Adoption Is More Powerful Than the Universe

As you might know, my wife and I are quite passionate about adoption. According to this video clip, our passion for it is not even close to how God feels about it. I thought this was powerful.

 

Build a Different Church

I recently listened to this audio clip of Alan Hirsch speaking to the staff of my church about the need to build a different kind of church in a culture that’s more and more uninterested in our modes and styles of doing church. He makes a number of excellent points to consider. This is well worth listening to.

Direct link

 

Stop Asking So Many Questions

I’ve written a couple of articles on this blog about poorly-conceived, but well funded American missions projects in Mexico. You can read those here, here and here.

For a different point of view, someone just sent me this blurb from a missions organization in Mexico.

Hands of Jesus

Jesus liked to work with his hands. One significant thing that Jesus did with his hands was to wash his disciple’s feet. It was also one of the last things he did with his hands before having them nailed to a cross. Washing feet was a symbolic act communicating love and a willingness to be a servant. Jesus taught his disciples that they needed to wash feet, too. —– — —– is an organization that seeks to be the hands of Jesus reaching out to love others in his name. — has been specifically called to help love the people of Mexico and we have found no lack of dirty feet to wash. — is asking people from the U.S. to take time out of their busy schedules, give sacrificially and take a risk to love others. This always means getting stuff dirty, broken or lost. It usually means feeling uncomfortable. It makes some people so uncomfortable that they ask whether we should be washing feet at all in Mexico. They sometimes ask if it wouldn’t be better for Mexicans to wash Mexican feet. They argue that we could train them so they could do the work themselves. Some might even protest that it isn’t effective to wash feet because people tend to get them dirty again and that might set up an atmosphere of dependency with people coming back to have their feet washed. Maybe it would be good if the government would help pave more roads so people’s feet wouldn’t get so dirty. Some observe that some people’s feet don’t seem that dirty while others are so dirty that it is obviously their own fault, that they probably like dirty feet or that they should try harder to keep them clean. It is always more comfortable to focus on the condition of the feet than to stay focused on our need to wash. Of course, — doesn’t really wash feet in Mexico, although maybe we should. We build homes for needy people as a symbol of God’s love and grace. We build them in the name of Jesus, who gave us the example of washing feet. My prayer is that we never get sidetracked by asking the wrong questions or suggesting that God use someone else. We need to roll up our sleeves, get on our knees and be the hands of Jesus.

Clearly it’s because Baja Mexico is an “uncomfortable” place that causes some to question the fruitfulness of giving handouts and creating dependency in the name of Jesus. I wonder if they have design plans when they start building their houses or if they just start hammering nails into wood and trust it will all work out. Questions and thinking things through are clearly not what Jesus is about.

 

Santa Died for Your Mastercard

A man in the Seattle area nailed Santa to a cross as a sign of protest against the commercialism of Christmas.  In his words, “Santa died for your Mastercard.”  Needless to say his neighbors weren’t too fond of the display.

I mentioned yesterday that we try to incorporate advent and the Bible story into our Christmas so our kids know it is about more than presents.  We also took our kids shopping to buy presents to put in a “shoebox” which is wrapped up and given to needy kids around the world.

Still I feel like the holiday is weighted towards the presents.  We open one present on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas morning.   And, we do have a Santa tradition in our house.

How do you celebrate Christmas?  Do you feel like the holiday is over commercialized?  What do you think of Santa on a cross?  What do you think of Santa?

 

Advent Candle

This week my family lit the final two advent candles at our church this week, and shared a few words about the gift of faith.  Growing up in both charismatic and Southern Baptist churches (yes a strange combination indeed!) I don’t have much history with the traditions and worship devices like advent candles that help us celebrate significant Christian events. 

Perhaps because of this lack of tradition as a child I find advent helps me prepare my heart and set my focus on the meaning of the holidays.  As a family we read an advent book, and usually have an advent calendar (though not this year due to baby).  We find that this helps our kids understand that Christmas is more than some presents.

What do you think of advent?  Do you partake in advent?  What traditions do you have in your family?

Here are the few words I shared on the gift of faith.  We attend a family service which means the kids are in the service all or part of the time.  We had our kids up front with us to light the candles, and they were squirming quite a bit because someone had put candy canes on the table which caused our two year old to jump out of his skin and profess loudly his love for all things stripped and sugary.  We acquiesced, and it was a fitting life picture of the words God had put on my hear about the gift of peace.  Perhaps these words will help you prepare your heart as well.

Initially when I was asked to light the candle for peace, I reflected on a car ride recently where my newborn was screaming his head off, my two year old was yelling about Christmas lights at the top of his lungs, my five year old was asking questions, while I was trying to have a conversation with my bride – all at the same time, and my mind whet immediately to “Away in a Manger” and the “no crying he makes part.” Sign me up for that – a baby who doesn’t cry. Let me tell you, I scoured the Bible for a reference for this and it’s not there, and then found Matt 10:34 where Jesus says he didn’t come to bring peace but to divide and force us to make choices, and it dawned on me that Mary probably had to suffer with the rest of us. So perhaps peace is about more than just toning down the chaos that is life.

As I began to reflect more on the gift of peace the Spirit brought several questions to my mind.

Who are we to be at peace with?

Mark 9:50 says that we are the salt, and should be at peace with one another. Peace is about injecting calm and reconciliation, wholeness, into our lives. We are to be at peace in our relationships. With our families. With our parents. With fellow Christians. With those we work with. Are we building towards wholeness? Are your relationships at peace?

We are also to be at peace with God. This is the essential gift of peace from Christ. That we may stop striving. At our core we are all looking for place, belonging. The greatest gift of peace is the one that Christ gave us by his life – reconciliation with God. We now have place

How do we receive the gift of peace? Am I at peace? Are you at peace today?

How can we be instruments of peace? How can I be an instrument of peace? How can you be an instrument of peace?

With the final candle we remember Christ as the centerpiece of it all.  We light it to look back to his work on the cross, and light it to look forward to his return.

We talk a lot about reconciliation and peace, but what no one told me when I signed up is that the craziness and chaos of being a husband, a father, an employee and everything that that means- like changing diapers and scraping concrete oatmeal off the floor – that the craziness is life and that part stays, but in that we have peace. We can be reconciled to one another and to God if we accept His gift of peace. Let’s pray.

Lord Father, As we light this candle we prepare our hearts for your gift of peace. In the messiness of the real world of our life, help us to be at peace in our relationships, in the community and world you’ve placed us in, with ourselves, and most importantly with you. Bring reconciliation and wholeness to our lives.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom: 15:13 ) Amen.

 

New Baby

It has been a few weeks since I’ve posted, and I thought I’d share that we have boy #3 in our house.  E was born December 2 and was 10.1 lbs.   It turns out that is a pretty big kid! 

We are super thankful that many friends brought us meals, and now my Mom is staying with us to help out.  We definitely sense God’s presence through everyone’s gifts.  Thanks!

 

You need a PERSONAL relationship with Jesus

A friend of mine awhile back complained that he doesn’t really know what we mean by “you need a personal relationship with Jesus.” I think his words have a ring of truth to them. That is probably the most often used cliche’ we have in our faith context and I’m not sure we do a good job of describing what we mean.

I think one thing we mean is that each individual needs to make their own decision and do what they can to make themselves right with their creator. This is in contrast with thinking that being a member of a specific church or culture will provide someone with salvation. It’s our own relationship with Jesus that stands outside of any other community around us.

I think another thing we mean is that we believe that Jesus has specific plans and goals for each of our individual lives. It means learning specifically how Jesus plans on ministering through our individual gifts and decisions. We feel our personal relationship is being fulfilled when we act on the promptings of the Holy Spirit that each of us feel, act on them, and have success.

So what do you think? What do YOU mean when you say that?

 

Something More Than Salvation

I was so encouraged by this audio clip.

 

Measurement

Church leaders have to be continually on the watch not to cater too much to the congregations tastes to the exclusion of where the Spirit of God is leading the church.

In that context, what do you think is the right way to measure initiatives, programs or success in church?  Is there a right way?

I know many church leaders are against putting timelines and measurements on programs because God is in control and measuring the wrong things could lead a church off track.  Other churches have balanced scorecards and a variety of other measures.

What is your take?  Should churches measure things?  What should they measure? Any input from pastors or elders is appreciated.

 

Yahweh

U2′s song “Yahweh”

Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing

 

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn

 

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don’t make a fist no
Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn

 

Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up
The sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And let it break

What do you think is U2′s message in this song?  A positive song recognizing God, or a question about the problem of evil and an all good God?