More talk on Public Schools

Wendi Thomas wrote a great article in yesterday's Commercial Appeal. Many Central Gardens residents are encouraging their neighbors to support Idlewild Elementary School. Here's the article.

What is the Purpose of Prayer?

Yesterday I was going through one of my journals and discovered a post from 2 ½ years ago that was at the time quite a revelation from God. The unfortunate thing is that this time it was just as much of a revelation (which means that I didn't do much about it the first time). Here's the revelation: for most of my life I have had a warped understanding of prayer. There, I said it.

I've looked at prayer primarily as a "Trust and Obey" issue. I've never really had trouble believing that God will not only take care of me, but that He knows what is best for me. I've always felt that God knows all of my needs and will continue to provide for those needs. I've believed that He will close and open doors as He sees fit, and therefore my job is just to walk. When He opens a door, I should go through it. When He closes a door, I should yield. If that is my attitude, then what is the purpose of prayer? Or better yet, why should I bother with prayer? God knows what I'm going to say, doesn't He? He's going to take care of my needs regardless, right? Efficiency is the key word here.

My revelation then, and my revelation yesterday, was that God is not very concerned with my efficiency. Prayer is not about getting things done. Prayer is about relationship. At the time I first realized this I did not have a son. I now understand this better. My relationship with Adam has nothing to do with accomplishing something. I spend time with Adam because I love him. I desire for our relationship to continue to grow and develop. Intimacy comes as the relationship deepens. The relationship between father (Robert) and son (Adam) is a picture of the relationship between Father (God) and son (Robert).

God is not too busy getting things accomplished that He can't spend time with me. Neither should I be too busy that I can't spend time with Him. It does go back to my understanding, though, because understanding and belief determines behavior. I'm happy to say that my understanding is changing, and I trust that my behavior will also begin to change.

Everyday Salvation

This morning I've been reading Grace-Based Parenting, by Tim Kimmel. Mandy stumbled onto this book about a month ago, and is about half-way through, so I decided to start it this morning. It's spurred a lot of thoughts in me, and I decided that one of them might be worth blogging about. One of the chapters is on secure love. The premise of the chapter is that we need to love our children as God loves His children.

The author tells the story of being at a hotel for breakfast one morning when he spotted a mom with an infant and a four-year old boy. The boy was excited because there was an "all you can eat" buffet. When the waitress came to take their order, the mom said that she and her husband, who was on the way down from his room, would take the buffet, but the little boy was going to have cornflakes. You can imagine that the little boy was less than thrilled by this declaration. When the dad came down, and saw his son crying, he convinced the mom that since they were on vacation, they should let him have the buffet. She reluctantly agreed.

The little boy took a little of everything, including things that he normally wouldn't have tried...but this was vacation, and this was a buffet! When he sat back down, his mother scolded him for getting so much food, or more importantly, so much unhealthy food. The author points out that at this moment the little boy's countenance fell and his joy left him.

So what does this story have to do with the title of this post, "Everyday Salvation?" As I was reading this story, I thought back to the passage that Jason taught from a couple of weeks ago. Matthew 13 is the parable of the sower. You can read it here if you'd like.

We've all been like this mom, whether it was with a child, a spouse, or a friend. We've allowed, as Jesus puts it, "the worries of this life" to choke out the word. I don't believe that Jesus was referring just to the first time we hear the gospel, or even the first time we accept the gospel and put our trust in Christ. I believe that salvation comes everyday. In other words, the seeding of the gospel into our lives takes place everyday. The question is, "What is our soil like?"

On days when I am impatient, unloving, bitter, frustrated, unpleasant (the list can go on and on) - is it because my heart (my soil) has not been in a place to receive from God?

If so, then how do I prevent that from happening tomorrow?

First, I need to be aware that God longs to have a daily, intimate relationship with me. He didn't create me, save me, and then put things on auto-pilot. His desire is to commune with me daily. His desire is to plant the seeds of the gospel into me on a daily basis. Let's remind ourselves of that truth.

Second, I need to confess my sins. I need to be in a place where I can receive everything that God has for me.

Third, I need to have faith that God can change me, that He can change my heart. I need to believe that the gospel can make me into a different person - a more loving person, a more patient person, a person with self-control (for the rest of this list, read this passage).

Here’s the good news in all of this. When the gospel finds good soil, it produces a crop, up to 100 times what was sown.

A Year of Eating Locally

I just read this article from Salon. It's an interview with Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible. She and her family spent a year living on a farm in Virginia. More specifically, they spent a year living off of the farm. Her newest book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life is one of the results of that experience.

Here's a great quote: "If we can't, as artists, improve on real life, we should put down our pencils and go bake bread."

Here's another one:
When told that the book was funny, she replied, "Hooray, that's my goal: to write pages a reader will want to keep turning. I'm a storyteller, not a minister."

Whoa. Settle down Barbara.

One final quote. This one's really good, and it's the primary reason I wanted to post this...

Food is the one consumer choice we have to make every day. We can use that buying power in a transaction that burns excessive fossil fuels, erodes topsoil, supports multinationals that pay their workers just a few bucks a day -- or the same money could strengthen neighborhood food economies, keep green spaces alive around our towns, and compensate farmers for applying humane values. Every purchase weighs in on one side or the other. It just isn't possible to opt out. Otherwise, if you're going to eat food, you belong to some kind of food chain. The goal of this book is to reveal that truth.


Read the entire article here.

The Patience of Faith

One of my favorite books is My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. This is yesterday's reading. If you're looking for a daily devotional, and have never read this, I encourage you to check it out. You can find it online here.

Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says - "I cannot stand any more." God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. "Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him."

Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life, you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.

God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee." The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvellous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

As I was reading this I thought about a comment I heard from Tim Keller. He said that many times we feel that God has no right to stretch us like this. He believes this is due to a warped view of grace. If we feel that in some small we are accepted by God (that we are saved) by our good works, then there is a limit on how much God can ask of us, how much God can stretch us. However, if our acceptance comes totally and completely through God's grace, then there is no limit on what He asks of us.

This is no doubt a little scary, but it can also be freeing, especially when we begin to understand that God's working in our lives, even when it is so difficult, is the best thing for us.

Substantially United

By Julian of Norwich

God showed me something small, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed to me, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with the eye of my understanding and thought: What can this be? I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and always will, because God loves it: and thus everything has being through the love of God.

In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it, the second is that God loves it, the third is that God preserves it. But what did I see in it? It is that God is the Creator and the protector and the lover. For until I am substantially united to God, I can never have perfect rest or true happiness, until, that is, I am so attached to God that there can be no created thing between my God and me.

Source: Revelations of Divine Love

Photos from Q

I forgot to bring our camera to Q last week. Turns out that was ok. My pictures wouldn't have turned out near as well as these.

How do you best connect with God

Here is the link to the Spiritual Pathways Assessment.

The Relationship Between Music and Worship

Worship is much more than singing. So often we associate music with worship, and, therefore, if we don't sing, or if we don't connect with God through music like some people do, we feel a little inferior. Are we missing something? My hope for this Sunday evening is that we leave understanding a little more about what worship truly is.

Saying all that...today I read this post about singing. I agree with the author that there is something about a community gathering to sing praises and adoration to God, our Creator and Father, and to Jesus, our Savior and King. It's a good read.

One Thing God Never Promised

As I have followed the news about the happenings to the people of Virginia Tech I have had a few thoughts, though minuscule, surface. Within 12 hours of the evil and dastardly acts of the student gunman several university campuses across the country held candlelight vigils. A basketball arena at Virginia Tech was at max capacity as Dr. Giovanni, a former English Professor there who had previously confronted the depraved and unsafe behavior of the murderer, brought the mourners to their feet with her stirring statements--speaking truth poetically into the situation.

During the year prior to and following the attacks on September 11th, 2001, I worked for a hotel situated on the water just north of San Francisco and Sausalito. September is the perfect time of year to visit and sightsee there. Our hotel was packed. I was off that day but went there because we didn't have a television at the time. As I entered our office the staff huddled together in talk. I went out to watch television in the lobby and the lobby was packed, virtually by everyone in the hotel, who, by the way, had fully functioning televisions in their rooms. Families ate breakfast together and talked with their new neighbors from all over the US. One client looked at me in bewilderment after the first tower fell and said, "My apartment is five blocks from there." He was a frequent face at the front desk throughout his stay--just talking. Our lobby was rarely full--people come, eat, and go. Today they lingered. We extended our breakfast hours and our attention to the holistic needs of the people.

There is something movingly profound about being present with others during tragedy. We don't want to be alone. We gain strength from being with another and another truly being with us. If someone dies we don't stay home. We congregate at the funeral home. If someone is hurt we don't stay home. We meet them at the hospital. When a child gets injured the child doesn't go the backyard to be alone. The child runs to find the parents for consolation.

God never said that life would be fair. I have often argued with God, even have sworn at him because of the hardness of grief and the mystery of his choices. He has answered in part and over time. But one thing I am learning is that He said that when life was unfair, terrifying and dangerous we would not have to be alone; he would be with us. Jesus' name, remember, is "Emmanuel," which means "God with Us."

Psalm 23 speaks to this: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow I'll fear no evil."

Why will I not fear? There is so much in life that strikes terror. Evil is frightening and makes me question the goodness, sovereignty and smartness of God. Why would I not fear?

"Because you are with me."

How fantastic is that?! That is the promise--not the void of grievous circumstances but the presence of God when times are dark.

God does not promise us that hardships will not befall us. He didn't spare his own son suffering but offered him up as an atoning sacrifice. He promises to walk right there with us deep in the valley where little sunlight gets in. He enters the arena of suffering and sets things in perspective, beautifully speaking wisdom into our situation.

Church & Culture Pt. 5

"How is Christianity to be distinctive in a culture where everyone assumes themselves to be Christian?"

This is a very important question for us. I wasn't faced with this question near as much in the bay area as I have been here. I'm discovering that even in our neighborhood, this question has to be asked.

The following are excerpts from a post I read this morning that deals with this question.

This was the context in which I grew up. To put it charitably, most folks in my home town thought of themselves as Christians. Some evidently were by their profession and their lives. Some, no doubt, were not. But, most people didn't condemn themselves or think so poorly of themselves to self-identify as "practical atheist" or "unbeliever." Even the poolhall hustlers and the alcoholics claimed they knew God, "always said their prayers," and the "God knows their heart."

Many assumed the label "Christian" because they were certainly not practitioners of any other religion. They were not, for example, muslims. In fact, until I returned home during my sophomore year in college as a professing muslim, very few people had ever seen a muslim. No, everyone at least believed in some way, and that made most everyone "Christian" since that was either a family or community legacy bequeathed to all. Nominalism.

The more I think about the situation, the clearer it is to me that in trying to reflect genuine Christian distinctiveness in a nominal Christian culture definitions are critical. The root problem might be described as a failure to define "Christian" and Christianity in terms that bring into sharper contrast regenerate and unregenerate life, in terms that stress spiritual conversion, faith, grace, love and hope over and against moralism, patriotism, and spiritual relativism.

Insights on Worship

Greg Laurie writes on worship in today's Harvest Devotional:

A number of words in the Bible are translated "worship." The one used the most often means "to bow down and do homage." Another biblical word for worship means "to kiss toward." Put the two words together, and you will have a good idea of what real worship is. We worship God because He is worthy. In doing so, we bow down and pay homage to Him. That speaks of reverence and respect for God. But we also "kiss toward" Him, which speaks of tenderness and intimacy.

Worship

I have been studying on the topic of worship for this Sunday evening. This morning Mandy came into my office and told me that I needed to see what Adam was doing. As I walked into the kitchen I heard our Hillsong United CD playing. Adam, dressed in only a diaper, was walking around his room waving a Memphis Grizzlies Flag. It reminded me of the story of David dancing before the Lord (2 Samuel 6). What a great picture of worship!

Things Break

By Tobin Marsh

This side of the resurrection
In the brokenness, defeat and sorrow
Is where lie all the deep lessons of my life.

Nothing wants to be broken,
And yet everything must be broken.
To never break is to lie stagnant and eventually die.

Things break.

I break now and again.
Picking up the pieces can be an act
Of profound faith.

Source: Servant Stories

Church & Culture Pt. 4

I'm learning more and more about the church's role in shaping culture. Mark Batterson, a pastor in Washington, DC, has a good post on this subject. He gives four ways that the church engages culture.

1. Ignore it
   The more we ignore culture the more irrelevant we’ll become. And if the church ignores the culture, the culture will ignore the church.
2. Imitate it
   We can imitate culture, but imitation is a form of suicide. Originality is sacrificed on the altar of cultural conformity. If we don’t shape the culture, the culture will shape us.
3. Condemn it
   We’ve got to stop pointing the finger and start offering better alternatives. If the church condemns the culture, the culture will condemn the church.
4. Create it
   We can compete for culture by creating culture. In the immortal words of the Italian artist and poet, Michelangelo: criticize by creating. At the end of the day, the culture will treat the church the way the church treats the culture.

We've all seen these first three ways of engagement, and have come away wanting something more, something different. You can read his entire post here.

Jim Collins on the Best Advice He Ever Received

I read this article last week, and have been thinking about it ever since. Jim Collins, author of Built to Last and Good to Great, shares about a conversation he had with Peter Drucker shortly after Built to Last came out. Here are a couple of excerpts from the article:

“The huge thing he said to me was, ‘Do you want to build ideas to last, or do you want to build an organization to last?’

“I said I wanted to build ideas to last.

“He said, ‘Then you must not build an organization.’

“His point was, the moment you have an organization, you have a beast to feed–this army of people. If you ever start developing ideas to feed the beast rather than having ideas that the beast feeds, your influence will go down, even if your commercial success goes up. Because there’s a huge difference between teaching an idea and selling an idea. In the end, what are you in a battle for? You’re battling to influence the thinking of powerful, discerning people. If you ever abuse that trust, you can lose them. So the moment that arrow changes direction, you’re dead.

“He said something else important: ‘The real discipline comes in saying no to the wrong opportunities.’ Growth is easy. Saying no is hard.

Prayers for Virginia Tech

What can one say? Thirty-three people lost their lives for a reason unknown.

I saw the headlines yesterday but just couldn't summon the courage to enter into that pain. I wanted to do it justice and have it be more than just information. I think we suffer from info-glut. This situation calls for empathy and compassion and not just more facts, at least where I sit. God help them.

To hear the first hand accounts of students, twenty-year-olds, jumping out of windows because the gunmen had just entered their classroom, it is too much. The professor of the German class who stayed as his students jumped out of the windows in order to give them more time to escape. The unknowing dormitory dwellers who never woke up. The parents who still do not know if their child is alive or dead. The parents who do know. God help them.

A professor in college, Dr. Bain, repeatedly told us, "Sin fragments. Grace and forgiveness brings us back together. Knowing God's profound love and allowing him to love us brings us wholeness." It is evident this is sin for it has torn families apart. It dis-integrates. This is not God's creation intentions. This is not his plans for us. This is not the kingdom to come.

Help us see, God, that Christ on the cross is the hope of the world and that we, your sinful, broken-but-forgiven people, are the ones who deliver it. Please help us enter into the dark, messy gruesomeness of our own souls so that we might find the courage of forgiveness and the power of redemption as you meet us there. Please pour out grace, mercy, and healing tears as these families offer you their lamentations. We pray that their tears would be healing, their grief not disappointed, and their friendships unbroken. Amen.

Thanks for letting me be in this church

So, I must say that being a dad borders the joy of that first Christmas, not the very first one, the first and best one you can remember. And I must also add that we are surrounded by such great, generous people in Cooper Young. On Sunday afternoon the door bell rang and on the front porch was standing a person we had met once holding within her hand the goodness that is Southern comfort. No, not whiskey, though our church did have a talk about alcohol (see post below). I mean chicken. But the point is that this person has probably spent less than 2 hours with me. We met them at the Easter Egg Hunt just the weekend prior. Life is amazing sometimes.

Last night friends brought over fish tacos from Cafe Ole. This coming Wednesday night friends are coming over and are bringing their grill and are going to cook turkey burgers, aka turkburgs. We are overwhelmed with kindness and generosity. Not to mention the baby showers at Robert and Mandy's, my Mom's, and the virtual baby shower that our friends participated in through the work of Mandy.

I grew up in a church that often sang a hymn entitled "Count Your Blessings." Count your many blessings and see what God has done. He has done immeasurably more than I could hope or dream. Thanks to all, especially this great church I get to be a part of!

Alcohol & the Bible

Last night our church had a great discussion on what the Bible has to say about alcohol. For those of you who want to read more, I'm posting links to some of the papers and articles I've read over the past few weeks.

Alcohol, Abstention & Redemption

Alcohol, Acts 29, & the SBC

Beer and the Bible

Christianity & Alcohol (wikipedia)

Christians & Alcohol - Four Myths (pdf link)

Good Wine and Glad Hearts

Link to Southern Seminary's audio on this (along with some commentary)

SBC Resolution on Alcohol

The Bible and Intoxicating Beverages

Wine in the Bible

What Does the Bible Say about Alcohol - A Systematic Study

New friends

This weekend we got to spend a little time with Lindsay's church planting friends from Vancouver, Kyle and Anna Martin. Here's a link to the new church they've started.