Susan and I both observed after Thanksgiving this year how "peaceful" it was. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We got up, fixed some coffee, and cleaned and organized the house a little bit. But it was a noticeably un-hurried morning. It felt wonderful to have nothing to do except spend some good family time together.
We sat down this week and reviewed our calendar for the month of December and were struck by the number of events that we have scheduled. There are parties for this, gatherings and dinners for that. And the holiday season for a pastor and his wife tend to be a little "hurried" and hectic. Lots to do. People to see. Gifts to buy. Relatives to visit. Well, you get the picture.
A friend of mine, Wayne Reed, used to be a missionary in Ireland some twenty years ago. I remember the story he told me of spending the Christmas season in Dublin. Families would have to be mindful of purchasing two weeks of groceries and supplies because during the Christmas season the stores would close - completely close - so that families could be together. I'm not sure how that would work in today's America - but it doesn't sound too bad, does it? Wouldn't it be cool to have a couple of weeks to do nothing but enjoy friends, laugh a lot, celebrate life, eat heartily but healthily, and give and receive presents? Sounds almost like heaven to me.
I suppose if I want to have anything that resembles Wayne's experience, I'll have to be a little intentional. Plan our night's out, be careful with our December budget, think through our food intake (more than normal!), etc. so that December - the season we celebrate the incarnation of God in Christ Jesus - really takes on the character of blessing and peace and not a mad consumptive dash to January 1! Maybe, what I'm saying is this. I can choose to have Jesus dwell in the season we celebrate his birth with all that that means - the traditional Peace, Joy, Love, and Hope - and that choice, like everything else in my life can happen with some discipline, some balance, some view of God's larger view of my life.
Come January 1, I hope to have accomplished one of this past year's New Years Resolutions - to spend the holidays with my family and truly and deeply experience the presence of Jesus.
Slow down. Breathe in. Breathe out. Enjoy more. Give thanks deeply.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Meditation
Imagine yourself having traveled from the country you have known and loved to a new land – unsettled, wild, unpredictable, dangerous. In this new place there is no guarantee that you will be fed, that you will prosper or even that you will survive. And still you travel across an ocean in a small, rickety merchant ship, crowded with 102 other pilgrims – seekers, like yourself – for a place to start a new life.
The draw of that new life was so powerful to those pilgrims that sailed 65 days across the Atlantic Ocean to Plymouth colony that they were willing to endure a painful and debilitating winter, suffer starvation and disease, and risk attack from Indians so that they would be able to experience life together as a free Christian community.
In late September or early October of 1621 – almost a year after they had arrived – the pilgrims were ready for a breakthrough. Half of their community had died. They faced another difficult winter without enough food. The Indians, whom they had only recently begun to interact showed up with five deer, vegetables, and some wild game and shared with the pilgrims a meal. It was in the “nick of time” as they say.
This meal wouldn’t have been called Thanksgiving by the Pilgrims. They had other religious holidays by that name. But they were thankful nonetheless. They were not alone. God had opened a providential door for them to trade with the nearby Indians and with that came the confidence that they would make it through their second winter in this new land.
I think what has endured in our memory of the Pilgrims has been their absolute reliance - when they had come to the end of themselves - that God would provide. I’m not sure that if they had come and not faced the incredible hardship that they faced that we would be celebrating a day we call “Thanksgiving.”
No, it seems that somehow being thankful comes with the recognition that we rely on something deeper and greater for our provision – that what some people call luck we can with the eyes of faith recognize as what we call - God’s providence. In the economy of God’s providence – God has a plan and as we choose to live and work and love and worship in agreement with God’s plan, we find that our most fundamental needs as human beings are cared for.
This brings joy, doesn’t it? To know that all we have to do is say yes to God and God will care for his children whom he already loves! We no longer have to strive against a resistant and unmerciful existence, we can instead have faith that in obedience and surrender to God is life.
Mt 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
It was a lot like some other pilgrims we read about in the Old Testament. As the prophet Jeremiah had foretold, the Israelites would spend 70 years in Babylonian captivity and then released to their homeland to rebuild the temple. Around 538 BC, groups of Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem and there they were allowed to begin rebuilding the Jewish temple. The Jews who returned pooled their few resources to pay the masons and carpenters to build the new temple. As they witnessed the foundation being laid they celebrated and praised the God who had delivered seen them through.
Ezr 3:10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
That’s the kind of noise we should make when we see the goodness of God. When was the last time you shouted for joy that God had delivered you from sickness, from depression, from a poverty mentality, from loss – so much so that your neighbors had to call the Sheriff’s dept because the noise you made was so great! Against a larger tapestry, we are able to see the hand of God at work so that even pagan princes serve the purposes and divine plan of God. It’s when we pause long enough to express our thankfulness that we can see a loving God connecting all the dots in our life.
This was certainly true in Ezra’s day. It’s also true in ours. God isn’t finished yet. The people and places and events that the Spirit of God uses to bring about His kingdom are the people and places and events you and I see, touch, and hear every single day. God is still at work and his intentions are good.
We may feel at times as if we are in a season of Babylonian captivity. We may feel as if we’re always waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled over our lives. But persevere and wait with great expectation. God has a day of deliverance set aside for each one of us when we can look book with “Aha!” eyes and see the lengths God has gone to do draw us into deeper relationship with him.
Galatians 5:1 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” And every day in Christ is another day toward our ultimate freedom and purpose. Let’s then receive each day with thanksgiving. God is working out his purposes in us. And his purposes are good. It’s Jeremiah who tells us about God’s good plans in Jer 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, today we bend our hearts toward you and receive your blessings with thanksgiving and praise. Send your spirit to breakthrough our doubt and “right now” thinking to see your grander movement in our lives. Allow each day, Lord, to be a day we receive as a blessing from you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
The draw of that new life was so powerful to those pilgrims that sailed 65 days across the Atlantic Ocean to Plymouth colony that they were willing to endure a painful and debilitating winter, suffer starvation and disease, and risk attack from Indians so that they would be able to experience life together as a free Christian community.
In late September or early October of 1621 – almost a year after they had arrived – the pilgrims were ready for a breakthrough. Half of their community had died. They faced another difficult winter without enough food. The Indians, whom they had only recently begun to interact showed up with five deer, vegetables, and some wild game and shared with the pilgrims a meal. It was in the “nick of time” as they say.
This meal wouldn’t have been called Thanksgiving by the Pilgrims. They had other religious holidays by that name. But they were thankful nonetheless. They were not alone. God had opened a providential door for them to trade with the nearby Indians and with that came the confidence that they would make it through their second winter in this new land.
I think what has endured in our memory of the Pilgrims has been their absolute reliance - when they had come to the end of themselves - that God would provide. I’m not sure that if they had come and not faced the incredible hardship that they faced that we would be celebrating a day we call “Thanksgiving.”
No, it seems that somehow being thankful comes with the recognition that we rely on something deeper and greater for our provision – that what some people call luck we can with the eyes of faith recognize as what we call - God’s providence. In the economy of God’s providence – God has a plan and as we choose to live and work and love and worship in agreement with God’s plan, we find that our most fundamental needs as human beings are cared for.
This brings joy, doesn’t it? To know that all we have to do is say yes to God and God will care for his children whom he already loves! We no longer have to strive against a resistant and unmerciful existence, we can instead have faith that in obedience and surrender to God is life.
Mt 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
It was a lot like some other pilgrims we read about in the Old Testament. As the prophet Jeremiah had foretold, the Israelites would spend 70 years in Babylonian captivity and then released to their homeland to rebuild the temple. Around 538 BC, groups of Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem and there they were allowed to begin rebuilding the Jewish temple. The Jews who returned pooled their few resources to pay the masons and carpenters to build the new temple. As they witnessed the foundation being laid they celebrated and praised the God who had delivered seen them through.
Ezr 3:10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
That’s the kind of noise we should make when we see the goodness of God. When was the last time you shouted for joy that God had delivered you from sickness, from depression, from a poverty mentality, from loss – so much so that your neighbors had to call the Sheriff’s dept because the noise you made was so great! Against a larger tapestry, we are able to see the hand of God at work so that even pagan princes serve the purposes and divine plan of God. It’s when we pause long enough to express our thankfulness that we can see a loving God connecting all the dots in our life.
This was certainly true in Ezra’s day. It’s also true in ours. God isn’t finished yet. The people and places and events that the Spirit of God uses to bring about His kingdom are the people and places and events you and I see, touch, and hear every single day. God is still at work and his intentions are good.
We may feel at times as if we are in a season of Babylonian captivity. We may feel as if we’re always waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled over our lives. But persevere and wait with great expectation. God has a day of deliverance set aside for each one of us when we can look book with “Aha!” eyes and see the lengths God has gone to do draw us into deeper relationship with him.
Galatians 5:1 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” And every day in Christ is another day toward our ultimate freedom and purpose. Let’s then receive each day with thanksgiving. God is working out his purposes in us. And his purposes are good. It’s Jeremiah who tells us about God’s good plans in Jer 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, today we bend our hearts toward you and receive your blessings with thanksgiving and praise. Send your spirit to breakthrough our doubt and “right now” thinking to see your grander movement in our lives. Allow each day, Lord, to be a day we receive as a blessing from you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Spiritual Gifts
Thanks to Shannon Haynes for sending me the link to an interesting spiritual gifts inventory. She grabbed it off of New Directions Christian Church website. Here it is...
http://www.TeamMinistry.com/
Here were my results. Very cool and confirmed the kind of pastor I tend to be.
Jay Hutchens
Spiritual Gifts (number is relative strength compared to the others)
Evangelism 6
Prophecy 12
Teaching 16
Exhortation 12
Pastor/Shepherd 20
Showing Mercy 16
Serving 13
Giving 13
Administration 21
About Your Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are tools God gives Christians to do the work of the ministry -- to fulfill the Great Commission to reach, baptize, and teach and to minister to one another. Every Christian receives at least one gift at the moment of salvation. Spiritual gifts are not rewards, are not natural talents, are not a place of service, are not an age-group ministry, and are not a specialty ministry. They express themselves through various ministries which, in turn, accomplish a variety of results. A spiritual gift is the primary channel by which the Holy Spirit ministers through the believer. It is a supernatural capacity for service to God -- and He gives you a supernatural desire to perform the duties of that gift. Spiritual gifts are tools for building the church. They are a source of joy in your Christian life and influence your motives. A spiritual gift is a divine calling with a divine responsibility, because what God has gifted you to do, He has called you to do, and what He has called you to do, He has gifted you to do.
There are three categories of gifts: The Miraculous Gifts, generally known today as Charismatic Gifts; the Enabling Gifts which all Christians have the ability to develop (faith, discernment, wisdom, and knowledge -- qualities possessed rather than activities performed); and Team Gifts which are activity, service, or task-oriented. The Team Gifts are functional and involve speaking or ministering.
Chances are, you have several of these gifts that vary in different degrees and intensity. In many cases, spiritual gifts even complement your secular employment. The Spiritual Gifts Analysis you took identified your dominant TEAM GIFTS which will help you find your place on the team in your church. Prayer and serving God will also help you see where God wants you. This profile gives you a simple bar graph showing how all the gifts relate to you and to each other, but analyzes indepth only your dominant and secondary gifts which are the ones that will have greater influence in your life.
________________________________________
Your dominant gifts are Administration, Pastor/Shepherd
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your number one dominant gift is ADMINISTRATION! The Greek word "kubernesis" means one who steers a ship. This expert had the responsibility to bring a ship into the harbor through the rocks and shoals, under all types of pressures. As an administrator you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by organizing, administering, promoting, and leading the various affairs of the church. The administrator is not a glorified file clerk.
As an administrator you are a take-charge person who jumps in and starts giving orders when no one is in charge. You will put a plan on paper and start delegating responsibility. You may lean toward organizing things, events or programs, OR toward organizing people, emphasizing personal relationships and leadership responsibilities. In the first case, you usually organize details and have people carry them out. In the second case, you tend to organize people and rely on others to take care of the little things.
You don't often admit to mistakes and do not like to take time to explain why you are doing things; you just expect the job to get done. If things in the church, office, club, etc. become fragmented, you can harmonize the whole program if given a chance. You are a person with a dream and are not afraid to attempt the impossible.
You are goal-oriented, well-disciplined, and work best under heavy pressure. You are often a good motivator and not a procrastinator. You are serious minded, highly motivated, intense, and have an accurate self-image. You tend to be more interested in the welfare of the group than your own desire. You are probably a perfectionist and want things done your way now.
Although to others you appear to be organized, you usually aren't. Be careful that you do not make decisions just based on logic rather than Scripture. Work on your willingness to admit to making a mistake and on being more sensitive to "little" people. Try to be a little more tolerant of other people's mistakes.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He can cause pride because of your leadership role, selfishness because of success (not sharing glory with those under you), blame-shifting when things go wrong, discouragement and frustration when goals are not met, anger and mistreatment of those who disagree with your plans, lack of concern for people, lack of spiritual growth, and wrong motives.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR DOMINANT GIFT? You may work well as the leader of a project, ministry, or program; chairman of a committee or board; a church planner; or chairman of building or fund-raising projects. Other positions where you may serve well include pastor, assistant pastor, business manager, office manager or department head for large staff, Sunday school superintendent, fellowship group or missionary circle leader, library manager, camp director, church moderator, bus ministry director, nursery coordinator or Vacation Bible School director.
________________________________________
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is PASTORING/SHEPHERDING! The Greek word "poimen" means pastor. In Paul's spiritual gifts listing in Ephesians 4:11, this term is translated "pastor." Although the word "poimen" is translated pastor only one time in Scripture it is used sixteen additional times. The remaining sixteen are all translated "shepherd." Therefore, we are actually discussing the GIFT of shepherding, not the POSITION of pastor. Though a good pastor must have the gift of shepherding, everyone who has the gift of shepherding is not called to be pastor. The gift can be used in many positions in a church.
As a gifted shepherd, you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. You are usually very patient, people-centered, and willing to spend time in prayer for others. You tend to be a "Jack of All and Master of ONE," meaning you are usually dominant in one of the speaking gifts (evangelist, prophet, teacher, exhorter) as well. You are often authoritative, more a leader than a follower, and expressive, composed, and sensitive. Your pleasing personality draws people to you.
You have a burden to see others learn and grow and are protective of those under your care. You want to present the whole Word of God and do not like to present the same materials more than once. You are willing to study what is necessary to feed your group and are more relationship oriented than task oriented. You are a peace-maker and diplomat - very tolerant of people's weaknesses. You tend to remember people's names and faces. You are more concerned with doing for others than others doing for you. You are faithful and devoted and may become a workaholic. You can become an all-purpose person in order to meet needs.
People with the gift of shepherding make the best Sunday school teachers and group leaders because their desire is to go beyond just teaching or leading, to shepherd and minister to the daily needs of their students. The position of Sunday school teacher or group leader is an extension of the pastoral ministry in the church. These groups should be shepherded on a small scale the same as the pastor shepherds the whole congregation on a large scale.
Be careful to involve other people; don't try to do it all yourself. Work on making people accountable. Do not be overly protective of your "flock." Because of these potentially weak areas, other people may think it is your job to do all the work; they rely too heavily on you. You may be expected to be available at all times, know all the answers, and be at every function. Learn when to say no.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He will cause discouragement when the load gets heavy, and pride because your "sheep" look up to you. You may develop family problems because of too little time and attention. You may become selfish when "sheep" feed in other pastures.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT? This gift is a great help in many areas. You may serve as a Sunday school teacher, small group leader, pastor or assistant pastor, bus captain, special ministry leader (such as youth, children, men, etc.), nursery worker or as a half-way house or other type shelter volunteer. You may consider serving as a dormitory leader in a college, orphanage, children's home, etc. Scout troops would appreciate your assistance as a den leader.
________________________________________
Building an effective team in your church depends on putting the right people in the right places. The best way to determine what place each person belongs in is by determine everyone's spiritual gifts. But, just discovering your spiritual gift is not enough.
Here's the real challenge. Many Christians are asking the question, "What is my spiritual gift?" When in reality they need to be asking, "What is a spiritual gift?" They do not understand the relationships of spiritual gifts. That is, they don't understand how a spiritual gift relates to their life, how it relates to the will of God for their life, how it relates to the lives of those around them, how it relates the local church, or how it relates to the body of Christ as a whole. To give John J. Christian an additional name and make him John J. Exhorter Christian is only doing him an injustice. Having a new name or title does not make you a more effective, more fulfilled, or a better Christian, nor does it give you any more understanding of yourself or those around you. Most contemporary material written on spiritual gifts does an adequate job in helping you recognize, discover, and define what your spiritual gifts are. Also, many do a fine job of teaching on the individual parts of the body, but few complete their teaching by assembling the body, thus showing how church members can work as complementing, effective, and efficient team. Thus, teaching a person only what their spiritual gift is without teaching them what a spiritual gift is, is like giving someone a new tool without giving them the operator's manual. They will never understand it fully nor will they be able to use it to its maximum potential. The same is true with your spiritual gifts.
Now that you have taken this inventory and know what your spiritual gifts are, we encourage you to study the principles that revolve around and relate to spiritual gifts. These principles combined with recognizing your gifts have been proven to dramatically change lives AND build churches. We have many resources available to help you better understand your gifts and how they relate to all areas of your life. Plus, we have resources to equip and assist you in teaching spiritual gifts and biblical team building to others. Furthermore, we have teachers who can come to your church and teach private seminars for you group. For additional information on resources or seminars just click on the appropriate button below.
http://www.TeamMinistry.com/
Here were my results. Very cool and confirmed the kind of pastor I tend to be.
Jay Hutchens
Spiritual Gifts (number is relative strength compared to the others)
Evangelism 6
Prophecy 12
Teaching 16
Exhortation 12
Pastor/Shepherd 20
Showing Mercy 16
Serving 13
Giving 13
Administration 21
About Your Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are tools God gives Christians to do the work of the ministry -- to fulfill the Great Commission to reach, baptize, and teach and to minister to one another. Every Christian receives at least one gift at the moment of salvation. Spiritual gifts are not rewards, are not natural talents, are not a place of service, are not an age-group ministry, and are not a specialty ministry. They express themselves through various ministries which, in turn, accomplish a variety of results. A spiritual gift is the primary channel by which the Holy Spirit ministers through the believer. It is a supernatural capacity for service to God -- and He gives you a supernatural desire to perform the duties of that gift. Spiritual gifts are tools for building the church. They are a source of joy in your Christian life and influence your motives. A spiritual gift is a divine calling with a divine responsibility, because what God has gifted you to do, He has called you to do, and what He has called you to do, He has gifted you to do.
There are three categories of gifts: The Miraculous Gifts, generally known today as Charismatic Gifts; the Enabling Gifts which all Christians have the ability to develop (faith, discernment, wisdom, and knowledge -- qualities possessed rather than activities performed); and Team Gifts which are activity, service, or task-oriented. The Team Gifts are functional and involve speaking or ministering.
Chances are, you have several of these gifts that vary in different degrees and intensity. In many cases, spiritual gifts even complement your secular employment. The Spiritual Gifts Analysis you took identified your dominant TEAM GIFTS which will help you find your place on the team in your church. Prayer and serving God will also help you see where God wants you. This profile gives you a simple bar graph showing how all the gifts relate to you and to each other, but analyzes indepth only your dominant and secondary gifts which are the ones that will have greater influence in your life.
________________________________________
Your dominant gifts are Administration, Pastor/Shepherd
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your number one dominant gift is ADMINISTRATION! The Greek word "kubernesis" means one who steers a ship. This expert had the responsibility to bring a ship into the harbor through the rocks and shoals, under all types of pressures. As an administrator you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by organizing, administering, promoting, and leading the various affairs of the church. The administrator is not a glorified file clerk.
As an administrator you are a take-charge person who jumps in and starts giving orders when no one is in charge. You will put a plan on paper and start delegating responsibility. You may lean toward organizing things, events or programs, OR toward organizing people, emphasizing personal relationships and leadership responsibilities. In the first case, you usually organize details and have people carry them out. In the second case, you tend to organize people and rely on others to take care of the little things.
You don't often admit to mistakes and do not like to take time to explain why you are doing things; you just expect the job to get done. If things in the church, office, club, etc. become fragmented, you can harmonize the whole program if given a chance. You are a person with a dream and are not afraid to attempt the impossible.
You are goal-oriented, well-disciplined, and work best under heavy pressure. You are often a good motivator and not a procrastinator. You are serious minded, highly motivated, intense, and have an accurate self-image. You tend to be more interested in the welfare of the group than your own desire. You are probably a perfectionist and want things done your way now.
Although to others you appear to be organized, you usually aren't. Be careful that you do not make decisions just based on logic rather than Scripture. Work on your willingness to admit to making a mistake and on being more sensitive to "little" people. Try to be a little more tolerant of other people's mistakes.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He can cause pride because of your leadership role, selfishness because of success (not sharing glory with those under you), blame-shifting when things go wrong, discouragement and frustration when goals are not met, anger and mistreatment of those who disagree with your plans, lack of concern for people, lack of spiritual growth, and wrong motives.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR DOMINANT GIFT? You may work well as the leader of a project, ministry, or program; chairman of a committee or board; a church planner; or chairman of building or fund-raising projects. Other positions where you may serve well include pastor, assistant pastor, business manager, office manager or department head for large staff, Sunday school superintendent, fellowship group or missionary circle leader, library manager, camp director, church moderator, bus ministry director, nursery coordinator or Vacation Bible School director.
________________________________________
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is PASTORING/SHEPHERDING! The Greek word "poimen" means pastor. In Paul's spiritual gifts listing in Ephesians 4:11, this term is translated "pastor." Although the word "poimen" is translated pastor only one time in Scripture it is used sixteen additional times. The remaining sixteen are all translated "shepherd." Therefore, we are actually discussing the GIFT of shepherding, not the POSITION of pastor. Though a good pastor must have the gift of shepherding, everyone who has the gift of shepherding is not called to be pastor. The gift can be used in many positions in a church.
As a gifted shepherd, you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. You are usually very patient, people-centered, and willing to spend time in prayer for others. You tend to be a "Jack of All and Master of ONE," meaning you are usually dominant in one of the speaking gifts (evangelist, prophet, teacher, exhorter) as well. You are often authoritative, more a leader than a follower, and expressive, composed, and sensitive. Your pleasing personality draws people to you.
You have a burden to see others learn and grow and are protective of those under your care. You want to present the whole Word of God and do not like to present the same materials more than once. You are willing to study what is necessary to feed your group and are more relationship oriented than task oriented. You are a peace-maker and diplomat - very tolerant of people's weaknesses. You tend to remember people's names and faces. You are more concerned with doing for others than others doing for you. You are faithful and devoted and may become a workaholic. You can become an all-purpose person in order to meet needs.
People with the gift of shepherding make the best Sunday school teachers and group leaders because their desire is to go beyond just teaching or leading, to shepherd and minister to the daily needs of their students. The position of Sunday school teacher or group leader is an extension of the pastoral ministry in the church. These groups should be shepherded on a small scale the same as the pastor shepherds the whole congregation on a large scale.
Be careful to involve other people; don't try to do it all yourself. Work on making people accountable. Do not be overly protective of your "flock." Because of these potentially weak areas, other people may think it is your job to do all the work; they rely too heavily on you. You may be expected to be available at all times, know all the answers, and be at every function. Learn when to say no.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He will cause discouragement when the load gets heavy, and pride because your "sheep" look up to you. You may develop family problems because of too little time and attention. You may become selfish when "sheep" feed in other pastures.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT? This gift is a great help in many areas. You may serve as a Sunday school teacher, small group leader, pastor or assistant pastor, bus captain, special ministry leader (such as youth, children, men, etc.), nursery worker or as a half-way house or other type shelter volunteer. You may consider serving as a dormitory leader in a college, orphanage, children's home, etc. Scout troops would appreciate your assistance as a den leader.
________________________________________
Building an effective team in your church depends on putting the right people in the right places. The best way to determine what place each person belongs in is by determine everyone's spiritual gifts. But, just discovering your spiritual gift is not enough.
Here's the real challenge. Many Christians are asking the question, "What is my spiritual gift?" When in reality they need to be asking, "What is a spiritual gift?" They do not understand the relationships of spiritual gifts. That is, they don't understand how a spiritual gift relates to their life, how it relates to the will of God for their life, how it relates to the lives of those around them, how it relates the local church, or how it relates to the body of Christ as a whole. To give John J. Christian an additional name and make him John J. Exhorter Christian is only doing him an injustice. Having a new name or title does not make you a more effective, more fulfilled, or a better Christian, nor does it give you any more understanding of yourself or those around you. Most contemporary material written on spiritual gifts does an adequate job in helping you recognize, discover, and define what your spiritual gifts are. Also, many do a fine job of teaching on the individual parts of the body, but few complete their teaching by assembling the body, thus showing how church members can work as complementing, effective, and efficient team. Thus, teaching a person only what their spiritual gift is without teaching them what a spiritual gift is, is like giving someone a new tool without giving them the operator's manual. They will never understand it fully nor will they be able to use it to its maximum potential. The same is true with your spiritual gifts.
Now that you have taken this inventory and know what your spiritual gifts are, we encourage you to study the principles that revolve around and relate to spiritual gifts. These principles combined with recognizing your gifts have been proven to dramatically change lives AND build churches. We have many resources available to help you better understand your gifts and how they relate to all areas of your life. Plus, we have resources to equip and assist you in teaching spiritual gifts and biblical team building to others. Furthermore, we have teachers who can come to your church and teach private seminars for you group. For additional information on resources or seminars just click on the appropriate button below.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Seek a blessing...
I've been reflecting this week on some of the lessons I've learned in close to twenty years of ministry. And out of those reflections have emerged some very general principles that seem to rise to the top of our experience of being church and seeking God.
There's not one of us that doesn't want to be blessed by God and experience favor in our families, work, and relationships. If you're like me, you've spent some amount of time wanting God to "fix it" for you - to undo all the unpleasant consequences of decisions I've made in these areas of my life. We're taught that God moves miraculously and supernaturally, and so it's very natural for us to look for that movement in our own lives.
It's occurred to me though that God does nothing in our life without our agreement. It's not until we say "yes" that God's "YES" becomes something that we can actually see and touch and feel. Our "yes" is more than what we learned in Evangelism 101 as "intellectual assent." In truth, our "yes" resembles a passionate trust in God's purposes and promises over our lives. We literally begin acting out and acting upon what we have come to know to be true about the character and presence and mission of God. We come into agreement with who God is and what God is up to. And we do this completely trusting in the faithfulness of God for whatever outcome He has for us - trust that God desires GOOD things for His children.
In brass tacks, it looks a little like this as we seek God's blessing on our lives...
If you want to receive a blessing, give a blessing.
If you want to hear a blessing, speak a blessing.
If you want to walk in blessing, then lay down the path through which others are blessed.
That may sound like a simple little instruction. Almost too basic for experienced Spirit-seekers as ourselves! But what would your walk with God look like if this guided your walk today? Just today. Would it get a little deeper? And then tomorrow. A little deeper? And then the next day... a little deeper?
There's not one of us that doesn't want to be blessed by God and experience favor in our families, work, and relationships. If you're like me, you've spent some amount of time wanting God to "fix it" for you - to undo all the unpleasant consequences of decisions I've made in these areas of my life. We're taught that God moves miraculously and supernaturally, and so it's very natural for us to look for that movement in our own lives.
It's occurred to me though that God does nothing in our life without our agreement. It's not until we say "yes" that God's "YES" becomes something that we can actually see and touch and feel. Our "yes" is more than what we learned in Evangelism 101 as "intellectual assent." In truth, our "yes" resembles a passionate trust in God's purposes and promises over our lives. We literally begin acting out and acting upon what we have come to know to be true about the character and presence and mission of God. We come into agreement with who God is and what God is up to. And we do this completely trusting in the faithfulness of God for whatever outcome He has for us - trust that God desires GOOD things for His children.
In brass tacks, it looks a little like this as we seek God's blessing on our lives...
If you want to receive a blessing, give a blessing.
If you want to hear a blessing, speak a blessing.
If you want to walk in blessing, then lay down the path through which others are blessed.
That may sound like a simple little instruction. Almost too basic for experienced Spirit-seekers as ourselves! But what would your walk with God look like if this guided your walk today? Just today. Would it get a little deeper? And then tomorrow. A little deeper? And then the next day... a little deeper?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
When Silence Interrupts...
Something unusual happened last night at our weekly Intercession service. We pride ourselves much of the time on being open to a "move of the Spirit." So it's not uncommon for worship to last an hour and then to have a time of praying for healing or deliverance for people and then to have a message or some combination of the above. We often find ourselves still praying for folks at 10pm. We begin at 7pm. I love it!
Last night, John Ryan McNaughton was "scheduled" to bring our message. But as he led worship, he felt a "halt" being placed on him by God. He described it to me like this - "it felt like moving foward in any way would be contrived. I was confused about how to proceed." Now, this isn't a reflection on John Ryan's competence as a worship leader. He's a very gifted worship leader. It's more of a reflection on how we listen for the prompting of God and respond to it in worship, in work, in relationships, in life.
You see, in North American culture we are convinced that we are wasting time unless we are occupied with work. We derive much of our value from this. Unless I'm doing, unless I'm accomplishing, then I'm not being valuable to someone, and hence I'm being irresponsible with my time. It's a pretty big value for us. And so we at times will do just about anything to keep from doing nothing and feeling "value-less."
Last night, God interrupted our "doing" with "non-doing." It was as if God was challenging us to be in His Presence without doing another single thing. John Ryan played a single sustained note while we sat and struggled with "what next?" What's supposed to happen? What are we supposed to DO now?
And we discovered the answer together which was... not a thing.
One of my roles as a pastor is to interpret a move of God when I perceive it. What I perceived last night was God issuing a radical challenge to our socially inherited sense of what makes me valuable. At any given time, what constitutes the value of the child of God is quite simply their sonship and daughter-ship. God delights in us AS WE ARE.
There are times when I love to go into my children's room at night before I go to bed and just watch them sleeping. I pray over them but I also just stand and just simply wonder. They are beautiful. They are innocent (at least while they're asleep!). They are so wonderfully made by God. There's nothing they're required to do for me to love them. Sometimes, I just get to enjoy them while they're doing absolutely nothing except being asleep.
Our time with God doesn't always have to follow a programme. Sometimes, we are allowed - perhaps released - to just be with God in the manner that God chooses to be with us. God may desire to interrupt our words, our schedule, our highly structured expectation of our time with Him and do something new. He has that permission. After all, He's God. And that's okay. It's more than okay. Against the stream of a culture that so highly values doing over being - it's a very GOOD thing.
Last night, John Ryan McNaughton was "scheduled" to bring our message. But as he led worship, he felt a "halt" being placed on him by God. He described it to me like this - "it felt like moving foward in any way would be contrived. I was confused about how to proceed." Now, this isn't a reflection on John Ryan's competence as a worship leader. He's a very gifted worship leader. It's more of a reflection on how we listen for the prompting of God and respond to it in worship, in work, in relationships, in life.
You see, in North American culture we are convinced that we are wasting time unless we are occupied with work. We derive much of our value from this. Unless I'm doing, unless I'm accomplishing, then I'm not being valuable to someone, and hence I'm being irresponsible with my time. It's a pretty big value for us. And so we at times will do just about anything to keep from doing nothing and feeling "value-less."
Last night, God interrupted our "doing" with "non-doing." It was as if God was challenging us to be in His Presence without doing another single thing. John Ryan played a single sustained note while we sat and struggled with "what next?" What's supposed to happen? What are we supposed to DO now?
And we discovered the answer together which was... not a thing.
One of my roles as a pastor is to interpret a move of God when I perceive it. What I perceived last night was God issuing a radical challenge to our socially inherited sense of what makes me valuable. At any given time, what constitutes the value of the child of God is quite simply their sonship and daughter-ship. God delights in us AS WE ARE.
There are times when I love to go into my children's room at night before I go to bed and just watch them sleeping. I pray over them but I also just stand and just simply wonder. They are beautiful. They are innocent (at least while they're asleep!). They are so wonderfully made by God. There's nothing they're required to do for me to love them. Sometimes, I just get to enjoy them while they're doing absolutely nothing except being asleep.
Our time with God doesn't always have to follow a programme. Sometimes, we are allowed - perhaps released - to just be with God in the manner that God chooses to be with us. God may desire to interrupt our words, our schedule, our highly structured expectation of our time with Him and do something new. He has that permission. After all, He's God. And that's okay. It's more than okay. Against the stream of a culture that so highly values doing over being - it's a very GOOD thing.
A Better Way to Pray
Came across this quote this morning from Andrew Wommack's book, "A Better Way to Pray" (thanks to Jacki Shuttleworth for recommending the book!).
"Don't try to build your relationship with God too intensely, either. Some people think they need a lightning bolt from heaven in order to curl their hair in the morning! If you asked God for that today, what would you need to "feel" His love tomorrow? If God didn't perform something bigger and better, you'd wonder, "What happened, Lord?" Yesterday You zapped me but today I don't feel a thing! Why don't You love me anymore?" He'd have to jump through a new hoop each day just to keep you satisfied. This is the worst thing that could happen to you. Instead of maturing in intimacy with Him, you'd become addicted to spectacular experiences. God's not going to do that!" (Andrew Womack, A Better Way to Pray, 43).
"Don't try to build your relationship with God too intensely, either. Some people think they need a lightning bolt from heaven in order to curl their hair in the morning! If you asked God for that today, what would you need to "feel" His love tomorrow? If God didn't perform something bigger and better, you'd wonder, "What happened, Lord?" Yesterday You zapped me but today I don't feel a thing! Why don't You love me anymore?" He'd have to jump through a new hoop each day just to keep you satisfied. This is the worst thing that could happen to you. Instead of maturing in intimacy with Him, you'd become addicted to spectacular experiences. God's not going to do that!" (Andrew Womack, A Better Way to Pray, 43).
Friday, October 10, 2008
Some Random Reflections on Pastoring...
A discipline of the preacher is cultivating awareness of God’s presence and movement. The movement itself needs no special casting. It stands alone. By itself it is powerful enough to forever transform a life. All the preacher need do is point to it and by itself it delivers the hope and the promise.
We then shepherd the people of God toward the light of the place where God is moving. When the cloud settles, we settle. When the cloud lifts, we pick up and move.
One of the reasons our evangelism has become doctrinal is because we can’t completely (or even partially) understand what it means to have a “relationship” with God. So we point to “truths” in scripture and ask people to come into agreement with those truths thinking that at least if they do that they will begin the journey of relationship. “Truths” are easier for us to grab hold of. We can walk people through an understanding of a series of logical truths that interrelate with each other and form thematic structures.
But a relationship. That’s the harder work – mostly because we can only point the way. To invite someone into a relationship with God is to be a third-party broker. The person being invited is required to say yes and then do the difficult work of surrendering to the will and the purposes of God. I can’t do that work for them. The most I can do is offer wise counsel about the “benefit” of the relationship or how it “feels right” or “gives meaning.” But even those things ring hollow. It isn’t until you’ve been called and answer “yes” to that call that you have any notion of what that “yes” actually means or entails.
We then shepherd the people of God toward the light of the place where God is moving. When the cloud settles, we settle. When the cloud lifts, we pick up and move.
One of the reasons our evangelism has become doctrinal is because we can’t completely (or even partially) understand what it means to have a “relationship” with God. So we point to “truths” in scripture and ask people to come into agreement with those truths thinking that at least if they do that they will begin the journey of relationship. “Truths” are easier for us to grab hold of. We can walk people through an understanding of a series of logical truths that interrelate with each other and form thematic structures.
But a relationship. That’s the harder work – mostly because we can only point the way. To invite someone into a relationship with God is to be a third-party broker. The person being invited is required to say yes and then do the difficult work of surrendering to the will and the purposes of God. I can’t do that work for them. The most I can do is offer wise counsel about the “benefit” of the relationship or how it “feels right” or “gives meaning.” But even those things ring hollow. It isn’t until you’ve been called and answer “yes” to that call that you have any notion of what that “yes” actually means or entails.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
From Olympics to Politics...
It seems like we've gone from one big television event to the next - from the Olympics to the National Convention of the Democratic Party. The Olympics were amazing this year. Who will ever forget watching the men's 400m freestyle relay as Jason Lezak caught up from behind to beat the French by a "fingernail" of a second! Susan and I tried to be near the TV every time Michael Phellps raced and cheered on in front of the TV when he won his 8th gold medal in the 100m medley relay!
We've also been watching parts of the DNC convention this week. And the one thing that strikes us and that we've been talking about is how while there is great pageantry and commentary about the presidential race this year, the rhetoric is not anything we haven't heard in some form or fashion before. Not that we're discouraged. It's not that at all. Perhaps it's a recognition that the power to change the quality of my life doesn't lie with legislation or bureaucratic change. It's the recognition, instead, that transformation MUST occur first in the heart of the individual believer completely surrenderd to the purposes of God. And that's true no matter what political leader or party is in "power." Truth be known, the time of the greatest advance of the kingdom of God was under a government militarily and ideologically opposed to Christianity - the government of Rome!
It's time for believers to take seriously the power they've been given by God to win the hearts of people and instill real hope in God's presence and provision. We begin the conquest first in our own hearts, allowing God to "burn off" desires and motivations that don''t originate in Him. We follow by telling others of the amazing love and grace we've discovered in surrender to Jesus. And God hasn't left us powerless in that surrender. Rather, God in his awesome wisdom has gifted his people to speak life, heal the sick, minister to suffering, restore to wholeness, engage the powers and principalities, and bring heaven down to earth!
That is VERY exciting to me as we enter the Fall together. That is a "campaign" I can rally behind and believe in. Will you join me in campaigning for the kingdom?
We've also been watching parts of the DNC convention this week. And the one thing that strikes us and that we've been talking about is how while there is great pageantry and commentary about the presidential race this year, the rhetoric is not anything we haven't heard in some form or fashion before. Not that we're discouraged. It's not that at all. Perhaps it's a recognition that the power to change the quality of my life doesn't lie with legislation or bureaucratic change. It's the recognition, instead, that transformation MUST occur first in the heart of the individual believer completely surrenderd to the purposes of God. And that's true no matter what political leader or party is in "power." Truth be known, the time of the greatest advance of the kingdom of God was under a government militarily and ideologically opposed to Christianity - the government of Rome!
It's time for believers to take seriously the power they've been given by God to win the hearts of people and instill real hope in God's presence and provision. We begin the conquest first in our own hearts, allowing God to "burn off" desires and motivations that don''t originate in Him. We follow by telling others of the amazing love and grace we've discovered in surrender to Jesus. And God hasn't left us powerless in that surrender. Rather, God in his awesome wisdom has gifted his people to speak life, heal the sick, minister to suffering, restore to wholeness, engage the powers and principalities, and bring heaven down to earth!
That is VERY exciting to me as we enter the Fall together. That is a "campaign" I can rally behind and believe in. Will you join me in campaigning for the kingdom?
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Back from Vacation - some meditations
Today I officiated the funeral of Richard Jerman - a lifelong member of First Christian Church, Alamo. The Jermans were part of the group that founded the church in the 1840’s and have been members and leaders and servants at the church for the last 165 years. I loved the solemnity of the service – the reverence shown in the face of an important transition for a family and for a church.
Susan and I arrived back in Jackson from our vacation yesterday at 9:30pm after twelve hours of driving. Most of the time, for me, was spent having pain from what one practitioner said was Gout. Isn't that an ailment of older people? They said that it could be brought on by eating lots of certain kinds of seafood - oysters, crawfish, crabs, scallops - which I ate by the bucketful on Tuesday night!
It's awesome to be home. Vacations are good opportunities to get away and re-wire and be with family you don't see but once or twice a year. But being in one's home, around one's friends, and near one's church family is very refreshing.
Susan and I are looking forward to this Fall in ministry. I'm going to start preaching two different sermons on Sunday mornings at the different churches. FCC and Promise Church are different ministry contexts and have some different needs right now. Both churches are poised for "mission greatness" - ready to take their communities by storm offering the unique mixes of ministry gifts that exist inside of their communities. For us, it's exciting to serve two very different ministries. Each allows us to exercise our talents and spiritual gifts in different ways and together fully. It's challenging, but we enjoy the variety of people God has put in our lives.
I'm also excited about our Thursday Night Intercession! service. There is a place in God's kingdom for expressive worship. A mentor of mine - an older Disciples of Christ minister - once said that worship and theatre go hand in hand. If you've ever been to a Broadway play you know what I'm talking about. There is a place for "audience participation" and expression as we move worship beyond the dualistic performer-audience model to the increasingly organic and networked "we are all worshippers in the Spirit." Some have labeled this worship style as "charismatic." Honestly, I don't like that label at all because it suggests that other forms of worship aren't filled with the Spirit's gifts. And that's simply mistaken. I prefer "expressive."
Expressive Worship isn't new. The Greek Orthodox church which is conservative in worship if measured by liturgy and ceremony stands on their feet for hours, chanting, praying, lifting hands, breathing in the aromas of incense and seeking desperately in their physical surrender to the things of God a powerful experience and move of the Spirit of God. I'm conservative in my basic nature. And yet there is something deep inside of me that needs to be able to viscerally express a "YES!" to the love and mercy of God. Sitting in a pew on Sunday morning quietly observing others practice "religion" just doesn't do it for me anymore if that is my only option. There's a place in God's church for noise and motion and expression. And yes, there's a powerful place for solid "liturgy," powerful and meaningful ritual, and moments of deep quiet - listening as it were for the movement of God as He walks in the still of the afternoon of the garden (Gen. 3:8).
I suppose what resolves the tension is simply the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit is with us when we are lonely, when we are tired, when we are hurting, when we are experiencing loss. But the Spirit is also with us when we are excited, passionate, compassionate, cheerful, and filled with deep joy and hope. There's no expectation that in every emotional state we experience our demeanor will remain quiescent. Instead, if we truly believe that the Spirit lives inside of us, it is appropriate that we speak to that Spirit out of whatever fear or joy we may be experiencing. Our voices may tremble with trepidation, our voices may shout with gladness. But however we speak, we speak as a transparent self before a God who is willing to meet us exactly where we are - not where we think we are supposed to be. Maybe that's what Jesus means when he says that we are to worship in "Spirit" and in "Truth."
Susan and I arrived back in Jackson from our vacation yesterday at 9:30pm after twelve hours of driving. Most of the time, for me, was spent having pain from what one practitioner said was Gout. Isn't that an ailment of older people? They said that it could be brought on by eating lots of certain kinds of seafood - oysters, crawfish, crabs, scallops - which I ate by the bucketful on Tuesday night!
It's awesome to be home. Vacations are good opportunities to get away and re-wire and be with family you don't see but once or twice a year. But being in one's home, around one's friends, and near one's church family is very refreshing.
Susan and I are looking forward to this Fall in ministry. I'm going to start preaching two different sermons on Sunday mornings at the different churches. FCC and Promise Church are different ministry contexts and have some different needs right now. Both churches are poised for "mission greatness" - ready to take their communities by storm offering the unique mixes of ministry gifts that exist inside of their communities. For us, it's exciting to serve two very different ministries. Each allows us to exercise our talents and spiritual gifts in different ways and together fully. It's challenging, but we enjoy the variety of people God has put in our lives.
I'm also excited about our Thursday Night Intercession! service. There is a place in God's kingdom for expressive worship. A mentor of mine - an older Disciples of Christ minister - once said that worship and theatre go hand in hand. If you've ever been to a Broadway play you know what I'm talking about. There is a place for "audience participation" and expression as we move worship beyond the dualistic performer-audience model to the increasingly organic and networked "we are all worshippers in the Spirit." Some have labeled this worship style as "charismatic." Honestly, I don't like that label at all because it suggests that other forms of worship aren't filled with the Spirit's gifts. And that's simply mistaken. I prefer "expressive."
Expressive Worship isn't new. The Greek Orthodox church which is conservative in worship if measured by liturgy and ceremony stands on their feet for hours, chanting, praying, lifting hands, breathing in the aromas of incense and seeking desperately in their physical surrender to the things of God a powerful experience and move of the Spirit of God. I'm conservative in my basic nature. And yet there is something deep inside of me that needs to be able to viscerally express a "YES!" to the love and mercy of God. Sitting in a pew on Sunday morning quietly observing others practice "religion" just doesn't do it for me anymore if that is my only option. There's a place in God's church for noise and motion and expression. And yes, there's a powerful place for solid "liturgy," powerful and meaningful ritual, and moments of deep quiet - listening as it were for the movement of God as He walks in the still of the afternoon of the garden (Gen. 3:8).
I suppose what resolves the tension is simply the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit is with us when we are lonely, when we are tired, when we are hurting, when we are experiencing loss. But the Spirit is also with us when we are excited, passionate, compassionate, cheerful, and filled with deep joy and hope. There's no expectation that in every emotional state we experience our demeanor will remain quiescent. Instead, if we truly believe that the Spirit lives inside of us, it is appropriate that we speak to that Spirit out of whatever fear or joy we may be experiencing. Our voices may tremble with trepidation, our voices may shout with gladness. But however we speak, we speak as a transparent self before a God who is willing to meet us exactly where we are - not where we think we are supposed to be. Maybe that's what Jesus means when he says that we are to worship in "Spirit" and in "Truth."
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Vacationing with Susan's Family in Hilton Head, SC
This week Susan and I are spending our last week of vacation with Susan's family in South Carolina before Will goes back to school. Will is out riding his bike with Susan's mom, Neeley is playing on the floor with her three year old cousin Ellie - and Susan and I are secretly wishing that one of her sisters can babysit while we get away for a nice lunch alone!
We so undersestimate the importance of breaking our routines if even for a week and realizing that our daily patterns of living are not life itself. We are not the sum of our jobs or even our relationships. And it takes getting away from what we're used to to realize that who and what we are is understood in relation to God's purpose and provision for our lives.
What does that mean for us? It means that we can build in regular times of departure from the norm to reconnect with God. This happens in daily prayer and scripture reading. It happens when we take a Saturday and spend it fasting or in prayer. It happens when we pick up a good religious book and allow ourselves to be challenged in the way we understand our own ministry and gifts! (I suggest Bill Johnson's, "When Heaven and Earth Meet"!)
So break a pattern, interrupt a routine, or skip a groove. Whatever it takes to place you right in the middle of God's presence where you can hear his voice!
Pictures from our Trip to Hilton Head, SC (with Susan's Family)
We so undersestimate the importance of breaking our routines if even for a week and realizing that our daily patterns of living are not life itself. We are not the sum of our jobs or even our relationships. And it takes getting away from what we're used to to realize that who and what we are is understood in relation to God's purpose and provision for our lives.
What does that mean for us? It means that we can build in regular times of departure from the norm to reconnect with God. This happens in daily prayer and scripture reading. It happens when we take a Saturday and spend it fasting or in prayer. It happens when we pick up a good religious book and allow ourselves to be challenged in the way we understand our own ministry and gifts! (I suggest Bill Johnson's, "When Heaven and Earth Meet"!)
So break a pattern, interrupt a routine, or skip a groove. Whatever it takes to place you right in the middle of God's presence where you can hear his voice!
Pictures from our Trip to Hilton Head, SC (with Susan's Family)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Take My Yoke
Mt 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
If this is true then I haven’t yet found the easy yoke. What keeps me from fully following the teachings of Jesus? Interesting that the first thought that comes to mind is embarrassment. Embarrassment that all of those years I’ve been wrong and have to admit to others that my forcefulness (my Will to Power?) was just a front for insecurity or worse than that it was simply done in ignorance – a cardinal sin for someone whose intellectual satisfaction derives from being perceived by others as living intentionally.
How weary am I? Obviously not so much that I don’t continue striving by my own power to achieve things that don’t really matter to God. When I get to that point, Jesus says “Come.” When I’ve exhausted all of my faculties to the point that I’m ready to trust in God’s provision, then I’m ready to respond to the invitation given to those who are “weary and heavy burdened.” But not until I’m ready to hand over my burden.
The ease with which one hands over their heavy burden is a direct result of having exhausted oneself. It seems hard now, of course, because I’m still holding on to my burden, convinced that I can still carry it alone. Not to worry, though. I will exhaust myself carrying around all of this baggage. And when I do, in faith, Jesus invites me to come to him.
He invites me to come to him to do what? To give up my burden? To share my burden? To have someone else carry my burden? No. He invites me to come to take on another load, another “yoke” as it were. To someone already carrying a load this is heard as utter nonsense. How can I possibly carry more than I already am? And it’s a good question.
The answer to that question is again found in Jesus’s invitation to take on HIS yoke. This is another of Jesus’s paradoxes. Trade off my yoke for his yoke which is no yoke at all and yet is the most difficult yoke of all to bear. That’s the paradox. Difficult because I’ll never bear his yoke as long as I’m stubbornly intent on carrying my own.
Rob Bell has descibed in the Nooma Video Series that a rabbi’s yoke was their teaching. So to take on a yoke was to take on their teaching. But Jesus’s yoke wasn’t so much a compendium of teachings as is was a entirely different way of life. Something about Jesus’s yoke – about his teaching – has something to do with being humble and gentle in heart.
It’s interesting as I carry MY yoke how prideful I am about it even though I despise the very thing I carry. This is MY yoke – MY burden. My identity has become so caught up in my own pain and suffering that I can’t see past it to another identity that carries with it the promise of Life and Freedom. It’s the old adage that it’s better to trust the demon you know than the demon you don’t. At least that’s the calculation that occurs in my spirit when I’m finally reaching the point of exhaustion, finally at the point of giving up my yoke and taking on the yoke of freedom in Jesus.
Because when I do, I just might find rest through a new-found humility and gentleness. And my life of striving through which I have so completely identified myself for all of these years might just come to the end. My yoke would be lifted. Still, even in the face of absolute REST, my fear kicks in – that in that rest I might not recognize myself. What I have longed for – freedom from the burden I’ve been carrying – is the place where I must cross the wilderness in faith. It is the point of crisis and the point of decision. It is the point of exhaustion. It is where I say in fear and trembling and tears “No More!” and in submission and humility cry out “Yes” to the invitation of Jesus to “come.”
If this is true then I haven’t yet found the easy yoke. What keeps me from fully following the teachings of Jesus? Interesting that the first thought that comes to mind is embarrassment. Embarrassment that all of those years I’ve been wrong and have to admit to others that my forcefulness (my Will to Power?) was just a front for insecurity or worse than that it was simply done in ignorance – a cardinal sin for someone whose intellectual satisfaction derives from being perceived by others as living intentionally.
How weary am I? Obviously not so much that I don’t continue striving by my own power to achieve things that don’t really matter to God. When I get to that point, Jesus says “Come.” When I’ve exhausted all of my faculties to the point that I’m ready to trust in God’s provision, then I’m ready to respond to the invitation given to those who are “weary and heavy burdened.” But not until I’m ready to hand over my burden.
The ease with which one hands over their heavy burden is a direct result of having exhausted oneself. It seems hard now, of course, because I’m still holding on to my burden, convinced that I can still carry it alone. Not to worry, though. I will exhaust myself carrying around all of this baggage. And when I do, in faith, Jesus invites me to come to him.
He invites me to come to him to do what? To give up my burden? To share my burden? To have someone else carry my burden? No. He invites me to come to take on another load, another “yoke” as it were. To someone already carrying a load this is heard as utter nonsense. How can I possibly carry more than I already am? And it’s a good question.
The answer to that question is again found in Jesus’s invitation to take on HIS yoke. This is another of Jesus’s paradoxes. Trade off my yoke for his yoke which is no yoke at all and yet is the most difficult yoke of all to bear. That’s the paradox. Difficult because I’ll never bear his yoke as long as I’m stubbornly intent on carrying my own.
Rob Bell has descibed in the Nooma Video Series that a rabbi’s yoke was their teaching. So to take on a yoke was to take on their teaching. But Jesus’s yoke wasn’t so much a compendium of teachings as is was a entirely different way of life. Something about Jesus’s yoke – about his teaching – has something to do with being humble and gentle in heart.
It’s interesting as I carry MY yoke how prideful I am about it even though I despise the very thing I carry. This is MY yoke – MY burden. My identity has become so caught up in my own pain and suffering that I can’t see past it to another identity that carries with it the promise of Life and Freedom. It’s the old adage that it’s better to trust the demon you know than the demon you don’t. At least that’s the calculation that occurs in my spirit when I’m finally reaching the point of exhaustion, finally at the point of giving up my yoke and taking on the yoke of freedom in Jesus.
Because when I do, I just might find rest through a new-found humility and gentleness. And my life of striving through which I have so completely identified myself for all of these years might just come to the end. My yoke would be lifted. Still, even in the face of absolute REST, my fear kicks in – that in that rest I might not recognize myself. What I have longed for – freedom from the burden I’ve been carrying – is the place where I must cross the wilderness in faith. It is the point of crisis and the point of decision. It is the point of exhaustion. It is where I say in fear and trembling and tears “No More!” and in submission and humility cry out “Yes” to the invitation of Jesus to “come.”
Sunday, June 29, 2008
A Cup of Cold Water
Mt 10:40 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
A friend of mine recently told me about Bill Gates who just left the helm of the Microsoft Corporation. As you know, Bill Gates has been listed as one of the richest men in the world with net worth being valued over $58 billion. Gates has set out to make sure that every child on the face of the planet has a complete set of vaccinations against disease.
That’s staggering to contemplate. Consider that there are somewhere around 4 billion children in the world. And still its amazing that of all the uses Bill Gates could think of for his immense wealth, the way he has chosen to spend it is on people who need it the most, making sure they have a chance at getting a good start at life.
Why would he do it? What could possibly be the reward? I’m sure a financial manager has somewhere made the argument that Mr. Gates money would be better spent earning a good rate of return on his $58 billion. I imagine that he’s even been courted by political candidates arguing that if he would help them get elected then that would be the greatest impact his money could have.
But it’s when we empty ourselves enough to give exactly what’s needed to the ones who are the least in our society – that’s when our hearts most resemble the heart of God.
You see, the heart of God is to show mercy to those who don’t deserve mercy and forgiveness to those who don’t even know they need to be forgiven of anything. The heart of God is to love the unlovable and to draw into community the ones no one believes is fit for relationship. The heart of God is to raise up leaders from among those who have been cast out and dismissed because – well, that’s just how God is. I suppose if he were to raise up spiritual leaders from among the rich and powerful there might be some confusion over who actually got the credit! And so God chose Moses – an infant cast off by his mother out of fear for her son’s safety. And God chose Samuel, who had been given to an elderly priest to raise and teach. And God chose a reckless harp-player turned bandit named David to become Israel’s greatest king. God has a heart for the underdog it would seem.
Do you? Who would you give the most simple of gifts to – a cup of cold water? Who is deserving of your selfless love? -- Jay
A friend of mine recently told me about Bill Gates who just left the helm of the Microsoft Corporation. As you know, Bill Gates has been listed as one of the richest men in the world with net worth being valued over $58 billion. Gates has set out to make sure that every child on the face of the planet has a complete set of vaccinations against disease.
That’s staggering to contemplate. Consider that there are somewhere around 4 billion children in the world. And still its amazing that of all the uses Bill Gates could think of for his immense wealth, the way he has chosen to spend it is on people who need it the most, making sure they have a chance at getting a good start at life.
Why would he do it? What could possibly be the reward? I’m sure a financial manager has somewhere made the argument that Mr. Gates money would be better spent earning a good rate of return on his $58 billion. I imagine that he’s even been courted by political candidates arguing that if he would help them get elected then that would be the greatest impact his money could have.
But it’s when we empty ourselves enough to give exactly what’s needed to the ones who are the least in our society – that’s when our hearts most resemble the heart of God.
You see, the heart of God is to show mercy to those who don’t deserve mercy and forgiveness to those who don’t even know they need to be forgiven of anything. The heart of God is to love the unlovable and to draw into community the ones no one believes is fit for relationship. The heart of God is to raise up leaders from among those who have been cast out and dismissed because – well, that’s just how God is. I suppose if he were to raise up spiritual leaders from among the rich and powerful there might be some confusion over who actually got the credit! And so God chose Moses – an infant cast off by his mother out of fear for her son’s safety. And God chose Samuel, who had been given to an elderly priest to raise and teach. And God chose a reckless harp-player turned bandit named David to become Israel’s greatest king. God has a heart for the underdog it would seem.
Do you? Who would you give the most simple of gifts to – a cup of cold water? Who is deserving of your selfless love? -- Jay
Saturday, June 21, 2008
STREAMS!
Please be in prayer for an emerging network of churches that Promise Church is apart of called “Streams.” Streams is a developing association of churches around Nashville and Jackson who are beginning to share resources, ministries, and encouragement. Typically the churches are smaller church plants like our own who are dedicated to being places where the Spirit of God can move freely and nurture incredible faith, mission, healing, and community.
Pastor Jay is working closely with Tony Woodall to develop this network and will be planning a retreat for the pastoral leadership of these churches in September in Pensacola, Fla. Please pray for Jay and Tony – for energy to do this in addition to their other job responsibilities. But also pray that Streams will be a fresh source of inspiration and energy to all of the churches involved and that it follows God’s organic plan for nourishing the body of Christ!
Pastor Jay is working closely with Tony Woodall to develop this network and will be planning a retreat for the pastoral leadership of these churches in September in Pensacola, Fla. Please pray for Jay and Tony – for energy to do this in addition to their other job responsibilities. But also pray that Streams will be a fresh source of inspiration and energy to all of the churches involved and that it follows God’s organic plan for nourishing the body of Christ!
Lose Your Life. Find Your Life.
Mt 10:37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."
If you think about we all have a basic philosophy of life. Seriously. We all do. Our philosophy might be to build a business. It might be to simply go in and be a good employee, do a good job, and be rewarded for our work. Some people have the philosophy that society should provide them with the basics of life. Others have the philosophy that one can never count on society to provide one with anything at all. Still others will say that they have no philosophy, which sounds nice, but usually only means that they haven’t really thought about it. Talk to someone for long and you’ll begin to sense the idea that guides their most basic beliefs about their life.
Jesus in this text challenges those who put even their own self-preservation before God. He begs the question that is so powerful – “Is there anything worth living for if you don’t have anything worth dying for?”
For Jesus, what’s worth dying for is a vision of God’s reign that draws in people of every stripe and calls them to simply be who God created them to be.
That sounds too simple! You mean that Jesus didn’t give his life for a political ideology or for economic prosperity or for some notion of personal freedom? That’s right. Jesus died for a vision of the world where people lived in freedom, had REAL prosperity, and lived with perfect governance because they lived in willing obedience to God.
To the cynic, that sounds pretty Pollyanish. How incredibly naïve to think that broken, selfish human beings could ever experience, let alone achieve anything like that. And the cynic would be right. Human beings could never achieve that. But God could.
Through God’s own power (and grace), he could take broken, selfish, self-protective human beings and mold them into a people who could enjoy creation and each other rather than live in fear of their own annihilation. If only they would say “yes.” If only we would say “yes.” If only I would say “yes.” Saying “yes” is to enter to “abyss” (Kierkegaard!) of trust. It’s on the other side of that abyss that we are restored to the Garden of Eden – to perfect intimacy with God- where literally heaven and earth meet.
Do I trust enough that God is able? Am I willing to lay down my life and all the hopes of this world to trust that maybe, just maybe, life with God is as amazing as the Spirit has revealed to us?
If you think about we all have a basic philosophy of life. Seriously. We all do. Our philosophy might be to build a business. It might be to simply go in and be a good employee, do a good job, and be rewarded for our work. Some people have the philosophy that society should provide them with the basics of life. Others have the philosophy that one can never count on society to provide one with anything at all. Still others will say that they have no philosophy, which sounds nice, but usually only means that they haven’t really thought about it. Talk to someone for long and you’ll begin to sense the idea that guides their most basic beliefs about their life.
Jesus in this text challenges those who put even their own self-preservation before God. He begs the question that is so powerful – “Is there anything worth living for if you don’t have anything worth dying for?”
For Jesus, what’s worth dying for is a vision of God’s reign that draws in people of every stripe and calls them to simply be who God created them to be.
That sounds too simple! You mean that Jesus didn’t give his life for a political ideology or for economic prosperity or for some notion of personal freedom? That’s right. Jesus died for a vision of the world where people lived in freedom, had REAL prosperity, and lived with perfect governance because they lived in willing obedience to God.
To the cynic, that sounds pretty Pollyanish. How incredibly naïve to think that broken, selfish human beings could ever experience, let alone achieve anything like that. And the cynic would be right. Human beings could never achieve that. But God could.
Through God’s own power (and grace), he could take broken, selfish, self-protective human beings and mold them into a people who could enjoy creation and each other rather than live in fear of their own annihilation. If only they would say “yes.” If only we would say “yes.” If only I would say “yes.” Saying “yes” is to enter to “abyss” (Kierkegaard!) of trust. It’s on the other side of that abyss that we are restored to the Garden of Eden – to perfect intimacy with God- where literally heaven and earth meet.
Do I trust enough that God is able? Am I willing to lay down my life and all the hopes of this world to trust that maybe, just maybe, life with God is as amazing as the Spirit has revealed to us?
Saturday, June 7, 2008
YOUR FAITH HAS HEALED YOU!
Mt 9:18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
Mt 9:20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Mt 9:22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.
Mt 9:23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all that region.
I often ask myself “How much do I really believe in what Jesus can accomplish?”
I had a conversation with someone at the gym a few months back who told me that she was having trouble getting past some difficult issues in her life. Her life had been on a collision course with alchohol addiction and in finding healing through AA meetings she was still experiencing some lingering bitterness over some of the things that had happened during and since her addiction.
During the conversation (I was on one exercise bicycle and she was on the other) I suggested that she ask Jesus to heal her heart of the pain she was going through. My thought at the time was that believing in God as one’s “higher power” is a good first start, but that like the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’s garment that there is power to be released when “press through the crowds” and go after Jesus with all of our heart.
Her reply has stuck with me and it has challenged me to think – and pray – about how much we can expect from Jesus today in our own lives. She said, “Jay, those are nice stories from the Bible, but I’m looking for real healing in my life today.”
Her words struck me to the core. Are the stories of healing just children’s stories to make us feel good and create in us a very general (and inchoate) hope of restoration and healing? Or is it possible that the work of Jesus never ended with his death nor with the death of the last apostle. Rather, are we right in believing that Jesus’ ministry to our bodies, souls, AND spirits continues to the present time?
I’ve been amazed by some of the stories coming out of Lakeland, Florida of the healing revival taking place under the ministry and leadership of Todd Bentley. In fact, one night Susan and I and some others put the revival (that is broadcast on God.tv) on the projection screen at church and simply watched in awe as people came forward to be healed of blindness, severe illness, deafness and other physical ailments. A tangible presence of God filled our worship center. I began to weep as I saw people press through crowds to be prayed over and touched and given encouragement and then healed.
There was a season of my life that I would have been the worst skeptic about this sort of thing. I simply had been taught some wrong things about God and at the time didn’t know better than to believe them. Our challenge today is to accept the grace of God to have our eyes and ears renewed so that we can see and hear the places where God is moving today. Deep down, we believe in the possibility of the miraculous – of the transformation of individuals, communities, and even nations! We believe in the possibility. Now is the time perhaps for us to believe in the actuality of God’s will and purposes being accomplished in this world that He has created. And as we see them – let’s celebrate them together.
Mt 9:20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Mt 9:22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.
Mt 9:23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all that region.
I often ask myself “How much do I really believe in what Jesus can accomplish?”
I had a conversation with someone at the gym a few months back who told me that she was having trouble getting past some difficult issues in her life. Her life had been on a collision course with alchohol addiction and in finding healing through AA meetings she was still experiencing some lingering bitterness over some of the things that had happened during and since her addiction.
During the conversation (I was on one exercise bicycle and she was on the other) I suggested that she ask Jesus to heal her heart of the pain she was going through. My thought at the time was that believing in God as one’s “higher power” is a good first start, but that like the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’s garment that there is power to be released when “press through the crowds” and go after Jesus with all of our heart.
Her reply has stuck with me and it has challenged me to think – and pray – about how much we can expect from Jesus today in our own lives. She said, “Jay, those are nice stories from the Bible, but I’m looking for real healing in my life today.”
Her words struck me to the core. Are the stories of healing just children’s stories to make us feel good and create in us a very general (and inchoate) hope of restoration and healing? Or is it possible that the work of Jesus never ended with his death nor with the death of the last apostle. Rather, are we right in believing that Jesus’ ministry to our bodies, souls, AND spirits continues to the present time?
I’ve been amazed by some of the stories coming out of Lakeland, Florida of the healing revival taking place under the ministry and leadership of Todd Bentley. In fact, one night Susan and I and some others put the revival (that is broadcast on God.tv) on the projection screen at church and simply watched in awe as people came forward to be healed of blindness, severe illness, deafness and other physical ailments. A tangible presence of God filled our worship center. I began to weep as I saw people press through crowds to be prayed over and touched and given encouragement and then healed.
There was a season of my life that I would have been the worst skeptic about this sort of thing. I simply had been taught some wrong things about God and at the time didn’t know better than to believe them. Our challenge today is to accept the grace of God to have our eyes and ears renewed so that we can see and hear the places where God is moving today. Deep down, we believe in the possibility of the miraculous – of the transformation of individuals, communities, and even nations! We believe in the possibility. Now is the time perhaps for us to believe in the actuality of God’s will and purposes being accomplished in this world that He has created. And as we see them – let’s celebrate them together.
Friday, May 30, 2008
With Authority!
7:28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Can you think of your favorite teacher that you had growing up or in college? I remember my American Philosophy professor at Texas A&M – John McDermott. Dr. McDermott was hardly a Christian. He would have called himself a “pragmatist.” Rather than being rooted in Hebrew and Christian scripture – he was rooted in the writings of Josiah Royce, William James, John Dewey, and Charles Peirce – all philosophers from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. And yet, I list him at the top of “My Favorite Teachers” list and after twenty years since I graduated from college, I can still remember his classroom presence.
You see, Dr. McDermott wasn’t just someone who conveyed information about what philosophers wrote – he was passionate about seeing the possibilities of taking those writings and thoughts and using them to reorient modern culture and political life. In other words, for him, his craft of philosophy wasn’t an ancient and arcane practice, but a living, breathing source of inspiration. And this passion came out vividly in the classroom as Dr. McDermott would pace in front of the chalkboard or sit on top of one of the front row desks – his tweed jacket with patches reeking of aromatic pipe smoke. When Dr. McDermott spoke, the class couldn’t help but listen.
I’ve chosen a different path than John McDermott. In fact, on my Senior Paper on Alfred North Whitehead’s Process Philosophy – he wrote at the top of the page – “Beware the snares of the ministry.” I didn’t take that advice and have since fallen deeply into ministry’s snares. But I can’t help but remember a teacher who spoke with authority because he passionately believed and lived the truth and life of his message. And so, thousands of students experienced his class and were transformed by his ideas. Who was your John McDermott?
Jesus’ message wasn’t a rehash of the Old Testament prophets and the Law – even though he liked to quote them and used them often to illustrate his understanding of the Kingdom of God. The point of Jesus’ teaching was to show how all the things that had been promised in the Hebrew scriptures were now coming to life in the presence of the people of Israel. The blind were receiving their sight. The deaf were able to hear. The lame could walk. Good news was being preached to the poor (Luke 7:21-22).
When we share our stories of faith in God, lives are transformed! The reason Jesus spoke with authority was because he lived what he taught and the Kingdom of God that he talked about always seemed to follow Him wherever he went.
I believe that this sort of faith “to move mountains” is attainable by us today. That when we speak of Jesus’ love and presence to our friends and loved ones, we do so knowing that a life is about to be changed forever! The same authority that John McDermott had in a classroom at Texas A&M is nothing compared to the authority that WE walk in when we passionately believe in and practice the living, breathing Kingdom of God! What the world needs today isn’t a new philosophy, but a way of life rooted in the deep things of God. A “way” of life, not a philosophy “about” life. There is incredible power in our practice of the way of Jesus that far exceeds our mere words! (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5!!!) -- Jay
Can you think of your favorite teacher that you had growing up or in college? I remember my American Philosophy professor at Texas A&M – John McDermott. Dr. McDermott was hardly a Christian. He would have called himself a “pragmatist.” Rather than being rooted in Hebrew and Christian scripture – he was rooted in the writings of Josiah Royce, William James, John Dewey, and Charles Peirce – all philosophers from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. And yet, I list him at the top of “My Favorite Teachers” list and after twenty years since I graduated from college, I can still remember his classroom presence.
You see, Dr. McDermott wasn’t just someone who conveyed information about what philosophers wrote – he was passionate about seeing the possibilities of taking those writings and thoughts and using them to reorient modern culture and political life. In other words, for him, his craft of philosophy wasn’t an ancient and arcane practice, but a living, breathing source of inspiration. And this passion came out vividly in the classroom as Dr. McDermott would pace in front of the chalkboard or sit on top of one of the front row desks – his tweed jacket with patches reeking of aromatic pipe smoke. When Dr. McDermott spoke, the class couldn’t help but listen.
I’ve chosen a different path than John McDermott. In fact, on my Senior Paper on Alfred North Whitehead’s Process Philosophy – he wrote at the top of the page – “Beware the snares of the ministry.” I didn’t take that advice and have since fallen deeply into ministry’s snares. But I can’t help but remember a teacher who spoke with authority because he passionately believed and lived the truth and life of his message. And so, thousands of students experienced his class and were transformed by his ideas. Who was your John McDermott?
Jesus’ message wasn’t a rehash of the Old Testament prophets and the Law – even though he liked to quote them and used them often to illustrate his understanding of the Kingdom of God. The point of Jesus’ teaching was to show how all the things that had been promised in the Hebrew scriptures were now coming to life in the presence of the people of Israel. The blind were receiving their sight. The deaf were able to hear. The lame could walk. Good news was being preached to the poor (Luke 7:21-22).
When we share our stories of faith in God, lives are transformed! The reason Jesus spoke with authority was because he lived what he taught and the Kingdom of God that he talked about always seemed to follow Him wherever he went.
I believe that this sort of faith “to move mountains” is attainable by us today. That when we speak of Jesus’ love and presence to our friends and loved ones, we do so knowing that a life is about to be changed forever! The same authority that John McDermott had in a classroom at Texas A&M is nothing compared to the authority that WE walk in when we passionately believe in and practice the living, breathing Kingdom of God! What the world needs today isn’t a new philosophy, but a way of life rooted in the deep things of God. A “way” of life, not a philosophy “about” life. There is incredible power in our practice of the way of Jesus that far exceeds our mere words! (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5!!!) -- Jay
Friday, May 23, 2008
Whose Right to Judge?
1Co 4:1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
The Corinthian church – which Paul had planted – questioned his authority to later come back and coach them through some difficult problems they were having as a church. There were some people from Judea (in Palestine) who had come and told the Corinthians that to be good before God they needed to follow the Old Testament Law. There were others – probably more steeped in Greek hedonistic philosophy – who taught an “anything goes” theology. They said that since Jesus had come – everything was permissible, since we were covered now by God’s grace.
Paul knew the importance of remembering their roots in Jewish scripture and practice and yet knew that it was “for freedom” that we had been set free. Christians were no longer bound to the law to be measured under the law. At the same time, Paul also knew that people’s lives were a reflection of the holiness of God. And so, not all things were permissible, rather Jesus followers had been called to lives of holiness and faithfulness and witness.
It’s hard being a servant of God, isn’t it.
The good news is that ultimately our only judge is God. Christians may have the confidence to be bold, courageous, and truth-telling at all times because we stand under no human court. We are God’s children – entrusted with the mysteries of God. The more we seek God and surrender to Him, the more we are entrusted with heavenly things. The more we understand. The more we discern in the Spirit. The more authority and power we walk in as servants of the world. So let us walk in humility and grace – reflecting the character of God in our lives, allowing all that we are to fall under His Lordship and not man’s! God will honor our submission and everywhere we look, we will see plainly his kingdom and dominion.
The Corinthian church – which Paul had planted – questioned his authority to later come back and coach them through some difficult problems they were having as a church. There were some people from Judea (in Palestine) who had come and told the Corinthians that to be good before God they needed to follow the Old Testament Law. There were others – probably more steeped in Greek hedonistic philosophy – who taught an “anything goes” theology. They said that since Jesus had come – everything was permissible, since we were covered now by God’s grace.
Paul knew the importance of remembering their roots in Jewish scripture and practice and yet knew that it was “for freedom” that we had been set free. Christians were no longer bound to the law to be measured under the law. At the same time, Paul also knew that people’s lives were a reflection of the holiness of God. And so, not all things were permissible, rather Jesus followers had been called to lives of holiness and faithfulness and witness.
It’s hard being a servant of God, isn’t it.
The good news is that ultimately our only judge is God. Christians may have the confidence to be bold, courageous, and truth-telling at all times because we stand under no human court. We are God’s children – entrusted with the mysteries of God. The more we seek God and surrender to Him, the more we are entrusted with heavenly things. The more we understand. The more we discern in the Spirit. The more authority and power we walk in as servants of the world. So let us walk in humility and grace – reflecting the character of God in our lives, allowing all that we are to fall under His Lordship and not man’s! God will honor our submission and everywhere we look, we will see plainly his kingdom and dominion.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Moving In Freeedom
Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
I grew up in a church and in a “movement” that taught that any difference in practice or theology from the “norm” meant that someone was in deep error and could in fact be in danger of going to hell! Writing these words now, I’m struck by just how harsh that sounds. In twenty years of ministry it never ceases to amaze me how people “use” heaven and hell to manipulate other into conformity!
A few years ago, after having experienced burnout in a long pastorate in Memphis, the Lord began to show me a new way to express my faith and worship! As I would learn – it didn’t mean giving up deep theological truth that I had come to know from scripture and solid teaching – rather it began to look like the passion and commitment and fire that drew me to ministry in the first place!
Today at Promise Church we are coming to know as a fellowship that there is incredible freedom in surrender to God and God’s purposes! At first, this may look or feel awkward to us. After all, surrender isn’t easy. It means letting go to ways of thinking and living that even though they didn’t work for us still made us feel some odd sense of “comfort.”
But as we go deeper into the “mystery” and the “deep things” of God we have a unique opportunity to experience the freedom we have always wanted but really were afraid to go after!
I’d like to encourage you. As someone who has travelled and IS travelling that pathway, I can assure you that there is incredible LIFE down the road. It doesn’t come easy. It doesn’t come without some pain and a lot of letting go. It doesn’t come without – as a famous Christian mystic once called it – a “dark night of the soul.”
But the wonderful thing about this journey is that beyond darkness of the night is the brightness of the new morning. And it’s the new morning that draws me forward toward! You are all in Susan’s and my prayers!!
I grew up in a church and in a “movement” that taught that any difference in practice or theology from the “norm” meant that someone was in deep error and could in fact be in danger of going to hell! Writing these words now, I’m struck by just how harsh that sounds. In twenty years of ministry it never ceases to amaze me how people “use” heaven and hell to manipulate other into conformity!
A few years ago, after having experienced burnout in a long pastorate in Memphis, the Lord began to show me a new way to express my faith and worship! As I would learn – it didn’t mean giving up deep theological truth that I had come to know from scripture and solid teaching – rather it began to look like the passion and commitment and fire that drew me to ministry in the first place!
Today at Promise Church we are coming to know as a fellowship that there is incredible freedom in surrender to God and God’s purposes! At first, this may look or feel awkward to us. After all, surrender isn’t easy. It means letting go to ways of thinking and living that even though they didn’t work for us still made us feel some odd sense of “comfort.”
But as we go deeper into the “mystery” and the “deep things” of God we have a unique opportunity to experience the freedom we have always wanted but really were afraid to go after!
I’d like to encourage you. As someone who has travelled and IS travelling that pathway, I can assure you that there is incredible LIFE down the road. It doesn’t come easy. It doesn’t come without some pain and a lot of letting go. It doesn’t come without – as a famous Christian mystic once called it – a “dark night of the soul.”
But the wonderful thing about this journey is that beyond darkness of the night is the brightness of the new morning. And it’s the new morning that draws me forward toward! You are all in Susan’s and my prayers!!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Encouraged!
Tony Woodall and I just returned from the Jackson Association of Ministers (JAMA) meeting feeling pumped about what Ted Leach - Senior Minister of First Methodist and JAMA President - described as "the Holy Spirit moving in Jackson."
Forty pastors gathered today at Mother Liberty C.M.E. Church downtown and heard a presentation from Dr. Vicki Lott (V.P. at Lane College) on the structure of dialogue needed to needed to foster an environment of racial reconciliation in Jackson. The most beautiful thing about the gathering wasn't just Dr. Lott's presentation which was excellent but the suggestion that the JAMA ministers gather for an overnight retreat together and pray through a response to the issue of race. WOW!!!!! I very nearly cried! Yes, there's a "task force" for discerning and outlining the issues but to suggest that we retreat and PRAY as ONE!!! I could only cry out in my spirit, "Yes Lord!!! Yes Lord!!!"
Jackson is blessed to have ministers like Ted Leach, Craig Christina (First Baptist), and Willie Miles (Sign of the Dove) and many others who are expressing a profound willingness to serve humbly. As they model surrenderedness to the Lord they are leading the rest of us toward visible and practical unity as a city-wide fellowship of Christians. Please keep these leaders in your prayers!
I don't know what will come next, but the Spirit of unity is moving across all fronts in Jackson. Who knows? Perhaps the revival in Jackson will become a model for the rest of the country as ministers from very different backgrounds and traditions come together for Kingdom Work!
P.S. Promise Church will be the host for the NEXT JAMA meeting the second Thursday in June - June 12th at 11:45am. See our website - www.promisechurch.info - for directions.
Forty pastors gathered today at Mother Liberty C.M.E. Church downtown and heard a presentation from Dr. Vicki Lott (V.P. at Lane College) on the structure of dialogue needed to needed to foster an environment of racial reconciliation in Jackson. The most beautiful thing about the gathering wasn't just Dr. Lott's presentation which was excellent but the suggestion that the JAMA ministers gather for an overnight retreat together and pray through a response to the issue of race. WOW!!!!! I very nearly cried! Yes, there's a "task force" for discerning and outlining the issues but to suggest that we retreat and PRAY as ONE!!! I could only cry out in my spirit, "Yes Lord!!! Yes Lord!!!"
Jackson is blessed to have ministers like Ted Leach, Craig Christina (First Baptist), and Willie Miles (Sign of the Dove) and many others who are expressing a profound willingness to serve humbly. As they model surrenderedness to the Lord they are leading the rest of us toward visible and practical unity as a city-wide fellowship of Christians. Please keep these leaders in your prayers!
I don't know what will come next, but the Spirit of unity is moving across all fronts in Jackson. Who knows? Perhaps the revival in Jackson will become a model for the rest of the country as ministers from very different backgrounds and traditions come together for Kingdom Work!
P.S. Promise Church will be the host for the NEXT JAMA meeting the second Thursday in June - June 12th at 11:45am. See our website - www.promisechurch.info - for directions.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Team In Spirit Explosion
I was reminded today as we hear more and more how God is revealing powerful vision to individuals how important it is to "submit to one another!" (Eph. 5:21) Each one of us hears in part and sees in part. The beauty of community is that all of our parts come together and in God's kingdom the whole is ALWAYS greater than the sum of the parts! And when the Spirit moves powerfully as we've seen recently at Promise Church there exists an even greater opportunity for appreciating our individual visions as well as our corporate vision of mission.
In God's kingdom, it's never WIN-LOSE, but WIN-WIN! God has given individuals vision for a reason. The body does well to acknowledge and celebrate what God is doing in the life and Spirit of a person. We desperately desire to hear from God understanding that God's voice often is heard in people that aren't at the center of leadership! And at the same time, that vision becomes even further empowered when it is SHARED, prayed for, and CONNECTED to the larger vision of a community!
In God's kingdom, it's never WIN-LOSE, but WIN-WIN! God has given individuals vision for a reason. The body does well to acknowledge and celebrate what God is doing in the life and Spirit of a person. We desperately desire to hear from God understanding that God's voice often is heard in people that aren't at the center of leadership! And at the same time, that vision becomes even further empowered when it is SHARED, prayed for, and CONNECTED to the larger vision of a community!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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