Message = 1, Technology = 0

We have guest speakers each week for the Perspectives class I've been taking this semester.  Most lectures are interesting and engaging, but a few can leave me sleepy.  I was thrown a curve ball by a recent guest when I walked into the class room and one of these sweet, old overhead projectors was set up in front, ready for action.   The instructor was an old, frail looking man with super-white hair and a tired countenance.  I'd read an article of his earlier in the week for homework and came that night with high expectations. However, after scanning the scene I was like, "Oh, boy... maybe shoulda' stayed home tonight.  Really old instructor + really old technology = wish I would have brought my laptop to catch up on emails during this class..."

However, within a few moments of our guest taking the podium, I knew I had been completely wrong.  Here's an 80+ year old man, a pioneer in cross-cultural Christian missions, sharp as a sword, engaging, witty, relevant.  A few scribblings on the overhead slides, but it didn't slow down the presentation one bit.  Additionally, most of the other lecturers who come in using a more modern projector, hip new laptop, and multimedia presentations have yet to bring to the table an impact equal to this champ.  Once again, it's not about the means; it's all about the message.  Jesus Christ is the most exciting thing about missions, yesterday, today, and forever.  Here's to you David Hesselgrave; thanks for making it so!

Score:  Message = 1, Technology = 0

Context/Text: The Triumphal Provision

Context: I work in the worship ministry at our church, and every Tuesday morning we have a meeting reviewing the services from the previous weekend.  So this past Tuesday, I walk in to the meeting room, and as I'm getting situated, Andi Rozier, our resident worship leader and ministry director asks the rest of the group as they're trickling in if they have their scripture ready to share.  I ask, "Scripture?"  Andi says, "Yeah, I sent out an email last week asking everybody to bring scripture to share with the rest of the group, on the topic of "trusting the Lord."

...Steve opens email archive to check... yep, there it is; how'd I miss that one?

Well, I love the idea of starting the meeting off with mutual encouragement and upbuilding before we dissect our craft.  OK, Lord; I'm trusting you NOW to bring to mind some passage that I've been going through so I can at least share something...

The great thing about reading the Bible is that I can engage it on many levels:  I can search its pages for wisdom on particular issues, pour over it for group study application or personal edification, meditate on it to relate to my creator, etc.  I can count on it to feed the soul.

Anyway, I've been taking a class this semester on World Christian Missions, so much of my deep study time has been used hitting the books.  Additionally, my men's group just wrapped up a study on Colossians.  Squeezing these endeavors around family & work has been challenging, so this season of personal bible study has been of the casual daily-feeding nature; no deep-sea diving going on here.

As such, when Tuesday's meeting rolled around, I felt particularly vulnerable as I didn't think I had anything substantial to share.  The group had begun going around the table sharing, and I'm scrambling to think through what I've read in the past week that would speak to the topic at hand.  "Trusting the Lord?"  Yeah, I could really use to trust the Lord right now to recall something or calm my heart to hold my tongue this time around.

...enter Jehovah Jireh!

I'd been reading through the Gospel of Mark, just keeping up on the ways of Jesus.  What of all I've read could fall under the category of "trusting the Lord"?  Really, that?  No way.  I'm just grasping at straws.  There's no way that passage would apply... Or, OK, maybe.  Let's see.

I can think of countless situations wherein we trust the Lord and seek his provision, favor, wisdom, peace, patience, etc., and the passages that have encouraged me through those times and afterward share and rejoice and pray about how He was faithful.

Yet as I sat listening to the group, stewing over whether I should share or not, it really started to bubble over.  So, here we go.  I'm doing this just to document the thoughts God brought to mind and also maybe to encourage you, too!

Text: Mark 11:1-10.  

For reference, I'm reading out of the English Standard Version.  

The passage is familiar; almost too familiar.  I'd encourage you to slowly read through the passage before proceeding.  It's the Palm Sunday passage where Jesus and the disciples were heading to Jerusalem.  He sends a couple of them into the town ahead to find an unused colt and bring it back to him.  They obediently go and find it just as he said and bring it back.

Now at this point, if I were one of the disciples, I'm thinking "Wow!  What great miracle is Jesus going to perform now?  Or what great insight will he show us using this little pony?  

He's been healing people left and right; a few of us saw his transfiguration; he's been prophesying about his death and resurrection... Stand back friends, what's this gonna' be?"

Or worse, like most times I've read this passage, we breeze through it as just an historical snapshot of a moment in the life of Jesus in the week leading up to his death, replete with memories of Sunday School teachers handing out palm leaves for us to wave around.

And as they enter Jerusalem, Jesus sitting on the colt, we read '"And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!  Hosanna in the highest!'" (v.9-10 ESV)

Friends, most often when we think of "trusting the Lord" it's throughout a crisis or trial or some spectacular challenge.  How about for once just trusting the Lord in, what appears, the obscure or mundane requests he places in our lives that it's for no other reason than to bring Him pure glory.  This is a worship passage through and through.  "Hey guys, I need you to go run this errand for me.  Why?  Trust me.  It's so that my people can worship me."

Has it been a year?

Oh, yeah; I created this blog about a year ago.  It's my understanding that one is supposed to maintain this outlet with regular updates...  Let's see if I can exercise this a bit more.

Resources: BIBLICAL

When I was a kid, I never really enjoyed reading.  I stuck mostly to fiction stuff and gradually in my ‘twenties’ started sprinkling in some works of philosophy & poetry.  It wasn’t until I discovered the life-transforming truths in God’s Word that reading became a true joy to me.  Currently I find my pursuits on the other side of the pendulum, wherein I mostly read (in addition to the Bible) non-fictional biblical writings.  I enjoy everything from church history, to doctrinal debates, to apologetics, to ministry “helps” and most everything else in-between.  

Through this, I believe the Lord has been teaching me to be a good steward even with my reading.  What am I reading that’s going to bring God the most glory?  What’s going to impact me as a follower of Christ no matter where I’m at in my walk?  Although studies in “how the bible was put together” are interesting and useful, and “theological nitpicking” is probably best reserved for more scholarly circles, I want to make sure that the majority of the supplemental literature I put in my head is also going to make the most impact on my heart.  
Now please understand that I’m not belittling the benefit of books tackling fringe-topics; they can and do shape the minds of the next generation of theologians & ultimately the church.  Their existence alone is typically an indicator for the need to address such issues.  Some audience somewhere is raising a question, right?!?

Anyway, as a follower of Christ, lately I’ve been finding the most benefit reading titles on Christian Living or Personal Growth; books from respected teachers that understand the theology but, more importantly, can apply the truths to our lives, knowing they’ll produce massive change.  Here’s a quick flyover of a few titles I’ve been absorbing recently:

John Piper “The Dangerous Duty of Delight” ( The Glorified God and the Satisfied Soul)
This is a primer for his more substantive, classic work on Christian Hedonism called “Desiring God.”  The first half gives theological support for God’s command for his followers to find joy in Him and thus glorify Him by doing so.  Many followers of Christ accept him as Savior and Lord and go full-steam into sanctification, often in their own strength, and lose the joy of fellowship with the Lord.  Christian Hedonism reminds us that by humbling ourselves before God and letting Him rule our lives we find ultimate joy which will most please Him and ourselves.  Seems simple enough, right?
No big surprise, Piper gets us back on track by pointing us to Jesus’ great commandments (Matt. 22, Mark 12, Luke 10) to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”  Our pursuits in godliness must be founded on love.  Since we often seem to struggle with this practically, Piper gives us the memorable mantra: “Love is the overflow and expansion of joy in God, which gladly meets the needs of others.”   Settling for the world’s definition of love & joy will ultimately leave us without either.
The second half of the book tackles some avenues of practical application through chapters titled, “What does it mean for...”

• Worship -  “its essence is satisfaction; it can’t be a means for anything else. ‘God is enough’”.
• Marriage - “The biblical mandate to husbands and wives is to seek your own joy in the joy of your spouse.  Put the glory of Christ on display by pursuing your joy in the holy joy of your beloved. “
• Money -  God is not glorified when we keep for ourselves his gifts.  We must think and live by Wartime necessities!  Get by on only what you need, then give generously to the cause of Christ with whatever else.
• Missions – True missionaries, wherever they’re planted, never consider their service to further the Kingdom of Christ as sacrifice.
• Pursuing joy through suffering magnifies the all-satisfying worth of the Source of our joy
  

C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity
This is my first read of a C.S. Lewis title.  Yes, I know he is a 20th century Christian giant, but hey, give me a break.  Anyway, this is the obvious classic that many followers of Christ recommend, and with good reason.  It’s a revised compilation of shorter writings based originally on broadcast radio programs Lewis did in the early 1940s.  He begins by discussing human nature and pointing readers to the existence of a Moral Law, and ultimately a Moral Law Giver.  Next, he points us to Christ as the only way to restore our broken relationship with our Creator.  The responses & pursuits of the believer are then laid out in passages on various Christian morals and doctrines.  Sufficient space is reserved for the “Great Sin: Pride” and its antidote: Humility.  Lewis writes from a layman perspective throughout, which makes this book highly approachable and practical to the many.  The borderline archaic, yet proper, language and contextualization can sometimes seem distant, but the underlying thrust is timeless.

C.J. Mahaney – Humility (True Greatness)  
Mahaney tackles the biggest offense to God: Pride, and the Godly response: Humility.  We all have pride to some degree, but hopefully the Lord is uprooting this from us day by day.  1 Peter 5:5 says, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”   The book is full of useful practical application that we can begin today.  Nothing melts away pride quicker than focusing our thoughts on the suffering Jesus Christ did for us.  From that point we can do things such as beginning and ending our days humbly giving thanks to God for His provision, reflecting on God’s attributes and various accepted church doctrines, allowing others to speak truth into our lives, and my favorite - “Identifying Evidence of Grace in Others.”  Additional focus is given to harnessing suffering for God’s glory, focusing our hearts back on the sufficiency of Christ amidst trials. (“God is Enough”)  Our entire worship ministry staff read this a few years back, and I’ve revisited it often; even recommending it to friends and giving it as a gift.  It’s a relatively easy read; by God’s grace the applications can be, too.

Lord God, Father in Heaven, you’ve been more than gracious in calling me to yourself through the humbling work of your Son, Jesus Christ.  I thank You and praise You for Your provision of salvation.  Remind me daily of Your sufficiency in all things.  Help me press on daily to find satisfaction in You alone, and let that Love and Joy strengthen and motivate me to love my neighbor as myself.  Apart from You, I can do nothing, God.  I thank you for your living Word, that changes and sanctifies us each day.  I thank you for godly men who share practical approaches to Your revealed truths.  Lord, help us all regularly apply these truths to our lives, that we may glorify You and joyfully be the light of Christ to others.  Amen.