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Archive for the ‘Hope’ Category

Virtual or IRL?

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on April 12, 2012| 1 Comment »

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Everything is virtual.  Well not really.  But our world is moving toward a virtual way of doing just about everything at a scary pace.  We can talk to people around the world and actually see their image on the screen in front of us.  We can hold meetings with multiple people at the same time without being in the same town much less the same room.

We can order just about anything we want and have it shipped to our homes and never leave the sofa.  It is possible to live in our world with little to no human contact.

But that is just sad!

This week in our church we will be talking about the importance of connection.  One might argue that the things I have mentioned here would qualify as connection but for me, I believe what our world is missing and needing desperately is IRL connection.  Sound technical?  Nope – IRL is in real life.

Living resurrected lives meanswe are called to make an impact on those around us – in real life, in real time.

In most ways, the church stays behind the times when it comes to advances in technology and other things.  But here is an instance that the church has been on the cutting edge.  For years, we have been doing ministry and missions virtually.  Long before technology supported a virtual world, the church had built a system that promoted virtual ministry.  People, in the comfort of their pew can write a check so that someone else will serve others – virtual ministry.

But Jesus called each of us to get our hands dirty – to get involved.

That is living resurrected.  It’s a pretty cool way to live.  Give it a try today!

Be blessed!

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Living Resurrected

Posted in Church, Community, Formation, Hope on April 11, 2012| 1 Comment »

Easter has come and gone.  Or has it?  The Christian calendar now actually moves into the season of Easter.  For the next 50 days (leading up to Pentecost), we will be in the Easter season.

I must confess, I was not raised to pay an overwhelming amount of attention to the Christian calendar so when I talk as if I know of which I speak – I really am just learning – part of my journey.  At any rate, I don’t suppose I have ever really given much thought to the idea of a season of Easter.  But as I have thought about the importance of Easter – the day – I have begun to realize that there is so much more going on here than just a single day.

Easter Sunday is the day we celebrate the miraculous resurrection.  Part of that celebration is the realization of what it means for you and for me.  As believers, we live in and through this resurrection.  We no longer have to fear death and be, as Hebrews 2 says, slaves to that fear.  We begin to understand that Easter is not a day but a way of living.

This Sunday, we will start a new sermon series entitled Living Resurrected.  I ask that you pray for our 1st B family as God teaches us what it means to live resurrected lives.

I am also asking  for your input (which just might make it into the sermon).  What does the idea – living resurrected – mean to you.  Comment here are leave me a message on Facebook, Twitter or email.

Be blessed today.

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The Reality of the Cross

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on April 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Today is Friday of Holy Week – Good Friday.  This is the day we remember the cross.  It began with a mock trial that ended with an angry mob yelling, “Crucify.”  It then moved to beating and humiliation and then ultimately to the cross where Jesus was brutally murdered.  All of this for my sin and for yours.

Walk carefully through this day.  Think about the sacrifice.  Follow Jesus up the Via De La Rosa to the hill of the skull.  Listen as the hammer bounces off the spikes.  Watch as Jesus is hoisted up into the air and left there to die.

This is what he endured for you and for me.

Stand at the foot of that cross today and let the sights and sounds wash over you.  Don’t turn away – face the reality.

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Walking Through Holy Week

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope, tagged , on April 2, 2012| 1 Comment »

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.  A day we remember as the day Jesus entered Jerusalem with his face set toward the cross.  The people who lined the streets on that Sunday had no idea of what was coming.  In fact, they were welcoming a king – the savior of the world who would restore Israel to its rightful place and banish Rome forever.

They cheered and sang praises.  They laid their coats down in the road as a sign of submission and praise.  It was a day electric with excitement and anticipation.

BUT . . .

Those same people, just a few days from then would be the same people yelling “Crucify him!”

This week we will be thinking about what Jesus endured that last week of his life here on earth.  Yes, Easter is coming.  The day of the resurrection is coming but between now and then we have to pass through some of the ugliest territory ever known to mankind.  We have to pass an open doorway and overhear plots to kill Jesus.  We have to look into the face of Judas as he decides to betray his friend and master.

We have to stand in the crowd as Jesus is tried and hear the screams of the people as they call for his execution.  Then we will witness that horrific event on Friday, when Jesus was beaten and murdered.

Yes, Sunday is coming, but we must not rush past this week.  True, it is not for the faint of heart, but it is necessary for us to linger here just a bit – pausing to remember.  Stopping long enough to feel the gratitude we must feel for what Jesus willingly did for each of us!

Stay with me!

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Who Put Jesus on the Cross?

Posted in Community, Grace, Hope on March 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I love music – all kinds of music (not particularly fond of the red neck stuff – but even that I can take in doses).  I love to sing too.  Unfortunately, I am not all that good at it.  It’s kind of like when people ask me if   I am a golfer; my common response is that I love to golf but I would not call myself a golfer.

The reason I bore with you with these little tidbits of information about me is this: I have agreed to sing a song during our Tenebrae service next Friday as part of our Holy Week activities.  Yikes!

The song that has been on my mind for months is a song by Todd Agnew entitled Blood On My Hands.  It speaks to the fact that Jesus died for me and for you.  The first line of the song says, “Each crack of that whip was for my mistakes – his blood is on my hands.”

We are entering into Holy Week.  This is a time we set aside each year to stop and think not only about the cross and the sacrifice – but why it was necessary.  Richard Niebhur said there would be no Christianity without the cross.  I think he was right.  It was for us Jesus died.  We need to live with that fact this week.

So who put Jesus on the cross?

I did . . . and so did you!

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Do You Really Need a Savior?

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on March 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Why does God offer us salvation?  Are we really that bad off?  Do we need to be saved?

The world would tell us that we are OK – that we can save ourselves.  Or worse yet, that we don’t need salvation.

The Bible teaches us differently.  It explains that we all have a sinful nature and that nature shows itself in the way we live.  We, by nature, want things our way.  Often, it is not that we adamantly want to go against God, but rather we simply want to have our own way.  While this seems harmless enough, if we are to be seeking to honor God but we choose to live otherwise, then we are not living as we were created to live.  If our lives are all about us, then yes, we need salvation.

If the Bible is not proof enough, look around.  The reality of a sinful, selfish world is inescapable.  I am one that chooses to believe that there is something good in all people.  But my experience shows me that all of us make bad choices that put us on paths that lead us farther and farther away from God.  We make those choices because we are inherently selfish.

Regardless of how good we think we are, at the heart of all of us is a rebellious streak and because we have all chosen to rebel at different times in our lives, we need a savior.

We are in the fifth week of Lent.  Our focus is on Jesus – his sacrifice, his life and his death.  It should also be on our sin – our rebelliousness.  It is our sin for which Jesus died.  It is my life he came to save.  And I am forever grateful and indebted!

Be blessed!

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Thinking About Connection

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on March 26, 2012| 1 Comment »

I have been thinking.

Last week I mentioned that I have the opportunity to speak to a group of pastors and church leaders at a social media workshop today.  I asked for your help in defining the impact this ministry of Clay In The Hands has had in the lives of the readers. I have to tell you, as I have read all the emails and comments, I have been overwhelmed and humbled by how God is using my feeble attempts to communicate life in the Way – this journey that we share.

As I have continued to think about the presentation for the workshop and more importantly, why this ministry has become a part of my daily life – one thing stands out regarding impact.  Connection.

The fundamental reason that I take up room in cyberspace is to create a platform by which to connect with people.  Through the comments I received last week, it would appear that connections are being made.

God has taught me some things along the way:

1) Some days, it just doesn’t happen!  There are times that, regardless of how hard I try, the words just don’t come.  That’s OK.

2) Regardless of what I think of the post, God can use it in ways I never considered.

3) People are looking for transparency with integrity – we all need to know we are not alone on this journey.

4) People are gracious!

In many ways, Clay In The Hands is my own personal spiritual journal.  It is a place I can work through things and share some thoughts for the trip.  It is also a place to connect with others who are on the same path – some a little further down the road and some just getting started.  We are all in this together as believers.  We need each other!

Thanks for reading!

Be blessed today.

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Living From the Center

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on March 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Where is your center today?  You might look at your midsection and say well – right above my naval.  But that is not the center to which I am referring.  What I am asking is where your focus today?  At the heart of who you really are – deep down – that place that defines you as a person.  Our hearts are the center of our being – that place that only you and the Other enter.  Those closest to us know it is there and may have even seen glimpses of it, but they have no idea what all goes on there.

That is the part of you I am asking about today.  Where is your center – your heart – today?  Only you can answer that question.

I can tell you where God would like for it to be; at rest and at ease in the very presence of God.  Just as you long for the constant swirling and pulling to subside within you – God desires it more.

So here is a short little exercise for you to try to help find your center and re-focus yourself for the day ahead:

  1. Get up and find a quiet place – maybe it is simply closing the door to your office.
  2. Sit still with both feet on the floor and your hands rested in your lap.
  3. Close your eyes and humbly ask God to clear your mind and fill your heart.
  4. Focus briefly on your breathing and then turn your focus to Jesus.
  5. You might even find the Jesus Prayer helpful at this point.  It is an ancient Christian practice that I find meaningful.  You simply repeat this prayer over and over in your mind, “Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
  6. Close by asking God to stay with you throughout this day.

Give this a serious 5 minutes and see what it does for your focus.  With God at our center all else becomes more clear.

Be blessed today!

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A Little Time Away

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on March 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

We are in the midst of spring break in our area.  It is a time of year that our school calendar dictates the rest of the community, even if you don’t have kids in the school system.  Many people take their families and get out of town.  It is a time to get away and hopefully rest.

All of us need time to get away.  We need to take time to step back and refocus.  In the Gospels we see that Jesus set aside time to get away as well.

Let me encourage you today to take some time and just sit and rest in God over the next few days.  Let God speak to you and speak into you.

Refresh and refocus.  It will make all the difference.

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A Sacrifice That Demands

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on March 13, 2012| 1 Comment »

This Sunday, as part of the Lenten season, we will be discussing the sacrifice Jesus made for each of us.  He left paradise, emptied himself and took on humanity.  He lived on earth for over 30 years teaching us how to live in a manner that brings true joy and peace, and then suffered a terrible death – all to bring redemption to a fallen world.

That sacrifice cannot be minimized and it cannot be ignored.  Jesus’ sacrifice demands something of us.  We must respond.  We cannot come face to face with this reality and simply turn and walk away.

Too many churches today are consumed with meeting people’s felt needs.  Don’t get me wrong, the church exists because of the needs of the people.  The problem is the felt needs and the real needs of people are not always similar.  Church for many people is a place to go and feel better – a place to go to “get fed.”  So in order to grow a church, many have turned to a consumer model of ministry – just giving the people what they want.

While some of that is necessary, I am convinced that we are not honoring God if we don’t tell people that following Jesus demands something of us.  We cannot look on the cross with gratitude without hearing Jesus’ words that we too must take up or crosses on a daily basis.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, many years ago, reminded us that grace without sacrifice is cheap.

God’s grace is free but it is not cheap – it cost Jesus his life and it demands something of us as well.

So remember today that as believers, we owe a debt that can only be paid by the submission of ourselves to the one who died for us.  But that is a price that has a heavenly return on investment!

Be blessed!

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