A Unity for All To See His Majesty

"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." I Cor. 1:10.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I was walking in the woods and noticed a magnificent tree. It had to be almost 200 feet tall. I could barely get my arms even half way around it. I stood mesmerized by the magnificence and grandeur of it. I thought to myself, this tree must have existed as a little fledgling tree almost 200 years ago. To observe this tree was to gaze upon something majestic, something wonderful and awe-inspiring.

The next day, I was helping a friend cut up some wood for his fire place by utilizing a powerful wood-splitter. We could take very large stumps, place it in the log-splitter, press a lever and a powerful hydrolic splitter would instantly and seemingly effortlesly divide years of unity in that stump. It was incredible to watch this powerful machine in action. As the splitter would come down, I would consider the rings on the stump which spoke to years of existence. Each of those rings could tell a story of what that tree had endured, but in an instant it was to become undone, because I wanted to use this wood for myself. Once I decided those trees were to be for me, splitting the log and those years of unity became inevitable. The result of my intention was telling. I looked over at a pile of wood that had been split by this powerful splitter. There was nothing majestic about it. There was no longer anything compelling about it. In its divided state, it only spoke to my consumeristic intent.

This same dynamic has been occuring in churches for centuries. The Apostle Paul was addressing the Corinthian Christians who were becoming divided over personalities. However, he wanted them to be focused on one personality, Jesus Christ. Before, he spoke of their need for unity in verse ten, he spoke of the name of Jesus Christ ten times in the previous nine versus. Paul wanted to stress what/Who should be the sole focus of the church.

When the church stays focused on Jesus Christ, then the church can stand tall, majestic and be awe-inspiring for all to see and to be drawn. However, when the church becomes about personalities, facilities, preferences and individual opinions, the church becomes divided because it becomes something which we consume rather than about Someone who consumes us.

May we all be extremely cautious of caustic language and consumerisitc intent in the church. May we continue to stay focused on Jesus, stand tall and majestic for all to watch and see the power of Christ within us and be drawn to Him.

Beams Away!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

On a recent blog, I displayed a picture of a person standing before a mammoth backdrop of water ready to engulf the persson. A number of people reacted to the picture because is aptly captured how they were currently feeling about life. What thoughts, feelings and reactions does this picture conjure up in you?

For me, words like innocence, vulnerability, hope, strife, exhaustion, feelings of compassion and thoughts about recent tornado victims come to mind as I look at the little duckling. Take a moment and be cognizant of the thoughts and feelings the picture evokes in you.

This blog is devoted to helping us look honestly at ourselves and understand our own blindspots. Jesus taught that each person should take the "beam" out of his or her own eye so he or she might see clearly the speck of sawdust in a neighbor's eye. So each of our thoughts, feelings or reactions to this picture can point us to what is going on in our hearts; and these reactions of ours are a greater indication of what is going on inside of us than they are an accurate description of the picture.

Take a moment, reflect upon your reflections about the picture. For instance, what do my reflections about the picture indicate about me today? Why do I see vulnerability of the duck? Why do I see hope? Why do I see innocence and exhaustion? What does this say about me today and how I am feeling in general? What do my words say about me?

This exercise is good for us to get in touch with ourselves, but it also illustrates how we need to interact with others. Many times we react to what we see in others. Those reactions, thoughts and feelings are usually a greater indication of what is occuring within us than they are an accurate description of another person. We've heard it said, that "A picture is worth a thousand words," but our words are worth a thousand insights to the current condition of our heart.

As we apply this principle to our interactions with others, perhaps we may become more patient and gracious with others. As we reflect more upon our own "beams" and extract them, then we will better reflect the character of Jesus Christ.

Beams Away!

Worried About the Whirlwind of Life

I remember being a "little shaver" at home as my mom took an hour out of her day to watch her favorite soap opera, "As the World Turns." It felt so peaceful watching the the globe on television turn so effortlessly and so peacefully. Yet in reality, as the world turns, a whirlwind of stress is also turning our lives upside down and peace is the farthest thing many of us are experiencing. Here is a response I received to a previous blog where I asked women about what it means to be feminine and how over-stressed they feel. I believe both men and women can relate to this, and am very eager to hear how many us can relate.

"I have really been struggling with this lately, feeling so overwhelmed by all that I feel I should be. I was just telling a friend, I feel like a slave to my job and my house! Having a full time job my house never seems clean enough, my marriage relationship and friendships are not deep enough, my family does not get together enough. I don't study the Bible enough. It feels like I've had to juggle so much that I haven't been the best wife, mother, duauther, sister, friend, caregiver, employee, etc, that I could have been. My husband does a lot as well, so I feel guilty asking for help around the house. It's funny, I always thought I was a perfectionist, so why isn't everything perfect?...It would be so nice to let go of everything and just "be." I'm working on being a child of God first. Learning to lay at Jesus' feet and rest in his presence. It is easier said than done however!"

Is there a solution to this seeming universal problem? In our pursuit to do enough, it appears many of us are overwhelmed and have simply had enough. This beam will be a very difficult beam to extract from out eyes, but we need to extract it so we may be free from the damaging effects of this dynamic.

I look forward to us sharing with one another about this and then sharing some additional thoughts.

Beams Away!

Worry is so Worrisome

There are some within Christiandom who might argue that self-focused teachings on the topic of "worry" only foster a self-focused, narcissistic Christianity. These people make a good point that our focus should not be on ourselves, but rather on helping others, or issues related to social justice. Others might argue that teachings on "worry" are proof how psycho-babble has contaminated the church. These people also argue that we should avoid too much focus upon ourselves, and that the Bible is not a self-help book. However, I am not worried about these objections because the topic of worry in fact is related to how I can help myself become more Christ-like and how others might understand Christ and thereby worship Him.

Consider what is at stake when the world sees Christians captivated by worry rather than faith and worship of Christ. Some one at CrossPoint passed on these words to me by John MacArthur.

"For reason, we think of doubt and worry as 'small' sins. But when a Christian displays unbelief...or an inability to cope with life, he is saying to the world, 'My God cannot be trusted,' and that kind of disrespect makes one guilty of a fundamental error, the heinous sin of dishonoring God. That is no small sin. Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God, and yet it is a sin that Christians commit perhaps more frequently than any other. Worry, by nature, is the product of a lack of faith and trust in God."

I would add God's word to us in the book of Hebrews, without faith it is impossible to please God.

I believe we want to please God. Yet, I believe we all struggle with worry and anxiety to varying degrees. But, God's reputation is on the line when we worry about our lives. In the Bible, Ephesians 2:14 syas, "Jesus is our peace." Also, Philippians 4 tells us we can have this peace of Jesus and it surpasses all understanding.

We struggle with worry, but don't worry, we don't have to struggle with it. We can surrender the "perception" of control over our lives and realize that Jesus Christ holds all things together and he works for our good. The Bible indicates from page one to the last page that everything God does is motivated by a desire to provide for us and to protect us. As we take seriously our sin of worry, and surrender more fully to Christ, we will become more like Christ and the world will watch how God's people are holy and different because in place of worry, they worship in contentment and confidence in their God.

Keep your thoughts coming. I appreciate them. And let's keep taking those beams out of our own eyes.

Beams Away!

Turning Panic Rooms Into Peaceful Rooms

Jodi Foster starred a popular movie entitled "Panic Room." She finds herself trapped in a panic room in her house which was designed to protect her from any outside threats. However, there came a point in the movie when she needed to confront a certain threat head-on.

This typifies the tragic life of many Christians. We are trapped in our own form of panic rooms as we worry incessantly and are filled with anxiety over potential threats to our well-being. These panic rooms are not actual rooms in our homes, but a room inside our heart where we retreat in order to panic. We panic and worry about many things in our panic rooms, and the tragedy is that we refuse to allow Jesus Christ to come in to these panic rooms. We refuse to allow Jesus Christ, who is our peace (Eph. 2:14)and the Prince of Peace to come into our panic rooms. We have difficulty listening to Jesus' words, "Do not be afraid..." because the potential threats to our well-being or our children's well-being are so great.

The Bible tells us that in Christ, we can have a peace that surpasses all understanding, meaning that we can have peace even when perplexed, overwhelmed and stressed out. However the pathway to peace is not simply prayer, but a certain type of prayer. It is a prayer that is comprised of praise and thanksgiving to God. The assurance of God's Word is that prayers of praise in the midst of anxiety will lead to a peace which surpasses understanding. This is recorded in the Bible in the book of Philippians 4:4-7.

So our lack of praise to God amdist our anxiety results in a lack of peace amidst life's stressors. But the next question is what keeps us from praising God amidst our anxiety? For me, it is control. Ironically, although I feel out of control sometimes, I still want it and refuse to relinquish something I don't really have. This is just another form of pride in my life. My pride prevents my praise and thereby prohibits any sense of peace.

What are you anxious or stressed about today? What keeps you from practicing praise amdist your anxiety and stress? I'd love to hear from you.

Beams Away!

What Does It Mean to Be Feminine?

I have lead numerous Men's groups and talked about what it means to be masculine,but as I turn my attentnion to Mother's Day, I find myself asking,"What does it mean to be feminine?" Many men are looking for a clear definition of what it means to be masculine and I have to believe that many women are trying to determine what it means to be feminine.

Why all the confusion? I believe it is because we define ourselves more by our roles than by God's rules. For instance, many men are confused because their role in society has changed. They used to be the sole-bread winner and the predominant presence in the work force. Now, many women are in the workforce and men are at home, helping with domestic responsibilities. Men used to be the tough, rugged and macho man like John Wayne, but then a softer, compassionate and more emotive man began to be betrayed, like Tom Hanks. As women, rightfully said we want to be equal, this morphed into some women saying they want to be the same. Thus, leaving men asking themselves, "If women are not only equal to men, but the same as men, then what does it mean to be masculine?"

As this has been the case for men, I hear from women some confusion as well. It is less confusion about what it means to be feminine, but more confusion over whether or not they should feel guilty. I hear women struggling with guilt regarding their ability to do all things and be all things to all people. In their wide array of roles, they are trying to be a terrific mom, supportive spouse, successful provider/contributor to the household, deligent in working out and even a responsible church member. Yet, with all of these demands, many women are tired and feel guilty because they don't know if they are doing well enough in all of these areas. They feel as though they are never able to give any of these areas enough attention. Guilt gives way to fatigue and more guilt.

What do you think? Does this resonate? What do you think it means to be feminine? I hope to have some dialogue on this and perhaps alliviate some stress, some guilt and unrealistic expectations.

Beams Away!

Brett