Friday, November 21, 2008

"Great Sorrow and Unceasing Anguish" and a Date With a Friend

This is an email I sent to a friend recently. We had met the previous
night, and I was not acting myself. Maybe it will be clear in the
message.

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

Paul wrote this to the church in Rome in chapter 9 verses 1-3.

"I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." What a description of desperation, pain, and frustration in the deepest part of who Paul was, and he says this feeling is constant. Yesterday I believe my feelings matched what Paul felt. Though I do not claim to have the depth of brokennes he had for the lost, however, it is real and I was feeling it. Sometimes it is hard to remember that this is a real feeling. I will feel this way and somewhat forget that it is biblical. The feeling turns into discouragement because I think on my inadequacy to speak and live out the gospel. I think it is a good thing, perhaps a necessary thing, that I really feel the depth of my inadequacy, however, I must trust in the power and sovereignty and grace of God. That is what must follow days like yesterday. Thoughts that God is mighty to save. Meditating on the reality of the gracious, redeeming, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Thoughts on God's kindness that leads us to repentance. Then putting that together with the truth that we are this God's people. He is with us. We have been raised with Him in His resurrection. We are alive in Christ. We are His ambassadors. We are His mouthpiece. We are His bride.

I had not gotten full circle with these thoughts so I was down and I acted like a fool. I tried to hold myself together when we met, but it did not work that well. Praise God for the work He is doing in my heart in giving me a longing to see my workplace and my family and other friends redeemed. However, I need your mercy on the kind of days like yesterday. I thank you for your love and patience, and may God continue to transform our hearts to be more like Jesus. Remember when He wept over Israel. His heart was broken for the lost, too, and then He saved you and me 2,000 years later. How amazing!?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Double Edge Sword of Cultural christianity

This is an email I recently sent to the leader of my small group at The Church at Brook Hills.
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Exodus is quickly becoming my favorite book in the Bible (As will the next book that we study.) Thank you for leading us bro.

This book(Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community) has remained in my mind over the last month or so to propose to you and see what you think. And according to your thoughts and feelings we could then speak to the group about it or not.

The book's title tries to capture its message. "Total Church" tries to relay the message that the church is not something we do on Sunday morning or Tuesday evening. It is a group of people who are always the Church. Every aspect of life is an instrument to glorify God as His Church. Everything we are apart of, work, relationships (secular and Christian), recreation, hobbies, meals, exercise, etc. is all ministry, it is all outreach, it is all worship, it is all disciple making, it is all affected, transformed, redeemed by who we are as the Church. I think these authors' attempt to direct God's people into this kind of community could be helpful for us.

As recently as yesterday I was speaking with one of the guys in our group. He had said some very encouraging words to me, and I tried to encourage him back by saying, "Thank you for your words. Your ministry encourages me so much. Thank you for your faithfulness." He then asked me, "What ministry?" I replied back, "Your ministry. Your ministry encourages me." He still sounded somewhat dumbfounded. And I gave him some shpeal about how we are all ministers of the gospel bla bla bla you know how that goes. Then he said, "Well, it is nothing I would put on a resume."

I have to admit I was shocked and deeply saddened he would say that. However, here is the truth. I struggle with this, too. I have this mindset in me, too. Sunday worship is sacred. Tuesday night meeting is sacred. Saturday with Family Connection(a government run shelter we spend time at with teens) is sacred. Monday - Friday, 8:00AM - 5:00PM is secular. My spare time, secular. Our cultural christianity doesn't just produce nominal christians. It also plagues the real deal with this mindset that real ministry is not ministry unless it is vocational. It is not ministry unless we are all wearing t-shirts or name tags representing our Ministry.

So, let's pray and fast and cry out for the Spirit of God to help us. And then let's think about this book. Let me know.

[Some info on Total Church]

http://theresurgence.com/Total_Church_Conference_Video (This link has all the audio from a conference they did on the book.)

http://www.crossway.org/product/9781433502088 (This is a link to buy the book from Crossway. Very expensive at 16.99. I think we can get it cheaper, but you can look at this link to get info about the book.)

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1433502089/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 (This has three customer reviews to read, and the price is much cheaper 10.87)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Confessions of a Hypocritical Voter

So…I was trying to think of something to write about the whole election, and I decided to write about some of the things that bother me. One can hear stuff all day about people who voted for Barack or McCain based on or not based on race. And the point is that what does it matter? If we as Christian are sent to live a life based on Love for God and Love for others why do we even ask these questions?

There are statistics that show separation in voters based on their race, but who cares? If 100% of all black voters voted for Obama and 100% of all white voters voted for McCain what does it matter? Each person is entitled to their vote, and whether or not I agree with it or whether or not that person didn’t make an educated decision isn’t for me to decide. But that isn’t what really bothers me. This is just a small aspect.

People all over are saying that Obama is black or no he is mixed or no he is this or no he is that. Why do we say this? Barack Obama’s race should have nothing to do with his capabilities, and we can’t say that people shouldn’t vote on uneducated reasons then turn around and question his race. That is a reason for why or why not to vote for him. Whether or not he is black, white, mixed or anything has no effect on his presidential capabilities. None. But again that isn’t what really bothers me.

What bothers me is to see people hypocritically chastise voters, and for people to neglect to accept responsibility. I will explain.

We are citizens of the greatest country in the World. America land of the FREE. That means although one votes in a specific fashion. He can’t criticize a fellow citizen for exercising their right in a different way. No not everyone makes the most educated decision. Most times personal convictions and exterior circumstances effect the way we vote for candidates. Whatever is the case you must respect people’s opinions even if they are based on the most trivial things. I can think of people that vote in a specific fashion just to follow the crowd and to go against the crowd. It is on both sides. Jesus says to love your enemies. Not just your friends or people that shares your views but your enemies. You think back to the story of the Good Samaritan. Was it easy for the Samaritan to help the Jew? No they were enemies. So realize that however hard it is to be around certain people you are called to love them no matter their actions.

Neglecting responsibility. Wow this seems like I am going against people in power, but that is not what I mean. Too often we as voters say “I am voting for McCain because he is against abortion” or “I am for Obama because he is helping out the poor.” But other than cast that vote once every four years what else do we do? We push that responsibility to fix thing off on some candidate that we barely know that has numerous other responsibilities, and then we sit back and complain. See if you are against abortion or social injustice Do Something! Christ said, “what you have done for the least of these you have done for Me.” So don’t just sit there and expect someone in Washington to fix all the problems. Take some initiative and get out and serve these causes.

I struggle with both of these so much and just writing them out makes me think of numerous faults I have. I mean I talk about serving the poor, and I have given away less than $20 to the poor this year. I spent $20 on cereal yesterday. My priorities seem so skewed and they constantly point back to me. Which is why I end this in the only fashion that I know which is to thank God for the Grace that He has given me because as I live and go through life and realize these iniquities in my life I see His mercy and grace more and more and more.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Stop...Look...Listen

Stars are a very interesting thing would you agree? They consists of burning gases and element that are contained within some kind of vortex. At least I think that is what they consists of. To be quite honest though I don’t know much about stars and what they are made of. I know they are bright, I know they are distant, and I know that there position in space is relatively constant in some planes. But they are so much more than that. A few weeks ago I was visiting a friend in Beatrice, Alabama and right before I started winding down for the night I started looking up at the stars. Now I know this sounds cheesy, and other things that aren’t typically characteristic of male feelings…..but it was beautiful. I saw so many stars…and as I was standing there in awe of how many there were and their magnitude…I realized that I take them for granted every single night.

How often do we stop and look around? How often do we look at nature and stars and just say wow? Once, twice…maybe three times a years. I mean being completely honest I would say on average I watch 3 sunsets a year, 0 sunrises, and I look up at constellations maybe 15 times a year. That is sad. What am I looking at instead? What is dominating my eyes, ears, and time? I think we can all answer that question with a number of different things…..stuff like girls, sports, electronics, girls, current events., school, work, parties, and girls. Why is it that we are so consumed with being in the moment? We ask what can you do for me now? And I am not saying that I am exempt from these feelings. I wish I spent more times looking at things like flowers and sitting in the woods….but in our culture today we are bombarded from every single direction by things. Do we not have time for nature? I heard someone say once don’t ever say you don’t have enough time in the day because you have the same amount that Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jesus had.

They made time for important things in life. And not saying that girls, sports, and hobbies are bad time fulfilling options I am just saying when viewed in a self-serving and chief importance kind of way---they are. All things are created by God and for God, and sometimes you have to come to the understanding of whether or not you are using his gifts strictly for your own pleasure or not. And personally I think that coming to an understanding that you have these problems can easily be seen when you are in the middle of nowhere looking up at the stars. You see things that show of a more powerful reason for living. You see things that are truly amazing. You see things that make your egocentric actions completely visible.

I guess what I am trying to say is look up at the stars, watch sunrises, stop and smell the roses. These are gifts from the almighty God. These are things that show His power, grace, and beauty. Make much of God.