In the last year I have been challenged by Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline. The men of our small group went through most of it together and now Rebecca and I have begun to go through one chapter a month. It has been a rich experience to read and try to incorporate new "ways" of relating to God into my everyday life. Normally, I've always regarded Bible reading/study and prayer as the two "essentials". However, Foster's book brings to light other avenues of bringing spirituality into my daily experience.
The first discipline that Foster talks about is "meditation". Meditation is an inward focused discipline. Basically, in a Christian sense, this is letting your mind become absorbed with truth. For example, I have begun to run through verses of Scripture over and over in my mind. I do this sometimes out loud, but most often to myself. This type of meditation (meditation on Scripture) is one type of meditation, but Foster speaks of other types: meditation on creation (Psalm 19) and meditation on current events to gain perspective on what the Lord is doing in the world. Boiling it down to the most fundamental, meditation is reflecting, contemplating, and fixing my mind on something intentionally. It is letting the truth of God absorb my attention. In my mind this is the type of discipline that Paul commanded when he said, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). I highly recommend Foster's book and I this discipline in particular.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
A Pastor's Life
While reading a book for seminary I came across this paragraph...
"While there are certainly appropriate standards of faithfulness for leaders, what parishioners really want is a pastor who knows what it means to struggle against temptation and despair, like they do. They want to be led by someone who has also stayed up all night fretting over choices, regrets, and fear, but who then found the quiet grace to start over the next morning. They want to see the Gospel incarnated in a human life that is still far from complete but has become more interesting because the human drama is now sacred. In other words, they want a pastor who knows what it means to be them, but them in communion with God. Innocence is precious, but it's the glimpses of redemption that truly compel." (M. Craig Barnes "The Pastor as Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life". 53).
I think Barnes is on to something. It seems that I don't want a pastor (or other leader) who is only dictating to me how to live, but someone who I can see is applying Scripture to their lives and struggling in ways similar to me. Certainly a pastor should call people to holiness, but at the same time be authentic enough to allow others to see that he isn't there yet either. It reminds me of Philippians 3:12, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."
No Disappointments in Heaven
The Omaha World Herald had an article about the increased pain around the holidays for those who have lost loved ones. Towards the end of the article the author quotes a poem by F.M. Lehman about heaven. It is worth a read.
There's no disappointment in Heaven,
No weariness, sorrow or pain;
No hearts that are bleeding and broken.
No song with a minor refrain.
The clouds of our earthly horizon
Will never appear in the sky,
For all will be sunshine and gladness,
With never a sob nor a sigh.
We'll never pay rent for our mansion,
The taxes will never come due;
Our garments will never grow threadbare,
But always be fadeless and new.
We'll never be hungry nor thirsty,
Nor languish in poverty there,
For all the rich bounties of Heaven
His sanctified children will share.
There'll never be crepe on the door-knob,
No funeral train in the sky;
No graves on the hillside of Glory,
For there we shall never more die.
The old will be young there forever,
Transformed in a moment of time;
Immortal, we'll stand in His likeness,
The stars and the sun to outshine.
I'm bound for that beautiful city
My Lord has prepared for His own;
Where all the redeemed of all ages
Sing "Glory!" around the white throne;
Sometimes I grow homesick for Heaven,
And the glories I there shall behold:
What a joy that will be when my Saviour I see,
In that beautiful City of gold!
No Disappointments in Heaven
by F. M. Lehman
There's no disappointment in Heaven,
No weariness, sorrow or pain;
No hearts that are bleeding and broken.
No song with a minor refrain.
The clouds of our earthly horizon
Will never appear in the sky,
For all will be sunshine and gladness,
With never a sob nor a sigh.
We'll never pay rent for our mansion,
The taxes will never come due;
Our garments will never grow threadbare,
But always be fadeless and new.
We'll never be hungry nor thirsty,
Nor languish in poverty there,
For all the rich bounties of Heaven
His sanctified children will share.
There'll never be crepe on the door-knob,
No funeral train in the sky;
No graves on the hillside of Glory,
For there we shall never more die.
The old will be young there forever,
Transformed in a moment of time;
Immortal, we'll stand in His likeness,
The stars and the sun to outshine.
I'm bound for that beautiful city
My Lord has prepared for His own;
Where all the redeemed of all ages
Sing "Glory!" around the white throne;
Sometimes I grow homesick for Heaven,
And the glories I there shall behold:
What a joy that will be when my Saviour I see,
In that beautiful City of gold!
How do I connect with God?
Why is it that somedays I wake up and have a feeling or sense that God is near? On those days, I can tangibly feel His love for me. And why is it that the very next day or maybe a few weeks later I am in a spiritual funk? I can't 'feel' God's presence or sense His love at all.
I've been wrestling with these questions since I got to seminary. I've been trying to process my way through them. This semester, with the help of John Owen (and Dr. John Hannah, and my small group going through spiritual disciplines), I think I've begun to hit upon an answer. My main problem is not that God is near one day and the next day He is far away from me. My main problem is that I rely on how I am feeling at the time to dictate what I believe to be most true. Therefore, what is needed is for me to beg for help from the Holy Spirit (pray) that He will help me to focus my mind and heart on what is true (meditate) about God and about me. I need to pray that He will give me eyes of faith in order to see past my feelings to what is true. Here are a few of the truths which are helping me right now; I hope they are helpful to you.
Where is God?
God is everywhere. (Psalm 139:7-10) This means that He is by my side at all times. Therefore, He knows my problems, temptations, worries, and thoughts.
God is reigning over the universe from His throne. (Psalm 47:8; 93:1-5) Because he is everywhere present and able to judge I should thoughtfully consider my actions and thoughts with fear and trembling because he sees and judges them.
Who am I?
I am a fallen member of Adam’s race (Romans 5:12-17). Because of my fallen nature there is a rebellious part of me which desires the opposite of what God desires (Romans 7). I cannot overcome this rebellious part of me without the Holy Spirit’s help (Romans 8).
I am also one who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9-11, Titus 2:14, Ephesians 2). I have the Spirit of God living inside of me helping me to overcome the flesh and live a life pleasing to God (Romans 8).
What is my duty?
My duty is of one purpose with two complementary means for achieving it: to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love my neighbor as myself (Matt. 22:34-40). The means of accomplishing this duty are various, but the Spirit’s enablement is vital (Acts 1:8). My duty seems to be summed up in Micah 6:8, to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with my God”.
I've been wrestling with these questions since I got to seminary. I've been trying to process my way through them. This semester, with the help of John Owen (and Dr. John Hannah, and my small group going through spiritual disciplines), I think I've begun to hit upon an answer. My main problem is not that God is near one day and the next day He is far away from me. My main problem is that I rely on how I am feeling at the time to dictate what I believe to be most true. Therefore, what is needed is for me to beg for help from the Holy Spirit (pray) that He will help me to focus my mind and heart on what is true (meditate) about God and about me. I need to pray that He will give me eyes of faith in order to see past my feelings to what is true. Here are a few of the truths which are helping me right now; I hope they are helpful to you.
Where is God?
God is everywhere. (Psalm 139:7-10) This means that He is by my side at all times. Therefore, He knows my problems, temptations, worries, and thoughts.
God is reigning over the universe from His throne. (Psalm 47:8; 93:1-5) Because he is everywhere present and able to judge I should thoughtfully consider my actions and thoughts with fear and trembling because he sees and judges them.
Who am I?
I am a fallen member of Adam’s race (Romans 5:12-17). Because of my fallen nature there is a rebellious part of me which desires the opposite of what God desires (Romans 7). I cannot overcome this rebellious part of me without the Holy Spirit’s help (Romans 8).
I am also one who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9-11, Titus 2:14, Ephesians 2). I have the Spirit of God living inside of me helping me to overcome the flesh and live a life pleasing to God (Romans 8).
What is my duty?
My duty is of one purpose with two complementary means for achieving it: to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love my neighbor as myself (Matt. 22:34-40). The means of accomplishing this duty are various, but the Spirit’s enablement is vital (Acts 1:8). My duty seems to be summed up in Micah 6:8, to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with my God”.
Thoughts on major life decisions and change.
Last year at this time I was working with the youth of our church in little bitty Wayne, NE. This year I find myself finishing up my first semester at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas TEXAS!!! What a year. It amazes me to look back at all that's happened and see God's hand upon my life. He has provided everything we need and more. Finances, friends, free-time, it has been an amazing year. One thing I've learned from the whole experience is that for me God seems to just show me enough of His plan for me to go forward. I wish I knew what life would look like in a year from now, or even better 5 years from now, but that's not the way that He has worked. He always gives enough but never enough so that I can just sit back and depend on myself. He loves for me to depend on Him, in big decisions and in small, seemingly trivial decisions. My Heavenly Father wants to be intimately involved in all of my life. When I step back and look at things, I see that it really isn't about the end goal anyways, this process of life is really about me walking hand in hand with Him. My prayer for myself and for you is that you would know and walk closely with this gracious Father who wants nothing more than for you to do life with Him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)