sin's problem

Isn't sin essentially self-centered, and idolatrous- at its core? Sin is turning all of God's gifts, and life in on one's self. It's all about me and what I want. Sounds idolatrous, doesn't it?

But God is in charge and God is the One to be worshiped and in Whose Love we are to live. And we are poor gods. Besides we can't order the world as God can. So sin ends up being self-destructive, at least God's image in us is further defaced.

If we refuse this Life God offers to us in Christ, a life that begins to turn us right side out, and ends up rescuing the world from its being upside down, beginning now in Jesus- then we simply end up not being a part of God's good kingdom that eventually is to take over the earth, setting all things right, and making all things new- in Jesus.

A helpful book on this is C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. The divorce is between heaven and hell, but really the book has more to do with this life than the life to come. Another "must read" from him: Mere Christianity.

Any thoughts on this you'd like to share?

quote of the week: Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the prevailing unity of the Church

The spiritual unity of the Church is a primal synthesis willed by God. It is not a relationship that has to be established, but one that is already posited (iustitia passiva), and remains invisible. It is not made possible by concord, similarity or affinity between souls, nor should it be confused with unity of mood. Instead it is real just where seemingly the most intractable outward oppositions prevail, where each man leads his quite individual life, and it is perhaps absent where it seems to prevail most. It can shine more brightly in the conflict between wills than in concord.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Communion of Saints, 137 from Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, 186.

prayer for the week: for grace to love God and our neighbor

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer

America and God's kingdom

I am thankful for my country, America, because of the religious freedom that is ours, here. A book that has recently awakened me to a new thankfulness, is Os Guinness' excellent book, The Case for Civility. And The Williamsburg Charter he was involved in, is worth the read.

I tend to agree with N.T. Wright that America is a case of empire, and is most certainly a kingdom of this world. The kingdom of God in Jesus alone deserves our full allegiance. The "kingdoms" of this world are destined to fall in judgment before the kingdom of God in Jesus, to which we in Jesus belong now.

However as the salt and light in Jesus that we are, we must not withdraw, but seek to bring God's kingdom in Jesus everywhere and on everything. A good place to start is to be praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. And to pray as we are taught by Paul in God's word.

How do you see it?

a beautiful weekend

In my area weatherwise, we are enjoying a most beautiful weekend. When a post is late, that usually means I'm home, and away from my normal, workaday world.

This weekend here in the United States, we celebrate the birthday of our country. Tomorrow of course is July the 4th, which is the one date for all Americans- that is understood. Plenty of fireworks in store, along with parades and fun times.

For me, I like to read with my wife somewhere, probably over sodas or coffee, for my wife water or tea- outdoors, preferably under a nice shade tree and on or near a beach. That is relaxing to me. We can talk back and forth on what we're reading, and about life in general.

That for me is about as good a day as any I can think of.

(Of course Sundays in worship with others, are special.)

What is your ideal of a good day, one that you especially can enjoy?

letting go

To help others at times, we simply need to let them go in the seeming, or obvious folly of their own way. For me this is hard, especially at first. But when one sees they are intractable, it is actually to their benefit if we let go, in love, and let them experience something of the consequences of their behavior, while we pray.

Sometimes when witnessing another's folly, whether they are simply a person we have close contact with for whatever reason, or if they're a close relative, we are drawn in ourselves to have attitudes toward them which are not Christ-like. I'm thinking of anger, contempt, frustration, attitudes which easily amount to descending to their level. Letting go can then be for our benefit, as well as theirs. We need time to pray for them especially, and seek to be present for them in a way that can be helpful and truly for their good. Love is not to be mushy, because true love wants God's best for the other.

What would you like to share on this?

blogging and community

A good post on blogging. Definitely worth your read, and see the comments.

Blogging has me in a kind of quandary. I like it, and I dislike it (love and hate, too strong).

Real community is both what we all need in Jesus, and what the world needs to see from us. It's to be a community not turned in on itself, a missional community, like Jesus welcoming all the outsiders in. Allowing for the fact that conversion normally (and probably always, even if we can't see it) involves a process.

Back to blogging. I guess I'm in kind of a mini-identity crisis, and naturally that involves everything, including my blogging. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do, or how it matters. Having my own blog benefits me in thinking through some thoughts, sharing with others from what God is teaching me, and in having an outlet for writing. If there are any readers, and among them some commenters, that's a bonus. I am thankful for each of you. I do have at least a couple commitments, so I will fulfill them through this blog.

But I'm wondering if I haven't been too taken up with friendships online, to the neglect of friendships in my face to face, everyday world.

But go to the link, above. A most interesting read.

do or die

There are certain times and places in life where one is at an either/or. Too often we would like to avoid such places, and negotiate life on our own terms. Yes, we want God's will, but we also want our own way. Of course the two don't mix.

Sometimes I'm especially weak, and "under it", "under the circumstances." But by God's mercy and grace I can come to realize that I can't afford to be "under it"- for the sake of others. No matter what I'm going through I need to rise above it, in Jesus by the Spirit, for others.

As Paul tells us in God's word in Romans 8, if we live by the flesh, or the sinful nature, we will die, but if by the Spirit we put to death the (mis)deeds of the body, we will live. By faith we either do the good works God has for us, sometimes under much duress, or we lapse into faithlessness, or a weak faith, which can hardly "take hold of God" in prayer.

I hope to be among those who after receiving God's promises, do the will of God- and then receive what God has promised! God grant us the grace and perseverance that by faith we may be counted in that number.

What might you like to add to this?

God our Refuge and Strength

God's greatness, along with his goodness knows no bounds. God is infinite and limitless, but in a way that is beyond our finitude and limitations, in other words not infinite of what we are in our finitude, but beyond that.

We live in our limits; we are frail, weak and broken. Nothing about us has arrived, in fact the strongest aspect in us can become our undoing (example: Moses once angry, becoming the meekest man on the earth, and later lashing out in anger at Israel as he disobeyed God's command as to what he was to do).

In this psalm God is the Refuge and Strength of his people. We are surrounded by troubles on every side, and there's always more at stake than meets the eye. We are walking the path our Savior has blazed by his work for us, in his death and resurrection. Now we are both living in the old world, but explicitly said to be part of the new world that has come in in Christ. This means we have to embrace, take up our cross, and follow Jesus in this life, in the way he lived, somehow sharing in the fellowship of his sufferings here, so as to become like him in his death.

God is our Refuge. He will protect us to the end, that we may live well before him, and before the world, no matter what is happening around us. Is that going to be easy? No. But by faith we must stay in the protection of the Almighty.

God is our Strength. We are weak, but in our weakness his strength is revealed. His strength, not our own, but in his strength we too will find strength so we can mount up with wings like eagles, walk and not be weary, run and not faint.

Let's not succumb to our own weaknesses, to the voice suggesting to us that our end has come, that there is no hope for us, that we can't make it. Instead we need to remember the God who is near. We need to find our protection and all that we need in him.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46

What "amens" or thoughts would you like to add here?

quote of the week: N.T. Wright on God at the center, and our role as humans

Now do not misunderstand me . . . Salvation is hugely important. Of course it is! Knowing God for oneself, as opposed to merely knowing or thinking about him, is at the heart of Christian living. Discovering that God is gracious, rather than a distant bureaucrat or a dangerous tyrant, is the good news that constantly surprises and refreshes us. But we are not the center of the universe. God is not circling around us. We are circling around him. It may look, from our point of view, as though "me and my salvation" are the be-all and end-all of Christianity. Sadly, many people - many devout Chrisians! - have preached that way and lived that way. This problem is not peculiar to the churches of the Reformation. It goes back to the high Middle Ages in the Western church, and infects and affects Catholic and Protestant, liberal and conservative, high and low church alike. But a full reading of Scripture itself tells a different story.

God made humans for a purpose: not simply for themselves, not simply so that they could be in a relationship with him, but so that through them, as his image-bearers, he could bring his wise, glad, fruitful order to the world. And the closing scenes of Scripture, in the book of Revelation, are not about human beings going off to heaven to be in a close and intimate relationship with God, but about heaven coming to earth. The intimate relationship with God which is indeed promised and celebrated in that great scene of the New Jerusalem issues at once in an outflowing, a further healing creativity, the river of the water of life flowing out from the city and the tree of life springing up, with leaves that are for the healing of the nations.

N.T. Wright, Justification: God's Plan & Paul's Vision, 23-24.

prayer for the week: for unity through the teaching of the faith

Collect of the Day:
Pentecost, proper 8

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

From Book of Common Prayer

conflict

Conflict can mean nothing more than reaching a point with someone in which there is an impasse which can't be resolved. It may be over a little matter soon to be forgotten, like some food, or sports discussion.

Of course conflict can and often does mean something bad is going on. James addresses it here, and when we feel anger arising in us from which we want to act, we need to be aware of what James in God's word is telling us. And then seek before God to get to the root of the problem in ourselves, instead of simply acting on it.

Just one little angle on conflict.

Anyone have words to share with us on this?

moving on

Life is all about change. Most change is gradual, and surrounded by routines and constants. For most of us, that is good. I know some jobs' routines are constantly variable, requiring ongoing adaptivity, flexibility, and creativity within the parameters and goals set.

Of course the story of the Bible involves change as well, all toward the kingdom of God in Christ, the new creation. The settings in Scripture one might call creation, "fall", Israel, Jesus, the church (I hope my list is representative of what N.T. Wright actually says in the book). And in the midst of it are different scenes, the scene of Jesus and his work on earth, especially in his death and resurrection, being unrepeatable ("once for all"), and foundational to what follows, and in a sense to what preceded, one might well conjecture, as well.

Sometimes there are indicators in our lives that change is needed for us, in usually small ways, though sometimes large and major. Maybe the changes are to be permanent, but maybe only temporary, until what needs to be learned, or take place is accomplished. I think of Keith Green and his story of how he became convinced as a young Christian that God wanted him to set his music aside, and he did so not knowing if he'd ever take it up again. But he did later, and we know the music in his ministry from the Lord, which followed.

I think we need to be sensitive to God's voice and that takes some quiet reflection, prayer, and waiting on God. God's goals in Jesus can be grasped by us to some extent, but not completely, since, though we are made in God's image, God is God, and therefore will always be beyond us, except by his Self-revelation to us, in Christ by the Spirit.

So I move on, this morning. Sadly, and tired. Life goes on, and I want to be ready for what the Lord has next, which actually is this brand new day in his new creation within which we live and are to move.

A kind of abstract post, but how might you identify with it, or any thoughts?

a hermeneutic of love

I have yet to read Alan Jacobs, book, A Theology Of Reading: The Hermeneutics Of Love, and though it looks challenging in the language used, I look forward to doing so.

John in one of his letters puts truth and love together. In Jesus they go together, inseparable. Not that anyone has either down perfectly. Only Jesus himself did.

If we choose to put the worst case construction on someone, their writing, their lives, then we violate this truth in Jesus. If we try to find common ground with them, and how they are in the boundary lines of Christian orthodoxy, as well as to find good from them, then we do well. But if we jump on a statement they said, pulling it out of context, or refer to what someone else said about what they say, and we don't take the time and pains to do as I just said, then we do err.

Christians often are quite guilty in this. Truth and love are wedded together, forever, in Jesus. We must not let go of either. And that means we will consider what others are saying with love. And judge their words by God's revealed truth in Scripture, and in Jesus.

What might you like to add?

prayer

An area I want to grow in is prayer. Certainly that includes the prayer we have as we go along throughout each day. And I'm especially thinking about those special prayer concerns we have for others, as well as for ourselves, from time to time.

I think of those regular times when Jesus met with the Father, during his earthly life. And how I want to come to God in prayer for others, and for special situations.

I have found that to do so does seem to take sheer will power and perseverance at times. This is so because I believe faith in prayer involves a time element in God's working. And God's working often involves the one praying themselves, as well as what they are praying for. And we must not forget there is a spiritual battle taking place. One way I see this is simply the difficulty I have sustaining ongoing prayer about any matter. Along with some of the wickedness that can get thrown my way in dreams, and in subtle, and not so subtle ways, which I take as being from the enemy.

But as I persevere in praying, I often arrive at a sense that God is in it somehow, perhaps in the praying, or in what is being prayed about- likely both. Weak though my praying may be.

I do try to pray according to "the Lord's Prayer," along with my understanding of their needs and how I would pray. Bringing in that prayer that Jesus taught us helps us pray God's will into the matter, and not just our own will and concern for that person.

Any thoughts out there related to this that you'd like to share?

time

An important and necessary element to consider in the walk of faith is simply time. Time is essential for many reasons, but that doesn't go together well with our push button, instant everything society and culture in which we live. We want what we want now, and we can get it. But the walk of faith is different.

It is a walk no less, and requires an ongoing faith which in itself requires patience. It's an ongoing faith in God and in the promises of God given to us in Jesus. It's a faith in which the process might be more important than the answers that faith await. A mature faith will keep looking to God no matter what else is going on around us.

I'm glad faith is what is needed and not perfection. I must keep trusting God and looking to God both in my heart, and by what I keep doing, even when I know I don't have it together inside. Faith is not about moving on because of circumstances, but is more about moving on in spite of them in this life.

So time can bring about the answers we look for. Or move us toward them. The answers we're looking for being the ones God has made plain are his will for his people from Scripture in and through Jesus.

So for me this means in a true sense, slow down. Though I can't slow down in some of my work, slow down in my attitudes toward God and others, and even toward myself. God in time will make all things beautiful in the end in Christ. And that's a process in the new creation in Jesus, which begins now.

What thoughts would you like to share on this?

faith trusts

An important part of faith is to be willing to move into a situation when we know in ourselves that we aren't ready. There are times when I have a sense of readiness from God, or assurance that this next step we're taking is going to meet with God's blessing. But often the walk of faith involves doing what we believe we're called to do, even when we know that in ourselves we are not up to that calling and duty, or doing.

Yesterday was a busy day for us. Doing a number of things that needed to be done, and then in the afternoon, heading out to the nursing home to sing some songs together, and give a message from God's word. Deb and I prayed, and she had prayed before we left the house, as well. When the time came we got out of the car, and at that moment I did so as a, "Here I go, to do what is before me here," with the sense that so doing was a step of faith apart from any sense of me being ready for it.

Oddly enough I have found that God's blessing has more often come when I have stepped out in that way. Not to minimize preparation beforehand, at all; that has its place. But if I think I'm completely prepared- having everything down pat, chances are there may be some trusting in myself which is not true faith in God, of course.

I think an important part of becoming more established or steady in our walk in God is the realization that it is a walk that is ever dependent on God for all that we need from him. It's a walk that presses us into a posture toward God, relational as God wants it to be with him. And also dependent on him to do the works in Jesus by the Spirit God has for us to do.

We did have an uplifting time in the word- one that spoke to me, as well as in song.

What would you like to share from your own life, or thoughts on this?

quote of the week: Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg on being disciples of Jesus

So often we focus on Jesus' mission on the cross to save us from our sins. As marvelous as that is, it's critical for us to grasp the importance of his mission on earth as a rabbi. His goal was to raise up disciples who would become like him. As followers of Jesus, we are still called to live out the adventure of discipleship, becoming like Jesus through the power of his Spirit at work within us.

Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, 34.

prayer for the week for love and reverence for God's Name

Collect of the Day: Pentecost, proper 7

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer

writing

L.L. Barkat has an interesting post on writing, and how on the one hand it can't be forced, but on the other hand it can. A good read, as is all of her blog. And I look forward to her second book, her first book truly a keeper.

For me writing needs to flow, and that is why at this time I don't like to figure out what I'm going to write on until I'm at the computer. Because assuredly the thoughts that come to me will be long gone by the time I get there. Of course what I do write on is related to my life, reading, and thinking.

Usually I not only do not know what I am going to write, but just how I'm going to write it. Or write at all, for that matter. So just to write most any post is a kind of discipline for me. True of this one, as I told myself I need to go to the computer and type- I know not what- for a post today.

But for us writers and creative people who have our blogs, your blog is simply an expression of who you are. Along with what you want to accomplish in your blogging.

My title sums up what I want to do: experience "Jesus community." But that experience can embrace the entire spectrum of human life, and really everything that can be considered, in light of the truth in Jesus. I enjoy sharing what is most important to me, and hearing from others the same. As well as working through theological issues. And lighter things as well, as no part of life is insignificant, really. But just as high is getting to know others, as limited as that is. Though I hope such fellowship doesn't push out, or replace getting to know others better with whom I have contact in day to day life, or on a regular basis, in person.

What about you? What thoughts do you have in how you do your blog- and goals you have in doing it? Or any other thoughts, here?

salvation's focus

Tom Wright in his latest book now coming to me in the mail points out how our theological thinking, even among the Reformed* who profess a God-centered theology, is man-centered, orbiting around man. As important as humanity is, and humanity is at the pinnacle of God's creation, God is at the center, and we along with all else, revolve around God.

That in itself is not the radical point Wright is trying to make in what little I've read of that book so far. Rather, when it's all about our/my justification, our/my salvation, our/my sanctification, our/my home someday in "heaven", then we've lost our way. Such a view is a misreading and often truncated view of Scripture, might be the thought here. God's salvation in Christ is much bigger, and our lives and sense of mission should reflect that.

God's salvation in Christ is for the entire creation in the new creation which begins now through God's saving of people and through those people to others and to God's world. Not to lose sight of our salvation because that's important and essential. But not to make that the end all, because through it God sets us in motion by the Spirit in his new creation work, both in sharing the gospel and in fulfilling his creation mandate for humanity.

This for me makes my tuning in to keep up on something of the news important. While never letting go of the primacy of the gospel, but also realizing its scope is bigger than we think. That it's not only about me and God, (or even us and God). To think it is, suggests Wright, is to hear the serpent's whisper, and not God's voice.**

What do you think on this? What thought would you like to share?

*To be fair, the Reformed do emphasize God's glory, but in their exegesis and telling of Scripture, it's all too often about how that relates to man's salvation, so that the glory given to God is in reference to that and then fails to see the bigger picture that Scripture itself presents, I believe.

**To be fair to Tom Wright, I think his reference to the serpent's whisper is the thinking that God's salvation is all about me, so that it's what I can get out of it, the serpent's pitch in the garden in its lie to Eve.

under pressure

We don't need pressure all the time. As the psalmist points out, we need those seasons of quietness and refeshing.

But it's interesting to me how I often see the Lord's hand on my life most clearly, and see the most blessing during the hard, challenging times. If I'm not pushed to the limit, I can easily end up eventually drifting, and becoming lax in my faith and walk in God.

Life inherently in this existence comes with it problems, without and within. Compounded as we seek to follow Jesus with others in mission. Jesus' life is made manifest through us in the crucible of our struggles and weaknesses. So we should never give into despair, but see all of life as an opportunity to glorify God in seeking to follow Christ through good times and bad.

What would you like to add from your own life, or thoughts, on this?

where is our heart?

After Peter's denial of Jesus, and before Jesus reinstates Peter in love we read that once the disciples realized it was the risen Lord who was on the seashore, that Peter jumps into the water to get to Jesus.

The words from Michael Card's song, Stranger on the Shore (both recordings are great, but I especially like the original recording) come to mind:

The one who had denied Him,
who had once walked on the water
Jumped in and swam to Him
to be confronted on the shore
Chorus
You need to be confronted
by the stranger on the shore
You need to have Him search your soul;
you need to hear the call
You need to learn exactly
what it means for you to follow
You need to realize
that He's asking for it all

This presents the question to us, Where is our heart? Though Peter had to be full of guilt and remorse because of his denials, there was still a living faith, hope and love that lingered. We can only imagine the peace and joy that settled on Peter, after the Lord reinstated him in love, and in spite of the Lord's words as to how he would die so as to glorify God. We are indeed called in this life to share in Christ's sufferings, if we are to share in his glory.

Where is our heart? James speaks of the double-minded person, unstable in all they do. Peter tells us that now that our hearts are purified we are to love the brothers and sisters deeply.

The world says, "Follow your heart." But that's only good if your heart is leading you in a good direction. Left to ourselves our hearts always do go astray. But because of God's grace in Jesus and by the Spirit, God gives us a new heart, which can only be satisfied in finding itself at home in God through Christ. Meaning in God's good will.

So Peter ran, as only Peter would (though I know at least a couple of guys who remind me of Peter!). I'm sure there were tears in his eyes while Jesus was reinstating him, just as there had been at least after Peter denied Jesus. Peter could never be the same. Indeed a broken and contrite heart God will never despise.

What if we could get our way in our hearts at times? We can ask ourselves for a good test, Where is our heart in this? Our hearts can easily deceive us, and if we don't believe that, then we don't believe it when Scripture tells us repeatedly that we can deceive ourselves. I like the words of Rich Mullins in the song My Deliverer (from The Jesus Record):

I will never doubt His promise
though I doubt my heart, I doubt my eyes

If we're struggling in our hearts, the great penitential psalm, 51, is a good place to dwell. Like Peter we can find our heart's home back into the arms and joy of our Lord, then out into the world, in sevice to him.

What would you like to add to these words?

reinstated with love

After reflecting yesterday a bit on Peter's denials of our Lord, and on our denials, as well, today we take a look at Peter's reinstatement by our Lord. It ends up being a matter of love.

Of course Jesus, while telling Peter he'd deny him, also told him that when he turns in repentance, he is to strengthen his brothers. Peter had to remember those words. Then after Jesus' resurrection, the angels tell the witnesses at the empty tomb to go and tell the disciples "and Peter." Peter is explicitly mentioned, so that Peter gets the message that he indeed is included.

We come to the account in John, on the sea shore, where our Lord tells the disciples where to get the fish, as he prepares for a good fish "fry" on the beach. That had to bring back a vivid memory, to Peter. After they eat our Lord speaks to Peter. "Do you love me?" Although both agape, and phileo are used, most scholars today see them as interchangeable, as indeed they are, it seems, when reflecting on the Greek New Testament. So Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves him. And Peter each time says, he does, appealing in the end to Jesus' knowledge of him.

So as Peter denied Jesus three times, so Jesus asks him three times if he loves him. This breaks Peter's heart. Jesus tells Peter in the midst of this, to feed and take care of his sheep. Then he tells Peter how Peter will die, to glorify God.

At the heart of God's work for us in Christ, and our receiving of that gift is love. A love that hits us powerfully, initially. A love that works with us, in spite of us. A love which won't let us go, even when we do go astray. And a love that brings us back into God's arms in Christ. And gives us work to do, a task to finish, and the reason to live.

I'm glad for this unrelenting love, in my own life.

What might you like to add to these thoughts?

denying our Lord

When we read of Peter's denial of Jesus during Jesus' trial, at a younger age we may have shaken our heads in wonder. How could Peter, who had been three years with Jesus day in and day out, how could he have turned around during Jesus' darkest hour, and betrayed him?

As we get older, and sadly wiser about ourselves, we begin to understand firsthand Peter's denials. And we also understand Scripture's teaching more thoroughly, how we need to live by the Spirit, and how also we need to remain in the word and in prayer. So that Peter's denials more and more ring true when we reflect on life, and indeed on our own lives.

What ways in our lives do we deny our Lord?

Sometimes in our lives we may deny Jesus in big ways. In ways that are public. But sometimes in big ways that are private. In our innermost thoughts. Or with some secret practice we know is wrong. Or more often, perhaps, we do so in subtle ways, whenever we sin knowingly, in thought, attitude, word or deed.

I deny Jesus whenever I don't keep a short account with God over my sin. If I sin, and then don't immediately repent of my wrong, I in effect am denying our Lord. I'm saying, "I don't know the Man!"

Of course the direct application of this is to refuse to confess Jesus before others. But instead fall in with the crowd, and though ashamed of it, also ashamed of Jesus. To what extent are we ever ashamed of our Lord before others? To that extent we are denying him just as Peter did. Jesus promises to confess our name before his Father, if we confess his name before the world. But he warns us that if we fail to do so, then he won't do so to the Father.

Like Peter, the Lord in love will work on us his brothers, and sisters, to bring us back to him. God works in our lives, so that in love we will want to follow, and in so doing by our words and actions point others, in love to him.

What comes to your mind on this, which you'd like to share with us?

Jimmy Dunn (of "the new perspective") on justification and self-righteousness

The insight granted to Luther has remained at the heart of Protestant Christian thought. 'Justification by faith' is a sharp sword which punctures all inflated thoughts of self-importance. It is a sharp knife which cuts away all reliance on human effort, on human cleverness. It is a sharp spade which undermines any attempt to build our own protective barriers or control our own destiny. It cuts through all human pretence, all human self-assurance, all human boasting. God accepts not the important, or the activist, or the clever, or the powerful as such. It is the sinner he accepts. That is an insight which has been applied over and over again in Christian critique of false religiosity and political systems. It is an insight which must never be lost from the gospel....

There is more to it, of course.

J. D. G. Dunn, A. M. Suggate, The Justice of God: A Fresh Look at the Old Doctrine of Justification by Faith , 8-9, from Scot McKnight, Community Called Atonement, 96.

Prayer for the Lord's keeping of his Church for mission

Pentecost, proper 6

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer

doing and learning

I think the message from James has something vital to say to most of us right where we are. That we need to at last take seriously what we do know from God's word. Rather than think our problem is that we need to know more. Important for where we are today.

At the same time, however, I do believe we need to keep learning more. We need to learn from others, more Scriptural ways, or ways inherent to Scripture and to God's working in humans through Christ, to view life. God is our authority, and Scripture as his word is our light, in Jesus. And God gives insight to us all through each other by his Spirit.

So I must keep applying what I know, and repenting where need be- both. And along with that I need to continue to learn better how to be a true follower of Jesus in this life. Intellect is included, but it actually is about the whole person- our hearts, lives, mind, and strength. With a dependence on God and interdependence on each other.

Thank God for his multi-faceted grace through it all!

What might you like to add to this?

don't wait

I have always loved the subject of Bible translating. How one should translate, what group of manuscripts should be used, how they should be used, etc. One thing is for sure when you start looking at translations: none will say everything the way you think it should be said, that is if you read and study. This is probably more true of translations that are seeking to translate the text according to the way we speak, or close to that. In a style perhaps akin to what the original texts did, varying in their style, it appears, in different books of Scripture. The way the Bible should be translated, in my view, but not without its pitfalls. I could go on, because this is a big subject, but it's not the point I want to make here. So nothing is going to be done perfectly, here and now.

Indeed, we have to underscore our own weakness and limitations in this life. Actually we will never know everything; to be all-knowing belongs to God only. And therefore whatever is done here on earth by humanity, even redeemed humanity, will not be without its flaws.

I want to get things right, but I want to keep moving in ways I think God is leading. So that I'm not waiting before we get everything right, which won't happen. And if we did think it has happened, we are mistaken on the faulty premise that that is possible.

God helps us as we seek to obey him, obey his word. Seeking to understand is important as well, but it needs to be in the context of being a committed disciple or follower of Jesus. In the context of commitment in seeking to live it out.

What might you like to add to this?

need is needed

We need a sense of need. Jesus came, not as the means by which we save ourselves, but as our Savior. But we need to have the sense and conviction that we need salvation, that for some reason we need to be saved.

We see faith in Jesus come alive at the point of need in a man who had leprosy. And Jesus pointed out that he did not come to save those who were righteous, but sinners. The self-righteous have no sense that they need salvation, but those who know they are sinners and condemned, as well as not able to change themselves, are in a position to see Jesus as the one who can save them.

Not only we ourselves, but this world is in need of a savior. Jesus and the kingdom of God coming in him, is the answer, which begins now through us, his people. We need to help others see their need of Jesus, and we need to understand that Jesus as Savior extends to the needs of all the world, in every system and domain. So that what we do now, in his name, matters. And someday will be taken up into the completion of the new creation, in Jesus.

I'm glad for a sense of need in my own life, and more glad that Jesus meets that need. Every day, as salvation in Scripture is not only glorious past tense, but present. As well as future. We have much to look forward to, in Jesus, which can help us move forward in anticipation of that great, final salvation in him!

What would you like to add to this?

honesty

I admire honesty in people, even when it hurts. My post this morning reflected honesty that could have been misunderstood as me having a sin issue with pornography. Not so, thank God! I simply was listing that as an afterthought behind drugs and alcohol.

But I do have my issues, and sometimes they can get you down. Anxiety, frustration, despair; these all can get me down. Yet I've learned not to let them take me out, and more and more reckon on the truth in Jesus that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12). So that I've seen God move in and through me during times I've felt broken in myself. Such as this past Sunday at the nursing home, when I prayed to be filled with the Spirit while we were singing. And the Lord in his grace gave us a wonderful time in song and in his word.

And of course as we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

As my good blogger friend Allan Bevere commented, on what I posted this morning, "It is always best to be on guard, but to always remember that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives can conquer anything, if we are willing." How very true!

This might be my weakest post ever, but it's simply meant to say that while I know I don't have it all together, I'm not living in defeat, either.

are we ever worthy?

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.

Revelation 3

The short and ultimate answer to that is, "No." Christ alone as the Lamb slain is worthy (Revelation 5). No human being except Christ (who is the God-Human) is ever worthy in themselves. We are not.

But God through Christ gives us a new standing in grace through faith because of Christ and his work for us in his death (Romans 3). And while we have no condemnation because of Christ and his death (Romans 8:34), this no condemnation in this life is also tied to the work of the Spirit, and is contingent on us by the Spirit putting to death the (mis)deeds of the body. Romans 8:1-17 makes it clear that what we do does matter.

I am not condemned before God because of Christ, and through faith. But I will live in at least a sense of condemnation if I am not dealing with sin and endeavoring to walk in the light.

So those people in Sardis were worthy in status and standing because of Christ's worthiness. But through Christ, the Spirit does a work to make them, and us in Jesus, not only worthy in our standing with an imputed (declared) righteousness, but beginning to partake of worthiness also in their lives with an imparted righteousness through the Spirit. It's not I, but Christ in us by the Spirit who makes the difference, but it's a life we have to live out.

So I take it that God in his grace calls these believers "worthy," who have not soiled themselves with the world (see the entire book of James on what that means). Not because they are perfect, but because they are being perfected through Christ by the Spirit in this life.

So Jesus alone is worthy, but in grace God calls those who believe and follow Jesus in this life, "worthy." And when God speaks this indeed begins to be true, but true only in Jesus, yet true not only in our standing before God, but also in our lives even in this world.

Does this make sense of Scripture, or what thought would you like to share here?

sitting at the feet of Rabbi Jesus

Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg's Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, is a marvellous read. I like it in that it is both theologically sound and written to help us live out the faith that is ours in Jesus.

Originally, a blogger friend put me on to this book. At first I was hesitant; so many books I want to read, and I've never heard of these authors. And while the title seemed largely acceptable and interesting, it did make me wonder just where the authors wanted to take the readers. After some deliberation, I decided to give it a chance, and it is truly to my profit that I have.

After reading it through the first time, I was not only struck anew and afresh with the Jewishness of our Christian faith, but I was appreciative of where the authors actually did take me. In a thoughtful way, they navigate the reader through the gospels and Jesus' life in regard to key themes, and how Jesus is the fulfillment of the old covenant.

So I'm glad now I decided to read this book, and actually reread it. This book is truly a keeper.

Spangler is perhaps to some extent the writer, and Tverberg is the teacher. Lois Tverberg is a scientist, and was a professor for some time until she decided to make the study of Jesus as a Jew, and what that means to our faith, her full time pursuit and work.

I much appreciated the careful writing, along with the end notes which show the work of one who thinks through everything with painstaking care. And a big plus for me as well is that the book is written clearly for all the church, so that nonscholars along with scholars can appreciate it. In fact it is really written for those who may never care to read a scholarly book, yet want to learn more of what it means to follow Jesus. It is evident that the authors themselves have this as the goal for their own lives.

I intend to write a formal book review, and would like to have a weekly interactive study from the book. I would highly recommend that you get a copy, and then we can start working through it, probably no sooner than August and no later than September.

What thoughts come to mind that you would like to share?

Posts referring to this book.

Kevin Vanhoozer on the Trinity and the apostolic witness

The doctrine of the Trinity . . . summarizes the thrust of the central apostolic testimony that "it is not possible to turn to the God of Israel without at the same time turning to Jesus."

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine, 81; quote in italics from David S. Yeago

prayer for the week: to see God's Trinitarian glory

Collect of the Day: Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer

a wonderful Spring

This has been the most enjoyable Spring for me yet, I was telling Deb recently. Maybe it's simply appreciating more and more God's creation. It is partly the weather, as we didn't just jump into Summer from Winter, as it seems like we've done before (to the harm of Michigan fruit crops, by the way). I love to see life springing forth again, from the trees, plants, hearing the birds singing, green everywhere.

They say it may be a milder Summer, and I won't argue against that. Deb does like the heat, at least well into the 80's, if not much more than that. Summer is her favorite time of the year, and I can understand that, since I've seen her shiver even in the Summer (over cold, cold homemade ice cream, to be fair). It is a good time to enjoy the outdoors, and go camping and/or hiking. Autumn with the relief from the hottest part of Summer, the beautiful change in colors of the leaves, and the festivals that go traditionally with harvest time, is a not distant second for me, to Spring.

I like Spring, Fall, Summer and Winter, in that order. I like them all, but we "Michiganders" can be prone to complaining about the long Winters here. Winter is beautiful, and I am thankful, given all the lake effect (from Lake Michigan) cloudy days we have in the Winter, particularly through the first half of it, that we do have snow, which for the issues it brings does brighten the atmosphere considerably. And snow has a beauty all its own, especially right after it has fallen. We've had close to record amounts of snowfall over the past two winters. In spite of the difficulties of Winter, I'd miss it, if we lived in a warmer climate.

What is your favorite season, and why? Maybe what is your least favorite, or the order you would rate them?

justification and vindication

There is a buzz in the evangelical theological world over N.T. Wright's latest book (I have yet to get my copy) on justification, in response to his critics, especially John Piper. Justification in Paul's letters is a judicial, forensic term having to do with God's declaration of righteousness to those who trust in him and in his word to them in Christ.

The issues lie in differing interpretations of texts, and for me the issue is exegesis of the relevant texts. The problem being that one can read into the texts their theological point of view and axiom, that for them in nonnegotiable, instead of letting each text speak for itself, and then seeking to integrate each with the whole, the entirety of Scripture.

I see this over and over with those who make much of their theological system. It's not that we don't systematize, for all of us automatically do that, if we consider Scripture over any length of time at all. It's that we can inadvertently, or for better reasons, set such systems in stone, because they are "right," and all in opposition is wrong in some set (and labeled) way.

I don't mean to suggest that anyone is immune to this, for such is not the case. But we should want to let each passage speak for itself before putting it into the context of another passage as well as all of Scripture. And it's important for us to keep reading those who are taking special time and pains to work through such things, such as Piper and Wright in this current debate.

To get to the point of the title just a bit, our justification and vindication before God is in Christ. And it plays out not only in declaring us, the guilty, justified, or declared to be in the right only because of Christ. But it also sets the stage for the immediate working of the Spirit in our lives to make us in our character and living, righteous. And in the end, even though it's not of ourselves at all, we will be judged by Christ as righteous.

Any thoughts you'd like to share on this? Has anyone here followed, or even been aware of this current debate?

being there

Nothing can replace simply being present for someone. We go to meet with them, not thinking we can solve their problems. But to listen in God's presence. And maybe to offer a humble word, along with encouragement to them.

I recently had the privilege of meeting with a dear brother in Jesus. I went with a sense of brokenness, not thinking I had anything helpful to offer, in fact thinking I am in need of help myself.

But in the midst of our time, I could sense God's presence with us. As I sought to listen and share a bit, with some encouraging words to a brother, made in God's image, and being remade into the image of Christ.

How can we be present for others? What should we do during those occasions, and what should we avoid doing? Do we always have to say anything at all?

managing life

How easy it is to want to be in control of our lives, at least to some extent. If we wrote the story of our own lives, we might put in a few twist and turns for effect, but we'd want it to be out of harm's way. It would be different than the way life often works out. Of course it would be vanilla and quite predictable, maybe with plenty of charm, if we could write it out while we are living (gas prices might go down instead of up, right now). We could then solve all the world's problems, or at least our own!

But we have little control over the outcome of our lives, or what happens around us. Though through the Spirit's work in us, self-control in love can make a big difference. But a part of that self-control will put us at odds with the world, as we endeavor to take up our cross and follow Christ, being a witness of Jesus as we seek to live out this new life out of death, in him.

Having the sense that little is in our control, and that the best we can do is to do our part by the Spirit as part of Christ's Body, we can then focus on God anew, placing our lives again and again in his hands. In that we will find a moving in us to move us out of our own safe places and into the adventure and challenge of the unfolding will of God.

I'm groping my way in this, but I want to learn to walk in it.

Any insights or thoughts on this?

stepping aside

If you're like me, you like to see everything through to the very end, at least in theory, even if practice can get a little rough and tumble. The problem is that only God can and does see everything through to the end. We as humans, even in Jesus, have our limitations.

Sometimes we do well to step aside or no longer engage in something, maybe because we're either not approaching it entirely correctly and wisely, and/or maybe just because our part in this work of God is finished.

I ran into something like that. I felt like a failure in parting from it, and I don't pretend I was flawless in it. But for my own peace, and even for the best of the other involved, I believe it was an appropriate decision on my part.

God's work in this, including in my own life in relation to it, goes on. God will finish it, and see it through. Of course how we humans respond in all of this is in a true sense up to us. We can't just say that God will do it, and that we have no responsibility in it, because we surely do. But apart from God there would be no hope for any of us, no hope to keep growing together into the likeness of the one to and in whom we are joined.

Does this prompt any thoughts or sharing from your own life?

we are bodies, too

We live in an age when, as Scot McKnight reminds us in his new, provocative book on fasting, many of us look at our bodies to a large extent, as beside the point, while at the same time piling food and drink aplenty in them.

As Scot points out, we westerners have inherited a dualism which fails to see the unity humans are, that the different aspects of us: body, and soul/spirit, are united together in what it is to be human. So when we see spiritual as just about our inner person, we're missing the boat, because spiritual is to pertain to all of us.

When we fail to see this unity in humanity, how part of the real me is my body- just as much as my soul (which essentially just means "life" in Scripture), spirit, or heart, we read in a way inherited from the ancient Greeks, but not the way the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) or New Testament means. To be sure they are referring to different aspects of our humanity, so that we can divide them that way. But to make up the real us, they need to be seen as united together.

This is why our hope is not in life after death, but as N.T. Wright calls it, "life after, life after death." The resurrection of our bodies in Jesus is our hope, not the intermediate state as wonderful as that will be.

This is important because too often we think we can be holy by being right inside, but being holy also involves what we do with our bodies. Read the book of James with this in mind, which hearkens back to the Old Testament in which what one says and does matters. Our inner and outer self matter before God both in this life, and the life to come.

For me this speaks powerfully in various ways into my daily existence. For example I can't let my body do something (whether eyes, lips, etc.) that in my heart I want to do, if it's not according to God's will. And I know I must deal with the sin in my heart, when this is the case. Same goes on the opposite end: when I have a good thought in my heart, but fail to carry it out with my body, as James would say, "What good is that?"

What might you like to add to these few thoughts?

quote of week: Scot McKnight on Pentecost and the atonement

We dare not forget Pentecost when we speak of atonement. Pentecost makes things right by creating the new covenant, filling all with the Spirit, and creating the ecclesial community and enabling it to live in love with one another. Put differently, Pentecost empowers all to be restored in all four directions: with God, with self, with others, and with the world. Pentecost crystallizes the intent of God's atoning work.

Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement, 77

prayer for the week

Collect of the Day: Pentecost

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer

love's hope

In Paul's description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, we read that "love....always hopes." This love Paul is referring to, is the love that alone gives value to what we do in Jesus. It's a love that has hope for every person because of God's grace in Christ.

It's easy to lose hope for someone. We may be seeing no progress, or them growing worse, and we falter in despair over them. Paul does put faith, hope and love together, as the most important aspect of how we live out our lives in God during this life. A triad that can't be broken.

As we love God, then we're to love others, and as we love them we're to do so with faith in God, hope in God's promises, and a love that acts on that: in prayers, loving words and deeds for others.

This hope that comes from God is one assured of his good promises being fulfilled. And one that in love hopes in faith that all will enter into the joy of this reality beginning in this life, in Christ.

In some small measure we may have lived this out by faith, for others. I hope to grow in this, so that this is a characteristic that marks my life. And is at least a reminder to me when I feel like giving up on someone, of love's hope in Jesus. And the difference it's made in my own life.

What would you like to add here?

growing slow

In their book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg make the excellent point that while Jesus did miracles, he did not make his disciples instantly holy. Instead he let them walk through the long and painful process (painful to him at times, as well) of spiritual growth in Christian formation- or becoming like him. Peter did not become a "saint" overnight.

They make the point that God may have chosen to work this way to help us grow in our sense of dependence and desire to be close to him.

This is quite encouraging. I have looked over my life many times over the years, and have been more than discouraged, practically in despair. But God in his grace in Jesus by the Spirit ("Amazing Grace") has kept me going and growing, now over thirty-five years in Jesus.

It should help us in looking at each other. We can lose patience with someone, but that fails to take into account God's longsuffering and patience, and faithfulness which is quite evident, when we think about it, in our own lives.

Wonderful. Mighty oaks, a planting of the Lord!

What would you like to add to this?

the Spirit's moving

Yesterday we had a powerful and for me convicting message from one of my very favorite chapel speakers, Doug Fagerstrom. From Acts 16 Doug shared with us how the Spirit directed Paul, stopping him twice in his tracks on the way to some special workings God was going to do. And then Doug shared with us how he and the seminary where he serves has gone through something like that, in the Lord's leading of them to help bring theological training into some needy places, in other countries and here.

I was gripped in hearing Doug speak, and intend to get the CD to relisten to it, as I think the Lord was speaking powerfully to us through his humble, seasoned servant.

It makes me wonder if I'm even much open to what God is doing and wants to do through the church we're a part of, as well as in my own day to day life. I do think there is an openness on my part at times, but I'm not enough in the stream of it.

A key word Doug brought out was that in this sequence of events, the word "we" is first penned in this part of the narrative of Paul's missionary journeys. God's work is to involve his people, working together in bringing the gospel and his love in Jesus to the world. This is how God works; he prepares someone, or something through someone somewhere, than someone else comes along from God to have something important to add. And this goes on.

So it's both a Spirit and cooperative endeavor in the work of God in Christ through God's people in this world.

What would you like to add to these thoughts?

more grace

Although James 4:6 in context means something different, we can know in our struggles that "more grace" is available to us, in Jesus.

We've all been in situations that were difficult, because of the people we have relationships to. Not to say that none of the difficulty is due to us. But I'm thinking of those who may be domineering, critical, harsh, judgmental, etc.

Sometimes I figure I'm near "the end of my rope." There's nothing left, and I'm read to bail out.

But God's call to us in Christ is higher. After all, isn't it a call to love even our enemies? We are told "as much as lies in us" we're to live at peace with all people. This is not just a "live and let live" kind of peace. But more than that, it's a peace that longs for the blessing of the other, the ultimate, lasting blessing being found in Christ.

So we need to pray and ask God for "more grace." I've found he gives it to us, and that there are "grace moments" when his love again can reign supreme, even if our capacities for it are still small.

This prayer, and need for "more grace" will be ongoing, no doubt. We can never think we've arrived in this life. But this promise along with faith presents opportunities for not only personal change, but relational change, akin and even attuned to the reality we have in the God who is love.

What would you like to add to these "notes"?

Jesus the way, the truth and the life

I'm rereading the new, excellent book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. I will review it in the near future.

This book reminds me that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Our salvation is found in a person: Jesus. Because of his unique person, the God-Human, and because of his unique work in his life, death and resurrection.

This book reminds us well that it's not just truth about Jesus, but that Jesus himself is the truth. We are mistaken if we think that knowing certain true things about Jesus is enough. We need to come to know Jesus himself. And we need to see him as our Rabbi, which means Master and Teacher. So that the truth in Jesus is becoming a part of who we are, not only something we "know" or believe.

Jesus is also the way. Yes, he provided the way in his death for us. A way not just to get to heaven someday, although our resurrection hope is not only beyond the grave, but actually beyond heaven, to the new heaven and earth in the new creation. But Jesus is himself the way for us, the way to live here and now. Given to us by the Spirit and in community with his people in God's mission of love to the world.

And in all of this Jesus is our life. Both in giving us new life, so as to partake in his very life. And in helping us live out that new life day by day by the Spirit in the world. Something we do dependent on Christ and interdependent on each other in Christ, as we live it out in our daily existence.

I love the emphasis in this book- it certainly lives up to its title- on the Jewishness of Jesus and why that's important for us. It has well been said that truth is more caught than taught. We tend to see learning as gathering information from a lecturing teacher. But the kind of learning that God has for us in Jesus is more like an apprentice living with the one who is teaching them a trade. Like the disciples did with Jesus as their Rabbi. In our case we're living with Jesus by the Spirit, day after day. A life lived in community with other Jesus followers, and before the world in all our God-given unique expressions of it.

This is challenging yet uplifting to me. To think that I'm not on my own. It's a God-thing, a Jesus-thing, and not just he and I, but he- I and- others in him. The way he lived, but this way given to us to live out in him in a fresh dynamic way, by the Spirit.

Great teaching and stories in the book. And suggestions in helping us begin to see our faith transformed in Jesus. More to come on it. And an encouragement to me that I face life, the problems and challenges, not by myself, but as one among others learning life from the greatest Rabbi of all- Jesus.

What thoughts would you like to add here?

prayers for peace

Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer, and as seen this morning on Jesus Creed

quote of the week: N.T. Wright on the Spirit poured out on God's people (after Christ's ascension)

...God doesn't give people the Holy Spirit in order to let them enjoy the spiritual equivalent of a day at Disneyland...But the point of the Spirit is to enable those who follow Jesus to take into all the world the news that he is Lord, that he has won the victory over the forces of evil, that a new world has opened up, and that we are to help make it happen.

N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 122.

prayer for the week: in view of Christ's ascension

The Seventh Sunday in Easter, The Sunday after Ascension Day

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer

poems

I've not knowingly been much into poetry in my life. Actually I have loved poetry right along, in great hymns, Christian songs, and other songs.

L.L. Barkat, a writer (read that book!) and blogger has been encouraging other bloggers to try their hand at poetry. I finally did, after months of putting it off in something like, "That's not something I do, a completely new venture for me."

This simple poem I typed out on this post in the comments. Notice L.L.'s comments in relation to this in our exchange, as well. And actually this post on her blog probably pushed me over the edge, to finally try it. The poem reflects on my experience of the silent retreat Deb and I were part of last Saturday.

Silence.
Stark.
Naked before God.
Hidden before man.
Mute and blind.
Trying to hear.

"Accept My love."
But why this?
Trust Me.
Yes, I know I must trust you, God.

Weeping over hymns.
Praying.
Trudging along.
Reading some Merton.

The end of silence.
Anointing with oil and prayer.
Holy communion.

Silence ended.
Bursting forth,
I overflow with words.
But I'm not the same.

God's vindication

In this life we can experience vicious attacks from other people. It is hardest when they come from another who professes the name of Christ. We hear them speak untruths about ourselves, putting the worst possible construction on us, on our lives.

Of course if our sins are considered, none of us would stand justified or right before God. And like Miroslav Volf reminds us, there is no completely right party in any conflict. Even if the one drawn into the conflict was innocent at first. We are sinners and we do fail along the way.

It seems like a number of psalms are petitions for God's vindication of the psalmist. They are under attack from enemies, from God's enemies. And they seek protection and deliverance from God.

We can be a part of God's vindication in Christ. Jesus himself is completely vindicated by God, completely worthy of God's vindication. Does that mean we can do what is wrong, but still experience God's vindication because it is not vindication of us, but of Christ? No. Neither the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) or the New Testament will let us get away with that. Jesus didn't water down the requirements of the old covenant, but for those following him, we're to live them out, even though we will not do so perfectly. Yet we are to be living lives aimed at perfection, the perfection of our Father.

To be part of the vindication or victory of God involves being "in Christ." And being "in Christ" involves following Christ, not having a righteousness of our own. Living the "not I, but Christ" kind of life.

That is the way we will see God's vindication of us beginning in this life. Not something that makes us winners, and others losers, but better, living in Christ's victory here and now, to be completely experienced later. Which means embracing our cross and following him in this life, a resurrection life by the Spirit, meant to be lived out together, as God's people. And helping others through our lives in Christ, by grace to become a part of this victory.

What thoughts would you like to add to this?

James on the tongue

Scot McKnight on his blog Jesus Creed has an excellent series on James, in which right now he is working through the passage on the tongue.

James is excellent on the tongue, akin to the Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). We learn that the use of our tongue is an important measure of how we control the rest of our body, and whether or not we are living as one who is wise.

James points out that those who don't keep a tight rein on their tongue deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. And he emphasizes the importance of being quick to listen and slow to speak.

Sometimes we just shrug our shoulders in trying to measure or spiritual progress in Christian formation. But considering our speech, what we say, is one important indicator of our growth in grace into Christ-likeness. Just because one does control their tongue, as Scot points out, does not mean they're becoming like Christ. But a major part of following Jesus is how we use our tongue both in avoiding what is destructive, and in speaking what is helpful and healing to others. And that includes wounds from a friend. And that goes both ways for us.

This is a big part of my life, as all of our lives. If you talk much like I can, or talk little, what you do say expresses your heart. It's not just a matter of managing our tongues, but it goes to our very hearts. Are we being transformed into Christ's image, by the renewing of our minds through the Spirit and the word in our day to day lives?

Any words you'd like to share on the tongue?

waiting

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:24-26

Waiting involves a process. As well as the hope, longing and anticipation of a good outcome. Or perhaps dread, fear and anxiety in receiving possibly bad news, or in simply waiting.

Waiting on God for us as God's people in Jesus involves participation in a sense with God. It's to that end. So that we're not taking matters into our own hands, but praying, and doing what we know we should do. Leaving room for God and for his working.

How often in my life I've taken matters into my own hands, and have had to live with the consequences. And worst of all we don't learn faith when we do that. A big part of waiting is learning to trust God and believe in his promises through whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.

So waiting is probably as much for us who wait as it is for everyone and everything else that is involved in God's working. Therefore waiting is something we should not shun, but embrace and practice. Finding our peace and joy in God in the midst of it.

What does waiting mean to you? Why is it so hard for us? Or any thoughts on it.

the golden rule

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7

To apply "the golden rule" given to us by Jesus takes wisdom. I'm reminded of Solomon's wisdom which- of course- was actually from God, a gift from him. And therefore available to us all, as we ask for it. Although we will have to grow in wisdom to approach the same kind of stature Solomon had in it. And remember Solomon's fall.

Is it always pleasant, what we do to another in this? No. Though it should always be done in love. Not that our love will be perfect, but because of seeking to do it in love we don't do certain things: like get angry, give them a piece of our mind, etc., while we will do other things: pray for them, pray for restoration and reconciliation as needed, speak pleasantly to them.

But we need to be looking out for their greatest good, which is conformity to Jesus. This is a high and difficult calling, and in the process of seeking to apply this "rule" of Jesus, we will often fall short ourselves, at least inside. But we need to press on, in humility, in gentleness, in realizing we are in this together, that we need each other.

And we must be applying this same rule to our own lives, which means we'll often have to go for what is more difficult for us, rather than the easy way out, or what comes naturally by old ingrained habit.

Of course applying this rule to others is done so in a host of pleasant ways, which involves every encounter we experience daily. Simple courtesies, refusing to judge another, refusing to jump to conclusions, listening well, etc. Here's an excellent description of a person who lives well by this rule.

What would you like to add to this?

silence

On Saturday, from at least 9 am until 4:00 pm, we were silent. This silence was imposed on us as a group. It was a time for prayer, reflection, listening for God's voice. While we met at a Dominican Center, the only Catholic thing we did was to walk a prayer labyrinth like the one seen here, along with being silent. I found that prayer walk to be a good, profound experience for me, perhaps the most intimate of the day. And just being silent was good, even as we ate lunch together.

Like our Pastor Sharon said, a good share of God's working on me was over what annoyed me. Of course one encounters minor annoyances, not the least of which is having to pass people by and not speak. I really only had one annoyance, and it was a major one for me, but something God was able to use for good, even though it made part of my day uncomfortable. During the last hour, we had anointing with oil and prayer for those asking for healing or commissioning to service, and then holy communion together, before we left.

The result I can see from the experience is the desire to carry on more of the same into my regular daily life. Seeking God in more silence. And also an enlargening or deepening of my capacity to seek and want more of God and of his working and will in my life. Deb enjoyed it also.

Through silence hopefully God's word penetrates deeper into our hearts and lives. Sometimes before, or in the midst of this happening, we need to have our hearts exposed, coming to God in our helplessness and emptiness. That can be unpleasant, but often only through that do we begin to set our hearts on God. Although God works in different ways at different times, maybe giving us an extraordinary sense of his presence early on, while working on us later. For me there was no extraordinary sense of his presence at all throughout the day. But it was still a great day in God's presence with others of God's children.

Have any of you ever been a part of a silent retreat? Anything you'd like to share about that, or on this?

quote of the week: Bonhoeffer on spiritual dryness

...may it not be that God Himself sends us these hours of reproof and dryness that we may be brought again to expect everything from His Word?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 84

prayer for the week: asking for love for God

Sixth Sunday of Pascha (Easter)

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

from Book of Common Prayer

God is in control

What God's sovereignty means is debated among Christian theologians and Bible students. I don't care to get into that debate here.

Sometimes in our lives, it seems life is out of control. Friends with cancer, the uncertainty of the economy and work, losing something you can't find, struggling with wrong attitudes or sin, and much more.

That God is in control means we can entrust ourselves and others into God's loving, powerful yet gentle, and wise hands. And we can be assured that God is at work in everything. Even when it seems all is lost or out of control.

At the same time in this working of God we have our part. God takes us up as humans into that working, through Jesus and by the Spirit. He wants us to find our rest in him, and from that proceed with him in his working in the world. And he wants us to do that together with others in Jesus.

I know I'm not in control. And that apart from grace I am out of control myself. But in Jesus we can find God's good will actively at work in our lives. I saw it in a little corrective way this morning, and it led to this post.

Anyone have anything they'd like to add on this?

seasons and the Potter's hands

Who doesn't like the four seasons? One is a little long for us up here in Michigan. But this Spring is beautiful to behold, a real Spring, a gradual warming, the trees in full bud and bloom against the blue sky.

There are seasons in our lives as well. Tomorrow Deb and I are attending a silent retreat at the Dominican Center at Marywood, here in Grand Rapids. Hopefully a time where I'll truly be endeavoring to draw near to God, along with others.

Maybe today I need to kind of step back and look at my life, what God has been doing or wanting to do in it. This past Wednesday in our chapel at my work at RBC Ministries, we had an interesting speaker who talked about the Potter's hands shaping us into the vessels he wants, and how we need to learn to feel those hands on us. It's hard sometimes in the midst of that shaping, if we know there's a defect, or if we're resisting the Potter's hands. Also when we get a glimpse or sense of just how far we are from where the Potter wants us to be.

It's also good to be encouraged and get a sense, that while we have a long way to go, we've come a long way. And best of all to live up to what we've attained to, in Jesus. That can be the challenging part. It's easy to make a commitment, but harder to live that out day after day, through all the circumstances life brings. But in all of that we can learn to sense and feel the Potter's hands on us. And be open and compliant to his working.

What would you like to add to this?

the gospel

"Gospel" simply means "good news." JR Woodward is currently having a great series on the good news, with a host of contributors.

I am weary of gospel presentations which fail to take into account that the good news is for all creation. Yes, humans made in God's image are at the pinnacle of creation. But as such, we are meant to be involved in both the fellowship and works of God.

Sin has to be taken care of, and that indeed is ongoing for us in Jesus in this life. But we must not stop there. Too often gospel understanding does; it's all about forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

To better understand this, we need to consider more carefully Jesus' message of the gospel/good news of the kingdom of God. And we need to read the Bible more as story, how God is at work in the world and what his work is heading toward in Jesus. A work that begins now, in this life.

I believe the point of Scripture, or goal of the good news, indeed an important aspect of it is to help us see God's work in Jesus in the world, that we might become a part of that work in the kingdom and new creation in Jesus. It's written primarily as story, or story is at the heart of its writing, seeing it as God's story in the world, meant to catch us up and carry us along in the same story.

We don't want to lose sight of "the simple gospel," but neither do we want to see the good news as less than what it is, a news that is for all the world, to bring humans into no less than God's kingdom working and trinitarian community, in Jesus.

Not an easy post, and a subject I'll always be working on in this life, both to better understand and better live out.

But what would you like to add to these words?