For those of you that read my last blog, both of you, I kinda towards the beginning or middleish talked about being new at or struggling with something I haven't really mastered but by the end sounded as if I had mastered it. At least that's how I kinda felt about it. It seems to me that is the way this Christian walk is supposed to work.
There's a period of time of like struggling to figure it out and then just growing, growing, growing at probably a steep rate and then a plateau. As God is teaching me something new I absorb everything I can like a sponge. Soon hopefully I become master of this new thing. This then becomes a comfortable spot where I can dwell in the confidence of having grown closer with God. I can get used to this newness and practice and live it out. I can't stay there for a super long time though. There is always another place that God is looking for me to grow in. This cycle repeats for as long as I continue on in relationship with Christ.
I can be in more than one stage at a time. It seems as I mature God works on more and more things at the same time. Even in just one area I can be growing and plateauing simultaneously in different pieces of that one area. Some of the things that I have a really firm grasp on I continue to get revelation. I think not only does God keep me growing this way but also keeps my head from getting too big.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Winning for Life
I like to be right and/or I like to win. But I don't always win. Sometimes I put maximum effort into something and get everything I'm after. Other times I put the same effort in and get plowed. Lately I've been feeling down. It's not like things have changed, have gotten worse than normal or that other times are better than normal, I don't really know why I'm down.
Life seems to have rhythms. Science says we have rhythms or cycles to our lives, circadian rhythms I believe they're called. I think this is important to understand in relation to our walk with God. In my marriage I have seen this at work. I give a certain level of love and care but don't always get the same response. One time I get googly eyes and tender looks and another time it's meh!, with the same input. I'm bumping in to the inconsistency of her humanity. She likewise gets similar inconsistent response from me. Whether it's these rhythms or the type of food recently eaten or the weather and temperature or stress from work or kids, all of these things impact my life. So, having a grasp on this, why do I fail miserably applying this same understanding to my life with God? God is never changing, never moving. I on the other hand am a leaf on the wind. I do my best to drop anchor, plant roots deep in God's soil, but I think at best I am anchored like a kite. Some days gale force winds toss me like a rag doll. Others days blue skies with no breeze make me feel solid as a rock.
I don't know about you but I beat myself up a lot. Am I doing my best for God? Is He pleased with me? I compare myself to others, I compare myself to myself. Last week I was doing remarkable, felt so close to God, but this week. Sheesh! Can I just throw in the towel and start again after a long nap?
I don't think it is just me. When I look around at the battles people are fighting, it's like wow. Struggles that should just melt with truth but years later are still being fought. I know we say let go and let God but I don't think most know how to. Maybe the first step is to stop beating ourselves up over our daily performance. God doesn't count our minutes of prayer or how many chapters we read of His word each day. What God is after can't be measured. He is after you and me.
The apostle Paul couldn't give God everything. He said what he wanted to do he didn't do and what he didn't want to do, this he did. We sing "I Surrender All", yet not one of us can ever give God everything. Not King David, not mother Theresa, no one but Jesus. So why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to perform? To do what we cannot do? To do what we were not created to do in this life? To do what God does not expect of us? Somehow I don't even blink when my expectations of marriage or friendship are broken but lose it when I think my life lets God down. Why is that? Why do I need to measure everything? If I can't quantify it does God count it? I know the answer. I know it. So why do I keep measuring?
Like I said earlier I think this is the key. When we begin to rest in God. As I have come to understand that I am good enough. God is not measuring my performance, He is connecting with my heart. That connection is all He is after. The little bit I can give is enough for Him. But even that is not measured. It is just the act of connecting. It is all Him. Nothing I do. Now I can move past me. I can begin to explore the infinite vastness of my infinite God. When I fail, He pulls my heart back to His and we're good again. I don't need to perform. I am good. His goodness makes me good when I come to Him. Don't get hung up on that word good. Holiness or righteousness could substitute. I am pure. Not for what I do but what He does. What He has already done. I need only accept it.
NOW, I can move in His power. I can be Jesus to others because I am not stuck in my smallness. What I can or cannot do is no longer an issue, it is what He can do.
I know this is the issue because I hear it over and over again. I hear Christians including myself using the I pronoun way too much. I feel this. I did this. I didn't do this. I failed again yesterday. I can't get over his words. I can't believe what she did to me. The message is never what I need to hear. I am not growing at this church. Why me? What did I do? The Christian so focused on I is a powerless person. A paralyzed believer. So where does this I, me me me mentality come from?
Isn't this what we see right off the bat after the fall in the garden? Shame? Adam and Eve hide their nakedness, they hide from God. Shame is I'm not good enough to look at. I'm not worthy. Isnt this IT? In some form or another the root lie that we all believe about ourselves? I'm not good enough. I'm unworthy. I'm unlovable. Too broken, too far gone. Me, me, me, still.
When we uncover our own root lie and shine God's truth on it we allow ourselves to be loved by God. God loves us fully already but we cannot receive it. But....now we can. Now we can learn to live in love. To recognize shame and shine God's light deep in to it's core. To remove Satan's deepest lie and insert God's deepest truth. Now the love God has been pouring upon us is no longer shed by our walls. Now God's love pours into us, fills us up, blows us apart. It is shed upon every person around us. We begin to grow true fruit because we no longer plant. God's love digs and tenderly plants, lovingly holding and embracing the new growth, nurturing it to maturity. It is no longer me but God in me and thru me. I am His and He is mine.
Now, now I am no longer record keeping prayer time and scripture reading as a way to God's presence. I am in His presence at all times. Scripture is another way to commune with my friend and Father. Prayer grows me more deeply rooted, connects me more intimately with my lover.
I do not claim to have this all mastered. I know it in some way but am yet becoming it, will continue becoming it until I see my Savior, my King, my Lover, my Friend, my Counselor, my Father, and in that instant I shall be entirely His and He shall be entirely mine. Oh man, I don't know what that will be like but it is both terrifying and amazing at once. Terrifying because I don't like to let go of myself. Amazing because all things shall be made perfect. My shame gone. Fear gone. Fully worthy, fully loved. Imagine that!
Life seems to have rhythms. Science says we have rhythms or cycles to our lives, circadian rhythms I believe they're called. I think this is important to understand in relation to our walk with God. In my marriage I have seen this at work. I give a certain level of love and care but don't always get the same response. One time I get googly eyes and tender looks and another time it's meh!, with the same input. I'm bumping in to the inconsistency of her humanity. She likewise gets similar inconsistent response from me. Whether it's these rhythms or the type of food recently eaten or the weather and temperature or stress from work or kids, all of these things impact my life. So, having a grasp on this, why do I fail miserably applying this same understanding to my life with God? God is never changing, never moving. I on the other hand am a leaf on the wind. I do my best to drop anchor, plant roots deep in God's soil, but I think at best I am anchored like a kite. Some days gale force winds toss me like a rag doll. Others days blue skies with no breeze make me feel solid as a rock.
I don't know about you but I beat myself up a lot. Am I doing my best for God? Is He pleased with me? I compare myself to others, I compare myself to myself. Last week I was doing remarkable, felt so close to God, but this week. Sheesh! Can I just throw in the towel and start again after a long nap?
I don't think it is just me. When I look around at the battles people are fighting, it's like wow. Struggles that should just melt with truth but years later are still being fought. I know we say let go and let God but I don't think most know how to. Maybe the first step is to stop beating ourselves up over our daily performance. God doesn't count our minutes of prayer or how many chapters we read of His word each day. What God is after can't be measured. He is after you and me.
The apostle Paul couldn't give God everything. He said what he wanted to do he didn't do and what he didn't want to do, this he did. We sing "I Surrender All", yet not one of us can ever give God everything. Not King David, not mother Theresa, no one but Jesus. So why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to perform? To do what we cannot do? To do what we were not created to do in this life? To do what God does not expect of us? Somehow I don't even blink when my expectations of marriage or friendship are broken but lose it when I think my life lets God down. Why is that? Why do I need to measure everything? If I can't quantify it does God count it? I know the answer. I know it. So why do I keep measuring?
Like I said earlier I think this is the key. When we begin to rest in God. As I have come to understand that I am good enough. God is not measuring my performance, He is connecting with my heart. That connection is all He is after. The little bit I can give is enough for Him. But even that is not measured. It is just the act of connecting. It is all Him. Nothing I do. Now I can move past me. I can begin to explore the infinite vastness of my infinite God. When I fail, He pulls my heart back to His and we're good again. I don't need to perform. I am good. His goodness makes me good when I come to Him. Don't get hung up on that word good. Holiness or righteousness could substitute. I am pure. Not for what I do but what He does. What He has already done. I need only accept it.
NOW, I can move in His power. I can be Jesus to others because I am not stuck in my smallness. What I can or cannot do is no longer an issue, it is what He can do.
I know this is the issue because I hear it over and over again. I hear Christians including myself using the I pronoun way too much. I feel this. I did this. I didn't do this. I failed again yesterday. I can't get over his words. I can't believe what she did to me. The message is never what I need to hear. I am not growing at this church. Why me? What did I do? The Christian so focused on I is a powerless person. A paralyzed believer. So where does this I, me me me mentality come from?
Isn't this what we see right off the bat after the fall in the garden? Shame? Adam and Eve hide their nakedness, they hide from God. Shame is I'm not good enough to look at. I'm not worthy. Isnt this IT? In some form or another the root lie that we all believe about ourselves? I'm not good enough. I'm unworthy. I'm unlovable. Too broken, too far gone. Me, me, me, still.
When we uncover our own root lie and shine God's truth on it we allow ourselves to be loved by God. God loves us fully already but we cannot receive it. But....now we can. Now we can learn to live in love. To recognize shame and shine God's light deep in to it's core. To remove Satan's deepest lie and insert God's deepest truth. Now the love God has been pouring upon us is no longer shed by our walls. Now God's love pours into us, fills us up, blows us apart. It is shed upon every person around us. We begin to grow true fruit because we no longer plant. God's love digs and tenderly plants, lovingly holding and embracing the new growth, nurturing it to maturity. It is no longer me but God in me and thru me. I am His and He is mine.
Now, now I am no longer record keeping prayer time and scripture reading as a way to God's presence. I am in His presence at all times. Scripture is another way to commune with my friend and Father. Prayer grows me more deeply rooted, connects me more intimately with my lover.
I do not claim to have this all mastered. I know it in some way but am yet becoming it, will continue becoming it until I see my Savior, my King, my Lover, my Friend, my Counselor, my Father, and in that instant I shall be entirely His and He shall be entirely mine. Oh man, I don't know what that will be like but it is both terrifying and amazing at once. Terrifying because I don't like to let go of myself. Amazing because all things shall be made perfect. My shame gone. Fear gone. Fully worthy, fully loved. Imagine that!
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
I need the real God.
I need some recharge time. Nothing works like the sun. It's just this weather here in the Pacific Northwest isn't always so helpful between September thru June ish. It's not only the sun I need. As we were driving away from the marriage class at the church tonight, I sort of not really apologized for sticking around talking to someone for 15 to 20 minutes afterward. I quipped to Chris, that's all the conversation I'm gonna have this week outside of family. It wasn't my desire to just give her an excuse for making them hang out and wait for me. But it wasn't til the words were finishing coming off my tongue that I realized how true they were.
This stage we are in right now has forced me to come back over and over and ask what the heck? This sucks! I know it sucks, Chris knows it sucks, the kids know it sucks. So I have to keep figuring out how to lose that mindset. How can I not only survive this time but grow? I don't think big picture too much. Like how is this time gonna affect the kids 5 years down the road or 10? I know the now creates the future so if I am successful now, that's enough to worry about. I know it sucks, but how can I grow with God? I know it sucks, but how can I make Chris's life easier? I know I don't have time for my car stuff anymore so what could I do instead? Where else could my creative juices be allowed to flow? I don't have another adult to talk to so maybe I can tell God all the various angles I've come up with. How hard it is to stay upbeat without sunny D most days. You have a great sense of humor God giving Emma to me but how do I _______ and ________ and what about ________? I'm gonna lose my mind. And Tony and Josh and Ashtin and Chris? I'm barely keeping myself together how do I keep them together?
I learned from an old pastor friend and his wife how to keep giving. They didn't teach me how but after several years I began to see in myself the rewards of how they would speak to me. So I have begun trying to be positive and encouraging to those around me. This is something I can do in this stage of life. When at a store or wherever I try to use a persons name and thank them for whatever it is they do. The other day I stared obviously at a girl's name tag trying to read her name through the lengths of hair that kept moving across the letters until her hair moved away and at the same time she said, Chell. So I said, Chell (shell), that's really cool. Well thank you very much. Have a wonderful day! I find it really powerful when I intentionally use someone's name. Another time I had some special tithe money (not our regular paycheck tithe) and bought the ladies at the credit union some flowers and a gift card each. One time we were out to eat and on our way out gave $20 to a nervous young couple on a date. We don't have a lot of money so those things don't happen often but I am looking for more ways I can impact the lives around me. I have a vision of a group of 8 to 15 people meeting at our house and taking them to places of victory and growth. Places they don't know how to get to and then them going forward and doing the same for others. But that is not now. What can I do now? I've described some of that already. I can also become a better father, a better husband, a better steward of my house. I'm naturally a Debbie downer, a Eeyore. How can I be more positive? I am asking this of God, asking for His help to do what I cannot. There is so much I can do in this bummer of a time to positively grow. But what about those times I just let everything go? When I gripe instead of asking? When I yell instead of ______? When I totally pooch screw it? Those times suck and still come too often but I don't dwell and keep moving forward. I may have to repair stuff but I'm a gonna keep moving forward. The devil wins when I stop moving. I have given him far too much victory. It's not about always going forward. Sometimes planting myself and not going backward is growth. Is victory. Choosing conviction rather than condemnation.
I saw at the checkstand today one of the Kardashians is getting divorced. My heart was like, yes! Then God said no. I want the very best for her, same as I do for you. The lie of the world, the lie of satan, is that I should want her to be punished for all she has done. For her selfishness and selfcenteredness. Then God reminded me that I am selfish and selfcentered. That I derserve to be punished. But that is not what God wants for me. That is not what He wants for her. God is love. Love is patient, love is kind, love keeps no record of wrong doing. Whoa! If God is love and I'm becoming more like God, then I gotta love people, even the hard to love ones. That is just a small portion of 1st Corinthians 13 but it's probably enough to be my entire bucket list. Be patient. Be kind. Keep no record of wrong. This is life changing stuff here and yet I think few lives have been changed by it.
For all the miracles and recorded speaches of Jesus in the Bible it seems dificult still to really get who Jesus is and what that means for me. So much of my view of God and His will are viewed through a western filter. I have seen all of life through this filter and don't know anything else. How then can I remove it so to see God and Jesus unfiltered? We say, the woman caught in adultery. Jesus would say, the woman set free. Or, My precious virgin daughter. Jesus would call her by her true name. By who He created her to be. Jesus always calls us to who we are meant to be. He never calls us by our sin. When I see the magazine announcing this womans divorce, how can I see the beautiful daughter of God rather than the ugliness satan wants me to see? If millions of people watched me and expected certain behavior how could I ever do differently? If these same people acted in love towards me and called out the beauty inside, how could I remain ugly?
God is calling us to love. I don't think that is what the world is getting from us on a whole. Let's give em something more shall we?
This stage we are in right now has forced me to come back over and over and ask what the heck? This sucks! I know it sucks, Chris knows it sucks, the kids know it sucks. So I have to keep figuring out how to lose that mindset. How can I not only survive this time but grow? I don't think big picture too much. Like how is this time gonna affect the kids 5 years down the road or 10? I know the now creates the future so if I am successful now, that's enough to worry about. I know it sucks, but how can I grow with God? I know it sucks, but how can I make Chris's life easier? I know I don't have time for my car stuff anymore so what could I do instead? Where else could my creative juices be allowed to flow? I don't have another adult to talk to so maybe I can tell God all the various angles I've come up with. How hard it is to stay upbeat without sunny D most days. You have a great sense of humor God giving Emma to me but how do I _______ and ________ and what about ________? I'm gonna lose my mind. And Tony and Josh and Ashtin and Chris? I'm barely keeping myself together how do I keep them together?
I learned from an old pastor friend and his wife how to keep giving. They didn't teach me how but after several years I began to see in myself the rewards of how they would speak to me. So I have begun trying to be positive and encouraging to those around me. This is something I can do in this stage of life. When at a store or wherever I try to use a persons name and thank them for whatever it is they do. The other day I stared obviously at a girl's name tag trying to read her name through the lengths of hair that kept moving across the letters until her hair moved away and at the same time she said, Chell. So I said, Chell (shell), that's really cool. Well thank you very much. Have a wonderful day! I find it really powerful when I intentionally use someone's name. Another time I had some special tithe money (not our regular paycheck tithe) and bought the ladies at the credit union some flowers and a gift card each. One time we were out to eat and on our way out gave $20 to a nervous young couple on a date. We don't have a lot of money so those things don't happen often but I am looking for more ways I can impact the lives around me. I have a vision of a group of 8 to 15 people meeting at our house and taking them to places of victory and growth. Places they don't know how to get to and then them going forward and doing the same for others. But that is not now. What can I do now? I've described some of that already. I can also become a better father, a better husband, a better steward of my house. I'm naturally a Debbie downer, a Eeyore. How can I be more positive? I am asking this of God, asking for His help to do what I cannot. There is so much I can do in this bummer of a time to positively grow. But what about those times I just let everything go? When I gripe instead of asking? When I yell instead of ______? When I totally pooch screw it? Those times suck and still come too often but I don't dwell and keep moving forward. I may have to repair stuff but I'm a gonna keep moving forward. The devil wins when I stop moving. I have given him far too much victory. It's not about always going forward. Sometimes planting myself and not going backward is growth. Is victory. Choosing conviction rather than condemnation.
I saw at the checkstand today one of the Kardashians is getting divorced. My heart was like, yes! Then God said no. I want the very best for her, same as I do for you. The lie of the world, the lie of satan, is that I should want her to be punished for all she has done. For her selfishness and selfcenteredness. Then God reminded me that I am selfish and selfcentered. That I derserve to be punished. But that is not what God wants for me. That is not what He wants for her. God is love. Love is patient, love is kind, love keeps no record of wrong doing. Whoa! If God is love and I'm becoming more like God, then I gotta love people, even the hard to love ones. That is just a small portion of 1st Corinthians 13 but it's probably enough to be my entire bucket list. Be patient. Be kind. Keep no record of wrong. This is life changing stuff here and yet I think few lives have been changed by it.
For all the miracles and recorded speaches of Jesus in the Bible it seems dificult still to really get who Jesus is and what that means for me. So much of my view of God and His will are viewed through a western filter. I have seen all of life through this filter and don't know anything else. How then can I remove it so to see God and Jesus unfiltered? We say, the woman caught in adultery. Jesus would say, the woman set free. Or, My precious virgin daughter. Jesus would call her by her true name. By who He created her to be. Jesus always calls us to who we are meant to be. He never calls us by our sin. When I see the magazine announcing this womans divorce, how can I see the beautiful daughter of God rather than the ugliness satan wants me to see? If millions of people watched me and expected certain behavior how could I ever do differently? If these same people acted in love towards me and called out the beauty inside, how could I remain ugly?
God is calling us to love. I don't think that is what the world is getting from us on a whole. Let's give em something more shall we?
Monday, February 15, 2016
Some more letting God do the work
What if we pray and know concretely God will provide and He doesn't? I wrote previously about trusting in God to move people's hearts into desiring to give, as in tithing to a church. So we have a church body who love graciously, a pastor and staff who believe unflinchingly God will provide the needs. Missionaries across the world relying on our funding, but the money is weak. It just isn't there. Pastor is taking minimal salary and missions spending has ceased.
Imagine being the missionary. I can hear the desperate pleas. Anything, just anything. The work God is doing over here and through us is unbelievable. I know God wants this to continue and God willing even to grow. What would happen if we left? You gotta help us. And then there's the broken chairs, the leaky roof and faultering van of the church. We can't survive like this. You gotta help us God.
What if God called home every missionary in Africa? Could God still build His church there? Could God have a bigger, amazing plan that we could never dream? What if as a church family you finally fold your hands and say God, we can't do this? Could that be the start of God's amazing new work?
We know the answers. It's an immediate yes to all those questions. But can we live that? Can we abandon all hope of knowing where God is going and just listen? He will do it so radically different than all we can imagine if we will just work with Him. This is relationship. He is bigger and better and crazier that any amusement park ride. He has a fiery love for His people. It doesn't just drive Him, it is Him. Everything God does is to love us. To hopefully hit us in just the right way that we will love Him back.
God can reach every people group without us. He loves each one more in one instant than we can in a lifetime. So when we argue and plead with God that we need some thing or to be some place so we can reach those we're called to, do you think He doesn't want that? Do you think He doesn't know the need?
I do believe that God calls us to places at times where we fail for lack of other's faithfulness. These are great times to learn another kind of faith. The kind where God will take this failure and turn it for good. Where you can learn to believe that with every fiber in your being.
The end game is that we trust God. In the failures and in the successes we trust God. Because He is God and we are not. He is creator and we are creation. He is all knowing and we are barely knowing at all. He is life and breath and all. You are all God.
Imagine being the missionary. I can hear the desperate pleas. Anything, just anything. The work God is doing over here and through us is unbelievable. I know God wants this to continue and God willing even to grow. What would happen if we left? You gotta help us. And then there's the broken chairs, the leaky roof and faultering van of the church. We can't survive like this. You gotta help us God.
What if God called home every missionary in Africa? Could God still build His church there? Could God have a bigger, amazing plan that we could never dream? What if as a church family you finally fold your hands and say God, we can't do this? Could that be the start of God's amazing new work?
We know the answers. It's an immediate yes to all those questions. But can we live that? Can we abandon all hope of knowing where God is going and just listen? He will do it so radically different than all we can imagine if we will just work with Him. This is relationship. He is bigger and better and crazier that any amusement park ride. He has a fiery love for His people. It doesn't just drive Him, it is Him. Everything God does is to love us. To hopefully hit us in just the right way that we will love Him back.
God can reach every people group without us. He loves each one more in one instant than we can in a lifetime. So when we argue and plead with God that we need some thing or to be some place so we can reach those we're called to, do you think He doesn't want that? Do you think He doesn't know the need?
I do believe that God calls us to places at times where we fail for lack of other's faithfulness. These are great times to learn another kind of faith. The kind where God will take this failure and turn it for good. Where you can learn to believe that with every fiber in your being.
The end game is that we trust God. In the failures and in the successes we trust God. Because He is God and we are not. He is creator and we are creation. He is all knowing and we are barely knowing at all. He is life and breath and all. You are all God.
Letting God do the work
What if we prayed, "God, move in the hearts and minds of your people to support your work," instead of getting up on Sunday morning and offering different verses and personal stories to incentivize the congregation to give monetarily? Could we believe on God to move their hearts? Our hearts? Is our plea to give furthering the work of God in their hearts? Outward motivation is often the catalyst for inward change. Is this one of those places?
God hardened king Saul's heart. God hardened the heart of Pharoah, king of Egypt. Jesus opened the minds of his disciples to receive all that He had taught them. God worked in the heart of Cyrus, ruler of the Persian empire, to allow Jews to return to Jerusalem. It's obvious God is quite capable of softening/hardening and molding hearts and minds.
In some ways I think we do a great job of trusting God to do the work in people's lives, but in other ways we kinda suck at it. Only God can make internal change. Do we have the faith to rely on Him to do it? Or do we try to ensure the right result ourselves?
What if we met as leaders and prayed for church finances? I know we all pray for finances already. But do we pray asking, hoping that God will help people to give? Or do we pray knowing that God can and will move in the people's hearts. God is after much more than funding His church. He is after the heart of every person who walks through the door. I hope I'm not coming off too strongly here. It's just God is not losing any sleep over church finances. He is all about the heart. The church exists for the heart. Tithes exist to reach the heart. How many thousands or millions of people have been turned away from things of God because the call for money was louder than the love? Or maybe it wasn't louder but it was heard first. What if we prayed believing that God will supply the needs, then simply announed where to place the offerings and let God and the people do the rest. I know this sounds radical, but we have a radical God. I used to totally disagree with this idea. I thought people needed the bucket/bag passed and to be passionately reminded to give. I didn't understand the power of God. I mean I still only understand a little but I am understanding.
Is it also possible that a church that gives abundantly could also be very unhealthy? That we can do many great things without God being involved? Sure it is. We move without God a lot.
Would we rather have the blessing of God or the blessing of manna? God is not against money. There is no set relationship between God and money or faith and money. One church may never ask for funds and have more than enough and another barely any. Or the opposite of course is true, with regard to reminding or even begging members to give.
So it is not truly a question of how we facilitate gettings funds for the church. It is about our faith in God. Do we trust Him to provide? I know we say we do but do we really?
Could we believe so radically that it doesn't matter if our church is funded? Can we be so desperately latched to God that we don't concern ourselves with such things? We follow God's purpose, His heart, and He always is enough?
God hardened king Saul's heart. God hardened the heart of Pharoah, king of Egypt. Jesus opened the minds of his disciples to receive all that He had taught them. God worked in the heart of Cyrus, ruler of the Persian empire, to allow Jews to return to Jerusalem. It's obvious God is quite capable of softening/hardening and molding hearts and minds.
In some ways I think we do a great job of trusting God to do the work in people's lives, but in other ways we kinda suck at it. Only God can make internal change. Do we have the faith to rely on Him to do it? Or do we try to ensure the right result ourselves?
What if we met as leaders and prayed for church finances? I know we all pray for finances already. But do we pray asking, hoping that God will help people to give? Or do we pray knowing that God can and will move in the people's hearts. God is after much more than funding His church. He is after the heart of every person who walks through the door. I hope I'm not coming off too strongly here. It's just God is not losing any sleep over church finances. He is all about the heart. The church exists for the heart. Tithes exist to reach the heart. How many thousands or millions of people have been turned away from things of God because the call for money was louder than the love? Or maybe it wasn't louder but it was heard first. What if we prayed believing that God will supply the needs, then simply announed where to place the offerings and let God and the people do the rest. I know this sounds radical, but we have a radical God. I used to totally disagree with this idea. I thought people needed the bucket/bag passed and to be passionately reminded to give. I didn't understand the power of God. I mean I still only understand a little but I am understanding.
Is it also possible that a church that gives abundantly could also be very unhealthy? That we can do many great things without God being involved? Sure it is. We move without God a lot.
Would we rather have the blessing of God or the blessing of manna? God is not against money. There is no set relationship between God and money or faith and money. One church may never ask for funds and have more than enough and another barely any. Or the opposite of course is true, with regard to reminding or even begging members to give.
So it is not truly a question of how we facilitate gettings funds for the church. It is about our faith in God. Do we trust Him to provide? I know we say we do but do we really?
Could we believe so radically that it doesn't matter if our church is funded? Can we be so desperately latched to God that we don't concern ourselves with such things? We follow God's purpose, His heart, and He always is enough?
Friday, February 12, 2016
Who will go to heaven?
From Brennan Manning in the Ragamuffin Gospel.
Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9). I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Hat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two year old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last "trick," whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, wallowed in lust, and raped the earth.
But how? We ask.
Then the voice says, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb."
There they are. There we are--the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all cling to the faith.
My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.
Here's a guy who truly got God's heart for us. It wasn't because he had a revelation one day, although that may be true also, but because he lived it. He was a man who fought his entire life to be free from alcohol. Only the grave truly ended his fight. He would be sober for 6 months and then fall prey again, he just could never escape it's pull. So how did this man who continued to fall to his addiction have such a profound impact on thousands upon thousands of people?
He gave everything to God. His failures and his successes. God took him as he was and used him. Manning's life goes against everything we preach. Even though we say come as you are I don't think we do a very good job of living that out. I think we are judgemental and harsh. I think we expect change. And we should. But we don't know what change God is doing in relation to what changes we see. God alone can look into their heart and really know.
I read that paragraph from Brennan and cringe at some of it. Yeah, but him? Yeah, but her? I just don't think so. My wife and I often rest on this scripture. Matthew 25:31-46. This is the when did we see you hungry and feed you? A stranger and invite you in? If you don't know it look it up. What strikes us about this is that many who thought they were getting in did not, and many others who did not expect entrance were welcomed in. Imagine that; people going to heaven who don't even know they're going. How could that even be? I'm not sure I really grasp that. It begs the question.
What is God truly after?
Maybe obedience and evidence can be exclusive. Maybe I don't see what is really happening. Maybe the few scriptures I look to to decide if someone is a "Christian", or to decide if a believer is "growing," are not enough. Maybe it is necessary to understand the whole of God's story. Maybe God has much more going on.
Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9). I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Hat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two year old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last "trick," whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, wallowed in lust, and raped the earth.
But how? We ask.
Then the voice says, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb."
There they are. There we are--the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all cling to the faith.
My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.
Here's a guy who truly got God's heart for us. It wasn't because he had a revelation one day, although that may be true also, but because he lived it. He was a man who fought his entire life to be free from alcohol. Only the grave truly ended his fight. He would be sober for 6 months and then fall prey again, he just could never escape it's pull. So how did this man who continued to fall to his addiction have such a profound impact on thousands upon thousands of people?
He gave everything to God. His failures and his successes. God took him as he was and used him. Manning's life goes against everything we preach. Even though we say come as you are I don't think we do a very good job of living that out. I think we are judgemental and harsh. I think we expect change. And we should. But we don't know what change God is doing in relation to what changes we see. God alone can look into their heart and really know.
I read that paragraph from Brennan and cringe at some of it. Yeah, but him? Yeah, but her? I just don't think so. My wife and I often rest on this scripture. Matthew 25:31-46. This is the when did we see you hungry and feed you? A stranger and invite you in? If you don't know it look it up. What strikes us about this is that many who thought they were getting in did not, and many others who did not expect entrance were welcomed in. Imagine that; people going to heaven who don't even know they're going. How could that even be? I'm not sure I really grasp that. It begs the question.
What is God truly after?
Maybe obedience and evidence can be exclusive. Maybe I don't see what is really happening. Maybe the few scriptures I look to to decide if someone is a "Christian", or to decide if a believer is "growing," are not enough. Maybe it is necessary to understand the whole of God's story. Maybe God has much more going on.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
I am strong and hopelessly broken
If there was one thing I wanted you to get out of my blog over anything else it would be that I am a hopelessly broken person. Often I share insights into the Lord. God gives me revelation (epiphany is my favorite word) and I then try and decipher what is for me alone and what to share and with whom to share it. I feel as if I sit back and tell you how to be successful with God and maybe that leads some people to think I have it all figured out. Or at least to think I think I have it all figured out. Or maybe it's not my blog but somewhere in life you've gotten the impression I think I'm all that and more. I don't. I strive to be as honest and transparent as possible when I write. I get revelation from God and I share that when I think I'm supposed to. I have opinions and strong beliefs that are right and then sometimes not so much.
So on the one hand I strongly share what I believe to be God's truths and on the other hand I attempt to be transparent about all that I'm not. The openness and honesty is where I seem to get in trouble. At one point my wife and I were asked to step down from ministry after being vulnerable. That openness scares people. Although there is a cry for genuineness in the church body it scares people. No more pretending. But we are broken. Deeply broken people. Seeing other's damage scares us. Maybe we haven't dealt with our own and it starts coming to the surface. Maybe we have had a charmed life and don't have that kind of ugly brokenness inside. I'm sure there is a million different reasons. Whatever the cause it is uncomfortable. But why?
Why is it we relish the honesty of Bible characters and not of ourselves? All through the Psalms David pours his heart out. His life is an open book of sorts and we are so glad of his honesty. But when the local mega church pastor down the street falters, we cringe. We turn our heads in disgust. Blogs are written in praise and condemnation. We all have something to say.
Few would open up and say let me get the log out of my own eye first.
Why not let their example be an opening of the gates? Can we not be willing to hear other's sin. Help me to understand your battle. What is the thing you can't seem to wash under the blood? That thing that just keeps coming back. Maybe you can't confront it at all. God has worked amazing things in my life in spite of my brokenness. Why is there so much shame? We've seen the things Godly men did thousands of years ago, is not the God they served the same one we serve?
The question really is, do I want to grow? Am I ready and willing to lay down myself and become all that God made me to be? When I want His life more than my own it becomes easy. Not easy work, no, but the choice to confront sin becomes easy. No matter the difficulty following a decision I want to because the reward is so worth it. I have my eyes on a new prize. So what are you waiting for? What is holding you back from jumping forward? What prize would be worth it for you to begin letting go of those things? Jesus says, whatever you ask for in my name I will give it. God says, what father if his son asks for bread would give him a stone? How much more than will your Father in heaven give to those who ask? If you don't know where to begin, if you don't have anyone you could talk to, ask God for help. Ask Him for guidance. Ask Him for courage. Ask Him for mentor (s). Ask Him for understanding. Ask and it will be given. Seek and ye will find. Knock and the door will be opened. This is God's way of saying that whatever you need, need, not want, He will provide. You only need ask.
So on the one hand I strongly share what I believe to be God's truths and on the other hand I attempt to be transparent about all that I'm not. The openness and honesty is where I seem to get in trouble. At one point my wife and I were asked to step down from ministry after being vulnerable. That openness scares people. Although there is a cry for genuineness in the church body it scares people. No more pretending. But we are broken. Deeply broken people. Seeing other's damage scares us. Maybe we haven't dealt with our own and it starts coming to the surface. Maybe we have had a charmed life and don't have that kind of ugly brokenness inside. I'm sure there is a million different reasons. Whatever the cause it is uncomfortable. But why?
Why is it we relish the honesty of Bible characters and not of ourselves? All through the Psalms David pours his heart out. His life is an open book of sorts and we are so glad of his honesty. But when the local mega church pastor down the street falters, we cringe. We turn our heads in disgust. Blogs are written in praise and condemnation. We all have something to say.
Few would open up and say let me get the log out of my own eye first.
Why not let their example be an opening of the gates? Can we not be willing to hear other's sin. Help me to understand your battle. What is the thing you can't seem to wash under the blood? That thing that just keeps coming back. Maybe you can't confront it at all. God has worked amazing things in my life in spite of my brokenness. Why is there so much shame? We've seen the things Godly men did thousands of years ago, is not the God they served the same one we serve?
The question really is, do I want to grow? Am I ready and willing to lay down myself and become all that God made me to be? When I want His life more than my own it becomes easy. Not easy work, no, but the choice to confront sin becomes easy. No matter the difficulty following a decision I want to because the reward is so worth it. I have my eyes on a new prize. So what are you waiting for? What is holding you back from jumping forward? What prize would be worth it for you to begin letting go of those things? Jesus says, whatever you ask for in my name I will give it. God says, what father if his son asks for bread would give him a stone? How much more than will your Father in heaven give to those who ask? If you don't know where to begin, if you don't have anyone you could talk to, ask God for help. Ask Him for guidance. Ask Him for courage. Ask Him for mentor (s). Ask Him for understanding. Ask and it will be given. Seek and ye will find. Knock and the door will be opened. This is God's way of saying that whatever you need, need, not want, He will provide. You only need ask.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)