Suffering: Polishing God's Monuments

This is just a short follow up to my last posting- A New Year's Blessing. It is a further confirmation from a published author that this is how God often works.

"Shaping up requires chipping away. The whole idea of the Christian life is for us to be conformed to Christ, not to be comfortable in Christ. Sometimes we just don't get it. The truth is, a life of suffering is a better benchmark of God's favor than a life of surfing. God's love is more likely to reveal itself in the presence of pain than in the absence of it."
(Jim Andrews in Polishing God's Monuments, p. 248)

This comes from someone who knows the pain of serious longterm illness in his family. It is worth reading if you want to gain a biblical view of suffering in a very real setting. I especially recommend it to anyone who is suffering or has family or friends going through suffering.

Here's a link to a much more indepth review of the book by Tim Challies.

Grace and peace,

Dave

A New Year's Blessing

I heard Brennan Manning speak (The Ragamuffin Gospel) a few years back. What grabbed me more than anything were these words of "blessing" with which he ended the session.

May all your expectations be frustrated,

May all your plans be thwarted,

May all your desires be withered into nothingness,

That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child;

And learn to seek, and depend on and rest wholly in the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit.

As much as I dread wanting that first part or wishing it on you, I suspect that's what it really takes to depend wholly on God.

We really have no idea what is coming our way in this new year. Let's be thankful when God graces us with fulfilled expectations and plans, but can we be even more thankful when His blessings match the description above? Can we remember to see this as God's way of drawing us closer to Himself?

Blessings,

Dave

The Christmas Stump

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit." Isaiah 11:1

Did you know there is a Christmas tree of sorts associated with Jesus' coming? It's nothing like a Martha Stewart tree; more like a stump sprouting a bit of new, fragile growth.

Jesse's family tree became a royal family tree when Jesse's son David became Israel's second king. To make a long story short, that tree was chopped down a few hundred years later when the Babylonians captured Israel and removed her king. What would become of God's promise to David that a king from his family would sit on his throne forever?

Isaiah's prophecy answers the question. The tree was chopped down. Only a stump remained, but that stump would produce new growth--a shoot and a branch that would bear fruit. Of course we understand this to mean the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. He came from David's family. He was heir to David's throne. Yet He was not obviously a king when He came and He did not become the king of national Israel at His first coming. He was born in the humblest of circumstances and lived a humble life. Yet there was new life and there was fruit. And one day when Jesus returns, that royal tree will be fully grown and glorious. He will be the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Sticking with the plant motif, I like the illustration of the century plant.

This plant is so named because it takes many years before it blooms-not 100, but often 15 and sometimes as many as 50. In its resting stage the century plant is a decent looking plant, but really gives no idea of what it will become. Suddenly one day, after preparing itself for many years, it springs to life. A tree-like stalk begins to rise from the center of the plant. Growing as much as an inch an hour, it can reach heights of 40 feet!

Then comes the flowers--large clusters like cauliflower. These blooms multiply daily. One 50 year old plant had one bud open one day. Two days later there were 23. The next day there were 43 more! Once it starts it is something you don't want to miss.

That's a picture of Jesus' coming. His first coming was largely unnoticed. Many people celebrate it today, but give little thought to who He really is, why He came, or that He is coming again. But the day is coming that the stump of Jesse will once again become a magnificent tree.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Grace and peace,

Dave

O Christmas Tree

This is the Christmas tree on display at our local library. I thought it was fitting for a paper mill town: an attempt to turn the paper back into a tree!

Thinking About Prayer and Preaching

It happened again a week ago. Having done my best at preparing my sermon I was not satisfied. It just wasn't clicking for me. I'd be hard pressed to even say what wasn't working, but it just didn't feel right. There have been times when I would start all over on Saturday to try and "fix it." I don't bother anymore. Partly because it never seemed to help; but mostly because I have discovered that when I am least content with a sermon God seems to use it the most. At least that's how I interpret it. The fact is, when I am least happy with a sermon, I get the most positive feedback from the congregation. Perhaps it's just that what doesn't work for me does work for them. I think more likely God is stepping into my weakness and showing His strength in taking my puny thoughts and words and making something worthwhile out of them. I have learned to stop fretting and give Him the glory when that happens.

But I also see a problem in this. My desire is to always be used by God and have Him speak through me. That doesn't always happens to the same degree, but it seems to happen more when I'm less happy with my work. The answer can't be that I should slack off in sermon prep so that God can work more. That makes little sense. What does make sense is prayer. Although I haven't "kept track" I probably end up praying more about the sermon that isn't working than the one I think is pretty good. Isn't that the way most of us are in most things? The more comfortable and confident we are in something, the less we concern ourselves with prayer. The less confident we are, the more we look to God. I need to realize that even when I think I have it altogether, I still need God's power just as much if not more.

Grace and peace,

Dave

Pastor's Job Description

Before you question my motives as you read this post, allow me to do it for you. Is it to complain? To some degree, yes. Is it an effort to relieve guilt. Absolutely! But I hope it will also give you something to think about with me and also to help me think about from your perspective.

Today was a work day at the church. I didn't go. And I felt guilty for it. There are several reasons why I didn't go(some would call them excuses). Here are my two main ones: Saturday is my only full day off and I don't always get even that. Second, I am not good at work days. It has never been my strength or expertise--painting, cleaning windows, changing florescent bulbs, etc. I don't enjoy it and I am just all thumbs at that kind of stuff. I honestly feel inferior at these days. I could add that my wife has a knee injury and it was important that I help her get some things done that she has trouble doing; true today, but not always the case.

I have helped a little in past work days and I have missed some altogether. No one has outright told me that they expect I should be there, but I'm quite sure that is the case. There was a recent incident that I heard about where someone expressed their opinion that I should be taking a turn cutting the church grass. To add a little more pressure, our church-owned house is just across the lawn from the church so we could see what was going on and they could likely see us at home.

I mostly don't believe I need to be there yet I feel some guilt about not going. The only good I can see for me to be there is being a good example and being in the trenches with the people. Certainly not insignificant, but I'm not convinced that is good enough reason to give up a much-needed day off. I think most of the guilt comes from not meeting others expectations, but at the same time most people don't really have a clue what I do there(what most pastors do for that matter). Some of those extra things would be most of the snow shoveling in the winter, a large share of moving tables and chairs up and down the stairs as needed, watering plants and so on. I hope that doesn't sound like bragging. My intention is more to inform.

Well enough from me. What do you think? Should I have gone? Why or why not? Should these types of things be in a pastor's job description? Do people understand the job of a pastor? Do you? I appreciate any comments you'd care to make. Thanks.

Grace and peace,

Dave

Vacation Thanksgiving

It's over a month until Canadian Thanksgiving, but it's always (or should be) the right time for showing gratitude to the Lord. We had a wonderful vacation and I want to say thanks for:

*being able to spend it with my best friend--my wife Patti

*wonderful warm dry weather (only a day and a half of rain)

*both my two-year-old grandchildren who having not seen me for a year did not make strange

*some fun biking with Jonathan, Knox and Declan

*some intense biking with Ron AND making the big hill in the Edmonton river valley

*great times at parks with all our grandchildren

*some great talks with our sons and their wives

*a few hours of fun playing MarioKart(and improving slightly)

*the discipline not to run out and buy a Wii

*an hour and a half coffee with my former workmate and friend Don

*time spent catching up with other former workmates

*the opportunity to experience three church services that I didn't have to plan

* some of the wonders of God's creation in the Canadian prairies

* experiencing new territory: Montana, a bit of Wyoming, South and North Dakota which included the black hills, Mount Rushmore, and a bit of the badlands

*75 mph speed limits on the interstates to help us get back home in time

*safety in everywhere we went and everything we did

*no problems with the van that turned 200,000 km. on the trip

*a job to come back to so I can pay all the bills from the trip

Grace and peace,

Dave