Author: Craig

Envy Ruins the Soul but Grace Revives

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21When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

22I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.

23Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.

24You guide me with your counsel,and afterward you will receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:21-26
Envy ruins the soul.

The soul that looks longingly at what others have will soon convince itself of its own self-righteousness and right to take.

When we cast our hearts upon the ease, beauty, riches, and power others have we will never be satisfied. We will miss what we do have. We will miss the wisdom of following God now and we will be in danger of making awful decisions.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 73:2-3

2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.

3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

In verse 21 he describes what envy has done to his soul. He is embittered, brutish, and ignorant. He lives like a beast toward God.

Yet, there is grace. There is grace for the soul being ruined by envy. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heard and my portion forever.”

Such is the grace of God in Christ Jesus that we can say, “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” (verse 28)

Prevailing with Friends

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IMG_82329Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.   Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Don’t go it alone.

Friendships have wisdom in a world where trouble is sure to come. We can deepen friendships to form alliances with a vision of prevailing. The greatest battles ahead are not imaginary tales, video games, or simulated contests of strength. Rather, the battles for our heart-one with Jesus, our character-forming to match His and our integrity-in thought and deed are ahead.

Will you prevail in your faith? Will you have a prevailing pursuit of Jesus? Will you have a life that finishes well? The likelihood goes up when you have a circle of friends, two or three others who share the Jesus-journey with you.

Do you have a circle of three?

Have you expressed your thanks for them recently?

Are you taking steps to invite others in?

Or are you going it alone?

Woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

But… two will withstand, a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

He Has The Word of God

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1On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  Luke 5:1-3

Have you ever longed to hear from someone? You check your email, texts, messages, to see if that someone has returned your call. I remember a summer of long walks up our short driveway to see if the woman I would later marry have written me while she was enjoying Greece.

These people where longing to hear from God. So they gathered to hear Jesus teach the word of God.  Later when people didn’t like the Word from God they had received and where leaving, Jesus asked the disciples, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:67-69)

Why do you follow Jesus? Peter and the disciples would confess, “He has the Words of God, the words of life; Jesus is the Word of God.”

Not Your Own Doing

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8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesians 2:8

As I ride the bus and listen in to the few conversations among the people-with-no-ear-buds I hear a common theme of achievement: What have you done lately? What have you accomplished? And even, What are you going to do?

Now with the best of them, I love progress, growth, and change. Following Jesus is not the death of ambition. However, the foundation of our relationship with God must not be based on what we have done.

Knowing we are loved and accepted by God comes by grace, it is a gift of God. There is nothing you can do to get God to like you more. Jesus has done it all. Its not your own doing that got you into God’s good graces.

You don’t have to do anything to get God on your side. Rather by faith in Jesus we enter into the sufficiency of His life, death, and resurrection. We can sit secure with Him, because of His work. This can by the end of comparison, boasting, and using people or our achievements in order to be somebody. In Christ Jesus we are deeply loved.

Who Cares When Questions Send You Reeling?

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University sometimes lives up to its name. Sometimes we truly are a “community of truth seekers.” Then we embody one of our most idealized visions of university life. Truth seeking will direct us into the big questions of life. When that happens most of us are likely to experience a disorienting wave of not knowing. This dis-equilibrium is often a necessary part of learning: knowing that I don’t know; knowing that I must seek; knowing that I must ask.

Truth brings us into spiritual questions and a spiritual quest. Many people panic, ignore, and coverup these questions. We are not in the habit of leaning into spiritual questions. Consider our avoidance of reflection and consideration of death is one example of our efforts to avoid spiritual struggle.

Spiritual Struggle and University

The Huffington Post reports on recent studies examining the spiritual lives of university students. The conclusion regarding spiritual struggles and its dis-equilibrium are not encouraging for our current generation of students.

“Findings in this study suggest that spiritual struggles are a significant factor in the health and well-being of college students,” researchers reported in the latest issue of the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. “These results suggest that students may be utilizing unhealthy patterns (e.g., addiction) as one way to cope with their spiritual struggles and other life stressors.”

The finding is consistent with a developing body of research revealing the complex nature of religion and mental health. The assurance of a loving God concerned with their welfare helps many people deal with life’s stresses, but individuals with a less secure attachment to the divine may face greater problems with anxiety and depression.

The challenge for caregivers and religious individuals and communities is to help people through their periods of struggle with doubts that can be part of an active spiritual journey.

Read more.

The mind has little patience for ambiguity and mystery unless there is a framework speaking to it. As a follower of Jesus I know Christian faith must become my own. The  process of owning faith often involves struggle. Struggle is part of faith.

Knowing Jesus has not been the end of spiritual struggle. Rather Jesus brings me into the challenge to learn and grow in my faith. Following Him brings me directly in contact with the darkest aspects of our brokenness.

Knowing I am Loved

But what has been steady, is a clear and enduring attachment to God through Jesus Christ. I know I am loved. And its this confidence I wish for all our friends in Origin Church and in the UBC campus community. Grace, the unmerited favour of God, for the forgiveness of sin through Jesus’ work and the promise of ever-present and on-going life in His presence, has allowed me to live loved. Meaning and purpose for life, for studies, for virtue and morality, and for hope is found in Him. We believe you were born for more than existential despair or bondage to your passions.

I do remember times and seasons of my life when my questions have sent me reeling. Its too easy to seek a temporary restoration of a shallow happiness by turning to people, my achievements, my appetites, or my ambition for wealth as a salve. These are easy and available. They are championed by many as ready-made solutions. Yet, they were never meant to bear the weight of our souls. We will be crushed under them and in turn we will crush others up on whom we lay our souls, unless we lay our soul on Jesus Christ. He is the champion of God over sin, disillusionment, and even death. I have come to believe only Jesus is sufficient. I believe Jesus cares.

So who cares when you are reeling over your questions of life?

Jesus cares. I care.  And there are others in communities of faith in Christ who care. Chaplains from a variety of perspectives at your university care. I encourage you to enter into a circle of hope, faith and love built around the person of Jesus Christ. I invite you to come and see what our life with Jesus is like before, after, and even during that period of life with the questions that spin our souls and leave us reeling.

University can be a period of intense growth. You can become a person of courage, humility, love, and integrity. University can be a season when faith deepens and  grows not in despair but in joy!

A Vision of Faith for People in a World of Disturbing Questions
Romans 8:28-30
28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?36As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.