I Wonder.....

A thought or two from the weekend celebrations at Emmanuel (10/29) and Philippians 4.8-9.

I wonder if people see a pretty dim image of Christ because I reflect a pretty dim image? I wonder if it is a struggle to release ultimate passion in worship toward Christ because I fail to release ultimate passion in worship toward Him as well? I wonder if people might stumble over me on their path to find Christ?

I think it's pretty worthwhile for me...maybe for all of us to wonder about these things. Paul invites us, via Philippians 4.8, to expend our lives for what is best... all that is beautiful... and consumed in worship (praise!). I want to cut straight the path to our God. I want people to see my life... to see the life of Emmanuel... to see the life of Christ so infused in the life of this fellowship that they live in awe of Him. I long for God to bless us and for His favor and His hand and His passion to flow through us and spill throughout this earth. I am asking God to allow me... us.... this movement called Emmanuel to leave a huge dent for His glory in this earth.

Because of that passion, I think it's critical that we think about what we are thinking. I think, therefore I am...... it's actually true! My thinking will determine how I live..... how I live will shape who I am becoming... and who I am becoming is shaped by how I think. I want to think much of God. I want to think much about God. I want God to become this magnificent obsession... this radical ambition... this overwhelming passion of my life. I want to be in constant thought about Him. I want His life to shape my life... my thoughts... how I invest my time, energy, resources. I want to think well.

What do I think about? What do we think about? Perhaps this movement called the church is predicated upon our thinking. Maybe God is poised to unveil His glory, majesty, wonder, and awesome nature to those who actually think about Him.... think upon Him... think of Him... and allow thoughts of Him to shape us. Maybe it's as we consider Him that we gain a taste of Him. Maybe, as we think more of Christ, we recognize the fullness of life that He affords! Maybe, it is only in thinking about Christ often... being absorbed in His Word... fileting our hearts for His glory.... maybe that is the place that we discover wonder.

I wonder what might happen if we, Christ followers, live in wonder of Him? I wonder, when we think well, what we might reveal about Him? I wonder what could happen if we think about best, beautiful, and things that evoke worship. Is it possible that we could unleash a taste of heaven on earth? I wonder......

Feel free to add to the commentary by clicking comments below.

For the Glory,
Mark

Intimacy.....

A few reflections from weekend encounters at Emmanuel. It was a sweet weekend as we attempted to understand that the God of the universe... the Infinite God of Beginning and End (is there such thing as beginning and end in the economy of God?)..... actually wants to share relationship with us. Can you imagine what a cataclysmic event it must be when we open our mouths... open our hearts... open our passions and actually begin to converse with our God? God will actually give birth to the ridiculous.

Maybe my favorite moment this weekend was considering Moses and Joshua (Exodus 17.8-13ish). Moses, Israel's famous leader, is faced with a crisis. An enemy army has just arrived near Israel's camp intent on wiping out Israel.

Moses calls in his most capable leader for a discussion and strategy planning session. After a thorough planning session, Moses determined a plan of action. He tells Joshua to take the best fighting men we have, lead them out on the plains to meet the enemy and fight with courage. Meanwhile, I am going to take two men, climb the hill that overlooks the plains and raise my hands toward heaven. I'm going to pray that God will pour out courage, valor, coordination, and supernatural protection. Then, I'm going to watch and see what God does.

Moses discovered that God's power is released through prayer. There are two parts of this story that are challenging... first, I love the planning and preparation Moses and Joshua gave to battle strategy. They were intentional about plans... advance. Second, I love that they knew that their best plans were nothing without the abounding power of God. So, Moses ventures up to a hill with two friends and they cry out to God for His presence and power..... and it works!

When we are willing to invite God into our daily challenges.... our home... our relationships..... our marketplace... our schools... our church.... There is radical power and shocking potential! It may be as simple as an idea.... courage.... confidence.... perseverance.... attitude change.... circumstance change.... or an outright miracle. God's power is released in the lives of those who pray.

I love to dream and plan.... I love the idea that God has said that this thing called the church is the hope of the world. I love that the church is us... Christ followers together. I love that God invites us to make plans, dream dreams, enjoy expectations, and posture ourselves for huge stuff. I love that we can actually dream up great stuff! What I really love is that we can walk up to the top of a hill and raise our hands to the living God and call His name... His renown... His power... His glory.... and the best plans that we can deliver are minute compared to His power.

Prayer is relationship...... Prayer gives birth to the ridiculous... Prayer merges the finite (small me.. small you) with the infinite (BIG GOD!).

Enjoy sweet conversation with your maker this week. Feel free to add to the commentary by clicking on comment below.

Mark

A View!

There was a very sweet moment during the 10:30 encounter this weekend. Our "M" friend and partner in Central Asia shared the coolest thing. During one of our gatherings (a glorified EBC party!), we gathered a few thousand dollars during the party. Those dollars were to supply some basics around our friends apartment (potholes, doorways, etc, AND a playground for kids). Our "M" (missionary) friend told us that we actually gave more than enough... so, she provided running water for a neighbor (yeah, you read that right - running water for the first time!) AND she was able to pay off a debt for a church who had stepped out in faith and implemented a ministry that was not resourced. You and I were an answer to a faith step on the other side of the world! I had a serious Moses 'moment' at the front. Moses actually looked at his group and said, you guys keep giving more than enough and you are blowing my mind. It was like our "M" shared that we were just giving more than enough and it was a huge moment. It's hard to grab the significance of this moment in writing, but it was a massive moment for our body.

Our "M" friend outlined a few critical prayer needs:
-- perseverance for believers in her country
-- not overwhelmed by circumstances (political upheaval, removal from country for "M"'s}...... instead, to be overwhelmed by our God
-- to carry the person of Christ to unreached people groups in their nations.
-- in the midst of persecution (fines, imprisonment, familial rejection), pray for the believers/ church to stand firm
-- pray for VIBRANT churches, not a fearful gathering, but bold believers
-- our partnership to be stronger than ever. Short term teams to go and prayer to heighten
-- for those who are sensing God lead them to 'go' long term. How beautiful to leverage your life in a 10/40 window country!

It was a great day. It was a great day to actually believe that the God of the universe wants to be in relationship with you..... even further, to believe that prayer unleashes the ridiculous. What an amazing prospect to consider that we (the finite) can merge our lives with He (the infinite) and watch as our relationship brings into fruition the ridiculous! I want to learn to trust Him…. I want to wake up and know He is with me…. And I want to enter into conversation with Him…. I want to be in relationship with a God who moves stones…. Who releases the dead…. Who allows blind to see and who lends the deaf, ears to hear! I want to know and be in relationship with a God like that! Prayer is not my magical shopping list, it is my opportunity to actually be in conversation with the God of the universe. I think he wants to converse with us about what we love and what we hate. I think he wants us to thank him for things. I think, when what we want doesn’t happen, he wants to hear about it. He wants us to experience His love and His joy.

God wants to reach into our cell structure and impulses that He put into our mind and he wants us to walk away at times knowing exactly what it is He said and at other times not having a clue…. But, we will then be tapping into this infinite resource.

So, enjoy the day. Enjoy the collision of the finite and infinite. Expect the ridiculous!

Feel free to add to the commentary by clicking on comments.

For the Glory,
Mark

Depth...... Joy....... Satisfaction

A thought from worship encounters at Emmanuel.

Celebrate God all day every day. I mean revel in Him. Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up at any minute. -- Phil 4.4 (MSG)

Joy is much less about circumstance and much more about a person. There is a far deeper faith than mere circumstance! As long as you and I live by circumstance, then our joy and our faith are absolutely contingent upon how we interpret events and circumstances around us. I am not sure that God ever intended for us to experience joy based upon a circumstance. An incredibly provocative thought from this weekend was that Jesus sent out a dozen men into the earth to give their lives for the advance of the Kingdom of God. He did not guarantee them safety.... He did not promise them 'good' lives. In fact, He promised that they would be scorned, beaten, and perhaps even give their lives for the Kingdom. GO ANYWAY! 11 of 12 were martyred for the faith! Jesus said, if there is any mystery at all about the trouble you will face, let me make it clear. You will find trouble in this earth! But, take heart, I have overcome this whole deal. Fix your eyes on Jesus and set your hearts on eternity.

The foundation of joy. The foundation of who we are in Christ. The foundation of this journey called the church and the capacity to stand firm is based upon a person and not a circumstance. At the center of everything someone died and someone was raised from the dead! We have to direct our lives away from a current situation and fasten our lives, focus, and passion upon Jesus Christ.

The idea that we want a formula.... a simple little seven step program to our best life today...… Give me 4 steps to faith. The problem with formula is that it never satisfies. I am always let down when the formula just doesn't work. But, answer this… how do I fall in love? Far more ethereal.. far more impassioned… far more stable……far more crazy.... far more founded…. Paul is not inviting you into joy based upon a few principles… I am inviting you to know a person… to fall in love with a person! Paul is asking us to rejoice in the Lord! He is telling us that our ability to live with joy is in Christ alone. He invites us to a person and not a circumstance.

The book of Hebrews was written to a group of Christ followers who were being pressured by their community and difficult circumstances to abandon their faith…. For the first three chapters, the writer challenged them to believe on the basis of their identity in Christ. He presents a mountain of evidence pointing toward the conclusion that Christ is God….. We can have joy… we can stand firm because Jesus walked this earth…. Claimed to be God…. Gave evidence supporting His claim…. Died for our sin… rose from the dead…. And went back to heaven in clear view of hundreds of witnesses….. He concluded that thought by writing. Therefore, since we have a high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jeuss the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess!

Our joy… our foundation rests upon Christ. Hebrews says, Faith is being assured of this identity in Christ… and being convinced of what we can’t see at times… In Hebrews 11, he gives dozens of illustrations of people who showed joy…. Radical faith… Their lives were grounded in their identity in Christ! Noah spent 140 years building an ark… it hadn’t ever rained…. Abe left His home and ventured to destination unknown…. Gideon charged an enemy camp with a few hundred guys because God…. Moses went back to Egypt and stuttered His way through… Joshua walked around walls seven times…. Crazy strategy but God!

There was this confidence that Jesus is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do. Paul invites us to determine our lives and our joy based upon the character and person of Jesus Christ living in us. Can you imagine the trajectory of our lives if we woke up every day and believed that God is with us? That He longs to live through us? We could be a bunch of Used to be’s who are turned on to radical things in Christ…. Who are turned on to a radical person named Christ…… That’s how Paul writes something crazy like this! Rejoice in the Lord always... Yeah, let me say it again... REJOICE!

Feel free to add to the commentary by clicking on comments Enjoy today, for the Lord God is with you!

Mark

We.... Us.... Church

The pic from Tiananmen square is profound! One man, standing in front of a tank and risking everything for the sake of a cause... something He deeply believed in... to the point of death. What the picture does not tell is the 'plural imperative' of this moment. To his left and right are thousands of students, intellectuals, those who were partnered with this unknown rebel. This image is not about a man standing alone in his principles. This image is about a man exemplifying the plural imperative. The image below displays the streets of Tiananmen Sq. filled with revolutionaries. To be an uknown rebel - yeah, that's provocative. To be partnered with unknown rebels is world changing!

Honestly, most of us in the faith get the 'vertical imperative'. We grasp inviting Christ to be our life. He comes into your heart... He changes your life... You spend time with Him. Your passion for 'knowing God' is there and its compelling (or at least your want it to be). I know we know about this vertical passion - to personally know God. I am not sure, however, that we truly grasp God's intense passion for the 'plural imperative'. This movement of Christ followers is a 'we or us'. Our western notions of rugged individualism really don't jibe very well with the plural imperative of this movement called the church.

I was reading some thoughts about the church of late, and I like what the guy was saying. The church has never been a building. Church is Kingdom dwellers put together. The plural of Jesus follower is 'church'. It's a simple way to say 'we' or 'us' - church. Jesus insisted that there is a plural imperative: Church is disciples following together.

After Jesus had sent His Spirit to His followers, they spoke about the good news and three thousand people believed, crossed the border into the Kingdom of God, and became Jesus Followers. When they joined in the band, the "US" was amazing. Someone actually wrote down all the plural things that were happening. They devoted themselves to one another... to prayer.... to eating bread together.... an awe comes upon everyone because of the power the Jesus followers have.

They are all together.... all things in common... they actually sell what they own and give money to everyone who needs it. They meet together in the Jewish temple.... house to house... and when they eat, they are glad and very sincere about it. They cannot help but talk about how great their God is! And everyone can't help but notice and be attracted to them.

This beautiful thing called us... the church is so creative, imaginative, beautiful, united and impassioned that it stirred and fulfilled the deepest passions and longings of people... the desire to belong.. the desire to belong to something far bigger than themselves... the ultimate desire to belong to Someone - the living God!

Let's live the Plural Imperative. We belong to Him. We belong to one another. Feel free to click on comments below and add to the commentary.

Mark