circularthoughts

an old fashioned foot-washing...

I preached on foot-washing from John 13:1-20 yesterday. This is the passage where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. I focused on three main points (don’t all preachers make three main points?) from the 20 verses.

1. Jesus washed Judas’ feet knowing that he would be the betrayer. I told the story of how I had someone betray me once and while I was working through my forgiveness of this person I read what Jesus did with Judas in this passage. It was a major push in helping me reach a point of being willing to forgive this person.
2. Peter’s shenanigans in verses 6-9 was evidence that the disciples still did not understand the nature of the kingdom that Jesus was initiating. They were still thinking of a kingdom from an earthly perspective, i.e., it is only the servants who wash feet. To have Jesus, as their leader and teacher, stoop to wash their feet was outside the paradigm of power they were living under. I love Peter’s response! If that’s the way it is, then wash all of me! What a great picture of repentance (turning or changing of mind) in how Peter responded.
3. I then concluded by talking about how there seems to be two main paths that the church has taken in response to Jesus’ suggestion of how we ought to follow his example (verses 14-15). One group, the larger of the two, has symbolized this act and emphasized Jesus’ modeling of servant leadership. By following Jesus’ example in this way we are following the oughtness of his suggestion. The other group has taken Jesus literal and incorporated washing feet into their regular form of worship. I suggested that somehow there was an synthesis between these two extremes. Yes, Jesus was modeling servant leadership. But, the act of washing someone’s feet is an incredible picture of the reversal of structure and hierarchy of the kingdom of God. It is something that we all need to experience.

What do you think? Have you ever taken part in a foot-washing service? If not, why not?

a short trip to Mexico...

We returned yesterday from a week in Mexico. Yes, we went to Mexico, to Monterrey, supposedly one of the most dangerous places in the world because of the drug cartel killings. Well, we didn’t see or even sense any danger. It was nice.

We went so I could teach for Oasis HGM, a partner ministry of Heart of God Ministries, for which I am Mission Director. Oasis HGM trains Latin believers how to be good missionaries. I taught Wednesday afternoon and Thursday on disciple making focused church planting. On Friday I met with each of the current 8 students to hear their stories, to dream with them and see if there was a way I can help them to thrive after they go to the field. I know that I will be visiting some of these students on the mission field in the next year or so.

On Saturday the students graduated. The training program lasts ten months. I was able to share briefly with the students at the graduation ceremony. 

I told them that the book of Acts is probably my favorite book. I talked about how Luke wrote it to his friend Theophilus as a follow up to Luke. I talked about how Acts seems to end fairly abruptly in chapter 28 with Paul in Rome sharing the gospel of the kingdom daily. I said that it was almost as if Luke intended to write more but didn’t have the time.

I then suggested that the book of Acts is still being written. Not literally of course, but through the stories we write as we go out to love others through making disciples of Jesus. I suggested that as they went out they would be writing chapters 4,658 of Acts, or 5,386 and so forth. It was a lot of fun!

Please pray with me as these students finish up their support raising so they can go to the fields of Turkey, China, Mali, Bangladesh and Mozambique to write their chapter of Acts.

Alleviating poverty, one loan at a time...

Have you heard about Kiva? This non-profit organization is one of my favorite ways to give. 

Kiva’s mission is “to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.”

Kiva lets you join in micro lending to some of the world’s poorest people. The minimum loan that you make is $25.00. Your loan gets combined with those of other folks and the combined amount is used to fund a micro loan for an individual or a group of individuals in numerous places around the world. It is a great setup, easy to do and the results have been phenomenal. 

From the Kiva website, since Kiva was founded in 2005:

596,151 people have made loans through Kiva

$224 million in loans have been funded

98.79% repayment rate on these loans

As a former banker, I can say that the repayment rate is amazing!

May family has made 78 loans over the years. We chose to loan only to women. This is one of the ways we have chosen to flesh out our love for our neighbor.

Check it out here. This is my official invitation to you to join Kiva.

If you want to know more about micro lending and the work to alleviate poverty I would suggest the following books:

UnPoverty: Rich Lessons from the Working Poor

When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Yourself

Sympathetic reading...

I like to read. I read a lot. In fact, I’ve read twenty books in the last sixty days. Assuming an average book is two hundred pages long, that means I’ve read four thousand pages in sixty days. 

I say this not to boast. You see, reading for me is essential to my mental and spiritual growth. In all reality, it probably hampers my physical situation as instead of exercising I read. Anyway, if I’m not reading, I’m not growing.

I mostly read books on theology and missiology. I currently have nine books on my desk, four of which I’ve started and the rest of which I plan to start in the next couple of weeks. In addition, I have at least eight books on my Kindle app on my iPad that I’m either currently reading or plan to start reading in the next couple of weeks. Almost all of these are on theology or missiology.

One of my favorite ways of reading is what some call sympathetic reading. This happens when I read something I don’t agree with, something that challenges my current thinking. I have found that this way of reading is crucial for my spiritual and mental growth.

Sympathetic reading helps me to understand the point of view of the author; what is driving his or her thinking. In seeking to understand a different point of view I often find that weaknesses in my own understanding are revealed. I also often find where my own way of thinking, and those who think it with me, may have contributed to the reaction of the author I’m reading. 

Sympathetic reading is not reading for the sake of tearing apart an author’s argument. Instead, it is for seeking to understand in the hopes that you might learn something, either about the subject of the read or yourself.

Try it sometime. It can be very enlightening...

Evangelism as initiation...

Yesterday, I began reading the second book for my Art of Evangelism course at Fuller. The book is called The Logic of Evangelism and was written by William J. Abraham. 

The main thesis of the book is that evangelism should be understood as the primary initiation into the kingdom of God, as opposed to simple proclamation of the good news or as a means for church growth. To throw a spark on this idea, Abraham suggests:

any vision of evangelism that ignores the kingdom of God, or relegates it to a position of secondary importance, or fails to wrestle thoroughly with its content is destined at the outset to fail. This is so because the kingdom of God is absolutely central to the ministry of Jesus and to the mission of the disciples that launched the Christian movement into history. (17)

I have always been taught that evangelism is the way we go about letting others know of their need for salvation. We tell them the good news that Jesus has died for their sins and that he rose again, from the dead, conquering death so that we might have eternal life. If we have been well trained we say that eternal life begins here and now, but, most of us focus on the afterlife part of eternal life. In other words, evangelism, I have always been taught, is the process of telling others how to get to heaven.

In recent years, my problem with the above is that it really offers nothing for the here and now. This, I think, is what Abraham is talking about when he suggests that evangelism is the primary initiation into the kingdom of God.

If the kingdom of God is seen as the reign and rule of God, in and through Jesus, both now and in the future, then, evangelism should be seen as the process of leading others into such reign. It is the process of helping others see that there is a different way to live in the here and now. This way of living has less to do with our performance or compliance with a list of rules. Instead, it is centered in our pursuit of God’s will, here on earth, of heaven in the here and now.

So, yes, evangelism is about the cross and what Jesus accomplished on such. But, it is about so much more.

I think I’m going to enjoy this course!

Bonhoeffer on Christian formation...

In his book Ethics, Bonhoeffer discusses the concept of Jesus being the true human being, the ultimate and only true example of what a human being is. Therefore, for right Christian formation to happen we must begin with a proper understanding of Jesus.

Bonhoeffer refers to Jesus as Ecce homo – the man. This is taken, of course, from Pilate’s words in the gospels as he presents the beaten and ready to be crucified Jesus to the crowds. What Pilate surely meant as sarcasm is meant as reality for Bonhoeffer. In the crucified and resurrected Jesus, Bonhoeffer sees the true human, made new and presented as the one through whom humanity is measured and revealed.

Christian formation, for Bonhoeffer, is the process of being conformed to Christ. This is possible because of the humanity of Jesus, because he is the true and ultimate human and in his life and death and resurrection we have the ability to experience such. Christian formation, in this case, is not so much a path or even a set of beliefs and behaviors to be mastered. Instead, it is the process of Jesus taking form in us, which is really a matter of faith. The work has been done in the life of Jesus. We must now walk forward in faith in the reality of such.

 

Conversion: Fast Food or Fine Dining?

My current course at Fuller is called The Art of Evangelism. The first book we are reading is called Conversion in the New Testament: Paul and the Twelve, by Richard V. Peace, who just so happens to be the course Professor. In this book, Peace compares the dramatic, single-point-in-time conversion of Paul to the slow, progressive and even fuzzy (when it comes to when it happened) conversion of the Twelve. In doing such he is asking the question of which one is the norm. 

In Western Evangelicalism, the norm seems to have always been that of Paul. I was taught that I needed to be able to identify the specific point in time that I prayed to receive (trust) Christ. Failure to be able to do this was seen as a potential weakness in my own testimony that might cause doubts as to my actual salvation at some point in the future. Thus, our western evangelism is designed to fit this paradigm, in that we push for a decision.

Peace suggests that the conversion experience of the Twelve was more like a pilgrimage. It was a progressive revelation in which they first saw Jesus as a Teacher, followed by a Prophet, on to Messiah and then to God incarnate. In other words, he argues that the Twelve would have been hard pressed to pick out the specific point in time when the actually trusted Christ, but, their conversion was just as valid as that of Paul’s.

I’m intrigued with this idea of progressive revelation and progressive trust. I think that this “both/and” understanding of conversion might open the door to a more gentle, less confrontational/polemical form of evangelism, which would be a good thing, especially for those on the receiving end.

Bonhoeffer on cheap grace...

For Bonhoeffer, “cheap grace means grace as doctrine, as principle, as system” (Discipleship, 43). Cheap grace is that which requires no true repentance or change. It is grace without transformation. It is grace without discipleship. Costly grace, on the other hand, is that which causes us to be transformed, discipled and to follow Jesus. It is a grace that costs us our lives. It is a grace that was also costly for God because of his incarnation and his death.

Discipleship is commitment to Jesus Christ. It is not the study of any system or doctrine or way of belief. It is, instead, the following of the God-human and the life he lived and will live in us. It is more than an increasing of head knowledge; it is instead an increasing in heart knowledge, an obedience that comes from belief and a praxis that reflects the life of Jesus Christ.

The root and foundation of discipleship is found in the Sermon on the Mount. At the center of the Sermon is, of course, Jesus. However, love is the summation of the entire Sermon. Disciples are those who are allowing Jesus to mold in them his way of undivided love, the love that was reflected in the cross and the love that is reflected in the sending of rain on both the righteous and unrighteous.

Quotation taken from this book...

Bonhoeffer on judging...

For Bonhoeffer, “judging is the forbidden evaluation of other persons. It corrodes simple love” (Discipleship, 171). When we judge others we are doing so by establishing a standard in Jesus. On the surface this appears to be acceptable, at least having the standard of Jesus. However, Jesus is not a standard, he is the judge. He has judged me and that gives me no right to judge others. We hold others to a standard that we have not been able to measure up to. This is judging and forbidden and the opposite of love. Instead, we must learn to “reverse the I and the You” (Discipleship, 174) in our relationships with others. We must be able to see them as we see ourselves and give others the same grace that we give ourselves. We must see that there is no difference between the evil in us and the evil in others. It is only when we do this that we are in right relationship with others. I believe that Bonhoeffer would remind the church in the US to stop judging those who are not a part of the church. He would tell us to stop holding others to a standard that we will never meet. He would tell us to learn to love others and to accept them where they are. After all, this is what Jesus has done with us.

Quotations taken from this book...

some thoughts on conversion...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the term “conversion” and all that goes with it.  I’m wondering if what we mean when we use the word is what is heard by others.  I’m also wondering if we are even sure of what we mean when we talk of conversion.

My thoughts reminded me of a scene in The Princess Bride:

[Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up]

Vizzini - “HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.”

Inigo Montoya - “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

The simple idea behind conversion is that of the process that one goes through when he or she changes his or her beliefs, views or faith.  It is a process of making a fundamental shift. 

The problem that I see, however, is twofold.  First, how is the idea of conversion received by those we desire to see follow Jesus.  Second, what is the object of the conversion.

In my experience, most people who are not following Jesus don’t hear what we want them to hear when we use the word conversion.  They hear something more along the lines of “conformism,” which is the idea that one must conform to the ways of a system or certain rules of behavior.  They hear that they must fall in line with an often foreign way of doing things.  They hear that they must leave their culture for a new one. 

I once visited a very remote island in the southern regions of Bangladesh, which is nearly 90% Muslim.  As we walked toward the center of the island and found the local market we were soon surrounded by a mob of curious onlookers.  One of the older men spoke a little English and he immediately asked me if we had come to force them to convert to Christianity.  My response was to quote him a verse from the Qur’an:  “There is no compulsion in religion.  Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.”  (2:256)  I then told him that we were there to share with them what we had learned about the Right Path as well as learn from them what they had learned.  This set them all at ease and we had a couple of days of great ministry before we had to leave to head back home.

Virtually no one wants to change their culture.  I don’t, and, honestly, didn’t when I became a follower of Jesus.  Why is it, then, that others think that what we are looking for when it comes to conversion is a change in culture?

I think it may be because that is exactly what we really mean, whether we have thought about it or not.  Is it possible that the object of the conversion that we desire for others to go through has become Christianity instead of Jesus?  Is there really a difference between a conversion to Christianity and a conversion to Jesus?  I think so and I think that this is the problem behind the word conversion.

Conversion to Christianity is a change in culture.  Christianity, as it has developed over the past two thousand years, is both a religion and a culture.  I don’t think you can truly separate the two.  Too often, when we present Jesus, we present Christianity.  Most of us can’t even differentiate between the two.  However, again, my experience as a missionary has shown that there is a difference.  For example, the western concept of church, which falls under the umbrella of Christianity, is often seen as the “right” way of doing church.  We meet at a set time on a set day for a set period.  We have organized meetings where we know what is going to happen and who is going to do it.  I’m not saying that this understanding of church is necessarily wrong.  However, it is cultural, not biblical.  It is one way of doing church.  There are many cultures around the world where this form of church would never work or be embraced and to expect it to be so is to expect a conversion to our way of doing things, which is simply another way of expecting others to convert to our culture.

Jesus never told us to convert people to a new religion.  He never told us to have people change their culture.  What he did tell us is to make disciples of all nations by going to them, immersing them in the reality of the Trinity and teaching them to obey all that he had commanded.  In other words, Jesus is to be the object of the conversion we seek, not Christianity. 

Instead of the word conversion I have been trying out the concept of a change of allegiance.  The process of making disciples is more like the process of helping someone change their allegiance to Jesus by turning away (repenting) from their allegiance to themselves, their religion, money, power and so on.  I like this so far because it seems to carry far less baggage. 

What do you think?  Does the word conversion have too much baggage?  Are conversion to Christianity and conversion to Jesus always the same thing?  How do you feel about the concept of changing allegiance instead of conversion?  Is it just a play on words or is it a better way of expressing the desired result?

Leadership by example...

Have you seen Invictus?  This Clint Eastwood directed movie staring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon is well crafted and tells a beautiful story.  There are also several leadership lessons that just seem to jump off the screen, one of which I'd like to share today.

The IMDb website summarizes the movie as follows:

 The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/plotsummary)

There is a scene where Mandela (Freeman) first meets Francois Pienaar (Damon), the player captain of the South African rugby team.  Toward the end of their meeting the conversation goes like this:

Mandela:  How do you inspire your team to do their best?

Pienaar:  By example. I've always thought to lead by example, sir. 

Mandela:  Well, that is right. That is exactly right. But how to get them to be better than they think they "can" be? That is very difficult, I find.

That's all Mandela said.  From that point on, something happened.  The team went on to play like they never had and, well, if I tell you what happened you'll have an excuse not to watch the movie...

What's the leadership lesson?  It comes down to the example we set.  If we, as leaders, don't believe a goal can be reached, it won't.  If we, as leaders, don't believe that things are going to be better, they won't.  If we, as leaders, don't set the example, getting people to move forward or do the impossible will never happen.  It all starts with us.  We must set the example, and when we do, those who are following will catch the vision.

the karma police...

I’ve been taking a course on Hinduism this term.  What a fascinating study.  Hinduism is virtually impossible to define because there are so many different branches and streams and lines of thinking.  I’ve been saying, since starting the course, that Hinduism is post modernism on steroids.  In other words, literally anything goes.

One of the main streams of Hinduism is the concept of karma.  I’ve talked about karma before.  Karma is that belief system centered in the concepts of “reaping what you sow” and “what goes around comes around.”  The more I think about karma the more I am convinced that most of the world is under the control of this way of thinking.

I saw this even today as I read my Bible.  I was reading in Genesis, chapters 42 and 43, the story of Joseph’s brothers traveling to Egypt to get food for the family.  If you haven’t read the Joseph story (Genesis 37-50) in a while you should go read through it as it is full of some amazing stuff.

So, where did I see karma in this story?  Look at Genesis 42:21...

Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen.  That is why this distress has come upon us.”

The distress they were talking about was that Joseph was requiring them to return home to their father and bring back their youngest brother, Benjamin.  They had no idea that Joseph was their long, lost brother.  In other words, they saw their current predicament as payback for what they had done to Joseph when they threw him down a well and then sold him into slavery.  Karma had found them and payback was coming.

Joseph, who had every reason to take advantage of his political power to exact some karmic revenge on his brothers, chose a different path.  He chose the path of grace.  Before his brothers left to go get Benjamin, Joseph arranged to have the money they had used to purchase food placed back in their traveling sacks.  When the brothers discovered this it only added to their distress.  When they returned with Benjamin they told Joseph about the money and his response was one of grace.  His actions and his response show that he had broken free of the karmic stronghold.  We see Joseph’s response in Genesis 43:23...

He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid.  Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you.  I received your money.”

Do you see it?  Joseph’s brothers were living a life of fear, one in which karma (can God be thought of as a form of karma?) punishes when we do bad things and rewards when we do good things.  Joseph was living a life of freedom from this kind of fear.  He was walking outside of karma.  He had broken free.  This meant he was able to show grace to his brothers.

What happens when we seek to follow God but do so through a karmic lens?  Do we not end up with a God who punishes us when we do bad things and blesses us only when we do good things?  Do we not end up with a performance based religion that is driven by fear?  I’m not saying that there aren’t consequences in life.  Clearly there are.  However, consequences and punishment are not always the same thing.

Jesus broke the karmic cycle.  His path is one that walks outside of karma.  That’s the path I want to be on.  What about you?

Loving Muslims...

I saw the following on a friend's blog.  Thought you might enjoy it...

Christian approaches to Muslims

If we see Muslims as …
Enemies
Our approach will be …
Attack!/Defend!
Our heart attitude will be ..
Hate

If we see Muslims as …
Foreigners
Our approach will be …
Separate Coexistence
Our heart attitude will be ..
Indifference

If we see Muslims as …
Poor, uncivilized, uncultured
Our approach will be …
Invite them to be like us (join us)
Our heart attitude will be ..
Pharisaic/condescending

If we see Muslims as …
Rivals
Our approach will be …
Polemic debate
Our heart attitude will be ..
Proud

If we see Muslims as …
Human beings
Our approach will be …
Respectful dialogue
Our heart attitude will be ..
Listen and learn

If we see Muslims as …
Unresponsive
Our approach will be …
Resigned to do nothing
Our heart attitude will be ..
Hopeless

If we see Muslims as …
Lost people Jesus died for
Our approach will be …
Salt/light (demonstrate love)
Preach the Gospel (speak truth)
Pray for their needs (show power)
Become all things to all people (Pauline)
Our heart attitude will be ..
Love

To confront or not...

I received the following email from a circularthoughts.com reader yesterday:

My friends and my girlfriend, even my father, all whom I hold very dear to me, take the Lord's name in vain all the time, and it really bothers me.  I don't do it. But I wonder if I'm sinning too by not correcting them. This is such a hard issue for me.  It plagues me. Please help.

This was my reply:

Thanks for your question.  I can understand your concern.  I once had a boss who did the same.  It was like he couldn't say one sentence without doing it.

I have a question for you?  Are your friends, your girlfriend and your father believers in Jesus?  I think whether they are or not determines whether or not you need to confront.

My understanding of Scripture, when it comes to confrontation of sin, is that we are not to confront the non-believer.  To do so, in my experience, does nothing but push them further from the real Jesus.  However, we are encouraged to confront believers in matters of sin.  Of course, we are encouraged to do so in humility and love.

When we look at Jesus, we see this very pattern played out.  He never confronted those who were considered to be sinners.  He spent time with them, had meals with them, even drank with them.  The Pharisees, who were supposedly the "good" people, on the other hand, is who he confronted.  He confronted them on many occasions for not loving those who were considered sinners and for making it hard on them.  I think this is the pattern I would suggest you take with your friends, girlfriend and father.  In other words, if they are not followers of Jesus, then I think you need to not say anything about their language.  Instead, let your light shine and love them to Jesus.  If they are believers, then I think you can have a discussion with them and tell them why this bothers you.  Don't be judgmental in approaching them, just share why it bothers you.  In addition, you need to pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to the right time and the right words to say.  Make sense?

I hope and trust this helps, at least just a little.  I'm more than willing to talk about this further if you would like.  Thanks again for asking and thanks for reading the blog.

Blessings,

Eric

The reader replied as follows:

When you say let your light shine and love them to Jesus, you mean lead by example and pray for them, rather than confronting them thus pushing them away right?  I want to say thank you so much for your expedient and thoughtful reply.  It really means a lot.  I look forward to future correspondences in matters of faith.  May Christ keep you and walk with you on a righteous path.  

---

Confrontation is a tough call, I think. It does seem to be the default for many Christians, meaning, let's confront first and love second.  I'm just sharing from my own experience, on both sides.  I have both confronted and been confronted when I shouldn't.  So, here are my questions for you?

Where do we draw the line?  Do we confront those who don't claim to be following Jesus?  When do we confront our brothers and sisters?  What horror stories do you have?

Thoughts on the parable of the lost sons - Context...

con-text

- noun

1.  the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.

2.  the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc

---

When we want to go deeper in our understanding of Scripture one of the most important steps is to study the context.  Failure to do so can result in at best a limited understanding of what is being taught and at worst a complete misunderstanding.  It is important to try and understand what has been said both before and after the passage we are studying.  It is also important to know as much as we can about both the historical and literary context of the passage in question.  In this post, I hope to answer some of the questions of context when it comes to the parable of the lost sons.

When I read this parable the first thing I want to know is to whom Jesus is telling the parable.  This seems to be a fairly important question as there could be two or three different emphases to the parable depending on how this is answered.  In Luke 15:1 & 2 there are two groups of people mentioned; the tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees and the scribes.  If we come to the conclusion that Jesus is speaking to the tax collectors and sinners then we will most likely focus on the younger son and assume that Jesus is teaching the tax collectors and sinners about the grace and mercy of God the Father.  When we do this we will typically not know what to do with the elder son and just think his part of the story is either an afterthought or secondary.  On the other hand, if we come to the conclusion that Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the scribes we will more likely focus on the elder son.  We will do this because we will see that Jesus is telling the Pharisees and the scribes that they are like the elder son in that they cannot extend grace and mercy to the younger son who represents the tax collectors and sinners.  A third option would be that Jesus is speaking to both the tax collectors and the sinners and the Pharisees and the scribes.  If we come to this conclusion we would assume that Jesus has a message for both groups in the stories of the younger and elder sons.  So, which is it?

I think the key can be found in one word in Luke 15:2; the word grumbled.  The Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling about the fact that Jesus was defiling himself by hanging out and eating with the tax collectors and sinners.  In Luke 15:3 we see that Jesus told "them" a parable, well actually three parables.  Jesus had heard the grumblings of the Pharisees and the scribes and he answered them with the parables. We can also see evidence that Jesus was addressing the Pharisees and the scribes in Luke 16:14, which says that the Pharisees "heard all these things, and they ridiculed him."  In other words, the parable of the two lost sons, along with several other parables surrounding such, is sandwiched between the Pharisees grumbling and their ridiculing Jesus.  This should provide more than enough evidence to convince us that Jesus was speaking directly to the Pharisees and the scribes when he told the parable of the lost sons. 

Why is this important?  I think it adds weight to the argument that these parables were more of a warning than stories of what the Father is like.  I'll get into this more in future posts.

Another contextual issue that I think is important is that of the societal structure during the time of Jesus.  We who live in the Western world live very individualistic lives.  We don't really understand the communal nature of most of the rest of the world.  When we read this story through this individualistic lens we are going to miss much of what Jesus was saying.  The family dynamics during that time were such that in the story both sons brought shame to the Father.  This is an important factor that adds to the significance of the warning I spoke of above.  I'll go into details of this factor more in future posts.

The final contextual issue that I think is important to understanding this story is the significance of the two parables that precede the parable of the lost sons; that is the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin.  There is a strong connection between these three parables.  In all three, something was lost.  In all three, that which was lost is found.  In the first two parables, someone went to find and recover that which was lost.  This did not happen in the third parable and this is a very important factor, one that adds strength to my argument that these parables are more of a warning than they are stories of God's goodness and grace.  But, I'll save that for future posts...

Thoughts on the parable of the lost sons - Introduction...

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about and studying the parable of the lost sons over the past month or so.  This parable, which is usually referred to as the parable of the prodigal son, is found in Luke 15.  It has been called the gospel within the gospel and has been used countless times to paint a picture of grace for those of us who have ever gone astray.  It is a beautiful story.

My study, however, has helped me to see that the typical understanding and presentation of this story, while beautiful, falls short of what Jesus was intending to communicate.  I have now come to see that this story is as much of a warning as it is a story of grace.

I plan to take the next few posts and share some of the things I have learned.  Most of what I will be sharing has come from a book by Kenneth E. Bailey called The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants.  I've owned this book for some time but have just now read it.  A second book that I will draw from is called The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller.   I also listened to a sermon series by Keller called The Prodigal God.  This sermon series tracks with the book.

My plan is to do five posts, including this introductory post.  The second post will be a discussion of the context of the story.  The third post will look at what we know about and learn from the younger son.  The fourth post will be a discussion of what we know about the father and what that teaches us about God.  The fifth and final post will look at the elder son, who is really the key to understanding what Jesus was saying.

I look forward to writing these posts and to our discussion as well.

2 Timothy 2:2 video

I wanted to share this video of what a 2 Timothy 2:2 network looks like.  This is the discipleship network for just one of the men we have trained in India.  It is one of many that we could show you.  Each name on the chart represents a house church.  This is what multiplication looks like.  Enjoy!

Another step in going green...

I took another step in going green today.  I signed our little community (our house and the discipleship house we own) up for a Community Supported Agriculture program.  This will give us an opportunity to support local growers as well as eat healthier food.  We joined the Cherokee Farms CSA program.  This is what we get for our $35.00 per week membership:

Each basket will contain a minimum of 15 lbs of fresh vegetables in season, a fresh flower arrangement, a fresh selection of herbs, a jar of canned or preserved food item, fresh home baked cinnamon rolls, cookies or muffins, and a bar of our featured goat milk soap of the week.

We are excited about this new step.  Has anyone else joined one of these?

Going green...

I recently completed a seminary course at Fuller called Christian Ethics.  My final paper for this course was called The Christian's Care of Creation.  In this paper, I addressed some of the issues Christians often face when it comes to our care for creation.  If you would like to read it, click on the title and you will be taken to the paper in pdf format.

My conclusion can be summed up as follows:

I now understand that my pursuit of God's kingdom and his righteousness and justice must include a pursuit of both the redemption of humans and the reconciliation of the rest of creation.

So that was my conclusion, but how am I fleshing this out?  Well, for starters, we are using the mower you see above.  I have also been riding my bicycle, when it isn't so stinking hot.  I'm praying/thinking about buying a scooter.  We are truly trying to purchase less stuff and when we do go to the store, we don't use a bag to put our stuff in unless we have too much stuff or even take a bag with us.

That's about it so far.  What are some other ways to go green?  What do you do? 

A word from Dr. King...

Every true Christian is a citizen of two worlds, the world of time and the world of eternity.  We are, paradoxically, in the world and yet not of the world.  To the Philippian Christians, Paul wrote, "We are a colony of heaven."  They understood what he meant, for their city of Philippi was a Roman colony.  When Rome wished to Romanize a province, she established a small colony of people who lived by Roman law and Roman customs and who, though in another country, held fast to their Roman allegiance.  This powerful, creative minority spread the gospel of Roman culture.  Although the analogy is imperfect - the Roman settlers lived within a framework of injustice and exploitation, that is, colonialism - the Apostle does point to the responsibility of Christians to imbue an unchristian world with the ideals of a higher and more noble order.  Living in the colony of time, we are ultimately responsible to the empire of eternity.  As Christians we must never surrender our supreme loyalty to any time-bound custom or earth-bound idea, for at the heart of our universe is a higher reality - God and his kingdom of love - to which we must be conformed.

- from Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King, Jr. (page 22)

Donkey Heads for Dinner...

I once heard an incredible sermon by my friend John Willis Zumwalt, who is the founder of Heart of God Ministries.  Zumwalt used the 6th and 7th chapters of 2 Kings to present an incredible allegory of the current relationship between the church in America and the unreached peoples of the world.  What follows is my meager attempt to share a little of what Zumwalt shared.

The setting is Samaria, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel.  The Arameans had laid siege to Samaria.  This is where the story begins.

Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.  There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.  2 Kings 6:24-25

These two verses describe a very desperate situation.  Have you ever had an urge to eat a donkey’s head?  I have eaten donkey before and I would not suggest it as a regular part of one’s daily diet.  I can’t imagine what donkey head tastes like.  It gets worse.  Do you know what the “quarter of a cab of seed pods” was?  Try dove’s dung.  These folks were hungry.  They were in bad shape.  The siege had lasted so long that donkey’s head and dove’s dung is all that was left to eat.

Do you see the allegory here?  Just as the people of Samaria were suffering from lack of good food due to a siege on their city, the unreached peoples of today are suffering from a lack of good spiritual food because they are under spiritual siege.  The Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Animists of the world today are being fed spiritual garbage.  It is all they have because they do not have access to good spiritual food, the Truth of Jesus Christ.  There is a spiritual famine.  They are hungry and they are eating all they have access to.

Let me stop here to talk a little about the difference between the unreached peoples of the world and lost people in the United States.  The difference is access.  Access is defined as follows:  the ability or right to approach, enter, exit, communicate with, or make use of.  The key word in this definition is ability. People in the United States have the ability to find out about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, either by seeking it themselves or by others approaching them.  When I drive to the post office every day, which is less than two miles from my house, I pass by no less than six churches.  The unreached peoples of the world do not have this kind of access.  The level of access between the two groups is as different as black and white; as night and day.  Of course, this doesn’t excuse us from sharing with every person we know and encounter on a daily basis.  However, they do have the ability to seek out and find the Truth and the ability to make choices to seek it out or not to do so.  The unreached peoples of the world do not have such a luxury.  The only choice they have is bad spiritual food. 

The story of what happened in Samaria gets worse as you read on in chapter 6.  I will spare you the gruesome details of what happened next, but know that desperate people do desperate things.  The same is true of the unreached peoples today.  They are seeking to fill their spiritual hunger in the only way they know how and through the only spiritual food they have access to.  It is truly a desperate situation.  I can say this because I have seen it.

I have seen hundreds of Hindus going from idol to idol and temple to temple in Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal and all over India.  I have seen Buddhist worshipers kowtowing to various representations of the Buddha in China and Thailand.  I have seen thousands of Muslims making their way to daily prayer in countless mosques in China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Kashmir, Palestine, Turkey, India, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Eritrea, Tunisia, Bangladesh and the Maldives.  I have only seen a small picture of how desperate the situation truly is.  However, I have seen enough to know that the situation is desperate.  But does it have to be?  Let’s read on and see what happened in chapter 7.

Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate.  They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?  If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’ – the famine is there, and we will die.  And if we stay here, we will die.  So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender.  If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”  At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans.  When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!”  So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys.  They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.  The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents.  They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them.  They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.  Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing right.  This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.  If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us.  Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”  2 Kings 7:3-9

The four lepers, outsiders, were sitting at the city gate.  At some point they began to realize that there was a choice to be made.  They could stay where they were and die, they could go into the city and die or they could approach the enemy camp and either die or be spared.  They decided to approach the camp.  What they discovered was that the Lord had confused the enemy and the camp was empty.  There was food in the camp.  They had access to food, good food!  Do you see the connection between the four lepers and the church in the United States?  We have access to good spiritual food.  Spiritual food in abundance and free.  And yet, what are the vast majorities of us doing with what we have?  Are we not reacting just as the four lepers did?  Do you remember what they did?

“They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them.  They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.”

Is the American church guilty of this?  Are we hoarding all of the food for ourselves?  How many Bible studies do we do?  How many concerts do we have?  How many inward focused ministries do we have?  How much of what we do is for ourselves?  Not that any of these things are bad or wrong, but do you see what I mean?  Is God pleased with the American church’s use of the resources He has blessed us with?  Are we doing enough with the much we have been given?  If not, is it too late? 

The lepers came to their senses.  They realized what they were doing.  They understood that they were not doing right and that there would be great punishment for withholding what they had access to.  The four lepers made the decision to report back to Samaria with the good news.  The siege was over!  Food was available!  God had done it!  All the four lepers had to do was take the good news to those who didn’t know about it.

Friends, there are over 2 billion people in the world today who have absolutely no access to the Truth of Jesus Christ.  Their situation is desperate!  We have the Good News!  We must take it to them!  We must take it to them now!  Not to do so is just possibly one of the greatest sins we will have to answer for when we meet our Creator.  Let’s take the banquet God has blessed us with to those who are eating donkey’s heads for dinner!

Until ALL Have Heard,

Eric

Christianity with power?

I was having lunch with one of my mentors earlier this week.  The topic of healing and the supernatural came up.  I asked him why he thought we did not see these types of things in western culture.  We came to the conclusion that is was primarily a worldview issue.

My mentor spent time as a missionary in Venezuela.  He said he saw things there, things that can only be explained as the work of God.  I have seen similar things in India and other places.  When this first started to happen, I was not sure what to think.  I was seeing things that challenged my deep understanding and prior experiences.  I could not deny, however, what I was experiencing and that took me to the Bible.

My denominational heritage was influenced by cessationist dispensationalism, meaning I had been taught that the charismatic gifts of the Spirit, such as healing, tongues and prophecy, had either stopped with the death of the original disciples of Jesus or were only seen in places where the gospel has not been heard.  This is the deep understanding that was being challenged by what I was now experiencing in India and other places.   

As I went to the  Bible I could find no evidence that God had stopped working in these ways.  I saw Paul teaching the early church to have orderly worship and how he expected all of these things to be a part of the body (1 Corinthians 14:39-40).  I saw James teaching that when someone was sick, we should call the elders and pray for healing (James 5:14-15).  These references are just two of many I could share.  I just could not find any evidence that God would cease working in the supernatural.

I received an email from a blog reader last November.  She asked these questions:

If we serve the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and He is the same God why don't we see more of His awesome power in our lives and those who call themselves by Christian?  Is He a great God or not?  Got an answer?

I never answered her questions.   I did not know what to say.

After my conversation with my mentor earlier this week, I remembered having purchased a book last summer.  I had never read it and had to look for it on my bookshelf.  I found it:  Christianity with Power: Your Worldview and Your Experience of the Supernatural, by Charles H. Kraft.  Kraft is Sun-Hee Kwak Professor of Anthropology and Intercultural Communication at Fuller Theological Seminary.  I am a Fuller student.  I have not had a class with Dr. Kraft, but hope to in the future.

I have decided to blog through this book.  I will read a chapter and post my thoughts and questions.  As I post, perhaps we can all learn and have our worldview stretched.  I want all that is available to me as a follower of Jesus.  If my worldview is keeping me from something, then I want that worldview to be shattered.  What about you?

Jesus in the Psalms…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John 1:1

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  Matthew 5:17

I love to read and meditate, or camp out, in the Psalms.  I typically read five chapters in the Psalms every day.  This takes me through the Psalms every month.  I have done this for many years.  I love the Psalms.

Knowing Jesus as the Word of God and as the one who came to fulfill the Law or the Prophets has deepened my appreciation of the Psalms.  Let me explain.

This is one of my favorites:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1

What a beautiful picture.  Watch what happens when I read this Psalm through the lens of John 1:1 and Matthew 5:17:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in Jesus,
and on Jesus he meditates day and night…

Here is another one…

Jesus is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to follow Jesus.
I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O Lord, according to Jesus!
Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord,
and teach me of Jesus.
I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget Jesus.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from Jesus.
Jesus is my heritage forever,
for he is the joy of my heart.
I incline my heart to follow Jesus
forever, to the end.

Psalm 119:105-112

Meditating on the Psalms through this lens has really helped to increase my love and understanding of Jesus.  Maybe it will help you too…

Chapter 6: Building in Troublous Times (1854)...

Taylor arrived in Shanghai with no one to meet him and no where to go.  He found his way to an already established missionary compound and they allowed him to stay.  He spent the next few months studying Mandarin and working to establish the new base for the Chinese Evangelization Society (CES).  He was under-funded and ill-prepared.  A few months in, he learned that the CES was sending another missionary family.  Taylor was responsible for making preparations for their arrival.  These were difficult days for Taylor; days that caused him to press into the Lord.

One cannot but be impressed in reading the letters of this period with the sacred ambition of Hudson Taylor's prayers; a subject worth pondering, if it is true that prayer, not circumstances, moulds the life, and that as are our deepest desires before God so will the trend of our outward experiences be.  Certainly nothing is more significant in the life before us than the longing for usefulness and likeness to the Lord he loved.  Not honour or success, but usefulness, widespread usefulness, was his constant prayer. 

His prayers were indeed to be answered beyond anything he asked or thought; but he must pray with yet fuller meaning, and go through with all the training needed at the Master's hands.  The iron must be tempered to steel, and his heart made stronger and more tender than others, through having loved and suffered more, with God.  He was pioneering a way in China, little as he or anyone else could imagine it, for hundreds who were to follow.  Every burden must be his, every trial known as only experience can teach it.  He who was to be used of God to dry so many tears, must himself weep.  He who was to encourage thousands in a life of childlike trust, must learn in his own case deep lessons of a Father's loving care.  So difficulties were permitted to gather about him, especially at first when every impression was vivid and lasting, difficulties attended by many a deliverance to encourage him.

As much of his usefulness later on was to consist in helping and providing for young missionaries, it is not to be wondered at that a large part of his preparation at this time had to do with financial matters and the unintentional mismanagement of the home Committee.  He had to learn how to do and how not to do for those who on the human side would be dependent on him; a lesson of vital importance, lying at the very foundation of his future work.  Hence all this trial about a small, settled income and large uncertain needs; about irregularity of mails and long-unanswered letters; about rapidly changing opportunities of service on the field, and the slow moving ideas and inaccessibility of Committees at home.  He did his best, and the inexperienced Secretaries in London did their best also.  But something, somehow, was wanting; and just what it was Hudson Taylor had to discover, and later on to remedy.  The iron was entering into his very soul; but from this long endurance was to spring heart's ease for many another.  (page 74)

I continue to be amazed by Taylor.  I also sense an emerging kindredship with this great man of God, as I, too, have been called to start a new work.  Not that I am anywhere near his stature in the Kingdom, but, oh how I long to listen and learn from his life...

Taking the Lord's name in vain...

I hate it when a director feels the need to fill their movie with the disrespectful and profane use of God's name.  That particular combination of words makes me cringe, probably more than any other.   I once had a boss who used this phrase in almost every other sentence.  It was so hard to be around that guy. 

You shall not take the name of the LORD you God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.  Exodus 20:7

The third commandment; right behind no other gods and carved images.  Given that context, surely God had more in mind than the Hebrew people's use of salty language.  Surely this is more than just a command to watch my mouth.

My good friend, John Willis Zumwalt, in his book, Passion for the Heart of God: Making His Heart Completely Yours, puts it like this:

"Don't cuss...it's vulgar, and besides you shouldn't take the Lord's name in vain," a thousand mothers have screamed...and then threatened a bar of soap.  If that were all there was to it, then we would have already mastered this original member of the Ten Commandments.

As a Christian (which really means a "little Christ" or a "little anointed one"), this becomes a troubling issue.  Much like marriage, the two are becoming one: Jesus and me.  When people see me, they see all they know of Christ.  I am the human representative of Christ, much like an ambassador.  But more than that, He lives in me, and I am His body - His hands and His feet.

Rev. Hal Perkins, my friend and former pastor, explained it to me this way; "The Lord's Name is His nature and character.  When we take His Name, we take His nature, His character, as our identity."  It is not so much that we need to put on a show for the world, but that the world will honor or despise the Name of Jesus because of our lives.  If we claim to know Him, yet persist in sin and self-rule, Christ is shamed, and we have taken the Name of the Lord in vain.  However, if we walk in the Spirit and live a life of His love and His holiness, then His Name is known and honored everywhere. (page 4)

I think John has it right.  The key words in the third commandment are take, name and vain.  Take, in this verse, means to lift up, to bear or carry, to support or sustain.  I think carry and sustain fit best, in this context.  Name means reputation, fame and glory.  I like all of those meanings.  Vain means emptiness, nothingness or worthlessness.  Again, all of those fit this context very well.  So, we could say that the third commandment means something like this:

Do not carry or sustain the reputation, fame and glory of God in emptiness, nothingness or worthlessness...

In other words, who we are is just as important, if not more so, than who we say we are.

Have you ever noticed the last half of the third commandment?  I think we would rather ignore this part.

...for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Reminds me of Jesus' words in the sermon on the mount:

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?" And then will I declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."  Matthew 7:21-23

What we do with our confession of Jesus is very important.  We are his ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).  Who we are, not just who we say we are, has eternal implications.  Is it enough to make the claim that Jesus is Lord, but never live as if he is?  Is it enough to give mental ascent to the right doctrine?  Is it enough to take a stand for what is right?  Is it enough to give lip service to the mandate to make disciples of all nations but then never actively do anything to do so?

These are questions we all need to ask.  I do not recall ever having said the type of words referred to in the opening paragraph of this post.  I am quite sure, however, that this does not exempt me from the warning at the end of the third commandment and in the sermon on the mount. 

Father, help me to know and to do your will...

Luther on discipleship...

Discipleship is not limited to what you can comprehend - it must transcend all comprehension.  Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own comprehension, and I will help you to comprehend even as I do.  Bewilderment is the true comprehension.  Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge.  My comprehension transcends yours.  Thus Abraham went forth from his father and not knowing whither he went.  He trusted himself to my knowledge, and cared not for his own, and thus he took the right road and came to his journey's end.  Behold, that is the way of the cross.  You cannot find it yourself, so you must let me lead you as though you were a blind man.  Wherefore it is not you, no man, no living creature, but I myself, who instruct you by my word and Spirit in the way you should go.  Not the work which you choose, not the suffering you devise, but the road which is clean contrary to all that you choose or contrive or desire - that is the road you must take.  To that I call you and in that you must be my disciple.  If you do that, there is the acceptable time and there you master is come.

Martin Luther, as quoted in The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1995 - Touchstone, page 93)

Chapter 5: China at Last (1853-1854)...

My dear friend Marty leaves for China tomorrow.  This Hudson Taylor post is dedicated to his mother.  It is worth it...

---

Hudson Taylor was finally leaving for China.  He sailed on a double-masted ship called the Dumfries.  The voyage would take almost six months. 

It was difficult for Taylor to leave his mother behind.  It was, perhaps, even more difficult for his mother.  Hudson writes of his feelings surrounding this goodbye:

My beloved mother had come over to Liverpool to see me off.  Never shall I forget that day, nor how she went with me into the cabin that was to be my home for nearly six long months.  With a mother's loving hand she smoothed the little bed.  She sat by my side and joined in the last hymn we should sing together before parting.  We knelt down and she prayed - the last mother's prayer I was to hear before leaving for China.  Then notice was given that we must separate, and we had to say good-bye, never expecting to meet on earth again.

For my sake she restrained her feelings as much as possible.  We parted, and she went ashore giving me her blessing.  I stood alone on deck, and she followed the ship as we moved toward the dock-gates.  As we passed through the gates and the separation really commenced, never shall I forget the cry of anguish wrung from that mother's heart.  It went through me like a knife.  I never knew so fully, until then, what "God so loved the world" meant.  And I am quite sure my precious mother learned more of the love of God for the perishing in that one hour than in all her life before.

Oh how it must grieve the heart of God when He sees His children indifferent to the needs of that wide world for which His beloved, His only Son suffered and died.

I see a lot of Hudson Taylor in Marty.  Today, I stood with Marty and blessed him.  I gave him a holy kiss and thanked him for going.  I reminded him that is was truly worth it.  Go, my friend.  Go, and may the kingdom follow your steps...

Standing in the gap...

Would you be willing to give up your salvation so that an entire people group could be made right with God?  I am not suggesting that this is theologically possible, but I do think it is a question we all need to ask.

I have been reading in Exodus.  This week I came to the story of the golden calf, in Exodus 32.  You remember the story.  Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to meet with God, but had not come down as quickly as the Hebrews thought he should.  They went to Aaron and requested that he make them gods that they could follow.  Aaron gathered up all of their golden earrings.  He threw all of the earrings into a fire and, poof, out popped a golden calf.  The Hebrews started worshiping the idol and they had a big party.  God told Moses what was going on and then said that he was going to destroy the Hebrews and start over with a great nation from Moses.  Moses stood in the gap for his people:

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.  Exodus 32:11-14

I have read this story many times and have always been intrigued by the fact that Moses changed God's mind.  I have not explored the theological implications of this, but it is truly amazing and it does speak to the impact our fervent prayers must have on God. 

I have read the rest of chapter 32 many times over the course of my life.  This week, however, I noticed something I haven't noticed before:

The next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin.  And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."  So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin.  They have made for themselves gods of gold.  But now, if you will forgive their sin - but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written."  Exodus 32:30-32

Did you get that?  Moses not only stood in the gap for his people, he also offered his own salvation in their place.  I immediately underlined this passage and wrote a note out in the margin:

Would I be willing to do this for Muslims, or Hindus, or Buddhists, or...?

The Holy Spirit then reminded me that Moses was not the only example of this kind of sacrificial prayer.  I remembered that Paul prayed a similar prayer.  It took me a day or two to find it, but Paul prayed this about his own people:

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.  Romans 9:1-3

I know what most of you are thinking, because I thought it too.  I mean, this is Moses and Paul and, well, these guys were spiritual superheroes and we can't be expected to live up to their standards, can we?  Oh, the slippery slope of dualistic thinking...

Father, help me to walk in this way.  Help me to love my neighbor as I love myself.  Here am I, send me.  Do your work among all Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and ALL who have yet to hear of your great love.  Do your work in me until my heart breaks with great sorrow and unceasing anguish for the unreached.  Father, forgive them, but if not, please blot me out of the book you have written...

Go here for a good place to begin praying for the unreached...

Thoughts on forgiveness...

There is a great post on forgiveness today over at Darryl's Blog.  What do you think?  When someone has wronged us, are we responsible to pursue their repentance?  Can forgiveness be complete without repentance?  Does reconciliation begin with forgiveness and end with repentance?  Good questions that we all need to wrestle with.  Anyone want to wrestle?

Chapter 4: The Lord Will Provide (1852-1853)...

Chapter 3 ended with Taylor making the decision to move to London to pursue additional medical training.  His desire was to use medicine as a tool to open doors for the gospel once he went to China.  Having made the decision to go to London, Taylor now was concerned with how to support himself while there.  The following is an excerpt from his journal on how he made the decision to trust God to meet all of his needs:

I felt that I could not go to China without having still further developed and tested my power to rest upon His faithfulness; and a marked opportunity for doing so was providentially afforded me.

My father had offered to bear all the expense of my stay in London.  I knew, however, that, owing to recent losses, it would mean a considerable sacrifice for him to undertake this just when it seemed necessary for me to go forward.  I had recently become acquainted with the Committee of the Chinese Evangelization Society, in connection with which I ultimately left for China.  Not knowing of my father's proposition, the Committee also kindly offered to bear my expenses while in London.  When these proposals were first made to me, I was not quite clear as to what I ought to do, and in writing to my father and the secretaries, told them that I would take a few days to pray about the matter before deciding any course of action.  I mentioned to my father that I had had this offer from the Society, and told the secretaries also of his proffered aid.

Subsequently, while waiting upon God in prayer for guidance, it became clear to my mind that I could without difficulty decline both offers.  The secretaries of the Society would not know that I had cast myself wholly on God for supplies, and my father would conclude that I had accepted the other offer.  I therefore wrote declining both, and felt that without anyone having either care or anxiety on my account I was simply in the hands of God, and that He who knew my heart, if He wished to encourage me to go to China, would bless my effort to depend upon Him alone at home.

Simply amazing.  Taylor sensed that he was going to need to draw deep from God while in China.  To prepare for this, he did what most would say was irresponsible.  How many of us would see two offers as God's confirmation of what we were doing and then choose the best deal?  Oh, to have the kind of faith and desire to go deep in my dependence on God.

Taylor went to London and God did provide for his every need.  During his training, however, he became very sick and nearly died.  He had to go back home to recover, which put his medical training on hold.  This led Taylor to decide not to pursue the medical training and to go to China as soon as possible.  Taylor did not know how this would happen, but God was at work. 

Great things were happening in China.  There was a revolution underway and the leader had been exposed to Christianity.  Many who had an interest in the evangelization of China believed that the doors were about to be wide open for the gospel.  In response to this excitement, the Committee of the Chinese Evangelization Society decided to start sending missionaries, fully trained or not.  Taylor was one of their choices.  The following letter was sent to Hudson Taylor in June of 1853:

17 Red Lion Square
June 4, 1853

My Dear Sir,

As you have fully made up your mind to go to China, and also not to qualify as a surgeon, I would affectionately suggest that you lose no time in preparing to start.  At this time we want really devoted men, and I believe your heart is right before God and your motives pure, so that you need not hesitate in offering.

I think you will find a difficulty in carrying out your plan (of self-support), as even Mr. Lobscheid could not get a free passage.  It is a very difficult thing to obtain.  The expense for a single man is about £60.  Might not the time you want to spend in acquiring a knowledge of Ophthalmics be spent more profitably in China?

If you think it right to offer yourself, I shall be most happy to lay your application before the Board.  It is an important step, and much earnest prayer is needed.  But guidance will be given.  Do all with thy might, and speedily.

I am, my dear sir, very truly yours,

Charles Bird

Hudson Taylor was on his way to China...

 

Thoughts on classic rock and discipleship...

I normally have a U2 CD playing in my 1996 Honda Passport with 154,043 miles and fading paint.  Recently, however, I have tuned in our local classic rock station.  I have been enjoying the reminiscent journey through my high school and college years.

Yesterday, my 11-year-old son Grant and I were driving around town to pick up the barbecue and related items we needed for our Super Bowl gathering.  He was a little upset that I didn't have U2 on, but I told him it was my car and I got to choose the music.  When he had his own car, he could choose.  (Don't read any anger in that statement.  It was just one of those matter of fact statements; you know, this is the way it is so accept it.)  He did.

I started calling out the artist and the name of the song, usually within the first few bars.  The more I did this, the more amazed was Grant.  After doing this five or six times, Grant and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Grant:    Dad, you are amazing.
Dad:        I'm glad you finally realized this.
Grant:    How do you know all of this?
Dad:        I grew up listening to this stuff.  It was an important part of my life.
Grant:    But, you aren't missing any of them.
Dad:        I'm glad you are surprised by how vast my knowledge and wisdom are.
Grant:    Dad. (said with that frustrated tone which indicates being annoyed)
Dad:        So you think your dad is pretty smart?  You're surprised to learn that your dad knows something you didn't know he knew?
Grant:    Well, of course. (said with that tone of duh...)
Dad:        So maybe you will remember that over the next few years as I try to guide you through life.  Maybe you will listen, because, just maybe your dad knows what he is talking about.
Grant:    Dad. (said with that same frustrating tone of being annoyed)
Dad:        Jackson Browne, Running on Empty!
Grant:    Ugh!

This morning I read this:

Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
for I give you good precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom; get insight;
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a graceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

Hear, my son, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.

My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

Proverbs 4

More thoughts on boxes...

I posted this on Tuesday.  I actually wrote it in 2004.  I had one of those Spirit nudges Monday night and posted it in obedience. 

When I wrote it I felt like I was living a life that was out of the box.  People would tell me all of the time that I was so out of the box.  I liked that, then.  Now, I don't really care.

My thinking about this whole box thing has changed a lot.  I do think we have boxes.  Maybe they could be called world views.  I also think it is important that we keep trying to expand our box.  Maybe this expansion could be called paradigmatic shifts.  But, it is neither the world view nor the paradigmatic shift that is important.  What is important is who is leading us.

Many of us hold on to our box.  We treasure it as if it were the Pearl of great price.  We will defend it to the death.  Many of us get a kick out of destroying our box and the boxes of others.  Our goal is to prove that we are outside of the traditional box.  This is nothing more than reactionary arrogance and it is not healthy. 

My desire is to simply follow Jesus.  As I follow him, my box is going to be stretched.  My understanding of so many things will need to be destroyed and replaced with the truth.  My world view will slowly be replaced with a Kingdom view.  The difference is, Jesus is the one doing the stretching and the destroying.  The Holy Spirit is teaching me and guiding me to the truth.  This is good.  This is right.  When I seek to do things myself, either defending my box or destroying my box, I am walking the wrong path.  I must follow Jesus and listen to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  Then, and only then, my box is being stretched in the right way.

I recently saw this cartoon from the folks over at The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus.  When the focus is the box, this is true.  When the focus is Jesus, well...

Playing with boxes...

Box: a rigid, typically rectangular receptacle, often with a cover.

What is it about a box that attracts us? As a kid I can remember playing with boxes of all sizes and shapes. I remember opening presents on Christmas or my birthday and being just as excited, if not more, about the box as I was about the toy. I vaguely remember my mom and dad being somewhat upset at the fact that I was more interested in the cardboard box than I was in the gift they had saved for and purchased in love. Now that I am a parent, I have experienced the feelings my folks must have had. What utter frustration to see more pleasure coming from the box than from the toy.

What makes these things made of cardboard so attractive to us? I think it partly has to do with definition, meaning how they are shaped. Boxes are typically well defined. We know how big or small they are. We understand the limits of boxes and know that a shoe box cannot be used to make a fort, unless we are playing with toy soldiers. We know exactly what we can use a box for and we know that stretching the limits of a box will do nothing but destroy it.  So, we are comfortable with boxes and their inherent limitations. A box is something that we can control and manipulate to be what we want it to be.

In Jesus, God has given us the gift of abundant life. He has given us a priceless treasure. He has given us the opportunity to be on mission. We have received a gift the depth of which can never fully be understood in this life.  Yet, many of us seem to be more interested in the box.  Many of us are more interested in playing with that which we can define and control.

It is a matter of faith versus sight. The gift of abundant life requires faith.  The life Jesus offers is one of adventure. It is one of excitement. It is one in which Jesus receives glory and honor. It is also one that requires faith. It is a life that asks us to build a boat for a flood when it has never rained. It is a life that asks us to sacrifice our son, through whom a great nation has been promised. It is a life that asks us to hold our staff over the Red Sea when the Egyptian army is bearing down on us. It is a life that asks us to step out of the boat and walk on water. It is a life that asks us to go and find a coin in the mouth of a fish. It is a life that asks us to die so that we might live. It is a life of faith.

Sight, on the other hand, is the box. This is how most of us accept the gift of God. We focus on what we can define. We focus on what we can see and understand. We focus on that which does not stretch our perceived limitations. We do this and then wonder what is meant by abundant life. We wonder why life just does not seem to be as exciting as what we read about in the Bible. How frustrating this must be to Father.

What is it that Father has recently asked you to do that stretches your sight? Step out in faith and trust God.  He really is trustworthy.  I can promise you that the gift is much better than the box...

Prophets...

Prophets yell because their hearts are on fire.
They scream at the world trying to wake us up.
They can't help it.
After all, God is in their throats.

Steven James

Chapter 3: From Faith to Faith (1851-1852)...

There are some amazing stories in this chapter; too many to share.  There is one, however, that stood out from the rest, at least for now.  I might post some more later.  Anyway, Taylor was living in Hull, receiving some medical training by working for a surgeon.  He had learned all he could and was beginning to get restless.  He wanted to go to London, believing that this was the next step in his preparation for China, however, circumstances seemed to stand in his way.  He could not find a job in London and he had no place to stay with only a handful of friends to even impose upon.  He strongly believed he should go, but could not see how it would work.  It is in this position of uncertainty that he wrote the following in a letter to his mother:

With regard to London, I began prayerfully to consider why I desired to take the step contemplated; and I believe my only object is that I may be enabled to serve the Lord better and be more useful in the advancement of His Kingdom.  This step I have every ground for thinking will be a valuable preparation for China.  Then why do I not take it?  Simply because I am in doubt about the wherewithal.  If my earthly father had offered to send me five or ten pounds in case of need, I should have resigned my position here without hesitation.  How much more should I go forward trusting in Him who says: "Take no thought, saying, 'What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?...Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.'  Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."

To go on depending on circumstances seems to me like doubting the Lord.  Consequently I gave notice to Dr. Hardey on Saturday last, and shall go up to London whether I obtain a situation or not, trusting in the Lord.  I have heard of one today and shall write about it, though I do not think it will suit me on account of distance from the hospital.  As to getting a salary, that is quite out of the question.  If I can find a position that will allow six or eight hours a day for lectures, that is all I can expect.

Why was Taylor able to make this decision, even though circumstances suggested he should not?  Because he believed God's word.  That is the simple and only explanation.  It wasn't irresponsible for Taylor to move to London.  It was a step of faith, based on the word of God.  Father, help me to learn this lesson, again and again...

Kiva...

I just made my fourth loan to someone in the developing world using a revolutionary new website called Kiva.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. When the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.  My plan is to leave the money that is paid back with Kiva and loan it out again.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Hameedan Allah Rakha in Pakistan. They still need another $225.00 to complete their loan request of $1,125.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this business off the ground by clicking here to make a loan to Hameedan Allah Rakha.

It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

I hope you will join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Thanks!

Eric

---------------------------------------------------------

What others are saying about Kiva:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'
-- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'
-- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'
-- The Wall Street Journal

'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.'
-- Entrepreneur Magazine

Chapter 2: The New Starting Point (1850-1851)...

There were two things that spoke to me in this chapter.  First, Taylor knew he was going to face difficulties in going to China.  He was single.  His denomination, the Methodists, did not have any work in China.  He had no money.  In the midst of these barriers Taylor maintained a faith in the God of the impossible.  He wrote in a letter to his sister:

I have not, as you know, the slightest idea how I shall go.  But this I know, I shall go, either alone or married.  I know God has called me to the work, and He will provide the means.

But who is to send me?  The Wesleyans have no station in China.  The Established Church have one or two, but I am not a Churchman, and would not do for them.  The Baptists and Independents have stations there, but I do not hold their views.  The Chinese Association is very low in funds.  So God and God alone is my hope, and I need no other.

The second is Taylor's pursuit of the Chinese language.  He had neither the funds to pay for a tutor nor the books from which to study.  All he had was a copy of the Gospel of Luke in Mandarin Chinese.  This excerpt from a letter to his sister Amelia explains how he was learning the language:

We find a short verse in the English version, and then look out a dozen or more (also in English) that have one word in common with it.  We then turn up the first verse in Chinese, and search through all the others for some character in common that seems to stand for the English word.  This we write down on a slip of paper as its probable equivalent.  Then we look all through the Chinese Gospel for this same character in different connections.  It occurs as a rule pretty frequently.  And if in every case we find the same word in the English version, we copy the character in ink into our dictionary, adding the meaning in pencil.  Afterwards, if further acquaintance shows it to be the true meaning, we ink that over also.  At first we made slow progress, but now we can work much faster, as with few exceptions we know all the most common characters.

I have begun to get up at five in the morning, and so find it necessary to go to bed early at night.  I must study if I mean to go to China.  I am fully decided to go, and am making every preparation I can.  I intend to rub up my Latin, to learn Greek and the rudiments of Hebrew, and to get as much general information as possible.

This put me to shame.  I have been studying Mandarin Chinese for three or four years now, and I have RosettaStone and all kinds of books and Chinese friends.  I have never had the devotion that Taylor had.  I pray that this will change...

Chapter 1: Set Apart Unto the Lord...

My favorite part of Chapter 1 was Hudson Taylor's testimony of his conversion, taken from his journal.  I will share it in full here:

My mother being absent from home, I had a holiday, and in the afternoon looked through my father's library to find some book with which to while away the unoccupied hours.  Nothing attracting me, I turned over a basket of pamphlets and selected from amongst them a Gospel tract that looked interesting, saying to myself, "There will be a story at the commencement and a sermon or moral at the close.  I will take the former and leave the latter for those who like it."

I sat down to read the book in an utterly unconcerned state of mind, believing indeed at the time that if there were any salvation it was not for me, and with a distinct intention to put away the tract as soon as it should seem prosy.

Little did I know at the time what was going on in the heart of my mother, seventy or eighty miles away.  She rose from the dinner table that afternoon with an intense yearning for the conversion of her boy; and feeling that, absent from home and having more leisure than she could otherwise secure, a special opportunity was afforded her of pleading with God on my behalf.  She went to her room and turned the key in the door, resolved not to leave the spot until her prayers were answered.  Hour after hour that dear mother pleaded, until at length she could pray no longer, but was constrained to praise God for that which His Spirit taught her had already been accomplished, the conversion of her only son.

I in the meantime had been led in the way I have mentioned to take up this little tract, and while reading it was struck with the phrase: "The finished work of Christ."

"Why does the author use this expression?" I questioned.  "Why not say the atoning or propitiatory work of Christ?"

Immediately the words "It is finished" suggested themselves to my mind.

"What was finished?"

And I at once replied, "A full and perfect atonement and satisfaction for sin.  The debt was paid for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

Then came the further thought, "If the whole work was finished and the whole debt paid, what is there left for me to do?"

And with this dawned the joyful conviction, as light was flashed into my soul by the Holy Spirit, that there was nothing in the world to be done but to fall down on one's knees and, accepting this Saviour and His salvation, praise Him for evermore.

Thus while my mother was praising God on her knees in her chamber, I was praising Him in the old warehouse to which I had gone alone to read at my leisure this little book.

Several days elapsed before I ventured to make even my sister the confidante of my joy, and then only after she had promised not to tell anyone.  When Mother returned a fortnight later I was the first to meet her at the door and to tell her I had such glad news to give.  I can almost feel that dear mother's arms round my neck as she said,

"I know, my boy."

"Why," I asked in surprise, "has Amelia broken her promise?  She said she would tell no one."

My mother assured me that it was not from any human source she had learned the tidings, and went on to tell the incident mentioned above.  You will agree with me that it would be strange indeed if I were not a believer in the power of prayer.

Nor was this all.  Some time after, I picked up a pocket-book exactly like my own and, thinking it was mine, opened it.  The lines that caught my eye were an entry in the little diary belonging to my sister, to the effect that she would give herself daily to prayer until God should answer in the conversion of her brother.  One month later the Lord was pleased to turn me from darkness to light.

Brought up in such a circle and saved in such circumstances, it was perhaps natural that from the commencement of my Christian life I was led to feel that the promises were very real, and that prayer was in sober matter of fact transacting business with God, whether on one's own behalf or on the behalf of those for whom one sought His blessing.

To have that kind of grasp on prayer...

J. Hudson Taylor: God's Man in China

One of my mights for the new year was to read more biographies.  This past Friday, a missionary couple that Every Nation is sending to China dropped off a box of books for me to hold until they return in three years.  I rummaged through the box to see what they had that I might want to read and found J. Hudson Taylor: God's Man in China, by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor.

I had recently been told that I would love Hudson Taylor because he was the kind of man who was willing to push the limits of conventional wisdom all for the purpose of advancing God's kingdom.  Sounds like my kind of guy.

All of this to say, I plan to read this biography and I plan to post an excerpt or quote or comment from each chapter.  Hope you don't mind...

 

What are we going to do today?

This cartoon, from the crazy folks at The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus, reminded me of something that happened several years ago.  I was in a position of needing a fairly large sum of money for a ministry project.  My former life, as a banker, meant that I had several friends and acquaintances who had access to large sums of money.  I made an appointment with one and went to visit him in his office.

We caught up on things and I shared my need.  He then looked at me and said something like this:

I like what you are saying, but before I can give I need to know your five-year ministry plan and how this project works to fulfill your plan.

I was shocked.  I didn't have a five-year ministry plan.  I had never even thought about having a five-year ministry plan.  I didn't know what to say.

I took a deep breath and offered up a quick prayer.  I opened my mouth and out spewed something like this:

My five-year ministry plan is this, to do my best to wake up every day and ask God what he wants me to do that day.  I figure if I am able to do this on a fairly consistent basis I will be exactly where God wants me to be in five years.

My friend smiled and said that he both understood and didn't understand, all at the same time.  He then pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check for a sizable donation.

This is still my five-year ministry plan.  Some days I am more successful than others.  I have learned that God is always waiting for me to ask, and as depicted in the cartoon, God is continually asking me to join him in what he is already doing...

The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing.  You can count on it.  From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it.  That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son.  I mean it.  Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.  John 14:12-14 (The Message)

Good cop/bad cop…

Page 186 of The Shack has a conversation between Mack and God that beautifully captures something so many of us struggle with.  For a little setup, let me share who Mack is from the back cover of the book:

Mackenzie Allen Phillips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon Wilderness.  Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare.  What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

The conversation begins with Mack…

But I always liked Jesus better than you.  He seemed so gracious and you seemed so…

Mean?  Sad, isn't it?  He came to show people who I am and most folks only believe it about him.  They still play us off like good cop/bad cop most of the time, especially the religious folk.  When they want people to do what they think is right, they need a stern God.  When they need forgiveness, they run to Jesus.

Exactly, Mack said with a point of his finger.

But we were all in him.  He reflected my heart exactly.  I love you and invite you to love me.

But why me?  I mean, why Mackenzie Allen Phillips?  Why do you love someone who is such a screw-up?  After all the things I've felt in my heart toward you and all the accusations I made, why would you even bother to keep trying to get through to me?

Because that is what love does…

I'll stop there, but know that the rest of God's answer is beautiful.

Don't we do this?  Don't we think of Jesus and God as good cop/bad cop?  I know that I did, and still do from time to time.  This mentality leads us to a performance based walk with God, in which we seek to impress God with our good behavior.   We constantly seek God's approval.  We live defeated lives because we are such screw-ups and we don't really believe that God could love someone like us.  Anyone relate?

Breaking through this lie is, to me, the first and greatest step in our spiritual growth as disciples.  For us to walk in freedom, we must believe that there is not one thing that we can do, say, not do or not say that will cause God's love for us to change.  We cannot cause God to love us more than he already does.  We cannot cause God to love us less than he already does.  God's love for us never changes.  What changes is our belief about God's love for us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)

Lost in translation...

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33

Have you ever noticed how Jesus seemed to exhort us to chase after two things?  We are to pursue both the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God.  Are these two separate things, a restatement of the same or a prescription of how one comes about?

My understanding of the kingdom of God starts with Jesus' teaching on prayer:

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:10

The kingdom of God is God's will being done, both in heaven and on earth.  To chase after the kingdom of God requires us to chase after God's will being done here on earth.   In other words, the kingdom of God looks like heaven on earth. N. T. Wright suggests that this prayer is a longing "for the kingdom of God to become fully present: not for God's people to be snatched away from earth to heaven, but for the glory and beauty of heaven to be turned into earthly reality as well" (Matthew for Everyone: Part One, page 59).

How do we do this?  How do we chase after God's will being done here on earth?  We pursue righteousness.  But what does that look like?

Righteousness is defined by W. E. Vine as "the character or quality of being right or just" (Vine's Concise Dictionary of the Bible, page 320).  Dictionary.com defines righteousness similarly, with the emphasis being on morality and right behavior.  My understanding of righteousness had always been comparable.  To chase after the kingdom of God had always meant to pursue my own morality and to teach others to do the same.  Unfortunately, this path often led me to judge those whose level of morality was not up to what I thought it should be. 

My study of the kingdom of God in recent years has challenged this understanding of righteousness.  If our understanding of the kingdom of God is limited to a future heaven, then our understanding of righteousness will most likely be limited to a pursuit of individual behavior that results in our being qualified for entrance into that future heaven.  If our understanding of the kingdom of God also includes the here and now, then our understanding of righteousness must be deeper than a pursuit of personal morality.  I say this because our pursuit of personal morality typically results in a judgmental spirit, which is certainly not God's will.

My journey took me to the original language.  I learned that the Greek word dikaiosynē can be translated into English as either righteousness or justice.  In other words, when the Bible translators come to dikaiosynē they have to make a choice because there is not a word in English that fully covers the meaning of dikaiosynē.

The justice of dikaiosynē carries a meaning of restoration and liberation.  This justice is the act of making things right; according to God's will.  It is the holistic return to what God intended in creation. 

We find the justice of dikaiosynē in feeding the hungry, in giving to the poor and in rescuing the oppressed.    We find this justice in loving the orphan and the widow.  We find this justice when we fight against human trafficking.  We find this justice when we peacefully stand in the way of violence and war.

This relatively new understanding has transformed my thinking about the here and now.  When I read or hear news stories about injustice I now listen through a kingdom of God perspective.  I now ask myself how the kingdom of God needs to come in this circumstance and how can I chase after it.  Sometimes I am simply led to pray for the will of God to be done; for God's justice to be known by those who are suffering.  Sometimes I am led to get involved through more than my prayers; by going, giving or taking action to seek justice.

My reading of scripture has also changed.  This understanding of the interconnectedness of righteousness and justice has caused me to replace the word righteousness with righteousness/justice. For example:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness/justice, and all these things will be added to you.  Matthew 6:33

and

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness/justice, for they shall be satisfied.  Matthew 5:6

and

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness/justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:10

My prayer is that you will join me in chasing after the kingdom of God by chasing after the righteousness/justice of God; always in a spirit of mercy and grace. 

Tribal Leader Joe...

I have another question from a good friend.  She asked this question:

This is completely "out of the blue", I know, but I seem to be working in that fashion lately...  I have this question that I am trying to answer about what I believe...it is...what if someone dies who has NEVER had the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus?  This is sad...but I have not given that much thought really until recently.  I know we are to go unto all the earth...I get that...but what if between now and then...Tribal Leader Joe out in the middle of nowhere land who has never heard the name of Jesus dies?  I am not sure what I think about this?  Part of me knows that everyone in some way has the opportunity to know God...whether through seeing creation and such...but how do they hear about Jesus...dreams...yes???  Okay...I know you all have a million things going on so just when you have a chance to share your thoughts.  Thanks! 

The following is my quickly drafted reply as I was on my way to China the next day.  Let me know your thoughts on my answer...

I think the first thing I think when asked this question is something like this:

"Hey, where is Tribal Leader Joe?  Let's go find him and tell him!"

I guess that is just the missionary in me.  But, it is a real question and one that most of us have wrestled with.  So, here is my take.

First, I think the Bible is very clear that Jesus is the only way to the Father:

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  John 14:6

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Even for the folks in the Old Testament, faith in Jesus was the only way to the Father:

Just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Galatians 3:6  (see the rest of chapter 3 for Paul's discussion on what Abraham's faith was in; the promised seed of Genesis 12:3)

Faith that leads to righteousness has always been in and though Jesus.

So, what about those who have never heard?

Well, some would suggest that a positive move toward a supreme being is enough.  This might be called general revelation.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made... Romans 1:18-20

God has revealed who he is to all of creation.  Yet, verse 20 concludes like this: 

So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20 

And, verses 21-23 go on as follows: 

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

So, general revelation is not enough.  Everyone knows there is an eternal, all-powerful God, even if they won't admit it or deny it.  Because we have ALL denied it, God is justified in his eternal wrath.

OK, what about some other way besides having Jesus preached to the man in the jungle?  This might be called special revelation.  A definition of special revelation would be:

God's communication of himself at specific times in specific ways with specific truths in order to reconcile specific individuals and communities with himself. (The Revelation of God Among the Unevangelized: by Christopher Little - page 47 - I would suggest you purchase book if you want to dig a little deeper.)

Some examples of God revealing himself in a special way, for the sake of salvation, are:  Eve - Genesis 3:15; Abraham - Genesis 12:1-3; Paul - Acts 9:1-9; and I'm sure there are others, but probably not very many.  I have met Muslims who have had dreams in which Jesus appeared to them and said to follow him, not Muhammad.  However, most of these Muslims end up hearing the gospel from someone else before they come to faith in Jesus. 

Let me sum up this rapidly written and disorganized answer.  I think that God can do whatever he wants.  If God wants to reveal Jesus to the man in the jungle, he can do it.  This is mysterious, sure, but God is God and he can do what he wants.  However, this mystery does not excuse us from what we know we are to do.

What we do know for sure is that we have been given the opportunity to join in God's work of revealing Jesus as the way, the truth and the life.  I also believe that we will be held accountable for what we do with this knowledge. 

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.  If you say, "Behold, we did not know this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?  Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?  Proverbs 24:11-12

Finally, a couple of my favorite quotes on this subject are as follows:

No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once. -- Oswald J. Smith

Someone asked, "Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved?"  It is more a question with me whether we, who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved. -- Charles Spurgeon

Hope this helps.  Keep asking these kinds of questions.  It is good and wise.

Until ALL Have Heard,

Eric

A question from a friend...

I recently received an email from a good friend.  She asked this question: 

Hi Eric,

Hope this email finds you well.  I have a question I've wanted to ask for some time now.  I'm intrigued by the reports of demons being driven out of some of the folks being ministered to through the people you've trained. Like it's been mentioned before, it's right out of Acts and the gospels!  What does it look like in person?  How would one know that another is possessed by a demon...let alone how to drive out the demon (except through mimicking the methods mentioned in the Bible!)?  Each time I read about it, I'm curious...so finally I'm asking!  Thanks in advance for your answer.

I have thought about the best way to answer this because my experience is fairly limited.  I have decided to share a couple of stories, basically the only two that I have, and I will conclude with some additional thoughts.

The first time I saw someone delivered from a demon was in India.  We had just concluded a training session and people were coming forward for prayer.  A young girl, probably in her late teens or early twenties, came forward and requested prayer.  She was a beautiful young girl; very attractive and very confident of her appearance.  She requested prayer and immediately she was surrounded by several folks.  The fervent prayer began.   They were praying in Hindi, which I do not speak, so my understanding of what was going on was very limited.  I stood in the midst of them and prayed as well; asking for God to bless this young girl.  As the prayer continued I knew from the little Hindi I did understand that the words in Jesus' name were being repeated over and over.  As this went on, the girl's body began to writhe and her facial expression looked as if she was in great pain.  This went on for maybe a minute or two and then her countenance changed to one of joy and peace and the prayer shifted from in Jesus' name to thank you Jesus.  When the prayer time was complete, the girl left the building and I looked at my Indian partners and asked what had just happened.  They told me that the girl had been tormented by a spirit of sensuality for some time and she had asked to be delivered.  I didn't ask for any further explanation.  It was just too real to question.

The second time I saw someone delivered from a demon was here in the US.  A friend of mine had been fighting a drug addiction.  I was visiting with him one afternoon in his house and he began to tell me about his friends.  He told me he had several friends and that they constantly tormented him.  I asked him if he had ever seen them and he said he had seen their reflection in the TV screen, but only when the TV was turned off.  I could sense through the Holy Spirit that this was real and I asked him if his friends had ever told him their names.  He said no.  I told him that I knew their names and through the power of the Spirit and in the name of Jesus I could command them to leave him.  He thought about it and said maybe later and I did nothing.  This was truly one of those moments where the Spirit took over and I did not know what I was saying.  I was simply being a vessel through which the Spirit could work.  My friend called me about two weeks later and asked me to meet him at a park.  He was very low that day.  We were sitting across a picnic table from each other and he was looking down at the ground.   The Spirit took over again and I began to speak to  my friend.  I began to call out the names of his friends and commanded them, in the name of Jesus, to leave.  As I spoke, my friend's head jerked up and he looked at me with an intensity I will never forget.  I was not afraid, but I knew I was not speaking to my friend; rather I was speaking to his friends.  The first name I called was the spirit of mind control followed by the spirit of self hatred.  There were others, but I honestly do not remember how many or the names.  I calmly, but boldly, told them that in the name of Jesus they did not have any authority over my friend and they were no longer welcome and they had to leave him alone.  My friend continued to stare at me the entire time I was praying, but, there was no contortion of his face or body or anything crazy that you might imagine.  When I finished praying my friend looked at me and thanked me.  I could tell I was talking with him then.  We went our separate ways.  His pregnant (8 months) wife called me later that night and told me that he had gone back to the crack house and she asked me to go and get him out.  I called another friend and we started driving toward where we had been told the crack house was when his wife called and said to just come to the house because she had gone to get him.  We drove to his house and spent a couple of hours talking and praying.  He thanked me for what I had done earlier that day but suggested that it did not work since he had given in to temptation and gone back to the crack house.  I went home feeling defeated and even foolish.  Two weeks later my friend called me and asked me to pray for him.  He said he wanted to give his life to Jesus but he was afraid.  I began to pray and asked the Holy Spirit to overwhelm him.  As I prayed, my friend began to pray.  I stopped and listened as my friend confessed his need for forgiveness and his need for Jesus.  For the first time, my friend was in his right mind.  That night, over the phone, he became a Jesus follower.  He has been clean from drugs for six months now and is doing very well.  In spite of my earlier feelings of failure and foolishness I am now convinced that my friend was delivered from demons that day at the park.

That's it.  That is the sum total of my experience with demon deliverance, not counting the times I have cast the devil out of my computer or TV or any other complex piece of machinery that was vexing me at the time.

The context of my spiritual upbringing was one in which anything that could be labeled charismatic was viewed with skepticism.  There seemed to have been a fear of excess and the answer was, I now think, to go too far the other way.  The result, for me at least, was both doubt about the genuineness of these types of things combined with no telling how many lost opportunities to help people find true peace and restoration.  However, my experiences overseas shattered my paradigm, so I am now seeking a balance between the fear of all things charismatic and the excess I have seen in some of the televangelists and other places.  This journey has changed the way I read the Bible.

Now, when I read that Jesus told his disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons (Matthew 10:7-8) I see that he was instructing us as well.  I see that we have been sent out under the authority of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) and that this authority includes the same authority Jesus gave the twelve when he sent them out to minister (Luke 9:1-2).  I also see a warning to us regarding a need to be balanced and not to become obsessed or too dramatic:

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"  And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.  Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."  Luke 10:17-20

Balance is my goal when it comes to these kinds of things.  I do not believe in magical formulas or power encounters.  I also do not believe we need to go looking for demons to cast out.  I do believe that people are walking in captivity and need to be set free.  I also believe that we have been given the authority to set them free, but the focus must always be on Jesus, because he is the one who has made it all possible.

I want to close with a quote from Grace, who has written about these things here:

When we understand that God is on our side, that He came up with the plan for us to be free, and that, more than anything, He wants us to be free; we come to a place of trusting Him and of accepting His help and power to become free.  In my experience as a charismatic, I have seen some pretty bizarre things in the area of deliverance. However, in the midst of the messiness and hype, I also saw people experience genuine healing and freedom.  I would like to see inner healing and deliverance removed from the realm of the weird and wacky and brought to a place of normal transformational experience in the life of believers.  There is a supernatural experience of healing and deliverance available to all of us. The end result of our healing and deliverance is shalom - the wholeness and completeness that God desires for us, and Sabbath - a place of rest from our striving.

This shalom and Sabbath is what I saw in the face of the young girl in India.  It is what I see every time I see my friend who had the friends.  This shalom and Sabbath is available and we have been given the authority to walk in it and to help others to do the same.  This shalom and Sabbath is part of what we are asking for when we ask, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). 

I believe; help my unbelief!

Eric

The hope that is in you...

I am almost finished with the final paper for my Biblical Foundations of Mission class.  One of my sources is the book New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical Perspectives, by Johannes Nissen.  You can see my review of this book here.  While doing my research I ran across this quote that I had highlighted:

The usual way of perceiving evangelism is the Christians - especially those gifted for preaching - go out and tell the non-Christians about the good news.  In 1 Pet. 3:15, however, it is the non-Christians who begin the conversation.  The readers are told that they will be questioned and challenged by their non-Christian neighbours and that they have to give account of their hope.

The hope of the early Christians was that Christ is Lord and that his cause would win.  This hope became visible in their daily life.  Their priorities obviously differed from those of the people surrounding them.  They were even ready to suffer and die for that hope.  Such a visible hope astonished or irritated their neighbours and colleagues.  So questions arose, not only friendly questions, but also accusations.  Christians were summoned before the judge.

In the early church mission was thus not only an organized activity by especially gifted persons such as Paul.  It was much more the spontaneous and non-aggressive "gossiping of the gospel" by ordinary Christians in the course of their daily life.  And the secret of it all was the hope which had become visible in the life of the Christians (page 153).

I recently started reading unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity... and Why It Matters, by David Kinnaman.  This book is the latest research by The Barna Group.  Kinnaman has identified six broad themes (pages 29-30) that are present among the sixteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds in our culture.  These are as follows:

Christians are hypocritical.

Christians are too focused on getting converts.

Christians are antihomosexual.

Christians are sheltered.

Christians are too political.

Christians are judgmental.

Kinnaman says we have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for (page 26). 

Looks like we are not doing a very good job of giving a reason for the hope that is in us...

Perhaps our hope has been placed in the wrong things...

Until ALL Have Heard,

Eric

Dreams and visions...

I am writing the final paper for my Biblical Foundations of Mission class.  It is due next Friday, December 7.  My thesis statement is as follows:

The thesis of this paper is that God uses both dreams and visions to expand his kingdom; therefore, the people of God should both expect and ask for dreams and visions as we participate in the missio Dei.

I will be looking at four stories as I defend my thesis.  These are the story of Jacob from Genesis 28:10-17, the story of Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 2-4, the story of Peter and Cornelius from Acts 10-11, and the story of Paul and the Macedonian call from Acts 16:6-10.  When you read these stories, what do you see?

Eric
 

Bearing one's cross...

I have been reading The Politics of Jesus, by John Howard Yoder.  Chapter 6 is a wonderful discussion of discipleship and walking in the way of Jesus.  Yoder makes the following comments on the topic of what it means to bear one's cross:

The cross of Christ was not an inexplicable or chance event, which happened to strike him, like illness or accident.  To accept the cross as his destiny, to move toward it and even to provoke it, when he could well have done otherwise, was Jesus' constantly reiterated free choice.  He warns his disciples lest their embarking on the same path be less conscious of its costs (Luke 14:25-33).  The cross of Calvary was not a difficult family situation, not a frustration of visions of personal fulfillment, a crushing debt, or a nagging in-law; it was the political, legally-to-be-expected result of a moral clash with the powers ruling his society.  Already the early Christians had to be warned against claiming merit for any and all suffering; only if their suffering be innocent, and a result of the evil will of their adversaries, may it be understood as meaningful before God (1 Peter 2:18-21; 3:14-18; 4:1, 13-16; 5:9; James 4:10). (Page 129)

Yoder is essentially saying that the cross we bear is our identification with the suffering of Jesus.  It is our willingness to engage the powers and authorities in a way that results in our suffering, even to the point of death.  Yoder is not arguing that this engagement of the powers and authorities ever take the form of the world, meaning violence and deception.  He suggests that "servanthood replaces dominion, forgiveness absorbs hostility." (Page 131)

So, what do you think?  Have you ever used the phrase "bearing one's cross" in such a way?  Can it mean something more than suffering in the way of Christ for the sake of his kingdom or have we "trivialized" it over the years?  What does bearing one's cross mean to you?

Until ALL Have Heard,

jeg

Fast food on hold...

My friend Kris posted today that he is going to give up fast food.  What a great idea.  I've thought about it but haven't had the guts.  Kris, I think I'm going to give it a try. 

I love fast food.  I love cheeseburgers.  I love french fries.  I love anything greasy and bad for you.  I'm 42, I weigh too much and I have a family history of heart disease.

I need to keep myself in a position to travel around the world five or six times per year.  Fast food doesn't help.  In fact, it hurts.

So, those of you who know me and love me and see me on a regular basis, as of December 1, I'm going to give it a try.  Pray for me...

Until ALL Have Heard,

jeg

Purpose?

I was going through some old files today and found this article I wrote in late 2004.  It spoke to me as I read it so I thought I would post it.  jeg

---

Much has been said and written recently on purpose.  It seems that Christians everywhere are looking for purpose.  Why are we here?  What is God’s will for my life?  What is it all for?  Is there any meaning?  Can you relate?

Would you allow me to be so bold as to say that I know my purpose, I know your purpose and I know the purpose of every Christian?  Stick with me!

The 15th chapter of John records one of the last teaching times of Jesus.  He was hanging out with His disciples.  Jesus had just washed His disciples’ feet.  They had just eaten the Passover meal.  Judas had just left to cut his deal with the Chief Priests.  Jesus knew that His time on this earth was drawing to a close.  He was imparting some of the most basic and most important truths that He gave to His disciples, and to us.  This chapter holds the key to our purpose.  It holds the clear teachings of Jesus Christ on why we are here.  This teaching can be summed up in three words; Remain in Christ.

Jesus used this phrase five times in the first eight verses of this chapter.  “Remain in me,” He said, and you “will bear much fruit.”  “Remain in me,” He said, and “ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”  He goes on to tell us in verse 8 that bearing “much fruit” is a sign of being His disciple.  He also tells us that bearing “much fruit” is to His Father’s glory.  My paraphrase of what Jesus was saying would be, “Hey guys, do you want to glorify my Father?  Then remain in me and bear much fruit.”

So, let’s back into this.  Do you want your life to glorify God?  I am assuming that you are nodding yes as you read this.  According to Jesus’ teachings in these verses the way to glorify God is to bear “much fruit.”  Notice that He did not say that bearing fruit or some fruit glorifies God.  It is “much fruit” that we are after.  Let’s keep going.  How do we bear “much fruit?”  Jesus tells us in verse 5, “I am the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  Do you see how clear that is?  Remain in Christ and you will bear much fruit, and God will be glorified in and through your life. 

I think it is incredibly interesting that Jesus did not give us a list of things to do.  He did not tell us to go out and be missionaries.  He did not tell us to go out and witness.  He did not tell us to give our tithe.  He did not tell us to be good, moral citizens.  He did not tell us a list of things to do in order to bear much fruit and glorify the Father.  He did not give us a program to follow.  No, He told us to hang out with Him.  He told us to stay connected to Him.  He told us to remain or abide in Him.  This, my friends, is our purpose in life as Christians.  Any other purpose will result in nothing.  Any other purpose will not bear much fruit.  Any other purpose will not bring glory to God.

Do you see how this works?  When we remain in Christ we are able to allow Jesus to live through us.  When we remain in Christ, knowing His will is not an issue.  We will simply be in and do His will.  When we remain in Christ we will be exactly where He wants us to be.  When we remain in Christ we will know exactly what He wants us to do.  When we remain in Christ we will obey His commands.  When we remain in Christ, we will bear much fruit and God will be glorified.  This is my purpose.  This is your purpose.  This is the purpose of every Christian.

So what does it mean to remain in Christ?  Some translations use the word “abide.”  Another translation uses “dwell.”  Here is how John 15:5 reads from The Message; "I am the Vine, you are the branches.  When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant.  Separated, you can't produce a thing.”  I like that.  To remain in Christ is to be in relation with Him.  It is a relationship that is intimate.  It is a relationship that is organic.  It is a relationship that is alive and growing. 

If remaining in Christ is the Christian’s purpose in life, wouldn't you want to know how to do this?  The answer I have found is to hang out with Jesus.  Spend time with Him.  Any vibrant, growing and intimate relationship requires time.  This means we must spend time in the Word.  We must read it.  We must meditate on it.  We must study it.  We must memorize it.  We must do all of these things and then do them again.  We must also talk with Him.  We must converse.  We must ask Him to reveal His Truth to us.  We must ask Him to show us things in His Word that we have never seen before.  We must ask Him to help us overcome our unbelief.  We must tell Him where we are and ask Him where we should be.  Finally, we must wait on Him.  We must wait on Him to show us where to go, what to do and when to do it.  We must wait on Him to lead us.  We must wait on Him to guide us.  We must never get out in front of Him and ask Him to bless us.  We must wait on Him.

You may be thinking, “But my life is crazy.  My life is busy.  My life is hectic.  I don’t have the time to make time.” 

I know.  So was mine.  So is mine.  However, what I have learned and experienced is this; when I spend time with Jesus, much fruit happens.  When I do not spend time with Jesus, nothing happens.  It is cut and dry.  It is black and white.  It is God’s Word.  There is no other way.  It is my purpose.  It is your purpose.  It is the purpose of every Christian.  Remain in Christ and you WILL bear much fruit!  Remain in Christ and the Father WILL be glorified!  Any other purpose leads to nothing!

Planks in our eyes...

I was talking to my friend Sam the other day.  We were talking about how quick we often are to judge others.  Of course, we went to Jesus' mountain side sermon to back up our thoughts:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  Matthew 7:1-5 NIV

I told Sam that the image that came into my mind every time I read that passage was one of those privacy fence planks.  I said that I had a couple of those privacy fence planks that I had worked an old knothole out of and that is what allowed me to look at others and judge them.  The above picture is Sam's quick rendition of my mental picture.  Not bad!

What brought this discussion on, at least what I was thinking when I brought it up, was a song by Derek Webb on his I See Things Upside Down recording.  The song is called "I Repent" and the lyrics are powerful:

i repent

words and music by derek webb

i repent, i repent of my pursuit of america's dream
i repent, i repent of living like i deserve anything
of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
in our suburb where we're safe and white
i am wrong and of these things i repent

i repent, i repent of parading my liberty
i repent. i repent of paying for what i get for free
and for the way i believe that i am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
i am wrong and of these things i repent

bridge
i repent judging by a law that even i can't keep
of wearing righteousness like a disguise
to see through the planks in my own eyes

i repent, i repent of trading truth for false unity
i repent, i repent of confusing peace and idolatry
by caring more of what they think
than what i know of what we need
by domesticating you until you look just like me
i am wrong and of these things i repent

Man, what a song!  How often do we do that?  How often do we trade sins for others that are easier to hide?  How often do we compare ourselves to others who have more "visable sins" and think, "hum..., I'm not doing that bad."  For me, too often. 

Father, I repent.   

Until ALL Have Heard,

EG