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Rediscovering Music

29 May

I know I am late to the party on the whole Mumford and Sons thing.  Surely you are coming to expect that from me; I’m often a day late and a dollar short when it comes to what is “popular”.  I hear about trends and shelf them a year or two, letting the dust settle and the talk subside before I check them out for myself.

I used to spend a lot of time with music.  I guess it started in the 7th grade.  I’d sit in my room and listen to records for hours.  (When I say “records”, I mean “albums”.  On CD.)  Something about the power of music to connect with the soul and give both words AND emotion to what was inside me captivated me.

I invested a lot of time and money in music, trying my hand at the guitar, but ultimately leaving the music-making to the music-makers.  I was the high school kid who scribbled lyrics all over her book covers, wore concert t-shirts most days, and dreamed of being a rock star despite having no musical talent whatsoever.

I stopped buying music some time during my broke college years.  Then I got married and had some kids and cringed at the thought of spending $15(!) on albums on a regular basis.  Not to mention I no longer had time to “waste” on listening to records very often.

I’ve missed it.

But Pandora is bringing me back to it.  FREE music.  NEW music.  LISTEN BEFORE YOU BUY music.  Yes, I could get used to this.  (What’s that you say? You’ve been listening to Pandora for 5 years now?  See above.)

Back to my point.  Mumford and Sons.

First of all, does the lead singer not look like Tim Tebow?

image via whinesnob.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes.  The answer is yes.  Score 10 points for Mumford and Sons.

Next of all, M & S are brits.  2 points.

Third of all, their lyrics are subtly Christian.  Like U2.  No overt “Jesus” shout outs, but their songs are as grace-filled as can be.  The lyrics typify the human struggle with sin AND the only answer to sin – grace.  5,000 points.

Fourthly, Marcus Mumford’s passion while singing – real, raw, relatable.  There’s nothing like it.  He may not be the best technical singer out there, but his soul (and mine) is laid bare every time he opens his mouth.  100 points.

Fifthly, they incorporate banjos, dobros, and upright basses.  It’s a stringed-instrument lover’s heaven.  20 points.

If you’re keeping track (and why wouldn’t you be, I mean, really), Mumford and Sons is up to 5,132 pts.

That’s enough to persuade me to actually purchase their records, which is saying a lot in this day and age.

Thanks, Mumford and Sons, for reminding me I enjoy music.

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Repentance Without Remorse?

26 May

I’ve spent the last week or so asking God to convict me about something so I could repent and then begin to repair what I’ve broken through my sinning.

While I was freely admitting in my mind that my action had been sin, I didn’t feel bad about it.  I wasn’t sorry.  I felt justified.

Satan used this lack of contrition to paralyze me.  He fed me heaping spoonfuls of this lie: if you don’t feel sorry, you aren’t sorry, and you can’t apologize or rectify the situation unless you feel sorry.

I agreed with Satan, and I felt stuck.  After all, I couldn’t will myself to feel bad for what I’d done.  Even if I wanted to feel totally broken up about it, I couldn’t make myself feel that way.

And then it occurred to me…  what if I don’t have to feel bad in order to repent?

My initial reaction was, “Well, if I don’t feel sorry, then my repentance would be insincere, worthless…”

But as I considered this idea a little longer, I began to wonder if that was really true. I wondered how often feelings of contrition were tied to repentance in the Bible…

The Greek word behind repent means to change one’s mind for the better, and, except in one case, was always used in the New Testament in regards to sin (Vine’s).  Feelings of contrition are inherent within the definition, but must they be in order for someone to turn from what they know is sin and pursue righteousness?

In its most basic form, repent means to choose to do something better.  Whether you feel like it or not.  Whether you feel bad about what you did to begin with or not.

If this is true, we are no longer paralyzed when we don’t feel remorse over sin.  We can still repent.  We can choose to act in a better manner next time.  We can move forward, toward righteousness, thwarting Satan’s plan to immobilize us in our pursuit of Christ.

Don’t get me wrong, feelings of contrition would definitely help motivate us to resist temptations, and I think praying for the Holy Spirit to convict us emotionally over our sin is a worthy pursuit (John 16:7-8).  (In fact, if we aren’t desiring to feel broken over sin, we have even bigger problems (Ephesians 4:17-32).)

But when the feelings of remorse just aren’t coming, we don’t have to sit and wait for them.  We can pray for them to come, and we can choose to turn from our sinful choices and pursue better choices.

“I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” Acts 26:20

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2012 in Acts, Bible, Ephesians, John, sin

 

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The Question Every Non-Christian is Asking

22 May

There’s an important question every non-Christian is asking.  And we Christians, at least in my demographic, are just now beginning to realize it.

Every unbeliever is asking us Christians, “Will you love me even if I don’t accept your Jesus?”

For too long I, and most evangelicals I know, have approached sharing the Gospel as “the goal”.  When we meet an unbeliever, our chief objective is to verbalize the Good News as quickly as possible and “seal the deal” on their salvation.  If we are met with resistance (and why wouldn’t we be, having not invested in the person at all?), we give up on that person and move on to the next.

Which means we are answering their question with a very loud “NO!”

Sharing the Gospel like this communicates to unbelievers that all we care about is their making a decision to accept Jesus and the Bible’s teaching about Him.  To be sure, we are very much concerned they believe in Jesus.  But if that’s all we care about, then unbelievers become statistics, in our minds as well as from their points of view, losing their values as people and as individuals.

And I don’t love statistics.

I don’t love numbers.  I may get a little excited when the church announces figures each year of the number of people “saved”, the number of baptisms performed, etc.  That might cause me to ooh and ahh for a moment.  But I can’t recall last year’s stats.  I have no idea what the numbers were.  Because I don’t love numbers.

I love people.

People have faces and stories and hearts and needs and wants and baggage and hopes.  And when we begin to change our perspective on evangelism, we begin to value unbelievers for who they are, regardless of whether or not we ever get a chance to share Jesus with them.

Our evangelism formula changes, then, from:

I share Christ → You accept Christ → We form a relationship

to:

We form a relationship → You may or may not accept Christ → We continue relationship

This shift in perspective is necessary not because we value the Gospel too much (there is no such thing) but because we - I - value people too little.  We don’t love people as Jesus loved people.  He was motivated to love people because of their innate value as people just as much as He was motivated by His concern for their having an eternal relationship with the Father.

“Just as much”?!  Someone’s spending eternity in dark, torturous hell seems a little more important than whether or not I love them well, you might argue.

Image via freedigitalphotos.net

It’s easy for me to think that.  Logically, that makes sense.  But my logic is not always God’s logic (Isaiah 55:9).  So we must ask ourselves, is this idea biblical?

What did Jesus teach us about loving people?

“‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another,’” (John 13:34).

How has Jesus loved us?

“‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you,’” (John 15:9).

How has the Father loved Jesus?

Well, as a parent myself, I can imagine the Father loved Jesus with every fiber of His being, investing huge amounts of time, emotional energy, and unlimited acts of service in His Son.  And Jesus loves us that intensely.  And Jesus wants us to love others that intensely as well.

Why?

“‘By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,’” (John 13:35).

Unbelievers will scratch their heads.  ”Why do these people love others so well?  HOW can these people love others so well?!”  And, because they feel loved by us and are comfortable in our friendship, they will ask us these questions.  We will then be able to share Jesus with them.  And if they don’t accept that explanation or choose to adopt it as their own, we are to keep loving them, per the argument above.

Jesus commands up to share the Gospel (Mark 16:15).  But He also commands us to love one another (John 13:34).  He is concerned with both aspects.  Are you?

 
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Posted by on May 22, 2012 in Bible, evangelism, God, Jesus, John, love

 

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We All Have Two Gods

15 May

Christians, I’m talking to us.

We profess belief in and worship of one God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one essence.  We study this God in the Bible.  We learn about Him, talk about Him, and pray to Him.  We tell others about Him.  Our doctrine says there is no other God apart from Him.

But we all have a second God.

God(2) is the God we subconsciously make up.  He has many of the characteristics of the one true God – so many that we often mistake God(2) for the one true God.  But He(2) has additional qualities we ascribe to Him that may or may not be true about the God of the Bible.

Stick with me here.

Everything about us colors how we view God.  How we were raised, our past experiences, our geographic locations, our current circumstances, what kind of churches we attend, what mood we are in, etc.

JesusFor example, when I picture Jesus, I envision white American Jesus. He has white, albeit tanned, skin, long, wavy brown hair, and a beard perpetually trimmed to 1/2″.  He uses the Crest Whitening system on his teeth, which are perfectly straight, given his faithful visits to the orthodontist as a teenager in Nazareth.  He dons an off-white robe, belted with a long piece of thick, braided rope.  He always wears brown sandals, even in the winter.

To be sure, very little of this description is accurate of the Jesus of the Bible.  I envision Jesus this way because I grew up in America, seeing Jesus depicted like this in American art.  This portrayal of Jesus is not Jesus.  This is Jesus(2), my second God.

How Jesus looks is a pretty trivial matter.  I don’t think He gets offended when I picture Him incorrectly.  But I need to be aware that my vision of Him could be (and probably is) wrong.  When we boil it down, the picture I have in my head of Jesus is an opinion.  Nowhere in the Bible is His dental health referenced.  We are not told His hair color or His choice of footwear.  I need to be cognizant, then, of the fact that my Jesus(2) is not the Jesus.

This becomes much more crucial when we start talking about theology.  Because theology is the study of God, not the study of God(2).  We cannot be dogmatic about what God(2) is and isn’t, does and doesn’t.  On the other hand, we must be dogmatic about what the Bible says God is and isn’t, does and doesn’t.

For instance, there are people who believe God is sovereign.  He is in control of everything.  In addition, some of these people do not believe God(2) gives humans free will.  Others believe the opposite: God(2) does give people free will.  One of these positions is true.  Both of these positions can be supported with biblical arguments.  But we cannot know for sure which position is true.  We must be aware, then, that our personal opinions on the matter are just that – opinions.

We cannot ascribe our opinions definitively to God.  If we do, not only may we be incorrectly representing Him (if our opinions turn out to be wrong), but we contribute to a sense of division and disunity within the body of believers.

And so we must always remember: there is God as He is, and there is God as we think of Him.  These two Gods are different, and we must only cling to and teach others about the first – the One True God.

 
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Posted by on May 15, 2012 in God, Jesus

 

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Keeping Up with God

08 May

The Christian life has been likened to walking with God.  When a believer asks another believer, “How’s your walk?”, Believer A is not interested in Believer B’s gait.  He is inquiring about the quality of relationship Believer B is currently experiencing with the Lord.

As I wrap up my reading of One Thousand Gifts, I can sum up the book (and Christianity) like this: keep up with God.

That’s it.

Simple.

But not easy.

Sometimes God walks; sometimes He runs; sometimes He stops.  And our purpose in life is to match Him, move for move.  Go where He goes at the speed He is going.

In other words, perceive Him and enter into whatever He is doing.

Simple.

But not easy.

In fact, it is very difficult to remain consciously aware of God’s presence in and around you throughout the day.  But when we do, we are fulfilled, and His Kingdom work is furthered because others see Him in us.  We become His hands and feet, as the saying goes, when we are dialed into His heart.

The bad news is we don’t remain dialed in.  In fact, because of our fallen nature, our default setting is “unplugged” from God.  When He runs, I stop.  When He walks, I sprint.  When He stops, I blaze my own trail.  I do my own thing, unaware He is even there, much less that He wants me to keep up with Him.

We have to proactively dial into God each day – each moment – if we want to live in concert with Him.  And we want to live in concert with Him!  That is every human’s prime desire.  And when we experience moments of being in sync with God, we understand why our souls crave it so much.  It is truly the only thing that satisfies deeply and infinitely.

There is no mystical way to connect with God on this level.  You don’t have to join a monastery or meditate for hours or fast for days to “earn” direct access to God.  If you believe in Jesus as both your Lord and your Savior, He purchased that access for you on the cross.

Now all you have to do is utilize that access.

Heart-felt dialogue with Him, otherwise known as prayer, and reading the Bible with Him, inviting Him to reflect with you on what you are reading, are the keys to feeling and being emotionally and spiritually connected to Him.

To be sure, there are other avenues for connecting with Him, but prayer and the Bible are the cornerstones all believers have in common.  And the more often we participate in these practices, the more connected to Him we will be.

What helps you keep up with God?

 
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Posted by on May 8, 2012 in Ann Voskamp, God, growing, Jesus, meaning of life, One Thousand Gifts, prayer

 

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Lexi’s 5th Birthday Letter

29 Apr

Lexi Lou,

I cannot even believe you’ve been around for FIVE YEARS already.  It really has flown by, and, for the most part, it has been a delight.

This past year you started preschool.  I knew you would love it, and you have, except for nap time and potty time.  You inform me often those are your least favorite parts of the day.  I understand the first – you haven’t taken naps regularly for quite some time.  But the second remains a mystery to me.  I guess you just think standing in line to use the toilet is boring…  The school bathrooms aren’t so bad, but you continue to have issues with toilets that flush automatically and hand dryers.  You will not use them.  In fact, you cover your ears, stick out your bottom lip, and shake your head “no” if I suggest using the bathroom is better than the alternative.  We’ve had many battles of the will over this whole bathroom thing, and you are winning the war.  It’s like the old saying says, “I can lead a preschooler to a potty, but I can’t make her pee.”

 

I digress.

 

Preschool has been good for both of us because you get bored at home day after day.  You are smart as a whip and love social interaction, so it’s hard to keep you entertained sometimes.  But you started reading on your own when you were 4.5 – REALLY reading – and that has become your primary means of keeping yourself occupied.  I remember having mixed emotions listening to you read a book out loud the first time.  I felt SO proud of you and yet sad that we won’t have as much “reading together” time anymore.  Thankfully, you do still ask for me to read to you everyday, even though you started reading chapter books by yourself last month.  SO PROUD!

 

You’re also pretty into painting these days.  You love it when I get the acrylics out for you and let you go to town on a piece of cardboard.  You take your time and enjoy the process.  And you cover every square inch of cardboard in painstaking detail.  Most of the time, when I ask you what you want to be when you grow up, you say an artist.

 

Well, sometimes you say a rock star.  There is this kids’ show that is popular right now called The Fresh Beat Band.  You love to sing and dance along with them in the privacy of our family room.  Your birthday present from your dad and me this year was tickets to their concert.  You LOVED it.  You danced and sang there, too, in the privacy of a darkened theater, with 2,000 other kids.

But you don’t ALWAYS love to sing.  In fact, you HATED being in your preschool programs this year.  At Christmas time you played Mary.  You didn’t have any lines, but you were in the center of the stage, and you did not sing one single word with the other kids.  Instead, you looked around with those big blue eyes and frowned until it was over.  I knew not to expect much different when the spring program rolled around.  But it was different.  You stood in the front row with 25 other kids, the music started playing, they started singing, and you burst into tears before the first song was over.  It was the saddest thing ever!  Your sweet teacher ran up on stage, picked you up, and whisked you to the safety of the audience.  You cried on her shoulder the rest of the performance.  Stage fright AT ITS WORST!

So, you may not be a rock star when you grow up.  Or you might.  You never know.  The Lord may help you work through that fear, conquering it, until you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength – even singing in front of people.  With Him, ALL things really are possible…

I am continually blessed by your understanding of the Lord.  We talk about God daily around here, and I’ve prayed since before you were born that you’d have a love for His Word.  And, Lexi, YOU DO!  You ask me to read it to you every day.  You asked me to buy you a Bible like mine – meaning not a kiddie Bible, a Bible with ALL the stories and “soft pages”.  If there is one piece of wisdom I can give the adult you, it’s never stop reading the Bible!  It is everything.  It is our guide to knowing God more and more intimately.  Keep pursuing Him through the Word.

You often proselytize to Allie.  Just after your fourth birthday and right after Allie’s second birthday, you asked me, “Mom, did Allie ask Jesus into her heart yet?”  ”No,” I replied.  ”Aaaaaallieeeeeeeee,” you called, beckoning her to come, “Say, ‘Jesus, please be in my heart.’”  Allie repeated you as best she could.  Then you turned to me with that smile that seems bigger than you are and said, very matter-of-factly, “There!  Now she will be in Heaven with us!”

It was a precious moment, for sure.  And so telling of what great influence you have over your sister.  As the big sister, you, Lexi, are probably the most powerful influence in Allie’s life.  Studies show that if the first child follows the Lord, the younger children are more likely to follow the Lord, too.  If that’s true, Allie couldn’t have a better role model in you.  You are unbelievably loving toward her, always encouraging, consoling, and comforting her.  I tell her often she has an amazing big sister.  And I think she already knows it.

I love you more than I can describe and consider you a GIFT from the Lord.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Daughter.

Love,

Mommy

 

 

 

 
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Posted by on April 29, 2012 in birthday letter, Lexi

 

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Spiritual Legacy: My Second and Third Colleges

24 Apr

It’s been awhile since I wrote about my first year in college, but you may remember that I was somewhat dissatisfied with the college I chose to attend.  (The sarcasm, it is thick and heavy like the quilt your grandma made for cold winter nights in the cabin your grandpa made with his own two hands.  Or something.)

Halfway through the semester, I told my parents I was still certain I wanted to transfer.  My church in Memphis was affiliated with a small school, Crichton College, that had a Bible degree.  I didn’t know much about it except that a handful of people I respected were either going there or had graduated from there.  And that was enough of an incentive for me to want to check it out.

Deutsch: Logo der University of Memphis

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But my parents weren’t very excited about the idea.  They didn’t want me to transfer to another small, liberal arts school, only to decide I didn’t like it, as was the case with Lambuth.  They told me to pick a large state school, and be done with it.  I wasn’t thrilled, but because I was going to be living with my parents and still somewhat on their dime, I enrolled at the University of Memphis for my sophomore year.

My second college worked out better than my first.  For starters, my friend and I helped start a branch of Campus Crusade for Christ, so I got to be involved with some strong Christians right from the start.  Secondly, I was back at my home church and fully involved in the college group there.  It did my soul good to be in rich Christian fellowship again.

Academically, however, I was struggling at U of M.  They didn’t have a Bible degree.  They didn’t even have a Religious Studies degree.  So, in the name of getting a “useful” degree, I started on a business track.  And I hated it.  I was taking a bunch of brainless gen eds, of course, and the business courses were painfully boring.  I had zero interest in the corporate world.  By the end of sophomore year, I knew I had to make a change.  My sanity depended on it.

I started looking into Crichton College again, even though my parents were staunchly against a second transfer.  I had a full scholarship at U of M, but if I were to transfer to Crichton, I’d have to foot the hefty bill myself.  I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to do that, but I was desperate.

(image via prlog.org)

I applied to Crichton late in the summer of 2003.  It was a long shot given my applying so late in the game.  Admissions informed me the only way to get more than half of my tuition paid for was to participate in the honors program.  Extra classes, extra work, extra community service.

One week before classes started, the dean of the honors program called me for an interview.  As I entered his office, I noticed his college diploma on the wall.  Lambuth University.  Aye.

I took a deep breath, sat down, and told him my story.  He listened.  And God worked.  I left with a full scholarship.

The first week of school the admissions counselor I had been working with called me into her office.  When I got there, she began to tell me about her weekend.  ”I was at church on Sunday, and every year before school starts, our small group prays for those of us who work in education.  I shared your story with my group, leaving out your name, of course, and, afterward, a Fed Ex pilot asked me, ‘Does this girl have enough money for books?’  I told him I wasn’t sure, and he told me to give you this.”  The counselor handed me an envelope.  I opened it to find $200 in cash.

Who carries that kind of cash to church?

Who gives that kind of cash to a complete stranger?

What kind of God prompts His follower to do such an outrageous thing?

The kind of God of whom it is said, “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

The two and a half years I spent at Crichton College were unquestionably the most formative years of my walk with the Lord.  While I grew immensely in my knowledge of Him, I grew even more in my experience of Him.  I wasn’t just surviving, trying to earn a degree that would benefit me in the future.  Every day had purpose, drawing me closer to Him.

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Posted by on April 24, 2012 in college, God, Philippians, Spiritual legacy

 

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A Change Would Do Me Good

20 Apr

God has been hard at work trying to teach me about perspective lately.  My default perspective is hopelessness.

Is something in my life changing?  Despair!

Is something in my world unpredictable?  Insecurity!

Is something in my environment not exactly (or not at all) how I want it to be?  Kill me now!

Yes, these are my ingrained responses to life.  But God says to me, much like I say to my young daughters, “Oh, no, ma’am.  My children do not respond this way.  This is unacceptable.”

(Or as my 2 yr old says, “Unasseptible”.)

Children of God are supposed to be joyful!  (Romans 12:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:16)

Those who have Christ are supposed to be hopeful!  (Romans 15:13; Ephesians 1:18; 1 Peter 1:21)

Joyfulness and hopefulness are not lofty, unattainable things the Bible describes.  They are realities to be enjoyed and displayed in the hearts and lives of believers.

To get more/some/ANY joy and hope in my life, God is reorienting my perspective.  He is changing the ways I view a lot of things.  He is showing me how I’ve worried far too much about details that are momentary and have no bearing on eternity.

For instance, why do I get so worked up over my children dawdling?  Will we not still get to wherever we are going?  Why not allow them 10 extra seconds (!) to stop and smell the roses?  Why allow my blood pressure to rise, my jaw to tighten, and barking commands to HURRY UP come out of my mouth?  The Lord is using Ann Voskamp‘s One Thousand Gifts to make me stop and smell the roses…  notice the details…  enjoy the details… and control my emotions like a rational adult – like Christ – rather than a stressed-out train wreck.

Yes, God is changing my perspective on the little things to recalibrate my heart.  I must recognize what is little so I can also recognize what is big.  There are big things in life – times when we experience big emotions – that God wants me to respond appropriately to as well.  If I cannot control my emotions and actions regarding dawdling children, how then can I expect myself to remain in check – in joy and in hope – when I experience a major change or loss?

I am learning to chill out.

Frustrations aren’t as frustrating when you’ve been practicing thankfulness.  Bad things don’t seem as devastating when you’ve begun to view things with eternity in mind.

Perhaps the thing I dread most in life is being separated from loved ones.  If someone in my family died, I would dwell on having to live the whole rest of my life without them.  But what is that, really?  Fifty, sixty years…  If we both love the Lord, we’ll be with each other eternally…  And that truth would make the present separation bearable.

Second to a loved one dying is a loved one moving.  Sure, there is technology to keep us in touch, but it’s just not the same…  Not being able to “do life” with those I value most hurts, especially if the separation is indefinite.

I think of our church’s pastor and his family.  They are moving to Ethiopia in 2 months, and our church body is rocked.  They’ll be over there at least 2 years, and who knows where they will go after that.  I’m not as close to them as some, but I will miss them, and the idea of NEVER seeing them again can be depressing.

But God is flipping that for me with this phrase – “partnership in the gospel” (Philippians 1:5).

Paul is overflowing with thanks and praise for the church at Philippi, gushing love over them and for the Lord.  He is excited that, although they are physically apart, they are partners in the gospel.

And aren’t we all?  All believers are called to spread the gospel where they are.  That is our chief purpose in life.

It is so neat to me to think that my friends will be spreading the gospel in Ethiopia at the EXACT SAME TIME I am spreading the gospel in Memphis.  We may be physically separated, but we are united in advancing the Kingdom.

And that is a purpose for which I can joyfully let go of my friends, no matter who they are or where the Lord calls them to go.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Ann Voskamp, Bible, blessings, God, One Thousand Gifts, Philippians

 

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Telling God No

17 Apr

Peter.  God love him.

He is the disciple that I relate to most.  From the excessive pride, swearing he’ll never deny Christ, to letting his emotions dictate his actions, cutting off that guy’s ear who came to arrest Jesus, Peter is a relatable dude.

After Christ’s resurrection, Peter maintains his uncanny ability to fail in his faith.

In Acts 10 Peter has a vision from the Lord.  He was praying one afternoon, and “He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.  It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.  Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter.  Kill and eat,’” (Acts 10:11-13).

Peter realizes something supernatural is happening right now.  The text says he is in a trance.  He knows he isn’t asleep, and he is aware that it is the Lord speaking to him.  I think he is caught off guard by this experience. He probably wasn’t planning on encountering the Lord quite like this when he started praying.

And Peter’s gut-reaction to the Lord’s command to eat is telling of where Peter’s heart was.

“‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean,’” (Acts 10:14).

image via en.over-blog.com

PETER TELLS GOD NO!

This is preposterous, is it not?!

And, yet, you and I do the same thing all the time.

The Lord is telling Peter to do something outside of his comfort zone, outside of his religious practices, outside of his preconceived notions of what it means to be His follower.

When Peter was faced with making an on-the-spot decision – obey the Lord or obey the Law – Peter’s true heart shows his loyalty is to religion.

To be fair, Peter was caught off guard.  Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s give him grace!  Surely, if he had taken the time to really think things through before responding to the Lord, he would have chosen to obey God.  Surely, his refusal to eat was merely his flesh talking, not a true representation of this disciple’s heart….

Except the Lord gives Peter two more chances.  TWO.  MORE.  In addition to the first chance.  And Peter still doesn’t obey.

“The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’  This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven,” (Acts 10:15-16).

Peter doesn’t eat.  Not the first time, not the second time, not the third time.  He tells God no.

I wonder what would have happened if Peter had eaten?  What blessing – what experience – did he miss out on by refusing the Lord?

What are we missing out on by telling God no in our own lives?  If you’re tired of wondering, find out.  Walk forth in obedience, even if what He’s asking you to do sounds crazy - is crazy – and defies all your preconceived ideas of the Christian life.

Let’s find out what we’ve been missing.

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2012 in Acts, believe, Bible, faith, God, obedience, Peter

 

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(Dis)Unity

10 Apr

Our church is entering a time of transition.  A couple of weeks ago, our senior pastor of almost 9 years announced that he and his family are headed to the mission field full-time.  They leave in less than 3 months.  And so the process of finding an interim senior pastor and, eventually, a permanent senior pastor is beginning.

Our church is led by a group of elected elders.  They vote on things to make the decisions for our church (1 Timothy 5:17).  Members can speak freely to the elders at any time, but, ultimately, members do not decide the direction of the church.  The elders do.

In any type of government, ecclesiastical or secular, there is potential for disunity among the governed.  And during times of transition, that potential is even greater.

And I fear the church-fracturing effects of possible dissension within our body at a time like this.

Dave Ramsey has a rule in his corporation.  If you have a problem, a gripe, a complaint of any kind, you can voice it up the chain of command without fear of penalty.  But if you voice it to an employee under you or equal to you in authority, you are fired on the spot.  Why?  Because Dave understands the crippling potential of unhealthy criticism within a body of people.

I fear that members of our church will begin to voice their negative opinions to one another on how they feel the pastoral search is going, spreading disunity like gangrene, focusing our body on lesser things than spreading the Gospel (Romans 15:5-6).

(I fear this not because our church is especially disgruntled but because our church is made up of humans, and humans, as we all know, are bent toward discontent.  So, while this particular post is about my fear for my church, I also fear for your church and the Church at large.)

To be clear, I am all for members voicing their negative opinions to senior staff members and elders.  Do it!  Do it in love (1 Corinthians 16:14; Ephesians 4:15).  You have a voice.  If you feel things are going in the wrong direction, speak up.  But speak up to those who have the ability to change things, NOT to your fellow members.   Spreading negativity within the congregation is not fruitful.  In fact, the destructive effect of such speech cannot be overstated.

And it plays right into Satan’s hand.

Satan wants our church to fold.  He wants us to split over whoever the new senior pastor is.  He wants to divide us, pitting members against members, directing our attention to ourselves and our preferences so we will have no energy left to spend on loving people like Jesus did.  Satan wants to stir our pride against our elders to convince us that they are incompetent so we dwell on our anger and bitterness each Sunday instead of worshiping our resurrected Lord together.

Paul understood what was at stake.

In Ephesians Paul wrote, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace,” (Ephesians 4:3-4).

In Colossians he wrote, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity,” (Colossians 3:12-14).

Part of this unity that we should strive for includes submitting to the elders – and their decisions – even if we disagree with them.  The author of Hebrews puts it succinctly, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you,” (Hebrews 13:17).

We won’t always agree with our leaders.  And that’s okay.  What matters is what we do with our disagreements.  We can handle them rightly by discussing them with those in authority over us, or we can handle them wrongly – sinfully – by discussing them with those around us.  Ultimately, though, Scripture commands us to submit to those in authority over us, whether we like it or not.

If you are in a church where you are unwilling to submit to its leaders, figure out why that is.  The leaders may not be acting in accordance with Scripture.  If that’s the case, leave that church!  Go find a Bible believing church to be a part of.

But if it turns out you are unwilling to submit to the leaders for personal reasons instead of biblical reasons, ask the Lord to work the rebellion out of your heart.  Ask Him to cut out your bitterness and your pride.  Ask Him to help you authentically and properly submit to your church leaders and, more importantly, to Him.

Your church’s unity – THE Church’s unity – depends on it.

 
4 Comments

Posted by on April 10, 2012 in 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, Church, Colossians, elders, Ephesians, Hebrews, Romans, unity

 

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