faith

On Time God

Frank

Earlier I wrote about being called to a ministry. As I said, there are many issues on my heart. Besides the obstacle of fear, I also have to overcome the obstacle of my lifestyle. I look at something like “the one suitcase challenge” and I wonder how anyone could ever do that. I look at my own family, a wonderful wife with an engaging career, a son in preschool and a daughter in diapers, and I ask what do I possibly have time to do? I’ve been focusing on teaching by leading a small group at my church with the same theme as this blog. Is that enough? I don’t know.

I look at a coworker who leads missions work at his church. He travels to Russia once a year and to Mexico at least once a quarter. I see the joy it brings him (along with plenty of headaches) and am inspired to follow in his footsteps. Then I look at his family and his career and I contrast with my own. He has a fifteen year head start on me. He’s further along in his career and that has afforded him the flexibility in his schedule to do all that he does. He’s been married longer and his kids are older which has also helped him pursue his ministry.

I can look elsewhere and see the same thing. Those I admire are more mature, having learned from the school of hard knocks and many more years of in-depth Bible study. That’s not to stop me from doing anything now however. But I need to have realistic expectations.

So I look and I’m told in my heart to be patient.

Building a Ministry

Frank

I’m sure you’ve been there before, listening to a sermon convinced it was directly solely at you. Or have someone tell you something that just happened to coincide with what you’ve been reading in your Quiet Times. Well this is the second time in just a few months that the Holy Spirit has penetrated my heart with the call to ministry. A few months ago, I was reading If You Want to Walk On Water You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat while a friend was independently encouraging me to not let my fears stand in the way of doing what God was calling me to. Now, I’m listening to a radio ministry telling me the same thing right after I attended the Antelope Valley Christian Writers Conference. The first time around, I didn’t know to what ministry I was being led. Missions, community outreach, and teaching were all on my heart. I reluctantly attended the writers conference this year after offering a great deal of verbal, prayerful, and even financial support to the brother who put it on. He has long been encouraging me to write but I have to admit my fear in doing so. This blog is somewhat cathartic in that sense; it is an outlet for this desire while honing the discipline I will need to write for real.

Ok, so I’m being called to write. But that doesn’t narrow down the ministry. I learned at the conference that there are 1200 (or was it 12,000? Either way!) different markets for Christian writing and avenues I never even considered. I have dozens of ideas in my head but I don’t know which can translate into a 300 page book or which would make a better 1000 word article. And even then, there are hundreds of publishers, magazines, journals, and websites to solicit to.

Another challenge I need to overcome is a sense of guilt I have in writing. I wrestled with this same guilt in writing this blog. I feel that I’m somewhat of a hypocrite writing about how things should be but not actively doing anything about it myself. Take for example my recent post referencing abortion. While what I wrote may be all fine and good, am I putting into practice what I’m preaching? There’s a saying, those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach. I think a better way of putting it would be those who can, do, and those who can’t, write. I don’t want to just write without action. Most of those I met last weekend participated in some ministry. Their writing was often an offshoot of that ministry, rather than the writing being the ministry. So I’m back to my original question: to what ministry am I being called? I have a lot of prayer, soul searching and advice seeking ahead of me. I welcome your prayers and feedback.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” (Jer 29:11)

“[God] determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” (Acts 17:26)

Building a Ministry

Frank

I’m sure you’ve been there before, listening to a sermon convinced it was directly solely at you. Or have someone tell you something that just happened to coincide with what you’ve been reading in your Quiet Times. Well this is the second time in just a few months that the Holy Spirit has penetrated my heart with the call to ministry. A few months ago, I was reading If You Want to Walk On Water You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat while a friend was independently encouraging me to not let my fears stand in the way of doing what God was calling me to. Now, I’m listening to a radio ministry telling me the same thing right after I attended the Antelope Valley Christian Writers Conference. The first time around, I didn’t know to what ministry I was being led. Missions, community outreach, and teaching were all on my heart. I reluctantly attended the writers conference this year after offering a great deal of verbal, prayerful, and even financial support to the brother who put it on. He has long been encouraging me to write but I have to admit my fear in doing so. This blog is somewhat cathartic in that sense; it is an outlet for this desire while honing the discipline I will need to write for real.

Ok, so I’m being called to write. But that doesn’t narrow down the ministry. I learned at the conference that there are 1200 (or was it 12,000? Either way!) different markets for Christian writing and avenues I never even considered. I have dozens of ideas in my head but I don’t know which can translate into a 300 page book or which would make a better 1000 word article. And even then, there are hundreds of publishers, magazines, journals, and websites to solicit to.

Another challenge I need to overcome is a sense of guilt I have in writing. I wrestled with this same guilt in writing this blog. I feel that I’m somewhat of a hypocrite writing about how things should be but not actively doing anything about it myself. Take for example my recent post referencing abortion. While what I wrote may be all fine and good, am I putting into practice what I’m preaching? There’s a saying, those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach. I think a better way of putting it would be those who can, do, and those who can’t, write. I don’t want to just write without action. Most of those I met last weekend participated in some ministry. Their writing was often an offshoot of that ministry, rather than the writing being the ministry. So I’m back to my original question: to what ministry am I being called? I have a lot of prayer, soul searching and advice seeking ahead of me. I welcome your prayers and feedback.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” (Jer 29:11)

“[God] determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” (Acts 17:26)

Our Money Says, “In God We Trust”

Frank

This story breaks my heart. I can’t imagine what must have been going through his mind while looking at his children and committing these heinous acts. I’m sad that we live in a society that is so driven by wealth and status that not only motivated our present economic crisis, but also has left so many hopeless in its wake. I consider myself blessed. Both my wife and I are gainfully employed with relative job security. Our children are healthy and our mortgage isn’t totally screwed up (only just a little). But I do worry about what would happen to my family if something were to happen to me. To some degree I worry about the loss of income, but I worry more about the emotional pain of loss. If both my wife and I lost our jobs would I feel completely hopeless to the extent that I have no hope, even for the future of my children? That’s the part of this story I just don’t understand.

I’m also sad that we live in a culture that is overly self-focused. I’m guilty of this myself. I don’t know my neighbors like I should. I’m sad though that others feel they can’t turn to family or friends for support even if their neighbors are strangers. At least through my extended family and my spiritual family I believe I could manage through the hard times. Catastrophic loss of income? I don’t really know. I know many families in my church are hurting right now. I’ve had several neighbors move because they can no longer afford their homes. My heart goes out to them, but I also know that a loving God will take care of them, even if not in the ways they hope.

El Roi, Yahweh Yireh, the “God who sees” and “the Lord Provides” encourages me through his word: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2-3) And “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Rom 5:3-5) I pray that my circumstances may be a blessing to someone in greater need, be they family, friend, neighbor or stranger.

God and Sports, Revisited

Frank

Today is the big day. Super Bowl XLIII, pitting the Pittsburgh Steelers, led by Ben Roethlisberger, against the Arizona Cardinals, let by Kurt Warner. I’ve talked about Kurt’s faith before and debated whether God plays favorites in sports. But I recommend this article from last week that sums it up pretty well.

Aside from that debate, however is a more serious question. How many people are skipping church today (at least on the West Coast) to watch this game? How many people are skipping work? How many will tune out their families tuning in to the game? Church competes with the NFL for a few months out of the year and for many, it is very tempting to skip worshiping our Lord in heaven in order to cheer on a team that we never played for, don’t have ownership in, and likely don’t know any of the players personally. It’s a very impersonal devotion, complete with animal sacrifice (the tailgate or home bbq), ritual (face painting, favorite jersey), and prayer (‘please, please, please make this 55 yard field goal!’). Die hard fans are more likely to know the names of the 11 starters on offense than the names of the 12 apostles.

So while we consider Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger’s faith, we should also look inward at or own. Are we bigger fans of the Super Bowl or super fans of the Lord above?

Something’s Missing

Frank

“And I don’t know how to fix it” -John Mayer, Something’s Missing

Earlier this month, the British Humanist Association launched a campaign with banners on the side of buses saying “There’s Probably No God. So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Life” implying that a life of faith can’t be enjoyed. The numbers support this I guess. According to the speech kicking off the campaign, polls show 30-40% of people in the UK and 60-65% of youth are “non-religious” again implying that 60-70% of everyone else and 35-40% of their kids must be miserable. Of course that’s not their message. Much like the statement in the Washington State capital during Christmas, the message is that it’s ok to not be religious.

But it’s the implication of a miserable existence for the religious that really gets me. We don’t do any favors by projecting an image of super-piety by planting hedges around our convictions. Perhaps you can relate to some of these: no dancing, women can’t wear pants and skirts have to be a certain length, rock and roll is from the devil, et cetera, et cetera. My favorite example of this is the character of Ned Flanders in The Simpsons. He’s about as religious as anyone can be and while he’s far from miserable (okely–dokely!), the lifestyle he portrays is far from attractive to a non-believer. In one episode, he offers the Simpson kids “nachos, Flanders style!” which consist of Ritz crackers, cottage cheese, and a slice of cucumber. He doesn’t carry insurance because he considers it a form of gambling.

Is Ned Flanders an accurate depiction of a Christian? In some circles, sadly he is. But I don’t think this is what Jesus intended. “I came that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (Jn 10:10) Earlier in the Gospel of John we’re told this about Jesus, “from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” (Jn 1:16) Peter wrote that, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” (2 Pt 1:3) Psalm 103 reminds us that the LORD “satisfies your desires with good things.” (Ps 103:5) The psalmist also tells us that if you “delight yourself in the LORD, he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps 37:4)

That all sounds nice, but what does it look like in our lives? I believe what Paul wrote of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 describes what this should look like. “[T]he fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23) Love, joy peace, patience, kindness… does that sound like a miserable life to you? Isn’t this the life that Jesus promised us when he set us free from the slavery of our sinful nature? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. From this list, is there anything missing that you’d want more?

No, if you reject God you can’t relax and “enjoy life” because you can’t have the above without Him. And without the sacrifice of Jesus as God’s only Son, both human and divine, not only can we not have those fruits of the Spirit but we are also destined to a life enslaved to sin. And that is worth worrying about.

A Simple Faith

Frank

I was listening to Mighty to Save recently (I’m repenting of my prejudice against Christian music) and a line jumped out at me and I’ve been thinking of it ever since. The bridge, “Shine your light and, let the whole world see. We’re singing, for the Glory, of the risen King.” The risen King. It’s too early for Easter (I still have my Christmas lights up outside), but that truth resonates with me. It reminds me of a time of simpler faith, when the image of “the risen King” was inspiring instead of cynical.

We will sometimes talk about how our Jesus isn’t the Jesus in Sunday school pictures- handsome, surrounded by children, holding a lamb. Instead, our Jesus challenged authority, was rugged, wasn’t afraid to call someone out on their sin. But both can be true. That’s what’s so amazing about Jesus, he is a theological and philosophical paradox- God and man, fierce and gentle, loved and feared. And the image of the risen King is the same- how could the ruler of the coming kingdom be victorious in a brutal public death?

When I heard this line I thought of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The king who was slain in order to save his people. To me, that’s a childish image. But it shouldn’t be. Jesus is my king, and there’s nothing childish about that. It’s encouraging to know that the King of the Universe cares enough about little ole me to save me and give me a seat next to him in his kingdom.

But while this line inspired me, I was saddened by how cynical my faith has become. Maybe I’m too logical? If you’ve read more than one of my posts, maybe you’ve come to the same conclusion. Instead, I should be more like Jesus himself instructed:

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:3-4)

So this has inspired me to simplify my faith and get back to the basics. Jesus is Lord. So who is Jesus? I plan on starting the year digging deep into Jesus’ life, and instead of trying to overthink everything and come up with some deep theology, reflect instead of his life and how he saved mine. Corny? Maybe. But sometimes we need a simple faith.