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God's Wrath #1

"Some might find it surprising that I would teach a young boy about God's wrath toward sin. But I find it surprising that any loving person would withhold this truth from another person they love. Because only when we understand God's wrath toward sin can we realize that we need to be saved from it. Only when we hear the bad news that we're deserving of judgement can we appreciate the good news that God, through His Son, has provided salvation and full, continuing forgiveness for our sins. Only those who are aware of God's wrath are amazed at God's grace."

-- C.J. Mahaney Living the Cross Centered Life

Living in Community #1

Here are some things we are observing and learning so far.  It has been about 10 days, so we reocognize that we are still in the Honeymoon phase.

To start, the healthiest thing we have done is to talk very specifically about our paradigm as we move in together.  Here is a summary:

• Both families have prayed about this possibility and met two times before move-in day.
• Even though the Hovet's were moving in with a family that owned the home, we have agreed that both parties are equal in rights for this living arrangement
• This home we are living in is being viewed as a mission house.  Both families and each individual has a mission from God in Hillsboro and this house simply is God's provision for that mission.  In other words, living in this house isn't the priority, but the mission is.  (I find this to be an important distinction for future experiments--in America we tend to identify the house as the end of mission rather than the means of mission)
• We have identified strict private areas and common areas.  This gives safety and room for individual family units to exist and grow.
• We don't require common meals every day.  Again, this allows for individual family's to exist and grow.

Observations:

• I am more aware of my selfishness and pride.  For instance, I have long prided myself on rising early--but living in community has shown me that I am not as consistent as I once was--and I can't hide that fact from others
• I am loving the opportunity for a broader daily conversation
• This would be very hard if we weren't living with mature believers
• We have had opportunity already to come to the cross as a family, in front of our house family.  It is humiliating (but as a friend always tells me--"Humiliation leads to humility"

More to come!

The Atonement Conversation Part 2

Here are my questions to my friend and his answers (see here for part one of this conversation).  In summary, he is arguing for a primary view of Atonement that is based on Christus Victor, while I am retaining penal substitionary atonement (as primary).  Also, at the end of his answers is my most current response to him:

1. Question:
   Describe how forgiveness a part from sacrifice is represented in the Old Testament. Explain the scapegoat and the goat that was slain for the sins of the people (Lev 16) 
   Answer:
   I cannot refute the representation of the scapegoat and its clear parallel with the death of Jesus. I know that the penalty of sin is death, and so I see the need for Jesus to die in our place. The difference can best be described with a very Lion, Which and the Wardrobe example. Aslan did not die to fulfill a wrathful Gods wish or need for payment to HIM, but because payment was owed to the WITCH. I’ll get into that more later. As far as forgiveness, we see God forgive several times in the Old Testament without sacrifice, the most obvious being Nineveh. I could show many more, but only one example is needed because if God can do it once, He could do it whenever. So obviously, the slaying of the goat was not a necessity for forgiveness. Forgiveness is actually a subsequent action in Salvation. For example, the message Paul received when he first encountered Christ was that he was being sent to the Gentiles “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may reiceve forgiveness of sins and place among those who are sanctified by faith in Christ.” (Acts 26.17-18) So it was through Paul that God was going to free Gentiles from “the god of this world” who had “blinded the minds of the unbelievers” (2 Cor 4.4) and thereby set them free from the power of Satan and bring them into the power of God. Because of this—and NOTE CLOSELY THE LOGICAL ORDER—they would bein a position to “receive forgiveness of sins” as well as a place among the community of God. Salvation clearly involves forgiveness, but this forgiveness is itself rooted in a person getting freed from Satan’s grip, and therefore freed from the controlling power of sin.
2. Question:
   Please explain this statement: "God is not a vengeful judge who simply cannot forgive without payment (a picture of God that is not consistent with the rest of the Bible)" -- How is that not consistent with scripture?  
   Answer:
   As far as the statements on Gods anger, I see that anger being towards sin as a power and effect in people’s lives. Not at the people, but at the sin. Much the way we preach that we should live. After all, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but this power that is over them. (This is another reason I love this view, it seems to unify Jesus’ life, and death, as well as how He asks me to live MY life.)
   
   I also see all of those verses on atonement, propitiation, and representative sacrifice being a representation to the enemy, not to God. For all of us who have “fallen short”, we are now rightful property of the enemy, and it is his job and right to “kill, steal, and destroy”. Enter Jesus who came to take our place in this payment…but He double-crossed the enemy and rose from the dead, thus making Satan a “laughingstock” (Col 2.14-15). It’s a beautiful thing…
3. Question:
   In light of Christus Victor, please explain why Jesus had to die in order to be victorious? How is your interpretation of Jesus' death foretold through the prophets?
   Answer:
   This is probably my favorite part of this view. The New Testament can really be seen in light of a war motif. There is this giant war going on. It’s a war between the Kingdom of this world (Satan), and the Kingdom of God (Jesus). Jesus believes that Satan is the “ruler of this world” (Jn 12.31), so when Jesus comes into “this world”, He is coming as a knight. As a fighter. He is invading hostile territory. And so everything that Jesus was about was centered on vanquishing this empire, taking back the world that Satan had seized and restoring its rightful viceroys—humans—to their position of guardians of the earth. This goes all the way back to the protoevangelion (Barbara Middlebrook anyone?) Gen 3.15. It’s apparently ALWAYS been about the fight. Taking back what belong to God. So, we can then see EVERYTHING that Jesus did is about that. Invading the kingdom of the world with the kingdom of God. But the beautiful thing is that the weapons of the Kingdom of God are completely different from the kingdom of the world. They fight with the sword, we fight with the cross. It’s the difference of the “power over” model, and the “coming under” model. It’s spelled out for us in John 13. What does Jesus do now that He has all the power in heaven and earth? He washes the disciples feet. So His whole life can be seen as attacking the kingdom of the enemy with the Kingdom of God, using the weapons of God: ie Love. So, when Jesus broke religious taboos by fellowshipping with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners, and when he forsook religious traditions to lovingly heal and feed people on the Sabbath, in the light of Calvary we can understand him to be waging war against the powers and exposing the systemic evil that fuels religious legalism and oppression. He was conquering evil with love while giving his followers an example to follow. This is what the reign of God looks like, and therefore this is what confronting the destructive powers looks like. When He crossed racial lines, fellowshipping and speaking highly of Samaritans and Gentiles, and when we crossed social barriers—fellowshipping and touching lepers, for example—he was exposing and resisting the evil powers that fuel racism and social marginalization. He was conquering evil with love while giving his followers the example they are to follow. When he died in our place and offered Himself over to the enemy, He was showing us exactly what real love looks like. And His resurrection is the proof that love is truly greater then evil. The Kingdom of God is greater then the kingdom of the world. 
   
   So it is that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection cannot be separated from each other, not even theoretically. Whereas other models of the atonement tend to isolate the meaning of Jesus’ death from other aspects of His life, the Christus Victor model sees every aspect of Christ life—from his incarnation to his resurrection—as being most fundamentally about one thing: victoriously manifesting the loving Kingdom of God over and against the destructive, oppressive kingdom of Satan. 
   
   Every aspect of Jesus’ life is best understood along these lines. For example, even though he rightfully could have enjoyed every divine prerogative, He lays them down and is born as a man. Even though He owned all the cosmos, he instead has no place to lay his head. Even though he had all power of the universe, he washes feet. And when he could have called legions of angels, he allows himself to be crucified. Everything Jesus was about manifested Calvary-like love and should therefore be seen as acts of war against the destructive powers that seek to keep people from living in God’s love.
   
   Finally, I believe that there was a "secret" wisdom of God (Rom 16.25; 1 Cor 2.7; Eph 3.9-10; Col 1.26) whose plan was always to both represent what real love looks like on the Cross, and also make the payment for man's sin and choice to go his own way, but ultimately to defeat the Enemy through the resurrection. This was "to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the RULERS AND AUTHORITIES in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he as carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Eph 3.9-11)
4. Question:
   If personal sin is diminished, how do you deal with human guilt? Are we not responsible for our sins against ourselves and others?
   Answer:
   We are all responsible for our own actions and guilt is an absolute reality. But if Jesus came to free us from the “power of sin” (Rom 6.7), why do we keep sinning? “Sin” must be something more then just my personal actions in this understanding. There must be something else that Jesus saved us from. I am still accountable for my own sins, but first and foremost, I had to be saved from this “power” that was over my life before I had Christ.

__________________________________________________________________

My response:

Dude,

YES YES YES!

Love it...but you cannot deny the Wrath of God that is directed at sinners. We see active examples of that in the Bible. We cannot remove ourselves from judgment, nor does your argument explain the great courtroom language Paul uses in Romans to explain how we are justified. He makes it clear that we are objects of wrath, that we are handed over to the wrath of God because of our sin.

Your model says so much good, but places (if teased out to its fully degree) responsibility for sin solely on Satan, and therefore represents God as unjust--why would he punish one sinner (Satan) but not all sinners? We chose sin, we choose sin; our ignorance (sins of omission) and indulgence cannot be denied. We aren't just in objective bondage (to the enemy) but are in subjective bondage (to the power of sin birthed within us).

I don't see a disconnect between all of Jesus' work and the penal substitutinary theory. His incarnation was necessary for him to be the perfect human ultimately paying the ultimate human price for sin. His life modeled his sacrificial love, teaching and modeling for us exactly what you stated, that love wins the day, but his ministry was always a lead up to his sacrificial death. His resurrection secured our own resurrection and paved the way for our sanctification (buried with Christ, raised with Christ).

Your Ransom Theory emphasis has some holes--how is it that anything was owed to Satan? The Old Testament sacrifices weren't presented to Satan, as to appease his wrath or to ransom the people of Israel back. The story of redemption is all about God winning the day (from day one). It seems to me that your theory, as presented to the whole of scriptural atonement, has some holes. I appreciate the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but fail to see its biblical parallel (in your description). Also, one could argue that his death was necessary for the "deeper magic" and not as a payment to the Witch. He was satisfying the need for death (which wasn't warranted by her, but warranted by the unseen [in the Narnia series] Father). She might have even thought the payment went to her, but it didn't. One could further argue that if anything was owed to the witch, it could not have been death, for only perfection (the Creator and and sustainer of the Law or "deep magic") could demand such a payment. If Satan can demand death as a sinner, what keeps me from being able to demand death from another who has sinned against me? 

Your view gives Satan too much credit (he is a tempter more than a ruler [his lies might rule us, but he has no actual dominion--I am the prideful, doubting indulger]). The issue is with mankind who is created to glorify God, but raised (and IS raising) our collective middle finger at God--not only neglecting our primary duty of providing Him with glory and honor, but dishonoring and denying him. We choose sin and have entrenched ourselves in it, and we incur a growing debt to God, for he is the only creditor--either death (if debt not paid) or life (through the imputed righteousness of Christ [lamb without blemish] after our sins have been propitiated before God by him [lamb's blood on the mercy seat] expiated onto him [scapegoat]).

Some other thoughts:

I am reminded that it is faith that justifies, and so the faith of the people of Israel in the Atonement provided initiated forgiveness of sins. So, for Abraham, it was faith that justified, that be believed God. For the people of Nineveh, faith justified. Hmmm....interesting....

And, now our belief is to be in what God has done through Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16).

An Atonement Conversation

Please comment:

From a friend:

you [you refers to Isaac] said "We have replaced the outside, substitutionary atoning work of Jesus on the cross with a nicer God who doesn't need payment for sin, but who needs for us to be happier by becoming better at life."

i [sic] actually have rejected the Penal Substitutionary view on the Atonement and embraced the much older and classically held view called Christus Vitcor. in this view, God is not a vengeful judge who simply cannot forgive without payment (a picture of God that is not consistent with the rest of the Bible), but rather, a God that is so in love with his Creation that He dies in order to reconcile all things back to Himself from the enemy and his reign on the earth. salvation is about forgiveness, but it's much more about Creation being freed from Satan's grip (2 Tim. 2.26, Gal. 1.4, Gal. 4.3, Rom. 6.18, Gal. 5.1, Heb. 2.14-15, Col. 1.12-13) so, we see a God who is at war with the power of sin (sin, not as a matter of individual behavior, but as this quasi-autonomous power that holds people groups as well as individuals in bondage Rom. 3.9, 6.6-12, 7.7-20, 23, 25) and we are at the center of this. so He's a rescuer, a redeemer, a deliverer. not a judge who is angry at the world because of our sin, but a Creator who's angry at sin and it's effect on the world. this has really transformed my thinking of God, especially as a dad. i just couldn't understand why God had to kill his Son in order to forgive us, when he clearly forgave people throughout the Old Testament without any need for a sacrifice.

Isaac (me) replied:

I appreciate the Christus Victor theory as a part of the work of atonement. There is no doubt that Jesus' work accomplishes victory over sin in general and the ruler of this age.

But, I am convinced that we should, as John Stott says, "...strongly reject, therefore, every explanation of the death of Christ which does not have at its center the principle of '‘satisfaction through substitution,' indeed divine self-satisfaction through divine self-substitution."

Since you have obviously put a lot of thought into this, a few questions:

1) Describe how forgiveness a part from sacrifice is represented in the Old Testament. Explain the scapegoat and the goat that was slain for the sins of the people (Lev 16)

2) Please explain this statement: "God is not a vengeful judge who simply cannot forgive without payment (a picture of God that is not consistent with the rest of the Bible)" -- How is that not consistent with scripture? 

Here are some thoughts about God being angry with people:

Ex 22:22-24

22 “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless."

--God seems to be angry here--vengeful against evil doers

2 Sam 6:7

7 "The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God"

--God seems angry (actively angry and vengeful here)

Ps 7:11

11 God is a righteous judge, 

     a God who expresses his wrath every day. 

Eph 2:1-3

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful naturea and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."

--I would like to point out that the subject of God's wrath in these verses is people--that he has vengeance against people who sin.

Eph 5:6

6" Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient."

--God's wrath is against people here--not just sin (as distinctly separate from people)

In regard to payment for sin:

Lev 17:11

11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

And, in regard to Jesus being the "payment for sin":

**PROPITIATION**

John 11:51-52 

(Caiphus has just said that "it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish")

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

1 John 2:2

2 He is the **atoning sacrifice** for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 

Romans 3:23-26

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a **sacrifice of atonement**,through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 

1 Cor 15:2-3

2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures

3) In light of Christus Victor, please explain why Jesus had to die in order to be victorious? How is your interpretation of Jesus' death foretold through the prophets?

4) If personal sin is diminished, how do you deal with human guilt? Are we not responsible for our sins against ourselves and others?

Care to add some thoughts to the conversation?

Christless Christianity #2

More from chapter 1--

Page 20

"We have not shown in recent decades that we have much stomach for this message that the apostle Paul called a 'stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, 'folly to the Gentiles' (Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 1:23).  Far from clashing with the culture of consumerism, American religion appears not only at peace with our narcissism but gives it a spiritual legitimacy."

Obviously our culture is trying to do away with truth and discomfort.  Rather than lose weight, we demand larger seats on planes.  We use euphemisms galore and flock to the happiest place on earth to escape what we all know to be true--that we are sinful and can't change.  

Rather than allow the message of the cross to confront our deepest need (to be reconciled to God by God through God's justice, wrath, mercy and grace) we have, at best, cheapened the cross to be an entry point, an example, or a piece of fire insurance.  In my personal experience, we have called people to the truth of the cross, but haven't done a good job of teaching the full ramifications of salvation through faith and by grace.  The common congregant knows little of their belief.  Who will tell them?  Certainly they won't learn it on their own.  People need teachers and pastors and elders--those who can teach them how the cross isn't supported by Americanism and selfishness.

Page 21

"...the message of American Christianity has simply become trivial, sentimental, affirming, and irrelevant."

We so long to give people what we think is good news.  We could be compared (quite easily) to the Pharisees who thought they were carrying the good news with them.  Their news was bondage to the law.  Our nice sayings and "relevant" messages of God's love aren't confronting people in their sin, showing them how inadequate they are as compared to a Holy God.  In other words, many seem to be floating through a "Christian walk" wondering if they really still need a savior or not.  Our soft words and glib conclusions don't carry the tone or the weight of scripture. We are walking by the beaten traveler--rather than reaching down with news that there is one who has rescued them--we take a seat next to them and strike up a conversation--and work to convince them that they aren't really that broken.  

Each of us is wretchedly desolate!  Each of us has no ability at all to respond to life--for we are replete with death.  Sin doesn't just trip us up, but it has closed all faculties that would communicate to us that we are dead.  Dead in our transgressions...objects of wrath (Eph 2).

It is only by Grace that we become privy to our state of shame.  There is nothing to affirm within us, except that we need a real savior...later Horton references this powerful scene from ER.

We need forgiveness and need a savior.  That savior is only found within the careful and complete teaching of scripture.  Horton elaborates:

Page 21

"I think our doctrine has been forgotten, assumed, ignored, and even misshaped and distorted by the habits and rituals of daily life in a narcissistic culture.  We are assimilating the disrupting and disorienting news from heaven to the banality of our own immediate felt needs, which interpret God as a personal shopper for the props of our life movie: happiness and entertainment, salvation as therapeutic well-being, and mission as pragmatic success measured solely in terms of numbers."

He is saying here what I have felt for a long time.  We need GOOD TEACHING and right doctrine!  We need truth!  Last night I was at  one of the great cultural rites of passage  we have--a high school graduation.  Our true cultural colors came shining through the whole event--we love to feel good!  Every speaker talked with such gooey positivism, one would think Utopia had been discovered and refined on their high school campus.  No one spoke what was true.  No one confronted real life.  It was all a mushy farewell and congrats...I am so glad our Savior bore real pain and shame to pay the price for my very real sin!

We don't need gooey good news!  We need the real Good News, which only comes in the context of the real bad news!  I am a sinner, saved by grace.  

Horton quotes Methodist bishop William Willimon:

Page 25

"In conservative contexts, gospel speech is traded for dogmatic assertion and moralism, for self-help psychologies and narcotic mantras.  In more liberal speech, talk tiptoes around the outrage of Christian discourse and ends up as an innocuous, though urbane, affirmation of the ruling order.  Unable to preach Christ and him crucified, we preach humanity and it improved."

Insightful.  I appreciate Horton's ability to raise the conversation above the din of the liberals vs. conservatives.  He is able to communicate how both "camps" have missed the mark and later describes how both have contributed to secularism and humanism.

Page 26

"Discipleship, spiritual disciplines, life transformation, culture transformation, relationships, marriage and family, stress, the spiritual gifts, financial gifts, radical experiences on conversion, end times curiosities that seem to have less to do with Christ's bodily return than with matching verses to newspaper headlines, and accounts of overcoming significant obstacles through the power of faith.  This is the steady diet we're getting today, and it is bound to burn us out because its all about us and our work rather than about Christ and his work.  Even important biblical exhortations and commands become dislocated from the indicative, gospel habitat.  Instead of the gospel giving us new thoughts, experiences, and a motivation for grateful obedience, we lodge the power of God in own piety and programs."

What would most churches do without the above?  Maybe we would rest on the sabbath?  Maybe we would have less burned out staff members?  Maybe laymen would more easily serve the community because we aren't demanding they serve every whim of the church?

Father, I ask you for great wisdom!

Christless Christianity #1

I have recently read Michael Horton's Christless Christianity and am going to post several thoughts here.  I am hopeful for some responses and perspectives.

In summation, Horton describes the American Church as rooted in the revivalism of the 19th and 20th centuries and the individualistic tendencies of American culture.  Although his chapters long and sometimes a bit of a ramble, I found his critique to be immensely insightful.

Here are some quotes from Chapter 1--and my thoughts.

Page 16-17

"I think that the church in America is so obsessed with being practical, relevant, helpful, successful, and perhaps even well-liked that it nearly mirrors with world itself.  Aside from the packaging, there is nothing that cannot be found in most churches that could not be satisfied by any number of secular programs and self-help groups."

The weight of trying to carry these programs of "help" is killing pastors and leaders.  As I approach the stage of life where I will be required to be a lead pastor, I am incredibly daunted by the expectation of American Christianity.  Horton goes on to make the point that we have lost our poignancy because we have traded the Good News for Good Works.  It becomes a painful indictment, but a relieving perspective that alleviates the demands of pragmatic programs.  Also, from my perspective, we increasingly are forgoing what it is we believe for the sake of what it is we might practice.  We so want to be relevant, but are forgetting the most relevant revelation of all--Jesus and Him Crucified.

Page 17

"Let me be a little more precise about what I am assuming to be the regular diet in many churches across America today: 'do more, try harder'...it can be exhibited in an older, more conservative form, with recurring emphasis on moral absolutes and warnings about falling into the pit of worldliness that can often make one wonder whether we are saved through fear rather than faith...At the same time, more liberal bodies could be just as shrill with their 'do more, try harder' list on the left and their weekly calls to action rather than clear proclamation of Christ."

Wow.  I would have never have thought in this way because my mindset is all about human response.  I am constantly concerned with my congregation's response and my own response to God's principles and directions.  As a preacher, I feel the strong need to make sure and give the listener's plenty to do after a message.  And, there is no doubt that we take up positions behind the conservative bunkers, hurling grenades at culture or rally our people to confront injustice.  

I know there is a place for both of these emphasis'--I think Horton's point is that the church isn't the hub of socio-political-moral-cultural change.  It exists for the proclamation of the Gospel.  For a long time I have tried to reconcile (through methodological ponderings) how to fit all of our proper responses into a church assembly and the programs of the church.  The task is enormous and as I observe it, when we have tried to pull together a comprehensive plan, it invaribly is disjointed.  Perhaps we have been trying to be God (as the Church).  

Horton further illustrates this human tendency (and American folly) of striving towards God:

Page 17

"...the do more, try harder message has still dominated--this time in the softer pastels of Al Franken's 'Stuart Smalley' than in the censorious tone of Dana Carvey's 'Church Lady,' both of Saturday Night Live fame.  In this version, God isn't upset if you fail to pull it off.  The stakes aren't as high: success or failure in this life, not heaven or hell.  No longer commands, the content of these sermons, songs and best-selling books are helpful suggestions.  If you can't people to be better with sticks, use carrots."

I have never heard the modern leniency and narcissism described through the lens of works.  I have long grown weary of the flaccid atmosphere of our culture, but honestly, my response has mostly revolved around reverting to a more legalistic "holy life."  Either extreme isn't the Gospel, and Horton's encouragement is to allow the church to be all about the gospel.

Page 18

"...the search for the sacred in America is largely oriented to what happens inside of us, in our personal experience, rather than in what God has done for us in history.  Even baptism and the Supper are described as 'means of commitment' rather than 'means of grace' in a host of contemporary systematic theologies by conservative as well as progressive evangelicals."

Over the past few years, I have grown weary of the subjective (and therefore non-contradict-able) nature of a personal relationship with Jesus.  Horton will go on to explain the Gnostic beginnings of such an inner claim later in the book.  In my own experience, our individualistic culture loves this sort of a relationship with God because it removes the "strain" and work of accountability.  God has given us two main outside sources of accountability--His Word and His Body (church).  Both the Word (doctrine) and the leadership of the Body have lost authority and ability to discipline and lead the saints.  

Horton further states:

Page 19

"My concern is that we are getting dangerously close to the place in everyday American church life where the Bible is mined for relevant quotes but is largely irrelevant on its own terms; God is used as a personal resource rather than known, worshiped, and trusted; Jesus Christ is a coach with a good game plan for our victory rather than a Savior who has already achieved it for us; salvation is more a matter of having our best life now than being saved from God's judgment by God himself; and the Holy Spirit is an electrical outlet we can plug into for the power we need to be all that we can be."

He says it well.  It is becoming all about US and we only want HIM for what he might do for US.

To be continued...

A prayer for the day

Today - I desire to be more like Jesus.  I want to be more integrous.  I want to be more righteous with my words and my thoughts.  I want to be a leader in action.  I want to have faith and trust that God will do what he says I will do.  I want to be willing to sacrifice.

Jesus, I look to you today.  Thank you for your word which has spoken to my this morning.  I know that you love me and care for me.  I know that you have enough grace to cover my sin and shame and that you and I will be in relationship forever.

Jesus, I lift to you my disobedience - help me to obey.  I lift to you my selfishness and indulgence - help me to be content.  I lift to you my stubbornness - help me to be gentle and willing to hear what others have to say.

Jesus, I give you my family.  I pray that Donia's back would be healed today.  I thank you for her - that she is such a wonderful woman.  I thank you for her strength and wisdom.  I thank you for the beauty that she has.  I pray that as we consider our lives together in 2009 we would follow your leading and wisdom.  I pray that we would always be able to look back with confidence because we have trusted you.  I ask that you would continue to paint our perspective - that you would firmly etch your way and thoughts into our minds.  When we stray, when we think we are wise, please show us our folly.  Jesus, please mold Jenna and Owen into the followers of you.  I pray that from an early age you would save them.  I ask that you would extend grace to them.  I pray that you show them how much they need you.  I pray that you would keep them from harm.  Please help them to help others, to care for others and to be willing to give their lives away.  Give Donia and I great wisdom and patience as we assist in their growth process.

Jesus, I give you my ministry.  I pray that you would give me great wisdom.  I pray that you would help me to move forward with vision and action.  I ask that you would help us find the right youth pastor soon.  And I pray that Winter Retreat would be fantastic.

May I ever be a bright and shining light for you.  

Your son...Isaac

Super (natural)

It is interesting how supernaturaul Jesus' beginnings are:

• Virgin Birth
• Angel appearing to Joseph to lead him to still marry Mary
• The Magi from the east who saw the star
• The dream warning to the Magi (not to go back to Herod)
• The dream warning to Joseph (that he needed to go to Egypt)
• The dream while Joseph was in Egypt (letting him know he could return home)
• The dream warning that led Joseph to live in Nazereth 

I realize as I am studying this that I easily can forget how above everything God is.  He is not limited to the normal laws of earthly life.  Nor does he have to function in a way that makes sense to us.

Also, this passage brings alive the importance of prophecy.  Jesus' birth was foretold through the prophets, and these were not just simple or general prophecies, but were indeed specific.

I am challenged today to see God as bigger.  I am challenged to know him more fully.  I am challenged to let my expectations be larger than what is natural or normal.

God, would you please show yourself to me today?  I love you...

Trusting the Bosses of Life

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Romans 13:1

Today in my reading Ihave come upon this appropiate passage.  It is one that is familiar, but how much I "know" it doesn't mean that I live it out.  Nor does it mean that I understand the far-reaching implications of its truth.  The bottom line is that God is in control.  

I have often wondered how Paul would have written like if he were a part of a democracy.  Winston Churchill is quoted as saying:

Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the rest.

We live in an interesting place - we have the freedom, right and, some would say, the obligation to cast our opinion in on the matter of governmental offices.  So, although God uses whatever means nessecary, in the end he uses our perceptions and thoughts to provide the outcome he sees as correct.

Regardless of our opinion, however, it is His will that is done.  And once his will is done, than we have nothing to do except to submit to his wisdom and plan, which is far superior to any advice I have to offer.

Jesus, today I need to listen to these words and take them to heart.  you have placed me in situations of submission for your own purposes.  I ask that I would exhibit trust in you as I wade through the place of life you have me in.

In my weakness

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

These words are towards the end of raw segment of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.  As he has served and given, he has had it all thrown back in his face.  Apparently negative words about Paul had been passed on to Paul.  He then "vented" his frustration to them.

I find strength in these words.  While I haven't endured the same sort of persecution as Paul, nor the criticism, I do find pastoring to be full of betrayal.  People are fickle.  People just don't know the struggle at times.  People let us down.  (as I write this, however, I am reminded of many who consistently bless me)

Paul is admitting that he has weaknesses, but in his weakness, Jesus is made strong and mighty.  I pray that would be the same with me.

Jesus - you know my weaknesses.  You know how often I fail you.  You know when I stumble and drop the ball.   I pray that in spite of me, you would be made strong.  I pray that as I follow you today - that you would watch over me.  I lift up my family today and ask that each of us would follow hard after you.  I pray that we would walk in your grace.  I pray that we would each be reminded of your amazing love today.

Please give me your grace today.  Please settle me and enable me to live as you would like.

The Results - how do we react?

 12 But do people know where to find wisdom?

      Where can they find understanding?

 13 No one knows where to find it,

      for it is not found among the living.

 14 ‘It is not here,’ says the ocean.

      ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea.

.....................................................................................................................

 20 “But do people know where to find wisdom?

      Where can they find understanding?

 21 It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity.

      Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.

 22 Destruction and Death say,

      ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’

JOB 28:12-14, 20-22

Wisdom is the knowledge of which way to go.

Our country is obviously at a crossroad.  Some are panicked right now because the President-elect doesn't hold the same values as them.  Some are overjoyed.

We don't understand the mind of God - we don't know all of the whys.  We don't see history laid out before us.  But, the one thing we as Christians can bank on - God's purposes will always come about.  God hasn't forgotten his agenda.  He didn't miss this portion of history!  No!  he is on the move, Job states:

23 “God alone understands the way to wisdom;

      he knows where it can be found,

 24 for he looks throughout the whole earth

      and sees everything under the heavens.

 25 He decided how hard the winds should blow

      and how much rain should fall.

 26 He made the laws for the rain

      and laid out a path for the lightning.

 27 Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it.

      He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.

 28 And this is what he says to all humanity:

   ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;

      to forsake evil is real understanding.’”

JOB 28:23-28

I am thrilled!  I am thrilled to serve God!  Our country as a designated piece of land with laws and regulations doesn't serve God!  People serve God and our God is in control!

He knows the beginning from the end.  He is truly the author and the perfecter of our faith!  We shouldn't falter - nor should we be too overjoyed over the outcome of human voting for imperfect and limited systems of voting.  Instead, let us bow in humility to God and rejoice over him - our Lord, the bestower of wisdom.

Jesus, I love you.  Thank you for allowing me to serve you.

Humble Power

His Spirit made the heavens beautiful,

      and his power pierced the gliding serpent.

 These are just the beginning of all that he does,

      merely a whisper of his power.

      Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?

Job 26:13-14

And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

Mark 15:19-20

In our reading this morning these two passages were assigned.  The stark contrast between the two amazes me anew.  The God of the universe - the creator of all things - the one who holds all power in his hands - the one who gives life and sustains life and who takes life away is also the one who subjected himself to extreme persecution, torment and then death.

Job declares the omnipotence of God.  And Mark records the humility of God.

Jesus, today I see that you are power under control.  You are subjected to the will of the Father and it was (is) his will that man be drawn back to him.  It is only through your sacrifice that I am graced even to start to understand your love for me.

You live inside of me, which means that the God of the universe is inside of me, not so that I can move in a way or pray in a way the blesses me, but so that I have the ability to act according to the Father - so that they may know your truth and life.  Jesus thank you for always being my friend - but I will not take for granted that you wish for me to remain in submission to everything that you are and say.

What are my standing orders today my Lord?  Speak to me.  Help to do the little things right.  I pray that I would be a man of character today.  I pray that I would adequately present you to those who are around me.  I know that you will give me the insight to know how to do that and when.

I bless your name today...I give you honor and glory...I have you my life...

I need peace

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.

Jesus, I see your ability to calm the most difficult storms.  You are the bringer of peace to your people.  You said that you would leave us with peace.  I pray that I would walk into that peace right now.  I lift up to you the coming weekend - all of my doubt and fear - I pray that you would take it.  All of my apprehension - please remove it and replace it with faith.

I would like to be able to walk in a deep calm, even though the things around me are troubled.  Would you please give me the spirit of peace?

I love you and am committed to serve you today.  Would you please help the concert be a success?  Would you please help us to get people there?  

I love you.

1 Lord, my heart is not proud;

      my eyes are not haughty.

   I don’t concern myself with matters too great

      or too awesome for me to grasp.

 2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,

      like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.

      Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

 3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—

      now and always.

Psalm 131

While ascending to Jerusalem, the people would recite Psalm 131 - why?

This morning I am sick and not feeling well at all.  As I work to go up unto his presence, I sense that the Lord would want to quiet my soul and give me rest.  He would like for me to be in a humble and contrite condition so that I am able to receptive towards his word.

Jesus, today i need to be strengthened by you.  I ask that you would strengthen me and give me rest.

Dangerous Trust

...I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.

Ezra 8:21b-23

Do I trust the Lord with my life?  Ezra had made a declaration of who God was - and then he chose to trust the Lord.  He trusted God when it wasn't easy.  He trusted God when it was dangerous to do so.

Dangerous trust.  Will I allow the Lord to lead me into dangerous areas of life or ministry?  Will I trust him to be my salvation, my provision and sustainer?

I can choose to allow God to be who he is, or I could never take dangerous steps of faith.

Jesus, today I ask that you would fill me with faith so that I would be willing to take the steps that you are asking me to take.  I love you and confess that I need you and not just need you to stick around a bit, I desperately need you.

Today, I will launch forward into the assignments ahead of me with faith.  Even if I fell alone, exposed or vulnerable, I will move ahead!

Including through invitation

12 Then he turned to his host.“When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

-Luke 14:12-14

The invitation of the Lord is for everyone, not for the people that we normally think it should be for.  It is amazing how we make judgements on who should be included in our lives, or to what extent they should be included.  Jesus is asking us to invite the uninvited - to open up the best of our lives for the "worst" of people.  Jesus, I ask you today to show me where I need to do this.  What people are you asking me to include?  How can I be more inclusive?  How can my capacity for people increase?  At the end of my life, I wish to be one who's reward is greater than just the obvious or natural outcomes of my "easy" circle of relationships.

Jesus, today, I ask that I would be someone who is focused on you.  As a result, may I bring others into your presence and into your light.  I ask that you would use me to be a light into the darkness of the abandoned, the forgotten and the overlooked.  I pray that I would actively include all around me to your kingdom.  I pray that i would choose to be sensitive to your leading.  I pray that I would be sensitive enough to not miss what you are doing.  Lord, give me a sweet and engaging spirit.  may I be like you are - loving and inviting and caring and able to speak into every life.  Holy Spirit, fill me today.

devotions

What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.They will continue to grow stronger...

Psalm 84:5-7

Joy.  I want to carry the joy of the Lord with me today.  I wish to walk with my eyes forward - trusting the Lord to fulfill what he has promised.  I know that it easy for me to become focused on circumstances or happenings.  However, I know that joy and contentment can only come as I am striving to see the bigger picture of God.

Jesus, today I will rejoice with what today is for me.  You have given me the gift of today.  I won't squander the opportunities I have to enjoy you - to express you and to give you more of me.

Thank you for the opportunity to be around the flag pole with the students today.  Thank you for the chance to pray with the students.  Thanks for the chance to connect with Mikey again.  I pray that you would give me chances to connect with him.  I pray that he might be drawn to you through me.  I pray that even though I might be inconvenienced or challenged, I would be one that gives you away to others.  

Thank you for the fact that we had more donuts than we needed.  It was wonderful to give away donuts to the students who were threatening a Satan/Hitler worshipping meeting next Wednesday.  May you bless them and draw them to you.

Jesus, would you make us a people of prayer.  Would you birth that within us?  Help me to be one who models that...and who pursues that with our church.

Jesus, I love you and am committed to you again.

Thirsty?

"Come!" say the Spirit and the Bride. 

   Whoever hears, echo, "Come!" 

   Is anyone thirsty? Come! 

   All who will, come and drink, 

   Drink freely of the Water of Life!

Revelation 22:17

Thirst.

We won't last three days without water.  Our souls are the same.  We have a need to be satisfied - to be quenched.  I would suggest that it is the same desperate longing that our need for water is.  We have a real need - a real hole inside of us that we try to fill with all sorts of things.  We look for approval from other people, we try to have enough fun, we indulge in all sorts of pleasures and at the end, always come up short.  Just as the roller coaster ride gives ninety seconds of reprieve from our mundane lives, so do our hopes at being satisfied.

There is only one who can satisfy this thirst.  There is only one who can truly fill the void.

"Is anyone thirsty?  Come!"

Jesus, today I choose to be a carrier of your water.  I choose to be one who brings the bowl of your living water to those around me.  I choose to be your hands and feet.  I choose to be one who carries committed and sacrificial love to all in my life.

I pray that you would equip me to accomplish what I set out today to accomplish.  I ask that you would give me strength, courage and patience.  I pray that I would be an active listener - even when it isn't convenient or easy.

Make me your instrument today.

A fellow life-giver

"I am making everything new!" - Revelation 21:5a

He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son." - Revelation 21:6

Oh Lord, allow me to be a life giver with you.  I would like to be "in order" in my life so that I can participate with the giving of the life that you have to offer all around.  

I know that there are those who are desperate for you - desperate for your life and forgiveness.  I pray that I would walk in it in such a way that allows you to shine through me.

Help me to be obedient to you today.  

Your people are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right.

Ezekial 33:17

This morning I am struck with how much of a servant I am to be.  I know that the Lord is constantly calling me to deeper levels of faith and service to him.  I know that it doesn't stop when I have overcome one hurdle, or when I have accomplished one task.

It is an ongoing struggle to give him control.  I realize that he has called me to be in the place that I am - moving forward by dying to myself, dying to my will, my way and my perspective.  Jesus, please help me as I continue to move forward.

I want to hear your voice and truly respond to it.  I wish to be known as one who follows you completely and wholly.  You know what is before me now.  I ask for your wisdom, your direction and insight.  I am aware that you are the one who is arranging things correctly; that you are using the maneuvering of men for your ultimate goals.

Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? 

Ezekial 34:2b

Lord, please help me to see my life as giving to others.  I truly want to serve and not be served.  I ask that I would be able to see all of my life in that way.  I know that you have places of signifigance for me...but those places are for your glory and use.

May I be a shepherd who always gives my life away:

• For my family
• For my "flock'
• For my friends

I pray that this would stand out in small, real ways.  I pray that today I would find ways to connect with others where they are at.  I pray that I would be a good servant to my wife and kids today.  I pray that I would adequately shepherd the students.  I pray that I would be disciplined with my tongue, so that I build up those around me.

I give you this day.  I pray that I might glorify you with it.

I love you!

Life submitted to the Creator

You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.
Revelation 4:11

May my life be one that utters these words. Of course, I pray that I would proclaim these words in song and in prayer. But more than that, I pray that my life would declare that.

• My thought life - what I allow myself to dwell on - does it bring glory to him?
• My talking life - do I allow myself to gossip, do I tear others down behind their back? Do I speak more often than I should? Am I being an excellent listener?
  
• My physical life - am I constantly disciplining my body - beating it into submission to Christ?
• My secret life - would I allow others to take a free look at any time at my life - or would I bring shame to the name of my creator?
• My giving life - do I see my life as something to be given away to others? Or am I interpreting events, circumstances and opportunities through a selfish filter?

Jesus, I ask that I would grow today. I ask that as you and work through this day together, we would make progress in answering these questions. I declare today that I want to move forward, to become more like you.

I lift up all of the youth who are a part of THRIVE. I ask that you bless each one of them with your presence and your mercy. I pray that you would open their eyes to your love, your purposes and plans. I ask that there would be an overwhelming sense of passion that would arise. I pray that you would strike a deep desire for you in each of their hearts! I pray that you would change our hearts! I pray that you would change our hearts! I pray that we would respond to your voice of correction! I pray for deep repentance! I pray for an attitude of sorrow for our sins!

Lord, I pray that as a result of humility and hunger - we would see the harvest come in! I pray that we would bring more and more to a saving knowledge of you! May we make believers and disciples right in Hillsboro! I pray for an overwhelming move of your spirit! I pray for your kingdom to come in passion and fury! Jesus, move your hand of mercy to save! Save us from us!

Make us desperate! I pray that this year would be EPIC. I pray that this year would be overwhelming - as we pursue you!

A decided heart

I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
Revelation 3:19

The Lord is calling an indictment against the church of Laodicea. Jesus isn't pleased with the indifference and lukewarm attitude that existed among them.

As I read about who Jesus is and grow in my understanding of what he calls us to, I realize more and more that it is a radical and instrisuve call to live for Him and with him. This strikes against values of our culture - we love comfort and relaxation. We also have a hard time drawing firm lines of truth. Much of our time and energy is spend on trying to remain comfortable - being indifferent.

Jesus' words here are convicting and truly powerful against us.

Am I indifferent? Do I carry traces of unwillingness to die for him and to him? Are there areas of my life that I do not throw at his feet. Am I more interested in comfort and relaxation and less inclined towards truth?

Jesus, I ask that on this weekend away, you would guide and teach me. I pray that you would cast vision for what you would like my life to look like this fall. I pray that you would give me your heart! I pray that you would change my heart so that I look more like you! so that I am a servant who embraces the difficult, the humble and the lowly tasks - all for the sake of you my king.

I love you. Jesus, I love you. May you be the God of my family's life. I pray that you would richly bless Donia with love and life today. I pray that you would continue to minister to her heart and that you would continue to draw her to yourself. I pray that she would continue to find joy in you. I pray that your word would speak to her today. I ask that you would watch over her mind and spirit.

Jesus, great lover of me - I life you my children. I pray that they would follow you. I pray that they would understand your grace and your passion for their lives. I pray that they would run towards you early and often. I pray that they would come to know your love for them at a young age. I ask that you would invest your Spirit deeply into their hears and minds. I ask that you would give them a rich calling at an early age. I ask that you would give them a ministry to their peers. I ask that you would release a worshiping heart within both of them.

I ask that or family's lives would bring glory to your name. I ask that you would root out any stinky spirits! Bind us together in love and unity. May we have the mind of Christ and the heart of Christ and be able to see what is truth, what is right and what is important to you!

Thank you for your never ending blessings! Thank you for always providing for us! Thank you for always taking us down the road that you need us to be on. I pray that we would always following your leading! Thank you for giving us love and laughter and peace and grace! Thank you for how much you have transformed each of us! Thank you for never letting us down! Thank you for being the wonderful God of the Universe! Thank you!

I will love you forever - Jesus, my Lord, my king and everything!

Pursuing Truth

You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars
Revelation 2:2b

Jesus is talking to the early churches. It is amazing to me that there were those who were already trying to pervert the gospel for their own gain. I see the same thing to be true today.

It is amazing how many people work really hard to convince others that following Jesus is all about us gaining more in this life.

It is up to us to examine the claims of leaders. It is up to me as a leader to make sure that I am leading others towards truth and righteousness, not selfish interpretations that I may be more comfortable with.

Just this last year I sensed that the Lord was calling to me to address some of the more difficult concepts within Christianity. I did more thinking, study and prayer on Hell and God's wrath.

It isn't easy to work to be a discerning and careful Christian. From day one there have be people who work to distract from what God has called us to live by.

Jesus, today I will be discerning and careful about the influence that I allow in my life. I know there are teachers and leaders out there who I am drawn to, but I also know that they can error and mislead others. May I be one who is driven by your cross and your gift of eternal life for the sinner.

Today, I will follow what has been faithfully passed on to me - Jesus and him crucified. I pray that I would live as a citizen of Heaven - one that has been granted freedom from sin and punishment.

Living on my knees

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave."
Revelation 1:17-18

I feel just a smidgen of what John must have felt. In the moments where I truly acknowledge how vast and wide and significant and truly-other and awesome Jesus is, I dare not breathe without permission. Jesus you are everything to me. You are my purpose, my meaning and my full hope! Today, I live on my knees before you.

I pray that today I would see you for who you are! Alive and beautiful and able to conquer all things! I pray that you would birth and release faith in my heart! I pray you would reign in me and through me! I pray that I would have opportunity to share you with others, to love others as you love them and to care for those in need today.

Thank you for my lovely wife, for my children and for the life that you have given us! I pray that we would not just live in blessing unto ourselves and the end of comfort or happiness, but that we would strive to be a blessing to others. I pray that all people around us would know us as a blessing - of hope, compassion, truth and love.

Lids and Shepherds

My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray
and turned them loose in the mountains.
They have lost their way
and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.

Jeremiah 50:6

Leadership is something that we can all see, but few of us want to take responsibility for. We know it when there is effective and transforming leadership, but when we are called to lead, we often buck the responsibility. We look for other reasons for failure and try to assign blame to others.

For instance, my first reaction to chastisement over leaving my clothes lying around is to blame my children for distracting me. I use them as a scapegoat for my fault and irresponsibility.

Jeremiah draws attention here to the real problem - the shepherds who lead. Why do organizations wander, go astray and find themselves in trouble? It is a lack of leadership. John Maxwell calls this the "Law of the Lid" - the leader is the lid on the jar of potential - only as the leader grows, will the organization grow.

I see this to be true in my own leadership. I haven't seen growth in those I am leading, unless I myself am growing.

Jesus, today I pray that I would continue to grow as a leader. Help me to become who I am supposed to be. Thank you for never neglecting me.

False Hope

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, but the people believe your lies. 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘You must die. Your life will end this very year because you have rebelled against the Lord.’”

Jeremiah 28:15-16

Context.

Often within Christianity we here quoted the verses that follow this strange judgment upon Hananiah - a false prophet:

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Hananiah uttered words that resemble how we often quote this verse. He prophesied that Judah would be rescued from captivity in only 2 years. Jeremiah called him on his error and then prophesied that Hananiah would be dead within the year.

I have to put myself in Hananiah's shoes. His people had just been overtaken - their sin had ultimately caught up with them and the people who were once known for being released from bondage and captivity were now walking in chains once again. Hananiah's heart must have been breaking. I am sure that deep down he wanted to sooth the fears of the desperate mothers, the weary soldiers, the widows and the orphans.

And so he stepped out unwisely. He tried to speak for the Lord. On his strength, no doubt fueled by his emotion, he proclaimed an optimistic claim of release and freedom.

I can see myself doing exactly what he did. I want people to feel better. I would like there to be shortcuts for my history of sin. I would "speak" into existence what was never God's heart or voice.

It would be easier not to be Jeremiah - who was called to utter the difficult and true words of God. Intertwined into his proclamations were hope, but they were properly braided along with discipline and correction.

Lord, help me to hear what your voice is. Please help me to hear what your timing is. Help me to be one that proclaims your hope in the context of cleansing and repentance. I pray that I would always be able to walk that line. Jesus, today I love you! Speak to me and help me to listen.

Discplining me

Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant,
for I am with you,” says the Lord.
“I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you, but with justice;
I cannot let you go unpunished.”

Jeremiah 46:28

Immediately after declaring such calamity on the nations around Israel, and after the many indictments against Israel (Jacob), the Lord reminds Israel of his faithfulness - one that is wrapped in covenant love. It was because of his love that he chose to discipline his beloved children.

I have endured the disciplined of the Lord in my young life. If Jeremiah were called to prophesy about my life, I have no doubt that he would be able to bring complaint to the Lord of my offenses. My laundry list would be long.

The Lord knows this, and his promise is the same for me. I will not completely destroy you. There is hope in that statement. I am to learn from my mistakes, to wrestle with my weaknesses, but the Lord will never give me something that isn't common to mankind. Whether it be temptation or difficult circumstances, I trust that the Lord has a plan for my own discipline.

I find myself there right now. I am not comfortable with my surroundings at the moment. Life on staff at Evergreen has changed dramatically over the last 4.5 years - and going into this school year, I have more challenges ahead of me than I would care to walk through.

I realize that I have a desire to be seen as significant and as dramatically needed. Gosh, I see the Lord chastising that right out of me.

Lord, I pray that today i would learn to trust in you again. That I would see you clearly and as a resuly demonstrate you in action and attitude all day today. I need you comforting love to surround me. I need you light and goodness to invade all of my senses. Jesus...I am before you again...thank you for you kindness of heart to love me and call me your own...and thank you for constantly taking me through things that grow me.

Counterfeit Prosperity

Lord, you always give me justice
when I bring a case before you.
So let me bring you this complaint:
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why are evil people so happy?
You have planted them,
and they have taken root and prospered.
Your name is on their lips,
but you are far from their hearts.

Jeremiah 12:1-2

Always we are in a world of impressive exterior - the creative minds and collaborative efforts of empires and nations have given us the outward appearance of prosperity.

Jeremiah saw this appearance of "happiness." And so he offered complaint to the Lord.

From my limited perspective - this world and what is has to offer is so tempting. People strive for a lifetime to be able to attain, get and have more. But, in this world, what we have, get or accomplish is "rubbish compared to knowing Christ."

Lord, I want to know you today. All of the stuff of the world will fade away. But knowing you will never grow tiring, old or wear out. Thank you for calling me to your kingdom, to be your son. Please help me to strive for the things of your kingdom - not the things of this world.

May I never lose focus or perspective - you give me what I need and you give it to me when I need it. I have never gone without as I have trusted you - but I have created my dissatisfaction by not remaining in you.

Today, with all that I have and all that I don't have - I love you and will live for you. May you be glorified.

A Young King Seeking God pt 2

What would it be like to be a king in a situation where there wasn't any inheritance of Godliness? That is what Josiah walked into when he was installed as the king of Judah. The legacy was that of insane idol worship, human sacrifice and sexually charged religious deviancy.

Josiah did what was wise and right:

There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple.

2 Kings 23:2b

He went to the source of truth to find out what was right. And then he put it into practice:

He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul.

2 Kings 23:3a

This wasn't going to be easy as the whole nation of Israel was entrenched in awful sin and bondage. Much of the rest of 2 Kings 23 describes the various places that Josiah went to tear down idols and shrines and altars that were all dedicated to false gods and to false, licentious and brutal worship.

God never wanted Israel to have a king. He wanted to be their king. He knew that the systems of power in the world would ultimately corrupt his desire. Jesus urges us to live as citizens of that Kingdom.

However, as far as Kings go, Josiah was wonderful. He worked hard to use his position and power to engage with God and to move towards him.

Lord! Help me to be like Josiah!

A Young King Seeking God

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.

2 Chronicles 34:1-2

As a young man, Josiah did what was right. He had the privilege as a king - the position to create any sort of legacy imaginable.

During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David.

He chose to seek God. To seek means that he chose to pursue a greater understanding of God and to choose a greater accountability to God. It would have been much easier for Josiah to accept his (and his culture's) view of God. But he chose to do the hard thing.

Lord, please help me, as a relatively young man, to do the hard thing and the right thing.

Prophet

Child prostitution up after Kenya's election bloodshed

Tapes show victims screaming, crying, gasping for air

My heart is breaking.
My anger is rising.
What are we doing to intervene?
What are we doing when we hear these screams?
Will we fit ourselves for battle or just hang up the phone to avoid the rattle?

Blood, sex, violence, gore
People are dying, but we want more
Blood, sex, violence, gore
People are crying, but give us more

God is angry, God is just
In middle of this blatant lust
For more for now for keeps
He won't let us off the hook
We are the creeps
Its cheap to pick the splinter from the eye
When our lives pass by
In a big lie of me and my and mine
Its brine fit for swine
Point that finger into your own sternum
Let it sink and twist and turn
Its time to think and fix and turn

Repent. Repent. Repent.
God sent, he sent, he sent
He spent, he spent, he spent
So he could relent

Will we go, go, go
To show, show, show
To throw, throw, throw
The vile prince of darkness
To his darkness, where the darkest hour for him yet remains
Evil will be repaid

Halt!
Ready yourself!
Rid yourself!

And GO.

Speak Out

Psalm 107:2

Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies!

Jesus, thank you for your life given that I may be able to have life now and eternally. you have redeemed me! You have given me purpose, hope and opprtunity to be partnered with you. Thank you for taking my shame, pain and failure upon your shoulders so I might have life and have it in abundance.

What have been my enemies? I am my own worst enemy - were it that I lived with an oppressive king striking me so I would work, this passage might ring a bit different. But I read it so say - "tell others he has redeemed you from yourself!"

I am pitiful, sinful and selfish - but you invade all of that, you remove my tattered outward garments and are giving me a new heart, a new mind and a new purpose - one that shines true from the inside - from all of who I am.

Today, Jesus, I ask fo an opportunity to share of your great love. I ask that I might be able to share your love to Arielle, Bubbles, Micheal, Luis, DJ, Austin or Beanie. I also pray for another God-centered conversation with Cody. Lord Jesus! Please rule and reign today!

Psalm 107:43

Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.