Enjoying Life Together

Maybe we need to simplify everything by saying that God wants us to enjoy life with Him. There is a sense of being together. Regardless of what we do, where we go, or even who we become, the more important thing is doing it together with God. Enjoying life as an individual isn’t enough. It must be done with someone else. God is always there to share each of our experiences. We are also always there to share in His experiences, or I should say, in what He is doing in and around us. We get to do it together with Him.

Even More Joy

The next time you experience the feeling of joy, stop for a minute. Think about the fact that God is enjoying you and your situation even more than you are. Isn’t that awesome!? He enjoys our joy even more than we do. This is how our joy, which might appear selfish, is really quite selfless. Our joy is really for Him and He thinks it's awesome!

Grammar and Talking About Jesus

I read an interesting blog from another website quoting some guy named Todd Wilken. I have no idea who he is. However, he mentioned something quite interesting I would like to share:

“The central message of the Bible is Jesus Christ crucified and risen for sinners. If a sermon is really Bible-based, it will preach that Gospel. Often, the difference between good preaching and bad preaching is not in what is said, but in what is left unsaid. More often, what is left unsaid is the Gospel itself.

Sometimes, a ‘Life-Application’ sermon does talk about Jesus. But since the goal of this kind of sermon is to teach people how to live, Jesus is presented as your teacher, your example, and your helper. The death and resurrection of Jesus might also be mentioned—as an example for you to follow of selfless love and self-sacrifice. Dr. David Wells says, ‘The Cross becomes exactly what it was in liberalism, that Jesus is reduced simply to a good example and we try to follow in His footsteps in the sense that we try to look out on life the way He did.’ In the ‘Life-Application’ sermon, Jesus becomes just another paradigm for you to live by.

If Jesus is mentioned, is He the subject of the verbs? This is simple grammar. Every sentence has a subject and a verb. So, listen to the sermon and do the grammar. Dr. Norman Nagel is famous for asking, ‘Who is driving the verbs?’ Is Jesus active or passive? Is Jesus doing the action or is He being acted upon? There is a difference between a sermon that says ‘I love Jesus,’ and a sermon that says ‘Jesus loves me.’ One is talking about you, the other is talking about Jesus. There is a difference between, ‘Give your life to Jesus,’ and ‘Jesus gave His life for you.’”

This excerpt is from a blog by someone named Daniel Cruver, written on 3/31/06 which I copied and pasted into this blog on 7/25/08. His blog is www.eucatastrophe.com I have not reviewed anything else by this man and neither support nor oppose him, since I know nothing about him or his other writings. (I only know he likes John Piper and Tim Keller, who are authors I also like). Since, I am quoting this from another blog, I think it is right to cite him.

I wholeheartedly agree with this argument which says that the gospel should be centered on Jesus’ actions towards us and not the other way around. I am not saying that we shouldn't love Jesus; but, His love and respect for me is the power that drives my love and respect for Him and others in the first place. This is the Gospel.

So, next time, check out the grammar. Is Jesus the subject driving your changing heart or are you trying to change your own heart in order to love and respect Him? You have to make a decision.

Uncle Andrew and Perception

In The Magician's Nephew, written by C.S. Lewis, Digory and Polly are having a facinating time with the wild beasts Aslan has just created in Narnia during the beginning of their world. A most amazing thing has happened. Aslan has picked two of each kind of animal, touched them with his nose, breathed onto them, and they have all become talking beasts.

Imagine. Talking beasts! It must have been glorious! That is unless you happen to be Uncle Andrew. If you've read the book, then you'll remember that Uncle Andrew is the one who got all of them into the mess in the first place. It was a sinister, cowardly plan to send Polly into another world so he didn't have to risk harm to himself. The plan backfired and he got dragged into the whole thing anyway.

Getting back to the talking beasts - I must mention that the children didn't seem to be afraid of them and they were simply intrigued by their ability to speak and interact with them. They galloped off after Aslan, the Lion, because Digory would like him to help his dying mother back in England.

Uncle Andrew, on the other hand, never even heard the animals speak. All he heard was them growling and roaring. Lewis says, "We must now go back a bit and explain what the whole scene had looked like from Unce Andrew's point of view. It had not made at all the same impression on him as the Cabby and the children. For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are."

Uncle Andrew was terrified of all the panthers, warthogs, and elephants running around him when he was probably safer than he really thought (since talking beasts, for the most part, are safer than dumb animals). And this is the point--Uncle Andrew couldn't see the glory and goodness in what was happening. He couldn't even see that the animals were speaking, a most amazing thing, which was plain to everyone else.

In our own lives, our point of view determines our attitudes, feeelings, and behaviors in the midst of our circumstances. Resentments, fears, and arrogance lead to one point of view. Honesty, trust, oppenness, and willingness lead to another point of view. In the end, our theology is quite relevant. Do we believe God is good? Or, do we think He is insecure, bothersome, and uncertain? If He is good, then we will begin to see the talking beasts around us.

Becoming Me

In "Kung Fu Panda" the lead character spends the entire movie trying to become someone other than himself. He grew up cooking noodles in his father's restaurant, but always dreamed about becoming a Kung Fu fighter. Ultimately, he's chosen as the "Dragon Warrior". His dream has come true until he realizes he has to fight the most deadly enemy around. According to all human wisdom, he can't win. At this point, he looks for a secret ingredient--something that can make him more than who he is. He's doubting his original call. "I'm not the Dragon Warrior!" he tells his master. He thinks he's just a big, fat Panda. His master tells him that he WILL be the Dragon Warrior when he reads the secret scroll which will bring him into his destiny. Kung Fu Panda opens the scroll and there is nothing in it. Actually, there is nothing in it EXCEPT a reflection of himself. At first, he doesn't understand. However, as the story develops, Kung Fu Panda comes to realize that the secret ingredient is actually being himself. That is what the scroll was telling him. It was his own reflection.

Many of us spend our entire lives trying to become someone other than who we really are. The point in Kung Fu Panda is that God has already created us to be who we are. The goal in spiritual growth ISN'T becoming someone else who is theoretically better than us. Spiritual growth is the process of becoming who God has ALREADY made us to be. This is to God's credit and His glory. If I let go of the false-self, the self-hatred, and learn to feel comfortable in my own skin, then my trust and confidence in God will begin to rub off on others without much effort.

Work and Courage

Scott Peck says that the primary elements of love are work and courage. I believe this is true. Jesus was always working and it seemed the crowds exhausted him to the point of needing to "get away from it all". We also know that Jesus faced the temptation to ditch the cross and that it took Him courage to face the deep penalty that awaited such a perfect man.

In our daily lives, I think of raising children as a perfect example of work and courage. The baby wakes up in the middle of the night, crying because she is hungry. Mom doesn't think about herself but wakes up and feeds the child. Dad is tired from a long day of work, but his 9 year old wants to play catch outside. After a few moments of rest, father and son play baseball. Raising children takes work. It also takes courage. Parents send their children to school or to the neighbors next door to play, even though they know their kids will have to face all difficulties and struggles that they dealt with in their own youth. They know their kids will get hurt from time to time, both physically and emotionally. They also know, however, that it is more loving to send them out into the world, because the joys of close friendships and growing into maturity outweigh the difficulties they will face.

Work and courage. These are the key aspects of love. They can also be misused and misunderstood as a means to justify ourselves. I think of the stereotypical husband, for example, who does chores all around the house on a weekend and expects a whole bunch of praise from his wife during and after his accomplishments. The whole time he's working, he's expecting to gain her approval. A mature wife, however, already approved of him in the first place. She loves him. So, he's spending all this time trying to gain the approval his wife already had given him.

Essentially, this is what we do with God. We work and try our hand at courageous acts in order to please God, when He's already pleased with us in the first place. You might ask why work or be corageous in the first place? Frankly, I don't have a direct answer to this question. All I know is that life seems to be more enjoyable when we love God and others through work and courage. The Westminster Confession of Faith says that the chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Work, courage, enjoyment, and God's glory all seem to be intertwined. The main point is not to get the order confused. His love for us comes first.

Crossing Borders

When I cross the border into a foreign country, I'm taking a step into the unknown. The people have different traditions, customs, languages, infrastructures, and food. They make decisions differently than I do, value things I don't, and aren't concerned with my sorts of concerns. Learning to establish a business, draw up a rental agreement, or installing a telephone into my home might take months. There are all sorts of things that I take for granted in my own culture that's never gonna get any attention in a foreign one. Traveling in foreign lands requires a certain type of faith or trust in a positive outcome regardless of the circumstances.

The first time I flew to a foreign country was in 1996. I traveled to South Africa for a summer. I remember looking out of the window in the airplane after the landing. I thought to myself, "What the heck am I doing here?" For a moment, I was terrified. What in the world had I done? I left everything that felt right and comfortable. Of course, I had to get off the plane. The next thing I knew, I was in Durban, South Africa. That summer was a life changing experience which led to further travels over the years.

Traveling to foreign countries involves a certain growth in faith that builds upon each experience. The more one travels, the more this certain type of faith or trust in a positive outcome develops. Certainly, there are times when a traveler feels uncomfortable in a new situation, but overall they become more relaxed, more calm, and more rational in their decision making. Choosing a house to rent, buying food in the market, or choosing which type of transportation to use becomes a little bit easier each time, even when in a new country.

Trusting God is like traveling to a foreign country. His customs, traditions, and rules aren't like ours. He's peculiar and often seem too good to be true. "I love you without reservation, " He says. All of His compassion and comfort seem to be mixed with uncertain circumstances that I have no control over. There's people in this land that don't act according to His rules. I can't seem to identify their customs, traditions, or language. The only thing I know for certain is God's good nature.*

Learning to trust God can be terrifying at first. We're traveling into a foreign land and let go of anything that feels familiar. His priorities don't seem to be our priorities. Our priorities don't seem to be His. Status, power, and our appearance before others seems to be a currency of little value. Doing things in good faith and believing the best in others seems to be some of the highest commodities.

It's a culture that is unlike any other. God's country requires a step by step trust in a place of circumstances that don't make sense at first. Over time however, just like in our foreign travels, we learn how things operate in God's country. We learn the rules, customs, and traditions. Deeper than that, we begin to feel more comfortable with the type of decision making and value judgements that God seems to have. We begin to realize that we have forgotten the old ways over time. We also begin to realize it was God all along who was changing us, as we focused less and less on the circumstances and more and more on letting Him manage them for us.

*Sometimes we confuse God for not having a good nature when it is other people who violate His rules of love, acceptance, and fair play. This is defect in our own thinking.

Baby Steps

Sometimes, I beat myself up for not progressing spiritually as quickly as I'd like. I ask questions like, "When will I finally get my act together?" But, can you imagine God looking at a child who is learning to crawl and saying something like, "You're so stupid. Just pick up your hands and feet, move them forward, and you'll be crawling. Isn't that simple enough? Why can't you figure it out?"

Learning to trust God is like learning to crawl or take baby steps. Once God sees that we're making attempts to trust Him (instead of trying to get our act together) He's all smiles. I think it must be like parents watching their little ones as they rock back and forth, hold onto the coffee table, and venture out to walk.

God's holding His hands out, waiting for us to trust Him and take some steps. Fortunately, He's not a human being. He has infinite patience. "When you're ready child, take your first steps. I've got My hands out for you. You'll have to let go of the coffee table, but I know you can do it."

The reality is that if I choose to let go of the coffee table and move out to Him, then I will fall like a million times. Many of us have spent years holding onto the coffee table, trying to manage our thoughts, feelings, actions, circumstances, and even trying to manipulate those of others. God loves us so much (past, present, and future) that even if we are 75 years old when we finally let go of the coffee table and trust Him to walk, He's smiling at our attempt to take those few steps towards Him.

Do you want to manage your life and walk around the coffee table for the next 75 years, or take a chance and step out towards Him? You'll fall down a lot, but you'll find there's a whole lot in the house you haven't explored yet.

Freedom

Jesus was always producing as much freedom as possible during His lifetime. Healing every kind of disease and sickness. Exorcizing the demon possessed. Crossing ethnic and gender barriers. Violating the traditions of the Sabbath. Never washing His hands at the right time.

Sometimes, people came with faith to be healed and Jesus forgave their sins instead. It was as though His desire to free them from any kind of physical, mental, or spiritual constraint was overflowing or dripping off of Him. He simply saw they had faith in Him and it was enough.

Nevertheless, all the freedom producing stuff Jesus did during His earthly ministry wasn't enough. He wanted even MORE freedom for each of us. This is what took Him to the cross. He wasn't satisfied with just healing us from every kind of disease, sickness, and evil demon. He wanted to take away all our sins and free us from any kind of judgement (deserved or undeserved), unwarranted shame-based fear, or unwarranted self-condemnation. Moreover, Jesus wanted to make us the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5) and to sing our praises (Heb 2).

Does this sound like the kind of God who is angry, disappointed, ashamed, or holds grudges against us? No. He is the God who loves us BEFORE we get our act together (Rom 5:8). It is from this foundation of safety that we have the freedom to make good decisions in the first place. The only greater freedom to come will be when we meet Him face to face.