Ordinary Visionary

Pray for The Peace of... Part 2

I quoted a passage from Psalms a few days ago in light of the events taking place in Israel right now, and thinking about it a bit more I decided it was a bit short-sighted of me to do so. I think the Bible makes it very clear that Israel has a special place in God's heart. But that is not to deny the fact that in Christ, all nations are renewed. In Christ, God ushers into His kingdom a restored world, alongside his beloved Isreal.

So in the same breath we pray for peace in Israel, we should pray for peace and for the wisdom of the leadership of Haifa, of Beirut, of Baghdad, all the 'Stans, France, China, India, Egypt, all nations… There should never be a celebration at the dropping of bombs or the extermination of life. And there should never be prejudice in which countries deserve our prayers for peace.

Read: Is America the Center of God's Activity in the World Today?

Link: paleoevangelical: Is America the Center of God's Activity in the World Today?.

I ran across this blog entry at Paleoevangelical, the blog of Ben Wright. He quotes an article in Christianity Today, in which Reverend Niringiye from the Church of Uganda questions the "Ameri-centrism" in the church today. There is so much truth in the notion that God is often working on the outside of what we think is the center of His activity. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD (Isaiah 55:8).

He also make an interesting point about Christians who think the point of Matthew is simply to go make more Christians (I believe that making disciples is part of the message, but there is so much more that we are missing if we stop there, which I think is what he's getting at). Here's an excerpt from the CT article…

We need to begin to read the Bible differently. Americans have been preoccupied with the end of the Gospel of Matthew, the Great Commission: "Go and make." I call them go-and-make missionaries. These are the go-and-fix-it people. The go-and-make people are those who act like it's all in our power, and all we have to do is "finish the task." They love that passage! But when read from the center of power, that passage simply reinforces the illusion that it's about us, that we are in charge.

I would like to suggest a new favorite passage, the Great Invitation. It's what we find if we read from the beginning of the Gospels rather than the end. Jesus says, "Come, follow me. I will make you fishers of men." Not "Go and make," but "I will make you." It's all about Jesus. And do you know the last words of Jesus to Peter, in John 21? "Follow me." The last words of Simon Peter's encounter are the same as the first words.

Go check out the blog entry (link above) if you feel open to it, and let me know what you think.

Against The Rules?

I was listening to the Mars Hill podcast this morning (not the Rob Bell Mars Hill — the one in Seattle, WA) and heard a great sermon on 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1 that I wanted to share a bit of here.

Pastor Mark Driscoll broke the scripture down into three questions we should ask ourselves when deciding whether we are going to participate in something:

• Is is permissible? » Defined by law, scriptural foundation, parents (if you are a child).
• Is it beneficial? » To myself, to others.
• Is it loving; is it kind? » "Nobody should seek his own good but the good of others." Think in terms of love consequences.
• Is it evangelistic? » The messages that non-believers will receive.

He also said some things which really speak to the discomfort I have with Christian denominations having hard and fast rules about which [technically legal] activities are not permissible by members of the church. It is the reason I completely support Georgetown College's decision to sever ties with the state Baptist convention.

"There is no such thing as sacred and secular… Everything on the earth belongs to the Lord… That doesn't mean they're all Godly or good, but it does mean that we can live on the earth in such a way that we redeem everything in a way that honors God."

He goes on to talk about conscience. Yes, we are free in Christ to have a glass of wine (for instance), but if it goes against your conscience, then don't do it. If it goes against your conscience to eat meat, you may choose to be a vegetarian. So we are free in Christ to do many things, but it is up to our conscience to decide what that means.

"The answer is you're all right because you're all abiding by conscience and scripture and the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom because these decisions get very very difficult."

It is easier to give people a list of things they cannot do in order to be a member of your church. It is easier to say people should only have Christian friends and only listen to Christian music and only read Christian books.

But is that necessarily right? Is that loving your neighbor? Is that beneficial to others?

Pray For The Peace of Israel

Psalm 122 (ESV)

¹ I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
² Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

³ Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together,
⁴ to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
⁵ There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
"May they be secure who love you!
⁷ Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!"
⁸ For my brothers and companions' sake
I will say, "Peace be within you!"
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

Letting Down my Guards

“      Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
— Proverbs 3:5 (King James Version)”

Response

When I was eight years old I started going to ballet auditions, first for the dance company at my studio and then for three- to six-week summer programs around the US. Every year we would pick up the January issue of Dance Magazine and sift through the ads for the various dance schools and pick which ones I'd audition for that year.

There were certain schools I'd tack onto the list that were the dance equivalent of the college "reach school" — the one you were pretty sure wouldn't accept you but you sent an application to anyway. I would go to these auditions knowing that they wouldn't take me, just to take an incredible master class. I was free to dance my heart out because it didn't matter what the judges wrote on their score sheet — all that mattered was that I was doing something I loved.

That outlook saved me from a lot of heartache when I was a kid, and as I got older it became my safety zone. The expectation of defeat was a place I could hide in when I was sure that if I didn't do well enough I would be disappointed in myself. And it has poured into other areas of my life.

Exams, job interviews, credit applications, even new relationships. I expect defeat, so there is only room to go up from there. All I can be is surprised and delighted, or get exactly what I expected, which hurts less than the disappointment of rejection.

I've told my good friend Jenn about this spirit of defeat I've had for so many years and she thinks it's awesome. It seems so freeing, being able to go into rough situations without the fear of disappointment. I can be myself — laugh, stick chopsticks up my nose, trip and fall, dance my heart out — without the pressure of wondering what someone else thinks of me in that moment.

Incredible.

But it's such a lie. I'm finding out that my ingenious plan to stave off feelings of rejection is really just a refusal to trust God. I keep armed guards like the Spirit of Defeat around my heart, when God is the only One whom I should trust enough to guard my heart.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

I am firing the guards I've employed for so long, before I become hardened not only to the possibility of letting someone in, but to letting God in.

Read: The Newly Revised Mind

Link: The Newly Revised Mind: A plea for realism and temperance....

The text of the bible is fairly certain, and honestly has been for quite some time. Although "for" and "to" are hard to differentiate, "for" is absolutely correct. You are the "cc" or the "bcc" on the email, it wasn't directly written "to" you, but you've got it, and he (God) meant for you to get it. But realize that the text is not God himself; it is the means to him, who is the end. Our translations are accurate; so what is your excuse for not doing what they say?

This was a very well-thought-out article written by a commenter on a blog I frequent. I look forward to reading more of what he has to say in coming entries…

Quotable: Velvet Elvis

I just finished reading Velvet Elvis for the second time and here are some of the words that really spoke to me this time around…

Somewhere in you is the you whom you were made to be.

We need you to be you.

We don't need a second anybody. We need the first you.

The problem is that the image of God is deeply scarred in each of us, and we lose trust in God's version of our story. It seems too good to be true. And so we go searching for identity. We achieve and we push and we perform and we shop and we work out and we accomplish great things, longing to repair the image. Longing to find an identity that feels right.

Longing to be comfortable in our own skin.

But the thing we are searching for is not somewhere else. It is right here. And we can only find it when we give up the search, when we surrender, when we trust. Trust that God is already putting us back together.

Trust that through dying to the old, the new can give birth.

Trust the Jesus can repair the scarred and broken image.

It is trusting that I am loved. That I always have been. That I always will be. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to prove anything or achieve anything or accomplish one more thing. That exactly as I am, I am totally accepted, forgiven, and there is nothing I could ever do to lose this acceptance.

(Quoted from page 150-151). Buy the book. Read it twice.

What I'm Reading

Check out the new stuff on the What I'm Reading list on the right-hand side of this page… These books are changing my mind.

Between Terminals #3

There is one word that has been following me around the past two weeks — one word that has really been kicking my butt: noise.

Great Read :: Ultimate Realities

Link: the blue fish project: Ultimate Realities.

There is I'm sure need to teach people to articulate the gospel well, and to think hard about peoples questions etc, but above all people need to catch a vision of the glory of God. You can't skill that into people, passion for God comes through an encounter with the Word of God and the conviction of the Spirit of God. Only then are our eyes opened. Such a vision of grace and glory will offend the proud, but to those God humbles it will always be the sweetest food for the soul. He must be the content. We need BIG God theology, BIG God songs, BIG God life....

Amen, brother.

I am learning...

…that there is as much beauty in a smile as there is in a fallen tear, as much of God's hand in a ray of sunlight as in a drop of rain, as much emotion in love as there is in pain, as much need in your heart as there is in mine, as much life in a sapling as there is after death, and more love from God in this moment than I could ever hope to know in this lifetime. I am learning that the moments that remind us most of our humanity are the same moments that remind us just how big and sovereign God really is.

Lift Up Mine Eyes

“      I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
— Psalm 121:1 (KJV)”

Pretty Place

Pretty Place sans cross
Originally uploaded by olanky1.

I have posted a ton of new photos at flickr. Click the picture to check them out!

Tea and Crumpets

I feel another Tea* and Crumpets* party on the horizon… Girls, get your taste buds ready for another night of fresh food and cold beverages! And while you wait, meet the official t-shirt provider for Tea* and Crumpets* parties!