Fall Back...or Spring Forward?

In case anyone has forgotten, this weekend we all turn our clocks back one hour as part of the "Spring Forward, Fall Back" ritual that occurs twice a year.

I, for one, always look forward to that extra hour of sleep that I'm able to get this time of year. And with working full-time, taking two seminary classes, and trying to be a good husband who spends quality time with his wife...I definitely could use that extra hour!

This morning on my drive down to PTS for class, I was also thinking about this in a theological context...no doubt influenced by early mid-life. As I look back on my life, I think about how many times I wished I had the power to turn the clock back on just one hour of my life. I think about how many times I've given Satan the upper hand and ended up causing a great deal of harm. I think of how many bad choices I've made that still affect my life today. I think about different directions I wish I would have taken in certain areas of my professional life. Is it just me, or do some of you wish we really could turn the clocks back on certain episodes in our lives?

So I was thinking about all this on my drive this morning down to the seminary. Interestingly though, after class as I was driving home, this particular, oft-quoted verse came to mind: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, I believe that meditating on the past has its uses: it helps us learn from our mistakes, it reminds us of God's faithfulness in past events, and it reconnects us with others who have inspired us on our journeys. Sometimes it is a good thing to "fall back."

But when "falling back" causes us to revisit old hurts, to punish ourselves or others for sins and mistakes long gone...then it is definitely time to remember the Gospel message of grace and spring forward in the bold belief that we worship a God who can make all things new.

So while we may be winding our clocks backward this weekend, let's remember to press onward in the amazing grace of Jesus Christ!

Be Selfish!

"The Weight of Glory" is a sermon by my favorite Christian writer, C. S. Lewis. In just 16 pages, Lewis took my understanding of Christian spirituality to a whole new level.

In a gem of rhetorical irony, Lewis says that the problem with modern people is that they are not selfish enough. This may seem like an odd criticism, especially today with the idols of consumerism and self-interest all around us. But I think Lewis is right. We're not selfish enough.

"Indeed," Lewis writes, "if we consider the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us."

I worry about keeping everybody around me happy; I desire economic security, job effectiveness, intelligent dialogue with friends, and entertainment. My mind gets distracted with all kinds of thoughts, temptations, and insignificant details. And these things all may be harmless in themselves. But when I spend all my time obsessing over these things, rather than nurturing and growing my relationship with God....well, that's like a 16-year-old wanting to hang onto his dirt bike when he's being offered a convertible. It's settling for something less.

Guys/gals, I don't know about you, but I want to start getting more selfish. I want to desire God and all the infinite joy that comes with being in relationship with Him. Yes, there are challenges, struggles, and sufferings involved in the Christian walk. But as Saint Paul wrote in Romans, "I consider our present suffering as nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us."

I want the desire for that glory to empower the way I live my life now. I want to believe that God's vision for me and for this world is worth pursuing. And I want to challenge people who are immersed in this secular, materialistic culture of ours that they are settling for a mess of potage when they are being offered the birthright of children of God.

Personally, I'm recommitting my time to God. That will involve significant time every day in solitude, intercessory prayer for my wife, family, youth, congregation, and the world, and Bible study. I could very easily say that I don't have the time for this...that ministry, my wife, my job, my family all need my time. I'm sure I'll be tempted away from this. But I have to believe that this is the only way that I'll be truly effective at every other aspect of my life.

What about you? What are some ways that you all will try to selfishly desire God in your own lives?

A Plug...

Hey brothers and sisters...

I'm making a plug on behalf of one of my good friends.

Matthias Media is an incredible Christian publisher, based in Australia, that puts out quality biblical resources for churches. I've read their stuff, which includes topical bible studies, great resources for evangelism and kingdom building, and pastoral resources on everything from sexuality and parenting to addressing the threat of Islam. All of these are from a solid biblical position, yet they're also hands-on, practical, and down-to-earth. You can check out their website at www.matthiasmedia.com.au/usa.

Just recently, they've begun to distribute their stuff in the States, and my good friend Marty Sweeney is one of the guys who's heading up that effort. He's based right up in New Castle, PA, and he's got a small warehouse full of their resources. If you're at all interested, e-mail him at marty@matthiasmedia.com.au. Mention my name so he knows what a loyal friend I am!

Seriously, check it out!

Cheers..............

Modern Day Fig Leaves

In his book "The Eternal Now," Paul Tillich (I hope Zilhaver reads this) spoke of four ways that human beings attempt to run away from God. Like the fig leaves that Adam and Eve used to cover their nakedness, these are four ways that modern man avoids the responsibility of merely standing in God's presence nakedly, aware of our fallenness and our inability to save ourselves.

First, humans often use WORK as a hiding place from God. By focusing on our own competence, discipline, and production, it's easy for us to ignore God's voice revealing our weaknesses, inadequacies, and our need to be utterly dependent on Him.

Second, people avoid God by seeking FUN, or the ABUNDANT LIFE. I see it among both teens and adults today...the thought that seeking pleasurable experiences for "me" is somehow what life is all about (rather than doing the difficult work of becoming godly men and women).

Third, people avoid God by their CYNICISM and DOUBT. They look at the misery, pain, poverty, and death throughout the world...and they look at the hypocrisy among the faithful...and find it easy to believe that a God who would allow this is not a God worth pursuing.

Finally, we avoid God through RELIGION. I'm sure we all see this form in our congregations: people who would rather settle for old duties, superficial relationships, and committees rather than nurturing a vibrant relationship with our Creator. This is probably the worst of the four, because in some ways, it's the most deceptive.

I confess that I fall captive to all of these from time to time. I go through periods where my prayer life and Scripture reading are at a bare minimum, and I try to go through my days on my own steam. Those are the times when all four of these things become crutches, and I probably am much less effective in ministering to the needs of others.

The great thing is, Tillich notes that God can transform ALL of these into positive things IF we live in relationship to Him first. Work can be a fulfillment of our divine calling in the world; fun and the abundant life can give us a foretaste of the fullness of God in Heaven; cynicism and doubt can lead us into the depths of God's love; and religion can be a channel of a relationship that is already there.

What are some of your "fig leaves"? How do you flee from a vibrant relationship with God and try to fill up that emptiness with something else?

Love--A Tool of Satan?

This past Christmas, my brother-in-law gave me what is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite Christmas gifts: CD-recordings of C. S. Lewis!

For someone whose love for Lewis borders on idolatry, this was an incredible gift. The recording features his broadcast lectures that would later become his famous book, "The Four Loves." Hearing that very British, very professorial, very deep voice of Lewis literally brought tears to my eyes.

I had read "The Four Loves" in college, and learned much from its wisdom, but hearing Lewis actually speak these words...full of his insight, wisdom, and humor...reminded me why I admire him so much.

Lewis distinguishes between four types of love: three common to all humans (Affection, Friendship, and Romantic Love), and one uniquely valued among the Christians (Agape -- he pronounces it A-guh-pee).

Lewis makes a major point in this book: That human love, even the very best expressions of it, WILL in the end become demonic IF it is not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. Our natural affections for our parents or children, for example, can end up doing more harm than good (eternally speaking) if we do not in some sense kill those natural urges in us and trust Christ to resurrect them into their proper place under His authority. Lewis gives an incredible illustration of this "unconverted affection" in another book, "The Great Divorce." It is a scene in which a woman's maniacal affection for her son was so great that she would rather keep her son with her in hell than submit that affection to God and allow them both to enjoy heaven. (A modern illustration of this would be the wonderful Doris Roberts character on "Everybody Loves Raymond," Marie Barone, who, though motivated by love for her sons, actually smothered them and turned them into faithful drones rather than confident, mature men.)

This may sound entirely theological with no practical relevance, but I think it's a very important thing for people to be aware of, especially pastors.

How often do we do things, motivated by what we believe are the highest feelings of love, friendship, or affection for someone else, but in which the actions themselves are antithetical to our commitment to Christ?

How often do I, out of "love" for a person, fail to rebuke them for some egregious error (or worse, outright sin) that they are committing and of which they are failing to repent?

How often do we, out of "compassion," fail to take a stand on the clear moral teachings of Scripture?

How often do we, out of love for our churches and denominations, try to stay positive and keep everyone happy, rather than speaking prophetically and addressing doctrinal laxity, ethical confusion, and declining membership?

We may be motivated by the noblest of loves, but in the end, if not submitted to the Lordship and Truth of Jesus Christ, isn't that love nothing more than a tool of Satan?

"The Least of These"

I have been pen-pal and prayer-partner to a young missionary named Justin Grogg, who is working with youth and children in Huancayo, Peru...about a 7-hour bus ride west of the capital of Lima. Justin is a guy in his 20's from Fort Wayne, IN, and has been in Peru for the past year. It has been an honor and pleasure to provide prayer and encouragement for this incredible young man of God who left his family (including his fiancee) to go be a witness for Christ in an extremely poverty-stricken area of the country, where over 50% of the population lives on less than $2.00 per day.

Tomorrow is World Communion Sunday, and in Justin's most recent newsletter, he shared an experience that I feel is a great illustration of how we are called to share the "Bread of Life" throughout the world. What follows are Justin's words, and I pray that you'll be blessed by them as I was:

Matthew 25:40, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Earlier this month, I was walking just after I finished a run. As I walked, I passed by a lady who was dressed in rags. Under her rags, you could see that she had sores all over her body. Her hair was tangled and she was very, very dirty. As I walked by, she started yelling at me and throwing rocks (in Peru, to fend off the dogs, you throw rocks). I quickly jumped away, looked back and prayed for her and went home.

The next day, I was coming back from a little store with my bread for the day, and saw the same lady sitting on the curb just a few houses from mine. With the bread in hand, my heart quickly just poured out to her. I went to her, reached out and handed her the bread. Even in her mentally challenged state, I could tell she was extremely thankful.

As I reflected on this experience, the above verse came to me. When serving others here, I am not only serving “the least of these”, but I’m serving God too-what a blessing!! How much more would I stop and help “the least of these”, people in need I see every day, if I saw the person as God sitting on the edge of the curb dressed in rags. If I literally saw God dressed in rags and knew He was God on the curb, I would stop and drop everything in a heart beat, just like how Peter threw down the nets when he realized it was Jesus calling to him from the shore after Jesus’ resurrection. How much more would I give if I saw God in need, not a complete stranger. I want to encourage us when we see somebody in need, even a complete stranger, to see the person as God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to fulfill the needs of “the least of these.”

Weekend Update

Okay, so I don't mean the SNL version of "Weekend Update," although I will say that the above photo depicts an era in which that show was actually funny and worth staying up for. (On the other hand, maybe I'm just getting old and don't appreciate cheap, vulgar humor any more.)

Anyway, I promised everyone a brief summation of this past Saturday's kick-off of a new Young Adult Ministry here at Bakerstown UMC. So here are some of the highlights...

* Eleven couples, plus their kids, plus two or three "singles" showed up for a great dinner, fellowship and discussion. Everyone was in their 20's and 30's (which is kind of good, considering that's the age group we were targeting).

* I had a few of my youth on hand to take the kids after dinner, so their parents could actually enjoy an evening out.

* I shared a quick meditation which said, in a nutshell: Just like the people gathered in that room, the early Christians in the Book of Acts were all city-dwellers, working class/professionals, intelligent, most were probably aged 20-40, living in a land with declining sense of values and purpose, living in a culture with unprecedented advances in travel and technology. Even though the Roman Empire and Postmodern America are chronologically distant, these people were dealing with many of the same deep questions that we are today. So then I put forth the challenge: How do we create the same movement that the Early Christians did? How do we create the kind of authentic fellowship, prayer ministry, community service, and missional focus that the Early Christians had, right here in Bakerstown?

* We opened it up and had about 45 minutes of eye-opening discussion. One of the couples there said they had been attending the church for over a year, but never felt comfortable getting involved and haven't really met anyone else in the pews on Sunday. There just wasn't a sense of real welcome to them. While many of them seemed pleased with the new praise band the church has, we also found out that just because adults are young, doesn't mean they necessarily want a "younger-style" worship service. One couple said: "We see PowerPoint, videos, and rock music all week long. We don't want to see that stuff on Sunday mornings too." One guy said, "I'd just like to do more events like this: let's just break bread together or go see a movie. Let's just share our lives no matter what we do."

* Though a lot of planning went into the event, and I thought I gave a decent devotional to kind of set the tone and give some vision to it, I really believe the most significant part of the evening was just allowing conversation to happen. While I could have had a totally "planned" evening with games, activities, and a "sermon," I don't think that we would have heard the hearts of the people the way we did. At the end of the meeting, everyone seemed to suggest that those kinds of conversations needed to happen more, so we can just get to know each other better, to let our guard down, and let the Spirit lead rather than us.

* I went home with various feelings: I was hard on myself for giving a "boring bible study" when the conversation was what was really important; I was elated that we had a decent turnout and that they seemed excited to do it again. I was grateful to see that other young adults care about the ministry here and want it to grow; yet I was cautiously hoping that this will not become another "clique" in the church that doesn't feel the need to reach out to others.

So, there you have it in a nutshell. Thanks for your prayers. Keep me posted on your ministries and let me know what I can pray for as well!

Cheers.......................