Trial by Fire - That's a good thing!

Peter in his letter to the church's in the northern part of Asia Minor wrote a message that might have seemed weird to a church that was under constant persecution for their faith.  Peter writes to encourage them and this is what we read from 1 Peter 1: 6 - 7

"These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold,

which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved

genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when

Jesus Christ is revealed."

1 Peter 1: 6 - 7 NIV

I was talking with a good friend the other day and we were discussing that we both felt like we were in a transition point in our lives.  (What makes this story more amazing is the friend I am referring to is close to 60.)  So, it was comforting for me to connect with a kindred spirit that was going through the same thing that I was going through.  The results from our conversation ring around in my mind and written out go something like this:

Your life is a story and the chapters are still being written.  In fact, you will come to points in your life when one chapter will have to end and the next will have to begin.  (You ever seen a chapter book with no chapters?)  Through that transition from one chapter to the next, you are presented with an opportunity to rekindle the fire that comes only through Jesus Christ into your life and then surrender the transition and the next chapter being written in your life to His (God's) will.  Furthermore, there is a realization that you will not be holding the pen to write the story.  While it is your story, God is the author and we are called to surrender everything to Him.  I write that again: SURRENDER EVERYTHING TO HIM!

This comes back to 1 Peter 1: 6-7 when we realize that a trial by fire is not something that anyone wants for their life.  Change can feel like a trial by fire, but what was it that Peter told the people in Asia Minor: "faith...refined by fire-may be proved genuine."

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.....

When Jesus Christ is revealed we want our faith to have stood the trial by fire and what comes wrapped in change is the surrendering of your life to God's will.  All of that may not be easy for some of us: let's state that off the top.  The thought of a trial by fire doesn't sound like something we would want to go through; however a trial by fire is a good thing.  Why?  Well, our faith, refined by fire will be "proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."  In the end, if it all ends with Jesus Christ, then it will all work out for His will, praise, glory and honor and that should be what my life as a Christian desires.  I don't know about you, but a trail by fire that results in being closer to Jesus Christ is a great thing.

"It is I, don't be afraid." - John 6:20 NIV

"When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,

where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum.

By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.

A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.

When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,

they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water;

and they were terrifed. But he said to them,

'It is I; don't be afraid.'"

John 6: 16-20 NIV

"It is I; don't be afraid:" from a story that most might have read a million times in there Bible, this particular phrase stuck out to me.  You see, recent events in the community I live have caused a bit of confusion and have rattled a few to the core of who they are.  In fact, recent events not just in the community but in our nation have caused some to ask: "Why would God let this happen?"  Well, never fear Jesus says to us: "It is I: don't be afraid."

As I read these simple words one morning during my devotional time, it brought a sense of encouragment and strength.  My prayer turned from "Why" to "Thank you."  Now that may seem like a weird switch to some people, but...

...SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:  the disciples in our story from John were in a tough situation and they might have been asking: "O Lord, why did we get into the boat?" or "Lord, why did this storm come?"  They were caught up in their situation when here comes Jesus, walking on the water, coming through the trial and tribulation they felt in their hearts, minds and bodies and he says: "Here I am, don't be afraid."  In simple terms, "What are you worried about?"

God is still God and will always be God through all things!  Lets repeat that....God is still God and will always be God THROUGH ALL THINGS!

Now that is something to think about.

"Amazing Grace"

There is a book that I keep on my church office desk called "Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories" by Robert J. Morgan.  It is a fascinating book that tells the stories behind some of the famous hymns we sing today.  In the end, the stories of what the hymn-writer was thinking or experienced when he or she wrote their now-famous hymn(s) seem to bring those old songs back to life.

In a recent worship service at my church, we sang "Amazing Grace."  (Talk about an old hymn.)  Many members of the congregation were excited to be singing this 'oldy-but-goody,' and it makes me wonder, what is the story behind this great classic hymn-song that has proven the test of time and will stand the test of time for many many more years.  What follows is an excerpt taken from Mr. Morgan's book:

"It's hard to shake off a mother's influence.  John Newton's earliest memories were of his godly mother who, despite fragile health, devoted herself to nurturing his soul.  At her kneed he memorized Bible passages and hymns.  Though she died when he was about seven, he later recalled her tearful prayers for him.

After her death, John alternated between boarding school and the high seas, wanting to live a good life but nonetheless falling deeper and deeper into sin.  Pressed into service with the British Navy, he deserted, was captured, and after two days of suspense, was flogged.  His subsequent thoughts vacillated between murder and suicide.  'I was capable of anything,' he recalled.

More voyages, dangers, toils, and snares followed.  It was a life unrivaled in fiction.  Then, on the night of March 9, 1748, John, 23, was jolted awake by a brutal storm that descended too suddenly for the crew to foresee.  The next day, in great peril, he cried to the Lord.  He later wrote, 'That tenth of March is a day much remembered by me; and I have never suffered it to pass unnoticed since the year 1748--the Lord came from on high and delievered me out of deep waters.'

Morgan goes on to write:  "Here are some things you may not know about Newton's most famous hymn [Amazing Grace].  His title for it wasn't originally 'Amazing Grace' but 'Faith's Review and Expectation.'  And here's a nearly forgotten verse that Newton added near the end of 'Amazing Grace.' Try singing it for yourself"

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine;

But God, Who called me here below, shall be forever mine.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - Where are your rocky seas?  There may be things that today we call "solid places" and yet when we look back on what makes them 'solid,' we realize that they were born out of turmoil: crazy isn't it!?

"Be Still" not as easy as we think...or is it?

"Be still, and know that I am God; I [God] will be exalted among the nations, I [God] will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

I mentioned in my last post that this was my 'life verse:' the verse I will go to when I need a reality check on living life.  Psalm 46:10 seems to frame a lot of the struggles that I have in my life.

For example, one of the spiritual disciplines that I practice in my life is meditation coupled with prayer (in short terms, I have a devotional time everyday).  My devotional time is meant to be a time for me to focus my mind on what truly matters in this world: Christ and giving everything (and I mean everything) to Him: my hopes, my dreams, my worries, my to-do lists, my feelings, etc.... So I will sit down in my recliner and first take some time to quiet down my mind and focus on an image: currenlty it is a picture of a cross.  I will then take some time to just pray to God about who God is: He is Alpha, Omega, Beginning and End, etc...and I will offer a prayer to the tune of "God, I love you and trust you with my life."  Then, after I have focused my mind on the One who is always focused on me, I will God's Word  (currently I am reading out of the book of Luke).  After I am done reading, I will first pray about what I have read: what challenged me, what new thing did I learn, how did God's Word make me feel today, etc...and then take some time to pray for those on my prayer list: family, friends, church family, etc...  After that, I end with praying The Lord's Prayer and then simply say Amen.

Now, that all might seem too simple or too complicated depending on who you are.  Either way, and think about this (Something To Think About) : "Is having this kind of daily devotional time too hard or too easy?"

Lets through the wrench into your thoughts: consider this...

I went through a time when I was trying out a different devotional time during the day.  You see, I usually have my devotional time in the morning, but I went through a period when I tried to have my devotions in evening instead.  (Simply stated: having my devotions in the evening didn't work, but if having your devotions in the evening works for you: then great.  All I'm saying is that it was not for me.)  So when I changed my devotion time and found out it didn't work, it ended up being hard to change it back.  (I am now pleased to report that I am back to my regular devotional time and that things are going well.)

What I am getting at is that all of the various spiritual disciplines are great, but one can get tied to the routine of the discipline instead of the reason for the routine.  You catch my drift?

I love the first part of Psalm 46:10 (the 'being still' part), but I missed the last part "[God] is exalted among the nations and [God] is exalted in the earth.  IT'S ALL ABOUT GOD!!!!

Our struggle with spiritual disciplines and their easyness or hardness is not about wether they are too hard or too easy: the struggle is found in our willingness to say that the spiritual discipline is about finding God.

Prayer Box / "Be Still"

In a recent Youth Sunday School lesson I was teaching, we somehow got on to the subject of Prayer Boxes.  (Don't ask me how we got there.)  I explained very simply that a prayer box in ancient times was a way for the Israelites to keep certain verses close to them at all times: literally, they were tied to their heads and arms.  Some were even attached to the door posts of their homes.  (Historical theologians help me out, I know there was a particular verse that was written down and put in those prayer boxes, but I can't remember which one.)  Anyhow, as I quickly talked about prayer boxes, one of the youth asked me, "What would you put in your prayer box?"

I quickly answered: "Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God;"  In fact, if you were to ask me what my 'life verse' was: thats it!

You know, recently I was watching the news and the breaking story were the explosions that occured towards the finish line at the Boston Marathon.  While this tragedy causes us to stop and consider just how precious life is, I was struck by piece of news reporting that seemed to go by unmentioned and even appeared to be glanced over at the time.

You see, the ancher man cut to a live interview in progress.  There was a doctor at one of the local Boston hospitals giving an update on the medical situation. When asked, 'How was the staff a the hospital dealing with the crisis' the doctor calmly answered 'We have trained for these kinds of events and everyone was doing just what there training had taught them to do.'

After the live feed concluded, the anchorman went on interview some other contacts the news agency had at various governmental offices: all in an attempt to 'calm the public.'  As I thought about this it occured to me: knowing that the people on the ground were doing what there training had taught them to do, was a comfort to me.  In the end, all the news anchor got from any of the people he interviewed was 'Well, we can't speculate at this time.'  ?????????

I know this will sound weird, but think about it: the idea that the people who were directly involved in the recovery process and who were doing what there training was doing seemed more comforting than experts in offices who couldn't tell me anything.

"Be still, and know that I am God;" this is a verse that I want as I go through my 'training' to stay with me.  No religious expert could say anything to me that would be greater than the fact that God wants me to always remember to "Be Still!"

Don't get me wrong, my 'training' doesn't stop with that one verse, quite the contrary, I am always 'in training.'

Is it not comforting at those times when things are going crazy and we don't know where to turn and we can only 'speculate' on the events going on around us, isn't it nice to know that there will be that one thing that will always be there with us?

God is always with us and He loves us very much.

Something to Think About.

"Something to Think About" Debute posting

When thinking of things to blog about, I am taken back to my 3rd year at Huntington University in Huntington, IN.  In-between studying and practicing as a Music major and trying to keep up on the social scene, I was also a CMC.  CMC stood for 'Campus Ministries Coordinator.'  Part of being a CMC was hosting weekly Bible Studies as well as being available for questions of a 'spiritual' nature.  While I thought I was ready for the 'spiritual converstaions,' what became apparent was that being a CMC was more about "building relationships."

"Building relationship:" now there is a word that I heard a lot in college.  Although building relationship is not something done just in college: it's something we do all our lives.  In fact, building relationships is something that I hope to do with this blog.  If you as the reader deem my thoughts worthy of reading, then we have begun to 'build a relationship.'  Remember however that the building is never done because you never know what is being built.

Back to my time as a CMC.... so, in order to help 'build relationships' with the guys in the dormitory, I would post a weekly article in the bathroom stalls (where else are you going to have someones completely undivided attention) that I called "Something to Think About."  It was my attempt to help put scripture in front of the guys and then apply that scripture to something that might have been going on in their lives.  The results were mixed, but in the end the whole process of creating the article each week spurred in me the discipline of being creative as well as keeping up with the spiritual practices of prayer, study and meditation.

So, here we are, at the beginning of building a relationship that will grow and develop and turn into something that will be bigger than we could imagine.  Check back each week, for "Something to Think About!"