why pray?

As best as I can, I try to keep up with different conversations happening around the world through friendships and networking online. One caught my attention recently:

"Please tell me why you pray."

This wasn't asked by someone who isn't familiar with Christianity, but by someone I know who asks thought-provoking questions to make sure we aren't becoming robotic in our expressions of worship. Perhaps that's why the question made me chuckle, not because it isn't a good one but because I likely would have answered it different ways over the years. When I was younger I may have said "Because we're supposed to," and as I entered into a season of agnosticism in my early teens I probably would have arrogantly spewed, "Because it's a goofy tradition." As I grew in my faith, I might have replied, "It helps me connect with God better." Perhaps I may have even stated 5 to 10 years ago, "Jesus commanded it - right there in the Sermon on the Mount."

I'm not sure how I'll answer that question in the future, but here was my confident reply this week:

"My only answer to the question 'Why pray?' is simply 'Why breathe?'"

Although that made perfect sense to me, I received a reply via Twitter:

"Tony, with all due respect, that statement makes no sense."

First off, I appreciate the "all due respect" part. Sometimes we fail to honor responses and replies that don't fit within our scheme of how we see the world, or are trying to make a point at the world. To return the favor, I'm writing this blog post since Twitter only allows 140 characters of thought or pushback. If I had more space to communicate my thought, I would add the following:

"Sure it does, but maybe not with your initial glance. Consider what each has in common with the other.

Breathing is the unconscious pathway to life that can be at times a conscious decision, such as taking a deep breath or holding your breath. Even with such actions, you eventually will lapse into it being an unconscious activity because sleep takes over or you become weary of being so intentional; however, there are times where holding your breath makes sense to avoid injecting harmful fluids or gas, and other times where a deep breath brings nourishment and relaxation to your body.

Prayer is the activity of 'breathing' for the Christ-follower: it is something a spiritually restored person does to unconsciously stay alive with God (Matthew 6), and this is assisted by the Holy Spirit through even our groans (Romans 8:26). We can also take the action of 'holding our prayers' when we begin to babble unnecessarily and cross a line Jesus warned against; similarly, we can also 'Selah' and pause to find our rest and renewal by intentionally and slowly exhaling our burdens and inhaling the realities of God... something we're encouraged to do continually, or without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

So I apologize for writing something in the form of a question that is full of such detail... but prayer is as unconscious as breathing, and in this way everything we do can be a form of it. Likewise, we don't need to fear it taking on a conventional form at times because we don't want to look like simpleton Christians, but it is more than those conventional forms people turn it into. For all we may want to criticize them, sometimes our drive to appear unconventional keeps us from missing the Trinity in the ceiling fan, if you know what I mean."

I hope that helps clarify, and blesses others on the journey of being neither conventional nor unconventional... but simply open to and interactive with the Lord.

perspective about your perspective

Consider this story about a shipwreck.

When the sole survivor reached a small, uninhabited island, he prayed for God to rescue him, but help didn't come as he asked. Eventually he built a hut out of driftwood for protection from the elements.

Days passed, then one day he returned from scavenging for food and found his hut in flames, the smoke rising into the sky. Angrily he cried,

"God, how could You do this to me?" In exhaustion, he fell to the ground and collapsed into sleep.

The next morning he was awakened by rescuers.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

three little nuggets for your day

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It got so cold it froze up and fell to the ground in a large field.

While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some manure on it. As it lay there in the pile of manure, it began to realize how warm it was. The manure was actually thawing him out!

The bird lay there all warm and happy, but soon began to complain because of the smell. A passing cat heard the little bird tweeting and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of manure, and promptly dug him out--and then ate him.

The morals of the story are:

1. Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.

"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." (Proverbs 27:6)

2. Not everyone who digs you out of a pile of manure is your friend. 

"Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness." (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)

3. Not every smell is worth complaining about.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11)

a word to a friend on unanswered prayer

A friend of mine who is going through a heavy trial that hasn't gone away asked for perspectives on prayer. I truly "get" his question... it's one that I've asked at different points over the years. Specifically, during times when I've also felt the burden to hang on to my burden because I was weary of giving it to God, who seemingly didn't answer me - after all, "What is the point of praying when you don't get what you want?" Or as he put it:

"Now, prayer feels like dropping stones from a bridge and waiting to hear them land in the water…and waiting…and waiting…and…nothing…."

I wrote back and felt like maybe I needed to share my response here as well.

-----

At our Christmas Eve service, a young woman came to me and said, "Are you the lead pastor of this church?" I said, "Yeah." She then went on to told me how while she was a visitor she had a leading to pray for whomever the pastor was. I said that'd be fine.

The first thing out of her mouth was (to the effect of), "Lord, I'm going to pray for Tony now just as I sense you've led me to, but I need to ask you for wisdom how to pray. So before I say anything else would you teach me what words I should ask of You or claim over him?"

I can't say I've ever prayed like that... and it was both a blessing and a learning curve. I view prayer as a connecting of the dots... me sharing my heart with God, and then letting God share His heart with me.

Truthfully, I'm actually afraid to speak of answered prayer to others because I know that it hints at an "A + B = C" system, and prayer to me is more conversation and burden trading than it is a Santa-style wishlist... i.e. "If I'm good, I get what I pray for. If I'm not good, I don't get it until I'm good again."

Maybe I'm simplifying this, but if Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane was based on that system, the Father would have said, "Jesus, you're the ultimate good - you're Me, for crying out loud. So of course - yes." But instead it was burden trading... the Son sharing His burden, the Father sharing His, and the two (or three) agreeing the proper context for both to exist... namely, that context meaning Jesus carrying a cross to rescue us versus feeling rescued Himself.

I know your question isn't merely theological. I know that there are aches inside of you that (like Psalm 137) inspire, or rather "despire" you to "hang up your harps" of praise.

Maybe that's why C.S. Lewis wrote in the Screwtape Letters the perspective of one demon to another:

"Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

---

Will you join me in praying for my friend and his family... for their prayers?

text-ing God

Some of you may not be interested in this article, but others of you may be... and should be.

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2009/09/breaking_transl.html

It raises some interesting issues... and while you may have an opinion on what translation of the Bible we should and shouldn't read, I think the core issue this all puts into play is this tension:

• Should a translation of the Bible start with a subjectivity to the reader's interests/desires/preferences and then work its way back to the original Text?
  
  or
  
  
• Should a translation of the Bible start with the Text, and then work its way into whatever culture the reader lives in, objective to their interests/desires/preferences?

As a bit of backstory, some controversy arose when a popular translation of the Bible - the NIV - was "re-translated" and a new version emerged as another option. This was called the TNIV and a big piece of the debate was around the softening of gender when God was referenced. The advocates stated that this since the Lord made both male and female "in His image," we shouldn't call God a "He" but find more "inclusive" ways of referencing. Others felt that this was an unnecessary move away from the core inferences of the Scripture that utilized the masculine way of describing God even when it wasn't directly an issue. And even more importantly, it would lead to even more recreating of Scripture "in our image."

If you don't understand yet why this matters, it is the problem we see with any issue in our world - if you don't like something, change it... and if you don't have the authority to do so, create that authority by vote, force, or a whole lot of ranting.

And so the question remains: Is it up to a translation committee to recreate the Bible for its audience, or is the job of a committee to find ways to let the original Text speak to any given culture?

I remember back in 2002 when the Chairman of the TNIV board was being interviewed on the radio and taking phone calls. I grabbed the phone and ended up first in line, which was actually kind of humbling. Nonetheless, I asked him why "now" did the changes occur (versus back when the first NIV committee met a few decades earlier), and he mentioned they felt they had a more accurate read of the Bible and this would be a more inclusive offering culturally.

I respectfully pushed back a bit and asked him why that was a value, and he said it was important that people be able to see themselves in the Bible more.

Hmm.

I then asked a follow up - "So what happens if, say, many Christians and church leaders decide to loosen up on some things we consider sins today? Will you be putting out another version of the NIV five, ten, or twenty years from now?"

He sort of stumbled over his answer of, "Well, there's no way to predict if we'll need to change it."

So I asked, "Then... how confident are you... really... in this translation?"

I heard, "Well..." by the gentleman, and then quickly, "Thanks for the call." by the radio personality.

Keep in mind, I am convicted that the Bible is inspired and has been preserved as a perfect message even while it has passed through the hands of imperfect people. We see it affirming itself within its pages and find that archeology only continues to show how amazing a book the Scriptures are in their accuracy.

In addition to that, though, I also believe that there may not be one "translation" from the original languages to our own 21st Century ones that fully captures the Divinity of God in a way that humans can perfectly understand. As a tag, I do believe that there are translations that offer us perspective that is "more accurate" than others, but even then there is a component of mystery that will always exist - God will never be fully understood by people, but through the Scriptures we can fully connect with God in an accurate way.

There will always be critics of whatever is out there, and I don't think they should be ignored. However, I also don't think they should be elevated. It is a good idea to take in their thoughts with context. For without fundamentalists, we would forget the fundamentals... and without the liberals, we would forget to take risks. Both seem to be needed.

So whatever your favorite version of the Bible is, I'd encourage you to not be a groupie of it.

Rather, be a fan of the original Text...

and learn to appreciate what a struggle it is to not take authority over the Scriptures, but rather, let the Scriptures take authority over us.

speaking of Christians

I had an intriguing lunch this past week with someone in our church. Not only was the food great, but we even got to sit outside on the patio of the restaurant and enjoy the sun. More importantly, though, we chewed on more than good Mexican food - we chewed on things that really matter.

And some of those things included you.

Granted, your name wasn't mentioned, but the concept of "Christians in general" was. Maybe you know what I mean - we do this all the time when we're trying to wrestle with a concept and need to illustrate how a group of people generally interact with it. Maybe something like this has come out of your mouth even today:

• Something positive: "Businesses need to be friendlier. Kind of like how at Chick-Fil-A they're always saying, 'It would be my pleasure' at whatever request you give them. Our company is sort of friendly like that."
  
  
• Something negative: "I'm so tired of people just doing what they do for a paycheck. The other day I was in a store and it seemed like every employee could care less at my questions about where stuff was. It made want to leave. People like that drive me crazy."

Get the picture? We so often like to muse about other people, don't we?

So if you were to take part in a conversation about "Christians in general," what sort of statements do you think you would drift to - the positive or the negative?

Let me give you a couple of topics:

• Bible reading: How would you generalize how the average Christian handles or doesn't handle the Bible?
  
  
• Relationships: Would you say that Christians do a good job at reconciling tensions with others they've had an issue with or are they more quick to avoid having the hard, cleansing conversation?
  
  
• Sharing their faith: What kind of statements might you make about the frequency and quality Christians put into talking about the thing they say they value most - a relationship with Jesus Christ?
  
  
• Church commitment: Would you summarize Christians as being truly committed to their local community of Christians, or would you say they are more consumers about it all - quick to leave if something or someone irritates them?
  
  
• Being real: What is more common in your experience - Christians who feel they need to put on a mask or those who can be the real deal and inspire others with their transparency?
  
  
• Clean slates: Are Christians ready and willing to give clean slates - or are they more willing to remember and look down their nose at others?
  
  
• Theological stretching: Would you say most Christians want to know the bare minimum or are they more interested in adding to their faith knowledge and practice?
  
  
• Open or closed hand: When they talk about following Jesus, would you say most Christians open their hands up to Him in every area of their lives or close their fists on a few things that they just want to keep asking Him for forgiveness on?
  

Maybe there are more categories to consider, but these were a few we touched base on.

Easy, right? We can all give our quick opinions on those topics.

Only that's not why I write this - here's the real conversation.

Before you utter your thoughts and comments about "them," consider what you're adding or subtracting to this generalization of Christians based on the way you live yourself. I mean, that's the real guts of all of this, isn't it?

As my buddy and I chatted, we found ourselves coming back to that anchor over and over - is the real issue what we think about other Christians, or is the real issue why we feel the need to think things about other Christians.

Is it for their security... or for our own?

Because we all like to feel like we're doing it right and everyone else is doing it wrong.

But what if that motive keeps us from ever asking if we're doing it right?

So first, your thoughts on yourself... and then your thoughts on "them."

I think that's how Jesus set it up (and why I think it will be hard to generate many comments on this post that actually follow that format).

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5)

40 day journey: it's not always one or the other

Maybe you've heard or said this phrase - "I don't have a religion... I have a relationship with Jesus Christ."

First off, I'm on board with the heart of that statement.

However, Christianity is more than an internal relationship... more than "getting saved" or crossing one line of faith. It involves many lines of faith we cross... personal practice that flows out of the beautiful core of a supernatural relationship. Some would call this our religion - the positive way we interact with and respond to that Divine relationship on a human level. Many don't like the "religion" word because it is often references something cultural/traditional/habitual that seems more guilt-based than God-based.

Once anything becomes a religion alone, it becomes legalistic - "Here's what I do to check off the spiritual box in my life." or "Here's what I do to manipulate life and eternity as I want it."


If it becomes less about my interaction with God, though, it can become fatalistic - "God wanted it to happen and I could do nothing about it."


A friend of mine summed up the importance of the difference in this question:

Two people show up to church on a given Sunday morning. Both are members of this church in good standing. Both know people and are known by people. Both put money in the bucket as it goes by. Both sing the same songs and hear the same sermon. Both affirm the same doctrinal statement or creed.

One is a true saint, kind and generous, honest and hospitable, patient and peaceful, a true joy to be around.

The other is a real jerk, bitter and selfish, argumentative and pessimistic, gossipy and critical, a terror to be around.

Question: Do they both have the same faith?

They both claim to be Christians. They both attend and are members of a Christian church. They both affirm the contents of the Christian faith. But do they both have the same faith?

Honestly? The way I see it one follows the cause of the church…

the other follows the Christ of the church.

Same faith, but in different places.

"Religion versus Relationship."

And yet - ironcially - we can tell that through the way they practice their faith.

"Religion and Relationship."

Let's clear it up - on this side of heaven, we have both. Christianity is a relationship first - because God initiates the search. As such it is best to sum it up that way. But Christianity also involves human-sized practices that try to respond to a God-sized Lord. And so there is some religion in it, whether we like it or not.

Thankfully, balancing it all out is in God's hands... not ours.

But what is in ours is where we put the emphasis.

Where is yours today? And which of the two people in the aforementioned scenario would you say you're more like?

stuff pastors don't talk about

I recently read that 55% of pastors can identify one or more topics on which they don't like to talk about because the conversation could negatively affect their hearers’ willingness to attend church in the future.

Um... really?

I'm all for helping people feel welcomed and we do a lot in our services to help people laugh, feel loved on, and know we are there to help them take their next step with God. But if a church begins to shy away from sharing bold truth then we start playing a game of keeping everyone happy... and when that happens we begin to miss out on the necessary ingredients for spiritual growth to get cooked up.

Among these topics are politics (38%), homosexuality (23%), abortion (18%), same-sex marriage (17%), war (17%), women’s role in church and home (13%), the doctrine of election (13%), hell (7%) and money (3%).

For the record... I have not done focused an entire sermon on each of these in the past year.

I have, however, regularly addressed each in various ways throughout a message (i.e. "By the way, this principle of surrender applies to all our stuff, including our wallets," etc) or announcements (i.e. "We're taking part in an opportunity in a couple weeks for people to renew their vows. This is our way of affirming God's design for marriage - between a man and a woman - etc." )

So I'm not sure how I'd be registered in the statistics. To be intentionally up front, I'll state my thoughts publicly here, reflecting how I personally have come to understand the core issue behind each of these core issues.

• Politics: Following Jesus has several political implications, and yet the hope of the world is not ever going to be found in an elected official... that includes any president we've had, have, and ever will have.
  
  Never.
  
  When will we understand this?
  
  The Israelites once had God as their King, and yet they demanded change to come through a human person. So God gave them a good looking king who seemed to have it all together... he made great speeches initially and everyone enjoyed the idea that change was coming (which, let's face it, every human candidate promises). Then things caved in when an imperfect human king did imperfect human things.
  
  And then the people realized it's harder to follow a man you can see versus a God you can't.
  Ironic.
  
  While God can use a politician to change the world, it seems like His preference is to change people like you and me and let a real grassroots revolution start. Perhaps this is why what Jesus taught is highly political and yet exceedingly non-partisan.



• Homosexuality: Yes, homosexuals need Jesus Christ and must surrender their lives to Him.
  
  Interestingly, so do heterosexuals.
  
  I'm all for talking about the effects of homosexual sin on our culture... as long as we talk about the effects of heterosexual sin as well... divorce, porn, lust, dirty jokes, etc. So before we "love the sinner and hate the sin" (which is good Christian language from a good Christian intention that often ends in bad Christian judgment), how about if we love God, hate our own sin, and let Him remove the plank from our own eye first? That doesn't mean the person next to us doesn't need a good cleaning, too, but I think there's something wise about that process starting in us first.
  
  
• Abortion: Describing the worth of a baby and the kind of love we're to show to a confused mom-to-be are bigger concepts than most bumper stickers present. Can we stop trying to debate in traffic over this issue with witty jabs?
  
  I affirm as the Bible does as well as medical science that life begins before birth, whether it's the heartbeat of the pre-born at week 6 or the intelligent design of a loving Creator.
  
  I also affirm that in our country, one person's "rights" never should trump another's - if we can't tell one person what to do with their body, we can't tell another... no matter which side of the womb they are on. (Think about it)
  
  I also affirm that there is no point in picketing a clinic, especially since the greater calling is to come into the lives of the lost and broken and extend care and guidance in love. That's one of the reasons our church supports a local ministry that is designed for this very reason - to reach out and care for unwed mothers confused about life.
  



• Same-sex marriage: I once heard George Carlin do a routine on words that don't belong next to each other because they sort of cancel each other out - like "jumbo shrimp," "act naturally," and "pretty ugly."
  
  Having said that, "same-sex" and "marriage" seem odd next to one another in the same way. They sort of cancel out the definition of each, which is perhaps why we seem so intent on redefining them. I read that in California there is legislation that has changed the marriage license form you fill out from "Groom" and "Bride" to "Party A" and "Party B." Apparently someone tried to write in the original words anyway and got in trouble for it.
  
  Another couple words that don't belong together on the heterosexual side? "Marriage" and "divorce." God designed a marriage between a man and a woman to last, with the two mysteriously becoming "one flesh." Look at how human bodies fit with each other... we seem to be rare among all of creation in that sexual union can happen face-to-face, with the exchange of breath and complementary body parts intersecting with one another. Look also at what happens when divorce occurs - pain unlike any other causes once-lovers to become now-despisers.
  
  Our world doesn't like it when certain words come together, and we find that easy to spot. Interestingly, God spots some words like that, too, that don't belong next to each other - like "judgmental" and "Christian."
  
  Ahem... like "judgmental" and "Christian."
  
  Is this thing on?
  
  Perhaps there is a way to protect the things that matter without destroying people in the process... and to me, those are two concepts that *do* go together.
  



• War: The cross of Christ proves that God can use the ultimate evil to bring about the ultimate good.
  
  It's not His ideal, and yet He can use it.
  
  War wasn't in the original blueprint of Genesis 1-2, but because Genesis 3 and 4 exist, God is given the option to use our backward nature to bring about forward momentum for all of creation.
  
  So the main idea then is to be a people of peace first and foremost... but the secondary idea is that the shedding of blood can be used to bring about peace - only if God is involved with it. Otherwise it only leads to shedding more blood.
  



• Women's role in church and home: A woman's role in church and home is to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength - and second, to love their neighbor as they love themselves.
  
  Oddly enough, this is the same role a man is to have.
  
  Wouldn't it be great if we lived that out? And as we did, wouldn't we find that we were complementing each other in such a way that we felt like an equal, not because we were the same but because the two had become "one flesh?"
  
  Hmm...
  
  Perhaps complementarianism and egalitarianism aren't competing ideas after all.



• Doctrine of election: This cannot be understood without simultaneously developing a doctrine of freewill, for all of theology must be considered when some of theology is considered. And the Bible contains both concepts all throughout.
  
  As an example, you have been elected to read these words - for you just did - because I as the author knew that by placing them here you would read them as you just have - by choice - even though these words were already here.
  
  Where that analogy falls short, though, is that I live within time as you do, so I didn't know in advance who would actually read them. It would take someone who lives inside and outside of time to know and affect at the same time... in which case, God's very nature allows us to be "elected" from the birds-eye perspective of time while in a historical sense we are choosing Him.
  
  
• Hell: A literal existence that was never invented or intended for humans... not at all. Yes, Jesus used a metaphor of His day to describe it... but that doesn't discount hell's existence any more than when He used mustard seeds and four kinds of soil to describe the condition of our faith.
  
  But again - hell has never been an existence we were created to experience.
  


• Money: Jesus said don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. I'd add don't give God what's "left" - give God what is "right." He owns it all, and yet we try to hold it back when He asks for us to use it in a certain way. In my experience, the hardest part of a person to get converted is their wallet. Even today I struggle with this temptation as well... do you?
  
  Meanwhile, many churches struggle to accomplish little goals, let alone big ones.
  
  Hmm.

As I see it, what I've written is what I think is most important in each of those topics. I'm sure some may ask for some additional clarity on where I fall on sub-section Q of topic 15c, but I most theological spell checking is for theological spell checkers. If that's you, I mean you no disrespect... but I am a Christ-centered, Bible-based, interdenominational kind of guy.

Which means the greatest doctrine out there as I see it is "Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so."

In the fall I'll be covering some of these topics in more textured detail in our church, but in the meantime I hope this causes us to consider what matters most about what matters most.

first reaction

Take a look at this article about a situation of a church and a congregation member: CLICK HERE

After you do, consider your first reaction. Not necessarily what it is, but why it is your first reaction.

2 out of 3 still ain't 3

One of the things I have always been intrigued by is how often we don't spend time trying to understand who the Holy Spirit is. As the third member of the Trinity, one might think that He gets as much stage time in our prayers... only He seems to show up as a "grip" in the credits of our faith.

Maybe that's because the Holy Spirit freaks most people out.

Honestly, don't many of us assume we can't relate to Him? After all, we can mentally process "God the Father" as a father figure and "God the Son" as a son/savior figure. But what is our reference point for a "Spirit" figure - the latest special effects movie?

And yet if I am burdened for a complete and overflowing experience of God, then I shouldn't trim out my study of a vital part of who He is. One of the chief ways He chooses to operate in every person's life in the present tense is via the Holy Spirit. Perhaps there are miracles just waiting for us to experience if we would only realize the miracle of the Spirit's presence. If we don't explore who He is (yes, "He" versus "It") we will miss out on some powerful components to our faith:

Jesus affirmed Him and the role He would play in guiding us into all truth.

• John 16:26 - (Jesus speaking) "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me."

Yet there was still confusion in the early church between those who'd placed their faith in Christ and received the Spirit versus those who had only gone half-way by repenting through John the Baptist.

• Matthew 3:11 - (John speaking) "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."



• Matthew 10:20 - "for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."



• John 7:38-39 - (Jesus speaking) "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

It's because of this latter issue that you see a lot of talk about "being filled with the Spirit" because many people had settled for a faith about Jesus instead of placing their faith in Jesus. It's like agreeing that a parachute will work versus strapping it on and placing your faith fully in the Lord.

• Matthew 28:19 - "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
  


• Acts 8:14-17: When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
  It's one of the reasons the disciples had to wait for the Holy Spirit to be poured out.
  
  
• Acts 1:9 - "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
  
  
• Romans 8:15 - For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

And once He was poured out, He was available to all believers. This is also why when Luke writes about certain people in the early church or Paul writes to Christ followers who had truly placed their faith in Christ it's a non-issue.

• Acts 7:55 - But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
  
  
• Romans 5:5 - And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
  
  
• Romans 8:11 - And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 2:12 - We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 3:16 0 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
  
  
• 2 Corinthians 5:5 - Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
  
  
• Ephesians 1:13 - And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

Sometimes He is revealed through a laying of hands (especially in cases of ordination into a ministerial office/position), and other times He is just poured out on all those who place faith in Christ:

• Acts 2:38 - Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
  
  
• Acts 9:17 - So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "(Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
  


• Acts 10:45 - All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

We have to remember, though, to not resist the reality of the Holy Spirit's presence as the Pharisees did:

• Acts 7:51 - "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
  
  
• 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Do not put out the Spirit's fire

Instead, we are to embrace His role in changing the world as He changes us.

• 1 Corinthians 12:7 - Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
  
  
• Acts 8:29 - Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot."
  


• Romans 8:5 - Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
  
  
• Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

And as a bit of encouragement, we are told that in the last days the Holy Spirit will be at work all over the place...on all people as well as God's servants.

• Acts 2:17-18 - "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy."
  


• Revelation 2:29 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
  And so the Holy Spirit is bigger than we know and yet personal enough to dwell within those who trust their lives to Christ. Together they play a role with the Father in guiding us toward a time when we will all be who we really are in the presence of the Triune God.

In fact. it is through the Holy Spirit that we learn how to overcome our old ways.

• Romans 8:13 - "If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live."

So maybe it's time to pony up on our Trinity as a 3-in-1 instead of a 2-in-1. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force that God uses... the Holy Spirit is God.

I know, we don't get it because our human brains can't wrap around this idea that God is bigger than our understanding. (Which is ironic, because by definition wouldn't God have to be bigger than us?)

People resisted the idea of God as Father, and yet one day they saw that the God who led them by day through a cloud was the same One who led them by night with fire. And then there was the incarnation of Christ - that God would come to earth as One of us so that we might become more like Him - we've spent time resisting that, too. Finally, this concept of the Spirit is our last mental hurdle to jump - and yet there He is, working in our lives.

Imagine what would happen if we recognized how special it is to have the God of the Universe fully indwell a person. Why God spends time leading us into Truth is beyond me, and yet He does... and still manages to keep the universe running just as well. He is the one who helps us see the birth pains the world is going through to spring forth Life out of its current decay.

"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17)

deconstructing christian cliches - pt 4

There are some things that sound like they're "Christian" to say, and in some ways they make sense to the mind of the average churchgoer. It may not be a bad thing to begin with, because our finite brains are trying hard to process an infinite God. Nonetheless, these clichés remain and often develop under the radar.

So this is my last in this series of posts, which means I'm going to rapid fire a last bunch of them.

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"Love the sinner, hate their sin."

A nice swing... but ultimately a foul ball. Jesus said love our neighbor and hate our own sin - or to be specific, deal the plank that is in our eye before we pick out their speck of sawdust. That doesn't mean we don't help people deal with the inner rebellion that separates them from God... it means that we don't use a cliché as a way to become hypocritical in how we treat them.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

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"God can't steer a parked car."

Why not? (Think about it for a moment)

This is a statement that is often made to get people busy for Jesus. I'm all for responding out of genuine gratefulness to God and finding the unique mission He has for me on earth... but to be busy for the sake of being busy doesn't make sense at all.

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)

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"When God closes a door, He opens a window."

Sometimes...

and sometimes He just closes a door.

On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John's disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. (Matthew 14:6-12)

And other times He opens a tomb.

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said.

"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." (John 11:38-43)

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"The gun was fired, and we were dead in our sins... until Jesus stepped in front of the bullet."

This is true in one sense - Jesus did bear the punishment for our sins. What's odd about this one, though, is that as a just God He also was the one firing the gun. Think about it.

A better metaphor I've heard is the one of the judge and the defendant. A girl appears before a judge and is found guilty for speeding. She pleads her case, but he's a just judge and holds her accountable for her choices. Slamming the gavel down, he pronounces, "Guilty as charged. $100 fine"

And then this judge stands up, takes off his robe, and walks around to pay for the girl's fine himself. Yes, this man was a righteous judge. However, he was also the girl's father and out of love for her he paid her penalty, even though he did nothing wrong himself.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

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I'm sure there are more, but you get the idea.

According to the dictionary, a cliché is "a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse." It may have some grains of truth, but when it replaces truth in the form of clever sayings we really miss out on so much.

So may we become people who take part in the Story of God... and not settle for bumper sticker theology. They are nice and sticky and can help us feel good about what we believe... but may such concepts lead us to deeper places of productivity and never become an end to themselves.

deconstructing christian cliches - pt 3

This isn't a political post, but I am going to use political language to critique a Christian cliche that I saw in this week's Presidential debate. It involves a "NO" moment - a personal practice of mine where I deliberately say the word "NO" out loud when I hear something that is promoted as truth but actually isn't.

(Try it sometime.)

Toward the end of the debate, both candidates made affirming statements that declared their belief that America is a supreme force of good for the world, potentially in all of history.

Ah... "no."

It's Jesus Christ and His Church.

(I wonder if they would have said the same thing in front of Rick Warren's audience.)

I don't know if you've ever considered this, but what we call "patriotism" the early church called "idolatry." I know in saying that I run the risk of an ultra-patriotic Christian reading this and getting upset at me. That's fine... because I understand your passion and have heard it before in appropriate and inappropriate ways. For the record, I do enjoy the country I live in and I humbly appreciate the "rights" America has afforded me that I don't see in any other country to the same level.

But America isn't the ultimate hope of the world, and it's not where my ultimate allegiance lies. If you cut me, I don't bleed "USA!" - I bleed for Jesus. Ultimately, I am a Christ-follower and would be no matter what country I lived in... even the ones where it's illegal to do so. (It would just be trickier, of course... and at times downright fearful - especially if it involved violence to my household.)

Our sense of identity as people (or as a country) must not be found in an imperfect President-to-be, nor in his policies on the economy, nor in whether or not he has "great experience" or "fresh perspective."

Power that fixes the world can only be found in Jesus Christ... and yet so many in this country cry out for a President to fix things. In fact, I've read that the rest of the world watches our debates and political updates with as watchful an eye as we do. So many expect one "superpower" to actually have "Super-Powers."

Hmm... sounds familiar.

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."

But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." (1 Samuel 8:4-20)

Israel wanted a king, but they wanted wrong kind of king — a good looking guy who they thought would bring about the change they wanted. God rejected him.

Then one day God installed His own king in his place... Himself as Jesus Christ. Only Israel rejected Him.

Similarly, somewhere along the way we created in the church an ironic cliche of our own - American Christianity. Here's how it often shows up during election time for many Christians:

• We say, "Jesus is Lord," and yet believe a human candidate will provide all the change the world is looking for.
  


• Folks pick fights with each other about two candidates who both claim to be Christians, citing to each other that only their party's canididate "really is."
  


• Christians don't think twice about listening to and laughing alone with radio/TV personalities who slander, spread gossip, and belittle the "other" side.
  


• Many would say they believe that God wants to redeem the world, but are most concerned about their own country's interests.
  
  
• Rather than recognizing how the American Dream is self-centered, we buy into the inward pursuit of happiness over the eternal pursuit of goodness.

Granted, an election is a time to cast a vote about your country's leadership. The problem is that somewhere in the process the concept of "God and Country" becomes "Country and God." The sequence matters, for the first word far outranks the second word.

And when that happens, we start looking for security in all the wrong places.

How are you doing on this?

• Have you been taking your cues from CNN and Fox News more than God Himself?
  


• Are you fixated on reading the stock market, or are you fixated on reading the Bible?
  
  
• Is the roundtable discussion on who won the debate most important at the end of the day, or is the conviction of the Holy Spirit your guiding factor?

Don't worry... I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. Honestly, I'm not telling you whom I'm voting for. (We all know that whomever wins the vote is going to stand at the plate and give his best swing at the job... and he'll fall short, give late night TV shows material for monologues and skits, and let the country down on more than one occasion. The good news is that God can use even that to further things forward..)

Instead, I'd rather inspire you to arrive at a place of peace and security that comes from prayer. Consider your life in light of the Truth of God.... and then respond. If you want to look at how each of the candidates takes part in or rejects God's story of redemption, the best way to start is by taking part in it yourself.

Because you don't discover security by looking for security (or manufacturing it through patriotic words). You find it by a U-turn back toward your Creator - He'll help you become the someone who is freshly overcome by the awe and desperation for Him.

In the first century, Julius Caesar believed that his country was the greatest force for good in the history of the world. He used this belief to justify whatever was in his country's best interests, even if it flew in the face of what true goodness is.

Then along came some Christians who spoke of their hope in Someone greater.

• The said it was the peace of Christ - not the peace of Rome - that surpassed all understanding.
  
  
• They decided that the way of peace was better than the way of the sword.
  
  
• They fought against patriotic language that declared "Caesar as Lord" by saying "Jesus is Lord."
  
  
• They died alnong with all those whom Rome sought to conquer when all it would have taken was a simple retraction of one's faith.

Maybe the best summary of all of this lies in a praise someone shared during a gathering last Sunday.

"Thank you Jesus for ruining my life and giving me Yours."

deconstructing christian cliches - pt 2

Just like the last post, I'm also guilty of having said this one.

"I read the last book in the Bible (Revelation) and we win!"

First off, this is not solely a cliche' - it is true that at the end of the Bible we find that those who have chosen to stand with Jesus Christ get to remain in that relationship forever. We also find that the devil is outmatched and is sent to a hellish realm of eternal punishment. Then a new heaven and a new earth are connected together where we take part in an amazing spiritual journey with God - face to face with Him, and face to face with each other.

By all accounts, we do "win." Read all about it HERE.

But here's where this becomes a cliche' - you can read the ending and see that we "win" and start gloating about it as if you've discovered some "a ha" to slap on your friends like some 1980's professional wrestler rant before "Wrestlemania Smackdown 55."

If you read the Beginning (Genesis 1:1), you will find that we've already "won."

Actually, it's God who "wins" - for not only is God there when the first moment of creation happens, but He goes before us in all things... even history itself.

Then there's the cross of Christ and His resurrection. Again - another stake in the ground that proclaims the winner.

Which again - by the way - is God.

God wins.

He's the Hero of the Game - God the Father as owner of the team, God the Son as the MVP, and God the Holy Spirit as the Coach.

Those of us in Christ just happen to be wearing the same jersey and find ourselves getting passed the ball from Christ more than our skill level deserves. Somehow, though, because He's involved... we get to score, too.

But the autographs belong to Him, and why even making "the number one" with your finger somehow always points toward the heavens.

deconstructing Christian cliches - pt 1

I was reminded today of a phrase that Christians often say that is contrary to our belief system. We don't realize it as we do, though, because we're actually trying to share something positive.

The phrase?

"And then God showed up."

You may hear this when someone is sharing about a challenging situation, only to have the situation turn around because "God showed up."

• "I was having a hard time figuring out what to do, and then God showed up."
• "The worship music felt like normal music, but then God showed up."
• "We tried doing some outreach this week, and prayed for something amazing to happen. Guess what? God showed up!"
• "I couldn't find a parking spot, so I prayed... and then God showed up."

And so on.

Actually, God didn’t show up. He was there the entire time... God is everywhere, all the time. That’s a part of His infinite nature.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:7-10)

"Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)

Sure... I know what people mean when they say “God showed up.”

• God surprised them.
• A prayer got answered.
• They've finally gotten past a barrier of some sort - intellectual, emotional, relational, etc.
• A conviction hit their heart from the Lord regarding some hurdle they've created.
• A spiritual dry spell became refreshed by Jesus.

Unfortunately, this language of "God showing up" makes it seem as though God is playing hide and seek with us. To the contrary, check this out:

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:6-9)

So it's not God who wanders away from us, but it's us who wander away from God. We struggle with all sorts of distractions and inner rebellion that keeps us barely tuned in to the true reality that the Lord is everywhere. So He doesn't have to be "invited" into a situation, but He does need to be invited into our lives - that's place versus relationship.

Here's the rub - while God is everywhere, we can still be distant from Him. Most commonly, it's because we're looking for Him in the wrong ways. Romans 1 tells us He's constantly revealing Himself, and yet we're often focused on the wrong clues.

It's like when you meet someone at a cafe for lunch for the first time and don't know who to look for. You're piecing what you do know of them with your best guess on what they may look like. Sometimes you're looking for someone you've concluded isn't there... only He's in the booth to your right.

That's just what everyone about 2000 years ago failed to realize when the Creator entered His creation in a way that staggers the imagination! The King took on flesh, lived with us, and died for us... but He didn't stop there. Jesus gave the gift of His Holy Spirit to His disciples, establishing a permanent residence within anyone who would receive Him.

Right now, He is wanting to make a real connection with you. Any longing for God to "show up" today reveals the inner distance we often feel between His world and our own. But, it is not He who has distanced Himself. It is you and me.

The great need of our spiritual lives is not one of presence. Rather, the great need is for reception.

So instead of expecting God to “show up,” how about we start entering into His presence preparing and expecting to meet with Him?

God is much, much closer than we think.

the Rest of the week

Did you know that God commands you to chill out?

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

For some odd reason, Sabbath is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the church. God originally gave it to a group of former slaves who were used to working 24/7. If they ever fell short in making bricks for their boss Pharaoh, their life was in jeapordy. So essentially they learned that the more work you do, the better your life is.

In comes God, who tells them they are worth more than that - and He literally commands them to set aside a day of the week to begin learning what it means to be loved for who you are instead of what you do/produce. This took everyone back to when God rested on the seventh day, not because He had to, but because He knew the value of community with us, Him, and each other.

Unfortunately, we either make Sabbath something legalistic... or something we think of too loosely.

While it is and was a day, it’s more than a day – in its fullness and purity it’s a mindset of restoration through God. It’s more than just one day a week, but all throughout the week.
And it's more than religion - it's about reconnecting with the most important relationships in your life - Him, your household, those around you, and so on.

I wonder... what day of the week does your cell phone get turned off? When are you simply not available to anyone else so you can reconnect with the most important Relationship and relationships in your life?

So basically this is a full scale rebellion at the idea of “get it done now.” And so it was more than a law to be kept… it was a joy to be experienced.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink,or with regard to a religious festival, a New Mooncelebration or a Sabbath day. (Colossians 2:16)

One man considers one day more sacred than another;another man considers every day alike. Each one shouldbe fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards oneday as special, does so to the Lord. (Romans 14:5-6a)

A few things you can work into most family Sabbath days:

1. Start the day with prayer, asking God to show Himself to you through all the things you'll be doing.
2. Work on memorizing a Scripture verse experientially. For instance, do Genesis 1:1 on a walk through the woods. Grab a stick and raise it in the air like a sword as you shout it out.
3. Turn off anything electronic that could separate you from others (i.e. cell phones, house phones, iPods, etc). But crank up the tunes that get you all singing together.
   

Now… some ideas from a list my family has been compiling every week:

• Go the library and read books together… let other kids join you if they want because you're making all the cool voices.
  
• Stay in your pajamas and go to the breakfast at a local restaurant buffet. If people look at you funny, stare their shoes and then say, “Hmm. Interesting.”
  
• Make a CD or fill your mp3 player with fun songs and praise songs you can sing all day long while you drive… and then, sing them all day long while you drive. Mix it up – Disney tunes and worship tunes get along fine (despite Southern Baptist boycotts).
  
• Have a special kid's Bible that you use only on this day… something that helps you talk about the lesson or sing a song.
  
• Play board games together as a family… let the kids win.
  
• Play video games together as a family… let mom win.
  
• Buy a virtual pet (WebKinz, etc) for each of your family members – and then spend the afternoon setting up each other's virtual rooms.
  
• Jump on a trampoline and invent games on the fly that make no sense.
  
• Work on a family history – use it as a way to call extended family as you do for their insights.
  
• Say what you need to say… about anything.
  
• Scrapbook and journal to keep personal and family records.
  
• Write letters or email to family and friends.
  
• Have every member of the family pick some part of lunch – and everyone has to eat it.
  
• Make up stories around the table that involve your family saving the neighborhood using their secret super powers. Then talk about the real mission God has your household a part of to love Him and your neighbors into faith.
  
• Listen to a Christian kids story (i.e. via HIS Kids online radio) toward the end of one of your meals. Then leave the dishes and finish listening to it together.
  
• Do the dishes together.
  
• Teach a younger family member how to cut the lawn.
  
• Play a game of baseball in the front yard, even though you don't have nearly enough players.
  
• Visit extended family – bring them a pizza.
  
• Watch a movie in a room you don't normally watch a movie – maybe a bedroom or living room.
  
• Find the cheapest way to feed everyone at a fast food place.
  
• Join a restaurant's e-mail list and use the free coupons they send you to guide where you eat.
  
• Make omelets, letting each family member pick what they want inside.
  
• Let the person who seldom gets to sleep in have the chance to sleep in.
  
• Make a picnic and have it at the park. Do this until you've visited every park in the area over a course of weeks.
  
• Write an online review of each of the parks in your area.
  
• Go to a place like Goodwill or Volunteers of America – have each family member buy an inexpensive item for another family member.
  
• Go bowling – pay for the kids only (to save money) and help them.
  
• Let whoever plays an instrument in your house, play it… and make up a song to whatever they play.
  
• Look for unique smells all throughout your day. At the end, talk about the most memorable. Tie it in to how God says we're the smell of “Christ” to the world.
  
• Go see a movie at a non-typical time.
  
• Visit the local zoos
  
• Hit the beach.
  
• Visit the local pool or splash pad.
  
• Go for a bike ride that gets progressively bigger (i.e bike to the end of your driveway and back, then the end of your block and back, and then the end of your street and back, and so on). Tie it into how God helps us grow one step at a time.
  
• Coordinate reading a book with watching a movie (i.e. Stuart Little, Willy Wonka, etc). Talk about the way imagination and visuals work together, and let them turn into a chat on how heaven will blow our minds when we take part in it.
  
• Go see a baseball game and cheer on your team – whether they're little league or professionals.
  
• Hit a local school running track – and race each other. Be sure to do crazy stuff, like wheelbarrow races and so on.
  
• Shop for a local food pantry.
  
• Make extra food and share it with a neighbor.
  
• Invite a neighbor you barely know over for an outdoor picnic.
  
• Fly a kite – talk about how God is like the wind… you can't see Him with your eyes, but you can the effects of Him like you do the wind
  
• Watch the sun rise and the sun set – talk about the way God set up the planets in balance.
  
• Recap what you learned from your last round of a church gathering or class, and then come up with an application about it for that day.
  
• Make a video – let the kids write and direct.
  
• Create birthday cards for extended family members in advance.
  
• Tell a story by having each person add only a line at a time.
  
• Look through a telescope while you play an appropriate song - How Great Is Our God, God Of Wonders, etc.
  
• Lie in the grass. Talk about whatever you see in the sky and think of as many things about each that make it unique.
  
• Stare at bugs. Touch bugs. Laugh when you run away from bugs.
  
• Push back from the table, look into each other's eyes, and say nothing with your voices… but communicate what really matters as bet as you can.
  

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."(2 Timothy 3:16)

Maybe first you can build a baby step of rest into the everyday routine.

• Eat a meal each day with your family or a good friend.
• Or instead of working through your lunch hour, just enjoy the chicken salad sandwich that you bought from the gas station that day… may it be the best chicken salad sandwich ever.
• Or get up ten extra minutes and read something amazing out of the Bible that was written years ago and yet can speak power into your life today.

What we know is that God has commanded us to cease work one day a week. Jesus is our example - He took regular breaks, even though there were certainly moments where He was heaven-bent on getting somewhere. But even though He has purpose, He isn't driven… He's meandering and storytelling, stopping at any old beggar, blind man, soldier, or prostitute to BE.

So much of our lives are squandered in inattentiveness. We're hardly present for most of our own existence.Sabbath allows us to be fully present and fully awake right now, right here. It creates a thankfulness as we see the world and open our eyes to God's beauty and richness.

The more you give thanks, the more you are thankful, and then the more you have cause for thankfulness. It's an upward spiral. Sabbath is to delight in God's salvation and creation.

And it's like tithing - you gain by giving away.

You gain seeing how God throws open the blessings of heaven everyday. But here's the rub: you lose an edge of impatience, thinking the world is about you and you need more time.

emergent questions - pt 1

A friend of mine who is also in pro-min (that's my new short way of saying professional ministry, but since I had to explain it I really lost any need to be witty, didn't I?) recently emailed me this query:

Hey Tony! How is all over there in church planting land?

I have been thinking, reading and discussing the emergent church stuff lately... With your contact with some from the movement, can I shoot you some questions? I will take that as a yes...because of the long pause :-)

With all the "postmodern" thinking and theological bent, I understand all the arguments for epistemology "beyond foundationalism" etc. but aren't there some certainties in our theology? I get the feeling that those in the E-Village do not want to nail down some doctrines of the faith based on Biblical and Historical roots. Specifically in regards to Jesus being the only way to have eternal life or the Scriptures being inspired and without error. Is universalism an option for Tony Jones, Brian McLaren etc.?

I have appreciated many of their thoughts about justice, the Kingdom, inclusion and love, but is it at the cost of Truth and Doctrines? Have many of the great theologians of the past been wrong all this time? What is your take on all of it?

Thanks man. I value your wisdom.

Ah... here's where the rubber meets the road for me, isn't it?

Let's start with some personal history.

• I grew up loosely Catholic, bordering on atheism for several seasons of high school. Then I got slammed by grace when Jesus Christ allowed me to encounter him during my junior year. Through a process, I came to place my faith in Him because of a rather innovative church who spoke concrete Truth into my life in a way that was absolutely relevant and refreshing.
  
  
• After high school, I wrestled with a call to pro-min because I knew squat about God and the Bible compared to everyone else. I realized, though, that in such matches the Lord has a way of winning (lest you walk away with a limp). It took me a year, and I finally gave in... which meant (given my personality) that I was intentionally enlarging my capacity to sponge up everything that I could about God, the Bible, theology, church history, contemporary methodology, shepherding others, and loving people with the kind of love Jesus demonstrated and the Holy Spirit has empowered me for.
  
  
• My first experience in ministry was at the aforementioned church, which has always been something I look back on with excessive gratefulness. Although I would eventually figure out the educational side of all of this, those initial years out of high school for me were beyond formative... because of the church's capacity and its integrity among national and international ministries, it was like hoping you're going to be a reporter and then getting a job at the Chicago Tribune or the New York Times. Simply by rubbing shoulders with the people I rubbed shoulders with, God chiseled things into me and out of me that I'd have to beg for in any other context.
  
  I took a job as a third shift janitor at the church, which took things a step further - for I was able to study the habits of the pastors I looked up to... I hate to admit it, but you learn a lot about a guy by cleaning up his office. Add to that eight hours every night of listening to audio teaching from the Bible on every topic imaginable and I was morphing around the clock.
  
  
• Finally, school... I needed to settle that issue as well as matters of ordination. To answer both, I jumped into a denomination that helped me take the next steps of processing theology with an anchor of common agreement. I noticed, though, that because I didn't grow up in that denomination I had a wider-eyed view of what it was teaching than those who seemed to be working up the ranks of the system. No matter, though, for no system is perfect and yet God chooses to use any theological system that attempts to root itself in the Bible as a complementary tool to keep us ever hearing but never understanding, not to mention ever seeing but never perceiving.
  
  Every one of us should have a "lover's quarrel" with whatever theological system we're in - "lover" to be a proponent of its motives, and "quarrel" to be sure that its conclusions are God-sized and not human-sized.
  
  
• One blessing school afforded me was a study trip to Israel after graduation. This was a scholarship I'd been nominated for, which basically meant all I had to worry about was food and incidentals. My wife and I had been married two years at this point, and someone paid for her to go as well... which is a trip neither of us could have even imagined we could take part in ever. Somewhere in between climbing Mount Masada and standing on the first-century cobblestones of the cell Jesus was beaten in, I resolved that whatever ministry I would be involved in would be God's. Perhaps this is to be assumed of every pastor, but what it meant for me is that I would continue to ask a simple question with complex application every day of my life - "Is whatever this is (i.e. this church, this theology, this idea, etc) of God or man?"
  
  We'll come back to that question later.
  
  
• At some point in my journey, I started to question if the modern approach to ministry was all there is... is the concrete teaching it offered (i.e. "The Bible says it, that settles it") our only tool to share redemptive love and transformation? Should we debate people into the Kingdom and jeer at their "idiocy" if they believe anything other than what we do? Is giving people "fill in the blank" outlines really the best way they learn? Might there be a better goal than getting people to become faithful attenders of church things? Is Christian music really better than non-Christian music... and what makes music "Christian," anyway?
  
  I asked questions like this for I noticed that most people around me wanted to "wash, rinse, and repeat" what had "worked" for many years than generate and invest the spiritual calories required to remain authentic and useful in a changing world. This was a problem, for what reached out to people in my generation wasn't connecting as it once did with the emerging one.
  
  And as a side note, the word "emerging" isn't a bad word - it's an indicative word that describes "what's next," whether we like it or not, based on certain catalysts that bring it about.
  
  Also, please note that all of this this was a question of methodology - not theology.
  
  
• Around this time I had struck up some friendships with some people who were asking similar questions. I was immesely thankful for the conversation, and especially grateful that we could engage in such talks about methodology that helped us ask risky questions about our theology.
  
  I know, I know... hang with me.
  
  Jesus said that the fruit of a tree tells us something about the tree, so it stands to reason that if our methods need examination that we should equally examine what led us there in the first place. For instance, there is a great discussion right now on another blog about the role fear plays in trying to convert someone... should it? If you read the comments on that blog you will quickly find that it's more a theological question than a methodological one.
  
  So maybe the question isn't "Should we question our theology?" - maybe the question is "Why shouldn't we?" or "What does our reluctance to do so reveal?" I think sometimes we secure ourselves to creeds more than we do to Christ... which is perhaps why Jesus once told a rather theological young man that he was "not far from the Kingdom of God." I wonder if that guy took it as a compliment... when it was in the same breath a declaration that he wasn't yet over that line.
  
  In simple terms, it's easier to become a "follower of followers of Christ" than it is to follow Christ.
  
  
• Finally, those conversations took on life... for we weren't just talking about the "how to" but the "why to." Isn't that what's most important? For whatever reason, most of my peers in ministry wanted to figure God out by copying and pasting creeds from the denomination, statements of faith from another church, or the conclusions of historical Christians.
  
  I am careful in saying that by quickly following it up with this disclaimer - I support this effort, as long as we don't put periods at the end of such creeds, statements of faith, or church father conclusions.
  
  Isn't the point to instead honor their theological sweat with some of our own that continues the journey? Or should we just inherit our the "family business" and never innovate... take it into the next century... rethink the methods of how we go about it and the ideas that got us into it in the first place?
  
  Lest we end up attempting to treat real diseases with Coca-Cola instead of Penicillin?

This was refreshing.

At least... for a while.

More to come.