Spiritual Information Overload.

For the past few weeks I've been reading Jim Elliot's bio, Shadow of the Almighty, written by Elisabeth Elliot. It is a phenomenal biography; Jim was a man of so much focus, determination, and passion for seeing the name of Jesus shared and the glorify of God lived out in his life - whether he was at college or at home or living as a missionary in Ecuador.

While several things throughout these pages have deeply moved me, one of Jim's reflections near the end of the book warrants mention (more posts about this book will follow, I am sure!). In a letter to his father, he wrote of 25 new believers in one of the small villages where he preaches, asking for prayer that those Indians that cannot read and must be fed in their new faith only through words from Jim and others. These illiterate believers must rely on the words and training of others to grow in their faith.

This summer, while visiting a church in Bellevue, NE, I heard a guest speaker named Jesse speak about his work among the Lisu People in Burma. The church had been supporting Jesse for many years, and Jesse was there to share about his current project - printing a Bible for the Lisu people. There are more than 500,000 Christian Lisu that have no written Bible in their language. It took Jesse and a team of people 6 years to translate the word of God. Jesse explained the importance of this project with one simple sentence in his accented English: "You can't make Christians without the word of God."

I have so many tools to help me grow in my faith; whole libraries of good Christian books written by theologians and pastors, thousands of sermons available online with outlines, notes and cross references, and numerous wonderful people that serve as spiritual leaders in my life.

All of these things are great, but I also need to take responsibility for my own growth. If I only depend on the revelations that others have, and don't seek to know God through his word, I am limiting my growth and my knowledge of God.

We live in a world where there is a potential for constant Spiritual Information Overload (hereto referred to as SIO). As I type this, I can see out of the corner of my eye the stack of 10 books that I've been wanting to read for a year. I have a sort of "spiritual growth to-do list" in my head, sermons to listen to, magazine articles to read, blogs to check up on. I'm committed to several Bible studies and book discussions already this semester, and I find myself thinking, Can I really retain all of this information, making it meaningful and applicable in my life??

In the Cru world, I've heard this described as "trying to drink from a fire hose." I really enjoy attending conferences, working through my spiritual development training for ministry, and reading the newest Christian book - and all these things help me grow. The funny thing is, some of the most memorable times of learning spiritual truth have been on my own. There are certain verses that will never leave my memory (Acts 4:12, Philippians 3:9, to name a few); the very first time I read them I was studying God's word in my dorm room, or in a cubby at the library - and when I read those verses the words seemed to jump of the page into my heart. They were little pieces of hope that inspired, encouraged and guided me in my faith.

I am mainly preaching to the choir here, but I also want to encourage you to consider how you can be even more rooted and grounded in the word of God. Many of us have multiple Bibles in our language while hundreds of thousands of believers around the world do not have one. If we are not rooted in the Word of God, we limit our growth, and our ability to stand firm when opposition comes our way.

the Lisu people

This morning I went to church with a friend I was visiting in Bellevue, Nebraska. The church had a guest speaker, Jesse, come in and share a little about his ministry. He is a missionary the church has supported for many, many years, working with the Lisu people in Thailand.

My heart was so moved for this man and his work with this people group. I don't know a thing about them, but as I saw photos of the people - graduates of a Bible Institute he started, children in Sunday School, his small team of people helping him translate the Bible into the native language - I could not hold back the tears.

There are over a half million believers in the Lisu people group, but they do not have a Bible in their native tongue. It took Jesse and his team of 10 people more than 6 years to translate both the old and new testament.

This one man's life has been used by God to influence thousands and thousands of people. I was so moved by his story, and the way that God can use one person to bring him so much glory. What a great reminder that each life is important to God.

During his update, Jesse said, "it's hard to make Christians without the Word of God." Here are 500,000 Lisu people trying to live a life pleasing to God and walk in His ways - without a Bible. I have a handful of Bibles, yet it's been awhile since I've picked one of them up for any significant amount of time. I pray often for the Lord to work in my life, for the Holy Spirit to move in my heart - but my lack of time in the Word of God shows the emptiness of these pleas.

losing to gain

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:39

Until recently, I've always thought of this verse in terms of confessing a saving faith in Christ. It's important to grasp the concept that Christ gave up His perfect life for us. We are to give up our sinful lives in order to find true life in Christ.

But this is important for the rest of our lives after we make that decision to live for Christ. The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but for believers, too. God calls us to give up comfortable patterns of our our lives from the time before we believed. This is a process, and not one that we can finished on earth.

I hope I am making sense here. I don't think I can fully describe the new way that I understand this verse now, as a part of my life in Christ.

As Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

I think this quote has huge implications in the context of a way of life, being more than just a one-time decision.

My head and heart finally agree.

Today, I begin a new challenge: reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology from cover to cover. The book is around 1200 pages, so I figure if I read a few pages a day, I'll be done in one year. Very doable.

I decided to take this on after finishing David Nasser's biography "Jumping Through Fires." I was doing some work at Panera yesterday and had brought along the book to read if I needed a break.

At any given time, I'm reading about 5 books at once. But I started and finished this book within 12 hours. It was amazing. I had seen a video about David once at church, and made a mental note to Google him later. I did, and liked what I read, so when I found his biography in a half-price bookstore a few months ago, I grabbed it.

I saw so many similarities between his story and mine- not so much in his life before he came to Christ, but after. For some reason, this got me thinking about theology.

I take shortcuts. It's not smart, I know, but it's something I'm naturally inclined to do and find myself fighting all the time. When I started to develop solid friendships with Christians in college, I could see early on I was far behind these people. I definitely lacked a foundational knowledge of the Bible, but in attempting to follow simple discussions about the Bible, I realized I even lacked the skill to think critically.

I had a lot of ground to make up, in not a lot of time. Hello, shortcuts. The situation was intensified because I didn't want anyone to know I didn't know much. (I didn't even want anyone to know I accepted Christ freshman year. Talk about pride. I'm pretty sure they all knew anyway).

In those days, I soaked up any bit of knowledge from any type of source. It was really fun to walk into church knowing that I would leave knowing God better. I jumped very quickly into campus ministry. I rarely said no to any opportunity that would lead me to grow in my faith.

Because of all this, I had gained a lot of knowledge. The problem is, shortcuts don't pay. The knowledge was great, but I was lacking sometime.

I found this out when I joined staff with Campus Crusade. Part of their ongoing staff training involves taking seminary classes every couple of years. I knew the first two would take place at new staff training. I didn't know a lot about theology, doctrine, or methods of studying the Bible, but I had taken in so much in the last 5 years, I felt pretty good.

I was pretty surprised at what I learned. Knowledge is great, but its value is increased when it connects with your heart. After all these years of attaining knowledge and growing in my faith, I finally began to see and understand the WHY behind much of what I did.

Theology, of all things, showed me that my heart hadn't caught up with my mind.

David expressed similar thoughts in his book- though for him, his mind hadn't caught up with his heart. His story really got me thinking about this. All that to say, I'm going to read more theology, because for me, that helps my heart connect with my head. That, and prayer. But that's another topic and another story. I think studying theology might help other people in this area, too. So, look for more posts on theology down the road!

(Disclaimer: I'm eternally grateful for the friends, Campus Crusade staff, and church members that helped me grow in my faith so quickly. My lack of connection between my head and my heart was surely my own fault. My pride got in the way, so there's no way anyone would have been able to see any of this. Or maybe they did, I don't know. I think the lesson I learned is not something you can teach someone, but only one that someone can discover on their own. I'm definitely not blaming anyone for me turning out this way and I hope those that read don't think they miss-taught or mislead me in some way).

Blessed are the...busy?

Sometimes I get so caught up in planning and numbers and lists and projects that I forget what it's all for. I suppose this happens to everyone at some point. The details override the reason they even matter in the first place. You can't see the forest through the trees.

My pastor is preaching on the Beatitudes for the next few weeks. Last Sunday he gave a sort of introduction to the sermon series, and explained the important of the "Blessed are those..." statements that are often misinterpreted. My logical brain tends to think, If blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will receive the kingdom of heaven, to experience the kingdom we must be poor in spirit.

But the logic fails. It's not that you can only experience the kingdom by being poor in spirit. The Beatitudes are not ethical imperatives. (I had to google that to get a better understanding of it, which one website explained as "an imperative derived from assumptions of constructivism." whatever that means). In this instance, we don't do something merely to reap the reward at the end.

The pastor explained that perhaps the Sermon on the Mount is like one massive vision statement. It's maybe not about the how, but the why. It's not about what you're doing, but what you're becoming.

Here's hoping this will help me stay focused amidst all the diagrams and details and dates. I love those things, but sometimes when I immerse myself in them, I get more involved in the task than the goal. Maybe blessed are the focused, instead of the busy.

some quick thoughts on 2 Samuel

I was watching a new show last week- "I Get That A Lot." It's one of those hidden camera shows where at the end, the people get all embarrassed in front of the camera.

Have you had that feeling-that something's so ironic, there must be a hidden camera around to capture your reaction? Once in awhile I'll be reading a verse or passage in the Bible and something will jump out at me, so applicable to my life or exactly what I need to read. Every time it happens I think about these hidden camera shows. (Now I'm picturing Jesus popping out from behind a door and said "Gotcha! You're on TV!" ...)

Anyway, all that to say I read something yesterday that hit me square in the eyes. I've been reading through the Bible Chronologically; I just finished off 2 Samuel, and was struck by this passage:


1 Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.

2 So the king said to Joab and the commanders[a] of the army, “Take a census of all the tribes of Israel—from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south—so I may know how many people there are.”

3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?”

4 But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out to count the people of Israel.

10 But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.”

11 The next morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: 12 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”

14 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days.[e] A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. 16 But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.


I don't really understand the significance of some of this, but it reminded me that numbers aren't always important. Maybe that's not the point of the passage; it was just so crazy to me to be praying about focusing on relationships instead of numbers during MPD, and then I read this passage.

So, I there's a loose application of this passage to my daily life (and I'm sure I could go more in depth if I knew my Biblical history better). But what also struck me was David's attitude at the end of the chapter:


17 When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.”

18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

19 So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked.

David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”

22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”

24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver[f] for the threshing floor and the oxen.

25 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

Wow. I will not present an offering to the Lord that costs me nothing. That verse needs no explanation.

My First Sermon.

I have a toothache. I don't think I've ever had one before (seriously!), so you can imagine my annoyance. It's 5am, I've been up for an hour and can't get back to sleep.

So...I thought I'd be productive. I've been working on a "sermon" (I use that term incredibly loosely) for my home church for a few weeks now. It's been on my mind a lot, but I haven't actually sat down to do any writing until this week. I have no idea why I actually have a toothache at this time and on this day, but I just sat down and wrote a majority of the sermon. I'm amazed at how easily it's coming together.

Several times this week, I've just pulled out my Bible at the end of a long day and paged through some passages-and I somehow stumble upon a verse that becomes a major pillar of the message. I'll be writing an e-mail, and remember that a book I read once years ago might have something good for the sermon, so I dig it out and page through it and happen to find exactly what I needed to include in the message.

I don't think I've just been 'happening' to stumble upon or remember these things. It's been encouraging to see God work things out in front of me as I am faithful in working on the sermon. I haven't actually been all that faithful, but it's really coming together nicely. This makes me even more excited because the fact that I don't really have to work hard for it shows me that He's the one orchestrating the events. I like to write, and research various topics, and speak in public. But even with these advantages there's absolutely no way that I could create a decent, thought-provoking sermon without His guidance and influence.

Say what you want about the way God interacts with individuals- whether or not he opens up parking spaces for you at the mall, or cares about which refrigerator you buy. Some days it's easier to doubt His faithfulness (we know then we won't feel let down if He doesn't come through) than it is to believe He will do what we really need Him to. But when you actually see Him come through for you several times in different ways, you know He cares. And it helps you trust Him to be there in other ways, too.

To sum: God wants your availability, not your ability. In my case, I'm amazed that He would even work through my level of incredibly distracted, disinterested availability.

To those cheerful people...

...sometimes your thoughts/opinions are hard for people to hear. I love those moments when you come across a verse in the Bible that you didn't know ever existed but always hoped you'd find. Here's one, Proverbs 25:20, in a few different versions:

"Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart." (NIV)

"Singing light songs to the heavyhearted is like pouring salt in their wounds." (MSG)

And then there's the KJV version, which I think makes it sound more legit:
"As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart."

the Isrealites

I woke up late yesterday morning, and had to rush to the office because I knew I had a lot going on today. Luckily the office is in my house, so I didn't have a long commute.

Anyway, after a few minutes of e-mail checking and organizing. I sat and stared at the computer, knowing what had to come next: preparation for making phone calls. To people I don't know and have never met. I got up to get some coffee, and sat back down. Deep Sigh.

The phone rang. I'm saved! (At least for a minute or two). It was my director, with encouraging news. I was immediately energized and re-focused; there is a point of all this ministry partner development stuff. I prayed a quick thank-you-God!, then remembered I was going to put extra emphasis this week on making my priorities my real priorities...and I'd already begun the day without reading my Bible or praying. I took some time to pick up where I left off last night in Numbers, and was met with several paragraphs of clarifications on offerings and sacrifices. Not atypical for the OT.

I know it's a very loose analogy, but in the sometimes monotonous readings of OT law and standards, I realized I can identify with the Israelites. There are elements of consistency and discipline in perform sacrifices and offerings to the Lord, which are elements of MPD. They were in a desert, MPD can be a desert. I could make a few more analogies, but they are even more of a stretch.

patience.

Potiphar threw Joseph into prison while he was in Egypt; then Joseph interpreted the dreams for the baker and cupbearer who were also thrown into prison (why are people always "thrown?"); then the servants promise Joseph they will get him out when they are freed (and they forget); and Joseph waits TWO YEARS to be let out. Man. Then he goes on to be Pharaoh's right hand man at 30 years old! Whew. What craziness.

I don't know that it's super clear in Acts how long Paul studied and prepared for ministry before he began preaching/traveling, but I want to say it was a few years (3? would love if someone who knew for sure could correct me).

Then there's Jesus; He didn't start His ministry until His 30s. (Do I need to capitalize all those pronouns? I feel like I should).

Waiting is so not fun..but sometimes essential.

power and change

Hebrews 4:12 is commonly used to describe the Bible, and for good reason: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." But why is the Word so special? Is it just another book, or is it something more?


I just looked up some verses about the word of God:
1 Peter 1:23 "...the living and abiding word of God."
Jeremiah 23:29 "Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?"
1 Thessalonians 1:5 "...our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction."
1 Thessalonians 2:13 "(the word of God) is at work in you who believe."
Ephesians 6:17 "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

By no means is this an exhaustive list. But it makes me think about the reason the Word is so important in our lives.

Without the power of God behind it, the Word is merely the word- ink on paper, a collection of two thousand year old stories that have no real significance in our lives.

But the Word is a catalyst, and the more you read it, the most you know. The more you know, the more you apply it to your life. The more application that occurs, the more you change.

Sometimes, I don't want to get in the Word because I know that I'm wrong, and I'm pretty sure God will convict me of that wrongness. But, if you haven't guessed it by now, I'm all about change. Even when it stinks, I know I'll look back down the road and be glad I was made aware of my wrongness.

Even when I was a kid, I was into change. I wanted to know how tall I'd grown since the last time I was at the doctor. I wanted to know how many more words I could spell and define after surpassing another level in the Accelerated Reader program. I wanted to see how much farther I could shoot a basketball or hit a golf ball.

But the concept of emotional or mental lasting change is a bit more tricky. Real change comes not from legalistic rules, but from a change of the heart. And what better way to see your heart change than through meeting with the One who knows your heart? "Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence" (Ephesians 3:12), through His Word, which begins us on a path to lasting change.

the light-bulb moment

Do you ever had one of those AHA! moments? I love those. I just had one. They don't come often so I didn't really know what to do with it...

...so I'll blog about it. I was sipping a tasty caramel latte today, reading the current book my bible study is discussing. It held my interest very well, as the author was tackling a very confusing passage and concept from the Bible, when suddenly it clicked. I will end up blogging about this down the road, but for now I just want this post to actually be about this elusive "light bulb flash."



It was awesome. Do you ever have one of those moments where something you've been wondering about, literally for years, finally makes sense? In the last 5 years I've had to work my way up from a very elementary knowledge of the Bible. Generally I've just focused on learning whatever I could get my hands on.

I'm finally arriving at a place of understanding where I can research and study one area of Scripture on my own, and see it fit in with the bigger picture of the Bible. It's so, so exciting to me. I first realized this was happening a year ago, at new staff training with Campus Crusade. I was forced to research and study theological concepts and church doctrine, which is something I never really had an interest in doing. Up until that point, people were generally always helping me learn things- there was always a conference or Bible study leader or super-smart friend who would answer my questions.

Knowing this makes today's small 'light bulb flash' very important. This phenomenon doesn't only occur in cartoons. I now have a better understanding of a Biblical concept that will change the way I go about my day to day life, the way I think about God, and the way I feel about myself. That's kind of huge.

This happens a lot to a lot of leaders in the Christian sub-world. A few weeks ago I heard John Piper share a bit of his story concerning the way God lead him to different places in life.

Piper's big mantra is "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." This is his gem from Scripture, his insight the Lord impressed on his heart.

When you discover something like this, having your very own light bulb moment, God is going to use that in big ways.

That's why people are constantly saying "get in the Word." "Read your Bible." "Go to God, see what He has to say." When I was younger in my faith, I got so sick of hearing this. I didn't believe it could be that easy. It's maybe not as easy as I thought it was then, but it is simple. I have access to the One who spoke the earth into being, who spoke to Abraham, and Moses, and David, and the One who still speaks to people today. Without the Spirit of God, the Bible is just a book- just words on pieces of paper. His Spirit is available to convict and convince, to speak to us when we need it most, despite our knowledge of our need.

It's great to read Christian books about topics that interest us. Even to read and discuss them in "bible study" is ok from time to time. But it is so much more important to be in the Word of God on a regular basis, and daily, if it's not too much to ask. The Bible is the yardstick that we measure everything else against.

I don't think we really understand that we have a chance to enter into the presence of the living God at any time. Because if we did, our lives would change. I know mine would. If you're looking for the will of God in your life, or encouragement, wisdom, comfort, or hope- go to the very author and perfecter of our faith.

flashback

Below is a part of a post I wrote back in Nov '09 about a realization that the Gospel is more than a one-time decision/prayer, which I brought up in my post from Jan 6 this year.

Last fall I read Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. It's great.

I recently listened to one of his sermons about living reverently.

His passage of choice was Philippians 2:12-13... Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.



Somewhere between Jesus' time on earth and today, somebody made the mistake that salvation is about a one-time decision made through prayer. He asks the would you get that from reading the Bible?

Salvation does come at a point in time; there is a moment when your eyes are opened and you understand that Jesus took your place on the cross. There is a moment of decision. But the rest of your life is you working out this salvation. The rest of your life is about following Jesus.

Midway through the sermon, Chan explained a great analogy with the decision making of a New Years' Resolution. The one-time decision is important, but the rest of the year is following that decision- changing what you need to do to act on it. Your actions will show how serious you were when you made that decision.

Paul wrote this letter from prison, and is encouraging the believers to work out their salvation in his absence. He is saying work out your own salvation. He isn't around anymore to help and encourage them. And they can't depend on him in the same way. And we can't depend on the people around us for our salvation. When it comes down to it, each of us will stand before Christ individually and have to answer for our lives.

Will He really tell you, well done? Are you a good and faithful servant? Or will He say "Depart from me, I never knew you. I know your parents, your grandparents, your pastor, your friends. But I don't know you."

Chan says he has "a responsibility as your pastor. I will probably be judged more strictly than you, according to James 2. I have a responsibility to try to lead you into the right place before God. At the same time, when you stand before God, you are not going to be able to blame me."

When I started walking with the Lord, my motives were shady. I had found great friends and a great social outlet. I always felt like I belonged. God started working in my life, and while I knew I had found something that would change me, I did a lot of things just because of the people.

I think that was ok, to begin with. It always amazes me how God can work through poor motives and irresponsible people. But had I continued to depend on those around me, I'm not experiencing a true relationship with God.

Would I follow Jesus despite all the believers around me? Am I making my salvation my own? A priority of my life?

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Chan says "I don't see a lot of fear and trembling in today's church. I see a lot of arrogance when people talk about God...like Scripture says, it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

We have no excuse to not work out our salvation. We have endless opportunities to serve our neighbors, give to the needy, support missions. We have never had so much knowledge at our fingertips to encourage and challenge us in our relationship with God.

From Talk To Action

One of the overarching themes of the last year or two of my life has been discovering the true meaning of the Gospel. I'm sure that I will continue to learn about it for the rest of my life, as I'll never fully understand how it works and why God designed life this way.

Lately I've come to a much deeper understanding of the Gospel; it's more than a one-time prayer that I know I should pray. The Gospel affects our lives in eternity, but is also life-changing while we are on this earth.

Under this overarching theme lies another issue that has consumed much of my thinking: good deeds.



Just by reading the accounts of Jesus interacting with people in the Gospels, one can see that He wasn't only about truth, and He wasn't only about good deeds. He had a unique balance. The Great Commission and The Great Commandment were both important to Him, and they should both be important to us.

Why do we shy away from helping others when we see they are in need? Why do we justify our lack of action? Why do we make the excuse that they may use this money I'm giving them for booze!

"When a Christian sees someone who is physically hungry, a Christian feeds the hungry person. Why? Because hungry people can’t understand the plan of salvation? No. Simply because that person is hungry. That’s what Christians do. And if a person is spiritually hungry, a Christian becomes “one beggar telling another beggar where he or she found bread.” Why? Because that’s what Christians do" (Steve Brown).

Books like Crazy Love and The Irresistible Revolution have also fed my interest in this area, along with many articles from Relevant Magazine and Worldwide Challenge.

Nancy Ortberg was recently quoted about this in an online Relevant article: "Many churches I come in contact with have all kinds of programs for banquets, and teas, and Bible studies, which in and of themselves are not bad, but there is not an equal amount of serving the poor, and getting our hands dirty, and coming alongside people in need. The Church has to go to them. Many people started clamoring around Jesus initially because He was healing people, and then when they got close enough, they began to hear His message. And His message was, “The Kingdom of God is available right now.”

Shane Claiborne is also quoted in the same article: "People are hungry, I think, for a Gospel that embodies a social, political alternative to the patterns of our world. To me, that is the very essence of what spread within the early Church— they were caring for the poor, preaching another Kingdom and another emperor than Caesar’s. And it was absolutely magnetic because the faith people had placed in Rome was at an all-time low, so when they were saying, “We’ve got another Kingdom,” people were like, “Yes, we’re ready, because the world as we’ve experienced it is not working.” The beautiful thing is, people are saying the same thing now."

How much more credible are our lives when people see our loving actions, then hear about the love that motivates us?

Now that I know this, what do I do about it?

What action steps can I take this week, this month, this year, to move toward a better balance?

Learning.

Before Church Sunday morning I was talking with a good friend about school and learning. I mentioned that I believe I hit my intellectual peak in about 5th or 6th grade. I was a fairly smart kid in my elementary years, but by the time I graduated from high school my GPA definitely ranked me lower in my class.

I've known others who have felt the same way, so I figured this occurrence wasn't very unique.
My friend commented that this fact makes sense. She's currently pursuing a PhD in educational psychology, so I figured she'd have a good reason: I was probably relying on my ability instead of effort to get me through elementary school. This explains a slightly tough transition to college, where I had to rely much, much more on my effort than my ability.

This reminds of addiction to caffeine. Or any drug, I guess. You need more of it as time goes on to be as effective as before. To be successful in college, I needed to increase my effort as compared to my effort in high school. When I first started reading the Bible every day, I could read almost any passage and learn something I didn't know. I'll definitely never know everything in the Bible, but I have to dig a little deeper the more I learn.

Ebenezer.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I come.
And I hope by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.


What the heck is an Ebenezer?


"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us." So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again." { 1 Samuel 7:12-13


The word Ebenezer is apparently two Hebrew words pronounced together: Even Haazer. The Hebrew word for "help" is Ezer and the word for "stone" is Even. Removing the 'ha' creates "Ebenezer," literally meaning a "Stone of Help."

Let it be.

Every week I get an e-mail from Mark, who is a pastor and joined staff with me last January, with an encouraging verse and commentary. Last week's e-mail was labeled 'saving the best.' John 2 tells us of Jesus' first miracle- the wedding at Cana, which everyone knows, and is a pretty great one. It totally shows his character.

He turned water into wine. I mean, come on. He's trying to tell us something. The waiter says:

"Everyone brings out the choice wine first
and then the cheaper wine after the guests
have had too much to drink; but you have
saved the best till now." (John 2:10 NIV)

Jesus supplies wine that is better than the guests expected. And, he gives a LOT of it, not just enough to get by. He doesn't want me to scrape by in life.

So, great. What do we do about it?

I guess in this instance, we do nothing. It's so easy to make things happen for ourselves. In Chad's bible study this week, we talked about Abraham and Sara. God tells Abe he will bless the world through him- he tells him to count the stars, and so shall his descendants be. They took things into their own hands when the Mrs. suggests Abe sleep with Hagar. Not cool. But they can't wait.

God does not disappoint. Well, sometimes we think he does because we don't get what we want...but that topic is for another day.