i am thankful for celebrate recovery

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Last night Cityview had its first public meeting of Celebrate Recovery.  CR is a recovery program based on the 8 Beatitudes of Jesus and the 12 Steps.  Our commitment to a LIFE vision of the follower of Jesus means that we believe every person can Find freedom in The Truth.  CR is part of that journey at Cityview now.  I am thankful for the ministry team that has stepped up for this new season at Cityview. 

One of my favorate authors on the process of knowing God and becoming like Jesus is Brennan Manning.  He writes and speaks often of the recovery that Jesus has given him.  In A Glimpse of Jesus:  The Stranger to Self-Hatred, Manning writes of the challenge of being free.

Two millennia later I find myself threatened, challenged, and exhilarated by Christ’s freedom from human respect, by his extraordinary independence, indomitable courage, and unparalleled authenticity.  In preaching the gospel I have been graced to speak fearless in the knowledge and conviction that the Word of God must not be fettered, compromised, or watered down; but in my personal life, my fears and insecurities continue to lead me voraciously to seek the approval of others, to assume a defensive posture when I’m unjustly accused, to feel guilty over refusing any request, to doggedly live up to others’ expectations, to be all things to all people in a way that would make St. Paul shudder.

I cannot free myself.  I must be set free.  Yes, the untrammeled freedom of Jesus disturbs me, his utter indifference to human respect makes me uncomfortable; but he invites me to make friends with my insecurities, smile at them, outgrow them in patient endurance, live with the serene confidence that he never abandons his friends even when we disappoint him….

It can be unequivocally stated that the central, most important theme in the personal life of Jesus–the theme that lies at the very heart of the revelation that he is–is his growing turst, intimacy, and love of he Abba, his heavenly Father.  The interior life of Christ was completely Father-centered.  The master clue for interpreting the gospel narrative, the foundation of Jesus’ compelling demands, the source of his towering zeal–was her personal experience of God as Abba.

The pearl of great price in my life, the most treasured gift I’ve ever received from Jesus is to come to know the Father.  “No one knows the the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those tho whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt. 11:27).  Biblical scholar Joachim Jeremias did not hesitate to call this the central revelation of the New Testament.

Jesus brought a revolution in the understanding of God.

–select passages from p. 43-45, A Glimpse of Jesus:  The Stranger to Self-Hatred

My ultimate prayer for all those participating in Celebrate Recovery is that they would be set free by the grace and truth of Jesus to fully enjoy knowing their Heavenly Father.

Celebrate Recovery meets at Cityview on Wednesday Nights at 7 PM.

change your view of debt, reprint

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No doubt many of us have had to confront the reality of our debts and the subsequent pain required to pay them off.  Surely the shake-down of credit and debt in the global economy has forced the average person to get their head out of the sand!  My recent read through the book of James got me thinking about the efforts many North Americans have made to avoid “looking or feeling poor” and how those behaviours attached to credit are making us all suffer.  It does elict grief:  James writes, “Now listen you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.  Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.  Your gold and silver are corroded.  Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.  You have hoarded wealth in the last days” (James 5:1-3).  Ouch!  That’s hot!  A survey of the world shows that we have lived like kings and queens in North America.  We have hoarded, spent, and trivialized great blessings until now they are slipping away.  What to do?  Well one this is to change your view of debt.  Below is a reprint of an article I wrote for one of my other blogs.

One of the issues on your way toward financial freedom is to settle how you view debt.  You have to change your thinking.  Most of us in North America it seems have accepted one or more of the numerous mantra’s about debt.  One of the most laughable I heard from a member in our last provincial government was, “We are going spend ourselves out of debt.”  Total confidence…sheer lunacy. 

Many of us came to our views of debt honestly in the adventure of paying for school and trying to enjoy a level of life that was beyond our means.  That first credit card application was a rush.  We felt so responsible, so grown up, so trusted.  The first credit card has become an unfortunate rite of passage.  And then they increased our limit.  Oh, we must be doing something right; see they want to trust us with more money.  Some of us even looked for bragging rights by comparing the size of our credit limit.  The shocker comes though with the first run of bills after graduation.  Our first year salaries and our hoped for lifestyle are not congruent with the size of our debt.

And then the pattern of debt creation continues as we justify added credit cards and debt with the, “Oh, its just for emergencies.”  We make promises, we do not make adjustments.  We have regular emergencies like dates, groceries, birthdays, Christmas, cell phone bills.  And then the extraordinary like broken cars.

If you are going to become a person of means with growing wealth you must become a person with the character required to steward wealth.  More money is not necessarily the whole solution you need.  Your character for managing wealth grows by dealing with the beliefs and emotions you have connected to debt.  Here are four views on debt I believe you need to integrate into your worldview:

1.  Debt makes me a slave to the lender.   The Bible’s wisdom reminds us:  “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”  Proverbs 22:7  If you have debt you are a slave to your lenders.  Debt / Credit is our new form of slavery.  We are all singing new forms of the old song, “I owe my soul to the company store.”

2.  Debt is a trap from which I must escape.  Again the Bible’s wisdom reminds us:  “If you have put up security for your neighbour, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have become entrapped by what you have said…then do this my son to free yourself, allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.  Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from from the snare of the fowler.”  Proverbs 6:1-5  If you are indebted you are entrapped in something that seeks to suck your life away.  Develop some urgency about escaping.

3.  Debt / Credit is not my best plan for paying my monthly expenses;  actually last month’s income is the best plan for paying for this month’s expenses. I have talked to many people who go through the month “collecting points” by using their credit card to pay their regular and irregular expenses throughout the month.  It’s OK they reason, as long as I pay it off at the end of the month.  The trouble is they are never working for themselves.  They are always working to payoff their lender.  As well they have no margin for the unplanned–what happens when they cannot work a month?

4.  Debt / Credit is not my best plan for dealing with emergencies; actually cash is the best plan for dealing with emergencies.   The truth is many of us in North America are just living month to month, week to week with out incomes.  We are just two weeks from financial disaster.  We have bought into the idea that our debt capacity–our credit cards and lines of credit–are acceptable social nets for emergencies.  The worst time to use your credit card is when you need to.  You need to get out of debt; you need an emergency fund that is constructed of dollars not debt.

Changing your mind is a first step for getting out of debt.  I have so appreciated the work of Dave Ramsey on this matter.  His presentations are definitely “in your face” as he attempts to change the minds of North Americans on debt.  You can hear more by going to his .com website formed with his name www.daveramsey.com

11 statements from James on the power of speech

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  1. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires.  James 1:19-20
  2. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.  James 1:26
  3. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.  James 2:12-13
  4. The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrups the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  James 3:5-6
  5. …no man can tame the tongue.  It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  James 3:8
  6. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the both come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be.  James 3:7-8
  7. What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You want something but don’t get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  James 4:1-3
  8. Brothers, do not slander one another.  Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it.  James 4:11
  9. Now listen you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why you don not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  …as it is you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil.  James 4:13-14, 16
  10. Above all, my brothers, do not swear–not by heaven or by earth or by anything else.  Let you “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.
  11. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  James 5:17

10 affirmations for the day after an election

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1.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am a citizen of another Kingdom.
2.  My participation in electoral and political processes and their outcomes does not give ultimate weight to my sense of well-being since I have entrusted my life to the God of all Creation.
3.  I celebrate the freedom liberty affords us all to participate in governance.
4.  The way in which I speak of those with whom I disagree is powerful and viral; respect breeds respect and rancour breeds rancour.  The society I desire to live in will be shaped by the attitudes I present towards those with whom I disagree.
5.  I will pray for those in authority over me and given governance over people.
6.  I will uphold the sanctity of life and our responsibility to steward the image of God in all seasons of human life so that the varied, insipid and unjust activities of the Evil One are brought into the light and human compliance with those activities is challenged.
7.  I will distinguish my preferences from my principles that I might cooperate with other principled people for good.
8.  I will maintain that good leadership runs on the rails of character, compentence, and community; therefore, I will personally continue to develop the integrity required to meet the demands of reality with courage.
9.  My actions and attitudes matter more than my vote and your vote.
10.  I will debate ideas with rigorous and throughtful discipline; I will love people with greater vigor.

What are you affirmations for the day after an election?

meeting God daily

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Meeting God daily keeps us from running on empty.  Meeting God daily keeps us connected and fruitful.  The writer of Psalm 1 creates some urgency to make every day a decision day:  will I meet God or not?  Will I delight in His Words or the word and way of someone else? 

When I was serving in a church in Texas during seminary, I was regularly blessed to hear an older women, Lily White, stand in our services and quote Psalm 1.  As she spoke I felt that every word had weight and pierced through the shallowness of our daily lives.  “Blessed is the man who does not walk int he counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.  Not so the wicked!  They are like chaff that the wind blows away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.  For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

To fail to choose God and His Word is presented by the Psalmist as a drift into a unrooted and unfruitful life.  The perishing life is progressive:  to walk in the counsel of the wicked is to be taken in by the words and way of seeing the world that constantly seeks to edit out God; to stand in the way of sinners is to increase one’s association, even flirt with the lifestyle of rebellion against God, so that one may blend into the crowd; to sit in the seat of mockers, is to have developed great comfortability even an unconsciousness of how removed one is from God-His character and His way.

The mocker is one who acts surprised when presented with a view of life that includes God, delights in His Word, and lives with an awareness of the full-bodied character of God which raises such a high view of Creation and people that injustice and lovelessness matters.  The mocker says, “Where’s God?  What can God do?  He can’t touch us?  It doesn’t matter how you live as long as you survive happily.”

Perhaps the mockers biggest problem is that the internal order for of belief and behaviour has been turned on its head.  No longer does conviction of what is true guide their behaviours.  Instead, truth through God’s revelation has been tossed in favour of their truth shaped by the behaviours the mocker has adopted and now must justify.  The mocker will not tolerate the discontinuity of belief in a God who cares when their behaviours and the related crowd and comfort are more important. 

We can all drift into the seat of the mocker–it is the fruit of a long series of choices.  However we are presented with the option of responding to God’s invitation to meet Him and to delight in His Word.  The consequence is dramatically different.  To delight in the Word of God brings us into a life that is rooted into God Himself.  When the season requires fruit our lives can bear it:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  When others are blowing dry in the wind of life, we can keep our leaves–display the evidence of an interior world that is connected to The Source of all life.

Meditation on the Word of God is the choice to meet God daily.  Christian meditation does not require us to empty our minds of the realities that face us: darkness, pain, suffering, awareness of injustice or even the evidence of grace to enjoy–beauty, nature, relationships, good food.  Christian mediation is the taking in and digestion of God’s Words in response to Him.  To delight in His Word is to chew it up and digest it as a message that connects what is most important-God, to life. 

Begin simply.  10-15 minutes a day.  We have been using the SOAP acrostice and a series of questions to help us connect God’s Word to our lives.  It’s His Word, ask Him to help you.

Scripture:  Open your Bible to the reading following your reading plan.  Take time reading and allow God to speak to you.  When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal.

Observation:  What do you think God is saying to you in this Scripture?  Ask the Holy Spirit to each you and reveal Jesus to you.  Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words, in your journal.  Is there a:  Sin to confess?  Promise to claim?  Attitude to change?  Command to keep?  Example to follow?  Prayer to pray?  Error to avoid?  Truth to believe?  Something to thank God for?

Application:  Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now.  Perhaps is it instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life.  Write how this Scripture can apply to you today.  Prayer:  This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this Scripture, or it may be a prayer for insight on what He may be revealing to you.  Remember, prayer is a two-way conversation, so be sure to listen to What God has to say!  Now, write it out.

Here are some question for personal examination built from Galatians 5:22-23.  (These can be found in Principle 7 of Celebrate Recovery)  I have found them useful at the end of my day, to meet God and review the day with Him.  Since God watches over the way of the righteous, I want to watch over my way as well.

  • How did I show love to others?
  • Did I act in an unloving way toward anyone?
  • Did others see in me the joy of having a personal relationship with Jesus?  If not, why not?
  • How was my serenity, my peace?  Did anything happen that caused me to lose it?  What was my part in it?
  • Was I patient?  What caused me to lose my patience?  Do I owe anyone amends?
  • Would anyone say that I was kind/good?  In what ways did I act unkind?
  • How was my faithfulness?
  • Did I keep my word with everyone?
  • How was my gentleness and self-control?  Did I lose my temper, speak a harsh or unkind word to someone?