Steve Sevy's notes:

Love Inn: The church that loves will survive and thrive

2012-02-02T05:09:00.000-08:00

Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love.
-1 John 4:7-8

God wants a people who will receive his love and love one another. God wants a people who will spend time loving him, not working for him. I believe our place in heaven will be determined by how we loved. When God looks at us to evaluate us, what is he looking for? He is looking for the love, your receiving of it, walking in it, living loved, and living loving. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son..." Are we reflecting that? Are we living loved and loving as we live together? Is what we are building together and in each of our lives built on God's love?

The love that the church loves with is the love of God, self-giving love of others. The source of the church's love is in God. As we know God, we love like God loves. The people who know God love as God loves. Those who claim knowledge of God, but do not love as God loves have lost their way. Believing or mastering the contents of deep church doctrine is not the main path to knowing God. Having experience in spiritual things is not the main way either. Reading the Bible, reading books about God; going to Bible college, seminary; serving the poor, going on missions trips, or being imprisoned or killed for your faith.... these are all the wrong path to knowing God, if we do not first receive God's love and then grow in God's love that is self giving, towards others. Remember the scripture where Jesus said that certain people did all sorts of things for him, but he says, "I never knew you". They put the cart before the horse. They perhaps did not do the things they did out of love or from the wellspring of God's love.

Love is the main thing. God is love and because God loved us so much, He gave sacrificially His Son, Jesus. Knowledge about Jesus we must know. The ways of God, we desire to know. But first we must receive God's love and keep receiving it. This is what the church must be built on. The way in is the way on. All of Jesus teaching on how to live can only be done or attempted by people who know God by walking in His love. To represent Christ as Christ-ians (folk in Christ), we must be lovers; people who are loved by God, people who are living loved, and people who live in love, loving others the way God loves, seeking the well being of others.

The renewed church

2012-01-31T06:19:00.000-08:00

On that day, the LORD’s branch will become beautiful and glorious. The earth’s fruit will be the pride and splendor of Israel’s survivors. Whoever remains in Zion and is left in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is on the list of those living in Jerusalem. When the Lord washes the filth from Zion’s daughters, and cleanses Jerusalem’s bloodguilt from within it by means of a wind of judgment and a searing wind, then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the light of a blazing fire by night. Over all the glory there will be a canopy, which will be a booth by day for shade from the heat and a hiding place and shelter from a stormy downpour. -Isaiah 4:2-7 (CEB)

This passage was an encouragement to ancient Israel, for those who survived the calamities described in the previous chapter. Today, we have changes coming, shaking and quaking and rearranging. There will be great confusion in the world, but those who are walking closely with God will be comforted and find rest.

In the midst of chaos and change are Christ's followers, the people of the Messiah; and they will be fruitful. In the times ahead, Christians will truly be in Christ. Church attenders who have not been in Christ will get in Christ. Christian leaders who have not know God will get saved or stop pretending. The headship of Christ in his church will renewed.

God will cleanse all his people who walk closely with him in the days ahead. Holiness will not be seen as an option that many Christian say "no thanks" to, but walking with God and gathering with his people will naturally open doors to healing and cleansing and deliverance.

The glory of God is returning to the church. The people of God will be known again by the presence of God among them. Church will be known again as a gathering of people with God amongst them, rather that a place built by human hands, where men and women rule institutionally. God is coming back to church. Some reading this might say that since God is everywhere, He never stopped coming to church; but that's not what I am writing about. Yes, God is omnipresent and we cannot hide from God.

God's glory will return to his people. When God's glory appears, the agenda, the schedule, the talking stops. Church will suddenly be more like, "as it is in heaven". But since we are on earth, what is on earth must be affected by heaven and become as it is in heaven.

God's glory will become the enclosure of his people. Denominationalism will be de-emphasized in the future as saints seek each other out to gather anywhere at anytime under the glory of God in Christ.

The coming quaking

2012-01-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: In just a little while, I will make the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land quake. I will make all the nations quake. The wealth of all the nations will come. I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of heavenly forces.

-Haggai 2:6-7

I believe that a shaking is coming. I believe God is going to shake the nations. I believe that it will change things. Some things and people will be shaken loose and other things and people will be shaken from their high places.

I believe that the wealth of the nations will come to the house of the Lord (the church), and I believe that God is going return His glory to His house (the church).

Originally, Haggai wrote this word about 500 years before Christ; that Messiah would come, he would physically enter the temple, his coming would quake and shake all the world, he would redeem the nations, and fill the temple with glory. It came to pass in Jesus.

But in the past 2000 years, it has happened over and over, as Christ's impact reverberates through the nations and the heavens and the earth. Things that are not in alignment with God and Christ shake and quake and come apart as God's kingdom invades.

God's movements are like quakes and shakes. Like in a shaking, we are quickly made aware that something different is happening. We wake up. We come to attention. "What is that?", we ask. We stop, look, and listen.

I believe our time for another wave, another move of God is coming soon. There with be quaking and shaking and re-arranging, as there always is when God moves. The wealth of the nations are Jesus' people who he will redeem with his precious blood. The wealth of the nations is also the money. God is going to shake out the money from places it should not be in.

God's glory will fill the house again too. God's house today is his people.

Be in the shelter of God's presence for protection

2012-01-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

Living in the Most High’s shelter, camping in the Almighty’s shade, I say to the LORD, “You are my refuge, my stronghold! You are my God—the one I trust!”
You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow, Say this: "God, you're my refuge. I trust in you and I'm safe!"
Live under the protection of God Most High and stay in the shadow of God All-Powerful.

Because you’ve made the LORD my refuge, the Most High, your place of residence.
Yes, because God's your refuge, the High God your very own home.
The LORD Most High is your fortress. Run to him for safety.

God says, “Because you are devoted to me, I’ll rescue you. I’ll protect you because you know my name.
"If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God, "I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust me.
The Lord says, "If you love me and truly know who I am, I will rescue you and keep you safe.
-Psalm 91:1, 9, & 14 (CEB, MSG, CEV)

Now is the time to draw near to Him.
If you have already been walking with God, now is the time to walk closer.
It's always good to walk close to God, but in the days ahead, it will be essential for us.
Living with God, sitting with God, or dwelling with God is what we need to be doing.
Practicing the presence of God, as brother Lawrence called it.

Psalm 91 could have a note scrawled next to it: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

You don't have to be a prophet or get a special prophetic word to know that disaster is coming, so get prepared. Some people live in earthquake country, some live in tornado alley, some live near a river that floods. Being prepared, for people who live in these places, is common sense and just a given. But many other disasters happen as well that are completely unexpected.

Following the sage counsel in Psalm 91 will help us in disaster.

Psalm 91
¹ Living in the Most High’s shelter, camping in the Almighty’s^[a] shade,
² I say to the LORD, “You are my refuge, my stronghold!
You are my God—the one I trust!”
³ God will save you from the hunter’s trap and from deadly sickness.
⁴ God will protect you with his pinions; you’ll find refuge under his wings.
His faithfulness is a protective shield.
⁵ Don’t be afraid of terrors at night, arrows that fly in daylight,
⁶ or sickness that prowls in the dark, destruction that ravages at noontime.
⁷ Even if one thousand people fall dead next to you,
ten thousand right beside you— it won’t happen to you.
⁸ Just look with your eyes, and you will see the wicked punished.
⁹ Because you’ve made the LORD my refuge, the Most High, your place of residence—
¹⁰ no evil will happen to you; no disease will come close to your tent.
¹¹ Because he will order his messengers to help you, to protect you wherever you go.
¹² They will carry you with their own hands so you don’t bruise your foot on a stone.
¹³ You’ll march on top of lions and vipers; you’ll trample young lions
and serpents underfoot.
¹⁴ God says,^[b]“Because you are devoted to me, I’ll rescue you.
I’ll protect you because you know my name.
¹⁵ Whenever you cry out to me, I’ll answer. I’ll be with you in troubling times.
I’ll save you and glorify you.
¹⁶ I’ll fill you full with old age. I’ll show you my salvation.”
Common English Bible (CEB)

Footnotes:

Psalm 91:1 Heb Shaddai
Psalm 91:14 Heb lacks God says.

Fading glory

2012-01-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

On that day, Jacob’s glory will dwindle; his sleek body will waste away. -Isaiah 17:4

There is a fading of glory that is occurring. Things that are not built on the rock are going to have problems when the flood comes. Old ways of success that involved cheating, unethical dealings, and fraud won't work any more for certain people. Alliances that believers have made that are ungodly will come to light; be exposed, cancelled; and rendered null and void. Those who continue in them will fade and become irrelevant to the kingdom of God, like the men who sewed up the curtains in the temple that were ripped when Christ rose from the grave.

Jacob's glory will dwindle, Jacob's glory will fade. I believe that the reason that the people in question are called Jacob, rather than Israel or Ephraim is that God is saying,

"you have gone back to your old self, before I changed you, and are building upon that old self, instead of the new person who encountered Me and began to learn My ways."

Because God loves his people, he disciplines them. God corrects his people. God re-delivers his people who become captured by the enemy.

Rude awakening precedes great awakening. There's no time like the present to get right with God, to get go of the things and ways that are not godly; that don't have Him in it. Better to humble one's self than have to be humbled. Repentance today keeps the darkness away.

In Christ, for Christ, and to Christ in 2012

2012-01-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life's busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.
-CT Studd (1860-1931)

I got the idea that many of us, Christian people of faith, have built things or grown things or even birthed things in our lives that are not from God or were not conceived with God. We might be under an illusion or delusion that everything is from God, like things we were born with, or everything that comes our way. We might think any opportunity knocking is God. We might think that any choice we make to get into something or allow something into our lives has God in it. After all, God loves me and God is with me; so what I have and what I am into, God automatically approves of because God is full of love. No, this is not true, but is a delusion.

The truth is that we Christian people can be involved in all sorts of things that are not Christian or in-Christ or of-Christ, by-Christ, or from-Christ. God loves and blesses what his son does and what his children do in and for Christ.

I started out my thoughts on this by seeing this verse in Hosea: "I will also have no compassion on her children because they are children of prostitution", Hosea 2:4 (CEB). It has been understood that Hosea is a prophetic book, telling the story of a man whom God directs to marry a prostitute, have children with her, and care for her. This story is a living picture of God and Israel. In Christianity, Hosea has been also taught and preached as having principles that are applicable to all of God's children and things in it to learn about God's character.

In Hosea, we can learn that the context was a people of God who had given themselves over to idolatry. God shows that time and again, he would have mercy on his wayward people. Gomer, Hosea's wife, even conceived children through prostitution. Israel also conceived children, figuratively but actually; in it's prostitution with those other than God.

The Christian person or the person of faith can conceive things, give birth to things, raise things up like a father or mother, and watch them grow as they nurture them; and they might not be conceived in God or in Christ.

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last."

Life is short. Why not follow where God is leading, or grow what God has planted, or do what Christ is doing in 2012 and beyond?

Ask for the Ancient Paths in 2012

2012-01-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

The LORD proclaims:
Stop at the crossroads and look around;
ask for the ancient paths.
Where is the good way?
Then walk in it and find a resting place for yourselves.
But you said, “We won’t go!”
-Jeremiah 6:16 (CEB)

The beginning of a new year is a good time make a course correction. If you knew that hard times were coming, wouldn't you want to get closer to God now? If you knew that calamity was coming, wouldn't you want to get closer to God today? When the day of disaster comes, personal disaster or national disaster, people will cry out to God and some might curse God. Wouldn't it be better to be connected to God as deeply as possible before the hard times come?

There's no time like now to choose to walk closer to God. A crossroads is an opportunity and a challenge. You have to go one way or the other. You are forced to choose and each choice has consequences. You are blessed to have a choice, but you have to take responsibility for choosing. We can't be passive and float. We can't say that God didn't give us an opportunity. Passivity is not an option.

We have to ask to be guided to the right path, the ancient paths. Perhaps the ancient paths do not come natural to us and we need guidance. God wants to guide us. "Ask", he says.

The word comes that says, "stop and ask", because we need to stop and ask. We might not make the right choice without stopping and asking. We need to slow down, dial down, and stop. Be quiet, ask, and listen.

Some people assume that to get, "back to the Bible", that that is the ancient paths. They might say we need to obey the law of Moses and obey all the laws in the New testament as well and that is walking on the ancient paths. Did God tell them that, or did they assume that because they are Bible-ians (people who worship the Bible).

The word here says to stop and ask. Don't assume. Was the world in chaos and then the law appeared and mankind on and off followed the law until Jesus came teaching more laws? No. From the beginning, God has been relational with humankind. It started out pure and then Adam and Eve fell (they sinned) and things changed, but God still took care of humans and sought to walk with them.

We each need to ask to be guided to the path that God prefers for us. Some people will say, "the ancient paths are the highway of holiness spoken of in Isaiah". Holiness is the result of walking with God. Holiness or legalism is not the path to God. We are not good (behaving) so that we can be loved and accepted into fellowship with God. But we fellowship with God through God's mercy and he helps us to behave (be good).

There is a path that people walked on before the law of Moses and that non-Jews who never heard of that law could walk on.

On the ancient paths God calls us to, there is rest. Jesus calls burnt-out religious people to come to him and walk with him and find rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28).

Stop and notice, there is a fork in the road. Look around (stop the tunnel vision). Ask: -for the ancient paths. Ask: -where is the good way? Then walk on it and find rest.

Have mercy

2011-12-30T09:22:00.001-08:00

But Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city. There he made himself a hut and sat under it, in the shade, to see what would happen to the city.

God said to Jonah, “Is your anger about the shrub a good thing?”

Jonah said, “Yes, my anger is good—even to the point of death!”

But the LORD said, “You ‘pitied’ the shrub, for which you didn’t work and which you didn’t raise; it grew in a night and perished in a night. Yet for my part, can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” Jonah 4:5-10 (Common English Bible)

God took away Jonah's shade and shelter and again, Jonah became suicidal. What a person focuses on, they will become engrossed by. This is why worship is not an event that we go to or do once or twice a week, but it is a place we live in. Everyone has problems that come at them and challenge them. Everyone has good things, blessings, that bring them joy or comfort. God is above our earthly problems and comforts. Both our problems and our comforts can distract us from God and our lifestyle of worshiping God.

Unbelieving believers delude themselves into thinking that they are saved, God-followers; while they themselves live in unbelief and lack of faith and are not really walking with God, but going their own way. We are all in process and becoming more godly and spiritually mature, until the day we die. But, the unbelieving believer is not in their process. So, God prepares circumstances and even disciplinary action to bring the unbelieving believer into the growth process.

God again questions Jonah about his anger. God does not rebuke Jonah directly or demand change, but is reasoning with him; again. God wants to develop Jonah (1). Again, rather than belittling Jonah, God meets him where he is and compares Jonah's pity for the shrub with his own pity on Nineveh. God does not say, "you are so far from where I am in this, that I can't even talk to you". God steps down into his world and finds an object lesson there. God took away his shade plant and blew away his hut, taking away his comforts that he prized so highly, to get his attention.

There is no final word about Jonah changing. God is who God is: merciful. We learn that in Jonah's book. We also learn that God uses deeply flawed vessels: cracked pots. We also learn that God can change His mind. We saw that some prophecies are conditional: the positive word will come to pass if you walk with God, or the negative word will not come to pass if you repent.

Jesus said, "The citizens of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it as guilty, because they changed their hearts and lives in response to Jonah’s preaching. And look, someone greater than Jonah is here." Matthew 12:41 (Common English Bible)

Jonah, the reluctant preacher-prophet, preached a simple and possibly harsh message to Nineveh for only a few days. He did no miracles. He was a stranger to them. He was prejudiced against his audience. Yet, Nineveh responded beautifully and found God. God had mercy on Jonah all along the way and God was merciful with Nineveh.

The assigner of the assignment is more important than the person who receives the assignment. God can use anyone. Jonah teaches us to heed God's call and let God move. The same mercy is good for the "professional" that is good for the "sinner".

Jesus saves.

1. A critical and exegetical commentary on Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah,, Volume 23; By Hinckley Gilbert Thomas Mitchell, John Merlin Powis Smith, Julius August Bewer

God provides

2011-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Then the LORD God provided a shrub, and it grew up over Jonah, providing shade for his head and saving him from his misery. Jonah was very happy about the shrub. But God provided a worm the next day at dawn, and it attacked the shrub so that it died. Then as the sun rose God provided a dry east wind. Jonah 4:6-8a

Jonah's story tells us that God provides. At moments in the story, we are told that God provided. Here, it is a good thing: a shrub for shade. Then, God provided something that was not good or rather what it did was not good: a worm that killed the shrub and took away Jonah's shade. Then another thing was provided by God that did not feel good: a dry east wind.

Does the Lord provide good and bad weather? Does the Lord provide a good parking spot, on the one hand and a rude person on the other hand, who cuts in front of you? In these instances, Jonah believed that God provided these good and bad happenstance things and here it is written for us.

Does this mean that God provides everything good and bad for us? When Jonah says, "God provided", he is drawing our attention to the fact that God wants to take credit for putting this particular thing in Jonah's path for a purpose. What is the purpose of that thing in regards to the person (Jonah) and God? That is the question.

Earlier in this story, it said that God provided a storm to thwart Jonah. Then God provided a whale to swallow Jonah and save him. In the same way, God also provided the shrub that gave Jonah shade, but then provided a worm that killed the shrub and then God provided a dry wind that was not comforting.

God is active in Jonah's story. At certain points, He provides or prepares things.

God provided comfort and then took away comfort from Jonah. What was God doing?

God's goodness in our lives is to lead us to serve Him and repent, to be thankful and worshipful. Wisdom says to not take good things for granted, but to thank God for them and to come into alignment with God, by repenting of sin and seeking cleansing through God's atoning work in Christ. To those who Christ has not been revealed, just being thankful for the good things is a start.

God provided things that took Jonah's comfort away to get his attention. Maybe he wanted Jonah to ask, "what's happening?" God might have said, "I want you to look to me and listen to me and get you eyes and ears off yourself." In the shade and comfort, in the luxuriating, Jonah might have just been satisfied with himself. God might have preferred a "thank-you", or a "now what". But, perhaps, there was just a carnal pleasure in the simple cool shade and a smug self-satisfaction, as he curiously hoped against hope for Nineveh's destruction. When the comforts were taken away, what will Jonah say and will he pray?

God provides good for his children, but maybe God wants more; as in listening and seeking His face? Perhaps God has to take away our "shade" and "cool place" to get our attention?

*painting by Tenet Worlds

Standing back

2011-12-18T10:43:00.000-08:00

But Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city. There he made himself a hut and sat under it, in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. Jonah 4:5

Jonah was angry that the Ninevites were repenting. He told God, "it's not fair". God questioned Jonah as to whether he was getting carried away by his anger.

Jonah response was to:

Go out from the city. Get away from what God was doing. Detach. Withdraw. Get his space. He didn't run away, but pulled back.
He sat down and made himself a hut, for shade. He sought comfort on a perch.
Watch and see what would happen. He already knew what was happening.

Jonah did not:

Go into the city, to minister to the people. He did not help them connect further with God.
Rejoice over Nineveh's repentance and salvation and begin celebrating with them.
Proclaim that he was wrong about his prejudices towards Nineveh and repent himself.

We might have neighbors we don't like. We might have people in our city or town we don't like. What if God called us to go tell them the truth about where their life is heading. We may not want to speak to them at all, but when forced, we finally do it, reluctantly and not very compassionately.

Then, what if they respond to the message? What if they respond to God, want to get right with God? What if this is something we never expected? Suddenly, they are our brothers and sisters. This is what Jonah could not believe. The man of God had unbelief.

We can have the good news, be bearers of the light of the kingdom; but also have unbelief. The Ninevites were moving into belief from darkness into light. Jonah also has a challenge to move into a deeper realm of faith. God is even bigger than he knew. This is always the case. We are always growing in our faith and in our knowledge of God. He continually enlarges our capacity for faith and revelation knowledge about Him.

Jonah needed to be and we need to be "life-long learners" about God. It is said by wise people, that the more you know about God, the less you realize you know.

Every single person in the Bible was on a journey where they were called deeper into knowledge of God. Except for Jesus, they all made mistakes, based on their not fully knowing God. From Adam to the last human person mentioned in Revelation. Jonah is right in the middle of all of them. Serving God, but in need of a deeper knowledge of God. This is the case for everyone who walks with God and speaks for God.

"Jesus came to teach us that we have a Father who loves us more than we know. If we could sort this out, we would learn how to treat each other." From an atheist, distilling down what Christianity should be all about, but sadly is not, in his eyes, as he has watched Christians.

"One of the great tragedies in life is that, historically, the Bible gets interpreted by people who are not in love." -Bill Johnson

Have you left your first love? You know what the antidote is, right? Return. Fall in love again.

Jonah's and Yonina's, be encouraged and stand back and see what He will do:

Good King Wenceslas (re-post from 1-3-07)

2011-12-14T07:32:00.000-08:00

The Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas" tells the story of a king who goes out with his page to give alms to a poor man on the day after Christmas. Wenceslas is a real person, born in 907. His father was converted to Christ through the work of two Greek brothers Cyril, known as Constantine; and Methodius in the 860's. These brothers became known as "the apostles to the Slavs". Wenceslas' father died when he was only thirteen and his grandmother, Ludmila, raised him as a Christian. His mother, Drahomira, remained pagan as did his younger brother and arranged Ludmila's murder in 921 and regained control over raising Wenceslas. History is sketchy on what happened during the next 5 years, but when he was 18 years old, he assumed the throne and had his mother exiled. He then promoted Christianity throughout Bohemia. The nobles did not like the Roman influence that they saw coming in through Christianity and plotted to kill Wenceslas with his pagan younger brother, Boleslaus, who murdered him in a brutal manner outside of a church building.

The author of Good King Wenceslas is John Neale (1818-66). He was an English clergyman, hymnologist, scholar, linguist, theologian, and prolific author of over 30 volumes. He won prizes for his poetry. He also wrote the popular carols, "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and "Good Christian Men Rejoice".

He spent his last 20 years of his life as the Warden of Saksville College in Sussex, which was a charitable institution for the aged, at a salary of 27 pounds a year. He had a heart of compassion for the poor, ill, aged, and children. Historians write that his bishop barred him from official duties out of jealousy.

Neale's succinct biography with more references is here.

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel

"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."

"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither."
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather

"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Angry man

2011-12-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

The LORD responded, “Is your anger a good thing?" Jonah 4:4

God usually does not need information, when he asks questions. He enters our space and seeks to communicate with us. God wants our hearts revealed to us, so he asks us questions to draw us out. God is asking, "is it right (a good thing) for you to be angry that I am a gracious, forgiving, merciful God?"

God gives Jonah a chance to explain how his anger is good or right. Perhaps God is addressing the anger because Jonah did not pass through his anger. The Psalmist and then Apostle Paul echoes, "be angry without sinning", (Psalm 4:4 and Ephesians 4:26). Anger is something we feel, go through, or express; then we move on. What is beneath the anger? Sometimes it is hurt or loss. If this is so, we need to get past the anger and feel the hurt or grieve the loss.

Jonah was angry about what was happening before his eyes in Nineveh. He expressed his anger to God. That was good. Now, it seems, that he isn't moving on to repentance and reconciling himself to God. Jonah has good theology about God. As he feared it would, his theology about God was confirmed as completely correct when God dealt with Nineveh.

Jonah's anger was completely out of line with God: who God is, and God's acts with Nineveh. God was correct, right or true; and Nineveh, who had been all wrong, turned and came into alignment with God through repentance in word and deed. Then God responded to Nineveh and a wonderful thing happened. But then Jonah came out of alignment with God, and so, to mix metaphors, he blew his anger fuse.

Jonah's capacity for God's mercy had "blown a fuse". "I know you are good, but that's too good", Jonah might have said.

God's capacity for mercy should blow ours up. We can only try to grasp that His will and His abilities are so much bigger than ours. God loves the worst people, that we believe or see as "beyond hope". When we judge people as "beyond hope", we're out-of-line.

If we are stuck in anger, living there, rather than just passing through; that is not good. When we feel ripped off or hurt; when we've suffered an injustice, or when we are humiliated by the truth that we were wrong and that makes us angry; we need to move on to grief: grieve it. When we continually tell our story of loss or injustice or humiliation (where we were perhaps wrong), but refuse to do our grief work, that is not good and we are stuck.

What is grief work? Grieving is a process that moves beyond the shock, denial, and anger of loss towards healing, spiritual growth and intimacy with God. We need to have funerals, cry, wail, remember, voice regrets, and receive condolences.

The person that refuses their grief work is a forever angry person. They might not rage all the time, but their anger is simmering below the surface. They have not grieved their losses, so they are angry at everyone all the time. That person is overly critical of everything and everyone. They smile, but there is a lack of joy, because of the undealt with losses.

"It's not fair" prayer

2011-12-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

He prayed to the LORD, “Come on, LORD! Wasn’t this precisely my point when I was back in my own land? This is why I fled to Tarshish earlier! I know that you are a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy. At this point, LORD, you may as well take my life from me, because it would be better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:2-3

We have here, an angry prayer and a sinful prayer. Recall the prayers that came out of Jonah when he was trapped in darkness, facing a certain death. They seemed so pure, but were they just pious scripture quoting by a man in desperation?

"Anger is a short fit of madness."

It is a bit shocking that he would get angry with God, when something wonderful is happening! What kind of a model is Jonah for someone that God called to the highest level of Old Covenant ministry?

But Jesus does not shy away from Jonah's prophetic preaching ministry, but endorses it. We are seeing here again, that this man is very flawed. God uses cracked pots.

Jonah's prayer is negative intercession. He is interceding against what God is doing. Nineveh has attracted God's mercy. God's mercy is coming to Nineveh. But Jonah is seeking to block it. But he can't block it. So, he lectures God on how this was a mistake.

In these verses we find out the "back story" on what was in Jonah's mind that caused him to flee from God's assignment to him. He knew how good God is and that, given the opportunity, that the Ninevites would respond to God and become God followers and God seekers, like Jonah's own people were; and Jonah did not want that.

Jonah was choosing to forget that all of mankind were created by God and God loves the whole world. Maybe he didn't know this. Jonah wanted to keep God for his own people and let other people groups be damned. Jonah had the delusion that Israel owned God. This would be like a church group that only welcomed their own family members, while the surrounding community and the whole world were not welcome, with the exception of lost family members that lived far away.

As we read Jonah, we have the luxury of the author telling us that God changed his plans for destroying Nineveh. To someone who heard of Jonah's prophecy against Nineveh, that did not come true, Jonah would seem to be a false prophet. Did Jonah fear that his reputation would forever be stained as either a false Prophet or as the Prophet who messed up so bad he helped Israel's enemy find mercy from God?

Jonah reminds me of the older brother in Jesus' parable of the prodigal sons. The older brother was offended by the younger brother's repentance. Sometimes, from our place of spirituality, we unconsciously or consciously view ourselves as superior to "sinners" who are far from God in our view. While we do this, we are actually resisting God's work in our lives, while we busy ourselves with religious activity. When a pagan comes to Christ, lock-stock-and-barrel, no-holds-barred; we are shamed, because we are not following God whole heartily.

Jonah's desire for his own death, while Nineveh is coming to life, is more evidence of his temporary insanity. Jonah was so over committed to an opinion contrary to God, that the only solution, in his mind, is for God to take him out. The man who spoke for God found himself in complete disagreement with God.

Jonah had somewhere confused his thoughts with God's thoughts, his opinion with God's opinion. Preachers, teachers, prophets, and all who speak for God always are vulnerable to giving their opinions as God's truth. They start with God's word, but as they preach on it, their opinion, prejudice, bigotry, sectarianism, and theological bias can pollute the word. Even patriotism can pollute God's word if we allow it to.

The positive side of Jonah's, "it's not fair", reaction to God's mercy is that he prayed to God about it this time. Jonah's anger got the best of him, but he took his thoughts to God in prayer. Jonah's prayer may have been misguided and off-the-wall, but he did go to God in prayer. He did not run or turn his back, but expressed his displeasure. It is better to express ourselves to God when we disagree with God than to run or turn our backs or stonewall.

Like Jonah, we may find out that we have a strong opinion that also involves God's will. When we are shown, by God, that we were wrong; it might be very humiliating. What if we have built our life on what turns out to be a lie? Like with Jonah, good news feels like bad news, because if we were so wrong, we feel bad or ashamed. In our shame, we want to "flip the board" (or flip the bird), on life. We feel like dying, we feel like we are dying; but we are not. God actually cut out a big cancer from our lives, and now we can live. That thing that we thought was a part of us was actually death itself and God just got rid of it. We are confused. Why didn't God take that thing out sooner? Maybe God has been working on that issue for years, but we resisted.

The key for Jonah and each one of us, faced with an eye opening paradigm shift, is prayer. When faced with confusing circumstances and then choosing anger that opened him to the irrational, what did Jonah do? "He prayed to the LORD". It wasn't a model prayer. He was angry and in pride he sinfully told God what he thought, but he prayed. We can pray as well when we are not doing well with God and our circumstances. God will respond. What will God's response be?

Desert Song

2011-11-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

Have you been through the desert in your journey? If you are new to your journey, get ready for the desert. If you have been on your journey for any length of time, you have been through several or many deserts. Deserts are a normal, necessary, and useful part of your journey; just as winter is an integral season each year.

Between leaving and arriving is the desert. God invites each one of us to do something better and to be someone better. God knows we are not ready and so He takes us through a desert of discipline to get us ready. In the desert, we ask hard questions. In the desert, we learn new things about God: our consciousness of God is enlarged. We get revelation knowledge. Things we believed in and read in The Book, but never experienced happen for us and to us in the desert. Something is built up inside us that was not there before. Forced out of our former comfortableness, we learned to receive comfort from God.

Death and tranquility exist side by side in the desert. Things die and we find simplicity. We learn about worshiping God in a tabernacle. We learn to feed ourselves on bread from heaven. Our lives are striped down to trusting God for everything.

The desert is designed to strengthen our spirit so that when we come out of the desert, we live more from our spirits.

Those who get it about the benefits of the desert cheer when their desert time comes. To them, it means more time alone with God or time trusting God to build up their inner spirits. Those who have grown from the desert experiences, carry it with them and have learned to retreat into a mini desert to come before God when their lives are busy and demanding. Jesus did this when he left camp to go up in the hills to seek the Father, when it was still dark, and the disciples were sleeping.

In the book of Hosea there is a beautiful word from God to Israel that may apply to his people today:

Therefore, I will charm her,
and bring her into the desert,
and speak tenderly to her heart.
From there I will give her vineyards,
and make the Achor Valley
a door of hope.
There she will respond to me
as in the days of her youth,
like the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
-Hosea 2:14-15 (CEB)

Angry at God

2011-11-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. -Jonah 4:1

Jonah didn't get it when God changed his mind. Maybe he liked preaching the message of destruction? Maybe he wanted Nineveh to be destroyed. And he was furious when the Nineties repented and God decided to not destroy them.

Have you ever watched something and assumed an outcome, based on your own calculations? We might believe that someone or something is beyond remedy, beyond hope. We might believe someone or something or some situation is too far gone.

God does not think the way we do. Someone may speak for God, but not know God. Someone might know God's acts, but not know God's ways. While God is the judge and judges purely and is completely wise, God also abounds in mercy and has the ability to extend forgiveness beyond beyond the abilities of the human heart.

We are taught simple forgiveness by God as a way of life, but we also have to practice hard forgiveness; forgiving inconceivably: forgiving the unforgivable. The only way to forgive the unforgivable is do it through God.

"But Jonah...", and, "But Steve..."; are footnotes. "But God", is the main course. But God, in the fullness of time sent his Son, his only Son; to die on the cross for all of humanity's sins. That is the "but" that really matters. We made a mess from day one and in Jesus, God came to clean it all up. God paid the debt of all sin at the cross. The only way that we can forgive the unforgivable is to connect with the cross, with the person who died on that cross, who paid for what is humanly unforgivable to be forgiven. Like Jonah, we are not God and can not conceive of God's mercy, but just agree with it when God extends it and we have to work out when that is.

What about when we're angry at God? Can God handle it? Yes, but how we handle it is what we have to watch out for. Pastor James says, "an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness"(James 1:20). Apostle Paul says, "be angry without sinning" (Ephesians 4:26). The first story with anger in it in the Bible, and it was anger that got out of control and caused destruction, is in Genesis, chapter 4:

The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.
The LORD said to Cain:
What's wrong with you? Why do you have such an angry look on your face? If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it! Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go for a walk." And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him.

The Lord warned Cain that his anger could turn to sin and it did. It didn't have to and neither did Jonah's. It seems that the antidote to anger's destruction for the believer is to lean into and onto God. What if you've got your anger in one hand. Take the other hand and reach out to God, like a lightning rod. Anger is a given in a fallen world. We feel wronged and our anger flashes. Do we lash out and run towards violent pay-back, verbally, physically, or in our thoughts; or do we cool off by reaching out to God?

Can we extend or give forgiveness to those who have triggered anger in us? Can we forgive God if he throws us a curve ball, doing something that we did not expect, perhaps something good for someone we still think of as bad? If we're Christians, are we taking up our crosses (instruments of death) and following the One who died and rose from the dead; or have we got it wrong and think we are God as we vent and judge and preside over the ungodly?

Jonah was a capitol P Prophet. He was the real deal, yet we keep seeing a flawed man who has issues. He is not Jesus and and he is far from perfect. Yet, God chose him and God would not let him retire early. God has a plan and a message he wants to do and to give through Jonah. Along the way, Jonah gets to learn more about God and his mercy.

Messengers need the message too. Preachers, teachers, and prophets need to be learners and people being transformed in the same way as the people they preach, teach, and prophesy to. I might give you something from God that I've gotten. I might also give you something from God that I am getting, but haven't got yet. I also might give you something from God that I'm not getting and have not got.

Jonah said one thing and it was the thing God told him to say and it was true. He thought he got the fact that it was over for the Ninevites and he gave them that message. It was true, but there was more. There was the back story part that God is merciful. He knew that, but didn't like it as far as the Ninevites were concerned. That's where the anger comes in and Jonah reaching back to God is his only hope. The Ninevites have come home to God and have a whole new life in God that they are passing through the doorway of. In stark contrast, Jonah is in a vexed and perplexed, angry place that he needs help to get out of. If that is ever you or me, we have hope from God.

God changes His mind

2011-11-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

God saw what they were doing—that they had ceased their evil behavior. So God stopped planning to destroy them, and he didn’t do it. Jonah 3:10

The Ninevites made real changes and then God made a change. He changed his mind. God stopped the plans to destroy Nineveh. There was nothing in God's word that Jonah declared that was conditional. God did not say, "if you repent, I will relent." I read the word as saying, "it's over, but I'm giving you forty days."

The king on Nineveh imagined out loud when he said, "who knows? God may see this and turn from his wrath, so that we might not perish." Having not been schooled in how prophecy works and in the face of ruin, this king of a people who have a track record of evil is suddenly optimistic; while at the same time, being gravely certain of the truth of Jonah's word and leading his people in sincere repentance.

But why 40 days? Even the 40 day warning was merciful. The question would be, "what would you do if you found out you only had forty days to live?" The Ninevites, in whole, decided to spend the 40 days repenting, calling out to God, and stopping their evil behavior.

This story illustrates the fact that all prophetic words are not binding. A negative word that says, bad things are going to happen to you, even death, is perhaps God saying, "if you continue on the road you are on, you are going to get where you are going." If that person responds to that word by getting off the road they are on or turning back onto God's road, and they do not die, but live in God; that does not make God a liar or the prophetic person false. They were actually very accurate from Heaven's perspective. The word's purpose was to wake up the sleeper. Rude awakening precedes great awakening.

The opposite kind of prophecy is the positive one. The prophetic word foretells blessings in the person's life that are not presently evident. After receiving the positive word, the person's circumstances may get worse, perhaps for a long time. Was it a false prophecy? No. The word was meant to encourage the person about their future and give them hope. Is the positive word conditional? Sometimes it is. The person may have to walk with God, holding onto their word, through a desert; where they learn to trust God's word above all else, before their word of promise is fulfilled.

God's word to the Ninevites was true and said what was going to happen. But then, God changed his mind. God changed his mind because of the new evidence set before him. But being God, wouldn't God have known what the Ninevites were going to do and that he would not be destroying them? Either he was playing a game where the ends justified the means, or he really is not as smart (all knowing) as we thought, but is like a super computer or a super man.

No, no, no. None of these are correct. God is almighty. But what if God in his infinite wisdom, chooses not to know certain things? God is in control, but not controlling. What if God hopes for an outcome, but he does not know until we make our choice? It really is not a rigged game. What if God is like a parent that disciplines his child. Like the parent, God hopes the discipline will lead to obedience and reconciliation. God is a person. We were created in God's image.

What if God, since he is God, can know everything, but chooses to not know some things?

An intriguing example of this is in Genesis 22, when God sends Abraham up the mountain to sacrifice his precious son, Issac. The story opens by telling the reader that God tested Abraham. OK, it's a test, a really intense, hard test; that Abraham passed. Why did God do that to his friend? Abraham passes the test. He was about to kill his son and then God, through the Angel of the Lord, said, "Don't stretch out your hand against the young man and don't do anything to him, I now know that you revere God and didn’t hold back your son, your only son, from me.”

Notice the Angel of the Lord, speaking for God says, "I now know". In other words, he did not know before the test and needed to find out, so he tested Abraham. God didn't know. God didn't choose to know, for some reason in God's infinite wisdom. It doesn't say, "I knew (I'm God), but I wanted to see what I already knew". But it says, "now I know", implying that God did not know.

Back to Nineveh. God knew what could happen, for sure. But God may have been choosing to not know what would happen, but was truthfully declaring, through Jonah, that destruction was in forty days. As God, God had decided it was curtains time for Nineveh. Enough was enough.

But when Nineveh changed, God changed. God who is a rock and changes not changed. God's character did not change, but God's mind changed. God changed his plans after seeing what the people of Nineveh had changed about their behavior. God, who is the almighty and the righteous judge also is merciful.

Repentance

2011-11-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:5-9

They simply believed God. Polytheists and idolaters suddenly became monotheists, listening to the one true God. When the real God speaks, it is different; and he spoke through Jonah. Jesus said, "they changed their hearts and lives in response to Jonah's preaching" (Matt. 12:41) Repentance. Jonah simply preached the word given to him and the people responded. The word God said to speak, cut to the heart of the Ninevites and they heard it!

Repentance is not just saying I think I will change, or that's a good idea and I agree; but actual change. There are physical signs of repentance. For the Ninevites, it was fasting and putting on sackcloth. They didn't just say "sorry", but did sorry. You say you are sorry, now show me. They did.

The king of Nineveh repented too. Jonah's message eventually got to him, and he responded as his people were responding and used his authority to encourage the nation wide repentance. The king added some more dimensions to the repentance, saying to call out to God and forsake their evil ways. He put more "shoe leather" onto his repentance, walking it out.

Jonah did not go to the king first because that was not his assignment. His assignment was to walk into Nineveh and proclaim the message God gave him, which he did.

What does it mean, that we hear God's word today that calls us to change, to repent; and we do not. We read our Bibles or listen to a message or read book, that is a written message from God; and we do not change. The actual message calls for change, but we detach from it and watch the message, like watching an entertainment, and keep ourselves above and beyond it's touch. We fold our arms to the message, over our hearts, and close our eyes and cover our ears. What happens to the person who does this over and over, while self-identifying themselves as "christian"? Remember where Jesus said he will say to them, "I never knew you"? But we cast out demons in your name! I never knew you. But I went to church, I learned about you, about God.... I was a good person..... I did things for you... I memorized scripture... I tithed... I spoke in tongues... I healed the sick.... I wrote books about you.... I NEVER KNEW YOU (Matthew 7:21-23)

What if the people that Jesus says he does not know are people who refuse to repent? Religious people who have taken on Christianity and "believed", but never belonged to God. Jesus contrasted the Ninevites who repented at Jonah's message to the people of his day who professed to be God's people, but approached Jesus (and John the baptist) with skepticism. Jesus comes and forces a decision onto each person. He says, "follow me", "I am the way", "I am the bread from heaven". He does not say, "vote for me", "read my book", "listen to me on my pod cast", "become my fan", or "join my club". When he says words like, "follow me", to all of us in one way or another, we have to respond and repentance is part of it. We make changes, U-turns in our lives, we leave things behind and follow him.

Do you remember what Jesus message was? It was, "Change your hearts and lives (repent), for the kingdom of God has come" (Matt. 3:2). Jesus called for repentance then and he does now. Jonah had a message from God and the Ninevites repented. In Jesus days on earth, some responded and repented while others did not. Today it is the same. Even if the church has lost Jesus original message, watering it down and adding hamburger helper; his message still stands. Are we turning from sin and walking with him? Are we faithful to him or are we just fans?

The Message

2011-11-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

Jonah started into the city, walking one day, and he cried out, “Just forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!” Jonah 3:4

In his assignment to go to Nineveh, given a second time, God had told Jonah that he was to, "declare against it the proclamation that I am commanding you.” As promised, God gave Jonah the proclamation he was to proclaim, “Just forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!” This is what he preached on the streets of Nineveh. God had given Jonah a word to deliver to a group of people and he delivered it.

Jonah, "just did it". He didn't write it, he didn't look for key people, he didn't whisper, and he didn't try to be contextual in assimilating to the culture and finding a way to sugar coat this hard word. No, he just did and said what God told him to do and say. Was Jonah smiling or frowning, stern or genteel? We don't know.

Prophetic preaching is when God gives you a word concerning the future of a people and you proclaim it to them. The preacher, proclaimer, or messenger has to be careful not to add his or her words to God's word. This is just as important in prophetic ministry to individuals, couples, families, or small groups. The prophetic minister may often need to say, "I don't know what it means". Your interpretation of the word, if it needs interpreting, is not part of the word from God; and that needs to be made very clear to avoid confusion. So, a true word from God can be misinterpreted.

Prophetic ministers, proclaimers, messengers, or writers can pray to God for the interpretation. God may answer and give the interpretation or he may not and the person who received the word may have to submit his prophesy to the community of other prophets. In fact, we are admonished to weigh each others prophecies in the New Testament. In Christianity we have common prophecy in community where other prophetic people help to administer prophetic words. See 1 Corinthians chapters 12-16.

What about the good news? How does Jonah apply to His-story, or salvation history? Jonah's message was a wake up call. A wake up call is sent by a loving God. God cared enough to send a message to a sinful people, telling them that time was up for them, in forty days.

If God cared enough to send this message through a person, then perhaps the message is true? The sinful people are given a chance to repent before they are destroyed. Destruction is not good news, but the warning is merciful.

God has suddenly, "brought the bottom up", for Nineveh. Their sin has finally brought severe consequences. God perhaps engineers or allows circumstances for people that are rude awakenings. We need to help people turn to God for salvation and not save them ourselves. The message from God is designed for the recipient from God and the messenger should be clear that they do not write the message, but only deliver it.

Simply obedient

2011-10-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

And Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’s word. (Now Nineveh was indeed an enormous city, a three days’ walk across.) Jonah 3:3

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord. He did what God said to do this time. He got up and went. God specifically told him do do something and he did it. It's the same thing that God told him to do before, that he did not do, which he got in so much trouble for not doing. God gave Jonah a second chance and he is taking that chance now.

Jonah exercised his faith. Faith is an action. You say you have faith. Good, now show me. That's action. Faith is not just a belief, but belief acted upon. If you act upon it, it's real faith. When you act on faith, you also risk. John Wimber said that faith is spelled r-i-s-k. Jesus asked various people to do something often and complimented others who did something to express their faith like the guys who lowered the man through the roof to get to him (Mark 2:4). Remember when Jesus said to the disciples, "you give them something to eat" (Mark 6:37 & Luke 9:13)? Jesus told the man with the shrivelled hand to stretch it out (Mark 3:3 & Matt. 12:10). Jesus told the man at the pool to get up (John 5:8). Paul said that we must work out what God works in (Philippians 2:12-13).

What is faith? Is faith when we get the blue print or get the orders or plan from God and then go do it, go make it happen? No, that is not faith. It is God that does it, God that makes it happen. Faith is in God who does it, whatever it is. His faithfulness provides all the power. I put my faith in him. My faith is in his faithfulness. Even if he does not do it, my faith is in him, in his person. He is good no matter what happens. If it does not happen, whatever it is, it does not make me or anyone else bad; but he is always good. This is how Job could say, "though he slay me, yet I will trust in him", (Job 13:15).

Did Jonah perhaps get way ahead of God, in his mind, the first time and get overwhelmed? It says that Nineveh was enormous. It does not say that God's assignment was enormous. It was simple. Like the U2 song, Jonah got, "stuck in a moment", and he could not get out of it. But God got him out and gave him a second chance. Big plans seem overwhelming, but a big God is up to it. God tries to say to us, "don't worry, I will do all the heavy lifting." Yes, he says, "don't worry". When we worry, we are calculating without God in the equation.1 God gives us peace in the storm, the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). When we try to understand or figure some things out that are beyond us, we can get overwhelmed and depressed and anxious (Philippians 4:6). That's why we need to exercise faith in God by casting our cares on him (Psalm 55:22 & 1 Peter 5:7).

When Jonah again began his journey of obedience towards Nineveh, it was just one foot in front of the other, step by step; simple. To try to figure it out is complicated. Making our plans outside of God is sophisticated. God is not sophisticated, but simply brilliant. What God is looking for is simplicity. Simple faith. Simple trust in him walked out. Simply obedient.

1. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, July 5th, Don't Plan Without God: Psalm 37:5

Get up and go (again)

2011-10-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

“Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and declare against it the proclamation that I am commanding you.”
-Jonah 3:2 (CEB)

The Lord's second word to Jonah was almost identical to the first word he gave him. The first time, the Lord said, "Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.” God had patiently taken Jonah through the "hard way" and now again offered him the "not as hard way".

Jonah might have thought to himself, "remember what happened last time when I didn't go to Nineveh?" Obviously, Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh the first time, for some reason. We don't know what that reason was at this point. We do know that there was an evil in Nineveh that had come to God's attention. Something bad was going on with the Ninevites and Jonah previously had a strong aversion to them. Was it fear, prejudice, dislike, anger, or all of these?

Notice that both times, God said to him, "get up and go". Jonah was being commanded to specifically do something. Not to think about it, write about it, talk about it, pray about it, but to do it. This was a directive "now" word. Some or perhaps most prophetic words are future words, words in which God says, "I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope." (Jer. 29:11)

This word from the Lord was a command word. He did not obey the command the first time. Will he obey God the second time? What happens when we don't like God's assignment for us and refuse to do them? Sometimes when we take the wrong turn, the only way to get back on the right path is to go all the way back to where we missed the turn and retake it.

There was something that Jonah did not like about his assignment and we might not like our assignment either and try disobedience. If we focus on our selves, saying, "I can't do it", "I don't want to do it because I am afraid", "I don't want to do it because I don't like those people", or, "they are too far gone to hear"; we have missed it. We have gotten our focus off God! God has decided on this assignment in his wisdom. He knows best. Will we trust that where God guides, he provides? But, the proviso of God's provision is that he may not provide the way you think he should.

Maybe God gives us assignments we would not choose and do not like because he wants to stretch us? He stretches us to change us, to make us more godly and Christ-like. During the rest of Jonah's story, we will see how God wanted to change Jonah; how God wanted to give him a deeper revelation.

Where has God called you to get up and go to? Are you having trouble just getting up? Perhaps God has not given you an assignment like Nineveh, but he is calling you to get up and just go, to follow him, like Abraham. The rhythm of the kingdom, modeled in Jesus is going and resting. We go and we rest.

Obedience. Will we obey when God assigns us? Will we take our second chances when they are offered again?

God of the second chance

2011-10-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time. Jonah 3:1

Did you know that God is God of the second chance? The Bible is filled with the stories of people who got second chances and Jonah is just one of them. Jonah deliberately disobeyed God's assignment and some negative consequences followed.

Jonah repented and sought God. Then providence struck. Jonah was expelled out of the giant fish and found himself on dry land, breathing fresh air again. Then Jonah's life went on.

We can imagine that Jonah went on with his life. We can imagine that Jonah returned home. Perhaps he told his friends what happened. He had a testimony. God had saved him from death. Was he ashamed of himself? He had been one who spoke God's special messages and he had failed to do his unique job. He had failed to deliver a special message from God to Nineveh.

Life went on for Jonah. Did he feel like a failure? Was he thankful to be alive, but became the "former Prophet"? Did he live incognito, assimilating himself back into his Hebrew culture? When people who knew who he was or used to be would approach him and ask him, "what is the message from God?", did he look down and shake his head?

We don't know the answer to any of these questions, but we do know that life went on for Jonah. Was he happy to not be a Prophet any longer or did he miss it? Was he ashamed or just resigned? We don't know, but life went on. Days, weeks, month, or years; we don't know. From the time of Jonah being deposited back into fresh air and dry land to the "then" of what happened next could have been hours or years.

Some time went by and then God spoke to Jonah again, a second time. Since Jonah was a Prophet, God had probably spoken to him before the time recorded in the book of Jonah. He received and delivered messages. That was a Prophet's job. But the text here says, "God spoke to Jonah a second time". It's the second time in this story, in this part of Jonah's life; and it's the second time God spoke to Jonah about the same thing. Same orders, same message, same God, for the same people, to be delivered by the same person.

God gives Jonah a second chance at the same assignment. God does not stamp Jonah with "failed", but with "try again". God is a God of the second chance. There were consequences of Jonah's disobedience. He failed and it was painful, but he lived and he gets a second chance. Again and again in scripture, this is God's way. People blow it and fail, but God in a sense says that his plan is greater than us and he is willing to pick us up when we fall and help us get our bearings and then sets us on the path of his plan again.

We can fail a thousand ways and God can still bring us back. It does not mean that the failure never happened, but it means that God uses failures and gives them second chances. It's always, "the great God of man", and not the other way around. God likes using weak and broken people and giving glory to himself though them. We do not overcome our weaknesses so we can stand up and fight, but we stand up and walk in God's blessings and assignments for us in our weaknesses. God uses cracked pots that leak.

He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.” So I’ll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power can rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

When God calls to Jonah the second time, it does not necessarily mean that Jonah is now, at that moment, ready for God's assignment to him. It means that God is ready and has something he wants done, that he wants said. All the heavy lifting is done by God, but God chooses to use people like Jonah, you, and me to be his representatives!

Grace Greater than Our Sin by Julia Johnson

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?

Back from the dead

2011-10-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. Jonah 2:10

Jonah had been saved from drowning and for that he was thankful. But, "what was next?", he might have thought. He didn't know, but he thought about God. He prayed to God, thanking him and worshiping him from that place of a living death. Jonah repented.

There is a time to get right with God and that time is always now. But to shake us awake, God provides awakening experiences for us that are rude and uninvited. If you are walking close to God and something bad happens in your life, you might cling to God and receive comfort from him. But, if you are distant from God, the pain is pointing you back to God. To be in need of God is good and normal. The crisis brings us into needing God and into coming home to the Father.

Jonah came to the end of himself and sought God. Jonah died to himself. Jonah's plans died. All he had left was God and to God he prayed to God he gave himself. Jonah surrendered to God. Jonah became subdued to God. In a sense, he became born again. He became a believer again, but this time, a surrendered worshiper and humble servant. Jonah had been humiliated and humbled.

Some have speculated that after three days inside the fish, Jonah's skin may have become permanently bleached from the fish's digestive secretions. This might be true, but we do know that his near death experience changed him, because of what he said to God after three days. He changed.

When we are filled with despair and hopelessness, do we seek God, turn from our selves, die to our selves, and repent? Do we consider God when we are at our lowest or forget him? Do we call to mind God's goodness when we are in trouble? Do we cast our selves onto God when we fail?

If we find our selves on a cross, suffering; will we look to Jesus and ask him to remember us, putting our hope in him who is also suffering but having done no wrong?

Prayers of a man facing death

2011-09-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

“I called out to the LORD in my distress, and he answered me.
From the belly of the underworld I cried out for help; you have heard my voice. You had cast me into the depths in the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounds me.
All your strong waves and rushing water passed over me.
So I said, ‘I have been driven away from your sight. Will I ever again look on your holy temple?
Waters have grasped me to the point of death; the deep surrounds me.
Seaweed is wrapped around my head at the base of the undersea mountains.
I have sunk down to the underworld; its bars held me with no end in sight.
But you brought me out of the pit.’ When my endurance was weakening, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. Those deceived by worthless things lose their chance for mercy.
But me, I will offer a sacrifice to you with a voice of thanks.
That which I have promised, I will pay.
Deliverance belongs to the LORD!”

-Jonah 2:2-9 (CEB)

Jonah's prayer is present focused. He is honest about where he is at. In that terrible place, he is thankful. He should be dead, but he is alive. He should have been obedient, but he still has God. He is God's child and a worshiper of God. Jonah is talking to God about what just happened. He recalls how that as he was about to die, he called out to God, and God saved his life.

Jonah quotes 8 psalms (1) in his prayer. Maybe this is a good idea for us too, as Bill Johnson says to, "read the Psalms until you hear your own voice". Jonah probably had memorized a lot of scripture, which is not a bad idea. If you have the Word stored up in your heart and mind, it can be useful when you are in a crisis or when you are lending help to another who needs God's Word.

From the deep and from the grave, as it were, Jonah prayed and God heard his prayer. God can hear our prayers no matter where we are. Jonah describes his hopeless situation, yet he was still alive and could still pray. Jonah recounts how he is a worshiper of the one true God and thanks God. In the dire straights, Jonah thanks God. What was there to be thankful for? That he was alive and could offer one honest prayer before dying, that he is a child of God, and he is thankful to God for all of who God is and what God does in his goodness. At death's door, Jonah is thankful. Jonah is getting right with God.

Jonah had been disobedient and he caused a bunch of people to get into trouble with the storm. Only after he was found out did he admit it was his fault. He requested that the men cast him off, into the sea. Reluctantly and after trying to get him to shore, the men sent Jonah to a likely death in the sea. Then, the unexpected happened when the great fish came along and swallowed Jonah. Jonah lived. With whatever life he had left, Jonah prayed. He didn't curse God, but praised him for deliverance from death. He didn't know if death was only delayed, but having the ability to pray, that is what Jonah did. After his ordeal in the sea and being in the fish for 3 days, Jonah prayed.

When we are trapped by life's circumstances, will we see the goodness of God and pray with thankfulness? That trap or cave or desert might be God's life-preserver for you. Can we thank God in all circumstances? Can we come into God's presence with thanksgiving? If we are facing death, can we be thankful and re-commit to be obedient, even if we only have minutes, hours, or days left? That is what Jonah did. He had a change of heart.

He also renews his promise to God. He does not strike a bargain, nor does he negotiate. He does not say, "if you", but just, "I will". I will keep my promise. He had not obeyed God earlier, but ran from God. Now, he says he will keep his promise. Jonah's heart has changed. Jonah's will has changed. His second to last words were going to be, "I'll be obedient now!"

Perhaps Jonah mused that God was going to give him a second chance? Jonah might have thought that God saved him from drowning for a reason and that God wanted a response from Jonah and what would it be? Jonah dug down deep within himself and prayed the scriptures he knew and sewed them together into a personal prayer.

Jonah's last words were not, "woe is me"; but, "deliverance belongs to the Lord". That was going to be his heart's final resting place. When we pray, how do we park it with God at the end? It is wise to surrender all and be worshipful at death. It is always good to have a thankful posture towards God and end up standing on words of God's faithfulness and goodness and powerfulness.

1. Psalm 3, 120, 118, 88, 42, 31, 69, and 50

Prayer time

2011-09-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish.
-Jonah 2:1

Jonah finally comes to the place of prayer. Jonah finally comes to the place when he will turn to God. Jonah finally comes to the place where he turns to God. Jonah comes to the place where his faith is quickened. He may be in pitch dark, but he gets clarity about God.

Sometimes it takes confinement by life's circumstances to get us to pray and for our faith to rise up into clarity about God. God may let us get boxed in so that we will cry out to Him and express faith that says, "you are my only hope and I am your child who puts his or her faith entirely in you".

There is no better time to start praying than now. It's never too late to start talking to God. Jonah waited until his circumstances went from bad to worse to terminal. God kept him alive, God saved him with the giant fish; so that he could pray, so that Jonah could reach out to God.

Jonah was headed towards death and God delayed and forestalled and kept death for Jonah at bay, so that Jonah could express himself and pray to God. Have you ever considered that people might have conversations, prayers, with God right before they die or think they are going to die?

Jonah was in the fish for some time before he prayed. He had time to reflect that he was not dead and that God had saved him. What was next, he did not know, but what he did know is that he was alive at that moment. From that place, he prayed.

We can pray to God from anywhere and at any time.

God saves Jonah

2011-09-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

-Jonah 1:17b

Jonah's story looked like it was coming to an end with his drowning at sea and then something unusual and unexpected happened. A great fish swallowed him and he was kept alive. He was saved by an USV, an unidentified swimming vehicle. Why three days and three nights? Three is one of the Bible's most often used numbers. Scholars have surmised that three means divine completion. Jewish sages, in their Talmud and Midrash literature, concluded that this scriptural phenomenon (of the third day motif) reveals a divine principle: God will rescue Israel, or a righteous person, on the third day of some great crisis. Also, Jonah's experience points to Christ and Jesus points back to Jonah.

Jesus talked about "the sign of Jonah" in Matthew 12:39-40 and in Luke 11:29-30:

But he replied, “An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign, but it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign. Just as Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three days and three nights, so the Human One (Son of Man) will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. ”
When the crowds grew, Jesus said, “This generation is an evil generation. It looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except Jonah’s sign. Just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Human One (Son of Man) will be a sign to this generation.”

Jesus authenticates Jonah's story. Jonah's assignment was to preach to Nineveh. Jonah's peculiar experience of being cast into the sea and swallowed by a great fish and kept alive or brought back to life after drowning was a sign, says Jesus. It was a miraculous sign, as Jesus’ resurrection from death would be.

It is ironic that a person's disobedience resulted in a sign from God that Jesus would later cite as an illustration of the sign to be given through his own life. Jonah may have had a prophetic ministry before the events in the book of Jonah, but in the events of the book he gains a testimony.

Jonah thought he was through, but God wasn't done with him. Jonah gave up, but God had a plan. Jonah "signed off." but God was prepared to make him a sign. A sign of God's mercy. a sign of God's sovereign grace. The man called dove would become a sign of God's mercy, of God rescuing, of God's care. When we see God's acts of mercy displayed, what will we do? After God shows us mercy, will we be merciful to others?

Going through a trial or through a dark night is an opportunity for growth. How much we grow in God is up to us. We have to process our experience in a way that we say yes to God for it to be transformative. Two people can go through the same trial or dark night and come out differently because of how they responded to God.

Jonah had the opportunity for growth and transformation in God. How much growth was up to Jonah. The experience in the dark, in the giant fish, is a big one. But Jonah's walk with God and his personal growth was not over. God walks with us and is fathering us for our maturing throughout our whole lives. Authentic maturity fosters humility in us that causes us to see that we need even more maturing from God.

Why all the sad songs (psalms)?

2011-09-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

"My whole being is filled with distress; my life is at the very brink of hell. I am considered as one of those plummeting into the pit. I am like those who are beyond help, drifting among the dead lying in the grave, like dead bodies— those you don’t remember anymore, those who are cut off from your power. You placed me down in the deepest pit, in places dark and deep. Your anger smothers me; you subdue me with it, wave after wave.
Selah
You’ve made my friends distant. You’ve made me disgusting to them. I can’t escape. I’m trapped! "
Psalm 88:3-8 (CEB)

This is one of the most depressing portions of scripture. It's hopeless. There's no faith in it. But why are scriptures like this in The Book? Because the experience told by the writer is real and it's endorsed by God. What? Words like Psalm 88 are deeply comforting to the person on whom calamity has struck. If you hear your own voice in the words of Psalm 88, you are comforted to know that it is okay with God to feel hopeless and in despair, to feel like you are in a bottomless pit of pain.

The third chapters of Job and Lamentations are similar to this. If the "lights have gone out" in your life, these passages can be comforting in that you come to realize that God affirms and endorses your processing of your losses.

The Fire of Delayed Answers by Bob Sorge is my reference and inspiration for this post

God prepares ahead to save us

2011-08-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah 1:17a (CEB)

The original Hebrew language says that Yahweh, The Lord; numbered or appointed or assigned or ordained; a great fish to swallow Jonah. This was a very unusual fish in that it could swallow and house a man, with enough air for three days. What is amazing and wonderful is that this was God's plan. God had a plan for Jonah, in Jonah's disobedience. God's plan defies human logic. A human plan might have had Jonah stay on the ship and repent there.

Maybe Jonah was not repentant on the ship. To me, repentance means to turn around and go the other way. To admit one's fault is only a step. Sometimes a person will admit fault, but not be willing to change their ways.

God selected a special vehicle to keep Jonah alive. God had an ordained plan for this large fish. The fish was numbered in that God had that fish's number, meaning that God always had this assignment on this fish's life. This fish would be born and grow to this huge size and end up crossing paths with Jonah at this very moment, swallow him, and save his life.

God knew beforehand that Jonah would be disobedient and planned for it. Isn't that good? Isn't that merciful? While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All those Christians who are in Christ today: Christ died for them while they were being obstinate. God, who stands outside time, goes ahead of us and prepares things for us.

God's saving work is out of left field. God saves us in unexpected ways. God saves us in creative ways. God saves us in miraculous ways. His ways are not our ways. God has people or animals along our path that he will use to help us. I was in real trouble once in the ocean myself, due to a rip-tide. A life-guard named James rescued me. Many times in my life, when I was going through a disorienting time, a mentor would come into my life and help me. God placed someone in my life who interceded with tears when I needed prayers the most. I remember a day when I was in humiliation (which I needed), among a group of men who were rough, and the leader was a Jesus filled, gracious man, who God sent into that day to bless me and care for me.

Jonah's worst day, the day he thought he would die, and die a failure; ended up being the day God saved him. Prodigal followers of God will get disciplined, but they also get saved. When you are a prodigal and your life is going south and you feel the discipline of your being out of sync with God and out of sync with the world, you may think that either hiding or dying is your only hope; but God wants to save you. God wants to reveal himself to the prodigal and show that person mercy, so they can show the person who has no idea of God his mercy. God has a plan for his mercy to be revealed and given and to capture men and women from the devil. We're all a part of that plan and his-story is of that plan. God can use anything to help his chosen ones to see his mercy and to get in line with his mission of mercy.

The terrible price of sin

2011-08-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

They said to him, “What will we do about you so that the sea will become calm around us?” (The sea was continuing to rage.)
He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea! Then the sea will become calm around you. I know it’s my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
The men rowed to reach dry land, but they couldn’t manage it because the sea continued to rage against them. So they called on the LORD, saying, “Please, LORD, don’t let us perish on account of this man’s life, and don’t blame us for innocent blood! You are the LORD: whatever you want, you can do.” Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. The men worshipped the LORD with a profound reverence; they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made solemn promises. -Jonah 1:11-16 (CEB)

Jonah has been found out and he admits it is his fault. He has progressed from hider to confessor. Those found to be guilty do not always admit guilt. Jonah finds mercy for others in his own heart, and says, "cast me into the sea and you and your ship will be saved."

Jonah is now putting others before himself. The ship's men have been kind to him and he is now being kind to them. In return, the sailors did not follow Jonah's advice. They instead had more mercy on him and tried to remedy their situation through their own efforts by attempting to row the ship to shore. This did not work. Sometimes our mercy can go beyond God's. Sometimes we are willing to settle something with someone before God has completed that person's discipline. It is good that someone has finally fessed up and admitted their sin, but God may be after a larger change of heart in that person. Yes, the change has begun, but it is perhaps not nearly complete. You rejoice at the person's course correction, but God may want them to completely turn around one-hundred and eighty degrees and in fact give him the steering wheel of their lives; to die so that they may truly live.

The ship's men's over extenting of mercy was an enabling of Jonah rather than the help he needed. The Prophet discerned and declared that the only way out for them all was for him to be thrown overboard. The sailors doing something else to try to save themselves without obeying the directive was not helping them nor Jonah, but made things worse.

After their failure the men didn't stubbornly continue to resist the terrible and difficult direction given by Jonah, nor did they quickly just do it. Instead, they cried out to God in prayer, getting honest with God and laying out their fears. Then, perhaps in solemnity, they cast Jonah into the sea as he had told them to. These men who had previously been afraid, were now in great fear of God; reverential awe of God and worshiped him.

The sailors have met God in an unusual way. A man who has been a follower of God, the one God, the creator; has sinned by running from God. His sin has brought trouble upon people that don't yet know God. In the midst of this trouble, the storm, these pagan men gain a knowledge of the one God and the man who is actively sinning against God pays the price for his sin and thereby saves the others from the destruction.

We see here how one person's sin affects others, even strangers. The calamitous storm affected them and the judgement that was due for Jonah affected the men also. For some reason, Jonah did not say, "I need to jump into the ocean", but instead he said, "hurl me into the sea". There is a picture here of how sin and the price to pay for it is not purely individual, but communal. Even nature is negatively affected and the animals suffer because of Adam & Eve's sin. The sailors had to touch Jonah and physically send him to his fate which they assumed was a sure death. But they could only do it solemnly after solemn and ardent prayers to their new found God, the almighty God. They might have wept. There is nothing in the story about their desire for revenge of a desire to bring justice.

We have a picture in Jonah of the terrible price for sin that Jesus paid. Unlike Jonah, he was obeying God. But like Jonah, he died so that others could live. The penalty for sin is death. I love the song, "oh happy day, oh happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away...", but that day when Jesus suffered and died was not a happy day. John and the two Marys were not happy about it as they watched him die. It was a very horrible event. But, paradoxically, it gloriously paid the price for all of our sins. That's where the fear of God and awe inspiring worship come in. If you can connect your sins to Jesus suffering to pay the price for them, does it not make you want to stop sinning? If you willfully go against God in disobedience, there might be a lack in your revelation of Jesus' suffering on the cross. I believe that salvation is not just an event, but a process. Some would say that a sinning believer is not a believer, because believers do not sin. I would say that believers sin because they are immature and God wants us all to grow to in Christ which is a partnering between us and God's Spirit in us. Unbelieving believers will encounter discipline from God if they are God's children in order to teach them obedience.

The unbelieving believer and his God

2011-08-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. -Jonah 1:9-10 (ESV)

Finally Jonah speaks. His self-disclosure goes straight to the point of why he is the cause of the storm. His 'people group' is Hebrew. He says that he fears the creator God. Most less literal Bible translations have Jonah instead saying that, "I worship the LORD". Jonah is saying that in the midst of this calamitous storm, in which you believe that someone has upset a god and the lots pointed to me as the one who has caused it; here is the information about me and my God.

But, the sailors had asked him, "what is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" Jonah simply answers what people he is a part of, which tells you what religion he embraces, what God he worships, and the geographic area he is from. This is Jonah's identity, a God fearing Hebrew. That's who he is. What he is doing (running from God's presence) is the other important part of his disclosure. There is no mention of Jonah's occupation, line of work, or what he "does". We can imagine that in his homeland, he might have been known as a Prophet, but at this moment, he only identifies himself as a God fearing Hebrew. Prophets were perhaps know as such because of their prophetic ministries. Jonah is running from his calling, gift, function, role, and office of Prophet.

Jonah had just witnessed what we might call a pagan sailor's prayer meeting. We don't know if there were any other Hebrews in the group, but it was implied that they were calling out to a variety of gods other than the God of the Hebrews that Jonah worshiped. Jonah says, "this is who my God is and I'm running away from him."

Notice that Jonah did not say, "and I am afraid of God". Fear of God and afraid of God are different. Fear of the Lord or God has to do with reverence and awe, respect and a bowing down to worship. Reverential fear of God leads to a life of obedience and worship. Reverential fear of God comes from a belief in God's almighty power. Most people who have this experience also believe in God's goodness, His love and mercy. But to walk in reverential fear of the Lord is to always have in mind the almightyiness of God, that God is supreme; supremely to be loved and obeyed and served.

The problem with Jonah's story that does not add up is that if his modus operandi or way of life is that he is a God follower, a follower of the top God, the creator God; and he says that he is a follower of God in that he says he fears this God. Then why is he disobeying God? Jonah will go on to tell the sailors that he is on the run from God, but at the same time he says it is the capital "G" God who surely has the power to get him back. He believes in God, is a God tribe member, and fears God; but he is willfully disobeying God. What?

On hearing Jonah, the men become afraid and say, "what is this that you have done". Literally, they say, "how could you do this?" Edward B. Pusey, in The Minor Prophets, writes, "The inconsistency of believers is the marvel of the young Christian, the repulsion of those without, the hardening of the unbeliever... Faith without love, knowledge without obedience, conscious dependence and rebellion, to be favored by God yet despise His favor, are the strangest marvels of this mysterious world. All nature seems to cry out against the rebellious Christian, "why hast thou done this! ...But to know, to believe, and to disobey! To disobey God in the name of God!... Such unrealities and inconsistencies would be a sore trial of faith had it not Jesus, Who knew what was in man (John 2:25), forewarned us that it would be so."1.

So, what do we make of this paradox? What will Jonah's story tell us about the unbelieving believer? Even though the book of Jonah is named after this man who's name means "dove", he really is not the center of the book or the story. God is the central person in this story. So far, the story seems to be telling us that when we run from God, he pursues us. God's mercy is relentless. God acts with mercy toward the disobedient, unbelieving believer; but God does it with discipline that is firm but gentle.

There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in His justice,
Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows
Are more felt than up in Heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
Have such kindly judgment given.

There is welcome for the sinner,
And more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Savior;
There is healing in His blood.

There is grace enough for thousands
Of new worlds as great as this;
There is room for fresh creations
In that upper home of bliss.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

There is plentiful redemption
In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members
In the sorrows of the Head.

’Tis not all we owe to Jesus;
It is something more than all;
Greater good because of evil,
Larger mercy through the fall.

If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.

Souls of men! why will ye scatter
Like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts! why will ye wander
From a love so true and deep?

It is God: His love looks mighty,
But is mightier than it seems;
’Tis our Father: and His fondness
Goes far out beyond our dreams.

But we make His love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify His strictness
With a zeal He will not own.

Was there ever kinder shepherd
Half so gentle, half so sweet,
As the Savior who would have us
Come and gather at His feet?

-Frederick William Faber, 1854

1. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, p. 404; Funk, 1885

The picture above is taken from the cover of Tara Soughers book Fleeing From God

Tell us about yourself

2011-08-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

So they said to him, “Tell us, since you’re the cause of this evil happening to us: What do you do and where are you from? What’s your country and of what people are you?” -Jonah 1:8 (CEB)

The finger of God had pointed to Jonah in the lots and now the sailors gathered round him and began to question him. When we go on a journey in a vehicle with strangers, we don't always get the chance to become acquainted, but sometimes we do. In the story of Jonah, the other passengers and crew members were happy to let him remain anonymous. He was just "passenger x" to them. But, the crisis that arose and the determination of the lots that pointed to Jonah brought up the question of, "who are you?" "We would not have asked, we would have let you remain anonymous; but now your problems have become our problems", the sailors might have said.

The sailors and the author of Jonah are illustrating a communal cause and affect of sin. One person's sin or disobedience is affecting a whole group of people. The way we live today is with the notion that each individual lives their own separate life and we all have our little box we live in and we do not affect each other and our box is no body's business but our own. Husbands, for example, might have a separate life from their wives that is secret. In spiritual or religious fellowships, we may keep much of our lives and our selves secret. While we need privacy and we may not be ready to "tell all", it is possible that in our culture, rugged individualism has trumped self-disclosure and transparency. How can you walk with me if you don't know me?

The sailors have four questions for Jonah, in order to try to learn more about him and why he has invited this calamity. They don't judge him or jump to conclusions about him. While it's pretty obvious that he is in some kind of trouble and that his problem has become their problem, they remain compassionate or at least clinical. How often do we condemn someone before hearing their story? How often do we judge someone by appearances? Asking questions aimed at learning more about a person and nudging them towards self-disclosure is very different than just judging them. How many times when we find out the whole story, does our opinion about someone change. Suspending judgement is a very good default position to be in towards people. Isn't that why the Bible is so clear on the fact that we are not to judge or condemn people. Only God knows the whole story of a person and has the right to judge them.

We can break down judgements into two categories. The judgements of God are like when a judge makes a judgement. Only God is "the judge". We are not the judge. But we can make judgements or exclamatory evaluations. Unlike the evaluation that it is warm outside, when some one is talking too loud, I make that judgement and ask them to talk softer. When someone almost hits my car or is about to drive in front of me, I can make a judgement that they don't see me and that danger is imminent and honk my horn. When there are 12 pieces of chicken on a plate and we have 4 people at the table who all are sharing the chicken and someone takes 6 pieces, we have a right to judge that action and say "hey" to that person; but that isn't a final judgement or condemnation of them.

Rather than judge Jonah, the sailors sought to know who he was are where he was from. They didn't get him at all. They wanted to know his story because they have been thrust into the position of helping him get resolution. No shaming, or condemning; but just, "who art thou?"

Jonah is found out

2011-08-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, the sailors said to each other, “Come on, let’s cast lots so that we might learn who is to blame for this evil that’s happening to us.” They cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
-Jonah 1:7 (CEB)

Jonah was taken upside, to the prayer meeting. We don't know how much or if Jonah prayed, but we can be sure that he did not take the opportunity to tell the men that he had some issues with God, in that he was disobeying God. He did not confess his sins before the men aloud. I imagine that after some time, after they had all been calling out to the gods in prayer; that the storm had not let up. It was still very dangerous. At this point, they decided to take action before it was too late. they would cast lots to find out who's fault this was.

The casting of lots was not seen as magical or mechanical in it's ability to point, but it was believed that the divine would and could enter into the lots and make them point at the one chosen person. Proverbs 16:33 states that, "The dice (lots) are cast into the lap; all decisions are from the LORD." God can enter into casting lots and that is what happens here.

Casting lots is never a substitute for discerning God's will through knowing the revealed will of God already revealed in scripture or through common sense. Casting lots is only meant to be a means of last resort and should only be done by divine inspiration. Imagine a group of seven people, where the group agrees that one must be left to do a certain task and no one volunteers, no one "feels led" of God, and all other things are equal. In other words, no one is the obvious choice. They pray about it and no divine leading comes. Time is passing and a choice must be made, so they cast lots to make a decision. It's like drawing straws with one short one in the bunch.

The lot falls on Jonah. Spotlight time. Stand up and speak. What do you say? It's like suddenly having those red and blue flashing lights come on behind you that say, "pull over". Public humiliation and shame at being found out.

No one was preparing gallows for the one who's fault the storm was. They just wanted to know and then wanted that person to deal with whatever the cause was. These men were pious to some extent, evidenced by their ardent prayers.

So, Jonah is found out. He finds that he could not escape God incognito and start a new life. He might have said he's through with God, but God was not through with him. God had not given up on this man. Jonah probably did not have those insights at that time. As a child does not understand discipline in the midst of it, the loving parent is doing it with the maturing of the child in mind.

The storm was used by God to arrest Jonah. The storm was like God's military police who were sent to capture a man who was absent without leave. The sailors theorized this and were correct. God is good and wise and loving. God is doing this for Jonah's best. God is actually kind in the storm. There could have been a lighting bolt, splitting the boat in two or setting it on fire; but God only sent wind and waves that rocked the boat.

Jonah was found out. He hid and has been found. It's a good thing to be found out in your sin, because then you can openly confess it and get clean through God's forgiveness. You can ask forgiveness of the people you've hurt as well. You get to be redeemed, you get to be set free. You may have nothing, but you no longer have your sin and guilt and now you can embrace God. That's what Jonah was about to be given the opportunity to step into. Better to have failed and be stripped, but to be reconciled to God than to have success and be clothed in comfort with many friends and to be estranged from God.

Better to lose all and gain relationship with God than to attain all, but lose relationship with God. That is what God is after with you and me. I am Jonah and so are you. (Hat tip to Father Joseph of Redwood Valley, California; for that phrase and the graphic.)

Get up, call out and perhaps

2011-08-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

The ship’s officer came and said to him, “How can you possibly be sleeping so deeply? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps the god will give some thought to us so that we won’t perish.” Jonah 1:6

Have you ever been depressed? Depressed people sometimes sleep a lot. Depressed people are people who are losing hope. Hopelessness is very different than conviction of sin leading to repentance. The depressed person has disqualified themselves from redemption. They are beyond saving, in their own minds. Depressed people are more pessimistic than optimistic. Depressed people are inward focused. They don't consider other people, nor consider God as much as outward focused people do.

The ship's officer does not ask why Jonah is sleeping and he does not shame or accuse him. He just observes Jonah's behavior as being completely out of line with the present circumstances and calls him to get with it. He says, "what is this?"and "get with it".

The officer's command to, "get up and call on your god", are very similar to God's call to Jonah to, "go to Ninevah and preach". It's a second call, similar to the first. He didn't get up and go speak the first time and now in different circumstances, the call to get up and speak, but to God this time, is repeated. It's ironic that he would not heed the call of God and now he will have to heed the call of a man. Wake up, get up, go up, and call out. Just do it. You didn't go when God called you and now a more brute force in a possibly pagan man is calling you a second time and he'll make you do it if you resist. Go!

Sometimes when we call upon a depressed person to get to work and join in, the depressed person may decline, saying that they are too weak, too broken, too sinful, or too wounded. This is the right thing to do. Joining in and being a part of the work is the best thing for the depressed person.

The ship's officer calling Jonah to duty is a picture of this. The "therapeutic approach" or sensitively noticing that this person is very dysfunctional in that they are asleep during a crisis, and letting them sleep or giving them talk therapy or a healing prayer session; would be all wrong. There's a phrase they say in the twelve step fellowships, "it works if you work it", that comes to my mind.

There is something powerful about getting up and doing something when you are depressed. In a fellowship setting, the depressed person who thinks they are of no value and are better off in bed or on the couch or in the recliner while all the "healthy people" do the "work", is better off working. Better to be a fellowship of the walking wounded.

The ship's captain enjoins Jonah to join the prayer meeting. It was "all hands on deck". What was the common prayer request? Mercy. In the desperate situation of the storm, they were calling out to every god they knew of for mercy. The captain said, "perhaps the god will give some thought to us so that we won't perish". Perhaps means we have to try, we have to ask.... It looks terrible, but perhaps. Just at least ask and perhaps we could be saved. Don't just assume we are doomed, but ask for mercy; for help or rescue. The captain is saying that, "we have not given up, but seeing that there is nothing more we can do to save ourselves, we are calling upon the gods, and I want you, Jonah, to call upon your god with us. Perhaps your god will hear and answer in saving us."

This is very good advice, to always pray no matter what and no matter how dire the circumstances are; to not stop praying. Perhaps God will intervene. Perseverance. Don't give up. Perhaps God will do something good. God is good. Persistence and perseverance in prayer are good Biblical ideas. The Bible says to do these things. Pray until something happens.

Perhaps is an attitude. Perhaps God will heal. Perhaps God will save. Perhaps God will deliver. Perhaps God will give you the desire of your heart that He perhaps put there. Perhaps God will bring revival. Perhaps God will save the most sinful people you can think of. People that say "perhaps" are people open to and desperate for the move of God.

Oh my God, please help me!

2011-07-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

The sailors were terrified, and each one cried out to his god. They hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to make it lighter. Now Jonah had gone down into the hold of the vessel to lie down and was deep in sleep. Jonah 1:5

"Most sailors are pious." -The Talmud
"He that would learn to pray, let him go to sea." -George Herbert

Have you ever really been in trouble and cried out to God? It was probably not at a church or religious meeting. It happened to me in the ocean. I cried out for God to save me and a man named James did. Other people I know have had a similar experience in the hospital. I know someone else who cried out to God while in a plane that was in real danger.

When you are in a real crisis, it's just you and you need God's help. I was alone, without my friends, family, church, car, or home. It was just me in the mighty ocean. As big and powerful as the ocean is, God is bigger and more powerful. I had the most profound experience of being in need of God's intervention. That was the experience of the sailors in Jonah's story.

The sailors also threw all of their cargo overboard to lighten the ship's load. In the storm that was so powerful that they knew it could wreck their ship, they not only called out to their gods, but they did what they could do to make the ship lighter, which would make it ride the storm better. They gave up their commercial enterprise and took the loss of their goods in order to try to save themselves.

The text says that "each one cried out to his own god". This is a matter of fact statement that these sailors were probably not believers in the the God of of the Hebrews. The point I think that the writer of the story makes is not to evaluate the sailors theology, but to take note of their ardent prayers. They were grabbing for the only levers they knew.

We don't know the theology of the sailors, but we do know that they were crying out to God or a god in their own way. Perhaps the main reason that the author notes this is to contrast their actions to what Jonah was doing or not doing at the same time.

There are many people who believe, but don't belong to a fellowship of believers. There are also many people who belong to the fellowship of believers, who themselves are not believers. We can be fooled into believing that attending religious meetings and even serving and knowledge make one a believer. There are people who are members and even leaders who are only doing so because it "looks good". It looks good on your life resume. But that person's secret relationship with God is zero.

There are many people who like Jesus but are put off with the church. Church people think that these folks need to get in line and come home. But what if the truth is that the church is full of unbelieving believers and the world is full of wandering saints? What if the pagan sailors in Jonah's story were closer to the heart of God than his chosen Prophet?

The word "church" is very misunderstood today. Most people know that it does not mean "building". But it also does not mean institution or service or system or club-house, nor class-room, army, hospital, nor ministry. Church means gathering. A gathering is a group of people. It has nothing to do with a pastor preaching or offerings taken or a worship services. These are all traditions that we've added on. When Jesus said, "I will build my church", he was saying he would build his group of people, gathered around him; who he later said would, "go into all the earth to preach and make disciples".

What does that have to do with Jonah's story? The point is that God is all about saving people and calling people to himself. The story of Jonah gets us out of the building and into the streets. Where is God? Is God there at your religious meeting and you go there to find God and feel good being with God? Or is God on the streets and in the ship in danger on the high seas? Isn't the meeting a place to go to after having adventures with God among people who don't know Him? Look at Jesus with his disciples around the fire at night, gathered.

What if this ship with it's sailors on the ocean is a picture of the the people of our world in a storm. The people of God, who know God, who have the good news are there too; but off in a corner, asleep! That's bad news. But the good news is that the center of God's story and God's plan is not his people or his called and activated ones. God is the center. It is His story. God uses people, but people do not bring salvation. The message remains true even when the messengers are flawed. God being God, has work-arounds.

Hard discipleship

2011-07-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, so that there was a great storm on the sea; the ship looked like it might be broken to pieces. Jonah 1:4

Jonah had a clear assignment from the Lord and he instead did the opposite. God's "Plan A" seemed too hard. Jonah didn't know that it was a "Plan A" and that "Plan B" would be harder. When we disobey because we believe that obedience is too hard, we actually send ourselves into "the school of hard knocks." It is ironic that the low road ends up being more painful than the steep path we avoided.

When we have not died to ourselves (Matthew 16:24), we are living for ourselves and we measure things by, "What's in it for me," "How will this make me feel," or "Is this convenient for me?" We evaluate requests from others and from God through our self(ishness).

God had to "bring the bottom up" for Jonah. We might know someone who is going through some hard discipline. We try to rescue them when they have not yet learned their lesson, yielded to God, died to self, or hit bottom. Then God will have to send another, perhaps bigger storm into that person's life in order to bring them to obedience.

In this story, God sent the storm; but every storm is not sent by God. When Jesus calmed the storm (Mark 4:37-39), it was not a storm that God had sent. By the same token, every earthquake and storm is not sent by God to discipline humanity.

Lastly, I believe that we can infer from Jonah, that in his story, God sent the storm because of his disobedience. God loves the whole world and desires that all humanity be saved. But it is God's children who God disciplines, also out of love. What we have here is a calamity coming upon a group of people because of the one person, of whom the story is about. This one person has a problem in his relationship with God that God is dealing with. The storm affects everyone around the one person that God is disciplining.

I think that Christians often think that storms are hitting them or their area because of the "sinners," when it is really God trying to get the attention of the believers. Remember 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who belong to me will humbly pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."

Five gears in reverse

2011-07-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

One day long ago, God's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son: "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer." But Jonah got up and went the other direction, running away from God. He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish—as far away from God as he could get. Jonah 1:1-3 (MSG)

Here we have the account of the prophet of God doing the opposite of what God told him to do. It is peculiar in that it is the only example of this kind of behavior from the "capital P" Prophets of the Old Testament. It's interesting that the text says that Jonah wanted to get as far away from God as possible. It was like God said to him that he was on the move in Nineveh, and God wanted Jonah to go there and speak and Jonah said, with his feet, "No way, I do not want to go; I will go the opposite way to get away from going with you."

Was Jonah afraid the Ninevites would kill him? Or did Jonah fear that his preaching, with God in it, would cause these "bad" people to repent? Maybe in Jonah's mind they did not deserve a chance to repent. He was perhaps hoping that God would just send a natural disaster or raise up an invading army to take care of them.

We have the luxury of reading the whole book of Jonah and finding out what happens in the end, but at this point, Jonah had a decision to make about following God. He made the wrong decision. But, even when we make a wrong decision, it's not always the end of the story; because God's graciousness, goodness, mercy, and love are always greater than our stubborn, dumb, foolish disobedience.

God moved to call Jonah, and Jonah moved away from God. The drama here is, will God respond to Jonah's doing the opposite? Does God pursue those who run from him? Jonah said in a sense, "this assignment is too hard, too crazy, not fair, and doesn't make sense! So I quit! I'm going to get as far away from you and this job!"

Jonah really reacted strongly and impulsively. God's assignment for him really touched a nerve. This story illustrates that the people God chooses to use are not perfect; far from it. Mysteriously, God chooses to gloriously gift people who will break under that gifting. It doesn't make sense from our perspective. We want to train people and get them mature enough to handle the anointing and the responsibilities. When a person in ministry gets into trouble, we look and say things like they should not have been ministering on that scale because of their brokenness. But all through the Bible, God chooses to use people that have major issues. It offends us. We are vexed and perplexed.

Jonah was broken in that he could not, or would not, go with God to Nineveh. We're surprised, but God wasn't. God cares about Nineveh, but he also cares about Jonah and he's going to teach us something through his craziness. This guy is going to end up being someone that Jesus mentions. Neither Jonah nor Nineveh are the center of the story. God is the focus. What's God going to do? What will be revealed about God?

Jonah becomes a prodigal son, a wayward son. We can only imagine why, but he chooses to leave the Father's house. Unlike the boy in Jesus' story, Jonah just cuts and runs. He does what he feels he has to do. He wants to get away.

The good news is that we know it's not the end for Jonah. It won't be a happily ever after ending as he fades into obscurity. Because unlike fleeing a human or a place, he has fled God. God can go anywhere. God is not just among the people of God and God is not just in the assignments he has for them. God is everywhere.

You might feel disconnected from the people of God. You might be among people who do not seem religious or spiritual - "people God has forgot." But it's not true. God is aware of people everywhere; people who are religious and people who are not.

Jonah has completely gone the opposite way of God. He doesn't say he has ceased to believe, nor does he say anything negative about God. It's all about his issues. For whatever reason, he says, "No, I can't do that," and then he sort of shamefully runs to hide. Will God seek the hider? What will it take before Jonah decides to call out and ask God to help him? What needs to change in Jonah for him to get into alignment with God's heart?

If you or I have run from God, or away from where God spoke to us, we're in for a revelation that God still sees us and will pursue us. Even if we've gone off the rails of God's plan, God still has a plan, and He has a plan to get us back on His plan. It's not over because you messed up.

Who is your father?

2011-07-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:
Jonah 1:1

The opening of Jonah's book draws to our attention who's son he was. Many, but not all Bible narratives do this. Adam was directly created by God and Jesus has always been God's only and unique Son of God. Jesus was also fathered by Joseph. He was also mothered by Mary. Jonah had a dad named Amittai. You and I also have fathers. Some of us never knew them, some of us had step-fathers.

When Jesus was living his life, he had a vigorous discussion with the religious leaders of his day, who said they were (spiritual) sons of Abraham. This is in John, chapter 8, verses 12 to 58. Jesus told them that his father is God and that if Abraham was among them, he would have been kind to him; unlike the way they were treating him. He told these guys that their father was the devil.

God is fathering people and so is the devil. What is fathering? Who has been fathering you? Can you lack fathering, but not be fathered by the devil; or can you be a good person and father yourself, if you haven't had a father? Who are you fathering or mothering, if you are a woman?

These are all important questions. The leaders who stood against Jesus, who declared himself to be, "the way, the truth, and the life", (John 14:6); had lost their fathering from God at some point and instead hailed their lineage from Abraham as their validation of superiority. Jesus reveals who is truly behind them and fueling their hate. This probably shocked and offended them. They were serving the devil without knowing it just like Bob Dylan wrote in his song, "You Got to Serve Somebody": "it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you got to serve somebody".

How have you been fathered and mothered towards godliness? Have you received nurture towards God, or have you been a rugged individual, or has being fathered and mothered not even been on your map? What do father's and mother's give us that we need and if we don't get it, what happens to us?

Where is the church in this issue of fathering and mothering and how are we doing at it? How do people who were not nurtured in the faith by their parents get fathered and mothered in Christ? Should this be a part of the core of church life? If so, then how does the time spent with church, in church, among the church; bring about this raising up of sons and daughters?

The truth of God

2011-07-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:
Jonah 1:1, New Living Translation

Johah's father's name was Amittai, which means, "the truth of God". The Hebrew word Amittai comes from the Hebrew word Emeth, wich in English means veracious, which means, "speaking or representing the truth".

I wrote earlier that Jonah means dove, which symbolizes peace. I would add that dove also sometimes symbolizes mourning- "mourning dove", which holds the idea of processing grief. Prophets are heartbroken people who are interceding for people who are disconnected from God.

Jonah's father's name is also prophetic or foretelling of Jonah's commission to speak God's truth. Perhaps this name befell him because it said, "this man is telling the truth of God." It also speaks of Jonah's message just being the simple truth. It's not some complicated plan or program. God's ways may be hard and challenging if you've been going another way, but they are not complex or sophisticated. Untangling lies and deceits is complicated, but God's love and repentance are simple.

"All I am offering is the truth", is the side note to the prophetic message. You have believed in lies perhaps and built yourself upon them and invested in them. The truth might be astonishing. The messenger is only responsible for delivering the message, not adding to it. One person called adding to God's words, "hamburger helper". If you are called to speak for God, it may seem outlandish or too good to be true or out of this world. Our job is not to edit the word or spin it or put in caveats. Our assignment is just to give what we get. We may get in the way if we try to immediately interpret the word if it comes in a parabolic or dark speech type of package. It's ok to say, "I don't know or I'm not sure what this means, but this is what I heard or saw."

I watched the beginning of the film, "The Trip To Bountiful", this past week; and the opening titles contain a portion of the song, "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling". Jesus is still calling.

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.

O for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.

Will L. Thompson, 1880

God calling

2011-07-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

One day the LORD told Jonah...
The Lord gave this message to Jonah...
-Jonah 1:1a (CEV, NLT)

When was the last time God told you something? Have you learned to hear God's voice? Do you need to be prophetic to hear God or should all of God's children be able to hear his voice? I believe that we can all hear (John 10) and that we can cultivate a hearing ear by being attentive (Matthew 11:15, Revelation 2:17, and 3:22).

To hear, the hearer must be a listener; but also the speaker must speak. The story of Jonah begins with God's initiative. God got the idea, God gave the order to Jonah. God initiated. Does the Bible teach us that we should only do things that God initiates? No, the Bible teaches us that God gives us wisdom on how to conduct our lives and there are many standing assignments that are for God's people for all time, such as "love one another", and "go and make disciples of all nations."

When God spoke to Jonah, it was the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. Heaven sent a message to a person on what the King wanted done on earth through this chosen vessel. God chose to speak something and chose to speak it to someone. It didn't matter to Jonah if God was speaking to anyone else. When God spoke to him, it was a direct message, order, or assignment. God, being God; and we, not being God, are to be obedient to God. Sounds silly to state it, but human history is filled with us ignoring God's instructions and guidance and instead playing god or building false gods. There is only one God, who is good and righteous. The whole issue of, "is that you, God?"; is another topic, but in summary, God, being God, can make himself clear and make us know it is really Him speaking. God knows if we're having trouble hearing him because of our human frailty. He knows when we are deliberately not listening or disobeying and when we need help in hearing.

(image from Kar Keat at Mandarin Youth Ministry)

Jonah

2011-07-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

I got the idea that the book of Jonah contains some answers about God's will for my life and maybe for yours too. The word Jonah means dove, which also means peaceful being, or gift from God. The name Jonah is a reminder of God's gift, the prince of peace, Jesus Christ. God gave this gift out of love and out of His compassion and Mercy. Christ died for all. No one is too bad to be redeemed by his precious blood. Dove also reminds us of The Spirit of God, who was described as landing on Jesus as a dove. In the Song of Solomon, the lover describes his beloved as a dove. God's people are peaceful, come and go in peace. God's people carry gifts, are gifted, and are even gifts themselves through the operation of the Spirit of God.

The book of Jonah is about death, burial, and resurrection in Christ.

(This picture is from Father Joseph of Redlands, CA)

Come up higher

2011-07-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

After this I looked and there was a door that had been opened in heaven. The first voice that I had heard, which sounded like a trumpet, said to me, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

Then I looked, and, oh!—a door open into Heaven. The trumpet-voice, the first voice in my vision, called out, "Ascend and enter. I'll show you what happens next."

Revelation 4:1, (CEB & The Message)

I got this idea that what God is after with us is to bring us into a place where we walk under an open heaven. Three years ago, I had been calling out for breakthrough and instead, I received prayerful counsel that what I really needed was an open heaven. Part of what an open heaven means is hearing God and seeing things from God's perspective. An open heaven is when God comes into your situation. An open heaven is transformative in ways that a breakthrough is not. Simply put, a breakthrough reveals the acts of God; while an open heaven reveals the ways of God. The acts of God are wonderful and we desperately need them, broadly and individually. But open heaven people are becoming breakers in God. Open heaven people are healers in many dimensions rather than just people who have received healing and believe in it and pray for it. They are 24-7 dwellers in God rather than event/time/place limited experiencers. Open heaven people have experiences in God all week and then meet with the church, rather than waiting for and anticipating and seeking God at church meetings.

Many of us have experienced trials and even tribulations these past two to ten years. In all this, God has been calling us to a higher place. This week, Marsha Burns, a prophetic leader from Colorado, wrote, "The realization struck me that we are at the end of a two-year transition. It's been a rather difficult two years with lots of changes, and we had to let go of things that represented safety and security to us. As I pondered this time of transition, I could see that God has brought us to a higher and yet a more profound place in Him that we would not have discovered or achieved apart from this transition." Change has been happening and things will never be like they were before. I believe God has been after transformation with us. He wants to give us things, those things we pray for. But more than that he wants us. He wants a more godly people who resemble his son.

When you feel like God has forgotten you

2011-07-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you forget me, LORD? Forever?
Long enough, God— you've ignored me long enough.

How long will you hide your face from me?
I've looked at the back of your head long enough. Long enough.
Will it be forever? How long will you hide?

Psalm 13:1 (TNIV, CEB, MSG, & CEV)

Does your waiting seem forever, like it is never going to end?

Bob Sorge shares many helpful insights in his book, "The Fire of Delayed Answers: are you waiting for your prayers to be answered?" The book boils down to this statement, "Sometimes God delays the answers to our prayers to produce a greater maturity and fruitfulness in us."1

Four times, in Psalm 13, David says, "How long?" The delay has been long enough that it's begun to irritate, begun to seem too long for the soul. When we wait, a dying occurs in us. Things come out of our hands and are layed down and offered as sacrifice. We thought we were walking with God closely, but when God seems distant, when God delays coming, when the old ways don't work anymore; there then has to be a breaking, a death. In that brokenness process and death to self process, we end up with God only and we end up in God only.

When we are finally done with misconceiving God, of accusing him, of being mad, of pouting; we come back to simple trust in God, who is unfailingly loving. We also come down to the simple and solid theology of God is good. Yes, it feels like and looks like God is failing, but that's not true. Looks and feels like God is not good, but God is good. These are affirmatives, but not just affirmations. They are eternal forever truths.

The cry of "how long" is from the middle of something. The end may be death and release from a sick body. The end may be deliverance or healing. The end may be the answer. But, the "how long" cry comes in the middle of a process that God is watching over. Many Psalms and just out and out full on praise anthems, but many other Psalms are process songs and poems: open-hearted laments.

No matter where we are in our journey, with the exception of the 1% that are at the beginning or end, we are all in the middle. We never get to the point where we complete a 'level', then say to God, "thanks, I'll take it from here."

Footnote:
1. Ryan Jones, Fire Of Delayed Answers study guide. Available in Word or PDF.

Be encouraged, Elijah

2011-06-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Elijah said to the people,"I am the last of the Lord's prophets." (1 Kings 18:22)

(Elijah replied), "I am the only one left, and now they want to take my life too." (1 Kings 19:10)

He (Elijah) said , "I am the only one left, and now they want to take my life too." (1 Kings 19:14)

Then the Lord said, "But I have preserved those who remain in Israel, totaling seven thousand—all those whose knees haven’t bowed down to Baal and whose mouths haven’t kissed him." (1 Kings 19:18)

Elijah, the great Prophet, thought he was the only one left who was serving the Lord. Did you get that? This capital "P" Prophet was mistaken. He was very discouraged. He seriously thought he was the last man standing for God. He wasn't off by one or two, but thousands.

Maybe you are a prophetic person or an intercessor. You've had a glimpse of how things ought to be, but things are quite the opposite. A pit fall for you is discouragement that can turn to resentment towards people and even towards God.

Prophets and intercessors need fellowship and encouragement too. You need people who "get you" and people who have a different passion, but for the same Christ, who love you without condition. Let's work this thing out together.

Orientation

2011-06-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

What's your orientation? Orientation has to do with what you are pointed towards. A simple compass points north. It points north when you are moving north, standing still, or moving in a different direction. Christians are pointed toward a person who is Christ. Seems obvious, but we need to be reminded of the simplicity and genius of God's plan. You point to, follow, believe in, put your faith in, give your life to and daily pursue Christ; you are a Christian. Christian means Christ-follower. To follow means to be oriented towards. Simple yet deep. It's personal, relational. Great God of man. He calls us and adopts us to be his children in and through Christ. We were lost and God showed us or revealed to us his love in Christ. Christ died for sinners and we received salvation or rescue by Christ. We became one of Christ's disciples which means followers in that he is teaching us God's ways for people to live. Christians have Christ orientation.

We get disoriented in life. Sometimes we get disappointed and we have to re-orientate. Sometimes Jesus or God seems distant. We have God's word to re-oriented us and we have the fellowship of fellow sojourners to encourage us. Sometimes we get disillusioned, confused, angry, depressed, afraid, or feel thrown overboard and upside down under water. We need to re-orientate. Go back to the simplicity of walking with Jesus my savior. I don't know about this or that, but I know he loves me. Orientation. It is affirmative, but not just an affirmation, but truth; the truth that I'm growing in throughout my lifetime.

Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones (that's me) to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.

But wait, there's more. Jesus also says that he won't leave us feeling like orphans, or feeling at a loss of him (John 14:18). So he asked the Father who sends you the Holy Spirit to comfort you, help you, guide you, empower you (John 14:16-19). Who is the Holy Spirit's favorite person, favorite subject? Jesus.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus by Helen H. Lemmel

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conqu’rors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

How to survive the storm

2011-06-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Safe rooms, storm cellars, safe houses, building high, building low; and moving away, but where to? These are some of the things people are thinking about in regards to future storms, floods, or earthquakes. There are also economic, societal, and governmental catastrophes that may occur.

Jesus says that storms will come and to be ready. How does he say to be ready? At the end of the sermon on the mount, Jesus says that the key to surviving storms and floods in life is to put his words into practice. That is what discipleship is: Following Jesus, listening to him, reading his words and putting them into practice; with each other. The big mistake is to hear the words of Jesus, perhaps study them, and even know them so well, that you can teach them to others; but not to practice them! Sounds crazy, but this seems to be our problem at least in the part of the American christian culture that I have been familiar with. It's much harder to live it than to know it. God is after changed lives and transformation. That's real learning, when you become what you have learned. Jesus warns us that hearing him is only the beginning and that we must do it and become it; be disciples and not just observers.

We would be wrong to take away that Jesus has formed a new law centered religion that builds on Moses but Jesus is the new law giver. The larger context of Jesus whole message, that the sermon on the mount is found inside of, is the message of the kingdom of God. Jesus has come, declaring God's kingdom. This message is part of that: how to live. But, we also need God to live it. We die daily as another writer would say and the Holy Spirit helps us, empowers us in our weak flesh to live out Jesus ethic. Jesus way here is full of grace, which means a fail-safe environment. There's grace to fail, grace to try, grace to cry. Jesus is saying that you must try. You can't do nothing and make it through storms.

“Everybody who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise builder who built a house on bedrock. ²⁵ The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house. It didn’t fall because it was firmly set on bedrock. ²⁶ But everybody who hears these words of mine and doesn’t put them into practice will be like a fool who built a house on sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house. It fell and was completely destroyed.” Matthew 7:24-27 (CEB)

The church is a menagerie

2011-06-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

The French word menagerie is often used to describe a collection of wild animals kept in captivity. Menagerie can also be defined as, "a diverse or miscellaneous group". Menagerie comes from "menager", which means "to keep house", or "to husband". The word husband has at it's core, the idea of care-taking: "animal husbandry", for example. It doesn't mean being married, but caring for.

The church is also a menagerie, a diverse group of people, completely miscellaneous. I think that the fact that a diverse group is together in unity is a special attribute of the church.

I looked at two French translations of the New Testament and did not find the Greek word for household translated to menager or menagerie, but I really like the way that the CEB (Common English Bible) translates 1 Timothy 3. It has the word household in it several times. When a preacher says, "in the house", while preaching at a church meeting anywhere, he or she is correct. The NT does talk about the church as a house or household and it does not mean building; neither a church building nor a house, but the people of the church are the house (of God).

1 Timothy 3 (CEB)

Supervisors in God’s household

¹ This saying is reliable: if anyone has a goal to be a supervisor^[a] in the church, they want a good thing. ² So the church’s supervisor must be without fault. They should be faithful to their spouse, sober, modest, and honest. They should show hospitality and be skilled at teaching. ³ They shouldn’t be addicted to alcohol or a bully. Instead they should be gentle, peaceable, and not greedy. ⁴ They should manage their own household well—they should see that their children are obedient with complete respect, ⁵ because if they don’t know how to manage their own household, how can they take care of God’s church? ⁶ They shouldn’t be new believers so that they won’t become proud and fall under the devil’s spell. ⁷ They should also have a good reputation with those outside the church so that they won’t be embarrassed and fall into the devil’s trap.

Servants in God’s household

⁸ In the same way, servants^[b] in the church should be dignified, not two-faced, heavy drinkers, or greedy for money. ⁹ They should hold on to the faith that has been revealed with a clear conscience. ¹⁰ They should also be tested and then serve if they are without fault. ¹¹ In the same way, women who are servants^[c] in the church should be dignified and not gossip. They should be sober and faithful in everything they do. ¹² Servants^[d] must be faithful to their spouse and manage their children and their own households well. ¹³ Those who have served well gain a good standing and considerable confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Leading God’s household

¹⁴ I hope to come to you quickly. But I’m writing these things to you so that ¹⁵ if I’m delayed, you’ll know how you should behave in God’s household. It is the church of the living God and the backbone and support of the truth. ¹⁶ Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory.

Footnotes:

1 Timothy 3:1 Or bishop, overseer
1 Timothy 3:8 Or deacons
1 Timothy 3:11 Or wives, omit who are servants
1 Timothy 3:12 Or deacons

The Helper

2011-06-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26

Back in the late 1980's, I read a little book about the Holy Spirit called The Helper by Catherine Marshall. I had never heard the Holy Spirit called the Helper before. The NIV & new Living translations say the Advocate, the new CEB says the Companion, the old KJV says the Comforter, and the new KJV as well as the ASV, NASB, and ESV say the Helper; and The Message says the Friend.

In our Christian culture, teaching and being taught is a big deal. The most common form of Christian radio is teaching. Most Christian books are written to teach you. One of the main reasons people say they go to church is to receive teaching. We go to a second church meeting mid-week to get taught some more. The most common thing you'll see on Christian television is teaching. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

But, how is it that Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them, but we seem to have lost this today? The Holy Spirit uses people and all the other means and ways to teach us, but what about being taught directly, as Jesus said in the verse above? What about being taught directly by the Holy Spirit?

What if you've been reading an author's books and others who know the author's material are teaching you his stuff. That's good and fine. But what if the author is available to you, but you ignore him while reading his books and seeking out others who have delved into his material, that you want to learn from? Wouldn't that be odd? Perhaps that's the way we are with the Holy Spirit. He is the smartest person on the earth today. No one knows Jesus better than he does. Why not ask him to teach you and since his name means helper, why not ask him for help?

Spiritual dryness, thirst, and barrenness

2011-06-17T09:37:00.001-07:00

I have been looking at Hosea 2:3 lately. Here is the second half of that verse:

"I will make her like a desert, and turn her into a dry land, and make her die of thirst."

The context is that God is telling Israel what the consequences will be if she continues in her idolatrous and unfaithful behavior. We, as the church in America are not without our own sins and repentance may be called for (1).

Maybe you are embracing your personal brokenness and your heart is also broken over the lost as well as the ineffectual church and her sins. I think that God deals with the big and the small, the whole church, the whole nation, and also individuals. A single person may be walking closely with God in a land of famine or dryness. You may be in a dry place and it's no fault of yours. Be encouraged.

When I read Maurice Smith's piece, Spiritual Tsunami and falling tides, he helped me finish my thought that I am writing about here. Perhaps God allows dryness to help us to get in touch with thirst. Perhaps God hides himself so that we will seek him. There is a phrase, "calm before the storm". Perhaps that is a form of grace. Perhaps we are right now in a calm before the storm. We have grace right now to prepare and to position our selves. Grace for today, hope for tomorrow.

Footnote

1. "Therefore, the LORD God, the holy one of Israel, says: In return and rest you will be saved; quietness and trust will be your strength— but you refused." (Isaiah 30:15)

"So remember the high point from which you have fallen. Change your hearts and lives and do the things you did at first. If you don’t, I’m coming to you. I will move your lampstand from its place if you don’t change your hearts and lives." (Revelation 2:5)

"So remember what you received and heard. Hold on to it and change your hearts and lives. If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief, and you won’t know what time I will come upon you." (Revelation 3:3)

(Common English Bible)

How's the test-imony going?

2011-06-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was thinking about how it sometimes feels like things are never going to change. Notice how I said "feels like." In reality, things do change, and God keeps His promises and God is good no matter what. If you have terminal cancer or your child was killed, God is still good. God has something for people going through the worst of times. Jesus said, "blessed are the poor in spirit" and "blessed are those who mourn." He says that the kingdom of the heavens will break in for the poor and the mournful will be comforted. You can take Jesus' words to the bank. Some people like to talk about "getting a break-through." I have come to the conclusion that, more than you or I getting a break-through, God wants to break-in to our circumstances. That's the message that Jesus came preaching and entrusts us with. God wants to come and take over.

I was reflecting on how God keeps his promises, and you can count on God. My red NASB Bible, given to me in the 1970's, had the promise "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever," (Isaiah 40:8) written on one of the first pages. You can count on God's word. Then I was thinking about Abraham. He had a promise from God that seemed to take forever to be fulfilled. But we know it was fulfilled. We can look at his and Sarah's lives to learn something about how to live in the in-between time of promise and fulfillment.

David Wilkerson wrote about this topic:

"Being not weak in faith, (Abraham) considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19).
The essence of true faith is found in this single verse. God had just promised Abraham he would have a son, one who would become the seed of many nations. Remarkably, Abraham didn’t flinch at this promise, even though he was well past the age of siring children. Instead, when Abraham received this word from the Lord, we’re told he “considered not his own body now dead (nor)…the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”

To the natural mind, it was impossible for this promise to be fulfilled. But Abraham didn’t dwell on any such impossibility. According to Paul, the patriarch gave no thought to how God would keep his promise. He didn’t reason with God, “But, Lord, I have no seed to plant. And Sarah has no life in her womb to conceive. My wife is past the ability to bear children. So, how will you do it, Lord?” Instead of entertaining such questions, Abraham simply “considered not.”

The fact is, when God is at work producing a faith that is tried and better than gold, he first puts a sentence of death on all human resources. He closes the door to all human reasoning, bypassing every means of a rational deliverance.

The faith that pleases God is born in a place of deadness. I’m speaking here of the deadness of all human possibilities. It is a place where man-made plans flourish at first and then die. It is a place where human hopes bring temporary relief but soon crash, adding to a sense of helplessness.
Have you been at this place of deadness? Has it seemed you have no options left? You can’t call someone to advise you. The heavens are like brass when you pray, your requests falling to the ground.

I declare to you, this is God at work. His Spirit is working to get you to stop considering the impossibilities—to stop looking to human ways and means—to stop trying to think your way out of your situation. The Holy Ghost is urging you, “Quit hunting for help from some man. And quit focusing on how hopeless you think your situation is. Those are hindrances to your faith.”

Embrace the fellowship of Christ's sufferings (Phil. 3:10). Remember that Jesus, who put his trust in God and was tempted in every way but did not sin, also was a man of sorrows and was acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). We struggle against things and live in anger and fear when that is not the way of God. Sorrow and grief are healthy. The highest form of worship is lament.

Non-Biblical Terms for Church Leadership

2011-06-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

From “Elder Shepherding”by Dr. Cliff McManis:

"Non-Biblical Terms for Church Leadership: Pope, Cardinal, President, Archbishop, Priest, Reverend, Monk, Doctor, Prelate, Monsignor, Father, Session, Cleric, Superintendent, Senior Pastor."

Did you know that there is one Senior Pastor and he is Jesus Christ?

"And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive an unfading crown of glory."

-1 Peter 5:4

False orthodoxy

2011-05-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

These are some things I read the past couple of days. Quotes, then my notes at the bottom.

"The Big Lie is our false orthodoxy, our pseudo religion, our finger-pointing self-righteous Evangelicalism. We are too smart to be duped by false prophets who predict the return of Christ on such-and-such a date but too blind to see our own cheap substitutes for the real thing. Some call this pseudo-Christianity, others Christendom. I think "Churchianity" says it well. We choose simulated piety, and God lets us reap the consequences of our choice." (Dave Black, 5/19)

"Unity with one another is not something we have to choke down like brussel sprouts... It should be something that actually enriches our relationship in the church!
As we look into the Bible, God seems quite concerned that we be united because of our differences. The “dividing wall of hostility” has been removed and God uses all sorts of images and examples (Jesus among the formerly untouchable, Peter going to the home of a Gentile and the image of “unclean” animals on the sheet, “there is neither Jew nor Greek”). One of the key features of the Old Covenant was dividing the people of God from everyone else. Under the New, we are still separate from the world but we are united together by our common salvation. Yet we for some reason still seek every opportunity to find ways to argue endlessly with one another, divide from those who disagree with us and develop a bunker mentality that keeps most Christians at arms length from one another.

When we embrace our differences, we gain important perspective on all sorts of stuff. " (Arthur Sido)

"It is common in Christian circles to point fingers at other Christians or groups of Christians. There are so many Christians teaching really wrong stuff on so many levels. It is common to go as far as concluding that they are a cult, or false teachers, and that they likely are not even true Christians.
I find it a little arrogant. Considering all the denominations, movements and doctrines across church history. To assume my corner has finally got it figured out the best is equally misguided." (Jonathan Hutton)

"There’s so much polarization in the evangelical church that it’s a true scandal. We’ve got to learn how to talk to each other and listen to each other in a civil way.
Do evangelicals need to reexamine our doctrines of hell and damnation?
Yes, I guess I do think they ought to reexamine. They ought to be a good bit more biblical, not taking things out of context.
But the people who are against Rob Bell are not going to reexamine anything. They have a litmus test for who is a Christian and who is not. But that’s not what it means to live in community.
Luther said that we should read the entire Bible in terms of what drives toward Christ. Everything has to be interpreted through Christ. Well, if you do that, you’re going to end up with this religion of grace and forgiveness. The only people Jesus threatens are the Pharisees. But everybody else gets pretty generous treatment." (Eugene Peterson & Timothy Dalrymple, "Would Jesus Condemn Rob Bell?")

I think that we confuse uniformity with unity. Can we meet other streams of Christianity at the river and celebrate them? Can we affirm the ancient style of learning that is dialogical, where we debate and ask questions? Have we confused our interpretation of the Bible for the truth? Have we become so enamored with our tribe, our brand of Christianity that we become more followers of it rather than Christ? Have we become so detached from the person of Jesus that we forget that as a man, he was hated and brought up on charges of heresy by theological experts of the day?

What's the central message?

2011-05-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've been watching this video of Dallas Willard over and over and thinking about this all week and decided to share it.

"Unless you understand that Jesus invites us, through faith in him, that means putting your confidence in him, to actually live in the kingdom of God now; there will not be a basis for discipleship and transformation... (John Ortberg asked- "If the gospel of Jesus isn't primarily how to get into heaven when you die, what is Jesus' Gospel?") It is how to get into heaven before you die. That's it. That's why the New Testament for example, routinely treats you as if you have already died. It's because you have made a transition from a life on your own to a life that God himself is living in his kingdom. So, you get to be a part of that... What he preached was the availability of the kingdom of God to everyone, wherever they were and whoever they were. And so he announces this and by his own presence makes it available."

-Dallas Willard

Catalyst West 2010: Dallas Willard Part 1 from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Have you felt like giving up lately?

2011-05-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.
Isaiah 40:27-31

Have you felt like giving up lately?

Brenton Brown wrote the song "Everlasting God" during a season of tiredness. He and his wife were diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Here's Brenton talking about the inspiration behind the song:

Here's the song:

Churches need plural leadership

2011-05-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

From Dave Black yesterday: (Dave is Christ-follower, a husband, father, grandfather, NT scholar, mentor, missionary, and surfer)

The church at Ephesus had no pastor. (If it did, surely we would know his name.) In the New Testament, ministry was shared. Pastors were always members of a team.

Moreover, in the New Testament, "ministry" was the privilege and obligation of all Christians, not some. Pastors are no different from the rest of us in this respect. They are not "called to the ministry" while we sit around and soak. All Christians are commissioned to ministry.

It is often assumed that the church at Ephesus had a single pastor (sometimes Timothy is incorrectly identified as such). But in Acts we read that Paul met with the Ephesian elders (note the plural) in Miletus. I am quite certain that this is the New Testament pattern, despite the fact that so many of our churches are in effect one-man bands.

Where I live in southern Virginia, pastors come, and pastors go. We live in a day when the "pastorate" is often considered a job rather than a ministry. (There are many exceptions to this, of course.)

As honorable as the desire is to serve as the pastor in a local church, would it not be healthier to follow the biblical pattern? Shared leadership protects the congregation from the idiosyncrasies of one man, and -- let me add -- it protects the pastor from becoming the lightening rod for various and sundry complaints from disgruntled parishioners. Shared leadership pays handsomely. I wonder why this is so difficult to see?

Jesus wants the misfits in his church

2011-04-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

In the Christmastime TV show, "Rudolph The Red nosed Reindeer," there is a scene where we see toys that are imperfect and discarded to a place called The Island of Misfit Toys.

John Wimber had a vision of a conveyor belt with potatoes on it. People were setting aside the ones that were flawed in some way and God spoke to him that those were the ones He would send to John's church.

Steve Sjogren had an experience where he saw a very dirty and worn penny on the pavement that he picked up. God said something to the effect that if Steve would accept and welcome the rough people that He would send, He would bless him.

I'm thinking about this today because I just read the message from a church planter who gave a talk basically saying that if you have any problems, don't join our church. A bunch of people cheered him on, basically saying, "You are so right... I hate it when those people with problems come to our church." Another older gentleman read the younger church planter's post and responded that the guy (in summary) does not want the kind of church described in the New Testament.

I love a good discussion (142 comments and counting). I can agree with much of what the young church planter guy says, but many of his points seem short-sighted and shallow. Now, I am hoping he will read and respond to the older gentleman and others. WE so often talk past each other and have dialogues of the deaf (Paul Tounier).

If you start a church (or a Rotary etc.), people will come that are difficult for you to be around or with their agendas. This is just people stuff. How to respond to them is where church happens and it doesn't come from the one guy or even a select group or tier, but from everyone. "You give them something to eat", said Jesus (Luke 9:13).

Finding Jesus after Easter

2011-04-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about how our world can be turned upside down by death and loss. Jesus' disciples didn't understand what was happening to their friend, teacher, and Lord. They were confused and afraid. The story found in Luke 24 of the two disciples on the Emmaus Road illustrates this. Jesus intervened and gave these two some help. Explaining to Jesus what they were discussing and feeling, they said about Jesus, "We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel." They had hoped, and now they don't know what to think.

Have you ever hoped and then been disappointed? One sage said that if you change one letter, you can change disappointment to His appointment. God wants to meet with us when we are disappointed and turn it around. The dissing needs to turn to Him. When I was about to go into a season of disappointment that lasted about seven years, I clearly heard God say to me, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace."

These two disciples invited Jesus to have dinner with them. They had to invite Jesus, otherwise he may have moved on. Jesus went into the village with them and when they sat down, Jesus took the bread that was served and gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, the scripture says (Luke 24:31). The point is made by Luke that the Christians of his day were able to have the living Lord made known to them in their "breaking of bread" in a manner that was analogous to this story (John Nolland: Luke, Thomas Nelson, 1995; p. 1208).

I think that the application for us is that when we suffer loss, when we are disappointed, when our hopes are dashed; and we are confused, frightened, or angry, God wants to intervene and help us. Jesus promised that where two or more are gathered in his name, He would be there. He is among us in our gatherings, working to help us in our times of loss and change. We must invite him and acknowledge him. God, being God, is omnipresent, but he is also a person, and also the King.

On the other side of Easter, on the other side of Crucifixion, death, burial, and darkness, is resurrected new life. The new is different. We might be so stuck at the death stage that we can't see the new life in front of us. God comes to help us with that. The good shepherd comes after the scattered sheep. You might be walking down a lonely road, trying to make sense of what happened back there, heart-sick. Watch for God to intervene. Invite Jesus to come in when he knocks on your door (Rev. 3:20). Fellowship with him.

O let the Son of God enfold you
With His Spirit and His love
Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul
O let Him have the things that hold you
And His Spirit like a dove
Will descend upon your life and make you whole

(Spirit Song: John Wimber, 1979)

The two Palm Sunday Donkeys

2011-04-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

On what we call Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem. But, he had his guys grab two donkeys- a mother donkey and her colt. Jesus rode the young male who had never been ridden before. In his carefulness and perhaps kindness towards these two donkeys, he had the male's mother come along for the journey to perhaps comfort the young colt. So, in a truer picture of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, you would see Jesus on the colt, surrounded by crowds. But next to that colt with Jesus on him is that colt's mother and mentor, encouraging him.

Contextualization

2011-04-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, I used to be like a space man or a sea diver when I ventured into gatherings of people who were not my home church. If I was with a buddy of mine from my church, in my mind we were both in a diving bell or a module that was a bubble around our spiritual lives and practices. An exception to this is when we were on a missions trip or at an evangelistic outreach. But when we did a missions trip or an outreach it was still like we had the space suits or diving gear on while we came into contact with "the other". No one stood up and taught us this behavior, but it was modeled. That was then for me.

Now, I don't view the Christian life that way. Church, missionary, and evangelist are something we are; not something we go to or do. Jesus was who he was and did what he did seven days a week. He didn't have a "holy bubble" around him. Jesus is the model for the church, for church life, for mission, for evangelism. The religious leaders were doing it the bubble way.

Contextualization is taking the good news into and being the good news in a different culture than our own and putting it into a language that can be understood by the hearer and seer that in no way waters it down. This is probably harder than the "build it and they will come", or "invite them to church (meetings)" approach. But to me, it's more authentic and holistic. I believe that it is better for people to find Christ where they live. They already have some nurture (pastoral care, eldering, brotherly & sisterly love) where they live from those who shared Christ with them. Because of this, they have support already and stand a good chance of growing.

The Lord's Supper

2011-04-10T23:25:00.000-07:00

I have attended a number of larger church fellowships over the years where we took communion (crackers and juice) to remember Jesus Christ, once every 4 to 6 weeks. My limited understanding as to why it was not done every gathering as the high church does was perhaps that it was a reaction to high church or the argument that goes, "if we do it every week or every time we gather, it will lose it's significance."

I don't think that commemorating Jesus blood and body's sacrifice can ever get old or tired. It seems to me that this is exactly what our hearts need to be feeding on. Something I am thinking about.

For further reading:

The Lord's Supper- Snack of Feast, by Bob Hayton OR
The Last Snack, by Steve Atkerson and Eric Svendsen OR
Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, by Robert E. Webber

Take care of sick people

2011-04-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

When I was sick, you took care of me.
-Matthew 25:36

I read past this verse many times, but didn't get that the same Jesus who said, "heal the sick", also said that his followers would also take care of the sick. Healing the sick is ministry, but so is caring for the sick. In other words, taking care of sick people is not second class and people who don't get healed through prayers are not second class and caring for them is as much a calling from God as healing is.

It works if you work it

2011-04-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

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 in order to fulfill his good purpose.
-Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)

Spiritual growth only happens as we cooperate with God. He does the saving and he does the maturing, but I have to get up. We know that we are not saved or made whole through our works, but we can not be saved without responding to God. We also can not grow in God without getting up.

To get up means to do something. Doing something takes faith. Getting up does not bring the growth in God, but we have to get up to go towards something that God might use.

God works in us and does the healing and maturing, but we work it out. We don't figure it out. God has to have us as his partner to get the work done. We have to do something but we are not saving ourselves.

leadership in the kingdom

2011-04-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

Leadership in the Kingdom from simplechurch.com on Vimeo.

My pastor?

2011-04-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

I've been a Christian my whole life and I don't think I have ever said , "my pastor". I'm not sure I ever said, "our pastor" either. I'm not sure what people mean by this.

Jesus said, "But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers." And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."(Matthew 23:8-9 NIV)

I would say that in our time and culture, you could apply this verse to pastor as well.

He said, "Trust God"

2011-04-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

I've had a special friend in my life for 23 years. I can not forget that after many times of lengthy sharing about anxiety over uncertain things, he would end the evening by saying, "trust God". That word of wisdom is so simple, yet so profound. To trust God is to let go. To trust God is to stop worrying. To trust God is to not have to figure it out. To trust God is to have faith in God. To trust God is to rely on God. To trust God is to depend on God. Everything that I trusted God about has turned out wonderful.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.
-Proverbs 3:5 (Good News Translation)

You ain't seen nothing yet!

2011-04-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

What no one ever saw or heard,
what no one ever thought could happen,
is the very thing God prepared for those who love him.
-1 Corinthians 2:9 (Good News Translation)

I think that we have no idea what God will do for us. I think that God is so generous that he goes beyond what we hope for. If we let him, he'll do the impossible. He brings things out of nowhere. He always does things better than I thought possible, because that was my thought. Nothing is impossible for God. We can't make something happen or make God do anything. Yet, anything is easy for him. We just have to love him and enter his world where all things are possible.

We as humans naturally give gifts to our children. How much more will God give to us?

God's plans for you

2011-04-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

God has plans for you. What does that mean? In the old King James version, it says, "I know the thoughts I think towards you." God has plans for us in his mind. This should give us pause. God, all powerful God has a plan for me and you. That's exciting, isn't it? If he has a plan then we can rest.

What is the purpose of this verse or what did God originally mean when Jeremiah wrote it and what would it mean for you and me today? I think that it is a word of encouragement for a time of trouble or discouragement. We need to be encouraged that God has a plan when things are going against us or time is dragging on with seemingly no good news.

The life I am living now was in God's thoughts, 10, 20, 30 years ago. My life in the future is in God's mind. I could not and can not imagine it, but it was and is in God 's thoughts. He's got plans for me. 10 and 20 years ago, I was very concerned about this time we're in now. I was nervous and anxious and even afraid about it, but also excited because I believed God had it under control and had plans.

I've learned that the emphasis is not on the plans, but on God. The word here says not just that God knows the future, but that he has plans and ideas for our future. That is what is so encouraging. God has unique and good plans for each one of us.

A Time To Pray

2011-03-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Last night, I heard-

"If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
(2 Chronicles 7:14)

Surprised by hate

2011-03-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

Over the past two weeks, I've been surprised again by Christian people's hateful words directed at Rob Bell, after his publisher released a video of him that was a preview for his new book, Love Wins. Because Rob apparently asks certain questions about hell, heaven, God, and the final judgment; he is called a heretic and false teacher.

My first thought is that it was also Jesus' style to ask provocative questions and tell stories that could offend. It's pretty clear that the leaders that started the furor over Rob's video were offended. There's a saying that when your mind is offended, it reveals your heart. Is Christianity a love movement or a belief system? Imagine if Jesus had said to Nicodemas, "For God so much wanted to teach the world and have them receive knowledge that he sent his only Son." He didn't say that, but said that it was all about God's love. What about that song, "They'll know we are Christians by our love"? What about unity, what about dialogue? Why do you call someone a false teacher and say he's a wolf in sheep's clothing when he suggests a different view than you, based on God's love?

My second thought is that it's pretty clear that many of the pharisees, who were people of doctrinal purity, hated Jesus. My understanding is that many of these guys had the whole Old Testament memorized and had given their lives to this task, and yet Jesus had some pretty negative things to say about them. It's pretty clear that one can pursue Bible study and doctrine, while completely missing God.

My third thought is that the religious rulers were jealous of Jesus and for this reason wanted him dead (Mark 15:10). There's something called "professional jealousy", which is when you are jealous of someone else's success in your profession. It's a common sin that shows up even in Christians. The human default nature is to be jealous or envious of others. I think that, at this time, it is very common among Christian leaders to have this problem.

My fourth thought is that there are various doctrinal and theological positions on things like the atonement, heaven, and hell, including positions on universalism, that reasonable people believe and where in there has been ongoing theological debate. Just picking up Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology reminded me of this. The thousands of people who wrote harshly judgmental comments on Bell seem to not know this, nor have any tolerance for differing opinions.

My fifth thought is that we may be finding ourselves in the West with a generation of younger Christians and pre-Christians that embrace universalism of one sort or another, and this needs to be discussed and sorted out, rather than dismissed and cut off.

I think I get where Rob Bell is coming from and what he's saying. I've always wondered about people like Ghandi. I care about those who don't know Christ. I'm taken aback when I encounter Christians that don't seem to care or take a hyper-Calvinist position, believing that huge groups of people were always destined to eternal punishment. It makes no sense, but that's what it seems like to me.

In the end, I think that we'll find out that Rob Bell's book is about the love of God. Is Jesus' message that his people are to carry a message of love? What's the good news? How can we preach or share hell in humility and without taking on the role reserved for the true judge? How can we who believe we are saved from hell share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with those who don't believe? It's about love. Love wins.

It Rains

2011-02-28T00:03:00.000-08:00

In this video message by Rob Bell, he beautifully illustrates how God wants to care for us in the current storm we're each going through.

Notes from Graham Cooke's message on 2/23

2011-02-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

Graham Cooke spoke at Bethel Church this past week and I caught a few minutes of him and here are a few notes. You can watch him here.

Everything that happens in your life is about relationship with God.
We want resolution and rescue, but God wants relationship with us; in what is happening to us, in our situation.
We're not fighting against something, but fighting for something.
The question for us to God is, "what is it that you want to be for me at this time?"
What is the up-grade that you need right now, in your relationship with God?
Align with what God wants to be with you right now.
God allows situations that bring up our fears so that He can replace them.

Forgiveness- forgiving the unforgivable: Eva Kor

2011-02-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

I've been watching the remarkable story of Eva Kor called Forgiving Dr Mengele. She and her twin sister were children in Auschwitz for 9 months before liberation in 1945. Today, Eva lives in Indiana. Eva has chosen the path of forgiveness. She also is very brave in confronting those who choose not to forgive and has stood up for her position with many who strongly disagree with her.

Eva is not a theologian, nor a minister. She is a simple person who went through the horror of the holocaust and wanted to find peace and relief from the painful memories. Eva does not advocate (historical) forgetting. She has found healing through forgiveness. Eva speaks publicly about her life and she has sponsored a holocaust museum called Candles.

I highly recommend the movie about Eva. She also has a book.

Leading from beside: You are all leaders

2011-02-16T15:44:00.001-08:00

I have been a member or leader of various groups where there would be one person who would dominate the group week after week. Myself and other people would fret about this. Sometimes people would leave the group, later mentioning the particular person as difficult to be around. I was once successful by genuinely befriending an individual and then, from this place, able to lovingly confront him, which he received well. In the other examples that come to mind, no one who disliked the person's style who was dominating the group was able to get a footing from which to tell him to please dial down. I've thought a lot about this, and I really only have two solutions that differ from the common belief of "you're the leader so you talk to them."

First, unless you are a baby, you're a leader. Yes, even children can lead. Second, if you care for someone, you'll care enough to confront them. If we see a group as a family, it's easier to do these two items. If you see your group as a business, a military unit, a classroom, or a sports team, you'll have a harder time. In a healthy family, children play a role and people confront each other and openly communicate about problems. In the other models, you pretty much shut up and listen, unless the leader calls on you or directs you. Didn't Jesus say specifically that his people were not to lead like the world does? It seems to me that much of the leading style in the church is exactly like the world.

It is hard to care about someone and take on leadership with people you barely know. This is why it's hard to have a church that gets authentic when it is just a meeting that you go to. You drop in and meet, and an hour or two later it's, "See you next week!" In this context, when a person dominates, it is hard to care and lead by confrontation, because you don't even know the person. I think that when the context is a "drop in" meeting, it becomes more like a 12-step group where good sharing can occur, but the structure that keeps one from dominating also keeps all from interacting.

So, perhaps real church can only spring from real relationships. Authentic church is when we share life together, rather than just share a room or a sofa. If we're sharing life, we'll be on the road to being able to love and listen and speak the truth in love.

Upside-down leadership video

2011-02-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

Upside-Down Leadership from simplechurch.com on Vimeo.

God is asking, "where are you?"

2011-01-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

The LORD called out to the man and asked, "Where are you?"-Genesis 3:9

As Christians or mono-theistic believers, who deem ourselves to be spiritual; we might think that God would never ask this of us. As Bible studying, church-going, walking-with-Jesus-through-life people; we may think think of God asking "where are you?" to us as absurd. But what if you are like that and he is asking?

You might fire back, saying that God of course knows where you are, and after all- you are a believer rather than a pre-believer who's hiding out, even in their unbelief.

What if God is asking where are you, to you?

God, being God, already knows where we are, so why would he ask this question of us?

He might be asking us to "come out" and state to him where we are at. God is relational. Other "gods" are not. No matter how much "stuff" is between us and God, he is still contacting us.

Catch A Falling Star

2010-12-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day

I need to remember the good things that happen to me and the promises from God.

Dark days and rainy days will come when I need to pull out those good things, those blessings, those promises; and look at them.

God is good, no matter what our circumstances. The negative circumstances can try to envelop us, but if we've got the good news in our memories, we can feed on that. This is different than being in denial or just disconnected from reality.

If you look at the book of Lamentations, chapter three; you will read the prayers and thoughts of someone going through a horrible season. He is pretty articulate describing his pain and he believes God is responsible for his misery. He describes his pain for twenty verses, finally writing:

I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.

Then he writes this:

But there's one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left.

We can't make our problems disappear, but we can remember God's goodness and bring that to bear on top of or in the midst of everything. The memory is from a person, like a love note tucked away in a safe place.

I also believe that we must let go of the disappointments because they stifle faith and breed unbelief. If you meditate on disappointment, you're on your way to believing God is unfaithful and you're positioned in a posture of unbelief towards God and your heart is closed.

As with all my posts, I am preaching to myself and sharing with you! Hold onto the blessings and take good care of them.

Provision

2010-12-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

I was recently given some concert tickets, but I couldn't use them, because I had a prior commitment that night; and an exchange wasn't possible. I had to give them up. Five days past the concert date, someone else gave me other tickets that were even better for us. We attended and had a great time.

I was recently shopping on Ebay, losing three bidding contests for items I wanted. On the fourth try, after a week; I won the item I wanted, for a lower price, from a man who seemed to have more integrity than the other sellers I encountered.

My son wanted a new, lawn decoration, that really isn't in the budget. Yesterday, a relative got one for free and gave it to us.

Seasons in blogging and a Cooke book tip

2010-11-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

For about two years I've been wanting to say something about why I do not post here as often as I used to. It seems like I had something to say almost every day back in 2006, when I started blogging. Here's what I think: Life is seasonal. There's a time for writing more and a time for writing less. Same with talking. I think my assignment has been more to think deeply these past two years rather than share constantly or often. I believe I have some sort of a hermit calling on me. Graham Cooke has a little book called Hiddenness & Manifestation where he writes about seasons of quietness and listening, even dark nights of the soul, contrasted with seasons of God's manifest presence.

I have been going through my own dark night of the soul, which I believe is part of the normal Christian life for those who ardently pursue Christ. I believe that when you are going through something, you really can't explain it or write about it. Part of the going-through is confusing. Also, it seems to me that much of what we experience with God is secret and not meant to be published. I had a dream once where I was kneeling at an alter and I heard God tell me something and as soon as I "got it", I turned around and grabbed the telephone and called a best friend to tell him what I heard. There's nothing wrong with being excited about hearing God or receiving a personal word through someone. It is thrilling when you believe you are hearing God. It's good news usually. Perhaps my little dream would mean something else to someone else and there are multiple meanings to pictures for one person as well. But at that moment, it gently meant to me that it might be wiser to sit longer in God's presence and reflect on the word and write it down, rather than getting on the telephone. There's nothing wrong with sharing words, but the point to me was that God is a person who desires intimacy with me and God has put that desire in me. Everything I hear is not meant to be shared. Wouldn't it be weird to tell one friend everything that another friend has told you?

Unanswered prayers

2010-10-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

Your prayer has been heard.- Luke 1:13

Asking God to do something, then seeing nothing happen is a normal part of the Christian life. It's also confusing and painful at times, when the thing we are asking for seems to be completely reasonable.

Oftentimes, we pray a request prayer, and nothing happens. We pray again, we pray times ten; and still nothing. But since we know God is good, we persevere.

If we were to try to assemble a back-story on Zach and Liz, John B.'s parents, we can say that they probably prayed for a child, and those prayers remained unanswered, until the angel appeared to dad-to-be Zach when he was doing his priestly duties in the temple that day. The request they had made, probably decades earlier, was finally being granted. For good reason, they had probably given up, but God had not.

This story is very encouraging to me because we too, being human, can give up on things we cried out to God for. God is in the business of re-calling what we gave up on.
Our, "go take it all for God", faith; may now be fizzled to a tiny little, "maybe if", faith; or a faith that has given up.

Pastor David Guzik comments, "since he and Elizabeth were both well advanced in years (Luke 1:7), they had probably given up on this prayer a long time ago.

i. Sometimes we pray for something for a long, long time. We pray for the salvation of a spouse or a child. We pray for a calling or a ministry. We pray that God would bring that special person to us. But after years of heartfelt prayer, we give up out of discouragement. Zacharias and Elizabeth probably prayed years of passionate prayer for a son, but gave up a long time ago, and stopped believing God for so much anymore.

ii. When we are in that place, we sometimes begin – in the smallest of ways – to doubt the love and care of God for us. But God always loves, and His care never stops.

iii. Zacharias' reaction to the angel's promise was probably thinking, "I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't pray for a son. We're old, you know. I gave up on that prayer a long time ago. I'm praying for the salvation of Israel. I'm praying that God will send the promised Messiah." Zacharias didn't know that God would answer both prayers at once, and use his miracle baby to be a part of sending the Messiah!

iv. Zacharias had no idea that God would answer the two greatest desires of his heart at once. He had probably completely given up on the idea of being a dad; it was a hope that was crushed over the years of disappointment. But God hadn't given up on it, even though Zacharias and Elizabeth had."

Your prayers, that you gave up on praying, have been heard. -Luke 1:13

Three things

2010-09-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

I am convinced that God is good.

I am thankful.

I believe God's timing is perfect.

How to start a church

2010-09-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

"You have a Bible? You can read? Then you can start a church."- Felicity Dale (House2House Ministries)

Perhaps the reason that starting a church (they call it planting) is made to be so difficult, in our western culture, is that there are a bunch of assumptions that we make that are false- totally not biblical. God is not Greek, nor is he a businessman.

People have designed lengthy curriculum, books, and guides on how to plant a church and be nurtured as a church planter. It's all complex, with hoops to jump through and barriers to keep out many and wash out the unfit. Like landing a man on the moon, only the best and the brightest or the specially and specifically gifted ones can make it.

Perhaps the reason it is so complex is that the church that we know in the west is so much more complex than the way Jesus did it and his disciples did it and their disciples did it. Maybe the key is to return to Jesus as the model of the church to find out how to be the church from looking at him. Why not go to the source and author to get direction?

New churches across the world are simple

2010-09-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Mike Frost's Exiles (p. 136-57), and he says that most new churches today, in the non-west (where the church is growing) are in a large part nondenominational, nonstructured, and nontraditional. David Barret and Todd Johnson, researchers in evangelism and mission called these kinds of churches "neo-apostolics" (2001). As of 2001, Barret and Johnson estimated that neo-apostolics numbered 20, 000 movements & networks including 394 million Christians and will grow to over half a billion believers by the year 2025.

Frost writes (p. 136) that the neo-apostolic movements are "marked by four primary characteristics:

1. They reject denominationalism and restrictive, overbearing central authority.
2. They seek a life focused on Jesus.
3. They seek a more effective missionary lifestyle.
4. They are one of the fastest growing movements in the world."

What's really important in life

2010-09-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

I awoke on Sunday with the song Precious and Few going through my mind:

If I can't find my way back home, that just wouldn't be fair,
Precious and few are the moments we two can share...

This made me think about how there are really only two things that are really important in life to me: Finding my way home and sharing life together with the people I love.

What real spirituality looks like

2010-09-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

I was studying 1 Corinthians 11-14 with reference to the gathering of the church and came across this quote to share from S.J. Hafemann:

Genuine spirituality manifests itself in mutual interdependence and complementarity, both among men and women in view of their distinct roles, and among those within the church due to the variety of spiritual gifts. The same principals are to be manifest in dealing with their cultural diversity and economic distinctions.

(Dictionary of Paul, p. 166)

Remember- the way in is the way on

2010-06-30T09:16:00.000-07:00

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. ⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Revelation 2:2-5

It is a truth that is a paradox that we have to remain as children towards God as we mature into sons and daughters, mothers and fathers in the kingdom. It really is all about God's love. We receive the gift, embrace the giver, and give it away. The way is being in love with Jesus and endlessly discovering how wonderful he is. This is Christ-ianity. Church-ianity or Religion is something else.

Eternity

2010-06-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

We are eternal beings living in time. If you believe you have received eternal life from God through Christ, then how would that impact how you think and behave now? If, you will live for an unlimited time, how will you be for this limited time? The future impacts the present if you let it. So many things don't matter when you look to eternity and so many things open up.

A prayer for our time

2010-06-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Although our sins testify against us,
O Lord do something for the sake of your name.
For our backsliding is great;
We have sinned against you.
-Jeremiah 14:7

When I ask God to just do something, I'm not being specific with a list of requests. I'm saying that you, God know best and whatever you do will be right. I'm also saying that the situation is so bad that I need God to do something, anything.

And I'm not asking on the basis of my good behavior, or the goodness of my tribe or nation. Our sins are in plain sight. We're not walking close to God.

I and we ask God to move for the sake of his name. What does that mean? I think that means that we ask God to do something on the basis of who he is. He is glorious and he is good. God is not in a bad mood. Only God knows how to bring a backsliding people who are blinded to redemption.

A church is a network of relationships

2010-06-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

From Ron McKenzie on "What is Church":

A church is a group of people in fellowship with each other. It should be a network of relationships.

The church consists of people. However it is not just any group of people. It is a group of people who are bound together by strong relationships. To show this more clearly, I will remove the people from the diagram (this is for illustration, I am not saying that they are not important). I have made the lines gold, to show that the relationships are precious.

A church is a network of relationships. The lines on the diagram are just some of the relationships that hold the church together. They are the supporting ligaments which join and hold the body of Christ together in love and allow it to grow up in love in Jesus (Ephesians 4:16) In contrast, relationships in the modern church tend to be more like a dandelion.

The focus of the elders should not be on maintaining buildings or running programs. Their primary focus should be on building and maintaining relationships.

Meetings will only be really useful if they strengthen these relationships. On the other hand, it will be possible to maintain these relationships, even if the whole church cannot meet together. This is very useful in times of persecution.

Relationships in which we can strengthen and support one another are the heart of the church. The depth of the relationships between its members will determine the strength of the church. The quality of the relationships is more important than the quality of the leadership.

Relationships are Essential

A Church consists of the relationships between its members (and relationships with God). Christianity is fellowship with God and with other Christians. Therefore, a church must be a group in which members get to know each other well. The Christians of the New Testament developed very strong relationships with each other. A Church was a community in which people shared their lives in an intimate way (Acts 2:44,46). Their strong commitment to each other contributed to their spiritual strength and energy.

A church is a network of people, who each have a relationship with Jesus, and who are bound together by relationships with each other. They will be joined together by love. For this to take place we need a radical change in our understanding of the church. (This same point is make in Ezekiel.)

Programs

A church is not an institution. The modern church is a bewilderingly complex array of structures, activities and programs that can sometimes prevent the world from seeing Jesus. Programs are useful, if they provide people with skills that they need. However programs do not make a church.

Programs do not join the body together, so that it builds itself in love (Eph 4:14-16).

People come from all over the place to attend a program. Only a few of those who come have strong relationships with each other. Most others do not know each other very well.

While they are on the programme the people get to know each other quite well.

However once they leave, they go their own way. The people who had a strong relationship, before they joined the program, will find their relationship is strengthened. A few others may establish relationships that will last. However, most just drift apart again.

Locality

A church is a very simple thing. It is quite simply a group of Christians in a locality who are committed to each other, who meet regularly for worship and fellowship, and who are overseen by elders. There are two defining characteristics of a church.

Elders

Relationships

Relationships are the heart of the church, so locality is very important for a church. Each Church should be attached to a particular locality, and there can be as many Churches as there are different localities. However, each locality should only have one Church. Properly understood, this is a very radical but biblical idea. To have a number of different kinds of church in the same locality is inconsistent with the New Testament.

Waiting in silence

2010-05-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
Psalm 62:1
Some notes from Spurgeon's Treasury of David:

To wait upon God, and for God, is the habitual position of faith; to wait on him truly is sincerity; to wait on him only is spiritual chastity. The original is, "only to God is my soul silence." The presence of God alone could awe his heart into quietude, submission, rest, and acquiescence; but when that was felt, not a rebellious word or thought broke the peaceful silence. The proverb that speech is silver but silence is gold, is more than true in this case. No eloquence in the world is half so full of meaning as the patient silence of a child of God. It is an eminent work of grace to bring down the will and subdue the affections to such a degree, that the whole mind lies before the Lord like the sea beneath the wind, ready to be moved by every breath of his mouth, but free from all inward and self caused emotion, as also from all power to be moved by anything other than the divine will. We should be wax to the Lord, but adamant to every other force.
(Spurgeon)

Waiting on God alone:

for answers of prayer,
for performance of promises,
for deliverance from enemies, and out of every trouble.

My soul is silent: not as to prayer, but as to murmuring; patiently and quietly waiting for salvation until the Lord's time come to give it; being subject to him.... resigned to his will, and patient under his afflicting hand: it denotes a quiet, patient waiting on the Lord, and not merely bodily exercise in outward ordinances; but an inward frame of spirit, a soul waiting on the Lord, and that in truth and reality, in opposition to mere form and show. (John Gill)

Waiting is nothing else but hope and trust lengthened. (John Trapp)

The Hebrew word used is hymwd dumijah, that is, silent, resting, expecting, reflecting, solicitous, and observing. (Thomas Le Blanc)

"Bear and forbear, and silent be, Tell no man thy misery;
Yield not in trouble to dismay, God can deliver any day." (Martin Luther)

I wondered because we feel the outpouring of grief into the heart of a friend to be so sweet. At the same time, he who talks much of his troubles to men is apt to fall into a way of saying too little of them to God; while, on the other hand, he who has often experienced the blessed alleviation which flows from silent converse with the Eternal, loses much of his desire for the sympathy of his fellows. It appears to me now as if spreading out our distress too largely before men served only to make it broader, and to take away its zest; and hence the proverb, "Talking of trouble makes it double." On the contrary, if when in distress we can contrive to maintain calm composure of mind, and to bear it always as in the sight of God, submissively waiting for succour from him, according to the words of the psalmist, Truly my soul waiteth upon God.

Agustus F. Tholuck

Habakkuk 2:4 notes

2010-05-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Habakkuk 2:4b reads:

But the righteous shall live by his faith. (ESV & NIV)

But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive. (The Message)

Only those who live by faith are acceptable to me. (CEV)

The good man lives as he is faithful. (Moffat)

The righteous survives if he is faithful. (Charles Taylor)

The idea of faith in Habakkuk 2:4 is not talking about an inward, subjective feeling type of faith, but has to do with fidelity. He who has been justified, made righteous, is faithful.

Waltzing with God

2010-04-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

Following God or abiding in Christ is like a waltz. It is intimate. Your face and heart are open. You are holding onto Christ, following God's lead. You are touching him and being touched. You are not hidden from God. Whatever you feel, or think, or are doing; you are aware that God knows. You keep an awareness of this and process disappointments or confusion immediately. Even though you have many unanswered questions, the answer is before you and you will hold onto that person and let that person hold on to you who holds everything.

Meeting

2010-04-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

I read this excellent article by Lionel Woods on the ecclesiological question of how the church should meet:

So the best option would be to look at the letters and attempt to develop consistent instructions and themes to see how the church should meet. Here is what I see. All of the Pauline epistles accept for four were written to the church, yet it is odd that the letters written to individuals have been used to construct how the church should meet (pastorals?). In each of these letters addressed to the church, leaders are mentioned in passing and decision making, teaching, caring for one another, and doctrine was in the hands of all of those who met together. Each member is held responsible for the edification of his brother not a select few, yet in most of our churches it is the exact opposite. Responsibility is with the whole and never does Paul address leaders separately in his writings, yet everything happens with leaders and flows down in our churches. Meals also seem to be important, important enough for Paul to spend a great deal of time making the Lord’s Supper and a full meal one in the same thing (just saying).

So, there seems to be a pattern. This pattern is, the whole church edifies, the whole church makes decisions, the whole church serves, the whole church instructs and no division between leaders and non-leaders. Just one body functioning together. Oh yeah, I missed one important thing. The familial language is inescapable. None of the churches seem to have rigid organization, I am not saying that this was to be the way it should be until the Groom returns, just what I can clearly see from the text.

So again the church could be described as a tight knit group of family members working together for the good of all. There focus seem to be Jesus and allegiance to Him which builds allegiance to one another in order to reflect His glory to the world they found themselves in.

I've made the mistake of beginning a discussion about how we need to do church differently with "the church is not a building". The real issue is not where we meet, but how we meet. Those who are leaders also have the challenge of how should we lead. If we want to meet more like what is described in the NT and articulated by Lionel, we will have to lead differently.

Hope

2010-04-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
(Issac Watts, 1719)

My hope is in God. God has been good to me. God is my only hope. I won't make it without God's help. Hopeless situation? Not a problem for God. Impossible situation? Possible for God. Even if "it" isn't happening, I still hope in the one who can do "it", and keep walking.

The clergy / laity problem

2010-04-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

From Jason White:

In some ways, I believe that the way seminaries are “training pastors” is undermining development of healthy, interactive, communal church bodies. They way we teach ministry here creates a distinction between clergy and laity. Because of this distinction it seems that the focus is put on the pastor to study a text and give it to the congregation in a nice packaged form, on top of doing other duties like visiting people in the hospital, deacons meetings, and all the other stuff they do that isn’t found anywhere in Scripture. The church body expects the pastor to do these things because they’re paying him. In turn, they get lazy. They diverge into coming to church on Sunday and Wednesday to “hear a message”, or “get blessed”, or “hear some good preachin’…”, do these terms sound familiar? Its become a take, take, take relationship. Whatever happened to the take, give, give, give, tell, tell, tell relationship? My point is not to bash Seminary in general, its to expose the fact that we’re doing something wrong. And its affecting the body in such a way that we’re removing the headship of Christ from the church and replacing him with a well-dressed, polished speaker.

From Dave Black:

One of the reasons I oppose the professionalization of pastoral ministry is because I believe that Jesus would have opposed it. He demonstrated that kingdom ministry meant personal interest in other people as demonstrated by intercessory prayer and by deeds of selfless love. He prayed for His disciples on the night He was betrayed, and He constantly showed personal and even sacrificial interest in the well-being of others. His ministry was person-centered. The practical effect of Christ's ministry upon ecclesiology is twofold: All believers are priests by the fact that they are one with Christ, and all believers are ambassadors for Christ because He Himself has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. As Catholic theologian Hans Küng puts it in his voluminous work The Church (p. 473):

"The abolition of a special priestly caste and its replacement by the priesthood of the one new and eternal high priest has as its strange and yet logical consequence the fact that all believers share in a universal priesthood."

Church for God

2010-04-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

I think that (church) services should be for a purpose, like a wedding or a memorial, or a celebration. Gathering services should be serving one person: God. After God is served, people get served because God loves people.

How can we call it a "worship service" when the bulk of the time is given to a speech where we may or may not glean some insights into a passage of scripture. What about continually lifting up the author of the Holy scriptures? We've actually put learning about God or His ways above knowing God. Wouldn't it be absurd to be studying The Lord Of The Rings in a fellowship where J.R.R. Tolkien was present, or rumored to have been present in the past, but never or rarely asked to speak to us?

We have church and mission backwards

2010-04-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

I believe that one of the reasons why some churches in America are ineffective and irrelevant is that we have let church forms and functions dictate our mission. God calls us to first be missionaries - not first define who we are and what we do (we're this type of people and we do these types of things), and then out of that; form our mission.

A lost message, lost doctrine, lost way of the Christian is that all Christians are missionaries. As soon as you believe, you are a missionary.

Most Christians in America go to church services a lot and go on missions a little. It should be the other way around.

You might be asking, "where does mission come from?" The answer is God. At the center of everything is God. In the beginning, God. God created man and man fell. Then God began to reveal his plan to redeem man, culminating in God's sending his only son on the mission that we read about in the four Gospel (good news) books. For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.

God sent Jesus on a mission. Jesus, by The Spirit of God, sends Christians on his mission. New Christians are birthed within the mission work or context and form church. Can pre-Christians find Christ in the church gatherings or meetings? Of course. That's not my point. My point is that evangelism comes before church formation or that church formation comes from your evangelism. How your church looks will depend on who your church is. So your church can become any form, depending on the people. In many churches today, the form is set and then many people don't fit. That's backwards. It ought not be that way.

Spiritual warfare strategy

2010-03-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

You're on your mission and you're under attack. What to do? Check your sub-mission. Are you submitted to God? Are you submitting to God in the battle? Your soul is under attack. You might be tired, sad, angry, frustrated, or confused. But where's your spirit? Where's your anchor? What are you anchored in or grounded into when lightning is striking? When you're submitted to God, you are connected in the deepest place; where your enemy can never go and never touch you. The truth about God is flowing to you through that back channel. That is where your inspiration comes from.

"Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:7

Still waiting

2010-03-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

Though it linger, wait for it.
It will certainly come and not delay.
Habakkuk 2:3

Some prophetic words are "now" words, but many and perhaps most are future words.
Some people have taught that after you receive your word, things will go in the opposite direction.
Some people have taught that the bigger the word, the longer the wait.
I think these are true, but you also can't trap God in a logical "system" of how words are fulfilled.
God can and does fulfill a word in a very different manner than what you expected.

So, how does a verse like this encourage us? It tells us that God is faithful and that God is good, no matter what.

When I've been waiting and it seems like it's so delayed, but God says wait, it will not delay; I have a choice to come into God's perspective. I do not go into denial, but exercise faith. I don't shut my eyes to my circumstances, but open them to God. God is my provider for everything, because he is my Father, God takes care of his own. So if he says wait, he will help me to wait. He will give me something for my wait. If it's like the bus or the train has not arrived, God gives you a bench to wait on so you can rest your legs. He gives you a place to wait in. Most of all, he gives you relationship with him in the mean-time. He shows you the future, then he stays with you in the present.

Don't let him steal it from you

2010-03-12T09:25:00.000-08:00

I had a dream that I was in a crowded passenger car with a bunch of men. Suddenly, I felt someone pulling my wallet out of my front pocket where I keep it. I reacted and it was too late, the wallet was gone. I managed to turn around and a there was a man with sunglasses on and facial hair (beard or goatee) and I knew he did it. I grabbed his sleeve and saw a mechanical device that he used to get into my pocket. I began to tell him out loud that I know what he did and that I wanted my wallet back. None of the other men around us seemed to care one way or another. They were oblivious.

I thought of this verse: "After all, we don't want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we're not oblivious to his sly ways!", 2 Corinithans 2:11

The Greek word translated mischief means "ripped off" or "to defraud". The enemy tries to steal our joy, our peace, or our faith right from under our noses. The context of Paul's words are those of restoring the repentant and forgiving them. When we refuse to forgive, restore, and be reconciled to someone who is repenting and asking for forgiveness; then Satan will be able to steal from us and defame us.

Your burden is very heavy

2010-02-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm hearing the word "onerous". Some people are under heavy loads. These people feel oppressed or overwhelmed by obligations or responsibilities. You may feel like you are in a covenant or binding agreement where the amount of difficulty and pain outweighs the benefits.

Remember that God only calls you to love, not to know it all or be an unlimited dynamo. 1 John 5:3
Remember that Jesus calls each one of his into a place of rest in him. Matthew 11:28-30
Remember that God calls others to help you stand and walk through your difficulties. Galatians 6:2
Remember that Jesus' mission statement is to "turn around" onerous things dealt to you. Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61.

Always be giving

2010-02-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

Cast your bread upon the waters. For you will find it after many days.
Ecclesiastes 11:1

Christ followers are generous because the one we follow is generosity incarnate. "God so loved the world that he gave his only son". Part of the message of the kingdom is generosity. Recipients of the King's generosity themselves in turn are generous to those in need. The scriptures promises that when you give to the hungry or poor ones, God will repay you. That's not the reason we give away stuff, but a benefit. Giving begets giving. That's a kingdom principle, "give and it shall be given".

Bringing church to the people

2010-02-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Many of us have grown up in churches where we were told to bring people to church. We brought them to Sunday services or outreach events. We hoped something catalytic would happen to them there. But all along, the better way has been to bring the church to the people. Many Christians can't get their minds around this concept because they don't understand that they are the church, they are God's outreach to the world. The Christian is the city on a hill, the light of the world. All Christians are commissioned to go out into the world and make disciples.

When you bring church to the people, you have to leave the building behind. You are going out into the world where they don't speak Christianese. Any seasoned missionary knows that you need to understand the language and culture of the people you are going to. When the church goes to the people, it cannot insist that the people understand; but seek to understand the people. We need to learn to listen and be with and then share.

When we go to people we are bringing the good news to them. Bringing the good news is far simpler than we've imagined. Bringing the good news is simply telling people what God is doing in your life. What God is doing now relates back to when You first knew Christ. Salvation is not just an event, but a process. Your life is a record of God's work of salvation. Your testimony is evidence that the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ is true. This is what evangelism is.