Friday, September 26, 2008

Ever feel like God is silent?

Currently, at Genesis Church, we are in a series called "Mind Games." The series is about faith, and the first message this week was I feel abandoned by God.

I have to admit that there are very few times I feel abandoned by God (although I used to, a lot). But there are times when I feel God is silent in my life (apologies to JV- I know He's not silent.) Why is it when I pray and I serve and I try hard to follow God, I dont' always hear Him? Then, in my daily reading, I came across this in The Message:

This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.' -Isaiah 58:6-9

Wow. This is really convicting to me, especially the part about being avaialable to your own family. See, it's easy for me to give money to a cause, but harder to give time and effort to it. It's natural for me to want to help people I know and like, but harder for me to want to help my extended family. In fact, I'd rather give money to someone I don't know very well, but I know is trying to follow God than to give money to members of my family who need it. And as far as having time to talk to my family? Well, besides my mom, I can't remember the last time I picked up the phone to call them and just see how they're doing.

But, that's what God wants from me. Feed the poor. Invite in the homeless. Clothe the ill-clad. Be available for my family. That's harder than praying and reading the bible and serving others. That is giving up your life.

Peace to you.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Bailout or sinking fund?

I know all this talk about a bailout can be confusing for non-financial types, so I'd like to try to put it in layman's terms. Last night, President Bush said that under the proposed bailout plan, "...the federal government would put up to $700 billion taxpayer dollars on the line to purchase troubled assets that are clogging the financial system. In the short term, this will free up banks to resume the flow of credit to American families and businesses, and this will help our economy grow."

All this can be quite confusing, I know. So, here it is in terms we can all understand:

The US Government (which doesn't have any money, which is why we're nearly $10 trillion in debt) is going to borrow more money so it can lend it to banks (who don't have any money, which is why so many are going bankrupt) so that they can loan it to consumers (who don't have any money, which is why mortgage forclosures are at an all-time high). That way, consumers (still no money) can go deeper into debt to the banks (who've now loaned all the money out again) and the government is caught holding the bag. Actually, not, because the government doesn't have any money... it all comes from us. And our kids.

So, to simplify further: Our kids are loaning money to the government to loan it to the banks to loan it to us so we can buy flat screens and Volvos.

Hopefully, this makes the matter simpler to understand.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

God's plan to save the world

In the recent days and weeks, if you watch the news, it can be easy to get caught up in the Chicken Little stories. Serious-looking news people tell us how tight the presidential race is and how important it is to get the "right" person in power. At the same time, disheveled financial types yell at us that the economic sky is falling and the world is coming to an end. And in the midst of all this, a rumor is swirling that Brad and Angelina have broken up. It's almost enough to make you wonder if God's still on His throne.

But the truth is written in scripture that God has a plan to save the world. We know that Jesus "...did not come to judge the world, but to save it." (John 12:47) But, Jesus is gone, at least physically, so how does that work now? In the midst of all the trouble and turmoil, what is God's plan to save the world?

It's written here:

God's Message,
the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies,
laid out the earth and all that grows from it,
Who breathes life into earth's people,
makes them alive with his own life:
"I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:
opening blind eyes,
releasing prisoners from dungeons,
emptying the dark prisons. - Isaiah 42:5-7 (The Message)

Right there. Did you see it? God is talking about bringing people into light, opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners. And how? Through his secret plan. Read it again:

I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light...

See that? God's plan to save the world? It's YOU. You have been called to bind His people to Him. You have been called to start bringing people into the light, release people from the prisons. You are called to spread the message. How, you wonder, can you save the world? You can't- but God can, and will, through you. Through telling your friends, through giving your time and money, and through serving in His kingdom, you (and I) can work to bring heaven to earth. Giving a little of ourselves will help bring up there to down here.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

On becoming less and less

God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,
has this solemn counsel:
"Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
in complete dependence on me—
The very thing
you've been unwilling to do.- Isaiah 30:15 (The Message)

Maybe you're like me and sometimes forget that we can't save ourselves. I try so hard to live right and do good and, while those are good things, they can't save me. Only by turning to God and relying totally and completely on Him can I be saved.

I work really hard to prove I'm better than others. I often want to tell my boss that I made this happen, or I carried someone else's water in some case, just to prove how strong I am. But, I read this verse, and I really do want my strength to come from settling down in complete dependence on God. This means I can't make myself strong by:
- Building a bigger bank account
- Learning more things
- Impressing more people
- Even serving more people

See, I work really hard to make myself appear like I'm more than I am. But, only when I make myself less can I allow Him to become more- and that is where I become strong.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.- Psalm 121:1-2

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Seriously, what is the appeal?

Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans,
so full of themselves, so full of hot air!
Can't you see there's nothing to them? - Isaiah 2:22 (The Message)

I read this verse while on a plane coming home from England, and it got me thinking about celebrity worship. If you live in America and rarely leave, you may not believe this, but the Brits are far more into celebs and gossip that we are. In fact, most drug stores/ book stores/ airport shops had one magazine rack devoted to celebrity gossip- a single shelf printed with more neon than Nicky Hayden's Repsol Honda.



These magazines told, in hot pink or glowing orange print, what "Megan" was wearing this week, or how "Minnie" lost 24 pounds after her baby or what guy "Rose" was last seen with (apparently, last names are taboo in celebspeak).

So, I was profoundly affected by this verse, standing all alone at the end of one of Isaiah's visions. Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans.... After all, don't most of us have people we're "just dying" to meet? Wouldn't we drop our lunch and jump up to go meet Oprah or Barack or Sarah or Rob? (That's Bell, for me...) How much time and attention do we focus on mere humans and let God stand by himself, waiting patiently, for just a chance to enter our thoughts and our hearts? How often do we put The One who saved us on the back burner just for a chance to watch Big Brother or Biggest Loser or read about Brangelina's latest child?

What is the appeal anyway? Shouldn't everything we do be for God's glory, not for ours? Not for other people's?

Yes, they may play basketball well, or really convince you they're crying on the big screen, or they may have eye-melting beauty (or handsomeness). But, they're mere humans. I'm afraid that one day we'll wake up to find there really is nothing to them.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Lessons from The Shack

I write this from the North of England, and on the airplane over here I finished the book The Shack. I have to tell you, I got several lessons out of the book:

- I got a great explanation of the role tragedy plays in our lives
- I found a unique perspective on the Trinity
- I got an even greater appreciation of what God must have gone through to allow Jesus to go to the cross

I have to admit I didn't want to finish the book. The first few chapters were hard because of a tragic event that happens (no, you'll have to read it for yourself!) But, I'm really glad I stayed with it. It is one of those great works of fiction that really helps you gain perspective on your life and Life in General. Besides that, it's wonderfully written with vivid descriptions and it's highly entertaining.

If you're not familiar with the book, you should go here.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Is your wife more spiritual than you are?

Wives must not disrupt worship, talking when they should be listening, asking questions that could more appropriately be asked of their husbands at home. God's Book of the law guides our manners and customs here. Wives have no license to use the time of worship for unwarranted speaking. Do you—both women and men—imagine that you're a sacred oracle determining what's right and wrong? Do you think everything revolves around you? - 1 Corinthians 14:34-36

This is yet another indication of how men are called to be the spiritual leaders of their families. Granted, this passage goes against our modern ways of thinking about home life and church, but Paul is emphatic that husbands should be able to answer the spiritual questions from their wives.

Men often neglect the study of scripture as too ethereal, too time consuming, too boring, or just not football-y enough. But, if we don't read and study and spend time in God's word, how can we really be what we're called to be - spiritual leaders of our households?

In Spanish, there are two words for "read." The word "recitar" (to read) means to read in a way you can repeat, or "recite" the text. The word "estudiar" also means read, but to read deeply, to study. I need to estudio mas and recito menor.

My wife gets up early to read her bible. My wife goes to a bible study with other women, as well as our small group study. My wife prays daily, and not just before meals (I KNOW!) I need to do a better job of being a spiritual head of my family. How about you?

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

More on the evangelical church

I received a comment from friend on my post entitled "What Kind of Church do you Want?". My friend was lamenting the statistics Pastor Stevens was so pumped up about, and was concerned that (1) I endorsed this line of thinking, and (2) That the church assembly would even be thought of as an evangelical tool. The comment was well thought-out and scriptural, and here is an excerpt:

In this issue, starting in Ephesians 4:

4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

You see the job of the pastor/elder and teacher is train the saints for the work of the ministry. What is the work of the ministry if it is not evangelism and discipleship? The believers are to be soul winners not the pastors. If the pastor of an assembly is focused on evangelism, he has missed the point....

What the modern church (mainline, evangelical you name it) has done is create a body of consumers of spirituality rather than members of the body of Christ. Do you know that Barna has done research and found that 9 out of 10 professing evangelicals have NEVER shared their faith? If that is our primary mission what is wrong here?


By the way, my friend also has a great blog that you should check out. I responded to him via e-mail, but I wanted to post it here, too.

First of all, thanks so much for reading and contributing. I'd love for my blog to be the kind of place people can go and have this dialogue.

Second, I want to make it clear that I didn't agree with Stevens on my blog (or disagree), but I linked his post because I thought it was an interesting take on what could be some disturbing statistics. If I were to do the survey, I would want to see some further statistics... for instance, is there a correlation between how long someone has attended Granger and what they believe? In other words, by attending the church, are people being edified? If 10 year people have the same beliefs as one-year people, then I think the church is failing to make disciples and "teach them to obey my commands."

However, I don't totally agree with your point that the church shouldn't be about evangelism. If we look at the church in Acts chapter 2, we see people being intrigued and attracted by what goes on in the church assembly. On the day of Pentacost, when the Holy Spirit invaded the church, people (non-believers) came running from everywhere to see what was going on. What did Peter do? He didn't say, "Go away if you don't believe what we do." He didn't start speaking to believers. Instead, he immediately used what was going on at that moment (the "culture" if you will) to preach to non-believers. (Acts 2:14-41). This is the first picture we have of a church assembly after Christ's ascendancy, and it's the disciples use it to evangelize.

I also think that there are two reasons few believers share their faith. (1) If you grew up in the church I grew up in, you wouldn't want anyone to know. I think there are a lot of churches like that. (2) People aren't taught how to share their faith. And, how better to learn how than by a church that believes in sharing its faith?

That being said, I do think you can make a mistake and make the church assembly ALL about evangelism and not about making disciples. That's the balance we try to strike at Genesis. It's why we try to emphasize small groups for people who want to dig deeper (Yes, I know there are issues with the small group model, too, but it's close to the Acts 2 model of the church where people met in homes, broke bread together and worshipped). It's also why we tend to constantly rotate from series about horizontal relationships (man to man) and vertical relationship (man to God). We also try to mix series that are evangelical in nature with those that are edifying in nature. I know with Paul at the helm, we will do an even better job of this.

Finally, you should know that I don't think I have the right answer. This is a line of thinking that continues to evolve the more I pray about it and study scripture. I rest in the fact that I have the few important things figured out, and the rest we'll find out in heaven.

What do you think? Join the discussion by posting a comment...