Beyond the Rituals:Letting God Reign in Our Lives

Strays on the Porch:Its Direction not Perfection that Counts

Today I laughed so hard I cried.

Around mid-morning I visited Sanford. He was on the porch, with his seven (I counted them.) dogs. He loves his dogs. They are all strays, but he cares for them. He’s got a tender heart that way.

Sanford has come a long way since I first met him ten years ago at his sixty-third birthday party. He kept then, as he does now, a gray stubble of whiskers and wears a ball cap. He was wearing his hat that day, and dancing as his guests cheered him on. I thought he would surely fall and hurt himself. He never did, although he was drunker than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life. But that was then and today Sanford is sober. I like him, a lot.

Today, we had coffee together. He makes instant coffee. Terrible stuff. Out of his kindness, he even bought some creamer for me. It helps, but not enough. Today, I loaded the cup with creamer and we talked. That’s when he started telling me about his neighbor’s teenage son. That’s when I laughed so hard.

“I tell you,” he began, “That’s the awfullest sight (speaking of the boy) I ever saw. That kid beats it all. He’ll break anything. Why, he drove the riding lawn mower into the mailbox the other day and knocked it plum over!”

I chuckled because I’d heard others tell of the boy’s recklessness.

“Then his mommy got on it and mowed. I was watching when the kid got off the mower. He walked straight over there and got the push mower. You know what he done? He no sooner had it started than he pushed that thing right up over the metal meter box--and it a good 4 or 5 inches above the ground level! Warped the shaft on that mower. I’d say ruined it for good.”

The way he was telling it, I was ear to ear grins at this point and had a little tearing at the corners. I think this added fuel to his flame, because he become more animated, even standing up, and continued with enthusiasm.

“You won’t believe me, but sure ‘nuff that kid come over here and asked to use MY mower! Course, I let him have it and he pushed that thing directly (pronounced DIE-wreck-tly) over to that chunk of cement sticking up out of the ground over yonder and ran my mower up over it! Don't believe me? Look. Over there lay the bent blade. Warped the shaft on my mower too.”

More tears and side holding.

“Guess you heard (pronounced hear-d) about his driving? The first week his folks gave him that Toyota, the kid drove it to school and hit a parked car! The very first day! Well, they got it fixed for him, you know. The next week he drove the Toyota with the oil light on till it overheated and froze the motor plum up. Just ruined it! I tell you, the kid would tear up an anvil just to keep from having to work.”

(Beats me what the work ethic comment had to do with anything, but the exageration about tearing up the anvil sent me rolling.)

I know this boy. In his defence, he’s a good kid, but it does seem that accidents find him. For example, this summer he drove by a short term mission group we were hosting. To his credit, he was moving at a snail’s pace, but being a little on the short side he had to strain to see over the dash. He was stretching his neck to full extention, making sure he was clearing our vehicles parked along the narrow side road when suddenly the rear end of his truck lifted about three feet off the ground! Though he’d avoided our vehicles, he’d not seen the place along his side of the road where recent rains had eaten away the edge of the pavement. His tire had plunged into the hole. The sudden drop and stop lifted the back of the pickup into the air.

Stunned and panicked, he jumped from the car, “Oh no! My Dad is going to kill me!” he said. “Why do these things always happen to me?!”

I consoled, "I’ll talk to your dad and vouch for your having been trying to be careful. That hole was hard to see, and its hard driving around all these vehicles parked along here.”

We pulled him free with another truck and he was soon on his way. After talking with Sanford today, I now understand the boy's comment about “things” happening to him.

Do any of you feel a little like this young man: like you can’t seem to get the ‘christian-thing’ right? Deep inside, being honest with yourself, do fear that when your Heavenly Dad finds out, He is going to kill you?!

Hey, all of us have fallen short of God’s ideals, but listen: Jesus goes to the Father on our behalf saying, “I’ll vouch for him. He was trying, and it’s hard living around all those temptations down there.”

The question He has for us is just one, “Are you trying with your whole heart?”

If so, then I imagine we’ll one day find a place on God’s porch where all we strays are welcomed and loved and where we’ll enjoy hearty laughter for eternity. I hope Sanford is there. I'm sure his coffee won't be.


"But now a different way of being right with God, apart from perfect obedience to law, is available to us. We are made right in God's sight by relying on Jesus. For all of us have failed to perfectly obey God's standards. Yet God, in His gracious kindness, declares, 'Everything is okay', because Jesus has spoken for us and worked it out with Our Father." --Romans 3:21-25 (paraphrase mine)

Beyond the Rituals:Letting God Reign in Our Lives

The Metronome: Rhythm for Life

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” –Hebrews 13:8

I like music, but I don’t like all music--especially what I call, “Idiot-Music”.

I know. I know. I’m supposed to be “Open minded. Flexible. A creative thinker etc.”, but the fact is I don’t like music that is chaotic, scrambled, rhythm less, haphazard. I like order. Music, true music, has a beat that is orderly. Random screaming lacks order and it bespeaks a problem….with the ‘musician’.

The metronome is a wonderful little device that some of these chaos-musicians (oxymoron), need to discover. If you aren’t a musician you may not know that the metronome is a rhythm keeping device. It tocks at a consistent rate. No matter whether the musician plays too fast or too slow, the metronome remains the same.

This morning the sun rose at our place around 6:40 a.m. The fog was heavy, only allowing a brief glow from the sun. Then, the curtain closed and the sunrise was cloaked beneath the foggy blanket. Though I didn’t see it clearly, I know the sun rose fully. It does so consistently.

The Fall season is coming. Though warmish still, weather in Tennessee is gradually cooling and nights are stretching. It will be freezing by January or February. Benjamin, my 10 year old, asked me when it would snow this year. I took a shot at, "Between Thanksgiving and Christmas." Though guessing about this year's first snow I am solidly confident that it will not snow here next June. I’m confident because a summer-snow is not the pattern of nature. Nature is more consistent than that.

Life itself has a flow that is regular: day-night, wake-sleep, birth-death, generation-generation, body-spirit. Consistency is, I believe, a virtue. It is, after all one of God’s character qualities—therefore, it has to be a virtue. As such, we should desire it.

Jesus is “the same” yesterday, today and forever. Autos is the Greek word. It is translated “he, she, it, himself, herself, itself, the same one”. Jesus is autos. He is himself yesterday, today and forever. He is the same one today as he was yesterday and as he will be tomorrow. He is unchanged. He is consistent.

“I, the LORD, do not change” (Malachi 3:6). The Hebrew word means ‘do again, disguise, pretend, change’. God is saying that He is who he is and isn’t fooling us. What we see is what we do and will get-- no pretending, no presenting himself again differently.

When the guards came to arrest Jesus he said, “I am he.” He went on to explain, “I taught in your temple. Why do you come out to me with spears?” Inferring, “I have always been a peaceful, law abiding citizen, why would I be any different now?” He was and is consistent.

God is consistent. Christians should be consistent. I know we aren’t (can’t be) perfect, but we can become, or at least persistent in our pursuit of becoming, consistent. The New Life, if relegated to occasional rituals (Sunday meetings, Easter holy-days, Meal-time prayers, daily devotional rituals etal), is out of sinc with God’s metronome. That’s why it produces a sense of tension, interruption, frustration, and fatigue. It’s like Idiot Music that no one likes-- except wierd, out-of-sinc people like Big-Haired TV Evangelist types, and empty women who get warm fuzzies from doing ‘church stuff’, or from being into whatever is currently ‘Sooooo wonderful!’. (Please understand what I mean by those comparisons and what I DON’T mean.)

The New Life, to make my point, is non-compartmentalized. It’s 24/7. It goes on at all times. It is at the store, the job, weekends, when you buy things, when you are listening, watching, reading, writing, talking. It is yesterday, today and forever. Tock, tock, tock, tock like a metronome.

Let’s begin to pray that we can get in, and stay in, rhythm with God. The music will be delightful….. and sane.

Speak Where The Bible Speaks...

"Speak where the Bible Speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent."

I was out for a jog this morning when this quote entered my mind. I have heard this sentence since I was a boy and thought it to be good. This morning, I didn't like it.

Not liking this mantra that I have been immersed in for many years did not come bring any sense of relief or comfort. In fact, my not liking this quote disrtupted my comfort. I have counted on this one for years. It was sure. It was safe. It was right. And if it wasn't right, nothing else seemed righter (righter?).

However, my discomfort did not lead me back to embracing this quote full on, but rather left me treading water.

OK, let's take a look at the quote and see what the good and the troubling parts of it are.

Good:
1. Safe Bet. If you want to say that what is in the Bible is God's Word, then this quote is safe. If that's all you want to say.

2. Consumable. There is next to no one who cannot understand and digest this simple sentence. Its simplicity is really quite genius. It almost sounds like a Rick Warren slogan.

3. Clear. Its clarity is remarkable. There is no gray area whatsoever. It is so easy to do, at least it is so easy to believe you're doing it. There is only one variable with which to deal.

4. Comfortable. It provides a very settled feeling. There is no more work or discernment that needs ot be done. All of that struggling and wrestling is taken care of. There is so much that does not even have to be thought about.

I am sure there is other good to it, but we'll leave it at that.

Trouble:
1. Reductionistic. Even though Jesus said, in the Bible, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age," and even though Jesus said, in the Bible, "I will send the Comforter," and many other things, "Speak where the Bible speaks..." does not allow for the ever present Jesus, the Counselor (Holy Spirit as I understand the passage) to tell us anything besides, "read the Bible." This quote has effectively muted God for just under 2000 years.

2. Not Biblical. No where in the Bible does it say that the Bible is all there is to God's Word. Oh sure, someone is going pull out, "do not add or take away...," but to say that means the Bible is the sum of God's Word and God does not, will not, and cannot speak in any other way is such a ridiculous stretch of scripture that it would be speaking where the Bible does not speak.

3. Who's been talking to me? I believe God has spoken to me. I'm not one of those people who gets to hear the audible voice of God. I probably don't enough faith to hear it an live. However, I have heard God speak in dreams, in "coincidence," in wise words from friends the people I trust, in circumstance, in emotion, in thought. I have had instance when I spoke words of insight and wisdom to people that I was in no way capable of on my own. I wondered where that came from. Did God speak through me, or am I just that smart? If you know me and heard what I said, it would be easy to understand that it was God and not me.

4. Why pray? If God is done talking, then he's done answering prayer. There is no need to pray, just read the Bible. If it's all in there, then what's the point in praying? God's just going to point his finger at the Bible anyway.

5. Inhibits Growth. A people without struggle is a people without growth. When making sense of life, the Bible is helpful, but it is not all there is. In a way, the Bible can get in between a person and God. I am not saying it is wrong, but I am saying that God wants us to love Him more than anything else.

6. Promotes idol worship. That got your attention. :-) The Bible is one of God's creations, ranking in the top 5 of all things created, but any created thing getting between a person and God or viewed by a person as being in the place of God is, in fact, an enemy to God. We make an idol of one of God's creations, the Bible.

7. Return to the Old Law. If we cannot engage with the living God directly, then the Bible isn't true. Jesus came to "tear down the curtain," (a thing separating God and humanity) and make the Holy of Holies available to us all. If we have to funnel all interactions, relationship, and everything through the Bible, then the Bible itself becomes the curtain Jesus came to remove. Although Jesus tore the curtain, we got our sewing kits out an repaired it.

I'll stop there, although I could go on. My point is this: The Bible is some of God's word. It isn't pretty and it is isn't even safe. But "safe, who said anything about safe?"

Supersize or Downsize My Christian Life

The Gospel of Mark and Polytheism: Supersize or Downsize Me?
By Ron Clark, Portland, OR

Polytheism is a word we do not think about to often. The word means “many gods.” The term suggests that an individual believes and worships more than one God or Lord. We do not meet many people who are polytheists, here in America, so most of us understand worship as a one on one relationship with a god or divine being. Balance is a word we do understand. Balance means that everything is equal, in harmony, or in order.

When Jesus called his disciples he called working men. Peter and Anderew were fishing and he call ed them to follow him (Mark 1:14-18). They dropped their nets. James and John were sewing/fixing their torn nets after a night of fishing. They dropped their nets (Mark 1:19-20). Matthew was working collecting taxes (Mark 2:13-14). He abandoned his calculator (maybe without even turning it off).

I remember when I was converted I was taught that these verses showed us that "Jesus calls working people." If you want something done, get someone who is busy. If you ask a busy person to do it, they will find the time and do it quickly. If someone has the time, they will not follow Jesus. If they are not working, they will not be spiritual. 20% of the people in the church do 80% of the work. This was my philosophy when I became a Christian. This was my ethic.

Then I began to study with people, baptize people, and help Christians heal and return to the front line. I found out something. 20% of the people do 80% of the work because we only ask the same 20% to work. We assume that the 80% may not work so we don't find something for them to do--unlike the guy in Matthew who invited everyone to work in the vineyard. I also found that the 20% were already maxed out--but worked on adrenaline and guilt. I am a recovering adrenalinaholic and guilt user (well not really--still struggling with addiction). Yet I continued to use the 20% and ask them over and over again to work. This, in spite of the fact that I was needing to learn to set boundaries and say "No to Adrenaline and Guilt Drugs." Then I began to hear from people that they didn't have time for God. That they were burned out. That they were tired and empty in their spirituality. My solution--"Jesus called working people--work it out." There we go, drive old Satan away--idle hands and idle minds are the devil's workshops.

In a world of polythesim worshipping many gods was very complex. Life was about balance and keeping everything and every god happy. Worshippers lived somewhat in fear and tried to keep many plates (gods) in their favor. The call to monotheism (one god) was both risky and more simpler. To follow one god meant that you risked ticking all the other gods off. But it provided a sense of peace and rest. One god meant that everything you needed came from one source. It was sort of Walmart god (one stop shopping). When Yahweh tells Israel that they were to be completely devoted to Him it was not one more thing to do--it was the only thing to do. When Jesus called the disciples to follow him, it made their life less complicated. One God and one Lord did not "supersize" or "complicate" one's life. It downsized it. God was not trying to make our lives more complicated, He was trying to make them simpler. Jesus was not piling another plate on a crowded schedule, he was calling them to downsize.

The call to follow Jesus is a chance to downsize, rest, and put things into perspective. The call to follow Jesus is not meant to make us "busier," "stressed out," or "adrenaline junkies." The call was not even meant to make guilty people guiltier. It was and is meant to give us peace. Maybe that is what it means to "repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15).

What think ye?

Beyond the Rituals:Letting God Reign in Our Lives

“The Development of Faith is Frightening.”
By
Stephen Meeks

The scent of acacia pollen is bittersweet and strong in the early morning. That’s when they begin -- in the early morning.

Smoke rising from cooking fires snakes its way through thatched roofs and strikes at the dawn. It is the beginning of an African day, and they are turning boys into men.

Frightened fifteen and sixteen year olds, naked and shivering, smeared with mud, stand at attention. Today they are to become murenik (men/warriors), and join their Fathers on the distant side of an invisible bridge.

The chasm of transition from boyhood to manhood is intimidating. Young hearts approach the chasm's edge holding their breath and hoping for the courage to cross. Old hearts on the opposite bank pray that their sons will be brave.

A motiriot (initiated leader) instructs the boys, "Step where I step".

Caked mud dries and draws in the noonday sun, but the boys do not notice. They do not notice the crowd, the heat, the wild dove piping out her song, or the pounding in their hearts. Oblivious to embarassment, fatigue, thirst, or hunger they follow their motiriot as the hours advance under an oversized sky.

Eyes fixed, initiates follow their leader across the chasm of their inner doubts and fears, until, in the night, they unflinchingly brave the pain of circumcision and pass onto the side of their Fathers; greeting the morning as men.

There are spiritual passages in life-- situations and circumstances we face that shove us to the edge of dizzying decisions. Sometimes the edge drops with a nauseating steepness, and updrafts of doubt roar, "It held for them, but who can guarantee the bridge will hold for you!?” On the far bank, the Hebrews writer says we have a group of encouraging witnesses assuring us that God will lead safely through. They pray for our bravery.

Those mud-covered African boys know the secret to success. With riveted attention they march in the tracks of their motiriot. Ignoring the heat, the discomfort, the dangers they fix their attention on the steps of their teacher-- trusting him completely.

That's what faith is. Though faint with fear and dizzy with doubt, faith is releasing our life onto God's character -- following His lead, trusting Him completely.

Do you risk dismissal or demotion if you don’t follow an unethical directive at work? Do you fear being ‘paraded’ before your friends if you don't at least pretend to agree with their humanistic views? Might you loose the one you love if you obey God’s will for chastity? This is the precipice.

The depth of the chasm, the strength of the updrafts, nor the sway of the bridge really matter. The question is will you trust that God is able? That He is near? That He is good? That He is involved? The decision to trust-- regardless of consequence -- is what turns boys into men and it is what transforms belief (belonging even to demons) into faith (belonging only to disciples).

Times are different. Cultures are different. Customs are different, but the path is the same -- steep, treacherous. Faith is following Him through these frightening times of testing, these rites of passage. There is no other way to become God's man.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." Hebrews 12:2

Healing the Demoniac

The Gospel of Mark and Polytheism: Healing the Demoniac
by Ron Clark, Portland, OR

Polytheism is a word we do not think about to often. The word means “many gods.” The term suggests that an individual believes and worships more than one God or Lord. We do not meet many people who are polytheists, here in America, so most of us understand worship as a one on one relationship with a god or divine being.

Balance is a word we do understand. Balance means that everything is equal, in harmony, or in order. Balance in a polytheistic world meant that everything, good or evil, had its place and location in the world. Worship was not about praising one God, it was about keeping all the gods happy. Balance was not achieved through peace and harmony, it was achieved through manipulation, power, control, and covering your bases. This, above all, must have been exhausting.

In Mark 5 Jesus came to an area that had this form of balance. In a polytheistic society you kept the evil forces on your side (unless you wanted to curse someone) and the good forces on your side. It was even important to keep evil at bay, out of sight, out of mind. Hence we have a demoniac running around outside the city and howling around the graves and hills (where shrines tend to be). He is separated from the city. He could not be controlled so they let him run outside the city and become self destructive (Mark 5:1-5). This is convenient. Keep the bad guy with all the demons outside the city and we can continue in peace. This was balance. Yet, Jesus had a way of disrupting balance. A commitment to one God tends to do that. Just as King Josiah disrupted everyone’s system of balance, so Jesus came to seek and save (not drive out) those who are lost. Jesus exercised complete control on the demoniac and gave the many evil spirits permission to destroy the pigs (see what I mean by upsetting balance). In the minds of the people, the demons are now in the water and you never know what will happen next. His power was so strong that the people were afraid of him and begged him to go away from the whole region (Mark 5:17).

I could never understand why they did this—other than maybe they were afraid he would affect more livestock. Actually, he disturbed their nice, controlled, and balanced way of life. As long as they had a man they could call evil, they could send him away and go about their normal existence. Hearing the howls of the demoniac reminded them that evil was outside the camp and far from their safe environment.

My wife Lori and I have been in ministry for over 17 years. We began working with women and children who were victims of domestic violence in 1992. We learned to protect them and the theology behind their suffering, pain, and empowerment. In 1998 God moved us to Portland where Lori continued the work with victims and I learned how to help the abusive men. The batterer intervention counselors (most of them secular) taught me to have compassion on these men and understand how to help them by calling them to accountability. After a couple years of this training I again read the story of the demoniac. I came face to face with my own fears of these men and the realization that they are convenient demoniacs in our society.

We do not have room for these men in our cities. We drive them out, along with pedophiles and sexual addicts. I am not making excuses for their behavior--I am questioning whether we have a nice system of balance set up. As long as we demonize them and send them away we don't have to believe that evil is still among us. While they howl outside the city we publically warn people to beware of these evil creatures, not acknowledging that we all have the potential (living in a different family or place or lifestyle) to be evil, controlling, and abusive. I have had to acknowledge my own tendencies for power and control and struggle with sexual temptations as a man in a socieity that degrades women and children.

Are we any different than the citizens of Gerasa? And yet the command is still the same. "Go and tell everyone what the Lord has done for you..." The demoniacs of our age are still to be held accountable. Abusive men are called to display repentance to all and validate those whom they have destroyed by their language, fists, and attitudes rather than jump on the boat and flee with Jesus. Pedophiles must return to face their sins, their victims, and show people that repentance is more than a statement, it is a life long committment to Jesus. Sexual addicts must face the pain of those they hurt and show that women are not objects, but humans worthy of respect and love who are created in the image of Almighty God. The Savior is the same. He goes where we fear to go and has a habit of upsetting our nice balanced system of evil and good. He reminds us that evil (not flesh and blood) is to be confronted, challenged, and driven away. That all forms of evil should be faced and those under its power healed so that they can be "sitting, clothed, and in their right minds." He challenges us to embrace the demoniac and call him to repentance and health. He calls us to stop seeing evil as geographical or social and accept that it is pathological. He calls us to search out those howling among the tombs and give them a reason to sing. My Jesus loves us all and all of us includes all of them!!!!!

What think ye?

Jesus on the Run

Since the current of issue of New Wineskins explores the gospel of Mark, I'm re-posting a May 11 entry from my blog and experiencing all over again the convicting blessing of reading this dynamic gospel in one sitting.

I read the gospel of Mark last night before bed. It only takes about an hour. Especially if you're familiar with it ... if you skim the parts you know best ... if you're not looking for anything in particular ... if you can force yourself not to get hit between the eyes by something new and stop dead right there and ponder it.

What kept slapping me in the face last night was Fugitive Jesus. He is always trying to get away. He wants to preach. But people keep following Him because they are sick and they need to be healed, and He can't help Himself; He heals them. They need demons cast out, and He casts them out. He tells the demons "Keep quiet about Who I am!" It was almost as if He were saying: "Let them figure it out by themselves!"

And He says to His friends, "Let's go somewhere else so I can preach; that's what I came for," but people would still follow Him. When He heals them, He instructs them not to tell anybody. They tell anyway. One fellow He permits to go home and tell his family. The guy tells people in ten cities. And more people follow.

He needs rest; He sends out His friends. When they come back from teaching and healing, they need rest but they can't get away. People are looking for Him. They'd follow till they were too far from home to go back for dinner. Then He'd teach. Then He'd feed them. Then they'd surround Him and press him right to the edge of the lake so that He has to take a boat to escape.

He'd try to hide and people would still find Him. A Greek woman with a daughter who needed help. Jesus answers: "Go home; she's well." A deaf man who could hardly talk. "Don't tell anyone." A blind man. "Don't go into the village."

He confronts the Pharisees from Jerusalem, who just wanted to see magic tricks or argue with Him or try to prove Him wrong. He confronts His friends: "Who do they think I am? Who do you think I am?"

Peter tells Him. Jesus answers: "Don't tell anyone."

Then - three times - He tells them what is going to happen to Him.

Moses and Elijah confirm what Peter has guessed.

The running away and hiding and secrecy all cease. "Fugitive Jesus" is gone.

He starts for Jerusalem.

It's an impossible task. He can't do it all. He's on a deadline, and there are only so many more He can reach and teach and heal and bless before ....

Before He leaves the rest to us.

And it occurred to me last night ... In the first part of His ministry, Jesus didn't run from the task at hand; He ran from the recognition that was keeping Him from the task.

I tend to do just the opposite.

More People Who Are 'Living Christ'

Living as Christ would live if He were here now, in your body, with your name - that's a challenge that has faced Christians since century one. It's the theme of the latest issue of New Wineskins, and it calls to mind some blogs I've read from folks who have been up to the challenge.

Larry James is one of those people who is day-in and day-out living that life. He ministers in an urban environment, in central Dallas. His methods and approaches are often as unorthodox as those of his Savior.

Neal Whitlow had a moment in which he chose to live down the good-natured jabs at his fellowship's expense, to become completely transparent and let some fellow ministers see Jesus Christ in him. It became a moment of grace I will never forget.

Joel Quile experienced another kind of moment, a moment which forced a decision in the quick of a crisis that became an opportunity to minister - in his words - without a thought. Maybe, Joel, it was just that you were open to the thoughts of the Spirit.

Patrick Mead recounts a Christ-like moment with his son (who exhibits some admirable honesty as well) in a story that involves the wind, a car door, a dent in a truck, and the price of a soul at peace.

Since I'm on the subject of fathers and sons, Bob McClanahan is an old friend, and while this site is technically not a blog, it details the efforts of family and friends of his son Riley to reach out with a message of hope in Christ to families of other special-needs children. Did I mention he also manages a prayer warrior list-serve that distributes prayer requests from all over the world to folks at the church we attend?

Fred Peatross just asks people that he meets what they think about Christians and about Jesus. With a mike, camcorder and some Starbucks coupons he conducts these on-the-spot interviews once a month, inspired by the Web page ordinary attempts. The people he speaks to aren't referred to as "lost"; they are "people whom Jesus misses most."

I'll bet you know a few people like these. Ordinary people who live extraordinary lives because it's not them doing the living; it's Christ living in them.

Why don't you take a moment and enrich the rest of us by sharing a story or two about them in the comments below?

You never know. One of them might be just the thing that triggers another Christ-led life.

The Wrong Side Of Hell

I am nearly done with Brian McLaren’s, “The Last Word…,” and I have to say that it is grinding up my view of Hell.

What’s got my head spinning today is the idea that being judged and being saved by grace are not opposites. Being saved does not necessarily negate judgment and judgment is more like a telling of the truth. I’m not sure that to make of it all.

What I find more useful is Jesus’ use of Hell. Apparently Jesus takes the prevailing view of Hell utilized by the Pharisees and turns it back on them. Kind of a so-how-does-it-feel approach to the harsh methods the Pharisees used in how they treated people. Clearly they did not appreciate being on the receiving end of their use of Hell. So, they killed Jesus.

The Pharisees used Hell against the “sinners” and tried to scare people into being moral. Jesus used Hell against the Pharisees and tried to show them that being good was of equal or greater value than being moral.

Mere morality requires no real goodness, but true goodness is moral. It’s kind of like morality is a subset of goodness and not the other way around.

What I find most disturbing is that the view of Hell I have known my whole life is almost identical to the Pharisee’s view, not Jesus’ view. I’ve been on the wrong side of Hell my whole life. I wonder how much this idea has impacted how I have treated people. I fear looking into that because I think it will expose things about me that are embarrassing, humiliating, and regrettable.

On the other hand, maybe that is the judgment of God on me (telling the truth about me) and that if I do know that truth about me, then I will have the opportunity to change, be motivated differently, to love more.

Oh God, lead me into your goodness and strip away anything less than you desire.

Living God's Love - Conversation on chapter nine

It’s the oldest one in the books when it comes to Spirituality and church today: “I’m spiritual but I don’t think I have to go to church to express it.”

At the heart of this statement is a misconception about what authentic Christian Spirituality. Spirituality does not lead purely to solitude and individual piety, nor does it lead to elitism. Instead, Christian Spirituality leads to and embodies Christian community.

In Lavender’s and Holloway’s chapter nine of Living God’s Love, they discuss the importance of a loving community, referencing the first Christ Community described in Acts 2:42-46. Through history, many Christians have departed from this model, however, favoring some form of artificial membership where those who join ascend to certain doctrines and forms and try not to miss meetings, but a relationship with God and discipleship may not be emphasized. The authors warn against both the pole of overstressing “membership” that’s merely attending and the pole of de-emphasizing membership in favor of a personal spirituality.

We must avoid the dangers of a private spirituality outside of the context of community. Such “spirituality” ultimately makes one less useful to God. The proper exercise of the spiritual disciplines will always lead us to a deeper participation in community, not to a spiritual elitism.

In Christ we put to death selfishness and individualism. We put on new clothes of Christ and that also means we join a community of those clothed with Christ as well. Peace of Christ rules our hearts and we display an exaggerated sensitivity for others, one that goes overboard to make sure we are preferring others rather than ourselves. The word of Christ dwells in us richly. Lavender and Holloway show how Ephesians 4:12-16 provides a complete picture of Christian community in action. Christ gives us each gifts to use in the body of Christ. Paul expects the churches to function as those who are being shaped in Christ’s image, growing toward maturity in Christ together.

In community we also worship in order to remember that we are not God, that God is sovereign in the universe and over our lives. Here’s what the authors say about the worshipping community:

The assemblies discussed in the New Testament reflect a joyful gathering for praising God for the blessings received through Christ Jesus. Trying to figure out exactly the right formula that would satisfy God is to miss the point of the assembly. He is not a God who needs us (Psalm 50), but he is a God who wants us. We need him! We need the worship assembly in order to remember that life is not about us. We come before him with the sacrifice of our lives and renew our covenant to live for his glory. So we lift our hearts in song and prayer, we study his written truths, we dine at his spiritual feast. We remember his magnificent works. We rejoice in our certain place in his eternal feast. Our lives are changed. And God delights in the submissive, worshipful heart.

One last thing about this chapter. Group discernment is raised as a spiritual discipline of the Christian community. There’s a great example of a life-shaping decision that Earl Lavender had to make, and he gathered several of his wise friends to help him talk and pray about it and discern what to do. He even invited one person along with whom he rarely agreed. He said with the help of God’s Spirit and collective wisdom, he knew what he needed to do. Looking back, he says, what he was encouraged by the group to do was clearly the right choice. Along with group discernment, part of living in God’s love and community is Spiritual friendship, what some call having a mentor. The greatest mentor, Jesus, invites us to be “joined at the neck” (yoked) with him as he embodies the life of the Father.

The last reflection coming soon is on the final chapter of Living God’s Love: “Inviting Others to Fall in Love with God.”

Spiritual Formation through Desperation

Is it possible that God really doesn't want us to be happy?

People will justify all kinds of things they do because "I just know God wants me to be happy."

What if He doesn't?

What if He wants us to suffer? To be challenged? To give up things we want in order to seek the things He wants for us? To grow?

What if He wants us to die to self and the goal of our own happiness?

Would we become people after God's own heart - like the penitent King David after his murderous adultery? Would we have a deeper understanding of Christ's sacrifice if we made a few sacrifices of our own? Would we appreciate what it's like to be despised and rejected if we suffer some of it for ourselves?

If that's not in store for us, then why does Jesus offer the reassurance of the Beatitudes?

Wouldn't the happiness that's in store for us with Him forever be worth a few moments of unhappiness here and now?

I can't forget what one of my roommates in college said while we were discussing the spiritual "thing" of the moment back then: "Mountaintop experiences are overrated. It's when I'm in the valleys - in the very pits - that God lifts my face."

I think he was on to something.

Parental Pride Party and Our Kids' Spiritual afFormation

Carolyn Anderson's excellent New Wineskins article on the spiritual formation of children prompted me to post a column I wrote for the August 23, 2002 edition of the Abilene Reporter-News:

Our small group at church has been studying Christian parenting every Wednesday evening since September and recently came to the conclusion that we don’t tell our kids often enough just how proud of them we are and why.

So a couple of weeks ago, six pairs of parents gathered in our living room to tell our 15 children — ages 2 through 9 — exactly that, a “parental blessing,” if you will.

I really didn’t know what to expect since the gathering was the brainchild of our small group leader, and he had planned the itinerary. And I confess I had my doubts about having that many little ones tearing through the house. Some of them are real tornadoes — and two of them are mine!

Together we gobbled down a potluck dinner in which every family had contributed ingredients for curry chicken. The kids played together for a while, as they always do. Then we collected everyone.

Each dad read a short scripture that has special meaning for him when he’s interacting with his kids. Every reading was different, and each one gave a little more insight about that family.

Because our two children are adopted, I read from Romans 8 and told them that not only is the whole creation on the edge of its seat waiting for God’s adoption, but that I’m sure he is, too — because I know how their mom and I felt, waiting for those two calls from our adoption agency.

Each parent, in turn, told each of his or her children one or two reasons we are so proud of them, right there in front of their friends and family. Every kid beamed when hugged and kissed and given a simple white ribbon that said “#1 Kid.” The reasons were as varied as the kids’ natures and interests. It took a while — 45 minutes or more.

There was a little squirming, but for the most part the children were riveted by the events.

Parents expressed pride in athletic and academic achievement … in hobbies and interests … in sweet natures and curiosity and compassion.

The youngest one — a precious little blond-curled toddler — gave her daddy extra pride “because she’s always singing happy little songs about Jesus.” When she heard that, she giggled and did a little dance of joy.

We briefly thanked God for them and prayed his blessing on them throughout their whole lives. Then we let them go play together again. (While romping, one 7-year-old girl fell on our sidewalk and knocked out two loose front teeth. We all scoured the walk for the missing teeth so the Tooth Fairy wouldn’t pass her by.)

Nobody complained that it took too long. None of the kids asked how they could all be “#1 Kid.”

Maybe curry chicken isn’t your taste. Maybe you could do without the prayer and the scripture. Maybe six or seven families and 15 kids are too many for your house.

But I can’t help but think that every family would feel as uplifted as we did, just by getting together with a few dear friends and having a little parental pride party for the kids.

Cross-Shattered Christ: Reflection on "The Seventh (and Final) Word"

"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46).

Stanley Hauerwas ends his 102-page book with this invitation: "So come, draw near, fear not, and behold the mystery and wonder of Jesus's cross."

What leads up to this point is a final reflection on the seventh word of Jesus. The final prayer of Jesus, like much of his life, is a direct conversation with the Father. "My Father" is one of Jesus' most-uttered phrases in John. Now, here on the cross Jesus again speaks to his Father and gives the ultimate trusting word. My life is in your hands.

Only through Jesus' laying his life in the hands of the Father can we do so. We join Jesus in his death and resurrection because Jesus at this moment trusted the Father enough to lay down his life and face hell and mysteries of the world he entered on Friday and Saturday that we'll never fully understand on this side of eternity.

Hauerwas points out that since Jesus has done this great work, he can say in Revelation 1:17-18, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades."

The person of Christ (that he took on our humanity) and the work of Christ (that he gave his life willingly to the Father) allow us to join him in his life, death, resurrection. "By giving himself up and commending his spirit to the Father," Hauerwas says, "Jesus invites and enables us to give ourselves up and become 'united with him in a death like his' (Romans 6:5)."

Jesus died so that we join with Israel, with the church worldwide in the hope that death is not the final word. Hauerwas quotes Christopher Seitz, who says God has become for us death, destroying "whatever gap we might have suspected existed between God and his complete disclosure of himself to us."

Thank you for joining me in these seven reflections on Stanley Hauerwas's Cross-Shattered Christ:Mediations on the Seven Last Words.--Greg Taylor

Eleven-year-olds talking about denominations

Ashley, our eleven-year-old, had a sleepover, and the next morning the girls were talking around the island in the kitchen.

Ashley to her friend Kira: "Is your church Baptist or a Christ Church, or what?"

Kira: "It's not a denomination." Kira attends a community church.

In the other room, I had been talking to the mom of Heidi, another friend of Ashley's, and they attend a different church, called Community Bible Church. We walked into the kitchen and the girls got quiet, as eleven-year-olds often do when adults enter, like the animals stop talking when people appear in the old Far Side cartoons.

Me: "Talking religion in here, girls? Do you know what denomination means?"

The eleven-year-olds all shrugged or nodded their heads no.

Me: "It basically means a particular church group or organization of churches. All three of you girls attend non-denominational churches." I could tell I'd lost them at hello.

Heidi's mom: "The Church of Christ is a denomination."

I just smiled and asked if the girls had everything before they left. When Kira's mother arrived, I told her about the conversation. She looked puzzled. She had no idea the church of Christ had been a "non-denominational" unity movement.

Ashley is a fifth generation member of the non-denominational churches of Christ. Kira and Heidi both attend community churches. Who flipped the script on the Restoration Movement? The non-denominational unity and Christ-centered, Bible-reading, and Christian-name-wearing legacy of restoration lives on in tens of thousands of churches and many varieties worldwide.

But many people in these churches--anecdotally, at least these two families--are not aware of this legacy in the churches of Christ.

Cross-Shattered Christ: Reflection on "The Sixth Word"

It is finished (John 19:30)

A quarter of the world’s population witnessed the funeral of the pope . . . I woke at 3 a.m. to watch with them . . . the pope’s last words may have been, “be not afraid” . . . when Terry Schiavo died, we heard no audible last words . . . famous last words . . . Jesus’ last words spoken on the cross as recorded in John were, “It is finished.” Other Gospels, Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

A shocking realization came over me recently when I realized something simple yet profound: the seven words of Christ on the cross were prayers.

For a few minutes this morning, I want us to reflect on the word of Christ, “It is finished.”

First, read the passage with the prayer, “Open not just my ears but all my senses this morning to your word.”

John 19:28-30

Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, "I'm thirsty."

[29] A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. [30] After he took the wine, Jesus said, "It's done . . . complete." Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit.

The human spirit yearns to finish, to be finished, to be done.

Was Christ talking about the end of his suffering that day? Like a man competing in an Ironman race? Or was he talking about something more cosmic and apocalyptic? Was this that last gasp that Matthew and Mark record, that great cry before he died, and what does it mean? Was it merely a famous last word or does it mean something life-shaping to us?

In Uganda when something was used up, they said "it is finished." If you ordered chicken at a restaurant and the supplier hadn’t shown up that day on his bicycle with five live chickens tied to the back of his bicycle because he had to attend a funeral for his neighbor who died with AIDS, the waiter would come back and say, “the chicken, it is finished.” He might offer the aforementioned explanation if pressed.

So when my friend Oneka, who has HIV, hears the words of Jesus on the cross in English at least, he hears that life has been totally emptied. Nothing left. Africans, as do American Indians, often describe or name things by their actions. Dances with Wolves. In Africa, AIDS is often called SLIMs, a reference to the emaciated state of the dying. What would be the last words of the dying in Africa? Perhaps, "Life is emptied."

Prayer, said one saint, should be uttered as if you will die when the prayer is over. It is finished.

This word, one of seven of the classic words of Jesus from the cross, is simply put, a prayer. We often consider the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane as his last prayer . . . he prayed in the greatest crisis, in terror and pain: Father forgive them. I thirst. Behold your mother. Behold your son. Into your hands I commit my spirit. It is finished.

What if we prayed this ourselves today? Lord and Father, the work you have done is finished. Now, send your servant into the world to proclaim it. What if our prayers were more urgently about the mission of God and less about our missing life or some privilege we think we deserve? As if life itself were teetering on the razor’s edge? Would we then be praying closer to the kingdom prayers than those “please God” prayers and “give me” prayers?

What if we prayed, “I am finished.” Religion is finished. Racism is finished. Subjugation of women is finished. My selfishness is finished. Sin is finished. Suffering is finished. Is it over? No, but it’s finished, emptied of its power by Christ on the cross who finished the work the Father sent him to do. It is finished.

Draw near to the cross and hear his words. The work that Christ came to do is finished, but as Hauerwas says, it's not over. It continues in us as the finished people of God. Creation’s end and consummation is Christ himself becoming human and suffering in every way as man. Only through him do we become “the finished,” the body of Christ.

Cancer can not undo us, neither can disappointment or fear. A child who strays cannot bring our faith to ruin. It is finished. Christ will draw all men and he will draw your child who seems to be running away. Church splits cannot undo us. It is finished. We are the done. Divorce and hate-filled emails and phone calls from the ex-spouse cannot unravel us. We are the finished, the body of Christ. We may feel undone at times, unfinished and certainly God is not through with us. It’s finished but it is not over . . .

It’s not over and we are witnesses to the beauty and power of the coming kingdom that we see with finished eyes by faith. Marantha, come Lord Jesus. It is finished. It is finished. It is finished.

The Spiritual Formation of a Pope

A lot of folks these days are wondering and looking into how a pope is elected.

I wonder how a pope is made. Reading about John Paul's young life and training and early career as a priest is interesting, and solidifies my impression about his integrity within the culture of the church in which he was reared.

But how does a pope deal with the question of papal infallibility, knowing what goes on in his own heart; what has gone on in the hearts and lives and edicts of his predecessors? Because - and I'm using New Advent's definition linked above - it is the infallibility of doctrinal interpretation that is at the heart of the question.

How does a pope maintain his humility in the face of being regarded as such? How does he shoulder the burden of this infallibility when the papal robes are placed upon him? The implication is that while he may do wrong, he cannot say wrong on the matter of doctrine.

How intensely does he study - both the Bible and his own church's history, for he must conform to both - and prayerfully approach the answer to all of the new questions that arise from tumultuous change in sociology, biology, technology, politics ... even weather? Knowing that whatever he says will be regarded by the better part of a billion people as the very utterance of God?

Does he pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in such matters? Do millions of his flock pray with him for it?

Does God grant their petition?

I'm not intentionally trying to cloud the distinction between papal infallibility, revelation and inspiration that Catholics perceive. It's tough, though, because they are integrally related. And they must have a profound impact on the one chosen as pope.

We non-Catholics tend to be skeptical of such a core belief as doctrinal infallibility.

But I also wonder - and it's easy for me to wonder, since I don't have a pulpit - do the ministers and preachers among us feel that same burden when they step up to the lectern or visit a hospital bed or sit in on an elder's meeting? Do they pray constantly that each word they proclaim is the very word of God? Do we, their various flocks, pray with them for the guidance of His Spirit?

As members of a universal priesthood, do we pray for that kind of infallibility for ourselves?

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." - Matthew 5:48

What place does the pope have in lives of non-Catholics?

What place does the pope have in the lives of non-Catholics?

Though I’ve lived through three papacies, Pope John Paul II has defined what a pope is and does for a billion Catholics and for the rest of the world. He was very conservative on most issues but no other pope had traveled and perhaps few others had advocated for the poor like he did. He traveled to 129 countries. When he visited Africa, many non-Catholics wanted to see him, hear him say, "Do not be afraid."

Pope John Paul II set the tone for how widely a modern pope is expected to travel and bring a message of hope and love for humanity through Jesus Christ. He did not stand down against leaders, from Reagan to Bush, on the call for peace. He is credited for a major role in the fall of communism and the movement in Poland. Yet, he also perpetuated a hard-line role against contraception, even as a protector against HIV, which gravely impacts poor nations in their fight against AIDS. He also remained firm on celibacy and unmarried priesthood, which many believe should change, particularly in light of the sex scandal of the American Catholic Church.

I was not raised to revere or honor the pope. Too much of the priesthood of all believers, calling no one “father” and perhaps influence of democracy had surged through my veins to think much about the pope. I was not even “Protestant,” those who protested against Rome and how they were raising money for the Vatican by charging indulgences for absolution of sin and eternal damnation and other corruption. I came from a “free” church. Free of hierarchy, free to choose (sounds more like economics), free to interpret Scripture (as long as it fit within certain pre-set and unwritten parameters).

Twenty-six years ago, my memory of the choosing of Pope John Paul II was the smoke billowing out of the Vatican near the Sistine Chapel where the Cardinals were meeting for the Conclave. Then, several years into the papacy of John Paul II, I went to Italy and visited several cities, including Rome. The Vatican is one of the most jaw-dropping places in the world. Walking into St. Peter’s Basilica and the amazement of seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta grows in me still today, eighteen years later. Again, I was pre-disposed to dismiss the extravagance of religious iconography. At the time, I was only nineteen and though taking art appreciation, I was yet to appreciate art as Spiritual, as I am learning to do now. My wife, Jill, also traveled to Italy with Harding University in Florence program. She, however, saw Pope John Paul II.

Yesterday, Jill gathered our children around her scrapbook (she had not pulled it out in years) and showed them the photo she had taken when the pope walked past her in St. Peter’s. Our children want to know why the pope is so important, why all the attention is on his death right now. We talked about how he's the leader of one billion people, their church, and he is in the line of many who have decided important things about what Christians have believed about Jesus and his mission. Yet, we temper it with our own understanding of the priesthood of all believers, the message of Hebrews, the way we are shepherded by loving elders in our lives today. Though we are not "told" what to believe by the pope, his office has still influenced what we believe over the years and I would venture to say, still does. His stands make a difference to many beyond the Catholic faith, in what they come to believe for themselves. Here is the photo Jill took of John Paul II in 1987 in St. Peter's Basilica.

A few years ago I took a course that centered on Historical Theology. That means the study of doctrines as they have emerged through Christian history. For the first time, I considered the importance of theological decisions, good and bad, of important leaders in the church over the last two millennia. For the first time I came to grips with the idea that perhaps the Catholic Church’s concern for accurately and theologically interpreting Scripture was at its heart, like mine, but lived out and structured much differently. One central role of the pope through the ages has been to safeguard doctrine.

The Catholic Church and the Church Fathers developed much of the understanding that many of us take for granted today: for example, the doctrine of Jesus Christ, that he is God and man, that he was not created but that all was created through him. Yes, Scripture on who Jesus may seem clear to us today, but remember that Scripture was not widely distributed and translated into many languages until after the Reformation. Many centuries of debate, martyrdom and struggle came over this belief about the Christ.

This is not a thesis in support of hierarchy or non-Catholics following the pope, but it is an exercise in thinking through how the church through the ages, and today, has influenced and continues to influence us, both negatively and positively.

Living God's Love - Conversation Six Point Five

To make the numbers again correspond with chapters of Living God's Love, I'm calling this one six point five. This is for chapter six, "Being with our Beloved."

We are not living a more complicated day than our forebears who lived through the Civil War, nor are we more busy than those in the sixties who were fighting for civil rights. We don't have less time than Alexander Campbell or Martin Luther, one of which or both, I can't remember said they had so much to do in the day that they couldn't help but spend only a few hours in prayer.

So this chapter is for us. Those of us who need to slow down, be silent, still and not only know God is but that we are not God. To be still this morning in my bedroom and say, "God, I am your son and you are my Father" shapes me. Being still and silent and "wasting time" with God reminds me, as Lavender and Holloway say, that God is in charge of the universe and I am not.

There's something of the life in God that calls for fruitfulness, but I'm not so sure fruitfulness in the terms Jesus speaks of in John 15, the vine, is the same as productivity defined by a market-driven society.

This chapter also speaks of several ways to pray silently, breath prayers, and examen. By way of explanation of one of these, I want to offer here an article that Jackie L. Halstead wrote for Wineskins in Summer 2003. It's worth reprinting here in our blog for those who missed it. In fact, our archive is full of good content for people who missed it the first go round. If you are not a subscriber, you're missing out on a lot of good articles. The $19.95 each year is what you spend on Starbucks in a month or probably less than what you spend on cable for a month! Subscribe

Examen
by Jackie L. Halstead

For one raised in a conservative church, I have struggled with being grateful to God. I was told that I must be thankful for my blessings and to be careful to live right or I would not go to heaven. This perception continued through my adult years when I became aware of the magnitude of God’s grace. The reward is not just in the great by and by but is today and every day. With this realization, gratitude made more sense. My focus shifted from what I have to do to be saved to what God does for me and how I can give Him glory because of who He is and because of the way He cares for me.

Gratitude does not always come easily, however. It must be deliberate and attended to on a continual basis. How does one attain this focus? Some are blessed with the cup-is-half-full mentality, but for the rest of the world, there are practices with which we can develop a grateful heart. One such practice is called Examen. It was brought to Christendom by an ex-soldier named Ignatius. He had done and seen everything in this world and was weary of life. When he was experiencing his darkest moment, he made a decision to become a soldier for the Lord. His life was changed so dramatically that he dedicated himself to service to God and spent his life demonstrating and teaching others to demonstrate how grateful they were to God. Examen became a regular practice of the Catholic church, and in the order of Jesuit priests in particular. They used this exercise of gratitude in their daily routine and prayers and in time taught it to their parishioners. One way to practice Examen involves asking oneself two simple questions:

“For what am I most grateful?”
“For what I am least grateful?”

The first question elicits what Ignatius referred to as consolations and the second, desolations. These questions can be asked on a regular basis, alone or with others. As one keeps track of the consolations and desolations over time, patterns begin to emerge. We are able to identify acts/situations that bring us life, through looking at the consolations. As we pour our energies into these happenings, we experience the abundance of life God has promised. This promotes a grateful heart. When focusing on desolations, we see patterns that take life from us. This shows us areas we either need to avoid or address and change.

Examen can be practiced in a multitude of ways. The most simple way is to identify consolations and desolations each day. It is best to keep these short and focus on the highlights. The form of the questions can vary. In addition to the questions regarding most and least grateful, one can ask, “At what times did I feel most loved?” and “When did I feel least loved?” Another is “How was I most blessed today?” and “What was a struggle for me today?” The important factor is that the questions help you tune in to what gives you life and what takes life from you, and to recognize God’s involvement in that process. For example, as I kept track of my consolations and desolations, a pattern that emerged was that I need times of stillness. At those times I am able to slow my busy pace and be aware of God’s presence. It is difficult to set aside times for this stillness with my Type A personality.

I know, however, that these times give me life. I also realized that I am least grateful for those times when I have taken on more than I can handle. I do not feel I am giving anything my full attention. As I became aware of this, I realized that I need to focus on limiting my activities. In other words, I learned that even though there are so many wonderful opportunities for ministry, if I try to do everything, I am drained of life. I do not feel grateful to God, instead I feel overwhelmed. Therefore as I follow these insights I become more aware of God’s blessing and the manner in which He can best use me. I am doing the things that bring me life and feel a thankfulness and gratitude toward God. To put it simply, if something brings you life, do more of it. If it takes life away from you, do less of it.

Another way to practice Examen is with others. It can be experienced as a family. When we began the process, our daughters were ages three and seven years. At our evening meal, we shared our best and worst for the day. This not only helped us think of and share how we were grateful, but also facilitated discussion of problems, of which we as parents were at times unaware. It also helped us as parents share the ways God had blessed us and let the girls see that we had struggles even as adults. The sharing of consolations and desolations is now more sporadic, and it typically occurs when I say good night. The topics have become more complex—as they are in high school and middle school—but it still serves to help our family emphasize how God brings life and how He walks with us when we struggle.

Examen can be used in a myriad of ways in one’s profession or with friends. I train marriage and family therapists. Part of my role is supervision of interns as they learn to counsel. At our weekly meeting we share our consolations and desolations as part of supervision. The semester always begins with some hesitancy as they share, but by the end of the fifteen weeks, the group has become close. I give them the list of consolations and desolations that I have recorded each week to help them identify things that bring them life and challenges that drain life from them.

Finally, Examen can be used to help in decision-making. It helped me in my decision to go into academia. I recognized that teaching adults was a consolation for me. I felt energized and full of life when I had an opportunity to lead a discussion or teach a class. This understanding was useful as I made the decision to go back to school in order to teach at the college level.

Examen emphasizes the way God blesses us and how He allows us to struggle. As we all know, God has not promised us a life without challenges. However, He uses these as opportunities to bring glory to himself and refine us for a closer walk with him. When we have a grateful heart despite the trials of life, like Paul we can say, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11, NIV).

For more on Examen see the book, Sleeping with Bread: Holding on to What Gives Us Life, by Matt Linn, Dennis Linn, and Sheila Fabricant-Linn.

Gushing about Living God's Love - Conversation Seven

Please excuse me while I gush about the book I've been writing about, chapter by chapter, Living God's Love . . .

I want everyone I know and don't know to read this book. Like the waves of the ocean, my desire to read devotional literature, and frankly, have a quiet time, has ebbed and flowed. Living God's Love speaks so warmly, practically, and yet prophetically and sharply at times to awaken my desire to live this incredible life with God.

Holloway and Lavender wisely lay out in chapter five the model of Jesus praying and practical ways to pray. And here's where our conversations cross paths with the reflections on Hauerwas's Cross-Shattered Christ: rather than stopping at the model prayer or those few examples of Jesus going to solitary places to pray, Holloway and Lavender also reflect on the words of Jesus on the cross.

And this is powerful to me as I see these two books come together to show me something I had not "seen" before: the seven last words of Jesus on the cross are prayers. Jesus is praying in the most cosmic and epic conflict of his life.

The most poignant and gripping scene in The Passion--aside from Jesus saying to Mary, "I make all things new" . . . but the most biblically accurate--is Jesus saying in Aramaic in a way I'd never heard it, "Elihi, Elihi lema sabachthani?" "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). Yesterday's reflections say more about this but today it is a gripping realization to see this and Christ's other words spoken on the cross as prayers.

This, I will think about periodically today and perhaps in times of crisis that come the rest of my life.

I'll leave the practical side for you to read in the book. This book ought to be your small group's or Bible class's next book to read and study. Taken seriously, this God-life and how they present it and practically apply it, will overwhelm and transform you and your community. Order Living God's Love

Cross-Shattered Christ: Reflection on "The Fifth Word"

"I thirst." -- John 19:28

I spoke to Dr. Stanley Hauerwas about these words on the cross and how it reveals his humanity, but Hauerwas was insistent that it also simultaneously reveals his divinity. Certain things can't be neatly separated out to say here's where Jesus is only human and here's where he is only God. He's very God and very man in everything he does. This also helps explain reflection four posted earlier.

SH: Right. You draw close and the closer you come, the more the assumption that you know who this is, is challenged. The temptation is to say, “Oh, when Jesus says 'today you will be with me in paradise,' that must be God, when Jesus says 'I thirst,' that must be man.” It’s like he’s fifty percent God here and fifty percent man there. When what you must come to understand is that he’s one hundred percent God and one hundred percent man in saying 'today you will be with me in paradise' and when he says 'I thirst.' And that’s a lot to get our lives around.

WS: So in other words, the one hundred percent God side might be the 'today you will be with me in paradise,' and 'I thirst' more the man side?

SH: No, they’re both. (laughs) He’s a hundred percent God and a hundred percent man when he says both of those things, which helps us to begin to realize, Oh, this is different.

WS: So God is not . . . comment on the "cuddly God syndrome" that seems to be out there. Say one thing to the average person who is looking for God in culture today . . .

SH: Well there are two kinds of fundamental attitudes, both of which I find horrible. One is, I say, the most determined conviction among American Evangelicals: that God is nice. You can’t make any sense of the cross if God is nice. This is high stakes stuff. The other equally disastrous view is people walking out of Mel Gibson’s The Passion saying, “Gee, I didn’t know he had to suffer that much for me.” What that does is indicate an inadequate view that this is some suffering that has to be undergone because the Father is mad.

WS: Because God needs to be satisfied?

SH: Right, no this is the second person of the Trinity. This is justice. So there’s no justice to be satisfied—that isn’t this justice.

WS: So how do you separate that in our minds? Because this is a very common misconception . . . when you try to explain the opposite, it’s mysterious in a way . . .

SH: Of course (laughs)

WS: It’s slippery to hold on to.

SH: It’s very hard.

WS: How do you go forth and explain the real mystery there?

SH: What you have to remember, where you need to start, is getting over narcissistic fascination with your sin. There’s bigger stakes going on here (laughs) than just God helping us to think that even though we’ve messed up in life, God’s forgiven us and we’re going to be okay. This is about the cosmic re-orientation of all that is. That reminds us that we no longer have to live as if we’re our own creator. Therefore, we’ve been brought within God’s eschatological kingdom in a way that we no longer have to live the desperate lives that think we have to make sense of all this on our own grounds.

Read more of NEW Wineskins interview with Stanley Hauerwas