God’s chisel

There are things in our lives which we know are not really a part of God’s plan for us, but we hold onto them really tightly. The Bible tells us we are God’s masterpiece, and when we ask God to make us into an incredible original work we sometimes do not really want him to get rid of the things we need to lose.

Check out this skit from the skit guys (you may have to turn the sound up a bit).

Things are not easy when we ask to follow God, they may even get more difficult, but we know that God doesn’t make junk.

May you experience the freedom that comes from a God who works amazing things for, in, and through you.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Confession: The Prayer of Vulnerability (Matthew 6:12-13) (gatheringinlight.com)
• Resisting Grace (justanotherclaypot.blogspot.com)

crazy love: a review

Christians spend so much of their time trying to live the right way. We try not to swear or use foul language. We try not to tell dirty jokes. We try to make our kids sit straight and be quiet in the worship space.

Do you ever wonder if we are trying to do the wrong things?

Sometimes I wonder if we major in the minors and completely ignore the big things God is calling us to. I wonder if we gloss over Jesus’s radical calls to obedience in the scriptures on purpose, or if we simply miss it.

Francis Chan, in his book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God says that yes, indeed, we have missed it. At least the vast majority of us have.

You may wonder if this is simply another angry book blasting the North-American church for not following Jesus. To be honest, I wondered that myself. As I began to read the book, I actually felt that it moved rather slowly. Chan takes his time outlining what it means to follow God, and makes sure that we understand just who this God is.

He incorporates his website in his text, urging the reader to go and watch some videos that are hosted there. I found this somewhat distracting. When I sit down to read a book, I want to read the book. I do not want to have to take the time to go to my computer and watch a visitor.

These drawbacks were more than made up for, however, as the book progressed. Chan Biblically draws an outline of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, not in specifics but in attitude.

His explication of what it means to be obsessed with Jesus really hit home for me. Here is a quick summary of his description of a person deeply in love (obsessed) with Jesus.

People who are obsessed with Jesus: give freely and openly, without censure, aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else, live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another, are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status-quo, know that the sin of pride is always a battle, do not consider service a burden, are known as givers, not takers, think about heaven frequently, are characterised by a committed, settled passionate love for God, are raw with God, have an intimate relationship with Him, are more concerned with their character than comfort, know that the best thing they can do is be faithful to his saviour in every aspect of his life.

While there are other books that relate the same subject, they rely more on experience than scripture. Chan makes a concerted effort to remind us that it is only in Jesus that we are saved, and that for the glory of God. This salvation calls us to lead a radically different life than those around us. This is one of the best books I have found that outlines the Biblical basis and demand for radical discipleship in an accessible and engaging way.

our head’s in the sand

Deep community that is real, and painful is fostered in fewer and fewer places. Family is one place, but ever here, when we can live so separated from one another for so long, true community is beginning to falter. When our family gets together, we might be all right for a few days, maybe even a couple weeks, but eventually something comes up that we have to deal with.

Eventually someone gets angry and hurt spreads like wildfire.

But that is the thing about real community, it hurts. In deep community we really affect one another. Maybe that is why we avoid this kind of community. Maybe this is why we choose to avoid going deep with people.

I always find it funny that people tell me things (which I have usually guessed from knowing them a bit) in grave secrecy and tell me they have never told anyone else. Either I am really perceptive, or we are not as good at hiding things as we think.

Perhaps our communities ought to come with warning signs like this one.

We think we are hidden, when we’ve really just stuck our heads in the sand.

But it is only in deep community, whether it be with a close group of friends, a small group, cell group, house church, family, wherever, it is only in this kind of community that we truly grow.

Thomas a Kempis, talking about the monastic life, puts it this way in The Imitation of Christ.

You have come to serve, not to rule. You must understand, too, that you have been called to suffer and to work, not to idle and gossip away your time. Here men are tried as gold in a furnace. Here no man can remain unless he desires with all his heart to humble himself before God.

When we pass through the doors of our church, meeting house, whatever, to enter into the community that we have aligned ourselves with, how often do we acknowledge that we have come to suffer?

In deep community we find out who we really are.

Are we ready to be open? Are we willing to suffer?

What can we do to help foster deeper community?

patience

Image via Wikipedia

I am not perfect.

This is not a surprise to those who know me.

I am human, just like everyone else. I make mistakes. I cause pain. I refuse to recognise when I hurt others. I go on my merry way thinking that everything is fine, all the while I may be leaving a trail of destruction behind me.

One of the kids books that my son loves to read is The Saggy Baggy Elephant. It starts with a picture of destructive bliss.

A happy little elephant was dancing through the jungle. He thought he was dancing beautifully, one-two-three-kick. But whenever he went one-two-three, his big feet pounded so that they shook the whole jungle. And whenever he went kick, he kicked over a tree or a bush.

The little elephant dances along leaving wreckage behind him.

I wonder sometimes how often this happens in our lives, in our homes, in our communities, in our workplace. I wonder how many times we have gone merrily on our way, thinking that we were dancing beautifully, not realising the damage we were leaving behind us.

Then we notice somone else who is doing the same thing.

Someone who is doing their own dance through life and they leave much hurt and pain behind them. We want so much to change those people. We want to rush over to them and stop what they are doing.

But what happens when they will not stop? What happens when they do not see the damage they are doing?

We must bear with it, because we are leaving our own wake of destruction, as Thomas a Kempis reminds us in The Imitation of Christ.

If you cannot make yourself what you would wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severly corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask. We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing. Hense it is clear how seldome we think of others as we do of ourselves.

If I am not perfect, how can I expect others to be? If I am not patient, how can I expect others to be? If I am not kind, good, gentle, or self-controlled, how can I expect others to be?

If I am all of these things, I would be able to bear with the weaknesses of others, because I know how hard it is to overcome them.

Since I don’t, however, I wait and pray. Giving others and myself over to God to do with as he wishes.

When I become more aware of the damage I am leaving behind me, I am not as judgemental of the damage others are doing.

lent and judgement

This time of Lent is a time to spend in contemplation, repentance, renewal. A time when we think about who we are as we prepare to celebrate our Saviour’s death and resurrection, and our own through baptism into him.

For when we were baptised in to Christ, we were baptised into his death and resurrection. We are crucified with Christ, and raised to new life in him.

All too often Lent becomes a time to judge others rather than ourselves. We begin to say things like, “Well, he doesn’t seem to be doing much repentance.” Or, “she certainly isn’t taking this season very seriously.”

We must be careful, however, to jump to judgements about others. Thomas a Kempis, in The Imitation of Christ, writes this:

Turn your attention upon yourself and beware of judging the deeds of other men, for in judgein others a man labors vainly, often makes mistakes, and easily sins; whereas, in judging and taking stock of himself he does something that is always profitable.

We frequently judge that things are as we wish them to be, for through personal feeling true perspective is easily lost.

Sometimes we look around and we judge others based on what we want to be true. We want to think the worst of others. We want them to be worse than us, because then we can feel better about ourselves.

In this time of Lent, we often rely on our own strength to try and get closer to God in Jesus. This, of course, is not the way things work. As Thomas says;

If you rely more upon your intelligence or industry than upon the virtue of submission to Jesus Christ, you will hardly, and in any case slowly, become an enlightened person. God wants us to be completely subject to Him and, through ardent love, to rise about all human wisdom.

May we all submit to Christ in this time of Lent so that we may become enlightened people.