Lord, please change us by your word. Amen.
I heard these words prayed three times by a man teaching a young school group that I was hosting while intering at Crista Camps. They will never leave me. This man honestly and earnestly prayed these words before he spoke each time. It was not a rehearsed word of encouragement or a key-phrase that let the students know that it was time to get serious. No, it was a broken man's prayer. It was beautiful. And I believe whole-heartedly that it was heard. I echo his prayer often, that I would not read the bible, but instead that I would be changed by the ever-active, living breath and word of God. I have often made this my prayer as I study His word here in India. And it is my prayer that it is the fruit of this prayer that is seen and heard in this blog post.
Lord, I pray that my words would be Yours. I pray that my heart would be Yours. I pray that I would not be hypocritical, nor extra critical. Lord, please tame my tongue to be uplifting and righteous. Let me praise You and exalt You in everything I say and do. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. Lord, I pray these things in the wonderful, beautiful, precious, and powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
Roses are red, and violets are blue. Interesting to think about red and blue right now, isn't it? Seems like that's all anyone can talk about. Leftist political point here, right-wing counterpoint right back at ya, bub! (Random tangent, whoever came up with "bub" thank you!) As many of you may know, I am a very opinionated person. I know well why I hold the opinions I have, and why I don't hold the opinions that I don't. I do not make a light-hearted, ignorant opinion (at least I greatly strive not to.) but rather I search to base my opinions in well founded thoughts. This is why I have decided to write this politically-charged post. Please, bear with me and show a bit of patience and grace as I unroll my points. Thank you.
Honestly, people. I am sick to my stomach right now. I spent a great deal of time in prayer to the point of tears earlier as I read the after-affects of the election. The thought that things could be where they are, and seeing where they could possibly go, quite frankly disgust me. Now before you cheer me on or sneer at me, allow me to explain this. Again, patience and grace, please. As many of you know, I am not one for short-winded explanations.
Yesterday, I sat in a small cafe here with a friend (the first time I've done so, it was wonderful!) and began to read the only English newspaper that they had in the place. It's called (I'm fairly certain) The Hindi and it's one of the more prominent newspapers in all India. The center story of the front page, which as you know is the "most important" storyline in the paper, was an article on the American Presidential race. It spoke about two men, the Democratic incumbant Obama and the Republican challenger Romney, fighting it out for the seat of 'the most powerful man on the planet' with last minute appeals to swing state voters and the like. The story beside it, another front page story, though not as "important" as the election in a foreign land, was about the floods in northern Andhra, the state that I'm living in here in SE India. These floods are quite comparable to the affects of superstorm Sandy. Many thousands were left without power, food, water; roads and homes were destroyed, helicopters were flying in food drop after food drop while rescue boats drove the streets in search of injured and lost.
I got home some time later, and checked my facebook, as I often do, memories of the newspaper still riding my thoughts. And then I read post after post of politically charged thoughts and opinions, and some daring comments upon those threads. I read things like "If Obama wins, I'm going to Canada (or Mexico, or the Philippines, or some other place)" and "I don't understand how a person who calls themself a Christian could vote for Obama" and "If Romney wins-" with much of the same after-thoughts... And then today, I get on and open up two windows on my internet. The first was Facebook, and the second was NY Times. I wanted to find out who won, before I read about the many opinions that would surely await me. Obama wins reelection I read. Romney conceeds at 10pm after losing Virginia, I read. Then I take a breath, and go to Facebook. What I read was one of the hardest newsfeeds I've ever had to read. Allegations of all kinds were made from all points of political view, and were then argued from other sides. And then I read post after post about how "whether or not I agree with who the President is, I'm going to pray for them" followed by some verse about praying for those in authority over them. I read posts of verses of taking joy in Him no matter what happens. I read posts with verses about remembering humility and the like. And I began to cry. Literally, I felt a wrenching in my stomach and began to cry. As I type this now, I fight back tears thinking of it. I'm sorry if this comes off as harsh or anything but gracious rebuke, but I feel that I must address this sad fact.
First and foremost, the Bible does not have a precondition of "in case of emergency" or "use when you feel lost" to it. No, the Bible is not a tool for comfort when 'the times seem tough' for you. You might argue that it is these things, and as I would (of course) agree with you, allow me first to remind you that its purpose is to reveal the greatness of God and the hopelessness of the sinner without Him. Nothing else. The Bible is His story of redemption, which glorifies Him. Our comfort, our sense of direction and identity come from Him, not emergency verses of the feeling of comfort. It comes from His presence, His goodness, His love, from Him. Many of the verses that I read came from either a Pauline epistle or a Psalm of David. Let's put that in perspective. Paul wrote these words while in prison. Prison. Literally chained wrists held his writing hands. He was in prison for professing his faith, awaiting the judgement of death to come. David often wrote his psalms of comfort while hiding in caves from Saul and his army who sought to kill him. He was running for his life, while leading people in hope and safety. Or he wrote them out of a confession and repentence of sin (i.e. Bathsheba).These warriors of the faith wrote these incredible, wonderful and beautiful words as they were facing the sufferring of death and despair. They did not write them so we could pull them out when "our guy" loses or wins. They did not write them so we could quote them from our bedrooms and dorms as if we were being persecuted. Like someone making an obligatory "don't bring religion into politics" remark could ever constitute as persecution! Come on! Now, I am absolutely not saying to not find solace in the incredibly powerful and beautiful words of God. They should be what define our lives, as He changes us through them. But they should never be used in such a non-chalent manner. I am also not saying to not have an opinion. Absolutely have one. I have one. In fact, I am one of the most stubborn and opinionated people you will ever meet, as many of you can (often unfortunately) attest. What I am saying is do not ever let scripture proceed opinion. It should always preceed opinion. Period. Your guy lost? Oh no! Your guy won? Great... You know what happened to my guy? They beat Him relentlessly for hours. They tore at His flesh with the worst tools of torture imaginble. They mocked Him allthewhile, tearing into His very soul, attempting to plant the seeds of doubt and regret. They made Him carry the very tree that they would use to hang Him upon through the streets of the city after all of this. He walked up a hill, where they fashioned His hands to that tree, and then nailed Him with three nails to it. They freaking nailed Him to it! They then hung Him up for all to see, as they mocked Him more and more. And they did not even give Him His own hill on which to die. No, He instead shared it with two thieves, telling Him that He was as worthless as they. He died in six hours. That's it. Six hours. It took nearly three days on average for a person to die of crucifixion. They were so surprised that they stabbed His side to make sure He was dead. But He did not stay dead, no! Instead, He rose from His earthly tomb, and walked into glory just as He said He would! Amen! Our lives are not dictated by those in earhly authority above us. No, it is dictated by the One who endured all of this for you, for me. When did the church lose sight of this? The church becomes politically active, making claims for this and that in the Name of God, instead of loving people. Biblical principle should always preceed our opinions, our principles, our actions, our love. It was disgusting for me to see how so many people who I know to be wonderful loving members of the body of Christ slander so many in the name of political view. Perspective? Four years<Eternity. No matter what you may think politically, or even religiously for that matter you cannot argue that. Four years will always be less than forever. And our hope is in eternity, enthroned as the Name above ALL Names, sitting at the right hand of the very God and creator of everything. Our hope is not in an election, or that our opinions are right, so very right, the most right that right could be.
Thank you so much for reading this. Please please please leave any and all thoughts that you have. If you want to message me on FB, that we could talk privately, I more than invite you to. If you disagree with me, I am so okay with that, but please tell me. Let iron sharpen iron. If you agree with me, or have more to add, please feel free to do so. I truly and deeply love you all, and thank you for your thoughts and prayers so very much. Please know that this was not easy for me to type. I find myself being convicted and guilty of everything I've written...so excuse any lack of flow or thought, as I was very emotional and passionate as I wrote! I'm sure you understand!
I'm sorry if this seemed as a rant, and I can see how it reads as one, but I assure you that my heart in typing these words is to challenge you to live as the church, as the very bride of Christ. I am sorry if you feel attacked by this, but I hope that you see rebuking as loving instead of sinful and hurtful. I very much hope and pray that these words are a blessing to you, and a challenge to remember that we as the church are called to love people. Three scriptures I leave you with to chew on are Luke 10:25-37, 1 Peter 3:8-22 and James 3. Please read them, pray on them, and respond to them in life and love. I know I am.
Joel
I heard these words prayed three times by a man teaching a young school group that I was hosting while intering at Crista Camps. They will never leave me. This man honestly and earnestly prayed these words before he spoke each time. It was not a rehearsed word of encouragement or a key-phrase that let the students know that it was time to get serious. No, it was a broken man's prayer. It was beautiful. And I believe whole-heartedly that it was heard. I echo his prayer often, that I would not read the bible, but instead that I would be changed by the ever-active, living breath and word of God. I have often made this my prayer as I study His word here in India. And it is my prayer that it is the fruit of this prayer that is seen and heard in this blog post.
Lord, I pray that my words would be Yours. I pray that my heart would be Yours. I pray that I would not be hypocritical, nor extra critical. Lord, please tame my tongue to be uplifting and righteous. Let me praise You and exalt You in everything I say and do. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. Lord, I pray these things in the wonderful, beautiful, precious, and powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
Roses are red, and violets are blue. Interesting to think about red and blue right now, isn't it? Seems like that's all anyone can talk about. Leftist political point here, right-wing counterpoint right back at ya, bub! (Random tangent, whoever came up with "bub" thank you!) As many of you may know, I am a very opinionated person. I know well why I hold the opinions I have, and why I don't hold the opinions that I don't. I do not make a light-hearted, ignorant opinion (at least I greatly strive not to.) but rather I search to base my opinions in well founded thoughts. This is why I have decided to write this politically-charged post. Please, bear with me and show a bit of patience and grace as I unroll my points. Thank you.
Honestly, people. I am sick to my stomach right now. I spent a great deal of time in prayer to the point of tears earlier as I read the after-affects of the election. The thought that things could be where they are, and seeing where they could possibly go, quite frankly disgust me. Now before you cheer me on or sneer at me, allow me to explain this. Again, patience and grace, please. As many of you know, I am not one for short-winded explanations.
Yesterday, I sat in a small cafe here with a friend (the first time I've done so, it was wonderful!) and began to read the only English newspaper that they had in the place. It's called (I'm fairly certain) The Hindi and it's one of the more prominent newspapers in all India. The center story of the front page, which as you know is the "most important" storyline in the paper, was an article on the American Presidential race. It spoke about two men, the Democratic incumbant Obama and the Republican challenger Romney, fighting it out for the seat of 'the most powerful man on the planet' with last minute appeals to swing state voters and the like. The story beside it, another front page story, though not as "important" as the election in a foreign land, was about the floods in northern Andhra, the state that I'm living in here in SE India. These floods are quite comparable to the affects of superstorm Sandy. Many thousands were left without power, food, water; roads and homes were destroyed, helicopters were flying in food drop after food drop while rescue boats drove the streets in search of injured and lost.
I got home some time later, and checked my facebook, as I often do, memories of the newspaper still riding my thoughts. And then I read post after post of politically charged thoughts and opinions, and some daring comments upon those threads. I read things like "If Obama wins, I'm going to Canada (or Mexico, or the Philippines, or some other place)" and "I don't understand how a person who calls themself a Christian could vote for Obama" and "If Romney wins-" with much of the same after-thoughts... And then today, I get on and open up two windows on my internet. The first was Facebook, and the second was NY Times. I wanted to find out who won, before I read about the many opinions that would surely await me. Obama wins reelection I read. Romney conceeds at 10pm after losing Virginia, I read. Then I take a breath, and go to Facebook. What I read was one of the hardest newsfeeds I've ever had to read. Allegations of all kinds were made from all points of political view, and were then argued from other sides. And then I read post after post about how "whether or not I agree with who the President is, I'm going to pray for them" followed by some verse about praying for those in authority over them. I read posts of verses of taking joy in Him no matter what happens. I read posts with verses about remembering humility and the like. And I began to cry. Literally, I felt a wrenching in my stomach and began to cry. As I type this now, I fight back tears thinking of it. I'm sorry if this comes off as harsh or anything but gracious rebuke, but I feel that I must address this sad fact.
First and foremost, the Bible does not have a precondition of "in case of emergency" or "use when you feel lost" to it. No, the Bible is not a tool for comfort when 'the times seem tough' for you. You might argue that it is these things, and as I would (of course) agree with you, allow me first to remind you that its purpose is to reveal the greatness of God and the hopelessness of the sinner without Him. Nothing else. The Bible is His story of redemption, which glorifies Him. Our comfort, our sense of direction and identity come from Him, not emergency verses of the feeling of comfort. It comes from His presence, His goodness, His love, from Him. Many of the verses that I read came from either a Pauline epistle or a Psalm of David. Let's put that in perspective. Paul wrote these words while in prison. Prison. Literally chained wrists held his writing hands. He was in prison for professing his faith, awaiting the judgement of death to come. David often wrote his psalms of comfort while hiding in caves from Saul and his army who sought to kill him. He was running for his life, while leading people in hope and safety. Or he wrote them out of a confession and repentence of sin (i.e. Bathsheba).These warriors of the faith wrote these incredible, wonderful and beautiful words as they were facing the sufferring of death and despair. They did not write them so we could pull them out when "our guy" loses or wins. They did not write them so we could quote them from our bedrooms and dorms as if we were being persecuted. Like someone making an obligatory "don't bring religion into politics" remark could ever constitute as persecution! Come on! Now, I am absolutely not saying to not find solace in the incredibly powerful and beautiful words of God. They should be what define our lives, as He changes us through them. But they should never be used in such a non-chalent manner. I am also not saying to not have an opinion. Absolutely have one. I have one. In fact, I am one of the most stubborn and opinionated people you will ever meet, as many of you can (often unfortunately) attest. What I am saying is do not ever let scripture proceed opinion. It should always preceed opinion. Period. Your guy lost? Oh no! Your guy won? Great... You know what happened to my guy? They beat Him relentlessly for hours. They tore at His flesh with the worst tools of torture imaginble. They mocked Him allthewhile, tearing into His very soul, attempting to plant the seeds of doubt and regret. They made Him carry the very tree that they would use to hang Him upon through the streets of the city after all of this. He walked up a hill, where they fashioned His hands to that tree, and then nailed Him with three nails to it. They freaking nailed Him to it! They then hung Him up for all to see, as they mocked Him more and more. And they did not even give Him His own hill on which to die. No, He instead shared it with two thieves, telling Him that He was as worthless as they. He died in six hours. That's it. Six hours. It took nearly three days on average for a person to die of crucifixion. They were so surprised that they stabbed His side to make sure He was dead. But He did not stay dead, no! Instead, He rose from His earthly tomb, and walked into glory just as He said He would! Amen! Our lives are not dictated by those in earhly authority above us. No, it is dictated by the One who endured all of this for you, for me. When did the church lose sight of this? The church becomes politically active, making claims for this and that in the Name of God, instead of loving people. Biblical principle should always preceed our opinions, our principles, our actions, our love. It was disgusting for me to see how so many people who I know to be wonderful loving members of the body of Christ slander so many in the name of political view. Perspective? Four years<Eternity. No matter what you may think politically, or even religiously for that matter you cannot argue that. Four years will always be less than forever. And our hope is in eternity, enthroned as the Name above ALL Names, sitting at the right hand of the very God and creator of everything. Our hope is not in an election, or that our opinions are right, so very right, the most right that right could be.
Thank you so much for reading this. Please please please leave any and all thoughts that you have. If you want to message me on FB, that we could talk privately, I more than invite you to. If you disagree with me, I am so okay with that, but please tell me. Let iron sharpen iron. If you agree with me, or have more to add, please feel free to do so. I truly and deeply love you all, and thank you for your thoughts and prayers so very much. Please know that this was not easy for me to type. I find myself being convicted and guilty of everything I've written...so excuse any lack of flow or thought, as I was very emotional and passionate as I wrote! I'm sure you understand!
I'm sorry if this seemed as a rant, and I can see how it reads as one, but I assure you that my heart in typing these words is to challenge you to live as the church, as the very bride of Christ. I am sorry if you feel attacked by this, but I hope that you see rebuking as loving instead of sinful and hurtful. I very much hope and pray that these words are a blessing to you, and a challenge to remember that we as the church are called to love people. Three scriptures I leave you with to chew on are Luke 10:25-37, 1 Peter 3:8-22 and James 3. Please read them, pray on them, and respond to them in life and love. I know I am.
Joel
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