Acronyms and a Family Reunion – How I’m Praying

September 16, 2012

Maria Colossians, Prayer , 2 Comments

I must be handicapped to some degree mentally.  For I have greatly benefitted from memory techniques to help me cope.  My favorite way of making up for poor memory, is to organize what is important to me in the form of an acronym or a silly rhyme.  Mike has a colleague and a boss who have nicknames inherited from their active-duty air force days.  One is named Box and the other Stick.  The only way I can remember who is who is to say to myself: “Stick is Mike’s boss, because STick STays at work late.”  The “st- trick” helps me when I need quickly to verbalize the correct name.

I’m just sharing a deficiencyL and one of my crutchesJ.

So in the effort to organize some wonderful attributes of God into a prayer for an upcoming family reunion, I used the first 2 initials of our two sons, my husband and myself.

Wes who is an Infantry lieutenant deploys to Afghanistan in about 6 weeks or so.  We have organized a family reunion for the 1st week of October.  We have a small family, but EVERYONE is coming.  The last time we were together was a year ago when Mike’s brother Steve married Eve in Toronto.  And now we are reuniting.  Life is fragile – who knows when we will all be together again.  So I’ve been praying.  First I prayed that Wes indeed would be granted the vacation days he had been ‘promised’ by the Army.  Then I prayed that Mike’s mom and his cousin Terry would be able to come. These prayers have been granted by our always-faithful heavenly Father.  Now I’m praying for a hurricane-free week, good health and safe travel.

But more importantly, I am praying for harmony. You know what YOUR family is like!  Old patterns that weren’t healthy ‘way back when’ resurface when family members are together for more than 24 hours.  These can include juvenile rivalries, un-forgiveness and assumptions that have fossilized even though they are no longer true.

There are also political and spiritual differences among family members.  Enough said.

Then there are expectations about how people should act.   My husband tells me that unmet expectations are the source of much grief.

And did I mention that in this beach house will be 6 women who all like to cook, but who view meal prep and clean-up differently? Some likely will be battling hormones of various kinds, cranky because of poor sleep in a new bed and/or tired because of babies and toddlers!

Don’t get me wrong!  We’re not an exceptionally dysfunctional family.  I don’t think anyone is in counseling at this momentJ.  We’re pretty normal!!!  But we are all sinners.

So here is how I’ve been praying and where my acronym comes into play.  I took the initials of the first and middle names of my nuclear family: our oldest son GC, my husband MF, our youngest son WJ and me MB and created a prayer for our entire Cochrane family, all of whom will be at this happy event :

Blessed are you, O God

May we, the Cochranes

          Delight in

          Enjoy ‘muchly’

          Treasure and

          Rejoice in who You are    (DETR – I pronounce it as ‘debtor’)

Grant us ever-exceeding (here come the initials of our names)

          Gratitude to You

          Compassion for others

          Mercy in our actions

          Faithfulness in our reliance on You

          Wisdom

          Joy

          Mindfulness and

          Beauty-seeking

I now have a better chance of remembering HOW I want to pray leading up to our reunion and during.  Of course PEACE, FORGIVENESS, UNSELFISHNESS and many other attitudes are ones for which I’m THANKING GOD ahead of time as well.

Don’t misunderstand – I’m not anticipating upheavals.  But I do believe that God wants us to be prepared and on our guard.  Satan and his cohorts are always aggressively on the prowl, looking to devour Christians.  We must be mindful and clad in our spiritual armor that God has provided.  To do otherwise is at best naïve and at worst a disaster waiting to happen.

Colossians 3 – 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

The Logic of Massive Wrath or Massive Rescue

September 9, 2012

Maria Gospel, Guilt, Hebrews, Revelation, Sin , , , , Leave a comment

There is a fallacy in logic called Bifurcation, – the Either/ Or Argument.  It goes like this:  “Mom says that I must choose an in-state school if I want her to pay for college.  I guess that means I have to go to either Thomas Nelson Community College or the University of Virginia.  I don’t want to go to a rinky-dink school and I probably won’t get into UVa.  I’m doomed!

This high school senior has purposefully and unnecessarily limited her choice to between 2 options unacceptable to her.   People indulge in this form of fallacious reasoning usually to make someone look bad.   In this case, she wants to paint her mom as being unfair.

But in the case of eternal life, there TRULY are only two options.  And they are as different from one another as night and day, war and peace, life and death.

Today in church, our pastor preached from Hebrews 10: 19-39.  We’ve been making our way through the book of Hebrews.  I have always viewed this New Testament book as the most difficult in the entire Bible.  But it is slowly but surely becoming my favorite.  Although the author is unknown, I think Paul deserves the honor – or at least someone who shares his excellent writing and thinking skills.  As in Ephesians 1 or Romans 8, each phrase leads to the next in tight logical fashion that makes it a pleasure to follow.

Here is what I took away from today’s sermon that filled me with awe:

  • Every sin we commit (by not loving God with our whole heart, mind, strength and soul) requires the death of someone.  In the OT, God provided His people, the Jews, a system whereby animals died in the place of sinful people.  Pete, our pastor, made the point that before Christ’s death on the cross people were NOT saved because they obeyed the law.  They were saved because they believed God when He said that He would expiate or cover their sin with the blood of an acceptable animal, a live spotless creature slaughtered in their place!!!  To the degree they believed God, they were saved.
  •  When Christ died on the cross, there was no longer any need for animal sacrifices to reconcile people to God.  Christ IS the once and for all sacrifice sufficient for all those who trust Him.
  • Jews today have a SERIOUS problem – what to do with their guilt!  The celebration/ceremony of Yom Kippur does nothing to take away their sin.  No blood is shed.  And even if temple sacrifice were still practiced & animals were slaughtered to ransom each person, the shed blood wouldn’t count since Jesus has come and made obsolete the previous method.  God declares through Paul in Romans 10:4 that Christ is the end (completion/fulfillment) of the (sacrificial) law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.  (my emphases in parentheses)
  • My overwhelming thought as we moved from Pete’s sermon into Communion was this:  There are only 2 realities in life that matter.  And they loom more massively and breathtakingly than I ever realized:

On one side hovers                                                           On the other side shines forth

Everlasting Destruction              vs                          The most creative BLOW- 

& Judgment                                                                          -your- MIND Rescue Operation

For everyone on earth                                                  Sufficient for Repentant Rebels

 

There is no other option, no 3rd way.  This description of reality does NOT commit the fallacy of bifurcation or false dilemma.

When we diminish our sin and guilt as in this hypothetical but fairly typical rationalization,

(sure I have ugly thoughts about people from time to time, and sure I have blown my cool and taken out my frustration on the kids or other drivers and sure I have taken office pens and hidden taxable income, and maybe I even had an affair behind my spouse’s back, or still indulge in occasional unhealthy coping mechanisms…….BUT I’m no worse than the average person)

we minimize what God means when He calls us to be holy and perfect as He is. Moreover, it follows, then, that we diminish the merits of Christ’s sacrifice and perfectly-lived life available to be applied to OUR account.

In conclusion – we have a big problem.  And we can’t help ourselves.  As much as we resist being helpless and NOT in control, we live in God’s world.  Jesus is the only savior, the only rescuer.  That’s not fair, you say?  Fair is that we all get what we deserve.  And no one deserves heaven.  But mercifully God has made a way. Something is true whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not.  Wake up and THINK!!!  Make a rational, logical decision based on the evidence.

Final thoughts worth praying on –

Acts 4:12 – Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

I am so grateful to God for providing us Jesus…..

Rev 1:5… who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

 

Entitled to what?

September 6, 2012

Maria Attitude, Fear, Joy, Romans , , 2 Comments

Entitlements are a hot potato in today’s political climate.  You want someone’s vote?  Promise that you will fight to increase what is their ‘due’.  But what sounds like a benefit is actually poisonous and harmful to one’s wellbeing.

The feeling of entitlement sets us up for:

  • Anger
  • Bitterness
  • Resentment
  • Anxiety
  • Fear

You can recognize the seed of entitlement within when you start to say, “I deserve…..”

Truthfully, there is only one thing we deserve:  DEATH!!!

God says, “The wages of sin are death.” (Romans 6:23)

Starting back in Eden’s paradise, sin required the death of someone.  When Adam & Eve turned from trusting in God, animals died:

Satan:  “You DESERVE unlimited access to all the trees in Eden. Is it fair that God should withhold from you that tree over there – the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’?”

Adam & Eve:  “Hmm…no that ISN’T fair.  We deserve……”

**

Closer to our day, consider these common scenarios. Think of the feelings they might engender:

  • I deserved that promotion, not Joe!
  • When I get on the scale and I’ve deprived myself for a week, I should weigh……
  • My husband should know that I need adult conversation after 12 hours at home dealing with toddlers!
  • Who does that idiot driver think he is, cutting me off like that! He should know how to drive before he gets behind the wheel!
  • My time is valuable- Walmart should hire more clerks!
  • No one ever notices the work I do.  I try to make a difference here at the office.  But I never get any credit.  They don’t appreciate me at all!
  • After my long commute and the hours I put in at the office, I need some chill time to myself.  The kids ought to know better and leave me in peace.
  • He knows my hot buttons.  He shouldn’t have said that!
  • I deserve the A, not him!  I did my research the correct way, wrote a rough draft first before my final copy.  All Sam did was pull it out of the air during an all-nighter.  Why can’t our prof see that!!!

My friend and I are reading a book that is changing how I see my life.  It’s called  Calm My Anxious Heart – A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment

The author’s premise is that when we COMPLAIN or COMPARE or WONDER how the past might have been different or FANTASIZE about the future or DWELL on tomorrow – We are destroying our contentment.

I am actually beginning to catch my internal complaints.  I have come to realize that my normal sinful bent to be impatient is a form of complaining.  When someone is taking up MORE of my time than I want to give, I am actually saying, “This should not be happening!”

Not only does contentment evaporate like rain on a hot Tampa afternoon, I am actually lying.  Who says that THIS should NOT be happening?  Who says that I SHOULD have designer-life?   After all, I deserve death.

Let’s get honest, though.

The above examples are actually not the ones that try my soul.  It is my fears that pose a greater challenge.

  • When I start to fear the death of a loved one in a car accident…….
  • When I start to fear not being able to find another job teaching French…..
  • When I start to fear a family member never being saved by Christ…..

I think what I am really saying to God is this:

I have a vision of the future that I think is best.  I’m afraid that it is not going to work out the way I want because I know that I am not in control.  I actually NEED you, God, to make it like I want!

A more precise translation would be:  I should be guaranteed the exact unfolding of my vision of the future as it concerns me.

**

The antidote to my misplaced, misinformed sense of entitlement? – Repentance and trust in Jesus

This is why the Gospel has to be my life, every breath of the day.  Exhale-repent/ inhale-trust.  This is the only way to walk in Christ, to live by means of Christ, by means of His light, by means of His love.  When I detour off HIS path toward MY entitlements, the raucous WARNING-WARNING-WARNING of fear, anger, resentment, bitterness, impatience alerts me.

Once again, it’s back to:    Breathe out my sin – breathe in His Grace – feel His joy and presence.

A new adventure begins for us!

August 26, 2012

Maria Faith, Uncategorized , 2 Comments

Andrée Seu Peterson crafted an interesting analogy in a recent column for World Magazine, dated 21 Aug 2012 How Linda Diets.  Her cousin Linda, once on a diet, remarked that to lose weight, “you have to like the feeling of your stomach grumbling.”  Andrée followed Linda’s advice and found that, “The change of perspective was effective in turning a normally unpleasant experience into a motivator.”  Andrée continues:

Nowadays I have no trouble with my diet, but everybody has trouble of some kind or other. You may as well expect it: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). And I have found my cousin’s counsel transfers well from the dieting domain to the spiritual domain: “You have to like the feeling of your soul being in a trial.”

It’s good to know that by looking at problems and challenges differently, I have a better chance of staying motivated LONG ENOUGH to get ALL the good that God intends for me.

My husband and I have deliberately created some trials that we are now entering.  No, we’re not masochists.  But we do like adventure.  Kind of like George Műller, we have deliberately bitten off a HUGE project that gives us a massively challenging opportunity to practice trusting God. (George started orphanages in 19th century England and daily PRAYED in the money to keep them running.  He kept a diary and published a book to encourage average Christians like you and me to trust God as well.)

My husband Michael is retiring from Federal service next May with a small pension.  (Thank you, Lord!)  We could choose to stay put here in Virginia. It would be way ‘easier’.   We wouldn’t have to sell a house or give up my teaching job. Most likely, Mike could find a contracting job, making more than he earns right now as a federal civil servant.

But where is the adventure in that?  Where are the staggering opportunities to trust God?  In fact, if we didn’t want ANY stress, Mike could stay working for the Federal government.  He doesn’t HAVE to retire.  Next summer he GETS to retire

Why are we moving?  It’s simple.  We’ve always wanted to live in the hills. We have picked Asheville, NC.

And here are the ways we are venturing forth in this prayerful path of faith, a path into the unknown:

  • We have a house to sell, with all that entails, including timing
  • We need money to pay for moving costs
  • I need a teaching job in Asheville
  • Mike needs work that will bring in income (? How do you start a consulting business?  How do you find clients? )
  •  We will have to find a place to live

What we have going for us:

  • We have God as our ‘blessed controller’
  • We have tons of His promises to guide us and provide for us
  • He actually WANTS us humbly to cast our cares on Him, as a child would with his dad
  • We are of the same mind, Mike and I
  • We can encourage the other when fear and doubt attack
  • We have Christian friends who are praying for us
  • We have good health and no other mouths to feed but 3 felines

Deliberately choosing to practice trusting God should give us much evidence of the God who cares and comes through for His children.  We want to give Him the glory each step of the way and gain specific examples we can use to encourage other believers along the path.

What are you trusting God for in your life?  I’d love to hear.

More to come about the adventure as we walk in faith along this new road – and if you’d like résumés….just let us know

PS: I’m encouraged by the poem that follows

A poem quoted by Elisabeth Elliot
Do The Next Thing

“At an old English parsonage down by the sea,
there came in the twilight a message to me.
Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven
that, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.
And all through the hours the quiet words ring,
like a low inspiration, ‘Do the next thing.’

Many a questioning, many a fear,
many a doubt hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
time, opportunity, guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,
trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer,
do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
leave all resultings, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
working or suffering be thy demeanor,
in His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
the light of His countenance, be thy psalm.
Do the next thing.”

Idols and the One True God

August 12, 2012

Maria Proverbs , Leave a comment

Funny how no one protests the dominating and dour-faced deity on the boardwalk!  There stood the grimacing Neptune, trident at the ready, with tourists innocently posing for pictures next to the Virginia Beach idol, I mean icon!   Good thing he wasn’t a real god!!

I was enjoying a final field trip and play date with a friend before starting back to school. No we don’t have young kids; WE were the ones frolicking in the waves.

As I approached the towering symbol on the boardwalk, I couldn’t help but ponder the reaction should there have been an equally large Jesus, beckoning or protecting tourists who come to swim and sunbathe.  Yes, I know that precedent exists.  Outside Rio de Janeiro looms an immense Christ the Redeemer statue. Raised and secured on top of Corcovado Mountain, it was blessed and inaugurated in 1931 by Brazil’s president and a leading cardinal.  But that was 80+ years ago. Today there would be protests.

But instead of thinking about the injustice, I realized that the only reason the Roman god Neptune could be displayed in public in such a grand way by a municipality, is the fact that he is utterly powerless.  No one prays to him anymore.  He must be actually harmless, since Satan has removed him from the dark side’s arsenal of gods.   But Jesus, He is another matter!  He is to be feared.  He is powerful.

To get an idea of the relative power, consider this.  If Neptune WERE real and not just a mythological figure, then we would be talking merely about the King and Ruler of the Sea.  But we’re talking about the Son of God – Jesus, who CREATED the entire universe.  Here’s a way to think of the enormity of the universe. (Borrowed from JD Greear who quotes others.)

Imagine that:

  • The distance between our Earth and the Sun is represented by the thickness of one piece of notebook paper. (the Sun is the only star in our solar system)
  • Then the distance between the Earth and the closest star in the next nearest solar system would be a stack of paper 70 feet high.
  • Then the distance across our Milky Way Galaxy would be that same stack of paper, but now 310 miles high.
  • In our galaxy, it is estimated that there are 200 to 400 billion stars.
  • And scientists conjecture that there are 100 to 200 billion galaxies in the universe.

And it’s Jesus who created all this, at His word.  Talk about mind-boggling!!!

It’s a good thing we shy away from erecting a token statue of the Creator.

So, I say to the City Council of Virginia Beach.   Enjoy the revenue-producing draw that King Neptune exercises for you, for that is all he can do.  But fear the Lord and get wisdom!  (Proverbs 1:7)

PS:  Look at how that verse is rendered in French – « La crainte de l’Éternel est le commencement de la science » Did you notice how the word for knowledge is translated ?  Hmmmm

Blessed Contradiction – Psalm 68:19

August 5, 2012

Maria Psalms , Leave a comment

Bless the Lord who daily loads us with blessings.         KJV/ Darby/ Websters/ Youngs

Bless the Lord who daily bears our burdens.        NIV/ NASB/ God’s Word/ASV/ERV

Bless the Lord who daily carries us.         NLT/ ESV

Psalm 68:19

Welcome to the wonderful world of Blessed Contradictions!  I heard RC Sproul teach today that there are no contradictions in the Bible.  If one account or fact SEEMS to contradict another in the Bible, it is either a paradox or a mystery.  Paradoxes are seeming contradictions which resolve themselves when more information is provided.  Mysteries however, are just in the pre-resolved state. We don’t YET have enough information which will untangle the ‘so-called’ contradiction.

So what is a truth-loving Christian to do, given 3 different possible translations of Psalm 68:19?  Which translation is the correct one? It all depends on the definition of ‘amac’  (6006).  The Hebrew verb ‘amac’ can either mean:  to bear a load or to load onto.

So which is it?  And how are we to know?

I will offer a solution to our di- or ‘tri-lemma’ by asking a question? Would it be so wrong if we allowed for all three?

Think about Jesus’ theology.  In his high-altitude sermon, He gently chastises listeners (and us!) for holding onto anxieties, however real and legitimate they might be.  Who among us older than 9 doesn’t identify?  His invitation to come and rest is balm for many hearts. Shoulders sag with relief as He calls the weary and stressed out to come & off-load weighty matters at His feet.

If I asked you right now, ‘Friend, what wears you down, what wakes you up in the middle of the night, what is on your mind today?’ would you have to ponder long?  I bet you could tick off 10 concerns before I muttered ‘fish and loaves’ or ‘water into wine’! But whoever invites THAT kind of transparent sharing?  Each of us is preoccupied with his own ‘what ifs?’.  At most, we seem to invite honest off-loading by asking each other, ‘How are you doing?’  But few are they who listen lovingly, with patience.  We all understand social conventions.

Should you be worried that since YOU are NOT going to be worrying anymore, then nothing will get fixed, Off-loading at Jesus’ feet is in nowise neglect.  Jesus Himself will pick up our problems and sort them out from His perfect perspective. He might hand them back, one at a time, but they will have been lightened and infused with new insights into how we might deal with.  Or some will be permanently taken from us with the promise that He will solve them with His resources. (They were ‘above our pay grade’.)

Recently I was worried about finding someone to cat- sit our three cats.  The regular sitter was gone and I didn’t want to ask our neighbor who occasionally feeds them when we are away for a weekend.  I actually kept writing down this problem as a prayer request, off-loading the burden each morning, exercising trust that Jesus would come up with a solution.  About 3 weeks before we left to go hiking, one of my students called up and mentioned that she heard we were looking for a cat sitter.  She works part time at our Vet and our normal sitter had mentioned to someone who had mentioned to someone……..who worked at the Vet who then said to Monica, “there is a lady who needs a cat-sitter, would you call her?”   When Monica asked the name, it turned out to be me, her French teacher.  And when Monica phoned and we started to work out details, I asked her what she would charge.  She ‘just happened’ to still need funding for a missions trip to Japan.  Our budgeted amount for cat-sitting helped make the difference in her financial support.  Now THAT is creative.  I would not have thought of Monica.

So you see, Jesus does not suggest we ‘go Buddhist’ and pretend that we don’t have any needs.  He actually proposes a swap: His concerns for our concerns – His yoke for our yoke.  But how different from our cumbersome and heavy backpack is this Heavenly Load!

We get to wear a yoke that is custom fitted, with all the right padding in the right places. If you’ve ever hiked with a backpack, you might know the blessing of having a strap that goes across your chest and one across your waste to distribute the weight.

And what goes in our Backpack by Jesus? Do we get world-sized problems? By no means, we actually get presents!!!  Spiritual gifts for every situation: think wisdom and courage and strength and material resources.  Some of the best supplies we get to pack are Bible truths. God’s promises remind us of His love for us and His always-available supernatural power.  His forever love and permanent Holy –Spirit-power are down payments of future grace due us, given our ‘new-birthright’.  So instead of meditating on all our problems, we meditate on God’s character, His past help and His future promises.

Best of all, among all the items we carry when we are yoked to Him are His surprise gifts.  Our God is infinitely creative and as Jeremiah reminds us, God’s blessings are new every morning.  So let us meditate on the ‘loads us with blessings’ promise of this tri-fold truth.

May we NOT be perplexed by what seems like a contradiction or tri-lemma.  Since the Holy Spirit inspired King David to pen the Hebrew word ‘amac’, we can be sure that God intends good for us whether by removing the load from us, actually carrying us or giving us rich and weighty blessings.

What is the core teaching of Jesus?

July 29, 2012

Maria Ephesians, Gospel, Guilt, Hebrews, Mark 2 Comments

A good friend of mine recently handed me an invitation to think through and identify the core belief or doctrine of Christianity.  In pointing me to a recent article in the Huffington Post (see link at the end) I read an apologist for the Episcopal Church attempt to downplay declining membership rolls by pointing to parallel exits from both the Southern Baptist and Catholic churches.

Before I share what the Huffington Post author thinks is the number one teaching of Jesus, I want to explore why I think she is correct in mentioning shrinking church membership.

There comes a point when all of us get tired of being implored to do more.  We get that at both work AND home.  All of us probably can name ways in which we could do more ‘good stuff’.  So when the church preaches the same message as a predominate theme from the pulpit, we reach a point where we ask ourselves, “Why am I choosing to subject myself to this To-Do List week after week?  Where is the good news? ”

The Baptist version of some legalistic churches often comes across this way by asking:

  • How long are your quiet times?
  • Have you joined an accountability group?
  • Which missions’ trips are you going on this year?

The Catholic version sounds like this:

  • How can you be pro-life and support capital punishment?
  • You need to march for anti-capitalistic, environmentally sound policies.
  • Since you can’t know for sure if you are good enough to warrant entry into heaven, DO this or GIVE X amount of money as penance.
  • You better not miss mass and confession; how else will you know if you are ‘good’?

And liberal Protestantism preaches:

  • Feed the poor, reach out to your neighbors, whoever they are.
  • Fight for judgment-free acceptance of all values.
  • Celebrate the many ways to God.

Hear me carefully.  I am NOT saying that Bible study, small group participation, feeding the poor, mindful use of earth’s resources and kindly serving others here and abroad are unworthy activities.  There is a place for these practices.But what is missing and what leaves people weak, thirsty and discouraged is the lack of Good News preached.

What is Christianity’s main teaching or core value?

That Jesus Christ saves sinners

This proposition presupposes that someone needs saving?

The Bible, throughout its 66 books, teaches that life’s ultimate problem looming over every human being is GUILT (and I’m not talking about guilty feelings, although they are sometimes present but actually judicial guilt.)  If you or I were to die right now and face our Creator and Sustainer, Almighty God, He would rightly judge, “Guilty – you deserve Hell.”   We are born sinful (Psalm 51:5), thanks to our first parents Adam and Eve.

And no amount of the Baptist version of good works, or the Catholic version of good works or the liberal protestant version of good works will SAVE US.

We are up a very dangerous creek with no way out.  And God has our attention.  Now we are ready to hear the GOOD NEWS:

– that Jesus came to save sinners by dying in our place, thus satisfying the eternal sentence against us, thereby saving us from HELL

– that Jesus lived the perfect life, thus giving us the gift of un-earned righteousness, thereby gaining entry for us into HEAVEN

What were Jesus’ first words when he burst onto the scene in Galilee?

  • Love everyone and feed the poor!

Nope, Mark records God the Son’s striking command:  The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; Repent and believe in the gospel.  (Mark 1:15)

Later on, in verse 38 of the same opening chapter, Jesus confirms his mission. Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also, for this is what I came out for.

Whether conservative or liberal, all of us church-attenders need to hear what God has already done for us, through Jesus.  The more we learn how much God loves us and what motivated Him to die for us,

Jesus…. as author and perfecter of our faith…. for the JOY set before him endured the cross and scorned its shame and … sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2)

the more we can drop our drivenness.  It’s from that place of not being good enough that come many of our ‘good works’.  “I must be a good-enough Christian if I do…….”

I promised that I would let you in on what the defender of the declining Episcopal Church declares is the core value in Christianity:

Introspective liberal churchgoers returned to the core of the Christian vision: Jesus’ command to “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.” As a result, a sort of neo-liberal Christianity has quietly taken root across the old Protestant denominations–a form of faith that cares for one’s neighbor, the common good, and fosters equality, but is, at the same time, a transformative personal faith that is warm, experiential, generous, and thoughtful. This new expression of Christianity maintains the historic liberal passion for serving others but embraces Jesus’ injunction that a vibrant love for God is the basis for a meaningful life. These Christians link spirituality with social justice as a path of peace and biblical faith.

Where do I think good works fit in?  Aren’t we supposed to have a consistent quiet time, go on missions’ trips, and confess our sins one to the other?  Aren’t we supposed to practice neighbor love, feed the poor, discern and proclaim Biblical truth?  Of course, but ‘good works’ come  AFTER  the primary call of REPENT and BELIEVE what Jesus teaches.

Those who are saved are saved in order to do certain work.  And these activities are not ones that we choose in a vacuum; they have been predestined/planned out by God from before the creation of the universe. (Ephesians 2:10)

God’s order of events prevents boasting on our part.  How can He be ‘rich in mercy’ and ‘give us grace’ if we earn our way into heaven? And if we think we can earn enough brownie points so God will HAVE to let us in, we can easily wear out with fatigue and just quit. Any church, not just liberal protestant ones will lose members over time if their pastors do not feed their flocks with rich gospel-saturated food.

Today in church, one of the readings was from Ephesians 4.  The primary role of pastors and church teachers, those whose calling is true spiritual formation is described.  This job description of those who are to feed us regularly is worth reading:

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Sufficient and correct content, delivered in love, builds unity and equips the body of believers to do the work God calls them to do.  I am ONLY motivated to do, when I am amazed at what God has first done for me.  Skip that part, the blow-my-mind-He-did-THAT for ME????, and false manipulative guilt will only motivate me so far.

I will leave you with a prayer that really stokes my love for Jesus.  It’s written by pastor and author JD Greear, from his book Gospel: (page 44)

“In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less.

Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy.

As you have been to me, so I will be to others.

As I pray, I’ll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection.”

For the original essay in the Huffington Post, go to:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-butler-bass/can-christianity-be-saved_1_b_1674807.html

 

Dormancy or There IS rest for the weary!

July 23, 2012

Maria Uncategorized Leave a comment

At the beginning of my 11 weeks of summer vacation, I kind of freaked.  Feared I was wasting my time, that the days were slipping through my fingers with little to show for them.  I was surprised by the emotional wallop of this reaction, for I’ve been dealing with seasonal change for over 20 years as a teacher.

I eventually settled into a routine and kind of gave myself permission to just BE. But I still FELT time fleeting fast.   The culprit for this ennuie? –  probably Guilt for having the time off while the rest of the grown-up world works through the summer.

The highlight of my summer was a hiking trip with my husband.  We drove down to the mountains of Western North Carolina earlier this month, stopping off in Winston-Salem to catch up with my cousin and her husband.  While there, Darby gave me a book about the Sabbath. I love to mark up books and have taken to pulling out one or two main points and making note of them via Evernote.

If for nothing else, the book was worth reading for this one thought:  the value of dormancy. Wayne Muller writes, “If certain plant species do not lie dormant for winter, they will not bear fruit in the spring….. A lack of dormancy produces confusion and erosion in the life force.”

Wow!  All of a sudden, I realized that the summer months are valuable just for REST.  And that the best activities are NO activities.  I started thinking how I jeopardize my natural creativity for the future school year when I force activity.  That without that restful period of noodling around the house, I’m just a mechanical teacher.

Muller also writes – “ (like crops) We, too, must have periods when we lie fallow and restore our souls.  Rest is an essential enzyme of life, as necessary as air.  Without rest, we cannot sustain the energy needed to have life.”

Of course, his book argues for the weekly Sabbath – taking a day off to slow down and appreciate nature and the rhythms of life.  He talks about being hard-wired for rest.  And how we cannot wait for our work to be done, for our work is NEVER done.

This idea was just what I needed.  I think I might have missed the significance had I not blundered through those first few weeks of vacation.  Of course, nothing is by accident.  The gift of this book from my cousin followed by a week nurturing our souls in an isolated cabin with my husband in the midst of the Carolina Smokies was therapeutic.  We hiked, slept, ate, read, talked and dreamed again.  You can’t dream if you’re pushing through life.

As you know, I experimented with a Sabbath this past spring. What a surprise to me that I could get enough essential school and house work done to carve out a Sabbath Sunday.  I looked forward to it each week.

This school year, I want to continue that blessed practice and also add 30 minutes to my week-day sleep schedule.  Life doesn’t have to be lived at warp-speed.  War-time urgency is not the rule.  No need to rush, if I believe that God is sovereign over EVERY detail, including the delays.

As Ann Voskamp writes in One Thousand Gifts, if Christians have the gift of life eternal, then we have all the time in the world.  She quotes Evelyn Underhill who labels those who rush and hurry as “amateurs”.

We ought to question the supposed American virtue of being busy.  Author Wayne Muller shocks his readers with this thought:  Apparently the Chinese pictograph for ‘busy’ is composed of 2 characters:  HEART and KILLING

Remember Jesus came so that we would have Life and Life Abundant.  Rest is on the par of other moral commands like refraining from murder, theft, lying and greed.

**

Is 30:15 –   For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and REST you shall be saved….”, but you were not willing

Is 28:12 –   He who said to them, “Here is REST, give REST to the weary,” and, “Here is REPOSE,” but they would not listen…….vs 13…so they will go and stumble backward.…

Hmmm, is the cost of continual busy-ness worth it?

 

 

 

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Not thinking about myself – what a relief

June 26, 2012

Maria Grace , , , , Leave a comment

I was listening to Tullian this morning.  His sermons are balm for my battered soul. Do you know that critical über-nanny who has perfected the knack for getting one to feel bad? Her thinks she lives in me – her name is ‘old slave-driver SELF’. I forget to keep kicking her out, now that the Holy Spirit lives in me.  Apparently the HS is such a gentleman that He waits for ME to act as a proper hostess should and show the ‘no-longer-welcome previous resident’ the door.

Anyway, Pastor Tchividjian loves to talk about Grace and I love to hear podcast sermons about Grace.  I can’t get enough of this topic.  I feel like a perpetually starving man whenever I am fed Gospel Grace.  I think it’s because I have lived so long in the Land of Law: “ Do this! Do that!” to be an okay Christian.

But what I heard this morning set me free…..for a spell.  Tullian was talking about how fruit is produced.  You don’t exhort a small apple tree seedling, “Grow some apples!”  Instead you water and fertilized the roots.  Likewise (per Tullian’s analogy), we shouldn’t command…..manipulate…… guilt……or browbeat ourselves OR other Christians into producing fruit (good works of joy, love, service…..).

Instead we should feed the roots of faith with the truth of the Gospel – the account and details of what Jesus has already done.

Tullian said that the more we examine ourselves to see if we are growing, we actually DON’T grow.  Christian growth happens when we take our eyes OFF of us and put them on Him!

All of a sudden I FELT the lightness of relief.  I actually HATE thinking about myself.  I get SICK of thinking about myself.  I spiral down DEPRESSED thinking about myself.

Then it occurred to me:  Maria – you don’t HAVE to think about yourself.  In fact it’s biblical NOT to.  Paul says we are to think about things that are “TNR PLA EP” (I actually say out loud – ‘tenor play, extended play’ to remind myself to think of topics that are True, Noble, Right, Pure, Lovely, Admirable, Excellent and Praise-worthy)

Recalling those attributes of topics worthy of meditation, I immediately responded, “Well, I’m certainly not Pure – only Jesus is – that’s a no-brainer!”

Then I realized, “then I don’t even QUALIFY to be on the hot topics list– whew!”

The last category of items to ponder is praise-worthy.  That fits well with the book I am slowly savoring, “one thousand gifts” by Ann Voskamp (read the book!)   Filtering my thoughts to allow only what is praise-worthy eliminates criticism and complaining and sets my eyes to look for beauty, blessings and miracles.

And what about problems, people and events about which I’m concerned and obviously have no control?  Paul has that covered.  We’re to cast them in our Father’s lap, thankful and confident that He can take care of all of them. We delegate them to God and look for His guidance and direction for action steps we are to take today.  If we are unsure, we talk to Him as we make the wisest choice for the moment, confident that He IS directing us to take the proper actions necessary for right now.

It’s far simpler than I make it out to be.  Here are some Gospel facts I want to swim in:

  • Keeping my eyes on Jesus, the blessed controller of all things
  • Christ in me, the hope of Glory
  • Forgetting all that is past….since there is now no condemnation
  • Walking and following the author and perfector of my faith
  • Setting my mind on things above where Christ is
  • Washed clean, no more robes of SELF, in my new birthday suit, clothed comfortably with HIS robes of righteousness, held in place with the belt of truth. (any lingering layers of self-righteousness just make the belt TIGHT)
  • Boasting only in Christ
  • Overflowing with thanks for having been chosen from before the creation of time
  • Qualified before time to be an inheritor of the eternal, imperishable treasure

What do you find praise-worthy?

 

 

2-way Grace – a distinction

June 19, 2012

Maria Grace, Philippians, Psalm 116, Psalm 131 , Leave a comment

I’ve heard it said that Grace is God’s one-way love.  I don’t intend to take away from that truth. Let’s just call it, “making a distinction.”

I love distinctions.  They help me sort out what I’m thinking; they give me an understanding of a concept.  Then it is mine.

Take the word ‘reasonable’.  It used to be a very good word.  But I didn’t know that until 2 years ago.  I grew up with the newer definition.  For example – if I asked to borrow 2 eggs from you and mentioned that I was going to the store the next day and would pay you back – that was a ‘reasonable’ request.  I wasn’t asking TOO MUCH from you – not like: “I need to borrow your one and only car for 3 days. May I please have the keys?”   Definitely UN-reasonable.

But reasonable doesn’t mean that at all!  Saying “yes” to Michael when he asked me to marry him after five weeks of dating happened to be a very REASONable decision.  He was both a philosopher and a good cook; we enjoyed spending lots of time outdoors together; we liked reading & travel; we worked in the same profession and he was cute!!  There you have it- 5 excellent REASONS and I haven’t even gotten warmed up!  That was a REASONABLE decision. (That ‘reasoning’ process took place 33 years ago, come September.)

Do you see why distinctions matter?

So it is with grace. God showers us with individual gifts called grace.  When we stop and notice them, SEE them and drink them in richly and then thank Him, not only are we pleasing our Father, we are enhancing our enjoyment of the gifts.

I saw this most closely yesterday as I was reading Phil 4: 6-7 in French.  That’s the exhortation not to worry about anything but to take every concern to God in prayer, with thanksgiving.  See if you can figure out what the verse means – there are lots of cognates. “…exposez vos requêtes à Dieu par la prière et la supplication avec des actions de grâces ;…. » Look at how the French translate ‘thanksgiving’ – actions de grâce !!!!!

I got to thinking that in some small human-sized way, I can give grace back to God by thanking Him for what He has given to me – in this case, access to Him for supernatural help!  My thanking Him pleases Him; He grants me more than I can ask or imagine according to His will; I see His hand all around me; I rest in His care; I tell Him how much I love His gifts; I feel close to Him; when something else comes up, it’s only natural that I turn to Him since I’ve been talking to Him.  It’s an X-stroke engine that once purring, it is easy to keep running. (why X?  – I don’t know – just seemed like X would indicate more than a limited number like 2 – besides, I don’t know cars!!!)

This is actually borne out by other scripture:  consider Psalm 116: 17 – to Thee I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving AND call (try substituting: by calling) upon the name of the Lord (i.e. praying!!! – asking for more help)

Some dear folks mistakenly and pridefully reason, “God has too much to do running the universe to take an interest in my problems…besides doesn’t God help those who help themselves?”

No!  But that’s a topic for another distinction..and another blog – what part God does..and what part do we do.  For now let us be like the psalmist in Psalm 131, verse 2 – Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.

Dear Father, help me to see You and to cling to your Goodness like that trusting toddler.  Encourage me to ask for your help when I am in pain, anxiety and confusion.  Cause me to remember to thank you moment by moment.  In sync, in union, in step, in rhythm with your Grace.

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