Friday, November 19, 2010

Know Your Role

In a relationship people need to know their roles.

 

In a marriage both the husband and the wife must know what being a mate means to them and what they expect it to mean to the other person.  Husbands know their role is to go to work, eat dinner, watch tv.  Wives know their role is to raise the kids, clean the house, cook the meals, mow the lawn, milk the cows, shovel snow, repair the water heater, wax the cars, and be in awe of how amazing their husband is.  Roles.

 

There are work relationships, friend relationships, relative relationships, dating relationships, family relationships, acquaintance relationships, and a myriad of other ones too.  Each of us has relational roles that need to be filled.  If your view of the relationship is as abusive and twisted as the description in the paragraph above I'm guessing you don't have many solid relationships.

 

The Psalmist gave a good summary of the God/human relationship in the 63rd Psalm and the 8th verse, "My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me."

 

I am the clinger, He is the upholder.

 

I am the needy one, He is the meeter of those needs.

 

I am the hungry one, He is the distributer of nourishment.

 

I need enough energy to hold on, He has the strength to hold me up.

 

I have a soul that is empty, He is what fills the void.

 

God and I have a pretty good understanding of our roles.  He's God - I'm not.

 

When I live like that I find there is good guidance that helps me in the other roles I have to fill.  When God is my God and I am His servant I am a better spouse, boss, employee, dad, friend, and acquaintance.

 

I'm thankful I'm learning more about my role as a follower.  Part of my role is to be thankful.  Sunday we'll talk about doing the work of a thankful person.

 

Hoping you didn't stop reading after the first paragraph and start writing me a note,

 

Pastor Dave

 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Evidence


Acts 11

22  News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.

24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

 

I read this passage of scripture and hoped that it would be true of us... of me.

 

The message of Christ is spreading to Jews and Gentiles and a "great number" have come to faith in Jesus.  But, that's not what I am praying for for this Sunday (don't misunderstand, a "great number" of people being brought to faith would be a blessing).

 

I'm thinking right now of the line in the 23rd verse, "saw the evidence of the grace of God."

 

What is that?  What does it look like?  What is the proof of God's touch?  What did Barnabas see in those people that he might not have seen in others?

 

People go south and see the evidence of a hurricane.  Hunters go to the woods and find the evidence of deer.  Investigators check out a crime scene and look for the evidence of a perpetrator.  I had an m.r.i. done so the neurologist could look for evidence of a brain (I have copies of the scans - I have one).

 

What is the evidence of the grace of God?

 

Whole relationships.

Changed patterns.

Sins vanished.

Bodies and souls healed.

Visible joy.

Passion.

Gratitude.

 

Go ahead, have some fun in your mind.  What is the evidence of the grace of God?  The point is not to live the list, it's to receive the grace so that the list is the by-product.

 

What would Barnabas see if he walked in on us?

 

Thinking,

Pastor Dave

 

Friday, November 5, 2010

The Report

They came from different backgrounds.  They came with different expectations.  They came with different levels of baggage and freedom.  They came with varied degrees of understanding of who Jesus is.  They came to the same river.

 

Some of them watched the flow from a safe distance.  They limited their exposure and refused the risk of being wet.  They enjoyed the thoughts of getting in the water but they remained far from its current.

 

Others stood in the same shallow spot they have always stood.  They even applauded themselves because they stood in the river and encouraged others to share in their mediocrity.

 

Others went deeper with the predetermined knowledge of drying off as soon as possible.  They temporarily splashed and floated in the waters, but they knew that they remained land lovers and had no intention of swimming long enough to let the water make them whole.

 

Others pretended.  They wore what blends, said what fits, and did what is in line with the average.

 

But, there were those for whom watching was not enough, wading was not acceptable, splashing was not real, and pretending was distasteful.  There were those who saw the current and longed to be caught up in it.  They were thirsty enough to let moments be gigantic as they took new steps.  They allowed the very molecules of the water to find places on their souls that had remained hidden and barricaded.  They let, and welcomed, even longed for, a cleansing that would empower them to know new levels of intimacy and wholeness.

 

They are the ones this report is about Lord.  For they are the ones who found cleansing that changed them according to Your will, they are the ones that received something to take back to their homes, they are the ones that found the value You have given them, they are the ones that allowed You into their relationships, they are the ones that have something new to take back.

 

It is an honor for me to report to You that Your Spirit brought strength where weakness had kept them stagnant.  Your grace taught them to see themselves through the lens of Your Son not the lens of their world.  Your power broke reefs that had held them captive in less than You had reserved for them.

 

I am sure as a result of this new activity we all are going to be busy with celebration as You continue to work through them.

 

Submitted in Worship

Galmila, Angel Over Women's Retreats.

 

This weekend around twenty women from our church will meet with about 400 other women for the Deeper Life Retreat.  May they never be the same and may we all experience renewal and revival as they do.

 

They came from different backgrounds.  They came with different expectations.  They came with different levels of baggage and freedom.  They came with varied degrees of understanding of who Jesus is.  They came to the same river.

 

Ezekiel 47:9 "...so where the river flows everything will live."

 

Revival Ready,

Pastor Dave