This is a good word… because it’s literally about the Word. The Word made flesh is the only perfect peace we will find. I really appreciate what this pastor, David Schock, has to say about unity in the Church.
Read it for yourself at the Gospel Coalition Blog: Beware in Your Search for Perfect Peace.
let LOVE fly like cRaZy
How is the baking business, you ask? I just got back from the gym and I’m pretty sure I sweat cinnamon, if that’s any indication.
I know it’s a stretch, but it made me think about the fragrance of Christ. As a creative writer, I know smell is the sense that best captures a reader – the sense that will take the reader directly to the place in the story where all the action is because we remember smells. I can be lingering in a play room and instantly be transported to my childhood by the smell of a toy. Maybe you have passed by someone on the street and you can’t help turning around because you almost feel like you know him… because of the cologne he’s wearing.
I love that our sense of smell is carried on the invisible wind, but the proof is in the vivid images that rush our minds at the slightest whiff. This thought led to my remembering this verse from 2 Corinthians,
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
We are willing captives in God’s triumphal procession, spreading around the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. Wow. I sincerely wonder if the fragrance of Christ lingers when I leave a place. When people are around me, does their mind have a vivid picture of Christ front and center? It’s way more eternally significant than leaving cinnamon in my fragrant wake.
Anyway, these were my thoughts while on the treadmill tonight… when I wasn’t watching the BYU volleyball game (thanks to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, BYU international television accompanied my workout… which reminds me – I should get Hope College to televise some sports action down here!).
Our theme verse for our week of focused mission service comes from Isaiah 6:8,
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Our preparation has a beautiful, frantic fragrance this week. We are running around arranging, buying, planning, and chasing details like one chases a beach ball across a lake on a windy day. One thing is for sure: God is completely sovereign. Even in the foibles, I can claim this as true. I thought some of you might be interested in reading through the short devotionals for each day this week. I’ve included the passage (taken from The Message Bible) and the few questions I’ve asked the kids to ponder. Pray with us as God humbles our hearts and uses broken vessels to reveal His great Light of salvation!
Throughout the week, students will be updating on my blog to give direction to your prayers/praises and most importantly to give God the glory for the overflow of love. So stay tuned this week!
As I was preparing for Monday’s mission trip meeting, this passage from 2 Samuel 24 came to mind. We are a team with an interesting combination of backgrounds, skills, and testimonies. Some of us can give the “Christian all my life” story and some of us begin with, “my parents didn’t care what religion we chose.” One thing God has really put on my heart for these students (and myself) is that we must all be challenged as David was when it comes to sacrifice:
But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.”
When God spoke through Gad to tell David to build an altar in a certain field (not coincidentally the same field where Abraham brought Isaac all those years ago), David was more than ready to do so. He went to the field and inquired with the owner. The owner was like, buy it? No, you can just have it! I can’t really blame him…. David was the king and a pretty powerful one at that. But David refused. He couldn’t stand the thought of his obedience costing him nothing. He refused to offer sacrifices to the Lord without paying for it.
I love this.
We, as Christians, are constantly on the hunt for sacrifices that are easy. We’ll even do a lot of them – join a lot of clubs, movements, shoe drives, fundraisers, trips, camps – you name it and we’ll do it (as long as there is something in it for us and it doesn’t hurt too badly). We do want so much to help, serve, love, and give … but our ‘between the lines’ prayer is always, “Lord, please don’t make it hurt too much. Please, let it come easy and be good and obviously victorious… and Lord, most of all don’t let people laugh at me while I’m doing it.”
Really? Yes, really. Of all the things we are afraid of, I really think embarrassment tops the list. The people who are facing death (in my opinion) are more bold in their efforts than those of us facing a few sneers or rejections.
What can we learn from David’s response to God’s request? When God calls us to do something we should be surprised if there is no cost involved. We should question our obedient actions if we aren’t feeling discomfort. If we are presenting our lives as sacrifices, then we might just expect to feel the sacrifices crowding our everyday ‘normal.’
But, you know what we can also expect? God’s presence.
After David built the altar in the field he insisted on buying, God responded to the needs of the land.
Not that we need more reason than God’s gracious dealing with us, but God gives more reason – He shows up. He welcomes a broken and contrite heart and refreshes a weary spirit. When we put everything on the line (even our expectations of His response), He will never disappoint.
Wow.
that’s reason enough to
let LOVE fly like cRaZy
This past weekend we had a teachers’ retreat at a lake a few hours from the city. I split my time between staffing the snack shop, playing a few rousing card games, climbing trees, playing soccer, and taking one somewhat risky solitary run through a field and up a small mountain. Most of these activities involved much prayer, but I’m thankful for that, too.
I came back less refreshed, but very ready to tackle this week of pre-mission trip planning. Sunday night after a bit of baking, I tried to settle in to watch a sermon, but your bed is no place to take serious notes and stretch your mind. So, Monday morning I finally finished this sermon by John Piper. I’ve heard and said, “Come to Jesus” many times without grasping exactly what it means.
This sermon works through John 7:25-39 and examines that very question – what does it mean when Jesus gives this invitation: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
I love this breakdown. It is so beautiful to try to understand why we thirst and why the person of Christ is exactly and only what will satisfy. Beyond satisfaction, RIVERS wil flow from us… rivers of living water! It’s Tuesday night and I still can’t get over it.
Well, yesterday afternoon I felt a bit of the living water flooding my living room, as the mission trip gathered to pound out some last minute details. I am continually blessed by the hearts and minds of these students. “Little steps,” they tell me, “Miss, you can’t expect us to change all sudden, but little steps.” It takes everything in me to keep from wrapping them in a crazy hug and singing one of the uber-embarrassing songs my mom would throw my way whenever she was proud. Because, friends, if you could see these little steps they are taking your heart would SWELL.
Today, the students spoke in chapel in front of their peers and I am still praising God for their courage. These “little steps,” they may not realize are HUGE leaps for the faith they have hidden deep in their hearts! These “little steps” are how they wear resolve so beautifully when classmates give them trouble for being involved in something so obviously, “Christian.” After our devotional on Monday (more on that in tomorrow morning’s post), I can now ask them, “Is it worth it? Is what you are doing worth those little comments?”
I wish you could look in their faces to see their response, “There’s no question, Miss.”
I believe God is working and He is gracious enough to give me reminders of His sovereignty and His mighty hand. I am humbled, humbled, humbled to be a part of this process!
Tonight, with a cake stashed in the fridge and cookies all packaged, I am literally on my floor in my bedroom typing this out and I can’t tell you why. I just know that daily God is calling me to
let LOVE fly like cRaZy!
MUSINGS IN THE MIDST 