Singing in a Minor Key?

The day dawned brightly. After a cup of coffee with my daughter and her family I headed for a much anticipated visit to the school where Peter is an administrator.  At 7:47 am, there was a thunderous crash that left two cars ruined.  The other driver walked away with bangs and bruises in body. My feelings?  Renewed anxiety! Where was God? Is He with me, or not? My recent life has led me through many sorrows, great and small, one piled on the other. (I am thankful for the gentle, loving people who willingly walk with me!)  A man of mature faith and confidence, these days I am acquainted with fear.  (Oh, yes, I am grateful for the fact that the accident could have been so much worse, but why did it happen at all?)

The Sons of Korah penned a song that asks- God, what are You doing? Where have You gone? After affirming their faith and thankfulness for God’s provisions in the past, they switch to a minor key. "But now you have tossed us aside in dishonor. You no longer lead our armies to battle." (Psalm 44:9, NLT) "You sold your precious people for a pittance, making nothing on the sale. You let our neighbors mock us. We are an object of scorn and derision to those around us. You have made us the butt of their jokes; they shake their heads at us in scorn." (Psalm 44:12-14, NLT)  "All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant." (Psalm 44:17, NLT) "Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever. Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?" (Psalm 44:23-24, NLT)

There is a place for singing in the minor key as we make our way in this pilgrimage. Oh how easy it is to pray and praise, to sing and preach, when healthy, beloved, and without trials. In such times those strong and whole are sometimes too quick to blame the broken, adding insult to injury.  I believe we need to make it safe for saints to wonder and weep! 

A healthy range of emotions includes sorrow and joy, doubt and confidence.  We know that psychological wholeness is found in proper expression of all emotions. Why is it that we do not recognize the same in our walk with Christ? When disciples lament, when they ask the hard questions of our God, they can grow into a new dimension of faith. I fear that our constant emphasis on the goodness of the Lord, our songs that only celebrate that “God is good all the time,” leaves a large group of Christians without a way to worship.  

The newly divorced person needs to be able to tell God and their community of the ache.
That parent whose child is disabled needs love as they wonder why their son will never read or sing.  
Grief is real and changes my worship!

If songs in the minor key are written out of our worship, we may Christians to one of two faulty conclusions:  that their faith is faulty or that God is justly judging them for some moral failure. Truthfully, suffering comes to us all and we need Him to be our Lord when we walk through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ as much as when we are led by ‘quiet waters where He restores the soul.’   We need songs of lament as much as we need songs of celebration, songs that wonder as much as songs that make bold proclamation.  If God is to be truly our God, then we must learn to talk with Him in every situation and trust Him when the sun refuses to shine.

Christians need to give place and space to those who weep without rushing them to a counselor to get them to ‘deal with their emotions,’ or handing them a manual to help them to “get life right.” 

There are not many sermons preached from the third chapter of Lamentations. Jeremiah’s sorrow is simply too unpleasant for most of us to share.  Look at this portion: "He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall. He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:15-18, NIV)  Oh my! And Amen!

I can tell you this:  times of lament make one weary to the bone, bring on times of temptation of a very different kind than prosperity, and are lonely for few want to sing in the minor key with those who are sad.  But, these times can also soften the heart, make tender the spirit, and enlarge the reservoirs of compassion. So, I will, despite my sorrow, let Jeremiah lead me to hope. I will join in him in a confession of faith. Will you?  "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 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.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." (Lamentations 3:21-26, NIV)

"For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love." (Lamentations 3:31-32, NIV)

Meantime I may need to sing in a minor key for a time, until the sorrow finds comfort.

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 Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide.When other helpers fail and comforts flee,Help of the helpless, O abide with me.  - Public Domain

Suffering? Why?

Monday was a tough day, exactly 2 months since Bev died.  I made my way to Texas, there visiting my daughter and family. Seeing her triggered grief; deep, hard sorrow.  As I lay down to sleep that evening, I was angry with the Lord and prayer came from a cold fury. “So, Father (tone is sarcasm, not endearment) You have surely been a comfort to me today. Are You listening? Do You even care?” The implication of those words was that He owed me something different than what I have found: a living wife, not a dead one, a healed wife, not one in His heaven.  I would be lying if I said I heard an audible voice, but I do believe He placed a word in my heart. It was simple and profound – “I suffer, too.”

In an era when so many Christians want only victory and nicely summed up answers, the Bible takes us to the awfulness of the Cross to explain God’s response to evil, sin, and brokenness.

• Why doesn’t He just make an end of this broken world? We wonder.
• Why doesn’t He compel humans to be good? We ask.
• Why doesn’t He topple the oppressors, end sickness, break the grip of Satan? We ponder.

The answer comes to us in His choice to suffer. 

Isaiah saw the mission of the Messiah and described it this way: "He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5, NLT)  God entered into His creation, born a baby to Mary, lived in the real world, felt hunger and pain, and ultimately suffered an ignominious death on a Cross. What an inglorious life – at first glance!

Our God allows us be fully human, gives us freedom to choose, and even when our choices -as well as those of a sinful world- are crushing us, He does not rush in to change everything. Instead, He comes to stand alongside of us, offering to lead us to wholeness, to engage with us, to suffer.  And somehow in all that, we are transformed.  By the Cross, we are lifted and in the hope of the Resurrection we learn to live with tears, while we hope for the moment we are revealed as eternal children of God beyond the reach of pain. Our wise Father knows that we could never be who He desires us to be, we would never love Him as He desires us to love, we could not grow into mature saints without fiery trials.

Thus, He does not always send a lamb in thicket to save us from the altar, as He did Isaac. (See Genesis 22:14) Sometimes He leads us to a cross where we die to Self, to this world, so that we can be raised.  There simply is no Easter without Good Friday, no celebration of an Empty Tomb without a Full Cross!  Meditations on the Cross are so gruesome, so unpleasant, so bloody awful – we want to rush on quickly to the Resurrection, but we must not.

In our time of instant everything, the development of the character of Christ through suffering is not a theme that is much preached. We like the miracle stories, the crisis moments that bring quick conversion. But, mostly our God prefers to let us walk among sinners, just like He did and does.

Yes, Christian friend, there is meaning in my path. I do not like it! There is purpose in the tears, though I am not filled with pleasure in the discovery. But, as He leads, as I accept the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) I will find “green pastures, quiet waters, and a restored soul.”  (Psalm 23)

The way of discipleship sometimes descends into darkness, leads occasionally through searing pain, does not evidence great triumph in every circumstance, but the disciple who humbly seeks is always led by the Spirit as he is ‘made into the likeness of Jesus.’  God’s ultimate desire for us is not blue skies and untroubled minds. It is that we would love Him more than life itself and find our Hope in His embrace.   

So, in the middle of Lent, the season of suffering before the Victory, here is a word for suffering followers of the suffering Savior.  Jesus "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:6-11, NIV)

God lead us to the Cross and walk with us to give us steadiness and comfort so that we will not lose heart, grow weary, or give up.  For Christ’s glory. Amen

You're Beautiful! Believe it!

“She never took a bad picture.” I heard this comment several times when sharing photos of my late wife with others. Bev was blessed with beauty and the camera did ‘love’ her, but yet she did not like being photographed!  She always saw the one ‘flaw,’ the hair out of place or something.  Despite being a very pretty woman, Bev never felt pretty!  My compliments were usually met with protest. She told me that love made me blind.

Do you know that your Father in Heaven thinks you’re beautiful?  Yes, He made you, loves you, and sees you in all your potential and possibilities!  But, when you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you only see that temper, that trait of your personality that is flawed, a chronic physical weakness, some habit with which you struggle as you walk with the Lord?  I want to tell you that the One who knows you best, loves you most.  That ‘thing’ that you hate, that ‘flaw’ that you ask Him to change, heal, or take away- is uniquely you and it may serve a good purpose.  Oh, I am not suggesting that we rejoice in our sin or make peace with unholy habits.  It is right to ask the Spirit to empower and transform us, but there are times when He will not take what we think to be a curse from us because it keeps us faithful to Him.

Think about this.  Do you realize that it is often at the point of our greatest 'weakness' that God finds the opportunity to do His greatest work? Beginning in March, 2014, I walked in severe trials with Bev. Her cancer was a terrible experience and I am not sugar-coating it. But, the fiery trial deepened our love for each other and our devotion to God. In our desperation we found faith we did not know was even possible. When I was at the end of my rope, when I had nothing to offer, nowhere else to turn – I found the Lord in new ways. Is it easy? Not in any sense of the word. Was seeing her die what I desired? The answer to that is obvious!  But, it is the path He allowed and He uses ALL things for His purpose, IF we trust Him.

Paul was extraordinarily used of God and because of his gifts, he was subject to pride, which could have destroyed him. God gave him another ‘gift,’ that made him God-aware and Spirit-reliant. Paul wrote about the experience- "I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NLT)   It is useless to speculate over Paul's 'thorn in the flesh' (NIV) but whatever it was, he disliked it enough to pray long and hard for healing. God said, "No! That thing is my gift to you to keep you leaning hard on my grace, not yourself.”  Suffering, as much as we hate it, can be God’s leash that keeps us from running headlong into soul destroying situations.

Remember Jacob, the patriarch in Genesis? He wrestled with a heavenly messenger at the ford of Jabbok all night long. The encounter left him a changed man with a new name. "The man said, “Let me go; it’s daybreak.” Jacob said, “I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me.” The man said, “What’s your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” The man said, “But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.” (Genesis 32:26-28, The Message)  There was another result, less pleasant. Jacob’s hip was wrenched and he walked with a limp from that day.  Yes, that was a daily reminder of his life-changing encounter with the Lord’s messenger! 

Christian, would you consider that God has a purpose in that painful situation, in that thing you dislike?  Our Father knows us, loves, us, and sees us with joy. So, let me urge you to take a second look at that part of your life that makes you feel ‘ugly,’ and make it the thing that drives you to your knees.  Prayerfully consider, with the help and insight of the Spirit, whether God is giving you a 'gift'  to keep you close to Him. Thank Him that He is greater than your weakness and present Him with your 'problem,' inviting Him to remove it or use it -- in keeping with His eternal purposes.  Make the statement of faith with Paul - “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

When discover that Jesus is ‘enough’ and begin to accept His love and grace, His joy will fill your heart and mind.

Here is a word from the Word - "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, KJV)
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You’re Beautiful (worship along with the song on YouTube by clicking here)

Days when you don’t have the strengthWondering if you ever could be loved,If they ever truly saw your heartThey’d see too much

 You're beautiful, You're beautiful,You are made so much more than all of this.You're beautiful, You're beautiful,You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His.You're beautiful!

 I'm praying that you have the heart to find Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight For all the lies you've held inside so long And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

 Before you ever took a breathLong the world beganOf all the wonders He possessedThere was one more preciousOf all the earth and skies aboveYou’re the one He madly lovesEnough to die!

 You’re beautiful, You’re beautifulIn His eyes!
Barry Graul | Bart Millard | Brown Bannister | Dan Muckala | Jim Bryson | Mike Scheuchzer | Nathan Cochran | Robby Shaffer
© 2010 Wintergone Music (Admin. by Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc.)Simpleville Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Just shut up and listen!

Many years ago, while working at an office supply store to supplement my income, I waited on a woman whose face seemed familiar. As we searched for the refill cartridge for her pen, I realized that the woman was Meryl Streep. I found myself fumbling for words like an awestruck teenager.  Her celebrity made me self-conscious. Later, I called my wife to tell her that I had met Ms. Streep and we laughed together about my acting like a teenager in her presence. 

Peter was invited to accompany Jesus to a meeting; not just any meeting. Peter, James, and John went with Jesus to a prayer meeting! On that mountain the Lord was transfigured, His face glowing, His clothing brilliantly radiant. Moses and Elijah showed up and Luke tells us that the topic of discussion was Jesus’ mission in Jerusalem, His pending death on the cross. These men were given the privilege of seeing the divinity of Jesus there, His uniqueness as the Incarnate Son of God sealed into their minds just weeks before His ultimate humiliation for the sins of the world.  And what does Peter do in that moment?  What he often did, bumbling his way through a situation seemingly clueless!  "Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)" (Mark 9:4-6, NIV)

Ever been in a situation you did not know how to navigate? Ever found yourself overwhelmed by life, so afraid that your mind froze?  In that moment, how did you act?  Too often we start to thrash about, trying something, anything, to gain control. We may lash out in irrational anger, or make a stupid choice that hurts us in the long term, or quit and run. Peter babbled on about building shelters! Why? He just felt a need to say something, do something, be somebody. What happened next is a teaching moment for us all. "Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7, NIV) God told Peter to just shut up and listen!

Christian, learning to actively listen for the voice of the Spirit is a key to living in the center of God’s will, to avoiding major and costly mistakes brought on by our confusion, fear, or need to impress. The Psalm tells us to “Calm down, and learn that I am God! All nations on earth will honor me.” (Psalm 46:10, CEV) You probably know it better this way: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)  

That ancient saint, Job, found himself crushed by terrible tragedies and suffering that swept over him, one after another. His friends showed up and were so stunned by the devastation in his life, they sat stunned and speechless for days, before accusing him of some horrible, secret sin that caused God to judge him. Job reached his limits and demanded that the Lord give him some answers.  God’s response to him is startling and compelling. "Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" (Job 38:1-7, NLT)   In so many words, Job was told, like Peter, to just shut up and listen!  And Job’s faith is admirable.  What does he do?  He declares his readiness to trust God without question!  “I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth! I’ve talked too much, way too much. I’m ready to shut up and listen.” (Job 40:4-5, The Message)

Troubled today? 
Unsure of where to turn, what to do?  

Look away from your limited resources. Hit the pause button and wait, with expectant faith, on the Lord. Here is a word from the Word. Let it comfort you and help you to find a quiet heart that hears the voice of the Spirit. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." (Hebrews 12:1-4, NIV)

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Open My Eyes That I May See

Open my eyes that I may see,Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.Place in my hands the wonderful keyThat shall unclasp and set me free.

 Open my ears that I may hear,Voices of truth Thou soundest clear,And while the wave notes fall on my ear,Everything false will disappear.

 Silently now I wait for Thee;Ready, my God, Thy will to see.Open my eyes, illumine me,Spirit divine! 

Clara H. Fiske Scott
© Words: Public Domain

Greater Things?

Five leaders from the congregation I pastor gathered at my dining room table last night for a couple of hours, talking about doing ministry. I love seeing God’s people engaged with God’s work!  Our desire is to provide a place that encourages spiritual growth, that helps people find whole lives in Christ, and that changes eternal destinies. That’s some heavy lifting, isn’t it?  Even the most carefully crafted worship service, the best sermon, or programs created around meeting human need will not really change people from sinners to saints. That is a miracle only possible when the Spirit of the Lord is at work in us and through us. There is a constant danger of replacing the work of the Spirit with human effort, of substituting ‘sin management’ techniques for new birth and transformation.  A skilled leader with access to resources can teach people ways to be better persons, to live in ways that create better outcomes in life; but only God, the Spirit, can make people dead in sin come alive to God! 

How easily I write those words but believe me when I say that doing spiritual work is no easy task. The promise of being empowered does not mean that we will not face opposition, wrestle with temptation, or find ourselves in battle with world systems, with our own sinful nature, or even the prince of darkness and his demons.  Paradoxically, when a person or a church body gets serious about making a measurable difference in the world by the power of the Spirit they paint a target on themselves for attack!  If we are content to drift along without disturbing the status quo, if we are willing to compromise with our culture and/or with our own sins, we drift into irrelevance and the spiritual realm largely leaves us alone. But, when we get serious about loving, about doing the work of the Kingdom, about seeing people find Christ and His life – all Hell breaks loose, literally!

I find these words of Jesus full of promise and quite challenging, too.  He was at the Passover table with the men in whom He had invested the work of taking His message to the world. He knew that He faced the cross, a struggle with Satan, and the weight of the sins of humanity in the coming hours.  And, in the hand-off, He told those men this:  "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live." (John 14:11-19, NIV)

You will do ‘even greater things,’ He said, ‘because you will ask in my Name and you will have the Counselor (the Holy Spirit).’  What? I have yet to see anyone walk on water, feed 5,000 with a single lunch.  I have read of people restored from death by prayer, but I have not witnessed that with my own eyes.  So, is this evidence of a faulty faith or should we read that passage with a wider lens of application?   While I do not deny the miraculous, I think that focusing on that will distract us from the true ‘greater work’ to which we are called.

Consider this. Our commission from Christ is to ‘go into all the world and preach the Gospel, making disciples.’  Jesus touched a region that was no more than 50 miles in circumference. In His earthly ministry, He likely addressed perhaps 50,000 thousand people, at most. That does not diminish what He did, but through Christians, including you and me; people empowered by His Spirit, the world has been changed!  Where the Gospel is preached entire nations are changed. Where the Church goes to do the work of feeding the hungry, taking the side of the oppressed, bearing witness to the Truth, and proclaiming the “Kingdom come” with the Spirit’s authority – evil is thrown back!  Is that not ‘greater things?’

Is it not an amazing miracle to see a person ignorant of the love of God, destined to an eternity apart from His love and light, born again, becoming an eternal creature, a child of the Heavenly Father?  Is it not a thing of wonder to see a person learn to love deeply, freed from the grip of habits that enslave, becoming a holy vessel of the Spirit?

Ah, Christian, my heart’s desire is that we will rediscover our high calling, becoming desperate for His Presence that makes us people of influence. I will hold onto His promise, challenged to expect greater things. How about you?

Here is a word from the Word. Meditate on the promise and invite the Spirit to move anew – in you and in the Church.  "Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8, NKJV)

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Lord, I Need You

Lord I come, I confess,Bowing here I find my rest,And without You I fall apart,You're the one that guides my heart.

 Lord I need You, oh, I need You;Ev'ry hour I need You!My one defense, my righteousness;Oh God, how I need You.

 Where sin runs deep Your grace is more,Where grace is found is where You are,And where You are, Lord, I am free!Holiness is Christ in me.

 So teach my song to rise to YouWhen temptation comes my way.And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You,Jesus, You're my hope and stay.

 Christy Nockels | Daniel Carson | Jesse Reeves | Kristian Stanfill | Matt Maher
© 2011 sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Empty Calories Fattening Your Soul?

While doing a little research on improving my diet, I came upon the phrase ‘empty calories.’  Some things we eat are packed with calories from fat and/or sugars but provide little in the way nutrients.  Snacks like chips and soda are full of calories but provide almost no vitamins or minerals. We can eat way too much of such things without satisfying our hunger.  Whole grain cereals, vegetables, and nuts will fill us up and with far fewer calories. The myth of dieting is that a person must feel ‘hungry’ in order to achieve a healthy weight.  Dieting that depends on deprivation will almost always give short term results with no real lasting health benefit.  So, if I want to trim that extra 15 pounds from my waistline and keep it off, the better choice is to avoid ‘empty calories.’

How balanced is your spiritual diet? Are you trying to keep a whole soul while only eating spiritual ‘snack food?’ Let me explain. There are all kinds of ‘inspirational’ offerings available to us. Two minute devotional reading come through an app on our phone. Church services are trimmed to less than an hour with 10 minute devotional sermons that don’t require much thought. “Church Lite” invites us to Sunday services without asking us to commit to real acts of service in our daily lives.  Bible reading turns into a ‘verse for the day.’ Spiritual disciplines are stuff for Christians we view in the same way that I look at those who go to “Cross Fit” gyms everyday – only for the real fanatics!

Christians who go the distance, who know real joy and satisfaction, will train their heart and mind around a diet that includes regular times of prayer, reading and studying Scripture with other Christians, being part of a church (a body of Christians) that encourages growth and service, that wrestles with sin and temptation instead of excusing failure, that learns and practices the disciplines of meditation, worship, service, confession, simplicity, and selfless love for God and others.  (Highly recommended reading – The Celebration of Discipline – by Richard Foster)

Without even realizing it, we can slip into a kind of Christian life that is focused on ‘what God can do for me.’  Such a spirituality will devolve into vain religion, fed by empty calories of ritual without thought, inspiration without challenge, ‘followership’ instead of discipleship. The prayer most common in this kind of person is “Bless me, Lord. Give me, feed me, keep me, promise me. See ya tomorrow.”

Jesus spoke to those who were following Him around while He was here.  They had enjoyed a free meal and were looking for more.  “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:25-29, NIV)  His challenge was about true faith that compels the Believer to fully commit himself to the Lord of Life, regardless of cost. And, in that, He says that the empty calories of a superficial religion will be replaced by the Real Food of the Spirit! 

Some of those who heard Him speak that day were deeply offended! As He spoke of eating His flesh and drinking His blood they took His words at face value and the image was too much for them! Many found it too much and walked away. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:52-61, NIV) Is your soul fed by Jesus, or are you eating empty calories of mere inspiration?  (By the way, Christians understand that passage differently.) I do not believe He was literal, but was speaking of Himself in the same way as He talked of being the ‘Bread of life.’

Let us take to heart the word from Hebrews that urges us to a mature diet. "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5:13-14, NIV)

God’s invitation still stands. Read it in this word from the Word. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David." (Isaiah 55:1-3, NIV)

Lord, feed us with the Meat that will make us whole, healthy, beautiful Christians, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

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Break Thou The Bread Of Life

 Break Thou the bread of life, dear Lord to me,As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea.Beyond the sacred page, I seek Thee, Lord.My spirit pants for Thee, O Living Word.

 Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord to me, to meAs Thou didst bless the bread by Galilee.Then shall bondage cease, all fetters fall,And I shall find my peace my all, in all.

 Thou art the bread of life, O Lord to me,Thy holy Word, the truth that saveth me.Give me to eat and live with Thee above,Teach me to love Thy truth for Thou art love.

© Words: Public Domain

Find Joy. Don't wait for it to find you.

Sunday ended with blessed weariness. In the morning it was my privilege to pray with others, to share in acts of worship, and to bring the Word to our congregation. There were shared tears as well as words of affirmation in that gathering.  Later in the day, I shared a lesson with children in our Christian Education program. At the end of that time, two little children made their way to me and when I knelt down to look them in the eye, they shyly hugged me.  I found some handmade cards in my mailbox at our academy that thanked me for leading chapel services last week. Though I have experienced many sorrows, I am thankful to find joy in the journey, available to those who love and are loved.

At the opening of this new week, I want to ask you – will you find joy or will you somehow hope for it to discover you?

When I was a kid, we sang a song in Sunday School that said: “Jesus, Others, and You; what a wonderful way to spell JOY.”  The idea that we can find fulfillment in giving ourselves away, letting go of the desire to be served, in setting aside self-indulgence and replacing it with service runs counter to a swift current of Self that flows through our culture.  “Find yourself.” “Find your bliss.” “Do what makes you happy.” All these slogans, and a thousand more, promise us joy when we have finally shaped our world to feed our needs. The wisdom of God is exactly opposite. We are called into the Body of Christ where we can be most alive only when we deeply connected to others in interdependent relationships.

Peter urges us to “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:9 NIV)

So how do we find a rich experience of joy?

1. Be hospitable! The word “hospitality” is not just about hosting a dinner party! It involves opening our hearts to one another, giving and receiving love, accepting those who are like us as well as those who are not, for Christ’s sake.  Do others find you an encouraging presence?  Is your heart open, willing to set aside judgment and criticism?  Those who are most loving, find the most love!

2. Use your gifts to serve! Some use their gifts to gain influence. Some use them to find favor, others with the desire for applause. The Word teaches to know what God has equipped us to do and then to “faithfully administer” that divine provision so that God gets the glory and others are strengthened.  The most joyful Christians that I know are those who are connected and who embrace opportunities God presents to them to make their world a better place.  In our fellowship, Bob guides a crew that makes the grounds look good, honoring Christ with their excellence. Terry leads a team that lifts their voices in song and carries us into God’s Presence in Worship. Pat and her team lug boxes of food into our pantry, repack it, and present – with love – to those in need.  Several leaders pull together small groups in homes to encourage discipleship.  Matt and his team open their hearts to teens in our downtown youth center.  Cindy and the staff at our academy love children to life as they teach them. Laura and her team at Awana bring fun and learning to little ones weekly. And the list goes on . . .

Those who roll up their sleeves and get to work to serve Jesus, His Body, and the world in His Name have the potential to become content, fulfilled, steady people.  Yes, of course, they tire in their work a nd they may become dissatisfied with results. Those who serve will endure criticism but they are the “company of the committed” who are focused on Another and others. They know the great joy of being connected in a meaningful way with other people – something that is of great value.

This Monday morning as you go off to your responsibilities, do not wait for joy to find you.  Find joy by accepting and serving. These are not just principles for ‘church life.’  They are for all of life. Our nation is in terrible shape; divided and conflicted, because of selfishness.  Let’s make a difference, in the Name of Jesus.

Here is a word from the Word, a Psalm that uses ancient images to convey the joy of community.  Though they may be somewhat lost to us in their fullness, the sense of full joy still seeps through these words Read them, live them.  Find Joy today.

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." (Psalm 133, NIV)

Oils, precious and refined, were poured on the heads of the priests symbolizing the Presence of God.  The fragrance spread to those watching. Everyone was enveloped in the experience, part of the rite even through the sense of smell! Mount Hermon, the highest peak in Northern Israel, was the place from which the waters of the Jordan flowed, bringing life to the desert areas of Mount Zion in Jerusalem.  God gave the snowfall that fell on that high peak. As it melted and flowed down into the Jordan the whole region was watered, the fertility of the ground preserved.  All were blessed by something happening far away. When God's people work together, sharing grace, loving – it is the best of the best, spreading out to touch many lives.  Get in on the party! Join the family. Find a place to participate in what God is doing. Forget yourself as you focus on the work. You'll find joy!

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A Charge To Keep I Have

A charge to keep I have,

A God to glorify,

A never dying soul to save

And fit it for the sky.

To serve the present age

My calling to fulfill.

O may it all my powr's engage

To do my Master's will.

Arm me with jealous care

As in Thy sight to live,

And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare

A strict account to give.

Help me to watch and pray

And on Thyself rely,

Assured if I my trust betray

I shall forever die.

Charles Wesley © Words: Public Domain