DoxA

Gettin Churchy

I just read a cute joke about a young man who became diligent about studying math because his parents took him to a Catholic school. After the first day the young lad came home with a new found excitement for hitting the books and doing his homework. Soon after receiving his next report card and for the first time seeing an A in math, his mother asked what inspired the change... "Was it the curriculum, the uniforms, the Nuns... what was it?" The boy looked up and said, "No, after the first day and seeing they nailed a man to a plus sign it told me these folks were serious!"

I was raised in a Catholic home and let me tell ya... for me, it WAS the Nuns!

There are so many reasons why people either go or don't go to church. Most of the time is has a lot to do with who's there. When asked about Christianity there are those who will respond with their admiration of Jesus as a person but they stop short in their exuberance toward Christians. So, what's up with that? Jesus is cool but all those who follow him are not?

Yes, there are those who over the past several decades have made headlines demanding righteous, high moral standards who are later exposed for living the same life they decried. Worse yet, amid the high profile televangelists, preachers and politicians there are those who are more personal to us. They are the hypocrites who quietly profess one thing and live another. It is these who give credence to the Christian hating, Jesus admirers.

Let's face it... nobody likes to put themselves in the path of a critical, negative, fault finding individual. If I have the choice of being around an encouraging, affirming individual or a depressing, discouraging one; guess who wins? I'll tell you which one... the same one you would choose. It's always amazing to me how some people just seem to make you a better person and some people just make you worse. Remember all the things your parents tried to instill in you when picking friends? "Bad company corrupts good morals... Birds of a feather..." you get the idea. So then why is it most of the people I've met in church tend to be critical, discouraging people? Well one reason might be this "critical nature" comes with the territory. You know, hanging out with people who are trying to "sharpen" each other!

When Paul told the church in Ephesus that the church would benefit from the leadership of Apostles to Pastor-Teachers, the purpose was for complete unity and maturity; saying this would protect us from liars and promote security in our faith allowing us to "speak truth in love" (Eph. 4:15). Unfortunately, I have seen truth spoken but not in love. Likewise, I have seen things spoken in love without truth. This too, is reason to keep people from seeing the real Jesus in all of us who profess faith in Christ.

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?  How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye."

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Lk 6:41-42

What would happen if everyone in church first looked for the good in those who they met rather than the bad... What would happen if those we meet as the Ambassadors of Christ's love actually showed Christ's love... in other words, give grace? We just might help reconnect people to the God they refuse to know. Remember it's not because of the message but because of the messengers they are unwilling to engage in our churches. Seriously, if we could be as gracious and life-giving as Christ; we just might be the living, breathing answer to someone's prayer: A call to a distant god who becomes real through the real actions of those who love Him.

• Do you affirm or accuse?
• Do you build up or tear down?
• Do you work together or go it alone?
• When you go to church... Why are you there?

When I go to church I have to remind myself, there just might be someone there because I'm there... but  mostly I remind myself there may be many who aren't there because I'm there too! I might not be as scary as a Nun but during this Halloween season, there may be a few people dressing up as Christians because to them; we just might be the scariest thing they've ever seen.

Running Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Yeah, yeah... I know what you're thinking, "Finally he admits it!" Well, before you think I'm joining the rank and file of humanity to discover the luxury of a sedentary life; think again!

When I started the sport of triathlon a person who had been doing Ironman races for over two decades asked me this question... "Somewhere along the line, during all the training you'll come to a place where you realize you are either running from something or running to something. So, which is it?"

When I was a little tyke, oh say about three years old, I decided one day to run away from home. Yes siree, although I couldn't drive and didn't yet know how to ride a bike, I did learn recently how to walk so I turned left onto the sidewalk in front of our house and just put one foot in front of the other until I made it all the way down to the fairgrounds (about a mile and a half away). It was a nice location to run away to. It was peaceful and was a large pond with geese, lily pads and large orange and white gold fish.

Everything was going just fine until that police officer walked up to me.

I think His words were something exactly like this, "Son, are you lost?" My thoughts were exactly something like... "uh... no. I'm right here." You see, the irony is; to a three year old... you're never lost. You don't even know what the word "lost" means until YOU, the three year old, discover you ARE lost. Which happens to be true also for some thirty year olds and for some folks even as old as me.

The truth that most people walk through life with little direction and no destination is a profound one. According to this truth these people are lost. But as I've mentioned before it is hard for folks to have any sense of direction without a place of destination. It's like Mapquest... it won't give you map and details until you put in a location. However, for many in this life Mapquest is still too complicated and they rely on the tried and true method of just asking people how to get somewhere.

Has this been you? You're lost and you really need to get someplace and you pull over and ask for directions and the person shrugs their shoulders and says, "I'm not from around here." Now you've got to go find someone else and hope they know where you're going.

Likewise we in this life, who know where we're going, should be looking to help those who are lost. Have clear directions on how to help people get to their ultimate destination. Now I realize that the destination isn't clear for most and those who are lost do have a destination whether they realize it or not.

You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Mt 7:13-14

first question: Where are you? Establish where you are and take inventory of how you got there.

next question: Who's with you? And are they really WITH you or just with you?

another question: Where are you headed? Is the destination defined and is there a plan to get there?

again: Are all of you going the same direction? Going to the same destination?

finally: Who can you help get on track? If you were going the wrong way wouldn't you want someone to tell you?

Often when I'm on a training run I'll run up in the hills; the paved roads are easier but the trails are more fun and picturesque. Usually to run on the trails you need to enter through a gate... sometimes squeeze through a gate and running on the trails you're more likely to twist an ankle, fall and get hurt, there are more dangers with wild animals and the natural traps of poison oak and cactus. Yes, running can be hazardous to your heath but not so much when you're running to something but when you're running from something.

That's the Book For Me!

It's a Sunday School song... "The B-I-B-L-E that's the book for me! I stand alone on the Word of God... the B-I-B-L-E." It's the kind of song once it gets in your head you'll soon be wishing you never heard it. It ranks up there with the classics "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" and "This is the Song that Never Ends." How is it music can make a track in our brains like no other forum of audio communication? Maybe I should start singing my messages on Sunday mornings to annoying little tunes. But then again somebody might shoot me. Just like I've wanted to end my misery of the song "Celebrate!" by picking off each member of the Commodores.

When I was in college, yes college... we learned songs to memorize the books of the Old and New Testaments as well as the Greek and Hebrew alphabets. I have since forgotten just about everything else I learned but oddly enough, and no surprise here... I can still sing those songs.

Reading the Bible and understanding it seems to be one of the biggest issues among Christians today. When a group of Christ followers gather casually outside the church environment and the discussion moves to their spiritual lives the topic rarely leans toward sin, repentance and accountability... nope it's usually about something they read in the Bible and negotiating whether they understood it correctly or point out some observation discovered therein. Sometimes we spend more energy talking about something than actually doing it! Worse yet we can get enamored with our own ideas about what the Bible says. So, you disagree with me on this one do ya? Well, consider Paul's words to Timothy;

The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions. They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently.

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. 1 Ti 1:5-7

Which brings me back to college. There is nothing greater and worse than a young, aspiring seminarian. On one hand this young person is preparing for a lifetime of service in the Kingdom of God. But on the other hand they are so annoying when they start debating the intricacies of "infra" vs. "supra" lapsarianism. Oh, how many hours of sleep were wasted at the hands of silly discussions of theology that have had no effect on or in my ministry.

When we read the Bible, there are obvious truths and clear instructions for each and everyone of us... it doesn't take a degree to understand "Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them." (Romans 12:14)Most of the stuff we live by is just that simple. Something a little more difficult to understand would be something like knowing what it means to be crucified with Christ. And even more difficult would be to understand Jesus was a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. You see the more difficult to understand the less application for our lives personally. Much of the difficulty of scripture comes from not knowing the history and culture. Whereas good, biblical teaching helps and inspires right living by shedding light on these factors. Paul's instruction to the Corinthian church to not let women speak in church wasn't so much to silence them because they're women but rather to keep decorum in the church gathering. It was about order; when, who and how because just a couple of chapters prior Paul mentions women prophesying and praying in church. The Corinthian church was a church out of control and desperately in need of boundaries. It is also known many of the early church traditions stemmed from Jewish forms of worship. Even today in some orthodox synagogues, the practice of mehitzah (barrier) is not uncommon. In other words, men on one side and women on the other. So, as Paul addresses this unruly church, it could be that the women were asking their husbands questions across the aisle requiring Paul to include in his exhortation for women to wait until they get home to ask their questions.

All this to say... there will be bumps along the way to reading the Bible but certainly no barriers. Every person, whether sage veteran of the Christian faith or someone just joining the club, can get something out of a hearty read each and every time the Bible's pages are opened. Therefore,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, ^singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ^with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Col 3:16

Questions to consider...

• Is the Bible a hard book for you to understand?
• Are you intimidated to share with others what you think a passage of scripture is saying?
• Would you rather have someone tell you what it means instead of considering it yourself?
• Are you intimidated by certain phrases or words in the Bible?
• Are you more encourage or discouraged when you read the Bible?
• Do you stay away from certain passages of the Bible because you think you won't understand it?
• Do you get lost easily when reading the Bible?
• When you read the Bible do you know why you're reading it?
• Do you find yourself just getting through it to fulfill some kind of spiritual obligation?
• Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit to reveal to you truths you can't seem to find?

As I type this, I once again,  look around at all the books in my office. I am literally surrounded by books; most of which deal with the subject matter contained within the Bible. My computer holds countless volumes of material to help me know what the Bible says and how to interpret it...Interesting when I consider a "life verse" I held through much of my adulthood was Joshua 1:8 which says...

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Jos 1:8

I guess then I may have too many books... when clearly only one is enough. And like music, meditation is the key to making it stick... "The B-I-B-L-E that's the book for me! I stand alone on the Word of God... the B-I-B-L-E."

Follow the Leader

Yes, we're still talking about finances and how to manage our money but...

Have you ever heard of spelunking? Most folks haven't. So, let me explain. Spelunking is a sport where normal people climb into caves and rocks having to contort and squeeze into tiny spaces and traverse from one point to another. It's a mixture of rock climbing, crawling, hide and seek, what's behind door number 3, how did I get my self into this mess? and I double dare ya! All with a huge portion of pitch blackness.

The first time I went spelunking I was scared out of my wits. I had heard the stories of people getting stuck and panicking from the claustrophobia. I don't tend to freak out and can deal with tight spaces as long as I'm moving but what was really causing me concern was the unknown. Not knowing something is most disturbing for me. I like familiarity. Once I've done something scary and know what thats all about; the fear disappears and confidence appears. Needless to say, I made it out and it was every bit as scary and nerve racking as I imagined but it was fun and no one got hurt.

When I asked the person who took us up into the caves how they discovered them he said that someone had taken him there when he was in college and the person before him was shown the caves by another and he too was taken there by another... it was if the knowledge of the caves were passed down through generations and no one seemed to know who first discovered them. Then it dawned on me... that age old question of sorts, "Why climb that mountain?...Answer: Because it's there," has a purpose. It reveals the soul and refines character. By something as simple as slipping into a crevasse of a granite mountain and exploring a labyrinth in darkness, all for the sake of adventure, it revealed to me an important truth for my life: I am no Captain Kirk. I don't want to go where no man has gone before... I need a guide. Whether I like it or not, whether I acknowledge it or not... I am led in most everything I do.

Years ago I was financially at a breaking point. I had over extended ourselves by trying to keep up a lifestyle that we couldn't support. I wondered how we got there... it was easy on one hand getting into that place but knowing how to get out... hmmmph! A little squeeze here a little contortion there, try this? No, try this... and before we knew it we were stuck and had no idea how to get out!

I was led to believe that using credit would grant us all kinds of freedom but in the end all it did was chain us down and remove freedom from our future.

Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Pr 22:7

Dealing with our finances and understanding our condition shouldn't be a worry-filled, feel as you go, slink in darkness adventure. But for many of us it is just like spelunking. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into, we can't see where we're going , hoping it's going to be alright and in the end want to look back and say, "Whew! We made it."

A few questions for you to consider.

• Do you have a regular time to manage your finances?
• Do you dread having to pay the bills?
• Are you overextended and find that you have too much month at the end of the money?
• Do you have a budget?
• If so do you follow it?
• Do you have debt that seems too large to handle?
• Do you know there are ways of controlling debt so it doesn't control you?
• Have you considered asking for help?

There are financial assistance programs offered by various agencies and non-profit groups who can help you manage debt and help reduce interest rates (be careful there are for profit companies which can actually prey on people who are financially upside down and make matters worse). There are a lot of good programs which can help you rethink your finances and prioritize your spending that are offered in some churches like Crown Ministries or Good $ence ministries. At Twin Oaks we'll be looking into Dave Ramsey's, "Financial Peace University."

The whole point of all of this is to help you get out of a hole that you somehow got yourself into but have no idea how to get out of. Like spelunking it's going to take a guide, someone who knows the way out and you'll need to trust his or her direction if you ever want to see daylight again!