ECIPLESHIP for Passionate Christ-Followers

Thank you for the responses, people!

By the way--this blog is averaging 105 different people visiting every single day! Pretty cool. There have been 467 different individuals that have checked out the Ecipleship blog in the month of December (my first full month). So thanks for spreading the word whenever and however you can. It's sort of like an online church gathering every day!

Here is a survey of the responses (in order of their popularity) to “how you really come to know God”:

#1 — Through the devotional disciplines of reading the Word and prayer. The emphasis was made that it reveals the nature of God in light of my need and depravity.

#2  – Through adversity and trials. The statement was made several times that it is where head knowledge turns into heart convictions…God becomes real through the testings of life. What a great reminder of what James 1 states, “Consider it all joy when you encounter trials of various kinds…” Hardships are truly blessings in disguise.

#3 — Reflecting on God’s goodness and faithfulness. We see who God really is and the ways He has intersected our lives.

#4 — Obedience. It is in doing, taking risks, putting trust to the test that we experience who God really is. Only on the other side of obedience to do we know God clearly.

#5 — Learning from others. This is a “hip-hip-hurray!” for all pastors and teachers…and others who pour into the lives of those around them. This the Body of Christ dynamic that is essential to every believer. We need one another and find God through one another. I love it!

#6 — Serving and working in partnership with God. This is mine and since it’s my blog, I get to add it. I experience the reality and character of God through serving Him and others. I learn so much about God and form a deep bond with Him in these experiences.

RELATIONSHIP is the key in knowing God. Time, experiences together, sacrificing for another, laughing and enjoying one another — these are vital elements in relationships. And they are essential in knowing and loving God too.

In 2010, choose what one thing you will do to deepen your knowledge and love for God.

Happy New Year!

I finished my blog yesterday with a statement I would like your help with today.

Here’s the statement:

I’m quite sure that God will sneak up on you some day soon and say, “I want you to do this ridiculous thing that looks like sheer lunacy. Will you do it?” What will you answer?

It all depends upon how well you know God…how much you can trust in His infinite wisdom and undying love.

Here’s where I would like your help. Tell me what it is that has helped you most to truly know God. [Just click on the little post-it on the top right and leave your comment.] You can be very brief, but be as specific as possible. It will be interesting to hear how we each find our life-giving connections with the Almighty. I will follow-up with some reflections tomorrow.

Thanks for your help, everyone!

A new season of time stands before us. There are so many unknowns about it. Will I still have my job at the end of the year? Will I lose anyone close to me in the months ahead? What tragedies await me just around the corner? What school-of-hard-knocks does God have planned for me now? What disease is lurking in my body that will show itself in the days ahead? Yes—there are so many unknowns. But not one of them is a surprise to God!

Psalm 139:3-4, 16

3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all.

16 Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

Joseph and Mary understood the omniscient nature of God. They understood that God’s knowledge supersedes all time. He is in the past, present and future all at once! The Almighty is not bound by this arena of time in which we live. So—with absolute trust in the command of God to leave Bethlehem, they scurried out of town in the dark of night to avoid any witnesses to their departure. Joseph’s obedience was immediate and complete, even though it brought them even farther from their home in Nazareth.

Egypt.

This represents a place of pain, humiliation, despair, helplessness, enslavement, bondage, lostness…

Egypt was not a positive place for an Israelite. Their forefathers and families were debased in this despicable land. Four hundred and thirty years of slavery was cruelly etched into the fabric of these chosen people. By the way, did you know that they also spent four hundred and thirty years in the Promised Land…and then four hundred and thirty years in Babylonian and Persian exile? They returned to Jerusalem in 430BC…that’s right! Four hundred and thirty years after returning to their land of promise, the Savior comes, only to be sent back into exile again!

So when God tells Joseph and Mary to flee into Egypt, it required a special faith in the knowledge, wisdom and trustworthiness of God.

But they go.

They go into exile. In Egypt. Because God told them to go.

I’m quite sure that God will sneak up on you some day soon and say, “I want you to do this ridiculous thing that looks like sheer lunacy. Will you do it?” What will you answer?

It all depends upon how well you know God…how much you can trust in His infinite wisdom and undying love.

Will you go?

Sort of like the shepherds and the magi, we too are invited to meet with God. No—it’s not quite as unique, mind-boggling and gripping as that first Christmas, but it is just as real. The invitation is open to every one of us every day at every moment. God wants us to have these God-encounters that change us forever. This is not simply a nice-sounding theoretical dream based on wishful thinking. God longs to intersect his righteousness with our reality. He awaits our arrival of readiness in order to receive His fullness of blessing. He wants to pour His presence into our souls and then…send us out.

Because we come in order to go.

Sundays are generally the times when Christians gather together. But Saturdays or any other day of the week is perfectly acceptable too. The important thing is that we come. And that we come to give our worship. That we come with a realness to our arrival rather than a routine to wrap-up. The New Testament declares the value of our togetherness:

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

The admonition? Get together on a regular basis as fellow believers. And we could say, “To meet God!” After all, if we don’t meet God when we offer our worship together, we have missed the Object of it all.

Why get together? To encourage one another to go out and do “love and good deeds.” We are to be the presence of Jesus in our world. Incarnate Christ. Bring the presence of God.

Because we come in order to go.

Here’s the truth of the matter: If we don’t meet God, we don’t have much to give. If we meet God, we cannot keep it for ourselves.

Don’t fall back into some carnal rut of “worshiping” just for yourself. Don’t return to the cursed place of self-infatuation…simply getting what you want for your own benefit. Don’t “do church” because you’re looking for whatever it is you want out of it. This is completely sinful. We are never invited to come only to get. We’re invited to come and get so we can go and give.

Are you ready to turn around and go back into your place of influence? Are you ready to infect others with the reality of God? Do you really understand that you come in order to go?

Friction is described as that which resists relative lateral motion of two solid surfaces in contact.  In layman’s language, friction is what keeps things from sliding easily between surfaces.

Now–back to the saga of the self-moving van. When Shane and I tried to drive it out of its self-parked position at the bottom of our driveway, we couldn’t get the beast to move. We pushed until we were blue in the face and weak in our arms. We spun the wheels until they simply whistled on the ice. That vehicle was stuck in place. UNTIL I remembered the old sand box in the back yard. Yes–it was covered with 18 inches of snow, but down below was that wonderful grit that proved to be priceless. Grabbing my spade, I simply scattered a little sand beneath the helpless tires. When I jumped back into the van, it was miraculous! Without any effort, we pulled right out of the unwanted position.

Thank God for friction! The surfaces no longer had the luxury of ignoring one another. There was now movement!

In my 25 years as a pastor, I’ve also realized that friction is needed for successful ministry. In life, friction can be painful at times–especially when it produces blisters on the hand or carpet burns on your arms. But there is also great value to friction, even in the ministry realm. Friction creates the needed ingredient for movement. Friction just for the sake of friction is meaningless and often painful. However, friction to create forward movement is indeed priceless.

Sometimes ministry friction is simply challenging the status quo(you know–the “we always did it this way” thing). At times, friction is absolutely necessary because you know you’re stuck in place and will never “go anywhere” until you do something about it. For me, that has meant philosophical worship changes, organizational alterations, and program adjustments (some which are soon coming). These fundamental changes always create friction…it’s never really smooth or completely comfortable, but always absolutely essential for us to move to where God wants us.

In this coming year, I’m praying that we will have friction–just enough to be the priceless ingredient that will get us unstuck from our useless places and move us forward into God’s places.

Let’s seek out that true grit!

Snow is everywhere! And some ice too. The beauty outside is obvious. And my whole body aches today as well. That was the heaviest snow I’ve shoveled in–well, 51 years! Thankfully Shane was there to help with the man-sized task.

That’s not all. After clearing our entire driveway yesterday, we moved the vehicles back into their designated spots. All was well…we thought. A couple of hours later, Susan asks this crazy question–”Did you park the van at the bottom of the driveway?”

Our van decided to take a journey all on its own!

My first thought was, “Why would you even ask a question like that?” until it registered that the van actually was at the bottom of the driveway! That’s not where we parked it! With all of the icy snow, and even a little rain mixed in later in the day, our van actually took a little journey all on its own! There is was at the bottom of our driveway propped against a large bank of chunky snow we had manufactured. Nothing hurt. But certainly a surprise.

Yes–it is so beautiful out there, but beauty has a price. My body is speaking to me about that today. It’s a reminder that beauty always has a price. True beauty in our lives, too, never comes for free. It takes intentionality, determination, effort, and work.

1 Peter 3 addresses women of the first century:  “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.“

The principle here applies to the male gender as well. External beauty (or handsomeness) is very natural to focus on, but the inner stuff is what really matters. And that takes some attention everyday, just like personal hygiene does.

Beauty has a price, whether it is the snow that adorns our yards or the character that inhabits our inner lives. But it’s always worth the price.

Although my body is questioning that truth at the moment…

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful bloggers!

One of my favorite memories of Christmas happened when I was about eight years old. My two older brothers and I had dreamed for a long time of having some real cowboy boots to wear. And sure enough–on Christmas day, we each ripped open a package of the brand new fresh smelling western treasures! Not only that, but Dad and Mom had a bottle of pop in the refrigerator for each one of us (and we NEVER had pop!). There is the now famous picture of the three of us standing proudly with with one boot on a chair, a bottle of Orange Crush in our hands, and smiles a mile wide on our faces.

Here’s the deal–we had very little when I was growing up on our southwestern Minnesota dairy farm. I always wore third generation hand-me-downs. Often times, my clothes were more patches than original. We lived a pretty simple life with our two-hole outhouse and corn-cob kitchen cook stove in the earliest years of my existence. So when we were presented with brand new boots, this was truly stunning!

There’s something terribly beautiful about simplicity, isn’t there.

So on this Christmas day, our family is going simple. No gifts, just a few stocking stuffers, lots of food, games, and hopefully, family memories. Even last night, after our Christmas Eve services, Susan pulled out some Dutch Blitz cards and we played the frantic game until the turn of midnight! We brought in Christmas this year with lots of laughter, taunting, and food over the kitchen table.

It’s morning now and the whole family is still snuggled warm in their beds, but I’m loving Christmas already. Jesus is with us! Immanuel has arrived. He came in poverty and simplicity to make us rich and whole. The stuff around us, or even what isn’t available to us, doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that we already have God with us and family around us.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

They brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord…and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. And she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:22-25, 36-38

I feel so privileged to be a pastor. I have seen the hand of God in such powerful ways through the years. Like the small infant so weak from a heart defect that doctors could do nothing. A prayer for healing and anointing with oil unleashed the unlimited power of God in this baby’s life. She’s now a teenager living for Jesus. Or the carousing, womanizing drinker who prayed to accept Jesus as his savior and Lord…and is experiencing a radical transformation in his life to this day. Or the demonized woman whose satanic power was frightening…who experienced the greater freeing power of Jesus Christ. I could go on and on. It has been such an honor to serve the Lord and His people. I have been in the privileged place to see these things happen.

Anna, the prophetess, was in the place to see God too. She was 84 years old, which was ancient in those days when the average life-span was maybe half that age. She lived her life in the temple serving God and serving people. She was a godly woman, living out her faith in the way she could—through prayers and fastings. The nature of what she did with her life indicates a tremendous passion. You do not fast with a casual orientation. You do not serve “night and day” with a mediocre commitment. For close to sixty years she consistently served in the temple. With out a doubt, she saw many God-things in that period of time. But the greatest of all was what happened when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple.

Can you imagine the overwhelming sense of gratitude this woman experienced in that moment? Verse 38 states that “at that very moment she began giving thanks.” Just think about it—this woman served God faithfully for all these years…the God she could not see, touch, hear, or smell. She walked by faith and not by sight. But now, held in arms before her, was God as an infant! The creator of the universe lay helpless and vulnerable in her presence. The same God who met Moses on the mountain, who made the walls of Jericho fall, who demanded holiness of the priest to enter the holy of holies where He resided is now cooing and drooling before her. Talk about surreal! This godly woman did not reason it away, however. She knew God good enough to understand that He can do what He wants…and often does His thing in ways we least expect. Here, in rare form, is the visitation of God. Anna met Jesus.

I love what verse 38 states: “and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” This old godly woman was re-energized! She had seen God! After looking into the face of the God-child, she could not keep silent. As godly and passionate as she was before this, it was even more so now! She talked about the visitation of God to everyone who would listen…especially to those who were looking for the Redeemer.

When we meet Jesus, we are re-energized. Our passion gets ratcheted up, our purpose is clear, our mission consuming.

Would you like to meet Jesus this Christmas? I mean really meet Him? Beyond all the familiar stories, traditions, church services, Christmas chatter, and personal routines, Jesus longs to meet you in a new, powerful, and personal way. Anna reminds us that it pays to be passionate and attentive to God’s work and presence. She didn’t miss Jesus…and neither will you if you really long to find Him.

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God… Luke 2:25-35

When I read this account of Simeon, I am humbled. The picture here is that of a very old man. In fact, it appears that God has extended his life longer than most of his peers since he had such a desire to see the long-awaited Messiah. This man is in tune with God!

• He is righteous. He was in a right standing with God. There was nothing between them.
• He is devout. The Greek word here is “eulabees” meaning intentional in keeping every sacred requirement. In other words, Simeon was religious for all the right reasons!
• He is alert. The picture here is of someone looking intently but with patience for a person they love to arrive. Have you ever stood at the airport with excitement in your chest, adrenaline surging through your body, and eyes vigilant looking for someone you can hardly wait to see? This is the picture of Simeon waiting for the arrival of the promised Christ.
• He is Holy Spirit controlled. He was a living representation of God in his world. When people met Simeon they knew there was something different and supernatural about Him. God was living in and through Him in extraordinary ways.

When I reflect on the nature of Simeon, I am reminded of how radical our faith should be. Here was a man whose entire life was bent on seeing Jesus! It’s what He lived for every day! As a result, God blessed Him greatly for it…and fulfilled His desire.

Are you bent on seeing Jesus? I must admit, with regret, that I am often taken up by the temporal things of our world so that I overlook the essential things of God. How easy to drift through life like a ship without a rudder not knowing where we are headed. How normal to be focused on the things we can see, hear, touch, and smell while we overlook the mystical and divine. What a tragedy to be so earth-bound that we overlook heaven’s gifts.

Simeon was in tune with God. He was careful to hear the Heavenly Father’s gentle promptings. Even though there were many in that temple the day Jesus arrived for His ceremonial circumcision (most likely), Simeon and Anna were the only ones on record who recognized Jesus as the Christ. Simeon was in tune with God.

So—Christmas is coming. We can get so caught up in the temporal things of Christmas that we actually overlook Jesus. I’m ashamed of how many Christmases I have sighed with relief when it was over. I failed to meet Jesus in those seasons because my focus was wrong, I failed to seek Jesus. I was not in tune with God at all. The stresses of the season squeezed out any interaction with the Christ-child.

Do you want to come to the manger this Christmas? Would you like to gaze into the face of the Christ-child? Do you long for that experience of wonder more than any other like Simeon? Then choose to take that journey. Whatever it takes, choose to take that journey…

Joseph could have very easily missed Jesus at Christmas…the Holy One’s birth did not depend upon him at all. Scripture (Matthew 1:18-25) reveals certain things about Joseph, however, that make it clear why he ends up coming to the manger on that very first Christmas.

• He was man of great character (verse 19). Neither anger nor selfish revenge moved Joseph at all. Though his shock concerning Mary’s condition must have been great, his disappointment acute, and his disillusionment significant, he treats Mary with dignity.
• He was ready to receive a word from the Lord (verse 20). We may think now that God speaking through dreams was common, but not really. Here are the facts: Joseph was ready to hear a radical word from God…and then take action to embrace it.
• He practiced complete obedience (verse24). Joseph didn’t hesitate one moment. The morning after his divine dream, Joseph took Mary to be his wife. Yes…this crazy message that could so easily be dismissed was embraced by a true faith-follower.
• He was a man of integrity (verse 25). He kept her a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus in order that the scriptures would be fulfilled, “A virgin will give birth…” In the most private arena of life, Joseph honored God.

As I consider Joseph, I am gripped by His character. This, of course, is not something that is developed in a day, month, or year. It is a life-time quest of seeking God in all things at all times. Joseph was ready to listen, learn, adapt, obey, and sacrifice in order to come to the manger that first Christmas.

What a great reminder–meeting Jesus even today is not a casual encounter, but an all-encompassing God-ward orientation of mind and heart.

Don’t miss Him now…