and seek knowledge. However, we don't just need to be better learners of the Word, we must also practice it. Be 'doers of the Word'. Do one thing deliberately according to the Word of God today. 'Train yourself to be godly.' (1 Timothy 4). The more we practice what we know, the better we understand, and the better we can explain it to others (we may not have to use words at all!) We can all attest to the truth that one's actions speak louder than one's words, and if you want to know what someone really believes (and understands) watch what he/she does. What we say and do can and will explain to a dying world what the Gospel is all about.


4) Expand God's Kingdom - 'to preach the gospel where Christ [is] not known...' (Romans 15). What I have in mind here is perhaps a bit different from what the imperialistic tone of those words may conjure up. Certainly there is a geographic element to this (as will be seen in #5), but think with me in a more abstract way as well. Take the knowledge of Christ into an arena where He has not been considered before (either by those who are native to that place or perhaps by you in your own thinking). This can mean seeing work or recreation or socializing from a different perspective. Any area that you can see or imagine, take the gospel there. Any part of your inner life that has been a bit too sensitive to let Christ touch, let the great message of the gospel abide there. We can all think of areas of our self or our life or our world where 'Christ is not known'. Those are the places where the gospel must be taken and where the expansion of God's Kingdom can take place. No need to feel unqualified or unable to face these challenges (within and without) because we know we are not left to our own devices. This continues to be about God and what HE is doing in the world, our generation, and our hearts. The Bible says that this gospel, the amazing news of Jesus Christ, is 'bearing fruit and growing' all over the world (Colossians 1). Jesus said that 'the Kingdom of heaven [is] forcefully advancing' and He is building His unconquerable church (Matthew 11, 16). Our role is to yield our barren places within to Him, and to boldly take His Name into all the barren places of the world.

5) Explore God's World - 'Go into all the world...' (Mark 16). I love to read adventure biographies and accounts. Jim Eliot's journal. Thor Heyerdahl building a primitive raft and sailing it from South America to the South Pacific islands. A team of people going source to sea down the Amazon river in kayaks and rafts. When I get lost in these stories I catch myself realizing how amazingly diverse and large this world really is. And how new the experience of God can be simply because the setting is in a different place. One huge mistake we can often make, whether knowingly or not, is to believe that God's character can be totally expressed by one culture or country. Romans 1 talks about the qualities of God being 'understood from what has been made'. And the last time I checked the same God that made the U.S.A. is the same God that made the Amazon jungle and the Sahara desert and Antarctica. Also, think with me beyond just the geographical places to the almost immeasurable diversity of cultures and peoples in the world. It borders on sinful arrogance to believe that God can be fully known without having a totally global perspective. God is amazingly local - no doubt. He knows and loves my little cul-de-sac more than I can ever fathom. But please don't miss the bigger picture. He is the exact same way with every street in Shanghai and Belarus and Johannesburg. Let us let go of having (needing?) a small enough God that can be contained by our borders, and let us behold The LORD - Creator, Savior, and God of 'every nation, tribe, people and language' that are contained on this globe called Earth. Here's my encouragement, take a trip. Go on an adventure. That will mean different things to different people, but whatever it means - do it. Go. There are a thousand reasons we can't, but nothing will correct a myopic Christianity more effectively than getting on a plane and being foreign for a while. Beware, this may involve some discomfort (the best trips always do!). But that's okay. It'll do us some good. A closing line from one of my favorite books, 'Running the Amazon' by Joe Kane, reads this way and I think it's pointedly appropriate: 'Without a doubt running the Amazon was one of the looniest things I've ever done. ...I felt relieved when we were finished and was happy to get home. ...I like books, movies, good food, cold beer. In short, I enjoy the distractions of modern life, and I'm thankful to be in a culture that readily provides them. But the Amazon taught something about the true cost of such comfort: Basically, it's insulation. Direct experience is our best teacher, but it's exactly what we are most bent on obliterating because it's so often painful. We grow more comfortable at the price of knowing the world, and therefore ourselves.' And I would add: and knowing God.

God, You have expressed Yourself in infinite ways. Lead us into those places and situations where all eyes will be opened to see You more purely. I pray we would speak and exhibit Your words to those around us. Be pleased to expand Your kingdom through and throughout our lives. Thank you for the expansive creation You have blessed us with. You have truly amazed us and we are truly Yours forever. Amen!

My 5 Exes (part 1)

I was listening to a sermon by Ravi Zacharias recently (link to the right), and he was talking about purpose in life. Where does it come from? What is it for you? He did something a little unfair in this day and age. He asked me to actually do something specific. He asked me to sit down and write on a piece of paper what the goal of my life is. Because let's be honest if you don't know where you're ending up, how will you ever move in that direction today? So I prayed and thought and wrote, and what I came up with are what I call my 'five exes'. Five phrases that I pray would describe any and every action I do and/or the motivation behind them:


1) Express God’s character – ‘the invisible is understood by what has been made’ (paraphrase of Romans 1:20). I'll say up front that this is the all-encompassing one, and quite frankly the one that is the hardest. Why? Because it has more (if not everything) to do with yielding myself to Him Who is the full expression of God's character - Jesus than on actually doing or being anything on my own. And as I'm sure you can testify, humility is harder than pride when it comes to being present in this world. So what is God's character? Well, we can start anywhere, but He is infinite so we certainly won't ever end anywhere. But how about 'God is love.' (1 John 4); 'He Who called you is holy...' (1 Peter 1); 'God is light...' (1 John 1). Forgiving, merciful, patient, generous, outreaching......like I said the list is as He is. Infinite. But here's the treasure. You don't have to exhaust the list before you get started (believe me one trait is hard enough to do consistently). Slow down and start with one. Press in and allow the change to come because '...we are being transformed into His likeness...' (2 Corinthians 3). Remember, it's GOD'S character that is central here not our interpretation or perspective. Our part is to embrace (humbly but actively) our role as His Image bearers here and now. Words like obey, yield, and follow are the main actions we find being employed here. It's time to begin. Because if we fail here, nothing else we do will be worth doing. Figure everything else out, but neglect this point and we will accomplish nothing. I fear this is one of the big reasons (if not THE reason) our testimony and impact in this generation has been (and is increasingly becoming) impotent.

2)Extend God’s love – ‘as though God were making His appeal through us’ (2 Corinthians 5:20). This is where the rubber meets the road, and where we get a bit squeamish (at least I do). Extending God's love is parabalized and illustrated a thousand times over, but application is usually lacking. When is the last time I actually was the good Samaritan? Why doesn't Isaiah 58 describe my actions? These texts and plenty of others focus on the command we have been given to be involved in the unjust, unfortunate, and unappealing situations that surround us daily. Jesus said that He is sending his disciples into the world just as the Father had sent Him into the world (John 20). Our mission is to be as impacting as Jesus' was and is (or even more impacting - see John 14). That's a tall order. So where do we start? What are some ways to put this principle into practice? I think the words of Isaiah can apply here (Isaiah 6) when God says that though we have eyes and ears we don't see and hear (or ARE NOT seeing and hearing) what is going on around us. Our part in this mission is being willing to see the desperate situations and to hear the pleas for help. In a word we must acknowledge the lives around us, and rather than being overcome by the enormity of the task, we are to extend love into the mix. The same Love that saw us and heard our heart's cry. So just as it is with God's character, we remember it is God's love that makes the difference. Not some cozy, isolated, intangible love, but God's extreme, heroic, outreaching love expressed through Jesus Christ.....and now through us.

There are three more exes I want to share, and I'll pop those out at the end of the week. But for now, let's start with these two. They're plenty. Lord, thank you for Who You are and how You have loved us. Conform us so much to the likeness of Your Son, Jesus, that this world will see Your character and feel Your love through us. Hallelujah and amen.

Where we begin

"In the beginning God ..." is where it all started, and from then on it has ever been the same. So as I begin to share here let me first (and always) acknowledge that there is nothing new under the sun, but if my perspectives and thoughts can come alongside yours then we both get a better understanding of things.

By way of introduction, let me start with what 'Pure Heart' means to me. Pure heart is a way of living - from the inside out. What we do is a reflection of what is within us. Jesus gets to this in His teaching found in Matthew 5-7. The fever of the day was to defend and rationalize the outward actions of a person in order to define their righteousness. A sort of 'you are what you do' mentality, and if you try hard enough and if you can show the right things then that will translate to your heart.

I see this in myself in these current days as well. If I don't watch that movie, or say that word, or think that thought then I will be at peace within, and my righteousnes will be intact. But Jesus turns that around. No degree of external righteousness can or will ever be enough. And if we're honest, our hearts testify to this even in our best moments.

So, 'pure heart' is a phrase that, to me, hits on a couple of thoughts. First, the purity of the heart itself. We find from Jesus that what we do IS related to who we are, but in the opposite way from how we thought. Words, actions, and thoughts spring forth from the heart of a person. Therefore, rather than putting out all the fires on the outside, we should deal with the internal source of the problem. The heart.

Here's the good news. God doesn't ask us to do all the external things that please Him and leave it at that. He ('In the beginning, God' again!) tackles the very nature of who we are and plants Himself at the core of who we are. We become a different person rather than merely or solely doing different things. We will certainly bear new fruit, but those pure actions will be the true fruit of a heart made pure rather than a mock up version of our take on purity.

The second thought is the emphasis on living/acting from the heart. I'm a sports guy, so I've watched my share of games, and that's where I draw a lot of my insights from. The players I appreciate the most and root for the hardest are the ones who play from the heart. The scrapper who doesn't look like a star at all, but he/she is consistently vital to their team's success. The assist leader. The one who practices and prepares because there is a love of team and a sense of responsibility. Words that are often used of these people are dedicated, sacrificial, honest, hard-working. Those are the traits of a pure-hearted life as well.

A thousand anonymous acts done everyday by pure hearts testify to that substance of life we all laud and admire. The heart life is pure life.

So be encouraged right now that the pull you feel in your heart for better living and better times is right. But rather than relying on your supposed strength to construct some outward likeness of life, go deeper. Get to the source of the problem and solution - the heart. Give up the old one and ask God for a new, pure one (Psalm 51). Then begin to live from there. You'll find more Strength than you could ever imagine when '[you] no longer live, but Christ lives in [you]' (Galatians 2).

Lord, You are greater than my heart. And in full knowledge of both who I am and what I've done, I humbly ask you for a new, pure heart. Create it in me, and be glorified by the life I now live by faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself for me.