Archive for the ‘Bible’ Category

The Greatest

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Once the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Perhaps they thought He would choose one of them.  Instead He called a little child and had him stand among them.  Not only did he pick the child as the greatest, he said that unless get over ourselves and become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So, whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus didn’t stop there.  He said that when we welcome a little child in His name welcomes Him.  But if anyone causes one of these dear precious little ones  to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge boulder hung around his neck  to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  OCH!

Jesus continued to tell the parable of the lost sheep.  The  Luke 15 account of this parable is the more common one.  This context ties it to kids.  “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.  What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”

It’s the end of the weekend.  Tomorrow we go back to ministering to kids.  Tons of them.  I am not good at numbers.  More than a 100 maybe even more will show up unless it rains like it did today.  Half of these kids are orphaned… maybe living with a granny or an auntie.  Some are the older siblings taking care of their younger ones.  Almost all have unemployed parents.  For all the meal we help serve around 2 or 3 will be the last meal of the day and all they have had since breakfast if they had much then or not.

All are starved for love and affection.  And its a joy just to give them what they hunger for.

They are precious.  They are special.  They are invaluable. Ministering to them is ministering to Jesus.   He is serious about them.  He is not willing that any be lost like a sheep w/o a shepherd.

May I not forget that they are the Greatest and I need to be like them.

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Andy, Why are you Sleeping?

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, ‘Pray that you will not give in to temptation.’


He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’  Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. 

At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.’   ~  Luke 22:39-46

I am working in Starbucks this morning and ran into a friend from church.  I say friend, we know each other by name and have had a few conversations, but this morning was the first real-to-real talk we have ever had.  It was a huge blessing.
John and his wife Stephanie lost their son Johnny this past fall.  When I asked how they were doing he spoke of how this week brings hope knowing that his son had faith in the One who conquered death.  We talked some more about the new normal for he and Stephanie as they face life with something no parent plans for.
John asked me how I was doing and I shared some things that Robin and I talked about even this morning.  How we need clear direction from God as we wade through the sea of differing advice.  
John and I had a great conversation about life, ministry and hearing from the Lord.  John said something that struck me: “My prayer is that I don’t fall asleep like the disciples.”   So here I am reading this passage again and on Good Friday.
It has always baffled me.  It’s like whenever something huge happens for the Lord, the disciples take a siesta.  (See Transfiguration.)  And when they think its a big deal, Jesus is taking a nap.   Here they are snoozing at a critical time.   They were exhausted from grief.  (And he hadn’t even been arrested or crucified yet.)  
Do I?  Am I?  Am I asleep at the wheel/the watch?   Am I just so busy doing my “Jesus thing”, living my “Jesus life”, running on my “Jesus work” hamster wheel, spouting my happy “Jesus talk”… when in reality I am asleep?  Am I more concerned with own agenda than His? (Foolishly thinking its the same when I am too afraid to really ask if it is?)   
Am I walking circumspectly?  Am I watching? Am I listening?  Am I praying or just talking to myself?
 Am I like the rich man living in luxury who passed poor, sick Lazarus at his gate every day with so much as noticing him or bending a knee to address his needs?   Do I notice?  Do I care?  Do I stop?  Do I act?  
Am I really in fact missing the heart of God?   Does my heart anguish of what His heart does – sin, injustice, hunger, loneliness, disease, death, idolatry, hypocrisy, rebellion, strive, indifference, abuse, slavery, selfishness, pride…  Oh I can on forever and I am just thinking of the darkness within my own soul.
Lord, may my heart be broken, truly broken, over the things that break your heart. May I not be exhausted by grief but aways praying, always depending, always trusting, always sensitive to your heart, O Lord, that I will not enter into temptation.
 

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The Persecuted

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” ~ Jesus


(This is a continuation of posts on the Beatitudes starting on January 20th.)  
Jesus had begun his ministry teaching that the Kingdom of God had arrived. News of his healing power had spread and large crowds began to gather.  The people were hoping, He was the promised King who would deliver them. And so Jesus begins teaching about this Kingdom.  The whole sermon on the mount is about the reality of this coming kingdom and how we should live.  Even these first little verses (Matthew 5:3-10) bookend with the promise of the Kingdom of God.  But really its all about His Kingdom.

The Persecuted
Persecution seems to be something we think of that happens somewhere else…. in some closed land to a few.  Yet Jesus teaches that persecution (for righteousness sake) would go hand and hand with following Jesus.  It is not if but when.   If the world persecuted Jesus, the world will persecute his followers.  
I can’t say I have faced major persecution.  Okay I got knock down a grade in college in one history class for standing up for my faith.  (At least that how I saw it).  It cost me graduating cum laude.  But so what?   Once our ministry almost got kicked of campus at University of Northern Colorado and another time we were stopped from passing out surveys..  But I went through the proper channels even visiting the President of the University and nothing really happened.  I had to leave a country were I was serving early because we heard they were going to call our disciples in for questioning.  But really it was our students we were trying to protect not me.  And I got home and saw my girlfriend (now wife) sooner.   So actually I should have thanked the PSB.
None of these are anything like losing your life or being imprisoned.  Just inconvenienced.
Yesterday I heard of two of our teams that are facing  potential situations of visas being revoked or not being allowed on campus.  In another country where we hope to send people, I read all they are cracking down more severely on believers coming into the country.  I shook my head.  But shouldn’t we expect it?  Is this in fact, the norm for a person living in the Kingdom of God?   
Should my response be to shrink back or rejoice?
Blessed..  Rejoice… Be Glad
I don’t want to discount our brothers and sisters who are facing persecution.  It’s real.  Millions are facing persecution for their faith around the globe.  It’s serious.   But here we have an encouragement from the One who would face the ultimate persecution to rejoice.   
I think of Paul and Barnabas being kicked out of on town and rejoicing they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ.   I can see them skipping down the road to Iconium not fully knowing what lay ahead.  They would be kicked out of another town and then on to Lystra where Paul would be stoned and thought dead.   Of the 12 cities where Paul ministered in the first 3 journeys, he would be forced out of 6 and face huge trials a 7th (Ephesus.)   And then of course after those journeys involving various intense persecutions, Paul would spend years imprisoned in Rome. And yet from there he writes a letter on joy and rejoicing always.   Earlier he writes that he delights in persecutions.  Strange.   I don’t get it.
Reward in Heaven
If something comes with a reward, you’d think we would want it.  I get the treasure in the field parable.  At least I like the treasure part of it.  But does the cost come with this?  I want to flee persecution and certainly don’t celebrate its coming.  And there’s a basis for some of this since Jesus told us to flee.    
But Jesus says it comes with a reward.  Really?   A reward?  How would believing this change how I live?  Would we hesitant to go to certain places?  Would we hesitant sending others… our own children?  
Lord, I don’t know if I can honestly pray for persecution.  But I pray for perspective.  I pray that when it happens I will by faith rejoice and be glad.  i will rest in the hope that I have a reward that awaits me.  I will know that the Kingdom of God is mine.

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A Father’s Prayer

Friday, March 20th, 2009

“Arise, O Lord! Punish the wicked, O God! Do not ignore the helpless! Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, ‘God will never call us to account.’ But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans *.

“Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed. The Lord is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land. Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,so mere people can no longer terrify them.”

~ Psalm 10:12-18 NLT
* Since the vast majority of abuse to children happens by men and within the family, maybe we should redefine ‘orphans’. Of course I don’t want to negate the vulnerability of those who are truly orphaned – abuse among orphans and foster kids is astronomical – but perhaps any child not raised in a home where there is a dad who truly loves and protects them then maybe these children are in fact fatherless.

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The Peacemakers

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

(Sorry I have been so negligent to post in the past month.)


War
Since the first two brothers, our human race is one that by nature reverts to conflict.  We just can’t get along.  As I type there are about 40 known conflicts or wars going in the world.  The longest and bloodiest?  Burma or Myanmar.   War breeds orphans, widows, poverty, famine, misery, hopelessness and more war.  
Yes, I do believe war can be just and right like stopping a Hitler or ending slavery.  Just wars are usually in response to a conflict or injustice already going on.  Too often though I think we are quick to justify war especially if we are confident we are the ones on the side of right.  This is not just some anti-war post.  In fact, some of the most angry people I have ever met are anti-war protesters.  It is about another way, a kingdom way.
The Peacemakers
The apostle Paul wrote that some of the acts of the sinful nature are things like hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy.   But peace is a fruit of life under control of His Spirit.  It is peace that Jesus came to give.  In fact, the first thing he said to his followers who he appeared after his resurrection was “Peace be with you.”  James tells us that peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
I wonder if peacemaking come from a root of a heart at rest.  What causes me to be angry or jealous or to have selfish ambitions?  It is when my rest is not at peace.   I respond rather than trust.  I become quick to defend my rights rather than sacrifice and surrender.  
Sons of God 
Perhaps if my heart was truly at rest, I would be a person of peace.  I would learn to make peace.  I would live, as far as its possible with me, to be at peace with others.
I recall token phrases that have been uttered from my foolish mouth.   In speaking of present wars, “peace will only come when the Prince of Peace comes.”  I was talking about some distant day of his return.  But did He not tell me to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?”  Why would a peacemaker be blessed if there is no calling to make peace now?
What if my life was not characterized by something who had fits of rage or hatred or discord?  What if our homes not no discord or jealousy?   What if our churches had no factions or dissensions?  What if our communities had no selfish ambition or envy?  What if it was on earth as it is in heaven?
What if I made peace and in doing so I would be called a son of God?

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The Merciful

Monday, February 9th, 2009

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” – Jesus


Mercy
Mercy is both not receiving the justice we are due and extending gifts to the poor and those in need. Both find their root in a compassionate heart; a heart that says ‘you do not deserve this but you need it’.   
It is the cry of the blind man, the sinner in the temple, the father whose son was having seizures, the Canaanite mother whose daughter was imprisoned by demons, and the 10 lepers.   Lord, I do not deserve your healing hand but I desperately need it.  I have no hope apart from you. 
It is the act of loving others as ourselves demonstrated by the Good Samaritan.  It is what God desires from us more than sacrifice.  It is having a large heart.  It is the opposite of a heart of greed.  It is a response of a heart that knows I have nothing apart from God’s mercy and generously extending a hand toward those in need. 

Shown Mercy
Jesus gives a parable in Matthew 18 about forgiveness.  The kicker is that to the extent of the mercy we give is the extent of mercy we will receive..   (See also James 2:13 among others.)  It would be easy for me (and is) to gloss over this and think, “Hey I am covered… saved by grace”. I tend to interrupt passages like these and Matthew 25 in light of promises we have of our salvation.  And I guess that’s good so I don’t veer toward thinking I can gain acceptance by what I do.  But the assurance causes me to blow off the need, the command to extend mercy.   I want it for myself but rarely offer it to others.   I am  quick to judge and slow to extend mercy.
I recall a few years back I heard a sermon on mercy.  It was at a time when I was weighing out whether to send this guy on a summer project or not.  On paper, he had done some things recently in his life that disqualified him.  But I sensed God was telling me to offer him mercy.  I called him up and said, “I shouldn’t be sending you, but I am gonna give you mercy.”   I didn’t blow off what he did what offered him the gospel.  After that summer, he told me he thought of that every day - when he extended the gospel to others, when he faced temptation, when he might have judged others he served with, when he saw people in need .  Every day, he thought of mercy.  He saw others in the vein of people that just needed mercy and he saw himself as someone who needed mercy. 

The Merciful
I wish that story was more common in my life.  I wish my first thought was to drop the stone and grant mercy.  I wish my first action would be when I see someone in need to get off my donkey and love my neighbor.  I wish I was full of the love of God, full of mercy – merciful… like Christ, like the Father.
Lord, I need mercy.  May I cry out like the tax collector in temple, “God, have mercy on me a sinner!”  May I cry like the blind beggar, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”   May I be quick to extend mercy to others. Take my greedy heart and make it a heart of mercy.

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Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Friday, January 30th, 2009

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” – Jesus


Jesus continues to lay out what it means to live in the Kingdom of God.  In the Kingdom of God those who deeply long for righteousness will be satisfied.
Righteousness
Now when I read this word I think of passages like: “Abraham believed and it was counted to him as Righteousness” or “There is none righteous, (what about…?) Nope.  Not one.” .
All those and others like them cause me to think in terms of my unrighteousness and being made right through Christ’s.  Maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about here.  But depending on the version you use, there are 40-50 verses where justice and righteousness are coupled together in the bible.  It’s clear that justice and righteousness go hand in hand and are at the heart of God. As I read these passages, I can’t help but think what Jesus is talking about in the Sermon on the Mount goes beyond just desiring some fire insurance.  I believe He is talking about a longing in the soul that things would be right – in my life and in my world.
Today, I met an elderly lady through the non-profit I volunteer for each week. She was born in Germany and her brother died as a young boy because he had a cleft palate.  He basically was left to starve to death by the Nazis rather than his condition be treated.  All these years later she broke down things of the loss of her brother.  In our soul we know that’s unjust.  It’s not right.  That’s not the way God intended it to be.  
Children with leukemia.  Abusive husbands.  Slavery.  Babies with AIDS.  People dying of hunger. War.  A gentle-hearted man being killed by a drunk driver…  And yes my own wickedness, my prideful soul that gets angry at the smallest slight and my callous heart.  And yes, the reality that many do not really know Him… even those that call Him, “Lord, Lord”.   This is not right.  That’s not the way God intended it to be.  That’s not righteousness
Hunger and Thirst
We know what this is.  At least I think I do.   I get hungry every day around 11:30 or so when my bowl of morning cereal has worn off.  But real hunger?  Real thirst?  I have never been on the brink of starvation and I am not one of the billion in the world who will go hungry tonight.  (That reality is unjust.)  I guess I don’t know except maybe when I fast.  In those oh too few times I have ventured down this path of spiritual discipline, I know it be all consuming.  
Does my soul hunger in the same way for things to be made right?  Am I consumed for justice? Do I ache for the end of oppression, poverty and pain?  Do I long for God’s will? For His peace? For His plan? For His glory?  For His… righteousness?
Will Be Filled
In the Kingdom of God, these longings will have their fulfillment.  It will happen.  Things will be made right.  Justice will roll like a river.  The weapons of warfare will be refashioned into farm implements that provide food for the hungry.  There will be no more sorrow.  The King will reign, every knee will bow… and we will know Him.   
May I hunger and thirst – really hunger and thirst – for that day.   And also hunger and thirst for justice now and things to be on earth as they are in heaven.

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The Meek

Monday, January 26th, 2009

“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”  - Jesus.

Jesus continues his explanation of what it means to live in the Kingdom of God.  And He continues to flip what we think is the normal way of living… the world’s way.
The Meek
Humble… gentle… kind…   self-effacing…  unassuming…  patient… not quick-tempered…  Some might say compliant, docile or overly submissive.   I have heard it defined as ‘power under control’ like a bridled horse and wind in a sail.   In version of Numbers 12:3, it says “Moses was very meek, above all the men on the face of the earth”.  Though this version might be hard to read and grasp, I find it interesting that ‘meek’ here is juxtaposed to ‘above all’.  Meek is not above all, its below all.   And yet…
They will Inherit the Earth  
What does that mean?  I mean, I look at these promises of the Beatitudes and this seems the least appealing.  I get ‘comfort’ especially if I am mourning.  I get ‘wanting to see God’ or ‘being filled’.  But really, I don’t want to inherit the earth… do I?
Control.  We want to be in control.  I want to be in control.  Maybe I don’t want to inherit the whole earth, that’s cartoonish.   But i do want to control my world.   My family, my home, my finances, my work…  I get angry when things are spinning out of control.  I want to control traffic.  I want to control my sons.  I want life to be in control.
And yet life since the Fall has been spinning out of control.  My world will never be under control.  if it is for a second, entropy sets it.  Tonight my son my obey me.  Tomorrow he won’t.  Things in my home may work today but tomorrow something will stop working.  It never ends.  I want to control but its out of control.
Real Power
The world says that power is what rules.  Being in control, that’s leadership.  It’s staring down the opponent.  It’s being in charge.  It’s ruling and reining, not from humility but actually from the exact opposite.
Jesus says that real power is found in being under control…  in meekness… in servitude… in humility… in not bringing glory to myself… in looking out for the needs of others.   
The meek will inherit the earth.  Oh Lord make my soul long for meekness!

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Those who Mourn

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” – Jesus

After Jesus stated “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit“, he continued to lay out what living in the Kingdom of God looks like.  
Those who Mourn
To grieve, to wail, to lament… over a lose, a regret, sin.   Abraham mourned for Sarah, Jacob over his son, Bathsheba over Uriah, David over Absalom and Rachel over her children who were no more.  Godly men mourned for Stephen
Jesus wept over Jerusalem.  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!”  When He returns, all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him – the One pierced for all.
Will be Comforted
One day there will be no more mourning.  Be even now in the Kingdom, under the reign of the King, there is comfort.  He came to heal the brokenhearted, to comfort those who mourn, to provide for those who grieve.  Comfort.  He is the God of all Comfort, the Prince of Peace.  We can enter His rest.
Blessed
Do I mourn?  Do I weep over injustice?  For the unborn?  For those living under oppression? For those without hope?  Over my own sin, my own pride, my own wretchedness?  Do I grieve and lament because the world is not the way it should be?  Is my heart broken?  Do I grieve as I would if I lost a son or my wife?
Jesus wept over Jerusalem… a city that kill prophets, a city that would kill him.  He wept because they were unwilling to surrender to His Kingship…  Does He weep over me?

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Poor in Spirit

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009


“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God” – Jesus

Jesus had begun his ministry teaching that the Kingdom of God had arrived.   News of his healing power had spread and large crowds began to gather.  The people were hoping, He was the promised King who would deliver them.
And so Jesus begins teaching about this Kingdom.  The whole sermon on the mount is about the reality of this coming kingdom and how we should live.  Even these first little verses (Matthew 5:3-10) bookend with the promise of the Kingdom of God.  But really its all about His Kingdom.
Poor in Spirit
Poverty of the soul…  To be desperate…. to realize I can’t make it on my own… I am in great need….  I need Him.  This is the condition that opens the door for God’s Kingdom to Come.  It is the first cry that invites a relationship with this King.  ”I Need You!”  ”Have mercy on me, Oh God!”  ”Come, Lord Jesus!”  It is brokenness.  It is surrender.  It is desperation.   

A person poor in spirit is not playing church or some religious game.  it is not for the sake of others.  It’s the shameless wailing of the widow in Luke 18.  it is the cry of the blind man in that same chapter.  It is the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15 who will not shut up.  

It is a soul that is restless until it finds rest in Him.

Theirs is the Kingdom of God
A promise of something amazing from someone who has nothing. His Kingdom and all the glory.  
His presence, His love, His forgiveness, His fulfillment.  

Blessed.
Joy. Some use the word “happy” instead “blessed”. I like “full of joy”. Full of joy is the one who 
is desperate and understands their need for God. To them will be given the Kingdom of God.


May I be a soul that is desperate. May I realize I need the gospel every day. I am in deep, 
desperate need of You. May I be poor in Spirit!

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