A few weeks ago, in Connecticut, a chimpanzee named Travis attacked the friend of his owner and nearly killed her, ripping her face off and requiring her to need a face transplant. His owner, Sandra Herold, had to stab him to get him to stop, and then he was finally shot by police. The story made national headlines for several days, and as details began to come out about the relationship between Sandra and Travis, the story became even more bizarre. As it turns out Sandra's daughter and husband are both dead, and she and Travis had a very close relationship. Stories about them snuggling in bed together, taking baths together, Sandra serving Travis wine in stemmed glasses, Travis brushing Sandra's hair, made for some very uncomfortable moments as news anchors had to try and transition from this story to the other news of the day.
The more I listened to this story, the more my heart was broken for Sandra Herold. But not because I considered her some demented woman who deserved my pity for having a mental break or not being able to deal with the grief of losing her daughter and husband. Instead, I saw in Sandra myself. On some level, like me, Sandra longed for community, she longed for someone to be there for her, and instead of turning to Christ, she turned to a chimp. Crazy? Well, maybe, and I'd probably love to throne stones of scorn and ridicule at her, but the path to the rockpile is blocked by all the things that I turn to instead of Christ that are just as ridiculous.
Here's the thing: we are all longing for something in life, and we all have painkillers that we turn to to numb us up when we don't get that longing fulfilled. For some people it could be their spouse, for some it's academics, work for others, food for some, shopping, sex, suicide, pornography, sports, etc. I've got mine as well, my own little "medicine chest" full of things that I look to for comfort when life gets too hard and to confusing, and while mine might be more common than Sandra's was and more accepted by society, when you peel back the layers, they are just as pathetic and just as sad.
I hope and pray there's someone around her who will reach out and point Sandra to the one thing, the one person who actually can fulfill her and meet her needs. If not, I can send her some of the things I turn to so often. Unfortunately, I've got plenty to spare.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday School Sneak Peek
Last week in Sunday School, Chad explained to everyone the struggle the church has had trying to find a teacher for EPIC, and he asked you to be praying that someone would become available for the Spring Quarter (that begins this week). Well, God has been gracious in answering our prayers, and Craig Branch--he's Mary's husband, Chip's father, and an elder at OMPC--became available and will begin teaching EPIC this Sunday! What a blessing that God has seen fit to answer our prayers so quickly and by giving us not only someone who's already committed to the Singles Ministry, but is also one of the leading experts on what he'll be teaching.
As a follow-up to the series we finished last week on Acts, Craig will be continuing our look at evangelism from the perspective of Apologetics. Where our study of Acts showed us the heart behind evangelism, and biblical examples of how the early church practiced engaging the lost around them, this series on Apologetics will help us look at practical ways to "make a defense" of the Gospel, not only generally, but to specific groups who believe things counter to the faith. Do you have co-workers who are Muslims? What about your neighbor who, when you invited her to church, told you she is an atheist? Over the course of the next 6 weeks, Craig will be equipping us with specific and practical ways to engage a wide variety of folks we come in contact with everyday.
So, thanks for praying that God would provide someone to teach our class, and we'll see you all Sunday morning at 9:05, in Room S-180. Have a great weekend!
As a follow-up to the series we finished last week on Acts, Craig will be continuing our look at evangelism from the perspective of Apologetics. Where our study of Acts showed us the heart behind evangelism, and biblical examples of how the early church practiced engaging the lost around them, this series on Apologetics will help us look at practical ways to "make a defense" of the Gospel, not only generally, but to specific groups who believe things counter to the faith. Do you have co-workers who are Muslims? What about your neighbor who, when you invited her to church, told you she is an atheist? Over the course of the next 6 weeks, Craig will be equipping us with specific and practical ways to engage a wide variety of folks we come in contact with everyday.
So, thanks for praying that God would provide someone to teach our class, and we'll see you all Sunday morning at 9:05, in Room S-180. Have a great weekend!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday School Leftovers: A View from the Beach
So yesterday I had some of the most fun teaching I've had in a while! For the past week I haven't been able to shake two things from the passage in Acts we looked at:
One, is that ministry, real, normal Christian ministry is ministry of tears and trials. It is not ministry that's easy, clean, or neat. It is ministry that requires much of those who chose to enter into it, because it means entering into the lives of those around you.
The second thing is the image of Paul and the Ephesian elders kneeling on the beach, with the ship just over shoulder, ready to take Paul to Jerusalem. I've wondered all week what the Singles Ministry at OMPC would look like, how it might be different if we viewed our lives as racing the clock. If we kept the perspective that there is a ship just off-shore, waiting to take us to the next port (marriage, a different city).
It's hard for me to look at our group and say, "Well, here are the things we're doing that are 'wastes of time.'" That just seems to me to be a pretty cynical and unmotivating way to encourage ministry. What I can see clearly, though, is a picture of what it would look like if we really lived with these two mindsets at the forefront of everything we did. It's a pretty amazing and terrifying picture, and I pray that I get the chance to be around to see it happen.
Boy! What a view!
One, is that ministry, real, normal Christian ministry is ministry of tears and trials. It is not ministry that's easy, clean, or neat. It is ministry that requires much of those who chose to enter into it, because it means entering into the lives of those around you.
The second thing is the image of Paul and the Ephesian elders kneeling on the beach, with the ship just over shoulder, ready to take Paul to Jerusalem. I've wondered all week what the Singles Ministry at OMPC would look like, how it might be different if we viewed our lives as racing the clock. If we kept the perspective that there is a ship just off-shore, waiting to take us to the next port (marriage, a different city).
It's hard for me to look at our group and say, "Well, here are the things we're doing that are 'wastes of time.'" That just seems to me to be a pretty cynical and unmotivating way to encourage ministry. What I can see clearly, though, is a picture of what it would look like if we really lived with these two mindsets at the forefront of everything we did. It's a pretty amazing and terrifying picture, and I pray that I get the chance to be around to see it happen.
Boy! What a view!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Theology for a Song
Last night at choir we sang the hymn, "Jesus Shall Reign." It's one we sing fairly regularly at my church.
Like many old hymns, there are about 150 stanzas to this song, but I've decided to print a few of the ones that speak most to my heart and mind right now.
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.
Blessings abound wherever He reigns; the prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest, and all the sons of want are blessed.
Where He displays His healing power, death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast more blessings than their father lost.
Great God, whose universal sway the known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son, extend His power, exalt His throne.
The scepter well becomes His hands; all Heav’n submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor, and pride and rage prevail no more.
With power He vindicates the just, and treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last till hours, and years, and time be past.
Here's the thing: I need to constantly (and by that I mean, minute-by-minute) be reminded that Jesus is regining, whether it feels like it or not. Wherever the sun touches on this earth, Jesus reigns. And it's not a chaotic reign. It's a reign of order and righteousness. I need to be reminded that, even though it seems like it's gaining ground all around me and in the lives of those I know, even the kingdom of darkness is submissive to his will and reign. I need not to forget that he is healing this world and putting it back right, restoring what the fall has stolen and even more. The circumstances in my life and in the lives of those around me have no bearing on these facts, and this hymn jars me out of my arrogance and self-exaltation, to focus on Christ and stop thinking that because "Jason's life" is a certain way, it must mean that somehow the universe has altered and the truth about Christ has changed.
Like many old hymns, there are about 150 stanzas to this song, but I've decided to print a few of the ones that speak most to my heart and mind right now.
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.
Blessings abound wherever He reigns; the prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest, and all the sons of want are blessed.
Where He displays His healing power, death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast more blessings than their father lost.
Great God, whose universal sway the known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son, extend His power, exalt His throne.
The scepter well becomes His hands; all Heav’n submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor, and pride and rage prevail no more.
With power He vindicates the just, and treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last till hours, and years, and time be past.
Here's the thing: I need to constantly (and by that I mean, minute-by-minute) be reminded that Jesus is regining, whether it feels like it or not. Wherever the sun touches on this earth, Jesus reigns. And it's not a chaotic reign. It's a reign of order and righteousness. I need to be reminded that, even though it seems like it's gaining ground all around me and in the lives of those I know, even the kingdom of darkness is submissive to his will and reign. I need not to forget that he is healing this world and putting it back right, restoring what the fall has stolen and even more. The circumstances in my life and in the lives of those around me have no bearing on these facts, and this hymn jars me out of my arrogance and self-exaltation, to focus on Christ and stop thinking that because "Jason's life" is a certain way, it must mean that somehow the universe has altered and the truth about Christ has changed.
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock
One of the themes that I hit on occassionally with the Singles Group at Oak Mountain is the idea that singleness is a tremendous gift that, for the most part, has been given to folks for a short amount of time. I believe there is clear biblical teaching that once you're married, take vows, and covenant before God with your spouse, your priorities, focus, and primary ministry area change. You're time, body, and longings are no longer for yourself but for your husband or wife. This isn't true in the same way for singles. To be sure, when Paul writes in I Corinthians 6:19, "You are not your own," he's referring to believers both single and married, but clearly there are typically fewer restraints on singles than there are on married couples, and this ought to change our perspective on our lives in two ways.
The first is that we should be exceedingly grateful to the Lord for freeing us up to spend ourselves for the gospel, the chuch, and other people. And the second is that we should be a group of people who are constantly looking at the clock over our shoulders. . . no, not the biological clock, but the clock that says our singleness isn't a gift we're likely to have forever. This freedom, this lack of constraint to do ministry, this time that we have to devote to caring for others and serving may not be here tomorrow. I firmly believe that God has husbands and wives out there for most of the singles at Oak Mountain, and I pray regularly that those relationships will become known, develop, and end in glorious symbols of Christ's relationship to his bride, the Church. In the meantime, I pray regularly, that we will not use our singleness as an excuse or think of ourselves as somehow "second-class Christians" who have nothing to offer the body or the kingdom.
Here's the thing: singles are racing the clock. We don't typically feel that because we're so busy focused on ourselves and how poor and pitiful we are, but we are, the stakes are high, and the clock is ticking.
The first is that we should be exceedingly grateful to the Lord for freeing us up to spend ourselves for the gospel, the chuch, and other people. And the second is that we should be a group of people who are constantly looking at the clock over our shoulders. . . no, not the biological clock, but the clock that says our singleness isn't a gift we're likely to have forever. This freedom, this lack of constraint to do ministry, this time that we have to devote to caring for others and serving may not be here tomorrow. I firmly believe that God has husbands and wives out there for most of the singles at Oak Mountain, and I pray regularly that those relationships will become known, develop, and end in glorious symbols of Christ's relationship to his bride, the Church. In the meantime, I pray regularly, that we will not use our singleness as an excuse or think of ourselves as somehow "second-class Christians" who have nothing to offer the body or the kingdom.
Here's the thing: singles are racing the clock. We don't typically feel that because we're so busy focused on ourselves and how poor and pitiful we are, but we are, the stakes are high, and the clock is ticking.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday School Sneek Peak
This week in Sunday School we're finishing up our series called Life Outside the Body: Studies in Evangelism from the book of Acts. I've so enjoyed this series, and my second time through it, the book of Acts continues to find a solidified place in my heart. This week we'll be looking at Acts 20:17-38. Paul has been in Athens and is leaving. He gives some final words to the Ephesian elders, and then has one of the most touching scenes recorded in Scripture on the beach with them, just before he boards the ship.
What lessons are there for us in this passage? I think many. This Sunday we'll be looking at just a few. Just a word of warning, don't confuse biblical "farewells" with benedictions. Often times they aren't filled with what the world would view as hopeful words. But, as we all grow in our understanding of the Christian life and the gospel, we come to realize just how experientially true they really are.
If you're in Birmingham this weekend, come join us at Oak Mountain Pres., at 9:05am in Room S-180. Hope to see you then.
What lessons are there for us in this passage? I think many. This Sunday we'll be looking at just a few. Just a word of warning, don't confuse biblical "farewells" with benedictions. Often times they aren't filled with what the world would view as hopeful words. But, as we all grow in our understanding of the Christian life and the gospel, we come to realize just how experientially true they really are.
If you're in Birmingham this weekend, come join us at Oak Mountain Pres., at 9:05am in Room S-180. Hope to see you then.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
It Is What It Is
Here's the thing: I really despise the phrase "It is what it is." I mean, really despise. I've had several people try to convince me that really it's a good phrase, a healthy phrase, a phrase of acceptance of the reality of the situation that gives you the ability to think and act from a position of what's really happening instead of thinking and acting about what you want to be true or would like to be true. But, I'm not buying that. To me, whenever I hear it (usually from these same people, by the way) it comes across as fatalistic and hopeless, and an excuse to continue in their own sin. It's not typically used as a starting point for moving forward, but a rationale to just let things be the way they are.
When it comes to matters of faith and Christianity, I'm what is called a Calvinist or Reformed, and one of the things that means is I have a very high view of God's sovereignty, his ordination and control over all events, but in no way does this make me fatalistic or hopeless. I mean, can you imagine if God had adopted this view? The earth is void and formless, well, it is what it is. Man is alone and this isn't good, eh, it is what it is. Adam and Eve will one day sin and condemn the entire human race to hell and they'll have no way of being reconciled to me. Huh, oh well, it is what it is. God is sovereign, and he is in control, but his sovereignty in no way exempts us from fighting the good fight and running the race set before us. We may not be able to choose or control where the punches come from or where the road twists and turns, but we can absolutely decide to take a dive or give up and just walk.
When it comes to matters of faith and Christianity, I'm what is called a Calvinist or Reformed, and one of the things that means is I have a very high view of God's sovereignty, his ordination and control over all events, but in no way does this make me fatalistic or hopeless. I mean, can you imagine if God had adopted this view? The earth is void and formless, well, it is what it is. Man is alone and this isn't good, eh, it is what it is. Adam and Eve will one day sin and condemn the entire human race to hell and they'll have no way of being reconciled to me. Huh, oh well, it is what it is. God is sovereign, and he is in control, but his sovereignty in no way exempts us from fighting the good fight and running the race set before us. We may not be able to choose or control where the punches come from or where the road twists and turns, but we can absolutely decide to take a dive or give up and just walk.
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