Back to Blogging... ?

It has been a while since I've written. Perhaps I will take up the pen once more... or the typing keyboard as the case may be. To reflect. To listen. To remember. To live life more fully...

More than anything in this world, my heart longs to know God more. To never give up the pursuit of the One who has pursued me for eternity. Before the foundations of the world, God knew me. God knew just how sinful and selfish I would be, and yet He still chose to create me and to love me. Jesus Christ died for my sins -- past, present, and future-- and turned away God's just anger from me. Jesus rose from the dead, restoring hope so that I could be made completely perfect and blameless. When God sees me now, He doesn't see my sin. He sees the perfect life of Jesus who lived the life I couldn't live, died the death I deserved, and now lives eternally - as I will! I am so glad that God has not given me what I deserve - I deserved death and hell, and yet God has given me life and eternity with Him!

It does seem that God continues to keep teaching me the same things over and over again: Cease striving. Remain in Christ. Trust in the all-sufficiency of Christ alone. Rest. Love. Let go. Press on to know the Lord. Be still. Run with all you've got. Work according to the power of God's Spirit within you. Don't be anxious. Believe the gospel. Preach the gospel to yourself, and keep preaching it - for in it is life.

Yet so often I live in fear, am plagued by self-doubt, and don't really believe this good news applies to the details of my life. The hardest work of all is to simply believe the gospel. To believe that God loves us. To receive that love and to stop trying to earn it. It is a gift. It is a scandelous gospel - freedom from the pressure to perform, freedom from duty, and freedom to fail. Freedom to be unrecognized, freedom to die to self, freedom to live for others. It is a call to come to the end of one's self-efforts, and to trust the Holy Spirit to do what we cannot. And at the end of the day to realize that knowing Jesus really is enough. Everything in life is uncertain except for this one fact: God is who God is, and God is good. I can trust Him.

Mundane Con't

"As we consier the life we live compared to the fiery expectations we had in our college days we are suprised how mundane life is. It takes so much effort just to surve here. Between daily needs and homeschooling our days are nearly over." - A friend on a remote island in south asia

I read the above in a prayer letter recently... he continued, "Yet at the same time, in the light of Christ's awesome sacrifice, if we give our lives to carry His glory to this place it is the very least we can do." And concluded, "sometimes it seems unproductive, but as we stand God works."

Spectacular missionary stories come in the midst of lots of mundane, and are often the accumulation of mundane moments lived in faithfulness. As we stand firm in His grace, we can trust that God will lead us on His Mission. Again, transforming mundane moments into divine appointments... by HIS grace and for His GLORY.

Mysteriously Mundane Miracles

"Words belong to the Lord... If God doesn't rule your mundane, He doesn't rule you. You live your life in the mundane." - Paul Tripp

You live your life in the mundane... Quite a thought. So often I'm looking for the spectacular, chasing after something fulfilling, thrilling, and larger than myself. If I had my way, every day I would want to change the world.

And herein lies the mystery of the mundane. The mundane seems so monotonous and meaningless... the same old same old. As wise Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." You live your life in the mundane... conversations, e-mails, laundry, making food, activities of your day, eating, sleeping, reading, running, praying... Our daily activities are really not that different. What makes them different? Can God work in such little things for the glory of His Name? Is the miraculous possible in the mundane?

And yet, to find joy in the simple things of life is a gift. If you cannot enjoy your life now, you cannot enjoy life. The heart's longings are too deep to be satisfied with anything less than the mystery of being known and knowing, loved by and loving the very God who created us.

Jesus Christ took upon himself the wrath of God and died on a cross, paying the penalty of my sin, because He loved me... and that mysterious miracle gives meaning to otherwise mundane existence. My life is a gift, and the new life I found in Him an ever greater gift.

So every day I'm dying and living... dying to self, living to God. Nothing is no longer insignificant; every aspect of my life has significance. For I am united with Christ; this brings me so much hope for things to come. My worst days are never beyond the reach of his grace, and my best days are never beyond the need of his grace. This is the miracle of the mundane -- the Holy Spirit changing our hearts each day to be a little more like Christ, restoring us as sons and daughters of the Most High King.

"Everything I have is yours..."

When I was young, I remember my dad telling us... "I wish that the church today functioned like the church in Acts, where they held all things in common." He wasn't being critical, just reflective... My dad continued, "I hope that at least our family could work like that, sharing all things and not owning anything."

And then my dad looked at me and said, "Everything I have is yours... You know that."

These words have stayed with me, "Everything I have is yours..." And they weren't just words; he meant them. My dad is one of the most frugal and generous people I know.

Right now, with the economy, there is a lot of anxiety about what will happen to our finances. I know a lot of people are in tight places and that there will need to be sacrifices in the days ahead. The downward turn should not come as a suprise to us... we've been a nation living on debt for as long as I can remember; we are reaping the consequences of many levels of greed.

But, as I think about all of that, a hope and excitement rises within me. While these consequences will be harsh, the opportunities are boundless... We will need to rely more deeply on God and more deeply on one another... real community, real sacrifice, real love, real life! The mercies of God are new every morning; great is His faithfulness!

So before you panic about the economy... remember we have a God who has a Father's heart exponetially more generous and loving than the best of earthly fathers. God loved us so much that He sent his only Son to pay the consequences for our sin and rebellion. And the consequences of our sin were far worse than a bad economy -- they condemn us to hell and the wrath of God. Surely the God who has made provision for the greatest sin and debt of mankind, will still be near to those who seek Him. Do you know Him as your Savior?

God is our Father, and Fathers love to give good gifts to their children... He is Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides. I am looking forward to seeing how God will glorify Himself in the coming days... and what He will teach our hearts as we learn to trust Him more deeply.

God

Last month, I took a solitude retreat for a several days... I read through the book of Romans aloud, and then I started studying it chapter by chapter. At times I would walk around the lake, or retreat to the chapel and sing... sometimes praise, and sometimes songs of theological musings and questionings. There are many things about God that are had for me to understand. Oh the depth of the wrath and mercy of God!

God is not who I think He is... how I long to know Him more deeply! And for words to articulate the wonder of who He is!

Taco Bell... A Conversation

One of the things Ritzer talks about in his book is the globalization of nothing... Mass communication has replaced personal relationships, fast food instead of real dining, scripted conversations, etc... So, on Sunday I went to Taco Bell for lunch with a friend.

I asked the lady, "How are you?"

She responded, "What can I get for you?"
(Thought: Oh no! Scripted conversation... it's like talking to a machine)

I ask, "What do you recommend?"
(let's see if I can get her off the script... also honestly having an indecisive moment)

Response, "Oh, everything is good here."
(Hmm... is that script or her talking??)

I order something... a bit frustrated that normal conversation is impossible. There is no one else in the building except for us, so I wouldn't even be holding up the line... I think to myself, so this is life... talking with other human beings without really saying anything.

And then, in one last attempt, I asked some questions... "How do you say your name? How long have you been with Taco Bell? Do you like it? I see you're a team leader...what does that mean?"

And she responded and started telling me about herself, where she was from, what her job is like, and how she would like to be manager someday... it was great!!

Communication had moved to conversation -- victory!

So, this is my new little challenge: see if you can throw people off their scripts. If a telemarker calls, try to get them talking about something else other than what they called about. Try to learn something about the lady at the grocery store instead of just letting her bag your groceries. People are more important than their services or their jobs... Let's take some time to get to now them... to love them for who they are and not what they do.

McDonaldization... and the Kingdom

The core values of McDonald's include:
(according to Ritzer 2007:24-25 in The Globilization of Nothing 2...)

• Efficiency - discover the optimum means for doing every process as quickly as possible.
• Predictability - products and services need to be the same.
• Calculability - quanity more important than quality... (fast and cheap)
• Control (often through using nonhuman technology such as drive throughs and other mechanics control employees)

So... i've been thinking... how many of my values have been influenced by McDonalds? What are the values of the Kingdom of God? Just at a surface glance, they seem to be quite the opposite.

• Efficiency - The Kingdom is not efficient. God is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish. If God's goal were efficiency, he would not use flawed human beings like us...
• Predictability - Following Jesus is not predictable... The adventure of faith requires trust, not predictability.
• Calculability - nothing fast and cheap about the gospel. Jesus gave his very life for the Kingdom, and God calls us to do the same...
• Control - don't see this one either. The Kingdom is based on relationships of trust. Although God controls everything, he still stands at the door and knocks... relationships of trust, not automatic door openers!

What do you think? I wonder how much of our church culture has been affected by McDonalds... Lord, please give us a better understanding of the Kingdom and what it should look like here and now... A community under the rule of King Jesus.

One Thing is Needful

Worship doesn't just happen... you have to fight for it sometimes.

The last few months have been full months. Good months, but full of work, travel, friendships... going in and out of multiple little worlds of my existence. And sometimes in all of it I forget the heart of worship, of Soli Deo, of simply enjoying Jesus...the sweetness of surrender, the freedom that comes from repentance, the joy of walking in His Spirit moment by moment. I catch myself going through the motions of prayer, Bible reading, church... but somehow God seems distant.

I try to seek God, but I find myself distracted by many things. I have a mental list of things I would like to hear from God, a list of things I want to talk with Him about, problems that I would like Him to solve. I desperately want the fruit of the Spirit in my life - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control, and yet I know that it is lacking on so many levels. I'm frustrated with myself for not being a better Christian, for being so sinful and prideful. Deja vou. I've been here before. That feeling of hopelessness, like what I can do is never enough. I hate that feeling, but I can't shake it.

I am like Martha, trying to do all the right things to hold things together, meet the expectations of myself and others, and serve Jesus. Trying to be responsible, and yet feeling frazzled in the process. Instead of being content simply to be in relationship with Jesus, I fall into self-pity and a complaining spirit. An anxious spirit replaces the trusting one, and like Martha I wonder why Jesus isn't getting more people to help me do "His work." Suddenly, it has become all about me and what I want from God instead of all about HIM.

And then I hear Jesus' kind rebuke, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (see Luke 10:38-42)

Mary chose worship. She made a conscious choice to spend time with Jesus. Joseph S. Carroll observes in his book How to Worship Jesus Christ, "You can never drift into being a Mary. You can always drift into being a Martha. All you have to do is just let yourself go. No woman ever drifted into being a Mary." (27)

So, how do we do that? How do we be Marys? How can I maintain a life entirely focused around Jesus Christ, with everything else coming in as a distant second? To know Christ, to dwell in the presence of the Most High God - this one thing I desire!

"...One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
...My heart says to you, 'Seek his face!' Your face, LORD, I will seek.
...Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." ~ King David, Psalm 27

God longs for our worship. Jesus told the woman at the well that God was seeking those who would worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Intimate fellowship with our God - we were made for this, we were made to worship. How do we live a lives centered around Jesus, lives of worship? What does that look like? If one thing is needful, and we miss that one thing... then what are we doing?

God, teach me to worship You in Spirit and in Truth. Thank you for creating me to worship and for making this possible through the sacrifice of Jesus! Thank you for your grace and patience with me, for your redeeming love. I love you. Oh, for grace to love You more!