So That...

I have a good friend who recently tweeted out a question that I have been pondering in the back of my mind.  "Would love to see a statistic revealing how much people spend at Christmas ON THEMSELVES.  Wondering if it might be MORE than on others."  @nathanoates 

It so easy at Christmas (or perhaps more easy) to allow the influence of this world to cloud our Christian hearts and minds to think that all of these blessings are for us.  We spend time being grateful and celebrating the beauty of gift giving, but we forget that Emmanuel was never intended to just be for us.  God's plan has always been to create a people He could use to bless the whole world by bringing salvation to it.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us— so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. (Psalm 67:1-2 NIV)

These verses from this morning's Psalm reading, and in particular that little phrase so that, are a powerful reminder to us of this plan.

May I recognize this Christmas that I am never intended to be the end recipient of everything God's pours out for me.  I am simply designed to be a conduit of that grace.  I receive, so that I may share.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Light Dawns

Yesterday I preached from Isaiah 9:1-7.  One of the things I didn't take too much time to highlight was a phrase in verse 2.  "For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine." (NLT)

What I discovered when I looked into the original language of that phrase is that Isaiah uses the same word that David uses in Psalm 23 - the land of "the shadow of death."

For those who are living in the land of the shadow of death, light will dawn.

Allow me to simlpy use my strength of Connectedness (from Strengthsfinder) to go from dot to dot.

I led my 15th funeral in 2014 yesterday afternoon.

Dot.

It has been raining almost non-stop here for weeks.  (For which I am grateful!)

Dot.

That means we haven't seen the sun in weeks.

Dot.

The sun came out today!

Dot.

Light is dawning.  

Dot.

Hope is coming!

Dot.

Death and despair don't get the final word!

Dot.

Thanks be to God, for those who are living in the land of the shadow of death, light is dawning!

Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

The God Who is Here

For today's Advent reflection, I offer this quote:

Father God,
Why is it that I think I must get somewhere, assume some position, be gathered together, or separated
       apart in the quiet of my study to pray?
Why is it that I feel that I have to go somewhere or do some particular act to find you, reach you, and 
       talk with you?
You're presence is here
       In the city - on the busy bus, in the factory, in the cockpit of an airplane; in the hospital - in the 
       patients' rooms, in the intensive care unit, in the waiting room;  in the home - at dinner, in the 
       bedroom, in the family room, at my workbench;  in the car - in the parking lot, at the stoplight.
Lord, reveal your presence to me everywhere, and help me become aware of your presence each 
       moment of the day.
May your presence fill the nonanswers, empty glances, and lonely times of my life.  Amen.
                                                                  From A Thirty-Day Experiment in Prayer by Robert Wood

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Waiting With

I spent a lot of alone time in the car yesterday (had some district meetings), which can often be fun because it means I can catch up on some of my favorite podcasts!  (I know, total geek!)  However, one of those podcasts yesterday reminded me of a nuance of Advent that is really powerful.

Because we live in the time of the "in-betweens" - in between the first coming of the Christ and His second coming - we have a very unique perspective.  Theologians often refer to this time as the-already-but-not-yet.  We already have the presence of Christ with us through the Holy Spirit, and yet, we know this world is still hurting and broken, longing for Christ to return and make everything new.

During Advent we are a people who are waiting, but because we are celebrating Advent during the in-betweens, we actually wait for God, with God!  We already have God with us - He is Emmanuel.  And yet, we are still waiting for Him to return in all of His fullness and glory.

This is the in-between Advent.  We wait with God, for God!  

Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

(And thanks for waitng with us!)

Call Waiting

Youu know the drill.

You're on the phone and that little noise chirps in your ear - another call coming in.  On my phone, a menu pops up offering me choices of how to respond.  End current & answer new?  Ignore new?  Hold current & answer new?

Most of the time the way I respond has to do with who the new caller is.  Either boy or their schools in the middle of the day - hold & answer.  Unrecognizable number - Ignore!  The person who is watching vigil with someone in their final hours here on earth - End & Answer.

But what if there is always someone calling?  What if they are just relentless?  Where's the block option?

"The one who is calling you is faithful and will do this. (1 Thessalonians 5:24 CEB)"

This verse got me thinking about this call waiting idea this morning.  God is always faithfully calling us.  Relentless.  And He is determined to grant us the power to accomplish all that He is calling us to do.

His relentless pursuit of us isn't to bug or cajole us, but to meet us, to walk with us, to fill us so we can live into the fullness of who we are in Him!

Thankfully, Advent is a reminder that He's calling, and waiting, for me to answer.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

We wait...with hope.

"All you who wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage." (Psalms 31:24 CEB)

We are people who wait with hope.  In this world of pain and brokeness that is so very obvious, we are people who live hopefully in Advent.  

Our Lord is coming.

The words of Charles Wesley help us express this hopeful waithing:

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,

Born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us;

Let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal spirit

Rulle in all our hearts alone,

By thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to thy glorious throne.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Flowing Grace

This morning I was explaining the season of Advent to a young man, describing how it is a season of anticipation - that our King is coming.  But we live in a fascinating time (the in-betweens) when we know He has already come, and yet, is still going to come again.  As a result, if we are willing to have open eyes and hearts, we can actually see evidence of His coming already.

This year our church community has been full of grief.  My wife said just the other day, "I feel like this has been a year of death!" As a result, there are a number of people who have been, and are walking through the "valley of the shadow of death." This morning I heard a story of Flowing Grace between some of these grieving people.

One member of our church family who has just recently entered the valley, shared with me that another member of our community who is a little futher into that valley (but not much!), brought over a meal!  Grief reaching out and ministering God's grace to grief.  I was blown away!

But I suppose I shouldn't be as surprised as I am, after all, this is the essence of Advent.  In coming to our world, Christ changed everything, including the grieving process, and has blessed us with each other to be tangible instruments of His flowing grace between us!

Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

And help me not miss the evidence that you are already here!

An Advent Prayer

We are constantly praying for you for this: that our God will make you worthy of his calling and accomplish every good desire and faithful work by his power. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored by you, and you will be honored by him, consistent with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 CEB)

Today, this is my prayer for you.

Ironic Body Armor

As I was reading today's scriptures from the Daily Office (Psalm 25, Isaiah 5:8-23, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Luke 21:20-28), a phrase from the Epistle (letter) stood out.

"Wear faithfulness and love as a piece of armor that protects our body...." (1 Thess. 5:8 CEB)

The verse goes on to also mention wearing salvation like a helmet, so my immediate reaction was to think about Paul's (the author) more extensive use of this metaphor in another letter he wrote (Ephesians).  Paul wrote this letter (1 Thessalonians) several years before he wrote the other one (Ephesians), which means this description was an early version of his thinking on these ideas, and the Ephesians passage is a much more detailed, more fully developed thought.  But in that description he doesn't use the term love in his descripition of armor.  

Put love on as armor.

That seems like an oxymoron to me (which may be why he didn't use it later).  Wearing love doesn't seem like protection.  In fact, it seems like just the opposite!  When we love, we open ourselves up to risk, because real love requires vulnerability.  

But the fact that love is described here forces us to think.  

Which makes me think of a deep reservoir and my marriage.  

After almost 25 years of loving Jo, I have developed a very deep reservoir of love for her.  As a result, when bumps in the relationship road come along (which they do, because this is real life), there is a lot of depth and grace from which to draw.  The depth of our love actually serves as a protector for us - almost like armor.  It softens the blows of life.  It deflects the hurts that get hurled.  And it quickly serves as salve in the wounds.

Maybe love can be a powerful protector.  I just have to be willing to risk and love enough!

Thankfully, Advent is a reminder that Love has come and is coming!

Comfort

So yesterday I didn't post an Advent blog because I ended up at the hospital with a dear friend.  Her husband died rather unexpectedly early in the morning and we were starting the journey of grief together.  As a result, I just didn't think about posting.

But this morning as I opened my Bible to today's lectionary texts, I was greeted by these words...

"'Comfort, comfort my people!' says your God." (Isaiah 40:1 CEB)

Having walked through this experience with countless families now, including my own, I am so thankful that one of the reminders of Advent is that Jesus is our greatest source of comfort!

Spare Change

One of the texts that is a part of today's Daily Office Advent readings (for more info on that, check out www.crivoice.org) is Luke 20:41-21:4. At the end of chapter 20, Jesus warns his disciples about the religious leaders who are making a show out of following God.  As we turn the page to chapter 21, Luke provides an illustration centered around the offfering buckets.

The scene opens with Jesus observing the people coming and bringing their offerings and placing them in the coffers.  Luke first describes those who are rich coming and casting their money in, followed by a poor widow who casts in her two leptas (the smallest coin that existed at the time - basically two pennies).  In response Jesus says, "She has given more than everyone else because they gave out of their abundance, but she gave all she had."

In the CEB it reads, "All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she...has given everything...."

Ouch!

Sometimes when you read the scriptures, it's appropriate to say, "Amen!"

Sometimes the best response is, "Ouch!"  And most of the time that is true with the words of Jesus.

It's so easy to give to God out of our spare change - and I'm not talking just about money (but in our culture that can often be the focal point).  The larger principle Jesus is pointing us to, calling us out on, is that we tend to give to God out of our leftovers, our srcaps, not from the best of who we are and what we have.

Advent is a reminder to us that God gave us His everything, and His desire is for us to give Him our everything in response.  After all, is spare change the best response to everything?

Expanding Hearts

One of the texts from the daily lectionary for today is from 1 Thessalonians 3:

"May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone...." (v.12)

This past Sunday in our Faith Family we recognized that in coming to our world and becoming one of us (Jesus in the Inccarnation), God demonstrated as powerfully as possible that we truly matter to Him!  As a result, we are called to allow His love for us to flow in us, and through us, to those who are in the world around us, so that by embracing them, we are an extension of His love.

When we think about that idea in light of this passage, it reminds us that we are called to do more than just love in a static way.  What we are actually called to do is allow our love to grow and expand further than it already has.  Our hearts shoulc continue to expand!

One of the most tangible moments I experienced this was when my second son, Seth, was born.  Since his older brother had been around for a few years already, I had already experienced a depth of love in my heart I didn't even know existsed.  Now that Seth was about to arrive, I was actually apprehensive because I thought there was no way I even had any more room in my heart with how much I already loved his mom and older brother.

But much to my surprise, when he arrived and I was able to hold him, it was like my heart actually expanded and my capacity for how much I could love grew.  It had to have grown, because I actually loved Seth as much as his older brother, which I didn't think was going to be possible!

Now, it's easy to love your kids and to allow your heart to expand with love for them, but it's a whole other matter to allow your heart to expand for rest of the world around you!  Oh I might be able to muster an expanded heart for someone I deeply care about all aready and I relate to very well.  But what about the person who absolutely just bugs me?

"May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone...." (v.12)

But what about the person I don't agree with?

"May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone...." (v.12)

Ok.  How about the person I know is a total sinner and is clearly not even wanting to walk with God?

"May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone...." (v.12)

And maybe that's why this blessing says, "May the Lord cause...."  Yep.  He's going to have to do it, because I know I certainly can't make that happen without some Divine intervention!

"Come, Lord Jesus, Come!"

Changed Hearts & Lives

Yesterday we saw John the Baptist born and his father's powerful reaction at the coming promise of God.

Today, that little boy is all grown up.  

In Matthew 3:1-12 (CEB), John is on the scene "preparing the way for the LORD."  He's quite a picture actually, in his ancient prophet clothes and strange diet.  Despite his craziness, his message is consistent, "Change your hearts and lives." (v.2)  

At first he is speaking to whoever will listen, but soon some of the "religious right" show up, apparently to see if he is just a nut or what.  Most likely they want to make sure he isn't going to threaten the way of life they belive to be right, namely theirs!

He doesn't waste much time jumping on them, and says the same thing to them he was saying to the masses, "Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives." (v.8)

In anticipation of the Advent (literally "coming") of our LORD, this season is a great time to reflect on what needs changed in our hearts and lives.  This materialistic, individualistic, consumer-driven world has a tendency to push it's way into our lives, so much so, that we can easily begin to think that it's "right." 

Thankfully, John's message during this Advent season is a powerful reminder that anything which doesn't line up with the Kingdom of Heaven is ready and waiting for change!

Bottled Up Praise

Yesterday I reflected on the encounter Zechariah had with Gabriel in whch Zechariah was required to exercise his faith muscles. (Again, see Luke 1 for the full story.)

As that story unfolds, Zechariah is rendered speachless for the duration of Elizabeth's pregnancy.  When the boy (John the Baptis) is finally born and welcomed into the Lord's covenant, Zechariah confirms his name is John.  In that moment, we read, "Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God."

On the surface it might seem like Zechariah was just full of praise because he could speak again, and while that may have been his initial burst of praise, we see from what he says (Luke 1:67ff) that this is more than just relief he can talk. 

Can you imagine everything that got bottled up during that nine months of waiting that isn't recorded?

"I can talk!  Praise the LORD!"

"Elizabeth, you're a mom!  I love you so much!  Praise the LORD!"

"I have a son!  His name is John!  Praise the LORD!"

"God's promises are true!  He fulfills His word!  Praise the LORD!"

Nine months of bottled up praise come pouring out of Zechariah.

This nine months of anticipation is the essence of Advent.  Expectant waiting, filled with hope, that will eventually result in an opportunity to let loose with praise - for our Promise has come!

How can I be sure?

One of the stories of Advent is the encounter between Zechariah the priest, and Gabriel, the Lord's angel.  Zechariah is on duty in the temple burning incense for the people when he is visited by Gabriel. Of ccourse, Zechariah is a bit disturbed, but manages to listen to the Divine message being delivered that he and Elizabeth will conceive a son in their old age, who becomes John the Baptist. (See Luke 1 for the full story.)

In response to this shocking news, Zechariah's first words are, "How can I be sure this will happen?"

In many ways, that feels like the honest cry of Advent.  We want to believe one is coming!  We want to be filled with hope!  We want to see deliverance!  But how can we be sure?!?!

After all, look around.  This world is broken, and we all know it.  We may have already encountered the Divine and are doing our best to follow Him, but there are still times when our hearts (if we are honest), cry out, "How can I be sure?!"

And that's the thing about Advent, it requires our trust.  Gabriel may have responded to Zechariah's question as if he couldn't believe he would have any doubts ("I've been sent here directly from God's presence!"), but we don't have that perspective.  So we must exercise our faith muscles.

"Lord, this Advent season help me to trust You, even when I don't feel sure!"

Advent Begins...

On this first (Sun)day of Advent, I offer you the words to this simple hymn as a reminder that this is a season of anticipation and waiting, filled with hope!

Hymn: Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates

   Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates;

   Behold the King of glory waits;

   The King of kings is drawing near;

   The Savior of the world is here!

   Fling wide the portals of your heart;

   Make it a temple, set apart

   From earthly use for heaven's employ,

   Adorned with prayer and love and joy.

   Redeemer, come, with us abide;

   Our hearts to thee we open wide;

   Let us thy inner presence feel;

   Thy grace and love in us reveal. Amen.

              ~ Georg Weissel

Fight the Fight?!

This morning I was sitting in a coffee shop (I know - shocking!), and had a Bible sitting on the table next to me.  A very sweet woman of retirement age came over and picked it up and obviously wanted to talk about it.  After removing my headphones (yes, she ignored the universal symbol of "please don't talk to me") she asked, "Are you studying this?"  

After expaining to her that I was teaching a course on the First Testament at Simpson this fall, we made a connection to some people in my church that she knows.  She then shared with me where she and her husband go to church and as she walked away her parting words were...

"We really love to study the Bible.  Fight the fight."

What?!  

What fight?

And there it was - another reminder to me of one of the ways we have unintentionally twisted the Gospel (I believe she was very well intentioned and sincere).

Somehow we have embraced a version of the Good News (literal translation of the word Gospel from the Second Testament) that it must be protected or defended.  That the Gospel needs us to stand up for it and to hold our ground against those who would try and weaken or dilute it.  We must fight the good fight to hold onto the true Gospel!

But this Good News that love wins and abundant life is available to all, right here, right now, was never meant to be put behind a wall or a fence.  It was meant to be released, so it can release!  This is a message that starts and ends with love - first and last and every other spot in between - and love never needs to be protected or defended, it just needs to be lived and given room to breathe.

I know there is an enemy of this Good News who is on the prowl looking to thwart and undermine it's power, but the way to "fight" that Adversary is to unleash the freedom and transformation of the Gospel of love.  And I know that I may be reading something into what this lady actually meant, but I've heard a version of this so many times it struck a chord with me this morning.

Love never needs to be defended.  

It needs to be lived.

Greatness vs Faithfulness

One of the struggles I face on a regular basis is the desire to be great.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's bad to want to be great, but the question is, whose definition are you using?

Here's the problem - I believe we have adopted a definition of greatness in the modern, western church that still thinks about greatness from the perspective of the world around us.  It's a definition molded by the mindset that bigger is always better, more is better than less, fame is better than anonymity.  

(Insert AT&T commercial here.)

Case in point: when I meet people in the community who discover I am a pastor, the first question they typically ask me is, "Where is your church?" or "What kind of a church is that?" However, when I meet other pastors, the first question is always, "How big is your church?"

But that kind of thinking doesn't line up in any way with the definitions Jesus used for greatness (first shall be last and the last shall be first; whoever wants to become great must become the servant of all).  His language was always about downward movement, not upward.  In fact, today is a day (Holy Saturday) in which we celebrate the depths to which Christ was willing to descend in order to eventually be lifted up!

Maybe we need to throw the idea of greatness in the Kingdom completely out the window.  Maybe what we need to embrace instead, is faithfulness.

I recently read an account written by Thomas Pettepiece in Visions of a World Hungry, that brought this contrast between greatness and faithfulness into sharp focus.  Pettepiece was imprisoned with several thousand others as political prisoners and found himself in that place on an Easter Sunday. Being a Methodist minister, he decided he wanted to lead a communion service with the other Christian prisoners, but they didn't have any supplies at all, so he led them in "the communion of empty hands."  He went through all the motions with the people - giving them each a "piece" of bread and passing around "the cup" - all with nothing in their actual hands. He wrote about how powerful and moving the experience was for everyone, even causing one participant to say he finally discovered real faith through the experience.

Every worldly definition of greatness was completely missing from that encounter, but Pettepiece certainly was faithful to the call of Christ to remember Him.  And that's what I believe we must be willing to strive for as followers.  The simplicity of remaining faithful to the call of God is what matters in the framework of the Kingdom.  We are called to live faithfully, as spouses and parents, as friends and workers, as simple followers of Jesus, wherever and however He leads us.

Lord, on this day when we remember that your faithfulness took you all the way to the depths of hell, we will trust your Spirit and be faithful today with whatever we have, or don't have, in our hands!

Courage

I have been thinking a lot about courage in the past few days.  For one, it was a topic I taught on at a recent pastor's gathering on leadership in which I proposed that courage is one of the six key elements necessary for effective 21st Century Kingdom leadership.  

Second, I have been following the ebb and flow of the WorldVision decsions this week.  First they reveal their decision to make a change in their policy regarding the employment of gay married couples.  That was courageous!  But then, when the firestorm started as a result of their decision (which makes me wonder if they didn't anticpate that?), they backed up and reversed their decision.  That seems uncourageous to me, but some might say it was actually courageous to own up to their mistake and make the right decsion.

Regardless of how someone may feel about the issue, I am most interested in the leadership principle of courage here.  How do we arrive at decsions as leaders?  What forms of exploration and deep thinking are we engaging in that leads to making significant decisions?  

When we ask these kinds of questions, it seems to me that it comes back around to what must be our first priority as leaders - namely, what is the true source on which our decisions are based?  For those of us who are invested in being leaders in the Kingdom, that source is the Godhead, so we must be constantly seeking and listening in order to be the absolute best followers of God possible. Then when we make decisions, we act with courage from that place of deep conviction born out of our followership.

It seems to me that WorldVision made one of two mistakes, either they made their original decision without a deep sense of conviction, knowing that the consequences would be profound (again, they couldn't see that coming?!), or they allowed fear of the lack of approval from humanity to outweigh the depth of their original conviction - they lost their courage.  To say it another way, either WolrdVision's leaders didn't spend enough time "vetting" their decsion with the Father in order to cement their conviction, or they did, but just lost their courage in the follow-through. 

What do you think?

"I'll say nothing."

I recently watched an intervview with Bono that was from a program in Ireland that explores faith and religion.  It was a very profound fifty minutes.

He basically spoke the truth of the Gopsel as the Risen Christ and shared how his relationship with Christ influences and shapes every aspect and component of his life.  

At the very end, the interviewer draws the conclusion (which Bono agrees with) that if he truly believes that Jesus is the risen Son of God that he will someday get to meet Him.  If that was the case, the question then posed was, "What will you say when you meet Him?"

I thought Bono's answer was brilliant:

"That will probably be the first time in my life when I don't say anything."

Our lives are so full of noise and we are pressed by so many concerns and burdens in life, it's easy to allow our prayer lives to be filled with the noise of our own voices.  What might happen if we realized that we are actually in the presence of the risen Christ and make a decsion to actually just be quiet for a change?

Fortunately, Lent is a season that invites us to enage in the discipiine of listening prayer....

Tenacious Humility

This is a phrase I have been thinking about for a couple of days so I thought I would put a few words to my thoughts.

First, I wrote last week about Unsettledness.  I think a contributing factor to that low, grumbling turmoil in the air is the general lack of humility we see in the space of public discourse these days.  It feels as though we have become a people, a nation even, of being so completely convinced of our positions that we are not just right, we are totally right.  And if someone would fein to disagree with us, clearly they are wrong - completely wrong.  We have decided that our postion is the moral high ground on everything, and therefore their position must be inferior.

Second, I believe this mentality has subtly and unfortunately wormed its way into the life of the church.  We believe we are competely right, and therefore that makes everyone else wrong.  

Here's the problem.  While we may be right about many things, there is a subtle dark side that results when we care more about our postion than we do the other person.  We make our lives more about "defending the right" than we do about loving the person we are attempting to win over with our argument.  And in the process we dehumanize them.  Instead of being a person, a fellow traveller on this journey of life, they become "them" or "one of those."

It is for this reason I believe one of the primary callings of God for His people, especially in these days, is to live with a tenacious humility.  

Those words may seem like they don't fit together, but I believe (because I'm right) that as we engage with people around us, and especially when we find ourselves perhaps at odds with someone on a particular issue or life choice, that we must remain tenaciously committed to embracing that relationship with a deeep sense of humility.

Around the circles of my denomination (The Church of the Nazarene) we often attribute Phineas Bresee, the founder of our tribe, with the following quote:

In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; but in all things, charity (love).

While it is clear Phineas was not the originator of that phrase, the depth of meaning behind it is still, and perhaps even more, valid for followers of Jesus today than it has ever been.

We must, to quote another one of our heroes:

Be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

Undivided

Yesterday I was thinking about this general sense of unsettledness it seems exists around me.  Then today I read these words from the Word:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (James 1:5-8 NLT)

What a powerful reminder that the source of unsettledness is actually a divided heart - and the cure is a loyal and undivided heart!

O LORD, on this day of Lent will you continue the process of mending my heart and making it fully devoted to You and You alone!  When the world attempts to entice my heart away from your attention, may the disciplines of Lent be used by Your Spirit to keep me focused on You and You alone!  

AMEN - SO BE IT!

Unsettledness

The past few days I have had this general sense of unsettledness.  I have felt as though there are so many parts and places in our world that seem to have a general lack of peace about them - an unrest. 

Some of it is obvious to spot - Ukraine (or insert whatever other global conflict happens to be going on at the moment), the economy; political turmoil; etc.  

But some of it is much more subtle - the tension between people standing in line at the store, the general angst of a younger generation dissilusioned by their predecessors, the unrest I feel when my internet streaming has to buffer (ok, maybe that's a stretch!).

Regardless of the sources, for some reason I have been keenly aware of this feeeling of unsettledness.

Which I find completely appropriate for Lent.  

This is a season in which the followers of Jesus are invited into the space of unsettledness and uncomfortability.  As we are confronted with the shadow of the looming cross of Christ, we should feel uncomfortable.   It should be unsettling to us because we are taking time and creating space to allow the Holy Spirit to probe and point out the ways in which our lives don't measure up to the plum line of God.  We are confronted wiith the magnitude of the sacrifice in the face of our frailty. 

The question becomes, will we allow our unsettledness to create more angst, or will we let the Spirit blow and move us in the ways He desires - deeper into the loving arms of our Savior?  Will our discomfort birth more bitterness, or will we bring it to the cross and allow it to be washed with the beauty of His grace?

A Lenten Prayer

Almighty God, you who call me to prayer, and who offer yourself to all who seek your face, pour out your Holy Spirit upon me today and deliver me from coldness of heart, a wandering mind, and wrongful desire. By the power of your spirit place within me steadfast love and devotion, so that today I may worship and serve you with all of my life; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

I need to have you warm my heart today, which I can already feel you are doing.  

Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

I need to have you focus my mind, which I can already sense you are doing.

Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

I need you to check my motives, which I can already tell you are doing.

Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

May I love as you would love today.

        May my heart be fullly yours today.

               Today, may I worship and serve you with my whole life!

All through the power of the Risen Christ!

Amen - So be it!

The Smell of Love

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday.  After our services I had a few people comment on how nice the mark of the ashes smelled and they asked me what it was.  This year I used some spikenard anointing oil to mix in with the ashes.  I didn't realize what kind of an impact it would have, but after the second comment on the wonderful scent I started thinking.

The mark of the ashes is the symbol of the cross so what smelled beautiful was the cross.  Even though the cross is an ancient torture and death machine, for those people who have made the decision to follow Jesus, it is the symbol of

       love,

           forgiveness,

               life!

And as we walked around yesterday, those of us who had been marked were spreading that beautiful aroma of love everywhere we went.

But thank God!  He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession.  Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.
                                                                                       2 Corinthians 2:14

However, I don't think Paul intended for us to smell good from the mark of the ashes every day.  What we need is to allow the very fabric of our lives - the way we live, the way we deal with adversity, the way we conduct ourselves in all circumstances - to become the very smell of love to the world around us!

I hope I smell good today too.

Marked

Today is Ash Wednesday.  As I have helped faciltate our community gatherings today to celebrate and remember this day and the beginning of Lent, I have repeatedly said, "From dust you have come and to dust you will return."

At first glance this phrase from Genesis 3 (v. 19b to be exact) seems rather morbid.

Why would you want to tell people they will eventually die and turn back into dust?!

But when we take time to reflect a little deeper on this phrase, and we set it in the context of the larger season of Lent, we can see the real beauty behind it.

One of the things I love the most about this season, this day, and the marking of ashes in particular, is the powerful reminder it is that God is God and I am not!

I am temporal.

        He is Eternal.

I am problem.

        He is Solution.

I am broken.

        He is redemption.

So go ahead and mark me with the ashes, beccause they are just a symbol of who I am in light of Who He is!

And I am not afraid to show that.