In Spirit and Truth

“Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these [truths of the Gospel], even though you already know them , and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right…to stir you up by way of reminder,” – 2 Peter1:12-13 I find this time of year, that it is easy to quickly rehearse the Christmas story and, because I have heard it so many times, gloss over it, and not give it the attention it deserves. I know the story well. I could quote it to you without thinking. 2+2=4! Virgin Mary + Baby Jesus = Christmas Story! Shepherds x Wiseman = rocking party + (cool gifts) 3 . It’s formulaic. Here just days away from Christmas, I need my heart stirred up by way of reminder. I need to be reminded that the God of the ages, who is too awesome to be contained by the heavens, put on flesh and lived the human life for thirty-three years. I need to be reminded that God submitted not only to a human life, but submitted to nine months in the womb; submitted to being

Well, my Christmas lights are up. And it’s a big deal, even if the display is a little puny. You see, this is the first year I have ever put up Christmas lights. It is the first year I have ever put up a tree. For many years growing up I helped decorate the tree. Some nights I would even plug in the lights so that, by my action, the world could see our wonderful decorations. But this year is different. If I did not put up the tree, there would be no tree. If I did not put up the lights there would be no lights. The weight of responsibility for Christmas Spirit at my house lies squarely on my shoulders! Here we are, approaching the third week of Advent. We have been brought here by the traditions and liturgies of years gone by. We have participated in their cry “Come, Lord Jesus.” We have lit the candles that have been provided. But this year it is time for us to adopt the cry, “Come, Lord Jesus,” for ourselves. This is the Advent that we make it our own. Not simply participati

#211 in our United Methodist Hymnal has, for some time, been my favorite song. The haunting melody bears the familiar pain of the exile, and yet this song about deep desire and current pain is filled with hope. Not just any hope, but hope of deliverance. It is the hope for the return of God. Emmanuel had been here before. Adam and Eve walked with Him in the cool of the day. But those days are long forgotten. The years of rebellion had pushed them so far away that all they had left was an ache to be remembered. O come, O come Emmanuel! Can you identify with this song? Christ came and brought about our redemption. He walked with us in the cool of the day. But years of rebellion have pushed our world to the edge of evil. Listen to the echoes of wars and conflict. Those wars happen between countries, but they also happen between family members, they happen between friends. A thousand shattered relationships make us cry out, “O come! O come, Emmanuel!” We are exiled, caught betwee

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching! I don’t think I’m alone when I say that the thanksgiving meal is my favorite of the year; closely followed by post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches. This is the time of the year where we are able to reflect on the blessings God has given us. This last weekend, my fiancée, Kristin and I went walking through antique stores and I saw a cheesy little sign that said, “Don’t count your blessings, share them.” Now at first glance that little truism seems trite and a bit cliché. But the more I have thought about that, especially in the light of the coming holiday, the more it has struck me as essential. In Genesis 12:2 God tells Abram, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (RSV) We see here that one of the primary purposes for God’s blessing to Abram was that he would in turn be a blessing from God to the nations. We as the children of Abraham have that same duty. In fact,

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Matt 28:18-20 Paul called us ministers of reconciliation. Jesus called us his body, the physical representation of his ongoing presence in our present age. Anyway you look at it, we are people with a mission. And just like Jim Phelps of “IMF” it is a mission that we can accept, or deny. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to make disciples of all nations. To teach them everything Jesus commanded. Lest we quickly return to the law, let us remember what it was that Jesus commanded of us. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Unconditional love is a light to a lustful world. Unco

NIV Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. When God proclaims his name to Moses, Moses does what any of us would do in that situation, he hit the deck! Never before had the world known this kind of God. All of their gods had to be appeased, lest they become angry and send a plague. All of their gods had to be given regular gifts, lest they forget the people who worshiped them. All the gods they knew were capricious and selfish. But Yahweh came in with a completely different personality than anyone expected. Compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness! This description of God is used nine times in the NIV from Exodus to Nahum. The people forgot God, and yet, He remained faithful to them, he was slow to anger. As the Psalmist said, “If you, O

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1 NKJV This verse has been a bad penny for me lately. It’s popped up everywhere! It’s such a simple phrase. It’s so simple that we have relegated it to children’s songs. But John didn’t write it to children, he wrote it to grownups like you and me! Behold! What a bold word to use. “Look here!” , “Take a peek” , “ Catch a glimpse” , “PAY ATTENTION!” Behold the way God loves us! We wretched (yes, even you), poor sin-slaves, accepted, adopted, children of God. It’s the most amazing rags-to-riches story yet! And better yet, we are children of God! Not just accepted family, not co-workers, not held to account as adults at all, but children. I have a story in my past, and perhaps you have a similar one. I was unloading the dishwasher, and I dropped a piece of china, and it did what china does when it hits the floor…It shattered! My mother did not berate me for being so careless with

Have you ever been stressed? Ever been a little anxious? Me too. The things that weigh us down can be as small as trying to make something fit into our schedules, to as big as the health of a loved one. But no matter what things weigh us down; God has a better way to handle our stress. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (NAS Philippians 4:6) Now I’ve heard this verse a million times, and I would guess that you’ve heard it too, but there is something in here that I think we often miss. “…by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” How well does our God know us? If you are like me, we find it easy to worry even in our prayers. Even as we approach the Prince of Peace we are so overcome by anxiety that we end up pleading with God to meet our needs; but our anxiety, stress and worry are unnecessary! Just a few verses later, Paul tells the Philippians, “ An

“…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.” NIV Philippians 4:8 We are bombarded everyday with images of war, terror, death, corruption, natural disasters, famine, disease, and that’s just the six o’clock news! All day long, despair attempts to break in to our thought life. Yet, as Christ’s emissaries we are to be a light of hope in this world. How can we radiate hope when everything around us is oppressed by hopelessness? We start by choosing carefully what thoughts we give place to. Paul has provided a filter that, if we use, will feed the hope within us. This week’s homework, consciously apply the “thought filter” from Philippians 4:8 to each thought that enters your mind, and choose to dwell on those thoughts which fit the list, while dismissing the others. Then sit back and watch how you increasingly become the light of Christ

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Phil 2:5-11 This is perhaps my favorite passage of scripture! It is said that Paul is quoting one of the hymns that the early church sang. What a reminder this is that worship is not about the songs we sing, but about the attitudes of our hearts. Paul reminds the people of Philipi, “Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus.” This puts a completely different

“When they arrived at the place where God had told Abraham to go, he built an altar and placed the wood on it. Then he tied Isaac up and laid him on the altar over the wood.” NLT Genesis 22:9 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” NIV Romans 12:1-2 In these days of Prozac, Tivo, and Microwave ovens, sacrifice is not a word we like to use. Convenience is the mantra of our culture, and it is one that is easy for us to adopt. But scripture is full of encouragements for us to “take up our cross”, “beat our bodies into submission,” and “to offer [our] bodies as living sacrifices.” It is easy for us in America to forget – Christianity is not easy or

It’s time for a brief review. The definition of Worship according to the Timabridged Putnam Dictionary is: (v.) Extolling the character and acts of God in thought, word, and deed. I have been focusing on the first half of this definition for some time, and for good reason. Worship must first be for who God is and not what he does. If we were to neglect God’s character as the basis of our worship, then worship would be based on our experience. When we felt God’s presence we would worship, but when times got hard, we would turn a cold shoulder. God is worthy of our worship based on His identity alone. God’s characteristics merit our praise even if he never directly intervened in our lives. Having built this foundation, I want to move on to the second half of our definition of worship – extolling God’s acts! “Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and m

Psalm 92:1-2 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.” As I write this, I sit five hundred feet below the surface of “The Caprock” in Texas. I am at One Way Elementary Camp in Ceta Canyon, just a few miles from the Palo Duro Canyon State Park. It is still dark outside, but in just a few minutes the sun will rise; and when it does the canyon walls will explode with vibrant color. In my heart I join with the psalmist and the hymn writer, “Early in the morning my song shall rise to thee!” Those that know me well, know that generally I am not a morning person; but this week is different. Every day this week I will be up before daybreak. Every year this week helps me understand why the psalmist and the hymn writer use the morning to praise. First, God’s hand is evident. There is a magical quality to the morning. The sun peeks over the horizon, the flowers unfold

Psalm 147:11 “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 149:4 “For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.” You have probably heard the words, “God loves you,” a few hundred times. But did you know that God likes you?! Not only does He like you, but He delights in you! I know, I know…I took me a while to believe too! But God really enjoys being around you! If we could wrap our minds around this amazing truth, being a disciple of Jesus would be so much easier! It is hard to find the time to pray, or spend time in the scriptures, or fast, or…well you get the picture. It becomes even harder when we think that we are approaching a God with His arms crossed, foot tapping, and eyes glaring, because He knows how long it’s been since we were last with Him. But this is not the picture that Scripture gives us of God! Romans 8:15 tells us that we were freed from fear, and released into being chosen by

Vacations, movies & other forms of entertainment, work, soccer games & dance recitals, TV shows, etc. – we are a busy lot! 25 hours a day 8 days a week, we are moving, cramming as many things into our days as possible. No time is this more true than the summer! In these times of busyness it is easy to neglect an important gift that God has given us: rest. Rest is important to God, so much so that he modeled it for us in the first story in the Bible! And on the seventh day He rested. But rest is very often a misunderstood concept. Rest is not the same thing as sleeping. Rest is not “vegging out.” Believe it or not, rest actually takes effort! Everything in our culture sets itself against rest. We have things to do for the times when we aren’t doing anything! Movies, TV, Music, Video Games, and countless other distractions offer us an escape from silence, but it is often in the silence that God meets with us. I am not suggesting that movies, TV, etc are bad. I myself am a m

Two weeks ago I talked to you about reclaiming a “healthy sense of wonder.” This week we have an excellent opportunity to practice as we gather together to take communion. If you grew up in the church, it is very likely that the act of communion has become commonplace. It is very easy to treat this as just another thing we “do” in church. But, friends, this is far more than just something we do! This is our opportunity to commune with God. As we physically consume the bread, we have the opportunity to spiritually be consumed by God’s presence. We grew up in a culture that related the word “real” to mean physical or natural, but by doing so we have shortchanged the spiritual world. Jesus told the crowds in Capernaum, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” (John 6:55-57) Just a

Do you remember as a child, staring at a blade of grass? Or pulling out a magnifying glass and focusing the beams of the sun onto a piece of paper? Were you filled with glee with the sight of a ladybug walking along your hand? Almost without exception, we as toddlers were filled with wonder and curiosity about the world in which we were placed. What happened? For me, it was television, though the message comes from many other sources as well. You know the message I’m talking about. From Scooby-Doo to Abbott and Costello to just about a million other sources, we have heard the words, “I’m sure there is a logical explanation for all of this!” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against logic. One of my college philosophy professors told me that “Logic is very useful for snowing your friends.” And we know that God is a God of Logic. We see God work in process, setting things in order. And we, being made in God’s image, appreciate order. But just as “video killed the radio star,” so too our ins

We have often heard the metaphor of “the Body of Christ,” and it provides us an excellent picture with how we should behave toward one another and toward the world. Just as a healthy body cannot be at war with itself, so we as Christians must honor one another as fellow members of the Body. And just as Christ reached out to the poor and helpless, the lost and broken, so we as his Body must continue to do the same. When it comes to worship, however, there is a better analogy. Scripture talks about the church being the “Bride of Christ.” (Isa. 62:5 / 2 Cor. 11:2 / Rev18-22) What a picture this brings! We are the betrothed of God! For those of you who are married, think back to you engagement period. For those of you who aren’t, imagine it. Do you remember the sheer joy at being in the same room together? Do you remember how everything else was laid aside in order to have more time together? Troubles didn’t seem quite as big. And it seemed like everything was going to work out just ri

Ah, that icon of the elementary school lunch room! The Nutrition Pyramid. Its vibrant colors and cartoonish images of food daily reminded us that we needed a little of everything – fruits, vegetables, meats, cereals, dairy, & sweets. It’s funny that what came on the trays in the lunchroom rarely resembled the proportions that the pyramid preached. In worship there is also a balanced diet. (For the purposes of this article when I speak of worship, I am referring to music; however, these types apply to all forms.) There is worship that drives us, worship that forms us, worship that moves us, and worship that comforts us. You will never hear me willing speak of “traditional” and “contemporary” worship, because all worship is both traditional and contemporary! If we sing an 800 year old song, it is contemporary worship, because we are currently singing it. If we sing a song written 8 minutes ago, it is traditional worship, because we are joining in with centuries of worshippers who

Worship - 1 : to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power 2 : to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion intransitive senses : to perform or take part in worship or an act of worship. That is what Merriam Webster says, but allow me to give you my personal definition of worship. Worship is “extolling the characteristics and the acts of God in thought, word, and deed.” It is magnifying WHO God is and WHAT God does, by what we think, say, and do. In other words, worship as singing is only part of the equation. We give worship to God by being men and women of integrity in our places of work. We give worship to God by serving those around us – providing food for the hungry, clothing for the naked, shelter for wanderer, etc. God is praised even in the small things, as when a cup of cold water is given in his name. He is praised when we acknowledge Him as the reason for our serving. Yet even in our singing, worship is not so much about the music we

O Love divine, what has thou done! The immortal God hath died for me! The Father's coeternal Son bore all my sins upon the tree. Th' immortal God for me hath died: My Lord, my Love, is crucified! – Charles Wesley We live in a culture that is obsessed with happiness and general good vibes. We have a great set-up! Generally movies, television, radio, fast food, etc. cater to our desire for a happy life. But if they don’t, and someone slips through the cracks, we have Prozac! The Christian life, however, asks something very different of us. It asks us to remember the cross. It asks us to consider the crucified Christ. So for the 40 days of Lent, we abstain from something close to us so that we may become closer to him. Lent is a time of somber remembrance; both of the heaviness of our sins, and the weight of God’s “search and rescue” mission. It seems odd that we would voluntarily subject ourselves to this “downer.” But the truth of the matter is, it is through this introsp

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:5-6 Allow me to paraphrase. “But he was impaled because of our sin; he was crushed because of our propensity to sin; he was punished in our place, and because of his punishment, we are given peace; and we are emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally healed by his wounds. Every one of us decided to follow our own crookedness, and God placed on him the crookedness of us all.” This Sunday we are having a healing service. It is a time when we can freely acknowledge our weakness before the Almighty who put on weakness for us; it is a time when we can place our fears, worries, aches, pains, sins, emotional wounds, and diseases into the hands of the one whose hands were pierced for us

Don’t forget! It seems this theme is repeated to the children of God over and over throughout scripture. It could be because we forget so easily. Like a ribbon on our spiritual fingers, the church seasons help us remember. Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, etc. – These are seasons set up to help us remember and integrate what God has done in history with what God does for us now. So this year, let’s use our time wisely as we prepare ourselves for the coming season. Around Thanksgiving, my favorite comic strip is “Foxtrot.” If you have ever seen the strip, the author dedicates almost two weeks showing how the family gets ready. The father and son eat as much as possible to “stretch their stomachs” because they know that Thanksgiving is coming, and they must be ready. They refuse to treat it like any other meal. It requires “training!” We are coming up to a Christian season of thanksgiving. Just like the Thanksgiving meal is far superior to a normal dinner, so the “meals” we