Today my best friend's post on his blog "Dale Tedder 2.0" is a must read for all pastors and parishioners. Pastors should heed its call. Parishioners should help to ensure that their pastors are able to live out the call to be a pastor and not a professional! CLICK HERE.
The Seven Deadly Siphons
Today my best friend's post on his blog "Dale Tedder 2.0" is a must read for all pastors and parishioners. Pastors should heed its call. Parishioners should help to ensure that their pastors are able to live out the call to be a pastor and not a professional! CLICK HERE.
To Boldly Go Where NO Man Has Gone Before!
This morning as I was reading Genesis 12 I was captivated by what God asked of Abram. God said to leave everything and everyone and go! Where was Abram to go? God said you don't need to know that I will show you! As I read those words I was struck by the fact that I have not only planned out today, but I have plans months in advance. I assume that I know what I am doing today, this week and this month. As I thought about this I asked myself - where is there room in your calendar to follow the voice of God? Do you expect God to direct you today? Are you looking for divine appointments today?
It was in the unknown and the unplanned that God was going to bless Abram and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. God's blessing is often found in the unexpected and unplanned appointments - the divine appointments!
Now for all you planners out there I am not saying that we should not have order and organization in our lives. However, I am asking are you seeking the Lord in the midst of your plans. I am saying that today we need to expect the Lord to do something NOT on our planner. I am asking that we all open our eyes to see what God is doing around us and then to jump in!
You see Abram set out to boldly go where God led him. He set out on the adventure of faith and found blessing beyond what he could imagine.
Today that same God wants you to join the adventure!
Peace,
Keith+
It was in the unknown and the unplanned that God was going to bless Abram and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. God's blessing is often found in the unexpected and unplanned appointments - the divine appointments!
Now for all you planners out there I am not saying that we should not have order and organization in our lives. However, I am asking are you seeking the Lord in the midst of your plans. I am saying that today we need to expect the Lord to do something NOT on our planner. I am asking that we all open our eyes to see what God is doing around us and then to jump in!
You see Abram set out to boldly go where God led him. He set out on the adventure of faith and found blessing beyond what he could imagine.
Today that same God wants you to join the adventure!
Peace,
Keith+
The Ten Commandments
Today marks the 21st reading in the E100 challenge and we read Exodus 19:1-20:21. As I read these verses I was struck by several things.
First, that the Lord did not merely want to deliver Israel from Egypt, but also from their sin. In Egypt they were slaves to severe task masters who forced Israel to carry heavy burdens. However, sin was the cruelest of all task masters and the burden it brought was death. Thus, the Lord gave the Law to reveal sin and to call Israel to holiness.
Second, I noted that the Ten Commandments begin with how we are to relate to a Holy God. Unlike the idols of Egypt our God will not be one thing we worship, but He requires that we worship HIM ALONE. We are not to make idols or speak His name without reverence. In other words He requires that we recognize Him as the LORD.
Third, We are called to set aside the Sabbath - a holy day of rest - for the purpose of worship. This day reminds us that we are not God and that He is God. It is in the ceasing that we remember that we are dependant creatures. He has called on us to labor in this world. However, He alone provides for our needs. All that we have is from Him and should be used for His glory - even our rest! In this rest we are not to do whatever we want to do, but rather to rest and refocus on Him and His will. (Isaiah 58:13-14)
Fourth, the remainder of the commandments focus on how we are to relate with each other. The commandments deal with our heart attitudes which work their way out into our actions. We see in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus reaffirms that the commandments give us an outward pattern that must be birthed in a heart of surrender and faith.
I pray that we all will remember that God's call on our life is one of freedom. He wants to set us free to love Him and love one another for His glory.
Peace,
Keith+
First, that the Lord did not merely want to deliver Israel from Egypt, but also from their sin. In Egypt they were slaves to severe task masters who forced Israel to carry heavy burdens. However, sin was the cruelest of all task masters and the burden it brought was death. Thus, the Lord gave the Law to reveal sin and to call Israel to holiness.
Second, I noted that the Ten Commandments begin with how we are to relate to a Holy God. Unlike the idols of Egypt our God will not be one thing we worship, but He requires that we worship HIM ALONE. We are not to make idols or speak His name without reverence. In other words He requires that we recognize Him as the LORD.
Third, We are called to set aside the Sabbath - a holy day of rest - for the purpose of worship. This day reminds us that we are not God and that He is God. It is in the ceasing that we remember that we are dependant creatures. He has called on us to labor in this world. However, He alone provides for our needs. All that we have is from Him and should be used for His glory - even our rest! In this rest we are not to do whatever we want to do, but rather to rest and refocus on Him and His will. (Isaiah 58:13-14)
Fourth, the remainder of the commandments focus on how we are to relate with each other. The commandments deal with our heart attitudes which work their way out into our actions. We see in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus reaffirms that the commandments give us an outward pattern that must be birthed in a heart of surrender and faith.
I pray that we all will remember that God's call on our life is one of freedom. He wants to set us free to love Him and love one another for His glory.
Peace,
Keith+
Severe Mercy!
Brooke Smith was a beautiful girl with a strong will and an even stronger faith! Friday morning her battle with cancer ended as the Lord delivered her from a body racked with the effects cancer - an evidence of the fall. It was what Sheldon Vanauken called a severe mercy!From the moment I entered the ER Friday until today I have been struck by the reality of the Fall. The effects of sin permeate the world around us and invade our bodies with pain, suffering and sickness. My overwhelming thought was this should not be happening! How can someone so young with so much promise be taken from us? My only hope is and has been that the Lord - the Redeemer is greater than the Fall. HE IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE! HE IS OUR HOPE!
As the Lord would have it our church is reading through E100 and this week the sermon was on Joseph. Quigg+ served us well as he brought to our attention the words of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 45 "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life."
What the brothers meant for harm was actually God's plan for blessing! I don't know God's plan for the future. However, I know that He is sovereign and His plans are good! Today hurts! Today I choose to trust that God will work together, this severe mercy and all things for good for those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28-30)
These realities help me to love and serve the people of our parish who today will certainly mourn. However, we will not mourn as those without hope! We will choose to trust the Lord, to praise Him and to hope in what He will do as He works out His will and plan among us. "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21)
Peace,
Keith+
One Calling
I want to continue thinking about the mandate of Ephesians 4 the call to unity - to be ONE! What is the basis of that unity? How are we call together and what binds us together for the future? I want to start where St. Paul starts - we have a common calling (Eph.4:1).
What is our calling? We are called into SONSHIP! Ephesians 1:5 says "he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will..." We have not been called merely to believe a set of fact and follow a religious formula, but rather we have been called into a family relationship with a living God!
This calling presents some significant difficulties as our culture has lost the Biblical understanding of family. The Harvard researcher Carle C. Zimmerman, in his work Family and Civilization, identified three models for understanding the family arrangement. First, the "trustee family" which considers itself immortal, existing in perpetuity, and never being extinguished. As a result, the living members are not the family, but merely the trustees of its blood, rights, property, name and position for their lifetime. Second, the "domestic family" which is a household based on marital bond, husband, wife and their children. In such an arrangement, family members emphasize individual rights along with family duties. Third, the "atomistic family" where individual rights are exalted above family bonds, and the family itself exists for the sake of the individual's pleasure.
Zimmerman goes on to show the implications of each of these family models in the culture.
"There are many remarkable differences in these historical stages. In trustee-family societies the family is seen as a mystical reality; in domestic-family societies, it is a moral tradition; when the atomistic family dominates, the home is seen as a sort of cocoon, something you are born into in order to escape. In trustee-societies, marriage is a sacred covenant, in domestic, it is a contract; in the atomistic household, it is a convenient means of companionship. Children in a trustee family are considered a blessing from God; in domestic, they are indispensable economic agents; in the atomistic family, however, they become an economic liability, an expense and an obstacle to personal fulfillment. In the trustee family, the father is the patriarch, a priest-king who must serve his ancestors as well as his offspring; in the domestic family the father is an authoritarian chief executive of society's fundamental economic unity; in the atomistic family, he is a pathetic figure who must be left behind in order for an individual to grow. And each type of family views sexual immorality differently. For the trustee family, it is a criminal act; for the domestic, it is an individual sin; for the atomistic family, it is a private matter, a choice, an alternative lifestyle." (Love Comes First, Scott Hahn, pp.21-23)
As you can see these family models shape and color one's understand of the father, what it means to be a son, as well as how one lives out their familial identity. I believe that the Church itself as the family of God has been affected by the cultural family model. It no longer sees itself as a covenant (trustee) family which holds in trust the faith once for all delivered to the saints and charged with passing that faith on to the next generation. The Church now is a collection of individuals who view "membership" as optional and judge value by personal gain and preference.
If we are going to find unity we must regain the Biblical understanding of the FAMILY of God! We must embrace our call to SONSHIP. We must hold in trust the faith passed down through the communion of saints. We must be zealous to pass it on intact to the next generation!
May we walk worthy of this calling to SONSHIP.
Peace,
Keith+
One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call- on Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6, ESV
The word that sounds like a hammer on an anvil throughout this pericope is the word ONE. As I was preparing to preach Ephesians 4 this week I was struck by the fact that this is perhaps one of the last words I would use to describe the Church today.
The reality is that today looks like the Church in Corinth, each following after Paul, Apollos or Peter - "is Christ divided?" (1 Corinthians 1:10-17). The word denomination comes from the Latin word meaning name - denominare. The Church seems to have repeated this pattern of Corinth - Wesley, Luther, Calvin, England...Charismatic, Calvinist, High Church and Low Church.
I am not saying that we should have unity at any cost. There are times that demand we take a stand and defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The Church has been entrusted with excommunication for the very purpose of protecting the Truth! We must preserve the faith, but we must also preserve the unity of the Church. We should not be defined by that which divides us, but rather around that which unites us - CHRIST.
I am left with this question in my heart this week - How can I labor, love and serve to help maintain the unity of the Body in the bond of peace and also hold fast to the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
I hope to think through this question together by unpacking the phrase "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" from the Nicene Creed in the days ahead.
I welcome your thoughts too!
Peace be with you,
Keith+
The Great Light!
"...the people dwelling in darkness have see a great light, for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:15-17, ESVThis past Sunday Quigg+ preached from this text calling our church to repentance. (click to listen). I have been thinking about the turning point in my life, as well as those whom I love who are still headed in the wrong direction all week.
Life without Christ is DARK! We have all be in the dark at some point in our lives both physically and spiritually. The darkness is a frightening place. I will never forget camping out on the beach of an uninhabited island in Southeast Asia. I was there with a team of college students, as we spent two weeks in Southeast Asia as Eco-tourists for Jesus! That night on the beach was dark - there were no lights except for the fire we built and the stars in the sky. We also encounter real spiritual darkness week too . I came to understand darkness in a whole new way during that week. The sunrise was indeed the dawning of a great light and our prayer was that as it pushed back the darkness in the physical world it would also bring a spiritual light!
The dawning of the great light in this passage leads to a great imperative - REPENT for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The light enables us to see where we need to go. Repent, we need to turn around or reorient the course of our lives.
However, my thoughts this week have moved me from the imperative REPENT to the indicatives that result. When we change our direction it leads us to a different life not only in eternity, but TODAY!
How does this imperative change the indicatives of today?
When we see the great light of grace we see people through new eyes - the eyes of love and mercy, for we know the hurt of sin and the joy of forgiveness. We view our possessions not as a means to our pleasure alone, but as resources for loving and serving others. We view our time differently too. We invest time in relationship with God and with others! We speak a different language, one seasoned with grace and peace. Our passions are set in different directions. As the great light enables us to see we keep on walking in a different direction.
The imperative REPENT must lead us to the indicatives of NEW LIFE as we walk out faith in the here and now of life.
Peace,
Keith+
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