crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor - won't cut it
I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! 6 I'm sorry—forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor."
Job 42:5-6 (MSG)
I've been thinking and praying today for those who don't "get" God.
Some of whom I know personally, and love.
Being kind of heavily invested myself in following Jesus, it is sometimes hard for me to step out of my "Holy Bubble" and understand just why people who I know have heard the story of God's love through Jesus and who have even followed Him for a while just never really commit.
But I'm getting help.
Reading that snippet of Job and God's conversation helps me see how someone can be very religious, go through all the right hoops and do all the right notions - even know the secret handshake - but miss God by a mile. Living off someone else's faith, never wrestling personally with the deep questions, just trusting that others know is like the hearsay and rumors Job talks about. Faith in Jesus is a personal decision, and if you don't ever really choose to follow Him, as soon as those who really are following - the ones you are hanging with - move on, you are left without even a thimble of real faith.
So Job is helping me see that faith in Jesus always has to be intensely personal. No second-hand faith - through family or friends - will get you where you need to be - with God.
Then there's Donald Miller, an amazingly authentic person who writes without benefit of exposure to the cultural Christianity most of us live in. He has this annoying habit of looking at what most of us and our churches do, and telling others about it.
For example:
We believe a person will gain access to heaven because he is knowledgeable about theology, because he can win at a game of religious trivia. And we may believe a person will find heaven because she is very spiritual and lights incense and candles and takes bubble baths and reads books that speak of centering her inner self; and some of us believe a person is a Christian because he believes five ideas that Jesus communicated here and there in Scripture, though never completely at one time and in one place; and some people believe they are Christians because they do good things and associate themselves with some kind of Christian morality; and some people believe they are Christians because they are Americans.
If any of these models are true, people who read the Bible before we systematically broke it down, and, for that matter, people who believed in Jesus before the printing press or before the birth of Western civilization, are at an extreme disadvantage. It makes you wonder if we have fashioned a gospel around our culture and technology and social economy rather than around the person of Christ.
- Donald Miller in Searching For God Knows What
You think?
Being a Christian means following Jesus Christ. In every situation. With every thought, every word, every action. It means a surrendered life that renounces selfishness for a life spent in loving God, loving your neighbor, and serving both.
It is an intensely personal commitment lived out among others who share it, for the benefit of those who don't. It's first hand knowledge, like this:
From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in— we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. 3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!
1 John 1:1-4 (MSG)
My heart aches for those I love who don't love Jesus. If I contributed to you hearing rumors or hearsay and tried to give you a second-hand faith, I'm sorry. Faith is won after a struggle, where you surrender in order to win - and admit defeat to claim victory. You choose to follow Christ, no matter what.
No one else can do that for you.
It's your life.
Shalom,
David
Lead pastor - New Hope
Friday, August 31, 2007
crust and crumbs
I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! 6 I'm sorry—forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor."
Job 42:5-6 (MSG)
I've been thinking and praying today for those who don't "get" God.
Some of whom I know personally, and love.
Being kind of heavily invested myself in following Jesus, it is sometimes hard for me to step out of my "Holy Bubble" and understand just why people who I know have heard the story of God's love through Jesus and who have even followed Him for a while just never really commit.
But I'm getting help.
Reading that snippet of Job and God's conversation helps me see how someone can be very religious, go through all the right hoops and do all the right notions - even know the secret handshake - but miss God by a mile. Living off someone else's faith, never wrestling personally with the deep questions, just trusting that others know is like the hearsay and rumors Job talks about. Faith in Jesus is a personal decision, and if you don't ever really choose to follow Him, as soon as those who really are following - the ones you are hanging with - move on, you are left without even a thimble of real faith.
So Job is helping me see that faith in Jesus always has to be intensely personal. No second-hand faith - through family or friends - will get you where you need to be - with God.
Then there's Donald Miller, an amazingly authentic person who writes without benefit of exposure to the cultural Christianity most of us live in. He has this annoying habit of looking at what most of us and our churches do, and telling others about it.
For example:
We believe a person will gain access to heaven because he is knowledgeable about theology, because he can win at a game of religious trivia. And we may believe a person will find heaven because she is very spiritual and lights incense and candles and takes bubble baths and reads books that speak of centering her inner self; and some of us believe a person is a Christian because he believes five ideas that Jesus communicated here and there in Scripture, though never completely at one time and in one place; and some people believe they are Christians because they do good things and associate themselves with some kind of Christian morality; and some people believe they are Christians because they are Americans.
If any of these models are true, people who read the Bible before we systematically broke it down, and, for that matter, people who believed in Jesus before the printing press or before the birth of Western civilization, are at an extreme disadvantage. It makes you wonder if we have fashioned a gospel around our culture and technology and social economy rather than around the person of Christ.
- Donald Miller in Searching For God Knows What
You think?
Being a Christian means following Jesus Christ. In every situation. With every thought, every word, every action. It means a surrendered life that renounces selfishness for a life spent in loving God, loving your neighbor, and serving both.
It is an intensely personal commitment lived out among others who share it, for the benefit of those who don't. It's first hand knowledge, like this:
From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in— we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. 3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!
1 John 1:1-4 (MSG)
My heart aches for those I love who don't love Jesus. If I contributed to you hearing rumors or hearsay and tried to give you a second-hand faith, I'm sorry. Faith is won after a struggle, where you surrender in order to win - and admit defeat to claim victory. You choose to follow Christ, no matter what.
No one else can do that for you.
It's your life.
Shalom,
David
Lead pastor - New Hope
Job 42:5-6 (MSG)
I've been thinking and praying today for those who don't "get" God.
Some of whom I know personally, and love.
Being kind of heavily invested myself in following Jesus, it is sometimes hard for me to step out of my "Holy Bubble" and understand just why people who I know have heard the story of God's love through Jesus and who have even followed Him for a while just never really commit.
But I'm getting help.
Reading that snippet of Job and God's conversation helps me see how someone can be very religious, go through all the right hoops and do all the right notions - even know the secret handshake - but miss God by a mile. Living off someone else's faith, never wrestling personally with the deep questions, just trusting that others know is like the hearsay and rumors Job talks about. Faith in Jesus is a personal decision, and if you don't ever really choose to follow Him, as soon as those who really are following - the ones you are hanging with - move on, you are left without even a thimble of real faith.
So Job is helping me see that faith in Jesus always has to be intensely personal. No second-hand faith - through family or friends - will get you where you need to be - with God.
Then there's Donald Miller, an amazingly authentic person who writes without benefit of exposure to the cultural Christianity most of us live in. He has this annoying habit of looking at what most of us and our churches do, and telling others about it.
For example:
We believe a person will gain access to heaven because he is knowledgeable about theology, because he can win at a game of religious trivia. And we may believe a person will find heaven because she is very spiritual and lights incense and candles and takes bubble baths and reads books that speak of centering her inner self; and some of us believe a person is a Christian because he believes five ideas that Jesus communicated here and there in Scripture, though never completely at one time and in one place; and some people believe they are Christians because they do good things and associate themselves with some kind of Christian morality; and some people believe they are Christians because they are Americans.
If any of these models are true, people who read the Bible before we systematically broke it down, and, for that matter, people who believed in Jesus before the printing press or before the birth of Western civilization, are at an extreme disadvantage. It makes you wonder if we have fashioned a gospel around our culture and technology and social economy rather than around the person of Christ.
- Donald Miller in Searching For God Knows What
You think?
Being a Christian means following Jesus Christ. In every situation. With every thought, every word, every action. It means a surrendered life that renounces selfishness for a life spent in loving God, loving your neighbor, and serving both.
It is an intensely personal commitment lived out among others who share it, for the benefit of those who don't. It's first hand knowledge, like this:
From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in— we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. 3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!
1 John 1:1-4 (MSG)
My heart aches for those I love who don't love Jesus. If I contributed to you hearing rumors or hearsay and tried to give you a second-hand faith, I'm sorry. Faith is won after a struggle, where you surrender in order to win - and admit defeat to claim victory. You choose to follow Christ, no matter what.
No one else can do that for you.
It's your life.
Shalom,
David
Lead pastor - New Hope
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
She Meant Well
18 Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night.
Deut 11:18-19 (MSG)
I've been sitting here for the last few minutes praying through our church directory. The people in it are all lined up nice, neat and alphabetical. Most are smiling, and I get to look at how they were on whatever Sunday morning their pictures were taken. Then I balance that snapshot against what I see happening in their lives, and I pray. Hard.
Most any of us can suck it up and look like we have it all together for the length of time it takes to have our picture taken, or the time it takes to "do church." But life invariably requires more of us that that, and we find that some are having trouble we'd never see in a snapshot of time.
As a pastor, my job is as one writer has put it is "to keep the congregation attentive to God".
Way over my head. I need a lot of help. So I pray. A lot. When I talk to my friends who are pastors, they echo the same feelings I have. Just different places, different names. People are people, I guess.
For some people seem determined to do everything else except focus on their walk with Jesus. I know personally what a heartache it is to look back over the course of your life and realize I had taken control and not let God order my days - it breaks my heart to know others are going down that same, well traveled, road.
The man who puts his work ahead of his family.
The woman who does the same.
The teenager or young adult who lets the culture or their friends determine their values and morals.
The parents who push their kids to be involved in every sort of extracurricular activity, even if it conflicts with worship or Bible study.
I know, they mean well.
But I get a horrible picture when I think about the consequences. That of the Greek mother last week whose town was threatened by wild fires. She got her kids together and tried to flee. They were found to have perished together, with her arms around them.
Her home was untouched by the flames.
She made a decision. There's absolutely no way she could have known for sure that her house would have been spared. What she did, even to the last, she did out of love.
She meant well, she just didn't know.
For a Christian, meaning well while in effect denying that your life and day planner has been surrendered to the cause of Christ just won't cut it.
We know better.
Life is a dress rehearsal of sorts to see if we are ready to meet God. We're given everything we need to succeed at it. The very Spirit of God takes up residence in us and gives us all the strength, courage, and wisdom we need - if we will surrender our ordinary days to Jesus.
At the end of our lives, I don't believe we'll be looking back on how many hours we put into that project at work, or how well we did in middle school band, high school chorus, or any of those things that we're valuing over walking with Jesus now.
When we stand in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, saying "I meant well" just isn't going to work.
Turn it over, all of it, to God. Pick up His plan, His scheme and walk in it. Don't get distracted by those things that ultimately won't matter at all.
Don't just mean well.
Follow Jesus.
Deut 11:18-19 (MSG)
I've been sitting here for the last few minutes praying through our church directory. The people in it are all lined up nice, neat and alphabetical. Most are smiling, and I get to look at how they were on whatever Sunday morning their pictures were taken. Then I balance that snapshot against what I see happening in their lives, and I pray. Hard.
Most any of us can suck it up and look like we have it all together for the length of time it takes to have our picture taken, or the time it takes to "do church." But life invariably requires more of us that that, and we find that some are having trouble we'd never see in a snapshot of time.
As a pastor, my job is as one writer has put it is "to keep the congregation attentive to God".
Way over my head. I need a lot of help. So I pray. A lot. When I talk to my friends who are pastors, they echo the same feelings I have. Just different places, different names. People are people, I guess.
For some people seem determined to do everything else except focus on their walk with Jesus. I know personally what a heartache it is to look back over the course of your life and realize I had taken control and not let God order my days - it breaks my heart to know others are going down that same, well traveled, road.
The man who puts his work ahead of his family.
The woman who does the same.
The teenager or young adult who lets the culture or their friends determine their values and morals.
The parents who push their kids to be involved in every sort of extracurricular activity, even if it conflicts with worship or Bible study.
I know, they mean well.
But I get a horrible picture when I think about the consequences. That of the Greek mother last week whose town was threatened by wild fires. She got her kids together and tried to flee. They were found to have perished together, with her arms around them.
Her home was untouched by the flames.
She made a decision. There's absolutely no way she could have known for sure that her house would have been spared. What she did, even to the last, she did out of love.
She meant well, she just didn't know.
For a Christian, meaning well while in effect denying that your life and day planner has been surrendered to the cause of Christ just won't cut it.
We know better.
Life is a dress rehearsal of sorts to see if we are ready to meet God. We're given everything we need to succeed at it. The very Spirit of God takes up residence in us and gives us all the strength, courage, and wisdom we need - if we will surrender our ordinary days to Jesus.
At the end of our lives, I don't believe we'll be looking back on how many hours we put into that project at work, or how well we did in middle school band, high school chorus, or any of those things that we're valuing over walking with Jesus now.
When we stand in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, saying "I meant well" just isn't going to work.
Turn it over, all of it, to God. Pick up His plan, His scheme and walk in it. Don't get distracted by those things that ultimately won't matter at all.
Don't just mean well.
Follow Jesus.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
She Meant Well
18 Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night.
Deut 11:18-19 (MSG)
I've been sitting here for the last few minutes praying through our church directory. The people in it are all lined up nice, neat and alphabetical. Most are smiling, and I get to look at how they were on whatever Sunday morning their pictures were taken. Then I balance that snapshot against what I see happening in their lives, and I pray. Hard.
Most any of us can suck it up and look like we have it all together for the length of time it takes to have our picture taken, or the time it takes to "do church." But life invariably requires more of us that that, and we find that some are having trouble we'd never see in a snapshot of time.
As a pastor, my job is as one writer has put it is "to keep the congregation attentive to God".
Way over my head. I need a lot of help. So I pray. A lot. When I talk to my friends who are pastors, they echo the same feelings I have. Just different places, different names. People are people, I guess.
For some people seem determined to do everything else except focus on their walk with Jesus. I know personally what a heartache it is to look back over the course of your life and realize I had taken control and not let God order my days - it breaks my heart to know others are going down that same, well traveled, road.
The man who puts his work ahead of his family.
The woman who does the same.
The teenager or young adult who lets the culture or their friends determine their values and morals.
The parents who push their kids to be involved in every sort of extracurricular activity, even if it conflicts with worship or Bible study.
I know, they mean well.
But I get a horrible picture when I think about the consequences. That of the Greek mother last week whose town was threatened by wild fires. She got her kids together and tried to flee. They were found to have perished together, with her arms around them.
Her home was untouched by the flames.
She made a decision. There's absolutely no way she could have known for sure that her house would have been spared. What she did, even to the last, she did out of love.
She meant well, she just didn't know.
For a Christian, meaning well while in effect denying that your life and day planner has been surrendered to the cause of Christ just won't cut it.
We know better.
Life is a dress rehearsal of sorts to see if we are ready to meet God. We're given everything we need to succeed at it. The very Spirit of God takes up residence in us and gives us all the strength, courage, and wisdom we need - if we will surrender our ordinary days to Jesus.
At the end of our lives, I don't believe we'll be looking back on how many hours we put into that project at work, or how well we did in middle school band, high school chorus, or any of those things that we're valuing over walking with Jesus now.
When we stand in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, saying "I meant well" just isn't going to work.
Turn it over, all of it, to God. Pick up His plan, His scheme and walk in it. Don't get distracted by those things that ultimately won't matter at all.
Don't just mean well.
Follow Jesus.
Grace!
David Wilson
Lead pastor, New Hope
18 Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night.
Deut 11:18-19 (MSG)
I've been sitting here for the last few minutes praying through our church directory. The people in it are all lined up nice, neat and alphabetical. Most are smiling, and I get to look at how they were on whatever Sunday morning their pictures were taken. Then I balance that snapshot against what I see happening in their lives, and I pray. Hard.
Most any of us can suck it up and look like we have it all together for the length of time it takes to have our picture taken, or the time it takes to "do church." But life invariably requires more of us that that, and we find that some are having trouble we'd never see in a snapshot of time.
As a pastor, my job is as one writer has put it is "to keep the congregation attentive to God".
Way over my head. I need a lot of help. So I pray. A lot. When I talk to my friends who are pastors, they echo the same feelings I have. Just different places, different names. People are people, I guess.
For some people seem determined to do everything else except focus on their walk with Jesus. I know personally what a heartache it is to look back over the course of your life and realize I had taken control and not let God order my days - it breaks my heart to know others are going down that same, well traveled, road.
The man who puts his work ahead of his family.
The woman who does the same.
The teenager or young adult who lets the culture or their friends determine their values and morals.
The parents who push their kids to be involved in every sort of extracurricular activity, even if it conflicts with worship or Bible study.
I know, they mean well.
But I get a horrible picture when I think about the consequences. That of the Greek mother last week whose town was threatened by wild fires. She got her kids together and tried to flee. They were found to have perished together, with her arms around them.
Her home was untouched by the flames.
She made a decision. There's absolutely no way she could have known for sure that her house would have been spared. What she did, even to the last, she did out of love.
She meant well, she just didn't know.
For a Christian, meaning well while in effect denying that your life and day planner has been surrendered to the cause of Christ just won't cut it.
We know better.
Life is a dress rehearsal of sorts to see if we are ready to meet God. We're given everything we need to succeed at it. The very Spirit of God takes up residence in us and gives us all the strength, courage, and wisdom we need - if we will surrender our ordinary days to Jesus.
At the end of our lives, I don't believe we'll be looking back on how many hours we put into that project at work, or how well we did in middle school band, high school chorus, or any of those things that we're valuing over walking with Jesus now.
When we stand in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, saying "I meant well" just isn't going to work.
Turn it over, all of it, to God. Pick up His plan, His scheme and walk in it. Don't get distracted by those things that ultimately won't matter at all.
Don't just mean well.
Follow Jesus.
Grace!
David Wilson
Lead pastor, New Hope
Blue Tuesday
Yesterday I spent some time in a rare posture for me - with headphones on. Bunny was watching a movie that I didn't want to see, and in our home noise travels. So I put the headphones on and for over an hour, listened to "The Blues".
I heard B.B., Albert, and Freddie - the three Kings. I went through Clapton, SRV, and Jonny Lang. And for a music named the blues, I got the opposite, just hearing the raw authenticity of the music.
Today is Tuesday, and we're beginning to follow-up on our strays from this weekend. One explained "I just couldn't get up", and another told a tale of family woe. From now on, if I want to wallow in the Blues, I'll know what "music" to listen to.
The lack of commitment in people who should be farther along is stunning. And the lack of concern about how a parent's actions (or inactions) affects their children's understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus just blows my mind and makes my heart heavy.
Eugene Peterson, in an oft-quoted piece from "Working the Angles" says that a pastor's main job is "to keep a congregation attentive to God." Well, Gene, some of those we try to prod to be more attentive just can't be bothered or see every raincloud as a hurricane.
Christians should be known as people who move toward need and truth and justice, not toward comfort and security.
Life is hard. Make no mistake about it. Jesus said "in this life you will have trouble."
But God is good.
And Christ is strong to help.
For He finished that remark by saying "but take heart, for I have overcome the world."
I have to remind myself of that, when it's Blue Tuesday.
I heard B.B., Albert, and Freddie - the three Kings. I went through Clapton, SRV, and Jonny Lang. And for a music named the blues, I got the opposite, just hearing the raw authenticity of the music.
Today is Tuesday, and we're beginning to follow-up on our strays from this weekend. One explained "I just couldn't get up", and another told a tale of family woe. From now on, if I want to wallow in the Blues, I'll know what "music" to listen to.
The lack of commitment in people who should be farther along is stunning. And the lack of concern about how a parent's actions (or inactions) affects their children's understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus just blows my mind and makes my heart heavy.
Eugene Peterson, in an oft-quoted piece from "Working the Angles" says that a pastor's main job is "to keep a congregation attentive to God." Well, Gene, some of those we try to prod to be more attentive just can't be bothered or see every raincloud as a hurricane.
Christians should be known as people who move toward need and truth and justice, not toward comfort and security.
Life is hard. Make no mistake about it. Jesus said "in this life you will have trouble."
But God is good.
And Christ is strong to help.
For He finished that remark by saying "but take heart, for I have overcome the world."
I have to remind myself of that, when it's Blue Tuesday.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Oswald Chambers Reads My Emails, Hears Me Speak, Knows My Heart
We've been letting Oswald Chambers into our lives in the men's and women's groups at New Hope for the last few weeks. His classic "My Utmost for His Highest" has been around since 1935, and yet the application of his writings is as sharp and cutting as ever to any pretense of perfection the reader might hold.
After getting whipped again this morning, I started scanning the blog feeds (thanks Google Reader) for some relief. I got this instead:(from Between Two Worlds: Mark Driscoll by JT)
From D. A. Carson's Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians:
I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please.
Not too much – just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted.
I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust.
I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture.
I want ecstasy, not repentance;
I want transcendence, not transformation.
I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those from different races – especially if they smell.
I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged.
I would like about three dollars worth of the gospel, please. (pp. 12-13)
Two whippings in the same day?
Was it something I said? Or thought? Or wrote? I do believe that Chambers and Carson are ganging up on me. What's that? Oh... it was the Holy Spirit?
Then forgive me, Lord.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
Amen.
After getting whipped again this morning, I started scanning the blog feeds (thanks Google Reader) for some relief. I got this instead:(from Between Two Worlds: Mark Driscoll by JT)
From D. A. Carson's Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians:
I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please.
Not too much – just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted.
I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust.
I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture.
I want ecstasy, not repentance;
I want transcendence, not transformation.
I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those from different races – especially if they smell.
I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged.
I would like about three dollars worth of the gospel, please. (pp. 12-13)
Two whippings in the same day?
Was it something I said? Or thought? Or wrote? I do believe that Chambers and Carson are ganging up on me. What's that? Oh... it was the Holy Spirit?
Then forgive me, Lord.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
Amen.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Quote of the Day
...the church isn't marketable. Programs, conferences, services even, may be - but the church itself is not. I understand that this a polemical statement. And there will be those who vehemently disagree.
The church is a people who pick up their crosses and follow Jesus. It is a people who forget about themselves as they pour out their lives for others. It is the way of discipleship - becoming like Jesus - who laid down his life for his friends...and enemies. It is not about "living your best life now" or any other such silly talk. (Ed: Or tee-shirt slogans, gospel trinkets, FLASHy websites or other such crap.)
Marketing presupposes a product or service to market. The church is neither. It is a living breathing organism that exists for those outside of it.
Bill Kinnon
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sometimes
5 Offer proper sacrifices, and trust in the LORD.
6 Many people say, "Who will show us better times?" Let the smile of your face shine on us, LORD.
7 You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and wine.
Psalms 4:5-7 (NLT)
I'm writing this on Monday morning, or as it is better known to us preacher-creatures, the graveyard shift.
We call it that, because so many preachers resign on Monday.
But sometimes, Monday comes and you wish it was time to go back and worship together again. That's me today. Yesterday was one of those moments when you can see the window of heaven open just a crack, and God's glory stream forth, like the sunshine through the clouds after the rain.
Nothing leading up to Sunday gave any indication that something special might happen. We are in the midst of a heat wave that's driving even native Floridians to stay close to their A/C. We had several families away on an outing, and some out of town for other reasons. We're in the last week of the kids summer vacation, and that's when families either squeeze a last getaway in, or haunt the Office Depot and K-Mart trying to get the list of supplies out of the way. So on Saturday night, I could have given you many reasons not to expect much from Sunday's worship.
Now I'm sitting here feeling a little bit like the guy they supposedly dug up a few years ago in Israel must have felt. We were looking at the story of David vs Goliath yesterday. When they were excavating the area around Elioth many years ago trying to confirm that event, they found a well preserved mummy - a Philistine. He was pretty well preserved, so they started trying to decipher what his life was like, and why he died. The pathologists determined that he died of a heart attack - pretty rare in that age.
Then the archaeologists discovered why.
Clutched in his hand was a scroll which recorded that he was a gambler,
and his last bet was apparently 20,000 shekels on...
Goliath.
So on this Monday I guess I learned yesterday, don't bet against God. "Offer proper sacrifices, and trust in the Lord", might just mean to prepare your hearts every single day to receive a blessing from Him, even if everything you know, every indicator of success, is screaming failure, all God has to do is whisper and His glory falls like rain.
Yesterday I saw two Bible study classes competing to see who could bless needy kids more.
Yesterday I saw a young boy rush to sign up to do yard work - wanting to be first to serve - and a man stepping aside to let him be.
Yesterday I saw Isaiah, a foster child, lead us in prayer after the children's moment and thank God for Doug his foster daddy.
Yesterday I saw people sing with the Psalmist (David of Israel) "Your name, like a strong and mighty tower"
Yesterday I saw people working with me, actively listening to the message and understanding that God has to be our focus not giants.
Yesterday I saw Jamie Roberts play a composition on piano "Thank you for wearing the crown" an offering of thanks to Jesus.
New friends were made, old friends were reconnected with, more people involved in worship, and the name of God lifted up.
Yeah, sometimes... it's great to be so wrong in what you think will happen, when seeing God at work is so awesome.
I won't be resigning this Monday. No way. No how.
Grace!
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.mychurch.org/newhope
5 Offer proper sacrifices, and trust in the LORD.
6 Many people say, "Who will show us better times?" Let the smile of your face shine on us, LORD.
7 You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and wine.
Psalms 4:5-7 (NLT)
I'm writing this on Monday morning, or as it is better known to us preacher-creatures, the graveyard shift.
We call it that, because so many preachers resign on Monday.
But sometimes, Monday comes and you wish it was time to go back and worship together again. That's me today. Yesterday was one of those moments when you can see the window of heaven open just a crack, and God's glory stream forth, like the sunshine through the clouds after the rain.
Nothing leading up to Sunday gave any indication that something special might happen. We are in the midst of a heat wave that's driving even native Floridians to stay close to their A/C. We had several families away on an outing, and some out of town for other reasons. We're in the last week of the kids summer vacation, and that's when families either squeeze a last getaway in, or haunt the Office Depot and K-Mart trying to get the list of supplies out of the way. So on Saturday night, I could have given you many reasons not to expect much from Sunday's worship.
Now I'm sitting here feeling a little bit like the guy they supposedly dug up a few years ago in Israel must have felt. We were looking at the story of David vs Goliath yesterday. When they were excavating the area around Elioth many years ago trying to confirm that event, they found a well preserved mummy - a Philistine. He was pretty well preserved, so they started trying to decipher what his life was like, and why he died. The pathologists determined that he died of a heart attack - pretty rare in that age.
Then the archaeologists discovered why.
Clutched in his hand was a scroll which recorded that he was a gambler,
and his last bet was apparently 20,000 shekels on...
Goliath.
So on this Monday I guess I learned yesterday, don't bet against God. "Offer proper sacrifices, and trust in the Lord", might just mean to prepare your hearts every single day to receive a blessing from Him, even if everything you know, every indicator of success, is screaming failure, all God has to do is whisper and His glory falls like rain.
Yesterday I saw two Bible study classes competing to see who could bless needy kids more.
Yesterday I saw a young boy rush to sign up to do yard work - wanting to be first to serve - and a man stepping aside to let him be.
Yesterday I saw Isaiah, a foster child, lead us in prayer after the children's moment and thank God for Doug his foster daddy.
Yesterday I saw people sing with the Psalmist (David of Israel) "Your name, like a strong and mighty tower"
Yesterday I saw people working with me, actively listening to the message and understanding that God has to be our focus not giants.
Yesterday I saw Jamie Roberts play a composition on piano "Thank you for wearing the crown" an offering of thanks to Jesus.
New friends were made, old friends were reconnected with, more people involved in worship, and the name of God lifted up.
Yeah, sometimes... it's great to be so wrong in what you think will happen, when seeing God at work is so awesome.
I won't be resigning this Monday. No way. No how.
Grace!
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.mychurch.org/newhope
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Who knew?
When I read the Bible, I sometimes come away confused.
Confused because I think that if I was THERE, living out the life of one of the people whose name is recorded on the pages - someone like Peter, or John - that I would be able to bring the story to greater heights and far more effectiveness.
Why?
Because I would GET IT.
See I have this tendency to look over the shoulder of someone like John and mutter, "you idiot. How can you see Jesus do these things over and over and still be so stoooopid. If I was there, I'd be putting up some parchment posters "Come see the Messiah. Bring the hurt, the injured, the broken-hearted. Their time has come."
I'd make it happen, because I can add. One dead son restored to his Mom = Son of God active RIGHT NOW! or one guy running around naked as a jaybird, cutting himself and throwing himself into the fire, meets Jesus, becomes whole, is healed = Messiah IS HERE - RIGHT NOW! FOLLOW HIM! LEAVE YOUR OLD LIFE AND COME! NOW!
Yeah, if I was there, I'd straighten those guys out. Cause I KNOW.
Well here's where I fall before God this morning, pleading for mercy and grace.
i know
and yet, I am silent...
far too often.
I assume, or pretend, or (to put the best possible spin on) I hope that the person with me at that moment knows.
but
what if
they don't.
Then we pick up the paper and turn to the obits, and read their name.
Who knew?
no...
who cared?
Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Christ have mercy.
Here are some lyrics from the late Mark Heard, a fellow Maconite who understood.
There's an oasis in the heat of the day
There's a fire in the chill of night
A turnabout in circumstance makes each a hell in its own right
I've been boxed-in in the lowlands, in the canyons that think
I've been pushed to the brink of the precipice and dared not to blink
I've been confounded in the whirlwind of what-if's and dreams
I've been burned by the turning of the wind back upon my own flames
Knock the scales from my eyes
Knock the words from my lungs
I want to cry out
It's on the tip of my tongue
Speak words of hope into lives of quiet desperation. Tell of the One who gave you life - again. Let them know there is another path away from selfishness and greed toward sacrifice and significance.
Remember beloved, it's only good news if they hear it in time.
Grace!
David Wilson
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.mychurch.org/newhope
When I read the Bible, I sometimes come away confused.
Confused because I think that if I was THERE, living out the life of one of the people whose name is recorded on the pages - someone like Peter, or John - that I would be able to bring the story to greater heights and far more effectiveness.
Why?
Because I would GET IT.
See I have this tendency to look over the shoulder of someone like John and mutter, "you idiot. How can you see Jesus do these things over and over and still be so stoooopid. If I was there, I'd be putting up some parchment posters "Come see the Messiah. Bring the hurt, the injured, the broken-hearted. Their time has come."
I'd make it happen, because I can add. One dead son restored to his Mom = Son of God active RIGHT NOW! or one guy running around naked as a jaybird, cutting himself and throwing himself into the fire, meets Jesus, becomes whole, is healed = Messiah IS HERE - RIGHT NOW! FOLLOW HIM! LEAVE YOUR OLD LIFE AND COME! NOW!
Yeah, if I was there, I'd straighten those guys out. Cause I KNOW.
Well here's where I fall before God this morning, pleading for mercy and grace.
i know
and yet, I am silent...
far too often.
I assume, or pretend, or (to put the best possible spin on) I hope that the person with me at that moment knows.
but
what if
they don't.
Then we pick up the paper and turn to the obits, and read their name.
Who knew?
no...
who cared?
Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Christ have mercy.
Here are some lyrics from the late Mark Heard, a fellow Maconite who understood.
There's an oasis in the heat of the day
There's a fire in the chill of night
A turnabout in circumstance makes each a hell in its own right
I've been boxed-in in the lowlands, in the canyons that think
I've been pushed to the brink of the precipice and dared not to blink
I've been confounded in the whirlwind of what-if's and dreams
I've been burned by the turning of the wind back upon my own flames
Knock the scales from my eyes
Knock the words from my lungs
I want to cry out
It's on the tip of my tongue
Speak words of hope into lives of quiet desperation. Tell of the One who gave you life - again. Let them know there is another path away from selfishness and greed toward sacrifice and significance.
Remember beloved, it's only good news if they hear it in time.
Grace!
David Wilson
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.mychurch.org/newhope
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