“Father, Sanctify Them By Your Word”

“For the word of God sharper than any pitched horse shoe or hand grenade, able to fall short of the intended target and still score points.”

Yeah, I know, that’s not what it says.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart. No creature can hide from him, but all are naked and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.”

Jesus was a carpenter. The true word for carpenter isn’t the one we usually picture in our minds. Normally we picture him in his carpenter shop talking with friends and neighbors who stop in while he builds hope chests and fixes furniture, things like that. But the proper word is “builder”.
If you spend even a little time in scripture you hear Jesus talking a lot to his disciples in relation to building terms. Very accurate, precise descriptive words of how things are and how things should be. He uses these terms in order to draw a very clear witness of what God and His kingdom are like. He doesn’t speak in “coming close to” terms, he’s very exact. Building is exact. Or at least craftsmen are. True craftsmen are very accurate with what they do. Close enough doesn’t last nor hold its value. Close enough isn’t in demand. Absolute is. The word isn’t about God, it’s “of” God.
To often the word of God is handled with this “close enough” attitude. The “do it yerself weekend handyman” mentality. “It may not be solid. tight, quite plumb or stable, but you can at least kind of tell what it’s suppose to be and it’s close enough.”

The word of God isn’t “close enough” Close enough is what produces the O-ring in the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

The heavens and the earth aren’t sustained by “close enough”. They’re held in place by the power of the very perfect word which proceeds from the mouth of God.
His word is true, it endures, it’s the measure by which all things will be judged. It’s absolute and by it each man will be found to have been faithful or wicked.

The apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to hold fast to the true word of the gospel and to entrust it only to men who would be faithful to pass it on accurately; not allowing it to fall into the hands of men who’s hearts were bent on creating a following for themselves. Furthermore Paul says, “I only preach that which I KNOW to be true.”
Not what he thought would be neat if it were true, but what was true.
This word we have been given in Christ is the same word Jesus’ disciples clung to in John chapter six. “You alone have the words of eternal life”.

Even though the New Testament is packed with warnings associated with the consequences for not handling the word of God rightly, it still continues to be dissected, spun, formed, fashioned, and passed off as being the real thing, but packaged in the egos and personal agendas of those desperately wanting to validate themselves as being at the leading edge of “spiritual revelation”. The same kind of men Paul warned Timothy about.

The articles found in the temple of God were made according to a pattern. Not a close enough pattern, but a pattern of that which is found in heaven. God doesn’t dwell in close enough. He requires HOLY, for He IS Holy. The way we become new and take on His character and nature is in and through His transforming Word. We are then formed, placed, and fitted together to be a temple, the dwelling place of God, resting upon twelve pillars upon which are written the names of the twelve apostles and those pillars are resting upon the rock; Christ. The Word. (The “In the beginning one” … that Word)

If the word which is preached, believed and received is not accurate, what must the resulting structure which rests upon it look like?
Jesus is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of His being, and He holds everything together by his powerful word.
Christ didn’t come proclaiming a word which was “close enough” Again, He is the EXACT likeness of God’s being.

EXACT!

Friendship; a Labor of Love

Normally I would keep to a blog of decent length. Bear with me on this one, it’s not real long just a little more than normal.

Over the last several weeks I’ve had the wonderful opportunity of spending a lot of time with our son, he’s twenty six and has been in missions for about seven years. Needless to say he spent a lot of time in other countries, which meant being absent for many holidays and family gatherings. He’s become well versed in the bible, being able to effectively teach Christ and the “church” from a first hand, practical way.
We were playing golf (he plays, I walk the tall fescue searching for lost balls). It was evening, we were the last ones on the course and in no hurry, just talking and playing at a slow casual pace. During our conversation he said something which I found very interesting yet all to true.
He said, “It’s amazing how often people don’t mean what they say”.
“How’s that?”
Peoples’ word, what they profess, so often it isn’t any good, they don’t do what they say; especially among the church.
I have to say, it’s a good thing he’s learned it at an early age but at the same time I was discouraged that he had to find it to be true at all.
“People I work with who aren’t Christians are more likely to be good to their word than people in the church. Sure they might cuss and talk crude but at least they mean what they say. They tend to be more trustworthy and are actually better friends when it comes right down to it. They’re easier to hang out with. They share more, help more, and are willing to give of themselves for you”.

Interesting.

I had to tell him he had made an all to accurate observation, and I too have a really hard time understanding why.
Over the years I’ve found it’s a good idea to have some friends who are outside the church, and I still do. Why? They really are good friends, for the same reasons our son has found. Now I’m not advocating running away from Christ to become “like them”, but it’s refreshing to maintain that love for others that tends to be more recognized in those who dwell outside the church “structure”. It also gives us an opportunity to share Christ, and this was the next question our son asked.

“What is the best way to share the gospel with them? There’s this guy I just know I want to share with”.
“You’ll know, just do it”, I said.
“Yeah. I guess so. I just need to do it. Thanks”
It turns out he did have the opportunity to share the gospel with this young guy and it has developed into more conversations and a broader witness among his coworkers
But while I was giving him the advice and encouragement I had this pit in my stomach which has been there for years. One fear I have (and it’s very well substantiated) is that once these people are saved and move into the church they tend to loose that “friend” quality. They become saved, spiritual and often times shallow. And that’s the weird part. What is it about people coming into the church that often causes them to become shallow at the same time? Before being saved, (which I understand is to be an enemy of God and destined to destruction) they were open, honest, fun, daring, transparent, loyal and credible. But somehow the “church” (and when I say the church I mean the “environment” we sustain that seems to be anything but normal) causes all this to disappear. “Behold the old man is dead and a new man is born who is stiff, boring, undependable, self centered, and afraid of the environment they just came from.”

I have found a few GOOD friends in the body of Christ, unfortunately most of them live out of state, not all, but most. We keep in touch by phone or email and truly savor our conversations. I think of them often and treat myself by staying in touch. None of them are pastors, only one holds any kind of leadership position. Actually they might even be considered “peripheral rebels” by most church leadership.

I guess this is why I like hanging out at Starbucks, or the occasional brew pub. You get to meet PEOPLE, some are rough, coarse, blunt, crude and a little “different”, but at least they’re more likely to lay down an honest offering of who they are.
I’ve often said the church needs to learn how to shoot pool, not to be more like the world, but to maintain a more honest view of how to be Christlike.
(here’s the meat)
I used to work in a production facility for eleven years. We built mobile homes, manufactured housing, “wheel estate”.
At one point we had two plants and over 700 employees. One thing that’s true about a place like that is, a lot of people you meet are either coming from jail or getting ready to enter. They’ve lived lives of drugs, crime, fornication, adultery, murder, lying cheating and stealing. To tell you the truth I was amazed a lot of these people could even get up in the morning let alone make it to work. But if you were to ask my wife I loved my job, and couldn’t wait to get to work each day. As rough and unsaved as it was we were a family. We had a cause, a goal, and we got things done. We pulled together, counted on each other, and in that we trusted, encouraged and put our faith in the others ability to follow through.
And that, I believe is the difference. We were engaged in something which caused us to be dependent on one another, serve one another. Why? because there was a planned goal, a desired end result. Accomplishment.
The many parts working together as one with a pre determined vision in sight. Because of that we were a body.
We were Plant #48. That’s what the sign said at the street. Plant #48. Or, rather The Body #48.
(it’s interesting that a production facility that produces things is called a plant)
I guess you could say Christ was represented by the companies corporate name on the sign at the street as an indication of who’s we were, and our plant number represented the local fellowship we belonged to.
We had respect, problems, arguments, admiration, opinions, input, frustrations, training, instruction, deadlines, victories, close calls, birthdays, pizza feeds, picnics, pranks, births, deaths, gains and losses, but we had them together. And another thing, people didn’t learn how to build a mobile home sitting in a chair week after week, they were into the plant on the first day to work along side some one who was experienced and learned from them through instruction and discipleship
So many people from so many different backgrounds, sharing all of these experiences together only happens for one reason. We were laboring together.
Jesus said, “No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for a friend.” I saw this command demonstrated more among those who weren’t in the church than those in it. Why? Because we laid down our lives for one another in the midst of and for the sake of a well defined set purpose.
“We build mobile homes, that’s why we’re here”.
It was never about the individual having a job, medical insurance, vacation and all that, although I would be a fool to think they weren’t doing it for the bucks. But regardless, in the midst of that truth, there was the reason plant #48 existed.
Building.
We as people work at our jobs with others to accomplish goals and it is here we do all of the things i mentioned above. Team is a great experience.
I believe the reason our son sees things in the church the way he does is because there’s a basic lack of goal. Common labor, and effort.
We sit and receive training on “how” to build mobile homes but seldom engage in the “work” or “labor” of it. It’s in the laboring together that we find and develop the attributes we tend to see in the world we associate with day to day. We labor with them, accomplish with them and celebrate achievement with them; through commitment, devotion, credibility and faithfulness.
God has called us, in Christ, to be co-laborers for a reason.
Not laboring, (or not having something to labor for) may easily explain why we inhale books like, “The Purpose Driven Life”.
Chapter by chapter, we labor together through such books that are filled with the “essence” of healthy labor, in a desperate attempt to somehow fill the void within us. A void established by God which can only be satisfied through actual effort. We want to read about the great benefits of corporate labor and then discuss how great it is but don’t want to actually get involved in the sweat of it all.
How about “Life Driven Purpose” for a change?

An Observation on Worship

Do you ever have those times in your life when you encounter something that just leaves you speechless? Your mind searches frantically for words but finds none.
An experience that doesn’t require your input, it defines itself simply by what it is? and you’re only offering is the silence of humbled amazement?
You feel small, insignificant, limited, and outdone, desperately trying to absorb something, anything, but it’s so grand you succumb to sensory overload, and it’s at this point you concede to just standing and “seeing”.
Don’t try to comprehend, just, behold.
Behold.
Be moved; by something that doesn’t require your “lesser explanation” to establish it’s witness.
It’s called awe.
Awe.
Most often these encounters are related to things in nature; canyons, waterfalls, giant redwoods, panoramas, things like that. It isn’t so much associated with sunsets, lightening or rain storms, although it can, but these things are more temporal and tend to pass in a few moments. Rather, it’s found in those things which endure, reside over the vast expanse of time.
Time, a key attribute of things that tend to inspire awe. They are a troubling reminder that they are in some ways “beyond us”. If the sheer magnitude of their size and grandeur wasn’t enough to inspire awe, they also posses an uncontested proclamation of having existed before us and will more than likely remain long after we’re forgotten.

That which remains. Another aspect of Awe.

Their “remaining” confronts us with the very thing we desperately seek to ignore and deny.

We are but dust. We are the morning dew, existing for just a brief part of the morning only to pass away before the coming of the noon time sun.
We find ourselves in awe of that which we are not. We come in our frail human arrogance and quickly cower before the deafening silence of enduring majesty. Majesty, which never requires our presence to substantiate its existence.

Awe.
An act of surrendered concession.

It doesn’t really fall into the realm of audible description, but rather the spiritual.
For the believer of nature the response is that IT is to be worshipped, whether mother earth or the circle of life, regardless, the normal response is worship.
For the Christian the response is the same, worship, except for one significant difference, these things we see which stand as witnesses of majesty, timeless endurance, and awe, are just that, witnesses.
They are a demonstrative witnesses of the Majestic Glory, Who created, established and continues to sustain ALL that is by the power of His spoken word.
All this said, we who believe should harken our senses to constantly be on the lookout for such experiences, for they are the times when we can participate, along with the heavenly hosts, in unbridled praise and celebration of our Maker and Creator who is responsible for such divine displays.

The faithful can scarcely participate in the “knowing” of God if he or she fails to notice Him intimately at work through out all the heavens and the earth. For if we fail to be in awe of such things then it may very well be that our heart is choosing to not earnestly seek Him, desiring instead to go through the motions (as it were), living a life in Christ void of wonder and amazement. (if that’s possible)

Through attentive seeking on our part, we can find fellowship with God, that we might know the One who has taken the initiative to reveal Himself in such limitless splendor.

He alone is the source of all wonder and majesty.

Be in awe of God.

Worship well.

Vegas

A couple months ago my wife and I decided to get away and take a break. We live in Oregon, and having just coming out of winter we wanted to fly somewhere warm and sunny. We also were looking for a destination that was relatively cheap. Our choice? Vegas.
Now Vegas was not the most popular place to choose but we thought, “Hey, let’s go to a place we’ve never been before and that’s totally over the top”.
Vegas it is.
I have to say, Vegas is a place I was glad to visit and at the same time a place I would probably not want to visit again.

Vegas is everything you love to hate and everything you hate to love. It assaults your senses. It’s loud, tacky, kitsch, extravagant, indulgent, excessive and apologizes for nothing. And with all this being true there’s one thing I have to say I like about Vegas.
It’s honest.
Vegas is what it is and doesn’t attempt to make you think it’s something it’s not. It’s everything I mentioned above and it doesn’t attempt to hide it.
It’s cheap and expensive, it’s beautiful and ugly, it presents itself as sophisticated and high class while at the same time it flaunts itself like a cheap street walker. It’s in the business of taking your as much of your money as quickly as possible, and the very existence of the “strip” itself erases any argument that it attempts to deceive gamblers into believing the opposite is true.
Everyone who arrives in Vegas knows exactly what the rules are and who’s going to win.
Most everything Vegas puts in front of you is exactly what it presents itself to be.
It’s entertainment, and entertainment comes at a cost.
You come with money and a desire to be entertained, whether it’s at a stage show or a poker table, people are seeking entertainment and Vegas delivers.

As strange as this may sound it’s true; as you leave Vegas you walk away with a sense of honesty. It’s true.
When we left Vegas I had to admit it was everything it claimed to be.

It’s interesting that Vegas is considered Sin City, and for all the things that take place there it’s safe to say that’s true, but for nothing that doesn’t take place in any other city in America. It’s just more concentrated.

I would have to look at a deeper root of sin.

Deception.

If deception is one of the major foundations of sin, I would have to say Vegas would actually be marginal.
I have found less honesty and a greater degree of deception among those who profess to be the church. The saints.
And if I read the bible right this would not be the first time the church has found itself to be in this condition.
Dirty while it tried to present itself as clean, poor when it tried to pass itself off as rich, and naked while it was trying to pass itself off as being clothed in righteousness.
This condition isn’t something to be denied but rather recognized as an inherent condition the church is susceptible to from time to time. The next thing is to acknowledge it and deal with it in order to be effective. But for some reason the tendency of the church is to ignore this truth and throw out a smoke screen of more perfume, more dazzle, and more sparkle to draw attention away from these flaws.
The truth is, that’s what Vegas does, it throws all of these same things at you in order to draw your attention away from what’s real.
It’s creating a diversion, and charges a fee for it.
The difference is, Vegas is willing to admit what it’s doing.

ATM (Welcooooome, tooooo The Machiiiiine)

There is a lot of talk about wasteful spending in government, both on the state and federal level.
I don’t doubt this is true when you consider the size of government and the various individuals involved with it. So let’s concede to the fact that government does not and will not ever handle our money perfectly. But before we spend to much time dogging OUR elected officials on their stewardship shortcomings let’s consider and interesting statistic.
Last year, Americans spent 4.2 Billion dollars on ATM fees. (These are the fees you are charged when you draw cash from a money machine)
4.2 BILLION
That’s money spent on absolutely NOTHING!

It’s money people are willing to part with so they don’t have to actually carry money with them.

I guess I tend to see things from a little different perspective being the director of a non profit which seeks ways to raise money for those who have no clean water, no food, education, shelter electricity or access to medical assistance.

This really isn’t intended to go anywhere it’s merely an observation.

“Go and preach this gospel” (Jesus)

Every year at the state fair there is a booth which is manned by people who share the gospel.
A friend of mine has headed this up for several years and is very devoted to making this happen.
He loves to share the gospel and encourages others to do the same.
A few years ago when I found out he was doing this I asked if he needed help. He told me that the booth is staffed by a different church every day that the fair runs, which is ten days.
I signed up our church one of those ten days and did this for two years. The cost? $250. per day.
Each year however, the state fair kept changing its requirements. First they upped the cost to $300 per day and moved the payment due date to just after the first of the year, almost nine months prior to the start of the fair.
This year I had a conversation with my friend and asked him if he was going to do the booth again this year.
He said, “No”.
I asked him why, and he mentioned the above noted concerns. The long lead time and the cost.
The price now is $300 per day which comes to $3000.
$300 per church.
He wasn’t able to gather the money from the churches that far in advance. $300.

Every year there are no less than 85 to 115 people who accept Christ through this effort.

$3000

I asked him why he wasn’t able to get the pastors to come on board.

He just looked at me.

I looked at him.

I finally said, “I know why they didn’t fork over the money”

No response

I said, “They don’t care”.

He said, “You’re absolutely right, they don’t”.

Every Tuesday night he goes out ALONE and witnesses door to door. And his pastor is aware of the fact that he does this.

He does it ALONE.

Six families have come to faith in Christ through his efforts. Or is it his love?

100 people in 10 days, coming to faith in Christ through the simple act of lay people being obedient to the command of Christ.

$3000

I was sitting in a church a few months back and they we re boasting the fact that they had raised $100,000 in one month, above their normal giving, to put towards their new building fund.

$100,000 for chairs, carpet, lights and a really cool sound system?

No problem.

$3000 for a very effective witnessing tool?

Naw!