A New Journey...

It has been a long time! I actually forgot I started blogging, but like a faint fragrance on the wind I was reminded and feel a prompting to place my thoughts down. There is a sense of new beginnings in our home, and I hope to capture some of that here. Not because I believe it's important for anyone to read, but it is important for me own.

So...here's to a new journey with an old friend...

Proof…

“The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.”

T.S. Eliot

“Faith without works is dead”

James

I’ve had the realization this week that I make things way to complicated.  Less talk, more walk…

Watch your word count…

“Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.  Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God for God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.”

King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

I’m teaching this Sunday.  We are walking through the book of Ecclesiastes and I’m teaching on chapter 5.  I’ve been looking at the words above all week and I’m amazed at how little I seek to listen in God’s presence.  The art/discipline of silence is counter to just about everything else in my world, and I feel the impact of it’s absence.  Adele Calhoun in her excellent book “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us” says regarding silence…

“In quietness we often notice things we would rather not notice or feel.  Pockets of sadness or anger or loneliness or impatience begin to surface.  Our own outer agenda looms larger than our desire to be with God in silence.”

I’m not sure where this finds you today, but I know there is a deep place that stirs as I think about being in God’s presence empty-handed and silent.  I’ve realized that I presume a lot, and in those presumptions often miss God’s heart.  Yet there is also a hope…a hope that if I’ll be still and silent, He will move and speak.

Rebirth...

Last night Tracie and I spent time talking about our hopes for the coming year.  She asked for a word that described my desires and dreams for the next year.  Now when you really think about it...that's a HUGE question!  To try and look forward and sum up that much time in a single word is tough, I can barely think ahead to the next 24 hours.  Yet as soon as she asked, a word came...rebirth.  Her question immediately after was, "what do you mean?" to which I replied "I don't know."  I didn't know why I spoke that word, I just knew it came from a deep place and is true to what I am both feeling now and long for over the next year...rebirth.

So I got up this morning with the fragrance of that word still fresh in my soul...rebirth.  In Christian circles that word is spoken often, but I'm not convince it is truly experienced to the depths that God intends.  If I'm honest that is my observation of my own life.  I know the word, but feel more like a "new manager" than a "new creation".  By that I mean I spend more time doing old things in new ways rather than living as a new person from a new heart toward a new destination.  Yet even as I type that hope swells in places still unexplored in my soul...and that feels good.  This morning rather than anxiety about the future, I feel humility and gratitude for the present.  I am thankful for both the work Christ has done, and has planned for the next chapter in our lives.

How about you...what is your "word?"

Limitations

"Sometimes the limitations you are willing to accept establish the boundaries of your existence."

- Erwin McManus, "Wide Awake"

 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

—Mark Twain

Picked up Erwin's new book "Wide Awake" recently and once again have been blown away.  I forget how inspiring his writings are for me.  His ability to speak to the human spirit in a way that challenges and encourages is amazing...and comes in perfect timing in my life.  Sometimes I need to be reminded that often limits are self-defined and created.

I woke this morning viewing life through the bars of circumstance and time, then remembered that Christ has freed me to embrace eternity today.  As I reflect on this reality fear gives way to hope, and courage wells up to live from faith for love.

The mess we find ourselves in...

This Sunday I'm teaching from Jonah 2 and the study has had a significant impact on me. Almost the whole chapter is made up of Jonah's prayer to God from the "belly of the whale". It's actually a beautiful psalm/prayer of someone who is the middle of suffering the consequences of their idolatry and turning in desperation to the only place they know to turn...God. In many ways Jonah is the anti-missional prophet. I've learned a lot from his story, and unfortunately see a lot of myself in it as well.

Jonah's prayer is not for deliverance from trials, suffering, or persecution, but from the consequences of his poor decisions and his running from God. Something this passage has made painfully clear to me is I am NOT like God! God's pursuit of Jonah in the midst of his open rebellion is humbling and convicting. I would've given up, but God is relentless in His pursuit of Jonah and limitless in His grace once He has him. As I transfer that into my own life I'm humbled by God's reach through time and circumstance to rescue me; and convicted of my judgement of who else God should extend His mercy to. Callousness, prejudice, self-righteousness, and hate are ugly in all their forms...even if they wearing a W.W.J.D. bracelet.

What the Church Has to Learn From Alcoholics Anonymous

In my spiritual journey, there are lessons that I return to time and time again.  They are milestones in my walk that mark a major paradigm shift and because of the combative world I live in, as well as my own personal resistance to change, I like to return to them and remember.

One such lesson that changed my vision of "Christian community" is an article called What the Church Has To Learn From Alcoholics Anonymous.  When I first read it there was a stirring for authentic belonging and life transformation that still challenges me today.  Here's a taste...

"Now perhaps the time has come for the church to be re-awakened and re-vitalized by those insights and practices found in AA.

I think some of you may be a little horrified at this suggestion.  I fear you will be saying to yourself, 'What have we, who have always been decent people, to learn from a lot of reconstructed drunks?'  And perhaps you may thereby reveal to yourself how very far you are from the Spirit of Christ and the Gospel, and how very much in need of precisely the kind of check-up that may come to us from AA."

For the full article CLICK HERE.

What a month!

Wow...I woke up this morning and realized January was gone! Is it just me or does life continue to speed up? January has been a month of transition for me and my family, things are changing pretty significantly for us in 2008.

Actually, our new journey begins in two weeks! In just a matter of days we, Tracie and I, are flying to Ethiopia to get our son! We've been on this journey since June (you can check it out HERE), and the next chapter is about begin. We are excited, scared, overwhelmed, and amazed. I've tried several times put words to my soul's experience of all of this, but have found it much harder than expected. I'm hoping that the 22 hour plane ride provides some time for reflection :-)

Well...here's to a new month and all that it holds.

The longing for and lost art of connecting...

Over the holidays I began reading Larry Crabb's book "Connecting".  I've become a fan of Crabb's over the last few months and have really enjoyed his insights and focus on the importance of soul-to-soul interactions.

As I've read and reflected I've swayed between encouragement and discouragement.  Encouragement at the centrality of "connecting" to the Gospel, discouraged at how rare the experience really is.  In "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places" Eugene Peterson says "If the Scriptures teach us anything it is that we are people in relationship"...I couldn't agree more.  Yet there is a nagging fear that I find in myself and in others that being known at a soul level is out of our reach.  It may be possible for others but not for us.  So believing the lie we continue our little masquerade and further isolate ourselves from the thing we need the most, to know the truth that we are not alone.

I read a beautiful post this morning from the Internet Monk (you can read the whole article here).  What struck me was the honesty.  Life is hard, and no one escapes it's difficulty...no one has it figured out...we all need to receive and extend more grace than we realize.  And so, quoting the monk...

"We do the best with what we have given to us, or what we have left over or with what still works after the latest wreck. And God forms Christ in us, brings Christ through us, glorifies Christ in us and all in all."

A Christmas Prayer

"(I pray...) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might"

- Paul, Ephesians 1:17-19

The holiday season is usually a mixed bag for me emotionally. So much joy...so much junk! In the past I've found myself slightly cynical as the month of December begins to unfold, but this year things are different. God has been gracious to teach me that in a world where most things are out of my control, He has empowered me with the endowment of willful response. I can choose to see beauty in the brokenness and acknowledge it. In the midst of the insanity I can be a voice of peace and a hand of healing. The incarnation is a glorious miracle that continues to transform lives as I release my own life to the dreams of God. That really is "good news".

As a way of both recognizing and sharing the beauty most people miss during this season I'd like to send us out on assignment. As you move through your day try to be open to the subtle slivers of glory all around, and when you see them share it with us here in the comments. There's nothing like beauty to stir us to be more beautiful.

May Paul's prayer become a banner blessing over us all as we call out the beauty all around us...Merry Christmas.

Prayer

This past Sunday (11.04) we finished a three part series on prayer. Our passage for this study was Matthew 6:5-15, focusing on the Lord's model prayer. One thing I take from this series is a sense of Jesus' desire for people to abandon the vain, self-righteous pursuit of "religion" for a rich, life-changing encounter and relationship with the living God. The comparison between religion and relationship is subtle, but once noticed powerful.  In Matthew 6, Jesus addresses the three most important pursuits of Jewish piety...fasting, giving, and prayer.  In each he mentions the self-righteous/religious approach and offers an alternative.  The poison of religion is it becomes the end in and of itself (6:2, 5, 16), thus subverting our relationship with God. Prayer is a privilege that Christ offers us through the cross meant to refresh and encourage our hearts. When we follow the model He has left us not as a formula, but as a marked path we find we don’t walk alone…and the trials of the journey are worth the company we keep.

 

In my life, I've found prayer to be sweetest when I've understood it not from a theological perspective, but from the place of being a small participant in God's story.  I'd like to know...what has had the most positive impact on your prayer life?

Ascribe...

Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
   worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

David, Psalm 29:1-2

I read these verses this morning and they have reverberated in my soul all day.  That happens sometimes, a passage finds a crack in the weathered exterior of my heart and makes it's home in the forgotten deep places.  I feel strangely human in that moment, wonderfully alive.  In this Psalm David goes on to talk about the mysterious and powerful "voice of God."  I found myself envying David's intimate knowledge of God.  Not what God has done for him, but the beautiful way David knows God and in turn is known by Him.  There is such an authenticity to his "ascribing", unlike so much of the plastic Christianity I experience most of the time.  I was refreshed and grateful and at the same time a little scared recognizing that in so many ways life is completely out of my control.  Yet there is a sense of security in the presence of this God of "glory, strength, splendor, and holiness."

I recognize that the inerrancy of Scripture is a difficult proposition for some...but for me it has always been a comforting reality.  Nothing has been as transformational in my life as God's Written Word.  It is that transformation that is my "apologetic".  There are volumes of finely crafted arguments, but for me it all boils down to the undeniable impact the Written Word has had on my life.  And this morning it happened again.  No formula, no system, just a sweet reminder that He is here, He is in control, and He is mindful of me.

The Battle of Two Loves

"There can be only two basic loves, the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness of God."

- Augustine

This quote has stirred some deep places in me this week.  Thoughts I look forward to sharing, but not just yet.  Rather than rambling about me intimations, I'd like to hear from you.  Is the battle really that simple?  Are there merely two paths for the human soul to journey leading to two opposing destinations?  Or is this an oversimplification?  How do you see this expressed in your world?

A Little More About Me...

Just found this nifty little website that calculates your personality. These things are usually pretty subjective, but this one was fun and seems to be pretty good. Thought I would share my results.



If you'd like to give it a try CLICK HERE. Let me know what your results are.

Life is too short...

The Blind Beggar has a thoughtful post today.  Spurred by the Phillip Brooks phrase "Life is too short," and an article in the newspaper about people making "Life is too short" lists, he started his own and challenged us to do the same.  Mine so far is...

Life is too short...

• to not saturate my life with the Scriptures and follow the lead of the Spirit no matter the cost
• to not "be" Jesus where I am right now
• to not embrace my wife every time I leave and upon every time we reunite...no matter the time between
• to not be intentional about the legacy I leave for my children
• to not invest in relationships sacrificially
• to not forgive and release
• to not walk in a warm spring rain
• to not dream big and live with the integrity to be an instrument of seeing that dream become reality

Okay...your turn.  What would your list look like?

Quote for Thought

"The days of our lives are representatives of eternity rather than fugitives, and we must live as if the fate of all of time would totally depend on a single moment."

- Abraham Heschel, Man Is Not Alone

Engagement (Thoughts from "Call To Commitment")

"Some of you," she would say, "have got to stay home and make the same sacrifices as those who got to Indochina and take years to prepare, learning the language, the customs and such things. You must learn a new language also, the language of the world, so that those who are worldly and sophisticated, but spiritually illiterate, can understand you. You must do everything they do, and do it better - but without sin. Read better and more broadly than they do, entertain better and more charmingly, dress better and have a knowledge of all the things in which they are interested, so that you can understand their point of view. If you do not do this, you will speak not only a foreign language in this pagan country, but one that repels."

- Elizabeth O'Conner, Call To Commitment

The quote above was spoken to Gordon Cosby, Elizabeth-Anne and Mary Campbell by Mrs. Campbell while they were contemplating missionary service. After I read her comments I was whisked away to the courts of Babylon and four young men enslaved by an evil empire...

"As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. ... And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom."

- Daniel 1:17, 20

Turning all this as a light on my own life as a "suburban missionary" complexity seemed to melt away into the simple reality of engagement. Following Christ is not our removal from the World but movement toward it. How much does the "Christian Sub-culture" alienate us from those we are here to give our lives to? What does it look like for us to excel with purity? How do we become "students of our culture" while maintaining our "kingdom citizenship"? Tough questions that need solid, practical answers.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

- James, Book of James 1:26-27

Long Week...

"Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only fro want of appreciation.  The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living."

- Abraham Heschel, Man is Not Alone

It's amazing how fast a week can go.  I woke up this morning to find myself in the middle of August with a slight whiplash at how fast life moves at times.  It's easy for me to get caught up in "doing" that I forget living involves "being".  This morning I ran across the above quote from Abe.  Once again I was reminded that realignment begins with wonder.  There is such limitless beauty in creation waiting to be seen and experienced.  Reflecting on this has birthed a conviction, to embrace a faith that strives to awaken others to the beauty around them.  Could it be that the beginning of the fight for justice and peace, rebirth and reconciliation begins with the simple act of discovering the majestic beauty all around us?  I know this...the sunlight flowing in this morning from the window has warmed more than the room.

Quote for Thought

"The dignity of man stands in proportion to his obligation as well as to his rights."

- Abraham Heschel, God in Search of Man

 

He has told you, O man, what is good;
   and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God?

- Micah, Micah 6:8

Quote for Thought

"What Jesus wants from us is not admiration, but imitation."

- Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing