A Must Read

A Must Read

Friday, June 10, 2016
Jeff Lampl

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing”                      Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV)

In Thursday’s blog post Megann Graf commented on this verse . . .

What she wrote brought me to tears. I thought her comments (http://pastorsreflections.blogspot.com ) were so profound that I hope you re-read them, or if you deleted them without reading that will do so now, or read more.....     

Here’s the bulk of what Megann wrote:

“As I was looking for an image to use for the blog today, I searched under just the exact quote you see above, because that’s the part of the scripture I remember the most.  But, I found it interesting, and challenging, as I raise an almost 11 year old daughter, to think of how many times I often leave out the beginning and end of the verse when I encourage her.   I often tell her “shine your light” instead of “good luck,” and lots of people tell her to “shine her light,” but rarely does she hear the part about holding out the word of life.  To be honest, even as a grown up, I don’t hear or think that very often either.  We are bombarded with advertisements about how “we’re worth it” or mantras that tell us “shine like the universe is yours,” and they start to distort the truth and water down our purpose.

Imagine a lake on a warm summer night and think about stars shining over that lake.  It’s a beautiful picture.  It looks pretty.  But, what if what we’re not seeing someone in that lake who needs help.  They need a hand to get out of that lake.  They’re drowning.  Sometimes, we can easily get caught up in the “shining” part and miss the most important words- that we shine “AS WE HOLD OUT THE WORD OF LIFE.”  It’s happening simultaneously.  There’s really no shining without holding out the word of life, the gospel, with it, and we are surrounded by people who need that truth.  We are surrounded by people who are hurting, overwhelmed, and burdened.  We are surrounded by people who are selfish, prideful and arrogant.  And sometimes, we are those people.  We need to hold on to the gospel ourselves, know it, believe it, work through it, but as we are in the midst of that we also need to share the gospel.  I’m not sure we will ever get to the point where we feel like we “get it” completely.  So, we can’t wait until we do to share it with others. 

“As we hold out the Word of Life”

My very first thought was, I wish I could have a parenting “do over”.  What a wonderful thing it would be to create a home in which the most repeated phrase to one another wasn’t “good luck” or “have a great day” or “study hard” or whatever else we tend to say when sending one another off into our days, but rather, “hold out the Word of Life today”.

Is that not the job of every parent, to raise our children to enter the world with that as their life purpose regardless of profession, sport, or whatever?   Is that not the purpose of parenting, to create a home where the Word of Life, God in Jesus Christ, is real in all the love, working out conflict, purpose, discipline, mutual support and laughter that characterizes good families?

What a great family purpose statement: “Our family will hold out the Word of Life to one another and to the world around us”

One last thing.  The Gospel tells us that wherever we are in life, nothing is final.   It’s never too late to embark on God’s calling for each of us. 

Shine

Shine

Megann Graf
Thursday, June 9, 2016

Philippians 2:14-17  “Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that
I did not run or labor for nothing.”

As I was looking for an image to use for the blog today, I searched under just the exact quote you see above, because that’s the part of the scripture I remember the most.  But, I found it interesting, and challenging, as I raise an almost 11 year old daughter, to think of how many times I often leave out the beginning and end of the verse when I encourage her.   I often tell her “shine your light” instead of “good luck,” and lots of people tell her to “shine her light,” but rarely does she hear the part about holding out the word of life.  To be honest, even as a grown up, I don’t hear or think that very often either.  We are bombarded with advertisements about how “we’re worth it” or mantras that tell us “shine like the universe is yours,” and they start to distort the truth and water down our purpose.

Imagine a lake on a warm summer night and think about stars shining over that lake.  It’s a beautiful picture.  It looks pretty.  But, what if what we’re not seeing someone in that lake who needs help.  They need a hand to get out of that lake.  They’re drowning.  Sometimes, we can easily get caught up in the “shining” part and miss the most important words- that we shine “AS WE HOLD OUT THE WORD OF LIFE.”  It’s happening simultaneously.  There’s really no shining without holding out the word of life, the gospel, with it, and we are surrounded by people who need that truth.  We are surrounded by people who are hurting, overwhelmed, and burdened.  We are surrounded by people who are selfish, prideful and arrogant.  And sometimes, we are those people.  We need to hold on to the gospel ourselves, know it, believe it, work through it, but as we are in the midst of that we also need to share the gospel.  I’m not sure we will ever get to the point where we feel like we “get it” completely.  So, we can’t wait until we do to share it with others. 

Go shine your light today, but shine it with truth.  Shine it so that others clearly see Him in you.  If you are thinking, like I am, I don’t think I do that very well, it’s ok.  Verse 13 says, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  We don’t need to cover up sadness with sparkle or gloom with glitter.  We need to light up the truth.  And, when it shines, it will make a difference.

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Grumbling and Arguing

Grumbling and Arguing

Monday, June 6, 2016
Gary Arntessoni

^“ Do everything without grumbling or arguing…”  Philippians 2:14

Why is complaining and grumbling so easy to do?

It almost seems natural- we just fall into it.  Yesterday (in the Sunday sermon) I gave 3 reasons why I think it is easy for us to grumble and complain. We get afraid, we are overloaded, and it is hard to trust God. In my life I can trace my grumbling back to these sources. Let me unpack them a bit.

Fear: When I find I am afraid about something I worry about it. Did you know that worry is a form of negative meditation? If you have ever worried, you know how to meditate—the problem is worry shifts our focus to our negative problem, rather than god's positive solution.  When we focus on our fears they grow, but when we focus on God our fears take on a different perspective in light of God’s greatness. 

Overloaded: When we are spread too thin we diminish our ability to be resilient in the midst of life's challenges. When you are tired everything feels like an impossible task. This is why God calls us to a life that has rest and recuperation as a regular discipline for us. Jesus says, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Trust: Trust is a big issue. What do you trust in life? Are you growing in your ability to trust God?  Many times we complain because we are not sure God is working on our behalf—we feel we need to let others know we are struggling,  so we complain hoping they will have an answer or do something that will take care of our problem. We miss the fact that God has been with us and that God will be with us, right now, right in the midst of today's challenges.

Remember it is not wrong to be scared, feel overloaded, or struggle with trust—unless we take our eyes off God. The key is to allow life’s challenges to help you turn your focus on God, after all God is big enough to help us regardless of what we face.

If you find you struggle with fear, being overloaded, or trust- reflect and pray through the verses below:

Dear God, I feel Afraid:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

 “But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”  Isaiah 43:1

Dear God, I feel Overloaded:

“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61

“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.” Isaiah 40:31

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Dear God, I am struggling to trust you:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:2

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:8

Remember: God is at work in you…  

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”     Philippians 1:6

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Grumbling

Grumbling

Sunday, June 5, 2016
Jeff Lampl

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life”      Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV2011)

So how do I pull that off?   As always scripture has the guidance you need.  Read it here . . . . .

“Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7  For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8  a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9  a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. 10  When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

11  Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12  Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13  and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14  then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

15  He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16  He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17  You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today”                  Deuteronomy 8:6-18 (NIV2011)

“Lord, you have given me 10.000 reasons for my heart to sing, yet too often I fall into complaining and arguing.   Lord please provide me with the will power to express gratitude when I want to complain, and the vision to see your provision when I tend to claim entitlement.   Lord I want to live above my circumstances because that’s where you are, it’s where I find my life.  Amen”

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Humility

Humility

Friday, June 3, 2016

Jeff Lampl

“(Jesus) humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honor

and gave him the name above all other names

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”         Philippians 2:8-11 (NLT)

So, what is the “therefore” there for?

First , the “therefore” tells us that the first Christians believed that Jesus was alive ruling the world from heaven, just as Psalm 110:1 and several other Old Testament passages predicted.   It tells us that every human being on earth will one day kneel before Jesus either in worship, gratitude and love or in regret, horror and pain.   Each of us will see the entirety of our lives as they related to Him, as people who sought him or as people who have spent our lives brushing him off.

Second, it presents to us the only pattern of life that ultimately “works”.   Self-serving patterns “work” for us for a while but they progressively deaden us to others and to ourselves.   They even end up boring us, sucking the life out of ourselves and our relationships.   The path of self and to self goes nowhere but to regret and emptiness.  

On the other hand the path of humility, the path of forgetting myself and focusing on serving God and others is the path of joy and life.

I have noticed two things.   The first is that when I am absorbed in being fully present to the person or activity in front of me, and am thus unaware of myself, I am at those moments most fully alive.   Second, there is a voice in the back of my mind which, when I think of a life of being unaware of myself, screams, “what about me”.   When this voice wins the day, I’m on the path to misery.  When I am not trying to be humble and not trying to rid myself of pride, when I’m simply not thinking of myself at all, it is then that I am most alive.

Third, the “therefore”  it is also a promise.   When we give ourselves over to allowing Jesus to grow in us, crowding out my selfishness, I am renewed, a new kind of life begins to emerge, the kind of life that happens when I am “all there” listening lovingly, and attentively to another person, valuing that person above myself, especially when I don’t feel like it.

“Lord, please help me to seek not the elimination of pride, nor the virtue of humility, rather lead me to increasingly frequent moment of being fully present to you and others, so much so that I am not even aware of my own existence, yet am more myself than ever.   Amen”

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June is the new January

June is the new January…

June 2, 2016

Megann Graf

Often by the time June rolls around . . . .

we forget all about New Year resolutions and have fallen back into our old habits.  I was reading a blog today by Ann Voskamp titled “How you can do a reset in the middle of the year…June’s the new January.”  I don’t know about you, but I could probably stand a reset about now.  I’m about to steal some of what she wrote, and I encourage you to check her blog out on aholyexperiment.com.  She made a statement that I think was profound…”A pail with a pinhole loses as much water as the pail pushed right over. A whole life can be wasted in the minutes wasted…in the small moments missed.”    I often recognize the moments when I’ve totally spilled the bucket.  I can see my error and understand my loss.  But, how many little moments do I let slip by, leak away?  How much time am I wasting on the meaningless things in life?  

Philippians 2:4-5

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

Jesus was interested in others, because he didn’t want to waste any moment of his time here on earth.  Everything that he did on earth had meaning.  Everything had a purpose.  Notice that it doesn’t say not to look to your own interests at all…it just says, don’t ONLY look at your interests, but also to the interests of others.  His intent is not to have us lose who we are, but to enhance who we are by also acknowledging that others matter as much as we do. 

Sometimes, I think we let ourselves get overwhelmed by worrying about the meaningless.  The sneaky sin of the suburbs…worry.  It steals not only our time, but our joy.  We get so wrapped up in our interests, in our schedules, in our to-do lists, that we forget that some of them really aren’t that important.  Not in the grand scheme of life.  And we are losing a lot of moments from those little pinholes that are in our buckets.  We are losing moments of joy from small leaks, not from big spills.  And we risk letting years pass and looking back and wondering how time slipped away by being overwhelmed by things that aren’t really worth our worry.  So, June is the new January.  We need to reset and take time to refocus our eyes on the One who will lift us out of worry.  The One who will transform our worry to joy.

Ann Voskamps writes, “Make gratitude your attitude of habit – there’s no other way to make joy in your life.  Every little day just has to be a little bit better.  Small things done consistently, consistently make the biggest change.  And you get to do the hard and holy things- you can do hard and holy things for the joy, for the love.  Because whatever you do for joy, you can do forever. Habits matter because: Habits are the spine of our self-control.  You can change your life when you change what you do everyday.”

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Humility

Humility

June 1, 2016
Jeff Lampl

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.”    

Philippians 2:5-7 (NLT)

Humility can’t be obtained by deciding to be humble.  I consider that to be impossible.   In fact it is worth asking if . .  . .

 . . .humility is even attainable at all.  If we seek to become humble I doubt that any of us can ever get there.  Why?  Because we’re seeking the wrong thing.   The moment we seek something other than God himself is the very same moment that I have created an idol.  To seek a Christ-like quality is to elevate that quality above Christ.   Jesus did not come to earth to become a divine model for us to follow.   He came to earth to forgive us from our sin (of pride and selfishness) and then to replace that old prideful self with Himself.   My task is to let him take me over, not to practice new behaviors which make me look and feel good but are, in the end, only a new veneer on the same old me.

I have learned that the only way to make any progress toward humility is to focus on Christ and others.   When I have (ever so brief moments) of self-forgetfulness, and when I (all too rarely) do what I don’t feel like doing for the sake of God and others, it is at those times that Christ begins to grow something new in me, something different, something which, as it grows, squeezes out the old selfishness, even if only for brief moments.

Humility is only approached indirectly.   Frankly I can’t even write this without pride seeping in.   I might think, these words that I writing are good, I’m making my point, I am sharing my wisdom, admitting my pride, displaying humility, but as I do so I begin to feel proud of feeling a little bit humble.  I’ve discovered I can’t get there from here!

But I can treat someone else as better than I am at any given moment (while confessing my pride at having done so after having done so!).    I can feel remorse, humiliation and pain at recognizing my pride when I see it.  I can let it hurt, and in doing so meet God, who is there with the most incredible Gospel message, “Jeff never ever, ever, ever forget.  In and through Christ there is no condemnation!   Jesus does not condemn you.   Nor do I.”

“Lord, help me to experience the pain of my pride, the pain of seeing it in me and the pain that it causes others.  May I no longer be shocked at my sinfulness,  yet may my sin remain as painful to me as it is to you.  And Lord, may that recognition make the joy of your salvation ever and ever sweeter.   Amen”

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