I thought I'd share with all of you these words, which I delievered to the people of East Hills this Sunday. May they give some perspective on the events currently capturing the attention of our great nation.
Later this week, our country will be electing a new president and other various political offices. And I am aware that on Tuesday night, millions of people will tune to see the results. When those results are announced, many Christ-followers will believe they have either won or lost an election, and will have either great joy or great sadness.
Frankly, I think this is wrong. Jesus arrived at a time in history as politically charged as any this world has seen. And yet, for all the various factions that would have welcomed his support and influence, Jesus never chose sides. He never associated himself with one group or another.
Now, don't get me wrong- I am not saying that we should be anti-political. We live in a great country and as citizens of this great country, voting is a right and a privilege of which we all should take advantage. But what I am encouraging you, as citizens of heaven, is to not leverage any of your hope or anchor any of your faith in the outcome of an election.
Jesus never chose sides because he realized that he was a part of something bigger. He had come to usher God's kingdom into this world, and that kingdom of grace, love and forgiveness was for all people. For those on the right and on the left. For those in blue state and red states. For republicans, democrats, conservatives and liberals, Jesus spread out his arms on the cross and pointed the way to the Father.
As a church, our mission is the same. And God's agenda, God's kingdom, is not hindered by any political agenda. So this election, don't leverage any of your hope or anchor any of your faith in the outcome of an election. Put your hope and your faith squarely on Jesus Christ, the only one who has the power to truly change a human heart.
May you know his peace on your journey this week,
Nick
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Fire That Guy!
Here's some thoughts on a recent event for all you sports fans. But even if you hate sports, I think you'll get the idea. ;-)
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Raiders, of the NFL, decided to fire their head coach Lane Kiffin. Lane was the youngest head coach in the league, and had been hired only last year. He took over a team that everyone knew was terrible. But somehow, just a year and three months later he was to have transformed this team into something marvelous. At least that would be the perspective of owner Al Davis, who fired Kiffin just four games into this season.
What I find remarkable is the attitude behind this firing, already the second this year, which is now prevalent in our society. We live in a world that continually asks, "what have you done for me lately?" If the immediate results we are getting don't match our hopes or expectations, as lofty as they may be, we fire the guy and move on. Kiffin was fired with 75% of the season still to play. I wonder how many professional sport franchises have started poorly, only to have a late season resurgence and make the playoffs. Probably many. Unfortunately, Kiffin will never have that chance as he fell victim to our "I want it now" mind-set.
I wonder if we haven't unintentionally shifted some of this attitude to matters of faith. God exists eternally and unchanging in his purposes for us. And yet we can easily look to him and ask, "What have you done for me lately?" If we've recently been fired or laid off, watched a marriage go down in flames, or suffered some sort of tragic illness, we likely believe that God has let us down. "Well, He sure didn't help me there," we think, and we fire him. We fire God from his position as leader in our life and go in search of someone else who can get the job done.
I wonder how different the Bible would have been had the men and women of faith in it's pages shared this attitude. Joseph was sold as a slave and spent many years in prison before God's purposes were revealed in his life. A tyrant king tried to kill David no less than 7 times before God raised him to the throne. The apostle Paul was stoned and left for dead early in his ministry pursuits. And in each case, rather than dropping God from the team, these people recognized that God was still at work and bigger plans were being put in place. In the end, these people, and many like them, shaped the world with a steady faith in the goodness of God.
What has God done for you lately? Maybe a lot, and that's awesome. But maybe you feel like he hasn't done much at all. Defy culture. Stick with him and believe that his promises are worth waiting for. He is good, and we will see that in the end.
As for Lane Kiffin, I can only hope he has faith in someone higher than an NFL owner.
May you know today that the God of the universe journeys each step with you. Keep him around.
Nick
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Raiders, of the NFL, decided to fire their head coach Lane Kiffin. Lane was the youngest head coach in the league, and had been hired only last year. He took over a team that everyone knew was terrible. But somehow, just a year and three months later he was to have transformed this team into something marvelous. At least that would be the perspective of owner Al Davis, who fired Kiffin just four games into this season.
What I find remarkable is the attitude behind this firing, already the second this year, which is now prevalent in our society. We live in a world that continually asks, "what have you done for me lately?" If the immediate results we are getting don't match our hopes or expectations, as lofty as they may be, we fire the guy and move on. Kiffin was fired with 75% of the season still to play. I wonder how many professional sport franchises have started poorly, only to have a late season resurgence and make the playoffs. Probably many. Unfortunately, Kiffin will never have that chance as he fell victim to our "I want it now" mind-set.
I wonder if we haven't unintentionally shifted some of this attitude to matters of faith. God exists eternally and unchanging in his purposes for us. And yet we can easily look to him and ask, "What have you done for me lately?" If we've recently been fired or laid off, watched a marriage go down in flames, or suffered some sort of tragic illness, we likely believe that God has let us down. "Well, He sure didn't help me there," we think, and we fire him. We fire God from his position as leader in our life and go in search of someone else who can get the job done.
I wonder how different the Bible would have been had the men and women of faith in it's pages shared this attitude. Joseph was sold as a slave and spent many years in prison before God's purposes were revealed in his life. A tyrant king tried to kill David no less than 7 times before God raised him to the throne. The apostle Paul was stoned and left for dead early in his ministry pursuits. And in each case, rather than dropping God from the team, these people recognized that God was still at work and bigger plans were being put in place. In the end, these people, and many like them, shaped the world with a steady faith in the goodness of God.
What has God done for you lately? Maybe a lot, and that's awesome. But maybe you feel like he hasn't done much at all. Defy culture. Stick with him and believe that his promises are worth waiting for. He is good, and we will see that in the end.
As for Lane Kiffin, I can only hope he has faith in someone higher than an NFL owner.
May you know today that the God of the universe journeys each step with you. Keep him around.
Nick
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thinking Forward
Just a brief thought today. I continue to enjoy my read through The Shack. At my current pace of 5 or 10 minutes before bed, I'll have this baby wrapped up by January. Which means it could be the subject of many posts! :-)
In a recent chapter, the main character Mac is again having a conversation with God, and the personification of God (a lovable, plump, black woman) asks Mac where he lives: in the past, the present, or the future. God is making the point that he/she is with him at all times, but particularly in the present. What comes out of this conversation, however, is an awareness for Mac that much of his life is spent in worry and fear over the future. God is aware of this, and points out that while Mac thinks about the future, he almost never imagines God there with him. This future without the presence of God is filled with worries and doubts. But God tries to emphasize that his presence will be with Mac even there.
I've been considering how I think about the future since reading this. I believe that I too, like Mac, often look forward and have fear and worry about what will happen. I imagine a difficult meeting coming up, or a challenging problem that needs to be addressed, and my fear over that future issue begins to rob me of joy and life today in the present. And when I imagine this future, I rarely if ever recognize that God will be with me even then.
And yet I know God is with me now. His presence and his life make a huge difference in the way I view the world. When I look back, I can identify over and over how I have seen God with me through both trials and victories. Yet when I look forward, God is often strangely absent.
Now, I know this isn't an issue with God. God is in my future. This is an issue of my heart and my mind not trusting Him beyond today. And so over the last few days, as I've thought of things to come, I have tried very hard to imagine that God will be there with me. I am surprised at how such a simple realization has brought greater peace to my mind.
God is with you today. But he is also with you tomorrow and in all that will come. Don't allow the joy of today to be robbed by the fears of tomorrow. God will be with you then, and He is Good. Trust in Him for all your tomorrows.
May you know a journey free from fear,
Nick
In a recent chapter, the main character Mac is again having a conversation with God, and the personification of God (a lovable, plump, black woman) asks Mac where he lives: in the past, the present, or the future. God is making the point that he/she is with him at all times, but particularly in the present. What comes out of this conversation, however, is an awareness for Mac that much of his life is spent in worry and fear over the future. God is aware of this, and points out that while Mac thinks about the future, he almost never imagines God there with him. This future without the presence of God is filled with worries and doubts. But God tries to emphasize that his presence will be with Mac even there.
I've been considering how I think about the future since reading this. I believe that I too, like Mac, often look forward and have fear and worry about what will happen. I imagine a difficult meeting coming up, or a challenging problem that needs to be addressed, and my fear over that future issue begins to rob me of joy and life today in the present. And when I imagine this future, I rarely if ever recognize that God will be with me even then.
And yet I know God is with me now. His presence and his life make a huge difference in the way I view the world. When I look back, I can identify over and over how I have seen God with me through both trials and victories. Yet when I look forward, God is often strangely absent.
Now, I know this isn't an issue with God. God is in my future. This is an issue of my heart and my mind not trusting Him beyond today. And so over the last few days, as I've thought of things to come, I have tried very hard to imagine that God will be there with me. I am surprised at how such a simple realization has brought greater peace to my mind.
God is with you today. But he is also with you tomorrow and in all that will come. Don't allow the joy of today to be robbed by the fears of tomorrow. God will be with you then, and He is Good. Trust in Him for all your tomorrows.
May you know a journey free from fear,
Nick
Monday, September 15, 2008
Pictures of God
About a week ago, I finally started reading the best-seller The Shack. Practically everyone I knew was reading, or had read, the book and when that's the case, it's always a good idea to read the book yourself so that you can at least join in the conversation.
With so many friends already having read the book, I began it with a fairly good idea of the overall plot development and the basis for the book. (Spoiler alert!) So I knew that at some point the main character in the book, Mac, was going to have an encounter with God, or at least this author's interpretation and personification of God. I was surprised by what this did to my reading. While I enjoyed the author's style, I found myself hungry to fast-forward to the God-moments. I wanted to just skim through the story and get right to the dialogue and the conversation between man and God.
As I've sat and thought about this, I've concluded that there is something within all of us that longs for a picture of God. As normal, finite human beings we have a natural interest in a super-normal, infinite deity. Because we've never seen him on the news or bumped into him at the grocery store, we long to know what he's really like. And so these pictures of God come to us from all over- from books like The Shack, from the experience of others, from the movies, and from church, just to name a few sources.
I can't help but think that because of this, there are many false images of God out there. God has been created for us in our minds and we've adopted a personal idea of what He is like, but often times very little of this is grounded in truth. (By the way, I find the description of God in The Shack to be pretty on-target, if not a bit quirky and unusual)
That's why I'm so drawn to Jesus. Jesus was very intentional about coming to us and saying, "If you want to know what God is like, then look at me." In fact, Jesus went so far as to say to his disciples that if they had seen Him, they had seen God the Father. When we ground our image of God in the person of Jesus, we get a far different, and far more accurate, picture of God than we might adopt from the world around us.
Where does your image of God come from? I guarantee you have one. But have you ever stopped to wonder and think about the source of that picture? I meet many people whose image of God bears striking resemblance to their earthly father. Or Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
When we get our picture of God from Jesus himself, we find not an ambiguous deity, but a loving creator that calls us into relationship with himself.
May you know that God on your journey today,
Nick
With so many friends already having read the book, I began it with a fairly good idea of the overall plot development and the basis for the book. (Spoiler alert!) So I knew that at some point the main character in the book, Mac, was going to have an encounter with God, or at least this author's interpretation and personification of God. I was surprised by what this did to my reading. While I enjoyed the author's style, I found myself hungry to fast-forward to the God-moments. I wanted to just skim through the story and get right to the dialogue and the conversation between man and God.
As I've sat and thought about this, I've concluded that there is something within all of us that longs for a picture of God. As normal, finite human beings we have a natural interest in a super-normal, infinite deity. Because we've never seen him on the news or bumped into him at the grocery store, we long to know what he's really like. And so these pictures of God come to us from all over- from books like The Shack, from the experience of others, from the movies, and from church, just to name a few sources.
I can't help but think that because of this, there are many false images of God out there. God has been created for us in our minds and we've adopted a personal idea of what He is like, but often times very little of this is grounded in truth. (By the way, I find the description of God in The Shack to be pretty on-target, if not a bit quirky and unusual)
That's why I'm so drawn to Jesus. Jesus was very intentional about coming to us and saying, "If you want to know what God is like, then look at me." In fact, Jesus went so far as to say to his disciples that if they had seen Him, they had seen God the Father. When we ground our image of God in the person of Jesus, we get a far different, and far more accurate, picture of God than we might adopt from the world around us.
Where does your image of God come from? I guarantee you have one. But have you ever stopped to wonder and think about the source of that picture? I meet many people whose image of God bears striking resemblance to their earthly father. Or Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
When we get our picture of God from Jesus himself, we find not an ambiguous deity, but a loving creator that calls us into relationship with himself.
May you know that God on your journey today,
Nick
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Discipline for All?
I had an interesting conversation on my vacation that has still been swirling around in my mind. I was sitting around the campfire one afternoon with several family members, discussing just about everything under the sun, when the topic came around to going to church. I mentioned that I thought church attendance was a healthy discipline. Someone commented, "Discipline works well for some."
This caught me off guard. I had never thought of discipline as something optional in life. As I have pondered this, here are my thoughts. I think that ultimately we can experience two kinds of discipline. The first kind I would call "tough luck discipline." This is when we get up as kids and we say to our moms on a rainy Monday, "I don't want to go to school today!" To which our moms always responded...you got it..."Tough luck! You're going." We engage in something in a routine way not out of choice, but out of force. I can't help but wonder if the person who commented that "discipline works for some" had the "tough luck" kind in mind. We can be forced by parents, schools, and churches to do certain things whether we really want to our not. This kind of discipline may produce some results (such as getting a diploma) but rarely does it produce much joy.
On the other hand, a second kind of discipline could be called "Purpose-driven discipline." In this kind, we choose the routines and behaviors to which we will commit ourselves. We have a goal, or a purpose, in mind, and so we voluntarily do things we might otherwise not feel like doing. Ironically, these can be the exact same activities as "tough luck discipline." The primary difference is motive. In purpose-driven discipline, we have something we want to achieve, and we commit personally to doing what it takes to get there. I would venture to say that nearly every achievement in our lives can be traced to purpose-driven discipline, whether that achievement is at work or in our spiritual life.
By now, you might be asking, so what? What does it matter? I guess what I have been thinking through is how often my disciplines, whether they be prayer or running or something else, can become frustrating, boring, and even discouraging. When this happens, it is helpful for me to stop and ask, "Why am I doing this?" In this question, I'm not throwing my hands up in despair; I am refocusing my heart and my mind. Too often, I allow a self-chosen purpose-driven discipline to become a tough-luck discipline in my life. I think I have no choice and so I become down on myself and my motivation is gone. When I remember why I have chosen a certain behavior, I can again pursue that discipline with joy.
What do you think? Is discipline for everyone? Or is it optional these days?
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." II Tim. 1:7
May you find joy on the journey,
Nick
This caught me off guard. I had never thought of discipline as something optional in life. As I have pondered this, here are my thoughts. I think that ultimately we can experience two kinds of discipline. The first kind I would call "tough luck discipline." This is when we get up as kids and we say to our moms on a rainy Monday, "I don't want to go to school today!" To which our moms always responded...you got it..."Tough luck! You're going." We engage in something in a routine way not out of choice, but out of force. I can't help but wonder if the person who commented that "discipline works for some" had the "tough luck" kind in mind. We can be forced by parents, schools, and churches to do certain things whether we really want to our not. This kind of discipline may produce some results (such as getting a diploma) but rarely does it produce much joy.
On the other hand, a second kind of discipline could be called "Purpose-driven discipline." In this kind, we choose the routines and behaviors to which we will commit ourselves. We have a goal, or a purpose, in mind, and so we voluntarily do things we might otherwise not feel like doing. Ironically, these can be the exact same activities as "tough luck discipline." The primary difference is motive. In purpose-driven discipline, we have something we want to achieve, and we commit personally to doing what it takes to get there. I would venture to say that nearly every achievement in our lives can be traced to purpose-driven discipline, whether that achievement is at work or in our spiritual life.
By now, you might be asking, so what? What does it matter? I guess what I have been thinking through is how often my disciplines, whether they be prayer or running or something else, can become frustrating, boring, and even discouraging. When this happens, it is helpful for me to stop and ask, "Why am I doing this?" In this question, I'm not throwing my hands up in despair; I am refocusing my heart and my mind. Too often, I allow a self-chosen purpose-driven discipline to become a tough-luck discipline in my life. I think I have no choice and so I become down on myself and my motivation is gone. When I remember why I have chosen a certain behavior, I can again pursue that discipline with joy.
What do you think? Is discipline for everyone? Or is it optional these days?
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." II Tim. 1:7
May you find joy on the journey,
Nick
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