Called within the Storm...
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
I've moved...my blog
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Friday, September 4, 2015
Today, this is the “word of the LORD” for me...
2 Timothy 4:9-22 (NIV)
Personal Remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because
he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has
gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with
me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my
ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When
you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls,
especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will
repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your
guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted
me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at
my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully
proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the
lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack
and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and
ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus
stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. 21 Do
your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens,
Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters.
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.
***
Today, this
was/is the “word of the LORD” for me. Ominous that it was paired with a reading
from Jeremiah 33:6–34:7.
Some Background…
This summer
I have been reading the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer written by EricMetaxas. It’s an incredibly accessible read that I highly recommend.
Reading Bonhoeffer’s story I was drawn in by a specific element of his
devotional practice, namely the daily reading of Die Losungen (An introduction – in English –
to the Daily Texts of the Moravian Church can be found here).
Adding to my curiosity, these are the daily texts I/we have been engaging in
the ReLearning Community project with MCEC and 3dm.
So, long story
made short…for the past few months these daily texts have become my companion.
In beginning this daily devotional practice I have felt the profound presence
of the Holy Spirit bringing the Word alive in new ways for me. Daily I have
been both invited and challenged by the Word…no commentary, no interpretation…just
sitting with Word and inviting God to speak.
In a season of challenge, what am
I hearing?
This is the
question I have returned to repeatedly as I have read my way through Jeremiah, Thessalonians
and Timothy this summer. Why these Words? Why now?
I have a
great love for the church and yet so often the church makes me want to yell,
scream, sometimes even curse a blue streak…
Name your “ism”
and it feels like it’s reared its ugly head in this season of challenge…
Individualism
Consumerism
Rascism
Sexism
Fundamentalism
Liberalism
Trivialism…if
that’s even a word? If not it should be! Here’s my definition…
Trivialism (noun)
1.
the quality or state of being trivial, as in behavior or attitude.
2.
a movement in the post-modern church bent on tearing the church apart
through trivial argument and debate.
I am
thankful that I have several conversation partners with whom to process what I
am hearing. At the same time it feels like a problem/challenge/struggle without
resolution…
Is it because
we are missing the basic fabric of trust?
Trust in the
person(s) sitting next to us in worship?
Trust in the
person(s) we share life with most intimately?
Trust in
God?
If it is
trust that’s missing…it explains the fear of conflict and the inability to risk
a radical faith that invites God to shake us to the foundation…
When the
LORD comes to Jeremiah, the “Word of the LORD” isn’t easy to swallow. God tells
the king, I’m going to let your enemies wipe you out – they’ll burn the city to
the ground. Don’t worry Zedekiah, you’ll live through it – you’ll even get to
meet the king of Babylon face to face (as if that’s a consolation!). You’ll die
an old man in Babylon…but Jerusalem will be burned to the ground.
Don’t get me
wrong…I’m not asking God to burn the church to the ground…but sometimes that’s what
ministry feels like.
And I wonder
if this is what Paul feels like at the end of 2 Timothy – Demas left because
the world seemed more fun than the church (I’ve heard that one before!)…and
then Crescens and Titus leave…
It happened
to Jesus too. John 6:66-67 records: “From this time many of his disciples
turned back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’
Jesus asked the Twelve.”
I’m not
Jesus or Paul, but God how long will you let Christendom crumble before we’re
finished crumbling? I’ll admit I wonder what it would be like to plant a church
in a secular context with people who really want to be there…no obligation, no
guilt, no trivialism…now I’m sounding like I’m dreaming of some non-existent
utopia…or?
But I think
God is doing something new…something that will shake the foundations of the
church in North America (in the West as a whole) to the core. The part that I
hate about this plan is that Christendom still has a lot of tough crumbling and
even burning to the ground to do, before we get there…
Die Losungen
have become a meaningful connecting point for me…a path into the Word that doesn’t
need to have a sermon come out at the other end. So I’ll keep listening,
pondering…what is the “word of the LORD” for me/us today?
Friday, August 7, 2015
True Friendship
·
“One who
multiplies joys, divides grief, and whose honesty is invaluable.”
·
“One who
understands our silence.”
·
“A volume of
sympathy bound in cloth.”
·
“A watch
that beats true for all time and never runs down.”
·
The winning
definition read, "A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world
has gone out.”
In many
ways, these little blurbs of wisdom are similar to the short sentences of
wisdom we find in the book of Proverbs. For example in Proverbs 22:24 we read:
“Make no friends with those
given to anger, and do not associate with hotheads.” I know a few people like this, and I find
that I’m constantly on pins and needles when I interact with them.
A true
friend would be the reverse of what Proverbs is warning us of. A friend would be someone we’re comfortable with – emotionally and
physically. It is extremely difficult to build a friendship with or even just
to agree with someone who is quick tempered. Whereas with
a true friend agreement seems to come naturally – perhaps not on
every topic or in every situation, but there is a mutual understanding and
respect between friends.
Proverbs
22:25 further warns that our association with hotheads and those easily angered,
could lead to where, “you
may learn their ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” All of us are influenced in some way or
another by the situations we place ourselves in or the situations we face in
our daily lives. As we interact with other people the wisdom
of Proverbs encourages us to be wary of whom we allow to influence us as we
travel the journey of life because we are affected by the people we associate
with.
Proverbs
18:24b wisely offers that “a
true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin.” This is true friendship. There is a catch
phrase that suggests, “Blood is thicker than water” or that family ties are
stronger than the bonds of any friendship. This may or may not be the case depending
on the relationship you have with your family. However, there is one
relationship which the writer of Proverbs refers to which transcends even the
bonds of family – the friendship we have with our Saviour Jesus Christ.
When we
allow ourselves to be influenced by Jesus; when we grow in him and obey his
commandments; Jesus says in John 15:14 that we are his friends. As we are influenced
by this true friend and come to an understanding that Christ’s sacrifice on the
cross was for us. Then our friendship with Jesus becomes one which transcends
all others.
May you be
encouraged in your faith, that you have a friend in Jesus who will never leave;
who will walk with you on your most difficult days; and rejoice with you on
your most joyous occasions. This is the true friendship we have in Jesus.
(a slightly shorter version of this post will appear in the Listowel Banner in the week of August 19, 2015)
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