Rest in Peace

My sister Ruth lived in southern Arizona not far from the Mexican border. The Huachuga Mountains provide a beautiful spectacle that can be viewed from her backyard.

Ruth's view of the mountains is even better this morning.  She passed away a few hours ago.

She is my oldest sister, and like all of us, she was far from perfect. But Ruth had a passion for life that could not be contained or restrained.  Even when her fiery feelings flowed in directions I found difficult to embrace, I learned to tolerate and then accept and eventually celebrate her passion for life.

One of the things Ruth was most passionate about was her faith. She loved Jesus... looked to him during tough times and lived for him all the time.

It was our mutual love for him that enabled us to move beyond personal, political and occasional theological differences to celebrate our oneness in Christ.  As Paul put it, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.  For you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

Viet Nam was one of the trials that tested that promise.  Ruth's husband, Jim, was serving in Viet Nam while I was protesting the war here in the States.  Jim was killed in Viet Nam during his third tour of duty, leaving Ruth with their several month old baby daughter, Kellie.

At Jim's funeral I offered to travel with Ruth and little Kellie on her return home from Western Pennsylvania to Jessup, Georgia. She accepted my offer.  As we began the journey south, I thought our conversation would be halted and awkward because of our differing points of view regarding the war.  It wasn't.  By looking beyond our differences to our faith in Christ, we found common ground, the solid rock of our salvation to stand upon.

Along the way we stopped for a brief visit at Tennessee Temple Bible College.  Ruth had gone to school there and wanted to visit some friends.  She had been a music major and while we were there she was asked to do special music for the chapel service.  Ruth chose to sing, His Eye is on the Sparrow, and I Know He Watches Me.  It was a powerful testimony to the one in whom she had put her trust.

Here's a beautiful rendition of that song. I hope it touches you as it has touched me.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior

The fish is one of the most well known symbols of Christianity. Jesus' first four disciples were originally fishermen, so it makes sense that they would choose the fish as a symbol of their faith.  

The Greek word for fish is ΙΧΘΥC, pronounced Ichthys (or Ichthus). Each of the letters creates the acrostic, “Jesus Christ, God’s son, savior”, (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ”, Iēsous Khristos Theou Huios, Sōtēr). The image above shows the Greek word etched on a catacomb wall. Over time the symbol was expressed with the simple image of a fish as it appears here.

Through the ages, the Church has been most faithful to the mission of Jesus when the body place Jesus at the center of it's life and practice.

Here is a recent post from simplechurchjournal.com, written by Roger Thoman.  This is one of the blogs I regularly follow:

Jesus 

Jesus 

Jesus 

Make disciples who are followers of … Jesus. 

Not followers of doctrines, opinions, or church visions. 

Not reciters of creeds or religious points of view. 

But followers of the One. 

Followers who follow because they know Him. They have tasted, touched, and encountered Him and now they want to continue to develop that closeness, intimacy, and relationship with Him. They know no greater joy. 

They are not turned into members of denominations, attenders of services, or clones of the latest way to do Christianity or church. 

They remain His and they pursue Him and they follow Him and obey Him out of a loyalty and passion that comes from deeply knowing Him. 

They learn His voice because they love Him. 

They lay down their own, personal agenda because they value Him. 

They take up His vision to see the restoration of His Kingdom come to all people because they experience His everyday encounters that restore and free their own soul and they are driven to see this love transform others. 

They know Him, they have found life, and they continue to find life through Him. 

And because they know Him, they love Him. 

And because they love Him, they follow Him… 

Jesus

May Your Kingdom Come... May Your Will Be Done

        Seek the kingdom of God above all else,
       Live righteously, and God will give you
       Everything you need. ~ Jesus (Matthew 6:33) 

Jesus came preaching the kingdom.  Everywhere he went he had the same message;"The time has come, God's kingdom is near. Change the way you think and act and believe the Good News" (Mark 1:15).

It is Time to Act

Most of us live by the maxim, "Seeing is Believing."  We are slow to act until we see the need to act.  

I grew up in an area that has experienced frequent floods.  Even though everyone living there knows that, most people are reluctant to respond to the warnings to evacuate their homes until they see the flood waters breach the threshold of the house.  Seeing is believing!

There is a major problem with applying that maxim to the things of the kingdom: they are hidden, unseen, often mysterious.  Jesus told a number of parables to illustrate this point.  Here are a few:

• The Hidden Treasure, Matthew 13:44 - the kingdom is like hidden treasure.  It's value can only be known when it is unearthed and experienced. 
• The Pearl of Great Price, Matthew 13:45-46 - the kingdom is like a pearl of such great value that when it is found the merchant sells everything in order to have it.
• The Mustard Seed, Luke 13:18-19 - the kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed that when planted in the ground grows to become a great bush.
• The Yeast, Luke 13:20-21 - the kingdom is like yeast.  When a tiny amount is mixed into three measures of flour it's power is released into all the ingredients.
• The Growing Seed, Mark 4:26-29 - the kingdom is like seed scattered in a field.  The sower only plants the seed.  It is God who mysteriously and miraculously gives life to the seed and enables it to grow and multiply. 

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he instructed them to pray for God's kingdom to come and his will to be done, "on earth as it is in heaven!" Every Sunday hundreds of millions of Christians all around the world pray these words.  But our prayers will ring hollow in the halls of heaven unless we are willing to ACT as well as pray.

Pray for the kingdom to come... Seek the kingdom first

Those who believe God's kingdom has great value, like hidden treasure or a pearl of great price... will invest everything they have to bring in the kingdom.

Those who believe God's kingdom, like yeast, is able to expand and enlarge whatever it touches... will work to kneed the yeast of the kingdom into every part of their lives.

Those who believe God's kingdom has the mysterious power of a tiny mustard seed to grow and multiply wherever it is planted... will carry the seeds of the kingdom with them wherever they go and plant them all along the way.

May we pray for the kingdom to come, seek the kingdom first and walk in the ways of the kingdom until God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven!

Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." That phrase keeps playing over and over again in my head.  I'm not complaining.  I love the phrase.  It is my sincere, honest, plain-spoken prayer.  It is a prayer that we can pray "without ceasing."

Okay, but what does it mean to be an "instrument" of peace?  Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God."  Is a peacemaker kind of like being a noisemaker for peace? No! Noisemakers do nothing more than make noise at parties, rallies or sporting events.  Peacemakers serve a far greater purpose. 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to do more than make noise, we are invited to make peace. Peace making involves building relationships with others that exhibit honesty... respect... trust... tolerance... mutuality...

Jesus drew near to Jerusalem as his days on earth drew to a close.  He looked out over the city and began to weep, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!" (Luke 19:42).

A few days later he gathered with the disciples in the upper room. "Peace I leave with you," he said, "my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).  Following his death and resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and reminded them of his earlier promise, "Peace be with you."  Jesus offered his peace as a gift to be enjoyed, celebrated and shared with others. 

Peace is not a political position to be argued in the public arena but a spiritual gift to practiced in the public arena.

The key word here is "practice."  Peacemaking requires practice.  As instruments of peace we need to "recognize the ways that make for peace," and practice them.  Practice makes perfect. 

Here's some practical wisdom that will help us to become a skilled peacemaker:

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.  For

“Those who desire life

    and desire to see good days,

let them keep their tongues from evil

    and their lips from speaking deceit; 

let them turn away from evil and do good;

    let them seek peace and pursue it."(I Peter 3:8-11)

Instruments of Peace

"Great blessings belong to those who work to bring peace.  God will call them his sons and daughters" (Matthew 5:9).

Several months ago my wife and I were invited to  Washington D.C. to join with hundreds of Nigerian expatriates to pray for peace in Nigeria.  The event was organized by Nigeria Prays, an international prayer movement that organizes similar prayer events all around the world.

Nigeria Prays was founded by General Yukubu Gowon, who was Nigeria's head of state from 1966 to 1975.

Gowon was a career army officer who served twice in the Congo region as part of Nigeria's peacekeeping force there.  After a military coup in 1966, he was appointed chief of staff and eventually emerged as the compromise head of the new government.  

Following the coup, Gowon tried to resolve the ethnic tensions that threatened to divide Nigeria, but he was unsuccessful.  In spite of his efforts, the Eastern region of Nigeria declared itself the independent state of Biafra.  This resulted in a bloody war that took the lives of more than 100,000 soldiers and over a million civilians.  

When the war ended in 1970, a remarkable reconciliation took place, which was largely attributed Gowon's personal influence.  However, he was also held responsible for many of the attrocities committed during that period. Discontent began to brew within the army and on July 29, 1975, Yukubu Gowon was overthrown and replaced by Brigadier Murtula Muhammad.

My wife and I and a few others had a brief private meeting with General Gowon before the prayer gathering got under way.  It wasn't a long exchange, but long enough to get a sense of the man. I found it hard to believe that he had been a man of war.  He seems to have beaten his sword into a ploughshare. A man of war in the process of becoming an instrument of peace.

When the violence in Nigeria finally comes to an end, many will be standing in line to claim the credit. Don't expect Yukubu Gowon to be in that line.  You will likely find him with his Christian brothers and sisters continuing to ask God to bless the people of Nigeria. 

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand

Matthew 7:24-27 -- The Message (MSG) 

24-25 “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. 

26-27 “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

Years ago a local farm near my home was sold to a developer and turned into a subdivision where more than 1600 houses and apartment units were built.  The same family had owned that farm for two hundred years.  It is unlikely that any of the dwellings built there will still be standing in another 50 or 75 years.

I say that because of the experience of one of the home buyers.  He decided to stop by one evening to visit the building site and was amazed to find the foundation already complete.  But when he pushed against one of the walls it collapsed.

If he hadn't been there to test the strength of that foundation, the builder would have filled in the trenches to the top of the cinder blocks and completed the construction of an outwardly beautiful but internally unstable house.

Though the foundation remains covered and unseen, it is the most important part of the construction of a solid building or a solid life. 

The Apostle Paul understood the importance of building on a solid foundation.  He had spent years trying to build a solid life on things like determination, manipulation, aggression and intimidation.  But until his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was an angry, hateful, unlovable man.

Paul finally found solid ground when he build his life on the words and the ways of Jesus.  He offers these words of wisdom to anyone who wants to build a solid life:

"Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely" (I Corinthians 3:10-15).

Let's build something that will still be around for our children's children.  Let's build on the reliable words and solid ways of Jesus, the Rock of our Salvation. 

Unless the Lord Builds the House

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.

It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;

For the Lord gives sleep to those he loves. (Psalm 127:1-2)

Some of my craziest ideas are hatched during my early morning bike rides.  As I pedal the streets of the city and roads of the county on my trusty Schwinn, all sorts of "brilliant" ideas pop into my head, just waiting for the courage... resources... time... will... energy that transforms ideas into realities.

Usually, by the end of the day, most of these ideas seem premature... immature... fanciful... silly or down right crazy.  Some, however, still seem like good ideas by the next morning, and that's when an important question needs to be asked: Is this just a good idea or is it a God idea?

Those who are far better than I am at hearing the voice of God are able to rely on their spiritual insight to answer that question.  I use the sonic method... keep moving forward until you hear either the sound of broken glass or dented metal.

My theory about the parting of the Red Sea is that nothing happened, that is, the surface of the sea remained unparted until Moses waded into the water.  That's how I sort through early morning ideas to separate the good from the goofy...  the God ideas from merely good ideas.  As the old spiritual puts it:

Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water

So... for the past several months I've been chewing on the idea of forming a network of house churches where faithful followers of Jesus are available to help those with spiritual, emotional, relational or a whole range of other needs.  Not a place where needy people can go to live, but a place where godly people are available to... pray for... walk with... lend a hand to those in need.

I love the idea of restoring what has been neglected so that it can become helpful to others. So with that in mind, I made an offer on a house in St Cloud that might become such a place.  A place where God's people are available to pray for, walk with and lend a hand to the others.

The offer was accepted... So let's get ready to wade in the water, Children.  God's gonna trouble the water!