got it tough?

I’ve been reading of how the more the balance of power in the Middle East shifts from secular to Islamic governments, the more Christians are in jeopardy. Sudan is notorious for its treatment of Christians. Convert to Islam, get out of the country, or be sold into slavery (Christians can be bought for slave labor at $15 a head) and sometimes killed. Children are routinely starved to death if their Christian mothers don’t convert to Islam. The missiologist David Barrett states that “one in every 200 Christians can expect to be martyred in his or her lifetime.” 1 in every 200! How often do we whine and moan because we have it tough. What do we know!

the future

I’ve been thinking about the future. The future is a decision. Not to decide is to decide. The future is ours by design or default. The future is a function of our choices and creations. We can be proactive or passive—and I’m tired to of being so passive. I want to take the world for Christ! That’s the future I dream of.

go deeper

Bill Leslie tells of a time when he felt like an old hand-operated water pump. Everyone who came to him for help would pump vigorously a few times, and each time he felt something drain out of him. Ultimately he reached a place of spiritual emptiness. He went on a weeklong spiritual retreat and bared his soul to a spiritual director. He expected her to offer soothing words about what a sacrificial, unselfish person he was. Instead she said: “There’s only one thing to do if your reservoir runs dry. You’ve got to go deeper.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 says: “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

not quite right

In my spirit I’ve sensed a need for repentance. It seems recently like my goal has just been to make it through the day. I’ve gotten stuck in the routine. I know on some level that I’m missing out on what God’s calling is for me. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something that’s not quite right in my spirit. The only thing that seems clear is that I need more and more to die to self before I can live more fully and faithfully for God.

we get to

How do we know if God is at work through our lives? Samuel Shoemaker describes it this way: “Something comes into our own energies and capacities and expands them. We are laid hold of by Something greater than ourselves. We can face things, create things, accomplish things, that in our own strength would have been impossible . . . The Holy Spirit seems to mix and mingle His power with our own, so that what happens is both a heightening of our own p0wers, and a gift to us from outside.” When God is active through us, we have our part to do. We get to cooperate with God in changing the world. We become conduits for the energies of His love for the purpose of transforming lives. As the Church, we are Christ’s body in the world. What a wonderful and awesome responsibility and privilege.

marriage by the numbers

According to a survey in yesterday’s USA Today, marriage is quite a quandary for young adults ages 18-30. 82% of them expect to be married for life. One problem is that only 70% believe they have the skills to make that happen. 56% believe that it’s important to live with their partner before marriage, but that’s another problem because people who live together before marriage are significantly more likely to end up getting a divorce. 28% are setting themselves up for major disappointment with the belief that there’s only one perfect marriage partner for each of us. 14% are simply opposed to the idea of ever getting married (they tend to have the lowest education while those who get married tend to be the most educated.) Study after study has shown that people who marry tend to be healthier, wealthier and happier. Now with all of this, my question is what steps should we take at Journey to help people have loving, God-honoring marriages?

nothing but God

A. W. Tozer wrote: “What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must at the last day. For each of us the time is coming when we shall have nothing but God. Health and wealth and friends and hiding places will be swept away and we shall have only God. To the man of pseudo faith that is a terrifying thought, but to real faith it is one of the most comforting thoughts the heart can entertain.” I want that kind of faith. I want to trust God that much. How about you?

silence

On a 48 hour silent retreat. At former monastery. Room has single bed, small wooden table, chair, window, bare walls. No TV. No wireless internet. Quiet. Read Scripture. Listen for God to speak. Silence. Pray. Listen for God to speak. Silence. Walk to lunch, pass another retreatant, smile and nod. Not a word. Eat alone. Vegetarian. Sounds loud when chew, broccoli and walnuts crunch. Soup is hot. Hear ambulance siren. Stop and pray God’s protection. Go and sit in huge Gothic chapel. Alone, but not lonely. Shaft of light pierces room from window above. Illumination. Yearn for it. Silence. Open self. Desire God to speak. “God is a way maker.” What? “God is a way maker.” Return to room. Sit in silence. Do nothing. Not easy. Read 2 Kings 5. Ponder. Ask God to speak. “Even when need help, still self-centered. Still want things own way. Still demanding. The problem is pride.” Silence.

all in the family

My uncle Raymond is 80 years old and has Lou Gehrig’s disease. He’s losing control of the ability to move the muscles in his body. He can no longer speak and eventually will become totally paralyzed. We decided to move our annual DuVal family reunion from the first Sunday in August to yesterday so that he might participate. I guess we’re like most families. Some didn’t come because they thought they were too busy. Some didn’t come because they thought they were failures and didn’t want to face others. Some didn’t come because they didn’t see the value of it. Some didn’t come because of conflicts with others. (Sounds a little like the church, doesn’t it?) The DuVal family is a motley crew, and it’s hard to tell what might be said or done. My aunt Pearl is 86 years old. When given her name tag, she took it, stuck it on her butt and said: “I want everyone to see how petite I am!” (which she definitely is not!) The members of our family who did come shared stories, recounted happy memories, told of struggles they’re going through. With all of our imperfections, we love one another (well, most of us do.) We come together because we want to stay connected. I think we all yearn for that. My uncle Raymond may not be around for the next reunion, but it was wonderful to see him smiling and trying to laugh (especially when Aunt Pearl was telling him dirty jokes!) What can I say? It’s family.

continuous surrender

I wonder. How often do we fail to hear God’s voice because we don't expect to hear it? How different would it be if we truly wanted to know God with all of who were are? Frank Laubach tells of how he came to this place in his life: “As for me, I never lived, I was half dead, I was a rotting tree, until I reached the place where I wholly, with utter honesty, resolved and then re-resolved that I would find God’s will, and I would do that will though every fiber in me said no, and I would win the battle in my thoughts. It was as though some deep artesian well had been struck in my soul . . . You and I shall soon blow away from our bodies. Money, praise, poverty, opposition, these make no difference, for they will all alike be forgotten in a thousand years, but this spirit which comes to a mind set upon continuous surrender, this spirit is timeless.” Continuous surrender—I want that, but I fall so far short.

“churched” and “unchurched”

Based on an Ellison Research study, if American adults are placed on a continuum based on their normal behavior, attendance at religious services actually looks like this: Attend more than once a week: 11% Attend once a week: 22% Attend two to three times a month: 14% Attend once a month: 5% Attend occasionally, but not on a regular basis: 9% Attend only on religious holidays: 10% Do not attend at all: 29% The study also evaluated worship attendance based on a family history of attendance. If an adult attended worship services regularly at some point before the age of 18, there is a 55% chance that person is currently attending once a month or more. If the person never attended prior to age 18, there is only a 21% chance that individual is currently attending worship services on a regular basis. When someone grows up with both a mother and a father attending religious services at least occasionally, there’s a 62% chance that individual is now regularly attending services as an adult. When someone grows up with only one parent attending services at least occasionally, there is a 50% chance he or she is now attending worship regularly. But when an individual grows up with neither parent regularly attending religious worship services, there is only a 33% chance that person is now regularly attending religious services.

i can’t see how

There’s a story about a man who was standing over his baby’s crib, intently staring. His wife entered the room and watched in silence. She saw in her husband’s face a wide range of emotions: wonder, doubt, admiration. Deeply touched she put her arm around him and, with eyes glistening and voice trembling, said: “A penny for your thoughts.” Unhesitatingly, he blurted out: “For the life of me, I can’t see how anybody can make a crib like that for $89.95.” . . . My, how materialism can cloud our view.

distinctively Christ-like

Followers of Jesus should live differently. From the book of First Peter, here are several distinctive qualities that should be evident in the life-styles of Christians: Love and care for all people, even those who don’t believe (2:12) Confront evil with good, even if it means suffering (2:19-20) Exercise gentleness and respect and keep a clear conscience (3:15-16) Practice servanthood (4:10) Refuse to be anxious, trusting in God’s care (5:7)

God as athletic director

James Evans remembers an English professor in college who, after listening to two students argue over which team God loves better—Alabama or Notre Dame—finally said in exasperation, “God does not watch football games.” I’m not sure he’s right about that. The New Testament says God watches the birds, takes note when a sparrow falls, numbers the hairs on our head (that hits a little close to home!,) pays attention when little ones are at risk, seeks to protect rebellious children like a hen gathering her chicks, waits patiently for prodigal children, searches for us like a poor woman who cannot afford to lose a single coin, travels difficult paths to pull us out of the ditch. So why wouldn’t God watch football? The sticking point is that God may watch, but God does not take sides. God doesn’t care who wins or loses. Like all things in life, God is mostly concerned about the way we play the game.

ambidextrous?

Is my faith “ambidextrous?” That’s what one man’s faith was called because he welcomed pleasures with his right hand and afflictions with his left, convinced that both would serve God’s design for him. I confess I’m not totally there yet. In my head I believe that everything may ultimately serve to accomplish God’s purposes. Now I want to reach the point in my heart where I can accept that God can use every experience in life to grow me in faith. I look forward to the time when I might take “everything without exception” and learn from it so that a more Godly character might be formed in me.

space and time

Last night I looked into the clear, cold winter sky. I thought about the fact that the farther we look into space, the farther we’re looking into the past. When we look at Cassiopeia, we’re seeing something that was present an estimated 500 million years ago, before God even created the earth. That star constellation may not even exist today. Psalm 90:4 says of God: “a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past.” When I look up at the wonder of the universe God has made, I’m reminded not to worry so much about time (because I tend to do that.) I’m reminded that space and time are relative and what’s important is my relationship with the One who is Lord of them both.

soar or wallow

Carl Sandburg wrote: “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.” I can relate. Most of the time I really do want to soar. I want to push the envelope. I want to be a part of great things. But I confess there are times I get tired, and I fight wallowing in a pity party. The truth is that I am so wonderfully blessed. It’s just harder to see that when I’m stuck in the mud rather than soaring through the air.

mystery

I used to want to know everything I could. I now realize that this attempt arose from my insecurity as a person. I somehow had gotten the idea that if I knew something I would have control over it. I‘ve come to recognize how foolish that is. I’m more and more comfortable with mystery. Here are a few mysteries Leonard Sweet suggests we ponder. “The mystery of why, as biology and others sciences learn more and more about life, we seem to know less and less what life really is. The mystery of how all people alive today can be traced to a single, common ancestor. The mystery of how every person who will ever live is present now among us. The mystery of how no one gets hurt when one hundred tons of extraterrestrial material enters our atmosphere every day. The mystery of how part of your body, actual electrons, may be outside of your body right now.” Hmm.