Lost Connections

  Recently I had an opportunity to "slow-down" and reconnect with some friends and family who I hadn't talked with for some time.  It did my heart good to hear familiar voices and exchange pleasantries. Unfortunately these quick reconnects did little to sustain my emotional high.  I quickly realized there were aspects about my life as a whole that were out of whack and may need adjustment.

  First of all, I realized how shallow some of my conversations really were.  Did I really care about these people?  Would someone listening in get an understanding of the depth of our relationships?  Could someone tell that my calls were fueled, in part, from a sense of guilt and obligation rather than true desire to hear about that person's day, week, or month?  Although I do care about the people I talked to today, the answer to the previous question, if I am being honest, would not be entirely favorable.  My lack of genuine, deep conversations must be attributed to a few key factors which I am not proud of recognizing: 1) extreme busyness - a life lived by the clock cannot develop meaningful relationships; 2) lack of intimacy - you cannot care about someone if you don't spend sufficient time in intimate settings with them (I am not talking about romantic intimacy here, but the genuine bond that forms between people who spend a lot of time in close proximity); and 3) fear - meaningful conversations require a give-and-take between participants, there is great vulnerability in having to share with someone about things that are personal to me.

  As I pondered these connections, grateful that my friends and family accept my weaknesses and still like to hear from me, I pondered my connection with God.  This is why I write today.  I encourage each of you to ask yourself how your communication with the Heavenly Father is going today.  Are you letting busyness, a lack of intimacy, or fear disrupt your connection?  If so, let me encourage you to reconnect right now.  The Father is waiting with an open line and and open in-box just to hear from you.  Be ready to open your heart to Him, but also be ready to receive his reply.  Remember He has Good News for you share.

Happy Connecting!

Wisdom and Words from Piper

Many times I include my own reflections for this site, however I recently read a passage in John Piper's classic work on missions: Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions which stopped my in my tracks.  In the following passage, Piper elaborates on his main thesis and gave me quite a bit to think about recently.  I figured that I would do the same by passing it along to all of you.

Piper writes:  "Missions exists because worship doesn't. . . This is the ultimate problem in the world. . .

The glory of God is not honored.
The holiness of God is not reverenced.
The greatness of God is not admired.
The power of God is not praised.
The truth of God is not sought.
The wisdom of God is not esteemed.
The beauty of God is not treasured.
The goodness of God is not savored.
The faithfulness of God is not trusted.
The commandments of God are not obeyed.
The justice of God is not respected.
The wrath of God is not feared.
The grace of God is not cherished.
The presence of God is not prized [or practiced].
The person of God is not loved.

. . . That is the ultimate reason for missions.

[Missions seeks to make worshipers of people from all tongues, tribes, and nations so that God is valued.]

a valuing of God above all else that is valuable
a loving of God above all else that is lovely
a savoring of God above all else that is sweet
an admiring of God above all else that is admirable
a fearing of God above all else that is fearful
a respecting of God above all else that is respectable
a prizing of God above all else that is precious . . . .  (Piper 230-1)

Living the Dream

I recently ran into a former student of mine who was working for a well-known retail chain store. When I made the inquiry into how she was doing, she replied, "You know, I'm living the dream. . . Working here at *******." The pain and remorse, while not directly stated, was apparent upon her face. This young lady realized, perhaps too late, the opportunities she had lost. Regret was tangible at that moment. I wish I could say that I took the time to share the fact that God is the God of fresh starts and no regrets -- "a dream come true." -- sadly I failed this time and only offered a small word of condolence. I left my former student and moved on to my family heading for the car. This experience however, allowed me to see the importance of relying on God and following Him all the more. As I type this I can feel the Father forgiving me once more and urging me forward to "live the dream" He has for me. As you read this I hope you too will live out the Father's dreams for you in Christ Jesus. The following verse captures the essence of this notion. Psalm 37:4. Delight first in the LORD then the desires of your heart will be fulfilled. As God changes our hearts, His dreams for us become our dreams as well.

Eating Caterpillars

"An emptied pan of caterpillars is more convincing than all the empty metaphors of love which missionaries are prone to expend . . ." -- William D. Reyburn

I recently ran across the quote mentioned above while re-taking the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course.  It caused me to pause and shudder for a moment.  I began to think about the nature of culture and the tendency within most of us who claim to care about global evangelization, to fail to examine our own hearts and cultural bias before we engage the lost.  I had to ask myself how many times I had such a great presentation of the Gospel to share, that I failed to meet people where they were so that they could truly identify with the message.

I am not suggesting that we as Christians go into the world unprepared to share the message of Christ, that would go against Scripture where we are exhorted to "always be prepared to give an account of the hope we have in Christ Jesus," (paraphrase) but rather that in our preparation of the Gospel, we don't become so foreign to those with whom we wish to share, that it becomes an irrelevant message because the bearer of the message has become irrelevant.

As someone wiser than I once said, "Sometimes, in order to share the Gospel effectively, people need to know what you are for, rather than what you are against."  Again the idea is the same, if people can't relate to you as the messenger, they will never accept the message you bring.  If all they they see is someone who is condemning, then the message of grace, mercy, and love is lost.

The Gospel can penetrate any culture, but sometimes it does not because its messengers are unwilling to penetrate the culture and identify with it.  I am not talking about doing those things which may run contradictory to Scripture, but I am talking about following the example of Christ; it is an example of ONE who renounced and sacrificed all, to become all, that in all, HE might save all who would believe.

So may my prayer today be yours as well.  "Lord, help me eat more caterpillars!"