Thursday, December 27, 2012
Greater Grace
"But, in after life, as the Christian grows in grace, although he will never forget the solemnity of his position, and will never lose that holy awe which must encompass a gracious man when he is in the presence of the God who can create or can destroy; yet his fear has all its terror taken out of it; it becomes a holy reverence, and no more an overshadowing dread."
"Grace does not make us unearthly, though it makes us unworldly."
I love the reference to solemnity. CHS actually uses this as a point of reverence, notice the allusion to reverence, not reference. We sometimes as people allow to let the things of this world overcome us with fear, doubt, or dread, but Charles equivocates that within the awe that comes with grace. Man has a penchant for transposing things of this world into a timeline, into a beginning and an end, a departure and a destination, Grace is not something that is tangential, only dispersed in our ambiance as a still presence. This is a total departure from what he intends grace to portend. Grace is interwoven with an awareness of Godliness, a a focused growth from the reality of man to the wholeness of God. We so often try to realize this though a linear trajectory, almost as to if we need to reach the point of forward progress pre-negotiated in our minds to be fully eligible for the grace of God. This stands in contrast to the grace that Jesus offers, in fact, the grace that he offers follows no such path that any human construct could ever deliver. The difficulty lies in the fact that we try to piece together our case for grace with random pieces of the puzzle, so much expecting that out time before our savior will be us trying to reconcile the incompleteness of the missing pieces.
"And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." -
Acts 20:32
The key phrase from this is building up. So often we seek out grace in out incompleteness almost as if those missing pieces are the finishing touches on a completed work. The reality is much more that we are still formulating what should comprise the foundation, nevermind the final pieces. So our heart's entire expedition towards completion is never one that finally reaches a destination. But Paul's explanation isn't one of destination, it's one of receiving the inheritance. Spurgeon explains,
"This is how grace works; it enters the soul, penetrates the heart, saturates the conscience, abides in the memory, affects the affections, gives understanding to the understanding, and imparts real life to the heart, which is the seat of life."
The corporeality of grace demands that it be anything but linear, rather, something that cycles through the element of our being so fully that only though it can we realize the fullness of life. Grace instantaneously transforms what was once a focused directive and turns focused tunnel vision into something of a fun house mirror. Not to confuse or obstinate, but to paint a right picture of ourselves before God.
"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled." - Hebrews 12:15
He's designed such a grace to provide a right estimate of ourselves. The more grace that permeates out existence, the less room remains for our impurity. He's designed it as a light to not only find out way against the world but to reconcile ourselves to the fullness of redemption.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tides.
"All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." — Ecclesiastes 1:7
Our anger makes us susceptible to the undercurrent of sin. It's a curious and complicated thing, that which comes into what lies beneath the current of man, what scythes triumphantly
though breaking brooks, dost what is heavy and provides sturdy anchor, shaping the path of the stream. So it also is with our spirits, in the midst of our stay at the creek floor; we expect the current is shaped by how and where we lie, but when our spirits revel in cognizance, so often are we tousled even flow by precarious tides.
"Tides move the sea, winds stir the airy ocean, friction wears the rock: change and death rule everywhere. The sea is not a miser's storehouse for a wealth of waters, for as by one force the waters flow into it, by another they are lifted from it. Men are born but to die: everything is hurry, worry, and vexation of spirit."
We are never as so strong as when our souls are anchored as that rock. Though our spirits and the waves of the currents might dictate our motions for a time, but those moments are few. We can become vexed for days on the ill word of another man. We store past hurts in our consciousness like an arsenal, of which has no returnable value that to inflict harm, either on ourselves or upon others. We should carry no expectation that the stream will run dry, nay, the forces of the earth are far too commanding to relent to cease. However, in is paramount to our endurance of a people in his bulwark that we not just weigh on the bottom but rather become foundational pillars both above and beneath the surface. Foundations not of brick and mortar, but of the ethereal, that sustain the presence of of the Holy Spirit in manifestations that earthen things cannot provide.
We become absent foreman of this construction when our spirits are vexed, our hands may move and the hammer pounds away, but foundations become weak and pillars lean. Our hearts are too plagued by fears of submerging under the tides than apt construction of the pillars we need the most. We ruminate on and scrutinize the builder rather than follow the blueprint laid out buy the architect.
But be mindful, oh believer, that when the foundation is built, our stead in the current becomes more than self preservation, it requires our hands extended to those awash in the tides, that with hands extended and heart abandoned, we anchor our toes steadfast in the sand, so that those who know nothing but uncertain breaks may see the wonder of the carpenters hand. In the midst of trial, all things that come do return again, fear not the waves of the currents, but make your abode in his dwelling place.
Our anger makes us susceptible to the undercurrent of sin. It's a curious and complicated thing, that which comes into what lies beneath the current of man, what scythes triumphantly
though breaking brooks, dost what is heavy and provides sturdy anchor, shaping the path of the stream. So it also is with our spirits, in the midst of our stay at the creek floor; we expect the current is shaped by how and where we lie, but when our spirits revel in cognizance, so often are we tousled even flow by precarious tides.
"Tides move the sea, winds stir the airy ocean, friction wears the rock: change and death rule everywhere. The sea is not a miser's storehouse for a wealth of waters, for as by one force the waters flow into it, by another they are lifted from it. Men are born but to die: everything is hurry, worry, and vexation of spirit."
We are never as so strong as when our souls are anchored as that rock. Though our spirits and the waves of the currents might dictate our motions for a time, but those moments are few. We can become vexed for days on the ill word of another man. We store past hurts in our consciousness like an arsenal, of which has no returnable value that to inflict harm, either on ourselves or upon others. We should carry no expectation that the stream will run dry, nay, the forces of the earth are far too commanding to relent to cease. However, in is paramount to our endurance of a people in his bulwark that we not just weigh on the bottom but rather become foundational pillars both above and beneath the surface. Foundations not of brick and mortar, but of the ethereal, that sustain the presence of of the Holy Spirit in manifestations that earthen things cannot provide.
We become absent foreman of this construction when our spirits are vexed, our hands may move and the hammer pounds away, but foundations become weak and pillars lean. Our hearts are too plagued by fears of submerging under the tides than apt construction of the pillars we need the most. We ruminate on and scrutinize the builder rather than follow the blueprint laid out buy the architect.
But be mindful, oh believer, that when the foundation is built, our stead in the current becomes more than self preservation, it requires our hands extended to those awash in the tides, that with hands extended and heart abandoned, we anchor our toes steadfast in the sand, so that those who know nothing but uncertain breaks may see the wonder of the carpenters hand. In the midst of trial, all things that come do return again, fear not the waves of the currents, but make your abode in his dwelling place.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Dictation.
"We are all so ready to go to books, to go to men, to go to ceremonies, to anything
except God. Man will worship God with his eyes, and his arms, and his knees, and his
mouth—with anything but his heart—and we are all of us anxious, more or less,
until we are renewed by grace, to get off the heart-worship of God."
We ask much from sustainability. We ask it to render itself to our crops, to our packaged goods, to our clothes, to our relationships, to our worship.... to every crevace and concept that we interact with. But often when it rests in our palms, we find no purpose for it.
Just the other day I was rendered to my own defeat. Not by some worldly force or viral strain, but by a 72 year old woman named Nan. She meant no ill will. Rather, she simply spoke truth, wrapped in a blanked of prophecy that heated my excuses to a point of combustion. Oy vey, I recompsed for it. Indeed I did.
I'm consistently on the go. I'm perpetually alert as to the why i'm always going, and the where, though perhaps not so much the purpose, and/or picture. I lack the requisite vision for such a task. For eyes are always pointed straight ahead, to the next thing the next challenge, not too terribly concerned with what lay at the margins of my sight. Unless, preytell, there is a obstacle there that could cause me to fall. Our perpherals always increase in the presence of danger, and a heightened awareness results in quicker reflexes for able bodies.
Though this is rarely analogous to our spiritual reflexes. When we lose our peripherals to the movements of the spirit, it becomes wieldy to persistently neglect everything that is needful to the eternal well-being. Yet if we sustain down that tunnel of focus for more than a moment, we find that it becomes cavernous and lonely. Our cognizance is mired by the absence of a presence, and our senses quickly recrudesce to a recollection of the familiar.
It's supposable, then, that the remarkable drop of prophecy that Nan imposed to me was not entirely transcendental in its complexity, for perhaps the more masterful element was the timing of when it transposed. There is something unearthly about being the recipient of well-timed wisdom. For when delivered in the appropriate context, nary is it limited to the bounds of it's passive purpose, it becomes a stirrer of a man's soul.
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children" - Deuteronomy 4:9
First, you must take care, and maintain your soul, Or these things will depart from your soul.
Nan convicted me that I had indeed befallen a false persuasion in regards to my undertakings. In my thoughts, such work was fulfilled, an exercise pleasing to God, but in honestly of heart, was great a folly. A fully realized heart is not empty in purpose, as I have recently attested much in prayer. She reminded me of a duty I avow to to not simply perform positive tasks, but to recognize that for every movement of the physical is also a spiritual exercise. It's not enough to to simply serve, for misunderstood purpose can wield ill-intent, if lacking distinguishment in love. A task that stands above, yet alone. So much of the work I undertake trended towards the purpose of the effort, and lacked the equivalent spiritual understanding. Spurgeon writes, “Never bring to God one duty stained with the blood of another. As much as lieth in you, give to each distinct duty its due proportion."
The proportions of my efforts cannot be defined by interjections from other souls. Influenced yes, but not defined. For those definitions I must find in Christ. I am responsible, though, for the allocations of those duties. In 1st Corinthians it says, "We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you." In both deed an in though the machinations of our efforts, what we conduct cannot be expressly unique from the spiritual.
Being surrounded by people with hearts such as Nan's are what makes my work sustainable. For it's interpretations greater than our own understandings that cultivates rich existence in God. And in these understandings help us reap a harvest exceeding what we say or know.
except God. Man will worship God with his eyes, and his arms, and his knees, and his
mouth—with anything but his heart—and we are all of us anxious, more or less,
until we are renewed by grace, to get off the heart-worship of God."
We ask much from sustainability. We ask it to render itself to our crops, to our packaged goods, to our clothes, to our relationships, to our worship.... to every crevace and concept that we interact with. But often when it rests in our palms, we find no purpose for it.
Just the other day I was rendered to my own defeat. Not by some worldly force or viral strain, but by a 72 year old woman named Nan. She meant no ill will. Rather, she simply spoke truth, wrapped in a blanked of prophecy that heated my excuses to a point of combustion. Oy vey, I recompsed for it. Indeed I did.
I'm consistently on the go. I'm perpetually alert as to the why i'm always going, and the where, though perhaps not so much the purpose, and/or picture. I lack the requisite vision for such a task. For eyes are always pointed straight ahead, to the next thing the next challenge, not too terribly concerned with what lay at the margins of my sight. Unless, preytell, there is a obstacle there that could cause me to fall. Our perpherals always increase in the presence of danger, and a heightened awareness results in quicker reflexes for able bodies.
Though this is rarely analogous to our spiritual reflexes. When we lose our peripherals to the movements of the spirit, it becomes wieldy to persistently neglect everything that is needful to the eternal well-being. Yet if we sustain down that tunnel of focus for more than a moment, we find that it becomes cavernous and lonely. Our cognizance is mired by the absence of a presence, and our senses quickly recrudesce to a recollection of the familiar.
It's supposable, then, that the remarkable drop of prophecy that Nan imposed to me was not entirely transcendental in its complexity, for perhaps the more masterful element was the timing of when it transposed. There is something unearthly about being the recipient of well-timed wisdom. For when delivered in the appropriate context, nary is it limited to the bounds of it's passive purpose, it becomes a stirrer of a man's soul.
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children" - Deuteronomy 4:9
First, you must take care, and maintain your soul, Or these things will depart from your soul.
Nan convicted me that I had indeed befallen a false persuasion in regards to my undertakings. In my thoughts, such work was fulfilled, an exercise pleasing to God, but in honestly of heart, was great a folly. A fully realized heart is not empty in purpose, as I have recently attested much in prayer. She reminded me of a duty I avow to to not simply perform positive tasks, but to recognize that for every movement of the physical is also a spiritual exercise. It's not enough to to simply serve, for misunderstood purpose can wield ill-intent, if lacking distinguishment in love. A task that stands above, yet alone. So much of the work I undertake trended towards the purpose of the effort, and lacked the equivalent spiritual understanding. Spurgeon writes, “Never bring to God one duty stained with the blood of another. As much as lieth in you, give to each distinct duty its due proportion."
The proportions of my efforts cannot be defined by interjections from other souls. Influenced yes, but not defined. For those definitions I must find in Christ. I am responsible, though, for the allocations of those duties. In 1st Corinthians it says, "We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you." In both deed an in though the machinations of our efforts, what we conduct cannot be expressly unique from the spiritual.
Being surrounded by people with hearts such as Nan's are what makes my work sustainable. For it's interpretations greater than our own understandings that cultivates rich existence in God. And in these understandings help us reap a harvest exceeding what we say or know.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
What Wrecks a Man
"In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast himself on his God alone. When his vessel is on its beam-ends, and no human deliverance can avail, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God. Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this! O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone!"
A few weekends back felt like one of the worst weather related weekends of my life. Severe thunderstorms, falling branches, flooding, intense lightning and even a tornado were included in a palate of severity. Such awareness of these heightened by the fact that the weekend was to be spent in a tent rather than the confines of a. brick a mortar.
However, this was no ordinary weekend, this was a weekend ripe with metaphorical and relative significance. Struggling with he anticipation and meaning of what that was. It bore a heavier weight then perhaps my feet have carried, but it was too amorphous to come to sufficient understanding.
Two stark realizations occurred over those three days.
1. My own reconnaissance falls short of the things I near to be cognizant of.
2. When the thunder cracks loud enough, you have no choice but to hear.
"Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this!"
This is a perplexing word. The initial, albeit literal, interpretation of this would seem to be a contradiction in its very nature, that somehow the wreckage of a man would be something this aligns with happiness. But the truth of what CH is talking about is not the destruction of a man, rather the wrecking of a man. This is not about being destroyed, it's about being broken, and there is great contrast with those two things.
"The water would have overpowered us; the current would have overwhelmed us. The raging water would have overwhelmed us. The Lord deserves praise,for he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth. We escaped with our lives, like a bird from a
hunter’s snare."(Psalm 124:4-7 NET)
Spurgeon speaks only of the saving grace though the brokenness that comes with redemption. For without the current of the world, we would not know the power of sin's destruction, nor understand the completeness of our our salvation in his glory. He imagines us to imagine ourselves strengthened though his blood.
So when we encounter storms, the reality of the storms may not be a force of destruction, but rather a call out of destruction, a call to he brokenness hat we are obliged to him as a result of his great price.
A few weekends back felt like one of the worst weather related weekends of my life. Severe thunderstorms, falling branches, flooding, intense lightning and even a tornado were included in a palate of severity. Such awareness of these heightened by the fact that the weekend was to be spent in a tent rather than the confines of a. brick a mortar.
However, this was no ordinary weekend, this was a weekend ripe with metaphorical and relative significance. Struggling with he anticipation and meaning of what that was. It bore a heavier weight then perhaps my feet have carried, but it was too amorphous to come to sufficient understanding.
Two stark realizations occurred over those three days.
1. My own reconnaissance falls short of the things I near to be cognizant of.
2. When the thunder cracks loud enough, you have no choice but to hear.
"Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this!"
This is a perplexing word. The initial, albeit literal, interpretation of this would seem to be a contradiction in its very nature, that somehow the wreckage of a man would be something this aligns with happiness. But the truth of what CH is talking about is not the destruction of a man, rather the wrecking of a man. This is not about being destroyed, it's about being broken, and there is great contrast with those two things.
"The water would have overpowered us; the current would have overwhelmed us. The raging water would have overwhelmed us. The Lord deserves praise,for he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth. We escaped with our lives, like a bird from a
hunter’s snare."(Psalm 124:4-7 NET)
Spurgeon speaks only of the saving grace though the brokenness that comes with redemption. For without the current of the world, we would not know the power of sin's destruction, nor understand the completeness of our our salvation in his glory. He imagines us to imagine ourselves strengthened though his blood.
So when we encounter storms, the reality of the storms may not be a force of destruction, but rather a call out of destruction, a call to he brokenness hat we are obliged to him as a result of his great price.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
The Gospel of Shame.
"But though I cannot make you see sin, yet I can leave this truth with you,—you will one day feel what sin means, unless you repent of it, for he that spared not his own Son will not spare you. If the Judge upon the throne smote Christ, who had no sin of his own,—smote him so sternly for other men’s sins,—what will he do with you? If he spared not his beloved Son, what will he do with his enemies?"
"But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end. As it says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:13-15 NET)
"At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession. So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised." (Hebrews 10:33-36)
There is much to this entry. The honest reality of this is I have spent more time reflecting on this very topic than any I have in such time. For the land I once knew as home is in udder disarray, as the conflict rages between the loveless and the lost.
Shame is a curious affliction that is borne both as an effect of unrighteousness actions, more so often now realized as chain draped over the accused. Under the old covenant, shame was often a mark that kingdoms would carry as a mark of failure to obey the word. Ezekiel 36 states "They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, so I poured out my fury on them. I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived. But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, ‘These are the people of the LORD, but he couldn’t keep them safe in his own land!’ Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations. (Ezekiel 36:18-21 NLT)
Shame has become a new Gospel in the modern world, though the false idol of shame masquerading as justice is not one new to this world. The world identifies those who lie within those church walls as legalistic, concerned with righting those who err and correcting their missteps.
I've often wonders why the skeptics continue to walk though the church doors when their more rational natures would reason otherwise.
Who among us is righteous enough I assign shame? For those men who assign shame rarely do so with an underpinning of love. Our prisons are not designed to hold those who we hope for redemption. The world will deliver justice to the blind, but you, oh believer, are not of that world. Your eyes have been opened, your justice is now that of your King. Your enduring confidence will cast out shame and replace it with hope.
So the strident wonder, "Well, what about justice? Who will administer right justice to the world?" have you yet to awaken, o believer? Justice in men is fleeting, righteousness abides on the tribunal of God. That who is tried and tested will be judged under his gavel, and those who wrong will reach their due uppance. Even more, we make for poor authenticators of sacred pardons, and worse agents in abiding in the supremacy of grace.
For us, he gave us not a truth that would please or placate us, but rather the intensity, the agony of the blood of Calvary. The reality of his sacrifice is not meant to be hidden within the catacombs of our courts, rather it should permeate our decisions, rumination and actions. Indeed, those who our courts corral are not confined that they may someday be savable. For the saving was already done. So strong must a man's sense of justice be that he be able to overcome the whole of his prejudices and be sprinkled with the blood of the lamb.
We have so often allowed ourselves to confuse the moxie of man-made justice with a holy chivalry. But Paul forewarns us against such a fallacy. The confounding misapplication of our might and passion has allowed vehement vigilantism that is antithetical to the redemption. Jesus does not confuse the application.
"But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. (Matthew 5:39-41 NLT).
He speaks to those specifically who seek to carry revenge under the vise of justice and redemption. These vises lead to more sin, and as believers, must not be out foundation. In Isaiah 1:18-20, Isaiah specifically does not emphasize seeking justice as an isolated act, but as action intertwined with Love, Hope and Mercy.
Better to see the whole of your innocence though the judge of all judges than upon the obstructed eye of men.
"But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end. As it says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:13-15 NET)
"At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession. So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised." (Hebrews 10:33-36)
There is much to this entry. The honest reality of this is I have spent more time reflecting on this very topic than any I have in such time. For the land I once knew as home is in udder disarray, as the conflict rages between the loveless and the lost.
Shame is a curious affliction that is borne both as an effect of unrighteousness actions, more so often now realized as chain draped over the accused. Under the old covenant, shame was often a mark that kingdoms would carry as a mark of failure to obey the word. Ezekiel 36 states "They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, so I poured out my fury on them. I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived. But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, ‘These are the people of the LORD, but he couldn’t keep them safe in his own land!’ Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations. (Ezekiel 36:18-21 NLT)
Shame has become a new Gospel in the modern world, though the false idol of shame masquerading as justice is not one new to this world. The world identifies those who lie within those church walls as legalistic, concerned with righting those who err and correcting their missteps.
I've often wonders why the skeptics continue to walk though the church doors when their more rational natures would reason otherwise.
Who among us is righteous enough I assign shame? For those men who assign shame rarely do so with an underpinning of love. Our prisons are not designed to hold those who we hope for redemption. The world will deliver justice to the blind, but you, oh believer, are not of that world. Your eyes have been opened, your justice is now that of your King. Your enduring confidence will cast out shame and replace it with hope.
So the strident wonder, "Well, what about justice? Who will administer right justice to the world?" have you yet to awaken, o believer? Justice in men is fleeting, righteousness abides on the tribunal of God. That who is tried and tested will be judged under his gavel, and those who wrong will reach their due uppance. Even more, we make for poor authenticators of sacred pardons, and worse agents in abiding in the supremacy of grace.
For us, he gave us not a truth that would please or placate us, but rather the intensity, the agony of the blood of Calvary. The reality of his sacrifice is not meant to be hidden within the catacombs of our courts, rather it should permeate our decisions, rumination and actions. Indeed, those who our courts corral are not confined that they may someday be savable. For the saving was already done. So strong must a man's sense of justice be that he be able to overcome the whole of his prejudices and be sprinkled with the blood of the lamb.
We have so often allowed ourselves to confuse the moxie of man-made justice with a holy chivalry. But Paul forewarns us against such a fallacy. The confounding misapplication of our might and passion has allowed vehement vigilantism that is antithetical to the redemption. Jesus does not confuse the application.
"But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. (Matthew 5:39-41 NLT).
He speaks to those specifically who seek to carry revenge under the vise of justice and redemption. These vises lead to more sin, and as believers, must not be out foundation. In Isaiah 1:18-20, Isaiah specifically does not emphasize seeking justice as an isolated act, but as action intertwined with Love, Hope and Mercy.
Better to see the whole of your innocence though the judge of all judges than upon the obstructed eye of men.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
It's Firefight.
"In every believer's heart there is a constant struggle between the old nature and the new. The old nature is very active, and loses no opportunity of plying all the weapons of its deadly armoury against newborn grace; while on the other hand, the new nature is ever on the watch to resist and destroy its enemy. Grace within us will employ prayer, and faith, and hope, and love, to cast out the evil; it takes unto it the "whole armour of God," and wrestles earnestly. These two opposing natures will never cease to struggle so long as we are in this world."
The nature of grace as purposed to us is very alike to a set of ill-fitting vice grips, while their use can still be served, the execution of such task is often arduous and awkward. For in order to allow grace into our employ we must not simply understand the concept, rather we must know ourselves and be accepting and mindful of out present condition. Besieged as our souls must often be, the resonance of the conflict between old and new nature must manifest in our sounds and minds. For what we find in the old nature is very active, it rarely ceases in the activity of separation and dissuasion from the enclave of truth. It is indeed deadly to those not armed with the truth, as little resistance can be found from those who can not adequately defend. Our new nature, though, is like the sniper from a crow's nest, always watchful, cautious and ready. Our new nature resists the slings and arrows that foment destruction, rather, is realized though the slings of peace and hope. And in the constant conflict between the light and dark of our natures, we realize the wholeness and victory through Christ. Those who claim the name of Christ kneel on the bow of his throne, carried through the devastation of the world with a keen eye and patient souls.
And so it is with our two natures. Spurgeon speaks of wrestling earnestly with our old nature, the self-evident subjection that the conflict with out nature is unavoidable, however, the earnestness of our conflict is both actuated and observable. Our consistency in walking in the Word and talking with God is a bane to our old nature. It supersedes the presence of what is broken and replaces that with what is new.
"What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!" (1 Corinthians 15:50, 51)
And so it is with what inhabits our souls. We were bought from the wrests of the earth, but though that purchase we must be transformed Into what is new and complete.
The nature of grace as purposed to us is very alike to a set of ill-fitting vice grips, while their use can still be served, the execution of such task is often arduous and awkward. For in order to allow grace into our employ we must not simply understand the concept, rather we must know ourselves and be accepting and mindful of out present condition. Besieged as our souls must often be, the resonance of the conflict between old and new nature must manifest in our sounds and minds. For what we find in the old nature is very active, it rarely ceases in the activity of separation and dissuasion from the enclave of truth. It is indeed deadly to those not armed with the truth, as little resistance can be found from those who can not adequately defend. Our new nature, though, is like the sniper from a crow's nest, always watchful, cautious and ready. Our new nature resists the slings and arrows that foment destruction, rather, is realized though the slings of peace and hope. And in the constant conflict between the light and dark of our natures, we realize the wholeness and victory through Christ. Those who claim the name of Christ kneel on the bow of his throne, carried through the devastation of the world with a keen eye and patient souls.
And so it is with our two natures. Spurgeon speaks of wrestling earnestly with our old nature, the self-evident subjection that the conflict with out nature is unavoidable, however, the earnestness of our conflict is both actuated and observable. Our consistency in walking in the Word and talking with God is a bane to our old nature. It supersedes the presence of what is broken and replaces that with what is new.
"What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!" (1 Corinthians 15:50, 51)
And so it is with what inhabits our souls. We were bought from the wrests of the earth, but though that purchase we must be transformed Into what is new and complete.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Seasons.
"Have you nothing to pray for? Let us suggest the Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your relations, your neighbours, your country, and the cause of God and truth throughout the world. Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplications. Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world."
It's wedding season, indeed. Wedding season is always a perplexing one for me. One where efforts put forth are at their most ardent, while it often seems that such a season is the most tiresome for my soul.
Weddings are intended to represent the pinnacle of human love. The moment in which two souls are binded together by the promises they offer to another. They are celebrations of the people we have come to know as friends and compatriots. Somewhere apart from all the regalia of what to bring, proper manners and ediquitte is the connection that is unseen, a deeper underpinning and sense we have for another to see joy be realized into the people that we have come to love. Our outpourings for our beloved friends always seem to include, tears, hugs, and assorted expressions of live. These expressions are not manifestations of the actions themselves, rather, they are borne from a joy and love into which our souls simply can no longer contain.
Do we ever feel that sort of joy in our private devotions? Are our outpourings of joy ever analogous to what we pray for and receive from God? Or do our purposes and our rules for conduct obscure the present Joy that constantly exist in the revelations of the Holy Spirit.
The incompleteness of our nature maintains that when we are far from the spirit and far from his presence, that indeed we should weep. But it is not only brokenness that should cause us to weep, rather, the joy of being near Christ must produce the same. So in so much as we have a season of joy for the newness of love, we must have the same season for the birth of new prayers. You must not let the macinisims of worldly conformity falsify and confirm our flesh to it's ends, rather, we must recognize the joy that is ever present in the spirit.
It's wedding season, indeed. Wedding season is always a perplexing one for me. One where efforts put forth are at their most ardent, while it often seems that such a season is the most tiresome for my soul.
Weddings are intended to represent the pinnacle of human love. The moment in which two souls are binded together by the promises they offer to another. They are celebrations of the people we have come to know as friends and compatriots. Somewhere apart from all the regalia of what to bring, proper manners and ediquitte is the connection that is unseen, a deeper underpinning and sense we have for another to see joy be realized into the people that we have come to love. Our outpourings for our beloved friends always seem to include, tears, hugs, and assorted expressions of live. These expressions are not manifestations of the actions themselves, rather, they are borne from a joy and love into which our souls simply can no longer contain.
Do we ever feel that sort of joy in our private devotions? Are our outpourings of joy ever analogous to what we pray for and receive from God? Or do our purposes and our rules for conduct obscure the present Joy that constantly exist in the revelations of the Holy Spirit.
The incompleteness of our nature maintains that when we are far from the spirit and far from his presence, that indeed we should weep. But it is not only brokenness that should cause us to weep, rather, the joy of being near Christ must produce the same. So in so much as we have a season of joy for the newness of love, we must have the same season for the birth of new prayers. You must not let the macinisims of worldly conformity falsify and confirm our flesh to it's ends, rather, we must recognize the joy that is ever present in the spirit.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Higher Devotion.
"Get thee up into the high mountain."
-- Isaiah 40:9
"Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges; till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you."
"Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, "I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation." Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? "
Yonder and wonder might be two disconnected words, but they share much more than five letters.
Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, "I know whom I have believed," for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain."
I spent this past weekend in the Shenandoah mountains with some great god Fearing men. It was a climbing and Hiking expedition, the first such trip of this kind I have taken in a number of years. It was an interesting study in how I would respond to certain situations, As, outside of running, I haven't physically tested myself in some time.
We collectively took turns climbing a 60 foot rock face. I haven't touched a serious rock face in about ten years, and to be honest, was not sure that I would be able to make it up halfway, , much less the whole way to the top. Yet, as soon as I set my hands and feet on that rock, whatever doubts may have pervaded my thoughts quickly dissipated. I not only made it to the top, I did so in remarkable time. So fast, mind you, it seemed like I barely spent any time on that rock. Now, upon reaching the top, reality set in somewhat, as my "respect" for heights set in to the realization that I was suspended a hundred feet in the air.
At one time in my life, perhaps even ten years ago, something like this seemed like a Herculean or nearly impossible task. Now it just seemed easy. And ten years ago, accomplishing such a feat, as I envisioned anyway, would have produced a much more immense feeling of satisfaction. This accomplishment produced very little in that regard.
It's not just rock climbing. It's other accomplishments in life that have take. On far less meaning than perhaps they once did. Is this due to those accomplishments being devalued in the grand scheme? Probably not. Does it have more to do with me recognizing them less and becoming more jaded about life's victories? This is probably a more apt description.
When Paul scaled the summits of his ministry, for every hill he climbed, his distance became a little greater and his feet became a little older. For the accomplishment lie not in the trip as an event, but the entire journey as it was . Paul sought not acclaim, for he already knew the fruitless nature of that. Rather, he sought the wholeness of the Spirit and to see it manifest where he was. He, as Charles preached, not only reached the summit, but also knew exactly what he was looking for. The whole of his faithfulness.
I have recently felt that my focus has not been on things of faithfulness, for no other reason than I have possibly lost sight of what I'm looking for. Perhaps I really don't know what faithfulness looks like.
-- Isaiah 40:9
"Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges; till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you."
"Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, "I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation." Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? "
Yonder and wonder might be two disconnected words, but they share much more than five letters.
Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, "I know whom I have believed," for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain."
I spent this past weekend in the Shenandoah mountains with some great god Fearing men. It was a climbing and Hiking expedition, the first such trip of this kind I have taken in a number of years. It was an interesting study in how I would respond to certain situations, As, outside of running, I haven't physically tested myself in some time.
We collectively took turns climbing a 60 foot rock face. I haven't touched a serious rock face in about ten years, and to be honest, was not sure that I would be able to make it up halfway, , much less the whole way to the top. Yet, as soon as I set my hands and feet on that rock, whatever doubts may have pervaded my thoughts quickly dissipated. I not only made it to the top, I did so in remarkable time. So fast, mind you, it seemed like I barely spent any time on that rock. Now, upon reaching the top, reality set in somewhat, as my "respect" for heights set in to the realization that I was suspended a hundred feet in the air.
At one time in my life, perhaps even ten years ago, something like this seemed like a Herculean or nearly impossible task. Now it just seemed easy. And ten years ago, accomplishing such a feat, as I envisioned anyway, would have produced a much more immense feeling of satisfaction. This accomplishment produced very little in that regard.
It's not just rock climbing. It's other accomplishments in life that have take. On far less meaning than perhaps they once did. Is this due to those accomplishments being devalued in the grand scheme? Probably not. Does it have more to do with me recognizing them less and becoming more jaded about life's victories? This is probably a more apt description.
When Paul scaled the summits of his ministry, for every hill he climbed, his distance became a little greater and his feet became a little older. For the accomplishment lie not in the trip as an event, but the entire journey as it was . Paul sought not acclaim, for he already knew the fruitless nature of that. Rather, he sought the wholeness of the Spirit and to see it manifest where he was. He, as Charles preached, not only reached the summit, but also knew exactly what he was looking for. The whole of his faithfulness.
I have recently felt that my focus has not been on things of faithfulness, for no other reason than I have possibly lost sight of what I'm looking for. Perhaps I really don't know what faithfulness looks like.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Triple-braided
"This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing. Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. "(Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 NLT)
"I think you may judge of a man’s character by the persons whose affection he seeks. If you find a man seeking only the affection of those who are great, depend upon it he is ambitious and self-seeking; but when you observe that a man seeks the affection of those who can do nothing for him, but for whom he must do everything, you know that he is not seeking himself, but that pure benevolence sways his heart."
We are not made to be strong though the significance and vitality of our connections to others, rather,the omnipresence of Christ enables the love connection that bounds two together. Some rely on the close presence of another to quell the doubt and resignation, but so long as the stilt of humanness is the only reinforcement present, the ever present storms of life will always sweep that away.
Many a preacher speak of aligning with believers as the route of choice for spiritually guided relationship, and while it is so that one must avoid the those who walk in the mire, one must realize the nature of a yolk. A yolk constrains both from moving independently, with a yolk, neither can move forward or backwards without the consent of another. Our human autonomy prevents us from engaging in this for very long, for thankfully, the freedom we have discovered though Christ causes far too much unrest to ever long be yolked.
For as Solomon points, our desire for the company of a another comes not from the desire to be simply be yolked, but the desire to be bonded, in not a sense that parts us from the freedom we have established in Christ's, but rather a desire to binded in a way that allows us to rather the storms that weather our hearts and minds throughout our time here. Also notice that Solomon did not simply say stand and not be defeated, but to stand and conquer. Our purpose in God's kingdom is not just to get here and get out alive, but to declare his presence here and thrive. He desires us to not be princes and princesses on the cusp of greatness, rather as kings and queens willing his eternal spirit to every corner of the earth.
We do not long towards another out of complacency, rather we do so out of a desire to be made stronger, out of a desire to be bonded with each other due to him. For while a tenuous knot frays quickly, one tied though the wholeness of Christ is limitless in it's strength. As we seek you, Lord, we desire to be made whole in your strength and your ties.
"I think you may judge of a man’s character by the persons whose affection he seeks. If you find a man seeking only the affection of those who are great, depend upon it he is ambitious and self-seeking; but when you observe that a man seeks the affection of those who can do nothing for him, but for whom he must do everything, you know that he is not seeking himself, but that pure benevolence sways his heart."
We are not made to be strong though the significance and vitality of our connections to others, rather,the omnipresence of Christ enables the love connection that bounds two together. Some rely on the close presence of another to quell the doubt and resignation, but so long as the stilt of humanness is the only reinforcement present, the ever present storms of life will always sweep that away.
Many a preacher speak of aligning with believers as the route of choice for spiritually guided relationship, and while it is so that one must avoid the those who walk in the mire, one must realize the nature of a yolk. A yolk constrains both from moving independently, with a yolk, neither can move forward or backwards without the consent of another. Our human autonomy prevents us from engaging in this for very long, for thankfully, the freedom we have discovered though Christ causes far too much unrest to ever long be yolked.
For as Solomon points, our desire for the company of a another comes not from the desire to be simply be yolked, but the desire to be bonded, in not a sense that parts us from the freedom we have established in Christ's, but rather a desire to binded in a way that allows us to rather the storms that weather our hearts and minds throughout our time here. Also notice that Solomon did not simply say stand and not be defeated, but to stand and conquer. Our purpose in God's kingdom is not just to get here and get out alive, but to declare his presence here and thrive. He desires us to not be princes and princesses on the cusp of greatness, rather as kings and queens willing his eternal spirit to every corner of the earth.
We do not long towards another out of complacency, rather we do so out of a desire to be made stronger, out of a desire to be bonded with each other due to him. For while a tenuous knot frays quickly, one tied though the wholeness of Christ is limitless in it's strength. As we seek you, Lord, we desire to be made whole in your strength and your ties.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Win the Day.
"The King has passed over all these. Is it bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or contempt? Over each of these Kidrons the King has gone before us. "In all our afflictions he was afflicted." The idea of strangeness in our trials must be banished at once and for ever, for he who is the Head of all saints, knows by experience the grief which we think so peculiar. All the citizens of Zion must be free of the Honourable Company of Mourners, of which the Prince Immanuel is Head and Captain.
Notwithstanding the abasement of David, he yet returned in triumph to his city, and David's Lord arose victorious from the grave; let us then be of good courage, for we also shall win the day."
Some days it seems as if the perils of the day are much more ominous, the mountains of accomplishment are that much higher, and the storms of the world are intensely forwarded. Some of that has to do with where we stand in relation to our adventure, or, perhaps the amount of caffeine that to that was ingested to that point. For we so often sense only the perils and pitfalls of ours short journey we neglect to see the hope borne out of the spirits presence. For the darkness of guilt and shame are often in our peripherals,our hesitancy and courage engage in a tenuous battle for the kingdom of our heart. For just as David was able to march through Kidron with courage and contemplation, so must we embrace the spirit of Christ's victory and march onward to conquer the day.
"Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him." (Lamentations 3:21-25 NLT)
Dare to hope? Should hope ever render a dare? Hope has become chanced, because we allow hope to become a gamble rather than a certainty. In the steps of those who depend on him, Christians often watch their feet more than the stars.
Remember our inheritance and what must be kept, for the word of the Lord is best kept by those who walk with him, and best found by those who search for him.
"You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course."(Proverbs 23:18, 19 NLT)
Notwithstanding the abasement of David, he yet returned in triumph to his city, and David's Lord arose victorious from the grave; let us then be of good courage, for we also shall win the day."
Some days it seems as if the perils of the day are much more ominous, the mountains of accomplishment are that much higher, and the storms of the world are intensely forwarded. Some of that has to do with where we stand in relation to our adventure, or, perhaps the amount of caffeine that to that was ingested to that point. For we so often sense only the perils and pitfalls of ours short journey we neglect to see the hope borne out of the spirits presence. For the darkness of guilt and shame are often in our peripherals,our hesitancy and courage engage in a tenuous battle for the kingdom of our heart. For just as David was able to march through Kidron with courage and contemplation, so must we embrace the spirit of Christ's victory and march onward to conquer the day.
"Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him." (Lamentations 3:21-25 NLT)
Dare to hope? Should hope ever render a dare? Hope has become chanced, because we allow hope to become a gamble rather than a certainty. In the steps of those who depend on him, Christians often watch their feet more than the stars.
Remember our inheritance and what must be kept, for the word of the Lord is best kept by those who walk with him, and best found by those who search for him.
"You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course."(Proverbs 23:18, 19 NLT)
Monday, May 21, 2012
Useless.
"It is not likely we should all see eye to eye. You cannot make a dozen watches all tick to the same time, much less make a dozen men all think the same thoughts. But, still, if we should all bow our thoughts to that one written word, and would own no authority but the Bible, the Church could not be divided, could not be cut in pieces as she now is."
Our organizations make much use of some and little of others. Thus is the same of compensation, which give much to those which much to say, and little to those whose works are well concealed. As much could be said about Paul and Apollos, who routinely engaged the plebeian vitality themselves to make more of others.
"So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. "(1 Corinthians 4:1-3 NLT)
The authority of Paul and Apollo laid not with their intrinsic nature, rather though the movement of the Holy Spirit though their words and the humility projected from their souls. Both were keenly aware that the result of fleshing men would not be providence, rather without surrender of self would result in worldly discord. To that end, Paul nary trusted himself with the truth without the protection of the spirit to move it forward.
How does one empower the multitudes to surrender themselves to the will of God and the unity of the body. Simply put, "one" does not. Only "The One" does. Only in the lowering of man does the king fully come into view. There is no throne of man that stands higher than another man's feet, and there is no body without the love of Christ to stir souls awake. We often gaze out on an oasis of self-sustainment that embodies our need to be self-realized. Not a moment truly comes to us without the realization, whether it be what come to the present or what is yet to come, when we apprehend the reality of the desiccation that is both seen and unseen.
"He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.” I replied, “But my work seems so useless. I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand. I will trust God for my reward.” Isaiah 49:4"
No life can surpass that of a man who quietly continues to serve God in the place where providence has placed him. Our purpose is not found in comparisons to other men, and our eternal purpose can never be realized though the minds of other men. Every child of God is where God has placed him for some purpose, and the practical use of this first point is to lead you to inquire for what practical purpose has God placed each one of you where you now are.
Our organizations make much use of some and little of others. Thus is the same of compensation, which give much to those which much to say, and little to those whose works are well concealed. As much could be said about Paul and Apollos, who routinely engaged the plebeian vitality themselves to make more of others.
"So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. "(1 Corinthians 4:1-3 NLT)
The authority of Paul and Apollo laid not with their intrinsic nature, rather though the movement of the Holy Spirit though their words and the humility projected from their souls. Both were keenly aware that the result of fleshing men would not be providence, rather without surrender of self would result in worldly discord. To that end, Paul nary trusted himself with the truth without the protection of the spirit to move it forward.
How does one empower the multitudes to surrender themselves to the will of God and the unity of the body. Simply put, "one" does not. Only "The One" does. Only in the lowering of man does the king fully come into view. There is no throne of man that stands higher than another man's feet, and there is no body without the love of Christ to stir souls awake. We often gaze out on an oasis of self-sustainment that embodies our need to be self-realized. Not a moment truly comes to us without the realization, whether it be what come to the present or what is yet to come, when we apprehend the reality of the desiccation that is both seen and unseen.
"He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.” I replied, “But my work seems so useless. I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand. I will trust God for my reward.” Isaiah 49:4"
No life can surpass that of a man who quietly continues to serve God in the place where providence has placed him. Our purpose is not found in comparisons to other men, and our eternal purpose can never be realized though the minds of other men. Every child of God is where God has placed him for some purpose, and the practical use of this first point is to lead you to inquire for what practical purpose has God placed each one of you where you now are.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Work.
"Do not think that activity is in itself an evil:
it is a great blessing, and a means of grace to us. Paul called it a
grace given to him to be allowed to preach; and every form of Christian
service may become a personal blessing to those engaged in it. Those
who have most fellowship with Christ are not recluses or hermits, who
have much time to spare, but indefatigable labourers who are toiling
for Jesus, and who, in their toil, have him side by side with them, so
that they are workers together with God. Let us remember then, in
anything we have to do for Jesus, that we can do it, and should do it
in close communion with him."-CHS
"Can't say I was never wrong
But some blame rests on you
Work and pray they're never okay
To mix the way we do". - Jimmy Eat World.
Far too much of our grace work has been reviled as a chore, for some recondite purpose that has gilded itself into Christian convention. Ot appears when we ask question why are aspects of our faith journey paralleled on some linear plane? Are the concepts of prayer. grace, labor and forgiveness not communicable as are apportioned? Or rather, is it our inability to extrapolate such ideas from the container in which they rest to a recipe in which the fullness of God rises to.
Why do we continue to perpetuate the notion that the stillness of God coincides with the stillness of our feet? While Paul found moments for restful contemplation, his feet never remained still for long.
Too often we still think of acts of worship as isolated or solitary events, rather that the fullness of the experience gifted though the spirit's work. For so much as we observe quiet time, we must be mindful of the idea that solitude with God does not provision us with more Fellowship than another, and does not enable us to a place of grace that cannot only be found though silence.
The Hebrew word "Avad" is the same meaning for worship, work and service. There was no distinction drawn between the three, they were used interchangeably. Our divisions of things spiritual and holy are ours alone, his lines are drawn between his presence and things not of him.
it is a great blessing, and a means of grace to us. Paul called it a
grace given to him to be allowed to preach; and every form of Christian
service may become a personal blessing to those engaged in it. Those
who have most fellowship with Christ are not recluses or hermits, who
have much time to spare, but indefatigable labourers who are toiling
for Jesus, and who, in their toil, have him side by side with them, so
that they are workers together with God. Let us remember then, in
anything we have to do for Jesus, that we can do it, and should do it
in close communion with him."-CHS
"Can't say I was never wrong
But some blame rests on you
Work and pray they're never okay
To mix the way we do". - Jimmy Eat World.
Far too much of our grace work has been reviled as a chore, for some recondite purpose that has gilded itself into Christian convention. Ot appears when we ask question why are aspects of our faith journey paralleled on some linear plane? Are the concepts of prayer. grace, labor and forgiveness not communicable as are apportioned? Or rather, is it our inability to extrapolate such ideas from the container in which they rest to a recipe in which the fullness of God rises to.
Why do we continue to perpetuate the notion that the stillness of God coincides with the stillness of our feet? While Paul found moments for restful contemplation, his feet never remained still for long.
Too often we still think of acts of worship as isolated or solitary events, rather that the fullness of the experience gifted though the spirit's work. For so much as we observe quiet time, we must be mindful of the idea that solitude with God does not provision us with more Fellowship than another, and does not enable us to a place of grace that cannot only be found though silence.
The Hebrew word "Avad" is the same meaning for worship, work and service. There was no distinction drawn between the three, they were used interchangeably. Our divisions of things spiritual and holy are ours alone, his lines are drawn between his presence and things not of him.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Come Away.
"Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away."
-- Song of Solomon 2:10
Further and further from everything selfish, grovelling, worldly, sinful, he calls me; yea, from the outwardly religious world which knows him not, and has no sympathy with the mystery of the higher life, he calls me. "Come away" has no harsh sound in it to my ear, for what is there to hold me in this wilderness of vanity and sin? O my Lord, would that I could come away, but I am taken among the thorns, and cannot escape from them as I would. I would, if it were possible, have neither eyes, nor ears, nor heart for sin. Thou callest me to thyself by saying "Come away."
I struggle with vacations. I'm in no way diametrically opposed to the practice, or is there any harboring partiality not for my peers who do. However, I do struggle with the lack of purpose and the lack of direction when I'm there. I feel as if my efforts should long towards undertaking a more constructive endeavor. A friend asked me to go on a vacation recently, and mistook my hesitancy for vacations as apprehension towards her. Vacations I am wary of, Travel, on the other hand, is something I am not wary of. The truth is, I have no apprehensions about travel. I think there is a strong distinction in the way we, or at least I, look at travel.
"Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the Festival of Pentecost. But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.
When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now. I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears.I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus." - Acts 20:16-21
The machinations of Paul's passage though middle Asia are curious, but only so much as we are meant to understand. Why was the Pentecost Festival so important to return to? Why did it have priority over his work in lower-Asia?
I think with Paul this was a lesson of priorities. For in so much as the festival may have offered tangible visions of the glory of God's work, he realized that the celebration of the gospel could not be allowed repudiate or supplant the message that was being brought forth to this world. Or more aptly, he was emphasizing the duality of both of both message and the joy that accompanies, and how there is a progression stemming from the beginning of the word to when it was made complete.
Paul thought no less of a journey to Jerusalem then a return to Ephesus. And perhaps, without knowing the dynamics of such a time, would lead some to believe that Ephesus would be of smaller importance. But to Paul, it wasn't. He didn't say much upon his stop in Mitelus, but what he did bore hope to a nation.
I think often when our hearts are fixed on the destination, our pursuit after the appearance of joyousness can obscure our peripherals to what the journey can speak into us. Spurgeon pronounces that,"Come away" has no harsh sound in it to my ear, for what is there to hold me in this wilderness of vanity and sin?" When he calls us to the pursuit of his kingdom, he makes no note of the destination, but only that of the journey. For vacation removes the wonder of the journey, keeps us tied to the vanity of the destination. When did you ever hear of one to say, "I am not so much visiting Disneyworld, but yet embarking on a journey. The destination is no paramount, but the pilgrimage is of the utmost."
Indeed, my aversion to vacation and longing for pilgrimage is far less noble than that of Paul, yet the aspirations of my heart and my service to him convict me to hope for the application of such wisdom in my own walk.
Because I have been made complete in his love, he hath not cast me to merely a landing place, but to a calling, a completeness of a mission, and to travels to lands not yet seen.
"Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away."
It's gonna be wild. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be full of me.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
"And there will be Sorrow no more....."
"Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." - Matthew 26:38
Sorrow may come like a cloud of gloom, but our vision of it may not be deep, lest we never be awakened to the hope that awaits.
It's somewhat comforting, although in a contradistinctive sense than that of man. The wholeness of our savior's human nature - his soul - was inhabited deep affliction and vast melancholy. Our sorrows are rarely borne from the presence of the spirit, rather when we draw at a distance, situate ourselves in places foreign to the spirit in which we co-habitate. Our further dissociation with the promises we have come to recognize as believers lends us to the cumbersome malaise that God is not present. In "Beginning to Pray", Anthony Bloom tells that "True prayer precludes all conscious and unconscious attempts to manipulate God," in so much as in our endeavor of manipulating the promises to fit our ends, we have lowered ourselves to a plane beneath the fullness of him.
Spurgeon excises this to sat that ours pleas to God need not feel like a shout to an empty sky, but rather an urge to what is already complete.
"If you have a divine promise, you need not plead it with an "if," you may urge it with certainty. The Lord meant to fulfil the promise, or he would not have given it. God does not give his words merely to quiet us, and to keep us hopeful for awhile with the intention of putting us off at last; but when he speaks, it is because he means to do as he has said"
In Genesis 32, When Jacob was on the side of the brook being pursued by Esau was coming with his army, Jacob sought God's protection, and to him he pleaded, "And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good." The plea was not borne of aloofness or braggadocio, rather of the sorrow that brooded over his coming moments. In so much that man is capable, he was holding God to his word when he said, "Thou saidst."
The sufferings of death are the most in which we will ever be knowledgeable of; such it is and those sufferings are therefore put forth incommunicable anguish. The meaning of the verse might be deciphered as: My sorrows are so abundant that the weight of the burden shall crush me; for with this anxiety of mind, I seem to endure what is greater than death!
Jesus is warning his disciples to abstain from sleep, be vigilant, and be on guard against danger. in doing so, he is sympathetic to their plight, and encourages unity in the pursuit of divine support, and to forever be ready for advancing dangers.
Just as Christ used the sorrow to fulfill what is to come, so must we be vigilant in our pursuit of divine support.
Sorrow may come like a cloud of gloom, but our vision of it may not be deep, lest we never be awakened to the hope that awaits.
It's somewhat comforting, although in a contradistinctive sense than that of man. The wholeness of our savior's human nature - his soul - was inhabited deep affliction and vast melancholy. Our sorrows are rarely borne from the presence of the spirit, rather when we draw at a distance, situate ourselves in places foreign to the spirit in which we co-habitate. Our further dissociation with the promises we have come to recognize as believers lends us to the cumbersome malaise that God is not present. In "Beginning to Pray", Anthony Bloom tells that "True prayer precludes all conscious and unconscious attempts to manipulate God," in so much as in our endeavor of manipulating the promises to fit our ends, we have lowered ourselves to a plane beneath the fullness of him.
Spurgeon excises this to sat that ours pleas to God need not feel like a shout to an empty sky, but rather an urge to what is already complete.
"If you have a divine promise, you need not plead it with an "if," you may urge it with certainty. The Lord meant to fulfil the promise, or he would not have given it. God does not give his words merely to quiet us, and to keep us hopeful for awhile with the intention of putting us off at last; but when he speaks, it is because he means to do as he has said"
In Genesis 32, When Jacob was on the side of the brook being pursued by Esau was coming with his army, Jacob sought God's protection, and to him he pleaded, "And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good." The plea was not borne of aloofness or braggadocio, rather of the sorrow that brooded over his coming moments. In so much that man is capable, he was holding God to his word when he said, "Thou saidst."
The sufferings of death are the most in which we will ever be knowledgeable of; such it is and those sufferings are therefore put forth incommunicable anguish. The meaning of the verse might be deciphered as: My sorrows are so abundant that the weight of the burden shall crush me; for with this anxiety of mind, I seem to endure what is greater than death!
Jesus is warning his disciples to abstain from sleep, be vigilant, and be on guard against danger. in doing so, he is sympathetic to their plight, and encourages unity in the pursuit of divine support, and to forever be ready for advancing dangers.
Just as Christ used the sorrow to fulfill what is to come, so must we be vigilant in our pursuit of divine support.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Open Up
Every blossoming flower warns you that it is time to seek the Lord; be not out of tune with nature, but let your heart bud and bloom with holy desires. Do you tell me that the warm blood of youth leaps in your veins? then, I entreat you, give your vigour to the Lord. Every blossoming flower warns you that it is time to seek the Lord; be not out of tune with nature, but let your heart bud and bloom with holy desires. Do you tell me that the warm blood of youth leaps in your veins? then, I entreat you, give your vigour to the Lord.
This month of April is said to derive its name from the Latin verb aperio, which signifies to open, because all the buds and blossoms are now opening, and we have arrived at the gates of the flowery year.
I've never thought of the blossoming flower as warning, but perhaps it would be wise to. When the flower is open, God exposes us to the fullness of nature. In that same regard, when God opens an opportunity in his kingdom, the fullness of his glory can be found there. Almost as God saying, my season has arrived, act now before it withers forever. There's a correlation between our awareness of nature and our awareness of God. The glory of nature allows the wholeness of his kingdom to be arrived by our senses, and rouse our souls and desires back awake.
I just had a birthday a few weeks ago. 29 years of life. I don't feel 29, not even close. I have felt the exact same age for the last seven years.
I remember highlights of days in the last decades. But the whole truth of it is I don't feel like I've gained very much. In knowledge and wisdom, perhaps that's understated. I've always been well adept at memorizing and recounting numbers and figures. But actual tangible memories? They always seem less satisfying than they should.
Dis-satisfaction is often how the Lord entreats my heart to again move.
My default state is always going to be one where I circumlocute from praise. Not because of present humility (to which I address every day, yet the human conditions bilks this), but consequently out of a fear of that praise. No day has gone by that I have ever felt worthy. And I always endure as a distraction for the next thing.
I speak to you as best I can by paper and ink, and from my inmost soul, as God's servant, I lay before you this warning, "It is time to seek the Lord." Slight not that work, it may be your last call from destruction, the final syllable from the lip of grace.
Out of Touch
"Is it not strange, the darkest hour
That ever dawned on sinful earth,
Should touch the heart with softer power, For comfort,
than an angel's mirth?
That to the Cross the mourner's eye should turn, Sooner
than where the stars of Bethlehem burn?"
Touch is one of the most profound senses we have the pleasure to experience in our existence. For all our eyes tell us, the world would simply be a collection of colors and pictures. For all our ears would tell us, our world would just become a chorus of noise and random volumes. But our ability to tough allows us to feel a level of depth in the world what we otherwise would not. Our ability to tough rarely ends with our physical grasp, rather the bounds of our reach are existential, producing an energy and conveyance so powerful that all of our other faculties cannot register. Though touch, we can experience coldness even on the hottest days, experience friction in the smoothest of places, and hardness on even the softest of ground.
The trigger of the sound of the conch shell is not the sound of the waves nor the asperous exterior, rather than the seed of longing the sense plants in the soul. While the experience of the conch reminds of the vastness of the oceans, it merely reminds of the desire for the fullness of the ocean, not simply for the object.
And so it is when we come about Calvary. We make our annual pilgrimage past the consolatory cross that sits upon the hill. The hill on it's own standing would have been much forgotten, but the drops of blood that fell at the feet consecrated the ground beyond what is earthly. Yet for the pain that befell both man and savior on that Friday, no hill in all of man carries that gladness and hope that was borne in that hill.
For without that hill, without that death, our feelings might well end on the surface of the living and the dead. Then heights and depths of his love that extend a reach further than we were build to experience. Out of darkness came triumph. Though his grave came the temple. Through his blood came grace.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Dont Speak.
"He answered him to never a word."
-- Matthew 27:14
Is not patient silence the best reply to a gainsaying world?
Silence as a tool is a difficult thing to master. We have grown accustomed to a natural flow of conversation, a consistent transition from one topic to another.
My prevailing stasis tends to be one of silence. That's not always intentional. Actually, most of the time it causes me greater discomfort than it does peace. My roomate told me twice this weekend of his both need and desire to throughly "process" information, which for him, is first digesting, and then assembling, those bits of information into something rational, and then applicable.
We tend to place great value on those in our society who are quickly able to to digest and respond to information. Though, seemingly less so on those who digest and consider, analyze and evaluate to a larger scope.
We have almost come to a point where immediate response is conditioned. In the riles of conflict, it is expected that we say something. Say anything! If you remain silent, it clearly trends towards carelessness or indifference. Silence his now regarded as a message of tacit approval. If you do not render a response, either approval or repudiation, you are merely a bystander, an observer, and possibly complicit, depending on the nature of the presentation.
This is purely societal, an adaption of ideals and mores, and a departure from bibilical truths. In fact, as Spurgeon writes,
"Evidently our Lord, by his silence, furnished a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy. A long defence of himself would have been contrary to Isaiah's prediction (Isaiah 53:7). "He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." By his quiet he conclusively proved himself to be the true Lamb of God."
Isaiah is speaking to the silence of Jesus exhibited as he departed for cavalry. Was there much that Jesus could have imparted to those around him on the way there? Doubtless. However, Jesus silence painted the gravity of what was to come about, and the weight of sin that he must bear. Was this singular silence the index of his perfect self- sacrifice?
"Was this silence a type of the defencelessness of sin? Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; and, therefore, he who bore its whole weight stood speechless before his judge. Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence."
We try to conjure well-laid prose and utterances that we can somehow assuage the pain and reality of the sinfulness that we engage our souls in. Nothing said from one man to another could ever remove this guilt, or provide any permanent healing to it's ends. That only comes with the surrender of all to a king.
However, it is my experience that our tongues become less sharp under the iron of grace, and rarely are teeth gnashing when the word of God is passing though one's lips.
My challenge and prayer is that perhaps, we start to condition ourselves to look at silent expression and response no longer as a indicator of indifference, or apathy, rather, as a careful consideration of the weight of words and moments, and how they relate and connect to grander things.
-- Matthew 27:14
Is not patient silence the best reply to a gainsaying world?
Silence as a tool is a difficult thing to master. We have grown accustomed to a natural flow of conversation, a consistent transition from one topic to another.
My prevailing stasis tends to be one of silence. That's not always intentional. Actually, most of the time it causes me greater discomfort than it does peace. My roomate told me twice this weekend of his both need and desire to throughly "process" information, which for him, is first digesting, and then assembling, those bits of information into something rational, and then applicable.
We tend to place great value on those in our society who are quickly able to to digest and respond to information. Though, seemingly less so on those who digest and consider, analyze and evaluate to a larger scope.
We have almost come to a point where immediate response is conditioned. In the riles of conflict, it is expected that we say something. Say anything! If you remain silent, it clearly trends towards carelessness or indifference. Silence his now regarded as a message of tacit approval. If you do not render a response, either approval or repudiation, you are merely a bystander, an observer, and possibly complicit, depending on the nature of the presentation.
This is purely societal, an adaption of ideals and mores, and a departure from bibilical truths. In fact, as Spurgeon writes,
"Evidently our Lord, by his silence, furnished a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy. A long defence of himself would have been contrary to Isaiah's prediction (Isaiah 53:7). "He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." By his quiet he conclusively proved himself to be the true Lamb of God."
Isaiah is speaking to the silence of Jesus exhibited as he departed for cavalry. Was there much that Jesus could have imparted to those around him on the way there? Doubtless. However, Jesus silence painted the gravity of what was to come about, and the weight of sin that he must bear. Was this singular silence the index of his perfect self- sacrifice?
"Was this silence a type of the defencelessness of sin? Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; and, therefore, he who bore its whole weight stood speechless before his judge. Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence."
We try to conjure well-laid prose and utterances that we can somehow assuage the pain and reality of the sinfulness that we engage our souls in. Nothing said from one man to another could ever remove this guilt, or provide any permanent healing to it's ends. That only comes with the surrender of all to a king.
However, it is my experience that our tongues become less sharp under the iron of grace, and rarely are teeth gnashing when the word of God is passing though one's lips.
My challenge and prayer is that perhaps, we start to condition ourselves to look at silent expression and response no longer as a indicator of indifference, or apathy, rather, as a careful consideration of the weight of words and moments, and how they relate and connect to grander things.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Presents of God
"Hours for the world! Moments for Christ! The world has the best, and our closet the
parings of our time. We give our strength and freshness to the ways of mammon, and
our fatigue and languor to the ways of God."
He uses two outdated words here. Mammon, which means great wealth, and languor, which means fatigued to the point of collapse.
Jesus wasn't just born to die, he came to live. His preparations and labors over years and years weren't a preparation for his death, they were a preparation for life.
Jesus was the master of not allowing the present supersede eternity, while simultaneously glorifying each hour and minute of the day. Glory means giving the full substance and weight of who God is, consequently who Jesus is. Substance is defined though our wholeness in Christ, who is complete, fulfilling and developed. When we entangle ourselves wholly in the emotions of the moment, we often fail to recognize the scope of his glory as it relates to us. We recognize only the small and mundane, and miss the weightier presence of glory.
This causes two fallouts within ourselves. First, It distracts from us being the conduits of God that we were intended to be. What weight can we carry, what path can we follow without the sight of his horizon? The second thing it does is it segue's praises of God back to the hearts of men. We are granted ownership of things we do create without attributing to him to who credit is due. And we spend countless hours trying to make calculations on life that we do not have the capacity for. The only one who has that kind of time, and perspective, is the king.
"And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” (1 Peter 1:17 NLT)"
Spurgeon is trying to put our pursuits on it's proper scope. We aren't foreigners in this land, yet we treat earth as if it is our permanent home. While we speak of proudly and boastfully about our pursuit of God, the soles of our shoes are barely worn.
I don't adjust well to seasonal changes in my life. I tend to dwell too long in the decision phase, and miss opportunities for real growth. My prayers this week are about steering towards eternal things, not towards the temporary.
parings of our time. We give our strength and freshness to the ways of mammon, and
our fatigue and languor to the ways of God."
He uses two outdated words here. Mammon, which means great wealth, and languor, which means fatigued to the point of collapse.
Jesus wasn't just born to die, he came to live. His preparations and labors over years and years weren't a preparation for his death, they were a preparation for life.
Jesus was the master of not allowing the present supersede eternity, while simultaneously glorifying each hour and minute of the day. Glory means giving the full substance and weight of who God is, consequently who Jesus is. Substance is defined though our wholeness in Christ, who is complete, fulfilling and developed. When we entangle ourselves wholly in the emotions of the moment, we often fail to recognize the scope of his glory as it relates to us. We recognize only the small and mundane, and miss the weightier presence of glory.
This causes two fallouts within ourselves. First, It distracts from us being the conduits of God that we were intended to be. What weight can we carry, what path can we follow without the sight of his horizon? The second thing it does is it segue's praises of God back to the hearts of men. We are granted ownership of things we do create without attributing to him to who credit is due. And we spend countless hours trying to make calculations on life that we do not have the capacity for. The only one who has that kind of time, and perspective, is the king.
"And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” (1 Peter 1:17 NLT)"
Spurgeon is trying to put our pursuits on it's proper scope. We aren't foreigners in this land, yet we treat earth as if it is our permanent home. While we speak of proudly and boastfully about our pursuit of God, the soles of our shoes are barely worn.
I don't adjust well to seasonal changes in my life. I tend to dwell too long in the decision phase, and miss opportunities for real growth. My prayers this week are about steering towards eternal things, not towards the temporary.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Changes
"Make as few changes as you can; trees often transplanted bear little fruit. If you have
difficulties in one place you will have them in another; if you move because it is damp
in the valley, you may find it cold on the hill. Where will the ass go that he will not
have to work? Where can a cow live and not get milked? Where will you find land
without stones, or meat without bones?"
They (the early church) were so generous that they threw in their property into a
common stock lest any should be in need. They were not communists, they were
Christians; and the difference between a communist and a Christian is this—a
communist says, “All yours is mine;” while a Christian says, “all mine is yours;” and
that is a very different thing. The one is for getting, and the other for giving."
The theme for this week has been the idea that in ministry, we are in a season of change. That we like change, that we need change. That change is a part of everything that we do.
Ironically almost everything Spurgeon writes points away from most forms of change being a departure from good sense.
We make bad trees when we are in new soil. When we are planted in ground that we know is fertinel, we tend to spring up towards the sun a little bit more.
Last night we had a meeting trying to define what ministry to this generation of the church is going to look like. It was one of the better church related meetings I have been a part of. Perhaps some of that has to do with the urgency of the situation that he body is encountering. I think we fool ourselves into thinking we have a lot more time than we do. Our moments here are very limited, as soon as we grow, we quickly wither. But the more time we spend in the sun, the higher we grow and the brighter we glow.
Affirmation is something that doesn't grow in every forest. It's something that requires that the right conditions be present in order to truly flourish. There is a paradox being dwan within the first phrase. CH is not advocating that we abstain from forward motion, rather, we should evaluate the motives that draw us in certain distractions. Sometimes we need to recognize that stopping in a desert oasis keeps us from pressing on towards the ocean shore. It may satisfy temporarily but oh how much greater refreshment we would find on the shore.
When trying to rebuild a ministry, it is important that efforts to provide for the the needs of the flock not stop short of the complete experience. Often we settle for the functional and the existent rather than follow the trail the whole way though to completion. This is my biggest fear and my loudest response in prayer. That the sustaining element throughout this journey, the flame of the Holy Spirit, may yet carry and endure all the way though. That not only that this ministry be revived, but that it may thrive in an existence it has not yet known.
difficulties in one place you will have them in another; if you move because it is damp
in the valley, you may find it cold on the hill. Where will the ass go that he will not
have to work? Where can a cow live and not get milked? Where will you find land
without stones, or meat without bones?"
They (the early church) were so generous that they threw in their property into a
common stock lest any should be in need. They were not communists, they were
Christians; and the difference between a communist and a Christian is this—a
communist says, “All yours is mine;” while a Christian says, “all mine is yours;” and
that is a very different thing. The one is for getting, and the other for giving."
The theme for this week has been the idea that in ministry, we are in a season of change. That we like change, that we need change. That change is a part of everything that we do.
Ironically almost everything Spurgeon writes points away from most forms of change being a departure from good sense.
We make bad trees when we are in new soil. When we are planted in ground that we know is fertinel, we tend to spring up towards the sun a little bit more.
Last night we had a meeting trying to define what ministry to this generation of the church is going to look like. It was one of the better church related meetings I have been a part of. Perhaps some of that has to do with the urgency of the situation that he body is encountering. I think we fool ourselves into thinking we have a lot more time than we do. Our moments here are very limited, as soon as we grow, we quickly wither. But the more time we spend in the sun, the higher we grow and the brighter we glow.
Affirmation is something that doesn't grow in every forest. It's something that requires that the right conditions be present in order to truly flourish. There is a paradox being dwan within the first phrase. CH is not advocating that we abstain from forward motion, rather, we should evaluate the motives that draw us in certain distractions. Sometimes we need to recognize that stopping in a desert oasis keeps us from pressing on towards the ocean shore. It may satisfy temporarily but oh how much greater refreshment we would find on the shore.
When trying to rebuild a ministry, it is important that efforts to provide for the the needs of the flock not stop short of the complete experience. Often we settle for the functional and the existent rather than follow the trail the whole way though to completion. This is my biggest fear and my loudest response in prayer. That the sustaining element throughout this journey, the flame of the Holy Spirit, may yet carry and endure all the way though. That not only that this ministry be revived, but that it may thrive in an existence it has not yet known.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The End?
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders
away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the
hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish." - Matthew 18: 12-14.
To this objection, S. John Damascene replies, that in God we must distinguish two distinct wills; the one antecedent, the other consequent. A person wills a thing antecedently, when he wills it merely as considered in itself. For instance, a prince wishes his subjects to live, in as much as they are all his subjects. But a person wills a thing consequently, when he will a thing in consideration of some particular circumstance. Thus, though the king wishes all his subject to live, he nevertheless wills that some should die, if they turn traitors, or disorganize the peace of society. In the same manner, the Almighty wishes none of his little ones to perish, in as much as they are all his creatures, made to his own image, and destined for the kingdom of glory; though it is equally certain that he wills the eternal punishment of many who have turned away from his service, and followed iniquity. If we observe this distinction, it is easy to see what our Saviour meant, when he said that it was not the will of his Father that any of these little ones should perish.
As with any ministry, there are more than a few moving parts to decisions as large as ending a church gathering, and a lot of variables to be considered. My vantage point from atop my booth is a very unique one, one that had a physical downward slant to it, but one that allows for the identification and discernment of human recomposes and notational responses.
Unto which we debate two core rationales offered up as the reasoning why this transitioning need occur.
One seems like a well-intentioned statement, but without any practical application can very become furloughed in a ministerial purgatory. What in practical application does this look like? How does one call a congregation to the type of unity that this requires? How do you mobilize a generation to connect in that way? How do you encourage the older generation to connect with a newer generation? How do yo create practical opportunities for inter generational growth?
Am I concerned about all of this? Of course. Coinciding with the gift of eternal salvation, we have a calling on our lives to Shepard the lost. We have gentiles within our midst. In so much as Grace was a camp, many souls wander in and out of its cover. We must be continually mindful that there's an urgency to this. Sometimes we estimate ourselves more time than we necessarily have. For some, there cannot be a season of planning. For some, that time is now. For some, there must be urgency. Just like the man searching for his lost sheep, Shepard must go searching for the missing in their flock. The fields of the gates have fallen, the journey for the Shepard has become longer than it was before.
I owe a great deal of spiritual growth to my church. What I have gained in spiritual treasure will forever be priceless to me. In turn, I like many others, have offered part of myself to the development of the community. I think what makes such a change the difficult thing for the builders, those who offer their hands and minds to the building of this community. If the foundation fades, you feel as all of your efforts have been in vain.
It's important to take stead in wisdom's port, however. Sometimes his greatest works rise out of broken circumstances. Mark 12 says:
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes"
To this objection, S. John Damascene replies, that in God we must distinguish two distinct wills; the one antecedent, the other consequent. A person wills a thing antecedently, when he wills it merely as considered in itself. For instance, a prince wishes his subjects to live, in as much as they are all his subjects. But a person wills a thing consequently, when he will a thing in consideration of some particular circumstance. Thus, though the king wishes all his subject to live, he nevertheless wills that some should die, if they turn traitors, or disorganize the peace of society. In the same manner, the Almighty wishes none of his little ones to perish, in as much as they are all his creatures, made to his own image, and destined for the kingdom of glory; though it is equally certain that he wills the eternal punishment of many who have turned away from his service, and followed iniquity. If we observe this distinction, it is easy to see what our Saviour meant, when he said that it was not the will of his Father that any of these little ones should perish.
As with any ministry, there are more than a few moving parts to decisions as large as ending a church gathering, and a lot of variables to be considered. My vantage point from atop my booth is a very unique one, one that had a physical downward slant to it, but one that allows for the identification and discernment of human recomposes and notational responses.
Unto which we debate two core rationales offered up as the reasoning why this transitioning need occur.
- The idea that unity needs to be established to a greater degree within the church body.
- The idea that many will depart from this church and join other churches.
One seems like a well-intentioned statement, but without any practical application can very become furloughed in a ministerial purgatory. What in practical application does this look like? How does one call a congregation to the type of unity that this requires? How do you mobilize a generation to connect in that way? How do you encourage the older generation to connect with a newer generation? How do yo create practical opportunities for inter generational growth?
Am I concerned about all of this? Of course. Coinciding with the gift of eternal salvation, we have a calling on our lives to Shepard the lost. We have gentiles within our midst. In so much as Grace was a camp, many souls wander in and out of its cover. We must be continually mindful that there's an urgency to this. Sometimes we estimate ourselves more time than we necessarily have. For some, there cannot be a season of planning. For some, that time is now. For some, there must be urgency. Just like the man searching for his lost sheep, Shepard must go searching for the missing in their flock. The fields of the gates have fallen, the journey for the Shepard has become longer than it was before.
I owe a great deal of spiritual growth to my church. What I have gained in spiritual treasure will forever be priceless to me. In turn, I like many others, have offered part of myself to the development of the community. I think what makes such a change the difficult thing for the builders, those who offer their hands and minds to the building of this community. If the foundation fades, you feel as all of your efforts have been in vain.
It's important to take stead in wisdom's port, however. Sometimes his greatest works rise out of broken circumstances. Mark 12 says:
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes"
When the Isrealites were wandering the wilderness, they were continually exposed
to change. There was no compass, nary a destination, but God's declarations were clear. Deliver. In my name.
In Numbers 21, those in pursuit of God had little time for rest. The world around them was in constant motion, and required constant motion or be crushed underfoot.
Whenever the pillar stayed its motion, the tents were
pitched; but tomorrow, ere the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, the
ark was in motion, and the fiery, cloudy pillar was leading the way through the
narrow defiles of the mountain, up the hill side, or along the arid waste of
the wilderness. They had scarcely time to rest a little before they heard the
sound of "Away! this is not your rest; you must still be onward journeying
towards Canaan!" They were never long in one place.
Throughout the passage of the Israelites, two things never changed - the continual habitation in the presence of the Lord, and a constant pilgrimage towards the eternal kingdom. As believers, as men and women growing in the faith, we must carry out this pilgrimage regardless of how the world unfolds.
However the pilgrimage does not change. The great commission has not changed. The lost still must be found. The young still must grow. The old still must be made wiser. Nothing is lost of what you don't allow yourself to lose. In the places where old Foundations used to sit, new ones must be built.
My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Let
prospects be blighted; let hopes be blasted; let joy be withered; let mildews
destroy everything; I have lost nothing of what I have in God. He is "my
strong habitation whereunto I can continually resort." I am a pilgrim in
the world, but at home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in
a quiet habitation.
There is still much to be done. My hopeful prayer is that this church, this generation, does not fall into a slumber. But rather creates a new foundation where former ones lie.
There is still much to be done. My hopeful prayer is that this church, this generation, does not fall into a slumber. But rather creates a new foundation where former ones lie.
Forgiveness.
"Ours is a mission of grace and peace; we are not prosecutors who search out
condemnatory evidence, but friends whose love would cover a multitude of offences.
The peeping eyes of Canaan, the son of Ham, shall never be in our employ; we prefer
the pious delicacy of Shem and Japheth, who went backward and covered the shame
which the child of evil had published with glee".
I witnessed a friend the other night in the midst of a heated dispute with the friends. It was an interesting study in the the failings of conflict management, both parties determined to make their point and will more resonating than the other, all the while any sense of cooperation and communication dissipating into the night air. What was remarkable about the discussion is there was little disagreement into the two ideas at the heart of the conflict, nay, it was for some parts the same idea. Yet, the the ideas that were at the center of it were not the core of the dispute. the core stemmed from other, unspoken conflicts, other disappointments, deeply buried words and scars they had inflicted upon each other that had never been fully vetted, or healed.
We never choose to go to battle over a single issue, or a single wound to the heart. The forces of the world are never delivered by ranged artillery, rather, they are constant, guerrilla style assaults coming from all angles and directions. We rarely venture forth with hearts filled with compromise and understanding. We wield clenched fists and vicious words meant to tear down an adversary instead of discovering a place of peace.
There isn't a why question into why we do this. We know why we do it. We are sinful people in a broken world. And while the degree of which we let pour out over each other varies, we tend to make very poor arbiters of righteousness.
I love how Spurgeon talks of love covering expenses. We can draw an analogy to insurance. Love insurance. If you've hurt a Friend, don't worry, love insurance has it covered. If you've spoken harshly to a co-worker, worry not, Love insurance has it covered. What an insurance payout that comes with loving others!
Romans 13:8 says, "Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law"
Paul points to the fact that we so often look to make things right by our own accord when we don't even understand what justice is. We have our own justice we maintain as part of a society, but that isn't the justice of God. Isaiah 64 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
We have enough insurance to cover our faults and the faults of others. If you haven't bought into a new policy lately, think about making an investment.
condemnatory evidence, but friends whose love would cover a multitude of offences.
The peeping eyes of Canaan, the son of Ham, shall never be in our employ; we prefer
the pious delicacy of Shem and Japheth, who went backward and covered the shame
which the child of evil had published with glee".
I witnessed a friend the other night in the midst of a heated dispute with the friends. It was an interesting study in the the failings of conflict management, both parties determined to make their point and will more resonating than the other, all the while any sense of cooperation and communication dissipating into the night air. What was remarkable about the discussion is there was little disagreement into the two ideas at the heart of the conflict, nay, it was for some parts the same idea. Yet, the the ideas that were at the center of it were not the core of the dispute. the core stemmed from other, unspoken conflicts, other disappointments, deeply buried words and scars they had inflicted upon each other that had never been fully vetted, or healed.
We never choose to go to battle over a single issue, or a single wound to the heart. The forces of the world are never delivered by ranged artillery, rather, they are constant, guerrilla style assaults coming from all angles and directions. We rarely venture forth with hearts filled with compromise and understanding. We wield clenched fists and vicious words meant to tear down an adversary instead of discovering a place of peace.
There isn't a why question into why we do this. We know why we do it. We are sinful people in a broken world. And while the degree of which we let pour out over each other varies, we tend to make very poor arbiters of righteousness.
I love how Spurgeon talks of love covering expenses. We can draw an analogy to insurance. Love insurance. If you've hurt a Friend, don't worry, love insurance has it covered. If you've spoken harshly to a co-worker, worry not, Love insurance has it covered. What an insurance payout that comes with loving others!
Romans 13:8 says, "Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law"
Paul points to the fact that we so often look to make things right by our own accord when we don't even understand what justice is. We have our own justice we maintain as part of a society, but that isn't the justice of God. Isaiah 64 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
We have enough insurance to cover our faults and the faults of others. If you haven't bought into a new policy lately, think about making an investment.
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