Tag Archives: faith

Who’s at the top?

Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, ,

Here’s a puzzler: why did demons know who Jesus was while religious leaders did not? And why were they so eager to declare Who He was? In Mark 1, the account says: “So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak.”

Had they met Him, had a run in with Him, been briefed on Him? Or did they already acknowledge Him as Lord of All? Was Jesus the adversary they had been warned about, or was He the King of Kings they had bowed down before? Since higher powers exist – angels, demons, cherubim, etc. – they know Who’s at the top.

One church at the beginning got the message from the Apostle. He said that “at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord” — not just here on earth, but above the earth and under the earth. They, by virtue of position, had to announce who he was. Because they had already acknowledged who was at the top. And… that would be Jesus! Let that make a difference in how you pray.

Recognizing The One Who Rules it All.

The Greatest Act of Worship

Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , , , ,

Have you even wondered how the beauty of goodness and the ugly of evil can exist in such close proximity? Just inside the entrance to the Sistine Chapel, covering the wall is Michaelangelo’s “Judgement Day” fresco. He depicts heaven, Jesus enthroned, worship and redemption graphically juxtaposed with hell’s fires, anguish, hopelessness and evil. The light of heaven is above; the darkness of hell is below. And pulling toward the dark those who long for good are the demons of hell. He had insight!

I see this juxtaposition of goodness and evil every day around me (and unfortunately, the battle of this inside me, too.) In Matthew 26 you can read about the greatest act of evil happening right alongside the greatest act of worship.

The Pharisees plot Jesus’ death. They do so in a politically correct way, of course, by trying to avoid Passover — a sort of Jesus-gate collusion.

While they look for a breakthrough to this “Nazarene problem, Jesus experiences the greatest act of worship possible. He is with his disciples dining at the house of a man he likely healed of leprosy, and “the woman” brings the alabaster jar in and breaks and pours out this expensive gift in adoration onto his feet.

The writer of this account uses two key “transition words” that indicate these two events were happening side-by-side – different locations, down the street from each other, but at the same time. How revealing!

When I break open and pour out what I am before the Lord, the fragrance is sweet – not because of the good I have done or am, but because of the good He has poured in. And when this happens, the aroma can overwhelm the place I’m in and draw others to the Source of this perfume. No matter the evil “down the street” or the pull the enemy has to tempt us toward the darkness, the fragrance of God’s grace and the goodness through a life poured out for Him is greater!

As you and I seek the Father, live by the Spirit, and pursue the Son’s command to follow Him and build disciples of all nations, keep pouring out the good He has poured into you.

Broken and splashed – Rick

Learning from The 70’s

Just Stories, Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , ,

Every time I enter my “year of birth” in a web form, I’m reminded that my life spans seven decades! That doesn’t mean I’m 70+ years old, but as a child of parents from The Greatest Generation and born in the ’50’s, I’ve “rung in” my share of decades.

One of those decades was The ’70’s – a pivotal discovery time for a lot of reasons.  Maybe the most important is that I learned what not to do. For instance, don’t try to run in 3 1/2 inch disco stacks. Some body part will get hurt. Or no matter how proud you are of it, nobody really cares who paints your senior class year on a road or bridge. And don’t drive 95 miles an hour to get back to school from a mid-morning coca-cola and honey bun run, if you own a Pinto. Yes, you know who you are!

Here’s the big one I learned. What not to chase! In the ’70’s, we had a lot of options to spend our lives doing, public and private. Some were a waste; others earned money, a fleeting influence, or a name on a street; while other options left deposits of eternity in others’ lives.  I was a young, struggling follower of Jesus in the early ’70’s when God captivated me with His undeniable truth and unexplainable compassion for me. And it followed that, if he love me (an average invisible teenager with issues) he loved others… around me and around the globe. It knocked me into a new orbit, with Jesus at the center.

Last week, I attended a party at Seacoast Vineyard Church in Myrtle Beach that focused on celebrating The ’70’s. It was a real blast from the past, and gave me a taste of what my church friends looked (and acted) like a few decades back. There was even a disco ball with the lights chasing around the room. And it left me thinking about today, and how I’m different because of that decade.

Matthew records what Jesus said about what to chase and what not to chase:

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:31-33 NLT)

The ’70’s legacy? Chase the King and His Kingdom, trust God for the stuff of life, and above all don’t drive your Pinto over 35 mph.

Pursuing the Kingdom -Rick

Looking for God

Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , , , , , ,

It was 1986, and it was another Sunday morning. My role at the church I serve in San Antonio was as pastor of discipleship and evangelism. We had begun a Hispanic church on half of our campus, and had recently begun a small group program in homes around the neighborhoods. And God was showing up in the homes in refreshing ways. One of our “nights of worship” with all the small groups together lasted long into the evening (long, especially for Baptists on a Friday night.)

The Sunday morning in question had been a better-than-normal crowd. The message was good for the moment, but I can’t remember it. The worship was very normal (and very forgettable) for a Baptist church with a choir loft and organ. The invitation was short; the results escape me. What was memorable happened as I was gathering my Bible and notebook together at the end of the service. In fact, I will never forget the words nor the look on the faces of the young Latino couple who found me at the front of the church.

“I have heard we can find God here.” The couple looked really out-of-place among the stained glass and maple woodwork. And at the same time, they looked like perfect candidates for the altar we were standing beside. The sunlight magnified the dust particles in the hazy air of the empty sanctuary these two had invaded, with hopes of finding God.

I said, “Yes, I can help you find God right here.” We prayed.

Skip forward to tonight. My pastor at the Beach led a membership class tonight for about a dozen people. I was there because I help with small groups and disciple-making. He talked about values, the history of our church, and told stories of how God has been working and how He has led us to this point.

Then he shared what kind of church he envisions us becoming. The top of his list didn’t include large numbers, huge buildings, a publishing house or film department (that seems the rage lately.)

He looked out the front door to the streets, the beach, the road to the local schools, the bars, the strip clubs, restaurants, malls, and the hideouts for the street people who live here. “I want the people who don’t know God to know that, if they can just get to our church, if they can just get here, they will find people who will love them, and they’ll find the love of God.”

He was the prophet tonight. There are people who come looking for God. The word is out. Hope…help…healing… wholeness…the love of God is here. God wants the place where church meets to be a place that people who may not look like they belong in church can look for God. Like the latino couple, they can risk the question, “Can I find God here?”

“…so he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)

Keeping It Together

Points Along The Journey - Living A Missional Life, , , , , ,
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Paul to the Colossian Christians)