Friday, April 30, 2010

On the lighter side . . .

On my desk calendar the verse for the day is Zephaniah 3:17 . . . This is such good news!

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

We often dialogue about heavy and serious subjects on this blog, but I wanted to spend this day just sharing this text. Take a deep breath and read it 5-10 times. Refuse the temptation to just read past it. Let it sink in.

Let it formulate how you think about God today.

Let it formulate your image of yourself as God's child today.

Simply enjoy this gracious truth today and in the week ahead and live as if it is real, because it is!

Friday, April 23, 2010

In my experience when the subject of sin comes up people get hung up on one of two extremes:

On the one hand they live in morbid fear where they simply do not take God's grace seriously. They may accept theologically that they are saved by the grace Jesus offers them, but they are unwilling to truly rest in that grace and trust that it is real and true. So, they wander through life afraid - afraid of things they need not be fearful of. They worry if there is some sin that is outside of God's forgiveness, that if they might forget to confess something that they will be doomed or if they don't somehow prove they are sincere enough then things won't count. This isn't true and God's people don't have to live there. It's a satanic trap that incapacitates people.

On the other hand, people live with no fear of God and they don't take the reality and the consequences of sin seriously. Sin is real and there is no excuse we can make and we cannot rationalize it all away. "For the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) For me to arrogantly act as if sin is of no consequence or that I need not respect and be in awe of God's holiness is a dangerous mistake. I may be able to blow off another person or even rebel against a government authority and get away with it, but no one will escape the authority of God. His standard is perfect and holy and we would do well to respect that. Knowing that we have violated that standard should shake us to the core - and drive us toward confession of sin, repentance and God's forgiving grace.

Both of these extremes are dangerous and both incapacitate the spiritual life. I believe that a grounded, biblical balance will rest securely in the gracious love of God, trusting His grace is always big enough to forgive all sin while at the same time being aware of God's perfect standard and living in holy awe and respect of that standard.

Here are a couple of scriptures that help form my understanding:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2)

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13)
I could go on, but these make the case strongly I think. The key is to rest securely in God's grace, depending on that grace every day and then surrendering your will to God, to follow Jesus by the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

Why do you think people get caught up those two extremes? Have you been there? Are you there now? What other scriptures would you add to bring more clarity to the issue?




Friday, April 16, 2010

The Nature of Evil

My friend Doug Tipps adapted a simple definition of evil from writer Scott Peck. Here is what Doug said:
“Evil is the willingness to sacrifice the emotional, physical or spiritual well-being of another person in order to protect your own sick self.”
I've been working all week on a message for our series Questions I've NEVER asked out loud . . . but always wanted to. The question for this week is Why do bad things happen to good people? That question can be approached from a lot of different angles, but in reality its a question about evil, where it comes from, why it exists and how God works in, around and through it.

While I'm not trying to outdo centuries of thought on this subject in a few lines of a blog, I wonder if we could think about this for a moment without being overly simplistic or trite.

We know biblicaly that evil entered the picture at the same time sin did - in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. Since that time, human beings have devised all kinds of ways to rebel against God, hurt themselves and hurt each other. Romans 1:21 argues:
"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
Paul goes on to list a litany of sin and corruption that was practiced because of humanity's refusal to glorify and honor God. Then he summarizes the section with Romans 1:32:
"Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things (sinse mentioned in 1:22-31) deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."
While it is the truth, it's not enough to just say evil is caused by sin. For those of us who are Christians, I believe we need to cultivate a faith perspective and an eternal perspective. That is where we can develop the capacity we need endure evil ourselves or offer support others.

What would be your simple definition of evil? How would you offer comfort and support to people who suffer through trammas and tragedies, especially those outside of their control? How do we oursleves live with hope and faith when evil comes our way?






Friday, April 9, 2010

Nothing Left to Say

As I thought all day about writing this blog I realized I didn't have much to say - nothing really pithy anyway. I thought about asking how we could continue to keep the same zeal and fervent energy that we see in churches on Easter Sunday. I thought about continuing some of our earlier discussions on sin or holiness or discipleship. There sure is much more that we could say on those subjects that is worthwhile. But alas, nothing stirred me up enough to write.

Then I looked at the end of my desk toward a day calendar someone gave me for Christmas. It has a different scripture verse for each day designed and portrayed in an interesting, artistic way. Here is the verse it had for today:
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! - Job 19-25-27
Now I just read that - at 3:41 in the afternoon - for the first time today. I am struck by the power of those words. The profound promise of that text just grabs me!

I am all in on that promise. I stake my reputation, my time, my energy, my earthly resources, my talents and abilities, indeed, my very life in faith that this promise is true!

And with that . . . I have nothing left to say.

Can you do the same? How does it impact your life?