Harmony or Tension

Oftentimes people speak of harmony and having their life in balance. This phrase appears to be too eutopian. This is not reality. On the contrary, life is full of chaos, tension, and turmoil. We find ourselves fighting for more. Fighting for more love, more quality family time, more devotional time, more purity, more justice, and the list goes on and on. Battling against us are the unlimited lists of excuses of I was too busy, or I had things to do on my plan for today, or I will pay attention to junior when I am older, or I woke up late I don't have time for God today or whatever.

The fact of the matter is that we have this hunger and thirst for righteousness, a hunger for more of God’s Spirit, and his voice. As Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness” (NIV, Matt 5:6). We are not in harmony, we are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. We desire to know God more. We desire wholeness and purity. We struggle, strive, and even fight for more than the brokenness that we experience. The Apostle John restates this principle in Revelation, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the Spring of the Water of Life” (NIV, Rev 21:6). Thus, God’s Church is thirsty for only what He can provide and no other.

On eight separate occasions in Revelation John dictated in varying forms the phrase, “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life” (NIV, Rev 2:7). This phrase rings in my ear over and over. The truth is that this world offers tension, struggle, and brokenness. Jesus knew this, and He tells us to fight. In this fight, our strength is measured by our hunger to eat of the Tree of Life and to drink of the Spring of the Water of Life. The Tree and the Spring represent wholeness. Our strength is measured by our hunger to be whole. Knowing both sin and righteousness, the soul cries out for more of wholeness.

We are hungry.

We are thirsty.

for more of God.

Let's embrace that.

The Great Divide - Human Beings or Human Doings?

As my eyes turn inward,
There exists a great divide.
I can grasp the greatest of truths,
but in my heart there is a divide.

Christ in you,
the hope of glory.

Christ in me,
transformation of my person.

As my eyes turn inward,
I have yet to yield.
I can grasp the greatest of ideas,
but aspects of my humanity remain unchanged.

Christ in you,
the hope of glory.

But what about:
Church on Sunday,
Bible study Monday,
Small group on Thursday,
A prayer before lunch,
and a tithe to my church.
Another mark on my checklist,
an allotment on my things to do.

Where is the glory?

Busy on Wednesday,
Reeling on Saturday,
and exhausted come Sunday.

But Christ in you,
The hope of glory!

When will I yield?
When will I allow,
transformation from the inside out?
Christ in me,
Shekinah glory on the inside.

You came to offer life,
and I form rituals.
You came to offer the revelation of God to my mind,
and I speed through opportunity to commune with you.
You came to be in relationship,
and I cannot find,
the time
to

slow

down

and just be,
who you
created me to

be.

You are with me in the yard,
I lie down in the grass.
You speak as I gaze into the skies,
Your voice comforts,
The wind wraps around my toes,
my soul is at ease.

Christ in me,
Christ in you.
No agenda.
Nothing to earn.

All that I am,
All that I do,
In all things I can enjoy You.
Playing with children,
enjoying this precious time.
Conversing with a loved one,
appreciating their personality.
Doing the laundry,
or getting groceries,
thankful.
Going deeper,
below the surface.
Life to the full.
Christ in you,
The hope of glory,
crossing the great divide.

When it all comes apart.....He is there.....

The economy is changing.....

What I see happening involves the disappearance of a large section of the middle class best represented by the term "blue collar." These are the men and women who out of high school were able to find a job, not even just a job, but a middle to high-end job pulling down $50,000-70,000k. And oh yeah, and that is with pension, health care, social security, and overtime availability. This segment of middle America is dwindling.

Meanwhile, college costs have risen 50% over the last 10 years.

Social Security they say is broken. The 401k replaces company-funded pensions and involves employee contributions.

In today's world, you need a college degree to at least have a chance at the traditional blue-collar wages.

Things are changing.......

It looks like the course we are on can lead nowhere but a mix-up in our historical classes which built America. It looks like the poor/working poor, college educated, and ultra rich. With the barrier growing more and more difficult for the poor to break their family out of the cycle, the gap between the lower class and the college educated is widening.

Strange.

Our lifestyles are also changing and in some ways strange........

Everyone is so busy. No one has any time. We move from medium to medium taking in media. Internet, television, radio, ipod, mobile devices, and email. Constant noise. Can we still think and reflect or are we addicted to constant noise?

Another strange phenomena: Work is no longer back-breaking for the college educated or ultra rich, so they pay to have personal trainers give them work-outs that often times resemble work. I saw a man the other day in the gym swinging a sledge hammer onto a large tire looking thing. How odd, we have to pay to do what we used to receive naturally during our work day, when we would sweat by our brow to perform work.

Also, have you noticed that no one knows how to maintain relationships anymore?

Something is coming unglued. The future of today's students does not look as bright as it once did. The old blue collar high paying and generous companies that rewarded a person with a fully funded retirement package which was guaranteed, not hinging upon the return of the stock market, looks obsolete.

Is that gloomy? Or is it just reality? Am I a pessimist or unloyal to the state if I hold these views? Or is it just the truth?

What would happen if it all came apart? What would happen if we woke up from the dream? What would we do if it all fell apart? Where do we place our trust? Is it still like the dollar says, "In God We Trust?" Or is our faith in steel, bullets, finances, and flesh?

What are we left with if the stock market tanks?

If the currency inflates to astronomical levels and the prices of gold increase ten-fold, how do we move on with our lives? What would matter to us then? What if I loose my job? How do I live on so much less? How do I buy my Starbucks on that?

If everything crashes around me, who is with me in the storm?
What is left when the house comes crashing?
Nothing but the Foundation.

When all the deceit of riches are exposed,
He will be there.
When all the deception of luxurious retirement and winter homes are destroyed,
He will be there.
When lower class citizens cry out in despair,
He will be there.
When the nation humbles itself and cries out to God,
He Will Be There.
When the husband is fed up with neglecting his family and children,
He will be there.
When the regular church member is fed up with empty repetition that means nothing to her throughout the rest of her week,
He will be there,
When government programs won't pick up the medical bill,
He will be there,
When we are tired of trying to put a mask on and pretend we are things we are not,
He will be there.

Justice cries out to HIM.
He must answer.
He is Holy.
But that is not the end.
His love reaches out to them.
His love covers them.
In their flaws, He loves them
They are his children.
His creation.
But that is not the end.
He comes clothed in meekness and willing to take it all,
willing to die for them.
Death came to attempt to crush our hope,
Steel and power attempted to rule the earth,
The wealthiest forces of the day crucified Him.
But that was not the end.
He died and He rose!
When it all crashed down, He was there.
He was there!
Shed a tear and shout for joy, he was there.
When it all settled He stood in Victory.
I said when the smoke cleared,
He was still standing.
When the world came at him,
He was not shaken.
When He fell under the weight,
He got back up.
When the road was hard,
He kept on stepping.
When friends turned their backs,
He was not phased.
When hatred and evil gave their all,
My Savior was unstoppable.
Through it all He could not be defeated.
When the fate of the world hung in the balance,
He was there!
Hallelujah, He was there!

And He stands Today to encourage us in his Victory.
We can conquer all the powers and principalities,
they have no hold,
I mean, they have no authority,
over my Savior and his Reality.

Jonah tell us about Universal Yahweh.

You know I have been continually grabbed by the univeral nature of Yahweh. Many times I have commented here on this blog about the universal nature of the Church. It is not just the whites, african-american, asian, male, female, pretty, average, lame, intelligent, thin, or husky. Its all peoples, all tribes, every nation, and every type of person. Its the drunk, the lawyer, the samaritan, the policeman, its everyone. The Church of Jesus Christ is SO BIG!

I came around to this observation yet again in Jonah.

Here you have Jonah commanded by God to speak to the foreign superpower Assyria and its great city Nineveh. Jonah is asked to head into the heart of the large superpower working its way down to Israel conquering, deporting, relocating families and peoples to distant lands. Assyria may have been at the doorstep of Israel as Jonah receives the command to preach to the land about their wickedness.

Stop here.

God wants Jonah to preach to a foreign nation that has up to this point been bent on destroying nations and exiling them. God cares about this city, these foreigners in the midst of their great sin. Wow, does that stir you like it does me? Isn't this where God meets us? In the middle of our brokenness, He comes. He cares. He loves. Isn't that what makes it so hard to fathom God that he loves broken people like us?

God tells Jonah after Nineveh repents, "Should I not be concerned about that great city" (NIV, Jonah 4:10)

Lets open up this context a little more:
Jonah is an Israelite.
Israelites were given a Covenant, a promise from Yahweh.
Jonah was in the Covenant Community.
Nineveh was not in the Covenant Community.

In our time, the gentiles, that means me and anyone else not Jewish were not in the Covenant Community. God here early on is foreshadowing what He wanted to do for ALL people. God has something bigger in mind than just Israel, He has the entire world that He wants to have a relationship with in mind.

Does this sound familiar? Remember what God had John write in Revelation:

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

And so here we are. Every nationality, male/female, short/tall, overweight/skinny, smart/slow, or funny/boring. All of us will be singing a new song. This is the BIG, Universal Church of Christ. No denominations, no doctrinal issues. No minor differences or petty problems. One people under One God.

Can we live like that? Or do we see color, abnormality, petty personal issues, disagreements, wrong choices, and evil people. How do you see the world? How do you see your brother and sister, your fellow human? After all, there is only one race, the human race.

Hand of God

Like a great photographer framing his shot,
God is interested in the smallest of details.

Moment after moment of time may pass,
To us they fly over in stealth unnoticed.

Moments like letters in the hand of God.
Letters forming Words,
Words forming Sentences,
Sentences framing a beautiful story!

Small pieces seemingly random,
when combined a puzzle quite intricate.

Have you ever stepped back and seen the hand of God?
Working.
Shaping.
Creating.
All around you?
Have you ever been caught in the glorious moment?
No longer lost in the mystery of the pieces
or the letters and what comes next,
But stepping back and seeing the bigger picture.....

No longer me and I and this and that and I need or I want or I wish this or that and what if and why that or oh me and oh my.....But oh, You.

You.

Why didn't I see it? The Hand of God.

Keeper of the spring

The following is an inspiring story about the need of daily meetings with God and the resulting purity of life that results through the power of the Holy Spirit. This story is an excerpt from Stephen Macchia's Becoming a Healthy Church: 10 Traits of a Vital Ministry:

The Keeper of the Spring was a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slopes of the Alps. The old gentleman had been hired many years ago by a young Town Council to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity,he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise choke and contaminate the fresh flow of water.

By and by, the village became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed. One evening the Town Council met for its semi-annual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure Keeper of the Spring. Said the Keeper of the Purse, "Who is this old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer!" By unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services.

For several weeks nothing changed. By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A couple of days later the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved slower, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly, the embarrassed Council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they hired back the old Keeper of the Spring . ..and within a few weeks the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps once again.

The end.

I find within myself the same need to rehire the Keeper of my soul every day. Sometimes it may seem like everything is functioning perfectly and I can be tempted to think that meeting with God today is unnecessary. What I find from this experience is that what comes out of my life begins to stink. Only by allowing the Holy Spirit to cleanse me and keep me will what comes out of my life be a wellspring of life to others. It is not dependent upon my own industry, willpower, and gifts, but rather it depends on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Don't Be a Pharisee!

What did Jesus have against the religious leaders of his day? Why did He always say, don't be like the hypocrites?

First of all, a hypocrite says one thing, but does another.

The Pharisees/Jewish religious leaders were claiming spiritual life, but they did not have it.

Jesus turned it all inside out. The Pharisees were posing for men, having long prayers for their own image and self-righteousness, they fasted and wanted everyone to know how super-spiritual they were, but Jesus, Jesus said they were missing it. They did not have what they acted as if they did. They missed it.

For Jesus, the Gospel, the Word of God, is not a thing just to be memorized. It is not just head knowledge and a bunch of rules. That is death. That leads to being a hypocrite. It leads to hypocrisy because the Word of God comes in a active relationship with God. It is possible to know all about God and God's Son, but do nothing with Him. That is being a Pharisee.

We are called to deep, intimate relationship with Creator of all that is. Who loved us so much He sent his Son to embrace the heights of agony under the full wrath of God. God's Son took it all. He came in love.

It is possible to "know" so much, but the Gospel, The Word of God is meant to be "experienced." If you never experience the Word of God, never obey it, never step out in faith to follow something that doesn't make sense to you, THEN you will never experience God! Christianity is an experiential faith not just intellectual.

Don't be a Pharisee.......