Psalm 37:3&4- Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I am going to be honest with you and say that right now I am having a very hard time making that verse mine. As most of you know, when I write on this blog I talk about things that I am going through or have made it through. Usually I write about what I have made it through with the hope of encouraging people, but today I am writing about what I am struggling through.
It is hard because after four years of seminary and doing what I feel God led me to do, I have found nothing on the other side. Having loans that are due, I need employment fast and I have nothing to speak of except part time jobs.
As much as I want to trust in God, I am having a hard time hearing him. I try to listen to the quiet voice that I normally hear, but in the mix I hear very loud voices telling me to fix all of the situations in my life. Whether it is getting my Navy career straightened around, being a better employee, finding employment, being a better boyfriend, being a better friend to people, figuring out whether to go back to school or go after hospital chaplain training, whether to move or to stay, God's voice is lost in the mix.
So if you were to ask me what the desires of my heart are right now, I want peace. Hearing someone say, "trust in the Lord" does not make sense to me at times. What I have found is that I need to spend more time enjoying the presence of the Lord. I am beginning to realize that as a ministry person, sometimes God stops being enjoyable. I love God, don't get me wrong, but I do feel burned out after being pulled so many directions. Honestly, in ministry, people get pulled too many directions to the point where ministry becomes a chore rather than a joy.
So today I am going to try to be better at delighting in the Lord. I need to find ways that I connect with him better and that some sort of ministry task is not attached to it. I also need to be better at rejoicing and giving thanks when things are going well and when things are going bad (paraphrasing 1 Thes 5:16-18). I am not the type to get mad at God or expect too much from him, but I sometimes wish that he would give me a little bit more to work with.
In closing, I hope that you are able to take a few things away from this Psalm. When I heard it at church yesterday it definitely hit home with me. It is hard to trust and delight in the Lord when there is so much uncertainty, but I need to do a better job in both circumstances. I hope that this verse inspires you too as you continue to live out God's calling in your life.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Pendulum thinking gets us nowhere fast
So yet again, I was invited to another cult meeting when I was at work today. As I was helping a customer look for new clothes, I received a personal invite from this man to attend his classes. He wanted me to see parts of Christianity that the Bible does not tell me about and to further explore the metaphysical side. He told me to check them out online, and I did, and strangely enough when I typed in the title on yahoo search, the word "cult" was attached to it before I could finish the sentence. Hmm...
I can't help but think of my church history class in which I was introduced to stories of movements that started out with good intentions but somewhere they went off the beaten path. It is not a matter of deciding the age of baptism or view of charismatic gifts, these have to do with complete violations of scripture.
So where this brings me today is thinking about the church today. For instance, there was a movement in church history called the Montanist movement. I will give a brief outline, but you should read up on it if you are interested. In this movement, a charismatic man circumvented the church and its rigid rules to become a leader when he was roadblocked by the rules. He gave power to women by having prophetesses. He allowed for the practice of spiritual gifts, which were suppressed. All of these things sound good. Balance was needed, until you realize that all of these qualities were abused and the movement was very extreme.
How does this work today? People still go to the furthest extreme, whether they realize it or not. Recently, I have heard my peers talking about throwing out teaching from our services in favor of prophetic worship, wanting ordination requirements to be simplified to the point that unqualified people can lead freely if they feel led, and that Apologetics should not be practiced since we should not need to defend our faith and instead by more concerned with sharing the gospel. Yes, these views draw attention to needs in the church... the need for prophetic worship, more opportunities for people to lead, and the need for a stronger effort in evangelism. My word of caution is not to be reactionary and completely throw out concepts because they have flaws, instead, integrate them properly.
I think it is significant to understand that even though extreme measures are needed at times, we must remember that extreme measures are harder to recover from. This is why many sports teams fail to succeed. When I look at my home team, the Cleveland Browns, they have been bad since they change coaches too frequently, and they tend to go with complete opposites with their coaches. One guy is a dictator, the next is too buddy buddy, the next is arrogant and aloof, etc. They all are opposites. This sets the team back for years, especially when the roster gets purged by every new coach to bring in their guys. Churches are similar... if we drastically move back and forth from ideas emotionally, we can often times go so far the other direction that it turns to heresy.
Just because we may not agree 100% with something, we need to sit and find the good even if there is a lot of bad. From there, you can weed out the bad and create a better concept. If we continue to go to the furthest extreme instead of creating balance, we will attract extreme people who are either too passive or too destructive... thus creating issues. A church full of aggressive people will be far too combative and impatient, while a passive audience will languish if not properly motivated. This is why balance is needed, because it keeps us safe from extremists taking over.
I can't help but think of my church history class in which I was introduced to stories of movements that started out with good intentions but somewhere they went off the beaten path. It is not a matter of deciding the age of baptism or view of charismatic gifts, these have to do with complete violations of scripture.
So where this brings me today is thinking about the church today. For instance, there was a movement in church history called the Montanist movement. I will give a brief outline, but you should read up on it if you are interested. In this movement, a charismatic man circumvented the church and its rigid rules to become a leader when he was roadblocked by the rules. He gave power to women by having prophetesses. He allowed for the practice of spiritual gifts, which were suppressed. All of these things sound good. Balance was needed, until you realize that all of these qualities were abused and the movement was very extreme.
How does this work today? People still go to the furthest extreme, whether they realize it or not. Recently, I have heard my peers talking about throwing out teaching from our services in favor of prophetic worship, wanting ordination requirements to be simplified to the point that unqualified people can lead freely if they feel led, and that Apologetics should not be practiced since we should not need to defend our faith and instead by more concerned with sharing the gospel. Yes, these views draw attention to needs in the church... the need for prophetic worship, more opportunities for people to lead, and the need for a stronger effort in evangelism. My word of caution is not to be reactionary and completely throw out concepts because they have flaws, instead, integrate them properly.
I think it is significant to understand that even though extreme measures are needed at times, we must remember that extreme measures are harder to recover from. This is why many sports teams fail to succeed. When I look at my home team, the Cleveland Browns, they have been bad since they change coaches too frequently, and they tend to go with complete opposites with their coaches. One guy is a dictator, the next is too buddy buddy, the next is arrogant and aloof, etc. They all are opposites. This sets the team back for years, especially when the roster gets purged by every new coach to bring in their guys. Churches are similar... if we drastically move back and forth from ideas emotionally, we can often times go so far the other direction that it turns to heresy.
Just because we may not agree 100% with something, we need to sit and find the good even if there is a lot of bad. From there, you can weed out the bad and create a better concept. If we continue to go to the furthest extreme instead of creating balance, we will attract extreme people who are either too passive or too destructive... thus creating issues. A church full of aggressive people will be far too combative and impatient, while a passive audience will languish if not properly motivated. This is why balance is needed, because it keeps us safe from extremists taking over.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
When you get pounced on by evangelists...
Earlier this week, my girlfriend and I were walking around Town Center (area in Virginia Beach, for those not from the area) and we were flagged down by these two young people. At first I thought the girl was drunk because she flailed her arms at us like she was trying to flag down a car. Thinking they were drunk, we kept walking until they caught up to us and started talking about God with us... like we never read a Bible before. After we established that we were Christians, they still talked to us like we were ignorant. They were sharing the message about Mother God coming down soon and that she would gather the believers with her. Bottom line, it was a misinterpretation of scripture that was a message that pretty much said, "join our club, and you will get a ticket to heaven!" We declined their invitation to come to their church, and after some fruitless discussion we found that they were regurgitating Revelation as a sales pitch (their pastor probably had them memorize specific verses). Mind you, it is a dangerous business trying to interpret Revelation, and those that claim to know it should think long and hard before they talk about it because it is one of the most difficult books of the Bible to understand for various reasons.
This is not to criticize these two kids for doing what they believed God told them to do, but instead I am talking about this an example what not to do so that if you ever take a leadership role that you will know what not to do. It seems that they were trained by someone who did not have sound training in the Bible. So this is how I feel about people who feel led to teach...
1. Do your homework! They mentioned Revelation 21:9-10, but gave a literal interpretation... the New Jerusalem was a real city, and that it was the bride of the lamb. They mentioned that it made no sense that Jesus would be married to a city so it must be a real person. They also tried to explain Jewish marriage tradition, but not enough to make sense. When we think of successful characters in the Bible, such as Paul and Jesus, they knew the scriptures and were able to prove things to people. Much like that today, if you want to be influential, you must understand how to connect to the culture and not be abrasive about your knowledge.
2. Don't belittle people. People have different levels of conviction towards their beliefs, so you should never talk to them like they know nothing. Some of the most educated people on Christianity are not even Christians, which shows you never know what you are dealing with. This is why we should treat all people fairly. Unfortunately, these two evangelists talked to us like we didn't know anything and it was very off putting. I can only imagine what someone with a different religious preference would feel about Christians after such an encounter!
3. Have a sober respect for God. When I chose to go into the ministry, I memorized James 3:1. If you don't know it, it is worth your while to look it up. James was writing to an audience to let them know that there is a stricter judgment for teachers, because ultimately they are responsible for the disposition of the messages that they give. So if I lead people astray by telling them something that is not true, I will be held accountable for that. These two seemed to run around telling everyone that they saw to be aware of the coming of God... Well, that has been mentioned for years. There is a reason that he will come like a thief in the night, because if the thief notifies the house owner than the owner will be ready for the robber. Its common sense. Sometimes people just need to realize that being abrasive just pushes people away, and they need to have a little bit more reverence for the message that God gave them... if God gave it to them.
So I guess what I am saying today is if you feel called to teach (which in some capacity we teach others constantly through out our day), always remember James 3:1. I know that the context is a little more complicated, but it is a succinct way of remembering that we need to be careful with the messages that God gives us. We must also remember to give messages in love and work towards building people up rather than making them feel threatened or condemned. So that was my adventure with evangelists, and please remember if anything sounds funny to you, look it up in the Bible and ask other Christians. Don't let someone else tell you something that is strange and lead you astray. It never hurts to ask! And if you are a teacher, don't fear saying the wrong thing, but be as educated as possible so that your words will bring life and that you may live beyond reproach.
This is not to criticize these two kids for doing what they believed God told them to do, but instead I am talking about this an example what not to do so that if you ever take a leadership role that you will know what not to do. It seems that they were trained by someone who did not have sound training in the Bible. So this is how I feel about people who feel led to teach...
1. Do your homework! They mentioned Revelation 21:9-10, but gave a literal interpretation... the New Jerusalem was a real city, and that it was the bride of the lamb. They mentioned that it made no sense that Jesus would be married to a city so it must be a real person. They also tried to explain Jewish marriage tradition, but not enough to make sense. When we think of successful characters in the Bible, such as Paul and Jesus, they knew the scriptures and were able to prove things to people. Much like that today, if you want to be influential, you must understand how to connect to the culture and not be abrasive about your knowledge.
2. Don't belittle people. People have different levels of conviction towards their beliefs, so you should never talk to them like they know nothing. Some of the most educated people on Christianity are not even Christians, which shows you never know what you are dealing with. This is why we should treat all people fairly. Unfortunately, these two evangelists talked to us like we didn't know anything and it was very off putting. I can only imagine what someone with a different religious preference would feel about Christians after such an encounter!
3. Have a sober respect for God. When I chose to go into the ministry, I memorized James 3:1. If you don't know it, it is worth your while to look it up. James was writing to an audience to let them know that there is a stricter judgment for teachers, because ultimately they are responsible for the disposition of the messages that they give. So if I lead people astray by telling them something that is not true, I will be held accountable for that. These two seemed to run around telling everyone that they saw to be aware of the coming of God... Well, that has been mentioned for years. There is a reason that he will come like a thief in the night, because if the thief notifies the house owner than the owner will be ready for the robber. Its common sense. Sometimes people just need to realize that being abrasive just pushes people away, and they need to have a little bit more reverence for the message that God gave them... if God gave it to them.
So I guess what I am saying today is if you feel called to teach (which in some capacity we teach others constantly through out our day), always remember James 3:1. I know that the context is a little more complicated, but it is a succinct way of remembering that we need to be careful with the messages that God gives us. We must also remember to give messages in love and work towards building people up rather than making them feel threatened or condemned. So that was my adventure with evangelists, and please remember if anything sounds funny to you, look it up in the Bible and ask other Christians. Don't let someone else tell you something that is strange and lead you astray. It never hurts to ask! And if you are a teacher, don't fear saying the wrong thing, but be as educated as possible so that your words will bring life and that you may live beyond reproach.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Speaking your mind?
I am hoping that this post does not turn into a rant, because it could actually turn into one =) With that, I am going to start with a qualifier: this is something that has been bothering me for the past few years and I feel that I need to talk about it because I am not quite sure who else will. So if I come off as harsh or convicting, I apologize in advance, but I will do my best not to be condemning.
When Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, he was speaking to a group of people that would act holy and claim that they had it all together, but in reality they were broken inside. How did he know this? Their words. Read Matthew 12:33-37, Jesus is explains how he knows that they are evil inside.
-A good tree produces good fruit
-From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks
-Good men bring good things out of the good stored up in him
What is the common denominator here? Words come forth from the heart. So what does this say to us? How are our words impacting others? Are the words we speaking coming from a place to give life to one another or are they taking life away from the person?
When I read this verse a few years ago it really motivated me to consider what I say to people and to be more deliberate about what I say. I found that it went a few different ways. I realized that some of my joking was a bit harsh at times. Not as bad as what I heard from people close to me growing up, but none the less it was not exactly life giving. I was used to being called slurs and other insulting terms that were not true, but when I reacted and tried to talk about it they would say, "It was a joke. Stop being so sensitive." It was not funny and I realized that even though it rubbed off on me a bit, I did not like it and did not want to do it to other people.
Fast forward to today, and I still hear people that think they can get away with it. It may not be a direct insult, but it could be someone telling an embarrassing story or criticizing/joking something that is trivial. Just the other day, I heard someone telling an embarrassing story about me to someone who did not really know me nor needed to know about my embarrassing moment. It did not hurt me, but I could not help but wonder what the heart motive was behind it.
When considering heart motives, another interesting phrase that I hear outside of "I was just joking" is "At least I am being honest." Honesty does not destroy another person, nor does it demean someone. Rude people just need to get that phrase out of their system. Honesty is meant to help guide someone to make better decisions, not make them feel stupid or inadequate. That is what rude honesty does. This is why I feel that sarcasm and rude words do not belong in the church, especially with church leadership.
Unfortunately, I have become less enchanted with the church because of the fruit that many pastors produce. When I hear their words, whether it is in their sermons, in their conversations with me, or watching them interact with their leaders, I have learned a lot about their hearts. I hope that you would take the time as well to consider the fruit that you are eating from your spiritual leaders.
I guess the question that I have to ask is why would you eat rotten fruit? If my "tree" is producing bad fruit, why would anyone want to go to me? I hope that you wouldn't. This is why I have limited the amount of people I spend time with. If we eat good fruit from each other, then everything is fine. But if i am spending my time with negative and condescending people who produce bad fruit, it will make me sick.
In closing, I want to share the last two verses and how they impacted me. Jesus tells the pharisees that they will have to give an account for every careless word they spoke, and it is by their words they will be acquitted or condemned. This stunned me, I know that Jesus was saying this to the Pharisees, but I think it is a sober reminder to me that I need to be careful of what I say.
This taught be two things...
1. This is why I have learned not to talk more than I have to. When I speak more than I have to, I start getting into territory that makes people the butt of my jokes or I say something stupid that gets me in trouble. I have learned to be comfortable with not saying anything and being quiet if I do not have anything meaningful to say.
2. As a Christian leader, what am I if my words bring judgement and death to people? I am no different than the pharisees, and
ultimately I am not doing my job.
That is why I have to spend time with God and spend time in the word to make sure that my heart is in sync with God's heart. I do it because I want to be closer to him and I want to understand him better. Through that, I am able to positively impact others and give words of life to others.
So today, my challenge to you is to take the time to see if your heart needs healing. If you need to change circumstances, do it. I would recommend it because I found that when I engaged life in a way to try and give life to others rather than speaking negatively of others, I found that i felt better about myself and others felt better around me. Lets be a community that builds others up, not tears them down.
When Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, he was speaking to a group of people that would act holy and claim that they had it all together, but in reality they were broken inside. How did he know this? Their words. Read Matthew 12:33-37, Jesus is explains how he knows that they are evil inside.
-A good tree produces good fruit
-From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks
-Good men bring good things out of the good stored up in him
What is the common denominator here? Words come forth from the heart. So what does this say to us? How are our words impacting others? Are the words we speaking coming from a place to give life to one another or are they taking life away from the person?
When I read this verse a few years ago it really motivated me to consider what I say to people and to be more deliberate about what I say. I found that it went a few different ways. I realized that some of my joking was a bit harsh at times. Not as bad as what I heard from people close to me growing up, but none the less it was not exactly life giving. I was used to being called slurs and other insulting terms that were not true, but when I reacted and tried to talk about it they would say, "It was a joke. Stop being so sensitive." It was not funny and I realized that even though it rubbed off on me a bit, I did not like it and did not want to do it to other people.
Fast forward to today, and I still hear people that think they can get away with it. It may not be a direct insult, but it could be someone telling an embarrassing story or criticizing/joking something that is trivial. Just the other day, I heard someone telling an embarrassing story about me to someone who did not really know me nor needed to know about my embarrassing moment. It did not hurt me, but I could not help but wonder what the heart motive was behind it.
When considering heart motives, another interesting phrase that I hear outside of "I was just joking" is "At least I am being honest." Honesty does not destroy another person, nor does it demean someone. Rude people just need to get that phrase out of their system. Honesty is meant to help guide someone to make better decisions, not make them feel stupid or inadequate. That is what rude honesty does. This is why I feel that sarcasm and rude words do not belong in the church, especially with church leadership.
Unfortunately, I have become less enchanted with the church because of the fruit that many pastors produce. When I hear their words, whether it is in their sermons, in their conversations with me, or watching them interact with their leaders, I have learned a lot about their hearts. I hope that you would take the time as well to consider the fruit that you are eating from your spiritual leaders.
I guess the question that I have to ask is why would you eat rotten fruit? If my "tree" is producing bad fruit, why would anyone want to go to me? I hope that you wouldn't. This is why I have limited the amount of people I spend time with. If we eat good fruit from each other, then everything is fine. But if i am spending my time with negative and condescending people who produce bad fruit, it will make me sick.
In closing, I want to share the last two verses and how they impacted me. Jesus tells the pharisees that they will have to give an account for every careless word they spoke, and it is by their words they will be acquitted or condemned. This stunned me, I know that Jesus was saying this to the Pharisees, but I think it is a sober reminder to me that I need to be careful of what I say.
This taught be two things...
1. This is why I have learned not to talk more than I have to. When I speak more than I have to, I start getting into territory that makes people the butt of my jokes or I say something stupid that gets me in trouble. I have learned to be comfortable with not saying anything and being quiet if I do not have anything meaningful to say.
2. As a Christian leader, what am I if my words bring judgement and death to people? I am no different than the pharisees, and
ultimately I am not doing my job.
That is why I have to spend time with God and spend time in the word to make sure that my heart is in sync with God's heart. I do it because I want to be closer to him and I want to understand him better. Through that, I am able to positively impact others and give words of life to others.
So today, my challenge to you is to take the time to see if your heart needs healing. If you need to change circumstances, do it. I would recommend it because I found that when I engaged life in a way to try and give life to others rather than speaking negatively of others, I found that i felt better about myself and others felt better around me. Lets be a community that builds others up, not tears them down.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
The Heart of Joshua and Caleb
When I think about how I have come to be where I am today, I think about the story of Joshua and Caleb. When the twelve were sent to scout Canaan, only two of the twelve had the courage to go into Canaan. The rest were intimidated by the size of the men and the size of their fortresses. They felt that even though they were commanded to take the land, that they were not strong enough to take it. As punishment, the ten other scouts were slain and the Israelites had to wait 40 years before they could enter Canaan.
I know I paraphrased quite a bit, but the point that I want to make is that the story of Joshua and Caleb resonates with me today. As many of you know, I am at a cross roads right now in my life. I am trying to get a job, but paying ministry jobs are not always available. I have met some great pastors that are apologetic about their financial state and wish that they could give me money, while others expect free labor. That being said, I am looking at other options such as Clinical Pastoral Education (hospital chaplain) and going back to school to buy more time and gain experience while volunteering in the church.
It is tough to judge, because at times the people look too big, and the fortresses too tough to over take. But I generally do my best to give God an opportunity to show me what he wants me to do. I know my marching orders from here on out, but I know that others do not believe in me or believe in what God has told me. Here in lies the problem.
How many of you today feel that you may be a Joshua or Caleb hanging out with the faithless spies? I hear it all the time. "The economy is too weak", "you are too inexperienced", "you aren't pastor material", "Chaplains have an easy life, so make a career out of it", or "do what is easy and safe." Most of these people are ignorant do not really help, they just make you feel worse about trying to have faith when life gets tough. I know that I am not the only one that hears those people.
But God gives us dreams and goals for a reason... not to dash them away when life gets strenuous, but to give you something to shoot for when the pressure cooker gets turned on. It is what makes you get up every morning and fight when you feel that you have nothing left to give. This is because you believe in what God has for you, and you believe in what God can do through you.
Num 13:30 illustrates Caleb telling people that they must go and take possession of the land, and he showed great faith believing that they could conquer the land. The other ten claimed that they saw giants who made them the size of grasshoppers. This was not true, as it is later reported. The ten are struck down by the Lord for their cowardice.
Are you called to do something greater? Are you willing to silence the naysayers and pursue what you feel God gave you to accomplish? Or will you give in thinking that it is better to not do anything than to fail at doing something? Often times, not succeeding at something leads to the birth of another dream or goal. Don't forget that.
The other thing is that if Caleb and Joshua would have never followed through on their mission, Israel may have died. Just like the parable of the talents, God wants us to us what we have rather than sit on it and let it go to waste. The servant that buried his talent was punished because he was afraid of failing. The master probably would not have punished him if he attempted to do something with it, because it was only one talent (more on that another time). And just like the talent that was buried, God gave the task of going into Canaan to a generation that was more faithful with the goal.
So in closing, what is your talent/mission today? When the naysayers come and try to lead you away from that, what are you going to say? My hope is that you would be like Caleb and tell them that you can certainly conquer.
I know I paraphrased quite a bit, but the point that I want to make is that the story of Joshua and Caleb resonates with me today. As many of you know, I am at a cross roads right now in my life. I am trying to get a job, but paying ministry jobs are not always available. I have met some great pastors that are apologetic about their financial state and wish that they could give me money, while others expect free labor. That being said, I am looking at other options such as Clinical Pastoral Education (hospital chaplain) and going back to school to buy more time and gain experience while volunteering in the church.
It is tough to judge, because at times the people look too big, and the fortresses too tough to over take. But I generally do my best to give God an opportunity to show me what he wants me to do. I know my marching orders from here on out, but I know that others do not believe in me or believe in what God has told me. Here in lies the problem.
How many of you today feel that you may be a Joshua or Caleb hanging out with the faithless spies? I hear it all the time. "The economy is too weak", "you are too inexperienced", "you aren't pastor material", "Chaplains have an easy life, so make a career out of it", or "do what is easy and safe." Most of these people are ignorant do not really help, they just make you feel worse about trying to have faith when life gets tough. I know that I am not the only one that hears those people.
But God gives us dreams and goals for a reason... not to dash them away when life gets strenuous, but to give you something to shoot for when the pressure cooker gets turned on. It is what makes you get up every morning and fight when you feel that you have nothing left to give. This is because you believe in what God has for you, and you believe in what God can do through you.
Num 13:30 illustrates Caleb telling people that they must go and take possession of the land, and he showed great faith believing that they could conquer the land. The other ten claimed that they saw giants who made them the size of grasshoppers. This was not true, as it is later reported. The ten are struck down by the Lord for their cowardice.
Are you called to do something greater? Are you willing to silence the naysayers and pursue what you feel God gave you to accomplish? Or will you give in thinking that it is better to not do anything than to fail at doing something? Often times, not succeeding at something leads to the birth of another dream or goal. Don't forget that.
The other thing is that if Caleb and Joshua would have never followed through on their mission, Israel may have died. Just like the parable of the talents, God wants us to us what we have rather than sit on it and let it go to waste. The servant that buried his talent was punished because he was afraid of failing. The master probably would not have punished him if he attempted to do something with it, because it was only one talent (more on that another time). And just like the talent that was buried, God gave the task of going into Canaan to a generation that was more faithful with the goal.
So in closing, what is your talent/mission today? When the naysayers come and try to lead you away from that, what are you going to say? My hope is that you would be like Caleb and tell them that you can certainly conquer.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Love those that hate us?
"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." It is possibly one of the most confusing statements that a Christian can face. Jesus asks that God will forgive the men who are killing him. Let me repeat that, THEY WERE KILLING HIM! We have a hard enough time forgiving someone for calling us a name in a moment of distress, how can you expect us to forgive someone who wants us dead?
This is something that I have struggled with for a very long time. I have been betrayed a lot by people that I cared about, and it was not easy letting that go. I do okay with people who accidently do something hurtful, but when people calculate ways to hurt me the most and then do it, I find that very sick and evil. It is a process, but I forgive them.
There are two verses that I think a lot about when I consider trying to love people who hate me. The first is the verse mentioned in the opening. As Jesus was on the cross, he understood that they did not know what they were doing. It is almost as if there is a sense of pity there, as if they cannot control themselves or a sense of the are too dumb to realize what they are doing. Jesus understood that for some reason, they were beyond understanding what they could do.
So how does that relate with us? When you stop seeing the monster of a person who terrorized your life and see them through God's eyes, you can see them as a weak human being who is hopelessly chasing their tail.
For example, I had a boss that was absolutely crazy. He had fun picking on us lower end guys and would publically humiliate us and then hide behind his rank. Most people were terrified of him. Once i was able to get my bearing at the job and figure out what was going on, I got to see who he really was. He was extraordinarily insecure and had to put others down, had a God-complex so he micromanaged, was a perfectionist who feared failure (as most perfectionists are), sexually harassed women because he was unhappy in his marriage, and was a workaholic because he feared the day that he would have to retire.
Thats when I began to pity him. I then began to ask God to bless him and heal him of his hurts. I am sure that they ran deep. I realized, that he does not know what he does. I began doing that in my life, looking at the kids that treated me bad in grade school, the bosses that were jerks, those close to me that knowingly hurt me, and the religious leaders that hurt me. I asked for forgiveness for being resentful, and asked God to heal their hearts and their pasts, because they don't seem very happy.
What you learn about these people are that the Goliaths in our lives are not always so big (The Second verse I think of). You notice, that once David took down Goliath, the taunting stopped. The most advanced army of the time dropped everything and ran. They don't look so tough, now do they? Thats how our Goliaths are. They are weak and scared inside, and they need more. So pray for them. Know that they deserve healing as much as you do, and hope that God can grant them a more pleasent future, because so many of them are tormented inside.
This week, my hope is that you can remember someone who has wronged you, and in your prayer time remember Jesus' words. They do not know what they are doing. Pray for them, and remember that they should be pitied, not feared. That is why we must love them.
This is something that I have struggled with for a very long time. I have been betrayed a lot by people that I cared about, and it was not easy letting that go. I do okay with people who accidently do something hurtful, but when people calculate ways to hurt me the most and then do it, I find that very sick and evil. It is a process, but I forgive them.
There are two verses that I think a lot about when I consider trying to love people who hate me. The first is the verse mentioned in the opening. As Jesus was on the cross, he understood that they did not know what they were doing. It is almost as if there is a sense of pity there, as if they cannot control themselves or a sense of the are too dumb to realize what they are doing. Jesus understood that for some reason, they were beyond understanding what they could do.
So how does that relate with us? When you stop seeing the monster of a person who terrorized your life and see them through God's eyes, you can see them as a weak human being who is hopelessly chasing their tail.
For example, I had a boss that was absolutely crazy. He had fun picking on us lower end guys and would publically humiliate us and then hide behind his rank. Most people were terrified of him. Once i was able to get my bearing at the job and figure out what was going on, I got to see who he really was. He was extraordinarily insecure and had to put others down, had a God-complex so he micromanaged, was a perfectionist who feared failure (as most perfectionists are), sexually harassed women because he was unhappy in his marriage, and was a workaholic because he feared the day that he would have to retire.
Thats when I began to pity him. I then began to ask God to bless him and heal him of his hurts. I am sure that they ran deep. I realized, that he does not know what he does. I began doing that in my life, looking at the kids that treated me bad in grade school, the bosses that were jerks, those close to me that knowingly hurt me, and the religious leaders that hurt me. I asked for forgiveness for being resentful, and asked God to heal their hearts and their pasts, because they don't seem very happy.
What you learn about these people are that the Goliaths in our lives are not always so big (The Second verse I think of). You notice, that once David took down Goliath, the taunting stopped. The most advanced army of the time dropped everything and ran. They don't look so tough, now do they? Thats how our Goliaths are. They are weak and scared inside, and they need more. So pray for them. Know that they deserve healing as much as you do, and hope that God can grant them a more pleasent future, because so many of them are tormented inside.
This week, my hope is that you can remember someone who has wronged you, and in your prayer time remember Jesus' words. They do not know what they are doing. Pray for them, and remember that they should be pitied, not feared. That is why we must love them.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Hearing, Listening, Comprehending
One thing that I have noticed as of late is how bad that people can be at listening to someone. I am guilty of this to, when someone is talking for a while it is easy to tune out and make affirming sounds like, "uh huh", so that they feel that they are being listened to even though I may have no idea what they are saying. Why is that? I am hearing them but not listening.
It is easy to use listen and hear interchangably, but they mean two completely different things. Hearing is knowing that you are being talked at. You can hear a noise, a voice, etc. But listening is trying understand what that voice or noise is saying.
One of our biggest difficulties as Christians is trying to decypher the hearing and the listening to God aspect. People will tell me, "you know, I don't think God is out there. I ask him to tell me something and I do not hear him. He must not exist." My follow up question is usually to ask him what he is listening for. They usually do not know... which is okay, because if you don't know what to listen for, you will not know when God is talking to you.
If you are one of those people who are reading this and agreeing that you cannot hear God, I may not have the best answers, but I can do my best to help. Here are a few ways that I know that God is speaking to me...
1. Among all the chaotic noise in my life, there is a soft sobering message that comes to me. I struggle with ADHD, which means that there is a constant flow of traffic going through my brain at any given moment... imagine having a bunch of televisions and radios playing all the time... thats my mind. But among all of that, I can usually make out God's voice since it is not demanding or oppressive.
2. Have you ever had an "ahha" moment? A lot of the time that is God talking to you. If something is very out of the ordinary but makes complete sense to you, then it may be God. I am not saying go do something sinful, but instead, here is an example. I accidently bought the wrong strings for my bass, and I was going to return them. Instead, I felt like God told me to give them to a specific person. It was weird, but it made sense. When I offered him my strings, I found out that the guy that I gave them to did not change his strings in 2 years since he did not have the money for them. So I totally blessed this guy because I obeyed what God said.
There are more examples, but I am about to leave for church. I just wanted to encourage you to spend time trying to listen to God, and not just be happy with hearing him and knowing that he is out there.
Something that I tell all the people that I teach is that the only way to get to know the shepherds voice is to spend time near the shepherd. This is how sheep know their master, and this is how we know our God. We start by hearing him, and knowing that he is there. As we spend time with him, we listen to him because we know his voice and trust his words. When we trust his words, that is when we can comprehend him and what he does and we have a deeper understanding of who he is. As Christian leaders, we must do this with both God and others. It takes work, but I believe that you can do it!
It is easy to use listen and hear interchangably, but they mean two completely different things. Hearing is knowing that you are being talked at. You can hear a noise, a voice, etc. But listening is trying understand what that voice or noise is saying.
One of our biggest difficulties as Christians is trying to decypher the hearing and the listening to God aspect. People will tell me, "you know, I don't think God is out there. I ask him to tell me something and I do not hear him. He must not exist." My follow up question is usually to ask him what he is listening for. They usually do not know... which is okay, because if you don't know what to listen for, you will not know when God is talking to you.
If you are one of those people who are reading this and agreeing that you cannot hear God, I may not have the best answers, but I can do my best to help. Here are a few ways that I know that God is speaking to me...
1. Among all the chaotic noise in my life, there is a soft sobering message that comes to me. I struggle with ADHD, which means that there is a constant flow of traffic going through my brain at any given moment... imagine having a bunch of televisions and radios playing all the time... thats my mind. But among all of that, I can usually make out God's voice since it is not demanding or oppressive.
2. Have you ever had an "ahha" moment? A lot of the time that is God talking to you. If something is very out of the ordinary but makes complete sense to you, then it may be God. I am not saying go do something sinful, but instead, here is an example. I accidently bought the wrong strings for my bass, and I was going to return them. Instead, I felt like God told me to give them to a specific person. It was weird, but it made sense. When I offered him my strings, I found out that the guy that I gave them to did not change his strings in 2 years since he did not have the money for them. So I totally blessed this guy because I obeyed what God said.
There are more examples, but I am about to leave for church. I just wanted to encourage you to spend time trying to listen to God, and not just be happy with hearing him and knowing that he is out there.
Something that I tell all the people that I teach is that the only way to get to know the shepherds voice is to spend time near the shepherd. This is how sheep know their master, and this is how we know our God. We start by hearing him, and knowing that he is there. As we spend time with him, we listen to him because we know his voice and trust his words. When we trust his words, that is when we can comprehend him and what he does and we have a deeper understanding of who he is. As Christian leaders, we must do this with both God and others. It takes work, but I believe that you can do it!
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