Monday, July 20, 2009
I'm Moving!
It's official, my blog has now moved over to our church blog. James Tippit (our senior pastor) and I will be blogging more frequently and switching off. You can follow this blog by going to this link: http://harriscreek.wordpress.com/
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Ready to Squall
Yesterday at Lake Day we talked about Mark 4:35-41 and the story of when Jesus calmed the storm (squall) on the Sea of Galilee. Mark points out some important details in the story such as Jesus was asleep with his head on a cushion, the disciples were afraid, and the fact that Jesus has power over nature. But, perhaps the most important detail Mark lays out is that Jesus gets upset with the disciples for waking him up. Now I’m not always Mr. Rogers when someone wakes me up, but I think this goes beyond Jesus being frustrated about not getting his beauty sleep. I believe he is upset because calming every storm that comes in this life is not what Jesus’ Gospel is about. In fact, usually it is something of the exact opposite.
I would say there have been times where I felt like Jesus was asleep when life was storming around me, but what I’ve learned on the other side of those storms is that the storm is not what matters most. What is of the utmost importance is if you have Jesus “on board” with you or not. Every life encounters storms and we will all eventually meet a tidal wave called “death” which is inescapable. And when you reach the shores of eternity after that great adventure, the question of did your life count and make a difference will ultimately turn back to those times you encountered the many storms this world can throw at you. So rather than building a bunker and attempting to avoid all storms (which is impossible, even if you do build a bunker), I believe you should make yourself “ready to squall.” I think you should prepare for the storm that is coming either sooner or later. There are five ways to prepare for the storms of life that may come your way, and these pieces of advice are adapted from advice you would get from sailors that frequently encounter literal storms like the disciples and Jesus did in Mark 4. (Note: These 5 points are adapted from Leonard Sweet, one of my favorite authors/speakers and are not my original ideas in any way, shape or form.)
1. Get out of the harbor.
2. Steer into the storm.
3. Get rid of excess cargo.
4. Lash yourself to the mast.
5. Enjoy the ride.
I would say there have been times where I felt like Jesus was asleep when life was storming around me, but what I’ve learned on the other side of those storms is that the storm is not what matters most. What is of the utmost importance is if you have Jesus “on board” with you or not. Every life encounters storms and we will all eventually meet a tidal wave called “death” which is inescapable. And when you reach the shores of eternity after that great adventure, the question of did your life count and make a difference will ultimately turn back to those times you encountered the many storms this world can throw at you. So rather than building a bunker and attempting to avoid all storms (which is impossible, even if you do build a bunker), I believe you should make yourself “ready to squall.” I think you should prepare for the storm that is coming either sooner or later. There are five ways to prepare for the storms of life that may come your way, and these pieces of advice are adapted from advice you would get from sailors that frequently encounter literal storms like the disciples and Jesus did in Mark 4. (Note: These 5 points are adapted from Leonard Sweet, one of my favorite authors/speakers and are not my original ideas in any way, shape or form.)
1. Get out of the harbor.
- Times of storms are when you get out of the harbor. The most dangerous place for a boat to be during a storm is anchored in the harbor because it will get battered against the shoreline. What this means for you is that you must go deeper with God during stormy times, not shallower. This is counterintuitive, but it is the safest thing to do when trouble comes. A quote that may help you is one that sits on my desk at work everyday from Oswald Chambers. He says, “If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself—begin to have spiritual discernment. Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been.”
2. Steer into the storm.
- This, too, is a little counterintuitive, but the fact is you cannot escape some storms no matter how hard you try. Trying to go around it or away from it will only prolong the inevitable, and it will put you in a position of vulnerability. The best way to describe this is paying attention to difference between how cows and buffaloes naturally respond during storms. Cows tend to leave the herd trying to escape the storm. Buffaloes react just the opposite way and put their head down and persevere the storm. In doing this with the other buffaloes, they greatly increase their chances of survival.
3. Get rid of excess cargo.
- You probably have seen this on movies and TV shows, but when storms come to boats at sea the sailors almost immediately begin throwing things overboard to lighten the boat’s load. As Americans, we carry so much baggage. I am the world’s worst; every time I travel I pack three times more than I actually need. Stormy times are not a time to worry about “fringe stuff” in your life. It is actually the time to get back to the basics and the most essential and important things in your life (God, family and friends).
4. Lash yourself to the mast.
- When storms got really bad in the old times, you would see sailors do something a little odd. They would chain or tie the captain to the mast of the ship. This, of course, is dependent upon your willingness to “go down with the ship.” As I said, there is one time in every person’s life that you encounter a wave bigger than your boat, but if the storm you are in is not that one, then your best chance of survival is lashing yourself to the mast. This means you need to tie yourself to God’s Word (Jesus) and God’s word (Scripture). Absorbing all that the Bible has to say about who God is through the person of Jesus is your best chance of survival no matter how big or small the storm is.
5. Enjoy the ride.
- This last piece of advice boils down to one thing: you know storms are coming, so you might as well enjoy the process when you can. It may be a rollercoaster of emotion, but sometimes you pay good money to go on coasters, so cheer up! Find joy in the small things and know that every storm eventually passes. Also, you may never know what ways the storm has benefitted you from your limited perspective. Just as a tornado can be destructive and terrifying, the rain that comes can be nourishing and life-giving. Take joy in the fact that you are not God, thus you do not have the full picture in mind. If you do these five things when storms come, you will see that God’s grace will carry you through anything on this side of eternity, and His kindness will carry you into the other side of eternity.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Love that Surpasses Knowledge
In Ephesians 3:18-19, Paul prays that believers a Ephesus “may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” This idea of being filled with the “fullness of God” also shows up in another letter written by Paul called Colossians, which our church has been studying this summer. He says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” (Colossians 2:9-10)
This is quite a dramatic thought if you believe that God is the Creator of the universe. The Being that spoke and it was so can dwell in His entirety within the confines of your temporal body. Before you start shaking your head, this is what happened with the incarnation of Christ and is why Paul can say that we are to live “in Christ.”
When I read such thoughts by Paul, I struggle with the reality of his words when I look at my life and the lives of those around me. My life rarely, if ever, has felt the fullness of God. But why is this the case? Is Scripture or my life wrong? I cannot tell you how often I hear people’s sin get brushed over in two words and one simple phrase: “Nobody’s perfect.” This is a correct truth, but only a half-truth if you are living “in Christ.” We tend to dwell on Scripture’s understanding of original sin and think far too little of the Bible’s words on the weight of our eternal glory as Saints. Perhaps we rush to say this phrase because we feel inadequate when we look at our lives and the life described by Jesus and Paul in Scripture.
One area in which I know a large number of Christians excel in is knowledge about God and the Bible. This is quite a different thing than knowledge of God. Before, during and after my time in seminary, I have been amazed by the incredible minds that I have run into when it comes to knowledge about God in the Bible. In fact, I can clearly recall just last week at Pre-Teen Camp thinking, “These kids know all of the right answers to the questions we are asking them.” That is why I think by and large we have missed the boat when it comes to what it is that God desires of us. Jesus reminds us of one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament, which is Hosea 6:6, that says, “For I desire mercy (hesed – which means steadfast love or loyalty), not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
As Christians, we live in a subculture that is breeding a mass of people that can say the right answers but fail to embody them outside, or even inside for that matter, the church walls. Is this possibly the reason that we rush to say, “Nobody’s perfect” when we encounter each other’s failures? Is it because so few people who show genuine love and move through life without superiority, insensitivity, or gossip? Or is it because we continue to be impressed by people’s ability to quote philosophy and those who can clearly articulate the Bible as opposed to those who humbly walk in the beauty of Christlikeness by possessing humility and love for God and others? What if we stopped settling for less when it comes to spiritual practice just like we do when it comes to mental knowledge? What would your church look like if less people could win a debate over Calvinists or Arminians, but habitually showed love and kindness to annoying people without even thinking of it as a personal sacrifice? What does someone that knows “this love that surpasses knowledge” even look like? I’m not sure I could tell you. But I know Jesus and Paul would say that it is a sad state of affairs when we know more about God than we do of Him. I believe they would also say we have completely missed the point of being in relationship with God, and I think they are heartbroken over how far we are from experiencing the “fullness of God” in our lives.
This is quite a dramatic thought if you believe that God is the Creator of the universe. The Being that spoke and it was so can dwell in His entirety within the confines of your temporal body. Before you start shaking your head, this is what happened with the incarnation of Christ and is why Paul can say that we are to live “in Christ.”
When I read such thoughts by Paul, I struggle with the reality of his words when I look at my life and the lives of those around me. My life rarely, if ever, has felt the fullness of God. But why is this the case? Is Scripture or my life wrong? I cannot tell you how often I hear people’s sin get brushed over in two words and one simple phrase: “Nobody’s perfect.” This is a correct truth, but only a half-truth if you are living “in Christ.” We tend to dwell on Scripture’s understanding of original sin and think far too little of the Bible’s words on the weight of our eternal glory as Saints. Perhaps we rush to say this phrase because we feel inadequate when we look at our lives and the life described by Jesus and Paul in Scripture.
One area in which I know a large number of Christians excel in is knowledge about God and the Bible. This is quite a different thing than knowledge of God. Before, during and after my time in seminary, I have been amazed by the incredible minds that I have run into when it comes to knowledge about God in the Bible. In fact, I can clearly recall just last week at Pre-Teen Camp thinking, “These kids know all of the right answers to the questions we are asking them.” That is why I think by and large we have missed the boat when it comes to what it is that God desires of us. Jesus reminds us of one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament, which is Hosea 6:6, that says, “For I desire mercy (hesed – which means steadfast love or loyalty), not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
As Christians, we live in a subculture that is breeding a mass of people that can say the right answers but fail to embody them outside, or even inside for that matter, the church walls. Is this possibly the reason that we rush to say, “Nobody’s perfect” when we encounter each other’s failures? Is it because so few people who show genuine love and move through life without superiority, insensitivity, or gossip? Or is it because we continue to be impressed by people’s ability to quote philosophy and those who can clearly articulate the Bible as opposed to those who humbly walk in the beauty of Christlikeness by possessing humility and love for God and others? What if we stopped settling for less when it comes to spiritual practice just like we do when it comes to mental knowledge? What would your church look like if less people could win a debate over Calvinists or Arminians, but habitually showed love and kindness to annoying people without even thinking of it as a personal sacrifice? What does someone that knows “this love that surpasses knowledge” even look like? I’m not sure I could tell you. But I know Jesus and Paul would say that it is a sad state of affairs when we know more about God than we do of Him. I believe they would also say we have completely missed the point of being in relationship with God, and I think they are heartbroken over how far we are from experiencing the “fullness of God” in our lives.
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