I’ve been contemplating updating my site’s format for quite a while. Hopefully this will be a bit easier to navigate. Let me know what you think of it–and tell me if you find any broken links or funny business. Thank you!
A Bit of a Nag
I have my doubts about the oft heard statement that “the Holy Spirit is a gentleman.” Instead, I rather think He’s a nag. LESTER retreat was marvelous–but a little bit redundant. It seems that God is into driving things home.
On March 6, I wrote on this website that God had been speaking to me about not being consumed with serving others. Instead, I should be focused on sitting at Christ’s feet. This Saturday, Mike Jordahl shared from Isaiah 52:13, which begins, “My servant…” Mike asked the question, Whose servant? God’s servant, of course. While being a servant of God will inevitably lead to serving men, the role of the Christian is not to please men. It is to serve God and walk in relationship with Him.
On August 27, I wrote of my desire for greatness and of what I want to accomplish with my story. Sunday morning Darin Durand spoke about greatness and the difference between earthly and spiritual greatness. In small groups, we discussed how difficult it is to die to selfish desires in the pursuit of greatness–the same thing I have struggled with over the past few months.
Then on Sunday night, Lauren Libby gave a teaching on leadership. One of his points stuck out to me particularly because it has been on my heart for a while now. He said, “The leader transforms strategy into action by empowering others.” This only confirms what God has been speaking to me about empowering others to do much of the work that I am currently doing within the church–allowing them to serve in an increased way and giving me more time to focus on what God is calling me to directly.
While the teaching was a highlight of the trip, it was by no means the only one. I enjoyed taking a dip in the “Punch bowls” in my pajamas. The water was colder than cold, but I didn’t feel cold until I’d been out of the water for fifteen minutes–then I was freezing. The hike up and back was beautiful. All around I was impressed by the greatness and majesty of God.
Another big highlight of the trip was developing relationships. In a way, I felt like I was talking with someone almost constantly ;-) From the gals in my room to the folks I had dinner with to those that I ended up spending time with during odd hours of the day, I was constantly surrounded by opportunities to fellowship and to grow in relationship. Of course, when talking about relationship building, you can’t discount the ride up and back. I can see that despite my rocky start, the maxim proves true: “God doesn’t make typos when He writes the story of our lives–even when we, like children, are sitting on His lap pounding on the keyboard.” Even though I didn’t pay attention to exactly which parking garage I was supposed to be at and wandered around–God worked all things together for good. It was this “mistake” that allowed me to get to know several people that quite possibly I would not otherwise have gotten to know. God is faithful to arrange all things according to His purposes.
The Stories of our Lives
I’ve loved stories for as long as I can remember. I’ve read thousands upon thousands of books in my life, which is yet young. I read the newspapers, devouring the “public interest” pieces. I watch movies and plays. I enjoy opera, poetry, lyric dance. I love stories.
Some of the stories reduce me to tears; some cause me to stand in anger. Some stories confuse me; while I identify with others. Some stories change my thinking; some reinforce what I already believe. Some stories raise questions in my mind; others lead to answers.
But there are some stories that do something else altogether. I often finish a biography claiming “Abigail Adams (or whoever else I was reading about) is my hero.” But after reading Corrie ten Boom’s autobiography The Hiding Place, I went away proclaiming that Corrie ten Boom’s God is my hero. Many books make me rise up inside–Francine River’s And the Shofar Blew spurred me to do all I could to promote the church as God has called it to be. Many accounts of true life events make me exclaim “That’s too bad” or “How exciting!” Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire made me fall on my knees in prayer. Many musical pieces inspire me with their beauty, but Listz’s Christus, telling the story of Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, made me share its refrain with everyone I met–“Christ conquers, Christ rules, Christ commands all eternity.”
II Corinthians 3:3 says, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men.” As Christians, we have a story that every person who comes into contact with us reads. What do our stories say? What action do they evoke? To whom do they point?
I hunger to be remembered, to have done something worthwhile. I hunger that my name be remembered after I die, that somehow I have made some indelible impression on the earth. I hunger that somehow the earth will be a different place, a better place because I lived here.
As I look at the stories that impacted my life, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what I want my story to accomplish. I want people who hear my story, who read my writings, who meet me and talk to me–to see Christ. I want people to hear my story and proclaim, “Rebekah’s God is my hero.” I want people to read my poetry and share the refrain of God’s greatness with everyone they meet. I want people to hear my message and be driven to their knees in Christ’s honour. I want those who weep at my grave to glory in God’s greatness.
A Jacob Generation
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a hundred times. Our songs are full of it, our sermons full of hope. We sing, we speak, we proclaim “This is the generation of those who seek Your face.” That’s what we want, we say, but do we even know what it means?
Psalm 24:5-6 say “He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah.” One song we sing says, “This is the generation that seeks Your face, O God of Jacob.” Can you hear the difference between the two? While the song merely proclaims God to be the God of Jacob (which is perfectly true and appropriate), the Psalm declares that this generation is Jacob, the generation that seeks God’s face. While the song leads us nowhere in our study of Scriptures, the Psalm begs us to take a look at Jacob seeking God.
Genesis 32:24-32 tells the story of Jacob wrestling with God. Jacob had been left alone and a Man came out and they wrestled until day broke. The Man could not prevail against Jacob, so He touched Jacob’s leg, leaving him with a limp. At daybreak, the Man ordered Jacob to let Him go. Jacob refused, “Not until you bless me.” So the Man asked Jacob’s name, only to say, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” When Jacob asked the Man’s name, He only laughed, “Why do you want to know My name?” Then the Man blessed Jacob. Then Jacob named the place where they had been Peniel because He had seen God face to face and his life had been preserved.
What are the characteristics of a Jacob generation, a generation that seeks God’s face? The first is solitude with God. All the people left, and Jacob was alone with God. The second characteristic is wrestling with God. This generation holds on to God, spending all night if necessary wrestling. The third characteristic is the persistence of Jacob, who even at daybreak, refused to let go of God until He had blessed him.
And we cannot study the generation of Jacob without studying God’s response to this generation’s persistence and insistence upon God’s blessing. The first thing God did to Jacob was touch his hip so that he walked with a limp. The generation of Jacob is marked by a limp. This generation has had an encounter with God in such a way that their walk is forever changed. Additionally, when Jacob refused to let go, calling out for a blessing, God changed his name. A generation of Jacob is set apart by a changed identity. The very fiber of their being has been changed by an encounter with God. And the third thing God did in response to Jacob’s plea was blessing him. God heard Jacob’s prayer and answered. The generation of Jacob cries out to God and He answers.
To all those who desire to be a generation who seeks God’s face, take a look at Jacob’s encounter. The call to be a generation of Jacob is not small call. It requires solitude, wrestling, persistent. It results in a new way of walking, a new identity, and answered prayer. To all who sing of seeking, consider now what you sing. Are you willing to seek if it takes all night? Are you willing to wrestle, even wounded? Are you willing to persist, even when its been forever and your request has not been granted? Are you willing to let your walk be forever changed? Are you willing to let your identity be changed? Are you willing to accept what it means to be blessed by God? Consider and fear. Consider and rise up to the challenge. For it is only when we as a church step forward as a Jacob generation, that the world can be transformed.
The Church–past, present, and future
As I look at the variety of books on church growth, church organizational patterns, church trends, and church management, I see an unsettling trend. Either the book is focused on maintaining the past–reliving the traditions and experiences of the past–or it is focused on continuing what is currently working–maintaining forever today’s models–or it is focused on pressing past everything that we have known to find an entirely new way of thinking. You may ask, “Well, doesn’t that cover all the bases? One of them should be right.” But my fear is that in the press of conversation about the church, we lose balance.
A church that is focused on the past cannot be a living church. Instead, it is a re-living church.
Just as a person with Alzheimer’s can waste away while reliving the experiences of the past, a church that focuses on reliving the past will die. This church may be living off of fat stores for the present, but it does nothing to ensure for itself a future. This church will die.
The church that is focused on the present is a selfish church. It is the narcissist church that insists upon forever maintaining itself as the star–not realizing that as the context changes, it must change to be effective. This church is forever keeping up with itself–never looking forward with dreams, never looking backward to correct mistakes. It is rudderless–directionless. This church will fail.
The church that is focused on the future is a pointless church. In its quest to be church of the future, its only definition is in rejecting past and present. This church dreams but does not accomplish, plans
but never executes. How can it, when the moment the future arrives it becomes nothing more than the present, and swiftly the past? This church is anchorless–having nothing to keep it from being blown about by every wind and wave.
What then should the church look like? How does a church avoid these pitfalls?
One of the most common injunctions throughout the Scriptures is to remember. Exodus 13:3 gives a stirring command to remember: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place.” In Exodus 20, the people were told to “remember
the Sabbath.” Throughout Deuteronomy, the injunction to remember brought with it both a warning and an encouragement. Remember God’s judgment and fear. Remember God’s mercy and obey. Remember what God has spoken. Remember God’s greatness. In the New Testament, we are told to remember Christ’s words. We are given the rite of Communion “in remembrance” of Christ. The church can not and must not disobey what is so obviously a part of the Christian life: Remembering the Past.
Paul’s life and letters clearly demonstrate the importance of the church being within the present. Paul’s epistles were not so much letters of remembrance or letters of vision casting than letters grounded in the current events of the church. Paul was busy dealing with the contemporary needs of the church–II Corinthians 8 refers to the physical needs of the church in Jerusalem and how the Corinthian church was going about meeting them. Galatians
addresses the immediate theological needs of the church of Galatia. The words of Christ also portray this present tense activity of the church. The teaching of Christ is not merely stories of the past nor prophecy of the future. Christ commanded concerning the present. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “When you bring your gift to the altar…” “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” These are not injunctions of the past, nor dreams for the future. This is a present day command. The church can not and must not stray from what is so obviously a part of the Christian life: Being relevant in the Present.
One cannot read the Bible without gaining an overwhelming sense of the future. The prophecies of Daniel and Revelation put shivers down spines, but even without getting into “end time theology”, the future is an integral part of Scripture. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is directed not only at the current believers, but at those who would come. The Great Commission, while being a present command, conveys a heady promise of the future. “And Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Paul preached of the greatness of the inheritance that will be revealed. Romans 8:23-25 says, “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for
it with perseverance.” The church can not and must not fail to possess what is so obviously a part of the Christian life: Hope for the Future.
As a church, we must press past a time frame or a verb tense. We must refrain from arguing opinion. We must lay aside the idea that progress comes by throwing out the old, or that continuing the old is progress. We must recognize the value of God’s progression of history–how the past shapes our present, which in turn shapes the future. We must recognize our role as facilitators of the narrative of God’s story. We are not the author of the story, we are merely participants in a chapter of the story. We cannot break out of the narrative to begin a new story. No, we must take the chapter we
have been given and continue the story on.
Hope in God
For the past few months I’ve been contemplating the concept of hope. Hope is such an elusive thing to my mind. When I try to define hope, more than often I come up short. Hope is expectation, anticipation. Yes. That’s true; but that’s not definitive. Hope is believing, knowing and acting in accordance with that belief. Yes. That too is true, but more apt in describing faith than hope. But what then is hope?
If I were asked to describe my concept of hope as of right now, I would describe it in this way: In Luke 8:22-25, a great storm rises over the lake and the disciples wake a sleeping Jesus, saying, “Master, we are perishing.” Like men who had no hope, they panicked in the face of the storm. Jesus, on the other hand, personifies hope–as the storm passed, He was resting in the back of the boat, secure in the arms of Almighty God.
Hope is the faith that sits back and lets God do His work. It is the trust that rests in His arms when every earthly shelter fails. It is the faith that, rather than jumping to take on God’s tasks, stands back and lets Him complete it without our having to be in control. If faith is what enables us to step out when God says “Go” not knowing where our destination will be; then hope is what enables us to relax as we take the step, certain that whatever we may encounter on the journey, the end is beyond our wildest dreams.
Within the approximately 15 Greek and Hebrew words that are translated hope, three common threads can be discerned. The first element of hope is trust–the words betach, batach, bittachon, kesel, mibtach, chul, yachal, chasah, and elpis all carry this connotation. The second element of hope is anticipation–miqveh, seber, tocheleth, and tiqvah allude to this. The third element of hope is rest–displayed in the definitions of the words machseh and chasah (refuge), and in the definitions of seber, chul, yachal, sabar (meaning “to stay” or “to wait upon.”) These elements are never more clearly seen than in the Psalms, in which nearly a fifth contain hope and its corollaries as a major theme.
As I learn more about hope as God reveals it in His word, I pray that God would also teach me this hope–hope that trusts God completely, anticipating His goodness, resting in His mercy.
Only Free
He told me once that His grace was sufficient for me
I brushed Him off, said I wanted to be free
He told me again that He was all I’d ever need
I pushed Him away–“I just want to be me.”
On my own, free
Why am I dying?
On my own, just me
Why am I breaking?
Broken, incomplete
Needy, bound
Me-insufficient
when He
is all I need
Only complete
When I’m held in His hands
Only free
When I’m bound by His arms
Only found
When I’m lost in Him
Working out bugs
Thanks to my brother and his different browsers, hopefully you should be able to access this website via Mozilla at
least. Please let me know if you find more bugs that need to be ironed out–I want this to be as accessible as
possible. (And, if you’re on a Mac and can read this just fine–shoot me an email at b3master(at)menterz.com It’d be
awesome to know if I’ve gotten my Mac problems worked out!) Thank you all for reading!
Onward Christian Soldiers
Reading a biography of Amy Carmichael today (entitled Amy Carmichael: Let the Little Children Come), I came across these words, written by Amy herself:
Onward Christian soldiers,
Sitting on the mats;
Nice and warm and cozy
Like little pussycats.
Onward Christian soldiers,
Oh, how brave are we,
Don’t we do our fighting
Very comfortably?
The words burn my soul. I am so often guilty of comfortable Christianity. I can offer my solutions to any problem, but lose sleep to seek God’s solution? Never. I can say I offer service to God unrewarded; but when man’s praise is not forthcoming, I complain. When my purse is overflowing with abundance, I most willingly
give it; but when I have little to offer, I offer nothing. When it is convenient, comfortable, easy for me to die to myself, I do. But as soon as dying means pain–I take the easier road.
But how can one be a soldier if he never enters training? How can he be a soldier if he does not participate in war? A soldier who throws off his colors at the first sight of war is not a soldier but a deserter–a man devoid of all honor and dignity.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer told the truth when he said, “When Christ calls a man, He calls him come and die.” The words of Christ are replete with calls to death. When Jesus sent out the twelve in Matthew 10, He gave them this warning: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt
10:37-39) He repeats Himself in Matthew 16: “If anyone desire to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25) Mark 8 parallels this passage: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35) Again, Luke 9 repeats: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24) The same sentiment is repeated in Luke 14:33, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” In John 12, this same thought is repeated with allusions to Christ’s death, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.” (John 12:24-26) It is not an accident that this same injunction to follow Christ in dying to self is repeated in all four gospels. Death is integral to the Christian life. It is impossible to follow Christ without dying.
In the same way, sacrifice of time, talents, honour, and rights is the call of the disciple. A would-be disciple offered brave words to Christ, “Teacher” said he, “I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus’ response to him was stern with warning: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His
head.” (Matt 8:19-20) Translation? To follow Christ is to be in exile. Another disciple offered: “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus’ answer was blunt: “Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matt 8:21-22) Translation? To follow Christ is to deny our earthly inheritance. When a rich ruler came to Christ
seeking eternal life, Jesus commanded him to sell all that he had and give it to the poor–then, Jesus said, this man would have treasure in heaven and would be welcome to follow Christ. (Matt 19:16-26) Jesus renounced the Pharisees for their pride in seeking the approval of men and commands His followers to seek His glory alone. (Matt 23 and elsewhere) Mark 10 admonishes: “No one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands,
for My sake and the gospel’s…shall not receive…eternal life.” (Mark 10:29-30) When Jesus observed the offering in the temple, he commended not those who gave much, but those who gave sacrificially: “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mark 12:43-44) And it is this kind of
service that the Lord demands of His disciples. “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) Indeed the kingdom of God allows nothing less than the complete sacrifice of all former rights and privileges.
Not only does the Christian life require death to self and sacrifice of all rights–the call to discipleship also includes the call to lay down our pride and instead serve the lowest. Matthew 18:3-4 reads, “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore
whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” When a mother of two of the
disciples requested that her sons sit at Jesus side in His kingdom, Jesus responded: “You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them…Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him
be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.” (Matt 20:25-27) Giving the disciples
instructions, Jesus said: “do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matt 23:10-12) When Jesus told a story of the judgment, He describes Himself as saying “Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did to one of the least of these My brethren (the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick,
and the imprisoned), you did it to Me.” (Matthew 25:40) The call to be a disciple of Christ is a call to become a servant of all.
The last qualification for discipleship is not so much a command but a promise: You will be persecuted. Jesus promises His disciples: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you…If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:18-20) A little later (John 15:33) Jesus says, “In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” When Jesus sent the twelve out into the world, He warned them: “Beware of men, for they will deliver you up in the councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles…Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.” (Matthew 10:17-22) This is the promise and test of discipleship. If you love Him and are His disciple, you will be hated and persecuted for Him.
What is Christ calling you to die to today? What right or privilege is He calling you to give up? What service does He wish you to offer? Is Christ calling you to lay down your pride and to forgive your brother? Is He calling you to lay aside your greed and offer your time or money for His mission? Is He calling you to offer your service, unasked for and unacknowledged, to the weak, the poor, the child, the helpless? When Christ calls His disciples today, will you be among
those who take the challenge to die, to sacrifice, to serve, and to be reviled? Or will you cast down your colors like the deserter, denying your captain in the day of testing?
Onward Christian soldiers,
Sitting on the mats;
Nice and warm and cozy
Like little pussycats.
Onward Christian soldiers,
Oh, how brave are we,
Don’t we do our fighting
Very comfortably?
On revival, renewal, and reformation
There was a day in the life of my church when we talked about revival, renewal, and reformation a lot. Now that day seems like only a memory. We ached for revival–the refilling of old wineskins, the refueling of empty lamps, the reenergizing of old and weary Christians. We longed for renewal–when new wine would be poured into new wineskins, when new bodies would be exchanged for old. We prayed for reformation–when the old would be put away with for good and we would be victorious forever. We saw that something was wrong with where we were and we desired that God would move us from where we were.
Somehow, though, we lost that yearning for a move of God. As church size dwindled, we started to look for church growth strategies. Lost in a mire of books and problems, we asked ourselves not “where is God?” but “Where are the people?” We forgot that where God is, He grows. And church size continued to decline. We were in maintenance mode and no one knew it. Maintaining the nursery, maintaining Sunday School, maintaining the youth group. We were maintaining much as a Nurse readjusts a barely living person in there hospital bed in a desperate, last ditch attempt against bed sores. But it hasn’t helped. The programs may still be holding on by a thread, but the church within is practically dead.
Somewhere, in the midst of our trials, we forgot to hope in God. We forgot that the one who began a work in us has promised to be faithful to complete it. We got busy trying to do God’s job. And we failed miserably. Instead of joining God in what He’s doing, we decided to think something up and ask God to join us. Instead
of asking for direction, we started looking behind us, asking Him to clear up our mistakes. We lost the sense of God, and we stagnated. We shunned the Holy Spirit, and we are dying. We tried to save on our own and have found nothing but bondage.
What has happened to the God who does miracles? What has happened to the God who speaks to His people? What has happened to the God who changes lives? Nothing has happened to God. It is only that the church has failed to reflect Him.
I was a young teen during those days of longing for revival, renewal, reformation. I was overwhelmed by the story of Moses on the mountaintop, who after seeing the glory of God, came away with a shining face. His face was so bright that they had to stick a veil over it so that it did not hurt the eyes of the Israelites. I wanted so badly to have an encounter with God that would leave me blinding. I wanted an encounter that would make everyone around me know that I had met God. I still think that kind of encounter would be cool, but I gave up hoping that it would happen. II Corinthians 3:18 reminds us of this encounter and points us forward, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” As we look at God, we are changed into His likeness. We are transformed to be more like Him. And our faces are not veiled–we are a shining example of Christ’s likeness. Why is it then that when I walk into church, no one has a glowing face? Why do not more lives show the transforming power of Christ?
Perhaps it is because we fail to behold the glory of the Lord. To walk into our churches, could anyone tell that a powerful, living God dwells therein? The cares and worries that overwhelm the church clutter the power of God. The multitude of our words clamour above the still small voice that speaks a Living Word. Our prayers are not accessing an all powerful God. Instead they exhort a weak man. But what are our words, what are our cares, what are our prayers if God is not our Life? We are pointless, dead, dying, irrelevant.
Lord, awaken in Your church a hunger for Your face. Teach us to desire Your presence, to long for Your voice. Help us to seek Your presence, and the transformation that only You can bring. Let us grow tired of man’s answers, and instead let us thirst for Your voice. We don’t need a new program. We don’t need a new solution. We don’t need more people. We need You. Teach us to desire You with all our hearts.