Archive for God
With or Without You
In the past I’ve made a big mistake thinking that God’s plan is contingent on certain people—sometimes even myself.
Boy was I way off.
A couple years ago one of the pivotal people involved in helping to plant our church told me he was moving, and this not long after another pivotal guy had already moved away. I was crushed. I thought our new church was going to close up shop because there was no way it would survive these back-to-back blows. These two men simply meant too much to our “success.”
Oh me of little faith.
I’ve learned a big lesson since then that we take too much credit for the work God does. And I’m convinced he will align the stars to prove just that point. I don’t know why I keep falling back into the trap of thinking that I or anyone else is directly responsible for God’s work getting done.
Because I’m not.
And you’re not.
God can use anybody, anytime, anywhere.
Hope, In Perspective
By: Becky Garrison
Here in Manhattan, the city streets hum with hope following the announcement of the first African American to be nominated for president by a major political party. According to news reports, similar scenarios are taking place across the world. As we celebrate this historical moment in electoral politics, Sara Cunningham, author of Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation, offers this cautionary tale to her fellow Christians:
When we market ourselves as the hope of the world, or when we believe that other humans hold the hope of the world for us, without proper acknowledgement of Christ as our source, we foster disillusionment.
So how do we keep this hope alive should one’s preferred candidate not win the coveted presidential prize? My prayer is that regardless of who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, we can keep singing a hopeful tune. As I’ve reported elsewhere on the blog, I keep seeing glimpses of the kingdom here on earth that are led not by polticos but by ordinary radicals who are transformed by the words of Jesus Christ. My buddy Shane Claiborne reminds us all, “No matter who is elected on Nov. 4, what matters is how we live our lives as faithful Christians on Nov. 3 and 5.”
Sara Cunningham concurs with Shane’s assessment:
We Christians were never the hope. Yes, we were and are carriers of the hope. But we ourselves are only reflections—often dim reflections—of the hope we internalize: Jesus Christ.
In his latest book, Surprised by Hope, N.T. Wright explores how we as Christians can implement this hope here on earth. He reminds us:
The kingdom will come as the church, energized by the Spirit, goes out into the world, vulnerable, suffering, praising, praying, misunderstood, misjudged, vindicated, celebrating: always—as Paul puts it in one of his letters—bearing the body of the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed.
So, as we see hopeful signs all around us, let us remember that as Christians our declaration of hope lies ultimately with the Risen Christ.
(Copied in full from Becky Garrison’s post on the God’s Politics blog.)
Kingdom of Oneness
I ran across this great video by Pete today. It completely represents where I’m at these days. Over are the days where I consider others as expendable. Over are the days that I become so caught up in self that I neglect the needs of others. Even if “others” means people outside of our borders. The Kingdom of God knows no borders.
Oh, and that great background music is Wait by Mat Kearney.
God Is Enough
I wasn’t going to mention the Steven Curtis Chapman tragedy today because if you run in my circles you’d be hard pressed not to have known about it already. But after visiting the blog they set up for condolences I was thinking how positive I am that the Chapman’s would get through this. From everything I know about them, their family put their faith in God to get them through this way before it ever happened.
This video came immediately to my mind.
Is God enough for you?
NOOMA 020 | Shells
From the guys at Nooma…
We’ll be streaming NOOMA 020 | Shells on the NOOMA Facebook Group page from Monday, May 19th at 12 noon EST to Wednesday, May 21st at 12 noon EST.
NOOMA 020 | Shells will be available at NOOMA.com on Monday, May 19th and will ship on or before June 10th. This film will also be available soon in retail stores and through many of your favorite online retailers.
Thanks for watching and inviting your friends to preview our newest film in the Rob Bell series of NOOMA.
Do you often find yourself saying, “I’m so busy” or “I just have so much to do”? It’s easy to get overwhelmed with appointments, gatherings, to-do lists. But what are we really doing with our time? Many of us are running from place to place and it seems like life is just passing us by. We’re doing so many things, a little bit of everything, and yet it doesn’t feel like much of a life. But most of us find it hard to say no. We feel obligated. There are so many good things to do. So many good causes to join. But while we’re busy doing all these good things, are we missing out on something great? Maybe saying no would be easier if we knew what it meant to say yes.
Click here to see the video.
(ht: Missio Dei)
Whispers
Walking by the train tracks on my way to work one day, I noticed a tiny tree sprouting from the rocks alongside the tracks. Headphones on, and power walk in place, I saw it—but really didn’t “see” it. But a “whisper” told me to stop. So I did. Taking off my headphones, I knelt down and took this picture. The whisper said “there’s something here. something to think about… How can tree grow in a place like this?”
With the image captured I went about the rest of my day but couldn’t stop thinking about it. And it made made me realize a few things. Life thrives in unexpected places and beauty can be found anywhere. Technology helps us capture a moment, but it can also keep us from hearing the whispers that are so important for our own development.
Life’s whispers are often soft and subtle. They come without warning. The whispers are always there—but we’re not always listening. The noise we surround ourselves with often keeps the whispers at bay. We become incapable of hearing them, until we choose to. At this point we see through fresh eyes.
I’m choosing to listen. But first I had to slow down and stop in order to do so. I had to be willing to miss the train if it meant learning something, even if just for the day. The whispers are there, waiting for us to notice them. But only if we’re open to turning our own volume down, even if only for a brief moment in time. For me, this moment just happened to be the right one.
(Written by Logic + Emotion)
Giants Shall Fall
Three years ago today I wrote the following on my blog…
Love
Had to check in. I’m sitting in a room with computers on the 6th floor of a very fine hotel in downtown Chicago at 10pm on a Sunday night. I’m reading the hurt pouring out from those I love on a stupid website. For those and anyone else out there that may be feeling the same things, I just wanted to let you know that I love you and am personally praying for you and your families. Please feel free to call or email me anytime.
Three years ago today my dad stepped down as minister of the Tecumseh Church of Christ after 15 years of service.
I had to be in Chicago for work that day, but I knew it was coming. I sat lonely in a hotel room looking at messages of hurting people posted on a website and had no idea what the future held for me, for my parents, or for my walk with God.
This wasn’t an amicable breakup by any means. This was your typical church split due to differing directions of vision. It was the tipping point of many years of struggle. People were hurt and relationships were broken, but it was the beginning of my journey for Truth.
My personal relationship with God had finally started taking shape when this happened. I had recently started attending a men’s group regularly and we had been praying for God to make the changes necessary for us to make a difference in our community. We sure didn’t have this in mind though.
A couple months later I did find peace with the decision, and a bunch of us started a new church with a fresh vision. Above all my relationship with God greatly benefited. Many of those broken relationships have since healed, but it hasn’t been all smooth sailing to say the least. We are still dealing with humans here, but I can easily say that I have grown tremendously in those three years.
It feels like a lifetime ago when dad preached his last sermon about slaying giants, but it’s still applicable today. I continue to face giants on a daily basis, but as long as I put my trust in God that he will, in fact, make all things work for the good of those who are called according to his purpose, I’m good to go!
It Was You
I was listening to the newest podcast from The Bored Again Christian this morning (great as usual) and there was one song that I had to pause and go look into more.
Letter From God — Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
(Music is a remix of Planet Telex by Radiohead).
If you can see past the flimsy theology I don’t personally agree with all of his theologies, however there really is a good message in there.
And a funky beat.
A Conflicted Calling
Sunday we had a couple speak at church that are doing mission work in Africa. Besides being totally inspiring, they brought up a really good point that I had only thought about in passing, but never in any depth.
The wife told us about her willingness to follow her husbands calling to go to Africa. She even thought that maybe it was hers as well. Then when the violence broke out in Kenya recently (right where they are living), she went many sleepless nights struggling with God for putting her and her family in that situation.
During one of her sleepless nights she read through James, and realized that this was actually her calling as well. Since then she has been willing to do whatever, and follow God wherever, this called for.
So my question is this, what do you do when you and your spouse have conflicted callings? What if God is calling you to go to Africa (or any of a million other callings), but your spouse isn’t getting that word?
