>Elected as elder at my church this past Sunday. Here we go, hopefully the odds are for me this time:)
Archive for the ‘Theology’ Category
>My life guiding principles
>Okay one more thing here. In 2008 I worked on my life principles. Still am working through the goals part, but at least I have these buckets to help guide me:
1. Not afraid of hard or messy work.
Proverbs 14:4
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
(this is also my “life verse”, with the ox you get crops but also a shitty barn)
2. Relationships are key to life, honor them.
Galatians 5:14
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:25-28
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
3. The greatest opportunity I have for blessing from God is through my children.
Proverbs 20:7
7 The righteous who walks in his integrity—
blessed are his children after him!
blessed are his children after him!
Acts 2:39
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
4. A generous life is a rich one.
Psalm 112:1-5
1 Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
Mark 12:41-44
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
1 Timothy 6:18-19
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Mark 14:3-9
3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
>My daughter taught me…
>Tonight while playing with my one year old I learned. I was sitting on the ground, as she would get up I would grab her and hug her. After two times I quit grabbing her, instead of running away at full speed she would actually walk backward and fall on me. The fun for her was not the play of running away but rather falling into her father’s arms.
Maybe that is what sanctification looks like. Instead of the fun we think we are having running away and being grabbed by the Father, perhaps we need to find out if when God let’s us go, falling back into his arms is the way to go? Just something I learned.
>How do you defend you name?
>
One time at work a major client had a poor impression of my boss and actually referred to him a sneaky. This cause lots of struggle for my boss and I remembering him saying to me, "Mike, all you have is your name. You work so hard to build a good one, and then like that it is in question." I could not relate to his pain and found it amusing on one level.
Just this week I found out some news that I don’t think I was fairly represented. How do you deal with that? Defensiveness only makes you appear guilty, and then Paul says in 1 Cor. "sometimes maybe it is just better to be wronged". What a powerful tool Satan uses when he allows our name to be dishonored publicly.
This is where the power of story comes in, at least I hope. My hope in this situation is that I understand my own story well enough to communicate it in a non-defensive way. I value the perception someone already has (right or wrong) and make it easy for them to understand my part of the whole. Each one of these important but very tiny pieces we have of story are a part of a much greater story. With this greater story we might know some of the major themes, but we don’t know the twists and the turns or even at times how our little piece fits into the whole.
What harm can it do? Sometimes you might just be wronged, you don’t have to choose that as a option, but if it happens you can look to God and wink because he said it would happen. Don’t run after suffering, it will easily enough find you, when it happens give God a wink or pull on his coat to get his attention because you will need the help to get through it.
>News has similar problem as church
>
Read the news headlines about what is happening and while wild and worrisome it is not that interesting to me. What is interesting is the story behind the story. For instance all the economic and government drama doesn’t really add up to a hill of beans for me until today when five people from my company get laid off. How this will impact their family, partners, and life is captivating to me, yet that is the story behind the story. Ed Burns captures this well.
Last Sunday something inspired me during the service that was enough for me to think, “We should end church here because what just happen was amazing.” The headline would read, Volunteer Reader doesn’t show. But the story that God wrote behind that amazed me.
First there was a long awkward silence, that seem to last as long as a woman in labor to me and I would think everyone else that is even partially engaged in the service. It took either the pastor complete and utter disconnection to what was happening (which I doubt) or leaders who were comfortable enough with letting it sit. They are fully capable of stepping in and reading scripture and yet it is not their duty in that moment so an able minded/bodied person would need to step up.
The person who ended stepping up was the Children’s Minister. Her entire life, and that of her husband, is spent filling in gaps and serving people who may never even know who they are. They are a beautiful picture of the people who make church happen, and get very little in return. On a side not it was also a great opportunity for me to see her great new hair cut, but it was clear that her stepping into the moment was completely about serving.
What brought tears to my eyes and a chill to my back was when she began to read and it was Phil 4, Have in you the same mind as Christ…A passage completely about selflessness and caring for others. I could not think of a more incarnate picture than this young lady and then reading this passage in that particular circumstance.
Just as you thought God was going to return on the cloud or had because it was such a transcendent heavenly moment, as she finished reading she gracefully slipped as she walked down the steps, not a full on fall, just a trip. Enough of a bump to remind you that the entire moment was real, and sometime real is beautiful and sometimes it is embarrassing.
In all of that I was grateful to have been around enough to know the story behind the story, and I felt sad for people who it was their first Sunday at our church. They missed God showing up, and how hard is it to figure out if you belong in a place or understand it’s true meaning and nature when you only see the headline story. What really matters is the story behind the story.
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>Proverbs 6:1-5
>6:1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger,
2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Be careful who you give your word to. When you make a promise make sure you know the person. This is a place I have to grow. I meet someone on the street and I am ready to pour everything I have to them. People from networking events are my best friend. This Proverb encourages us to run when we have made commitments to people we have shouldn’t.
>Proverbs 4
>20 My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
While the most recent adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was weird like the first one, and really brought a different light to the story. My favorite line is when Violet’s mother looks at her and says, “Eyes on the prize Violet, eyes on the prize.” The focus to win, the focus to complete a task, you cannot lose sight.
This proverb reminds us of that. Listen up people, figure out what it is your going after and go for it. Everthing will want to distract you, but don’t lose focus. It is like being in the playoffs and having to make a free throw while a screaming crowd is in your face. What are the things that distract? Greed, unfaithfulness, dicsouragement, and most powerfully fear. Did you know that the most repeated command in all the Bible is, Don’t fear.
>Proverbs 4:10-19
>10 Hear, my son, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.
You can go wrong by listening to the Proverbs, at least if you believe what the father is saying. The whole idea of self authentication might cause some problems. Now it does not seem that outrageous, stick to the good. Stay away from these bad folks, they are really bad, they can’t sleep unless they have done bad.
But righteousness is the light of dawn which lights up everything. You will be able to see and not stumble.
One way I describe my life before moving back to Seattle is entangled. Nothing was simple and clear. Part of living wise is not having complicated situation where you are wrapped up, especially with evil people, but even unwise people can make it difficult. Make dicisions for the simple. Work with people you like, then you will be more likely to communcate during hard times and work through them. Own you own stuff. Let you no be no and your yes be yes. Sometimes the truth will upset people but be clear with them, gentle, and honest. All things I am learning.
>Proverbs 4:1-9
>4:1 Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
2 for I give you good precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom; get insight;
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head a graceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
The father is preparing his son for the best love his life will ever know, the love of wisdom. It was passed on to him and now it is his turn to pass it on. This will be the love that teaches true faithfulness, and she will be faithful in return.
In short the father is says, GET IT! Whatever you do, get insight. She will make you more beautiful.
>Proverbs 3:28-35
>28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor,
who dwells trustingly beside you.
30 Do not contend with a man for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
31 Do not envy a man of violence
and do not choose any of his ways,
32 for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
but the upright are in his confidence.
33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34 Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he gives favor.
35 The wise will inherit honor,
but fools get disgrace.
This morning I was reading Jesus teaching on the great commandment in Mark, love you neighbor as yourself. And this passage in Proverbs is the practical application of that. First do what you say you are going to do when you can do it, as soon as possible. Don’t hold out on people.
Stop admiring the evil. Those who are getting ahead by doing harm are not to be you heros or examples for life. God will curse their house. Their actions have effects not just on them, but on their family and those around them. But for the righteous he blesses.
This last part seems very karmic. The scorners get scorn from God, surprise. The humble he gives favor. The wise get honor, and the fools get disgrace. The challenge this passage brings about is taking an honest evaluation of who you actually are is not easy. Involve other people, pray, and God will reveal it to you, whether you like it or not:)
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