The Commands of Jesus 3

In speaking of the commands of Jesus, the temptation for many (me included) is to try to remember to obey as many of the commands as possible so that we can live an obedient life. The problem with that is that we begin to measure our salvation and our effectiveness and our status in the Kingdom by how well we do at keeping the commands. We begin to live a performance based life trying to earn the favour of God. We think "If I can only stop doing these things and start doing those things I will be in a better place with God. By doing that we only replace one set of rules for another.

The whole point about obedience is not obeying a set of rules but listening to and obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus lived this way. He said He did nothing but what He saw His Father doing. The commands function as a mirror reflection who we are and what we are like. They are signposts pointing us in the right direction. They are not the path or the destination. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the path and the destination. The real goal is to be found as sons and daughters who delight in the Father and Who delights in them.

A guy named Robert Ricciardelliw wrote this little piece on "Our Identity As Sons" that I came across a few months ago and found again a couple of days ago. It is a nice compliment to the commands of Jesus.


"Our Identity As Sons"
Much of the body of Christ is caught up in an identity crisis. A worldview of God, absent of the full revelation of who we are. Without the full revelation of who we are, we live our lives as spiritual orphans, rather then manifesting the presence of God in our lives. Do we see God as a loving and just Father, or do we see Him as only a master of an earthly orphanage, ready to crack the whip when we mess up? A loving and just Father will discipline us, because of His love and tremendous plans for us. A true son knows that they are dependent on the Lord, and goes throughout the day acknowledging need and direction from their Heavenly Father. Those that have an orphaned mentality, rely on their own ways and only seem to turn to Him when condemnation overwhelms them.

Living By the Love of Law


Living by loving the law as a foundation of theology, produces orphans. By following the rules, they strive for praise, approval, and the acceptance of man, which breeds insecurity and lack of peace. An orphan will have a selfish desire for personal achievement as they seek to impress God and others. Many times they will have no motivation at all to live a life of service in His Kingdom. 

Orphans feel that they must be holy in order to earn God's love and acceptance, which mostly produces feelings of shame and guilt. Their self-image is in their own value, and perceived comparisons with others. This is the foundation that the enemy uses to birth false comforts. They will often find comfort in addictions, counterfeit affections, compulsions, escapism, business, and the tremendously popular "hyper-religious activities". 



Living By the Law of Love


A son will live a word-principled life, while loving God and loving those around them. They find great joy and peace in the approval of their Heavenly Father. They are secure in God's love and justified by grace. Sons will live a life of service, that is motivated by a deep love and gratitude for being unconditionally loved and accepted by their Heavenly Father. They desire to be holy and do not want anything to hinder their intimate relationship with God.

A son feels loved and affirmed, because they know they are of tremendous value to their Father. Not because of what they do, but because of who they are in Him. Their desire for obedience in a word-principled lifestyle, is out of pleasure and delight in their Savior, rather then a sense of duty or trying to earn God's favor.

A son finds comfort in knowing the Father--being known and loved by Him and resting in His presence and love. They will seek out intimate moments and a time of divine downloads from the Father, so that all activity is God-ordained and all steps are ordered by Him. 



A Great Song

I've been helping my daughter record some of her songs. Here's a video of her latest song recorded at Harvest Community Church in Brampton. It's called Oxygen. Listen right to the end. It is powerful. This time I don't think it's just a proud father talking. It really is good.

Boys will be Boys

Some people argue that gender differences are the result of socialization (i.e. that you actually teach or nurture boys to be boys and girls to be girls). The posts of the last week have been a serious look at those reaffirming that there really is a hard wired (biological or at least hormonal) difference. Today I thought I would quote this little piece that actually made the rounds 5 or 6 years ago. It's a hoot. Enjoy.

Interesting facts discovered while bringing up boys.

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep. 

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite. 

3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant. 

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room. 

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way. 

6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late. 

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it. 

9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies. 

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy. 

11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence. 

12. Super glue is forever. 

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O. 

15. VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes. 

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving. 

18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is. 

19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens. 

20. The fire department in Austin , TX has a 5-minute response time. 

21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy. 

22. It will, however, make cats dizzy. 

23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy. 

24. 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
25. 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Same Sex Education in a New Light

I think it has always been clear to every parent that boys and girls are different. There have been a raft of books about the differences in recent years: from Dobson's "Bringing Up Boys," to John Eldridge's "Wild at Heart" and even Robert Bly's "Iron John." It seems that more schools are now recognizing that reality and are providing same sex classrooms in public schools. Separating schoolboys from schoolgirls has long been a staple of private and parochial education. Maybe there is a good reason. It probably should happen in Sunday School as well.

The New York Times has just done a lengthy feature article on it which can be found here. They follow the research of Leonard Sax, a family physician turned author and advocate who this May will quit his medical practice to devote himself full time to promoting single-sex public education. I've quoted a couple of paragraphs from the article below. Some interesting stuff here.

Sax asserts that boys don’t hear as well as girls, which means that an instructor needs to speak louder in order for the boys in the room to hear her; and that boys’ visual systems are better at seeing action, while girls are better at seeing the nuance of color and texture.

The boys like being on their own, they say, because girls don’t appreciate their jokes and think boys are too messy, and are also scared of snakes. The walls of the boys’ classroom are painted blue, the light bulbs emit a cool white light and the thermostat is set to 69 degrees. In the girls’ room, by contrast, the walls are yellow, the light bulbs emit a warm yellow light and the temperature is kept six degrees warmer.

A group of Japanese researchers found girls’ drawings typically depict still lifes of people, pets or flowers, using 10 or more crayons, favoring warm colors like red, green, beige and brown; boys, on the other hand, draw action, using 6 or fewer colors, mostly cool hues like gray, blue, silver and black. This apparent difference, which Sax argues is hard-wired, causes teachers to praise girls’ artwork and make boys feel that they’re drawing incorrectly.

Under Sax’s leadership, teachers learn to say things like, “Damien, take your green crayon and draw some sparks and take your black crayon and draw some black lines coming out from the back of the vehicle, to make it look like it’s going faster.” “Now Damien feels encouraged,” Sax explained “To say to Damien: ‘Why don’t you use more colors? Why don’t you put someone in the vehicle?’ is as discouraging as if you say to Emily, ‘Well, this is nice, but why don’t you have one of them kick the other one — give us some action.’ ”

My Heart is Moved

I was just reading the blogs written by Jared and Kirstyn.
I love the raw honesty of this generation.
They inspire me.
They want to live full out.

They have compassion for the unlovely and have no patience for pretense.
I don't ever want to be pretentious - especially with them.

They have a quick willingness to do anything and go anywhere that is not clouded with the caution or disillusionment of having lived on this earth 50 plus years.
I envy their passion and their enthusiasm.
I want to fan it into fire and join them in the passionate flame.

I'm proud of them - and I think God is too!

I choose to speak words of life over other people. I choose to speak words of life over myself.

The promise of the sunrise drives me on.

I am not afraid to dream big dreams.

Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.

It's hard to trust God; Giving-everything-back-to-him-constantly hard. But I'm going to do it. Because I don't know what else to do.

This is a great inspiration for me in my search for passionate life.

In case you hadn't guessed, the italicized words are quotes from their blogs.

It's a Good Thing

There are times when I catch a glimpse of the majesty and awesomeness of God - it is truly overwhelming. Psalm 8 says:
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
What is it to fall into the hands of this almighty, majestic God? It can be a fearful and dreadful thing being in the hands of God. Jonathan Edwards' famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" comes to mind.

So often that discipline and judgement feels to us like a bad thing. I've really come to see it as a good thing, a very good thing. It is good because it means I am a son and not just an employee of God. He pays attention to me. I am known by him and not just a speck of dust. Employees can be fired or bought out and left behind. But sons ... sons are remembered and thought about - even if they have disappointed us. Sons carry the bloodline and have a place in the inheritance even if they have been exiled or disowned. Sons are welcomed back even when they have been in a far country wasting their substance with riotous living (see Luke 15:11-32).

Sons are also subject to God's discipline - not merely for the purposes of punishment but because He wants to see them come into the fulness of their calling. He wants them to become everything He has created them to become.

Hebrews 12 has become an oft-read passage for me and reveals the love and purposes of God for me.

5And have you forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet,"[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Discipline and judgment are actually a sign of love and grace. God loves us too much to allow us to continue along a path of destruction. His discipline - even to the Israelites - is always intended to be a course correction and a sign that He has not abandoned us. If we listen closely, and are obedient, the discipline is short and the blessings are eternal.

Part of my prayer for you.
Blessings

All Saints Day

With all the fuss over Halloween (or All Hallows Eve) it's strange that there is almost no awareness of the reason for the holiday - All Saints' Day (or All Hallows, or Hallowmas - "hallows" meaning "saints," and "mas" meaning "Mass"). It is a feast celebrated on November 1 or on the first Sunday after Pentecost in honour of all the saints, known and unknown. Although the Christian elements of this holiday have been overshadowed by the commercialism (candy, costumes) and the occult, there are some vestiges of historic Christian origins seen in our current celebrations. Let's look through some of the history to see some of the mingling of the sacred and secular.

In the early Church, Christians would celebrate the anniversary of every martyr's death for Christ (known as the saint's "birth day") by serving an All-Night Vigil, and then celebrating the Eucharist over their tomb or place of martyrdom. Frequently, a number of Christians would suffer martyrdom on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian (245-316) the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. Over time it also became a day to venerate all saints who had passed on not just martyrs. All Souls' Day was eventually added following All Saints Day to commemorate the departed faithful who had not yet been venerated as saints.

A commemoration of "All Martyrs" began to be celebrated as early as the year 270. It was originally celebrated around Easter and then on the first Sunday after Pentecost which is the day the Eastern Orthodox church still celebrates All Saints Day. The feast of All Saints, on its current date, is traced back to Pope Gregory III (731-741) who moved it to November 1 coinciding with the Celtic pagan holiday of Samhain.

In the first ages, during the night before every feast (primarily Christmas, Easter, Assumption and All Saints), a vigil was kept. In the evening the faithful assembled in the place or church where the feast was to be celebrated and prepared themselves by prayers, readings from Holy Writ and sometimes also by hearing a sermon. On such occasions, as on fast days in general, Mass also was celebrated in the evening, before the Vespers of the following day. Towards morning the people dispersed to the streets and houses near the church, to wait for the solemn services of the forenoon. The morning intermission gave rise to grave abuses; the people caroused and danced in the streets and halls around the church.

So we see that even in the sacred observance of All Saints there were elements of the current Halloween celebration going on. There was the gruesomeness and violence of the martyring of the saints, some elements of the ghostly in remembering those who had gone before and then we see the carousing connected to the abuses during the vigils of the night before a feast.

For Christians this should be a time when we do remember the contributions of those who have gone before. We rest on their shoulders and are able to learn much from them. We certainly have a heritage received from the Apostles as they live with the Saviour and passed down much of our Scripture. We learn from the church fathers and those who were persecuted for their faith. The saints of old and the saints of the Reformation to those who have only recently passed away - each contributes to our fuller understanding of the purposes of God. This remembering challenges us to press on to the high calling of God as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us ...

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3

Best Blog Post I Ever Read

This must be (for all its brevity and taking into account my personal bias) the best post ever. I saw it at Kirstyn's blog Breaking Free From Routine. I could just send you over there to read it (you should go - it's in colour there) but I wanted to put it here in so that others could read it as well. This is a prophetic message from God, It speaks to me that way and I hope it speaks to you as well.


God's Love

Thinking of My love
as simply a strong feeling towards you
is like drawing a single dot
on a piece of blank white paper.

My love has
colour,
shape,
design,
creativity.

It's 3 dimensional,
it lives,
it moves,
it breathes,
it has personality.

Slow Blog Week

It's been a slow blog week. I reconnected with an old friend this week and spent some time over at his parents place with him. Brigitte and I did a wedding together - she was the wedding planner and I officiated. A great couple who breathe fresh life into the institution of marriage. Congratulations Ian and Lisa!

I've also just been reading my son's blog People Need to Hear and my daughter's Breaking Free from Routine. Wow! They both write so well and carry real emotion into their blog. Maybe this is just the proud dad talking here but sometimes I really am blown away. They have more insight into life than I do at times and are continually teaching me new things (if you can teach an old dog new tricks).

A Friend's Father

I was at the funeral of a friend's father yesterday. Father's are so influential. They affect us so deeply and in so many way - and in ways that we don't realize until a crisis situation or until it's too late. It was interesting to hear of all the things this father went through - terrible things really - as he grew up. The pressures of life on a farm, the narrow religious views, the horrors of war and disease. We of this generation, with media scrutiny and information access and medical breakthrough and broad education, don't realize the difficulty of the times our parents and grandparents experienced. Children worked on the farm (summer vacations were work time) and school work was often sacrificed for the more pressing needs of harvest time or spring planting. Men were supposed to be men, tough and unfeeling, and raised their sons that way.

And yet in the middle of the difficulties, grace abounds. Fathers love their sons - not always in the ways their sons want to be loved - but loved more than they could ever know. That was my friend's experience and he was able to celebrate a generous hard working man who brought four children into the world - each successful in their own way, each following Jesus and each one parents of their own children now. Thanks for letting me be a part of this story.

A Busy Week

Well, I turned 50 this week. I saw it coming for a long time but when it actually hit I was a bit surprised by how old it sounds. I don't feel any different. I was at a retreat on my birthday with a group of about 50 other leaders from the GTA and somehow they found out it was my 50th (my wife has a guilty look on her face). When one of them wished me a happy birthday he said "I thought you were younger than me - but you're actually a few years older!" Maybe it was intended as a compliment but I suddenly felt older.

My Dad also celebrated his 54th wedding anniversary this week - the first one with out my mother who passed away in September. I ached for him and felt the loss more greatly myself. Today is my mother's birthday as well - another tough day. I usually bought her a dozen yellow carnations on her birthday. Life goes on but it's not always simple or easy.

The Funeral

The funeral was yesterday and it went really well - if a funeral can go well. I made it through without completely breaking down and I could sense the prayers coming my way. My former pastor came as did a number of our congregation from Thornhill. My daughter sang and there wasn't a dry eye in the house (including mine). My sister's father-in-law and brother-in-law (nominal Catholics) were there (they also lost wife/mother earlier this year). My sister said it was exactly right for them.

My dad said, considering the circumstances, it was a perfect day - everything he wanted from the day. It was less difficult than I thought it would be but I think the main reason is that I was sure I'd heard from God what to speak about. And hope about where my mother is right now was really more like absolute certainty. It was so easy to speak well of my mother - she was a kind and gentle woman and everyone who met her liked her.

I'm very glad I did the service. It helped me to express how I felt. I know I would have been frustrated and disappointed if someone else had done it - especially looking back on the event. I'm going to put the the printed eulogy from the church bulletin into the next post.