Where To Set Up Camp?

Here in these United States we are people of place. Contained in our lives is a strong desire to find place, physical or otherwise to set up camp and reside. Not always a physical address but a state of existence. We like to reside in the same thought patterns, behaviors and activities. Even when these situations do not produce what we think they should, or what they once produced we do not like to find a new place to set up camp. This is the struggle of our life with God, not simply day to day living in America.

As I though about this the last couple of days I was able to verbalize it like this, we cannot live or camp in the past because it is gone. We cannot live or camp in the future because it is not yet here. However, we cannot live or camp where we are at because this passing moment becomes the past as quickly as it was the future. So, where do we set up camp? In this question we find the tragedy of the Old Testament Temple. Long before there was a temple, before Israel had a king, before the promise was ceased, the people of God followed encamping as they went. Where God lead them they followed for the most part. Along the way there was grumbling and rebellion which resulted in correction and teaching. The people knew they could remember what was, but could not live there, and they had not yet taken a hold of the promise of the future. Further they knew the place they were at was only temporary even if they liked the place.

The day comes when the people begin to settle in the promise land. Settle they did and from there the struggle of following God intensified. Many had gotten to the place they had wanted to be and wanted to stay there until they died. This went way beyond geography. Once in the promise land the relationship between God and the people of God was characterized by a growing staleness. This caused the people to look around to other nations and people for guidance than to God. Soon the cry for an earthly king went before God. Even with God warning them of the consequences they moved in that direction. From there David, the earthly king, wanted to build a residence of God on earth. At the outset God seems to be against the idea, and likes the idea of being a transient God who is free to move and invite the people to move. Yet the human drive kicks in and the Temple is build. All along the way people begin to move from camp to permanent structure in dwelling and thought.

What if we are intended to be people who live from encampment to encampment? What if the love of God is so great that we are constantly understanding God in different and news ways? Not that God is changing, rather that we are changing. Where we camped yesterday is part of our history and therefore it matters, yet we cannot camp there again. Tomorrow holds the promise of heaven, and therefore it matters, yet we are not there yet. Today is the gift of God, and therefore it matters, yet today will soon become yesterday. So where do we camp? The simple answer is where God is. Realizing this is harder to accomplish in reality it is still the truth. We must live in such a way that we are camped where God is at this moment and when God says its time to move, we break camp and follow.

It Begins With Me

There are pages filled with quotes about change and where the starting point of change rests. One of my favorite change quotes is attributed to Gandhi, "Be the change you want to see." It is not very often that I spend a large amount of time talking about individuals. As human beings we are designed to be communal beings, therefore our lives are not measured by ourselves rather by our context of community. To change all that up today I would like to address the "Me" in all of us. It is no secret community is hard, and dysfunction is not hard to find in community. Anyone who has ventured into community has been hurt at some point by that community, or more specifically by an individual from that community. It is a reality of community which may be impossible to avoid because communities are made up of a bunch of individuals, and individuals have issues which get played out in community.

All that might or might not be understood. What is understood is the number of people who feel disconnected from life, God, others and themselves. As the disconnection grows the attempts to connect become greater and greater. We begin to seek community after community hoping this will be the one where things fell right. Only to find this community has the similar problems of the community before. Perhaps the problem is not them, its you and I. Despite the face many put forward, I find a large number of people who do not like the life they have and do not like the situations they find themselves in. The end result is people who really struggle to like themselves.

If we are going to fell like the pieces which make up our live are coming together, we will need to first come to terms with ourselves. I will be the first to share I am not always thrilled about the way God has designed my body, and I am not always thrilled with the places God has lead me. However, if I do not find peace about my life and situation, I will not find peace in the places and people around me. Connecting with God, and finding community begins with me. Sure I can blame my unhappiness with my life on all kinds of things. I can give a list of rationalizations about why my life is the way it is. Another option is to do the really hard work and look at myself. I can already hear some of you, well I cannot be myself because of so and so or this situation or that situation, that is just crap. We will never be satisfied with the things around us until we come to terms with ourselves. It is impossible to change anything but ourselves. Our circumstances in life may not change, the way we deal with them can. The people in our lives may not change, the way we deal with them can.

We have become a people who move from place to place, church to church, relationship to relationship looking for something which cannot be found externally. All of us must come to terms with the life we have. If there are things in our life that need to change, and we can change them, make that change. Often I find myself not living the life I know Christ sacrificed to give me. Just as often I begin to give rationalizations as to why and who is to blame. Reality, I need to get my stuff together. Then I will begin to find connection with God, family, communities and creation. Then I will begin to experience a wholeness I may have never known. It all begins with me.

Genuine Church

"Genuine church life is born when groups of people are intoxicated with a glorious unveiling of their Lord. Jesus Christ is the only foundation upon which an authentic church can be built" -- Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, Jesus Manifesto page 143.

I have just finished reading Jesus Manifesto and many times I nearly signed in and offered some thoughts along the way. I waited to complete the reading to gain a full understanding of the perspective the authors offer to us. The above quote is one of two which have captured my heart and mind. The other I will write on later.

I have spend years studying, going to seminars and conferences, picking the brains of those around me, and any other way to gain information about this thing called the church. Over the years I have come across some really great programs, and have used many of them. I have a long list of things which "successful" churches must do if they are going to be great churches. I have to confess there was even a time when I did the whole Rick Warren Hawaiian shirt thing. With all this information out there, and with a number of churches who seem to be successful at drawing numbers of people it seems the whole church thing should be simple.

One problem, anyone who has ever worked to see the church become all that it can be knows this is not easy work. Often the programs come up short and the church no matter the size seems to fall short of being the embodiment of Christ. Perhaps the goal is too lofty. Maybe it just is not possible to experience the genuine church as described by none other than Jesus himself. What if the problem is not the possibility, rather the problem is us. A quick study of the New Testament would reveal there was not a set of programs, or even conferences to attend. I am not sure there were even Hawaiian shirts in those days. Yet the church of Jesus Christ exploded onto the scene. What was it that caused the church to be the church in such a way? The people of the church had an all out intoxication with Jesus Christ. Jesus was the center of peoples every moment. There was no division of life, church and Jesus. I guess today we might say they were an organic whole.

Not a program. Not a technique. Simply Jesus. In the Western world we have become so intoxicated with all kinds of things. Unfortunately Jesus is often left off the list of intoxicants. We will never experience the fullness of Jesus, the genuine church, unless the people who would be identified by Jesus Christ return Jesus to the intoxicating center of their being.

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

There might be a temptation to sent this along to someone in a church. Perhaps you might send it along to your pastor. Before you send it to anyone do your work first. Wrestle with the place Jesus has in your life. Are you intoxicated with Jesus?

The Voice of God

I guess I have always thought of the voice of God to sound a lot like James Earl Jones, or after Bruce Almighty, I gave allowance for Morgan Freeman. All throughout the scriptures we hear see people saying the Lord spoke to them, and even in our day we have people using similar language. All along the way failing to describe what it is that God sounds like. How do we know the voice of God versus all the other voices which are swimming around in our lives? In our current age they tend to reserve special rooms for people who insist they hear voices. Is the voice of God like the movie Field of Dreams, or is it more subtle than that? Just how is it that we can know when God is speaking to us?

First we must recognize an audible voice is only one way in which God speaks to us. God speaks to us through other people, the the Scriptures, through our thought lives. We can have times when we keep seeing the same message showing up in various places and ways. God communicated with us through dreams and visions, as well as through movies and books other than Scripture. We must not limit the ways God can speak to us. Still we are left to ponder how do I know what is God communicating and what is something else.

Our great challenge is we might not ever know 100%. However, there are some activities we can employ to test what we think God is telling us. The most effective way to test is through the regular practice of spending time with God. Romans 12 instructs us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and then we will be able to test and approve God's leading. The transformation requires an investment of time and effort, training ourselves to be in conversation with God.

When there is a specific leading we want to test form our ongoing conversation with God, the first stop is the Scriptures. God will not call us in a direction that is contrary to what has been offered to us in the Scriptures. If we are feeling lead in a direction, yet it does not line up with the Scriptures, we can know this is not a leading of God, but from some other place or person. After the Scripture alignment test, we move to the test of community. While each of us must decide personally what we are going to do with Jesus, there is nothing private about our journey. Following God through Jesus Christ is always to be done in the context of community. When feeling a leading from God we are to test the leading with a community of believers whom we trust to speak truth and offer good counsel. This must be a group of people whom you trust and have an ongoing relationship with. If these folks reach consensus about the leading of God, this is another positive.

The next step requires the most risk, go. Once you have tested the leading or communication from God with the Scriptures, and have trusted your community, step in faith. At this point there is still no guarantee you have heard God or not. However, you have employed some steps which help increase the probability greatly. Once you take the step of faith it is imperative to remain in conversation and connection with God and your community. This will allow for mid-course correction or a complete all stop in the event it becomes evident our understanding of God's leading has missed the mark somewhere.

Many people get paralyzed waiting to be sure what they feel, think, hope and dream are from God. They will spend their entire live wanting to make sure they have it right before they take action. This is a great tragedy, and what is killing the witness of Jesus Christ in many places. We are going to get it wrong from time to time, possibly more often than that, yet it is easier for God to use us if we are in motion already. Take a step of faith, if it doesn't work, seek forgiveness where it is needed, repent when needed, keep seeking God, and keep seeking out. The more we engage the process, the more we have conversation with God, the more clear the voice of God becomes. The more clear the leading of God becomes.

What Are You Expecting?

There is a simple yet profound question which lies beneath most of American culture, "What's in it for me?" When we get a new work assignment we wonder what we will gain. If someone asks for our help somewhere in our minds comes the thought of what we might gain. Whether in direct and grand ways or in small subtle ways this has crept into most of our lives. Unfortunately this has happened with our journey with God. As we consider walking with God, and ways in which God calls us to follow we can often slip into a mindset which asks, "What is in it for me?"

This question first shows our very need for God, and we enter in to relationships thinking about what we can gain. It also highlights the fact the we are so prone to missing the point. There are amazing benefits to following God through Jesus Christ. The benefits are more numerous than I can list on this page, yet is that why we follow? It seems as though if we follow God for what we get in return we are simply in another consumer transaction. Our struggle is made deeper when God does not deliver like we thing God should. We feel like we have done our part and God seems to fall short on His part. Somehow we feel like we have been short changed by God.

This all comes back to one issue, the Lordship of God in our lives. On the day when God gave up his only son that we might have life it was not lets make a deal day. God did not say if I sacrifice my only son will you follow me? If you follow me, I will make your life all that you want it to be. it may seem absurd to even think about that, yet that is often how we live. We expect God to function the way we want God to function because we think we are in charge. Very easily we slip into the thinking that I have paid my dues to God now it is time for God to deliver the goods and services on my terms. Problem, we are not in charge. God is King, Jesus is Lord, that means God is in charge not us. If we are following God expecting certain returns we often will find ourselves disappointed. The only expectation we can have in following God is relationship. Because of Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection, we can have relationship with God. Not simply relationship but a relationship where nothing stands between us and God. We are not in charge of how that relationship works as we are the created and we respond to the creator.

What are you expecting from God? Are you following God expecting to get something in return? Are you obedient to the call of God expecting God to function in specific way that is to your liking and pleasure? Perhaps it is time for all of us to offer our lives broken and incomplete to God with our any expectations of what is in it for me.

Discernment

Wow it has been a while since I have posted here. After an extended break I am back, so the rants, questions, challenges and theological banter will now continue.

This Sunday at Cortland UMC we kicked off a year long discernment process. We are seeking God to find what the next faithful step is for our community at this time. Often in the church when we speak about discernment, it is not discernment we are actually seeking. A normal pattern is to have the senior leader, of a small group of leaders have a mountain top adventure to hear from God what the vision is. Upon receiving the vision the individual, or small group return to the community and begin the process of selling the vision. This is not discernment, this is sales and marketing. Discernment is a much more difficult process to start and engage, however there is no sales pitch needed.

Discernment is, according to Webster's, the process of grasping and understanding that which is obscure. The end is not known at the beginning, rather there is a journey, or a process, to discover what God is reveling. All to often whether as a church community, or as individuals we get the end picture in mind and seek after God to make it happen the way we see it. The journey of discernment is one by which we engage a process of events and activities to hear better what God is speaking. The starting point is the Scriptures. From there we add prayer, and community interaction. Before discernment has run it's course there needs to be a testing of everything. This process will take much time.

Time is why I think most people and churches do not engage true discernment. The other significant reason is because of fear. We become afraid of what God might lead us to next. Once we know what that is we then must choose God's way or our own, to whom will we be obedient?

I am excited about what God is doing. I long to see what God will show our community as we seek together. Additionally, I long to see the ways in which God is going to mess with my life as I engage the process.

The Rest of The Story

Monday morning after Easter. Many will look back at yesterday and celebrate a wonderful time at church coupled with quality time spent with chocolate bunnies and other confections of the season. There may have been some who had a profound spiritual experience yesterday which took Easter well beyond that nasty plastic grass, and a dinner fit to feed a neighborhood. In my time I have had opportunity to celebrate Easter 34 times, and over the last few years I have begun to wonder more about the Monday after.

Celebrations of resurrection are wonderful, and often is the church at its best. Many people come out to church, possibly the only time all year, to do what a good citizen would do. Even the hardiest church attender who has not missed a day of church since the Nixon administration attends and comments how lovely the church was and how nice it was to see the church so full of people. To the pastor who could mistakenly think all the people are there to see them. All the people gathered run the risk of missing the point. So you might ask what is the point?

The point of the whole thing is not Easter Sunday. The real point is found in the Monday after. Resurrection is not true only on this one day of the year. Further we are called by Christ to live as resurrection people everyday of our lives. Yet all too often we have a wonderful day celebrating Easter but when Monday morning comes around the option is there to return to a pre-resurrection life, or even worse life as usual. The resurrection of Jesus was offered by God to all humanity to so that everything would be changed.

So the real question is not how was your Easter. The real question is how is the rest of the story going to be written. I am not suggesting that we all know how the rest of our lives are going to be played out. I am suggesting we can know because of the story God has written through Jesus Christ, our story will be forever different. Will the story after resurrection Sunday look the same as before? I hope and pray that it will not. May God mess with our lives. May we be people of live and hope rather than gloom and death. May resurrection be the core of our beings not just once a year, but every moment of every day.