Have you ever read something and then found as you re-read it, you are impacted differently and more profound? I had that kind of experience awhile ago as I prepared for a sermon. I had selected Colossians 3:12-17 as the text to talk about what Godly qualities look like in our lives. Little did I know the first nine words and an illustration I had chosen would continue to work on me long after the sermon. Verse 12 starts like this…
“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved…”
The more I read it…the more it sank in of how special each one of us is to God. He hand picked us. God chose you and me…we are not leftovers. We are hand picked by God because he created us…he knows us intimately. We are holy or set apart for special work. God makes us holy because that is how special his kingdom work is...and if it is special to him...then we need to be special to accomplish it...and that is Holy. And last but definitely not least…we are dearly loved. Not just loved like a favorite ice cream flavor...but dearly… a heart moving kind of love. God desires an intimate relationship with us because he dearly loves us.
As I was wrestling with this renewed view of Colossians 3:12, I came across a story told by a great preacher, Fred Craddock, about Ben Hooper. Ben Hooper was the governor of Tennessee in the early 1900's. Ben was an illegitimate child born in a small town. The identity of his father was common knowledge, but left unspoken in public. Ben's mother was unchurched, but for some reason, Ben felt drawn to attend church. One time Ben attended a revival meeting with a fiery preacher. Ben enjoyed the service, but as usual he tried to slip out after the service so as not to draw attention. As he was leaving, the preacher called to him over the crowd, "Hey, I know you! I can see the resemblance." Ben was horrified. The preacher must have known his background and was going to embarrass him in front of all these people. “I know you! You're a child of God. Now go and act like who you are." Ben Hooper recognized that night that God had Chosen him, set him apart as Holy and he was Dearly Loved by God.
We all have our issues, but if Ben Hooper can appreciate his heavenly father's love...we could do well to remember that we are his children..CHOSEN, HOLY, and DEARLY LOVED!!!
Verse of the Week:
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Bridge
Over the last few years, my travels for seminary had me traveling around Minneapolis. One main road to drive was Interstate 35W which was the scene of one of the biggest traffic tragedies in the history of American transportation. The scene was the bridge that crosses the Mississippi River in the middle of Minneapolis. It tragically collapsed during rush hour on August 1, 2007. AND YES, I drove over the old bridge before it fell. During the fall of 2008, I had the privilege to drive over the new bridge. In a little over thirteen months the debris was cleared and a new bridge engineered and constructed. It is amazing that in the midst of a tragedy of that proportion, something incredible rose from it. The new bridge is longer and wider, expandable (light rail capabilities), and is state of the art with 323 sensors to monitor the load limits, flex of the structure, and structural integrity. They also had weekly “sidewalk meetings” to update the community and had 1800 elementary students participate in the “casting the future” program which taught them the science of “new concrete” at a mobile classroom right at the bridge site.
So what does a bridge in the middle of Minneapolis have to do with our faith journey? This bridge is a prime analogy for all the “bridges” or relational connections in our lives. We travel daily down the roads of relations within our families, work, and pleasure and with our church family. Some of those relational bridges are strong and properly maintained, others are deteriorating and there are still others on the brink of collapse and we don’t even know it. To take a lesson from the 35W Bridge, we should take inventory of our relationships…through prayer and honest communication, we inspect the integrity of structure of the relationship. If there is damage, we can make the necessary repairs before it crashes (Eph. 4:29-32). If there are broken relationships, we need to clear the debris, and work with God to design a new relational bridge built of forgiveness, grace and love (Col. 4:12-14). And as this work is being done…emulate the new bridge construction by installing sensors such as accountability partners who can speak into your life,get into the bible to be able to see what quality relationships consist of, and continually press into the Holy Spirit as our greatest accountability sensor and contact to the bridge engineer and constructor…GOD.
It is vital for our faith journey to include honest inventories of our relationships and to ensure the work is done to keep us a healthy part of the body...with Christ as the head so we are able to move forward…Sharing the life and love of the Father with each other and with a world that is so desperate for healthy bridges to God!!!
Bridge Verse for this week:
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32
So what does a bridge in the middle of Minneapolis have to do with our faith journey? This bridge is a prime analogy for all the “bridges” or relational connections in our lives. We travel daily down the roads of relations within our families, work, and pleasure and with our church family. Some of those relational bridges are strong and properly maintained, others are deteriorating and there are still others on the brink of collapse and we don’t even know it. To take a lesson from the 35W Bridge, we should take inventory of our relationships…through prayer and honest communication, we inspect the integrity of structure of the relationship. If there is damage, we can make the necessary repairs before it crashes (Eph. 4:29-32). If there are broken relationships, we need to clear the debris, and work with God to design a new relational bridge built of forgiveness, grace and love (Col. 4:12-14). And as this work is being done…emulate the new bridge construction by installing sensors such as accountability partners who can speak into your life,get into the bible to be able to see what quality relationships consist of, and continually press into the Holy Spirit as our greatest accountability sensor and contact to the bridge engineer and constructor…GOD.
It is vital for our faith journey to include honest inventories of our relationships and to ensure the work is done to keep us a healthy part of the body...with Christ as the head so we are able to move forward…Sharing the life and love of the Father with each other and with a world that is so desperate for healthy bridges to God!!!
Bridge Verse for this week:
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
River of Life-Living Water
A couple of years ago, I worked a local youth camp for kids. It was a rewarding experience with quality content and of course we also had a lot of fun…horseback riding, swimming, crafts, campfires, music and food. My favorite was the opportunity to take a group of youth floating down the local river on tubes.
It was a sunny day and we had about a 1-1 ½ hour tubing trip through beautiful and quiet forest lands along this near pristine waterway. It was a great time of reflection and relaxation for me…even surrounded by a group of 9 others. What was amazing from most of the groups including mine, were the complaints about the river and the trip. It was too cold, too slow, too many trees, too shallow...too, too, too. As if by complaining, something miraculous could happen…such as adding hot water to make it just right, or installing strategically placed jets to speed it up, or a crew would trim back all the foliage… and oh yea…the river would be dredged so some of us don’t bump our rumps. With all these miraculous upgrades meeting everyone’s satisfaction, we would have little more than a long Jacuzzi tub. The truth of all this is the river is what it is…it is living water… it does what it does, goes where it goes and flows where it will.
Our life journey has that kind of influence. In the book of John, Jesus speaks of “Living Water” or “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (chapter 4). In chapter 7, he speaks of “flowing rivers of living water” in regards to the Holy Spirit.
Wouldn’t it be great to be free enough in our faith journey that we could take afloat in the “River of life” and find joy in the ride, allowing the water of God to do what it’s going to do, go where he wants it to go, and know the source of our water flows straight from his thrown. Come on in and enjoy the water…”The Living Water of God”.
Verse of the week:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb …”. Rev. 22:1
It was a sunny day and we had about a 1-1 ½ hour tubing trip through beautiful and quiet forest lands along this near pristine waterway. It was a great time of reflection and relaxation for me…even surrounded by a group of 9 others. What was amazing from most of the groups including mine, were the complaints about the river and the trip. It was too cold, too slow, too many trees, too shallow...too, too, too. As if by complaining, something miraculous could happen…such as adding hot water to make it just right, or installing strategically placed jets to speed it up, or a crew would trim back all the foliage… and oh yea…the river would be dredged so some of us don’t bump our rumps. With all these miraculous upgrades meeting everyone’s satisfaction, we would have little more than a long Jacuzzi tub. The truth of all this is the river is what it is…it is living water… it does what it does, goes where it goes and flows where it will.
Our life journey has that kind of influence. In the book of John, Jesus speaks of “Living Water” or “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (chapter 4). In chapter 7, he speaks of “flowing rivers of living water” in regards to the Holy Spirit.
Wouldn’t it be great to be free enough in our faith journey that we could take afloat in the “River of life” and find joy in the ride, allowing the water of God to do what it’s going to do, go where he wants it to go, and know the source of our water flows straight from his thrown. Come on in and enjoy the water…”The Living Water of God”.
Verse of the week:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb …”. Rev. 22:1
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Crash Zone: The Sequel
I don’t usually like sequels because they rarely measure up to the original. And just recently I found a greater appreciation for that fact. I experienced the “Crash Zone: The Sequel” this last week. A few years ago, I had the unpleasurable privilege of encountering the original “Crash Zone”. Countless hours were spent by myself along with "real and wannabe" experts trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, my computer landed square in the “Crash Zone” with over ten years of ministry (letters, calendars, forms, brochures, mailing lists, etc.) silently disappearing without even a whimper from my hard drive. The original Crash Zone actually had some good results…my computer was cleaned of all those unnecessary “pre-loaded” programs and old files clogging up my directories while brand new virus protection was in place to keep my computer safe.
This time, the "Crash" wasn’t quite as devastating. Unlike the original "Crash", I was able to back up my documents, pictures, and sermons prior to my computer starring in the sequel. Praise God for “jump drives”! And this time, my computer only required to be restored back to its original settings and some reloading of some software.
So what do my computers crashing have to do with a faith journey? Our Original “Crash” comes when living our lives by our own rules doesn't work and neither does our seeking help from others who are in their own "Crash Zone". Then, when all else fails, we accept our crash and we are cleaned and made new in Christ.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
The bad “preloads” of our growing up is exchanged with perfect programming of God’s Grace. The old files of our selfish lives are renewed through Christ’s love. And our new life in Christ is protected from worldly “viruses” through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
And may this serve as a reminder to us “mature Christians”, that if we are not careful, we can star in our own “Crash Zone: the Sequel”. We find ourselves broken, a bit like King David, begging God to “create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us.” (psalm 51:10). This might be a good time to “back up” and refresh our system. Take time with God to embrace his Grace in your life and to again hand over our selfish habits. Express the joy of Christ’s love in your relationships and renew your attention to the Spirit’s protection from the worldly viruses we face daily.
While our original “Crash Zone” is one we never would want to repeat…we must stay attentive and work at “backing up” our relationship with God so that when we are faced with the “Crash Zone: the Sequel”… we aren’t in the starring role!
The “Back up” scripture this week:
…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…Eph. 3:17b-18
This time, the "Crash" wasn’t quite as devastating. Unlike the original "Crash", I was able to back up my documents, pictures, and sermons prior to my computer starring in the sequel. Praise God for “jump drives”! And this time, my computer only required to be restored back to its original settings and some reloading of some software.
So what do my computers crashing have to do with a faith journey? Our Original “Crash” comes when living our lives by our own rules doesn't work and neither does our seeking help from others who are in their own "Crash Zone". Then, when all else fails, we accept our crash and we are cleaned and made new in Christ.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
The bad “preloads” of our growing up is exchanged with perfect programming of God’s Grace. The old files of our selfish lives are renewed through Christ’s love. And our new life in Christ is protected from worldly “viruses” through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
And may this serve as a reminder to us “mature Christians”, that if we are not careful, we can star in our own “Crash Zone: the Sequel”. We find ourselves broken, a bit like King David, begging God to “create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us.” (psalm 51:10). This might be a good time to “back up” and refresh our system. Take time with God to embrace his Grace in your life and to again hand over our selfish habits. Express the joy of Christ’s love in your relationships and renew your attention to the Spirit’s protection from the worldly viruses we face daily.
While our original “Crash Zone” is one we never would want to repeat…we must stay attentive and work at “backing up” our relationship with God so that when we are faced with the “Crash Zone: the Sequel”… we aren’t in the starring role!
The “Back up” scripture this week:
…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…Eph. 3:17b-18
Monday, February 22, 2010
Updating...It's A Good Thing
As you might summize...it has been a while (almost 90 days actually) since my last posting. I have been in a part of my faith journey that required my attention to not only be present in each moment...but to also experience the journey over an extended period of time. So over the next weeks, it is my hope to share some of my writings of previous journey adventures as well as my recent ones. The below writing came during my time God had me journeying through seminary...
I own several atlases. Some are small for traveling and others are huge print to better see the small towns and roads that exist in each state. Each atlas has a large number on it to identify the year it is produced…that got me wondering…does that much change that we have to continually update an atlas? Are there new towns popping up all over the country…or are there that many new roads that didn’t existed…and how about all those population recorded in the back…is it really necessary to change an atlas? Apparently updates have their place...an important place.
Case in point, while I was in seminary, I would travel from Michigan to Minneapolis twice a year. I love to drive, so my mode of travel was my vehicle and to say the least…my first experience crossing Wisconsin was interesting. I used a 2004 atlas to plan my route and even consulted with a couple of people who were quite familiar with the travel to the Twin Cities. They all agreed that while Wisconsin 29 was the best east/west route, however they also confirmed the major connection problems around Wausau and Eau Claire which were identified on my trusty atlas. So I plotted a safer route which may have taken me a bit out in the “boonies” on a two lane road…but it would not hinder my travels. During my stay in the Twin Cities, one of my new classmates informed me that Wisconsin 29 had actually been redone and now it was a straight shot through Eau Claire and that the highway department was finishing a beautiful exchange in Wausau and 29 when completed will be a wonderful 4 lane (and sometimes 6 lane) highway across Wisconsin. Had I taken a little time to update, I would have found the updated information about my journey that would have saved me some time in the "boonies".
And just an FYI to you techie geeks…(note-this is before I owned a GPS) GPS’ have need to be updated too. In a future blog…I will share about how my GPS almost landed me in the middle of a lake!
So yes, updating has its place…such as in our faith journey. If we don’t take time to update our spiritual lives…we can get stuck in some old ruts or possibly grow stale. One place we can update is getting into the Bible. It is a miraculous work of God that can update our spiritual and emotional lives as we read, re-read, meditate, study, share and live it. The more we grow…the deeper we able to appreciate and understand his message of hope, his tireless pursuit of a living relationship with his people, the blessings and issues of obedience and a greater appreciation for the grace he offers us…and that is an Updating that helps our faith journey be one worth experiencing!
Your fellow sojourner,
Paul
Updating verse of the week:
Do Not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve of what God's will is..his good, pleasing and perfect will."Romans 12:2
I own several atlases. Some are small for traveling and others are huge print to better see the small towns and roads that exist in each state. Each atlas has a large number on it to identify the year it is produced…that got me wondering…does that much change that we have to continually update an atlas? Are there new towns popping up all over the country…or are there that many new roads that didn’t existed…and how about all those population recorded in the back…is it really necessary to change an atlas? Apparently updates have their place...an important place.
Case in point, while I was in seminary, I would travel from Michigan to Minneapolis twice a year. I love to drive, so my mode of travel was my vehicle and to say the least…my first experience crossing Wisconsin was interesting. I used a 2004 atlas to plan my route and even consulted with a couple of people who were quite familiar with the travel to the Twin Cities. They all agreed that while Wisconsin 29 was the best east/west route, however they also confirmed the major connection problems around Wausau and Eau Claire which were identified on my trusty atlas. So I plotted a safer route which may have taken me a bit out in the “boonies” on a two lane road…but it would not hinder my travels. During my stay in the Twin Cities, one of my new classmates informed me that Wisconsin 29 had actually been redone and now it was a straight shot through Eau Claire and that the highway department was finishing a beautiful exchange in Wausau and 29 when completed will be a wonderful 4 lane (and sometimes 6 lane) highway across Wisconsin. Had I taken a little time to update, I would have found the updated information about my journey that would have saved me some time in the "boonies".
And just an FYI to you techie geeks…(note-this is before I owned a GPS) GPS’ have need to be updated too. In a future blog…I will share about how my GPS almost landed me in the middle of a lake!
So yes, updating has its place…such as in our faith journey. If we don’t take time to update our spiritual lives…we can get stuck in some old ruts or possibly grow stale. One place we can update is getting into the Bible. It is a miraculous work of God that can update our spiritual and emotional lives as we read, re-read, meditate, study, share and live it. The more we grow…the deeper we able to appreciate and understand his message of hope, his tireless pursuit of a living relationship with his people, the blessings and issues of obedience and a greater appreciation for the grace he offers us…and that is an Updating that helps our faith journey be one worth experiencing!
Your fellow sojourner,
Paul
Updating verse of the week:
Do Not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve of what God's will is..his good, pleasing and perfect will."Romans 12:2
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