Not Nameless, Not Faceless

I like to keep up with the galleries over at Boston.com. Today I was looking at a series of photographs of the refugees fleeing from Libya into Tunisia. The compilation is titled Faces of the Displaced. It's a dramatic collection of portraits, and I think it's that fact which has stirred my heart the most. These aren't wide angle shots of nameless, faceless masses. They are close-ups of real people with real souls living behind their eyes. And as far as I know, every one of them needs Jesus Christ. Why is it that I'm safely insulated here in the heart of America, while these people are trampled, shoved aside, threatened, and in upheaval...

Go from "Aftermath"

Hillsong United fans enjoy...

A Short Word For Preachers

Preaching and its preparation are hard. At least they ought to be. As the years pile up and my understanding of the Word and its proper handling grows, I feel ever more keenly the powerful authority of the Bible and the humility I should have in approaching it. I'm grateful for this, because I think it must mean that the Lord is getting through to me, changing me.

In The Priority of Preaching, Christopher Ash shares:

"As a preacher friend of mine put it, we lay ourselves on the anvil and come out of our preparation and our preaching hurting, as our own sin is exposed; we ourselves are moved afresh to repentance and faith, as we feel the pain of a rebellious, dying world....Those who just relish quiet time in the study and think preparation is an enjoyable experience have missed the point; there is a kind of study and preparation that can just be self-indulgent. Year after year I grieve at how slow, how dim, how spiritually obtuse I am, and therefore how long it takes for God to get His word through my calloused skin and deep into my heart."

The Priority of Preaching

I've started reading The Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash, which, in spite of what may seem a rather dry (but apt) title, is actually almost fun to read. Mr. Ash seems like he'd be an entertaining and clever fella to be around. But aside from his winsome writing style, the subject matter of the book is absolutely on target.

If you're a preacher or teacher in the church, you really ought to spring for the ten bucks and give this book a little of your time. I'd loan you mine, but my cat knocked over a glass of water, soaking my copy and now it's all warped and wrinkly...

Anyway, here are a couple of solid statements from the book, in which Ash encourages those charged with the ministry of proclamation and comments on the authority of God's words:

"I want to encourage us to our desks, our prayer, our preparation, and our love for people, with a new spring in our steps as we labour at loving people by preaching to them week by week. My prayer is that this book will encourage the discouraged preacher to persevere with fresh zeal and enthusiasm, because I have convinced you that this Sunday men and women can hear the voice of the living God from your mouth."

"We live in a culture where everyone has their say, where I can press the interactive buttons and register my view on television, where I can set up a blog and proclaim my views on anything and everything to the world, where the most friendly thing we can say in welcoming newcomers is, 'We want to know what you think.' But - dare I say it - God does not want to know what we think. He wants us to know what He thinks."

The Pockets of God's Children

So I'm sorting the laundry the other day and I feel a large and suspicious lump in the front pocket of my 7 year old's jeans. Upon investigation, I discovered the following:

These are actually sublime moments for a parent. I couldn't begin to recount the various and sundry articles I've removed from my boys' pockets over the years (the aforementioned 7 year old is the fifth). And whenever I find a Lego or pocketknife or something that used to be alive, I'm reminded of several things, kind of all at once like a warm blanket of fond memories: the adventure of childhood, the wonder of the great big wide world, and how much I love my kids, even when they're ornery - or worse.

I would do well to remember that my affection and affinity for my kids is no different than the Heavenly Father's love for me, except that His is much, much better. It's perfect. I really need to remember that His love toward me is tender, though severe when necessary, but always, always, I have His affection. The same is true for all who have trusted Christ in repentance and become His sons (or daughters) thus and members of His family forever.

I tend to be pretty hard on myself. Perhaps you are that way. It's an easy thing for me to imagine that God isn't pleased with me, or that I've failed Him for the last time. There's nothing wrong with introspection and having an honest view of ourselves, but that's got to be balanced with the proper view of God and His faithfulness and fatherly patience. That, and the fact that I think He is actually quite pleased with his kids most of the time, just as I am with mine.

Seeing the Wind Move

"For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pastures of flocks; until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest." Isaiah 32:14-15

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom; where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is regeneration. We must, Must, MUST have the moving of the Spirit in our churches, trusting in, depending on, and looking to Him, with the understanding that it is His work to soften the hardened heart and bring rebirth. The only fruit that is ever seen comes from His invigorating presence. That's why it's called the fruit of the Spirit.

True believers may debate the way in the which the Spirit is manifested among us, but one thing is for certain: we must pray for His presence and for His work. Understanding that the Holy Spirit is at the center of salvation and sanctification is essential for the Church and keeps our dependence on Him, and not our own means.

Preparing The Stone

"Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine."
1 Samuel 17:40

Observation: Young David didn't root around the gravel at his feet in Saul's camp to find rocks to fling at the giant. These kinds of stones wouldn't fit the pouch of his sling properly and would never fly true. Only stones worn smooth by flowing water would be suitable. These stones, from the cool stream, would have their jagged edges and imperfections worn away, and were the ammunition of choice for the shepherd.

Application: Godly parent, be patient with your children as they grow. Do your part and do not neglect to pray for your sons and daughters, lead them as best you can in righteousness, urge them to trust the Lord for salvation. Do all this and they will still wander, as we all do, to varying degrees. Don't be shocked, but continue your faithful efforts before the Lord on behalf of your children. They must spend time in the waters of life before the needed lessons are learned and their character is honed to the point where they become giant killers.

Tough To Be Tender

Who out there can identify what's going on with those fingertips? And if indeed you can identify what's going on with those fingertips, you yourself probably understand the meaning of pain and also have the disturbing ability to stick pins in your own fingertips without wincing.

Those fingertips are my own, after playing my guitar. It doesn't hurt, it just looks that way. However, if you're a guitar/banjo/mandolin/sitar player, you can easily remember the feeling, when you first started playing, that your fingertips were being sliced open by the strings on your instrument. One of the biggest hurdles for a beginning player has got to be developing those calloused fingertips. Anyone sticking it out until that process is over deserves a medal. Or a certificate. Or at least a handshake! There's no way that I or anyone else could play a steel-stringed instrument without those protective callouses.

Life has a way of hardening us in good and not-so-good ways. The not-so-good ways are easy to recognize, but I was thinking the other night, while drifting off to sleep, that sometimes the toughness brought on by life can be a good thing.

If we're willing to learn some hard lessons, life rewards us with some Godly toughness. Perseverance, wisdom, patience, faith...all of these are the outcome of becoming "Godly-tough." Strangely enough, so are meekness, unselfishness and a servant's heart.

Case in point: I am selfish. I never realized how selfish I am. I'm really butting up against this in my heart and spirit, and it hurts! It hurts like fresh fingers on cold guitar strings! I need to change, I need to keep practicing the love of Jesus, and hopefully someday I'll have the toughness necessary to be a little more tender.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14

Heroes In the Liner Notes

Of course we're all familiar with that prominent New Testament saint, Epaphras. What? He's only vaguely familiar to you? Well, actually, his name is only mentioned three times in Scripture ( one . . . two . . . three ) , each time by Paul: once in a greeting, and in the closing remarks of two letters.

Despite his "bit part" in the NT writings, I think that his significance as a man of God and an example for us is great. The Holy Spirit has Epaphras' name there for a reason. We understand from the context of Paul's references to Epaphras that he was a fellow worker and prisoner with Paul. Also, as it says in Colossians, he was a "faithful minister", "wrestling in prayer" and "working hard." I wanna be like that. Faithful, prayerful, dependable. I also know that I need to not mind playing the "bit part". Our conceptions of what is important and notable in kingdom work are often skewed. Our work for God is notable and important when we are doing what He's called us to where He called us to do it.

Epaphras probably did just that. He found himself in league with Paul, was an emissary to the churches in Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colossae, and threw himself into his work. He even suffered in prison because of it. Cool. All this for the glory of God and the sake of the Gospel! That's heroic in my book.

Won't Let Go

I've probably posted this before, but...you just might need to hear it again.

Once You're Dead, Everything Else Is Gravy

So I've been reading "No Shortcuts To The Top" by Ed Viesturs. It's Ed's tale of his pursuit of climbing all 14 of this planet's mountains that top out over 8,000 meters (approx. 26,200 feet). He dubbed his adventure "Endeavor 8000" and the story is fantastic. If you like adventure at all, there are plenty of used copies out there for cheap.

Ed happened to be on Mt. Everest in May of 1996 when the deadliest of all climbing disasters occurred. You can read a summary of the whole event HERE, but I'm cutting to the chase for brevity's sake.

One of the climbers that season was a man named Beck Weathers. If you've read of Everest at all or heard of this story, you've most likely heard his name. Weathers had been separated from his guide (who perished during the climb) and lost in the storm that wrapped the top of Everest on May 11th. Given up for dead, he had actually bivouacked overnight (meaning no tent or protection) and miraculously survived, mustering enough strength to stumble into one of the high camps, snowblind, with his face and hands terribly frozen.

In his book, Viesturs relates how upbeat Weathers was in spite of his frightful and dangerous condition. He was even singing and joking around with those who were helping him recoup strength and make it down to base camp alive. You would expect someone in his condition, who had experienced the horror he had, would be profoundly shaken and miserable. Viesturs remarked on this almost light-hearted attitude and Weather's response was magnificent:

"Ed, once you're dead, everything else is gravy!"

This man had faced his mortality and survived the unsurvivable. Without a doubt, he was filled with elation, no matter what parts of his body would have to be removed due to frostbite.

For me, Beck Weather's statement has a couple of clear applications. First: the believer in Jesus Christ has no fear of death - there's nothing but joy ahead. Second: the believer should often be reminded of the deadly condition from which they were rescued and should consequently be filled with a "glorious and inexpressible joy." Lost and left for dead, we are unbelievably, miraculously rescued! That ought to make us giddy shouldn't it? I think so.

I'm not sure Weather's line would quite fit into a John Newton hymn, but it's might be worth a try...

Laugh At Home

One of the most valuable commodities in our home is laughter. We laugh at ourselves, we laugh at each other, we have a good time.

Just last night I was in my bedroom while some of my boys were in the living room watching America's Funniest Videos. What I heard made me happy ...*BURSTS OF LAUGHTER*...30 seconds of silence...*LOUD GUFFAWING*...30 more seconds...*UNCONTROLLED BELLY LAUGHS*. Good times.

But it isn't just watching people falling down and crashing cats that makes us laugh. We actually enjoy being around each other. I'm not sure how this has happened, but that's how we roll in our house. It may be because we're allowed to not like each other at times. That's right, in our house you're allowed to feel how you feel, as long you hold on to the center of things. That is, if you remember that when it's all said and done, we're family and we love each other to the end. That's a good safe place to be, and genuine laughter comes more easily when you feel safe. It's why we can be carefree even when life is care-full.

Next chance you get, be goofy around your kids. When you're folding laundry put underwear on your head, when you're making dinner imitate the Swedish Chef, make up new lyrics to favorite songs and sing them around the house. These techniques have been proven in our home; perhaps they'll work in yours. Above all, have a good time. And remember: God's joy is our strength.

Hey, if you've read this far, go ahead and read this great little article, too. It's a winner.

BONUS FEATURE! Can you find the hidden boy? Our youngest buried one of his older brothers while they were napping...