Gospel

Thanksgiving ~ Key Verses — GLORIFYTHELORD

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“Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I have a friend who visited Vancouver and had this to say of her week here:  “Vancouverites need someone to thank.”  In a place so stunning and blessed, the absence of gratitude was notable.   Gratitude is generated by knowing you have someOne to thank.

Without knowing God, who shall we thank?  At our table before a meal I said, “Let’s give thanks to God.”  A visiting friend of one of our kids said, “Why should we do that?”

How would you answer his question?

“Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Church, Hockey, and Getting in Trouble…

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The other day Kevin Lowe, President of the Edmonton Oilers, unleashed a maelstrom of protest when he suggested that he really likes paying fans a bit more than the ones who cheer from home.

Truth is, everyone pays for hockey somehow when cities make way and pay the bills for arenas to be built.  But, as noted, we don’t seem to mind when our team is winning.

What about church?

Church: Its about every follower of Jesus being a participating part of the the body of Christ.

Hockey:  Well for most of us, it really does come down to being one of two kinds of fans:  the kind that watches from home or the kind that pays the bills by showing up at the arena.  And here’s the thing:  both are just watching.

Church isn’t a spectator event.

Its a life together; people assembled as the Body of Christ.  People connected to each other.  People with a new perspective of ownership with the others.

4Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.  Romans 12:4-5 (NLT)

Sometimes I feel like a Canuck.

Sometimes I think like a member of Jesus’ church.

I see the others I’m gathered with and I think,

“We’ve been gathered by Jesus.  We belong to each other and what we are doing together matters.”

Note to church leaders:  We’ve got to help our churches out here by helping them see and celebrate the win!

The Gospel is not the end of critical thinking.

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Every once in awhile one of my kids will do something

spectacular and triumphantly announce,

“Wahooo, Pro-Skillage!”

Thinking skills.  We need them.

The Gospel encourages us to become pro-skillage thinkers.

Nobody observes your thinking but they do observe the affect.

Notice how Paul connects the Gospel to critical thinking about the self.

3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.   Romans 12:3

Pro-skillage Gospel thinking means that we think about ourselves with faith.

Sober judgment: a plain, critical view of ourselves — weaknesses and strengths.

And then throw in a measure of faith from God.

Thinking with faith causes us to grapple with:

  • The foundation of the self; we are created in the image of God.
  • The grace and mercy of God in the Gospel; we are forgiven and deeply loved.
  • The call of God; we are called to share in His mission and the communion of His people.
  • And the depth of our conviction that God is able to do more with us than we could do on our own.

 

Boston, Our Broken World, and the Kingdom of God

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Whether its Boston, Beijing, or Azerbaijan, global events have seared

themselves into my conscience and make me wonder about

the world we live in.

This week its Boston.

I have grief from a distance; then the wondering sets in.

Someone did this with malice and aforethought.

It was not an accident.

Lord help us.

Still within our broken world love remains a choice.

The impulse toward life resists terror and speculation

about our next race, our next celebration, our next gathering.

We lift up the heroes who rushed in.

And those of us who pray, seek God

for the comfort and healing of those who remain.

Jesus said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God

to the other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose.”  Luke 4:43

We believe the good news of the God’s kingdom

breaks into our conscience and our broken world

with the message of God’s redeeming work —

He will gather the nations before Him.

He will set all things right.

He will wipe away every tear.

He will make all things new.

He will cause the joy of our faith to abound in His love.

He will.

Non-Conformist

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Industry standards require conformity.

I learned this morning that Robert Zildjian the founder of Sabian Cymbals died this week.  He was 89 years old.  Zildjian and Sabian cymbals have been used by bands and orchestras for years.  The process used by the family business was a closely guarded secret discovered by Avedis, an Armenian alchemist of the 17th century.  Seeking to turn bronze into gold, Avedis found a way to combine copper, silver and tin into ingots that could be beaten into a thin disc of metal.  We’ve been enjoying their cymbals ever since!  Last year over 900,000 Sabian Cymbals were shipped around the world.

You can be sure each cymbal conformed to a standard!  And that’s a good thing.

Conform.

In God’s view of us He sees that we are under pressure to conform to the world.  And that is not a good thing.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12:2

Conformed.  Pushed into the world’s pattern, mold, shape.  This is especially problematic when held up to the pattern of Jesus Christ.  We are to conform to Jesus.

By God’s grace, culture and societal standards can benefit us with much that is good and leans toward the values of the Kingdom of God.  However, culture and society do not completely embody God’s vision for us in relationship to Him, each other, ourselves, and the stuff of earth.  When we are animated by the Gospel we will discover that the Word of God creates resistance in us toward the shaping pressure of the world.  Then we become

non-conformists.