This week I got reacquainted with a friend of mine from several years ago. She was in my youth group when I pastored at the Winona Lake Free Methodist Church. Tanya's her name. Anyway, Tanya was always one of my favorite youth group members. I suppose pastors aren't supposed to have people that they like more than others, but it's only natural to be drawn to some, to those who have like personalities, common tastes, similar senses of humor. Tanya was one of the many in my youth group like that for me. In fact if you look at my office door you'll see a name plate that was made out of wood. Tanya made it for me way back in 1994. I always liked it and so I've used it to help people see which is my office as opposed to Pastor Sue's, or Pastor Shawn's, or Pastor Serge's. Long story short, it was really nice to hear from Tanya again after so many years.
But she shared something with me that really made be grieve. Her little sister, Kendra, was in a horrible auto accident this past February. After a lot of prayers, tears, and late night vigils, Tanya and her family removed life support on February 8. Kendra was buried four days later.
Now I obviously knew Kendra, as she was a part of the church along with her sister, brother, and parents. I knew her by knowing Tanya. But I wasn't prepared for how viscerally news of her death would affect me. I was sort of numb for several moments. I couldn't really believe it. So young. So much potential. So tragic.
And as I've processed this news and talked with Tanya a bit more since that first connection, I've come to see that my response is perhaps right in line with what Jesus would have us to do as brothers and sisters in Christ. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Romans 12:9-21, and in those verses, in verse 15 in particular, we read, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."
Whereas Kendra's passing doesn't affect me personally all that much, it does deeply affect someone that I consider a friend, and causes me to grieve. To mourn with those who mourn.
So I suppose this morning as I remember Kendra, I'd like to encourage you to remember those you meet each and every day. May each of us as heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, each of us as members of the family of God, grow sensitive to those who journey alongside us, and find within our hearts the capacity to cry, to celebrate, to mourn, to dance. May we model community for this world that stresses individualism, and remind all who come home to Christ that they are never alone.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Expicipowerment
I've been watching the political campaigns with great interest the past several months. First, because the person elected in November to guide our nation as President will need our prayers, but secondly, because the way the media is talking about the election, the way people are talking about the candidates, is something I don't remember seeing before.
I hear all sorts of words about various candidates and their platforms and promises. Words like expectancy. Words like anticipation. Words like empowerment. There's a sense of hope that something grand and good is on the horizon, that our nation is at a tipping point and it's getting ready to fall with momentum into a positive future.
To be honest, it's sort of how I feel about the ministry here at Lansing Central. I wish more of you could see things from my vantage point, know the things I know, talk to the people with whom I talk. I think you'd similarly be excited about what the Lord is going to make us into in the days and weeks and years to come. It's already started! And it fills me with expectancy. With anticipation. With empowerment. Those words aren't just for politicians.
It's what happened at Pentecost way back in the earliest days of the Church. On May 11, Mother's Day, we'll also be remembering the birthday of the Church as we celebrate this transition point from the season after Easter into the long period of what is known as "common time," and we'll do it with a sermon series beginning March 30 where we take Jesus words in Acts 1:8 to heart. "But you will receive..." He said.
"The day is coming," He assured us. Expect it. "The time is near," He promised. We can anticipate its fulfillment. "You will receive power," He clearly affirmed. That sense of empowerment to be God's people who do God's work is readily available for all who want to partner with God in His redemptive work.
Will you continue to pray for the advancement of the Kingdom of God? Will you continue to minister through your gifts to the hurting, seeking the healing of this world? Will you continue to give all that you are, for all that He is? To love God, love everyone, and follow Jesus?
I almost shake as I think about what God is going to accomplish through His faithful flock. Are you ready? I hope so. Because if you are, you will receive....
I hear all sorts of words about various candidates and their platforms and promises. Words like expectancy. Words like anticipation. Words like empowerment. There's a sense of hope that something grand and good is on the horizon, that our nation is at a tipping point and it's getting ready to fall with momentum into a positive future.
To be honest, it's sort of how I feel about the ministry here at Lansing Central. I wish more of you could see things from my vantage point, know the things I know, talk to the people with whom I talk. I think you'd similarly be excited about what the Lord is going to make us into in the days and weeks and years to come. It's already started! And it fills me with expectancy. With anticipation. With empowerment. Those words aren't just for politicians.
It's what happened at Pentecost way back in the earliest days of the Church. On May 11, Mother's Day, we'll also be remembering the birthday of the Church as we celebrate this transition point from the season after Easter into the long period of what is known as "common time," and we'll do it with a sermon series beginning March 30 where we take Jesus words in Acts 1:8 to heart. "But you will receive..." He said.
"The day is coming," He assured us. Expect it. "The time is near," He promised. We can anticipate its fulfillment. "You will receive power," He clearly affirmed. That sense of empowerment to be God's people who do God's work is readily available for all who want to partner with God in His redemptive work.
Will you continue to pray for the advancement of the Kingdom of God? Will you continue to minister through your gifts to the hurting, seeking the healing of this world? Will you continue to give all that you are, for all that He is? To love God, love everyone, and follow Jesus?
I almost shake as I think about what God is going to accomplish through His faithful flock. Are you ready? I hope so. Because if you are, you will receive....
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Biggest Loser
My sons continually crack me up. The other day I was told of something Levi said while at church. He was talking about the things he likes, and anytime what he likes comes up you can bet he'll talk about football. For goodness sake, he knew the names of all the NFL teams by the time he was three! Anyway, he was talking about how much he likes to play it, how he likes to play catch with me (poppa) and how we'll often play together in our backyard. "But," he lamented, "poppa always loses. I think I'm going to let him win sometime."
Precious. My five year old is sensitive enough to care that I don't ever seem to get to win, to score a touchdown, to evade a tackle. So he's going to let me win. He's going to lose on purpose. This should be interesting.
Because like most fathers, I've been losing on purpose for some time now. I've been slowing down, making exaggerated dives that end up tackling only air, and dramatically demonstrating my frustration that my little blue-eyed all-star has gotten the better of me once again. What's going to happen when each of us tries to be the loser?
It reminds me of a portion of a verse from one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In Romans 12, Saint Paul gives tremendous advice to the church on how to put love into action. Read verses 9 through 21 and put them into practice... I dare you! If more of us did, the world would never be the same. But in that section, as part of verse 10, we read, "...outdo one another in showing honor."
I bet that looks something like a father and son each trying to lose the game. I think it looks like mothers and daughters trying to demonstrate greater appreciation for the other. I think it looks like bosses and employees working to be the most grateful for the opportunities of the day. I think it looks like men and women, boys and girls, black and white, Christians and non-Christians, striving to live the Christ-like example of love that knows no bounds and keeps no record of wrongs.
How can we outdo one another in showing honor? Let's give ourselves away to the world, and do our best to be the biggest loser.
Precious. My five year old is sensitive enough to care that I don't ever seem to get to win, to score a touchdown, to evade a tackle. So he's going to let me win. He's going to lose on purpose. This should be interesting.
Because like most fathers, I've been losing on purpose for some time now. I've been slowing down, making exaggerated dives that end up tackling only air, and dramatically demonstrating my frustration that my little blue-eyed all-star has gotten the better of me once again. What's going to happen when each of us tries to be the loser?
It reminds me of a portion of a verse from one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In Romans 12, Saint Paul gives tremendous advice to the church on how to put love into action. Read verses 9 through 21 and put them into practice... I dare you! If more of us did, the world would never be the same. But in that section, as part of verse 10, we read, "...outdo one another in showing honor."
I bet that looks something like a father and son each trying to lose the game. I think it looks like mothers and daughters trying to demonstrate greater appreciation for the other. I think it looks like bosses and employees working to be the most grateful for the opportunities of the day. I think it looks like men and women, boys and girls, black and white, Christians and non-Christians, striving to live the Christ-like example of love that knows no bounds and keeps no record of wrongs.
How can we outdo one another in showing honor? Let's give ourselves away to the world, and do our best to be the biggest loser.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Taking Philippians 3:13b Too Far
In Saint Paul's letter to the church in Philippi, he writes in 3:13b, "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead...." Hmmm. Allow me to take that verse way out of context in order to make a point.
This morning I had to stop at a local grocery store to pick up some milk for my wife, who was making some Fat Tuesday goodies for our Mother's Morning group at the church. The store was selling paczkis in droves, and everyone who purchased even one was given a free strand of beads. I couldn't help but think of the wild celebration that is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, in many places around our country, around our world. How beads are often given freely, usually to attractive women, usually with the hopes of, well, of some sort of "offering" in return. I couldn't help but think of the drunkenness and partying and hoopla that surrounds Mardi Gras and other celebrations tonight. Having recently moved to Michigan from near St. Louis, Missouri, I can attest that the Soulard area downtown by the Arch can throw together a Mardi Gras bash that rivals a lot that New Orleans can offer. Lots of beer. Lots of flashing. Lots of people doing lots of things that I'm fairly certain Fat Tuesday was never intended to promote.
I think we've taken the "forgetting what lies behind" portion of the Philippians verse a bit too far. We've lost the Shrove Tuesday aspect of the Lenten preparation, the desire and willingness to prepare ourselves for a season of refreshment and refinement that, to be sure, demands sacrifice, but also comes with great joy and peace.
We need to remember what has been. We need to honor the past. We need to listen to the wisdom of days gone by. And we need to learn from the roads we've trod. And yes, we do it all to help us move with greater confidence, greater purpose, into tomorrow and the bright vistas the Lord is opening our way. But we as Christians ought to be people who know why we do what we do.
Fat Tuesday is more than a day to indulge our gluttony and foster our bad habits one more time before Lent. It's a time to reflect upon what really satisfies, upon what really matters in this life. It's a time for us to take stock of our souls, and do the hard work of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape them into the image of Jesus.
This morning I had to stop at a local grocery store to pick up some milk for my wife, who was making some Fat Tuesday goodies for our Mother's Morning group at the church. The store was selling paczkis in droves, and everyone who purchased even one was given a free strand of beads. I couldn't help but think of the wild celebration that is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, in many places around our country, around our world. How beads are often given freely, usually to attractive women, usually with the hopes of, well, of some sort of "offering" in return. I couldn't help but think of the drunkenness and partying and hoopla that surrounds Mardi Gras and other celebrations tonight. Having recently moved to Michigan from near St. Louis, Missouri, I can attest that the Soulard area downtown by the Arch can throw together a Mardi Gras bash that rivals a lot that New Orleans can offer. Lots of beer. Lots of flashing. Lots of people doing lots of things that I'm fairly certain Fat Tuesday was never intended to promote.
I think we've taken the "forgetting what lies behind" portion of the Philippians verse a bit too far. We've lost the Shrove Tuesday aspect of the Lenten preparation, the desire and willingness to prepare ourselves for a season of refreshment and refinement that, to be sure, demands sacrifice, but also comes with great joy and peace.
We need to remember what has been. We need to honor the past. We need to listen to the wisdom of days gone by. And we need to learn from the roads we've trod. And yes, we do it all to help us move with greater confidence, greater purpose, into tomorrow and the bright vistas the Lord is opening our way. But we as Christians ought to be people who know why we do what we do.
Fat Tuesday is more than a day to indulge our gluttony and foster our bad habits one more time before Lent. It's a time to reflect upon what really satisfies, upon what really matters in this life. It's a time for us to take stock of our souls, and do the hard work of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape them into the image of Jesus.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Spiritual Perfection
I firmly believe that all of us are called to be life-long learners. For me that means I read, and read often. I read the Scriptures. I read books by people who understand things far better than I do. I read novels. And I read church history.
Just this week I finished two books: Scot McKnight's wonderfully theological A Community Called Atonement (I'll blog more about this at a later time) and what was St. Francis de Sales' favorite book, The Spiritual Combat by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli. It's this latter work I want to wonder about a bit right now.
First published back in 1589, The Spiritual Combat is made up of 66 little chapters that give some pretty remarkable insight into human nature, all based on the maxim that in the spiritual life one must either "fight or die." It shows the Christian how to combat his or her passions and vices intelligently. Instead of running around blindly beating the air, one approaches growth in grace with a distinct method that moves the believer toward ultimate victory of union with Christ, toward what is clearly stated in the first chapter... spiritual perfection.
As one who loves Wesley's doctrine of perfection, I was fascinated to hear Dom Scupoli's. And in a nutshell it's this.
Spiritual perfection does not consist in external works and practices. It's not about appearances. Rather, spiritual perfection is all interior. It means knowing and loving God, despising and mastering in us all our evil inclinations that we may be able to submit our wills and freely abandon ourselves entirely to God, out of love for Him.
Our congregation's mission statement is to love God, love everyone, and follow Jesus. And it begins with a heart that is focused on Him. May we all strive to spiritual perfection.
Just this week I finished two books: Scot McKnight's wonderfully theological A Community Called Atonement (I'll blog more about this at a later time) and what was St. Francis de Sales' favorite book, The Spiritual Combat by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli. It's this latter work I want to wonder about a bit right now.
First published back in 1589, The Spiritual Combat is made up of 66 little chapters that give some pretty remarkable insight into human nature, all based on the maxim that in the spiritual life one must either "fight or die." It shows the Christian how to combat his or her passions and vices intelligently. Instead of running around blindly beating the air, one approaches growth in grace with a distinct method that moves the believer toward ultimate victory of union with Christ, toward what is clearly stated in the first chapter... spiritual perfection.
As one who loves Wesley's doctrine of perfection, I was fascinated to hear Dom Scupoli's. And in a nutshell it's this.
Spiritual perfection does not consist in external works and practices. It's not about appearances. Rather, spiritual perfection is all interior. It means knowing and loving God, despising and mastering in us all our evil inclinations that we may be able to submit our wills and freely abandon ourselves entirely to God, out of love for Him.
Our congregation's mission statement is to love God, love everyone, and follow Jesus. And it begins with a heart that is focused on Him. May we all strive to spiritual perfection.
Spheres of Influence
For the most part modern churches employ an invitational strategy for engaging the culture. The idea is to invite, entice, coerce, or otherwise lure the unchurched to become involved in church life. Basically, we try to lure them into learning our language, inhabiting our sphere. Our success at impacting the culture hinges on our ability to get people to show up… for something, for anything. In this model, the engagement begins when the prospect moves into our world.
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