Five things about Haiti

My mind is reeling with the sheer enormity of all that has happened in Haiti this week. This is five things I am thinking right now.

#1 — I know my God is in the middle of this and will use this to bring people to Himself. I don’t understand why He works this way. I don’t know how this will look in a month or a year from now. But my faith in Him is not shaken. I don’t understand, but I don’t doubt God in the midst of this.

#2 — I am overwhelmed as I see the pictures and hear the stories. I can’t begin to imagine what my friends there in Haiti are feeling and thinking. Even as I write this they have someone in their home they are trying to help. There was no room at the hospital so the man ended up at Rich and Carol’s home.

#3 — I took time to sit with my boys tonight and hug them. To tell them I loved them and was grateful that they were safe and healthy. I don’t think they understood why I was being so wierd. Maybe one day when they are older they’ll remember tonight and understand better.

#4 — I’m alive, healthy and have way more than I need. I feel ashamed for allowing my life to be so consumed with meaningless things and activities in light of people who have lost everything — and have done so with grace and dignity.

# 5 — The doctor in the tv just said a nickel’s worth of penicillin can save a life. It’s astonishing how little it takes to make a difference, even to save a life at times.

 

Psalm 46: Personal paraphrase

I have been reading and thinking through Psalm 46 this morning. Sometimes it helps me to rewrite a passage in my own words. This is what I came away with for this Psalm.

“I can hide in God and He will be my strength. He is always there to help in times of trouble. Because I can hide in Him and He is my strength and is there to help me, I won’t be afraid, no matter what. Even if the ground falls away from beneath my feet!

God lives among a city, His city – the city of God. He is in this city and sustains it. It will never fall. At the crack of dawn He is there to sustain it. Meanwhile, nations are in turmoil with each other. Some fall, others rise. But God merely lifts His voice and all fall silent. They melt away before Him.

This same God is with us. This God, who goes back to Jacob, He is our fortress where we can be safe.

Take a minute and see the works, all the things God has done. He brings desolation to the Earth. He makes wars end. He destroys the weapons of war so they can’t be used again.

He calls us, tells us to take all this in. Be still. Know that I am God. Every nation will take note of me. All the Earth will know of Me and my work.

God Almighty, this ageless, timeless God is with us. He protects us!”

 

What keeps you out of the palace? Abiding: Day 1

“Who would, after seeking the King’s palace, be content to stand in the door, when he is invited in to dwell in the King’s presence, and share with Him in all the glory of His roayal life? Oh, let us enter in and abide, and enjoy to the full all the rich supply His wondrous love has prepared for us!” (pg 13)

Why do so many live outside the palace instead of living in it? Why have I done this so many times? I am sure the reasons are different for every person. For me, I think my pride keeps me from admiting my sin and failure. I hate coming to a holy God and telling him again that I have failed. It’s no suprise to Him. He knows of my failures. So it’s not that I hate disclosing my sin to God. I hate admiting it. I hate my own failure and having to address it. And thus, I choose to live outside the palace instead of go inside and have to face Him and admit my sin again.

How silly. How frail. Lord, help me to come to grips with my fear of failure.

What keeps you out of the palace?

 

Abide In Christ — Intro

I have begun to read Andrew Murray’s classic devotional, “Abide In Christ.” I first received it while in college back in the late ’70’s from Merle Fulmer, my pastor at the time. The book has always been dear to me and been a source of encouragement in my walk with the Lord.

As I am reading for the next month or so I plan on posting thoughts or quotes that grab my attention.

 

“I Finally Met People Who Walk The Walk”

How important is the way we live our life? Just read the comments of Sandra Bullock who plays a Christian in her most recent movie, “The Blind Side.” If she were to meet you and watch your life would she have concluded that she had just met the real deal?

“One of my biggest issues has always been people who use their faith and their religion as a banner but don’t do the right things, yet still go, ’I’m a good Christian and I go to church and this is the way you should live your life. ’ And I’m like, you know, do not give me a lecture about how to live my life when you go to church every week but I know you are still sneaking around on your wife. And I told Leigh Anne (Tuohy) in a live interview, one of my largest concerns getting involved with this project was that whole banner-waving thing because it scares me, and I’ve had experiences that haven’t been great with people like that. I don’t buy a lot of people who use that banner as their shield. But she was so open and honest and forthright with me I thought, wow, I’ve finally met someone who practices but doesn’t preach. … I now have faith in those who say they represent a faith. I finally met people who walk the walk.”

—Sandra Bullock, star of The Blind Side, describing her interaction with Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real-life evangelical Christian whom Bullock plays in the movie

[worldmag.com, 11/21/09]

 

WHO Is the Legalist?

Doing my research for this week’s “One Another” message. Came across some interesting comments by Warren Wiersbe that I had to stop what I was doing and post them!

“The legalist is not interested in bearing burdens. Instead he adds to the burdens of others.”
“The legalist is always harder on other people than he is on himself, but the Spirit-led Christian demands more of himself than he does of others that he migh be able to help others.”
“Instead of trying to restore the erring brother, the legalist wil condemn him and then use the brother to make himself look good.”
“The legalist rejoices when a brother falls, and often gives the matter wide publicity, because then he can boast about his own goodness and how much better his group is than the group to which the fallen brother belongs.”

What I felt was eye-opening was that so often the more conservative Christian is usually painted as the “legalist.” But Wiersbe’s comments show that those who are less conservative and would never consider themselves as a legalist actually fall into that camp more than they realize.

How often does the cussing, drinking, slouchy, smoking, long-haired, inked, pierced, hand-waving, coarse, metal band loving, Obama loving, ‘R’ rated movie watching, ‘I-have-my-freedom-in-Christ’ Christian publicly or privately take pleasure at the failures of the straight-laced, anti-TV, hymn singing, jacket & tie wearing, beehive hairdo, teetotalling, no movie watching, Obama hating, muzak listening, squeky clean, white sock wearing, never said a dirty word Christian?

Both camps or brands of Christians mentioned above are harder on the other brand of Christians than they are on themselves. Both camps seem more interested in gloating than restoration. Both take smug pleasure in the downfall of the other, thinking they “deserved it” and are quick to post about it!

The point is this — we are ALL more legalistic than we realize or would like to admit! Let’s move away from us/them attitudes and move toward the writing of Paul in Galatians 6:4 — “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others.”

 

Why I didn’t give my money

Recently I attended a political candidate forum. Before the candidates were given the platform the host of the organization talked about the goals and aspirations of the organization. Eventually he explained that those goals and aspirations would be a lot easier to attain if they had more money. Any donation would be appreciated or I could pay the prescribed amount and be considered a member for the next year.

I sat and listened to him and considered the goals and vision of the organization. I thought about each one of them and whether they aligned with my personal goals and values and concluded that I really didn’t know if I agreed with them well enough to contribute money. In my mind, I was thinking that giving money would be a vote of approval and a way of saying that I wanted to be a part of what this group was doing.

Then I had this thought. Is that why CCC is having financial problems? Are there people who regularly attend and participate that aren’t sure if they agree with our vision and values enough to contribute financially? Were my thoughts and feelings that night what others think and feel on Sunday mornings?

Two weeks later, I am still processing that experience. Thinking about it, pondering and considering what we do as a church and how we communicate all that to everyone else at CCC. And realizing — there are no easy answers. There are no quick fixes. This is going to take time.

May God give us the grace and wisdom to learn from our experiences and come to conclusions that put Him on center stage and minimize our efforts and pitiful strength.

 

My Jesus is too human

I have been reading from and about Psalms 23. Perhaps one of the classic works on this psalm is Philip Keller’s “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.” My mentor of over 30 years gave me a copy of this book back in the 80’s — I started to read it today. (embarassing!) But I don’t think this book could ever be more important to my walk with Lord than it is right now. I have been struggling with some questions as of late that I have never deeply dealt with before.

God has been faithful to meet me in His Word or through others saints who have tread similar paths and lived to write about it. I haven’t gotten the answers I need yet, but I feel God is leading me toward them.

Part of that journey included coming across this excerpt of Keller’s book,

When He was God incarnate amongst men, He declared emphatically, “I am the good Shepherd.”

But who was this Christ?

Our view of Him is often too small — too cramped — too provincial — too human. And becasue it is we feel unwilling to allow Him to have authority or control — much less ourtight ownership of our lives.”

Is your view of Christ too small, too cramped, too provincial, too human? Talk to me. Walk with me.

 

Great Christian Paradox

I am a fan of J. Hampton Keithley III. Don’t know him personally, but I read his work regularly. And use it. And grow from it!

In preparing to teach from Galatians 5 on ’serving one another’ I found this juicy excerpt of his.

Here lies a great Christian paradox. It is interesting that Paul, having warned these Christians against becoming slaves again to the Law and the flesh, now urges them to become servants, slaves to one another (5:13) which includes, of course, being bond slaves to God (1 Cor. 6:19; Rom. 12:1). This paradox is tremendously instructive:

Slavery to one another and to God is nothing at all like slavery to the flesh or to the Law.

Slavery to flesh and the Law result in death, misery, and frustration. It causes us to be consumed, torn apart by one another.

On the other hand, slavery to God and one another results in true freedom and maximum blessing.

Slavery to sin is involuntary and never neutral. It is degenerative and destructive both to self and to others.

Slavery to the Law is voluntary, it is man choosing to save himself. As such it is foolish, burdensome, but also completely helpless to change our lives from the inside where it really counts.

Slavery to God and to one another is voluntary. But it is a product of love and the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, it becomes a source of glory to God, and joy, peace, and blessing to self and to others.

 

Halloween and Harvest

Halloween is another one of those topics that are debated in our churches. There are elements about it that are unsavory and glorify all that is bad in our world — dressing up like hookers or or other immoral characters that our culture turns a blind eye towards or in some cases even celebrates. But there are many elements of this October day that are totally innocent and fun loving. A time to dress up like one of the Seven Dwarfs (that’s me this year. guess which one) or a nurse or a Dallas Cowboy. (when children dress up like a Philadelphia Iggle I consider that emulating all that is wrong in the world!!)

Others feel that Halloween, even in the way that the average suburban family participates the holiday, celebrates the occult or all that is evil. Those that hold this opinion most often feel the roots of Halloween can not be separated from it’s current day celebration. Regardless of how innocent one may feel October 31st is, the evil still lurks in the background for many people.

As you porbably already know, I fall into the camp that Halloween can be innocent and even be used for the Kingdom. One Focus on the Family author stated it like this:

“For the average secular person in our society, Halloween is simply an excuse to dress up and party. For the Christian, however, I believe Halloween offers a unique opportunity to provide answers for a spiritually hungry generation. Granted, some Christians are not comfortable even acknowledging Halloween’s square on the calendar or participating in an alternative. I respect their opinion, but as an evangelist I think they’re missing a great opportunity to share Jesus with others. Romans 12:21 reminds us to “overcome evil with good.” And I’ve noticed that light shines brightest in darkness.”

(To read this article in it’s entirety, click here.)

There is no other day of the year when people will come and knock on my door and give me the chance to build a relationship with them. Likewise, there is no other day of the year that people welcome my kids to come up and knock on their door and yell at them when they come to the door. It’s unique. There’s nothing else like it. If relationships are the avenue for the Gospel, then October 31st is a fantastic chance to enhance relationships in my neighborhood. Why would I miss that opportunity.

Now what to do when dear friends and fellow brothers in Jesus differ with me on this topic? In keeping with our teaching series on the “One Anothers” — I don’t think less of them. I want to honor their convictions and encourage them to live out those convictions fully. That is why CCC hosts a Harvest Party. It gives those with different convictions a way to fulfill them if they so desire.

So this weekend, whether you dress up or don’t dress up. Whether you observe Halloween or Harvest. Do it as unto the Lord!

For a great read on a Christian perspective on Halloween, click here.