The Great Paradox

I think I've had a breakthrough. You know, one of those moments of clarity where something that totally baffled you now makes absolute sense. Ever have one of those? As I've been studying for this week's class, I've meditated on the great paradox of the cross, or in the words of Paul "to live is Christ, and to die is gain,". What? Those are the words of a religious nut, a fanatic, right? Quite the opposite. In Philippians 1:21, Paul speaks these powerful words and they ressonate with me. I wish that I could have heard the emotion in his voice when he says a few verses later that he desires to depart to be with Christ. Powerful. And so, I'm confronted with the paradox of my life. Can I say "to live is Christ, and to die is gain,"? I can't quite bring myself to utter the words for fear of what might happen.
And yet, in a way, the words have already begun to work on me. The words of Jesus to "come follow me" and "take up your cross" are whispered in my minds ear. I feel the tug of the Spirit when opportunity comes knocking and I don't shrink away. This is the beginning of embracing the great paradox, to realize that I can "live is Christ, and to die is gain,". I can. And life itself begins to refocus. I begin to realize that my time here is short, that soon I too will depart to be with Christ (only through his labor on the cross). And so I choose, I choose to embrace each opportunity for ministry. I carefully choose my words around friends and coworkers. I try to be more patient and kind when I am confronted with difficulty and cruelty. And, most importantly of all, I pray. I pray. I pray.
And I dream. My dream is probably not much different from your dream. In my dream I am clothed in the radiant white robe reserved for the saints. I am bathed in the light of God's righeous presence. In my dream I am experiencing a happiness that I can't explain, and then I see Jesus. He puts both his nail scarred hands on my shoulders and looks me right in the eye. The smile on his face is reward enough until he speaks. One word......"Come"

Embrace the paradox. Choose to live.

Goin FULL PADS!

My son, Austin, just started full contact football practice on Monday. He actually wanted me to let him play last year when he turned 8, but we decided he should play a season of flag football to get a feel for competitive football. I'm biased, of course, but he did really well in flag. He scored many touchdowns and was a very good team player encouraging his team. But, and I told him this several times, flag football is not real football. You see in flag football there's no tackling. As a matter of fact any serious contact is a penalty so the players quickly adjust to the rules and avoid running into each other (on purpose at least).
So now he's got pads. Most importantly, he's got a helmet. And guess what? It's hard! He's having a heck of a time adjusting to the limited vision that comes from having a huge piece of plastic stuck on your melon. And those darn shoulder pads are keeping him from lifting his arms straight above his head to catch the high pass. So what does this have to do with our situation?
It's simple, really. All of those of us who have been followers of Jesus have had our "flag" experiences. Those periods in our life when our Christian walk was so.......I'm looking for the word........easy. Maybe it was when we were being fed by the Word and immersed in fellowship with other Christians, it felt great. But were we in the contact game? Probably not, and that's okay. Just like Austin needing that year of "easy" ball to get his confidence, so too did you and I need those seasons in our lives where we grew in a sheltered environment. But after a while, flag football gets boring. Players start to wonder how good they would be if they put the pads on, strapped on a helmet, and got dirty.
Are you ready for your pads? To put on the helmet of Salvation, the shoulder pads of Righteousness, the belt of the Truth (modern reference added)? I think I am. But I'm afraid. I'm afraid of the hits that come from being in the tackle game. My hands are shaking as I lace up my cleats, pull my helmet down and buckle my chin strap, but the thrill of the competition will soon calm those butterflies.
And in the midst of all this fear and anxiety a strange and wonder thing happens. Focus and intensity comes. The player forgets he's wearing all his equipment and he has one thing on his mind.....win the game.
I'll be interested to see how my son reacts to that first real hit, I hope he's ready. Whatever happens he will grow as a young man from this experience. As a Christian I pray that we all grow as we strap on each and every piece of armor.
Game on! Are you in?

Mutually Exclusive?

The pursuit of God's glory. It's every Christians goal, but it just seems so unattainable. Many of us simply set our sights at something more eye level and go from there. To that John Piper asks the question, "is pursuing God's glory and pursuing ones own joy mutually exclusive?" At first glance, the obvious answer is, well, yes. How can living a life of harsh sacrifice and painful service be joyful? We have been conditioned to respond this way, it's almost automatic. So, Christian family, how is that Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles can say that he "counts it as pure joy" when he speaks of the suffering he endured for the cause of Christ? A religious fanatic, raving lunatic, nutcase, all of the above? Or a man who was transformed and freed from all that restrained him from pursuing God? You'll have to decide as we look at men like Paul. As we examine his life, and others, to see if there are any parallels to our lives today.
Jesus said that "if any man would come after me, he must take up his cross daily, and follow me". Does that lead to a joy that I have yet to experience? Paul certainly thought so, and he demonstrated it daily. Think on this and get back to me...........

A "War Time" Mentality

Throughout his book, Piper reinforces the idea of a War Time mentality. At first I found this metaphor to be uncomfortable, radical perhaps. Then, as I studied further, I realized that Piper was calling my attention to the reality of 21st century Christianity. That reality being that all I have to do to feel that I am "being Christian" is to be a little better than the world around me. And isn't that how we often make ourselves feel more comfortable with the exceptions that we make? I know I do. After all, I attend church on Sunday, I don't beat my children or cheat on my taxes, that makes me okay, right? And then, rather like a bucket of cold water dumped on my head, Piper reminds me of the words of Jesus in Matthew where he tells the story of the sheep and the goats. "Depart from me.." Jesus said to those who were living good lives but who weren't knee deep in the struggle. A small shiver goes down my spine when I think about that.

As I have said and will continue to say, true self examination is never easy. But you want to hear something strange, I now find myself talking to God more than I can ever remember. Prayer, meditation, and downright conversation, it's kinda cool. And this is the goal, to rely more on God and less on this present age. When we do that, fear is consumed and courage is instilled.

See you soon