Ok, I've already messed up Lent, and I am quite unrepentant about it.
You see, you're supposed to give up all the alleluias during Lent, but I can't manage it.
Actually, I had already done it before I got home from Ash Wednesday service last night.
When I left, I had an old Gaither Homecoming CD playing (Yes, I do like Southern Gospel) and before I knew it, I was singing along.
"Hallelujah to the Lamb,
Hallelujah to the Lamb that was slain upon the tree,
By His stripes we are healed,
By His blood we are sealed,
Hallelujah to the Lamb of God."
When I got home, I had to sit in the car for a minute and pull myself together. Between the Ash Wednesday liturgy reminding us of our mortality and need for repentance, the sermon on God's constant and abiding love for us, and the honest praise offered by the singers on the CD, I could not restrain my gratitude and the tears fell. I could not stop the alleluias. They just came along with tears of appreciation for my Savior.
I'm not even actually sorry, so I did it again today.
I really believe that our recognition of our need for redemption and the acknowledgement that it is provided through the sacrifice of God's Son, Jesus, should move us to worship. Our recognition of our mortality should cause us to glorify the Holy Eternal One. It should spill out like my Hallelujahs last night. Our desire to praise and worship should overtake us and burst forth in spite of our best intentions to be sedate, serious, and contemplative.
So, I leave you with a hymn about repentance and the need for Salvation
AND hallelujahs, too!
anything but typical
Hallelujah! What a Savior by Philip Paul Bliss 1875
Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Lenten resolutions
I love Lent. I think it resonates with my Baptist upbringing – you know, emphasis on sinners saved by grace, sinners who need saving. One thing I like about being in a liturgical church is the marking of the seasons of the church year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost.
My beloved husband isn't really fond of Lent and Ash Wednesday. He says it's a little too Catholic for him, and that's OK. It doesn't bother me a bit. You see, Lent is a period of reflection, meditation, and repentance and my husband is a pretty "prayed up" kind of guy. He reads his Bible daily, and he is a man who seeks God all year long. He takes his wedding vow of loving me as Christ loves the church seriously. He doesn't feel to need to wait for Lent to straighten himself out. It's just routine maintenance. I think he's got the right idea.
Too many of us treat Lent like New Year’s Day, and our “give up for Lent” thing last just about as long as a New Year's resolution. Giving up chocolate for Lent is not so you can lose pounds, it should be for disciplining yourself for sacrifice. I think a better choice is to think about refraining from something that gets in your way of being a Servant of Christ or adding something that makes the most of your time. Replace something frivolous with something spiritual.
Here are some ideas:
Give up your daily cappuccino and put the money you save in the alms box at church or use it to be an anonymous “fairy godparent” to a needy person.
Use your break time at work for personal prayer instead of going out to smoke or gossip.
Pass by the 9:30am tee time you could get on Sunday morning and make it to church instead.
Download the Bible into your PDA and read it instead of playing Solitaire or Bejeweled.
The thing is to have something positive come of out the sacrifice.
And, no, I haven’t settled on what my Lenten discipline will be. I’m sure God will show me something worthwhile. It may even be fun – serious fun, but still fun.
Anything but typical
My beloved husband isn't really fond of Lent and Ash Wednesday. He says it's a little too Catholic for him, and that's OK. It doesn't bother me a bit. You see, Lent is a period of reflection, meditation, and repentance and my husband is a pretty "prayed up" kind of guy. He reads his Bible daily, and he is a man who seeks God all year long. He takes his wedding vow of loving me as Christ loves the church seriously. He doesn't feel to need to wait for Lent to straighten himself out. It's just routine maintenance. I think he's got the right idea.
Too many of us treat Lent like New Year’s Day, and our “give up for Lent” thing last just about as long as a New Year's resolution. Giving up chocolate for Lent is not so you can lose pounds, it should be for disciplining yourself for sacrifice. I think a better choice is to think about refraining from something that gets in your way of being a Servant of Christ or adding something that makes the most of your time. Replace something frivolous with something spiritual.
Here are some ideas:
Give up your daily cappuccino and put the money you save in the alms box at church or use it to be an anonymous “fairy godparent” to a needy person.
Use your break time at work for personal prayer instead of going out to smoke or gossip.
Pass by the 9:30am tee time you could get on Sunday morning and make it to church instead.
Download the Bible into your PDA and read it instead of playing Solitaire or Bejeweled.
The thing is to have something positive come of out the sacrifice.
And, no, I haven’t settled on what my Lenten discipline will be. I’m sure God will show me something worthwhile. It may even be fun – serious fun, but still fun.
Anything but typical
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Bruised and Broken
Sunday morning, my shoulders were purple.
Saturday, while some members of our church went to the Habitat for Humanity build, a few of us (and I do mean few - 4 adults, 1 teenager, and 1 young girl) worked at the church getting the Stations of the Cross trail ready for Lent. Behind my church, there is a nature trail with the Stations of the Cross. It is available all year for prayer and meditation, but every Friday during Lent, we walk the trail together and do the service and pray. The trail was originally a young man's Eagle Scout Project. Of course, he grew up as young men do, and left us this beautiful place that occasionally needs maintenance. And I am grateful to do it.
For my Baptist and other evangelical friends who are not familiar with the Stations of the Cross, it is a devotion attributed to St. Francis of Asissi and the Franciscans who would make pilgrimage to Jerusalem to trace the steps of Jesus from his sentencing to Calvary praying and meditating along the way. After a while, churches all across Europe began building stations in the cathedrals for those who were too poor, weak, or afraid of the bandits along the way to make the trip to Jerusalem. The traditional way has 14 stations, the last station being Christ laid in the tomb. Ours has 15 stations, the last station being the Resurrection, without which the rest would have just been tragic.
For me, the physical labor of renovating the trail is a great start to the Lenten season. We hauled in 200 landscape timbers on our shoulders and hauled out the old, rotted ones. As I could feel the bruises forming on my shoulders, I thought about how much worse my Savior's shoulders must have felt, bruised and bleeding, and carrying a cross much, much heavier than one landscape timber and knowing there was much worse to come.
And He did it freely because of His love for us.
His sacrifice makes my bruises look silly.
And while readying the trail for worship is a noble deed, the sacrifices God requires of us are much more serious. He expects us to give every moment, every thought, every intention, and every action to His direction. We are to join His Kingdom and to show the world His Love every minute of the day. We are to be unafraid, unashamed, and unabashedly His children.
Regardless of what others say, think, or do to or about us, we are His, bought by His sacrifice, cleansed by His blood, and marked as His own.
anything but typical
Jesus, I my Cross Have Taken
by Henry F Lyte, 1824
Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still mine own.
Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.
Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father”; I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.
Man may trouble and distress me, ’twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.
Take, my soul, thy full salvation; rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee; what a Father’s smile is thine;
What a Savior died to win thee, child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?
Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.
Saturday, while some members of our church went to the Habitat for Humanity build, a few of us (and I do mean few - 4 adults, 1 teenager, and 1 young girl) worked at the church getting the Stations of the Cross trail ready for Lent. Behind my church, there is a nature trail with the Stations of the Cross. It is available all year for prayer and meditation, but every Friday during Lent, we walk the trail together and do the service and pray. The trail was originally a young man's Eagle Scout Project. Of course, he grew up as young men do, and left us this beautiful place that occasionally needs maintenance. And I am grateful to do it.
For my Baptist and other evangelical friends who are not familiar with the Stations of the Cross, it is a devotion attributed to St. Francis of Asissi and the Franciscans who would make pilgrimage to Jerusalem to trace the steps of Jesus from his sentencing to Calvary praying and meditating along the way. After a while, churches all across Europe began building stations in the cathedrals for those who were too poor, weak, or afraid of the bandits along the way to make the trip to Jerusalem. The traditional way has 14 stations, the last station being Christ laid in the tomb. Ours has 15 stations, the last station being the Resurrection, without which the rest would have just been tragic.
For me, the physical labor of renovating the trail is a great start to the Lenten season. We hauled in 200 landscape timbers on our shoulders and hauled out the old, rotted ones. As I could feel the bruises forming on my shoulders, I thought about how much worse my Savior's shoulders must have felt, bruised and bleeding, and carrying a cross much, much heavier than one landscape timber and knowing there was much worse to come.
And He did it freely because of His love for us.
His sacrifice makes my bruises look silly.
And while readying the trail for worship is a noble deed, the sacrifices God requires of us are much more serious. He expects us to give every moment, every thought, every intention, and every action to His direction. We are to join His Kingdom and to show the world His Love every minute of the day. We are to be unafraid, unashamed, and unabashedly His children.
Regardless of what others say, think, or do to or about us, we are His, bought by His sacrifice, cleansed by His blood, and marked as His own.
anything but typical
Jesus, I my Cross Have Taken
by Henry F Lyte, 1824
Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still mine own.
Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.
Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father”; I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.
Man may trouble and distress me, ’twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.
Take, my soul, thy full salvation; rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee; what a Father’s smile is thine;
What a Savior died to win thee, child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?
Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
God's business
Have you ever wondered just what we are supposed to be doing for our world? What does being a royal priesthood really mean?
I've been thinking about this in conjunction with a passage from Exodus where the hardheads of the nation of Israel made God so angry that he entertained the idea of destroying all of them and starting over with Moses and his family. (See Exodus Chapter 32.) If it were not for Moses eloquent and heartfelt pleading for his people, our story would be completely different.
I can't help but think that we're not any better than the children of Israel. and how hotly his anger must burn against humanity.
And who is pleading for our world now? In Jesus prayer in Gethsemane, he prayed for not only his disciples of that time, but of all time. It is clear from His conversation with the Father that we are to do His work here. I think that's more than just sitting in church waiting for orders.
I believe that as we study and learn about what Jesus did when He was on this earth we should then go and do just that. One thing that He did was to agonize over the condition of His world (Matthew 23:37-39). If He is our example, then we need to be doing the things He did.
We are to proclaim the Kingdom of God as here.
We are to speak truth and live in faith.
We are to agonize over our lost world.
We are to champion the needy.
We are to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
We are to sweat blood over the sacrifices we make.
We are to weep for the sins of the world.
We are to show mercy, not judgement.
We are to forgive.
We are to be a holy people.
God, help us to see our world through the eyes of our Saviour. Help us to show them what redemption looks like. Help us to be burdened for their suffering. Fill us with Christ's compassion for us so that we might truly care about the world in which we live.
anything but typical
I've been thinking about this in conjunction with a passage from Exodus where the hardheads of the nation of Israel made God so angry that he entertained the idea of destroying all of them and starting over with Moses and his family. (See Exodus Chapter 32.) If it were not for Moses eloquent and heartfelt pleading for his people, our story would be completely different.
I can't help but think that we're not any better than the children of Israel. and how hotly his anger must burn against humanity.
And who is pleading for our world now? In Jesus prayer in Gethsemane, he prayed for not only his disciples of that time, but of all time. It is clear from His conversation with the Father that we are to do His work here. I think that's more than just sitting in church waiting for orders.
I believe that as we study and learn about what Jesus did when He was on this earth we should then go and do just that. One thing that He did was to agonize over the condition of His world (Matthew 23:37-39). If He is our example, then we need to be doing the things He did.
We are to proclaim the Kingdom of God as here.
We are to speak truth and live in faith.
We are to agonize over our lost world.
We are to champion the needy.
We are to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
We are to sweat blood over the sacrifices we make.
We are to weep for the sins of the world.
We are to show mercy, not judgement.
We are to forgive.
We are to be a holy people.
God, help us to see our world through the eyes of our Saviour. Help us to show them what redemption looks like. Help us to be burdened for their suffering. Fill us with Christ's compassion for us so that we might truly care about the world in which we live.
anything but typical
Monday, February 12, 2007
Lord, have mercy! I've run off and joined a cult!
I heard this week about a nice Episcopal lady who went to interview at one of our local Baptist churches to interview for the position of a church secretary. She was told that the interview was concluded because their employees had to be Christians and they did not consider Episcopalians to be Christian.
Lord, have mercy. I've run off and joined a cult!
There are a couple of things about this that make me sad.
First of all, in Gethsemane our Savior prayed to the Father that He would make us one as they were one. Unfortunately, we have divided up the Kingdom of God like football teams, and we spend more time cheering for our own team and booing everyone else's than we do actually getting down to God's business.
Second, it makes me sad that the leadership of the Episcopal Church that I love, the church that has brought me hope and peace at different times in my life, has so fractured its relationships with the rest of Christendom that we can be accused at all with any validity. It makes me sad that politics has supplanted the mission of the church. Now, that said, I see this in multiple denominations, not just the Anglicans and Episcopalians. Some groups like the ubermensch at the SBC are fracturing relationships from their Pharisaical bent.
When I was little, the two Baptist churches and the Methodist church in my hometown would have a joint service on the last Sunday of the month when there were five Sundays in the month. Fifth Sunday services were a lot of fun. One church would host it, another would do the service, and the third would bring food for fellowship time after the service. I remember that after one service done by the Methodists one of our good Baptist deacons wanted to take me to task for repeating the Nicene Creed with all the Methodists. He had a problem with the line about "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church". He didn't understand that it wasn't refering to the Roman Catholic Church but the single Church of the our Lord that is broader than our divisions. I had to ask my Dad about it, because at the age of eight or nine, I wasn't sure either. He sat down with me and went over the Creed line by line and explained to me that although Baptists don't say any creeds, there wasn't anything in there that Baptists didn't believe. He explained that this was my heritage as a Baptist as much as anyone else's, and that it was an important part of the history of the Church.
I would even dare to say that the name of the church you attend doesn't matter. What matters is what you believe about Jesus.
anything but typical
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen
Lord, have mercy. I've run off and joined a cult!
There are a couple of things about this that make me sad.
First of all, in Gethsemane our Savior prayed to the Father that He would make us one as they were one. Unfortunately, we have divided up the Kingdom of God like football teams, and we spend more time cheering for our own team and booing everyone else's than we do actually getting down to God's business.
Second, it makes me sad that the leadership of the Episcopal Church that I love, the church that has brought me hope and peace at different times in my life, has so fractured its relationships with the rest of Christendom that we can be accused at all with any validity. It makes me sad that politics has supplanted the mission of the church. Now, that said, I see this in multiple denominations, not just the Anglicans and Episcopalians. Some groups like the ubermensch at the SBC are fracturing relationships from their Pharisaical bent.
When I was little, the two Baptist churches and the Methodist church in my hometown would have a joint service on the last Sunday of the month when there were five Sundays in the month. Fifth Sunday services were a lot of fun. One church would host it, another would do the service, and the third would bring food for fellowship time after the service. I remember that after one service done by the Methodists one of our good Baptist deacons wanted to take me to task for repeating the Nicene Creed with all the Methodists. He had a problem with the line about "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church". He didn't understand that it wasn't refering to the Roman Catholic Church but the single Church of the our Lord that is broader than our divisions. I had to ask my Dad about it, because at the age of eight or nine, I wasn't sure either. He sat down with me and went over the Creed line by line and explained to me that although Baptists don't say any creeds, there wasn't anything in there that Baptists didn't believe. He explained that this was my heritage as a Baptist as much as anyone else's, and that it was an important part of the history of the Church.
I would even dare to say that the name of the church you attend doesn't matter. What matters is what you believe about Jesus.
anything but typical
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Getting on with the job
I recently finished reading The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright. I really like the way he writes and his take on matters theological even though I may not agree with his politics. I think that one reason I like reading his works is that he doesn't castigate the reader for being a skeptic. He approaches theological issues from a logical standpoint as well as a faithful place. He makes a leap of faith seem like a step up a staircase. Then he talkes openly about what the church needs to do to share the story of Jesus sacrifice in a postmodern world.
You see, for Enlightenment/Modern type thinkers, progress is automatic. If we have more information, the world will be a better place and things will be right.
Unfortunately, the brutality and cruelty of the early and mid 20th centuries produced generations from the 1950s on who are skeptical that anything will ever be better. The prevailing philosophy among my generation and those that follow is that the world is a wicked place and will be so no matter what anyone does or says. Everyone is wicked, everyone's motives are suspect, therefore you have no right to tell me right and wrong since you are also wicked. This makes sharing the gospel to my generation very difficult. While "Jesus Loves Me this I know for the Bible tells me so" might have met the needs of previous generations, it doesn't engage mine at all. The skepticism is built into us like a floodlight looking to shine on hypocrisy and inconsistency, and as soon as those are visible, Christianity is rejected lock, stock, and barrel.
But the church can't write off my generation and the generations to follow. I can't declare my friends and co-workers as unredeemable. God does love them and this I know because the Bible does tell me so - but not only because of that, I know because He loves me and changed my life in such a complete way that I want others to experience that saving grace as well. I want to see my hurting, disillusioned companions in this life to be comforted and healed and loved and saved in this world as well as in the world to come.
I don't have the answer of how to proclaim Jesus to my world. I can be a difficult, skeptical, postmodern spiritual refugee like everyone else. I'm no theologian or ordained and trained person. I'm just a dissident, and sometimes disobedient, Christ-follower. I can't make God logical for anyone.
But I can tell you that how you live matters more than what you say. Compassion is more effective than condemnation. Mercy is more effective than judgement. Integrity is more effective than religious legalism. Sunday Christians don't change our world. It's those who are living out their faith every moment, every day who catch the attention and curiosity of those around us. Our persistence, our faithfulness, and our committment to live His life and do the work our Saviour has called us to do will draw the world to Him.
anything but typical
Everything Impossible by Mercy Me
I was taught to be practical in everything I do
Holding on to what is tangible, and then came You
That's when I found myself so far away from everything I knew
I took a leap of faith
Even though You're difficult for me to explain
I know I'll never be the same
You're everything I cannot see
You're everything I cannot say
I know it all seems so illogical
But that's okay
You're the love You give to me
You're the love I give away
You are everything impossible
And that's okay
That's okay!
All the things that make no sense to me, draw me to You
Like finding freedom by surrendering, can it be true
With everything I can and cannot know
This mystery is bringing life to me
And all this love I have for You I can't contain
I know I'll never be the same
You're everything I cannot see
You're everything I cannot say
I know it all seems so illogical
But that's okay
You're the love You give to me
You're the love I give away
You are everything impossible
And that's okay
That's okay
Shaping our world is never for a Christian a matter of going out arrogantly
thinking we can just get on with the job, reorganizing the world according to
some model that we have in mind. It is a matter of sharing and bearing the
pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may
be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point. (p189)
You see, for Enlightenment/Modern type thinkers, progress is automatic. If we have more information, the world will be a better place and things will be right.
Unfortunately, the brutality and cruelty of the early and mid 20th centuries produced generations from the 1950s on who are skeptical that anything will ever be better. The prevailing philosophy among my generation and those that follow is that the world is a wicked place and will be so no matter what anyone does or says. Everyone is wicked, everyone's motives are suspect, therefore you have no right to tell me right and wrong since you are also wicked. This makes sharing the gospel to my generation very difficult. While "Jesus Loves Me this I know for the Bible tells me so" might have met the needs of previous generations, it doesn't engage mine at all. The skepticism is built into us like a floodlight looking to shine on hypocrisy and inconsistency, and as soon as those are visible, Christianity is rejected lock, stock, and barrel.
But the church can't write off my generation and the generations to follow. I can't declare my friends and co-workers as unredeemable. God does love them and this I know because the Bible does tell me so - but not only because of that, I know because He loves me and changed my life in such a complete way that I want others to experience that saving grace as well. I want to see my hurting, disillusioned companions in this life to be comforted and healed and loved and saved in this world as well as in the world to come.
I don't have the answer of how to proclaim Jesus to my world. I can be a difficult, skeptical, postmodern spiritual refugee like everyone else. I'm no theologian or ordained and trained person. I'm just a dissident, and sometimes disobedient, Christ-follower. I can't make God logical for anyone.
But I can tell you that how you live matters more than what you say. Compassion is more effective than condemnation. Mercy is more effective than judgement. Integrity is more effective than religious legalism. Sunday Christians don't change our world. It's those who are living out their faith every moment, every day who catch the attention and curiosity of those around us. Our persistence, our faithfulness, and our committment to live His life and do the work our Saviour has called us to do will draw the world to Him.
anything but typical
Everything Impossible by Mercy Me
I was taught to be practical in everything I do
Holding on to what is tangible, and then came You
That's when I found myself so far away from everything I knew
I took a leap of faith
Even though You're difficult for me to explain
I know I'll never be the same
You're everything I cannot see
You're everything I cannot say
I know it all seems so illogical
But that's okay
You're the love You give to me
You're the love I give away
You are everything impossible
And that's okay
That's okay!
All the things that make no sense to me, draw me to You
Like finding freedom by surrendering, can it be true
With everything I can and cannot know
This mystery is bringing life to me
And all this love I have for You I can't contain
I know I'll never be the same
You're everything I cannot see
You're everything I cannot say
I know it all seems so illogical
But that's okay
You're the love You give to me
You're the love I give away
You are everything impossible
And that's okay
That's okay
Monday, February 5, 2007
Simply Trusting
My daughter, Rachel, always knows what she wants. And she wants everything.
Sometimes she gets what she wants, and sometimes I say no.
Sometimes I say no because it's a bad idea.
Sometimes I say no because she's asked for 300th time in the last hour.
Sometimes I say no because she needs to not hear yes.
Sometimes I say no because I've got a better idea - because something nicer, a bigger treat, something more fun that she hasn't thought of yet - is in the works.
I'll usually say, "Rachel, just trust me." Of course, then the whining starts. I hold my ground that she's to trust me and usually she's pleasantly surprised.
I think God does us the same way. We ask for things all the time. Poor God. Nine billion and counting on this planet are all asking nonstop for things. Bless me, bless me, bless me, give me, give me, give me, why not, why not, why, why, why, why?
What He really says is, "Just trust me".
In Romans 8:28, Paul said, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." He didn't say it would be good along the way or that we'd like it. He said that it would all work out to be something good. Maybe it is not that we need something. Maybe someone else needs something and God has given us a part of play in working out someone else's good.
Has God chosen you to be part of someone else's miracle? Has He said, "Not now, Just trust me"? Maybe His plans have a better conclusion even though it doesn't look like it from here.
anything but typical
Sometimes the far greater miracle is the victory He brings and the character He reveals when we don't get what we thought we wanted.
-Beth Moore
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Words on the Word
I am a bibliophile.
I love books more than I love shoes. I can stay in a bookstore forever. I hate to buy one book of a series; I feel compelled to buy them all so they can all stay together. I love the leather-bound gold-edged editions with the ribbon bookmarkers sewed into the binding. I love my grandmother's books behind the glass case in her secretary that now sits in my living room. I love the Dr. Seuss books that my children and I read over and over and over and over...... I love the paperbacks I pick up at the grocery store that pile up in stacks all over the house. I love to see boxes from Amazon sitting on the porch when I get home from work.
But it's not just the physical books. It's the words - the language of the text. I've been collecting words since I was in college. There's a book into which I copy excerpts from books, quotes from different people, and poems that catch my eye and sometimes my ear. I have a hard time reading A Tale of Two Cities because I keep reading the first paragraph over - not because I'm not following it, but because I love the sound of it so much.
This is only a small part of the kind of love we are supposed to have for God's Word. We're supposed to love it so much that we put it in our hearts. We shouldn't have to make an effort at memorization because we should be spending enough time with it that we just know it.
But how precious is God's Word to us? Is our only exposure to the Holy Writ when we are at church? How grateful are we to live in a country where we have technology and wealth that make having copies of the scripture easy or do we take that for granted?
Pray this week for our Christian brothers and sisters who live in countries where they do not have the freedom to read. Pray that we can be more like them and learn to hide God's Word in our hearts.
anything but typical
I love books more than I love shoes. I can stay in a bookstore forever. I hate to buy one book of a series; I feel compelled to buy them all so they can all stay together. I love the leather-bound gold-edged editions with the ribbon bookmarkers sewed into the binding. I love my grandmother's books behind the glass case in her secretary that now sits in my living room. I love the Dr. Seuss books that my children and I read over and over and over and over...... I love the paperbacks I pick up at the grocery store that pile up in stacks all over the house. I love to see boxes from Amazon sitting on the porch when I get home from work.
But it's not just the physical books. It's the words - the language of the text. I've been collecting words since I was in college. There's a book into which I copy excerpts from books, quotes from different people, and poems that catch my eye and sometimes my ear. I have a hard time reading A Tale of Two Cities because I keep reading the first paragraph over - not because I'm not following it, but because I love the sound of it so much.
This is only a small part of the kind of love we are supposed to have for God's Word. We're supposed to love it so much that we put it in our hearts. We shouldn't have to make an effort at memorization because we should be spending enough time with it that we just know it.
But how precious is God's Word to us? Is our only exposure to the Holy Writ when we are at church? How grateful are we to live in a country where we have technology and wealth that make having copies of the scripture easy or do we take that for granted?
Pray this week for our Christian brothers and sisters who live in countries where they do not have the freedom to read. Pray that we can be more like them and learn to hide God's Word in our hearts.
anything but typical
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