Blog Archives
What Would Socrates Think of Our Facebook Profiles?
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
15 You haven’t received the spirit of slaves that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the spirit of God’s adopted children by which we call out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 If we are his children, we are also God’s heirs. If we share in Christ’s suffering in order to share his glory, we are heirs together with him. Romans 8:15-17 (GW)
Do not forget: anyone who does not realize that he is a child of God is unaware of the deepest truth about himself. When he acts, he lacks the dominion and self-mastery we find in those who love our Lord above all else. (1)
“The unexamined life is not worth living” (attributed to Socrates)
One of my favorite authors back in my collegiate days was Peter Kreeft. He had a couple of books that portrayed the average college student, questing after the best things in life. Socrates would show up on campus, and through some strategically asked questions, the person would find their quest changing, and what they would see is that they needed God.
They needed to see reality from His perspective. By asking themselves the questions that Socrates put forth, they realized how twisted life becomes, and how what we desire, isn’t what we desire.
The questions weren’t easy to face; The same questions we need to face, the questions that aren’t easy, either.
Will we face them? Especially as we put our views out on FB as if we were had the knowledge of Einstein, or the Wisdom of Pope Francis, or the power of a president or a king? FB is the place that empowers us to put whatever we want out for the world to read. We might even think that it happens without consequence. We will use the power of FB and Twitter to announce that we are gods? That we have the authority to determine what is right, no matter what God says. That we have the authority to condemn those who are evil, not according to scripture, but because we think they are. We may be the conservative calling those who sin differently to repentance, we might be the liberal condemning those who don’t see things our way, and throwing away our religion. Will we continue to defend our divinity, and deny it to those unlike us?
Or will we, in humble awe, with incredible adoration, realize that God has desired, made possible, and re-created us to be the children of God?
Examining our life, asking the questions that Socrates would ask, guiding us into what is real, what is important, brings us to a shocking reality.
That we aren’t gods, but that we desperately need a God, who cares, who loves, who heals, who guides and empowers us. A God who instructs us how to love, not just by laying down the guidelines, but is the example of that perfect life.
The deepest truth? Yeah – we were sinners, we still struggle incredibly with sin. If we say, we don’t, we lie, and accuse God of being a liar. But the deepest truth is that He will make sinners saints, and is doing so now.
We have to realize that God neither approves of our sin. That like the women caught in adultery, His words are, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Rather Jesus gives us repentance as He reconciles us to Him, helping us to endure, and healing us of the sin’s damage, and restoring us to life.
That is who we are, the children of God, the friends of Christ.
to base our lives on any other identity, is to fail to examine our life, and is to live life as a lie.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Friends of God (Kindle Locations 619-621). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Transformation of Easter; The Change to Our Attitude
The Transformation of Easter
The Change to Our Attitude
1 John 3:16-24
† IHS †
As you look towards standing before God, may you know the grace and mercy of our Father, and the Lord Jesus, which will give you bold confidence and the greatest of joy!
An Amazing Sight
Our epistle today describes an amazing moment in your life.
You are there, in the fullness of God’s glory. There among the cherubim, the seraphim, the 24 elders that surround God on His throne. The joy is immense, the sound of the people singing God’s praises so incredible, so far beyond anything you have ever pictured or thought.
It is what we’ve waited a lifetime for, and as you catch God’s eye, you see a twinkle, and a smile, and you are absolutely confident that this is where you belong.
It is an amazing feeling, to know that you belong there, in the very presence, in the glory of God. A feeling that you feel as at home there, as in your own living room. A feeling that you are completely peaceful here in the presence of the Lord.
What an amazing moment, an amazing eternity, to be standing before God in all of His glory, and to be, using the words of John, boldly confident, without a hesitation because of guilt, or shame. Hearing the praises of all the host of heaven, as they praise God for His holiness, for His sacredness, for His setting Himself, apart for us.
Amazing!
I can’t even imagine the feeling, the view, the joy…
The closest I can come… well…we will get to that a little later.
Uhm – am I compassionate enough!
I want to look at verse 16 and 17 for a few moments.
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
I have to admit this one challenges me, even as the passage from Acts about everyone having everything in common did a few weeks ago.
I want to justify; I want to be the one who determines what it means to “be in need.”
I want to determine what it means to have “enough money”. You know, I think Bill Gates has enough, and maybe those pro athletes. The rest of us? Not so much.
As we hear those words, I can’t help but think of the pleas that come from organizations that want to feed the children in the inner city, or in poor countries around the world. Or the guy who was at the 91 and Bellflower Blvd exit, with his hand out for money.
Can I ignore them, and still know the love of God? Is it in me?
Can we really look at our lives, in view of John’s call to “give up out lives for our brothers and sisters” and have confidence to stand before God?
Do we have the compassion – literally are our stomachs upset when we see someone in need? Or do we just look away, or look down on those who have need?
How can we find the confidence we need to stand before God when John’s epistle is questioning us this bluntly?
Will we be in those that Jesus judges to be sheep, who visited the imprisoned, who fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, and in doing so, cared for Him? Or will we be the goats, the stubborn one’s who held on to their stuff, and not cared?
How will we stand before God?
How many of us can say we are that compassionate towards those who are in need?
As a pastor, I think my answer will surprise you.
Where we find this compassion; the change He’s wrought in us.
A moment ago, I mentioned the companion passage to our epistle reading, which talked about the sheep and the goats.
Most of you might recall that the goats didn’t realize when they missed the opportunity to care for Jesus. They asked him, “when didn’t we visit, feed, clothe, and care for you Jesus?” And He said, “when you didn’t do it to the least of those in need, you didn’t do it to me.”
What most overlook is that the sheep didn’t know when they did visit, feed, sustain, clothe and care for Jesus. They were as surprised as those who didn’t, but their care was evident to Jesus.
As I look out into this congregation, I see more and more, the people who are caring for those who are in need. The people who have helped pre-school parents with scholarships, the people who respond to Al’s pleas for benevolence, both big and small. One person has helped care for those kids as well, by paying for new carpets and flooring. We hold each other up in prayer, and we respond to needs as they come. I hear of people visiting, and sharing, hugging each other.
That is why passing the peace comes where it does in the service, because when we realize the love of Christ seen here – at the altar, we see the need of it in each other’s lives and respond by sharing it with others. Any other place in the liturgy, and it is pretty much a greeting. But as we see the Body and Blood here for us… it changes us; it causes a level of compassion that is otherwise overlooked. That compassion and love is amazing and brings comfort and peace.
Truly you can see in this place the love of Christ, if you know where and when to look.
You see, that is the transformation that occurs when we know that He is risen (response He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia) ) and therefore ( we are risen indeed!) God changes us, we learn to care for each other, for our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a transformation He is doing, to all who believe are baptized. Some may seem slower than others, but if we can’t even judge ourselves, our judgment of others fails as well. Each of us has time, talents and treasures that differ, but the compassion of Christ is there in all of us. It comes out more and more as we experience the love of Christ.
Like when we take and eat and take His body, and take and drink His blood, given and shed for us.
It is here, at the altar, experiencing His love and mercy, His presence and glory, that we are transformed, that we are changed, that we find God compassionate toward us, freeing us from sin and the fear of death, freeing us from the power of satan, freeing us to love Christ. Freeing us from the guilt and shame, which would distract us from Jesus.
This is the work of Christ in you, the work that began in your baptism, that comes to His completion, that day when you stand before Him with bold confidence, assured, not of your own compassion, but of His.
it is that work, driven by His compassion, that will cause you to be bold and confident in His presence, and which brings you His peace, that peace the world cannot give, in which you are compassionately guarded, your heart and mind, for you dwell in Christ Jesus. AMEN.
Given for YOU (plural!)
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
2 How I want to be there! I long to be in the LORD’S Temple. With my whole being I sing for joy to the living God. 3 Even the sparrows have built a nest, and the swallows have their own home; they keep their young near your altars, LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 4 How happy are those who live in your Temple, always singing praise to you. Psalm 84:2-4 (TEV)
22. Whenever the Sacrament of Baptism is duly administered as Our Lord instituted it, and is received with the right dispositions, a person is truly incorporated into the crucified and glorified Christ, and reborn to a sharing of the divine life, as the Apostle says: “You were buried together with Him in Baptism, and in Him also rose again-through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead”.40
Baptism therefore establishes a sacramental bond of unity which links all who have been reborn by it. But of itself Baptism is only a beginning, an inauguration wholly directed toward the fullness of life in Christ. Baptism, therefore, envisages a complete profession of faith, complete incorporation in the system of salvation such as Christ willed it to be, and finally complete ingrafting in eucharistic communion. (1)
“…for, thank God, a seven-year-old child knows what the church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd,” etc.”
I am sitting in my office, the first day “back” from a short vacation with my mother.
I am filled with anticipation for tomorrow, even as I thumb through my mail and lose some of that joy. For some would try and use their “authority” to convince me what i know about my congregation isn’t true with the church at large. That somehow there is a “us and them” in the Church.
You see, there is something special, something sacred, as the people of God are gathered to the altar, and as baptized believers, share in the body and blood of Christ. As I communed at another congregation on the other side of the United States last week, my heart looked forward to being “home”.
That is how I look at the divisions that exist in the Church. There are some that won’t be healed until we are all home, before the Father. He will settle the squabbles that exist between various siblings in the church. But being “home” means celebrating the feast with all who are believe and are baptised. For from God’s perspective, we cannot deny our brothers and our sisters, united in Christ at baptism, are indeed brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.
Some discuss this in arrogance and pride, rather than sorrow and regret They put in roadblocks to the unity that is the Church in Christ by focusing ont he division, not the hope. They weep, not over the brokenness of the church, but over those who would look to that brokenness being healed in Christ. ( By the way, I am not talking of just one incident, or from just my own denomination)
I love the way Vatican II puts it in the quote above – we are linked together, all who are reborn in Christ. It’s a beginning, a start to seeing us all linked at the altar, the foretaste of the feast to come. Our baptism gives the vision of what should be, what will be in Heaven, and yes, something that should be worked towards here. Not dismissed with a – well that is them, and this is us mentality.
I also love the way the Lutheran confessions, in a section that deals with those (the Roman Catholic hierarchy at that time – but equally applicable to divisive types of today) describe the church as a child would, “the believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd.”
I read those words and hear the voice of Jesus, “take and eat, this is my Body, given for you” and “take, drink of this all of you, it is my blood of the new covenant, shed for you for the forgiveness of sin”
There is our goal, to hear the voice of the Shepherd, to grow in unity until we realize that we are one in Christ. Just as He and the Father are One. What begins in baptism is our goal, our desire, just as it is His. Complete unity, because He has lovingly healed the brokenness, giving us new life.
It is that unity in Christ, the miraculous unity of baptism in Christ, that gives me joy. I look forward to sharing in that unity tomorrow, as people gather here, as they hear of the peace promised and given by the Lamb of God, as they commune together with God. As we deal with division, as we deal with brokenness and separation, may we never forget that His feast is what we were re-born to share.
His love, His unity, trusting in Him and His work.
Lord, Have mercy on us all.
(1) Catholic Church. (2011). Decree on Ecumenism: Unitatis Redintegratio. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 614). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Prayer, Holiness Mission and the Unplugged Cellphone
Devotional Thought of the Day:
8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8 (NLT)
107 Sanctity without prayer? I don’t believe in such sanctity.
109 If you’re not a man of prayer, I don’t believe in the sincerity of your intentions when you say that you work for Christ. (1)
I woke up this morning and reached for my cellphone to see what time it was. I unplugged it and tapped the screen three times to turn on the screen.
Immediate I got a warning, less than 5% power remaining, and it shut itself off. No power and it didn’t work. No phone, no internet, not even the simple information about what time it is. Apparently, while I ensured I plugged the one end of the cord into my phone, the other end wasn’t plugged into the wall.
No problem, I’ll just switch to my tablet. It had power, and I found out it was 8 o’clock here, or 5 am at home. Okay. I got what I want.
But then during my devotion time, I came across a number of passages about prayer, and the necessity of it. Then a blog post that talked about all of the different conferences and things that help pastors become more missional, more serious about the apostolate.
I started to wonder, how many of these conferences have a focus, not just a section or a speaker, I mean an entire conference, If it were, would pastors and church leaders come?
Do we see the correlation between time spent in conversation with God, bi-directional conversation, and effective ministry? The Apology of the Augsburg Confession (one of the basic documents explaining the Lutheran understanding of our relationship with God) encourages prayer, even naming it as a sacrament because then men may pray more.
Because we need it. It is not just our source of power; it is our source of life. It is the source of our mission as well. Without an active conversation with God, our life becomes stale, our wisdom is reduced to dry knowledge, and there is no relationship we can share with others. Like a cellphone with a dry battery, a believer without prayer is dead.
But an active prayer life helps us understand the will of God, His desire to love all of us, to show us mercy so we could realize that love. It brings healing to our brokenness. Healing so great it drives us to others, with the compassion to share the healing with them.
One last thing. Don’t read this and start praying so that you will be a more effective evangelist, to be a better witness of God’s mercy. The more time you spend with Him, the more the zeal for inviting others to the conversation will occur, not forced, but naturally.
Just walk with God, pouring out everything to Him, and hear him pour out His heart to you.
Have a blessed day…. with Him!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 399-402). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Who Am I? Who are You?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. Romans 11:36 (NLT)
Your boat—your talents, your hopes, your achievements—is worth nothing whatsoever unless you leave it in Christ’s hands, allowing him the freedom to come aboard. Make sure you don’t turn it into an idol. In your boat by yourself, if you try to do without the Master, you are—supernaturally speaking—making straight for shipwreck. Only if you allow, and seek, his presence and captaincy will you be safe from the storms and setbacks of life. Place everything in God’s hands. Let your thoughts, the brave adventures you have imagined, your lofty human ambitions, your noble loves, pass through the heart of Christ. Otherwise, sooner or later, they will all sink to the bottom together with your selfishness. (1)
It is amazing how much our identity is wrapped up in things. Who we are is wrapped up in what we are able to do far more than we think. Far more than is good.
You don’t believe this, lose your driver’s license on a trip!! You can’t rent a car, you have trouble checking into your hotel ( lucky I am staying with someone), There will be a myriad of things that will become impossible, others that just become difficult.. Take away the mask that we thought was our identity, and we think we lost our identity. We get stressed ad anxious; we try to come up with a million logical options for replacing what was lost.
Not the driver’s license, or the tablet, or the home.
Our identity. Or what we perceive our identity to be.
WE have to remember that our identity is found, not in things, but in Christ. For if we died with Him and have risen in Him, then He is our identity.
St Josemaria understood this, as his early ministry was spent in a war-torn state, where he had to hide his priesthood from those where killing priests, as he left his beloved homeland. The lesson is not one easily learned, but it is one we need to be reminded of daily.
Before I am Pastor, before I am Dt’, before I am Kay’s husband, William’s daddy, before I am a son. Before I am a driver and resident in the state of California.
I am His.
That’s enough to get me through this life.
It will be enough for you as well.
AMEN.
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Friends of God (Kindle Locations 540-545). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Our Need for Prayer
Devotional Thought of the Day:
3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? Hebrews 2:3 (NLT)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
The more you suffer, the more you are tempted the more you need to pray; prayer now alone can strengthen you with help and consolation. Let not pain and fierce temptation paralyze you prayer. The devil does all he can to prevent you from praying at these times. But rather than give into weak human nature which absorbs the soul in its paid so that it sees nothing else for the time, turn your eyes to our Lord and speak to Him standing so near. He is with you, looking on you lovingly, listening for your words. He tells you to speak, that He is there to hear you, that He loves you and you have not a word to say to Him, no look to give Him. What ingratitude! Look at Him speak to Him without ceasing, The deeper your agony, the deeper you must bury yourself in the Heart of your Beloved, and cling to His side with ceaseless prayer! (1)
I have to admit, while I don’t spend the time i would like, perhaps as much time I really need in prayer, the words in blue resonate with me.
I know them true, and it is why I can desire to spend more time, more hours, more days in prayer.
You may ask why I put the first reading there, about ignoring salvation. Simply put, because salvation isn’t just about the event, where God cleanses us from sin, washing us clean as He promises in our baptism, replacing our heart of stone with a heart of flesh and giving us His Spirit, (see Ezekiel 36:25). Salvation is rescuing us from and delivering us to something that is incredible.
As we are saved we become something. We become part of the people of God, daughters and sons of God, adopted and marked as His children, we enter into a entirely different relationship with God, one where He promises to never forsake us, never abandon us, never to stop working in our lives. We find life, a life lived in fellowship, in community, in communion with God.
And that is what we should never neglect, that is what we need to grow in, the awareness that the Lord is with you. (and yes, thank you – also with me). We need to learn to depend up this, not as a fact, but as reality. He is with us, ready to listen, ready to comfort, ready to heal, ready to reach out into this broken world.
Prayer then becomes the way of life, the very meaning of our salvation. Walking with God. Please re-read the second scripture passage and the italicized blue above, there is our hope. our peace, our comfort, our very ability to live.
In the past couple of weeks, many people I know have encountered death of their loved ones. I’ve talked to others, who have lost jobs, or are afraid of losing a relationship. Just knowing this is exhausting, tiring, painful, the feeling of emptiness and loneliness I observe is… crushing. For those directly involved, the devotional writer gets it right. The sorrow and grief consumes us. Nothing else can matter in that moment.
Until God breaks through, until He reminds us that He is here. There is a strong correlation between how quickly we hear His voice in those moments, and the time we spend walking with Him at other times. Even if we feel that there aren’t the other times. Yet if we neglect this, if we take Him for granted, it may take a longer time to find Him, when only His comfort is the answer. Don’t neglect Him, don’t
Then we can find rest and peace, dwelling in His love.
So pray my friends, realize God walks with you, and share with Him everything… and spend some time in stillness, and in quiet, and know He is God. AMEN!
(1) from Celtic Daily Prayer: Finian Reading for April 10th.
The Incredible Awe and Joy found in the Cross of Christ
Devotional Thought of the Day:
5 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and 6 my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar. 7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. 8 But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. Psalm 42:5-8 (NLT)
2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over for all her sins.” Isaiah 40:2 (NLT)
15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15 (NLT)
I sit here in my office, as prayer requests continue to role in. There are so many people out there who are hurting, grieving, struggling. There are families, torn apart, not just by the loss of a loved one, but by the turmoil that was anticipated, the turmoil there just below the boiling point,
I am sad, discouraged, grieving with those who grieve. Yesterday was hard, as we prepared for our serving, celebrating Christ’s last supper, the night when thoughts of death oppressed Him, our Lord. Oppressed Him as He looked upon the disciples, who hadn’t learned the lessons of serving yet. They argued about who would be first in the Kingdom. (after Jesus of course!) Oppressed as He considered Judas, who would betray Him with a kiss, and Peter, who would betray him not once, but three times. Considering the agony of the garden, where his closest friends couldn’t pray with Him one hour, even as many refuse to do so today. Considering that pain adds to the pain I am enduring, as tears come too often, as I consider the trauma of friends, the pains, the battles, the grief.
it seems ironic that this day, the day when He would die, when we celebrate His death, I would find joy and relief.
I came across the verses above, these incredible words of promise. That God’s love would pour over us like the constant swell of the ocean’s waves. That the days of dealing with our sin, and the brokenness that it thrusts upon us are over. Christ has been victorious, over my sin, over the bondage of guilt and shame that Satan used to oppress us.
It will be nearly 48 hours before this sinks in, and I like that. I need to spend some time in the awe of Christ dying for me. You should as well.
He died for us. Those nails that physically held Him to the cross didn’t bind Him there as strongly as the love that drove Him there… and again the words of Hebrews comes blaring back into my ears….
For the JOY set before Him!
The Joy we know, that we need to know, even as we feel discouraged, tired, betrayed; as we know grief, and pain,
and LOVE.
May you find rest and joy in this moment of contemplating His death, the death He embraced for you. AMEN!
The Perspective of Death… and Eternity
Devotional Thought of the Day:
13 “I wish you would hide me in the grave and forget me there until your anger has passed. But mark your calendar to think of me again! 14 Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death. 15 You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork. 16 For then you would guard my steps, instead of watching for my sins. 17 My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover my guilt. Job 14:13-17 (NLT)
Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said .1 Corinthians 15:1–11
I woke up this morning, exhausted in body and spirit and especially soul.
In the last 6 days, six families i know have had to face grief and death. Four deaths in a forty-eight hour span. Not to mention 4 or 5 other things that are pretty high on the trauma scale.
I don’t feel like Job, exactly, for I am not the one who is directly suffering. Just praying and trying to comfort those who are. I do understand his weariness, and the above quote, wishing there was a way to put life on hold until the day when this broken world that seems so futile ends. Wouldn’t it be great if we could be frozen, and didn’t have to endure this complicated and broken life?
Yeah, I resonate with Job’s thoughts. More often than I would like you to know. Even this week, as I face so much, I really resonate with them, so much I wanted to shout amen when I read them. For if only that would happen, and the next thing to hear from God would be, “welcome home!”
But what Job hopes for, Paul reminds us that we have. We have a God, a Father who doesn’t want to look at sin and injustice. He wants to see things made right, and if broken, healed. In the middle of wanting to know if Job found an out, in the midst of death, there is another death to consider.
The death of Christ. The only death I know of, where the answer to “why” is answered.
“For you”, the Father whispers. We hear it again, as we proclaim and celebrate His death in the Lord’s Supper. Take and eat, the Body of Christ, given FOR YOU!. Take and drink, the Blood of Christ, shed for you, f or the forgiveness of sins.
The answer is staggering..
For me? Broken, sinful, confused, anxious, depressed, mourning – that me? Trusting in this, is the key to our faith, that God would do this, for us.
Job’s dream, come true,
“ You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.”
The words of Paul in Ephesians 2:10, says Job was right, his vision of what would be glorious is found to be true. His hopes exceeded.
That is the perspective death brings, it causes us to ask the questions we dare not, and here the answers that we can only dream of in our brokenness.
An answer we can hear, and know, passed down to us. For He died, was buried, and rose again. United with Him, this is seen in our baptism, and as we feast at His table, as we look forward and cry out with hope, with great expectation for Him to return. AMEN
A Challenge to Christian Podcasters/Bloggers/Tweeters
Discussion Thought of the Day:
8 Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ 9 and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. 10 All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, 11 so that somehow I also may be raised to life. Philippians 3:8-11 (CEV)
11 1. Hence we reject and deem it as false and detrimental when men teach that the Gospel, strictly speaking, is a proclamation of conviction and reproof and not exclusively a proclamation of grace. Thereby the Gospel is again changed into a teaching of the law, the merit of Christ and the Holy Scriptures are obscured, Christians are robbed of their true comfort,….
32 You’ll never be a leader if you see others only as stepping-stones to get ahead. You’ll be a leader if you are ambitious for the salvation of all souls. You can’t live with your back turned on everyone; you have to be eager to make others happy.
This week before Holy Week has been incredibly thought provoking.
One of the reasons is the amount of death that has affected people I care for, not just because I am their pastor, but because God has joined us together.
The other reason is the constant bombardment of negative Christian podcasts, blogs, tweets and comments, especially from those within my own small section of Christianity.
Finally, the gulf between those two reasons, and the grief and concern it raises in me.
St. Paul’s words above stand in sharp contrast to what I read. His desire, to know Christ, to see the Holy Spirit at work, revealing, transforming, and drawing people to Christ, even as He was drawn to Christ.
Certainly, in the face of death, that is all that matters. to know and be known.
Certainly, in the face of our sin, and the injustice and unrighteousness of the world, to know Jesus is what gives us hope.
Certainly, as we encounter the world, it is what makes the difference between anxiety and peace.
So why don’t our words reflect this hope? Why do the words posted by those in the church focus more on topics that are condescending and divisive? Do we somehow feel we aren’t good Christians unless we step on others, crushing their beliefs, rather than gently reforming them? That we have to humiliate those not like us, mock them, spit on them and nail them to Christ’s cross?
Don’t we realize if we lift Him up in our praises, that He will draw all men to Himself?
We need to grow in desire to see all men saved, but that answer to that isn’t found primarily in better understanding of theology, where though accurate, the gospel is never mentioned. It isn’t in some better use of some program or initiative.
it is at the foot of the cross, where broken sinners find healing, and joy and peace….and forgiveness, and the hope of being quickened to life with God, for ever.
As Jesus glory, the very love of God, welcomes us home and overwhelmed by joy, we find a desire for everyone to join us, with Him.
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 479). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 235-238). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The God Who Would Be Involved With You…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. 20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:19-20 (NLT)
Saint Luke tells us of some fishermen washing and mending their nets by the shores of Lake Genesareth. Jesus comes up to the boats tied up alongside and goes into one of them, which is Simon’s. How naturally the Master comes aboard our own boat! “Just to complicate our lives,” you hear some people complain. You and I know better; we know that our Lord has crossed our paths to complicate our existence with gentleness and love. (1)
I once was told “God wouldn’t be involved with the likes of me.”
Actually, I’ve been told it more than a few times. From people who were incarcerated, from people on the streets, from people with multiple graduate degrees but with a past that wasn’t just broken, it was shattered.
While I understand, heck I know the feeling, whenever I hear that, I cannot help weeping.
Not because of their past. But because they believed something that is a lie. Because in trusting in that lie, they miss out on what we call grace. More simply put, the blessing of knowing that God loves you, that His love means that He will show mercy to you, and knowing the miracle of that mercy, you will know peace.
To those that believe God won’t be involved with you, the lesson of Peter’s boat is a good one. Imagine Jesus getting into your car. Just walking up, opening the door, getting in and saying, “let go for a ride”. Or the passage from Revelation, he knocks at your door, comes in and asks, “where is dinner”” That is what Jesus does throughout all of history.
He get’s involved with people. Involved with them to where there is no protective comfort zone. Deeply involved, for that is where we need Him, even if we don’t like Him that intimately involved in our lives. He comes in, and would make Himself at home with us. Celebrate the good stuff, comfort us as we grieve. He would bring healing to the brokeness of our lives, even to those who are shattered. He would make everything brand new. Not like brand new, He will make us completely brand new.
That’s what Jesus does when He determines to get involved with us. Which is why it doesn’t matter how broken we are, or from what kind of life we have survived. He is here to get involved, and that may be a little uncomfortable at first… but the depth of His Spirit’s involvement is guaranteed to be glorious.
He’s going to get involved because He wants a relationship with you. Once that relationship begins, expect Him to make Himself at Home in your life, and rejoice as you walk together, for you are loved.
AMEN
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Friends of God (Kindle Locations 532-535). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
