Some Roots of Confidence

As Paul was writing what we have preserved as the book of 2 Timothy, he was suffering. He was in chains; locked up like a criminal though he'd committed no real crime. And He was ok with that. He was willing to go through anything if it meant people would understand the truth of who Jesus is and what only He can do in our lives. That sort of willingness to suffer is a mark of confidence in Christ, but where does that kind of confidence come from?

1.1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will. Paul recognized his calling. He wasn't an apostle by his own choice, but by the will of God. How often do we settle for an occupation/career that is less about what God wants and more about paying the bills? That's not to say that one job is Godly and another is not - only that whatever your job is, you are called to make disciples. Whether you're a straight C student or a Rhodes scholar, a plumber, a pastor, or a number cruncher, by God's will you are a disciple maker. How's that going for you?

1.7 God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. Paul could withstand anything for the sake of Jesus because He knew He'd been given the Spirit of Jesus! The same Spirit promised to us. When I rely on myself, I can become timid and afraid. Chains scare me. But when I remember to rely on the Spirit of God living within me, what is there to fear?

1.12 I know the one in whom I trust, and am sure that He is able... Paul knew He was doing what God wanted done and that the results were up to Him. Even though he was stuck under arrest, even though most of his companions had walked away from him, Paul had confidence because he was trusting in Someone who is unshakable. He was simply doing his part in God's mission.

2.9 But the word of God cannot be chained. The message of Jesus' resurrection and His power to rescue humanity from death is an unstoppable message. Paul knew this. He knew He was a part of something much larger than some little upstart cult - this message He was preaching was the very word of God, a Word that cannot be tied down. (Perhaps, this is why it is so important for us to do everything we can to get to know Jesus as He's revealed to us in Scripture.)

Paul's confidence was rooted in an undeniable calling, a powerful and loving Spirit within Him, a sense of playing his role in a mission for which God is responsible, and an eternal message that cannot be stopped. In a day when economic and political realities offer little solid footing, may we lean back into these roots that served Paul so well. May we echo Paul:

I've been called by God.
I've been given His Spirit.
I am on a mission that will not fail.
I have a message that will not be stopped.

Leave Me Alone?

As I read through Matthew 8, I can't help but think about how awesome Jesus is. As he's traveling around, he healed a leper, healed a Roman officer's suffering and paralyzed servant from a distance, healed Peter's mother-in-law, calmed a freakin' storm (!) and cast a bunch of demons into a herd of pigs.

Jesus is incredible and we need to not forget that. (Not just because of these amazing things, but because of who he is.) I love how Jesus stops the crowd for a moment when the Roman officer told him he wasn't worthy to have Jesus come to his house ("Could you just heal him from here?")... Jesus was amazed.

Does our faith amaze Jesus? Is he astonished at how we trust his authority? I'm afraid too often we're like the people of the town near the pig-in-a-lake incident. "The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone." His authority threatened their system - He made it obvious that whatever control over their little slice of the world they thought they had was only an illusion. So they told Jesus to go away. One of the saddest moments in the Bible - Jesus was there with them, the power to make them whole... and they sent Him away. I know most of us would never say those words to Jesus - but the way we try to control our own lives speaks loudly to our Creator. "Leave me alone. I've got it covered. I can handle this."

But the truth is, we can't. Sometimes in difficult circumstances, you'll hear people say that "God will never give you more than you can handle". That may be the biggest load of crap ever twisted out of misinterpreted Scripture. But He can handle it. He is not surprised by the circumstances that cause us to go Psalm 22 ("My God, my God... why have you forsaken me?"). He wants to see in us a Psalm 23, amazing faith. ("I will fear no evil, for you are with me.") May we remember how awesome Jesus is (even if His followers make some colossal blunders sometimes) and lean on His authority in our lives.

coldwater in 5, 4, 3...

I'm really excited for next week's mission trip to "somewhere". There is something about jumping into the unknown in order to serve God by serving people He loves that has always appealed to me. I don't want to have all the answers. I don't want my life to be all orderly and tied up with a nice little bow.

It's been fun to explain coldwater when people ask where we're going. "We don't know yet." is my usual response.

"Oh... don't you think you should decide pretty soon?"

"We'll know on Monday!"

"Oh... when are you leaving?"

"Monday."

"ummm.... uh....."

"Exactly." [By the way, yesterday, we found the spinner that will be used to determine which direction we travel - it's from a Mickey Mouse game my kids have!] We are counting on God to get us where He wants us to be...

Yes, I'm aware of the random nature of a spinner and drawing numbers out of hats. But I wonder if the nature of discipleship is less ordered than we might think? I wonder if we've lost our awareness of God at work in our haste to meet Him "at church" once a week? (sidenote - What a stupid phrase: "at church" - church is not a place!) When Paul ended up in Macedonia, was it because everything went according to plan? Or did He notice God wanting to do something else, and faithfully respond to His Spirit? Not just for this trip, but for life, may we be so responsive to the leading of the Spirit of Jesus.

Please be praying for Sam, Andrew, Micah, Jadie, Ashley, Greg, and I - the coldwater team. We want to humbly serve wherever we can. I'll try to keep things updated here next week and let you know where we're going and what we're doing - if we end up somewhere with service! Also pray for parents and families of those of us going - we'll try to keep you as informed as we can.

Quick Link to Another Faith Related Post

Just read a short post on Ben Arment's blog - it follows the same line of thinking I've been on regarding faith lately.

He says, "I have never seen God move mightily without first requiring me to act in faith. Nor has He ever given me proof that He will deliver me."

I think of Esther's "If I perish, I perish..." or Jonathan's "Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf." They didn't know what their outcome would be - they just jumped because it was right. They acted in faith. Both got to see God move mightily, but they didn't have to have proof that He would do so before they acted.

What step of faith is God waiting for you to take? What are you waiting for?

Certain of the Unseen...

The end of Hebrews is inspiring me right now. Not in a Hall of Fame, 'check out these incredible stories' kind of way - but in a 'Hey Mike, the very thing that is frustrating you to no end right now is what is leading you where I want you to go right now so suck it up, have faith, and persevere' kind of way. Someone said something several weeks ago to which I had an immediately vehement reaction (and nearly a vomitous one, at that) and to which I still disagree. I will have to admit that my hope ran low for a while.

But in reading through some of Hebrews today, I have found an inspirational bank of hope. People who had nothing but a promise (or even less) are commended for the perseverance that was birthed out of their faith. They didn't see God immediately delivering on the promises He was making... but they still acted as if He would deliver. They knew that the nature of God meant that He would keep His promises, so they lived as if He would keep them. So...

Abel brought a better sacrifice.

Enoch pleased God (which is impossible without faith) and was taken without dying!

Noah built an ark to save his family.

Abraham left his homeland for an unknown place.

He also lived as a foreigner (as did Isaac and Jacob) as he awaited the fulfillment of God's promise.

Sarah was enabled to have children (even though she was way passed the phase of life when that is possible).

Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice (essentially offering the only thing he knew of as a possible means for God to fulfill His promise).

Isaac blessed His sons (out of order).

Jacob blessed Joseph's sons as his own (again out of order).

Joseph looked forward to a future exodus of his people out of slavery.

Moses' parents hid him - not fearing Pharaoh.

Moses chose a slave's heritage over a prince's privilege. (And "he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.")

Moses kept the Passover.

The Israelites miraculously escaped Egypt.

The walls of Jericho fell.

Rahab was spared (to later gain a place in the lineage of Jesus).

And so much more... The common thread in the story of the Pentateuch is the faith of God's people to God. They didn't believe what they saw. The evidence told them that they'd been abandoned by God. The facts told them they were a former band of nomads that now were slaves far from home - nothing like a great nation as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. But God told them otherwise. And they were certain of what they did not see.

As I said a couple days ago, faith is not mindlessly assenting to the evidence at hand - it is being certain of what we do not see. Their certainty in the unseen promise of unseen God was the very faith that bred in them the perseverance it took to follow God through to the end.

Some facts are telling me right now it's not worth the fight and I should just give up...

A lot of evidence is stacking up to convince me that my efforts are in vain anyway and should be abandoned...

But Truth is telling me something else. He is reminding me to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus..."

May you be sure of your hope today and may you be certain of what you do not see.

Oasis...

"...we are baptized into Christ and joined with his body. Every believer passes through the waters and becomes a part of the river of life. Alone, you are only standing in a puddle. Together, we become an oasis where those searching for genuine love and acceptance can come and drink deeply."

--Erwin McManus in An Unstoppable Force

We really need to emphasize that the church, young and old, needs to be this type of source to the world today. People should find within us this well of love and hope and faith... because we freely share our love and hope and faith with them. Together.

Divided, they'll only find pettiness, self-regard, and defensive posturing. Do they really need us to show them more of that?
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Thinking of calling our unnamed Wednesday night youth ministry time together "Oasis" or "The Well". Any thoughts???

More "Polar" Than Just the Bears...

As the Golden Compass is set to begin its gilding of our silver screens and young minds, it seems the conversation between church and culture is once again faced with a polarizing talking point. Several months ago, I received the first of many well intended warnings to stay away from Pullman and this movie. To be honest, I was pretty skeptical - I mean, no one warning of its dangers had even seen the movie. As I read more about the film, and the books of its origin, it was an interesting hornet's nest to watch. Conservative Christians were mad because of the atheism and anti-church stance. But I also found Phillip Pullman fans angry due to Hollywood's removal of a pretty good deal of the atheistic and the anti-church from the story. I began to wonder if boycotting was simply adding more hype to the movie - free publicity.

I've refrained from commenting until now, but today found a great post from Dick Staub that provides some very good perspective. Visit Staublog and read the post. This really isn't something new... and it's not something to be feared. Phillip Pullman, or Hollywood, or Nicole Kidman, or Friedrich Nietzsche or whoever you want to blame are all powerless to change the reality that God is, and God loves.

Be wise, but not fearful. Nothing can destroy the reality of God.

No Fear...

Several years ago we all thought it was cool to wear stuff that said "No Fear". (I know, I know, I'm getting old...) As if screaming our claim to courage made it more real. The truth is we were all full of fear. Afraid to fail, afraid to fall, afraid to be shunned or ignored or forgotten...

I was reading Psalm 23 today and noticed something I've never noticed before. (I kind of feel dumb that I didn't see it there one of the hundreds of times I've heard this verse before.) Maybe it's the way the verses are broken up by numbers, or the way the verse is usually reserved for funerals and memorials, but for whatever reason I never noticed this before: (now forget about verse numbers & funerals for a second and read this)

"He guides me along the right paths for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me..."

I've kind of always known this (counter to what some people think of their Christian religion), but I've never noticed it in this Psalm before - if I follow God, He may lead me to and through dark places. Sometimes church people live as if God is always making them "lie down in green pastures" next to still waters. But don't ever forget that the path of righteousness leads us on a rescue mission right through the middle of the valley of the shadow of death! (Picture Frodo & Sam approaching Mordor.)

Two Things
:: Real Courage isn't wearing a No Fear t-shirt as you soar over a fun box; it's following your creator into the depths of your "Mordor" knowing that He's there with You.
:: If your life is all about still waters and green pastures, you may need to stop grazing and figure out where the Shepherd went.

Faith

The church always talks about faith, but I think a lot of well intentioned people have missed the point. There's a huge difference between what most poeple call living 'by faith' and what they do to 'keep the faith'. It's the often the difference between following Jesus and following the rules.

Jesus came to establish a new covenant between God and people that would bring the dead to life, but 2000 years later, the church (or at least what is called the church) too often seems more interested in maintaining its' own existence than in bringing spiritual life to the sick, dying, and dead. We've become more concerned with 'keeping the faith' than proclaiming the Gospel.

But religious dedication to a system of services and rites is not what faith is all about. Faith is about listenning for the heartbeat of God and dancing to His rhythm. Faith is about following Jesus through the fires of life, even if you're not sure you'll come out on the other side. Faith is about being His Body, working to show people His Kingdom.


God, I hope the people called Christians will become a tribe of followers who step in faith where You lead - even if it is where others have never stepped.