It's time

Tonight, John 14 is giving me strength. A part of the chapter hit me tonight, that has not done so before. Sure, there is "Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me...in My Father's house...I'll come back for you (paraphrased)" (v. 1-4), the huge, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (v. 6). There's the revealing the Father, answering prayers, the Holy Spirit, love, and the giving of peculiar peace. However, the thing that sticks out tonight, is the last statement of the chapter. Jesus said, "I am going away so that the world may know that I love the Father. Just as the Father commanded Me, so I do." Then He says, "Get up; let's leave this place."

"Get up"
It's time to be propelled into action. Once you know your identity at Jesus' feet - abiding, it's time to move. To step out. To obey.

"It's time to leave this place."
Not that this place is bad. It's just that your destiny lies in obedience. The Christian life is not just "what is Jesus saying?" it is "what are you going to do about it?"

God told Abram to go into his destiny. He told Joshua to "be strong and courageous" as he led Israel into their destiny. And that night, Jesus turned to His confused proteges and said, "Get up; it's time to leave this place." They would watch what that meant, and eventually they would imitate Him.

What is He saying to you?
And what are you going to do about it?

Being Dangerous

Too long have followers of Jesus settled for religious compliance and inoffensive comportment. Too long have rank and file Christians delegated the dangerous life of following Jesus to the professionals, believing them best suited for the radical engagement with the world that Jesus models. Too long have we believed that the highest goal of Christianity is conforming people to good behavior, getting folks to follow the rules, making people nice.
Now is the time to raise our danger quotient.
Now is the time for us to move from bland church drones into followers of the living Christ who are potent for the purposes of God and a mortal threat to the enemy of our souls (Sellers, 2012, p. 1)

In my journey of restructuring my life into a community (extended-family) on mission, I've started reading the book fresh off the press, entitled: The Dangerous Kind by Graeme Sellers. It's a book that I've been waiting a while for, and it's been well worth the wait. Being the dangerous kind of Christian has been a key message of my friend Graeme, and the timely print of his words are resonating along side of where the Lord has been leading me. He writes,

For years most of our Christian activity has been church-centered, and our service to God was weighed by how much we did on behalf of our local fellowship. We've contented ourselves with being somewhat moral, going to church, and helping our church become more successful. This is a far cry from being dangerous. Our understanding of God's activity and call must expand beyond the wall of the local church. Becoming dangerous entails moving from church to kingdom in our thinking and acting (p. 5).

Western Christianity has been built on an interventional mentality of church, where the clergy mediates on behalf of the church - a far cry from the invitation of the carpenter from Nazareth. Rather, the incarnational approach is what we're invited into. Where we ragamuffin humans are beckoned into an adventure of carrying the Good News of Jesus the Christ into a hurting, broken, and often cynical world. The mission can't only be only for the church professional - it be belongs to the Church - every body in the Body. He goes on,

In these days having excellent ministry skills is not enough. Attending conferences, reading books, and holding 24-hour prayer meetings are insufficient. All of these can be helpful, but none are adequate for the task at hand. The task is dangerous living, existing from the radical missional call of Christ, risking everything for the sake of the King who called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light. It is a hazardous enterprise because we do not go forward unopposed (p. 5).

And that is the invitation.

Now don't worry, I'm not going to blog every chapter. Graeme's words may show up this week, though, as I make my way through the book. I do recommend the book, though. It's time for the Church to be the good kind of dangerous instead of the bad. Dangerous to the Enemy and ignited to make an unyielding incarnational proclamation of the Kingdom of God. To see His Kingdom come and His will be done...

Reference:
Sellers, G. (2012). The Dangerous Kind. AZ: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.

A Spiritually Hungry Introvert with a Yearning for Simplicity and a Call to Living in a Jesus Shaped Community: the red pill, part one

I'm hungry for God, and to see Him made manifest through my life.

I'm an introvert. I love people, but too much interaction tires me out and leaves me comatose...or at least grumpy.

I am forever in search of simplicity. However, to avoid having to explain it to people, I call it "efficiency," or some other 'cover.'

And I want to be a part of a Body that will lay down their lives to be Jesus followers. Not Jesus fans. Fans die out when it's not popular. Jesus wants followers. (We see an example of this in John 6:60-71)

Maybe it's time for a contemplative series.

I think I'll call it "The Red Pill." When on vacation, I stayed up late one night watching The Matrix - a true classic. The red pill, of course refers to when the character Morpheus was challenging the hero, Neo, to his destined adventure, when he said, "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." We're created for another world, not one of cyber-friendships, technological clutter, and self-seeking religion (self-righteousness). While I realize that this all seems very Wendell Berry-ish, I'm not trying to be anti-technology (after all, I'm typing on a computer and posting it to the world-wide-web, where it will be suspended in word oblivion to be read by a few wandering and probably bored strangers). The fact of it is that we humans just seem to habitually crave the fleeting over the eternal out of convenience, or laziness...or maybe fear.

I believe in this moment Jesus Christ invites us, "Come follow Me..." The moment is now.

Let's take the red pill.

Good Friday

Jesus didn’t go to the cross so we wouldn’t have to. He went to the cross so we could join him there. - Dallas Willard

Last night we had some friends over to sit, have wine, have bread and talk about Jesus. Very informal. We had the movie The Gospel of John playing in the background, and during that time we talked about our favorite Jesus account. One thing turned to another in the conversation and somehow we ended up talking about suffering. It got me thinking, because as we talked I found that a distinction needs to be made in the way we think about suffering.

On one hand there is the distortion of sanctification through suffering, that it is the process of suffering that makes me holy. Daily looking for a (physical) 'martyr's death'/suffering, or even (as we see in some traditions) causing oneself meaningless physical pain. Meaningless, that is, in that it is disconnected to the situation that causes the suffering to be in witness for Christ: i.e. whipping oneself.

On the other hand, suffering is a part of the Christian life, because it was a part of Christ's. We can't avoid it...well, we shouldn't avoid it. Granted, it seems that (especially in the West) we have come up with a doctrinal way of thinking in order to avoid it, but "no servant is great than his master" and if they hated Christ, they will hate us. Of course, this suffering isn't self-inflicted, but rather out of submission to Christ. It is not our suffering that sanctifies, but Christ who makes us holy. But we don't need to look for the suffering. If we are following Christ it will find us.

Finally, with these things considered, this B.C. cartoon has been floating around:

"Thank you, Jesus, for Your sacrifice. Teach me how to sacrifice too. Teach me how to love like You. Let my life be like a love song that You sing to the world, through me."

Definitive Prayer: Meditations on Community Part Two

Discipleship is crucial to the life of the Church/Christianity. But crucial to discipleship is a culture of prayer. I do believe that being a "house of prayer [for all nations]" is an underlying identity of the Church. My experience with the (primarily) program driven church in the U.S. is that true discipleship is rare. I mean we have Bible studies, small groups, and meetings, but intentionally coming together for learning how to do Jesus-stuff is often not done. I've even experienced outreach efforts without intercession for those who are intended to be reached. Now, my goal isn't to complain. My goal is to point out, encourage, maybe even confess :-) We must abandon to Christ if we want to experience all He has for us individually, with one-another, and those not (or some, not yet) in the family of Faith.

"Our Father"
I am so blessed that the Lord stoops low, so low in His love, that He chooses us, redeems us, calls to us, and beyond every interaction that we have recorded (or may hope to record), He goes even further to reveal that He is "Father" above all else. Not judge, not cosmic teddy bear, not transcedental buddy-o-pal, but our intimate Father.

"Thy Kingdom Come"
"Jesus, 'Thy Kingdom Come,' not mine. And in a world where Your Kingdom has only partly come, let it draw closer today. Let it draw closer than ever. Open my eyes to see You reveal it. I want to partner with Your heart. Rabbi, teach me. Father, let Your holiness invade this world through little ol' me, and Holy Spirit purify, counsel, and lead me - not where I go naturally, but where You would take me."

"Give us this day our daily bread"
"Father, please provide. Give me eyes to see the difference between my wants and my needs. And please give me a posture of giving."

"...and forgive us...as we forgive..."
Contemplative and social-activist Thomas Merton wrote:

"Remembering that I have been a sinner, I will love You in spite of what I have been, knowing that my love is precious because it is Yours, rather than my own. Precious to You because it comes from Your own Son, but precious even more because it makes me Your son." 

I have witnessed (and been a part of) religion that seems to be founded on guilt and shame. Unless the identity of a loving, kind, completely just, and completely merciful Father is the foundation of our belief, then getting to the part about sin is frightening. Unless that foundation is set, confession will be primarily fear based, and reconciliation may not genuinely happen. There are calls to repentance and there are absolutions, but even after forgiveness may be declared, shame can remain. I'm started to pray freedom in this portion of the Lord's Prayer. "Lord, forgive me where I've fallen, and free my heart to forgive others."

"...and lead us not into temptation...deliver us from evil..."

Evil is a waste of time. I mean, true, this tension of good and evil is a good tool for purification, but I'm finding that the more I intentionally live life with urgency, the more I want to run the other way from evil, because life is short. Ephesians 5 says,

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 15-20).

As a worship leader, I love that the Lord considers singing songs to Him is a wise use of time. ...And being filled with the Spirit, not once but again, and again, and again, and again... My prayer for deliverance from evil is not out of fear. God's grace is stronger than evil, and I know that when I do fall, He is strong enough to pick me up, but the more I experience Him, the more I want to use every opportunity for doing good. I want to continue down the path He leads, because life is short. I want to be a part of His plan - which is eternal.

Amen.

Oscar Romero: a step back

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
      an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
Amen. ~ Attributed to Oscar Romero

A Living Together Reality: Meditations on Community Part One

A few weeks ago I grabbed lunch with a friend at Red Robin. Munching on Buffalo Chicken Strips we were talking about the churches that we were serving at, and about where the Lord is leading in those place. Community is the word that came up. God has me (and some leadership of our church) parked on that, and what it looks like in discipleship. My friend then mentioned another conversation that he had where the person shared his dislike of the word community: arguing that it is a buzzword, and not found in the New Testament. While "community" is mentioned once in Acts, depending on your translation, the word 'family [of believers]' appears a lot. I'm finding that semantics aside, one of the biggest issues is sociological. Moving past our largely cold -climate culture (task oriented with social customs to close us off to others), to becoming more hot -climate (relationship oriented with social customs embracing inclusiveness of others) (Lanier, 2001). We may call it community in our culture. A more hot -climate culture may call it family. The point is that it moves past the basic protocols of our society and welcomes others into a Kingdom of inclusiveness, of being dangerous for that Kingdom (reaching out to the poor, oppressed and outcast), and we learn how to share life together. It's not just making a new category of friends to fit in a compartmentalized life, but breaking down and shattering barriers that we've set up to keep us 'safe' (or, rather, separate) from the needs of others.

Jean Vanier (1979) wrote:

A community which is just an explosion of heroism is not a true community. True community implies a way of life, a way of living and seeing reality; it implies above all fidelity in the daily round. And this is made up of simple things - getting meals, using and washing the dishes and using them again, going to meetings  - as well as gift, joy and celebration; and it is made up of forgiving seventy times seventy-seven. 

A community is only being created when its members accept that they are not going to achieve great things, that they are not going to be heroes, but simply live each day with new hope, like children, in wonderment as the sun rises and in thanksgiving as it sets. Community is only being created when they have recognised that the greatness of humanity lies in the acceptance of our insignificance, our human condition and our earth, and to thank God for having put in a finite body the seeds of eternity which are visible in small and daily gestures of love and forgiveness. The beauty of people is in this fidelity to the wonder of each day (p. 109).

The Lord, in His goodness, has put a hunger in me for the Body of Christ to truly be a family of Believers (or community...regardless of the word's buzzyness to some). From as early as I surrendered my life to Christ (the first time), to every surrender (mostly each day) since, 'community' has been an underlying conviction foundational to my life. I've failed at it numerous times, but Holy Spirit has been graciously persistent in bringing me back to it. I'm learning how to be a family member, and I hope that in my places of leadership within the Body, I'll be able to help establish a Kingdom culture of community/family.

Reference:
Lanier, S. A. (2001). “Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold-Climate Cultures.” Hagerstown, MD: McDougal Publishing

Vanier, J. (1979). "Community and Growth." New York: Paulist Press

Lessons on the front lines: Stacking Stones part III

Probably the biggest stones in my memorial of this season, are related to the loss that we experienced in 2009 with the death of our baby boy Elijah. The documentation of this journey can be followed in the following posts:

An Artist and Lover of God's Take on Grief
Courage
Picking Up the Pieces
Regarding Elijah

Instead of reiterating the journey and the emotions involved, here's what I learned, and they'll be stones in this Josh 4 memorial.

1. It's OK to grieve, cry, and be broken. The grieving process takes...time. You don't just get over holding your lifeless baby in your arms. While people don't understand, as a father it shapes you, it changes you, makes you see life different, and if you hold onto God and your wife through the process, you commune with them both on a level that is indescribable.
2. It teaches you how to set boundaries. Well meaning people offered words that they intended for encouragement, some people we didn't know offered to pray without knowing our story or knowing us...and some just said some stupid things. Part of being a warrior for my family is learning how to set boundaries, be firm in interaction with others, and be assertive spiritually and emotionally. It's OK to say 'no.' Our healing came through people that we know closely 'being Jesus' to us.
3. Jesus really does redeem our brokenness. This is a fact and not just optimism. While I'll go into this further in the next post, the redemption is not just compensating for a broken situation, but it's making the broken piece beautiful. BLESSED are the poor, BLESSED are those who mourn (i.e. Matt 5)...as if to say, 'Blessed are the broken...' This sentiment is upside down from our society, but I'm finding it's right side up for the Kingdom of God.
4. Suffering is OK. Jesus told us we would have trouble, but assured us that His peace would be with us, and that He has overcome the world (Matt 16). One thing I learned in this season is that the Western Church often does not understand suffering. We come up with doctrines to try to escape suffering, resulting in some sort of distortion that implies: 'if you have strong faith, you won't have trials;' however, from what I can see, according to the Word, we won't have strong faith unless we encounter and endure trials.

So, those are stones 2, 3, 4 & 5 (out of 12). These lessons are tough ones. The ground from which I've picked up these stones is 'holy ground.' It's something that I don't talk about lightheartedly or gloss over casually. But they are lessons of the Lord's goodness, and I'm still learning them. I realize that talking about such an intense situation can be a 'downer,' but walking through this 'night,' I've witnessed that the Glory of the Lord is a much brighter light than I thought it was. It's the kind of light that pierces you, and changes you...it transforms you. It doesn't just make you a survivor, it makes you a fighter. I guess that's what hope does...it's not just wishful thinking but a transformative look toward, and fellowship with, the One who "upholds the universe by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3).

Storms and kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight: a meditation on victorious suffering

We are treasured, and our message is that the poor, weak, and marginalized are treasured in the heart of God.

In sensationalistic western Christianity we often undervalue the grit of victorious living (as opposed to the glamour). I realize that that statement butts against idealistic prosperity Gospel, but at the same time is not intended to fuel poverty mentality. The reality is that we are persecuted, but not abandoned. We are struck down but not destroyed. The dangerous kind of Christian is, as my friend Graeme the Buechner-esque ragamuffin put it, “someone who is potent for the purposes of God – being that they are those who will not settle for anything less than the ministry of Jesus (Luke 4:18-19)” (Sellers, 2008), and in our hunger to be Jesus followers (not just talkers) you can bet that the enemy will attack.

We are in a battle. That’s how Paul put it. It is a battle not of flesh, blood, metal, artillery, kilts, or spaceships, rather it’s something much more real. It’s a battle against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in this present darkness, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Honestly, over the past few weeks the battle has been very evident. It was made real by situations (relational – from those we serve) of feeling attacked. Also, my wife hurt her back, and after her back healed, her leg was in dire pain. Come to find out it is due to a blood clot in her leg. The night she was admitted to the hospital for treatment, our ministry’s youth center got broken into. Something’s up. We can say, “oh, what a coincidence,” and write off the current season as a series of unfortunate events, or we can say, “there is a battle, and there is an enemy who is attacking.” Once that realization is made, we can more assuredly say with the poet Dougie MacLean “I am ready for the storm” (Ready for the Storm, n.d.). I don’t enjoy the storm per se. I’ve just come to understand that it’s a part of the journey. “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16: 33). And being on the same team as the One who overcomes the world (Jesus) does not mean the absence of trouble. It just means that you get to be on the side of the over-comer, and will rise as a “more than conqueror” (Romans 8:37) in spite of struggle. In the words of another poet, Ginny Owens, “But You never said it would be easy. You only said I'd never go alone” (Ginny Owens-If You Want Me To, n.d.).

Thinking of storms makes me think of the great snowstorm of 2010…and Noah. In a toss up extremity, Noah wins out. What a ride he had, and as his family’s pseudo-involuntary Mediterranean-ish cruise came to an end, I’m sure there was relief and fear. But the One that they put their trust in came through…so that, I’m sure, was effective in outweighing everything else. Can you imagine the ending? So finally, the Ark stops floating, and it comes to rest on top of Mount Ararat, and suddenly the last few weeks in the smelly floating zoo doesn’t seem all that bad anymore. The colors of a rainbow are the promise, and making it out of the situation alive is the proof. As contemplative Richard Rohr put it, “Everything Belongs.” Every rain drop, every animal dropping, every tear. It’s not just about us. It’s about us being a part of the purpose. The ride. The story. We are part of the “Everything” that “Belongs,” and so are the tears that we shed in the process of everything else. True, things will never be the same, but there is still rest, because the rainbow and the air filling our lungs reminds us that He’s got it under control.

So in the end, the fact that we’re living in victory on the edge of defeat is not a melancholy stance of an Eeyore Christianty that’s founded on justification by suffering (suffering doesn’t sanctify, but it does mature). At the same time I am not going to separate our spiritual victory from the humanity, which is an inseparable part of it. Sin and death was conquered through Christ’s love, and suffering, and He chose to do it that way. I believe as the Creator He could have done it differently, but He did it that way. To think that we will ride unscathed onto the field of victory is false. The victory field is the same field as the battlefield, and we’ll do ourselves well to remember that. I enjoy victory, and I don’t necessarily enjoy the battle. However, through it all, I do not fight on the battlefield to get to the victory. I do it because I love Jesus, and He is leading the charge, and believe He created me to share in the victory with Him (emphasis on WITH HIM). The battle is already raging, and I will join my commander and King in kicking the darkness until it bleeds daylight (Sellers, 2008). My weapons are the Ephesians 6 weapons, and the strategy is ruthlessly living the character of the fruit of the Spirit, and living an ethic of the values of the Kingdom to which I belong (Matthew 5-7), and all this from the paradigm that I was made for an intimate relationship with my Creator and King. We will kick against the darkness. We might bruise our toes, but the darkness is bleeding, will bleed, and is destined to bleed daylight. We are treasured, and our message is that the poor, weak, and marginalized are treasured in the heart of God. Yes, the darkness is destined to bleed.

Reference:

Ginny Owens-If You Want Me To Lyrics. (n.d.). Retrieved on September 24, 2010, from http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/if-you-want-me-to-lyrics-ginny-owens/2e42fcfec8ed5d4f48256a2d00170a84

Ready for the Storm. (n.d.). Retrieved on September 24, 2010, from http://www.dougiemaclean.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=129:ready-for-the-storm&catid=61:lyrics-r&Itemid=99

Sellers, G. (2008). Retrieved on September 24, 2010, from http://www.allianceofrenewalchurches.org/Audio/The_Dangerous_Kind.mp3