Coffee

Today is National Coffee Day! This significant calendar day has only been around a few years but I am anticipating that it will someday be a nationally recognized holiday. You can get a medium coffee at Dunkin' Donuts for 50 cents today and there is free coffee at 7-11 till 11am. I must admit that making coffee is one of my first thoughts and actions every morning - I actually look forward to it. My Mom was always the first to rise and I would wake up each morning to the great smell of coffee and breakfast. There were only a couple of occasions when My Mom failed to get up. On one of those days I came into her room to see what was going on - she informed me that she was unable to get up because we were out of coffee! She sent me out with a few quarters to get her a cup!

So - what really gets me up in the morning - what should be foremost on my mind and heart as I prepare to enter a new day? Ephesians 2:10  says "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works ..." When I rise there should be a fresh shout of praise within my heart that I am His, that I am in Him, that He is reigning and at work, that He goes before me, and that my day is infused with value and purpose. That is what should get me up.

"Holy, Holy, Holy!

Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning

our song shall rise to Thee!

grace

My dad passed away yesterday afternoon. One of his favorite subjects was grace about which he talked frequently. Yet ... my dad, like many of us, seemed to resist grace's full experience. I am thankful that today he is enjoying its fullest measure but grace is for us today  - completely.

Ephesians 1:6 declares "... to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely

bestowed on us in the Beloved."

We embrace His grace for salvation but often try to diminish its power in living. His grace - all of it - is poured out on us today! We diminish its tangible impact by embracing condemnation (which Romans tells us has no place in the life of the believer), by saying that we can only experience it in heaven (2 Cor. 8:9 says we can know His grace fully now), or by believing the lie that we "get" more grace as we get "more right" with God. Truth is, grace is greater and better than we have ever imagined. It is abundant, always present, given not in increments but poured on us always and completely, and it is "freely" given - never added to by what we do right or lessened by what we don't do. There is nothing else like it! Today God has fitted and made you to reflect the praise of the glory of His grace - enjoy His gift - share His gift.

disorder

Last week I missed two appointments - I completely forgot about them. The first time I am under my car trying to line up a new alternator and my cell phone rings - "Chris, where are you?" The second time, a day later, my cell phone rings while I am shopping at Safeway - "Hi Pastor Chris, where are you?" I mess up many things but I never miss appointments! So I began to ask myself - "Chris, where are you?"

I have a few personal indicators when something is not right in my life - a messy car, a trashed closet, an unbalanced checkbook, and now - missed appointments. They usually show that I am running through my day rather than walking with Him in my day... that I am being pressed through my responsibilities rather than being led into my responsibilities ... that I am "scrambling to make a play" rather than listening to Jesus "call the plays". (note the appropriate football metaphor)

This struggle happens frequently - these sabbath patterns that I seek and speak about slip away all too often. My response - as it was last week - is to "catch up", bring order, pull it together, get ahead of the game.... When things piled up on Jesus and life pressed in - He got away, He "did" less, He stopped! (Mark 6:31-32) It is the opposite of what I tend to do. It should be noted that He did not stop and become inactive but He stops and it results in better activity, intentional ministry, working that flows from a place of quietness.

So, missed appointments are not a cause for panic but a call to Jesus, a call that we should hear each day.

God

Last Sunday we began our study of the nature and character of God. Even thinking that we can categorize Him and study Him like a subject just doesn't seem to sit well with me. We are called to "know Him" so our study has a good rational, but it is important that we see this as a small step, a pressing towards Him as we wait for His revelation of Himself through the Spirit. The Lord reveals Himself both propositionally - information/truth about Himself - as well as personally - a revelation of Himself and a call to relationship. He does both. As we saw last week, not only does God reveal - He also conceals. We cannot know everything about God nor can we ever say we know Him to the fullest depths of relationship. We continually grow both in our knowledge of Him as well as our awareness of  "how unsearchable" He is. (Rom. 11:33)

In Acts 17, Paul describes the Lord as one that "does not live in temples built by hands" - He is wholly other than us. Yet, Paul also describes Him as "he is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being." I love this aspect of God... that I can experience His very real presence and grow in knowing Him and yet at the same time He is transcendent - unconfined - unhindered - absolutely free. We can never plumb the "depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God." And what should be our response? The same as Paul's in Romans 11:36 - "To Him be the glory forever! Amen"

Cling to the Crucified

Cling To The Crucified

1. Cling to the Mighty One, Cling in thy grief
Cling to the Holy One, He gives relief
Cling to the Gracious One, Cling in thy pain
Cling to the Faithful One, He will sustain

Chorus: Cling to the crucified, Jesus the Lamb who died
Cling to the crucified, Jesus the King
Cling to the crucified, Jesus the Lamb who died
Cling to the crucified, Jesus the King

2. Cling to the Living One, Cling in thy woe
Cling to the Loving One, Through all below
Cling to the Pardoning One, He speaketh peace
Cling to the Healing One, Anguish will cease

3. Cling to the Bleeding One, Cling to His side
Cling to the Rising One, In Him abide
Cling to the Coming One, Hope shall arise
Cling to the Reigning One, Joy lights thine eyes

 

© 2007 Kevin Twit Music (ASCAP).
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Words - anonymous from Bonar's "Lyra Consolationis"

sing!

One of the blessings of being on sabbatical this summer was the opportunity to visit a number of churches here and in Phoenix. It was good to be able to join them in worship, be taught in the Word and have an increased contact with the extended body of Christ. My biggest surprise was that many churches don't sing well! I am not referring to the quality of their music or voices - most of the churches had great worship teams, a good selection of songs and I'm sure most people had much better singing voices than I. The problem was that I couldn't hear people singing. In some cases there were not many people so they may have felt uncomfortable putting their voice out there. In other places the buildings were so large and the sound was just absorbed so if people were singing, I couldn't hear them. In other congregations - people just didn't sing.

Colossians 3:14-17 creates a direct connection between, the love of Christ, love for one another, the peace of Christ, the Word of Christ, the work of Christ though our activity and ..... singing. When we sing out - particularly as a gathered congregation - our gathering is transformed, our hearts are enlivened and readied for serving, and the imparting of the Word is accomplished on a deeper level. There have been many occasions when I arrive at church and just don't feel like singing, or the songs just don't seem to appeal to me; but when I choose to join in, raise my voice and participate -  a transformation happens, the gates of my soul are opened to the Spirit, the readiness of my heart to participate in the Word is shifted and my engagement with other believers is put into motion as we join voices.

I love singing at the Vineyard. Perhaps its the small building that causes the sound to bounce and bang off the walls filling the space with sound. Perhaps its that we are all packed in so tightly that our voices really seem like one, or perhaps it is that we just like to sing. Either way - it transforms our hearts, it pulls us together, it realigns our attentions and it exalts Jesus.

So - SING!

Lessons

So I am back to my office following a three month sabbatical. Part of the purpose of the time was to study the sabbath, work, ministry, and family rhythms of the early Puritans and then bring some of those insights into my day. It seemed a reasonable goal - figure out how it all works and then make it work! Did I learn things? yes. Did I put some of it into practice? yes. Is it all figured out and working? no.  I do have some random insights at this point...

* There is no such thing as a routine day! To even think such a thing exists would mean that everything is in my control - it would remove God from the equation. Granted, most days are comprised of a number of very similar elements and they can seem routine because they are always present but they get juggled around, relationships are always shifting, there are frequent unexpected problems, joys and opportunities. I discovered that planning and structure are important but only because they give a platform for constantly making adjustments. I thought that with the removal of all the time and energy of full time ministry removed for three months it would be easy to establish routines of sabbath rest in my day and week - not so.
* I discovered that "distractions" are not the enemy of sabbath rhythms rather they are daily opportunities to press closer to Jesus. In reading the Gospels, Jesus was often trying to get away alone but the crowds would find Him out - it says that He often could not even find time to eat. Yet, His life was still marked by regular patterns of work-ministry-rest.
* Insights follow study and experience. Of course we all know this but it is an on-going process - the insights get deeper over time but it does take time.
* I think the goal of sabbath is not achieving but depending. It is not something I accomplish but an ongoing longing for more of Him. The Lord said He allowed the Israelites to hunger so that they would learn that man does not live on bread alone but on the words of God. He wanted them to look to Him, to depend on Him - this was far more important than getting it right.
* Ultimately sabbath is not learned ... it is practiced... over and over and over. Here is the heart of it - it is moment by moment and a perpetual activity of the heart. Just orienting ourselves in that direction again and again is transformative and brings our minds and activity and hearts in line with the truth that we are already at rest in the finished work of Christ.

So how do we see these rhythms work out with full schedules, kids, flat tires, money problems, work stress.....? It begins and continues by having a longing for Him, a heart bent on receiving His gift of rest - in that turning and longing He begins to shape our days.