365: Isaiah 10, 11 and 12 (Day 211)

A new branch will grow from the stump of a tree. (Isaiah 11:1 - NCV)

In the 1995 movie A Walk in the Clouds, Keanu Reeves stars as orphan turned WWII hero Paul Sutton, trying to reintegrate his life upon returning stateside. He meets and falls in love with a young woman of means, Victoria Aragón whose family owns a vineyard and winery in the Napa Valley. As an orphan, Reeves’s character is drawn to the strong family ties demonstrated by the Aragóns, but he is squarely rejected as not good enough for his daughter by Victoria’s domineering father. During an argument between the two, the older man throws a lantern, igniting the tinder dry grape vines, engulfing the vineyard in flames. The family’s financial future seemingly goes up in smoke along with Paul’s desire for belonging.

Then Paul realizes the parent vine (the vine brought from Europe to Mexico and finally to California), though burned, was set off a short ways from the main vineyard. Taking a knife, he cuts into the root to discover that the heart of the vine has been untouched by the fire. Though it will take time and hard work, the family’s fortunes are restored, and Paul is welcomed into the family.

Many will recognize Isaiah 11:1 as prophesying the birth of Christ. The phrase stump of Jesse (NIV, NRSV KJV) indicates the Christ will come from the line of King David, but David’s line has been all but destroyed, like the parent vine from the Aragón vineyard. However, no matter how dead things may look, there is life under the surface.

How many times, in crying for God’s deliverance, have we despaired as the axe fells our tree of hope? Isaiah’s lesson to us today is that even when it seems too late, that we’ve been abandoned, that the tree is dead, God may just be up to something. Even if it seems the time for deliverance has passed you by, hold on in hope. As sure as God lives, there is new growth waiting to sprout from the root of your life.

I am about to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert! (Isaiah 43:19 - NIV)

Mid-Week Snicker

A turtle is mugged by two snails. When asked by the police to describe his assailants, he replies: I don't know; it all happened so fast.

The Release of the Spirit • 4 (How to Know Man)

You can follow this series backwards by going to Chapter Three here.

Watchman Nee devotes Chapter Four to the subject of spiritual discernment (seeing a person’s real need). (38) He warns against the tendency to prescribe treatment without first adequately diagnosing the problem. (39)

Nee explains that, lacking diagnostic instruments, we are used by God as a sort of spiritual thermometer. Whereas a physician may be able to cure a patient from a disease he also shares, such is not the case for the spiritual healer. We must experience the cure before treating the disease. (41)

He underscores the importance for us to be broken in order to allow God’s Spirit inside us to connect with the person to whom we are ministering. If we remain unbroken, there is no way for us to effectively engage another individual or diagnose his spiritual problem. (42) Utilizing God’s Spirit, we then can discern the person’s prominent feature. Does he exhibit a hardened spirit, a prideful spirit, a sorrowful spirit or an unforgiving spirit? When an individual’s outer person is unbroken, it dominates the inner person. In such a person, the outer person (soul) must be dealt with in order to impact the inner person (spirit). (43)

Nee warns that one should not mistake this instruction about touching the spirit of another as implying that any person can discern another’s spiritual condition in totality. (44) He then goes on to say something which I find a little confusing at this stage of my understanding of Nee’s thesis. He writes: Our spirit is released according to the degree of our brokenness. (44) He speaks of degrees of brokenness in that some are more broken than others. When I think of a glass vase, it is either broken or it is not. I have been trying to discern if Nee’s brokenness language describes the crisis experience of entire sanctification. Using that language (while completely understanding that the process of growing in practical holiness is ongoing both prior to and following that crisis experience) one is either entirely sanctified or one is not; one has either offered oneself as a living sacrifice or one has not; and one is either broken or one is not. This may involve limitations imposed by carrying an analogy too far, or perhaps this will become clearer in future chapters.

One possible explanation is that brokenness comes in stages, or should we say affects the whole by progressing from one area to another. For instance, the area of pride: Is it possible that a person could be broken with regard to pride, but not broken with regard to some other character trait?

So, after four chapters, how do you understand Nee’s brokenness language? Is this another way of speaking of sanctification? Or is this, in the words of Monty Python, something completely different?

Blog Shout - Steven Furtick

I didn't share a blog shout last Friday because I was pumped about seeing The Dark Knight. So, on Anything Goes Monday I want to take a breath and point you to Steven Furtick.

Here's Steven's basic message, but I've included the link to allow you to see the original.

Steven writes:

1. The bad news about valleys is that you will go through them.
   
2. The good news about valleys is that you will go through them.

The Dark Knight

I took my youngest son Will (turning 13 on August 5th) to see The Dark Knight. Don't worry; I'm not going to spoil the film for you. First off, it was a great movie, and we had a great time...

But... we saw the movie in a little podunk theatre, and let's just say the quality of the presentation was... flawed.

First, after sitting through an eternity of PowerPoint ads, just as the previews were coming up, the lamp in the projector blew. After the movie was already about 10 minutes late, the manager came in and informed us we would have to move to another theatre.

After a herd of people ambled across the mall to settle into a new theatre, she came back in to say it was a lengthy process to unload the old projector and then load the new one, and that it would be another 15 minutes at least before the movie would start. She offered us all free popcorn if we were staying, but also told us we could have our money back if we wanted.

I know a couple people left, but not many. Finally after the rush job of unloading/loading, the previews started and then the movie, 40 minutes late. Maybe due to the rush, I'm not sure, the movie wasn't quite in focus. It was mainly noticeable with titles on the screen (especially at the end with the credits), but the picture just wasn't as sharp as it should have been. And the sound wasn't right. That was the worst part. It sounded like the characters were speaking from another room, or maybe had their heads in barrels. As long as dialog was full volume, I could understand it, but if individuals were talking in hushed tones, or if there was music playing, fogeddaboudit!

Still (and this is the part I find captivating), of those of us who stayed (probably about 98% of the audience), not a single person complained. The movie was that good!

And by the way, Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker made my skin crawl. He was most definitely the star of this movie. With many others I'm predicting a posthumous Oscar. And believe me, when I speak, Hollyood listens. Wink, wink.

365: Proverbs 28, 29, 30 and 31 (Day 201)

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. (Proverbs 31:8)

Why is it so easy to stand by and do nothing? Is it apathy? …cowardice? …assuming that someone else will do something? The primary example of this is Kitty Genovese, the 28-year old New York woman who was stabbed to death right outside her apartment building in 1964. Her extended attack lasted over 30 minutes, but neighbors (by popular report up to 38 of them knew something bad was going on) huddled indoors and did nothing. Ten years later, a woman was beaten to death in an adjacent building while again, the neighbors heard her screams, but did nothing to help. [1]

Those are extreme cases, and it’s easy to read about them and assure ourselves we would behave differently. Yet Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan informs us that this is not just a 20th/21st century phenomenon. It’s part of who we are as human beings. In every city, there are those who are poor, oppressed and in need, who have no voice to speak up for themselves.

Who will speak up for the poor? Who will speak up for the oppressed? Who will speak up for the fearful? Who will speak up for the abused? Who will speak up for the indebted? Who will speak up for the hungry? Who will speak up for the addicted? Who will speak up for the enslaved? Who will speak up for the children?

The only thing needed for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing. – Edmund Burke.

For whom should you be speaking up? If you ask the Holy Spirit about this, someone WILL come to your mind. Try it.

[1] Rorschach of the 1985 graphic novel Watchmen (to be released as a motion picture in March of 2009) is a regular guy, motivated to don a costume (another Masked Avenger candidate?) and fight crime, by Ms. Genoveses's murder.

NOTE: Does anyone besides me wonder when comic books became graphic novels?

From Everlasting to Everlasting

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2 NIV)

Janelle and I have fallen in love with Cook Forest all over again. I've posted some pictures here and there, but wanted to share even more. The fern explosion was taken by Janelle.

The following two pictures were also taken by Janelle. The first reminds me of God. Some of these trees were sapplings when William Penn claimed this ground. They were already old by the time of the Revolution, and even older by the Civil War. Walking these trails feels like stepping back in time to primordial forests, untouched by humanity. Seriously, a dinosaur would seem to fit better than we do. And yet the three hundred years some of these White Pines have been around (or 400 for some of the Hemlocks), are just a blink of the eye to God.

This stairway is obviously a more recent addition, but even it seems old. One of the marks of western Pennsylvania forests are the abundance of sandstone. Once in a while we are lucky enough to see an old farmhouse made completely of sandstone blocks.

Besides hemlocks and white pines, Cook Forest is also known for its old growth hardwoods. It has some of the only virgin stands of deciduous trees left in the United States.

This is the area I call Rocky Top, near an old fire tower. These rocks just invite me to forget I'm not a kid anymore, and go play.

This has been our getaway place from our beautiful home in rural western Pennsylvania, the place where I grew up. Thank you, God, for allowing me to reconnect with these ancient paths and forests and rocks.

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his rightousness with their children's children. (Psalm 103:17)

The Release of the Spirit • 3 (Recognizing the Thing in Hand)

Follow the hyperlink to Chapter Two.

Nee begins Chapter Three by defining a concept he calls the thing in hand as anything which hinders us in our walk with God. (30) He writes that with the outward person unbroken, we will find ourselves consumed with so many things—most of them probably good things—that our hands will not be free to do that to which God is calling us. (30) It seems clear to me that now, more than at any other time in history, our enemy craftily fills our hands with the urgent responsibilities of busyness, to keep us from engaging the eternal work of the kingdom.

Further hindrance is caused when our spiritual hands are full because our inner person can only engage others by means of our outer person. When the outer person is entangled with extraneous things, the inner person is not free to connect. (33)

Nee contrasts the unsaved individual in whom the inner person is totally dominated by the outer person, with the Christian in whom God is working to reverse that situation. (34) It is only in breaking the outer person that an individual becomes fit for kingdom work. As long as we remain unbroken, God will continue utilizing life’s trials and heartaches to break us. (35) As long as we fail to recognize the hand of God working to break our outer person for our good and the good of the church, we will blame other for those very things God would use to make us fully functional in the kingdom. (36)

Nee writes, All that comes to us is ordered by God. (36) It may just be a matter of semantics, but I would word this a little differently. I do not believe that everything foisted upon us in life is God’s will, however, I would agree that once a bad thing happens to us, God’s desire is to use it for our good (Romans 8:28).

There is an immutable law of God’s working in us: His specific purpose is breaking us and releasing our spirit for free exercise. Nee says that no amount of pleading in prayer will change this fact. It’s the way it is, and the sooner we come to grips with it and cooperate with the process, the happier we will be. (36)

What do you see in your own hands or in the hands of others that is infringing upon kingdom priorities?

Summer Reading

This is what I've been reading this summer (and back into the spring as well). I've read a couple novels, but I really don't read much fiction.

Let me recommend a few titles:

The Bait of Satan by John Bevere - This is an excellent teaching on how to not live in offense. We cannot do anything about the things people say and do to us, but we can choose how to respond.

The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge - Actually, anything by Eldredge is good. They're the kind of books that leave me feeling like I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

What's So Great About Christianity? by Dinesh D'Souza - D'Souza delivers a great apologetic for the Christian faith, especially in contrast to the arguments of modern atheism.

The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren - This may be a virtually unknown book by a virtually unknown author, but it's a wonderful 40-day primer in a life devoted to God's purposes. Okay, I jest. Actually I think I was the last person in America to read it, but it came out while I was in school, and I didn't have much time for reading anything but textbooks for about five years.

They Smell Like Sheep by Lynn Anderson - Anderson teaches how the CEO model for church leadership falls short to the time-tested analogy of the pastor (and elders, too) as shepherd. He explains this model is birthed in relationship, living with the sheep to the point where we come away smelling like them. We all know the biblical account that says the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, and the sheep recognize and follow the voice of the shepherd.

Reflecting God by Wes Tracy et al - Tracy's work is a wonderful treatment of the Wesleyan understanding of holiness and sanctification. It is readable and inspiring, and carries the same cover art as the Reflecting God Study Bible geared to Wesleyans.

Building a Contagious Church by Mark Mittelberg - Mittelberg is Minister of Evangelism at Willow Creek with Bill Hybels, and does a wonderful job of teaching how every church can become an evangelistically contagious congregation. This is a wonderful companion volume to the earlier Becoming a Contagious Christian.

The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee - I've actually read this twice this year, and this volume will become one of my foundational texts, that I will read and re-read over the years. The greatest lesson I've learned from this book is to let God work and not fight it. If we cooperate with God's efforts to break the outer person (the soul), the inner person (the spirit) will be free to engage fully with God.

365 – Proverbs 16, 17 and 18 (Day 197)

Proverbs 18:17 (NCV) reads: The person who tells one side of a story seems right, until someone else comes and asks questions.

Have you ever heard the headlines on CNN and then turned the channel to FOX? It’s amazing how a news report can sound so reasonable, and yet be given a completely different slant by someone else. And if you’re surfing in the other direction, the illustration works just as well going from FOX to CNN.

The same is true of any testimony. The writer of Proverbs states that the first one to tell the story has the advantage. Even though someone else coming along with a different version of the story may be credible, it’s difficult to overcome that first imprinted idea.

Yes, cross examination is a wonderful thing. If the prosecution offered a witness in a court case, and the defense was not allowed to cross examine, the defendant’s goose would be cooked. On the other hand, if the defense was able to tell its story, and the prosecution was not allowed to produce any witnesses, no crime would ever even go to trial.

There are basically three levels of belief: dogma, doctrine and opinion. As Christians we would say that someone who doesn’t agree with our dogma cannot be a Christian. Someone who does not agree with our doctrine might fit better in another denomination. Someone with another opinion just isn’t as insightful as me. Unfortunately, one person’s opinion may be another person’s dogma, or may threaten another person’s dogma. The more dogmas a person holds, the more difficult it is to engage them in dialog. Everything becomes a tirade.

Dogma comes from one side, holding the reins of power, imprinting on one side of the story and never looking back. The problem is, once something is reduced to the level of dogma, discussion is unnecessary, or even threatening. Anyone with a dissenting opinion is labeled a heretic. Whatever happened to: In essentials UNITY; in non-essentials LIBERTY; in all things CHARITY?

I thank God my professors in college and seminary taught me to look at both sides of a question. We had to be able to state the argument from the conservative (or traditional) side as well as the liberal (or critical) side, and then clearly state our own opinion giving evidence to back it up. Among other things, this taught me that someone might have really good reasons for his opinion, even if I don't personally agree, and just because someone sees something differently from me doesn't mean he's a monster on the fast track to hell.

Does anyone have a story about being blown up by a dogma bomb? On the other hand, are there things you’re defending as dogmas that really aren’t?

Chuck Made Me Laugh

Here's a little something from my friend Chuck Shyblosky. I'm actually trying to find out if he still goes by Chuck, or if he now prefers Charles. Chuck/Charles was a young man in a suburban Nashville church I served as Worship Pastor in the early 90s. It was quite apparent then that he had a lot on the ball and that he was serious about his faith. Is that awesome, or what?

Check out this bit of hi-tech information/education from his blog: Media Ministry Matters.

The Release of the Spirit • 2 (Before and After Brokenness)

In Chapter One, Watchman Nee introduced the idea that the outer person (soul) must be broken to allow the inner person (spirit) to fully engage Christ. In Chapter Two he informs us, The breaking of the outward [person] is the basic experience of all who serve God. This must be accomplished before He can use us in an effectual way. (19) While temporary successes may be achieved through the flesh (synonymous with the soul—as opposed to the spirit—in Nee’s context), sooner or later one must confess that only the Spirit can evoke real life change in us or those around us. (20)

We may reach out to God through our thoughts or emotions, but when we stop concentrating, or when emotion subsides, God’s presence is lost. God is spirit, and only spirit communes with spirit. The remedy is the breaking of the outward person. Nee cites the life of Brother Lawrence, a 17th century Carmelite Monastery kitchen worker who, because his outer person was broken, communed with God as well in the clatter of the kitchen as in his prayer closet. (25)

With the soul unbroken, we may feel it necessary to get away from other people and the distractions of daily living to commune with God. The problem is not the people or the distractions, but unbrokenness. (25f.) Rather than having to reconnect with God after every digression, we too can experience God’s presence both in running an errand and in private devotion, (26) changing a flat tire or singing a song of praise.

Nee utilizes the designators single or dual person. If the outer person is unbroken, the spirit and soul are entangled (single) so that both must be aimed either at daily tasks or communion with God. Once the two are separated (dual) by the breaking of the outer person, the soul can be engaged in work while the spirit is fully engaged in Christ. (28)

Only in the last paragraph of the chapter does Nee make it clear he is speaking about a two-fold work of God: the breaking of the outward [person] and the dividing of spirit and soul. (29) For the second he sites Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit… This thought on dividing the outer person from the inner person is developed further in Chapter Seven.

Can you share examples of your breakthrough from limited success through the flesh to effecting real life change through the Spirit? Have you experienced the untangling of spirit and soul allowing for unbroken communion with God? Share with us.

I Wish I’d Said That • 4

I had accumulated more quotes than I realized, so even though it’s only been two weeks, here’s another I Wish I’d Said That.

• Often we judge ourselves by our intentions and everyone else by their actions. - John Bevere in The Bait of Satan

• We can do anything, but we can't do everything. - John Maxwell in The Success Journey

• You've never locked eyes with anyone who doesn't matter to the Father. - Bill Hybels as quoted by Mark Mittelberg in Building a Contagious Church

• I've got vision and the rest of the world wears bi-focals. - Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

• It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are - even if we tell it only to ourselves - because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing. - Frederick Buechner in Telling Secrets

• Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. - Henry Ford as quoted by John Maxwell in The Success Journey

• We do not honor our founders by blindly perpetuating in a changing world what they once did . . . we honor them by doing for our time and culture what they did for theirs. - George Hunter in Church for the Unchurched as quoted by Mark Mittelberg in Building a Contagious Church

• Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. - John Adams as quoted by Dinesh D'Souza in What's So Great About Christianity?

365: Psalms 124, 125, 126 and 127 (Day 186)

What if the Lord had not been on our side? (Psalm 124:1)

What a powerful thought! How many times have I asked God (at least in my subconscious), Where were you when I needed you? It's easy to assume that if things don't go the way we want, then God must have abandoned us, or at least taken the afternoon off.

The truth is we only see what happened, not what could have happened. There's no telling how often when things seemed bad, that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as how bad things could have been. What would we have suffered if God had not been on our side?

And to take it a step further, we don't even see everything that did happen – we just see what we can see with our physical eyes. We have no idea what transpired behind the scenes in the spiritual realm on our behalf.

The next time you wonder why God didn't show up, ask What if the Lord had not been on my side?

What Did He Say?

I found this earlier this week on Ben Witherington's blog. It cracked me up. Enjoy!

The Release of the Spirit • 1 (The Importance of Brokenness)

(Apparently the title has been changed in this update. The new title is more descriptive of the book's themes, so I applaud the change.)

Last week we introduced the person of Watchman Nee (born Nee Shu-Tsu), who planted over 700 churches in rural China before being imprisoned for his faith, by the new Chinese Communist government in 1952. For twenty years, Nee remained in prison until his death at age 69.

Chapter one introduces the idea that the outer person (soul) must be broken to allow the inner person (spirit) to fully engage Christ. Nee reminds us of the ongoing struggle between the inner person and the outer person, between the spirit and the flesh. This conflict can only be answered by one thing: the soul’s brokenness. (9f.)

Nee is writing to believers. His question is not whether there is life within, but how to release that life. He uses the illustration of the kernel of wheat that falls to the ground. Through natural processes of temperature and humidity, the shell cracks allowing new life to emerge. That life could never escape with the shell unbroken. (11)

In writing about the alabaster jar of perfume, Nee notes that we are mistaken to treasure the jar above the contents. We are not antique collectors; we are not vase admirers; we are those who desire to smell only the fragrance of the ointment. (12) The container must be broken for the fragrance to emerge. In valuing the jar above the perfume, we too easily miss God’s purpose in the hurts and traumas of life. He is aiming at a single objective: the destroying or breaking of the outward [person]. (13)

This breaking process takes time, usually years. We cannot hurry the process, but we can drag it out unnecessarily by fighting against, rather than cooperating with, what God is doing. (14) Two reasons we might resist being broken: 1) we may not recognize the breaking process as a necessary work of God in our lives; (15) and/or 2) self-love – our natural inclination toward self preservation. (16)

Like Jacob, who struggled with God his entire life, and only as an old man revealed the character of God, we are encouraged to allow God to break us completely, that God himself may shine forth from our inner person. (17f.)

How does Watchman Nee’s writing set with you so far? Have you experienced this breaking process? And, if you have, can you give examples of how, in ignorance, we often fight against what God is doing?

Weekend Report

What a great weekend!

Friday (the 4th of July for those of you who weren't paying attention), we spent the day at home, cooked some cheddarwursts and dogs on the grill, Janelle did our hamburgers inside (is she trying to tell me something?) and cooked bunches of other good stuff to go with our MEAT. Ben was off for the day (Can you believe that Whitehall Camp & Conference Center actually had youth camp come in for registration that day? Here's the kicker. The camp management worked so the summer staff kids could have the holiday with their families! Way to model servanthood. I know Ben appreciated the gift.) That evening we had some friends drop by, hung out on the front porch, and it was a blessed day.

Saturday, we headed for Kennywood in Pittsburgh. Janelle's Sweet Adeline's chorus was singing, so she got a total of five free admissions. Ben took the day off, and one of his friends joined Janelle, Ben, Will and me for a fun-filled thrill ride of a day. Okay, in the interest of being completely truthful, the only thing I rode was a picnic bench, but it was one of the most exciting and perilous picnic benches ever! I also dodged some harmful UV rays! Only about 50 of the 70 girls in the chorus (Sounds of Pittsburgh - current #1 chorus in the region!) showed up, but they were awesome as always.

Sunday, Janelle and I got on the road at 7 a.m. and drove to Portage, PA to fill in for my pastor friend Don Jeffers, who was traveling to Indiana to retrieve his wife. She was caring for her daughter and daughter's family while one of the kids underwent open heart surgery. Anyway, I was glad I could help so he could be away. I shared what I think is a very creative narrative teaching about Hagar (Abram and Sarai's servant, not the Viking). The folks were very gracious and we were very well received.

It was a packed weekend, but completely fulfilling. Wow, did I sleep good last night!

Friday Blog Shout: Perry Noble

I want to go ahead and post my Friday Blog Shout so I can reserve tomorrow (the 4th of July) to be with my family. As I've said recently, I cannot navigate to PerryNoble.com. I get the RSS feed every day, but cannot go to the actual blog. Is anyone else having similar troubles? I don't know if the problem is my computer or his website.

So, here's his post from a few days ago verbatim:

Several weeks ago I shared the following story at NewSpring Church…but I just can’t seem to get it out of my head.

Last month I was in Oklahoma to record my

One Prayer message at LifeChurch…and on the way back to the airport the crew I was with decided to stop at Mi Mi’s cafe for some grub. While walking towards the front door I noticed an elderly gentlemen walking across the other end of the parking lot…and it was literally a struggle for him to take a step. He wasn’t “normal” I guess you could say. And so…when he went to step up on the curb he fell flat on his face.

He tried to get up…but he couldn’t. And so finally he just began to hit the ground and say out loud over and over again, “God #$%& it, God @#$% it!” (For those wondering…yes, he took the Lord’s name in vein [sic]!

At this point I ran over to him…but before I finish the story I want to include…He didn’t need a lecture about using dirty words - He had fallen, he was hurt. Would I have been right if I had told him not to use those words? Yes, heck, I even have verses to back that up…but it wasn’t about being right. If I had lectured him I would have missed meeting his greatest need.

He didn’t need to be studied - Seriously, he didn’t need me getting the group I was with for a discussion as to whether or not he was predestined to fall…or whether he had fallen because of the choices he had made.

He didn’t need to be put into a program - The biggest need for this guy was NOT to be enrolled in a

“How to walk effectively across the parking lot class.”

He didn’t need to be ignored - I could have just acted as if he wasn’t there; after all, there were lots of people in the restaurant already…and if it would have gotten too many people in it then everyone would have not been able to know everyone. It IS about who knows who–isn’t it?

He didn’t need me to try and establish a relationship with him - An invitation to “hang out” at my house in order to establish community would have done this guy no good.

What he needed was for me to put out my hand and help him up…which is what I did. At first he tried to tell me he was ok…but he and I both knew the opposite was true. I helped the guy to his feet and he thanked me over and over. I tried to help him inside the restaurant…but he told me he could make it from there.

I walked inside and dismissed myself from the crew I was with. I went to the restroom and about lost it. The Lord spoke to my heart and showed me that people in this world who are lost are just like that old man…but unfortunately the church wants to lecture people like that…or get into groups to study them…or ignore them…or whatever else…

BUT what these people need is for the church to extend a hand and help them–for that is when we will have our greatest opportunity to point out the fact that they need Jesus. Jesus said in

Matthew 20:28 that He didn’t come to be served but to serve…and that should be our passion as well…serve others into the kingdom.

That little episode in Oklahoma messed me up! People all around us have fallen…they need our help…the church is more equipped to help than ANYONE or ANYTHING in the world. The question is will we be willing to step up and extend a helping hand?

365: Psalms 101, 102, 103 and 104 (Day 180)

In Psalm 101:5 (NCV) the psalmist writes: If anyone secretly says things against his neighbor, I will stop him.

The book of Proverbs does not have kind words for gossips. They betray confidences (11:13), drive a wedge between friends (16:28), and provide the fuel that prolongs misunderstandings and quarrels (26:20). Every single one of us has been hurt by people talking about us, when they should have talked to us. But if we were honest, we’d also have to admit that we’ve all said things we shouldn’t, often about people who weren’t there to defend themselves.

The first step to vanquishing gossip is to keep our mouths shut. Our mothers were right: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

But what should we do when a gossip tries to engage us in a conversation about someone? That can be an awkward and even embarrassing situation. We don’t want to be rude, so it seems the easiest thing is to listen, and then look for an opportunity to excuse ourselves from the conversation as soon as possible. Somehow we think if we don’t pass the information on, we aren’t guilty of gossiping.

The problem is it takes two to gossip: one to speak, and another to listen. We all know there are things a Christian shouldn’t say, but there are also things a Christian shouldn’t listen to.

The tried and true technique of excusing ourselves after an awkward silence just won’t cut it. That’s much more passive than the psalmist’s assertive approach portrayed in Psalm 105. The writer apparently has determined that it’s not enough to not speak; it’s not even enough to not listen. He takes it to the next level: I will stop him.

But how? Well, what if someone tried to gossip, but no one would participate? Let me suggest a simple plan to end gossip:

1. Outgoing: If you can't say something nice . . . You know the rest.


2. Incoming: When someone says something they shouldn’t say, and you shouldn’t listen to, try active non-participation. Here’s an example. Say, Excuse me, Bill’s my friend, and that’s not something I want to hear. (Or, I don’t know Bill, but that’s not something I want to hear.) I suggest you not talk to anyone else about this, but if it’s something you feel strongly about, you should probably go talk to Bill, just between the two of you. Of course, there’s always the ever popular option of responding with Plan B: Hey, I’ll be talking to Bill later today and I’ll be telling him everything you said about him.*

I’d be surprised if you ever need to have that conversation with someone more than once. Of course it won’t stop them from talking about you.

Remember, the key is active non-participation. Easier said than done, I know, but anything less and you’re really guilty of gossip yourself.

* Note: The above-mentioned responses should only be used if the person being gossiped about is named Bill. If the person’s name is Janet, it would be inappropriate and frankly silly to defend Bill.

Do you have any suggestions about how to stop someone from gossiping?

Cook Forest

I remember taking day trips to Cook Forest as a kid with my parents. The Clarion River runs right through the middle of it, and it's a family favorite for canoeing, hiking, and picnicking. Cook Forest also has some of the only virgin deciduous forests in North America. Wow, that sounds nerdy!

Anyway, last Saturday Janelle, Will and I enjoyed a leisurely 3-mile hike to the old fire tower and back. It's fun to share things with my kids that my dad shared with me.

Could This Be the New Masked Evangel?

Nahh!

We have a new entrant in the Masked Avenger category. (Okay, the movie is now two years old, but my family has about worn out the DVD... and my kids never rewind!)

Listen to the plot from IMDb - Berated all his life by those around him, a monk follows his dream and dons a mask to moonlight as a luchador (Mexican wrestler).

What started with the Scarlet Pimpernel, and evolved to Zorro and Batman has now come full circle to Ignacio of Nacho Libre fame. Life is funny, isn’t it?

Who’s your favorite masked avenger?

The Release of the Spirit • Introduction

Watchman Nee (born Nee Shu-Tsu) was a Chinese Christian who ministered in the first half of the 20th century. Although his grandfather was a Christian minister, Nee became a Christian through the influence of a female evangelist (Dora Yu) in 1920, at the age of 17. Although he had no formal pastoral or theological training (he was self-taught through studying the Bible and reading over 3,000 books), Watchman began ministering in 1922. For 30 years he planted churches in rural China and pastored in Shanghai. A few years after the Chinese Communist takeover (Communists came to power in 1950 after 23 years of civil war), he was imprisoned for his faith, but not before he had planted 700 churches with a total attendance of over 700,000. He remained behind bars twenty years until his death in 1972.

The Release of the Spirit is a short book – ten chapters in only 94 pages. We will be looking at one chapter per week, and these posts will generally come on Tuesdays. I have an old edition printed in 1965 by Sure Foundation. If you have a newer copy, our page numbers might not always agree. Just keep in mind that as long as we’re in the same chapter, it shouldn’t be too hard to synchronize our reading.

Watchman sees humans in three parts, what he calls the Inner Person, the Outer Person and the Outermost Person. We would call these the spirit, the soul, and the body. [1] It is his conviction that God wants to live in a person’s spirit but that, until the soul (outer person) is broken and submits to the spirit (inner person) it hinders us from fully engaging Christ. It is the natural state of the soul to force its will on the spirit, but only in serving and submitting will the soul find its greatest joy.

Read chapter one for next week.

Have you experienced your outer person (soul) in conflict with your inner person (spirit)? Is the battle resolved? What happened?

[1] While Watchman Nee uses the terms inner man, outward man, and outermost man, I believe for today’s audience, replacing the term man with person clarifies and is congruent with his intended thought.