Omni-Gracious

The Bible says that God is omni-present, that is to say, that God is everywhere at once. This to me is astounding in and of itself, but when I think about the graciousness of God it makes it even more so. For if God is gracious and God is omni-present then that means that God is with us not matter the circumstances. God is with us when we worship, when we work, when we need consoling, when we need encouragement or even when we do wrong. God is there, waiting, patiently waiting.

That is not to say that God is not disturbed by our wrong doing. The Bible clearly states that our wrong doing, our sin interrupts our relationship with him. Just as I can't be with my wife in the closest sense relationally and at the same time be rude, arrogant or condescending to her, so it is with our relationship with God. But God doesn't walk away. He doesn't hide. We do that. We do that just like Adam and Eve did. We are afraid of someone knowing us completely, sin/warts and all. We hide out of fear, shame and/or guilt. Yet God habitually comes to Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, even after he knows they have sinned, to converse with them.

Could it be that we could actually take such a risk and be known, utterly known by someone, even God, and still not be weighed down by guilt? But we put on the veil and mask ourselves. We maintain the veil that separates us from God like the Old Testament picture of the Temple, that gigantic curtain separating us from the holiest of places? Interesting that at the substitutionary, atoning, reconciling death of Jesus, Scripture states that the curtain was ripped from top to bottom to signify that God himself was stepping out from the veil to be with us. Hebrews says that we have an anchor behind the veil/curtain and that it is Jesus. No hands are big enough to remove that curtain except the benevolent hands of God. God wants to be known. He is in his nature one who reveals. The Apostle Paul calls Jesus the "mustarion," the "open secret." And God wants to know us.

That's so profound. Some people want to be free. Some want to be known. I think that all want to be both to some degree--to be known and free. That to me is the beauty of it: it can be, it should be, it is.

The Guts and the Gutters

By Edwina Gateley

We cannot know the God of the guts and the gutters unless we have traveled deep enough within ourselves to touch and experience our own guts - where God lives, and unless we have reached out far enough beyond ourselves to smell and sit in the gutters - where God squats.

Source: I Hear a Seed Growing

The Ballad of Big Mike

This week a few of us have been talking about the state of public schools here in Memphis. Yesterday I started reading (listening to, actually) a book by Michael Lewis called The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. It's about a kid from Memphis who goes from living in Hurt Village (what is now a part of Uptown) to attending Briarcrest Christian School and playing football. He's now a sophomore at Mississippi State University, and will no doubt be a top pick in two years.

I think this book is going to shed some light on the whole private school/public school debate, at least for me. The NY Times published an excerpt of the book. Click on the title of this post for the link.

Where's Amazing Grace?

Recently, a church minister was found to be human. Consequently, he was fired. Well, that's not entirely true. He quit before they could hang his dirty laundry out to dry in the town square. The head pastor gave some hope to the situation by saying that the church would pay the minister through May. This would give him some time to find another job. Last wednesday, the church voted to stop paying him.

You see, the church ran out of grace. They were taken aback a few months ago when they found out the financial secretary had stole about a quarter of a million dollars from the church. The church, after months of investigation, decided to let the secretary pay back the amount over the same period of time she had been stealing it. They showed her grace by never going to court with this crime.

So where's the amazing grace? It was used up over the last few months.

You ask why I mention this? Because I'm the daughter of the minister I just told about. These are the things I think of when I hear the word "church"--Scandal, lack of grace, witch hunts, gossip and a standard that I could never meet even though I sold my life to it.

My story is just one of the many you'll find in Cooper-Young. Most people are recovering from church. Some have given up completely.

Growing up, I committed myself to meeting the standard that religion puts on us. I felt pressure to uphold the image of a leader--stronger than most and godly, good, christian. It wasn't until about two years ago that I gave up trying to uphold some type of image. The truth is I'm human. I'm just like you. Some days I win battles. Some days I lose them all in shame. My songs speak of wanting to be free. I'm not beyond the law that God gave us to follow, but I am somehow forgiven by grace.

So before we all go any further, I just want to say that I'm a mess. Get up in my business if you have to. Don't let me pretend to be more than I am. That's what community is to me. That's what church maybe should be.

I might go back to harlotry with that scar deep inside of me.
I've got something that's in me and I want to be free.
There's not a place where you can escape.
There's not a person who will fill the space.
Running, Screaming, Crying out in emptiness,
Don't leave me.
Don't leave me.
Don't leave me
All alone.
Run with him into the sea.
The water's deep but so is he.
Look to him for all you need.
Breathe in deep.
You'll never find until you seek.
He waits for you patiently.
Run to him recklessly.
I want to be free!

A Gospel that Produces Holiness

By Theodore Jennings, Jr.

If the gospel is about transformation, how is it that two thousand years of proclamation have had so little effect? How is it that the gospel of Jesus Christ, so far from producing radical change, has instead become a cloak for avarice and arrogance, for a willful deafness to the cry of the poor and of the earth itself? … It is only possible to speak of the gospel as a source for a remedy of the planetary crisis that we face if we are talking about a gospel that makes possible, indeed requires and in fact produces, a radical and visible transformation in all dimensions of life. Only a gospel that produces holiness, scriptural holiness, can transform the economy of death - or rather, abolish it and give in its place something that can really be “good news to the poor.”

Source: Good News to the Poor

A great example of the outward journey

The cover story of today's Commercial Appeal is on Brinkley Heights Baptist Church, a church that is reaching their community by starting with children. After a three-year old girl named Jessica was killed in 2002, Pastor Tim Cox decided that he had to give his life to fighting for these children. In 2004 the Brinkley Heights Urban Academy was opened. They now have 55 students, ages three through the second grade. My mother has been teaching music at the academy for the last two years.

Here's the entire article.

Memphis Mentoring Programs

Carmen mentioned the following links the other day.

The Amachi Mentoring Program

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Converted Everyday

By Anonymous

Be converted to love every day.
Change all your energies,
all your potential,
into selfless gifts for the other person.
Then you yourself will be changed from within
and through you
God’s kingdom will break into the world.

Source: Rule for a New Brother

Some tips on having a quiet time

I ran across this blog this morning. In four previous posts, the author talks about the what and the why of a quiet time, and in this post discusses the how. This is a great help for anyone who has struggled with setting aside a portion of each day to spend time with God. Here are some excerpts, as well as the link.

The essential elements of the quiet time are prayer to God and meditation on Scripture and this can take a number of different forms. After talking about what it is and why it is important I thought I would give some practical advice for those who want to start or reboot their quiet time.

While there are some exceptions to the rule, I am convinced that it works best for most people to set aside a particular time each day for private worship. So pick a time: in the morning before work, at work on your lunch break, or before you go to bed in the evening. These quiet times of worship before the face of God are an essential element to your spiritual health. Consider that time sacred. Guard it. Look forward to it for what it is - you are meeting with God!

People sometimes set good, if big, goals for themselves when beginning or restarting this discipline. Unfortunately, instead of building up to those goals they attempt to immediately master it all. My advice is, if you have been disengaged in this discipline for a while, start small. Pick an epistle, commit yourself to reading one paragraph a day, write down any thoughts you have on that passage. Pray for God’s blessing, provision, guidance, etc (more on prayer in a minute). This may wind up only being 10 to 15 minutes in length, but that’s fine. The important thing is to get this discipline going in your life. I have found that once you start it, it is easy to cultivate it and see it grow.

Rich-poor gap keeps widening

This article was in the Commercial Appeal on Monday. Here's an excerpt:

A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 -- half the federal poverty line -- was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.

The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.

About one in three severely poor people are under age 17, and nearly two out of three are female. Female-headed families with children account for a large share of the severely poor.

According to census data, nearly two of three people in severe poverty are white (10.3 million) and 6.9 million are non-Hispanic whites. Severely poor blacks (4.3 million) are more than three times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be in deep poverty, while extremely poor Hispanics of any race (3.7 million) are more than twice as likely.

An Evite with a Purpose

I'd like to invite you to consider this: 200 years ago this month slavery was abolished in Great Britain through the work and prayers of many, not the least, William Wilberforce. Sadly, it was too many years before abolition occurred in our beloved country. And believe it or not, it was relatively recent, that suffrage was given to African Americans, people loved, gifted, and created by God: people for whom Jesus died.

Yet, even today there are 27 million slaves in the world. I heard a statistic recently that says that around 10,000 people are brought into the United States as sex-workers. Women and young girls forced to sell themselves or be faced with severe bodily harm.

What I'd like to ask you to do is check this out( place your cursor over the link and CTRL + Click, if it doesn't automatically). Pray for and consider supporting this effort. The movie, Amazing Grace, which is about the tenacious efforts of William Wilberforce to cultivate a conscience within his people to such heinous treatment of others. We were invited to an early screening of the movie and I am still profoundly moved at its staggering truth and even more staggering implications for today. May God grant us such leaders for today.

Persecution

Open Doors has compiled a list of 2007’s 50 worst countries for Christian persecution. Those considered to have severe limitations or worse are:

1. North Korea :: severe persecution
2. Saudi Arabia :: oppression
3. Iran :: oppression
4. Somalia :: oppression
5. Maldives :: oppression
6. Yemen :: oppression
7. Bhutan :: oppression
8. Vietnam :: oppression
9. Laos :: severe limitations
10. Afghanistan :: severe limitations
11. Uzbekistan :: severe limitations
12. China :: severe limitations
13. Eritrea :: severe limitations
14. Turkmenistan :: severe limitations
15. Comoros :: severe limitations
16. Chechnya :: severe limitations
17. Pakistan :: severe limitations
18. Egypt :: severe limitations
19. Myanmar (Burma) :: severe limitations
20. Sudan (North) :: severe limitations
21. Iraq :: severe limitations
22. Azerbaijan :: severe limitations
23. Brunei :: severe limitations
24. Cuba :: severe limitations

Ash Wednesday

Llast week I was looking through the Book of Common Prayer, which is jam-packed with truth, and I read the Ash Wednesday liturgy. Please indulge me as I write this extensive quote, which I think is a reminder and a call for all Christians. Let's see . . .

"After the sermon, all stand, and the Celebrant or Minister appointed invites teh people to the observance of a holy Lent, saying, 'Dear people of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

"I invite you, therefore, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer."

The minister then places ash in the form of a cross on the foreheads of those present reminding the people that we are mortals who will die, but that God is enduring and through Jesus Christ we can have life eternal.

I think the author and pastor, Randy Alcorn, had it correct when he wrote about the need for truth and grace. One without the other leads to a mess. Truth without grace leads to legalism. Grace without truth leads to license. We need both. I need both. I need to exhibit and freely give and receive both. It worries me sometimes the impressions people get of Christians and it worries me more the impressions that Christians give. I simply believe that when we get a grasp upon how broken we are and how devastatingly in need we are of Grace, then we are able to be useful truth givers. I think then we really begin to understand the need for and the significance of Jesus on the Cross, Jesus in the ground, Jesus resurrected.

Articles worth reading

Over the last few weeks I've come across a couple of really good articles that I thought were worth linking to.

Living a Transformed Life Adequate to Our Calling, by Dallas Willard.
I was first exposed to Dallas Willard's writing about eight years ago. He's never been easy for me to understand (he teaches philosophy at USC). Still, I've attempted to read his books, and in doing so have been shaped by them. This is a 24-page article that seems to be his attempt at summarizing his previous works. If you've ever wanted to know more about the Kingdom of God, discipleship, or spiritual formation, this may be worth spending some time on.

We Aren't About Weekends, The Christian Vision Project's interview with Bob Roberts
Bob Roberts is the pastor at Northwood Church in Keller, TX. This church seems to truly understand why they exist. Roberts give a great explanation not only on the role of the church and its members, but also on the tasks of transformation and shaping culture.

The Will of God

Of the many theological topics that interest me, high on the list is Discerning the Will of God. This started several years ago and has continued to grow. I love it because periodically I am able to sit down with friends and discuss it--not in theory but in practice. I have been with friends who were in this grueling process of trying to ascertain the will of God. It is challenging, enlightening, and absolutely invigorating to see how the Spirit of God is active in someone's life, even if they themselves do not see it. They don't see it because it is similar to the fog of war--you are so involved in the process that you no longer see objectively. I could go on and on.

This week I read an excellent treatment of a particular type of prayer, The Prayer of Relinquishment. I am reading through Richard Foster's book, Prayer, and it has truly taken me to some depths that I have not experienced in years. Truly, my readings, my conversations and other studies have been triangulated it seems, and The Prayer of Relinquishment spoke to me greatly. This topic is very complete, but let me try to explain just a piece of it.

The Prayer of Relinquishment is when we completely lay down our human will and say to God, "Not my will be done, but your will be done." However, if you are like me, there are about a 1,000 miles and 4,000 steps in the process of getting to that point of relinquishment. There are simply times in our lives where we sense that our will and the will of God are not in alignment. He is up to something. We sense it. We feel it in our soul. Sometimes this might be because of sin and then the answer is clear. However, there are times where we come to a cross roads and have to make a decision that not only impacts one little area of our life, but may in fact affect the entirety of the rest of our life. During this time we begin to seek God. We begin to ask questions, pray, and beg him to show us what to do. And, if you are like me, at times those prayers are selfish and manipulative and it seems like God simply doesn't answer as clearly as we would like. We don't necessarily despise the process because at least we are engaged with God in a dialogue, which is much better than feeling isolated and abandoned.

Have you ever gotten the impression that some people just know the will of God? They don't struggle and they seem to hear from God like he has their cell phone number and simply sends them a text message? Well, Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, Paul and, not the least, Jesus all struggled in prayer over the will of God for their life. Abraham struggled to give back to God his son, who was actually an answered prayer! Moses struggled over how God would choose to use him as a leader. David struggled as his infant son was dying. Mary, the Lord's mother, struggled to comprehend what the news meant as the angel gave her the news of who was inside her womb. Paul struggled with the thorn in the flesh. And then there is Jesus, who in the Garden of Gethsemane, was growing weary with the will of his Father: is this the only way? can't this be accomplish through another means?

[Short disclaimer: this is not to say that God always asks us to do things that we hate, late or don't want to do. I have many friends who absolutely wanted to live and work in a certain place and God obliged. ]

Jesus put into words what we each feel when life's decisions are difficult--let this cup pass. Surely this can't be the way you have chosen! You've got to be kidding! God would never ask that of me, would he? The blood-like sweat dropped to the ground, showing us that he was working hard to understand, to comprehend the mysterious ways of God. He wrestled, much like Jacob. Jacob had his hip torn; Jesus had his life taken.

It is okay to struggle. Relinquishment is not resignation--it is proactive, not passive. It is not simply letting go and saying, "God is sovereign; he'll work it out. He'll do it all." That is fatalistic. Relinquishment is letting go with hope. And it is not the obliteration of the will either. It is crucifying it with Jesus so that you may live a life of obedience to God just like Jesus did.

But there comes a time when we must Relinquish. This was true with Jesus and is no different with us, "Not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:39-46). For your benefit and mine, I will give an extended quote from Foster. He writes, " We do well to meditate often on this unparalleled expression of relinquishment. . .here we have the incarnate Son praying through his tears and not receiving what he asks. Jesus knew the burden of unanswered prayer. He really did want the cup to pass, and he asked that it would pass. 'If you are willing' was his questioning, his wondering. The Father's will was not yet absolutely clear to him. 'Is there any other way?' 'Can people be redeemed by some different means?' The answer--no! Andrew Murray writes, 'For our sins, He suffered beneath the burden of that unanswered prayer.'"

I am extremely challenged by this message and the example of Jesus. I have seen this truth in my life. For many years the will of God was presented by some in a way that disheartened me, thinking that everyone should "hear from God" so clearly and easily as they. But that is not my experience and perhaps it is not yours either. But how many times have I cried out to God and said, "I don't like your will! Why must you chose that hard way? This is much easier! This is what I think is right and good!" And yet he graciously waits patiently for me, for all of us, to come to the Garden and sit alongside Jesus and pray as he did, "Not my will but your will."

Scientists issue new statement on global warming

Some excerpts...

"The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice-mass loss, support the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that global climate change of the past 50 years can be explained without external forcing, and very likely that is not due to known natural causes alone," said the 20-page report.

The phrase "very likely" translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that global warming is caused by man.


Here's the entire article.

is any one out there... an intro from lindsay

hey peeps. this is lindsay... the newest postee for mustard seed. i don't really have anything to say about myself as far as intros go, but... i thought that i would tell a recent story.

i was talking to this guy at the coffee shop (i'm a barista) the other day, and we started to get into the subject of me and christianity. he has been helping me scope out and plan out a way for me to get into the music scene here in memphis. a couple of weeks ago he recorded me at a live show. he spent several hours listening to the music and mastering it (making it sound cd quality and worthy of selling). after two failed attempts he finally decided that he had figure out what my songs were talking about. "You're not disturbed," he said, "You're convicted!" quite proud of his mystery being solved he set out to talk to some of his connections that might get me into the scene in the christian world. Last night he came back with a list of places and people that he had researched who were a part of the christian music scene in memphis.

i gratefully wrote down every word and thanked him for the information. however, all these names were of places and people that i know of and have tried to stay away from. he was confused as to why i would stay away from trying to make it big in the christian world. he told me that i would have to change the topics of my songs if i were to try to invade the "secular" world. yes, that was his word--"secular". i told him that it doesn't make sense to stop writing songs about god in my life and the journey of faith and conviction that i've been walking so that my music would seem secular. why separate myself--"us" and "them"? i am a secular person. there is nothing sacred about me and the songs that i write are songs that come from my life and my experiences.

somehow, the sacred god of us all has shown this secular creation, me, kindness, love, mercy and peace. the songs i sing are a story of this relationship between the sacred and the secular. until i become sacred, i'm going to stick to singing about my life as it is... broken, messy, imperfect, secular... but hopeful of the sacred.

Retreat this weekend

Tomorrow Jason, Barb, Mandy and I are heading to the Tennessee River for our first of hopefully many annual retreats. First of all, thanks to Charles and Pat Ennis for the use of their new "river" house. Our first of five interest meetings starts January 21, so this will be a great time for us to get ready for that. It's also going to give us an opportunity to reflect on this year, and to give thanks to God for all He's done.

John Piper at Passion

Here's the transcript from one of John Piper's talks at Passion last week. The message was titled "How to Deal with the Guilt of Sexual Failure for the Glory of Christ and His Global Cause."

Taking the Wheel

Several weeks ago Barb and Mandy decided that they would spend this past weekend at a spiritual retreat in west Arkansas, which turned out to be a great experience for them both. Since I don't want to be home alone I decided that I would drive down Highway 61, which I would catch here in Memphis and take to Natchez or Vicksburg, hitting some major Delta Blues territory. I was planning on spending some time with strangers or in a very cheap motel, thinking about the next 12 months, setting goals, and praying. However, a few weeks ago I caught up with a friend via email and decided to head east.

I found myself just north of Chattanooga, spending time with 2 friends I haven't seen in about 5 years. These friends are the type where you always leave better than you did before, although that might mean you are challenged at some very deep level, though unknown to them. These are friends who have sold their house, gotten out of consumer debt, have given an enormous amount of stuff away and are seeking to move to Asia to share the love of God with people who haven't even heard the word, "Bible, Jesus, or Crispy Cream." Well, I just made up that last bit about Crispy Cream, but to them, seriously, "Jesus," makes just about as much sense. He is not even on the radar.

Several years ago I did summer missions in Vancouver, BC, an experience that really formed, in part, who I am. As I was working under one of the best pastors in Western Canada I just listened to him talk about his friends all over the world who were serving Jesus in thoughtful, genuine, and gracious ways. Deep inside I wanted that. I wanted to have friends all over the world who were serving God faithfully and sacrificially for multiple reasons, most of which are selfish. I wanted to have a global perspective with my faith. I wanted my experience and knowledge to include other nationalities. And later on, which was also rekindled this past weekend, I wanted a heart for the unreached people groups around the world. Believe it or not, there are people groups who do not have a Bible in their own language, who do not have access to the gospel, and who do not know even the word, "Jesus." Think about it: they have neither heard nor said that two syllable utterance Je-sus. And what's really troubling--even if they wanted to know about Jesus they have no way to know. Jackie Pullinger, who worked with drug addicts in Hong Kong, said it best, "They are not going to come here (the church) to hear. We must go to them."

So, I am troubled today. Here I sit in a safe house, living a safe life, in a relatively safe city with all of this going on in my heart, hoping to start a church. Is is possible for God to grow a church here that would have a heart and soul for the nations? Who would seek out God's glory in sacrificial ways? There must be. There has to be hope.

On Sunday I worshiped with my friends and we read this quote by David Brainerd, missionary to the New England Indians 250 years ago. [He subsequently died through his service to the Indians. Many forget that while some were formulating how to take more land, some were crossing cultures to serve and love]. He prayed once, "Lord, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am."

So my plan was to go it alone--to ride and enjoy music and downloaded speeches, to see the scenery and think of me and my goals. And then God took the wheel and steered me in a completely different direction. I pray that in the future I will willingly give him the wheel in all spheres of my life.