Relationship

When talking to God we have to remember that he is all knowing (your father knows what you need before you ask him. Matt 6:8) He doesn't just want information but a relationship.

Religion

Religion is about using God to receive an idol, the Gospel is about receiving God as the gift. ~ Mark Driscoll

Strangers in Romanina...a true story

We had been traveling all day across the world, and it wouldn’t be long before the sun would drift away below the field of clouds, staining the sky with burnt orange. Our destination was a little town named Medias in the country of Romania. After flying the long stretch across the ocean from the United States, we finally arrived in capital, Bucharest, and made our way through the blank and somewhat disgruntled faces of customs. As we exited the airport and made our way to the road, the taxi drivers had the appearance like seasoned hunters that fixated their eyes on the grand prize coming towards them. One hefty man in particular decided to quickly take the opportunity that had presented itself before the others had a chance. We thought we might blend in, but as hard as we tried I’m sure we still looked like two deer in the headlights, and the locals could see it. After agreeing to a decent price for the ride without specifying the currency we would be using, we got in the car and poured into the busy streets making our way to the Bucharest train station. While on our way we listened to a little techno, exchanged a few words with the taxi driver, and listened to him exchange a few seemingly vulgar words with the other drivers. Then we arrived at the station. After being such a gentleman and helping us with our luggage, the driver kindly waited for us to pay him. We quickly dug in our wallets for the correct amount of Leu that was agreed upon. The hefty man had obviously been planning this moment on the way to the station and just could not let the opportunity pass. He insisted that we pay in our native currency. After all, isn’t this the price that we agreed upon before entering the taxi? It was a loop hole that he had carefully schemed out in his mind. We were new to this and found ourselves letting him take advantage of us. So we finally paid him a week’s wages and made our way into the station.

            The next step was to get the train tickets, but first that meant that we had to find the ticket booth. As we entered the station there was another man posted, fishing for easy bait. Disguised as a kind gentleman that just wanted to help dumbfounded travelers for no reason at all, he led us

to the ticket booth and helped us buy our tickets to Medias. I was suspicious the whole time with this fellow and even asked him at the booth, “Why are you helping us?” He replied, “No reason, I just want to.” I gave him the benefit of the doubt and started thinking that it must just be a part of the culture to be so generous. After he placed the tickets in our hands it wasn’t five seconds later that he presented us with his own open hand, asking for a little money for the assistance. Once again we had fallen into a carefully planned trap and it was quickly destroying our trust in anyone. If not careful we could be guilty of placing the entire population into the same category as these two men. This little man was persistent and latched onto us like a leach. He was not going to give up until we gave him something. After we spent a good five minutes telling him that we were not going to pay him we realized that we did not have time to bicker with strangers, so we finally gave in to his request and paid him. He received the money with a satisfied smile, a generous thank you and a look on his face that said that it was all worth it. As he left us he began to search for his next victim. Fighting the tendency to judge the culture in the light of these two men we hopped on the train excited about this new experience and took our seat next to two older men that looked like they had been doing this their entire life. The sober feeling that we were excited strangers in someone else's homeland flooded over us.The train ride was a long one that was expected to last about five hours. Before leaving to Romania our professor had informed us that these trains do not announce to their customers where they are stopping. Being in Romania many times before, he let us know that our stop in Medias came two stops after a certain town named Sigishwara, so towards the end of this five hours we had to be sure and keep our eyes open. The sun quickly disappeared into the horizon giving way to the night. Tired and numb from traveling all day, we stared blankly out the widow and finally fell asleep. After we awoke we realized that the two old men were still sitting in the same spots, both falling in and out of sleep exhausted from a long day’s work. It wouldn’t be long until we were to arrive in Medias so we kept our eyes peeled. The train stopped at Sighisoara like our professor said, so we knew that our stop would come soon. The first stop came after Sighisoara, then not long after we felt the train slowing down again for the second stop.  Looking out the window we saw nothing but open fields, trusting that this should be our destination. We grabbed our bags and headed for the door to get off the train. It came to a halt and we poked our heads out of the train door to see nothing but corn fields to our left and right, only the sound of crickets singing in the night broke the stillness of the night. Something wasn’t right, but if we missed our stop that would start another chain of events that we did not want to deal with. We had to decide quickly if we were to get off here or not. After asking each other if we should get off and staring into corn fields confused, the train started to slowly move again to its next destination. Questions were racing through our heads as the train started gaining speed. We decided to stay on the train with much confusion. Worry started to prod at our minds with questions and doubts. The crowd on the train was thinning out now that we had been on so long, but the two old men were still there. All we had to do was ask someone where the stop to Medias was, but the barrier of communication stood towering in front of us. So in desperation I attempted to climb over it. I began to speak in English to these two men hoping that they might know at least a little; they didn’t. Interestingly we were able to understand one another enough to communicate, broken as it was. After saying the name Medias over and over, and pointing forward while nodding our heads together in agreement, we finally had a sense of peace about the whole situation. Still not sure if they understood us, our only option was to wait anxiously for the next stop. About twenty minutes later, we looked out the window and could see that we were entering another town. Thankfully, my friend Brian had used his trusty tool Wikipedia, which he thinks is one of the greatest inventions of all time, to investigate this town called Medias before we left the States. Peering out the window, he was able to recognize the famous clock tower that stood high in the center of the town. Relief flooded our hearts and we made our way to get off the train once again. It was now was about 1 am. We jumped off the train and found that a short woman was making her way directly toward us. Because of our prior experience in this situation, we were obviously suspicious of this person and attempted to ovoid her. She continued to come toward us so I asked her, “Who are you?” She said her name was Dora and that she was there to pick us up. Jokingly, I told her that I thought she was just another person wanting to help us for money. She quickly replied, “So you think I look like a beggar?” The embarrassment of making cultural mistakes came over me as I laughed and assured her that I didn’t think she looked like a beggar. After we made our way off of the train tracks we came to a flight of stairs that led underneath the station where another woman was waiting. She introduced herself and approached us with a hug. For the first time, we both felt warmly welcomed into this foreign country. After joking with Dora about our prior experience of almost getting off at the wrong stop, we jumped in the taxi and made our way to the base. The town was quiet and still as the taxi driver sped through the empty streets. We then turned onto a dirt road and entered an area that looked like it had been ravished by war. This was getting a little spooky. After bumping, tossing and turning in the cab up the hill on the torn road we arrived next to a three story house with a barren yard. (Honestly, the word base had filled my mind with different expectations of what it would look like. I was expecting a huge base, like some kind of military base.) We entered the house and were welcomed by another lady named Christina. She told us to have a seat and relax while she brought out some food for us to eat and some hot tea to sip on. After joking around and conversing for a while they directed us to our room where we would be staying with five other guys. Safe in our new beds at our new home, we struggled to fall asleep as we anxiously anticipated the unexpected events of the next three months that would played a significant part in shaping the rest of our lives.

Morning Stillness

Today I got up early!...for the first time in a long time, and I remembered why I love greeting the day early. I love that stillness and quietness in the early morning, before everyone and everything starts moving around. I enjoy that crisp cool air that hits the face and refreshes the lungs as you first step outside in the early morning while the sun is making its great accent... the warmth of the rays that hit your face and body first thing in the morning. The peace that is felt in the early morning is one thing I miss. The intimate conversations and meditation that takes place in the morning between myself and God is what I was reminded of today. The birds beginning to sing and the squirrels rustling around in the trees. Everyone is quiet and still, barely moving around. Your side of the world is waking up and its a time of thankfulness for life and another day. Many times I can remember God speaking to me in the early morning, many times I have walked around outside before the commotion starts, this is what I miss and about the early morning. It's as if it's just you, God, and creation.

The Real World

What do you expect life to be like? Do you expect an ordered, predictable calm where your plans are unobstructed? Do you assume that people will agree with you and affirm your choices? Do you think you will be able to avoid sickness, accident, and injury? Do you believe you can plan your way out of stress and avoid situations where you feel overwhelmed? Yah!...If you live like a hermet monk!

Our experiences become more difficult when we carry unbiblical, and therefore unrealistic, expectations into them. We are shocked when we find ourselves in stessful situations. We question God's goodness and wonder what has gone wrong with our faith. We think that God has changed the rules on us.

That's why....lets say for example...a man named "Fred" was so disappointed. He was one of the good guys. He played by God's rules. He worked hard, made wise choices, and exercised a lot of discipline. He was serious about his relationship with God and active n his church. He was a faithful husband to "Judy" and an involved father. Given all this, "Fred" assumed that God would continue to give him the "good life."

He didn't want something extravagant. he just wanted his life of work, Christian friends, and family to go on without a hitch. But now "Fred" stood at what once had been the doorway of his dream home. A hurricane had blown it all away. Except for a few photo albums, everthing was gone. "Fred" could not calculate the loss.

Where was God? Why would he let this happen? Whey had "Fred" bothered to work hard, only to lose it all? "Fred" knew he should pray, he didn't want to. He was shocked, angry, and disappointed. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

What words would you use to discribe the world in which we live? In Romans 8 Paul describes it like this...

For the creation was subjected to fustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its BONDAGE TO DECAY and brought into the glorious feedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creations has been GROANING as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

These are the phrases that Paul uses to describe earthly life between the fall of man until Christ comes once agian as King of Kings. Creation is subject to frustration, in bondage to decay, and groaning as in pains of childbrith and we live in the midst of it all.

What pours and overflows out of your own heart when the boat is rocked a little and the heat is on? Life on earth is a wilderness. Each day we face unexpected difficulties. In it all, God works to expose, chage, and mature us. he has not forgotten you or the promises he made to you. He has not left you to the limits of your power and wisdom. In ways that are glorious, yet often hard to understand, God is in your Heat. He calls you to turn from questioning him to examining yourself! Where do you question his goodness, grace, and love? Where do you toy with the idea of going back to your old lifestyle...because this dosen't seem to be "working." God is not absent from your heat. When you are in the middle of the heat, you haven't somehow gotten yourself outside the circle of God's love and care.

Formula Christianity

Today my professor brought up a topic that I would like to expand upon. He mentioned that sometimes we as Christians want to do what works. What can I do to get God to move? What do I need to do to get God to meet my need? Should I fast or pray a certain prayer in a certain way? Then if I do it right then this means that God will do. I'm thinking the simple answer to this is...again...God is not constrained to our formulas. I don't believe that God is waiting for us to get the formulas right...then he can finally do something! No. God is the one at work...not us. He does what is right and whatever pleases him. Will not the judge of all the earth do right? Not to say that we should never pray again or fast or do any of the other things that we do...but we should check our motives for doing so...do that hard work of examining our heart. Do you do these things knowing that God is sovereign and out of your control? Why pray? I believe to join him in what he is already doing. Why fast? For me it is to expose and remove idols that I have set up in my life and refocus on who should be my true object of worship and attention. The gospel proclaims that GOD is the one that has reached out to US, not the other way around, and is at work in our lives and in the lives of others, READY to do good.

You Will Suffer

Lately I have been reading and studying the topic of suffering and how one should view it in the light of Christianity. Personally, it is a hard subject to study and I still have many questions running through my mind but as I have looked into God's Word and received teaching from people I respect and trust this is what I have come to believe as true so far...

Many people can become confused in the midst of suffering and begin to doubt, question and grow angry at God. This type of attitude while suffering is the result of either bad teaching or no understanding of suffering as a Christian from a Biblical perspective. Some people seem to think that when becoming a Christian and having a relationship with Christ, all suffering should cease and that we should now be exempt from having to encounter any troubles in this world at all. This is not what the Bible teaches. God did not even spare his own Son from suffering. God does not promise us that we will not suffer in this life when we become His. In fact, he lets us know that we will indeed suffer and gives us hope, strength, even joy in the midst of suffering. The truth is that sin and suffering are a part of the world that we live in. People will experience pain and suffer emotionally, physically, financially, etc. I'm sure at this point you naturally want to stop reading about this topic and shy away from encountering the truth about suffering and pain, but I encourage you to continue and come face to face with the raw truth.

So the question is...Why suffer? Does it have a purpose?

Suffering is awful. We hate it. We run from it like a gazelle fleeing from a hungry lion. We will do almost anything to avoid it. But suffering is an inescapable part of living in this world. God does not spare even His most faithful servants from it but WORKS IT OUT FOR THEIR GOOD and the good of those around them. Job, Joseph and Paul are just three examples of people that encountered intense suffering. Since the original sin of Adam, this world has lived under a curse, a curse of suffering and death that will remain until Jesus Christ is revealed as the King of Kings. Our bodies grow old and suffer numerous painful ailments. Exercising their God-given free will, sinful human beings continue to inflict devastating pain on one another. And the blood of the martyrs has often been the seed of the church. In the midst of it all, many are tempted to shake their fist at God and say, “Why me?”, as if something strange were happening to them or as if they expect to somehow be exempt from the painful trials of this world. We should expect suffering in this life—Jesus promised it to us. We cannot expect God to spare us from all suffering when He did not spare His only Son from suffering.

It is hard, especially for Americans, to learn to die to self and the pleasures of this world. The Western, consumer-driven culture is designed around satisfying our every desire and avoiding suffering. This is probably why some in the West have developed a "health, wealth and prosperity" theology but not a theology of suffering. We are taught to live for the things of this world, and this has infected our churches. But when we come to faith in Christ, we receive a new master who has called us to be on mission with Him, and faithfulness to that mission will involve suffering. I do believe that God is good and wants the best for us but the fact is that God does not equate what is best for us and others around us with how much money we have and how much pain we are free from. From what I understand now, God decides what is ultimately good for us based on how it will glorify himself and point us to him....because he is GOD! think about that. Now, when this type of subject is introduced to someone in the midst of suffering it is even harder to talk about because it seems as if God has some type of ego problem and needs all attention on himself to the point that he even works out suffering such as cancer, murder and rape to glorify him in the end. God does not rape people or give them cancer!...but he does work these terrible results of a fallen world in disobedience to him out for the good of those that love him and for his glory. He is bigger than sin! Sin and suffering do are not out of God's control!

Another crucial thing to understand when considering suffering and pain is the sovereignty and goodness of God. He is both in control and good. God is not pleased with the suffering and pain that takes place in this world because of sin. The Bible tells us that he gets angry, weeps, grieves and even mourns because of the pain caused by sin. Well, if we are to consider the sovereignty of God one may ask...If he is sovereign, then doesn’t that mean that everything that happens is God's will? The answer is NO. There are many things that are not God's will...we call them sin. Everything that happens does not proceed from God's will as if he wanted sin. Everything is not in obedience to God. There is sin and rebellion and this is not what God wants. Darkness, evil and sin do not proceed from the character of God and God works out everything in the end for his ultimate redemptive good. This means that God is bigger than sin, evil, Satan and demons and that in the end God works out all things for the good as stated in Romans. This does not mean that all things are what God wanted or decreed or willed, but it does mean that even when there is sin and rebellion that he is big enough to work it out for his good and he does. God is not just sovereign but also good.

The bottom line is that the purpose of all of life is to glorify God and to make His glory known. Personally, I tend to squirm a little when I truly think about this...that all of life, everything, even suffering is intended to glorify God. But, once again I have to make the decision of whether I will believe in my own image of who I would like God to be or will I believe in him for who he really is and reveals himself to be? No sane person seeks out suffering. But as his children having a greater hope we embrace suffering when it comes, trusting in God's sovereignty and provision. We can suffer purposefully instead of purposelessly. When we suffer hardship well, trusting God along the way, we send a message to hurting people around the world so they can see a glorious God who loves them and gives strength in the midst pain. There should be a difference in the way a child of God suffers verses one that does not know him. Again the question is not...Will I suffer? But, when will I suffer and how long? This is the raw truth. The other question is...how will I suffer? Purposefully or with no purpose at all? Our suffering serves a purpose and that is to ultimately glorify God. Please feel free to comment! I would like to hear what you guys think about this subject.

Some content from: Mission Frontiers Magazine. Jan-Feb 2010. pgs. 4&5

More great teaching on God's hand in our suffering can be found at:
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/redeemingruth/gods-hand-in-our-suffering