I GET to Choose!

Have you ever chosen to "set your love on someone"? A friend of mine used the phrase about two weeks ago, and it really struck me. We were talking about a friend of mine, and I was describing how cool it is when you just decide you're going to love someone. I mean, when you just make the choice to love someone no matter what. It actually makes life a lot easier with that person, because so many questions are already answered. Well, what about if they do this? Love 'em. Yeah, but what about if you get treated like this? Love 'em still. I know, but what I'm saying is, what if they do this and this and this and do it over and over and over again? Um, the answer is, love 'em over and over and over again. Now, it doesn't necessarily make the circumstances any easier, but it sure gives you a great battle plan for moving forward.



Here's the thing: this is exactly what God has done to me. He has chosen, of his own free will, to set his love on me. Despite what I'll do in the future, which he even has the disadvantage of knowing about! Regardless of whether I reciprocate this love or not. He just loves me. That's all. It's an amazing concept, and one which we as humans are obviously not able to duplicate perfectly, but one which I think we can and should try to emulate as much as possible, and not just with our spouses. It's something I'm still learning a lot about and thinking about, but it just blows me away to think about this in terms of my own life and relationship with God. He has "set his love on me." Wow! That will give me hope to get out of bed in the morning. That will allow me to face the struggles of this world with joy.

Caroling, Caroling: Angels from the Realms of Glory

Here's the thing about this carol, it is so not worthy of the tune that we've been singing it to all these years! It is a great song, with words that are theologically rich as well as emotionally deep. I would definitely encourage you to listen to the version of this song from Steven Curtis Chapman's All I Really Want for Christmas. It'll definitely awaken you to the greatness of the truth in this little song.


Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
(I just love the imagery here of elements of Heaven coming down to earth, and the fact that the angels were there singing in Creation and now are here, singing in the hope that Creation may be reborn with the coming of Christ to earth.)

Refrain
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
(Perhaps one of the most powerful lines in the history of song-writing. Just try and reflect on this fact for a moment, and see if your head doesn't come close to exploding. In an instant, just like that, he's here.)
Yonder shines the infant light:
Refrain

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
(A great reminder that the things we strive so hard for and spend so much time on at this season and most others, really, aren't the things we should be thinking about and using our resources on. Something better's out there. Seek it.)
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.
Refrain

Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
(This is a cool image, because it seems like the saints here are those that are already dead. Those who's faith was credited to them as righteousness. They now know that the Christ is coming to justify them in "real-time." What a concept: the Incarnation from the perspective of believers in Heaven!)
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.
Refrain

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains.
(Wow! If you can get through these two lines without tearing up, then you don't feel the weight of what you deserved and what you've been given. Not us, not what we did, but Justice revokes its own sentence. Amazing! God sends his Son to provide a way for his own justice to be done.)
Refrain

Though an Infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father’s throne,
(We should always have one eye on Bethlehem and one eye on Golgotha. And both of these should be within the backdrop of Heaven.)
Gather all the nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down:
Refrain

All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.
Refrain

Caroling, Caroling: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Here's the thing: this is a song I don't really ever remember singing growing up, but when I heard Steven Curtis Chapman's version from his album All I Really Want for Christmas, it just hit me between the eyes, and now it's one of my favorites.

I'm not going to comment on each line of this one, but I'll tell you how I see this song. I see the bells as the music of the gospel. When I think about it that way, the entire song makes sense to me. So, try listening to it and see if it resonates with you the same way.

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Caroling, Caroling: O Holy Night

Here's the thing: this is probably my favorite carol, so it was easy to start with this one. My suggestion for listening to this one is Josh Grobin's version, but really most any will do for this one.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
(This line reminds me that this night is the antithesis of the chaos that so often surrounds our Christmas Eve. It centers me back on the fact that this is moment when God became man to save me.)
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
(This reminds me that the world, like the Israelites were aching for a Savior, and that I should feel that same ache, that same need.)
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
(The soul, then and now, tormented by sin and Satan's attacks, and now there's hope for salvation. Hope for salvation! Hope that we can be changed!)
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
(The only proper response when you let the previous lines really sink in.)
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
(These two lines are such a picture of salvation to me. We are led, brought to salvation by faith. This is the gospel, God sending his Son, to draw men and women to himself. I can never sing these lines without seeing myself, a sinner with nothing, like the shepherds, the least of all, brought to the manger to receive everything!)
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend!
He knows our need—to our weakness is no stranger.
(This is direct allusion to the Hebrews 4:15-16, which talks about our High Priest, Jesus, who can sympathize with our weaknesses. What an amazing thing! That Christ is our friend through trials, because he's experienced them.)
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
(These four lines are pretty popular with the world because they talk about love and peace, but really they are a reminder to me that the only way we will have true peace with each other is if every individual on earth, first has peace with God--Romans 5:1-2--and that the fact that the slave is our brother is the good news from Galatians 3:26-29 that anyone God choses may be saved, regardless of status or ethnicity.)
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

Caroling, Caroling

One of the best parts of the Christmas season is the music. I mean, I just love Christmas music! Try as I might to wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening, I just can't wait. I've loved the carols ever since I was a little kid, and I know all the verses to all of them by heart. They are as familiar as the other traditions of the season. . . and therein lies the problem. Because I know them so well, it becomes so easy for me to sing the songs without ever hearing the words I'm singing. So here's the thing: I thought I'd take a few posts this season with some of my favorite carols, and things that stand out to me about the words, so hopefully when you're singing them in church or at a party this year, you'll actually stop and think about what you're saying and in a sense, be re-introduced to the wonder of these songs. If I know of a really good version of the song I'll let you know that as well. Most times, for me, I just need a version that's a slightly different tune or rhythmn, just to force me to engage and pay attention to what I'm singing.

I'll be titling each post "Caroling, Caroling" and then the song. They'll also be under the "Advent/Christmas" and "Christmas Carols" labels, so you can find them easy. Enjoy!

'Tis the Season to be Scattered

This Sunday, November 30th, marks the beginning of Advent for the Western Church. It's a time when Christians have traditionally set aside four weeks to reflect, anticipate, and prepare for the coming of the Christ child. It a good exercise, because it mirrors the anticipation that the Israelites were to have that a Messiah would come to rescue them and be their king, and it also reminds those of us who live post-Christ's birth that we are to live in a constant state of advent as we eagerly look with expectation to the time when Christ will return judge the world, usher in the new heavens and the new earth, and when we'll live with him for all of eternity. It's a great idea, this advent. The only problem is, it comes right in the middle of the Christmas season! I mean, with all the parties, buying, decorating, baking, Christmas movies, traveling, etc., who has time to think and reflect?! Really, wouldn't it be better if Advent came sometime in June when I had the time to slow down and focus?

So, two years ago, I began picking one thought, one idea to reflect on throughout the Advent season. I had to. My mind can become so scattered this time of year, and even if I only focused on the spiritual, Christian aspect of the holiday, there was way too much to choose from. Angels, Bethlehem, virgin births. It's enough to make your head spin, and way too much for me to think about at one time. But, I also found myself falling into the sentimentality of the season. It's so easy with the same stories, decorations, songs, routines, recipes all so familiar and swirling around me to feel like I'm having some warm fuzzy "holiday experience," but to really not be engaged with anything. I need to have my mind honed in on one thing that I can reflect on and develop.

And so, here's the thing I'm thinking about this Advent season: how the absurdity of the Incarnation gives me great hope. I'm really excited about this year's concept, and can't wait to see how it plays out over the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll be blogging about my thoughts as they develop on this, but I want to encourage you to join me in doing something like this. It's really not hard, you just pick something to think about and think about it. It doesn't have to be sophisticated or whatever. (You can even use mine if you want. . . Merry Christmas!) But, if you're like me, you run the risk of going through the next few weeks from this to that, and having very little "on your mind." As one buddy of mine said the other day, "I guess I don't really think about much of anything this time of year." I feel his struggle and appreciate his honesty. It's so easy to go on auto-pilot this time of year. So, as you're out buying, wrapping, baking, decorating, singing, or listening, also be thinking.

You wanna run that plan by me again?

The holidays always make me think about mystery. I know that sounds odd, but it's true. I'm always struck by the mysterious, "otherness" of God around the holidays. I mean, think about it. There's something about the Son of God, coming as a baby, being born into poverty, so that he could spend his life giving himself away, only to be rejected by the very people he came to save that just doesn't seem to fit. (Especially if you hold, as I do, a high belief and trust in God's complete and total sovereignty over all things.) When you start taking into account the fact that God could have sent Christ long before, and that he chose to let generations of folks live and die before he ever sent his Son. . . well, it's just pretty awe-some.

Last night God answered a prayer that I had quit praying. Really, truly, I had given up praying for this particular thing, and yet he answered it anyway. In an amazing way. And, it just reminded me again of how utterly above and over me God is. I mean, this is something I've been praying for for months and months now. I've cried, begged, pleaded, others have prayed, and last night, for reasons known only to him, God chose to step in and answer the prayer that I quit praying a few weeks ago.

Here's the thing: as I think about this season, this time of year, it's good for me to let the oddness and illogic of it all strike me. Bethlehem, the virgin birth, shepherds, God becoming man, just letting the weirdness of it all flood over me, gives me strength to press on, because my God doesn't act and think as I and the rest of those who live around me do. What a hopeful thing is the seeming absurdity of God!

Sunday School Sneak Peek

This coming Sunday, November 23, we end our Life in the Body Series. Ten weeks, we've spent focused on trying to understand how to live the Christian life as a single. It's been challenging for me, and frankly I'm glad it's over. My toes were getting stepped on too often!

At any rate, this week, we'll be looking at Mark 9:30-35. It's a great passage, and I think it will be a nearly perfect cap to all we've been talking about. It's a question with many implications, and one that if we answer it, will reveal a lot about our priorities and our understanding of just what the Christian life is all about.

See you Sunday morning at 9:05am in Room S-180.

Sunday School Sneak Peek

Only two more Sundays left in our Life in the Body series. I hope you've enjoyed and benefitted as much from it as I have. This week, we're going to be re-visiting the issue of boundaries within the group. As we talked about the negatives or what not to do the last time, we're going to look at how to make decisions about what to tell, how much detail to go into, etc. I'll be using my story from LIFE Group as an example.

See you in Room S-180, Sunday morning at 9:05am.

"I just like this blanket for the articles. . . "

Last night I was talking on the phone to a friend of mine and just started laughing. Laughing so hard that I couldn't talk. My friend was wondering what was going on, and when I finally caught my breath, I explained that Radley, my roommate's puppy was. . . how can I put this delicately. . . "actively engaging" with this blanket he had in his mouth and pulled between his legs. Okay, apart from revealing that I'm not 30 but actually 12 and still think stuff like that is funny, it was another one of those moments when God revealed something to me about the gospel through this dumb little dog.

Here's thing: when Radley does something bad or wrong, he just does it right there. He doesn't care who's watching or who knows about it. His "sins" are out in the open for all to see, just like his romantic romp with the blanket. Radley doesn't try to hide because he knows he's loved. At the end of the day, he knows (as much as a dog can) that he lives in an enviornment of enormous love and care, and that nothing he does will change that, so he's just himself. . .the good, the bad, and the inappropriate!

He's not like me, always trying to hide and keep things from those around me. See, I live in a loving, caring enviornment too, but so much of my time is spent covering up, trying to look good, trying to impress, and trying to put forth an image of something that's really not true. Why can't I be more like that dog, recognize that I'm loved, and just be myself. . . the good, the bad, and the inappropriate! It's a lesson I need to learn over and over again, and God seems to be willing to use all kinds of methods to teach me!

That's My Pile of Ashes You're Sitting On!

On Tuesday, a majority of the people in the United States of America went to the polls and elected Barak Obama as the 44th President of this country. For many Christians where I live, this was a sad, sad day and one that has driven them to despair and lamentation about the next four years. For some it's God's judgement on our country for the moral state we've allowed to take hold. For others this is evidence of sin and the falleness of the world in which we live. I've heard a lot over the past 48 hours from Christians about the trajedy of it all, but what I haven't heard a lot of is praising God for his sovereignty and absolute will that was done on Tuesday, November 4th.

See, here's the thing: Romans 13:1-7 is pretty clear on this subject, and keep in mind, Paul was writing to Christians who were living under a government that fed them to lions for sport. "what God has appointed," "God's servant," "minster of God," these are the phrases the Bible uses to describe President-Elect Obama. From before the foundation of the world, God the Father, put into motion things which would lead to what happened this past Tuesday. His plan for Barak Obama was for him to become our president, and his plan for our country was that Barak Obama would be our president at this time.

So often I accept God's sovereignty as a kind of "parting gift" for not winning the real prize: what I want. It's like I just chalk all the crap that happens, everything contrary to my will, to God's sovereignty and resign to live under it. Instead, I should see God as always, in all things, working to spread his glory and the fame of his name, and view his sovereignty as an integral component of that.

If that's the case, then not only is President-Elect Obama God's sovereign will, but his being president is the most glorifying to God over anything else that could have happened last Tuesday! I need to be able to look at the big picture, and see this election for what it really is: God bringing his will to pass and glorifying himself in amazing ways. Then, I need to get with the program and glorify him myself.

Sunday School Sneak Peek

This week Craig and Mary Branch will be teaching on the topic of marriage. It should be a great time.

See you at 9:05am in Room S-180.

Relationships Within the Body, Part Two: Leftovers

In Sunday School yesterday morning, we looked at how to deal with friends that are struggling with sin, knowing when to confront them, what sins to confront, and how to do it. While I always enjoy the prep. and actually getting up in front of people to teach, there are some lessons that I enjoy giving more than others. This was one of those lessons. I just felt like I was learning a ton of new stuff and looking at accountability and confrontation from a totally different angle than I ever had before. As I said in the into. yesterday morning, rules and black-and-white standards of which sins to confront and how to do it are great, but they rarely work outside of a theological, academic context. When we're in community with others who are struggling with sin, it's rarely, nice, neat, and black-and-white.

I think the example of Great Pyrenees is probably the most helpful, so I'm posting that as the main leftover from the lesson:

"As most of you know, my roommate has a dog named Radley, who's part Great Pyrenees. I've been reading about Great Pyrenees, trying understand the breed better, and there's one thing very interesting about them, that I think applies to what we've been talking about this morning. Great Pyrenees are guard dogs, mostly used to guard animals in the mountains and hills. The interesting thing about them, though, is that as guard dogs they can appear to be very laid back, not really paying attention to what's going on. Looks can be deceiving though, because even though they seem like they're just laying around, they are very aware of their surroundings and always looking out for potential danger. The minute they see or sense something, they don't bark--being that the herds they're protecting can at times be very close to cliffs, barking and scaring them can be dangerous--instead they get in between what they're guarding and the perceived danger, and they nudge what they're protecting away from the danger. Isn't that such a great picture of what Christian community should look like?! What a wonderful, merciful God to give us such a great example in his creation of what we should be doing for one another!

Accountability doesn't mean we're always looking for the worst in people's lives. Much like the Great Pyrenees, we're just supposed to be around those that we're called into community with, not pacing, nervous, looking for sin, but always aware, no matter what we're doing, of potential dangers. And when we see them, the idea is not to bark and get all bothered, but to get in between the person and the perceived danger and nudge them away from it, back to safety."