The Cornerstone

This morning I was reading in 1 Peter 2 about Jesus as the cornerstone rejected by men. It's interesting how after you take the filters off you begin to consider applications outside of the ones you've always been taught and to which you've held on for decades. We typically gravitate toward embracing less than what God wants for us.

I read about Jesus being the cornerstone. A cornerstone that God has set as the foundation. A cornerstone "the builders" have rejected.

"Look! I'm setting a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone  in the place of honor.
Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation
will never have cause to regret it...
The stone the workmen threw out
is now the chief foundation stone.
For the untrusting it's
a stone to trip over,
a boulder blocking the way."

Wow! As I remember back to Jesus affirming Peter's profession that He was the Christ (Messiah), the son of the living God, I am reminded that Jesus explained to His closest followers that it was upon this realization and profession, which He notes is not revealed by flesh and blood but can only come from God, that His church would be founded.

As I reflect on two millennia's worth of a centralized focus on "building our churches" I'm reminded of the outcry from "God's chosen people" for an earthly king to lead them when God had already revealed Himself time after time as their sovereign and one true God. A God like no other was not enough. We had to have a king like everyone else around us.

Our God took on the form of man so He could reveal to us His true nature and teach us about Himself.  In those days the rulers were kings and the domain over which they ruled were their kingdoms. Jesus explained the truth about God in terms the people could understand. Thus, an ultimate Kingdom with one true King made much more sense to those who lived in a world of kings and kingdoms. John Revell, a friend of mine who is writing a book helped me to think about this in regard to the fact that those of us living in America or similar countries who don't have kings and kingdoms struggle to understand some of the fullness of kingship. Hence, some of the extremely rich understanding we could glean from thinking about God as the ultimate king whose kingdom is unmatched is lost in our lack of familiarity with kings and kingdoms.

It always intrigues me how often new gatherings of Christ Followers shortly after they first gather long to have a building where they can gather; a building they can call their own. In the Old Testament we see a people who, though they already had "a king", were crying out for one like the nations surrounding them had. Likewise, this morning I find myself intrigued that Christ Followers almost always seem anxious to set a cornerstone for an earthly building so they can have their structure like, and be like the other religions that surround them, when they already have a cornerstone unlike any other. Why do we keep exchanging the things not of this world given to us by God for the things of this world? Could it be that this exchange began as early as the first generation of Christ Followers? Could it be that two millenia of established "church" practices are also diluted from the things not of this world given to us by Jesus?

Oh, the things we say sometimes!

Okay, so I read this in an email newsletter today and had to post about it. You read it and think about it first:

Christ's Original Mandate to Church Leaders

In the beginning, after Jesus had overcome his temptations in the desert, right when He began His public ministry, the apostles Matthew and Mark faithfully recorded the first words of Jesus to the leaders of His Church. 19 And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Mt 4.19 & Mk. 1.17 NASB) Jesus was not in the least confused about the Father's strategic plan to advance His Church. His first words carry particular import. They were not just a cute turn of phrase to catch the attention of some professional fishermen. They speak to the very heart of the matter of church leadership.

Now, it's your turn. I see so much to comment on... but why take all the fun myself. What do you agree with and why? Is there anything in this statement with which you take issue and why? I'll comment on your comments along the way.

Welcome to MyWalkBlog.com

Some will persecute me for doing so, but after much contemplation I've decided to pull all my spiritual related posts to a separate blog from my personal/family one.

It's part of becoming amphibious and being able to move openly among the a-churched (they just don't care if they are churched or unchurched... they are a-church) without them discovering some of my religion-ramblings which might both scare them off from the relationships we are developing and make them feel I was deceiving them as a zealot-wolf in sheep's clothing.

Everything from here down (older/previous) has been moved from my personal/family blog (the old life|simple one).

Looking In The Media Mirror

How do you converse with people whose language you don't speak? You could always memorize word equivalents and just say stuff in the words they understand. But, having taken a couple of years of German in high school and college I know that's not going to cut it. That would only emphasize how much of a sore thumb you are as a foreigner in someone else's country but it will not help you establish a relationship among people from a different country. I learned you must not only know the words, but be able to put them together correctly to even begin to communicate.My daughter is a Spanish major with a linguistics minor in college right now. This summer she will be fulfilling a requirement to graduate; she will be attending a semester of college in a country whose native language is the language of her major. Again, I've been told for years you don't truly become conversant until you live with the folks who natively speak the tongue for a while. Even our idioms cannot be simply translated word for word with the words in the right order.
You may be wondering what all this has to do with "Looking In The Media Mirror" about now. I read a news byte on TechCrunch (a technology blog) today about GodTube, a new video sharing service launched a couple of months ago. Looking at ourselves in the mirror of others describing us can help us understand just how foreign we seem to them.
Check out TechCrunch.com's perspective on the recently launched GodTube.com and see if anything jumps out at you. What do you see that illustrates a cultural disconnect between where we tend to live as "churched" people and where those who are not "churched" live their lives?

40,000 Volts

Have you ever read one of those stories that's so amazing you just have to believe it. I just finished reading Dwight Robertson's Plan A. And There Is No Plan B. today. Great book!

Here's on of the stories from it that is amazing!

Frank Clewer had no idea what was happening to him as he walked into a business building in Warrnambool, a small town in the state of Victoria on the southern coast of Australia.

Frank was wearing a wool sweater and a synthetic nylon jacket. As he walked, the two were rubbing together—creating friction and storing up an electrical charge.

He didn't feel a thing. He was totally oblivious to the electrical current that was building up in his clothing.

Others who were working at the business heard a popping sound, as if firecrackers were going off somewhere inside the building. But they couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from. Frank heard the sounds as well, but even he didn't know it was coming from his own clothing.

Read the rest to learn about the 40,000 volts! I'll let Dwight and the story do the talking on this one. What do you think?

The Persecution of Prosperity

I'm reading Walking with Arthur by James O'Donnell. James, or Jim as he refers to himself in the book, was, in the world's eyes a very successful businessman before becoming an associate-professor and executive in residence at Huntington College in Indiana. As a successful business man his marriage and family were falling apart when he discovered he believed in nothing. He held nothing sacred. Trusted no one. And no one he knew was worth trusting. That was, until he met Arthur.

Here's a great quote from the book (one of many I might add):

My coming to faith back in 1985 led me to serve in ways and places I never imagined. I've been to the third world. I've slung mud and laid brick in the Appalachian hills. I've been to a Jamaican orphanage and Honduran slums. But my heart hurts most for my fellow Christians in prosperous places... where people feel insignificant in spite of all they have.

—James O'Donnell, Walking with Arthur

This resonates with a statement my wife, Julie often recounts which was made in response to her assurance of prayer for a Romanian pastor she visited with while on a mission trip. After detailing the suffering his family and his father's family faced because they chose to be faithful in the face of persecution from a communist government who required they renounce their faith to receive food rations, he expressed his sorrow and prayer for the people of the west (US specifically). "Why," Julie asked. "You have endured so much, and we don't face near what you have to face." His reply put things into perspective. He said, "Because in your country Satan persecutes believers through prosperity. You have so much you don't even recognize the you are being persecuted."

Lessons in being attentive to our master

Her name is Lily (or LiLeigh when we originally named her but it was too hard to spell). She's our faithful Springer Spaniel. We love her and she's part of the family. We joke about her role in the family: sleeping, eating, and shedding seem to be her primary role. Only as her owners can we recognize the intonation (Denver, this is for you... the word you taught me) of her barks and immediately know if it's friend or foe pulling into the driveway or walking through the yard.

You can learn a lot from a dog. The other day as I was sitting in the main room in our house enjoying the quiet and a cup of warm coffee she helped me understand something about being attentive to God. I was in a chair and she was close by resting. Her eyes were closed (this time she wasn't snoring but that's another post) and she was still. I adjusted my head slightly to look her way. I swear I didn't make a sound. But in the mere movement of my head turning toward her she snapped to, eyes fixed on me, anxious for any instruction I might give to her. It was far from the first time this has happened. As a matter of fact, it's hard to sneak any movement past her (unless she's snoring but that's another post). Time after time, movements large and small, she's ready to jump and run to fulfill the desires of her master.

In that moment her passion to serve me as her master stunned me. God spoke to me in the silence of that moment about the attention and expectancy with which I am to be watching for His work around me and ready to respond. Even if my reason for moving at that moment did not have her in mind she still responded by intently watching and waiting for the least hint of beckoning her. She was ready. Ready to please her master.

I'm amazed at how often those who profess to have been believers for years express an inability to experience God moving in their lives. When you talk about seeing God at work around you they look at you like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. If we know Him, but are not attentive to Him, could He be working all around us and we never notice (maybe we are snoring but that's another post). How can we ever jump to fulfill the desires of the heart of our Master if we are not passionately attentive to Him and what He is doing? God, I want to be that expectantly attentive to You and what You are doing in and around me!