Heart of desperation

I used to lump the people talking to the faith healers in with the rest of the world's crazies. I have learned better.

God loves a heart pure and open to Him and His power. A person at the end of their options turning to God, albeit through a faith healer, may be a person who truly believes and really sees God for who He is, not who we have made Him. I have been guilty of the thing I caution against, putting God in a box. Who is to say that He won't choose to reward the person, who by faith, trusts Him for a miracle. How many times in His ministry did He do just that?

While we do not need a "faith healer" to intervene, believing in the miraculous power of God and throwing oneself on His mercy is an expression of worship, not craziness.

What are your gifts?

Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)
11 It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Reading this, I think it clear that this is not a one time ancient event, rather an ongoing thing happening to all of us as believers. The challenge we have, is to identify the gifts we have been given, and then to use them effectively in ministry to God. What does he need from me? From you?

I think that at the day of reckoning, we will be given a chance to look back on the gifts we have been given and explain just how we used what we were given. I want my report to be a positive one, but I seem to stumble on applying my gifts. Maybe I need to work a little harder on identifying ways to be used by God, or better still, ask Him to help me see.

How about you? What is your gift? Are you using it for Him

Trapped by faith and guilt

Recently, while talking to a close friend of mine I was reminded of how powerful a weapon set faith and guilt can be against a person. Growing up in a fundamentalist church, I heard repeatedly that we just have to trust God and He will heal someone, or - "oh that poor soul, if they would only really trust God, they would be free of their mental illness / addiction / disease."

This theory fails to take into account the mixed blessing of free will. God created us as independent beings, free to make our own choices and follow our own paths. He does have a divine plan in which we all play a role, however we are free to muck about with our lives as we see fit, for the most part. The result of this, also called "our fallen state" in churchese, is that God won't fix everything.

Mental illness, disease, addictions, these are a result of the choices we have made as a human race. We have created the mess we live in and we own that. It is a shared blame on humanity, not God. That being said, He is willing and able to see us through challenges, but that does not mean that He will remove the challenge. There is a huge difference between deliverance from adversity and serenity through the adversity. God's power shines the brightest when we are willing to accept the challenges in our path and reflect His grace and peace through and despite the challenges.

The trap mentioned previously comes when we forget that bit of truth and think that there is a level of holiness that can be attained that is sufficient to prevent any ill befalling us. This cross thinking results in guilt for all adversity since it must be our spiritual shortcoming that lead us there.

more on this later ....

Peace on the river

While floating on the river tonight, trailing a line across the moon dappled water, watching the bats flit across the surface, I was hit again by how seldom we get to "Be Still".

Psalm 46:10-11 (NCV) 10 God says, "Be still and know that I am God. I will be praised in all the nations; I will be praised throughout the earth."

If we don't make time for quiet, we will never have time to hear God...

The Christian Church culture

Referencing my earlier post about living an insulated Christian life, I feel compelled to comment a little bit further on the Christian vernacular. Sometime ago I was between churches and as a result had an opportunity to attend a fairly wide variety of different churches. One thing that really struck me was the language of the Church. At times, despite growing up a part of a church, I felt something of an alien. I suppose I've spent enough time outside of a church that what may seem to be completely normal to one immersed in the Christian Church culture, to me still seems at times foreign. I hang out with friends to eat and talk and I call that eating and talking, not fellowship. I'm still not completely sure what all the terms mean and I'm fairly certain I don't need to know. I think we need to make an effort to avoid creating our own Christian subculture, rather work on being a light in the culture we are part of.

It's not the healthy who need healing...

I'm all for corporate worship but I think, like most things it needs balance. It's so easy to get caught up in the Christian world that we forget what our mission really is.

Matthew 9:10-13 (NIV)
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’a For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus gives something of a rebuke here when he says it's not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick. Have we've forgotten that message? It seems to me that most churches I've been in are very focused on the Church, but not focused nearly enough on the world we are a part of. Maybe that's a product of too many years of trying to be in the world but not of the world, but how can you reach the world if you don't participate in the world?

To know someones pain, you have to know the person first. To show the love of God, we have to know the person.

The Bible is open to interpretation

I am reading an interesting book right now called Velvet Elvis. It is by a guy named Rob Bell and published by Zondervan. I will most likely have a number of posts generated by reading and pondering this book, but for starters, here is a big one. Bigger to some then others I suppose, depending on your world view.

Rob makes a point that I had not really thought about alot to date, but which is pretty simple and profound all at once. He says "The Bible is a communal book. It came from people writing in communities and was often written to communities." He also mentions earlier that the Bible is open ended and must be interpreted. Here is another longer quote from the book that clarifies this point.

And that's because the Bible is open ended.

It has to be interpreted. And if it isn't interpreted, then it can't be put into action. So if we are serious about following God, then we have to interpret the Bible. It is not possible to simply do what the Bible says. We must first make decisions about what it means at this time, in this place, for these people.

He is talking about the process of interpretation that was practiced by the Rabbis in the time of Jesus, who had to make sense of the scriptures in the face of the changing times, and especially with the inclusion of the Gentiles into the fold of early Christianity. I will not go into the details of this process here, though it is fascinating to me, rather I will say that I believe that what was true then, is still true now, in that the Scriptures are meant to be interpreted by a community of believers in a point in time.

Pray for the president...

When was the last time you prayed for the president?

1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV)
(1)I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—
(2) for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

While I do not agree with many of his decisions, or those of many of our elected leaders, I still should pray for them regularly and respect them as appointed leaders. I find this a hard pill to swallow sometimes. I clearly have room to grow.

The balance of faith producing works

I have come back to this idea repeatedly, looking at what it means to live the Christian life, and what being a Christian is all about. Knowing that faith without works is dead, and knowing that we are justified through faith and not works, there is this competition of ideas at times. I would like to say that I don't struggle with this simple idea, but it causes me undue angst at times as I try to figure out what my life should look like. I know I am not the only one who has pondered this, but at times it feels a lonely road.

People need to be needed

Reading an article sent to me today, I was struck again by the simple idea that people need to be needed. The article talks about missions and relating to each other across economic divides but this applies across social, religious and really any other boundaries that we create.

excerpt from the article

Poor people are people. Those who live and die in want of basic needs are just as smart, beautiful, creative, motivated, holy, and wise as you and I. They are also just as dumb, ugly, dull, lazy, sinful, and foolish as you and I.

This serves as a lead in to the story that talks about transforming the way short term missions works in one specific area. The gist of it is that the local population drives the activity and serves in a leadership role, rather than being simply recipients of charity. The fundamental shift comes when we recognize that you do not have to come from a wealthy country, have a Harvard MBA, be the right skin color or come with any other credentials to be an effective leader, teacher or mentor. It is arrogant at best to try and swoop in, determining the needs and providing a solution without the guidance of those being helped.

To be in a recipient only role dis-empowers the recipients and robs those providing the aid of the opportunity to really know those they are working with.

While living in Africa as a child, I saw both sides of this approach. I saw missionaries who were so full of their goodness that they would not deign to eat off of a plate that a Chadian had used. I saw the opposite side of that in my home, with my fathers best friend being a Chadian whom I called my uncle. The people we worked with were my family, the relationships we had were relationships of equals in my experience. What a contrast and what a gift from my parents to me - I never have been able to fully reconcile the two sides of the coin but I am now beginning to understand it more, though I am saddened by the lost opportunity on both sides all those years ago and continuing all over the world even today.

The Transformative Nature

While thinking on the topic of Christianity, and what it means, I have been pondering the slipping of the emphasis on the transformative aspect of Christianity.

Romans 12:1-21 MKJV
(1) I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
(2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.
(3) For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.
(4) For even as we have many members in one body, and all members do not have the same function,
(5) so we the many are one body in Christ, and each one members of one another.
(6) Then having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, if prophecy, according to the proportion of faith;
(7) or ministry, in the ministry; or he who teaches, in the teaching;
(8) or he who exhorts, in the encouragement; or he who shares, in simplicity; or he who takes the lead, in diligence; or he who shows mercy, in cheerfulness.
(9) Let love be without hypocrisy, shrinking from evil, cleaving to good;
(10) in brotherly love to one another, loving fervently, having led one another in honor.
(11) As to diligence, not slothful, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
(12) rejoicing in hope, patient in affliction, steadfastly continuing in prayer,
(13) distributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality.
(14) Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse.
(15) Rejoice with rejoicing ones, and weep with weeping ones;
(16) minding the same thing toward one another, not minding high things, but yielding to the lowly. Do not be wise within yourselves.
(17) Repay no one evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
(18) If it is possible, as far as is in you, being in peace with all men.
(19) not avenging yourselves, beloved, but giving place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
(20) Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.
(21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

While I do not advocate in any way the legalistic approach and the dogmatic views that ruled much of the church for so long, I also think that we need to keep in mind that we are talking about a faith that should and must change a life. It is a thing that requires transformation to be fully realized.

Reading Romans 12:1 emphasizes this to me in a few ways. On our own, the actions listed in this passage are not always natural, they require a transformation of our mind and our will. These are not listed as a series of commands, rather as an example of ways in which the change brought about by our faith will be evident in our lives.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.

As you may be able to guess from my earlier writings, I am looking at all of these listed actions and attributes and seeing one common theme. Love drives all of them. Without love, will you feed and cloth your enemy? What kind of love drives one to do that? It is not natural by any means. What kind of love makes a person willing to bless those that persecute them? The answer is vs. 9 and 10, it is a fervent love that is without hypocrisy. There is no free pass here - we are talking about a life altering love for our God that is the foundation of the Christian faith and if it is real, it will produce change in your life. In fact, it must produce change and that must not be overlooked. Here we teeter on the slippery slope of legalism if we look for an easy way out. It is far easier to legislate a list of rules and behaviors and then simply try to stick to those actions then it is to freely commit oneself to loving God wholly and completely and through that love seeking continuously to be transformed and renewed.

A relationship, well cared for, is no small endeavor and in our world, we seem to find it easier to look for the 10 step quick fix rather than acknowledge the journey that is our faith.

Walking the Walk

While looking for encouragement and examples of courage, I ran across a little bit of wisdom is Philippians as well. Basically, what really hit me the most about it was the idea of what it means to "walk the walk". What does it mean to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel ?

Philippians 1:27-29
(27) Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel
(28) without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God.
(29) For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,

To get a little more insight into this, I suppose looking at some examples of what the Gospels say about conduct would be a good starter. In Galations 5, I found a pretty concise summary of this idea. In one word, it can all be summed up as Love.

Galatians 5:13-26
(13) You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
(14) The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
(15) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
(16) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
(17) For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
(18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
(19) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
(20) idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
(21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
(25) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
(26) Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Reading through this passage, clearly the predominate thought is that love is the foundation of it all. All the other other things can be considered manifestations of that love. One of the real dangers that the previous passage represents is the interpretation of what it means to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel

Looking at the passage in Galations, we get an idea - the trick is to not then create our own law structure around these ideas.

Still here?!

So today is day 6 of the ongoing saga. I thought I was going home today, but the doc just told me otherwise. Bummer. I was really a little surprised at how upset this whole thing gets me. I think it is the frustration of not knowing compounded by being away from my family and a little of the fear of what happened in the past.

Philippians 1:19-21
(19) for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
(20) I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
(21) For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

I have spent a little time looking for verses on faith and courage and I think I like Philippians 1:19-21 a lot. I know I am not really totally qualified to claim this passage, but then, little things like qualifications has never stopped me before. :)

While the context is different, I hope that I can attain the passion outlined in v.21. To live as God would have me live, not because it is what I have to do, rather because it is my passion.

Maybe this will serve as a vehicle to help get me one step closer.

The story of life

I recently read a book titled Epic, suggested by a friend of mine. The book was written by John Eldredge and was a very quick read with an interesting message. The basic idea of the book is that life is a story that God is telling and the story of creation and the universe is imprinted in every person. The essential elements of hero, struggle and redemption are being reflected in popular culture and stories.

After reflecting on the ideas for a while, I like the image that it provides me. The question of, is there something more? is answered in the story. We have to identify our part in the story and what role we play. I had another friend recently ask me what my role was in life. He had watched the movie, "The Lady in the Water" and was caught up in the idea of the story and roles we play. I think the ideas are directly related and worth working through.

What is your role?

What is mine?

The wisdom of Veggie Tales

This morning, my 3 month old daughter and I were watching Veggie Tales on television and I was reminded of the simplicity of the real message. I think we often over complicate things for one reason or another when the truth is, it is simple enough for a child to understand - probably better than most of us adults.

We came into the episode underway. There was this little creature who climbed a large mountain to get away from others who were not being nice. He encountered a wise and gentle man who turned out to be the creator. They had some dialog that built the message of love and tolerance, and ultimately, the little character asked the age old question we have probably all wondered about at one time or another. "If You created everyone, why didn't you make them all obey you all the time and be nice?".

The answer was so simple - essentially, "If I made them love me, it would not be love. Love can never be forced, it has to come of free will". Some of the elegance of the response is lost in my retelling, but you get the idea I hope.

Slipping on the bannana peel of life

I find that in the desire to find the truth, I have started to slip a bit on the banana peel of life. I find myself unwittingly being defined (at least in my own mind) by what I am not, or do not want to be, rather than being defined by what I am. I need to invest time in firmly establishing what I am, just as I have spent so much time determining what I am not.

The "Doing of Christianity"

The "doing of Christianity" has largely become Christianity.

In a recent conversation with a friend I tried to explain my position on this. I keep coming back to Love. Love is what is foundational, everything else comes from Love. To make the point more relevant, consider a marriage - an analogy often used in the New Testament.

I love my wife, therefore I want to please my wife. She is my passion, therefore I want to know my wife. Because I want to please my wife and I want to know my wife, I talk with her, I try to understand her and her wants and needs. It doesn't happen that I watch "dancing with the stars" on the television because I enjoy the program, I do it because my wife enjoys it and I know that to do things she likes is well worth the time. It brings her joy, and through that joy, I find happiness. Because I love my wife, I will throw out that favorite pair of jeans that have more holes than a good swiss cheese but fit me so well. I know she does not like them and prefers pants that have a minimum of damage. These things did not come first. My wife loved me as I was. I adopted these specific manifestations of our love over time, just as she has learned to understand me more over time.

The salient point here is that Christianity should resemble this process. We fall in love with our God and He loves us where we are. He loves us in our brokenness. As we grow in our love for Him, our lives begin to reflect the changes. The "Works" are an outward manifestation of our love for our God.

Here is a point on which I may part ways with some of you still with me... I believe that these "works" will differ among believers. I believe that cultural influences will dictate manifestations of our love. What may be right for an American in Philadelphia, PA may not be right for a Chadian in Balimba. That being said, the constants provided in the New Testament serve as a good starting point for a normalized baseline regardless of local.