I'm sitting on my front porch right now in the middle of an unexpected downpour. I've heard that a measure of the adequacy of your porch is that you can sit on it in a storm and stay dry. Looks like mine could be a tad bit bigger but, here I was about to soak in the atmosphere as I worked when I had an idea. I live in an old neighborhood, the sort with houses older than my state's senators and trees leaping up at least seventy feet.The big magnolia across the street is probably responsible for my house being five degrees cooler in the summers there's so much shade and, in a storm like this, you see the wind in the trees with all of its violence and speed.
All of this commotion reminded me of Romans 1:19-20, that the invisible things of God (namely His eternal power and divine attributes) are clearly seen us in the things which have been made. I thought, "What can I learn about God through this storm? What does nature reveal about Him, here?" Read Ps. 19:1-6:
The heavens declare glory of God,
and the Sky above proclaims His handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat. (Ps. 19:1-6, ESV)
How do you think David came up with those opening lines? I'm guessing he did something quite simple: he stopped and looked. For today's assignment, I'd like you to do the same. Pick something in nature which you observe today (whether it's the sun (as David did) or the heat in Phoenix or the breeze) and reflect on what that tells you about God. Journal that out. Stop, look, ponder, record - it's that simple. In doing so, you'll be following in the footsteps of the saints of old in soaking in the clues which God has left not so hidden in our world about who He is. Enjoy.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Now I see
If someone asked you where you start in terms of getting wisdom, you know what to say, right? You know, even if you’ve forgotten the reference, that it’s ‘the fear of the Lord.’ Now, in your journal, write out what that phrase means. Your answer must be at least 2 sentences long.
Next, read through the following passages/verses and write out AT LEAST one aspect of the fear of the Lord highlighted in that portion of scripture. Take special time to clarify how the fear of the Lord is illuminated in Ps. 34. Write these out in your journal as well.
Ps. 19:8-9
Ps. 34:11-22
Ps. 111:10
Pr. 1:7
Pr. 1:27-28
Pr. 2:4-5
Pr. 8:13
Pr. 10:27
Pr. 15:16
Pr. 15:33
Pr. 16:6
Pr. 22:4
Pr. 23:17
Acts 9:31
2 Cor. 5:10-12
Now, as before, write out what the fear of the Lord is. Why is it the beginning of wisdom? How should it affect a normal day?
Lastly, write out what the fear of the Lord may look like as:
1/You go to Starbucks and its crowded,
2/You take a walk during a cool evening, &
3/You visit the dentist
I hope your day is filled with wisdom.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Psst.
I hate some of the things I’ve done in life; I just hate them. I’ve done stupid things, selfish ones, malicious things, and greedy ones. And so have you. I have proof. Proof which will blow your cover for good and, with what you’ve done, you’ll never be able to live it down, publicly recover, or ever be able to pretend to have a flawless past, unbesmirched of your own shameful deeds.
You are exposed. We all know what you’ve done.
What’s your internal reaction to this? If you had none, imagine this scenario:
You are at a family wedding - your own. The ceremony is over and you’re at your special table in the reception hall filled with your life’s most significant people. You are content and overjoyed, awash in the elation of the day and its company. Your jokes are funny, all the food good, the music - either comical or fitting - transitions the night perfectly and, for the briefest of moments you toy with the thought that you may be experiencing a crumb from heaven’s table. “Feel this,” you tell yourself, “Ponder it in your heart and treasure it there like a gold-banded tribute to the joy of this new bond. Remember this.” Your eyes are closed in contented rapture and your smile, impossible to hide.
Your phone buzzes, alerting you of a text, “I know all of it that you’ve done. Every shameful thing in life your responsible for doing and the whole room is about to be let it on it and find out how bad you can get, deep down.” As you read in shock, the author approaches the toasting mic with drink in hand. There’s no time. He starts to speak.
Now, what is your reaction? Try to put yourself in these shoes, to feel your stomach fall out, straight to the bottom. What is your reaction to the room hearing how dark you can be, deep down.
If the first reaction is panic, mine too. But whatever your first reaction would be to the exposure of your worst thoughts and deeds to your most significant people, what does it tell you?
- Does it show you secretly feel a need for others to affirm you for you to feel worth something?
- Does it show that you know the value of a good reputation and hate to lose it?
- Does it mean that you know that, regardless of how you feel about these things, you anticipate a lot of headache?
- A combination of the above?
Think about that for a moment, maybe all day. What does this tell you about yourself? Also, what does the gospel have to say to both the situation and your reaction?
Let me suggest one perspective on the way the gospel works in situations like this. My discipler in college is and was an itinerant speaker. At one conference, a somewhat corrosive young man approached him and asked, “I have it on good authority that you’ve done these bad things (listed them) in your past and I’m prepared to tell this entire room (of 400 people). What are you going to do about it?” Without a moment’s pause he approached the microphone and got the room’s attention, “Excuse me, excuse me everyone. This man here is prepared to tell you some bad things I’ve done. I’m going to give him the microphone and, when he’s finished, I’ll take it bad and fill in any he left out.” With that, he offered the floor to his accuser. Refusing, the man whispered, “You’re crazy!” My discipler, with stampede in his eyes, responded, “No! I’m free. I’m free and I won’t be blackmailed by sin.”
Resolve in your heart that you won’t, either. But, to make it more than just a hopeful wish, think back again to your past sins being exposed for all to see and ask yourself, “What does the gospel have to say to this?” It’s one of the best questions you’ll encounter.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
The Limited
I got to sit in on the filming of some promotional videos featuring our LIVE speakers. Now I know why the attendees from those conferences have such good things to say about them; Deb Bell’s second session was Oswald Chambers-esque. She responded to a question about coping with the homeschooled highschooler who feels like she’s missing out on the life in a traditional school setting. Deb shared a story from her own family which she prefaced with (something like) this, “You know, we often think of God’s blessings coming through the opportunities He opens up, but we need to help our kids see that sometimes, it’s the limitations which are the greatest gifts.” Just so you got it: Not always the successes, but also the limitations.
We watched a satirical biography in church a few months ago about a Christian named Kevin who is always happy as life always works out for him. For instance, though he lost his keys, in looking for them, he found a couple hundred dollars in the couch (and the keys, too). When times were tough at work, he not only kept his job but got a promotion. Kevin’s clouds are so silver-lined that he regularly has to polish them. The point of the video was that the Christian life isn’t always one of immediate blessing, that sometimes we don’t even see how things work out for the good and it is disingenuous to portray the Christian life as if we did.
I discussed that video with a friend this past Sunday. We affirmed that it would be wrong to deny the reality of prolonged aches and unanswered problems, but that it’s quite true that everything does work out for the good (cf. Rom. 8:28-30) - and we are the chief examples of this. We couldn’t have gotten into worse situations than to fall away from God and live in rebellion against Him, yet, here we are, bound for heaven and, ultimately, worked out for the good. I saw an image online today which said, “Everything works out in the end. If everything isn’t worked out, this isn’t the end.” It gives me hope that when my life includes a limitation or a loss, God may have the object of future thanks waiting within them.
I want you to read a prayer which was in my devotion yesterday. I say read it only because it’s quite a daunting series of requests and I’d hate for you to ask God for this sort of treatment without thinking about it. Nonetheless, it touches on powerful ways God uses even the worst things we can see, the worst things we can be, for the good of those who love Him. Pray it if you dare.
O persistent God,
deliver me from assuming your mercy is gentle.
Pressure me that I may grow more human,
not through the lessening of my struggles,
but through an expansion of them....
Deepen my hurt
until I learn to share it and myself openly,
and my needs honestly.
Sharpen my fears until I name them
and release the power I have locked in them and they in me.
Accentuate my confusion
until I shed those grandiose expectations
that divert me from the small, glad gifts
of the now and the here and the me.
Expose my shame where it shivers,
crouched behind the curtains of propriety,
until I can laugh at last
through my common frailties and failures,
laugh my way to becoming whole.
- Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Middle Children
I always have great conversations with my college friend, Curt. One weekend, as we were taking a small road trip, he said this, "I feel like I was born in the middle. Like everything got started without me ever having time to get ready." For instance: he never chose to be an American or in the 21st century; have blue eyes or be the baby of the family; to be artistic or left-handed. For him, it's like he has been dropped into a play and handed lines, but never got to choose the role and let alone have any idea what is going on in the story. Against his analytical and engineering inclination, he was never allowed to figure anything out in time to be fully ready for life
Curt's situation is our situation and in the middle of doing our best to learn, to know, to make the wisest decisions we can, life hurtles at us - past us - completely unconcerned with our readiness. Here it is - caught in the middle, as it were - that we find ourselves at almost every parcel of life. We can't figure everything out and we cannot safeguard every decision from failure... or pain.
And I must think that this is how some of the disciples felt the day after Jesus died on the cross, when He was dead and buried along with all of their hopes and dreams and faith.
"He was supposed to lead Israel."
"He should have called down fire from the sky or angels from the heavens."
"He was just getting going; getting a following; becoming important and powerful! If only this hadn't happened. He was just in the middle of becoming king!"
These may have been some of these discouraged thoughts swirling down through a disciple as the last drop of hope left him and his plans dried up in the drain. And if the plans of those disciples had been the ultimate ones, our hopes would have gone down the tubes with his.
Life comes at us and interrupts us, right in the middle of those very things we are getting towards finishing; those things which mattered most. And it is here, immediately in this complaint, that we must notice a contradiction - we cannot have it both ways: either we can bemoan that, much against good manners, Life comes and disturbs our interests and projects OR we've come in the middle of something else, someone's project, and interrupted the interest of another. The contradiction is not that both are interruptions, but that there cannot be both a Master story (into which we're dropped) AND that our own personal story is the Master. One must override the other.
The huge consequence of my own story not be the Master story of my life is this: if I'm in the middle of someone else's story, and that Someone Else dropped me here and is working on plot and character development, then this changes the weight of everything. If my plans and efforts start to fail, for instance, this is a plot twist, not a tragedy. If loss or glory comes my way, this isn't ultimate defeat or triumph, but Him making the story more interesting
The questions all of us humans must face are:
1. I know I'm a character, but is there an author?
2. If there is, can I trust Him?
3. If I can trust Him, how does that affect the way I see what happens to me?
Curt is right, this does feel very much like we've been dropped in the middle of something else which was going on, so what does that mean for us? Well, what say you? Answer these questions (in your journal, perhaps) and think about how this changes things or leaves them the same.
Curt's situation is our situation and in the middle of doing our best to learn, to know, to make the wisest decisions we can, life hurtles at us - past us - completely unconcerned with our readiness. Here it is - caught in the middle, as it were - that we find ourselves at almost every parcel of life. We can't figure everything out and we cannot safeguard every decision from failure... or pain.
And I must think that this is how some of the disciples felt the day after Jesus died on the cross, when He was dead and buried along with all of their hopes and dreams and faith.
"He was supposed to lead Israel."
"He should have called down fire from the sky or angels from the heavens."
"He was just getting going; getting a following; becoming important and powerful! If only this hadn't happened. He was just in the middle of becoming king!"
These may have been some of these discouraged thoughts swirling down through a disciple as the last drop of hope left him and his plans dried up in the drain. And if the plans of those disciples had been the ultimate ones, our hopes would have gone down the tubes with his.
Life comes at us and interrupts us, right in the middle of those very things we are getting towards finishing; those things which mattered most. And it is here, immediately in this complaint, that we must notice a contradiction - we cannot have it both ways: either we can bemoan that, much against good manners, Life comes and disturbs our interests and projects OR we've come in the middle of something else, someone's project, and interrupted the interest of another. The contradiction is not that both are interruptions, but that there cannot be both a Master story (into which we're dropped) AND that our own personal story is the Master. One must override the other.
The huge consequence of my own story not be the Master story of my life is this: if I'm in the middle of someone else's story, and that Someone Else dropped me here and is working on plot and character development, then this changes the weight of everything. If my plans and efforts start to fail, for instance, this is a plot twist, not a tragedy. If loss or glory comes my way, this isn't ultimate defeat or triumph, but Him making the story more interesting
The questions all of us humans must face are:
1. I know I'm a character, but is there an author?
2. If there is, can I trust Him?
3. If I can trust Him, how does that affect the way I see what happens to me?
Curt is right, this does feel very much like we've been dropped in the middle of something else which was going on, so what does that mean for us? Well, what say you? Answer these questions (in your journal, perhaps) and think about how this changes things or leaves them the same.
Friday, May 21, 2010
I Was Listening 'Cause I Wanted To
I went to a Switchfoot concert last night. Switchfoot, if you don’t know, is one of the bigger acts on the Christian music scene today. Though they’ve been around for a while (over a decade), their popularity and notoriety leapt up with their album The Beautiful Letdown with national radio hits like “Dare You to Move,” a song about seizing life while you can.
The night was beautiful; the crowd, small but lively; and the pairing, perfect - (1) a mixed audience of racing fans (did I mention NASCAR put this event on?), youth groups, and sundry wanderers in with (2) Switchfoot’s hopeful, carpe diem emphasized lyrics and California-flavored rock. Who knows who was in the crowd. What made this potential oil-and-water emulsion so perfect was how the lead singer (Jon Foreman) would introduce his songs as “this is one about grace” or “this is a song about freedom.”
The introductions matched the lyrics; here are some of the themes of their songs:
- Life is more than (fill in the blank). Life is still worth living.
- I’m standing on the edge of everything I’ve never been before. I’m on fire when He’s near me.
- I’ve made a mess of me, I wanna get back the rest of me, I made a mess of me, I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
- (I want) More than fine, more than bent on getting by, more than just OK.
- This is your life, are you who you want to be?
What made this such a great mixture was not just that he’s speaking to Americans who hear of freedom often, it was that he started in with universal virtues and agreed upon goods. We all know we need forgiveness at times, we all want to be free, we all care about love. We all agreed with him that those things were important. So when Foreman and the band came out as a high-energy group, when they made jokes and had a ready laugh, when they seemed unafraid and free, we felt comfortable with them and welcome. We all agreed with Foreman’s starting points (love, freedom, etc.) and we wanted to be there with the band and, what happened?
We all listened to what they had to say.
And, in this, I take note of two things:
(i) People enjoy being around those who enjoy living; it’s a necessary condition. You can still enjoy life and people not prefer your company, but you’ll never have an invitation because of your demeanor if it is a constantly glum one, devoid of hope, and too serious to laugh.
(ii) Today we still are willing to talk about universal themes (like beauty or sacrifice) and those are great things to highlight in our conversations. What Switchfoot tried to do from a stage I can do over a fence or across a table. I can hold out things that are good and, if appropriate in that conversation, move to important other things which are related.
One of my favorite speakers is Ravi Zacharias. He gave a talk at a UN meeting a few years back and discussed four needs we all find in life, the need for justice, for forgiveness, for love, and for the good. As he talked, he referenced common experiences and compelling stories from the international scene. And then he closed with this picture: that the only place in all of history where we find these four needs intersecting is the Cross of Jesus Christ. The response was phenomenal. He could have approached the talk differently, but I’m not convinced it would have been any more effective.
So, today and for some of your tomorrows, I’ve got two things for you:
(A) Listen to what you hear discussed around you. People are talking about beauty, justice, love, family, mercy, and power everyday. How comfortable do you feel in talking with them about those things and letting the conversation go to God?
(B) Are you enjoying the life you have been given? I’m pretty sure that there are enough things to cause thankfulness for all of us to at least produce a meek smile, if not more. If life seems hopeless today, if it seems that gray clouds don’t come with silver linings anymore, stop. Reflect. And be thankful.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Secret: Part 2
When secrets come up, there is the aspect of them that we’re on the outside of something important. There’s also something about finding “the secret” which portends to drive into the very essence of something. Consider how often we use this idea:
“What’s the secret to having a good marriage?”
“You have such a great way at responding to that person! What’s your secret?”
“If you buy my book, I’ll share with you the secret to my success in business.”
“The secret” in each of the above (and like situations) is the key to unlocking what each one is really about. The sermon series mentioned yesterday aims at exactly the same idea: what is the key to getting at being a Christian? I’d like to consider the following 3 thoughts 3 different people have shared with me in the last year:
THOUGHT 1: My philosophy professor
I took a class on the relationship between God + time this Spring. It was fantastic and terribly difficult. One day, as was pertinent, the professor stopped and said something I remember more than anything else we discussed, “The most important thing in your life is this: Friendship with God. Concern yourself with that and you’ll find yourself addressing everything else of importance.”
THOUGHT 2: My friend on the night before his wedding
We had gathered around the fire towards the end of the bachelor party the night before Sam (not his actual name) was to pack away bachelorhood forever. We kidnapped Sam from the rehearsal dinner (much to the bride’s dismay) and sped from the parking lot with him in the trunk. Though we stopped and let him out, he remained blindfolded until we arrived at the abandoned house by the river owned by his soon-to-be in-laws. There we put him through grueling tests symbolizing his journey towards marriage and the sort of man he’d need to be to lead his family. We got muddy. He was exhausted at the end and almost threw up a few times. His gauntlet ended with a fantastic prize he’ll treasure for life and we celebrated around the fire. On the ride home, he said, “That was perfect.”
As we sat there, the conversation moved from frivolity and jesting to the sharing of marital advice from the married. Sam then stood up and shared his hopes for the decades he and his family would have. In the middle, he said this, “Most of us grew up hearing that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. The people I’ve heard it the loudest from, though, are probably the worst friends to God. If that’s how they treat their friends, they are terrible friends.” He went on to talk about the sort of love he hoped to embody towards God and his wife. What he said sticks with me though and it raises a poignant question: If we treated our friends like we treat God, how long would we keep them? What sort of friend would we be?
THOUGHT 3: Eugene Peterson
Many of you know this name because of The Message, a stylistic rendering of the biblical text in contemporary language (though it’s not a translation - even the preface affirms this). Nonetheless, Peterson is a prolific and gifted writer. In a book of essays on the life of Jeremiah (“Run with the Horses”), he says this,
“A relationship with God is not something added on after we complete our basic growth, it is the essential core of that growth. Take that core out, and there is no humanity at all but only a husk, the appearance, but no the substance, of the human.”
The Secret to Life = Friendship with God
How good of a friend are you being to Him?
Think on these things.
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Secret: Part 1
I went to a different church on Sunday which is starting a new series called ‘The Secret.’ As you may have guessed, it is a play on the book which got some notable popularity a few years back, but the name (and graphics of the title) is the end of the similarity. Whereas the book declares that the secret of living the life of your dreams is “the law of attraction” which allows you to draw the things you want to yourself by believing you’ll get them (which is a load of hooey - but that would require another post(s) to demonstrate), his series is getting at the core of living the Christian life. Today and tomorrow, we are going to look at this concept.
The first look we’ll take is an aerial view of secrecy because something struck me as fascinating. If someone came to us and said, “Hey, in this envelope, I’ve got the SECRET to impressing your boss and never failing at work. In this one, I’ve got the SECRET to finding love and living every day in it. And this last one has something you’re really going to like, it’s the SECRET to getting personal messages from God on a daily basis.” How eager would we be to open those? Don’t we want to be in a vibrant love daily, to never fail at work, to talk to God daily? If there’s a secret, we want to know it.
But there’s something funny about all of this. Implicitly nested in these desires to open the envelopes is a suspicion of a really important conversation we’ve been left out of. Not only that, when the desire to know really rises powerfully, it seems that we are just one secret away from living the life we should be. If only we could know it! And deep inside this cry are two truths and a lie:
1. There is something wrong and life is supposed to be better than this (truth)
2. The something wrong is fixable, but the answer is outside of us (truth)
3. If someone would just tell us, it would all be better (lie)
The two truths are worth camping on briefly. These are two things which are universally believed and which, in one way or another, constitute what it means to hope. Hope is faith applied to the future about a present situation which could be better; it is this aspect which should be defining for us. We still grieve, but as those who have hope (1 Thess. 4:13). We suffer, but know that hope isn’t eradicated in its midst (cf. Rom. 8:28-30). We even rejoice in hope (Rom. 5:2). It is hope (the recognition that things are not best, but that they can be) which is implicit in every secret, but where do we find the lie and should we expunge it?
The pastor leading the series posted this as his Facebook status a day or two ago, “Taking spiritual shortcuts makes your journey longer than it needs to be.” The lie which sometimes exists in our view of “the secret to this or that” is the expectation of a silver bullet or magic pill - that the hard part is finding the secret, not living it. And when one turns to the Bible, we find that this sort of view of the secret to life is a broad, easy, and wide road, while the way Jesus walked and the road He carved is narrow and hard. There is a secret out there and it is the answer to what’s wrong with life, but it would be a mistake to think it to be a quick fix.
So, what do you think this secret is? If it’s not a “quick fix,” why not? How is the secret applied if not quickly?
Friday, May 7, 2010
May 7: The Prayers of the Saints
I want to share with you something which I've found to be of inestimable worth in my own walk with the Lord, a little book of prayers called "The Valley of Vision." It is a collection of prayers from different saints from that era, mostly pastors, and is divided up somewhat categorically. The richness of the prayers of these men is wonderfully encouraging and arresting when I think about my own devotional life and level of conviction about the same topics these believers discuss when they come before the throne. After your Bible reading this morning, read the prayer below. I hope you enjoy it as well.
"The Servant in Battle"
O Lord,
I bless thee that the issue of the battle
between thyself and Satan
has never been uncertain,
and will end in victory.
Calvary broke the dragon's head,
and I contend with a vanquished foe,
who with all his subtlety and strength
has already been overcome.
When I feel the serpent at my heel
may I remember him whose heel was bruised,
but who, when bruised, broke the devil's head.
My soul with inward joy extols
the mighty conqueror.
Heal me of any wounds received in the great conflict;
if I have gathered defilement,
if my faith has suffered damage,
if my hope is less than bright,
if my love is not fervent,
if some creature-comfort occupies my heart,
if my soul sinks under pressure of the fight.
O thou whose every promise is balm,
every touch life,
draw near to thy weary warrior,
refresh me, that I may rise again
to wage the strife,
and never tire until my enemy is trodden down.
Give me such fellowship with thee
that I may defy Satan,
unbelief, the flesh, the world,
with delight that comes not from a creature,
and which a creature cannot mar.
Give me a draught of the eternal foundtain that lieth in thy immutable, everlasting love and decree.
Then shall my hand never weaken,
my feet never stumble,
my sword never rest,
my shield never rust,
my helmet never shatter,
my breastplate never fall,
as my strength rests in the power of thy might.
Amen.
Friday, April 30, 2010
30 April: Assignment 1
Any introduction into Bible study will tell you there are 3 basic stages: Observation, Interpretation, and Application. This weekend in these devotions, we are going to spend a little time in putting these into practice. Today, read through Genesis 48-50 and write down 5-10 observations about ch. 50. Do this and you're done for the day.
Now, suppose this is someone's first time doing observation, what would he do (let's call him Josh)? Let's also suppose, for sake of example, that he wants to draw some observations from Ps. 39. First Josh would read the Psalm (and, because it's short and amazing, he'll read it a few times). Next, Josh will write down a few things he notices. His list may start out looking something like this:
1. The author starts with a decision to be silent.
2. The opening verses each have a certain, 3-phrase format.
3. The closing verses don't.
His list can also include questions which he hopes further study to address:
4. Why is there an interplay of silence and speaking?
5. What significance does the 3-phrase format have?
But also notice what sorts of things do not make the list; questions or assertions which would belong in one of the other two categories. For instance, Josh is not trying to make sense of what he's seeing in Ps. 39 (that's for interpretation) nor is he wondering if this Psalm is telling him that he needs to be silent (that's for application). He only notes what he sees and what interests him and that's exactly what you should do in today's assignment to have 5-10 observations from Genesis 50. Just read that chapter (more than once if you have time) and write down what you see. You'll use this list for Saturday's lesson.
Happy seeing.
Now, suppose this is someone's first time doing observation, what would he do (let's call him Josh)? Let's also suppose, for sake of example, that he wants to draw some observations from Ps. 39. First Josh would read the Psalm (and, because it's short and amazing, he'll read it a few times). Next, Josh will write down a few things he notices. His list may start out looking something like this:
1. The author starts with a decision to be silent.
2. The opening verses each have a certain, 3-phrase format.
3. The closing verses don't.
His list can also include questions which he hopes further study to address:
4. Why is there an interplay of silence and speaking?
5. What significance does the 3-phrase format have?
But also notice what sorts of things do not make the list; questions or assertions which would belong in one of the other two categories. For instance, Josh is not trying to make sense of what he's seeing in Ps. 39 (that's for interpretation) nor is he wondering if this Psalm is telling him that he needs to be silent (that's for application). He only notes what he sees and what interests him and that's exactly what you should do in today's assignment to have 5-10 observations from Genesis 50. Just read that chapter (more than once if you have time) and write down what you see. You'll use this list for Saturday's lesson.
Happy seeing.
Friday, April 23, 2010
April 23: Home and the Heart
I have been to about 10 conferences since I started working for Apologia (most of them last year). I have set up hundreds of books, described notebooking journals again and again, and downed gallons of coffee. It wasn’t until this weekend that I have been invited to someone’s home (multiple homes, actually). I don’t begrudge any past conference planners or the locals for not extending invitations; we were there on business, had hotel rooms and meals - we obviously were not in want. It just struck me how beautiful hospitality can be.
Hospitality, it seems, is not just opening up your house; hotels and restaurants do this and we don’t think them more virtuous for doing so. Hospitality is opening up the home, where you live and what’s close to you; in a sense, it’s opening up yourself to others. But it’s not self-disclosure or being friendly (if it were, we wouldn’t have much use for the word ‘hospitality’); it’s something more, it’s inviting someone to be with you in an atmosphere warm and comfortable because you’ve lived there.
Hospitality is an invitation into your peace. Think about it for a moment, if you go over to a home with subtle or overt tension between children and parents (or husband and wife), there’s no place for you to sit, and the dog keeps growling at you - do you walk away from this experience thinking you’ve just tasted premier hospitality? Doubtful; we know it’s something better than that. Hospitality is a warmth which welcomes YOU, this points to another one of its aspects, attentiveness.
All of the great hosts I’ve ever had always took especially good care of me. They welcomed me, fed me, talked with me, and made sure I was never inconvenienced. I got a good seat, a full glass, a thick slice of cake, and God was thanked because I had come over. I was receiving special honor as the guest and I sure knew it. I remember being in a homeschooling house a few years ago and seeing one of the most beautiful moments of parenting as the mom called her girls into a schoolroom and talked to them about how to be gracious to guests. I don’t recall her specific instructions, but the theme was inescapable: hospitality is about serving and giving. Though this sums up more than just hospitality, one cannot be hospitable without it.
Eugene Peterson talks about giving as he recalls seeing a pair of adult birds feeding their chicks for hours. At one point, they decided mealtime had ended and it was time to fly. One by one the little birds were muscled off the limb, left hurtling to the ground until, in some frantic, mid-air epiphany, they began flapping their wings and stopped their crash. He writes, “Some of us try desperately to hold on to ourselves, to live for ourselves. We look so bedraggled and pathetic doing it, hanging on to the dead branch . . . for dear life, afraid to risk ourselves on the untried wings of giving. We don’t think we can live generously because we have never tried. But the sooner we start the better, for we are going to have to give up our lives finally, and the longer we wait the less time we have for the soaring.”
We had dinner one night with the family who planned the conference. Before we left, the hostess made sure we understood that her door and family were as open to us as if they were our own. We had no need for loneliness; family was close. It is in this aspect, the availability of an inviting family, that allows us to be hospitable people, regardless of whether we are home, working a conference booth, getting mail from the mailbox, or anywhere we go. More than anything else, it is a perspective which asks, “How can I serve you, give to you, so that you know you are welcome? How can I do good by you? How can I share the peace I have with you, so that you are blessed?” If home is where the heart is, then the quality of the home comes from the health and attitude of the heart. When people meet you and talk with you today, will they know that you count it an honor to have gotten to spend some time with them? Will they feel welcomed into your day, your life? They should.
Read these Scriptures (John 14:1-4; Phil. 2:1-5; Heb. 12:1-2). Then, in your journal, articulate a Bible-based view of hospitality. Then answer the question, “Do I do this?”
Friday, April 16, 2010
April 16: Superheroes
I grew up reading comic books. I can still remember being introduced to them by my childhood friend, Ken, and discovering this imaginative world of people who stood out from the populace because of unusual powers and insights. It never crossed my mind that the trade off for this life was an inescapable wardrobe of spandex; they could fly, shoot things out of their eyes, lift oil tankers and look cool doing it. These heroes seemed other worldly (sometimes they were), even to the other characters. They were better than the world they protected and it did not deserve them, whether or not it knew or acted like it.
More than half of my time of leafing through comics was to learn from the artists on how they drew my heroes. I would spend hours sitting cross-legged at the coffee table trying to improve my renderings of human proportions so that these sketches would look slightly believable. Sometimes I would erase holes through the paper trying to get certain lines just right. There were a lot of failures.
Recently, a cousin of mine asked me to draw her a picture of Batman (which I’ll post on my other blog if I ever do). After a little casual research, I found out that one of my favorite artists from childhood had actually drawn a few issues and that my local library would let me check those out. I read them all today on my travels and found something I had not really expected: great writing. I don’t think I’ve ever turned pages with such eagerness. The art was still phenomenal, but so was the plot. What I missed all through my youth now was inescapable: the heroes on my five-year-old pajamas and lunch pails suffered silently and greatly to be who we loved them to be. What strikes me now is how clearly comic book writers identify this trial intimately with heroism. Part of humanity is that greatness will cost you - our heroes most of all (cf. Luke 12:48; 22:24-27; John 12:24).
The Bible has a significant place for the rewards and praises which God bestows on men. Though not an inspired title, “The Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 shows us some of the greatest displays of valor, honor, and faith. Each person there receives his or her acclaim because of belief in God, no matter what he or she had to suffer and give to do so. The hall closes when the author says he lacks the space for a full treatment of the subject and hastens to cover his ground by just listing their trials. In his final phrases, he describes them as those “of whom the world is not worthy” (v. 38); for whom only heaven is the appropriate place (cf. v. 40). If this world does not deserve them, they must be a gift to it, but of what sort?
I still have a certain, nostalgic fondness surface every time I pass the comic book store up the road from my house. I still occasionally visit that world of the imaginary and delight in the artistic presentation of great feats I could never do. But two-dimensional heroes hold the attention for only so long. They are good anecdotes and illustrations, but they eventually become hollow - I want flesh and blood to show me a heroism a man can reach. That’s why I appreciate the Bible; that’s why I appreciate getting to know the people I do - because what I see there are benchmarks of nobility made by men. Not only that, it’s a nobility that I just might be able to reach because of the God I know. These are the heroes, more than the masked ones, worth knowing.
Journal: Who inspires you? Write out a few people and why they do.
More than half of my time of leafing through comics was to learn from the artists on how they drew my heroes. I would spend hours sitting cross-legged at the coffee table trying to improve my renderings of human proportions so that these sketches would look slightly believable. Sometimes I would erase holes through the paper trying to get certain lines just right. There were a lot of failures.
Recently, a cousin of mine asked me to draw her a picture of Batman (which I’ll post on my other blog if I ever do). After a little casual research, I found out that one of my favorite artists from childhood had actually drawn a few issues and that my local library would let me check those out. I read them all today on my travels and found something I had not really expected: great writing. I don’t think I’ve ever turned pages with such eagerness. The art was still phenomenal, but so was the plot. What I missed all through my youth now was inescapable: the heroes on my five-year-old pajamas and lunch pails suffered silently and greatly to be who we loved them to be. What strikes me now is how clearly comic book writers identify this trial intimately with heroism. Part of humanity is that greatness will cost you - our heroes most of all (cf. Luke 12:48; 22:24-27; John 12:24).
The Bible has a significant place for the rewards and praises which God bestows on men. Though not an inspired title, “The Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 shows us some of the greatest displays of valor, honor, and faith. Each person there receives his or her acclaim because of belief in God, no matter what he or she had to suffer and give to do so. The hall closes when the author says he lacks the space for a full treatment of the subject and hastens to cover his ground by just listing their trials. In his final phrases, he describes them as those “of whom the world is not worthy” (v. 38); for whom only heaven is the appropriate place (cf. v. 40). If this world does not deserve them, they must be a gift to it, but of what sort?
I still have a certain, nostalgic fondness surface every time I pass the comic book store up the road from my house. I still occasionally visit that world of the imaginary and delight in the artistic presentation of great feats I could never do. But two-dimensional heroes hold the attention for only so long. They are good anecdotes and illustrations, but they eventually become hollow - I want flesh and blood to show me a heroism a man can reach. That’s why I appreciate the Bible; that’s why I appreciate getting to know the people I do - because what I see there are benchmarks of nobility made by men. Not only that, it’s a nobility that I just might be able to reach because of the God I know. These are the heroes, more than the masked ones, worth knowing.
Journal: Who inspires you? Write out a few people and why they do.
Friday, April 9, 2010
April 9: Why Bother?
We were rounding up our last night of review for Senior Seminar (our exit exams for grad school)when Jim asked a question a lot of us sometimes think about certain doctrines. “I understand why the school believes in its position on End Times prophecy, but what is the use in getting into all of those details? I mean, if we believe that Jesus is coming back and God making everything perfect in the end (i.e., New Heavens and New Earth), why do we need to get into to the rest of it since it causes such division and seems to have little bearing on our daily life?”
Before you read on, write out your own answer to the questions Jim raised: What should be done about a doctrine which serves as the basis for so much disagreement?
My professor, an insightful, old Messianic Jewish man responded in a fantastic way,
“Your point is well-taken. Your point is well-taken. First, I would say this: It’s there, so we have to climb it. We can’t do anything about it being there except recognize that God inspired a tough topic to be in the Bible, but we can try to understand and deal with it.
“Next, all of the times the New Testament mentions End Times, it does so in connection with a practical application, so this should not be a concern.
“Last, sometimes it seems that we can achieve godliness if we stay away from doctrines (like this one), but I think you’ll find that the closer you get into seeking out the truth, the more you’ll find it helping your closeness with God. Jacob didn’t wrestle with God at a distance (but up close) and saw God’s face because of it.”
I would add, too, that truth is a worthy pursuit regardless of its practical application. Also, if unity is something we seek, we should note that people unify AROUND something. If we do not do it around truth, what do we use? Silent agreement that certain topics ought not be discussed? I don’t think that is the sort of unity Jim had in mind when he asked his question.
What I find sometimes in my own study is a tendency to skip over what I don’t know or understand when I’m reading my Bible. My reading may raise a question in my mind, but I keep on, after all, I need to finish my reading for the day. In the process, I do complete my reading goal for the day, but if I never go back to chase some of those questions, I miss out on chances to grow in their investigation.
So, how about you? When’s the last time you studied something you didn’t understand about your faith? When is the next time you will? In your journal, write out a prayer to the Lord. Pray to Him about what you want out of your time in the Bible and ask Him to teach you through it. (this next part is optional) Ask Him to show you something to study which causes you to dig into His Word to find the answer. Write out a few ideas of things to study (if you are not currently chasing down something) and pick a date when you’ll start on one.
Get ready for the chase. It will be good.
Before you read on, write out your own answer to the questions Jim raised: What should be done about a doctrine which serves as the basis for so much disagreement?
My professor, an insightful, old Messianic Jewish man responded in a fantastic way,
“Your point is well-taken. Your point is well-taken. First, I would say this: It’s there, so we have to climb it. We can’t do anything about it being there except recognize that God inspired a tough topic to be in the Bible, but we can try to understand and deal with it.
“Next, all of the times the New Testament mentions End Times, it does so in connection with a practical application, so this should not be a concern.
“Last, sometimes it seems that we can achieve godliness if we stay away from doctrines (like this one), but I think you’ll find that the closer you get into seeking out the truth, the more you’ll find it helping your closeness with God. Jacob didn’t wrestle with God at a distance (but up close) and saw God’s face because of it.”
I would add, too, that truth is a worthy pursuit regardless of its practical application. Also, if unity is something we seek, we should note that people unify AROUND something. If we do not do it around truth, what do we use? Silent agreement that certain topics ought not be discussed? I don’t think that is the sort of unity Jim had in mind when he asked his question.
What I find sometimes in my own study is a tendency to skip over what I don’t know or understand when I’m reading my Bible. My reading may raise a question in my mind, but I keep on, after all, I need to finish my reading for the day. In the process, I do complete my reading goal for the day, but if I never go back to chase some of those questions, I miss out on chances to grow in their investigation.
So, how about you? When’s the last time you studied something you didn’t understand about your faith? When is the next time you will? In your journal, write out a prayer to the Lord. Pray to Him about what you want out of your time in the Bible and ask Him to teach you through it. (this next part is optional) Ask Him to show you something to study which causes you to dig into His Word to find the answer. Write out a few ideas of things to study (if you are not currently chasing down something) and pick a date when you’ll start on one.
Get ready for the chase. It will be good.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
March 26: A Considerate Slap in the Face
Maybe you’ve known this sort of thing for years; taught it in Sunday school; learned it your first year of being one of God’s children. I just realized it in last Fall. One bright morning, I woke and began my morning routine in typical fashion. I kept industrious pace; I made coffee. As the day began to gear up, though, I couldn’t shake a mounting anxiety about something in my life. It was some recurring worry which, though I might lose it through busyness or remembering why I had no reason for concern, it never seemed to weary of the pursuit and would rise with the sun each day, seemingly better rested than I.
That revelational morning, I asked the Lord for help; for wisdom in the upcoming situation; for sanity. I expected a reminder of calming truths or a peace which would prevail on my day’s outlook. Instead what I got was conviction for lack of humility. I would have laughed if only I weren’t so shocked. When I expected a reassuring hand on the shoulder, I got one across the jaw.
Conviction properly set in because I was not trusting God. Sometimes we forget this is a part of worry when it overtakes us but, when we look back, we see how ridiculous we looked when we thought that God needed our help in a situation or that He might be unaware of what was going on in His universe (cf. Job 38-42). We can’t see that He runs this place, but what we also are missing is how much He loves us. Remember the cross? Remember the blessings which shower you every day? Remember the community into which He has adopted you? Remember that He has forgiven you of the sin which defined you?
Perhaps when you read the description of conviction as an open hand across the cheek, it seemed a little harsh. Perhaps it sounded like the sort of thing which would follow an exclamation, “You ingrate! After all I’ve done for you! You should be ashamed!” I don’t think conviction is like that (though it rightly could be). Instead, it’s more like waking someone back to sanity from a nightmarish world; one in which God isn’t controlling everything and all things don’t work out for the good of those who love Him. In anxiety, we sometimes have to be shaken back to reality before it helps us; we have to remember His grandeur before it brings us any comfort. Sometimes subtle and gentle things restore us to a right view; other times it takes a shock. Whatever it takes, I’m always glad to be back home.
Thank God for rude awakenings.
Putting it to Paper:
Consider a past situation that caused you worry and no longer does. Go back a couple of years. Think on your worries and how you would have changed things in that situation if God had dropped everything in your lap to rule for a moment. What would you have done?
Now think about how that situation was resolved. Did the situation resolve just as you hoped? In the way and time? How can you see God at work in the way it was resolved?
That revelational morning, I asked the Lord for help; for wisdom in the upcoming situation; for sanity. I expected a reminder of calming truths or a peace which would prevail on my day’s outlook. Instead what I got was conviction for lack of humility. I would have laughed if only I weren’t so shocked. When I expected a reassuring hand on the shoulder, I got one across the jaw.
Conviction properly set in because I was not trusting God. Sometimes we forget this is a part of worry when it overtakes us but, when we look back, we see how ridiculous we looked when we thought that God needed our help in a situation or that He might be unaware of what was going on in His universe (cf. Job 38-42). We can’t see that He runs this place, but what we also are missing is how much He loves us. Remember the cross? Remember the blessings which shower you every day? Remember the community into which He has adopted you? Remember that He has forgiven you of the sin which defined you?
Perhaps when you read the description of conviction as an open hand across the cheek, it seemed a little harsh. Perhaps it sounded like the sort of thing which would follow an exclamation, “You ingrate! After all I’ve done for you! You should be ashamed!” I don’t think conviction is like that (though it rightly could be). Instead, it’s more like waking someone back to sanity from a nightmarish world; one in which God isn’t controlling everything and all things don’t work out for the good of those who love Him. In anxiety, we sometimes have to be shaken back to reality before it helps us; we have to remember His grandeur before it brings us any comfort. Sometimes subtle and gentle things restore us to a right view; other times it takes a shock. Whatever it takes, I’m always glad to be back home.
Thank God for rude awakenings.
Putting it to Paper:
Consider a past situation that caused you worry and no longer does. Go back a couple of years. Think on your worries and how you would have changed things in that situation if God had dropped everything in your lap to rule for a moment. What would you have done?
Now think about how that situation was resolved. Did the situation resolve just as you hoped? In the way and time? How can you see God at work in the way it was resolved?
March 27:Giving Testimony
I have at least two reasons to believe that Job suffered for my benefit:
1. It is recorded. Paul assures us that ‘whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope’ (Rom. 15:4).
2. The comfort Job received was not only for him, but for us as well (2 Cor. 1:3-8).
So, how does this benefit me? It helps me have hope and I am comforted in who I find God to be because of this one man’s suffering. This isn’t it, however; the hope and comfort are more than we initially think. It seems true to the text that the ‘hope’ in Romans 15 has to do with a sort of personal eschatology - that there is some redemptive ending to whatever presently seems disastrous. This is good, but there’s more: that we can learn from the communication of someone else’s past suffering, though, is also hope-giving. It means that God can use our pain and losses for more than just personal sanctification:
Someone else’s future hope may be buried inside my wounds and tears, awaiting the right time when I unearth and unwrap it to pass on.
My college mentor, keying in on this idea, says, “We suffer for someone else” (cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-8). What Paul (and my mentor) hope we see is that sometimes part of the purpose God has us suffer through Good Friday is to tell them about the surpassing joys of Easter Sunday. The hope we find in Job and other trials in the Bible is not only of future relief, but future service. To put it differently: Not only can we hope that present thirst will be satisfied, we’ll have enough left around to give to another parched soul. Now that’s good news.
What is a story from the Bible which encourages you to endure with hope (other that Jesus’)? Go read that this morning.
1. It is recorded. Paul assures us that ‘whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope’ (Rom. 15:4).
2. The comfort Job received was not only for him, but for us as well (2 Cor. 1:3-8).
So, how does this benefit me? It helps me have hope and I am comforted in who I find God to be because of this one man’s suffering. This isn’t it, however; the hope and comfort are more than we initially think. It seems true to the text that the ‘hope’ in Romans 15 has to do with a sort of personal eschatology - that there is some redemptive ending to whatever presently seems disastrous. This is good, but there’s more: that we can learn from the communication of someone else’s past suffering, though, is also hope-giving. It means that God can use our pain and losses for more than just personal sanctification:
Someone else’s future hope may be buried inside my wounds and tears, awaiting the right time when I unearth and unwrap it to pass on.
My college mentor, keying in on this idea, says, “We suffer for someone else” (cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-8). What Paul (and my mentor) hope we see is that sometimes part of the purpose God has us suffer through Good Friday is to tell them about the surpassing joys of Easter Sunday. The hope we find in Job and other trials in the Bible is not only of future relief, but future service. To put it differently: Not only can we hope that present thirst will be satisfied, we’ll have enough left around to give to another parched soul. Now that’s good news.
What is a story from the Bible which encourages you to endure with hope (other that Jesus’)? Go read that this morning.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
March 19: G.K. Chesterton: Secret thought of Jesus
A favorite philosopher of mine said that trying to quote GK Chesterton only once is like trying to only eat one potato chip - it can't be done. Well, I'm going to try - time will reveal my success. The following quote is the final thing he writes in his most well-known book, "Orthodoxy." We often note new books coming out (which can be good) to the neglect of older, recognized classics (which is not so good). Here's a sampling of this classic. (After you read it, journal a response.)
'Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. And as I close this chaotic volume I open again the strange small book from which all Christianity came; and I am again haunted by a kind of confirmation. The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city. Yet He concealed something.
'Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. Yet He restrained something.
'I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth.'
'Joy, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. And as I close this chaotic volume I open again the strange small book from which all Christianity came; and I am again haunted by a kind of confirmation. The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city. Yet He concealed something.
'Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. Yet He restrained something.
'I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth.'
March 20: Lewis on Praising
You've probably guessed I love CSLewis. I'm somewhat convinced that staying in a CSLewis book on a regular basis should be a spiritual discipline. Maybe I'll write out an apologetic on why I think this, but for now, I'll just pass on some quotes from his essay "A Word on Praising" from his book 'Reflections on the Psalms'. After you read it, journal a response.
'The most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or anything - strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise - lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game-praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars.
'I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least. ... I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: "Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?"
HERE IT IS:
'I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.
'It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with.
'If it were possible for a created soul fully (I mean, up to the full measure conceivable in a finite being) to "appreciate," that is to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme beautitude.'
I rest my case.
'The most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or anything - strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise - lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game-praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars.
'I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least. ... I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: "Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?"
HERE IT IS:
'I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.
'It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with.
'If it were possible for a created soul fully (I mean, up to the full measure conceivable in a finite being) to "appreciate," that is to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme beautitude.'
I rest my case.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Value of Lament?
The Book of Psalms was the hymnal of Israel. These songs were corporate expressions of the people as they collectively went before God. In them we find a host of virtues and the practical endorsement of making beautiful what we offer up to heaven. And lament, we also find lament. It is individually and collectively expressed and happens multiple times. We see Paul and Jesus, two of the Jews we are most encouraged to imitate, sorrowing unto death and so troubled in prayer that sweat poured out like blood. Does this fit with the occasional tendency in among Christians to only express the positive and appear happy?
Even if there was not an ethos discouraging discouraging-expressions, we do not need to leave the Bible for a seeming conflict. We are told to ‘rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice;’ we are even to ‘count it all joy when you go through various trials.’ How can God inspire Psalmists to lament and apostles to encourage unending rejoicing?
No really, stop reading for a moment and think about this. Does that seem at all odd? How can the hymnal contain Psalms which cry in agony with no mention of hope and only the feeling of abandonment? How can this be one of the ways that we can worship Him? AND is the Bible telling us to rejoice always (and never lament) or to do them simultaneously at times? Wrestle with that for a minute... or the rest of the day.
Write out your response and, if you find yourself using a cliche, explain it like the journal is unfamiliar with the phrase. Oh and, just to free you up, you don’t have to have an answer and it doesn’t have to be the right one. You can still be a Christian, promise.
See you tomorrow.
Even if there was not an ethos discouraging discouraging-expressions, we do not need to leave the Bible for a seeming conflict. We are told to ‘rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice;’ we are even to ‘count it all joy when you go through various trials.’ How can God inspire Psalmists to lament and apostles to encourage unending rejoicing?
No really, stop reading for a moment and think about this. Does that seem at all odd? How can the hymnal contain Psalms which cry in agony with no mention of hope and only the feeling of abandonment? How can this be one of the ways that we can worship Him? AND is the Bible telling us to rejoice always (and never lament) or to do them simultaneously at times? Wrestle with that for a minute... or the rest of the day.
Write out your response and, if you find yourself using a cliche, explain it like the journal is unfamiliar with the phrase. Oh and, just to free you up, you don’t have to have an answer and it doesn’t have to be the right one. You can still be a Christian, promise.
See you tomorrow.
March 13: The Value of Lament.
Yesterday we look at sorrow in the book of Psalms; how can that be that God incorporates anguished cries into worship, especially when the Good Book also tells us to rejoice always? Those are actually two questions, first, about how to understand rejoicing always and lamenting:
I suggest that the rejoicing and the lamenting are specific, as in, they are rejoicing ABOUT and lamenting ABOUT something else. For instance, if someone came up to you saying, “I’m so EXCITED!” you might ask, “About what?!” If they responded, “Oh, I don’t know, just excited.” you and I might both think that person a little odd - sorrow and rejoicing are responsive to stimuli. If applying this to our questions from yesterday, we could make sense of the seemingly incompatible by celebrating ‘various trials’ without being glad ABOUT sin (for instance). Simultaneously, we rejoice ABOUT the fact that our Shepherd brings good from the fangs of most ferocious of trials and nothing can ever really be against us. I rejoice in Him, regardless. Also, Jesus and Paul looked ahead towards other things for their joy when suffering, I take this as a good example to follow (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Heb. 12:1-2).
Additionally, I think there are a few blessings which make lament important:
1. It tells the truth that this is not heaven. We will always be happy in heaven, but this isn’t heaven and we shouldn’t expect a life without loss (cf. 2 Cor. 5:1-5).
2. It can expose us to our thinking. It sounds odd, but often we don't really know our thoughts until sharing them with another. I have found much foolishness exposed in just listening to what I’m praying to God.
3. It tells the truth about ourselves. I had a friend confront me my freshman year of college for ‘being fake’ because I was always putting on a happy face. For everything there is a season, even expressing happiness. We are told to rejoice with certain people and weep with others. Lament has its place.
4. It uses the fullness of our experience in worship/prayer to God (brings it all before Him recognizing His sovereignty over it). God wants all of me, not just the parts I think presentable. He sees it anyway. Plus, we miss out on a God-given catalyst for prayer in neglecting lament. After all, who among us cannot relate to Jesus who being in ‘agony prayed more earnestly’ (Lk. 22:44)?
5. It provides healthy catharsis - Sometimes prayer or journaling liberates the emotion from festering in our soul and, because of the privacy of these things, avoids the the sometimes unwise public exposure of our tenderest spots. Elizabeth Elliot is right, “The things that we feel most deeply we ought to learn to be silent about, at least until we have talked them over thoroughly with God.” I think lament can help us get right to that.
So, when it comes to the joys you have or the pains, bring them to God and embrace what He may be doing in you. In fact, I think He'd like to have a word with you right now.
Go enjoy some prayer with Him.
I suggest that the rejoicing and the lamenting are specific, as in, they are rejoicing ABOUT and lamenting ABOUT something else. For instance, if someone came up to you saying, “I’m so EXCITED!” you might ask, “About what?!” If they responded, “Oh, I don’t know, just excited.” you and I might both think that person a little odd - sorrow and rejoicing are responsive to stimuli. If applying this to our questions from yesterday, we could make sense of the seemingly incompatible by celebrating ‘various trials’ without being glad ABOUT sin (for instance). Simultaneously, we rejoice ABOUT the fact that our Shepherd brings good from the fangs of most ferocious of trials and nothing can ever really be against us. I rejoice in Him, regardless. Also, Jesus and Paul looked ahead towards other things for their joy when suffering, I take this as a good example to follow (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Heb. 12:1-2).
Additionally, I think there are a few blessings which make lament important:
1. It tells the truth that this is not heaven. We will always be happy in heaven, but this isn’t heaven and we shouldn’t expect a life without loss (cf. 2 Cor. 5:1-5).
2. It can expose us to our thinking. It sounds odd, but often we don't really know our thoughts until sharing them with another. I have found much foolishness exposed in just listening to what I’m praying to God.
3. It tells the truth about ourselves. I had a friend confront me my freshman year of college for ‘being fake’ because I was always putting on a happy face. For everything there is a season, even expressing happiness. We are told to rejoice with certain people and weep with others. Lament has its place.
4. It uses the fullness of our experience in worship/prayer to God (brings it all before Him recognizing His sovereignty over it). God wants all of me, not just the parts I think presentable. He sees it anyway. Plus, we miss out on a God-given catalyst for prayer in neglecting lament. After all, who among us cannot relate to Jesus who being in ‘agony prayed more earnestly’ (Lk. 22:44)?
5. It provides healthy catharsis - Sometimes prayer or journaling liberates the emotion from festering in our soul and, because of the privacy of these things, avoids the the sometimes unwise public exposure of our tenderest spots. Elizabeth Elliot is right, “The things that we feel most deeply we ought to learn to be silent about, at least until we have talked them over thoroughly with God.” I think lament can help us get right to that.
So, when it comes to the joys you have or the pains, bring them to God and embrace what He may be doing in you. In fact, I think He'd like to have a word with you right now.
Go enjoy some prayer with Him.
Just so you know, Betty White will host SNL.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/arts/television/12arts-WHITETOHOSTS_BRF.html
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
26 February: Prayer as Visioneering
OK, I’ll agree with my spell-check and dictionary.com that “visioneering” is not a word. Marketing and business books use it regardless of this fact. When these books bring up the topic, they try to convey a combination of pioneering with vision; some hopeful anticipation of the future that takes one into uncharted territory. The most successful innovators, it seems, are those who can see potential previously undiscovered or unappreciated and chase that down like no predecessor ever did.
I would like to suggest that, when it comes to prayer for others, we should be doing the same thing. Often prayers rightly deal with present concerns and pressing occasions for praise, but it’s something else altogether when we pray and love someone with hope. Something quite subtle can happen when we reach this point of asking God to do something: we make modest requests. We don’t mean to insult God or be unloving to the person, it’s just that, sometimes, we forget Who we’re talking to and what He’s capable of doing in this person’s life. If our view for God’s grandeur is fuzzy or absent, we forget to come to Him with hope He brings and end up just asking for what might naturally happen anyway. We lose a vision of God and, thus, lose our vision for anyone else.
When it comes to prayer, what we can see provides the occasion for us to approach what we can’t. So, even though it seems unlikely that our relative whom we’ve always known to be angry would ever have a gentle spirit or that AIDS in Africa will ever be curbed, we still approach Our Father with eyes gleaming with hope, unperturbed by whether or not our requests seem likely. Prayer starts by looking downward (on what is before us), but must look forward and upward to be Christian prayer. Prayer is not about the hope which is found in what is seen, but in what heaven could move the present to become.
A quote from CS Lewis’ most famous talk (“The Weight of Glory”) bears repeating:
It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. . . . It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. . . . Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
Visionaries see what others overlook or undervalue and confidently advance to make their hopes embodied. Go and pray likewise.
Assignment: Go and pray likewise.
I would like to suggest that, when it comes to prayer for others, we should be doing the same thing. Often prayers rightly deal with present concerns and pressing occasions for praise, but it’s something else altogether when we pray and love someone with hope. Something quite subtle can happen when we reach this point of asking God to do something: we make modest requests. We don’t mean to insult God or be unloving to the person, it’s just that, sometimes, we forget Who we’re talking to and what He’s capable of doing in this person’s life. If our view for God’s grandeur is fuzzy or absent, we forget to come to Him with hope He brings and end up just asking for what might naturally happen anyway. We lose a vision of God and, thus, lose our vision for anyone else.
When it comes to prayer, what we can see provides the occasion for us to approach what we can’t. So, even though it seems unlikely that our relative whom we’ve always known to be angry would ever have a gentle spirit or that AIDS in Africa will ever be curbed, we still approach Our Father with eyes gleaming with hope, unperturbed by whether or not our requests seem likely. Prayer starts by looking downward (on what is before us), but must look forward and upward to be Christian prayer. Prayer is not about the hope which is found in what is seen, but in what heaven could move the present to become.
A quote from CS Lewis’ most famous talk (“The Weight of Glory”) bears repeating:
It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. . . . It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. . . . Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
Visionaries see what others overlook or undervalue and confidently advance to make their hopes embodied. Go and pray likewise.
Assignment: Go and pray likewise.
27 February: That's what he said
One of the elders at church opened up our corporate time of prayer with a quick homily on the subject. 'Prayer isn't something which comes naturally. It's something we have to learn. That is why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them.' One of the ways he recommended is to join into a practice which predates the New Testament: praying the words of Scripture. One of my professors will occasionally employ this sort of prayer in class and it is great and refreshing to hear. One of the simplest ways is to use the prayers in the Bible and go from there; this is what we're going to do this morning.
First, pick out two people you would like to pray for.
Second, flip to Colossians (GEPC. If you don't get that, don't worry about it). Colossians, like many of Paul's letters, contains a disclosure of his prayer life. In 1:9-12, Paul shares what he prays for the church in Colossae and we are going to use this to pray for the people we have picked.
It's quite simple: whenever you see Paul use a pronoun to refer to the Colossians, substitute your person's name in there. For example, let's say you are praying for someone named Art and using Paul's prayer in Colossians 1. When he writes, "We have not ceased to pray for YOU, asking that YOU may be filled with the knowledge of his will," you can pray, "God, I pray for Art, asking that he may be filled with the knowledge of your will..."
Paul has other good prayers, in Ephesians, for example. This morning, follow Paul's lead and pray for people you know. Paul has some great requests, the kind of things these people will be blessed to have prayed for them.
First, pick out two people you would like to pray for.
Second, flip to Colossians (GEPC. If you don't get that, don't worry about it). Colossians, like many of Paul's letters, contains a disclosure of his prayer life. In 1:9-12, Paul shares what he prays for the church in Colossae and we are going to use this to pray for the people we have picked.
It's quite simple: whenever you see Paul use a pronoun to refer to the Colossians, substitute your person's name in there. For example, let's say you are praying for someone named Art and using Paul's prayer in Colossians 1. When he writes, "We have not ceased to pray for YOU, asking that YOU may be filled with the knowledge of his will," you can pray, "God, I pray for Art, asking that he may be filled with the knowledge of your will..."
Paul has other good prayers, in Ephesians, for example. This morning, follow Paul's lead and pray for people you know. Paul has some great requests, the kind of things these people will be blessed to have prayed for them.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
12 February: From All Sides
I learned about two incredible things over the last week and I suggest you invest yourself fully into both of them. First, I just discovered that England’s parliamentary system has a constitutional convention called Prime Minister’s Questions (cleverly shorthanded as PMQ). You should catch one (or both) of the weekly airings on C-SPAN (http://www.c-span.org/Series/Prime-Minister-Questions.aspx). Here’s why: Prime Minister Gordon Brown. For half an hour every week, Brown fields questions from any member of the House of Commons on whatever issue they choose and it can get intense.
Reasons to watch it: British wit, the charming formality, and the PM’s savvy at responding to each inquiry. The PMQ allows for Members of Parliament to bring the concerns of their constituents to the Prime Minister and directly question him on governmental practices. At one moment, Brown may take a question on inheritance tax and the next might be called upon to defend the equipping (or lack thereof) of deployed troops. Each time a question is through, Brown leaps up in response with a historical precedent, a recent survey, or a quote from opposing party members (all while members in the room cheer key points or ‘bah’ the poor ones). Watching those 30 minutes is as enjoyable as professional sports or a great movie and, while Brown may not satisfy all inquiries, his poise, intelligent responses, speed, and winsomeness leave little doubt as to who the Prime Minister is.
The second thing I learned concerns the historical precedent for Paul’s picture of the “belt of truth” in Eph. 6:14. Probably like you, I learned that ‘truth’ is what holds the sword’s scabbard and is essential to keeping the armor together. What I did not know is that a Roman soldier would use this belt to tuck in his skirt when he went into battle. While this would make him look like he was going to war in full armor and a diaper, it would also pull up the dangling ends to prevent them getting caught on something in the field or in the hands of an enemy. Paul’s exhortation may have been that, as one who is doing war in the King’s ranks, you should not have any part of your life which you’ve not personally secured in truth. This means that anything from your leisure to your view of the inspiration of the Bible should not dangle about, open to dragging or slowing you down.
What impressed me about Gordon Brown’s deftness in the House of Commons is that he never was caught off guard, regardless of the direction from which a question came; the times I’ve watched him, he’s been mastered neither by opponent nor problem. Brown seems that way and, come to think of it, Jesus is that way in the Gospels. He never fell to a question and often silenced his questioners. No loose ends. No vulnerable spots. No unchecked part of life or perspective on life. Just readiness, tact, and graciousness regardless of opponent, irrespective of the problem. One of my favorite things said about William Wallace in Braveheart was that he seemed impossible to trap, as if he had an extra sense capable of detecting ambush. Is there any part of your daily living or outlook on life which could get caught up by a piercing question or unexpected problem? If so, grab hold and tuck it in.
Journaling Questions: Pause and think about what the belt of truth means. In your own words, write out what Paul means by it. Now, what (if any) parts of your life needs tucking in? What is the first step you should take to tuck it in?
Reasons to watch it: British wit, the charming formality, and the PM’s savvy at responding to each inquiry. The PMQ allows for Members of Parliament to bring the concerns of their constituents to the Prime Minister and directly question him on governmental practices. At one moment, Brown may take a question on inheritance tax and the next might be called upon to defend the equipping (or lack thereof) of deployed troops. Each time a question is through, Brown leaps up in response with a historical precedent, a recent survey, or a quote from opposing party members (all while members in the room cheer key points or ‘bah’ the poor ones). Watching those 30 minutes is as enjoyable as professional sports or a great movie and, while Brown may not satisfy all inquiries, his poise, intelligent responses, speed, and winsomeness leave little doubt as to who the Prime Minister is.
The second thing I learned concerns the historical precedent for Paul’s picture of the “belt of truth” in Eph. 6:14. Probably like you, I learned that ‘truth’ is what holds the sword’s scabbard and is essential to keeping the armor together. What I did not know is that a Roman soldier would use this belt to tuck in his skirt when he went into battle. While this would make him look like he was going to war in full armor and a diaper, it would also pull up the dangling ends to prevent them getting caught on something in the field or in the hands of an enemy. Paul’s exhortation may have been that, as one who is doing war in the King’s ranks, you should not have any part of your life which you’ve not personally secured in truth. This means that anything from your leisure to your view of the inspiration of the Bible should not dangle about, open to dragging or slowing you down.
What impressed me about Gordon Brown’s deftness in the House of Commons is that he never was caught off guard, regardless of the direction from which a question came; the times I’ve watched him, he’s been mastered neither by opponent nor problem. Brown seems that way and, come to think of it, Jesus is that way in the Gospels. He never fell to a question and often silenced his questioners. No loose ends. No vulnerable spots. No unchecked part of life or perspective on life. Just readiness, tact, and graciousness regardless of opponent, irrespective of the problem. One of my favorite things said about William Wallace in Braveheart was that he seemed impossible to trap, as if he had an extra sense capable of detecting ambush. Is there any part of your daily living or outlook on life which could get caught up by a piercing question or unexpected problem? If so, grab hold and tuck it in.
Journaling Questions: Pause and think about what the belt of truth means. In your own words, write out what Paul means by it. Now, what (if any) parts of your life needs tucking in? What is the first step you should take to tuck it in?
13 February: Market Research
Last Christmas Eve, I found myself talking with a friendly young man who introduced himself as Spike. Dapper in appearance and enjoyable to talk with, Spike fielded the usual get-to-know-you questions of place of residence (Greenville, SC), schooling (Baylor), and occupation (marketing with Brains on Fire), but you can’t say that you work for a company like Brains on Fire (www.brainsonfire.com) without elaborating a little. Brains on Fire is a marketing firm which implements the tried and true idea of getting to know your customer, but adds a new twist: they begin every marketing strategy by working in their client’s facility for at least two weeks. They want to get to know their clients from the inside out, shoulder to shoulder. Following this, they seek out the sorts of people who give their clients a glance and try to discover what sort of communities they form. In so doing, they hope to track what grabs the customer so as to help form a bond to the company which exceeds mere economics to the level of fanlike loyalty. They sum up their strategy as follows:
The question isn’t “what can we sell this person?” It’s “what can we do to keep this person and make them even happier?” So we hereby present the cycle (i.e., marketing strategy) that takes a customer to fandom. From like to love. From transaction to relationship. From you (i.e., your organization) being just another, to the one.
Now, the previous post looked at Gordon Brown’s ability to field questions concerning Britons in each district of England. One of the fantastic things about his responses is that they were not only factual, but they conveyed a sincere appreciation for the constituent’s interests. Brown got amongst the people (by proxy, for sure) to learn the questions they were asking and to find out how to best package the answers. This isn’t new, though; Paul did the very same thing.
“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ... To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1 Cor. 9:19-23; ESV)
Just like Brains on Fire, he knew that to communicate with people on the outside, he had to get inside their world. So, let me ask you:
- What are the things your non-Christian neighbors are talking about in their leisurely hours?
- What are they worried about?
- When is the last time you did something for them or asked for their expertise on something?
Can you answer any of these questions? If you can, it’s because you’ve gotten to know your neighbors and freed them up to ask questions to get to know you. We should be ready with an answer (like Gordon Brown), but we have to be aware of what concerns them, too.
Brains on Fire gained notoriety because they have go out and among their clients (and clients’ clients) to discover what mattered to them. They have succeeded in helping organizations communicate to potential customers that they were worth joining; but they had to seek out people to know.
I think you get the point.
Journaling: Write out the name of one non-Christian neighbor (in a loose sense of the term) and what he/she cares about. Then write out a prayer for that person.
The question isn’t “what can we sell this person?” It’s “what can we do to keep this person and make them even happier?” So we hereby present the cycle (i.e., marketing strategy) that takes a customer to fandom. From like to love. From transaction to relationship. From you (i.e., your organization) being just another, to the one.
Now, the previous post looked at Gordon Brown’s ability to field questions concerning Britons in each district of England. One of the fantastic things about his responses is that they were not only factual, but they conveyed a sincere appreciation for the constituent’s interests. Brown got amongst the people (by proxy, for sure) to learn the questions they were asking and to find out how to best package the answers. This isn’t new, though; Paul did the very same thing.
“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ... To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (1 Cor. 9:19-23; ESV)
Just like Brains on Fire, he knew that to communicate with people on the outside, he had to get inside their world. So, let me ask you:
- What are the things your non-Christian neighbors are talking about in their leisurely hours?
- What are they worried about?
- When is the last time you did something for them or asked for their expertise on something?
Can you answer any of these questions? If you can, it’s because you’ve gotten to know your neighbors and freed them up to ask questions to get to know you. We should be ready with an answer (like Gordon Brown), but we have to be aware of what concerns them, too.
Brains on Fire gained notoriety because they have go out and among their clients (and clients’ clients) to discover what mattered to them. They have succeeded in helping organizations communicate to potential customers that they were worth joining; but they had to seek out people to know.
I think you get the point.
Journaling: Write out the name of one non-Christian neighbor (in a loose sense of the term) and what he/she cares about. Then write out a prayer for that person.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
5 February: Unpraised Hours (i)
If you’ve never seen the basketball movie, The Pistol, I recommend you put it in your queue to watch. It’s the story of basketball superstar, Pete “The Pistol” Maravich, and tracks his childhood and development into the star he would one day become. His father, himself a former professional ball player and his coach, has some great lines in the movie. In a private conversation with Pete, Mr. Maravich paints the picture of putting in hard work, “When you’re in the gym, across town or across the state, your opponent is in his, too. When you take a day off, when you go in early, when you’re not working on your shot, he’s working on his.” The Pistol listened and his rise to excellence came not from some phenomenal talent, ready-made for success, but from cultivation.
Davis reviewed a book last year called Outliers. The latest study by Malcolm Gladwell looks at those individuals who break away from the pack in terms of achievement and performance. One of the key characteristics of some of these individuals was a certain mark, 10,000 hours of practice. These individuals, focused on learning something or becoming someone saw one thing and chased after it. For almost all of us, if we want to grow or improve at anything, repetition is irreplaceable. A Kansas City pastor occasionally reminds his congregation, “We often overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in a decade.” The longer I live life, the more convinced I am in our inability to do too many things, but in the attainability of getting a few things done well. Knowing this, I will occasionally reflect on who I want to be and what I want to see happen through my life.
Pistol Pete died in 1988 of an undetected congenital heart defect at the age of 40. He still holds the NCAA’s all-time scoring record of 3,667 points and averaged 44.2 points a game (in 3 years of play). This was before the league introduced the 3-pt shot. If 3 pointers had been recorded as they are today, he would have averaged 57 points a game. Hundreds of hours of game successes came from tens of thousands of hours of practice. Whenever we see a public display of excellence, what we are also seeing is the fruit of a private discipline.
Who do you want to be?
Prove it.
For Reflection:
1. Write out a few things you would like to be true of you at the end of your life (whenever that comes). Be specific. For instance,
‘holiness’ is a worthy goal, but holiness in what area? Holiness in finances, speech, remembering the poor? What?
2. What would you have to do to improve in these areas?
3. Ask yourself these questions: Now that I’ve answered the above, am I really going to do anything differently? This will help you see who you really want to be in an honest light (i.e., if you don’t want to do the work required to become who you say you want to be, then you don’t really want to be that person). Second question: Now that I see more clearly who I truly want to be, do I want to be that person?
Davis reviewed a book last year called Outliers. The latest study by Malcolm Gladwell looks at those individuals who break away from the pack in terms of achievement and performance. One of the key characteristics of some of these individuals was a certain mark, 10,000 hours of practice. These individuals, focused on learning something or becoming someone saw one thing and chased after it. For almost all of us, if we want to grow or improve at anything, repetition is irreplaceable. A Kansas City pastor occasionally reminds his congregation, “We often overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in a decade.” The longer I live life, the more convinced I am in our inability to do too many things, but in the attainability of getting a few things done well. Knowing this, I will occasionally reflect on who I want to be and what I want to see happen through my life.
Pistol Pete died in 1988 of an undetected congenital heart defect at the age of 40. He still holds the NCAA’s all-time scoring record of 3,667 points and averaged 44.2 points a game (in 3 years of play). This was before the league introduced the 3-pt shot. If 3 pointers had been recorded as they are today, he would have averaged 57 points a game. Hundreds of hours of game successes came from tens of thousands of hours of practice. Whenever we see a public display of excellence, what we are also seeing is the fruit of a private discipline.
Who do you want to be?
Prove it.
For Reflection:
1. Write out a few things you would like to be true of you at the end of your life (whenever that comes). Be specific. For instance,
‘holiness’ is a worthy goal, but holiness in what area? Holiness in finances, speech, remembering the poor? What?
2. What would you have to do to improve in these areas?
3. Ask yourself these questions: Now that I’ve answered the above, am I really going to do anything differently? This will help you see who you really want to be in an honest light (i.e., if you don’t want to do the work required to become who you say you want to be, then you don’t really want to be that person). Second question: Now that I see more clearly who I truly want to be, do I want to be that person?
6 February: Unpraised Hours (ii)
Read Matt. 6:1-24
Before Jesus talks about storing treasures in heaven, he talks about 3 commendable practices (giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting). You’ll probably notice a few elements repeated in each. In your journal: What do you see repeated in His address of these 3 topics?
Often we look at giving, prayer, and fasting as the sorts of things you do without any reward attached. Write out an example of how each of these practices could be done with the wrong motive (not mentioned in the text). What does Jesus communicate about the relationship between the practices and rewards? Why do you think God rewards what He does?
With the above consideration of the connection of between doing certain ‘spiritual’ practices and receiving rewards, how do you think this connects with vv. 19-25?
Yesterday we looked at the value of putting in work which no one sees, hours which no one observes and cannot, therefore, praise. Today we look at a different sort of activity, the sort which is not done for public display, but for God’s private viewing. One last question: What is one way you will enjoy God viewing your life today?
Before Jesus talks about storing treasures in heaven, he talks about 3 commendable practices (giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting). You’ll probably notice a few elements repeated in each. In your journal: What do you see repeated in His address of these 3 topics?
Often we look at giving, prayer, and fasting as the sorts of things you do without any reward attached. Write out an example of how each of these practices could be done with the wrong motive (not mentioned in the text). What does Jesus communicate about the relationship between the practices and rewards? Why do you think God rewards what He does?
With the above consideration of the connection of between doing certain ‘spiritual’ practices and receiving rewards, how do you think this connects with vv. 19-25?
Yesterday we looked at the value of putting in work which no one sees, hours which no one observes and cannot, therefore, praise. Today we look at a different sort of activity, the sort which is not done for public display, but for God’s private viewing. One last question: What is one way you will enjoy God viewing your life today?
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