Out of Touch

Well...by the date of my last post you can tell that I have been out of touch. I plan to begin posting again in the New Year. I am looking forward to attending the Covenant MidWinter conference in Chicago at the end of January. The topic has to do with the formation of Christ-like Character as a pastor. The main speakers include Gordon McDonald and Miroslav Volf. It should be good!

Thanks for checking back to see what I have posted. Have a Merry Christmas, and I'll touch base in 2008.

~ Jeff

Journey Class ~ 4 ~ Transformation & Life in the Spirit

In our class in week 4 we focused our attention on how transformation happens in our lives through the abiding presence of the life-giving Spirit. We spent some time reflecting on the focus of transformation. We used Scot McKnight's imagery of transformation being the process of being restored from broken eikons to whole eikons.

As we explored the Scriptures we came to realize that transformation into the likeness of Jesus happens in the presence of three factors ~ human effort, the power of the Holy Spirit, in the context of community. Taking away any of these three factors and we miss transformation.

We also took time to explore the Classical Christian understanding of steps on this journey of transformation ~ Awakening, Purgation, Illumination, and Union. We concluded with this quote from Adele Calhoun, "Spiritual practices exist to open us into God. They are never the "be all and end all" of discipleship. The "be all and end all" is a loving trust of and obedience to the God who is within us yet beyond us and our very best efforts."

Journey Class ~ 3 ~ The Gospel and Transformation

In Mark 13:10, Jesus said "The gospel must first be preached to all nations." Whatever, the Gospel is, apparently it is so important that it must be announced to all people groups before the Kingdom will be established in its fullness. If the Gospel/Good News is this important to Jesus, then it is worth our time to find out what the good news was that he was bringing.

We spent time in Class 3 looking at the ways we commonly define or describe the Gospel. To that end, we looked at what Dallas Willard calls 'The Gospel of Sin Management,' and how that myopic view of the Gospel leaves us with an incomplete understanding of what Jesus was doing as he announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

In contrast to the Gospel of Sin Management, we read these words from Jesus in Luke 4:43. "I must preach the good news [gospel] of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." The Gospel of the Kingdom was Jesus' message which speaks good news into the situation in which we find ourselves - a life of fractured relationships with God, Self, Others, and the World.

We concluded our class by asking this question: "What part does transformation play in the Gospel?" to that end we looked at Jesus call to become his disciples, to be born again, to become lovers of God and people, to be renewed as image bearers, and to live lives in union with God ~ Father, Son and Spirit.

As we conluded our time together, we came away with a realization that the Gospel which Jesus announced is so much more than simply where we go when we die. While that is certainly a good question, it is not the sum of the Gospel.

The late Robert Webber wrote in his book Ancient-Future Faith, "When I discovered the universal and cosmic nature of Christ, I was given a key to a Christian way of viewing the whole world, a key that unlocked the door to a rich storehouse of spiritual treasures." I believe that today we were issued our key!

Journey Class ~ 2 ~ The Mission of God and Gospel

We laid a foundation for the remaining classes with our topic for class 2. We spent time reflecting on this question, "What is God doing in our world?" We really covered a lot of Biblical material in this class - beginning with God's good creative work in Genesis 1 & 2 and wrapping up with a sneek peak of a restored creation in Revelation 21 & 22.

I left our group with a question to answer during the week. "What is the Gospel?"

The sheer volume of the material in Class 2 left our heads swimming, but in those feelings of being overwhelmed we interestingly found new space to reimagine the Mission of God in our world. It can be a challenge to pry open spaces in our thinking in order to create incubators for new life to be born - and that was the challenge of Class 2.

Sharpened by a Friend

In Proverbs 27:17 the wise man wrote, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Developing that kind of friendship takes work and plenty of time, and when you are fortunate enough to arrive at that place where your friend not only is a supportive presence but also a challenging partner in transformation - you are blessed.

I have been blessed with a few friends like this in my lifetime. One such friend is Jeff Caylor. Jeff and I met in Colorado and worked together at a media agency. Jeff is a creative dude, a skillful songwriter and muscian, and a superb backpacking compatriot. He hasn't had his cake handed to him on a silver platter, and he's walked through more than his share of hurt. And out of this interesting menagerie of personality, talent, and life experience, God has shaped a man like King David who has a heart for the divine.

I asked Jeff if I could repost something he posted on his blog a week ago. He titled it "The Divine Process." Enjoy!
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"The Divine Process"
by Jeff Caylor

I was listening to an interview on the radio last week with Phil Collins. Whatever you think about him today, the man was a mega-star in the eighties. After departing the band Genesis, he recorded his first solo project called Face Value. He said in the interview that if he hadn’t gotten divorced, he would have never written that album, or the outtake, throw-away piece that never made it to the final master called “How Can You Sit There.” That song was later reworked and renamed. You know it as “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” his first #1 song in the US. Seriously. Up from the ash and rubble of a divorce, springs a 25-year, successful, solo music career.

Great for Phil Collins, you’re thinking. But it doesn’t do me any good. Really? You mean you never heard that (or another) song on the radio and wanted to turn it up and cry your eyes out because the one from high school that you knew was more than a friend told you she just wants to be friends? You didn’t secretly sing the words to yourself when your college sweetheart called things off? Or, sitting in your car, after another night of questioning life and trying to make sense of why you have to let go of all those memories, you didn’t wonder how Phil Collins could have found such insight into the nature of love and pain when he wrote that song? You could swap out any song about unrequited love in any genre and I’m willing to bet there’s an equally painful story behind it.

Mostly, the Phil Collins story is about redemption, to me. To be honest, I don’t know anything about Phil’s faith, but when I hear a pop song on the radio about love (or lost love, most often), I am instantly transported to the pain and hardship it required to pen those words. Words that transcend time and space and elicit memories and emotions and pain and joy in another person. Words that represented HOPE to the artist. I think about the divine process of art. Art, the Story, is something created by God and He uses whom He chooses to tell it. This process takes the pain, hope, tragedy, joy, shock and mundane of life and makes magic out of it. It shares an experience that heals both the artist and the recipient. But it’s not just about the finished product.

When Noah landed the ark, most people think it was just a few days before he and the animals walked down the ramp to a brand, spanking new earth. Unfortunately, it takes a lot longer for floodwaters to retreat than for the rain to fall. According to Genesis, they waited on the ship for several months before the bird returned with an olive branch. That’s a long time to hope. I imagine Noah and his family saved a plank from the ship, or maybe the original olive branch, as a testament to what they had been through. Something that lasted for generations to remind people of God’s faithfulness. A keepsake.

Some songs are like that.

But to me (and many other artists I’m sure), art born from pain is more than a keepsake. It represents Ground Zero–the starting point, not the ending point. The arrow that points back to an intricate, inexplicable process that has brought me to today. And if nothing else, it’s the buoy that subtly reminds me of an imminent, hope-filled shoreline just beyond the fog.

Journey Class ~ 1 ~ Purpose & Intro

This morning we began our Journey together with a group of 10 people. Over these 8 weeks, we will be partnered with Traveling Companions with whom we will be building relationships as we discuss the material, and as we pray for one another during the week.

The purpose of The Journey class flows right out of our mission statement:

To glorify God, by being transformed into the likeness of Jesus

through authentic and loving relationships

and by continuing God's mission in our world.

During our time together, we discussed both the cultural views and our personal views of what it means to be a Christian, and what it means to be a church. We noticed quite a difference in these two perspectives, and I think we'll even find some difference between our personal views and the Gospel of Jesus as we go along.

During a time of getting to know our Traveling Companions, an interesting observation was made. One person noted that while they thought they knew everyone at the table, through their interactions, they came to realize that they didn't even know everyone's last name. It is much easier to stay at a friendly but surface level of relationship, even in the church, than to go deeper in knowing and being known. I trust that we will grow in this way through our times together.

The Journey

As a part of our journey to become a people who actively pursue "transformation into the likeness of Jesus," we have developed a study that we are not so creatively calling The Journey. This 8 week study begins this week, and will cover topics such as "The Mission of God and the Gospel," "The Holy Spirit and the Way of Peace," and "The Missional Church."

The Journey is a part of our process of membership, but is not focused on "membership class" topics. It is our goal to have all of our current members go through The Journey within a 2 year time span, as well as those who are interested in committing themselves to our community in formal membership. We are praying that these studies will help us to draw together as a community of Jesus followers who are actively joining God in his mission in our world.

Over the next 8 weeks, I will be posting an outline of what we will studying, as well as a summary of what we are seeing and hearing from the Spirit through our time together.

Symbols & Substance

Symbols can speak powerfully without a word spoken. For example, what does this symbol communicate?

Peace? Compassion? Probably not. For most of us, this symbol stands for brutality, ethnic cleansing, and hate. But would you be surprised to find out that the 'swastika' did not originate with Hitler's Nazi movement? The words 'swastika' actually comes from Sanskrit and means "well being." It has been commenly used by Hindus and Buhdist to symbolize well being. In fact it wasn't until 1920 that the swastika gained its current meaning in the West as a symbol of cruelty.

Symbols have been used throughout human history as a way to communicate, even when a group of people do not have a developed language. As long as there is a commonly understood meaning, symbols can be great ways to share a message to both friend and foe. (For example: the White Flag of surrender)

Christians are no different than any other group of people when it comes to the use of symbols. Art work from the period of the early Church shows us that the Ichthus or "Jesus Fish" was a well known and used symbol of the faith. This symbol was used to identify a person as a follower of Jesus because the Greek letters that spell the word ICTHUS are an acronym for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior." This was a way to declare one's loyalty to Jesus without using words. And as long as other followers of Jesus knew the symbol then the message was successfully communicated. Of course, another advantage of using the symbol was so that your enemies would not know what the symbol meant unless you told them!

The Roman Emporer Canstintine made the Labarum symbol famous. This combination of the these two Greek letters which begin the title "Christ" in Greek were used by Constantine as a symbol of victory. It appears in numerous symbols and coins of Constantine's era, as well as being adopted in Greek Orthodox and other eccelisial banners. This symbol of victory in Christ can be powerful to those who believe, although to the conquered peoples under Constantine's reign it was a sign of conquest and domination. Symbol is powerful, but it might not communicate to everyone the message that you desire!

If you look closely at this painting of the "Seige of Antioch" during the First Crusade you will notice another powerful symbol - The Crusade Cross. During the crusades, which were initially motivated by a desire to retake the city of Jerusalem from Muslim rule, the Crusade Cross was flown as a flag by the advancing armies as well as worn on the chests of the soliders. At times the Cross was emblazoned on their shields as well. For the Crusaders this was a powerful symbol that God was with them and would bring them victory in what they viewed as a holy and just war. To the opposing army, the Crusade Cross was a sign of violence and bloodshed. Isn't it interesting how the Cross became a symbol for war and conquest?

In 1897, a Brooklyn Sunday School Superintendt by the name of Charles Overton gave an impromtu lesson to his students because the schedule speaker was not able to come. Looking for ideas, his eyes fell on the American flag in the room. He decided to ask his students what a 'Christian Flag' might look like if they constructed one. It was out of Overton's creativity that the modern Christian Flag was born. Over time many Protestant denominations adopted Overton's idea and began to display this flag on their property. While there is some variation in interpretation of the meaning of the colors, the Latin Cross is unmistakable. In recent years, this variation of the Christian Flag has become less used as the meaning of the symbol has become more reminiscient of Constantine's flag bearing the Crusader Cross.

The power of symbol and art is quite clear, and can be used in helpful ways to communicate powerful messages - both positive and negative. But as with most things, the symbol itself can take on a life of its own and become more important to people than the message it was created to communicate. So, for example, while a person may not know what Adolph Hitler's political principles were, most would not want a swastika on them or their belongings because of the negative emotions that it stirs in others. But what is more important, a drawing or the very real political principles and motives that drove the Nazi regime to wipe out millions of innocent men, women and children?

On the positive side, the modern day Christian Flag was intended to stir feelings of loyalty to Jesus by those who looked upon it and even recited a pledge in its honor. Personally, I grew up learning the pledge in Sunday School and participated in the procession of the flag in church services. I don't know what kind of lasting impact this had on me, if any, but I remember that it was intended to be a positive reinforcement of the call to follow Jesus.

But even now, as the use of the Christian Flag is declining in many churches it is easy to find well meaning groups of people who fight for the use of the flag or the return of this symbol. And while most church attendees couldn't tell you the history of the modern day flag, or what it is supposed to stand for, the symbol is still valued by some even when the substance is gone.

So what should we make of the passing of this symbol? As I said initially, symbols can speak powerfully as long as the message is well understood. But more important than the symbol itself is the message! There is no use in swearing allegiance to the modern day Christian Flag if one is not committed to its message. I would much rather be a part of a group of people who are daily pursuing transformation into the likeness of Jesus, than I would want to be a part of a group of people who are committed to a symbol but miss the point of its message. Each of us, myself included, are prone to hold on to symbols that stir emotions but miss the call of Jesus to live our everyday, ordinary lives in the way of Jesus. So while I understand the emotional ties to symbols like the modern day Christian Flag, I'd much rather be focused on living the way of Jesus so that my life becomes a real and vibrant symbol of the message of the cross!

In the Face of Cancer

Last week I had the opportunity to meet together with three women who are battling cancer. Their stories are unique, but their battles are the same. I had been invited to join them for coffee and conversation by one of the ladies, and so we arrived one by one at her home.

When the final guest made her way to the couch, we were informed that she had just been given one month to live. One month....no more treatment, no more fight, just one month. I'm not sure that I have experienced that kind of finality before. As the conversation began to warm up, it became clear to me that I was there for one reason - hope. In the face of cancer, the kind of cancer that brings a person to a declaration from a doctor that 30 days from now you will most likely be dead, what kind of hope does the Gospel offer?

My new friend who was unavoidably aware of her mortality wasn't looking for well argued positions on moral issues. Her life was what it was, no going back. She wasn't looking for easy answers to give to people who ask her obtuse questions about what it is like to have cancer. She didn't care any more what people thought about her. She wanted to know if I could offer her any hope for what will happen to her when she closes her eyes for the final time and passes through the threshold of death.

As we talked, what seemed to give my friend hope was the awareness that nothing can separate us from the loving presence of God in Christ. The psalmist wrote in Ps. 139 that even if we travel to the place of the dead the Spirit of God is still with us. The unknown of death brings understandable fear about the process of losing one's life, but the knowledge that we can never be lost to God seemed to bring hope to this dear woman whom God loves.

As I drove home that afternoon, I wondered if I would ever see my friends again. I prayed that the words that came from my lips would mediate the loving embrace of the Father to these dear women. And I asked God to bless me with friends like these who would be at my side when my final days drew near. Hope in the face of cancer - that sounds like Good News!

Prayer Path Online

If you are interested in an online based prayer experience, check this one out at Lost in Wonder.

SFF07 - Day 3 - Juanita Rasmus

Juanita Rasmus presented a challenge from her and her husband Rudy’s new book titled TOUCH. TOUCH is an acronym. T is for Truth. She called us to a life and ministry of grace and truth as seen in Jesus’ life and ministry. O is for Other Centered. Service of others is the natural outflow of spiritual transformation. U is for Unconditional Love and acceptance. Juanita challenged us that it is easy to love those like us, but the real workout for our transformation is when we are put in places to love unconditionally those who are hard to love. C is for Community. Community is the expression of formation into the likeness of Jesus. And H is for Hope. Juanita said that we need to hear stories of hope that instill in us faith in God who can address our situation and change what needs to be changed for us.

SFF07 - Day 3 - Bruce Demarest

Bruce Demarest compared the Christian life to a two part journey of following Jesus – the journey inward and the journey outward. He said that all to often we separate the two, thinking that a focus on the inward journey will result in a lack of focus on the outward journey. And similarly, Bruce observed that what tends to happen is that we focus on the outward journey of mission and neglect the inward journey. This would be the typical path of an evangelistic church who spends all their energy on “winning the lost.” The inward life is either ignored or left to those who are really spiritual or naturally introspective. Bruce stated that “the path of spiritual maturity is a journey to inward transformation.” But this is often neglected because it requires hard work and can be emotionally painful. So in place of the inward journey of transformation we opt for an outward life of Christian acts that attempt to compensate for the inward journey.

Bruce gave us three specific recommendations to help us on the inward journey. First, SLOW DOWN. “God is trying to get through to us, but sadly all he gets is a busy signal.” Second, SURRENDER. The inward journey is a process of yielding control of our lives to Jesus. “The degree to which we surrender is the degree to which we can be transformed." Third, use the SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES. Bruce recommended Dallas Willard’s acronym VIM (Vision, Intention, Means). Willard’s explanation of VIM can be found in his book Renovation of the Heart. With the right approach “the ruts of routine can become the grooves of grace.” It is God’s purpose, Bruce stated, to transform his people.

He concluded with this quote from Augustine. “Be always unhappy about where you are if you want to reach where you are not. If you are pleased with what you are, you have stopped already. If you say, ‘It is enough,’ you are lost.”

SFF07 - Update to Scot McKnight Post

Scot McKnight has posted his outline from the 2nd plenary session at the SFF07. You can find it here.

SFF07 - Day 2 - Mel Lawrenz

Mel Lawrenz, the senior pastor of Elmbrook Church, spoke in our evening plenary session on “Building a Whole Church.” Mel talked about Paul’s emphasis of following the pattern laid out for us in becoming like Jesus. He described spiritual formation as a “progressive patterning of our inner and outer life through intentional means of spiritual growth.” In the context of a local church, Mel discusses the fragmentation that he sees in his church and the Church at large. These are moments of self-oriented living and acting in order to secure what ‘I’ want. He encouraged us as leaders to look for those moments of cohesion that can be celebrated and used as momentum in Kingdom work. He had four main questions for us and the church are we (1) engaging with God, (2) engaging with God’s people in true koinonia, (3) engaging with the Community, and (4) engaging with the World. Mel defined engagement as “a bringing together of God’s supply with our human need.”

SFF07 - Day 2 - Scot McKnight

This morning Scot McKnight gave an address entitled “Robust Gospel, Robust Spiritual Formation.” Scot argued that the American Evangelical church has over emphasized one piece of the gospel (personal reconciliation with God) and has missed the entire gospel. Consequently, we present an individualistic gospel with individualistic results that make the church irrelevant. Scot said that the real message of the gospel is that “God takes cracked Eikons and makes them whole again.” Scot used basketball as an analogy contrasting individualistic versus communal spiritual disciplines. He said that it is the difference between practicing shooting free throws versus practicing passing the ball. Rightly understood, McKnight argued, the gospel will draw us into the perichoretic dance of the Trinity.

One-on-One with Scot McKnight

I had the opportunity to visit with Scot one-on-one for about an hour after the plenary session. I wanted to know from him what his thoughts were regarding the transformation of an established church from a traditional, organizationally minded orientation towards a formation/missionally minded orientation. He encouraged me to find those people in the church who desire something different, and to begin to do life with them in a way that doesn’t destroy the rest of the church. Big challenge! He also encourage me not to allow myself to become bitter or angry about feeling stuck. Scot commented that he had seen this happen with emerging/missionally minded people who felt stuck in their situation. He encouraged me that I am in the time of life to take risks in order to move towards something new. We also had an interesting discussion about the “New Perspective” on Paul which has been more recently adapted by N.T. Wright.

SFF07 - Day 1 - David Johnson

This week I am at the Midwest Regional Conference for the Spiritual Formation Forum. We are meeting at Elmbrook Church in the Milwaukee area. I am planning on posting a summation of the content of the plenary sessions from each day, and perhaps my own reflections and wonderings based upon my time this week.

On Wednesday evening, we heard from David Johnson, senior pastor of Church of the Open Door in Minneapolis, MN. Dave called us to the development of the interior life as the goal and focus of our life and ministry. "This isn't about spiritual formation as the next big thing, it is about life and death." Dave used the story of Samson as an illustration of a person who had a powerful anointing of the Spirit for the purpose of setting Israel free from ####### to the Philistines, but he didn't have the character to carry the anointing well. Dave said, "If you don't have the internal strength to carry the weight of the anointing, it will crush you eventually."

'Formation of the interior life in community' sounds scarry to most of us who have entered or are currently in an evangelical church. The messy work of the formation of our character brings us to a place of discomfort simply by the introduction of the idea. I don't want to have to really look at the way that I do life because I know that I am going to find areas that look less like love, joy, peace, patience, etc. and more like pride, jealousy, anger and bitterness. So while I profess to love Jesus, his love is not having a shaping impact on my internal world in a way that fleshes itself out in my everyday life.

So, what if we stopped 'doing' church as a way to provide goods and services for consumers and began to 'be' the church as a formed community called into the world on mission with God? How would that change the way that we do the organzational life of the church? How would that change the way that we do our life at home, work, with family and neighbors?

Dave concluded his talk with this question: "What do you want?" What do I want? Do I want more program driven, church activity that draws a crowd? Or, do I want the life that Jesus offers those who become his apprentices and are drawn into community together. Jesus said that it is possible to have his life in us, can you imagine? Really...the Father in Jesus, Jesus in the Father, the Father and Jesus in us through the presence of the Spirit who is in them...really?

That sounds like life to me, and want that! I want that for my family! I want that for the church!

An Ancient-Future Legacy

This past week, Robert Webber passed from this life with the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I first became exposed to Webber's heart and ministry through a worship renewal conference in the late 90's. Having grown up in conservative Baptist churches, Webber's emphasis on an Ancient-Future renewal of worship was both peculiar and intriguing. I have continued to enjoy his articles which he wrote for Worship Leader magazine.

To those of us who did not know Robert personally, he has left a wonderful legacy of reuniting the ancient beauty of worship with the necessarily relevant forms of worship in our day. He has reminded us that we are part of the on going drama that God is working out in His creation for His glory. Robert Webber was a gift given to the Church from God. May his legacy continue to resonate in the worshipping communities of those who love and follow Jesus!

The Lost Art of Book Reading

Surfing, word processing, html code, blogging....what ever happened to the lost art of book reading?

Don Imus' Mouth

Don Imus, host of a nationally syndicated radio show, made the news this weekend because of his mouth. He called the Rutgers Women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." His rational for this hateful comment was that he was trying to be funny. He will be going on the repentance tour this week to prove that he is not a racist, much like the string of celebrities who have entered rehab as of late because they let something racially distateful out of their mouths.

Don should apologize and demonstrate his repentance with actions. However, what caught my attention with this story was the way in which he tried to seperate his words from his heart. He said, "I'm not a bad person. I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing." Is it possible to say something hurtful occasionally when you are on a path of transformation? Sure. But Don has made a career with his caustic mouth. And now, he says that the things that he says do not reflect who he really is. Really?

Jesus said the opposite was true. "The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." (Matthew 15:18-19) Reality is that what comes out of our mouths comes from our heart - even in jest. We are fooling no one when we say that our words do not reflect our heart. So if we are speaking hurtful words to others, then we need to take a good hard look at our own heart - stop trying to justify ourselves and own up to the transformation that needs to take place in our lives. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the same place as Don Imus and his mouth.

Prayer Path

This year for Holy Week we set up a Prayer Path in our church for people to go through. It was a time of reflection, meditation and prayer using a variety of multisensory elements.

We had a good turn out, and the material we purchased from Group was great! It took about 2 days to set up, so if you use it plan accordingly.

A Grieving Discipleship

The journey of following Jesus is not a pain free path that allows us to avoid pain and suffering. This might be preferable to us, but it is not how the Spirit leads us. As we follow Jesus, we come to realize that we are transformed more by going through the trials and troubles of life as we hold on to Jesus' hand in the midst of our pain and confusion. In those moments we experience a grieving discipleship.

Michael Card released a wonderful CD in 2006 titled "The Hidden Face of God"in which he tackled the difficult topic of suffering in a modern day collection of psalms of lament. The first song on this CD is "Come Lift Up Your Sorrows." The first verse and chorus are as follows:

If you are wounded, if you are alone,
If you are angry, if your heart is cold as stone,
If you have fallen and if you are weak,
Come find the worth of God
That only the suffering seek.

Come lift up your sorrows
And offer your pain;
Come make a sacrifice
Of all your shame;
There in your wilderness
He's waiting for you
To worship Him with your wounds,
For He's wounded too.

The writer of the book of Hebrews makes this astounding statement about Jesus. "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)

What a gift to be able to follow Jesus who has walked the paths that we tread, experiencing the pain and suffering, temptations and trials that we face - and yet did not fail. He is the one who meets us in our pain, and continues to do in us what he has already begun as we continue to hold on to his hand in the midst of our pain. In the midst of our grieving discipleship, let us lift up our sorrows to our great High Priest who has walked our road, faced our pain, and intercedes for us so that we might receive mercy and grace in our time of need.

The Secret, Is It Anything New?

"The Secret" is the new best-selling book, recently heralded by Oprah Winfrey, that promotes a new twist on the power of positive thinking mantra. There has been much written in response to this new marvel of a self-help book. I think Mel Lawrenz has a nice article summarizing the twists and turns of "The Secret."

Just a thought, doesn't "The Secret" sound a lot like what is being dished out from the Prosperity Gospel folks? Perhaps it is just a less religious version of what Joel Osteen and Robert Schuller are already preaching. What do you think?

The Gift of a Leader

In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul provides a list of some of the ways that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to people for the purpose of Kingdom work. While this list is not exhaustive, he does, interestingly enough, list the gift of leadership. “…if it is leadership, let him govern diligently…” (Romans 12:8)

There is often a palpable tension around the gift of leadership. One of the most obvious examples of this tension is found in the management/union relationship of our day. Stereotypically, management is viewed by the union as trying to take advantage of the worker; and so one must view the leaders with suspicion. Union workers, stereotypically, are viewed by management as trying to get something for nothing; and so one must view followers as lazy and uncooperative. Unfortunately, this mentality is also a familiar tension in the Church.

Over the past couple of years we’ve been going through a transition in our leadership structure – moving away from the ineffectiveness of a large board to a smaller group of congregationally elected Council members. In this transition, I have seen this management/union tension come to the surface on more than one occasion with the complaint that the Church Council is “a secret group and nobody knows what is going on.”

As I have been considering what feelings and experiences are behind such a statement, a couple of things have surfaced. First, we have developed a culture in the baptistic tradition referred to as “one person, one vote.” We have come to think that the biblical model of church governance is a pure democracy where we all get to vote on every decision that is made – from carpet colors to ministry programs. But I would encourage you to consider whether our baptistic tradition of “one person, one vote” and biblical teaching really match up on this point. What is the point of the Spirit gifting the church with leaders if the entire group is to make every decision anyway?

Second, I have observed that some of us simply are not willing to trust the very leaders that we have chosen to lead us. For a variety of reasons, including some bad experiences in the past, we put people in positions of responsibility and then refuse to give them the authority to do the ministry that we have asked them to do. We choose a person to serve as our Team Leader, but then we go around the leader we just voted for in order to get done what we want done. As a group we have chosen a Council of leaders to serve us by leading, yet we come up with conspiracy theories about how they are trying to sneak things through.

In Hebrews 13:17 we read instructions, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” The way that many of us want to apply this verse is by re-writing it to sound something like this. “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority if you agree with their decision. If you don’t agree with their decision you should resist at all cost, or kick them out and pick a new leader who will do what you want them to do – then you can submit to them in good conscious.” This, of course, is not what the writer of Hebrews actually says. There is responsibility on both sides of leadership. On the one hand, leaders will have to give an account to God for the way we have led; and on the other hand, followers will have to give an account for the way we have followed. The result of distrust, suspicion, and conspiracy theories is an experience that is burdensome and joyless for leaders and anxiety laden for followers.

God has given us a great gift in leaders whose hearts are seeking the life and way of Jesus, and are diligent in leading us as a body in Kingdom work. Instead of treating our leaders with self-centeredness and suspicion, the Bible calls us to pray for those who are in leadership on all levels (church, state, family, etc.)and to submit ourselves to them in love and cooperation – even when we don’t agree with every decision they make. When leaders lead with diligence and followers follow with participation and prayerful support, we will find our partnership in Kingdom work to be a joy!

The Silent Stars Shine Down

The silent stars shine down on us with bright but sightless eye,

Unmindful of our little earth, of us who live and die.

Are we but grains of stranded sand beside a cosmic sea

That lie unvalued and unseen in such immensity?

Creator of all stars you came to grace our transient race.

In Christ you spoke a word that broke the silences of space.

Still through that word you call our hearts to know that we are known,

To trust we do not walk through time unvalued and alone.

We see the star the wise men saw and hope again is stirred.

We track the footprints left in time by your incarnate Word.

We see them climb a lonely hill where Love is left to die –

The Love that formed the farthest star and hears the faintest cry.

O Christ, the bright and morning Star whose radiance does not fade,

Whose glory filled the universe before the planets played:

Come, heal our hearts of blinding doubt till faith shall end in sight.

Shine down upon our darkened earth and conquer sin’s long night.

Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr.

Saying "No"

Have you ever met a person who is really good at saying "no?" Aren't they annoying!! I say that not for the reasons you might assume, but because I have a hard time saying "no." As a parent of two young boys, the word "no" seems to fly out of my mouth - contradicting my previous statement. It seems that many of their decisions aren't a good idea. They simply would not result in their good. But once the relationship is different, I find it increasingly difficult to say "no." Again, this might not be for the reasons you think.

There is a fine art to saying "no." This word could be used out of self-centeredness, rejecting the needs of others in preference to my own desires. I can say "no" as a way of being mean to another person, denying their request as a way of causing them discomfort or pain. I can even use this tiny word to isolate a person in contempt, keeping them on the outside of my circle of friends. But the word "no" can also be used as a way to move in redemptive love towards another person. When I say "no" to my son because he is about to leap off the coffee table and onto his head, "no" is a loving response. When I say "no" to a request to spend more time at work when I should be at home, "no" is a loving response.

But here is the rub, sometimes I feel guitly saying "no." If I'm honest with myself, I'm concerned that if I don't do what that person wants then they will be upset with me. So, all to often, I say "yes" as a way to manage their opinion of me. And in saying "yes" I end up saying "no" to what is truly good.

I had a situation recently where I had to say "no" to another person. Their request was sincere and heartfelt, but I simply could not say "yes" and move in redemptive love towards them at the same time. In fact, as best as I could tell, if I was to move in love towards them I had to say "no."

God, it appears, has mastered the fine art of saying "no." As he moves in redemptive love toward us, it is necessary for him to say "no" to some of the things we desire. Not because he enjoys our misery or disappointment, but because he is working for our ultimate good.

I'm not sure if saying "no" will ever feel good to me. But as I am the recipient of God's movements of redemptive love towards me, I find that his "no" carries with it the tender embrace of a loving Father who only says "yes" to my good.

Wishful Thinking...

In recent days I have had the opportunity to visit with a couple of people who are struggling with their own brokenness. I say 'struggling' because they want something more, but their wanting doesn't lead to new life. One person told me that they begin their day with prayer and promises to God that they will follow him, but by afternoon they are living out their brokenness. What’s missing?

As I was listening to their struggles, my mind went back to something I read from Dallas Willard. He says that wanting isn’t enough ~ wanting is important, but it isn't enough. We need to have specific strategies or means by which we are going to actually do what Jesus would do if he were us. In short, we need to become more practical in our attempts to follow Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 we read, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

As we read the Apostle Paul’s description of the transformation that is ours he describes it as coming from the Spirit. This might sound as if we are the passive recipients of the transforming work of the Spirit which just happens upon us. However, this would be missing the broader scope of Paul’s writing where he calls us to make every effort to put on things like love, joy, peace, etc. Perhaps in our thinking we’ve made the idea of transformation too much about divine fairy dust when we try to understand the balance between the Spirit's transforming work and our own responsibility to begin to go ahead and actually live our lives in the way of Jesus through the power of the Spirit. This, after all is how Jesus lived his life ~ through the power of the Spirit. Could it be that we are hoping that Jesus will do for us what we are unwilling to do ourselves as his apprentices?

As an apprentice electrician, watching the master is certainly part of the responsibility, observing his actions and reactions, studying his movements as he goes about wiring a house. But there comes a time when watching must become acting, when study must become practice. An apprentice’s goal, after all, is to become like the master; not merely know about the master.

When I was growing up, I used to play a lot of soccer. I began at an early age and had the good fortune to play all the way into college. I was good enough to get a lot of playing time, but as with anything, there were players who were better than me. I remember one guy who was an exchange student from Germany. He could do things with a soccer ball that I couldn’t begin to do. I used to watch him with amazement as he controlled the ball with ease, and wished that I could do what he was doing. But if my longing stopped there – simply wishing – I would never learn to do the things he did. I needed to go beyond ‘wanting’ and begin ‘doing.’ And step by step, as I practiced the maneuvers that I saw him doing, I learned to do what he did – not all at once, but step by step.

It is very easy to become frustrated by our inability to live as Jesus lives, and so to remain as an onlooker who admires the ease in which Jesus lives his life and wishes that that would happen to me. But if we are ever to become like Jesus, we must move from wanting to doing – knowing to acting – admiring to following. As we come to realize the areas of continued brokenness in our lives perhaps we’ll realize that it comes more from an approach of wishful thinking instead of an intentional discipleship.

Do you know the Gospels?

Try this mutliple choice test from Red Letters.

Warning! The Advanced level is hard!!

A Jubilee Birthday Anointing?

Recently I was watching 'Christian' television, which I do from time to time for the entertainment value. By now I am used to the repeated 'opportunities' afforded me to plant a seed in a plethora of ministries. In fact, if I were to respond to every 'opportunity' to plant a seed in someone's ministry I would be out of seed and their storehouses would be quite full. But that is not my point in writing.

I happened upon a special announcement for a birthday party that is to be thrown for well known television preacher, Rod Parsley. This party, however, is quite unique. Apparently this is Rod's 50th birthday, so he is receiving a Jubilee Celebration. On his website Leviticus 25:10 is quoted which states, "And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family."

In addition, Rod stated the same day on his television show that God has put a special Jubilee anointing on him for his 50th year. So, once again, I'm sure we will have the opportunity to sow our seed in his ministry in this his speical Jubilee Anointed birthday year. What a great idea!

Now, I don't intend to be a party pooper, but since when did the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25:10 have anything to do with Rod Parsley's birthday, or anyone's birthday for that matter? In fact, I'm not aware of anyone in Scripture being given a special Jubliee Birthday anointing!

What is more amazing to me, than the obvious misuse of Scritpure in order to make a quick buck and reinforce a large personality driven ministry, is the silence from the other pastors/teachers who should be calling Rod to account for such reckless use of Scritpure in order to promote his b-day party. Is this really where the Church in America is? Are we so used to self-important, self-marketing, and self-proclaimed prophets that we have lost the way of Jesus altogether? I hope not...