What path are you on?
Andy Stanley has a 3 part sermon series on his website www.northpoint.org that revolves around the "Path Principle". The basis of the sermon is Proverbs 7. If you haven't read this passage - I suggest you do. It is a powerful passage.
A wise man looks out his window down on the street below. He sees a younger man walking down the street and farther down the street, he sees a woman waiting on him. The lamb headed for the slaughter. As Andy said, "The young man is walking down the street and sees the seductive woman looking at him, waiting for him. He thinks, 'Man, she digs me'. In his head he is hearing the song "Born to be wild". In the wise man's head watching all this transpire, he is hearing the soundtrack to "Jaws" playing."
The wise man knows what is about to happen. The young man, blind to his lust and ego, just sees the bounty -- he doesn't see the cost or the consequences of what is about to transpire. The woman seduces him and says "my husband is away for a long journey and I have prepared my bed. We can make love all night long and enjoy ourselves." All of this plays to the young man's sense of self - this is all about "me", she wants "me", "I'm" the only one, she'll cheat on her husband just to be with "me".
The lamb is led to the slaughter. Read the passage.
What path are you on? In you get on the interstate intending to head to beach, hoping to go to the beach, dreaming of a beach trip but get on the northbound lane, you will not go to the beach. You are heading in the wrong direction, you've chosen the wrong path. It isn't our hopes, our intentions or our dreams that determine our destination -- it is the path we are on.
This young man was headed down the wrong path. Death and destruction lay in wait for him along this path. The wise man, having seen this over and over shouts "go the other way, avoid her at all cost!" How many men in the office setting have fallen into this trap? "It is just a dinner out of town with _______, it is innocent." Or, "I'll watch this pornography on the hotel TV but I won't get trapped by it."
Andy talks about this in the context of premarital sex. Why is that young folks think they want deep sexual intimacy in marriage and decide to spend their dating years practicing sex so much? They sleep around with everyone they date and then later in life, in their marriage, wonder why they have no desire for sexual intimacy. They got on the wrong path. Their path of intention was to stay pure and have an intimate marriage - that was the intention. But the reality was a path of something else and the destination was a far different outcome than they intended.
How many times have we seen younger men make basic business mistakes - take on too much debt, reach too far, buy too much? We see the train-wreck coming and want to shout, "Stop! you are making a mistake". Sometimes we have to learn lessons the hard way but there is real value in the counsel of wiser men around you. Seek them out. Build a network of wiser men that you can lean on so they can look out for you and make sure you are staying on the right path.
This isn't "accountability", this is a band of brothers that Eldredge talks about. No man needs to go through the tough battles of life alone. No man. Surround yourselves with wise counsel. There is incredible value in a band of brothers.
Soar!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Aslan is on the move
In CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, there is a line in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardorbe that captures some of the excitement we feel when we experience the Holy Spirit moving. The land is dark and it is always winter. There is no hope. The children stumble into this cold, dreary land that is under the spell of the White Witch. The beavers take them in to protect them. The father beaver at one point says there is hope because, "they say Aslan is on the move."
Aslan is the lion and the Christ figure and very mention of his name invokes both fear and excitement in the children. They'd never heard his name before but immediately, they knew. They knew.
Where there was darkness and cold, the very mention of his name gave all hope. Aslan is on the move.
Just like Aslan, the Holy Spirit is on the move in Columbus. Much is happening. People are hungry. Very hungry --- starving is more like it --- for MORE. Deep down, many are saying, "there has to more than what I have been hearing and feeling in my church...there has to be more...surely, there has to be more."
There is.
There is more...so much MORE. Christ is moving through the community. People are hungry and the Great Liberator is about to set a lot of people free.
Freedom!
Soar!
In CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, there is a line in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardorbe that captures some of the excitement we feel when we experience the Holy Spirit moving. The land is dark and it is always winter. There is no hope. The children stumble into this cold, dreary land that is under the spell of the White Witch. The beavers take them in to protect them. The father beaver at one point says there is hope because, "they say Aslan is on the move."
Aslan is the lion and the Christ figure and very mention of his name invokes both fear and excitement in the children. They'd never heard his name before but immediately, they knew. They knew.
Where there was darkness and cold, the very mention of his name gave all hope. Aslan is on the move.
Just like Aslan, the Holy Spirit is on the move in Columbus. Much is happening. People are hungry. Very hungry --- starving is more like it --- for MORE. Deep down, many are saying, "there has to more than what I have been hearing and feeling in my church...there has to be more...surely, there has to be more."
There is.
There is more...so much MORE. Christ is moving through the community. People are hungry and the Great Liberator is about to set a lot of people free.
Freedom!
Soar!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sick of the status quo
Tonight we attended a concert at Christ Community featuring a band from Australia called Five Star Streets. Most of the band is from Australia but the lead singer is from Montana. He left home at 18 - left behind his girlfriend and his Mom and Dad at the airport to board a plane to Australia. He got the call. He signed up for a 6 month study course down under on how to be an effective missionary. As he left all that was comfortable to him in tears and headed out to the plane, something extraordinary happened to him. He put one foot on the ramp up to the plane and froze. He couldn't take another step. He thought, "I don't want to go." Then he heard God say, "There is so much more..." and he took the next step and never looked back.
There is so much more.
He is 22 years old and wise beyond his years. He talked tonight and said, "There is a generation of young folks that are tired of the status quo - tired of not seeing things change. There is so much more and this generation is hungry for that 'more' that he speaks of (and Eldredge speaks of)."
Yes, friend...there is so much more.
We are called to shine like bright stars among a crooked and perverse world.
We are not called to an average faith. We are called to something extraordinary - something mystical - something far deeper than is easily understandable.
Yet our religion tells us to comply, to conform, to avoid tough questions, to be tame, to be "nice". Jesus was anything but a conformist. He turned Judaism upside down by challenging the status quo. He came to set the captive free.
It might take a rebellion to free the church. I am encouraged to hear this 22 year old say that his generation is hungry for more and tired of the status quo, tired of not seeing things change.
Something extraordiary is about to happen in Christ's church.
Soar!
Tonight we attended a concert at Christ Community featuring a band from Australia called Five Star Streets. Most of the band is from Australia but the lead singer is from Montana. He left home at 18 - left behind his girlfriend and his Mom and Dad at the airport to board a plane to Australia. He got the call. He signed up for a 6 month study course down under on how to be an effective missionary. As he left all that was comfortable to him in tears and headed out to the plane, something extraordinary happened to him. He put one foot on the ramp up to the plane and froze. He couldn't take another step. He thought, "I don't want to go." Then he heard God say, "There is so much more..." and he took the next step and never looked back.
There is so much more.
He is 22 years old and wise beyond his years. He talked tonight and said, "There is a generation of young folks that are tired of the status quo - tired of not seeing things change. There is so much more and this generation is hungry for that 'more' that he speaks of (and Eldredge speaks of)."
Yes, friend...there is so much more.
We are called to shine like bright stars among a crooked and perverse world.
We are not called to an average faith. We are called to something extraordinary - something mystical - something far deeper than is easily understandable.
Yet our religion tells us to comply, to conform, to avoid tough questions, to be tame, to be "nice". Jesus was anything but a conformist. He turned Judaism upside down by challenging the status quo. He came to set the captive free.
It might take a rebellion to free the church. I am encouraged to hear this 22 year old say that his generation is hungry for more and tired of the status quo, tired of not seeing things change.
Something extraordiary is about to happen in Christ's church.
Soar!
Follow On
Let me follow on to the post yesterday contrasting what Christ Community is doing to what I have experienced in other churches. It is truly unique. But as I re-read what I wrote this morning it struck me as a bit critical of the other church and that was not my intention.
My intention was to focus on the contrast between the two. It is striking. When I was a young believer, we often attended Charles Stanley's First Baptist in Atlanta. My parents became believers and pulled out of the "family" church to try to find "God's" church. We looked in a lot of places and very often, drove to Atlanta to First Baptist. Back then, Stanley's church was growing like gangbusters and they were in a battle to buy property around their Midtown campus. The foul one was working hard to stop them. Roadblocks were often encountered and last minute deadlines were often faced to buy this tract of land or this adjoining building. Once that property came and went, it was too late - some office tower or hotel would be constructed and there was no turning back. First Baptist was landlocked and growing like a weed and they had to act.
But, they waited on God.
I was in a service where they had to raise $________ by Monday or else they would loose the right to buy _____ property. There was no pressure. No one blocked the doors and no one made everyone come up front (I've been in a church where I've seen that happen). Stanley made the call and then, sat back and waited on God. Members had time to prepare. They had time to pray as a family. God moved.
Women came forward with wedding diamonds. Couples came forward with car titles and stock certificates. People deeded other land in the City so FBC could sell it and use the money to buy the adjoining property.
Debt was never mentioned. "Either we raised this money and God moves here - or - we pass and ask God 'what next?'" There was none of the "Oh we raised $4mm and we have our bank to make up the next $8mm..."
They raised every penny God needed to do this work. They sat back and let God move. He did.
Soar!
Let me follow on to the post yesterday contrasting what Christ Community is doing to what I have experienced in other churches. It is truly unique. But as I re-read what I wrote this morning it struck me as a bit critical of the other church and that was not my intention.
My intention was to focus on the contrast between the two. It is striking. When I was a young believer, we often attended Charles Stanley's First Baptist in Atlanta. My parents became believers and pulled out of the "family" church to try to find "God's" church. We looked in a lot of places and very often, drove to Atlanta to First Baptist. Back then, Stanley's church was growing like gangbusters and they were in a battle to buy property around their Midtown campus. The foul one was working hard to stop them. Roadblocks were often encountered and last minute deadlines were often faced to buy this tract of land or this adjoining building. Once that property came and went, it was too late - some office tower or hotel would be constructed and there was no turning back. First Baptist was landlocked and growing like a weed and they had to act.
But, they waited on God.
I was in a service where they had to raise $________ by Monday or else they would loose the right to buy _____ property. There was no pressure. No one blocked the doors and no one made everyone come up front (I've been in a church where I've seen that happen). Stanley made the call and then, sat back and waited on God. Members had time to prepare. They had time to pray as a family. God moved.
Women came forward with wedding diamonds. Couples came forward with car titles and stock certificates. People deeded other land in the City so FBC could sell it and use the money to buy the adjoining property.
Debt was never mentioned. "Either we raised this money and God moves here - or - we pass and ask God 'what next?'" There was none of the "Oh we raised $4mm and we have our bank to make up the next $8mm..."
They raised every penny God needed to do this work. They sat back and let God move. He did.
Soar!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Christ Community
There is a good piece in today's Columbus paper on Christ Community. Keith Cowart, the pastor, and I attended John Eldredge's wild at heart in Colorado last October. It was a life changing event for me and Keith was also moved by the experience. Ever since, Keith and I have become dear friends. We've been attending his church over the past few months and I feel the Holy Spirit in that place like i've never experienced in a church. They meet in an abandoned Volkswagen dealership - so it isn't the majesty of the building. It is the Holy Spirit. Erwin McManus started Mosaic in LA and they met in a bar. God moved in powerful ways in Mosaic in a hedonistic building and God is moving in powerful ways at Christ Community among the ghosts of Volkswagens. At CC, it isn't about the package. These are not "pretty" Christians. It isn't the country club set. There are CEO's but there are also mechanics, soilders, tattoos, pony tails and a lot of very "average" people. It is a picture of what Christ intended for his church. He didn't draw the kings and CEO's - He pulled together a "Mosaic" of real people with real problems and a real passion for change. This is the picture of Christ Community - it truly is a community of Christ.
I've never seen a church follow the path CC is following. Every church i've ever been associated with follows the "we build it and pay for it later" model. Most major churches (the established, main line churches) have buildings long paid for but they insist on building campaigns every 5-7 years to keep their membership "indebted" to the church. It seems it is a way to keep members from drifting away. New campaigns seems to stir up a slumbering congregation but then in a few years, the money comes in and the new buildings are collecting dust and the members drift back off into the routine of church.
CC is a different kind of animal. They don't seek to build a mega church but instead plan to give themselves away - to seed other new churches (here and in other parts of the country). The more they give themselves away, the more God will bless them. It is a model for all of us. I've written a great deal about Servant Leadership - they are practicing it in a mighty way.
They were ready to launch construction on their new campus and suddenly, they stopped. They decided to wait on God to wait for Him to tell them when to proceed. They are more interested on equipping their members for ministry than they are in brick and mortar. I've been in a church that tried to raise $12 million for yet another phase of their mega church and they raised just $4 million. Yet, they are going ahead anyway and borrowing the rest depending on God to pay back that loan. CC is doing just the opposite. They are putting pride and ego aside and saying "we are not ready - we don't have enough money raised, our ministry teams are not ready, we don't have enough small group leaders trained up and ready...if we proceed, we'll have more debt than we are comfortable with and we will be swamped with new people (new folks always show up at new buildings) and the ministry foundation will not be ready to support this." So, they stopped.
Keith was quoted today saying, "I think we are at a crossroads, are we going to become a church about meeting our own needs (i.e. nice comfortable space) or we going to be a church about reaching others?" Christ Community isn't about religion. It is about a group of people with a passion for following the Lord. He says, "We are a safe place to hear a dangerous message." They don't try to impress people with their spirituality. They are real. They are vulnerable. They leave their ego at the door and are open to whatever God tells them to do.
It is very refreshing. I'll put more on this topic soon...
Soar!
There is a good piece in today's Columbus paper on Christ Community. Keith Cowart, the pastor, and I attended John Eldredge's wild at heart in Colorado last October. It was a life changing event for me and Keith was also moved by the experience. Ever since, Keith and I have become dear friends. We've been attending his church over the past few months and I feel the Holy Spirit in that place like i've never experienced in a church. They meet in an abandoned Volkswagen dealership - so it isn't the majesty of the building. It is the Holy Spirit. Erwin McManus started Mosaic in LA and they met in a bar. God moved in powerful ways in Mosaic in a hedonistic building and God is moving in powerful ways at Christ Community among the ghosts of Volkswagens. At CC, it isn't about the package. These are not "pretty" Christians. It isn't the country club set. There are CEO's but there are also mechanics, soilders, tattoos, pony tails and a lot of very "average" people. It is a picture of what Christ intended for his church. He didn't draw the kings and CEO's - He pulled together a "Mosaic" of real people with real problems and a real passion for change. This is the picture of Christ Community - it truly is a community of Christ.
I've never seen a church follow the path CC is following. Every church i've ever been associated with follows the "we build it and pay for it later" model. Most major churches (the established, main line churches) have buildings long paid for but they insist on building campaigns every 5-7 years to keep their membership "indebted" to the church. It seems it is a way to keep members from drifting away. New campaigns seems to stir up a slumbering congregation but then in a few years, the money comes in and the new buildings are collecting dust and the members drift back off into the routine of church.
CC is a different kind of animal. They don't seek to build a mega church but instead plan to give themselves away - to seed other new churches (here and in other parts of the country). The more they give themselves away, the more God will bless them. It is a model for all of us. I've written a great deal about Servant Leadership - they are practicing it in a mighty way.
They were ready to launch construction on their new campus and suddenly, they stopped. They decided to wait on God to wait for Him to tell them when to proceed. They are more interested on equipping their members for ministry than they are in brick and mortar. I've been in a church that tried to raise $12 million for yet another phase of their mega church and they raised just $4 million. Yet, they are going ahead anyway and borrowing the rest depending on God to pay back that loan. CC is doing just the opposite. They are putting pride and ego aside and saying "we are not ready - we don't have enough money raised, our ministry teams are not ready, we don't have enough small group leaders trained up and ready...if we proceed, we'll have more debt than we are comfortable with and we will be swamped with new people (new folks always show up at new buildings) and the ministry foundation will not be ready to support this." So, they stopped.
Keith was quoted today saying, "I think we are at a crossroads, are we going to become a church about meeting our own needs (i.e. nice comfortable space) or we going to be a church about reaching others?" Christ Community isn't about religion. It is about a group of people with a passion for following the Lord. He says, "We are a safe place to hear a dangerous message." They don't try to impress people with their spirituality. They are real. They are vulnerable. They leave their ego at the door and are open to whatever God tells them to do.
It is very refreshing. I'll put more on this topic soon...
Soar!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Saved
We went to the pool yesterday afternoon. A young couple was there with their small kids. I know them well. She is from a very wealthy, Southern family - a true founding family of Columbus. As "blue-blood" as they come in the deep South - the truly priviledged - private planes, beach homes, regular trips to Europe, etc. For some reason, this issue of "status" has been nagging at me over the past few months and I have touched on it in many of my posts.
We in the South make a big deal of status. Who granddaddy was seems very "important" to us. Being a "5th generation" Georgian is "important". Being a debutant is "important". We make a big deal of family money in the South. Status seems to be very defining here in the South.
A friend of mine is a pastor here and after he had been in town, two of the most "prominent" members of the church (among the largest donors) commented to the associate pastor that the new pastor "Hasn't been to see us yet - doesn't he know who we are?"
What does that say? "Who we are?" You expect that around the Country Club - you expect that in the business world - but in the church? "My" status is important. "My" seat on the same pew. "My" role in the church as a pillar. I am a big donor, you had better pay your respects to me. Oh sure, that is Biblical - I am wealthy, I am successful - you'd better pay attention to me.
Whose church is it? Ours? Or, is it Christ's church? We've come to value "our" place above His mission. How'd we get wealthy? Who gave us the talents, gifts and abilities? Is everything we do just of our own hard work or is there a larger story at play?
But I digress from my story about this couple. My wife was asking about them and their faith. It is very strong. Both of them are very grounded and they have pulled out of the "family" church where 4-5-6 generations of the family have "pillared" and they have joined a new, progressive, emerging church with a passion for the Lord. My wife asked, "They don't play the society game do they? In that family, how have they managed to pull away and have such a strong faith" It made me think.
They have been "saved".
Truly, I understand being saved better now today than I did before she asked this question. This was a couple destined for "status"...destined for their "role" in society. Junior league, Country Club Board, debutant parties, Heritage Ball, Mardi Gras, serving on the St. Francis volunteer board, etc. They may still do all these things if they make that choice - the difference is, they are making the choice. They are not bound to it. They are not imprisoned by the family's expectations.
You really get the picture of imprisonment. Without the Lord, they were likely to be trapped by all the luxuries of the priviledged life and eventually, would have forgotten where the blessings came from to start with.
This couple has been saved by our Lord. Saved from the "status" life. Saved from the tyranny of having to attend a church because all the family has always attended that church. Saved from the prison of this life. The great Liberator has come to set the captive free.
Soar!
We went to the pool yesterday afternoon. A young couple was there with their small kids. I know them well. She is from a very wealthy, Southern family - a true founding family of Columbus. As "blue-blood" as they come in the deep South - the truly priviledged - private planes, beach homes, regular trips to Europe, etc. For some reason, this issue of "status" has been nagging at me over the past few months and I have touched on it in many of my posts.
We in the South make a big deal of status. Who granddaddy was seems very "important" to us. Being a "5th generation" Georgian is "important". Being a debutant is "important". We make a big deal of family money in the South. Status seems to be very defining here in the South.
A friend of mine is a pastor here and after he had been in town, two of the most "prominent" members of the church (among the largest donors) commented to the associate pastor that the new pastor "Hasn't been to see us yet - doesn't he know who we are?"
What does that say? "Who we are?" You expect that around the Country Club - you expect that in the business world - but in the church? "My" status is important. "My" seat on the same pew. "My" role in the church as a pillar. I am a big donor, you had better pay your respects to me. Oh sure, that is Biblical - I am wealthy, I am successful - you'd better pay attention to me.
Whose church is it? Ours? Or, is it Christ's church? We've come to value "our" place above His mission. How'd we get wealthy? Who gave us the talents, gifts and abilities? Is everything we do just of our own hard work or is there a larger story at play?
But I digress from my story about this couple. My wife was asking about them and their faith. It is very strong. Both of them are very grounded and they have pulled out of the "family" church where 4-5-6 generations of the family have "pillared" and they have joined a new, progressive, emerging church with a passion for the Lord. My wife asked, "They don't play the society game do they? In that family, how have they managed to pull away and have such a strong faith" It made me think.
They have been "saved".
Truly, I understand being saved better now today than I did before she asked this question. This was a couple destined for "status"...destined for their "role" in society. Junior league, Country Club Board, debutant parties, Heritage Ball, Mardi Gras, serving on the St. Francis volunteer board, etc. They may still do all these things if they make that choice - the difference is, they are making the choice. They are not bound to it. They are not imprisoned by the family's expectations.
You really get the picture of imprisonment. Without the Lord, they were likely to be trapped by all the luxuries of the priviledged life and eventually, would have forgotten where the blessings came from to start with.
This couple has been saved by our Lord. Saved from the "status" life. Saved from the tyranny of having to attend a church because all the family has always attended that church. Saved from the prison of this life. The great Liberator has come to set the captive free.
Soar!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Buying the Lie
We've bought the lie. We have come to believe that "this is as good as it gets" - that to sit in the pew week after week, do good works, faking humility with "I'm just a lowly sinner saved by grace"...being dutiful...nice -- that is what this "saved" life is supposed to be. The lie tells us this is all we can do and that is what Christianity is all about. That is part of the lie.
The second part of the lie is telling us "there is no warfare" - that the battle is over and it ended on the Cross when Jesus died. In dying, Jesus won the war - it's over, finished. Not so.
The church tells us "You don't need to fight the enemy. Let Jesus do that." Eldredge says that is nonsense and it is unbiblical and he compares it to a private in the army saying "I don't have to fight, my general will do all the fighting."
Yet Jesus commands us "resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We are told, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him." Further in 1 Timothy He says, "Fight the good fight" and in Proverbs it is written, we are to "Rescue those being led away to death."
There is a battle my friend. Should we (as nice, dutiful, mild, compliant Christians) just roll over in our society and let evil and the pornographers and the child molestors and the rapists win? Does Jesus call us to be doormats? Or, does He call us to fight for what is good, for what is right, for what is noble and honorable? Does He call us to stand up for the oppressed and to defend the weak? Does He charge us with being men of integrity and of deep character? Yes, He does and folks, that means there will be a fight. Make no mistake, if you won't stand for it (the crap of this world) then there will be a fight.
There is an enemy that does not want you to be a man of integrity or deep character. He wants you possessed by that young women in your office that isn't your wife, he wants you possessed by greed or power or status. He wants you to cheat, to cut corners, to fudge, to lie. He wants to drive a wedge between you and your wife. He wants you cold and distant to your kids - "checked out" and uninvolved in their lives. I just can't say it enough - he will use any trick, any tactic, and strategy to "take you out".
Jesus calls us to fight the good fight. He calls us to resist. He calls us to constantly - not sometimes, not most of the times but to constantly - do the right thing. There will be a fight to oppose you.
Jesus came not as a meek, mild man to be nice and dutiful and to die on the Cross. He came as a warrior to set us free. He had to die to accomplish his mission but the real beauty wasn't so much in His death but his resurrection and ascention into Heaven. The church seems to forget this "freedom". It preaches compliance. It wants men to be meek and mild and nice and in so doing, makes Jesus a warden. That isn't what God designed. He designed us to be bold and creative and willing to fight for what is right. Jesus isn't a warden - He is the great Liberator. He came to set us free. Freedom.
Braveheart William Wallace said "You've come to fight as free men and free men you are. Fight and you may die and run and you may live - at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance - just one chance - to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom."
The lie is that we ignore there is a battle. We choose not to fight and we think that is the solution. It isn't. The liar wants us to roll over and give up without a fight. Wallace is a great Christ figure in Braveheart - Scotland's men had been beaten into submission by the British and were dead in spirit. Wallace comes to free them ... he liberates them. Christ is the great liberator. He came to break us out of the rut, out of the compliant behavior, out of the nice/dutiful lives we lead - He came to set us free!
Soar!
We've bought the lie. We have come to believe that "this is as good as it gets" - that to sit in the pew week after week, do good works, faking humility with "I'm just a lowly sinner saved by grace"...being dutiful...nice -- that is what this "saved" life is supposed to be. The lie tells us this is all we can do and that is what Christianity is all about. That is part of the lie.
The second part of the lie is telling us "there is no warfare" - that the battle is over and it ended on the Cross when Jesus died. In dying, Jesus won the war - it's over, finished. Not so.
The church tells us "You don't need to fight the enemy. Let Jesus do that." Eldredge says that is nonsense and it is unbiblical and he compares it to a private in the army saying "I don't have to fight, my general will do all the fighting."
Yet Jesus commands us "resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We are told, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him." Further in 1 Timothy He says, "Fight the good fight" and in Proverbs it is written, we are to "Rescue those being led away to death."
There is a battle my friend. Should we (as nice, dutiful, mild, compliant Christians) just roll over in our society and let evil and the pornographers and the child molestors and the rapists win? Does Jesus call us to be doormats? Or, does He call us to fight for what is good, for what is right, for what is noble and honorable? Does He call us to stand up for the oppressed and to defend the weak? Does He charge us with being men of integrity and of deep character? Yes, He does and folks, that means there will be a fight. Make no mistake, if you won't stand for it (the crap of this world) then there will be a fight.
There is an enemy that does not want you to be a man of integrity or deep character. He wants you possessed by that young women in your office that isn't your wife, he wants you possessed by greed or power or status. He wants you to cheat, to cut corners, to fudge, to lie. He wants to drive a wedge between you and your wife. He wants you cold and distant to your kids - "checked out" and uninvolved in their lives. I just can't say it enough - he will use any trick, any tactic, and strategy to "take you out".
Jesus calls us to fight the good fight. He calls us to resist. He calls us to constantly - not sometimes, not most of the times but to constantly - do the right thing. There will be a fight to oppose you.
Jesus came not as a meek, mild man to be nice and dutiful and to die on the Cross. He came as a warrior to set us free. He had to die to accomplish his mission but the real beauty wasn't so much in His death but his resurrection and ascention into Heaven. The church seems to forget this "freedom". It preaches compliance. It wants men to be meek and mild and nice and in so doing, makes Jesus a warden. That isn't what God designed. He designed us to be bold and creative and willing to fight for what is right. Jesus isn't a warden - He is the great Liberator. He came to set us free. Freedom.
Braveheart William Wallace said "You've come to fight as free men and free men you are. Fight and you may die and run and you may live - at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance - just one chance - to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom."
The lie is that we ignore there is a battle. We choose not to fight and we think that is the solution. It isn't. The liar wants us to roll over and give up without a fight. Wallace is a great Christ figure in Braveheart - Scotland's men had been beaten into submission by the British and were dead in spirit. Wallace comes to free them ... he liberates them. Christ is the great liberator. He came to break us out of the rut, out of the compliant behavior, out of the nice/dutiful lives we lead - He came to set us free!
Soar!
Monday, June 04, 2007
As Good as it Gets?
I enjoyed the movie "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson - it had some great one-liners including my favorite (which is very sexist)...Nicholson is approached by a young lady gushing over his writing ability. He can't stand interacting with people and being OCD, hates being stopped from what he is doing. This girl approaches him and says, "How do you do it? How do you capture women so easily? I am so moved by your writing and I feel like you understand me at a deep level no one has ever reached before. How do you do it?" Nicholson replies, "I take a man and remove reason and accountability".
That isn't the point of this post (but it is funny...to me). Eldredge talks about the subject of "As good as it gets" in his book Sacred Romance. He says, "If for all practical purposes we believe that this life is our best shot at happiness, if this is as good as it gets, we will live as desperate, demanding, and eventually despairing men and women."
AJ Conyers writes in The Eclipse of Heaven, "We live in a world no longer under heaven." All the crises of the human soul flows from there. All our addictions and depressions, the rage that simmers just beneath the surface of our Chrisitan facade, and the deadness that characterizes so much of our lives has a common root: We think this is as good as it gets. The best human life is unspeakably sad. Even if we manage to escape some of the bigger tragedies (and few of us do), life rarely matches our expectations. When we do get a taste of what we really long for, it never lasts. Every vacation eventually comes to an end. Friends move away. Our careers don't pan out. Sadly, we feel guilty about our disappointment, as though we ought to be more grateful.
Of course we are disappointed - we are made for so much more. "He has set eternity in our hearts." Eccl 3:11 Our longing for heaven whispers to us in our disappointments and screams through our agony.
CS Lewis wrote, "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."
So, what if this is "as good as it gets"? It probably is. Life on earth will never reach the "good" we are made for. That desperate longing we have is for another world we really cannot fathom. Reunited with our loved ones, lush pastures and lawns with no weeds, streets of gold, no more pain, no more tears, fruit trees that bloom and produce perfect fruit all the time, postcard sunsets every single evening, no more gossip, no more affairs, no more lust, no more pornography or rape or murder or crime, lean, muscular, perfectly healthy bodies with no more fat, friends that truly understand us and desire our company any time of the day and walking in lush gardens with our Lord any time we wish.
Now that is something to Soar! about...
I enjoyed the movie "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson - it had some great one-liners including my favorite (which is very sexist)...Nicholson is approached by a young lady gushing over his writing ability. He can't stand interacting with people and being OCD, hates being stopped from what he is doing. This girl approaches him and says, "How do you do it? How do you capture women so easily? I am so moved by your writing and I feel like you understand me at a deep level no one has ever reached before. How do you do it?" Nicholson replies, "I take a man and remove reason and accountability".
That isn't the point of this post (but it is funny...to me). Eldredge talks about the subject of "As good as it gets" in his book Sacred Romance. He says, "If for all practical purposes we believe that this life is our best shot at happiness, if this is as good as it gets, we will live as desperate, demanding, and eventually despairing men and women."
AJ Conyers writes in The Eclipse of Heaven, "We live in a world no longer under heaven." All the crises of the human soul flows from there. All our addictions and depressions, the rage that simmers just beneath the surface of our Chrisitan facade, and the deadness that characterizes so much of our lives has a common root: We think this is as good as it gets. The best human life is unspeakably sad. Even if we manage to escape some of the bigger tragedies (and few of us do), life rarely matches our expectations. When we do get a taste of what we really long for, it never lasts. Every vacation eventually comes to an end. Friends move away. Our careers don't pan out. Sadly, we feel guilty about our disappointment, as though we ought to be more grateful.
Of course we are disappointed - we are made for so much more. "He has set eternity in our hearts." Eccl 3:11 Our longing for heaven whispers to us in our disappointments and screams through our agony.
CS Lewis wrote, "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."
So, what if this is "as good as it gets"? It probably is. Life on earth will never reach the "good" we are made for. That desperate longing we have is for another world we really cannot fathom. Reunited with our loved ones, lush pastures and lawns with no weeds, streets of gold, no more pain, no more tears, fruit trees that bloom and produce perfect fruit all the time, postcard sunsets every single evening, no more gossip, no more affairs, no more lust, no more pornography or rape or murder or crime, lean, muscular, perfectly healthy bodies with no more fat, friends that truly understand us and desire our company any time of the day and walking in lush gardens with our Lord any time we wish.
Now that is something to Soar! about...
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Success?
A friend of mine shared a note from Ravi Zacharias and I want to summarize it. My friend has left the business community to go into ministry with YoungLife. This makes the second good friend I've had to leave the "world" and join YoungLife. I love YoungLife - of the ministries I support, I get the most out of my support of YoungLife. YL goes into the world of teenagers to love them on their own turf. It truly is the Gospel in action. I am impressed by my friend's (both of them) passion for the Lord that they would give up all that the world expects to hang around with and minister to teenagers. In so doing, they have given up on what the world defines as "success" in order to seek success in their relationship withe the Lord.
To the Zacharias note...
He talks about the distress he used to feel over the starving kids of Africa. "If they were starving, he wonders, why did they look so fat?" While they look fat and full, their distended bellies are a sign of their severe malnourishment.
Just as he misinterpreted their swollen bellies, Zacharias believes it is very possible to misjudge the health of our culture and society. The abundant evidence of material prosperity in our country belies the spiritual poverty of the West.
Everything is "up" in America - real income, longevity, home size, cars per driver, phone calls made annually, trips taken, highest degrees earned, IQ scores, just about every objective indicator of social welfare has trended upward on an upward basis for two generations. Many subjective indicators are trending higher too - personal freedom, women's freedom, reductions of bias against minorities, etc.
Yet the trendline for happiness has been flat for 50 years. The number of people who consider themselves "very happy" has been trending lower for the past 50 years. Yet we mask our unhappiness like a starving child covered in designer clothes. America isn't the first society to mask spiritual starvation with material excess.
Jesus warned the church at Laodicea of this very thing: "For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you were wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked." Rev 3:17
Zacharias says that wealth in an of itself isn't wrong but it is possessive. Wealth will possess us if we are not careful. He encourages us to ask God to evict the love of the world from our heart - so that we may prepare ourself to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Soar!
A friend of mine shared a note from Ravi Zacharias and I want to summarize it. My friend has left the business community to go into ministry with YoungLife. This makes the second good friend I've had to leave the "world" and join YoungLife. I love YoungLife - of the ministries I support, I get the most out of my support of YoungLife. YL goes into the world of teenagers to love them on their own turf. It truly is the Gospel in action. I am impressed by my friend's (both of them) passion for the Lord that they would give up all that the world expects to hang around with and minister to teenagers. In so doing, they have given up on what the world defines as "success" in order to seek success in their relationship withe the Lord.
To the Zacharias note...
He talks about the distress he used to feel over the starving kids of Africa. "If they were starving, he wonders, why did they look so fat?" While they look fat and full, their distended bellies are a sign of their severe malnourishment.
Just as he misinterpreted their swollen bellies, Zacharias believes it is very possible to misjudge the health of our culture and society. The abundant evidence of material prosperity in our country belies the spiritual poverty of the West.
Everything is "up" in America - real income, longevity, home size, cars per driver, phone calls made annually, trips taken, highest degrees earned, IQ scores, just about every objective indicator of social welfare has trended upward on an upward basis for two generations. Many subjective indicators are trending higher too - personal freedom, women's freedom, reductions of bias against minorities, etc.
Yet the trendline for happiness has been flat for 50 years. The number of people who consider themselves "very happy" has been trending lower for the past 50 years. Yet we mask our unhappiness like a starving child covered in designer clothes. America isn't the first society to mask spiritual starvation with material excess.
Jesus warned the church at Laodicea of this very thing: "For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you were wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked." Rev 3:17
Zacharias says that wealth in an of itself isn't wrong but it is possessive. Wealth will possess us if we are not careful. He encourages us to ask God to evict the love of the world from our heart - so that we may prepare ourself to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Soar!
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