Radical Faith

I have mentioned a few times the book Radical, by David Platt. It is a profound, life altering book. I wish I could make it required reading, but I can’t. I do want to share another short passage from the book. Maybe that will make someone interested enough to read it. I am starting in the middle of a thought, but I think it is easy enough to catch.

We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.

A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream.

But do you and I realize what we are doing at this point? We are molding Jesus into our image. He is beginning to look a lot like us because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with. And the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the Bible. Instead we may be worshiping ourselves.

Radical

I am reading the  book Radical, by David Platt for the third time. It is a book that everyone should read, one that is guaranteed to shake you up. It will inspire, ignite passion, or possibly offend.

I have been anxious to blog about the book, but have not been sure where to start. I am putting in a short quote that maybe will get someone to thinking.

I am convinced that we as Christ followers in American churches have embraced values and ideas that are not only unbiblical but that actually contradict the gospel we claim to believe. And I am convinced we have a choice.

You and I can choose to continue with business as usual in the Christian life and in the church as a whole, enjoying success based on the standards defined by the culture around us. Or we can take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible and dare to ask what the consequences might be if we really believed him and really obeyed him.

I invite you to join the journey with me. I do not claim to have all the answers. If anything, I have more questions than answers. But if Jesus is who he said he is, and if his promises are as rewarding as the Bible claims they are, then we may discover that satisfaction in our lives and success in the church are not found in what our culture deems most important but in radical abandonment to Jesus.

The Principle of “Buoyancy”

Les and I were sitting on the porch swing this morning talking about how we can know when God is telling us to do something, and he reminded me of a really good illustration. When God speaks to you about something, it has buoyancy, it keeps coming up.

Years ago, when we lived in Ft. Worth, we decided that we were supposed to move to Stephenville. We were in the middle of making plans to do that when we discovered I was pregnant with our fourth child. For some reason, that seemed to mean we were not supposed to move, so we decided not to.  However, after several weeks, we began to think about making the move again. We decided that God still wanted us to move, so we again began to make plans, which included trying to sell our house. The house did not sell,  so we again put our plans on hold.  Again, we began to feel that we were supposed to move. We rented our house to a family who planned to buy it in 6 months, found a house to rent in Stephenville, and made the move, while I was 7 months pregnant.

There have been other times that I thought God spoke to me about something, but decided it was not from God. Sometimes, that was the end of it. But, at other times, the thought kept coming up. That’s what we mean by buoyant. It’s like a beach ball. Have you ever tried to hold a fully inflated beach ball under water. You can keep it down for a while, but eventually, it pops back up. It’s because it is buoyant.

When God speaks about something, you can push it down for a while, but it keeps coming back up.

Reckless Faith

I read a new book this week, passed along by a dear friend who knows me well (many thanks, Carolyn). Reckless Faith, by Beth Guckenberger is a compilation of stories from the authors experience ministering to orphans, mostly in Monterrey, Mexico. It is a wonderful, inspiring book that really touched my heart. I am quoting a page from the book where she defines what she calls “reckless faith”.

As a child I used to sing songs about the Refiner’s fires. The analogy is of silver and dross. As the fire heats the silver, the impurities come to the surface and are skimmed off, leaving the silver more and more refined. In the analogy, refined means “pure, and naturally I want the impurities of sin to come to the surface, so that my faith can be ever more pure. That kind of refinement is part of what the Holy Spirit draws us to with each conviction and subsequent confession.

But refined can also be defined as “cultivated” and “fastidious”. That kind of “refined faith” is the opposite of the reckless faith I’m writing about here. That sort of  “refined faith” is predictable and resistant to change; it pretends to know what God will do a hundred Sundays from now. It is most comfortable with rules, consequences, and baby steps. It likes control and people who agree. It fears what it can’t see. A truly reckless faith, however, always expects change, and as a result, it’s eager to risk more and fear less! A reckless faith knows there is more to the story, more we can’t see, more than I experience now. It is hungry.

Reckless faith always has one foot in eternity. It measures people by their actions and not their belongings. A reckless faith believes when there is no evidence and hurls itself at what is unseen but promised. A reckless faith isn’t “refined” in the least. It does not make sense to the world, and yet, the world often seems fascinated by it.

“Lots of Saving”

A few weeks ago, we had a Women’s Ministry Kick off event for the new fall session. As part of the event, I gave out papers with a few questions to use as ice breakers for  small discussion groups, defined by little stickers on our name tags.  Among all the women, there was one young girl, about 10 years old. She was charming and was totally comfortable mixing with the ladies, and participated in the group discussion.

Today, I ran across some of the papers that we had used that night. I was delighted by the child’s answer to the last question:

5. Is there anything that you would like to see added to Women’s Ministry; an activity, study, or event?

“lots of Saving”

What a great thing to want. I hope that we are able to add “lots of saving” to our Women’s Ministry activities.

Our Church Soccer Team, “Los Leones De Dublin"

Cottonwood has a sort of “accidental” soccer team.

A couple of years ago, I was with a few women after Bible study, talking about all the land the church owns, land we bought to build on, but have not used. We thought it would be great to put in softball fields, soccer fields, picnic tables, things to make the vacant land useful. We got very excited about it, and I shared with the rest of the staff the idea. Since Scott and Chance were planning a soccer camp for the kids, they went to work creating a soccer field, which they used a few weeks later.

That is really all that happened with the land. Eventually, we noticed a group of Hispanic men playing soccer on the field a few times. They were members of a local team, using our field for practice. Someone spoke to the men and told them that we were happy to have the field used and they were welcome to practice there any time. A few weeks later, the men asked if our field could be their home field, to play games on regularly. With that, they became our soccer team. Their shirts have “Cottonwood” on the front.

The team plays in other small towns in the area, and continue to use our field as their home team. Last year, the team won second place, and gave the giant trophy to the church. Well, today, the team was invited to come to church, where they were introduced. We clapped and cheered for them, and we prayed for them. They stayed for the worship service, using our headphones for Spanish translation, since most of them do not speak English. It was good to have them with us. I hope that they felt welcome and at home with us. 

Ladies Bible Study

WOO HOO Ladies Bible studies start next week. Monday night at my house, Tuesday morning at Cottonwood.

Kay Arthur, Beth Moore, and Priscilla Shirer together; three generations of ladies Bible study teachers. I was in Kay Arthur studies in the 1980’s, have done all of Beth Moore studies, and I love Priscilla Shirer. I watched the first DVD today, and it was FABULOUS. One key quote from Kay Arthur, “If you have time for ANYTHING, and you don’t have time for God’s Word, then you need to rearrange your priorities.

So, if you are reading this, and you live anywhere near Stephenville, Dublin, or Deleon, try to join us.

10 Things I love about Ladies Bible Study

1. I like the discipline. I have something specific to study every day.
2. I enjoy new insight. Every study we do brings new insight and understanding of the word.
3. I truly love to be with the other women.
4. We always laugh and have a good time.
5. Being in Bible Study with other women builds our relationships.
6. I know that time I spend studying the Bible with an open heart and mind helps me to become more like Jesus.
7. The other women in the study always have great new things to share.
8. Every study draws me into new experiences with God.
9. The more I learn about the Bible, the more hunger I have to learn.
10. The Bible is God's love letter, and I love Him more when I study it.

Just one of Those Nights

Sometimes things just don’t seem to gel. Tonight, something just seemed to be a little “off”. We have Celebrate Recovery every Thursday night. Almost every week, it is wonderful. We have had over 50 people for the past several weeks. The atmosphere is charged. We have great music. There is a sense of family.

Tonight was not the same. First, we had a smaller number. Several people who are there every week were not there tonight. There were no new people there, and we have at least one new person almost every week. The music seemed a little off. The praise team had some personal problems they had to deal with. The congregation was not as enthusiastic as usual. There seemed to be a lot of distractions going on when I was teaching. During small group time, I ran into two young girls running around unsupervised and had to send them back to the child care area.  We DID have plenty of food for refreshment time, so that was one good thing.

I felt like it was just a night when things seemed to not go right. When we finally headed home, a woman who was with us began to tell us how much the night had meant to her, that God had really spoken to her through the lesson. God had been telling her to let go of some things, and when I spoke about yielding to God in our daily lives, she realized that she has to yield to God in these certain areas. She shared how she has failed in the last weeks, but that without Celebrate Recovery, she would still be lost in a world of severe drug addiction, with no hope for sobriety or a better life. C.R. has brought her into a relationship with God, has given her hope, and has helped her to make some great changes in her life.

You know, one person touched is all I can ask for. So the night was not what I had hoped for, or expected. It was not the glorious, joyful time that we usually have. God is still at work. AMEN

God’s Great Mercy

Psalm 119:156 Great are Your mercies, O Lord; The psalmist here is praising God for His great mercies. The Hebrew word used for mercy is rechem, which was originally the word for womb. That is interesting, that the Hebrews used their word for womb to express the characteristic of mercy.

I have heard that “Mercy is when we do not receive what we deserve (punishment), grace is when we receive what we don’t deserve (blessings of any kind). That always made sense to me, but it does not fit with the word “womb”.

When I did a search on the word mercy, I noticed that in the New Testament, it was used often by people who cried out to Jesus, “Lord, have mercy.” When they cried out, it wasn’t because Jesus was about to hit them and they had to cry for mercy to not be punished. They cried out for mercy because they were in need.

I read where blind men begged for mercy. (Matt 9:27-31; 20:29-34, Luke 18:35-39). Lepers pled for mercy to be healed (Luke 17:11-19) and parents asked for mercy for children who were demonized (Matt 17:14-16, Matt 15:22)

In every one of these instances, Jesus met their needs. He did not just refuse to punish them, much more, He took care of them. The actions of Jesus seem to reflect the meaning of that Hebrew word for mercy, or womb.

The same Hebrew word rechem,  is often translated compassion, as in Neh 9:19 You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness;     and                                                                                                               Neh 9:27 But when they cried to You in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion

Jesus is often said to have been moved with compassion.                 

Matt 14:14                                                                                                                            Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Matt 15:32-37                                                                                                             And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, " I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."  33 The disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?" 34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish." 35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied,
Matt 20:33-34
They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
Mark 6:34-35
34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

In each of these instances, Jesus was moved with compassion, or mercy, not just to rescue the people from punishment, but to meet whatever the need was. He healed some, fed some, taught some.  By God’s mercy, I am not only saved from the penalty of my sin, but I am lifted to a place where God is meeting all of my needs.