Today a speech will be given to students in schools throughout this nation that I hope is given by every president annually. Reagan and Bush #1 gave similar speeches to encourage kids to make good choices in life and say no to drugs, and today Obama gives a speech encouraging teens to stay in school, to stand up against the bullies, and to understand that the decisions you make now will determine the future of our nation and our world.
There are certain speeches that just transcend party lines. These speeches are not promoting "liberal" or "conservative" agendas. Instead, they serve to pave paths to take each day seriously because the future depends on it.
Sometimes it seems that an allegiance to a particular party trumps any form of good that might come from the other side. Such an allegiance gets us away from the respect, honor, and commitment to prayer that Christ-followers are called to in the NT.
I'm saddened by parents who feel the necessity to take their kids out of school for such an occasion, or to take the time and energy to write school administrators to boycott such events. Such decisions are usually based on fear, and fear is rarely a good motivator. However, we do live in a free country and parents have the right to such action.
I'm constantly reminded of the words penned from the hands of two apostles: Paul and Peter. And keep in mind that Peter and Paul wrote during the times of some of the most brutal and godless emperors who ever lived.
Romans 13:1-7, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment...for the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them--taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to who revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due."
1 Timothy 2:1-2, "First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions..."
1 Peter 2:13-17, "For the Lord's sake accept/submit to the authority of every human institution whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right...honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor."
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
When "No" is the new "Yes"
In his book Pilgrim Heart, Darryl Tippens offers some reasons to say no:
- When yes is really about building one’s material wealth or enhancing one’s ego, rather than advancing a good or essential cause; in other words when yes is about me
- When yes hurts those you love
- When one’s yes is prompted by an automatic, uncritical response, rather than the product of self-examination, prayer, and discernment
- When one finds oneself growing weaker and weaker, spiritually speaking, the more one does
- When one finds oneself fulfilling a lower good, while sacrificing a higher one
- And when one finds, at the end of the day, one is becoming someone he or she doesn’t even like.
How do you practice saying "no" in your own life?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Day of Jubilee Follow-Up
Back in July I wrote about one of the most powerful worship experiences I've ever witnessed. You can read about it here.
This morning an anonymous letter was sitting in my box. Here's what it said:
Recently your congregation celebrated a "Day of Jubilee" in which your leadership invited those members in need to take what they needed. At that time, I did not want to take/receive what I needed to make it through the week because I knew there were people who needed it much more than I did.
God works in mysterious ways, and I humbly received $125 for my family, which was greatly needed, and put to use for bills and supply to finish the week. We now humbly return what was blessed unto us and increase it ten times told, in hopes it can bless someone else.
The envelope was stuffed with cash. Let those who have ears to hear, let them hear.
This morning an anonymous letter was sitting in my box. Here's what it said:
Recently your congregation celebrated a "Day of Jubilee" in which your leadership invited those members in need to take what they needed. At that time, I did not want to take/receive what I needed to make it through the week because I knew there were people who needed it much more than I did.
God works in mysterious ways, and I humbly received $125 for my family, which was greatly needed, and put to use for bills and supply to finish the week. We now humbly return what was blessed unto us and increase it ten times told, in hopes it can bless someone else.
The envelope was stuffed with cash. Let those who have ears to hear, let them hear.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Feast
You need this book on your bookshelf.
Josh Graves has graciously allowed me to join him on this two-year journey of publishing his first book. I've read through a number of drafts to the point I could quote most of this book in my sleep. Yet, every time I read it, I want to preach it. What I love about The Feast is that Josh doesn't write from a secluded office with a laptop on a desk covered with commentaries and scholarly work. He writes from lived-experiences. This book was birthed from walking the streets of Detroit.
The Feast is now available on Family Christian Bookstore's website. Click here to purchase.
Click here for a brief intro to the book.
Another reason (small reason) to buy this book is that Josh trusted me to write the Study Guide. The following is the first paragraph of the Study Guide:
The Feast attempts to create a hunger for a holistic spirituality that is rooted in the Jesus-Story. This is a move away from institutionalism and the temptation to compartmentalize the faith journey. Instead, it offers permission and a desperate invitation to yield to God as he cultivates imaginations that will rethink what it means to walk alongside neighbors and strangers as we embrace the character and nature of Jesus.
Josh Graves has graciously allowed me to join him on this two-year journey of publishing his first book. I've read through a number of drafts to the point I could quote most of this book in my sleep. Yet, every time I read it, I want to preach it. What I love about The Feast is that Josh doesn't write from a secluded office with a laptop on a desk covered with commentaries and scholarly work. He writes from lived-experiences. This book was birthed from walking the streets of Detroit.
The Feast is now available on Family Christian Bookstore's website. Click here to purchase.
Click here for a brief intro to the book.
Another reason (small reason) to buy this book is that Josh trusted me to write the Study Guide. The following is the first paragraph of the Study Guide:
The Feast attempts to create a hunger for a holistic spirituality that is rooted in the Jesus-Story. This is a move away from institutionalism and the temptation to compartmentalize the faith journey. Instead, it offers permission and a desperate invitation to yield to God as he cultivates imaginations that will rethink what it means to walk alongside neighbors and strangers as we embrace the character and nature of Jesus.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Prophetic Name-Calling
I'm reading Frank Viola's From Eternity to Here. He reminds me of a profound truth in Scripture--the Bible begins and ends with a wedding.
In Genesis 1-2, the wedding is between a man and a woman. Revelation 21-22 ends with a new wedding. A bride (the church) comes down from heaven adorned for her husband.
In Genesis, the woman is created out of the side of a man. In the NT, the bride (the church) is created out of the side of Christ.
Forgive me for footnoting Genesis 3 through Revelation 20, but the mission of God throughout Scripture is about restoring a marriage. It is a love-story full of drama, betrayal, intimacy, forgiveness, separation, and sacrifice.
The prophets are aware of this God-intended-harmony. While priests did their work on the sacred places of temples and synagogues, the prophets worked in the margins. They proclaimed in the market places and street corners.
I read through Jeremiah on a vacation a few months ago. Needless to say, it was depressing. But I was struck by his uncanny ability to call a spade a spade. He was fully aware of the relationship that God desired with his people, yet he saw the way they lived.
Catch this language in Jeremiah 3:
If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her? Would not such a land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me?
You have polluted the land with your whoring and wickedness.
You have the forehead of a whore.
She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
This kind of language will get you sent to the Principal's office. I laugh every time I read, "forehead of a whore." You could be sued for such a vocabulary. It is not the lingo used to gain friends. Yet, it is intentional and purposeful.
Here's what Jeremiah is saying:
"You people are getting in bed with everything in this world but God."
"You are becoming intimate with everything but God, who is your maker and lover."
"You are sleeping with trees and stones and worthless idols while neglecting your true love."
I think Paul is borrowing from Jeremiah when he writes this in Colossians, "Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed." In other words, "Quit playing the whore with everything around you."
I begin this day with this prayer, "I am prone to live a life of whoredom. I chase after earthly things for daily pleasure and future security. But something inside of me tells me that this is all a chasing after the wind. I was made for something greater than this. God, just as you delivered the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, deliver me from ungodly intimate encounters with this world. Help me to engage the world around me as one who is living in response to my connection with you. Let the same power that lifted Jesus out of the grave be in me today, and let your love flow through my veins so that I will be full of you."
In Genesis 1-2, the wedding is between a man and a woman. Revelation 21-22 ends with a new wedding. A bride (the church) comes down from heaven adorned for her husband.
In Genesis, the woman is created out of the side of a man. In the NT, the bride (the church) is created out of the side of Christ.
Forgive me for footnoting Genesis 3 through Revelation 20, but the mission of God throughout Scripture is about restoring a marriage. It is a love-story full of drama, betrayal, intimacy, forgiveness, separation, and sacrifice.
The prophets are aware of this God-intended-harmony. While priests did their work on the sacred places of temples and synagogues, the prophets worked in the margins. They proclaimed in the market places and street corners.
I read through Jeremiah on a vacation a few months ago. Needless to say, it was depressing. But I was struck by his uncanny ability to call a spade a spade. He was fully aware of the relationship that God desired with his people, yet he saw the way they lived.
Catch this language in Jeremiah 3:
If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her? Would not such a land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me?
You have polluted the land with your whoring and wickedness.
You have the forehead of a whore.
She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
This kind of language will get you sent to the Principal's office. I laugh every time I read, "forehead of a whore." You could be sued for such a vocabulary. It is not the lingo used to gain friends. Yet, it is intentional and purposeful.
Here's what Jeremiah is saying:
"You people are getting in bed with everything in this world but God."
"You are becoming intimate with everything but God, who is your maker and lover."
"You are sleeping with trees and stones and worthless idols while neglecting your true love."
I think Paul is borrowing from Jeremiah when he writes this in Colossians, "Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed." In other words, "Quit playing the whore with everything around you."
I begin this day with this prayer, "I am prone to live a life of whoredom. I chase after earthly things for daily pleasure and future security. But something inside of me tells me that this is all a chasing after the wind. I was made for something greater than this. God, just as you delivered the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, deliver me from ungodly intimate encounters with this world. Help me to engage the world around me as one who is living in response to my connection with you. Let the same power that lifted Jesus out of the grave be in me today, and let your love flow through my veins so that I will be full of you."
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Pictures
Noah arrived on dry land yesterday at 11:39am. Everything went so well that we were home this afternoon. God has showered us with blessings. All four of Noah's grandparents have already spoiled him beyond measure. We've been prayed over by nearly every person who came to visit us. I've received close to 200 text messages congratulating us and thanking God for a healthy delivery.
Below are a few pics.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Noah James Ross
Noah James entered into the world at 11:39 a.m. The doctor thinks he'll running a 4.4 40 yard dash by the age of 12. He's 21.5 inches and weighs 7lbs 15oz. Mom and Noah are doing great. We'll have pictures soon.
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