I heard a well-meaning preacher the other day who said: "there is no plan B!" talking about how God has put His church on earth and has not made any contingency plan!
I've heard this before--most of us have, if we attend church or youth camps. It's a ploy, meant to guilt-trip us into witnessing to our friends because God hasn't made a Plan B, and so if we want our friends to miss out on the eternal torture of hell, we need to be a perfect Christian cause there is NO PLAN B!! :)
I gotta disagree. Seriously. Jesus was plan B!! Adam and Eve and their progeny in paradise was plan A!! That went awry so the Law was put in place... that prepared God's people for the Messiah: plan B!!
So for us to put all this guilt on ourselves about there not being any other options, seriously!! Who do we think we are!!
I have a feeling God goes to plan B with regularity!! Cause we all mess up with regularity!! Stop beating yourself up over it!! Get back up and get moving!!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Stirring or Sifting
I got to thinking the other day: am I just stirring teens up or sifting them?? What's it matter?? Well if I'm merely stirring, then they settle back down to where they were before (or relatively close). But sifting sorts.
Of course neither is worth a plugged nickel if I try to do it on my own, and perhaps both (metaphorically speaking) have their own valuable place in God's schemes, but I just wonder sometimes... stirring or sifting?? I wonder how we might know?
Of course neither is worth a plugged nickel if I try to do it on my own, and perhaps both (metaphorically speaking) have their own valuable place in God's schemes, but I just wonder sometimes... stirring or sifting?? I wonder how we might know?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Arriving.
Is it possible to have arrived and yet still be coming??
Physically, no, of course not, but intellectually, spiritually?? I say yes.
Scientists are brilliant and have a 'full' understanding of their field and yet they are still growing and learning more and more with regularity. If they don't, they stop being relevant and stop having the ability to fully understand their field. A full understanding of their field is based on the assumption that as new things are revealed within that field, they grasp and internalize that new concept.
As an Armenian, the idea that we never spiritually 'arrive' is frightening: smacks of Calvin, and yet it's not that we haven't arrived, so to speak, but that while I've 'arrived' God continues to open my eyes to new concepts. He's sanctified me, and yet, He continues to grow me. If I ever cease to strive toward understanding the thoughts of God in better and fuller methods, I slip backwards.
Righteousness IS being righteous and living right, but it's also continually striving towards increasing righteousness.
Physically, no, of course not, but intellectually, spiritually?? I say yes.
Scientists are brilliant and have a 'full' understanding of their field and yet they are still growing and learning more and more with regularity. If they don't, they stop being relevant and stop having the ability to fully understand their field. A full understanding of their field is based on the assumption that as new things are revealed within that field, they grasp and internalize that new concept.
As an Armenian, the idea that we never spiritually 'arrive' is frightening: smacks of Calvin, and yet it's not that we haven't arrived, so to speak, but that while I've 'arrived' God continues to open my eyes to new concepts. He's sanctified me, and yet, He continues to grow me. If I ever cease to strive toward understanding the thoughts of God in better and fuller methods, I slip backwards.
Righteousness IS being righteous and living right, but it's also continually striving towards increasing righteousness.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
$3.48 in Missouri!!
So I got a tank of gas in Missouri today for $3.48!! Can you believe it!! And the next logical step in this conversation is to question why we are now celebrating the fact that gas is $3.48!! How many of us have heard/said/agreed with the phrase "Who imagined we'd ever be happy about paying $3.48 for a gallon of gas??" Right?? And really, most of us WANT gas to go lower, but as long as it doesn't go any higher, we'd be really happy if it just stayed here at $3.48!! Right again??
Spiritually, I wonder if the same isn't true here in our American churches?? I wonder if we are so used to pathetic Christian experiences... not really feeling God's presence... that when we feel this little tiny thing move within us, we're so stoked about it!! And as long as it doesn't go away, we're really OK with it being tiny.
Do you get me??
So many of us don't hear the voice of God.... and yet, I'm guaranteeing He's speaking!! But we're OK with not hearing His voice as long as that small movement we feel in our soul on Sunday morning doesn't go away. In youth groups, parents (and all too often, youth pastors... yours truly included) are often very happy with kids merely becoming better people according to a very suspect worldly standard. Instead of desiring that God truly move!!
Now gas might never go back down, but seriously, we really should never be satisfied with weak spirituality!! We should never accept and even CELEBRATE a spirituality that is small.
Spiritually, I wonder if the same isn't true here in our American churches?? I wonder if we are so used to pathetic Christian experiences... not really feeling God's presence... that when we feel this little tiny thing move within us, we're so stoked about it!! And as long as it doesn't go away, we're really OK with it being tiny.
Do you get me??
So many of us don't hear the voice of God.... and yet, I'm guaranteeing He's speaking!! But we're OK with not hearing His voice as long as that small movement we feel in our soul on Sunday morning doesn't go away. In youth groups, parents (and all too often, youth pastors... yours truly included) are often very happy with kids merely becoming better people according to a very suspect worldly standard. Instead of desiring that God truly move!!
Now gas might never go back down, but seriously, we really should never be satisfied with weak spirituality!! We should never accept and even CELEBRATE a spirituality that is small.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Freedom via Love
There's this kid in my youth group.. I won't say his name, but kids here will surely know who I'm talking about... we had a karaoke party last night at a friend's house... it was a small group thing, not a youth thing. His family was part of it, so he was there, and he was just a goofball.... He doesn't care. He can be goofy and it's OK. He's not concerned about what people think.
I got thinking about it. He's that way cause there's no question, anywhere in his mind, that his parents love him. It's really pretty spectacular!! It frees him up so fully!! He's able to just BE himself!!
What if we fully knew how much and in what ways God loves US!!?? Think about it... if parental love frees us in life, how could God's unconditional, full love free us!! What if you weren't concerned about proving anything to God?? See we talk about understanding God's unconditional love, but do we live that way?? Cause I bet, just like this kid in my youth group, that if we fully trust God's love of US, it'll show in how we live!! There'll be a freedom you've perhaps never experienced before.
I got thinking about it. He's that way cause there's no question, anywhere in his mind, that his parents love him. It's really pretty spectacular!! It frees him up so fully!! He's able to just BE himself!!
What if we fully knew how much and in what ways God loves US!!?? Think about it... if parental love frees us in life, how could God's unconditional, full love free us!! What if you weren't concerned about proving anything to God?? See we talk about understanding God's unconditional love, but do we live that way?? Cause I bet, just like this kid in my youth group, that if we fully trust God's love of US, it'll show in how we live!! There'll be a freedom you've perhaps never experienced before.
Tornadoes
You know before I moved over here to Kansas, I knew they had tornadoes (I've seen Dorothy and the Wizard), but I always thought it was just every once in a while or something... Nope. They've had Hundreds of Tornadoes this year alone!!!
Isn't it funny how different we understand something once we've been there and fully experienced it?
I wonder how many of us base our understanding of God off the words we hear rather than the life we experience?? How many of us fully move into the life of a Christian??
Cause I remember hearing ABOUT hearing God's voice, but never fully understood it till I really heard it--because I submitted to some things. I remember hearing ABOUT peace within, but never fully knew it or understood it till I really got God in my life and He really brought peace. I remember seeing OTHERS worship in spirit and truth, but never felt much till I really bought in...
What are you missing?? Come to Kansas, experience the weather!! Come to God... experience His peace!!
Isn't it funny how different we understand something once we've been there and fully experienced it?
I wonder how many of us base our understanding of God off the words we hear rather than the life we experience?? How many of us fully move into the life of a Christian??
Cause I remember hearing ABOUT hearing God's voice, but never fully understood it till I really heard it--because I submitted to some things. I remember hearing ABOUT peace within, but never fully knew it or understood it till I really got God in my life and He really brought peace. I remember seeing OTHERS worship in spirit and truth, but never felt much till I really bought in...
What are you missing?? Come to Kansas, experience the weather!! Come to God... experience His peace!!
Football
Perhaps I'm just over-anxious for football season to start up, but as I was reading Acts today, something occurred to me...
Somewhere in the middle of Acts, some guys were beaten by the Jews because of their Christianity... the guys left and counted it an honor to be mistreated because of the name of God.
Think of a half-back in football... the running back. The guy who gets the ball and the coach says go right through the middle and let them slam into you... go straight up to that linebacker who will cream you. The half-back runs the play, gets nailed, and heads to the sideline, and counts it an honor that he was chosen for the job.
Why?? Cause he got hit?? No, of course not... Cause he got yards... kinda. Cause he was Chosen!! He was considered right for that job. In our lives in Christianity, I think sometimes we focus on the pain that might come rather than the job at hand... rather than the fact that God still chooses us for jobs... God still asks us to live our lives and reach out and all that. I was also reading earlier about The Ethiopian... and God nudged a guy named Philip and knowing nothing more than the fact that God asked him to, Philip went and talked to that guy about faith. He was chosen... he had no clue how that play was going to turn out... much like a half-back. Sometimes he gets a touchdown... sometimes he gets tackled for a loss. Often times it isn't because of what he does but is the result of the actions of others... and he counts himself honored to be chosen to be the one to get punished like that.
Think of it... the biggest suffering you're likely to experience as a Christian in America is that occasionally someone might make fun of you. You aren't going to be beaten or arrested or lose your inheritance. And yet... we often count ourselves unfortunate because of the "suffering" we are forced to endure for our God.
Somewhere in the middle of Acts, some guys were beaten by the Jews because of their Christianity... the guys left and counted it an honor to be mistreated because of the name of God.
Think of a half-back in football... the running back. The guy who gets the ball and the coach says go right through the middle and let them slam into you... go straight up to that linebacker who will cream you. The half-back runs the play, gets nailed, and heads to the sideline, and counts it an honor that he was chosen for the job.
Why?? Cause he got hit?? No, of course not... Cause he got yards... kinda. Cause he was Chosen!! He was considered right for that job. In our lives in Christianity, I think sometimes we focus on the pain that might come rather than the job at hand... rather than the fact that God still chooses us for jobs... God still asks us to live our lives and reach out and all that. I was also reading earlier about The Ethiopian... and God nudged a guy named Philip and knowing nothing more than the fact that God asked him to, Philip went and talked to that guy about faith. He was chosen... he had no clue how that play was going to turn out... much like a half-back. Sometimes he gets a touchdown... sometimes he gets tackled for a loss. Often times it isn't because of what he does but is the result of the actions of others... and he counts himself honored to be chosen to be the one to get punished like that.
Think of it... the biggest suffering you're likely to experience as a Christian in America is that occasionally someone might make fun of you. You aren't going to be beaten or arrested or lose your inheritance. And yet... we often count ourselves unfortunate because of the "suffering" we are forced to endure for our God.
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