As promised on my last BLOG, here's Mikes article on accountability as posted in his most current Newsletter. If you'd like to read more from Mike visit: www.freshwindministries.org
LEADER'S CORNER
Accountability
Ted Haggard's fall from grace reminds us of the need for accountability relationships. Let me offer some quick, challenging thoughts on the subject.
Accountability suggests the lateral, horizontal aspect of life.
• We're accountable to other people.
we count to them (matter) and we count to them (itemize).
• These people need to have some authority in relation to us, which we give them.
• It involves trust of those to whom we're accountable.
• also respect
Accountability presupposes love and acceptance (if you don't love me, I won't level with you).
Accountability presupposes a desire to be well.
Accountability presupposes a determination to relate.
Accountability requires honesty, trust, courage in the one being held accountable.
Accountability requires trustworthiness, discretion, largeness of heart in those holding accountable.
Accountability promotes balance, health, teamness in the sense of not-being-alone.
Accountability is not an adversarial but a parakletial relationship.
Accountability's areas of concern are:
• sin
• responsibility--to agreed upon criteria
• growth
• health
i.e. the tough stuff.
Accountability allows us to be agents of each other's growth and freedom.
Accountability recognizes that none of us is a capable judge of ourselves.
Accountability provides an on-going opportunity to get real, to become truthful, to face our spiritual enemies, to lay hold of the grace to change what should be changed.
Accountability realizes that I can hold off God all day long, but I really start to deal when I tell you,
and that God is the author of this dynamic.
Accountability says "I give you permission to ask tough questions".
• "Have you done what you said you were going to do?" "Why?" "Why not?"
• and the toughest and last question is, "Have you just lied to me?"
Accountability in the church is an opportunity to grow through a relationship that no other relationship on earth provides. No other relationship provides the combination of grace, honesty, forgiveness, forbearance, hope, and power which this can provide.
The goal of Accountability is not success but growth, not perfection but improvement, not flying solo but as part of the flock.
May I suggest a New Year's resolution to get an accountability partner?
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Safety Net of Accountability
Yesterday I was eating lunch with a friend. One thing led to another and the conversation got around to the topic of a well-known Christian who, for lack of a better term, fell from grace. Like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son for a cup of stew (Hebrews 12:16, 17) this well-known Christian lost his ministry, his reputation, his family, and his spiritual vitality – all in one short, self-gratifying decision.
Of course he didn’t loose his walk with Christ, his relational position of being a brother in the Lord, forgiveness of sins, the gifts of the Spirit, or eternal life – and that’s important to remember.
At a particularly emotional time in our conversation I found myself leaning over the table and saying to my friend, “All that could have been avoided if he had voluntarily allowed himself to be accountable to someone else.”
“'Accountable?'" My friend looked up. "What do you mean?”
“I wonder if he had ever verbally expressed his struggles to a confidant, someone who could call and encourage him in the weak times, someone who would meet with him and check in with how he was doing in his struggles.”
Accountability.... Say it with me... Accountabilty.
The word itself raises eyebrows. But it need not. Accountability isn’t like the old “Leave it to Beaver” show when you screwed up Ward invites you into the den for a lecture and you renter the world with the dirty tear-stain down your left cheek. Quite the contrary, Biblical accountability presupposes we have a common enemy and that we find ourselves on the front lines of those wars, fighting battles that are uniquely are own, and need back-up support from someone fresh in from leave.
The concept of accountability far exceeds the specifics of sin (though it includes them). It raises the bar to a much more global issue – the fact that we have a real enemy whose soul intent is to drag down the saints of God. (See 1 Peter 5:8.) It doesn’t matter if it’s habitual stealing, backbiting, spreading rumors about others, rage, seeking sexual fulfillment outside of marriage, or taking drugs. In the end Satan wins. He doesn’t care what sin will bring you down. The important thing is that he will use ANY sin to bring you down.
Your accountability person needs to be of the spiritual maturity NOT to get caught up in the specifics (the why’s and how’s) of your sinning but be more in sync with the forces BEHIND the specifics of your sinning. While the two or three of you will often get hit in particular ways (for whatever reason), no one way is worse than another. It’s far beyond all that. The focus needs to be on helping your brother out of the pit (through unconditional forgiveness) and guns need to be aimed at the one viciously assaulting the child of God.
With that level of maturity in mind it makes it easier to confess specific sins. They love you and have your “best” in mind. Sure, they may give you guidelines or advice on how to avoid future pitfalls – and well they should, as they may have attained real victory in your weakest areas and have something to say about that. But, in the big picture, you want them to see far beyond your bruises and casualties of war and assist you in the fight over your soul.
I have know idea if our well-known Christian person had an accountability partner. And it’s easy to say in hindsight this or that could have prevented what went down. But I can tell you that it is much easier to get up after a fall with the ongoing assistance of an accountability partner than trying to crawl out of the smudge on your own.
So, this morning I sit down to have my quiet time. I don’t know what to read (an ongoing struggle) so I decide to pull out a newsletter that my friend Mike Flynn sends out from time to time. I rarely read it (true confession) but this morning I did. And what do you think the subject of the “Leaders Corner” was? Accountability! Way too cool! So I emailed him and asked him to send me a copy of the article in a Word format so I can post it here – which I will do when I get it.
You can read it a forehand at http://www.freshwindministries.org/.
As Mike concluded his writing, so do I:
May I suggest a New Year’s Resolution to get an accountability partner?
Of course he didn’t loose his walk with Christ, his relational position of being a brother in the Lord, forgiveness of sins, the gifts of the Spirit, or eternal life – and that’s important to remember.
At a particularly emotional time in our conversation I found myself leaning over the table and saying to my friend, “All that could have been avoided if he had voluntarily allowed himself to be accountable to someone else.”
“'Accountable?'" My friend looked up. "What do you mean?”
“I wonder if he had ever verbally expressed his struggles to a confidant, someone who could call and encourage him in the weak times, someone who would meet with him and check in with how he was doing in his struggles.”
Accountability.... Say it with me... Accountabilty.
The word itself raises eyebrows. But it need not. Accountability isn’t like the old “Leave it to Beaver” show when you screwed up Ward invites you into the den for a lecture and you renter the world with the dirty tear-stain down your left cheek. Quite the contrary, Biblical accountability presupposes we have a common enemy and that we find ourselves on the front lines of those wars, fighting battles that are uniquely are own, and need back-up support from someone fresh in from leave.
The concept of accountability far exceeds the specifics of sin (though it includes them). It raises the bar to a much more global issue – the fact that we have a real enemy whose soul intent is to drag down the saints of God. (See 1 Peter 5:8.) It doesn’t matter if it’s habitual stealing, backbiting, spreading rumors about others, rage, seeking sexual fulfillment outside of marriage, or taking drugs. In the end Satan wins. He doesn’t care what sin will bring you down. The important thing is that he will use ANY sin to bring you down.
Your accountability person needs to be of the spiritual maturity NOT to get caught up in the specifics (the why’s and how’s) of your sinning but be more in sync with the forces BEHIND the specifics of your sinning. While the two or three of you will often get hit in particular ways (for whatever reason), no one way is worse than another. It’s far beyond all that. The focus needs to be on helping your brother out of the pit (through unconditional forgiveness) and guns need to be aimed at the one viciously assaulting the child of God.
With that level of maturity in mind it makes it easier to confess specific sins. They love you and have your “best” in mind. Sure, they may give you guidelines or advice on how to avoid future pitfalls – and well they should, as they may have attained real victory in your weakest areas and have something to say about that. But, in the big picture, you want them to see far beyond your bruises and casualties of war and assist you in the fight over your soul.
I have know idea if our well-known Christian person had an accountability partner. And it’s easy to say in hindsight this or that could have prevented what went down. But I can tell you that it is much easier to get up after a fall with the ongoing assistance of an accountability partner than trying to crawl out of the smudge on your own.
So, this morning I sit down to have my quiet time. I don’t know what to read (an ongoing struggle) so I decide to pull out a newsletter that my friend Mike Flynn sends out from time to time. I rarely read it (true confession) but this morning I did. And what do you think the subject of the “Leaders Corner” was? Accountability! Way too cool! So I emailed him and asked him to send me a copy of the article in a Word format so I can post it here – which I will do when I get it.
You can read it a forehand at http://www.freshwindministries.org/.
As Mike concluded his writing, so do I:
May I suggest a New Year’s Resolution to get an accountability partner?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Living Into Newness
"Praise the Lord with lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! O sing to God a new song!"
St. Augustine comments: My friends, you have learned the new song: so now forget the old one. We are a new humanity, we have a new covenant with God; so let our song be new; new songs do not emerge from old humanity."
Augustine's timeless words remind me of the early 80's Christian Punk Band called The Altar Boys. In their song, "Life Begins at the Cross." there is a lyric that is hauntingly true.
"People look for life in things that make them die."
As followers of Christ the ideas of "newness," freshness," and "new creation" are implanted deeply in our spirits. Yet, in the spiritual battle, our flesh would have us drink from the old cisterns, rather than the new. In theological jargon: The flesh would have us drink from the Dead Sea, rather than from the refreshing spring-fed waters of the Sea of Galilee.
We have been called heavenward. We are made to be nourished from the Living Manna: new bread and new songs.
Nikki Gumble tells the story of an old bag lady who died and he was called to do the funeral. At the funeral he was astonished to learn that the bag lady was enormously wealthy. Yet, although she had a nice flat uptown, she could never break away from her old life, the old cisterns.
As Royalty, our lifestyles and "watering holes" need reflect the Throne to which we are headed, lest we go undernourished. Let us forget the old food, let us move away from the old song and walk as Easter People, continuously being regenerated and renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Augustine says it better than anyone I know: New songs do not emerge from old humanity.
St. Augustine comments: My friends, you have learned the new song: so now forget the old one. We are a new humanity, we have a new covenant with God; so let our song be new; new songs do not emerge from old humanity."
Augustine's timeless words remind me of the early 80's Christian Punk Band called The Altar Boys. In their song, "Life Begins at the Cross." there is a lyric that is hauntingly true.
"People look for life in things that make them die."
As followers of Christ the ideas of "newness," freshness," and "new creation" are implanted deeply in our spirits. Yet, in the spiritual battle, our flesh would have us drink from the old cisterns, rather than the new. In theological jargon: The flesh would have us drink from the Dead Sea, rather than from the refreshing spring-fed waters of the Sea of Galilee.
We have been called heavenward. We are made to be nourished from the Living Manna: new bread and new songs.
Nikki Gumble tells the story of an old bag lady who died and he was called to do the funeral. At the funeral he was astonished to learn that the bag lady was enormously wealthy. Yet, although she had a nice flat uptown, she could never break away from her old life, the old cisterns.
As Royalty, our lifestyles and "watering holes" need reflect the Throne to which we are headed, lest we go undernourished. Let us forget the old food, let us move away from the old song and walk as Easter People, continuously being regenerated and renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Augustine says it better than anyone I know: New songs do not emerge from old humanity.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Chosen to Bear Fruit
A number of you have mentioned having been blessed by a recent sermon given on Ministry Sunday (August 26, 2007). For you web surfers, this was a day when we were encouraged to sign up for various ministries around our church. Regardless, you should be able to translate into your own culture. Enjoy!
“You did not choose me
But I chose you and appointed you
To go and bear fruit
Fruit that will last.”
John 15:16
Jesus’ words to us this morning are words of purpose, words of destiny, words that invite us into an entirely new level of spiritual activity. The Scriptures this morning invite us into a lifestyle of selflessness, a life wherein our personal agendas are forsaken for God’s personal agenda, for his sake, for his eternal purposes. His purposes aren’t knee-jerk ideas that he sort of makes up as history rolls along – but they are divine purposes that have been thought and through, laid out, and initiated since the beginning of time. God is working – increasing and yeasting – towards a glorious goal: a Day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And he has chosen you, and he has chosen me, to make his work happen.
He could do it himself, of course, this work of redemption that is. He could lift a finger, wink his eye, or command a legion of Angels to make it happen. But he has engineered his work to include you and me, with all of our human frailties, to bridge the gap between and heaven and earth. Jesus left his work first with 12, then 70, then 120, than 3,000 and then… us.
But here’s my question: Why us? Why has he chosen us for such a monumental task and, at the same time, made us entirely dependant upon him to fulfill that same task – when he could pull off the entire project without us – in a far shorter amount of time and with perfect results? Why has God chosen us to do something that he could have done with a simple snap of his fingers?
Shortly after I gave into the call of Christ in my life I was attending a Tuesday night Bible Study in Miami Florida. We ate pot-luck (always a treat for a single man!), sang songs for about 30 minutes, dove into the Word of God for 45 minutes, prayed, and went home. One evening, the worship leader approached me and asked me if I would bring my guitar on the following week. While I was flabbergasted at the request because he was such a great leader and was doing a perfectly fine job all by himself, I agreed and found myself there at his side, co-leading worship with him the next Tuesday, and the next Tuesday, and numerous Tuesdays after that. He rarely let me lead anything and seemed very specific in what he wanted me to play, or not play. Then one day, quite out of the blue, he asked me to lead one song. Then another, and then another. By the end of the year there were days he didn’t even show up. He had built in me a worship leader.
Reflecting on this I see a couple of thing going on. First, Jay was all about the equipping of the saints (that would be me). He also knew God’s desire is to make leaders in ways that encourage and build the Body of Christ. (This is our model of ministry at Holy Apostles as well.)
But secondly, and as I reflect on this many years later, I think Jay may have had an ulterior motive. Jay liked me. There was something very neat that happened when we talked and ate together. And, when we played music together we had a lot of fun. We laughed and got to know one another. In the process of doing ministry, our joy was made complete. And much of that joy came as a direct result of our forming, growing relationship as we ministered together.
So, back to my question, “Why has God chosen you to do something that he could have done with a snap of his finger?
Three words: He like us. He likes you. And he’ll do about anything to get us into relationship with him. He knows that, as we co-task with him in his work, we will have the joy having of intimate relationship with him.
Pretty cool, huh?
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul tells us that, as the Body of Christ, each one of us has been given unique giftings, or chrisms, which when activated, play into the full function of God’s purposes for the community of faith. Some people are out front. Others you’ll never see, nor will ever know about. Doesn’t matter. We have all been given spiritual gifts – teens and adults alike - and have been given great individual latitude in our own expression of our gifts; all by the same Spirit, and, says Paul, just as God has determined.
And he has chosen and appointed us to go and bear fruit. The word “chosen” in the Greek is leggio – the word from which the word “leggo” comes from. It means to hand pick for a particular purpose in accordance with a particular design or greater work. Pretty cool, eh? When I was a kid I was involved in many sports, but I didn’t get picked to play on any of them. Sure, I sat on the team, but when the coach was looking for someone to send into the fireld, his eyes slowly glazed over when he scanned the bench to me, sitting there at the end of the bench. The good news for us is that each of us have been “Lego-ed,” if you will for God’s work. We have been hand chosen by God to and called into ministry which will bear fruit that will last! Isn’t that wonderful? Look at the person next to you and say to them, “I’ve been chosen by God to bear fruit that will last!”
Between the services and after the second service you will have an opportunity to visit the numerous booths and tables reflecting the many, many ministries at our Church. As you peruse the booths and speak with people behind the tables be asking yourself in the back of your mind a question. The question for you is not, “Has God called me to serve in a ministry,” but “Into which ministry is God calling me?”
Some of us will avoid the call like the plague. We will come up with all sorts of justifications why we shouldn’t do ministry. I know. I’ve been there. The best one I’ve heard is, “I’m not spiritual enough to serve the Lord.” LOL – Like the rest of us are? (I still maintain that the only reason God called me into the Ordained Priesthood was to make sure that I would attend church once a week!) Others will become so caught up and enthralled with all the ministries that they sign up for all of them – and even apply for part-time work at Bahama Mama’s! – and truth be known, will follow through on few of their commitments.
With that in mind I’d like to share with you five pieces of wisdom with the intent of helping you discern which work that is right for you at this season of your walk in Christ.
1. For most people here this morning, there is at least one ministry that God has definitely called you to be active in over the next year. Each of us has a ministry to work in. “I wish they all were prophets,” Moses declared. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good,” Paul writes. There is a perfect “you-shaped” ministry awaiting you in that room. Your job is to find it.
2. The ministry that awaits you can be something that you are inclined to do naturally, yet it may be more-so something you’ve always wanted to do – something you’ve had a deep passion or desire for for quite some time – but have never have had the opportunity to do it.
3. God has not called you to do all the ministries. Limit your involvement to 2.5 ministries. (Ministries that you are “working,” not receiving benefit from.) God wants well-trimmed lamps brightly burning to reflect the face of his Son, not half-lit saints, staggering around like zombies because they are spending all their energies trying to save the world. Relax. We already have a Savoir. Our God is peaceful; he is never stressed out. This morning’s Gospel says it best: "Remain in me and I will remain in you… You can bear no fruit, unless you remain in me.” Good fruit is limited to 2.5 ministries per person. Better fruit is limited to less.
4. Don’t let what the “ministry of consideration” look like, talk you out of your call to sign up for it. It will look different when you get there. God will use you in its continued development.
5. Allow yourself to consider ministries that won’t be “fun.” Truth of the matter is that, while ministry brings joy and a deeper relationship with our Lord, “ministry,” by its very definition, is sacrificial. And, as many here know, God is notorious for calling us into increasingly more difficult acts of obedience as we mature in the Faith.
We often pray, “God, make me more like Jesus.”
(That is a dangerous prayer I might add.)
He says, “Do you really want to be more like Jesus?”
We say, “I do, I do!”
“Are you sure?“
“I am sure!” we assert.
“Alright,” he says. “Do this: Love one another as I have loved you.”
“Gulp!”
As Christians, our penultimate model of what it means to serve others is found in somebody who went completely selfless. Someone who, as Paul writes to the Philippians, “humbled himself, even to the point of death on the Cross.” And his words echo back from the Empty Tomb: “Lay down your lifes' for each other, pick up your cross and to follow me.”
Make no doubts about it: Ministry is sacrificial.
I am reminded of Jesus’ admonition to Peter in John 21 where Jesus said to Peter three times, “Feed My Sheep.” And, when Peter finally gets it, Jesus then adds, “I tell you the truth, when you were young you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
Ministry isn’t always fun. And let it be known that, while we are called “Leggo-ed” to bear fruit that will last, we sometimes see more fertilizer than fruit. But the knowledge that God has called us says, by implication, that he has confidence in us to do the thing he’s called us into (or why would he have called us into it in the first place?). Jesus always leads us into places where He himself has gone. Then he comes back and walks us through the places He’s called us into in the first place. Doing ministry isn’t always fun, but we have the assurance that the Great Shepherd will never leave us or forsake us.
In closing, I want to encourage you – in what ever ministry you choose – to perform that ministry with all diligence and the highest possible standard of integrity. In whatever ministry you have – be it serving coffee or serving wine; teaching a child or teaching an adult; printing office materials or designing liturgies – remember you are an ambassador of Christ, you reflect the ministry of Christ, and (to some, anyway) you will be the only Christ people will ever see. Take your call seriously. Serve humbly and faithfully in your most holy calling. Make everything you do be fueled by a grateful heart and sustained by a moment-by-moment openness to the Holy Spirit.
You did not choose me But I chose you and appointed you
To go and bear fruit Fruit that will last.” John 15:16
“You did not choose me
But I chose you and appointed you
To go and bear fruit
Fruit that will last.”
John 15:16
Jesus’ words to us this morning are words of purpose, words of destiny, words that invite us into an entirely new level of spiritual activity. The Scriptures this morning invite us into a lifestyle of selflessness, a life wherein our personal agendas are forsaken for God’s personal agenda, for his sake, for his eternal purposes. His purposes aren’t knee-jerk ideas that he sort of makes up as history rolls along – but they are divine purposes that have been thought and through, laid out, and initiated since the beginning of time. God is working – increasing and yeasting – towards a glorious goal: a Day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And he has chosen you, and he has chosen me, to make his work happen.
He could do it himself, of course, this work of redemption that is. He could lift a finger, wink his eye, or command a legion of Angels to make it happen. But he has engineered his work to include you and me, with all of our human frailties, to bridge the gap between and heaven and earth. Jesus left his work first with 12, then 70, then 120, than 3,000 and then… us.
But here’s my question: Why us? Why has he chosen us for such a monumental task and, at the same time, made us entirely dependant upon him to fulfill that same task – when he could pull off the entire project without us – in a far shorter amount of time and with perfect results? Why has God chosen us to do something that he could have done with a simple snap of his fingers?
Shortly after I gave into the call of Christ in my life I was attending a Tuesday night Bible Study in Miami Florida. We ate pot-luck (always a treat for a single man!), sang songs for about 30 minutes, dove into the Word of God for 45 minutes, prayed, and went home. One evening, the worship leader approached me and asked me if I would bring my guitar on the following week. While I was flabbergasted at the request because he was such a great leader and was doing a perfectly fine job all by himself, I agreed and found myself there at his side, co-leading worship with him the next Tuesday, and the next Tuesday, and numerous Tuesdays after that. He rarely let me lead anything and seemed very specific in what he wanted me to play, or not play. Then one day, quite out of the blue, he asked me to lead one song. Then another, and then another. By the end of the year there were days he didn’t even show up. He had built in me a worship leader.
Reflecting on this I see a couple of thing going on. First, Jay was all about the equipping of the saints (that would be me). He also knew God’s desire is to make leaders in ways that encourage and build the Body of Christ. (This is our model of ministry at Holy Apostles as well.)
But secondly, and as I reflect on this many years later, I think Jay may have had an ulterior motive. Jay liked me. There was something very neat that happened when we talked and ate together. And, when we played music together we had a lot of fun. We laughed and got to know one another. In the process of doing ministry, our joy was made complete. And much of that joy came as a direct result of our forming, growing relationship as we ministered together.
So, back to my question, “Why has God chosen you to do something that he could have done with a snap of his finger?
Three words: He like us. He likes you. And he’ll do about anything to get us into relationship with him. He knows that, as we co-task with him in his work, we will have the joy having of intimate relationship with him.
Pretty cool, huh?
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul tells us that, as the Body of Christ, each one of us has been given unique giftings, or chrisms, which when activated, play into the full function of God’s purposes for the community of faith. Some people are out front. Others you’ll never see, nor will ever know about. Doesn’t matter. We have all been given spiritual gifts – teens and adults alike - and have been given great individual latitude in our own expression of our gifts; all by the same Spirit, and, says Paul, just as God has determined.
And he has chosen and appointed us to go and bear fruit. The word “chosen” in the Greek is leggio – the word from which the word “leggo” comes from. It means to hand pick for a particular purpose in accordance with a particular design or greater work. Pretty cool, eh? When I was a kid I was involved in many sports, but I didn’t get picked to play on any of them. Sure, I sat on the team, but when the coach was looking for someone to send into the fireld, his eyes slowly glazed over when he scanned the bench to me, sitting there at the end of the bench. The good news for us is that each of us have been “Lego-ed,” if you will for God’s work. We have been hand chosen by God to and called into ministry which will bear fruit that will last! Isn’t that wonderful? Look at the person next to you and say to them, “I’ve been chosen by God to bear fruit that will last!”
Between the services and after the second service you will have an opportunity to visit the numerous booths and tables reflecting the many, many ministries at our Church. As you peruse the booths and speak with people behind the tables be asking yourself in the back of your mind a question. The question for you is not, “Has God called me to serve in a ministry,” but “Into which ministry is God calling me?”
Some of us will avoid the call like the plague. We will come up with all sorts of justifications why we shouldn’t do ministry. I know. I’ve been there. The best one I’ve heard is, “I’m not spiritual enough to serve the Lord.” LOL – Like the rest of us are? (I still maintain that the only reason God called me into the Ordained Priesthood was to make sure that I would attend church once a week!) Others will become so caught up and enthralled with all the ministries that they sign up for all of them – and even apply for part-time work at Bahama Mama’s! – and truth be known, will follow through on few of their commitments.
With that in mind I’d like to share with you five pieces of wisdom with the intent of helping you discern which work that is right for you at this season of your walk in Christ.
1. For most people here this morning, there is at least one ministry that God has definitely called you to be active in over the next year. Each of us has a ministry to work in. “I wish they all were prophets,” Moses declared. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good,” Paul writes. There is a perfect “you-shaped” ministry awaiting you in that room. Your job is to find it.
2. The ministry that awaits you can be something that you are inclined to do naturally, yet it may be more-so something you’ve always wanted to do – something you’ve had a deep passion or desire for for quite some time – but have never have had the opportunity to do it.
3. God has not called you to do all the ministries. Limit your involvement to 2.5 ministries. (Ministries that you are “working,” not receiving benefit from.) God wants well-trimmed lamps brightly burning to reflect the face of his Son, not half-lit saints, staggering around like zombies because they are spending all their energies trying to save the world. Relax. We already have a Savoir. Our God is peaceful; he is never stressed out. This morning’s Gospel says it best: "Remain in me and I will remain in you… You can bear no fruit, unless you remain in me.” Good fruit is limited to 2.5 ministries per person. Better fruit is limited to less.
4. Don’t let what the “ministry of consideration” look like, talk you out of your call to sign up for it. It will look different when you get there. God will use you in its continued development.
5. Allow yourself to consider ministries that won’t be “fun.” Truth of the matter is that, while ministry brings joy and a deeper relationship with our Lord, “ministry,” by its very definition, is sacrificial. And, as many here know, God is notorious for calling us into increasingly more difficult acts of obedience as we mature in the Faith.
We often pray, “God, make me more like Jesus.”
(That is a dangerous prayer I might add.)
He says, “Do you really want to be more like Jesus?”
We say, “I do, I do!”
“Are you sure?“
“I am sure!” we assert.
“Alright,” he says. “Do this: Love one another as I have loved you.”
“Gulp!”
As Christians, our penultimate model of what it means to serve others is found in somebody who went completely selfless. Someone who, as Paul writes to the Philippians, “humbled himself, even to the point of death on the Cross.” And his words echo back from the Empty Tomb: “Lay down your lifes' for each other, pick up your cross and to follow me.”
Make no doubts about it: Ministry is sacrificial.
I am reminded of Jesus’ admonition to Peter in John 21 where Jesus said to Peter three times, “Feed My Sheep.” And, when Peter finally gets it, Jesus then adds, “I tell you the truth, when you were young you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
Ministry isn’t always fun. And let it be known that, while we are called “Leggo-ed” to bear fruit that will last, we sometimes see more fertilizer than fruit. But the knowledge that God has called us says, by implication, that he has confidence in us to do the thing he’s called us into (or why would he have called us into it in the first place?). Jesus always leads us into places where He himself has gone. Then he comes back and walks us through the places He’s called us into in the first place. Doing ministry isn’t always fun, but we have the assurance that the Great Shepherd will never leave us or forsake us.
In closing, I want to encourage you – in what ever ministry you choose – to perform that ministry with all diligence and the highest possible standard of integrity. In whatever ministry you have – be it serving coffee or serving wine; teaching a child or teaching an adult; printing office materials or designing liturgies – remember you are an ambassador of Christ, you reflect the ministry of Christ, and (to some, anyway) you will be the only Christ people will ever see. Take your call seriously. Serve humbly and faithfully in your most holy calling. Make everything you do be fueled by a grateful heart and sustained by a moment-by-moment openness to the Holy Spirit.
You did not choose me But I chose you and appointed you
To go and bear fruit Fruit that will last.” John 15:16
Let us pray...
Sunday, August 12, 2007
An Alien Culture
The nature of the Kingdom of God is to grow, to expand, and increase; to stretch, widen, deepen, and move forward – and all that happens in unpredictable, sometime scary, out-of-the-box ways which can rarely be foreseen and are designed to stretch us to the limits of the box.
While we know something of the heart of God; let it be said that we know close to nothing about the mysterious movements of God.
The movements – the holy currents – of God are like the wind. They flow to a rhythm quite different than our humanness. God leads us towards a marker. We enter with fear and in-trepidation. We look back on the decision only to see everything was aligned with his sovereign design. Who could have known that? God’s mysterious ways: they can’t be pinned down, second-guessed, or mapped out.
When I was a kid I used to break thermometers, gather mercury in my palms and try to squeeze around with my thumb. I never could trap it, never could get my finger on it, and never could predict where it would go next. God is like that. The more you seek to get your head around his movements, the more illusive he becomes. For those who like to know the end of the journey before the journey begins, there is little comfort here – aside from the fact that there will be an End, that is.
Jesus calls his followers to forsake everything for the reward of following him. He forsook perfection to come here and asks we forsake “here” to find perfection. But it’s a two-way street. He knows we need assurance. Forsaking “all” includes a spiritual transfer. He transfers our fear for trust, our cowardice for an appetite for risk, our rags for riches. Any baggage we give to him he receives and infuses its opposite, heavenly attribute in its place. When you give him your weight he will set you free in his love.
And then, once walking in the Spirit, when we are completely abandoned and intentionally committed to his ways, we must constantly remind ourselves of the alien culture into which we’ve been born. It is a culture of faith, of NOT knowing, of absolute surrender, and of risky, adventurous trust.
The promise of Jesus is that as we walk in faith, completely surrendered to his covenantal love, we will always be cared for, always be provided for, and always be sustained. Though we may find ourselves in places and situations we would never have guessed, we can be sure of his guiding, protective hand that steadies us onward into spiritual maturity.
“Fear not, little flock, for it is you Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”
While we know something of the heart of God; let it be said that we know close to nothing about the mysterious movements of God.
The movements – the holy currents – of God are like the wind. They flow to a rhythm quite different than our humanness. God leads us towards a marker. We enter with fear and in-trepidation. We look back on the decision only to see everything was aligned with his sovereign design. Who could have known that? God’s mysterious ways: they can’t be pinned down, second-guessed, or mapped out.
When I was a kid I used to break thermometers, gather mercury in my palms and try to squeeze around with my thumb. I never could trap it, never could get my finger on it, and never could predict where it would go next. God is like that. The more you seek to get your head around his movements, the more illusive he becomes. For those who like to know the end of the journey before the journey begins, there is little comfort here – aside from the fact that there will be an End, that is.
Jesus calls his followers to forsake everything for the reward of following him. He forsook perfection to come here and asks we forsake “here” to find perfection. But it’s a two-way street. He knows we need assurance. Forsaking “all” includes a spiritual transfer. He transfers our fear for trust, our cowardice for an appetite for risk, our rags for riches. Any baggage we give to him he receives and infuses its opposite, heavenly attribute in its place. When you give him your weight he will set you free in his love.
And then, once walking in the Spirit, when we are completely abandoned and intentionally committed to his ways, we must constantly remind ourselves of the alien culture into which we’ve been born. It is a culture of faith, of NOT knowing, of absolute surrender, and of risky, adventurous trust.
The promise of Jesus is that as we walk in faith, completely surrendered to his covenantal love, we will always be cared for, always be provided for, and always be sustained. Though we may find ourselves in places and situations we would never have guessed, we can be sure of his guiding, protective hand that steadies us onward into spiritual maturity.
“Fear not, little flock, for it is you Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”
Jesus – Luke 12:32
Saturday, June 23, 2007
The Holy Spirit as Purifier
Through His aid hearts are lifted up, the weak are held by the hand, and they who are advancing are brought to perfection. Shining upon those that are cleansed from every spot, He makes them spiritual by fellowship with Himself. Just as when a sunbeam falls on bright and transparent bodies, they themselves become brilliant too, and shed forth a fresh brightness from themselves, so souls wherein the Spirit dwells, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual, and send forth their grace to others.
St. Basil: 329-379 AD
St. Basil: 329-379 AD
Thursday, June 14, 2007
PSALM 100
All right, so I'm not exactly a Hebrew scholar. But in my preparations for this Sunday's sermon I discovered some fascinating innuendos in Psalm 100 that aren't apparent to the casual English reader. Take a look at Psalm 100... The Blomquistian Translation:
1 Create ear-splitting sounds and alarms of triumph, ye turf-dwellers; execute labor in your service with gladness, to the Eternal Deity and come into his increasing attention - his turning, facing countenance – singing and shouting victories to his Name.
2 Understand, be absolutely certain, the Eternal is our God; it is he who made us, not we ourselves; we are his tribe, his attendants and the sheep of his pasture.
3 Enter his gates extending your hands in praise, confession, and adoration; go into his courts excitingly lauding him with music; revere him with extended hands, kneeling towards him as your act of adoration.
4 For the Eternal is wildly good, fully bountiful in every way; and his covenanted loving-kindness exists - far exceeds - outside any identifiable time reference of your minds. His stable, active truth remains firm, and continues through all revolutions of time.
1 Create ear-splitting sounds and alarms of triumph, ye turf-dwellers; execute labor in your service with gladness, to the Eternal Deity and come into his increasing attention - his turning, facing countenance – singing and shouting victories to his Name.
2 Understand, be absolutely certain, the Eternal is our God; it is he who made us, not we ourselves; we are his tribe, his attendants and the sheep of his pasture.
3 Enter his gates extending your hands in praise, confession, and adoration; go into his courts excitingly lauding him with music; revere him with extended hands, kneeling towards him as your act of adoration.
4 For the Eternal is wildly good, fully bountiful in every way; and his covenanted loving-kindness exists - far exceeds - outside any identifiable time reference of your minds. His stable, active truth remains firm, and continues through all revolutions of time.
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