Junto

The Tougher Road

2 Timothy 3:10-11                  

“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings - what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.”         

    It would appear humanity is often plagued by the decision of polarizing choices. Frequently we are placed in positions mental and spiritual division - confronted by two life altering choices. It’s not solely spiritual. Some are faced with choices of integrity in the workplace - do we lie and get promoted or bear truth and remain?         

    Some are faced with relational choices - do we struggle through difficulty to remain married despite the current bleak outlook knowing that the end result is a stronger cord or do we cave to the pressures and prideful arrogance that divides unity?         

    Other choices stunt our spiritual growth. How we use our bodies, how we tame our tongues, and how we hold captive our thoughts are all choices that bear the weight of potential strife and division if left unchecked. In a picture perfect world we would prefer to not make these choices. We would choose that the choices be made for us - and that every choice would lead to a favorable outcome.         

    The analogy of two roads is apparent. We are at the fork and can seemingly see for miles in every direction although we aren’t certain of the destination at the end of either path. We simply know that from perspective, one road seems inevitably tougher than the other.                  

    The tougher road isn’t enticing, it’s frightening. It isn’t attractive, it’s repelling. It isn’t accepting, it’s confrontational. It’s everything our born nature revolts against, but it’s the very thing our blessed soul acknowledges as right. We would desire to avoid all difficulties and still benefit from increased character and resolve, but this is not the reality of human nature. We are made stronger through trials and assured through conquering fears.                  

    One has to admire Paul for his endurance and firm conviction. He operated without fear because he knew that the tougher road was not tough at all. It was an illusion the whole time - because he knew no matter the circumstance he would be rescued by Jesus - and it was so until his time had come.         

    If the tough road was illusional, is it possible the easy road is also illusional? If the tough road truly isn’t tough, is it possible that the easy road truly isn’t easy? It would appear that way...

Question of the Week - 11/22/09

This question comes from none other than Amy Via!  Great thinking Amy - here you go!  No wikipedia citations please - use your brains!

What is the difference between fortune telling and prophecy?

I'm looking forward to hearing your responses!

Saved To...

Before Jesus came to re-connect mankind to their creator, the creator had already developed a plan for mankind.  It's not uncommon for Christians to view this plan as solely redemptive - anything Christian MUST revolve around salvation or it is viewed as heretical. 

For many, the worldview they've established is one of multiple compartments - a compartment for faith and a compartment for the rest of life.  As mentioned in her book, 'Total Truth', Nancy Pearcey describes this as the secular/sacred divide.  We fail to realize that EVERYTHING created and established is protected and empowered by the Common Grace of God.  However since the creation of the world God's plan was simple. 

"In Genesis, God gives what we might call the first job description: 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it'.  The phrase, 'be fruitful and multiply,' means to develop the social world: build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws. The second phase, 'subdue the earth', means to harness the natural world: plant crops, build bridges, design computers, compose music."

When humanity elected to choose separate from God the result was an eye opening experience.  They realized, albeit to late, that God's grace had been protecting them from the start.  Now they had to experience labor.  It was painful for child birth... painful to toil the land... but also psychologically painful. To remember how good things WERE and now to have to wake up to an alternate life experience never intended by God must have been mentally exhausting.  

But God never left - God never gave up - because God knew humanity could still be great.  He desired to make them great - to restore what was taken - to empower them to do wonderful, meaningful things.

Jesus has not just saved us FROM, but also saved us TO.  We can never fail to recognize the sacrifice made for our redemption - but this redemption did not just save us FROM eternal separation from God. It saved us TO greatness within God's original plan!  

This is why there are NO vocations or callings separate from God's grace.  The beauty displayed in the artists painting, the steady hands of a surgeon, the deep thought of a theologian, or the effective management style of a leader are ALL purposed and empowered by God.  

We must look at everything created, formed, and performed through the eyes of Christ. It's what God has saved us TO that holds even greater importance than what He saved us from.  We are new creations through Christ - it's what we do AFTER that experience that truly matters!!  What are you saved to? Musician? Doctor?  Artist? Engineer?  Great!  Now realize you can do this job (calling) and experience it fully through the eyes of Christ - this is how it was intended from the start.

The cause of Christ was never intended to separate us from what we do.  It can only enhance it when viewed through grace. 

Saved To...

Before Jesus came to re-connect mankind to their creator, the creator had already developed a plan for mankind.  It's not uncommon for Christians to view this plan as solely redemptive - anything Christian MUST revolve around salvation or it is viewed as heretical. 

For many, the worldview they've established is one of multiple compartments - a compartment for faith and a compartment for the rest of life.  As mentioned in her book, 'Total Truth', Nancy Pearcey describes this as the secular/sacred divide.  We fail to realize that EVERYTHING created and established is protected and empowered by the Common Grace of God.  However since the creation of the world God's plan was simple. 

"In Genesis, God gives what we might call the first job description: 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it'.  The phrase, 'be fruitful and multiply,' means to develop the social world: build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws. The second phase, 'subdue the earth', means to harness the natural world: plant crops, build bridges, design computers, compose music."

When humanity elected to choose separate from God the result was an eye opening experience.  They realized, albeit to late, that God's grace had been protecting them from the start.  Now they had to experience labor.  It was painful for child birth... painful to toil the land... but also psychologically painful. To remember how good things WERE and now to have to wake up to an alternate life experience never intended by God must have been mentally exhausting.  

But God never left - God never gave up - because God knew humanity could still be great.  He desired to make them great - to restore what was taken - to empower them to do wonderful, meaningful things.

Jesus has not just saved us FROM, but also saved us TO.  We can never fail to recognize the sacrifice made for our redemption - but this redemption did not just save us FROM eternal separation from God. It saved us TO greatness within God's original plan!  

This is why there are NO vocations or callings separate from God's grace.  The beauty displayed in the artists painting, the steady hands of a surgeon, the deep thought of a theologian, or the effective management style of a leader are ALL purposed and empowered by God.  

We must look at everything created, formed, and performed through the eyes of Christ. It's what God has saved us TO that holds even greater importance than what He saved us from.  We are new creations through Christ - it's what we do AFTER that experience that truly matters!!  What are you saved to? Musician? Doctor?  Artist? Engineer?  Great!  Now realize you can do this job (calling) and experience it fully through the eyes of Christ - this is how it was intended from the start.

The cause of Christ was never intended to separate us from what we do.  It can only enhance it when viewed through grace. 

Subtle Safety

There are so many beautifully applicable metaphors that line the pages of this noted best seller. 

I'm particularly drawn to the story about the raging sea because it's a situation, although not always literal, that we can all relate to.

Very few of us can say we've been caught in a torrential vehement storm on the ocean, grasping to the sails for our lives. But many of us can, however, accurately recall the frightening moments when we felt that no matter how hard we tried we could not seem to get a grip on our lives. With every effort to tighten our grip in an attempt to hold onto some fragment of a familiar part of ourselves, safety just kept slipping through every crack between our fingers.

And then with one single sentence He calmed everything. Sure, we could ask why He let the storm last so long before He stepped in, but few of us would. The relief from the pelting rains would free us from any need for an explanation.

My mind is always racing - my soul is always longing for more of Him - my spirit is always reaching out to care for the needs and hurts of others - my body is constantly desiring to move - and in the midst of the bedlam He calms me. When I'm with Him I'm calm. He doesn't have to shout... He doesn't have to intrude... He just has to speak a single sentence and I'm ok....... and I'm ready for the next challenge.

Terribly Wonderful

I'm staring blankly at my computer screen right now, wanting to write, but wanting to sleep.  This will be a blog in the purest form, not revealing any sort of supernatural insight but insight nonetheless.  We'll just call this talking time. 

The last couple of weeks our church has been on 40 day fast and it has been wonderful in so many ways.  I've prayed that God would challenge me... He has.  I have prayed that He would grant me vision.  He has.  I've prayed that He would give me some clarity in various situations... well... He's still taking His time on that one.

This is such an anomalous moment in my life, full of intrigue and challenge, yet fulfillment and grace.  It's always terribly wonderful to overcome an obstacle only to see several others emerge in its place.  Terribly wonderful.  It's these moments of momentary distraction that would cause so many to falter and wither away, grasping contentment in mediocrity.  But that's not our purpose and it's not our cause.  We will not join this ambition-less venture.

To see the cause of Christ extend beyond the stretch of our cynicism to bring restoration to the irreparable and triumph to the unavailing forges a connection with us to the biblical heroes of the past.  Our eyes are staring down the giant, our mind is racing as the Red Sea parts, and our hands are trembling in eager anticipation of the anointing about to be poured upon us.

It's all so elusively beautiful yet so impossibly close and we can smell it's serenity.

While the desires of the heart rage on and the battle of the old vs. new man seeks from us the vitality of life, we find ourselves relying on an unbending grit that has been fashioned from the fires of purification.  We are the silver.  We are the gold. We are the refined.

So we press on with the yoke tied ever so tightly to our necks, pressing down with every methodical step, but we are not overtaken.  We can't slow down, but to hear God's voice, and we can't remain silent, but to proclaim His Word.  Our watch will not be one to turn a settled eye towards the oppressed.

And so my prayer remains simple and my petition brief.  God grant me the ears to hear your voice and the courage to obey your commands.  Amen.  

Question of the Week - 12/1/08

A friend of mine and I are taking on the challenge of approaching one difficult question a week and forming an answer and response to it.  The difficulty will not be in the answer, but the explanation of the answer.  

I will be posting one question a week and leave it open for you to comment on.  I'll make a post on my final response to the question at the conclusion of the week. 

This weeks question:  Is it possible to find happiness outside of Jesus?

Lessons of Leadership

Day one of the Lead Now conference down - 2 more to go - and I'm enjoying all of it.  The only downer of the whole weekend will be that I have nobody to dialogue with as I am without a companion on this trip.  Traveling alone is no fun at all - someone told me it's like going to a movie by yourself... which I did tonight as well.  Included in our registration was a free movie screening - we watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas".  It was an "ok" movie until the very end which left people all throughout the theater crying.  Since I hate it when people give away the ending of a movie I'll not do so.  Powerful ending though.

Who was the best speaker today?  It would have to be our first speaker, Todd Wagner.  He spoke on what is important when "leading now".  I took down about two pages worth of notes from him and I decided that since I have no one here with me to dialogue with I would put my thoughts down on Junto.  Here are a few of his statements I recorded and I'll throw in my responding thoughts as well.

Thought 1: "Leadership is a commitment to be misunderstood...If you want to avoid criticism, get out of leadership.  The higher a monkey climbs up the tree, the more people can see his rear end."

My response: - I found this one to be profound.  He did not say leadership was a commitment to lead, or a commitment to set the example, or a commitment to serve - you know, all of those things a good leader should strive to do.  Ironically enough it was a commitment to being viewed in the worst possible light in which a leader would desire to be viewed.  A leader wants to be a great communicator - a motivator - a harborer of passion, the encourager of vision, and an inventor of dreams.  A great pursuit such as this does not come without great pestilence.  And we must welcome the criticism...if it is true.  If it is false and the critique is not true to the message of God or the purpose He has for us, then we discard it...but we must welcome it nonetheless.

Thought 2:  "Love is not doing what others want - it's doing what is best. 

My Response:  He went on to say that a pastor that does not speak the truth in love but allows sin, or potential sin, to go unchecked, who does not speak what God's message is to the people, who refuses to speak the truth in love, is a bastard pastor.  Strong words - accurate meaning.  This concept of speaking the truth in love is something God has been welding into my heart.  Jesus was the greatest at "stirring up the pot".  He never allowed things to get comfortable and the result was a result that most leaders today fear - people left Him.  So often we refuse to speak the truth in love out of fear of abandonment.  This can not be a deterrent.  Jesus called us to a life of accountability and a life that refuses to be accountable to God or those placed in authority over them is a life that is rebellious, selfish, and controlling - all of which are attributes not welcomed into the kingdom of God.  I must come to terms with the fact that when God places on my heart words to speak that will call people to a deeper intimacy with Him, and they're rejected, people may leave.  Leaders may leave.  But we are not here to please men, we are here to please God and the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  Jesus' message to us was that we are not to fear those that can destroy the body - we are to fear Him who can destroy the body and vanquish the soul to an eternity apart from God.

That's it for now!  Leave your comments!

Feigning Passion

Do you ever feel like you lose your passion to be passionate? Do you ever feel like even though your mind desires to be motivated to action, your body and soul scream for moments of seclusion, silence, and solitude?

What is it that stifles the human spirit? What terrible misadventure forces us to cease the pursuit of our purpose for existence? What atrocious action derails our chance for greatness?

In one word lies the source of sustained passion. A single word embodies the method of physical and spiritual rejuvenation. Only one verse is needed to understand how motivations can continue to motivate, how spoken words can be spoken with conviction, and how the power to change can be fueled.

Exodus 20:8 states, "Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy."

Something that is holy is dedicated to the service of God - presented to the sacred creator of the universe - honored with fear and reverence. God knew humanity would be prone to exhaustion and in the method of doing God's work we would find no light burden, no easy yolk, and most of all no rest for our weariness.

Our success can be fueled or failed depending on our willingness to be obedient to Jesus. Rest, often so easily overlooked, can become our the greatest aid to the greatest moments of our lives. It's not our passion that feigns - it's our obedience. The Sabbath (rest) is holy in the sight of God and no minister possesses the right to cheapen it's value or it's Godly application. If left unchecked our Godly inheritance will succumb to an earthly collapse.

So stop reading this and get some sleep!!!!

Elasticity

Somehow the realization that God is more than our imagination can be pleasantly overwhelming. I was listening to Mark Batterson's podcast one night on the way home from work and he quoted a unique statistic. He stated that a child, around 4 or 5 years old, asks 125 probing questions every day. Then he stated that a full grown adult asks only 5 or 6.

Somewhere in the life journey between childish curiosity and adult philosophical enlightenment we have lost the enthralling satisfaction of purging the limitless walls of discovery for the complacency of a stagnant life. I'm as guilty as every other well-meaning adult. God has created a world that bleeds information, knowledge, and experience and to sit on the couch day after day droning out to a meaningless, experience-less, memory-less life is far less appealing than riding the wave of a fulfilled life.

When does the driving need for answers become a contentment for ignorance? And how do we get there? And why don't we realize we're drifting in that direction? And would we even care if we DID realize it?

So in light of the transition from 4 year old inquisitiveness to 29 year old stupidity I challenge myself to ask even MORE questions and discover MORE of God, hoping my brain never loses it's spiritual, emotional, or mental elasticity.