The Value of Nothing

“Job scrapped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.”
-Job 2:8

Job lost all his possessions. Everything that his world called wealth, he had lost completely. It surprised me when I came across this verse, why would Job trash a piece of pottery to scrape boils?
Was he tired of the images of his former wealth?
Was he angry?
Maybe he found more connection to a broken pot than a fixed one.
Maybe.
Just maybe. Job had lost his sons and daughters. Job had lost his wealth and now his health. And rather than cling to the few possessions that he had, he decided to cling to God. While Satan had taken everything, he had not taken God.
So what do you have left? What do you have lingering inside of you? Have you lost something? Maybe it’s not even a possession but you’re lacking in an identity?

God is all you have. When you have God, losing things hurts. Death, disease, and bankruptcy will leave you with pain. But know the value of having nothing but God.

The Whirlwind

“And God spoke to Job through a whirlwind”
-Job 38:1

How often do we come to God with our complaint and walk away humbled by who He is? I don’t think we do this often, if ever. I think we come and complain and then walk away as if everything is the same. The whole mindset of “getting it off your chest” has crept into the Christian today, but this doesn’t work if there is no humility and there is no love.
When God appeared to Job through the whirlwind, he was covered in blisters and sores. (in Job 2:8, he scraped the scabs with a broken piece of pottery.) Assuming that the scabs were still relatively pain or at least still sensitive when God appeared, I think it speaks to the heart of what God wants to do. Depending on your interpretation of this assumption – figuratively and literally.
Think of Job filled with sores and when the whirlwind collided with his body, he hurt more. That God had not come to wound Job, Job was already wounded but the presence of God coming would wound further the wounded Job. And by pressing against the sores or completely removing the scabs, God was wanted to make sure Job heals from this correctly and not alone.
What happens in our life that causes us pain? God will take us into it, to experience the pain again, so that we can experience the pleasure and goodness of who He is.
Boils leave scars. For the rest of his life, Job’s scars where a reminder to himself and those around him about the tragedy in his life. And a reminder of God restoring Job from nothing.

Stranger than Fiction: Reality?

So last night i watched "Stranger than Fiction". The movie is about a man who begins to hear his life being narrated. As the story continues, he realizes that who ever is narrating his life is going to kill him off and it is only a matter of time before he is going to be killed. Then, he bought a guitar and learned how to play. He pursued a woman that he was attracted to and started a relationship. And he, in short, began to become awake and alive to the world around him.
I think God is writing our story as we live it. I think this movie although maybe not originally intended to be this deep, was expressing that there is something lurking in our lives calling us to become alive. To live as if we are going to die. To embrace life to the full.
this is where i am. pursuing what makes me alive. What makes me see the world differently. See the world more beautifully and live it more wholly everyday.

Confessions on the Image of God

God,
I confess that I sometimes think you are slow. I think that because when I pray for something and it doesn't happen that you are moving in it. I acknowledge it, but I assume you are going too slow. That in my makeshift world, you are planning on moving, but it will be too late.
I suppose it stems from me thinking that I know better than you. That in this fatherless generation that I am a part of, I find I am both naturally rebellious and naturally am looking for someone to look into my life, to mentor and guide me. To love me.
God, I confess, that I see the distance between me and my earthly father and expect the same from you. I remember the frustrations of my family and the struggles that we have faced and expect it to be the same with You.
Please cleanse me of my self-righteous sorrow and show yourself as my true Father. Draw me into a deeper understanding of you and a deeper commitment of faith. Paralyze my fear and sorrow and ignite my passion to serve you. You are God. and I love you.

Reflections on Having a Church Building 2

random thoughts....

I think the question of having a church building ultimately comes to is there such a thing as sacred VS secular? In the Hebrew Scriptures there is such a distinction, but not in the new Testament.

so would having a church building make that distinction?

I think it would have to be a neutral area with everyone on the same level. I think tables would be more beneficial than pews - aiding in creating a sense of community.

Creativity is vital for the church and for it to continue, we need to use it for the purposes of God to draw us closer to Him.

What is the benefit of having a building?

Like Me Like Him

I like things that are like me. I like to watch movies that with the character that reminds me of me – even in a small way. I like to listen to music that has to do with something I’m going through or thinking about. I find it easier to like people that are like me.

Then I come to the Lord’s prayer. “Hallowed be thy name”
Hallowed means sacred, set apart, holy. It’s the kind of word that gives the impression “other than who I am”

God is other than I am. And I think that’s good. Cause while I like things that are like me. I am also evil at my core. And as God said in the Hebrew Scriptures: “Be holy for I am holy.” God wants me to be more like him.

Reflections on Having a Church Building 1.

I'm not really big on church buildings, at least typical ones. But my church, Journey, meets in a school cafeteria and there is always the whispers on the want of a building. I don't know if i want that. we aren't committed to any place for more than a year. Keeps us free and if we move it will be a new area to reach out to. Which is GREAT!
If we get a building than people will come and show up and then the draw will tapper off gradually. What's the big deal with having a building.

I want to see what God does with a church that has no money and no building. And if the money comes, I want to see what the church does with it. Will they spend it on a themselves with a building or will they spend it on the poor and needy.

Perhaps size doesn't matter and is a lie to the consumer. perhaps if the church got bigger than eventually there would be a need for a school and then a need for something else. it feels like a trap, but if we give the money away, than, what will God do?

"I'm not Jewish, I'm southern Baptist"

I was at work this week and a lady picked up a bag of kosher snacks and asked me about them. I explained Jews have a different dietary law than most people. She responded, "Oh, well, I'm not Jewish, I'm southern Baptist".

Something is wrong here. Wasn't Jesus Jewish. Is it not recorded that Jesus attended the Jewish celebrations? Maybe if we really want to understand more of who Jesus is, we need to understand the Jewishness of Jesus. What it means to follow the Law and the sacred rituals. What it meant for the Jews to be God's chosen people. and what the expectations, in the hearts of the 1st century Jews and in the Scriptures was.

we can't hide behind, "I'm different, i dont get it" anymore.

Who do you Love?

I turned on the bathwater and walked in with my laptop, 3 books, my bible, a piece of paper with bible verses and 2 pens – all in preparation of spending time with God. I sat in the tub with my itunes on shuffle and relaxed to music. I read chapters of each book, thinking and praying about them. A growing excitement over each book blossomed in me as I was coming to an end of the introductory chapters which were explaining the scholarly preparations and the mindset going into the work I was about to discover. When the author has to spend more than 5 pages on his intentions of writing the book, I know it’s gunna be good, even if I disagree with it.

Then I stopped and began praying. My itunes shuffled from a worship song to George Thorogood and the Destroyers “Who do you love?” and happily I exclaimed “You! I love you, Lord!”

I’m sometimes dim, I guess. But I was forced to ask what do I value? Do I value learning over spending time with him? Do I need outside influences to spend time with God? Why are they there? Forced now into a corner with a need to turn off the itunes and put away the books and then just in silence, spend time with God.