We Are What We Love

Where do kids get their quirks and mannerisms?  Some of it is obviously written into their DNA which accounts for the fact that vastly different kids can come from the same parents.  The rest...I have to believe is learned behavior.  You've heard it before, "He/She is a chip off the old block!"  In my neck of the woods I usually hear that phrase when my kids have mirrored one of my negative characteristics.

Can that phrase be turned around and used positively?  Let me put it like Colton, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."  Colton is saying essentially, we act like the person we want to be.  Go to any little league field or hang out in a middle school hallway.  Kids act like their favorite sports figures and celebrities, all to often imitating their stupidity.  We become what we idolize! Come to think of it, isn't idolatry a form of worship?

What about our relationship with Christ?  While loving Christ cannot be categorized as idolatry, can imitating Christ be considered worship?  I think yes and I think it goes beyond consideration.  Let me rephrase Colton, Imitating Christ is the highest form of worship!  We are what we love!

Resurrection Hope

I find myself drifting between two dyametrically opposed positions - a pendulum between despair and elation.  Don't get me wrong...it's not the degree of despair displayed in New York and Pittsburgh this past week.  My faith does not rest in the gov't to bail me out, nor do I hold conspiriatorial perspectives that would drive me to tha kind of paranoia.  We do live in uneasy times though.  Times in which I see my personal freedoms threatened and my children's futures burdened with tremendous national debt; at least that seems to be the way things are playing out.  If my life and the life of my children were not tethered to the Anchor of my soul - I certainly would be capable of unthinkable stupidity.

I am more grateful today, given the circumstances all around me, of Christ's sacrifice than I have been in past years. Don't get me wrong...I am throughly amazed and awed that the sinless Christ would die for a sinful people.  It does seem that difficulty and struggle and doubt force me to ponder that reality in a much different light than normal.  I have real hope; hope that is made more certain because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In fact, Peter says that my hope is "living hope" which indicates to me that it is a hope that produces real life change that is so much more than wishful thinking.  This is where the elation comes in - this hope has nothing to do with me, my performance, lack of performance, white privilege (which I believe is a myth), economic status or lack thereof, popularity, or any number of "isms" that I might be tempted to pad my life with.  My faith is not Christ + anything.  

I must be honest though...I am tempted all the time to attach hoops or conditions to my confidence in the work of Christ.  Day to day, I struggle for approval and a better seat at the banquet table by adding daily Scripture reading, church attendance, faithful adherence to doctrine, good works, being a devoted husband and doting father, and a host of other good things to my faith in Jesus Christ.  Yet, I know that road has been traveled and has left its sojourners unfulfilled.  The rich young ruler tried and failed, Martin Luther tried and failed, the Judaizers tried and failed...(they're still trying and still failing in a number of religious twists on the Judaizer's heresy even today.)

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

-Edward Mote

I pray you find the same confidence this Holy Week and may it stay with you from now until eternity.  More than that, may it radically transform how you approach the next difficulty.

Corem Deo!

I Want God!

So, why do you pray?  What motivates you to get up before the sun rises or stay up long after the family is off to bed?  Is it a comfortable life, free from distractions and worries?  Or is it simply to spend time with the One who loves you more than you know?

For much of my Christian experience, I would approach God when I needed something; my kids were sick, I was experiencing a family crisis, the car needed fixed, or I lapsed back into the same old pattern of sin.  God was kind of like a lucky charm, a fuzzy rabbits foot; when things got tough or beyond my control, I would wear out my jeans.  Perhaps this is a better picture of my prayer life; putting a quarter into a vending machine and out comes my desired answer.  I never once thought about how God viewed the whole exchange.  I knew how I felt when people befriended me for what I can bring them.  

When I was new to pastoral ministry a good friend taught me a valuable lesson.  For a whole year our relationship was based on contact and conversation revolving around my need.  If I needed help with a computer problem, I would call my friend.  If I needed some help around the house or a tool, I would call my friend.  On a particular day, I must have called him 20 times.  I was getting very frustrated.  Late into the evening I finally got ahold of him.  After telling him why I had been calling him, he very firmly told me, "Don't call me anymore if you want something from me.  Don't be my friend because of what I can do for you, be my friend simply because you like me and like being with me."  Honestly, I was hurt for a few days.  But, he was right!

I hardly think that God feels this way, then again, maybe he does.  What will it take for us to finally understand that God wants us to love Him not for what He can do for us but for who He is; and He isn't our spiritual sugar daddy.

I think true prayer begins when we approach God simply because He's God and has demonstrated His love for us rather than to get something from Him.  God told Abraham, after making incredible promises to him that he would be the father of many nations, that God himself would be His very great reward.  That's what Abraham put His faith in - a relationship.

I want God!  I don't want Him for the things He can give me, (although His mercy are new every morning)I want Him simply for who He is.  That's when we truly begin to pray - when we come to God because He's God and not for the things He can give us or for the jams He can bail us out of.

Enjoy lingering in His presence - in fact, I dare you to linger without words, it's Biblical, "Be still and know that I am God..."

The coming evangelical collapse | csmonitor.com

Pulled this article off of www.drudge.com.  Contains some things to think about.  

The coming evangelical collapse | csmonitor.com

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He Is There and He Is Not Silent

Francis Schaeffer makes my brain hurt.  Just finished reading He Is There and He Is Not Silent, the third book in what Schaeffer calls his trilogy, the other books being The God Who Is There and End of Reason.  I probably should have read them in sequence, maybe the gaps would have been filled.

So appropriate to the cultural milieu we find ourselves in today.  In a nutshell - remove God from the equation and there is absolutely no basis for reality, no basis for morals, no basis for knowledge, no basis for existence.

Without God, how does one account for a sense of right and wrong?  How does one account for personality if we have "evolved" from an impersonal force or matter?

It is my conclusion, and Schaeffer's too, that Christianity provides the only plausible, non-contradictory answer for knowing, for morality, for existence.

A Man and His God

Here is a statement to ponder and dialogue about:  

Who, how and when a man worships determines everything about his life!

As I look into the lives of biblical characters and read the Scriptures associated with them: Adam (Gen. 3:15), Abraham (Gen. 12:1-8), Moses (Ex. 12:1-28), Isaiah (Is. 6:1-5), and the early Church (Acts 2), what can men learn about commitment to worship that will provide a foundation for our family and roots for our relationships?

Scripture couldn't be more clear in Romans 12:1-2 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  - that worship is about a man's entire being.  

The result is transformation from worldy-mindedness and proof of God's will which is demonstrated in our lives.

So what do you think?

Vehicular Sanctification

Anybody who knows me knows that driving is not good for my sanctification. There are times out on the road that people do stupid things - including myself - and I just about lose my religion. This morning I had a God moment in of all places my car.

I was on my way to Seneca Hills from home somewhat anxious about last minutes details that needed to get done before the start of Man Camp. About 10 minutes into my 45 minutes commute, I managed to get stuck behind an 18-wheeler. The road I travel back and forth to work is a heavily traveled road so I knew the chances of getting around this truck were slim to none. Not only was the truck an inconvenience, it also happened to be raining, which meant my car was transformed from a hunter green to a dingy, milky mess - you know what your car looks like after several wintery days! Even at a 100 yards behind the truck, I drove along amidst a steady cloud of road spray and left over gravel dust spread by salt trucks.

My anxiety meter began to climb and along with it my blood pressure. Almost immediately this picture came into my mind with the words "Slow down, I'm driving this truck! You're always so eager to run ahead of Me thinking that your worry and effort is going to make things happen. It's My presence that causes My blessing to flow - I am your reward, not your efforts. Just as this overspray is covering your car as you follow this truck, my blessing is directly related to how you follow my lead. Slow down and follow my lead!"

I stopped worrying about Man Camp. I actually enjoyed the ride behind that 18-wheeler, despite the filth that covered my car and the extra minutes it added to my commute.