This article is inspired from concepts presented by Don Guthrie PhD from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis at the TEDS PHD EDS retreat held in Lake Forest,IL in October 2009.
I have been reflecting on the phrase, "When meaningless nothing is turned into everything meaningful".
When life feels meaningless and effort seems pointless we (Christians) are in a discontented place and fall into cynicism or perfectionism. Both conditions drive us into deep despair. Our inadequacies condemn us for we know the truth. We "should" be content in Christ. Yet, life can be hard and the hope of eternity feels so far away. All of our labors for meaning only exacerbate the pains of nothingness and breed discontent. Sometimes living between the "already and the not yet" fuels our doubt. So how do we find contentment in all the meaningless nothing of our lives?
In the space between everything and nothing contentment is found.
Phil 4: 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."
John 5:19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.
We live between "the everything and the nothing". Everything is possible through Christ but nothing Christ does is apart from the Father. Because Jesus submits to the Father we can do all things.
We Christians stand with one foot in nothing and one foot in everything. We do nothing except what the Father allows. Everything that we need to do is possible because Jesus loves us and is taking us to the heart of the Father. The heart of the Father is the place where the meaningless nothings of our lives become everything meaningful because in them is Jesus' redemptive work. From nothing, that which is done apart from God, Jesus takes us to everything that is complete in Him. This is the place of peace, contentment and purpose. We generally learn this slowly.... painfully...in repentance ...but ultimately with joy.
So what is our posture when we are being dragged through meaningless nothing into everything meaningful? Rest, reflection, and requesting seem to be the Biblical solution to our discontent.
Phil 5:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus
In the space between nothing (is done apart from the Father) and everything (is possible in Jesus) contentment is found.
Peace
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Missions and Myth Busting
This article was submitted to the Monthly News letter at Calvary Community Church in Schaumburg, IL.
I took our entire Humphrey family of 6 to Florida for Spring Break 2008. We relaxed by the Atlantic, found interesting shells in the Gulf of Mexico and lounged at my parents’ rental home. We had no logistical flaws in our trip to Florida nor during the week-long vacation. The problem came on our way home. The connecting flight from Atlanta to Chicago was canceled and we found ourselves stranded. After several hours of fussing with ticket agents, a flight out of Georgia was found and I negotiated a discounted hotel room where all 6 of us could spend the night. We called our friends Mylan and Ericka Tyrell past Calvary attenders who now live in the Atlanta area. They were gracious and invited us to their home for spaghetti dinner. The next day we were up before the sun. The jets were crowded and we flew back to Chicago via New York’s LaGuardia Airport. We arrived at the end of our 36-hour ordeal exhausted and in need of another Spring Break!
The day after we arrived back from Spring Break, I met with my colleagues at Trinity International University. It was a time of connecting after not seeing many of them for an extended time period. One colleague, my friend John J., had just returned from a trip to his family home in Sierra Leone, West Africa. John relayed to me that his time away was good but with some difficulties. He explained to me that he and his family were deep in the wilderness on their way to visit acquaintances when torrential rains hit. Their Toyota Land Cruiser fell off the road as the road gave way in a flash flood. Stranded deep in the bush they could only seek God’s help in prayer. After much prayer, help came in the form of a traveler who had a satellite phone. John used the phone to call friends and family and they were picked up hours later.
Vinoth Ramachandra, a brother in Christ from Sri Lanka, recently wrote a book called Subverting Global Myths: Theology and Issues Shaping Our World in which he respectfully and reasonably challenges American Christians to consider that our beliefs about global community may be based on “myths.” He makes a strong argument that our lack of understanding about people outside our borders actually creates antagonism toward our country and toward Christ. Here is a quote from a recent interview.
“Many American Christians are not only brought up on one-sided readings of their own history but are largely ignorant of the histories of other peoples. This was reflected in the sheer incomprehension that attended the 9/11 atrocities, and it is reflected today in the sudden disillusionment with the global financial system. Anyone who has followed U.S. foreign policy over the past fifty years, or looked at the way global financial institutions operate from the perspective of the global poor, would not have been surprised by recent events. ”
Comments like this make us very uncomfortable because they confront some very basic assumptions about our lives. Said another way, they challenge our worldview, view of our country, and our view of the church.
Your Calvary Missions Team is entering into a season of reflection where we are allowing voices like Ramachandra’s to give us alternative perspectives. As a team we want to rise above cultural myths, plan, and act in ways that promote the cause of Christ and bring the story of Jesus to the lost. It will probably mean some new ideas and changes to the operation of the ministry. At the moment the changes are unknown, but we are seeking God’s direction, learning together as a Missions Team, and allowing our assumptions/myths to be challenged.
What about my friend John J.? God rescued him from the bush and returned his family safely to the United States. Decades earlier God rescued John from his former life as a revolutionary wanted by an oppressive regime - which is why he explained his Spring Break story with cool indifference. Now he spends his energy equipping the church to lead people into the love and worship of Jesus.
As for me? Well, don’t complain about getting stranded in Atlanta, Georgia; it seems to pale in comparison to John’s jungle ordeal. I am, however, seeing that through Christ I am connected to the suffering of believers and even non-believers in other parts of the world. I have responsibility to understand life from their perspective in order to know God’s mission for me in Schaumburg, Illinois.
I took our entire Humphrey family of 6 to Florida for Spring Break 2008. We relaxed by the Atlantic, found interesting shells in the Gulf of Mexico and lounged at my parents’ rental home. We had no logistical flaws in our trip to Florida nor during the week-long vacation. The problem came on our way home. The connecting flight from Atlanta to Chicago was canceled and we found ourselves stranded. After several hours of fussing with ticket agents, a flight out of Georgia was found and I negotiated a discounted hotel room where all 6 of us could spend the night. We called our friends Mylan and Ericka Tyrell past Calvary attenders who now live in the Atlanta area. They were gracious and invited us to their home for spaghetti dinner. The next day we were up before the sun. The jets were crowded and we flew back to Chicago via New York’s LaGuardia Airport. We arrived at the end of our 36-hour ordeal exhausted and in need of another Spring Break!
The day after we arrived back from Spring Break, I met with my colleagues at Trinity International University. It was a time of connecting after not seeing many of them for an extended time period. One colleague, my friend John J., had just returned from a trip to his family home in Sierra Leone, West Africa. John relayed to me that his time away was good but with some difficulties. He explained to me that he and his family were deep in the wilderness on their way to visit acquaintances when torrential rains hit. Their Toyota Land Cruiser fell off the road as the road gave way in a flash flood. Stranded deep in the bush they could only seek God’s help in prayer. After much prayer, help came in the form of a traveler who had a satellite phone. John used the phone to call friends and family and they were picked up hours later.
Vinoth Ramachandra, a brother in Christ from Sri Lanka, recently wrote a book called Subverting Global Myths: Theology and Issues Shaping Our World in which he respectfully and reasonably challenges American Christians to consider that our beliefs about global community may be based on “myths.” He makes a strong argument that our lack of understanding about people outside our borders actually creates antagonism toward our country and toward Christ. Here is a quote from a recent interview.
“Many American Christians are not only brought up on one-sided readings of their own history but are largely ignorant of the histories of other peoples. This was reflected in the sheer incomprehension that attended the 9/11 atrocities, and it is reflected today in the sudden disillusionment with the global financial system. Anyone who has followed U.S. foreign policy over the past fifty years, or looked at the way global financial institutions operate from the perspective of the global poor, would not have been surprised by recent events. ”
Comments like this make us very uncomfortable because they confront some very basic assumptions about our lives. Said another way, they challenge our worldview, view of our country, and our view of the church.
Your Calvary Missions Team is entering into a season of reflection where we are allowing voices like Ramachandra’s to give us alternative perspectives. As a team we want to rise above cultural myths, plan, and act in ways that promote the cause of Christ and bring the story of Jesus to the lost. It will probably mean some new ideas and changes to the operation of the ministry. At the moment the changes are unknown, but we are seeking God’s direction, learning together as a Missions Team, and allowing our assumptions/myths to be challenged.
What about my friend John J.? God rescued him from the bush and returned his family safely to the United States. Decades earlier God rescued John from his former life as a revolutionary wanted by an oppressive regime - which is why he explained his Spring Break story with cool indifference. Now he spends his energy equipping the church to lead people into the love and worship of Jesus.
As for me? Well, don’t complain about getting stranded in Atlanta, Georgia; it seems to pale in comparison to John’s jungle ordeal. I am, however, seeing that through Christ I am connected to the suffering of believers and even non-believers in other parts of the world. I have responsibility to understand life from their perspective in order to know God’s mission for me in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Balancing Act: The Evangelistic Teeter Totter
When I was young I would go to a park that had a set of teeter totters (see saws to some of you). These particular teeter totters shared a common cross beam and were positioned relatively close together. Because of their close proximity I could stand on them with my feet in the middle of each teeter totter as if I was wearing a pair of skis. My friends and I would stand like this and attempt to manipulate the teeter totters up and down. It was real challenge bringing both planks into balance. Leaning forward or backward too much sent the planks to the extreme up or down position with a seemingly unstoppable momentum.
Engaging the our world with the Gospel can be like my childhood game of riding two teeter tooters at the same time. In this case the teeter totter image serves to illustrate two spectrum on which a Christian must find the right balance or in the right conditions the proper extreme.
The fist spectrum (teeter tooter) is that of Acceptance - Challenge. As people who love God we are called to love others. God's love and acceptance fell upon us as he called us to faith in Christ. This love fell on us in our current reality. So too we need to have a measure of acceptance of where people are in life. Our picture of people must be based in reality, who they are, what is happening to them and where they live. On the other hand our role is to bring the message of the Gospel which challenges people to change from their current lost state to new life in Christ. Our mandate is to accept the reality of people while challenging their reality with the good news of the Gospel.
On the second spectrum (teeter totter) Christ followers must address the continuum of Engagement and Separation. This is the "in the world but not of the world" conundrum. Some are comfortable jumping into the deep end of the pool and swimming in some very worldly situations while others shudder at exposure to anything ungodly. In the middle is a host of activities and actions that are matters of conscience. Needless to say this is a difficult spectrum to manage in fellowship with believers and it is a potentially deadly spectrum if addressed in isolation. Either extreme (chosen for the wrong reason) on the separation-engagement spectrum can leave a trail of human wreckage.
Acceptance - Challenge and Engagement - Separation are the two teeter totters Christians live on as they seek to present the gospel in word and deed. Appropriately, each spectrum can be in balance or in the extreme depending on the situation. God is faithful and 1 Corinthians 2 gives us hope that the Spirit of God is with us to make us wise. Fellow Christ followers can help us. One such person is Kevin Vanhoozer. His book Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends is an excellent discussion book for Christians who pay attention to culture as they attempt to proclaim the gospel to their communities.
The Accidental Educator
Engaging the our world with the Gospel can be like my childhood game of riding two teeter tooters at the same time. In this case the teeter totter image serves to illustrate two spectrum on which a Christian must find the right balance or in the right conditions the proper extreme.
The fist spectrum (teeter tooter) is that of Acceptance - Challenge. As people who love God we are called to love others. God's love and acceptance fell upon us as he called us to faith in Christ. This love fell on us in our current reality. So too we need to have a measure of acceptance of where people are in life. Our picture of people must be based in reality, who they are, what is happening to them and where they live. On the other hand our role is to bring the message of the Gospel which challenges people to change from their current lost state to new life in Christ. Our mandate is to accept the reality of people while challenging their reality with the good news of the Gospel.
On the second spectrum (teeter totter) Christ followers must address the continuum of Engagement and Separation. This is the "in the world but not of the world" conundrum. Some are comfortable jumping into the deep end of the pool and swimming in some very worldly situations while others shudder at exposure to anything ungodly. In the middle is a host of activities and actions that are matters of conscience. Needless to say this is a difficult spectrum to manage in fellowship with believers and it is a potentially deadly spectrum if addressed in isolation. Either extreme (chosen for the wrong reason) on the separation-engagement spectrum can leave a trail of human wreckage.
Acceptance - Challenge and Engagement - Separation are the two teeter totters Christians live on as they seek to present the gospel in word and deed. Appropriately, each spectrum can be in balance or in the extreme depending on the situation. God is faithful and 1 Corinthians 2 gives us hope that the Spirit of God is with us to make us wise. Fellow Christ followers can help us. One such person is Kevin Vanhoozer. His book Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends is an excellent discussion book for Christians who pay attention to culture as they attempt to proclaim the gospel to their communities.
The Accidental Educator
Monday, June 9, 2008
Jello. X-rays and Education
I recently had a conversation with a man named Tom who made fortune from extracting silver from old x-ray film. Curious to find out how he got into this line of work I pursued his story. He told me that the practice of extracting silver from x-ray film was complicated, costly and dangerous since it involved the use of cyanide to beak down the x-ray celluloid so the silver could be extracted.
One day he was in the kitchen making red Jello with fresh pineapple. He noticed that the Jello would not set. Curious, he investigated and discovered that pineapple contained a protelytic enzyme known as bromelain. Bromaelain prevented the Jello from setting. Tom wondered if Bromelain might have a similar effect on x-ray celluloid thus eliminating the need for cyanide. It worked!
What is fascinating about Tom's discovery is it begins with a question. Why won't the Jello set? Rather than toss the lot and start over Tom's question drove him to find the answer - bromelain. It could have ended there but Tom had another question. Could bromelain do for x-ray celluloid what it did to Jello thus eliminating the dangerous cyanide from the process? The answer - yes.
Tom's story is a lesson for educators everywhere. Too often educators focus on what they are teaching and lose the process of learning. This is the problem in many educational systems around the world that teach to the test and narrow the scope of learning to data transmission and acquisition. To its detriment the church has followed the path of public education.
The right data and right answers are important but equally important are the right questions.
Tom's story shows us that the right question can lead to the right information and the right answer. Educators in the church need to encourage curiosity and questioning; trusting that the right answer(truth) will come to meet the needs of the question.
By the way, for his curiosity Tom was rewarded with a patent and a penny for every pound of recycled x-ray film. A small question turned into a big payday.
The Accidental Educator
One day he was in the kitchen making red Jello with fresh pineapple. He noticed that the Jello would not set. Curious, he investigated and discovered that pineapple contained a protelytic enzyme known as bromelain. Bromaelain prevented the Jello from setting. Tom wondered if Bromelain might have a similar effect on x-ray celluloid thus eliminating the need for cyanide. It worked!
What is fascinating about Tom's discovery is it begins with a question. Why won't the Jello set? Rather than toss the lot and start over Tom's question drove him to find the answer - bromelain. It could have ended there but Tom had another question. Could bromelain do for x-ray celluloid what it did to Jello thus eliminating the dangerous cyanide from the process? The answer - yes.
Tom's story is a lesson for educators everywhere. Too often educators focus on what they are teaching and lose the process of learning. This is the problem in many educational systems around the world that teach to the test and narrow the scope of learning to data transmission and acquisition. To its detriment the church has followed the path of public education.
The right data and right answers are important but equally important are the right questions.
Tom's story shows us that the right question can lead to the right information and the right answer. Educators in the church need to encourage curiosity and questioning; trusting that the right answer(truth) will come to meet the needs of the question.
By the way, for his curiosity Tom was rewarded with a patent and a penny for every pound of recycled x-ray film. A small question turned into a big payday.
The Accidental Educator
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