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.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
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.
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