crossing borders: the 72

In Luke 10.1-2, Jesus appoints 72 people and sends them out two by two ahead of him.  They are to go to every town and place to pray and prepare the way.  Jesus says to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

If we are to be effective in the 97% of our waking hours not spent in church or church-sponsored environments, we will be like the 72 - normal, everyday believers (not apostles or professionals!) who pray and see ourselves as sent into the world - homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces - for the sake of mission.

Between now and Sunday we ask you to pray and invite God to bring to mind people who need to know Christ in four areas: Family, Work Associates, Friends and Neighbors.  Pray not only that they will be drawn near to God, but that God will send workers - ourselves and others - to help them come to new life in Christ.  As the 72 brochure puts it, "Just as Jesus sent the 72 into their own mission field, we are called to build relationships, invite [others] to participate in kingdom experiences and tell them the story of Jesus.  The fields are indeed ripe for harvest."

We will make lists for ourselves as reminders for prayer in the coming year, and duplicates of those lists will be placed in an offering basket and taken to the Central Conference Annual Meeting (next week) and the denominational Annual Meeting (in June), where they will be prayed over as well.
Join with me as we together live dangerously by praying and participating in God's mission to bring people into relationship with him.

proximity, continued...

The thing that keeps us, as human beings, from enjoying true proximity to God, is our sin.  The old bridge diagram is true.  There is a chasm between us and God and no amount of bridge-building on our part is going to get us to the other side.  We can't do enough good works, we can't earn enough credit to buy or build our way across to God.  It's like that scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  It will take a leap of faith.

The difference between the leap of faith Harrison Ford takes in the film and the one we take when we draw near to God is that more of our leap depends on God's faithfulness than on our ability to muster up enough courage and faith to jump.  We do need to take the step or leap of faith, but when we do we need not worry about falling to the bottom of the cavern.  There is no risk of life or limb for us today.  The real risk is remaining far from God; the real danger is in staying on our side of the chasm, refusing to take the leap.

After we come to faith, sin is still an issue.  Christ has dealt with our sin, but it can still wreak havoc with our lives and relationships with God.  We need not fear loss of our salvation or that God will take back his forgiveness and grace when we sin.  That is not who God is.  But make no mistake, our sin and disobedience still have the power to hinder our fellowship with God.  A pastor I once knew described it as a strand of thread wrapped around our shoulders.  One time around (one sin) and it's not so difficult to break the thread, is it?  We break that thread by confessing our sin to God, who graciously forgives us and renews the relationship.  However, if we go ten, twenty a hundred times without confessing our sin, the twine wrapped around our shoulders becomes more and more difficult to break, doesn't it?  At some point, it will be practically impossible, at least without help from someone else with a good, sharp knife.

That's the way sin continues to hinder our relationship with God, to make us feel distant from him.  It wraps around us and binds us; it holds us captive, until we find the courage and grace and humility to ask for help that the binding power of sin can be broken in our lives.

As we continue to celebrate this Easter season and Christ's victory over death and sin and hell, I pray you find the courage and humility necessary to see your sins for what they are, confess them to God and ask for his forgiveness.  We were designed and intended for proximity to God.  May nothing keep you from true fellowship with him!

Divine Power

As I was sitting in my office trying to muster up the energy to write a blog post for this week, Pastor Stacey walked in and asked a question for me to ponder: “How is God’s power made perfect in weakness?” That is, how does that tangibly look in a person’s life? I thought this was a great question so I did the one thing that I always do when I am faced with a difficult question that I don’t know the answer.

I Googled it.

Over 3.3 million hits later I realized...there are too many websites out there. Too many websites and too few answers. Lots of opinions on what our weaknesses are, what they could be, what God’s strengths are, why we focus on weakness, etc, etc, etc. So I decided to do the next thing that I always do when I am faced with a difficult question that I don’t know the answer.

I Bibled it.

And then realized that maybe it’s time for some re-definition. What is “power” when looked at from a Divine perspective? There is a precedent for this “divine re-definition”. Peter states that God is not slow to keep his promises as we would understand slowness (1 Peter 3:9). A thousand years is like a day to Him, and a day a thousand years. His perspective is better than our perspective.

Which led me to this...

“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them, ‘Take nothing for the journey - no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.” (Luke 9:1-6)

If the disciples were making a list of their own weaknesses, what would they put down? They were not given a staff. They had no bag to hold any possessions, which was ok since they had no bread, no money, and no extra clothing. They were sent to places where people would not accept them, and they didn’t know where they would lay their head down to sleep on any given night.

Yet Jesus gave them power.

Divine power is not power as we would understand power. Divine power has an eternal perspective. The disciples received power to proclaim the kingdom of God and the good news to all who would listen. Despite their “light and momentary troubles” (again, a divine perspective), they had all the power that they needed. God had gone before them to provide for their needs and make up for their short comings and weaknesses so divine power could shine through them.

As Paul will write in Philippians: “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:12-13)

Divine power is manifest as a testimony, as God brings us through our weakness, even in the midst of our weakness.

Divine power is made real when we help give counsel to the one who is carrying our similar weakness and we help them work through it.

Divine power comes on us when we provide a meal, or a bed, or a roof for the one who is lacking.

Divine power comes to life on the mouth of the ones who declare that Jesus is Lord to those who have not heard and have not seen.

Yet divine power is not completed on this side of life, because that type of power is only found in a new heaven and a new earth, when all our weaknesses are wiped away and there are no more tears. Until then, we trust that God’s grace is sufficient and that our weakness is made perfect in His power.

So let us boast all the more gladly about our weaknesses so that kingdom of God can be advanced for His glory.