Don't Look Down - Consumed 2 (Fear)

This Sunday in the morning service we'll be talking about our fears. The Bible has a lot to say about fear. This should connect very well with what we talked about on Father's Day when we looked at what is at the heart of someone who is "Consumed by Work".

(A link to the last Sunday's message will be made available soon if you missed and would like to get caught up.)

As a way of leading into this message "Consumed by Fear" I thought we could have a little fun sharing some of the things we sometimes find ourselves afraid of. And in the spirit of fairness I'll go first...

I am afraid of heights, which is ironic considering that I also enjoy a good roller coaster. Once I am more than a few steps up on a ladder the nerves begin. I'm not exactly sure that its a fear of heights or even a fear of falling, it's more the idea of the sudden stop at the end of the fall. regardless, I am afraid of heights. While I will tolerate the occasional ladder and need to be off the ground but I breath much easier once I'm back on solid ground.

So what's your story???

Consumed

Definition: To do away with completely  or to engage fully

What is it that consumes your day, your time or your attention? Is it your work, family, friends, bills? Is it one things that seems to completely do away with your day and you wonder where it all went? Has something so engaged you that its all you think about? A new video game. A new relationship. The latest gossip. Who's getting kicked off this week on whatever show. (Admit it we all watch at least one of those). Perhaps what consumes you or your time isn't nearly as tangible as all that like fear, guilt, anger, worry, or bitterness.

I am easily sucked into the newest video game or phone app. I just have to pass one more level before I stop. I can also find myself consumed with trying to figure out where I'm headed and where I'll be in the coming years. There are many things and thoughts that if I am not careful will quite litterally consume me. It is good to remember sometimes what allowing myself to be consumed might lead to and what in the end "should" (there's that word should again) consume me. Deuteronomy 4:24 reminds us that God is an all consuming fire. If we are to be consumed by anything let it be our relationship with Him.

Is there anything that consumes you???

"Re"vival

Sunday was an eventful day. It's my sincere hope that it was the start of something I hope will change us all. Throughout history God has taken the time to shake His people from apathy and wake them up to the reality that they are not where they should be or doing what they should be doing. Usually this comes through rough waters that cause us all to look to Him as He is now the only source of help. Once awakened and aware of their need for Him and the need to perhaps change how they had been living or acting, God begins to move. As His people get closer and closer to Him they also get closer and closer to what it is He wants for them.

REVIVAL

Sunday morning's message reminded us that we are called to two things: 1. To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength 2. To love our neighbor as our self. We were called to seriously think about our relationship with God and with each other.

Sunday night began our series "Re"vival by looking at the very first part of 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name..." Before we can expect God to move we must understand who and whose we are because understanding that shows us a great deal about how we "SHOULD" be living our lives.

If you were to give yourself a new name or a title to go with your name that describes how you are living what would it be and why? Or simply share what name you would like to see applied to you.

Hope to see you next Sunday night at the Jackson First Church of the Nazarene 6:00pm for part 2 in the "Re"vival series "Retreat".

The Bar is Set...And It's REALLY HIGH!

Have you ever been so busy that you started looking for shortcuts? I remember in college when it came time for final exams and final papers some of my friends, (yes and me too), started looking at their grades and where they stood in each class. I had a one friend in particular, you know the one who just has to look at the book to pass the test and not really open it and read it. I always envied him and others who could skim through heavy reading in 30min that took me 2 or 3 hours to understand. This particular friend would look at his grades and decide what would be the fewest amount of questions he would have to answer on the final and still get an A in the class. Of course he would take into consideration the probability of getting each question right and factor in the difficulty of the class...Did I mention he was a math major? For me though it was a no brainer, I had to take and finish the entire exam. My look for shortcuts usually came with the papers. Trying to decide how I can say what needs said in the fewest amount of pages possible. This is mostly because I am afflicted with two very serious flaws when it comes to this. I tend to be very wordy and talk a lot, shocker right? I also procrastinate. Surprisingly some of my best papers ended up being written at 2am the night/morning it was due.

We've all looked for shortcuts in some ways and at some times. Jesus was approached by a teacher of the law who asked Him what the greatest commandment in the law was. He did this to test Him. Jesus' answer is so great. He took the ten commandments and all the extra stuff the Jews had piled on and summed it all up into two statements. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. I'm thinking why couldn't some of the authors of my text books in college have done that? Summed all of what they had to say to just the most important.

Jesus set the bar. He told us what the most important commandment was and what the second was. All we have to do is love God with all we have and love our neighbor as yourself. Simple right? It may sound so but how many things do we spend more time with each week than we do with our relationship with God and how many of us really love others as we love yourself? Whenever we think we have this down pat its time to take a long hard look in the mirror and at what Jesus said about who our neighbor is.

When you think about how you spend your time through the week and think about the people in your life who are hardest to love. What are the things you feel challenged to change?

Our Youth Make a Difference

I thought this would be a change from my original posts.

Pictured above with Senator Rob Portman are four youth from the Jackson County LAUNCH program. These youth; Brittney Trisch, Amber Goble, Kaylee McCain, and Autumn Casey spent the week in D.C. learning how to be effective leaders and positive influences in their community. Part of their experience was to meet with Ohio representatives and share with them what LAUNCH is, what roles they play in LAUNCH and the community, and how LAUNCH has changed their lives for the better. I am so proud of these young people and what they have continued to do since this conference in February. Two of these youth; Amber Goble and Brittney Trisch have stayed so involved throughout this year that they will be receiving the President's Volunteer Service Award later this year. This means that they have completed over 100 hours of volunteer service to their community. And these are just a few of the amazing youth I see making a difference in Jackson County.

No Secrects Left

Almighty God, unto Whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy Name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

There are people in this world who would much rather blend in than stand out. For one reason or another they would rather hang back unnoticed. The woman that we read about is one of those people. She knows that there are circumstances in her life that make her a target for gossip, ridicule, and a host of other social put downs. This is why we find her coming to the well where Jesus is at a time of the day when it’s usually deserted. She’s been marked. Whether through choices of her own or just a victim of circumstances, she knows she wears the labels unwanted, undesirable, used, broken, adulterer. So is it any wonder she would prefer to live her life with a certain amount of anonymity? If you were her wouldn’t you hide? Wouldn’t you want to avoid the stares and whispers?

I want us to see what happens when this woman, who has everything to hide encounters the Messiah the, “ Almighty God, unto Whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid:…”.

 But before we look too much more closely at her I have to share with you a story on my nephews Elijah and Gabriel.

Often when I go see my brother and his family the kids will insist on playing some form of hide and go seek. This fun because right now when you play hide and go seek 2 things almost always happen, you are the one who has to find them and you will always have help. Elijah being older has managed to find some good hiding spots, which unfortunately his brother also knows. As soon as you say the words ready or not hear I come you either hear Gabriel laughing saying that you won’t find him or you hear him running saying “Hear I am.” Once this happens, much like a hound dog on the scent of a fox or rabbit he’s off leading you to his brother. He doesn’t bark but he does point and says “He’s here! He’s right here!” So much like his grandpa and Uncle Toddy he’s not much at keeping secrets.

Can you imagine playing hide and go seek with someone who as soon as they are done counting know exactly where you are hiding and are right there before you even have a chance to run for base? My guess is Adam and Eve felt that way. I have pictured it something like “Hey this tastes pretty good and I didn’t die. Hey Adam try this.”

“You’re right Eve this really is good.” And right then, just as soon as they realize something’s different and they feel the need to cover up,  both literally and figuratively, God shows up with a ready or not here I come. Well actually it was more of an “Adam why are you hiding?”

You do realize that that’s how much of the world sees God, the church, and Christian’s in general right? A group or person, who is just waiting to find them out and show them up. We like to think that the world sees us as loving. We hope that they see the Jesus who inspired the words to the song “Just as I AM”. In reality they’ve run into far too many of us who say “Wow that’s a pretty bad cut, here let me pour some lemon juice on it.” “You think your ashamed now just wait until I show you how many of God’s laws you’ve broken. Hey and then after that we can pray with you and make it all better.” Now that’s evangelism right? Not really. That is however how many churches and Christians act and that is exactly the kind of reputation the Jews had.

So why doesn’t she wait until Jesus leaves? She may have been in a hurry to get her water and get out before the rest of the town started showing up. She may have also been a little more bold knowing that not only was this man a stranger who shouldn’t know her secret but Jews didn’t even like talking to Samaritans. In fact...

4:9 – dealings (found in KJV)

it has been understood to mean, the Jews will be under no kind of obligation to the Samaritans—will borrow nothing from them—will not drink out of the same cup or well with them—will not sit down to meals with them, nor eat out of the same vessel—will have no religious connection, no commercial dealings with them.

So with a little confidence and hopes that she would get her water and go before anyone else showed up, she approaches the well and Jesus.

This is where you wish that John would have added one of those “Now Jesus knowing her thoughts...” passages.

Imagine her surprise when Jesus asks her for a drink. There must have been a mixture of fear, nervousness, and confusion among other emotions. The first emotion that seems to surface though is her confusion. Knowing that Jews wouldn’t normally give a Samaritan, much less a Samaritan woman, the time of day she asks Him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Not only is she confused by Him talking to her she’s confused by what He’s asking.

Have you ever wondered why she pointed out to Jesus that He had nothing to draw that water with? I have. She was there to get water for herself and she obviously had the means to get Jesus a drink if she wanted to. Think back to what I shared earlier about the word dealings. A Jew might talk to a Samaritan if it were absolutely necessary but they would never drink out of the same class or bucket. Think about it, If Samaritans were considered unclean then everything they touched would also be unclean. Jews even had rules for how far away they should be from a Samaritan depending on whether or not they were up or down wind, so that they wouldn’t breath the same air. That said do you think they would want to drink water from a Samaritan well, drawn by a Samaritan woman in HER bucket?

This unexpected request sparks a conversation. In my opinion she talks to Jesus as boldly as she does because for one things Samaritans are that fond of Jews either so she’s not going to pass up this opportunity to get her shots in and secondly in her mind there was no way He could look down on her anymore than she felt He already did. We see this today when we try to share our faith with someone who has already met, one too many “Christians”. This is why we should look to Jesus concerning our approach to evangelism.

Her biggest fear walking up to that well was that Jesus might somehow know or find out her secret. You and I both know that before she even took that first step toward the well Jesus knew. He knew the facts about her life. More than that though, he knew how her life’s circumstance made her feel. He knew the fear she felt of being found out. He knew the shame she felt every time she thought about how her life and marriages ended up. Jesus knew all this in an instant and still reached out to her.

It seems to be human nature though to want to label someone within minutes of meeting them. Just look at a high school or middle school lunch room and you’ll know what I mean. You’ll find groups that are easy to spot and if you are a high school or middle school student and are new, you’ll find out quickly what label you’ve been given and where both geographically and socially that puts you. And while the church doesn’t hold the corner of the market when it comes to labeling, there are some who have made it an art form.

Jesus, however, spends little time on her label. He doesn’t hammer away at it. Rather He goes in with a surgical scalpel.

She asks that Jesus give her this living water that He’s talking about so that she won’t have to keep coming to the well to get water. She does this, I believe, not to save trips but so that she might better hide from the community. So Jesus goes right to the heart and the cat’s out of the bag.

Her first reaction is to subvert any authority this Jew might have as far as judging her situation.  “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” She thinks to herself, “We’ll just leave that one to some one more qualified and more importantly not here right now to speak to me about that.” Imagine her utter astonishment at Jesus’ reply. “I who am speaking to you am He.”

The thought process must have gone something like this. You can’t be the Messiah. Or could you? He did know my life’s story. Wait if He knew He must have known before He talked to me about that other stuff. Could it be? Could it be that the Messiah is here and that He does know and yet He still cares?

Just then the disciples show up and with Jesus’ attention temporarily diverted to them the woman takes off. I imagine so excited that she forgot her bucket and rope. She completely forgets that she’s afraid of confronting the rest of her community and goes to all of them saying, “come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

Footnote from The Gospel According to John by Morris

"Findlay writes about the woman’s view of Jesus, “…but first she caught sight of a thirsty man, then a Jew, then a Rabbi, afterwards a prophet, last of all the Messiah. She tried to get the better of the thirsty man, she showed her dislike of the Jew, she heckled the Rabbi, she was swept off her feet by the prophet, and she adored the Christ.”

Jesus showed much more concern for that present moment and the woman’s future than her past. Why? Because if in that present moment she would put her faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Messiah, her future would be forever changed and her past wouldn’t matter anymore.

Often what keeps us and others from drawing near to Jesus is the fear of what will happen once the light is shining and all that we worked so hard to keep hidden is now completely out in the open. It’s the same thing that keeps us coming to pray at the alter unless we’re sick or praying for someone else’s spiritual condition. “I’ll come and be anointed but don’t expect to see me up there praying about my marriage.”

Patrick Lecione in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team says this about his definition of trust. That trust is a willingness to be completely open and vulnerable with absolute confidence that your weakness and shortcomings won’t be thrown back in your face.

We all have carried around weights that we were never meant to. They become heavy and can be almost suffocating. If you are here tonight and are feeling weighed down by something I have only one question. Are you willing to trust Jesus? Are you willing to be completely open and vulnerable to Him? I opened with this prayer…

Almighty God, unto Whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy Name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Perhaps today you’d like to pray something similar. “God, you know all my secrets. Clean me up so I can love you and worship you the way I should. Thank you God for loving me ‘Just as I AM’ tonight.”

Crazy Schedules

I have the great priveledge of working with some of Jackson County's greatest youth. They are not afraid to work and have taken on every challenge we've thrown at them this past year. From planning their own leadership retreat, meeting with their representatives in D.C., or even helping to write a grant they have shown themselves more than able to take care of business. One thing I've noticed though is how busy many of our youth are outside of the LAUNCH program. In fact most of the youth I know are involved in so much that they often find themselves having to choose between the things they are involved in because of conflicts in schedules. I mean there are just so many hours in a day and days in a week. I know I'm one to talk because I don't know the meaning the word overscheduled.

We live in a day when 3rd graders travel to multiple states competing in soccer, softball, football, and the like. What happened to just getting together and having a little fun in the back yard? Where did we get the idea that 4th grade boys playing football need a Superbowl championship? Or the 5th grade soccer player who plays in 3 leagues at the same time. I can understand kids wanting to be involved in all this. What kid wouldn't want those kind of bragging rights and the opportunity to go to so many places and meet all the other kids from the other leagues? What I don't get is the parent who complains about all the running they have to do when they could help themselves out by only letting their kids play one sport and in one league at a time. Or do I have it backwards? Are the kids involved in so much because the parents push them to be?

I worry about some of the youth I work with who have so much on their plate. I sometimes wonder how many of them would be doing ten times better in school if they weren't in 3 sports and 4 clubs. Isn't this one of those situations where less really is more?

As a Christian I have to wonder what God has to say about all the running around we do. In the grand scheme of things how does what we do show the rest of the world just how awesome and loving our God is? I've been picking on youth sports but this is a valid issue to address in the church as well. Is what we are doing just one more program, one more thing to add to the list of stuff our church does or does it show people who don't already know Jesus just how great knowing Him can be. To paraphrase a speaker at a somewhat recent workshop: So what if your Easter program is the biggest and most impressive in the state? How many new people have become regular attenders or have come to know Christ? If the answer to that question isn't as impressive as the show you put on then you should question if your time, money and effort wouldn't have been better spent on something smaller and more personal.

I guess those are some of my thoughts What do you think?

What do you think about the crazy schedules we keep? Feel free to share a verse that helps you find peace in the midst of this high speed chase we have with life.

Divided We Fall

All throughout scripture we read about grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The church should be one place where we look for ways to bring people together instead of ways to push them further apart. The Christian group Casting Crowns asks us in their song, If We are the Body (of Christ):
"Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way ?"

From my perspective there are many Christians, myself often included, who have a hard time separating the sin from the sinner, or the hurtful act from the one who hurt us. In the latest lifechurch series called "Getting Past Your Past" the 2nd and 3rd messages are on forgiveness. Forgiving others and asking others to forgive us. I think before we pass any kind of judgement on someone for hurting us or someone close to us we should make sure we don't have anyone out there from whom we need forgiveness.

What do you think the church could or should be doing to help create a culture where we spend more time building bridges instead of burning them?

For more on the topic of forgiveness check out the following message from Dayton Crossroads Pastor Eric Wright.
http://www.themergeblog.com/2011/05/urban-legends-forgiveness-myths.html