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The Highest Goal

May 21, 2009

2 Corinthians 5:9 says: “Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present of absent, to be well pleasing to Him” (NKJV).  Here the Apostle declares the aim (or goal) of his life: to be well pleasing to God.

What are you goals in life?  To experience romance.  To attain academic excellence.  To have a house, 2.5 kids, and a dog named Spot.  To make a million dollars.  To be the best at whatever you do.  To achieve fame and/or significance.  What is your life’s aim—what are you shooting for?

For the Apostle it is rather simple: to please God.

What I immediately notice is the unselfishness of his goal.  It’s not about getting stuff, proving something, living up to someone else, or being better than the rest.  He simply hopes that his life will be pleasing to God.  But he doesn’t just hope.  He makes it his mission, his passion, his life’s work.

Is your goal in life to please God?  Does it wake you up in the morning, lay you down at night, and govern who you are in between?  What you do with your time—does it please God?  What you do with your money—does it please God?  What you eat and drink—does it please God?  What you say to your coworkers—does it please God?  How you treat your spouse—does it please God?  Have you made it your aim to please God?

Sadly, most of us just try to please ourselves.

Making it our goal to please God is not easy.  But three verses might be an asset in this discussion.  The first is Hebrews 11:6 which says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  The second is 1 John 5:3 which says: “This is love for God: to obey His commands” (NIV).

And the third is found in John 2 in a record of the events surrounding Jesus’ first miracle.  It’s during a wedding feast.   Unfortunately, the wedding-planner has failed to secure enough wine for the party (a pretty big social fax paux in 1st century Israel), and Mary asks Jesus to solve the problem.

Interestingly enough, Jesus doesn’t seem real keen on doing this but yields to his mother’s request, asking the servants to fill six large vats with water.  When they look at Him with confusion Mary says to the servants “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5 NIV).  Enabled by their obedience, Jesus turns the water into wine.

It’s a simple statement, yet profound in our discussion.  Do you want to make it your life’s goal to please God?  Then do whatever He tells you.

Posted in church, culture, Family, religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Blessed are the Poor

May 20, 2009

Brennan Manning records the following quote in his book “The Furious Longing of God”:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who lack a spirit of cleverness.

Woe to the rich, and woe to the doubly rich in spirit!

Although nothing is impossible with God, it is difficult for the Spirit to move their fat hearts.

The poor are willing and easy to direct.

Like little puppies they do not take their eyes from their master’s hand to see if perhaps he may throw them a little morsel from his plate.

So carefully do the poor follow my promptings that they listen to the wind (which blows where it pleases), even when it changes.

From the sky they can read the weather and interpret the signs of the times.

My grace is unpretentious, but the poor are satisfied with little gifts.

–Hans Urs Von Balthasar

Posted in church, culture, Politics, religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments »

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From Discipline to Desire

May 19, 2009

Several weeks ago, while attending a church-planting conference, a conviction developed inside of me that I was not spending enough time with God.  Not being overly mystical, I nevertheless felt that God was telling me to mark out more time for Him—time to pray, time to read Scripture devotionally, and time to journal my thoughts, prayers, and struggles.  This conviction hit me when I learned of thousands of Eastern Christians in the Orient who are setting aside 3 hours a day for prayer and personal Bible study.

Therefore, I began the discipline of marking out time for God.  Thinking that I should begin and end my day with God, I began to get up earlier and stay up later so that my time with Him did not take away from my time with family, friends and work.  And what better way, then to start and end the day, with God?

And I must confess that it began only as a discipline.  The first morning, when my alarm sounded at 5:30am, was a rough one.  I hit the coffee maker before I hit the Word.  But the second morning was easier.  And the third easier still.  Also, spending an hour in prayer and devotional study was not easy.  What to pray?  What to read?  How to keep from falling asleep?  That’s why they call it discipline, I suppose, because it’s not easy.

However, my discipline is now being transformed into desire.  I’m anticipating my times with God in the morning.  I’m finding the television in the evening to be monotonous.  I’m looking forward to my prayer journal, and my devotional books, and maybe most, my Bible.  I’m reading things that challenge me—and I like to be challenged—things that could change me.  My passion for God is being renewed once again—and I find myself spending more time with Him throughout the day (and appreciating Him in my work and in my play).  Discipline has become desire.

I wonder how many other areas of my life need the catalyst of discipline.  It takes discipline to exercise but eventually it becomes a desire.  It takes discipline to love the unlovable, but eventually the unlovable become desirable.  How many areas of our lives could God transform if we were willing to accept His discipline and embrace self-discipline?  I don’t know for sure, but I do know that my spiritual disciplines have become spiritual desires—and for this I rejoice.

Posted in church, culture, Family, religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Bringing Serving Back

May 18, 2009

I saw this video a few weeks ago at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida.  It’s produced by Community Christian Church out of Naperville, IL and the lead “singer/performer/entertainer” is Brian Prunty (a guy I went to college with).  It’s hilarious and spiritually significant.

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Waiting on God

May 13, 2009

In Genesis 15 and 16 we discover an epic dilemma in the life of Abraham and Sarah.  The dilemma is that Sarah is barren and cannot produced an heir, and that she is now well beyond her child-bearing years.  Therefore, in Genesis 15 Abraham decides to choose his highest-ranking servant Eliezer as his heir.  But when Abraham prays about this decision, God intervenes and says “no.” 

Then in Genesis 16 Sarah suggests that Abraham should take her servant Hagar as a surrogate wife and conceive with her, producing an heir vicariously.  Apparently, Abraham likes this idea and (rather than praying for direction) sleeps with Hagar, who conceives.  This creates all sorts of struggles within the family—prompting feelings of inadequacy and bitterness for Sarah, and rivalry for Hagar.

The bigger problem is that Abraham and Sarah, rather than waiting on God’s plan and promise to be fulfilled, decide to take matters into their own hands.  This creates all sorts of trouble for them and even for us today (if you know your history).

For us, it means that we must wait on God’s will to become evident in our lives–we cannot run ahead of His will.  Things must take place in His time.  We need to be diligent and proactive, but everything we do should be (1) bathed in prayer; (2) approved by the Word; and (3) affirmed by godly Consults; because the consequences of going ahead of God can be disastrous.

Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”

Posted in church, culture, Family, Politics, religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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The Way of Success, or the Spirit

May 9, 2009

In my devotional time today I read Genesis 13 which is part of the Abrahamic narrative.  In the narrative both Abraham and his nephew Lot have become incredibly wealthy.  They have left their homeland to follow God, they have experienced some bumps and bruises along the way, but in this chapter they find themselves in the land of Canaan (otherwise known as the Promised Land).

The particular land they choose to inhabit is not big enough for both men.  Their flocks are so vast, their possessions so many, that division develops between the Family.  Their workers and shepherds begin fighting and it becomes evident that something must change.  They simply cannot share the land any longer.  They must separate for the sake of family unity.

So Abraham gives his nephew Lot the choice of land.  There are two regions.  One is very fertile, and one is not so much.  The former is prosperous, but the latter is not.  Abraham tells Lot to pick his region, promising to inhabit whatever land Lot leaves behind.  As most of us would do, Lot picks the fertile and prosperous land where he will have the greatest opportunity and chance for success.

But there is more to this story than meets the eye.  It’s a lesson in the classic tension between spirituality and success.

Abraham takes the moral high-ground of working for family peace and harmony while Lot takes the ambitious road of prosperity and success.  And Abraham’s choice will be blessed by God while Lot will suffer the consequences.  Abraham’s family will be established and become a great nation.  Lot’s marriage will be destroyed and his entire family line will be corrupted.  And it all started with the choice to make success and prosperity a higher calling than family and faith.

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Understanding the Bible

May 5, 2009

A friend on Facebook posted a thought-provoking quote that I’d like to share:

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.”            —Soren Kierkegaard

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Don’t Stop Serving

May 4, 2009

A noticeable thing happens among Christians when they go through rough times.  They stop serving.

We see this happen on a regular basis.  A marriage gets tough, a job is lost, a family member faces a troubling medical diagnosis, and people stop serving.  They say, “It’s not a good time for me right now.  I need some time away.  I’m in no shape to serve.”

We think this is an improper response to trying times. 

Life is hard.  We all acknowledge this.  But when trouble strikes us we’re shocked.  Someone else might lose their job.  Someone else might be diagnosed with cancer.  Someone else’s marriage might be in trouble.  We expect this.  But we act as if we are immune.  And when these problems actually strike our own lives, we retreat.

Maybe we blame God.  Maybe we feel like we’ve kept up our end of the bargain.  Maybe we think that God isn’t keeping up His end.

But Scripture promises trouble for all followers of Jesus; indeed for all people.  Scripture promises that trouble, hardship, famine, nakedness, and danger will attack the followers of God—but also promises that such things cannot seperate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35).  God does not promise to deliver us from such valleys, He promises to be with us when we walk through them (Psalm 23:4).

For some reason we blame God when bad things happen.  When good things happen we take credit—we are competent, successful, responsible, and accomplished.  But when bad things happen it’s God’s fault.

Scripture says we should not blame God, that the bad things that happen in the world are a direct result of humanity’s fleshly desires, not a result of God’s sovereignty (James 1:12-14).

In our opinion, hard times don’t prevent us from serving but they enable us to serve more.  When we face disease, we are enabled to understand and serve others who are diseased.  When we face the loss of a job, we find we have more time to serve not less.  When our marriages suffer we discover the tipping point and know that we need to make positive changes in order to fulfill our vows before God.

So our challenge in hard times is simple:  Don’t stop believing and don’t stop serving.  It may create opportunity for spiritual joy and spiritual growth that we could not have imagined.

Posted in church, culture, Family, religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Swine Flu

April 29, 2009

There’s a lot of hype and hysteria about the swine flu.  The next few weeks will tell how serious or not serious this thing might be.  But for now there’s not a lot that we can do but pray for health, hope for the best, wash our hands, and keep our eyes open.

When I heard that a Chicagoland school had closed I must confess that I had second thoughts about sending my sons to school—but at this point it seems best just to be vigilant.

I talked to my wife (who is an RN) and my neighbor (who is also an RN) and was reminded that tens of thousands of people die every year in the US with influenza, without hype or hysteria.  We have to remember that bad news sells newspapers and, honestly, the modern media can’t be trusted anyway.

Our trust has to be in God.  He is sovereign over everything that happens and nothing takes place outside of His will—good or bad.  We have to believe that He has our best interests in mind and that He does not promise to deliver us from all the troubles of this life, but to help us to navigate them successfully and with a servant’s heart.  Whatever we face will simply be an opportunity to grow in our faith and to serve those in need.

Besides, I’m not about to live my life in fear—not even for one moment!  In Matthew 6 Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…, who of you by worring can add a singly hour to his life…!“

Posted in church, culture, Family, Politics, religion, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

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CS Lewis (and more) on Friendship

April 28, 2009

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out.  By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.  Now that Charles [a good friend to Lewis and Tolkien] is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s [Tolkien] reaction to a specifically Charles joke.  For from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald… In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God.  For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. (from CS Lewis’ essay entitled “Friendship.”)

CS Lewis is saying that one cannot know themselves without properly knowing others.  In other words, we are not complete people without community—without friends.

In Philippians 1:3ff the Apostle Paul writes, “I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel.”

I am truly grateful for those friends who help me to be “me,” who are strong where I am weak, who lift me up when I am down; those friends for whom I grieve when we are apart, who are indeed closer than family and have thus become family.  Such friends bring joy that is unexpressible and partnership that is unbreakable.  Such friends are a rare treasure, a pearl of great price, and one of my great hopes for Heaven.

Posted in church, culture, Family, religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

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