Into The Chaos

I really love Christmas time. It’s such a festive time of the year. We get to see Christmas decorations on people’s houses, hear Christmas carols, bake cookies, and we get to experience things we normally wouldn't experience any other time of the year. For example, putting things outside that should be inside (lights), and putting things inside that should be outside (trees). But it is such an amazing time. I wouldn’t trade this time of the year in for the world.

And around this time of year we hear a lot of really good words floating around…love, joy, peace, goodwill to men. These words are great, but sometimes the reality of these words seems to get stuffed down amidst the chaos and busyness of the Christmas season. I find it funny that Christmas time is the time where we hear words of love, joy, peace and hope, yet it’s one of the most chaotic times of the year. When ya think about it, they’re actually two extremes. They seem opposed to one another…

I was in my devotions this week, and I stumbled onto a verse from the Psalms that just gives so much clarity to these two extremes:

“God make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life” – Psalm 51:10 MSG

We all know by now that chaos and busyness isn’t just a symptom of Christmas time; it’s a symptom of life; it’s actually a symptom of a world that’s broken and in need of fixing. And that is what the Christmas season, the season of ADVENT is centered around. It is about the hope, joy and all around anticipation of a savior coming in to the chaos and brokenness of the world to redeem and restore it…to ultimately fix it. The reason we hear about hope, joy, peace and love this time of year more than any other time, is because it marks the start of a new beginning. That’s what the word Genesis in this verse means: beginning…so, in Christmas time, we actually have a new beginning. It’s a new Genesis, so to speak. Do you think it’s any coincidence that we make New Year’s resolutions right after Christmas time? It’s a time for a fresh start, a new beginning.

So in this time of year especially, but at any time we can freely come before God and rely on him to make something new out of the chaos and brokenness of our lives. We have a fresh start, a new beginning because Jesus, our savior, has broken into the chaos of human history, and because he loves us, he desperately wants to break into the chaos of our lives as well if we allow him to. That’s the good news of Jesus, and that is the reason we gather and celebrate this time of year.

As we go about our Christmas to do lists and our cookie baking, let’s remember that ADVENT is about God entering into this chaotic life with us, so that he can create a new beginning in us.

Promise & Sacrifice

This past Saturday, I spent some time in the scriptures preparing for Sunday nights youth group. Since the beginning of September we’v e been gradually moving through the key stories of scripture. This last Sunday we covered the story of Abraham and Isaac. I will confess that when I first cracked open my Bible to prepare, I went in with a lousy attitude. I had wrongly assumed that since I had read and heard sermons preached on this story that I couldn’t learn anything new. But as I studied the story in depth, God revealed such an amazing insight. I realized that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice the very thing God had promised him. If I were in Abraham’s shoes I would have contested and most likely refused. But Abraham obeyed and trusted God, even though God’s command may have been at least perplexing and at the worst utterly heartbreaking. But the simple truth I realized in my reading of this story is that God wanted Abraham’s relationship with Him not to merely be rooted in blessing, but in complete faith and trust in Him. Think of an earthly father that showers his child with all sorts of gifts, but never builds any sort of trusting relationship with his child. God loves us enough to give us blessings, but also to pursue a trusting relationship with us, and having that relationship requires personal sacrifice. As I read this story and came to that realization, I had goosebumps. I learned that God wants our relationship with him to be rooted in faith and trust, not just blessing. More importantly, I re-learned that God will give us new insights into the stories we read in scripture, no matter how many times we’ve read them. We just need to be open to it.

Doing Good

Have you ever asked somebody a question and their response caught you off guard to the point where you had no idea how to respond? I’d like to share a personal experience that happened to me recently where this scenario took place in my life. But first, allow me to unpack a few details.

Not too long ago, I made my way to the Wilson Farms on the corner of Main St in downtown Fillmore. Since it’s just down the block from my apartment and a place where many in the community frequent, I walk down there to make connections with people as much as I can. On this particular day, as soon as I walked in the person working the counter…let’s call him Jay. He said “Hey there he is!” since I am a frequent visitor. At the time Jay happened to be in conversation with a man who was sporting semi-long hair down to the shoulder, a fisher’s hat and about 15 teeth in his head.

The conversation began with the state of the U.S. economy; then it shifted to the poor economic state of Fillmore. Since I minister in the community, I prodded a bit and asked this man a question. I told him of how I’m a youth minister in the area, and how my church would like to play a more intentional role in the community. I then asked him of what he perceived as the greatest need in the community. Basically, he said that if we were to affect change in this community, we would have to start by changing the mindset of the people. I then shook his hand, thanked him for his honest input, then introduced myself. He introduced himself...let’s call him Jake. I asked if he had a last name. He refused to give it.

Now getting back to my initial question! I asked, “Are you a part of any churches in the area?” He said, “Nah...I follow Satan. I figure I’m working for him anyway. Plus God never gives me what I want…I asked for a million dollars. He’d never give it to me.” I was so floored by his answer that I simply couldn’t formulate a coherent response. I just said, “It was great meeting you.” After that encounter, I walked up to my apartment a bit frustrated and discouraged saying to God, “God, why didn’t I say anything? I’m so mad at myself.”

Thankfully, the next day was Sunday at FWC. One of my favorite parts of Sunday is the fact that even though I’m one of the pastors at the church, I’m actually able to participate in the adult Sunday school class. Currently the class happens to be studying 1 and 2 Peter. On this particular week we happened to touch 1 Peter 2:15 which says, “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

Just to clarify, I don’t take Jake to be a fool. In fact, my conversation with him shows me he is quite intelligent, in many things. However, his beliefs and views of God I would definitely put in the “ignorant” category. Most likely his lack of knowledge coupled with some bad experiences with the church would warrant the response he gave.

But this story isn't about Jake, or even about me…it’s about a deeper spiritual reality that God revealed to me through his word and my personal experience: when it comes to the marginalized, we are not called to always have the right words to say. In fact, I bet the people they've been hurt by have already tried the “tell them what they’re doing wrong” approach. The truth is, sometimes we have the words. Sometimes we don’t. But we are always called to change the mindset of these individuals by continually doing good works in Jesus’ name. Just like that old saying goes: Actions speak louder than words.

Clues to Hidden Treasures

Let me begin by apologizing for not posting since June! Since I began doing my masters courses many things have taken a backseat temporarily. However, I plan to be more intentional on keeping up with posts at least once a week, even if it be just a goofy video or thought. 

So, last week my senior pastor called the church staff into his office for our weekly staff meeting. After going through calendar items and Sunday service details, he looked at us and said, "We're going to do something different today." When you hear those words, you know you're going to walk away with at least an interesting story at the end of the day.

He said that we should assume that every human being is a treasure and has value in the eyes of God. God also calls us to pray for and potentially bless those people if it's within our means. He then told us to find a spot in the church where we could clear our minds. During this time we were to push away all the stuff in our heads that distracts us and ask one simple question of God. Ask God to reveal clues to the treasure He wants us to find today. So that's exactly what we did. I got down on my hands and knees in our youth room, closed my eyes and did my best to focus solely on Jesus. During my prayer time I saw a "red head". I had absolutely no idea why. I didn't know if it was someone with red hair, or a red hat...to be honest I thought the whole experience to be a little strange. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit skeptical.

After our prayer time we each compared our clues, whether they be a building, a person, a street sign, etc....then we went out together to see if we could find them. First we stopped at the local library since that was a "clue" that was revealed. I looked for a red head...no dice. Next we went up to the local school as that was another "clue". Still no red head. We came back to the office, and I was a bit discouraged. Why did God put this picture in my head?

That night I met up with my step-dad for dinner. We sat down, and our order was taken promptly. The waitress who came by to fill up our coffee just happened to have short red hair and a red truckers hat on. At that moment I felt God's spirit prompting me to ask her if I could just pray for her. So when she came by to fill up our cups again, I introduced myself, explained the exercise I had done that afternoon and asked if I could take just a moment to pray for her. She allowed me to pray for the health and safety of both her and her family.

I say all this because this type of thing is not something I do. To be honest, I have never asked a total stranger if I could pray for them. It was a first for me. And based on her initial reaction, I don't think she had ever had a total stranger actually pray for her either. And for all I know, this woman may think I'm a total religious nut...but to be honest, my reputation isn't really what matters. Making God famous is what matters.

Every human being is a treasure to God. In the stillness and quite of uninterrupted time with God, could He be giving you clues to a person you should pray for or bless?

Connectedness

Here is the story of a man who's life was saved through the interconnectedness of the worldwide web. This video is called "The Internet is my Religion." 

Human Desolation & Divine Restoration

Ever since I was a kid, I've always had an appreciation for art. I can remember back to the young age of four when I would draw simple stick figures that represented my favorite superhero, Superman. Truth be told the art was by no means immaculate. The only thing that effectively distinguished my stick figures from everyone else's was the cape attached to it. All of this aside, I've always held a very special place in my heart for well done art, whether it's a painting, a song, or even a movie. I also believe the only useful form of art is that which points us to deeper truth.

There was a particular work of art from a 17th century painter named Thomas Cole I stumbled across today. Cole painted a series of pieces he entitled "The Courses of the Empire". This series basically chronicles the rising and falling of civilization. The first piece showcases a beautiful mountain range in the background surrounded by clouds. In the foreground you see lively trees alongside cliffs and streams. If look closely, you'll even see a deer prancing across a stream. My description doesn't do it justice, so here is the picture:



At the end of this series of paintings, you see something very different.



In this final piece there are ruins of a civilization, an Empire, constructed by the hands of humankind. Rubble is the only word that comes to my mind. The title of this final piece is "Desolation". It's a morbid, almost pessimistic note to end on. But there's something in this final piece that I find both sobering and hopeful.

You might say it's a reality check to look at the ruins of a once thriving Empire laid to waste. This piece screams out the truth that the material things we build, the Empires we construct, and, truth be told, the things we hold dear to on this earth, will eventually become desolate. Not a thought we enjoy entertaining, but a truth nonetheless.

But in a strange sense, it is hopeful. While much of what man had constructed was destroyed, elements of the original creation God designed is still very much intact. Compare and contrast both of these pictures, and see for yourself.

Ultimately, what I find hopeful is this:


No matter how bad, or how bleak the world around us gets, we can rest confident that this is God's world and He is interested in it, loves it, and ultimately wants to see it restored to the original masterpiece He intended it to be.

Control

"And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you."

- 1 Samuel 24:12

This verse is imbedded within a dialogue between David and Saul, the king of Israel at the time. In the chapters preceding this, there was quite a bit of drama taking place between these two men. Even though he was king, Saul had been jealous of David because the people saw him as a more able bodied leader than Saul. So, Saul set out to kill David. Nice guy, huh?

It would have been very easy for David to retaliate, but he doesn't. He gives it over to God. He basically says, "Saul, your life and the decisions you've made are not in my hands. They're in God's. Let Him deal with it."

I think it's very easy for us to take matters into our own hands...to play the role of God in our life. I'm sure David was tempted to do that. I've been tempted to do that. I'm sure you have as well.  Deep down, to some degree, we're all fighting for control of our life.

The myth that is often times put out there is that if WE gain more control of our life, we'll have freedom, joy, happiness...all of the things we're striving for.  Our culture promises these things. I think of Verizon's latest ad campaign: "Rule the Air" or Burger King's "Have it Your Way". Now, I don't have huge issues with cell phones or fast food, but it does point to the fact hat in our culture we have this desire to control aspects of our life...we want to rule and have it our way much of the time.

The truth of the matter is that this mentality doesn't lead to what we're striving for...the more control we have over our life the more we become stuck in patterns, routines and habits that hold us back from living life to the fullest.




I mean, c'mon...does this look like the face of someone who's truly happy and fulfilled?

I didn't think so either. :)

But let me ask this. What would it look like to give up control? What would it look like to entrust all of the details of our existence to someone who's bigger than our existence? David did it, and it paid off. Because David said, "It's in God's hands" Saul came to the realization of what he had done. He realized how poorly he had treated David, and how well David had treated him.

If we want to see change in our life, maybe we need to start by giving up control of it.

Snow

DISCLAIMER: This is a late blog post, so forgive my lack of grammatical cohesiveness in the following paragraphs...I just gotta get this stuff out! :)

I was driving on the thruway earlier this week, and it happened to be during an incredibly snowy expedition as I was returning to my apartment in Fillmore. What really got under my skin was that the roads were very poorly plowed causing my car to slide, skid and fish tail every which way along the road. As I was making every possible attempt not to let my car drive head on into a snow bank, a thought popped into my head. The thought was this: "At this moment I do not like snowplows at all!" You see, I expected the snowplows to do their jobs when the snow hit the streets...and when my immediate need of having a plowed street so that my car wouldn't skid and fishtail everywhere wasn't met, I became a little miffed because the plows were not out there doing what I expected them to be doing in that moment.

All I can say is a deep truth hit me as I was driving that I hadn't realized before. We tend to become bitter and resentful towards anyone/anything that isn't meeting our immediate needs in a particular moment in our life. Obviously a few heated words directed towards a snow plow isn't the best example. But I think the concept rings true. How often do we have deep immediate needs that we're expecting to be met by someone, whether it's a friend, family member, boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife? And if that need isn't being met by that particular individual, how do we chose to respond? Will we chose bitterness/anger and close ourselves off? Or will we seek reconciliation/forgiveness among those people we know have been put on this earth by God to meet our deepest most heartfelt needs?  

You see, I think flip side is also true...we have been placed on this earth to meet the immediate needs of people. Do we ever wonder if our choices to become bitter, angry and closed off towards people prevents us from meeting someone else's need in particular moment, and consequently preventing us from having ours met?

I think Jesus words of loving your neighbor as yourself most definitely rings true in moments like this. If we expect others to treat us a certain way...to meet an immediate need of ours, we should expect the same of ourselves when responding to others.

Love Wins Trailer...initial thoughts

Not very often do you get branded a heretic for something you wrote BEFORE it even hits the bookshelf. For this, I commend pastor/evangelist Rob Bell. Much controversy has been generated over Bell's upcoming release, "Love Wins" which is slated for a March 29th release. Countless blogs, video posts and tweets have been spun into the world wide web, all of which condemn, praise, or remain in the "middle of the road" on what little we know of Bell's latest work. I thought I would join the bandwagon and put in my two cents.

Anyone familiar with Bell's literature, mega-sermons and NOOMA videos knows that this man is no stranger to controversy. In his upcoming release, Bell tackles one of the most pervasive and controversial topics in not only Christianity, but religion as a whole: what happens after we die?

Let me be honest in saying that I really look forward to reading this book. I have been a fan of Bell's work ever since I was first exposed to it in youth group roughly 10 years ago. He is an intelligent, charismatic and entertaining individual, and the above trailer highlights this, and the topic of the book very well.

At the beginning of this video Bell shares a story of a note attached to an art piece containing a Ghandi quote. This note makes the assertion that Ghandi is in hell. Bell's response was simply, "Really? Someone knows this for sure, and felt the need to share it with everyone else?" To me, Bell is simply raising questions that others in Christian leadership have simply been too afraid to ask: What is the central message of Jesus' gospel? What do we believe about heaven & hell? How does this affect how I see God? If we take our faith seriously, we can and must ask these questions without being afraid of what we'll find. After all, don't we serve a God who's big enough for those types of questions? Or is God so insecure that He can't handle something like that?

I suppose I should take this time to mention that I do, in fact, believe in the existence of hell...but not as some have previously understood it. I diverge in the traditional sense in that I don't claim to know what it looks like...I've never been there, nor do I plan to! What I do believe is that eternal life doesn't start after we croak. It starts right here, right now. So, we have the opportunity each and every moment of every day to either help bring heaven or hell to earth, to our current existence. And how we consciously choose to live out this life day to day is going to have profound implications for what our lives look like for the rest of eternity. I truly wish I could say hell doesn't exist, but the eternal, resting truth that what we chose to believe, do, say, and how we treat others simply do have consequences. My only reservation in Bell's book is that he may try to overstep that truth.

With that said, I think "Love Wins" will be thought provoking, informative, inspiring and yes, a little controversial. But I refuse to make any pointed judgments/arguments without having read it. To me, it is simply in poor taste and un-Christ-like.

Surround

People play a big role in how you and I grow in our faith. Plain and simple. I want to share two scriptures with you that I think illustrate this best.

“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”

-          Proverbs 13:20

When I hear this Proverb my mind immediately jumps to a poster I saw pretty regularly in the halls of my school when I was in grade school. This poster had several colored pencils neatly lined up one next to the other. All of these pencils were sharpened to the point, except for the pencil in the middle. The pencil in the middle was dull. And up above the picture it said, “Surround yourself with who you want to be.”

This proverb in a lot of ways says the exact same thing: Surround yourself with who you want to be. And when I look at this scripture honestly and truthfully, I’m forced to take a step back and ask myself, “what kind of person do I want to be?  Who do I want to be like? Who do I surround myself with...and do I want to be like that?"

Positive relationships can do amazing incredible things for our walk with God, but the flip side is true as well. 

“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33

There are some "grey" areas that I believe are open for discussion for some things in faith, but when it comes to relationships, in my opinion, there's no middle ground. The relationships you and I are currently in at this moment are either growing our faith, or they are choking it. They either go one way or the other. There’s no middle ground…either their helping or hindering our walk with our creator.

So who are the people/persons who have had a positive impact on your life? What was it that made this person influential? What kind of influence have you had on others?

The+Destitution+of+Service

Jesus Christ actually "out-socialized the socialists" (Matthew 23:11). Oswald Chambers hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the role of the Christian church in relation to who Jesus is. This is a great read. Check it out!

The+Destitution+of+Service

Engine

The question of motivation has to pop up into our minds from time to time, no matter where our allegiance lies. Whether we claim Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism or if we don't subscribe to any religious belief system at all, the question of why we believe what we believe, why we value what we value has to be addressed.

As a Christian pastor, I claim to follow Christ in His life, death and resurrection, and I make every effort to live that out in word and deed...but what is the prime motivator for why I've chosen to follow Him? If I'm going to live life to the fullest I have to ask that question...otherwise I start to follow Christ with a personal agenda.

And I would pose the same question to anyone who cares to read this. Why do you believe what you believe? What pushes that? What is the driving force, the engine that fuels your faith?

When our beliefs are marked with an agenda, it changes things doesn't it? When we believe just because it's convenient for us, or just because our parents believe it, or because we're just ticked off and angry at something or someone is that a worthy engine to fuel our faith? Will that last?

For the record, let me clarify that this isn't a sermon. This is merely me typing out loud. Whoever cares to read this, I'd encourage you to entertain this question in your mind: what do I really have faith in? (Because we ALL have faith in something) and what fuels that faith? What motivates that belief?

Take a few minutes to ponder these questions. I'd love to get some feedback.

Grace & Peace,
Mike