Stirring

Good Morning Gentlemen,
Wow, I’ve got so much on my mind this morning.
First, I can’t pass up talking about Mama Carmen yesterday. She was amazing and to be proceeded by Mel Murray made it even crazier. Why are we stirred by these two families? What made us give Mama Carmen a standing ovation just for walking on the stage? That stirring is put there by God.
Sacrifice. These two families have given up what most people kill themselves chasing after to help others. They may not ever know if they made a difference in the lives of those they are helping. They are just called to help.
Let’s go back a minute to how we were stirred yesterday. The stirring reminds us that God speaks to us through our hearts and our desires. Ignore stirrings like this for very long and your heart dies and then you becomes one of those people that are convinced that God no longer speaks, even though scripture tells us differently.
Second, how painfully obvious it is how much we have been deceived by the modern age of reason and intellect. Mama Carmen experiences God in mighty ways because she NEEDS Him, not because she knows a lot about Him, or can quote all of the Minor Prophets. She is in the middle of helping the hurting and God shows up regularly. Especially after she cries out for His help, when she can’t see how kids are going to eat or sleep. If anyone of us ran our business or ministry like that we would be fired pronto. So, for those guys that just have to have a formula:
Needing God +Crying out to God= Experiencing God

Have you ever noticed how ridiculous guys look in pictures when they are just standing there? You have to put a man in motion to capture the essence of a man. Madison Avenue knows this, when they want to sell a man something (without using sex) then they put men in motion. So, let’s put these two ideas together, stirring and in motion. Is anyone stirred to go to Joplin and help clean up? Anyone feel stirred to lead a group of men to do this? OK, you feel stirred, but you doubt your ability. Fine, just go with it when you doubt your ability, then you cry out to God. If God can come through for Mama Carmen, He can do it for you. Just ask.
Let me know about Joplin. We need to get a group up there this weekend.

Alex

Keeping

I’ve recently developed a new appreciation of the concept of keeping something.  Usually when we think about keeping the main idea is that we are continuing certain actions or attitudes—“I’m going to keep this dollar” means I have a dollar in hand and I’m not going to give it up.  “He keeps calling me”  means someone has been calling me and he won’t stop.  So the idea of continuance is a big part of keeping something.

There is also a deeper layer of meaning in the concept of keeping.  The idea of attentiveness, engagement, good management, and nurturing is connected with keeping.  Housekeeping, for example, suggests that you not only own a house but you are managing a household.   Or take my favorite hobby, beekeeping.  Beekeepers are different from bee-havers.  A person may own some hives and not be a beekeeper.  A beekeeper studies bees and manages the hives in such a way that the bees are healthy and the honey production is maximized—it can be work!

When the idea of attentiveness and engagement is applied to the concept of keeping a lot a common phrases take on a richer meaning.  Are you a person who keeps his word?  Are youkeeping your promises?  Do you keep the faith?

Jesus had a special promise for keepers:  John 8:51—“I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  Keeping the word of Christ implies engagement, attentiveness, careful understanding and application.  Let’s commit to being Word-keepers.

May the Lord bless you, and keep you.

Brian

Life

He that will lose his life, the same will save it.

What the heck is Jesus talking about here? I have to die to live? That makes no sense. Well, since this is Jesus, maybe He is on to something. Let’s see.
First, what kind of life are you arranging for yourself? What role have you cast yourself in? Is it the role in the story that God has for you? Most of us fall way short of His plan for us. Not necessarily because of our sin, though that can be part of it, but because we really don’t believe that we have a crucial role to play.

We are convinced at a early age that we don’t have anything to offer and then we go off and either accept that statement and don’t even try, or we try REALLY hard in work, education, or whatever you find a little success in and then that’s what we offer. And only that. Rarely do those that love us just get us.

Yesterday, I listened to many stories of God working in people’s lives. They were triumphant, inspirational, stories that made me, for awhile, remember that there are bigger things than my comfort going on here. A larger story that makes my heart swell when I catch glimpses of it. Stories that make me remember that I can trust God with my whole life and I don’t have to go anywhere else to find the life that my heart craves. I can actually lose the little life that I try to arrange for myself and lose my life in God.

Like a little kid. Running to God with no thought whatsoever that He might not catch me.

I hope you recognize those stories today as they come your way as God calling you to enjoy the life He has for you.

God Bless You Men
Alex

A River Runs Through It - the House, that is

My friends, Andy and Cheryl Matthews and their family had to make some radical adjustments last week.  As it was raining buckets early Monday afternoon and the schools were dismissing; so Andy began the rounds to pick up Cheryl; their son, Ben and their exchange student, Luke.  Everything was fine when Andy left the house.  Two and a half hours later they returned to see rescuers bringing out Andy’s mom, Alta, in a flat bottom boat.  Everything was ruined.

They spent a couple of days in a hotel and have now moved into the second story of Rick & Belinda Carpenter’s place.  They’ll move into an apartment in a few days.  It’ll probably be three or four months before they can move back home.

They seem to be doing remarkably well.  Cheryl feels the loss of Ben’s baby pictures and other scrapbooks, but for the most part they acknowledge that it could have been so much worse—like many others experienced in the tornadoes and floods last week.

One resource that the Matthews have benefited from is their abundance of friends.  They are immersed in Christian community.  They have been prayed for, housed, fed and generally loved on by those with whom they have served and worshiped for many years.  In a sense, their investment in the lives of others is paying off in very practical ways now in their time of need.

It occurred to me that this would be a good advertisement for community.  In community joys are multiplied and sorrows divided.   That’s the kind of math I want working in my life.

Eccl 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work: 
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up! 
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone? 
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Brian

Confession

1 John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
 
James 5:16
…confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
 
 
This morning in staff meeting we had one of those uncomfortable conversations.  We explored the importance of confession.  Specifically, the power of confessing sins to one another.  Most of us do not make a habit of talking about our sins.  Our tendency is to keep quiet about wrong attitudes and actions.  For me, it’s easier to talk about wrong things I did a long time ago—after all, that was then, this is now.  I am much more reluctant to reveal this morning’s anger, lust, rudeness, greed or pride. 
 
Also, when I am convicted about a sin I’d prefer to confess it just to God thank you very much.  But often that is just a cop out, a self-deceiving ruse to keep my sin secret.  That is why James says “confess your sins to each other….”  The sin that is unshared with a brother continues to thrive and it retains its hold on us.  But the sin that is brought into the light of God's truth and Christian community dies there. 

There is remarkable power in confessing our wrong deeds to another person.  Instead of destroying relationships, it tends to strengthen them.  Instead of ongoing shame and struggle we receive grace and a sense of forgiveness.  We experience a new power over the thing that has held us captive.
 
We sin.  Let’s not pretend we don’t.   Acknowledging your sin is the very thing that can make you lessof a sinner.
 
What sin do you need to share?

Brian

Wild Glory

Did you feel it? I was lying in bed awake (very unusual for me at 11pm). There was a big clap of thunder and the house shuddered. I thought it was unusual that it didn’t stop shuddering for about 10 seconds; then I realized that I had just experienced my first earthquake. It was only a 4.7 on the scale, but the earth had trembled. Things were pretty wild above ground as well. Rain coming down in sheets, wind screaming, thunder crashing, lightening firing up the sky…. I usually don’t get scared in bad weather, but I confess I don’t really have a taste for earthquakes and tornados all at once.

It made me think of a passage in Romans:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedomof the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. -Romans 8:18-24

There is something glorious about an earthquake and a thunderstorm happening at the same time, but it is only creation groaning in anticipation for something even more glorious—us. When our bodies are redeemed in the resurrection and our glory is revealed we’ll make an earthquake in a thunder storm seem drab in comparison. I’m looking forward to it.

Brian

Feed the Good Dog

The Psalmist asked a good question—“How can a young man keep his way pure?” (Psalm 119:9). It’s a question I’ve been pondering quite a bit these days—especially in regard to men who struggle with pornography. I believe pornography is an issue that every man will deal with in one way or another. We’re living in a society where it is pushed at us from every direction. Many Christian guys are caught in a cycle of defeat. In times of isolation, or if they are physically and mentally worn down, or if they have experienced some let down in life, porn offers a quick and easy feel good experience. So they fall and then their conscience starts to beat up on them. They finally confess, receive prayer, accept God’s grace and are just fine—until next time. Too often, the man just gives up and accepts porn and impurity as a part of his life.

I was talking to my friend, Jim Holmes, about this situation the other day and I asked “how can a young man keep his way pure?” Jim’s response sounded odd at first. He said, “You have to feed the good dog.” Of course he’s talking about the “good dog” of the spirit vs. the “bad dog” of the flesh. As we explored what it means to “feed” these inner dogs we concluded that the bad dog is pretty low maintenance. He’ll thrive on whatever trash you toss out. The good dog, on the other hand, is a pure bred and has a special diet. He feeds and thrives on the word of God.

That is the answer the psalmist gives to his question—“How can a young man keep his way pure?—By living according to your word.”

Are you feeding the good dog or the bad dog? We have a tendency to feed both dogs. We toss little scraps of God’s word to the good dog, and truckloads of garbage to the bad dog. You can see how we get into trouble.

This is not just about controlling lust; the Lord wants us to gain victory over every contaminating influence. To do so we must become committed to starving the bad dog and feeding, nurturing and training the good dog. Let’s get crazy about the word and works of God.

Feed the good dog.

Brian