Sep 02

Time, Seasons & Eternity

Bible, Ecclesiastes: Meaning of Life, Sermons, Theological Musings 1 Comment »

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

Everything ultimately matters, so how we use our time, journey through the seasons of life, and spend eternity ultimately matters.  This is what the ancient philosopher and king Solomon discovered on his quest for meaning of life. There is a time for everything, and there is a God in heaven who rules over an all-encompassing plan of life and eternity. The invitation to us on this side of heaven is to allow the God of time, seasons, and eternity to shape our time, seasons, and eternity

Time. How are you spending your time? If you allowed someone to look at your calendar, would it sync with what you say is most important? If not, what do you need to change in your day, your week, and your month to live out what is most important?

Seasons. Do you recognize the season of life you’re in right now? What’s best about it? What’s the greatest challenge of this season? How can you find someone who has walked this season before to help you navigate it well?  If you’ve been through a particular season, will you be generous with your heart and time by helping someone else walk through that season?

Eternity. Ultimately God has placed the longing for eternity, the longing for more, in the human heart. And the God of eternity longs to have us be with Him for eternity. That’s the great hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ… that our sin would be done away with by His cross, the barrier removed, our weapons laid down as we come to Him. His death for ours. His life for ours. But death could not hold the God-Man in the grave. He is risen, and He invites us to everlasting, eternal life with Him… forever. And forever is a long time.

Make the most of your time and seasons on this side of eternity, and make the most of the opportunity to be with God on the other side of eternity.

Tagged with: • • • • • •
Sep 01

The Life I Planned vs. The Life I Needed

Book Reviews, Literature, Theological Musings 1 Comment »

One of my favorite summer reads was Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited.  It captures the conversation of two characters: Black and White. Black is a recovered addict and former inmate who found Jesus, and White is an atheist professor who tries to kill himself. The whole book is a conversation in Black’s kitchen after he’s rescued White from a failed suicide attempt. The conversation ultimately is a theological one that centers on the hope or hopelessness with or without God in the equation of life. And it’s written in McCarthy’s terse, sparse language that gets straight to the heart.

Here’s one of my favorite points of dialogue:

Black: If this ain’t the life you had in mind, what was?

White: I don’t know. Not this. Is your life the one you’d planned?

Black: No, it ain’t. I got what I needed instead of what I wanted and that’s just about the best kind of luck you can have.

So often we try to define and control what we want life to look like… the life we’d plan for ourselves. But for some reason, it doesn’t turn out that way. And there’s a tension in perspective here. In McCarthy’s story, White didn’t get the life he’d planned so he gave up. Yet Black, shaped by a far different perspective, sees the grace of God in giving him the life he needed. Jesus said in the Gospel of John, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). And in the abundance of life that Jesus gives, it’s always the life we truly need but not always the life we’d plan for ourselves. Such a marvelous mystery in the adventure of faith.

(P.S. Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones will star in the HBO debut of The Sunset Limited in February 2011)

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
Aug 17

Reflections on ONE

Missional Living, Northshore Baptist Church, Theological Musings No Comments »

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Summer Sunday at the Farm was one of the highlights of my three years at Northshore. Looking out from the stage and seeing us gathered in one place, worshiping the One Great God was a powerful, momentous experience. During my brief message Sunday, I talked about what ONE body of Christ looks like… a church that consistently and passionately pursues: (1) Unity, (2) Diversity, (3) Maturity, and (4) Mission. I see us moving in that direction. We will never “fully” arrive, but we will always press forward.  We press forward as ONE as we continue to grow in our shared understanding and experience of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, knowing that it brings a deep unity… a common Savior and a common Kingdom. But even in that unity, there is a diversity of gifts that contribute to form us into a mature church… a church living out a shared ministry one to another and a shared mission to the world around us, local and global. This is the New Testament vision of ONE body of Christ. This is our calling… our life together that shines the spotlight on Jesus’ great grace and glory. Northshore, thank you so much for being a part of the most amazing mission in the world. It is a humbling, extraordinary privilege to serve you as your pastor!

Tagged with: • • • • • • •
Aug 08

Spending Your Life & Time on Purpose

Bible, Ecclesiastes: Meaning of Life, Sermons, Theological Musings 2 Comments »

If reality says “life is brief” (read Ecclesiastes 1:1-11), and the gospel says that Jesus can bring meaning and purpose into every life, every aspect of our lives, and every moment, then a crucial question is “Am I spending my life and time on purpose?” If life is brief, then how we spend our time and energies is crucial to avoid “chasing the wind.”  This calls us to wise “life” time management.  In my last post “Ultimate Meaning” we addressed life values and vision.  And now we have to take those values and vision, the things that are most important and ensure that we are using our time to live those out.  If you tell me a relationship is important, but you spend little to no time with that person, I’d ask you how important that relationship really is.  If something is important, we’ll invest our time.

Here’s an clarifying exercise:

1. Record how you spend your time over a week (and even two or three if you want an accurate snapshot).

2. Put each activity into a category and then assign a percentage of how much of your week is spent on that activity.

3. Is there a “gap” between your time and your values?

4. What can you change to ensure that you’re spending your time in alignment with your values?

Americans watch more than 200 Billion hours of TV each and every year. Clearly, we collectively have more time than we think we have. We just use it on other things.  We will always find time and money to do what is important to us.

How we spend our time reflects what we value most. If we value other things more than we value Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His mission, we will not live with ultimate meaning and purpose.  We’ll wonder where life went.  Remember, we can’t ultimately fix what we originally broke – only Jesus can.  And there’s a world of people around us who need to hear that from us and see us live that out.  So our prayer becomes what is written in Psalm 90:12 – “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Tagged with: • • • • • •
Aug 01

Ultimate Meaning

Ecclesiastes: Meaning of Life, Sermons, Theological Musings No Comments »

Here’s a life-changing question: “what do you want said about you at your memorial service and then live life backwards?” I think this is the question Solomon is inadvertently asking and shaping the answer to as he pens the ancient book of Ecclesiastes.  So what do you want said about your life… that dash between your date of birth and date of death on the service program? And how can you begin to live life now so those things are said?

Here’s the Johnny Cash cover of “Hurt” I showed during Sunday’s message from Ecclesiastes 12:1-14… in a sense, how NOT to get to the end of life and say, “If I could start again, a million miles away. I would keep myself. I would find a way.”

YouTube Preview Image

Maybe the best way to NOT get to the end and have to say “If I could start again…” would be to determine what is most important in your life right now? What are the qualities and values you want to define your life? How does the gospel of Jesus Christ inform and shape those values? How are you living them out right now? When you think of a “preferred” future, what do you see? And how do you live life in light of Jesus Christ, with every moment and aspect of your life lived in joyful obedience and worship?  Seek the answers to these kinds of questions through the leading of the Holy Spirit, and you will have the things you want said about you at your memorial service.

Tagged with: • • • • • •
Jun 20

Unstable or Unshakable?

Bible, Hebrews: Supremacy of Christ, Theological Musings No Comments »

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” ~ Hebrews 12:11

Here’s the reality about spiritual formation: the forming in “formation” is painful. Forming always means change.  Let’s face it, we often don’t like change. The way that God changes us involves removing things that aren’t about Him… removing our unstable, earthly values and replace them with and forming in us His unshakable, eternal values.

Everything that He does and allows is for our greatest good, for our spiritual maturity, and for our everlasting joy. I know that’s difficult to believe, especially when we are going through difficult seasons in our lives. And that’s why we live by faith… even and especially when we don’t see and we’re not sure of what God is up to in our confusion and crises. As He removes the unstable and replaces it with the unshakable, we walk and live by faith, believing that God is who He says He is and that He does what He says He does.  But remember that in the moment, it’s not pleasant. It’s not always filled with immediate joy. That tends to and seems to come afterward.

Here’s what A.W. Tozer wrote about the pain of true spiritual formation in The Pursuit of God:

The ancient curse will not go out painlessly; the tough old miser within us will not lie down and die obedient to our command. He must be torn out of our heart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony and blood like a tooth from the jaw. He must be expelled from our soul by violence as Christ expelled the money changers from the temple. And we shall need to steel ourselves against his piteous begging, and to recognize it as springing out of self-pity, one of the most reprehensible sins of the human heart.

Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all Those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Where in your life is He removing the unstable to form the unshakable?

Tagged with: • • • • • • •
Jun 13

Rehearsing the Gospel

Bible, Hebrews: Supremacy of Christ, Sermons, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings No Comments »

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2)

As we run the race of faith even amidst the confusion of life, we run by fixing our eyes and hearts on Jesus. And we fix our eyes upon Jesus by daily rehearsing the gospel. C.J. Mahaney in his The Cross-Centered Life gives us some practical steps on how we can rehearse the gospel, and in doing so, fix our eyes on Jesus.

1. Memorize the gospel. Memorize passages specifically about the gospel. Passages like Philippians 2:5-11, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21. When we memorize these gospel passages, they help us fix our eyes on Jesus and run with faith and endurance.

2. Pray the gospel. Every day, begin with praying the gospel. Begin with gratitude by thanking God for the blessing of being reunited with Him because of the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Thank Him for being with you through all of life’s ups and downs. And then ask Him to graciously give you the strength and the desire to daily deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow after Jesus.

3. Sing the gospel. Make singing a cross-centered song a regular part of your day.  Get some worship CDs or download songs that have great cross-centered messages. Search carefully because many songs tend to make much of us and not much of Christ. Many of the songs that we sing at Northshore have been “theologically vetted” to make much of Christ and the cross… songs like “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us,” “In Christ Alone,” “Here is Love,” and “Sing to Jesus.”

4. Review how the gospel has changed you.  While we should never be held captive to our past, we should look back at our past to see our present transformation because of the grace of Jesus Christ and His glorious cross.  Write out your testimony… spell out the heart of the gospel… the blood of Christ, shed personally for your sins.  Explain how God saved you and changed you.

5. Study the Gospel. Study intently the passages that focus on the gospel. Read the entirety of the Bible with your eyes focused on the gospel… it’s been said that every passage of Scripture, OT and NT, either predicts, prepares for, reflects, or results from the work of Christ.  So study the gospel.

It is as we fix our eyes upon Jesus, rehearsing the gospel daily, that we run the race with endurance, perseverance, and faith.

How do you keep your eyes, heart, and life fixed on Jesus as you run the race of faith?

Tagged with: • • • • • •
Jun 08

No = Yes

Leadership Development, Theological Musings 4 Comments »

Life is filled with making decisions.  And in the end, decisions are a choice between “yes” and “no.”  We could add “maybe” or “wait” – which is really “no” for right now, but perhaps “yes” in the future.”  So it is down to “yes” or “no.”  And in making decisions in life – relationships, marriage, parenting, ministry, time, etc. – I have found that “no” is the best friend to “yes.”  Here’s why: when I can say “no” to one thing, it means that I have the opportunity and ability to now say “yes” to another thing.  Gordon Smith in his The Voice of Jesus says that good is often the enemy of the best.  We settle for what is good and either stop looking or are now unavailable to say “yes” to the best.  So in life, we have to learn to say “no.”  It means that we’ll disappoint people and pass up on opportunities that some might say we’re a fool to say “no” to.

  • Learn to say “no” to a margin-less schedule so you can say “yes” to things that really matter
  • Learn to say “no” to a good job offer so you can say “yes” to the best job
  • Learn to say “no” to people who constantly drain your tank so you can say “yes” to people who fill your tank
  • Learn to say “no” to earthly pleasures so you can say “yes” to heavenly treasures
  • Learn to say “no” to plans and programs that move the focus off of what you have said “yes” to in vision and strategy
  • Learn to say “no” to unhealthy relationships so that you can say “yes” in healthy relationships
  • Learn to say “no” to financial decisions that don’t allow you to say “yes” to using your resources for Kingdom work

Learning to say “no” is a discipline… and if you don’t learn how to say “no,” you’ll never be able to say “yes.” What would you add to the “no” and “yes” list?

Tagged with: • • • • • •
Jun 06

Praying the Names of God

Bible, Hebrews: Supremacy of Christ, Sermons, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 2 Comments »

If Christian faith finds it’s object as God, then we need to go to the Scriptures to see how God reveals Himself.  One of the key ways that God reveals His character and nature to us is by revealing His name to us.  And here’s what’s interesting… God knows His name.  He’s not revealing His name in the Scriptures for Himself. He’s revealing His name for us. He speaks His name for us, for our needs, to engage the needs of the people with whom He is in covenant relationship.  A practical application in living by faith is Praying the Names of God.  Here are some of the names by which God reveals Himself to us:

  • El Shaddai: “God Almighty.” Stresses God’s loving supply and comfort; offers His power as the Almighty one standing on a mountain and who corrects and chastens (Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; Ex. 6:31; Ps. 91:1, 2).
  • El Elyon: “The Most High God.” Stresses God’s strength, sovereignty, and supremacy (Gen. 14:19; Ps. 9:2; Dan. 7:18, 22, 25).
  • El Roi: “The Living One who sees me.” God sees us when we are far from home; He meets us where we are and gives us a future and a hope. (Genesis 16:1-16.)
  • Yahweh Yireh: “The Lord will provide.” Stresses God’s provision for His people (Gen. 22:14).
  • Yahweh Nissi: “The Lord is my Banner.” Stresses that God is our rallying point and our means of victory; the One who fights for His people (Ex. 17:15).
  • Yahweh Shalom: “The Lord is Peace.” Points to the Lord as the means of our peace and rest (Jud. 6:24).
  • Yahweh Sabbaoth: “The Lord of Hosts.” A military figure portraying the Lord as the Commander of the armies of heaven (1 Sam. 1:3; 17:45).
  • Yahweh Ro’hi: “The Lord my Shepherd.” Portrays the Lord as the Shepherd who cares for His people as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his pasture (Ps. 23:1).
  • Yahweh Tsidkenu: “The Lord our Righteousness.” Portrays the Lord as the means and source of our righteousness (Jer. 23:6).
  • Yahweh Shammah: “The Lord is there.” Portrays the Lord’s personal presence (Ezek. 48:35).
  • Yahweh Elohim Israel: “The Lord, the God of Israel.” Identifies Yahweh as the God of Israel in contrast to the false gods of the nations (Jud. 5:3.; Isa. 17:6).

(For a more in-depth study, see J. Hampton Keathley’s article “The Names of God”).

When we pray the names of God, we take an honest look at where we’re at. We identify the need that we’re facing.  And then we choose which name of God speaks to our need.  We go to a passage of Scripture where God reveals Himself with that particular name, and we discover how and why God revealed Himself in that way for that particular need.  And then we come to Him with our need, in prayer, in conversation with Him, and we call Him by His name.

For example, if I’m in a place where I’m struggling in the middle of the battle, and I need to know that God is the One who fights the battle with and for me, I pray His name Yahweh Nissi (the Lord is my banner). If I’m in a place where I need God to provide for my need, emotional, physical, spiritual, I come to Him in prayer with His name Yahweh Yireh (the Lord provides).  His name is not some incantation.  His name is His character, and faith is a firm, resolute confidence in the character and nature of God… that God is who He says He is and that God does what He says He does.  And His names represent that reality.  So we pray in faith, praying the names of God.

Is there a name of God that is particularly meaningful for you right now?

Tagged with: • • • • •
Jun 04

A Guide to Spending the Day with Jesus

Leadership Development, Spiritual Disciplines, Theological Musings 2 Comments »

“As often as possible Jesus withdrew to the out-of-way places for prayer”

~ Luke 5:16 (The Message)

For the past decade, I have been taking regular days away… days with Jesus, filled with solitude, study, and prayer.  Honestly, I don’t know how I would survive the demands of ministry and life without them.  Up until a year ago, I took them once a quarter.  Now, I’m taking them once a month. Over the years, I have shared this “Guide to Spending the Day with Jesus” with folks who want to know either how to do a day of solitude or who want to know what my days away look like.  So here’s what I do:

Before you go:

1) What do you need to experience with Christ during this day away?

2) Where have you been in the Word in the past couple of months and weeks, and where has God been speaking to you?

3) What are you “wrestling” with in this season of your life (specific circumstance, sin, relationship, etc.)?

During the drive to wherever you’re going:

Pray that the Lord would give you direction (Scriptures, a book to read, format for the day, etc.)… remember this is a “dynamic, fluid” day with Christ… not a rigid, hyper-formatted day.

When you get there:

1) Get the environment the way you need it… coffee, temperature, noise reduction (if there’s a clock that ticks really loud, it’s annoying, so remove the battery or move it to another room), and find the best place to really meet with the Lord… where you can stretch out in prayer, with books, etc.

2) Here’s a tentative time schedule that I use (once again, not too rigid)

7:30 Arrive and get situated

8:00 Prayer (I actually get down on my knees)… I ask the Lord to clear the noise in my head and heart, and in my life.  It actually takes me about 20-30 minutes for this noise to clear… so be patient (this fruit of prayer does not yield itself to the lazy).  I ask the Lord to meet with me… to give me a “vision” (not hyper-charismatic, but a picture or image of what He wants me to experience today… one time it was an open meadow in the mountains that represented His freedom… one time it was a picture of my father who truly represented faithfully the love of the Heavenly Father).  I also ask the Father to let me know where He wants to take me today… Scripture… prayer… reading, etc.)

8:45 The Word.  I listen to the Lord or sometimes pick a Scripture to reflectively study and meditate upon.  Typically the Lord has led me to something and I spend the next 2-3 hours studying it, reflectively meditating upon it, journaling through it, praying through it.  This is another weird thing that I do, but I actually will craft a worship service (with songs, readings, prayers, etc) around this passage and theme for the day.  I will often use them when I return.  The point is to find an expression of this time with the Lord.  Perhaps for you, write a chapter of a book, write a song, write a poem, write a movie scene… whatever you need to do to integrate this is in with your passions and calling in life.

11:30 Prayer.  I spend some more time on my knees with the Lord asking Him to “cement” this into my heart and life.

12:00 Lunch and a drive to process more

1:00 This is the fluid part of the day.  Sometimes the Lord simply wants me to pray more… especially intercessory prayer.  Sometimes I’ve prayed for the concentric rings outward from my life (Family, Ministry, Staff and Elders, specific people in the congregation).  Sometimes I read a book.  Sometimes I strategically plan ministry stuff.  Sometimes I take a nap.  Sometimes I go for a run or go on a hike. Whatever happens, I always feel that it’s very effective because I’m really connecting with Christ at this point… very actively and experientially… as if He’s right there with me (which He is through the Spirit).

I also typically leave with an “action plan” on things the Lord has impressed upon my heart that day… where to take it when I return to “reality” with family, ministry, life, etc.

I review these days away (and action plans) frequently to see how I’m doing (perhaps a stewardship issue) with the things the Lord laid upon my heart during my time with Him that day.

4:00 Prayer for the Lord to continue to integrate this more deeply into my life.

4:30 Pack up and drive back to home

Remember, this is not a formula… it’s a dynamic relationship. Even though we don’t want to propagate the “Jesus is my girlfriend thing,” how would you spend the day with someone you really enjoy being around?  This is key!  And remember to journal and write these things down… when you begin to get 2, 3, or even 4 days away over a year or two, it’s really cool to go back and see how the Risen Christ is transforming you into who He desires you to be.

What do you do on a day of solitude, word, and prayer? What helps you connect more deeply with Jesus?

Tagged with: • • • • •
Previous Entries
preload preload preload