Stand up and stand out

I read this morning from Seth Godin's blog;

"But now more than ever, I believe we have an obligation to stand up, stand out and to do work that matters. Wherever you are, there's an opportunity to be different, with respect."

He wrote those words on September 11 under a blog title, "It's different here." He was talking about New York; the good things about a city where over 40 languages are overheard in the public library, where every kind of food is found and can be cooked any way, where the city is constantly changing, constantly active and constantly vibrant.

I like that.

It led me to consider how, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are different and in ways that really make a difference for good. I was in Panera Bread last night, getting dinner before meeting up with a friend and the servers had misplaced my order. They were so apologetic that I stopped to wonder just how often they are spoken to less then graciously when food is not before us asap. We are so used to fast food being FAST that when it is slower than fast, we show frustration and annoyance rather than grace.

We have an opportunity to be different. May we be different with respect to how we are as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The discipline of dreaming

I have not posted on my blog for a long time and whether or not anyone else reads this is neither here not there; I am writing as I process better when I write.

Last week I was one of 7500 attendees at the Global Leadership Summit hosted by the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. Actually there were over 130,000 people attending all across the USA via satellite sites hosted by churches and other organizations. Nearly a week has passed since the event and having read and heard much about attendees reflections and thoughts, I am wondering how many people will be saying in the next weeks, months and possibly, years, that it was this event that changed the way in which they now lead, empowered them to be courageous and move out to wherever God is leading them, and that there are no good descriptions of the impact of those 2 days. To summarize a comment from Bill Hybels, this was where they heard their "Leadership bell being rung:" LOUDLY. While listening to high caliber church, business and political leaders, this was the event where God spoke to us in such a powerful, meaningful and impacting way that there is only one way forward; create the future. Don't wait for others to create it for us.

I cannot say what will happen in the future. However I am convinced that I will be one of those people who site the 2 days of the Summit, August 11 and 12, 2011, as crucially defining moments of my life as one who follows Christ and has been given the responsibility to lead others in my role as a pastor. Phrases that come to mind describing what happened last week don't even come close to all that was going through me by Saturday; turned upside down, head messed with, never-be-the-same-again.

In the final session (the final of 12 sessions..........over 2 days), Erwin Mamanus stood up front with his Bible in hand and started to talk. Erwin was once asked if he had brought his "notes" to another message/sermon that he gave. He replied, "Notes..........notes...........yes, I have my notes." And then he directed the congregation;

"Open your notes to Matthew 11."

I frequent the website of the church, Mosaic, in LA to whom he pastors, and listen to the podcasts. Erwin ALWAYS brings such maturity and clarity to his congregation. This is some of what he shared at the Summit.

Isaiah 43: 18-19 says;

"Do not dwell on the past. Behold I am doing a new thing! Now is springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness..."
Will you even be aware of it? Will we even perceive it?

Then Erwin continued with his words;

"Evil men do not wait for permission from God to create the future they have in mind. But unfortunately good people sit idly by waiting for God to create a better world. Why do we wait for someone else to create a better future? Those of us who live in relationship to Jesus Christ should realize that we have been entrusted with this stewardship. But when you step into the presence of the creator of the universe, EVERYTHING becomes new."

Another line that resonated with me was this one from another speaker at the Summit; Seth Godin;

"We all wait to get picked. Don't wait to get picked; pick yourself."

So this is my job. To realize the that every human being has potential and to help them find and use the gifts that God has given them. I believe that every human being that has ever been born on this planet is made in the image of God with all the creativeness that comes with that image. God was a artist first; a creator first before anything else. God saw all that he had made and it was VERY GOOD.

There is a lot more that I am processing through six days after I drove home from this inspiring and motivating event. My mindset is changing. It has been challenged to change for the better.

In writing to the Romans, the Apostle Paul said this;

"Do not conform 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." Romans 12:2

So as I continue to process what I heard last week and figure out ways of implimenting some of what was so inspiring, I am focusing on what a new mindset looks like for me.

More on this later.

And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us

I am reading, "Following Jesus," by N.T. Wright. Our Bible study is reading through the gospel of John and I love hearing the continual theme of light and life. Wright devotes a single chapter of the book to John's gospel and I want to share (without Wright's permission of course) his use of John 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

It is so well put and so worth sharing.

On talking about Jesus being invited to the wedding in Cana, Wright says:

"The Word became flesh, and celebrated a friend's wedding; and we beheld his glory, glory as of one who takes the ordinary and transforms it into the extraordinary."

Jesus heals the centurion's servant; "The Word became flesh, and healed the sick; we beheld his glory , glory as of the sovereign giver of life."

The glory of God is ultimately revealed on the cross; "The Word became flesh, and died among us; we beheld his glory, glory as of the one who lays down his life for his friends."
"The Word became flesh, and was crowned king in our midst; we beheld his glory, glory as of the human, bleeding figure, the one given by the Father to save the world."

The Word became flesh, and pitched his tent among us; "We beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father."

On Good Friday, the light was out and darkness covered the world; "The Word became flesh, adn slept among us; we beheld his glory, glory as of the loving God who has finished the work of redemption."

We are to follow Jesus - the ONE - for us he was sent, by the Father, full of grace and truth. As Jesus said to Peter, "You must follow me."
The Holy Spirit lives within us and therefore; "The Word may become flesh once more and dwell among us and within us; and we, having beheld his glory, we must then reveal his glory, glory as of the beloved children of the Father, full of grace and truth."

This is the One whom we follow, full of grace and truth, the Son of God, pointing back to the Father.

The terror of Christmas

I started to write this the week beginning December 19 - the 4th Sunday in Advent. So, as it's a little behind in dates, but it needed more thought and editing before releasing it to the world. So here it is - thoughts from the end of 2010.

This week is a strange week - the final week in advent. It is great, but it is also strange. I say this because recently I have had some good conversations around why we celebrate Christmas; the fact that God chose to come into the world as one of us, as a human being, embodied as a man. While still fully God, Jesus was fully human. And he came, not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. For God so LOVED the world..." God, the giver, gave.

Having read the Christmas story many, many times, sung carols for more years than I care to admit, and wrapped gifts with little thought of why I am doing such a thing, this year I was struck by the terror of Christmas.

Too often I have thought of Christmas as clean and tied up just like the cute and glittery gifts that adorn our homes and environments. But after preaching a message last week which was all around the theme of not being afraid, I was impacted by the number of times that God spoke through prophets and leaders to encourage and impact his people to not be afraid. From Abraham, Hagar, Jacob, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Solomon, to Jesus exhorting the disciples to not let their hearts be troubled and not to be afraid. Even the apostle, Paul had to have this reminder to not be afraid.

There is no doubt that we are not born with courage - who has ever yelled at or has scared a young child to be met with anything other than a response of fear and cries? That is the obvious human reaction. We are not born with courage; that has to be developed and encouraged. And so the teenager, Mary, on hearing that she was going to have a baby heard these words from Gabriel because she had every reason to be afraid.

"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God." (Luke 1:30)

She was young, not yet married and lived in a time where women and girls were not valued. Then Gabriel gave her the news that she had been chosen to be the mother of a son and not just any son; the Son of God, the Son of the Most High - and all this by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Culturally, her family would probably have disowned her, possibly worse might have befallen her had not Joseph also heard that command to not be afraid,

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 1:20)

How terrifying when Mary considered that she was not yet married and for her family and in-laws family to discover that she was pregnant before marriage would have meant one sure and certain thing - death for adultery. How else would Mary have become pregnant? She had to have been with another man. And yet, Mary's reply to the angel is amazing and remarkable;

"I am the Lord's servant...May it be to me according to your word."

Joseph, whom we so often overlook in the story (especially if we neglect to read Matthew's gospel) also obeyed;

"Joseph did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife."

So, in the midst of global catastrophes, deaths from natural disasters, men, women and children receiving unfavorable doctor's reports, unemployment statistics rising, homes being repossessed, and many more calamities personal and devastating, we are commanded to not be afraid. How is this possible? Mary's answer was to say the following;

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

So in the midst of uncertainty, the end of one year, the beginning of another, may we not be afraid of what is to come.

GREAT is THY faithfulness.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside

GREAT is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see,
ALL I have needed thy hand hath provided,
GREAT is thy faithfulness,
Great IS thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

I love the words to this hymn and right now, I am needing to fully believe that God is faithful no matter what the circumstances. Right now, I have 2 more weeks to legally stay in the USA. After that date, I have to leave, whether or not I want to or am ready for that situation. The reality in being a foreigner, alien and stranger has never been this clear.

So I have nothing else to do but fully rely on God's faithfulness and put my trust in that REALITY and consider that He has indeed given me the strength that I need for today and bright HOPE for tomorrow. There is no one else to whom I can turn other than my creator and the maker and sustainer of the universe.

That's enough for today.

Moments...

Recently I have been thinking about moments. In 1983 a movie called, "Yentil" came into our cinemas. Starring Barbra Streisand, the movie was filled with songs featuring the actress. I really liked the music and there was one song that I came to mind recently - "Moment." The lyrics start like this:

"There are moments you remember all your life. There are moments you wait for And dream, of all your life. This is one of those moments!"

I say this becuase I am continually being asked and ask of others, questions like, "How was your day?" The expected answer is either, good, bad, OK, "not too shabby" and anything other that is as committal or non-committal as I wish to be. However, I don't think that I have "good" days or "bad" days. What I have are days that are made up of good or bad or indifferent moments. There are moments when I am filled with hope and joy and notice God's creation around me and marvel at the miraculous nature of life and of which I get to be a part. Then there are moments when I wonder with loud screaming anxiety at how I will get through the rest of the day because hope and great expectation are so far from my current reality. So there are moments in each day that I will remember, perhaps not for all of my life but for a few days to come. Of course there are moments that I will remember all my life; my wedding day (or rather parts of it), graduation, watching a sunset, drinking wine with friends, while watching the sun set, hearing the breeze on the ocean as I sleep - can life really get any better?

I am learning to look for the moments when I am acutely aware of God's presence in my life and in the lives of others and how to cultivate more of those moments.

Today has been a mostly good day; more good moments than not so.

Communication...incarnationally.

This particular post was inspired by the movie, "Sisterhood of the traveling pants 2." Towards the end of the movie the 4 main characters come together and try to help one of the team reconnect with the love of her young life. However, in our world of multiple communication possibilities, the conversation reminded me that the best way to communicate with each other (in my opinion) is the good old fashioned face to face kind.

The four converse as follows:

"What?
I didn't want to worry you....I tried to tell you so that's why I came up to your place but we got into that huge fight...
I emailed everybody...
I emailed you...Don't look at me. It's not my fault if I have a bad server...

"Oh well, thank God for email. You can have an entire relationship and not even look at someone. Emails, guys, really??? That's lame!"

I rest my case...

I really love to have at least phone-to-phone conversation with friends but sometimes it is just not possible. I get that. But it is my preferred mode of communication, short of actually seeing the people with whom I am talking. I think what this comment above does for me is remind me that when I am "conversing" on facebook, sending conversational emails or even texting, I am kidding myself into a false reality of close relationships. I know that I do not wish to have closeness with every human being I meet, but there are times when I feel really lonely and lost and this could be some of the reason why that's the case.

Still considering...