Category Archives: Following

Entering Ephesians (1:3-14)

Posted on by
1

ephesians_logo

I found inspiration recently by a post on Chelsey’s blog. It was a reflection from the book of Ephesians, and it led me back to those pages too. (For the record, I have NO IDEA why the print coming up is so small!  Grab your bi-focals if you need.)

This morning I read this from 25-cent version of the J.B. Phillips NT…

Praise be to God (“Why?”, we ask.)

for giving us through Christ every possible spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven! (We–you and I–have been given every benefit that would befit a citizen of heaven. God HAS held, and He WILL CONTINUE to hold, NOTHING back from us.)

For consider what he has done –

before the foundation of the world
he chose us to become, in Christ, (To become what?)

his holy and blameless children (Good people to be.)

living within his constant care. (Good place to live.)

He planned, in his purpose of love,(Always God’s purpose.)

that we should be adopted as his own children through Jesus Christ –
that we might learn to praise that glorious generosity of his which has made us welcome in the everlasting love he bears towards the Son. (The love that the Divine Father has for the Divine Son… THAT is what WE are invited into!)

It is through the Son,

at the cost of his own blood,

that we are redeemed,

freely forgiven

through that full and generous grace (That’s the kind of grace I need.) which has overflowed into our lives (That’s the kind of flood I need.) and opened our eyes to the truth. (And I could use that sight too.)

For God had allowed us to know the secret of his plan, and it is this:

he purposes in his sovereign will

that all human history shall be consummated in Christ (Consummated=achieved, perfected, completed.),

that everything that exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfilment in him. (Jesus brings to the table what you and I–along with the rest of creation–need to be perfected and fulfilled.)

And here is the staggering thing (Because nothing staggering has been said yet!) –

that in all which will one day belong to him

we have been promised a share (What’s His is ours! This isn’t to promote greed; it’s to get it straight in our heads that being part of God’s Kingdom is to be part of the ONLY Kingdom.)

since we were long ago destined for this by the one who achieves his purposes by his sovereign will, so that we, as the first to put our confidence in Christ, may bring praise to his glory!

And you too trusted him, when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation.

And after you gave your confidence to him (Great way to describe faith.)you were, so to speak, stamped with the promised Holy Spirit as a guarantee of purchase,

until the day when God completes the redemption of what he has paid for as his own (What a day that will be! The ultimate consummation of Lover and Beloved, and the grand fulfillment of all that the Creation–and you and me–are intended to be!);

and that will again be to the praise of his glory. (I’ll bet it will be!)

Pure in Heart

Posted on by
Reply

I recently listened to a verse being read. It was from Matthew 5, and I confess that I cannot find what translation it’s from… certainly not any that I’m familiar with, if a well-known translation at all.

It went like this…

“Happy are the clear in heart, for they shall see God.”

For some reason, the word “clear” set off a whole series of new thoughts.

What would a clear heart be like? Like crystal. Not clouded or cluttered. Some sense of transparency would be there. An old book by Kierkegaard is titled “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing”, and that came to mind too. A clear heart wouldn’t be fragmented or divided in its affections. Its focus would be… well… clear.

I used to take this verse as a promise of heaven in “the after” sense of life. But I’m not sure that’s the point.

A clear heart, a pure heart, a heart that wills one thing…

Someone possessing such a heart WOULD see God. He would be felt and sensed and known in ways that others wouldn’t and couldn’t experience. I used to think these words were a promise; I now wonder if they’re not simply a statement of fact.

If so, then indeed the clear of heart ARE happy.

And I’m feeling a stronger desire than usual to get in on some of that happiness.

So lead us there, Lord…

God and Man

Posted on by
Reply

Been meaning to post several things all weekend but it never happened so this will have to suffice for now.

Blaise Pascal…

“If man is not made for God, why is he only happy in God?
If man is made for God, why is he so opposed to God?”

I have no idea, Blaise.

But I’ve felt both of those feelings recently. In fact, life as I know it is pretty much a circle of cycling through those two places.

And all I’ve got at the moment is this…

Tonight I lay me down to sleep,
With confidence the Lord can keep,
All that is placed within His hands,
One small life given to His plans,
O Master, hold me close.

Tradition

Posted on by
1

In my cynical moments, I like posters like that one.  But not all my moments are cynical, gratefully.

Much of my inner “tradition discussion” has to do with faith and how it plays out in my life or in the life of my faith community.  I struggle from day to day, bouncing from stances that would seem anti-traditional to others that would seem ultra-traditional.  Call me bi-polar if you wish, but that’s where I am.

A reading today brought some valuable thoughts on the subject, from J.I. Packer…

“Nobody can claim to be detached from traditions.  In fact, one sure way to be swallowed up by traditionalism is to think that one is immune to it…. The questions, then, is not whether we have traditions, but whether our traditions conflict with the only absolute standard in these matters: Holy Scripture.”

He continues…

“All Christians are at once beneficiaries and victims of tradition–beneficiaries, who receive nurturing truth and wisdom from God’s faithfulness in past generations; victims, who now take for granted things that need to be questioned, thus treating as divine absolutes patterns of belief and behavior that should be seen as human, provisional, and relative.  We are all beneficiaries of good, wise, and sound tradition and victims of poor, unwise, and unsound traditions.”

And now to know the difference.

And now to act upon that knowledge wisely.

Slicing Mortgages with Kimbo and Me

Posted on by
Reply

So I’ve been thinking…

I’m no MMA (mixed martial arts) fan.  It’s just too brutal for me.  But I an avid enough sports reader that it comes across my path every now and then.  Now I’ll admit that the childhood WWF fan in me still lives in a back room, so a sliver of me is intrigued by this violent sport.  But I honestly don’t have the stomach to watch more than a few moments.  Ask me to name five MMA stars, and I’d be stumped.

But I do know Kimbo Slice.

An entire enterprise (called Elite XC) built itself around Kimbo Slice.  They hyped him as the baddest man on earth (or something like that) and played up his street fighter persona at every turn.

And at some level, it worked.  Media heads turned and some pay-per-views were purchased.

But two weeks ago, it all came crashing down.  Kimbo got knocked out in 13 seconds by an MMA nobody.  And the myth was shattered.

Kimbo may have been a significant street brawler in his day.  But he’s never been a quality MMA fighter, and now that was public knowledge.

The illusion was over.

Moving on…

You can’t go a day without hearing some reference to the American (and tied to it, the Canadian) economy.

At a recent lectureship I attended, an older American man put the situation out on the table.  He said, “You know why the American economy is in trouble?  Because it’s filled with greedy people and liars.”

He went on to speak of mortgage brokers and banks who pushed/allowed home-buyers to take out ridiculously sized loans, and of home-buyers who insisted on buying houses worth twice the price range they SHOULD have been browsing.  But they did it, trusting that the market would continue to climb and that they could sell “their” homes, into which they hadn’t even put a down payment, for a profit.

And values did go up… for a while… until the bubble popped.  And when the illusion vanished, cold and hard reality bit like a viper.  And the biting’s not done yet.

The whole thing had been inflated.

Inflated: elaborated or heightened by artificial or empty means; being hollow and enlarged or distended.

It looked like something, but the something it looked like… it wasn’t real.

So there’s Kimbo Slice.  And there’s the economy.

And there’s me.

I’m part of a small group right now.  We’re studying our Bibles.  We’re praying for and with others.  We’re meeting each week and working through a workbook.  After one week, what’s stuck out in my mind most is the need for real substance.

Our first two memory verses…

Luke 9:23: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

John 15:5: “I am the vine and you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.”

A couple thoughts on an inflated self…

1) Church-goer, nice guy, decent fellow, even “Christian” (a diluted word in my time and place) can be labels used to cover up the main issues: Am I denying my selfish desires?  Am I carrying my cross?  Am I following in the steps of Jesus?

And the questions must be answered, because to build upon anything less… well, the word “inflated” comes to mind along with an image of that economic bubble popping.

2) Lives filled with religion (however that looks in any given instance) can quickly be substituted for the real deal.  Most casual observers won’t even see the difference.  I can even live in this illusion, seemingly blinded to it… for a time.  At some point, the car realizes it’s not running on real fuel.  Its sad sputtering sounds tip me off.  And a verse like John 15:5 demands that an inventory be taken.  Question #1: Am I even connected to Jesus Christ? Because if I’m not, call me Kimbo.

And as Kimbo found out, all the hype in the world doesn’t turn one thing into another.  It’s about true substance or it’s about nothing at all.

I’ve been blessed recently by having my substance tested.  It’s been found wanting.

And that’s been good for me to feel.