If Jesus showed up...

We find ourselves today in the middle of Advent. In many contemporary churches this tradition has become antiquated and forgotten. In some it has been recast with more current terminology. Some mainline and retro churches still celebrate it now as in years ago. For those who may not know, Advent is a season in the church calendar, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas day with the final celebration on Christmas Eve, in which we are challenged to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming.

Though the history of this celebration is of interest, it is not my focus here. Here and now I am wondering, “What if he did come today?” Not in glory, as we anticipate in the last days, but, what if Jesus came in a way similar to his coming 2000+ years ago? What if the real God showed up??

There would skeptics, of course, and I would be among them. How often have I chuckled at stories of sightings of the Virgin Mary, or a certain saint, or of an angel. Besides, if he did come, I am sure someone in church leadership would know. We have scripture. We have spent centuries studying, watching and wondering.

My dear friends, the real God did show up and the studied scholars were completely taken off guard. They had scripture. They had studied it for centuries and, for generations, had been waiting, watching and wondering. Would we react so differently than they? I hope we would, but I have my doubts about myself.

The song I am linking to here, Real God, was not originally written as an Advent song but it certainly relates to the thoughts above and may serve to help us in our preparation for Christmas. I trust that you will have a great season of celebration and thanksgiving for the Greatest Gift.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y36bsgeojm54ly8/01%20Real%20God.m4a

So, where was Jesus?

Where was Jesus? Once again we ask the question; once again, no easy answers. It seems that, in this last year, we have been pushed to this place too many times. There will never be an answer to “why?” that will relieve us from throwing ourselves at Jesus feet in faith.

Jesus is present, though, if we are to take him at his word. He is present in his people who are responding to this tragedy with his love and compassion. It seems that in the greatest times of potential doubt, God’s people respond in his stead, with his care, as his voice, hands and feet. May it be true of all of us. We don’t have to understand the “why” question to act as God would want us to.

This morning my mind went to a biblical story that helped me. It is the story from Daniel about the response of three young men from Judah to tragedy and the threat of death. This is the story of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah…who we know better by their Babylonian names, Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego. These three, along with others including Daniel, were taken captive from the southern kingdom of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar. I am sure from reading the accounts of Jeremiah and other prophets that the experience was horrific, not unlike what occurred on Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary. Though God had warned this people of the impending disaster I am sure they, too, were asking where God was and why he had abandoned them. Not all of his people were rebellious but they were punished right along with those who were.

Fast forward to Nebuchadnezzar’s idea of a gold statue of himself to which all people in the kingdom would bow. Shad, Shack and Abe decided to respectfully refuse to bow. This is what they said to the king in Dan. 3:17-18 (NIV). “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

“But even if he does not…” Those three knew that there was a chance that God would not save them. That was his decision; but, whether he chose to save or not, they wanted the king to know that they would still obey their God instead of him. So, Nebuchadnezzar heats up the furnace and throws them in. To everyone’s surprise, a fourth was with them in the flames. We don’t know who the fourth was, exactly. The king calls the extra being an angel. Maybe it was the pre-incarnate Jesus himself.

Herein lays the comfort for me. God does not always save; but, in this story we see that he is present with his people in the hottest of fires. Jesus put it this way, recorded in John 16:33 (Jeff’s paraphrase), “I have told you these things so that you will have peace because, while you are in this world, you will have troubling times; but, take courage because I have the victory over the world.” Not much later, as he is leaving them, he tells them that he will always be with them (Matt 28:20).

Lord, have mercy on me and help me to trust you even when I don't have a clue of what you are doing. Help me to understand that, for some things, the answers lie only in you and that is okay.

A Thanksgiving thought and Christmas music

If I were to write the text for a Thanksgiving card it might go something like this:

This season may find us

Far apart; but,

In Faith, Hope and Love

We're one...at heart

 

And for that

We are truly thankful!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We hope that you and your family enjoyed a great celebration of thankfulness this last week! Maybe you got some Christmas shopping done too! We braved the crowds one day, but generally enjoyed time together with family here in Colorado.

As you may remember, some years ago, some friends and I published a Christmas choral piece with Mark Foster Music. Stanton, a sheet music source, posted a recording of the song. You can find it at this link

http://listeninglab.stantons.com/title/comfort-and-joy/326648/?s=1

May it bring a smile to your face and heart as you enter the Advent season.

Glorify God

Yesterday our pastor led us in a time of special prayer for those who have been suffering with illness in our church family. It was a special, but difficult, time. Many are hurting. Some possibly facing death, if God does not intervene.

As I sat there, my first thought was, "Am I ready?" If I found out today that I had a terminal form of cancer and had a short time to live, could I be at peace? I think, though it would certainly be a very emotional and difficult time, I could be. My greatest concern, of course, would be for my family.

My second thought was on how God gets glory in our lives. You know that this is a subject I spend a lot of time complaining about to God. I hope that, in his grace, he sees me in the same light as King David as David spends a lot of time complaining to God in the Psalms when things are not going well.

If God is truly our GOD, then our main priority is to gain glory for him. Our needs, and most certainly, wants, take a distant place in value to that one goal. I am certain that most of us go about our lives with bringing glory to God as a major part of what we do. However, we are hoping for the "both/and" version; God gets glory AND we live a comfortable, enjoyable, successful life. I am sure that this happens for some; but, I am also sure God doesn't always go with the "both/and" plan.

Hence, he doesn't always save. He doesn't always heal. He allows his people to suffer; to be martyred; to be abused. Truly horrible things happen to his people, much of which we are blind to here in the United States. We must trust that in all of this, God brings himself glory and will ultimately fulfill his promise to bring about the best for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Such is the fragility of our faith.

Why would we continue to trust? This morning in chapel one of our missionary kids, Ian Smith, shared the answer. We trust because we, and others in the Family, have experienced God's faithfulness, kindness, mercy and love. We hold those things in our collective stories as monuments to God's active work in and through us.

I had a part in writing a song committing ourselves to God's glory above all else. You can hear it at
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B974RmAHjuPSTm8xNmktUFZLcms

Honestly, this is a hope for every day...that I would have the attitude shared in these lyrics. But, you know, though hope springs eternal most days I find myself grasping for it. Lord, have mercy on me!

Deänne Keeps Busy

It would be logical to guess that you have questions about what our work includes. When you hear that Deänne is the Director of Membercare for OC it would be natural to wonder just what that is. Not too many companies have Membercare departments!

Recently our Communications department did a special on what Membercare in OC actually is. The result was a video featuring Deänne. Though it was included in one of our electronic letters I thought I would also post it here.

http://vimeo.com/44744162

Happy viewing. We trust that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration this week!!

We are broken!

Since the political barrage of ads and the election is behind us, I thought I might reflect on something political…or not! There is a reason why political systems fail…though they may have perfect logic behind them. People aren’t perfect!!

The Republican philosophy of resourcing the wealthy because they understand how to invest money and grow the economy by creating jobs etc. sounds great except for one thing. Many of those rich people lack the character to do so. We only need to look at the character failures of some of those people in the last 5 years to see that.

The Democratic idea that giving money to the poor will better their living standard falls to the same reality. When people get extra “free” money they tend to waste it on things that they have wanted but couldn’t afford…not on things that they actually need…that would better their life. Once again, a lack a character could be to blame.

There are two things I know for sure. I am generalizing and I am speaking of myself in all of this. We all show a lack of character in one way or another. For some it is “cheating” on their taxes while for others it is keeping the extra amount an insurance company pays for a loss though it exceeds the repair. We could also mention the charges for some of that repair elevated because the repairer knows how much the insurance company will pay. We have ways to justify our lack of character, of course. In short, though, it boils down to brokenness.

We are broken and we have been since the beginning. All human systems fail because all humans are “failures.” Not trying to be fatalistic here, just realistic. We all desperately need grace from God and others. We all desperately need to give grace to all.

If we, in the family of God, would be the ones to actually set ourselves aside and be the grace givers…beginning in our own families and our own churches...to all others, friends and “enemies” alike, we would turn the world on its head. This is mimicking Jesus; who gave it all up so that his “enemies” might have the opportunity to be restored, remade into his image…unbroken.

Grace to you.

Do you trust Me?

The thought for this week revolves around how far down the trust road we can walk with God. I realize that this is different for each of us, but I think the pivotal question becomes:

"How far can we trust God's ability to bring about His will, in His time, through His people for His glory?"

I know that almost every one of you is answering, "We trust God completely." That was my first thought. However, as I have reflected on this with vulnerability, I have wondered about my track record of trust in these areas:

Our kids, grand kids and parents
Our finances
Our work situation
Our retirement

Maybe you are getting the same feeling that I did. As long as things are going well it is easy to "leave it to God." When things are not going well, from our viewpoint, we feel the need to take over...step in and give God a helping hand. How many times have we bailed out our kids (not from jail, yet, fortunately); used a credit card for something we "needed" that God was a little slow in providing: took to the rumor mill about issues at work because the HS was not working in someone fast enough; or, reduced our giving to the Kingdom to focus more on our future because, after all, don't we need to be responsible?

I trust that you realize that I am not promoting being irresponsible here. I just wonder how many times our trust of God takes a detour when his timing, or answer, differs from what we have decided is best.

Honestly, my trust record is pretty poor. May God have mercy on me and help me to make the better choice next time!!

So, I'm not who you expected...what now?

As I have blogged before, unmet expectations make for a rocky relationship.

I had a great discussion with a buddy at work a couple days ago. During the discussion I had another one of those moments when a light seems to go on somewhere near you and you spend days scrambling in the darkness to get near enough to it to illuminate some of the spiritual and emotional landscape that you are trying to navigate.

It seems that God, in his relationship with us, is inconsistent at least and undependable at worst. Now, please understand that this is from our, or at least my, viewpoint...not his! He doesn't always meet the expectations that I have set for him in my mind; products of my upbringing and my education in church and Christian schools. My friend shared that we have believed a lie about God and that is our undoing. What lie you ask? The original one, that we could be like God; that all of this is really about us...the one that our enemy is still playing over and over in our minds, that God is holding out on us. "Did God really say...insert slightly altered truth..."

Through all of this discussion and the processing that followed, Jesus has been asking me, "So, I'm not who you expected, huh? What are you going to do now; leave me?" Sounds familiar. John 6:67. The fact (for me) that God does not always meet our expectation; that he allows things to happen that are certainly not "good" by our definition; that he operates by "rules" in an existence that is beyond ours should not surprise us. C.S. Lewis, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, called it "deeper magic."

Treason, sin, demands the shedding of blood as payment for the offense. And so, since all have sinned, all must die. That is the magic around which the world operates. But, if one who is without sin offers his blood as a substitute for the traitor's, a deeper magic is put in play; one that goes beyond our comprehension and that supersedes the former. House rules no longer apply. The totally unlovable are somehow beloved.

So, how did I get into this in the first place? A random line of thinking, of course, led me hither. By law, Mary (the mother of Jesus) should have been put to death when it was discovered that she was with child without being married. She must have committed adultery. The lawful payment for adultery, God's law, was death. So, I guess God knew that his people, at that moment, would disobey his law and in doing so, keep Mary and Jesus alive. We believe, of course, that Mary did not commit adultery; that she was THE virgin prophesied so long ago who would carry Emmanuel. In all truth she did not deserve death.

A higher law....a deeper magic...an incomprehensible mystery. God didn't send his Son to us to convict and sentence us. No! That is normal magic. That was expected. God sent his Son to buy us back...and what a deal; the Worthy given as payment for the worthless.

Where would I go? You have the words of eternal life. John 6:68.

Unexpected God

Have you ever pondered that almost everything God has done, does and will do is unexpected? Now, I am not talking about how creation works, mostly dependable and predictable...well, except the weather (with the exception of places like Seattle where for at least nine months ofthe year you can expect some kind of rain at some time during the day - you're welcome, Seattle. I know you REALLY don't want all those Californians moving up to the NW!!).

But seriously, think about it in the context of Biblical history. People have tried to go about their daily lives from the beginning of time dealing with the expected. When God promised Abraham that he would have a child, do you think Abe realized it would be 25 years. Of course not. He was already 75. He had to have expected this miracle to happen, like, now! But a couple of 75/65 having a baby was not enough of a "God thing." No, it needed to be a couple of 100/90 to be unexpected enough.

Do you think the children of Israel expected 400 years of slavery when they were "saved" to Egypt by Joseph (though prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 15)? What were they thinking when God led them down a dead end canyon with Pharaoh right behind them and the sea in front of them? Even Moses, God's "friend," was confused. God knew how he was going to glorify himself. Dividing the sea, even if it was the Sea of Reeds, and drying it out enough for millions of people to pass through to the other side (not to mention finishing off what was left of Egypt's might by drowning their army) would qualify as unexected.

Fast forward past countless other examples over thousands of years to Jesus' birth. Even though it was prophesied, who really believed that Mary was telling the truth? Seriously? And consider her station; a nobody from nowhere. Couldn't God have chosen better than that? Even those who knew the prophesies and were looking for the Messiah didn't recognize Jesus as the one.

Jesus made a habit out of breaking out all over people's expectations for him. What was expected about a Rabbi who hung out with the rabble. Didn't he understand the rules about being "clean?"

What about us today? It seems that we are still surprised by God doing the unexpected...or probably more difficult...when God chooses NOT to do the expected. If you read this blog, you know that one of my favorite queries is, "What can you do with a God who won't behave?"

What if we could train ourselves to expect God to do the unexpected? What if we lived each difficult situation with an anticipation that God might, at any moment, break through and shock our socks off?

May it be true of me.

Getting what we deserve

“When it all comes down, it there’s anything good that happens in life it’s from Jesus” (from Hope Set High by Amy Grant).

I have been overwhelmed lately by how little we deserve, how much we get anyway and how we have convinced ourselves that, somehow, we deserve more.

It seems that the phrase, “Get what you deserve!” is a favorite in ads today, especially from law firms. I, for one, am so happy that we don’t get what we deserve. The fact is, if we were given what we deserve for who we are and what we have done (and do on a regular basis), it would be BAD and we would definitely NOT want it!!

“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time” (from Secret of Life by James Taylor).

Since what we have is a gift and we have done nothing to deserve it, should we not simply be thankful and enjoy the passing of time, instead of always trying to make more out of it. Time, after all, is also a gift. Our lives are a breath that once taken is gone forever.

Life: A Passing Shadow

That fatal on the freeway
I was two cars behind it
Was almost part of it
Trying to stop
Before
Hitting the car in front of me

How fragile is existence
This instant, now, you are here
The next, you may be gone
Leaving a crowd
Wond'ring
Will my next heartbeat be the last?

Life is a breath
A mist
A passing thought
It cannot be captured
It can only be lived
In its moment
Live yours

Seize the Moment Yesterday cannot be changed Tomorrow cannot be written All we have is now, today To use, to do, to live in If this is true should we not give More care to how we spend it For time once used is time now gone We cannot apprehend it

 

To be, or not to be...strategic

I was corresponding with a young woman about how she might have impact on the Kingdom in a cross-cultural setting. Her degree was not along the “normal” paths followed by most missionary candidates. “If I had just been more strategic when I was picking a degree to pursue,” she lamented. I assured her that her training and education would have plenty of application in Kingdom work and would open doors for her that would never open for traditional missionary types.

Her lament has set me to thinking about the value of being strategic. The modern missionary movement (as opposed to the pre- and post-modern missionary movement) has certainly made being strategic a mantra for finishing the job, so much so that you can hardly go to a gathering of leaders where that term is not used again and again.

My concern is that God’s acts are anything but strategic from our human viewpoint. They always end up being the exact right act, of course, but most of the time we would not have picked that direction in our human evaluation. Let’s review just a couple…

God directed Israel to the absolute “worst” spot along the Red Sea with the Egyptians closing in…the end of a canyon with only water ahead of them. Samuel was pretty impressed with all of David’s brothers, but God chose the youngest and least experienced to be the king of Israel. God could have brought Jesus to the world as a king, but instead brought him as a baby, the child of nobody from nowhere. Jesus picked disciples who would not have been on anyone’s “who’s who” list…except maybe for Judas. And what about the paradoxes that Jesus threw out there. “The least will be the greatest.” The last will be first.” “To be great, you must be the servant of all.” “To live you must die.”

Being strategic affords us the opportunity to have greater impact. But I wonder just how great the impact would be if we allowed ourselves to do the non-strategic thing and give God the freedom to work? The spiritual reality is that God can and will use the least of these because then the glory can go only one place. Jesus told us we must become like children…but, wow, that is hard…no…impossible! We would never get anything done.

Exactly!!

Help us to humble ourselves and our ideas before you, God. Have mercy on us!

Are you a "Cat" or a "Dog?"

Last Sunday we sang How He Loves by John Mark McMillan. My favorite version is performed by David Crowder. You can experience that at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCunuL58odQ on YouTube. As I prepared for that Sunday my mind returned to ponderings about Dog and Cat theology.

Bob Sjogren wrote a book called Cat and Dog Theology in which the basic premise is that “cats” have an underlying belief that “you exist to serve me” while “dogs” believe that “I exist to serve you.” Cat lovers, please notice that I put “cats” in quotes because I don’t personally believe that all cats hold this philosophy (just most of them!).

Several years ago I heard Mr. Sjogren give a presentation of this concept. It was challenging and convicting. His warning was that the Church needs to guard against “cat theology;” the basic idea that it is all about us.  How He Loves could be considered a “cat theology” song in that the song focuses on God’s incomprehensible love for us. I am sure I have just polarized my reading audience…sorry. Mr. Sjogren used the song Above All, by Paul Baloche. Michael W. Smith really brought that song to popularity and it is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNv4xVVVHd8 on YouTube.

Here is the dilemma, and it is a common one for my feeble mind. Scripture clearly supports both “cats” and “dogs” in their thinking about their relationship with God. “Cats” hold tightly onto the John 3 discourse as well as 1 John and many other passages of scripture clearly proclaiming that God’s love for us is so deep that it brought about the greatest of sacrifices to redeem us to himself. “Dogs” would respond with the comment that God did all of that to bring glory to himself, also supported by pages and pages of Scripture. Obviously this could be fleshed out much more deeply, but you get the idea.

One person explained these types of challenges in our faith to me as a mountain where the slopes of either side are clearly visible but the peak, where both sides come together, is obscured by clouds. Brian McLaren, in A New Kind of Christian, explains that most of us think and take our stand somewhere along a continuum from one extreme to the other. God’s truth, however, lies somewhere above our human continuum, on a different plane altogether. You could say that all things like this, where contradictory concepts are both supported in Scripture, find their intersection somewhere in our infinite God.

Someday we may know how all those things come together; but my personal belief is that, when that time comes, stuff like this will have lost its interest for us being overwhelmed by the glory of our God and Savior. So, for now, let’s have fun dissecting these issues but focus on loving each other anyway…whether “cats” or “dogs!”

Does Tim Tebow offend you?

The reasoning behind being offended is of interest to me. I have heard many people, both Christians and non-Christians, say that Tim Tebow offends them with his openness about his faith. The success of the Broncos this season with Tebow as quarterback has certainly made that openness a nationwide affair...not to mention that "tebowing" has actually become a word and action used both with respect and ridicule.

Living in Colorado has given me a lot of exposure to Tim on the air. I have never once heard him defame someone else or even suggest that others should be like himself. To my knowledge He has never said that God gave the Broncos the victory or blamed God for not coming through for them in a loss. He simply has been thankful for the gifts he believes God has given him and for the opportunity to play a game for a living. Would that we all be so blessed.

So what is so offending? Don't we enjoy the freedom in our country to express ourselves openly as long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of others? If what Tebow says really rubs you the wrong way then don't listen (if you can swing it). Perhaps his openness feels like judgement. Certainly judging others for doing this or not doing that is the favorite pastime of some people in the church. Something about looking down the log in my eye to point out the speck in your eye comes to mind here. Shouldn't we seek to live our lives with a greater measure of grace?

Living committed to what I believe while granting freedom and grace to those who choose another path seems the Biblical way forward here. Tebow's freedom to express his faith openly should also extend to those who do not share his beliefs. Neither should be offended by the other. Certainly, within the church, loving each other in spite of ourselves is our greatest witness to who Jesus is. Maybe we should focus our combined energies on that and leave the judgement to God. Fortunately, He was not, and is not, offended by us!