As I sit in Panera Bread, preparing for a meeting for the church we attends mobile web site, and app development. Reading in Romans, planning to work on my book that has unfortunately sat dormant way too long something happened.
I really feel that God is moving in a direction in our life that is different from anything I ever expected. I never was one that wanted to or that looked at student ministry as a stepping stone, I still don't, I have however begun to realize that God sometimes evolves our calling. He allows us to grow, he breaks us apart, he refines us, he takes us through things to get us to the point where we are able to be that LEGO Christian that I have talked about in past posts. I have been reading and praying all these years, and been asking God to take away the calling he put on my life. He didn't do that, really won't do that, however I believe he has been evolving my calling, or at the very least my understanding of who I am and what I am to be doing.
I never really thought of myself as anything but a youth or young adult pastor. I have been involved in ministry with every age group from the time I started the whole pastoral journey 18 years ago as a Junior in college working with Joe Hoggard in Eloise Fl. I have had the privilege of ministering to many people, performing weddings, baptisms, and the sad task of being involved in funerals as well. I had the opportunity to be involved on a district level in our denominations youth ministry, I have seen many things in 18 years, I have seen success, I have seen failure. I say all of these things because I feel God is taking us in a direction that is different from anything that has ever happened before. I am for the first time actually considering the possibility of leading a church, and there are a few churches that are looking at me in this capacity. I am not ruling out other options, I have churches that are considering me for student ministries, and for family or missions pastor positions, I just have this sense of anticipation that something is coming and that it's going to be the place that we are supposed to be for a long time, not just because that is what we want but because it's what He wants for us.
So what does this all mean and why the title Beautiful Distractions? As a youth guy I have always been go go go. Those times that I had the opportunity to work with the more seasoned members of a congregation were fine but I always felt that they were somewhat of a distraction. Even when I recognized the importance of the experience that they could bring into the youth in the congregation, I did what I have always done and looked at them as having something to give to the youth or the young adults, not one of the pastors. Amazing how thick I can be. I would never have chosen to have my plan interrupted. I want to get the things on my list done that's how I work. So todays list includes this post, working on my book, and a website meeting at 1:00. I sat down with my coffee, read where I am in Romans, and was sitting down to offer some pithy observations on Romans 12 and 13 to the five people who read my blog, when it happened. As I logged into my laptop an older guy came and sat down at the little table across from me.
Now let's be clear. I sit at the smallest table possible when I come to Panera for a couple of reasons, I bring my laptop and my tablet, and I pop on my head phones for a reason. This is my time away from distraction. With J's mom here I can take a little bit more than I usually get to take. It's a chance for quiet away from the house. I picked my table next to the fake fireplace because I like the ambiance that it gives. I do not sit at one of the long table areas, you know the ones I mean, the ones that welcome someone to sit at the next table over, but seem to say hey I'm willing to converse. Anyway this older gentleman sits down and wants to know if I like Windows 8 what my thoughts are on computers in general and begins to explain that he helps people at the senior citizens home learn computers, that he has an engineering degree, that they have tons of technology at home. He told me about the original punch cards they used before the second set of punch cards that everyone is familiar with back in the 60's. This gentleman proceeded to invade my little bubble of quiet and reflection, and that was okay.
See before I would have continued to do what I was doing even while feigning listening. I would have nodded and smiled while opening the programs I needed to open, I would have covertly checked email, or my Facebook status, I would have gotten out my ear buds and plugged them into the computer, I would have made it clear through my pretended interest that the guy was taking up my precious time. That what he had to say was nice, but that what I was doing was much more important, and in doing so I would have missed an opportunity to give this gentleman what he needed, an ear to hear. See I had a plan this morning, and an agenda of what I wanted to do. I am working on my book again, and making sure to blog thoughts from my study time often , because I believe that God is preparing us for a church and I want to get that part of things tightened up. The guy that came and sat down is a retired veteran that has time on his hands and needed someone to talk to. I listened and when he asked what I was I said I'm a pastor. When he asked what church I told him I wasn't sure yet. I would love to say that this opened this huge discussion about Jesus and how to be a Christ Follower. I would love to tell you that he said a prayer right here in Panera, but that's not the case. What he did say was thanks, and that maybe "he and the wife" would head back to church this week, because if pastors were willing to listen in Panera now well they may not be so bad.
That's what was so beautiful about the distraction today. I have a clearer picture of this verse:
1 Corinthians 3:7-8 (NLT)
7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.
8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
I got to plant a seed today just by listening to a person who was going to go about his day full of nothing, I can hope and pray that at some point in the week someone else will water that seed that contains the beginnings of a map to a walk with Christ, who knows perhaps when he and the wife head to church on Sunday there will be something there that can be harvested.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
How do we do it?
I am reading Romans right now, in fact have been stuck in Paul's world lately. I don't just read one version any more. Thanks to Olive Tree and my android tablet, I am able to easily read several translations with a touch. I know that there have been parallel bibles put out and I know that some people have to have the real thing to enjoy reading but deal with it I actually would rather read on my tablet than anywhere else. I love the note feature and all that. Anyway. Romans 12:1 is one of those verses that I have read more times than I can count. I am a NLT man for daily study and it reads very similar to other versions you have read.
Romans 12:1 (NLT)
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
If you have been in the Christ follower camp for any amount of time you have read this verse over and over. Many time's it's used to compel us to give up some great big part of us to be used by God. Sacrifice is a big deal to Christians, we tend to like to list out all the things that we have done for God, we like to feel superior about how much we have given up, how much we have given too, how humble we are, the list goes on. Giving our bodies to God seems like the ultimate sacrifice. Then I read the same thing in the Message and it brought a different light to this rather well known verse.
Romans 12:1 (MSG)
1 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
It kind of gives this whole verse a bit of a different meaning, at least it does to me. It's not my church self that God wants offered up. It's not the put together, "Man of God" that God want's on the altar. He isn't looking for someone who has tons to offer him. He isn't even looking for someone that has figured out the whole Christ Follower thing and is leading tons of people to a meaningful relationship with God because of how great they are, how intense their testimony is and how wonderful a speaker they are. Nope that's not the sacrifice that God wants, so why is that the sacrifice that so many of us are willing to give?
Why are we willing to give our vacation by going on a missions trip as a family? What makes us think that volunteering that week of VBS in the Summer is a living sacrifice, or being on the board of the church or volunteering to be a chaperone for the ski trip, or when the kids ministry goes to lazer tag. Why do we think that sacrifice is when we sign up to sing in the choir, or to be on the worship team. What makes selective service a sacrifice?
No the real life sacrifice is the one that takes our everyday ordinary life, sleeping, eating going to work and walking around life. Giving that over to God. What happens when we realize that giving up our vacation to minister as a family isn't really what it's about, it's about what we do when we return home from that missions trip. It's not about singing with the worship team on Sunday, its about a little girl standing up in Williamsburg on a horse mounting stand and singing Jesus Loves Me without any regard for what others say or think. (thank you Zoey for teaching daddy something) It's more than volunteering at Thanksgiving or Christmas, at the shelter.
As we work out our salvation, as we walk through life attempting to follow Christ, we must get it through our heads that God wants to permeate every part of our being and be part of every aspect of our life. Does this mean I have to ask him if I should use regular sugar or sugar in the raw in my coffee? No what it means is I need to realize that he's there for the big decisions as well as the small ones. That he wants to be more than just a consideration, he wants to be an active part in who we are and what we are doing. He wants us to trust him with more than our worship service attendance, and small group meetings, and whatever other ministry we find ourselves involved in. He wants to be a part of our every day.
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Wednesday, November 7, 2012
For the Record…
I often wonder why some people choose their words carefully and others just let it fly. I have been known to do the later, more than the former, and while I wish I could say that being vocal and opinionated about a myriad of topics was something that people appreciated or respected me for that is often not the case.
Last night I watched the returns online, wall to wall live coverage from all the major networks, and even the minor ones. The person I voted for won. I was happy about that, it seemed he had quite a convincing win. I don’t blindly vote. I don’t think anyone should, there are candidates and issues that are not as simple as many would have us believe, to vote a strait party ticket out of loyalty makes zero sense, checking your brain at the door because you have declared a party, or because someone who you respect has told you what you should or shouldn’t do when you stand in the voting booth is irresponsible.
So my guy won for president, I voted for the person I thought would do the best job and lined up with the majority of my views on many things. Notice I said the majority of my views. There are some things that I philosophically disagree with, there are things that I also disagree with on a spiritual or moral level as well, which brings me to the title of this blog.
Hebrews 12:1 – 2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
There were two issues in the state of Maryland that as a right leaning liberal I could not in good conscious vote for.
Let me say that what a person chooses to do is their own business, I do not think I have a right to tell someone who they can and can’t be with. I don’t believe I can walk into someone's home and ask them to see their bank statements and tell them what they can spend their money on. Those things are a personal choice, and just like the choices that I make they come with their own sets of consequences, and the person or persons will have to live with the final outcome.
In Hebrews Paul talks bout the sin that so easily trips us up. I believe that every human in the world has a sin that they struggle with. A sin that they will almost always fall too. For some that sin is lust, for some gluttony, gossip is a huge one, or hate, idolatry, lying, stirring up trouble, homosexuality, adultery, stealing. All of these and more are mentioned throughout scripture. I don’t argue with what the Bible calls sin. I don’t try and find ways in the Bible to make some sins okay and others really really bad. God doesn’t do that either if I read things correctly. Christians are the ones that assign degrees to sin, they are the ones that seem to find some sins to be “acceptable” and others to be damning. Reading scripture all these years I have only found one sin that God has said is forever damning, that will separate humanity from God for eternity. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That’s it all the other sins no matter how offensive they are to me personally God is not only willing and able but desirous to forgive. It’s not my job to judge the world, it’s not my job to tell people what they can and can’t do, who they can and can’t be with, what they can’t and can’t spend, at least not the people in the world who have no clue about who God is, who have never made a connection to Jesus, who have never chosen to take up their cross and follow Him. It’s my job to love them, to show them what forgiveness is, to help them to see that God loves them as is, with no stipulations, and no pre-requisites.
I am a big Nirvana fan, I love the song Come as You Are, it is perhaps one of the best altar call songs ever written. That’s what God wants for humanity, come as you are. With all your issues, all your problems, all your sins, all your talents, all your abilities. Come to me if you are tired, if you are sick of laying in bed at night feeling empty, of sitting in Star Bucks staring into your third cup of coffee feeling alone, and scared. come with your need for the feeling you get when the drugs first hit your system, come with your anger and bitterness and hatred for whoever you feel those things for. Come with your need to be loved, come with your need to be humbled. Come with the guilt that is there because of something that you did or that happened 10,20,50, 80 years ago or just five minutes ago. Come just the way you are without any hope of getting it right, because lets be honest. Humanity has no real hope of getting it right. While we were built for relationship with God, we screwed it up right out of the gate.
When asked by religious leaders if the Jewish people should pay taxes, Jesus didn’t say no, he didn’t say look for loopholes to get out of it, he didn’t even say we should ask to pay less. He did something that flies in the face of many right wing “evangelical” republicans, He took a coin and asked who’s picture was on it, then he said to give the person that had the picture on the coin what belonged to him and give to God what belonged to God. I don’t think this just had to do with taxes, I think that there was more to it.
Jesus wants us to worry about things that will make a difference in eternity, to be salt and light, to go into all the world, to explain to people that God so loved that He gave. He did not want us to sit in judgment of the world. Here’s the big issue though, while we are not supposed to judge or condemn the world and those that have not chosen a relationship with Christ, we are told that when it comes to others who claim to be Christ Followers, we will know them by the fruit that they bear, we can look at a person who claims Christ as their Lord and Savior and we can judge the actions.
So here goes, For the record, I personally believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. I believe that this is a distinction that God has put in place…however I also believe that a person who has not made a commitment to Christ can't be told who they can live with or be civilly united with. I think that a couple that has lived together all their lives, be they gay or strait should be able to have the same retirement benefits, the same healthcare benefits, and the same social security benefits that my wife and I enjoy. This doesn't mean that they should have the stamp of marriage, but this is my personal opinion. I can’t tell a person who to love or who to live with, nor would I attempt to but neither can they tell me over and over again that my personal beliefs don’t matter, are antiquated, or should be re-thought in light of a more holistic enlightened world view. Freedom of speech, religion and thought goes both ways.
For the record, I don’t think that there should be expanded gaming in MD, not because I have an issue with someone going to gamble, go gamble if you want to, go gamble at any one of the casinos that are in Maryland, or anywhere else, however why do we always need more ways to separate people that can’t afford it from their money in the name of education, or jobs. If you want to gamble go for it, but don’t keep building more because you want higher profits, because you can keep people entranced, or because you feel that this is the only way to bring jobs.
For the Record. I know that this blog post is going to bother people on both sides of my friend list, my liberal friends are going to be upset because I have said I personally believe that homosexuality is a sin, but I also personally believe that lying is a sin, that stealing is a sin, the list goes on. I’m don’t stop being friends with a person that lies or that has stolen, or that has issues with lust, I don’t stop loving them or hanging out with them. I don’t stop respecting them or suddenly become terrified of them, I simply pray for them and try to live my walk with Christ in such a way that they will wonder what makes me different. My conservative friends are going to be upset because I think that civil unions are fine and that couples should be extended benefits, my liberal friends are going to say that expanded gaming will bring jobs, my conservative friends are going to be upset because I said that if people want to gamble go for it. I never said my positions were easy, but they are my positions.
The bottom line is this, as a Christ follower it is my job to to go and make, not to sit and judge. Walking up to my friends who happen to be gay and telling them off or trying to beat the Bible into them won’t make a difference. Marching into a Casino and standing up on the craps table with Bible in hand shouting about the evil inherent in gambling will not make one person suddenly drop their chips into the offering plate and walk away. It will most likely make them look at me with the same look I give to the TV or Radio when I hear Pat Robertson, or Jerry Falwell or John Hagee open their mouth. Please stop embarrassing yourself and the people you claim to represent.
For the Record I pray that when I stand in front of my creator he can look at all of what Aaron was and all of who Aaron is and smile, and say in spite of all the times you got in the way, we have done well…
Last night I watched the returns online, wall to wall live coverage from all the major networks, and even the minor ones. The person I voted for won. I was happy about that, it seemed he had quite a convincing win. I don’t blindly vote. I don’t think anyone should, there are candidates and issues that are not as simple as many would have us believe, to vote a strait party ticket out of loyalty makes zero sense, checking your brain at the door because you have declared a party, or because someone who you respect has told you what you should or shouldn’t do when you stand in the voting booth is irresponsible.
So my guy won for president, I voted for the person I thought would do the best job and lined up with the majority of my views on many things. Notice I said the majority of my views. There are some things that I philosophically disagree with, there are things that I also disagree with on a spiritual or moral level as well, which brings me to the title of this blog.
Hebrews 12:1 – 2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
There were two issues in the state of Maryland that as a right leaning liberal I could not in good conscious vote for.
Let me say that what a person chooses to do is their own business, I do not think I have a right to tell someone who they can and can’t be with. I don’t believe I can walk into someone's home and ask them to see their bank statements and tell them what they can spend their money on. Those things are a personal choice, and just like the choices that I make they come with their own sets of consequences, and the person or persons will have to live with the final outcome.
In Hebrews Paul talks bout the sin that so easily trips us up. I believe that every human in the world has a sin that they struggle with. A sin that they will almost always fall too. For some that sin is lust, for some gluttony, gossip is a huge one, or hate, idolatry, lying, stirring up trouble, homosexuality, adultery, stealing. All of these and more are mentioned throughout scripture. I don’t argue with what the Bible calls sin. I don’t try and find ways in the Bible to make some sins okay and others really really bad. God doesn’t do that either if I read things correctly. Christians are the ones that assign degrees to sin, they are the ones that seem to find some sins to be “acceptable” and others to be damning. Reading scripture all these years I have only found one sin that God has said is forever damning, that will separate humanity from God for eternity. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That’s it all the other sins no matter how offensive they are to me personally God is not only willing and able but desirous to forgive. It’s not my job to judge the world, it’s not my job to tell people what they can and can’t do, who they can and can’t be with, what they can’t and can’t spend, at least not the people in the world who have no clue about who God is, who have never made a connection to Jesus, who have never chosen to take up their cross and follow Him. It’s my job to love them, to show them what forgiveness is, to help them to see that God loves them as is, with no stipulations, and no pre-requisites.
I am a big Nirvana fan, I love the song Come as You Are, it is perhaps one of the best altar call songs ever written. That’s what God wants for humanity, come as you are. With all your issues, all your problems, all your sins, all your talents, all your abilities. Come to me if you are tired, if you are sick of laying in bed at night feeling empty, of sitting in Star Bucks staring into your third cup of coffee feeling alone, and scared. come with your need for the feeling you get when the drugs first hit your system, come with your anger and bitterness and hatred for whoever you feel those things for. Come with your need to be loved, come with your need to be humbled. Come with the guilt that is there because of something that you did or that happened 10,20,50, 80 years ago or just five minutes ago. Come just the way you are without any hope of getting it right, because lets be honest. Humanity has no real hope of getting it right. While we were built for relationship with God, we screwed it up right out of the gate.
When asked by religious leaders if the Jewish people should pay taxes, Jesus didn’t say no, he didn’t say look for loopholes to get out of it, he didn’t even say we should ask to pay less. He did something that flies in the face of many right wing “evangelical” republicans, He took a coin and asked who’s picture was on it, then he said to give the person that had the picture on the coin what belonged to him and give to God what belonged to God. I don’t think this just had to do with taxes, I think that there was more to it.
Jesus wants us to worry about things that will make a difference in eternity, to be salt and light, to go into all the world, to explain to people that God so loved that He gave. He did not want us to sit in judgment of the world. Here’s the big issue though, while we are not supposed to judge or condemn the world and those that have not chosen a relationship with Christ, we are told that when it comes to others who claim to be Christ Followers, we will know them by the fruit that they bear, we can look at a person who claims Christ as their Lord and Savior and we can judge the actions.
So here goes, For the record, I personally believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. I believe that this is a distinction that God has put in place…however I also believe that a person who has not made a commitment to Christ can't be told who they can live with or be civilly united with. I think that a couple that has lived together all their lives, be they gay or strait should be able to have the same retirement benefits, the same healthcare benefits, and the same social security benefits that my wife and I enjoy. This doesn't mean that they should have the stamp of marriage, but this is my personal opinion. I can’t tell a person who to love or who to live with, nor would I attempt to but neither can they tell me over and over again that my personal beliefs don’t matter, are antiquated, or should be re-thought in light of a more holistic enlightened world view. Freedom of speech, religion and thought goes both ways.
For the record, I don’t think that there should be expanded gaming in MD, not because I have an issue with someone going to gamble, go gamble if you want to, go gamble at any one of the casinos that are in Maryland, or anywhere else, however why do we always need more ways to separate people that can’t afford it from their money in the name of education, or jobs. If you want to gamble go for it, but don’t keep building more because you want higher profits, because you can keep people entranced, or because you feel that this is the only way to bring jobs.
For the Record. I know that this blog post is going to bother people on both sides of my friend list, my liberal friends are going to be upset because I have said I personally believe that homosexuality is a sin, but I also personally believe that lying is a sin, that stealing is a sin, the list goes on. I’m don’t stop being friends with a person that lies or that has stolen, or that has issues with lust, I don’t stop loving them or hanging out with them. I don’t stop respecting them or suddenly become terrified of them, I simply pray for them and try to live my walk with Christ in such a way that they will wonder what makes me different. My conservative friends are going to be upset because I think that civil unions are fine and that couples should be extended benefits, my liberal friends are going to say that expanded gaming will bring jobs, my conservative friends are going to be upset because I said that if people want to gamble go for it. I never said my positions were easy, but they are my positions.
The bottom line is this, as a Christ follower it is my job to to go and make, not to sit and judge. Walking up to my friends who happen to be gay and telling them off or trying to beat the Bible into them won’t make a difference. Marching into a Casino and standing up on the craps table with Bible in hand shouting about the evil inherent in gambling will not make one person suddenly drop their chips into the offering plate and walk away. It will most likely make them look at me with the same look I give to the TV or Radio when I hear Pat Robertson, or Jerry Falwell or John Hagee open their mouth. Please stop embarrassing yourself and the people you claim to represent.
For the Record I pray that when I stand in front of my creator he can look at all of what Aaron was and all of who Aaron is and smile, and say in spite of all the times you got in the way, we have done well…
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Nostalgia
The kids are all off today, in fact they were all off yesterday as well, if I had realized that they were both off for 4 strait days, I would have taken them up to Ohio to see my mom and dad, it’s one of those things that you don’t think of kids being off two days in a row unless it’s for a holiday or in the wake of Frankenstorm.
J’s school has half days as well, so the answer to keeping me fairly sane was simple, J would take one of the older daughters for the first half of the day and that leaves me with just two, one of which can help get things done in the house the other of which can eat, sleep, and generally be cute.
Waking up with a splitting headache didn’t really help the morning, it did however make Amberly want to be all helpful, at least to a point. Nostalgia is all about remembering things in a happy way, or a fun way, at least to me that’s what it’s all about. Amberly started her morning by working on a paper that had to do with her great great grandmother, J and I have tried to help her flesh this paper out a bit, we didn’t write it for her at all but we did wright down some of our recollections at the bottom of the paper for her to use, stuff from when we would go to Grandma’s place after church on a Sunday to eat with her and spend time listening to stories about what it was like growing up all those years ago, about coming from Italy on a boat, about church and families in the neighborhood and all that fun stuff. Watching Amberly work on this paper also brought back memories.
There is a picture in my parents house that they insist on leaving up. It’s of me in a white t shirt, messed up hair fists pounding the table in frustration because of some homework issue, you can see the streaks from my tears. This is what began to happen today, Amberly was very upset at both J and I for doing it wrong, for helping her wrong for not putting things in that she liked or wanted, this even after I had a lengthy conversation with her teacher the other day. Remembering is so fun.
As the morning has worn on, and I have gotten my coffee delivering the needed caffeine to my system, enabling the headache I woke up with to slide a bit further back in my head. I started to drop some music on my tablet. Some old school stuff as well as some worship music. Petra, Stryper, some old POD etc. as we traveled down to the kitchen for breakfast I put on Stryper, Honestly came on…Amberly said “dad this sounds like music that Grandma would listen too. Telling her that Grandma HATED Stryper made her wonder. Why would Grandma hate them this sounds like a song she would like. Of course when Honestly came on my mind went strait to the Skate Zone in Boardman or the rink in Champion, the lights would dim and the dj would tell us all that it was couple skate. That nerve-wracking time in a young adolescents life when they have to decide if they want to hold hands with a member of the opposite sex for a whole song, of course doing so would mean you were a couple. What a way to declare your undying puppy love than to spend a whole song going round and round the rink.
There are so many good things in my life to remember, there are bad things too, most of which resulted from bad choices on my part. The important thing about nostalgia is that it’s there for a reason.
The Bible is full of admonitions to remember things. To recall the things God has done for us, to remember his love, his laws, his grace, his justice, his faithfulness. It also calls for us to remember something else that I think many of us forget, Hebrews 10:32 says it like this; “Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember…” The verse goes on to talk about not falling to persecution and such, not always something we have to worry about in our country, contrary to what many Evangelicals would have you and I believe, our faith is still allowed, we can still worship who we choose, our choices as to who we call God are still not only valid but protected. We have unprecedented freedom of expression and belief. I know it’s not the going thing to actually talk about how blessed Christians are to live in our country, especially on election day when so many prominent evangelicals want to talk about how there is a war on faith, how voting a certain way can “cause Christians to burn.” how important it is that we turn back the clock to a better time a more church friendly or whatever friendly time. It amazes me as well how easy it is for Christians to talk about freedom of speech and expression and religion but to turn around and want to put a gag order on others who do not see eye to eye with them. Are we as evangelicals that insecure? Do we really have to be the moral bully that walks around the school yard telling people that unless they believe the way we do then they are wrong, that unless they don’t smoke, and they don’t chew and they don’t go with those who do, they don’t’ really have a place at our table? I never really read this out of Jesus, even in his anger I don’t really read this. He threw the sellers out of the Temple, not because of who they are but because of the fact that they were distracting people from the purpose of the Temple. He didn’t throw them out of the market, or out of the sidewalk in front of the Temple, he said that these things can’t be in the place of worship. This is different than what Christians today want to do, they want to say what can happen in their church, and then turn around and tell people what they can do in the marketplace, in their home or in a school.
I am increasingly coming to believe that if Christians would worry more about Jesus final mandate, going into all the world and making disciples. If they would remember that we are to love those who would be our enemies no matter who we think our enemies are, and do go to those that would abuse or use us in a spiteful way. If they would be salt and light instead of rubbing salt into wounds. If followers of Christ would truly work at being more like the person they claim to follow, and less like the person they see on TV that claims to have the inside track on Gods political affiliation, his views on sinners, and his desires to wreck old testament style vengeance on a sick and dying world. If they would share their faith not by pounding the pulpit but by giving to those that are in need. If those things would happen, then we would see attitudes toward Christ followers change. Until then I fear that those of us who work out our salvation on a daily basis, that walk with God and recognize that we sin, and realize that we are not there yet will constantly find the need to put our head down and beg whatever “Christian” celebrity of the moment to please stop talking, we will no longer have to apologize for what they say and explain that not everyone that names Christ as their Lord and Savior thinks the best way to show his love is to condemn and judge people who don’t even claim a relationship with God.
Hope that makes sense, hope it doesn’t hurt my chances at a church, and if it would, well I wouldn’t want to be a pastor at that church in the first place.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
To Be Noticed
Job 1:8 ( NLT )
8Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job?”
I think I’ve been reading Job wrong all these years. It used to be that when times got difficult or particularly cruddy I would break into Job. Reading about this man who had it all, lost it all, and got it all back. What a great story. What a great inspiration, in the end I’ll get it all back and then some. Except this really isn’t an accurate reading, I’m getting that more and more as I read it this time, and for the record I didn’t pick it because of the current situation or lack of it with PUMC. It happens to be where I’m reading in the Old Testament. First by myself, then with my family.
A few observations, of all the stories in the Bible, this is the one that reminds me most of something strait out of mythology. Now don’t get upset to all my Christ Follower friends, and the few pastors who may or may not read these pages, especially any potential churches that may be looking my way. I didn’t say it was mythology I said it reads like it. Satan hanging out in heaven with the rest of the heavenly court…I always understood Lucifer's fall to be a one way street.
Anyway I want to focus on the first part of chapter one verse 8, because this will be repeated again word for word in Job 2 verse 3. So much so that when we were reading it last night Amberly said “but dad you already read this.” Sometimes I will admit I enjoy it when she says something that she is so sure of so positive she has beat us on and I can still show her that at 10 she doesn’t have it all figured out.
These verses speak volumes to me about what this book actually is in the Bible for. “Have you noticed.” I want God to say this about me. I think every Christ followers desire should be to have the author of their faith say this about them. Have you noticed? What I like most about God asking this question is what it implies, God had noticed, and not only had he noticed Job, he was proud of this man that was a follower of his, so much so that he wanted to point him out to others in the heavenly court.
I used to think that God was being a jerk when he did this to poor old Job. I thought that God was trying to prove a point, that he wanted Job to really understand where everything he had came from. This is of course inaccurate, Job is clear in his responses to the trials that came on him. “The Lord Gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” and later when his wife tells him to curse God and die; “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? “ Job understood a few things, first the Lord is the one that orders our lives, I don’t say that he runs them, I don’t think that God builds a huge hot wheels track and puts us on it. I’m not so much into the whole destiny rules us type of thing, however I think God does order our lives, I think he has a plan and a calling for them and working in conjunction with our free will and our obedience we will eventually be where he wants us to be. So many times Christians use the old stand by of “the devil made me do it, or the devil is attacking, or the devil is really busy, and while I believe this is true to some extent. I also realize that the only power the devil really has is power that he is given. Satan couldn’t outright attack Job, as a follower of God, Job was covered, notice that God didn’t take all these things away, but he did have to give permission. What happens in a Christ followers life happens because of choices that they make, and because of God’s desire to see us grow and mature, his willingness to help us work out our own salvation as it were. He lets things happen in our lives because he knows that doing so has the potential to bring us even closer to him.
Still back to “Have you noticed?” I wonder if God can say this about me. I wonder if God does notice, so much so that there are times that he just can’t help but want to brag on me a little bit. To point me out, to have enough faith in the person that he created in Aaron that I won’t “curse God and die.” Job isn’t so much about giving us a person to relate with when things go south, a picture of wow at least it’s not as bad as poor old Job. On the contrary I don’t for a minute thing it’s poor old Job any more. When I read Job now I see an example of what I want God to say when he’s talking about me.
“Have you noticed my servant Aaron?”
8Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job?”
I think I’ve been reading Job wrong all these years. It used to be that when times got difficult or particularly cruddy I would break into Job. Reading about this man who had it all, lost it all, and got it all back. What a great story. What a great inspiration, in the end I’ll get it all back and then some. Except this really isn’t an accurate reading, I’m getting that more and more as I read it this time, and for the record I didn’t pick it because of the current situation or lack of it with PUMC. It happens to be where I’m reading in the Old Testament. First by myself, then with my family.
A few observations, of all the stories in the Bible, this is the one that reminds me most of something strait out of mythology. Now don’t get upset to all my Christ Follower friends, and the few pastors who may or may not read these pages, especially any potential churches that may be looking my way. I didn’t say it was mythology I said it reads like it. Satan hanging out in heaven with the rest of the heavenly court…I always understood Lucifer's fall to be a one way street.
Anyway I want to focus on the first part of chapter one verse 8, because this will be repeated again word for word in Job 2 verse 3. So much so that when we were reading it last night Amberly said “but dad you already read this.” Sometimes I will admit I enjoy it when she says something that she is so sure of so positive she has beat us on and I can still show her that at 10 she doesn’t have it all figured out.
These verses speak volumes to me about what this book actually is in the Bible for. “Have you noticed.” I want God to say this about me. I think every Christ followers desire should be to have the author of their faith say this about them. Have you noticed? What I like most about God asking this question is what it implies, God had noticed, and not only had he noticed Job, he was proud of this man that was a follower of his, so much so that he wanted to point him out to others in the heavenly court.
I used to think that God was being a jerk when he did this to poor old Job. I thought that God was trying to prove a point, that he wanted Job to really understand where everything he had came from. This is of course inaccurate, Job is clear in his responses to the trials that came on him. “The Lord Gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” and later when his wife tells him to curse God and die; “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? “ Job understood a few things, first the Lord is the one that orders our lives, I don’t say that he runs them, I don’t think that God builds a huge hot wheels track and puts us on it. I’m not so much into the whole destiny rules us type of thing, however I think God does order our lives, I think he has a plan and a calling for them and working in conjunction with our free will and our obedience we will eventually be where he wants us to be. So many times Christians use the old stand by of “the devil made me do it, or the devil is attacking, or the devil is really busy, and while I believe this is true to some extent. I also realize that the only power the devil really has is power that he is given. Satan couldn’t outright attack Job, as a follower of God, Job was covered, notice that God didn’t take all these things away, but he did have to give permission. What happens in a Christ followers life happens because of choices that they make, and because of God’s desire to see us grow and mature, his willingness to help us work out our own salvation as it were. He lets things happen in our lives because he knows that doing so has the potential to bring us even closer to him.
Still back to “Have you noticed?” I wonder if God can say this about me. I wonder if God does notice, so much so that there are times that he just can’t help but want to brag on me a little bit. To point me out, to have enough faith in the person that he created in Aaron that I won’t “curse God and die.” Job isn’t so much about giving us a person to relate with when things go south, a picture of wow at least it’s not as bad as poor old Job. On the contrary I don’t for a minute thing it’s poor old Job any more. When I read Job now I see an example of what I want God to say when he’s talking about me.
“Have you noticed my servant Aaron?”
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Until I Wasn't
I've been writing some different things lately. This one has been kicking around in my head the last few days so I decided to go ahead ...
