Lessons

Mark Batterson post:  Leadership Lessons from Brett Favre

I was doing a video interview for our leadership retreat and Heather Zempel, our Discipleship Pastor, asked me if there were any leadership lessons to be learned from Brett Favre. Seriously? How much time do we have? I could have gone all day long. Just thought I'd share seven of them.

1) Slap your teammates on the butt.

No one does it better than Favre. Great leaders are great encouragers! They go around slapping people on the butt, figuratively speaking of course! Love the way he head butts his lineman too. Again, I would practice this one figuratively!

2) Call an audible.

On this one I'd say that the only quarterback who is better at it than Favre is Peyton Manning. Great leaders recognize when there are eight men in the box and they need to audible to a quick slant or screen pass. Leadership is not static. It takes all factors into consideration. It is the ability to process a ton of information in a short amount of time and make a good quick decision!

3) Throw a block downfield

One of the things I love about Favre is that he's not afraid to throw a block for his teammates. Quarterbacks don't do that. Favre does. Great leaders are great servants. They set the example they want others to follow.

4) Laugh in the locker room.

No one has more fun than Favre. Plays the game like a kid. Anybody see his rendition of Pants on the Ground after the game? Gotta love it. I think laughter is so critical to leadership longevity, especially in ministry! There's lots of crying so you need to counterbalance it with lots of laughing!

5) Huddle Up

Favre exudes confidence when he's in the game. You're never out of it with the old gunslinger in your huddle. I think great leaders build the confidence of those around them. Love the way Drew Brees does this in New Orleans too! Amazing pre-game chants!

6) Keep Watching Game Film

Favre has played the game for eighteen seasons, but he puts in the time watching game films. After every series you can see him coaching his young receivers and looking at pictures from the coaches booth. Leaders keep learning and keep teaching!

7) Don't be afraid of throwing interceptions.

Favre had his career-best when it came to interceptions this season, but he holds the all-time interception record. Lesson? If you want to hold the record for most touchdown passes you're probably going to throw some interceptions along the way! Great leaders aren't afraid of making mistakes. They're afraid of missing opportunities! Win or lose, they leave it all on the field.

Given Me Life

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional: THE PREFERRED TEACHER

I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.  Psalm 119:93

Which of two teachers would you prefer to learn from?  The subject matter is THE COMFORTING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The first teacher does a word study on 'comfort.  He cross references well and takes you to many passages and stories where God creatively comforted His children.  It's obvious he has a grasp of the topic and is out to impart information to those who listen.  He hopes you take good notes so you can remember the material.

The second teacher speaks briefly about the text.  He, too, defines 'comfort' and references some related passages.  Then, thoughtfully, he begins to reminisce and speak of a time when he was in desperate need of comfort and companionship.  It was not to be found.  He was alone in a world of family and friends and wondered how he could make it one more day in his sense of isolation.  He pressed into God and experienced the comforting work of the Spirit firsthand.  As he told the story, you were unaware of time and the weight of his words fell on your heart.   

The first teacher works hard at his faith but it's mostly cerebral.  Like a graduating senior who tries to remember calculus formulas so he can ace his freshman math course in college, this bible scholar files away biblical facts.  He approaches the bible like a textbook to be mastered.  His knowledge of God is based mostly on what he has read, not on what he has experienced.

The second teacher is not so much aware that he is a student as much as he is a disciple of one he loves dearly.  Life's experiences brought him to the end of himself and his great need of a Savior ushered him into a relationship with Jesus.  Anything he studies fills in more blanks about a person with whom he experiences a daily relationship.
How much easier to remember God's precepts when they are woven into the cement of our experience.  When the Word has been life-saving, it is not soon forgotten.

Not much of what I know is valuable to me, Lord, unless I find it active in our relationship.  Help me teach others through the storylines of my life.  Amen

Not Going Back

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. 

   Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily. 

 Galatians 2:19-21 [The Message]

Lifesaving Power

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional: WHEN YOU'RE OUT OF LIVING WATER

If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.  Psalm 119:92

In the morning, drink a tall glass of water.  Then spend the rest of the day in a cool house, reading a book in your favorite chair.  It just might be that you won't feel thirsty again till dinnertime.  If pressed, you could probably go till the next morning without feeling a crippling thirst.  Why?  Nothing depleted your system of water. 

Every morning, I take a drink of living water.  If the day is relatively stress free, that drink will easily sustain me.  I won't feel an intense thirst for more because that which might deplete it is absent.  Let the fires burn intensely however and I will be on my knees in prayer, in the Word, fortifying myself with fresh supplies of living water.  Trekking through stressful territory taxes my spiritual resources.  The heated exercise leaves me in a weakened state.  It is like a seasoned athlete who treks through desert heat without any provisions.

David admits that his affliction has been so severe that the word of God was the only thing that enabled him to survive.   Have you been there, meaning that you have known affliction but survived only because of the lifesaving power of the Word?  Every person, sooner or later, becomes intimate with affliction.  Most perish by exhausting all their own resources, turning inward for more, but finding themselves empty.  With no access to grace, they adopt a posture which appears to sustain.  Anger, revenge, cynicism, even apathy. 

To stay teachable, tender, and childlike in the midst of cross-carrying can only be accomplished by constant infusions of the Word.

I was not meant to perish under pressure, but soar on the wings of grace.

You have graced my life with a considerable amount of affliction - even from birth.  Through it, you have taught me how to need you.  Oh, how I do.  Thank you for planting me on your riverbanks.  Amen

Letters

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.  2 Cor 3:3

I had a chance last night to attend a preview showing of Letters to God -- more on this in a few weeks.

Representatives

Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.

2 Cor 5:16-20 [The Message]

One Man

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned

Unfortunately, the idyllic setting in the Garden of Eden was shattered. Genesis 3 tells the sad story of Adam and Eve's lost relationship with God through sin. The effects of man's fall were dramatic, immediate and far-reaching, infecting every subsequent member of the human race.

What happened to Adam and Eve spiritually because of the Fall? They died. Their union with God was severed and they were separated from God. God had specifically said: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17 NIV ). They ate and they died.

Did they die physically? No. The process of physical death was set in motion, but they were alive physically for several hundred more years. They died spiritually; their souls were separated from God. They were banished from God's presence. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden and guarding the entrance were cherubim waving a flaming sword (Genesis 3:23, 24).

After Adam, everyone who comes into the world is born physically alive but spiritually dead, separated from God. Paul wrote, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live" (Ephesians 2:1 NIV ).

How did Jesus remedy this problem? In two dramatic, life-changing ways. First, He died on the cross to cure the disease that caused us to die: sin. Romans 6:23 begins, "The wages of sin is death." Then He rose from the dead to give us spiritual life. The verse continues, "But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus Himself said, "I came that they might have life" (John 10:10).

The bad news is that , as a child of Adam, you inherited spiritual death. But the eternally good news is that, as a child of God through faith in Christ, you will live forever because of the life He has provided for you.

Prayer:

Thank You, heavenly Father, for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and then raising Him from the dead so I may have life.

Joining His Mission

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer's post:  Ten Scripture Texts on God's Mission

Here is a top ten of the passages cited. Some are explicit, others less so, but the mission of God and our calling to join Him is clear. I will be using these in my forthcoming study bible article on John 20:21.

I believe that John 20:21 ties our mission into Jesus' mission. In other words, we join him in His mission. There are many verses that relate to that (and I often use Luke 4 and Luke 19:10 as good summary statements), but I was looking for verses that were more clearly connected to the call of God on His people.

Here is the list of ten verses that indicate God's people are sent on mission:

GENESIS 12:1-3 The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
EXODUS 19:5, 6
Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.
ISAIAH 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
Who should I send?
Who will go for Us?
I said:
Here I am. Send me.
MATTHEW 24:14
This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.
MATTHEW 28:18-20
Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
MARK 16:15
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
LUKE 24:46-48
"This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high."
JOHN 20:21
Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."
ACTS 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
1 PETER 2:9-10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people for His possession,
so that you may proclaim the praises
of the One who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are God's people;
you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

Peace Revealed

The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: "Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you."  


Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.

John 20:20-21, 30-31 [The Message]

God Will Supply

A few years ago I shared the article "Don't Waste Your Cancer" by John Piper with comments by David Powlison (DP in article) with my mom.  There are ten points in the article -- too many to summarize in this post.  As my mom continues to battle cancer I post portions of this article as a testament to the way mom is not wasting her cancer, but is using it to show God in all things.  She writes about her battle in her blog John's Wife.

A couple of excerpts from the article:

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

DP: God himself is your comfort. He gives himself. The hymn “Be Still My Soul” (by Katerina von Schlegel) reckons the odds the right way: we are 100% certain to suffer, and Christ is 100% certain to meet us, to come for us, comfort us, and restore love’s purest joys. The hymn “How Firm a Foundation” reckons the odds the same way: you are 100% certain to pass through grave distresses, and your Savior is 100% certain to “be with you, your troubles to bless, and sanctify to you your deepest distress.” With God, you aren’t playing percentages, but living within certainties.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.

When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

DP: Our culture is terrified of facing death. It is obsessed with medicine. It idolizes youth, health and energy. It tries to hide any signs of weakness or imperfection. You will bring huge blessing to others by living openly, believingly and lovingly within your weaknesses. Paradoxically, moving out into relationships when you are hurting and weak will actually strengthen others. ‘One anothering’ is a two-way street of generous giving and grateful receiving. Your need gives others an opportunity to love. And since love is always God’s highest purpose in you, too, you will learn his finest and most joyous lessons as you find small ways to express concern for others even when you are most weak. A great, life-threatening weakness can prove amazingly freeing. Nothing is left for you to do except to be loved by God and others, and to love God and others.

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

DP: Jesus is your life. He is the man before whom every knee will bow. He has defeated death once for all. He will finish what he has begun. Let your light so shine as you live in him, by him, through him, for him. One of the church’s ancient hymns puts it this way:
Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger
(from “I bind unto myself the name”).

In your cancer, you will need your brothers and sisters to witness to the truth and glory of Christ, to walk with you, to live out their faith beside you, to love you. And you can do same with them and with all others, becoming the heart that loves with the love of Christ, the mouth filled with hope to both friends and strangers.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Declaration

Mark Batterson post:  Lion Chasers

It's been quite a while since I posted the Lion Chasers Manifesto. Speaking in chapel at Anderson University today on that topic so I thought I'd post the manifesto.

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Criticize by creating. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion. 

 

Messy

On Saturday night one of the songs we sang was "Follow You" by Leeland.  Some of the lyrics are:

You lived among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away.

All my needs you have supplied.
When i was dead you gave me life.
How could i not give it away so freely?

And i`ll follow you into the homes that are broken.
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy god.
Follow you into the world.

Use my hands use my feet
To make your kingdom come
Through the corners of the earth
Until your work is done
`cause faith without works is dead
And on the cross your blood was shed
So how could i not give it away so freely?

Here is a related (to the message of this song) and a very interesting broadcast I heard on Midday Connection.  Audio Link

My Generation

Air Date January 7, 2010

Summary

Generation “Y” is the generation of tattoos, cell phones, social networking, and iPods. It’s also the generation of authenticity, social justice, racial diversity and community but, Josh Riebock says it’s also the generation of broken homes, school shootings,  and immense performance pressure, just to name a few. On this Midday Connection Josh joins us to talk about how we can bring restoration to this 70 million member group of young people.

Featured Guest

Josh Riebock

Josh James Riebock has been a successful youth pastor and is now a sought-after speaker at conferences, colleges, and churches across the country. He speaks both to Generation Y and to people who are involved in leading this generation. He lives with his wife, Kristen, in downtown Austin, Texas.

Object of Devotion

Interesting post (and title) from Miscellanies:  Why humans require a worldview (and why dogs don't)

Erich Fromm in The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness [(New York City: Henry Holt, 1973) p. 26], writes:

“…[man] needs a goal that tells him where to go. The animal has no such problems. Its instincts provide it with a map as well as with goals. But man, lacking instinctive determination and having a brain that permits him to think of many directions in which he could go, needs an object of total devotion; he needs an object of total devotion to be the focus point of all his strivings and the basis for all his effective—and not only proclaimed—values. He needs such an object of devotion for a number of reasons. The object integrates his energies in one direction. It elevates him beyond his isolated existence, with all its doubts and insecurities, and gives meaning to life. In being devoted to a goal beyond his isolated ego, he transcends himself and leaves the prison of absolute egocentricity.”

Desperate Straights

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional: KEEP ME ALIVE

In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.  Psalm 119:88

            Psalm 119 is the expression of extremes.  The writer (most think it is David) is in desperate straights and speaks about most everything in the context of life and death.  "Your Word is life to me."  "I languish for Your saving hand."  If any of us are in pleasant circumstances with our needs numbed out by pleasure, we will not track with the strong speech found within this chapter.

            The psalmist's words today are gut wrenching.  To paraphrase this out of the Hebrew language, the meaning takes on even more desperate overtones.  Here it is.  "Because you are so kind, keep me alive so that I preserve the testimonies of your mouth."  It is not made clear whether David is in physical danger or spiritual danger.  But when threats against either are high, it really doesn't matter, does it?  The truth is ~ God is the giver of life whether we need a physical resurrection or a heart preserver.

            If you are looking for a Psalm to ponder out of mere interest, this is not the one for you.  So many of God's children read the Bible to get facts, be entertained, and say to another, "Oh, that was so interesting."  As dispassionate reader will never know life change.

            This Psalm is meant for those who know they would be 'walking dead' without the swift and life-saving hand of God.  Many who read this devotional every day (and I hear from so many of you) are walking on hot coals everyday.  Their heart is bombarded with regret, pressure to survive another's cruelty, or any other circumstance which threatens to snuff the life out of a person's soul.  The weight is so great as to make you throw up your hands and say, "I quit.  I'm numbing out to life.  It's too painful to care anymore."

            Ah, this verse is for you and me whenever we're in that situation.

Oh God, you are kind.  You reach down and keep my faith alive when I ask you.  I can't even decide to follow you.  The desire and strength, even for that, is a gift out of the kindness of your heart.  Amen

For Us

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31b

I like the lyrics from God Is On Our Side by Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves

Everyone around the world 
Hear the joyful sound 
See the heavens open up 
Hear the music coming down 
Nothing's gonna separate us from the Father's love 
I can't help but celebrate 
'Cause we're not alone 

If God is on our side 
Who can be against us? 
If God is on our side 
We won't be afraid 
Though the mountains may fall 
And the sky will crumble 
There ain't nothin' gonna stand in our way 

Come on down to the riverside 
Wash it all away 
Leave behind your troubled mind 
For an uncloudy day 
Nothing's gonna separate us from the Father's love 
I can't help but celebrate 

'Cause we're not alone

Be Someone's Friend

Excerpt from email message from Thomas Johnston, Sr. Pastor, St. Peter's Church

...

Each of us has a list of acquaintances, colleagues, and folks we generally hang out with.  These relationships, however, rarely move beyond the surface appearances and generalities of life.  And then someone enters your life who isn’t looking for someone to use, is available enough to explore what is really going on in your life, is secure enough not to use that information for their own gain, and then becomes an encourager and advocate for all that is good, noble, and life-giving within you.  A friend.

It is the friend in life who will help orient you when all around you is disoriented.  It is the friend in life who will love you for who you are and not for what you will do for them.  It is the friend in life who will encourage you to persevere.  It is the friend in life who will pray with you, laugh with you, weep with you and when necessary give you a kick in the tail to get you going again.

Jesus calls us his friends and he gives us the power to be friends to others (John 15:12-17).  The Apostle Paul says that you and I will never rise above the expectations and standards of our closest friends – bad company corrupts good character, intentions, and plans (1 Corinthians 15:33).  I believe Paul is right and that Jesus is pointing us to something that will be defining for our lives.

Friendship is often left off the list of what people think of as being spiritual.  Yet it is through a friendship with Jesus that our lives are changed into something holy.  It is through a friendship with Jesus that we are able to persevere, finish well, and have a level of peace and joy in the midst of it all.  And then it is Jesus who says to you: “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you”, basically: Go and be someone’s friend.

...

A Seasoned Vessel

Christine Wyrzten Devotional: HEAT DAMAGE

I have become like wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statues.  Psalm 119:83

A wineskin is a ancient bottle made of leather.  If it got too near someone's campfire for too long a period, it would dry out, crack, and become unusable. However, a little bit of exposure to the smoke would be a good thing because the wine would take on a distinctive smoky overtone. 

Time in the valley of suffering has changed the spiritual properties of many believers for the worse.  They spent so much time near the fire that, over time, their inner landscape began to deteriorate.  They became brittle; their heart fractured.  Those closest to them were the last to notice how radical the transformation was.  It happened slowly over time.  However, an acquaintance who had not seen them in some time was struck by the comparison.  One glance told them that something inside had deeply changed since the last time they were together.  They wore their story in their whole demeanor.

I am no stranger to the fire and its effects.  Perhaps you aren't either.  Sometimes, our crises are not of the 'overnight' kind.  They are years, even decades long.  I have become acquainted with myself when under great stresses.  I have seen how easily I can be broken, how prone is my soul to cynicism and hopelessness.  Only God's grace and His perspective on my suffering can save an otherwise tragic passage.

Perhaps you've heard the saying, "Pain makes us bitter or better."  King David might say, "It makes us an unusable vessel (like a smoke damaged wineskin) or a seasoned vessel that just gets better with time."  Which one I turn out to be is not determined by some luck of the draw.  Becoming better will only occur because I made a daily, intentional choice to walk through my fire with a childlike spirit, trusting in God to help me, change me, and keep me tenderhearted.  If any of this is to be accomplished, it is only a work of His grace and mercy.

I love the metaphor of what happens to wine in the wineskin when it has been touched by smoke.  The flavor and aroma is appreciated by any connoisseur.  That reminds me not to run from pain but to allow God to touch my life with its effects.  I want to be one who tells myself the truth of my own story.  I want to grieve the losses and celebrate the mountaintops.  The spiritual wine I offer to others will have the flavor of something aged, something divine.

It's a delicate balance, Lord.  The pain of today can kill me or save me.  Make me a better vessel and save me from destruction.  Amen

Your Faith Has Saved You; Go in Peace

⁴¹"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?"⁴³Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." ⁴⁴Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." ⁴⁸And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." ⁴⁹Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Luke 7:41-50

Pray

Excerpt from Dan Kimball post:  Starting 2010 with "Too Busy Not to Pray"

...

I shared in the staff meeting that this book is not a book which says we should all live passive monastery-like lives as Christian leaders. It is a very realistic book. No where in the Bible does it say that when you are on mission, it is not going to be time consuming or difficult.  Whether you are on staff or volunteering in a church. I don't agree when I hear that church leaders put in more time and are more wiped out than the average person. I know moms at home that are consumed all day with working hard raising their kids and wiped out at the end of the day. I know people who commute almost an hour back and forth to high stress jobs in places. There are students who work full time jobs and go to school at the same time and try to juggle everything. Then on top of that they faithfully volunteer time in their local church. In many ways, church staffs have more flexibility with time. I do think that pastors and leaders of a church bear more burden for the whole church and the whole mission. So I think that is different to some degree. But volunteers are heroes as they give up time for the mission in addition to everything else they are doing in their lives and jobs.

I shared with the staff is that those in ministry have the most urgent and critical mission on earth. We are leading the mission of being the body of Jesus and communicating and living the gospel here on earth (empowered by the Spirit). So of course we should be working hard. And of course it isn't going to be easy. And of course there will be very tough times and extra hours. I think of the book of Acts and the stories of the disciples on mission. Most of us in the USA aren't having to experience being beaten up, stoned, and put in jail and even killed for our faith. So our efforts and time is not about running programs or putting on Sunday gatherings (although that does happen) but it is about lives being transformed here and for all eternity. What greater mission is that? So as we strive and put time and energy and effort into ministry, it is worth the effort. And it isn't easy. But it is worth it.

...

Every Time

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.

Philippians 1:3 [The Message]

Word

Miscellanies post:  Image vs Word

Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Penguin, 2005) p. 9:

“‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water beneath the earth’ [Exodus 20:4]. I wondered then, as so many others have, as to why the God of these people would have included instructions on how they were to symbolize, or not symbolize, their experience. It is a strange injunction to include as a part of an ethical system unless its author assumed a connection between forms of human communication and the quality of a culture. We may hazard a guess that a people who are being asked to embrace an abstract, universal deity would be rendered unfit to do so by the habit of drawing pictures or making statues or depicting their ideas in any concrete, iconographic forms. The God of the Jews was to exist in the Word and through the Word, an unprecedented conception requiring the highest order of abstract thinking.”

Not a Means But the End

Mark Batterson post:  Is Your Dream Your Idol?

For years I dreamed of speaking at conferences and writing books. And I think both of those desires were God-ordained passions. But they didn't happen for a long time. And I think the main reason is simple: I wanted it for the wrong reasons. I don't think you're ready until you are willing to let the dream die. And when you are willing to let the dream die, God often resurrects it.

I'm certainly not suggesting that my motives are 100% sanctified now. Not there yet. But as I look back and look forward, I realize that many of our dreams never happen for one simple reason. We want it more than we want God. God becomes a means to an end. And our dream, which was meant to be a form of worship to God, becomes our god. This is especially true of pastors. We go into ministry to serve God, but ministry can become a god. Your church becomes your idol. Is your ministry more important to you than God?

God is not a means to your dream. Yes, your God-ordained dreams will never become reality without divine intervention. And God wants it to become reality more than you do. But the dream isn't the end. God is the end.

Is your dream your god? Or is God your God? God will not be used. God will not be manipulated. God will not be played. If you want what God wants for the wrong reasons it won't happen. It's not until you sanctify your motives that God will bless it.

Are you willing to sacrifice Isaac?

Live a Lover's Life

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1: 9-11 [The Message]

Four Emerging Themes

Excerpts from The Barna Group Year-in-Review

Based on his company’s interviews with thousands of people during the year, researcher George Barna synthesized the findings across numerous studies and summarized four themes that emerged from his research regarding religion in 2009.
 

Theme 1: Increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity.


“Faith remains a hot topic in America these days,” George Barna commented, expanding on the theme. “Politicians, athletes, cultural philosophers, teachers, entertainers, musicians – nearly everyone has something to say about faith, religion, spirituality, morality, and belief these days. But as the fundamental values and assumptions of our nation continue to shift, so do our ideas about faith and spirituality. Many of our basic assumptions are no longer firm or predictable.

“One of those assumptions relates to how we develop our faith. These days,” he continued, “the faith arena is a marketplace from which we get ideas, beliefs, relationships, habits, rituals and traditions that make immediate sense to us, and with which we are comfortable. The notion of associating with a particular faith – whether it is Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or some other strain – still has appeal because that connection provides a discernible identity and facilitates the possibility of belonging to something meaningful. But the actual components of what we choose to belong to are driven by our momentary needs and perceptions.

“Our studies consistently demonstrate – as explained in unChristian, the book by my colleague, David Kinnaman – that being a Christian or associating with the Christian faith is not as attractive to Americans as it used to be. That is largely due to two realities. First, the mass media have unfavorably caricatured the Christian faith, devout Christians and Christian churches. Second, it is relatively rare to find someone who is an exemplar of the Christian faith,” the researcher explained. “Consequently, millions of Americans have less trouble embracing Christ than they have embracing Christianity, but many people assume it is a package deal: that is, you cannot be a Christian without adopting the institutional framework and limitations of the Christian world. Young adults, in particular, find that unappealing.

“Ultimately, in a culture where people are busy, distracted, confused and trying to keep it all together, there is less loyalty to a faith brand than to self. The purpose of faith, for most Americans, is not so much to discover truth or to relate to a loving, praiseworthy deity as it is to become happy, successful, comfortable and secure. For a growing percentage of citizens, their sense of spirituality, more than Christianity, facilitates those outcomes.”

...


Theme 2: Faith in the American context is now individual and customized. Americans are comfortable with an altered spiritual experience as long as they can participate in the shaping of that faith experience. 


“Now that we are comfortable with the idea of being spiritual as opposed to devoutly Christian,” Barna pointed out, “Americans typically draw from a broad treasury of moral, spiritual and ethical sources of thought to concoct a uniquely personal brand of faith. Feeling freed from the boundaries established by the Christian faith, and immersed in a postmodern society which revels in participation, personal expression, satisfying relationships, and authentic experiences, we become our own unchallenged spiritual authorities, defining truth and reality as we see fit.

“Consequently, more and more people are engaged in hybrid faiths, mixing elements from different historical eras and divergent theological perspectives,” Barna stated. “In some ways, we are creating the ultimate ecumenical movement, where nothing is deemed right or wrong, and all ideas, beliefs and practices are assigned equal validity. Everyone is invited to join the dialogue, enjoy the ride, and feel connected to a far-reaching community of believers. Screening or critiquing what that community believes is deemed rude and inappropriate. Pragmatism and relativism, rather than any sort of absolutism, has gained momentum.”

...


Theme 3: Biblical literacy is neither a current reality nor a goal in the U.S. 


Barna’s findings related to Bible knowledge and application indicate that little progress, if any, is being made toward assisting people to become more biblically literate.

“Bible reading has become the religious equivalent of sound-bite journalism. When people read from the Bible they typically open it, read a brief passage without much regard for the context, and consider the primary thought or feeling that the passage provided. If they are comfortable with it, they accept it; otherwise, they deem it interesting but irrelevant to their life, and move on. There is shockingly little growth evident in people’s understanding of the fundamental themes of the scriptures and amazingly little interest in deepening their knowledge and application of biblical principles.

Barna noted that some of the critical assumptions of many preachers and Bible teachers is inaccurate. “The problem facing the Christian Church is not that people lack a complete set of beliefs; the problem is that they have a full slate of beliefs in mind, which they think are consistent with biblical teachings, and they are neither open to being proven wrong nor to learning new insights. Our research suggests that this challenge initially emerges in the late adolescent or early teenage years. By the time most Americans reach the age of 13 or 14, they think they pretty much know everything of value the Bible has to teach and they are no longer interested in learning more scriptural content. It requires increasingly concise, creative, reinforced, and personally relevant efforts to penetrate people’s minds with new or more accurate insights into genuinely biblical principles. In a culture driven by the desire to receive value, more Bible teaching is generally not viewed as an exercise in providing such value.”

...


Theme 4: Effective and periodic measurement of spirituality – conducted personally or through a church – is not common at this time and it is not likely to become common in the near future. 


“There are two levels on which evaluation of where we stand spiritually can take place,” noted the California-based author. “There can be external measurement, such as that conducted by pastors, teachers, coaches or peers, and there can be self-evaluation. At the moment, we’re seeing very little of either form of review related to a person’s spiritual condition.

“Our studies this year among pastors showed that almost nine out of ten senior pastors of Protestant churches asserted that spiritual immaturity is one of the most serious problems facing the Church. Yet relatively few of those pastors believe that such immaturity is reflected in their church. Few pastors have gone so far as to give their congregants a specific, written statement of how they define spiritual maturity, how it might be measured, the strategy for facilitating such maturity, or what scriptural passages are most helpful in describing and fostering maturity. Those pastors who made any attempt to measure maturity were more likely to gauge depth on the basis of participation in programs than to evaluate people’s spiritual understanding or any type of transformational fruit in their lives. Overall, less than one out of every ten pastors said they were completely satisfied with how they assess the spiritual condition of their congregation.

“The situation is similar among Christian individuals. Americans have an almost insatiable curiosity about themselves and how they stack up against others. Yet, in the spiritual realm, that same level of curiosity is much less apparent. Perhaps it is because of the lack of tools for such measurement or even the absence of motivation to grow or to deepen their relationship with God.

“Not surprisingly,” he continued, “our research found that a majority of churchgoing adults are uncertain as to what their church would define as a ‘healthy, spiritually mature follower of Christ’ and they were no more likely to have personally developed a clear notion of such a life. 

“It may well be that spiritual evaluation is so uncommon because people fear that the results might suggest the need for different growth strategies or for more aggressive engagement in the growth process. No matter what the underlying reason is, the bottom line among both the clergy and laity was indifference toward their acknowledged lack of evaluation. That suggests there is not likely to be much change in this dimension in the immediate future. In other words, as we examine the discipleship landscape, what we see is what we get – and what we will keep getting for some time.”

...

In Advance

Mark Batterson post:  Sense of Destiny

One of my favorite verses, top 10 at least, is Ephesians 2:10. In fact, my next book will really revolve around that verse. Here it is: "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works prepared for us in advance."

I love that phrase: in advance. What an awesome thought. God is already in your future. He is setting you up. He is preparing the way.

The word "prepare" comes from the oriental custom of servants going before kings to insure safe passage. The King of Kings turns the tables. He goes before His servants to prepare the road ahead. I hope that gives you a sense of destiny for 2010. We ought to walk into the New Year with holy anticipation.

Agur Prayer

^7-9 And then he prayed, "God, I'm asking for two things
   before I die; don't refuse me—
Banish lies from my lips
   and liars from my presence.
Give me enough food to live on,
   neither too much nor too little.
If I'm too full, I might get independent,
   saying, 'God? Who needs him?'
If I'm poor, I might steal
   and dishonor the name of my God." 

Proverbs 30 (The Message)

Hope in Him

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional: HOPE IS SECURE

My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.  Psalm 119:81

The hope of a new year lies in expanse before us today.  Something not yet unresolved may be resolved within the confines of this next calendar year.

Right now, someone is waiting to get well.  Someone else is waiting for a job.  Someone is waiting for inner peace.  Someone is waiting for intervention.  Someone is waiting for a definitive diagnosis.  Someone is waiting for deliverance out of crushing circumstances.  Someone is waiting for the fulfillment of a Word.

I can never know if the salvation I seek is of the immediate kind, the kind that will come in the next twelve months, or is of a distant kind.  The prophets waited on a word and it stretched their eyes to the max.  Abraham believed but he never got to see "the Word become flesh."  Yet, the hope of it sustained him.

All my hope lies in God.   The knowledge of salvation, now or in the future, sustains and comforts me.  I do know this ~ I will live to see His Word fulfilled over the next fifty two weeks.  My hope is well placed because His promises are solid.  In whatever ways my faith is stretched, in whatever ways salvation waits on some distant horizon, God will give me grace to wait.  He will fill my heart with the Word of promise and with the hope that comes with His Word.  I don't need to see it come true today to know joy.  I just need to know that it will come true.

Creation groans for the revealing of the sons of God.  In the waiting, His Word pulsates in my spirit with the kiss of promise.

Your Word simmers beneath the surface of my heart. Ever warm, I feel its hope.  Amen

Abound and Brim Over

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  [ESV]

Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!  [The Message]

Romans 15:13

A Place

I like the song "Heaven Is The Face" by Stephen Curtis Chapman:



...

But in my mind’s eye I can see a place
Where Your glory fills every empty space.
All the cancer is gone,
Every mouth is fed,
And there’s no one left in the orphans’ bed.
Every lonely heart finds their one true love,
And there’s no more goodbye,
And no more not enough,
And there’s no more enemy (no more)
...

Grace to You and With Your Spirit

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Philippians 1:2 and 4:23

Challenge It

Mark Batterson post:  Status Quo Bias

A few decades ago, a pair of psychologists named William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser discovered a phenomenon they dubbed the status quo bias. Simply put: most of us have a tendency to keep doing what we've been doing without giving it much thought.

Ever been offered a free subscription to a magazine for the first year? Why would we be offered something for free? It’s because magazine companies understand the status quo bias. Most of us will forget to cancel. And it’s not really that we’ve forgotten. We’re just too lazy to make a simple phone call or write a simple letter. Right? That is human nature! We tend to keep doing what we’ve been doing. And the problem with that is this: if you keep doing what you’ve always done you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

As we get ready to begin a new year, you need to challenge the status quo. I know there is nothing magical about a new year or a new decade. And not everybody has a resolution personality. But all of us need to make changes. Take some time to evaluate your life spiritually, relationally, physically, emotionally, and intellectually. What changes do you need to make? Is there something you need to stop doing or start doing? What do you need to do more or do less? Is there a choice you need to make? A goal you need to set? A habit you need to establish?

Don't maintain the status quo. Challenge it. 

Only One

Some of the lyrics from "How Many Kings" by Downhere

How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me

Face of God

One of my favorite songs this time of year is Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene.  The first part of the song is:

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Not An End

Mark Batterson post:  Means vs. Ends

I think one of the primary problems we face in Western Christianity is the simple fact that so many people view going to church as an end instead of a means to an end. Let me explain. For those who subconsciously view church as an end in and of itself, going to church is the way they do their religious duty. They check church off the religious list. But do you really think God's ultimate dream for our lives is to sit in a pew for ninety minutes?

Going to church isn't an end. It's a means to an end. The real test is how we live out our faith Monday to Friday. That's where the rubber meets the road. Church is the locker room talk or the boardroom talk. Choose your metaphor. It's not the game. It's not the business. It prepares us for the game of life, the business of life.

Sure hope this makes sense. It's subtle. But I think it's one reason why people go to church on Sundays but don't live like it on Mondays.

It's not an end. It's a means to an end.

Joy

LifeToday Weekly Devotional

The Voice of Advent
by Joan Chittister

“‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking
for someone else?’ Jesus told them, ‘Go back to John and tell him what
you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is
being preached to the poor.’”  (Matthew 11:3-5, NLT)

When the first small flame of the Advent wreath lights the monastery chapel and the soft, clear voices of those who have sung the chants and haunting melodies all their lives open the first of the Advent vigils, there is no doubt that we have begun a moment out of time.  It is the beginning of the liturgical year: Christmas is four weeks away.  We are at the moment in which a new cycle of old ideas will be stirred up again within us.  We are beginning a spiritual crossing on dark waters led only by an ancient sailing chart marked by a star.  Here in the dark we will begin the search for light in the soul.

Advent is not the oldest season in the church.  Easter, the Pasch or Passover, is far older, by at least two hundred years.  Advent did not begin in Rome.  In fact, the earliest mention of a period of preparation for Christmas didn’t exist until 490 in Gaul, what is now modern France.

We are not here in this dark chapel tonight, then, because Christmas is the high point of every church year, and Advent its most profound season.  The church year does not start here because Christmas is coming.  The church year starts here to remind us why Jesus was born in the first place.  Most of all, it starts here to call us to determine why we ourselves are here at all.

Advent, from the Latin, means “coming.”  But Advent is not about one coming; it about three comings.  The great spiritual question the season poses for each of us is, which coming are you and I waiting for now?  At this moment in our lives, at this present stage of our spiritual development, what we’re waiting for surely determines how we will wait for it.

Each of the three comings of Advent is very different.  The first coming is the remembrance of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in the flesh, based on the infancy narratives in the Gospels that give its historical context.  But if our expectation of Christmas remains on this level, the birthday of the “baby Jesus” becomes at best a pastoral attempt to make Jesus real.  This Jesus is a child’s Jesus that, too often – if our definition of Christmas is simply a child’s story about the birth of a child – will remain just that.  It is a simple, soothing story that makes few, if any, demands on the soul.

This coming too often leaves us, whatever our age, at the stage of spiritual childhood.  The baby Jesus captivates our hearts, true.  But the birth date of this child is not one of the great mysteries of the faith.  As Augustine pointed out, “The day of the Lord’s birth does not possess a sacramental character.  It is only a recalling of the fact that he was born.”

The next coming to which Advent calls our attention is a coming greater than the simple fact of human birth.  This is the coming of the presence of God recognized among us now in Scripture, in the Eucharist, in the community itself.  This coming makes Jesus present in our own lives, eternally enlivening, eternally with us.

The final coming to which Advent points us is the Second Coming, the Parousia.  It is this coming that whets the desire of the adult soul.  At the end of time, Jesus has promised and the Christian believes that the Son will return in glory.  Then the reign of God for which we strive with every breath will come in all its fullness.  This is the coming for which we wait.  This is the fullness for which we long.  This is what we really mean when the choir sings into the dark, “Maranatha.” “Come, Lord Jesus, come” is one rendering of the word.  But taken from the Greek, as maran atha – two words – “The Lord has come” is another equally acceptable translation.  Then the comings – past, present, and future – all live together in one long sigh of the soul.

Over the centuries and out of many traditions, Advent as we know it now has emerged to center us in these multiple layers of awareness, in these many levels of faith, in these varied plies of spiritual maturity.  We grow from one to the other, realizing as we do, that life is about more than the past, even about more than the present, and certainly, in the end, about the fullness of a future that is far longer than even our own.

Advent is a period of preparation for Christmas but, unlike Lent, it is not a period of penance.  It is a period that focuses us on joy.  We prepare ourselves to understand the full adult meaning of the feast.  We come to realize more each year how great are our blessings, how beautiful is a life lived in concert with the Jesus who came to show us the way.  We learn the joy of anticipation, the joy of delighting in a sense of the presence of God all around us, the joy of looking for the second coming of Christ, the joy of living in the surety of even more life in the future.

This Week
Are you preparing for Christmas by focusing on joy? Prioritize your time and thoughts this year and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas through advent.

Prayer
“Come, Lord Jesus, and center this season around You. Thank You for Your birth, life, death and resurrection. Help me to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and the joy of Advent.”

Only in the Cross

Excerpt from John Piper:  Boasting Only in the Cross 

Galatians 6:14

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

You don't have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by a few great things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don't have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don't have to have to have good looks or riches; you don't have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them.

But I know that not everybody in this crowd wants your life to make a difference. There are hundreds of you - you don't care whether you make a lasting difference for something great, you just want people to like you. If people would just like you, you'd be satisfied. Of if you could just have good job with a good wife and a couple good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, a fun retirement, and quick and easy death and no hell - if you could have that (minus God) - you'd be satisfied. THAT is a tragedy in the making.

Three weeks ago we got word at our church that Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards had both been killed in Cameroon. Ruby was over 80. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: To make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing 80 years old, and serving at Ruby's side in Cameroon. The brakes failed, the car went over the cliff, and they were both killed instantly. And I asked my people: was that a tragedy? Two lives, driven by one great vision, spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Jesus Christ—two decades after almost all their American counterparts have retired to throw their lives away on trifles in Florida or New Mexico. No. That is not a tragedy. That is a glory.

I tell you what a tragedy is. I'll read to you from Reader's Digest (Feb. 2000, p. 98) what a tragedy is: "Bob and Penny... took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells." The American Dream: come to the end of your life - your one and only life - and let the last great work before you give an account to your Creator, be "I collected shells. See my shells." THAT is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. And I get forty minutes to plead with you: don't buy it. 

...

God-Light

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. 

"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is." 


John 3: 16-21 [The Message]

View of God

Mark Batterson post (excerpt):  A Primal Thought: Day 9

Chapter 9: Potential Energy

Our biggest problem is our small view of God. Every other problem is a symptom. A big view of God is the cure.

On a bad day, we tend to reduce God to the size of our greatest failure, biggest problem, or worst fear. On a good day, we tend to reduce God to the size of our greatest gift, highest hope, or best attribute. But either way, we are creating God in our image. And what we end up with is a super-sized version of ourselves. A god who is just a little bigger, a little stronger, and a little wiser than we are. But in reality God is infinitely better than your best thought on your best day. In fact, your best thought on your best day is at least 15.3 billion light-years short of how good and how great God really is.

So what does a small view of God have to do with loving God with all of your strength? Well, at its core, loving God with all of your strength really means loving God with all of His strength. It’s not about what you can do for God. It’s about what God can do in you and through you. Few things are more thrilling than doing what you didn’t think could be done. And it’s not just thrilling for you. It’s thrilling for God. Like a proud parent, our heavenly Father loves it when we do impossible things by His power and for His glory. Loving God with all of your strength is living in raw dependence upon His power. And when you live in raw dependence upon His power, you will do things that cannot be done. 

Trust, Not Fear

Devotional post from Christine Wrytzen:

Matt Chandler is a 35 year old pastor in TX.  He is a gifted teacher.  Mentored by Dr. John Piper, he has grown in spiritual stature to pastor a church God led him to start.  The Village Church.  Eight thousand members. 

On thanksgiving day, Matt had a seizure, was rushed to the hospital, and a significant brain tumor was found.  This past Friday, they operated to remove it. 

The night before his surgery, he posted a video to give, potentially,  his last words to his congregation and internet family.  In light of the many devotionals this past month on the theology of suffering, nothing underscores these biblical principles more than a true life story of one who calls God 'good' in the midst of suffering.

If you'd like to see his 3 minute video, click here. [see below]

Matt did survive the surgery, recognized his doctors upon waking up in recovery, but long term prognosis is still unknown. 

If you are suffering today, here is profound encouragement to hang on to sound theology.  You are not alone.  Matt's voice is a clear and compelling call to trust, not fear, and to count our trials as opportunities to showcase the stunning glory of God's grace.

 Video from Matt

Matt Chandler's posting:

The last seven days have been some of the most interesting of my life. I have felt anxiety, fear, sadness and a deep and unmovable joy simultaneously and in deeper ways than I have felt before. I am grateful for this heightened sense of things. Today at 10:45 a.m. CST I will have a good portion of my right frontal lobe removed. I head into that surgery with a heart that is filled with gratitude and hope.
Here are some of the things I am thankful for in no particular order:

1. I am thankful for the thousands of you who have prayed and fasted for my health. It has brought far more tears to Lauren’s and my eyes to receive this kind of attention from the Church universal than this tumor has.
2. I’m thankful for health insurance because I’m guessing they aren’t doing my five-hour surgery for free!
3. I am thankful that I have deep, real friendships at The Village with Michael Bleecker, Josh Patterson, Brian Miller, Chris Chavez and Beau Hughes. They have been such a comfort to me and my family this past week. Pastors should have good friends on their staff. It’s risky but worth the risk.
4. I am grateful for the men of God in my life, namely John Piper who taught me to hold my life cheap and to join with Paul in saying “I don’t count my life of any value or as precious to myself if only I might finish my course and complete the work that He gave me to do to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God. I’m nothing, I just have a job. God keep me faithful on the job and then let me drop and go to the reward.” Without this strong view of God’s sovereign will, I’m not sure how you don’t despair in circumstances like mine.
5. I am thankful for my wife Lauren. “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’” “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”
6. I am thankful for my children. Audrey the Beautiful, Reid the Valiant and Norah the Joyous. Being a daddy to these three is one of the greatest joys of my life.
7. The privilege of seeing and appreciating all of life through the grid of a heightened sense of my own mortality.
8. I am thankful for brilliant doctors and surgeons who have been given a real gift by our great God and King to repair things as complex as the brain.
9. I am thankful for The Village Church. If there is a place that loves Jesus more, takes sanctification as seriously and wants to see the lost love the great King deeply I am unaware of it. These last seven years have been a spectacular joy!
10. More than anything else I am grateful to my King Eternal, my Lord Immortal, for my God invisible. He alone is God. All Glory and Honor, Forever to You O God. I am overwhelmed in these moments by God Himself and the assurance of a future inheritance of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken and where all things are made new (Hebrews 12).

Christ is All,
Matt Chandler

Greatness of our King

Lifter

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
   my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Psalm 3:3

No Condemnation

Great video:

Freedom, Balm and Joy

God of hope,
you call us home from the exile of selfish oppression
to the freedom of justice,
the balm of healing,
and the joy of sharing.
Make us strong to join you in your holy work,
as friends of strangers and victims,
companions of those whom others shun,
and as the happiness of those whose hearts are broken.
We make our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Thematic prayer, Year C, Third Sunday of Advent

Water

Yesterday we discussed the Samaritan's Purse gift catalog, and reminded everyone of our efforts to raise $9,000 to provide a community with clean water (gift #36):

Almost half of all the people in developing countries suffer from water-borne diseases and other illnesses caused by unclean water. Working with local ministry partners, Samaritan’s Purse provides communities with safe water for drinking, cooking, and washing through projects ranging from water treatment and protection to sanitation and hygiene education. In this way, countless people have discovered that only Jesus Christ can satisfy their spiritual thirst: “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6, NIV). A gift of $9,000 can supply enough clean water for 500 families—just $18 per family—by providing a portable water purification unit or other sustainable water system. 

Weakness

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

2 Cor 11:30

Irrevocable

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Romans 11:29

Unsearchable and Marvelous

"As for me, I would seek God,
   and to God would I commit my cause,
who does great things and unsearchable,
    marvelous things without number:

Job 5: 8-9

Primal Essence

Excerpt from Mark Batterson post:  A Primal Thought

Over the next ten days I'm going to share excerpts from Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. If you want to download a sample chapter, visit www.theprimalmovement.com.

Chapter 1: Two Thousand Stairs

We hopped on a double-decker bus and headed toward the heart of Rome. Lora and I had spent a year planning the trip, but nothing prepares you to stand in the very place where Caesars ruled an empire or gladiators battled to the death. As we walked the Via Sacra, we were stepping on the same two-thousand year-old stones that conquering armies marched on. Of course, I'm guessing they weren't licking gelatos. Our three days in the Eternal City went by far too fast. And I wish we hadn't waited until our fifteenth anniversary to take the trip.
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As we navigated those claustrophobic catacombs, I was overcome by the fact that I was standing in a place where my spiritual ancestors risked everything, even their lives, to worship God. And I felt a profound mixture of gratitude and conviction. I live in a First World country in the twenty-first century. And I’m grateful for the freedoms and blessings I enjoy because of when and where I live. But when you’re standing in an ancient catacomb, the comforts you enjoy make you uncomfortable. The things you complain about are convicting. And some of the sacrifices you’ve made for the cause of Christ might not even qualify under a second-century definition.

As I tried to absorb the significance of where I was, I couldn’t help but wonder if our generation has conveniently forgotten how inconvenient it can be to follow in the footsteps of Christ. I couldn’t help but wonder if we have diluted the truths of Christianity and settled for superficialities. I couldn’t help but wonder if we have accepted a form of Christianity that is more educated but less powerful, more civilized but less compassionate, more acceptable but less authentic than that which our spiritual ancestors practiced.

Over the last two thousand years, Christianity has evolved in lots of ways. We’ve come out of the catacombs and built majestic cathedrals with all the bells and steeples. Theologians have given us creeds and canons. Churches have added pews and pulpits, hymnals and organs, committees and liturgies. And the IRS has given us 501(c)(3) status. And there is nothing inherently wrong with any of those things. But none of those things is primal. And almost like the Roman effect of building things on top of things, I wonder if the accumulated layers of Christian traditions and institutions have unintentionally obscured what lies beneath. 

I’m not suggesting that we categorically dismiss all those evolutions as unbiblical. Most of them are simply abiblical. There isn’t a precedent for them in Scripture, but they don’t contradict biblical principles either. I’m certainly not demonizing postmodern forms of worship. After all, the truth must be reincarnated in every culture in every generation. And I am personally driven by the conviction that there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. But two thousand years of history beg this question: When all of the superficialities are stripped away, what is the primal essence of Christianity? 

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Perceptions and Reasonings

Excerpts from John Piper sermon Skeptical Grumbling and Sovereign Grace

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In this verse Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). ...

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But instead of getting more and more clarity and more and more agreement, Jesus is getting more and more resistance. This resistance in verse 41 is called grumbling. And the content of their grumbling is that what he says doesn’t fit with what they think they know about him. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” In other words, he can’t be from heaven, because he’s from earth. We know his parents.

So the words of Jesus about himself collide with human perceptions and human reasonings about what is possible. “You can’t be from heaven, because our eyes and ears and minds tell us you are from earth.” And so they resist what Jesus says. That’s the nub of their grumbling.

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One clue is that he says it in response to grumbling. Verses 43-44: “Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” And the content of their grumbling according to verse 42 was, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

In other words, their perceptions and their reasonings were rising up to resist what Jesus was teaching them—that he was the Bread of God which had come down from heaven. And in essence what Jesus says to them is: You may as well stop this grumbling, because the perceptions and the reasonings of fallen human beings are never the decisive reason anyone comes to me. The decisive reason anyone comes to me is that my Father draws him.

So you would do better to stop grumbling and start praying that God would change your heart and open your eyes and draw you to Jesus. So the reason Jesus speaks this way (in verse 44) is to shake us out of our self-reliant, self-determining, self-exalting, self-absorbed presumptions about what our senses and our reason and our wills can do. One thing is certain: They cannot provide the decisive impulse to come to Christ. Only God can give that. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” We desire, we choose, we come because we want to. But sovereign, undeserved grace is behind it all.

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