This past weekend's retreat was simply wonderful on so many levels: perfect weather, lovely small town, comfortable accomodations, marvelous company (I love and feel loved by the brothers and sisters of my worshipping community), easy timetable, and a great speaker. The most meaningful thing for me was that the stated teaching of the retreat, "Deepening our walk with Jesus" has, indeed, helped me grow a little deeper.
The Spirit spoke through Nouhoum to convict me that a deepened walk with God comes through his word (God speaks to us) and prayer (we speak to God). As this relationship building happens two things get stronger - love for God and trust in God. However, God is not in the business of cheap love or cheap trust. These will be tested by temptation ("an invitation to sin..." - going for shallow things rather than depth in Christ) and affliction ("any condition that causes bodily suffering or mental distress" - enticement to trust in something other than Christ). The only way to deal with these is to go back to Jesus, namely, in-life response to the whole counsel of God (his word), and prayer.
True, true, true. I am overwhelmed by God's love for me.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Brink
You know that stifled terror that overpowers as you stand right at the railing just a short leap from where the Niagara River plunges over the precipice?
I am there.
I am there.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Together
"The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me." - Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 182.
It strikes me that hardly 24 hours go by without a conversation in which I speak and act defensively. When people talk to me, I don't listen so much as argue with them in my head, or ready my clever response. Goodness, even the way I'm talking right now is all about me.
Lord, let your grace flow. Help me to be present to others. Work in me, and allow me to love with the love of Christ. Grant me the grace to listen to - and hear - my brother and my sister.
It strikes me that hardly 24 hours go by without a conversation in which I speak and act defensively. When people talk to me, I don't listen so much as argue with them in my head, or ready my clever response. Goodness, even the way I'm talking right now is all about me.
Lord, let your grace flow. Help me to be present to others. Work in me, and allow me to love with the love of Christ. Grant me the grace to listen to - and hear - my brother and my sister.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Unease
It seems that I am always apologizing for something. You would think that at my stage in life, there might be some things I can do right. However, personal misadventure is the staple of my days. I find consolation in the ever-growing understanding that life and faith is a journey, not a destination. Things will never be easy. For the One who journeys with me, I am grateful.
As for my vocation, there is nothing quite so wonderful as the church. There is also nothing quite so horrible. Sometimes in the same day. The church is, after all, the people belonging to Christ - and I stress people, with all their foibles, whether they say they are part of a gathered group or not. It seems that there is an increasing number who are ashamed of and decline to identify with the gathered people. Nevertheless, they do not cease to be part of the body (cf. 1 Cor 12:14ff), but instead contribute to any observer's sense of the fractured and fragmented church. To be honest, I alternate between shame and pride over the church. Yet the church goes on and will ever go on, despite her dubious history and present struggles, because she is Christ's beloved bride. Something always reminds me of this when I get cynical about my calling.
So I move forward - ambivalent, doubtful yet certain, conflicted yet worshipful. As I said, I do not expect things to get any easier. So I pray for an ever closer walk with the One who journeys with me.
As for my vocation, there is nothing quite so wonderful as the church. There is also nothing quite so horrible. Sometimes in the same day. The church is, after all, the people belonging to Christ - and I stress people, with all their foibles, whether they say they are part of a gathered group or not. It seems that there is an increasing number who are ashamed of and decline to identify with the gathered people. Nevertheless, they do not cease to be part of the body (cf. 1 Cor 12:14ff), but instead contribute to any observer's sense of the fractured and fragmented church. To be honest, I alternate between shame and pride over the church. Yet the church goes on and will ever go on, despite her dubious history and present struggles, because she is Christ's beloved bride. Something always reminds me of this when I get cynical about my calling.
So I move forward - ambivalent, doubtful yet certain, conflicted yet worshipful. As I said, I do not expect things to get any easier. So I pray for an ever closer walk with the One who journeys with me.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Convention
I was sent by my church as a delegate to the FEBCC (Fellowship) National Convention last Monday to Thursday. This is likely the 7th or 8th I've been to in the past 20 years. But this one was different.
A national movement that convenes only once a year usually finds itself endlessly receiving reports and voting on housekeeping business. I thought I was going to doze through more of the same this year. Instead I found myself caught up in times of heartfelt worship, stirring messages from God's word, entertaining reports, and exciting business sessions that were not trivial or boring, but actually inspired hope. Hope!
10 years ago, the Fellowship membership plateaued at 500 churches from across Canada. There have been no net losses or gains for a decade. 70% of these churches are themselves plateaued or in decline. The convention business that brings hope in face of these statistics was the overwhelming endorsement of sweeping changes to the administration of the Fellowship. Boards of each of the ministry arms of the Fellowship have been eliminated. There are now directors of these ministries with each one directly accountable to the Fellowship president, who in turn is accountable to national council which is accountable to the convention. Ministry can happen much faster now with the streamlined bureaucracy. Although ministry fruit depends upon the Holy Spirit, the new structure reflects the new heartbeat of the Fellowship. We want to see change. We want renewal. We want to see churches encouraged and resourced to grow. We are hoping and praying that in 10 years, the Fellowship will see 70% of its churches healthy and growing with new believers. This year's national convention was a first step of faith in that direction.
A further very exciting development. As a Fellowship, it was felt that ministry must be a priority even during a national convention. So this year, one day was dedicated to blessing the convention host city. On Wednesday, all delegates had the opportunity to participate in an afternoon of apartment painting, garbage collection, winter coat give-away, hot chocolate give-away, or prayer in one of two high-risk neighbourhoods of the city. That evening was an open worship service at the downtown convention centre dedicated to blessing the city. National Convention will never be the same as the Fellowship commits itself to doing ministry in addition to conducting business each year.
The grace of God must be at work if a conservative, old institution like the FEBCC can embrace this kind of change. I sure am glad I made it to convention this year. Hope they send me next year!
A national movement that convenes only once a year usually finds itself endlessly receiving reports and voting on housekeeping business. I thought I was going to doze through more of the same this year. Instead I found myself caught up in times of heartfelt worship, stirring messages from God's word, entertaining reports, and exciting business sessions that were not trivial or boring, but actually inspired hope. Hope!
10 years ago, the Fellowship membership plateaued at 500 churches from across Canada. There have been no net losses or gains for a decade. 70% of these churches are themselves plateaued or in decline. The convention business that brings hope in face of these statistics was the overwhelming endorsement of sweeping changes to the administration of the Fellowship. Boards of each of the ministry arms of the Fellowship have been eliminated. There are now directors of these ministries with each one directly accountable to the Fellowship president, who in turn is accountable to national council which is accountable to the convention. Ministry can happen much faster now with the streamlined bureaucracy. Although ministry fruit depends upon the Holy Spirit, the new structure reflects the new heartbeat of the Fellowship. We want to see change. We want renewal. We want to see churches encouraged and resourced to grow. We are hoping and praying that in 10 years, the Fellowship will see 70% of its churches healthy and growing with new believers. This year's national convention was a first step of faith in that direction.
A further very exciting development. As a Fellowship, it was felt that ministry must be a priority even during a national convention. So this year, one day was dedicated to blessing the convention host city. On Wednesday, all delegates had the opportunity to participate in an afternoon of apartment painting, garbage collection, winter coat give-away, hot chocolate give-away, or prayer in one of two high-risk neighbourhoods of the city. That evening was an open worship service at the downtown convention centre dedicated to blessing the city. National Convention will never be the same as the Fellowship commits itself to doing ministry in addition to conducting business each year.
The grace of God must be at work if a conservative, old institution like the FEBCC can embrace this kind of change. I sure am glad I made it to convention this year. Hope they send me next year!
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Territory
The fallout from Eden continues. None of us are unscathed. The world is imperfect. People also.
The head knows the reasons for the decisions made and the way things have happened, but the heart... well, can you hear the cries?
Although expected, can't say I'm going to welcome the fallout. It's become personal, and it's already started...
The head knows the reasons for the decisions made and the way things have happened, but the heart... well, can you hear the cries?
Although expected, can't say I'm going to welcome the fallout. It's become personal, and it's already started...
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Situation
So Sunday School class has been exploring what it means to be a godly man..... and there's nothing like a real-life, baffling, painful, unwanted, unanticipated, and "I can't believe this is happening" situation to give legs to it.
A summary of the class so far:
- Life is not always predictable. Often it is messy and chaotic, and when it is, life’s overriding question for most men is, “What should I do?”
- A man tends to operate in the realm where he can answer that question, where his own skills and abilities are useful, but where courage to live in an unpredictable world is not required.
- But always knowing what to do goes against man’s God-given nature and calling.
- God calls a man to speak into darkness, to remember who God is and what he has revealed about life – and with that, to move into his relationships and responsibilities with the imaginative strength of Christ.
- God is telling a story, and as we see his story told through our lives, and realize we are part of that larger story, we find courage to handle the inevitable confusion of life.
- We are to move beyond the silence of Adam by abandoning ourselves to God with confidence in his goodness.
- With the freedom created by that confidence, we are to move into the uncertainties of this world with a life-giving word.
- Such movement may be accompanied by fear because we realize that there are not codes to follow. But the fear is healthy – bringing anticipation, resolve and God-given courage.
- As men move forward, they realize more deeply their need for God, and so seek him more earnestly. And when we seek him, we will find him. That’s the promise.
- Men who spend their lives finding God become elders / spiritual fathers / Christlike mentors: godly men who know what it means to trust when there is no plan to follow, when things are dark. They are men who bear God’s image, and speak into darkness after the fashion in which God speaks into darkness and chaos, bringing life and beauty.
Among the many Bible passages looked at in this class:
- The story of the Fall – when the first man, faced with temptation (and the chaos represented by the serpent) should have remembered and spoken out God’s intentions, but instead remained silent. Every man has been like this since.
- The word translated “male” in Genesis 1:27 is zakar from the Hebrew root “to remember” – man is supposed to be “the remembering one” who recalls and recounts the mighty acts and directives of God, and connects our experience to God’s story.
- There is a connection between deliberately forgetting the God of creation and the life of sin (The pattern of behaviour in the lives of each of the patriarchs in Genesis; 2 Peter 3:3,5).
Well, the class is going OK. But a very difficult situation (quite apart from the class) has developed that is just eating me up. My head is screaming out “What should I do?!?!” while my heart is trying to trust God. Something traumatic had to happen. All parties involved could see it. All parties understand it. Nevertheless, someone is hurt. Many more will be. There is no specific formula or code for how I should deal with it. But I must... Trust… Move… Speak… and live with the fallout.
