January 2012

Is God in Your Future Plans? Cont'd

Jan

Man looking off into the distant mountains

The 3rd Common Mistake

James writes in chapter 4:17, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” The 3rd mistake to be aware of is procrastination (see others below). Let me illustrate by the following that I read somewhere:

Procrastination is my sin, it only caused me sorrow.
I know I ought to change my ways, in fact I will – tomorrow.

Remember that strategic planning process I spoke of in the December blog? Ministry planning that is done with God in the mix of it, through Word and prayer, might be outstanding. However, if the resulting plan sits on a shelf and is not ever implemented because of procrastination it is worthless.

While it’s true that people of all ages procrastinate, my observation is that teens seem to do it best. I am not sure why that is. While you can procrastinate in all there is to do in life, when you know the good to do and don’t do it, that’s sin. So, one can do absolutely nothing, and sin.

Jesus told a story about talents. The master gave one talent to one man, five to another, and ten to another. He left and came back sometime later. The first two men had doubled the master’s money, while the third had buried his in the ground. The master said he could have at least invested it so as to get interest on it. He said, “You wicked servant!” Why? What had he done wrong? The servant's sinfulness was in doing nothing at all.

The Solution

The solution to procrastination is like the Nike ad says, “Just do it,” with an emphasis on today and an attitude that looks to extend God’s love that you have freely received to someone else.

James focuses on numerous things to do in terms of living a Christian life and it’s important to keep them in the proper context as it relates to future plans. Why should we do what we do? Because of the Gospel, the good news of what Jesus has done to save us. He did everything in terms of salvation. When it comes to being saved there is nothing more for us to do. But that is not the end of the story. We now live in the expectation of the new world Jesus is preparing, and by faith we are his agents to help prepare others for it. Our future plans should encompass that.

Common Mistakes Blog Series:

Photo courtesy fredthechicken via Flickr

Posted By Richard J. Wolfram read more

Detroit: The City of Hope

Jan

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31).

Jeremiah and Isaiah painted a glorious promise to the people of God who were living in captivity in a foreign land, who hoped for a brighter future that seemed so far off from their promised land. Yet, hope is held out as a distant light with a promising future. Too often we focus on the pundit-painted picture of hopelessness as we see the canvas of despair in our communities and urban cities. We talk of decay, disease, and death. Our sight is limited by our own fears and bias. Yet God is not a God of decay, disease, and death, but a God of life, liberty, and eternity in Christ. (John 10:10)

Hope is a powerful thing – perhaps the most powerful thing of all. But the real strength comes from the source of hope, God’s one and only Son, the world’s Savior, Christ the Lord, and the hope of Glory. When we place our desires and dreams into the hands of Christ, nothing is impossible.

5 Reasons to Consider Detroit in 2012 as The City of Hope!

1. God is still the God of Hope and has called His Church as a People of Hope, a confident and favorable expectation for His people and the cities where they live, especially Detroit. As He has reclaimed His people throughout history, God is still in the mission of reclaiming cities and its inhabitants as we, “Trust in God!”

2. The Church has been gifted and equipped with the mission and ministry of diakonia, marturia, and koinonia – service, witness, and fellowship. Let’s get beyond our fears and bias and get on with being, “Christ to the city.”

3. The Church has been given the stewardship gifts for affective change for people and communities as no other institution created by humanity as we, “Live as stewards of the mysteries of God.”

4. The Church has been blessed with faith, faculties, and facilities to serve and salvage communities and its people, “As you did it unto the least of these.”

5. The Church has been blessed with the wonderful message and opportunities to be faithful to the great commission, “As we disciple the nations.”

As many peer into what the world perceives to be the deep dark night of hopelessness in our urban cities, God’s people – the Church – are called to a life of faith, hope, and love. In our belief that God is for us, we know that no matter what is against us, God’s will for His people will prevail as we trust in the Lord and rely upon Him. For He has said to His people and their cities, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31).

A Time to Think

“Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things and a good thing never dies.” - Shawshank Redemption

A Time to Act

Pray and show hope as you release your worries and encourage others to a life of hope.

A Time to Pray

Oh, Lord, teach me to have hope and share a word and life of hope in all things, every day of my life.

Picture: Bernt Rostad via Flickr

Posted By Roosevelt Gray read more

Regarding Intentionality

Jan

A couple helps an elderly gentleman across a busy street

Intentionality

My mother often told me, “If you are going to get in trouble, get in trouble for trying to do something right.” That was pretty good advice 40+ years ago; and I think it’s pretty good advice today.

Her point, and mine, is about INTENTIONALITY, or, “doing stuff on purpose.”

I am constantly amazed by the number of times I "get in trouble" without even trying. I injure a family member, friend, or co-worker with words, lack of words, actions, or lack of actions, without any intent to cause harm. Sometimes, just showing up can cause a problem…or not showing up! Set aside the fact that some people, sometimes, are just plain “difficult” personalities; and we are still left with the reality of un-intentional “trouble”. (In no way am I advocating that “sins of omission” are less damning than “sins of commission”. Sin is sin! I’m just talking about the day to day “stuff we step in” when it comes to relationships.)

Applied to the Church

Apply this to the Church’s ministry, and in particular to leaders in the Church, i.e. pastors, teachers, DCE’s, and other staff or lay leaders; and there will be plethora of illustrations for this “troubling truth”. We’d like to think that there is a little more grace in the church, but often the opposite is true…especially when it comes to leaders. The Apostle Paul and our Lord Jesus experienced fickle folks and gossipy groups. Why should we expect anything different?

But here’s the rub: The testimony of Scripture is that the Apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus (especially Jesus) lived their lives with INTENTIONALITY. (We could widen the scope to include Moses, David, Nehemiah, all the prophets – my favorite example is Amos – Luther, and other reformers whom God used at various times and places.)

So I’m thinking…and please track with me…I’m thinking my mother was right! “If I’m going to get in trouble, get in trouble for trying to do something right.” Stated more clearly, “get in trouble for trying to do some right thing!” The challenge then becomes to prayerfully discern what the right thing is and seek to do it INTENTIONALLY. I’ve read in numerous places that the difference between “leadership” and “management” is that leadership seeks to do the “right thing,” while management seeks to “do things right.” (Both have value, but I am advocating in this rumination for leadership in our personal lives and in the life of the Church.)

Trouble With Avoiding Trouble

My observation of most people and many (if not most) ministries is that they would be best described as a pinball. They simply bounce from one bumper to another with no real sense of direction or purpose. It is a life of reaction rather than response. I’m not suggesting that we go out and look for trouble as we aggressively seek to intentionally do the right thing; but my observation is that seeking to avoid trouble is just as troublesome…and then one has to live with failure to do the right thing…unintentionally.

What if we took some direction from Scripture? Paul says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (I Cor. 11:1). Again Paul writes earlier in the same letter, “Be imitators of me” (I Cor. 4:16). Paul described his life as “Pressing on toward the goal…to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me” (Phil. 3:12, 14). The Apostle lived out his life in Christ with great intentionality! He encouraged his fellow Christians to do the same. He didn’t do it “so that” God would accept him, but “because” God had already accepted him by faith in the accomplished work of Jesus Christ.

God's Intentionality

What about the Lord Christ? God surely demonstrated intentionality when sending His Son into a sin-soaked world. How often have we heard sermons declaring God’s long-range plan of salvation, reaching back to Genesis 3:15 and pressing forward through people and places, prosperity and poverty, priests and prophets, punishment and promise? And the inspired shorthand is simply, “When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born under the law, to redeem those who were under (the curse of) the law” (Galatians 4:4).

We cannot read the Gospels without identifying the intentionality of Jesus as He goes about His ministry of teaching, healing, praying, confronting, and forgiving. And his death on Calvary’s cross? What made that crucifixion different from the thousands before and after by Roman hands was His sinless INTENTIONALITY! Already in Matthew 16, after the confession of Peter, “Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things…and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” He even calls Peter “Satan” for trying to keep him “out of trouble” in His effort to do the right thing!

And after His resurrection, what does Jesus say to His disciples and all Christians? “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” (John 20:21). “Go, make disciples of all people groups, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19). “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness will be preached in His name to all nations…” (Luke 24:46-47). “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8).

God’s intention in Christ was to redeem the world; and in particular, to redeem me from the slavery to sin, death, and Satan. His intention for me is now to live with intentionality…to try to do “some right thing.” That “some right thing” is to be His Spirit-empowered witness of His intention in Christ for all people.

Christ-Centered Intention

Stay with me now. What would happen if life was lived with Christ-centered intention?

If I loved my wife intentionally?
If I parented with intention?
If I spoke to the bank teller with intention?
If I used my time with intention?
If I greeted my neighbor with intention?
If each local congregation planned ministry with intention?
If every service of worship was planned with intention?
If every lesson plan in the classroom was done with intention?
If every email or text had intention?

You are free to add to this list as it serves your rumination and life in Christ.

Now before me is a choice in this New Year, 2012. I am fully aware that it is impossible to “stay out of trouble.” Therefore, by God’s grace in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I choose to get in trouble for doing “some right thing.” I pray that other Christian brothers and sisters will join me in such “trouble-making” as we live with Spirit empowered INTENTIONALITY. I believe God will bless His Church as we reflect His intentions for the world in Christ Jesus.

Photo courtesy Ed Yourdon, Flickr

Posted By Robert E. Kasper read more

What to Do With the Commercialization of "Our" Holidays

Jan

This time of year, many of us look around and feel a little post-holiday bloat. After Christmas, we have fuller closets, toy boxes, and waistlines. We sigh, and wonder where to put the extra stuff, or how to whittle away at that credit card debt.

Last year was my first Christmas in my own home. There was something different about decorating for a home that we really owned. I would be lying if I said there were not a couple of trips down the holiday aisle that did not result in embarrassment at the resulting receipt total. I asked myself later, “Why did I think I needed so many decorations?” Of course, just like anyone in advertising will tell you, the stores sell more than greenery and lights; they are selling an ideal.

For me, decorating is wrapped up in nostalgia. I have memories of listening to Christmas music while hanging ornaments on the tree and watching my mother fuss with decorations until even I was surprised to see how beautiful the home you see everyday can look. These memories emerged in the Christmas aisle, and I fell prey. I wanted to reproduce that ideal for my family.

Even if you do not have similar childhood memories, “falling prey” to these emotional advertising appeals is easy. You desire to recreate some sort of ideal, whether it is the perfect home or the perfect look. This is something that sales professionals know—if you can tap into the emotional ideal that matters to the customer, you have made your sale. For example, the idea of purchasing a huge television causes you to think of being the house where everyone wants to hang out. What about a new car? The sales pitch is that a car makes a statement, that you are one who does not compromise on performance or safety (but never mind that both could be accomplished in a more moderately priced vehicle).

There is a different kind of nostalgia taking place, one more primal to the human experience, and the reason this tactic works on some level in all of us.

C.S. Lewis argues in his book, “Mere Christianity,” that the very yearning for an ideal speaks to the reality of God.

“A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”

Clearly, the nostalgia we yearn for is not of our creation. Our recoil at the injuries of this world points us to Him, as 1 Chronicles 29:11 says,

“Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”

We might take a tip from St. Paul in handling the commercialization of the holidays. When he visited the Athenians, he used something they had created, a statue “To an Unknown God,” as his starting point. He did not condone their idolatry, but it was a place of understanding from which he could begin to witness.

Perhaps we can do the same. It is something of a miracle – that in a world claiming no need for God and where much idolatry flourish – that families who have never attended church celebrate Christmas or Easter.

What do our non-churched neighbors celebrate? Hope, generosity, and special traditions with friends and family are present in every “ideal” celebration of these holidays. That “nostalgia” for something good that has been lost is present even if they do not know Christ. Everyone was created in His image, and all have failed to remain in it.

Do those sound like starting points?

Recently, the Michigan District started an “A2E” initiative that aims to witness to our cities, comparing our age to that of early Christians in Acts 2. We live in a post-modern, post-Christian world, and while that may be frightening (not unlike selling “Christmas” with cheap manufacturing) it provides a fertile opportunity for planting seeds of faith.

We know that there is more to “our” holidays; just like we know that there is more to Christmas than Santa, or more to Easter than a bunny. At times, we may have failed to preserve the sacred nature of our Holy Days, just as we have failed to preserve the ideal in which we were created. The solution is the same, and the truth of Jesus' incarnation, death, and resurrection thankfully does not rely on our abilities to keep tacky “Christmas” products off the shelves or anything we could possibly do ourselves. Christ has done it all.

Praise God that we are made “ideal” through the work of Christ. Praise Him too, that earthly discontents and nostalgia for the true “ideal” holiday have the potential to lead others to the foot of the cross where all our debts were paid in full.

Rachel Tapling teaches current events and language arts to middle school students at Peace, Shelby Township. She is a graduate of Concordia University Ann Arbor and working on her Master's Degree in Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction. She and her husband, Dave, are involved with "GodTalk" ministries in Detroit and are members of St. Peter, Eastpointe. They have been blessed with one child, 3-year-old Mason.

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Is God in Your Future Plans? Cont'd

The 3rd Common Mistake