I’m not even a soccer fan, but this is the kind of ending to a game that any sports lover can get into!
What a Goal!
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A Sweet Touch on This Soul
Just over a month ago, Brennan Manning passed away. His was a life (and death) that rippled through those of countless ragamuffins around the globe.
Including me.
In my late teenaged years, I was handed the book “Abba’s Child” by a man I greatly admired. I admit to not completing it, as its message about a true self and false self fell a bit ahead of its time in my young life. A year or two later, I was stunned by the power of “The Ragamuffin Gospel” in describing God’s gracious love toward every one of us. To this day, that is one of the greatest books I’ve ever read.
Several years ago, I posted an audio recording of Brennan sharing a similarly themed message if you want to hear this old saint preaching with fire!
I confess unashamedly that the most vivid descriptions of grace that I have ever heard came through the lips of a recovered alcoholic Catholic priest that I never met. Tributes to Brennan have filled the internet over the past month. Here are a couple you may wish to be aware of:
A moving excerpt from Manning’s 2011 memoir “All is Grace”.
Donald Miller offers his Reflections on Brennan Manning’s Wrestling Match with God.
Brennan, you were a gem, polished by the roughness of brokenness that lives in us and around us and birthed from the depths of God’s outrageous acceptance of such folks. You were much loved by one Canadian prairie boy and by one Cosmic Father.
Saturday Six-Pack (38)
Happy Mother’s Day to every Mom and child of a Mom!
Here’s the latest installment of the Six-Pack, as assortment of worthwhile reads I’ve recently discovered. Most are ministry-minded or faith-focused, with a sprinkling of who-knows-what.
If you need direction, begin with my two *Picks of the Week*, and move out from there.
Follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ), where I share sharp quotes and solid articles 3-4 times daily.
Today’s edition:
1) The End: A Conversation with Dr. Scot McKnight
Since hearing Scot McKnight speak several years ago, I’ve paid increased attention to his work and writings. Here he reflects on the end-times-obsessed soil in which his early faith sprouted. Some good reflections here for any Christian who’s ever wondered how to make sense of end-times teachings.
2) Old Testament Law and the Charge of Inconsistency (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Okay, that title will not draw you in! But this is a great little article. Within some discussions (regarding homosexuality among other topics), Bible-believers sometimes get accused of being inconsistent in their picking and choosing of Old Testament laws to enforce. Timothy Keller provides this sharp primer on how to make such distinctions with theological integrity. Valuable read for believers and non-believers alike.
3) 33 Leadership Quotes from Jim Putman and Francis Chan
Brian Dodd was at Exponential ’13. While listening, he put down these quotes from two presenters. Don’t expect flow or context; these are simply quotes taken on the fly by one listener. Jim Putman is a minister in Idaho who has had some influence upon the leadership of our church; he is dead serious when it comes to making disciples and one of the straightest shooters I’ve ever visited with.
4) Ten Ways to Grow a Small Group
Some great points; some less than that. Either way, several pitfalls toward healthy and thriving Small Group ministry are noted here.
5) Baptism as WarfareA guide in an ancient church once showed me a baptistry and highlighted how its styling made it a vivid point of declaring new allegiance. Or as this article highlights, it was a declaration of war. This image adds great depth to a teaching that is tired in some circles and misunderstood in others.
6) Open Letter from a Non-Mom on Mother’s Day (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Amy Young puts forward this thoughtful piece on how churches handle Mother’s Day. It actually impacted what will happen in our service later this morning.
Blessings on you, my friends. May your weekend be refreshing in rest, play, and worship.
YOUR TURN: Direct other readers to the best stuff above by making a comment below, or weigh in on what you read. Your input makes this post better!
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Losing Faith (Part VI): Less than Certain
NOTE: This post of an ongoing series titled, “Losing Faith”. Previous posts can be seen HERE.
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I love certainty.
Great comfort arrives when pieces fit snugly together. If I have must have letters, let the I’s be dotted and the T’s be crossed. If I must have ducks, let them be in well-straightened rows.
That said, it’s easy for me to enjoy the opening chapters of Scripture. Genesis 1-2 contain the poetic telling of the world’s origins. In three words: Creator calms chaos. A state of lightless emptiness receives form and fill. Perfect pieces are shaped and snapped into one another. God called it good, and my order-loving self rejoiced.
However, Yahweh’s demolition skills are also exceptional when He notes the need. Genesis 6 begins the story around Noah, in which God unravels the intricate stitching of the Creation account. Re-creation is preceded by un-creation. I can sketch this logical need with clarity, but I failed to consider what such swirling floods would feel like when my own feet were swept away by the current.
Faith and Certainty
You see, the trouble is that faith and certainty are mutually exclusive. The quest for one endangers the other. More than that, the demand for one executes the other. The term “faith” is found 400+ times in the Bible (depending on translation used). In turn, one could reasonably conclude that certainty is therefore not a central experience to those who desire interaction with God. He has never dealt in that currency.
When Jesus called his first disciples, we read that they left behind nets and fathers and tables and what-not. They had no idea where Jesus was taking them or what would unfold along the way, but they held no illusions that they could both stay and go. There is no option of receiving without releasing.
Over the last few years, God has asked me to release my mind.
That sentence is begging for misunderstanding.
What I Do Not Mean
I am not speaking of believing blindly, of tossing aside one’s discernment, or becoming foolish or reckless or stupid. Our brains are glorious gifts, capable of shocking possibilities. I am certain that God wants them used to their fullest potential, and I am set on faithfully stewarding the one in my skull.
God’s nudge that I “let go” wasn’t a prompt to stop thinking. It was a loving lesson delivered vividly multiple times in the past four years. Even the slowest student starts to soak up a message after that type of immersion. What did I soak up?
My mind holds me back.
Trust me when I say that arriving at those five words required a climb-Mount-Everest type of trek for this fellow. Far easier to type it than to travel it.
Speaking of Typing
Surprisingly, the act of typing provided one of the breakthroughs. There is a sweetness to hitting one’s typing-stride. Keys are clicking, phrases are forming, and Creation ex nihilo is unfolding. My dust hands, tapping on Steve Job’s handiwork, are forming a never-seen-before reality. Wow!
But I have noticed something. I make more typing errors when I am thinking about the task. When eyes survey the keyboard, mistakes increase. Typing, at its fastest, happens more quickly than my brain can track. Demanding a mental log of the actions taking place is akin to tying an elephant to a Ferrari’s back bumper. Within this task, better to check the brain at the door and let muscle memory dating back to high school typing classes (Yes, I am old enough to have had typing classes!) carry the load. For here, my mind holds me back.
Typing is not the only such realm.
A Knowing Beyond Knowing
Within the spiritual dimensions, the mind—with all its power—can actually serve as anchor rather than compass. The demand for certainty is an inside insistence of one’s own sovereignty. Nothing in this post is a criticism of philosophy or science or religion or any other intellectual discipline. This is simply a statement of surrender from one man whose spiritual experiences have long ago left his head spinning. There is revelation beyond reason, and there is life above logic. And if one wishes to engage on those levels, his grip for control will have to break. One cannot stay and go simultaneously.
Mystery is the gap where Divinity lives. Strive ruthlessly to eliminate that space, and you will bulldoze the residence of the Divine in your life.
Or He might hijack the bulldozer and head your way!
Saturday Six-Pack (37)
Welcome the another week’s end, friends! Here is the latest installment of the Saturday Six-Pack.
As has become custom, most of these pieces are ministry-minded or faith-focused, with just enough room to allow for some who-knows-what.
If six options disorient you, start with my two *Picks of the Week*, and roll on from there.
For a steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) to the right of this post. Sharp quotes and solid articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.
Today’s edition:
1) Devoted to Destruction (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
If you’ve ever wondered how to handle the “destroy everyone” passages in the book of Joshua, this article is a bit thick but certainly provocative. Thanks to Richard Beck for stirring the pot.
2) 32 Leadership Quotes from Michael Lukaszewski
Michael, from the Rocket Company, was recently a presenter at the Orange Conference. One listener quickly grabbed these notes. More recently, the Rocket Company ran an excellent online seminar for eager-to-improve preachers. Their resources are certainly worth checking out.
3) The Real World: Leadership Lessons from Disaster Relief and Terrorist Networks (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
This brilliant piece, from Margaret J. Wheatley, is long but fascinating to any who desire to lead in ways that really make a difference in the real world. And how often do you get to draw lessons from terrorists anyway?!
4) May It Be Done (Let it Be)
Within our home, the music of Steve Bell is among the most-played. On a recent road trip, Steve blogged this piece about the Feast of Annunciation.
5) Quotes from the Master: Seth Godin
John Richardson is a huge Seth Godin fan! Here, he compiles some of Godin’s best quotes. Here are some gems from an unusually sharp (and blatantly unusual) mind!
6) Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret
Lifehacker shares this Seinfeld-secret, created and crafted when Jerry was still a largely-unknown comic, just trying to make it.
Blessings on you, my friends. May your weekend be refreshing in rest, play, and worship.
YOUR TURN: Direct other readers to the best stuff above by making a comment below, or weigh in on what you read. Your input makes this post better!
[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]