Ever see a Major League Baseball Team Manager run out of a dugout and get up in the face of an umpire so close that they could easily tell which brand of chewing tobacco each were using? This is no calm discussion, no mediated dispute. It's two people who saw the same moment in time quite differently and have very strong opinions about it. There's no good solution here. Somebody's getting hurt(or thrown out).
That happens at my house periodically, tempers flare, words exchanged, feelings hurt, solution lost. Yes, the solution is lost when it gets so heated. Instead of solution to the original problem now we have to work on reconciliation, a new solution to a new problem. When allowed to, a disagreement can spiral out of control and the best solution becomes damage control.
The sad truth is, this is what happens in the church way too often. And that's not what God has in mind. God's will is never to create disharmony. What pleases God is never for one to get their way and leave others feeling hurt. What God desires from all of us is respect even (or especially) in the midst of conflict. (which is usually only a differing of opinion and rarely theological in nature.)
Simply put, God wants the church to get along and the solution for all of us is not to kick dirt on those we disagree with, rather it is to listen, serve, putting aside our own desires for the needs of others.
"...you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you. God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. Do everything readily and cheerfully - no bickering, no second guessing allowed!" (Philippians 2:12-14, The Message)
Paul's passion for the church as it grew from its infancy was to be sensitive to the needs of others, never their own. In fact in many of Paul's letters to the churches the main issue comes as a result of the church's or the leader's selishness. Eugene Peterson describes the right response in The Message as responsive obedience. That's watching out for the needs of others. And do you know how you can be responsive to the needs of others?
Know them!
The Church is one big family. Just like as parents we know what's usually best for our children and as adult children we learn what's best for our older parents. As friends see more clearly than we do sometimes, we need to share together, learn together, learn each other and be family.
Knowing the family (the people of the church) will alter selfishness and usher in responsiveness. It's what Jesus did for us. He surely didn't do what was in his best interest. And He's commanded us to do the same.
"Others will know you are my disciples because of your love for one another." (John 13:34)
Anything less than that is not of God, but born out of our own selfishness.
What God desires of his church is...
...Peace ><>
pc
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Friday, May 19, 2006
The Hard Way
Some like doing things the easy way. I've always like taking the harder way. Maybe its because a different path is more adventurous, maybe because not everyone goes that way, maybe because the way everyone else is going is the wrong way? I dont' know the reason, but its been a common practice for me for a long time.
One of my favorite places to go on a day retreat is Turkey Run State Park. It's near Rockville, IN and many of the covered bridges still left in the state. It's a beautiful park in the valley through which runs Sugar Creek, among towering sycamore trees, sheer limestone and granite cliffs and under some of those covered bridges. My family has gone to Turkey Run for years. It was one of those fall family outings when the leaves had begun to turn and the air was crisp in the shade. We would drive the 2 hours early on a Sunday, take a picnic lunch, set up our spot and then take to the trails.
There are lots of trails through the acres of forest, some easy on the body and some called "rugged" that are a couple of miles long. It's the latter that we would spend our time on, trudging through the dense forest, walking along the spring fed creeks, climbing the hills and waterfalls cut right into the rock.
Now I tell this because my family loved this one rugged trail. We'd traverse the same one every year. But I would get tired of the steps cut into the side of the hills, and the ladders placed on the rocks for most people to go on. Instead, my cousin and his wife, Todd and Stephanie, and Peggy would often follow me around such "conveniences" for a more natural route. We always took the harder path. It seemed the right path and we felt better for taking it.
The truth is, the harder paths are usually the right ones.
"Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor." (James 3:17-18, The Message)
The harder work is getting along with each other.
As a part of God's community, the church, we are commanded to get along. It doesn't mean that we all conform, but it is an attitude of peace. It requires of us humility and grace, a willingness not to be "right" all the time, a willingness to put our own wants and needs aside for the sake of someone else. If we are going to get along, we need to learn to serve one another and look out for the other, not keep looking out for ourselves. The problem with that is when everyone is looking out for themselves, no one is watching their back. But when we watch out for one another, our backs are always covered!
The hard way in building community, building church, is to get along with others, even if it means moving out of your own comfort zone. It means doing the work we might not want to do or is uncomfortable or is sacrificial. It means taking up a cross, just like Jesus. He made the sacrifice(the cross) , left his comfort zone(heaven), did what was right and hard not what was easy ("let this cup pass from me"). We are honored by God every day, getting not what we deserve, but what God wants to give, his unconditional love.
We are supposed to do the same...
...for each other!
That's the hard way, the right way!
Peace ><>
pc
One of my favorite places to go on a day retreat is Turkey Run State Park. It's near Rockville, IN and many of the covered bridges still left in the state. It's a beautiful park in the valley through which runs Sugar Creek, among towering sycamore trees, sheer limestone and granite cliffs and under some of those covered bridges. My family has gone to Turkey Run for years. It was one of those fall family outings when the leaves had begun to turn and the air was crisp in the shade. We would drive the 2 hours early on a Sunday, take a picnic lunch, set up our spot and then take to the trails.
There are lots of trails through the acres of forest, some easy on the body and some called "rugged" that are a couple of miles long. It's the latter that we would spend our time on, trudging through the dense forest, walking along the spring fed creeks, climbing the hills and waterfalls cut right into the rock.
Now I tell this because my family loved this one rugged trail. We'd traverse the same one every year. But I would get tired of the steps cut into the side of the hills, and the ladders placed on the rocks for most people to go on. Instead, my cousin and his wife, Todd and Stephanie, and Peggy would often follow me around such "conveniences" for a more natural route. We always took the harder path. It seemed the right path and we felt better for taking it.
The truth is, the harder paths are usually the right ones.
"Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor." (James 3:17-18, The Message)
The harder work is getting along with each other.
As a part of God's community, the church, we are commanded to get along. It doesn't mean that we all conform, but it is an attitude of peace. It requires of us humility and grace, a willingness not to be "right" all the time, a willingness to put our own wants and needs aside for the sake of someone else. If we are going to get along, we need to learn to serve one another and look out for the other, not keep looking out for ourselves. The problem with that is when everyone is looking out for themselves, no one is watching their back. But when we watch out for one another, our backs are always covered!
The hard way in building community, building church, is to get along with others, even if it means moving out of your own comfort zone. It means doing the work we might not want to do or is uncomfortable or is sacrificial. It means taking up a cross, just like Jesus. He made the sacrifice(the cross) , left his comfort zone(heaven), did what was right and hard not what was easy ("let this cup pass from me"). We are honored by God every day, getting not what we deserve, but what God wants to give, his unconditional love.
We are supposed to do the same...
...for each other!
That's the hard way, the right way!
Peace ><>
pc
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Stumbling in the Darkness
"If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth - we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being th elight, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin." (1 John 1:6-7, The Message)
Ever stumble in the dark? Trip over something you couldn't see? Having to feel your way around in the middle of the night hoping not to whack your shins on the coffee table or step on the dog or fall down the stairs? I often wonder what it would be like to be blind. To have to live in the dark all the time. Sometimes at night, even with a little light from various sources, I close my eyes going from one room to another (usually a trip to the bathroom). It's an interesting exercise and no matter how many times I've done it, it's still foreign.
We weren't made to live in darkness.
Yet sometimes that's where I feel I am, or at least have been for a while. I've been living through what many, who have experienced this long before me, have called the dark night of the soul. It's a time when God seems distant and my faith seems tested. Rick Warren has talked about in his book. I'm living through it right now. It's an interesting place to be, and not a place I ever expected to be. I've enjoyed a great life with God and now God is taking me through something to enhance it even more.
But this darkness that I describe isn't my sin. (O, I still have sin. I check it every day, confess it, purge my soul constantly. I'm not living in denial.) It isn't a darkness of my own making either or my own journey away from the will of God. It has taken me weeks (maybe months) to begin to understand it. In fact this place I am in is directly in the center of God's will. The darkness I am experiencing is what's going on around me. This darkness is a chance for me to see the sin of others and grow deeper in my faith, even when I cannot "feel" it.
I do see God at work in me, even in his absence. I also see the work of God in our church, maybe more than I ever have in any church. I see the darkness and the tension the light of Christ causes. God is working at drawing the church closer together even as some are pulling away. God is working at purging the darkness from our midst and bringing light all around us. In that we will find the fellowship between us ever more fulfilling, and the work of the church bringing us more joy (as it does more and more people!)
I believe (and have for some time) we are on the brink of something big that God is doing. And I have been allowed the privilege of God's test, to make it through the dark, trusting not in my sight, but in his hand to guide me, not always to let me see, but to let me know which way to go.
Living in the dark isn't fun, especially if that darkness is unconfessed, unrepentant sin. It's a darkness that is caused by an acute selfishness (yes, this is sin, too.). We were not made to live there, in the dark. It causes more than separation from God, it also causes separation from the place God has for us, the Church.
So if you are living in the dark, step into the light and bask in its warm glow.
It's God and God's place for you.
Peace ><>
pc
Ever stumble in the dark? Trip over something you couldn't see? Having to feel your way around in the middle of the night hoping not to whack your shins on the coffee table or step on the dog or fall down the stairs? I often wonder what it would be like to be blind. To have to live in the dark all the time. Sometimes at night, even with a little light from various sources, I close my eyes going from one room to another (usually a trip to the bathroom). It's an interesting exercise and no matter how many times I've done it, it's still foreign.
We weren't made to live in darkness.
Yet sometimes that's where I feel I am, or at least have been for a while. I've been living through what many, who have experienced this long before me, have called the dark night of the soul. It's a time when God seems distant and my faith seems tested. Rick Warren has talked about in his book. I'm living through it right now. It's an interesting place to be, and not a place I ever expected to be. I've enjoyed a great life with God and now God is taking me through something to enhance it even more.
But this darkness that I describe isn't my sin. (O, I still have sin. I check it every day, confess it, purge my soul constantly. I'm not living in denial.) It isn't a darkness of my own making either or my own journey away from the will of God. It has taken me weeks (maybe months) to begin to understand it. In fact this place I am in is directly in the center of God's will. The darkness I am experiencing is what's going on around me. This darkness is a chance for me to see the sin of others and grow deeper in my faith, even when I cannot "feel" it.
I do see God at work in me, even in his absence. I also see the work of God in our church, maybe more than I ever have in any church. I see the darkness and the tension the light of Christ causes. God is working at drawing the church closer together even as some are pulling away. God is working at purging the darkness from our midst and bringing light all around us. In that we will find the fellowship between us ever more fulfilling, and the work of the church bringing us more joy (as it does more and more people!)
I believe (and have for some time) we are on the brink of something big that God is doing. And I have been allowed the privilege of God's test, to make it through the dark, trusting not in my sight, but in his hand to guide me, not always to let me see, but to let me know which way to go.
Living in the dark isn't fun, especially if that darkness is unconfessed, unrepentant sin. It's a darkness that is caused by an acute selfishness (yes, this is sin, too.). We were not made to live there, in the dark. It causes more than separation from God, it also causes separation from the place God has for us, the Church.
So if you are living in the dark, step into the light and bask in its warm glow.
It's God and God's place for you.
Peace ><>
pc
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Where God Feels Welcome
This week we are discussing fellowship in our 40 days of purpose series. We can discuss the theology of fellowship, why it is important to our discipleship, our evangelism, our very soul, but today I just want to look at it from a very practical side.
"Now he is using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day by day - a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home." (Ephesians 2:21-22, The Message)
Sunday after the worship services several of us gathered in the foyer just talking. We were the last ones left in the building. It was Mothers' Day and none of us had any plans after church (most of my kids were gone for the day or the week) so we decided as a group to go out to lunch together. We sat, ate, told stories, laughed out loud (wondering if we were going to get kicked out of the restaurant) and just shared our lives together. But it didn't end there. The afternoon spilled over to a back porch where we sat in the sunshine just sharing about life and loves and hopes and dreams.
It was a marvelous day. It was true fellowship with some of our dearest friends in the whole world, brothers and sisters, "Moms"(as Peggy described them on Sunday). It was an atmosphere of hospitality, of mutual love and respect, it was fellowship in the way God wants us to share. It is as Paul described it, "a temple in which God is quite at home."
Without meaning to, a temple was built on Sunday afternoon and God resided there...among us. Over a Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza (which was really great by the way!), a glass of Snoqualmie, on a sunny May afternoon, fellowship broke out all over the place and we basked in it.
It may not happen right away, I mean that you may not discover the benefits of true fellowship right away because God is always there. I mean that it takes time to make friends, to trust each other fully, to be vulnerable to share lives to experience fellowship completely. But once we do, we can't help it. It just happens when we are with our church family. True fellowship is about developing true faith and true friendships.
And what happens when we discover and participate in true fellowship. God shows up.
Every time.
Peace ><>
pc
"Now he is using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day by day - a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home." (Ephesians 2:21-22, The Message)
Sunday after the worship services several of us gathered in the foyer just talking. We were the last ones left in the building. It was Mothers' Day and none of us had any plans after church (most of my kids were gone for the day or the week) so we decided as a group to go out to lunch together. We sat, ate, told stories, laughed out loud (wondering if we were going to get kicked out of the restaurant) and just shared our lives together. But it didn't end there. The afternoon spilled over to a back porch where we sat in the sunshine just sharing about life and loves and hopes and dreams.
It was a marvelous day. It was true fellowship with some of our dearest friends in the whole world, brothers and sisters, "Moms"(as Peggy described them on Sunday). It was an atmosphere of hospitality, of mutual love and respect, it was fellowship in the way God wants us to share. It is as Paul described it, "a temple in which God is quite at home."
Without meaning to, a temple was built on Sunday afternoon and God resided there...among us. Over a Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza (which was really great by the way!), a glass of Snoqualmie, on a sunny May afternoon, fellowship broke out all over the place and we basked in it.
It may not happen right away, I mean that you may not discover the benefits of true fellowship right away because God is always there. I mean that it takes time to make friends, to trust each other fully, to be vulnerable to share lives to experience fellowship completely. But once we do, we can't help it. It just happens when we are with our church family. True fellowship is about developing true faith and true friendships.
And what happens when we discover and participate in true fellowship. God shows up.
Every time.
Peace ><>
pc
New COFS 40 Days Blog
http://mycofs.blogspot.com/
The daily 40 Day devotionals are now available here at a cofs blog.
This site will go back to my daily comments on the scriptures. I've heard some of you have missed these comments greatly and I have to admit, so do I. So check out the other site AND keep coming back to this one too. There will be fresh comments here starting today!
Peace ><>
pc
The daily 40 Day devotionals are now available here at a cofs blog.
This site will go back to my daily comments on the scriptures. I've heard some of you have missed these comments greatly and I have to admit, so do I. So check out the other site AND keep coming back to this one too. There will be fresh comments here starting today!
Peace ><>
pc
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Day 17 - A Place to Belong
You are called to belong, not just believe!
“You are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” Ephesians 2:19b (LB)
We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves. The Bible says we are put together, joined together, built together, members together; heirs together, fitted together, and held together and will be caught up together. You’re not on your own anymore.
While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never intends it to be private. In God’s family you are connected to every other believer, and we will belong to each other for eternity. The Bible says, “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5 (NIV)
The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ; it includes a commitment to other Christians. The Christians in Macedonia understood this. Paul said, “First, they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well.” 2 Corinthians 8:5 (TEV)
You become a Christian by committing yourself to Christ, but you become a church member by committing yourself to a specific group of believers. The first decision brings salvation; the second brings fellowship.
Welcome to the family!
Peace ><>
pc
“You are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” Ephesians 2:19b (LB)
We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves. The Bible says we are put together, joined together, built together, members together; heirs together, fitted together, and held together and will be caught up together. You’re not on your own anymore.
While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never intends it to be private. In God’s family you are connected to every other believer, and we will belong to each other for eternity. The Bible says, “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5 (NIV)
The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ; it includes a commitment to other Christians. The Christians in Macedonia understood this. Paul said, “First, they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well.” 2 Corinthians 8:5 (TEV)
You become a Christian by committing yourself to Christ, but you become a church member by committing yourself to a specific group of believers. The first decision brings salvation; the second brings fellowship.
Welcome to the family!
Peace ><>
pc
Monday, May 15, 2006
Day 16 - What Matters Most
Life is all about love!
“Love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: Live a life of love.” 2 John 1:6 (NCV)
Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we are most like him, so love is the foundation of every command he has given us. “The whole Law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love others as you love yourself.” Galatians 5:14 (LB)
Of course, God wants us to love everyone, but he is particularly concerned that we learn to love others in his family. Why does God insist that we give special love and attention to other believers? Here’s why - God wants his family to be known for its love more than anything else. Jesus said our love for each other—not our doctrinal belief—is our greatest witness to the world. He said, “Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35 (LB)
In heaven we will enjoy God’s family forever, but first we have some tough work to do here on earth to prepare ourselves for an eternity of loving. God trains us by giving us “family responsibilities,” and the foremost of these is to practice loving each other.
The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.
Peace ><>
pc
“Love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: Live a life of love.” 2 John 1:6 (NCV)
Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we are most like him, so love is the foundation of every command he has given us. “The whole Law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love others as you love yourself.” Galatians 5:14 (LB)
Of course, God wants us to love everyone, but he is particularly concerned that we learn to love others in his family. Why does God insist that we give special love and attention to other believers? Here’s why - God wants his family to be known for its love more than anything else. Jesus said our love for each other—not our doctrinal belief—is our greatest witness to the world. He said, “Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35 (LB)
In heaven we will enjoy God’s family forever, but first we have some tough work to do here on earth to prepare ourselves for an eternity of loving. God trains us by giving us “family responsibilities,” and the foremost of these is to practice loving each other.
The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.
Peace ><>
pc
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Day 15 - You Were Formed for God's Family
You were formed for God’s family!
“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Eph. 1:5 (NLT)
God wants a family, and he created you to be a part of it. The entire Bible is the story of God building a family who will love him, honor him, and reign with him forever. When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father, we become his children, other believers become our brothers and sisters, and the church becomes our spiritual family. The family of God includes all believers in the past, the present, and the future.
Our families on earth are wonderful gifts from God, but they are temporary and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance, growing old, and inevitably, death. On the other hand, our spiritual family—our relationship to other believers—will continue throughout eternity.
The Bible says, “Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he isn’t ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:11 (CEV)
Let that amazing truth sink in - you are a part of God’s family, and because Jesus makes you holy, God is proud of you! Being included in God’s family is the highest honor and the greatest privilege you will ever receive. Nothing else comes close. Whenever you feel unimportant, unloved, or insecure, remember to whom you belong.
Peace ><>
pc
“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Eph. 1:5 (NLT)
God wants a family, and he created you to be a part of it. The entire Bible is the story of God building a family who will love him, honor him, and reign with him forever. When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father, we become his children, other believers become our brothers and sisters, and the church becomes our spiritual family. The family of God includes all believers in the past, the present, and the future.
Our families on earth are wonderful gifts from God, but they are temporary and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance, growing old, and inevitably, death. On the other hand, our spiritual family—our relationship to other believers—will continue throughout eternity.
The Bible says, “Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he isn’t ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:11 (CEV)
Let that amazing truth sink in - you are a part of God’s family, and because Jesus makes you holy, God is proud of you! Being included in God’s family is the highest honor and the greatest privilege you will ever receive. Nothing else comes close. Whenever you feel unimportant, unloved, or insecure, remember to whom you belong.
Peace ><>
pc
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