For His Renown

One Little Word Shall Fell Him

2010-06-10T23:31:00.006-05:00

John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, hailed as one of the most notable works in British literature, recounts the story of the protagonist, Christian, as he travels from his earthly homeland, the City of Destruction, to his heavenly dwelling, “the World which is to Come.” Becoming aware that he carries a heavy burden of sin, Christian seeks to cast off the load he bears and find redemption. Through his interaction with Evangelist, he finds the way to Wicket Gate which leads Christian to Good Will (the Christ character). When Christian arrives at the Place of Deliverance (allegorical for the foot of the cross of Christ), the ties that bind his heavy burden to his back begin to shred and his burden rolls off. Christian is welcomed in peace by three shining ones who announce he has been forgiven. His dirty, ratted cloths are replaced with glistening new clothing, and he is handed a “Roll with a seal upon it.” Christian is saved and the allegory comes to a close. At least it would seem like the allegory would come to a close at this point. But it is here, at Christian’s conversion, that the book just begins.

For now Christian comes upon Difficulty Hill, and if he is to proceed along the right path, he must endure the trek up it. At times the path is so steep that he must crawl on his hands and his feet. Once he arrives at the top and steps inside Palace Beautiful, he is given spiritual armor and weapons for the warfare he will face: a sword, a helmet, a shield, a breastplate, and a firm warning that the next step of his journey will be quite dangerous. This warning proves true when Christian crosses paths with Apollyon, a “foul fiend,” in the Valley of Humiliation, and nearly loses his life. His only hope is to use the spiritual armor which he has been given.

Though allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress reflects a stark reality of Christian life. Charles Spurgeon writes:

John Bunyan has not pictured Christian as carried to heaven while
asleep in an easy chair. He makes him lose his burden at the cross-foot,
but he represents him as climbing Hill Difficulty on his hands and knees.
Christian has to descend into the Valley of Humiliation, and to tread the
dangerous pathway through the gloomy horrors of the Shadow of Death…nowhere is
he delivered from the necessities incident to the way, for even at the last he
fords the black river, and struggles with its terrible billows. Effort is
used all the way through, and you that are pilgrims to the skies will find it to
be no allegory, but a matter of fact.[1]

Each pilgrim, including you and me, are engaged in a spiritual battle. In a spiritual sense, we cannot fight this battle while lying reclined in a Lazy Boy chair, sipping not-too-tangy and not-too-sweet lemonade. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). Our foe, the enemy of our souls and his demonic cronies, are out to dissuade us from following our Savior and Shepherd passionately and wholeheartedly. The devil is not the horn bearing, pitchfork carrying red creature that Hollywood portrays. No, he is much more subtle and crafty. So subtle and crafty that we sheep are “prone to wander, Lord we feel it, prone to leave the God we love!”

The Father of Lies whispers deception after deception over our souls. Sometimes he appeals to our pride and speaks the lie that you and I can earn our own salvation through performing good deeds, as if the law could ever make us holy before a righteous and perfect God. Sometimes he speaks the lie that God could never forgive what you and I have done and we will be hopelessly lost in our sins forever, as if Jesus’ bloody and brutal wrath-bearing death only covered the “small” sins. Sometimes he tells us that the sin in our life is not that big of a deal or that we will never get caught in our sin, as if God is not just and we can somehow hide from the Creator of the universe.

Regardless of which lie he speaks, he will always tempt us to make little of Jesus and to make much of ourselves. But victory is only found in the Valley of Humiliation, when we face these spiritual battles head on and fight them with the armor that God Himself has provided for us: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and prayer in the Spirit (see Eph. 6:14-18).

Here is the Truth. Apart from Jesus, you and I are hopelessly lost in our sins. Performing good deeds—even a lifetime of good deeds—cannot take away the sin that stains our souls. The perfect, righteous, holy God before whom each of us will give an account doesn’t give out “get out of hell free” cards to those who go to church, give to the poor, or walk the elderly across the street. But God remedied this problem in the greatest act of love in all history. He sent His sinless Son, Jesus, to be nailed to two pieces of wood in order to bear the wrath of God for the sins of all who come to faith in Him. By repenting of our sins, believing that Jesus alone has the power to save sinners, and turning to Him as Lord of our lives, we are saved! It is a completely free, we-did-nothing-to-deserve-it kind of gift! And His salvation is available to all people, no matter what you have done. Yes, even the sin that came into your mind as you read that sentence. Because Jesus died on the cross and was raised to life again, Christ-followers have victory over the enemy no matter how formidable his attacks. That is why we make much of Jesus! And that is what we celebrate as we end these series of posts over the book of Ephesians.

[1] Spurgeon, Charles H. Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publication, 1992. p.134.

Relational Idolatry in Families

2010-06-02T21:42:00.003-05:00

Number one New York Times best-seller, The Purpose Driven Life begins, “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”[1]

As we touched on in the last post, the words “It’s not about you” are hard to swallow when we live in an egocentric society where my needs and my desires are paramount. This grates against our prideful, self-centered, sinful nature that secretly whispers into our souls that we should seek our identity in anything other than our Savior. The poison of idolatry is subtle in our society. We may not have a temple to Artemis, a widely worshipped Greek goddess popular in the time when Paul wrote his letter to Ephesian believers, but idolatry is just as alive in twenty-first century America.

One subtle form of idolatry that has crept into the modern evangelical church is the idol of family. We treat our children as if they were the center of the universe—as if our worth, value, and significance rested in their ability to achieve. Tim Keller, author of Counterfeit Gods, writes, “Modern society…puts great pressure on individuals to prove their worth through personal achievement. It is not enough to be a good citizen or family member. You must win, be on top, to show you are the best…. From the earliest years, an alliance of parents and schools creates a pressure cooker of competition, designed to produce students who excel in everything…. The family is no longer what Christopher Lasch once called a ‘haven in a heartless world,’ a counterbalance to the dog-eat-dog areas of life. Instead, the family has become the nursery where the craving for success is first cultivated.”[2]

In Proverbs 22:6, we are instructed to, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” How are we raising our children in this dog-eat-dog world? In his sermon on this topic at First Baptist Church of Geneva, Pastor Jeff Frazier asked a provocative series of questions. “What would you rather have,” he asked, “to have your child become a great athlete, a great musician, a great student, a great scholar, a great business man or woman, or a great man or woman of God?” The question is posed to us. Are we eager to raise sons and daughters who count the cost, take up their cross, and follow Jesus Christ? Or are we content to raise children whose identity is found in their success, wealth, and personal achievement? In Ephesians 6:4, Paul exhorts fathers to not “exasperate your children.” By making idols out of our sons and daughters, we raise up bitter, resentful, jaded children.

It is not only parents who struggle with idolatry. The inherited sin nature with which we are born feeds us the lie that life is about self-satisfaction and self-glory. Parents do not need to teach a child to be selfish; it comes naturally. Therefore, throughout the child’s toddler years, parents stress the importance of sharing and taking turns. Parents have the responsibility of raising children who fear the Lord and keep His commands. Children have the responsibility to “obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Eph. 6:1). And adult children should “honor your father and mother,” for this pleases the Lord (Eph. 6:2).

Consider whether there are any areas of relational idolatry in your own life. In what areas is God calling you to renounce the temptation to make life about you or the success of your children? Offer up a prayer to the Lord, asking Him to break any idols in your life and fill you with Himself as your all-surpassing Joy and Treasure!

[1] Warren, Rick. The Purpose-Driven Life: What On Earth am I Here For? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004. p. 5.
[2] Keller, Timothy. Counterfeit gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters. New York: Dutton, 2009. p. 79.

Hope for Marriage

2010-05-27T19:12:00.002-05:00

“A magnificent marriage begins not with knowing one another but with knowing God. In Him we have the foundation and resources necessary to love one another. His Word, His ways, and His will must be paramount in our lives. Unless we are growing in the knowledge of God, we’ll lack the motivation and wisdom to build an effective marriage.”
~Gary & Betty Ricucci~

From Burger King’s trademarked slogan “Have it your way” to McDonald’s “You deserve a break today,” we are conditioned to pursue whatever provides personal happiness. If fast food restaurants serve happiness on demand by filling our bloated stomachs with beefy burger, certainly we deserve happiness in much deeper, more critical areas of life too. Long before the moment “Mine!” becomes the first word to grace our lips, many of us tuck away this philosophy of warranted happiness into our souls. It is no surprise, then, when this desire expresses itself in marriage. But it may be a surprise when it slowly and stealthily affects our relationship with our spouse like an undetected, slow-growing cancer.

In a study reported in the March 2003 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Dr. Richard Lucas discovered that couples who marry find themselves happier during the first year of marriage than they were prior to marrying. “But after two years of marriage,” Dr. Lucas reports, “most people are pretty much back to where they started before marriage.”[1] Marriage has a very minimal affect on long-term happiness. If a couple marries to find happiness, they will be sorely disappointed after their first twenty-four months together. Perhaps this painful sense of disillusionment accounts for a fraction of the 50% of first-time marriages, the 67% of second-time marriages, or the 74% of third-time marriages that all end in divorce.[2]

These statistics are sobering, and call the church to consider what we can do to preserve the sacred covenant we made before the Lord. Paul addresses the heart-attitude of husbands and wives in Ephesians 5:21-33. His God-inspired teaching is the antithesis to culture, and it contains the key to living in a marriage that glorifies God and honors one’s spouse. Believers are instructed to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:1) Giving specific instruction to wives, Paul commands, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22). Furthermore, the wife is instructed to “respect her husband” (Eph. 5:33b). Husbands are charged to love their wives “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). These decrees defy the lie of popular culture that marriage is about what makes “me happy” and clearly indicate that marriage requires self-denial as we consider our spouse better than ourselves (see Phil 2:3).

In his book Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas asks the provocative question, "What if God didn't design marriage to be 'easier'? What if God had an end in mind that went beyond our happiness, our comfort, and our desire to be infatuated and happy as if the world were a perfect place? What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"[3] As a believer, our lives have been radically turned upside-down by Jesus Christ. We are no longer to live for ourselves and for our happiness. “[Jesus] must become greater; I must become less,” including in my marriage (Jn. 3:30). As we ride the tumultuous tide of marriage—choosing to express love to our spouse when he or she is most unlovable, clinging to our covenant before God when the romantic feelings have long faded, determining to forgive the seemingly unforgivable act, releasing the “right” to exact revenge—it is then that God does His most redemptive, restorative act in our lives of making us more like His Son Jesus Christ. It is through releasing any corrupt compulsion to change our spouse’s character and instead pleading with God to transform our own hearts that Jesus Christ is magnified and we find joy.

May Jesus Christ be our highest, most precious, most valuable Treasure, for there is none other who can satisfy the deepest longings of our soul.

[1] Qtd. in Kirchheimer, Sid. “Does Marriage Make You Happy?” 17 Mar 2003. http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20030317/does-marriage-make-you-happy. Accessed 27 May 2010.
[2] Statistic taken from http://www.divorcerate.org/.
[3] Thomas, Gary. Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. p. 13.

New Creation

2010-05-26T22:50:00.005-05:00

“If traces of Christ’s love-artistry be upon me, may He work on with His divine brush until the complete image be obtained and I be made a perfect copy of Him, my Master.”
~Unknown Puritan~

It starts out as a rather ugly creature and a pest in agriculture. Some can inflate parts of their body to resemble a snake. Others produce pungent chemicals in order to protect against predators. Even though these creatures contain six tiny eyelets on their heads, they have horrible vision. This unsightly, smelly pest with poor eyesight is the common caterpillar.

Children are often fascinated with the lifecycle of a caterpillar—catching the larva, putting it in a jar, and watching it transform from an ugly caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. When the graceful, delicate, often colorful butterfly bursts forth from a cocoon, it is awe-inspiring. Could this beautiful new creation truly have started out as the ugly caterpillar?

In Ephesians 4:7-32, Paul contrasts the old life with the new life, and the description is much like that of a caterpillar that has been transformed into a butterfly. Just as the caterpillar has terrible eyesight, Paul describes unbelieving Gentiles as “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (Eph. 4:18). They suffer from spiritual blindness—a condition much more severe than physical blindness. The spiritual odor they emit is unpleasant, for, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more” (Eph. 4:19). And they have no solid ground upon which to stand, but they are “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14). The picture of the old life is one of spiritual ignorance that leads to death.

Here is the good news: not one person has to remain in that state! For like the caterpillar that transforms into a butterfly, Jesus offers to change us into purpose-filled people who beautifully reflect His glory! Paul urges believers to put off their old self and grow into maturity. The mature, adult stage of the butterfly is called the imago. Our goal as believers is to imago (image) God, reflecting His majesty. Putting off the putrid scent of impurity, the colorful wings we are to possess are truth-speaking, honest labor, wholesome speech, forgiving spirits, kindness, and compassion. It is by grace we are saved through faith in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8). But following our conversion and in participation with the Holy Spirit, we must grow in Him “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).

What is the spiritual state of your soul? Have you given your heart to Jesus and let Him transform you into a new creation? If not, He is waiting for you with arms of love to make something beautiful out of your life, no matter what your past has been! Jesus has the power to make something majestic out of larva! If you have given your heart to Him, in what areas do you need to grow into maturity and imago the God who created you to beautifully reflect Him? Invite the Holy Spirit to change your life into something of splendor!

Coex-What?

2010-05-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified.”
~A.W. Tozer~

If you have driven anywhere lately, you have probably seen a growing number of vehicles sporting a bumper sticker with various faith symbols resembling the word “coexist.” The symbols forming this word include the Islamic crescent moon, a peace sign, the male and female symbol, the Jewish Star of David, a Wiccan pentacle, the Chinese yin-yang, and at the very end of the word, a cross. It is an effort to promote religious tolerance, a symbolic representation that all religious systems are equally valid and should be respected. There is only one problem. The cross has to be lopped off the end of the bumper sticker. It can never be part of that equation.

Jesus, the God-man whom that cross represents, boldly declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6, emphasis mine). In a time when the religious leaders were seeking to kill Him for declaring that He was God, Jesus spoke radical words—words that would be deemed extraordinarily intolerant in twenty-first century America. According to Jesus, the other symbols on the coexist bumper sticker represent equally invalid religious systems that attract people who are hungry to find some way to achieve a sense of peace within their souls. But religious tolerance and human effort will never lead them to the only Way, Truth, and Life. That is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Paul, a persecutor of Christians turned apostle of Christ, clearly understood this truth. As “a prisoner for the Lord,” he urged all believers in Jesus to be united to each other precisely because of the “one body…one Spirit…one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” and who called them to Himself (Eph. 4:1, 4-6). Jesus Christ, not religious tolerance, is to be the basis of our unity.

In Jesus, our one Lord, we find every reason to be united. We are all called to the same hope, and we must not allow petty divisions to take our eyes off of our prize and treasure, Jesus Christ Himself. Paul urges us to “live worthy of the calling we have received” (Eph. 4:1). And the appropriate response to who Jesus is and what He has done requires humility, gentleness, and patience as we “bear with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2).

Our calling has been clearly identified. As we examined in earlier posts, we have been chosen, predestined, redeemed, and adopted. The debt of our sins was canceled, and we have been made alive with Christ. God calls us His workmanship; we are no longer foreigners and aliens, but citizens with God’s people and members of His household. This is your identify in Christ! Are you living a life that is worthy of this high calling?

The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

2010-05-19T13:33:00.004-05:00

“If we have deep-seated fears that God does not really love us (as many Christians have), we can only go so far in growing nearer to God. There will come a point at which we will fear to trust Him any further because we cannot be sure of His love. When we look at ourselves, or our own faith, or our circumstances we will never be free from those lurking fears. Satan will see to that. But when we lift up our eyes and look on the cross we find the final persuasion that God is gracious towards us. How can He be against us when all His wrath against us fell upon Christ? How can He fail to care for us when He gave the only Son He had for our sake? How can we doubt Him when He has given us evidence of His love sufficient to banish all doubts?”
~Sinclair Ferguson~

His name was Samuel Trevor Francis. He was born on November 19, 1834 in a village north of London. As a boy, Samuel had a knack for writing poetry, and he loved singing in his church choir. But during his teenage years, he went through a period of spiritual darkness and his soul was disquieted within him. One evening, on his way home from work in London, he found himself walking across the Hungerford Bridge south of the Thames. He later wrote, “During the winter’s night of wind and rain and in the loneliness of that walk, I cried to God to have mercy on me. I stayed for a moment to look at the dark waters flowing under the bridge, and the temptation was whispered to me, ‘Make an end of all this misery.’ I drew back from the evil thought, and suddenly a message was borne into my very soul, ‘You do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?’ I at once answered, ‘I do believe,’ and I put my whole trust in Him as my Savior.”[1]

Francis would later become a preacher and hymn-writer, penning the words to the well-loved hymn “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.” The lyrics give rise within our hearts to a love too deep for comprehension, and help us to grasp a small strand of “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:18b-19a). Francis writes:

O the deep, deep love of Jesus!
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!

Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Your love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Your glorious rest above!

This deep, deep love of Jesus is so vast that it “surpasses knowledge,” as Paul describes in Ephesians. It is a love that is undeserved, unearned, and unconditional. It is a love so boundless that the Father willingly crucified His Son, pouring out the wrath that you and I justly deserve on a perfect, sinless sacrifice. “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends” (Jn. 15:13).

Only this God who loves you unconditionally knows where you are at today. Maybe you are in a place where you are basking in His love, and the radiance of His presence emanates from your life. Or maybe you are in a place where your love has grown cold, and you think that God must feel just as apathetic towards you as you feel towards Him. Or perhaps you are longing and crying out to hear the love of Jesus whispered into your soul, because in this moment, you feel very unloved. Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, the truth is this: God will never love you any more or any less than He does in this moment! If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ by grace through faith, then His love surrounds you and is within you through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. If you have yet to experience this vast, unmeasured, boundless, and free love, will you open your heart to Him today? The current of His love is waiting to overwhelm you no matter your circumstance!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus!
Spread His praise from shore to shore,
How His love is never-ending,
And it changes nevermore;
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He’s interceding,
Watching o’er them from the throne.

[1] Qtd in Morgan, Robert J. Then Sings My Soul. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003. p. 197.

Dead Man Walking

2010-04-17T22:21:00.004-05:00

“Paul first plumbs the depths of pessimism about mankind, and then rises to the heights of optimism about God. It is this combination of pessimism and optimism, of despair and faith, which constitutes the refreshing realism of the Bible. For what Paul does in this passage is to paint a vivid contrast between what man is by nature and what he can become by grace.”
~John Stott~

Prior to the 1960s, when a man on death row would walk down the halls of the prison, the warden would shout out, “Dead man walking! Dead man walking here!” To all of the other prisoners within earshot, the phrase signified the convict’s very imminent death. It was a grim reminder that, while the man had life and breath in the moment, his execution was on the horizon.

The sober reality is that our world is full of dead men and women walking—not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. But unlike the prisoner on death row, the frightening truth is that most people are not even aware that they will be condemned before the God of the universe. In the book of Ephesians, Paul expresses the truth to awaken us from our spiritual slumber and warn us of the things to come. He uses the strong language appropriate for such an occasion. “…You were dead in your transgressions and sins,” he stresses, “…gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath” (Eph. 2:1b, 3b). This is our condition from birth because of the hereditary stain of sin we have as descendents of Adam and Eve. And it is irreversible. Working hard to perform good deeds doesn’t impress the holy God of this universe. His standard is His perfect Son Jesus Christ, and whether or not we like to admit it, you and I fall hopelessly short. We are dead people walking.

It is a bleak picture. But into the bleakness, God speaks. “Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:4-5). The gavel has fallen and we have been declared guilty. But God intervenes. He grants a pardon to all who, in faith, place their trust in His sinless Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior and Lord. All of those who are in Christ will never face the wrath of God; Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for us and He left not one drop for us. The death penalty has been dropped. The guilty party has been acquitted!

Take a deep breath and let that sink in a moment. It is not until we realize the depths of our own depravity that we can appreciate the depths of God’s grace! God could have stopped there, and we would have been eternally singing His praises with hearts that never grow tired of delighting in His amazing grace! But God goes further and calls us His workmanship! We are God’s masterpieces on display so that the world might see His glory and goodness shining through us.

If you are in Christ, when God the Father looks at you He no longer sees a dead man or woman walking. He sees His Son, Jesus Christ, the perfect and spotless Lamb. He looks at you with eyes of unconditional love and He has canceled the debt of your sin. The chains have fallen off, the prison doors have been opened, and you have been set free! Masterpiece of God, use your freedom to declare this truth to other dead men and women walking in order that they too might be free.

Adopted

2010-04-16T14:49:00.000-05:00

“Properly understood, adoption is one of the most precious, heartwarming, and practical of all our theological beliefs… [It] focuses our attention on a relational image and points us to the joy and assurance that comes from receiving a father who loves us and a family with whom we can enjoy our new freedom in Christ.”
~Iain Duguid~

In early April 2010, the world watched with horrified fascination as news reports announced that a mother put her adopted seven-year-old son on a plane back to his homeland of Russia, announcing that she had no desire to continue being his mom. In a typed letter she tucked away inside his little backpack, she explained, “After giving my best to this child…I no longer wish to parent him.” Her son was exhibiting signs of emotional and behavioral disorders, and rather than seeking counseling for him, she found it easier to put him on a one-way, 10-hour flight back to Russia unaccompanied by anyone else. Patricia Cogen, a child development specialist and family therapist, said that adoptive mother Torry Hansen discarded her son “like a pair of pants that didn’t fit.”[1] Hansen reported wanting a child whom she could love, but her adopted son did not meet her expectations. She just could not love him.

Adoption is a metaphor used in Scripture to describe our relationship with God in Christ, and the picture is strikingly different than the story of Hansen and her adopted son. Paul writes in Ephesians, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Eph. 1:4-8, emphasis mine). Notice the language used here. He chose us in Him before the creation of the world. Our adoption is not a haphazard decision made by God that lasts only for a season of life.

Romans 5:8 informs us that “…while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God did not spot something good or beautiful in us, and then decide to adopt us. He looked at us, saw the mangled mess of our lives with all of the sin and ugliness that keeps us from His presence and said, “You! Yep, you right over there! I choose YOU!” Dr. Al Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary writes, “The wonder of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is this—not one of us is worthy of adoption. In our sinfulness, not one of us has any claim on the Father’s love, much less a right to adoption. But, the infinitely rich mercy of God is shown us in Christ, in whom believers are adopted by the Father. And this adoption, thanks be to God, is eternal and irreversible.”[2]

God has a destination for us—to make us holy and blameless in His sight. He will not annul our adoption the moment we sin. For exclusively through the blood of Jesus, He has made us holy and blameless in His sight, and He will continue to make us like Jesus until He returns or calls us home to be with Him.

Because of Jesus, you and I are no longer orphans! We will never be shipped back on a jet plane to an eternity without Christ. We do not need to fear being rejected by God because He has redeemed us through the blood of His Son, He has granted us the forgiveness of our sins, and He has lavished His grace upon us. If you are in Christ today, when God sees you, He sees the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. And God will not reject His Son. Let this be your hope today. Rejoice! You are a chosen, holy, and dearly loved son or daughter of the King!

[1] Cogen, Patricia. “Torry Hansen Should Have Sought Help.” www.cnn.com. 14 Apr. 2010.
[2] Mohler, Dr. R. Albert. “When Adoption Fails, the Gospel is Denied.” The Christian Post. 18 Apr. 2010.

Not Alone

2010-04-08T21:01:00.002-05:00

It has been said that when God closes a door, He opens a window. But maybe He allows us to sit in the room, no window in view, until we become comfortable in the silence and solitude. For then we discover we are not alone; there is Another in the room. And He is all we need.

In Sunshine or Rain

2010-04-04T21:14:00.003-05:00

When considering the goodness of God, I must never look first at my circumstances. For I can only "see in a mirror dimly," and I will never perceive God correctly if I judge Him through the lens of my circumstances.

Instead, I must look first at the character of God to clearly see His goodness. Only then will I understand that whether God brings sunshine or rain, still waters or a hurricane, HE IS GOOD!

"For now [I] see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known" (1 Cor. 13:12).

Let God's character always and forever be the lens through which I see the world!

On the Other Side

2009-02-11T19:09:00.003-06:00

It was a sad day. The thick, dreary clouds felt heavy and my soul languished. The sky longed to weep, but it could not find the tears to shed. My eyes stared into the distance, wondering when—no, wondering if God would make the pain go away. It had been too long; I was convinced of it, but apparently God had other plans. Plans that I did not favor. Plans against which I wanted to retaliate.

I jumped at the sound of my alarm. 3:00 a.m. I had a plane to catch. Rolling out of bed and forcing myself to eat a bowl of Cheerios, I could barely swallow the thought of the dreadful mysteries that would await me as I stepped off of that plane. Grabbing my luggage and glancing one last time at the peace and normalcy I was leaving behind, I let out a deep sigh and walked mechanically out the front door to embrace the overcast day. My journey had begun.

The plane was on schedule. There was no delaying the inevitable. Like cattle we boarded the small craft. One after another. All with individual stories. All with a hidden thorn in the flesh. I wondered if I wore mine on my sleeve.

I took my first row, first class seat near the window. Before we even took off, my eyes were drawn to the view outside like a magnet is drawn to its polar pair. The sky understood me. The blissful chatter and ignorant laughter echoing from the voices filling the seats in the plane mocked my sorrow. But not the sky. The sky mourned with me. We connected that morning, and I listened to it as if it were speaking directly to me.

I hardly noticed the movement as the plane began its course down the runway. Or perhaps I simply did not care. Either way, we began to ascend rapidly and I was thrust forward towards my sorrowful, sympathetic sky. At the peak, we kissed each other, and then I passed through her. Closing my eyes as I drank in the sorrow of this moment, it was not until the plane leveled that my eyelids slowly lifted to take in the scene of darkness once more.

Light. Glorious light as far as my eyes could see. I blinked one, twice, three times to confirm whether it was a mocking mirage or if Morning had dawned. The more my eyes gazed into the blinding brilliance, the more I never wanted to look away from the breathtaking beauty that enveloped me. What had become of the bleak scene of darkness?

I glanced down from my small window view, and noticed that the storm clouds were still there. But their appearance had changed. They were much thinner now. And lighter too. They lost their ominous power as I noticed that they were beneath my feet. Only the Light surrounded me, and my desire was to fix my eyes upon it.

Too soon the captain’s voice would come over the speaker system once more. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts as we prepare for our descent.” We would kiss the sky, pass through her, and land on the rain-soaked ground. Exiting the airplane, I would look back up at my sky and notice that she was thick and dark and threatening once more. But this time I knew what was on the other side. And I smiled.

Lessons in the Waiting Room: Tangoing with Suffering

2008-11-11T23:19:00.001-06:00

I am in the waiting room—that ominous place of mystery where the severe storms strike violently, and in their viciousness, conceal untold secrets. They threaten to steal my love, kill my joy, destroy my hope. Battered and broken. Torn and tattered. Whipped and weary. The storm cloud continuously morphs to mock my sorrowful soul.

My human nature is averse to suffering. I am weak. I am tired. I am fearful. I was not created to love suffering. Suffering was not a part of God’s perfect plan of creation. It informs me that there is something wrong in this world. There is something so terribly wrong that I experience pain, disease, and death. There is something so horrific that the sinless Lamb of God was nailed to two pieces of wood. Scripture labels the undefined “something” as sin. All of the pain and suffering that God has called me to endure serves as proof that the seemingly insignificant first sin in the Garden of Eden was not so insignificant after all. One sin set into motion every drop from the ocean of suffering that engulfs me. The depths and horror of suffering reveals the depths and horror of sin. I have a righteous hatred of suffering because I have a righteous hatred of sin.

And yet, suffering is inevitable. I cannot will my current suffering to disappear or any future suffering to pass any more than I can will myself to live without oxygen or food or water.

The issue is not whether we will suffer; the issue is whether Jesus Christ will be made to look great through our suffering. Prosperity theology, which teaches that our faith in God will result in physical health, material wealth, and personal success, robs us of seeing the goodness of God because it is an unbalanced view. Yes, all blessings come from God and they are to be celebrated with hearts overflowing with abundant thanksgiving! And all suffering that we endure has no power to touch us unless God allows it; He is sovereign! Moments of intense trial and hardship have the potential to reveal the goodness of God because it is in the school of suffering that God chooses to refine our character. In the midst of the storm, I enjoy a new level of intimacy with God. He reveals Himself as my Comforter, my Sustainer, my Strength, my Defender, my Fortress, my Deliverer, my Joy, my Hope, my Friend, my Redeemer, and my Abba Father. Cradling me in the palm of His hands, He invites me to savor the sweetness of His tender touch and loving embrace. He walks through the fire with me; it is not foreign to Him. I do not enter the flames alone. He is here. And He is not silent.

This is a dichotomy of universal proportions. For within me, I find a righteous hatred of suffering and a holy embracement of suffering. I serve a God who detests sin and has won the victory, and I serve a God who uses suffering—a consequence of sin—to draw me closer to Himself. God has the power to silence my suffering by uttering a single word or entertaining a brief thought. If my suffering still persists, it is not because God lacks the power. It is because He has chosen to bring me through it for His glory. And the very act that feels painful as He willingly prolongs my time in the fire is the very proof of His great love.

My circumstances change, but God remains constant. Therefore, my hope, joy, and peace are rooted in the faithfulness of my Father. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

Chemical Pride

2008-10-03T08:39:00.003-05:00

Staring at the mirror into the eyes of sin's deceitfulness, the bleak image pierces my flesh and blinds my soul's eyes. Shrinking back from the sordid sight, my soul wallows, then withers in the waves of chemical pride. The reflected image inverts and distorts until Power appears placid and person appears powerful. Chemical pride pulsates through the veins, cutting and carving its vain portrait into the soul's caverns.

O, wretched beast, once beautiful and blessing! What has become of your blessed estate?

Chemical choked cries for deliverance from death; kingdom of self disintegrates and crumbles. Beauty beheld is a balm to brokenness. The reflected image inverts and clarifies until servant submits and Righteousness reigns.

This is the Resurrection Power of the Risen Lord, saving and satisfying the repentant soul!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2008-07-31T23:39:00.004-05:00

He stopped what he was doing, gazed at me out of his intensely blue eyes, and in all seriousness asked, “Does he worship God or Satan?” Apparently my six year old nephew had overheard me speaking about someone who had not yet surrendered his life to Christ. Concerned for the soul of this man, my nephew wanted to know where he stood spiritually. There was a sense of urgency and concern in his little vocal articulation. He must know: Did this man worship Jesus Christ or did he worship Satan?

Completely unaware that his attentive ears had been eavesdropping on my conversation with his mom, I began to backpedal in my mind. How do I explain such intellectual, theological matters to a six year old? Certainly the man about whom we were speaking did not worship God; he had never responded to Christ’s call to repentance or received His grace. But worship Satan? That description seemed so…harsh. Surely this unregenerate man must be somewhere on the journey between the two.

I peered back into my nephew’s piercing, intelligent eyes, and in that moment, I realized that a child with little more than a kindergarten education had a more profound theology than his aunt, twenty years his senior with a Masters degree in ministry. Luke was correct; either we worship, fear, and serve Jesus Christ; or we worship, fear, and serve Satan—the very Enemy of our souls. There is no intermediary state or tertiary option, regardless of culture’s insistence to the contrary.

I wrote in my previous post, “Let us not cling to any patronizing notion that tells us that we can obtain or achieve autonomous freedom. Both the Enemy and the Almighty require of us our lives. But the former takes our life in order to destroy it, and the latter takes our life to give us abundant life. With the former, our death is an end. With the latter, our death is a means to an end. And that end is the fullness of life in Christ!” Satan masquerades under many names and titles. We “complexify” distortions of truth in our society. There is the worship of man (humanism), the worship of material objects and consumer goods (materialism and consumerism), the worship of pleasure (hedonism), the worship of self (egocentrism), the worship of tolerance (tolerationism), the worship of feelings (emotionalism), the worship of the individual (individualism), etc. The list could continue indefinitely because an utterly depraved heart persistently seeks after false objects for worship. It did not take long before the Israelites formed a golden calf upon which to outpour the worship that was arising within their hearts. It does not take long before we locate some feeling or idea or person or object of worship and outpour deep expressions of love and adoration upon it/him/her, even though these expressions were created within us to be outpoured upon Jesus Christ exclusively and exhaustively.

As I reflected even more deeply on my nephew’s question, I also found it fascinating that he did not ask me whether my friend was going to heaven or hell. Rather, Luke wanted to know whether my friend worshipped God or Satan. His question was theologically sound. Salvation is not a matter of whether one wants heaven or hell: paradise or fire and brimstone. When given the choice, which mentally sound and rationally sensible person would not choose eternal paradise over eternal damnation? But as my six-year-old nephew can articulate, salvation is a matter of whether one wants God or Satan; there is no spiritual “purgatory” of choice. To choose anything other than Jesus Christ and His glory is to choose Satan. The natural consequence of either decision is heaven or hell. But heaven is no more of an end than hell is an end. They are both means to an end: one end results in the worship of Jesus Christ in His presence for all eternity; the other end results in separation from the love of God and the intimate experience of His wrath and displeasure.

Would you be content in Heaven if God were not there? The question is hardly original, yet absolutely essential to evaluating true salvation. In Altogether Lovely, Jonathan Edwards asks, “What is it which chiefly makes you desire to go to heaven when you die? Indeed some have no great desire to go to heaven. They do not care to go to hell, but if they could be safe from that they would not much concern themselves about heaven. If it is not so with you, but you find that you have a desire after heaven, then inquire what it is for. Is the main reason that you may be with God, have communion with Him, and be conformed to Him? That you may see God and enjoy Him there? Is this the consideration which keeps your hearts, your desires, and your expectations towards heaven?” (10).

Or take Asaph. Can you honestly echo the cry of Asaph’s heart in Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but You? Besides You I desire nothing on earth.” Seeking after heaven in order to avoid eternal damnation is a search for safety, not for salvation. Salvation is nothing less than the desire for God Himself, which is expressed through obedient submission and humble worship. Edwards writes, “Now the main reason why the godly man has his heart thus to heaven is because God is there; that is the palace of the Most High. It is the place where God is gloriously present, where His love is gloriously manifested, where the godly may be with Him, see Him as He is, and love, serve, praise, and enjoy Him perfectly. If God and Christ were not in heaven, he would not be so earnest in seeking it, nor would he take so much pains in a laborious travel through this wilderness, nor would the consideration that he is going to heaven when he dies be such a comfort to him under toils and afflictions. The martyrs would not undergo cruel sufferings from their persecutors with a cheerful prospect of going to heaven did they not expect to be with Christ and to enjoy God there. They would not with cheerfulness forsake all their earthly possessions, and all their earthly friends, as many thousands of them have done, and wander about in poverty and banishment, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, in hopes of exchanging their earthly for a heavenly inheritance, were it not that they hope to be with their glorious Redeemer and heavenly Father. The believer’s heart is in heaven because his treasure is there” (3-4).

So who do you worship, God or Satan? Where does the treasure of your heart reside?

Freedom in Christ

2008-07-04T16:47:00.002-05:00

Today we celebrate our nation’s freedom. In the midst of listening to patriotic music, enjoying a cookout with my family, and watching fireworks light up the night sky, I am taking a moment to reflect on the freedom that is found in Christ. I have met many sincere, godly individuals who grapple with the concept of Christian freedom. Wrestling with the rules and regulation with which they have been raised, they question what activities, actions, and behaviors are appropriate for the one who worships Jesus Christ. To more fully understand the meaning of freedom in Christ, I turn to Paul’s exhortation recorded in the sixth chapter of Romans.

Dead to Sin

In the first verse of chapter six, Paul asks the same question as many well-meaning Christians. Because we have been given the grace of God, should we exercise our Christian freedom by engaging in sinful behaviors? It is an interesting question. But Paul’s answer is an emphatic, “By no means!” He masterfully uses the imagery of slavery, explaining that the follower of Christ is no longer a slave to sin; it has been mortified in the life of the believer. As long as we have a sin nature, we will have sinful tendencies. For the believer, however, freedom in Christ is the freedom to sever all allegiances to our old nature and to pledge our allegiances to Jesus Christ. We must exercise our freedom by moving away from the downward spiral of sin that results in death and moving onto the upward trajectory towards holiness—a journey called sanctification—that results in eternal life.

Slaves to Righteousness

Paul continues with his chosen slavery motif and labels the follower of Christ as a slave to righteousness. Your freedom in Christ necessitates your slavery to righteousness. Herein lies the great paradox. Your bondage and your freedom are both forms of slavery. Let us not cling to any patronizing notion that tells us that we can obtain or achieve autonomous freedom. Both the Enemy and the Almighty require of us our lives. But the former takes our life in order to destroy it, and the latter takes our life to give us abundant life. With the former, our death is an end. With the latter, our death is a means to an end. And that end is the fullness of life in Christ! Paul summarizes it this way: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:22-23, ESV).

As you rejoice today in your political freedom, rejoice all the more in your spiritual freedom. Friends, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we have been set free from slavery to sin which results in death! Just as our political freedom required the shedding of blood, so our spiritual freedom required the shedding of Christ’s blood on our behalf. Let us take a moment today to offer up thanksgiving to God for offering to us the greatest Freedom of all time—that which transcends geographical boundaries and transforms the hearts of humankind!

The Source and Object of My Love

2008-06-14T13:37:00.004-05:00

I am in love with love. The most exquisite notion of all that is beautiful and wondrous, it culminates in knowing and being known. It drives the affections and titillates the intellect, creating relentless, passionate pursuit. Deep desire burns and bubbles and bursts forth like the water in a cauldron under a hot flame.

There is a Source of my love, for I have neither the creative power nor the purity of heart to will it into being. A heart that is “deceitful above all things and desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9) cannot produce anything as exquisitely beautiful as love; out of its depravity, it can only twist and distort and defile the purity and essence of Divine Love. The Source of my love, then, is You, O my Lord and Savior. For I did not love first, but You first loved me (I Jn. 4:19).

If You are the Source of my love, then I am one conduit of Your love. It flows into me from the Source, passes through me, and is outwardly expressed from me. Therefore there is also an object of my love—that which receives the exquisite and beautiful affection created within me from You, the Source. And in measure of the love that I have been given, there must be a Primary Object which is the recipient of my deepest love and greatest affection.

My life, O Lord, is a quest to identify the rightful Object of my deepest love. At times, I find its fulfillment in an object called Matter—that which is tangible, but transient. There are fixed objects all around me that vie for my attention and affection. I can manipulate them, acquire more of them, and mold them into my liking for my use. But Matter has an elusive and mysterious power over me and turns me into a Materialist. I find that it does not pour love into me, but requires all of my love from me. And as I am required to pour out without being poured into, this finite creature who cannot create love any more than she can create the universe, is left feeling empty.

Another object calls out to me with the name of Power—that which is intangible, but also transient. The desire for it pulsates through my veins, moving to the rhythm that man is the measure of all things. Its friend, Knowledge, holds its hand, and together they dance through my mind, enticing me to join in the rhythm of their beat. They call me to move one foot forward, then another, faster and faster, until I am spinning and swirling and twirling at a dizzying rate. And when I arise victorious, they call me Humanist. But that which is intangible and transient also beckons me to love it, and it says that I must deny You, Lord, in the process. In taking up my crown and discarding the cross that You call me to bear, I am left with only a distorted, twisted, depraved love of self. And once again, I am empty.

A much more attractive object comes along and its name is Man—that which is tangible and intransient—for while he was not pre-existent, he is an eternal being. This object of love finds its attractiveness in the very truth that it has been created in Your very image. And perhaps that is what makes it the most desirous and dangerous of all. It is not content to ask for my love as a means to an End, but it desires to become my End. I pay tribute to it and it becomes an object of worship. It labels me Idolater and Adulterer, for it robs me of the love and affection that I have already given to Another. And because the love it gives to me is a mockery of the Love that I am intended to receive, I am still left utterly empty.

Upon the darkness of my condition breaks forth the Voice of Truth, the Light of light. It is the Source of Love Himself—He who is intangible and intransient. It is You, my Lord and Savior! You whisper into my soul, “The Source of Love is the Object of love.” While all else that surrounds me desires to be the recipient of my love, only the Source of Love deserves to be the recipient of my love. You, my Source, pour into this conduit so Your love might flow through her back to You. The Object is both the Giver and the Receiver. You label me Chosen and Beloved, for You called me out before the establishment of the foundations of the earth. In You, my identity is secure. And I am left feeling satisfied and fulfilled, for there is a constant flow of pouring into so that I may pour out Your Love to You.

O, to know and to love You more! How my heart longs to be in constant and continual communication with You, and thereby to receive unending joy and assured hope. Might You impart to me a greater passion and root within me a deeper adoration for my Savior. Become the Object of my love just as You are the Source of my love. Envelop me in Your Love so that I may see You; and in seeing You, know You; and in knowing You, love You; and in loving You, savor You; and in savoring You, worship You.

May the things that break Your heart shake me to the core. Grant to me a supreme dissatisfaction with the folly of this life, and make my heart loathe the idolatrous affections that woo my spirit. Become the Great Iconoclast at work within my soul. Destroy any desire within me to rob You of Your glory and replace my foolish pursuit of self with a grounded, firm, and unshakable pursuit of You. May my cries of desperation call to You as the Object of fulfillment. Cause my heart to echo the Psalmist’s, until my “soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord.” Make my “heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Ps. 84:2). When my soul is drowning and gasps for air, fill my lungs with the sweet oxygen of Your presence. Dwell in my heart, Christ Jesus my Lord, rooting and grounding me in Love. Only then will I have the “strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” And only then will I “be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17-19), the Source and Object of my Love!

Sacrifice of Praise

2008-05-22T23:23:00.004-05:00

This post is dedicated to a dear friend, whose praise to God will be uttered through deep pain tonight. May you cling to Jesus, and in His abundant grace and mercy, find the healing for which your soul aches.

Throughout my life, whenever I faced a trial, my mom would quote Hebrews 13:15 to me. It reads, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise....” While she lavished her love and compassion on me, identifying with my pain, she would not allow me to wallow in self-pity for too long. Though I always expected it, I did not always enjoy hearing her gentle rebuke from Scripture. But she was always right, and those words renewed life in my weary soul. Real, genuine praise always requires a sacrifice. Praise is God’s antidote to the pain.

As the years have passed, I have learned detrimental mechanisms to cope with any painful situations that arise. These usually involve society’s distractions. When I need to drown out my own sorrow, I turn to noise. If praise is God’s antidote to pain, then noise is society’s tranquilizer. Give me an injection with the serum of comedy or drama on television, music on an iPod, products in the shopping mall, mindless surfing on the Internet, the newest application on Facebook, worlds of escape in a book, excessive exercise regiments at the gym, superficial conversations over dinner with friends, work that “must get done” before tomorrow…and the list continues. Give me anything. Anything but Jesus.

We turn to noise because it is temporarily effective at drowning out our sorrow. But then the sedative wears off and we the feel the pain once again in full force. Not knowing where to turn, we repeat this vicious cycle, desperately longing for healing and release the second time around. But once again we are left feeling empty and alone, grasping for anything that offers us a glimmer of hope.

In His beautiful, divine, mysterious plan, God has designed everything in this life other than Himself to cause our hearts to ache for something Deeper and Higher and Greater than anything this world has to offer. We can eat of the world, but we cannot savor its flavor for very long. It is distasteful and dissatisfying. The more we eat of it, the more our hunger grows because it was never intended to nourish our spirits or nurture our souls.

There is only One who can satisfy, and His name is Jesus Christ. Right when our souls cry, “Give me anything but Jesus,” we need to run all the more quickly to Him. We must continually offer praise to Him, and it is precisely the sacrifice that makes our praise so pleasing to His ears and penetrating to our inner beings.

Larnelle Harris penned the following song lyrics,

When praise demands a sacrifice

I’ll worship even then

Surrendering the dearest things in life

And if devotion costs me all

He’ll find me faithful to His call

When praise demands a sacrifice

Through God’s enabling power, we must make a conscious decision to be faithful to His call, surrendering all in life that we hold dear, because we clearly perceive that Christ is supremely more beautiful and infinitely more worthy than anything that this life has to offer. We must not be afraid to dwell in the midst of our pain, stare it in the face, and at the top of our lungs scream that God is good at all times regardless of our circumstances! It is only here—in the place of paradox, dwelling in our pain while clinging to the goodness of God—that our hearts will find the rest, contentment, hope, assurance, and peace that Christ has intended for us.

Part Six: Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

2008-05-07T16:44:00.010-05:00

Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

Part Six: Returning to its Missiological Call

For parts one through five, see the posts directly following.

If the church does not exist to satisfy its own needs but to incarnate the love of Christ to the world around them, which I firmly believe is the calling of every church body, then every ministry must transform into a vibrantly externally-focused ministry of the church. Instead of focusing attention on attracting newcomers into the church through creating polished products, churches should concentrate on equipping their teams of volunteers to enter into their communities with the message of the Gospel using acts of service as their platform. Both approaches may result in an increase in church attendance, but an externally-focused approach invites the Holy Spirit to produce this growth. The church that is preoccupied with serving the needs of others has little time to preoccupy itself with its own needs.

When newcomers enter the building, they understand that they a significant part of a larger community of believers. They will not be entertained during the church service, but challenged to find their place within the missiological community that is already established. Dr. Darby Ray, professor of Religious Studies at Millsaps College writes, “Worship is entertainment when it fails to challenge the worshippers to live differently and to carry out the ministry of the church in the world.”[1] Being entertained and embodying Christ’s call to become a missiological community are contradictory. Visitors to mega-churches must understand that they are being invited to become active participants in a way of life that transcends the individual and impacts the world around them. And the primary objective of their service is not to meet needs of those in the community, but to have a platform to proclaim the Gospel message, addressing the real need of the regeneration of the unsaved. The worship of Jesus Christ is the ultimate aim of a missiological community.[2]

In struggling through these issues, my passion has deepened to see the American church transform into a missiological community that maintains its doctrinal purity. My vision for mega-church communities is best articulated by the Gospel and Our Culture Network:

[My vision for the American church is that it will focus] on celebrating God’s presence and promises without seeking or expecting worship to be the occasion for God to meet human needs. The congregation departs from worship, knowing that it is a sent and sending community, and each Christian is conscious of his or her apostolic sentness as light, leaven, and salt in the world.[3]

In reminding the American church of its missiological calling and shifting the emphasis of its ministry life away from an internally-focused philosophy to an externally-focused reality, my goal is that the church will withstand the temptation to favor business principles over biblical principles, emphasize quantity over quality, and succumb to a world-centered entertainment style rather than a Word-centered proclamation of truth.

The rhythm of the world and its methods creates dissonance and disharmony. If the church sings to the tune of the world’s music, it will lose sight of its calling to be the light that shines in the darkness. Rather than proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord, it will begin to proclaim itself.[4] But stepping into the cadence of the divine song composed by God, the church begins harmonizing with the melody sung by her Bridegroom. Singing this sweet song requires the church to adjust its life “to the presence and activity of our living Lord, one day at a time.”[5] It is a song of surrender, and the lyrics are beautifully expressed in Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways…for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”[6] The church as an organization is structured, standing erect and powerful, finding an identity in the name that it has made for itself. The church as an organism is fluid, bowing in reverence and humble submission to the God who is power; finding an identity in losing itself, only to discover that it has gained Christ.[7]

Footnotes:

[1] Darby Kathleen Ray, ed., Theology that Matters: Ecology, Economy, and God (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 175.
[2] Lois Y. Barrett and others, Treasure in Clay Jars: Patters in Missional Faithfulness (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), 100.
[3] The Gospel and Our Culture Network, “Empirical Indicators of a ‘Missional Church’”; available from http://www.gocn.org/newsletters/pdf/103-newsletter.pdf; Internet; accessed 29 April 2008.
[4] 2 Cor. 4:5-6
[5] Blackaby, What the Spirit is Saying, 73
[6] Isa. 55:8-9
[7] Phil. 3:8

Part Five: Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

2008-05-06T17:06:00.005-05:00

Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

Part Five: World-Centered Entertainment vs. Word-Centered Truth

For parts one through four, see the posts directly following.

In addition to fighting the temptation to employ business principles instead of biblical principles and focus on quantity instead of quality, the market-driven church must relinquish its fascination with world-centered entertainment by proclaiming the Word-centered truth. The method of using entertainment in the context of church services began with a genuine desire to attract the unchurched to the church. Robert Schuller, Senior Pastor of Crystal Cathedral in California, is credited as the first pastor to successfully incorporate marketing techniques into the life of the church. He comments, “The secret of winning unchurched people into the church is really quite simple. Find out what would impress the nonchurched in your community [then give it to them].”[1] Growing churches understand that the unchurched are attracted to lively services that mimic the style of music to which they enjoy listening on their iPods and messages that address their day-to-day concerns. The unchurched feel comfortable when churched individuals relate to them without using Christian jargon or look down upon them for their differing viewpoints.[2] Churches that offer comfortable, entertaining services find success.

In 1975, a young man named Bill Hybels and a small group of his acquaintances envisioned how a church sensitive to the seeker might operate. Understanding that many of the unchurched were at one time disillusioned by the church-as-institution, Hybels and his friends wanted to introduce seekers to authentic believers who cared for their needs at every level. Their goal was to provide a safe place for the unbeliever to ask questions without being judged, where they in turn could point the seeker to Jesus Christ. On October 12, 1975, Hybels’ vision came to fruition as Willow Creek Community Church held its first service[3]. The church now reaches an estimated 20,000 individuals each week.

Market-driven churches such as Willow Creek have rightly invested in people and committed themselves to studying the needs of those they intend to reach. Conducting door-to-door surveys, listening intently to the hurts and misconceptions of the unchurched, and warmly inviting them to attend a “different” style of church, they express the love of Christ to those around them. They understand the vernacular of the unchurched, thereby enabling them to communicate effectively with seekers. In speaking their language, many of the pastors of market-driven churches are master storytellers.[4] Reflecting Jesus’ extraordinary ability to use parables, metaphors, and symbolism that was understood by His audience, market-driven church pastors make their message relevant by using the symbols of the contemporary world, including modern art, the latest technology, and references to popular culture. Bill Hybels admitted that he struggled with the resources that are required to keep up with the latest technology and present polished productions each week to his audience, but in counting the costs, he considered it worthwhile. Whenever he doubts his decision, he remembers the reason why he continues with these productions:

Because some lost man or woman, who matters more to God than we can possibly understand, might come on the arm of one of our believers and get a first glimpse of what Christianity is like. And that glimpse might set the dominoes falling, so that someday that person will come to understand who Christ is, then build a relationship with Him, and eventually sit in a small circle of believers in which he or she can experience the church.[5]

Thus market-driven churches package the product that they are selling more attractively, and in so doing, they draw the interest of the unchurched. They reverse the stereotype of the church as a conventional, dull, lifeless establishment. If the church changes its methods, meets the needs of the consumer, and reverses its negative stereotype, the consumer will ultimately buy the message of Christ. But what message is the consumer buying? The market-driven church is unintentionally teaching that God exists to meet the felt needs of the unbeliever. This message, supremely attractive to the unchurched, is quickly becoming a best-seller. The problem is that this is not the message of downward mobility that ends at the foot of the cross. The apostle Paul asserts that “no one understands; no one seeks for God” and that “the cross is folly to those who are perishing.”[6] The message of the cross is abrasive because it mortifies man’s desire to see his deepest needs fulfilled in favor of seeing the beauty and supremacy of Jesus Christ manifested in all things.

The problem with the market-driven approach is not in conducting ethnographic studies to explore the needs of the surrounding culture, nor is the problem the church’s desire to address people’s needs. The problem lies in the answers that the church provides. Does the church suggest that the latest Christian self-help book can answer all of life’s problems, or does it point to Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world? Does the church blame all of life’s problems on psychological dysfunction and moral imperfections, or does it identify that the root of life’s problems is sin? Educational theorists and market-driven ministry practitioners are informed by Abraham Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, human beings must have their fundamental needs met before they can reach the highest level of self-actualization. Even at the pinnacle of his pyramid diagram, the summit is centered on self.[7] The church that focuses on felt needs fails to detonate the bomb that destroys the pyramid of self and enables one to reach above and beyond humanistic thinking to the deification of God and the detestation of self.

Church marketing techniques may be successful in attracting newcomers, but they fail at presenting the Gospel message with the clarity and conviction that changes one’s character. The market-driven church attracts those who are seeking entertainment, free childcare, an emotional experience, a weekly concert, motivational messages, a feeling of fulfillment within a loving community, and intellectual discourse with other likeminded individuals. These elements of the market-driven church are not inherently evil, but they miss the mark when they become the end rather than the means to an end. The ultimate purpose of the church is not the fulfillment of perceived needs; it is the worship of a holy God. As David Wells writes, “Neither Christ nor his truth can be marketed by appealing to consumer interest, because the premise of all marketing is that the consumer’s need is sovereign, that the customer is always right, and this is precisely what the Gospel insists cannot be the case.”[8] In one of the many beautiful paradoxes recorded in Scripture, Jesus declares that the one who “loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”[9] In forfeiting comfort, ease, worldly pleasure and earthly gain, the follower of Jesus Christ gains life. And this is the path leading towards the hope and fulfillment to which the church must point at all times.

Author James Twitchell, who describes himself as a “humanist, universalist, atheist,” expresses his disgust at the effort of the market-driven church to “sell God.” Even as one of the “seekers” that the market-driven church is attempting to reach, Twitchell clearly perceives the drastic measures the church is willing to take in order to draw him into the building, and the way the message is compromised in the process. He writes, “The sermons (and they are not called that; they are called messages) are invariably encouraging and easy to swallow, sugarcoated with optimism and affirmation. No one is called a sinner; they’re just someone with a broken part.”[10] Market-driven churches insist that the language of sin is outdated, harsh, and condescending. Rather than hitting a nerve that makes congregants squirm in their seats, better marketing techniques suggest that the church offers people a message that leaves them feeling comfortable. The accusatory term “sin” is replaced with the less condemning phrases “poor choice” or “error in judgment.” But the issue is not simply one of semantics. Employing these terms changes the connotations of the words and the result is a diluted theology. A world that is blinded to the truth needs to hear the Gospel proclaimed with clarity and sincerity. Dr. John MacArthur writes, “…the truth of God does not tickle our ears; it boxes them. It burns them. If first reproves, rebukes convicts—then exhorts and encourages.”[11]

The twenty-first century church walks a fine line, trying to balance cultural relevancy with doctrinal integrity. Cross the line and the church becomes driven by marketing strategies and slick methods rather than a call to unapologetically proclaim truth in a spiritually relativistic culture hungry to embrace something that is above and beyond earthly existence—that which is the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. If the church fails to do this, it becomes “just a Christian Oprah Winfrey Show, mirroring the culture but not bringing scriptural truths to bear on it.”[12] The church must be message-driven rather than market-driven. Comfort is not character-forming and convenience does not challenge. In surrendering to Christ and remaining faithful to the teaching of His Word, the church allows God to miraculously and supernaturally provide for its needs in order that His glory might be on display as preeminent and supreme. Surrender necessitates sacrifice. To gain Christ, the market-driven church must renounce its craving to rise above its “competitors” and become the most powerful, most populous, most polished, most potent, most prosperous church on the corner.

Footnotes:

[1] G.A. Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 51.
[2] Michael Fewson, Will the Real Church Stand Up: How the Gospel of Jesus Christ Contradicts the Contemporary Church (Longwood: Xulon Press, 2006), 78.
[3] Hybels, Rediscovering Church, 59.
[4] Twitchell, Shopping for God, 283.
[5] Hybels, Rediscovering Church, 16.
[6] Rom. 3:11, 1 Cor. 1:18
[7] Mark Driscoll, Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 24.
[8] Wells, God in the Wasteland, 82.
[9] John 12:25
[10] Twitchell, Shopping for God, 243.
[11] MacArthur, Ashamed of the Gospel, 37.
[12] Hybels, Rediscovering Church, 187.

Part Four: Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

2008-05-05T14:13:00.005-05:00

Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

Part Four: Quantity vs. Quality

For parts one through three, see the posts directly following

Church consultant Thom Rainer studied the fastest growing churches in America and determined that there is one common denominator between these churches: prayer is the cornerstone of their ministries.[1] Prayer is a sign of spiritual health, and according to Rainer, churches that are growing numerically also report a higher level spiritual health among their members than churches that are stagnant in numerical growth. Correlating the numerical and spiritual growth of a church, he believes that churches must place an emphasis on increasing attendance numbers in order to have spiritually effective ministries.[2] Barna concurs with Rainer, believing that it is impossible to “secure quality without quantity.”[3] Numerical growth is an important measurement tool for churches. If church attendance increases weekly, the church must be accomplishing its goals. Barna believes that numerical growth is “an indication that something exciting and meaningful is happening.”[4] The size of the church is becoming the measuring rod of success. Church marketing techniques work well at boosting attendance. The question is not whether these techniques work, but if the “something exciting and meaningful” that Barna identifies is truly biblical. Are Rainer and Barna correct in their conviction that quantity and quality are directly correlated?

Whenever Jesus’ teaching attracted large crowds, He reminded His audience that there was a cost associated with following Him.[5] The fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke recounts a time when a “great crowd” gathered to hear Jesus teach. When Jesus looked into the faces of the fascinated group, He unapologetically spoke the hard truth of the Gospel: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”[6] Scripture does not record the reaction of the crowds, but most likely, many turned away in disgust at His “abrasive” message. His approach was hardly “exciting and meaningful,” but it was truth.

This is not to imply that all growing churches are compromising the Gospel message. The apostle Paul testified that he “planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”[7] “But churches do need to recognize the enormous pressure they face to soft-pedal the Gospel in order to attract and appeal to increasingly demanding and discriminating consumers.”[8] Market-driven churches compartmentalize their methodology and their message, failing to perceive the interconnectedness between the methods they use to draw people into the door and the explicit or implicit message they preach by using those methods. A church desiring to attract people into their building at all costs may offer events and programs that are based on meeting psychological needs and never point individuals to the truth of the Gospel. The message becomes distorted when it is driven by erroneous methods. In these instances, it is not the Gospel that is being preached, but a church event that is being sold to interested consumers eager to have their psychological needs met.[9]

Additionally, a focus on quantity over quality encourages church-shopping, an attractive and acceptable option within the American church. Trying to determine which church best meets their needs, church-shoppers visit various congregations until they settle on one that “feels right.” The market-driven church appeals to these individuals. They are allowed to window shop without being asked to make a commitment. Treated like customers, they are promised the fulfillment of their felt needs.[10] They are eventually lured in by the attractive packaging of the message, unable to resist the God who satisfies their desires. At this point, the church that has drawn people into its building by promising the fulfillment of perceived needs is in a quandary. How will it handle the plethora of felt needs that contradict Scripture? The individual’s desire to feel validated living out the American dream of success, wealth, and popularity is a felt need. Does the church explain that it cannot meet this carnal desire that is birthed from pride and egocentrism? Does it draw people to its doors using one method, only to preach a message that decries this same approach? The church must decide whether or not it will take a bold stance and proclaim that not all human needs are legitimate. It must choose whether it will declare God’s calling to the Christian to “deny himself and take up his cross” in order to follow his Savior.[11] Unfortunately, “since such a strategy of bait-and-switch will likely be met with incredulity if not anger and resentment...most churches will [not] have the courage to actually follow through.”[12] Those who do follow through and maintain doctrinal purity will detract many visitors who are seeking a church “that will be less judgmental and more user-friendly.”[13]

Footnotes:

[1] Thom S. Rainer, The Book of Church Growth: History, Theology, and Principles (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1993), 177.
[2] Ibid., 174.
[3] Wells, God in the Wasteland, 78.
[4] Barna, Marketing the Church, 157, quoted in Philip D. Kenneson and James L. Street, Selling Out the Church: The Dangers of Church Marketing (Eugene: Cascade Books, 1997), 124.
[5] Kenneson and Street, Selling Out the Church, 126.
[6] Luke 14:26
[7] 1 Cor. 3:6
[8] Kenneson and Street, Selling Out the Church, 126.
[9] Wells, God in the Wasteland, 82-3.
[10] Kenneson and Street, Selling Out the Church, 67.
[11] Matt. 16:24
[12] Kenneson and Street, Selling Out the Church, 83.
[13] Ibid.

Part Three: Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

2008-05-04T17:21:00.005-05:00

Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

Part Three: Business Principles vs. Biblical Principles

For parts one and two, see the posts directly following

Market-driven churches employ business strategies and incorporate them into a philosophy of ministry. Advocates of using business techniques have identified their advantage. Marketing enables churches to determine that which motivates consumers in order to produce a given response. If a church understands the interests of the surrounding community, it can tailor its ministry programs to attract those within the community into the church. By drawing these individuals into the church, marketing methods facilitate the flow of resources into the church. These resources include both people and funding. Marketing techniques promote cost efficiency, providing ministries with the education to make informed decisions regarding ministry effectiveness versus cost expenditure. This encourages ministries to prioritize the most important programs and discontinue those that are least effective. Therefore it also promotes a smooth organizational flow.[1]

George Barna explains church marketing:

Activities such as advertising, public relations, strategic planning, audience research, product distribution, fund-raising and product pricing, developing a vision statement, and customer service are all elements of marketing. When these elements are combined in a transaction in which the parties involved exchange items of equivalent worth, the marketing act has been consummated.[2]

By creating a vision, hiring those who share the vision and are willing to promote it, and following a set of guidelines to implement the vision, the product may be successfully marketed. The entire process is organized, structured, and linear, moving from one fixed point to another. In capitalizing on these techniques, the church progresses toward a goal using “the same wisdom and savvy that characterizes any for profit business.”[3]

Marketing techniques such as the advertising of events, visitor follow-up procedures, and providing sufficient parking spaces for congregants are crucial in church ministry. Without this structure, the church would lack organization, which in turn would impact the effectiveness of its ministries. When these procedures are seen as a means to a greater end, churches successfully implement organizational methods. The danger enters in when the church markets the Gospel by catering to the felt needs of consumers rather than directing them towards the Word of God to meet their real needs. When the Gospel is compromised to attract newcomers, the church has crossed the line. Gilley clarifies, “…it is one thing to market the church; it is another to market the Gospel.”[4]

Churches must remember that attractively advertising their ministry programs, providing fringe benefits to members, and offering a warm greeting at the door does not guarantee that individuals will have encountered the transforming power of Jesus Christ by the time that they exit the church building each week.[5] David Wells argues:

[The market-driven church is] replete with tricks, gadgets, gimmicks, and marketing ploys as it shamelessly adapts itself to our emptied-out, blinded, postmodern world. It is supporting a massive commercial enterprise of Christian products, it is filling the airways and stuffing postal boxes, and it is always begging for money to fuel one entrepreneurial scheme after another, but it is not morally resplendent. It is mostly empty of real moral vision, and without a recovery of that vision its faith will soon disintegrate.[6]

Perhaps the market-driven church has created too polished of a product to realize its desperate need for God, and it is at this point that the church has lost its moral vision. Self-reliance corrupts submission to the will of God. A church that asks God to bless its plans after those plans have already been established misses the point completely. The church must become utterly reliant upon God. When leaders of the church learn to rely on God, they light the spark that sets the congregation ablaze. God works powerfully in and through a body of believers whose minds are fixed on Christ and who are surrendered to His calling. Pastor and teacher Henry Blackaby writes, “When a church realizes it all depends on God, not them, and will together yield their lives fully to Him, God begins to work. It doesn’t depend on numbers, status, skills, or even resources. The future depends on God and on His people who will hear Him, believe Him, and obey Him.”[7]

The church led by the Holy Spirit is not guided by business philosophies inspired by marketing specialists; rather, it is guided by biblical principles of spiritual growth directed by the Holy Spirit. David Wells skillfully articulates the difference:

A business is in the market simply to sell its products; it doesn’t ask consumers to surrender themselves to the product. The church, on the other hand, does call for such a surrender. It is not merely marketing a product; it is declaring Christ’s sovereignty over all of life and declaring the necessity of obedient submission to him and to the truth of his Word. When the church is properly fulfilling the task it has been assigned, it is demanding far more than any business would ever think of asking prospective customers. Simply put, the church is in the business of truth, not profit. Its message—the message of God’s Word—enters the innermost place in a person’s life, the place of secrets and anguish, of hope and despair, of guilt and forgiveness, and it demands to be heard and obeyed in a way that not even the most brazen and unprincipled advertisers would think of emulating. Businesses offer goods and services to make life easier or more pleasant; the Bible points the way to Life itself, and the way will not always be easy or pleasant. At most, businesses are accountable only to stockholders and a variety of regulators; the church is accountable to God.[8]

Footnotes:
[1] Robert Stevens and others, Concise Encyclopedia of Church and Religious Organization Marketing (Binghamton: Hawort Reference Press, 2006), 12.
[2] Barna, Marketing the Church, 19, quoted in Gilley, This Little Church, 35.
[3] Barna, Marketing the Church, 26, quoted in David F. Wells, Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005), 276.
[4] Gilley, This Little Church, 37.
[5] Ibid., 42.
[6] David F. Wells, Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 180.
[7] Henry Blackaby, What the Spirit is Saying to the Churches (Sisters: Multnomah, 2003), 29.
[8] Wells, God in the Wasteland, 76.

Part Two: Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

2008-05-03T14:13:00.009-05:00

Part Two: Introduction to the Problem: Marketing the Church or Marketing the Gospel?
For Part One: Historical Antecedents, see the post directly following.

But somewhere between the genesis of McGavran’s missiological approach to Church Growth and the establishment of the modern, powerful mega-church model, something went awry. The predominantly missiological approach was replaced by a principally market-driven frenzy. The fervor the church once had for Voetius’ conviction to see the “conversion of the heathen” while maintaining “the glory of God” was replaced with a new enthusiasm to increase numerical growth by using ostentatious marketing techniques. These “clever methods and gimmicks…might proselyte people into false conversions through fleshly persuasion.”[1]

Furthermore, the church is becoming obsessed with meeting the felt needs of the church consumer. In his best-seller, Marketing the Church, Barna writes:

It is…critical that we keep in mind a fundamental principle of Christian communication: the audience, not the message, is sovereign. If our advertising is going to stop people in the midst of hectic schedules and cause them to think about what we’re saying, our message has to be adapted to the needs of the audience. When we produce advertising that is based on the take-it-or-leave-it proposition, rather than on a sensitivity and response to people’s needs, people will invariably reject our message.[2]

With an elevated focus on self, the calling to be a missiological community that incarnates the Gospel message to a spiritual dying world is vanishing. The church that disregards its missiological calling will implode from its internal infatuation.

Admittedly, there are numerous churches that are clinging to the foundations of their faith and maintaining a strong missiological focus. Nevertheless, these churches are the exception rather than the rule. They are swimming upstream in a church ethos teeming with ministry practitioners who are eager to acquiesce to the surrounding culture. There is an escalating temptation in American culture to compromise the message of the Gospel in favor of the muddied waters of the modern method for Church Growth. The church is in dire straits unless it can reverse the hands of time and return once again to its missiological nucleus.

Too many North American churches are straddling the fence, with one leg firmly fixed on the foundation of their missiological calling, and one leg hesitantly planted on the ground of the popular Church Growth movement. These churches stand at the crossroads and two distinct voices beckon them to move forward, committing themselves fully to journey down one of two paths. The loudest voice calls them to commit to a market-driven approach of church ministry and growth. Market-driven churches “are identified by a philosophy of ministry intentionally designed to effect numerical growth…. More attention is paid to market strategy, business techniques and demographics than to New Testament instruction.”[3] The market-driven church uses gimmicks, tactics, and polished products that appeal to the consumer. It seeks to draw people into the church doors at all costs, even if the message is compromised in the process.

The whisper calling out to these churches challenges them to commit fully to a message-driven model of church ministry. Message-driven churches have a concern for doctrinal purity and move believers along a trajectory of deeper growth. The message is not amended to appeal to the ears of the audience; it is expressed with all truth, clarity, and conviction. Dr. John MacArthur writes:

[The Gospel message] is disturbing, revolting, upsetting, confrontive, convicting, and offensive to human pride. There’s no way to ‘market’ that. Those who try to erase the offense by making it entertaining inevitably corrupt and obscure the crucial aspects of the message. The church must realize that its mission has never been public relations or sales; we are called to live holy lives and declare God’s raw truth—lovingly but uncompromisingly—to an unbelieving world.”[4]

Churches that faithfully proclaim the Gospel are less focused on tactics to draw people into the building; they are more deliberate in shaping character so that the congregants reflect Christ when they leave the church building. Therefore message-driven churches are missiological. Instead of being internally-focused on meeting the felt needs of the congregants, they are externally-focused on living out the Great Commission, starting in their surrounding communities.

As an American reformer, my long-term goal is to encourage the American church to commit itself fully to a philosophy of ministry that is both message-driven and missiological, and to discard any market-driven tendencies toward which the church is leaning. I have identified three related ancillary goals, based on the predominant temptations that surface in the draw between message-driven and market-driven models. First, the church must promote biblical principles rather than business principles. Second, the church must focus on quality more than quantity. Third, the church must ground itself upon Word-centered truth while rejecting the method of world-centered entertainment. The stance mega-churches take on these issues is an expression of their philosophy of ministry, and it is essential that their approach is message-driven rather than market-driven.

Footnotes:

[1] John F. MacArthur, Jr., Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1993), 77.
[2] George Barna, Marketing the Church (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1988), 51, quoted in MacArthur, Ashamed of the Gospel, 76.
[3] Gilley, This Little Church, 17.
[4] MacArthur, Ashamed of the Gospel, 72.

Deserting its Missiological Call: When Mass-Marketing Method Drives Mega-Church Message

2008-05-02T21:24:00.012-05:00

Preface:

This is an edited and reduced version of the final paper that I wrote for graduate school. I had the blessing of writing on a topic about which I am most passionate. My paper will be posted in six parts.

Part One: Historical Antecedents

Part Two: Introduction to the Problem: Marketing the Church or Marketing the Gospel?

Part Three: Business Principles vs. Biblical Principles

Part Four: Quantity vs. Quality

Part Five: World-Centered Entertainment vs. Word-Centered Truth

Part Six: Returning to its Missiological Call

Note: Unless you are an enthusiast of the study of modern Church Growth, the first section may appear to be a dry historical analysis of the movement. However, it lays the important groundwork for the implications of mega-church marketing in the following sections.

PART ONE: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS

Two thousand years ago, followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ gathered in homes, “devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”[1] These fundamental components of early church worship were informed from the apostles’ interactions with Jesus. They embraced His method of incarnational teaching, emphasized the importance of Christian community that Jesus first modeled in meeting with the twelve disciples, remembered His sacrificial death through celebrating the Lord’s Supper, and devoted themselves to prayer as Jesus had exemplified throughout His earthly ministry.

By modern standards, the methods of the early church were simplistic and unsophisticated. The apostles relied exclusively upon the clear proclamation of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate the heart of the unbeliever and sanctify the soul of the believer. The message they proclaimed was life itself. The method of meeting in homes and informally discussing the doctrinal foundations of the faith was unpretentious. And yet, Scripture records the affect of their obedience in proclaiming the Gospel: “And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.”[2] As their lives were transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, they began selling their belongings and sharing with those who had need. They gathered together daily, and gratitude overflowed from their hearts. Though simple, their methods were attractive. They had “favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”[3]

Two thousand years later, the church continues to grow as the Gospel spreads throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.[4] The landscape of the church has emerged over the past two millennia as it adopts a different personality and distinctiveness informed by the current cultural milieu. In twenty-first century North America, the mega-church movement has become normative. Mega-churches report a weekly attendance of at least 2,000 worshippers.[5] In 1980, there were fifty mega-churches in America. This number increased to 1,210 by the year 2005.[6] By 2006, a new mega-church was being established every three days.[7] These indicators suggest that the North American church is growing and flourishing.

Examining the growth of the American church through a more critical lens, some surprising statistics surface. In 1937, an average of 41 percent of the population attended church. By the year 2006, this percentage rose slightly to 46 percent, an increase of only 5 percent in nearly 70 years.[8] These statistics take into account the exponential growth of mega-churches. Much less highlighted is the statistic that every eight days, another non-mega congregation permanently closes its doors.[9] And it is these smaller congregations that account for nearly 50 percent of the churches in America, numbering “fewer than 75 attendees on any given Sunday, and only 5 percent attract more than 350 [attendees].”[10] Meanwhile, 50 percent of all churchgoers attend the 10 percent of the largest mega-churches in America.[11] This suggests that reached individuals have moved from smaller churches into mega-churches; larger churches are not necessarily attracting the unchurched.

Prior to the rise of the mega-church, the waning of church attendance in 1960s America created a high level of concern among ecclesiologists. Research in the field of Church Growth escalated with statisticians and practitioners such as George Gallup, George Barna, and Lyle Schaller contributing their expertise.[12] The Church Growth movement, however, traced its roots to a much earlier time. Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676), a Dutch missiologist, laid the framework for the views that have been adapted by modern Church Growth specialists. Voetius was convinced that “the first goal of mission is the conversion of the heathen; the second, the planting of churches; and the highest, the glory of God.”[13]

Donald McGavran (1897-1991) is the father of the modern Church Growth movement. McGavran served as a third-generation missionary in India, where he developed a passion to see the spread of the Gospel through the growth of the Indian church. Concerned that the church of India was stagnant, McGavran investigated the deterrents to church growth.[14] While in America as a student, McGavran attended a convention of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, an initiative instigated by Dwight L. Moody. Commenting on the impact of the event, McGavran wrote, “There it became clear to me that God was calling me to be a missionary, that he was commanding me to carry out the Great Commission. Doing just that has ever since been the ruling purpose of my life…. That decision lies at the root of the church-growth movement.”[15]

McGavran’s ideas of Church Growth were not widely disseminated until the 1970s. During this time, he wrote Understanding Church Growth, “which became the foundational textbook of the movement.”[16] He also founded the Institute for American Church Growth, which developed into the School of World Mission of Church Growth at Fuller Theological Seminary. McGavran organized a band of scholars within the School of World Mission who met together to discuss their convictions and broadly propagated their theories of Church Growth.[17] McGavran identified four key questions that guided the Church Growth movement:

1. What are the causes of church growth?
2. What are the barriers to church growth?
3. What are the factors that can make the Christian faith a movement among some populations?
4. What principles of church growth are reproducible?[18]

At this point, Church Growth was not dissociated from missiology. Church Growth specialists explored the reasons why select populations within a given culture were unreceptive to the Gospel, and the ways in which ministry practitioners might transcend cultural barriers in order to reach more people with the message of Jesus Christ.[19] At its core, the Church Growth movement was nothing revelatory; it was simply a proclamation of the Great Commission and establishing practices that would bring about its fulfillment. What became the precursor to the explosion of the modern mega-church was rooted in an externally-focused, missiological theology.

Thus the Church Growth movement operated under three assumptions. First, evangelism is not an ancillary purpose of the church, but the foundational mandate for the life of the believer. The church is called to incarnate the message of the Gospel, thereby impacting the surrounding community in the name of Jesus Christ. Second, the church must critically evaluate the obstacles to the advancement of the Gospel and report these findings for further analysis. Third, in interpreting these facts, the church must formulate practices that will enable growth and change to take place. As a result, any plan of action should include both the salvation of souls and the planting of new churches.[20]

McGavran’s focus was on applying principles of Church Growth internationally on the mission field. His colleague at Fuller, Peter Wagner, first applied Church Growth practices to the North American church. He published Your Church Can Grow, which became “one of the most influential books in spreading Church Growth thought in North America.”[21] During this time, Fuller tapped into the expertise of Wagner and developed a Doctor of Ministry program. Wagner contributed classes in Church Growth targeted not at international ministry leaders, but targeted at North American pastors and ministry leaders. Local ministry practitioners flocked to this program. Many of the graduates from the program successfully implemented Church Growth practices into their ministry contexts, and they began training other church leaders in these principles. Noteworthy alumni from Fuller’s Doctorate of Ministry program with an emphasis on Church Growth include Rick Warren, John Maxwell, Leith Anderson, Elmer Towns, Bill Sullivan, and Kent Hunter.[22]

Two models of Church Growth resulted: classical and popular. The classical model consisted of two schools: McGavran’s international focus and Wagner’s domestic focus. When the Fuller Institute for Evangelism and Church Growth closed its doors in 1995, the popular model of Church Growth replaced the former classical model.[23] The popular model includes the incorporation of Church Growth principles into the North American church and the reproduction of these theories by Church Growth specialists and statisticians, such as George Gallup and George Barna; church consultants; and training churches, the most prominent examples of which include Saddleback Church pastored by Rick Warren and Willow Creek Church pastored by Bill Hybels. Those interested in Church Growth shifted their gaze away from the declining influence of the classical model and onto pastors of thriving, flourishing churches.[24] Saddleback and Willow Creek, in particular, have laid the foundation for the modern mega-church movement.

Footnotes:

[1] Acts 2:42 English Standard Version
[2] Acts 2:43-44
[3] Acts 2:47
[4] Acts 1:8
[5] Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age (New York: Routledge, 2008), xi.
[6] James B. Twitchell, Shopping for God: How Christianity Went from In Your Heart to In Your Face (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 48.
[7] Ibid., 230.
[8] The Barna Group, “Church Attendance”; available from http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=10; Internet; accessed 26 April 2008.
[9] Twitchell, Shopping for God, 48.
[10] Dr. Gary E.Gilley, This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Entertainment (Webster: Evangelical Press, 2005), 40.
[11] Twitchell, Shopping for God, 230.
[12] Paul E. Engle and Gary L. McIntosh, eds., Evaluating the Church Growth Movement (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 19.
[13] Ibid., 9.
[14] Charles Van Engen, “Church Growth Movement,” in The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), 538.
[15] Engle and McIntosh, Evaluating the Church, 10.
[16] Van Engen, “Church Growth Movement,” 538.
[17] David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), 68.
[18] Engle and McIntosh, Evaluating the Church, 12.
[19] Van Engen, “Church Growth Movement,” 538.
[20] Engle and McIntosh, Evaluating the Church, 15-16.
[21] Ibid., 17.
[22] Ibid., 17-18.
[23] Ibid., 21.
[24] Ed Stetzer and David Putman, Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2006), 46.

God's Demand for Worship

2008-04-23T08:39:00.007-05:00

God is madly and passionately in love with…Himself. Sit with that thought for a while. Eat it. Savor its flavor. Digest it. Allow the nutrients contained within that simple phrase to nourish your body.

I remember the first time that I encountered this theological notion. Upon completing my senior year of high school, I began reading one of the books I received for graduation: Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. In this magnificent work, Piper proclaims God’s Self-love. God is wholly consumed with a passion for His own glory.

Viewing Christianity from the lens of American culture, in which I often heard messages of God’s unconditional love for me, I found this Self-love to be rather conceited. It grated against me and began peeling back parts of my soul. It was painful—a slow, steady pain that is experienced through the stripping away of the layers of self. And as a follower of Jesus Christ, I could not tell which was more painful: the actual stripping away of self or the idea that God’s Self-love ever disturbed me in the first place.

The very definition of God suggests Supremacy. In other words, God would not be God if anything or anyone superseded or surpassed Him in any way. Any notion that existed before Him could claim Intellectual Supremacy. Any person who held more power could claim Kingship. Any perfection that existed above Him could claim Deity. Any control that existed outside of His choosing could claim Sovereignty. In all of these cases, God would not be God.

But He is God. There is nothing that supersedes or surpasses Him. There is no notion that existed prior to Him. There is no person who holds more power than Him. There is no perfection that exists above Him. There is no control that exists outside of His choosing. He is God.

For man to worship anything other than God would be idolatry of the gravest nature. In worshipping God, we declare that there is none other who is worthy “to receive glory and honor and power.” Why? For He “created all things and by [His] will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11).

The notion that God demands my exclusive worship no longer disturbs me; in fact, it delights me! It is the greatest proof that the God who has called me to Himself is the One, True, Living, All-Sufficient, Supreme Being who breathes Life into my soul.

If God stirs within your heart a deep desire to know, love, cherish, and trust the God of gods, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, to Whom we all will one day give an account, then at this very moment, respond to His voice and commit your life to eternally worshipping Him!

Afternoon Insights

2008-04-19T13:53:00.003-05:00

Insight 1: Praying through Psalm 8 this afternoon, I felt the burden of verse 6. The Lord has given man "dominion over the works of your hands." I believe this extends much further and digs far deeper than taking care of the earth, though that is certainly a part of our mandate. Our very lives and the way in which we interact with the world around us--the environment in which God has placed us--must continually proclaim, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Ps. 8:9). Man's dominion does not point to the power of humanity; it points to the greatness of God! Any other expression of dominion is an idolatrous attempt to write man's name over that which belongs to God.

Insight 2: Every action that I perform must complete the sentence, "Because I believe Christ is supremely more beautiful and infinitely more worthy than anything this world has to offer, I..." This expression is not merely theological; it is practical. It must be the driving conviction behind all that I set out to do.

My Soul Sings of its Salvation and Sanctification

2008-04-09T22:24:00.004-05:00

Slowly sinking, sliding, spinning
Downward into deep despair,
The sin-saturated soul screams
Constricts, convulses, chokes.
Deteriorating, diminishing unto death,
It lies limp and lifeless,
Drowned in downright darkness.
Ceasing its struggle in the cesspool of sin,
Succumbed its spirit to shapeless structure.
Nature that nourishes nothing,
Death that dies undistinguished,
Sings this sad story of sordid sin.

Sovereign sees slave’s sinful state
And cutting across the constrictive curtain,
Reaches, receives, raises,
Lifts the limp and listless life
Towards triumphant Truth
Revealed! Releasing and relinquishing
Control, the creature is recreated,
Only to open the ominous
Secret: Sanctification severs ties to self!
And dying the death of all deaths,
Discovers this definitive death,
Leads to everlasting Life and Love!

Affections of the Non-Elect vs. the Elect

2008-03-26T18:56:00.005-05:00

The affections of the non-elect and the affections of the elect are powerfully pitted against each other in the fourteenth chapter of Mark. The stage is set in Bethany and in Jerusalem during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first scene, recorded in Mark 14:10-11, is bleak: “Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray Him.” Notice the reaction of the chief priests when Judas betrays Christ. Gladness: an emotion of delight, joy, and pleasure. The non-elect, bowing to the god of their own devices, are delivered up to their depravity and a desire for deleterious delights is birthed deep within their souls. When the spiny fingers of twisted affections creep up the soul, it is suffocated until it loses its breath, its life, and ultimately dies.

Peering into the window where Jesus reclines around the table with his disciples, celebrating the Passover, the scene turns solemn. Jesus informs his disciples that one of them is about to betray him—one who is eating with him! Can you hear the gasps echoing throughout the room? Scripture reads, “They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, ‘Is it I?’” (Mk. 14:19). Notice the reaction of the elect. Sorrow: grief, affliction, anguish. The elect, consumed with a concern that their hearts would be hardened, ask in an incredulous tone whether this disdainful betrayal is buried deep within their own souls. When put to the test, a soul softened by the sweet Spirit of God shrinks in sorrow when its Savior is despised and rejected.

But lest we think the heart of the elect is surrounded in a shroud of continual purity, we are given warning in Ephesians to forsake the futility of our former thinking and allow the Holy Spirit to make us new, beginning with the attitudes of our minds. We aspire to the attitude and mind of our great God, for we were “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). Failing and falling, but striving through surrendering to His Spirit.

And we adapt the affections of the elect. For our very soul must mourn any mockery man attempts to makes of God. And our soul delights that God cannot be mocked, for a man reaps what he sows (Gal. 6:7).

Of Phinehas and First Things

2008-03-13T11:12:00.001-05:00

The spiritual landscape was bleak. Israel had once again forsaken her first love in favor of false gods. Shittim reeked of decrepit immorality, for in her depravity, Israel emitted the putrid stench of her mounting sinfulness. Whoring after other gods, she paraded her wickedness in the sight of the Lord. Inviting His fierce anger to reign on their parade, Israel kindled the severe wrath of the Lord God Almighty.

Jealous of their absolute affection, the Lord’s passionate love for His chosen people and demand for utter holiness required His intervention. To appease His wrath, the Lord commanded Moses to “take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun” (Numbers 25:4). Sin faces the fist of righteousness and it cannot stand. In the midst of the purification process, one Israelite decided to flaunt his depravity in the face of God one last time.

Enter Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron and son of Eleazar. He had witnessed both the results of righteousness and the ramifications of sinfulness firsthand through his family. As his surrounding community sold themselves to lesser things and exchanged the glory of God for the alluring invitation of a lie, I imagine Phinehas’ father and grandfather breathing the truth into his life that the beauty and holiness of Yahweh—the God who is faithful to His promises and abounds in steadfast love—is worth infinitely more than everything else that vies for Phinehas' affection. Perhaps they warned young Phinehas that following El Shaddai demanded intense sacrifice as he embarked on an extreme adventure of faith. Or maybe they simply recounted the character of his great God as revealed repeatedly throughout Israel’s history.

Convinced that the sole purpose of His life was to glorify God and exalt His Creator at all costs, Phinehas burned with the zeal of the Lord. Leaving the congregation, he grabbed a spear in his hand and killed the Israelite man and Midianite woman who dared to defy God. Instantly, the plague on the people of Israel ceased and God decided not to consume them in His anger. Phinehas rejected the lure of sin in favor of the glory of God, and in so doing, discovered God’s peace. Rewarding Phinehas for his faithfulness, God blessed him with His covenant of peace—not only Phinehas, but also his descendants—and gave him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood. All of his life, Phinehas would mediate the redemptive power of God to the people of Israel and enjoy entering the presence of God, communing with Him.

For quite a few weeks now, my mind has wrestled with this very significant story in Scripture. I say “wrestled” because I heard God telling me that there are areas in my life where I lack the zeal of Phinehas, and as a result, I quench the power of His Spirit reigning within me. More than I would like to admit, I resemble Israel and exchange the glory of God for the alluring lie of the culture that surrounds me. God breathes into me that He is infinitely more beautiful and worthy than anything else that I could desire, but I moan and gripe that it is too difficult to let go. What if I give up everything only to find that I miss the secondary things in life? What if I find that my love for the first things—that which is from God and by God and to God and for God—is not enough?

Then God’s Holy Spirit invades my life and gives me the power that I lack to release the secondary things. What freedom is found from leaving the chaff behind! I can attest that the first things in life do not disappoint. Being filled with the zeal of the Lord and being blessed with a glimpse of His beauty is worth it all. Discovering His deep love for me, being refreshed in His Spirit, finding renewal in the streams of His mercy, overflowing with a passion for the way of Jesus Christ, standing in the shadow of the cross, rejoicing in the power of the resurrection, walking down the road of sanctification, rekindling the fire of my faith—this is what produces my highest hope, deepest joy, and greatest satisfaction.

At the Foot of the Cross

2008-02-07T19:35:00.000-06:00

For graduate school, I was asked to write a paper over Henri Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus, and evaluate how I would apply it to my internship. Here is the result:

Ministry is messy. It means entering into the mud and muck of the human soul. It means sacrificing selfish pride and ambition—the need to be relevant—in favor of incarnating the love and compassion and hope of Jesus Christ. In losing ourselves, we find something much greater. In becoming irrelevant, we find our identity.

The pathway to irrelevancy is paved by the senses: a keen awareness of the voice, the feel, the heartbeat, and the countenance of God. Nouwen writes, “The central question [in Christian leadership] is, Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to look at God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness?” (p. 29-30). This is the paradox. Only in tuning my ears to hear His voice can I hear the voices of my neighbors with clarity. Only in gazing at the beauty of Christ can I perceive the beauty of those who are created in His image. Only in touching His Word and tasting His goodness can I touch those around me and savor their uniqueness.

As I have been mulling over these thoughts, I am becoming more convinced that my highest calling in my ministry position is to enter on the journey with people towards the foot of the cross. Some people are running towards Golgotha, others are stumbling their way up the hill, and still others are frozen in place, not knowing how to take their first step. All of these people will undoubtedly cross my path in Assimilation Ministry. Nouwen challenges me to open my eyes to the spiritual needs of others as they stand at the crossroads of their spiritual lives and reminds me of the reason that I am pursuing a career in ministry. He writes, “While efficiency and control are the great aspirations of our society, the loneliness, isolation, lack of friendship and intimacy, broken relationships, boredom, feelings of emptiness and depression, and a deep sense of uselessness fill the hearts of millions of people in our success-oriented world” (21). As newcomers walk through the doors of our church and I have the opportunity to interact with them, this is what I must keep in mind. These burdens are carried on their shoulders while they make their way along their journey towards the cross. Jesus whispers, “Release your burdens. Shed them at my feet.” I cannot shed their burdens for them any more than I can heal them, but I have the opportunity to point them to the God who welcomes them into His presence in order to offer them redemption, refreshment, renewal, and restoration.

Here is where my greatest joy and my greatest struggle in ministry collide. I deeply resonate with Nouwen because there is nothing more that I desire in my own ministry context than for Christ to be glorified and exalted as I lead humbly and sacrificially, leading people to the foot of the cross, and yet there is nothing greater that serves as a temptation to me in my ministry than to glorify and exalt myself while leading with pride and selfishness, falsely thinking that I have already arrived myself. I find it much easier to invite people into my office and spend time praying for them than to talk about my own struggles. I would much rather serve as the mentor than be the one who is mentored. There is a part of me that feels like I have “graduated” into my ministry role and my “spiritual degree” has prepared me for a career of healing and comforting and reconciling. Unapologetically, Nouwen brings me back to reality. He states, “We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for” (43-44). When I am honest with myself, I recognize that I need those to whom I minister as much, or perhaps even more, than they need me. And I discover that the only way that I can move an inch closer to the foot of the cross is when I realize how far I have left to journey myself.

I am thoroughly convinced that humility of this magnitude begins in relinquishing control and allowing others to serve alongside of me. I remember sitting in my job interview at First Baptist, receiving advice from the Pastor of Missions and Outreach. “The goal of ministry is to equip others for ministry. This often means sacrificing ‘your’ right to do ‘your’ projects in ‘your’ way. There will be times when you will want to act independently in your work because you will feel like you can do it better on your own. But resist that temptation. No matter how much you want to do it yourself, you must let others rise to leadership.” Those words were simultaneously sour and sweet to my taste buds. They were sour because they grated against my perfectionist nature that craves control, and they began chipping away at my pride. They were sweet because they resonated with the type of ministry to which God calls me—a ministry that deflects the glory off of myself and turns the spotlight on Jesus Christ. Nouwen, too, believes that the remedy for the poison of pride and self-service is ministering alongside others. He writes, “…whenever we minister together, it is easier for people to recognize that we do not come in our own name, but in the name of the Lord Jesus who sent us” (41). The fame and glory of Jesus Christ should be my greatest desire.

If I could choose one sentence in Nouwen’s work to capture, place in my pocket, and carry to work each day, it would be this: “The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobility in which our world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross” (62). John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, put it another way: “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). This is my ultimate goal in the ministry to which God has called me.

A Cracked Pot for the Glory of God!

2008-01-26T19:51:00.000-06:00

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." ~2 Corinthians 4:7~

There is an ancient Indian proverb that tells as follows:

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the masters house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his masters house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your masters house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts." The pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the masters house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the Pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pots side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my masters table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

There is an obvious moral to the story. God can even use flawed creatures like us. Our inadequacies do not stop God from fulfilling His purpose for us. That is enough cause to rejoice!

But let's think further and deeper. God does not settle for us because He has nothing better to work with; it is not as if He resigns and says, "Well, it's the best I can do with what I created! I guess I'll just have to be content with who they turned out to be!" Do we think that God is not sovereign? On the contrary! God has ordained the situations and pain and cracks and brokenness in our lives because it is what brings Him the most glory.

We are to live fully as broken vessels. Beautiful vessels. Vessels that let the Living Water drip from our jars of clay to produce flowers along the path that we travel.

KEEP OUT: Threat of Oxygen Ahead!

2008-01-17T09:37:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday, we studied John 3:1-21 at Come Thirsty. As I was preparing to teach the lesson, I was struck with the number of references to light verses darkness. We investigated the reasons why Nicodemus might have approached Jesus at night, in the darkness. We looked at our own hearts and asked ourselves what keeps us from coming to the light, then brainstormed ways to step out of the darkness and walk with confidence into His glorious light.

Have you ever wondered how a light bulb works? Light is emitted when an electrical charge passes through a thin filament, heating the filament until it produces light. Metaphorically speaking, God is our electrical current, and the filament is our lives. Without His life-giving energy moving through us, there would be no heat to produce light. When we are born again, this process begins, and His light shines through us.

But there is another key. The enclosing glass bulb around the filament keeps oxygen in the air from hitting the hot filament. If oxygen gets in, the light would be destroyed rapidly by the process scientists call oxidation.

What serves as the outside air in your life that seeks to destroy the light that God has produced? Is it wealth or materialism? What about relationships? Could it be distraction? How about image? Or is it egocentrism--focusing so much on your own needs and concerns that you fail to see those around you who are spiritually dying?

I generated this list from thinking about my own personal struggles. Every single one of those items would be on my list. Maybe they affect you too. Maybe they don't. But I want to challenge you to think about the outside air in your life.

For today's blog image, I chose a picture of a light bulb that is emitting light. I distributed this picture in class on Sunday, and around the bulb, we all wrote down the things which threaten to destroy our light. Then I challenged us to pray over and against one of these items every week, asking God to eradicate it from our lives. With all of the items I listed, I need to spend many months in prayer, and even then, I know I am only scratching the surface.

Ragman

2008-01-10T09:15:00.001-06:00

Ragman

by Walter Wangerin, Ragman and Other Cries of Faith

I saw a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing my life, my street sense, my sly tongue had ever prepared me for.

Hush, child. Hush, now, and I will tell it to you.

Even before the dawn one Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our City. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new, and he was calling in a clear, tenor voice: "Rags!" Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music.

"Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!"

"Now, this is a wonder," I thought to myself, for the man stood six-feet-four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better job than this, to be a ragman in the inner city?

I followed him. My curiosity drove me. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her knees and elbows made a sad X. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking.

The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping round tin cans, dead toys, and Pampers.

"Give me your rag," he said so gently, "and I’ll give you another."

He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up, and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new that it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver.

Then, as he began to pull his cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then HE began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear.

"This IS a wonder," I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away from mystery.

"Rags! Rags! New rags for old!"

In a little while, when the sky showed grey behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage, whose eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage. A single line of blood ran down her cheek.

Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity, and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart.

"Give me your rag," he said, tracing his own line on her cheek, "and I’ll give you mine."

The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers. And I gasped at what I saw: for with the bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood -- his own!

"Rags! Rags! I take old rags!" cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman.

The sun hurt both the sky, now, and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry.

"Are you going to work?" he asked a man who leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head.

The Ragman pressed him: "Do you have a job?"

"Are you crazy?" sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket -- flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. He had no arm.

"So," said the Ragman. "Give me your jacket, and I’ll give you mine." Such quiet authority in his voice!

The one-armed man took off his jacket. So did the Ragman -- and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman’s arm stayed in its sleeve, and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs; but the Ragman had only one.

"Go to work," he said.

After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, and old man, hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it round himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes.

And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider’s legs he skittered through the alleys of the City, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond.

I wept to see the change in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to know what drove him so.

The little old Ragman -- he came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labor he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket. And he died.

Oh, how I cried to witness that death! I slumped in a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope -- because I had come to love the Ragman. Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep.

I did not know -- how could I know? -- that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too.

But then, on Sunday morning, I was wakened by a violence.

Light -- pure, hard, demanding light -- slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all. There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And, besides that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined for cleanliness.

Well, then I lowered my head and trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place, and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice: "Dress me."

He dressed me. My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, the Ragman, the Christ!

Love the Lord Your God

2008-01-06T16:32:00.000-06:00

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30b).

One of my grad school professors started out class every day by having us reflect on a Scripture passage. One day, she asked us to read the verses out loud as many times through as there are words in the verse. Each time, we were asked to emphasize a different word. For instance, with the verse above, the first time through I would read, "LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart...." The second time, I would emphasize the article: "Love THE Lord your God with all your heart...." The third time, the emphasis went on the third word: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart...." And so on.

Last night, on my way to my niece's birthday party, Mark 12:30 popped in my head. I ran through that exercise in my head. I think it can teach a person quite a bit. Here's what I learn:

LOVE- God doesn't ask for our religious fervor inspired by duty, but our hearts motivated by love. He wants me to really love Him. That is the starting point. If I mess up at the first word in this verse, and my motivations shift away from love, everything else in the formula will be skewed.

THE- There is only one God. He is THE God, not a god. Wow! I serve THE God, and THE God invites me to love Him! He wants to be known by me! How sweet is that?!? :)

LORD- Here is the object of my affection. Though there are so many things in life that tempt me to remove my gaze from my First Love, God gently reminds me that it is He who my heart must pursue. The Lord is the only One whom I should love with all of my heart and soul and mind and strength. Everything and everyone else falls short.

YOUR- Again it strikes me that He is my God. My search is over; He has found me. I belong to Him and He is my God. If He is my Lord, it is only logical that I must live like He is my Lord. He must have Lordship over my life. There is no other option. There is no other joy.

GOD- I've often reflected on the longing in my heart to worship someone or something. I have been created to worship. Isn't that blatantly obvious in all of our hearts if we are honest with ourselves? Am I going to worship me--am I going to worship my hopes and dreams and desires for my life--or am I going to worship God? God doesn't snuff out our desire to worship as if He has to put out a dangerous fire in our lives. On the contrary, He invites us to worship with every ounce of our being, and He points to Himself as the One whom we must worship.

WITH- Semantically, the word "love" has no power. What gives the word power is not even the sentiment behind it, but the action behind it. If we are going to love God, we must love Him with something. Otherwise love becomes a meaningless philosophical term.

ALL- Three little letters. Why is this such a hard concept for me? God wants ALL of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I tend to give only a fraction, most of the time deceiving myself into thinking 9% or 99% is the same as 100%.

YOUR- It is my personal offering unto God. No one else can offer it for me.

HEART- My affections and the deep inner longings within me all belong to God.

AND- It doesn't end with my heart. There is more I can offer to God!

WITH- See previous note on "with."

ALL- See previous note on "all."

YOUR- See previous note on "your."

SOUL- My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. God desires to dwell within me and reign supreme in my life. I must love Him with my spiritual senses, my emotions, my personality, and all else that makes me uniquely...me.

AND- See previous note on "and."

WITH- See previous note on "with."

ALL- See previous note on "all."

YOUR- See previous note on "your."

MIND- How can I love God with all of my mind if I am letting it become cluttered with the cultural messages that teach me that my value and self-worth and self-preservation lie in materialism, consumerism, humanism, and egocentrism. Man is not the measure of all things. God is. He is the author of Knowledge and Wisdom; these cannot be found apart from Him.

AND- See previous note on "and."

WITH- See previous note on "with."

ALL- See previous note on "all."

YOUR- See previous note on "your."

STRENGTH- If it is when I am weak that I am strong, then loving God with my strength involves becoming weak for the glory of God. It means realizing that Jenny Schulenburg has no strength. God does. Jenny Schulenburg is not wise. God is. Jenny Schulenburg cannot succeed or make a name for herself. God is the author of success and only His name is great. It is all from God, for God, by God, and to God.

One little verse. One lifetime of lessons. And I continue taking notes in the School of His Presence.

Happy Birthday, Lori!

2008-01-06T16:30:00.000-06:00

The Bible has some very beautiful, detailed descriptions of God's handiwork. His creation is "majestic" and "full of splendor." It reveals His glory and magnificence. It illustrates God's creativity, His orderliness, His authority. All of creation will one day bow before Him, for He is the King of all.

Man's artistic ability is one of the many characteristics that sets man apart from beast. God has gifted select individuals with the ability to strike awe and wonder in the hearts of others using the canvas as their medium and the paintbrush as their tool. Whether or not the artist acknowledges the fact, he or she reflects on a diminutive scale God's painting of love, grace, and mercy on the tapestry of one's heart.

My sister-in-law Lori, married to my second oldest brother, Randy, has been gifted with great artistic abilities. She has enough vision to take an unadorned object and transform it into a thing of beauty and grace. But Lori's vision is not limited to her artwork. Lori sees beyond the sinfulness of unredeemed sinners and demonstrates love and compassion in her interactions with them. She illustrates the way that God transforms His children into beautiful vessels for His glory through both her artwork and her life.

Lori, today we celebrate who God created when He made you. I cannot consciously recall a time when you were not a part of our family. When I was around five years old, I thought my brother Randy was bringing over a friend for me to play with, and I would drag you away from him to play with my dolls. :) Even though you wanted to spend time with the man who would eventually become your husband, you were sweet and gracious and entertained the little girl in pigtails. I don't think time has changed much. I still drag you away, only our conversation has replaced our imaginative play. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

He Covered Me

2008-01-05T14:52:00.000-06:00

The Inspiration

"And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21).

Wow! I find this to be some of the most beautiful words in Genesis, perhaps in Scripture, and I enjoy spending time thinking and meditating on them.

The Backdrop

Adam and Eve are in the cool of the garden enjoying unhindered, unencumbered, unadulterated fellowship with the God who created them. Everything is perfect, until the serpent begins to hiss the sly sentiments of Satan himself. A sprinkle of deception. A dash of doubt. A pinch of despair. And viola! Creation falls. And the human dance of entanglement with sin and Satan begins.

They Are Naked, And They Are Ashamed

Immediately after eating of the forbidden fruit, Scripture tell us "the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked" (Gen. 3:7). Their immediate impulse is to cover their physical bodies. For the first time, they feel shame.

While they immediately address their physical nakedness, I cannot imagine the pain of feeling spiritually naked and exposed for the first time. I was born a depraved sinner; I've known nothing else. They were created perfect; they never knew the feeling and pain of sin. Until they ate the fruit of the tree, they never had the "knowledge of good and evil."

Can You Imagine?

How terrified Adam and Eve must have felt when they covered themselves, but the dirty stain of sin and shame shown through the futile fig leaves! They could cover their bodies; they could not cover their hearts and their souls. They could not make their sin go away. Their attempts fell short.

God Intervenes

Fig leaves can never cover a person permanently. Leaves crunch and crumble as they are crushed on the ground. Fig leaves fail.

So God intervenes. He writes Himself into the story, over and over again. He is their only hope. He takes an animal. I wonder if it was an animal that Adam and Eve knew by name. After all, God gave Adam the chore of naming all of the animals. I wonder if their eyes locked with the creature as it was taken away, wondering what God was about to do. I wonder if God killed the animal in front of them. I wonder if they were horrified as they saw life drain away from the animal they named as it slowly went to sleep and awoke no more. I wonder if they cried as they saw its blood flow from its lifeless body. Scripture doesn't spell out the details, so I am left to wonder.

He Covers Them

God then takes the skin of the creature and wraps it around Adam and Eve. He corrects them. He clothes them. He covers them. Through the death of another creature, they are covered!

He Covered Me

Two thousand years ago, the process repeats itself on a grand scale. All of life has built up to this moment. The King doesn't take His throne; He is nailed to a cross. His blood flows down and spiritually naked individuals gaze upon the sacrifice, hoping that they might be clothed.

He dies, but His death isn't permanent. He rises again, and there is power in the sacrifice. He defeats death. He crushes Satan. He provides a way for those who respond to His message. And those individuals find that they are covered.

I stand here today fully clothed, washed clean by the blood of the sacrifice. My fig leaves have been replaced with garments of righteousness. The Bridegroom has adorned His bride in white for her entrance into glory, and I am counted among that number. Praise God, for He was the garment that covered me!

Happy Birthday, Christina!

2008-01-05T13:25:00.000-06:00

This year, my goal is to write a blog post dedicated to each of my family members on their birthdays. I find it beautiful that God has placed so many people into my life with various talents and gifts--people who I love deeply and who love me in return--and I want to celebrate who God created them to be for His glory.

My niece Christina turns seven today. She was the first child born to my youngest brother, Kevin and his wife, Melissa. Kevin and Melissa dropped by our house one night and said they had a gift for us. It was a small, unassuming box. We tore off the wrapping paper and found tiny baby shoes inside. It was their official announcement; in January a new baby would be born to the Schulenburg family!

Christina is very bright, she devours books, she is artistic, she has an infectious smile and a contagious laugh, she is "all girl," and she loves Jesus. Christina is my "look alike" niece. I love it when people come up to us and instantly know that we are related. But even more, I want her to reflect the heart of Jesus Christ. I want Him to increasingly become her all-consuming passion, greatest joy, and deepest satisfaction.

God is planting seeds of truth and life inside of her at an early age. I observe it every time she taps my arm in the church service to ask me a question in order to clarify what the pastor has just said. I relish those interruptions.

Christina, you are a beautiful gift from God. Live every moment of your life in pursuit of Jesus Christ. Devour your time in His presence as much as you devour your books on kings and princesses living in far away kingdoms. He is your King, and He has made you to be His princess. The kingdom of heaven is far away, yet very near. It is not a fairy tale, but a bright and shining reality. And you have been given the royal invitation!

A Year of God's Faithfulness: 2007 in Review

2007-12-30T22:30:00.001-06:00

With the exception of last year when I rang in the New Year with 22,000 of my "closest friends" at Urbana, :) I have upheld the same New Year's tradition for the past few years.

Every day, I keep a journal of at least five things I am thankful for in that day. At the end of the year, I review the list and ring in the New Year by praying (praising) through the many evidences of God's faithfulness in my life. I have come to absolutely cherish this time with God.

I think there is something to be said for publicly praising God too, so I thought I would share with you some of my praises of 2007:

Come Thirsty

This year, God has done some amazing things in the young adult group that I am a part of. I have witnessed such growth in the lives of those within the group. We have bonded through sharing the stories of our spiritual journeys, devoting ourselves to corporate service in our church and community, spending time in prayer for one another in the midst of some very deep hurts, and just having some fun game nights with Catch Phrase!

Turkey

Turkey: the most difficult time of my entire life, and yet the time when I encountered the love and power and presence of my Almighty God like never before. This was the greatest, most significant test of my faith to date. I praise God that He preserved me even though this time. If you haven't heard or read my testimony that came out of this experience, I encourage you take the time to do so even if you read no other post on this blog. Really, it is a testimony of our good God--the God who is good continually, in the midst of great joy and in the midst of great suffering. You can read my testimony here in a former post.

Witnessing

As Christians, we have the great joy and responsibility to share the gospel message with those we encounter. God brought various people into my path this year who needed Him, and gave me the opportunity to share glimpses of truth with them. Never did I walk away feeling like I had shared "too much" or "shoved the gospel down their throats." In fact in most cases, I felt like I shared too little. But I still praise God for the opportunities to talk about the greatest joy in my life and to pray for these individuals. The story of one of these encounters (and the strange events that led me there) can be read here in a former post.

Wheaton and Comprehensive Exams

By the grace of God, I finished all of my graduate school courses and passed comprehensive exams! All I have left is my internship, and God willing, I will graduate in four months--this May! During my time at Wheaton, I have made some incredible friends who have been godly role models in my life. My friends are serving God all over the world. Some I will not see again until heaven, but I praise God for the impact they have had on my life for eternity and their dedication in serving God wholeheartedly.

Ipod

Yes, that's right. An ipod. Let me explain. This year, I decided that I would not buy myself an ipod. I figured that this would be one way that I could try to plug my ears to the message of consumerism ("You HAVE to have one!") that surrounds me. I'm NOT saying that buying an ipod is bad, but I figured it was one luxury item I could do without. (Of course, half the things I own are not really things that I "need!")

This summer, out of the blue, and for absolutely no occasion, one of my friends gave me an ipod as a gift! I knew this was really a gift from God, so when I talked with a teenager that I'm close to who is from a wealthy family and struggles with materialism, I was able to tell her that God gave me an ipod (through the generosity of a friend.)

Protection

My journal was filled with examples of God's protection in my life and the lives of my loved ones this year. I remember the night my brother Brian called us to tell us that he was okay. It was a few weeks after we returned home from our trials in Turkey. We weren't sure what he was talking about; we hadn't seen the news reports yet. The I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis had collapsed. My brother often drove on that interstate, but he wasn't there when it collapsed. When we were in Minnesota for Thanksgiving, we drove over the standing portion of the interstate and I took the above picture of where the bridge once stood.

God Pursuing Me

This year, I relished God's love for me. It struck me that He knows the depths of my heart--even the little, silly things. I think He delights in pursuing us in the big ways and in the small ways. Indirectly, I focus on the big ways through the blog--God teaching me various lessons through His Word, God carrying our family through great suffering in Turkey, God's blessing of a godly family and friends, etc. But I want to focus on two small ways here. I do not mean for the following to sound irreverent. For those who know me well, you know I delight in the really small things in life. Here are some examples. :)

Ever since I was little, I have loved toads and frogs. I had pet aquatic frogs (yep, there actually is such a thing) from junior high through college, until I finally became an "adult" and let them go in our creek. This summer, when I was tempted to become apathetic in my walk with God, He filled our entire backyard with thousands (literally) of baby toads. It sounds silly, but it reminded me of how much God loved me.

Also, my favorite "non-religious" holiday is Fourth of July. I absolutely love it! I was in Turkey during the Fourth of July this year, so I missed out on any celebration. But soon after, I was given free tickets to the party deck of the Kane County Cougars stadium, and there was an unbelievable, long, musical fireworks show after the game. Again, that seems so small and insignificant, but it reveals that God knows my heart and loves me deeply.

Dinner with the Lost Boys of Sudan

I would be remiss to end this post focusing my attention on my own personal world and neglecting to call our attention to the nations that God is calling to Himself. This fall, I had an amazing opportunity. I was invited to a dinner party with the Lost Boys of Sudan. Have you heard of their story?

Northern Sudan (predominantly Muslim) was at war with Southern Sudan (predominantly Christian). Those Christians who refused to convert to Islam were severely persecuted. The reason why there is no "lost girls" of Sudan is because they were either raped, killed, or taken as slaves to the North. The boys, who were away tending herds, ran. Over 17,000 boys ran for years. Along the journey, some died of dehydration. Some were taken by wild animals. Others succumbed to insect bites or disease. But as they banded together, many survived, and over 4,000 have now come to the United States to begin a new life.

As I heard their story from their own mouths over dinner this fall, I sat speechless. This happened in my lifetime. These boys, now men, are not much older than myself. Their story is well known; it has been all over the news. What is often downplayed by the media is their Christian testimony. Familiarize yourself with the Lost Boys. Watch one of the documentaries that will leave you held captive, such as the CBS 60-Minutes special featuring their story or the film God Grew Tired of Us. When you hear them praise God that their relatives chose to die in the face of persecution, which they rightfully consider far better than recanting their faith in God, gratitude will take on a whole new meaning for you.

Conclusion

Happy New Year, my friends! May you find yourself absolutely in awe of the God whom you serve as you consider His faithfulness--through triumphs and trials--this past year of 2007. May you eagerly anticipate all that God will do in you and through you for HIS glory in 2008. You are His child. Rejoice!

Faith, Not Sight

2007-12-30T16:23:00.000-06:00

A brief thought for today:

II Corinthians 5:7, "We live by faith, not by sight."

Walking by faith is certainly difficult, but it is also very rewarding. I find that it is the only way that I can have the fullness of joy that God offers me so generously. Too often, however, I trade walking by faith for walking by sight, and I settle for the tangible things that I can see and understand. It's so paradoxical, because the things I think will bring me happiness are the things that end up disappointing me, and the ways of God that are mysterious and imperceptible through an earthly lens bring me sheer joy and peace and contentment. So why do I often pursue the former instead of the latter?

The Divine Worm-eater

2007-12-27T12:44:00.000-06:00

My mom loves to feed the birds. Every year for Christmas or Mother's Day or her birthday, she asks for bird seed. Her kids laugh, but humor her and pick up a bird-related product.

When I passed the bird seed aisle at the store, I threw two bird seed bells into my cart to add to my mom's Christmas presents. I noticed moths swarming all around the bird seed in the store. Something was obviously very wrong with this picture, but since I was tired of shopping, I never stopped to ponder the source of the moths, and I proceeded with my purchase. First mistake.

Tucking the bird seed bells away behind the books on my bookshelf to keep them hidden until Christmas, I left them sitting there for two months, unattended to. Second mistake.

Throughout the month of December, I noticed moths appearing in our home. I thought that was odd since all flying critters should have died with the first frost, but since our home is tucked away in the woods, again I didn't think too much about it. Third mistake.

Finally, I took the bird bells out of my closet to wrap for my mom the day before Christmas Eve. Crawling all over the bag, the bird seed, my bookshelf, and my books was moth larvae (a.k.a.: worms). My mom, having raised four boys and being given presents much more slimy and slithery than my moth larvae, graciously and joyously accepted my present and put the bird seed bells outside. For the birds, the worms were an added delicacy.

I wanted to tell that story because I find it entertaining, :) but also because it reminds me of sin. :( Many times, the negative effect of our sin surrounds us. There are signs, just like the moths appearing wherever the bird bells were sitting. But we ignore them or dismiss them or tell ourselves we will come back and root it out of our lives later. "Later" either never comes, or when it does, it has snowballed into a much larger problem that is more difficult to eradicate.

But just like my story has a happy ending (the worms in my room were destroyed and the birds had a tasty treat), so the story of our lives can have a happy ending. Christ took the curse of sin upon Himself--a divine Worm-eater--so that we might find life in Him. We do not need to wallow in the putrid nature of our depravity. The price has been paid; the debt has been canceled. Christ creates beauty out of ashes and brings life out of death.

As we head into a new year, let's allow our greatest celebration and source for our rejoicing be the new life that we have in Christ, who destorys the worms in our lives!

Incarnation

2007-12-23T22:08:00.000-06:00

I remember the day when my first niece was born. I was a nine year old, third grade student. My mom tucked me in bed on April 24, 1991, whispering in my ear that my sister-in-law Carol was in labor. That meant only one thing. When I woke up the next morning, I would be an aunt.

Early the next morning, I bolted into my parents' room, waking them up from their peaceful slumber. I blurted out, "Am I an aunt yet?" "Yes! You have a little niece, and her name is Kirsten! She was born last night around 8:30."

We rushed to the maternity ward viewing room at the same hospital at which I was born. I looked through the plated glass window at all of the babies laying in the hospital cribs, searching for Kirsten Elizabeth. Grandparents and siblings and parents were surrounding me, gawking at their bundles of joy. When I saw her, my eyes were fixed on just one baby--my brand new niece. She was beautiful. And so tiny. Ten little fingers. Ten little toes. Two eyes and one nose. She looked so fragile, and yet so perfect.

This Christmas season, I find myself wondering what Mary must have felt when she held her Son in her arms. Did she count His ten little fingers and ten little toes? Did she stare into His tiny eyes, not yet able to remain open for any extended period of time, and wonder how this fragile Infant would serve as her Messiah? Did she allow herself to become completely overwhelmed with the joy of the moment, or did she feel a quick, sharp pain in her chest as prophecies from old flashed through her mind--prophecies that predicted her Son's death to preserve her life?

I seem to have a fear of looking too long at the manger, thinking that I might neglect to look beyond it. Our society has perpetuated the image of the content baby Jesus, "no crying He makes." While I think we should fight against this stereotype, I do not think it is right to rush Christmas either. Maybe I should peer into the ancient "maternity ward viewing room" once more and ponder again that Jesus humbled Himself, took on flesh, and came as a helpless little baby just to show Himself to you and me--just to write Himself into the story. That, my friends, is the greatest of love!

Deflection

2007-12-15T19:01:00.001-06:00

He had a rather strange diet. His meat was locusts. His sweet tooth was satisfied with wild honey. He wore a roughly woven robe made of camel hair with a leather belt bound around his waist. He was the voice of one calling in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord. He worshipped his Cousin, but not with an inappropriate hero worship. No, his exaltation went much deeper. He worshipped his Cousin as his Lord.

As I've been reading through the book of John, I have grown to respect John the Baptizer. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite biblical characters, though if I could have a conversation with him, he would undoubtedly shun any praise, deflecting all glory to Jesus Christ. This is precisely why I admire him.

I was eavesdropping on the discussion between John and his disciples in the latter half of John 3. John's baptizing like usual, but now someone else is sharing the waters near him. Everyone is leaving John in order to be baptized by this other man's disciples, and John's disciples are a little perplexed. "Hey John! Look whose disciples are baptizing! And look who everyone is choosing to go to instead of you!" He looks. It's his younger cousin. It's Jesus.

I think it's about to get tense and I should stop eavesdropping; it's quite rude really. But I can't help myself. I have to keep reading. What's John going to do? Will the green-eye of jealousy stare back at his disciples? Will his tone of voice change ever so slightly, vibrating with chords of envy and resentment?

John speaks such beautiful words, it leaves me speechless. He refuses to feel envy. He refuses to see himself as important in the light of the glory of God. He looks his disciples in the eye, but his irises are not green. He replies, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven" (Jn. 3:27). Then he reminds his disciples (and perhaps himself?) that they too bore witness that he said, "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him" (v. 28). I wonder if he glances over at Christ, whose disciples are baptizing the crowds that were once John's own, and because he has once more made the choice to deflect the glory off of himself and onto the only One who is worthy, God blesses him with true joy and contentment and peace and love for his Savior. John continues, "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete" (v. 29).

Scripture doesn't describe John's facial expressions, but I imagine that his face is glowing. His joy is complete! He understands that it is not about him; it's about God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ! He risked it all. He gave up fame and glory and mortified (as in killed) his pride. Then he utters some of the most challenging words in Scripture (or at least challenging to me personally and the sin issues with which I daily struggle). He proclaims, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (v. 30). This verse was chosen as our class verse my senior year of high school, and ever since then it has become my motto in life.

On my way to work yesterday, I prayed that God would show me throughout the day how I can make decisions that would reflect the truth in this verse. I asked, "How can I decrease more and more throughout the day?" "How can I point to God in everything that I do and make sure HE receives the glory?" I was humbled in my job. I couldn't get a volunteer team together last minute to do the "menial tasks" that I have been trained to pass off to others, so I spent my day re-stocking connection cards and pens in the back pockets of over 650 chairs at our West Campus facility. I was grumbling and complaining, and then God reminded me of the lesson he had taught me that morning. In this task, how could God be glorified and His greatness be manifested through me?

This morning, my alarm went off to the sound of the radio, which was playing, "To God Be the Glory!" Amen! And may Jesus Christ be exalted!

Wonder or Wonder AND Worship?

2007-12-13T13:55:00.000-06:00

Lessons in the School of His Presence

I love it when God teaches me something, especially when He gets my attention in a lot of little ways that could go unnoticed, but through them he is screaming (or perhaps whispering?) one gigantic message to me. That is exactly what has been happening the last couple of days.

As I have been flipping through the pages of Scripture, reading passages in John to prepare for teaching my Sunday school class, or stories of Jesus' birth in the gospels surrounding the advent season, or Psalms to guide my prayer time, the same concept has stuck me again and again. When people encountered Jesus Christ (or speak of God, in the case of the Old Testament), they walk away with a sense of awe and wonder, marveling in amazement and astonishment. I did a little research of how many times those four words are used in the gospels alone (using the ESV, my preferred version for study). Astonished is used fourteen times, wondered is used three times, amazed is used eleven times, and marveled is used fifteen times. No wonder why I have run across this concept so much in my reading! That is forty-three times in the gospels alone!

I've spent the past couple of days reading through all of those verses and trying to determine their context. The crowds were astonished when Jesus (1) healed and performed other miracles and (2) taught as one who had authority.

For a while, I've banked that lesson--that I should be in awe and wonder when I encounter Jesus Christ. But in the past two days, I realized I missed the greater lesson. Using the treasure hunt analogy I like to use in a lot of my blog topics (for Scripture IS a treasure!), I had found the treasure chest and was satisfied with that. I didn't open it and find the gold contained inside!

What's the gold? We have to go back to our Scripture investigation to find out. In all but a handful of these verses, the people doing the marveling and wondering are NOT believers! And the Scriptures never tell us that they become followers of Jesus Christ, only that they stood in amazement at His works. These individuals stop short. Before going further, let's give an example:

Modern-Day:

Yesterday, there were some amusing stories on the news that grabbed my attention. One story was about a skateboarder who entered the X-Games after skating for only four days. He miscalculated his jump and fell 45-feet. He survived, and four months later, is back competing in the X-Games. I was amazed hearing his story.

Another story followed the McCaughey septuplets, who just turned ten years old. All seven survived the risky pregnancy and birth, and five of the seven children do not suffer from any physical disabilities. Two of the children, however, have cerebral palsy. The McCaugheys are Christians, and when the news anchors asked them if they wished they had "used selective reduction" (the politically correct, "intellectual" phrase for "killed your babies"), tears filled their eyes and they boldly declared that their children are an ordained gift from God. I marveled at their testimony, watching in wonder as God's name was proclaimed.

Connecting Points:

In hearing these stories, I experienced wonder and amazement. Those are very natural, human reactions. In fact, to some degree or another, we experience them daily. My emotional reaction did not spur me on to any action. I did not become inspired to sign up to compete in the X-Games and defy gravity. I did not make it one of my life goals to have septuplets. Nor did I choose to worship those who did produce these results. They were just new stories.

Back to Scripture:

I think that is what it must have been like in the minds of the first century crowds who observed Jesus working miracles and heard Jesus teaching. I decided to dig a little more and find out how many times the word "worshipped" is used in the Gospels. Certainly, there were moments when worship resulted from awe, but there were many times when it didn't. I find it interesting that when Satan was tempting Jesus, he didn't want Jesus to be in awe of him. He wanted Jesus to worship him (Jn. 4:9-10).

Revelation:

The word worship is used more in Revelation than in any of the Gospels. I would encourage you to look up and read those verses. They are absolutely beautiful and your heart will resonate with them. You will long for that day to come!

But there are also horrible verses about worship in Revelation. Yes, horrible. In Revelation 13:3-4, it talks about the beast. Scripture says, "the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast." Listen to the very next words: "And they worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?'" Here is a natural progression. Marveling turns into worship, but it is ascribed to the enemy of God!

Application:

As I studied these passages, I felt utterly convicted. Tears filled my eyes as I pleaded with God to turn my awe into worship and preserve my heart for Him as His remnant. I realized that there are so many times that I stop short of worship. I love the Bible! I love studying God! I am amazed and intrigued and astonished and I marvel! But is that all? Does my expression of wonder stop with an intellectual fascination with God? Woe to me if it does! God wants my worship.

God began answering my prayer right away, teaching me what it means to worship. On my way to work, the hymn "How Great Thou Art" began to play on the radio. That song nails it. It begins with awe and wonder. Read the words again through that lens:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,/Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;/I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,/Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

But it doesn't stop there. Now read the chorus:

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,/How great Thou art, How great Thou art./Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,/How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Pastor Carl Gustaf Boberg, who first penned these words, begins the chorus with the word "then." BECAUSE God created this amazing universe that I see (that's the awe part), THEN my soul sings of how great He is (that's the worship part)!

I walked in my office, and guess what song was streaming through the speakers in my co-worker's cubical? "How Great Thou Art!"

Oh Lord, our great God who is worthy to be praised, teach me what it means to move from awe and wonder into worship! Do not let my intellect rob my affections, and let my affections arise from the Truth revealed in Your Word. Tune my heart to Your glory and greatness, so that I might gaze upon the beauty of my Lord and Savior and fall to my knees in reverent worship once more.

Distraction

2007-12-11T09:24:00.000-06:00

Andrew, this blog is inspired by our conversation regarding distraction.

This morning I found my missing journal from last year. I leafed through the pages and re-read some of my scribbled, extemporaneous thoughts. Those things that distract us from experiencing the Presence of God was the topic of most of my entries. I thought I would share snippets of those with you.

October 26, 2006

....I know what it feels like to share in Your joy--to find fulfillment and contentment in You. The world harbors so many distractions that my sinful, lustful eyes absorb; they catch my attention. But they leave me feeling empty.

When I turn to You, I feel overwhelming joy and I wish to never return to my worldly distractions. But inevitably I do return. The curiosity beckons me back. I open Pandora's Box, and out comes a world of beautiful, enticing, exotic gifts, all of which bear a hidden evil. Once I see past their beauty and stare head on at the evil, I run to You once again.

This is the cycle of my life. If only I would sit long enough in Your Presence to understand that I never really wish to leave.

November 14, 2006

Parker Palmer wrote, "The poles of a paradox are like the poles of a battery: hold them together and they generate the energy of life; pull them apart, and the current stops flowing."

I experienced the sensation of deep, inner longing today, and the only way I can categorize my feelings is as a paradox. I couldn't quite pinpoint the object for which my heart was longing. Somewhere I hoped I was feeling an insatiable longing for God; that my heart was so eager within me to experience His Presence and that my pulsating soul would not quiet itself until I found rest and solitude in Him. This felt much like hope--an eager, intense hope--that is yet unfulfilled, but very certain.

But something else deep within me feared that the object of my intense longing was not God Himself, but some other lesser object that my soul craved. I feared that my lustful gaze and petty heart was whoring after some other god that I believed could fill and satisfy and please this ever-growing craving. And this felt much like emptiness, which led my soul to shed tears to the point of deep sorrow, even though my eyes remained dry and I continued to smile.

So I live in this paradox of feeling like I want nothing less than to pursue the very heart of God, yet fearing that my heart would be content with nothing more than another false god.

But in these moments, I need to turn to You; yea, in these moments, I want nothing less than to spend time in Your Presence communicating with You, sharing this feeling that is much like hope, yet the closest to sorrow I have known. I long for You to create life out of this paradox. Invade my world with a unique calling from You, and give me the strength to passionately pursue You.

And so I wait.

In the balances.

For You.

Just You.

Come.

Abiding in the Vine

2007-12-06T15:36:00.000-06:00

Most of the time others can articulate their thoughts much more clearly than I can, so today, I rely on my friend J.P. (John Piper) to minister to us. My co-worker (and fellow WA grad) led our prayer time this morning, sharing these thoughts that I found quite apropos to our ongoing discussion of setting aside distraction in favor of focusing on the glory of God.

John 15:4-5

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Excerpt from Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper, pg. 55-56

"Oh, how we need to wake up to how much 'nothing' we spend our time doing. Apart from prayer, all our scurrying about, all our talking, all our study amounts to 'nothing.' For most of us the voice of self-reliance is ten times louder than the bell that tolls for the hours of prayer. The voice cries out: 'You must open the mail, you must make that call, you must write this sermon, you must prepare for the board meeting, you must go to the hospital.' But the bell tolls softly: 'Without Me you can do nothing.'

"Both our flesh and our culture scream against spending an hour on our knees beside a desk piled with papers. It is un-American to be so impractical as to devote oneself to prayer and meditation two hours a day. And sometimes I fear that our seminaries conform to this deadly pragmatism which stresses management and maneuvering as ways to get things done with a token mention of prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit"

And from A.C. Dixon (qtd. pg. 56 of Piper)

"When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend upon education, we get what education can do; when we depend upon man, we get what man can do; but when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do."

Back to the Basics: From the Eastern First-Century Church to the American Mega-Church

2007-12-05T21:11:00.000-06:00

I have been an infrequent blogger this week because I have been immersed in staff meetings, all of which have only served to make me more passionate about devoting my life to ministry in the church in America. I have had so many different thoughts swirling around my head these days, and when I do not know where to begin, I turn to Scripture.

There are many questions that have arisen in the meetings I have been sitting in, two of which include the necessity of corporate worship (rather than having multiple, smaller, homogenous groupings) and benchmarks to determine the health of a church (specifically the process of making disciples). I will keep you in suspense as to what was decided in these meetings; that is really the topic for conversation rather than a blog. But as promised, I want to turn to Scripture.

Turn your attention to the second chapter of the book of Acts, starting at verse forty-two. As always, hop on the time machine of your mind so we can travel back in time. This time we’re not just spectators; we’re going to interact as modern-day church ministry leaders living in the world of the American mega-church. Pentecost has just occurred—the promised Spirit of God has just arrived—and salvation is spreading like wildfire. In fact, you just heard the news that in one day alone, three thousand people were saved (Acts 2:41)! You take out your pen and paper to jot down these notes. That sounds like a mega-church number, and you have to find out what method is being used!

You decide to slip into a Bible study that is taking place because you overheard something about the establishment of the first-century church. You speak with the disciples; they share their methods with you as Luke serves as secretary—recording it in his book for all future Christians to read. You look over Luke’s shoulder as he pens these words: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). Four methods, plain and clear: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer.

Intrigued by this “new” model of doing church, you want to test the results just to make sure it isn’t just the latest fad. You continue to read Luke’s words, “And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common” (v. 43-44). Wow. You pause a minute and clear your throat. You cannot remember the last time you saw an entire body of American believers leave a church service with a sense of sheer awe. Or the last time you had such unity in the church. That also baffles your mind.

You can’t peel your eyes away. You keep reading, “And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people” (vv. 45-47a). You scribble frantically on your pad of paper. Generosity. Unity in corporate worship. Thanksgiving and adoration. Having favor with all. Here are the benchmarks for discipleship that you’re discussing at your church, only these answers look a bit different! It doesn’t seem to be about numbers…

Before you can finish your thoughts, you see Luke writing the word numbers. He breaks your train of thought, and you read again. “And the Lord added to their numbers day by day…” (v. 47b). Luke re-dips his quill pen in the ink well. You look up, pleased. Aha! So it is about the numbers, you decide. Luke taps you on the elbow with a smile. You look down and keep reading the end of the sentence, “…those who were being saved” (v. 47c). Feeling humbled, you carefully write that part down. It wasn’t about the numbers in and of itself. It was about people encountering God with awe and finding salvation in Him.

End of Story.

Concluding Thoughts: So I might not have been able to hop aboard my imaginary time machine while I’ve been sitting in my board meetings lately, but I keep coming back to these verses with just as much enthusiasm as if I was there. We’ve been asking all the wrong questions, and as a result, coming to most of the wrong conclusions. Scripture makes it so simple. Four methods. Four benchmarks. One amazing result.*

*As a caveat: I do not mean to oversimplify Scripture. Of course the purpose and practice of the Church is much more complex than this and cannot really be broken down to only four methods or benchmarks. My point is that in today’s church, our ministries and programs and philosophies and structures tend to run off on tangents and go down trails that are neither inspired by Scripture nor honoring to God. In the mega-church, sometimes we get so tangled in a complex web of ministry that we need to untangle ourselves by scraping our plans and objectives completely and “getting back to the basics.” That is my cry here.

A Welcome Dissonance...For Now

2007-11-30T11:07:00.000-06:00

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:7-9)

My sophomore year at Wheaton Academy, I chose these as my life verses. Throughout my life, I have heard God singing them over me. "This is Truth," He says. "Walk in it!"

Last night, I had dinner with a group of Christians. Sitting around the table was a pastor and his wife, a ministry leader and her husband, a wife who led a large mom's group in a church, her husband who served on the equivalent of an elder board, and a woman who will be leading a mission trip this year. This was a group of people that should challenge each other in their faith and encourage each other to live out the principles represented in Philippians 3:7-9.

Midway through the evening, I started to grow uncomfortable. The conversation turned to movies. The pastor's wife commented on how much she loved violence in movies, and encouraged the leader of the church mom's group to watch a movie that had a few "questionable scenes" in addition to its violent content. She warned, "It isn't a movie I would watch with your mom or your husband's mom for that matter, but you should see it!"

I squirmed in my chair, noticeably uncomfortable. At what age do we become old enough to watch "adult situations" in movies? At what age do we become too old to watch the same scenes? Is there an age bracket when we become immune to the power of sin? Is there an age when no longer have to judge the things of this world as "rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord?" My friends seem to think so.

I felt all alone in that moment, even though I was surrounded by fellow believers. I didn't agree with them or their opinions. We were singing different melodies, and in so doing, the resulting sound was dissonant and discordant. When we hear clashing notes, how our ears long to hear some sort of resolution! When we realize our friends are not going to change their tunes, we are tempted to change our own, just so we can hear something--anything--harmonious. But we know that would be wrong. We can't change our tune. We must live in the midst of dissonance and discordance, no matter how uncomfortable it is. That is what it means to lose all things for the sake of Christ. In singing a different melody, the one written by the Songwriter, I am in tune; the songs around me are out of tune.

But lest I become prideful and think that I have got it right and "those other people" are all wrong, let's re-examine Paul's words in Philippians 3:9: "...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." Righteousness does not come from me; I am sinful and depraved. Righteousness comes from God.

Taking it back to the song metaphor, the only One who can make dissonant melodies turn into beautiful harmonies is Jesus Christ. Only when He comes again--when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess--will we be able to take our fingers out of our ears and hear a beautiful song arising from every vocal chord. Only in that moment, will I, too, stop singing discordant tunes and harmonize with the Love Song for the Savior. I can't wait to hear that song!

Coexist?

2007-11-29T21:00:00.000-06:00

For the past year or so, I've seen these bumper stickers pop up everywhere. White letters on a black background peacefully "suggest" that we simply "coexist."

Here's the key for decoding the message:

C- the symbol for Islam (those who call themselves Muslims)

O- the Wicca pentagram

E- the relativity formula for science

X- the symbol of Judaism (the star of David)

I- representing Buddhism (the "i" is dotted by the Karma Wheel)

S- the symbol for Taoism

T- the symbol for Christianity

What are people saying about this slogan? Check out some actual responses below:

Comment 1: "I bought it because I honestly believe that it's possible for many belief systems to coexist if they try and I think that more people need to see that."

Comment 2: "I put the sign on the rear bumper of my car.... The message is one I can subscribe to entirely, and I'm not worried that someone will take offense and ding my car over it."

Comment 3: "It makes me happy inside every time I look at this on the back of our car. Even my husband appreciates it!"

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let's go there ourselves. Put on your worldview lenses and strap on your seat belt. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

So, let's ask the same question. Why not just "coexist?" Is it possible for many belief systems to coexist if they try, as our first commentator suggests. Jesus says, "I am THE way and THE truth and THE life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT through me" (John 14:6, emphasis mine). Now, I am not a Greek scholar, but I am quite certain that THE and EXCEPT are very exclusive terms. No, commentator one, we cannot "coexist if we try." The claims of Jesus do not allow for that.

What about the second comment? Does coexisting keep one religion from offending another? If the answer is yes, then we have to take the "t," representing the Christian cross, out of the formula. After all, "we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" (I Corinthians 1:23). This is the "offense" of the gospel. The gospel illuminates our sinfulness and declares that Jesus Christ is Lord! Not Buddha. Not Mohamed. Not man's rational powers or intellectual superiority.

That leaves us with the third commentator. The message makes her happy; how can that be bad? It makes her happy because she does not have to deal with the hard truth that there is a (as in one) God. If there is a God, we are accountable to Him. If we are accountable to God, we can't live like we are God. And to many, that's a tragedy.

I have been very cynical and sarcastic and argumentative in this post. That only comes after great sorrow that my God (THE God) is being reduced to a "t" in a formula created by those whom He created. But I will not end cynical, because I think the third commentator has a point; it's simply misguided. I think it is about our joy. I think worshipping God as the Supreme Being brings us exceeding joy. Psalm 16:11 reads, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Unless we know God, we cannot even begin to know joy.

I'm very dissatisfied with this post because the question of the supremacy and exclusivity of Jesus Christ deserves a much deeper reflection than I can give it in a brief post. Check out the books of authors who have devoted their lives to this study, and who can articulate themselves much better than I can. Check out Jesus Among Other gods by Ravi Zacharias or Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper. And whenever you see the "coexist" slogan, pray that the person bearing it will have his or her eyes opened to the supremacy and exclusivity of Jesus Christ and experience everlasting joy!

Sons of Korah: Oh, to be a Gatekeeper!

2007-11-28T18:56:00.000-06:00

Psalm 84, quoted in part on yesterday's post, has inspired me. I felt compelled to mediate on it this morning during my time in God's Presence, and I was in awe over God's lesson for me!

Think back to those moments when you have such an intense longing to commune with God, to worship Him, and to taste His goodness that it creates a physiological response within you. In those moments, I feel like my words are so inadequate to express my love for my Savior. The echoes of my heart have to suffice. I tend to think that is how the Sons of Korah felt when penning Psalm 84. Their thoughts to God are deeply intimate and personal, but we get the privilege of "over-hearing" them.

I would like to re-quote verses 1-2 and 10 here: "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness."

It's time for a biblical history adventure to unravel a mystery! The Sons of Korah. Who are they, and what inspired the deep emotions of this Psalm (and at least 25 others by them)? The clue lies in I Chronicles 9 (I feel like I am in the movie National Treasure--or should I say Kingdom Treasure--Bible style!). :) The Sons of Korah "were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent, as their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entrance" (I Chron. 9:19). They also were "over the chambers and the treasures of the house of God. And they lodged around the house of God, for on them lay the duty of watching, and they had charge of opening it every morning" (I Chron. 9:26-27).

Let's interpret the answer to our clue. The Sons of Korah stood outside of the tent; they were gatekeepers. Day after day they showed up to work, opened the house of God, and then stood there...watching. Travel back in time. What do you think this job would have been like? I'll return to that in a minute.

Hop on our time machine again. This time were going back another generation to their fathers. As far as I can figure it in my research, Korah descended from the Kohath. What was the Kohathites' job? The answer is revealed in Numbers 4, our second clue. They were in charge of the holy vessels of the tabernacle, including the ark, and carried these items (though forbidden to touch them or even look upon them). In other words, they were in contact with the items where God chose to make His dwelling. Can you imagine that? I'm sure they were saying, "This is AWESOME! God was just here! And now we're in charge of the vessels that represent His Presence!"

Well at least you would think that would be their reaction. Hop aboard the time machine again. We're going forward to Numbers 16. The green eye of jealousy creeps onto the scene, and it is ugly! The Kohathites take their gaze off of the glory of God and look at Moses and Aaron. They start thinking, "What makes Moses and Aaron so special? Why do they act holier than thou?" "All in the congregation are holy," they cry (Num. 16:3). Moses tries to bring their gaze back to God, saying, "In the morning the Lord will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Him" (v. 5). But they refused to show up. They had an opportunity to be in the Presence of God, and they said no! (And wasn't that the issue in the first place?)

This is an amazing story. Immerse yourself in it. Can you feel Moses' heart break as he sees where the Kohathites are headed? The great tragedy is reflected in Moses' plea (I can almost visualize the expression of sorrow and earnestness on his face), "Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that He has brought you near Him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?" (vv. 9-10). Let's turn our eyes away from the scene unfolding before us as the ground opens its mouth and swallows them alive (vv. 27-35). The song of mourning begins.

But the mourning ceases, for Numbers 26:11, as short as it is, sweetly sings the song of redemption. "The sons of Korah did not die." Do you hear THAT?!? That is a song of second chances and the redeeming of the next generation--a remnant for God's glory!

Hop back in the time machine one last time. We're ready to discover one of the gold nuggets of Scripture! Back to my question a few paragraphs back, "What would it have been like to be a gatekeeper for the House of the Lord?" The Sons of Korah refused to repeat history! They worshipped. And I mean WORSHIPPED! Now would be a good time to re-read Psalm 84! A gatekeeper? Yes, a gatekeeper!!! They're working for GOD!!

Friends, and I write this with deep emotion, we don't have to see veiled tabernacle objects, look at the stars, and dream about what it would be like to be holy enough to be chosen to enter the Presence of God. We don't have to stand as gatekeepers, looking at the High Priest enter and exit, and find our joy in that as an end in itself. WE GET TO ENTER GOD'S PRESENCE--THE MOST HOLY OF HOLIES--EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY! (Yes, that required all caps.) Why am I, and I am speaking to myself here, not writing sentiments that are overflowing with even more love and devotion and passion for God than a gatekeeper?!? Why do I find more entertainment in "fill in the blank" than knowing and loving and treasuring Jesus Christ for now and all of eternity? He chose me. He chose ME! And in this moment, I want to publicly celebrate. I have found the gold! Mystery solved!

In the Mundane, I Saw God

2007-11-27T17:08:00.000-06:00

It was in the mundane yesterday that I saw God. And it came through my interaction with a 13-year-old cat.

Every time my family and I go out of town for a period of time, it is quite traumatic for my old cat. He mopes around the house when we are gone, eating little, sleeping often, and hiding from the person who comes to interact with him. To Mittens, being with a stranger is not the same as being with us. He enters complete feline depression.

When we arrive home, it is quite the opposite story. He meows incessantly until we pick him up. Once he is in our arms, he purrs non-stop. If we put him down, he starts meowing again. We try to ignore him when we're busy, but he is persistent. He craves our attention.

This was the case when we arrived home from Minnesota this weekend. As I held the purring mass in my arms, God spoke to me. I realized how despicable it is that a four-legged feline expresses a deeper longing to be in my presence than I express to be in the Presence of God. Do I hunger so intensely to be with God that I am completely dissatisfied if I miss out on that time? And when I spend thirty minutes or even an hour in His presence, do I walk away satisfied that I got my "God fix" for the morning, or does it make me thirst all the more to continuously commune with Him, and keep me in an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving and listening throughout the day?

As I was holding my cat in my lap, I looked up on my bedroom wall, and God spoke to me through His Word. Years ago, I placed a dry erase board on my wall on which I wrote a Scripture passage. I am so accustomed to seeing it hang there, I don't even notice it anymore. But yesterday I saw it afresh once again. On it is printed Psalm 84:1-2: "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."

Oh Lord Almighty, let me not be content until I can sing in one accord with the Psalmist that "my soul yearns, even faints" for your courts. Teach me what it means to have "my heart and my flesh," crying out to You. In the mundane, speak to me. I have everything to learn from You; You have everything to teach to me. Thank you that in the mundane, we can see God. Our vision of You is truly one of beauty.

Genuine Nature

2007-11-25T22:57:00.000-06:00

Matthew 23:27

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness."

My sophomore year of college, I was given the writing assignment to describe a person only by describing his/her environment. I came across the product of that assignment the other day, and I decided to re-post it here. The symbolism is clear. As Christians, may we never attempt to hide from God, but allow Him to refine us, transforming our fickle hearts and feeble minds until they purely reflect His infinite beauty!

The Great White Mansion on Royal Circle

The exquisite beauty of the majestic, antique mansion on Royal Circle was breathtaking. It rested upon a lush green field, blanketed with tiny purple and white flowers. The architecture of the solid white residence resembled Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, with rows of stately columns lining the front porch. Even the dog’s house in the back yard was a miniature replica of her master’s mansion, and a sign hung on the front door which read, “Fofo’s Abode.” The entire estate was a surreal portraiture of extravagance and luxury.

The inside of the mansion was even more immaculate than the outside. The same white pillars that supported the front porch lined the hallway inside the house. Crystal chandeliers graced the ceiling of the parlor. Pure etched gold candelabras stood in each corner of the room. The princely furniture, extensive silken draperies, and china tea sets intricately displayed throughout the room were marigold and robin’s egg blue. The library held the sculpted busts of John Paul Jones, Robert Fulton, and the mythological goddess, Diana. There were also historic portraits of past presidents that proudly hung on the walls. The marble floors were clean enough for a person to eat off of, yet no one would dare to even walk on them. From one room to the next, it was a sterile environment devoid of any of the monstrosities of life. It was perfection.

The most intriguing room was padlocked shut. It offered a more intimate view; a peephole into the soul. The steps behind the door led down to the basement. The basement was a studio of sorts. Paint was generously and randomly splattered on canvasses. The artist mixed blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown to create a black, bubbled, murky mess. The room was cluttered with broken furniture duct taped together and paint smocks lined the floors. A simple cot was stuffed in the corner of the basement with the sheets and blanket sloppily strewn on top. A great white poster hung on the wall that simply read “genuine nature” in bold black letters. The scene was a stark contrast to the sheer elegance of the upstairs. What had happened to the impeccable tastes of the master craftsman that adorned the rest of the mansion? The outside was garnished with glories untold and the inside was exquisitely detailed, but the basement? The basement revealed the dark corners of the house, the “genuine nature” hidden away by the owner of the great white mansion on Royal Circle.

The Sacrifice of Praise

2007-11-24T22:43:00.000-06:00

"For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name" (Hebrews 13:14-15).

Last year, I accepted the job as Short-Term Mission Coordinator at my church. One of the "perks" of my job is that I get to go on one of our eight short-term trips every year. This summer, God called me to Turkey (the least evangelized nation in the world) and He paved the way for my parents to join me. This would be our first family mission trip, and I was thrilled!

A week into our trip, the thrill was replaced with terror, confusion, heartache, and loneliness. My mom became deathly ill from a disease that was undiagnosed at the time. Overnight, she went from dynamically ministering in a country that is closed to the gospel; to slipping into a terrifying, delirious state that was the antithesis of her personality; to falling into a coma. I had never felt more alone in my entire life.

At the very early phase of my mom's illness, before she was admitted to the hospital, my dad stayed with her at the hotel since she was showing signs of dehydration and delirium. But God told me to continue on with the ministry that I was doing in Turkey. Everything within me wanted to stay back with my mom, but I had to obey God's voice. I left the hotel in Europe and traveled to Asia where I taught English courses at a church. The entire time my mind was on my mom, my silent prayers were focused on her health, and the few hours of teaching felt like days.

Once the time was over, I was anxious to return to the hotel in Europe. Instead, one of my students invited me to have lunch with her. Though I was filled with anxiety, I decided to go, and God turned my anxiety into prayer. After lunch, my student invited me to a prayer meeting in the little Turkish church at which I taught. Once again, everything within me wanted to take the ferry back to Europe to check on my mom, but God told me to go. I continued in intercessory prayer.

At that prayer meeting, a man who was more charismatic in his expression of worship said, "This is the word of the Lord." I thought it was rather odd since no Scripture passage was being read at the time. Then he said, "This song is the word of the Lord." Immediately after, we began singing, "Come, Now is the Time to Worship." I have theological issues with some of the lyrics, but God so clearly and remarkably spoke to me through the first few measures of the song. He said, "Come, now is the time to worship. It is not time worry. It is not even time to intercede on your mom's behalf. I want nothing at this moment except worship."

I thought, "God, are you kidding me?!? I thought that I had made a giant leap of faith in moving from worry to intercessory prayer. And now you want me to give up interceding on behalf of my mom to worship you?!?" But such peace filled my soul that I had to worship. No other response would have been appropriate.

I am not against intercessory prayer. In fact, we are commanded to intercede on behalf of each other. But God wanted more from me in that moment. Little did I know my mom would fall into a coma that evening. Little did I know that I would be stuck in Turkey for nearly a month. Little did I know that we would often be forbidden to see my mom, and not know whether or not she was dead or alive when we arrived at the hospital in the morning. And little did I know how God was working. When God told me to stop interceding and start worshipping, He was raising up 2,000 pastors at a conference in Minnesota to intercede on my mom's behalf. When the news traveled from Turkey to this conference, they called off their agenda and prayed unceasingly for my mom.

This is the sacrifice of praise written about in Hebrews. It's the fruit of lips that acknowledge the name of God, even when our world is unraveling. I believe that it is a gift that you and I are not capable of in our own power. I know that my true character is frail, weak, anxious, and more lazy in prayer than faithful. "But by the grace of God." May all praise, glory, and honor go to the only One who is worthy!

Giving Thanks

2007-11-23T00:04:00.000-06:00

As I woke up this morning, before getting out of bed, I began to pray. In a few hours, my brother and I would be picking up his friend Jamal to spend Thanksgiving with our family. Jamal is a Somalian Muslim man whom my brother met at the Global Market in Minneapolis. Soon after we learned that we would be spending Thanksgiving in Minnesota, and that Jamal would be joining our family, we've been praying that he would encounter Jesus Christ, the one and true God, through our interaction with him. I also prayed for Pam, my administrative assistant. Her family invited two of her unsaved neighbors to spend Thanksgiving with them. Then I thought of Sue Ann, a colleague of mine who lost her husband a few months ago to a very rare disease. This would be her first Thanksgiving without him, and she expressed to me how difficult it would be. Names flooded my mind, and I prayed.

All of these were "good" requests to bring before the Lord, from the salvation of souls to peace and comfort for those who are hurting. But one thing was devoid from my early morning prayers, and that was giving thanks--praising God for both His gifts and His character. You would think that this would be the first thought on my mind as I woke up this morning especially, but it took a while before I heard God gently reminding me to praise Him from whom all blessings flow.

Psalm 95:1-3 reads, "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." The Psalmist's thanksgiving to God always poured forth from an understanding of the character of God. If I am lacking in gratitude, I am lacking in a vision of who God is. In these verses, the Psalmist says that God is a "great God...a great King." Do I truly see God as great? Or have I become rather comfortable with Him, taking advantage of our "friendship" and not standing in awe of His holiness? Do I understand the implications that He is THE King above ALL gods? The extent of His sovereignty is both mind-boggling and comforting. This is the God whom we serve, who called us out of our life (or should I say death) of sinfulness, and into the inexpressible glory of His presence. So tonight I am going back to the basics. I am going to thank God once again that He is holy and sovereign, that He is the King of the nations, and that He has given me the gift of eternal salvation. Praise be to God!

For Our Joy

2007-11-20T19:43:00.000-06:00

My friend Jackie and I shared a meal together at Bennigans tonight. Throughout the evening, our waiter seemed particularly attentive. There was something on his mind that he wasn't voicing. Finally, he looked at me and burst out, "I think I've seen you here before. And every time you come in, you're always smiling! Whatever you're taking, I want it!"

In John 15:9-11, Jesus states, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Jesus is the source of our joy. Without Christ, our joy is incomplete. We may be happy. Anything material blessing can bring happiness, but only Christ can bring complete joy. If we are Christians and if the Holy Spirit is reigning in us, then we must be characterized by our joy.

Do you realize that our joy is the result of glorifying God? That boggles my mind. All that we have is from God and for God. He gives us the ability to give Himself praise. We are simply vessels; not the source. And while we are not the source, WE receive the blessing--joy! In his devotional booklet For Your Joy, John Piper writes, "...we were made to experience full and lasting happiness from seeing and savoring the glory of God. If our best joy comes from something less, we are idolaters and God is dishonored. He created us in such a way that his glory is displayed through our joy in it. The gospel of Christ is the good news that at the cost of his Son's life, God has done everything necessary to enthrall us with what will make us eternally and ever-increasingly happy, namely, himself."

Tonight, I resolved to never let a moment pass to share about my faith when God opens up the door. And for the past few months, God has opened many doors! Too often, I am afraid that I will offend the name of Christ when I speak out--that I will say the wrong thing and make Christ look ridiculous because of my feeble answer. I am afraid that I will not articulate the gospel message with the clarity and beauty it deserves. I am afraid that I will look foolish for believing in a God that I cannot see or hear or touch, and that I will not be able to explain the reason for my faith. I so quickly forget that the only reason I exist is to declare the gospel!

Be quick to tell those around you about your joy. Point them to the Source. Seek out moments when Christ can enter your conversations. And "may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 15:13).

Identity

2007-11-19T14:06:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine polled a group of people, asking, "What is the most difficult issue facing teens today?" How would you answer this question? Do drugs come to mind? What about alcohol? Sex? Cutting? Suicide? Body image?

What if these issues were only the surface and at the heart lied something deeper? What if the deeper issue was a search for identity? And what if it wasn't an issue that only teens were facing?

I believe that we spend our entire lives searching for our identity, whether or not we are aware of it. We look for it in popularity, achievement, wealth, status, beauty, image, and intelligence. Psychologists say teenagers struggle with identity, because it is most pronounced in them in destructive means. But what if our adult lust for achievement or status is just as detrimental, only culturally acceptable?

As Christians, we know that our identity is already defined, but we still search. Our culture tells us to search. Our sin nature tells us to search. And somehow we buy the lie that all of this...stuff...is more pleasurable than God.

I am fascinated by all of the places in Scripture where God changes someone's name. It happened when Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, and Simon became Peter. When God changes someone's name, it is more than an issue of semantics. It is an issue of identity. God sees who He wants a person to become for His glory, and He changes their identity. It's as if He is telling them to stop searching, or perhaps to change the direction of their search. Their identity has been found!

Where does that leave you and me? In Revelation 2:17, Jesus says, "To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it." I imagine Jesus handing me a stone with my name--my identity--written on it. And when I see it, I will have an "Aha!" moment. At that moment, everything in my life will make sense. My questions will be answered. My search will be over. I will discover that my identity has been there all along, held securely in the palm of Christ's hand. I will remember the times that God gave me the strength to reject the name that the world offered me on the stones of success and prosperity and external value. And as I look back up from my stone--my identity--into the eyes of Jesus Christ, I will exclaim, "It was all worth it!"

Feelings or Reality?

2007-10-27T10:47:00.000-05:00

Tonight I am thinking about feelings. I feel joy. I feel peace. I feel contentment. I feel like there is more than this existence--that there is a Being who transcends us in a world that is really real--a world beyond us and above us that calls out to us to live and make our dwelling there.

And then I think these are not feelings at all. What is a "feeling," really? I feel cold, but I am not cold. Cold is not my essence; it is simply a present, passing state until I find an outside source to bring warmth. I feel love, but even this is conditional. Change the conditions and anger or resentment can too soon replace that love. I feel joy, but take away its source, and I'm left feeling empty. And alone.

So maybe what I'm feeling tonight isn't "feeling" at all. Maybe I'm simply in tune with Reality. Whether or not I feel it, I have joy. Whether or not I can perceive it, peace is there. Regardless of my circumstances, contentment is.

Maybe we spend a lifetime searching for a feeling and chasing the wind, when an unshakable reality surrounds us, penetrates the very fiber of our beings, and simply....is. Maybe we are too afraid to relinquish control and allow ourselves to just be--to just dwell in Reality and realize that there is so much more to this life. Just maybe.

Intense Longing

2007-10-02T07:46:00.000-05:00

As I woke up this morning, I had an intense longing for God. Have you ever experienced those moments, when everything within you wants nothing less than to be in the presence of God? Have you ever felt that if you were given the entire world, your hunger would not be satisfied--that only God is sufficient?

It's very seldom that my longings for God reach that intensity, but this morning, in the quietness of my room, my soul was crying out for Him. In that moment, God filled my heart with a prayer, and I wrote it out. It expresses the deep ache within me for Him alone.

I wrote and prayed this prayer today, and if you're in Come Thirsty, I prayed this over you, too, this morning. I prayed for each of you by name. Here's what was offered up on your behalf this morning:

O Lord,
This day, as I awaken from my peaceful slumber and rise from my bed, I will be bombarded with messages and images that compete for my attention and affection.
And the subtle and sweet lullabies they sing, though infused with dissonance and ringing out in disharmony, will begin to sound sweet in my ear.
And I will be tempted to listen, accept, and eventually treasure their message.

Let my ears not fail to hear the sound of Your still, small voice, crying above the chaotic noise below, "Come seek Me. Come find Me. Come treasure Me."
When I am beckoned to find my deepest joy and my highest hope in You, let me run towards that beautiful melody and join in its chorus until my voice is united with Yours in glorious harmony.

Keep my heart exceedingly discontent dwelling in the garbage dump, when paradise is just around the bend, beckoning me to enter, and to sing of my sweet salvation for all of eternity.

Uncensored Thoughts: Pondering Life, Death, Suffering, and the Glory of God

2007-09-05T21:51:00.000-05:00

She passed away today. Her name was Mrs. Riebock, and she was my high school Bible teacher. But she was not just our teacher; she was our Wheaton Academy Class of 2000 sponsor. She walked with us through our awkward freshman year in which we were all terrified to be at a new school, and proudly applauded for us at our graduation as we left as confident seniors, ready to take on college life. She fearlessly led us through homecomings, service projects, and fundraisers each year with great and unparalleled enthusiasm. She brought life to our Bible classes and made it exciting to study the things of the Lord. She was the most eclectic woman I had ever met. Look at the murals painted on her classroom wall in every imaginable bold color under heaven, and you will be given a glimpse into her personality. And who can forget her circumcision screams "heard 'round the campus" or her "whooping stick" to keep us students in line?

My sweetest memory of Mrs. Riebock did not come when I was her student, but when I was her colleague. While working on my Masters degree last fall, I substitute taught at Wheaton Academy. One day I received a call asking me to sub for Mrs. Riebock. I was thrilled and immediately accepted! When I entered her classroom, I was a bit surprised to find her sitting at her desk--not at all absent--and she was equally surprised to see me.

"What are you doing here?" she would ask.

I responded, "Substitute teaching for you, I thought!"

Apparently the office had made a mistake, and I didn't need to be there. I walked to the door to exit the classroom, but she stopped me, saying, "No! You came all the way out here to teach, and you want your money. Stay here, and I'll go out so you can get paid." Mrs. Riebock went out of the way to accommodate her "substitute," even though she didn't need me. That day, Mrs. Riebock cared more about blessing her former student than sticking with her own agenda. She reflected the love and servant's heart of Jesus Christ, and through that action, I was blessed.

I have an "uncensored confession," as I like to call it in our Come Thirsty Sunday school class. I don't begin to understand the ways of an incomprehensible God. I don't know why God chose to spare my mom's life when thousands of people got on their knees to pray for her healing after she was in a coma in Turkey, but take the life of Mrs. Riebock when thousand of people were on their knees praying for her healing when she was going through a liver transplant in America. I don't understand why my classmate Quinn, Mrs. Riebock's youngest daughter, lost her dad in June, and three months later lost her mom. I just don't have all of the answers.

But there are some things I do know. I know that God is good. And I don't just mean that He is somewhat nice and typically kind. I mean that His very essence is good; there is no good apart from Him. I know that God is love. His love is unconditional. I know that God is for us. If we are His children, God is not 9% or 99% for us; He is 100% for us at all times. And I know that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. There is no life apart from the Christian life, because there is no God apart from Jesus Christ. His ways are incomprehensible, but they are trustworthy. Yes, God is trustworthy and faithful and true. I live and breathe these truths.

I went to hear John Piper speak at Wheaton today. He talked all about suffering. My friend left depressed; I left invigorated. He spoke difficult words. Words that I want to silence with all my being. But words that my soul so longs to hear that I can almost physically feel the echo of its longing deep within me. He said that our suffering is an essential part of our Christian existence. Our suffering should make Christ look great. We might be "sorrowful," but we are to be "always rejoicing" (II Cor. 6:10). Our lives should testify that Christ is more precious to us than everything in the universe, including father or mother, brother or sister, career or unemployment, ambitions or failures, singleness or marriage, children or no children. Christ is more precious. Period.

Furthermore, nothing will happen to us apart from God's will. Do you really think that these events surprise God? God knows, and God is good. We must embrace suffering, hardship, risk, and danger while on earth for the relief of suffering in eternity. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). In Romans, Paul states, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory" (Rom. 8:17).

So the ultimate question is not whether we will suffer. We must suffer. The question is, "Will Christ be enough when we endure suffering?"

What's Your Calling?

2007-09-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30, NIV

From dew on wool fleeces to geometric shapes in the clouds, too often Christians look in all of the wrong places for a revelatory sign of God’s calling upon their lives. But in Scripture, calling is much more paradoxical. It is more clear and precise and definitive, revealed in and through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And yet, the ancient biblical stories inform us that calling is more supernatural and mysterious as God speaks not through the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but through a whisper (I Kgs. 19:11-12). It is to this magnificent God with a magnanimous call that Christians must respond in a manner that is “worthy of the calling [they] have received” (Eph. 4:1).

In The Call, Os Guinness writes, “…calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”[1] Guinness differentiates between the primary and secondary calls. “Our primary calling as followers of Christ is by him, to him, and for him.”[2] Calling begins with God. Romans 8:28-30 (quoted above) lays out the order of calling: God predestines His chosen, calls them to Himself, then justifies and glorifies His loved ones. God chooses; the Christian responds. It is just as impossible for Christians to call themselves as it is for Christians to predestine, justify, or glorify themselves. Guinness writes, “We cannot find God without God. We cannot reach God without God. We cannot satisfy God without God….”[3] Calling always starts with God.
Christians have the responsibility of responding to God’s call. This response to primary calling comes through loving Christ with one’s “heart, soul, strength, and mind,” out of which must flow “love [for one’s] neighbor as [oneself]” (Lk. 10:27). It is precisely because of the need to respond to God that Paul writes, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him…” (I Thess. 1:11-12a). It is through the grace of God that the Christian can embody his or her calling. Apart from the active work of the Holy Spirit, the Christian’s work would be ineffectual and unworthy of the high calling which he or she has received. Only through the power of Christ will the Christian’s calling become a reality. And when this calling is lived out in a worthy manner, the Lord will be glorified.

In addition to a general call, the believer is also given a personal, specific call, or “secondary call,” to borrow the language of Guinness. “Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, live, and act entirely for him.”[4] Our primary calling is shared with all believers—each person is called to glorify God and love Him completely. Our secondary calling is specific to each individual’s life, based on his or her spiritual gifts, talents, and interests. In The Purpose-Driven Life, author Rick Warren encourages Christians to identify their calling by considering their S.H.A.P.E., an acrostic for “spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences.”[5] By identifying the areas in which God has gifted one, the passions which He has instilled in one, and the experiences which have served to shape one, calling may be further clarified.

So what is your calling? What are the gifts and talents that God has interwoven into the fabric of your life? Where does your greatest passion meet a need in the world?

Live a life worthy of your calling!

[1] Guinness, Oz. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2003. p. 4.
[2] Ibid. p. 31.
[3] Ibid. p. 13.
[4] Ibid. p. 31
[5] Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. p. 236.

Spiritual Garment

2007-08-27T09:27:00.000-05:00

Here is a sample entry from the Turkey Prayer Guide:

Spiritual Garment

by Jenny Schulenburg

They come in satin, silk, and cotton. Some drape over the body; others cover only the face. Women express their personal style by choosing various colors and patterns. They are sold outside of mosques, and worn as an expression of honor and respect. They are veils.

It was not long before arriving in Istanbul that I noticed veiled women strolling down the streets. When our mission team hosted an American Folk Song Sing-Along in a park near our hotel, I had the opportunity to interact with two young, veiled Muslim women. At first, we all felt awkward. What could we possibly have in common to converse about? So we sang together, and I discovered that they had beautiful voices. I shared with them my involvement in music, and any awkward feelings between us quickly dissipated. Through our conversation, I discovered that one of my new friends was studying to be a teacher—my same profession. Both of them were within a few years of my age. Gradually, I no longer saw them first and foremost as “veiled Muslim women,” but image bearers of their Creator.

All of sudden, my new friends and I seemed a lot more similar than dissimilar. I, too, once walked this earth wearing a veil. My veil may not have been a fabric head covering, but it was woven together by own sinfulness and it covered the eyes of my soul from seeing the truth of God. Thankfully, God is omniscient, and He peered deep into my soul, seeing past the veil that I tried to hide under. He removed my shroud of darkness and clothed me with His garment of salvation. The prophet Isaiah writes, “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.”

After that evening, as I walked through the streets of Istanbul and encountered veiled women, I began praying that God would remove the veil behind which they hide themselves and cover them with His righteousness, just as He had covered me.

PRAY

Pray for Muslim women to trade their man-made veils for “robes of righteousness.”

Pray that God will continue to build bridges between Muslim and Christian women so that spiritual conversations can take place.

In the Midst of the Storm: Reflections on My Day

2007-08-23T20:21:00.000-05:00

"A tornado touched down in Dekalb, and it's headed your way. Don't leave work." That was the advice of the person on the other end of the phone line. I hung up my cell phone and did what most sensible people do: write off the person's warning as an exaggeration, grab my keys, and hop in the car. A few minutes later, I realized I had made a mistake.

As I headed home from First Baptist and drove through Geneva and Saint Charles, I noticed clusters of people on the street pointing at the sky, staring up at the clouds in fearful amusement. Like a contagious yawn that is subconsciously mimicked, I too was compelled to peer at the storm clouds through my rear view window. They were dark and ominous, but aren't all thunderstorms?

Then they crept in closer, stealthily moving towards my car, silent, powerful, mysterious. All of a sudden, I grew a little concerned. I was stuck at a red light. The light turns green, I rush to the next block, and get stuck by another red light. This is not my day.

All of a sudden, the sky opens and rain pours down, bursting forth like Niagara Falls. I watch as the crossing guard, who had patiently been waiting for school children on the corner of the block, took off running. Leaves began swirling around me, and there was no rhyme or reason to the the pattern of the rainfall. It was circular, but straight-forward, pouring down yet blowing upwards. It was coming, and I couldn't make it home.
I was at the corner of Route 25 and Illinois Street, so I headed for the St. Charles Public Library--the closest shelter from the storm. The torrential rainfall continued, and as I threw open my car door, I fully expected my car to become instantly flooded. I ran inside, looking like I had just come out of the shower, fully clothed. I tried to apologize to one of the head librarians, but he cut me off, saying, "Get downstairs now! There is a tornado and we have a storm shelter."

The basement storm shelter, which was more often used as a general meeting room, was crowded with library patrons who had been browsing through books moments earlier, and they all looked at me--the dripping wet outsider--with shock and amusement, handing me towels to dry off. I stood in the corner, slightly embarrassed, and waited until they gave the clearance to leave.

After we were given permission to leave, I ran up the stairs to get back to my car, head home, and put on warm, dry clothes. But as we stood outside and surveyed the damage, we noticed that a tree had fallen on two cars of employees of the library, and lightening continued to strike down as the thunder boomed. Many patrons were frightened back indoors once more.

Looking up at the sky, I smiled, thinking about Jesus in the storm as recorded in the gospels. Jesus was asleep in a boat with His disciples when a storm rolled in. Water is pouring into the boat, but Jesus never stirs. The disciples frantically cry out to Jesus to wake up and save them, for surely they would drown! Jesus' rebukes the wind and the waves, and they quiet down. As I looked at the storm today, I thought about the God who created it and controlled it. God was displaying His power, and I worshipped Him as a result.

But the guy standing next to me had a different response. He swore at the storm, then struck up a conversation with me about "Mother Nature." He proceeded to tell me astounding stories about all of the tornadoes he had been in where he has nearly escaped with his life, and included in his stories some of his...well...vices. I stood there listening, in half disbelief that he could go through all of this and live!

In that moment, the Holy Spirit nudged me to tell this man about God, but all I wanted to do was run. I'm terrible at evangelism. Discipleship I love, but telling people about Christ, especially total strangers? That terrifies me! I silently prayed for strength, whining all the while that I really didn't want to do this. After the man finished all of his stories, I said to him, "God must have an amazing plan for your life to spare you all of those times! He's got YOUR attention!"

His tone changed, and he began recounting a different story. This time, he told me about a time when he was terrified in the midst of the storm, all alone, driving in utter and complete darkness, in the middle of nowhere. He had no other recourse other than to call out to God--a God he most definitely did not know personally--to open the sky, allowing light to pour forth to guide Him home. God answered his prayer. The heavens opened, but this time beams of light broke forth, not rain. God led him home. God calmed the storm.

What storm is in your life right now? Maybe it is a physical storm like the one many of us experienced today. Maybe it is a relational storm. It may be a spiritual storm. Perhaps someone you love is clinging on for life with little hope for survival. Or perhaps someone you love is clinging on to something that might take his or her life when survival is simply a matter of saying "no" to an idol or to a habitual sin. Whatever your storm, know that Jesus is in the boat with you. He is at perfect peace, and He offers perfect peace. Jesus is not oblivious to the storm. He knows it is there, but He also knows that He is there. And that is all you need. So cling to Jesus, look up at the sky, and praise Him for His sovereignty even in the midst of the storm.

Single-Minded?

2007-08-22T22:47:00.000-05:00

Tonight I went to Willow Creek to hear Randy Frazee speak on the topic of being "single-minded." He spoke out of I Corinthians 7:1-24. In these verses, Paul exhorts his readers to "remain single as I (Paul) am." Paul continues, "But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another" (v. 7).

To get married, or not to get married? That is the question. I interact with so many young adults who grapple with this question, questioning whether it is God's will for them to marry a given individual or doubting whether God has marriage for them at all. There are a plethora of issues that young adults face, and finding one's life partner is one major "rite of passage" that is near the top of the list.

In this passage, Paul talks about the "gift of singleness." Did you know that singleness is a spiritual gift? But it's not one that often appears on spiritual gift tests next to the gifts of teaching or mercy or administration. Nevertheless, Paul clearly defines it as a gift--or perhaps special calling from God.

So how do you know if you have the gift of singleness or not? Here are two litmus tests that may be helpful for you.

1. Do you envision yourself doing great things for God as a single person that you feel would be stifled if you were married? Are you perfectly content in your life as a single person?

2. Are you able to live as a single person without being "aflame with passion," as Paul describes in verse 9? God's command is that we live sexually pure lives as single individuals. If we feel that we will be overtaken with our own lustful, sexual desires, Paul says it is better to marry than to sin in our singleness.

What was the result of your litmus tests? Regardless, there are a couple of principles to keep in mind.

First, the gift of singleness is not necessarily permanent. Come Thirsty, the fact that none of you are married means that our Sovereign God has given you this gift at least for this season in your life. That does not mean, however, that it is a permanent gift that you have been given.

Second, because you are called to singleness in this period of your life--whether it be for one more day or for the rest of your life--you are called to use your time to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Mt. 6:33). What an awesome privilege we have as single adults to be "anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit" (I Cor. 7:34b)!

So here are suggestions as you are in the waiting room, waiting on God's timing and on His will to be accomplished in your life.

1. Seek your highest joy in being used for the glory of God. Find your contentment here.

2. If you are battling relational loneliness, find a place to serve. There are many opportunities to serve at First Baptist (e-mail me for suggestions in multiple areas of service!!), or get involved in serving the community and shining the light of Christ to a lost and dying world!

3. Whenever you find yourself thinking about or longing for your future spouse, turn your heart's cry into a prayer. God knows your thoughts; why not voice them to the One who is sovereign and deeply loves you? Pray for your future spouse's moral integrity, sexual purity, spiritual character, etc. But begin and end your prayer by declaring your love for your Savior first and foremost and acknowledging the truth that He alone is sufficient. He is truly all you need. Do you believe that?

Might you find contentment of heart and unity in purpose as you are single-minded for the glory of God!

Welcome to the Adventure! Are you ready?

2007-08-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

This is the report I gave at our Turkey Luncheon. It is only a tiny drop in the ocean of lessons I learned, but my desire is that you are encouraged by what God did in and through my life as I journey down this road we call faith.

Two days into our trip, I hesitantly walked into my mom’s room, and as I spoke to her, the words that cautiously poured off my lips were “I’m not even sure that I am a Christian.” I expected to feel something different on a mission trip, and as I looked at the people around me, the only feeling that I experienced was apathy. Here I am, the Short-Term Mission Coordinator at First Baptist Church of Geneva, questioning my passion to see the fame of Jesus Christ spread around the world, and doubting whether I was one of his followers because I couldn’t embrace the second greatest command: to love those around me as myself. I’ll return to this part of my story in a moment.

But let me rewind one week. Just prior to leaving for Turkey, I felt God telling me to re-listen to a CD called “Doing Missions When Dying is Gain” by John Piper. We were given this CD during our training, but by the time that we were ready to leave, a few months had passed since I had listened to it. There was a heavy burden on my heart to listen to it once more before I left for Turkey, but I was too busy and it sat unplayed in my CD player.

If I had played the CD, what I heard would have prepared my heart for the experience that I was about to have. John Piper says, “It seems to be woven into the very fabric of our consumer culture that we move toward comfort, toward security, toward ease, toward safety, away from stress, away from trouble, away from danger, and it ought to be exactly the opposite. ‘He who comes after Me must take up his cross and die.’ Whoever said we would be safe in the call of God?”

As I thought about that exhortation in light of feeling that I was not saved, I realized that the problem was not that I was not a Christian, but that I had fallen prey to a life of comfort and security and ease and safety. And while those things were allowing me to thrive physically and emotionally, they were killing me spiritually. I’m convinced that God does not call us to a life of safety and comfort, but a life of adventure in which we can engage His very heart.

Erwin McManus, author of The Barbarian Way, writes, “You are not intended to be a spiritual zoo where people can look at God in you from a safe distance. You are a jungle where the Spirit roams wild and free in your life! You are the recipient of the God who cannot be tamed and of a faith that must not be tamed. You are no longer a prisoner of time and space, but a citizen of the Kingdom of God—a resident of the barbarian tribe. God is not a sedative that keeps you calm and under control by dulling your senses. He does quite the opposite. He awakens your spirit to be truly alive…you are most fully alive when you’re on an adventure with God!.”

One week into our mission trip, God awakened my spirit in a rather odd way. This awakening did not come through ease and comfort, but through deep pain. One week into our trip, my dad and I stood over my mom in the emergency room of the hospital as she grew increasingly delirious until slipping into a coma, and we prepared ourselves for her death. God led me to the jungle where the Spirit can roam wild and free, because in a moment of deep pain and fear, God told me to stop praying for my mom and her safety and health—the creature comforts of a consumer culture that He was calling me loosen my tight grasp upon—and to start praising Him for His immense glory and goodness and grace. I had to declare with the Psalmist that, “The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life!”

As I sat in the hospital waiting room in Turkey for eight hours every day, I had nothing to turn to but God. God took away all distractions. There was no television to watch, no magazines to read, no music playing in the background, no gift shop to peruse. I couldn’t even build community with the other people in the waiting room since I don’t know Turkish. All I had was my Bible, and so I opened it and absorbed the words before me like a dry sponge. And God spoke to me through His Word like never before—simply because I had ears to hear it for the first time. No longer was I reading into the text, but my mouth was shut and God was speaking to me and comforting me and reminding me of who He is and the hope that I have in Him.

The greatest lesson that I took away from Turkey is that the only way I can live this Barbaric faith that is wild and untamed is if I sever all of the ties to the distractions that I have around me that are vying for my attention and fling them to the foot of the cross, trading them for the indescribable joy of being in the presence of God. When I felt that I was not near God at the beginning of our trip, it was not because God had removed His presence from me, but that I had filled my life with so many distractions that I drowned out His still small voice. God invites us to embark on the greatest adventure of all time. Ask yourself what is in your way and I’ll ask myself what is in my way that keeps us from accepting that invitation to journey with Him. What is it that keeps us from going to the ends of the earth and not resting until every tongue and nation and people and tribe have been introduced to the King of the Nations?

The difficult part to hear is that the only way that this can take place is through our suffering. In Colossians 1:24, Paul writes, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body in filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.” John Piper comments on this verse: “We proclaim Christ’s sufferings by our own suffering. Christ intends for the Great Commission to be a presentation to the nations of the sufferings of His cross in the sufferings of His people. That’s the way the commission will be finished. If you sign up for missions, that’s what you sign up for. That’s the way it will get done.”

For me, the most difficult and yet beautiful part of the trip was sitting by my mom’s bedside as she cried out in pain and agony day after day. Even as infection attacked the fluid around her brain, she scribbled the words on a piece of paper that “it was all worth it” to enter into the sufferings of Jesus Christ so that the world might know Him. We sang hymns in the ICU ward and our sacrifice of praise not only filled the room, but soared to heaven to land at the feet of Jesus. I have never felt closer to Christ then I did in the moments I spent in that hospital, where God spoke to me and held me and comforted me and reminded me that I am His child and that He loves me unconditionally—where He whispered in my ear the invitation once more to embark with Him on this adventure that we call faith without sight—and where He eagerly and patiently awaited for my reply.

John Piper said, “If our children are going to walk away from Christ, we need to raise them in such a way that they understand that to walk away from Jesus is to walk away from a life of faith, risk, and adventure, and to choose a life that is boring, mundane and ordinary.” I walk with Christ because my parents, and my Turkey team, and my church, have all proven that it is a life of faith and risk and adventure. I don’t want to live a boring, mundane, and ordinary life. And this is the heart of missions! Erwin McManus writes, “A world without God cannot wait for us to choose the safe path. If we wait for someone else to take the risk, we risk that no one will ever act and that nothing will ever be accomplished.” And in His holy Word, God tells us “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything in all creation can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” If this is true, and I believe with all my heart that it is, then nothing ultimate can harm me.

So I end by reiterating the invitation that God has already extended to you to journey with Him down a path that is full or risk and adventure. It may take you to the least evangelized nation of the world, or it may give you the courage to have that conversation with the unbelieving neighbor next door. But wherever it takes you, let it usher you into the very presence of our glorious God. There is no more exciting or beautiful life to live.

Portrait of a Superstar

2007-01-14T14:18:00.000-06:00

He’s a superstar.
They call him man’s star.
Hollywood lights shine bright;
Lush red-carpet unrolled tonight!
Limo door opens as he steps out;
Cameras flash and people shout.
Motives twist; heart contorts;
Blood surges with pride and sins of sort.
With a glint in his eyes,
He buys this lie.
Gleams and glistens,
Can’t help but listen.
Consumes their praise;
Starts the latest craze.
Like a ravenous beast,
Tonight he will feast.

In the dressing room he stares into the mirror,
Pushing aside the pain and the fear.
Paints on a smile,
Masking his disgrace for a while.
Ten minutes ‘til the show starts,
Featuring crooked ways and crooked hearts.

Curtain draws and crowd goes wild.
Everyone screams, “We love Kyle!”
A need to please consumes his soul;
His deepest passion and greatest goal.
Deep dark shadows encompass his heart
As he continues to play the perfect part.

Curtain closes and crowd cheers;
Some share laughter, others share tears.
Kyle has been a raving success!
He’s incapable of giving less.

Back in the dressing room he peers into the mirror,
Tears off the mask, and stares at the fear.
Pain, hurt, disillusionment, even doubt.
That’s what his life is all about.
His darkened heart is empty and hollow,
But his mechanical robots will still follow.
Because he’s man’s star.

He’s a superstar!

Urbana 2006!

2007-01-02T21:44:00.000-06:00

Matt, Becky, and I just arrived home yesterday from Urbana 2006, representing First Baptist at a macro-level, and Come Thirsty at a micro-level. We had an AMAZING experience, which words cannot describe. Check out www.urbana.org for webcasts of the sessions, music, drama, and videos.

Here are the top twelve things I learned/re-learned at Urbana.

THINGS I LEARNED/WAS REMINDED OF AT URBANA 2006:

1. Experiencing hunger and thirst for five days was slightly uncomfortable. Experiencing hunger and thirst on a daily basis is life-threatening. Smelling the aroma of food and watching others eat while I had very little to eat--knowing all the while I could do something about it if I really wanted--was mildly irritating. Knowing that millions of people in the world smell the aroma of food and watch others eat while they have nothing--knowing they cannot do anything about it--is sickening and breaks my heart.

2. The beauty of diversity. I can sing in multiple languages--French, Spanish, Swahili, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Creole, etc. and my heart cry is as fervent as when I sing in English. No matter what language I fumble my way through pronouncing in my singing, my eyes fill with tears as I sing to our great God--our great God who is ONE.

3. "Without Christ, I am like a fish out of water. With Christ, I am like a fish in an ocean of love."

4. Everything I have, I must give up, and then I will discover I have gained Jesus.

5. Drinking from the cup of Western theology (that which is rooted in materialism, individualism, prosperity, comfort, etc.) is to drink from a poisoned chalice.

6. The purpose of maturity is not independence, but interdependence.

7. Joy is one of the most important characteristics of Christianity. Joy and suffering can coexist; indeed, they must. Often it is only in deep suffering that Christ can strengthen me with His grace to persevere, and this produces joy.

8. In front of God, only God is great!!!

9. The new cry of my generation: whatever, wherever, whenever!

10. 6,000 church members leave the American church DAILY.

11. I am called to be "missional", not just "missionary."

12. All God's children have been weak men, and they do great things because they reckon that God can do great things.

Layers of Clothing

2006-12-04T21:56:00.000-06:00

This is the poem I shared in my presentation tonight, and will share with Come Thirsty in context when I give share my personal story with you once we conclude The Drama of Scripture.

I wear my pride like layers of clothing—
Layers that cover my disgrace.

I need You to peel away my pride layer by layer
Until I am uncovered and bare before the One who made me.
You know me intimately
And yet I am afraid to expose myself.
I am afraid to be seen as flawed and imperfect,
So I try to hide.

I hide under all these layers of clothing.
And I need You to peel away my pride layer by layer
Until I am uncovered and bare before the One who made me.
I need to be cleansed in Your showers of grace;
Renewed in Your seas of mercy.
But I cannot feel the impact of the soft, tender drops of water
Until I am uncovered.
I must stand completely exposed—
Exposed and vulnerable before You.

I need You to peel away my pride layer by layer
Until I am uncovered and bare before the One who made me.
Only then can You begin the painful process of making me new.
I shrink back with embarrassment
Because You see me for who I am.
If I want to impress anyone, Lord,
I want to impress You.
Yet all I have to offer comes from Your hand;
I cannot give You anything that You don’t already possess.

You have peeled away my pride layer by layer
And I am uncovered and bare before the One who made me.
A tear falls from my cheek as I stand bare and exposed
With nothing but a weak, frail, faithless heart to give You.
If I had anything of lasting value that could compare to Your worth,
It would be Yours.
But all I have to give is me,
And so I offer me freely.

You have peeled away my pride layer by layer
And I am uncovered and bare before the One who made me.
I give You all of my inadequacies and weaknesses,
All my frailty and imperfection.
I acknowledge that only You are good and wise,
Strong and pure.

So here I stand uncovered and bare before the One who made me.
My pride is peeled away like layers of clothing
And my shameful self is exposed.
Now I am ready.
Ready for You to take my life and use it for Your glory.
Transform me into something beautiful.
Let this sinful, unintelligent, impure creature glorify You.
For I am Yours, Father.

I am Yours.

The Open Door

2006-11-27T21:09:00.000-06:00

The door swings wide open. I am excited, curious, fearful. I have seen others enter and exit, yet they are not the same when they leave. Change. Transformation. Alteration. I have been told I cannot help but be changed once I enter. Is it worth the risk?

The door swings wide open. I take one step forward but shrink back from the intense light that is emitted. Yet something compels me to enter. I hear a voice. “Absorb the moment. Relish the moment. Live the moment.”

The door swings wide open and I cautiously tiptoe in. I cannot peel my eyes away. Beauty. Majesty. Power. I open my mouth to speak but I cannot utter a word. Sound ceases. The world fades. I am standing alone. I am uncovered, exposed, vulnerable. I begin trembling, shaking to the core, yet peace surrounds me. I am in the presence of a Mighty Lion and I am safe.

The door swung wide open, I entered, and I never want to leave. I drink in its glory, bask in its loveliness, bathe in its truth. I find purpose, and for that moment all that matters is that I am here with You.

Prayer: A Sweet Fragrance

2006-11-16T21:53:00.000-06:00

Indescribable Power
Unceasing Praise
Heart Leaps with Joy
Kneeling Before the Throne
Boundless Grace
Faith Strengthened
Wounds Healed
Trials Accepted
Love for God Grows
Intimacy Deepens
Hope Realized
Answers Revealed
Change
A Quiet Heart’s Cry
Unrestrained Passion
Incense/A Sweet Fragrance
Creation Communicates with Creator
My Will Joyfully/Humbly Surrendered
My Eyes Turned toward Heaven
My Ears Attuned to Your Call
Admitted Helplessness
Utter Dependence on You
Sacrifice
Dead in Transgression
Alive in You
Rebirth
Transition
Continual Growth
Being Still and Knowing He is God

Explanation:

Prayer is a sweet fragrance lifted up before our omnipotent Father. We can barely grasp the power of prayer, but we know it is a connection with God Almighty. The words above are the images that come to my mind as I ponder this beautiful communion with my Savior. As I stared at the shape of the words on paper, I noticed they resembled a vase. Though this was purely coincidental, how appropriate that they resembled that which holds a sweet fragrance—for that is the essence of prayer.

The Waiting Room

2006-11-08T23:19:00.000-06:00

Here I am again tonight in a place that seems all too familiar.
I am praying for a sign that you still hear my little voice—
That You still care.

I am tired and weak and weary.
I fall before Your throne and cry out to You.
My head knows You’re sovereign,
But my heart has such a hard time believing.

What if my will does not line up with Your will for my life?
What if I cannot come to a place of total surrender,
No matter how hard I try or how many unsuccessful attempts I make?

I need to be reminded that You’re in control.
I need Your strong, gentle, loving arms to envelop me
And Your sweet words to comfort me.

I need to know that You are God, I am man.
You are the Master, I am the servant.
You have my best interests at heart
And know me better than I know myself.

That is what You reveal to me
As I wait silently in this place tonight.

His Love is Deep

2006-11-04T12:37:00.000-06:00

As I think about my own sinfulness, and how often I willingly sell myself to other gods and worship idols while claiming that my heart belongs to Jesus ALONE...
And as I think about the nation of ancient Israel, whom we are studying in Come Thirsty each week...
And as I realize with shame that I am not much different from them...
I am struck by these song lyrics.

May they encourage you today, not because of who you are, but because of the One who called you by name to serve Him.

"Your Love is Deep"

Jami Smith

Your love is deep

Your love is high

Your love is long

Your love is wide

Deeper than my view of grace

Higher than this worldly place

Longer than this road I travel

Wider than the gap You filled

Who shall separate us

Who shall separate us from Your love

Nothing can separate us

Nothing can separate us from Your love

My Babylon

2006-10-26T07:06:00.000-05:00

An artist's creative rendition of ancient Babylon:

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

My Babylon

Meaningless. Everything other than what brings You glory seems meaningless to me.

It is frightening. Sometimes I am dreadfully afraid because I am immersed in a culture that makes decrees against Your statues and stands up for everything I stand against.

And I am left to wonder where my place is in this big, cold, empty world where I am often found standing alone.

I am in the heart of my Babylon. The exact place from which I want to run far away and never look back.

Then I realize I have no place to run. Babylon surrounds me; the only light that penetrates the darkness is inside me.

So I must stand and let You shine your light through me, even though it is painfully uncomfortable at times because I look and feel and think differently from the world. At first I can only emit a flicker of light and I fear my Babylon will overcome it—overcome me. What if my Babylon squelches any potential for hope?

But You refuse to let that happen because You have called me to stand here for a reason. I cannot tell whether I affect my Babylon, not just yet, although I can say something powerful is beginning in me. I purpose in my heart to stand unwaveringly and never be shaken, even when I am shaking from fear or downtrodden by discouragement. Because everything else I see around me in the heart of my Babylon is meaningless.

I only desire to cling to You.
Keep me clinging to You.

Across the Street or Around the World

2006-08-27T14:25:00.000-05:00

It was the late 1980s and Steve Green, one of my favorite vocal singer's/songwriter's, penned the following:

There's a call going out across the land in every nation
A call to all who swear allegiance to the cross of Christ
A call to true humility, to live our lives responsibly
To deepen our devotion to the cross at any price
Let us then be sober moving only in the spirit
As aliens and strangers in a hostile foreign land
The message we're proclaiming is repentance and forgiveness
The offer of salvation to the dying race of man

CHORUS: To love the Lord our God is the heartbeat of our mission
The spring from which our service overflows
Across the street or around the world
The mission's still the same
Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus's name

As a candle is consumed by the passion of the flame
Spilling light unsparingly throughout a darkened room
Let us burn to know him deeper then
Our service flaming bright
Will radiate His passions and blaze with holy light

This song is "playing" over and over in my mind as I type this and reflect on our class today. Today we examined creation, but we cannot do justice in forty-five minutes to a creative act by God, coming into being by the spoken act of His voice, in seven days (or eras or generations, depending on your view of creation). As I alluded to in class today, I am not concerned so much with how as with what, and I am not so concerned with what as with Who.

Many generations have passed since the creation of Adam and Eve, and from two people came nearly two hundred nations spanning seven continents. This equates to 6,643,632,481 people as of 2:59 p.m. Sunday, August 27. (To see what this number has escalated to since the time I wrote this, check out http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop. It's pretty staggering). And each one of those 6,643,632,481 people is unique. And according to Genesis, each one is made in the image of God and has infinite value and worth, whether or not he or she is aware of it.

Today in Come Thirsty we had a handful of countries represented, thanks to Estela inviting her friends to join us. The more I reflect on that, and as I hear Steve Green's song on continuous repeat in my mind, the more I am in awe of God. It all began with God using a bit of creativity. "In the beginning, God created." He didn't hold a meeting, write a doctrinal statement, or inaugurate the first potluck. God spoke, and so it was. And it was good. Indeed, very good.

And so we can all sit in a room today, representing many different countries, cultures, languages, nationalities, tastes, interests, hopes, and fears, but we all represent one God--one God who created. So as the "call goes out across the land in every nation--a call to all who swear allegiance to the cross of Christ," may we stand up and proudly answer it. May we gather together as we did today, many nations and peoples and tongues, knowing that we are all "aliens and strangers in a hostile and foreign land." May the heartbeat of our mission be "to love the Lord our God," and may the message we proclaim be "repentance and forgiveness: the offer of salvation to the dying race of man." For isn't that what creation is all about? Let's proclaim the glory of God!

Broken and Spilled Out

2006-08-06T14:36:00.000-05:00

Not all of you may know that I have only been attending First Baptist for six years. The first eighteen years of my life I was raised at another solid, Bible-believing church in Saint Charles. I have many memories: from attending potlucks and pig roasts, to acting in church drama productions, to releasing balloons to celebrate breaking ground for an addition to our church, but one of the memories that is etched most carefully and precisely in my mind is that of the music. I was in awe of the phenomenal talent at our church--our music pastor and his wife had sung with the Metropolitan Opera prior to taking the pastorate position--but I was even more in awe of the musicians' heart for God. Though I heard many songs over those eighteen years that are just a fading memory now, there is one that if I close my eyes, I can still hear being sung by my music minister and his wife: Broken and Spilled Out.

When Bryan Harden, my new music director, called and asked me to choose a song to sing as a solo at our East Campus, it did not take long for this song to resurrect in my mind. I remember being impacted by it in my childhood, and I wanted others to be as moved as I had been. The words are so powerful--connecting a woman in antiquity who poured out her perfume at the feet of Jesus, to remembering Jesus Himself--God's perfect treasure--being poured out for us, and finally to our plea that we might be broken, spilled out, and used up for Him. What an amazing cry of our hearts for our lives to be poured out at Jesus feet as a sweet offering to Him!

Here are the words to the song. The cry of my heart is that you might be ushered to the foot of the cross once more as you reflect on the One who was broken and spilled out for love of you:

VERSE 1

One day a plain village woman

Driven by love for her Lord

Recklessly poured out a valuable essence

Disregarding the scorn

And once it was broken and spilled out

A fragrance filled all the room

Like a pris'ner released from his shackles

Like a spirit set free from the tomb

CHORUS 1

Broken and spilled out

Just for love of you Jesus

My most precious treasure

Lavished on Thee

Broken and spilled out

And poured at Your feet

In sweet abandon

Let me be spilled out

And used up for Thee

VERSE 2

Lord You were God's precious treasure

His loved and His own perfect Son

Sent here to show me

The love of the Father

Just for love it was done

And though You were perfect and holy

You gave up Yourself willingly

You spared no expense for my pardon

You were used up and wasted for me

CHORUS 2

Broken and spilled out

Just for love of me Jesus

God's most precious treasure

Lavished on me

Broken and spilled out

And poured at my feet

In sweet abandon
Lord, You were spilled out and used up for Me

TAG
In sweet abandon, let me be spilled out

And used up for Thee

Happy Fourth of July!

2006-07-04T14:39:00.000-05:00

The Fourth of July is my favorite, non-religious holiday. Lately I've been thinking about why that is, and I can't quite pinpoint the reason. I think it has something to do with fireworks. These days, you can see them almost any day of the year, whenever there is a big celebration downtown Chicago or the Cougar's hit a home run, but they don't strike me quite like they do on the Fourth of July.

I love fireworks on the Fourth of July. There is something about them that takes my breath away. When I was little, I was terrified of the noise they made, but I still went to see them faithfully year after year. Plugging my ears through each *pop* and *bang,* I stared in wonder as the dark night sky became gloriously lit with every color of the rainbow in a flash of light, then went completely dark again, only to revive with color a few seconds later once more. Even though I cognitively know that the burst of light is coming, it still surprises me somehow when I witness it. Even though I know how beautiful it will be, the experience of it is so much greater than I can even imagine. Even though I know the fireworks will be big, it is not until I see them that I am amazed at how grand and massive and powerful they truly are.

And my thoughts turn toward God. The Light of the World. The second coming of Jesus Christ is certain; it will be wondrous and beautiful. The sky will be filled with a burst of His glory. All people will stand in awe and wonder as the Savior of mankind--the Redeemer and King--appears. And it will be surprising. Like a thief in the night. Like a firework that is lit off before the show even starts. Like the pop and bang that terrified me as a child, but mysteriously, I was drawn to it. I knew I was safe. I know I am safe. I know I am saved. And so I look forward to that coming day, when my knee will willingly bow at the feet of Jesus in awe of His beauty, strength, majesty, and power. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Come!

Reflections on the Funeral Service: What Do I Know?

2006-05-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

Sara Groves: "What Do I Know" from the album Conversations

The Song Which Opened the Funeral Service:

I have a friend who just turned eighty-eight and she just shared with me that she's afraid of dying. I sit here years from her experience and try to bring her comfort. I try to bring her comfort, . But what do I know? What do I know?

She grew up singing about the glory land, and she would testify how Jesus changed her life. It was easy to have faith when she was thirty-four, but now her friends are dying, and death is at her door.

Oh, and what do I know? Really, what do I know?

I don't know that there are harps in heaven, Or the process for earning your wings. I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels, Or any of those things.

She lost her husband after sixty years, and as he slipped away she still had things to say. Death can be so inconvenient. You try to live and love. It comes and interrupts.

And what do I know? What do I know?

But I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord, and from what I know of him, that must be pretty good. Oh, I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord, and from what I know of him, that must be very good.

What do I know? That question pulses through my mind as I watch a grieving family with expressions of sorrow mixed with a sense of numbness walk down the same aisle at church I walk down joyfully each Sunday morning. What do I know? I wonder as I see a mother who looks like she is about to faint make her way into the pew and sit with her husband by her side. What do I know? I judge I know very little as I see a room full of weeping people--more populated than any Sunday morning church service--and the room becomes hazy, blended, collided. I recognize the faces of the director of my kindergarten from nineteen years ago. My elementary and junior high principles who I befriended in the nine years I attended their school. My grade school gym teacher, Mrs. Jukinitz, who my classmates and I jokingly referred to as "Mrs. Juggle-Nuts". The music director of my junior high in front of whom I tried out for advanced choir with butterflies in my stomach. My third grade teacher who still remembers my name after all these years. My fifth grade teacher who everyone was afraid of and supposedly made a kid lick up dirt from the floor. My high school biology teacher whose tests I failed but somehow managed getting a "B" in the class because he knew I worked hard. My ninth grade health teacher who also coached volleyball, my favorite sport. The single Bible teacher who every high school girl had a crush on, momentarily forgetting he was more than ten years older than us. Then there were students I knew, and their parents. Students who I mentored; students who I went to church with; students who I grew up with. They were all there. My worlds collided. But the occasion was death rather than life. So many people I knew, but what do I know?

Laurel's funeral service was beautiful. One and one-half hours of testimony to the godly woman God molded and formed her to be. Friends shared happy memories, and other shared regrets they had because they had not expressed to her their admiration of her before she died. Her faith was definitive of her life, and many in the audience loved God deeper because of her testimony. I sat in the pew and prayed that none of this would be in vain. I prayed that God would bring beauty out of this horrific tragedy. I sat and asked myself, "What do I know?"

To reference another song, there are times "I have to say the words I fear the most: I just don't know."* I do not know why God would take the life of a twenty year old engaged woman who loved Christ deeply and served Him wholeheartedly. I do not know how the tragic and unexpected death of someone they loved can bring those in the family who don't know Christ back to Him. I do not know how her parents will find the strength to go on from day to day, or how her little siblings will fare without their big sister.

But I do know one thing. God is good and God is loving. "I can only see a part of the picture He's painting. God is God and I am man, so I'll never understand it all. For only God is God."* To His wisdom I submit. His plan I embrace. Laurel fulfilled the mission she was born to accomplish.

I may not know fully, but right now she does. Praise God, she knows.

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

~The Apostle Paul, I Cor. 13:12~

*Lyrics from "God is God" by Steven Curtis Chapman from the album Declaration

Written in the Sky

2006-02-12T21:52:00.000-06:00

I love to hear engagement stories. You know, guy buys ring for girl. Guy gets nervous. Guy sets out to do something completely romantic that girl can brag about in the coming days. Magical night comes. Guy gets sick to his stomach. Girl thinks guy is about to dump her. Guy grows too nervous to talk. Girl starts getting agitated. Guy forgets his speech but somehow manages to blurt out "Will...marry...you...me?" Girl cries and forgets to say yes. Guy gets sick to his stomach yet again. Hours later girl randomly blurts out "yes." Couple are so in love they forget the awkwardness. Girl tells her friends how romantic the night was.

I always thought it was cool when a man's love for a woman was written in the sky--literally. Have you ever seen those airplanes that fly in a precise pattern as to write a message? Some men capitalize on those moments and write "I Love You. Will You Marry Me?" in the sky.

As I heard Louie Giglio talk about our awesome Creator God, I couldn't help but think, "Wow! God has written His love for...Himself...in the sky!" Is that a weird thought? That God is in love with Himself? But it is true. And it's not something to feel uncomfortable with, even though it runs counter to our sin nature and at times can sound as pleasant as fingernails on a chalkboard. When we realize God loves God, we can truly begin to live. It's all about God. It's not about us. Wow, does this seem to hit me like a ton of bricks...I mean asteroids lately.

But I think it is also true that God is in love with us. I don't mean that He needs us. God needs no one. I mean that He chooses to love us because we were made in His image, and when He sees us, He sees something of Himself. God created the universe for His own glory, but perhaps He wrote the message of Himself in the sky for us to perceive His glory (see Psalm 19).

Thank you, O Creator, for letting us witness the resounding beauty of the universe. Thank you for writing Yourself into the story of life so that we might know You.

In case you missed this week, I posted pictures above from the NASA website--many of which were seen in the video we saw at Come Thirsty. All pictures are credited to www.nasa.com, which is in no way affiliated with this website.