Deathly Hallows

So 2 of my favorite people and I have named ourselves the Deathly Hallows.  I, being the loudest, am the elder wand.  That's right, I'm a destructive force that in the right hands can kill the greatest dark wizard to date.  AWESOME!
This all came about at breakfast yesterday.  We three were discussing the state of our world, and where the responsibility for fixing it lies.  The interesting thing is that we all have different starting points in this conversation.  I'm a recovering Southern Baptist, one is a lifelong Catholic, and one is agnostic (although I think she was Methodist growing up).  Strangely enough, we didn't really disagree on anything.  Each of us saw the massive problems of poverty, disease, war, and government corruption.  And all of us agreed on whose job it is to address those problems: us.  Of course we worded it differently, but we all agreed that we should being doing everything we can as individuals and groups to solve these problems.  We even all agreed that whatever created this world, whether it be a god, multiple gods, or a speck of dust, would be very very very very very angry at how we've treated this creation.
It seems that the conversation on Christians specific role in this is becoming more and more prevelant.  Even Steven Colbert addressed it recently.  (Which was done very well, look it up.)
We have to take to heart that the Kingdom of God is here and now.  We need to start treating the sweet by and by what it is: The future that we create and influence NOW.  I don't want to go into this too much today, as I'm preaching on it December 26.  Consider this an advertisement for that. 
Just know that if we really mean it when we pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven", that it will require work on the part of the kingdom's servants.

My Favorite Baptist

Andy Crockett is my favorite Baptist.  I should actually say  bassptist.  If you don't know what that means, shame on you.  I'm pretty sure they settled that term at the last convention.
Now that you know he's my favorite Baptist, let me tell you why.  Anytime I'm in a service with him that feels more Baptist than DOC, he gets me in trouble.  He laughs.  He giggles.  He mocks the people playing Bible Trivia on their iPads during the sermon.  He will argue with me about whether the wafer is the correct consistency to be the body of Christ.  I just enjoy being in worship with him.  I'm pretty sure this has been going on since middle school.  The only difference is his snarky comments have gotten wittier and more full of theology.
The really crazy part, is I've never felt like it was ever irreverent.  He genuinely loves God, and worships in truth.  I think Andy just gets that God rejoices in our joy, and laughs along with us when we are acting silly.  So, Andy is joyful and silly.
And gets me in trouble with all the other youth ministers.

Thoughts on a Recent Youth Meeting

Last night, we studied the Christmas Story.  As normal with youth, the subject changed.  Last night though, it changed for the better.  While discussing why Jesus came, an interesting question was brought up. Did Jesus come to make us behave ourselves, or did He come to know us, and help us know Him?  Now, 2 quick facts before moving forward: 1) We didn't, as a group, find a satisfactory answer; 2) This may be oversimplifying.

Now, let's break this down.  Why did Jesus come?  According to the KNERD Herd discussion last night, we have 2 basic options.

1. Jesus came so we could be forgiven, and learn how to stop sinning.  I don't know that this is a bad answer.  He did come to die, so we could be reconciled to the Father.  He did talk ALOT about how to treat our neighbor.  It just doesn't seem enough for me.  Being the sweaty heathen I am, this makes the deathbed confessional plan (live it up, sin as much as possible, seek God just before death) sound great.  If the only thing that is important is that I teleport to Heaven when I die, I'll talk to Jesus later.
2. Jesus came so that we could have a relationship with the Father now.  This complicates our plans.  There is no greater thing to strive for than to know the Creator, the Father, Jehovah Jirreh, Emmanuel, Adonai, the one true God.  That relationship would far outweigh any fleeting joy I have in other pursuits.  Now, I don't think this option replaces the first.  The youth disagreed somewhat.  I think this option is the blessed realization of the great love of God.  He didn't want to wait until Heaven.  The question becomes then, what was the focus of Christ's coming? 

Now, it is probably obvious which I think is more true.  I think number 2 is the better understanding.  That creates a new question though, what about our sinning?  Is the focus of Christ's coming is on relationships and reconciliation, does that mean we aren't focused dealing with sin?
I personally think that is exactly what means.  My best understanding of being in relationship with God and Jesus is that sin will be taken care of through the work of the Spirit, not my efforts anyway.  So, if I focus on loving God, and loving who He loves, the rest will work out.
Now, before I move on, let me clarify that I don't mean we never deal with sin.  Sin is destructive to us, everyone around us, and the world in which we live.  It is a huge problem that creates problems for those God loves.  I just don't think it is the #1 on the list of what we are supposed to be living about.  Again, I think if we focus our energy as individuals and as the group (church) on loving God and those He loves, sin will, most of time, lose it's place in our lives.
The problem with that understanding is that sin is easier to deal with, easier to take a stand on, and much easier to get really excited and passionate about.  It is a whole lot harder to take a stand on letting homeless people into your home.  It is really hard to be excited about going to a war torn country with people who don't like how you look to help with poverty.  There are very few political agendas addressing genocide in places we couldn't find on the map if our lives depended on it.  So in the goal of relationship with God and man, we must find our passion and identity in things that are not concrete.  That is hard, and I'm not even sure I know how to do that, especially in a group setting.

What are your thoughts? 

My Pastor Has Failed Me

That was Sunday night.  And he just did it again.  I've prayed about this, I've been broken about it and I have stared incredulously.  I'm just completely at a loss for words and direction.  Maybe I should elaborate.  He served decaf coffee at Bible Study, and just now told Penny she had "too much caffeine."



I know.  I'm in shock too.  I cannot not even imagine why you would drink decaffeinated coffee.  Just drink water.  Or real coffee.  And one can never have too much caffeine.  That is just a ridiculous statement.  And it's possibly unBiblical.  I'm looking that up.
In the middle of this insanity, I started thinking about how many of us a settling for what I'm calling "decaf Christianity."  Many others that are much smarter than me have called it "Almost Christianity."  There are actually 2 very well known sermons by that title, look them up.
I should probably expand on this a little.  There are simply too many people who do not expect to hear from God on a daily, if not more often basis.  The idea of having a personal, vibrant relationship with Jesus in the same manner as with our dearest friends is foreign to so many.  We try to adhere to some list of rules we've created from some ancient book, and can't figure out why we are not satisfied.  Now, all of that is fairly straightforward, what is not is the why.  I think there are a few reasons:
1) We don't know any different.  This is a scary one.  We've been copying each other for so long, we don't realise we have lost the original.  Even worse, we think that everyone else is happy.  Since we aren't satisfied, we just figure the problem is with us or assume this is as good as it gets.
2)We know different, we just don't do different.  Another scary one.  We realise we aren't getting it right, we are aware that we don't have a relationship with Jesus.  We just don't do anything about it.  We are either too scare or too lazy to act.
3)We don't realise there is more.  Maybe we think this is enough.  Why be unsatisfied if there is no more to be had?  That desire in our deepest souls is just part of the human condition, it doesn't get better until we get to heaven.

In the same way decaf makes no sense, Christianity without the relationship makes no sense.  It's just another list of things we have to be responsible for.  And none of us have time or energy for that.  So let's quit drinking decaf, literally and spiritually. 

Another reason I can't be a member of a mega-church:
Can you imagine me in a place with enough caffeine to fuel that many people?  I would get there early, have enough coffee to power a small country, and twitch like crazy for the next week.  Then, I would have to rush back to get my next fix.  It would not be a pretty sight my friends!

I Am Willing

One of my dearest friends is hurting today.  And I want to fix it.  But I can't.  This is a situation I've been in before, and I've never learned to like it or to be at peace with it.  I think most of you can relate.  We always want to take away the pain of those we love and cherish.  I think it is part of how we are made as relational creatures.  We're meant to be in relationship with each other.  But we are broken creatures living in a broken creation, so things get broken.  And while it is our first instinct to "fix it," we are broken too.  We can't even fix ourselves, how are we going to fix anyone else?
This has been bothering me all day.  How else can I deal with my friend's heartache if I can't just wipe it away?  I suddenly thought of one of my favorite Gospel passages, Mark 1:40-42.  In it, a man with leprosy comes to Jesus, and asks the Lord, if Jesus is willing, to heal him.  I love Jesus' response: "I am willing."
Now, I know this isn't a passage on heartache, loss or emotional suffering.  It is Jesus meeting the physical need of a person.  But those 3 words carry so much more weight than simple healing (if healing leprosy was simple!).  Jesus didn't just do it because he should, or could, or had to.  Jesus was willing.
This offers us 2 separate hopes today.  First, Jesus is willing.  We can know him, we can be clean, we can be reconciled to the Father because Jesus is willing to make that happen in our lives.  Secondly, we have a model.  We can't do what Jesus does, but we can be willing.  We can be willing to carry His good news, His joy, His truth, His comfort.  We can be willing to love people in the mess of a broken life.  We may not be able to fix anyone the way Jesus can, but we can be willing to love.  Our willingness to love shows a broken and hurting world that the Savior is willing.

Are we waiting or waiting?

Let's talk about waiting, specifically waiting on the Lord, as in everyone's favorite verse.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind. Isaiah 40:31 (The Message)

Now, I had for a very long time understood this verse to mean that when things get hard, just sit back and wait, and God will give me strength.  I don't know that this is a bad understanding, but I don't think it's the best.
We need to really stop and look at the word "wait".  I hear that word and my mind immediately goes to "Waiting for Godot."  The whole play is about 2 men waiting for a 3rd, named Godot.  The script revolves around them sitting, and waiting.  They do not go on to anything else, they do not try anything else.  They have put all hope in help from Godot, so they do nothing but sit and wait for Godot.  Now, many of us a Christ-followers do this, and I think it can be a good thing.  Jesus is the vine (we've talked about this) and our life and help come from Him.  Sometimes we need to wait in this context.
But there is another definition of waiting.  The roots of the word "wait" are the same roots as the words "waiting," "waitor," and "waitress."  Now, a waiter does anything but wait in our first context.  A waiter is constantly going, always on his feet, continually serving the master.  What if we use this context in Isaiah? 

But those who continually serve God and work to meet His desires get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.

That now means something completely different.  Instead of sitting and doing nothing until God gives us the strength to continue, we now press into Him.  We work at His side, we strive to meet His every desire and serve Him for as long as He would have us.  And, in that serving or waiting if you will, He renews our strength.  We will soar like the eagles as we wait upon Him.  It makes me want to work and serve.  How about you?

Essa

You read that title right.  According to one sweet toddler, my name is Essa.  Now, if you are an adult, I will correct you for messing up my name in the following ways: Chestna, Chesnut, Chestnut, Chezna, Cheznut.  But I will never correct Lora.  She is the first person that young to even attempt my name, much less say the same thing every time!  And every time she walks in and says "Essa!", I just feel happier. 
I was thinking today (after correcting an adult about my name) about why this is.  I think I may have figured it.  When she comes in and says my name, she isn't looking for anything (most of the time).  She just sees me, and aknowledges that she knows me.  How great is that?
I have even better news than that.  God knows my name.  He knows yours too.  He knows the best and worst of us.  God knows everything we've done, haven't done, should have done, and shouldn't have done.  You can take that last sentence and put it in the future tense as well.  But more than the sum of our actions and choices, God knows our names.  He knows the truest form of me, because He created me.  He knows my name, and loves me.  He doesn't love because of me or in spite of me, He just knows me and loves me.
God knows my name.  And God knows your name.