Today's Word - "Our"

When his disciples asked Jesus how to pray, this is what He said;

"This, then, is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)

Today's Reflection

It is not possible to live the Christian Life apart from connection to other Christians. The Christian is built to be like Christ, in the image of God. What does the image of God look like? It looks like this:




God is singular, One. God is plural. Three in One. (see Genesis 1:26) Christians call this The Trinity. I call this a family. God is a family. God is a small group. God is never alone. God full and happy in community with the Son and the Spirit. God, They, is/are happy together. He does not need us or this planet, yet because God is so vibrantly full of life He/They cannot help but create more Life so that more abundance is enjoyed.

Here’s the bottom line for today. You can be a believer alone and miss Christian Community, but you will miss what it means to be a Christian and with that you will miss most of the abundant life for which you were created.

It takes risk, time, inconvenience and you will have to give up things to connect regularly with other Christians in a Life – sharing way. But please do it. Start with putting Sunday worship at the top of your list of weekly commitments. Then add your next step into Christian community. It is there that your real growth starts. Just do it.

Today's Prayer

“Our Father . . . . .thank you for saving me and putting me into a family where I can grow up. Really grow up. Thank for giving me brothers and sisters “in Christ”. Thank you for teaching me to begin prayer not with “my” Lord or with “my Father in Heaven” , but instead with “our”. Please show me what my next step into the deep experience of Christian community needs to be. In the Name of Jesus who is always present where “two or three are gathered in His Name. Amen”

Paul's Final Words

"Paul explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade the Roman Jews about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.  Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe."   

. . .after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet;

‘Go and say to this people:

When you hear what I say, you will not understand.
When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.
For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—
 so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’
 
So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”

"For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him,  boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him." Acts 28:17-31(NLT)


Today's Reflection  

Isaiah’s prophecy is repeated in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Romans and here. It is at first puzzling and also hugely important.   When Isaiah (in chapter 6 of the book of Isaiah) met God in the temple he heard God call him to spend his life calling others back to God, but that hardly anyone would listen, yet he was supposed to go anyway.

First, the great truth here is that inside every human being is a little rebel with a distaste for God. We’ve all got it. That’s why no human effort can covert us to God, only God can do that. This is what Paul ran into with his own people.

Second, the right way to read this passage is certainly not that God has set it up that the Gospel is intended to turn people away, rather that the Truth of God will always cause a reaction. The same sun (we could insert here Son) that hardens clays melts butter. It’s the same God but depending on our reaction we are hardened or melted. The passage is a Hebraic way of saying that for God to break through it requires His intervention.

Third, Paul is clear here and in Romans that God will reach his people, the Jews, by way of non Jews (gentiles) coming to Christ. They will return to the fullness of God’s love at least in part through the witness of non Jews.

Fourth, Acts ends like a book I recently read which has a number of different endings from which you can choose, or make up your own ending. “What happened next?” we all want to know (it’s actually possible Paul was released, made it to Spain, came back, was rearrested and was then beheaded in Nero persecution of 64). We don’t know for sure. Some scholars think Luke actually had the thought that the future of this brand new Jesus movement depends on the ending that each of us “writes” with our own lives.

So, the question. If your life is the sequel, Acts part 2? How does your life read? Does It look something like Acts? Blessed mightily, full of troubles but you persevere and believe and make it clear to others that your life depends on and is about Jesus raised from the dead? Is it clear that it is the cross and God’s forgiveness through which you have eternal life? And are you an optimist because the resurrection means that God is making and will one day have made all things new?

Can you choose to live from now on as an embodiment of Acts, the Sequel?


Today's Prayer

“Lord, in the book of Acts it is obvious that your greatness in and through Jesus Christ and made personal and living through the power of the Holy Spirit was front and center in thousands of people’s lives. May that be so in my life, Lord. Lord, by your Grace and Power, I invite you to make it so in my life as well. In Jesus’ Name. Amen”

Your Influence for Christ Starts With Who You Are

"Three days after Paul’s arrival in Rome, he called together the local Jewish leaders. He said to them, '. . . I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel—the Messiah—has already come.' They replied, '. . . .  we want to hear what you believe . . . ..'  

So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.  Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.”     Acts 28:17-24(NLT)


Today's Reflection  

As soon as Paul got to Rome he called a meeting of all the synagogue leaders he could muster. Paul was a Jew, a Pharisee, and could “talk their language”. He told them all about what he had experienced and that it all centered on Jesus. However when he got to speak to the entire crowd the results were mixed. Some believed, some didn’t.

What else is new? In tomorrow’s reflection you will read God’s comments on this on one of the most important passages in the entire Bible, so stay tuned.

What is striking is that Paul, despite seeming to have given up on his brothers and sisters in Judaism in earlier chapters of Acts, here he is again, starting with his “family”, the Jews. He just can’t seem to allow himself to give up on anyone even though he says he does at various points. Read Romans 9 – 11 and you will see that he can’t give up on them not only because God doesn’t, but also, like God, Paul loves them!

Do you give up on people? Perhaps God wants you to repent of your having given up on someone and renew your heart attitude toward them and do whatever it takes to invest your heart and love and prayers in them again. Of course it is painful, but what is Christian love other than, like Jesus absorbing pain from another, and responding with love and forgiveness and new starts anyway?

Today's Prayer

“Lord,  thank you, thank you, thank you for the example of Paul’s persistence with those who have a history of rejecting him and You. Give me the obedience to love those whom I’ve given up on. I know that Satan’s cause is never more in danger than when a believer obeys at the moment he least wants to. In Christ’s Name. Amen”

Arrival at the Center of the World

"It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island—an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead. Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days. From there we sailed across to Rhegium. A day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we sailed
up the coast to Puteoli. There we found some believers, who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

The brothers and sisters in Rome had heard we were coming, and they came to meet us at the Forum on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he was encouraged and thanked God. When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier."    Acts 28:11-16





Today's Reflection

It was a wild trip from Caesarea to Rome for Paul and his companions! But they got there. The picture below shows some of the remains of the Appian Way, the first of the famous Roman roads. It was begun in 312 BC by Appius Claudius Caecus, after whom is was named. The Roman roads, the Peace of Rome (“Pax Romana”), the common language (Greek) throughout the Empire, were all orchestrated by God ahead of time to enable the Gospel to spread to the center of the most powerful empire on earth so quickly. I find it interesting that Paul’s arrival in Rome puts him immediately onto that first road of the empire, built by a pagan, but unbeknownst to them, the road’s builders were God’s unwitting servants.

So Paul got to Rome! Most of us want to get there to see the sights. Paul wanted to get there so that the world may know that there is one God and that this one God cares about every inch of the planet and every soul on it. And that He cares so much that he sent his only begotten Son, indeed Himself, to perish so that we might have everlasting life.

And yes this great God used the most powerful men in the world as his subcontractors to build the empire in such a way that the news would get out quickly.

Here’s a thought. Could it be that the degree to which you are living to get the good news out is the degree to which you will find God’s having already “built roads for you” in the most unlikely of places?

Today's Prayer

"Lord Jesus, as I think about the picture below, I know that you are right now the competent CEO of the universe, creating roads and ways for all of us follow you effectively. All circumstances and all people, even the Roman empire are being opened up by you pathways forward for each of us who submit to you. Help me to follow. Amen”

Today's Word

"Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. As it happened, Publius' father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in a prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip."    Acts 28:7-10

Today's Reflection  

Evil as represented by the sea and the snake and now sickness, has done its best work, but is nevertheless overcome. Paul is alive, Publius' father has been healed and God's power has once more been revealed.

It’s easy to think that the early church was nothing but miracle after miracle, healing after healing. And some wonder why that isn’t the case for the church today. One reason is that we in the West are skeptics. Belief in the supernatural doesn’t come easily for us who have been educated in a system that hails reason, empirical studies, and science as the paths to knowledge. Belief in the supernatural/miracles has always been difficult for me for that reason. It’s hard to break out of. Yet, oddly, it is reason that trumps relying on reason alone, because I reasonably conclude that if God is God, then nothing is off limits for him that corresponds to his character.

Another reason we view the early church as so supernatural is that we only have short summaries and brief glimpses of the history of the early church. If chapter after chapter is one miracle upon another, then it seems to us that that’s what it was like all the time.

My studied opinion tells me otherwise -  that there was a great deal of hard, persistent, persevering, difficult, painful obedience that had to be lived out in those first 30 years, and certainly thereafter. Many days, weeks, months and perhaps years for many people would go by with no supernatural sign of God’s presence, only white knuckled faith, trust and obedience in the face of hardship and persecution.

Yes, Paul cured a lot of sickness on Malta. Praise God. And yes, God has brought to me and my family that which I would describe as beyond belief supernatural blessings. Yet two things are still true. To see the blessing I must choose to have eyes that see. And I must choose to hold on and never give up when my eyes to see fail me.

Today's Prayer

"Father, thank you for your abundant blessings. Were I never to receive another evident answer to prayer, you will have given me enough and  I will know that all hopes, dreams, fears and aspirations are safe in your hands. Lord, as I live connected to you I have enough because you are enough. Amen”

"Justice" or God

"Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.

 As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand.  The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, 'A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.'

But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god."
Acts 28:1-6

Reflection
 
This is it, the last chapter of Acts. The “Big Bang” of Christianity has taken place and it’s taken less than 30 years to take root from Israel to Italy. We’ve read how people repented and were radically transformed at Pentecost in the early 30’s. We’ve followed Stephen and Peter and James as they sought to bring the Gospel to Jews and non Jews alike. Some died, all were in danger. But they never denied what they knew to be true. We’ve seen how the church handled conflict and remained unified and by now we have traveled with Paul almost 30 years leaving a trail of churches behind on his way to Rome.

But now he’s shipwrecked on the Island of Malta just south of Sicily. And he’s bitten by a fatally poisonous snake. Common wisdom proclaims that “what goes around comes around”, “sooner or later everyone gets what he deserves”. Since Paul was snakebit he must have been a bad guy. But no, he doesn’t die! He must be a god.

Snakes and the sea in the ancient world were symbols for evil, chaos, and death. Paul had come through both and lived. Yet as we shall see, it is not, nor is it ever some abstract cosmic force of justice to which we are subject, but God. And this God is not subject to anything. No, Paul understood well, and from heaven would hope that we understand too, that none of us are ultimately subject to what we deserve, nor, when are blessed nevertheless, is it because we have earned it. Rather we are subject to God who gives what we do not deserve and seeks to rescue us, if we are willing, from what we do deserve.

Today's Prayer

“Lord, thank you for reminding me that you give me what I have not earned or deserved. Like Paul I deserve to have succumbed to the snake. Yet I live. Please help me more and more and more to live out of simple gratitude, with a resultant deep sense of calling and for Your pleasure. In Christ, I pray. Amen”

Today's Word

"As day was dawning, Paul urged everyone to eat. . . .Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it. Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat--all 276 of us who were on board." Acts 27:33-37(NLT)

Today's Reflection

Symbols matter. At best they are an outward expression of an inner reality. Christians call these symbols sacraments. Christians practice them as reminders of what’s true and real and as such they are most powerful just when circumstances are at their worst or just after an incredible rescue.

It may be that Paul served communion to all 176 people on board as a way to give credit where credit was due. Neither fate nor sailors’ skill saved them. God did.

I’m sure many on board had no idea what Paul was doing as he passed around the bread, but at least some must have.

Baseball players cross themselves before batting, families say grace at meals, other wear crosses. What habits of the Christian Life, symbols, or sacramental practices have you worked into your hour to hour, day to day life? Yes, familiarity can breed contempt, but each of us does engage in some habit that signifies who we are and what we believe (cursing?) and many of those habits point to anything but God. Better to risk potentially meaningless reminders of God rather than have no reminders at all.   

Prayer

“Lord, I fear that there are too many times when my self-talk, behaviors, attitudes, habits and behaviors contain routine behaviors which testify to anything but you. Please Lord, lead me to words, practices and symbolic acts which become habitual and remind me and others that my life is about You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen”    

Today's Word

"The sailors tried to abandon the ship; they lowered the lifeboat as though they were going to put out anchors from the front of the ship. But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, 'You will all die unless the sailors stay aboard.' So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away."
Acts 27:30-32(NLT)

Today's Reflection

My Life Application Bible Commentary this wonderful point;

“The sailors had concocted a plan to jump ship and leave everyone else to fend for themselves. The thought of remaining on a sinking ship seemed like sheer madness to them. But Paul learned of their plot and boldly spelled out the consequences. In essence, he told them exactly the opposite of what their senses told them: 'You think you can find life by ignoring what God has said. Not true. You think you will experience death if you heed what God has said. Not true. No matter how desperate your situation seems, ultimate safety is found in remaining in God's will.' This is a great lesson for us: It is far better to be with God in the midst of danger than to be without God in a place of apparent safety."

Prayer

“Lord, so much of my life is spent in self preservation, defensiveness, trying to look good, attempting to justify myself, my life or even my existence. My life is way too much about me. Please forgive me Lord, help me to trust You and recognize that in saving myself I lose myself and that in losing myself to You I find You and along with You, myself. In Christ's Name, Amen."     

Today's Word

"9 By now we had passed the autumn equinox, so it would be stormy weather from now on through the winter, too dangerous for sailing, Paul warned . . . . . no sooner were we out to sea than a gale-force wind, the infamous nor'easter, struck. . . . the ship was a cork in a storm. . . . just when we were about to give up, Paul spoke up, '. . . We could have avoided all this trouble and trial. But there's no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up! I can assure you that there'll not be a single drowning among us, although I can't say as much for the ship—the ship itself is doomed.'" Acts 27:9-22 (paraphrase)

Today's Reflection

Having been shipwrecked 3 times before this, Paul knew that sailing in October could be disastrous. By now it was early October and Paul had warned the ship’s captain not to sail, but he did so anyway. The result was predictable.

However, just at the worst moment Paul asserted his leadership, spoke words of optimism and faith, “rallied the troops", and indeed, the ship was lost but all human life was saved.

Pastor Warren Wiersbe once wrote, “A crisis does not make a person; a crisis shows what a person is made of, and it tends to bring true leadership to the fore”. This crisis brought godly leadership to the fore in the person of Paul. He had had lots of experience in trusting God in crises. His life had been spent telling everyone he could about the God before whom no situation is irredeemable. And now he puts his faith to the test and enlists the others on the ship in his belief that God would save them.

You may not have the spiritual gift of leadership, however you do have a God before whom the worst thing is never the last thing. And you can speak up and express that, no matter how bad the circumstances are. Your circumstances may not turn out as well as Paul’s, but each of us must remember that salvation from a shipwreck is not the greatest thing. It is salvation in through and after death that trumps all evil.

Prayer

“Lord, help me to speak words of life and faith and optimism into all situations. I don’t feel like much of a leader but speaking in a way that is founded on the resurrection and restoration of all things and the ultimate triumph of God in his new creation is a kind of leadership that those around me need to hear. Use my words, Lord, to build hope and faith where it’s needed most. In Jesus’ Name. Amen”      

Today's Word

"We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was bound for Ephesus and ports west. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.  The next day we put in at Sidon. Julius treated Paul most decently—let him get off the ship and enjoy the hospitality of his friends there.” Acts 27:2-3

Today's Reflection
 
Psychologist Paul Tournier once said, “There are two things we cannot do alone; one is to be married. The other is to be a Christian”.   

Chapter 27 records Paul’s dangerous voyage and ultimate shipwreck on his way to Rome. It is worth noticing that Paul never traveled alone. He was constantly teamed up with other people. Julius, Luke (we in vs. 2) and Aristarchus were of huge help to Paul.    When his ship crashed in Malta, the Maltesians helped him including Publius the chief official. The assistance from many, many others continued once he got to Rome.

The point is this: Everyone, even the great apostle Paul, needs others. Do you have people you can rely on for encouragement? for insight? for advice?  for help? Are you involved with a fellowship of believers where you can both give and receive?  Ironically two of the great obstacles to Biblical dependence and community are time pressure and fatigue, yet there is empirical evidence that the best way to address those obstacles is to participate in exactly that which they prevent, connection to others in biblical community where you share your life and your faith in connection with other believers. Do you have that in your life?

Prayer

“Father, help me to make the time necessary to connect with other believers in a way that draws me both into your family and out of myself. Please connect me in community where I can be known and vulnerable, yet where I can also grow and become stronger through a loving community of believers. Amen”   

Today's Word
Growing Up part three

“King Agrippa said unto Paul, 'Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian'”
Acts 26:28 (KJV)


Today’s Reflection

“Almost”

One day I was driving home from a visit to Urban Promise, Wilmington, a ministry to inner city youth, of whom 80% of the males are headed for incarceration unless there is outside intervention. Dozens of men and women volunteer and several are paid meager wages to do this ministry. As I drove, thinking about the lifestyle sacrifice they are making, I had the thought, “I wonder if I’m really a Christian?”

Nor was this thought a simple guilt trip that could be remedied by volunteering more, sacrificing more, or giving more. It was a simple recognition of the realities of Matthew 25 and Jesus’ teaching that Christians “take up their cross and follow him”.

I think my question in the car that day was a good one as long as it does not leave us immobilized with guilt, rather prods us to the desire to the “real deal”

Agrippa said, “almost” and it may be that that moment fixed his destiny. “Almost”, I fear, is Agrippa’s legacy. Don’t let it be yours.

The following thoughts from CS Lewis are worth pondering.

“Now is our chance to choose the right side. It won’t last forever. We must take it . . . or leave it”

“God doesn’t want something from us, He simply wants us”

“We may think God wants actions of a certain kind, but God wants people of a certain sort”

“Until you have given yourself up to Him, you will not have a real self”

“The road to the promised land runs past Sinai”


Today’s Prayer

“Lord, I fear the word “almost”. Lord, if need be, shake me out of my complacency and willingness to settle for less than the life you came to offer. Open my eyes to your next steps for me. Give me the discernment to see the difference between your leading and my thinking. And give me the courage to just say “yes” to that leading, jump in and let the chips fall where they may. Because you control the chips. In Christ’s Name. Amen"

Today's Word
Growing Up part two
"God has stood by me, just as he promised, and I'm standing here saying what I've been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I'm saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen: One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, he would be the first rays of God's daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and God-fearing." Acts 26:22-23 (MSG)

                                                                                 Today's Reflection

“God stood by me” writes the apostle Paul after two years of unjust imprisonment with only the promise of more incarceration to come.

When things go awry in your life, do you find yourself saying, “God stood by me” or do you find yourself complaining, blaming others or blaming God?

Kathy and I watched a movie a few months ago called “Everything’s Fine”. In it Robert DeNiro (spoiler alert) played the single father of four adult children who were telling their dad how successful they were. The movie follows the dad as he visits each child and discovers that everything is far from fine in their lives and it’s crushing to him. However, at the end he is able to proclaim, after coming to grips with the truth, “everything’s fine”.

In these last several years of my life, I have come to be able to say, “everything’s fine in God’s good world”. “God has stood by me and been faithful” Life has gotten harder and better at the same time. Every time I face a difficulty which seems insurmountable, I see along with it redemption and restoration just around the corner or at least around the next corner after that or the next one. It’s coming. Why is everything fine, when brokenness, pain and troubles abound? Because the worst thing is never the last thing.  Jesus Christ is raised from the dead.

Today's Prayer

“Father, I choose to give no heed to any spirit of complaint, blame or negativity that exists in me. Yet, in my own power I cannot succeed in this. Lord Jesus at the very moment I need you to control my worst thoughts and corresponding words, please intervene and cause your spirit to prevail. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Today's Word

Growing Up

"I began telling people that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God and do things to show they really had changed." Acts 26:20 (NCV)

                                                                                   A Reflection About Growing Up

How has your life changed as a result of your decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ?

In the above verse the apostle Paul says that to be a Christian means that there is some behavior, attitude, calling, or quality in you that results from Christ at work within you. I am very aware of how difficult this question is to answer. In my weaker moments I tend to wonder if anything is different in me at all. Yet, I can’t just dismiss the question. Am I somehow different to what I was before having become a believer? If I’ve been a believer my whole life, in what way have I matured in the last year or years?

Humility works against such an exercise, but perhaps that very humility is from God. There are many important attitudes that mark believers. One is seeing and facing one’s own sinfulness and being broken by it (yet knowing you’re loved regardless). Another is simply not feeling like doing the hard, Christian thing, yet, rather than giving in, you do it anyway. Satan’s cause is never more in peril than when raw obedience trumps unwillingness.

Have you experienced either of these two “marks” of a Christian? Remembering that a Christian is a person who has accepted what Christ has DONE on the cross, can you add any other changes in your life which are responses to God’s love for you?

Today's Prayer

“Father help me to grow up. I admit that I am far from Christian maturity in my thoughts, behavior and private attitudes. l Yet I claim the label, Christian, because I believe. Help me Lord, especially when my actions fall short of what I believe. In Jesus' Name. Amen”         

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Today’s Word

“Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?” Acts 26:8

Today’s Reflection

To me this is the most important thing in Christianity. God brings life to the dead and calls into being that which does not currently exist (Romans 4:17). I think this is everything.

Imagine the best thing God could ever do. Does that give you the feeling that what you imagine is too good to be true? If you think that, and if the resurrection and its Romans 4:17 implications for our lives are true, then I cannot imagine how anything “too good to be true” could possibly not be true. God’s reality, redemption, and restoration of all things (Acts 3:21) has to be bigger and better than the highest and best any human can imagine.

Can you imagine that God can forgive you?. Can you imagine that there is life beyond the grave? Can you imagine your child alive to God? Many cannot imagine ever being free from drugs or depression or loneliness or hoplessness or anger.

One of the most important ways to pray and meet God is by imagining the best that you can imagine and simply practice seeing others, the world, and yourself through the lens of the resurrection, that is, through the eyes of God who sees all and sees an unimaginably beautiful future for it all, all of nature and all people who are dare to believe and accept the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"-- 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV)

Today’s Prayer

“Lord, please help me to all of life as you see it. I don’t want to be a pessimist nor do I want simply to be optimistic as if my attitude were the foundation of life, rather I want to believe as my rock solid truth that Jesus is risen from the dead and that what God did in Jesus, He is doing for the world, and that includes even me and my little world. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen”

Monday, May 9, 2011

Today’s Word
Train

“I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem” Acts 26:4

Today’s Reflection

I encourage you to read all of Acts, chapter 26, this week. It is Paul’s third recorded testimony of his conversion. It begins with his reflecting on his childhood, how he was “trained up in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6)

Do you ever feel like your efforts to be a “good Christian” either fail or run out of gas? I suggest you go to Romans 7:14-25 and discover how Paul felt this way. In fact he felt his efforts to be a real follower of Christ were a failure.

I feel this way often. I try, then fall down, try again, then fall down again. It’s a tiring cycle. However, the Bible tends to substitute the word “train” for “try”. Yesterday, mother’s day, our family got together and we were all there except for our oldest son. He was late because he ran from his house to ours. Why? He was training. His run was part of a disciplined practice to prepare him for a competition this summer.

The Christian life doesn’t just happen. Nor can it succeed just by “trying”. Nor is its foundation what I do. The foundation is what Jesus DID for me on the cross. Therefore I am loved and accepted regardless of the quality of my efforts, if I believe. Yet, I enter into the fullness of that acceptance by way of training, habits, practices, routines, practiced ways of thinking and speaking . . . . a way of life, which just like any other, has its own rhythms and habits, but which, just like any other, is formed by those habits, practices and training in them.

What habits of the Christian life define your “training regimen”?

Today’s Prayer

“Father, thank you, thank you, thank you, that in Jesus Christ there is no condemnation for my sin, failures and lack of discipline. Yet Lord, I ask your guidance and practical help in leading me to spiritual practices that work for the kind of person that you made me to be. With your help Lord, I will take whatever next step you lead me to. In the Name of your Son, Jesus. Amen”

Friday, May 6, 2011

God Calling

“up on your feet—I have a job for you. I've handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what's happened today, and to what I am going to show you. I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me."

"What could I do. . . . . ? I couldn't just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot. I started preaching this life-change—this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life—" Acts 26:16-20 (MSG)

A Mother’s Day Reflection for Parents

It will seem strange that I’m thinking about Mother’s day in the context of the apostle Paul’s Damascus road conversion, and it is true that pastors have this dangerous habit of connecting anything to anything even when they don’t connect, nevertheless . . . . . .

Paul was not saved by God just so he could go to heaven. Just like you and I he was saved by Jesus for something. Just like you and I, he was called. Moms and Dads are called. Parenting is a calling. Would you like to hear the heart of a Christian parent? Here it is;

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 1:4 (NIV)

So, as we come to mother’s day weekend I encourage you to reflect on the calling Paul received, receive it as your own, in your own context, believing that if your children follow Christ, they are living the “life that is truly life”. Here once again are the words of Paul’s and parents’ calling

" 'I'm sending you off .. . . .
“ to open the eyes of (your children) so they can see the difference between
dark and light, and choose light”

“to see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God”.

“to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them
into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.'”

"What could I do. . . . . ? I couldn't just walk away from a vision like that.

Today’s Prayer

“Lord, help me to accept your call to seek to introduce my family to Jesus. I’m no apostle Paul and I’m full of sin and weakness and I can’t be like other parents who seem to do it all so right. But I can and do accept your call on me and will trust you to guide me in it. . . . . . as long as I am alive . . . . . . regardless of how old my children become . . . . . please use me for your purposes. Amen”

Thursday, May 5, 2011

God Calls

"One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. . . . .We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: 'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on kicking against the goads / going against the grain?' Acts 26:12-14

A Reflection on Resisting God

Why do you resist God? How is it working out for you?

Two of the things that are true about the Christian life are these: God wants to give you more than ask for and God will ask more from you than you will want to give.

I think it is very, very easy to settle for the “same old, same old” which is in reality simply doing as I see fit rather than being attentive to and obedient to the God’s will. When we “kick against the goads” long enough, we get “dulled” into a lifeless complacency where we no longer feel the pain of our resistance. CS Lewis said it well,

“You and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness”

Saul got the spell (God knocking him off his horse on the way to Damascu) and he was knocked into the reality of God. Without this Grace he would no doubt have lived well, wealthy and respected, all the while not even realizing his whole life would have been kicking against the goads. He would die, not having lived. But instead, he let the wake up call actually wake him up. Have God’s wake up calls left you still resisting or finally submitted to living awake to God’s world and willing to follow his lead in it? CS Lewis said it well;

“Now is our chance to choose the right side. It won’t last forever. We must take it . . . or leave it”

Where in your life are you still resisting? Will you finally give in before it’s too late?

Prayer

“Father, please give me the courage to swallow my pride and do the hard but right thing which you put before me today, and then again tomorrow, and then again the day after. And Lord, although it may never get easier, I choose to believe it will get better and then even better after that. In Jesus’ Name, Amen”

May 3, 2011

Today's Word

In Court King Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: "King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently."
Acts 26:1-3(NIV)

Today’s Reflection

A Crisis is always an opportunity. Simply put, Paul was not where he was by accident. It was an intricate web of "coincidences" that had put him before the rulers of the most powerful empire in the world and now God gave him the responsibility of making the most of where he was.

He spoke respectfully to Agrippa and humbly asked him to listen patiently. He eagerly desired to make this moment one that honored God and would bring salvation to these Roman authorities.

When you find yourself in a position of danger or distress, be it of another's making or your own, recognize that God is there and is working to redeem the situation not just for you but for all involved. Use your crisis to humbly trust God, accept whatever He brings your way and genuinely care about the salvation of all others involved. when you submit to God in this way, he will lift you up.
(1 Peter 5:6)

Today’s Prayer

“Lord, from a human standpoint I don't know exactly why I am in the situation that I am in, but you do. Please help me to be humble, loving and truthful in it and most of all, may others come to know you in part because of how you lead me through this. In the wonderful name of Jesus, Amen.”     

PS. For more Christian perspective on the killing of Osama Bin Laden read the excellent articles found at http://www.christianitytoday.com    

Reflection - Special Edition

Monday, May 2, 2011

Today's Word - Special Edition

"Love your enemies." Matt 5:44

A Reflection on the Killing of Osama Bin Laden

God loves Osama Bin Laden.

I have been watching the news and I noticed that all over America spontaneous celebrations have erupted cheering a killing. Is this good? When I saw that I immediately thought of the celebrations on the streets of Middle Eastern cities where the crowds shout “death to the great satan, America”. How different are we?

Newscasters are interviewing families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and they are speaking of finally getting closure. Can killing the one who killed your loved one ever bring closure? Can retributive justice ever bring peace? Has striking back ever, ever, been the final strike? Of course a secular nation cannot be expected to act on anything other than secular principles, yet . . . . . .it was GK Chesterton who wrote, “It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, rather it is that Christianity has been found hard and therefore untried”.

Christianity is about Jesus, who when dying, asked his Father to forgive those who were killing him.... Closure for Jesus was forgiving his enemies and dying at their hands. No retaliation, no retribution, no final blow. He turned one check, then the other and as a Nigerian Christian recently asked, What happens when you’ve turned both cheeks and it has simply empowered the enemy?”. Easter is the answer to that question.

Some of you will think I’m simply writing idealistic nonsense. My daughter and I have been studying the Civil rights movement. It seems to me that the Civil Rights marchers courageously took on to themselves the sins of those who chose to be their enemies. They did not retaliate and many died in non resistance, substituting themselves as sacrifices to the hate of racists. If you think about it they were acting on what they had learned from Jesus’ example of substitutionary atonement---- themselves atoning for, taking on, the sins of the haters.

This is the way of the cross.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if America were to take all the money and resources we spent on military solutions and instead spend it all on loving, serving, building, educating, feeding, helping those who try to kill us. Again, the question comes, “what happens when you’ve turned both cheeks and the haters still hate?” and again the rejoinder is, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, rather it’s been found difficult and therefore untried”.

Can God possibly be happy that we human beings simply perpetuate the same old, same old cycle? You hit me and I hit you back? At this point I must add that I do believe there is such thing as choosing the lesser of two evils. Perhaps killing Bin Laden was a lesser evil than allowing him to live. But in choosing the lesser of two evils, one has still chosen an evil.

Here’s a story that God is very happy with. It is a story that brings real closure, one that ends the violence, one that follows the way of the cross. It is a story that none of us should ever forget and one that every one of us, each in our own way, should aspire to. It comes from the recent aftermath of the end of apartheid in South Africa . Here goes.

“A policeman named van de Broek recounted an incident when he and other white officers shot an eighteen year old black boy and burned the body, turning it on the fire a piece of barbeque meat in order to destroy the evidence. Eight years late van de Broek returned to the same house and seized the boy’s father. The wife was forced to watch as policemen bound her husband on a woodpile, poured gasoline over his body, and ignited it.

Now in a courtroom that elderly woman who had first lost her son and then her husband was given the opportunity to meet van de Broek face to face. The purpose was to expose the truth, bring justice, and finally closure.

‘What you do you want from Mr. Van de Broek?’ the judge asked. She said she wanted van de Broek to go the place where they burned her husband’s body and gather up the dust so she could give him a decent burial. His head down, the policeman nodded agreement.

Then she added a further request, “Mr. van de Borek took all my family away from me, and I still have a lot of love to give. Twice month, I would like for him to come to the ghetto and spend a day with me so I can be a mother to him. And would like Mr. van de Broek to know that he is forgiven by God, and I that I forgive him too. I would like to embrace him so he can know my forgiveness is real”.

Some in the courtroom spontaneously began singing, “Amazing Grace” (compare the the spontaneous celebrations around our country today) as the elderly lady made her way to the witness stand, but van de Broek did not hear the hymn. He had fainted, physically, overwhelmed by grace.

As Philip Yancey points out, nations will rightly pursue justice, but there comes a point where justice, as our legal system understands it, reaches a dead end.  Ghandi said it well, ‘an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth and the whole world would soon be blind and toothless.

Yancey comments further, “The Bible tells us to overcome evil with good. But evil is overcome by good only if the injured party absorbs it, refusing to allow it to go any further” 

Today's Prayer

"Father, I admit that my heart is light years from your heart. Please help me to see the world as you see it, to view others as you view them, to have the courage of Jesus who instead of retaliating, forgave and who instead of seeking retribution absorbed hat and injury thereby ending the cycle of hate rather than perpetuating it. God, I need your help for this. In the name of your courageous son, Jesus. Amen”  

Today's Word

The next day King Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. At the command of Governor Festus, Paul was brought in. Acts 25:23(NIV)

Today’s Reflection

New Testament scholar, F.F. Bruce wrote the following regarding Paul's trial in Caesarea,

"All these Very Important People would have been greatly surprised and not a little scandalized had they been able to foresee the relative estimates that later generations would form of them and of the handcuffed Jew who stood before them to plead his cause."

It is sobering but important exercise to imagine what "relative estimates later generations" will form of us. I recently read that the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa only recently removed Apartheid from its doctrinal statements. Incredible isn't it? Good, intelligent, biblically literate, godly people had two hundred years legitimized racism with the Bible. My "relative estimate" of them is not good!. . . . ...until. . . . . .

Until I let the reality sink in. If people better than I could for generations, justify the unjustifiable, I am compelled to ask myself where I may be engaging in that which future generations will judge harshly.

Today’s Prayer

“Father, thank you for Paul's warning, 'do not think more highly of yourselves than you ought, but think of yourselves with sober judgment' (Romans 12:3). Please rid me of a judgmental spirit and replace it with honest, clear thinking humility that can see and speak the truth but only in love always seeking the best for others. Amen.”