I was surfing the net and checking out some sites lately and came across a blog. The blog was from a pastor on a multi-staff church. The writer of the blog was sharing some great ways to love people and was sharing of one way in particular. Here's what he said, and I quote...
"One way we seek to love at (church) is through technology. Technology is simply a tool we offer to God to help us love others."
The context of this statement was the explanation of the use of computers at church kiosks to garnish personal information from visitors and attendees. He went on to say how it's a great way to stay in touch with and keep track of prospects and people that are in some way connected to the church.
Should this notion of love be accepted as loving or biblical?
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Jesus Christ
Jesus' form of loving people appears to be drastically different from what others may seem to think. While love can be packaged by some to mean gathering data, Jesus simply told us to treat people in the same manner we would want to be treated.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus Christ
Today my neighbor knocked on my door during our family dinner. It was minus 30 degrees Celsius (really cold!) and he needed a ride to do an errand. He presently has no car and his other buddy could not assist him. My response was to simply explain to my wife what he needed, excused myself and simply took him to where he needed to go.
I could have had him go to my computer and fill out his information, address, hobbies etc. and then get back to him later. No, I accepted the interuption as an opportunity to show love.
This is a new commandment that I give you, that you love one another.
Jesus Christ
So as our dear commrade in ministry writes about love, let not one of us forget what love really is by paying attention to what Jesus Christ himself said. Are computers wrong? Absolutely not. Can they serve a purpose? Absolutely yes. Is technology and its use what Jesus intended for us to employ to love people? I am not at all convinced at that.
The nitty gritty love that Christians are to abound in is the type that is face to face. It's the kind that causes interuptions to one's personal agenda. It's the kind that pulls a twenty out of your own pocket and helps someone out right then and there. Love causes us to hold our tongue when we want to "rip someone a new one." It is love that constrains the saints to be patient with the abbrasive people that come into contact with us on a daily basis. Simply put, love isn't some sterile, isolated, impersonal act. Let's just not be confused that's all.
Assistance in administration and tools for management are necessary organizationally. Love, well, that's just something that us people just ought to do.
Keep loving.
Showing posts with label Christian spirituality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian spirituality. Show all posts
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The Why Question
Recently, in my previous post, I shared the heart-wrenching stories of several people that I personally knew that just simply died...all in a two week period. A young father in Florida, a mother of teenagers in Massachusetts, an infant baby boy in Alberta. On the heels of this was another heart-wrenching story of a three or four year old boy that we know that has a heart that beats at about 20 beats per minute. Sometimes at night it even stops beating! This lad now needs a pace maker.
It's these situations that these people had, you had, perhaps we all at one time had, where we asked God "Why?" Sometimes we crumble into a heap of desperation. Sometimes we may shake our fist in anger and scream the grand question "Why God? Why?"
Why do the young die? Why are people victimized? Why do people starve? Why do people murder? Why do natural disasters happen? Why doesn't God do something? You can fill in your own question of "why" and join the list.
You may have heard preachers and teachers share that personal and corporate tragedies are all part of the sovereignty of God's working among mankind. I'm not saying that they aren't. I am just not going to give a pat answer and move away from people's pain at this point. We may not want to hear that our suffering has anything to do with God's sovereign plan but it might. Even more frustrating is the fact that even though our suffering may be part of God's plan, he may not be inclined to share with us what that plan is at any given time.
The example of Job is a great way to look at human suffering in relation to God's plan for any given individual for it teaches us many lessons. Perserverance, longsuffering, faithfulness, God's restorative grace etc. But what we often overlook is the "why" question in the book of Job.
God never answered Job's "why" question. He may not answer mine or yours.
Look in Job chapter 1 verses nine through twelve where God is almost bragging on Job's perfect uprightness...
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
We know the bits and pieces of the story. Sickness, loss of all material possessions, the loss of the lives of his children and even his own wife urged him to curse God and die in light of all the aftermath.
I mean think about it. He lost everything in life based on what looks like a "double-dog-dare you" from Satan. So God allowed it.
Forget the friends of Job who came to "comfort" him in his state of despair. Forget the fact that bad things sometimes happen to good people. This is the worst season of Job's life. It's worse than most of us have ever lived through. What was Job's response?
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job didn't say that God did him wrong, even though God is personally responsible for it all. Unbelievable! Perhaps you don't think God is responsible? Look at Job 2...
3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."
There you have it. God admitted that he was responsible. He ruined Job for no reason. Or was there a reason? Lots of people will try to tell us, explain to us, teach and preach to us the reason. The fact of the matter is, although there are lots of life lessons to be gleaned from Job's story of tragedy to triumph, the one thing we really don't know is "why".
So keep believing, keep walking and when life's stuff happens to you, don't be surprised if you don't always have the "why" question answered. Just keep going. Just "because".
It's these situations that these people had, you had, perhaps we all at one time had, where we asked God "Why?" Sometimes we crumble into a heap of desperation. Sometimes we may shake our fist in anger and scream the grand question "Why God? Why?"
Why do the young die? Why are people victimized? Why do people starve? Why do people murder? Why do natural disasters happen? Why doesn't God do something? You can fill in your own question of "why" and join the list.
You may have heard preachers and teachers share that personal and corporate tragedies are all part of the sovereignty of God's working among mankind. I'm not saying that they aren't. I am just not going to give a pat answer and move away from people's pain at this point. We may not want to hear that our suffering has anything to do with God's sovereign plan but it might. Even more frustrating is the fact that even though our suffering may be part of God's plan, he may not be inclined to share with us what that plan is at any given time.
The example of Job is a great way to look at human suffering in relation to God's plan for any given individual for it teaches us many lessons. Perserverance, longsuffering, faithfulness, God's restorative grace etc. But what we often overlook is the "why" question in the book of Job.
God never answered Job's "why" question. He may not answer mine or yours.
Look in Job chapter 1 verses nine through twelve where God is almost bragging on Job's perfect uprightness...
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
We know the bits and pieces of the story. Sickness, loss of all material possessions, the loss of the lives of his children and even his own wife urged him to curse God and die in light of all the aftermath.
I mean think about it. He lost everything in life based on what looks like a "double-dog-dare you" from Satan. So God allowed it.
Forget the friends of Job who came to "comfort" him in his state of despair. Forget the fact that bad things sometimes happen to good people. This is the worst season of Job's life. It's worse than most of us have ever lived through. What was Job's response?
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job didn't say that God did him wrong, even though God is personally responsible for it all. Unbelievable! Perhaps you don't think God is responsible? Look at Job 2...
3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."
There you have it. God admitted that he was responsible. He ruined Job for no reason. Or was there a reason? Lots of people will try to tell us, explain to us, teach and preach to us the reason. The fact of the matter is, although there are lots of life lessons to be gleaned from Job's story of tragedy to triumph, the one thing we really don't know is "why".
So keep believing, keep walking and when life's stuff happens to you, don't be surprised if you don't always have the "why" question answered. Just keep going. Just "because".
Sunday, December 02, 2007
So Who's Voting for God in 2008?
People repeat it millions of times all over the world every day. It's a piece of what is known as "The Lord's Prayer". But it's those words "on earth as it is in heaven" that I want to extract and talk about. I am convinced that there are many North American Christians that believe that America has exclusive rights to God and that he must live in the US and Canada. For America it must be "on earth as it is in heaven", or, God must make earth like heaven. My only problem with that is that North America and Heaven are diametrically opposed to each other.
Kingdoms are literally dictatorships where people are told what to do by their king. North America is run by democracies. North Americans are free people who love their freedom and don't like other people telling them how to live. How shall the two be mixed? There's only one place that the dictatorship called the Kingdom of Heaven can coexist with free North Americans. That place is in the people's hearts.
There were Christians in communist Russia. There are Christians in atheist nations like North Korea, China etc. There are Christians in the West Bank, Gaza strip and Arab nations. The form of government has no impact on who can be a Christian. It only makes you think a little harder about becoming one sometimes. The fact does remain that Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of the heart, not a kingdom of a nations politics.
As the US approaches a national presidential election, and Canada prepares for their next federal election, don't try to elect a government solely for the purpose of making your nation a Christian nation (although that is very noble and desireable). It's apparent that God doesn't really care what kind of government you have (and might I add that he may have ordained that to be so for his divine purposes anyway). Vote for people you want to do the job of politics in your particular governemt and invest yourself into the dictatorship/kingdom of God with all your heart, mind and soul.
Kingdoms are literally dictatorships where people are told what to do by their king. North America is run by democracies. North Americans are free people who love their freedom and don't like other people telling them how to live. How shall the two be mixed? There's only one place that the dictatorship called the Kingdom of Heaven can coexist with free North Americans. That place is in the people's hearts.
There were Christians in communist Russia. There are Christians in atheist nations like North Korea, China etc. There are Christians in the West Bank, Gaza strip and Arab nations. The form of government has no impact on who can be a Christian. It only makes you think a little harder about becoming one sometimes. The fact does remain that Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of the heart, not a kingdom of a nations politics.
As the US approaches a national presidential election, and Canada prepares for their next federal election, don't try to elect a government solely for the purpose of making your nation a Christian nation (although that is very noble and desireable). It's apparent that God doesn't really care what kind of government you have (and might I add that he may have ordained that to be so for his divine purposes anyway). Vote for people you want to do the job of politics in your particular governemt and invest yourself into the dictatorship/kingdom of God with all your heart, mind and soul.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Who Are you Listening To?
Who are you listening to and where are they getting their information? That is a great question isn't it? It's very important. You need to know.
Go to any American school and quiz the kids. Who invented Basketball? They'll say that Americans did. Ask them who invented the light bulb. They'll tell you that their text book says an American invented it. They'll even tell you Thomas Edison did it too. The fact of the matter is that "America's game" and "America's brightest idea" were both inventions of Canadians. Of course the text books don't mention that Henry Woodward, the Canadian who invented the lightbulb, ran out of development money and sold the pattent to Thomas Edison. People don't recite the fact that James Naismith was a Canadian who invented the game as a physical training technique. It's not that the facts are hard to find, they're just ignored. It's not that the people saying that Basketball is America's invention or Thomas Edison invented the light bulb are bad. It just makes it difficult to take a person seriously after being presented with the facts and then those facts are ignored anyway.
So it's obvious. The people controlling the flow of information to other people often tell them what they want them to hear and think. This serves some sort of purpose in the more grand scheme. The purposes may be for evil. The purposes may be for a perceived noble good as well. Nonetheless I see it happening. I don't think the Christian community has been exempt either.
Too many preachers, teachers and authors are missquoting, misrepresenting and misinterpreting the Bible for their own purposes. There I said it. At least that's my opinion. One preacher says poverty is a sin. Jesus said that "the poor you will have with you always." Another preacher says that God provided all of our healing for every disease. Jesus didn't even heal everyone. One author writes a book about "how many steps to do such and such" and Jesus simply says to believe. Case in point, at the last church I worked at on staff, a guest minister from another country said that "God has a special place in heaven for preachers. I really believe that." That made all of the ordinary folk feel great I'm sure. I'm sorry, but I have to politely ask him and the others saying these things, stop making this stuff up!
Let's bring this home to our churches. I even challenge you to put your own church to the test. Ministers across North America are telling us about our personal walk with God, our personal spiritual experience and our personal faith in God. Last time I read the New Testament there wasn't much that was personal about it. It was communal. The church is the eklesia of God. The church is the Body of Christ. It is a collective community of people of like faith, like beliefs with a shared experience. Jesus had twelve disciples. He was virtually never alone EXCEPT in his personal prayer times with God.
The teachings of a personal gospel fly in the face of almost everything Jesus stood for. Furthermore, the teachings of a personal faith gospel are bent toward making the Bible say what we want it to say to fit our personal beliefs. The teachings of a personal faith gospel allows us to relinquish our personal responsibility to one another. I challenge anyone to read the New Testament writings and tell me or anyone that its teachings are NOT about a community of faith. We, me, a minister, teacher or whomever, can't just make stuff up. While I'm not advising we all huddle into a gated community, I am admonishing all to be aware of who and what we are listening to.
Jesus said "my sheep hear my voice". I ask again, who are you listening to?
Go to any American school and quiz the kids. Who invented Basketball? They'll say that Americans did. Ask them who invented the light bulb. They'll tell you that their text book says an American invented it. They'll even tell you Thomas Edison did it too. The fact of the matter is that "America's game" and "America's brightest idea" were both inventions of Canadians. Of course the text books don't mention that Henry Woodward, the Canadian who invented the lightbulb, ran out of development money and sold the pattent to Thomas Edison. People don't recite the fact that James Naismith was a Canadian who invented the game as a physical training technique. It's not that the facts are hard to find, they're just ignored. It's not that the people saying that Basketball is America's invention or Thomas Edison invented the light bulb are bad. It just makes it difficult to take a person seriously after being presented with the facts and then those facts are ignored anyway.
So it's obvious. The people controlling the flow of information to other people often tell them what they want them to hear and think. This serves some sort of purpose in the more grand scheme. The purposes may be for evil. The purposes may be for a perceived noble good as well. Nonetheless I see it happening. I don't think the Christian community has been exempt either.
Too many preachers, teachers and authors are missquoting, misrepresenting and misinterpreting the Bible for their own purposes. There I said it. At least that's my opinion. One preacher says poverty is a sin. Jesus said that "the poor you will have with you always." Another preacher says that God provided all of our healing for every disease. Jesus didn't even heal everyone. One author writes a book about "how many steps to do such and such" and Jesus simply says to believe. Case in point, at the last church I worked at on staff, a guest minister from another country said that "God has a special place in heaven for preachers. I really believe that." That made all of the ordinary folk feel great I'm sure. I'm sorry, but I have to politely ask him and the others saying these things, stop making this stuff up!
Let's bring this home to our churches. I even challenge you to put your own church to the test. Ministers across North America are telling us about our personal walk with God, our personal spiritual experience and our personal faith in God. Last time I read the New Testament there wasn't much that was personal about it. It was communal. The church is the eklesia of God. The church is the Body of Christ. It is a collective community of people of like faith, like beliefs with a shared experience. Jesus had twelve disciples. He was virtually never alone EXCEPT in his personal prayer times with God.
The teachings of a personal gospel fly in the face of almost everything Jesus stood for. Furthermore, the teachings of a personal faith gospel are bent toward making the Bible say what we want it to say to fit our personal beliefs. The teachings of a personal faith gospel allows us to relinquish our personal responsibility to one another. I challenge anyone to read the New Testament writings and tell me or anyone that its teachings are NOT about a community of faith. We, me, a minister, teacher or whomever, can't just make stuff up. While I'm not advising we all huddle into a gated community, I am admonishing all to be aware of who and what we are listening to.
Jesus said "my sheep hear my voice". I ask again, who are you listening to?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)