I had tears in my eyes as I finished this story…and usually when I read ESPN.com I’m crying because the Colts lose another playoff game. But this time it’s because I’m so thankful that I’m a part of this Kingdom…
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3789373
thanks to Brant at Letters from Kamp Krusty for posting this…
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
I’ve been spending time reading through John 13-17 lately. I hope that one day a team of us can spend some time meditating on this in community, but for now you get my ramblings about something that I’ve found significant.
Anyone who begins to follow Jesus and is pursuing to be like will (hopefully) begin to desire to serve like others like He did. I know that as I read through the Gospel’s account of Jesus life I can’t miss how serving was a significant piece of His ministry. After reading through John 13 a number of times, I realized something that I hadn’t ever seen before…
Jesus serving is preluded by an intentional observation of John’s: that Jesus knew who he was and that he was from God. There was no insecurity present and it was out of his total security of identity that Jesus could wear a towel around his waist and ‘take the very nature of a servant’. Many times in my life I’ve found myself wanting to serve to create my identity…not because I understood my identity.
I believe that this is why service could (or should?) be a clear product of our faith…only when we are certain in who we are in Christ, and discover that we have everything that we need in Him, are we free to truly give our lives away.
I should be packing right now…or at least making coffee, but instead I found myself clicking around blogs and saw this on the blog of a friend from college…thanks Chad, didn’t know you had a blog until today!
But this is article is really funny…and should be read…if you don’t get the irony of this, please, after reading this, read the Bible more.
I’m Not One Of Those ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ Christians | The Onion
Well…today we had our own version of Black Friday…the day typically known as the biggest shopping day of the year in the U.S….we did spend money, but it wasn’t on gifts.
Our Black Friday contained us missing our train back to Holland by…1 minute. Then having to pay a nice sum to get on the next train, despite our tickets being fully exchangeable. Needless to say, we weren’t happy about this and what made matters worse was that our (hopefully still) good friend Nadine had booked tickets to ride up to Holland with us for a trip of her own. She made it. We didn’t. Not cool.
But I’m writing to talk about two stories that I saw on the news…both put the black in Black Friday quite well.
While the allure of good deals is always a temptation for me, I just am never dedicated enough to get up early and do the ‘first one in the doors’ game. Unlike some people at a Wal Mart in the U.S. who stormed the doors at 5 a.m. to be the first ones in and subsequently trampled an employee to death and injured four others. My mouth dropped open when reading about this…I knew consumerism was bad on the wallet and the soul, but never imagined that it could be this inhumane. Usually, our consumerism harms kids and workers thousands of miles away, not underneath our feet in the good ‘ol USofA. Here’s the article.
The second story is of two people who shot and killed each other in a Toys’R'Us in Palm Desert, California. Apparently, the two men were both carrying loaded weapons on their shopping spree and both happened to be willing to kill for the toy for their special little one. I don’t mean to make light of this at all, but this is just crazy. There are so many things wrong with this and I can’t get my mind around what would possess someone to carry a loaded gun to a toy store for kids. Or what would possess someone to shoot someone over a toy (allegedly). It’s a sad twist that they killed each other…You can read about this story here.
What a depressing post…I guess the way that I would apply this to myself is just to ask, “How do my self-centered pursuits add to the ‘black’ days of the world around me? How do I give way for the light within me to battle the darkness of consumerism and lust of junk that I carry? Am I living in a way that brings light minus shame to the world around me?” That’s all I got…I hope that my next post isn’t so…black.
In my last post…a lot of people chimed in…I’m really glad about that and thanks for all of you who contributed…not all of us are coming from the same place or ending at the same place, but that’s ok and the dialogue will hopefully land us closer to Jesus in the end.
So, Jeremy made a comment about life when we were younger that got me thinking about my life as a kid. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on that…
I think that every generation thinks two things: 1. This is the evilist of all generations. And 2. If you are a follower of Jesus, that this world is sooo bad that He’s coming back in our time. Seriously, people from every generation since Christ have thought this…each one more certain than the last.
I think in our time we have more mediums for bad things to happen, but in an upside down world like ours, the potential for sin is just as great 1000 years ago as it is today. The reality is that we have always had to be wise, engaged, and involved in our kids lives. Sheltering our kids from the world is an illusion. Our power/witness/influence in this world won’t come from how well we shelter our kids from what’s not good, right, and true. It will come through teaching our kids how to find and choose Jesus while they navigate the pain in this world that is sure to come. Jesus never once promises us physical safety, physical protection, or physical comfort…it’s our ability to find these spiritual realities in an upside down physical world that will be our true sign to others that He is with us and there is a difference in our souls. Simply trying to avoid pain or what is ugly in this world (which may just be the opportunity to discern right from wrong) will not get us the results we hope for.
So…now on to what I intended to write…
When I was living in Indiana we lived on a street with some rough kids…they smoked, drank, listened to Beasie Boys, mooned my mom, talked about sex, had pornography, watched Nighmare on Elm Street, fought, cussed, flipped off my dad, and stole. And these are my memories from when I was 9. Sure, I got into some trouble with these guys…like throwing a log through a window and breaking into an unlocked mobile home to drink their 7-up. All growing up I went to public school with ‘all the sinners’…heard a bunch of stuff that kids shouldn’t be talking about, saw a bunch of things that I shouldn’t have seen…said and did a bunch of things I probably shouldn’t have said or did! Through all of this I think my parents did a bunch of things really well…What they didn’t do was try and remove me from the environment I was in. Looking back, I can see how they helped me navigate where I was and the issues I was facing…
1. They communicated to me very clearly what was right and wrong about what I was seeing.
2. They instilled in me a sense of self and encouraged me to be myself and to be an example, not a follow the crowd.
3. They stayed engaged in my world.
4. They knew my friends and welcomed them into our world.
5. They helped remind me that Jesus was more important to ‘impress’ than my friends.
Now, I screwed this up a lot…especially in college. But they gave me the tools to figure things out on my own instead of trying to manage my ‘life-experience’. I greatly appreciate them for this! (among other things!)
So, back to the ideas in my head…My hope in talking about this is that we’ll all wrestle with how our families will be the kingdom of God in our worlds. If we only change the places we go, the things we watch, the things we read, and miss out on figuring out how to love, trust, give grace, forgive, and be free, then we’ve missed the point. But if we do learn to trust Jesus, love others, forgive ourselves and others, be rich with grace and forgiveness, and experience the freedom we have in Jesus while living in this world, then we truly give honor to God and express gratitude for what He has done in and for us.
Ok…this post is long enough…
Ok…one more thing: Why does God keep us on this earth with it being as messed up as it is? What can we learn about His trust in us and purpose for us through this?
The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the sky displays what his hands have made.
One day tells a story to the next.
One night shares knowledge with the next without talking,
without words,
without their voices being heard.
Yet, their sound has gone out into the entire world,
Their message to the ends of the earth.
I got this stat from another blog called ‘Next Reformation‘ who writes from Canada…Worth a listen and some time asking this question, “If we are really serious about blessing the world around us, are we really listening to what those further from God care about or do we just simply want to do what we care about better?”
“Studies have shown that only 10% of the non-churched population are comfortable with and open to ‘contemporary worship’ style services. (ie. Hillsong style singing – preaching etc). Yet the same study shows that up to 90% of churches are moving towards this type of service. By my calculations that leaves around 90% of the unchurched population without a church presenting the message of Jesus in a culturally relevant method for them.”
This stat could be seen as a negative thing…but I see it like this: We have much possibility for innovation in the ways in which we express the Kingdom. And if our innovations move towards blessing others there are lot of people who will be on the receiving end of the good that Jesus will do through us.
I had forgotten about church bells in Europe…funny the things that leave the mind after a year. But near Phil and Laina’s there is a church called De Bron (in English = The Source).
On Sunday as Jen and I were sitting up in the office at the house we heard the bells ring. And then 45 minutes or so later, we heard them ring again. Both times they rang for a while.
Jen asked, “Why are they ringing so much?”
The first thing that went through my head was, “To remind people that they are still there.”