Month: April 2014

Drinking Deeply

Posted by

0

As I’ve mentioned several times, our church is working it’s way through a series of books by James Bryan Smith. We just finished The Good and Beautiful Life, and we are moving on to the last in the series, entitled The Good and Beautiful Community. I heartily recommend each book. They are life-changing.

The first book in the series is called The Good and Beautiful God, and it is one that God has used most to turn my life around. The basis for the books is replacing the false narratives of the world with the words of truth that Jesus said and taught. In The Good and Beautiful Life, the author helps you replace the false narratives about God that you and I have imbedded deep within us with the words Jesus taught about His Father.

For instance, ever since we were children, we were taught that you get what you earn. If you work hard, you will be rewarded. This continues on throughout our young lives into adulthood as we are taught that working hard, and getting good grades, will earn us favor with our teachers, and later with colleges and universities. We are constantly graded and evaluated. In adulthood, we are given periodic performance evaluations at work. It goes on throughout our lives.

It is not hard to project this cyclical characteristic upon God. We do it without even thinking. There are countless pulpits which say, in essence, “God is good, you are bad, try harder” or “God is good. Why isn’t He good to you? You must not have enough faith. You must not be believing. There must be something that you’re doing that’s blocking God’s favor in your life.” As we hear those messages, we fall into the trap of trying to earn God’s favor. Is any of this ringing true with you?

The Good News is that our heavenly Father is a generous God who longs to show you His love and grace. He is not a respecter of persons. There is nothing you can do to earn His favor and love, or do to earn MORE of His love and favor. It is unmerited. It is underserved. But He longs to pour it out on us anyway.

In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 20), Jesus tells the story of a landowner who pays all the workers a day’s wage, no matter when they showed up for work. And the message that we hear is this: “No matter when you accept Jesus as your Savior, you get into heaven. Even death-bed confessions receive the same reward as the lifelong saint.”

But don’t miss these messages: First, our God is a generous God, and He longs to be generous. The wages paid had nothing to do with how long or hard the worker labored in the field. The wages paid were solely a reflection of the generosity and goodness of the employer.

The “wages” we receive from God, His blessings, His rewards, His favor, His healing, and even His power have nothing to do with us or anything we’ve done as Christ-followers. It has EVERYTHING to do with what’s already been done for us. Whatever we receive, it is a reflection of the Father’s generosity and goodness. It is all received by grace.

To some, this will rub the wrong way. They’ll say, there’s not enough talk about sin and its consequences. They’ll say that I need to mention Hell and punishment. There’s not enough talk about our part: prayer, fasting, serving, etc. Perhaps. But those that lean that way may be more apt to be rule-keepers and rule-makers, looking to measure and evaluate their own performance and the performance of those around them. This is the law. The law brings death, but the grace that gives freedom brings life.

I think what makes this book so attractive and so encouraging is that it has made the Gospel real to me again. The Gospel really is Good News! It is truth and life. Jesus said that I should come and drink. I have. It is so refreshing! I want others that are walking in a dry and dusty land to drink deeply, too.

As Jesus said, you will never thirst again!

The Power of Accountability

Posted by

0

Thank you.

“For what?”, you ask.

For holding me accountable.

“How in the heck am I doing that? What are you talking about!?!”

Let me explain.

At some point, over a year ago, I promised Donna and her daughter, Amanda, that I would pray for Donna as she began her journey through cancer treatments. We all promise to pray for folks, and if you’re like me, you’ve said the words, “I’ll be praying for you.” This time I wanted to assure her that I’d be praying every day.

So I began praying each morning and then I’d post an encouraging message borne out of my prayer time, tagging Donna and Mandy so they’d know I’m committed to pray each day. As I did this daily, God seemed to draw closer and closer. And I wanted Him more and more.

Then, to help my prayer time, I began a Bible-reading plan to read the Bible in a year. That sounds daunting, but was much easier than expected. I played an audio version and read along each day. It took about 15 minutes a day. 15 minutes. Seriously. I would then post a prayer on Facebook, birthed from my reading, tagging and encouraging Donna, Mandy, and their family. God continued to whisper encouragement into my heart and for the family, I believe, all the while, drawing me closer and closer to Him. He has been so faithful.

I finished that reading plan in January, and then I began journalling as a way to help the healing after leaving my longtime church. I would post my thoughts, prayers, and readings on Facebook as an encouragement to Donna, Mandy, and the family, tagging them each day. Journalling certainly has helped my healing, and, somehow, others like you have found some encouragement in them, too. Many have told me that I need to continue to do it daily, and so I do. I began this b
Og as a way to that.

Through writing, God has brought His love, acceptance, and healing into my life. He has shown me a new facet of His grace that I never knew before. He has filled me with a zeal for others to know His healing and wholeness. I am amazed by Him. To be frank, when I finish writing, I sometimes don’t really remember what I write. I have to look back and re-read it to remember. It’s almost as if I didn’t write it. Hmmm.

The point I’m trying to make is that what started as a commitment to pray and then progressed into a promise to not only pray daily, but also to post daily encouragement has served to draw me closer to God like never before. It is the power of accountabiltiy and commitment. It is the power of faithfulness… not mine, but God’s. He is so faithful.

I encourage you to be accountable to someone or to hold someone accountable. We all need it. We have been blessed to be a blessing. And the blessings from our faithful Father are immense.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 4:8a)

Thanks for being my accountability partners on this journey of life and faith.

A String in the Air

Posted by

0

My friend, Wayne, stopped by my office two days ago to talk. He asked me if I had time for lunch. I sharply replied, “No.” I then proceeded to tell him all about my busy schedule. Reports to finish, things to do, people to see… my life is busy. As I barely look up from my computer screen, I tell him that I just don’t have time.

Yes, my life at work IS busy. It is a virtual assembly-line of busywork, one thing after another. If I eat lunch, it’s in the car on the run, going from one busy thing to the next. I use my smartphone to manage my calendar and it alerts me to remember my next appointment. I hate being late. I hate running behind. I’m busy.

As I ponder all this busy-ness this morning, somehow I’m reminded of an adult Sunday school lesson I taught several years ago. I was trying to get everyone to understand visually the concept of eternity. I tied a string high up on a wall at one end of the room and fastened the other end at the same height at the other end of the room. I explained that this string is a timeline for eternity, except I said to imagine the sting running on a straight line through the wall, through the other walls in the building and out the door, through the parking lot, and on and on and on. Both directions.

Then I said, “Do you see the dot on the string right here?” I had placed a tiny mark on the string. Everyone strained to see the dot. I’m not sure they could even see it. I said, “That dot is the span of your life, compared to the immensity of eternity.”

I’m reminded of that dot and that string this morning as I ponder my busy-work. When it’s all said and done, God won’t ask me about my work, my reports, my deadlines and how well I managed my schedule. As I sit with Him for all eternity, He may ask me what I did with the vast array of people He sent my way. He will ask me, I fear, about what I did with the relationships He gave me.

Although my life is a speck on the timeline of eternity, it has a ripple effect on the folks I encounter every day, especially on the folks I have a relationship with. They are impacted by me – positively or negatively – and they, in turn, do the same to the folks they encounter. Andy Andrews calls it “The Butterfly Effect.” Google that sometime and watch a seven-minute video. It will give you perspective.

So will the memory of a string in the air, reminding me of what’s really important.

I think I’ll call Wayne and have lunch.

Rediscovering

Posted by

0

It’s hard to watch the news nowadays. In fact, news is something that is on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, for my generation, it wasn’t always that way. Growing up, it was three networks broadcasting at 6:30 PM, and for me, it’s still that way… mainly because I can’t take much more than that.

The news is so full of tragedies and illnesses and sickness and murder and strife and war that it’s hard to watch. It’s not that I stick my head in the sand; I just can’t be a news junkie who has a news channel playing in the background all day long. To me, it’s somewhat of a poison. I believe in “garbage-in/garbage-out”. The more bad stuff you take in via the eyes and ears, the more poisoned your life becomes. That’s probably just me.

But if you notice all the national networks end their news broadcasts with the feel-good story. They end their news with an upbeat message about someone or something that is good. Because, let’s face it, good news is easier to hear or watch than bad news.

The Good News of the Gospel is just that: it’s good news. That’s what the word “gospel” means. But it’s not just good news for those who find God’s love, acceptance, and forgiveness for the first time. It’s good news every moment of every day of every week of every month of every year for everyone.

It’s good news for you and good news for your family. It’s good news for your spouse and your children. It’s good news for everyone around you. It’s good news for the rich. It’s good news for the poor. It’s good news for the destitute. It’s good news for the affluent. It’s good news for the educated. It’s good news for those that can’t even read. It’s good news. Period.

And here’s why: It is finished. (John 19:30) The work has been done. The requirements of a holy and just have been met by His own sacrifice: the Lamb of God, Jesus, slain for our sins. One sacrifice for all. Once and for all.

There’s no more work to do to satisfy God’s requirements. He has redeemed us Himself! What love! It truly is amazing. If you just get that thought deep enough within you, there’s no need to read further.

The Gospel needs to be rediscovered. You and I need to get its liberating truths deep down within us. It’s truths can truly set the captives free, and you and I are still captives. We are captives of all the false narratives that we’ve been taught over the years. Things like:

“You’re not quite good enough to cut it.”
“You need to just try harder. Re-double your efforts.”
“It’s time to suck it up. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.”
“I’ve got to look out for myself. No one else will.”
“Winning is everything.”
“If I perform well enough, I’ll be loved and valued.”
And there are so many more.

Pastor Tullian Tchividjian says:

“Rediscovering the Gospel enabled me to see that:

Because Jesus was strong for me, I was free to be weak.
Because Jesus won, I was free to lose.
Because Jesus was someone, I was free to be no one.
Because Jesus was extraordinary, I was free to be ordinary.
Because Jesus succeeded for me, I was free to fail.”

This is the kind of news that needs to be heard from every pulpit on every Sunday. Jesus came to proclaim the Good News. To set the prisoner free. For the poor, for the captive, for those grieving, for the blind and for the oppressed. For you and me.

It is finished. It has been completed. The work has been done.

I can rest in that freedom. I can live.

Good News indeed.