March 2009 – LOVE | ACCEPT

Lent 2009 – 11 Steps to the Cross

A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly. (Proverbs 14:29)

Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a disagreement that they parted company. (Acts 15:37-39)

In your anger do not sin; Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

Walking alongside Peter all these days sometimes makes you wonder what Jesus saw in him. Actually, it makes you realize what Jesus saw in you. Despite the face you put on in front of the world, we’re all deeply flawed individuals who can in no way claim perfection. We watch Peter and say, I would never do that…until we do. You see, we’re every bit the Peter that we don’t think we are. As I’ve reflected on my own worthiness to approach the cross this year, I’ve thought about moments of anger that have seized me and thought about why this hasn’t been lifted from me.

I think that part of the answer is to be found in the anger of Jesus. We should get angry at acts that diminish the personhood of other people. We should raise our voice against injustice. Our hackles should get up against mistreatment of other souls.

There should be anger within the Church.

We should get angry when Jesus is just a marketing tool. We should get angry when the church turns into the mall. We should should show righteous indignation toward those who should be shepherds but who only spend their time bragging (or tweeting for crying out loud! Seriously, who has the time for that stuff? And who spends their day living vicariously through the activities of other people? Write a book, draw a picture, compose a song, go find your wife or husband and tell them you love them. Play catch with the kids. Don’t tell me in less than 140 characters that you’re going to do it. Oooops! got off an a rant there.) Get angry with people who run stop signs.

On the other hand, when you son misjudges a turn and runs his truck into the back of yours, let it go. Pray for him to grow up to be God’s man. Pray for his fantastic personality to be used for the good of others.

Lent 2009 – 12 Steps to the Cross

“O remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt. Be sure of this: I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’ I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you. (Jeremiah 42:19-21)

In one week, our Christian lives will be centered on the events of the Passion leading to the worst and greatest moments in the history of the world. We have followed Peter through the Bible and seen his brief moments of glory and his more frequent times of failure and disappointment. As I reflect on Peter I have discovered a danger, a bad effect of this path; looking at Peter can make me think I’m not so bad after all.

That, of course, is the first step backwards away from the Cross.

Stepping away turns our feet towards a variety of attitudes. One that is especially deadly is hypocrisy. The Christian can say how much he loves God, how much she wants to deny self but the reality shows. What am I doing different when I look at Peter and think, well, I would never do this or that. Baloney! You would and DO do such things and only pretend that you don’t. You and I may be able to convince ourselves that we aren’t so bad in this area but God isn’t fooled. He looks beyond our outer actions and into our hearts, in the dark corners and he knows where our true allegiance lies.

Man, surrender can be hard…

Lent 2009 – 13 Steps to the Cross

If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. (1 Peter 4:14-19)

Peter offers up a warning of sorts in relation to his previous exhortation on the value of suffering. Just as Paul corrected the misconception about grace and sin (Romans 6:1-2), Peter preempts the line of thought that suffering for the wrong reason (murder and robbery) cannot be viewed as divinely ordained. Persecution and struggle must be seen as divinely ordained for each of us as an individual as way purifying us and maturing our faith.

The evangelist in Peter sees a further meaning to suffering as an opportunity to model Christ-like lives for the benefit of the unsaved. He moves his readers to consider how much more difficult persecution and travail must be for those without the hope of Christ. To accept our challenge and continue on with our lives in love and obedience opens the door to see Christ for themselves.

How heavy is your cross today?

THE Church in the City

Today, Church in the City in Denver dedicates the restored synagogue that will become its new home, a block away from the old Safeway store that has been its home for many years. Here is an article in the Denver Post about the move. This is my favorite church in the our area. It is the most ethnically diverse congregation we have. Lead by Pastor Michael, the church is also the home to Raleigh Washington, a prime mover in racial reconciliation and the Promise Keepers movements.

Glory to God on this great day for the church. The Temple is Ready! My prayers for blessings on the event and I hope you will add yours too.

The Church in the City

Lent 2009 – 14 Steps to the Cross

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 5:12-13)

One of the ideas that is found throughout the Bible is the notion of the privilege of suffering. Whether it be persecution or a difficult ministry situation, or even personal disability, the Christian is to rejoice at the idea of being considered worthy of the suffering that we must face.

Frankly, most of us would gladly pass on this privilege.

Suffering for the glory of the gospel runs counter to our survival mechanism. We are wired to avoid pain and difficulty if at all possible and yet Peter, like other authors before him, exhorts us to rejoice at any sudden challenges that appear in our lives. Reading the rest of the verse gives us a clue that helps to change our attitude toward suffering. He reminds us that we are sharing in the suffering of Christ, in however small a way that the Lord deems appropriate for us to do so. Just as our promise awaits us in the distant future, we must also view today’s challenges as having an effect in the future of God’s plans.

Somehow, we still struggle.

Lent 2009 – 15 Steps to the Cross

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” (1 Peter 1:22-25)

How would you rate the love and fellowship in the Church? In your church the fellowship might be genuine and loving, but what about the church at large. There is a fellowship crisis that mirrors the alienation of the larger culture. This runs contrary to Peter’s exhortation to realize the before and after of one’s conversion. Those redeemed by the Savior have a new heart, a heart that is now capable of deeply loving others despite their human faults and struggles.

These last few verses conclude a passage on how holiness is something that we are to pursue and something that we are. The purification that comes of obedience to the Spirit within has as its result a holiness that becomes more Christ-like as we mature. This new nature has as one of its fruits the love of even the unlovable. Whether it be within our church or out in the streets, love must become one of our identifying characteristics.

Have you expressed holy love today?

Lent 2009 – 16 Steps to the Cross

Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:17-21)

Do we live in fear of God today or has His grace become our license to live a less than holy existence. Grace is funny that way. To many, the God of Fear was only existent in the Old Testament. That was a God of wrath, smiting this, flooding that, opening up the earth to swallow sinners and striking others with blindness. The loving Jesus supplanted that God didn’t he?

Fearing God has nothing to do with His immediate judgments and everything to do with his perfect justice. He does not pass judgment capriciously or indiscriminately but with perfect judicial fairness. His judgment is not colored by human discrimination or favoritism and His judgment,

cost the life of our Savior.

Fear is not meant to inspire anxiety or dread, rather, it is intended to drive us to a respectful love for the justice of God and the redemption by His Son. Fear of God makes us aware of our own corruption and, though saved by grace, our personal indebtedness to the Father. As Peter says, Jesus was sacrificed and returned to life for your sake.

How is your fear today?

Lent 2009 – 17 Steps to the Cross

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16)

Anyone who has been involved in the Church for any length of time has heard that aphorism spoken in a number of ways and in many different contexts. The scripture that Peter recalls comes from the clean part of your Bible, in Leviticus chapter 11 where God speaks: “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” (Lev 11:44) Do we still take this idea seriously or has our knowledge of grace made this a mushy requirement for us.

Many Christians today take their holiness less than seriously because the notion of grace that has been taught rightfully instills in them the idea of forgiveness for sins past, present, and future. Though not specifically taught, the cultural attitude of many churches today leads to a view of grace as license. We are freed from the necessity to sacrifice by grace.

That freedom came from Christ’s sacrificial giving of His precious life.

The purpose of observing the Lenten season is as a reminder of that sacrifice. As Peter exhorts us not to live any longer in ignorance, the daily meditations of Lent remind us to be ever mindful of the sacrifice that granted us our freedom. With an agile mind and a compliant heart, push away from the evil desires.

Do you consider yourself ignorant?

Lent 2009 – 18 Steps to the Cross

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:13)

The contrast of the two great apostles is no more apparent than right here. Where Paul’s writing is dense and filled with tightly woven units of logic as befits his education, training, and person, Peter is more expressive, given to blunt exhortation of bedrock principles. We find ourselves attracted to both but there are times in which we simply want a short piece of scripture to hang onto. The opening statement in a series of exhortations to holiness provide for just such a need.

At just 18 daily steps weeks from the glory of Easter, we draw closer and closer to reality of the cross. The weight of our sin may have seemed light when we took the first few steps but now, as the cross draws near, the burden starts to become onerous. Peter knew this feeling. His repeated failures and the love of his restoration changed him forever. He cannot help himself from trying to move us to the holiness that he enjoys. In short enthusiastic bursts, Peter begins a series of imperatives to take the life of holiness seriously.

Preparing your minds for action is literally to ‘gird your mind [loins] for action’, an ancient word picture that has lost its bite through the centuries. When men wore an outer shirt that draped down to their ankles, swift movement was not possible. When danger approached and agility was needed, a man would pull his shirt up into his belt so that he had fast freedom of movement. Rolling up the sleeves of our minds means to be prepared, to removed impeding thoughts so that any challenge to a life in Christ or attack on holiness could be quickly rebuffed and the heart protected.

What’s on your mind today?

Lent 2009 – 19 Steps to the Cross

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord who is going to betray you?”) When Peter sah him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” (John 21:20 – 23)

This small section of scripture, buried in the larger pericope of Peter’s restoration is one that I go back to again and again to remind me of my proper relationship to the Lord and others in His Church. Dr. Vernon Grounds once spoke on passage in chapel, reminding the ministers in attendance that our ministry was never to be compared to someone else’s. Whether we were successful in the eyes of the world (i.e., megachurch growth) or a failure by the same standard (nurturing a small, unnoticed body), the minister was simply to make sure that he was a success according to the call of the Lord. If Jesus calls you to toil in some small body, go and do it with all your heart. If he places you in a megachurch, work every day to ensure your own humility knowing that the success is the Lord’s, not yours. Blogging pastors who spend more time bragging about all the conferences they speak at or their world travels that an ‘unnamed benefactor’ sends them on should bookmark this passage.

As Dr. Grounds said, pointing to men and women in the chapel body, “don’t worry about him or her and what they have been called to do. Simply follow Jesus.”

Amen Dr. Grounds.