too selfish

I try to be positive, upbeat. I try to be optimistic, encouraging. I try to look for the good in people not the bad. I try. That’s what I tell myself. But then, I realize how far short I fall, how much I lie to myself. Once I considered going a week without thinking a negative thought about another human being. I didn’t make it a couple of minutes. It just popped into my head. I try to discipline my thoughts, and that helps some. But the truth is, I can’t do it on my own. Without God’s help, living a life of love would be pretty much impossible for me. I’m too selfish. I wonder if others are like me. I suspect they are. If not, I don’t want to think about what that says about me. It seems to me that self-addiction is one of the things from which we most need Jesus to rescue us.

receiver of wrecks

J. H. Jowett called Jesus a “receiver of wrecks.” I love that! Jesus hung out with those whom society considered rejects. He constantly was reaching out to the strays of the world and trying to bring them home to God. He loved them though the world and they themselves often thought they were unlovable. I follow Jesus because with him there’s hope for people like me—wrecked, strange, estranged—yet yearning for his friendship and grace.

different thinking

Albert Einstein once said: “the kind of thinking that will solve the world’s problems will be of a different order to the kind of thinking that created those problems in the first place.” Given the economic crisis we face as a nation, I believe this certainly applies to government and business. But how does it apply to the church? To re-create a world under the Lordship of Christ, I believe we in the church need to do some revolutionary thinking, outside-the-box thinking, even subversive thinking if we’re to escape from our cultural captivity that perpetuates a status quo in which many people are turned off from God because the church seems irrelevant. People are desperately seeking belonging, love, and, ultimately, redemption. What kind of thinking do we need to learn in order that we might truly connect people with the transforming power of Christ? And what will that cost us?

pay attention

Prayer isn’t meant to plunge us deeper into ourselves. The early church considered prayer to be a conversation with God that brings us into greater closeness/intimacy with God and with others. Prayer is not what we do to get God’s attention. Prayer is what we do to bring ourselves to pay attention to God and to others. So…how are we doing at paying attention?

the right road

Thomas Merton, a contemplative and mystic, writes: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

two kinds of people

At the memorial service for June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash’s daughter Rosanne celebrated her life by saying her stepmother was a person who knew only two kinds of people: “those she knew and loved and those she didn’t know…and loved.” Love. It remains one of the greatest mysteries of life…and how desperately we all need to give it and receive it!

up on the roof

Here’s a property update. The new roof has been put on the building that our church recently purchased at 3574 Read Mountain Road. Today a number of Journey youth worked inside tearing up old carpet (a significant amount of interior work needs to be done.) A team of volunteers also began doing landscaping work. Water and sewer issues need to be addressed. There’s no set timetable, but the hope is that before too long some of our small groups can start meeting in the building.

rhythm

Worshiped at Rhythm last night. It’s for collegians and young adults in the Roanoke region (but they let old guys like me in!) Was great. What struck me was that there were more young men than women. Unusual. Awesome.

limits

Everyone needs limits. God created us as free moral agents. We choose our attitudes and actions—but there are consequences. Limits signal to us “don’t cross this line” or you’re going to pay a price. I like freedom (lot’s of it!) but I need limits because I know the wrong I can do. When something goes off course in my life, I know who the culprit usually is. I just need to look in the mirror. I’m not alone. Parade magazine reported how Thomas Martin, a manager of a restaurant, told the police that he’d been robbed of $307 as his store was closing. He provided the sketch artist with a detailed description of the suspect. When the artist put down his pad, he remarked how the drawing looked just like Martin—then Martin confessed he’d done it! “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

unlearning

People talk a lot about learning new things. I think that’s important. But I think many of us need to focus at least some of our attention on unlearning. We need to unlearn grudges and griping and gossiping. We need to unlearn discrimination and self-destructive tendencies. We need to unlearn judgmentalism and holier-than-thou attitudes. We need to unlearn selfishness and our comfortability with an immoral status quo. I could continue enumerating the things I need to unlearn, but I’m afraid the list would be too long . . .

pipe organs and condos

Sam Davidson wrote a column entitled “Why Churches with Pipe Organs Will Soon Be Condos.” He says that if churches lock themselves into only one way of doing things, they’ll be unable to be versatile enough in a rapidly changing world. Events and things happen that are completely unexpected and forever change the way we live. Since we can’t predict the future, can we at least be ready for it when it crashes into us? He says “Sell the church and toss the pipe organ in for free.” The future of organizations will be in their ability to change. We need to plan for surprises.

disciples

The book of Matthew ends with what’s called the Great Commission. Since it’s the last thing Jesus is recorded as saying in that gospel, I assume it’s pretty important. It includes these words: “Therefore go and make disciples.” The word translated “disciples” here is the Greek noun “mathetes.” It’s the gospels’ favorite word for a follower of Christ. It literally means “learner, student, apprentice.” When you’re a student in the School of Jesus, you never graduate, but you’re supposed to continue learning throughout a lifelong pilgrimage of faith.

regardless

It seems that Christians in affluent countries often pray, “Lord, take this trial away from me.” It seems that Christians in poorer countries often pray, “Lord, give me the strength to bear this trial.” Why the difference? I want to get to the point where I can honestly say, “Even though I do not understand, I will trust you God, regardless.”

the long and short of it

Read this today. It’s from Brian McLaren. “Jesus was short on sermons, long on conversations; short on answers, long on questions; short on abstractions and propositions, long on stories and parables; short on telling you what to think, long on challenging you to think for yourself; short on condemning the irreligious, long on confronting the religious.” Isn’t that like Jesus? Always trying to lead us to change our way of thinking and our way of living.

evangelism?

“Evangelism.” Some people hear the word and just shutter. They’ve seen people manipulated, even abused, under the auspices of this word. It’s no wonder so many people struggle with it. But the word in reality simply means “good news.” Evangelism isn’t about a doctrinal transaction but a spiritual interaction. Evangelism is supposed to be about inviting people to begin a relationship of love with Jesus—to enter on a journey of faith alongside him. If it’s understood this way, I think it’s something we should be all about. Really, what could be better?

checklist

Each day I have a to-do list of things I want to accomplish. I like being able to check things off my list. The problem for me is that I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that God is something to check off my list. Prayed. Check. Read my Bible. Check. Wrote in my journal. Check. It can become rote, routine. That’s not what God wants. God wants relationship. Spiritual disciplines should contribute to that, to open me up to God’s voice whispering to my inward spirit, but if they become just going through the motions, the relationship withers. There are times when I need to just throw away my list and be still with God.

the adventure is gone

D. H. Lawrence wrote: “The adventure has gone out of the Christian venture.” Isn’t that sad? It shouldn’t be that way. There should be nothing in life more energizing than following Jesus. It should be our all-out passion, the thing that gets us up in the morning and revs our engines. It should pump us up, call out our best creativity, demand continuing innovation, be daring, even revolutionary. If we in the church don’t embrace this, we need to get over ourselves.

not that easy

Thomas Merton suggested: If you find God with great ease, perhaps it’s not God that you have found. I don’t find God with great ease. It’s not that simple for me. I don’t know why that is. But I am left in wonder when I glimpse God active in the world—in the love of a mother kissing her newborn child, in a hungry person sharing his last bit of bread with someone hungrier still, in a father and child gasping as they silently sit and watch the sun set in radiant hues. God.

bible virgins

A new Christ-follower at Journey has started a Facebook group called “Bible Virgins: The First Time Bible Reader's Club.” She wrote: “Can you believe that I never knew there was more to the story after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? I was truly amazed by all that went on in Acts. The miracles and great stuff of Jesus didn't just happen when Jesus was walking the earth. WOW! That is HUGE! I will keep reading…” I LOVE being pastor of this church!

little ones

Talked with my daughter Allison last night. She teaches an inner city 2nd grade class and loves the children dearly. She sees it as her calling from God. She has a student who is such a brittle diabetic that his blood and urine needs testing multiple times daily. Sometimes she can spend a couple of hours each day performing the tests since the school does not have the money for a nurse (which results in her neglecting the learning needs of her other children.) Yesterday the boy came to school with his sugar level so high that he was disoriented and almost had a seizure. He had to be rushed to the hospital. When asked what he’d had for breakfast, his answer was “a piece of candy.” His mom, who struggles with drug abuse, is afraid the child will be taken away from her and she will no longer receive checks for his care. I think of the song I learned years ago: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.” Then I think of these words of Jesus: “Whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me. If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. Matthew 18:5-6

listen up

It’s the most important prayer. Devout Jews pray it twice daily. It’s called the Shema. It’s Deuteronomy 6:4. It says: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” The word “listen” in Hebrew is “shema.” It has the meaning of not only “hear” but also “accept.” The truth is we can’t follow God if we don’t listen to God. The Shema reminds us that the struggle of hearing precedes obedient actions. We must listen to God and genuinely accept his words deep in our souls if we desire to truly know him as the One who is God alone, not some fake. I’ve had enough of fakes…and of being a fake.

being the being

The word "believe" is an ancient compounding of the verb "be" and the noun "life." So, to "believe" is to "be live." To believe is to live our being. The question for us is--are we living the life/being the being God created us for?

no difference

I read today that surveys are finding essentially no difference in the way that Christ-followers and not-yet Christ-followers live and think. If followers of Jesus are basically indistinguishable from others in our culture, what do we have to say to a broken and searching world? I think it's sad, and I suspect it breaks God's heart.

what we're starving for

The Old Testament prophet Amos was a guy who didn’t hold back. He was a straight-shooter. He lived in a time of great injustice. The wealthy and powerful oppressed the poor and needy. Amos came to tell people that when justice is finally done, there will be hell to pay. Happy hour will be postponed indefinitely. According to Amos, it won’t be the shortage of food and fun that will be missed the most. It’ll be the shortage of “hearing the words of the Lord.” (Amos 8:11) Frederick Buechner puts it this way: “God will make himself so scarce that the world won’t even know what it’s starving for.”

chocolate fast

I'm going on a chocolate fast beginning today. For me, this is a big deal. And based on the response I've been getting to the idea on my Facebook page, it's quite an emotional issue for a lot of people! I want to do without chocolate for 55 days (my heart started beating faster just typing out those words!) February 25 is Ash Wednesday; it's a day when many people often start fasting. What can I say, I'm backwards!

wasting time

Donald Miller writes: "I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time." As the new year begins, I need to do a time audit to determine the ways I'm wasting time which prevent me from engaging God and serving others.