Archive - May, 2009

Can we really be free (part 3)

May 4, 2009 • 0 Comments

From BobHamp.com

I have been at Gateway Church for over four years now. I can only remember two times I heard our worship band make an actual mistake. Amazingly, one of them was my fault, and I was sitting in the auditorium. The guitar player had borrowed a vintage guitar from me, and it had some fret problems. In a song featuring a single note lead, the guitar line just died.

So, four years, three months, two mistakes, one of them the fault of some guy in the congregation. I began to think one day, and this is what I pictured: The worship leaders must show up every week-end and talk about every single mistake they can anticipate. They must point out to each member of the team where they are likely to blow it, and point out multiple ways to avoid this potential mistake. Don’t modulate downward, don’t count eight here…they must painstakingly line out a whole range of the pitfalls that lay before them each week-end and rigorously plan how to avoid each and every train wreck. You think? I don’t. I can’t think of a more destructive way to plan a rehearsal. Focus on the pitfalls, plan to overcome them.

Amazingly, this is how many live what we have come to call, “the Christian life”. Lessons on how-not-to-sin. Lessons on what to do-when-we-sin. Dallas Willard refers to this as the Gospel of Sin Management, which is of course no gospel at all, and certainly not the message of Jesus.

So picture this; each person shows up and is given their song list. If they do not already know their part, they talk through each persons role, function and contribution. Only acoustic here, screaming lead guitar there, soft keys and a gentle female vocal, then build to the crescendo. As each person is encouraged to know their role, and given clear direction, the complexity of a group of individuals becomes a single entity. Rough spots may be noted and overcome, but the focus is on each person fulfilling that purpose and role that they fulfill in the band.

We are here to be re-presentations of the Nature of God, deposited in us. I guess we could work hard at avoiding sin, but somehow it seems much more freeing to learn how to become the person I was created to be. Focus on the target, not the obstacles. Relax a little, enjoy the ride.

Following with your whole heart

May 2, 2009 • 0 Comments

From BobHamp.com

Christianity, Life in Christ. Is it an act of man, or is it an act of God? 

If we answer with a Biblical understanding, it is an act of God to which humans surrender.  God, through the cross, accomplished a great exchange, trading our need for His free gift, to which we surrender in faith.

Now try this question: Freedom. Is it an act of man, or is it an act of God?

This is the exact same question.  What God offers us in Jesus Christ is not an exalted man whom we should try to follow as best as we can.  Rather, again, He offers a great exchange where He trades our inability for the free gift of His ability. 

We live in a time in history when western thinkers are re-learning the importance of living from our hearts.  I am concerned, however, that this shift sets up a new form of law.  Now, along with the requirement that we should obey rules, we also receive a new requirement, that we should be passionate followers of Jesus.  

Here is what it sounds like, in sermons and conversations.  

  • “He gave His all, should we do any less?”
  • “You need to decide to follow Jesus with your whole heart”
  • “Will you give God your everything?”
  • “We need to be fully devoted…”

While I may sound a bit heretical for questioning such whole hearted, passionate statements, consider this dilemma.  In those statements, and others like them, do you hear anything that could not be applied to any other human, or organization?  Could you not follow a political figure with your whole heart?  Could you not be fully devoted to an influential poet, or rock band?  You see, at the root of statements like these, is the push toward reliance on our ability, desire, or commitment to dosomething.  An act of man, or an act of God?  These statements push us toward relying on our passion, our devotion, or our whole-heartedness.

This is the very dilemma that the Apostle Paul addressed with the early believers in Galatians Chapter 3.  

“Did you start this walk with the Lord by following the works of the law, or by believing (in Him) and receiving (what He did)?”, He asks them.

Then he follows with the crucial second  question, “Then do you now live this new life by the works of the law (your ability to perform), or by believing (in Him) and receiving (what He did)?”

While it is important to love Him with our whole being, would it even be possible for us to love Him if He did not first love us?

While it is important to follow Him with our whole heart, can we manufacture this whole-heartedness without His restoration?  And didn’t He “follow” , or pursue us long before we even knew it was an option to follow Him?

While our passion is a valid response to His offer, it was His Passion that opened the door for our hearts to be rightly directed.  It was His passionate following of us that made it possible for our relationship with Him to be restored.  It was His power in us that made us new creations, and it is His power in us that allows us to live as new creations.  

I am in no way suggesting that we have no role in living an engaged relationship with our saving Father.  I am however urging us to remember He is both the Author and the Finisher of our faith.  Our role is to relax and let Him do His part.  Jesus tells us, “I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give My life as a ransom for many.”  Here is how we can understand this; Jesus came to do the things for you that are impossible for you to accomplish without Him.  This covers more territory than you think.

Jesus is really really good at Christianity, we should let Him do it.

The Word of the Lord – Hearing God more clearly

May 1, 2009 • 0 Comments

There’s a scripture that I often quote from Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” I’ve heard a variety of teachings about this verse. One being that our faith grows as we read our Bible, the “word of God”. And while that’s true, this is not what that scripture is talking about.

The first part of this phrase is present tense. “Faith comes by hearing.” It comes by hearing, not having heard. Faith doesn’t come through knowledge. Rather, it’s a moment, an exact experience of tuning into God’s voice and hearing his will for an immediate situation.

It goes like this: You’re in a situation, and you need some God’s guidance, so you pray. As you’re praying, you have this thought. Hmm, that would apply. So, you act upon that thought and it truly was the best solution. That’s hearing God! That’s faith that comes from hearing God’s voice guide you.

The second part of this phrase “hearing by the word of God” is also quite interesting. Way too often we just substitute in our minds “Bible” for the “word of God”. Yet, I don’t think that was the writer’s intention. When the writer of Hebrews wrote this, he didn’t have a Bible. But what about the Old Testament, maybe that was his “word of God”. Back in Genesis 15:1, the “word of the Lord” came to Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Yet, there was no Old Testament or Bible or any written word from God.

The “word of the Lord” is a specific moment of “hearing God”. It’s his voice that often comes to us as a thought, an idea, a memory, maybe even a vision or dream. Sure, the Bible is still essential for us to learn and know what God’s voice sounds like, and everything we “hear” from God needs to be filtered through the Bible. But that should not keep us from “listening” for those specific divine instructions that help us make decisions for our life and for what God has called us to.

The most incredible heavenly power that we can tap into is the voice of God speaking to us. He is constantly wooing and drawing and leading us. When we can “hear” the “word of the Lord” for a certain situation or decision, and we can believe it, then the supernatural power of God is released into our situation. We have agreed with God by believing him. Prayers are answered. Faith is activated. Heaven moves.

This week, I encourage you to really listen. Tune into God through worship, through prayer, through fasting and dedication. Read scripture to help you tune in your spiritual ears. And then listen. Pray a very simple prayer, “Lord, do you have anything to say to me?”

Then, be ready. He’s got a lot to say.

Page 4 of 4«1234