Self Portrait

Press On Towards The Goal: Faith & Trust

Since returning to Calgary, Chris and I have had many conversations with people from our church. The majority end up being about how tired/over-worked people feel from working in the church OR about how disconnected/uncared for people feel. They are frustrated and don't see an end.

There are so many things wrong with this, but I am most struck by the attitudes of the heart.

Naturally we (perhaps more me than Chris) challenge these people about what their part is. No one is a victim, no one can be forced to serve in the church. Yet MOST people (all of which were in leadership/teaching positions) said that they do their job out of a sense of duty--not out of passion/answering God's call on their lives. The big comment we have heard was 'well no one else is going to do it and it needs to get done--so I guess I'll have to do it'.

My heart grieves for God's kingdom, His body of believers. If this is the mentality of the coming generation of leadership then our church does not have much to look forward to.

My heart breaks at the lack of faith the people have. If we can not even trust God to rise up people to fill positions for HIS WILL to be done in HIS CHURCH--then what else will HE trust us with?

Mediocre is not of the kingdom of God.

At one Bible study we got into a very tense discussion about church duties. I told everyone present that if they are not answering God's call to fill a role in His church then they should stop doing that job.

I do not regret it--it is the cry of my heart. God does not need our help. God wants us to love Him, see where He is working and follow.

And God is working amongst the broken hearted of our church--while we worry about filling roles.

If there are programs where no one wants to do the job, then is it time for it to stop?--or for us to back off from doing it in our own strength and allow God to do it in His?

We limit God to our own strength. And are missing out on how AWESOMELY God can bless!

We have a generation of followers who do not follow in faith, who do not trust that God is all that He says He is--and I am torn.

Press On Towards The Goal: To Change The World

As Chris and I continue to press on towards the goal that Christ has set for us, I felt the need to take a break and read a little velvet elvis. I am struck once again by how God is using Rob Bell’s words to reach my hardening heart.

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It is important to remember that we rarely find these first Christians trying to prove that the resurrection actually occurred. For one, a lot of the people who saw Jesus after he rose from the dead were still alive, so if people had questions and doubts, they could talk to somebody who was actually there. But there's another reason: Everybody's god in the first century had risen from the dead. To claim resurrection had occurred was nothing new: Julius Caesar himself was reported to have ascended to the right hand of the gods after his death. To try to prove there was an empty tomb wouldn't have gotten very far with the average citizen of the Roman Empire; they had heard it all before. This is why so many passages about the early church deal with possessions and meals and generosity. They understood that people are rarely persuaded by arguments, but more often by experiences. Living, breathing, flesh-and-blood experiences of the resurrection community. They saw it as their responsibility to put Jesus' message on display. To the outside world, it was less about proving and more about inviting people to experience this community of Jesus' followers for themselves.

And so these first Christians passed on the faith to the next generation who passed it on to the next generation who passed it on to the next generation until it got to ...us. Here. Today. Those who follow Jesus and belong to his church. And now it is our turn. It is our turn to step up and take responsibility for who the church is going to be for a new generation. It is our turn to redefine and reshape and dream it all up again. It is our turn to rediscover the beautiful, dangerous, compelling idea that a group of people, surrendered to God and to each other, really can change the world.

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If you are not content with what we are passing on to the next generation, then it is your responsibility to step up. Not with aggression, but with humility and compassion.

"the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." -Matthew 11:12

God is not interested in us bulling our way, but rather taking our lead from Christ. “Seek first the Kingdom of heaven”. Christ demonstrates passion, servitude, humility—main ingredients to change this world don’t you think.

If you were to start a church; what would it look like?
Now take that vision into your present church and inspire people with it!

us vs. them

From The Call Of Service by Martin Luther King Jr.

A big danger for is the temptation to follow the people we are opposing. They call us names, so we call them names. Our names may not be 'redneck' or 'cracker'; they may be names that have a sociological or psychological veneer to them, a gloss; but they are names, nonetheless--'ignorant', or 'brainwashed', or 'duped' or 'hysterical' or 'poor-white' or 'consumed by hate'. I know you will all give me plenty of evidence in support of those categories; and I remind you that in many people, in many people called segregationists, there are other things going on in their lives: THIS person or THAT person, standing HERE or THERE may also be otehr things - kind to neighbors and family, helpful and good-spirited at work.

You all know, I think, what I'm trying to say -- that we must try not to end up with stereotypes of those we oppose even as they slip all of us into their stereotypes. And who are we? Let us not do to ourselves as others (as our opponents) do to us: try to put ourselves into one all-inclusive category - the virtuous ones as against the evil ones, or the decent ones as against the malicious, prejudinces ones, or the well-educated as against the ignorant. You can see that I can go on and on - and there is danger: the 'us' or 'them' mentality takes hold, and we do, actually, begin to run the risk of joining ranks with the very people we are opposing. I worry about this a lot these days.

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When any measure of conflict arises what is our reaction? How do we treat those we oppose? Do we lash out in anger or do we pause and seek to understand their perspective? Do we approach them (after taking time out) in humility and compassion?

And if we do manage to approach 'them' with humility, compassion and seek to work things out--do we have the grace to forgive if forgiveness is necessary? And even if we manage to do all these things, can we continue to do them when 'they' have no interest in doing the same?

Why We Lack Understanding

Here is what I read from Oswald Chambers this morning;

"He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead." -Mark 9:9

"As the disciples were commanded, you should also say nothing until the Son of Man has risen in you—until the life of the risen Christ so dominates you that you truly understand what He taught while here on earth. When you grow and develop the right condition inwardly, the words Jesus spoke become so clear that you are amazed you did not grasp them before. In fact, you were not able to understand them before because you had not yet developed the proper spiritual condition to deal with them.

Our Lord doesn’t hide these things from us, but we are not prepared to receive them until we are in the right condition in our spiritual life. Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). We must have oneness with His risen life before we are prepared to bear any particular truth from Him. Do we really know anything about the indwelling of the risen life of Jesus? The evidence that we do is that His word is becoming understandable to us. God cannot reveal anything to us if we don’t have His Spirit. And our own unyielding and headstrong opinions will effectively prevent God from revealing anything to us. But our insensible thinking will end immediately once His resurrection life has its way with us.

“…tell no one…” But so many people do tell what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration—their mountaintop experience. They have seen a vision and they testify to it, but there is no connection between what they say and how they live. Their lives don’t add up because the Son of Man has not risen in them. How long will it be before His resurrection life is formed and evident in you and me?"

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‘Once His resurrection life has its way with us’ – when or how is this instigated? Is this something I did without knowing? Is it simply a matter of maturing in Christ? Or is Chambers referring to predestination?

I was struck by all of this. As I look back over my life I see how true this is. My challenge now is to examine my life and find where I am being unyielding and headstrong so that God can continue to reveal Himself to me.