Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

Disposables

22 Thursday Dec 2016

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We are a disposable culture.

This isn’t always a negative. When I was younger, I used to babysit my sisters and my mom  never had disposable diapers. That was okay because I can handle cloth diapers but the problem was, I didn’t know how to fold them. One night, I was babysitting and I ran out of diapers; the only ones left were the freshly washed ones in a laundry basket – unfolded.  I had to call the neighbour lady to help. That night I would have killed for a disposable diaper!

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Beyond some conveniences we appreciate, think about all the stuff we just use up and throw away. Even this MacBook I am using to write this will one day be disposable (hopefully resealable or recyclable but still I will dispose of it for a new one).

We have become so used to disposing of things, even our most sacred and cherished spaces have been invaded by disposable culture.

We were created for relationship. Love and belonging are the two fundamental human needs. And yet, our relationships are disposable.

Now I’m not talking about the ebb and flow of people that come in and out of our life. I’m also not talking about necessary boundaries to safeguard ourselves from abuse.

I’m talking about the intentional disposing of people in our lives because they have become inconvenient, hard work, or we just can’t be bothered to make the effort. Once disposed of, we often look on those people with contempt.

Marriage is when two become one. Sadly, one often decides to dispose of the other.
Parents have teenagers they don’t know what to do with so they dispose of them from the house. Over the years, our home has been a safe place for half dozen disposed teens.
Friends dispose of each other over some of the most ridiculous things.
Most heartbreaking is when someone makes the choice to dispose of a baby – before or after he or she is born.

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What if God was like that? We would be doomed.

Fortunately, we have a Good, Good Father and he’s not like that. Actually, he not just not like that, he’s on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Here are a couple of things he says to us:*

“Even if your own mother who nursed you disposes of you, I will never dispose of you.”

“I will not dispose of you even until the end of the age.”

For those who trust God, we desire to have Christ’s character manifested in us. What I have noticed is we usually frame that within bad habits and choices. Sure, those are important, but we worry about them and without even a pause we dispose of people like we throw away used diapers.

Can you imagine what your life, your church, and the community you live in would be like if we had just 20% of God’s non-disposable character?

*Isaiah 49:15 and Matthew 28:20. I modified a couple words to make the point but the meaning is the same.

Totally Attractive 

09 Friday Dec 2016

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This is from one of my favourite authors. I believe she was inspired when she wrote this amazing insight.

“The shortness of time is urged as an incentive for us to seek righteousness and to make Christ our friend. This is not the great motive. It savors of selfishness. Is it necessary that the terrors of the day of God be held before us to compel us through fear to right action? This ought not to be. Jesus is attractive. He is full of love, mercy, and compassion. He proposes to be our friend, to walk with us through all the rough pathways of life. He says to you, I am the Lord thy God; walk with me, and I will fill thy path with light. Jesus, the Majesty of Heaven, proposes to elevate to companionship with himself those who come to him with their burdens, their weaknesses, and their cares. He will make them his dear children, and finally give them an inheritance of more value than the empires of kings, a crown of glory richer than has ever decked the brow of the most exalted earthly monarch.” – {RH August 2, 1881 Par. 6}

Great Value

22 Tuesday Nov 2016

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Have you heard about the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value? When Matthew wrote his perspective on the Good News about Jesus Christ, he gathered a bunch of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13. This is how they go…

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!”

The typical approach to these parables that I have heard is: Be that guy! Sell everything, be willing to give up everything, so you can gain the kingdom.

Truly, the kingdom is worth everything and anything we give up pales in comparison to it. Truly, we don’t want anything between us and God, for those people and things are idols.

But there are two problems with the typical approach. First, that’s not what the text is saying which is huge but the bigger problem is even worse. When we take that approach, we push ourselves towards legalism; it’s about earning the kingdom which is a gift from God. The good news becomes good advice.

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So what’s it saying?

Right before these parable, Jesus says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.” Then he talks about an enemy who sows weeds in the field.  Eventually, both wheat and weeds are harvested and then sorted. Right after these parables, Jesus says, “…the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.” The fisherman pulls the fish onto the shore and sorts the catch into good fish and bad fish.

In both these parables, as in all scripture, we see two groups: There are those who have embraced God’s acceptance and love and are resting in his grace, and there are those who have persistently remained indifferent, resisted, or outright rejected God’s acceptance and love. The second group are eventually given over to their heart’s desires.

What all this means is that the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value are not things you are supposed to strive for and sacrifice for!

They are you!

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They are you and me and the one who buys the field and the pearls so he can have the what he values above all else is… Jesus.  Under the shadow of the cross he couldn’t see beyond the portal of the tomb. He thought it was a one way trip. And yet, he stayed the course; fought the battle, gave up everything, and ransomed you from the enemy of life. These parables tell us that we are infinite worth and value to God.

Yes, we’re broken and hurting and angry and stubborn but we have love and belonging with God because he treasurers us; gave everything to rescue us.

Here’s the great big idea I want you to take away from this. When you’re in pain, overwhelmed, thinking you’ve run out of options, people will probably say: remember that your friends love you, your family loves you, God loves you. ALL TRUE.

But I don’t think that’s going to get you through.

Instead you need to see your infinite worth and value in God and… Love yourself.

You need to love yourself enough to ask for help.
You need to love yourself enough to hold on to hope.
You need to love yourself enough to seek healing.

You need to love yourself enough hold on one more day… after all, it’s always just one day at a time.

 

there is no god

21 Monday Nov 2016

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“Likewise, the god whose moods alternate between graciousness and fierce anger, the god who is tender when we are good and relentlessly punishing when we are bad, the god who exacts the last drop of blood from his Son so that his just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased, is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist.” (Above All, 2003, p. 58-59)Brennan Manning

A Living God

25 Thursday Aug 2016

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I was going through old pictures and thinking about my grandson. This is the little guy when he was a baby.

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When he was born, we were still living in Yellowknife, and our daughter was staying with us. Early one morning, we awoke to a terrible scream as my daughter shouted for my wife. She brought baby into our room and he was a sickly grey and his breathing was very shallow and erratic. This is a baby who was always active and bright. I still get bad flashbacks to that moment.

We called an ambulance and baby was rushed to the hospital. The outlook was bleak. The doctor was saying that he probably had brain damage and may not recover. They were planning on flying him down to Edmonton for further assessments.

While he was in emergency, I drifted in and out of the area. I sat in the waiting room and prayed my heart out. I put out a prayer request to everyone. I even offered God my own salvation if he would bring our grandson back to us. (I don’t think God does that kind of deal making – how can I bargain with something He has freely given to me?)

The doctors/nurses had done everything and baby was just lying on the table (one of those baby tables with the heat lamp). His eyes would flutter open and closed unresponsively and his arms and legs were limp. We weren’t sure if the lights inside his head were still on. With all the commotion he would normally be awake, being fussy or even crying. 

As I stood beside the table, I took his hand and put my hand on his head. Silently, I prayed  a simple and short prayer – I cried out to God by his covenant name, I claimed his promises and I prayed that in the name of Jesus that our grandson would be healed. My daughter came alongside me and my wife asked me to pray again. I repeated my prayer aloud.

Within about two seconds of my prayer his eyes popped open; they were focused and alert! He immediately made his usual noises and within the hour he was smiling, moving his arms and legs and yes even giving some good wails.

Four years later, our grandson is full of life, mischievous, and sharp as a tack. It’s like we never went through that terrible day.

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One time Jesus was being harassed by a group of people who denied the power of God. In his response, he said of our Heavenly Father, “He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” I have seen this God of the living in my life and the lives of others but never so profoundly as the day he showed up to bring my grandson back to life.

How has He showed up in your life?

Love Songs

17 Tuesday May 2016

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I have a distinct memory from when I was in my religious studies classes (not like it was decades ago – I was a mature student). One of my professors said, with great disdain, that many of the modern Christian songs sound like a love song couples might sing to each other. A few people gave an amen. A few chuckled. But I started pondering…

Of all the metaphors God gives for our relationship with him, the most intimate is that of husband and bride. I believe that God meets us where we are with the metaphor that best speaks to us but then moves us to greater and greater intimacy with him – to the marriage metaphor. When he returns the major imagery is a groom coming for his bride and when we are all reunited it’s called the wedding supper of the lamb.

I like songs about God – his majesty, salvation, and comfort but maybe it’s a good thing that many newer Christian songs are singing to God; like love songs that a couple might sing to each other.

Now, how about this: what if God was to sing songs to us? What would they sound like? He would have to put them into ways we will understand; an unfiltered God song would be beyond what we can imagine. Sometimes, I hear God singing to us in love songs. Today, I again heard John Legend’s “All of Me.” It occurred to me that it could easily be God singing to you and me, his beloved bride to be.  Check out some of the lyrics:

How many times do I have to tell you
Even when you’re crying you’re beautiful too
The world is beating you down, I’m around through every mood
You’re my downfall, you’re my muse
My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues
I can’t stop singing, it’s ringing, in my head for you

Check out Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

And to me, the chorus sounds like the cross:

‘Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you.

What songs remind you of God’s love for you and his desire for you to be his forever bride?

The Temptation

09 Wednesday Mar 2016

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Recently, I was with a group of young people and we were talking about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. I asked them what is the take away from this story – what do we need to learn? They responded with the common things I have heard from many others: Jesus was showing us we can overcome temptation like he did, the devil is a liar, faith in God protects us from Satan; we need to know scripture so we are not deceived, and so on.

Those thoughts are not necessarily wrong or bad but something triggered in my mind. The Bible is the revelation of God; every story whispers Jesus name. Unfortunately, we often make the story all about us and from there we tend towards moralizing and even salvation and righteousness by works.

What if the story is all about Jesus and only there to tell us about him? If so, what does this story tell us about Jesus? As I look at the text through Jesus, what I discover is, it’s not about my abilities or overcoming, or my faith.

To me, it’s about Jesus, God with us, who was willing to do whatever it takes, to endure everything that can be thrown at him, so that he can set us free and bring us home.

What do you see in this Jesus story?

Claimed

26 Tuesday May 2015

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This is my last post in my short series on God’s sanctuary. It all began here.

I wanted to share with you that God directed the making of the sanctuary so that he could dwell with his people. That is his eternal desire. The message of the sanctuary was that God was demonstrating his love to us in that while we were sinners, Jesus Christ died to save us. Why did he do such a thing? So that we would dwell with him as he wants to dwell with us.

But then I shifted focus to the judgment. I’ve heard the judgment described in various ways, many of which make God look terrible and run contrary to the purpose and message of the sanctuary. Usually, the Son of God is having to convince God the Father to forgive, accept, and receive us.

In contrast, I suggested that the scenario I see in scripture reveals a God who stands between you and the Accuser, the hater of love and life, and not only defending you but claiming you as his child. Does that sound crazy?  Well, I got it from the Bible. Does it have anything to do with the sanctuary? Yes!

Let me set the mood with Psalm 109: 26-31
Help me, O Lord my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy, That they may know that this is Your hand—That You, Lord, have done it! Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice. Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him.

And now consider Zechariah 3. Here we find a high priest, standing before God, and he is being accused by Satan. God will have none of it and he shuts Satan down. Verse 2 says, “The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?””

Pretty cool, right? Here’s the thing, this short passage is talking about the high priest in the most holy place of the sanctuary on the day of atonement – judgment day! What’s really amazing is the high priest is wearing filthy garments (actually covered in excrement). This is despite all the cleansing and care he would have taken to stand in rightness before the LORD. And yet, it’s clear that it’s nothing the high priest did or said that commended him but it’s because of Christ Jesus who is promised in verse 9. The changing of his garments indicate he has been made right, he is accepted, God wants to dwell with him. And, in the end, we can see that this is our story, too

Behold what manner of love is this?!?

Deceptive Practices

03 Tuesday Mar 2015

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One time, Jesus spoke very bluntly about Satan.

“He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 NLT

The Bible makes it clear that this fallen angel has deceptive practices. What I have noticed is that we usually think of these deceptive practices in terms of theology – “the truth.” Certainly Satan has distorted the things of God, turning heaven’s blessings into things that lead to self-righteousness, confusion, and despair.

But is that it?

The first lies recorded (although we know he was already telling them in heaven) are the the lies about God’s character. He lied to Adam and Eve about God’s love and care for them. The lies were relational.

What if Satan’s deceptive practices begin with or are grounded in lies about others? It would be in his best interests if we think the worst about others – their beliefs, their practices, their intentions and character. I also suspect that we reveal our acceptance of the lies and our culpability in spreading them when we say, “All (insert person or group) are (insert belief, practice, intention).”

It makes it way more easily to demonize, pigeonhole, segregate, ignore, those who we deem to be one dimensionally evil. The end result is fear, mistrust, hate – poison to our Father’s Kingdom.

Bread Even for Them?

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

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I invite you on a journey through Mark’s Good News about Jesus Christ. We are thinking about what Mark wants to tell us through bread. If you missed where we started, click here. Now, I invite you to consider Mark 8:1-10.

We began our journey watching Jesus feed thousands of people, an event in Jewish territory that told the Jews that God has come and he is feeding his people with bread! Then Jesus takes his disciples to the other side, a bad place with pigs and demons and unclean people. Sure enough, they run into a Syrophoenician woman. What does she get from Jesus? Bread!*

Now we are in Mark 8 and we are going to watch Jesus feed another group of people. Seems like a repeat of the event in Mark 6 but there are subtle but critically important difference. Please read the passage because I have some questions for you.

Who said the people had to be fed?
How many loaves of bread did they have?
How was the crowd arranged when they sat down?
What did Jesus do with the bread?
How many baskets of bread did they gather?
Did anybody go hungry?

Everything in this passage shouts Gentile. How many loves of bread? Seven.
How many baskets of bread left over? Seven. There are no five books of the law here; no twelve tribes of Israel. Seven tells us this is Gentile territory. There were seven nations in Canaan that were sent packing by the Jews. Even their baskets are wrong – spuris baskets, not kophinos, the Jewish word for bread baskets.

This time around, the people need to eat but it’s not the disciples who point this out, it’s Jesus. Back in Jewish territory, the disciples told Jesus their people needed to eat. Now they are silent. Why wouldn’t they want to give them something to eat? These are not God’s people! They don’t know Moses, they don’t keep the commandments! No bread for them!

And yet, did anyone go hungry? No, they all ate and were satisfied.

Are you understanding yet?

*Symbolically speaking