April 2007 – Page 2 – LOVE | ACCEPT

Killing Me With Words

If someone is attacking your reputation and character, you come back with all guns blazing, right? Proverbs 22:1 says “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” When your good name is the subject of a smear, you should go out of your way to correct those who mention it, shouldn’t you?

Interesting questions and currently, a subject of great struggle for me. If the character assassination were limited to me personally it would be much easier to deal with but my reputation affects my church and my family as well. Its seems as though I’m letting them down when I don’t confront the incorrect stories but, at the same time, so many before me have managed to ‘turn the other cheek.’

Turning a desire for retribution away is made possible only by spiritual maturity and trust. The question I must ask myself when I feel the anger welling up at the perpetrators is where do I put my trust? Is my faith in my own abilities to correct the situation or in God’s ability to work good from bad? I pray the second but must work with diligence to control the first.

Ecclesiastes wrote (7:1) that “a good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.” Reading on in the passage, he explains this to mean that we learn more from hard times than from good times. This is certainly a truth but that doesn’t make it any easier. The broken parts in me still long to right the situation.

Here is a great post on reputation.

A Jonah Heart

We’ve all got a Jonah heart that leads us away from God. We’ve all got a Jonah heart that tells us that we can escape His presence and love. We can find ourselves at the very edge of darkness and life having run as far away as our human thoughts and strength can go and still, He is there. Waiting on us, loving us. He is patient with us as we argue for our tiny vision, knowing all the while that it is but a drop in the greater pool of His perspective. We’ve all got a Jonah heart.

The Dangerous Act of Worship: False Dangers

Where did we ever get the idea that worship should be safe? One hour, four songs, a sermon, a hug and then off to lunch. As Labberton confront us in The Dangerous Act of Worship, we try to domesticate God. His presence in our worship is more than welcome, so long as fits within our framework. When safety is the organizing theme of our worship, we become inured to be in awe of false dangers rather than being in awe of our God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…(Proverbs 1:7)

What are these false dangers? Mark lists six:

Worship that is not under control
Worship that doesn’t seem relevant
Worship that doesn’t meet expectations
Worship that isn’t popular
Worship that isn’t comfortable
Worship that’s unfamiliar
If you are involved in planning worship, leading worship,

If you lead worship, plan worship, or just show up at worship, you cannot help but read this list and see our guilt in pushing God’s dangerous presence out of the worship that is supposed to be directed at Him. I was humbled and convicted as I slowly read each section and realized how our worship services had become conformed to the wishes of man rather opened up to the arrival of God. The question we are forced to deal with then is what will happen within our churches if we rid ourselves of these false dangers and open up the worship to the awe of God? We can almost immediately picture in our minds those who will leave because things are not in control, they are not comfortable, the songs are oddly chosen, etc. I suppose the very fact that this is our thought points to how far away from true worship we gone. Shall we repent together?

Technorati tags: worship, mark Labberton, being the church, missional Church, christianity, faith

The Time is Now for Crisis Mode

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dr. Vernon Grounds is a wise man that I was blessed to encounter during my time in the seminary. He is quoted in this post at the Seventh Sola blog. The author confronts us with the need to reorder our priorities, especially those of us involved in ministry.

A Man Who Walks the Talk

One of the fondest memories I have of my time in the seminary were the encounters with Vernon Grounds. He regularly strolled about the campus talking to everyone. In the midst of wrestling with Greek, I remember walking with my head down to class when I felt a hand slip into mine. I turned to find Dr. Grounds alongside me. The conversation that followed inspired me for the years to come. As I was searching my files today, I found this column by Philip Yancey who was also seen on the campus visiting with Vernon. Be inspired.

Technorati tags: Christianity, Faith, Vernon Grounds, Denver Seminary, Inspiration

Love, Acceptance & Forgiveness Unless You’re a…

Out of Ur publishes a dilemma faced by a congregation choosing to welcome a child molester into their body or banish him to the hinterlands. The question that swirls around this instance and the countless others that the Church faces every day is just how far Christ expects us to extend our love, acceptance, and forgiveness. But then, if we have to ask it appears that we missed the point of His life and death and life.

A profound change came over the direction of my ministry when a young homeless man became a part of church that I belonged to. He was tolerated by some, shunned by others, and loved by few. It was hinted that I devoted a little too much effort to ministering to him. Love, accept, forgive became endure, tolerate, and watch. I can envision the reception that the child molester is facing in that body.

Did Jesus give us the option to turn away from repentant sinners? Is there a sliding scale on which our sins are judged, some being acceptable and others not? The answer to both of these is no. However distasteful we find the sin, our call is to view the sinner in his new light, pushing his previous sin as far away as the east is from the west. What are those who run away going to do when they encounter this man in heaven?

Technorati tags: Love Acceptance & Forgiveness, Being the church, Faith, Christianity

Running from Race

I guess that I’m going to have to edit my previous posts about interracial marriage now that the Asian American Journalists Association has spoken. They are offended that the thug who massacred all of the innocents at Virginia Tech was referred to as Asian. If the racial divisions in our culture are ever going to be broken, it’s going to have to begin with recognizing that our race is a part of who we are. To say that you don’t see race not only makes you a liar but it diminishes the person on whom you are looking by not recognizing the fullness of their being.

Technorati tags: Race, Asian American, Culture