Aug 12, 2011

Dear Lord,  I can’t help but to think how we, Your people, fall short so very often in our walk for You.  On this day Lord, keep Thomas strong in the midst of adversarial thinking.  That no matter what has happened, that You love him completely and that You have Your best in mind for His life.  Remind Him of the love You have for Him.  Keep is mind sharp and focused that He may honor You on this day.

In Jesus Christ name I pray, Amen.

Aug 10, 2011

My Father in Heaven, I ask this day that is Thomas’ weakness You will be strong.  That he will recognize that no matter what efforts he makes for himself, it is You who bless’ because of Your great grace and love that You have for him.   Help him to be a witness for You as he carries out his duties on this given day.  Wrap Your loving arms of protection around him that he may feel safe and secure.

In Christ name I pray, Amen.

The Older I Get

Okay, I got a little older this week.  The older I get the smaller I get and the bigger God gets. Goals change. Ambitions change. My list of “cannots” increases. My list of “wants” decreases. Pleasures decrease. Things I planned to do change. Things I want to do change. Pace changes. Rate of accomplishment changes.  Frankly, at times I hardly recognize me. 

I sincerely doubt God’s goals or ambitions concerning us change—ever! While He is incredibly patient with us, what He wants in us and for us is changeless. I sincerely doubt His “to do” list changes. Things that give Him joy are changeless. His plans do not change. His pace and rate of accomplishment do not change because His patience, mercy, and forgiveness are beyond human comprehension. God’s pace is unhurried but certain. God is the same as He was when we were born, or even when humanity began—He is very recognizable. 

The older I get the more unimportant I realize I am. At the same time, the older I get the more important I realize God is. I hope in some meaningful way I have been and am useful to God as He achieves His purposes. Yet, I realize that with or without me, God’s purposes will be done. I also realize most of my moments of urgent crises regarding the church are more a product of my fears than God’s realities. After all, God has worked with humans a long time. He knows what to expect from us. As much as we wish it were otherwise, I sincerely doubt that we surprise Him—ever! 

To me it is incredible that we humans hold any significance to God. Were it not for us, God would have a lot less heartache and anxiety. Yet, for some unfathomable reason, we are important to Him. How important? Important enough for God to love us when we do not deserve His love or patience. 

One of Paul’s favorite illustrations to describe our usefulness to God is the illustration of the body. Among the many points Paul made in his illustration, two stand out to me. First, we serve the role in the body God gave us. The primary thing my large intestine, my pancreas, and my eyeball have in common is, thankfully, they are parts of my body—though you would never know it by looking at each individually. Second, while we are not able to perform the same functions, we each are useful to God’s purposes—if we perform the function He gave us. 

Incredibly, to God there are no unimportant people when we as individuals have the courage to be a part of His people. Unlike humans, the issue with God is NEVER on what we cannot do. It is always on doing what we can do by being what we can be. 

Thus the older I get, the more at peace I am with being unimportant—as long as God grows in importance to me. 

In His Grip,
 -Jon

Make Mine the Automatic Version

I say this to your shame, Is it so that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren ... ? 1 Corinthians 6:5

“Decide????? You mean there are decisions involved in being a Christian? I have to decide? I thought the only decision involved was to say you believed!”

Me, I am an automatic man! I love machines that take the work out of tasks. I do not enjoy the experience but the results! Automatic cameras, automatic transmissions—automatics are my machines! I love good decisions made without my having to choose!

It is so simple to become a Christian that we regard it to be a convenient machine. We express a desire to be baptized. We are asked if we believe that Jesus is the son of God. We are baptized for the remission of sins. We make a congregation our church home. We attend that congregation several times a month. We may or may not get involved in the congregation’s activities. We say (when asked) that we attend “X” congregation.

It is done! We are members! We are Christians! In fact, we are insulted if anyone questions that we are Christians. After all, we attend most of the time. We are on the congregation’s membership list. Our contact information is on the database. Our picture is in the directory. Why would anyone question our Christianity?

Please, do not mistake the point! We are a congregation of men and women who were baptized for the remission of sins because of faith in Jesus as God’s son. We seek to be a community of believers who wish to be known to and contacted by our spiritual family.

However, there is more to being a Christian than baptism, declaring membership, attendance, and involvement in church activities. It is a spiritual growth commitment. Increasingly, it involves who we are, how we behave, what kind of single person we are, what kind of spouse we are, what kind of parent we are, how we interact with people, what kind of employee/employer we are, what kind of neighbor we are, etc.

There is no automatic version of Christianity. Yes, faith involves personal decision making! The more spiritually mature we become, the more decisions we make!

In His Grip,

Bro. Jon

His Kingdom Comes First

Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
 
Jesus made this statement in a sermon (Matthew 5-7). To most Christians, it is a very familiar statement. It is so familiar that rarely does it provoke basic thought. We have heard discussed many times what the kingdom is and when it came. We frequently have heard discussed how a man or woman goes about the process of putting the kingdom first. Truthfully, most of us could lead a discussion on those matters.

Yet, rarely do we note what a strange statement this was. Certainly, Israel's religious leaders discussed for years what the kingdom was and when it would come. To declare that "kingdom understandings" were important to first century Israel is an under-statement. They, like us, had much to teach about the kingdom because their "kingdom understandings" were "excellent." Their understandings were deep and meaningful! They knew all about the kingdom!

Jesus made this strange statement to disciples as crowds listened. He said godliness was not about religious deeds that attracted attention or praise to self (Matthew 6:1-24). He said kingdom concerns were not centered in clothing, food, or the basic necessities for sustaining physical life (Matthew 6:25-31).

Dedication to God's kingdom was not contained in things godless people declared to be priorities (Matthew 6:32). Nor was it found in anxieties produced by life's troubles (Matthew 6:34).

We fail to realize how strange this statement was until we consider to whom it was given. Jesus declared this in a religious nation to people in its religious society. They were so religious that their "civil laws" were based on religious perspectives! They had priests who maintained the temple, elders who made religious decisions, scribes who preserved scripture, lawyers who were experts in scripture, and religious leaders who controlled society. Surely if anyone understood God's rule, they did! Yet, they did not.

How do we seek God's kingdom and righteousness above all things, as life's first priority? Through having right rules and regulations? Through having right forms and methods? Through worrying about things godless people worry about? Through making material needs our top priority in life? No. Then how do we do that?

Jesus said we allow God to rule our lives. We place God in control of who we are and what we do. We let God teach us what righteousness is. Then ... we allow God to provide us the strength to be a godly person who, in compassion, is fair to everyone.

Because we are Christians, who we are as persons is essential to life. That is more essential than what we eat, wear, or drink. Why? God rules us. We are His people. We exist to represent Him well. Who and what we are leads people to God, not way from Him.

In His Grip,
Bro. Jon

Congregational Vulnerability

Love trusts and nurtures. Fear is suspicious and defends. When love is wounded in a marriage, fear emerges. Trust is displaced by suspicion. Mutual nurturing is displaced by defensiveness.

Can the relationship heal? Certainly! Love can assume again its role of promoting trust and nurturing if fear and its suspicions die. If the couple is afraid to love, they will not risk being vulnerable. Recovery is questionable. If the couple has the courage to restore healthy love, recovery will occur.

Should the couple forget the experience? Should they wipe from memory the events and attitudes that wounded love and created fear? No. If memory is erased, the experience does not teach them. If the experience taught no constructive lessons, the mistakes are likely to be repeated.

Should those memories dominate their awareness? No. If love for each other does not dominate thoughts and emotions, the relationship will not heal or mature.

The same is true in a congregation. Love trusts and nurtures. Fear is suspicious and defends. When love is wounded, fear emerges. Trust is displaced with suspicion, and nurturing is displaced with defensiveness. Relationships heal if fear and suspicions are allowed to die. While constructive lessons must be learned from bad experiences, heartache and disappointment must not dominate thoughts and feelings. The congregation seeks more than healing. It seeks the success only growth and maturity produce.

Help fear and suspicion die. Help restore love's trust and nurturing. Do not fear congregational vulnerability--God is in control. Nurture living relationships that reflect the life and hope found in being God's family and Christ's body.

Pray for others by name. Let them know that they are in your prayers. Help them form relationships. Be as warm, excited, and helpful as is our Father. In other words, continue to encourage one another.

In His Grip,
Jon Lanier

Moving Forward

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. 

They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."

How do you react to Paul being "disqualified"? Unthinkable? Not to Paul! Paul understood the distinction between "knowing" and "being." Unfortunately, it is not difficult to encounter Christians who do not understand that distinction.

"Knowing" enables us to do many things. We can judge--declare others lacking, inferior, deficient, pathetic, ungodly, unrighteous, or outcasts. We can teach--"here is how you need to change!" We can criticize--"you need to know, to realize, to focus, to redirect!" If we are not extremely careful, we allow what we "know" to serve as the foundation of an "authoritarian complex." That complex frequently declares decisions God did not declare or establishes criteria that God did not present.

Paul frequently challenged Christians to evaluate their lives and their motives. However, Paul also did two other things. (1) He made it quite clear that he genuinely loved those he challenged. (2) He was very open about his own weaknesses and struggles. Paul "knew" in order that he might "be."  He did not say, "You need to run with God's goal clearly in mind." He said, "I need to run with God's goal clearly in mind." He did not say, "You need to stop fighting the air and calling it boxing." He said, "I must not flail at the air and call it boxing." He did not say, "You must discipline your body!" He said, "I must discipline my body."

Why that emphasis? He understood he could present a needed message to others and experience no personal benefit. Paul "knew" in order to "be." Regardless of what he knew, if he did not use "what he knew" to "be," his knowledge did not profit him.

Never forget you do not "know" to teach, but to "be." The foundation of what we teach must arise from what we are instead of what we know. When we belong to God, we never "arrive." Instead, we always mature and grow toward God's nature and character.

Philippians 3:12 "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

Why did Jesus Christ "lay hold on you"? Are you pressing on? Are you moving forward?

In His Grip,

Jon Lanier