But as the night went on she wasn’t getting any better, and I was worrying more and more. We have heard lots of stories lately of kids getting meningitis and Maisie had a few of the symptoms. Not only did we feel a bit helpless about not knowing what to do, there is also the element of us living in a different country and dealing with the reality that we may not even know how to do what we would want to do.

This all added up to one strong feeling that I don’t like having: helplessness.

I mean, I’m supposed to be a father. A protector. And I felt helpless. I just stood there by the bed, probably with my mouth open a bit in confusion and my eyes as big as pancakes, wondering what to do.

It was in this moment that I had the inspiration to write this post.

I wondered, “God, do you ever feel confused like this when looking at your creation when it is in trouble?”

And I realized that I was making one of the most common mistakes that we as people do in the way we related with God. I was projecting my humanity…my broken humanity in this case…onto God. We often have a tendency to think of God as being like a human on one of our best days. But the reality is that God is other-than, and not human. Scripture says that God’s ways are higher than our ways…His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

To say it another way: we, as humans created in the image of God, have many of the same attributes of God. The ability to create, to love, to forgive, to judge, to discern, to feel sorrow, etc. I heard someone once say: “What God can do infinitely, we can do finitely.” (And I would add…because of our brokenness.)

But the point is that God is not a human. And humans, no matter great we are or may become, are not God. The mystery of the good news of Jesus is that God invites us to join Him in re-creating the world despite the fact that we also carry the potential to harm this world. It is only because of the Spirit of God working in and through us, that our efforts that our good ends up lasting eternally. I know that may sound a bit depressing, or maybe even offensive to some, but I can’t imagine us being able to re-create the world according to God’s ways without God as our sole conductor. An orchestra where each musician tries to play it’s own piece isn’t a beautiful sound. Even if each musician is playing a beautiful piece. The musicians need to look to a conductor in order to stay in harmony with one another.

This post has become classically tangential…

So, what I’m wanting to say, hopeful briefly, is that God doesn’t stand by the bedside of our problems like a young father wondering what to do. God is both before our worries and after our victories. We can draw peace and confidence from Him. He is both other than and near. And invites us to learn from him so our lives can find harmony…both with Him and the world around us that he invites us to restore with Him.

And thanks to Jeff Shaffer for putting the video online.

This is part 2 of a post that my friend and president of Christian Associates has been writing on Movements. It’s worth a thought or a reminder. If you don’t care about ‘churchy’ stuff it might be boring, but at the same time you might want to care about this because it is really important.

Part 1 is here too.

The resurrection of Jesus is the initiating act of God bringing the whole of His creation back to Himself. It’s because of Jesus’ resurrection all of the created order has changed trajectory for all of eternity. It’s because of Jesus’ resurrection we, along with everything God has made, are given opportunity to transfer the work of God and become co-re-creators with Him. It’s because of the resurrection of Jesus we have already defeated death, the effect of sin, and we are able to live in hope of whatever it is God has for us.

When Jesus died on that cross I believe that it was as if all of creation had the wind knocked out of it. The One in whom all things were given life, hung lifeless. But when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, a new breath, hope, and expectation of all that is to come was birthed inside every created thing…It’s with this new breath in my lungs, hope in my heart, and expectation in my life that I lay in bed writing…not being able to go to sleep. I’ve never been brought to tears by a new toy on Christmas morning (well, maybe), but thinking about what it is that we are really celebrating in the morning both breaks me and builds me. I’m moved to tears with gratitude and hope. The anticipation of Santa and his reindeer doesn’t hold a candle to looking towards the God who makes all things new.

May God’s grace, life, hope, love, and peace hit you like a ton of bricks as you reflect on the resurrection of Jesus and the mission of re-creation we are gifted to join Him on.

I read Galatians this morning and let’s just say…Paul really brings the pain here. Not in a, “You should do this, this, this, and that” kind of way. More in a, “Are you stupid? Why in the name of Jesus are doing this, this, this, and that as if it’s going to change anything?!?” I’m sure it was just a slip of the pen when he said that they were not intelligible, unwise, and foolish…no good pastor would ever say such things…

But here is my favorite rebuke of Paul’s…which would easily be included in a list of top 10 things teachers should say that they don’t/can’t/won’t anymore:

Galatians 1:8-9

Whoever tells you a good news that is different from the Good New we gave you should be accursed, even if he is one of us or an angel from heaven. I’m now telling you again what we’ve told you in the past: I’m now telling you again what I told you in the past: If anyone tells you good news that is different from the Good News you recieved, that person should be accursed.

Not just once, but twice, does Paul make it clear that people who distort the freedom we have Christ (as he explains in the rest of this letter) should be accursed. Some translations say: condemned…one even says ‘condemned to hell’ (I think it’s for a little extra somethin’ even though it’s not in the greek…I had to look, thanks studylight.org!)

I think that if we get past the shock of Paul being so strong here, we can see something else. At this time in the Church, the purity of the Gospel was at stake. The Church’s message in it’s infancy could not be distorted and required protecting. If a corruption were to have occurred at this stage, then every offspring that this message produces would carry the same…wound. So, the message Gospel had to be purified of the untruths put on it.

Are any of view finding yourself asking the question, “uh, why did we ever stop protecting the clarity of the message of Jesus? Shouldn’t this be something that we still do?” I think this is a worthy question. And I think that Paul addresses it Galatians when he says, (1:10)

Am I saying this now to win the approval of people or God? Am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant.

This says all that I could.

Amongst all the things that Paul says are not important to a true Gospel, he says three things that we should chew on ’till our jaw hurts…I’ll leave you with these:

“As far as our relationship to Christ Jesus is concerned, it doesn’t matter [what laws we do or don't follow]. What matters is faith working itself out in love.” (5:6)

“[Use your freedom to] serve each other through love.” (5:13)

“Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is [following a specific law] or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.” (6:15)

In a phrase, Easter gives me hope that changes everything. Honestly, if you take away Jesus’ resurrection, He is still a wise teacher, a revolutionary leader, a polarizing historical figure, a brilliant Rabbi, but insane for sure…These things are great in and of themselves to think about (except if he were insane) and to emulate. But seeing as I believe the resurrection of Jesus really did happen it changes everything. The ‘earthly’ genius of Jesus remains intact (and given even more authority), but it is in the felt-but-not-seen realities of our world that the huge change takes place.

In the resurrection of Jesus I believe that death has no power. I believe that death has been conquered, defeated, and disarmed of fear. And when we live in a world where spiritual death is absent, then it only leaves us with life! Only life. And this changes everything.

In the resurrection of Jesus I believe that my sins and mistakes do not count against me. The reality that Jesus death covered our sins is only influential in that Jesus also defeated our sin by being restored to life. Because of this, I can believe that my mistakes do not disqualify me from also being restored. Because we are all chosen in Christ, we can each embrace the reality that we are not lost in sin, but we are forgiven to forgive. We are loved to love. And we are restored to restore. Sin has no power because of the resurrection. And this changes everything.

In the resurrection of Jesus I believe that I am also called to live a resurrection life. This is when we realize that we are gifted with the ability to reenact in our spirit and life the resurrection of Jesus…on a minute-by-minute, day-to-day, month-to-month basis. It is in the freedom found in the resurrection of Jesus that we are called to live freely. Free to love. Free to forgive. Free to be sent. And also free of shame, fear, and guilt. And this changes everything.

The hope that my life counts, that I have a purpose, that I am loved, that I am forgiven, that I am chosen…hang in the balance of the resurrection. And because it really did happen all of these (and so many more) are true.

Have a great Easter…I hope that you will find yourself continually amazed at the breadth to which Jesus resurrection can, does, and will restore all things.

So about the book: I didn’t think that Alan could have much more to say after The Shaping of Things to Come, but he has plenty to say…and plenty that is extraordinarily beneficial to my passion for the Church (and anyone else’s for that matter) and our work in Europe. Have you ever wondered what made the 1st century Church so potent, or are wondering why the underground Church in China is growing and the Western Church declining? Then you should read this. Alan does great Biblical and scholarly study while using his own experience as a narrative. He would claim that this is not a ‘scholarly work’, but this book is text-book-worthy material on how God has called His earthly expression, the Church, into mission and how mission is the identity of the Church. This book doesn’t just talk about how things may work in theory, it gives both historical and current examples of how the Church can regain it’s influence by allowing the mDNA (missional DNA) that lies within each believer to be lived out again.

I can’t recommend this book enough as it has already greatly inspired, encouraged, and challenged me. Thanks Al for your work…a gift to the Kingdom.