A New Years Prayer

O God, make me discontented
O God, make me discontented with things
the way they are in the world,
and in my own life.
Make me notice the stains when people get spilled on.
Make me care about the slum child downtown,
the misfit at work,
the people crammed into the mental hospital,
the men, women and youth behind bars.
Jar my complacency,
expose my excuses,
get me involved in the life of my city and world.
Give me integrity once more,
O God, as we seek to be changed
and transformed,
with a new understanding and awareness
of our common humanity.

Robert Raines

Not only Christmas Day

Lord, this is my prayer 

Not only on Christmas Day 

But until I see You face to face 

May I live my life this way:

Just like the baby Jesus 

I ever hope to be, 

Resting in Your loving arms 

Trusting in Your sovereignty.

And like the growing Christ child 

In wisdom daily learning, 

May I ever seek to know You 

With my mind and spirit yearning.

Like the Son so faithful 

Let me follow in Your light, 

Meek and bold, humble and strong 

Not afraid to face the night.

Nor cowardly to suffer 

And stand for truth alone, 

Knowing that Your kingdom 

Awaits my going home.

Not afraid to sacrifice 

Though great may be the cost, 

Mindful how You rescued me 

From broken-hearted loss.

Like my risen Savior 

The babe, the child, the Son, 

May my life forever speak 

Of who You are and all You've done.

So while this world rejoices 

And celebrates Your birth, 

I treasure You, the greatest gift 

Unequaled in Your worth.

I long to hear the same words 

That welcomed home Your Son, 

"Come, good and faithful servant," 

Your Master says, "Well done."

And may heaven welcome others 

Who will join with me in praise 

Because I lived for Jesus Christ 

Not only Christmas Day

-- Mary Fairchild

What would life be like?

Jesus, what would life be like?

If I truly loved you with all I have?

If I truly loved my neighbor with all I have?

If I cared more about what you thought of me more than what others think of me?

If I actually put into practice your teachings?

If I took you at your word and stepped out in faith to partner with you in your kingdom work?

If I really took up my cross, denied myself, and followed you everywhere?

If I made love the ultimate motivation of my heart?

If I made your glory the ultimate goal of my life?

If I forgave others as you have forgave me?

If I slowed down to enjoy the relationships and people you have put in my life?

If I lived everyday in light of eternity?

If I let you have your way in my life?

If I made faithfulness rather than success the goal of my life?

If I do these things you said I would be like the man who built his house on a firm foundation. That no matter what happens in this life my house will be secure because it is built on you. That is what you said life would be like.

Church is a verb

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said: "I will build my church..."

When most people hear the word "church" they immediately think of a building or location. We say things like "Do you go to church" or "Are you going to church?" We tend to equate church to a place.
The English word "church" evolved from the German word "Kirche' which means church as a location or institution. The word Jesus used in the Greek is the word "Ekklesia" which literally means "called out ones" or "called out assembly and congregation." Jesus did not have in mind a building or location, but a people.

Here is the point. When Jesus said He was going to build His church, he meant He was going to start a movement. He invites all people to come belong to His church, but He also expects those same people to go out and be the church!

If you only go to church you are missing the main things Jesus intended for His people. #1, you miss out on vital, deep life giving relationships. Our relationship with God is meant to be shared with other believers. We are told numerous times to practice what Scripture calls the "one anothers." For example, we are to love one another, pray for one another, care for one another, share with one another, and so on. Its impossible to practice and grow in the one anothers if you only "go to church."

#2,
you miss out on what you were re-created by God for, and that is to have impact on the lives of people who do not know Jesus. We are to help the broken, the lost, the lonely and the hopeless to find Who they are looking for and Who is the answer to their questions. If I only "go to church" I am missing out on being the church. People who only go to church get bored with church. There is no amount of great preaching, worship, lazer shows, or cool videos that will keep you from getting bored. BEING the church is the answer to our restlessness and our fickle attitudes towards church.

Remember you don't go to church, you belong to the church. You don't go to church you are to be the church.

Leaving home and longing for our real home

I love being a Dad. I have thoroughly enjoyed fatherhood up to this moment in my life. However, I have been struggling a lot lately with how quickly kids grow up and how time seems to go by at such a rapid pace. But the fact is time does not "fly" by it is constant. It only appears to fly by. This has hit close to home lately with the age of my children. It feels like I blinked my eyes and they went from being kids to teenagers. From car seats to driving. From blankys to bras. From little league to High School. Gradually, yet ultimately, they are going from dependence to independence.

I am a very sentimental person, therefore I am the type of person who is always trying to wring everything I can out of the past and present in order to feel some sense of control over time. You hear it said all your life: "Time goes by fast..." "Where did the time go?" But the truth is time has been marching on at a steady pace all along we just fail to realize it.

I am trying to learn to stop fighting time. Trying to fight time is like trying to catch the wind, it is impossible. I am learning to accept that fact and live in the present and enjoy each day as a gift rather than ruminating over things I really have no control over.

At church we have been teaching a series on parenting. http://novationchurch.org/media/
Last Sunday we talked about how God's priority in parenting is to gradually shift a child's dependence from their parents to God. Kids from the time they are born are longing to leave home and start a home of their own. What I am learning is it doesn't stop there. Raising kids is a temporary assignment. Sure I understand that being a parent is a life long relationship, but those years of gradually shifting kids dependence off of us to God are the years that seem to go by the quickest. Thus the sentimental feelings and longings for the days when they are little, cute, and dependent on us are what can bring pain and regret.

Why does this stir in us feelings of sentimentalism or anxiety or even regret? Because as great and rewarding as parenting is it is not the end. Watching our kids strive to leave home and make homes of their own is a huge reminder that we are all longing for our real home in eternity with God. The "empty nest" can really make some feel empty if they do not understand what we are all truly longing for.

I love how C.S. Lewis puts it: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." 

As great as marriage can be, as great as parenting is, as great as many things this life has to offer can be, none of them ultimately satisfy our deepest longings. Our deepest longings will not be satisfied until we cross over to the other side. The longings for yesterday or for our kids to be young again or for whatever you want to fill in the blank are all reminders that this is not heaven. We are not there yet.

Pray with me: Father, we recognize today the brevity of life. We recognize that we have so few days to live. Help us to live in such a way that we bring you glory by loving You with all we have and by loving others with all we have. Help us to recognize that the longings of our hearts are really pointing us to You. It is in you and you alone that our hearts find rest and peace. Thank you for the good gifts of life, but help us to remember that they are temporary. Help us to remember that we were created for eternity with You where our real home is and our hearts truly belong. Amen  

A famine in the land

I was humbled this morning when I stumbled across this video on YOUTUBE of Chinese believers seeing and holding a Bible for the first time.

Click here to watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LcEDPRfHMY

As an American believer watching these people treasure God's word made me realize how much I take for granted. I'll be honest and transparent, some days I do not even pick up the Bible. Somedays I feel indifferent to Scripture. Somedays I approach reading Scripture as a chore rather than a delight. I guess it is because I easily can take Jesus for granted. I can view my relationship with Him through the lenses of legalism or some other warped indifferent view of Him.

But that is not how Christ wants me to think or approach His word. He desires that we crave and feed on His word for living real life and the full life He intends for us.

As I thought about these Chinese believers I put myself in their shoes for a moment and thought of the false ideas they have been taught all their lives about who they are. Its not easy to be a Christian in China. I thought about the feeling that their lives had had no meaning or purpose until they had met the Author of Scripture! They learned about the Author and obviously had His words spoken to them before they had ever even got to read His book! Why did they treasure His words so? Because they knew the Author and could not wait to get to know Him better!

There are many verses of Scripture on treasuring God's word. Psalm 119 is solely devoted to understanding the role of God's word in our lives. We are told in Colossians 3:16:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Jesus said: "But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." John 15:7-8

In other words, to be His disciple and to produce a life that brings God glory, I need to treasure and feast on His word the way I do food on a daily basis (and I do that well).

One of my favorite verses on our need of Scripture is found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:
"Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."

God's word is the source of salvation because it leads me to Jesus. When I come to Jesus His words teach me how do life according to His design.

The Chinese have had a famine for the word of God. The prophet Amos gives a sobering warning about taking God's words for granted:

"Oh yes, Judgment Day is coming!' These are the words of my Master God. “I’ll send a famine through the whole country. It won’t be food or water that’s lacking, but my Word." Amos 8:11

My prayer for us is that we would be hungry and thirsty for God's word the way these Chinese believers were when they received their first Bible.

Life for life

I have been thinking a lot lately about what Jesus endured in my place in His death on the cross. As Scripture says; "the righteous died for the unrighteous" (1 Peter 3:18). "Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5::6). "Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)

Jesus died so we can live. Jesus lives so we can live forever. Jesus embraced real sorrow and separation from His Father so we would could be comforted and would never be separated from Our Heavenly Father. Jesus passed all the tests that we have failed so we could be clothed in true righteousness.

In other words, Jesus lived for us, He suffered for us, He died for us, and He rose again so now we can be assured we will live for ever with Him! That is breath taking when you stop and take it in.
As I was reading this morning God touched my heart fresh and new with what Christ endured for me. Here is what we learn about what happened to Jesus prior to His crucifixion:

"Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him." Matthew 27:27-31 NIV

Lets break this down...

Vs. 28 THEY STRIPPED HIM: (He was humiliated)

Vs. 29 THEY MOCKED HIM: (He was insulted)

Vs. 30a THEY SPIT ON HIM: (He was shamed and scorned)

Vs. 30b THEY STRUCK HIM: (He was abused and beaten)

Vs. 31 THEY LED HIM AWAY TO CRUCIFY HIM: (He was in my place, He substituted Himself for me. He was in my place. He carried the cross that I deserved)

How should this affect us?

Have you been humiliated? Insulted? Shamed and scorned? Abused and beaten? You need to know you have a completely innocent Savior who understands. He can empathize with our worst fears and nightmares. He knows betrayal. He knows better than anyone what it feels like to be falsely accused and He never once actually sinned:

"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." 1 Peter 2:21-25 NIV

When I am humiliated I want to hide. When I am mocked I get hurt. If someone were to spit in my face I would fight back. If I am abused I want to get even and abuse back. Not so with Jesus. That is why the innocent had to take my place. I could never do it. Life for life.

He was humiliated so I could find real humility...

He was mocked so I could find my self-worth in Him...

He was spit upon and shamed so I could be delivered from my need to be somebody other than His beloved...

He was beaten so that by His stripes I could be healed...

He was crucified so I will live with Him forever...


His life for mine...my life for His...Exchanging life for life.