In spite of all the talk in many Christian circles these days of everything being “pre-determined”, there is plenty of Biblical evidence that somehow, someway, it’s possible to miss a moment of God’s coming to us. I am often haunted by the scene, sketched so beautifully by Luke, in which Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem, riding on a colt, and in spite if the shouts of “hosanna!,” Jesus weeps over Jerusalem’s failure to pay attention. “…you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41-44, TNIV)
It’s not that we don’t pay attention at all. We are the most attentive culture ever. We are always paying attention to something, and surely there are plenty of things grabbing and jostling for our attention. The problem is that we don’t pay attention to the “right” things. We are immersed in information, yet, we constantly miss the things that make for life. This truth was again apparent to me just recently as I reflected on planting a new church in a suburban area. As I’ve met people and observed their lives (I, too, am a suburbanite), I’ve noticed at how attentive suburbanites are. Cell phones, laptops, CNN, ESPN, satellite radio… the list goes on and on with hundreds of tools at our disposal so that we can stay tuned into what’s the latest and most pressing. Yet, I’ve asked myself over and over again, “As a pastor in this place, how can I get secular-minded, striving-for-success-safety-and-security-minded suburbanites to pay attention to their souls?” How can I get them to “unplug” from their information resources long enough to get plugged into real life and real purpose and not miss God presence and impending blessings?
Like me, you’ve probably missed some special God-moments before. Maybe you, too, “fell asleep” in the details of busyness. God is coming again. This time, pay attention!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Christians DON'T Have All the Answers!
You Don’t Have To Run Away From the Tough Questions About Life and Faith!
Here’s a beginning, at least, of how we can respond to the tough questions that arise when the pieces of our lives don’t fit together in the way the Bible seems to say they should. I wrote this in response to a mother’s request for help when her son asked her a very tough question about the Bible that she thought demanded an immediate answer.
First, we don't know the whole story and we don't know everything. If we knew everything we would be God!
Secondly, we walk by faith not by science. That is to say, faith is not an exact science. So you can’t “put it together” the way you would logically solve a science or math problem. God is too "great" and "big" to be "solved". That's one reason why He is worthy of worship.
Thirdly, we should keep asking questions because that's at least one pathway to deeper faith and discipleship. There are questions that can't be answered by our little "Sunday- school-packaged" answers. When we allow ourselves to think outside the boxes, we get revelations that can deepen our faith and understanding. Now, these answers won't contradict the Bible, but they will help us to see things in the Bible that we have overlooked or ignored before because they didn't fit into our neat little doctrinal and theological boxes.
Finally, the primary way to deeper faith and understanding is not through knowledge and information. To really plunge deep into God's worldview, we have to be in relationship with the Lord. Abraham learned more about God as he walked with God, and the same could be said of every saint in the Bible. When we are "in" Him and He is "in" us, as Jesus said, we will be connected to His being in such a way that we will be better able to see the world as He sees it!
Finally, we must remember that we are walking by faith and not by sight. So, we follow the Lord, love Him, and obey Him, ultimately, because we trust Him and not because we have all the information.
So, tell ___________ to keep on reading, keep on asking, keep on reflecting, and most of all - keep on "being" in Christ!
Pay Attention! A New World is approaching.
Here’s a beginning, at least, of how we can respond to the tough questions that arise when the pieces of our lives don’t fit together in the way the Bible seems to say they should. I wrote this in response to a mother’s request for help when her son asked her a very tough question about the Bible that she thought demanded an immediate answer.
First, we don't know the whole story and we don't know everything. If we knew everything we would be God!
Secondly, we walk by faith not by science. That is to say, faith is not an exact science. So you can’t “put it together” the way you would logically solve a science or math problem. God is too "great" and "big" to be "solved". That's one reason why He is worthy of worship.
Thirdly, we should keep asking questions because that's at least one pathway to deeper faith and discipleship. There are questions that can't be answered by our little "Sunday- school-packaged" answers. When we allow ourselves to think outside the boxes, we get revelations that can deepen our faith and understanding. Now, these answers won't contradict the Bible, but they will help us to see things in the Bible that we have overlooked or ignored before because they didn't fit into our neat little doctrinal and theological boxes.
Finally, the primary way to deeper faith and understanding is not through knowledge and information. To really plunge deep into God's worldview, we have to be in relationship with the Lord. Abraham learned more about God as he walked with God, and the same could be said of every saint in the Bible. When we are "in" Him and He is "in" us, as Jesus said, we will be connected to His being in such a way that we will be better able to see the world as He sees it!
Finally, we must remember that we are walking by faith and not by sight. So, we follow the Lord, love Him, and obey Him, ultimately, because we trust Him and not because we have all the information.
So, tell ___________ to keep on reading, keep on asking, keep on reflecting, and most of all - keep on "being" in Christ!
Pay Attention! A New World is approaching.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Nothing to Give?
The Blessing of NOT Being Able to Give Something
This morning, as I was going through my morning prayer, I was thinking of the many people whom I love… how much I desire that they be whole and well in every way, I thought of the some of the people whose lives would be better if they had more money or better health. I prayed and asked the Lord to bless me so that I can go to my loved ones with those kinds of needs and just say, “what do you need. I’ll take care of it.” In fact, I felt a little proud of myself. I thought to myself, “dude, what a noble and righteous desire. You’re on it Rob!”
But as I continued to think and pray, the Lord helped me to realize something about myself. Whenever I’ve been able to just give people something to solve their problem, I didn’t invest nearly as much of my heart, spirit, and emotions into their suffering. I was able to kind of say, “take this and move on.” On the other hand, when I don’t have the money to give, or when my prayer doesn’t immediately bring healing, then the situation actually costs me much more in terms of emotions, time, heart, energy, and my spirit. When I don’t have the money to solve a person’s problem, or when I can’t “pull” a miracle with a simple, quick prayer, my love for the person demands that I do something else, which usually means spending time with the person… being a friend… listening… relating… sympathizing… connecting… sharing the pain… bearing a share of the burden. Helping on this level is a prolonged effort, and so much of the time, I don’t want to be “bothered” that much.
Maybe that’s why God doesn’t always “set us up” in a way that helping people comes easy and quickly. Now, let me be very clear about the fact that having financial resources - or the spiritual resources to command healing - costs, too, but those strengths don’t force us, nearly as much, to build relationships and give of our time in listening and caring. When we don’t have “something” to give, or when we can’t “give” a healing, we give all we have – ourselves. When we can’t easily solve another’s problem by giving something, it’s harder to dismiss the person as a problem to be solved.
So, I’ve adjusted my prayer, a bit. Now, I still desire for the Lord to bless me to solve my loved ones problems. I want their suffering and discomfort to end, immediately. But if it doesn’t happen, then I know that the Lord is calling me to go deeper into relationship. Maybe that’s what’s most needed by the other person – a real, genuine relationship.
After thousands of years of other methods, when God decided to finally and decisively act to make us whole, He came to us, became like us, reached out to us, loved us, reconciled us to Him. By overwhelming us with His Person and Presence, He has made new life possible!
Pay attention. A New World is approaching.
This morning, as I was going through my morning prayer, I was thinking of the many people whom I love… how much I desire that they be whole and well in every way, I thought of the some of the people whose lives would be better if they had more money or better health. I prayed and asked the Lord to bless me so that I can go to my loved ones with those kinds of needs and just say, “what do you need. I’ll take care of it.” In fact, I felt a little proud of myself. I thought to myself, “dude, what a noble and righteous desire. You’re on it Rob!”
But as I continued to think and pray, the Lord helped me to realize something about myself. Whenever I’ve been able to just give people something to solve their problem, I didn’t invest nearly as much of my heart, spirit, and emotions into their suffering. I was able to kind of say, “take this and move on.” On the other hand, when I don’t have the money to give, or when my prayer doesn’t immediately bring healing, then the situation actually costs me much more in terms of emotions, time, heart, energy, and my spirit. When I don’t have the money to solve a person’s problem, or when I can’t “pull” a miracle with a simple, quick prayer, my love for the person demands that I do something else, which usually means spending time with the person… being a friend… listening… relating… sympathizing… connecting… sharing the pain… bearing a share of the burden. Helping on this level is a prolonged effort, and so much of the time, I don’t want to be “bothered” that much.
Maybe that’s why God doesn’t always “set us up” in a way that helping people comes easy and quickly. Now, let me be very clear about the fact that having financial resources - or the spiritual resources to command healing - costs, too, but those strengths don’t force us, nearly as much, to build relationships and give of our time in listening and caring. When we don’t have “something” to give, or when we can’t “give” a healing, we give all we have – ourselves. When we can’t easily solve another’s problem by giving something, it’s harder to dismiss the person as a problem to be solved.
So, I’ve adjusted my prayer, a bit. Now, I still desire for the Lord to bless me to solve my loved ones problems. I want their suffering and discomfort to end, immediately. But if it doesn’t happen, then I know that the Lord is calling me to go deeper into relationship. Maybe that’s what’s most needed by the other person – a real, genuine relationship.
After thousands of years of other methods, when God decided to finally and decisively act to make us whole, He came to us, became like us, reached out to us, loved us, reconciled us to Him. By overwhelming us with His Person and Presence, He has made new life possible!
Pay attention. A New World is approaching.
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