Pinebrooke Posts

Weekly Blog

              From time to time someone says something that seems so very timely though it was said at a different time.  I ran into one of those things this week that seems so timely in our present circumstance.  Michael Cassidy, “The sort of person I am, is largely determined by how I handle the negative situations in which I find myself.”  We get to choose whether we will be persons of peace or persons of chaos.

              One of the great fallacies that we have learned to live into is to assume that circumstances create our responses to it, but Jesus showed us a different way.  When Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives….”  The question is, from what source do I find my peace?

              Our world lives and breathes turmoil and has no peace to offer its citizens.  Yet, that is the only peace that most are aware of.  It would seem that this is a great opportunity for the apprentices of Jesus to offer real hope.  We have a real Object for hope, having hope in Him is hope that brings peace, real peace. 

Weekly Blog

              As a philosopher, Dallas Willard engaged in the discussion and pursuit of “just what a good life” actually is.  Good living is not as popular as the pursuit of happiness.  They may seem somewhat the same, but they are actually quite different.  A good life carries a quality of goodness, which is a moral statement.  Therefore, what is a morally sound way of living?

              Happiness on the other hand is the contemporary replacement for the historic sense of goodness.  Since the focus has moved from a cosmic definition to a completely personal definition, the measurement has completely changed.  As C.S. Lewis stated, “Happiness is about what happens, joy is not.”  The deep inner sense of joy contributes to the cosmic sense of goodness.  Joy is a descriptor of the reservoir of the soul.

              As external circumstances change and the change all the time, happiness is always in question.  As such, the pursuit of happiness has become all consuming because of its variance.  This distraction is a subtractive element to life, always taking and never giving.  Goodness on the other hand has a filling and stabilizing influence on the individual life as well as our communal life.  As we learn to embrace “goodness” we naturally are drawn to the Definer of the Good and that helps us live differently and peacefully.

Weekly Blog

              On one hand our world has come to relish in diversity and on the other not so much.  It seems that we are bent on the same path as civilization has always been on.  There are acceptable aspects of diversity that are championed; race, sexuality, and creed, in modern society and there are aspects of diversity that are denied; political incorrectness, a biblical worldview, and disagreement.  Often the outcome is reduced to socio-political power.  Then we are back to the same bent who has the power.

              It would seem would it not that the Jesus Way is not bent on power, but on a different Way.  Isn’t it more about simply going about creating “good culture” wherever we go?  Truly being redemptive, restorative, engagers of faith, hope, and love.  If indeed Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is a description of God, then doesn’t that call us to His Way in this world differently?

              It is easiest for us to expend our energy in what we are against.  In a way that seems to be “angry energy.”  It is more difficult for us to spend our energy on what we are “for.”  I’m calling that “restorative energy.”  Knowing what was originally intended requires that we pay attention to history so that we can invest in restoring and rebuilding that which is broken.  Wasn’t that, isn’t that simply what Jesus’ work has been, is, and always will be about?

Weekly Blog

                I read an article in the present issue of Christianity Today magazine asking the question, “Can voting be a sin?”  The responses gathered were as diverse as were the respondents.  The only thing in common among the respondents was that they were all “spokespersons for Christ.”  It may suggest that the Church is as divergent as its adherents’ worldviews.  I’m sure that every respondent believes that their worldview is resident in the scriptures. 

                No wonder the world is confused about righteousness and justice.  There is little certainty in the Church, how could there be certainty is the common culture?  After reading the differing viewpoints I found in my own reaction wondering whether this person or that person is even a Christian.  The redevelopment of our worldviews from childhood or provincial adulthood to a serious apprenticeship with Jesus is the task of every serious disciple of Jesus.

                How we see things and what we value constitute our worldview, and we are accountable to God for our conclusions.  I am reminded of Paul’s admonition in Romans 12:2, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  One thing is sure, we must be men and women of the Word and rearrange our thinking and our living in light of God’s Word as best we can.

Weekly Blog

                Self-reflection seems to be one of the least practiced disciplines in contemporary life.  I’ve wondered why that is and the best I can come up with is that our “center” is rather mushy, so we do not have a solid center made up of something more than simply opinion.  In order to reflect we have to bounce things off something that doesn’t change easily.  In order to know who I am and where I am, I need to recognize a “center” within oneself.

                The question: “Who am I” is not an untested question.  I’m reminded of Bonhoeffer’s poem by that name in the midst of a world “coming apart” in the early 1940s.  The reality is that circumstances can never hold the weight of my identity nor value or I will come crashing down.  Gordon MacDonald calls that a “sink hole.”  But I am much more than my worldview – the way I think things ought to be.

                It is in my “private world” that substance exists, and it is in our “private worlds” that we are held together.  I suspect that the “driven-ness” and noisiness of contemporary life leaves us scattered and distracted, not knowing which end is up.  The certain truth is who God says I am since He is the one who “dreamed” me up and brought me to life.  As we continue in uncertain circumstances, may we find great solidarity in the Word of God and the Jesus Way, Truth, and Life.

Weekly Blog

              There are many challenges before us.  What do you use to confront those challenges?  The more I talk to a variety of people the more one of those “hidden” dimensions of life surfaces – worldviews.  How we see things and what the nature of our own certainties are for the most part how we experience life.  I’ve been asking this question to many, “How does one become strong emotionally and how does one become weak emotionally?”

              When our worldview is based on how we think things should be and is rooted on the conclusions that we came to as members of our families of origin and the messages that have been prevalent in our society, then we are rooted in that which is temporary or transient.  The challenge for us as followers of Jesus is to make an unpopular decision, base our worldview on the revelation of God – the Scriptures.

              The worldview of the kingdom of God is the best and only eternal worldview that transcends time as it was given to us as “best.”  God’s way has been, is, and will always be best.  The best way to live makes us strong and centered in whatever the circumstances.  Just as the battle rages over what is truth or right, we can contribute a solidarity in a truly broken society.  Join me in living our “salt and light!”

Weekly Blog

              Some have observed that a root problem in our “Judeo/Christian” society is that instead of influencing society sadly the common culture has influenced the Church.  It seems to me that just maybe the church has required so little of itself so that Christian discipleship has come to mean almost nothing.  I’m not sure how we have gotten to where we do not take the Bible seriously as an essential means of becoming followers of Jesus, but I think we are there for the most part.

              If we become satisfied with an altruistic ethic, rather then the painful process of true spiritual transformation, we not longer are true cross-bearers.  I’m afraid that we are keen on alluding to our favorite Bible verses without ever coming to grips with the depth of human experience that lies in each one.  Galatians 2:20 comes to mind, yet we have hardly entered into the substance of what it means to be “crucified with Christ…”  Have we joined him on the cross in our hearts?  Do we know how to “take up your cross and follow Him?”

              Honestly, I find it deeply disappointing that we have come to a place in which we embrace social theories above our embracing the inspired Word of God.  God has shown us how to “love one another.”  He has shown us what it is to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”  When we forget what we “know” we are particularly susceptible to living in a self-referenced manner which is simply rebellion against God.

Weekly Blog

                In light of the “revolution” that is going on around us, I uncovered a statement from David Bentley Hart that I found very helpful that you may as well:  “Violent, sudden, and calamitous revolutions, are the ones that accomplish the least.  While they may succeed at radically reordering societies, they usually cannot transform cultures.  They may excel at destroying the past, but they are generally impotent to create a future.  The revolutions that genuinely alter human reality at the deepest levels – the only real revolutions, that is to say – are those that first convert minds and wills, that reshape the imagination and reorient desire, that overthrow tyrannies within the soul.”

                The “gradual, subtle, exceedingly small and somewhat inchoate at first – like the revolution of Christianity in its first centuries – slowly introducing its vision of divine, cosmic, and human reality into the culture around it, often by deeds rather than words” is the revolution that lasts.  The task before us is to simply live out the truth of Scripture beginning with the Great Commandment…”Thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all of thy heart, soul, and mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”  Or, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is sufficient to fill the gaps that have been exposed in recent days.

                Our present culture is being held hostage by the false teachers of Critical Race Theory.  It is our challenge to know the truth that will set all men free.  As followers of Jesus may we enter others pain with listening ears and compassionate hearts and grounded in truth…not someone’s theory.

Weekly Blog

                In a world in which some are pushing for systemic change through political influence I keep wondering if it becomes anything different than any other social power movement?  The intrinsic problem of “power over” others is that it is only temporary.  Temporary until the next political movement pushes forward to regain a new foot hold.  The problem is the unredeemed nature of humankind remains the same.  See the consequence of the desert exile of Israel until the previous generation of faithlessness died off – literally.  In time the new generation would become faithless and be destined to be exiled.

                It seems to me that until humankind is changed by experiences of spiritual restoration, most change will remain political in the throes of political power.  Though some righteousness may come out of the present mayhem, I have doubt that it will last unless the source of change changes.  Unless there is a spiritual conversion of the human heart, the seed will grow up only to be strangled by the “thorns and thistles.”

                The seed of change must be sown in the soil of the kingdom of God and his righteousness for it to last.  Yet, I admit according to the revelation of God, that which we have tells me that the progression of the “progressives” will eventually lead to more tribulation.  Hope in any other manmade stripe only leads to disappointment. The ugliness of fallenness will simply raise another “savior” to whom man devotes himself only to be disappointed once again.

Weekly Blog

                The world outside of us is different!  What is the world inside of you like?  The kingdom of heaven that we pray in every day as we pray like Jesus taught us to pray does not depend on what is around us, it is a matter of what is in us.  The kingdom of God is the seed that was planted in us when we “gave our lives to Christ.”  Have we cultivated that seed?  Have we watered that seed?  Has it sprouted and bloomed?

                The weakness that seems to dominate is the weakness of non-germinated seed.  God placed within us the seed that was given to us to change the world for the good not for evil.  What is the condition of your seed?  Have you given any thought to that?  Have you ever asked God to cause the seed to flourish?

                Our “religion” has settled for productivity in life instead of pushing onward to fruitfulness.  The fruit depends on the seed becoming a stalk or trunk, and the trunk producing branches (passions/talents/gifts) and the branches producing fruit.  If there is something to grasp in this it is to always make space to cultivate the “seed” in your life rhythms.  It is meant to be the priority in life.  Don’t forget that!

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                We are residing in a unique time in our lifetimes.  We choose to live in reaction or in response to the stressors that are upon us.  It seems that when we look closely at Jesus, we always find Jesus responding from the inside out.  It is in his perfect humanness that he was always ready to respond to what was before him.

            We often simply ascribe his behavior to his divinity, but in fact his responses were rooted in his continual cultivation of his relationship with the Father.  If his work was to show us the Father in flesh and blood, the challenge to embrace the “Jesus Way” stares us in the face.  Do we respond to the world we live in rooted in the Word of God or have we exchanged that Life for the common culture’s way?

            If we embrace the stressors that we are engaged in from the perspective of politics, we have given up the wholeness and holiness that remains certain under the authority of the Trinity.  “Saltiness and Light” are rooted in the personal reality of our relationship with God.  As legitimate followers of Jesus it would seem that Jesus alone ought to direct our steps, because it is in Him alone that salt and light are defined.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

            With Pentecost now in the rearview mirror, what do we have in front of us?  This week we keep our sights on the gracious provision that God has made to us in our finite world of time and space.  We have the great mystery of the Holy Trinity set before us.  Though incomprehensible in every way, God has expressed Himself and continues to express Himself for us in intimacy and deference.  The image of the Trinity, though inconceivable is three in One.

            What we are left with is Love.  “We love because He first loved us!”  How and why God would reveal Himself in the sense of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we know not, but what we know is that He has done that to show love in its full dimensions.  He has done that for our sakes!  This is our comprehension of the Incomprehensible.

            So, what then does it matter?  It is for our sense of Mystery and Awe!  Our humanness is incomplete without mystery and awe.  Our inadequate understanding is necessary to come to grips with the truth that we are “nothing” and He is everything.  To be made “a little lower than the angels” includes this humility that sets us apart as “made in His image.”  As we pilgrim on through this week, I encourage you to do so with the spirit of mystery and awe.  Look and listen with amazement!

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

            The path narrows this week to arrange our focus on the Holy Spirit.  In the season of Easter, the Holy Spirit is the promise that Jesus offers all who would follow Him.  These weeks leading up to Pentecost are weeks of celebration, learning, and anticipation of that which personalized the mystery of God’s way with humankind.

            The Spirit’s work of revealing Jesus more fully, guiding us into all truth, and conviction humankind of sin, righteousness, and judgment is life itself for us.  Jesus becomes our exposure to beauty, goodness, and truth.  Opening us to truth in every endeavor, the Holy Spirit does the inner work of conviction of sin, declaration of righteousness, and life apart from Christ daily and eternally.  Without the Spirit we would be left alone in Moses’ Law.

            As we embrace this “season of the Spirit” over the next week, I would like to challenge you.  Is the Holy Spirit a definitive member of the Trinity in your thinking?  What is your relationship with the Holy Spirit like?  Is the Spirit as personal and intimate as the Father or the Son?  I’ve been giving some thought to that question this past week.  Consider what it means to you to love the Holy Spirit with all of your heart, soul and mind!

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                This week in our pilgrimage to Pentecost the message is simple.  The ministry of the church is an important chapter in the story of resurrection life, purchased and demonstrated in the Easter event.  Lest you think of a smorgasbord of busyness like is often the case in contemporary churches, I want to offer us a simple and profound statement that Jesus made while in the Upper Room after the Seder dinner.

            John recalls it this way, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)

            For all the complicated and sophisticated programs we are capable of creating and developing, the call and command is really rather simple.  We are simply to be about what Jesus did that the Father might get the attention and amazement that is his.  Our lives will be completely full if only we would do what Jesus did.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                In this third week of Easter our focus is on worship.  Too often we have a very narrow definition of worship, usually thinking it is the same as songs and singing.  However, the root of worship is found in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice to God which is your spiritual service of worship.” (KJV).  It is so much more than singing.

            Worship is very physical!  Consider Mary in Jesus’ last week when she poured perfume on his feet and wiped them with her hair.  Worship in light of Easter is submission to God in whatever place God calls you to.  It could be to serve your neighbor, it could be in praying for others who are in need, it could be in contacting or writing a letter of encouragement; in a way it could be anything that requires physical action on your part.

            Worship in light of Easter is very tangible.  The resurrection of Jesus was a very tangible event and in the spirit of that event there is a path now provided for us to carry the scent of resurrection into our world day by day.  Can you see how utterly different than anything that is natural to human beings?  By the way, worship isn’t about how it makes me feel, but how I have invested myself.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                Many in the church view the events like Christmas and Easter as simply one day affairs.  It seems like it is quite normal for us to simply move on after the crescendo event but let me suggest that there is a whole symphony that follows if we can quiet our hearts enough to hear.  In the weeks that follow Easter (7 of them) leading us to Pentecost, we have the opportunity to digest the experience of the salvation, restoration, reconciliation, redemption, and renewal that Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday brought us.

            May I encourage you to make space over these weeks to think about the salvation that has been offered to you including its cost.  Gather up experiences that you have had of restoration, of reconciliation, of redemption, and in what ways your life has been renewed when it so desperately needed it.

            We could take a week for each one of these experiences and fill a journal almost of the richness and depth of experiences we have as a consequence of Easter.  It is truly an amazing gift given to us when we think of the Risen Christ!  What he did for us even after we turned our backs at Him is nothing short of awe-inspiring!

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

              Many in the church view the events like Christmas and Easter as simply one day affairs.  It seems like it is quite normal for us to simply move on after the crescendo event but let me suggest that there is a whole symphony that follows if we can quiet our hearts enough to hear.  In the weeks that follow Easter (7 of them) leading us to Pentecost, we have the opportunity to digest the experience of the salvation, restoration, reconciliation, redemption, and renewal that Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday brought us.

              May I encourage you to make space over these weeks to think about the salvation that has been offered to you including its cost.  Gather up experiences that you have had of restoration, of reconciliation, of redemption, and in what ways your life has been renewed when it so desperately needed it.

              We could take a week for each one of these experiences and fill a journal almost of the richness and depth of experiences we have as a consequence of Easter.  It is truly an amazing gift given to us when we think of the Risen Christ!  What he did for us even after we turned our backs at Him is nothing short of awe-inspiring!

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                What does Easter mean to us, really mean to us?  Meaning is not simply print on the paper of our Bibles.  Meaning has dimensions of heart, soul and mind.  Meaning changes us in the way we see, hear, think, and act.  It has substance of length and width, but even more so height and depth.

            As humans made in the image of God, our substance is in part the substance God created in us.  How often are we described in tangible and intangible ways!  Our heart is not the muscle beating in our chests.  Who can measure the soul or even the mind?  So, when I ask what does Easter mean to us, I am asking, “in what ways does this week from Sunday to Sunday shape and form our hearts, souls, and minds?

            Often, we have been keen on declaring ourselves, the Easter people, but is there the evidence in us or is it simply a little ditty that makes us feel good.  Has Easter gripped our hearts, souls, and minds sufficiently to reveal the kingdom of heaven through the way we live, breathe and have our being?  The circumstance in which we presently live is in dire need of Easter people who live meaningfully.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                Holy Week stands apart from the other 51 weeks of the year.  The story that unfolds before us in John 12-20 sets the redemptive tone to the lives we live.  Always remembering that as disciples of Jesus and not simply “Jesus admirers” the path that we tread was walked before us by the One who loves us most.

            In this time of suffering in our present circumstance, Jesus knew it so well and because of that this is the laboratory in which we prove our faith and trust in Him.  It is so much easier to sit in the classroom taking notes than it is meeting in the laboratory to test out the ideas and theories that we have garnered in the classroom.

            Sometimes we miss what is there for us if we cannot use our imaginations to help us understand.  Do we forget that the pages of John’s gospel here are describing a real series of events?  The Passion of the Christ only picks up the story in the Gospel of John, Chapter 18.  From before the Triumphal Entry through Calvary’s Tree to Resurrection morning history records a story that could be screened powerfully as it tells of the event that changed the world forever.  Do yourself a favor by making this story real in your heart, mind, and soul.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                We are entering the fifth week of Lent and it is a transition week.  Jesus is closing in on Jerusalem and the week of solemnity leading up to the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday.  In this week of contemporary time there is a reason for sobriety and sobriety is not panic.  Just as Jesus knew what was ahead of him and yet stayed focused on giving his life away in all its dimensions, so we learn how to live from him.

            The O.T. theme this week is taken from Ezekiel 37 and his vision of the Valley of Dry Bones.  The point was that that which was dead was going to be made alive.  You might want to reread that portion of scripture this week.  The spirit of the vision was seeing the redemption, regeneration, and restoration that lies in the hand of God.

            During this time of fear or suffering, I encourage you to look to God and the power of redemption that lies in him.  Redemption is simply the capacity to “buy back” that which was lost.  To the extent that you have given up peace to fear, or love to self-centeredness, or trust to doubt, this might become your own Valley of Dry Bones.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                The season of Lent is always a challenge for us.  Usually because of the distraction of ordinary life, but in God’s sovereignty this year Lent and ordinary life fit like a glove in our experience.  I connected the Lenten practices last week with what is needed in our present circumstance with the coronavirus.

            We are being asked to fast from the busyness of life and hunker down at home.  I think the richness of this circumstance is to move through the day in a more hurried way, in our conversations and any other domestic experiences.  Making space for quiet, reflection, and listening has always meant to be the path to true wholeness and holiness (Psa. 46:10, read the whole verse).  Prayer has been given to us as the richest expression of our Divine/human connection.  This is a season for helping others carry the weight of life through our devotion to others.

            Our culture continues to value the ethic of alms-giving or sharing resources with those in need.  I pray that this week will find you, setting aside fear through prayer and opening yourself for availability to living out the “kingdom of heaven on earth” for those around you.

I find it ironic that during our Lenten season we would be faced with a circumstance that sets us up for the spirit and activities that fit with the practices characteristic of this season of the church year: fasting, prayer, and alms-giving. We are being asked to fast from social settings; probably a fast that no one planned on. Clearly, this is a time to come before the Father in prayer for ones’ self, for our “neighbor”, and for national repentance of sin and the seeking of the Righteous One. This is the perfect situation that encourages followers of Jesus to stand in the “gap” for others.

It seems to me that this is the time in which we separate ourselves from the panic, fear, hopelessness, and greed that is presently rampant. These are the times when the “cream rises to the top.” The world should be able to look to the church for the faith, hope, and love that it is so desperate for in these days. In light of Lent we ought to see the implications of the cross quite clearly. Obviously, there are imprints from the cross that shape our lives; take time to give unhurried thought to them.

I’ve been a devotee of Henri Nouwen’s little book, The Way of the Heart. Maybe this is an ideal time to reflect on the three activities that he summarized: solitude, silence, and prayer. Believe it or not, this is a strengthening pilgrimage. 

When we join Jesus and during this season have the cross in view, the notion of fasting makes a lot of sense. In the past when life was more about subsistence food was an absolute necessity for survival and the discipline of fasting was a great sacrifice. Felt sacrifice puts us in touch with the heart of Jesus as he headed toward the cross.

Since most of us in the Western world could benefit a great deal of setting aside a few meals, it hardly captures the sense of fasting that carried a great meaning in former times. On the other hand, we can struggle to set aside the conveniences that often govern our lives. There are parts of life that distract us from our attention on God’s coming kingdom.

It is in those conveniences that a path to sacrifice is set. The cross of Christ is meant to draw us forward in the ways of the kingdom of God. It behooves us to attend to the movements of the Spirit and let God show us what it is that would benefit us to set aside during this season.

This season in which we turn our focus on the Cross of Christ is a true blessing to our souls. The blessing lies in knowing that there is a Reality that is invisible to the naked eye as well as the background noise we call, “the media.” Aren’t you grateful that what you hear every day from the various pundits is entirely secondary to what truly matters?

Lent captures kingdom of God practices that are often out of sight to the naked eye. As we re-emphasize fasting from that which distracts our hearts from the One who loves us most, prayer that engages our heart of hearts, and alms giving that opens our hearts to the needs that present themselves every day; we are blessed with the Life that gives us life to the fullest.

The truth is we have to fast and pray and give openly just to not lose the joy and freedom that the cross of Christ secured for us. So, in a way we have to be willing to fight the good fight of faith, or we will suffer in our souls needlessly. These days have been given to us as a weapon to push against all that would suck the very Life out of us.

Winter is a season in nature as well as in our spiritual journey. It makes sense that Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Season would begin in creation’s winter season. We are about to embark on the season of prayer, fasting, and giving. I think those practices were chosen because they put us in close proximity to Jesus and his turning toward the Cross.

Naturally we don’t like this kind of journey puts on our contemporary desire for beauty and goodness, but there is the truth still of Jesus walk to the Cross because of his great love for us. Sad and sorrowful on the one hand, but the path to eternal hope and joy for all of us who would believe and follow.

Personally, I am always in need to reflect on what needs to be set aside even for a season to help me set a sharper edge for the plowing the soil of my life. The practices of preparation during this season leads to a greater fruitfulness in the ultimate “resurrection life.”

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

                As often as our song writers write about it, it is probably one of the least practiced characteristics in our world today – love.  Love is one of the main messages of the Incarnation of Jesus.  It was because of love that we celebrate this event some 2000+ years later.  I suspect that what is missing in our world is that we hardly understand the story.

            Generosity, family connecting, and joyfulness are all resident in the love of God.  The truth is we live such unconnected lives that we think that these attitudes and activities are separate phenomenon.  I wonderful if that is why those things don’t carry on beyond the Season of Christmas.

            Everything about the Incarnation event is meant to set apart life as a way of life itself.  I suspect everything that is good is resident in the love of God on that manger Night.  All that gives life to us is there.  We need to meditate on it this week to enhance the meaning of Christmas for each of us.

In the harsh reality of our world it seems like Isaiah was simply being an irrational poet when he wrote, Prince of Peace as he described the One who was to come. I wonder how the Israelites thought about the prophecy? I would imagine that if this was to describe the Messiah who was to come, it most likely was understood as a way out of Roman occupation.

Too much of the time we shape and form our worldview around the external world, when Jesus himself was the one who said, “the kingdom of God is within you.” The resistance has always been there that “the circumstances of life is what needs changing” rather than “I” am the one who needs changing.

As we engage peace in this second week of Advent, the challenge before us is that Jesus offers his peace as our personal antidote to our lack of peace. Peace and being a person of peace takes root in our souls and then is able to be worked out into everyday life. The hard part of the Jesus Way is that every problem in the “outside” world always begins within me.

The Season of Light that we call Advent/Christmas begins with Hope. Hope is confidence in the unseen and the future. Frankly, there is an absence of hope in our world because we have placed our hope in the goodness of people. Hope now is about the thing I am hoping for i.e. a new job, a life-partner, better circumstances, to win the lottery. There is no Living Substance to hope for most.

For those who have made space to organize the affairs of their life around that which is lasting have a Great Hope. This season we begin with the Hope that will one day return to gather up those who belong to Him. In this Hope there is certainty in the future, sooner or later.

I am reminded of a song from the past, “I Wished We’d All Been Ready.” I don’t really know exactly how Hope arrives, but that is also why this Season is known as Advent or “arrival.” We look for the Arrival every day, but we also participate in the arrival as we become “servants of the Arrival” paving the way for many more to see the Light.

What experience have you had with the voice of Jesus in your daily life? I must admit that I use to think that discernment was simply for making decisions. However, I’ve come to see that discernment is meant to be a daily part of kingdom of God living. John’s quote of Jesus in John 17:4 has become a beacon to me, “… Father, glorify me, because I have done what you showed me to do….”

As disciples of Jesus shouldn’t we be aware that there is always an agenda that is invisible to use except as God reveals it to us? I always have a plan for every day, but I want to always hold it with an “open hand” so that I can be responsive to the direction that God gives to me. The fact is there is much that we can be involved in that simply does not matter. That is not how I want to live!

Choosing the path of responsiveness is not normal for us. It seems that in our flesh we have taken to trying to control or dictate life to fit our perception of comfort and convenience. I don’t know about you, but I want to live as meaningfully as I can, so I don’t want to waste life on that which does not matter. Fruitfulness is God’s destiny for us, not productivity! I know that is a hard one for us in a world that is dictated by power, sex, and money

“Hunger is an essential for true spiritual growth.” Have we gotten so over-stimulated that we no longer have a sense of our soul’s hunger? I wonder if we have lost our sense of soul so that we cannot recognize anything that does not simply “slap us in the face?” I wonder if we have become so spiritually lethargic that we can no longer hear the “still small voice?”

We are quick to lament both the circumstances in our lives as well as the general direction of “things.” But, in fact, we are still here, and we are the players in our own “play.” It is easy to think the problems and the solutions are all “out there.” We, however, are participants in life, so that we are either part of the problem or part of the solution.

Someone much wiser than I said, “Remember, politics is downstream from society.” I don’t think that relationship is restricted to politics. Society as a whole is downstream from each of us. It seems that if we were to live out our mandate (2Cor. 5:17-20), we might complain less and influence more.  

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

              It is almost impossible for us to take our hands off “making something happen.”  I find it stirring to my soul when I consider the formation and practices of the newborn church in Acts 2.  When we consider that there was no evidence of a manmade strategy for the formation of the church, it informs us beyond our normal ability to think.                               

              It seems that we cannot get away from needing to project our own thinking into our circumstances.  I wonder if we have difficulty with discerning the leading of the Holy Spirit and rest instead on our “best thinking?”  From where I sit, it seems like the Holy Spirit knew exactly how to organize this new thing.  Humanly speaking, what people needed was the openness that comes through conviction of heart, restoration of soul, openness of mind, and willingness to act.

              Given our forefathers in the faith, is it time for us to detach from much of what we are holding onto for our comfort and convenience, and then attach to the “holy wild” of the One who brought us to the Saviour?

Biblical history tells us that those who are prepared for God to act are the ones that God did not have to act in spite of. They became assets or useful in the execution of God’s plan. The question before us is always is: are you prepared to be an asset or are you and obstacle. The only way we become an asset is when our hearts, souls, minds, and strength is directed toward God continually.

It is easy to approach each day on our own terms, since we can justify the legitimacy of our concerns. However, in Jesus’ own words he directs us back to the reality of living out of relationship rather than principle when he said, “Glorify me Father for I did everything that you showed me to do. The dynamic of the relationship to the point of being shown the will of God is the key.

Yes, there is much that our eyes can see that “ought to be done.” But, when Jesus also said to those who came to him in the end, “Lord, Lord, look what we did in your name, depart from me for I do not know you” it seems harsh to us unless we know that there are “first things” and “second things.” The first thing is always learning to know Him and then doing what he “shows” us to do. 

The interesting thing about devotion is that it has always been something that God has desired and responded to in us. The main issue in devotion is in what we are devoted to. As people made in God’s image, I suspect that is part of that image – devotion. I think devotion is a precious thing and is not meant to be squandered on anything that is less than what it can be.

The word “devotion” in the scriptures are usually connected to prayer and love (Acts 1:14; Rom 12:10). The prayer is a synonym for seeking God, and love is directed toward one’s “brother” or sister. Both destinations are transformative for the one who is devoting himself. What then is the measure of my devotion? Am I engaged substantially or am I simply satisfied with mediocracy?

It is not primarily a matter of effort, though devotion is active. It is a matter of desire! Do I desire the “face of God” more than the blessings of God? Truly, that is a hard one, because we are quite aware of what we feel that we lack. However, it seems to me in David’s psalm that his encounter with the “face of God” was sufficient to remove his sense of lack. In some ways this is the story of our faith. Can we come to the place that the “face of God” is enough? 

Those of us who are living in the “grandparent generation” can often analyze the following generations as lacking devotion, but that is not the case. When we think of devotion, we usually think of hard work, family, country and faith. However, I’ve come to see that devotion is not missing, it is just redirected.

There is a huge devotion now in our country to personal happiness, entertainment, and play. I think that is because with the speed of life, most who are younger than I, have a sense of immediacy, that life could end at any time. That is mostly because life is dangerous. With the knowledge that “stuff happens” all the time, you are never totally safe.

It is of great value for us in our day that we would come to the realization that “Eternity is Now in Session” as John Ortberg entitled his 2018 book. We can connect now and then by how we choose to live. Eternity isn’t just a sense of time, chronos, but the purposes of God chairos. The perspective that comes “heavenly thinking” gives eternal purpose to everything we do.

The qualities of God’s kingdom reach laboratory status in the life of the community. Most of us had biology or chemistry or some kind of science in our educational background. It is comfortable by and large sitting at our desk, looking at the pictures or graphs in the textbook, but somehow that was not enough, and they had to create labs for each class to make the concepts real. Our knowledge with the textbook was inferential knowledge, but our knowledge in the lab was real knowledge – experiential knowledge.

The community of faith is the laboratory for the knowledge of the kingdom of God. It is the place for us to test out what the scriptures instruct us in. We find out what it is to “love one another” when we love one another. We learn what it is to confess our sins, when we confess our sins to one another. We learn what it is to “devote yourselves to one another” when you pray for one another with one another.

Maybe the gospel would make more sense to the outsider if they could see the actions of the insiders to each other. The formation of our character takes place in community with the Trinity and with one another. I would say after following Jesus for over 60 years that the gospel is rarely seen in the laboratory; but studied intensely and continually with the Textbook. One is by inference and the other is real. 

In some circles of the Church, the Second Coming of Christ is a continual topic for speculation. When we look around and see things as they are it is our instinct to pray, “Get me out of here!” In certain pockets of the Faith that has often been the prayer. I’m going to venture a guess that in the places of greatest suffering, that sentiment is shaped by hope.

Ironically, waiting for that Great Day can actually be our most fruitful work. If we grasp the kingdom of God in any reasonable dimension, we can see that there is so much “good” for us to do. It seems to me that the deeper the kingdom of God has moved into our hearts, souls, and minds, the more opportunities we see to fill.

I think we have fallen asleep to think that this world has “gone to pot.” It has always been a domain of the evil one. There has always been the charge from on High to be servants of reconciliation, redemption, and restoration. Don’t be deceived to think this world is home, so we are disappointed that it isn’t heaven. It is our vocation to live out holiness in the darkness. We are the “light-bringers.” It may be time to re-examine our thinking and the falseness in it.

Money seems to always be an issue in our lives. When asked how much money is enough, John D. Rockefeller is quoted as saying, “just a little bit more.” It is a subject that comes up rather frequently in the “God-with-us” story – the Bible. Often the “rich” are accused of being a problem among the people of God (James 5:1-6 for example), yet, most who are rich do not see themselves as rich. I wonder why that is? Is it because they, like Rockefeller think that they need just a little more to be truly rich? Maybe “richness” is another word for security and since security is a relational reality, depending on wealth is a never-ending search.

Whatever the case, most in the Western world are viewed as rich by the 2nd or 3rd worlds. I think that if we could just see that what we have as given to us by God, that is the central issue. The way that we think is critical to how we act. One thing leads to another. The struggle with riches is in the sense of possession. When we possess what we have been provided for whether our efforts are involved in the obtaining it or not, we have the spirit of the “rich.”

If we can possess what we have for the glory of God, then our possession is open to God’s discretion. In that, possession is not burdensome and “life-taking”, but freeing and life-giving for the sake of others. Our thinking about money is the fulcrum issue in dealing with money. Our spiritual transformation is the most important part of economics. 

I find it interesting the things we consider “our rights!” It is evidence once again that we are more conscious of our national identity than we are our spiritual identity, “You are not your own, you have been bought with a price.” It is not a matter of either/or, but a matter of priority – which comes first. Do I claim more of what Jesus said or more of what the Constitution says?

I had a conversation recently with a stranger who made an astute observation. He said, the problem we face is that too many people look to the law to determine what is right and wrong, instead of their own hearts. I don’t know anything about his religious faith, but I think he saw what the Scriptures reveal to us.

Apart from the Word of God and a redeemed soul we are going to be “tossed about” by every wind of legislation. We are in a world that is suffering from moral and ethical “milk” that is always changing. The “milk” curdles and is thrown out and more “milk” comes to replace it, but it remains milk. Jesus said something about that when he talked about the wiseman and the foolish man and rock and sand.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

Life is hard these days. Some think it is too hard, but I wonder is it that life is any more difficult than it has been or are we less able to face its hardness. I’m reminded of a conversation I had with an educated Indian man several decades ago. I asked him to give me a thumbnail comparison of India and America. He told me that the US was a technological giant and India was a technological pigmy. He then said, India is an emotional giant and the US is an emotional pigmy. I wonder if that is still the same. It seems every more obvious that we do not know how to handle suffering. We are taught that whatever is wrong must be quickly fixed. Enduring the suffering and the “unfixed” is almost beyond us.

I think the emotional issue is that we do not know how to engage and stay engaged with the dissonance of the “unfixed.” I think this is a gap that apprentices of Jesus can fill in the national psyche. We carry the source of healing within us, maybe it is time to step up and into the depths of suffering that is all around us.

Pinebrooke Weekly Blog

              Just as soon as we acknowledged summer, we are aware that autumn is just around the corner.  Early in our lives the year was scheduled around the school year, but that keeps arriving earlier and earlier.  Maybe it is because the older we get the more rapidly the days pass.  I don’t know for sure, but all I know is that tomorrow seems like it is already here.

              So, I am stimulated by Alan Fadling’s book, An Unhurried Life.  He tracks Jesus down in his “breakneck speed” of 2 MPH.  There is much for us to learn from Jesus that sits juxtaposed to our common culture driven by tyranny.  I think the wisdom of Jesus who had a task that it only took three years to accomplish and yet he never hurried once exceeds the wisdom of our world.

              Do you find yourself looking for the affirmation of this world?  I think if we do, we will at best receive resounding gong or a tinkling cymbal – disappearing into oblivion rather quickly.  Why not simply live for the love of God!?  Each season of our lives we are faced once again with detaching from that which is no longer important and attaching to that which has an eternal quality of meaning.

Here we are in mid-summer and knowing that the school year is just around the corner. The seasons of the year seem to march on without any hesitation and so it is in our “in Christ” life. No matter what nature’s season is upon us there is wisdom that transcends time. The wisdom of C.S. Lewis speaks clearly to us no matter the season of our lives, “It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in: aim at earth and you will get neither.”

That is to say, our daily point of reference is everything. We often find ourselves praying, “… Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The problem lies for us when we just treat those words as words and not as a spiritual reality. It would seem that Jesus’ instructions for his disciples is that we are actively about the process of bring the Way, Truth, and Life of Jesus into our everyday living.

Summer is a natural time for rest and growth. It is a time to rest and refresh our bodies and engage for growth in our hearts, our souls, and our minds. A resting body can still take in the presence of God through awareness and attentiveness of mind, body and soul. This is one time we can join our common culture in its pursuit of relaxation for the purpose of rest. However, we need to remember that relaxation is not exhaustion.

For all the criticism that Hallmark gets for creating events for celebration to boost sales, we must be grateful for the prompts. Left to ourselves we will tend to become so self-absorbed that we can easily become the persons that God did not create us to be. Honoring our mothers is just a taste of the life Jesus called us to live. Consider Jesus’ words to John from the cross, see my mother; take care of her.

The message of these kind of Hallmark days is to call us to live as intentional followers of Jesus full of honoring and gratitude. I have yet to find a human being who does not want to be honored or thanked. They may have a difficult time receiving love, but that’s their story. Frankly, most of the instructions that we receive from the scriptures raise the importance of the many ways of expressing love for one another, i.e. honoring one another, building up one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, I could go on and on.

So, I encourage you to be teachable wherever God’s truth and ethic shows up. I hope and pray that we can become the solution to the brokenness in our world. If we purport to carry the gospel of Christ within us, may we become genuine in our faith and life.

Blog for the Week of June 3rd

              We are faced with an important time in the era of the Church.  Since the 4^th century Christianity has dominated a good portion of planet earth, maybe not true discipleship with Jesus, but we have been able to become “Jesus admirers” rather easily.  The Judeo-Christian ethic dominated European based societies.  In a way we have been deceived by the social dominance of the Bible as the source for most of our ethics (i.e. “thou shalt not steal), but that is little by little, no longer the case.

              We have entered a most important day where true believers must be willing to stand up for the ways of the kingdom of God and the priority of the gospel of heaven (Matt. 4:17).  More and more discipleship will be delineated from “Christian faith.”  In the days ahead, we will be weighed in the balances of “the way, the truth, and the life.”  Our “conversion” to Christ will be tested as to whether it is real in any genuine way.

              The cultural “political correctness” will denigrate biblical life styles as narrow and “hate-filled.”  Conviction will be threatened as anti-American and as a “disease” from which to be cured.  Laws based on righteousness will be challenged as “hate-filled” and unjust.  The dominance of Christian morality with be only a thing of history and seen as irrelevant.  Jesus and the Epistles of Paul, John, and Peter should become mastered to the glory of God.

With the celebration of Memorial Day, we are introduced to “serious” spring/summer. It brings to mind that in our journey with God, He brings the season of growth and rest to us. Those may seem like contradictions, but I think they are meant to be two sides of the one coin. In a way the more we grow, the more we need rest to gather up our resources so that we have the spiritual energy to press on.

The summer is a great time to practice the rhythms that Mark Buchanan included in his book, Spiritual Rhythms. As in creation, summer is a time of growth and blooming. It is a beautiful time, when the best of what is has the opportunity to show itself in sensual glory. At least in this Rocky Mountain region, we know that summer is not a long season, but one that is the fruit of the sacrifice of the other three seasons.

The challenge with summer, however, is to not hurry just because it is short. The growth in character needs to be celebrated, enjoyed and embraced. All of that takes a disciplined intentionality. In this season, make space to reflect on what God has been shaping and developing over the past months of deep internal work. Our greatest beauty is our character. The more you are like Jesus in your interior, the more there is for God to boast about

Spring time is a season replete with subtilties. In our scurrying world we look at a tree or even a series of trees and all we can say is green. But I challenge you to drive down any street bordered by a line of trees – but drive slowly – and see that the varieties of green seem almost endless. I want to suggest that life in Christ is no less subtle.

Yes, we can gain so general sense of the Way, but if we will tune into the subtilties of the varieties of the way Jesus lived among us, it will reveal that there is so much more for us to understand. I know the fact is that without even thinking we will naturally approach each day from a self-referenced lens. Yet, as apprentices of Jesus we are being called to alter our point of reference, so that we can “walk with Him in spirit and truth.”

In the words of our treasured contemporary mentor, Dallas Willard, “the challenge is to live your life the way Jesus would live your life.” I guarantee that we will pick up the beauty, goodness, and truth in our living that we would not have noticed any other way.

In the rhythm of the church year, these next six weeks compose the remainder of the Easter Season. As one thing leads to another, Easter leads to Pentecost in our spiritual lives. Resurrection set us up for the immersion and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, so that we would walk on a completely different path as apprentices of Jesus.

John describes us in his Patmos Revelation as a kingdom of priests for God. Now we are called to a vocation of holiness in which we are shaped and formed by the love and intention of the Trinity, in order to learn to know and serve the Author of Life. Can we acknowledge that life goes better if we can lean this in our hearts, souls, and minds?

At each season of life, we are challenged with the experience of re-formation so that we might become the person we were created to be in the first place and thereby learn to listen to His Voice and not waste time on that which does not give life and what truly doesn’t matter. Engaging in our calling is that which gives us the greatest meaning to our lives.  

Easter isn’t just a day, it is a season; it is a way of life. These weeks are a bridge between Jesus in the flesh and Jesus in the Spirit. Once again, the disciples of Jesus lived in the mystery of the not yet. They had no idea what they were waiting for, all they knew was that Jesus told them to wait. The Counselor who would be with them would be coming soon. How are you with waiting? It seems like in the realm of the Almighty, waiting is always a part of the process. Isn’t our frustration about the fact that our focus is on the destination and God’s focus is on the journey? It seems like waiting has always been a part of the divine method. It seems like the absence of activity is a normal part of how God facilitates trust in us. It reminds me of an old song from my childhood, “trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” What does it take for us to learn trust? I don’t think trust can be built without the absence of activity. It seems to me that one of the ways of God that Moses learned (Ps. 103:7) was that there would be periods for simple obedience today with what had already been shown. Nothing new, no new instructions, just sheer dailiness. As we wait in this Easter Season, how about we join the disciples in waiting expectantly. 

In writing this blog this week I am especially conscious of the fact that we live in two kingdoms as apprentices of Jesus. The visible one this week is blind to what is going on in the invisible kingdom this week. But, in the End that which is invisible to earth’s eyes will dramatically reveal itself in power, pure holiness and righteousness. In the historical events of this week that are out of sight of most, there is a story being retold. As followers of the King of Kings, we remember the King’s journey to the Day the Revolution began. The Friday we call Good was the day the power of sin was broken for those who would believe and follow the Crucified One. It is on that Day that we were invited into the redemptive plan of Almighty God, that through our obedience we might become the servants of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The final victory occurred in the resurrection of the Holy One from death. He then gave us the privilege and assignment to be the hands and feet of the Resurrected Christ, that the world might know the Truth and in now knowing the Truth be set Free. Therefore, I urge you to walk closely and deliberately through each day from John 12-20. Read it over and over and read it slowly. Allow yourself to enter the story as a participant.

In so much of scripture we are faced with what appear as exhortations or expectations that simply seem impossible (i.e. “be thankful in all circumstances”). There is two realities that I think we often miss, one quite visible and one quite invisible. The visible is to pay careful attention to the grammar of scripture (i.e. “in” is not “for”). The invisible is the fact that as disciples of Jesus our vocation is to live a Christ-referenced life, not a self-referenced life.

The power of obedience is the “in Christ” life, lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. Life in the Spirit requires a surrender to the love and will of God. Much of life includes living both in the body (our human being) and in the Spirit, which elevates our lives into eternity’s realm. We experience both the potential and the limitations of living in our humanity, but we also house life in the Spirit, which calls us beyond defining life in earth’s terms.

We often pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – now. That is a call to all of us who follow Him. I pray that we each embrace the Spirit’s call to live by his power and grace so that we can live in such a way that the Christ-referenced life becomes our source of identity.

What we do with familiar truth is a case of mistaken identity. When Jesus tells the truth by painting a picture through parables, we err when we settle for the gist of the story. There is a protective coating that is cast across his stories, but his stories reveal so much more than simple print on a page. The protective coating is so that we can learn without the direct sense of command.

We tend to take Jesus’ statements as “suggestions” rather than law like the Old Testament people took the Law of Moses. In that law there were some 620 statements that the children of Abraham were accountable to keep. The breaking of anyone of those statements required a sacrifice and repentance that could not be casually entered into.

All of that to say, the parable of the lost son in Luke 15 speaks and speaks and speaks even more deeply as to our intrinsic interior obstacles that keep us far from God. Like the sons in the story we can “live under the same roof” with God, our Father and know so little of Him and His ways with us. In the descriptive term of Dallas Willard, I appeal to us to develop and “faith of sufficiency” in who our Father is. The sufficiency that the sons had missed