I was sitting at the desk in our study/office this morning, working on some e-mails before I went to work, and watching Radley playing out in the backyard. I really didn't want him out in the backyard this morning, because it's been raining here most all weekend, and he had a bath on Saturday and was clean and smelled good, but he wanted to be out there, so I let him do what he wanted to do. He ended up, as he normally does, at the back fence where tree limbs hang over from the woods behind our house, biting and pulling on the limbs. It's one of his favorite pastimes, and I grimaced as I watched him, wrestle with the wet limbs that are actually more like vines, because I knew the more he got wrapped up in them, the dirtier he was getting. But, again, it's something he loves to do, so I let him do it. Now, I should say that he has plenty of things he could be chewing on inside the house, where it's warm and dry. My roommate spends a small fortune on bones, chew toys, etc. so that he'll have plenty to play with, but nope, those won't do. He wants the vines, the branches, the dirt and grime.
Then, it happened, as it sometimes does, I looked up from the computer, and he was tangled in one of the vines. One of his back legs had gotten caught, and he was trying to get out. I watched for a while to see if he would in fact be able to get loose, but then, I saw him go down to the ground and heard him start to whimper: the two signs that he is caught, can't get out, and needs help. So, already dressed for work, I went out to set him free. I knew there was a good chance that I would get mud on me and have to change my clothes after it was done. At the very least, I figured my hands would get dirty. Plus, it was his own fault. If he wouldn't go over and pull and twist and chew on those dumb vines, he wouldn't be caught in the first place. But, no matter how I try to justify and reason it out, it never fails. When I see him unable to free himself and hear those little puppy cries for help, my heart is compelled to go set him free. Even if it means I have to get a little dirty, and even if it is his fault in the first place.
Here's the thing: that's exactly how community within the body should be. We ought always to be watching each other "through the window," keeping an eye on each other to make sure that we can see when trouble comes. Then, in those moments when one of our brothers or sisters is caught in the vine -- whether it's their fault or not -- and they go down to the ground and start to whimper for help, our reaction should be to go get them and do everything in our power to help get them free of whatever has them caught. We may get a little (or a lot) dirty in the process, but that's really not important. And it doesn't even matter if it's the second, third, or fortieth time they've gotten caught in that same vine because they just won't leave it alone. The Gospel is for people who need second, third, and four-thousandth chances, because we all have our vines that we love to go back to over and over again. I hope and pray that as I understand the Gospel more and more and daily live more fully in it, that my heart will be softened more and more and that I'll never resist going after those caught in the vines of sin and the world.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Theology for a Song: Follow-up
Thought I'd follow-up on my post from Saturday to say that "I Have a Hope" exceeded expectations in worship yesterday. Here's the thing: I know it's not about comparison or competition, but I honestly like the version in church yesterday than the original. Well done OMPC Praise Team!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Theology for a Song
Okay, I admit it. I snuck into Praise Team practice this past Wednesday night, and overheard them practicing a song for Sunday. Actually I didn't "sneak in," I just needed to talk to someone who I thought would be working in the sound booth. Turns out he was playing drums, but anyway. . .
The song they were singing is a song called "I Have a Hope." It's by a guy named Tommy Walker. (You can watch him sing it here.) This is a song that speaks to my heart. It's a song that packed full of Scriptural truths about all that God is to his children and does for them. But here's the thing I love about it: when I sing this song against the backdrop of all that's been going on in my life over the past few months, it becomes a reminder to me that, yes, there's the hope of Heaven, the hope that one day all of this will be completely resolved, but there's also the day-by-day hope that God can work things out for good in my life today. That there can be "hope for me today/'cause the God of Heaven loves me." And that's the truth that gets me out of bed every morning (and into bed every night!). That's the truth that makes dealing with the junk in people's lives and in my won life possible. There is ultimate hope, but there's also hope in the here and now.
The song they were singing is a song called "I Have a Hope." It's by a guy named Tommy Walker. (You can watch him sing it here.) This is a song that speaks to my heart. It's a song that packed full of Scriptural truths about all that God is to his children and does for them. But here's the thing I love about it: when I sing this song against the backdrop of all that's been going on in my life over the past few months, it becomes a reminder to me that, yes, there's the hope of Heaven, the hope that one day all of this will be completely resolved, but there's also the day-by-day hope that God can work things out for good in my life today. That there can be "hope for me today/'cause the God of Heaven loves me." And that's the truth that gets me out of bed every morning (and into bed every night!). That's the truth that makes dealing with the junk in people's lives and in my won life possible. There is ultimate hope, but there's also hope in the here and now.
Monday, March 9, 2009
I'm Glad She Wore White
I went to a wedding this weekend. The groom is a really good friend of mine, and the bride was a girl that he's been dating for a few months. She also happens to be pregnant. It was a wonderful weekend of celebrating God's sovereignty, not as a "Plan B God," but as a God who is totally in control of all situations, even our sin. (I mean, if you think about it, if God isn't sovereign over our sin as well as our holiness, then he is constantly losing his sovereignty billions of times throughout the day.) Anyway, it was an amazing time of praising God for how he works his will throughout all situations, the planned and the unplanned alike.
Then came the ceremony, and something I was not prepared for. See, normally when you're a groomsman at a wedding, you're main goal is not to really pay attention to what's going on but to try and keep from passing out and getting the bridesmaid you're escorting down whatever stairs you have to navigate and out of the sanctuary as smoothly as possible. Needless to say, when the wedding actually started, I wasn't ready for what I saw. . . the bride, walking down the aisle, in a white wedding gown. Here she was, this girl who never expected to be walking down the aisle with a baby growing inside her, a follower of Christ whose sin just happens to be visible instead of hidden, coming down the aisle to meet her groom in a white wedding gown, the symbol of purity and holiness.
The church kind of went blurry around me and the tears came as the Holy Spirit reminded me, "Jason, that's exactly the way you come to the Father." Here's the thing: I'm a follower of Christ whose sin is not hidden in the least from the Father who knows all about me, and yet, because of Christ, I come before him pure, holy, and totally, 100% righteous. Satan tells me that I can't approach him in white. He says that my past and current sins are too hideous, and that it would be hypocritical to come in white. Then he tells me that no matter if my past has been forgiven, I'll slip up again in the future, so it would be insulting to come to him in white. And yet, because of Christ's righteousness that's been imposed upon me, I come down the aisle dressed in white, ready to meet my Father, unashamed and as if I were a virgin and had never sinned at all.
I gotta tell you, I don't really remember a lot of the rest of the ceremony, except that I know I was given a very special gift by the Father on Saturday afternoon. I was able to see, in real, human form, exactly what happens everytime I approach my Father in Heaven. He watches me walk down the aisle, dressed in white, with a big smile of pleasure and anticipation on his face, ready for me to get there so we can be together.
So, yeah, I'm so very thankful she wore white.
Then came the ceremony, and something I was not prepared for. See, normally when you're a groomsman at a wedding, you're main goal is not to really pay attention to what's going on but to try and keep from passing out and getting the bridesmaid you're escorting down whatever stairs you have to navigate and out of the sanctuary as smoothly as possible. Needless to say, when the wedding actually started, I wasn't ready for what I saw. . . the bride, walking down the aisle, in a white wedding gown. Here she was, this girl who never expected to be walking down the aisle with a baby growing inside her, a follower of Christ whose sin just happens to be visible instead of hidden, coming down the aisle to meet her groom in a white wedding gown, the symbol of purity and holiness.
The church kind of went blurry around me and the tears came as the Holy Spirit reminded me, "Jason, that's exactly the way you come to the Father." Here's the thing: I'm a follower of Christ whose sin is not hidden in the least from the Father who knows all about me, and yet, because of Christ, I come before him pure, holy, and totally, 100% righteous. Satan tells me that I can't approach him in white. He says that my past and current sins are too hideous, and that it would be hypocritical to come in white. Then he tells me that no matter if my past has been forgiven, I'll slip up again in the future, so it would be insulting to come to him in white. And yet, because of Christ's righteousness that's been imposed upon me, I come down the aisle dressed in white, ready to meet my Father, unashamed and as if I were a virgin and had never sinned at all.
I gotta tell you, I don't really remember a lot of the rest of the ceremony, except that I know I was given a very special gift by the Father on Saturday afternoon. I was able to see, in real, human form, exactly what happens everytime I approach my Father in Heaven. He watches me walk down the aisle, dressed in white, with a big smile of pleasure and anticipation on his face, ready for me to get there so we can be together.
So, yeah, I'm so very thankful she wore white.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Old Habits
Here's the thing you've got to read today: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29504880/. It's an article about what the Dean of the Russian's Foreign Diplomatic Academy said about U.S. economy.
Now it might be easy to dismiss his comments as nonsense. He's just blowing smoke. He doesn't have all the facts. But the reason to care is that, whether he's right or not, he's spouting this stuff off to the future foreign diplomats of the country! These are the folks who'll likely one day be representing Russia around the world in embassies, at the UN, and elsewhere. After living in Russia for two years, I honestly believe that this is where the Russian political mindset is right now. It's not that Russians are really anti-American in the way that say, Iran is. It's just that Russians are really pro-Russia right now. (Actually, if you look at the speech, it's far more nationalistic than anything else.) There is a growing sense of nationalism and imperialism in that country, particularly among the politicians and those in university, and every empire has to have an enemy. For Russia, by default, that becomes America. Why? Because it's familiar. After all, the United States and the USSR have been playing this game for quite a long while.
Now it might be easy to dismiss his comments as nonsense. He's just blowing smoke. He doesn't have all the facts. But the reason to care is that, whether he's right or not, he's spouting this stuff off to the future foreign diplomats of the country! These are the folks who'll likely one day be representing Russia around the world in embassies, at the UN, and elsewhere. After living in Russia for two years, I honestly believe that this is where the Russian political mindset is right now. It's not that Russians are really anti-American in the way that say, Iran is. It's just that Russians are really pro-Russia right now. (Actually, if you look at the speech, it's far more nationalistic than anything else.) There is a growing sense of nationalism and imperialism in that country, particularly among the politicians and those in university, and every empire has to have an enemy. For Russia, by default, that becomes America. Why? Because it's familiar. After all, the United States and the USSR have been playing this game for quite a long while.
All A-Twitter
This morning I signed up for Twitter. For those who don't know, Twitter is a service where you can register, and then post little updates about things throughout the day (where you are at any given moment, what you're thinking about, etc.) Then, anyone who cares and is following you, receives a text message with your update, or they can go to the Twitter website and read it. Now, I can "tweet" all day and all night long. That's really what it's called. . . tweeting! It's a verb that means to post something on Twitter. Now, I'll be tweeting to the gym, tweeting home from work, and tweeting in the grocery store, which I'm pretty sure is against the law in most states, by the way.
Here's the thing: I would like to say that I did this for ministry purposes. I would like to say that I did this so I could "connect with old friends" (even though that rationale has been more than worn out by every Facebook user!), but I didn't. I did it because folks were talking about it last night at dinner, and I had some free time on my hands this morning. The problem is, the free time I had this morning to sign up for this thing is now almost a requirement so I can keep it updated! The list of things I've caved on recently is frightening, and already some of my friends are saying that (gulp) Facebook is next. I've tied the blindfold on myself and lit a cigarette so the firing squad can begin. I deserve it.
Here's the thing: I would like to say that I did this for ministry purposes. I would like to say that I did this so I could "connect with old friends" (even though that rationale has been more than worn out by every Facebook user!), but I didn't. I did it because folks were talking about it last night at dinner, and I had some free time on my hands this morning. The problem is, the free time I had this morning to sign up for this thing is now almost a requirement so I can keep it updated! The list of things I've caved on recently is frightening, and already some of my friends are saying that (gulp) Facebook is next. I've tied the blindfold on myself and lit a cigarette so the firing squad can begin. I deserve it.
Knitted Together in the Dark
Psalm 139 has a lot of really good stuff in it about God's omnipresence (the attribute he has to be able to be everywhere, at all times), but in verses 13-16 David talks about God forming him before he was born. He uses words like "knitted me together in my mother's womb," and "when I was being made in secret," and "intricately woven in the depths of the earth." It's a beautiful passage, and it adds to my "theology of darkness" that I've been thinking about lately.
The image in my mind is such an intimate one. God the Father, in the dark, putting a little baby together. He's done this billions of times before, but each time, no matter what his will has in store for this person, he gets to spend the very first moments with this baby alone, in the quiet, in the dark, weaving and knitting in all the elements of personality, spiritual gifts that may or may not be activated one day, talents, and yes, even predispositions to certain sins. It's quiet work, it's beautiful work, and it happens in the dark. (On a side note, I'm wondering if this could be why one of my favorite things to do is to babysit a little baby that's fussy, and getting to go sit with it, in the dark, in the rocking chair, and just talk and pray for him/her. Maybe it's because that's a little glimpse of what God does with us before we're an embryo,fetus, or whatever.)
Now, here's the thing: we may not always like some of the things that are woven into us. There are plenty of things in my own life that I wish God hadn't chosen to include in his knitting. Yet, there is a tremendous sense of peace and hope that comes in knowing he selected each one for a purpose, and that he knows every single thread used and has complete control over them all. What a wonderful thing that is happening, even right now all over the world. . . in complete darkness.
The image in my mind is such an intimate one. God the Father, in the dark, putting a little baby together. He's done this billions of times before, but each time, no matter what his will has in store for this person, he gets to spend the very first moments with this baby alone, in the quiet, in the dark, weaving and knitting in all the elements of personality, spiritual gifts that may or may not be activated one day, talents, and yes, even predispositions to certain sins. It's quiet work, it's beautiful work, and it happens in the dark. (On a side note, I'm wondering if this could be why one of my favorite things to do is to babysit a little baby that's fussy, and getting to go sit with it, in the dark, in the rocking chair, and just talk and pray for him/her. Maybe it's because that's a little glimpse of what God does with us before we're an embryo,fetus, or whatever.)
Now, here's the thing: we may not always like some of the things that are woven into us. There are plenty of things in my own life that I wish God hadn't chosen to include in his knitting. Yet, there is a tremendous sense of peace and hope that comes in knowing he selected each one for a purpose, and that he knows every single thread used and has complete control over them all. What a wonderful thing that is happening, even right now all over the world. . . in complete darkness.
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