What do I blog about after a week of being so pathetically hopeless that I kind of want to hide in shame and pretend I never told any one that I was striving to expect good?
I'd rather not admit that over the last week, I felt like screaming "Screw your plan, God! I've got this one under control!" I'd rather not admit that while babysitting my nephew I related to his cries of hysteria that his needs were not being immediately met.
I'd rather tell you that this last week when my friendships and work situation became unsettled, confusing, hurtful...that I stood tall and expected good. I'd rather tell you that I didn't lose sleep or become short with people I love.
But I can't. And that frustrates me because I wish I were more disciplined to not forsake what is good.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Present
I'm glad God is gracious in my ignorance.
Lately in my prayers I've been convicted of requesting that God be near. Hearing the Spirit nudge me, "I am near."
Last week I led a study focusing on the missional nature of God (see previous post)--recognizing His character as already existent and pursuing un-believing people. We do not bring God to people. God is there, and our job is to recognize and join his movement.
To finish, we were listening to the hymn "O Come O Come Emmanuel." As I listened to the words, and a request for God to come. I was struck with the ignorance of the request. Again, I heard God say, "I have come."
Do you recognize God as already near? Or do you cry out assuming His absence?
Is it God or is it us?
Lately in my prayers I've been convicted of requesting that God be near. Hearing the Spirit nudge me, "I am near."
Last week I led a study focusing on the missional nature of God (see previous post)--recognizing His character as already existent and pursuing un-believing people. We do not bring God to people. God is there, and our job is to recognize and join his movement.
To finish, we were listening to the hymn "O Come O Come Emmanuel." As I listened to the words, and a request for God to come. I was struck with the ignorance of the request. Again, I heard God say, "I have come."
Do you recognize God as already near? Or do you cry out assuming His absence?
Is it God or is it us?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Emmanuel
Tonight I'm beginning a series with the Uprising Girls (college student bible study and community) on Engaging Culture. This month we will discuss the definition of culture and whether Christ-followers should fight or engage it.
Week one, we're starting with the thought of God being missional in nature. The "Missional Church" has become a buzz word in recent months and I think it's an intriguing thought. A lot of contemporary theologians are challenging us to view mission not as an act of the church (something we program) but an attribute of God that we worship and emulate. Check out Scot McKnight's blog for more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/ (Search "Missional Mondays" for stuff specific to this topic.)
As I digested this concept of God being missional, I thought what a better example than the incarnation of Jesus Christ coming to earth. Tonight we're looking specifically at Matthew 1. Jesus Christ referred to as "Emmanuel" or "God is with us".
God seeks. He finds.
God is with us. God is with the saint...and the sinner.
God IS mission.
What a great reason to celebrate Christmas all year round! And I will share a MOST AWESOME rendition of a MOST AWESOME carol:
Week one, we're starting with the thought of God being missional in nature. The "Missional Church" has become a buzz word in recent months and I think it's an intriguing thought. A lot of contemporary theologians are challenging us to view mission not as an act of the church (something we program) but an attribute of God that we worship and emulate. Check out Scot McKnight's blog for more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/ (Search "Missional Mondays" for stuff specific to this topic.)
As I digested this concept of God being missional, I thought what a better example than the incarnation of Jesus Christ coming to earth. Tonight we're looking specifically at Matthew 1. Jesus Christ referred to as "Emmanuel" or "God is with us".
God seeks. He finds.
God is with us. God is with the saint...and the sinner.
God IS mission.
What a great reason to celebrate Christmas all year round! And I will share a MOST AWESOME rendition of a MOST AWESOME carol:
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Reconciliation
I was praying this week--really feeling crappy about all the bad in the world (note previous post)...when I felt God say to me, "I am reconciling all things."
So, maybe I'm not very good at my New Year's resolution of expecting good. But I think God's on board and that was my accountability.
It is way too easy for me to become wrapped up in the negative. I live my life surrounded by messages to expect evil. At work, I spend hours completing paperwork and consent forms with parents, children, and volunteers--just waiting for something bad to happen. I still need to re-new my auto insurance...because most likely something bad will happen. Movies, books, friends' advice all point to this mode of self-preservation with the expectation that all things will work for the bad of those who do not take proper precaution.
There's danger when the fear starts to creep into my concept of God and His goodness. My prayers start to look like an insurance contract or a confidentiality statement--where my focus is on the negative that I'm waiting for, rather than the positive that has already come. It's like God said to me, He's reconciling...not destroying...all things.
Colossians 1:15-20 says of Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. "
A friend of mine once said that John Wesley (largely credited for starting the Methodist movement) described HOPE as an essential spiritual discipline. A spiritual discipline being something you commit to daily in order to further your connection to God. So every day I spend time reading the scripture, praying for wisdom, connecting with my spiritual community...
And hoping?
What an incredible challenge? To view the re-newing of my mind to expect good as a discipline. Every day can I re-center my perception of personal struggles, the pain of loved ones, and social injustices to a view of a God who is and has reconciled all things "whether things on earth of things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
So, maybe I'm not very good at my New Year's resolution of expecting good. But I think God's on board and that was my accountability.
It is way too easy for me to become wrapped up in the negative. I live my life surrounded by messages to expect evil. At work, I spend hours completing paperwork and consent forms with parents, children, and volunteers--just waiting for something bad to happen. I still need to re-new my auto insurance...because most likely something bad will happen. Movies, books, friends' advice all point to this mode of self-preservation with the expectation that all things will work for the bad of those who do not take proper precaution.
There's danger when the fear starts to creep into my concept of God and His goodness. My prayers start to look like an insurance contract or a confidentiality statement--where my focus is on the negative that I'm waiting for, rather than the positive that has already come. It's like God said to me, He's reconciling...not destroying...all things.
Colossians 1:15-20 says of Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. "
A friend of mine once said that John Wesley (largely credited for starting the Methodist movement) described HOPE as an essential spiritual discipline. A spiritual discipline being something you commit to daily in order to further your connection to God. So every day I spend time reading the scripture, praying for wisdom, connecting with my spiritual community...
And hoping?
What an incredible challenge? To view the re-newing of my mind to expect good as a discipline. Every day can I re-center my perception of personal struggles, the pain of loved ones, and social injustices to a view of a God who is and has reconciled all things "whether things on earth of things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Some days I'm tired...
Some days, I feel like John Coffey..."like the drink, only spelt different."
While snowed in over Christmas break, my brother-in-law and I watched 'The Green Mile'. Tom Hanks' character, a corrections officer on death row, begins wrestling with his responsibility to execute John Coffey--a larger than life man, who is so child-like that his charge of murdering two young sisters seems impossible. The orders become near impossible when the officer discovers that John Coffey has a supernatural gift to remove sickness, pain, and sometimes even death from the world.
"Mostly, I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel in the world, every day. There's too much of it."
Some days, I'm honestly not sure where to go from there. I guess I'll keep trying...and the answer probably has something to do with Jesus, hope, and new life. But most days, I just want to say "Mostly, I'm tired of people being ugly to each other...there's too much of it."
While snowed in over Christmas break, my brother-in-law and I watched 'The Green Mile'. Tom Hanks' character, a corrections officer on death row, begins wrestling with his responsibility to execute John Coffey--a larger than life man, who is so child-like that his charge of murdering two young sisters seems impossible. The orders become near impossible when the officer discovers that John Coffey has a supernatural gift to remove sickness, pain, and sometimes even death from the world.
"Mostly, I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel in the world, every day. There's too much of it."
Some days, I'm honestly not sure where to go from there. I guess I'll keep trying...and the answer probably has something to do with Jesus, hope, and new life. But most days, I just want to say "Mostly, I'm tired of people being ugly to each other...there's too much of it."
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Love.
I just briefly met a friend's mother and have to re-cap the experience. The woman shared with me that on her way to visit her daughter she had met a young man recently released from prison. The woman felt compelled to share with this man about God's forgiveness and her own story of past abuse and the power of Christ's forgiveness to heal her. She had encouraged the young man that not only were his sins forgiven, but he now had the power to forgive also those who had sinned against him.
"Because," she lit up, "Love covers a multitude of sins."
I got chills. One of the Bible Studies I attend has been studying 1 Peter.
1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." (ESV)
I don't know how many times I've read this verse over the last month. What a radical statement!
Love.
Covers.
A Multitude.
Of Sins.
What if every time someone in my life hurt me, I chose to love them? Would that not cover the offense?
If I can expect future good, instead of fearing future evil from that individual--imagine the possibilities!
I might get hurt. I might be offended again.
But what if the opposite happens? Isn't it worth the risk? Expect good.
"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly...since love covers a multitude of sins."
"Because," she lit up, "Love covers a multitude of sins."
I got chills. One of the Bible Studies I attend has been studying 1 Peter.
1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." (ESV)
I don't know how many times I've read this verse over the last month. What a radical statement!
Love.
Covers.
A Multitude.
Of Sins.
What if every time someone in my life hurt me, I chose to love them? Would that not cover the offense?
If I can expect future good, instead of fearing future evil from that individual--imagine the possibilities!
I might get hurt. I might be offended again.
But what if the opposite happens? Isn't it worth the risk? Expect good.
"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly...since love covers a multitude of sins."
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