You, O Lord, are from everlasting to everlasting…
July 31, 2011
July 30, 2011
Spectacularizing Our Faith
Yes, I know there’s no such word…
…Sometimes I fear that Christians advertise an experience that isn’t terribly authentic. If we advertise something on the can but it’s not true, then we’ll set people up for disappointment and crisis of faith. But it’s not really a crisis of faith — just faith as advertised and promoted by us.
…I think we must avoid the temptation to dress up our experience of faith and make it just a tad more spectacular than it really is. I don’t know about you… but I am never sure about whether God is speaking to me, even after being a Christian for over thirty-five years. At times I am unable to tell the difference between the voice of the eternal God and the meanderings of my own imagination. And to those who point to the happy chats that the Almighty had with various folks in the Old Testament, I would want to remind them that sometimes there were many years of silence between those dramatic encounters. We don’t do God or God’s people any favours when we insist that faith is about skipping from one dramatic, epic moment to another.
~Jeff Lucas in Seriously Funny by Jeff Lucas and Adrian Plass (Authentic, 2010)
July 29, 2011
Don’t Let My Foolishness Hurt God’s Greater Cause
Again, as I write this we’re away for a few days, so I’ll keep this short. I borrowed my wife’s Holman Christian Standard Bible while we were on the road, and was really struck by these words in Psalm 69
5 God, You know my foolishness,
and my guilty acts are not hidden from You.
6 Do not let those who put their hope in You
be disgraced because of me,
Lord GOD of Hosts;
do not let those who seek You
be humiliated because of me,
God of Israel.
This passage reminds me of another that says that it would be better to die than to “cause one of these little ones to stumble.” Our actions have impact on more than just ourselves. Our aim should be never to bring disgrace to the cause of Christ.
July 28, 2011
The Manna Principle
Have you ever read a quotation from a Christian book or a Bible passage that you wanted to reexamine the next day only to return and find it wasn’t there? Of course it is actually there, and you are looking in the right place, but the words simply don’t leap off the page as they did the day before.
I’m convinced that what you’re experiencing is “The Manna Principle.” The Israelites were given food, but it was food for that day. They couldn’t save it up for the next day or it would spoil.
The application of what you read was meant for that day, though, I promise you that as you keep looking, the verse or paragraph IS there and once relocated you can share its truth with others.
I’m away today, and using a borrowed computer, so I encourage you todayto revisit some of the worship songs located in the right sidebar of the blog and spend some time alone with God and whatever manna He has for you today.
July 27, 2011
Revive Us With Your Fire
I’m a huge Robin Mark fan. I won’t write a long introduction here because the video is about 7 minutes long. Lyrics are onscreen. The core part of the song that we do in worship at our local church begins at the 3:20 mark.
July 26, 2011
Fears, Hopes, Insecurities: A Male Perspective
I could have written this myself, though not as well. Murray Wittke blogs at All The Days of My Life, where this post appeared originally as A Man’s Dreams and Fears.
I am a man. And as a man I live with deep longings and unspoken fears buried within in my heart.
On the one hand I desperately long for significance. I long to be a man of the highest quality of character, the kind of man that moves into and significantly and positively influences the people I love and the world I live in. I long to be the kind of man that has what it takes to handle difficult tasks, to be the husband and father my wife and children need me to be, and to be the best friend anyone could have. At the end of my days I want to be able to look back with satisfaction upon a legacy of love carrying on in the lives of others. Secretly I also long to be recognized, appreciated, and respected for being that kind of a man, by my family, friends, and peers. Down deep I want to be recognized and valued as someone unique and special, to not simply be a nameless, faceless, and insignificant drone among the billions and billions of identical ants in the anthill of life living and dieing without anyone ever noticing they exist.
But! On the other hand, and at the same time, I am plagued with unspoken anxiety and insecurity. I live with a constant and terrible fear that eventually I will be exposed to all the world as a man that is inadequate; weak and powerless, a man of little worth or significance. I live with the fear that despite my best efforts I will be exposed as nothing more than a man of no substance, a man of no particular value or importance. I fear ending up as a man who lived and died without leaving any trace of impact or influence, a man no one noticed. I fear that when it’s all over my life will have had the weightiness or impact of the slight brush of a butterfly wing. I deeply fear that all I really am is an insignificant drone among the billions and billions of other nameless and faceless people no one ever notices, cares for, or misses when they are gone. I admit, as a man I contain a strange brew of both deep longings and terrible fears.
What calms my fears and gives me hope is the knowledge that I am God’s child, dearly loved, highly valued, and delighted in by my Heavenly Father. For reasons I cannot fathom He loves me! He knows everything about me and doesn’t reject me! Despite my strike outs, stumbling, errors, and fumbles; despite my shoes being on the wrong feet and my shirt buttoned up wrong; despite my embarrassing displays of temper tantrums, pouting, sulking; and despite sometimes even running away, He still gathers me up into His arms, holds me tight and cherishes me. Wrapped in the arms of His love all the longings of my heart are satisfied and all my fears are washed away.
I am a man, but I am also His child.
~Murray Wittke
Here’s another example of Murray’s writing; this one is called Soul Surgery.
July 25, 2011
The Least of These
This very powerful, very transparent article appeared earlier in the month at the blog, Faith in the Margins, under the title Listen to Lazarus.
As most of you know I have had a hard time in Institutional Church. The IC tends in the main to run as a business with a hierarchical model – much like the ‘world’ Also much like the world the poor, the outcast, the socially inept, the single parent, the uneducated, and the homeless get mistreated, ignored and deprived of having any real voice or influence. As a poor divorced single parent from the wrong side of town I have suffered untold and told abuse at the hands of those who supposedly are shepherds of the flock. It has been the same for every other person from my background that I’ve taken to church. So what’s that all about?
I was praying this morning and asking God why he allowed myself and my children to be treated this way in ‘His’ church? Surely anyone with only a minimal knowledge of the Bible knows that much is said about protecting, nurturing and leading the widow and fatherless gently….
So why God why did you let us be so viciously treated at the hands of your very own ministers and leaders?If your face and background fit you will never see or feel the abuse. That’s the problem. IC can be a great place to be an ‘acceptable christian’ – if you find favour with the leadership because your lifestyle, family and background are considered ‘acceptable’ It’s also a bonus if you have some hard cash to ‘give’ on a regular basis. This is the truth.
One day those who abused me, ignored and shunned me because I didn’t have the ‘right’ credentials will have to give an account to God for their actions. The thing is I don’t know anyone else personally who has spoken up about the way they have been treated by IC – I have watched so many from my background go to church and leave quite quickly – but they don’t have the courage to speak out. The middle classes scare them. They baffle them with eloquent speech and long words. They have money and power and influence.The poor are aware of their shortcomings. The IC causes the poor the uneducated and those who don’t ‘fit’ the required and acceptable mold of a believer to feel even more inadequate. The last thing they will want is a confrontation – on every human level they know they would lose – so they leave.
I hope and excuse me if this sounds a bit harsh…. I hope that on judgement day Jesus will bring every poor, rejected, lonely, outcast, homeless and desperate person I took to church into the great hall. Then he will bring the leaders of the church in who rejected, ignored and shunned them and then I hope he will ask them for an explanation and then I hope he will judge accordingly. Sounds to me a bit like a story Jesus told here about the rich man and Lazarus – but of course institutional church portrays this as a mere parable which ‘doesn’t have to be true in all its particulars………..’!!
We – all of us are without excuse if we mistreat the poor. The Bible is clear as to what awaits for those who behave this way…
What surprises me is the way so many Christians concentrate on showing and telling the world about their blessings of wonderful husbands/wives and families and Gods provision of their amazing church/house/car/holiday/promotion etc etc. Now this I agree is ok as long as it’s used as a vehicle to reach out and tell those who don’t have all the above that God can intervene in their lives and give the same things to them. All too often the church keeps the blessings to itself. The members keep the blessings within the confines of the church family and congratulate themselves for being so holy and worthy to receive these gifts. Bullshit.
Do these Christians ever stop and think what their boasting does to those in the gutter who have lost their spouse, their homes, their jobs, their self respect and are struggling to survive?
I don’t recall Jesus ever going on like this. Hang on, I know, remember the time he walked right up to a disabled, homeless guy on the pavement and told him how God had blessed him with amazing legs so he could walk run and skip. Of course then Jesus went home and wrote all about it on his blog telling the world about how God had blessed him….. I think not. Jesus was too humble and thoughtful to do that!
If I ever do get ‘blessed’ with a spouse and my own home and the regular comforts all my christians brothers and sisters consider ‘blessings’ I will not speak about them as I would not want to cause even more pain and heartache for those who have not or worse still, had but lost.
These are the blessings Jesus spoke about so I have no problem with anyone boasting about these…
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich!
For you have received your consolation.
Woe to you, you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe, when men speak well of you,
for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets.Well I didn’t plan for this post to go this way… but it has got me thinking about all those happy blessed, full and highly regarded christians out there…… who like to write endless blog posts showing just how much they have and how richly God has blessed them….. Taking into account the above verses the ‘blessings’ they so want to ram down our throats are not from God at all!!! I’m not saying christians shouldn’t write about Gods provision or Gods healing power or Gods intervention in their lives – that’s fine and good as testimony is always uplifting. But ‘bragging’ about a ‘blessing’ that God doesn’t even call a blessing is wrong and very hurtful to those who are struggling and suffering and ‘have not.’
I recently had some correspondence with a christian (no-one who reads my blog!) who constantly goes on about ‘his’ and ‘his’ families ‘blessings’ I challenged him about this and explained how it could be very hurtful to those who had nothing. He disagreed and was very self righteous with me so much so it had me quite tearful, I deleted his last message as I am not clever enough to respond using the kind of language he uses and also as a woman who has already been so abused and downtrodden by the IC I just don’t have the strength to fight what he says. He has a huge following in the States and is well respected, maybe I’m wrong or misguided – i don’t know, all I know is that Jesus measures our Christianess by how it impacts (for the good) on the ‘least’ among us. (Matthew 25:31-46)
This is an unfinished post which has sat in my drafts for 6 months. I’m posting it anyway today as it is as I continue to grapple with the issues mentioned here myself.
July 24, 2011
July 23, 2011
Spiritual Drought and Spiritual Famine
Earlier in the week while reading The Peoples Bible (a new edition NIV which highlights frequently searched verses at BibleGateway.com) I was again confronted with Amos 8: 11-12
11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the LORD,
but they will not find it.
We’ve been hearing much in the last few days about drought in the United States and famine in east Africa. Perhaps that why the topic has been on my mind. This passage is discussing a spiritual drought and a spiritual famine. I decided to see what was available on this passage online, and a search brought me to my own blog, Thinking out Loud, and a post that was written just a few months ago in April…
A few years back, Wood (Woodrow) Kroll wrote a book which bears the same name as the organization he heads, Back to the Bible (Multnomah Publishing). The following is taken from pages 67-68:
Two Old Testament prophets from Israel would feel very much at home at the dawn of the twenty-first century. I think they have much to say to us as the did to those who heard them in person…
Amos was a lowly shepherd from Tekoa (Amos 1:1) a village not far from Bethlehem. He made no special claims for himself, in fact, when his authority to speak for God was challenged because he was not what people expected of a prophet, Amos said, “I was no prophet nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheep breeder and a tender of sycamore fruit”(7:14). Amos was a pretty humble guy, but when God appeared to him and said, “Go prophesy to My people Israel” (7:15) he could do nothing else.
Amos prophesied during the days of King Uzziah, when Israel’s economy was flourishing. He looked at a society in which the people of God had become complacent and noticed that the Jews had no intimacy with the heavenly Father and paid no attention to those charged with teaching them the Word. When he spoke these words to his countrymen, Amos actually predicted our day: “‘Behold the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord’” (8:11).
That famine has arrived. In our physical and financial prosperity, the church has become spiritual anemic and biblically illiterate.
The prophet Hosea echoed the cry of Amos. He ministered to Israel during the chaotic period just before the fall of the nation in 722 B.C. In that respect he was ominously familiar with what happens to a nation who forgets God and His Word. Unlike Amos, Hosea was a member of the upper class. He was one of the most unusual prophets of the Old Testament.
Strangely, God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute (Hosea 1:2-9). His wife, Gomer, eventually returned to her life of sin, but Hosea bought her back from the slave market and restored her as his wife (3:1-5). Hosea’s unhappy family life served as an illustration of Israel’s sin. The people of God had fallen out of love with God, grown cold toward Him and no longer heeded His Word. They rejected the one true God and served pagan Gods.
In that context, Hosea prophesied with words that have a chilling ring for the church of the twenty-first century. He spoke for God when he said, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me, because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (4:6). The Israelites forgot God’s law. They failed to read his word and showed no respect for it. Therefore God promised that he would forget His people as they had forgotten His Word. That simply meant that He would withhold His blessing and all the good things that would have been theirs had they spent more time loving God by reading His Word.
~Wood Kroll
July 22, 2011
Two Types of Christians
We started the week with a focus on devotional content for kids, and we’re ending it with a blog that provides devotional content for teens. You might want to recommend this site to a young person you know. What’s more Christian Teen Spot works like this blog, in that they are combing the ‘net looking for the best material from other sources. We chose a recently posted poem — there’s something here for us adults, too. The link below is to their source…
I want to be the type of Christian
That stands up for the truth
Not the type that doesn’t listen
Or follows God in my youth
I want to be the type of Christian
That doesn’t live by my own set of rules
But surrenders to Gods submission
And will be used by Him like a tool
I want to be the type of Christian
Who isn’t all about talk
Why pray if I’m just wishing
I’d rather be the one who walks
I want to be the type of Christian
Who isn’t one big hypocrite
I want to make the decision
To please God with more than my lips
I want to be the type of Christian
That is not a slave but is set free
The kind that stays focused on His mission
What type of Christian do you want to be?
…and a recently posted story…
Only one move
A 10-year-old boy decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.
“Sensei,”(Teacher in Japanese) the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?” “This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament.
Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out.
He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. “No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.” Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.
He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.
“Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”
“You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame God, the circumstances or ourselves for it but we never know that our weaknesses can become our strength one day.
Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!”
Author Unknown
July 21, 2011
Evangelism and Your Role
From Brian Jones in his book, Hell Is Real (But I Hate to Admit It) publishing next month from David C. Cook.
…God has done His part and has now passed on to us the responsibility to reach every single person in our circles of influence. As the great missionary Robert E. Speer once wrote:
Jesus Christ alone can save the world but even Jesus Christ cannot save the world alone. He has no feet with which to go to the world but human feet; no lips with which to speak to the world but human lips; no eyes with which to look out upon the world but human eyes. The abounding needs of the world can only be met by the abounding sufficiency of Christ as men and women offer themselves as the channels of His grace to the world that is waiting for the light it is to bring.
But evangelism isn’t just about responsibility though that’s a large part of it. The ministry of reconciliation is also a tremendous privilege.
In II Cor. 5:17 Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ the new creation has come.” In the English translation you miss the force of the original Greek. The phrase literally reads, “If anyone is in Christ, new creation” There is no verb; it’s just a noun and an adjective and it’s written as if it’s a loud proclamation. “New Creation!” You can feel a sense of awe even in Paul’s simple phrasing.
Every time we help someone walk across the line of faith we get a front row seat to watch an astonishing act of creation. But unlike the acts of creation detailed in Genesis, this creation happens in the heart unseen by human eyes. But it’s just as miraculous nonetheless.
That’s why evangelism is a privilege; it’s not just a have to, but a get to…
Brian Jones pp. 166-7
July 20, 2011
July 19, 2011
He Will Sing Over You
Yesterday I wrote about the challenge of producing Bible study and curriculum material for children. It seems easy on the surface, but you have to really understand certain concepts for yourself before you can attempt to state them plainly so that toddlers, school-aged kids, and pre-teens can understand.
This is part two of a rather rare back-to-back focus on devotionals for kids from Bible Drive-Thru. (Read yesterday’s for more details if you missed it.) Violet is a freelance Christian writer from Western Canada who is also a prolific blogger, with seven blogs that I’m aware of! Maybe your children have never done an exercise like this before at home. Copy and paste what’s below and print it out for them. If you don’t have kids, allow the truth of today’s passage from Zephaniah to reach into your heart.
God’s Lullabies
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Zephaniah 3:11-17TO CHEW ON: “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Again Judah was in a mess. When King Manasseh died, his idol-worshiping son Amon became king. Amon was king for just two years when officials murdered him and crowned his eight-year-old son Josiah to be king instead.
God gave another prophet named Zephaniah, messages for King Josiah. Most were not popular. “God’s judgment day is coming,” he said one day. “If Judah doesn’t return to God, it will be destroyed, just the like nations around it. Jerusalem will be destroyed too. Only a few people from it will be saved.”
Then Zephaniah ended his stern message with the beautiful picture of a God who can also be gentle. He is a God who loves and cares for those who stay true to Him.
Have you ever seen a mother or father quiet a crying baby? How do they do it?
In our reading today, God is that parent. He quiets His restless children with love. He sings over them – lullabies perhaps or story songs that remind them of the things He has done for them.
Next time God seems mean and strict and far away to you, remember this picture of God. He is near you even when you don’t feel Him. He can save you from any problem you are in. He delights in you and sings over you. Let Him love you.
PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to know Your parent-love for me. Amen.
SUPERSIZE IT: Pictures of God.
God is pictured in the Bible in many ways. These pictures help us understand what He is like. Match the references with the way God is pictured in each verse (one verse has two descriptions).A. Psalm 121:4 B. Psalm 91:4 C. Isaiah 25:4 D. 2 Timothy 4:181. ______ Shelter from the storm.
2. ______ Rescuer.
3. ______ Bird who shelters us under His wings.
4. ______ Watchman who never sleeps.
5. ______ Shade from the heat.Adult readers – DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS are available too at Other Food: daily devo’s.
July 18, 2011
Discovering God’s Word for the First Time
I’ve mentioned before that when I started this blog, C201 was meant to contain original devotional content each day, but the pressure of life and the maintenance of other blogs quickly turned it into a “best of” the Christian blogosphere. So I have a great respect for those who write original devotions or studies each day, but I have even greater respect for those who attempt to get doctrinal concepts across to children.
Today’s reading is from Bible Drive-Thru. Violet describes this as a daily devotional kids that allows readers to sample something from every book of the Bible over the course of a year. Kids? I’ll bet this story from II Chronicles will be new to a couple of you adults, which is ironic because the selection is about a king who discovered God’s word for the first time. And you can answer the questions at the end in the comments if you wish.
If you have children, consider Bible Drive Thru as the basis for spending some time together daily in the Bible. They’ll love the ‘fast food’ layout of these studies, with a “to chew on” section and a “supersize it” section for deeper reading. (Violet recommended our including a different devotional, which I decided, in a rare back-to-back posting, I’m going to include tomorrow, but if your kids are bit younger, they might enjoy it today.)
Finding a Special Book
TO CHEW ON: “Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.” 2 Chronicles 34:18,19
When King Josiah turned sixteen something changed. Perhaps after being king for eight years he realized what a hard job it was. Maybe he wished he had help and wanted to be sure that God was on his side. He may have asked, which god? For the people in Judah worshiped many gods.
Perhaps he remembered his grandfather, King Manasseh, and thought of how he had smashed the idols and taken down the Asherah poles after he got back from prison. Then he had told everyone to worship the unseen God of the temple.
However it came about, over the next four years, Josiah took down every altar and high place and pole connected with idol worship. Then he decided to clean up the temple too. He put the priests and Levites to work. One day as they were clearing out garbage, they found a book. It was the book of the Law that God had given Moses.
When Shaphan the secretary showed Josiah what they had found, Josiah wanted him to read it. So Shaphan read God’s laws to Josiah. He had never heard them before.
He became so upset and afraid, he tore his clothes. Then he asked Shaphan and the priests to pray to God for him and the nation, that they would be spared the terrible punishments God had promised.
Hilkiah the priest and others prayed for Josiah. God answered that He would punish Judah just as the book said. But if Josiah would keep on doing the right things, this punishment would come after his lifetime.
We have God’s book with us today. It is the Bible. Unlike Josiah’s time, Bibles today are not lost. They are plentiful and common. But in order for the Bible to help us as it did Josiah, we need to follow his example. We need to read, respect and obey it.
PRAYER: Dear God, help me to read and obey Your word. Amen.
SUPERSIZE IT: Bible Search
1. How many Bibles or parts of the Bible do you have in your home?2. Which is your favorite Bible?
Why?3. What is your favorite Bible verse?
Why?Adult readers – DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS are available too at Other Food: daily devo’s.
July 17, 2011
Public Life and Private Life Must Match
From Daily Christian Quote:
Some Christians seem to think that all the requirements of a holy life are met when they are very active in successful Christian work. And because they do so much for the Lord in public they feel a liberty to be cross and ugly and un-Christlike in private. This is not the sort of Christian life I am depicting. If we are to walk as Christ walked, we must be in private as well as in public, at home, as well as abroad. It must be every hour, all day long, and not as stated points or certain fixed occasions.
Hannah Whitall Smith
