February 3, 2010

Temptation: Settling for Less

Hey, hey!  I’m finally back to somewhat normal patterns, which leads me back to Wonderwhat!   I’ll do my best to keep updating with thoughts about our upcoming studies, but I will warn you that for the next month or so, I’ve got a lot on my plate.  For the last year, Ken Raney of Clash Creative has been negotiating with Voice of the Martyrs to do a series of graphic novel adaptations of some of the stories of triumph that have come from Christians who have endured persecution in closed nations.  I was asked to participate in this project, and a few weeks ago, they finally gave the go-ahead.  Needless to say, I have a lot of work ahead of me in laying out, penciling, inking and hopefully coloring said project.  Ben Avery wrote a compelling script…which has had me in tears multiple times as I’ve tried to convey this story through pictures.  Pray for me if you think of it…I need to learn how to draw and fast….I want, with all my heart, to do this story justice.

This Sunday we’ll be looking at Luke 4:1-13.

It’s a fascinating passage about the temptation of Christ in the wilderness.  It provides us food for thought concerning our own struggles with temptation…but it also gives us an amazing insight into just what kind of Messiah Jesus intended to be (and IS).  Jesus had to break with many of the expectations concerning the messiah in His day, and we see that the break from accepted patterns wasn’t just a public thing…it was initiated in the most private of times, alone and unobserved.

Here’s something interesting: if you get the chance, read Deuteronomy 8 and then read Luke 4:1-13 right after it.  What connections do you see?  Do you think there was a point being made in the nature of the temptations recounted in Jesus’ story?  Beyond that, what do we learn about the nature of temptation in general?  If we describe it as settling for less…less than what?  What do we learn about how to resist temptation from Jesus’ story?

This should be an interesting study…hope to see you this Sunday!

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December 31, 2009

Lost and Found

Sunday we’ll be looking at Luke 2:41-52.

This is the one and only account we have of Jesus as an adolescent child.  Many scholars dispute its legitimacy in the text…but frankly, if someone were going to make up a story about Jesus’ childhood and insert it, I would suspect they would make it more exciting than this.  I mean…Jesus gets lost at the mall?  Really?  That’s what someone invented to make the story more interesting?  I just doubt it.

I’m going to dig into three theological truths that we learn about Jesus from this story.  As you read it, what do you learn about Jesus from what he says and does?

I’m also going to draw three parallels from Joseph and Mary’s perspective concerning our own relationship to Jesus.  What parallels do you see to your own journey with Christ in this section?

That’s the stuff to think about until Sunday.  See yaz then!

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December 23, 2009

A New Hope

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas so far!  I know we are…it’s awesome having the kids come home to visit.

We’ll be looking at Luke 2:21-40 this Sunday.

Joseph and Mary follow through with what the Law of Moses required of them concerning a first-born son.  How important do you think it was for them to obey those commands, given the nature of the Son they had?  Do we learn anything from their obedience?

We also get introduced to two other characters in this section…two people who had been waiting a long time for their hope to be realized.  There are lessons for us concerning hope in the lives of these two people…what do you see in their examples that can instruct you about having hope in the face of delay or sorrow or pain?

We’ll unpack it as best as we can this Sunday.  See you then!

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December 18, 2009

God’s Presence; The Christ is Born

Have you ever had a frustrating Christmas?   Sometimes we struggle with feelings of disappointment when the holiday doesn’t provide for us what we thought, or hoped, it might.

There’s something about the birth of Christ that really can remind us about what it means that God is with us.  The presence of God in the world and in our lives is far greater than any other present we may get or give to others.

This Sunday, we’ll be looking at Luke 2:1-20, and we’ll consider what it can mean to us that God is present with us.  As you read the story, what are the challenges that are faced, and what can we learn about the nature of God’s invasion of this earth from them?

See you Sunday!

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December 10, 2009

Benedictus; John Baptizer is Born

As we’ve been going through the gospel of Luke, we’ve found that God seems to go out of His way to turn expectations upside-down.  Our passage this Sunday is no exception, as we finish up chapter 1, verses 57-80.

The fantastic promise made by a cosmic sentinel has come true, Beth has given birth to a son.  As the relatives and friends gather to comply with the Law of Moses, part of the circumcision ceremony entailed the naming of the child.  Everything is going along just fine until this detail…then it all goes out of whack.  What details seem abnormal in this bit of the story?  Why would it matter what name the child had?  As you think about your own role in life, and your identity, what does this story tell you about tradition and custom?

God seems to delight in highlighting the losers.  In this gospel, the people of destiny are not the high profile people, they’re not the ones the world has esteemed as important…they are the outcasts and has-beens.  They are people willing to take the risk of looking ridiculous in the eyes of their neighbors, because they know that something big is in the works.

Zach breaks out in another song (clearly, Luke was wanting this to be the musical version of the gospels), which delights in God’s fulfillment of a promised Savior, and then of his own son’s role in setting the stage for Him.  Zach, again, seems to take the typical nationalistic view of the Messiah’s work, but as he speaks about his son, the premise seems to shift from those normal expectations…and its more about salvation, forgiveness, mercy, light and peace.  Enemies WILL be overthrown, but the last part of the song gives us a clue as to how.

The last verse of the chapter sums up John’s life in one sentence.  What is it about him that is NOT normal?  Obviously, John had a unique ministry, and we wouldn’t use him as a pattern for our own lives per se, but there are principles inherent to his life that we may want to consider as it touches our own journey with God.  What could we learn from John’s lifestyle, and apply to our own?

See you guys Sunday!

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December 2, 2009

Magnificat: Song of the Revolution

This Sunday we’ll continue reading Luke’s gospel, and we’ll cover v39-56 of chapter 1.

What gets you really excited…so much so that you do odd things like jump up and down or scream or break into song?  For a lot of us, (especially men who are normally very subdued) sporting events have that effect on us.  When Bill Belichick decided to go for it in his now famous game losing decision, I stood in stunned silence.  When the Colts scored the winning touchdown moments later, I was a full bore lunatic.

There is a lot of that kind of “bouncing off the walls crazy” that comes through in our story so far.  And why not.  The Savior is about to break in on this world.  The REVOLUTION is about to begin!  The Hope of Israel is at hand.  If you were an Israelite, suffering for 500 years under one tyrannical empire after another…waiting for God to restore the golden age of David, and you heard that someone you were related to was CARRYING the Messiah in pregnancy…I think you’d whoop it up a bit too.

Mary goes to visit Cousin Beth, and finds the sign to be true…she’s pregnant.  Confirmation of what the angel told her was going to happen to her.  She also has Cousin Beth speak prophetically about what’s happening, without her even saying a word.  More confirmation that she hadn’t been hallucinating that day.  Mary gets so stoked, she breaks into a freestyle rap…or something.  She probably wrote it down later in her “secret pillow Hanna Montana” diary (what?…she’s just a kid remember)….and many years later she gives it to Luke as he’s compiling his narrative.  It could’ve happened that way…who knows?

Her song talks about herself…and God’s coming revolution on earth.  What does she say about herself, and her interaction with God?  From verses 51-56, how does she describe the things God is going to do in the world?  How do they help us understand what God will be doing through US?

We’ll talk about it more on Sunday.

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November 24, 2009

God Works With the Unqualified

This Sunday we’ll be reading Luke 1:26-38, as we continue the story of Jesus as told by Luke’s gospel.

As you read that story, what do you see as similarities and differences between the story of Zachariah and that of Mary?  How do you see yourself in this account?  Isn’t it interesting that God chose to work in a backwoods town with a couple of “nobodies” instead of bringing Christ through well known rulers or highly respected religious leaders?  What does that tell us about how and who God works with?  What does that tell us about US?

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November 18, 2009

Backstory; Birth of John the Baptist

Have you ever had a major disappointment in life?  Have you ever asked God to intervene, only to feel like heaven was shut up and silent?  In the next section we will read, we’ll be introduced to a couple who went through that very thing.  We’ll be looking at Luke 1:5-25 this Sunday.  By the way, you can listen to this passage read HERE.

How did you feel when your prayer didn’t seem to be answered?  Did you feel like you did something wrong.  In our passage, we have an old couple who are described as people who are committed, observant followers of God…yet who suffered what was often considered a sign of God’s curse on their lives.  They were childless.  Not only that, they were advanced in years, meaning, they were past the age of doing anything about being childless.  You wonder how they felt, yet it appears it didn’t cause them to give up their trust in God.

What’s really interesting is that these people are the starting point for Luke’s account.  He frames it in the time of Herod the Great…but then shifts the focus from that impressive, historical leader to these two backwoods people who are the equivalent of an old country pastor and his wife.  People who should be considered insignificant, who can’t even get a prayer answered by God.  It’s with these folks that Luke starts the story of Jesus.  God is just cool like that.

When the angel appears to Zechariah, how does he respond?  Does it change the outcome of what the angel says?  What DOES it change?  Do you relate to Zechariah at all?  What does this passage say to you?

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November 14, 2009

Investigating the Hero King

LUKE webThis Sunday we’ll begin a new series…one that may take a while to get through, but I truly believe will be worth it!

What are some of the earth-shaking events that have happened in history that you can think of ?  The terrorist attacks of 9-11 come readily to mind, having occurred so recently.  Think about the ways in which our world changed as a result of that event.  It’s been one of our responsibilities as a generation to record what happened in that attack.  To investigate it, and it’s ramifications on our world and society.  It’s important because people under the age of 9 didn’t live through it, yet it has shaped their world.

We’re going to begin a study which investigates another event which occurred some 2,000 years ago…an event that spanned 33 years, and which changed the world forever.  It’s the most important thing that’s ever happened, and our lives will never be the same because of it.  What we’re talking about, of course, is the news that God came to the earth and lived, taught, was killed and then rose again among us.  It’s pretty amazing, and it’s the foundation of our faith…yet so few know anything about it.

So…we’re going to begin studying the Gospel of Luke; an investigation of the Hero King.  This Sunday, we’ll read Luke 1:1-4 as an introduction.  Also, another heads up is I will start teaching from the ESV (English Standard Version).  You can read about it and access it here.  Many teachers have been moving toward using the ESV because it appears to be a very faithful, literal translation which is still very easy to read.  I really have come to like it in my own studies.  It will track pretty well with the NKJV if that’s what you’re using.

Anyway…see yaz Sunday!

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October 28, 2009

Myth #4: The Good Christian

John Doe had heard the sermon, and it had cut him to the quick.  The preacher had leaned over the pulpit in order to make his point, and projected his voice like an opera singer swelling to the finale.

“You must get to the place where your first instinct is faith and not fear when troubles come!”

John knew very well that he was not at that place.  Rumors were snowballing at his job, all the signs were there that the plant was going to close…and his first response was not faith, it was icy terror.  His first thoughts were of his family, and how he would provide for them.  His first instinct was to scramble around looking for more information, so he could better take on the task of fixing his problems.  The preacher’s words echoed through his thoughts and began pushing him into a corner.  ”How can I expect God to take care of me or help me when I still don’t do this right?” he thought.  ”When am I going to get to the place when I have this together, when I don’t mess up so quickly.”

The sense that he’d already failed the test pressed down on him, and he thought about the preacher who had uttered that challenging sermon.  He thought about how faithful he was, how obviously capable he was of trusting God and resisting temptation.  From there, his thoughts drifted over the other people in his church who clearly had their “spiritual lives” together, who clearly had a walk with God that far exceeded his own.  They could trust God in the worst of times but he fell into fear because of  a rumor.  The thoughts began to bear down on him…he realized he had failed his test, and the only relief available was to push all of this from his mind for now.

“Later.  I messed up…I can’t even pray about this right now.  I’ll get my act together later.  I’ll do this better next time.”

Thus John Doe was discouraged into paralysis by a MYTH.

This Sunday we’ll be looking at the myth of the good Christian.  This will get a little more personal…so be warned.

Is Christianity supposed to be a sin-management plan?  Is the life of following Christ about adhering as closely as possible to an elusive standard of good Christian living?  Is there a place we get to where we have this thing wired, where we have achieved the title of being a good Christian?  If you are answering “no” to these questions, then conversely, what role does holiness and the perfection Jesus called us to have in our lives?  How do we reconcile our struggles with faith and temptation with the Bible’s call to right living?

To prepare…read Paul’s thoughts in Romans 7:15-8:2…and I’ve linked it to the Message because its such a clarifying take on it…but check it in other translations as well.  Ponder it…meditate on what Paul is saying…Paul, the prince of apostles, the great spiritual force of the New Testament writings…consider his confession and resolution.

Don’t be afraid of straw men.  Don’t bet stuck chasing myths and missing the path.

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