This time of year, we look to the same God as Moses. The one who said I WILL BE WHO I AM is with you. The one who said He would be EMMANUEL, is GOD WITH US! This season, remember that the same God who promised to be faithful to Moses, to Israel, is faithful to you. He is the the one who lit the bush, the mountain and the Bethlehem night skies on fire and who came as a baby to live with you.
SufferingWell
Maybe you’ve seen the various articles going around about the 100th anniversary of WWI? I’ve looked at various photos of the beautiful, yet abandoned, battlefields, but the most interesting thing I’ve seen is this quote about the religious impact of WWI. It is from an interview with Philip Jenkins on his new book, “The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade”…
SO HOW DID THE PEACE AFTER WWI IMPACT CHRISTIANS WORLD-WIDE?
Between about 1915 and 1930, we are dealing with perhaps the greatest age of martyrdom and mass killing of Christians in history. That includes perhaps 1.5 million Armenians murdered, not to mention mass slaughter by the Bolsheviks in Russia.
That all had two key consequences. One was the creation of Middle East that was more clearly Islamic, with far smaller Christian minorities.
It also ended the long-familiar tripartite division of Christianity into the worlds of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. Although Orthodox believers and thinkers obviously survived, their influence and impact collapsed with the loss of Russia. For the first time, people began to think of Christianity as bipolar—Protestant and Catholic.
*This quote is from this article on the TCG website:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/peace-could-not-hold/
Worship is Hope
Worship is Lament AND Praise
6 years ago, we lost my son. Since then, we’ve been on a journey through lament (expressing our pain to God), mercy, healing, joy and praise. I think this is the process God wants for all of us. As Psalm 126 says, “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”
Also, here is a copy of the “Psalm 142 Spoken Word”:
Psalm 142 Spoken Word
Lord, I am crying aloud to you.
Lord, I am lifting my voice
Because I have no choice,
but to cry for mercy.
I am pouring out my heart,
I am pouring out my trouble,
Amidst the rubble
of confusion and complaint.
Now when my spirit is faint inside of me.
It is you who watches my way
Even when evil tries to lay
A snare for my feet.
There is no friend beside me;
Lord, look and see,
no one is concerned for me.
I have no safety for my soul;
It feels like no one cares for my life.
Lord, I am crying out to you.
Lord, you guard my heart
And I know this is all apart
Of living in your loving life.
So listen to my heart’s cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from fears that feed
On my soul, for they are too strong.
Set me free from my prison of pain,
that I may praise your holy name.
that the righteous who came
to comfort me, will praise You…
Because of your goodness,
Because of your goodness,
Because of your goodness, Jesus,
…to me.
Worship is Encouragement
All of life is worship. And in our services we are called not only to exalt God, but also see our worship as encouragement for others who can’t sing for themselves.
For This Child I Have Prayed…
Isn’t it funny how our lives, and history itself, move in circles? Names and stories trigger memories and we see meanings emerge that we were blind to before.
As I think about my name, “Samuel”, and as I read the story of his mother, written thousands of years ago, I notice that my wife had a similar experience to my own mother who had a similar experience to Hannah.
I obviously don’t remember, but my Mom and Dad struggled to have a child for 4 years. She’s told me that she longed to be a mother and never dreamed, when she was married, that it would be that hard. Both of my parents continued to pray for a baby and I was born in a doctor’s office in the hills of western Pennsylvania. They named me Samuel because, like Hannah, they prayed for a child. That is what “Samuel” means.
Years later, Sara and I were in a similar situation, but we knew that there was no biological way for us to have kids. So we prayed and pursued adoption. God gave us a baby girl. We named her Eliana, which means, “my God has answered”.
So this week, as we approach Mother’s Day, I’m thinking about Hannah, Samuel’s mother, who lived thousands of years ago.
First off, I’m reminded that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. He is a loving Father who cares for us even when it doesn’t feel that way and we don’t understand what is going on. I have lived in the tension multiple times in my life. Infertility. Cancer. The death of a child. But it’s true. Job is the one who first said this, but it’s true. Blessed be His Name.
I also see that people will misunderstand you, adding to the pain of your experience. Eli, a priest of God, thought Hannah was drunk when he saw her praying to God. People told Sara and I that we were too stressed and needed to take a weekend away with a bottle of wine to make things happen. We laugh about it now, but, people will mis-understand you.
Even when that happens, bring your pain and anguish to the Lord in prayer. That’s my third thought. Whatever you are going through, bring your pain and anguish to the Lord. For a woman who desires to be a mother, this is deeper than I know. But God hears you when you call. God hears. God answers.
Lastly, I am incredibly thankful for the example of these amazing Godly women. Hannah prayed, trusting that God would answer her prayer. And THEN, she fulfilled her vow, giving her little son back to the Lord. Incredible. My mom prayed to the Lord for a baby and I was born. Since then, I have watched her continue to live a life of faith, even in the midst of hard times and hard questions. My own wife has also showed me what deep faith looks like. She also struggled, prayed and continues to do so.
Isn’t it funny how our lives, and history itself, move in circles? Names and stories trigger memories and we see meanings emerge that we were blind to before. As I think about my name, Samuel, I realize that it’s a reminder of the faith of women throughout history who have taken their pain to God and afterwards said,
“For this child I have prayed”.
7 Cancer Lessons
Once again, I will be sitting in the doctor’s office looking through the blinds at people in cars passing by as their lives raced ahead of them. The steps and muffled sounds of nurses and doctor’s will filter through the door. Then my heart will starting to race and I will identify what is happening to me…
It will be fear.
It’s been 13 years since that April 5th when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer. In those first days and weeks, I knew fear intimately as an evil twin who was trying to kill me. Twelve weeks of chemo left me so weak that some days I couldn’t get off the couch to get a glass of water. The chemo not only ate the cancer, but also destroyed my stomach lining, brought on migraine-like symptoms and damaged the nerves in my fingers and ears. And all the time…fear.
The strange thing was that it took me years to identify the fear and anxiety that comes before my check-up. Some years, I would feel it grab me from from behind weeks before. Other years, it snuck up on me. But I never saw it coming and then wondered why I was in an emotional funk.
Now, I am able to remind my fear of what I’ve learned because of cancer…because of fear. I’m not always able to respond clearly. But now, before a check up, I try to speak these things to my fear. I tell it what I’ve learned from cancer…
1.
Freedom from fear is a process. Some people might be able to defeat fear and never face it again, but not me. While it’s hold on me is less, I still have to wrestle with my fear! (If you’re fighting fear, here here are some further thoughts on fighting it.)
2.
I am thankful for going through cancer. It changed me and gave me so many things that I couldn’t have learned any other way. And knowing myself better now, I realize I would have run from the pain and suffering so God made me face it head on…
3.
We all die. I sat next to some amazing people in chemo. One man was a life-long smoker and had brushed shoulders with the Russian mafia, or so he said. Another woman was a worship leader and new mom facing breast cancer. Another man was a life-long farmer newly diagnosed with cancer and you could see the fear in his eyes. Some survived and some died. We are all mortal. Don’t waste your life. There is bigger story than just your life and you can join that story. It might mean you get cancer. It might mean that you son will die, but get in the game for God’s glory. You are on limited time.
4.
Having your life destroyed will either make you withdraw into your own self or you will learn to trust God. We all the desire to control our world, but this is the truth. YOU CAN’T CONTROL YOUR WORLD. We are 100% guaranteed suffering in this life and we are promised that God is 100% faithful to meet us there.
5.
I have hope in eternity. I am looking forward to it.
6.
Facing cancer has deepened my love for others. I’m crazy selfish and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. When facing pain, the temptation is to focus even more on yourself.
7.
Cancer helped me know Jesus better. Before cancer, I tended to love Jesus for what he gave me. I loved Jesus because a lot of family and friends loved Jesus. Cancer destroyed that world and taught me to love Jesus for Jesus. As author Tim Keller writes, “Sometimes God seems to be killing us when he’s actually saving us.” It’s a life-long process, but he is saving me from myself. It’s becoming less about me and more about him.
…And all of that will take place in my brain in the space of 15 min. Because after 15 min, the door will open and my doctor will walk in. He will asked me the litany of questions…
“How would you rate your pain? How are your side-effects? Any more pain in your fingers?”
As he is leaving, I can almost guarantee that he will forgot to tell me about the lab results from my blood work.
But you can’t be too hard on him. It has been 13 years.
How Do You Love Your Neighbor? Die for Them?
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” –Luke 10:27
These are the words of Jesus, but what do they mean for us in our daily lives? There is no doubt what they meant to Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame. Beltrame was killed on March 23 in the terrorist attack on a supermarket near Carcassonne. I don’t know all the details, but he died after having been exchanged for a hostage. What is deeply moving to me is that this was not only an act of heroism. It was one of faith. The chaplain of the gendarmerie was asked about Beltrame. This is what he said…
It turns out that the lieutenant-colonel was a practicing Catholic. The fact is that he did not hide his faith, and that he radiated it, he testified. We can say that his act of offering is consistent with what he believed. He went to the end of his service to the country and to the end of his testimony of faith. To believe is not only to adhere to a doctrine. It is first to love God and his neighbor, and to testify of his faith concretely in everyday life. In the happy or unhappy, even dramatic circumstances of our lives. -Father Dominique Arz, national chaplain*
May we take the words of Jesus to heart and love our neighbors like Arnaud Beltrame.
____________________________________
*Quote and content translated by Google from https://www.famillechretienne.fr/politique-societe/societe/arnaud-beltrame-est-alle-jusqu-au-bout-de-son-temoignage-de-foi-234374
Down & Dirty Theology: Giving Death the Finger
Some of you might remember that I wrote about Troy back in December. At the time, he was facing terminal cancer. At the time I wrote,
This past weekend, I led singing for a baptism service. It was for a man named Troy. Troy wanted to make a profession of faith about his love for Jesus, above all else. He also wanted to tell his kids that God is a better Father than he will ever be. “So when I’m gone,” Troy said, “remember this day.”
I also wrote,
I’m following the example of Troy. I want to serve God now. I want to worship God now, instead of idols, in the wilderness of our world.
Troy died this week and went to be with Jesus in eternity. As I reflected on Troy’s life and how to worship in this wilderness, I was reminded of something else I wrote, after my son died. I want to share it with you as we remember the testimony of Troy Mann and follow his example in walking with Jesus through the valley of the shadow of death…
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Life moves on. I get up in the morning and put my pants on, one leg at a time. I eat my cereal and drive to work just like everyone else. As I watch the faces of the other drivers, I wonder, “What they are thinking about?”.
The death of a loved one changes us in too many ways to count. And now as I look again at the faces of the people driving past me on the way work, I realize at least one thing my son’s death has enabled me to do…
It enables me to give death “the finger”.
You might be shocked that I would say that. But stay with me…at my son’s funeral, we sang Matt Mahr’s song, “Christ is Risen”. The bridge is taken directly from Paul in 1 Corinthians where he paraphrases Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14. He writes about the resurrection…
THEN THE SAYING THAT IS WRITTEN WILL COME TRUE: “DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.”
“WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY?
WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?”
As we sang, Sara and I raised our hands to worship the Lord of Life, but as we did that, I instinctively turned my open hand into a fist. I wasn’t just praising God, I was insulting sin and death that had taken our son.
I was giving death the finger.
Death might think that it took my son forever. Death might think that it took Troy forever, but we know that because of Jesus this is temporary. And as we live now, we are following Paul’s lead in defiantly living in the face of death with tears in our eyes. Think about it…
Where is death’s power to hurt us? We believers are dead and then we come back to live again forever. We are out of death’s reach. What kind of heat is it packing now? We can trash-talk it’s power and give the finger to it’s wrath. And the grave?!?!?! Where is it’s victory? We used to be it’s prisoners, but now the doors are blown open. The locks and dead-bolts have been broken. Our chains are thrown off. Death has died and captivity is now captive.
I still get up in the morning and put my pants on, one leg at a time, just like the other drivers on their way to work every day. But for me, for us, we can now give death the finger.
Worship360 