MAINTENANCE REQUIRED

Orange. Not red. So nothing to worry about. But the more I told myself not to worry, the more I worried!

MAIN
REQU

“Maintenance Required.” The words in orange on my dashboard would not go away. I thought perhaps if I ignored them they would disappear. No such luck!

So, after a couple of days I was forced to reach in the glove compartment and pull out my Owners Manual. It was not the nightmare I was dreading. It only indicated that my oil needed changing. But I had just changed it, so perhaps there is an internal mechanism that automatically comes on at certain miles no matter when you get it changed.

This reminded me of spiritual maintenance. My heart, mind, soul and body need maintenance. It would be nice if we all had an orange light on us to light up when attention was needed spiritually. Paul’s prayer wish for his readers in Thessalonica was: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thess. 5:23, 24).

Allowing God himself to sanctify us through and through is an ongoing maintenance issue. But how do I know my inner being and body need attention?
Fair enough question. Answer: Spiritual laziness & lethargy. Tensions and conflict in all my relationships. A sour attitude. Finding fault constantly. Fear replacing a joyful outlook on life. Neglect of Bible reading, meditation, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines. Giving in to temptations. Thinking that stinks and is evil at its core. We have to constantly ask God to help us monitor and maintain ourselves.

There is a purpose for all this—that we will be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not know when Jesus will return. But we keep ourselves tuned and maintained by the power and faithfulness of God who is vitally interested in our present state and our eternal destiny. We must never forget how much God has at stake in our daily condition and our ultimate state.
Remember: “God is faithful and He will do it!”

Sweet Will of God

This expression “sweet will of God” is part of our hymn tradition. I think it speaks well of how we are to view the will of God. Eighteen (18) of the twenty-seven (27) books in the New Testament contain the expression “will of God.” In Ephesians this concept plays prominently in Paul’s theology. He sees himself as an apostle “through the will of God”(1:1). It is through the agency and means of God’s will that Paul becomes an apostle to the Gentiles.
In accordance with God’s good pleasure and will, we are adopted as his sons and daughters in Jesus Christ (1:5). Being part of God’s family is His ultimate will for our lives.
God has made known to us the mystery of his will (1:9). That mystery was purposed and revealed in Jesus Christ. The purpose is to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
We were predestined and chosen according to God’s plan who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will (1:11). This is all to God’s glory. As Christians our purpose and identity is shaped/ molded by being in conformity to the purpose of God’s will. Our life’s ambition is to know that will and reflect in our lives.
God’s will is starkly contrasted with the human will in Ephesians. Paul reminds his readers (and includes himself!) that “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires (will) and thoughts”(2:3). But God in his rich mercy saved us from such a disobedient and sinful life.
Paul reminds us that we need to be wise, seeing how our days and opportunities are short, “therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (5:17). We need to be careful how we live, and make it our goal to daily seek the Lord’s will.
As Paul closes out his letter, he addresses slaves. He wants them to serve their masters with a whole and sincere heart, knowing that they are really slaves of Christ, “doing the will of God from your heart” (6:6). Even in difficult daily circumstances of doing our job we need to understand that our faithfulness on the job is motivated by the fact that we are really serving the Lord.
Sweet will of God…it is sweet to know that our identity, our purpose, our daily life, our salvation, and our work are all made possible “through the will of God!” Are we trying to understand what that will is daily and be guided by it?
In Christian love, Curtis

RESULTS AND PURPOSE OF QUIET TIME WITH GOD

I want to recommend for your reading the classic, The Inner Life, by Andrew Murray. In his opening Preface he makes the following observation:

“The daily need for a time of solitude and quiet to pray and read God’s Word is of utmost importance. This time is spent in fellowship with God will bring a blessing, strengthen our spiritual life, and prepare us to meet the world. Then, we will be equipped for service in God’s kingdom in soul-winning and intercession” [p.5].

Three results flow out of this quiet time, contributing to one main purpose. Time spent with God will bring a blessing. This is the first result. Actually, in my quiet time with God I seek four blessings for each new day: inner peace, joy, humility, and a constant sense of His abiding presence.

The second result is to strengthen our spiritual life. Plugging into the power of God and the Spirit is essential to daily living. Living an unplugged life for God is impossible. Human strength wanes. It has no sustaining power and cannot energize God’s people for God-sized ministries!

The third result is to prepare us to meet the world. None of us knows in the morning exactly what our day will be like. We are constantly surprised when we look back at the day’s activities how God intervened, guided, disciplined, and brought about His sovereign will. We can only be prepared to be a part of this process by waiting for the Lord in expectation.

These three results of quiet time with God equip us for service in God’s kingdom. God’s desire is to equip us and prepare us for the day’s activities for the kingdom. God wants us to be ready to meet the world in all of its brokenness, sinfulness, despair and pain. Without such preparation we are sucked into the world’s condition of hopelessness with nothing to offer. However, with intentional quiet time with God, He will provide and equip us to meet the world with wholeness, forgiveness, hope and healing.

All of this creates the context for sharing the Good News of Jesus and praying on behalf of others. I cannot imagine trying to live for God and others without this kind of preparation. Can you?
In Christian love, Curtis

STICKS AND DIRT

Both boys were vigorously engaged in digging into the huge mountain of dirt. Perhaps they were digging for gold, perhaps they were pretending to be earthmovers, making ready to lay pipeline. Perhaps they were archeaologists looking for the lost treasure of Indiana Jones. There is no telling where their world of imagination had captured them when I saw them working together against what looked like an insurmountable odds.

Several thoughts went through my mind. What were the sticks?
Shovels? Gold-digger picks? Parts of a huge earth-mover? By some strange coincidence I was listening to the radio just at that moment and heard what the latest addition to the Toy Museum was. Do you know what it was? Incidentally, in this museum are things like the slinky, play-do, etc. You can imagine all of the famous and well-known toys that occupy this museum. But guess what the latest addition was? A “stick!”

I believe that a panel of experts have to vote in an object to be included. Their rationale for a “stick” to end up in the museum was that a child’s world comes alive with a stick! Just think of all things that a stick turns into: a spear, a rifle, a magic wand, a baseball bat, a baton, etc. The imagination knows no bounds with a stick.

I saw this magic at work with both adolescent boys digging to make headway against the humongous pile of dirt. What struck me most was not their energy, not their commitment to digging into it, not that they relied on sticks to do their work…rather, both boys, working side by side were of different races.

In my mind the insurmountable mountain of dirt represented a world that both of these boys did not know they were digging against. They were working side by side, trying to accomplish a common task, barely knowing the kind of adult world that awaits them. Perhaps they were best friends. I would like to think so. But the high school and the adult world that one day will beckon them to join, is filled with racial prejudice, hatred, bigotry and favoritism. In my mind these boys were courageously tackling the mountain of racial disharmony and prejudice. From my perspective it looked impossible.

Harmony and reconciliation are the hallmarks of a community of faith shaped by the Spirit of God. Only the church is given the power and mandate to address disharmony, prejudice, hatred, bigotry and favoritism. Only the church is given the model to even know how to proceed. Only the church is given the task as part of her reason to exist to show the world that harmony and reconciliation are possible.

If this is the case, why is it then that the church seems the last place where both are practiced? Only one answer… Satan does his best work where it counts the most. If he can cause disharmony and bitterness in the body of Christ, he can destroy her witness in the world.
I remember one church that was proud of its diversity. But it was expressed in terms of tolerance. And after some digging around, I found out that the members actually felt that it was tolerance, with suspicion underneath the surface. Needless to say, that church split and Satan claimed a group of believers for his own. As long as the issues of diversity are ones that I have overcome, then I can convince myself that harmony and reconciliation are easy to come by and I don’t have to worry very much.

But let someone say something about me behind my back, let someone misunderstand my motives, let someone ask me to step aside so someone else can do my job, let someone mistreat my spouse, let someone take my parking spot, let someone else’s kids mistreat my kids, let someone try to take advantage of me financially, let someone reject me in a thousand and one ways…it doesn’t take much for me to respond in negative and disharmonous ways.

This is Paul’s advice to a church that was embroiled in law suits sounds so contemporary: in 1 Corinthians 6:1-11. Perhaps, in order to beat Satan at his own game, we need to listen in from time to time, and overhear this conversation of long ago. If we could think of it as a blog posting, where people began to complain about how they were being mistreated and Paul posts this response. Let us read and take to heart 1 Corinthians 6:1-11.

SEEDS OF THE REFLECTIVE LIFE

Ken Gire in his book, Seeing What is Sacred, has an entire chapter on the topic of “seeds of the reflective life.” At the beginning of this chapter he includes the following excerpt from Thomas Merton…


Every moment and every event of every man’s
life on earth plants something in his soul. For
just as the wind carries thousands of invisible
and visible winged seeds, so the stream of time
brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come
to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men.
Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost,
because men are not prepared to receive them.


In order to live the reflective life that responds to the divine imperative, “Be still and know that I am God,” we must be prepared to receive such seeds of reflection. Every moment and every event carries seeds of eternity that desire to be planted in our hearts and souls. But it all comes down to receptivity.

When I was growing up, springtime was one of great anticipation. The tractor plow turned over the dark, rich earth. Ground was prepared to receive the seeds. I always thought that it was rather strange and odd that things sprouted we did not plant. This was all because the earth was prepared to receive whatever seed happened to fall and be planted.

Maple tree seeds and morning glory seeds seemed to take over and sprout like crazy. Merton’s quote invites us to think of the wind as the “Spirit.” If we are receptive, the Spirit of God will plant in our hearts seeds that will germinate with “spiritual vitality.” Our greatest challenge is to be ready when those seeds are dropped imperceptibly in our minds and wills.

I was grabbed by the thought that “every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.” Are we prepared and receptive enough to know what that “something” is on a daily basis? What are we learning and how are we growing?

In Christian love, Curtis

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

The Jewish scholar Abraham Heschel once wrote: “Something sacred is at stake in every event” (Ken Gire, Seeing What is Sacred, page 11).

The sacredness of every moment is a concept, a reality and a perspective that I was not taught growing up. But for the Christian there cannot be the secular/sacred dichotomy and split. God is present and accounted for every moment. It is amazing to me the immediate and profound implications this has for Christian living.

First, if God is present every moment and something sacred is going on, then life itself is sacred. Life and death issues, as far as ethical demands and decisions are concerned, all of a sudden become much more simple. Beginning of life and ending of life realizes the sacredness of the event. How is one born in a sacred way? How does one die in a sacred way?

Second, if God is present every moment and something sacred is going on, then spontaneous praise and worship is the proper response. If our thinking restricts sacredness to a building and worship services, then we cheat ourselves of sacred moments in which our hearts are allowed freedom and spontaneity to praise God.

Third, if God is present every moment and something sacred is going on, then I need to have a stewardship theology that accounts for how I approach each single event, each single moment and each single experience in a responsible way. This responsibility recognizes that each conversation, each personal interaction, each decision, each occurrence, each moment, etc. is an opportunity for me to respond with eternity in mind.

Fourth, if God is present every moment and something sacred is going on, then the Sovereignty of God is real for me. It is His world and I am his child. This dependence creates a humility that drinks in the divine presence to fill the human soul. This is how I empty self and become more like Jesus.

What is at stake with this sacramental view of life? Everything to the glory of God!
In Christian love, Curtis

The Reflective Life

I am currently reading a book by Ken Gire with the title, Seeing What is Sacred: Becoming More Sensitive to the Everyday Moments of Life. At the heart of this book is his contention that the “reflective life” is the Christian life lived in a moment by moment awareness of God’s divine presence.

In his introduction I was particularly struck with the following statement:

“We’re starved for a life that not only senses the sacred in the world around us but savors it. We’re famished for experiences that are real, relationships that are deep, work that is meaningful” [page 4].

This statement seems to encapsulate lately my experiences as a minister in the Lord. At the Lipscomb preaching conference these three things seemed to wrapped up in the theme of Exodus and deliverance. Real experiences of deliverance in our lives from the bondages of addiction, depression, etc. testify to the “pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night” presence of God daily in our lives. Deep relationships are hard to come by. Blessed is the person who has a few of them. And, we want Monday through Friday’s work experience to count for something. After all, we are putting in 40-60 hours a week. A third of our waking hours, or even more, are poured into our work. Can it possibly have meaning other than a paycheck at the end of two weeks?

If we do not live the reflective life, I see a malnourished soul, shallow relationships, and work that is drudgery. This kind of existence dulls the heart’s ability to savor the moment, remembering the purpose of it all.

Pausing to reflect on a mountain ledge at 4500 feet above sea level, listening to a contemplative CD, reflecting on the body of Christ during communion, writing a Haiku after hiking on the trail around the lake at Penuel Ridge, praying with a person who has been called to shoulder the pain of others, etc.—these are just a few of the ways that I have paused to savor, taste and reflect on God’s movement in my life.

Let us all see what is sacred by becoming more sensitive to the presence of God in everyday moments of life!
In Christian love, Curtis

Ananias and Sapphira

In our small groups we are focusing on the life of integrity. The business and work world is crying out for men and women of integrity. Business deals gone sour; financial ruin run amuck; double-speak where no one’s word means anything; moral issues no longer grounded in a theological center; personal and instant gratification allowed to dominate—all of this, and more, is evident of our culture “coming apart at the seams.”

You may recall that our last two articles centered on the idea that culture matters. It does matter because that is the context in which we live. It is easy to dismiss others in their state of lack-of-integrity and assume that all is a lost cause. But the sad thing is that often the people who exhibit the least amount of integrity are Christians!

Take the case of Ananias and Sapphira. A husband and wife team that conspired to lie and take credit for something they did not do. Speculation abounds as to what the exact nature of their motivation was. They did see the attention that Barnabas got for laying his proceeds at the apostles feet. Personal pride and a desire to be in the limelight attacks all of us. The scary thing is that at one time or another we have played out the Ananias and Sapphira in our hearts and in our decisions.

Integrity is a matter of the heart. It shows in the ways we make decisions, tell the truth and really care about others. I have come to the conclusion in watching this phenomenon occur (where Christians sometimes exhibit the least integrity) over the years that Satan knows if he can attack our integrity, then he has us in the palm of his hand.

I feel sorry for this couple. It is sad that they go down in biblical history as the couple who blew it big time and were made an example of. I don’t suppose they were an “evil” couple. No murders, no robbing, no stealing, no adultery, no worshipping other gods, none of this was on their resume. But Luke records this incident very early in the life of the infant church so that Theophilus would understand how critical personal and moral integrity is. Do we?

In Christian love, Curtis

The Morph-ing of the Local Church

Gems from Greek: The Morph-ing of the Local Church
By Dr. Curtis D. McClane
Chair, Religious Studies Department
Professor of Religion & Spiritual Formation
Global Christian University

Adjunct Professor of Bible
Johnson Bible College
Knoxville, Tennessee

Minister of the Word, Prayer & Outreach
Highland View Church of Christ
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Recent research has sought to define the church in terms of metaphors and illustrations. Something as mysterious and transcendent as the church is hard to get our arms around and define. Two important works have been seminal in my thinking about the nature of the local congregation, showing both the New Testament images used (2004 Minear) and the process of transformation at the heart of Paul’s concept of ministry within that context (2006 Thompson).
Based on this, allow me to suggest that the work and the presence of the local church is constantly “morph-ing.” Too often we have static views of the nature and essence of the church and wonder why we get frustrated when things keep changing. But I want to make a case for the amorphous nature of the body of Christ. The process of change and transformation is more fundamental to the nature of the church than its polity, tradition of worship practices, etc.
This is emphasized by Paul’s choice of language in his letters. It is highlighted in the New Testament by the morph root words he uses. Look at the passages below:

Philippians 2:6-7 Jesus originally was in the form (morph) of God but humbled himself to the form (morph) of a servant.

Galatians 4:19 Paul expresses his personal agony and inner angst like that of the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed (morph) in his readers.

Romans 12:2 Paul admonishes his reader not to live conformed to the pattern of this world, rather they are to be transformed (morph) by the renewing of their minds.

2 Corinthians 3:8 Turning to the Lord lifts the veil on the heart so that believers can reflect the Lord’s glory. In this process Paul’s readers are being transformed (morph) into the likeness of Jesus with ever-increasing glory.

As we can see from the above Scriptures, Paul envisioned spiritual formation, transformation and renewal to be at the heart of community life in Christ. Rigid concepts of how people ought to behave and how programs ought to function and how budgets out to be spent all run counter to this notion. Instead of seeing the church as a business to run, people to manipulate and programs to put on we need to be counter-cultural in our perspective of the local congregation. Since Jesus is the greatest example of “morph-ing” we have, it makes sense to think that his followers would be living examples of “morph-ing” also. But practically, what does this mean for ministers, elders, deacons, teachers, ministry leaders, and members of the local church?

Allow me to suggest the following:

· Servanthood itself takes on a diversity of shapes
· We do not allow the world to squeeze us into its mold
· As faithful Christians and disciples we are changed from the inside out: heart and mind
· We are daily being changed into the likeness of Jesus

No wonder the local church seems to be constantly changing! It is inherent in the DNA of congregational life. Lives are constantly changing because of circumstances. But on a deeper level we are changing because we are in the process of being “morph-ed” daily. This prepares us for the amorphous nature of relationships, problems, life situations, etc.
This helps us take on more ownership of the changing of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is why Paul could agonize like a woman in childbirth. Instead of pulling our hair out because the organizational, institutional aspect of church life is not happening, we trade that for agonizing over lack of change (morph) in the lives of our fellow believers.
At the very core this means we believe that only God can change the human heart and transform it by the working of his Spirit. The Spirit of God takes the raw material of clay and molds into the image of Christ. This takes on a lovely diversity of appearance as each one is gifted differently. We try to encourage one another not to be fashioned like the culture around us. Ultimately, the inside “morph-ing” process will show itself on the outside. Changed hearts and minds slowly morph into the likeness of Jesus.
Remembering all of this frees us from two fears: the fear that things will change and the fear that they will not. “Morph-ing”—praise God for his work of transformation in our congregations!

Resources:
Minear, Paul S. 2004. 2nd ed. Images of the Church in the New Testament.
Philadelphia, PA: Westminster/John Knox Press.

Thompson, James W. 2006. Pastoral Ministry According to Paul: A Biblical
Vision. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Tornadoes, Towers and Tragedies

This spring is quickly approaching one of the deadliest on record in our country. So far over 100 people have lost their lives to twisters meandering through the Midwest and heartland of our nation. In addition to the metereological questions arising as to the cause, ontological questions arise when people ask, “What did they do to deserve this?”

There has been since nearly the beginning of time the thought that pain, suffering and tragedy are just recompense for a life misspent. If you encounter bad things, you must have done something to deserve it.

Yesterday in our small group discussion we discovered the same kind of thinking that was around in Jesus’ day. He referred to a contemporary event that most of his audience knew about: “Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!”(Luke 13:4,5).

Tragedy has nothing to do with guilt. It may cause guilt, especially what we call “survivors’ guilt.” But, tornadoes leveling neighborhoods and towers crushing people have nothing to do with recompense or somehow people getting paid back what they are owed.

We live in world where senseless, needless and irrational tragedies abound. The cyclone in Myanmar, and now more lives are being lost because of authorities keeping a tight control on relief efforts. I do not claim to know the answer to all of this. It is a crazy world we live in.

Here is the only thing I do know: what makes sense, and what is needful and what is most rational is this—I live a repentant life, guilt-free because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Then no matter the tragedies that surround me, I know that I am in the hands of a loving Father whose heart breaks too when these things happen.

In Christian love, Curtis

Don't Scramble, Prioritize!

Opportunities for Spiritual Growth and Engagement:
Don’t Scramble, Prioritize!


I left the pepper plant in the garage too long. It is hanging down its head and crying. In desperation I dug an extra big hole, deposited an extra amount of enriched soil, watered it with a copious amount of fertilized water—too much, too late.
As I ponder on this little vignette of my gardening catastrophe, I am struck with how this describes so much of our life efforts. Only when we see the heart, the relationship, the value, the priority nearly dead do we shift into what I call “the scramble mode.” We run around, scrambling here and there, grasping for anything and everything as a last straw of hope.
This entire approach to God is neither healthy nor glorifying to God. Waiting too late has its own consequence—no more opportunities. Our daily lives are filled with opportunities to attend to the priorities. But if we shove them back on the shelf, the time will come when they will present themselves no more.
I love hot peppers. Only a hot-pepper-lover would understand this statement. But if I love hot peppers so much, why did I leave this one special plant in the garage too long?

+I got too busy
+I forgot
+I kept putting it off
+Every time I saw it I kept reassuring myself, I will do it tomorrow
+Pepper plants are hardy and resilient
+I still have time left

You know the excuses. We have all made them. The rationalizations muffle the sound of the screaming priorities. Busyness, self-preoccupation, procrastination, rationalization, false sense of security—we have relied on all of them at one time or another.

Some one in the hospital—why did I not go by and give them a word of comfort and prayer before they died? I intented to…

+I got too busy
+I forgot
+I kept putting it off
+Every time I remembered I kept reassuring myself, I will do it tomorrow
+People are hardy and resilient, they will get better
+I still have time left

Remember, don’t scramble, prioritize! You’ll never regret it. To God be the glory!
In Christian love, Curtis

Spiritual Maturity & Self-Consciousness

“Maturity: among other things, a new lack of self-consciousness—the kind you can only attain when you have become entirely indifferent to yourself through an absolute assent to your fate.
He who has placed himself in God’s hands stands free vis-à-vis men: he is entirely at his ease with them, because he has granted them the right to judge.”[page 75]
Hammarskjold, Dag. 1993. Markings. New York, NY: Random House Publishers.

I would say more than just maturity: I would call this “Mature surrender of self.” How does one get to the point of lack of self-consciousness? This is difficult because we know we have to be self-aware in order to function normally. There is a thin line between self-awareness and self-consciousness. Spiritual maturity is getting to that place in our inner self where the distinction is clear. Self-awareness and self concept are developed in a healthy way, rooted in the image of Christ. Self-consciousness focuses on the limitations and the lack of worthiness to be one’s self and to be a work of God in Christ.

The only way to do this is to place one-self in the hands of God. As the clay we are made into His image and through Christ re-shaped and molded for His divine purposes. It is so easy to live our inner life stifled because we forget that we do not stand or fall before other human beings. Rather, our stability and maturity rests in the willingness of our will, desire and readiness to be vulnerable and pliable and waiting in the hands of the Almighty.

Even if others judge us, and they will because they are human beings and we have no way of controlling that freedom, there is an inner freedom in knowing that we are judged by God and we stand or fall before the divine presence.

Perhaps the hardest thing is to realize that our self-worth and self-concept are not tied to our performance or worthiness. God does not judge us worthy. We were initially judged unworthy by God and found wanting in our own ability to fix the human predicament of sin and sorrow. That is why, out of Divine Love, our own unworthiness was replaced with the worthy sacrifice of Jesus. We cling to him for our worth. We go to the cross for the paradox of flinging the unworthy self at the feet of our Savior and then unworthily picking up the cross and with a renewed sense of worth and freedom carrying that cross. It is our own sinfulness that keeps us carrying the cross, the unworthiness that thinks that by carrying the cross with Jesus still on it, somehow our super-human attempt at such a feat will merit our new standing before God.

Spiritual maturity and the inner self—a never ending journey that seems to present ever-changing landscapes of potential destination. Just when we think we have arrived, just around the next corner is a new vista to be traversed, a new challenge to be accepted, a new day to dawn upon us.

I love the image of being placed in God’s hands. This is the position of protection, security and safety. It is complete trust and reliance upon God to supply the inner worth and strength and value as we negotiate the terrain of life with relational challenges lurking behind every new bend in the road. Sometimes those challenges can leave us reeling and wondering if we truly are in the hands of God. But faith and inner assurance granted by the Holy Spirit gives us confirmation that all is well, and all shall be well. This is the ground of our being in relationship with God. The One who made us will shade us. The One before whom we kneel and pray everyday is Our Heavenly Father. It is to this Heavenly Father that our inner work in entrusted and that we live with a new resurgence of freedom and joy before others who really do not know us, and will never take the time to encourage us in our travels with God.

More than anything, O Lord, help me to become more and more like Christ. Help me to be more spiritually mature, and enjoy the freedom and inner peace that only You, Jesus and the Spirit can offer. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Leaving and Searching

Back in February of this year, the New York Times National released a survey that indicated over 44% of adults say they have left the faith of their childhood [Neela Banerjee, “Poll Finds a Fluid Religious Life Among Americans,” Feb. 26, 2008]. This survey reveals interesting and crucial insights for the future of the church.

Professor Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University offers this explanation: “The trend is toward more personal religion, those [churhes] losing out are offering impersonal religion.”

So, what is the difference between personal religion and impersonal religion? This question begs a deeper analysis that I can give it here. However, allow me to make some observations.

First, this is the elephant in the room that no one has wanted to talk about in our fellowship for years. Every congregation I have served has had a number of elders, deacons, teachers, and members whose children have left the church and chosen another denomination. While talking to those children [many of whom are boomers now], I have discovered that they rejected the traditions and forms, and were in a quest for a meaningful and less judgmental fellowship. They have in effect been the divine kick in the pants to our fellowship.

Second, when relationships are ignored rebellion is not far behind. Form and tradition by the time it reaches the third and fourth generations becomes empty and hollow. The two greatest commands have been ignored and replaced by the minutiae of external forms. The quenching of the Spirit has been the result.

Thirdly, the Restoration Movement plea has been our own Achilles heel. A plea for unity has become a pronouncement of arrival. We must never forget that the spiritual journey is a movement toward the Lord. We must welcome the questions, the searching and the quest of the next generation. Maybe we are raising in our midst the next Stone, Campbells, Scotts to challenge authority and tradition that has obscured the freedom of Christ and the good news of Jesus.
Let us offer the cup of love and understanding for individuals in such a state of fluidity!
In Christian love, Curtis

Two Things are Certain

Actually, three things are certain: taxes, death and judgment. You no doubt have heard of the dictum: “Only two things are certain in this life,death and taxes.” I was reminded of this saying when I went to the Post Office this week to mail my tax forms in and stood in a long line. It went at a snail’s pace and I thought I would never get out of there!

But while standing in line I was reminded of the saying about death and taxes. On a deeper and more serious level it raised this question for me: “If I am not living in this world but am living in the kingdom of God, why do I have to pay taxes? Isn’t this paying allegiance to the “kingdom of Caesar?” I mean, if I really want to be separate from the world, then why not make a clean break of everything and claim ultimate allegiance to God, thereby absolving myself of any obligation to the government?

Jesus has a word to say on this.

In this Synoptic Gospel accounts [Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-26] the Pharisees tried on one occasion to trap Jesus in his conversation. Both the Pharisees and the Herodians conspired and baited him with this question:

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

He knew their insincerity, so he asked for coin. They gave him a denarius [sort of like our penny today] and he asked, “Whose image and what inscription is on this coin?”

They answered, “The emperor’s.”

Jesus simply answered, “Give therefore to the emperor Caesar the things that are his, and to God the things are God’s.”

Simple. Direct. No further questions needed. Not a case of allegiance. Just a case of faithfulness and lawfulness. These are the two things certain in view of the judgment and eternity: faithfulness and lawfulness. It comes down to a question of witness. Am I faithful and law-abiding? As Christians we have dual citizenship: heavenly and earthly. This duality only causes us trouble when allegiance to God is threatened. Otherwise, faithfulness and lawfulness are the two certain things that will catch the attention of people who care about neither. They will see the inner peace and the quality of relationships around us.

In Christian love, Curtis

Seen in Passing

This morning I was waiting to get on the elevator at the hospital. The person in front of me in the lobby was wearing a T-shirt with this saying on the back of it:

“Live your life so that the preacher will not have to lie at your funeral.”

Thought-provoking…for several reasons. Does this mean that sometimes ministers lie at funerals? Does this mean your only motivation for living a good life is so that true statements can be made at your funeral?

There is a really good assumption underneath this statement: the realization that we are facing our own funeral someday, and the life we live will be the legacy we leave behind. What we live is what we are writing as our epithet.

Live your life...not only to the fullest, but also to the memory and example you will leave behind. Living our live to the fullest each day is predicated on the following things:

· Each morning is a gift unwrapped with the rising sun
· We gratefully step out into the morning air filling our lungs with the breath of God
· Our eyes capture the beauty of spring and we sense the pulsating earth with renewal all around
· We care and are compassionate toward each person we meet today
· We live our lives according to the covenant commitment we have made to God, our spouses, our children and our brothers and sisters in Christ
· We grasp each moment, each opportunity to use our personal gifts to bless others
· With enthusiasm, wonder and joy we dive into the challenges of the day

Perhaps you can add other things to what you think it means to “live your life.” Authenticity, consistency, genuineness, maturity, perseverance, and faithfulness with God’s grace and power will enable us all to live in such a way that we will not have to be an imposition on the preacher when the time for our funeral arrives.

Truth lived…truth spoken. What a combination for eternity!

In Christian love, Curtis

The Beauty of Baptism

Yesterday we were privileged to witness Dennis and Lovanna being baptized into Jesus Christ. It was such a powerful testimony to the work of God, Christ and the Spirit in their lives. Baptism is a beautiful metaphor enacted in the context of a community of faith. Its beauty is witnessed in the following dimensions: initiation, commission, resurrection and identification.

Baptism initiates us into the family of God. This is the language and picture of birth. Being “born from above” makes us aware that baptism is a physical, symbolic act of an inward transformation that connects to the people of God. It is a communal act.

Baptism commissions us to go forth as a witness. In obeying the Great Commission, we are commissioning others. Every person baptized in the water and Spirit is commissed to go forth and share the good news of Jesus.

Baptism resurrects us with our Lord. We re-enact the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus at every baptism. Those being baptized have been united in the death and resurrection of Jesus in a way that is hard to understand. But, we are raised “from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Baptism identifies us as people of grace. Sin and death no longer have mastery over us. Since we are dead to sin and alive to Christ, our identity is rooted in the giftedness of salvation. Consequently, we offer ourselves back to God as a graced-gift!

Baptism is a gift from God. It symbolizes transformation and humility all wrapped up together. It is a work of God in which the Spirit is imparted. Yes, indeed—baptism is beautiful, both in what it symbolizes and what it does. Thank God for his unspeakable gift in Christ!

In Christian love, Curtis

The Hardest Journey

Over forty years ago a meeting took place in Japan in which the leading Christian thinkers gathered together to address what seemed to be the loss of spiritual depth in modern culture and humanity. Among other topics, they addressed the inward awareness of God, attention to the ills of society and heart-felt compassion that responded to such crisis.

Out of this momentous meeting Douglas Steere, one of the participants, wrote a pamphlet entitled, The Hardest Journey. The title came from a passage in Dag Hammarskjold’s book (actually a publication of his personal journal), Markings. If you have not read Markings, I encourage you to get a copy and read it for your own edification.

But the quote that Steere appropriates for his pamphlet is the following: “The longest journey is the journey inwards.” Not only is the journey the longest one, it is the hardest. It is hard for the following three reasons:

So many things blind us to an inner awareness of God’s presence.
Too many Christians turn a blind eye to the ills of society
Heartfelt compassion is often blocked by apathetic acquiescence

We can live our daily lives on auto-pilot so much we lose our ability to sense “God’s abiding presence.” We live on such a fast-paced schedule we have blinders on and are not still long enough to see the ills of our society all around us. And finally, we lose the ability to feel deeply the pain of others because we quietly accept what we do not have the time or inclination to change.

A long and hard journey—who wants to take that on? I remember a couple of years ago climbing to Chimney Tops in the Smokies. The trail was treacherous at places, winding, and uphill all the way. Rocks, boulders, large tree roots, slippery paths, etc. all added to the difficulty of the climb. But the breath-taking view at the top was worth it all! Every time I make a long climb to a summit and an outstanding overlook and panoramic view, the shutter lens of my inner soul takes a snapshot that leaves the picture imprinted on my mind forever. It was worth the effort.

Whenever we take the time, make the hardest and longest journey, to be aware of God’s inner presence, enabling us to respond to the ills of society with a heartfelt compassion, it is all worth the effort!

In Christian love, Curtis

Everything I Need to Know I Learned...

You have seen the options that complete the sentence above: …in kindergarten, from fishing, from a jigsaw puzzle, etc. I want to add my own twist on this

Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from a hundred dollar bill.

Actually, I walked right by it on Friday afternoon. You would think being in Orlando, Florida that someone would have taken more care of their one hundred dollar bill.

But I learned something about life that one brief encounter on the sidewalk. When my eyes saw the bill I was enticed (actually physically jerked) to stoop down and pick it up. After all, being at the mall and finding a one hundred dollar bill…who could ask for more! In a brief flash I felt greed and covetousness surge through my veins. It was all about claiming the bill for myself. After all, finders keepers, losers weepers! Right?

Hold on! Wait! Something was wrong. Upon closer inspection I noticed the color was wrong. The green was too dark. It looked pretty good otherwise. Guess what…it was a counterfeit, a poorly made one at that. It was hard to tell how it was made or reproduced. But there it was…a counterfeit reject lying on the sidewalk fooling no one but me for about five seconds.

In those five seconds I learned more about myself than I had known in a long time. What if it had been real? What would I have done with it?

The covetous, greedy corners of the human heart are exposed in a flash of a moment. Everything I needed to know about myself I learned from a one hundred dollar bill. I learned that I am too materialistic. I learned that I think about my good fortune at the expense of others too much. I learned that the world is too much with me.

Authenticity…needed not just for the one hundred dollar bill to be properly spent, but more importantly for my heart to stay focused on the will of God. A counterfeit bill has an uncanny way of exposing a counterfeit heart! God help each of us to be authentic in our daily walk with the Lord so that something as simple as a one hundred dollar bill (counterfeit, mind you!) will not undo us and render us a fake!

In Christian love, Curtis

Being Someone's Angel

Don’s cold and dirty hands grasped the gas pump handle. He was “down on his luck” he would later recall. He needed gas to get work. His world had just come unglued, pulled apart by the opposite forces at work in a messy divorce. No longer did he have the luxury of his kids being around. No longer did he have the luxury of home with all of its cozy furnishings. The settlement had taken care of that nicely.

With the tank full, Don hung the gas pump handle back in place and reached for his wallet. It was gone. No way to pay for the tank full of gas. How much more could happen and how much lower could a person get? Just at that moment, while feeling totally at a loss at what to do, a stranger at the next pump handed him a twenty dollar bill and drove off.

This was an epiphany for Don. At least from two perspectives: his view of how God provides and how angels work. He told me years after this happened that it was a turning point in his life. He realized that God truly provides. He also realized that angels work in small, quiet ways with no fanfare. Since that time he has looked for small ways to be a messenger from God to others.

That is what an angel is…being someone’s answer to a prayer. But in order to be someone’s angel we have to develop the desire to help others in need, the eyes to see others in need, the ears to hear the cries for help and the hands to respond to others in need.

Desire…eyes…ears…hands. Simple requirements for such powerful results. We have to have the passion to meet the world’s needs. This is at the heart of the good news… we are God’s answer to someone’s desparate prayer. No earning of wings. No miraculous hat tricks. No flying over the continents or dodging speeding bullets. Just a twenty dollar bill in his name. A moment transformed and a life changed.

Are we ready to be someone’s angel?

In Christian love, Curtis

The Silence of Death--Shoulder on Shoulder

“I just want to hold my baby!” she sobbed, rocking her self slowly back and forth, with legs tucked under her at the top of the stairs. Seven month-old Chase had just breathed his last moments before. Now the anguish of a young mother pierced the silence of the nascent morning air.

The crib was tucked in the corner of the front living room. A cute little bumper pad encircled the inside. Little toys and cute little stuffed animals and a pulled back blanket occupied the space. It was a silent space. A space that for seven months was reserved for Chase. It defined his world and shaped his identity. Now that space was no longer sacred. At least not in a present sacredness. Now only a past sacredness, the kind of thing where you realize that something important once was going on here at this place, on this spot. But no longer.

Sobs and tears and questions split the silence. It is odd how the silence of death awakens within the human heart questions that have been silenced for a long time. Why did this happen? Only silence I can provide. Was I not a good enough mother? Only comforting silence and reassurance is what I can provide. I tried to be the best father to my children. And this is what I get. What did I do wrong? Again, silence is the best response. The silence of death can only be met with the ministry of presence.

If death is separation, then ministry is presence. Words and reality seem to be separated. The only way to re-unite the unthinkable with the unspeakable is to just be. Be in the presence of silence and pain offering the mediated presence of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

This is only the second time in my life I have had to respond to a family who has experienced SIDS. With all of the medical advances the last fifty years, this still stumps the medical community. I had just touched Chase’s little chubby cheeks Sunday morning. He looked so rosy and healthy and he was resting in his mother’s arms so peacefully. Who would have thought at that moment that in lest than twenty-four hours his little life would ebb away and the silence of eternity would steal his crib.

The silence of death forces us to be silent with our lips and be very careful what we say. Words can be silent barbs that pierce to the farthest depths of the heart and tranquilize it to feeling again. Even words that are spoken with the intent to help. We have all heard it before: he is in a better place. You can have another son. God took him because he needed him more.

As we walked up the wooden steps to the front door of that clapboard country house, perched on the side of the hill, it seemed eerily quiet. The coroner, the EMS and the detective had all just left. Chase’s little body was being whisked away for an official autopsy. The father’s anguish could not bear to let go of the lifeless body. How can they take away my baby? As we went inside I had the eerie feeling that time had stopped. After trying to listen to the grandmother and make sense of her words between heaving sobs, I accidently brushed my leg against one of the little toys sitting on the floor. I was horrified as music began playing. I frantically was able to get it to stop. It seemed so inappropriate. How could music from one of Chase’s toys bring any comfort? It only punctuated the silent pain and heavy grief occupying the living room.

There were three cane-back chairs arranged by the crib. It looked as if all three (mother, father and grandmother) has just been sitting there around the bassinette, touching and caressing the wicker around the outside, fingering the cloth bumper pad, folding the blanket and numerous other meaningless motions all trying to figure out the oppressive silence crushing their very chest.

“Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).

This is the heart of Christian hospitality. This is experiencing a life “for the sake of others.” And Sunday here at Highland View we saw a vivid example of such support. The entire congregation came forward to hug, cry and support Cameron and Priscilla. Their pain became ours.

Weeping is the soul’s overflow of anguish. The cup of inner self can no longer hold it in. The emotional overload is a burden too heavy to carry.

I remember years ago a wise gentleman once told me if you do not weep on the outside, you will weep on the inside and drown in your own tears.

Weeping is a cleansing of the soul. The dark corners of fear, confusion and chaos are wiped clean. The fresh breeze of the holy is allowed to flow through.

Weeping binds hearts together. Tragedy and crisis are the crimson threads used to weave God’s name in our cloth of innocence. Perhaps we weep not for just our tangible losses, but also for something we cannot put our finger on, but that which draws us together: things will never be the same again.

This conundrum of life is bathed in tears of helplessness and hopelessness. But our God is a weeping God, and comforts our hearts. It is only then that we can comfort one another.

In Christian love, Curtis