Can You Drink The Cup?

I am reading NT Wright’s book: Following Jesus, Biblical Reflections of Discipleship. I have decided to read it during Lent. It is a series of sermons he preached in the weeks leading up to Easter, following Jesus to the cross. The whole idea of following Jesus has been glamorized by our culture. It is almost trendy.

I am not sure we have thought deeply enough about this whole thing. Jesus went to the cross. He asks us to follow. I, like Peter, exclaim that "I am willing to fight and die to keep them from taking you to the cross!" And then I find later that I have denied knowing him three times.

“Can you drink the cup?” Jesus asked. Am I willing to drink the cup of sorrow? Am I willing to drink the cup of suffering? Am I willing to drink the cup of obedience that leads to death? I can’t. I can’t unless the power of Christ strengthens me in my time of trial. Unless he upholds me as I follow, I cannot follow. If left to my own decisions and choices I would quickly turn back and focus on my own life; on surviving; on living a life of comfort and self-glorification.

Jesus says, ‘Follow me. My way leads to the cross. It is bitter. Yet in giving up all things, you will find joy. In dying, you will find life.” Am I sure I want to follow? Even if it leads to death; death on a cross?

the CROWD

And as Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, he set Barabbas free for them, and after having Jesus flogged handed him over to be crucified. Mark 15:15 JBPhillips

The CROWD is the most influential force in all of the world (other than God). if enough people get together and are focused on a united task, it can happen for good or for evil. It can be a worthy task or a destructive task; purposeful or empty. The crowd can sway opinions of others, can "force" them, without force, to do something they do not wish to do or become somebody they don't want to be.

We too often sacrifice ourselves for the approval of the crowd, thinking that by doing so will give us satisfaction or value or purpose. I can tell you stories upon stories of how the crowds have caused people to become somebody they are not. Our value is too often given to us by the crowd and we are sold in the market at the price the crowd has assigned to us. Our importance depends on how we are viewed by others. Finding ourselves on the stage of the world, we become actors in a play called life. The challenge is to play our true and real part, and not the part that the world demands that we play.

The crowd that a person most deeply connects with is who he will become.

Why this Waste?

"Jesus himself was now in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper. As he was sitting at table, a woman approached him with an alabaster flask of very costly spikenard perfume. She broke the neck of the flask and poured the perfume on Jesus' head. Some of those present were highly indignant and muttered, "What is the point of such wicked waste of perfume? It could have been sold for over thirty pounds and the money could have been given to the poor." And there was a murmur of resentment against her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone, why must you make her feel uncomfortable? She has done a beautiful thing for me. You have the poor with you always and you can do good to them whenever you like, but you will not always have me. She has done all she could - for she has anointed my body in preparation for burial. I assure you that wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this deed of hers will also be recounted, as her memorial to me." Mark 14:3-9, JB Phillips

I've been thinking a lot about the poor and those in need, especially in light of events in Haiti and the surge to provide for the poor and oppressed in places such as Africa. However, there are things, even good things, that become more of a trendy thing to do rather than answering a call to go and serve among the poor. I am not sure that some of the trips people are calling "mission" trips really are about mission trips. It's more of a, "man, it would be cool to go to Africa," kind of thing and the next thing you know, they are raising $5,000 to go to Africa for a week. Why not just sent the $5,000 to someone who is already there or some organization that is always there, has been there, and will continue to be there?

I continue to bump into more and more people who are involved in things dealing with Africa, who seem to look down on anyone else who is not. Or they seem to imply that to do ministry in the States is a "waste" compared to doing a mission trip to a third world country. I am for both, and I think that if God has put something on someone's heart, they need to follow it, no matter if it leads to Haiti, China, or to Auburn, Alabama. But, they all are worthy. Nothing is a waste. Neither is a higher calling than another.

When the woman broke the expensive jar of perfume and poured it over the head of Jesus, there were those that were there that muttered, "Why this waste?! It could have been sold and given to the poor." Sometimes, I think we are beginning to think like this as we view different ministries and missions. We should be careful and encourage people wherever they may be serving Christ. To work with rich white kids is no less spiritual than playing soccer with the poor children of Africa. They are both actions of Christ at work through people.

Jesus is always primary, even over trendy movements. The needy are all around us...3000 miles away as well as 3 feet away. They may look or act different but they are there.

To Love Well

I have never heard a teenager say that they feel over-loved. I’ve never heard them complain about how much everyone loved them. I wish I have, but I haven’t.

Towards the end of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he reminded them that the act of loving is the greatest of all actions. He wrote that you can do a lot of great and incredible things, but if you do not love, then all these things are worthless, they don’t matter. You can speak in the tongues of men and angels, you can possess all knowledge, have faith that can move mountains, and you can even give everything you have away to the poor, but if you do not love, then all these things amount to nothing. So, Paul goes down the list of the gifts that the church in Corinth was clamoring for, yet he reminds them that these gifts are nothing without love; they are clanging gongs and cymbals. Empty.

If this is true, then shouldn’t our primary desire and aim be to love well? At the end of the day, shouldn’t the only question to be asked be, “Have I loved well, today?” You can buy a kid the most fashionable clothes, but unless you have given them love, they are merely rags. You can work all day and all night so they can live in a great big house, but without love, it is only a shack. You can send them to the best schools and give them the best education, but unless you have loved, it is foolishness. You can give your kid everything they want in material items, but unless you are giving them, above all other things, love, then you are only giving them empty gifts that are temporary and will vanish like a mist. They will be forgotten.

I think at the end of a life, when a kid has grown up to be an adult themselves, the thing they most want is to be able to say they were loved. Love is greatest. Love wins. It is the only thing that matters. Let us love well.

By Eric Faison
(As printed in the East Alabama Christin Family Magazine, March 2010)

trees and nails

When Jesus created the tree with its roots that bury themselves into the dirt and branches that explode up into the sky, did it ever cross his mind that one day he would be nailed to it? When he pushed iron ore and steel and metals deep into the earth with his thumb, did he know it could become a nail that would be driven through his hands and feet? When Jesus created hands, did he know they would mightily swing a hammer?

Consider This

"If God so clothe the grass of the field . . . shall He not much more clothe you?" Matthew 6:30

A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us if we are not simple. How are we going to be simple with the simplicity of Jesus? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, obeying Him as He brings the word of God, and life will become amazingly simple. "Consider," says Jesus, "how much more your Father Who clothes the grass of the field will clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him." Every time we have gone back in spiritual communion it has been because we have impertinently known better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed the cares of the world to come in, and have forgotten the "much more" of our Heavenly Father.

"Behold the fowls of the air" - their main aim is to obey the principle of life that is in them and God looks after them. Jesus says that if you are rightly related to Him and obey His Spirit that is in you, God will look after your 'feathers.'

"Consider the lilies of the field" - they grow where they are put. Many of us refuse to grow where we are put, consequently we take root nowhere. Jesus says that if we obey the life God has given us, He will look after all the other things. Has Jesus Christ told us a lie? If we are not experiencing the "much more," it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us, we are taken up with confusing considerations. How much time have we taken up worrying God with questions when we should have been absolutely free to concentrate on His work? Consecration means the continual separating of myself to one particular thing. We cannot consecrate once and for all. Am I continually separating myself to consider God every day of my life?

(by Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest)

Update Young Life Haiti #2

Dear Friends,

This morning we were able to connect with Joe Walters, vice president of Young Life Latin America, and he gave us the following update:

1. In talking with Chedrick Caneus, national director of Young Life Haiti, it appears that all seven of our full-time Young Life staff are accounted for, but there are many student staff and volunteers whom the team has not been able to contact.

2. Joe has been able to wire some initial funds for basic medical, food and water supplies that have been delivered to Chedrick in Port-au-Prince. Roy Clifford and his team from Pico Escondido, our camp in the Dominican Republic, have also been able to directly support our staff in Haiti in providing essential supplies.

3. Chedrick has been able to purchase basic supplies in his neighborhood (on a very limited basis) and they have received aid from other organizations as well. As both the Young Life national director and the head master for a school of 1,600 kids, Chedrick along with his team have been called on by kids and their families for assistance. Many of our staff and volunteers are now living in tents pitched in front of the local Young Life house, and they are using this as a home base for ministering to the many Young Life families who need help.

I am very proud of Chedrick and our staff and volunteers in Haiti and I ask you to continue praying for their safety and health now and for the future recovery from this devastating earthquake.

You can go to the Haiti Update Page for the latest updates. A recovery fund has also been established if you are in a place to help financially.
On behalf of our team in Haiti, thank you for your continued prayers.

In Christ,
Denny Rydberg

a new definition of greatness

" ... Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness.
If you want to be important -- wonderful.
If you want to be recognized -- wonderful.
If you want to be great -- wonderful.

But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve ... You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."


-- Martin Luther King Jr. in his historic "Drum Major Instinct Speech" delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga., on Feb. 4, 1968

YL Haiti Update

Young Life Update Haiti (click link to see pics and read update)

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:3786.2758323790/rid:774e991cc42d1f1331d498cfd869fafe



Dear Friends,

As you know, the country of Haiti has been devastated. We have fine Young Life ministry going on in that country and I asked Joe Walters, our vice president for Latin America, to give a brief report. Here it is. Please be praying for the country, our staff and kids. And, if the Lord leads you, please help out financially.

In Christ,

Denny


Joe’s report:

Because of the disruption with telecommunications in the country, getting information on our Haitian staff and leaders has been spotty at best. Here is what we do know. We have seven full-time staff, 30 student staff and about 100 volunteer leaders, all Haitian. We have heard that our national director, Chedrick Caneus, and his wife and two daughters are safe. A snapshot of our work in Haiti: we are in seven cities, 16 clubs and about 1,000 kids coming to club each week. This team, in my opinion, is a world-class team doing a phenomenal job of reaching lost teenagers with the Good News about Jesus. About one-third of our work is centered in Port-au-Prince. From the news reports it seems this is where the major damage and destruction has occurred. Chedrick’s home is the main office for Young Life (Jenn Vi) and is located in Delmas, one of the main areas of significant damage.

How can we as a Young Life family help our brothers and sisters in Haiti? Donations can be sent in to Young Life: X3110 Haiti Earthquake Recovery Fund. You can either send a check or give online.

These funds will be used in the following ways:
• Help our team in Haiti with immediate needs of food, water, medicine, temporary shelter, etc. Our Dominican Young Life staff stands ready to drive these supplies across the border.
• Help with the reconstruction of homes, Young Life offices and club rooms affected by the quake.
• Support of the Young Life ministry in Haiti. The aftermath of this devastating quake will impact our ongoing funding of the ministry. Financial support will help ensure uninterrupted funding of our staff and leaders there.
On behalf of our Young Life Haitian brothers and sisters, thank you!

In Christ,

Joe Walters



Haitian staff at Area Director School in August 2009.

how can this be--part 2

“How can this be?” ---Mary (Luke 1)

“Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

“For nothing is impossible with God.” Or, all things are possible. There is nothing—no- thing too hard for the Lord. All things can happen, no matter how absurd or ridiculous as long as the Spirit of the Lord is behind it. No matter how illogical or impossible it may sound, with God, it can happen. It doesn’t matter if we think it makes sense or not. I am not too sure God is concerned with making sense.

If all things are possible, then what are we to expect? If God can do far more than our wildest dreams or expectations, more than we could ever dare ask or imagine (Eph. 3:21-22), then how are we to pray? Wildly! Largely! Without limits!

And the drums are beating wildly in anticipation of the arrival. Echoes are bouncing and ricocheting off the cracks and crevices of the earth. All of creation is on edge as they watch the two most unlikely women get ready to have children.

Neither of them should be pregnant. One is a virgin and the other is too old. I wish I could have been there when they pulled one another aside in a secret place and exchanged their stories and are enveloped in laughter and wonder. It is laughable if we box these circumstances in with only our finite human minds. But for some reason, this is how God has chosen to work. These two babies--these two children--One has journeyed from Heaven and will save the world and the other will go ahead of Him in order to get the world’s attention; to get them ready to listen. Come, Lord Jesus, come!

“…blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”---Luke 1:45

the silence of zechariah

How Can This Be? Part 1
The silence of Zechariah—

“How can this be? How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”---Zechariah (Luke 1)

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”

If I came home from church or prayer and was silent and did not speak, my wife would hit me with a pan. She’d never believe me and would think it was a ridiculous joke. More than likely I’d lose my job. My “job” is ministry and it requires much talk and interaction. Too much talk, I think. It seems to me that there is too much talk in Christianity and ministry; not enough listening—not enough silence.

It would be extremely difficult to do ministry if I could not talk--or would it? Perhaps I would be more effective at ministry. Perhaps, because I could not talk, it would lead me to pray more, to remain silent more, to be in a better place to listen both to God and to others. God would have my attention. Perhaps with Zechariah, silence was the best place he could be. Maybe God was pushing him to a place where he could be silent and reflect on what was taking place. After all, Zechariah had been invited to sit on the front row and witness God’s plan to save the world.

“Zechariah returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.”

keeping watch

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch… (luke 2.8)

Keeping watch. It is an active statement full of stillness. It’s a verb describing inactivity and stillness. As if to say, “I am doing nothing.” To do nothing is still doing something, but it is not. It is stillness.

The announcement of the arrival of a king is usually surrounded with much fanfare and celebration. It is an event full of publicity and attention. I remember a few years ago when the Pope was chosen. The streets were crowded with thousands and thousands of people. People were packed into bars and restaurants intently watching the television. All were waiting. Then the smoke ascended out of the chimney of the Vatican, which meant that a new pope had been affirmed and chosen. The same goes with elections of our presidents. It’s a process that takes years and sucks up the attention of the media. You can’t get away from it. Everyone is constantly talking about it; debating and discussing it. Usually, the announcement of a king, pope, or president is an event that the whole world watches.

Here, though, in this field outside of Bethlehem, it is quiet. You can hear the sheep rustling, but that’s about it. The fire crackles. And the shepherds were keeping watch. The announcement of the arrival of the King of all kings is being made to people. Not to the religious, or powerful, or influential, but to mere ordinary shepherds. The declaration of the event was made privately and in secret. There was no worldly pomp and celebration to be found here. No, God had visited the earth. He had come to rescue his people.

And no one noticed…
…except a few shepherds…
...they were watching…
…were still enough to notice.

go and make a careful search for the child

“…the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem,
but they were unaware of it.
Thinking he was in their company,
they traveled on for a day.”
Luke 2

An entire day passed before Joseph and Mary realized Jesus was no longer with them, before the silence of absence spoke up and got their attention. Neither was he among their friends or relatives. And for what it’s worth, it seemed as far as they could tell that the plans were fairly simple, clear and straight-forward: they were to go to the feast and when it was over, they were to return home, together. Somewhere along the way, what Jesus had in mind and what his parents had in mind were not the same.

As this nightmare materializes; as they come to grips with the reality of what has happened, Joseph and Mary leave the company of travelers and hurry back to Jerusalem to search for him. Fortunately, only one day had gone by before they discovered Jesus’ absence. And possibly it was not Jesus who was absent. Perhaps Jesus was where he was supposed to be all along. Maybe Mary and Joseph were the ones who did the leaving? Perhaps they wandered off from where Jesus was.

It is a parent’s worst nightmare: to be in a crowded place and suddenly realize that your child is not with you. Seconds upon realizing that your child is missing, you immediately and hastily scan in every direction, hoping to catch a quick glimpse. You begin to shake. Words have no place here because you have lost the ability to speak. You spin around and look again, knowing that every second that goes by means they may be further and further away. Fists of questions begin pounding on the big wooden doors of your mind:

Have they wandered off?
Did somebody take them?
How long?
Where?
Are they safe?
Why?
How did this happen?

As worthy as these questions are, still the matter of first importance is to find your child. To discover how it happened is secondary. You can get to that later.

“Go and make a careful search for the child.”
—King Herod

Although, these statements were made with evil intentions, they do have something to say to us. Those words are worth listening to. And I think they may even be more relevant to us today. “Go and make a careful search for the child.”

The same goes with our lives. Some of us need to go and make a careful search for our lives. The life we are leading may not be the life you had dreamed of. You may even smirk at the thought of even calling what you are doing a life. You may not feel like what you are doing is living. Perhaps it feels more like survival, struggle, or just getting through the day. A life lived simply to survive is no life lived at all. A day lived with the hopes of just getting through it and putting it behind you is no day worth living.

How do we move from simply surviving the day to living a life that is fully alive? And what does that even mean? Our culture has become more and more saturated with the idea of living a life that is fully alive. And I think the reason for that is that more and more people are realizing that they are a good ways from doing so. It’s as if we have all been awakened to the fact that we are living a pace of life that is killing us. We are distracted and hurried at every turn. There is no peace. There is no stillness. There is no life. We are learning this. And in this learning we are beginning to declare louder and louder that we want off this wheel. We want out of this race of rats.

I strongly believe that this life we are looking for is tied tightly to the person of Jesus. Jesus was the Master of living life. Nobody lived life like Jesus did. And if we are going to find life, I’d suggest we start looking a little more closely for Jesus. Not Christianity, not religion, not morality, but looking for Jesus. It is not about learning to smile no matter what or to try to be as nice as you can be. It’s about looking for life and life is about Jesus. Jesus is life. The life we desire so desperately is wrapped up in the person of Jesus.

For some of us it has been longer than a day since we last saw Jesus, or even thought about him. For some of us it has been days, months, years, or even entire lifetimes. In the rushing flow of our days, in all of the noise, busyness, and productivity of life, maybe we just forgot about him. And one day you look up and consider the distance between the two of you. How long has it been for you since you last noticed the presence of Jesus in your life? Perhaps you should leave and hurry back to Jerusalem and search for him.

Hurry. Run! There is no time to lose.

we know the script---thoughts on grace

Riley, my 3rd grade daughter is the stand-by for the lead role in Ramona Quimby—an upcoming play at her school. She’s Ramona. For the past two months she has lived in her script, reading and memorizing each line, adding flavor and emotion. She’ll sit and read her lines to Jackson, our ten year old Golden Retriever, and Jax will sit there patiently. And I’ve always heard that young kids have a brain like a sponge and can retain ridiculous amounts of information, but I have never really understood it until now.

Last night, I picked up her script and randomly picked different pages and would read the line before Ramona’s line to see how well Riley knew it. In my mind, I thought there would be no way she could pull this off but she hit it exactly right on the first two or three attempts. I thought to myself, “No way is this really happening.” “There is no way she is actually doing this.” But she did. I can’t understand how she knew the lines so well to be able to say them flawlessly as I skipped around, flipping pages and reading various prompts. Rediculous.

The younger brother Jesus talked about in Luke 15 probably knew his lines just as well. And too often when we go to God, we carry our bag of excuses and carefully rehearsed lines we’ll use to plead our case for the chance that we’ll be accepted and invited to return home. Yet we find that before we can blurt them out the Father has embraced us and calls for a party. It’s illogical and doesn’t make sense. We have a hard time with grace. Don’t we? Do you? Plus we usually give grace to others, but not ourselves. We are not good at preaching the gospel to ourselves. No, we are usually found rehearsing our lines to our dog, so we’ll be ready for the play; for opening night.

The sight of the old man running catches us off guard. We never expected it. The sight of the old man running is a mirror of the grace that has arrived with the coming and finished work of Jesus. We show up, returning to the Father with all our carefully rehearsed and calculated apologies. We’ve carefully written the script, crafted each word we will say. All that is left is to go to the Father and hope it works, to hope that the Father will even give us an audience. To hope that he’ll take us back even after all we have done, not done, and neglected. Our leaving has caused much pain and confusion; both for the leaver and for the ones being left. We’ve wished a virtual death upon the Father, gathered our belongings, took the money and run, only to find a fast train to what is empty and broken and confusing.

but there is more...

i smile when i see the old man run

Andrew Peterson's lyrics to his song: "Isn't it Love?"...good stuff

Lost my luggage out in Kalamazoo --
Same way I tend to lose my conscience, too.
Another day in these dirty old blues, and I don't seem to mind.
This is a thing that confounds me;
You can find me; You surround and remind me.
I lose my way and I forget about You
But You still remember me.

Oh, isn't it love:
This rain that falls on the sinners and the saints?
Isn't it love:This well that won't run dry?

And when I think about that prodigal son,
I've got to smile when I see the old man run.
And I know that You love us the same,'Cause the sun came up today;
Just as if we deserved it --
Just as if any one of us fools was worth it;
Truth is that we'll never be perfect,
but You love us just the same.

Well, isn't it love:
This ran that falls on the sinners and the saints?
Isn't it love:
This well that won't run dry?
Isn't it love?
Isn't it love?
Isn't it love to look down from the sky

And see Your only Son on the cross asking "Why?"
And somehow let Him die that way
And not call the whole thing off?
All for this man stuck in Kalamazoo
Who loses his bags and his way sometimes too.
But that was something that You already knew,
And still You died for me.Isn't it love? (2x)
And isn't it love:This ran that falls on the sinners and the saints?
Isn't it love:This well that won't run dry?
Isn't it love?His mercies are made new every morning.
Isn't it love?Isn't it love?And isn't it love?