Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished. ~Michael Strassfeld
I recently bought a book from Barns and Noble titled “generation ME” that paints a very accurate picture of how individualistic our generation is, how “me” centered our mindset really is. This book challenged me and shook me because at the very core of the Gospel is the opposite of this. How can we be Kingdom bringers if we think and live this way? Since we are living in the “Me” culture I’m just wondering if perhaps our individualistic, consumeristic, western minds have distorted the once pure term and act of serving, and just perhaps we’re missing the point? Maybe we need to re-think this whole thing, just maybe we need to start from the beginning and ask what is it after all, what is serving? What are the origins of this term?
Luke 10
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.
Here in the text Jesus adds something that we cannot miss, for thousands of years the Jewish nation was instructed to love the lord, to obey his commands, however Jesus now begins to fulfill the call on his life as he helps his audience see that its not just about the vertical, its also about the horizontal line of love. This prayer, is what good Jews would say 3 times a day, and then Jesus adds the final part of “love your neighbor as yourself.” When we are rooted in the identity of servants we serve, God and those around us.
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
As Jesus told this story you can only imagine how angry the Jews were who heard this, for this wasn’t just any story! Jews hated Samaritans and believed that they couldn’t do anything right, for they were half breeds, and when a Jew would even say the word Samaritan he or she would spit on the ground to get that word off their “chosen” lips. Also within the story we see Jesus intentionally highlight two of the most religious groups within Judaism, a Priest and a Levite. Two people that their culture looked onto and believed that they had it all together, which brings us to a question. Is it possible to look and act religious and completely miss the point? Is it possible to say the right things, read the right books, hang with the “right” people and consistently miss opportunities to love those around you?
So what is serving?
Serving has to become something we are, not something we do. I love this passage in Luke because it’s clear that the Good Samaritan served on his way, served as he was traveling. He didn’t look on his calendar and see that it was Saturday and thus it meant it was time to go serve. No! He was on his way, doing his life and there on the “other side” was a person he could love, a need he could meet, and he met it.
Serving is not just something that we do, serving is who we are!
Being a servant is part of our Identity because it was HIS identity, and as members, heirs, servants in the Kingdom we live a life of service because that is what this Kingdom is all about. Jesus was clear about this, “I did not come to be served, but to serve” how about you? How about me?
I am continually frustrated with Christmas, because we miss the point; we miss the chance to recalibrate our lives and lifestyles to that of Christ. Instead of our 1st question being who did you serve, our 1st question is what did you get? Do you see this?
Maybe we can stand out in a culture of “me” thinking and re-claim what this season is all about, and stand for what Christ was all about.
The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light. ~Felix Adler
Lets be a light this Christmas season!
Merry Christmas.
Jon
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Truly Living
This past week I was finishing up watching the #5 movie on my top 5 list of all time favorites, that film being the one and only Braveheart. Its been a year or so since I’ve seen it and something this time grabbed my heart once again, seeing the quest for freedom, the desire to liberate others, and the commitment to use our one and only life for something great. As William Wallace’s life is coming to a close he makes a statement to Princess Isabella, “every man dies, but not every man truly lives.” This is so true, and incredibly sad as well. How many of us will go through this life standing on the sidelines, never risking, never stepping out in faith, never defending our cause, unwilling to give it all to see the Kingdom advance?
Last month I was invited into the home of a fellow co-worker here at Willow. I had been hearing about this guy named Jeff for some time, his vision for starting the Regional’s, and his oversight of our Chapter Two fundraising campaign are two of some the top achievements and innovative thinking our church has done in the past 6 years. I pulled into his drive way in Arlington Heights with a hope to learn from him and ask questions. I sat with Jeff for a couple of hours listening to his story, one that gripped me and compelled me in a powerful way. Jeff shared with me how he had advanced quite a bit in the business world and felt God leading him to resign from his huge salary and work for free at Willow, helping us move forward as a church. I of course pushed for clarity, restating what he just said, “Jeff so your telling me that you left your huge income with a wife and kids, and a mortgage trusting God and risking for the Kingdom?” Jeff responded incredibly humbly as if it was no big deal, but that day I saw a real life William Wallace in front of me, one who was truly living. Jeff went on to say that he was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and was still in the fight, fighting each day for his life. My time with him was amazing, I learned incredible insight on church leadership, regional philosophy, team building techniques, but I also learned something that day that I’ll never forget. Each day we are faced with a decision to make whether we like it or not, that being will we truly live today? Will we fight? Will we give everything we have to see and pray that the Kingdom of God prevails?
This morning I stopped by a buddies office at work, and was told that last night Jeff went home to be with our Lord. I’ve experienced an array of emotions today, I’ve been sad, I’ve cried, I’ve been angry and also so inspired by Jeff’s life.
What will our decision be? Will we truly live?
Please pray for Jeff’s family, his wife and kids are going through a ton and can really use our prayer!
Jon
Last month I was invited into the home of a fellow co-worker here at Willow. I had been hearing about this guy named Jeff for some time, his vision for starting the Regional’s, and his oversight of our Chapter Two fundraising campaign are two of some the top achievements and innovative thinking our church has done in the past 6 years. I pulled into his drive way in Arlington Heights with a hope to learn from him and ask questions. I sat with Jeff for a couple of hours listening to his story, one that gripped me and compelled me in a powerful way. Jeff shared with me how he had advanced quite a bit in the business world and felt God leading him to resign from his huge salary and work for free at Willow, helping us move forward as a church. I of course pushed for clarity, restating what he just said, “Jeff so your telling me that you left your huge income with a wife and kids, and a mortgage trusting God and risking for the Kingdom?” Jeff responded incredibly humbly as if it was no big deal, but that day I saw a real life William Wallace in front of me, one who was truly living. Jeff went on to say that he was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and was still in the fight, fighting each day for his life. My time with him was amazing, I learned incredible insight on church leadership, regional philosophy, team building techniques, but I also learned something that day that I’ll never forget. Each day we are faced with a decision to make whether we like it or not, that being will we truly live today? Will we fight? Will we give everything we have to see and pray that the Kingdom of God prevails?
This morning I stopped by a buddies office at work, and was told that last night Jeff went home to be with our Lord. I’ve experienced an array of emotions today, I’ve been sad, I’ve cried, I’ve been angry and also so inspired by Jeff’s life.
What will our decision be? Will we truly live?
Please pray for Jeff’s family, his wife and kids are going through a ton and can really use our prayer!
Jon
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Freedom
Freedom!
Last March I had the amazing opportunity to go on an overseas mission’s trip to South Africa. The 22 hour plane flight left my feet swollen but allowed me to catch up on the latest flicks out in Hollywood. Seriously my feet swelled so much that I couldn’t even fit them into my sandals. As the plane touched down in Johannesburg I was aware that I was in for a life changing, world view altering experience. We traveled around Jo-burg meeting with people, helping kids, and serving those who will not live to see 2008 due to the AIDS pandemic. After a week we headed down to Cape Town to serve in the community of Kayamude. The size of this community is about the acreage of Willow’s campus yet 25,000 Africans live there and experience extreme poverty and oppression on a daily basis. It was amazing to see all that God has done through Willow over the last three years, from donating money, to volunteer support and prayer. In the very center of this town was a community center call Kuyasa run by the most amazing couple I’ve ever met. This couple served with their kids along side Mother Teresa for some time in Calcutta and felt called by God to return to their homeland and start a community center that would cater to the holistic needs of that community.
Kuyasa in their language speaks of light breaking through the dawn, as the prophet Isaiah wrote about in the 58th chapter of Isaiah. We spent a week at that community center helping with various things, mostly really really hard manual labor. The more we served and worked among these people the more I saw of God, the more I was able to peer into his Global heart for all people. My last day there we had finished all the jobs that were asked of us and began to look at the road that led into the community center. This road or driveway was really not a whole lot to look at, for all practical purposes it was just a dirt driveway that led to this amazing refuge of hope. For some reason I grabbed a thick bristled broom, the ones you would find at home depot and began to sweep the driveway. I have no idea why I did this, I’ve never been much of a sweeper, perhaps it was to just look busy. But after about 10 minutes of sweeping dirt I saw something. Appearing through the dirt was what looked like to be a brick, I couldn’t quite figure out why a brick would be under the dirt but then again I’d been finding all kinds of buried stuff all week. The sweeping continued and the more I swept the dirt and caked mud away the more I saw. The one brick was now two or three, and you can imagine the intensity of my sweeping increased. Now by this time I recruited some friends to come and help me, I could only do so much on my own. So a few friends began sweeping as well and after an hour or so we discovered that these were not just bricks but a cobble stone driveway. The leaders of the center were blown away because for the past three years they had no idea that such beauty lied beneath the surface, it just needed to be discovered.
Over the past 6 months I’ve been making my way through the book “Waking the Dead” by John Eldridge and three weeks ago I came to the section where he discussed a verse found in Proverbs 4 that says “above all else guard your hearts for it’s the wellspring of life.” I’ve been thinking about this verse for going on three weeks now and during a prayer walk recently God reminded me of how he came here to earth to “give life, and give it to the full”, He came to Awaken our hearts, to free us, to call out the greatness and beauty that resides in each heart of his beloved. So what does it look like to guard our hearts? I have been wrestling with this and have found that so many of us have dirt and mud that restricts our hearts. Most of us really do want to live life to its full but it seems like our hearts wont allow us to. God has also been revealing to me that I constantly need to grab the “thick bristled broom” in my life and do some serious sweeping or cleaning however not in isolation. On the contrary invite others to help me in this process. To really trust and lean into God’s redemptive community knowing and trusting that true beauty lies beneath.
Can you imagine what your life would look like if you walked free? Can you picture God using you in the lives of others? I hope and pray that as we finish this year, we can reflect on the status of our hearts.
“William your heart is free, now have the courage to follow it.”
-Braveheart
Last March I had the amazing opportunity to go on an overseas mission’s trip to South Africa. The 22 hour plane flight left my feet swollen but allowed me to catch up on the latest flicks out in Hollywood. Seriously my feet swelled so much that I couldn’t even fit them into my sandals. As the plane touched down in Johannesburg I was aware that I was in for a life changing, world view altering experience. We traveled around Jo-burg meeting with people, helping kids, and serving those who will not live to see 2008 due to the AIDS pandemic. After a week we headed down to Cape Town to serve in the community of Kayamude. The size of this community is about the acreage of Willow’s campus yet 25,000 Africans live there and experience extreme poverty and oppression on a daily basis. It was amazing to see all that God has done through Willow over the last three years, from donating money, to volunteer support and prayer. In the very center of this town was a community center call Kuyasa run by the most amazing couple I’ve ever met. This couple served with their kids along side Mother Teresa for some time in Calcutta and felt called by God to return to their homeland and start a community center that would cater to the holistic needs of that community.
Kuyasa in their language speaks of light breaking through the dawn, as the prophet Isaiah wrote about in the 58th chapter of Isaiah. We spent a week at that community center helping with various things, mostly really really hard manual labor. The more we served and worked among these people the more I saw of God, the more I was able to peer into his Global heart for all people. My last day there we had finished all the jobs that were asked of us and began to look at the road that led into the community center. This road or driveway was really not a whole lot to look at, for all practical purposes it was just a dirt driveway that led to this amazing refuge of hope. For some reason I grabbed a thick bristled broom, the ones you would find at home depot and began to sweep the driveway. I have no idea why I did this, I’ve never been much of a sweeper, perhaps it was to just look busy. But after about 10 minutes of sweeping dirt I saw something. Appearing through the dirt was what looked like to be a brick, I couldn’t quite figure out why a brick would be under the dirt but then again I’d been finding all kinds of buried stuff all week. The sweeping continued and the more I swept the dirt and caked mud away the more I saw. The one brick was now two or three, and you can imagine the intensity of my sweeping increased. Now by this time I recruited some friends to come and help me, I could only do so much on my own. So a few friends began sweeping as well and after an hour or so we discovered that these were not just bricks but a cobble stone driveway. The leaders of the center were blown away because for the past three years they had no idea that such beauty lied beneath the surface, it just needed to be discovered.
Over the past 6 months I’ve been making my way through the book “Waking the Dead” by John Eldridge and three weeks ago I came to the section where he discussed a verse found in Proverbs 4 that says “above all else guard your hearts for it’s the wellspring of life.” I’ve been thinking about this verse for going on three weeks now and during a prayer walk recently God reminded me of how he came here to earth to “give life, and give it to the full”, He came to Awaken our hearts, to free us, to call out the greatness and beauty that resides in each heart of his beloved. So what does it look like to guard our hearts? I have been wrestling with this and have found that so many of us have dirt and mud that restricts our hearts. Most of us really do want to live life to its full but it seems like our hearts wont allow us to. God has also been revealing to me that I constantly need to grab the “thick bristled broom” in my life and do some serious sweeping or cleaning however not in isolation. On the contrary invite others to help me in this process. To really trust and lean into God’s redemptive community knowing and trusting that true beauty lies beneath.
Can you imagine what your life would look like if you walked free? Can you picture God using you in the lives of others? I hope and pray that as we finish this year, we can reflect on the status of our hearts.
“William your heart is free, now have the courage to follow it.”
-Braveheart
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Unquestionable Evidence
Over the past two weeks the LTG (life transformation group) that I’m in with a few guys from the Countryside Missional Community Hub have been wrestling through the 1st 6 chapters of Acts. Our hope is to uncover the roots that inaugurated the Church, looking to connect and recalibrate our lives in a way that resemble the lives lived by the founders of our faith.
This past week I was studying in Acts 4 and God brought something to my attention that I hadn’t seen before. At this point the Church was only a few weeks old, the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost and empowered the once fear stricken Apostles and core group of Jesus to now move in Power and fearlessness with the focus to advance the Kingdom to make Jesus known as the one true Christ.
The Apostles preached where ever they could, not to win debates or because they felt they had to in order to please God, however it was if they couldn’t hold it in. “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”, this was their fuel to speak boldly of Christ. (What are we seeing, what are we consistently hearing?)
Acts 4 begins with John and Peter getting arrested for preaching and healing in the city. Their arrest occurred for reasons similarly to the arrest of Jesus. Their faith was impacting the community at such an extent that the rulers in power were fearful and were losing control. These highly regarded officials made certain that Peter and John were seized so that a hopeful end would come of this movement..
I love this picture; it’s as if the ultimate courtroom battle is set up. The jurors are in place, the Judge and rulers of their time are in place, the prosecuting attorney makes the plea against Peter and John, and then the rebuttal occurs. Peter filled with the Holy Spirit steps up and begins to explain with boldness of who Christ was and is, “He is the Stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”.
This rebuttal was undoubtedly powerful, however the officials weren’t convinced until the ultimate evidence of the power of Christ entered the court room. The once crippled beggar whose daily residence was at the city gate called beautiful stood up. This man was know by most in that town because he had spent his entire life at the city gate begging, crippled and lonely until John and Peter passed by in Acts 3. As the officials looked at this man they had no case, they had no rebuttal and were left speechless.
“Since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say”
I’ve been thinking about this passage all week and have been pressed to think and wonder if there is any undeniable evidence in my life. Seriously, think about this!
Is the evidence in our life leaving others speechless? Is this evidence convincing people beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is King and that his Kingdom is advancing
Lets Chat.
This past week I was studying in Acts 4 and God brought something to my attention that I hadn’t seen before. At this point the Church was only a few weeks old, the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost and empowered the once fear stricken Apostles and core group of Jesus to now move in Power and fearlessness with the focus to advance the Kingdom to make Jesus known as the one true Christ.
The Apostles preached where ever they could, not to win debates or because they felt they had to in order to please God, however it was if they couldn’t hold it in. “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”, this was their fuel to speak boldly of Christ. (What are we seeing, what are we consistently hearing?)
Acts 4 begins with John and Peter getting arrested for preaching and healing in the city. Their arrest occurred for reasons similarly to the arrest of Jesus. Their faith was impacting the community at such an extent that the rulers in power were fearful and were losing control. These highly regarded officials made certain that Peter and John were seized so that a hopeful end would come of this movement..
I love this picture; it’s as if the ultimate courtroom battle is set up. The jurors are in place, the Judge and rulers of their time are in place, the prosecuting attorney makes the plea against Peter and John, and then the rebuttal occurs. Peter filled with the Holy Spirit steps up and begins to explain with boldness of who Christ was and is, “He is the Stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”.
This rebuttal was undoubtedly powerful, however the officials weren’t convinced until the ultimate evidence of the power of Christ entered the court room. The once crippled beggar whose daily residence was at the city gate called beautiful stood up. This man was know by most in that town because he had spent his entire life at the city gate begging, crippled and lonely until John and Peter passed by in Acts 3. As the officials looked at this man they had no case, they had no rebuttal and were left speechless.
“Since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say”
I’ve been thinking about this passage all week and have been pressed to think and wonder if there is any undeniable evidence in my life. Seriously, think about this!
Is the evidence in our life leaving others speechless? Is this evidence convincing people beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is King and that his Kingdom is advancing
Lets Chat.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
The Kingdom and Chili
(warning, my grammar is really bad, this entry and future blog entries will consistently be grammatically awful)
The Kingdom and Chili
Over the past month something foundational in my manhood occurred. You might be thinking that perhaps I became a father, maybe conquered some long lasting fears, or decided to purchase Dewalt’s latest belt sander. Although I long for each of those, the truth is the past month I figured out the secret to making Chili that in the word of one Snoop Dizzle, is completely off the “hizzy”. This Chili is one that I struggle to even type or talk about, its that good, so good that it went from Jon’s chili, to Jon’s famous chili in a matter of a month.
I found that while time is critical, the choice of seasonings very important, however the thing that sets chili apart is what I’m now classifying as the “spice collision”. Let me explain. Most would think to stick with a central flavor or dominant spice, well that’s what I thought as well pre J.F.C (Jon’s famous chili). The break through in my chili pot occurred when two distinct spices met each other at the beautiful intersection of sweet and sassy! Yes this collision of pure goodness has brought me to an entirely new place. I’ve always been quite sissified with my chili, however adding the sweet component is something that I’ve overlooked, and this oversight mind you is very common among the C.A.C (Chili Artisan Community).
So what might this have to do with the Kingdom of God, perhaps nothing but potentially a fresh outlook at the world we find ourselves living in. This afternoon I spent an hour or so in the woods praying, reflecting, journaling, and listening to God. As I sat in the pristine, autumn painted landscape my eyes and heart were overwhelmed with Gods beauty, craftsmanship, and creativity. The blue sky served as a perfect canvas illuminating the fall leaves in colors ranging from yellow to orange. The air was deceivingly clean (cold air deceives us in thinking its clean, especially in chi-town) and the noise, well there wasn’t any. The woods that I was spending time in today are part of Mundelein Seminary, a mulit-hundred acre estate that hosts a Catholic Seminary and retreat center. The acreage at this place continue to serve as an out door sanctuary for me, and as I sat there spooning in the stillness my soul was brought to a place of rest. And those of you that know me know that in itself is a miracle. As the quiet got quieter, it happened. From out of nowhere the sounds of an authentic Dukes of Hazzard Police chase emerged from what seemed like the woods I was sitting in. Po-po sirens were blaring, tires screeching, there was no doubt in my mind that this chase was legit. Within seconds my once pristine sanctuary of stillness now shared residency with that of chaos.
So I sat there taking this in and felt God remind me of Matthew 5:14 “you are a the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden.” This experience is reality, this is life, this is what we find ourselves living in. The world we live in consists of the constant collision of death and life, health and sickness, heaven and hell, noise and silence, order and chaos, and yes you guessed it; sweet and sassy! And while I’d like to change the fact that we’re in the already not yet Kingdom I’m realizing that I cant. I wish that the Kingdom was fully here and we didn’t have the sirens and police chases in our life that seem to continually disrupt our seasons of rest but this is life until the Kingdom comes in its fullness.
Today I felt God telling me that this collision is actually something that can be good, the collision between heaven and hell that we live in daily can be perhaps provide the environment for light to shine even brighter in a world of darkness. Jesus didn’t say in Matthew to be a city on a hill and if so then the darkness will forever leave that city, no that day will come when the author of Light himself comes back to finish the restoration that he started. Until then Jesus helps us see that daily our path of light will intersect with the path of darkness, and when this collision occurs be encouraged that as we “walk in the light, as he is in the light” people will see Truth, people will see another way to live, people will see me.
When this happens it’s a beautiful collision!
Lets Chat.
The Kingdom and Chili
Over the past month something foundational in my manhood occurred. You might be thinking that perhaps I became a father, maybe conquered some long lasting fears, or decided to purchase Dewalt’s latest belt sander. Although I long for each of those, the truth is the past month I figured out the secret to making Chili that in the word of one Snoop Dizzle, is completely off the “hizzy”. This Chili is one that I struggle to even type or talk about, its that good, so good that it went from Jon’s chili, to Jon’s famous chili in a matter of a month.
I found that while time is critical, the choice of seasonings very important, however the thing that sets chili apart is what I’m now classifying as the “spice collision”. Let me explain. Most would think to stick with a central flavor or dominant spice, well that’s what I thought as well pre J.F.C (Jon’s famous chili). The break through in my chili pot occurred when two distinct spices met each other at the beautiful intersection of sweet and sassy! Yes this collision of pure goodness has brought me to an entirely new place. I’ve always been quite sissified with my chili, however adding the sweet component is something that I’ve overlooked, and this oversight mind you is very common among the C.A.C (Chili Artisan Community).
So what might this have to do with the Kingdom of God, perhaps nothing but potentially a fresh outlook at the world we find ourselves living in. This afternoon I spent an hour or so in the woods praying, reflecting, journaling, and listening to God. As I sat in the pristine, autumn painted landscape my eyes and heart were overwhelmed with Gods beauty, craftsmanship, and creativity. The blue sky served as a perfect canvas illuminating the fall leaves in colors ranging from yellow to orange. The air was deceivingly clean (cold air deceives us in thinking its clean, especially in chi-town) and the noise, well there wasn’t any. The woods that I was spending time in today are part of Mundelein Seminary, a mulit-hundred acre estate that hosts a Catholic Seminary and retreat center. The acreage at this place continue to serve as an out door sanctuary for me, and as I sat there spooning in the stillness my soul was brought to a place of rest. And those of you that know me know that in itself is a miracle. As the quiet got quieter, it happened. From out of nowhere the sounds of an authentic Dukes of Hazzard Police chase emerged from what seemed like the woods I was sitting in. Po-po sirens were blaring, tires screeching, there was no doubt in my mind that this chase was legit. Within seconds my once pristine sanctuary of stillness now shared residency with that of chaos.
So I sat there taking this in and felt God remind me of Matthew 5:14 “you are a the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden.” This experience is reality, this is life, this is what we find ourselves living in. The world we live in consists of the constant collision of death and life, health and sickness, heaven and hell, noise and silence, order and chaos, and yes you guessed it; sweet and sassy! And while I’d like to change the fact that we’re in the already not yet Kingdom I’m realizing that I cant. I wish that the Kingdom was fully here and we didn’t have the sirens and police chases in our life that seem to continually disrupt our seasons of rest but this is life until the Kingdom comes in its fullness.
Today I felt God telling me that this collision is actually something that can be good, the collision between heaven and hell that we live in daily can be perhaps provide the environment for light to shine even brighter in a world of darkness. Jesus didn’t say in Matthew to be a city on a hill and if so then the darkness will forever leave that city, no that day will come when the author of Light himself comes back to finish the restoration that he started. Until then Jesus helps us see that daily our path of light will intersect with the path of darkness, and when this collision occurs be encouraged that as we “walk in the light, as he is in the light” people will see Truth, people will see another way to live, people will see me.
When this happens it’s a beautiful collision!
Lets Chat.
Monday, November 5, 2007
The Aldi effect
For the record, “Cheesy corn chips” are not the same as Doritos! I used to get so mad as a kid when my sweet mom would try to convince me of this, she’d say “son the Cheesy corn chips are no different, just the price. Then as we’d bag up our “cheese curlz” (spelling exact, with our own bag mind you) the convincing would continue, son these “cheese curlz” taste just like your friends Cheetos do.” Even as a kid I knew that there was a reason why they didn’t call them Cheetos or Doritos, you know why because they weren’t the same thing! (Gosh! Tina! Food!)
This is what I call the Aldi effect, we’re so bent on saving 39 cents per bag of chips that we, yep you guessed it, settle for imitation and then what you do is send your kid off to school who in returns begins stealing all the other kids Doritos. This is how it all started for me. I had no other choice :)
For some reason since the beginning mankind has been incredibly inclined to run after imitation vs. intimacy. We desire fake and false realities verses desiring the ultimate reality himself, that being the heart of God!
This past month I ran or attempted to run I should say the 30th annual Chicago Marathon. Not a good idea. Now if you paid attention to the news you know that this year was unlike any other year in the 30 year history of the race. At race time the ole thermometer read 80 degrees, and race time is at 8am mind you. So the race began and I was feeling great, for at least, I don’t know 2 to 5 hundred yards. I mean seriously early in the race I knew I was in trouble and to make things far worse I made it to the 1st water and Gatorade station and there’s none left. Yeah, seriously no water or Gatorade, so practicing positive thinking I’m like no big deal it’s only negating my body what it needs for survival, no worries just keep moving. Well at mile 8 my overheating gauge started to come on, and at this point I was hot, really hot and the temperature at this point was in the low 90’s. Are you kidding me! Now I ran this same race, same course just a year prior and felt drastically different, but its amazing what happens to us when the heat in our life is turned up. As I continued to briskly walk or run I’d like to classify it as spiritual parallels began to fill my mind of God being the fountain of life, and me only wanting to run to him when things in my life are hard, and I’m thinking of the scripture in Revelation telling me “come all who are thirsty and drink” and I’m saying God I’m thirsty and I need some help here, I then thought of the verse “blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”, so I’m like God please, show your electrolytic mercies and reign down your amazing provision of water or Gatorade. God please I’m dying here I need you, I need a break through.
Then it happened. I looked through the steam that was coming off of Clark street, off in the distance my provision awaited me! In the distance I could see it, not a water station or Gatorade station no that would be too much to ask of the city of Chicago. But in the distance there it was, the answer to my desires, a fountain of water. Now this was not like a drinking fountain, I’m talking like a fountain fountain, Buckingham style, a huge fountain with beautiful cold, refreshing, inviting, wet, water. And the closer I got the more my mouth, well wanted to water but I was so dehydrated I couldn’t produce “mouth water” anymore. No “mouth water production” ended at mile 2. As I approached the fountain I didn’t waste any time trying to sip or even wait courteously in line. No, I dunked me entire head in the fountain and for all practical purposes I was now bathing in the fountain. I mean the water was so cold, so clear and the more I looked at it strangely blue. As I was about to go for more I heard a lady proclaim, “don’t drink that water it’ll make you sick, there’s chemicals in that water”. Now…anger instantly filled my being and slowly I now realized that she was right, there was a reason this water looked like water imported from the tropics of Maui, you know why it looked that way? Because they put flippin’ chemicals in it and this once beautiful all consuming refreshment of a water source turned out to be merely an imitation to the real thing, and there I was dejected, disappointed, and yeah as you can imagine still extremely thirsty.
How about you? Have you ever settled for the imitation, have you ever settled for something that from a distance appeared to be the real thing only to find out that it was, well not the real thing at all?
Our keen ability to settle for imitation started in Chapter 3 of Genesis, and since that day we are in a battle of the tension of imitation vs. intimacy. And for the record spend the extra 39 cents and get Doritos, please, help me redeem my childhood :)
Lets Chat.
For the record, “Cheesy corn chips” are not the same as Doritos! I used to get so mad as a kid when my sweet mom would try to convince me of this, she’d say “son the Cheesy corn chips are no different, just the price. Then as we’d bag up our “cheese curlz” (spelling exact, with our own bag mind you) the convincing would continue, son these “cheese curlz” taste just like your friends Cheetos do.” Even as a kid I knew that there was a reason why they didn’t call them Cheetos or Doritos, you know why because they weren’t the same thing! (Gosh! Tina! Food!)
This is what I call the Aldi effect, we’re so bent on saving 39 cents per bag of chips that we, yep you guessed it, settle for imitation and then what you do is send your kid off to school who in returns begins stealing all the other kids Doritos. This is how it all started for me. I had no other choice :)
For some reason since the beginning mankind has been incredibly inclined to run after imitation vs. intimacy. We desire fake and false realities verses desiring the ultimate reality himself, that being the heart of God!
This past month I ran or attempted to run I should say the 30th annual Chicago Marathon. Not a good idea. Now if you paid attention to the news you know that this year was unlike any other year in the 30 year history of the race. At race time the ole thermometer read 80 degrees, and race time is at 8am mind you. So the race began and I was feeling great, for at least, I don’t know 2 to 5 hundred yards. I mean seriously early in the race I knew I was in trouble and to make things far worse I made it to the 1st water and Gatorade station and there’s none left. Yeah, seriously no water or Gatorade, so practicing positive thinking I’m like no big deal it’s only negating my body what it needs for survival, no worries just keep moving. Well at mile 8 my overheating gauge started to come on, and at this point I was hot, really hot and the temperature at this point was in the low 90’s. Are you kidding me! Now I ran this same race, same course just a year prior and felt drastically different, but its amazing what happens to us when the heat in our life is turned up. As I continued to briskly walk or run I’d like to classify it as spiritual parallels began to fill my mind of God being the fountain of life, and me only wanting to run to him when things in my life are hard, and I’m thinking of the scripture in Revelation telling me “come all who are thirsty and drink” and I’m saying God I’m thirsty and I need some help here, I then thought of the verse “blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”, so I’m like God please, show your electrolytic mercies and reign down your amazing provision of water or Gatorade. God please I’m dying here I need you, I need a break through.
Then it happened. I looked through the steam that was coming off of Clark street, off in the distance my provision awaited me! In the distance I could see it, not a water station or Gatorade station no that would be too much to ask of the city of Chicago. But in the distance there it was, the answer to my desires, a fountain of water. Now this was not like a drinking fountain, I’m talking like a fountain fountain, Buckingham style, a huge fountain with beautiful cold, refreshing, inviting, wet, water. And the closer I got the more my mouth, well wanted to water but I was so dehydrated I couldn’t produce “mouth water” anymore. No “mouth water production” ended at mile 2. As I approached the fountain I didn’t waste any time trying to sip or even wait courteously in line. No, I dunked me entire head in the fountain and for all practical purposes I was now bathing in the fountain. I mean the water was so cold, so clear and the more I looked at it strangely blue. As I was about to go for more I heard a lady proclaim, “don’t drink that water it’ll make you sick, there’s chemicals in that water”. Now…anger instantly filled my being and slowly I now realized that she was right, there was a reason this water looked like water imported from the tropics of Maui, you know why it looked that way? Because they put flippin’ chemicals in it and this once beautiful all consuming refreshment of a water source turned out to be merely an imitation to the real thing, and there I was dejected, disappointed, and yeah as you can imagine still extremely thirsty.
How about you? Have you ever settled for the imitation, have you ever settled for something that from a distance appeared to be the real thing only to find out that it was, well not the real thing at all?
Our keen ability to settle for imitation started in Chapter 3 of Genesis, and since that day we are in a battle of the tension of imitation vs. intimacy. And for the record spend the extra 39 cents and get Doritos, please, help me redeem my childhood :)
Lets Chat.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Lost Art of Discipleship
True Disciples is what the Church needs, true disciples within and outside of the Church is what brings optimism to a bleak picture of the power and future of the Church. If discipleship serves as the ancient method of spiritual movement within God’s people then this poses a problem. Currently the American Church does anything but excel within discipleship. We, as the American Church struggle to raise up True Disciples, and in my opinion this seems to have become a lost art. Sure we love to see people cross the line of faith, but then what. What happens then, do we teach people how to hear the voice of God, how to commune deeply with the Father, how to engage scripture? Do we model this to them? And then do we teach our communities of faith the horizontal focus, of taking what we have received from God and paying it forward? Are we doing this ourselves? Is the western Church currently doing this? Well unfortunately the answer for the most part is no. According to Barna’s latest research, along with scholars such as John Stott we are below average at best in raising up true disciples.
“For many years, 25 or more, the church growth school has been dominant. I rejoice in the statistics, but we must say it is growth without depth”. According to Chuck Colson “the American Church is 3,000 miles wide and an inch deep”. Ouch! And of course we want to blame our pastors, wait that’s me, yeah don’t blame me instead of looking at ourselves and how our lives are hitting the center point on a daily basis, the center point of the cross. Discipleship takes work, this is the road that Jesus described not as the traveled one, but the road less traveled, the narrow road. And when we find ourselves, you and me in disciple defining moments for some reason we are surprised at how difficult this is, this journey of staying deeply connected to God and to others, to really sacrificing ourselves, to leaving all behind and following our Rabbi.
Why are we surprised? Why do we often bail and veer off the road less traveled? Because at the core of True Discipleship is everything counter to what our culture tells us, if we follow Jesus then we are citizens of the upside down Kingdom. Last week I met a friend who is currently the most influential singer/song writer and church planter in South Africa, who happens to be in his late 20’s. He and I spent a couple of days together and discussed the condition of the Church and the future of it as well, both here in North America and on the continent of Africa. It struck me that our conversation continually came back to the center point of the cross, the intersection of the vertical and horizontal beam of Grace and Freedom; discipleship.
My guess is that I don’t need to convince us as much that discipleship is a must in our life, that’s why its one of our 6 values, and the one value that drives the other 5. That being said I think my main concern is why we are not hearing more stories of success within discipleship. Perhaps as missionaries within Axis we’re too busy for this, or afraid, or fearful of building into another person, hesitant to joining an Life Transformation Group, ,or whatever. I am praying for us, the Axis community that God would use us as a catalyst of the resurgence of discipleship. Just spend some days this week reading 1 Thessalonians, and realize that Paul and his crew had around 3 months with the people in Thessalonica! What adjustments are you willing to make, or pray about in the area of discipleship in your life?
Let the conversation begin!
True Disciples is what the Church needs, true disciples within and outside of the Church is what brings optimism to a bleak picture of the power and future of the Church. If discipleship serves as the ancient method of spiritual movement within God’s people then this poses a problem. Currently the American Church does anything but excel within discipleship. We, as the American Church struggle to raise up True Disciples, and in my opinion this seems to have become a lost art. Sure we love to see people cross the line of faith, but then what. What happens then, do we teach people how to hear the voice of God, how to commune deeply with the Father, how to engage scripture? Do we model this to them? And then do we teach our communities of faith the horizontal focus, of taking what we have received from God and paying it forward? Are we doing this ourselves? Is the western Church currently doing this? Well unfortunately the answer for the most part is no. According to Barna’s latest research, along with scholars such as John Stott we are below average at best in raising up true disciples.
“For many years, 25 or more, the church growth school has been dominant. I rejoice in the statistics, but we must say it is growth without depth”. According to Chuck Colson “the American Church is 3,000 miles wide and an inch deep”. Ouch! And of course we want to blame our pastors, wait that’s me, yeah don’t blame me instead of looking at ourselves and how our lives are hitting the center point on a daily basis, the center point of the cross. Discipleship takes work, this is the road that Jesus described not as the traveled one, but the road less traveled, the narrow road. And when we find ourselves, you and me in disciple defining moments for some reason we are surprised at how difficult this is, this journey of staying deeply connected to God and to others, to really sacrificing ourselves, to leaving all behind and following our Rabbi.
Why are we surprised? Why do we often bail and veer off the road less traveled? Because at the core of True Discipleship is everything counter to what our culture tells us, if we follow Jesus then we are citizens of the upside down Kingdom. Last week I met a friend who is currently the most influential singer/song writer and church planter in South Africa, who happens to be in his late 20’s. He and I spent a couple of days together and discussed the condition of the Church and the future of it as well, both here in North America and on the continent of Africa. It struck me that our conversation continually came back to the center point of the cross, the intersection of the vertical and horizontal beam of Grace and Freedom; discipleship.
My guess is that I don’t need to convince us as much that discipleship is a must in our life, that’s why its one of our 6 values, and the one value that drives the other 5. That being said I think my main concern is why we are not hearing more stories of success within discipleship. Perhaps as missionaries within Axis we’re too busy for this, or afraid, or fearful of building into another person, hesitant to joining an Life Transformation Group, ,or whatever. I am praying for us, the Axis community that God would use us as a catalyst of the resurgence of discipleship. Just spend some days this week reading 1 Thessalonians, and realize that Paul and his crew had around 3 months with the people in Thessalonica! What adjustments are you willing to make, or pray about in the area of discipleship in your life?
Let the conversation begin!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Legacy
A Legacy of Stewardship
Today as I was getting locked in with Jesus, and reading through the book of Mark, I got to chapter 14 and a question began to emerge from the text in my heart. That being; what legacy will I leave? Will we leave? Will you leave?
And secondly what might hinder or prevent me from leaving the ultimate destiny God has for me?
In Mark 14:3-9 we see a powerful dichotomy of what citizenship in the world promotes, and on the other hand what citizenship in the Kingdom of God promotes. As the text states its only a couple days before Passover and Jesus was in serious danger for his life. His reputation and power had reached a point to where the chief priests could no longer tolerate and something had to be done. Jesus, just outside of Jerusalem kicks it in Bethany in the home of, yep you guessed it, people who have literally been touched and changed by the ministry of Jesus. It picks up in verse 3 of chapter 14 stating that they were in the home of Simon the leper, a man healed by Jesus, and there at dinner was also the disciples, Mary and Martha. In that custom after the meal they would do what I’m quite gifted at, recline and take it easy. They would sit on what would look like couches to us today and talk, share thoughts, bless one another, and this was a special night. Those in the room knew that the days of Jesus’ death were approaching, well at least Mary did. Mary approaches Jesus and does something that only a true lover of God would do, worship, serve and love God at any cost. Just picture a bottle of Hugo Boss for example, however for some reason that bottle would retail at Nordstrom’s for right at 35,000 dollars. So she does the unthinkable, she cracks open the slender neck of the stone flask that held this ridiculously expensive perfume and anointed Jesus, her messiah, her King. This passage paralleled in John 12 gives us a more descriptive picture of how she applied this, she not only covers his head, but his feat as well, and then for a towel she uses her hair! This picture of servant hood is one that should have gripped the disciples who were watching this, however they responded quite differently. The text says that some were “indignantly” remarking to each other, that means they were deeply moved at why this was not a good use of something of that worth, for she could of sold that money and gave it to the poor, at least that was they’re excuse. At this moment we see the dichotomy between someone who lives as an active part of the Kingdom of God, and those who like the idea of the Kingdom but really live by the standards of this world. I mean seriously, most of our impressions of Jesus, as inaccurate as they are at times would think Jesus would have sided with the disciples and would have scolded her as well, however he responds quite differently. Jesus says in verse 6 that this was good! The Greek word there gives us more insight to how deeply Jesus felt, the word used is kalon which means a good, noble, beautiful work. Jesus not only responds by saying that was good, Jesus looks intently into Mary's heart and says that this work is something beautiful! This contrast has challenged me that I, like the disciples can be close to Jesus, the author and inaugurator of the Kingdom yet live and operate like the World.
At the Tables this week we have wrestled through what it might look like to be a good Kingdom stewards and I’ve searched wikipedia and couldn’t find anything for us on what that looks like or even a definition☺, however we see a clear picture here in Mark 14 of what a life looks like when one values the King over anything else in their life.
So how does this sit with you? If you were in the room that night, what would your response have been? What prevents us from stewarding our resources like Mary??
Jesus goes on to say in verse 9
“I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her" now that’s leaving a legacy worth leaving!
-Jon
Today as I was getting locked in with Jesus, and reading through the book of Mark, I got to chapter 14 and a question began to emerge from the text in my heart. That being; what legacy will I leave? Will we leave? Will you leave?
And secondly what might hinder or prevent me from leaving the ultimate destiny God has for me?
In Mark 14:3-9 we see a powerful dichotomy of what citizenship in the world promotes, and on the other hand what citizenship in the Kingdom of God promotes. As the text states its only a couple days before Passover and Jesus was in serious danger for his life. His reputation and power had reached a point to where the chief priests could no longer tolerate and something had to be done. Jesus, just outside of Jerusalem kicks it in Bethany in the home of, yep you guessed it, people who have literally been touched and changed by the ministry of Jesus. It picks up in verse 3 of chapter 14 stating that they were in the home of Simon the leper, a man healed by Jesus, and there at dinner was also the disciples, Mary and Martha. In that custom after the meal they would do what I’m quite gifted at, recline and take it easy. They would sit on what would look like couches to us today and talk, share thoughts, bless one another, and this was a special night. Those in the room knew that the days of Jesus’ death were approaching, well at least Mary did. Mary approaches Jesus and does something that only a true lover of God would do, worship, serve and love God at any cost. Just picture a bottle of Hugo Boss for example, however for some reason that bottle would retail at Nordstrom’s for right at 35,000 dollars. So she does the unthinkable, she cracks open the slender neck of the stone flask that held this ridiculously expensive perfume and anointed Jesus, her messiah, her King. This passage paralleled in John 12 gives us a more descriptive picture of how she applied this, she not only covers his head, but his feat as well, and then for a towel she uses her hair! This picture of servant hood is one that should have gripped the disciples who were watching this, however they responded quite differently. The text says that some were “indignantly” remarking to each other, that means they were deeply moved at why this was not a good use of something of that worth, for she could of sold that money and gave it to the poor, at least that was they’re excuse. At this moment we see the dichotomy between someone who lives as an active part of the Kingdom of God, and those who like the idea of the Kingdom but really live by the standards of this world. I mean seriously, most of our impressions of Jesus, as inaccurate as they are at times would think Jesus would have sided with the disciples and would have scolded her as well, however he responds quite differently. Jesus says in verse 6 that this was good! The Greek word there gives us more insight to how deeply Jesus felt, the word used is kalon which means a good, noble, beautiful work. Jesus not only responds by saying that was good, Jesus looks intently into Mary's heart and says that this work is something beautiful! This contrast has challenged me that I, like the disciples can be close to Jesus, the author and inaugurator of the Kingdom yet live and operate like the World.
At the Tables this week we have wrestled through what it might look like to be a good Kingdom stewards and I’ve searched wikipedia and couldn’t find anything for us on what that looks like or even a definition☺, however we see a clear picture here in Mark 14 of what a life looks like when one values the King over anything else in their life.
So how does this sit with you? If you were in the room that night, what would your response have been? What prevents us from stewarding our resources like Mary??
Jesus goes on to say in verse 9
“I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her" now that’s leaving a legacy worth leaving!
-Jon
Friday, October 12, 2007
The Dangers of Yeast
Yeast according to Wikipedia is a growth form of eukaryotic microorganisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, and while that does nothing for me and my guess is you either then why am I wasting your time blogging about yeast? Good question.
In the beloved book of Mark that we as a community journeyed through for 16 weeks last winter, an interesting passage in chapter 8 talks about Yeast and warns us on the dangers of our lives representing this eukaryotic microorganism.
"But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.” At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they said. “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up? “Seven,” they said. “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them."
As I studied this passage this morning, It was 1st hard for me to understand why the disciples didn’t believe, I mean how could they doubt after what they had recently witnessed right? How could they not be confident that one piece of bread was more then they would ever need, not because one piece is an impressive surplus but because the "bread of Life" himself was on the boat with them. How can this happen, how can they're hearts be so easily and consistently hardened as we see throughout the book of Mark?
I've found that the Human element is one that is powerful and is one that is also contrary to the Spirit element if you will. How often do we believe only as long as we can see? How often do we trust as long as we have plenty? Why do we continue to fail at times to make the same mistakes that we see throughout the meta-narrative? The human element that the 12 struggled with is the same that the nation of Israel struggled with in the wilderness, and is without a doubt the same we are in danger of struggling with today.
So what about the yeast? Good question once again. In verse 17 we see "At this they began to argue with each other" and as I was studying this I realized that maybe I was missing some of the point here. The Greek word used to describe this conversation going on in verse 17 is "meteorizomai" that describes to be of doubtful mind. This conversation they were having was not a profitable one, but one where they're unbelief spread, it was if the more they talked, the more they forgot the past, the more they didnt believe, the less present their faith was. Yeast is a powerful little microorganism and grows and spreads quickly, as does unbelief. Yeast was a common Jewish metaphor for an invisible, pervasive influence, this is why before the Passover every year they would clear their homes of this, as if the presence of yeast alone would hinder the movement of God.
So what clearing do you need to do in your life today? I realize its hard to spot, hence the "micro" within microorganism but we need to relentlessly rid our lives of unbelief because it doesn’t just effect our life but those around us as well.
What has worked for you? What steps, choices, disciplines have helped you in the past of believing God?
Lets chat!
-Jon
In the beloved book of Mark that we as a community journeyed through for 16 weeks last winter, an interesting passage in chapter 8 talks about Yeast and warns us on the dangers of our lives representing this eukaryotic microorganism.
"But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.” At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they said. “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up? “Seven,” they said. “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them."
As I studied this passage this morning, It was 1st hard for me to understand why the disciples didn’t believe, I mean how could they doubt after what they had recently witnessed right? How could they not be confident that one piece of bread was more then they would ever need, not because one piece is an impressive surplus but because the "bread of Life" himself was on the boat with them. How can this happen, how can they're hearts be so easily and consistently hardened as we see throughout the book of Mark?
I've found that the Human element is one that is powerful and is one that is also contrary to the Spirit element if you will. How often do we believe only as long as we can see? How often do we trust as long as we have plenty? Why do we continue to fail at times to make the same mistakes that we see throughout the meta-narrative? The human element that the 12 struggled with is the same that the nation of Israel struggled with in the wilderness, and is without a doubt the same we are in danger of struggling with today.
So what about the yeast? Good question once again. In verse 17 we see "At this they began to argue with each other" and as I was studying this I realized that maybe I was missing some of the point here. The Greek word used to describe this conversation going on in verse 17 is "meteorizomai" that describes to be of doubtful mind. This conversation they were having was not a profitable one, but one where they're unbelief spread, it was if the more they talked, the more they forgot the past, the more they didnt believe, the less present their faith was. Yeast is a powerful little microorganism and grows and spreads quickly, as does unbelief. Yeast was a common Jewish metaphor for an invisible, pervasive influence, this is why before the Passover every year they would clear their homes of this, as if the presence of yeast alone would hinder the movement of God.
So what clearing do you need to do in your life today? I realize its hard to spot, hence the "micro" within microorganism but we need to relentlessly rid our lives of unbelief because it doesn’t just effect our life but those around us as well.
What has worked for you? What steps, choices, disciplines have helped you in the past of believing God?
Lets chat!
-Jon
Monday, October 8, 2007
PTI
One of my favorite TV shows, which you can find weekdays on what happens to be my favorite TV channel, the one and only ESPN is PTI. Pardon the Interruption is hosted by Washington Post columnists and longtime buddies Tony Kornheiser and South Side of Chicago native and Northwester grad, the prolific Michael Wilbon. Throughout the show they consistently interrupt each other, but do provide a very accurate and well informed view into the ins and outs of what’s going on in the world of sports.
If your like me, it seems that on a daily basis some one will say those three words to me, sometimes with a polite tone and sometimes not, those three words being “pardon the interruption but…….” most times resulting in one more thing I need to do or one more question I need to answer. Hence one of the reasons I love to travel abroad, because when I’m in a different country, 1) it’s obvious because of my camera and fanny pack (only kidding) and 2) people realize that I don’t know the answer. Therefore I’m not, yep you guessed it; interrupted.
I don’t realize where this entitlement to uninterrupted living began but it certainly is something that we wrestle with, particularly in our culture. Here in Chicagoland we Chicagoans are known for a lot of things, one of those being productivity. This city was built on hard work and over-paced lives. Today we still feel the side effects and continue to live out of that ethos. The demand only increases and our supply of time does the opposite. Our need to produce, or our desire to produce, to be effective, to put out the façade that we are too busy for anyone not only makes us unapproachable, but gives us a reason to be irritated with people when they utter those 3 words. Now if we, you and I were all called to be busy, productive, unapproachable people then perhaps this wouldn’t be a huge problem, however that is not our calling. Our calling is to be Children of Light, Kingdom Bringers, True Disciples ushering in the Already-Not Yet Kingdom of God, and that’s where the problem exists. If we are Christians then we have to examine the life that our name sake lived, for during the ministry of Christ he was perhaps the person in highest demand in his entire culture, yet maintained to be the most interruptible person that has walked the earth.
This morning during my time with God, I was meditating on the passage in Luke 7:11-17, “Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.”
As I read this through a few times, it occurred to me that this meeting was not in his PDA, this wasn’t in his Outlook, this was not a meeting that Jesus had planned for. I imagine as Jesus and his crew were entering the gates of the city, they had plans for the day. Yet they were met with something unexpected. Something they could either walk by or be open to consider that this interruption may be the will of the Father. The text tells us this was “the only son of his mother”, and this is significant for us to see. The woman who had already lost her husband, the chief provider for her needs, just lost her future provision as well and Jesus recognized this for he knew his culture very well.
Jesus knew that the only means of survival for that woman was lying there in that coffin, and his heart was moved to compassion, so moved that he welcomed the interruption and brought the son back to life.
So, pardon the interruption, but I have to ask, what are you praying for that will move your heart today? Or will you and I be too busy and miss the people God brings across our path that need a touch from him.
“Compassionate people often inspire others to be compassionate.”
-Joyce Rupp
If your like me, it seems that on a daily basis some one will say those three words to me, sometimes with a polite tone and sometimes not, those three words being “pardon the interruption but…….” most times resulting in one more thing I need to do or one more question I need to answer. Hence one of the reasons I love to travel abroad, because when I’m in a different country, 1) it’s obvious because of my camera and fanny pack (only kidding) and 2) people realize that I don’t know the answer. Therefore I’m not, yep you guessed it; interrupted.
I don’t realize where this entitlement to uninterrupted living began but it certainly is something that we wrestle with, particularly in our culture. Here in Chicagoland we Chicagoans are known for a lot of things, one of those being productivity. This city was built on hard work and over-paced lives. Today we still feel the side effects and continue to live out of that ethos. The demand only increases and our supply of time does the opposite. Our need to produce, or our desire to produce, to be effective, to put out the façade that we are too busy for anyone not only makes us unapproachable, but gives us a reason to be irritated with people when they utter those 3 words. Now if we, you and I were all called to be busy, productive, unapproachable people then perhaps this wouldn’t be a huge problem, however that is not our calling. Our calling is to be Children of Light, Kingdom Bringers, True Disciples ushering in the Already-Not Yet Kingdom of God, and that’s where the problem exists. If we are Christians then we have to examine the life that our name sake lived, for during the ministry of Christ he was perhaps the person in highest demand in his entire culture, yet maintained to be the most interruptible person that has walked the earth.
This morning during my time with God, I was meditating on the passage in Luke 7:11-17, “Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.”
As I read this through a few times, it occurred to me that this meeting was not in his PDA, this wasn’t in his Outlook, this was not a meeting that Jesus had planned for. I imagine as Jesus and his crew were entering the gates of the city, they had plans for the day. Yet they were met with something unexpected. Something they could either walk by or be open to consider that this interruption may be the will of the Father. The text tells us this was “the only son of his mother”, and this is significant for us to see. The woman who had already lost her husband, the chief provider for her needs, just lost her future provision as well and Jesus recognized this for he knew his culture very well.
Jesus knew that the only means of survival for that woman was lying there in that coffin, and his heart was moved to compassion, so moved that he welcomed the interruption and brought the son back to life.
So, pardon the interruption, but I have to ask, what are you praying for that will move your heart today? Or will you and I be too busy and miss the people God brings across our path that need a touch from him.
“Compassionate people often inspire others to be compassionate.”
-Joyce Rupp
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