Keeping Secrets Steals Your Joy

Secret-keeping is bad for the soul.

But, isn't part of the fun of Christmas all about the art of keeping secrets, after all?

I mean, who hasn't known the fun of secretly buying someone what you believe is the perfect Christmas gift?  Who hasn't snuck through the house trying to find the Christmas "stash?"    Who hasn't shaken that beautifully wrapped present, felt its weight or considered its shape?

Secret-keeping is part of the fun.   Family legend at my house says that one year my grandfather had unwrapped all his gifts, tried them on and even returned one, all before Christmas morning.   Now he was good.

But there are other kinds of secrets that don't have to do with surprise.  They have to do with fear or shame. Sometimes, they may even do with a strange kind of latent hope that lives inside our hearts, but we become afraid that sharing our secret hope might mean that it never comes true.

We live with the shame, burying it inside of us.  We let the flame of vision and hope burn down to the tiniest ember.  And the pain of carrying those secrets steals our joy.

Adam Hamilton points out in The Journey, that Mary must have held Gabriel's message as her own secret for the 9 or 10 days it would have taken her to travel to Elizabeth's house.

Can you imagine the weight of it?  The angel had told her that Elizabeth was pregnant too, in her old age.  Mary couldn't send a text, or hit her up on facebook.

She had to travel, on foot, over mountains.  And all the while, there was a secret to be kept.

When they saw each other, the secret burst forth.  Elizabeth exclaimed that she knew Mary's news.  She could see it on her.  Hope, mixed with fear, gave way to joy.

Releasing the secret to this trusted loved one, Mary cried out the famous words..."my soul magnifies the Lord!"

What about us?  What secret is stealing your joy?   What makes you hold it?  Who can you tell?

Start by saying that secret out loud to God, and ask God to show you someone else who will understand.

That secret source of pain could be the very place of joy that God longs to give you.  It could be the piece of your life story that someone else desperately needs to hear.

Don't let a secret steal your joy.

Grace, Peace -- Come hear more about Mary and Elizabeth this Sunday at 10:30 at SOTH!
Adam

Can Christians Have Their Doubts?

Can Christians have their doubts?

St. Joseph...The Doubter

Of course we can.  Want to know where I learned that?

Joseph.  As in Joseph and Mary.

Why wouldn't he?  The woman to whom he was engaged told him that she was pregnant.  He knew the baby wasn't his.  She said she hadn't been with anyone else.

What would you say to that?

I know what I would say.  I'd say, "I doubt that very much."  That's if I was feeling particularly charitable.  Joseph may have said something a little more salty, to say the least.

We know Joseph doubted, because he had decided to be a "good guy," and just break off the engagement quietly.  Charitable, yes.  Realistic, yes.  Saintly faith?  No.  He didn't buy it.

I find that hopeful.  The truth is, I have my doubts, too.  Lots of them.

Faith in Jesus doesn't mean that we check our brains at the door.  It doesn't mean that we hide our heads in the sand, or ignore the things that don't add up.

But what it does mean is something bigger, and better.  It means that like Joseph, in spite of our doubts, and in the face of overwhelming odds, we trust the glimmer of light and truth that is God in our midst.

Joseph is a saint because he dared to believe in the face of his doubt.  That is the kind of heart that God is looking for, and the heart that God uses to change the world.

What about us?  Do we doubt?  Of course we do.

That's what makes real faith possible.

Grace & Peace for the Journey --
Adam

Christmas Was Dangerous

Wednesday night's gathering at SOTH to discuss The Journey yielded lots of great discussion and got all of our "wheels" turning on what the experience of that first Christmas might really have been like.

A question emerged:  Can we say no to God?

Could Mary have simply refused Gabriel's message?

What about us?  Can we thwart the will of God?

Mary had good reasons to say no.  Namely, safety.  She was told by Gabriel that this child would be the King, the Annointed One, the Messiah of Israel.  That meant he was a direct threat to King Herod.  And Herod didn't do very well with being threatened.

He was ruthless and had already killed some of his own children who had threatened his rule.  Scripture tells us that after the visit of the Magi, he ordered the execution of all the baby boys who could be the one.

But there was even more.

Old Testament law made Mary's "offense" of pregnancy out of wedlock punishable by death.  The religious authorities had the right to have her stoned to death.  At the moment she said yes, she didn't know what Joseph's reaction to her condition would be.

She had lots of reasons to say no.  But she said yes.  And it was dangerous.

Sure, but she was looking at an angel, right?  Adam Hamilton puts forward in his work the idea that the "messenger" Mary faced might very well have looked like any other human being.  Still, she said yes.

What about us?  What could God be calling us to, right here, right now?  Does it involve risk?  Is the calling of Christmas still dangerous?

If what we feel is a call from God, it will almost surely involve risk and a kind of danger.  Without that risk, there isn't much possibility of growth.

And God is all about the growth of something new.  Just ask Mary.  She said yes.

Grace & Peace --- and see you this Sunday at 10:30 as we talk about Joseph!

Adam

The Journey: Mary of Nazareth

Wecome to my thoughts and reflections and Shepherd of the Hills discussion of Adam Hamilton's The Journey:  Walking the Road to Bethlehem.

This great book will serve as the center of our worship experiences these next few Sundays, and we'll be going deeper in a gathering at SOTH on WEdnesday nights, at 6PM.

In addition, we'll be walking through Hamilton's daily devotional thoughts.  I'm glad we're together for the ride!

Today, and really this entire week, is all about Mary's encounter with Gabriel, and the message she learns about the baby she will soon conceive.

Luke 1:26-30:  The Message
 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:  Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you.  She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus."

I love Hamilton's lead question for today's reading.  What do you think about angels?  

Fluffy little child-like beings with wings?  Hard to believe sometimes, isn't it?  

What did scripture mean by the word?  While we may not be able to know exactly, we do know that the meaning on the face of the New Testament word was "messenger."  Check out the word, "aggelos."  

I definitely believe in messengers.  I have met plenty of them in my life.  Just as Hamilton relates experiences he has had with God's messengers, I can think of people who have spoken what turned out to be nothing short of God's word into my life.  

Divine providence?  I think so.  I do believe God speaks to us.  In the Bible, this happened through dreams, visions, or physical messengers.  

What is God trying to tell you in this Christmas season?  What are we being prepared for?  

Hebrews 13:2:  "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

Jesus was not welcomed into the inn on the night of his birth...may we open ourselves to the "strangers" God sends into our midst with his message.  Believe in aggelos.  

Grace & Peace,

Adam 

Bridging the Great Divide

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 29
Read pgs. 144-147

"I am the way, and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture."  

"I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."   -- Jesus 

Confession time:  sometimes I cringe when I hear Christian, church folks say phrases like, "plan of salvation."  Today's reading in in our guidebook describes a "plan of salvation" kind of moment between two friends in a coffee shop.   I hate that I sometimes find that cringe-worthy, though I think there's good reason why I do.

Too many times I've found myself in churches, or surrounded by Christians who focus exclusively on that moment of "crossing the line,"  or "praying the sinner's prayer."  They rejoice, just like in the earlier post from this week, because a new name has just been added to the heavenly roll.  

And then things just kind of stop.  There's no plan for becoming a discipleship.  It's like starting a race, celebrating the huge first step, and then leaving the runner on her own.

I've just always felt like, "we can do so much better.'' Not to mention that we can leave a new believer feeling used and confused.

But, let me be the first to say, I and other groups of Christians are definitely too often guilty of throwing out baby and bathwater, and that's just not excusable.

You see, I think it's true that we need a life-long plan of growing in our faith.

But, we do need to start.  And most of all, we need a way to bridge the divide.

Sin is a very real problem.  I think the ancient, Greek New Testament way of thinking about it is extremely helpful.  Sin is to "miss the mark."  It is the separation between where we are, and the place that God wants to give us as a new and better way.

Christians have lots of not too flattering words for people who are moving through life with that deep sense of unresolved separation, and I'll be the first to say that I don't like most of them.

But I do kind of like one.  Even though some people might find it offensive to hear it if somebody's applying it to them, I think the best and most charitable description of life apart from God might well be, "lost."

Lost.

I've been lost before.  Spiritually, and physically.  And sometimes when you're lost, it's not even really your fault.  To be lost means you can't find your way.  If I'm really lost, I don't even know which direction might take me toward something that can take me toward something else that might take me in the right direction.

Lost.  Scared.  Something's wrong.  Wanting to be found.

The Old Testament was obsessed with how to make that situation right.  There was an elaborate system of sacrifices and rituals that could make a person put down their guilt and know themselves to have somehow closed the gap of separation that sin creates between us, God and other people.

Christianity says that gap can be closed forever, finally, once and for all.

It is an offer of grace.  The perfect sacrifice chose to give himself.

There is a bridge across the divide.  When someone who "once was lost but now is found," sees the truth of walking across that bridge.  There is well and truly reason for celebration.

And a whole new life is just beginning.

Grace, Peace, and Forgiveness that Closes the Gap,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Learn "the bridge" illustration as presented in today's Guidebook reading.

Today's Big Idea:  Pray that God will show you the right person, in the right time, in the right relationship, and in the right way to have a spiritual conversation in the near future.

Good News of Great Joy

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 28
Read pgs 140-143

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field."  Jesus, Matthew 13:44

I have the privilege, though it gets heavy, of serving on the "Board of Ordained Ministry" for our conference of the UMC.

Specifically, I serve on one of the "Theology and Doctrine" teams.  That means that I serve as one of the examiners of candidates for ordained ministry who are presenting themselves to be questioned about matters of scripture, theological understanding and United Methodist doctrine.

Good times, huh?

The truth is, I take the work very seriously, and it is a privilege.  But like I said, it's also heavy.  Hours and hours of asking questions, and listening to halting answers from nervous, earnest candidates.   After years of study, this test puts it all on the line for them.  They're trying to "pass the bar," so to speak, and families and congregations are waiting to hear the results.

One of the questions from our Book of Discipline is, "what is your understanding of the Kingdom of God?"

Well, how would you answer that?

How did Jesus answer it?

Sometimes he used the term, "Kingdom of Heaven," but almost always he used some kind of metaphorical description.  The Kingdom is like..."a pearl of great price...a mustard seed...a treasure hidden in a field...yeast that leavens a whole loaf."

What?

Exactly.  It's not easy.  And yet, it is.

Today's reading from our devotional book reminds us of how many people went with enthusiasm in search of gold in the 1840's.  The Kingdom is like..."flecks of gold in a mountain stream."  Seems right.

It's something to be sought after.  It's not obvious.  It's powerful, and a great treasure.  Finding it brings joy.

I think that I glimpse the joy of the Kingdom in bits and pieces in this life.  There are moments when I know that I feel the pure rule and reign of Jesus.  That's the Kingdom.  It is here, and it is to come.

The great good news is that we're invited to join the search, and one day, maybe even today, we will find.

Grace, Peace, and Happy Treasure Hunting --
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Write your story about finding new life in Christ.  Read it to at least one person.

Today's Big Idea:  The treasure is no further away than a prayer --- ask Jesus to make himself real in your heart and life.

When Heaven Throws a Party

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 27
Read pgs 136-139

"...when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  Jesus, Luke 15

Today's reading from our guidebook says that "humans are 'party animals.'"  True, no doubt.

Weddings, birthdays, holidays, no reason at all...we love to eat and drink and dance and party.  This is true across cultures, times and places.

I remember the 2 person living room party that broke out where I was in October of 1995.  After years of faithful struggle and last place finishes, my Dad and I watched a soft fly ball to center land gently in the glove of Marquis Grissom.  Our Braves had beaten the Indians 1-0 and had won Game 6 of the World Series.  They had done it.  They were the champs.

I'm pretty sure we wept tears as we watched players who had become to us like old friends, dance and party on the field.  We hugged, we danced.  It was a party.

Over a baseball game.  Over a team composed of guys that we would never know, and "our" shared success.

Weird, huh?  Yes, it really is.

How could we get that excited over something that inconsequential, and yet fail to be passionate about some of life's most important things?

It's what we human beings tend to do.

Jesus tells us that the greatest heavenly celebrations begin to break forth whenever "one sinner repents."  The image he gives us is of angels having a party.  So, what holds us back?

It takes faith to believe.  It takes a radical shift in priorities.  It takes really believing that faith in Jesus makes  a difference now and forever.

Jesus knew that passion was everything.  He knew that humans who really believed in the joy of the mission would fulfill it in greater ways than we could ever begin to imagine.  And so he draws a clear picture of what matters, and what a real source of our joy should be.

And so, I pray for myself and for you, that we'll be that passionate about seeing others experience a release from sin, guilt and shame.  I pray that we have experienced it ourselves, and that we will share that passionate focus with others.

Of course, should the Braves somehow win it all this October, you can believe that I'll be just as excited as I was in '95.  But Lord, let me carry that hope and passion into my life with others today.

Grace, Peace, and Party --
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Who are the "top five" folks from yesterday's list who seem skeptical, hurt, or seeking when it comes to their faith?  List one small thing that you can do to deepen your relationship with each of them, like:  "invite them for dinner,"  "take them to lunch,"  "invite them to a church event."

Today's Big Idea:  Describe the party in heaven that will happen when one you love so much finds repentance, peace and new life in their relationship with God.  Use your imagination!

Lost and Found

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 26
Read pgs 132-135

"The Son of Man came to serve, not to be served -- and to give away his life." 

"I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance." 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened."  

"Love each other as I have loved you."  -- Jesus of Nazareth

"What's in this for me?"  -- Adam Roberts (and the rest of us, sometimes)

Today's devotional reading poses yet another interesting question, with a pretty obvious answer that's still worth some pondering:  why do people with a sense of humor, or a positive outlook, or a big expense account, tend to have more friends?

Because it's more enjoyable for other people to spend time with them.   In essence, people see "there's something in this for me...I enjoy this," and they spend their time there.

We humans know this intrinsically.  We just can't help making silent calculations about costs vs. benefits.

But Jesus tells us that we're going to love people the way he did.  That means sometimes (many times, most of the time) the cost may well outweigh the benefits.  That's not an easy thing for us mere mortals.  It's contrary to our instincts of self-interest.

Jesus is a seeker of people.  He goes to them, often at great risk to himself.

He also says that he calls his disciples to the narrow path, and narrow it truly is.

Why would anyone choose it?  As best I can figure, it's got everything to do with believing that we have been dramatically and sacrificially saved from an abyss by someone who came seeking us, when we had very little to offer in return.

Gratitude.  Grace.  Gift.  If we understand life to be dramatic examples of these three things, then maybe we can go looking for someone to share with too.

Grace, Peace, and Joyous Seeking --
Adam

Today's Small Step:  List the people that you are likely to see everyday -- those you go to school with, or work with, or who live in your neighborhood.  What would it mean to start here, and find ways to live for them that shares the life that God has given you?

Today's Big Idea:  How would our relationships with people be different if we focused on what we could give, and not what we could get?

To Seek and To Save

30 Day Church Challenge, Day 25
Read pgs 128-131

"He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."  2 Corinthians 5:18-20

Until reading today's devotional from our 30 day guidebook, I'm not sure I'd ever heard the story of Maximilian Kolbe.

What about you?

In short, he traded his life for another prisoner's, inside of Auschwitz concentration camp.

The saved man, "Gajowniczek," later said, "...I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on.  The immensity of it:  I, the condemned, am to live because someone else willingly and voluntarily offered his life for me -- a stranger."

Our theme this week is, "outreach," or as we've talked about it at Shepherd of the Hills, "serving."

The pattern of our faith is the ultimate example of serving that we find in Jesus of Nazareth.

John 13 tells us that "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his control," and then he gets up, takes a towel and basin, and washes the feet of his disciples.

This is the template for our faith, along with the very cross of crucifixion.

When I was a seminary student, I had the privilege of taking a class with the great Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  He told us that the world could change if the followers of Jesus really believed that all people were made in the image of God.  He said, "we would stop on the street and bow to each other, to the image of God that lies within."

Tutu understands evil.  He is no soft-headed person who thinks that life is a fairy tale.  He has seen evil and cruelty on a scale and in a way that almost none of us from the United States ever have.  And yet he still believes that serving, sacrifice and outreach to others is worthy...because every person is a child of God.

What do we believe?

Grace, Peace, and Service,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  In one or two sentences, write down why you believe God wants you to reach out to reach out to your neighbors.

Today's Big Idea:   How would my life be different without the sacrificial outreach of Jesus?

The God of the Open Hand

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 23
Read pgs 116-119, 30DCC Guidebook

"You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."  Psalm 145:16

"Earth is drenched in God's affectionate satisfaction."  Psalm 33:5 

So, check out this number:  70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

That's seventy "sextillion."  That's the estimated number of stars in our universe.  Today's reading tells us that illustrates the unlimited creative nature of God.

Number of different species of native flowers on earth?  270,000.

The list could go on, and on, and on.  

And so, we humans are left with some choices.  We could become worshipers of our own intellect, and believe that we are smart enough that we have now completely understood the observable universe around us.  We could say that it's all a marvelous, unlikely, amazing cosmic accident, and that intense biodiversity is simply the best evolutionary model.

Or, we could embrace all that science can teach us, while making that knowledge complete with a deeply held faith in the "something more" that there must surely be.  That something is God, our creator.  And that creator is the God of the Open Hand.

What would change in our lives if we truly could begin to see the world around us as part and parcel of God's extravagant generosity?  Everything on the news, and most of what you see on facebook and hear in coffee shop conversations is all about the opposite.  It's about lack, and need, and fear.

But scripture tells us a different story.   What we have learned through science confirms it.  The diversity and expanse of the universe is beyond our ability to truly conceive of it.    God is expansive, and we can be too.

Grace, Peace, and Courageous Generosity,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Give something anonymously today.  For example, pay for the person behind you in line at the coffee shop -- that kind of thing.  Get creative!

Today's Big Idea:    Which is harder?  Giving generously, or giving cheerfully?  Why?

Wealth that Wins a Welcome

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 22
Read pgs 112-115 in the 30DCC guidebook

"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings."  Jesus, Luke 16:9

Today's reading in our guidebook poses one of life's great questions:  what would we do if we knew when our life would come to an end?

What if we somehow had supernatural knowledge that tonight was our last one on earth?

What would we do?  Cry?  Assume the fetal position?  Possibly --- but let's play with the hypothetical.

Would we figure out how to go clean out our bank account?  Would we spend the evening buying stuff online?

Of course not.  In an instant, things would grow crystal clear.  We would be with the ones we love most.  We would make every moment count.

The hypothetical gets more interesting when we play with the timeframe.  What if we had a week left?  A month?  One year?  Five?

Probably, in all of those cases, we would still have great focus and urgency in our living of life.  More time might just let us be more strategic.

In any case, money would cease to matter much, except as a means to the end of sharing time with those we love, and perhaps somehow impacting lives and leaving the world a better place than we found it.

So, why don't we do that now?

Jesus tells one of his most confusing parables about the "dishonest manager."  He's in trouble, and "cooks the books" to gain friends who can help him after his impending job loss.  Jesus' point isn't that dishonesty is good.  It's that we should all be so shrewd in understanding the money of this world in just such a way.

We should "use worldly wealth to gain friends for ourselves," remembering that the end goal is eternal life.

What a way to live.  It's a way of real freedom.

It's not every day that we encounter a concept that truly has the power to change the way we order our lives.  But when Jesus teaches, that is exactly what we find.

What will we do with tonight...tomorrow?

Grace, Peace, and Urgency,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  How can you use your specific time, talent, and income to open a door or build a friendship?

Today's Big Idea:  How are we like or unlike the "shrewd steward" in Jesus parable?  How do we use our resources to influence the world around us?

Everyone Tithes

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 21
Read pgs 108-111 30DCC guidebook

"Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty.  "But you ask, 'How are we to return?"  "Will a mere mortal rob God?  yet you rob me."  But you ask, "How are we robbing you?"  "In tithes and offerings...bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this."  Malachi 3

"No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  you cannot serve both God and money."  Jesus, Luke 16:13

So, what's a "tithe?"  The word is so old and churchy, that to folks who don't know the lingo, that word must seem downright creepy.

Who gets my tithe? 

It is a very old word.  It is a very "Bible" word, coming out of the ancient Jewish faith.  A "tithe" is a portion. It is a part of what an individual or family has, that is set aside for the work of God.  Specifically, in the Old Testament, the tithe is the practice of setting aside the first ten percent of one's income to be given away.

Today's devotional from our guidebook says, "everybody tithes."

What?

If you are like 99.9999% of folks out there, giving away 10% of your hard earned income is probably not something you do.

So, it's more like "nobody tithes," right?

Well, maybe not.  After all, as today's reading asserts, everybody does put the first ten percent of their income somewhere.  It's really just a matter of "where" we choose to tithe.

So, where does that first ten percent go?

Necessities?  OK, maybe we should ask where the last ten percent goes.  I know I tithe to Starbucks a whole lot more than I should.  Maybe we tithe to the credit card company, or the bank more than we should have to because we bought more house than we really needed.  Maybe I tithe on a boat payment or at the golf course or the latest smart phone.

Sound too extreme?

The Old Testament prophet Malachi goes so far as to say that spending "God's money" in a tithe to anything other than the work of God is "robbery."  That's pretty extreme.

He goes further, saying that God invites us to "test him."  God invites us to prioritize our income from the top down, setting aside some portion first.

Jesus goes even further, I think.  "You can't serve two masters...God and money."

So we have to choose.  Who is our master?  Everybody has one.  Where does our tithe go?  Everybody tithes.

Grace, Peace, and Stewardship --
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Take the 90 Day Tithe Test.  Commit to giving 10 percent of your income to the work of your faith community over the next 90 days, then evaluate the experience, and see if you have found God faithful to continue to meet your needs.  Could you be called to give even above a tithe?

Today's Big Idea:  "You can't serve two masters," Jesus said.  How does our spending and giving reflect that statement in our lives?

Treasures Are a Test

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 20 (The Home Stretch!)
Read pgs 104-107 30DCC guidebook

"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Jesus, Luke 12:34 

I remember years ago when I first heard a preacher point out the exact order of those words.  I'll have to admit, I think I always had it in my head kind of backward.

It makes sense to me that we would assume our hearts go first, and our treasure follows.  But this isn't what Jesus said.  What he said is the opposite.

Our hearts follow our treasure.

Where we put our money, that reveals our hearts.  Or maybe, we can even train our hearts to follow our money.

Why are parents so passionate about their child's travel baseball teams?  I have seen people who will lose all control of their emotions at the ball field.  Who will paint their faces and wear specially made shirts that show off their allegiance to their child and team.

Is it because they love their babies that much?  Yes, probably.

But the thousands of dollars they've spent on uniforms, equipment, training, team fees, tournaments, travel and meals probably doesn't hurt either.

$ = skin in the game.  $ spent = passion.  $ spent = investment, like few other things can.

That's just how we're wired.  That's how it is.  $ spent = possibilities and choices and doors that have opened and closed.  This is true because for all but the rarest few, $ are not infinite.

Today's devotional reading goes so far as to say, "money is not a trap, but it is a test."

Money can prepare us, and it also reveals us.  What does today's test show us about where we're heading in the future?

The list of questions on pg 105 in the guidebook is an excellent resource for answering that question.

Grace, Peace, Gratitude, and May We Pass the Test!
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Today, some choices:  Draft a realistic spending plan that reflects your spiritual and financial priorities.  Or, giving away something you own.  Or, go to www.daveramsey.com and decide when and where you (and your spouse if applicable) will enroll in Financial Peace.

Today's Big Idea:  Which of the questions on pg 105 hit closest to home for you?  Why?

The Things Prayer Does

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 17
Read pgs 88-91 30 DCC guidebook

Then he said, "Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don't have a thing on hand.'

"The friend answers from his bed, 'Don't bother me. The door's locked; my children are all down for the night; I can't get up to give you anything.'

"But let me tell you, even if he won't get up because he's a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he'll finally get up and get you whatever you need.

"Here's what I'm saying:

   Ask and you'll get;
   Seek and you'll find;
   Knock and the door will open.

"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? 

As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"

Jesus, Luke 11:5-10 The Message

That is quite an amazing passage of scripture.  I can only take it to mean that Jesus believes there is a very real and tangible power in prayer.  

What do we think?  

I think our beliefs about prayer are made known by the way we practice it.  

Why don't we pray more?  

Maybe we are afraid we won't say the right words.  Maybe it feels like an exercise in talking to an imaginary friend.  Maybe we're kind of afraid it will work.  Maybe we're absolutely sure it won't.  

But what did Jesus say about it, and what did he do?  

He prayed.  A lot.  

The one who we believe by faith was no less than God among us, God with us --- prayed.  He had a habit of sneaking off and being by himself to be present with God.  

We don't know what he said during those times.  The closest windows we have to the prayers of Jesus are his prayers for the unity of the church in John, his prayer in Gethsemane, and what we know as The Lord's Prayer.  

They're all amazingly simple.  They're all deeply beautiful, and timeless, and they all seem anchored in a deep kind of submission to God's love and authority.  

Which might be closer to the reason we struggle with our prayers.  

Jesus tells us to ask with boldness and clarity.  And then by example, he asks for things like a single day's bread, forgiveness and the ability to forgive, protection, submission to God's will, even if it means a cross.  

The results were incredible.  This man prayed for the forgiveness of others...while they were crucifying him.  

To me, this might be the greatest prayer miracle of them all.  Our hearts are transformed when we sit in communion with the presence of God.  We cannot help but be changed.  

May it be truly so for me, and for all of us.  

Grace, Peace, and Transformation through Prayer -- 

Adam 

Today's Small Step:  Commit to writing down one prayer per day for the rest of this 30 Day Challenge.  Even if it's one sentence, that is more than enough.  

Today's Big Idea:   What prayers would we pray right now if we truly thought that God would answer them?  Write those down.  

A Daily Time With God

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 16

Read pgs 84-87 in our guidebook

"In the morning, Lord, yuo hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly."  Psalm 5:3

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  Psalm 46:10  

Well, thus begins part 2 of our 30 day journey.

We're halfway!  And halfway, I have found, tends to be about the hardest part of anything worth doing.

Paint the house?  The job begins with expectation about what the new color will look like.  It begins with the excitement of opening fresh buckets and new brushes.  But the middle?  Well, the middle feels like sweat, and a lot like work.  The house looks as bad as it ever will.  Half something new but still clinging to the old.

If it's a new paint job on your house, you can't really quit halfway in, because it's just too obvious.

But there are lots of other halfway points when the temptation can be too strong.

Halfway is when you have to start truly believing in the new outcome.  You have to somehow push on.  Now, practicing a spiritual discipline for 15 more days is hardly a world-shattering act of human strength.

But, by now, you've probably experienced a couple of "failures."  You've had a few days when you were just too tired, too busy or too distracted to read and think and pray.

It's not the time to give up.  It's the time to pray harder.  You can do it.

Imagine the reward, and keep pushing, praying.

Grace, Peace, and Divine Determination --
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Ask God to help you establish a daily quiet time.  Choose a time.  Have a place.  Have a plan.  Stick to it.  All of this, with God's help.

Today's Big Idea:  What might change in your life if you made a way to get away from the busy-ness every day and pray?

The Mark of Maturity

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 15 (Halfway!)
Read pgs 80 - 83 in the 30DCC Guidebook

"In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world -- just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace."  Colossians 1:6

Today's devotional reading reminds us of what it's like to grow up.  As we get further away from our childhood and adolescence, it's easy to forget just how hard that process can be.  Sometimes, we doubt our own "maturity," and that of people around us.  What does maturity mean, anyway?

Spiritually speaking, I always think of the "fruits of the Spirit."  Using the metaphor of a plant, it is classified as mature when it begins to bear fruit and reproduce.  That's the "fruit" image used by scripture.

When I was a kid, I learned a fruits of the Spirit song, and it stuck.  I can still remember those things that are listed out in Galatians 5.

These are pretty good markers for maturity in our faith:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control

So, how much of those do we have?   I know, it can be painful to give an honest answer.  I would say that no matter how much we experience those wonderful gifts, we could all use them more often in our lives.

How can that happen?  Connection to "the vine."  Jesus said that unless branches are connected to the vine, they can't bear fruit.  We can understand that.  Jesus is that vine.  How do we connect?  Read the Gospels.  Read them again, and then read them again, and maybe one more time.  Apply daily.  Prayer, lots of it.  Relationships with brothers and sisters in the faith who can listen and encourage.  Give.  Serve.

Maturity means change.  It means stretching, and moving, and growth.  It may even hurt, a little.  But the fruit on the other side is very sweet.

Grace, Peace and Growth,
Adam

Today's Small Step:   Ask God to show you who to pray for, and begin praying that God would help you to reach out to them with God's grace and love.

Today's Big Idea:  What fears and insecurities could be keeping you from taking steps toward spiritual maturity?

And, a video for today that has nothing to do with anything.  I just got up and listened to this again this morning, and man I love these guys.  They first recorded together in the early 70's with Jerry Garcia sitting in on banjo.  This is a recent reunion concert with the great David Grisman on mandolin.

Givers and Takers (Use Things, Love People)

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 14
Read pgs 76-79, 30 DCC Guidebook

"A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed."  Proverbs 11:25

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."  Jesus, John 7:38

Today's devotional reading just laid it on the line, beautifully:  "It is quite simple, really.  God cannot give more to those whose hands are already full."

Our view of the Sea of Galilee, trip to Tiberias, Israel, 2008.

It is the tale of two lakes that Jesus knew well.  One was green and blue, full of life.  The other, brown and salty, was absolutely dead.   The Sea of Galilee, Jesus home, was a "giver."  Fed by fresh sources and natural springs, it flows and constantly refreshes itself, and all those whose lives are sustained by it.  I've seen it in person, and it truly is a beautiful place of life.

The other sea is a "taker."  Many, many feet of altitude below Jerusalem, and below sea level, the Dead Sea receives all of the minerals that the surrounding desert has to offer.  There is no outlet, and the result is a body of water in which nothing at all can live.    It's a great place for a mudbath, but it's not much of a place to go fishing.

Perhaps we are built in the very same way.

The Dead Sea shoreline, caked with deposits of salt.

What is our attitude toward life?

Givers are marked by things like:  noticing the needs of others, helpfulness, and generosity.  They pick up the tab.  They really listen.  They get their hands dirty.  They live with generosity.

Takers experience life differently.  They are oblivious to others' needs.  They ask, "what's in it for me?"  They don't go out of their way and they resent being asked to do so.  They are sensitive to defending their own rights, and they have a terrible habit of loving things and using people.

Which are we?  Most of us are some combination of both.  But if we dare to believe that God is generous.  If we practice gratitude and truly see all that we receive, we can risk opening up and letting the water of our spirits begin to flow.

As we give, our capacity to receive, to love and to be loved, increases in equal or greater measure.

Isn't that amazing?  I think it truly is.

Grace, Peace, and Giving over Taking,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Listen to your conversations today.  Challenge yourself to be a giver, not a taker.  Listen more than you talk.

Today's Big Idea:  Who are the most giving people that you have known?  What do you think made them that way?  How are we like them or unlike them, and how can we grow to be more giving, like them?

Like a Cedar of Lebanon

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 13

This Week's Challenge:  Growth through Scripture and Prayer 

"...so your roots grow down into God's love and keep you strong."  Ephesians 3:17

"...flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar of Lebanon."  Psalm 92

Not too many of us are familiar with the "cedars of Lebanon."  In fact, growing up, the only Lebanon I'd really heard much about was the one in Tennessee.  The cedar trees I saw were mostly scrubby, growing in fence rows.  

But for the people of the Bible, the cedar trees from Lebanon were the biggest trees that they knew.  So, imagine scripture saying, "grow your faith into the biggest tree that you've ever seen."  

This resonates with me.  I love to plant things and watch them grow.  Years ago, when Holly and I first moved into our home, our backyard was a blank slate.  Red clay, and not much else.  

I transplanted a tulip poplar sapling that had one little leaf growing off of it.  I brought it home in a styrofoam cup.  Eight years later, that tree is now approaching 25 feet tall.  It should someday top out over 100'!  

I believe that growth is the nature of this creation, and it is the very nature of God.  

For trees to grow, they need to be in the right place, and they need the right soil and moisture.  When those things are right, they know what to do, and they will do it.  

We need some spiritual nutrition that we can't supply for ourselves, as well.  Scripture and prayer are two of the most important pieces.    If you've begun to make a habit of daily spiritual discipline during these 13 days, you've already begun to experience those nutrients.  

Maybe our faith in styrofoam cup sized.  Maybe it needs what the red clay can offer.  With daily care and nurture, a cedar of Lebanon may just be hiding inside your soul.  

Grace, Peace, and Growth,

Adam 

Today's Small Step:  What attributes of your spiritual growth would you like to work on over the next 12 months?  What will you do to stretch yourself from your current habits? 

Today's Big Idea:  Has there been a time in your life when you've grown by leaps and bounds?  Have their been times when your growth seemed to slow altogether?  What made the difference?  

The Joyful Heart

The 30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 11

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. 

Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. 

Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.          -- From Philippians 4 (MSG)

Today's topic is a huge one for us, I think.  

What does it mean to have joy?  How can our devotion to worship bring joy into our lives?  

Isn't the point of our lives to be happy, after all?  

I think it's helpful for us to consider what happiness really is.  It's a wonderful experience of the mind.  It's a truly pleasant emotion, so pleasant, in fact, that we want to re-create it over and over.  Which is the problem with happiness.  It passes.  

Emotions change, most often in relationship to circumstances.  In the scripture above, Paul is talking about something much, much, deeper.  He's talking about a power that doesn't come and go with the seasons, but that is an essential part of who we are.  

Paul is describing what it feels like to have true joy in our lives.  

"Joy is a choice," today's devotional reading says, and I think I agree.  I might add that it is also a gift.  Over the course of his life, Paul had seen God at work so many times, in so many ways, that he chose to receive as truth the gift of God's unfailing presence around and within him.  

That allows him to make what to us is surely an amazing statement:  "I have learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances."  

What about us?  What would it take for us to choose to believe in God as the giver of abiding joy, whatever the circumstances?  

Happy is good, but Joy is so much better.  

Grace, Peace and True Joy, 

Adam 

Today's Simple Step:  Write a prayer to God, after reading Philippians 4.  Identify one of your life circumstances right now where you will CHOOSE joy, whether you feel joyful or not at this moment.  Ask God to show you the way and to help you at every turn.  

Today's Big Idea:  list the things that bring you joy, regardless of circumstance.  

The Grateful Heart

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 10

Read pgs. 56-59 in the 30DCC guidebook

Psalm 103:22
"Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul."

Today's reading is all about the power of gratitude to transform our hearts, minds, relationships and worship.

Our Church Challenge guidebook tells the story of Ann Voskamp, and her wonderful book, One Thousand Gifts.  Just last fall, our church built an entire season of our life together around this book and her practice of naming our gratitude, every single day.

Gratitude as intentional spiritual practice.  Powerful.

It has been said that it's very hard, if not impossible, to be simultaneously grateful and angry...or frustrated...or negative.

Gratitude is fundamental to our faith, because it reminds us that first things must always be first for us.  If everything else is to fall into its proper place, God must be first in our hearts and minds because everything is from God.

The hearts that beat within us.  The food that we eat, and our capacity to enjoy it.  The breath that flows, and mind that shapes thoughts, and the lips that speak.  All of these are nothing short of mind-blowing miracles, and we are not the giver of those gifts.  We are the recipients.  We are the beneficiaries.

I have let my personal discipline of listing my gratitude (read One Thousand Gifts for more) wane in the last year.  I think it's time to begin again.    One thing I know for sure is that when I go back to that list and read and remember the hundreds of small moments that I did not let slip away, I become a better person.

That list can take any downward turn in my mood and bring a smile back to my face.

Brothers and sisters, that is real power.  That is gratitude.  It is absolutely the best possible way to walk the Path of Life.

Happy, and Grateful, Walking,
Adam

Today's Simple Step:  List ten things you are grateful for today.  I would challenge you to go beyond the "obvious" thanksgiving dinner list --- of course it is important to be grateful for "family, food, my home," but see if you can push yourself to really observe your life today.  What are ten small things you might often overlook, but for which you are truly grateful.

Today's Big Idea:  What keeps us from giving thanks?

An Extra Challenge:  Re-read or read for the first time, "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  It's good for you.  

No music today --- instead, a link -- this is Ann Voskamp's blog, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Check it out.  http://www.aholyexperience.com/

Begin with Praise

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 9

Read pgs 52-55 in the Guidebook

Psalm 100:3-5
"Know that the Lord is God. 
It is he who made us, and we are his; 
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; 
give thanks to him and praise his name. 
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; 
his faithfulness continues through all generations." 

Have you ever noticed how most church worship services have a similar sort of order and movement, regardless of the style or the church denomination?  What I mean is, an opening worship set full of upbeat, energetic praise music played on drums and guitars really isn't that different from a formal, powerful, stirring processional played on a massive pipe organ.

OK, those things are incredibly different in terms of their sound, and style, and pretty much in every other possible way.  But they're not really any different in what they're trying to accomplish.  And what they're trying to accomplish is essential to the heart of worship, and in our lives.

It's always a good idea to begin with praise.

I love what today's devotion from the guidebook points out:  praise changes our perspective, and makes it right.

We are naturally self-centered, while a real act of praise has to be God-centered (though we easily fail to transcend our self-centeredness when we focus more on the leaders, the music, the quality of the singing, etc.)

We remember that there is a God, and He is not Us.

I have to call that a good place to start.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Brainstorm a list of God's attributes?  Feel like pushing yourself just a bit?  See if you can come up with a word to describe God for every letter of the alphabet.  This is an old practice from the psalms themselves.

Today's Big Idea:  For what things do you most often praise God?  God's power?  Love?  Mercy?  Patience?  What's your "default" way of thinking about and praising God?  What does that "default" reveal?

Wired for Worship

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 8

Read pgs 48-51 in the 30 Day Guidebook

"[God] has planted eternity in the human heart,"  Ecclesiaastes 3:11 NLT

As I write at this moment, it's just a few minutes before sunrise.

Right now, the sky is still nearly black with complete darkness.  But in just a few seconds, the first streaks of light will begin to project a path across the sky.

In the moments that follow a daily miracle will unfold.  I can hear the birds begin to speak to each other.  They know what is happening.  The frogs and crickets do too, as they begin the curtain call of their all-night concert.

Humans know too.  If we allow ourselves to feel it, we do know.  God is here, in these moments.  We are wired for worship.

The first humans that lived here on this continent had a deep connection with creation.  Some of them worshiped the sun as a god.  We know that the sun points to the God who made it, and today's reading from our 30 Day devotional guide reminds us that something as deeply beautiful as a sunrise speaks to the eternal that is planted within us.

Worship completes the circuit of our essential wiring.  When we give God our sacrifice of praise, we are recognizing the gift of life within us, and the gift of the world in which we live.  We are grateful for this life, and for all the life that is to come.

Our chief end really is to glorify God and serve him forever.

Let's embrace the wiring within,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Today, spend at least 5 minutes observing and admiring God's creative hand in nature.  A great place is the SOTH nature trail, which begins at the wooden sign at the NW corner of our parking lot. Walk down to the creek and sit for a while on the bench that overlooks it.  I've never failed to see wildlife if I sit there still and quiet for a time.

Today's Big Idea:  Think back on the last few times that you felt spontaneously and sincerely grateful to God. What caused those moments?  Why did you suddenly feel that emotion of thanks?

Worship is a Verb

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 7

Read pgs 44-47 in the 30 Day Guidebook

"Here's what I want you to do, God helping you:  Take your everyday, ordinary life -- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life -- and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him."  Romans 12:1, The Message

Our theme for this week?  Worship!  Literally, from it's "the work of the people."

For believers, worship is what we do.

Today's reading from the 30 DCC guidebook reminds us of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.  Can you imagine the worship that they had on the other side of Red Sea?  They knew they had been "delivered," and that only God's power had made their freedom possible.

What about us?

If worship is the "work of the people" in response to God's power and presence, what are we responding to? Do we know?  Why not?

I think we're pretty hard to impress as a people, nowadays.   We've seen a lot.  We really believe in our own power, and in the power of science and technology to save us.

Maybe we've forgotten a bit about the giver of those gifts.  Maybe the impact of our worship experiences are directly related to our ability to observe God's presence in our lives, and respond to his presence.

Maybe incredible worship starts when we develop our blunted sense of gratitude.  At least for me, that's where I want to start.

Everything is miracle.  All is gift.  I want to remember that, and live a life of worship in response.

With God's help...
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Read Romans 12:1, and spend some time talking with God about what this kind of worship life might look like.  Be specific about the things that God has done for you, and how you want to respond.

Today's Big Idea:  Brainstorm all the ways you can consciously make your "walking-around" life a sacrifice of worship to God today.

"One Another-ness" and You

30 Day Church Challenge Day 5
Read pgs 32-35 in the 30DCC guidebook

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."  I Peter 4:8-9

I love the metaphor of test-taking that is used today in our 30 Day Challenge guidebook.

"First, read the instructions."

And, what a set of instructions we have from scripture when it comes to our life together.

Things like:
Love one another
Accept one another
Be devoted to one another
Live in harmony with one another

And on, and on, and on.

The way that his followers relate to one another seems to be of paramount importance to Jesus.

"They will know you by your love."

What if participation in a trusted place of intimate, small-group community serves as the "instructions" for our larger life together?

What if trying to jump into the life of faith and into the life of a church family without plugging deeply into a tight, small group commitment is like trying to take a test without reading the instructions?

Just as today's reading says, we might get a few things right, but we're going to miss out on a lot, and we're definitely not going to be ready for the next test.

Carve out the time.  Prioritize its importance.  Dare to take the challenge.  Commit to a place of connection within the life of the church.  It can make all the difference.

Grace & Peace,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Perform one act of service and kindness --- as simple as writing a note to someone who needs encouragement or calling up an old friend to rebuild that relationship.

Today's Big Idea:  Of all the "one anothers" listed on page 34 in the guidebook, which one is hardest for you? Which is easiest?  Which one do you need to experience most from someone else?