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Creation Runs

2012-03-09T09:10:00.002-08:00

Here’s my point: I believe that our souls long for something more. We create to get away from the cruel realities of a world gone astray from what God intended it to be. We create because there is something deep down within us that longs for something more.

I believe that Genesis represents what was the more we long for. I believe that in the beginning we had a perfect relationship with God. We could communicate with God without any effort what so ever, just as I may talk to my most beloved friend at dinner or over the phone. I believe that there was a point where God sat across from us at a great banquet[i], making a toast on our behalf being so proud us the Father’s sons and daughters, while we sit in complete awe of who God is.

I believe that humanities creative nature reflects the Creator’s unexplainable desire to create. I also believe that our imaginations somehow reflect the Creator’s great and endless imagination. God’s great figurative hand used a paint brush to create the reds of the mountains, the blues of the perfect streams, and the greens of the endless pastures.

I also believe that our soul longs not for something that is unattainable, but I believe that our souls long for something humanity, at one point, experienced. For what does a person gain to yearn for something they have never experienced? How would they possibly know that that reality is any better than theirs? Sure, maybe we have been told how great and wonderful that hoped reality is – but we cannot know paradise until we experience it.

Words pail to experience, just like our creations pails to God’s creation. Experience pails in comparison to God’s experience. Love pails to God’s love. As the pails add up, we surely must realize that our lives actually fail in comparison to what God intended. Genesis, in my mind, is the creation our lives fail to experience. We, through our ancestors, did experience perfection. Then, at some point, we lost that perfection. At some point, we fell from God’s perfect created order.

At some point, creation ran from God.

[i] The Gospel of Luke uses the great banquet phraseology when he talks about the kingdom. I purposefully used it here because Jesus constantly invites us to the Lord’s Banquet, where through the mystery of the Sacrament we somehow partake of a greater meal than we have ever experienced. In this way, we also partake of a very real kingdom that was, but now is, and we do expect to come.

Created by Some One

2012-03-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

Newest Excerpt:

There are not enough words that can be written about this subject. Genesis can be interpreted in as many different ways as there are people, which is true for every part of the Bible. At the end of the day, their are created and their is creator. How we define these two is up to each individual, but I will suggest that creation calls for something more. Our being is not random. Our individuality did not come out of chaos. Something – or some One – was behind all of this. Moses claimed that an unspeakable name – YHWH – was behind all of it. This God created, this God was behind all of creation. This God was first and for most and intentionally created a world that humans could specifically exist. God could have put us on Mars, where our flesh would burn off and our brains explode from the atmospheric pressure. If creation came out of chaos, then it is logical to suggest that this is a very real possibility. Creation, though, did not land on Mars. Creation landed the exact place the One wanted us to.

We live. We breathe. We cry. We smile. We stand in wonder of all of creation.

All this due to the reality that all of creation stands in awe of the Creator God. The One who has no start and no goodbye, alpha, omega, beginning, end, creator, sustainer, pursuer, loyal, just, and loving friend.

The One

2012-03-07T09:32:00.002-08:00

The Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament, starts out in Genesis with a very provocative thought: God is the One, the first and last One, the uncreated One, and the incredibly powerful One. God simply exists. He is the I am of all creation, the original creation that requires no one or anything to prove that this One exists.

Such an argument is lost throughout the rest of our entire lives. The whole world, from then on out, failed to start with this argument. We, throughout our collective history believe that we first exist. Then our existence slowly puts terminology to the rest of creation. You may have heard it said “I think, therefore I am.” Let be incredibly clear: You think because there is an I am that is not dependent on you. You breathe because the I am breathed into you. Put simply, the world does not revolve around you. The world revolves around the Sun, both literally and metaphorically.

This thought, though, will never compute for many. It may be that even in reading this, it is hard for you to understand. Creation, though, even suggests this to be true. On the one hand, for years people thought that the earth was the center of the universe, so I am not surprised that people now think that they themselves are the center of the universe.

Possible Cover

2012-02-28T12:56:00.002-08:00

ICommunity: Why I Need You

2012-02-28T12:39:00.000-08:00

Newest Excerpt:

I tell you these stories because the power of testimony is far more powerful than the theology behind them, or anything I could try to logically explain to you in words.

I tell you these stories because these incredibly painful circumstances happen on a daily basis. These phone calls come in the best of circumstances, like when a loved elder is about to die. They come also when we least expect them. I hear these stories all the time. Some who experience them will fall and never get up, forever tainted by horrible experiences with no explanation of seemingly unprovoked events. Others will also fall, but they will fall to their knees in complete acknowledgement that we are not in control. Even though we do not understand why we have to walk that road, we walk by faith. This faith leads us into the very heart of God, who at God’s center is relationship, which then creates the need for God and neighbor.

Each of the individuals mentioned above in my own personal testimony all have something in common. Each one loves the Lord our God more than anything else. Then, and only then, could they possibly speak love into their neighbors' lives.

Love God, love neighbor.

When disciples of Jesus Christ respond to tribulations through community and care in that same name, those who are hurting can embrace the others. They hold eachother, each crying tears of remorse and pain. The one in need are emotional because they have something causing the need. The disciples have something causing their emotion as well: empathy. Through their deep understanding of the gospel- of our need for a Savior – they become our saviors because they themselves have been called first.

In community, we rely on one another. In Christian community, I need you, and we need Christ.

When two or more are gathered, Christ is there.

The 3D Epic: A Modern Parable

2012-02-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

Another excerpt from 360° Christian:

I am walking in a crowd, people going from one place to another. We are going with the flow, we are unaware of one another, but we glance at each other on occasion. I look around, seeing only echoes of a life we were meant to live. I see a world tainted by something deep inside that brings war out of love, chaos out of harmony, void out of fulfillment, and constant calling with no answer. I hear it in music. I see it on screen. I feel it coursing through my veins.

Deep within my being I hear a voice crying out for satisfaction. Deep within me I crave something so much more than I experience. There are rare occasions I experience it. There are times where I think perfection comes out of imperfection; beauty from ashes; grace and mercy in pain. I find it when I cease from walking, cease from running, and become still. The stillness is scary, I dare not go there, but there, in the stillness, is a place where I hear a whisper. This whisper is incredibly silent while being far too loud. My eardrums pound along with my heart as I hear words of comfort.

I dare not stay here. I dare not confront what the voice calls me to. I become incredibly uncomfortable far too quickly. So I am walking. I am listening to earbuds in my ears, trying to disavow myself from the rest of creation. Even though deep cries out to deep – the depth of my soul cries out to the depth of something more – I do everything and anything I can do to keep from hearing it. I turn on more screens. I create more noise.

Culture awaits like an ocean with neither depth or boundaries. An endless void of time and space filled with idols willing to take ahold of my life; willing to swallow us whole.

In our deception, we jump. When we jump, we are swallowed completely. When we are swallowed, we drown. When we drown we die.

This is our 3D Epic. Drowning, dying, and Disillusionment.

First Glimpse: 360° Christian

2012-02-24T08:18:00.002-08:00

Over the course of this spring and next summer, I will be working on a book project called " 360° Christian". Where I have no idea if it will ever go any further than my own purposes, I am convinced that it is a project I must be intentional about and finish. In just the first 8 months of my pastorate, I am amazed how unrealistic it is to produce study after study, somehow continuing any momentum that the previous study had created. I already find myself in an endless cycle of trying to produce a program, and if you are at all familiar with the missional church model, programs are not sustainable. Ministry, though, is. Programs are based on people's work for God, but ministry is God's work that we are called to participate in. Therefore, my hope for this project will be to create a year long study that goes over all the elements of life and faith, and how Christianity is so much more than religion. This is nothing new, but while realizing programs are not sustainable, I also realized in my first class that I taught here that at the end of the study I had my own devotional/study written for the book we went through. So, I might as well have a produced product at the end. From time to time, I will publish on this blog and probably facebook excerpts from the different chapters. Thus, I give you the first excerpts from " 360° Christian", written by yours truly, Curtis P. Brophy.

This section comes after telling the reader a bit about my background, thus revealing the reason for writing the book.

I tell you all of this not for your entertainment, but I hope you are entertained. I tell you this

because this part of my life is how I came up with the notion of a 360° Christian. There are a lot

of things we as Christians are really good at. In an evangelical culture, we are very good at

emphasizing Jesus work on the cross being solely for changing one’s eternal destiny, but are

pretty horrible at emphasizing how God’s kingdom that Jesus inaugurated is not simply

something we wait for, but a monarchy that the King calls us to participate in.

Chapter I: What is Truth?

...There is nowhere in history that so many options have been offered. Even as the industrial age began, Ford had only one model to begin with, but now Ford has completely re-established its line of cars to try to compete with all the other brands out there like Toyota. Throughout history, when their have been a universal religion, it is always only one way of believing, like atheism under Marxism, a white supremacy Christianity under Hitler, or proclaiming the supreme ruler to be Lord as we see with Ceasar. Even in early Rome, where there were Roman gods that had evolved out of Greek ones, the Ceaser of the time tried to usurp even them. All other beliefs succumbed to that one fact, and if they did not, then the people professing such beliefs would be persecuted.

Today, plurality is anything but persecuted, in fact, it is celebrated. We promote truth to be relative. You can believe in your god or gods, and I will believe in mine. We can discuss our disagreements, but we can not look to convert anyone to any different beliefs. That would be invading one’s space, violating one’s rights, and ultimately not very PC, so to speak. ...

.......

Truth for the Christian is Jesus, but this Jesus looks a whole lot like each one of us as we make Christ a puppet by which we hold the strings. Our massive pictures of Jesus show a first century Jew looking like a 20^th century American. We like to believe in a god who loves us and wants us to be happy, but we get uncomfortable when we begin to talk about persecution, self-denial, and being willing to be the sacrificing servant. These terms have become negative labels that promote language of discrimination and some type of division between the “right” and the “wrong”. Even in individual faiths, there are many different interpretations, all of which needing to be equally acceptable.

At the end of the day, even a person convinced that their particular worldview is the way, the truth, and the light, we still are asking “What is truth?”. At the end of the day, we are just as confused as ever, unable to perceive any truth at all. We are left dazed and confused looking for something more.

....More to Come....

Knox on Vimeo

2012-02-24T07:43:00.001-08:00

Knox's Vimeo Page

Right now we are only filming the actual sermon. But in my benediction I stood down in front of the baptismal font. I said something like this "On Ash Wednesday, you may have heard it said from ash we have come, to ash we will return, dust to dust. In our baptism (and I reached my hands into the water) we die to ourselves. We die with Christ. But just as we died to Christ (I begin to pull water from the font, lifting my hands to a cross position) so also are we raised with Christ. Death no longer has its sting. Through our Baptism, the Holy Spirit calls us out into the wilderness to face temptation, but more importantly to Go and make disciples. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The State of the Church

2012-02-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

“And one by one, they ran away. With their made up minds, to leave it all behind. And the light began to fade, in the city on the hill, the city on the hill. Each one thought that they knew better, that they were different by design. Instead of standing strong together, they let their differences divide.” - City on a Hill, Casting Crowns

The week of January 18^th 2012 over 2,000 Presbyterians gathered to learn about the newly declared group, Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians. This comes on the heals of a very long battle between the left and right, the liberal and conservative, the right or wrong (I will do my best to define which one is which, because I am not sure either is right or wrong) with the most recent passing of 10A within the PC(USA), where the ordination standards where loosened by making one’s personal life simply under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Many have said that this is purely to have practicing homosexual clergy, and so I will note this – but we are naïve to believe that this is the sole purpose for the changes. The change also placed Scripture along the same lines as the denomination’s Confessions, which emphasizes important documents highlighting defining times in the Reformed tradition.

I have talked to many on the right side of the dichotomy that is in our tradition, and they now feel like they are in the same place as so many on the left have been for years. Suddenly, their beliefs are challenged and in many ways are compromised, and they now face a “Crisis of Conscious”. While this goes on one side, the other side celebrates what they see as yet another step towards complete reconciliation between all brothers and all sisters.

As both sides begin to pull upon the middle, whom I will suggest is Jesus Christ, we all one by one fall away from the vision that Christ has for the Church, which is unity. Yet, this unity is not without accountability as well as complete love in our Lord. Right now, I see no room for accountability or love within the denomination. I see each side walking away from the other and we let our differences divide.

Unfortunately, this has been happening for far too long, and certainly way before I ever was born. Which, I think, gives me a unique perspective on the entire picture. On one hand, I believe the Bible speaks very affirmatively about marriage being between a man and a woman. I also believe that the Bible, especially through its portrayal of Jesus, is completely inclusive for everyone. Everyone is welcome. We are welcome to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. This means different things for different folks – some will be transformed into world missionaries, others into engineers going to a work environment full of atheists. Yet, we all are called to run the race. We are all called to give up our names for the Name that ever made any sense. This Name, Jesus Christ, takes us from the sinners we were and glorifies us. He then calls us to come, follow, and leave all of whom we were behind.

Unfortunately, neither of these beliefs are being upheld within the dichotomy of Christianity. Jesus was incredibly good at walking the line. We see this with his interaction with the woman at the well, where he calls out her sin for what it is, but we never get the indication that she is uncomfortable. We certainly do not get the indication that Jesus persecuted her, which in large part the Church has persecuted the homosexual audience with signs that read “God hates fags”.

On the other hand, the Church has done a horrible job of being the Family of Christ. A family is dependent upon order. Without it, the family loses a centering hold on any type of sanity. Screaming fills the hallways one moment, while consoling one another and saying “I love you” happens the next.

I have seen it happened.

The sense of order is seemingly lost when we have no measure of accountability, which is especially evident in a pluralistic culture that influences every part of our lives. This culture suggests that possessions are deserved, not earned. It suggests that sexuality is formed, not given. It suggests that there is life without consequences, not a sinful life with very real consequences.

In other words, we accept the person who has a hidden addiction with pornography and we never ask him or her the hard questions. In fact, it makes us uncomfortable. Yet, sexual sin is the one sin that Jesus says to run from. Our culture has not run from sexual sins, we have embraced them. This problem has only gotten worse over the years as shows that are catered to teenagers are full with sexual references including overall examples of committing acts of adultery, exploring our forming sexuality (not a natural sexuality, but a nurtured one), and premarital sex. This is incredibly disturbing. If the one thing that Christians are willing to agree on is monogamy (whether same sex or not), than we still have incredibly huge problems to overcome.

On top of this all, each side of the same coin is claiming to have the righteous answers. The left is claiming that Jesus is doing something new. The right claims Jesus is certainly not. This is when each side needs to become very humble, and proclaim Paul in our midst – For none are righteous, not even one. Not the left, not the right, but only Jesus Christ. Yet, because each side believes to have a unique hold on revelation, we pull on Jesus Christ - our center and our guide - instead of being led by Him.

One of the biggest problems is what exactly revelation is. In reading the defense for the two overtures coming in front of our Presbytery in February dealing with changing language about marriage and pastoral discretion, it became very clear that Scripture, the Word of God, is not the first line of defense that is used. Rather, the overtures look towards other forms of authority, even civil ones before citing Scripture. When Scripture is cited, much of the language that is directly used about marriage, something Scripture is not silent about, is left out.

I will admit that there is plenty of experience to influence a person to support a homosexual lifestyle. My aunt was in a relationship with a female partner and I have a friend that came out around 2005. Each of these experiences have been incredibly formative for me, and as a Christian, they have challenged me to research God’s Word. In the process, I have learned a lot. As much as I want to justify such a lifestyle, my research in God’s Word and quite times in God’s presence have suggested otherwise. I know people who disagree with me will claim much of the same. As we make up our minds, though, my initial point still applies. We will continue to tug on the center, Jesus Christ.

With all this being said, I find it very frustrating to see the state of the Church. Within the same week that we observed ECO form, I was made aware of a group blatantly called the Christian Left. This label alone suggests a worldview in and of itself. Where social justice is important and something God calls every Christian to be involved in, the true Christian left continues to promote ideas and philosophies that are currently against our polity. Yet, this group is applauded. The change is met with a standing elevation. Yet, when a church who is on the true Christian right, comes to a crisis of conscience because of these changes and talks about leaving (and even ultimately does), many will point their fingers and say “you are not living in peace and unity with the body of Christ”. How is this any less living in unity than the group who promotes change that directly opposes our polity? If we are going to continue to give voice to every part of the denomination, then groups like the Fellowship need to be equally supported as groups like the Christian Left.

In the above paper, I have done my best to speak about the overall state of the Church within the PC(USA), but understand fully that my beliefs are not hidden. Ultimately, I do ask for us to come to the same table, instead of living out the lyrics found by Casting Crowns. I know that I am only one, and I need the Bride to keep me accountable. Yet, I also know that the PC(USA) is only one denomination in the midst of many. I fear, though, that the denomination believes that they have a certain hold on Scripture that the universal Church, most of which strongly disagree with our denomination’s stance on marriage, does not. As we continue to pass such polity, especially through Authoritative Interpretation, our denomination will continue to emphasize the USA part of our name. Where we may see one marginalized group be accepted, we may be marginalizing a much bigger one in the process.

Courageous Reflections

2012-02-01T12:57:00.001-08:00

I will use this blog to comment on our different studies for Courageous:

http://knoxcourage.blogspot.com/

Corridor

2012-01-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

    A boy named Troy wakes up in an incredibly bright room. He isunable to open his eyes and he is hearing a voice patching in and out telling him he has to start moving. Welcome to the Corridor, room #1, White. This room is seemingly made of the same white material, is impossibly smooth, and has edges one can fall off. Troy almost does exactly that, while the voice he is hearing, his Conduit, encourages him to overcome this first room. Through a series of fast pace decisions and near misses, Troy escapes White, only to enter room #2, Yellow, and many other colored rooms after that.
Over the course of the Corridor, Troy will be pushed beyond his limits. His body will be tested, bones broken, skin burned - even molted, and he will be pushed to the brink of insanity. The reader soon finds that Troy's Conduit's name is Victoria, who will be the voice that can communicate with Troy and see through his eyes. The Conduit's goal is to help the "Runner" (the person running the Corridor), Troy, through each room, but there is a catch. The Corridor decides what the Conduit can and cannot say, and if too much is revealed, than the Runner and the Conduit's link will be severed. We also learn that Troy is not the first runner, he is Runner 3735.
      Troy will find that the Corridor is relentless. The challenges are seemingly impossible, yet Troy pushes on. The Corridor also seems to learn, challenging the Runner around every turn. Troy also will find that the Corridor seems to have no purpose other than to torture. The Corridor will do everything it can do to win by making the Runner give up, or simply kill the Runner.
      Troy, though, does not find out how he got to the Corridor until sometime later. The reader will trace with Troy, relate with him, feel his pain, and ultimately re-live at least two traumatic experiences in his life. As the reader runs alongside the Runner and his Conduit, one cannot help but find a piece of themselves in each. Parrish does a good job of helping the reader convey with the extremely difficult situations Troy faces, and ultimately writes a solid climax with Christ like self sacrifice trumping all else, including the Corridor.

     With that being said, there are few things I was disappointed with. The first is the amount of mistakes found within the book. At times these mistakes really distracted me. This is uncharacteristic of Parrish's publications, which is why the disappointment was even more so. As always, when I find mistakes in books, I simply wish the writer takes the time to negate all mistakes. If this means a delayed publication, so be it. Ultimately, more time spent on a project can only make it better. So even if the publisher has a deadline, a seamless project is worth the time and publisher money.
     Second, where I understand this is more characteristic of a short story, I find myself asking a lot of questions. To a certain extant, I think Parrish did a great job of creating depth to the characters and giving you plenty of background story to build intrigue and suspense. However, what I will call the Epilogue part of the book did answer some of my questions, and without it I would have felt like the book was not complete. So, for that, I commend Parrish.
      Yet, what was revealed in the Epilogue that suggests a post apocalyptic world, is an entirely different story. It does help explain the existence of the Corridor, but gives you just enough background to make you want to read that story, making it more than an Epilogue.
      Ultimately, I was constantly thinking about the big questions, like "what happens when we die?" I think that within the scope of fiction that this piece is, Parrish has an interesting parable with the main Christian theme of Jesus dying so that we might have life. Yet, when death is incorporated into the book, the reader begins to wonder if the Corridor is some type of purgatory, which I find somewhat disturbing. Where there is something to be said about the wheat and the chaff, or the good and the bad, ultimately their will be nothing more we have to go through when we die. We will be judged first and for most for our response to Jesus Christ, then secondly to how we treated Jesus in the face of our neighbors. Love God, love neighbor.
     Parrish seems to stay away from these themes, which is neither good nor bad. On the one hand, it is good becuase it leaves the reader wondering until the Epilogue. In this way, the pages turned fast and kept my attention. On the other hand, it is bad because their are people who fear this idea of the in-between, purgatory, or whatever you want to call it. Parrish sticks to the claim that the Corridor stands apart from any other entity, and the Epilogue's reasoning for the rooms does give some clarity. Still, I can't help but wonder what challenges readers with shaky beliefs may face in seeing such an entity like the Corridor being similar to the view that God is a kid with a magnifying glass burning ants, or, in the Corridor's case, people.

   Overall, I would recommend this book. I do applaud Parrish for pushing the envelope and writing such a book with many different layers of intrigue and ideas. I continually encourage this art and want more people to read it, making it even better as we support the Christians in such vocations as writing.

   On a somewhat related note, this was the first full book I read on a Kindle like device. Where I see the power of having all of one's books in one place, I still hold true to a book with page numbers, a certain type of spine, and pages.   I also see books as being easier to lend to people, where I am not entirely certain of the rights I have as a buyer for borrowing out books on a kindle, or whatever other program one uses.

Tebow: A Case Study

2012-01-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

    This past Saturday, Tim Tebow had a John Elway moment. No, not a moment of glory like Elway jumping towards the end zone and becoming a helicopter in the process, but an earlier Elway moment. Or have you forgotten those instances where Elway was the recipient of a beat down, like in 1983 where Denver was beat 31-7 by the Seattle Seahawks and Elway only threw for 123 yards and one interception. Or when Elway was embarrassed by the Redskins in 1988 and he threw 3 interceptions. But Tebow also had an Elway moment against the Steelers, forIt was that same 1988 playoffs that Denver would forever be remembered for beating the Browns 38-33. (All Stats taken from http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/playoffs.htm)
   So its no wonder that Elway has named Tebow the starter going into the training camp so soon after the horrible beat down Tebow and the Broncos took from the Patriots. No, no one is saying that Tebow has the chance to become like Elway in 97 and 98, but all good things in the NFL usually start with an incredibly bad season, game, or personal performance. The 49ers are a perfect case study, who were 6-10 last year, and with seemingly a coach change alone, turned things around to become 13-3 this year (and competing for the NFC Championship, I may add).
    On the other hand, Tebow has been able to do something that John Elway never could. Tebow was able to bring God into every interview, pray to that God before and during every game, and in result the press devoured the seemingly divinely inspired comebacks leading to a six game win streak including two overtimes, only one game being won by more than 7 points, and half of the games where decided by a mere field goal. The season itself was saved by what seemed to be the divine as Denver played an absolutely horrible game against the Chiefs and the Raiders lost against San Diego. Both winning teams had no reason to play other than dignity and a call back for training camp. Nevertheless, the AFC West went as it had all year long - competing to the very end with a Broncos team with a Christian running the offense coming out on top.
   Many will respond asking "What does God care about a football game?" And if it were simply a football game, I think my response would be that God doesn't care about it. But, our football in American culture is so much more than a football game; so I simply can't believe that God doesn't care because football has become our arena. Football has become our bragging rights. And football has become a game that is about individual teams with individual players. In a league where player safety has taken more away from the game than it is given, players can lockout because of that safety and seemingly "lacking pay", and where there is a penalty that is based on Tom Brady going down with a knee injury from a low blow the NFL couldn't be more individualistic.
   Yet, football is more than an individualistic game. In Mayan culture, the men would let down their braids of hair in times of war - the very same reason why people like Polomalu and Domato Peko have such long hair that look more like mains than hair coming down from their helmet. From what I understand, they see themselves as going into times of war. Where it may not be plausible to argue that football has reached such a scale as war, it is plausible and provable that the God of the Bible supported certain nations in times of war. We see the Psalmist praising God in victory and complaining to God when their enemies prospered. We see the prophet Isaiah saying that God uses other nations to bring about God's judgment. In fact, Isaiah sees anything that happens as events God foresees, ordains, and is justified in letting any of it happen.
One of the best competitions in the Bible can be seen when Elijah goes up against the prophets of Baal in setting an altar on fire by simply praying. The winner will have proven that their God is the one true God, not just another idol. Elijah wins in this case, and the God of Israel is proven as Lord. Tebow, by winning, brought God talk up to a incredibly visible and national stage. Tebow's success, may not have proved that the Christian God is the one true God, but his success did place God and Christianity on a very central stage; a stage that every football fan and their families watched and took in.
   I am currently reading Tebow's autobiography "Through My Eyes". I find his upbringing in the Philippines with his missionary parents absolutely fascinating. I find it even more interesting that when Tim was around eight years old his father already knew that Tim would have a national platform to speak from in the United States just as the Tebows have the platform in the Philippines. Even if this were not the case, the Tebows would have risen their kids the same way. Yet, since this was the case, Tim's upbringing was based on humility and the emphasis that all praise would not go to a boy with talent, but the God who gave that boy the talent.
     There is no question that Tim Tebow is incredibly gifted athlete with an incredibly gifted body. His talents as a NFL QB, though, are really yet to be determined. His throwing motion has been under scrutiny since far before he even entered the professional league, and will continue to be. He's no Tom Brady and never will be. As we see the NFL become a passing league, where both Drew Brees and Tom Brady broke Dan Marino's amazing mark of all time throwing yards that has been in place since the early 80s, the expectation for that type of quarterback is sky high. Tebow will never be Brees, Brady, Rodgers, or you name it. But, he will make the most of the gifts God gave him. He will work harder and longer because that is who he is. God made him that way. Just as God gave each of us our talents and wants us to use those talents to glorify God, Tebow has done just that.
    Solomon in Psalm 72 prays that he as a king is able to be an incredible influence. When you read the Psalm it is a pretty prideful prayer for he is basically asks for God to make him famous. Solomon is considered one of the best kings and believed to have written Proverbs along with some of the Psalms. Being a king was who God had created him to be. Solomon, in knowing his giftedness, prays that God would make his gifts even more influential. If the prayer ended there, it would be a very selfish prayer, but it doesn't. Solomon prays to be an influence SO THAT he can deliver the needy when they call, poor, those who have no helper, so he can have pity on the weak and the needy, and save the lives of the needy. Solomon prays to be famous so that his fame can be influential for God's good.
     I don't know what Tebow prays before, during, and after a football game. I do, however, know what he said after the blowout loss the Broncos took at the hands of the Patriots. He was asked if he had a bad day; what I assume referred to Tebow playing a bad game. He responded by basically saying that he, in fact, had a very good day even though it had ended with a 35 point loss. He said he was able to spend time with a kid who probably will not see adulthood due to an aggressive disease. He said that with the funds he earned over the past year, including the playoff bonus he earned in beating the Steelers, was going to help fund a hospital being built in the Philippines.
Some might say that many professional players do charity events and donations like this. Tebow, though, was a difficult pregnancy for his mother. He was going to be born in the town in the Philippines that his parents lived. If his parents had not been airlifted to on offsite hospital, the doctors believed that both he and his mom probably wouldn't have made it. In fact, doctors encouraged Tebow's mother to have an abortion because of the risks. These events in Tebow's life, the money he is earning as a professional athlete, and by the grace of Jesus Christ have resulted in Tebow being the force in Christianity that is worth fame.
    Tebow has used this fame to wear sports tape saying John 3:16. A gospel, chapter, and verse that did not go unnoticed when Tebow threw for 316 yards and 31.6 yards per throw average against the Steelers. It further did not go unotticed that Tebow works for John Fox and John Elway - John 3:16. Where this is coincidence, I can't believe it is coincidence that the following was a stand alone commercial during the Broncos and Pats game:

Tim Tebow may never win a Super Bowl, and quite frankly, may not be a franchise quarterback. But I believe that God is using Tebow to be an impact to a nation that is lost in darkness. Whether the comeback victories where divinely inspired or were based on simple luck may or not may not be the central issue. What is the central issue is that God has placed Tebow on a national stage and has prepared Tebow to be a very vocal Christian to influence both a culture and a nation that is looking away from God for miracles to a television.
So as we reflect on a crazy year where crowds chanted Tebow's name, I think Christians should reflect on Tebow's willingness to filter out the fans chants and how he makes it a point to listen to what God is chanting: "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." To that, I think we can all say "Amen!"

I am Second

2012-01-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

Speaking of God's whispers: Search IamSecondVIDEOS on you tube. There is an endless a ray of incredible testimony.

Hearing God's Voice in a Noisy World: Elijah

2012-01-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

http://knoxchurch.org/media/podcast/hearing-gods-voice-noisy-world-elijah

Thanks be to God.

Vigilante

2011-12-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

   In the city of New York where crime is at an all time high, police have no authority, and one particular crime boss is coming up the ranks, a hero shows up known as the Hand offering everyone "a better way". The Hand, a vigilante for justice, is someone without an identity, but with an idea that will change how people think. That idea is to help people in the midst of crime and war so that people in turn help themselves.
    Thus, Nolan Gray strips himself of his identity, fakes his own death, and is able to put together a three person team to fight the crime in New York. At first, along with a commemorated retired colonel giving commands and a science nerd creating new technology for amazingly efficient armor, Nolan Gray as the Hand is able to show that better way. But as the Hand gets more recognition, many begin to ask questions. Who is the Hand? Who is this vigilante trying to change New York one life at a time?
    Yet, for that one crime boss, he asks the question: "how will this Hand affect my crime business?" For Yuri Vasko, the Hand is at first simply a nuisance. But in the midst of the Hand fighting injustice, the president of the United States implements a team known as the Organized Crime Intelligence agency, the OCI, to also fight rising crime, not just in New York, but throughout the US. When the OCI infiltrates Vasko's own home, they accidentally kill two of Vasko's most beloved people; his wife and daughter. Nolan Gray shows up right as this happens, and as the OCI falls back realizing their mistake, Vasko enters the room to see Nolan Gray holding the gun that could have killed his beloveds. Thus, the Hand is more than a nuisance, but now Vasko's sworn enemy that Vasko will go to every length to have his revenge.
    In the midst of all the action and violence, Nolan Grey's relationships with both his team and a motherly figure in the form of Alice, a woman the Hand saved who takes refuge at the team's hideout, deepens as the plot thickens. As one reporter is on the verge of publishing an article on who the Hand really is, Gray shows up to try to delete her evidence. In arriving, he finds the reporter dead and her apartment ransacked. Meanwhile, Vasko, in declaring all out war on both the government and the Hand, ignites a massive firestorm in a underground tunnel leaving everyone driving in the tunnel to die. Thus, the Hand responds, and spends the entire night pulling victims out of the war zone, saving as many as he possibly can, while knowing good and well that there will be many he cannot save.
   This saving effort comes to an end, and when the Hand tries to contact his team, he is met with Yuri Vasko's voice telling him that his friends are in danger. Nolan Gray desperately tries to get back to their hideout, only to arrive too late. His team and Alice have been beaten within inches of loosing their lives. Vasko's message has been sent.

The remainder of the book becomes a chess match between Nolan Gray and Yuri Vasko. The book becomes about revenge and how far a person is willing to go in order to bring justice - or war. Parrish pushes the envelope of the extant one person, the Hand, can take both physically and psychologically. In the end, only one man stands, but Parrish does an incredible job of making you truly wonder if good will prevail.

   From a pastoral perspective, the question has to be asked: "Does God condone any form of violence?" From early on in the book, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is prevalent and Parrish does a very good job in showing different view points of religion and the ethics involved there in. Nolan Gray, as the clear Christian, whose very motives are based on his convictions, is the one pushed to the brink of despair. In his despair, he retaliates. At first Nolan has no real weapon other than a staff to protect himself and to disarm, but as Nolan is challenged, he moves to more extreme - and explosive - measures. Jesus, on the other hand, was passive till the very end - even when his opponents mocked him to use his Godly power to remove himself from the cross. Nolan, a Christ follower, never turns the other cheak, even when his atheist friend begs him to let the justice system take its course in the very climax of the book.

With that being said, Parrish's epilogue speaks very well about a Gospel that is for the broken and greatest of sinners. Tones of Saul becoming Paul can be found in Nolan Gray's being handed a Bible from an individual whose testimony defines redemption. Paul, of course, saw himself as the very worst sinners having persecuted and killed so many Christians before his conversion, yet he is a proponent of the amazing grace found in Christ Jesus. Parrish successfully ends the book with such vigor and quotes Scripture well to bring the book full circle.

   Overall, this was a very good book. It was well written, the chapters are short making the pages turn faster, and the action keeps one engaged throughout. Robin Parrish is pushing the limits of Christian fiction, and that is a fresh breath of air. I highly encourage anyone to pick up Parrish's books and help support him and his family. The more we Christians encourage Christian art, the more it will receive the platform it deserves to help be a ministry to a very lost world.

Coming Soon to Knox: Courageous

2011-12-08T13:00:00.001-08:00

Moving Beyond Population One

2011-11-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

What Are We Waiting For?

2011-11-22T07:17:00.000-08:00

10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11

As the disciples watched Jesus leave their presence up into the sky, the robed angels show up and basically ask “What are you waiting for?” Or, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”

The disciples, I imagine, were thinking that Jesus would be right back. I mean, their Jesus had resurrected from the dead to be in their midst yet again, why wouldn’t Jesus just turn around and return right then and there. Its not like the world they were going back into to bring such a message of the Gospel would believe anything they might say. Would they say “Hey, I know this guy who was publically executed in the worst possible way.”

Their listeners would respond: “Oh my goodness!”

To which the disciples say: “No, no, its ok! He raised from the dead three days later!” As they see the crowds walking away thinking: Are you serious?

This same question is the just of what the world says to Christians today. Are you serious? A god became human to die? And then you say, that even though no one else had ever claimed to have risen from the dead, your Jesus did? Are you series? You believe that garbage? Oh, and you are claiming and waiting for this Jesus to return? Really…

This type of thinking is especially true in the season of Christmas, where more Americans will celebrate Santa and the spirit of receiving than celebrate a baby being born or any gift being given. And if you think otherwise, then think about the way one feels when he/she does not get what he/she want from Santa. Speaking for myself, I can certainly sulk in not getting what I want. We as a culture have been trained to make a Christmas list specifically so someone else can go out and buy it for us.

Maybe I should ask what are you asking for?

What are you waiting for?

Oddly enough, Jesus was born into a culture that was waiting for a Messiah. In fact, they were desperate for it. For too long the Jews had been under political persecution and leadership that anyone who offered any sense of freedom was their current Messiah. The best example of this is Judas Maccabees and the lineage he came from. For a brief time, the Maccabees rose up in defiance of the political rule. But, this reign did not last. Eventually, the Maccabees died out. Eventually, Judas, imparticular became another failed Messiah.

It so followed, though, that many people claimed to be a messiah type figure. In the Qumran community we see that a teacher of righteousness was praised. Where this teacher never claimed to be the Messiah, this teacher certainly fulfilled an aspect of being a messiah – a rabbi, teacher, ruler of sorts, etc. Still, it took humanity years to remember this teacher and that was only after the particular community’s scrolls were found.

Even so, dead messiahs were failed messiahs. The skeptics had every reason to believe that Jesus was yet another failed messiah. Even Saul believed that Jesus was in hell because he died upon a tree. Clearly, Jesus self-perception and teachings were wrong. None the less, Jesus did fulfill many expectations to be the Messiah. Jesus actions and crucifixion scream Isaiah 53. Both Matthew and Luke take the time to go through Jesus’ lineage. This lineage has sinners, saints, and even kings. Most importantly, it included the King David, the very line that the Messiah would come from. To say the least, many people who were waiting for such a messiah believed that Jesus was God’s representative, the Lord’s anointed, the Messiah.

When Jesus carried his own cross to Calvary, was placed on that very cross, and was nailed to it the people again waited. Even the guards call out to Jesus mocking him saying “If you are truly the Son of God, then come down from your cross.” Actually, this mock both has a hope, but also Jesus’ last temptation is found in this comment. On one hand, many onlookers were watching and waiting to see if Jesus would save his own self from the cross. On the other hand, in Jesus’ temptation in the desert we are told that the devil left Jesus for another opportune time. Thus when Jesus prays in the garden he wrestles with the cup that he had to take on, and of course he ultimately does drink from the cup given to him. Yet, it had to be incredibly tempting for Jesus to tap into the same power that he healed with to save him. If Jesus, in fact, had brought Lazarus back from the dead, surely he could save himself from his own oncoming death. The guards remark is certainly expecting something to happen.

But nothing does. Jesus’ side is pierced to check and see if he was actually dead. Ultimately, Jesus’ closest friends are the ones given permission to cut their “Messiah” down. Jesus is buried. The tomb is shut. Jesus is dead. Dead Messiahs are failed messiahs. So, the disciples, sit in darkness with no expectation of anything other than to mourn and to cover themselves in sackcloth. The disciples are not waiting for anything.

At this point in the story every Jew, every Gentile, American, European, Asian, Africa, and every tongue can clearly ask any believer “What are you waiting for?” because there is nothing to wait for or believe in. The movement of Christianity, in that moment, was just as dead as the perceived messiah. There is no reason to believe that Jesus was who he said he was and yet another reason to perceive Jesus’ miracles as no different than any other prophets’ actions at the time. Where many had hoped that Jesus would fulfill the prophecies, they would come to realize that their hopes were useless. Their wait had been for nothing.

Yet, this is not the end of the story, is it? No, something happened in this moment that was meant for complete mourning that instead resulted in rejoicing. Out of this situation Christianity was born. A religion came out of death. In the midst of further persecution the Church exploded.

Hence why I began with the text from Acts in the first place. The disciples looked up after Jesus with the full expectation that their Messiah would return. They were waiting for Jesus’ words to be fulfilled. And even when the robed people showed up, the angels, who told the disciples to wait upon the Holy Spirit, that same expectation remained. It was the martyrs’ hope in the midst of persecution. It was the apologetics understanding of the Gospel. It was the Church Council’s Creed. And it continues to be the hope of every tongue and every knee that bows as the very mention to Jesus Christ.

It is the reminder that Jesus Christ came and fulfilled all the expectations of a Messiah. It is the reality that God’s kingdom has been established on this earth so that there is no longer death, but life in the midst of death. Grace in the midst of shortcomings. Mercy in the midst of sin. Peace instead of war. And it is the expectation that Jesus will return, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun at the trumpets call.

So lift your voice.

As we approach and then enter into the season of advent we are reminded, we are enabled, and we are eagerly waiting. We are reminded that where we were all once walking in darkness, we have seen a great light. We are reminded that it is only by God’s shear grace and mercy that a Messiah was sent in the line of David whom all of Israel’s expectations were fulfilled and sin was defeated. In that reminder, we must solemnly take the place of every sinner of every generation with the complete expectation that the failed messiahs were simply a reminder that The Messiah was coming. We must be reminded of our waiting.

As we are reminded, we can also live in the current reality where we are no longer disabled from moving out of our sinful nature, but in Jesus Christ – that in the Messiah was sent because we know that God so loved the world – we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to live in a new kingdom that is so full of hope that there is absolutely no room for darkness.

In being reminded, yet renewed, we are also continually in waiting. Many people believe that Handle’s Messiah is about Jesus first coming. This is incorrect. The Messiah is about the second coming. It is about how physical death is forever defeated at the return of Jesus Christ were God’s political kingdom will be re-established. There, every believer will live in a new heaven and a new earth. When Jesus returns it will be the then and there that there we will worship in complete adoration knowing that there will be only peace, no more disease, no more rain, more pain, no more tears, no more fears. We will breath in the very kingdom and glory of God. And it won’t just be good. It will be glorious. It will be amazing. It will be what human words cannot describe because only God can speak of His glory and holy relational kingdom!

And this kingdom, brothers and sisters, is worth being reminded of.

This kingdom is worth living in.

Jesus’ kingdom is worth waiting for.

In the name of the Father.

In the name of the Son.

In the name of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Pick up your mat and walk

2011-11-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.   (John 5:2-8)

Over the past three days I made a whirlwind trip to Colorado. Where my grandpa has not been laying in his bed for thirty-eight years, it has been five weeks that he has not been able to stand. His life has gone full circle having once needing to have his diapers changed and needing to learn how to walk, he now does so again. But he has not lost his dignity, confidence, or faith. And certainly my grandma has not lost site of her faith either.

I sat across the breakfast table from my grandma. She told me "We are believing that John is going to get up and walk. We do not want to surround ourselves with anyone who believes the contrary or questions this, because we do not want to hinder God."   I prayed with and for my grandparents before I left, but I was forced to ask a very important question: Can Jesus heal us?

   In this story, Jesus not only heals, but heals an invalid. Societies worst of the worst that no one in their right mind would pay attention to, in fact, in the story we see that there is no one to help the invalid. In my mind's eye I see anyone who is able running past the invalid on his mat not even acknowledging him, and some are even stomping over him. This has gone on for 38 years - no wonder this man is an invalid. But when Jesus sees him, he probably says to those around him "And what about that one?" Jesus is told. So Jesus asks "Do you want to get well?" The invalid gives an affirmative answer, so Jesus commands the unable man to become able: "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

This is not the first time this story has come to mind. In 2007 my grandma passed away. My uncle, who we have often referred to as the prodigal son who has yet to come home, was sitting at my grandma's hospital bed. In his sorrow and desperation, he saw a Bible sitting by her bed. In her last year, faith had become something of importance to her, which had been conveyed to her youngest son. So he picked up the Bible and let it fall open to John 5. He sees his grandmother lying there for some time, to which Jesus asks "Do you want to get well?" My uncle thinks, yes, my mother wants to get well. He continues reading: Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." When my uncle looked up the sound of a dead line fills the room, and my grandma, his mother, had died.

   I preached the sermon on this passage. And in the sermon, when my uncle had read Jesus' pronouncement for what my uncle had perceived to be for his mother, I reinterpreted. When Jesus said these words to my grandmother, she was not physically healed. But that does not mean she did not pick up her mat. She certainly did pick up her mat. Jesus called her to leave the world behind and enter into God's heavenly kingdom where she will never be bed ridden again. So she picked up her mat, and responded to Jesus' words, not out of her own strength, but because Jesus strength carried her to our heavenly home. My grandmother loved to dance. And dancing she is doing.

Healing comes in multiple forms. For my grandmother, it was to be spiritually healed and to look forward to a physical resurrection. For my grandpa, I do not know what Jesus intends for him in this world. Certainly Jesus intends for all who believe to pick up their mat at the end of their earthly lives to walk through the pearly gates into a kingdom we can only imagine. But for my grandpa, he still has the will. He wants to be healed. And I found out that when he does not think about it; does not tense up all of his muscles; he can stand up. Not for very long, but long enough to realize that something is happening. Something miraculous - Something only Jesus can summon, only the Holy Spirit can impart, and only God can ordain.

So, if you have been sick, believe. Believe that you can get well. To which, Jesus will respond. And in some way or another, you will pick up your mat and walk. You will have joy that surpasses understanding. You will be healed.

Can Jesus heal? Certainly.   Do we always know how Jesus will do so? In some ways, no. In one way, if you are in Jesus Christ, you are most certainly always healed. Or do you not remember, that you were once walking in darkness, but through Christ you saw a great light. That light will shine in any darkness. Clear any storm. And overcome any illness.

So, as always believe. But, when belief is far too hard, know that Jesus has always believed in you.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

To My Audience of One:

2011-11-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Holy Performance

   Over the past few weeks worship has been anointing. I think of our worship as the Holy Performance because we are there to entertain. We are there to sing, to play, to clap our hands, and (God forbid) dance in the isles. We come to do all of these things with our entire heart, strength, and mind.

    Apparently, we are doing it. I see a picture clearly in my mind of a blonde haired woman dressed in her Sunday's best with her eyes closed, a bit of a smile on the edges of her lips, and a tear beginning to stream from her eye. All of this in complete surrender to our one true King. Apparently, something is going on bigger than a performance.

Certainly, God is at work. The Spirit of the Lord anoints in ways unimaginable. It is so far above our finite minds that all we can do is sit in complete holy surrender. The echoes of angels' choruses fill the room when the voices of the saints and sinners alike are lifted up to the throne most high. There, we bow down. We lay our crowns. And in doing so we acknowledge that humans are not gods, but God is God alone. There is nothing God needs to do to prove it, but there is no proof that can disprove our Lord. There is nothing God needs to do in order to suggest that our God reigns, but God created the universe. God created the air we breath and the lungs we breath it with. God created, but God did not step back to watch from afar. No, God so loved the world that the Father offered up the Son as the sacrifice to a jealous King. And in so doing, that which is evil reigning in our lives is once and for all dealt with.

And you - you who were once living in darkness have seen a great light. Where we are all sinners and deserve condemnation, the One who created sent the One who was without sin to live for us, die for us, and live through us so that we no longer are guilty but as pure and as spotless as the white whole on the purest lamb. So, oh Lamb of God, we come.

Several years ago my doubts about the truth that I now speak of were washed away in one steady and clean sweep. For two hours my own peers had been playing worship songs. They were singing their hearts out, not because they were getting paid; for no amount of money could pay for the offering being lifted; but because they had been bought for a price. A price that calls us to respond with us everything we are. So God's spirit spilled forth through the tongues of people and the strings of instruments. God's spirit anointed an entire room. The room, in response, fell to their knees. Every single knee did bow and every single tongue (in that room) did confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. ATt that point I realized two things. God is for us because God sent the Son to save and the Holy Spirit to lift up the light of the Lord's countenance upon us. And if our God is for us, than who can be against us? Not only did I realize the power and majesty of our Lord, but I also realized that in that moment that God desires this for every knee and every tongue to confess in the entire earth.

   In that moment, I realized why the woman searched everywhere for the lost coin. In that moment I realized why the father threw such a party for the lost son, and yet so disappointed when the older brother questions why he does so. In that moment I understood God's majesty. I understood why the seraphim and cherabim (which in fact are creatures to be feared to the point of wanting death in stead of even being in their presence) will lay down in front of such a mighty throne.

   In that moment, and possibly the most powerful part of it all, I knew that God was good. For God is good, God is good, and God's love endures forever. That Lord gives and takes away but it is for the good of those who believe. Our God reigns in the good and the bad. The evil and the good. The blessed and the cursed. God is God and we are not. God is better than anything we have ever experienced. God is the I AM of all creation - To who we find our life and our being. To whom we acknowledge and kneel. Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, Amen.

How Great is our God

2011-11-07T20:53:00.001-08:00

Ok...this is pretty cool.

The Love of Money

2011-10-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

If you are a member here at Knox, you will be receiving a small book about giving sometime in the next week as we approach commitment Sunday on Nov. 5th. So this post will speak a little bit about how being a Christian changes our hearts in relation to our finances.

I do not suppose it was easy for Peter and his brother Andrew to simply leave their nets at a moments notice. I mean, think about it: Peter and Andrew were fishermen. It was their vocation; being how they made money, fed their family, and in being biological brothers this fishing gig was their family's business. Just like we have Smiths because they were blacksmiths at some point, so also would it be appropriate to call the brothers Peter and Andrew Fisher. Where this was not their last name, it was who they were. Can you imagine some guy you have never met coming up to the banks of the river or lake where you had been fishing and said: "Give up your life. Come, follow me and I will give you a new name."
Or, maybe, we need to frame this story differently. That is, what if you are a high school teacher, a doctor, or a CEO. For the high school teacher, this person you do not know would come up to the door of your class room and say "Give up teaching secular standards. Come, follow me, and I will make you a teacher of the gospel."
For the doctor this person you do not know comes to your office without even making an appointment. This person catches you as you come out of one of your patients rooms. He says "Give up on being a doctor of medicine. Come, follow me, and I will make you physician for both the soul and the body."
For the CEO, you are in your office in a sky scraper when this stranger walks in. At first, you consider calling security, but do not have the chance to before he says "Give up being the executive and rich person you are. Come, follow me, and I will make you a leader of the poor, the outcast, and the sinner."
In that moment, as the teacher, doctor, or CEO, you have a choice to make. Do you continue to teach, practice medicine, or sit in the comfort of an expensive office, or do you leave it all behind for the sake of a stranger's claim on your life?
But before you answer; please consider that this stranger is no stranger at all. No, this stranger is actually quite familiar. This stranger knew your name before you were even born. This stranger formed you in your mother's womb. This stranger rejoiced at your first step, reassured you after your first failure. This stranger has carried you when your burden has been too heavy. This stranger knows you quite well. This stranger is your Creator, Savior, Redeemer, Counselor, and Advocate. This stranger is your LORD. And when we realize that everything we have is in result of what God has first done for us, then our perspective changes.
Giving up our name will no longer leave us in a place of uncertainty. Please note that giving up our name does not however remove us from a place of danger. Just as C.S Lewis spoke about the lion in Narnia being anything but safe, so also is our Lord. But we do know that our Lord is good. We know this because our Lord loved us so much that he sent his Son for us to follow. This Son calls us to give up our name and take upon a new name - his; Christ - and begin a journey that we never imagined to even be possible.
The truth of the matter though is this: We are teachers. We are doctors. And some of us our CEOs. We are engineers. We are janitors. We are...well, you fill in the blank. We have lives to live. Money to make. Careers to chase after. And all of these things in and of themselves are very productive. But when we love them more than who we are in Jesus Christ, they become idols that we can't afford to chase after. Everything we have is a gift from God - your job, your family, your possessions, your money, and - most of all - your name.
People will object to giving anything they have back to God. We can justify all we want, but the truth is hard to accept. We live in a culture that justifies chasing after possessions, money, and an unrealistic dream. Our culture says to chase after idols. The Gospel, though, says that the person who does this will simply come to the end of his or her life having stored up much in many storehouses and then die. But, the person who comes in complete humility giving their whole lives for the sake of Jesus will die, but the treasures they have built up in the kingdom of Heaven is worth far more than any idol. This is why we cannot afford to chase after idols. We cannot buy our way into heaven. But our faith can. God calls us to a life of sacrifice, placing Jesus first in everything we do.
Oddly enough, when Jesus appears to the disciples in his resurrection, the disciples give Jesus a piece of fish when Jesus asks them for something to eat. When they had thought Jesus gone, they went back to their previous vocations. They went fishing once again. But Jesus, in returning, calls us to be fishers of people, teachers of the gospel, physicians of both body and soul, and leaders of todays generation through being fishermen, teachers, doctors, and CEOs giving us the ability to minister to people in any of those situations.
When we consider stewardship, we must look into a mirror to see what it is that we value most. When we look into the mirror, do we see everything we are through our jobs, families, and money? Or do we see something else? Do we see Jesus Christ with arms stretched wide and hands wide open willing to give everything we have in order that God's kingdom purposes can - and ultimately will - be met?

"As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasure. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "This poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."" Luke 21:1-4

The Beneficiary of Love

2011-10-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

I may not be awesome, but here is a letter from Tammy Waggoner about how the help we have given her has gone such a long way. As a person who has benefited from such donations, I can affirm everything she says in this email. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for us to raise up church leaders for the next generation, not to mention this is one of those opportunities when the church can continue to affirm the vows we made to Tammy at her baptism.

Now, for Tammy's words to take center stage.

Hey Knox Family! Curtis, your new awesome associate asked me to tell you what the money you have sent me has gone to. The following is an explanation of how you have supported me over the years.

1. Books. Books for classes can add up. It always surprises me how much "tiny" books can cost. Over the years I have limited the number of books I buy but it still adds up. The money you have sent me has allowed me to buy books that I hope to use in future ministry opportunities.

2. Classes. The money you have sent me has allowed me to take classes that have fermented my call and developed my interests. I now have a firm grasp on what I am interested in and what I am not interested in. My faith has also grown and strengthened during my time here. I know who God is and how he intereacts with us as humans on a personal and a global level and your money has allowed me to do that.

3. Rent and food. The money you have sent me twice a year for the past four years always comes when I am in great need. I'm always wondering how I am going to pay my rent or how I'm going to buy food and then God gives me the miracle of your check in the mail.

4. Health. You all know me well and know that my health always seems to be in peril. This year has been a bit worse than normal and your money has helped me to pay for check-ups, have surgeries, and have labs to firgure out a diagnosis.

Not only has your money helped me pay for things but it has also helped me to develop friendships, be in internships, and develop my ministry goals.

1. Friendships. How can money help develop friendships? Your money helps me to stop worrying about money and spend more quality time with friends. I can put worry on the back-burner and spend time relaxing and having fun.

2. Internships. I have so far been in 2 church internships. In those internships I have started groups for women who have been sexually abused and in the last month I have started to write curriculum for such groups. Your money has afforded me the ability to take internships that help me reach my ministry goals instead of taking anything that paid. I have been afforded the opportunity to pursue my dreams and goals in these internships because of the money you have provided.

3. Ministry goals. In the past four years I developed a heart for women who have been sexually abused. I have developed a theology that focuses on the God that loves us and cares for us. I still have my Presbyterian roots but I find myself in the middle more often than not these days. I have a compassionate heart and in the coming years I plan on using that for God's purposes.

You are all my family and I miss you. I am so thankful for the money that you have sent me and I consider it a blessing everytime I recieve it.

If you are interested in following me you are more than welcome to read my blog:tammywaggs.wordpress.com. http://tammywaggs.wordpress.com/

It is on this site that I post about what God is doing in my life by means of transformation as well as my spiritual journey.

If you would like to hear more about my journey you can email me at:tammyrwaggoner@gmail.com or you friend me on facebook.

I love all of you and I am so thankful for the opportunities that your gift has afforded me.

Love and miss you all,

Tammy

....Lets continue to give financially in order to free up people to serve God's kingdom....

Beautiful

2011-10-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes God places beautiful things in our lives. This makes me want to be a dad of girl...while also realizing I will never understand her. None the less, it is in the same spirit as Courageous.

From Shane and Shane's new album, "The One you Need"

IHN

2011-10-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

Giving families a chance:

Fox News

Interesting newscast on Interfaith Hospitality Network.

Not too long ago, Knox hosted IHN, and in not too long, we will do so again. For that time what parishioners at Knox know as the Annex looks a lot more like a cafeteria. Children's laughter can be heard through out the church. For that week, these children can call our church home.

The sad, and for that matter, growing reality is that there are more and more families needing to benefit from organizations like IHN. Two months ago Vicki Dercher stopped by and spoke to the Deacons. She expressed that they can only house about 15 people because they currently have 15 passenger van. And where churches can only help house so many people, Knox at least could house more than 15. Yet, their financial income as a nonprofit can only afford so much. There are only two paid staff members and the rest of IHN is made up of trained volunteers. And I imagine there are not nearly enough volunteers.

God calls us to take up our cross and follow Jesus. In Luke, Jesus picks up the scroll of Isaiah to read "the Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." As everyone's eyes in the synagogue land upon Jesus, Jesus continues "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Taking up the same cross, that is the same call as Jesus, is to take upon Jesus mission statement as seen here in Luke (4:18-21). To people walking in the darkness of being homeless, IHN offers recovery. Freedom. And is a place where people can experience the Lord's favor.

Your time and money are important. Not because the business world says it is, but because God says it is. Maybe God is asking for your finances and time to help people in need. Here at Knox, we think one way to do that is by helping IHN.

Hope for the Orphans of Burma

2011-10-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

In about a week Knox will send six people overseas to Thailand. This has been in the planning since our last trip nearly two years ago. Since then, the former associate of Knox, Mike Lane, has been a hand in helping form Hope for the Orphans of Burma. Just a month ago, Mike and one of his associates came to Knox to talk about the programs that are helping out over in Thailand.

The people that were in their stories are aliens, orphans, and outcasts. They have no place to call home. No place to dream about a future. No place to worship. No place to see God at work in their lives. Many of them are children who were forced out of their homes due to tribal or extreme gang violence. Because they are not a citizen of Thailand, they are seen at the very bottom of their hierarchal structure. These children thus have no voice, no food, and no way to work their way out of this horrible situation.

It is therefore Christians' responsibility to create such a home. Hope, along with what is known as the Genesis Project is trying to do exactly this. We here at Knox have a wonderful opportunity to partner with such an organization.

For more information about Hope: Hope for the Orphans of Burma

To keep up to date with our mission team: Mission Blog
or Mission Twitter

Crosslines

2011-10-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

During stewardship month, I am going to make this a place that people can see what we as a church give to and what we help out with.

Just last week a meal was served by cross lines to people like these....

"This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families." Isaiah 58:6-7, The Message.

Courageous

2011-10-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

A few years ago the same minds that are involved in Courageous did Fireproof. For the most part, it was a well done movie. There were, however, moments in Fireproof that I wanted to just fast forward because they simply were not moments of how faith is shared or how lives are changed. Yet, it was a good step forward, because the funding that the Provident group and Sherwood ministries received lead to Courageous. And to say the least, it is courageous.

Tragedy strikes when we least expect it. When that tragedy strikes we are left reeling out of control seemingly to no end. This is what one characters in Courageous faces that leads him to a place of complete surrender. The amazing part of this movie is this doesn't happen until at least a 1/3 of the way through this movie. The first third draws you in as you become part of the lives of these police officers. So when tragedy strikes, you walk the unnerving and gut wrenching path with the cast and you begin to feel what they feel. Where I am not sure the Resolution really brings closure to the situation, I do believe that the character's relationship with God shows how it is possible to move past horrific events.

Where this is a core component of the movie, I was amazed at how emotionally driven this movie is. I laughed, I cried, and I felt like I had the opportunity to be drawn into a story that is life changing.

The other part I loved about this movie is not everyone experiences a "happy" ending, but no one is left the same. One of my complaints about a previous movie by these same producers, "Facing the Giants", was that everything that was a problem was "miraculously" fixed by the end of the movie. In Courageous, it looks at life's harsh realities and raw emotion and shows you how extremely joyful, but also how extremely painful life can be. We will face temptation and we as people will naturally fail on our own. Some people in the movie do fail, but no one is left to sit in that failure. Just as God never leaves us to sit in our sin.

The movie ends with the call to be courageous. And it is brilliant. I wanted to stand up in the movie theatre and join in with these men making the same resolution as the original five. I wanted to say amen throughout the course of the movie over and over again. This movie not only is entertaining and just as good as many other movies that have won awards, but it has an amazing relevant message for a world in need. Especially in a world where we love dating, but reject any type of real commitment. It is especially relevant in a culture where fathers do not commit and believe that their choices do not have consequences that require our attention and effort.

This movie gives you life. This movie gives you faith. And this movie calls this generation to stand up and be courageous!

Radical

2011-09-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

The premise of this book is one of the up and coming movements throughout churches across the US. We have seen other books like A Hole in Our Gospel have challenged the American dream and we have seen many people and churches get behind this movement (i.e. Bill Hybels and Saddleback Church under Rick Warren). So to see such a book like Radical climb the ranks of the best sellers in Christian literature is not a surprise. Yet, if you were to live radically like Platt suggests, I think one would be very surprised.

My intent for this review is not to disagree with Platt in any way, shape, or form. I simply want to enter the discussion. And by entering the discussion I want to talk about the way Platt goes about his argument. So from the get-go, I want to say that Christians are called to live a radical life. It is why we are called CHRIST-ians, or Christ followers. The call is to live up to Christ’s call and experience the reward that dying to ourselves brings. Our identity must therefore be in Jesus Christ. Anything outside of this is not living the way Christ calls us to. Anything outside of this is not normal in the realm of Christian living. The suggestion of living radically is nothing new. Radical has always been the Christian normal. In some ways, we, Christians especially in America, have held onto God’s grace all too tightly. We accept the free gift of grace, but we do not want to spend the cost that comes in discipleship.

With all that said, I want to first comment on the overall structure of the book. Platt paraphrases or references Scripture. Most of the time this is done in either a passing glance, or an overall summary of what is being said. Being Presbyterian, we are all about context. There are a lot of times where Platt gives no context, just simply lays forth the supposed claim the Bible gives us in our lives. Most of the time, I do not think he interprets the Scripture references incorrectly. I do, however, wonder how many people will actually look at the Scripture itself. I think that in the biblical illiterate culture that we currently live in here in America, it is better to err on the side of too much information. Platt, in assuming people are tracking with him, is taking wide sweeping motions over the nuances found in Scripture. I think it would have been wise for him to take more time to lay the verses he references out clearly and concisely. I do not believe it would take too many more pages to do so, while at the same time Platt’s argument would only be strengthened.

Second, Platt spends a good amount of time argueing the dichotomy between grace by faith and the cost of discipleship. Yet, in discussing this book with a group of Christians, one person commented how they felt they “had to prove themselves.” This, of course, is not the message of Christianity. In Christianity, love comes freely upon God’s people in order that these people can then love in return. Our motivations should not be to prove ourselves, but to simply live this radical life out of love and respect for the Lord who has freed us. I cannot express how important it is for every single person to realize there is absolutely NOTHING anyone can do to earn their salvation. That is why Jesus was sent to live, die, and be resurrected – because no one else could do this for us. In the cross, the one time sacrifice was offered up on our behalf because no amount of good works or sacrifices could prove anything to God. Only faith. Platt did spend a good amount of time in emphasizing this, but to this lay person, Platt did not spend enough time doing so.

The only other constructive criticism that I have is that Platt spends (as far as I can see) no time in talking about (1) the body of Christ and (2) the idea of vocation. In both cases, considering death as gain still applies to every part of the body in any vocation they are in. But, some people are called to be engineers to share their faith to a community, that in general, looks to science and not faith. Some people are called to “sacrifice” their funds so that other people can afford to go to the nations that have not heard, or seen, or accepted the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. God can supply all our needs, but it has to come from somewhere. Sometimes, that somewhere comes from someone who has the means to fund the missionary. With that being said, I still emphasize Platt’s overall premise of dying in Christ is gain. If you are not responding to God’s call in your life and living in the place God has called you to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, then you are ignoring God’s ransom on your life. If you are not living a radical life, I challenge you to live the one year challenge Platt gives at the end of his book. I am simply suggesting that even Paul tells the Romans how he became everything to everyone, and so sometimes we must become an American to minister to the Americans. And sometimes we have to become like a tribal nation in the middle of some other continent where our lives will constantly be in danger. Yet, if you live completely in contrast to the American Dream here in America, your faith will be challenged. Especially in a pluralistic and capitalistic culture where status is very important.

Hmmm…sound like another place at another time where someone named Jesus claimed to be the one true God? Or sound like another time and place where Paul claimed to monotheism through Jesus Christ who brought salvation in an era where Ceasar was Lord and other pluralistic ideologies ran ramped?

There is a very real call to live Radically. And if you are comfortable Christian, then I suggest you explore Christ’s call in your life. And if you are not able to say that death is gain, I would further suggest you re-think just how powerful the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is. When you find a God that promises an entire kingdom, well, maybe then you will realize that Radical is the new normal.

The Dominion Trilogy

2011-09-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

Another one I posted a while ago. I love this series, especially Fearless that takes a really neat take on starting the book with an event halfway through the story, only to lead up to that event later in the book. It was pretty clever. This is also Parrish's first set of books, and usually, they are some of the best of a writer's career.

Collin Boyd looks out the windows of the bus transit taking him to work to see Collin Boyd. Collin Boyd follows his replica until he finds himself standing in front of a glass building seeing himself in the mirror. Only this is not Collin Boyd, it is Grant Borrows.

And so the Dominion Trilogy begins. Within the first 100 pages Collin finds out he has shifted to become a much more agile and strong Grant Borrows with the power to control objects and sense other people. He, as well as 299 others, are given rings that make each individual super humans. Each ring giving power to the user extending from their minds to control their bodies. The powers range anywhere from telekinesis, to ultra fast reactions, to a literal photographic memory.
What Grant will begin to learn is there is a greater plot going on. He finds out about the Secretum of Six, whose sole purpose is to use Grant, or the Bringer, to bring about something, but we will not know what that is until book three.
As Grant realizes his true power from his Grandpa, who has helped bring about this whole process and is now using Grant as his own tool of destruction. As book One comes to a close, we see Grant understand who he needs to become.
Enter Guardian, or Grant Borrows as superhero. Through out book two the company becomes super heroes and begins to help all those in need. As the world begins to break at the seems, Grant and his army try to do what they can to help. Once again though, the Secretum becomes involved and a new head master Devlin plays Grant and his sister. By the end of Book two, Grant has fallen into a whole, bringing about the stage for book three, and Oblivion.

So as not to give too much away, this is where I will leave you. This series was incredibly creative and takes a view at Biblical history as well as predestination and free will that is very unique. This was an awesome read, and I enjoyed the story immensely, finding myself flying through the first two books. I was simply glad I only had to wait a couple of weeks to read the third. I highly recommend these books.

Adam (Spoilers Included)

2011-09-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

I posted this some time ago, but the book is still out there awaiting for you to step into a world that isn't too far from being true.

For all those who fell in love with Dekker at his book Three, you have to pick this book up. Although it is not quite the page turner as Three was, it is just as good of an overall story line with just as many surprises(one huge one in particular). The research done for this book, as far as I know on the subject, is outstanding. The book's makeup is well crafted and well thought through. The theological ideas are a bit disturbing if you do not know where the book is going, but once you find out it will make light of your darkness.(notice the wording here)

Here comes the spoiler part, so unless you want to know what is going to happen, read no further.

The book starts out with a paper clipping (the first of nine found through out the book) in which may include some of the best ideas through out the book. It is literally walking the treck of the makings of a serial killer known only as Eve. These clippings though give great detail to a horrible upbringing that is steadally introduced to you as you read more of the actual story.
The actual story then is about an FBI agent going after this Eve, who has killed sixteen younger women. When Eve is able to put a bullet through the side of Agent Clark's head Daniel dies for twenty minutes and is brought back by his new partner Lori. When he is brought back though, Daniel begins having unnatural and horrible panic attacks that are simply unexplainable by any sort of psychiatrich means. The most important detail to this puzzle though, is that Daniel saw Eve's face and has the one piece to crack the case wide open. Or, he would if he could remember that instant before he was killed.
Lori and Daniel soon determine that the only way to retrieve this memory and possibly find out what is causing the panic attacks is to enduce a DMT, or loosely explained as a near death experience. The idea is that the brain introduces halocegens to the brain that are associated with the persons beleifs. Only when Daniel goes under he sees a small boy playing with a doll as if he is hurting it. The boy says he is not Eve, but Eve is in the next chamber just beyond.

As the reader learns more of Alex and Jessica Price, who are the two children who are abducted in the news paper clippings from the book only to be brutally tortured by a Satanic Alice Brown. When they escape they move forward to a Preist who helps them get back on their feet. Although Jessica is able to move forward, Alex becomes obsessed with belief and disbelief and what laws govern our world. He becomes frantic and violent at times. But you begin to learn a bit about Eve. My only critique of this section of the book is as a believer who has been introduced to spiritual warfare from when I first came to Christianity, I was making the connection of who and what Eve was in comparison to the panic attacks. Daniel was being stalked by Eve, a demon that had been controlling the killings of the girls and Alex's actions for some time.

The book comes to a climatic end back at the Eve's Holy Coven, the Satanic temple found on Alice's property in which she would leathaly punish both Alex and Jessica as children as sacrifices. It is here where Daniel's battle with the demonic becomes a little like "Exorist" and Daniel's ex-wife(who is developed through out the story and becomes very important to the climatic scene) tries to come save him along with a Priest. By this time Heather, the wife, has realized just how real possession can be.

The best twist is when the reader realizes that Lori, who had been helping Daniel from the very beginning, is actually Jessica. She shows up to be the heroine and a character needed in order to resolve the greater problem. When this happens I said aloud, wow, didnt expect that coming-But wait, if I would have paid attention, you did see it coming. 1. The character is introduced as an after thought to help Daniel through out the case. 2. You knew at some point Jessica had to show up, but no one, not even Alex, knew where Jessica was. and 3. How would they find a Jessica who had gone under the radar for 17 years. So, make her there all along.
In thinking it through, it really works out well, but also, Jessica who is developed through out the articles, does not seem to connect with Lori. The two characters only come to a meet because Dekker says they do, but if you look at who they are Lori had to have placed a mask over Jessica in order to truly do all the things she did through out the book. Because Jessica, is still afraid. Lori, is determined and the brains behind much of what happens.

Overall this book is really good. The last 200 pages flew by, and the first 200 were interesting to develop the story line and create a world apart from Dekker's Circle series in which has connected so many of his ideas as of late. Adam is able to create a worldview by the end of the book and even if the non-believer may dismiss the ideas in whole, the book makes a convincing argument that this could be true. I think wherever you are in life, if you pick this book up it will challenge you on many levels and give you a reason to rethink at least your presumptions about Good and Evil.

At the end of the day we must come to a realization that Evil powers do exist. We brush up against the horrors everyday whether it be from children being abandoned to all ought wars. There is something though about the name of Jesus that seems to bring pause to these Evils. I can not convince you that this is true, I can only advise you to keep it in mind if ever you truly come upon a more lethal form of Evil. Dekker has a great point and awesome idea in Adam, and it is a story to get you thinking deeper into the supernatural. You might as well, the supernatural thinks about you more than you can imagine.

Existing to Worship

2011-09-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

What is the chief end of humanity?

The answer to this question may already be in your mind, having memorized it at a young age or maybe even in your confirmation class. But to some, this question leaves them without an answer. This question is why books like The Purpose Driven Life are so popular. This question is what drives us. It is why we are who we are as we look to find the very reason we exist.

For the longest time, I did not know the answer to this question, but I did not even know about this question. My question was a bit more simply: Why do we exist? What is the point? Even now as I have found a calling, I still have to ask this question each day. It fuels my motivation.

Yet, motivation is hard to find for people that ask this question and answer the way I used to answer this question: I honestly do not know why I exist. I mean, sure, there are good parts of life. Their are friends, family, vacations, and the list goes on. But, this life is also very mundane, or at least it can be.

I just recently asked a parishioner how things were going and he responded: "Oh fine, all I do is work and sleep. Work, sleep, work, sleep..." And I laughed, saying: "Well, at least you know what is coming." How mundane this life is, but I think that it is just one way to answer the overall question "Why do we exist?" To which you reply: "To work, sleep, work, sleep..." If that is why we exist, then I don't know about you, but I do not want to exist simply to live a never ending cycle.

Some may have a different answer to the question. Where this individual answered with his cyclical lifestyle, some may add to that list. Their list is never ending. They have piles of to do lists that have all too much to do and they are tired of having multiple full time jobs. Some have kids that have lives that are all too busy. Some people believe they exist solely to be used by other people. They are used by people they owe money, abusers, slave masters, and anyone else who takes advantage of their supposed superiority over anyone else. To anyone who has an answer like this, I do not blame you if you want out of this life.

If we only exist simply to exist, then their isn't much point to our lives at all. If we exist simply to live and die, then lets get it over with.

But the original question leads us to a different answer. It suggests that we live because something else simply is alive. This entity has no start and no goodbye. This entity simply created because it was overflowing with love and fellowship. This Diety is good. This Diety is love. This Diety claims that I Am, and in that statement everything else is able to be. We are able to be because God breathed life into us. God Is so we can be. God loves so we can love. God created so that we can exist.

And if we exist because of God, then our lives have to be given back to the creator. Not because a servant simply has to serve the master, but because God is all loving, all caring, and sent God's son to live among us. Jesus Christ lived among us so that we are not simply walking vessels living mundane lives that amount to nothing, but that we are freed from this entrance. Where we were once enamored with our own way of being, living apart from the God who created us, Jesus created an opportunity for people to no longer live such an empty life. Where we are all sinful and fallen short of the glory of God, Jesus became the sacrifice once and for all so that we no longer have to live into who we were. Where we lived into an empty existence, we now have the ability to exist apart from ourselves. We have an opportunity to exist in the presence of our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Comforter as well as our guide. Father, Son, Holy Spirit calls us into relationship to live a life of purpose.

What is the chief end of all humanity? Why do people exist? Nay, why do you exist?

To glorify God, and enjoy him forever and ever...Amen.

Come and worship at the throne of your Creator, Redeemer, Comforter and Guide. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Worship and Truth, we lay our lives down before the one who is Love. We are loved so that we can love and live a life - exist - knowing that the God of the Universe has given us a purpose.....Amen.

P.S. If you are in a place where your existence revolves around abuse, then you do not have to exist that way. Your life is to glorify God in everything you do, and to exist in an ongoing abusive situation is not something God calls anyone to do.

Love Wins

2011-09-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

Love Wins

Its hard to summarize anything written by Rob Bell. So I will tread lightly on a book that has created so much buzz and confronts some of the hardest questions within a religion that has been talked about for over 2000 years.

First and for most, Rob Bell's style is unique and innovative. I enjoy the pace of his writing and find the read going very fast. I've been told that one of Bell's both best and worst features is that he is an artist possibly before he is a pastor. Where I disagree that he is an artist before he is a pastor, he certainly is both a pastor and an artist. The questions he is answering comes out of his pastoral heart. He wants people to know that love abides, love presides, and ultimately love wins. Yet, the artist in him is edgy, insightful, and both is and will be well received by his audiences throughout different age groups.

It is the edgy part of the book that, being a pastor, I have a love/hate relationship with. I love it because it is bold. Bell asks questions that need to be asks like "What Jesus are we talking about or following?" So many people either follow a malevolent God waiting to strike them at any time or a Jesus who has oppressed many ideologies throughout the years. Yes, good - I don't follow this Jesus either. But when he follows up the question with an extreme example of a woman being abused for years, I hate the artistic nature. I hate it because so many people will close the book. Sure, some people need that edge. Some people need to have their mind embraced in such a way. Yet, there are too many people who are Christian but have a poor image of God that do not realize it. They are the way they are and have never questioned their "rightness" in front of God" - and these questions will drive them away. These observations make the book almost impossible to use because of what the questions can suggest for both a comfortable Christian and an atheist wanting be an agnostic. Overall though, the boldness makes the book appealing and repelling all at the same time. It is the edge that is Rob Bell. So its part of the book, like it or not.

The theology of the book is strong and weak. It is strong because it shows the true God of the Bible in the sense that this God is always loving, holy, and God's just nature only comes out of these two attributes. Then at times it is weak because Rob Bell does not want to directly say that some people will go to hell. He suggests that our decisions can welcome heaven or hell, which I agree, but he refuses to deal with both the elect or the sinfulness of humanity. He is much more willing to confront individuals decisions suggesting that we all have some say in wether we chose heaven or chose hell. Which, I believe we very much do. But I also believe that without God working in us through the Holy Spirit to bring us to complete surrender at the cross of Jesus Christ we are paralyzed to do so for ourselves. Where Rob does attribute the initial action to God, I still think he places too much emphasis on human decision. We have to be enabled to even be aware that we are sinful. And it is only because of the Trinity that being enabled happens.

Where Bell gets it right, though, is that love wins. The entire Bible is a love story about God pursuing God's creation. It is about God sending a part of God's self to die upon a cross for our original and continual disobedience. This one time sacrifice is the blood that makes the sinner as white as snow. But it is also the blood that brings us into the light because we all have lived in darkness unable to see the light. The Holy Spirit illuminates. Love wins.

Bell also points out the idea of who is in and who is out. Not even John Calvin said who is in or out. He just suggested that those who are in need not question if they are saved or not. This came at a time where indulgences bought a person's salvation. Calvin simply suggested that if grace has set you free, then you are free indeed. You are most certainly a part of the elect and nothing can seperate you from the love of God. No principalities, no hell, and no person or priest can do so. You are part of God's family and part of the elect.
But the elect is language Bell does not want to confront. Bell has to have the elect in his theology, but he does not mention this at all. Who the elect are is completely up for grabs and I do not think using this terminology would make Bell go a different direction or be contrary to his overall theme. Because the elect are the people who benefit from love winning. Where God formed us in the womb, God also longs for his children to come home. Whether we have been living as sinners or as pharisees, God calls us to repent, believe, and live in the Spirit. Those who do are the elect. God further pursues. God has always pursued. And God's heart breaks over even the one who does not come home. But there will be people who have hard hearts. There will be people who refuse the gospel. And for those, there is a hell. As Bell points out, it could be now or it could be later. But there is a very real seperation from God, and to this even Bell says we can call hell. So there is a group who will know of the love and there is a group who either does not know or rejects the love. Either way, God pursues. Either way, love will win because God's plan for the world has always been redemption. To this, Bell says: "Love wins."

p.s.: There are two other books either out or about to come out: Francis Chan wrote "Erasing Hell" and then "Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven" by Christopher W. Morgan, Robert A. Peterson, Timothy Keller and R. Albert Mohler Jr. I plan on reading these, but I do believe their take is going to be more straight forward and helpful if you really are looking for answers. At times, Bell only adds more confusion.

Selah

2011-09-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

We saw Selah live just after the former women lead had left the group and the one in the cover above joined. Their were just the three that you see on the cover here, and even though most of the background music was pre-recorded - it didn't matter - because their voices spoke for themselves. The power and pure beauty of the talent our God has given them is simply a testament to the creativity I commented about in the post about downhere.
One thing you will realize very quickly on top of this is that with Selah, every album has the same elements. There will always be ballads, there will be one or two experimental songs, but still very much Selah, and then finally a song influenced by the male leads upbringing in the Congo. Which, by the way, are usually my favorite tracks.
So this album, "Hope for the Broken World", is no different. And yet it is still amazing. The album starts out with a clever and playful song "On the Mountain" talking about the journey we take in our lives as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. The next song, the title track song, has amazing harmonies and leaves me wanting more.
My favorite tracks on the album are "Be Still" and "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus". "Be Still" has a rock feel to it, but claims to God speaking in the silence. And the latter, this hymn, sounds really nothing like the hymn you will hear on Sunday morning as they speak the language of the Congo with heavy drum beats and a native sound.
As for ballads, "I Look to You" clearly shows the female lead's vocal brilliance and is simply amazing how talented they are.
A couple songs I have to comment on are "Moments Like These" and "Threshold of Glory". The first sings about children who have gone up to heaven far before any child should. I don't know how the lead was able to get through the song without crying, or how many takes it took to get the song out. Yet, the song is beautiful. Theologically, it claims boldly to the promises of Jesus Christ and the claim God has on our lives no matter how old we are. I hope you or I never have to face losing a child. But if you do, or have, know that this child is playing in Heaven with our Lord who is still grieving over your loss.

On a lighter note, "Threshold of Glory" reminds me way to much of Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory". I think it was done on purpose, and this song claims God's work in this world. Still, I think it is pretty funny.

If you listen to this cd, be ready for your sensations to be touched. Your senses deeply changed. And experience the Spirit at work through this artistic offering.

In Jesus Name...let us worship with Selah. Overall: A

Downhere

2011-09-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have been following downhere since their conception. Their self entitled debut album was one of the most refreshing offerings from a singer/song writer group that I have heard in a long time. And without exception, their care for song writing and commitment to God has not changed.

So it is with "On The Altar of Love". This cd may be one of their most in depth albums when it comes to both their lyric and song writing. They are incredibly insightful, just as one would expect if you have ever met the group. Still, the album delivers. It begins with "Only the Beginning" claiming to the life that our journey as Christians really is. It refers to Jesus saving Grace as only the beginning. The journey is worth traveling and experiencing because we have the opportunity to live into the Word of God. "Rest"and "Let me Rediscover You" follow giving further depth to the album. But the real depth begins at "For Life" where downhere contemplates creativity and how we are to be thankful for even our dreams. We are too be thankful for God's creation and then the ability God has given us to create. The cycle is incredible.

One of the best written songs is the title track. "The Altar of Love" is where we can lay down our pride and life of sin in order to embrace Jesus Christ. Laying our lives down at the feet of Jesus Christ is what Christianity is all about. Listening to the guitar in the background only furthers this tracks amazing sound.

Finally, the album ends with Reveal the Kingdom. This track leaves me breathless ending with quoting scripture, only in Latin. I will leave it up to you to find out what the Latin is quoting.

Overall, this album is definitely worth your time: One worth adding to one's collection.

Finding a Home

2011-09-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

I remember Michael W. Smith's song "A place in this World" talking about trying to find a place where we belong. Ultimately it is talking about finding a home.

I think about how everyone is searching for meaning. I think about how badly different people want to be affirmed for who they are. I think about how we want to find a place we can call home that will accept us for who we are.

I just heard a lecture given by Donald Miller. He talks about trying to fit our story into the greater story of the world. He ultimately talks about fitting our story into God's bigger and better Story.

Then I think about what God's home looks like. I think about Jesus' parables in Scripture about the Great Banquet. The host sends out invitations to the rich and the rulers (presidents, kings, prime ministers, etc.) and no one shows up when the party is held. So, the host goes out to the street and beckons everyone (sinners and outcasts) he sees to the party. You see, it doesn't matter to the host who comes. The host just wants people to know they are invited. The host, further more, bypasses those that were originally invited, extending grace to those who don't deserve it. For so long, the people in the street have not had a home. Tonight, though, they have not only a roof over their heads, but a place to eat. And not just any place, but a place where a party is going to take place. The home they encounter exceeds their wildest expectations.

Then I think of Knox Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, KS. I think about how we want everyone and anyone to pull up a place to God's divine table and just dine with us for a moment. We may not be the host, but we hope we can at least extend an invitation to you ultimately from God to come and commune. Drink deeply. Eat until you are content. Then eat and drink some more. Come explore what community is all about. Come and know that you have a place where no one judges, no one discriminates, but grace is poured out on everyone who comes.

This grace is poured out by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus, who communed with the sinners and the saints. Jesus, who forgave people of their wrong doings and called them to pick up their cross and follow. Jesus, who accepted everyone for who they were to form them into who God wanted them to be. Jesus, who does all this for us today.

Come to Knox, where we simply point to Jesus. The very Jesus who can do all of this for you today. Come to Knox, where we hope you feel at home.

Because Jesus welcomes all of us home.