Quote from a book I'm reading 1

"This kingdom love that Jesus speaks of always has a Calvary quality to it. While people in the kingdom of the world find it easy to love those who they think deserve it--that's part of the tit-for-tat nature of the world's kingdom--kingdom-of-God participants are called to love all people unconditionally, even their enemies, just as Christ did (Luke 6:27,35). We are even commanded to use our kingdom authority to pray sincerely for those who persecute us--again, just as Christ did (Matt. 5:43-44; Luke 6:28). (Remember, he's talking to people who before long would be beheaded, burned alive, or fed to lions!) While people in the kingdom of the world usually do good to those who do good to them, followers of Jesus are called to do good even to those who harm them (Luke 6:34-35). When struck on the cheek, we are to offer up the other (Luke 6:29). When asked by an oppressive Roman guard to carry his equipment one mile, we are to offer to carry it two (Matt. 5:41).
"Understood in their original contest, these teachings do not tell us to allow people to abuse us, as though we are to love our enemies but not ourselves. To the contrary, Jesus is giving us a way by which we can keep from being defined by those who act unjustly toward us. When we respond to violence with violence, whether it be physical, verbal, or attitudinal, we legitimize the violence of our enemy and sink to his level. When we instead respond unexpectedly--offering our other cheek and going a second mile--we reveal, even as we expose the injustice of his actions, that our nemesis doesn't have the power to define us by those actions. In this sense we serve our enemy, for manifesting God's love and exposing evil (the two always go hand in hand) open up the possibility that he will repent and be transformed."

Last Sunday our two girls showed up and we continued to talk about storms.  We had already said that it was necessary to rehearse ahead of time how we would respond to trials in our life and that brought to my mind the words to this song by Matt Redman:

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

 

Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

 

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

 

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

 

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name

 

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

We talked about another reason for trials:  to bring God glory.  This brings to mind the blind man in John 9.  Religious leaders ask Jesus, "Who sinned, this man or his parents?"  Jesus tells them that neither one sinned but that the blindness was to bring God glory.  And this happened when Jesus healed him.   We see it in so many other examples too:  Joseph, Daniel, the 3 Hebrews in the fiery furnace, Job and many others.  They had to go through the trial to get to the point that God received the glory.  Very few of us want the trials.  Even Jesus had His human side that thought about avoiding trials.  But look at what He says in John 12:27-28. "Right now I am storm-tossed.  And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'?  No, this is why I came in the first place.  I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.'"

Along these same lines, I love Psalm 46:1-3 (MSG).  "God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.  We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains."  What an attitude to aspire to!

Storms

We had a good class on Sunday.  We had 5 students, but Phil wasn't there because he had gone to take Kathryn back to the airport in Nashville.  We showed the Nooma film, Rain.  It did a wonderful job introducing the topic of how to respond to storms in our lives.

We identified some reasons we have storms.  Sometimes God uses our distress to just get our attention and to get us to seek Him.  At other times He uses our troubles to correct and discipline us.  He wants to purify us and get us to repent of sin.  Many times our storms are used to build our character.  They develop patience and perseverance and shape us to make us more like Christ.

Even though they didn't say a lot, I know that some of the students who were there are experiencing storms right now.  They need our prayers.  But we also talked about the fact that if we're not in a storm right now, we will be soon enough.  Storms come; it's a sure thing.  And we need to rehearse ahead of time what our response will be when they come.  God wants us to rejoice in these trials.  He wants us to recognize that He is at work and He is there with us in the storm.

There's more to say about storms but we'll save that for the next lesson.

Rain

The past two Sundays we have sung a song about rain.  It talks about asking Jesus to bring the rain, or storms of life, because it brings us closer to God and develops character in our lives that cannot come any other way.  This Sunday we will be talking more about this in our Sunday School class.  So I'm asking here for anyone who will to share their story of how God saw them through a storm.  I'd like to be able to share them with my class on Sunday.

To begin, I'll share one of my own.  Leaving Griffith Elementary School 8 years ago was a huge storm in my life.  I had taught with dear friends for many years and it was a difficult time.  I can look back now and see that I did some things right in that situation, like truly seeking what God was moving me to do next.  But I also look back and see things I should have done differently.  I wish I could have had different attitudes toward what was happening. 

God was with me all the way, even though it was very hard.  He was so gracious in letting me be with Will when he had to make the transition to middle school, which was very hard for him.  And from there he led me to the job I have today.  It is a job that is a perfect fit for me and gives me great satisfaction.  God has been so faithful to me in this storm and many others throughout my life.  God is good... all the time.

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Here are the lyrics to the song by Mercy Me:

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that 
I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings 
You glory And I know there'll 
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to 
praise You Jesus, bring the rain

I am yours regardless of the clouds that may 
loom above because you are much greater than 
my pain you who made a way for me suffering 
your destiny so tell me whats a little rain 

Embracing our story

We have been talking a little about who we are and what our story is. God tells us in His word that he formed us before we were born and planned all our days before one had come to be. What amazing thoughts!

I just read some of Andrew Peterson's blog and it seems appropriate here so I'll share it with you.

"You are living a life that is not just your own. Your story will be told, by someone, somewhere, in some age. Behind you trails a shimmering strand that weaves among the people in your life, and binds your story to theirs. Before you is the story of your fathers and mothers, and part of your toil is to cling to its light as it leads you down those old roads.
But some of us may look into the past and see darkness, or nothing at all. There may be little that is laudable about the choices of our ancestors; they may be dead branches on the family tree. We may be struck with fear that our choices will inexorably be theirs. That is a lie. Evil’s power is destruction, a weak and sloppy thing compared to the music of light and beauty. If you look into the past and see desolation, it falls to you to hover over those waters and sing a new song. The canvas is yours to fashion as you will. Step into the love of Christ, let him clothe you with mercy and equip you with his power. Then in strokes broad and bright, fill your canvas with love and truth–then even your worst choices will only brighten the picture. And that is a great mystery.
Look back. Look forward. Then walk with a sense of your place in time and space. Listen by faith for the great cloud of witnesses to cheer you on in the long defeat. In a hundred years, when your grandchildren’s children ask about you, the answer will drip with honey. May they taste and see that the Lord is good."

We had 2 students on Sunday. We are continuing to think about how we need to structure our class to better meet the needs of this interesting group of people. Please pray for us to be open to trying whatever it takes to be there for these young people.

Since we're using material from Rob Bell, I've been doing a lot of thinking about him and what he believes. I went back to his book, Velvet Elvis, to rethink some things. I read several passages and came to the epilogue. Let me share it with you here. A little lengthy but worth reading.

"One summer when I was in high school, my family and I were on vacation and decided to visit a church in the town where we were staying. At the end of the service, the pastor asked if anybody wanted to become a Christian. He said that people could repeat a prayer after him and become a Christian, right there at that moment in their seats. He said that if people repeated this prayer after him, they could be sure that when they died, they would go to heaven and not hell. He then asked everybody to bow their heads and close their eyes, and he said the prayer, leaving space after each sentence for those who wanted to repeat the prayer after him. When he finished, he told everybody to keep their eyes closed and heads bowed. He then asked for the people who had prayed the prayer to raise their hands wherever they were seated. This way he would know who they were so he could pray for them. He said that nobody but him would be looking.

"The pastor then said, 'I see that hand over there. Thank you. I see a hand in the back. I see some young women in the front...' And he proceeded to acknowledge the hands that were going up all around the room.

"During this entire time I had kept my eyes open and was watching the whole thing.

"I didn't see any hands go up.

"Several years ago my dad reminded me of that day. He told me he had his eyes open the whole time as well--only he was not watching for hands. He was watching me. He said that when he realized what was going on and that I was observing it all, he had this sick feeling that I would walk away from God and the church and faith forever. He said he kept thinking, I've lost Rob. I've lost Rob...

"I am like you. I have seen plenty done in the name of God that I'm sure God doesn't want anything to do with. I have lots of reasons for bailing on the whole thing.

"I am also like you because I have a choice. To become bitter, cynical, jaded, and hard. Anybody can do that. A lot have. Hatred is a powerful, unifying force. And there is a lot to be repulsed by.

"Or, like you, I can choose to reclaim my innocence. We can choose to reclaim our innocence together. We can insist that hope is real and that a group of people who love God and others really can change the world. We can reclaim our idealism and our belief and our confidence in the big ideas that stir us deep in our bones. We can commit all the more to being the kinds of people who are learning how to do what Jesus teaches us.

"I am not going to stop dreaming of a new kind of faith for the millions of us who need it. I am not going to stop dreaming of new kinds of communities that put the love of God and the brilliance of Jesus on display in honest, compelling ways. I am not going to stop dreaming of new ways to live lives of faith and creativity and meaning and significance.

"But I can't do it alone. I need you. We need you. We need you to rediscover wonder and awe. We need you to believe that it is really possible. We need you to join us.

"It's better that way. It's what Jesus had in mind."