Interesting article in the New Yorker.
Click -> How Muslims View Easter
How Muslims View Easter
April 7th, 2012The Tongue
March 21st, 2012
In my counseling practice I have been seeing over and over again the damage people do to their lives and others because of the misuse of their tongues. It has become a theme lately and it has caused me to revisit classic works like Beauty Care for the Tongue by Leroy Koopman. This book profoundly affected me as a kid and I've revisited it throughout my life.
And because of this, years ago, I felt that God was challenging my about my tongue. In Russian, the word for tongue (that pink piece of flesh in one's mouth) is the same word for language. We can communicate in many ways other than just with words made by our tongues. In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 Paul mentions the idea of being "living letters" with the concept that one's life speaks. Our lives say something. People "size us up" and "read" us. In this sense our lives are our language that speaks to God and speaks to other people. What is your life saying? What is your tongue (whole life) saying?
I think it is no coincidence that of all the creatures depicted as Satan's tool in the garden of Eden, it happened to be the one whose tongue is forked; the serpent. It is a tongue that points in two different directions. We often refer to a path that splits into two different directions as having a "fork in the road." And indeed this symbol of the forked tongue of the serpent points to double talk, a double life, a liar. It is an inconsistent tongue. A tongue that is not reliable. The forked tongue uses words to paint one reality to one person and then paint a different reality to another person.
Contrast that to the consistency of God's tongue. When God spoke the universe into existence, it was not a forked tongue, nor could it be. It was solid as rock, and consistent through and through, and therefore the fabric of our existence is held together by the power and consistency of His word: He speaks and does not waver. He speaks and never changes. In Him is no shadow of turning. He does not have a forked tongue. It is what makes the serpent and all those that practice forked communication so opposite of God.
Jesus' own brother James also wrote about the tongue. James 3 is known as the tongue chapter. In it he challenges Christians about their tongues and shows us that the consistency of our tongue (our life that speasks) will reflect the consistency and character of our God.
When God reveals our own forked tongue, will we rip it out? Or will we keep it, and secretly protect it and hope no one will notice? Do we love the realities our forked tongues sustain more than we love the consistency of the One who is Reality (Jesus)?
There is another thread about the tongue in scripture that first appears in Isaiah 45:23. God says that in the end, every tongue will be brought into harmony in swearing allegiance to God. Paul refers to this in his letter to the Philippians (Phil 2:11) and in Romans 14:11, saying that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
For the forked tongue this will be torture. A tongue (a life) that is shaped for authoring multiple realities (forked) will experience pain when confronting the one true Reality that allows no others. But the whole, consistent, unforked tongue (life) that has nothing to hide and does not exist in the shadows will not only be spared, but can rejoice in freedom it is already shaped for.
We are all works in progress. And God is faithful to point out where the nature of the serpent is still at work in us, enabling us to harbor double-realities. We have all been guilty of this in our lives. He calls us to consistency in the Light. This means that anything communicated directly or indirectly to one person will always be consistent with what is communicated to every other person. In Christ we lay down our rights to alter or "spin" reality to suit our needs or desires. This is even true if it is done to protect ourselves with "white" lies. If we do this then we are telling God that we don't trust righteousness or the Light to do its work. We are saying that our ways are better than God's ways.
It is time for us all to live as if the "microphone is always on" and all we do and say is on open display before all creation.
"For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light."
Mark 4:22
Thank God for His mercy and tenderness in guiding us into the Light, making us whole and healing our forked tongues that treat all people equally with dignity and honor before God.
Prayer is the fuel
March 15th, 2012There are a lot of prayer hobbyists. People who add prayer to their life like one would add seasoning to their meal. It is an add-on: a nice-to-have and a "should have" but if it is left as a condiment. And I am not throwing stones here because I have certainly been guilty of that and can continue to do so in some seasons of my life. Prayer is meaningful to me and yet still it can become a routine. Or something that I know is important and therefore I go there, but I know there is so much more.
People who are conspicuously people of prayer use prayer like air, like light or like money. Their lives revolve around it and they cannot do much of anything without the fragrance of the Presence spreading out from the closet. And I am acutely aware of the fact that either prayer will keep us from sin or sin will keep us from prayer. A life that is a prayer is a life on the mark. Genuine prayer that God accepts never misses the mark, because it is Jesus. It is about Him, for Him, through Him and made up of His substance. Prayer is not so much something we do. It is something we are. Just as living letters… that speak and can be read when someone considers our life and behavior, so too is our prayer. If the whole of what we are living out does not speak to God as a life lived as prayer, then we have only a hobbyist's prayer life. The true life turned unto God is a prayer itself and it is a holy life, led every step in light of Eternity and it endeavors to respond to the powers of the world to come into this very life lived in sublime detail right now.
Prayer makes all things right…. because true prayer is a substance of the Kingdom: Christ. Prayer engages the Presence. And the Presence always has an affect. You cannot encounter God and remain unchanged. So prayer changes the one who prays. Everything else is mere religious exercise.
God help me shed my hobbyist posture and make my life a prayer.
The key to victory
March 6th, 2012"Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him,
'Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.'
So he went out and wept bitterly." (Matt 26:75)
So he went out and wept bitterly." (Matt 26:75)
Jesus was not surprised or disappointed when Peter failed. In like
manner, He is not surprised or disappointed when you fail. Rather,
He is waiting for you to fail so you will be reduced to Him. He has
no illusions about you and He knows you through and through. He
knows however much your spirit may be willing, your flesh is weak.
Our weakness is not the trouble – the trouble is our unwillingness
to acknowledge the weakness.
manner, He is not surprised or disappointed when you fail. Rather,
He is waiting for you to fail so you will be reduced to Him. He has
no illusions about you and He knows you through and through. He
knows however much your spirit may be willing, your flesh is weak.
Our weakness is not the trouble – the trouble is our unwillingness
to acknowledge the weakness.
But I bring you good tidings of great joy, dear Christian friend!
This failure of Self is the very key to living the Christian life.
As painful as it is, the bitter tears of failure provide the water
for nurturing the Precious Seed that is planted in your heart of
hearts and making it grow. To despair of ourselves is the very key
that opens the door to all the power, the victory, and fruitfulness
in Christ that we seek.
This failure of Self is the very key to living the Christian life.
As painful as it is, the bitter tears of failure provide the water
for nurturing the Precious Seed that is planted in your heart of
hearts and making it grow. To despair of ourselves is the very key
that opens the door to all the power, the victory, and fruitfulness
in Christ that we seek.
…from Infinite Supply by Chip Brogden
Impossible obedience?
February 29th, 2012I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)
A sacrifice is not a sacrifice unless it is something precious. And the more precious, the more true a sacrifice it is. In Romans 12 we are encouraged to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. When responding to God's high calling in this, we are inevitably shaken. Sometimes shaken to the core.
When I think of Abraham, with knife raised above his most beloved treasure, Isaac. It blows my mind. How could he have done that? There seems to be some strange psychosis going on with Abraham. Obey God's voice to kill your dear son? That sounds like something from a criminal psychology case.
But something else was going on. Eternity had drawn near. Abraham's mind was gripped by something of far more powerful gravity than even the most precious thing on earth. Abraham was a man of prayer. He was an altar builder and well digger. Both of these, for us, symbolize types of prayer. Something had penetrated Abraham's mind. A Light had broken in on his heart that made him alive to Something beyond Isaac, and beyond anything or anyone that could be offered in this world. Abraham was taken up with the Promise. Impossible obedience became suddenly possible. And it burned inside him, enabling him to do what he could never do otherwise.
Any sacrifice no matter how great, when in response to the Promise, is not just a fair exchange, it is an opportunity for Him to outdo you. What we might give up "sacrificially" (perhaps our greatest desires and even own selves!) may look beyond generous… but He takes delight in showing that whatever you give up, no matter how great it may feel to you, is nothing compared to the generosity He has engineered. We cannot outdo God in sacrifice. God is love.
And Love wins.
…to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…
(Ephesians 3:20)
The Popper of alternate reality bubbles
February 28th, 2012What is sin? It is such a harsh word that evokes images of scorn and bitter judgment. We make it so complicated and emotionally loaded. But its really quite simple. It’s just a purposeful misalignment with Reality. It is anything maintained that is inconsistent with God’s perfect rule. Can people sin without knowing it? Well, there are sins of ignorance, but there is no judgment in that. The problem is that people pretend like they don’t know, harden themselves against their conscience and end up aligning their souls to an alternate reality that simply isn’t consistent with Reality. (And Reality is the only thing that will be left standing in the end.)
Years ago I found myself at the bottom of a spiritual, emotional and moral pit. I got caught in my own alternate reality bubble: sin. All I could feel was judgment, guilt, condemnation and fear. But God heard my cry. He made a way. Even though I literally got myself into that mess, he had pity. Mercy came in grace that showed the way through and out into the Light of Reality again. Again and again I see this in my counseling practice, and in my own life so much. I’m a screw up, and I get myself into messes that I can’t fix. And when I stumble, I cry out in brokenness… and God makes a way. It’s not always easy, and He doesn’t take away all the consequences. But He hears and He does something for those who really do want His way more than their own. So today when I read in John about the woman caught in a spiritual, emotional and moral pit of her own making; adultery…
Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on, sin no more.”
(John 8:10-11)
… I almost cried. Ah the freedom He wants to bring all who are ensnared by their own way! ”Go and sin no more.” Abandon your alternate reality bubbles! This is our Father’s business: setting captives free; captives to non-reality. And make them love-slaves of He who is Reality. Oh, to know He who is the Truth and to be set free!
On Fire
February 28th, 2012On Fire – Switchfoot
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
(Luke 24:32)
Rear View Mirror
February 28th, 2012Whether you’ve experienced joy or pain in your past, whether that is very recent or long ago, you cannot become preoccupied with what is back there. Be happy for what you found on the journey, or grieve over it… then embrace the road ahead. Life moves fast. It is simply dangerous to become fixated on the rear view mirror when opportunities and obstacles are coming, sometimes at a furious pace. You can either be a casualty on the road of life, or wake up and drive. What an adventure this all is! But you’ve got to see it, and love what’s ahead more than what’s behind.
Mykonos
February 27th, 2012Clamoring for God’s heart
February 26th, 2012
I was reading Psalm 51 recently. It is the song of repentance that David wrote after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sinful actions in taking Bathsheba. He cried out in repentance, apparently with this song, and the Lord’s anger relented. God in His wisdom, however, would not let David free of all consequences. The much-awaited son that was to be born to he and Bathsheba died, despite David crying out prostrate for days to intercede for him. David accepted the bitterness of this consequence, refusing to harden himself against the Lord. The key of Psalm 51 is verses 16 and 17:
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
David could have hardened himself against the Holy Spirit and rationalized some way to fix things himself. Being king, he could have offered any sacrifice at any amount. He could have poured himself into labors for the temple and charity. But he knew God wanted his heart. It was better to be broken and contrite over the injured union with God and throw himself on His mercies, than any vow he could ever take or act of service he could ever perform.
THIS is why David was called a man after God’s own heart: because it was indeed the heart that was most important to him.
And you still see this essence right at the beginning of Jesus own ministry and that of John the Baptist. In the 3rd chapter of Matthew, John is challenging the religious people to “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance!” This is exactly what David had done. He kept with repentance. All other fruit is just religion.
Years ago I felt God challenging me about entering into a “lifestyle of repentance”. Repentance simply means to change your mind and turn around 180 degrees. It is too easy to think of this as a one-time event. But this idea of fruitfulness implies abiding. Like when Jesus encourages us to “abide in the vine”. Thus repentance is not a one-time event, but an ongoing posture. We repent (turn around) and then stay turned unto the new path: turned unto God.
The substance of this joyous repentance is found back in Psalm 51. The contrite heart. The heart that is concerned above all else with that tender communion with the Holy Spirit and will do anything to maintain it. It is the most costly of all things and the most valuable. Isaiah also said it in chap 42 vrs 3….
“A bruised reed he will not break. A smoldering wick he will not put out. Until he has led his judgement into victory.”
What is God dealing with you about? Is your heart a bruised reed, or a smoldering wick, fighting to stay alive unto God at any cost?
As Christians who want to be right before God, two options present themselves when we have sinned: We can (1) try to save ourselves with a sincere vow and commitment to serve God in renewed acts of service and dedication. Or (2) we can throw ourselves on His mercy, and seek to obey Him at any cost and accept his judgment and any consequences as righteousness. The first option seeks to ease our own conscience. The second option seeks to make things right with the only true Lover of our souls. The first option is what the pharisees did. The second is what a true disciple does. He beats his breast and throws himself like David on the mercy and righteous judgment of the Lord.