The Gospel As Good News, Not Good Advice

Excerpt from Tim Keller’s new book:  King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus

The essence of other religions is advice; Christianity is essentially news.

Other religions say, “This is what you have to do in order to connect with God forever; this how you have to live in order to earn your way to God.”

But the gospel says, “This is what has been done in history. This is how Jesus lived and died to earn the way to God for you.” Christianity is completely different. It’s joyful news.

How do you feel when you’re given good advice on how to live? Someone says, “Here’s the love you ought to have, or the integrity your ought to have,” and maybe they illustrate high moral standards by telling a story of some great hero. But when you hear it, how does it make you feel? Inspired, sure. But do you feel the way the listeners who heard those heralds felt when the victory was announced? Do you feel your burdens have fallen off? Do you feel as if something great has been done for you and you’re not a slave anymore? Of course you don’t. It weighs you down: This is how I have to live. It’s not a gospel.

The gospel is that God connects to you not on the basis of what you’ve done (or haven’t done) but on the basis of what Jesus has done, in history, for you. And that makes it different from every other religion or philosophy.

This Morning Could Be Different for You

By Jim Martin:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”
             Lamentations 3:22-24

This morning many of us will begin a new work week. Consider how you might be more intentional about your week:

1. Choose to begin the new week by praying about what God might do in your life this week.
Pray for each person who you will be dealing with this week. Pray for your meetings. Pray for your conversations. Most of all, pray that you will be the husband, wife, father, mother who God has called you to be.

2. Choose to begin the new week by intending to bless those with whom you interact.
Some people do not bless but have a way of making regular withdrawals with people. They say something rude, self-centered, or obnoxious. Other people don’t make withdrawals but they don’t add anything of value to the conversation either. These people are so focused on themselves, they think a conversation is all about themselves. They are totally focused on what they want to say. Other people bless conversations. They encourage, build up, and bring out the best in people. 

3. Choose to begin the new week by adding margin to your day.
Are you generally late? Do you pack your schedule too tightly? Do you find yourself leaving your house at the last minute only to discover that you are out of gas and your cell phone is about to die? Does this kind of thing happen again and again? This week choose to add margin. Choose to leave early instead of the last minute. Choose to think ahead and prepare. Taking care of the “little” things, like getting gas for the car, charging the cell phone, and leaving early instead of late can help you feel calmer about the day. You will be fresher and more fully present.

4. Choose to begin the new week by looking at your calendar for the week.
Look at the commitments and activities you have scheduled for each day. What projects are you working on this week? What errands do you need to run this week? What calls do you need to make? Who do you need to contact? Think about these before the week begins.

A Prayer for Joy in Becoming Less

     They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”   To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:26-30

Dear Jesus, I’m not sure about a wardrobe of camel’s hair clothing, and a diet of locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4), but I am sure I want more of John the Baptist’s joy—the joy of you becoming greater while I become less. Indeed, John leapt for joy at the very thought of you while he was still in his own mother’s womb (Luke 1:39-40). Who but the Holy Spirit can create such Christ-centered joy? Could you, would you bring a fresh measure of this same joy to my heart?

     

O, to have a joy largely defined by people making much about you, Jesus—so much, in fact, that I wouldn’t really notice them not making much of me. That would bring greater freedom from the insecurities of my pride and my desire for the approval of people. O, to love the vindication of your name a zillion times more than the honoring of mine. That would bring more freedom from my passion to be understood and my efforts to be in control of my reputation.

     

Jesus, what would it be like to experience greater grief when people don’t “get” you, than when they don’t “get” me?  What would it be like to say with John, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven”, and really, really mean it—to accept the “giving’s and taking-away’s” in life equally as sovereign appointments from your throne of grace? That would bring freedom to love and serve you no matter what.

     

What would it be like to know you so well, I could say, “I’m not worthy to untie the lace of his sandals” (John 1:27) with joy in my heart, not any sense of self-contempt? What would it be like to know you so well, like John did, that I could bring you my doubts without any hesitancy, or fear of rejection and shame? (Matthew 11:1-15). O to be this free and at home in your love.

    

Most kind and beautiful Bridegroom, bring more of this joy to my hungry, expectant heart. So very Amen, I pray, in your priceless and peerless name.

A Prayer for Joy in Becoming Less is a post from: Heavenward by Scotty Smith

A Place not at all Congenial to Me

“If it is I who determine where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature.  But if God determines where he is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not at all congenial to me.  This place is the Cross of Christ.  And whoever would find him must go to the foot of the Cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands.  This is not according to our nature at all, it is entirely contrary to it. But this is the message of the Bible, not only in the New but also in the Old Testament . . . .”

 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, quoted in Bonhoeffer (Nashville, 2010)

You Never Know What Someone’s Been Through

By Jim Martin, of Crestview Church of Christ in Waco, Tx

 

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  Galatians 6:2

Five minutes earlier the police officer I was riding with had gotten a domestic disturbance call. He pulled his car in front of the house. Another officer arrived moments later. They knocked on the door. I was standing behind them.

(For almost five year’s, I rode with area police officers one night each week. Generally, I rode for about four hours, sometimes with officers on the evening shift and sometimes with officers working the midnight shift. I was one of three volunteer chaplains in our police department.)

It was about 12:30 a.m. A child opened the door and the officers and I went into the house. The husband who had been fighting with his wife had left. In the house was his wife, holding a towel to her bloody head and four children scurrying throughout the house. The officers looked through the house and stepped into the bedroom where there was blood on the bed and floor.

Meanwhile, the television blared. The EMTs came into the house and began to work with this woman.

I tried to stay out of the way and talked with a couple of the children. Then I saw the stack of school books on top of a dresser. It was now almost 1 a.m. The school bus would be coming in a matter of hours and these children had not even gone to bed yet.

Finally, the officer I was with had all the information he needed for his report.  

These children went to the same elementary school where Charlotte was teaching. I tried to imagine these four children at school later that morning. A teacher would be at the board talking about a math problem or a science project. How did these children manage to keep from falling asleep at their desks after such an exhausting night.

Yet, who would look at them and give any thought about what they had been through just to get to school that day.

This is a reality that I want to remember: You never know what someone has gone through.

Suppose you interact with five people today. What have they gone through just to get to today?

• Perhaps one person is deeply concerned about a rebellious married child. She is awake all hours of the night, praying and thinking about this.
• Perhaps one person finds it hard to trust people. Again and again she has been hurt, by men in particular.
• Perhaps one person seems to lack energy. The medication he is taking leaves him without much energy for the afternoon.
• Perhaps one person is having serious financial problems. He has been trying to support his aging mother and this is really hitting his family hard financially.
• Perhaps one person seems really preoccupied at times. He wonders if he will survive the next cut at work.

Are these excuses? Not at all.

However, knowing the story of a person can sometimes prevent inaccurate assumptions and overreacting. Maybe knowing someone’s story can create some compassion.

Question:

Do you recall being amazed by the resilience of a person in your life? How did the knowledge of that person’s story impact the way you viewed her?

 

Who Needs A God Like This?

This is by John Coleman.  He is  a friend from college and law school. He left the practice of law to go to seminary and is the rector at Ascension Episcopal in Montgomery. (This is published here without permission - too bad John left the practice of law or I would be in serious copyright trouble.....)

What does it mean to say that we are blessed? “God has really blessed me,” I hear people say when they get good news of have good fortune. “Have a blessed day,” someone adds as they say goodbye. But what do we say when our day or life doesn’t turn out the way we expect? When a child gets sick, really sick, and you pray every day, maybe all day that things will get better, but nothing changes? When a job is lost, a country is thrown into turmoil or a person we love goes away. Are we still blessed?

The world conditions us to think that blessings only come when life is good. If we have wealth, good health, and everything’s just right, we’re blessed. And when we don’t, we aren’t. But when life gets too heavy—your family falls apart; or your mother dies; or you can’t pay your bills—we can be left feeling that God is absent or doesn’t care. We go through the motions. We pray, but we can’t help but wonder, why? Who, we ask, needs a God like this?

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18). I believe these are some of the most powerful and important words in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul speaks them to a bustling, industrious and wealthy community. Money, power and human wisdom meant everything. They were signs of success, strength and blessing. Paul comes and points to the cross. He shows them that God is most present where he seems least present.

I can hear the collective cry of the people, “Who needs a God like this?” I don’t want weakness. I want bright, shiny success. I want God’s favor and blessing, and that means wherever God is, waves can’t exist.

Think about the second day after the crucifixion. Jesus died a miserable death. The tomb holds his body and it’s sealed shut. This is how things look from the very bottom. Everyone glances around and thinks it’s over. Lots of tears and a ton of doubt. Who will lead? Where do they go? They come up short. No answers. Utter despair. Really? Who needs a God like this?!

But God was there-the whole time. The disciples had to wait to discover that, but God never left them. God was at work, preparing all for new life.

In the worst moments, God may seem absent, but God moves through the reversals of fortune. Think about it. If you look at your own past and see a deep crevice of pain, it is there that you can often see your faith deepened. You see a trust in God and a realization that you can’t save yourself. You probably didn’t know it then, but you do now.

And yet, we are so quick to exchange this wisdom for the idea that God only loves us when we are worthy or successful by the standards of the world. We are only blessed or useful, we think, when we achieve something or have something to offer. When we don’t, we feel we aren’t blessed. When we do this we ignore God’s saving work in the cross. We forget that the way of God is often using the shame of the world for God’s glory. We never deserve it and we can’t earn it, but God is present, loving us anyway.

God often sneaks in through the back door of life. The crucifixion allows us to derive meaning from reversals. Many times it is through weakness that we are made strong. It is through the cross and resurrection that we see what it means to be blessed, even in the midst of challenges.

Remember how the story ends. The crucifixion starts in despair and ends in new life. The future couldn’t get any bleaker for Jesus and his disciples. But, God had a plan. And no matter what the circumstance, we can look to God’s work throughout time, especially the saving work of the cross, and see what it means to be saved from whatever it is that causes our despair.

For most, this too shall pass. And, for some, it may not. But when Jesus rises from the dead, he tells us there is light at the end of the tunnel, and if we hold on through our most doubtful times, our Lord will carry and cover us.

Who needs a God like this? I do. How about you?

This Gospel vs. Religion list is typed up from Tim Keller’s Gospel in Life curriculum:

Jesus was Never Accused of Being Boring

The dogma we find so dull – this terrifying drama of which God is the victim and hero – if this is dull, then what, in Heaven’s name, is worthy to be called exciting? The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore – on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him “meek and mild,” and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. Those who knew him, however … objected to him as a dangerous firebrand.

Dorothy L. Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life

Religious but not in Christ

Yet another amazing prayer by Scotty Smith.  Also, read the prior posts "The Problem with the Pigpen" and  "No Salvation at All":

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.   Galatians 5:4-5

Dear Jesus, this is one of the most sobering passages I’ve ever read about the gospel. Paul doesn’t describe “falling from grace” in terms of falling into immorality or godless living. Rather, to fall from grace is to lapse into performance-based spirituality—trying to gain and maintain a relationship with God based on my obedience to the law. How perilous and eternally destructive it is to move away from the gospel of your grace.

In reality, trying to be justified by law is the essence of godless living, for the righteousness we must have can only be received by faith, not by works. Everything else leads to alienation from you—a godless existence, indeed. So, more than any other form of accountability, we need accountability for believing the gospel.

If I maintain a daily regimen of Bible reading, memorization and quiet times, but don’t really believe the gospel, it will profit me nothing.

If I’m scrupulous to avoid evil, and even the appearance of evil, but no longer believe the gospel, I am self-righteous and lost.

If I should go on short term missions trips every month and give a big portion of my income to the poor, yet don’t trust the gospel-plus-nothing for my salvation, I’m a generous altruistic infidel.

If I am careful to obey every imperative—all the commands I find in the Bible, but no longer believe the indicatives of the gospel, I’m certainly religious, but I’m not in Christ.

If I cross every theological “t” just right, love the Bible, and correct heresy everywhere I find it, yet lasp into justification by works, I’m to be just as pitied as any other person outside of Christ.

If I weep many tears of sadness over my sin and earnestly repent, yet no longer cling to your cross as my propitiation and righteousness, I’m only a tearful pagan.

Jesus, by your Holy Spirit, hold us accountable for believing the gospel. Continuance in the gospel is the test of spiritual reality. And, should we participate in accountability groups, let us be most zealous to hold each other accountable for believing the gospel. Everything else will take care of itself. So very Amen, we pray, in your holy and righteous name.

A Prayer about Accountability for Believing the Gospel is a post from: Heavenward by Scotty Smith

Approval ratings?

I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage.  

1 Corinthians 10:33

Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?  Or am I trying to please man?  If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.  Galatians 1:10

When Paul faced a choice between pleasing himself and pleasing others, he pleased others.  He would not seek his own advantage.  He chose to be humbly selfless.

When he faced a choice between pleasing others and pleasing Christ, he pleased Christ.  He would not seek human approval.  He chose to be boldly independent.

Approval ratings? is a post from: Ray Ortlund

No Salvation at All

“There is always a danger that when we begin to see fruit in our lives, we’ll subtly begin to rely on that fruit for our salvation, instead of on Christ. Guard against that temptation, Christian. Realize that the fruit you bear is merely that — the fruit of a tree already made good by God’s grace in Christ. To rely on your own Christian fruit to secure God’s favor is ultimately to shift your faith from Jesus to yourself. And that is no salvation at all.”
 
— Greg Gilbert
What is the Gospel?

The Gospel and the Avett Brothers

Romans 7:15-25, 8:1-2  
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

I am sick with wanting and it's evil and it's daunting
How I let everything I cherish lay to waste
I am lost in greed, this time it's definitely me
I point fingers but there's no one there to blame

I am sick of wanting and it's evil how it's got me
And every day is worse than the one before
The more I have the more I think I'm almost where I need to be
If only I could get a little more

Something has me, oh something has me
Acting like someone I don't wanna be
Something has me, oh something has me
Acting like someone I know isn't me
Ill with want and poisoned by this ugly greed

Temporary is my time, ain't nothing on this world that's mine
Except the will I found to carry on
Free is not your right to chose
It's answering what's asked of you
To give the love you find until it's gone

Scandalous Indeed.

My whole theology of gospel preaching rests on the foundation of truth that the quote below illuminates. God’s grace is a beautiful, and scandalously freeing, thing!

My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our relationship with God on our performance instead of on His grace.  If we’ve performed well—whatever ‘well’ is in our opinion—then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly.  In this sense, we live by works, rather than by grace.  We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’ of our own performance.  Moreover, we are always challenging ourselves and one another to ‘try harder’.  We seem to believe success in the Christian life is basically up to us; our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Christ instead of on my own performance is very freeing and joyous experience.  But it is not meant to be a one-time experience; the truth needs to be reaffirmed daily.

                             ---- Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace

Transforming Grace is a post from: Tullian Tchividjian

Or I May Become Poor and Steal

From Every Square Inch Blog:

How much is too much when it comes to wealth? Even though most of us have more than what we need to sustain a basic lifestyle, we are typically clamoring for better than what we have right now. It's unthinkable that we would pray to God to limit his blessing to us but it's exactly what we discover in Proverbs 30:7-9. Two things are asked for. The first is the protection from falsehoods but it's the second part of the request that I find most intriguing - "give me neither poverty or riches".

“Two things I ask of you, LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God"

This is presented to us as the prayer of a wise man, yet I would venture that most (if not all) of us have never even considered praying such a prayer - "give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread". We would never consider to ask God to only give us what we need for today and no more - no "rainy day" fund, no nest egg for retirement, no set-aside for dream vacation, etc... Popular preacher Francis Chan elaborates on Proverbs 30:7-9 in this short, provocative video.

Is this a blueprint for how we ought to pray and live? How does this mesh with the conventional wisdom of saving and planning? Would you have the courage to pray this prayer and how would you respond if God actually answered?

It's easy to get lost in the myriad of questions that arise but don't lose sight of the God-centered motivation of this prayer request. It's all about God - not having too little so as to avoid the temptations that come with being impoverished - yet, not having too much such that God is no longer desired and possibly forgotten. This passage is about treasuring God and the worth of His name and not letting anything get in its way. Perhaps that's the kind of motivation we might be wise to incorporate into our prayers.

The Problem with the Pigpen.

By Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like

January was a good month.

I’ve been doing regular quiet times.

I’ve been meeting for breakfast with a good friend I trust.

I finished the first two versions of my next book.

I took my kids on dates and made more time for my wife.

I lost 10 pounds and have been eating healthier.

I was mentally reviewing that list in my head the other night walking out of the office when I bumped into a tragic lie I was unaware I still believed.

As I left work, I thought to myself, “God must be really happy. He must really love me right now.” In the space of a single stride, I felt like God leveled a long held belief and asked me simply, “Did I love the prodigal son more when he was in the pigpen or in my arms?”

Ugh. Sometimes I feel like those old commercials where they say, “I’m not a doctor but I play one TV.” Only I would say, “I’m not a Christian, I just play one on a blog.”

Why? Because my thought that God loves me when I have a “good month” is so opposite of what grace is. In my version of the prodigal son story, I am covered with mud. From a long way off I can see the father’s angry face. He is enraged. He is disgusted with me. His scowl seems to radiate from miles as I walk. As I walk, I shout out promises to him:

“I’ll do better this time!”

“I’ll stop being so cocky!”

“I won’t mess up again!”

“I’ll stop gossiping!”

“I’ll be more consistent with my quiet time!”

“I’m sorry!”

With each step, every shout, his face shifts a little. His anger seems to dissipate the closer I get and the louder I make my promises. I walk and shout, shout and walk until at last, I cross his property line and collapse on his farm. Not in his arms, but at least in his presence.

He gives me his love, in the form of a shiny token. I clutch it close and swear to never lose sight of it again. For weeks, I hold my breath, afraid to mess up. For weeks I white knuckle my way through life convinced that living on the farm is about being perfect, not forgiven. I hold it together. For a while at least, but then the pressure of performing crushes me. Being perfect gets so heavy. I can’t do this. I can’t.

So I lean on the fence and look back over the horizon to the pigpen. I just want to relax. I can’t be perfect. This feels really hard. So late one night, when I think everyone is asleep, I use the token, the coin that is God’s love to prop open the gate. I can just barely squeeze through the gap if I’m willing to leave the father’s love propped in place.

And then I’m gone, running out into the night, the father’s love, the coin, the thing I earned left far behind. I deserved it when I was perfect, I lost it when I was not. Weeks or months later, I’ll realize the misery of the pigpen again and start to walk back home. And the cycle continues.

I’m tired of that kind of faith. I’m tired of believing in a God who gives “sometimes love.” As in sometimes he loves me, sometimes he does not. And above all, I’m tired of believing in a God who does not love sinners. Especially since there are a billion verses in the Bible that say just the opposite. One of my favorite is Matthew 9:10-13.

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Falling down, being broken and a sinner doesn’t prevent me from his love, it makes me perfect for his love. It makes me exactly who Christ came for, not the righteous, but sinners. And it’s not a gift he gives once, because I sacrificed and had a good January. It’s a gift he gives continually, like mercy.

Why?

Because he loves us.

In his arms.

In the pigpen.

He loves us.

Courage

Zac Smith was a courageous servant who died after a battle with cancer last year.  Before he died he made this video.   He said in this video (http://vimeo.com/9796056) that If God heals him God is God and God is Good and if he doesn't heal him God is still God and God is still good.

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.
 

Zac died about a year ago.  His wife now shares her journey over the last year.  (http://vimeo.com/19678104)

A Story | Tears of Hope from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.
 

 

God is Everything/God is enough

In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us--that we be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. That is the root of peace.

 

 

-From The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning

Blackberries and Losing Jesus

Other than Jesus birth we don't tend to know too much about his early life. One of the few glimpses we get is in Luke 2 v 41 - 52.

Jesus family had visited Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and now they were heading back home to Nazareth. The only problem was that they left Jesus behind by accident. The assumed he was with friends in the larger party and their mistake only came to light when it was time to bed down for the night. A sort or ancient Home Alone movie.

How could they be so daft as not make sure Jesus was not with them.

Yet I've done the same so many times.

I've gone to church without Jesus
I've gone to work without Jesus
I've gone on holiday without Jesus
I've been in Bible College without Jesus
I've gone on mission without Jesus
I've spent my money without Jesus
I've even preached without Jesus

I've assumed Jesus was still around when in fact I left him behind and didn't even know it.

Jesus I know that you never leave me. I want to walk with you today and every day and recognize your presence.

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
and every common bush afire with God;
but only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

-- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 Losing Jesus is a post by "What is so amazing about Grace?" Blog

Sabbathless Christianity

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  Matthew 11:28-30

This is often our invitation: "Come to Jesus and get to work."

This is Jesus' invitation: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Now, Jesus did call us to be fishers of men. And fishing can be hard work. There's a lot of preparation involved, a lot of considering of the conditions, constant positioning, setting the right lures or casting the net just right. But a lot of fishing is also just sitting there. Sometimes fishing just looks like doing nothin'.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for Jesus is nothing -- because he doesn't need anything -- and most times the best thing you can be for him is still.

Be still, and know that I am God . . .
-- Psalm 46:10a

From Jared Wilson

A Thousand Times I've Failed

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Faith

Unbelief says: Some other time, but not now; some other place, but not here; some other people, but not us.  Faith says: Anything He did anywhere else He will do here; anything He did any other time He is willing to do now; anything He ever did for other people He is willing to do for us!  With our feet on the ground, and our head cool, but with our heart ablaze with the love of God, we walk out in this fullness of the Spirit, if we will yield and obey.  God wants to work through you!

          
              ---A. W. Tozer

No Needless Errand

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, 

because he will save his people from their sins.  Matthew 1:21

Who are his people?  We are eager to know who they are, and we are glad to find that his people need to be saved, and will be saved, for it is written, ‘He will save his people.’  It is not said, ‘He will reward his people for their righteousness,’ nor is it promised that he will ’save them from becoming sinners,’ but ‘He will save his people from their sins.’ . . .

If you are righteous in yourself, you are not one of his people.  If you were never sick in soul, you are none of the folk that the Great Physician has come to heal.  If you were never guilty of sin, you are none of those whom he has come to deliver from sin.  Jesus comes on no needless errand and undertakes no unnecessary work.  If you feel yourselves to need saving, then cast yourselves upon him, for such as you are he came to save.

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament, on Matthew 1:21.

Because None of Those Kids Know You

This is by Karen Spears Zacharias from her blog.  I am not sure what to make about some of the terminology in the last few paragraphs but the general idea of what loving our neighbor means is right on.

Last week Hugh Hollowell was on stage with Shane Claiborne and Johnathan Wilson-Hartgrove at Big Tent Christianity.  The following is the talk Hugh gave and now you know why I adore me some Hugh Hollowell:

According to Jesus, loving your neighbor is half of the greatest commandment. Pretty much everyone agrees that, if taken seriously, it’s a radical idea that could change the world. And yet it seems nearly impossible for American Christians, liberal or conservative, to agree on what it looks like.

Let me make a modest proposal.

Loving your neighbor begins by being in a relationship with your neighbor.

I love Johnny Cash. I have the entire Cash Discography – all the way back to the 1950′s. Love me some Johny Cash.

Or do I?

Because I also love my wife, and I am here to tell you that while I feel consistently good toward Johny Cash, how I feel toward my wife depends on what day it is, how our finances are doing, if I have indigestion, whether I had a good day at work… But I always feel ecstatic toward Johnny Cash.

Because I don’t really know Johnny Cash. I love my impression of Johnny Cash. It is fair to say I am a fan, or that I very much like his music, or that I love the idea of Johnny Cash. I submit there can be no love outside of relationship.

By that standard, most Christians don’t really love their neighbor. They love the idea of their neighbor. We vote for this candidate or that candidate, whoever promises to provide the sort of help we think people need. We outsource our compassion to the soup kitchens, to the clothing closets, to the homeless shelters. On Thanksgiving day, we load the youth group up in the van, to go feed the “less fortunate”, so the kids can be “exposed” to poverty, while never giving thought to wonder what they do for food the other 364 days of the year. And if that thought come up, we quickly suppress that thought and write a check. We outsource it.

Loving your neighbor presupposes a relationship. It means knowing your neighbor is going through a divorce, that the lady who cleans your office has a mother that is dying, that the man at the end of the street holding a cardboard sign has been outside for three years now, and his name is Brian. In the story we call the Good Samaritan, it meant getting in the ditch to bind the man’s wounds yourself.

When the average person in the pews can tell you the names of all the Judges on American Idol, or can name all the Glee cast members, but does not know a soul that makes 1/4th their income, I think it is fair to say we have lost our sense of mission as co-creators of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus told us the poor would always be with us – but we don’t really want the poor among us – we want someone else to handle that.

Last year in the US, some 17 million kids went to bed hungry. 17 million. In a nation where we throw away 40% of all the food we buy, where 1 in three of us is obese, and yet children are laying in bed, hungry. How can this happen?

Because none of those kids know you.

Because if you knew a kid who was hungry, you would move heaven and hell to get that kid some food. But because those 17 million kids don’t know you, they laid in bed last night, hungry.

Here in Wake County, the official statistics say there are approximately 1200 homeless people. And many hundreds of Christian congregations. You cannot tell me that out of the many thousands of Christian homes represented by those churches, there are not 1200 empty beds somewhere. Of course there are. But we save those beds for people we actually know.

The justice of Jesus is brought about by sacrifice, love and suffering. And to the extent that we do not exercise sacrificial love, suffering and proclaim the Reign of God, we are far from the way of Jesus.

Jesus calls us to serve, not lead. The way is not about political solutions – in fact, Jesus said political power would be used against us as we sought to bring about God’s justice. The way does not involve courting those in power – the Apostle Paul told us Jesus made a spectacle of the powers of this world.

There are any number of passages in both the Hebrew scriptures as well as the New Testament that speak of God’s love for the victims of injustice and our responsibility to work to bring that justice into fruition. The one I am thinking about right now, however, is Matthew 16:18, where Jesus tells Peter that …”I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it”.

I am not the first person to note that Jesus refers to the gates as a defense measure. Those gates are there to keep us out. Just what does Jesus expect of us?

Jesus expects us to storm down those gates and invade Hell itself. Jesus is telling us to go to Hell to be with the drug addict and the alcoholic. Go to Hell to be with the victims of abuse, and with the abusers. Go to hell and liberate the adulterer, the homeless man, the pornographer. In hell is where we will find the single mother and the embezzler, the pimps and the pimped, the hungry, the broken, the forgotten. We, you and I together, should be wading into hell itself and proclaiming that there is a new way to live and a new way to love, and that new way is bringing about the justice of God.

The justice of Jesus is a personal justice. It involves sacrificial, relational love. It involves dying to ourselves, our ambitions, our preconceived notions of how things work. The way of Jesus invites us to be the means by which God’s justice comes into being. It invites us to go to Hell, for the sake of those imprisoned there.

Today, in this Big Tent, my most fervent prayer for the church is simply this: I pray I will see you in hell. They need us there.

For the Fame of your Name

Another good Scotty Smith Prayer:

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, LORD, and grant us your salvation. Psalm 85:6-7

Jesus, I’ve read tantalizing stories about the First Great Awakening—about the grand visitation of the Holy Spirit in New England in the 18^th century; when the gospel swept through hearts, churches and the culture with transforming power and beauty. I read these accounts and with a holy lust, my spirit drools and my heart aches with longing. Why not again? Why not in our churches? Why not now?

Jesus, for the fame of your name… for the praise of your glory… for the satisfaction of your people… for the humbling of our country… for a testimony to the nations… as a preview of life in the new heaven and new earth, will you not revive us again that we may rejoice in you?

Restore in us the love we had at first—unfettered love for you and tangible love for one another. Remind us of how new we felt when the weight of our sin lifted and the weight of your glory came down on us in the gospel; how free we felt when we actually hated our sin and finally trusted you plus nothing for our salvation;  how grateful we felt when you first rescued us from our unrighteousness and our self-righteousness; how focused we felt when you first took up residence in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Nothing else really mattered but you and your kingdom. So how in the world did we stark leaking grace?

  

Where did the pickiness and pettiness come from, Jesus? How did we move from organic reality to obsession with organization? When did we fall back into performance-based spirituality and score-card relationships? When did childlike intercession get replaced with eye-browed-raised suspicions? What caused the sweet to turn into mean? How did the unity of the Spirit get trumped by the disunity of distrust? When did we get so bored and boring that we started playing church rather than being the church? When did we start keeping a better record of wrongs done, than stories of gospel wins and kingdom advances? How is it possible to be so zealous for lyric of the gospel but lose its music?

     

Jesus, will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, LORD, and grant us your salvation, again and again and again. That’s all we want, that’s all we need. So very Amen, we pray, in your most loving and faithful name.

A Prayer Expressing the Longing for a Gospel Renewal is a post from: Heavenward by Scotty Smith

Am I a Domestic Goose?

Shared by Allan Bevere on his blog:

 

One of my favorite Søren Kierkegaard parables is "The Domestic Goose:  A Moral Tale."

 

In the parable Kierkegaard talks about a flock of geese who went to church to worship every Sunday. Essentially the sermon was the same every week. The goose minister would talk about geese and the glorious destiny that was in store for them. The Creator had made them to fly and this was indeed quite a noble thing. Every time the Maker's name was mentioned, the geese curtsied and the ganders bowed their heads. They were to fly to distant pastures because while on this earth they were merely sojournors.

 
Of course, all this talk of flying was not taken seriously. In fact, the geese were so well fed that they lost the ability to fly a long time ago. They were too fat to fly. Ironically, the geese believed the reason their plumpness was God's blessing upon them. There were some geese among them who indeed attempted to fly. This was not easy for them; and they were looked upon the majority as strange and fanatical.
 

So next Sunday all the geese went to church again to hear the same glorious sermon about the glorious and noble destiny they had as those who could fly. And after the sermon, as after all the sermons, the geese said, "Amen!" Then they all waddled home. 

 

"And the same is true," says, Søren Kierkegaard, "of divine worship in Christianity."

Take.......

“Take..........” Matthew 26:26

“Nobody at the table said, ‘Lord, I dare not take.’ But when Jesus said, ‘Take,’ they took. Nobody said, though perhaps everybody felt, ‘I am not worthy to take,’ but as Jesus said, ‘Take,’ they took. . . . .

And I do not suppose that the Master stood holding that piece of bread to Peter for half an hour. He said, ‘Take,’ and Peter took it. ‘Take,’ he said to John, and John took it. ‘Take,’ he said to Philip, and Philip took it at once. . .

I anticipate that someone will say, ‘Am I then to have Jesus Christ by only taking him?’ Just so. Do you need a Savior? There he is. Take him. Do you desire to be delivered from the power of sin? He can deliver you. Take him to do it. Do you desire to lead a holy, godly life? Here is One who can wash you and enable you to live thus. Take him.

He is as free as the air. You have no more to pay for Christ than you have to pay for the next breath that goes into your lungs. Take him in. Take him in. That is all you have to do.”

        --------C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament

Literally He was Thrown Up.

From What is so Amazing about Grace Blog

God called Jonah for a specific mission. It was clear, God didn't leave any doubt. I want you to go and preach to the people in the capital city of your greatest enemy - Nineveh.

Jonah wasn't up for it and decided to go in the opposite direction. I can still remember my old friend William Dillon preaching on this by saying in his broad Northern Irish accent.

"He went:

DOWN to Joppa
DOWN into the boat
DOWN into the bottom of the boat
DOWN into the stormy sea
DOWN into the belly of a great Fish"

Notice the common denominator.

Walking the opposite way from the direction of God leads to a downward spiral.

Only when Jonah looked UP did he go UP.

Literally he was thrown up.