Pastor Mike’s Blog

I wrote last week about being busy.  To be a Christian is to be counter-cultural; to be against busyness as the world defines it.  To be a Christian is to live by a different worldview: a Christ-centric worldview.  And, it is hard.  We are pulled from every direction.  How do we keep our focus on Jesus?

Practically, I’ve tried several things.  Of course, there are the classic spiritual disciplines: prayer, solitude, silence, fasting, confession, service, etc.  Each of these help us to deny self and put God first.  However, many of these are “events” that take place in our lives.  I’m interested in how I can “pray without ceasing” (1Thessalonians 5:17) as Paul admonishes us.  Can I literally pray without ceasing.

Missionary Frank Laubach once determined to think of God one minute of every hour.  For him is was life changing.  I have tried it…I admit that I couldn’t do it.  So, I have tried other approaches.  One is something I continue even now.  A number of years ago I began skipping lunch on Wednesdays.  My hunger reminded me of God in between Sundays.  Soon, however, that was not enough.

I came across the “Jesus prayer” (see The Way of a Pilgrim).  One repeats a version of the Jesus prayer–Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me–repeatedly so that it becomes like a tune playing constantly in one’s head.  At times one is aware it is playing, at other times, when one is busy, there is no awareness; however, it is still there.

I tried repeating the Jesus prayer.  I loved it.  It helped me think of God frequently during each day.  As a result of this and skipping Wednesday lunch, I have been increasingly aware of God during my day, and I do pray much more frequently.

You see, if our theology tells us that God is omni-present: everywhere.  then he is always near.  It is my awareness that is lacking, not God’s presence.  I must choose to be intentionally attentive to God for when he chooses to reveal himself to me.  Praying and being attentive to God continually is life changing; or, to use the “Christian” word: transformative.

Give it a try…next time I’ll tell you about something else I’m working on to be more attentive to God.

It’s been a busy week.  However, I’ve been contemplating the busyness.  A friend gave me a quote by Eugene Peterson:

“Busyness is the enemy of spirituality.  It is essentially laziness.  It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing.  It is filling our time with our own actions instead of paying attention to God’s actions.”

Guilty as charged.  For many years I practiced disciplined designed to keep me thinking of God throughout the day.  I’ve gotten away from them after moving into church work…after all, church work is God’s work, right?  Perhaps.  I know that the busyness is church work has turned me from thinking of God as much as I used to.  That needs to change.

Next time I will talk about a discipline I hope to begin this week.

Freedom is a central concept within Christianity.  God freed the Hebrews from Egyptian captivity.  The early Jewish Judges routinely protected or delivered ancient Israel from invaders.  God restored captive Israel to their land a second time.

It is important to understand that freedom entails both the idea of being freed from something and being freed to something.  As Christ followers, we are freed from bondage to sin.  Take, for example, the saying that someone is a “slave to fashion.”  by that, we mean that this person is likely obsessed with the latest fashions and gains their identity from sporting the latest fashions.  In short, they are focused on fashion as the “master” of their life.  Sin operates the same way.  We focus on it so that it ultimately rules us; it is our master (actually, the sin puppet-master is really Satan).

Jesus frees us from bondage to sin and its ultimate consequences and to freedom in him so that we might live.  we are no longer captivated by sin, although we still sin.  We have a new master in Jesus.

As we enjoy the fireworks this weekend, let us remember that only Jesus can offer us true independence as we pledge our allegiance to our creator rather than the author of darkness, lies, and death.

A lot has been made recently of the feminism of church: all those songs of love and all of that touchy-feely stuff…perhaps there is some basis for the criticism. However, Jesus was all about love, so we must be careful with the criticism.

I’d like to talk briefly about something Christian men must approach with great courage.  so much courage, in fact, that often few dare to attempt it.  I’m talking about daring to examine ourselves and yield to God so that we might, through the power of the Holy Spirit, become the uniquely me or you that god has created us to be.

Recall Moses; he was God’s main man leading the Hebrews out of Egypt.  But, Moses died and Joshua had to take over.  Imagine what he must have felt.  God encouraged him: “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).  It’s easy to think of this in terms of the coming battles against superior numbers; however, I think it goes deeper.

God was telling Joshua to be strong and courageous in being who God had made him to be.  Surely, Joshua doubted his ability; after all, he was following Moses.  Maybe he didn’t have the skills Moses had.  That’s not the point.  God made Joshua (PS 139:13) for that time and place (Acts 17:26).  God was saying to Joshua, “Trust in who you are and I will make up the difference.”  Perhaps Joshua was weak so that God would get the glory and not Joshua.

How often do we disqualify ourselves when God is telling us to have courage and trust who he has made us to be.  How many of us have the courage to look inside ourselves to acknowledge our own sin so that we might better yield to God.  Oswald Chambers asks, “How many of us have learned to look in [to ourselves] with courage?”

Men, the next time you feel that Christianity is too feminine, take a look inside yourself, ask God to show you who you are in his eyes (Ps 139:23-24)–it takes real courage to see the truth and to yield to God.

In their book, The Transformation of the Inner Man(Victory House, 1982), writers John & Paula Sandford make the point that healing has the connotation of fixing, repairing, or returning something to a former state.  While that may apply to Christians in terms of physical healing, in the spiritual realm we are not seeking healing, but continued transformation.  We should not think of ourselves as becoming incrementally better through a divinely-guided self-help project.  No.  We are transformed: new beings in Christ.  Through our journey with Christ we continue to be transformed.

Looking at God’s work in us as “healing” is like looking to God to put a new patch on an old wineskin.  We are new wineskins. (Mt 9:17)

If you don’t see yourself as a “new wineskin,” ask God to show you.

Writer David Benner (Desiring God) notes that our desires are what connect us to God.  I think he’s right.  Buddhism says that our desires get in the way; we must eradicate our desires.  Not so with Christianity.

While it is true that our desires are often distorted and we can act on them wrongly, God has created each of us uniquely (Ps 139:13) and has placed each of us in a time and place of his choosing (Acts 17:26).  Our deepest passions and longings, rightly discerned lead us to God.  God has made me to be passionate about ideas and learning and teaching.  When I am doing these things for his glory, I am living as he created me to be and I can feel his pleasure.

What are your passions?  Why are you passionate about them?

Linda and I spent the Memorial weekend in the four-corners area.  Of course, we spent a day at Mesa Verde visiting the remains of the cliff dwellings from the Puebloan Indians, the most recent of which was constructed some 750 years ago.

Part of their tradition was to bore a small hole in the floor of the Kevas, a large covered sunken room used for ceremonies, to let souls from worlds below into this world.  I’m told that they believed they had passed through three or four previous lower worlds before coming to this world.

There were no Christian missionaries in the region (not for several hundred more years).  What happened to those Puebloan Indians who never heard of Jesus?  This is a question with a long answer, so I’ll just touch on it briefly here.

If you follow along in the Old Testament, you will see implied that people knew about God before the great Hebrew exodus from Egypt.  You might argue that they heard from their ancestors.  Likely true.  And, if you believe that we are all descended from Adam and Eve through Noah, then even the Puebloan Indians can trace their lineage back to Noah and his sons and their wives.  (Note, current DNA evidence does support the “Out of Africa” theory that all modern humans arose from one part of Africa.)  If so, then they could have heard of God just as Abraham (Abram) of Moses heard of God from their ancestors.  Also, Paul says that we are all without excuse because God has made himself plain since the creation (Rom 1:20).

But, what about those who have not heard specifically about Jesus (Jn 14:6)?  The gospel message does contain a missional command (go make disciples–Mt 28:18-20), so we must all be involved in missional work in our own spheres of influence and supporting missionaries in other areas.  As for the Puebloan Indians of the Southwest…I trust God.  He is perfectly loving and just and how he deals with their salvation will come from his nature; I cannot make any judgment about them.

However, let’s not kid ourselves.  The world is not and never has been full of people chasing after a god who keeps himself hidden from some of us.  Quite the opposite.  The Christian God chases after us, but we love darkness (Jn 3:19).  So, the real question for me is not what happened to the souls of the Puebloan Indians; that I cannot know.  The real question for me is how well am I doing as a Christ-follower (2Cor 13:5).

Please continue to pray for Susan, the wife of our Sr Pastor Dave.  Susan suffered a brain hemorrhage some 23 days ago and they continue to work through complications as a result of the extended hospitalization.

Please pray specifically for Susan’s healing, remembering that God is sovereign over all things.

It’s been a little busy here the past couple of weeks and I’ve not been able to get after this blog.  Here goes…

The other day, a friend gave me this imagery:  The world is like a fast-moving river, one that moves faster with each passing minute.  It is swirling and has many rapids.  And, occasionally, there are stretches of calm water.  But the river is muddy and the water is brown.  It is polluted and smelly.  And we are in it.  We think our goal should be to swim to the shore and get cleaned up; however, we can’t, at least not in this life.  In fact, we contribute to the stench of the river.

Our goal is to link up with others like us, those in the body of Christ.  Together we can strive together, supporting each other in the torrent; and, we can relax together, as much as possible, during the calm times.  Always we can take comfort from each other and pray together.

We are not alone in the river.  We sometimes view Jesus as above it all; however, he came here to join with us in the river.  We link ares together with him; it is he who will get us through.

Others are in the river, too: the unbelievers.  As we float along we reach out to them, beckoning them into our community linked together and with Jesus.  “Come with us,” we shout.  “It is so much easier together.  Jesus gives us strength and hope. We can help each other.”

Some join us; many don’t.

Be strong and courageous in the river, it can be frightening.  Remember, one day we will be washed clean and be dressed in white before the King.  Continue to hold on to Jesus and to each other.  Jesus and we are all we have.  Reach out for those going it alone; remember how frightening it was for you before you found Jesus and joined the company of others.

Most of us have never been under hostile fire.  But, we can read about those who have been in war together.  It usually creates a life-long bond.  Similarly, with the “battle” in the workplace, co-workers can bond through the tough times of layoffs and bankruptcies.  Common experience suggests strongly that deep binding and interdependence only really comes from being together in the struggle.

So it is with the body of Christ.  When I struggle in suffering and persecution, I am brought closer to God.  But, still I can’t and am not designed to go it alone without other people.  It is only in community with other believers that I can persevere through the tough times.  It is only in community that I participate in the suffering and persecution of fellow believers.  It is only in community that we can experience being in “battle” together.

This is what forms the body of Christ: adversity.  We must pray for courage and strength in adversity and not to avoid it.  Adversity strengthens and toughens the body, and brings us closer to each other and to God.