Yes, you are seeing correctly, there are in fact two posts in one day! Oh, the joys of having a job where, if I'm scanning all day, I can actually write blogs while pages are being scanned. These two entries really flow out of each other and come out of the same place in my heart. This has been something that God has been working deeply into my heart over the last couple of weeks and months. The two books I'm reading at this moment are John Eldredge's "Walking with God" and Keith Green's biography. Both of these men of God have incredible relationships with their Heavenly Father and it's been bringing up some major questions in my heart that I think everyone needs to wrestle through.
There seems to be this assumption in the church that if you are a Christian, you have a relationship with God. I've been coming to the realization that that isn't necessarily true ... at least in the way that we tend to think. Yes, every Christian has the potential to be in relationship with God because they have the Holy Spirit living inside of them through the work of Christ, but most Christians' relationships with God are akin to a relationship one might have with a giant redwood tree. I know it's there, I admire it, I can learn many things about it, but that's about it. There's no back and forth conversational relationship. We kind of live our lives side by side and try not to get in each other's way. In the same way, most people's extent of relationship with God is reading the Bible and praying every day ... interacting, but not in relationship with Him
Now, I'm obviously not saying that those activities are bad, I'm just saying that there needs to be more our relationship with God, if it is even going to be defined as a relationship. Keith Green is constantly wrestling around with God, asking at every moment if it's God's will for Him to do what he is looking to do next. Every decision is brought before the Lord and his guidance and opnion is asked. John Eldredge similarly assumes that every Christian should be able to have conversational relationship with God in which you can sit and have a conversation with Him, speaking to Him, bringing Him your heart and hearing from His in return.
May I be so bold as to ask, why has no one, up until this point in my life, described to me what in the world a relationship with God looks like? Does no one know? Even after 2000 years of Christianity ... 2000 years of people who have the Holy Spirit living inside of them!? I'm just beginning to realize that there's got to be so much more tied up into what it looks like to be in relationship God. If God really does satisfy all of our desires, there has got to be a depth of relationship that we can go to with Him that would soothe lonliness and rejection.
If His sheep hear His voice and know Him, and we are His sheep, why isn't that happening? Have we gotten to the point that we understand so much about Christianity that we just discuss away what a relationship with God looks like? John Eldredge has some really good thoughts on what it looks like to walk with God and I've been learing a lot. But I still struggle to know what it looks like to be in relationship with God for me. As you can see, there are more questions than answers, but I'm driven on to discover deep intimacy with God. We are one flesh, now that I have died to myself with Christ and been resurrected with Him into this new creation. But how do you relate intimately with the God of the universe that lives inside of You that is already one with you and knows you intimately.
All I know is that it takes one step at a time, and as I continue in this feeble attempt to walk with God, I pray that I begin to know more of what it looks like. And most of all, I pray I never reach the point where I am content with where my relationship with God is. Always deeper into God!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Extreme Home Make-over God
I just got done listening to an interview with William Paul Young, the author of the #1 Best Selling book "The Shack" on the Catalyst podcast. Bekah (my wife) and I just finished reading through the book together at the end of last year and it was an incredible experience. The book is a parable/metaphor for Young's journey through his issues into freedom and chronicles, in fictitious story form, his conversations with God that led him into healing.
His testimony is staggering and I would encourage anyone to go and listen to it here: http://www.marinerschurch.org/theshack/av/index.html
and then I would recommend that you read the book. All I'll say is that there's a reason it has done so well. Knowing that he just wrote it for his kids as a Christmas present without intending to publish it at all, also says that this is definitely a move of God amongst many people. This book will shake you up and let you down gently, a little more healed, into the arms of our Papa God. He describes the Shack as that place in our hearts where all of our secrets live and where all of our addictions fester. God took him into his 'shack' and the incredible thing is that he came out on the other end with no secrets and no addictions. This struck me right through the heart as someone who struggles with my own secrets and addictions and wants to be free of them. I asked myself, "How could anyone not have any secrets or addictions anymore? I so badly long for that, but it doesn't seem possible!"
In this last interview, he said something very interesting that ties into how this is possible in his life. He said, "So often, we want God to be like Extreme Home Make-over ... you know, send us off to Disney World while he renovates our hearts and makes it a glorious place for Him to live in." He went on to say that that's not how God works. He wants to come into our 'shack' where all of the crap is, meet us there in our mess, and heal all of the junk. And that's where the true freedom comes from. When we can bring our junk to God, realizing that He already knows it all, and already knows all of the other stupid stuff we're going to do, we can honestly let Him move in and work on healing the wounds. 'Cause it's really our wounds that get us trying to find love and validation in so many unGodly ways that so easily become our addictions.
This has been something very huge in my life lately ... just trying to be honest with God. I need to do this, because honesty is the foundation and starting point of intimacy. Without honesty, you will always come up against the facade that the other is trying to erect to show you who they would like you to think that they are. The problem (and blessing) with God is that He already knows us, intimately, we just have to catch on to that and invite Him in ... He will not force His way because that is not the way of relationship. When we can finally get honest with God about the junk in our life (which is, in essence, confession) we can finally move beyond trying to prove to God that we are worthy of His love. He's loved us ... it's done! Then we can move into the intimacy of knowing God and reveling in the deep joy and peace that comes from knowing that He knows us more deeply than anyone ever will and He will never leave us or forsake us.
The other outworking of this is in our relationships with each other and the community that we're supposed to be as the body of Christ. There's something incredible that happens in your soul when you no longer have anything to hide from God and can live in the freedom of His grace, inviting Him into the mess: you can start living in that freedom of relationship with others. Granted this is something that can only happen with other people who are as screwed up as you are and who are willing to take the glorious journey of grace together. As God begins to heal our wounds and our poor attempts at coping with the realities of life (where all addictions come from), we can stop asking others to give us the things that only God can give and we can start discovering what true intimacy looks like. When we're not trying to hide from each other and not trying to erect our facades of who we wished we were, we can finally start seeing each other for who we really are ... broken people, in need of the Lord's healing, all on the road to redemption. That, my friends, is a journey I hope to be able to walk with you face to face, for the long haul.
His testimony is staggering and I would encourage anyone to go and listen to it here: http://www.marinerschurch.org/theshack/av/index.html
and then I would recommend that you read the book. All I'll say is that there's a reason it has done so well. Knowing that he just wrote it for his kids as a Christmas present without intending to publish it at all, also says that this is definitely a move of God amongst many people. This book will shake you up and let you down gently, a little more healed, into the arms of our Papa God. He describes the Shack as that place in our hearts where all of our secrets live and where all of our addictions fester. God took him into his 'shack' and the incredible thing is that he came out on the other end with no secrets and no addictions. This struck me right through the heart as someone who struggles with my own secrets and addictions and wants to be free of them. I asked myself, "How could anyone not have any secrets or addictions anymore? I so badly long for that, but it doesn't seem possible!"
In this last interview, he said something very interesting that ties into how this is possible in his life. He said, "So often, we want God to be like Extreme Home Make-over ... you know, send us off to Disney World while he renovates our hearts and makes it a glorious place for Him to live in." He went on to say that that's not how God works. He wants to come into our 'shack' where all of the crap is, meet us there in our mess, and heal all of the junk. And that's where the true freedom comes from. When we can bring our junk to God, realizing that He already knows it all, and already knows all of the other stupid stuff we're going to do, we can honestly let Him move in and work on healing the wounds. 'Cause it's really our wounds that get us trying to find love and validation in so many unGodly ways that so easily become our addictions.
This has been something very huge in my life lately ... just trying to be honest with God. I need to do this, because honesty is the foundation and starting point of intimacy. Without honesty, you will always come up against the facade that the other is trying to erect to show you who they would like you to think that they are. The problem (and blessing) with God is that He already knows us, intimately, we just have to catch on to that and invite Him in ... He will not force His way because that is not the way of relationship. When we can finally get honest with God about the junk in our life (which is, in essence, confession) we can finally move beyond trying to prove to God that we are worthy of His love. He's loved us ... it's done! Then we can move into the intimacy of knowing God and reveling in the deep joy and peace that comes from knowing that He knows us more deeply than anyone ever will and He will never leave us or forsake us.
The other outworking of this is in our relationships with each other and the community that we're supposed to be as the body of Christ. There's something incredible that happens in your soul when you no longer have anything to hide from God and can live in the freedom of His grace, inviting Him into the mess: you can start living in that freedom of relationship with others. Granted this is something that can only happen with other people who are as screwed up as you are and who are willing to take the glorious journey of grace together. As God begins to heal our wounds and our poor attempts at coping with the realities of life (where all addictions come from), we can stop asking others to give us the things that only God can give and we can start discovering what true intimacy looks like. When we're not trying to hide from each other and not trying to erect our facades of who we wished we were, we can finally start seeing each other for who we really are ... broken people, in need of the Lord's healing, all on the road to redemption. That, my friends, is a journey I hope to be able to walk with you face to face, for the long haul.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Writing your own Biography
I've been totally captured by Keith Green's biography written by his wife. His music is phenomenal, which is the main reason Bekah turned me on to him, but the more I read about his story, his passions and his desire to see God glorified in his life above all else, it makes me wonder what my biography might one day say.
I'm realizing that so much of my life is lived without much thought and without including God into every aspect of it. Right now in the story, Keith is wrestling around with pledging himself, his wife and his son to God, so that whatever were to happen to them, he wouldn't turn his back on God. He wanted to be completely the Lords and if it meant laying aside his recording career, or anything else that he was doing to serve the Lord, he would do it.
This book has really gotten me to think about how I live my life. How do I make decisions ... major life decisions and the minor ones too. Up until this point, I've really been making my own way for my self, but there is real joy and fulfillment to be found when we completely surrender ourselves over to God and choose to ask what His will is, and follow that. Lord, I feel so superficial and cardboard. Take me down to the depths where all that I am and all that I do flows from You. I need You more. Help me to die to myself so that I can be raised in You. Show me what this looks like and what this means for me.
I'm realizing that so much of my life is lived without much thought and without including God into every aspect of it. Right now in the story, Keith is wrestling around with pledging himself, his wife and his son to God, so that whatever were to happen to them, he wouldn't turn his back on God. He wanted to be completely the Lords and if it meant laying aside his recording career, or anything else that he was doing to serve the Lord, he would do it.
This book has really gotten me to think about how I live my life. How do I make decisions ... major life decisions and the minor ones too. Up until this point, I've really been making my own way for my self, but there is real joy and fulfillment to be found when we completely surrender ourselves over to God and choose to ask what His will is, and follow that. Lord, I feel so superficial and cardboard. Take me down to the depths where all that I am and all that I do flows from You. I need You more. Help me to die to myself so that I can be raised in You. Show me what this looks like and what this means for me.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Mental Adultery
I wish I had more time to post but something really struck me last night as we were discussing entertainment during the premiere of LOST. A horror movie trailer came on and we all agreed with the fact that the Horror genre has gotten so far beyond the ability to enjoy that it's sickening.
It made me wonder, what are the implications of what Jesus says about anger and lust in Matt 5:21-30 for the movies we watch. Are we committing murder and adultery by simply watching what occurs on the screen? And if that is the case, what does it look like to glorify God with our entertainment?
Just some thoughts ... I'll come back and think through them with you some more later.
It made me wonder, what are the implications of what Jesus says about anger and lust in Matt 5:21-30 for the movies we watch. Are we committing murder and adultery by simply watching what occurs on the screen? And if that is the case, what does it look like to glorify God with our entertainment?
Just some thoughts ... I'll come back and think through them with you some more later.
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