Journey update 3-21-07

“For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” Romans 10:2
“How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard.” Romans 10:14a

One of the things I have been praying about for the past couple of months is a deeper passion. That prayer encompasses a deeper urgency to share the truth with those around me, a greater focus on what is most important in life and a greater hunger and thirst for Christ that spills out of my life onto those around me. And one of the ways that God is deepening my walk with Him is by highlighting the need for the truth in the world around me.

This week I was especially impacted when two J.W.’s came to my door. In the last six months I have been approached by them four times in different situations, out on the street and in my home. On Sunday afternoon after they knocked on my door I was especially saddened. How heartbreaking that the spread of a deception is active and aggressively present (zeal without knowledge) while there are literally thousands of Hungarians who have never heard the true gospel. And they can’t call on the one who can save them until they first hear the truth.

Journey update 3-9-07
Nostalgia and Lyrics Continued

“Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait patiently for it. Romans 8:23-25

I wrote about Nostalgia yesterday .

I believe that Nostalgia and Hope are two sides of the same coin. Nostalgia causes us to look back and see the good that was. It creates longing. Hope presents the same situation. Hope causes us to look forward and creates a longing for the good that will be.

We can’t live in either place. We can’t allow ourselves to constantly look over our shoulder at the past. That stops all forward momentum, for who can truly walk forward while looking back. But the future is still the future. Paul says we wait patiently for it.

While I am often nostalgic, I am even more often full of an unquenchable hope. God’s plan cannot be thwarted. He will make all things new. What a beautiful promise.
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Some lyrics that create longings, not of nostalgia but of hope.
From "Shiloh" by Andrew Peterson

(This song can also be found on Itunes)

I've been thinkin' about my home
I've never been but I will, I know
Meadow green and the river wide
Valley deep and the mountain high

The saints of old are singing now (Shiloh)
My ears are ringing with the sound (Shiloh)
But greater still, as clear as day (Shiloh)
I can hear my Savior saying
I can hear my Savior saying
I can hear my Savior say

"Come home, come home and rest awhile
Come home, come home and rest awhile"

Better get on home to Shiloh

Nostalgia and Music

People often ask if I get homesick. The truth is I tend to get nostalgic more than homesick. Yes, I miss people and I do get homesick for them, but I think more often I get to feeling melancholy for the way things were or for the way they should have been, but never truly were.

There are parts of my life that I miss and sometimes I wish that I hadn't had to leave those pieces of my life behind. But there is truth to the saying that we look back through rose colored glasses. So tonight I was listening to one of my favorite "nostalgic songs" by Shenandoah (from that time of my life when I really got to be the country girl that I always dreamed about). The melody is moving in it's quiet beauty and in case you have never heard the song some of the lyrics are below.

Mill worker houses lined up in a row,
Another southern Sunday morning blow.
Beneath the steeple all the people have begun
shakin' hands with the man who grips the Gospel Gun,
While the quiet prayer, the smell of dinner on the ground,
heals up the morning air. Ain't nothin' sweeter around.
I can almost hear my mama pray:
"Oh Lord forgive us when we doubt."
Another Sacred Sunday in the south.

I can almost hear the old folks say:
"You'll make it big one day, you'll leave this town."
Some other lazy Sunday you'll come back around.

I can feel the evening sun go down,
and all the lights in the houses one by one go out.
Softly in the distance nothing stirs about
and the night is filled with the sound of a whipporwil.

(You can download the song "Sunday in the South" from Itunes if you want to listen to the whole thing ).

Do you have any songs that are nostalgic for you?
I would love to hear about them - leave your comments below.

Catalyst by Definition:

One that precipitates a process or event, especially without being involved in or changed by the consequences: “A free press … has remained … a vital catalyst to an informed and responsible electorate” (Robert O'Neal).

Chemistry. A substance, usually used in small amounts relative to the reactants, that modifies and increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the process.

Christians as Catalysts

Awhile back I read about a missionary. At the time I thought it a singularly depressing story. In twenty years spent among a people group she knew of only two people who accepted Christ and before she left to return to her home country both of those converts were dead. Was she a success or a failure?

I think too often we measure the work of God by what our eyes see or what we perceive with our finite minds. Another theme in the books I just finished reading was that of the catalyst, that substance in the middle of the equation which allowed for a different result that would have been attained otherwise. And I’ve started to ponder the ways in which Christians are catalysts.

When God asks us to do something we often obey without ever seeing the eternal results of our actions. Take the missionary referenced above. Who is to say whether just by living among those people and being a light she held back a greater spreading of darkness? Who is to say whether she was remembered by their village and her strange teachings pondered in the years after she left. Who is to say that when thirty years later missionaries went back to that people, the ground was softer and ready to plant because of her sacrifice? Only God sees the eternal plan of what He calls us to do.

I think that we as Christians are often the catalyst, the substance, the person that precipitates an otherwise unexpected result. God is at work and as He stands outside of time He sees how all the little pieces fit together. He sees the reactions caused by placing a light in this specific patch of darkness. And too often I think we measure ourselves by the wrong standard. We judge by how we view our actions, by what we perceive that we accomplished. But the question is not what did we do, but did we let God work through us, using us to open new possibilities in the lives of others. Did our presence give someone a choice to choose Christ where before the choice wasn’t even available to them? We offer the possibilities of new life and new hope and the work of God in the life of an individual or a family or a people group or nation. The results aren’t our calling. I believe our calling is to the creating of possibilities. I believe we are called to be catalysts.

Journey, an update 3-1-07

“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Romans 6:20-22

I’ve been considering lately about who I have chosen to serve and how I fulfill that duty. Sometimes I forget the aspect of my life that leads Paul to compare me to a slave. I had a choice of masters and while I served sin I was free from the command of righteousness. But when I chose God, I chose to submit my life totally to his control just as a slave must submit totally to their master. We have only two choices for a master, the sinful nature that reigns if we chose to serve ourselves or the Lord and creator of the universe who loved us and gave His precious Son to pay our debts. I mentioned in my last update that I was learning how to better say, “I lay down my life.” This is the choice that I have made in choosing to serve the Righteous King. I lay down my life and He directs my steps.

Swearing Fealty to a King

I love to read. The words on the page couple with my imagination make the story 1,000 times more real than any movie portrayal. Yet, I rarely read anything not written for the Christian market anymore. I simply grew tired of being entertained by stories containing images that I should not put into my mind. But recently I picked up a fantasy series from the secular market based on the recommendation of one of my favorite authors. And I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, it is one of the most compellingly written series that I have read in years.

My favorite type of book comes from the fantasy genre. In fantasy, the battle of good against evil looms larger than life and everyday events and common people transform into heroes in the middle of an epic tale. In a sense it compares strongly to the Christian life. We know that our battle is not against flesh and blood, that a war in the heavenlies exists around us and that our prayers and simple obedience (or disobedience) influence the outcome.

One theme from these books that caught my attention focused on the life and responsibilities of a man sworn to a king. Once the main character gave his word, he stood bound by it. The king possessed the power to tell him what to do, where to go, who to marry or not marry. All of the choices that an individual takes for granted were subject to that oath. Much like a solider today is deployed without being asked. He gave his every consent to go anywhere at any time when he enlisted. In the Scripture Paul uses the analogy of a solider to express this point. He also uses the analogy of the slave and the bond servant. When we chose Christ, we gave Him our very lives. Our lives no longer belong to us to direct, but we stand entirely in His service to do whatever He calls us to do.

Now for us it remains a good choice, for we have a Holy and Righteous King that will always choose what is best. Our difficulty lies in not always perceiving the entire plan from our viewpoint in time. We, in our sinful nature, often want to go our own way and choose our own course. But we no longer hold that right. We pledged our service to our King when we accepted His offer of life.

In the middle of the second book one quote stood out. It stated, “Sometimes, it would be much easier to die for one’s king than to give one’s life to him.” I struggle in this area of my Christian walk. I entertain no doubt of the depth of my convictions, of my love for my Lord and King. However, continually laying down my wants, desires and comforts in order to serve Him as He directs comes with both struggle and the discipline of time.

True Christianity through a relationship with Jesus Christ presents two sides. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Compared to the weight of the yoke of sin and the burden of death there exists no comparison. And we possess joy and peace and the comfort of a true friend to see us through life. There remains, however, the fact that we are called to carry our cross and I believe we too often overlook this facet of the Christian life. We gave our lives to a King and they are His to command. Whatever He wills, wherever He leads, we are compelled to follow His bidding by our oath and by our love for Him.

I love how novels often invite a new perspective into a common aspect of life. I appreciated a fresh look at this theme and the reminder of all that it entails for me as a follower of Jesus Christ.

The novels were The Farseer Series by Robin Hobb.