Recently I was reading the cover story in Christianity Today entitled, "Still the Way, the Truth and the Life". It talked about how if we want to know how God acts in the world, we are to look to Jesus who was God in the flesh. He showed us the way of God's love and mission in the world. He came not only to tell us about God, but to show us how to live. "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1 John 4:7-8)
The article says, "Jesus Christ is the living embodiment of God's gracious character as the One who loves. This love is not an abstract notion or a set of feelings, but is rather characterized by the action of God in the person of Jesus Christ".
My personal challenge is to continually look to the life of Jesus so I know how to live. Sometimes Christians miss this important aspect. Yes, Jesus came to die for our sins, but He also came to show us how to live; otherwise if He only came to atone for sin, why wasn't he crucified as an infant? If the only purpose of the Lamb of God was to be the ultimate sacrifice, why live for 33 years on the earth? Did you ever think about that? I believe it was because we needed to know what love looks like as it relates to God, others, creation and ourselves.
This is why I am so excited about our vision at Bellwood, "Know, Go and Show The Way" because it all centers on becoming more like Jesus Christ.
A polarity is a pair of truths that are interdependent. Neither truth stands alone. They complement each other. Congregations often find themselves in power struggles over the two poles of a polarity. Both sides believe strongly that they are right. People on each side assume that if they are right, their opponents must be wrong—classic "either/or" thinking. Either we are right or they are right—and we know we are right!
A church's goal is to manage the "Tradition and Innovation" polarity well in the twenty-first century. (click on image to see larger)
The Upside of Tradition A congregation that enjoys the upside of Tradition: feels familiar, comfortable, and soothing; honors the richness of the past; is rooted in its successes; is time tested, safe, recognizable, and predictable.
The Upside of Innovation A congregation that enjoys the upside of Innovation: brings new energy with new perspectives; responds to present realities and future possibilities; struggles to relate past tradition to present realities; sees diversity, change, and risk as signs of congregational heath.
The Downside of Tradition The downside of Tradition causes some to feel bored and stagnant; is being out of touch with the present and future; gives rise to false security in a changing world; leads to missed opportunities.
The Downside of Innovation The downside of Innovation can create conflict and chaos; forsakes tradition in attempts to be more relevant; threatens those who love tradition; feels unsafe to some as it is unrecognizable and unpredictable.
One of the hardest things to do as a pastor is not preaching, but living your sermons. As we conclude Advent Conspiracy, this last theme was "Love All".
I had a few instances during the week where this was tested. For example, as I was dropping Hallie off at school on Friday, I was cut off and blocked in by someone who was more in a hurry than I was. At that moment I sure didn't feel like loving all but I caught myself and chuckled as I thought about the message.
The best way to see what loving all looks like is to look at the life of Jesus. How he interacted with people – many of questionable character - (greedy people, deceptive, self-righteous, hateful, demonized, bigoted, some living together and having sex, some prostitutes, etc). Jesus was moved with compassion and loved them - all. An example of this is found in John 4. This is the story of the woman at the well. It was quite scandalous for Jesus to associate with her for several reasons, but deep down He wanted to express to her how much she was loved by her heavenly Father - even though she had a lurid past.
She was a precious creation of God who had unsurpassable worth. In fact, within a few short years, Jesus would give his own life for this priceless jewel... And He has done the same for each of us as well as the rest of the world. The 2 great commands are: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving our neighbors as self is part of what it means to love God. We are to never separate our love for God from our love toward others… “It’s impossible to ascribe ultimate worth to God while refusing to ascribe worth worth to those whom God ascribes worth by dying for them". John 3:16
It has been good to hear some people say that they have really been challenged this year with Advent Conspiracy. To be able to stop and ask, "Do I really need to buy this item?" is a good thing.
The story in Luke 12:16-21 is really very sad, but I believe it shows what happens when we focus more on riches than relationships. Jesus gave an illustration: "A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. So he said, `I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store everything. And I'll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!' "But God said to him, `You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."
I would assume this man had no one because he celebrates his accomplishment of building bigger and better with only himself. There is no one else around to enjoy his success. God calls him a fool for investing more effort in possessions than people. Do you think anyone even attended his funeral?
Have you been a fool this year with buying alot of stuff? We oftentimes believe that "stuff" will bring us (or our loved ones) the security to "take it easy, eat, drink and be merry", but it's only a matter of time before we are restless, discontent, hungry, thirsty and dissatified again. “God’s answer to the world’s problems has never been material things.” He didn’t give us more stuff. He gave us Himself. This is relational giving. Yes, it cost God ALOT, but not in monetary terms. God gave in the utmost way - setting aside His glory and becoming a human being.
Reject the assumption that the more expensive the gift or quantity, the greater the love. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends and family. This involves being creative this year with your gift giving. Make that phone call. Send that card. Spend less money, but give more presence.
I About 2 years ago I wrote a song for the newly commissioned pastors at Hesston College. It's really for all pastors. It's called, "The Pastor's Song". Great shot of Tammy, Spencer & Hallie looking on.
The Worship Team singing the Bellwood theme song - "The Way"
It was a blessing to have so many celebrate with us from Milford, Hesston and Kidron.
Dave Greiser was my mentor and is a big baseball fan - so I got him an autographed baseball that said "Thanks for coaching me - signed, Dave Miller". I think he liked it.
Special thanks to Jan Beckler for taking all of these great shots and using her S.H.A.P.E.
What a service on Sunday! My family and I were overwhelmed (in a good way) with all of the well-wishes and blessings from everyone. It truly was a celebration of God's goodness, grace and faithfulness. I was especially encouraged by Dave Greiser's sermon on "Leading with Guts". The one thing that struck me was the importance of leaders to produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Here is what the Bible says in Galatians 5:22 - 23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." This caused me to pause and reflect.
This is a hard list. The ones that really stand out are that I know I am not always loving - and certainly not always patient. I am not saying that I have the other ones down perfectly either but it made me realize that the ONLY possible way to produce this type of character is by yielding to the Holy Spirit. It's God's Spirit that does the work of making us loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled. And all of these together look like Jesus Christ.
This list is not just for pastors. It is for every person who has surrendered his or her life to God. All followers are expected to bear this kind of fruit. We certainly have a great opportunity to exemplify these things during this Christmas season, but we can only do it by allowing the Spirit to lead us.
We spend billions of dollars each year hoping that the latest and greatest gift will fulfill us and those we give gifts to. We race around trying to find that perfect gift to express our love because we crave to be loved in return. We shop til we drop so we can finally rest and then we sit in church disconnected from the real story because we’ve become so consumed with materialism that we've drifted too far away from the manger. We find ourselves in the cycle of "You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.”
When Jesus was born, the Bible says that the Magi came to worship him. One way they did this was by bringing Him expensive gifts, but this was not setting a precedent that we should be buying expensive gifts for one another. The Magi did this because it was customary to do so for a king. In fact there were no gifts exchanged. Only three gifts were given directly to Jesus. Except maybe the Magi did receive a gift - the best gift - Jesus as Savior of the world.
We have grown so accustomed to Jesus’ birth narrative, that we have lost sight of the power of the moment. Worship is at the core of Jesus' birth. It’s at the heart of the story and it is something that we must recapture for our contemporary congregations. Does the way we spend our time, money and energy during this season testify that we worship God incarnate, Immanuel or some other god?
We become what we worship. We are all worshippers. Even people who don’t believe in God are still worshippers. It’s been said you can often find out who or what a person worships by taking a look inside their checkbook …or their home. What they spend their money on — or who — is a good indication of what the priorities in their life really are. If we fail to worship God, we always find a substitute even if it ends up being ourselves. This is also a significant issue for the church’s witness in the world.
It is impossible for the church to live prophetically in a consumer culture while simultaneously mimicking that culture’s godlessness. The Old Testament is full of reminders that the followers of God will lose their way if they bow to the gods of the nations around them. “It is therefore imperative to our spiritual formation and the witness of the church that we reclaim the story of advent and learn to celebrate in a way that is consistent with the incarnation of Jesus”. The church’s voice is weakened when we speak of the Lord who came into the world with nothing yet we have hands full of material wealth, bank accounts depleted, and loads of debt.
If we can learn to fully Worship Jesus our King (God), then all other Kingdoms (gods) will fade away. If you were the Magi and you had the opportunity to worship the king, what would you bring? What do you think Jesus would want from you? What will you do to fully worship Jesus? Let’s take our worship of Jesus seriously and begin to desire the same things that move his heart. Let our worship drive us from the enclosure of church walls out into the painful places that cry for God’s liberation.
I recently heard a pastor friend preach on Luke 23:32-43. This is the story of Jesus being crucified along with the two criminals. Verse 35 says, "And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
Can you imagine how Jesus must have felt when he was hanging on the cross and the leaders were making fun of him? They were questioning his very identity as the Messiah. Jesus, who lived a perfect, sinless life, and did nothing to deserve this was not only submitting to God's will, but was asking God TO FORGIVE THEM! Put yourself in Jesus' shoes. What would your response be?
I can tell you that mine would probably not be one of submission and forgiveness. My tendency would be to lash out and defend myself. And in doing so, I would fall into the trap of inadvertently ridiculing and judging the other person. I have never had anyone mock or ridicule me like they did Jesus, but there have been people in my like that have said things that are mean and hurtful. What has been my response?
As my pastor friend was preaching, I realized that not only did I need to ask God to forgive these people that have said mean and hurtful things - but I am in need of forgiveness since my response hasn't always been Christ-like. And because Jesus showed his love by asking the Father to forgive, I can press on in my journey with the help of the Holy Spirit and have this same attitude toward others.
The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love.
So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists.
And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?
What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?
My family and I love to camp. There is something about leaving the confines and comfort of your permanent residence and connecting with nature for a few days. We can always find an adventure when we camp - whether it's going on a bike ride or hiking on a trail. We are away from the hustle and bustle of life in the city and feel closer to God and His creation.I think camping is close to God's heart. In fact, we learn from the Bible that camping is godly. In Exodus 33, God camped out with His people, the Israelites after they left the confines of Egypt for 40 years. Moses would pitch a tent called the "tent of meeting" or "tabernacle" and God would come down to speak with him face to face. This typified God dwelling in their midst. God would "come down" to camp out in their neighborhood.
Jesus did the same thing. Look at John 1:1-4. "In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being." Now, check out what verse 14 says."The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us". The Amplified version says, "And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled among us." This means He pitched his tent of flesh and lived awhile among us. The Message says, "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood".
How cool is that? God, in the flesh, came down to camp out with humans for 33 1/2 years. But here is the kicker - we are expected to do the same with others. Because He has chosen to dwell within us, we can give others our presence. We are to camp with others. We are to incarnate and tabernacle in our neighborhoods. May God continue to give us His Spirit to do His will.
