Are you a blessing or a curse?

Here is a link to some ideas I expanded upon. My friend Judy posted it on her Kindling blog. Her blog is a fantastic blog by the way!

Are you a blessing or a curse to others?

Why Should Christians Care About Trayvon Martin?

These are the words of Dr. Jeff Cook of Cedarville University. I thought he was spot on. I transcribed his reflection to the best of my ability:

Dr. Jeff Cook: Why Should We Care About the Trayvon Martin Case? 4-12-2012.

Satan gets more mileage out of race issues more than any other issue in our culture. We’re not here to debate facts about the case…there’s a place for that…the court

We should care because of who God is: If God is a God of justice, and we are created in his image and we are to reflect his character, then in some sense we need to engage the kinds of things that are important to God. Quoting Sammy Rodrigruez Cook said, 'There are vertical and horizontal aspects to the gospel message. There are vertical aspects of reconciliation to God, but there are horizontal/social aspects....'

If I think all the social and racial issues were solved in the sixties, we’re not paying attention. The fact of the matter is that God’s concern for justice leaps out of every chapter of the Bible. That is a description of his character—that God is just. God doesn’t play favorites. When Israel was on the receiving end of injustice, God acted. When they were the instigators of injustice, God acted…. As followers of Jesus we are concerned for justice about everyone, including George Zimmerman.  As Christians we call for justice for George Zimmerman. But not only justice for George, but for Trayvon  also and all the other Trayvons that got up this morning to a world that is a little different than ours. The fact of the matter is that as Christians, it should grieve us that to be a young black male is a high risk for a violent death. You don’t have to be a gang banger for that to be true, you don’t have to be slinging dope for that to be true. And if I am not aware of that, then I am not paying attention. You’re more likely to be a victim of violence and more likely to be blamed for causing it. If you follow the news reports you know that people are quick to jump on the issue, 'What about black on black crime, that’s a whole lot higher than this issue.' As followers of Jesus we’d say we grieve about that as well. For any young black male, you don’t have to go to Florida to get shot…if you’re a young black male in the city you’re more likely to be a victim of black on black crime or police brutality. In the suburbs, you’re more likely to be a victim of white on black crime. But here’s the deal (if you’re a young black male) there’s nowhere to run. Where are you going to go? A gated community? We all have natural concerns  and dreams for our children (gave an example of a couple he married who just had a son),  but it’s nothing like the concerns of the parents of a black or brown son who from day one recognizes that, that beautiful young boy is at a much greater risk for violence and they face the burden that it will be on their family and community to prove when that happens that he didn’t somehow deserve it. We as followers of Jesus grieve over that. One of the things that we do today is cry out to God over that. Wasn’t it Dr. King who said that, 'an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everwhere?' So we grieve over the high risk of a violent death of young black men. And as Christians also, don’t we grieve that it took forty-five days and a national outcry to move the justice system from a position that Zimmerman had done nothing wrong  (that’s why they released him) and it took forty-five days just to get to the point that maybe we should let a court decide that. A big part of why this issue has mobilized so many across the nation, especially in communities of color, is because there is an identification with him. A big part of why majority culture and much of majority church has been on the sidelines is because we don’t identify with him. I would argue that is why we should be concerned, not only because God is a God of justice but secondly because of who we are as the family of God who champions the dignity and value of all people—even the people who don’t believe that some people are worth more than others. The fact of the matter is, I am not suspicious for walking down the street in a gated community in a hoodie. Most of you are not suspicious for walking down the street in a gated community in a hoodie. But that’s not true of everybody. As followers of Jesus, as a community of brothers and sisters, as the family of God, as the body, we are deeply aware that in the body of Christ that when one part hurts , we all hurt. That is a normal functioning body. It is a dysfunctional body that feels no pain when another part of the body is hurting. So when I see Trayvon as my son, as my brother, as my sibling, as a young man who was loved by his mother, loved by his father, loved by his extended family who will miss him at the Thanksgiving table, who had a future like any seventeen-year-old kid, when I view him as that, when we view him as that because of who we are, then we stand in unity as a family of God and grieve. And we pray. We pray for families, for all the families involved. The Martins as well as the Zimmermans and all the things that go on. We need to pray for us and the church, for this campus. Because if you’re paying attention, you don’t have to bump people really hard to find out there some racial issues going on under the surface. Not only should we pray vertically, but  as we talk to each other, can we think before we speak, before we post on FB? There have been deeply wounding things that have been written and said. To speak redemptively, to be peacemakers, to be reconcilers, to speak on behalf of Jesus instead of being agitators--that’s the call of God, that’s the call on the family, that’s the call of God on us. So why should we be paying attention? Because God is a God of justice and we are the family of Christ who values people.

Who's The Greatest Christian?

These are thoughts from Pastor Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle in NY, NY (USA) as quoted in A Guide To Prayer For All Who Seek God (Upper Room Books)

He says: When I was growing up, I thought the greatest Christian must be the person who walks around with shoulders thrown back because of tremendous inner strength and power, quoting Scripture and letting everyone know he has arrived. I have since learned that the most mature believer is the one who is bent over, leaning most heavily on the Lord, and admitting his total inability to do anything without Christ. The greatest Christian is not the one who has achieved the most but the one who has received the most. God's grace, love, and mercy flow through him (or her) abundantly because he walks in total dependence.

~from Fresh Faith

Blessed are those of you who are able to receive the love of God, who understand that you are completely dependent on him and that without him you can do nothing. Yours is the kingdom of Heaven.

What does it mean to follow Jesus in life and death? Ed Dobson's "My Story"

In 1996, I was a freshman in college. Every year our school had an annual Bible conference that coincided with the start of school. In fact, we were required to attend the few nights prior to the start of class. The first speaker I ever heard was Ed Dobson. Ed Dobson, not to be confused with James Dobson, was pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA). It is 2012 and I still remember the gist of his sermons. One of the things he said was that he noticed that pastors/churches feed people on the front pews--pass out bread over and over to people on the front pews. But then he asked (maybe not word for word but here's the basic idea), "What about the people in the back?" The people in the back are saying, "Hey, pay attention to me! I'm hungry. The people in the back are the tax collectors and sinners. Then he asked, "Who are the tax collectors and sinners of our day?" His sermon was much more powerful than I am now conveying. It stayed with me.

A few years after that I sermon, I found out that he had been diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. This disease attacks your body and shuts down organs. I was so concerned when I found out that I called his church to ask how he was doing even though I had never talked to him. I called because the little exposure I had to Ed Dobson branded Jesus deeper into my soul. I found out later that he'd stepped down because of the sickness that would eventually lead to death.

In this video Ed Dobson talks about life and death and what it means to follow Jesus. At one point in the video he says that he preached and did all sorts of things in the church but he wasn't really following Jesus (not that he wasn't a Christian). He was busy for Jesus...but not really following him.  After he stepped down because of the disease he lost his purpose for living...but slowly regained it. And at this point, today, he knows he is facing death and about to lose his ability to talk because of ALS. If you want to be nourished and motivated to follow Jesus, if you want encouragment in your walk and to see the beauty of God, watch this story about Ed Dobson:

Ed Dobson's "My Story" on CNN

Messin' Other People Up in our Messedupness

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

Here's the deal: in our messedupness we are fully capable of permanently messing up countless others. They in turn mess up countless others. That's why we must beg God for for mercy, we must humble ourselves and confess who we are to God and others if necessary, seeking forgivness and transformation. And we must also take steps to work out our salvation with fear and trembling so that others don't encounter evil and destruction when they encounter us.

The snare comes when we are so self-absorbed in our pain that we don't give a rip about the sort of effects our attitudes and behaviors have on others. Our pain dehumanizes us by desensitizing us to the pain of others. We are convinced that we are right and have a right to do what we're doing.

So we open Pandora's box--unleashing profound evil in the life of others. It starts with those closest to us and radiates out. Evil spreads like an aggressive cancer.

Yet let us not forget that life proliferates, too. We are to overcome evil with good.

Therefore it is of utmost importance that we understand that our sins--vices--bad habits of our temperament and blind spots can decidely and sinisterly affect the world in the same way that Adam and Eve's did.

Let us beg God to cleanse us and help us be proliferators of good.

Because like germs, we often spread evil unaware.

"Exclusive: Jeremy Lin says faith in God triggered 'Lin-sanity'"

Speaking of Jesus, success, and the way of salvation - here is Jeremy Lin's testimony about living in the wilderness and testing and obscurity.

He can no longer stroll anonymously down the streets of New York, but Lin has found peace. He is bombarded with interview requests (even David Letterman got turned down), yet Lin is experiencing a sense of ease he's never before felt.

His devout Christianity, bred at the Chinese Church in Christ in Mountain View, has been his guide since he was young. But Lin admits these last few months were a test unlike any before.

Sucker punched by the cold business of the NBA -- playing for his third team in a year -- Lin suffered in silence. Before he was the talk of the sports world, before he was crowned star of the Knicks, Lin was ridden with doubt and anxiety. So he doubled down on his commitment to God.

And without that, he believes, there would be no Lin-sanity.

What the country sees is a Cinderella story, Lin's meteoric rise from the NBA Development League to unstoppable star. But for Lin, it's a story of faith, the beautiful struggle he's now convinced he can win. Most importantly, it's a story of how he'll be completely fine if he doesn't.

"I'm not playing to prove anything to anybody," Lin said. "That affected my game last year and my joy last year. With all the media attention, all the love from the fans (in the Bay Area), I felt I needed to prove myself. Prove that I'm not a marketing tool, I'm not a ploy to improve attendance. Prove I can play in this league. But I've surrendered that to God. I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore."

It took some time, some rough nights, long prayers and countless Bible studies. Lin confided in his pastor, Stephen Chen.

"It was hard. I could make him no promises," Chen said. "To trust what God is doing is definitely a lesson that Jeremy is continuing to learn and not to trust in his results."

See the rest of this article, "Exclusive: Jeremy Lin says faith in God triggered 'Lin-sanity'" by Marcus Thompson II in:

Silicon Valley's MercuryNews.com

Jesus, Success & The Way of Salvation

For those of you who know you have no thing and no one to recommend you other than God. Here are some words from Tim Keller in his book, Counterfeit Gods.

"All during his ministry, the disciples continually asked Jesus, 'When are you going to take power? When are you going to stop fraternizing with the simple people? When are you going to start networking and raising money? When will you run for office? When's the first primary? When's our first TV special?' Instead Jesus served humbly and then was tortured and killed. Even when Jesus rose from the dead he first appeared to women, the people who then had no status. Jesus's salvation is received not through strength but through the admission of weakness and need. And Jesus's salvation was achieved not through strength but through surrender, service, sacrifice, and death. This is one of the great messages of the Bible: God chooses the weak things of the world to shame the strong, the foolish and despised things to shame the wise,  even the things that are not, to bring  to nothing the things that are (I Corinthians 1:29-31). That's how God does it."

pp. 95-96

The Gift of Weakness: Christ's Power Resting on Us

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Sometimes I feel sorry for myself. During those times I recite my liabilities, weaknesses, sins, and station in life to God.

For example:

1. I am a woman. And I love being a woman. I love my husband and daughter and all the goodness that comes from those who surround me. But because I am a woman, people are less inclined to value what I say or write about you (God). People have said, "I am not going to listen to what a woman has to say about God." When a woman speaks the word of God she has less credibility for some reason. It is well-known that people don't read women authors nearly as much nor do they pick up their books nearly as much--especially when like me they are speaking of spiritual formation--of being disciples of Jesus. It's mostly women who read women or listen to women. But women, they pick up both men and women authors and listen to women (although not women pastors so much). So I tell God sometimes, "I am a woman but you gave me the spiritual gifts of men." Well, that's not what I really believe but people in Christian culture label my gifts as male gifts. Maybe I wouldn't have so many problems if I were one of Philip the Evangelist's four daughters. But you oh Lord have given me evangelist/preacher/writer gifts in this century and Philip is not my father.

2. I grew up poor and am poor compared to those in my environment (but I am rich compared to many in the world and U.S.). I am not sure that they know it though. I didn't/don't have the advantages they do. My desire to learn, love of words, education, and surroundings have made me adept at the middle class register.

3. I could write more about severe mental illness and poverty in my family...but I don't think that would be fair to them at this time.

Now I am already tired of reciting my weaknesses or handicaps or social status because of my situation in life. It sounds like I am whining. But  I only share this to show what I every now and then recount to the Lord.

But then he gently reminds me that indeed, he made no mistake with my station in life nor my gender. He reminds me that even before the world began he had good works for me to do, works that would make him glad and bring him honor (Ephesians 2:10).  He reminds me of how over and over he has been faithful to me. And the other night when I was reciting #1 and some others to him, he reminded me that his strength is made perfect in weakness.

So now I am reveling in II Corinthians 12:9. I am very interested in seeing how he reveals his strength through what many in the world deem to be social handicaps or liabilities. I think I have an inkling into some of it. I often feel super needy of him and of his grace because I don't have all those material and status and familial securities to cling to. Would I love him so if I were in a different station in life? Would I love him less if he didn't parent me? I hope that I would. But maybe I wouldn't.

My intent for this post wasn't to whine. It was really just to share why I am currently reveling in II Corithians 12:9. I want to contemplate it, digest it, and see what nourishment comes from it. Maybe Christ's power will rest on me if I truly see them as gifts instead of curses.

But the thing about Christ's power is that he doesn't always allow us to have full glimpses of  the power  that is resting on us and flowing through us. Otherwise we might become arrogant or even proud like Satan. There is no grace in pride.

Are you weak too? Maybe for different reasons? God promises to give grace to the humble and to never turn away those who call him. Maybe together we'll discover just how present and powerful and good God is as we meditate on his word and allow him to be our strength.

I liked the Message Version of this passage too.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (The Message):

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.


My strength comes into its own in your weakness.


Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

Oceans of Justice

I've been sick and out of commission for a little bit. I will explain more another day. Here it what I am thinking about today. This is from Amos 5, the Message version:

I can't stand your religious meetings.

I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.

I want nothing to do with your religion projects,

your pretentious slogans and goals.

I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,

your public relations and image making.

I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.

When was the last time you sang to me?

Do you know what I want?

I want justice—oceans of it.

I want fairness—rivers of it.

That's what I want. That's all I want.

How Not To Marry The Wrong Christian

This is my latest post for Christianity Today's Her.meneutics Blog. Perhaps it'll be of help to some of you!

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/08/how_to_avoid_marrying_the_wron.html

Stealing Praises

"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'" Luke 17:15-19

Have you ever had someone take your idea and run with it? Or perhaps a boss/supervisor take credit for your ideas and work? I have. It is so frustrating.  Perhaps you've labored for other's behalf, for their good without receiving so much as a thank you. Maybe like me, if you think about it too long, a twinge of bitterness unfolds within.

I think of Jesus healing the ten lepers. Not only did he heal them from sickness, but he delivered them from insults hurled at them, from begging, from societal shame. Once they were considered nobodies, pariahs, by those around them. Daily dehumanization. Now, because of Jesus' touch, they were normal. They treasured normal. Normal meant they could now work to provide for themselves and family. Normal meant they could go wherever they wanted--from the village market, to the temple, to visit family without having to yell, "Unclean! Unclean!"

Only one, a Samaritan at that, returned to heap thanks and praise upon Jesus. Jesus notices him and publicly applauds his act of faith.

Recently, when I was overlooked, I thought to myself, "Well really Lord, the glory is supposed to go to you. Really."  I remembered that he notices what we do in secret. I also remembered Colossians 3 where Paul admonishes us to do all for the glory of God, not for our own glory.

It should be enough for us to get our reward in heaven, even if we don't get it in this life. And many who get acknowledgment in this life--if they've done acts of righteousness for the wrong motives--may not get acknowledgment in the life to come.

God sees us though. God sees, even if no one else does. And if our obedience and love bring him joy and glory, let us be content that one day we'll get acknowledgment, we'll get a pat on the back from him. This is what we must tell ourselves for it is true and it will squelch bitterness.

Tripping Jesus.

"Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matthew 16:23 (NIV).

It happens often in the life of faith. We are following Jesus but suddenly and subtly we veer off into a way of thinking and being that drives us to search for ways to use God in order to promote our own interests. Remember Peter? He had his own way of thinking about bringing forth the Kingdom of God and how Jesus should ascend to power. Maybe he didn't realize it until Jesus (in Matthew 16) started describing how things would go down. Maybe he didn't realize what lay within himself until he blurted out, "never Lord." After all, he was only trying to protect Jesus; persecution, torture, humiliation, and death weren't in his plans for bringing in the Kingdom of God. How could they be in anyone's plans? Well, it turns out such was God's plan.

Peter was a stumbling block to Jesus. Does God trip over us?

Are we confusing human concerns, our concerns, with God's concerns? Are we so foolish to think that our ways of doing things are necessarily God's ways? We start to get presumptious. Our ego and its desires, our way of bringing in God's kingdom, are not always God's way. And we get frustrated with God when he doesn't do what we want when we want it and how we want it. We throw tantrums.

You see this is true with Christians leaders, in poiltics, within our families, and within ourselves. Before we dogmatically declare that our way of doing something is Christ's way, let us check with the Lord, with a discerning Christian community.

May we not trip Jesus up in our eagerness to do God's work.

Resentment

Nouwen on Resentment.

Here are Nouwen's comments in the context of Matthew 20:28 where James and John via their mother ask Jesus for the seats to the left and right of him when his kingdom comes.

"We, like the sons of Zebedee, want to be near power and reflected glory. And if we cannot sit on the throne we at least want to sit very close to it. If we do not dare to ask for this privilege ourselves, we let someone close to us ask for it. Jesus's teaching here is a reminder of our temptation to be like God, and of our resentment for not always being first in line or highly privileged. If we cannot attain the first place, we'll settle for the second place in the kingdom. Those who perceive themselves worthy of first place but have to be content with second place can only look upward with resentment and downard with suspicion. And then, in this competitive and jealous place, neither God nor humanity can be served.

When you cling to your complaints, your heart is full of resentment, and there is no room for God to enter and set you free. Resentment curtails the movement of the Spirit and diminshes the kingdom within. It replaces, faith, hope, and charity with fear, doubt, and rivalry. It makes an enormous difference in our personal and communal lives whether we respond to life in anger and resentment, or in love and gratitude."

This is from the book: Spiritual Formation: Following The Movements of the Spirit

--Henri Nouwen's work with Michael Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to Christensen and Laird for putting these pieces of Nouwen's published and unpublished works and lectures together. We are indebted to you!

Vow of Stability

We are but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return (see Psalm 78:39).

God is stable...he changes not. His character changes not. However, everything else in life, is in a sense,  unstable. We are but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return (see Psalm 78:39). Yet, how we long for stability in our own lives! Rootedness in God and in a community.  An anchor. Is it possible?

Could it be that we play a part in the stability we long for? Can we remain present in a particular place to particular people even though it may cost us personal success? Could we stay put and present in our particular community? Would we stay for the good of others and ourselves--only moving if God moves us?

Quoting Father Guy, a monk from Blue Cloud Abbey, Dennis Okholm writes in his book, Monk Habits for Everyday People, "God has placed us in a community of people with whom we would not have chosen to live had it been up to us."

Continuing on the thought of stability, Okholm notes, "But it means more than just remaining in place. Stability means being faithful where we are--really paying attention to those with whom we live and to what is happening in our common life. In fact, persevering in stability is really persevering in listening. A person who stays where God has put her (not in abusive situations of course) because it is with that group of folks, speaking the truth in love, that she will grow up with them 'to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ,' as Paul puts it to the Ephesians (4:11-16)."

He explains further, "Conversion and growth in character happen when we remain, not when we run. This is where the vow of stability links up with the vow of conversatio moralis (conversion of life).

To remain stable and present to others where we are would indeed require a conversatio moralis for many of us. But the concept of being present and faithful to God and to those around us--moving only if we are called to move--some would say forced to move--is something we have to think about.


Monk Habits for Everyday People pp. 90,91,92.

Transfiguration. Transformation. Metamorphosis.

A part of my meditation on the transfiguration.
For Transfiguration Sunday 2011

"After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light."  Matthew 17:1-3.

How about us? Are we being transfigured? Are we being changed? Is it earth-shattering although admittedly most often gradual? Do we peek through our fingers with fear and trembling and wonder as we look back over what Jesus has done in us individually and as a church, at what he is doing, and at what the future might hold?


If not why not? Earth-shattering change, transformation, transfiguration, though gradual is perceptible is it not? If we are ho-humming through life, yawning at the holy, at Jesus, asleep in the light, or drowning in our sins while we show up to church every Sunday, then something is deathly wrong. We’re not following Jesus. We’re either spiritually sick or dead. And that is hell. We’re like the frogs being boiled alive in the pot and not knowing it. Paul would tell us to examine ourselves to see if we are actually in the faith.

Listen. While everyday in our life in Christ isn’t a mountaintop transfiguration experience, everyday is pregnant with the divine. Pregnant with life and wonder. Every day is supernatural. What might transfiguration or metamorphosis look like in such a life?

If once you were a nag, but now are not—isn’t that earth shattering? If once your goal was to live a comfortable life and then retire in middle class America but are now sacrificing or want to sacrifice for the good of others—if you do what you didn’t want to because you are following Jesus--then that’s transfiguration.

If you were secretly addicted to porn or sex or approval or alcohol or self-injury, or popularity, or success, or work or self and now are set free from such things or in the process of being set free from such things or wanting to be set free from such things—that is transfiguration. Were you once a very angry person or in perpetual despair? And now you’re loving and kind, others-directed and seeing glimmers of hope? If your body is getting old or your mind is getting old and you're bearing it with grace or starting to bear it with grace or wanting to bear it with grace, If so—let’s say it together—transfiguration. One more time--transfiguration. You are changing and looking more like Christ, you are starting to glow with the life of Christ in you—glow like Moses did when he came down from Mount Sinai. You may not see it, but God does and others do or will.

Let me tell you, if we are truly following Jesus, every time we think we have him figured out, he’ll throw us a curve ball—like he did Peter James and John. For no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t control him or what happened while with him. And neither can we. But as we follow him—transfiguration.

We are undergoing metamorphosis. As we are enfolded into Christ’s life, as God is redeeming all things, we get only small glimpses of the transfiguration currently underway, but someday, our eyes will be completely opened and we will see ourselves and all of creation completely transfigured into his likeness. So no day is an ordinary when we obediently follow Jesus up a mountain or down into a valley—for we’re metamorphosing into his glorious saints.

Amen.

Cultivate Goodness and Beauty Where You Are - In the Name of Jesus

This is what the LORD says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.  Isaiah 49:8-10.

We as Christians believe that God is speaking of Jesus in Isaiah 49. It is Jesus that will accomplish all these things. And yet I am quick to believe that part of the way he will accomplish this is through his people. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, God wants to bring his shalom to you and wants you to be an agent of shalom. He redeems you and uses you to help make things as they should be. Once he redeems you, he uses you as an instrument of redemption. He wants you to see him for who he is and to pour out his grace on  you. He wants to show you that he is a good and beautiful God who means to do good unto you. Surely goodness and mercy will follow you all of the days of your life (Psalm 23).

Yet many of us who profess to be followers of Jesus have God-awful views of God. We're not always aware of it. But it comes out in how we live.  Do we really believe that he means us well, in the painful and suffering world? That's where the rubber meets the road isn't it? Can we say with Job, "though he slay me I will trust him?" Now there's this matter. Is God doing the "slaying?" That has to do with the problem of evil. I don't think God is evil. But there is evil in the world.

But even in the midst of evil, God wants us to cultivate the land he has given us. We all have a circle of influence--even if you misbelieve yourself to be alone in this world. God calls us to cultivate the land. To be stewards of the garden he has given each one of us. We are to weed it. We are to water it. We are to take care of it all in the strength and grace of the Lord. Our garden includes ourselves, family and/or friends, workplaces, places of worship, gifts, abilities, our local communities, and even the earth. Our garden includes "Jerusalem, Judea, and the uttermost parts of the earth" in one way or another.

But mostly it is where we find ourselves. How can we cultivate the seeds of God's love and beauty and goodness (I am distilling attritubes of beauty and goodness from his love, I know). Am I doing it on this blog? More importantly, am I doing that where I find myself--among family, friends, and neighbors?

Often the problem of evil in the world overwhelms us. But doesn't God through Paul in Romans chapter 12 tell us to overcome evil with good? Are we overcoming evil with good? Are we doing our part to cultivate the land he has given us? Are we doing  our part to, "restore the land and reassign its desolate places" as Isaiah 49 says?

Labeling People

"Once I can label you, I can stop listening. Or at least that’s how we tend to act isn’t it?" See the rest of this good post by Mason here.

Am I The Servant of All?

Last year, I asked the Lord to make me a servant. I just ran across these words from Edward F. Markquart's sermon entitled: Having the Heart and Hands of a Servant. You can access it online at: http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/

"A servant always has a loving heart and working hands. Both the heart and the hands. Not just the heart of a servant who sees the needs of others. Not just a heart who feels the pain of those who lost their homes to the hurricanes. Not just a heart who empathizes with those who have lost their jobs, income and insurance. Servants always have good, loving and generous hearts, but they also have hands to do the dirty work. Hands that clean up the tables. Hands that do the dishes. Hands that actually help people in their needs."

God has begun answering my prayer by making me more of a servant and showing me how I would rather be the Master and call the shots rather than take orders I don't like. God always mortally wounds my pride--pride I don't know I possess until I am awakened to its presence by its shrieks of death that result from it receiving God's death blows. If you were to peek behind the veil of my soul, you'd see pride splattered all about and the Lord cleaning up the bloody mess. The Lord, who is truly the servant of all, is cleaning up my mess. He is cleaning me. Here I see the Lord again, being the servant of all, serving me, a most undeserving child.

Busy Service For Christ Keeping Us From Living Like Jesus?

There are many people--children, women, and men . . . who are being abused, and mistreated--oppressed all around us. We can all prayerfully do something for those who are oppressed. Right now, my heart is focused on those who are undocumented workers in the U.S. Close to where I live, many are being robbed and taken advantage of because the perpetrators know they can't/won't go to the police for fear of deportation. How would God have you prayerfully act wherever you are?

The Church has often been guilty of failing to act and speak out when it should. In fact, many times its because she  ignorantly tows the political party line. Those who do act on issues of justice or who sound the alarm are denounced as liberals and demonized. I fear this is the case in America. Although many have said that in the U.S. that immigration is the new Civil Right's issue, the majority of Americans and even those in the American Church seem to be on the wrong side yet again. It's a complicated issue, yes, but sometimes doing that right thing can be complicated. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.

 Most of those in the German Church also towed the party line during World War II. And some live to regret it.  Read this account by a German Christian who was there. It is found in Erwin Lutzer's book, Hitler's Cross:

I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because, what could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. we realized it was carrying Jews like cattle in cars!

Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sounds of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us.

We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top  of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.

Years have passed and no one talks about it anymore. But I still hear the train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians yet did nothing to intervene.

Erwin Lutzer goes on to say, "That story, which speaks so pointedly to the weakness of the church in Germany, speaks also to us: Do we hear the train here in America--the cries of the pre-born children in our abortion clinics, the abused child across the street, or the minorities who are daily discriminated against in the normal course of their existence? Or does our busy service for Christ drown out these muffled cries?

pp. 99-100

You're In My Jurisdiction

In Tattoos On The Heart (one of my recent most favorite non-fiction books), Father Greg Boyle tells the story of  shirtless Junior, who'd, with beer in hand, greet Father Greg everyone morning when Father went into work. One day, Father Greg, lost in his thoughts, oblivious to all around him fails to acknowledge Junior. Junior notices and yells, "LOVE YOU G-DOG." Father Greg stops in his tracks--overcome by the love shown to him. He notes that in the barrio, everyone tells each other they love one another. They don't hold it back. Then he goes on  with the story:

"'Thank you, Junior. That was a very nice thing to say.' Junior waves me on, as if papally blessing me as my day begins. 'Oh, come on now, G, you know," he says, spinning his hand in a circular motion, 'You're in my . . . jurisdiction.'

I can't be entirely sure what Junior meant. Except for the fact that we all need to see that we are in each other's 'jurisdictions,' spheres of acceptance--only, all the time. And yet, there are lines that get drawn, and barriers erected, meant only to exclude. Allowing folks into my jurisdiction requires that I dismantle what I have set up to keep them out. Sometimes we strike the high moral distance of judgment--moving our protected jurisdictions far from each other. This is also, largely, the problem in the groupthink of gangs. They just can't seem to see one another as residing in the same jurisdiction. 'We are the guys who hate those guys' is the self-defining assertion of every gang. The challenge is to get them to abandon the territory of their gang and replace it with a turf more ample, inclusive, and as expansive of God's own view of things."

Later on, Father Greg says that God's jurisdiction is " an expansive location . . . a place of endless love."

pp. 130 and 145.