Nothing to give... (Bonhoeffer)

Bonhoeffer wrote this to his fiancé from prison:

“Dear Maria—I think that we’re going to have an exceptionally good Christmas. . . I used to be very fond of thinking up and giving presents, but now that we have nothing to give, the gift God gave us in the birth of Christ will seem all the more glorious: the emptier our hands, the better we understand. . . The poorer our quarters, the more clearly we perceive that our hearts should be Christ’s home on earth.” --Love Letters from Cell 92.

(HT: Len Sweet)

getting a radical vision of God leads to calling...

From Skye Jethani:

“So I’ve come to embrace the reality that my place as a church leader is not to get people to do more for God. Rather, I believe my responsibility is to give others a ravishing vision, rooted in Scripture and modeled by my own example, of a life lived it communion with God. And there, as they abide in him, calling will happen. The Lord of the harvest will call and send workers. And he will call others to live quietly and work with their hands. Some may be butchers, and others lawyers, and some he will even call to be suburban moms. And all of their work will be holy, good, and, if rooted in communion with God, truly radical.”

Dreams for the world

"the church and it's gospel throw into question the agenda of the world-all the agendas of the world-and open the world to possibilities of which it has never dared to dream. When the church dares to be different, it models for the world what God calls the church to become." (Richard John Neuhaus)

Read this in "Unfashionable" by Tullian Tchividjian, where he closes this chapter with a great phrase describing the church, calling it 'God's Demonstration Community'

Reminds me of the phrase I live to spread around, that the church is 'God's living and local presence'

Rob Bell on preaching and church community

Rob Bell on preaching with both depth and creativity:

(answering what he finds unhelpful in for message preparation):

Focusing too much on something in the text that is an issue of hairsplitting debate among theologians. You are assuming that people care as much about the debate as you do. Somebody may be sitting there thinking, "Dude, I'm a plumber. I didn't know that was a debate, and I didn't know that it needed to be resolved. I'm just trying to figure out life with God and you spent sixteen minutes letting me know that you understood the origins of this particular Greek word." Some things just aren't helpful.

Read the rest here. He also shares lots about personal spiritual growth and sustainable ministry.

lopsided energy in problem solving

If men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they do in discussing problems, there would not be so much evil and scandal in the world, or such laxity in religious organizations…

(Thomas Kempis, The Imitation of Christ)

This really made me think about all the time discussing problems and the little time working on the problems inside us.
We - our sin - contributes to the problems in the world.

Don Miller - in Blue Like Jazz - comes to this realization while protesting a G. Bush appearance several years ago. Although he felt strongly against the issue, he realized that he - his own shortcomings - contributed to the evil in the world too.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about problematic issues in the world or around us or in our lives. It's important.

However, do we/I spend at least the same amount of energy, or more, working on ourselves - and by that I mean 1. surrendering to Jesus and letting him transform us, and 2. doing our part in the process of practical steps forward in the right direction as we follow Jesus' work in our lives.

To tied down to give

"Christians don’t wait to start giving until they own enough to give it up; Christians start when they’ve got nothing that owns them enough to tie them down" (from Leonard Sweet's Facebook status)

I don't know many people who give only because they can.
Most people I know who give, give because they choose to.
Most of those people started giving when they had little.
Most people who give to other organizations usually give to more than one.
It seems like giving reproduces giving.

I have a feeling that the people that will give more this Christmas to good causes around the world are already giving to their church and other charities throughout the year. It's an attitude thing.

CONSUMING is something I fight more than a little. I like to have stuff. I like the promo ads for new TV's and gadgets. I like thinking about what I can get.

I continually have to surrender the stuff in my life so "nothing owns me enough to tie me down" and stop me from... giving.

This might help you out: www.adventconspiracy.org, at least for this season.

God's Words

God's message and purpose was not meant for (or to stay on) tablets or paper, but to be impressed on the human heart and expressed in he human life.

I thought about this recently and had to write it down. God's message wasn't meant to be on paper... but too often we leave it there. It initially got etched into stone tablets, but was always meant for our heart.

HEART
- Duet 6 - impress these words on your hearts - get in you and your children

LIVES
- Jesus said in Matthew 7 - live out what I've just told you, don't let it remain a teaching, but allow it become a life

IMPRESSED ON OUR HEARTS
EXPRESSED THROUGH OUR LIVES

That would look pretty different than we often see in us and others and in our churches.

Let it be so...!

Reality of Sin and the pursuit of God (Peterson)

The following quotes are from Eugene Peterson's 'The Jesus Way.' in a section on David's way - as his life demonstrates both a love for God and yet imperfection along the way of following Jesus. This section was refreshing. Though we are called to follow Jesus and live holy, we are not meant to expect perfectionism - in us or in others.

(Eugene Peterson, in The Jesus Way, reflecting on the prayers of David, Israel's most popular King)

The remedy for sin is not the extermination of sin, not the long training in not-sinning, not a rigorous program conditioning us in the Pavlovian revulsion to sin. The only effective remedy for sin is the forgiveness of sin-and only God can forgive sin. If we refuse to deal with God, we are left dealing with sin by means of punishment or moral education or concocting some strategy of denial. None seem to make much of a dent in the sin business. No. The way, the only way, is to get in on God's forgiveness. And that we do by confession. No excuses, no rationalization, no New Year's resolutions. only "I will confess..." (Psalm 32)

Confession is entrance into the vast world of forgiveness, encompassed with God's deliverance and steadfast love.

*****

There is no us and them in matters of sin. Which means, of course, that I cannot deal with sin by dealing exclusively with my inner life. Neither can I hope to deal with sin by converting or eliminating those who are against me.
So what is left? God is left. God is the one with whom we must deal.

God is the one in whom I must deal. My inside world is not, nor will it ever be, perfect. The outside world is not, nor will it ever be, perfect. In all matters of sin, my business, first and foremost, is God: "Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation." (Psalm 38:22)

...The way is pot-holed by sin and sinners. There are moments of isolation and disconnection from God and family, God and friends, God and community. And if Jesus was not insulated from feeling and dealing with the isolating and lonely effects of sin, we are well advised not to attempt to build or find a road more to our liking and convenience.

The sin does not disqualify us from being on the way; Sin does not expel us from our place on the way. We may be stuck, incapacitated, lost, depressed, angry, puzzled, confused, but we are still on the way: "If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?" But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.: (Ps. 130:3-4).

*****

Naivete regarding sin is dangerous as we follow Jesus, but an obsession with sin is decidedly unhealthy. It is God's business to care of the sin; our business is with God as he does his work in and with us.

inviting people to repent (quote)

I like to tell young preachers, you don’t fail when you invite people to repent and follow Christ and no one responds. You fail when you don’t invite people to repent and follow Christ.
Craig Groeschel

God's Kingdom and Repentance (Peterson)

After teaching through Matthew 21-22 and seeing a strong difference b/w being religious or repentant, this quote from Eugene Peterson jumped off the page while I was reading it last week. Read it, over and over, absorb it... let it sit with you. Share your thoughts on it.

Jesus' metaphor, Kingdom of God, defines the world in which we live. We live in a world where Christ is King. If Christ is King, everything, quite literally, every thing and every one, has to be re-imagined, re-configured, re-oriented to a way of life that consists in an obedient following of Jesus. This is not easy. It is not accomplished by participating in a prayer meeting or two, or signing up for a seven-step course in discipleship at school or church, or attending an annual prayer breakfast. A total renovation of our imagination, our way of looking at things - what Jesus commanded in his no-nonsense imperative, "Repent!" - is required.

(The Jesus Way, Eugene Peterson, 9)

A Blind Spot

Something we (I) ignore too often, our health.

Just read this:

“Be careful to preserve your health. It is a trick of the devil, which he employs to deceive good souls, to incite them to do more than they are able, in order that they may no longer be able to do anything.”

Vincent de Paul (written 400 years ago)

HT: J. Stackhouse

God's Living and Local Presence

I'm convinced that the church exists and is called to be God's living and local presence. Read this today from an excerpt from this book and couldn't resist posting it.

From its first moments, the church has held the promise of being an expression of God’s presence on this earth. No other entity has greater potential to bring about real and sustainable change for good, whether we’re talking about individual lives or the world at large.

Dave Gibbons

Courage

Watched Nim's Island with my kids tonight.

GREAT MOVIE. It has adventure, good story, heart, simplicity.

Father talking to his daughter who's a little nervous about something, and says: no one is born with courage, courage grows with every decision you make.

I can agree with that.

trying too much to be humble...

“Never bother your head as to whether what you say sounds humble before men or not, but always be humble before God, and let Him be all in all” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

Do you ever wonder how to be humble, and how NOT be paranoid that you're not being humble enough? Funny thing, eh?

I catch myself - often - explaining, justifying, even knocking myself down when I speak about something I was a part of or contributed to.

So John Stackhouse's blog post was a challenge for me to read. He quotes Chambers (above), and really puts the emphasis on being humble before God. I don't assume this means you can be as arrogant as you want before people, and then assume you're humble before God and it's all good (like the person who says, God knows my heart, but their actions really suck, it doesn't work that way). But I think it's about being graceful with yourself. Trusting that if you truly are trying to keep humble before God and people, an honest judgment of yourself or an event you're a part of does not have to be analyzed to the hilt....

I can say my sermon was better than some others' I've preached, not b/c I'm boasting, but b/c I always trying and improve my preaching (and hopefully learn from what I did better in that present moment: was it prayer, study, reflection, articulation, narrative, etc.).
I can say I led a meeting poorly, not b/c I'm trying to be humble, but b/c I'm trying to be grounded - know myself and my mistakes - and lead a better meeting next time around.

Does this make any sense? I'm kind of thinking out loud with this post.

true life isn't found anywhere

Christianity is like the ark. It stinks sometimes, but if you get out, you'll drown

. - Shane Claiborne

Isn't this true. Christianity or the church are not perfect. However, true life is only found in Jesus. He promises life to the fullest. God created us in his own image. Jesus reshapes us, from the inside out, to reflect the very nature of God. Christ's teachings paint a picture of life of life that is what human is meant to be.

Thank you Jesus for making me truly human, the original way God intended. I'm a work in progress, but I'm captivated by your vision of life.

Found this among some other wild quotes HERE

Enjoying Sabbath

On Mondays (for the last several weeks) I try and read through a chapter of Mark Buchanan's The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul By Restoring Your Sabbath.

It's been a way to keep getting Sabbath into me, so I can live more out of rest and rhythm than rat race.

This struck me this morning.

Buchanan says:

It's killing us, our worry, our hurry, our need to gather one more armload of brushwood (see Num. 15), our haste to get out of the heart doctor's office and back to the fast food and fast lane. We take our rat poison to thin our blood and scurry back to the rat race to clot our blood some more. The death verdict is inscribed in this way of life.

And then he quotes Isaiah 58:13-14 (this was from The Message, read the NIV here)

"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
Yes! God says so!

Tell me this doesn't give you a better way to live. It's not easy to choose this way, but when you compare, there doesn't even seem to be a choice. I have lots to learn, that's why I remind myself of Sabbath more often.

the content of life is up to you

“We cannot choose the context of our lives, but we can choose the content.”

- Erwin McManus

This could be another you can't choose the cards your dealt, but you can choose how you play them.

But I like the word content - b/c it implies decisions, influence you allow in, an overriding worldview like God, the scriptures, Jesus.

Makes you think: what's the content of your life.

Taking Notice (Sabbath Quotes)

Reading about Sabbath these days... here's few quotes from Mark Buchanan's The Rest of God.

For only those who number their days aright gain wise hearts. Only they become God’s sages: those calm, unhurried people who live in each moment fully, savoring simple things, celebrating small epiphanies, unafraid of life’s inevitable surprises and reverses, adaptive to change yet not chasing after it.

The truly purposeful have an ironic secret: the manage time less and pay attention more. The most purposeful people I know rarely overmanage time,…. The distinguishing mark of the purposeful is not time management. It’s that they notice. They’re fully awake.

Mark Buchanan

My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interupted, until I discovered the interruptions were my work.

Henri Nouwen

greed

"The world's financial crisis is the result of greed, and an example of what happens when God, basic rights, and the common good are ignored."

- Inspired by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State for the Vatican

(HT: fastcompany.com)

explosive!!

Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer.

— John Wesley