Puerta de Alcala, Arpil 2005
Sunday, April 24, 2005
movin on
Movin' On
Sometimes we are asked : "when are you all coming home?". I usually get a surprised look on their faces when I give them my normal answer: "We are home but we will be visiting the states soon." We try (some days I must admit are better than others) to call wherever we are "home". In this season of our journey Western Europe is our home and more specifically Spain. We love Spain. We love living abroad with all of its challenges. While we miss at times what we used to call "home" and someday may call "home" once again we feel where we live now is "home". Following me??? I hope so.
If we do not live our lives with this orientation then home sickness amongst other things could get mixed in with our "calling". We had to "burn our ships" so to speak. I think there is some historical story of where the captain burned his ships so his crew nor himself would be tempted to go back. I did not do well in history so I do not remember what that referenced to or if it was just a story a "preacher" used one time. It is a nice thought.
If we try to live in both places it becomes difficult and can get messy and confusing. So we call this place home. It is our new life. It is our new way of life.
It is not always easy but it is home.
I was reading in Romans the other day about "movin on" with your life but as it relates to living a life of victory in Jesus Christ not continuing to live in a life of sin that you left behind. I think at times we have a memory lapse and we try to go back in revisit it at times. We even think to ourselves that God is a God of grace and will forgive us and we go back to take a visit to the old life.
But this is not the way we need to live. This new life is our home and offers everything we need to content and to have joy.
Romans 6
When Death Becomes Life
1So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? 2I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? 3Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace--a new life in a new land!
That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. 4When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. 5Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.
Sometimes we are asked : "when are you all coming home?". I usually get a surprised look on their faces when I give them my normal answer: "We are home but we will be visiting the states soon." We try (some days I must admit are better than others) to call wherever we are "home". In this season of our journey Western Europe is our home and more specifically Spain. We love Spain. We love living abroad with all of its challenges. While we miss at times what we used to call "home" and someday may call "home" once again we feel where we live now is "home". Following me??? I hope so.
If we do not live our lives with this orientation then home sickness amongst other things could get mixed in with our "calling". We had to "burn our ships" so to speak. I think there is some historical story of where the captain burned his ships so his crew nor himself would be tempted to go back. I did not do well in history so I do not remember what that referenced to or if it was just a story a "preacher" used one time. It is a nice thought.
If we try to live in both places it becomes difficult and can get messy and confusing. So we call this place home. It is our new life. It is our new way of life.
It is not always easy but it is home.
I was reading in Romans the other day about "movin on" with your life but as it relates to living a life of victory in Jesus Christ not continuing to live in a life of sin that you left behind. I think at times we have a memory lapse and we try to go back in revisit it at times. We even think to ourselves that God is a God of grace and will forgive us and we go back to take a visit to the old life.
But this is not the way we need to live. This new life is our home and offers everything we need to content and to have joy.
Romans 6
When Death Becomes Life
1So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? 2I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? 3Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace--a new life in a new land!
That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. 4When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. 5Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Where are you God?
Read This Psalm Slowly and Carefully
Psalm 54
1God, for your sake, help me! Use your influence to clear me.
2Listen, God--I'm desperate.
Don't be too busy to hear me.
3Outlaws are out to get me,
hit men are trying to kill me.
Nothing will stop them;
God means nothing to them.
4Oh, look! God's right here helping!
GOD's on my side, 5Evil is looping back on my enemies.
Don't let up! Finish them off!
6I'm ready now to worship, so ready.
I thank you, GOD-you're so good.
7You got me out of every scrape,
and I saw my enemies get it.
I do not know what you understood from this passage. Sometimes when we read things we see them differently. I read this passage from other translations such as the NIV and the NLT (New Living Translation) but THE MESSAGE really opens up a thought for me on this. I could really identify with the Psalmist in this version. I highlighted in color the verse that literally jumped out at me.
I was having coffee with one of my friends the other day. He is not a believer. Oh, he believes that there is a God but does not believe that God is actively working in the world today. He is a modern day version of Karl Marx who said “religion is the opium of the masses”. But as we finished coffee and went back into our daily lives and routines those thoughts and his conversation lingered in my mind. The very next morning I was reading a Psalm. I try (emphasis on try) to read a Psalm, a Proverb and then a chapter from the Bible everyday. One thing I know: I am not perfect. I miss some days.
Back to the story: I was reading Psalm 54 and then all of a sudden it jumped at me:
4Oh, look! God's right here helping!
This verse is so me! Here I am going along in life. Sometimes things are good and sometimes my life seems such a mess. In this case the Psalmist was citing how tough life was at the moment. He was telling about his desperation and pleading for God to rescue him and help him. He was pleading with God to not be so busy that He has no time to help me. THEN (from this version of scripture) it reads like the author suddenly realizes that God is active in his world today. God is actively helping him daily. God is involved in his life. If it were not for God he would not even survive.
I do not know about you but I know for me I could write the same psalm. God, where are you? I am hurting? People are trying to harm me? I need you. Don’t be too busy to hear my request. BUT.. then I realize that God is with me. God is helping me. God is actively involved in my life. God does care about my requests and needs no matter how small. I sometimes overlook what God is doing in my life. I think for me it is because I get so busy and caught up in my day that I leave God out. I am moving too fast to see where God is working. But.. now I know. He is working in my life. And Yours…
Lets not forget as the psalmist reminds us at the end : THANK YOU GOD for YOU ARE GOOD.
Psalm 54
1God, for your sake, help me! Use your influence to clear me.
2Listen, God--I'm desperate.
Don't be too busy to hear me.
3Outlaws are out to get me,
hit men are trying to kill me.
Nothing will stop them;
God means nothing to them.
4Oh, look! God's right here helping!
GOD's on my side, 5Evil is looping back on my enemies.
Don't let up! Finish them off!
6I'm ready now to worship, so ready.
I thank you, GOD-you're so good.
7You got me out of every scrape,
and I saw my enemies get it.
I do not know what you understood from this passage. Sometimes when we read things we see them differently. I read this passage from other translations such as the NIV and the NLT (New Living Translation) but THE MESSAGE really opens up a thought for me on this. I could really identify with the Psalmist in this version. I highlighted in color the verse that literally jumped out at me.
I was having coffee with one of my friends the other day. He is not a believer. Oh, he believes that there is a God but does not believe that God is actively working in the world today. He is a modern day version of Karl Marx who said “religion is the opium of the masses”. But as we finished coffee and went back into our daily lives and routines those thoughts and his conversation lingered in my mind. The very next morning I was reading a Psalm. I try (emphasis on try) to read a Psalm, a Proverb and then a chapter from the Bible everyday. One thing I know: I am not perfect. I miss some days.
Back to the story: I was reading Psalm 54 and then all of a sudden it jumped at me:
4Oh, look! God's right here helping!
This verse is so me! Here I am going along in life. Sometimes things are good and sometimes my life seems such a mess. In this case the Psalmist was citing how tough life was at the moment. He was telling about his desperation and pleading for God to rescue him and help him. He was pleading with God to not be so busy that He has no time to help me. THEN (from this version of scripture) it reads like the author suddenly realizes that God is active in his world today. God is actively helping him daily. God is involved in his life. If it were not for God he would not even survive.
I do not know about you but I know for me I could write the same psalm. God, where are you? I am hurting? People are trying to harm me? I need you. Don’t be too busy to hear my request. BUT.. then I realize that God is with me. God is helping me. God is actively involved in my life. God does care about my requests and needs no matter how small. I sometimes overlook what God is doing in my life. I think for me it is because I get so busy and caught up in my day that I leave God out. I am moving too fast to see where God is working. But.. now I know. He is working in my life. And Yours…
Lets not forget as the psalmist reminds us at the end : THANK YOU GOD for YOU ARE GOOD.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
adapting to the culture
One thing that we have had to learn is to adapt to the culture here in Madrid. There are many things that look like home: PC City, McDonalds, countless Starbucks, malls, walmart type stores called CarreFour, German and Swedish Cars, golf courses, and the list could go on.
There are also a lot of things that are different: bullfights, running with the bulls, eating lunch at 3 pm and dinner at 11 pm, walking everywhere, public transportation, eating all the parts of a pig, and this list could go on and on as well.
As internationals living and working overseas we have to adapt to the culture that we are living in. We have to learn their language and learn about their customs. This is healthy and it is essential if one is going to live for a while overseas.
However, there is a danger. I do not know how much nor often that I have thought about this but when I read The Message yesterday it struck me in a new way. I think this is true regardless of where you live. You could be living in the same small town for 30 years or you could have just moved to a large metro area or could have just moved into the college culture. I think this is true when you move overseas as well.
There is a danger of over identifying with the culture. What if some of the things of the culture should not be learned or better still ... acted out. I know for instance here in Western Europe that it is not a society that prides itself in being dependent upon God. It is not a culture that seeks a personal deep relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a culture of secularism. It is a culture in this season of world history that is rather rich. Thier euro is pretty strong right now compared to the US dollar. It is a culture where "anything goes" and being tolerant is the name of the game. It is a culture of openness. It is a culture where morality is not always a high value.
As a follower of Christ it can be dangerous to be put into such a culture suddenly. It is like we have to adapt to the culture but at the same time learn to make the right choices amidst living in a culture such as this. In some ways it could be compared with living away from home for the first time like in college. But the subtle danger of living in such a culture is to be lulled into becoming self dependent, materialistic, secularistic and little by little becoming loose in your thinking and moral choices. Maybe not suddenly but maybe a better metaphor would be "drifting" and then suddenly you realize you are far from where you need to be.
Let me print out The Message and see if this makes more sense now.
Romans 12
Place Your Life Before God
1So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
The idea here is not to be conformed to the world which is easy to do especially when you are trying to fit in. The life God wants you to live is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
think and live,
larry
There are also a lot of things that are different: bullfights, running with the bulls, eating lunch at 3 pm and dinner at 11 pm, walking everywhere, public transportation, eating all the parts of a pig, and this list could go on and on as well.
As internationals living and working overseas we have to adapt to the culture that we are living in. We have to learn their language and learn about their customs. This is healthy and it is essential if one is going to live for a while overseas.
However, there is a danger. I do not know how much nor often that I have thought about this but when I read The Message yesterday it struck me in a new way. I think this is true regardless of where you live. You could be living in the same small town for 30 years or you could have just moved to a large metro area or could have just moved into the college culture. I think this is true when you move overseas as well.
There is a danger of over identifying with the culture. What if some of the things of the culture should not be learned or better still ... acted out. I know for instance here in Western Europe that it is not a society that prides itself in being dependent upon God. It is not a culture that seeks a personal deep relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a culture of secularism. It is a culture in this season of world history that is rather rich. Thier euro is pretty strong right now compared to the US dollar. It is a culture where "anything goes" and being tolerant is the name of the game. It is a culture of openness. It is a culture where morality is not always a high value.
As a follower of Christ it can be dangerous to be put into such a culture suddenly. It is like we have to adapt to the culture but at the same time learn to make the right choices amidst living in a culture such as this. In some ways it could be compared with living away from home for the first time like in college. But the subtle danger of living in such a culture is to be lulled into becoming self dependent, materialistic, secularistic and little by little becoming loose in your thinking and moral choices. Maybe not suddenly but maybe a better metaphor would be "drifting" and then suddenly you realize you are far from where you need to be.
Let me print out The Message and see if this makes more sense now.
Romans 12
Place Your Life Before God
1So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
The idea here is not to be conformed to the world which is easy to do especially when you are trying to fit in. The life God wants you to live is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
think and live,
larry
Monday, April 04, 2005
the message
From time to time I read verses in the Bible that really stick to me. Verses that somehow or in someway just make sense out of my life. My profession has always been a "full time Christian worker". This title has come in very different roles. I have been a pastor, a minister on staff of a large church, a seminary student studying theology, a church starter, a worker in a denominational office and a worker overseas. But I have pretty much lived my adult life (since 20) working in a Christian vocation.
As I try to think about my life and how I am living it as I approach middle age or as the author Bob Buford says "Halftime" I ran across this verse:
7This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. Ephesians 3:7
I do not think of myself as a great evangelist. I do not think that I actually share my faith enough atleast in the formal sense or the way that many of us were taught to. However, this seems to be a verse that describes my passion and role in life. I feel that my role is to help people connect with God. I want people to see that the Message is not as complex as we have made it. I want to help people that in some way or in some form have been turned off by the church, by organized religion, or disappointed in God. I want to see them respond to God and follow Him and put thier faith in Him.
As I try to think about my life and how I am living it as I approach middle age or as the author Bob Buford says "Halftime" I ran across this verse:
7This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. Ephesians 3:7
I do not think of myself as a great evangelist. I do not think that I actually share my faith enough atleast in the formal sense or the way that many of us were taught to. However, this seems to be a verse that describes my passion and role in life. I feel that my role is to help people connect with God. I want people to see that the Message is not as complex as we have made it. I want to help people that in some way or in some form have been turned off by the church, by organized religion, or disappointed in God. I want to see them respond to God and follow Him and put thier faith in Him.
Now here is the part that is hypothetical atleast in my life. This verse applies can apply to everyone. Sure, the Apostle Paul wrote it and it was a true description of his life. I in a much lesser way can say this is who I am (I would not even think of comparing myself to Paul). But I think no matter what your profession is, if you have a heart for God and you want to see others come to God through a relationship with Jesus then this verse can describe you as well. You can make this be true in your life whether you are a lawyer, futbol star, taxi driver or high school teacher. In fact ... I think it may be easier for you to do this than it is for me.
You have the natural credibility that I do not have. If I am sharing my faith I can often be "discounted" as a religous person, a pastor, etc.. As one person said "I get paid to be good". But if you are working in the real world then you have the opportunity to be the salt and light in a natural way. You can share your life with others in a real and authentic way and your life can become "Contagious". People will wonder why you are different because they see the way the Message was meant to be. I think our best testimony is living an authentic life as a follower of Jesus and that draws people into spiritual conversations and intrigue. No matter where you are and what you do in this world you can be a person that helps people understand the Message.
Live the life this week and let people read the Message by observing your life.
for further reading : John 3:16
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
