Sunday Reflections...

I came to church this morning feeling a little drained, but the songs and the message cut to my heart as we talked about God’s promises and God’s will. I want to cling to the promises that God has given us in His word. God promises to redeem this earth and redeem his children. I want to look at this world and be moved (to action) with compassion like Christ was, not distracted and apathetic at all the chaotic mess.

This is the first week since I began my job that I was counting down the days for my weekend to begin. I was feeling discouraged the past few days as I encounter so many people who are living devastating, destructive lives...not just at work, but everywhere I look. I am surrounded by many people who are living in a man-made hell on earth. As I look at all the hurt, pain, and suffering in everyone’s life, sometimes I feel so weighed down. I only personally know the human suffering of a small handful in comparison with the billions of people that walk this earth. That thought is overwhelming, but at the same time makes me want to fall on my face and worship my God.

I cannot believe that I follow a God that sympathizes with the pain and suffering of humanity and desires to redeem it…not only does God desire to see us walking in unity with Him, but he gave his son, to die for our sins, that we may have the hope of living a life in unity with God’s heart, desires, and passions.

Vermon read Ephesians 3:20 this morning and it struck my heart in such a special way, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

If I, a human, a sinner, can ask and think of the worst of situations to be made whole and complete in Christ, then how much greater is God’s desire to do that for humanity? It is incomparable. I serve a God that is ABLE TO DO far more ABUNDANTLY than all that I ask or think. ..ABLE…TO DO…FAR MORE…ABUNDANTLY…ALL…that I ASK…OR THINK… I am truly in awe of God when I think of this. How can I be discouraged when I think about God’s great heart of love, compassion, justice, and righteousness?

Just wanted to share the words of some songs we sang today that really touched my heart.

The first one touched me because I feel like I can easily get lost in trying to understand what God has willed and planned. When I can freely admit that I am not skilled to undertand those things, I am freed to look at what I do know…I know that at God’s right hand is my Savior.

The second song touched me because I do not want to ever claim freedom from sorrow, pain, or care, I only want to glorify God’s name. The same goes for this world. The deepest fulfillment and joy comes not in freedom from pain, but in glorifying God’s name and to steal John Piper’s famous quote, “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him” (and being satisfied in God, will one day lead us to eternity freed from pain and suffering and a present life filled with a role in GOd's mission to redeem all of humanity from the death that sin has trapped us in.

My Savior, My God

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at his right hand
Stands one who is my savior

I take him at his word and deed
Christ died to save me this I read
And in my heart I find a need
For him to be my savior

That he would leave his place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my savior

My savior loves, my savior lives
My savior's always there for me
My God he was, my God he is
My God he's always gonna be

Yes, living, dying; let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring
That he who lives to be my king
Once died to be my savior


Be Glorified

Not from sorrow, pain, or care
Freedom dare I claim
This alone shall be my prayer
Glorify thy name

Be glorified in me
Be glorified
Be glorified in me
Be glorified

Can I child presume to choose
where or how to live?
Can a father's love refuse
all the best to give?

Let my glad heart while it sings
Thee in all proclaim
And whatever future brings
Glorify thy name

Romans 8:18-25
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

"The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For all of you who wanted to participate in the book discussion...here is the link:

http://christianbookdiscussion.blogspot.com/

Matthew 10:16-24

I love reading the Gospels. I love seeing the heart of Christ and thinking about the life he is calling us to. I read this passage of scripture a few days ago and have been chewing on it for a while...

Matthew 10: 16-23 "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

Jesus tells his disciples that they will be flogged, persecuted, and hated for His name sake. The same God that called for such selfless sacrifice to the point of pain, torture, and death is the same God that calls for disciples to follow Him today.

It makes me wonder why the invitation to follow Christ is often portrayed as an inviation to a life filled with happiness and smooth sailing. Why do we often depict relationship with Christ as this simple, brainless, easy choice? When I think about Christ sharing this with his followers, I do not imagine them thinking this future sounded like the "married with 2 kids, a dog, and a white-picket fence" life they maybe had aspirations for.

Is following Christ an easy choice? It makes so much sense for me. I could write for pages why it makes sense, but it definitely has not been a choice that has always led to the easiest path. And it definitely hasn't been the path of smooth sailing, unending bliss, and constant happiness. It has been a while since I have seen the movie, so my analogy may be a little hazy, but a scene in Patriot comes to mind as I think about this. There is a scene where there are all these people sitting on the side of a hill, under the cool shade of a tree, watching the battle unfold before them. Contrast that to the soldiers fighting, shedding their blood, giving their life for a cause they are passionate about. That is what the Christian life should be more described as. Given the choice to chose between being a part of something that will change history, see justice served, people healed, and lives changed...or to sit on the sidelines...that is an easy choice for me...but the actions are not easy and there will be consequences, wounds, and sacrifices. It would be much easier for my physically body to sit and watch. I would never have to get my heart rate up, I would never have to risk pain or hurt, I would never have to worry about the blood of others splattering on me and getting me messy and dirty. It would be easier to not be a part of it, to not participate...but it would not be the life I would rather live. Christianity is too often depicted as being an audience at a symphony. We can sit together and enjoy the beautiful music, bask in the artist’s work, enjoy the sounds as we sit and listen. Our intended purpose being to take part in producing the song instead becomes the passive enjoyment of a spectator. Unfortunately, the closest many get to taking part of God’s work is in sharp critiques and criticisms of the players, another passive approach to a life where God demands anything but passivity.

We talk about longing for community, but when you get to the heart of what we really want, it isn't for a group of people to get dirty with, to fight with, to pour out our sweat, blood, and tears with, to sacrifice our life for...it is for a group to sit, sip fine wine, and enjoy life with. What kind of Christianity are we offering the world? What kind of salvation are we offering if we are not offering a salvation for the empty, fruitless life they are living right now? Do we really believe following Christ to be something that is worth throwing our entire life into? Our entire family into? Our entire body and mind into? Are we offering the world an invitation to just sit, listen, and enjoy with us? Or are we offering them an opportunity to be a part of something so much greater then sitting on the sidelines or in the stands?

illegal to feed homeless???

what do you think of this article?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14168471/

I read in several other articles that the penalty for feeding homeless in Las Vegas Parks is up to 6 months in jail and a $1000 fine.

My first question is what is the motive in passing this law? Honestly, the cynic in me wants to say these politicians just want to clean up their parks and make them look better...but there is a possibility that they are trying to help the homeless.

The mayor stated that, "What we're trying to do is get the homeless to be fed in a social service environment, within a faith based environment, where there's a social worker, a doctor that puts them on meds, you get them back into society, instead of feeding them and running and leaving them there,"

That sounds great in theory. But the fact is...the United States is filled with chronic homeless people and it is not because churches and Salvation Army's go down there on Saturday mornings and give them break fast. The more I work with the homeless population, the more I realize that there is always going to be a percentage that will never come and use our non-profit, faith based, or government services. I work with youth from 9-21 that are living on the streets. We have many in that age group that are not allowed to use our services for various reasons. I have met homeless youth that have burned their bridges at all the social service programs and youth that have no desire to come in and set up goals and work with case managers. We absolutely need to equip the homeless to help themselves. We need to teach them and help them get off the streets, but what do we do with the percentage that are too mentally ill or too fried on drugs to come into those centers? It is wrong to just feed them and leave them there to be homeless, but it is childish and naive to think that every single homeless person is ready to break away from that life and come, get on meds, and get back into society. We cannot help people that do not want to help themselves, but we can still offer them the basic necessities. What is our duty as a Christian to meet immediate needs as well as long-term? Are we called to only feed those that are hungry if they want to be integrated back into society?

When I read the Mayor's defense I suddenly had images flash through my head of Christians and churches defending this law because it sounds so good. I pray I am wrong. Are we called to only show compassion and kindness to the non-drug attics, the non-lazy, the ones that are desperately trying to get off the streets? No, we are called to meet the needs of those around us...regardless of what their mental state is. I think the church needs to be strategic in how they do that. There probably are too many churches doing feeds on Saturday mornings and then just leaving it at that...there needs to be a balance between meeting immediate needs and deliberately planning long-term ways to help those who are poor get out of their situation.

To think that I could be sitting in a park, hand out some granola bars and juice to a homeless man, and end up having to spend 6 months in jail or pay a $1000 fine is ridiculous. To think that a local church cannot go to their neighborhood park and hand out water bottles on a hot summer day is sickening. I pray the Christian community of Las Vegas passionately gets involved in this. The government of Las Vegas may be trying to help the homeless find more long-term help, but in reality what they are doing is trying to strip away the human right to show compassion and kindness.

From Brokenness to Community

I just finished reading, “From Brokenness to Community” by Jean Vanier. The book was originated from two lectures given by Jean Vanier at Harvard University. It is a very short book, but very thought provoking and challenging. I recommend it to everyone (especially you Rhode Islanders ;)) Here is an excerpt from the book:


“We continually need to have before us the challenge of our mission. We are not in a community just to protect ourselves. We are not even there just to protect our own little spiritual lives. We’re there for the church, for people in pain. We have a message to give, and we have a message to receive. We have a mission, and if we are not a people of mission, then the community is in danger of closing up, and of dying.
Of course for Christians, the greatest becoming is entering into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Christ. It is, finally, a mystical union with God. Perhaps this is the heart of the message of every religion, but it is very much the heart of the Christ. We are called to be a people of freedom because we have received the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is our friend leading us to communion with the father.
Thus community is not an end or a final goal in itself. It is the place where we can meet Christ and discover his love for humanity and for every person. Martin Buber said that the community is the place of the theophany. It is the place where we meet God in a very intimate relationship, where we can have that experience of being “seized by Christ.” God loves us and draws us into the mystery and the love of the Trinity; there we can rest in his love. But community only keeps its meaning if it remains open to mission.”

Ending Hunger Now

I started reading a book tonight called, “Ending Hunger Now” Well…its now 3am in the morning (which…a book has to be pretty good for me to stay up this late) and I just finished it. I really recommend this.

The book is filled with a lot of statistics and facts. Hard facts about hunger that I did not realize. I was going to flip through the pages I earmarked and highlighted so I could post some quotes, but there are just too many good things to chose from. I think that the authors are definitely stretching it with some of their ideas and conclusions, but the concept is great…that it is very possible to cut world hunger in half within the next decade.

I am so tempted to type out a bunch of horrific statistics right now…but we have heard them before. At some point in the book, one of the authors quoted an African woman who says, “Statistic are numbers without tears.”

Hunger is becoming a buzzword in our Christian culture. Caring about famine and disease in Africa, China, and India is becoming very popular. We quote the statistics and discuss global justice. Phrases like “human rights” and “global justice” are being tossed around in our vocabulary. However, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now, I wonder if there will be change? I wonder if our hearts and minds are really grasping this tragic world-crisis and if we are willing to meet this great need.

This book was written for churches to go through as a study and discussion guide. The title sums up the main idea of the book…there is enough food in the world to end hunger now. Accepting that fact really means a life-change for many Americans. If that is the truth, then something drastic has to change for the middle-class and wealthy American. We can’t blame it on God for allowing drought and famine and natural disasters. Famine only accounts for 3% of reasons why people are starving. We can only blame it our disobedience to God. On our sin.

I really want to resist the concept of caring about the poor for popularity and trend sake and really be moved with compassion and move in action toward helping the poor out of a deep obedience to God and a deep understanding of his heart and motives. I am so glad that human rights and global justice is something that the younger generations seem to be talking a lot about, but talk is not going to put food in the stomachs of the hungry. Only action and obedience to what God has commanded us to do will begin to reduce the population of the 850 million people who are going to bed with very empty stomachs.

One of the frustrations I had with this book is that it focuses mainly on policy change and little on how the church can really make a dent in reducing the number of the hungry. I would have liked to have read more practical ideas as to what the church can do as a body to reduce the large number of hungry, but at least it is a short/quick read that can get the community talking…I just hope the result of the talking leads to some sort of creative ideas and action.

What are your thoughts? Please comment… :)

Only Love Remains

I came across this song about a week ago and I have just been listening to it over and over...I typed out the words too, because they are SO powerful, but you can listen to the song here: http://www.myspace.com/jjhellermusic


Only Love Remains
by J.J. Heller

Scenes of you come rushing through
You are breaking me down
So break me into pieces that will grow in the ground
I know that I deserve to die for the murder in my heart
So be gentle with me Jesus as you tear me apart

Please kill the liar, kill the thief in my
You know that I am tired of their cruelty
Breath into my spirit, Breath into my veins
Until only love remains…

You burn away the ropes that bind and hold me to the earth
The fire only leaves behind whatever is of worth
I begin to see reality for the first time in my life
I know I am a shadow, but I am dancing in Your light


Teach me to be humble, call me from the grave
Show me how to walk with you upon the waves
Breath into my spirit, Breath into my veins Until only love remains…