The Link of All Links

o.k., OK, OKAY!
And I thought my list of link and blogs and websites was getting long. How wrong could I be?

Now if you REALLY want to find a Christian site, or articles about an author, or reviews or something on Church History, or the prophetic or literally whatever, you need to go check out "Sites Unseen" or better known as Zoecarnate. This site needs to be bookmarked.

They bill themselves as "Earth's Mightiest Alternative Christian Link Portal" and "The best Jesus-infused sites you never knew about." The Dallas Morning News did a write up on them saying: "Here is an exhaustive roundup of Christian sites...The emphasis is on "alternative" Christian resources. There are enough surprises to draw you in and keep you engaged for hours." Hours? How about years!

Whose Estimation Counts?

In the article in the Christian Century I referred to in the last post, Samuel Wells has a nice turn of phrase in his review of N.T. Wright's Evil and the Justice of God. There is a sentence in the intro paragraph that speaks volumes about our consuming passion with ourselves: "The philosophical tendency for at least the past three centuries has been to assume that the human estimation of God is more significant than the divine estimation of humanity."

The Bono version of this line is: "I love it when people on bar stools rub their chins and say 'do you believe in God?' That’s so presumptuous. A much more important question is 'does God believe in us?'" (I found this over on “Beth’s” blog (she doesn’t give her last name) Until Translucent.

It really does show the anthropomorphism [the human self-centeredness] of all our questions about God. As if our questioning the existence of God actually determines anything in the heavenlies. When we begin focusing on ourselves in introspection and self-analysis it can become pride and pride comes before a fall.

Brennan Manning says it this way:
“The humble heart wastes little time in introspection, navel gazing, looking in the mirror and being anxious about their spiritual growth. Their self-acceptance without self-concern is anchored in the acceptance of Jesus in their struggle to be faithful. They fasten their attention on God.” Ruthless Trust, pp125-6

I actually did a little chart on humility versus pride that I used in a sermon in August. [The numbers line up with each other as point and counterpoint.]

Signs of pride
1. thinking about self – focused on self – introspection, being anxious
2. selfishness
3. comparing yourself to others
4. self abasement (trying to get low, feel bad about self)
5. fear – what if I don’t measure up, not good enough – resulting in inaction, paralyzed by fear or fear of failure
6. unforgiveness/bitterness – not being able to let it go
7. legalism, moralism, ethics
8. man-pleaser – trying to find your identity in what others think of you – you wear a mask hiding behind your false self

Signs of humility
1. thinking about God – focused on God – accepted by God and anxious for nothing
2. crucified self – it’s no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me
3. serving others
4. courage/abandoned to do God’s will
5. obedience – actively living out what God has given you to do knowing that He has already paid for your failure
6. forgiveness – release it into the hands of God
7. listening to God
8. pleasing God – finding your identity in Him free to be who He made you to be

Neil Anderson's definition of pride is "confidence rightly placed." The goal of humility is not to feel bad about yourself – that is merely another indicator of pride. But we need to see ourselves with the eyes of God. Our identity is in Him. My identity is imputed to me by God and God alone. So He sees me as His child, in relationship with Him.

Confluence

con·flu·ence n.1. a flowing together of two or more streams, a point at which streams combine, or a stream formed by their combining. Also called conflux.

An interesting confluence happened in the past couple of days. I meet with a number of groups to pray for the city of Toronto and the GTA region. We have been wondering and praying about how to overcome some of the evil influences in our city with the rise of crime and violence and traffic accidents and spiritual apathy. In our prayer and discussions one of the chief things that came out was that when we focus on evil we actually accentuate or even glorify that evil and miss what God is trying to do and say.

Then I got an email from someone who spoke about the same thing in the context of a Christian response to the Halloween season. "Interestingly, I was listening to a teaching on the way home - he was talking about redeeming time, and specifically focused on Halloween as a specific time where through the ages there has been much demonic defilement, reinforced again and again over the years, that the actual time seems defiled. His strategy? Worship gatherings. To redeem the time (the date on the calendar) by filling the air with worship of the One True God to displace all the demonic worship. Here's my thinking. I think if we gather [a prayer team to confront evil activity or teaching], it would "give it place." However, what if we were to just have a worship gathering - or several worship gatherings that night, as others have suggested? We don't have to focus on or even mention anything about evil at all - Halloween is enough of a reason to implement the strategy of "displacement".

I also just read a review of N.T.Wright's book "Evil and the Justice of God" and the reviewer (Samuel Wells in Christian Century) says:

"In a lucid treatment of this perennial conundrum, N. T. Wright argues that pondering the "problem of evil" is an activity that displaces us from the business of implementing the healing, restorative justice of God. The problem of evil is philosophically located in theoretical analysis of an inherently distant God-that is, the deist God of the Enlightenment. By contrast, Wright engages with the scriptural God, revealed through narrative rather than theory and addressed through lament, obedience, discipleship and faith rather than through dispassionate analysis-in short, the God of Jesus Christ. Christ's death and resurrection, the promise and embodiment of forgiveness, and the hope of God's final victory make the people of God a people who bring into the present a reconciliation that is assured in the future."

That's a long way of saying that focusing so much on evil means we have a deficient view of God. Focusing on evil displaces us from our position as worshippers of God, as seeing Him in His incarnation, and often blinds us from seeing Him at work in the world.

So our response to evil - implement the healing, restorative justice of God through worship, prayer and action.

The Movement

I found this great site for evangelism articles. The site is from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan (New York CIty. It's called The Movement: Global City Church Planting. I love the title and the pastor there (Tim Keller) has written some great articles.

The best one so far is called DECONSTRUCTING DEFEATER BELIEFS: Leading the Secular to Christ from October 2004. The premise of the article is that our culture has adopted culturally informed anti-Christian beliefs which makes Christianity less believable. He calls these "defeater beliefs." Let me quote a bit from this article.

1. Defeater beliefs
Every culture hostile to Christianity holds to a set of 'common-sense' consensus beliefs that automatically make Christianity seem implausible to people. These are what philosophers call "defeater beliefs". A defeater belief is Belief-A that, if true, means Belief-B can't be true.

Christianity is disbelieved in one culture for totally opposite reasons it is disbelieved in another. So for example, in the West (as we will explore below) it is widely assumed that Christianity can't be true because of the cultural belief there can't be just one "true" religion. But in the Middle East, people have absolutely no problem with the idea that there is just one true religion. That doesn't seem implausible at all. Rather there it is widely assumed that Christianity can't be true because of the cultural belief that American culture, based on Christianity, is unjust and corrupt. (Skeptics ought to realize, then, that the objections they have to the Christian faith are culturally relative!) So each culture has its own set of culturally-based doubt-generators which people call 'objections' or 'problems' with Christianity.

When a culture develops a combination of many, widely held defeater beliefs it becomes a cultural 'implausibility-structure.' In these societies, most people don't feel they have to give Christianity a good hearing – they don't feel that kind of energy is warranted. They know it just can't be true. That is what makes evangelism in hostile cultures so much more difficult and complex than it was under 'Christendom.' In our Western culture (and in places like Japan, India, and Muslim countries) the reigning implausibility-structure against Christianity is very strong. Christianity simply looks ludicrous. In places like Africa, Latin America, and China, however, the implausibility structures are eroding fast. The widely held assumptions in the culture make Christianity look credible there.

So sharing the Gospel looks like this:

Two parts to sharing the gospel
What this means now is that there are two parts to sharing the gospel in a particular culture – a more 'negative' and a more positive aspect.

a) The more negative aspect has to do with 'apologetics' – it consists in deconstructing the culture's implausibility structure. In short, this means you have to show on the culture's own terms (that is, by its own definitions of justice, rationality, meaning) that its objections to Christianity don't hold up.

b) The more positive aspect of sharing the gospel is to connect the story of Jesus to the base-line cultural narratives. In short, you have to show in line with the culture's own (best) aspirations, hopes, and convictions that its own cultural story won't be resolved or have 'a happy ending' outside of Christ.

High Holy Days

L'Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year) & Chag Sameach (Literally, joyous festival.)
Well technically the first phrase is L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem (May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year). If you want to impress your Jewish neighbour say the whole phrase - and know what it means (some less observant Jews may not know).

As the Jewish High Holy Days approach (Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of September 12th and Yom Kippur is sunset September 21, 2007 - nightfall September 22, 2007) my neighbourhood is abuzz with preparations. There is significance for us who profess that Moshiach has come in Jeshua as well because the Jewish feasts reflect Biblical events and concepts and point toward the coming of the Messiah.

Each one of God’s Feasts contains basic elementary truths, which are foundational in revealing His Holy character, man’s nature and our faith in Him. As we become aware of the fundamental essentials of each Feast, we gain a deeper understanding of God’s Person and His personal love for humanity. Each one of God’s Appointed Times (feasts) contain the following basic elements (there are more):

The Commemoration of a monumental event. Each Feast Day recounts something fantastic God has accomplished mainly for, but at times in conjunction with, His covenant people.

The Unveiling of Components of His redemptive plan for humanity. God discloses His plan to bring about redemption through the subject matter of the individual Feasts and as God’s Feasts are celebrated, an amazing redemptive portrait reveals itself through the unique practices of the Feast and through the types of sacrifices and the ceremonial protocol outlined for the Tribe of Levi.

The Revelation of His Character through types and shadows. The Person of Messiah is made known through a variety of spiritual and physical appearances, and through miraculous components imbedded within the original historic event.

The High Holy Days are no exception, as a matter of fact, it is in these last three Feasts on the Jewish calendar where the Personhood of Yeshua’s Messiahship and His Crowning as King over all becomes clearly evident. Through these monumental Festival events God’s redemptive plan for Israel is revealed through types and shadows. So, for believers the Feasts of Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (2nd Harvest & God Among us) reveal Messiah as Redeemer, Conqueror and King.

Rosh Hashanah in the Bible
“Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.’” Leviticus 23:23-25 NASB

Rosh Hashanah Facts
• Rosh Hashanah literally means “Head of theYear” and this is why it is commonly referred to as the Jewish New Year.
• In the Bible, Rosh Hashanah is calledYom HaTeruah or “Day of the Shofar”.
• The command from God concerning the shofar blasts, or the “blast of horns” can be found in Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1.
• The Bible also calls this dayYom Ha-Zikkaron or “The Day of Remembrance”. Rabbinic Judaism interprets this to mean that the creation of the world by God’sWord was actually on the day of Rosh Hashanah. Therefore, it is “the commemoration of the creation of the world” and Jews are reminded of their responsibilities as God’s chosen people.
• Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the “Days of Awe” or the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
• Rosh Hashanah is known by the rabbis as the “Day of Judgment” and it is believed that God judges all of His people on this day and decides on their fate for the next year.
• Maimonides regarded the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah as an allusion to Isaiah’s proclamation, “Awake, O you sleepers, awake from your sleep! O you slumberous, awake from your slumber! Search your deeds and turn in repentance!”
• Another long-standing rabbinic tradition is called Tashlikh, or the “Casting off of Sin”. On Rosh Hashanah, many Jews walk to a creek or a river and cast bread crumbs into it, symbolizing the casting off of their sins of the previous year. This is done on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

Yom Kippur in the Bible
“And He,YHVH spoke to Moses, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; there shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; and ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto YHVH. And ye shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before YHVH your God.’” Leviticus 23:26-32

Yom Kippur In The Synagogue
• The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the “Days of Awe.” During this period,
“mitzvotim”, or good deeds, are done to make up for bad behaviour during the past year.
• Yom Kippur, celebrated on the 10th day of Tishri, is the most important and solemn of Jewish holidays, next to
the Shabbat due to its frequency.
• Yom Kippur is the occasion on which otherwise non-observant Jews are most likely to attend synagogue, refrain
from work, or fast.
• Throughout the Day of Atonement, Jewish people seek God’s forgiveness through fasting and prayer.
• No leather is worn on this day in remembrance of the sacrifices once offered by the priests in the temple.
• The Day of Atonement is believed by the rabbis to be the people’s last chance to change God’s mind concerning
the judgment of one’s deeds in the previous year, and their humility will effect His decision over one’s fate in
the coming year.
• It is traditional to break the fast of the day with an evening congregational meal.
• In the Bible,Yom Kippur is called, “Shabbat Shabbaton” (Sabbath of Sabbaths); because it is on Yom Kippur that all the people of Israel are to abstain from work and focus inwardly and solemnly, therefore, characterizing a Shabbat of the most complete rest.

Thanks to Light of Messiah Ministries newsletter for much of this information. For a website from a Jewish perspective with lots of helpful information about Jewish culture and holy days check out Judaism 101.

Finding Ourselves in the Story of God

I’ve been reading Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon. The subtitle speaks volumes about the book: a provocative Christian assessment of culture and ministry for people who know something is wrong. I’m only about halfway through but I have been underlining large sections already. These authors are veritable quote machines and I hope to continue to use much of this material as I think through church in this new millennium.

A few quotes for you:
On “story:”
The Bible is fundamentally a story of a people's journey with God. In Scripture, we see that God is taking the disconnected elements of our lives and pulling them together into a coherent story that means somenting. In trying to make sense of life, when we lack a coherent narrative, life is little more than a lurch to the left, a lurch to the right.

How does God deal with human fear, confusion and paralysis? God tells a story. Israel is a people who learn this story by heart and gather regularly to tell it. In telling that story, Israel comes to see itself as a people on a journey, an adventure. Its ethics become the virtues necessary to sustain Israel on the road. Our contention is that it does not just happen that God’s people tell stories; certainly the penchant for storytelling has nothing to do with Matthew, Mark and Luke being primitive, pre-rational people who told simple stories, whereas we are sophisticated people who do not. Story is the fundamental means of talking about, and listening to God, the only human means available to us that is complex and engaging enough to make comprehensible what it means to be with God.

The early Christians … began with stories about Jesus, about those whose lives got caught up in His life. Therefore, in a more sophisticated and engaging way, by the very form of their presentation [a story], the Gospel writers were able to begin training us to situate our lives like His life. We cannot know Jesus without following Jesus. Engagement with Jesus is necessary to understand Jesus. In a sense, we follow Jesus before we know Jesus. Furthermore, we know Jesus before we know ourselves. For how can we know the truth of ourselves as sinful and misunderstanding, but redeemed and empowered, without our first being shown as it was shown to his first disciples.

By telling these stories we come to see the significance and coherence of our lives as a gift, as something not of our own heroic creation, but as something that must be told to us, something we would not have know without the community of faith. The little story I call my life is given cosmic, eternal significance as it is caught up within God’s larger account of history.

In a world of unbelief and its consequences, even the recitation of a story like that of a church so ordinary as [ours] is bound to sound adventurous, even heroic, because the world’s cynicism and unbelief make the courage, continuity and conviction of anybody, even ordinary people, appear to be adventuresome and heroic. An unbelieving world will make a saint out of almost anybody who dares to be faithful. [Quotes found on pages 53-58.}

Significance - Guest Post

I came across this today (because someone emailed it to me). It seemed too good to keep to myself so thanks to my emailer and thanks to Os Hillman for his guest post. If you want more from Os Hillman, you can check out the original posting of this devotional on his website. As a pastor, I see the value of people living out their lives in their work and play as Christ directs them. That is such a strong witness of the the truth of Christ in all.

Significance
by Os Hillman, September 5, 2007

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us- yes, establish the work of our hands. - Psalm 90:17

Many of us begin our careers with the goal of achieving success. If we haven't entered our work as a result of God's calling, we will eventually face a chasm of deep frustration and emptiness. Success flatters but does not provide a lasting sense of purpose and fulfillment. So often we enter careers with wrong motives-money, prestige, and even pressure from parents or peers. Failing to match our work with our giftedness and calling is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. If that happens over an extended period, a person crashes.

At this time, many make another mistake. Workplace believers think that beginning a new career in "full-time Christian work" will fill the emptiness they feel. However, this only exacerbates the problem because they are again trying to put another square peg into a round hole. The problem is not whether we should be in "Christian work" or "secular work," but rather what work is inspired by gifts and calling. If there is one phrase I wish I could remove from the English language it is "full-time Christian work." If you are a Christian, you are in full-time Christian work, whether you are driving nails or preaching the gospel. The question must be, are you achieving the God-given calling for your life? God has called people into business to fulfill His purposes just as much as He has called people to be pastors or missionaries.

It is time for workplace believers to stop feeling like second-class citizens for being in business. It is time workplace believers stop working toward financial independence so that they can concentrate on their "true spiritual calling." This is the great deception for those called to business.

Significance comes from fulfilling the God-given purpose for which you were made. Ask Him to confirm this in your own life.

A Beautiful Day

We went down to the Beach again today – Brigitte, Kirstyn and I (Jared was off to London to see off a friend to university). That's Brigitte and Kirstyn sitting on the bench and the last picture is Kirstyn silhouetted against the sky. It was one of those late summer days that was just too beautiful to spend indoors. We brought books to read as we sat on a bench. We met some old friends from our Stone Church days.
It was a “longing” day. I don’t know why but this type of day creates this deep sense of longing in me for … I don’t know what really. Maybe it is just melancholy and childhood memories. Maybe it’s just that summer is almost over and those long, lazy days are just about gone for another year. Maybe it’s that I’m remembering other beautiful days that are steeped in warm fuzzy memories of days I will never have again. I don’t really know what it is that I’m longing for but days like this really bring it out. It’s an almost tangible ache.

Of course the conditions are perfect … a beautiful, cloudless sky, the late afternoon sun dappling through the trees, the fresh breeze blowing in off the lake bringing that sublte but distinct water smell to my nostrils, the view of the sparkling water and the sailboats skimming across the surface of the lake. And I had two of my favourite people by my side.

Then there’s the boardwalk and the people … the little boy running in that waddle that only two year olds can manage, arms and legs pumping furiously; the kaleidoscope of nationalities where you hardly hear anyone speaking English; where you see people dressed in bathing suits, three piece suits and everything in between; and the only place in the city where the dogs may actually outnumber the people.

It was an amazing afternoon. It stirs me even now as I reflect on my day. That sense of longing always points me to God. It is that feeling that convinces me that we are not alone in the universe. Someone once said that the longing for eternity shows that we were built for heaven. A day like today proves it.

Interesting

In honour of the upcoming Jewish High Holidays I thought I'd share this little tidbit. All 24 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (the alephbeht) can be found in the Magen David (the Star of David).

Longing

I experienced longing again today as I was down by the lake. It reminded me of an article I wrote about 5 years ago - so I thought I'd post it for you all. Here goes ...

It happened just before Christmas. It happened to me as I looked at the 30 or 40 people, talking and laughing, clustered together in my kitchen/family room - seeing neighbours and church members becoming my friends. Something happened that night to ignite my imagination. It could actually happen anytime. It might be happening all the time. It may have happened to you this morning as you glanced out your bedroom window or as you stepped out your front door. For some, it may not have happened for a very long time - maybe not since you were very young, for it tends to happen more often when you are young. Sometimes we forget how it happens.

For me it happens as the snow begins to lightly fall on a cold still night. It happens when I lie on my back to look at the stars on a clear night. It happens when I watch a favorite movie. It happens when I think about my childhood and the innocence of being a little boy. It happens when I watch children playing, or hold a baby, or spend time with an old friend. It happens in springtime when the first warm day hits and I can smell things growing. It happens when I see the trees first begin to change colour in autumn. It happens when I hear an old song on the radio. It happens when I watch big fluffy clouds float by on a warm sunny day. It happens when I see an old man sitting by himself at a table in the mall. It happens when I stand on the top of a big hill or mountain and can look around for miles. It happens in church when I worship. It happens when I think about my calling. It happens when I walk my neighbourhood. Sometimes it just sneaks up on me and overwhelms me with the force of its power and I'm left shaken. Other times it just slowly builds until I know it's there but can't quite put my finger on it.

Looking east from the end of my driveway - late August at around 6:30am

What happens is … longing - longing that ignites the imagination into dreaming what might be. It's that bittersweet ache at the very centre of your being - that desire for something more, something you can't quite put your finger on but that you hope against hope might be true. It is a longing … for beauty, fullness, purpose, adventure, belonging, love … longing for something that is just beyond the edges of your consciousness. It is a longing for the eternal - for the best in life, for heaven, for God. I believe that longing is something spiritual put in our hearts by our Creator. It is at its core, a longing for the eternal. It's called desire, zeal, passion. Those who experience it are often called incurable romantics, dreamers or visionaries. Sometimes the Bible calls it thirst or hunger. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." We can't live without it. We cannot be human without it. God has placed it in our hearts.

John Gaynor Banks says it this way: "Desire is a mighty force, one of your most divine attributes … see the God-like quality of desire! For it is part of the Atomic Energy of the soul. The kingdom of heaven within you is operated by desire. Do not quench it or crush it … rather offer it to God." Psalm 37:4 says: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Desire is very individual. It is given to us to guide our way, to find our purpose in life, to discover our calling, our destiny. This deep desire in our hearts for eternal things is placed there by God. Think about it. We are not fully satisfied when we achieve merely earthly goals. We are left longing for more, something eternal.

Fundamentally, this longing is consummated in our worship of the eternal - our worship of God. John Eldridge writes: "Our hearts live for an experience of worship that fills our being with a joy that is so deeply in awe of the Other that we are barely aware of ourselves. God is the wellspring of anything that has ever romanced your heart - the thundering strength of a waterfall, the delicacy of a flower, the stirring capacity of music, the richness of the best food, the depths of true love."

C.S. Lewis adds: "When we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak."

Unfortunately most of us never really allow this longing to do its work in us. We’ve been falsely taught that holiness is niceness, contentment means eliminating passion and to actually admit to being dry, thirsty, longing for more is unspiritual or psychologically unsound. We’ve pushed away desire, afraid that it might be lust, not making the effort to discern the difference. Rarely, if ever, does deep desire find expression in our worship services, or even in our prayers. Afraid of being disappointed, we push down the majestic desires and God-inspired dreams of our lives, not allowing ourselves to hope. Instead, we settle for manageable goals, measurable outcomes, diluted passion and safe dreams. We accept bland lives, dead-end jobs, comfortable church, and the tyranny of the urgent. We've been bought off by the promise of a comfortable life and settle for the shadows of real excitement through television. We sell our birthright for a little bit of pleasure and some peace and quiet. We've learned to reduce our desire to a more manageable size. The chilling danger is that the soul should persuade itself that it is not hungry. But let's be honest about what we've done and call it what it is ... sin.

If it is sin, we must repent and open our lives to the adventure God has in store for us. We must open our hearts and be vulnerable. We must live in such a way that we risk disappointment and pray for the impossible. Someone once said that there is no prayer that after having prayed it God did not wish it were bigger.

Are you hungry for a deeper intimacy with the Creator of your heart? Do you long for your community to be different? Does your heart go out to your neighbours? Do you long for them to encounter God’s best? Do you thirst for the kingdom? Do you hunger for the eternal? He made us that way.

I have a longing for more … more of God, more of His Kingdom, more of the eternal, more of the transforming power of His Spirit … changing my life and the lives of the people who I meet on my street every day.