A couple of weeks ago, I was at the bank. Our bank highlights a different local business each month. This month a lawn care company was highlighted. The company had a sign that said register to win a free bush. As one who is always game for getting something for nothing, I wrote down my name and number and dropped it in the fishbowl. A week later, I received a phone call..."You won!" I was waiting for the catch, but there was none. I submitted my information, the company pulled out my name and not only did I win a new plant, they were even going to plant it for me. It is a beautiful plant with a name I cannot pronounce. Add to it that I did not even have to plant it and I was feeling like I just won the lottery. It is fun to win a free gift!
The lawn company owner who delivered and planted the bush asked of me only one thing: "Make sure she gets plenty of water," he urged. He said that our yard is full of clay and that in the summer heat, it is very important that this young bush get plenty of water if I want her to continue to have nice full and green leaves and beautiful flowers. "Yeah, yeah," I said, "plenty of water...no problem."
Day one... was no problem, especially since the lawn care company owner watered it for me. Day two...I was careful to keep it watered. Day three...I thought it's been watered two days in a row, I am tired, I think I will skip watering it until tomorrow after work. I got home from work the next day and that poor bush was shriveled and puny. It looked like somebody stole my beautiful bush and replaced it with a very pitiful specimen. About that time, I could hear the Lawn Company Owner's voice haunting me..."Be sure she gets plenty of water...Be sure she gets plenty of water..." It had only been one day of no water, but one day was enough to rob that prize of its original beauty.
In Christ we win a great and free gift! When we accept Christ as the Forgiver of our sins and leader of our lives, we win new life now and forever. Christ and his gift of new life is personal, real, exciting, beautiful! Jesus says, "This is yours. I paid the price for it. There is nothing you can do to earn or deserve it. All you have to do now is water the gift of faith." So, we get excited and we say, "No problem". We start watering our new found relationship with God...we worship, we meditate on the truth of the Bible, we pray, we serve...and we can tell we are growing...it's nothing less than beautiful...and then over time, usually very gradually, we start to devalue the importance of watering our faith. We get busy. We get distracted. We get tired. Maybe we even get a bit prideful and we think, "I can put off watering until tomorrow." And once we do it is amazing how quickly the life of God begins to fade in us...it is amazing how quickly the beauty of Christ in us begins to shrivel up.
Maybe someone reading this today feels shriveled up spiritually. I know what that is like. I have been there. Listen...can you hear his voice...Jesus says, "Make sure she gets plenty of water." What we have in Christ is not a religion. Religion is built upon rites and rituals that you go to once a week or once a month or a couple of times a year to do your spiritual duty and then go on with the rest of your life. But what we have in Christ is about a relationship with the living and personal God. For a relationship to be healthy it takes constant and daily nurturing. The more nurturing it receives, the more it blossoms.
For a long time I resisted what the Bible taught about the place of and importance of watering my faith by moving past an hour on Sunday to truly connect with other Christ Followers to study God's Word, pray, encourage and be encouraged and be held accountable. I use to think that I did not really need others to grow in my faith and besides that my personality type leaves me feeling initially uncomfortable in such situations. However, thankfully, God would not let me get away with such excuses. I now run to watering my faith in and with Christian community because I have seen how much God uses it (imagine that...God uses what he says he will use). Not only do the Small groups I participate in water my faith and help it grow, but the small groups provide me the accountability I need to keep me from falling into the thinking that my faith can go without watering for a day or two.
My prayer for everyone who calls Living Hoe there church home is that we would move past an hour on Sunday and water our faith through discovering and becoming the Christian community to which the Bible calls us. There is no need to live shriveled up spiritual lives. God gave you his gift so you could increasingly become a reflection of his beauty.
That beauty is not uncovered in isolation, but with others.
Acts 2:42-47 describes what Christian community looks like and how it waters our faith. Check it out!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
What Works for Phelps, Works for Us
Michael Phelps has blown his competitors out of the water (pun intended) in Beijing! The 6'4" swimming machine explodes into the pool leaving others in his wake and collecting Gold medal after Gold.
How does he do it? Has he been gifted with a natural talent for swimming? I suppose that is a small piece of it. But I would be willing to bet that if you asked Phelps the secret to his success he would take you to the gym where he lifts weights and to the pool where he does over a hundred laps a day. The point is, Phelps has broken records and has his shelf lined with gold because he has worked for it.
It seems that there is a temptation for many of we humans to think that what we want most in life will just magically happen. We want instant wealth. We want to wake up one day and have the perfect realtionships. We want to accept Christ on Sunday and have mountain moving faith on Monday. The truth is, we are an impatient sort that think that everything we think we need and want out of life should have already been in our possession yesterday. The problem is that in our demand for instant gratification we sabotage the possibility of obtaining the good things we say we want for our relationship with God and others and ourselves. The truth we rather not hear is that the only reason Phelps is winning Gold and breaking records is because every day he goes to the gym and swims a hundred laps. He wins because he works.
I know...I will make some theologically nervous as I type these words, but the truth is those who win at anything including spirituality are those who work. No, work does not mean we earn or deserve God's free gift of salvation. The Bible is clear that we have a relationship with God now and forever by grace through faith in Christ not by works so that no one can boast (see Ephesians 2:8) However, there is a work to our faith that separates those who grow and mature in their faith from those who don't.
Philippians 2: 12-13 in the Bible says, "...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his purpose." Notice how the Apostle Paul (the writer of the passage) sees no theological compromise in saying that faith is about God's work in us and our work in it. When we exercise our faith, we open ourselves to God being at work in us and when God is at work in us we are able to put our faith to work. One flows in and out of the other. Stop God's work in us and we are working in vain. Stop our work for God and we cut ourselves off from letting God work in us.
Do you want to have a mountain moving faith? Do you want to forgive the one who has done the unforgivable act? Do you want to be free of habits, hurts and hang-ups? Do you want to see God work in your relationships? Do you want to see God change your world? Then go swim a hundred laps; get to work.
Exercise your faith...hit your knees in prayer every day, don't just read, but meditate on the truths of the Bible, make a point to find somebody to serve everyday where you live your daily life, make your finances a spiritual matter, give up complaining and arguing, accept that the Bible says we cannot grow alone and get involved in more than an hour on Sunday--find a way to connect with other Followers of Christ for learning, caring and accountability (at Living Hope that's what small groups, celebrate recovery, prayer ministry for inner healing and Spiritual mentoring is all about), don't demand to stay where you are comfortable, give up what God calls you to give up and hang onto what God calls you to pick up! There is only one way to win...do the work. Jump in the pool and start swimming! Forget the short-cuts. Quit making excuses that others are more prone to grow spiritually than you. Stop blaming the circumstances of life or your personality.
One more thing...There was nothing easy about Phelps getting to be the fastest swimmer in the world, but I am pretty sure he would tell you that all the work was worth it. Go ahead...jump in the pool and swim a hundred laps and next thing you know you'll be hearing the witnesses in heaven shouting your name and chanting "Gold, Gold, Gold!" And you'll fall to your knees and bow your head and say, "Thank you, Father!" And in reply, he will say to you, "Well done my good and faithful servant." And in that moment all the sweat, blood and tears will quickly fade away and you will know that Jesus wasn't kidding when he told us that it would all be worth it.
How does he do it? Has he been gifted with a natural talent for swimming? I suppose that is a small piece of it. But I would be willing to bet that if you asked Phelps the secret to his success he would take you to the gym where he lifts weights and to the pool where he does over a hundred laps a day. The point is, Phelps has broken records and has his shelf lined with gold because he has worked for it.
It seems that there is a temptation for many of we humans to think that what we want most in life will just magically happen. We want instant wealth. We want to wake up one day and have the perfect realtionships. We want to accept Christ on Sunday and have mountain moving faith on Monday. The truth is, we are an impatient sort that think that everything we think we need and want out of life should have already been in our possession yesterday. The problem is that in our demand for instant gratification we sabotage the possibility of obtaining the good things we say we want for our relationship with God and others and ourselves. The truth we rather not hear is that the only reason Phelps is winning Gold and breaking records is because every day he goes to the gym and swims a hundred laps. He wins because he works.
I know...I will make some theologically nervous as I type these words, but the truth is those who win at anything including spirituality are those who work. No, work does not mean we earn or deserve God's free gift of salvation. The Bible is clear that we have a relationship with God now and forever by grace through faith in Christ not by works so that no one can boast (see Ephesians 2:8) However, there is a work to our faith that separates those who grow and mature in their faith from those who don't.
Philippians 2: 12-13 in the Bible says, "...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his purpose." Notice how the Apostle Paul (the writer of the passage) sees no theological compromise in saying that faith is about God's work in us and our work in it. When we exercise our faith, we open ourselves to God being at work in us and when God is at work in us we are able to put our faith to work. One flows in and out of the other. Stop God's work in us and we are working in vain. Stop our work for God and we cut ourselves off from letting God work in us.
Do you want to have a mountain moving faith? Do you want to forgive the one who has done the unforgivable act? Do you want to be free of habits, hurts and hang-ups? Do you want to see God work in your relationships? Do you want to see God change your world? Then go swim a hundred laps; get to work.
Exercise your faith...hit your knees in prayer every day, don't just read, but meditate on the truths of the Bible, make a point to find somebody to serve everyday where you live your daily life, make your finances a spiritual matter, give up complaining and arguing, accept that the Bible says we cannot grow alone and get involved in more than an hour on Sunday--find a way to connect with other Followers of Christ for learning, caring and accountability (at Living Hope that's what small groups, celebrate recovery, prayer ministry for inner healing and Spiritual mentoring is all about), don't demand to stay where you are comfortable, give up what God calls you to give up and hang onto what God calls you to pick up! There is only one way to win...do the work. Jump in the pool and start swimming! Forget the short-cuts. Quit making excuses that others are more prone to grow spiritually than you. Stop blaming the circumstances of life or your personality.
One more thing...There was nothing easy about Phelps getting to be the fastest swimmer in the world, but I am pretty sure he would tell you that all the work was worth it. Go ahead...jump in the pool and swim a hundred laps and next thing you know you'll be hearing the witnesses in heaven shouting your name and chanting "Gold, Gold, Gold!" And you'll fall to your knees and bow your head and say, "Thank you, Father!" And in reply, he will say to you, "Well done my good and faithful servant." And in that moment all the sweat, blood and tears will quickly fade away and you will know that Jesus wasn't kidding when he told us that it would all be worth it.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Random Thoughts: Grocery Bags
When God is in it, even a brown, paper grocery bag takes on great significance. Whenever we go to the grocery store, I do not think much about the grocery bags. They are simply a tool in which we carry our groceries home. Grocery bags are only valuable to me from the store to the car and then into our house. Then they are quickly forgotten.
However, I now look at grocery bags differently. As I walked into the Church building this morning 11 grocery bags greeted me in the main entrance. Each was filled with the specified Food 2 Go items. Suddenly, I saw more than grocery bags, I saw children. Each of those bags represents a child that will not have to worry about going hungry some weekend this coming school year. How much more secure and hopeful will that child feel as he or she goes home Friday afternoon knowing that this weekend won’t be like last when he or she felt the pains of hunger? How much comfort and hope will that bag bring to a single mom who is working as hard as she can but still can’t keep up and cries at night when she knows her children are going to bed hungry? That’s what I see in those bags you are filling with food this month for Food 2 Go.
In those bags, I also see how easy it is for a community to ignore the needs of its neighbors. The greatest resistance our Food 2 Go ministry has faced is disbelief that there are actually children in this community who go without food. The school system knows different and the children know different, but by and large the rest of us don’t. Why is that? How is that? How can we live and work and go to school with people and not know that their most basic need is being unmet? Is it possible to so shove the poor and hungry to the margins of life that we actually start to think they do not exist? Proverbs 21:13 reminds us, “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.”
And so, in those bags, I see the power of God’s love and our unity. Whether you can afford to purchase only one item or 10 bags worth of food, every item you give is valuable not only because of the stomach it will feed, but because of the love with which you purchase it. I am so grateful to be a part of a church who does not complain about what is wrong in the world, but rather gives its energy to asking, “How can we best show God’s love in response to the needs of our world?” Any one of us could not feed many children, but together we can and will feed at least 50 every weekend this school year. And I believe that is just the beginning. Others will catch on and they will help and we will all feed more. Then other school districts will see what is being done here and will help children be fed in our surrounding community. You see that is what can happen when people come together to show God’s love. God’s love spreads and spreads and is unstoppable!
In those bags, I see God’s smile. Over and over again the Bible talks about God’s heart for the poor and oppressed. “Who is like you, O Lord? You rescue the poor and needy from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob from them” (Psalm 35:10). The ones our world tries to overlook and forget, God never forgets. In fact, he says, if we are to love him, we must love the marginalized. And when we dare to love the ones God loves…how can you not see God smile. Is there anything more beautiful or worthwhile to live for than God’s smile?
So, Living Hope Church, I want to thank you in advance for turning grocery bags into something more than brown paper bags. In your hands, they will become channels of God’s grace to the young, the innocent and the hungry. And something tells me it won’t just be food that some of those children receive and you who give will find that you cannot out give God.
Bring your bags full of love this month! See you Sunday!
With Hope in Christ,
Chad Current , Pastor
"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37
However, I now look at grocery bags differently. As I walked into the Church building this morning 11 grocery bags greeted me in the main entrance. Each was filled with the specified Food 2 Go items. Suddenly, I saw more than grocery bags, I saw children. Each of those bags represents a child that will not have to worry about going hungry some weekend this coming school year. How much more secure and hopeful will that child feel as he or she goes home Friday afternoon knowing that this weekend won’t be like last when he or she felt the pains of hunger? How much comfort and hope will that bag bring to a single mom who is working as hard as she can but still can’t keep up and cries at night when she knows her children are going to bed hungry? That’s what I see in those bags you are filling with food this month for Food 2 Go.
In those bags, I also see how easy it is for a community to ignore the needs of its neighbors. The greatest resistance our Food 2 Go ministry has faced is disbelief that there are actually children in this community who go without food. The school system knows different and the children know different, but by and large the rest of us don’t. Why is that? How is that? How can we live and work and go to school with people and not know that their most basic need is being unmet? Is it possible to so shove the poor and hungry to the margins of life that we actually start to think they do not exist? Proverbs 21:13 reminds us, “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.”
And so, in those bags, I see the power of God’s love and our unity. Whether you can afford to purchase only one item or 10 bags worth of food, every item you give is valuable not only because of the stomach it will feed, but because of the love with which you purchase it. I am so grateful to be a part of a church who does not complain about what is wrong in the world, but rather gives its energy to asking, “How can we best show God’s love in response to the needs of our world?” Any one of us could not feed many children, but together we can and will feed at least 50 every weekend this school year. And I believe that is just the beginning. Others will catch on and they will help and we will all feed more. Then other school districts will see what is being done here and will help children be fed in our surrounding community. You see that is what can happen when people come together to show God’s love. God’s love spreads and spreads and is unstoppable!
In those bags, I see God’s smile. Over and over again the Bible talks about God’s heart for the poor and oppressed. “Who is like you, O Lord? You rescue the poor and needy from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob from them” (Psalm 35:10). The ones our world tries to overlook and forget, God never forgets. In fact, he says, if we are to love him, we must love the marginalized. And when we dare to love the ones God loves…how can you not see God smile. Is there anything more beautiful or worthwhile to live for than God’s smile?
So, Living Hope Church, I want to thank you in advance for turning grocery bags into something more than brown paper bags. In your hands, they will become channels of God’s grace to the young, the innocent and the hungry. And something tells me it won’t just be food that some of those children receive and you who give will find that you cannot out give God.
Bring your bags full of love this month! See you Sunday!
With Hope in Christ,
Chad Current , Pastor
"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37
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