Connections

 

The greatest wealth of my life is my network of friends and family!  Those who with whom I ‘do life’ give texture, joy, and support to my days. Being part of teams – at church, at work – multiplies the results of my efforts. I offer what I am able to give as do those with whom I share the effort and, together, we find greater return for our effort.  The Church is plagued by a tragedy imported from our culture of independence, many choosing to turn their spiritual experience into a ‘Jesus and Me’ thing, a life apart from the richness of the community of faith. 

And yet, "There is no such thing as an independent Christian. Imagine if the US declared that we were going to send one soldier to war. One soldier! Even with the best equipment in the world, how can one little soldier survive? Nobody goes into battle alone. Sanctification--growing in Christ--is always both personal and communal. We need one another. Our faith struggles and our successes are part of the Body of Christ, not possessed by our own little kingdom. This Christian Life is war. Who in their right mind would go to war without an army?" -- Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts Of An Unlikely Convert

David, the king of Israel who rose from a country shepherd boy to the throne, had a group of counselors that the Bible refers to as "David's mighty men." Isn't that rich? These men believed in him and served alongside of him in the campaigns he waged for Israel's safety. Who would he have been, what would he have accomplished without these people? Only God knows. He was not a ‘self-made’ man even though he was gifted, with deep faith and great courage.  He needed people who helped him achieve his greatness!  The first generation of Christians were a connected lot, too.  Jesus called not one, but Twelve. The apostles traveled in teams – Paul and Barnabas, Peter and Mark.

Building and maintaining connection requires effort and intentionality.  

Effective teams do not just happen. They are the result of shared mission, good communication, and priority commitment. I serve with a team of people at our church’s food pantry, good friends, and hard workers who put in many hours of labor to feed those with need.  They do not just show up when it’s convenient or go home when they are tired. Our work is a bright spot in my week, a time to see friends and to know the joy of meeting the needs of others.  How connected are you?  What kind of priority do you assign to your teams?

Christians need to be part of a church, not just when they feel like it, not just when all the ‘right’ things are happening in the building, but as an act of obedience to God’s direction.  The Scripture tells us to keep meeting together to "encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25, NIV)   Corinthians teaches us that we share our spiritual gifts, finding joy in doing what God enables us to do.  Paul tells us "If your gift is to encourage others, do it!... And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly." (Romans 12:8, NLT) Too many Christians in this day choose to be only loosely affiliated with a local church. As a result they are less than they might be and the Church is weakened.

Will others always bring a blessing into your life? Of course not. People are fallible, sometimes selfish, and even sinful!  The Church, as has been said so many times, is not a museum for the display of the sainted, it is a place of healing for those who are broken. So, we accept others just as we hope they will accept us – imperfect, yet growing.  In your connections there is a choice to be made.  You can focus on those who miss your expectations or you can find a way to encourage. A bitter cynic sucks the life out of every situation and relationship. A loving encourager blesses and finds a blessing! 

Get connected. Make it a priority. Be blessed and a blessing! 

Here is a word from the Word.  "But let us who live in the light think clearly, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. For God decided to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. He died for us so that we can live with him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of his return. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing." (1 Thessalonians 5:8-11, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Friends

Packing up the dreams God planted

In the fertile soil of you

Can't believe the hopes He's granted

Means a chapter in your life is through

 

But we'll keep you close as always

It won't even seem you've gone

'Cause our hearts in big and small ways

Will keep the love that keeps us strong

 

And friends are friends forever

If the Lord's the Lord of them

And a friend will not say never

'Cause the welcome will not end

Though it's hard to let you go

In the Father's hands we know

That a lifetime's not too long

To live as friends

 

With the faith and love God's given

Springing from the hope we know

We will pray the joy you'll live in

Is the strength that now you show

 

No a lifetime's not too long to live as friends

 

Deborah D. Smith | Michael W. Smith

© 1982 Meadowgreen Music Company (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

All Things New

 

My friend has an interesting hobby. He enjoys finding a vintage (better than old, right?) car and taking it apart, fixing the broken things, redoing the upholstery, and giving it new paint.  A few years ago he took me to see his latest project. Proudly he raised the hood of a car more than a half-century old so I could listen to the engine, running smoothly. He showed me the interior, looking like it just came from the factory. He had found it in a barn where it had sat for decades. To me it was a wreck, destined for the junkyard. The paint was dull with spots of rust. The upholstery was ripped, the window latches broken. The engine ran, but the transmission was gone. To him, it was a treasure waiting to be uncovered. One year later, there it was, looking like brand-new: restored!

Has life beat you up, left you feeling worn and hopeless? People get broken, used up, neglected. Some do it to themselves with poor choices. Others are victims of cruelty. Some have met disappointment. Some have had their mind or body break.  Tragically, broken people sometimes get ignored, pushed to the side, judged. Is that your story?   The truth is that WE ALL are bent, broken by sin; but we are not beyond redemption! One of the hardest truths to face is God’s declaration of the universality of sin:  "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23, NIV) The sinfulness of humanity separates us from our Father, breaks us down, and robs us of our true destiny.

But God … He is the Maker of New Hearts, the Giver of New Beginnings, the Healer of the Broken. IF we will face up to our sin, admit that we are broken, abandon our weak attempts to excuse our failures, God says that He will give a new life. "What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)  In my years as a Pastor one of the great wonders is watching God, the Spirit, transform a person who has given up on life into a person of hope as they become new from the inside out.

The transformation is seldom an overnight miracle! It is a process, growing into grace, usually with some stumbles along the way. My friend who restores antique cars has a vision I do not have. He can see past the rust, the busted parts, to the gleaning restoration that will emerge under his touch over the course of months of work.  When we choose Christ, we begin to walk a road that is not an easy one, but as we lean on Christ Jesus, He takes the old and makes it new. The Devil seeks to sabotage and destroy every good thing God does in our world and in us. This is His promise - that He “is greater than he that is in this world.” God has spoken: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son." (Revelation 21:6-7, NIV)

Bent, broken by life and the sin in yourself and/or those who live around you?
There is a Redeemer, God’s own Son. Let Him restore the beauty God meant for your life.

Here’s a restoration declaration from the Word. "
All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:3-6, NLT)

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Graves Into Gardens

I searched the world but it couldn't fill me

Man's empty praise and treasures that fade

Are never enough

Then You came along and put me back together

And every desire is now satisfied here in Your love

 

Oh there's nothing better than You

There's nothing better than You

Lord there's nothing

Nothing is better than You

 

I'm not afraid to show You my weakness

My failures and flaws

Lord You've seen them all

And You still call me friend

'Cause the God of the mountain

Is the God of the valley

There's not a place

Your mercy and grace won't find me again

 

You turn mourning to dancing

You give beauty for ashes

You turn shame into glory

You're the only one who can

 

You turn graves into gardens

You turn bones into armies

You turn seas into highways

You're the only one who can

 

Brandon Lake | Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Tiffany Hudson

© 2019 Brandon Lake Music (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Maverick City Publishing Worldwide (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Music by Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Bethel Music Publishing

 

CCLI License # 810055

When God Disappoints

 Every Christian has moments when they wonder, “Why did that happen to me?  How could a good God allow this situation?” We believe that if we ‘play by the rules’ faithfully following Christ Jesus, our Lord, life will go well. On the whole, that is true. There are great blessings found in responding to the invitation to ‘come and follow Me.’  A heart that desires the will of God is aligned to the purposes of God and generally leads a life that is richer and fuller. 

But there are moments when life does not make sense, when it seems to us that He has shut His eyes to our need. What then?

Job, that Old Testament saint, found himself in just that place. Tragedy and death came to him. His wealth evaporated overnight. His health collapsed and even his wife advised him to “Curse God and die!” (Job 2.9) He was distraught, broken, struggling with faith when his friends showed up. The dialogue is a fascinating study of human attempts to wrestle with cause and effect.  His friends insist that Job has brought the calamity on himself with some secret sin. He was told to "consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin. For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal. He will rescue you again and again so that no evil can touch you." (Job 5:17-19, NLT)  “Job, all this would pass IF you would just confess your sin.”  

His friends were not so different from us, are they? We become convinced that if we do all the right things that the outcome will be good. We find comfort in drawing straight lines from choice to consequence and how quick we are to throw blame and even shame back on the head of the one who is suffering. We judge, sometimes harshly!  It is true what we harvest a crop from the seeds we plant. The blessings of God are given to the faithful – generally! But sometimes it is His purpose to do otherwise for reasons hidden from us in the moment. 

We have the ‘inside’ truth on Job. We know that he was God’s man, tested by Satan, in an attempt to prove that his devotion was only a response to God’s rich blessings. Even knowing that our hearts ache for him as we read of his struggle.  He cries out to God. "I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, ‘Don’t simply condemn me—tell me the charge you are bringing against me. What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while sending joy and prosperity to the wicked?" (Job 10:1-3, NLT)  There are both anguish and anger in those words.

And how does his friend reply?  Zophar’s indictment of Job is harsh - “Shouldn’t someone answer this torrent of words? Is a person proved innocent just by talking a lot? Should I remain silent while you babble on? When you mock God, shouldn’t someone make you ashamed? You claim, ‘My teaching is pure,’ and ‘I am clean in the sight of God.’ If only God would speak; if only he would tell you what he thinks! If only he would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom is not a simple matter. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!" (Job 11:2-6, NLT)  But, this judging friend was wrong, his conclusions based on what could be seen with human eyes and deduced with human wisdom.

There are two lessons, among many, that I take from these reading today.

First is that we must be compassionate, withholding judgment, standing alongside the suffering while waiting for clarity and understanding.  It may be true that the consequences of sin and failure are causing a friend pain, but our condemnation, our willingness to take the judgment seat that belongs to God alone is wrong. The Word says "Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:1-2, NLT)

Second is this: Keep trusting God even in the dark!

Job cries and complains but he never takes the advice of his wife to curse God. He continues to wrestle with the Lord he loves.  God never did explain Himself to Job, but He revealed His majesty to him anew and deepened Job’s humble devotion. What an amazing fact for us who love ourselves so much, who insist that God must serve our desire for happiness now! 

Our Savior stands with us. He entered His Creation to suffer for us and with us in the purpose of the Father. And now, He prays for us continually at the right hand of God. May that keep us steady when faith falters.

Here is a word from the Word. "All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:15-18, NIV)   Oh, Lord, increase our faith. Amen.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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My Faith Looks Up To Thee

 

My faith looks up to Thee

Thou Lamb of Calvary

Savior divine

Now hear me while I pray

Take all my guilt away

O let me from this day be wholly Thine

 

May Thy rich grace impart

Strength to my fainting heart

My zeal inspire

As Thou hast died for me

O may my love to Thee

Changeless be a living fire

 

While life's dark maze I tread

And griefs around me spread

Be Thou my guide

Bid darkness turn to day

Wipe all sorrow and tears away

Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside

 

When ends life's transient dream

When death's cold sullen stream

Shall o'er me roll

Blest Savior then in love

Fear and distrust remove

O bear me safe above

A ransomed soul

O bear me safe above

 

Daniel Kallman | Lowell Mason | Ray Palmer

© Words: Public Domain