On this Wednesday of Holy Week, May you take some quiet time to contemplate THE PRICE that was paid for YOU, and the PRAYERS that were made for you...because you are PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT! Thank you Jesus!
As we remember the time Christ spent in Gethsemane, we remember to carve out time to “have prayer” with God. When we stop talking at God…when we sit in the silence and are willing to listen and wait…we WILL hear His voice.
In an unprecedented move on March 28, noted Christian author and pastor John Piper announced that he would be taking a leave of absence from ministry from May 1 to December 31, 2010. In his letter to his church membership, Piper cited a “growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit” as the basis for this decision.
Here's the link, so you can read his letter to his church for yourself.
Let me start by stating this at the outset: John Piper is a good man who loves God and desires to please Him.
Unfortunately, very recently, Piper has come under fire from people who have been concerned with his unchecked and often inaccurate depictions of (i.e. vilification of) people, activities, and movements within the emerging/emergent church.
The main criticism of his behavior has been centered around his approach, which has been described as smug, inaccurate (he fails to make an accurate distinction between ‘emergent’ and ‘emerging’- a BIG mistake), and frequently uncharitable rumor-mongering, that was patently un-Christian in its delivery.
His most recent critique of the movement, which can be viewed here:
...decries the emerging church’s emphasis of “relationship” over-and-against ‘truth’ (another mischaracterization). Unsurprisingly, the video caused a blitzkrieg of opposition due to the polemic rhetoric which was used, and caused an outcry amongst post-modern/post-denominational believers (A.K.A. “emergents”- if you must…) for Unity and Charity within the Body.
What I think is most poignant to note after reading Piper’s letter (link above) is that the Holy Spirit is clearly working on him and showing him truth through his relationships with other believers.
The argument (i.e. relationship versus truth), then is no argument at all; for truth is always embodied and transmitted to us through right relationships. Jesus made that quite clear in Luke 10:27.
As God works to form each of us more and more into the likeness of His image, may we, like Piper, be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and to the urgings of our brothers and sisters in Christ. John’s openness to be transparent, and his desire to be obedient and humble are to be commended.
Perhaps we should all seek to display the transparency, openness, commitment to relationship, accountability, obedience and humility that Piper models.
Perhaps, we can all learn a great deal from this...
Perhaps we can, by recognizing the brokenness in each other as a point of common ground, grow more unified as a body of believers.
There are many theological points of doctrine that John and I do not agree on. But that is not the point. That does not matter…
What matters is (and I truly believe this): We both love Jesus with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength; and we both endeavor (and sadly, often fail- due to our human condition) to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Please join me* in committing to (electronically) ‘sing’ to John ‘psalms, hymns, and songs' of encouragement during this very difficult time.
You can contact him at: mail@desiringgod.org. , or:
Desiring God PO Box 2901 Minneapolis, MN 55402 Fax: 1.612.338.4372
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35 (NIV)
Grace and Peace, Tracy
*comment made to his above-linked letter, made on 3-30-10 at 10:20 EST:
John,
At a very difficult and dark period in Thomas Merton’s life, he penned this prayer that has been such a help to so many people. May it be a comfort to you now, as you continue to desire God and desire to please Him...
O Lord God, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me, I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, And that fact that I think I am following Your will Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe That the desire to please You Does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire In all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything Apart from that desire to please You. And I know that if I do this You will lead me by the right road, Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust You always Though I may seem to be lost And in the shadow of death. I will not fear, For You are ever with me, And You will never leave me To make my journey alone.
Source: Thomas Merton, Pax Christi, Benet Press, Erie, PA.
Grace and Peace to you, Tracy Dickerson- a sister in Christ who is emerging and transforming from Glory to Glory (but not quite there, yet) :)
Last night, I met with a handful of other Believers. As we shared a meal, we began sharing our personal stories as well. We talked about our individual journeys and how we had all ended up at this gathering. The amazing thing that I noted as I was listening was the similarity within all the stories. No doubt, each story was special and individual and had value in its own rite. But the collective impact for me was profound.
I saw among this band of strangers multiple parallels that simply cannot be attributed to coincidence. Each of us expressed the sense of our current ‘church’ situation not feeling as if it ‘fit.’ Each described the experience of “Paradise Lost”- no longer being able to feel or find a true sense of Christian community and soul-friendship. Each of us articulated an indescribable yearning, a home-sickness if you will, for ‘something else’/ “someplace else.” Each one of us told a story that involved sleepless nights yearning for “I’m not sure what”; each of us described tearful nights where we poured out our souls to God- begging…pleading, even…for Him to miraculously bring us to the place of Christian koinonia that was so lacking.
It was so evident that God was at work…my “Spirit-o-meter” was registering off the scale!
Later that evening, I thought about the psalm below, and realized how apropos it is to our collective situations.
Psalm 42 (New International Version)
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. [a] 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. 5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" 10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Especially as I read verses five and eleven, I remembered a song from the Glory Revealed album that came out a few years back. The song and lyrics are in the video below.
I’m excited to see what God is doing and getting ready to do in our lives, both individually and collectively. But more than that, I am overwhelmed, once again, at how God is faithful to fulfill our godly desires for fellowship, discipleship and purposeful service when we relentlessly ask for His guidance, and put our complete hope, faith and trust in Him.
May it be so with you, too. May God give you an unquenchable desire, and then may He fulfill that longing over and above your satisfaction!
We live in the tension of maturity versus immaturity.
Paul calls the early Christian churches to maturity and rebukes them for their immaturity in the Lord.
Jesus tells us to come to Him with child-like faith.
At first blush, these two commendations seem to be in diametric opposition to one another...
They're not.
We are called to have the faith of a child, but the understanding and the intellect and the actions of an adult.
It's a Body-Soul-Spirit issue.
Let me explain...
Your heart(spirit) needs to BELIEVE the Word like a child- with simple Faith.
Your brain/mind (soul) needs to THINK the Word like an adult Christian- with intellectual prowess.
Your body needs to DO the Word like an adult Christian- with actions that give credence to your thoughts and beliefs.
Mature faith is WHOLISTIC.
Mature faith is complex, yet also SIMPLISTIC.
Here's a perfect example of having childlike faith, yet adult-like intellectual pursuit of truth.
Dr. Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant and complex intellectuals of the twentieth century. He wrote volume after massive volume on the meaning of life and faith. In 1962, TIME Magazine did a cover story on Barth, and recognized him as one of the leading Christian theologians of our time.
During his interview for this Time Magazine article, he was asked by the reporter if he could summarize what he had said in all those volumes. Dr. Barth thought for a moment, then said:
“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Barth knew at a very deep level that all his wisdom, knowledge (and I'm sure he would also admit-conjecture) about theology and the nature of God was nothing if he did not also retain within his spirit the small simple faith of a child.
I was honored to receive a pre-release book in the mail last week from Zondervan Publishing. Written by John Armstrong, the book is entitled Your Church is Too Small
I have to admit it: at first blush, the title of the book was a bit off-putting- at least for anyone who, like me, is remotely sickened by the thought of one more book which boasts a formulaic solution to “your church’s size problem.” I was at once disinterested and disappointed…for about one nanosecond, because once I read the sub-title, my interest was piqued.
The book’s subtitle holds the key: “Why Unity in Christ’s Mission is Vital to the Future of the Church”
Upon reading this, my disinterest immediately turned to intrigue.
So, while I’m at making admissions, let me also say: “I was mistaken.” Because as soon as I read the subtitle, I realized that despite its title’s reference to “size” this was not you run-of-the-mill book about church growth.
In fact it is not a book about church growth at all.
And it is most certainly notrun-of-the-mill.
This is not just another book about opening the floodgates of “any old church” and making bigger congregations; this is a book about opening the collective mind of the church universal and making life-changing paradigm shifts toward a larger understanding of each other without focusing so much on “who’s in and who’s out.”
A book that addresses the cancer of disunity among Christians, now there’s a read!
Sadly, Church unity is not something you hear a lot about at the ground level. What I mean by this is that you won’t hear members of one particular faith community bemoaning how they wish they had a relationship with the church down the road.
Quite the contrary…
Outsiders observe the disconnect between our behaviors and beliefs, especially with regard to our love for one another- the love to which Christ called us. This disunity is visible and off-putting.
Mahatma Gandhi said it best when he said: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”
He was right…is right; and while Romans 1:16 reminds us to not be ashamed of the Gospel, we certainly have no reason to be proud of our behavior and our lack of unity. It is shameful at times.
But I digress…
Although much of the first part of the book discusses Armstrong’s personal story and search for (and discovery of) Truth and Unity within the Church, it is not merely autobiographical in nature. He gives real examples and suggestions for restoring unity within the Eccesia.
Armstrong encourages the reader to contemplate the concept of embracing a “both/and” versus an “either/or” mentality. In other words, he suggests that we recognize the false dichotomy in which we feel we must choose between "fact" and friendship; and he stresses the importance of seeking both truth and unity versus choose between either truth or unity.
The book is not fluff, either. One has only to open the book and peruse the Table of Contents and Glossary and Notes sections to see that this book is not only well researched, but also well rounded in its referencing. Additionally, Armstrong’s ability to use names like Schaeffer, Newbigin, Calvin, Ratzinger, Barth, Lewis, Oden, Guder, Kuyper, Bonhoeffer, Packer, and the Taizé Community in one book masterfully proves his point by example. Although these great thinkers clearly come from very different places historically, geographically, and doctrinally, they all share(d) a passionate desire for the Gospel.
His argument is well made that if Christians from all the major “streams” enter into a Christocentric relationship of cooperation toward the mission of Kingdom work, the gospel will flourish.
I highly recommend this book which offers a fresh perspective and viable ideas on how to see Christ's Unity Prayer in John 17 come to fruition.
And on that note, an encouraging thought about Jesus’ Prayer of Unity:
God’s Word is powerful and transcends time.
When spoken, a word from God takes on its own life and continues forward out into time. God’s command: “Let there be light!” continues today, as billions of constellations continue to form and hurtle outward through space, creating new galaxies and new points of light.
So too, the word of the Living Word of God-the words that Christ used to intercede for His Church in Gethsemane-also hurtle forward through time, forming and glorifying newly created believers and creating anew His Church whose mission is to shine like the sun and be a beacon of hope to the world.
May it be so.
(BTW: The book releases on April 1, and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.)
