It's impossible to be the best father one can be without a relationship with THE Father. It's out of our recognition of His unconditional love for us that we are able to love unconditionally, with no strings attached, no agenda to be fulfilled. He loved us while we were still in sin, self-deception, and selfishness - pouring life and love into us even when we were in rebellion against the way He created things to be.
Because He fathers us, we father others. As my good friend (now deceased), M.A. Thomas, once remarked to me, "Why wouldn't we want to share with those we love the most the relationship that matters the most." Our encounter with God isn't ours to horde. God changes us as part of His larger mission to change the universe. What a blessing that He considers us worthy of being a part of that mission.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Why church?
Because we always run the risk of personalizing our faith to suit our preferences. It's only in the company of others that we have our egos checked and our idol-making tendencies challenged.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Worship
Powerful worship today at both churches! Interesting what a little rest can do for your perspective and passion. Without either, you are grinding away just for the sake of grinding. The good news is that Jesus has released is in freedom for so much more! Love those times we encounter he manifest presence of Christ in community and worship. These times serve as signposts to what is always available to those with "eyes to see and ears to hear."
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Another day in Paradise
Fun week so far hanging out with the family - soaking up the sun, squeezing some sand between the toes, and letting my mind drift away with the current. It's a different life from keeping pace with the rhythms of ministry. The interruption breaks the pattern and invites one into not just a different life but into seeing the pace of life differently. Some activities in our day to day routines (prayer, meditation, exercise, reading the Bible) actually create increased capacity for living, feeding you, increasing energy, and providing greater focus. Others seem to diminish you - drawing you into what seems like and never ending cycle of striving. We really only recognize the latter through the lens of the former. Hence, the necessity for embedding in "normal life" consistent "Capacity-increasing" activities. As we wrap up our week on "vacation" this appears more non-negotiable than ever.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Celebrating Life
It could be said that the passing of time is marked and given tempo by the occurrence of special occasions. In church life, time is kept in seasons like Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. In one's personal life, time is measured and celebrated as we observe birthdays and anniversaries, baptisms and weddings, victories and achievements. The life lived well seems to be full of such moments - each one a looking back to a seminal event in which a special grace was experienced and looking forward anticipating the life sustaining presence and work of God. Without this anticipation, how could we ever really have live in hope?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The church is receiving more and more calls from the community for assistance with rent or utilities. We usually refer anyone who calls to Area Relief Ministry or RIFA, but we're seeing a large number of people turned away because of "technicalities." They don't have a driver's license. They're living with their girlfriend or boyfriend. They haven't kept record of their expenses. They don't have a cell phone. The list of "exceptions" seems endless.
My vision for Promise Church has always been that we are called to be a MISSIONAL church. By that, I mean that we minister to precisely the ones that for a myriad of reasons have been pushed to the margins of our community. It's a hard ministry. There often are some quite valid reasons someone finds themselves without work, in and out of harmful relationships, and seemingly spiralling into chaos. As I learned a long time ago (and have to remember now) our choices always come with consequences.
But we're seeing increasingly a number of folks who never received just the basic "training" that many of us take for granted on such things as how to pay your bills on-time, how to make a budget and follow it, how to tighten the budget and let go of behaviors that are costing you money you don't have and even relationships you want to hold on to.
If ever there were a time where the "good news" of the gospel meant more than just intellectual assent to something, that time is now. The gospel literally saves lives by transforming lives. Believing in Jesus can literally mean the difference between a lifetime of hardship and despair, depression and death and a lifetime of meaningful relationships, a modicum of joy (often deep joy!), and a legacy of responsbility and love left to one's children.
The church is the only place where these values are taught and anchored within a story of God's redeeming grace that resonates deep within our souls.
And that's what makes church so important.
I love the "ethos" of the AA and Recovery community that states (I'm not sure if it's official or unofficial) that once you've received freedom from your addiction, it's your job to help someone else to receive their freedom - by being present at AA meeting, being a sponsor, or simply pointing people in the direction of the AA community.
Wouldn't it be awesome if members of the church thought and acted the same way? As we walk in our freedom, we point others in the direction of the source of that freedom. Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. And where do we best encounter the living Christ? In the church that worships and celebrates and teaches Jesus.
Promise Church isn't yet another "new church start" in Jackson so that people can "have it their way" in worship or church. Promise Church is a mission outpost where free believers set others free by pointing them toward Jesus.
My vision for Promise Church has always been that we are called to be a MISSIONAL church. By that, I mean that we minister to precisely the ones that for a myriad of reasons have been pushed to the margins of our community. It's a hard ministry. There often are some quite valid reasons someone finds themselves without work, in and out of harmful relationships, and seemingly spiralling into chaos. As I learned a long time ago (and have to remember now) our choices always come with consequences.
But we're seeing increasingly a number of folks who never received just the basic "training" that many of us take for granted on such things as how to pay your bills on-time, how to make a budget and follow it, how to tighten the budget and let go of behaviors that are costing you money you don't have and even relationships you want to hold on to.
If ever there were a time where the "good news" of the gospel meant more than just intellectual assent to something, that time is now. The gospel literally saves lives by transforming lives. Believing in Jesus can literally mean the difference between a lifetime of hardship and despair, depression and death and a lifetime of meaningful relationships, a modicum of joy (often deep joy!), and a legacy of responsbility and love left to one's children.
The church is the only place where these values are taught and anchored within a story of God's redeeming grace that resonates deep within our souls.
And that's what makes church so important.
I love the "ethos" of the AA and Recovery community that states (I'm not sure if it's official or unofficial) that once you've received freedom from your addiction, it's your job to help someone else to receive their freedom - by being present at AA meeting, being a sponsor, or simply pointing people in the direction of the AA community.
Wouldn't it be awesome if members of the church thought and acted the same way? As we walk in our freedom, we point others in the direction of the source of that freedom. Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. And where do we best encounter the living Christ? In the church that worships and celebrates and teaches Jesus.
Promise Church isn't yet another "new church start" in Jackson so that people can "have it their way" in worship or church. Promise Church is a mission outpost where free believers set others free by pointing them toward Jesus.
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