Sunday, January 29, 2012

not billy idol

The current topic at our church is idolatry.   One thing about our church is that our leadership does not strive to put frosting on everything.  The pastors teach right from The Word, and it's tough stuff sometimes.

Like when Matt said his greatest desire is for 3,000 of us to leave.  Leave to start 3,000 church plants.  Just like Jesus commands us to do.  Go. 

And the cool thing is that our church continues to grow.  Looking with world eyes you would think our church would shrink to nothing.  The coffee is not good, there are no pastries, and the message is hard to swallow many times.  But we are truth seekers aren't we?

When we choose Him, God puts His desires into our hearts so our heart desires are for the things of God.  Our only satisfaction will come from chasing hard after Him.  Hard!

So back to idols.  What's yours?

What do you pursue with more time and energy than you chase God?  God's first command in Exodus was for us to have no gods before Him, no idols. 

Do you seek comfort?  power? control?  good looks?  marriage? sex?

Most of us, even most of us Christians, have things we desire and seek after with more consuming passion than we seek our Creator. 

One of my idols is control.  Disorder frustrates and angers me at times.  Fear dominates my mind often.  Fear of poor health for my kids, fear of not living until my kids are grown.  I'm getting better at letting go.  Just having 5 kids does that to a point.  Selling and giving most of our stuff away to move overseas takes letting go.  But I still have fear.  Fear of flying, fear of pain

I need to trust in God and His sovereignty.  I know that all works together according to His perfect plan.  Even the pain, the loss, the tears.

Another thing that I seek is approval.  I want and need to believe in my heart that my King, the King of Kings approves of me, and that is enough. 

Uncover your gods, stop worshiping them, and ask Jesus to draw you to Himself.  That's where peace and joy are found, and those are desires of your heart.

Then go outside and be silly.  God likes silly, He invented it.






Monday, January 23, 2012

so let me get this straight

I really love the book of Isaiah, I think I would even say it's my favorite book of the Bible.

Last night I was reading from my Message version of the Word, reading the intro to the prophets, and to Isaiah. 

One point really stuck with me (I was tired so only one point stuck, but it's a good one).  If we insist on understanding before we obey, we'll never do it

If we are to come to Jesus like little children, not like world weary grownups, then we come to Him willing to be obedient.  Don't we expect our kids to do what we tell them?  As our kids get older they come to understand the why behind our requirements of them, but most parents don't seek to ensure that their kids understand the why before they expect them to obey

When we try to understand the why of a thing we apply the world view to gain understanding, at least that is what I usually do.  The mystery of God's plan is beyond my comprehension - if I sought understanding I would not do anything but study all day; I would never get to the doing.  And it's in the doing that we find Him



Random snow pics from years ago at our WA home.  Here in Central TX it has been in the 70s, back in WA it's been snowing.   Next stop the tropics!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

mission, not just a brand or a movie

Every believer is called to be missional

But what does that mean?  Is it just another buzz word, whatever that means...we can get so caught up in words that the definition and the arguments that ensue consume us

We can get so caught up in studying Christianity, in spending thousands of dollars, buying and reading hundreds of books, that we aren't even living the Christlike life.   But the answers are in the Word.   The commands are clear and apply to every believer.  We don't want to believe many of the commands, so we "study" and complicate things

Jesus taught blue collar workers, he lectured to crowds of hungry poor people, he met people where they lived, he touched lepers.  His crowds were not Ivy League upper crust dignitaries.  His words are not vague or confusing.

I like Pastor Rod's definition of missional on his blog, Kingdom Come. 

  • Missional Christianity is not tied to any age group or any particular style of doing church.
  • Missional Christianity is incarnational rather than attractional.
  • Missional Christianity sees evangelism as a part of the mission, not the entirety of the mission.
  • Missional Christianity sees making disciples as much more than getting people signed up for heaven.
  • Missional Christianity does not rely on strategic planning.
  • Missional Christianity does not rely on marketing.
  • Missional Christianity opposes a consumer mentality.
  • Missional Christianity believes in the sacredness of all of life (no sacred and secular parts).
  • Missional Christianity is culturally aware.
  • Missional Christianity seeks to serve rather than to be served.
  • Missional Christianity focuses on building the kingdom rather than on building a congregation or a denomination.
  • Missional Christianity does not seek power, wealth or popularity.
  • Missional Christianity takes discipleship seriously as essential for all followers of Christ rather than something optional for more advanced followers.
  • Missional Christianity believes that a congregation's job is to participate in God's mission in the world rather than to formulate their own mission and ask God to bless it.
  • Missional Christianity believes that God tends to work at the margins of society.
  • Missional Christianity believes that ministry should be concentrated at the margins of society.
  • Missional Christianity believes that God works most often through weakness, rather than through human power.
  • Missional Christianity believes that the gospel is good news to be proclaimed, rather than an "offer" to be marketed.
  • Missional Christianity believes that true holiness is the most powerful form of evangelism.
  • Missional Christianity realizes that there is no culture-free expression of the gospel.
  • Missional Christianity believes that the gospel is for all peoples, in every culture, at all times.
  • Missional Christianity believes that "epistemological humility" does not weaken the truth claims of Christianity.
Okay, that last one mystifies me, but I'm simple so I'm alright with that.  Maybe you get it and find it helpful.

That first point, "not tied to any age group"; so you mean my kids should be missional?  Yep.  What about the retired folks? Yep.  Check out this lady:

Sharing Love from South Asia on Vimeo.


God always blesses me in the library.  Yesterday He sent me home with a book titled "Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne.  This book is messing me up.  and i'm already pretty messed up for Jesus.

Shane quotes a friend as saying "I am surrounded by unbelieving activists and inactive believers".  Get that, read it again, it's good.  Believers should be activists!

Go Act Do

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Haiti

Please remember Haiti today of all days.  It has been two years since the earthquake that shook us all to action and prayer and drew tears down the faces of the tough and jaded.  2 years.  And so little has been done.

Pray for the promised aid to be given.
Pray for effective use of that aid.
Pray for an end to government corruption.
Pray for healing
Pray for the Livesay family and the completion of Heartline Hospital.

Visit the Livesay family's blog, link to the right, and read their account of living in Haiti before, during, and after the quake. 

Human Trafficking

Yesterday was Human Trafficking Awareness Day. 

More people are becoming aware of the fact that today there are more enslaved men, women and children than ever in history.  27,000,000

Al Jazeera, see the link to the right under "where I go for news", has an enlightening series on the slaves of today.  You can search for the program "Slavery: a 21st Century Evil".  They cover bonded slaves, sex slaves, child slaves, prison slaves.  It's ugly.  We don't really like to know about stuff that is SO ugly.  Makes me feel ashamed that I've been in the dark so long. 

How can it be that non-Christian news sources and Hollywood are more involved in raising awareness and ending slavery than Christians are? 

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls Official Trailer from Exodus Cry on Vimeo.


Exodus Cry, link to the right, has produced the above documentary in full length.  They are involved in awareness, and rescuing slaves.  You can support their work prayerfully and financially.   Adopt a country to pray for the end of slavery in that country.  It's the least you can do. 

Slavery is a big problem in the Philippines.  The mafia is involved, it's big business and as we work to stop this money maker there are risks we must be willing to take.  Jesus never said it would be easy.  He promised persecution for those to take up their cross and follow Him. 

Pray today for an end to slavery in this generation.  Educate your kids.   Check out Exodus Cry, or Red Light Children.

You are the answer to someones prayer.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

regrettable maintenance

Yesterday, while listening to the David Crowder Band sing that song, another line got stuck in  my head, this one about maintaining regrets

"I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about how You love me". 

That's silly, I thought, why would anyone maintain their regrets.  Sounds miserable.  Maintain them= feed them, ponder upon them, water them, keep them safe

Then last night I lay in bed thinking about past life choices that made the road to here harder, longer, more painful than it probably needed to be.  I thought about a group of friends and how we've grown in different directions and how sad that is.  I started to feel icky

God showed me what I was doing "hey you, you are maintaining your regrets!"  Stop that.  Now instead of thinking on those things think about My Love for you

Because when we make our focus His love for us, we don't have time to maintain (feed and water) our regrets, we can let them go. 

Hebrews 13:15 has some great advice ...let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegience to His name."  There it is again.  Give thanks, praise, focus on what He does for you in Love, and you will not have time to get caught up in regret.  

And it's a sacrifice of thanks.  Not just something to be done when it is convenient, but something to be done by giving up another thing.  Sacrifice your time spent regretting things and spend it on giving thanks - I love that!  I think joy can be found in that. 

My kids are so good at letting go, living in the moment, finding joy.







Don't feed regret today; instead give up a sacrifice of thanks.

Monday, January 9, 2012

central TX winter

Another hike, a few more pictures:











Then a bit of boldering:






There are so many great parks in our area, and we are frequently the only people there.  Seems it's either too hot or too cold for most folks to go to the park. 

afflictions eclipsed by glory


Words that wrap around inside my head.  I try hard to grasp at the meaning, tuck them away, but then there they are again:
"afflictions eclipsed by glory"
Words from the David Crowder Band song "How He Loves us". 

What does it mean?  Afflictions - all the junk, the pain, the pettiness, all that hurts and needs redemptionEclipsed - overtaken, not erased, but shadowed over, overshadowedGlory.  That one's tough.  What is Glory?  Light, God's brightness that shines out as the result of His perfection

So our pain, overshadowed by His Glory, because He loves us.  God doesn't always take away that which we ask Him to take, but He will eclipse our pain with His glory.  It all has a purpose.  Even the pain, maybe especially the pain

A pastor at church lost a son.  Just 7 months growing in the womb and their longed for son born and died.   They meet a couple in the doctor's office, stayed in touch, grew close, mentored a brother, said brother is called to go to the Nations, the middle east of all places!  He obeyed the call and moved to a country in the middle east to tell people about Jesus, who loves them.  A God who promises to eclipse their afflictions with His Glory.  

If their son had not headed to Heaven at that time, they would not have met that couple, would not have mentored that young man, and he would not now be living in a Muslim country sharing the Gospel.  God used the affliction and brought a glory that they could not even imagine

It all comes to good. 

We talk about Heaven alot in our home.  The boys have lots of questions, imaginings, anticipation.  Yes, they anticipate going to Heaven.  Yosef can't wait to pet a lion and watch him eat grass (did you know the Bible says the lion will eat grass like the cow?), Ethan hopes that you can travel instantly from place to place (beam me over, Scotty), Tom looks forward to ears that actually work!  Seth wants to learn all of the card tricks in the world.  Bis wants to meet his first Dad. 

What do you want to do in Heaven?

Thursday, January 5, 2012

it's not about the leaving

a note in my inbox the other morning - from another goer.  a mom, a wife, a friend, woman, teacher - lonely.  she asks small if i might have time to converse, she just feels the loneliness of it, being a goer.  of course i have time, i write back immediately, i hear the tune of lonely.  seems odd that in chasing such big things we can feel so small. 

But it is not about the leaving.  So what is it then?  It's the living like I actually have the Spirit of God in me.   If I claim the Spirit is in me, yet I look just like everyone else, is it really true?  Francis Chan lays it right out there.  If the Spirit lives in me, I should look different.

So what am I failing at?  Is it that joy does not ooze from my pores; I don't typically leave a trail of joy in my wake? That darn joy thing!  or is it that I don't want to step on toes, dare to offend, thus i don't even offer up the offensive.   Why can't others look at me and see the difference?  and in the seeing just know, of course, we are going - we are that weird family after all. 

If Heaven is believed in, if we grasp the reality of forever in Heaven, then shouldn't everyone be excited at the prospect of getting the job done so Christ can come back?  If every tongue and tribe and nation will be represented at our Worship in front of GOD, then there is certainly work to be done.   Joshua Project lists 6,950 unreached people groups

Admittedly, I have only recently come to understand the gravity of getting to all those people groups.  I used to hear about missionaries and think "oh, that's cool - good for them".  Now I think "Wow - that is awesome!  I want in on that action!"   Like that song says that is playing now "when the saints go walking in, I want to be one of them." 

How can there be anger at our going?  It's not a danger thing; it's more dangerous to ride in a car than to be a missionary.  So what is it?

I want Jesus to come back.  I am sick and tired of cancer, death, anger, sickness, rape, injustice.  I WANT HIM back!  and the sooner the better.  So let us get the work done that He put before us.  Take His news to all nations. 

Someone with good intentions said to me that our going is like if my youngest no longer wanted to live with us.  But that's a leaving thing, and has nothing to do with being Jesus' hands and feet; our youngest is 9 after all. 

Lonely.  I guess that's what I've felt this past week or so.  Because it is big and exciting this setting out, but many people that I would want to talk it through with, don't want to hear it.  Like my goer friend said "it's hard to talk to anyone about anything without talking about the Philippines." 

So in keeping with my earlier post on resolution, I will seek out the process of making distinguishable the Spirit of God in me

And I will take comfort in my friends who do stand by, and my men - those 6 who want to be different.  That we aren't shy about being called those Jesus Freaks.  And I trust in Heaven eternalTime aplenty to spend with everyone doing everything to give glory to God.   Maybe I'll learn to play the guitar in Heaven!

resolution

  • A strong will, determination; The state of being resolute; A statement of intent, a vow; The act of discerning detail; The degree of fineness with which an image can be recorded or produced, often expressed as the number of pixels per unit of length (typically an inch); The number of pixels in ...the process of making distinguishable
New Year's Eve we all talked about what change we'd like most to see in ourselves at the end of 2012.  These desires ranged from wanting to be able to hold one's breathe longer, to wanting to emanate joy.  Mine was the joy, not the breathe holding. 

In looking at the definition of resolution I can see a process.  Make a vow, discern the details of change that it will take to succeed, work out the details in their smallest parts, make the change habit so that it is able to be seen by others

So in choosing joy I vow to be more joyful in my day to day living.  Just 3 letters, seems simple enough.  Yet upon examining the details I know that joy can only be had if I let go of selfishness, let go of preconceived ideas on how my day should flow, allow my family to function safely and experiment with learning and living in ways that let them find joy, let go of anger, slow down.  Ahh that's a key for me.  SLOW DOWN grasshoppa'! 

I move through the day like a bulldozer with a mission to rebuild 5 lives in 24 hours.  I need to be more like a red mini cooper convertible, sweet, cute, nice to look at, taking more trips to get my family from place to place, because of course we don't all fit in a mini cooper. 

My goal is joy.  To get there I will slow down.  Count the joy, just like Ann, just like I did in 2011, and maybe in 2012 I'll get closer to living in JOY.  I want it to be my default setting. 


On my own joy would be too hard to manage day to day; it's not my habit and never has been.  But if I can get out of the way and let God work through me, then I can find it.  I have faith.