Faith and Joy

Happiness and Joy can be so closely related...

Circumstances will be what they are.  

Life happens. 

Sometimes it's good, sometimes not.

What if, instead of seeking the way to happiness, 

we discover that joy is the way?

Jesus said: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  JOHN 10:10

Joy is different.  When life is challenging, it doesn't seem like the kind of full which Jesus speaks about having.  Happiness may be more connected to circumstances.  I've experienced times of great sadness, where there was definitely no happiness, yet joy was very present.  

Joy runs deep - transcending circumstances.

Could you agree that even when there are hard times, and in them you know you are loved, regardless, and in spite of the circumstances, that joy is present?  Not happiness, but joy.

Joy is rooted in relationship - one that loves unconditionally.  That's godly love.  The kind of love that always contends for the good of another.  When a person knows they are loved, there is comfort, and peace, and yes, even joy in the hard stuff.  

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines joy as:

• the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires - described as delight
• a state of happiness or felicity - described as bliss
• a source or cause of delight

Take delight in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.  PSALM 37:4

This verse captured my attention some years ago, and now here, contemplating joy, I find that DELIGHT and JOY are connected!  God says, I love you.  Delight in me - have joy in my love for you, and receive my love abundantly!  

Burdens shared are cut in half

Joy shared is doubled

When we are receiving the full measure of God's love, we have more than enough to share.  We can be generous.  And, when we are generous and bless others with this love, it produces more joy!  

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  LUKE 2:8-12

In these days of Christmas, where we celebrate the birth of the Christ child and Savior of the world, we wait on the promises of God, to send His love into the world through Jesus - Emmanuel (God WITH us).  He humbled himself and came down, love came down, and love poured out.

In receiving this love, everlasting joy is possible.  

Faith and Love

Love is something that flows from one being to another.  It is expressed from the one communicating love and received by the one for whom it is intended.  Others who witness love can't help being positively impacted by its allure.   

Love draws us in.

Love is always for our good.

Love always builds up and never tears down.

Love can't be manufactured - it either exists or it doesn't. 

In this second week of Advent, focusing on Faith and Love, I was traveling behind a vehicle that was decorated with two bumper stickers: 

My first thought was that we can coexist without loving or understanding one another, with a posture of tolerance, rather than love.    

We can believe in love, and not be loving.  

We can believe in peace, without being peacemakers.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8a

Jesus embodies love and peace, bringing them into the world. 

God is love.  1 John 4:16

In the same way, God calls his people to be loving.  

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  1 JOHN :7-12

  

The journey of Advent points us to Jesus, who entered this broken world to bring love and peace.  More than merely coexisting, or believing in love and peace, Jesus invites us to love others as ourselves because of the love we've received from God.  And, having experienced the reconciling nature of God, God calls us to be peacemakers. 

Love always enters in for the good of another!

People throughout the world are hurting in a variety of ways -  lonely, hungry, displaced, brokenhearted, desperate, angry... the list is long.  Imagine what love does in each of these situations...  Love says "you are not alone and I won't abandon you.  I'll share what I have and we'll figure this out together."  Love never says "it's someone else's problem."  

Through faith, the kind of redeeming love and peace

necessary to heal the strife in this world is possible.

Faith and Hope

HOPE

It's a powerful driver!

The HOPE of something better leads people to hurdle incredible challenges... 

and the lack of HOPE can drive another to despair.  

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  HEBREWS 11:1

Hope that comes from faith is far beyond wishful thinking. This kind of hope is grounded in the assurance of the redeeming work of God through the finished work of Jesus, the Messiah.

In this season of Advent, we wait for the birth of this Christ child, the one promised and hoped for.  Hope grounded in faith looks to the ONE that always keeps his promises.  Looking back, we can see promises fulfilled.  Looking forward, knowing the faithfulness of God in the past, we can trust that He will be faithful in the years to come.  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  JOHN 1:1-2, 14

There is great mystery in the work of God.

Faith stands in the gap between fact and doubt.  We wonder, we question, and we doubt.  Some reject.  The goodness and faithfulness of God calls people to hope.  

Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life... and He calls us to follow Him.  Human beings don't do this perfectly, we make mistakes and are frequent in our failings.  However, we can look to the ONE who walked this same journey of life and did it perfectly.  

All of human history points to the resurrection.  It is through this sole moment in time that faith pivots.  So in this week of Advent, the week of Hope, we have the opportunity to focus on what truly brings hope.

Hillsong wrote and produced a beautiful song.  Take a moment and look to the Hope of the World, Jesus.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When Darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone
Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless stand before the throne.

A Season of Waiting, Advent Begins

Waiting...  

Americans live in such an instant culture that waiting can be challenging.  We have choices as we wait - impatience, or enjoyment of the moments in between where we approach the waiting with a sense of expectant anticipation. 

I LOVE the ocean!  There is something about the rhythm of the waves that provides a soothing sense in my being.  With each wave there is an ebb and flow.  I know each will be present in the cycle of each wave.  I'm not anxious wondering when, but knowing there will be one that follows another.   The calm anticipation allows me to enjoy the moments. 

Today begins the season of Advent,
a time of waiting for the birth of the Christ child.  

Once Thanksgiving is done, we're in the thick of the commercialized Christmas season.  Advent provides an opportunity for intentional waiting.  Each day provides opportunity to focus on what God has done, is doing, and will do.  It's a season to see the faithfulness of God through the fulfillment of HIS promises.  

About 700 years prior to Jesus' birth, the prophet Isaiah wrote:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
    and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
    but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.  ISAIAH 11:1-4

The Lord fulfilled this promise through the birth of Jesus.  I'm sure some in the generations of those 700 years must have wondered if the promise would truly be fulfilled.  Many in this generation have the same question.  As we look back and see the ways that God has been faithful in the past, we can know that He will be faithful in the future.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  For by it the people of old received their commendation.  HEBREWS 11:1

Faith says - Trust me as you wait!  

Peter wrote to the people of his day:
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  2 PETER 3:9 

This Advent, my focus will be on faith.  My prayer is to grow in my ability to wait with a heart and mind of expectancy, to trust in the Lord's promises and rejoice in His grace.

Will you wait with me?  

I'd love to hear about your waiting practices. Please share them in the comments.

Shifting Gears- Outreach into Mission

Photo by brownpau

In recent months, I've been in the midst of clergy from a variety of Christian denominations.  Many are serving waning congregations, experiencing frustration, and being drawn into a rediscovery of mission.  While challenging, these are exciting times as we experience God's movement right before us!  

A SHIFT is happening...

I've been a Christ follower since the mid-1980's.  During my time in the church, outreach has been the mission focus of the local church, and mission was done by specially trained personnel who went to foreign fields and was funded by members of the local church.  Outreach was close and Mission was far away.  

The United States is now the 3rd largest mission field in the world.   

OUTREACH is shifting into MISSION

OUTREACH tends to take a congregation-centric approach, where mission expansion is limited to a geographic region around the congregation.   Generally, the congregation’s leaders determine the ministries and areas of focus and recruit congregation members to support and participate in them.  The way most church-goers have been trained for outreach is generally limited to assisting in church-sponsored programs and in inviting people to the church to be discipled by the pastor and certain trained leaders at the church location. 

MISSION tends to take a deployed-missionary approach.  Missionaries have a sense of being sent to help a certain group of people know Jesus.  Before a missionary is sent off to foreign lands, they receive training, develop a network of support, and are prepared to disciple the people that they are serving in the location of the people.  

A Missionary thinks differently,
instead of thinking how does s/he get people
to come and join what s/he's doing,
s/he considers how to join others in what they're doing
and look for opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus.   

In order to approach domestic outreach
in the same way as foreign mission,
two major shifts are necessary

Shifting where activity is focused

preparing everyday missionaries

to join people where they are.

Shifting the responsibility for discipling

equipping and resourcing everyday missionaries to walk 

a journey of discipleship with the people that they are serving.  

WHEN a normal part of the conversation becomes about encouraging God's people to consider whom God is calling them to serve and disciple, the focus for where people spend their time will begin to shift.  

WHEN we celebrate the sending of a domestic missionary, our focus shifts from a sense of loss in the local congregation, to a sense of gain for the Kingdom.  

WHEN we see the local congregation as a hub, a center for worship and a center of discipling, equipping and deployment, the congregation's FOOTPRINT shifts into a
 REACH, and the kingdom begins to expand with renewed vigor!

God is Love

KNOW who you are...

BE who you are...

SAY who you are...

I AM.  This is who God says he is, solely I AM.

He always was.  He is.  He always will be.

The enormity of this challenges my mind. 

God is love.  

God's love is 

faithful without compromise, 

devoted without reservation, 

and enduring for eternity.

As God's love comes to us, 
it beckons us in, 

calls us to know it's goodness, 

and invites us to receive it purely. 

Paul describes this love to the Corinthian church:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.
1 CORINTHIANS 13

Love flows out to and for another.  In a world that tends toward narcissism, it's hard to fully imagine the kind of love that is totally intended for the good of others.  

David Crowder co-wrote and recorded a song titled "I Am" that speaks of this kind of love.  It's an ALWAYS kind of love, never ending.  Listen and just receive it...

There's no space that His love can't reach
There's no place where we can't find peace
There's no end to Amazing Grace
Take me in with your arms spread wide
Take me in like an orphan child
Never let go, never leave my side.

I am,
Holding on to You.
I am,
Holding on to You.
In the middle of the storm,
I am Holding on,

I am

Blessed is the one

Blessed is the one
    whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree, planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
    and whose leaf does not wither - 
    whatever they do prospers.
                                                                   PSALM 1:1, 2-3

A tree planted in this place easily takes in its daily source
of life-sustaining essentials:
   - water & minerals 
   - sunlight 

Ezekiel writes about the trees planted along the river that flows from the temple:
When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.
Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.  Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail.  Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.  Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.              EZEKIEL 47:1, 12

When someone takes in a constant supply of love from the LORD, there is only love to pour out. When we are parched, or have consumed from an unhealthy supply, there is not sufficient reserve to pour out.  

The Lord's people are called to a lifestyle of extravagant caring!

To do this, being immersed in His love for us is essential!  For those who read this, 
I have prayed the same words of Paul to the Ephesian church for you:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.


Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
EPHESIANS 3:14-21

Glimpses of God

For the last two weeks I've set up camp and pondered these two verses:

And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.

And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.  MARK 4:33-34


Jesus, God himself, knew the enormity of God's Kingdom.  Following Jesus through the Gospels, we find him sharing glimpses of this Kingdom in what he said and did...

• He healed the sick, raised the dead, restored sight, hearing, and physical infirmities... 
• He spoke forgiveness... 
• He taught about living in such a way that relationships with God, self, others, and creation are always honored... 

As Jesus journeyed through life, he shared illustrations and stories that gave people glimpses of God and His kingdom... 

A kingdom where love reigns!
A kingdom where relationships are never compromised!
A kingdom that has more beauty and abundance than humankind can fully imagine!

Journeying through life,
there is evidence of God's Kingdom all around!  

"The kingdom of God is like…”
 - a man who sowed good seed in his field.  Matthew 13:24    (it’ is good)

 - a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field  Matthew 13:31 
   (it starts small and grows)

 - yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of yeast until it worked all through the dough  Matthew 13:33 (a little bit can make a big difference)

 - treasure hidden in a field  Matthew 13:44 (it is very important and should be protected)

 - a merchant looking for fine pearls  Matthew 13:45 (it is precious and worth a great price) 

 - a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish  Matthew 13:47 (it is filled with variety and produces in abundance)

 - the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old  Matthew 13:52  (everything has value) 

 - a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants  Matthew 18:23  (it is filled with integrity)

 - a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard  Matthew 20:1  (there is lot of work to be done)

 - a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son  Matthew 22:2  (in it there is joyful celebration) 

Jesus is providing small glimpses
of what a life with God is like.  

He's inviting you in...

Do you see it?

Does it make you wonder? 

Come in, 

sit down with Jesus, 

let His Word,
 and the people who follow Him,
explain what he means!

The Kingdom of God has Come Near

If you weren't looking, you might have missed it... 

The children came first to ask 

"what ch'all doin?" 

We're having a party.  There's going to be food, and music, and pretty soon a bouncy house.  Go tell your friends and come back. 

On the surface, it looked like a block party... food, music, fun and good company.  

Below the surface was the heart through which the party had been planned.  It was the heart of Jesus who heals the brokenhearted and redeems the lives of those who walk with Him. When Jesus announced “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” he was saying: God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.

Sunday for the City, a day we designated to pray for cities throughout my denomination's district, which spans five states.  In Baltimore, we planned an event to B.L.E.S.S. one city neighborhood.  

                                                     As we BLESS, we
                                                           Befriend
                                                           Listen & Learn
                                                           Eat Together
                                                           Serve another person
                                                           Share faith in Jesus

... and the kingdom of God is near

We were in Sandtown-Winchester, the Baltimore City neighborhood that was the center of the unrest that erupted here after Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, died from a nearly severed spine after being arrested in April. DeWayne Wickham, dean of Morgan State University's School of Global Journalism and Communication, wrote in an article for USA TODAY stating heartbreaking statistics about this neighborhood:

"More than half of the people (ages 16-64) in this area are unemployed. In 2012, 49% of its high school students were "chronically absent," 61% of the population 25 and older lacked a high school degree, and a third of this community's houses were vacant. Even more disturbing, it has more people in Maryland's prison system than any other community in the state. Maryland taxpayers spend nearly $17 million a year to keep 458 people from this Census track in prison, according to a recent Justice Policy Institute report."

This was a day where the kingdom of God came near!

The table was set and food prepared for our guests

A stage for music was set

Prayer walkers went into the neighborhood and invited the people to come

Guests arrived

Food was served

Stories were shared as people talked, listened and learned about each other

Testimonies of God's care and faithfulness were shared

We prayed, and God was certainly near!

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, :here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”  LUKE 17:20-21

As I handed out bottles of water and said, "thank you for coming out today," thankful eyes looked deeply into mine accompanied by the words, no, thank you!  These were eyes appreciating that people truly care, eyes that appreciated warm food served with love (instead of food from a dumpster, as one man told me), eyes that may have been seeing a glimpse of God's kingdom for the first time, and eyes that are already part of the kingdom and saw God's love pouring through.  

Love and compassion speaks a language all its own.  

I am privileged to speak this language and pray that those who received this message on Sunday felt the love of God and the peace that passes all understanding.  May they be moved to faith in Jesus, the one who loves unconditionally!

This, is Mission, Jesus Style!

If you would like to support the work of LINC Baltimore

and the mission work we do, our donation page

Grains of Sand

Walking along the beach on a beautiful sunny morning, the Words of God that ran through my mind were 

"more numerous than the sand on the seashore."  

I paused... looked in front and behind me.  The beach stretched as far as I could see in both directions and I began to imagine all the beaches that I have visited.  It's quite an illustration to think about anything being more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashore.

Grains of sand...  each so tiny...  so many! 

I think of God's promises to Abraham.  Still childless at the age of 75, the Lord challenged Abraham to count the number of stars in the sky and promising that his heirs would be more numerous than that!   It took another twenty-five years later before Isaac, the son of promise, was born.  It's a long story of promises, faith, obedience, disobedience, forgiveness and restoration.  He left his country to go to a strange land, there were family conflicts that resulted in separation, there was adultery and abandonment.  

It's messy!

There was failure!

Walking with God is a journey!  

Many years later in the New Testament, Paul writes: 

We walk by faith and not by sight.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:7  

Sometimes the journey is filled with joy and at other times sorrow.  

Sometimes the steps are clear and at other times it's like groping in the dark.  

It's not that God's not clear, it's that our human understanding is clouded.  

That may sound trite...  But, it's true.  I have met some brilliant people, but none compare to the one who spoke creation into being!  It's hard to imagine that such a vast and complex universe that works with such precision and order could have been formed without intelligent design.

God is constantly at work on our behalf,
seeking to redeem and restore humanity.  

He can't bless sin, but he does bless obedience!

Here, we come to the point where the Lord is testing Abraham: 

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”  GENESIS 22:15-18

The blessing follows obedience!

Abraham now had enough experience with God
to know that He always kept his promises
and this encouraged Abraham's obedience when God spoke. 

Where is God calling you to believe him and trust him?  

It may be in believing that He is who he says he is.  It may be in other steps of faith. Abraham waited 25 years for the first step of God's promise to come to fulfillment.  As for the grains of sand, they are still being formed as one by one, people around the globe believe God at His word and act accordingly.  

Who will be blessed because of your obedience?

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.  PSALM 139:17-18

The Lord is true to His Word! 

A Mighty Fortress by Christy Nockels

Overcoming Evil with Good

Charleston names another place where where a heinous act results in earthly lives being suddenly cut short.  Jesus says:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  JOHN 10:10

Any time we do not honor another human being, the thief has come. 

Jesus came with honorable intention, stepping into the mess of humanity, bringing God's love and restoration to a hurting world.  

In the New Testament, St. Paul writes about love in action, calling those who follow Jesus to live in the same way:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  ROMANS 12:9-21

WOW!  Slow down and re-read each sentence!  

Living this way is so contrary to human nature.  It is only by knowing the love of Jesus that one can even begin to function in this way.  Oh yes, it's not so difficult when we are minimally infringed upon.  It is another matter as the issues become larger.

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi has been in the forefront of my thoughts.  Just imagine how wonderful the world would be if all people lived the way this prayer reads!

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; 
to be understood as to understand; 
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.  

If each and every day,
we lived in honor of
the one who created life,

living for the good of another 

instead of self gain, 

knowing others are doing the same,

we would all be living LIFE TO THE FULL!