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One One Nine: An Elevated Passion for God’s Word

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , on June 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This is the second in a series of four guest posts by my friend and co-worker Craig Altrock. He and his family are currently in Rwanda on an LST mission trip. 

 

From October of last year until April of this year, I spent 119 days journeying through one psalm – Psalm 119.  Now, if you count up the number of days in those months you’ll get much more than 119 days.  I didn’t say I spent 119 days in a row!  However, it was my goal to spend a day for every verse in the Psalm.  And, over the course of those 7 months I met that goal.

 

One thing that becomes crystal clear if you stay in Psalm 119 long enough is that this writer has, to put it mildly, a passion for God’s word.  He delights in God’s word, he is consumed with longing for it, and he puts his hope in it.  Scripture is what he thinks about, it gets him up at night, and it’s what he sings about.  In fact, if we were honest, this writer is probably one of those guys that would make us feel slightly awkward if we invited him over for dinner.  His passion for God’s law is so all-consuming that our own concern for the Bible might dim in the light of his enthusiasm.

 

Where does this heightened passion for God and His word originate?  In short, the psalmist thought about God’s word in ways we might not normally think, and he practiced Word-centered disciplines that might not be normal for us.  I’ll simply list these here in this post, and then dig a little more deeply into them in future postings.

 

[Before you read the following you might stop and consider how you would answer these two questions:

  • “What words or images guide your own understanding of what Scripture is and how it functions?”
  • “What disciplines do I practice regularly that connect me to God’s word?”

I think in many cases you will find the answers the psalmist gives to these questions differ from our own in both intensity and form.]

 

Beliefs about Scripture that fuel this psalmist’s passion for it:

  1. It is a PATH toward joyful living, not a roadblock to your desires.
  2. It is a LIGHT to illuminate your way.
  3. It is a DOOR to freedom, not a sentence of imprisonment.
  4. It is a COMPANION that guides us toward heart-felt passion for God.
  5. It is a REFLECTION of God’s character.
  6. It is NOURISHMENT to sustain the journey.

 

This is what the psalmist believes about God’s word.  Scripture for him is not a static recounting of historical events.  Nor is it simply a collection of moral standards.  It is something much, much more.

 

However, thoughts about God’s word are not the only thing heightening the psalmist’s passion for Scripture.  He’s taken to doing something things about it as well.

 

Disciplines the psalmist practices in relation to Scripture that ignite his zeal for it.

  1. A regular ASSESSMENT of his own life in relation to the way of God.
  2. A VERBAL RESPONSE involving PRAISING God for his word, SINGING to God about his word, or actually RECITING out-loud God’s word.
  3. MEDITATION on God’s word.
  4. ASKING God to be the primary teacher of His word.
  5. REMINDING God about his word and asking him to act in accordance with it.
  6. PRACTICING the Daily Offices (conducting any and all of these other disciplines at set times of the day and night – even at midnight!).

 

What do you think about God’s word?  What images and metaphors guide your thinking?  Would anything change for you this week if you adopted a few of the images above and mediated on their implication for your walk with God?

 

Similarly, what disciplines are you practicing that are word-oriented?  Would anything change for you if you adopted one or two of the practices above for a week?

 

My bet is that, like me, if you shift your focus and perhaps even some of your practice to mirror that of the psalmist, your own passion for God and his word might find renewed vigor.  I pray that it is so! In my next post we’ll dive a bit deeper into some of these thoughts and practices.

 

“Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.”

Psalm 119:2

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One One Nine: 119 Days in Psalm 119

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , , on June 6, 2011| 3 Comments »

This is the first of four guests posts by my friend and co-worker Craig Altrock.  He’s a man of God, and I know you will be blessed by his series on Psalm 119.  I will be back after his series finishes.

I recently completed a 119 day journey through Psalm 119.  I say that not so much to wow you, but simply to say that I finished what was for me a pretty serious commitment.

If you’re like me, spending 119 days on anything is significant.  Our schedules run so full these days that most of us are fighting just to scratch out a few moments of quiet every few days of the week.  I didn’t do a lot of thought on the front end of this exercise, and it definitely wasn’t the product of long and extensive planning.  I just felt prompted to camp out in this psalm for a season, so I did.

It might not surprise you that I came away with a few observations after this journey.  So, as a guest contributor to this blog I thought it might be helpful, to at least some of you, for me to share some of these musings prompted by Psalm 119.  I’ll stay pretty general with this post and then get more specific in future ones.

Two insights I gained from camping out on one piece of Scripture for an extended season:

  1. There are levels of spiritual understanding and experience you only gain from consuming God’s word slowly and deliberately.  For many of us, Scripture reading is something akin to a visit to the drive through window of a fast food restaurant.  We may do it regularly, but we accomplish it as quickly as possible– chew, swallow, slurp, done.   But to truly stop and savor the word– this is an altogether different experience.  The psalmist says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (119:103).  As with fine food, there are certain flavors, textures, and nuances that we only experience when we slow down enough to actually taste the word we are consuming.  This moves us past the reading of Scripture strictly for information and into the realm of reading for formation.
  1. Soaking in one piece of Scripture teaches us the value of engaging God’s word in creative ways.  One of the plain hard truths about camping out this long on one psalm is that if you don’t get creative with your approach, you might get bored!  There are only so many times you can read the same piece of Scripture.  So, while I did in fact read through the 176 verses of this psalm many, many times, I was eventually pushed to read it in other ways.  For example, while I’ve not done much before in terms of Scripture memorization, I found great joy in memorizing pieces of this psalm.  While I’ve not used Scripture to form the words of my prayers much in the past, I discovered new vitality in allowing pieces of this psalm to voice my response to God.  Though I don’t journal as much as I’d like, I uncovered wonderful insights from writing my own version of this psalm, one stanza at a time.

Well, you may not want to commit to 119 days on one piece of Scripture, but I bet you could take one week and pledge to read the same passage every day that week.  If you do that this week, I’d love to hear what YOU learn!

“Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord”

Psalm 119:1

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Can You See the Blind Man?

Posted in Bible Study, tagged , on May 1, 2011| 2 Comments »

Although Scripture says he was not handsome, I bet his eyes were unforgettable! Over and over again, the Gospel writers report that Jesus saw someone, some crowd, some situation, then acted on their behalf.  Most interesting are those passages where He saw their faith (Matthew 9:2, 22; Mark 2:5; Luke 5:2)! Now how did He do that?

What do we see when we look at people? The story of Jesus and the man born blind, recorded in John 9, has always fascinated me. Recently I recognized that it reveals a lot about how people look at others in contrast to how Jesus sees people!

The comparison starts at the onset of the story when Jesus and his disciples see a man born blind. His disciples say, “Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” (9:2) They look at this blind man and see a theological question!

I’ve seen this happen often on the mission field. People who walk in the door of our churches bring BIG questions with them, quite often about divorce, re-marriage, even polygamy, but also abuse, addictions, alternate lifestyles, criminality—yes, pretty much any theological problem that a person can embody!

I’ve always been amazed—and sometimes guilty myself—about thinking, “Oh, he/she would make a good Christian”—usually about someone who is very good, maybe even attractive, probably successful.  I don’t think that’s the way Jesus saw people.

“This happened so the power of God could be seen in him,” was Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question (9:3). Then he healed the man’s blindness—but was not there when the man came back healed. As the story progresses, we see that Jesus healed the man’s eyes, but his heart and soul—his faith–needed perfection as well.

His neighbors looked at the man born blind and could not recognize him (9:8-12). This could not be the man they had seen begging pathetically by the gate everyday—because he was not doing what they expected him to do—so they could not even see him.  I wonder how many people we don’t recognize because we don’t expect/believe that Jesus can dramatically change a person?

The religious leaders just did not believe his story—it was too good to be true—and besides, it had some theological issues. Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath, so it couldn’t be an act from God. Like you can’t find Jesus in the wrong church, or if your salvation was not sequenced properly, or you don’t worship scripturally!  Your healing can’t be valid if isn’t free of issues!

Don’t forget, it is those with the most knowledge of Scripture, the most concern about faithfulness, the most commitment to doing things right, the most invested lives—it is these people who did not recognize, who totally missed the work of God on this blind man! That’s a little scary, isn’t it!

The blind man’s parents were just too scared to admit what they saw! They admitted he was their son born blind, but they abandoned their own son for fear they might be kicked out of their own church! I just don’t want to even think about how this might apply to parents and their grown children in our churches today. Can I just say from my own experience that parents sometimes have the opportunity to learn about Jesus from their children—even though what they learn is very different from what they thought they knew!  Don’t be like the blind man’s parents and disown your children because they have experienced God differently.

Did you notice as you were reading John 9 the growth in the healed man’s faith in Jesus as he is interrogated? Look at his answers to the question, “who did this to you?”

  • 9:11 – “The man called Jesus . . . .”
  • 9:17 – “I think he must be a prophet.”
  • 9:33 – “If this man were not from God, he could not have done it!”
  • 9:38 – “Yes, Lord, I believe!”

Jesus saw a blind man, healed him, then left him to go through trials that would teach him to believe! We often demand faith before healing, but Jesus seemed to be able to see the convergence of faith and healing less in sequence than we do.

Jesus draws this story to a conclusion: “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind” (9:39).

Today, as I go to church, I will again look out the car window at the people who are walking their dogs, jogging, hitching their boats to their cars, people who seem to me to be blind to the Light of the World, but . . .

Lord, help me to see people as you see them, to leave judgment to you, and to believe that blind people can see!

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God Really Likes Poetry!

Posted in Bible Study, Other, tagged , , on April 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

When I was in the first grade, our class memorized this poem and recited it over the loudspeaker system to the whole school during the morning devotional time.  (Public schools were different then!) It is a poem, you know, not just a psalm. Remember how Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon were the division of the Bible called the Books of Poetry! The Spirit of God is a prolific poet.

Add to the pure poetry then the lyrical words of songs that Moses sang, Miriam, Deborah, and all Israel together with the Magnificat of Mary and the probable hymns of the early Christians reflected in Paul’s writings. I think God really likes poetry!

I think you will like poetry better, if you learn the technique of close reading. Let’s read this favorite poem of mine together and I will record my thoughts as I do a close reading so that you can see a concrete example of what I’m talking about.

A close reading of a biblical text for me means that the reader looks more closely at the detail of the text, but probably does not do a historical or linguistic analysis.  Let me show you what I mean. Stay with me and let’s read the text together. It may feel a little disjointed, but the goal is to experience the poem and understand it in a meaningful way.

The LORD is my shepherd; To claim the Creator of the Universe with the word my is pretty audacious! Either the speaker is a pompous fool or he has an extraordinary sense of relationship with his God! And why does he choose the shepherd metaphor? Why not king or mountain or ocean or sun? Or if he’s choosing a profession, why not carpenter or farmer or winemaker? Probably in this case, the poet wants to reveal the relationship that the shepherd establishes with the sheep. The writer puts himself in the position of being a sheep by calling the LORD his shepherd.  Is being a sheep a good thing? Aren’t sheep a little dumb? Oops, maybe that’s part of the poem?  Well let’s go on.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. What confidence in the shepherd! Can a human shepherd provide everything for the sheep as well as protect them from all harm? Not really, but the poet says his shepherd can—the LORD can.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. I must admit, this sounds pretty good. Green pastures for eating and still waters for drinking—but, in fact, it doesn’t seem to me that creature comforts are not what the writer focuses on. No, he is describing a place of quiet rest—perhaps just a place of contentment where the sheep don’t have to worry about their needs because they can just look around and see that everything is there that they need—so they can relax.

He restoreth my soul. Yes, that seems to be the whole direction of this poem so far—restoration. Not just meeting physical needs, but feeding and watering the soul is what the poet means when he says, “I shall not want.”

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness .  . . The word righteousness gets in the way for me. It’s too churchy, too theological. Would it be just as right to say, “He leads me down the right path,” or, “He makes sure that I stay on the path?”

. . . for his name’s sake: Then the poet just reminds us that while the shepherd is doing so much for the care of the sheep, ultimately the sheep are there for the benefit of the shepherd! It is the shepherd’s will for the sheep that will ultimately be done, not the sheep’s will for themselves. They will be petted, they will be shorn, some may be eaten—they belong to the Shepherd, not to themselves.  The Shepherd cares for the flock for his own sake!  And that seems to be OK with the poet.

4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: I know that it is a misreading of the text, but I can’t help but love the Yea, because it sounds like “Yay!!” or maybe YES!! Sometimes poets use words to mean one thing, but to suggest other things. I wish that were the case here, but I don’t think it is.  Well, that is probably a sidetrack.  Not being afraid as one is threatened with death is not normal! But the poet didn’t say he wasn’t afraid; rather, he said he would fear no evil! His fearlessness is certainly because of his confidence that he is being led along the righteous path where evil does not prevail.

For thou art with me! One of these words is shocking!  It’s OK to talk about the Majestic God of heaven as the Shepherd, even though it is a lowly image. It was bold to call Him my Shepherd, but at least the poet is still speaking metaphorically and positions himself well below the Shepherd, but suddenly here, the poet switches voices and addresses Almighty God directly—with one of the most common words in the English language—and one of the most familiarly intimate words:  YOU! Most languages have forms of address for royalty, for class or gender differentiation. In English, the poet just says, “YOU” to God. I don’t think a Muslim could be so familiar with Allah.

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. The rod and staff are for protection and rescue mostly, I suppose, therefore to know the shepherd has all he needs to protect and rescue me is comforting.  But to spread a picnic in the middle of a battlefield, that’s a peculiar image—unless his enemies were not yet active, not yet aggressive, still his enemies, however.  We too live in a world of intrigue. Think about your family drama, the tensions at work—or at church as people trample others to get what they want or where they want.  OK, I’m getting a better picture of sitting down to eat among people who are after me, but without fear because . . .

Thou anointest my head with oil! Because I’m a sheep of the Almighty Shepherd and I have been chosen, anointed, so the Shepherd and I stand together.

My cup runneth over! My cup of wine or cup of blessing or cup of joy or cup of thanksgiving—any of those work for me.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, It’s all based on this relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep. If the Shepherd is as good as He seems, then surely that sheep need not worry one day of his life that he will be left to evil and judgment—the opposites of goodness and mercy!

And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Sheep in the house?? I don’t know about that. I think with the shift to YOU, the poet starts giving up the sheep metaphor and is wrapped up in the goodness of his own relationship to the LORD.  And the house of the LORD could be just where He is, but it could be the metaphorical temple—which was the house of the LORD! And could it be the household of the LORD or His family?

Don’t you love the word forever! There is no forever to anything that we know in the physical universe. So by using the word forever, the poet carries himself and us with him far beyond anything that we know! That says to me that anything we even conceive of in the image the house of the LORD is wrong and whatever it is, it is so much more than we can imagine—and I shall dwell there forever!

I love to read closely—to read poetry closely, but especially to read God’s poetry closely because the richness is completely satisfying—but never exhausted.  I’m glad my English teachers taught me to love poetry. I’m quite sure we will do poetry readings in the house of the Lord forever!

Are you ready?

 

 

 

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Pygmy Christians Can Be Great!

Posted in Bible Study, Other, tagged , on February 16, 2011| 2 Comments »

Do you remember Gulliver’s Travels from your literature class? Or maybe you saw the pretty silly Jack Black movie recently. In either case you know that Gulliver is challenged with being extremely large in the land of the Lilliputians and extremely small in the land of Brobdingnag.  In both countries, he is a celebrity/curiosity of sorts, but he is not successful in either country, neither as the All-Powerful nor as the No-Powerful!

Not many of us think of ourselves as all-powerful, although there are people we see in the news who do! No, our problem is more often seeing ourselves as small—powerless, without influence!

God wrote a letter once to a group of Christians that He described as small, but he had a much different perspective on their smallness! Listen to what He says:

8“I see what you’ve done. Now see what I’ve done. I’ve opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don’t have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn’t deny me when times were rough. . . .  10“Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I’ll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon . . . (Revelation 3:8-10, The Message).

When we think of ourselves as little, it makes us either envious or afraid of what is large!

But doesn’t it seem to you like God always had a special place for little people, people who used what strength they had to obey—and God blessed that!. Maybe David and Goliath is the first story that comes to your mind (1 Samuel 17) or perhaps you think about how God took the large army of Gideon and whittled it down until it was a small army (Judges 6ff).

When we are small, we understand better that we are not really able to do things that only BIG can do. You see another word for BIG is GREAT! And only God is GREAT!

OK, so we can understand that we are small and He is Great, but instead of charging through open doors, we use our “small strength” to excuse ourselves . . . .

After all, I don’t have very much

After all, I really don’t know much

After all, I’ve never done that before

After all, I am  . . . .alone!

After all, I am too young   ….too old  .. ..too poor ….too nervous . . . too afraid

To the church/Christian that is too small, He says, I have opened a door just for you that no one can close! Because you have obeyed, because you did nothing more than use all your pitiful little _______________( strength ,money, ideas, time, age, energy—fill in the blank!) I will bless you!  You can go through the door that He has prepared and do something that NO ONE CAN STOP because God is Great!

So, to all of us who find ourselves inadequate, that’s GREAT! If you think of yourself as a pygmy Christian—GREAT! If you think your church is pretty weak—GREAT!

If you can just be obedient and use that little cupful of whatever God has given you to be obedient, then He will do with you what He will–and He will be GREAT!

 

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A Story Told Over and Over Again!

Posted in Bible Study on February 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The story of the poor man we know as Legion has always captured me. I’ve written about him before (8/14/2010 “Who Are You In This Story?”), but for me, his story is so easily seen as an Everyman story!

When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil[b] spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him. 3 This man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. 4 Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.

 6 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. 7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”

 9 Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”  And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.”

If I were making a movie of this man’s life, I’d have to write a little backstory to turn this monster into a real person. I’d make him the youngest son of wealthy and devout parents, beloved and spoiled. Then I’d introduce tragedy into the story: his doting mother dies and his father, lost in grief, forgets about his son and his own grief, so the son seeks consolation first in friends, then in alcohol, then in drugs, and then he’s lost! Out of his mind! Out of control! Unable to function in society, so he is cast out and lives in the cemetery.  He pierces himself, abuses himself, and is hardly recognizable as the cute little guy in Sunday clothes in the family portrait that still hangs in his dad’s house.

15 A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. 16 Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. 17 And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.

 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. 19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” 20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns[c] of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.

I love the way Mark tells the story from the viewpoint of the villagers who discover this horror of a man, now just sitting there by Jesus in a polo shirt and slacks, nice haircut, talking to Jesus about his experience, about God, about whether he ought to go home and try to work things out with his dad.  The villagers are afraid! They don’t want anything to do with someone like Jesus who can change people’s lives so radically. They like the way they are!

I can’t help thinking about how the Apostle Paul told this same story to the Christians in Ephesus, except he used their own personal histories in this version. Look at how he substitutes their story for our man in Mark 5:

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

Doesn’t this sound just like the man in Mark’s story: living among the dead, obeying the devil, bound by our passions and our sinful inclinations!

 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

And here God through Christ intervenes and rescues them from the tombs, he does what no one could do for them and what no one could do for himself!  And then God makes them sit down where Jesus is—because we are part of Him and His world now!

 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Irene Johnson Gatewood, the great missionary to Germany always coaxed us as she worked circles around us at Camp Gemunden, “We’ll rest in heaven!”  Paul reminded the Ephesians that it wasn’t really about sitting. There are lots of people out there who are still living among the tombs, hurting themselves and others, crying out in pain! God didn’t really intend for us to sit too long! 

 “Go back to your family and friends and tell them what the Lord has done for you—and how he has had mercy on you! ”  That’s when you know that you are whole again, when you are doing the good things He created you to do—long ago!

What a great story about the Gadarene!

What a great story about the Ephesian Christians! 

And what a great story about me!   

And you?

 *****Scriptures are taken from the New Living Translation, Mark 5 and Ephesians 2.

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Raising Children to Have a Heart For Missions? Is That What You Really Want?

Posted in Bible Study, Raising Children To Have A Heart For Missions, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

For over thirty years, Sherrylee and I  have been dealing with parents who thought that their student’s desire to do an LST summer mission trip was at best just a one-time fling, and at worst, a frivolous, extravagant indication of their child’s immaturity.

A large number of our summer workers have come home wanting to change their majors from Accounting to International Business, or from Computer Science to Ministry—just exactly what their parents were afraid of!

Do you really want your child to grow up to be a missionary? Here are the obvious reasons why parents do not encourage this desire in their children.

  • No money in it.  In fact, you become dependent on the charity of others.
  • Not a success-oriented career.
  • No upward mobility.
  • Takes you away from the family. And what about the grandkids knowing the grandparents?
  • Makes you misfits! Everyone knows that missionaries don’t really fit into mainstream America after returning home.
  • Bad for your children. They grow up not speaking English, not playing baseball, and maybe even vegetarians.
  • It’s not safe. Stay home and live in Oklahoma City or Dallas or Los Angeles or New York City, where you’ll be safe.

I love the Old Testament story of Hannah, who can’t have children, so she prays—so hard that the observing priest thinks she is drunk.  Then she does something pretty preposterous: she vows to God that if given a son, she will “give him to the Lord all the days of his life”(1 Samuel 1:11).

If she hadn’t been quite so rash with her vows, she would have realized that she was giving away what she so desperately wanted—but I don’t think she saw it all that way!  When Samuel was very young, his mother took him to the priest and gave him into the ministry.  I’m sure there was pain in the moment, but the first words out of her mouth are:

My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord. . . . There is none holy like the Lord…there is no rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:1ff)

Hannah visits her young son each year, bringing him new clothes to wear. Samuel served the priest Eli humbly for many years until one day the Lord called his name! Yes, that is what happens when we raise children to be servants of God.  They are called–and not to that which we may have planned for them.  Samuel does not become high priest. Samuel does not become king over Israel. Samuel does not become commanding general of the armies of Israel.  Scripture says,

“And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:19-20).

Here’s what I glean from this story that will help you have a child with a heart for God’s mission:

  • Recognize that your child is a gift from God, that he/she belongs to God, and that if God had not answered your prayers, you would have nothing!
  • Having recognized that your children belong to God, don’t hold on to them as if they are yours. Give them back to His service at a very young age. I don’t know exactly what this means search for any answer about our children.
  • Teach your children to serve the Lord by placing them in the hands of those who do serve the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:11) Learning to serve is almost always the first step, not learning to lead.
  • Support your children in their service! (1 Samuel 2:19)
  • Teach your children to hear the voice of the Lord calling their name! And if you can’t do that, then bring people into their lives who can! (1 Samuel 3:1-14)

So the first step in helping your children have hearts for the mission of God is to search your own heart as a parent!  What precious item belonging to God are you trying to keep for yourself? Are your desires for your children covered in prayer by the words, “not my will, but Yours be done?”

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Do You Really Want To Be Humble?

Posted in Bible Study, Christian Culture, Other, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2010| 2 Comments »

Twice in the last few days, I’ve heard star athletes described as humble. The Dallas Cowboys just signed Miles Austin to a six-year multi-million dollar contract, and when asked what made Austin—who has really only had a partial break-out year—special, the notorious Jerry Jones, owner and general manager of the Cowboys (and head coach), used the word humble over and over again.

Then this morning, I heard Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski ) talking about Kevin Durant, a third-year NBA player, and he used these very words: “he is pure; he’s humble.” Kevin Durant has just led the USA men’s basketball team to its first world championship since 1994 and was voted MVP for the tournament.

Is humble a trait that superstars  are supposed to have? Is humble something you can learn in the minor leagues or in college?  Is humble found in the gym or on the practice field?  What makes humble important enough for it to be an important description for outstanding athletes—or outstanding people, for that matter.

One of the strangest verses in the Old Testament raises for me the same question. In the context of a fairly mundane case of jealousy between Moses and his siblings Miriam and Aaron, the biblical writer makes a parenthetical statement: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3).  There it is again!

Don’t forget who Moses was and what he had done! He was raised as a prince of Egypt. As a young man, he killed an Egyptian overseer in defending his people. Later he drove off a whole group of bully shepherds from the well in Midian. Forty years later, he returns to Egypt, challenges Pharaoh over and over again to his face, then leads hundreds of thousands or more people out of Egypt.

In the face of certain destruction, he walks them through the Red Sea. Then days later, he explodes in fury at their whiny rebelliousness in the wilderness as well as their flagrant relapse into idolatry at Sinai. These same former slaves Moses leads into armed conflict.  This is no humble guy! This is Rambo!

In our culture that values and promotes assertiveness, self-sufficiency, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-promotion—SELF–what do we do with these New Testament exhortations to humbleness?

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 5:2)

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8)

And especially listen to the words from Jesus:

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29)

Here are just a few concrete suggestions for teaching ourselves and our children to be humble:

  • Learn to respect every person—every person—as equally important to God as you are! We do lip service to this, but, in fact, what about the people we disparage: foreigners, alternate lifestylers, athletes, nerds, tea party people, liberals!!, et al. When we disrespect someone, we are putting ourselves above them. God does not love you more than he does that person you disrespect—no matter who you are!
  • Learn to see yourself as the result of God’s work, not your own! Are you wealthy, are you smart, are you talented, are you kind, are you generous, are you a great athlete, are you spiritual?  Why?  If we answer with reasons that describe our work, then we are mistaken and showing our own conceit.  It is God’s work in you that makes you everything that you might be tempted to think sets you apart from others.
  • Learn to be about others, not yourself. Learn to praise others, serve others, allow others to go first, even to get the credit for what you did. I suspect this is why Moses needed to stay in Midian and herd sheep for forty years before he was ready to lead Israel. The prince of Egypt needed to learn to lead sheep, to serve sheep—without any glory—before he could be a true leader –a great leader–of people.
  • Learn that you not only can be, but SHOULD be great at what you attempt to do! Moses was a great leader and continues to be honored by all Israel today. Humility is not antithetical to excellence!

If we start with our kids and grandkids in T-ball or pee wee soccer, making humbleness a virtue to be learned and practiced, if we the parents and grandparents will continue to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand (I Peter 5:6), all the while striving for greatness—to God’s glory—then the promise of Scripture is that we will have all the glory we can stand—and much more than we deserve!

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Can You Always Tell A Flower From A Weed?

Posted in Bible Study, Christian Culture, Christian Missions, Other on September 8, 2010| 5 Comments »

How would Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who organized the International Quran Burning Day, respond if a local imam in Chicago organized an International Bible Burning Day?  I never ceased to be amazed at what people will say and do in the name of Jesus!

Before anyone begins to think that I am a typical post-modern religious relativist, let me just put that idea to bed. I believe that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6), that there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).  I do not believe that Mohammed was a prophet of God. Is that said clearly enough?

I bet this pastor has no Muslim friends. Having friends you love who differ from you changes the tone of your conversations, even when you cannot change the core truths of those conversations.

And knowing Jesus changes the tone of your conversations.  What do you do with these words even if you consider Islam of the Enemy:  “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27)?

I’m sure this pastor has said that they don’t hate the people, just the Sin that the people represent. I’ve said those kinds of things myself, but why does it always feel like a very, very impoverished expression of love?  What parts of Sin can we hate before we can’t tell the difference any more between the Sin and the Sinner?  This is a legitimate question.

Isn’t the problem that in our frailty, we  do not control our “hate” well—such a strong and terrible word—so we have difficulty avoiding the slippery slope that starts with the SIN, but finds its way too quickly to the sinner.  Maybe it is more God’s role to hate Sin?  Since God is perfect Love, He doesn’t slip at all where we too often slide.

Perhaps this is why Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13:

24Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28” ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29” ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ “

We Christians apparently are not adept at telling wheat from weeds—at least that’s what Jesus said.  The day will come when He will judge with righteous judgment—and it will be a terrible day for those who do not love the truth!  But until then, God “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).

I don’t think Paul would lead a church to burn the Torah. He didn’t take a baseball bat to the idols in Athens! He didn’t melt the silver Artemis icons in Ephesus. I don’t think he would have burned Qurans either.  Paul’s words that I keep hearing are “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some (2 Corinthians 9:22).

My wife and I have a lovely back yard with lots of flowers and shrubs and beautiful growing things that we inherited from the previous homeowners. We are this week, for at least the third or fourth time, changing our yard service. They keep pulling up flowers because they can’t tell them apart from the weeds! And they are professionals!!

I gave up weeding our yard long ago! I’m gradually learning to give it up in the world as well!

What about you?

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What Do You Think About Working on Labor Day?

Posted in Bible Study, Other, tagged , on September 6, 2010| 4 Comments »

You get up at least five days a week, go to work, work at a job that you are so ready to leave by 5pm—or 55years old, but you can’t retire yet. So you work for ten more years, so you can retire and not work.

Then just as you are ready to retire from work and enjoy life, the stock market dives, your grown children come home—with their kids–, or someone gets seriously ill—and you have to keep working. Aren’t you asking yourself: now why are we celebrating Labor Day?

I think we—also Christians–have skewed the whole concept of work in the way we in the industrialized world live today! Those misconceptions might look something like this:

  • Work is the result of the curse placed on Adam for sin, ergo, work is the result of sin.
  • Working is so that I can afford to live in a way that brings me happiness.
  • Working is for me and what I want.
  • Working is so that someday I don’t have to work.

Try these brief ideas and see if they don’t help you think differently about working!

  1. Working is what God does, so when we are working, we are in sync with the image of God within us.  From Day One of creation in Genesis until the Judgment Day, God is working. Jesus talked about coming to do the work of his Father.  God’s work at creation was the first day of his working for the salvation of the world as well.  Our work, if woven into the fabric of His, would suddenly take on a completely different, an eschatological perspective.
  2. If affecting the world around us as farmers, bank tellers, janitors or computer technicians in a way that brings glory to God is what the nature of God in us is, if working to finish the work of the Father is what we were created to do, can there be any doubt that the deep, deep joy of being in harmony with God will provide the happiness that we so long for?  Working is the complete fulfillment of God’s plan for your life! Trying to escape it is running to Ninevah!
  3. Even your daily job is not about you! If we can get the right answer to go in the following blank, I think we will be a lot happier:  “I am working today in order to ______________________. “ If the blank is about you, you will not find satisfaction. If your answer is about others, you will have the joy that passes understanding!  (Acts 20:35; Ephesians 4:28)
  4. This last misconception is the trickiest because it is almost true. The Sabbath rest that is built into our basic desires by the image of God within us is not something bad; quite the contrary. What derails us is our human attempt to equate our Sabbath rest with retirement, thinking that is when life begins.  In fact, it was always God’s plan to give us rest from our working. Our ever-resent error is trying to create our own resort in this world and our own Sabbath on the golf course or the cruise ship.

I do believe that our own sin has caused working in this world to be harder than God intended in the Garden of Eden, but the more we allow God to forgive us of the self-centeredness of the Garden and the continual attempting to create our own Gardens (thus our own happiness), the more joy we will find in the work with which we are blessed.

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