Where to start. There is so much going through my mind but I will start and end with this one thought for today. More to come tomorrow, I am sure.
I spoke to students at Loyola Prep on Wednesday this past week from a story in the gospels that most of us, if honest, have heard a thousand times. It is the parable of the good samaritan (Luke 10:25). We focus a lot on the beauty of helping your neighbor from this text and that is relevant. Deeper than that, Jesus makes the 'hero' of the story an actual Samaritan, a race despised by the jewish community. From this we learn that love goes BEYOND just loving those that look like us. Love goes much further.
But here is the part of the story that really struck me.
Take a look:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Off the start we learn that the expert in the law was just that: an expert. He knew the law. He knew the commands of God and what was important.
He knew scripture.
The problem he encountered was that he possessed a lot of head knowledge of the word of God; but that was where it stopped. What he was missing was heart knowledge. What he missed was living a life that came from intimately knowing and living out the words of God.
So today, I am living through the knowledge of God's Word, and using my eyes and heart to see how it applies to my life through relationships and loving those I encounter today and the days to come.
Care to join me?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
"A Letter to Church Marquee Signs Everywhere..."
On a recent trip with my son to see family in Houston, TX, I hit my brakes a lot. Now, you have to know something about traveling through Texas. There are a LOT of small towns. And in those small towns, there are a LOT of police parked in hidden places who would love nothing more than to share a coke, a smile, and a ticket with you should you forget to slow down (not that I speak from experience of course).
So as I was going through one of those unnamed town, I came across a small church with a surprisingly large white church sign in front right off the highway. On the church marquee read the following:
"Think the heat is bad now? Try spending an eternity in hell."
It caught both the attention of my eyes and my son's eyes. I literally had to turn around and drive back to make SURE that what I saw was actually there. It leads me to this plea:
"Dear Church Sign Marquee's. Please stop. I am not convinced the scare tactics are working."
I read recently a biography of Michael J Fox who shared a "church" experience as a child. In Canada he was at a fair and there was a bus that was painted and used by a local church as a witnessing tool to share the love of Jesus to those who wanted to know more. So, as a toddler, Michael J Fox loaded in the bus and a man walked to the front with a pack of matches.
He said, "I have a pack of matches. Let me ask... what would it feel like if I lit this match and put it under my hand?" One child responded, "It would hurt." Then the man said, "Right! Now, let me ask you. What would it feel like if I lit a thousand matches and it burned me all over my body? Because that is what it would feel like if you didn't know Jesus and went to hell. Right now."
Michael J Fox said, as a child, his initial response was "If this is a religion that just speaks of fear and hell, then where is the joy in any of that?" So he walked out of the bus thinking, 'not for me'.
Now I am not saying we don't address the difficult issues. On the other side of the coin, you have a lot of churches speaking a lot of grace but portraying an "anything" goes kind of religion and Jesus was certainly outspoken on a lot of things that we are afraid to address in the church (Read the 'Woes' in Matthew 23). But the simple truth is this...
Church Marquees. You have 8 seconds to reach the attention of a passing motorist on the street. Would you rather take those 8 seconds to create fear or inspire? To cause doubt or give hope? To offend or actually draw people inside the church where they possibly don't feel that they fit in?
My hope... my prayer is that it is the latter.
It is easy to beat people over the head with Romans 3:23 that reads, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." But let us also be the church that reminds those of Romans 3:24 that follows that statement with "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
That, my friends, is the rest of the story.
How will you use your 8 seconds today?
So as I was going through one of those unnamed town, I came across a small church with a surprisingly large white church sign in front right off the highway. On the church marquee read the following:
"Think the heat is bad now? Try spending an eternity in hell."
It caught both the attention of my eyes and my son's eyes. I literally had to turn around and drive back to make SURE that what I saw was actually there. It leads me to this plea:
"Dear Church Sign Marquee's. Please stop. I am not convinced the scare tactics are working."
I read recently a biography of Michael J Fox who shared a "church" experience as a child. In Canada he was at a fair and there was a bus that was painted and used by a local church as a witnessing tool to share the love of Jesus to those who wanted to know more. So, as a toddler, Michael J Fox loaded in the bus and a man walked to the front with a pack of matches.
He said, "I have a pack of matches. Let me ask... what would it feel like if I lit this match and put it under my hand?" One child responded, "It would hurt." Then the man said, "Right! Now, let me ask you. What would it feel like if I lit a thousand matches and it burned me all over my body? Because that is what it would feel like if you didn't know Jesus and went to hell. Right now."
Michael J Fox said, as a child, his initial response was "If this is a religion that just speaks of fear and hell, then where is the joy in any of that?" So he walked out of the bus thinking, 'not for me'.
Now I am not saying we don't address the difficult issues. On the other side of the coin, you have a lot of churches speaking a lot of grace but portraying an "anything" goes kind of religion and Jesus was certainly outspoken on a lot of things that we are afraid to address in the church (Read the 'Woes' in Matthew 23). But the simple truth is this...
Church Marquees. You have 8 seconds to reach the attention of a passing motorist on the street. Would you rather take those 8 seconds to create fear or inspire? To cause doubt or give hope? To offend or actually draw people inside the church where they possibly don't feel that they fit in?
My hope... my prayer is that it is the latter.
It is easy to beat people over the head with Romans 3:23 that reads, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." But let us also be the church that reminds those of Romans 3:24 that follows that statement with "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
That, my friends, is the rest of the story.
How will you use your 8 seconds today?
Friday, September 3, 2010
Renew.
Been hung up on the word, "Renew" lately.
On a daily basis, I am surrounded by electronics that are ALWAYS in need of recharging. Last night, as I went to plug my phone in, my charger was on the counter as my kids had claimed BOTH wall plug ins for their own electronic devices. Earlier this morning I found a spot at an overcrowded coffee shop and opened up the lap top to see I had 12 minutes left on my computer battery and, of course, no wall charger near me to plug into. Earlier this week, my Kindle was dead, thus leaving me to have to MANUALLY pick up a book and actually have to lift my arms to flip pages (the horror of it all).
Oh, the inconveniences of living in a technological age.
But as I was spending time in the Word, I ran across a verse that I had read hundreds of times but it hit me in a new way. So, I pass along to you praying that you might be in the same place as I.
We are a busy culture. It is not uncommon to sit at an intersection and look at the cars surrounding you seeing people on their blackberries, I-phones, rotary phones (ok, maybe not those) texting, talking, going, doing. I am in the ministry and I am, all too often, running all over town; meeting, greeting, investing in lives.
Busy is not a bad thing. But here's where I am this week:
Busyness WITHOUT renewal = Emptyness.
Look throughout the gospels. Over and over Jesus is on the move. He is meeting, greeting, loving. But then this crazy thing would happen. He would stop. He would go to a quiet place and be... renewed (Mark 1:35)
So here's the thing. If Jesus, being God in flesh, saw it necessary to spend time with His Father, over and over again in the gospels, can we really live our lives thinking an occasional Sunday morning check in at worship is enough?
I needed this message this week. I have been running on empty. But time spent in the Word has led to a refilling and a renewing of my soul and God has found me in the midst of my emptiness and renewing me daily.
So the good news for each of you, today? He can do the same to you.
Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Be filled and know that you are loved, my friends.
On a daily basis, I am surrounded by electronics that are ALWAYS in need of recharging. Last night, as I went to plug my phone in, my charger was on the counter as my kids had claimed BOTH wall plug ins for their own electronic devices. Earlier this morning I found a spot at an overcrowded coffee shop and opened up the lap top to see I had 12 minutes left on my computer battery and, of course, no wall charger near me to plug into. Earlier this week, my Kindle was dead, thus leaving me to have to MANUALLY pick up a book and actually have to lift my arms to flip pages (the horror of it all).
Oh, the inconveniences of living in a technological age.
But as I was spending time in the Word, I ran across a verse that I had read hundreds of times but it hit me in a new way. So, I pass along to you praying that you might be in the same place as I.
We are a busy culture. It is not uncommon to sit at an intersection and look at the cars surrounding you seeing people on their blackberries, I-phones, rotary phones (ok, maybe not those) texting, talking, going, doing. I am in the ministry and I am, all too often, running all over town; meeting, greeting, investing in lives.
Busy is not a bad thing. But here's where I am this week:
Busyness WITHOUT renewal = Emptyness.
Look throughout the gospels. Over and over Jesus is on the move. He is meeting, greeting, loving. But then this crazy thing would happen. He would stop. He would go to a quiet place and be... renewed (Mark 1:35)
So here's the thing. If Jesus, being God in flesh, saw it necessary to spend time with His Father, over and over again in the gospels, can we really live our lives thinking an occasional Sunday morning check in at worship is enough?
I needed this message this week. I have been running on empty. But time spent in the Word has led to a refilling and a renewing of my soul and God has found me in the midst of my emptiness and renewing me daily.
So the good news for each of you, today? He can do the same to you.
Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Be filled and know that you are loved, my friends.
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