Came across this quote recently in some reading I am doing.
Enjoy:
Since faith fastens on God’s benevolence, it yields gratitude, which in turn sponsors risk-taking in the service of others. Grateful people want to let themselves go; faithful people dare to do it. People tethered by to God by faith let themselves go because they know they will get themselves back.
Grateful people overflow a little, especially with thanksgiving and passed-on kindness. But they do not therefore lack discipline. In fact, self-indulgence tends to suppress gratitude; self-discipline tends to generate it.Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin
~pp. 35
Filed under: Christianity
The following thoughts were originally written for my own blog a few years ago. With the start of 24 just a few weeks ago, I think they are salient for today as they were back then. 
I know he’s everybody’s hero. I watch the show. Like most soaps, you can miss a few weeks and pick up right where you left off. I know, I did. I missed numerous episodes throughout the season for various reasons, and I picked up without problem easily. I’m not here to bash him, in fact I understand why he’s so appealing. Truth be told, when I took the “which 24 character are you?” I wanted it to come up Jack Bauer. But he’s not new. In the 90’s there was Nash Bridges, and before him there was Rambo, Miami Vice, and Dirty Harry. Again, all shows/movies that had suspense, drama and a bad bad man as the lead character/hero. Here’s the thing, for the Christian, Jacks the wrong guy for us to want to be. I’m not saying we should all be Greg from Yes, Dear. but Jack has some serious character flaws that should be huge problems for the Christian. ****Side note here I know that we all have character flaws, and that no one’s perfect. Furthermore, I know that in most likelihood the show is created by people who do not claim to be followers of Jesus or the Way and I don’t expect them to produce shows/character/movies that reflect those values. Still, the values that are presented are worth examining. End Side Note****
Back to Jack. Jack is a dashing guy who is vulnerable in his flaws. Not perfect. His family life is a mess, his love life is unresolved. He’s anti-establishment and willing to go against the flow. He’s strong and he’s willing to risk. He’s courageous, and perhaps, most appealing of all is that he comes through in the clucth. When the chips are down, and someone needs someone to come through he does it. He bags the bad guy inspite of all of his flaws he gets the job done.
But the problem I have with Jack is his relative morality. He’s the classic example of what God intended for masculinity gone awry. He’s willing to break rules to get the job done. You have to kill someone because the law won’t be able to punish them? No big deal… a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. People who play by the rules are probably weak, and certainly not as able to get the job done. While this makes for great, compelling T.V. it’s not Bible, which I realize would make not so great, compelling T.V.
As we (maybe I should just be addressing myself here) watch this for show for entertainment it’s important to remember that I don’t want to be Jack. Yes, I want to come through in the clutch but Jesus’ teachings go directly against the Jack Bauer code of conduct. If you think I’m taking this too far, consider Jesus’ direction to us regarding how we should treat someone if they (a.) hit us in the face, (b)take our shirt or (c) or how we are to deal with our enemies. In (A) he says we are to turn our other cheek, in (B) he says we are to give them our coat, in (C) he says we are to love our enemies!!! See Matthew 5
That is real toughness. Jack, Nash, Harry and the fellows from Miami Vice will never know. There is much that is good about the show 24 from a teachable example, the idea of sacrifice for the good of the others, the idea that there is something bigger and more important than us, but the great danger is that we will somehow think Jack is cooler than Jesus. LIke almost all of Satan’s lies, this one has enough truth in it that it looks good and desireable, it looks ready to eat, but too many men have swallowed the idea that Jack is what a real man should look like, maybe because we’ve neutered real men in the church and in so doing we’ve neutered the church. Maybe because Jack just seems cooler than anything the Bible has to offer. The problem then, is not with Jack or T.V. but with us the church.
Filed under: 1, Christianity, Real Life, Relevant Life | Tags: Being the Church, highlight
I am a firm believer in the saying, “Don’t Go to Church, Be the Church”.
So…I decided that I would take some time every now and then and “Highlight” someone, organization, or church, that is “Being the Church”!
For our first ‘Highlight’ I want to bring your attention to “Compassion United” located in Conroe Texas.
I have had the opportunity to meet and know the founder of this group, and can tell you that he has a heart to reach out to those in need. From making hundreds of breakfast tacos and taking them to the homeless on an early Sunday morning, to taking a van load of indigents to the church of their choosing so they can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Please stop by their website at www.cuconroe.org and encourage them, or maybe help them with a financial gift.
If you know of a ministry, group, church, or person “Being the Church”, drop us an email and let us know. Maybe they will be on the next ‘Highlight’.
Peace,
Jimmy
Filed under: 1, Christian, Christianity, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life | Tags: building altars, in need of a remembrance, remember
To start this article, I will have to begin with being brutally honest. The past two years have been…well…trying is a way to put it. It hasn’t been easy, but I have survived it. I am a little weaker. Definitely battle scarred and bruised…but I have made it. Thanks in great part to my fantastic wife, and of course, to the grace and mercy of my Heavenly Father who has never given up on me.
Just yesterday as I was at my desk doing my daily paperwork, a thought crossed my mind, and I found myself breathing a little prayer…”God, I am in need of a remembrance!” I am in need of building an altar where I can look back on this time years from now and say, “there is no doubt that God was with me and He delivered me”.
In the Old Testament, there are numerous times when the Israelites would build altars as signs of remembrance for the future generations to come, so they could have a remembrance of God’s goodness and how He has delivered.
So I found myself thinking about remembrances, and looking back on the things that God has done in the past, trying to refresh myself in the knowing that God CAN and WILL. A remembrance to re-build my faith to the point where I wouldn’t even think about doubting Him or His promises. I am reminding myself of God’s promises. Reminding myself of what He has done for me in the past. Reminding myself that He has always seen me through and will do so again. Remembering past victories, past healings, past prayers answered.
“Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,…”
1 Chronicles 16:11-12
If you’ve read any organizational leadership books, you’ve probably heard about something called “reframing.” Reframing is a technique for change (both corporate and personal) that utilizes a new perspective. That is to say, you look at a situation from a different angle; same object, different view. It occurred to me this week that is what the Bible is about on almost every page.
God “reframes” all of life for us. Think about it. What is stressing you out right now? What scares you right now? What is driving you crazy right now? Have you ever wanted revenge? Have you ever felt alone? What’s interesting to me is this is how Satan works too. Look at Satan’s interaction with Eve; he reframes the issue by asking her, “Did God really say…?” Once again he’s counterfeiting what God has created for his own end.
This is what makes God so radical, and so relevant for our day. He’s always reframing your life. Think about His command to love our enemies! Come on, be serious, that’s nuts! Forgive those who hurt you! Be kind to each other! Love one another; submit to one another, the list of crazy reframing goes on and on.
Now, this is where I’m going to get myself in trouble. I wonder if the reason we don’t see much change in the church today, in fact I wonder if the reason we don’t see much difference in those who claim to follow Christ and those who don’t is because we fail to allow God to reframe our life for us. When we hold onto our hurt, seeking revenge, we are willfully choosing to go our own way. We are choosing to live life our way. I wonder if the reason most of the world has stopped listening to us is because we’ve decided to put down our Bibles and pick up our “political rights.” We’ve exchanged time on our knees in prayer for time on our feet in protest marches. We’ve exchanged trust in a God who has promised to meet all of our needs for trust in a political system. We’ve laid down our greatest identifying marker (love for one another) for theological wars. We’ve traded in faith, hope and love for name-calling, castigation and witty titles. We’ve traded in forgiveness for grudges.
So I want to ask you, what is in your life right now that God is trying to reframe? What are you holding onto? What are you saying, “God you can have all of this, but not that!” What action/thought/belief do you want to change but can’t because you won’t let God reframe it for you.
Please understand, I could do a follow up post about the many things in my life that I struggle with, this post is not intended to make you feel guilty, or bad about yourself. This post is meant to remind you, change can happen. God can change you. He can reframe your hurt, and bring you the change you’re desperately seeking. I know he has done it many times in my life and many times in the lives of others. I’ll leave you with I Peter 5:7. Talk about reframing…
~Peter
The great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, a vision of a world where all men were equal. He saw men of all races walking hand in hand, living in harmony with no regard to color or creed.
Martin Luther King knew that in order for his dream to be realized, it would require action, speaking out against injustice, and sacrifice.
Unfortunately, his dream would require the ultimate sacrifice. But I believe he would have gladly paid the price…even after he knew the cost.
Jesus was and is, our ultimate example in paying the price for a dream.
He had a dream that all mankind would come to know, once again, the love, grace, and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father. Sadly, sin had gotten in the way. It had taken hold of mankind and had turned him away from the intimate relationship with the Father that he was specifically created for. Jesus knew that it was His responsibility alone to restore that relationship. He knew that only He could possibly achieve that dream….through His sacrifice. Gladly, he was willing to pay the price, fully knowing the cost.
How about you and me…are we willing to pay the price for what we dream? Would we be willing to pay the price, even knowing that the cost may be the steepest of all…our lives?
As Christians, all we are asked is that we follow Jesus, and give Him all we are. Man, that’s so easy…or is it?
What has God called you to do? Do you know the price? Are you willing to pay it?
What are your terms? In days of old when one king would defeat another king he would offer him terms. It was pretty simple, accept the terms or be killed. Very rarely was there a negotiation, it was adherence or death.
It hit me the other day, there’s a danger that we all have terms. We have terms for everything in our life. To some extent that is probably healthy and reasonable. We should all have terms about an abusive person, and the people in our life that brings destructive forces to it.
But I wonder. I wonder about the terms we have that aren’t spoken. What about the terms we have for people who have hurt us? What does the Bible mean when it says we are to forgive those who hurt us? (Eph 4:32; Matthew 6:14-15; Colossians 3:13 to only name a few)
When someone offends us or hurts us, do we write them off? Do you or I make them beg for forgiveness? Do we make them accept our terms? I think most of us are at least tempted to do that. Have you ever been on the other side of that? Have you ever been the one who did the wronging and despite whatever you did to seek forgiveness from that person, they had terms for you? Now, the roles switch and life gets messy once again.
Jesus doesn’t offer a lot of comfort either. I mean come on, if you don’t forgive, you won’t be forgiven? What kind of terms are those, God? Don’t You know about how my Dad hurt me? Don’t you know about how my wife/husband/son/brother/daughter/sister…fill in the blank hurt me?
This is what makes God so revolutionary, so radical. God takes our innate desire for justice and turns it upside down. He calls us to forgive those who wrong us. Forgive those who intentionally mistreat us. It’s a crazy command. God asks us to lay down everything, including our desire for revenge and justice. He asks to trusts Him with our hurts. But, let’s be honest, He also asks us to do one step further.
I don’t know what your terms are. I do know terms that I’ve used in the past. I know times I’ve been tempted to use terms and I can imagine the terms I’ll be tempted to use in the future. I also know God’s terms:
~Jesus in Matthew 6:15
Talk about some terms!
