What Difference?

On Monday, I rode by the fast food chain, Checkers on South Rt. 13 right accross from the Giant Store.  It has been there for several years and then about a year ago or so, it closed and was for sale.  Now it has openned back up and is seeking to operate under the same name.  Nothing changed on the outside, except now there are shiny streamer flags and a dancing man trying to catch our attention as we drive by.

This got me to thinking about our lives.   When we say yes to following Jesus and people don't notice a change in the way we live... it's just like that Checkers location.... easy to miss!   And doing things for show won't help either because they aren't evidence of real change - transformation.

What is it that needs to happen in our lives to give evidence of the transforming power of the love of Jesus in our lives?

Here are the lyrics to a song that I really like by For King & Country called, The Proof Of Your Love,

If I sing but don't have love
I waste my breath with every song
I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise
If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don't have love
I leave a bitter taste with every word I say

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

If I give
To a needy soul but don't have love then who is poor?
It seems all the poverty is found in me

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
Oh, let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

When it's all said and done
When we sing our final song
Only love remains
Only love remains

Let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

Beautifully and Wonderfully Made

Gotta love the beauty and intricasies of butterflies.  They come in many colors and shapes.  Just look at these two different species.  Wow!  God sure put a lot of planning into the creation of his creatures and world!

A Recap and Revision...

Yesterday, I preached a sermon called "The Cost of Following Jesus".   You can find it here if you want to listen to it.  But below is a synopsis of the sermon without the stories and a revision of the question I posed.   I revised the question because I realized that in asking for a response from people, it is assumed that I am looking for help for CoJ in helping people engage more deeply.   While I am not opposed to that, my hearts desire is to pose a question that gets each person who is part of CoJ to do some self reflection and work in their own lives.   So, here is a recap and a revision...

Something to ponder…  (Reflections on Luke 9:57-62)

 As Jesus was walking around one day, someone came up to him and said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”     Haven’t you also said that?

Following Jesus is more than taking notes or sitting in a pew.  Following Jesus is serious business and costs us something.  Following Jesus might take us to places we wouldn’t go on our own and ask of us things that we wouldn’t do on our own.  But when Jesus is Lord, we go where he sends and do what he says, because he is Lord.

To this fellow Jesus responded… we must leave our comfort zones (dens, nests, and pews) in order to follow Jesus.   Following Jesus is serious business.  Comfort, convenience, and personal preference have no place in following.

So, how does seeking comfort keep you from following Jesus?

Following Jesus is serious business and it requires that we engage deeply – with our lives including our time, talents and resources.

On the way, Jesus saw another person and invited him to come and follow him.  The guy said he would, BUT… there’s always a but isn’t there?    And another person told Jesus he would also follow him, but…   These last two would be followers sought to postpone following – to put off till tomorrow, what is a TODAY proposition!   Following Jesus is not something we can put off till tomorrow.  Because we all know that tomorrow never comes!

What has Jesus asked of you that you are postponing?  

What do you need to drop from your life in order to follow Jesus?   Sometimes we can’t respond to Jesus because we have too much going on.

Following Jesus involves more than an hour a day or a couple hours a week.   Following Jesus is more than a commitment made a long time ago.  It is a daily, hourly, every moment deal!   A “long obedience in the same direction.” (Eugene Peterson)

Following Jesus is serious business and will cost us something.   Following Jesus is not about comfort, convenience, or personal preference.  Following Jesus is more than taking notes or a commitment made a long time ago.  Following Jesus requires that we engage deeply with our WHOLE LIFE including our time, talent, and resources.  So, here is the question (and it’s a personal question.  Please substitute your name for the word “you” in the question and prayerfully consider it for yourself.)

What would help you (your name) engage more deeply with the mission and ministry of Jesus through Community of Joy?   Or another way to ask it… what would help ME engage more deeply with the mission and ministry of Jesus through Community of Joy?

After taking some time to prayerfully consider that question, please determine the next steps that you need to take and develop a plan so that you can more deeply engage.

More thoughts on prayer

Here are some more thoughts on prayer from Mark Batterson's book "The Circlemaker".  

"We pray as if God's chief objective is our personal comfort.  It is not.  God's chief objective is His glory.  And sometimes His gain involves a little pain."

Unanswered Prayer...

Most of us struggle with unanswered prayer.   A while back I read Mark Batterson's book, "The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears" (an excellent book).  In it Mark writes the following that I want to share with you...

"The hardest thing about praying hard is enduring unanswered prayers.  If you don't guard your heart, unresolved anger toward God can undermine faith.  Sometimes your only option is trust because it is the last card in your hand, but it's the wild card.  If you can trust God when the answer is no, you're likely to give HIM praise when the answer is yes..  You need to press in and press on.  By definition, praying hard is prayign when it's hard to pray.  And it's the hard times that teach us to pray hard.  But if you keep praying through, the peace that transends understanding will guard your heart and your mind.

So sometimes the answer to our prayer si no and you'll never understand why.  But here's the good news: What we perceive as unanswered prayers are often the greatest answers."

another perspective...

I confess, this shot is my favorite... something about it catches my attention... so, that is why I am playing with the cropping of it so much.  The bottom picture honors the rule of thirds.  The top one violates it... not sure which one I like more... leaning toward top one.

One more of the other one I really like... applied the rule of thirds to it.

 

Playing is so much fun...

Couldn't resist one more!  

One more batch...

Changed the perspective on some of the photos... have the 20 narrowed down to 5 but really like 2.  Can enter total of 7, so - 2 might be butterflies...

The first two are probably my favorite.  The last one might be third.  Decisions, decisions!

Playing around for the competition...

Here are some shots I took today to consider for the upcoming Ward Museum Art in Nature Photo Contest.

The Splendor of God...

"My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long."   Psalm 71:8

God doesn't waste stories...

God doesn't waste stories!  If you let him, he will use your story to impact lives for the Kingdom! 

I am seeing that BIG time in our Thursday Men's Bible Study.  One of our original members had a horrible thing happen to him about 5 years ago... it was devastating to him... but he looked to God for strength to walk through the dark time in his life and since then he had opportunity to share his story and experience with another of our guys... and it doesn't stop there... last night, both of them were helping another brother through the very same struggle.  It was so heartening to see and hear!  I almost left the ground I was standing on!

No matter what we face in life, if we will give God the space and trust him, he can use that story to help someone else.  You can bet on that!

Amish Paparazzi!

Caroline says I am an Amish Paparazzi... because when I am in camping each summer at Greenwood Furnance State Park, one of my favorite pastimes is ridding around the Big Valley to get Amish Photos.  In fact, our living room is totally decorated with my photos from previous years.  Here are some of this years collection.  

Disconnecting

I am disconnecting for at least a week!  Signing off and headed for some Sabbath rest in the mountains by a peaceful stream.   Check back in a week or so and I will surely have lots to share!

Community... REAL Community!

I have been enjoying listening to the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference that is now taking place in St. Louis, MO.  I was unable to attend this year due to congregational finances.  But due to technology have been enjoying watching Saturday night and last night from my family room and today from my office.  It has even been possible for me to interact with other viewers and a few folks there via the online chat and texting.  I have enjoyed it very much.  It is the next best thing to being there.

However, I have come to some conclusions this year while watching it too!

You can work toward building community through technology but it isn't the same as being together face to face!  

For instance, this year, due to a growing tension in the life of our denomination and a desire to move beyond that tension together, the delegate body is sitting around round tables.  And after the business items are presented, they have 10 minutes to talk around the table with focus questions.  It appears that this is an AWESOME thing - this morning the Moderator asked if 10 minutes was too much time and no one thought it was!   While I can interact with the folks online in chat and through texts with the folks there, there is NO substitute or way to have this kind of deepening community.  I have a hunch that this will transform our denomination and do a world of good.

All of this has made me realize that there really is no substitute for real - face to face community.  

That is even true of congregational life too!  Sure you can listen to the sermon or watch the worship gathering online if you miss a Sunday, but that in NO WAY can replace the power of REAL COMMUNITY that forms when we are face to face!

I am not discounting social media or other forms of technology that we might use to stay connected.  They each have their place... but NONE of them can replace face to face connection!

We were created for community and in community we discover our strength!

NOT SO!

My friend, Stephen was in Lancaster PA and saw this sign.  On first glance it is a great sign that you might think is conveying a truth, BUT...

I think it is misleading.  It is NOT the Bible that transforms!  It IS the HOLY SPIRIT that transforms us as we read the bible.   Now you might think that I am splitting hairs but that is not my intent.  I think it is very important to give credit where credit is due and that means that we need to give credit to the Holy Spirit of God who transforms our minds, hearts, and lives as we read the Bible.

To be lived...

From Len Sweet's book, "What Matters Most"... "The worst thing you can do to Christianity is to turn it into a philosophical endeavor.  Faith is more than beliefs to be learned; it is bonds to be lived.   Faith is more than holding the "right" beliefs; it is holding hte "right" (that is, the "least of these") hands.  We are judged by the world not on the basis of how "right" we've gotten what we believe but on how well we're living it - on how we love God and people.... The test, according to Jesus, is that his disciples are known not by how well they defend orthodox propositions, but by how well they "love one another."

Remembering a Sermon...

I did something yesterday that brought back a memory of a sermon I heard nearly 20 years ago.  It was preached by someone I no longer can remember - I think he was Presbyterian.  It was preached in a big ole tent at the Rothrock Fair in McVeytown, PA.  It was opening night of the fair and the annual tradition was for the Ministerial Association to hold a community worship gathering on that first night.

Don't remember the bible passage of much about the sermon except the story the preacher was telling about a quandry he had one fall day.  He was raking leaves in his front yard and had to decide what to do when he got to the property line.  How far do you rake?  Where do you stop?   Is raking your neighbor's leaves a way of showing God's love for them?

I have thought of this often when I am engaged in activities like raking leaves, shoveling snow, or picking up storm damage.   Such was the case yesterday, my 87 year old neighbor had alot of pinecones and small branches scattered all over her front and back yard.  My yard was relatively clean.  As I was picking up what was in my yard, I remembered the sermon and I decided to pick up hers.   It is such a good feeling to share the Love of God with someone by blessing them!