Carbide Heart

When you listen to a teaching or read a book ... and the teaching is hard. What do you do with the lesson?

________

But first, this is the song of my heart lately:


_________

Okay, back to the idea of what happens when the teaching du-jour GRATES on your heart. You do NOT like it, agree with it, etc. What do you do?

Some of my tools have carbide tips. This bit of carbide is incredibly hard and makes the tool or blade much longer-lasting. An example: if you have a regular nailer or stapler and you use it to put on a composite-shingle roof, you will probably need to replace the tip after just one roof because the hard, rough surface of the shingles will wear it out. But if it's a hard-weld or carbide tip, then you're all good, because the carbide tip won't have been scratched all to pieces by the sharp, rough roofing surface. The carbide tip is untouched.

I have other tools that are made of softer metals, like aluminum. If I want to scratch my initials into an aluminum speed-square, it's no problem--the metal will yield to my manipulations.

So in the context of hard teaching, the question is this: when is it right to be carbide, and when is it right to be aluminum?

It's not an easy question! If I have a carbide heart, pride is crouching at my door. The Bible says "Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them."  It's easy to see this, right?  If I am reading a book or listening to a teaching and all the while saying to myself "No, it's wrong; this message has nothing for me; I will not listen; I will not change..." then it's very probable that I'm acting in pride or at least oriented that direction.  It's not good.

On the other hand, if I don't guard myself from false teaching, then I'm also violating Scripture: "continually be on your guard so as not to be led astray by the false teaching..."  That's clear, too.  I need to read and listen with a filter in place, constantly testing ideas to see how they mesh with Scripture and my own experience with things of God.

Here's my own solution.  (I'm curious what you have done about this problem, too.)  I swap out different mental filters depending on whom I'm receiving from.  

Small Filter

When I'm visiting a church and sitting under a message from a teacher I don't already know, the filter I use is a small-diameter screen.  If the things that are coming from the pulpit are matching my understanding, then I accept them (of course!--there's no conflict!).  If what is being said seems a little sideways, I put it aside.  Sometimes I'll quarantine an idea to examine later, sometimes I'll quarantine an idea with no intention to ever come back to it, and sometimes (very rarely) I'll quarantine an idea with the intention of providing push-back in some way.  I'm not going to let my carbide-tipped heart get dented/scratched by just anybody!

Large Filter 

But.  When the person speaking to me is one that I've given authority to in my life, such as my pastor or my friends, then the stuff that I allow "in" can be much larger in diameter.  I allow these thoughts in and they have the right to displace my own opinions.  I'm "dented" by thoughts I didn't agree with, but which are presented by an author or speaker who has the authority to dent or scratch my beliefs.  I don't show the carbide heart to these people--that wouldn't be wise.

But here's the challenge.  Do you have people in your life to whom you do show your malleable heart?  If you find that you resist instruction (teaching that changes your beliefs) and that uncomfortable teaching is always met with a small filter, a quarantine, and carbide heart, then my challenge to you is to find someone from whom you can trust to receive instruction from, and then actively turn your heart to be receptive.

Do I have teachers who are allowed to displace my ideas?  Yes.  If I'm reading one of them and they espouse an idea that I don't agree with, I take it very seriously.  I do not lightly set it aside into quarantine, but place my own idea into quarantine instead!

Grateful for the Setup Crew

Today I'm visiting my old stomping grounds at Desert Streams Church.  We signed up to pray at the 8am slot on a Sunday morning during the round-the-clock prayer time this winter, and not long after we got here this morning the musicians began coming in, opening their guitar cases, and quietly going about the business of getting ready to lead the morning worship service.

I used to be among those who parked in this church's parking lot when it was mostly empty.  I referred to ourselves as the "cast and crew" of the Sunday services.  It was a responsibility, and I embraced it for the sake of service to God, but I remember I didn't like the feeling that it was a performance that required a cast and crew.

Anyhow, this morning I was impressed that these musicians and two guys on the sound board were ready for mic tests promptly 90 minutes before the 10am service time.  And thankful for them.  Grateful.  I do feel that such a sacrifice of time is "pleasing and acceptable" to the Lord.

Nowadays I don't go to Sunday morning services.  I meet with my church on weeknights or for brunch on a weekend.  The cast-and-crew aspect of such meetings is little more than making sure the house is clean and food is planned for.  (And I organize children's ministries, so that, too, is time that I offer to the Lord in the service of the church.  And sometimes I blog.)

I enjoy the overall reduction in work, but I'm clear about this: I didn't go to home-church structure to spend LESS overall energy on the Kingdom.  If I don't meet at the church twice a week anymore, but that means that I do more emailing and meeting for coffee.  I don't sit in Sunday morning sermons anymore, but that means that I pursue Godly teaching in other means (podcasts, books, youtube vids, etc).  Home church is more flexible, but it's not less.

Laughing at Lies

At Shepherd's Gate Fellowship, we love the whole Church, we fellowship with some other local churches, and we choose which sources of ministry we draw strength from.  One source of teaching and impartation is Bethel Church in Redding, CA--we love those guys!

Steve and Wendy Backlund came up Saturday, and I was invited by the Global Legacy Central Oregon folks to go to a one-day seminar.  Am I busy with preparations moving-to-Vietnam next week?  Yep.  But the Lord made it clear to me that I should go.  Go early, stay late.  Get the full benefit.

http://ignitinghope.com/blog/laughing-at-lies-with-our-kids

I got the full benefit.  Here are my notes, and I'd love to video chat with you, or discuss in the comments if you want to follow up on any of these points.

_________________________

(Before I start with the notes, let me just say that in addition to the Chase family "grateful game," we have already instituted a "declarations circle."  If we're in the car or in the kitchen, any one of us can say "declarations circle" and we will go around the family voicing declarations, declaring the truth of God over our lives.  My 12 year old son has been hearing a negative tape cycling through his head for months: "you're a bully."  It's not true, but it's been hard to convince his heart of that.  So it's my joy that he has been offering to the family declarations circle: "I'm not a bully--I'm compassionate."  Very true of him.  Then if someone of us makes a declaration that another needs to also voice, they repeat it.  It's AWESOME.)

Okay, notes:

You are not called to fail--I called you to succeed.

Declarations like "I am not called to fail, I was called to succeed" take it on the offensive.  Not just resisting the devil's lies when he suggests failure, but taking the battle to him.

The battle is not in the circumstances, but the circumstances reveal how you think.

People fight tooth and nail to hang onto hopelessness.  They fear disappointment.

I didn't call them to be realistic--I called them to be supernatural.

Our thoughts are the fruits of our beliefs.

Declaration: After today, I'm going to believe differently, think differently, and act differently.  In that order.

I am more spirit than I am flesh.

We have got to stop relating to people (in the context of ministry leadership) out of fear/frustration/anger.  They feel the difference when we relate from hope.

The Christian life is not about learning to die.  It's about learning to live the resurrected life.

Give yourself permission to be great, because the church and the world need your greatness.  God created you for GLORY; don't resist mere greatness.

Change the way you talk--the power of your TONGUE is underestimated.

The more inner unity you have with the truth, the more weight and penetration your words carry.  (the difference of when I say it and Bill Johnson says the same thing)

"We used to be laughter-impaired leaders."

"I'll be joyful once I get through this circumstance."

Joy is attached to a belief system.

Toddlers don't get depressed.  They fail more than they succeed, but they don't get their potential from their past ... they get their potential from their PARENTS.

Joy is an optional fruit of the spirit.  ---Let's laugh at that lie.

People sometimes resist laughing at lies because they (rightly) desire to be authentic.  But it's not authenticity that clamps their laugher shut, it's rust.  (accusation: laughter is "fake")

Families celebrate Progress, not Perfection.

LUNCH  (at lunch, 15-20 pastors went aside to eat with Steve and Wendy)
Steve: What stood out to you from this morning? What's your name and where are you from?
Tim: I'm Tim, and I'm from Bend for one more week, then I'm moving to Vietnam.  The standout for me was the idea of wholeness and word-penetration.  Being a "unified body of Christ" in myself as well as helping the diverse other Christians be unified.
Steve: That's good.  Tim, I see thankfulness all over you.  You notice what people do for you.  This gratitude is a key to unlock a nation, igniting miracles.  On the keychain of Kingdom keys you wear at your belt, the gratitude key is lit up--almost glowing.  You're going to enter into new revelations of thanksgiving; new dimensions of God's nature.
Wendy: I see God opening big doors to the educational system in Vietnam.

>>My family plays the "Grateful Game" more than anyone else we know.  Every time we leave town for any kind of road trip (at the culmination of all that preparatory stress), we run through gratitude for each other and for circumstances in our lives.  We are good at grateful.
>>Wendy didn't know that I'm going to Vietnam to teach, and she didn't know that last week I asked for and was granted permission to help choose my own successor in the position at the university.  Now that I've heard the Lord speaking a word with a bigger vision than I originally had, I'm going to be looking for other ways to impact the whole system.  I'll let my college students know that if they arrange it with their high schools, I'll go and give a free presentation.  The preso will be similar to a commencement address, calling out the strengths of students.  Wouldn't it be cool to exercise the prophetic in a roomful of Viet high school students?  I might frame the talk in terms of "this is what teens in the USA are facing today," but really it's what "teens are facing today."  Peer anxiety, looking forward, taking on identity (from what sources), mending vs. medicating your past brokenness.

As a leader, you grow in influence as your vision becomes infused with hope.

Nevada gold-sifting town: People didn't mind us moving their dirt as long as they knew we were looking for gold.  Be gold diggers, in the best way.

People's negative qualities are usually positive qualities out of whack.

"I am an influencer of people."

The Kingdom is not moved forward by good conduct, but by good beliefs.

To do something great, don't change what you're doing--attach faith to it.

We don't deny the past, but we don't get our beliefs from the past.

Romans 4:17  God gives life to the dead and calls those things that do not exist as though they did.

In the morning, don't ask "how do I feel about today?"  That's the wrong question.  Instead ask "what do I believe?"

Wendy uses 3x5 cards for her beliefs, because after all, who knows what they believe at dark 30 in the morning?

"I believe revival breaks out where ever I go."
"I am a round barley loaf."

Nevada moved up from AA to Div A sports, and it was a hard season.  But don't be afraid to move up to Div A church, Div A joy, etc.
Don't go back down to Div AA so you can win more.  Normal church: you win because nothing went wrong.  Real church: you win because you break out in revival and it spreads.

Winston Churchill: Success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.

Lord, can I give up on this circumstance?
"I'll make you a deal.  you have permission to be hopeless about anything I'm hopeless about.

The Three Battlegrounds: “Every area of your life that does not have glistening hope is under the influence of a lie.”.

You're not going to have anything just from saying it, but you don't have anything if nothing's been said.

It isn't stopping doing something (sin avoidance) that releases the kingdom.  You release the Kingdom by proactively speaking it.

You're more powerful than you think. Speak Life, not death.

>>We're going to add another game to the Grateful Game: the Declarations Circle.  The Declarations Circle can happen in the car or in the kitchen, and if someone says "let's do a round of declarations," then off we go.  We each make a declaration for our soul's benefit (bringing our souls into greater unity with our redeemed spirits), and then if the other's declaration is something our soul also needs, we repeat it after them.  Go around once with any declarations we need to hear, then a second time with God/spiritual declarations if our first one wasn't in that category.  The first declaration might be "I'm a good friend and people respond to my friendship" but the second might take it to a realm of spiritual truth like "The Lord has anointed me with gladness, and my friendships flourish in that climate."

There are giants in the land.  Depressionites, Recessionites, Immoralites.  Are you still willing to be unreasonably optimistic?

Leaders need the oil of gladness.  What happens when a car runs out of oil?

Deception 101: Once you know you're deceived, you're no longer deceived.

It's harder to surrender our beliefs than it is to change our actions.  And the beliefs need to change first, or we're disunified people.

We get saved because we believe IN Jesus.  We get transformed because we believe LIKE Jesus.

Every area of your life that doesn't glisten with hope is evidence of a lie-believed.  Each of those are strongholds of the devil.

"I have a high-level anointing."

"I write books" vs. "I'm an author."  One is about what you do, the other is about who you are.  

Don't get your identity from your past, but from your parents.  Toddlers never wonder if they are going to get the "gift of walking"--they assume that they're going to be just like their parents one day.

I don't know why you're trying to lose weight when you don't believe you can.  You can't consistently do something you don't believe you are.

• You really can’t do what you don’t believe you are. If you try, it’s called work. If I’m trying to be something that I don’t believe I am, that just won’t happen.

If you act righteous but believe you're a sinner, you'll sin by faith.  You are dis-unified.

Positive thinking (wishful thinking) vs Biblical Optimism

If the sinner can't become righteous by doing a righteous act, 

what makes us believe that the righteous can become a sinner by doing a sinful act?

"It's easy for me to live in and rest in Jesus' righteousness."

Hope is an overall, optimistic attitude about the future based on the goodness and promises of God.

"I have unreasonable optimism."

Change your identity before you try to change your behavior.

There is more power in light than in darkness.  If strongholds can influence you, then so can blessings influence the demonic.  Let's make life uncomfortable for the demons.  Let's set up angelic strongholds in our lives and in our cities.

"Who told you that?"  (Genesis)

--Past Experience told me that I'm disorganized, fat.

Gideon was a mighty man of valor living in a non mighty man of valor experience. 

"I have a nation-delivering anointing on my life."

Deception, thy name is "Modern Bible Translations"!

Hi ______,

I've looked through both of the sheets you handed me on KJV vs. other versions (including the NIV). I'd be glad to meet with you sometime and talk about translations--it's a topic I enjoy!

I think I'll be able to supply some of the history of *why* folks have gotten so riled up about the "Authorized" KJV and subsequent translations.

There are valid reasons to prefer one translation over another, but the papers that I have here (one is called "Titles of Jesus Omitted in the NIV" & the other is a table showing omitted portions of scripture in modern translations)  are not ones that I'd recommend for making that choice, unless you are already wanting KJV to be the only right translation and are looking for reasons to support the viewpoint.

Go gentle on it.  No mainstream Bible translation was made by bad people with ill intent.  They've each added to our understanding of the original scriptures and the Kingdom benefits from each contribution of translation work.

I'm glad the work of understanding scripture is fluid, because if we were only allowed to read from the earliest English translations (based on the idiom and scholarship they had available to them in the 1500s), our scriptures would be less intelligible and accurate than they are today.  We, the Church, benefit from continued translation work, and the story of English translations is not even done yet. :)

When looking into the specific cases mentioned in these papers, I found this page helpful (regarding scripture omissions):  http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2011/08-31a.html

And any time I need to read Anglicized Greek to tease out the original texts, I love this tool: http://biblehub.com/

My goal, if we do meet, isn't to change your mind about which scripture translation you want to most-often read, but to help you relax your position as it relates to the "liberal" translations.  I write this knowing that even the word "liberal" has strongly negative connotations for many folks, but I'm using the word here because that's how such translations are characterized by some fear-based, conservative authors and it's best to face such criticism head on.  I'll take the position that  modern/liberal translations add to the accuracy and intelligibility of scripture and should not be dismissed as flawed just because they render the Greek/Hebrew differently from the translations of the past.

Grins!  I'll only do this if I can still be your friend at the end of the day.

~Pastor Tim

Fishing Without Hooks?

We're going to be talking about people as if they're fish to be caught.  It would be easy to be sort of offended at the thought if you are one of the catchees instead of the catchers.  This people=fish metaphor is common language in the Christian church, and it comes from something Jesus said to some fishermen:

Matthew 4:19
And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Witnesses say they left their nets and boats and followed Jesus, and in so doing became the first people to enroll in a school of church-planting. Not many months later, these former-fishermen were being sent out into the surrounding villages to ruin the plans of the devil.  They were healing people and casting out demons in Jesus' name, telling people the good news of God's love and presence of God's Kingdom come-to-earth.

They had gone from fishermen to fishers-of-men.


Now, that's all that the Bible tells about their fishing strategy.  Says that they were to let their blessing rest on a home, that they weren't to amass money or even be dependent on material comforts.  Says they prayed for people and God answered their prayers.  Does NOT say that they had a particular strategy for convincing people to follow the Jesus they had begun following.  There's a lot left to the imagination in that department.

So now the questions.  Each of these is related to the overarching question: "What does it mean to be a fisher of men?"

1. If it feels bad to find a hook in the bait (if you're the fish), is it okay to use that technique?
2. Is it fishing to throw in bait but use no hooks?
3. When "fishing" for people, is it better to use a baited line, dynamite, a harpoon, or nets?

Sampling ... or Soaking?

I just read (and enjoyed!) a book that I want other people I know to read: The Fault in our Stars. I came home from a youth conference (yesterday) rife with topics about living holy, sexual purity, and keeping a God-focus, and the first thing I did was to read a book in which the characters wrestle with existential questions and do NOT find that Jesus is the answer. It's a book where the teenagers [spoiler alert] have sex outside of marriage. It's a book with lots of values, and it's only a mixed bag of them that are the sort of values that I want imparted to my own three kids.

So what's with the recommendation?  Why would I put such a book on my family reading list?

My daughter read it before I did.  (And maybe one of my boys, too--I'm not sure.)  Her friends read it before she did, friends that follow Christ and friends that don't.  It has been made into a PG-13 movie that is receiving really high marks on the movie-ranking sites.  This is a book that reflects culture and shapes culture.  It's important to read.

It's not a "good" book.  There is profanity.  The kids are presented with opportunity to think about their relationship with Creator and the afterlife, and the reader is not left with a strong connection to the reality of either.

I do recommend reading this and other books that similarly capture/reflect/shape the Zeitgeist (spirit of the age).  On the other hand I also am reminded of the importance of choosing carefully what we meditate on.  The Bible has wisdom about that.  If I read one book where the teens ask existential questions and come up empty, angry, and godless, should I then read one book that reinforces a worldview based on Biblical understanding of existence? Two? Should it be a 3:1 ratio of books that reinforce Biblical truth compared to books that explore the prevalent truths of popular culture?  What about the ratio of movies?  Music?

I guess the question is: do I taste-sample of my culture's Zeitgeist worldview ... or soak in it? What books and media do I choose to soak in?

Rub your hands with vinegar and you'll be smelling wafts of vinegar afterwards.  Soak in vinegar and you'll eventually become a pickle.

Crucibles Generate Leaders

Be cautious about trusting a leader who hasn't been through a crucible; broken people are better than whole people when it comes to leadership. Try looking through the Bible to find a leader who hasn't first gone through the trials that break him down so God can better flow through him.

[These are notes from an excellent talk at Generation Unleashed youth conference; I am here with the youth of SGF and DSC. Here's a photojournal of the event. Sitting in a session with other pastors hearing from Pastor Frank Damazio.]

Do we trust leaders who only talk about going from glory to glory without the valleys of testing, the valleys of being led by the Shepherd?

The crucible exposes your values. In that time of pain, do you protect yourself and your reputation?  Do you value equally the people who can't give back to you and the people who can?

The detours becomes the testimony, not the (linear) progress of your life.

When people come to accuse and criticize, Pastor Damazio's standard response is "Oh, if you only knew me better, you'd have more to accuse me with!"

Taking up our Cross

DOVE International Larry Kreider
Taking Up Our Cross

A young lady in Philadelphia was enslaved in prostitution and drug abuse for years. When she surrendered her life to Jesus, she started wearing a cross-shaped earring to remind herself she was now a bondslave to Jesus, no longer in slavery to sin.

Publicly carrying a cross in biblical days was the brand of a criminal doomed for execution. Everyone knew he was going to die. Bearing a cross is symbolic of dying to self. Luke 9:23, 24 says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

There is an old story about a chicken and a pig walking down the road and passing some hungry-looking men. The chicken said to the pig, “Why don’t we give them a breakfast of eggs and ham?”
“That’s easy for you to say,” replied the pig. “For you, that’s only a sacrifice but for me it’s total commitment.”

The same is true of Christians—we must literally die to our own desires when we commit our lives to Jesus because He gave His life for us. Jesus said we must bear a cross or we cannot be His disciples. “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27,33).

Taking up our cross daily may not be popular, but it is still the absolute requirement.

The post Taking Up Our Cross appeared first on DOVE International.

Divorces and Funerals

Yesterday I heard of yet another marriage in crisis (separated, heading toward divorce). Seems like that's too many in a row--marriages dying off like there's a "marriage plague" going on! 

Marriages are organisms & divorces are funerals; To be clear, I do not believe that divorce kills marriage. To me, that would be the same as saying that funerals kill humans. Divorce is . . . how to put this . . . divorce is the "death certificate." It's what happens when the carcass of the once-living marriage has begun to decay in your kitchen, and it's better to divorce than to keep up the painful pretense.

So I'm not anti-divorce, even though I am pro-marriage. A medical student is not anti-funeral, just anti-sickness.

Let’s offer care to marriages. The ones that are ailing, the ones that are dying. Let's offer "well-marriage" checkups. Let's bring healing to sick marriages. Let's start a Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa reference) for marriages, where marriages can be brought to die, being cared for and in dignity--for not every sick marriage revives.

Here's the offer, World:
I will provide "moderated conversations" for your marriage's sake. I will provide these free of charge. For the rest of my life.

Moderating your conversation means that we sit at a dining room table (your table or mine) with both of you on either end. I guide and protect your conversation, creating a safe-zone. I take nobody's side. I offer no counsel. Sometimes my wife will be there, sometimes another friend from church, sometimes just me. We use active-listening tactics. I have good tools in my toolbox for helping stalled conversations restart and resolve. This is something we're good at, and we train you to be good at it, too, so you can pay-it-forward afterwards.

Why Free? When I see the news, I wish I were helping as a relief-worker in a refugee camp. I don't offer much to the homeless in my community. I am constantly wondering if I should become a "big brother" at the local boys-and-girls-club, but I never have. I don't go to the hospital to pray for people. There are so many ways that I don't serve humanity, but the moderating-conversations to help ailing marriage get better . . . that's something I can do. It's no more than "doing my part" when others are doing theirs--I'm grateful for the ones that have stepped into the breach in all those other areas, and this is where I take action and live out the true meaning of my creed.

For more info, email me (Tim) at sgfbend@gmail.com. Find out more about me at www.sgfbend.org.

Sechristular Switchfoot

Lead singer Jon Foreman was asked if Switchfoot is a “Christian” band.  I appreciate his response!

Switchfoot is going secular. Sort of.

“To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it represents a much bigger issue than simply a couple SF tunes. In true Socratic form, let me ask you a few questions: Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series? Are Bach’s sonata’s Christian? What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset? There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds.
The view that a pastor is more ‘Christian’ than a girls volleyball coach is flawed and heretical. The stance that a worship leader is more spiritual than a janitor is condescending and flawed. These different callings and purposes further demonstrate God’s sovereignty.
Many songs are worthy of being written. Switchfoot will write some, Keith Green, Bach, and perhaps yourself have written others. Some of these songs are about redemption, others about the sunrise, others about nothing in particular: written for the simple joy of music.
None of these songs has been born again, and to that end there is no such thing as Christian music. No. Christ didn’t come and die for my songs, he came for me. Yes. My songs are a part of my life. But judging from scripture I can only conclude that our God is much more interested in how I treat the poor and the broken and the hungry than the personal pronouns I use when I sing. I am a believer. Many of these songs talk about this belief. An obligation to say this or do that does not sound like the glorious freedom that Christ died to afford me.
I do have an obligation, however, a debt that cannot be settled by my lyrical decisions. My life will be judged by my obedience, not my ability to confine my lyrics to this box or that.
We all have a different calling; Switchfoot is trying to be obedient to who we are called to be. We’re not trying to be Audio A or U2 or POD or Bach: we’re trying to be Switchfoot. You see, a song that has the words: ‘Jesus Christ’ is no more or less ‘Christian’ than an instrumental piece. (I’ve heard lots of people say Jesus Christ and they weren’t talking about their redeemer.) You see, Jesus didn’t die for any of my tunes. So there is no hierarchy of life or songs or occupation only obedience. We have a call to take up our cross and follow. We can be sure that these roads will be different for all of us. Just as you have one body and every part has a different function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each of us belongs to all the others. Please be slow to judge ‘brothers’ who have a different calling.”

And God Said "No!"

I asked God to take away my pride.
And God said "No."
He said it was not for him to take away,
but for me to give it up

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
And God said "No."
He said her spirit was whole,
her body was only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience.
And God said "No."
He said patience is a by-product of tribulations.
It isn't granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness.
And God said "No."
He said he gives me blessings,
happiness is up to me.

I asked God to spare me pain.
And God said "No."
He said suffering draws you apart from worldly
cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow.
And God said "No."
He said I must grow on my own.
But he will prune me to make me fruitful.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.

And God said "No."
He said I will give you life,
that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others,
as much as he loves me.
And God said, "Ah, finally you have the idea."

~Author Unknown~

When to be Cautious

4 Reasons NOT to Promote into Leadership (a talk by Steve Prokopchak, DCFI)

Be extremely cautious in promoting the one who ...

1) has major chronic issues in their life,

(long-term, habitual) drug use, financial issues, porn, lateness, undisciplined, anger, insecurity, self-focus

2) has major family issues, or

Broken relationships with parents, siblings, marriages.  Ever-counseling and never healing.

3) is not teachable. Also,

They say the right words, but at the end of the day, nothing changes.

4) be slow and purposeful in promoting someone who hasn't worked through Father issues.

Hyperclarity = Control

Faith/Understanding: You should not reduce the Kingdom to just the part you can understand. Insistence on hyperclarity = control.

10,000 Reasons

The Matt Redman song 10,000 Reasons has resonated with me before, but there is a verse in it that never shook me to the core like it did Saturday at the memorial service for my friend, Wes Carmack.

http://youtu.be/DXDGE_lRI0E?t=3m10s

Go take a listen.  Then come back.
http://youtu.be/DXDGE_lRI0E?t=3m10s







Like Wes, I do want my circles of influence to ripple outward in positive, identifiable ways.  I want my children to know that they were a priority for me, even as I pastored a church and generated income in a variety of ways. I want to have been a faithful, honorable man.

And on that day when my strength is failing . . . still my soul will sing!

Sabbath

In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. (NIV)

In those days I saw Christians of Bend, Oregon, doing their chores and work on the Sabbath and generally keeping it busy with lots to do; full of tasks and to-do lists and sometimes their recreations also became distractions.  They were doing all this even in the holy places on the Sabbath.  Therefore I warned them about their to-do lists and productivity on that day.  People who believed in no God at all lived in Bend and engaged with all sorts of to-do's and distractions, on the Sabbath and with the Christians of Bend.

The first paragraph is from the Scriptures.  The second paragraph is pretending to be parallel, but the analogy only goes a short distance.  If it's useful to you, that's great; if you noticed that it's not 100% theologically sound, you're right.  Just dismiss it--you don't have to set me straight unless that's really how you want to spend your time.  I'd rather have a conversation about Sabbath-taking than about my attempt to apply Scripture to modern-day.

Here's what got me thinking about Sabbath rest:

In Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell writes "Sabbath is taking a day a week to remind myself that I did not make the world and that it will continue to exist without my efforts.

Sabbath is a day when my work is done, even if it isn't.
Sabbath is a day when my job is to enjoy.  Period.
Sabbath is a day when I am fully available to myself and those I love most.
Sabbath is a day when I remember that when God made the world, he saw that it was good.
Sabbath is a day when I produce nothing.
Sabbath is a day when I remind myself that I am not a machine.
Sabbath is a day when at the end of the day I say 'I didn't do anything today,' and I don't add 'and I feel so guilty.'
Sabbath is a day when my phone is turned off, I don't check my email, and you can't [reach] me."

Some of those are meaningful for me.  Some of those not so much.  I find that I am deeply impacted by the thought of being prohibited from accomplishments, productivity, and to-do lists on one day a week.

How do you Sabbath?  If you don't Sabbath at all, are you aware that Scripture talks about God really caring--that it's really important to him--that his people Sabbath?

2nd Tomato Disdain

Being honest:

My wife and I have just come off a period of fasting and we're into raw foods for a longer period.  Today I breakfasted on a puree of apples, pears, and celery, and it was DELICIOUS!  So delightful.

Then, just now, I went through the kitchen and snagged a cherry-tomato off the counter.  WOW!  What awesomeness to actually get to chew something.  Gratitude overwhelms.

Five minutes later, as I passed the kitchen from the other way, I snagged another tomato.  (here's where it gets gut-level honest)

munch-munch-munch.  scrunched-face.  "Two weeks of Raw Foods?  Why did I agree to this?"

The difference between the two tomatoes was zero.  The difference in my level of gratitude and attitude was incredible; a 180 shift into grumbling. I am the Israelites coming out of Egypt, and they are me.

Lord, help me to be first-tomato grateful in every circumstance.  Lord, help me resist second-tomato disdain.

Miss Nelson is Missing!

My Sundays are normally spent creating relationships with people.  Often we will put on a faith-building video such as the Matthew or John videos or a teaching of some sort while breakfast is happening, then we'll go meet someone who, like us, isn't in church on Sunday morning.

This morning we are visiting my parents in Spangle, and it's a Sunday morning. So we're "in church."  The pastor is gone today, and it is a pleasure to see the church taking on the responsibilities of doing church without his guidance.  "Um, I guess it's time for announcements. Did someone get asked to do the announcements?  No?  Well, are there any announcements?"

Same story with prayer requests.  The worship leader with the mic seemed entirely uncomfortable taking prayer requests, but she did a fine job.  The church organized itself into the morning's sequence with marvelously little intervention, and the missing pastor was hardly missed.  He had asked a friend to come and give the sermon, which fit just fine into the sequence of the morning.

I'm impressed. I want to create a culture that carries on when I'm missing.  Not in any very similar way to this Sunday-morning culture, but it is absolutely my goal to create a self-sustaining culture of being church SGF-style!

Friends

In the church that we came from, everybody had some idea what it meant to be in the church; it ran like a typical church and had easily identifiable roles.

SGF needs form, too; right now we're too amorphous, too go-with-the-flow.  Maybe because we're so small, maybe because we're so new, maybe because we're all friends so "leading" as if from a platform doesn't work.

When we were praying about what is needed in the way of form and roles, I felt a nudge in my spirit that I was immediately suspicious of.  It seemed pretty convenient for me: instead of being nudged to pray more, feed the hungry, concentrate on the youth, encourage more missions, the word that popped into my mind was "FRIENDSHIP."  How suspicious, how very like a false prophetic word to affirm the status quo and not call out new passion or vigor or zeal.

I said it out loud, though, and had the group test it.  Immediately the Lord provided two Scriptures:

1) "They will know you are Christians because you're friends."

The actual text says:
John 13:3 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

and

2) " If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but am not a friend, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but I'm not friends with people, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have the friendship thing going, it profits me nothing."

(The actual text of 1 Corinthians 13 says "have not love" where I've inserted the idea of "friendship.")

What if, when this life closes and the next life begins, what if this happens: the Lord holds up next to me a checklist of Christian virtue and discipline (You know the checklist, right?  We had it in mind because we were recently rebutting together a list of Things Jesus Didn't Say, and two of them that gave us the giggles were: “"For God was so disgusted with the world that he gave his one and only Son." and "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you a checklist of things to do and not do in order to remain in God’s favor.") and finds the checklist item FRIEND--with a checkmark next to it--puts the list down, looks up, and says "Well done, good and faithful servant."

What if prayer that grows out of friendship is what counts?  And generosity.  And patience.  And hope and trust?  What if it's actually all about being friends?

Incidentally, it's not just friendship with believing, nice-looking brothers who are in the same socioeconomic status that I'm in.  It's also about befriending Samaritan untouchables--the ones who are hard to be friends with.  Loving the unlovely.

Not saying it's the final word in my understanding of faith and the proper role of church.  But it's an interesting twist.  We thought we were feeling the discomfort of formlessness, and the Lord seems to have told us that what's really important is ... being friends.



PS.  And yes, we did belt out a round of Friends are Friends Forever, as one must when talking about the subject in any length. Grin.

Embodied Beings

"We are embodied beings and not just beings in bodies"

Sir Ken Robinson wrote his book, Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative, several years before we had our conversation last Sunday, but today I stumbled across an oh-so-pertinent section worth quoting here.

We had been reflecting on the first of the Campus Alpha videos in which the speaker advocates for a view of mankind as being triune: body, soul, and spirit.  Some of us in the room thought there was good reason to segregate our human experience into three parts, while others spoke up for a body & mind (but not a separate spirit) human experience.

Robinson describes a historical reason for how our society has got to such a place where we dismiss the spiritual and emotional aspect of our humanity:

    "In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the leading figures of the Enlightenment and of Romanticism drew clear divisions between intellect and emotion.  The Rationalists distrust feelings; the Romantics trusted little else.  In their different ways, both saw intellect and feelings as separate realms of experience that should be kept apart from each other.  The consequences of this division are still felt to this day.  They can be catastrophic and they are everywhere.
    Rationalist philosophers aimed to see through the illusions of superstition and common sense by a remorseless process of skeptical reasoning.  In the natural sciences (including physics and biology), feelings, intuition, values and beliefs were seen as dangerous distractions: the murky froth of an undisciplined mind.  David Hume, a leading light of the Enlightenment, put it bluntly:  'If we take in hand any volume of divinity . . . for instance, let us ask, does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No.  Commit it then to the flames, for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.' . . . If there is a force beyond logic and evidence . . . science should make no presumptions about it and take no interest in it."

10 Reasons NOT to Oppose Marriage Equality

Judgment (eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) is strictly forbidden to humans.  Even when something is clearly off-limits according to the Scriptures you read, please keep your mouth closed* and let the Holy Spirit do the work He wants to do and in the order He wants to do it.  Who knows but that the Righteous Judge might render a different judgment from what you would do in His place?

Keep out of the Judge's bench.  Do not try on the robe.  Do not handle the gavel.  

*Admittedly there is a time to approach a Christian brother with a sin-concern, and to this I can only say "tread so carefully--tread so lightly--keep judgment far from you and watch your posture on that day when you do approach your brother about sin.  Oh, tread softly."

The graphic below, and the current hoopla over marriage equality, is what drove me to write about judgment above.  Is it clear to you how they're connected?  If you're going to talk to someone about an emotionally-charged issue like same-sex marriage, you must keep yourself from the black-powder of judgment or the only friends you'll have when the smoke clears will be the ones standing behind you.

I can appreciate the sense and wit of the graphic below, even if my ultimate conclusion isn't that of its creator, clearly a marriage-equality advocate.  It's worth reading and then taking careful stock of  appropriate arguments for and against defining marriage more inclusively.